JP3307706B2 - Bobbin for transfer ribbon - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer ribbon bobbin used for a transfer ribbon cassette loaded in a thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to facilitate mounting of a transfer ribbon on a thermal transfer printer, a transfer bobbin that accommodates a supply bobbin for feeding a transfer ribbon to the left and right in a cassette case and a winding bobbin for winding the transfer ribbon are housed. Ribbon cassettes are commonly used. That is, when this cassette is loaded into the printer, the drive of the printer is connected to the winding bobbin, and the thermal head of the printer comes into contact with the portion extending from the supply bobbin of the transfer ribbon to the winding bobbin. As the roll rotates and the transfer ribbon is pulled out from the supply roll, image recording is performed by the thermal head.

The transfer ribbon cassette as described above has different numbers of recordable screens and uses (standard, OHP,
(Black and white, black, etc.) in many cases.Therefore, an identification mark such as a bar code is provided on the outer surface of the cassette case, and when the cassette is loaded into the printer, What has been used in the past has been used so that the unique information of the cassette can be determined by reading (for example, Japanese Utility Model Application
-6843 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-29367).

[0004]

Recently, it has been desired to reuse the cassette case and the bobbin in the above-mentioned cassette from the viewpoint of resource saving. If the identification mark is provided on the cassette case, it is necessary to put the bobbin on which the transfer ribbon has been wound into the corresponding cassette case, and when reusing the bobbin, the operation of combining the bobbin and the cassette case is troublesome. There was a point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in order to facilitate the reuse of the cassette case and the bobbin, the cassette case and the bobbin are combined without providing an identification mark on the cassette case. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer ribbon bobbin that can easily incorporate an identification mark.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the transfer ribbon bobbin of the present invention is either a supply bobbin or a winding bobbin housed in a cassette case. Te, ball the shank end of the drive unit and the identification ring and are formed in parallel identifying section the bobbin on the outer periphery
A separate drive system to rotate the bin
It is detachably attached in a rotatable state, and a bar code is provided on the outer periphery of the identification portion by a transfer foil in the circumferential direction.

[0007]

The transfer ribbon bobbin of the present invention having the above-described structure is housed in a cassette case with the identification ring fitted on the tip of the shaft after winding the ribbon. Then, the cassette is set on a printer having a drive system different from the bobbin, and the identification ring is rotated by the drive system, and the bar code formed by the transfer foil on the outer periphery of the identification ring is read to transfer the cassette. The unique information of the ribbon is recognized by the printer.

[0008]

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a cassette using a transfer ribbon bobbin according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof.

As shown in these figures, the cassette 1
Is a body 2 having large windows 2a and 3a at the center, respectively.
And a cassette case 4 comprising a cover 3, a supply bobbin 6 for feeding out the transfer ribbon 5, and a winding bobbin 7 for winding the same, respectively. The bobbins 6 and 7 are spaced apart from each other in the cassette case 4. They are arranged in parallel. That is, the bobbins 6 and 7 have the shaft portions 8 and 9 at one end on the same side rotatably supported by bearing portions 10 and 11 formed on the side wall 2b of the body portion 2 and at the other end. Cylindrical support shafts 12 and 13 are supported by circular openings 14 and 15 formed by semicircular cutouts of the body 2 and the lid 3.

A support shaft 1 at the other end of each bobbin 6, 7
Flanges 16 and 17 are provided at the roots of 2 and 13, and grooves 16 a and 17 a are formed radially on the outside thereof. The grooves 16 a and 17 a are provided inside the openings 14 and 15. It is detachable from a rib (not shown). On the other hand, an identification ring 18 is rotatably fitted to the shaft 8 on one end side of the supply bobbin 6, and a spring 19 is attached to the side wall 2 b of the body 2 while pressing the outer surface of the identification ring 18. It is arranged between the identification ring 18. A spring 20 is disposed between the side wall 2b of the body 2 and the end surface of the bobbin 7 at one end of the winding bobbin 7 so as to press the end surface of the bobbin 7. As shown in FIG. 1, a window 3b is formed at a corner of the cassette case 4 so as to partially expose the lid 3 so that the identification ring 18 is partially exposed.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the discriminating ring 18 has a drive section 18a and a discriminating section 18b each having a rubber 21 wound on the outer periphery thereof, which are arranged in two rows. A bar code 22 is provided on the outer periphery of 18b in the circumferential direction. In the present embodiment, a bar code is printed by transferring the aluminum layer / adhesive layer to the outer periphery of the identification portion 18a using a transfer foil composed of a base material / peeling layer / aluminum layer / adhesive layer. For the transfer foil, when the bobbin is black, it is preferable to apply aluminum evaporation with a metallic luster, but when the bobbin is white, it is preferable to perform barcode printing using a black transfer foil. May be taken. Here, when the barcode 22 is provided with a label or a sticker,
There is a possibility that a problem such as erroneous reading may occur at the time of reading because the bar code 22 is not accurately adhered to the identification portion 18b. As a result, wrinkles and the like are not formed along the circumferential direction, so that reading becomes accurate.

After the transfer ribbon 5 is wound over both the bobbins 6 and 7 in the cassette 1 having the above-described structure, the identification ring 18 is attached to the shaft 8 of the supply bobbin 6 by a driving unit 18a.
The bobbins 6 and 7 are housed in the cassette case 4 and assembled in this state. In the assembled state, the bobbins 6 and 7 are pushed by the springs 19 and 20, respectively, and the grooves 1 and
Since the ribs 6a and 17a are engaged with the ribs on the inner surfaces of the openings 14 and 15, the bobbins 6 and 7 are prevented from idling and the transfer ribbon 5 is prevented from loosening. When the cassette 1 is mounted on the printer, the bobbins 6 and 7 are pressed against the pressing force of the springs 19 and 20, the grooves 16a and 17a are released from the ribs, and the bobbins 6 and 7 are rotatable. Become. Before the transfer ribbon 5 is supplied and recording is started, the drive unit 18a is rotated from the window 3b of the cassette case 4 by a drive system different from that for rotating the bobbins 6 and 7, whereby the identification ring 18 is rotated. Rotate the whole around the shaft 8,
By reading the bar code 22 on the outer periphery, the number of screens of the transfer ribbon 5 and the use thereof can be recognized.

It is needless to say that the transfer ribbon bobbin according to the present invention can be applied to a cassette having a spring, a bobbin, a cassette case and the like other than those described in the above embodiment.

[0014]

As described above, in the transfer ribbon bobbin of the present invention, the identification ring having the drive section and the identification section formed side by side on the outer periphery has the bobbin rotated at the tip of the shaft section of the bobbin.
A structure in which a bar code is provided in a circumferential direction by a transfer foil on the outer periphery of the identification portion, and is rotatably mounted on the shaft portion by a drive system different from that to be attached. Therefore, it is possible to form an accurate bar code for reading on the identification ring rotated by a drive system different from that for rotating the bobbin of the printer, and to easily incorporate the identification mark when assembling the cassette. Therefore, there is an advantage that the assembling workability of the cassette is improved when the cassette case and the bobbin are reused.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a cassette using a transfer ribbon bobbin according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the cassette shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the identification ring.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an identification ring.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Cassette case 5 Transfer ribbon 6 Supply bobbin 7 Hoisting bobbin 18 Identification ring 22 Bar code

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-20368 (JP, A) JP-A-4-38453 (JP, A) JP-A-63-251268 (JP, A) 47554 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 17/24 B41J 17/32 B41J 17/36

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bobbin for a transfer ribbon, which is either a supply bobbin or a winding bobbin housed in a cassette case, wherein an identification ring having a drive unit and an identification unit formed on an outer periphery thereof is provided. What is to rotate the bobbin to the tip of the shaft
The transfer is characterized in that it is detachably attached to the shaft part in a rotatable state by another drive system, and a bar code is provided on the outer periphery of the identification part by a transfer foil in the circumferential direction. Bobbin for ribbon.