JP3398287B2 - Ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette, and more particularly to a ribbon cassette by rotating a guide roller.
The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette that performs an operation of winding and sending out an ink ribbon. 2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer. A platen 2 in the form of a flat plate is provided substantially at the center of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is disposed below and in front of the platen 2 of the frame 1 in parallel with the platen 2. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed at the front edge of the frame 1. A carriage 5 reciprocates along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 on the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. It is movably mounted. A thermal head 6 is attached to the leading end of the carriage 5 so as to face the platen 2. An ink ribbon is stored on the upper surface of the carriage 5, and the ink ribbon is attached to the thermal head 6 and the platen 2. 2 and a ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between them. Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a take-up bobbin 7 for winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette and a delivery bobbin 8 for sending out the ink ribbon are provided. [0003] A paper insertion port 9 for feeding paper (not shown) forward of the platen 2 is formed behind the platen 2, and the paper insertion port 9 is formed at a predetermined speed in the paper insertion port 9. A paper feed roller 10 for transporting the paper is provided. Below the paper feed roller 10, a pressure roller 11 that is pressed against the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably disposed, and on one side of the frame, a transmission gear group 12 is provided with the paper feed roller. A paper feed motor 13 that is driven to rotate via a motor is provided. By driving the paper feed motor 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 10, the paper inserted from the paper insertion opening 9 between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure roller 11 is nipped and conveyed. It has been made to be. In the conventional printer, paper is inserted from the paper insertion port 9, the paper is sandwiched between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure roller 11, and the paper feed roller 10 is driven by a paper feed motor 13. By rotating the sheet, the sheet is transported at a predetermined speed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5. On the other hand, the thermal head 6 is pressed against the paper with a predetermined pressing force. In this state, the carriage 5 is moved, and the winding bobbin 7 is rotated to wind the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette. By driving the thermal head 6 based on a desired printing signal, desired printing is performed on the paper. Conventionally, a hot-melt type ink ribbon has been used as an ink ribbon when printing is performed by the thermal transfer printer. In recent years, however, a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon has also been used as the ink ribbon. Is being done. In such a case, when printing is performed using the hot-melt type ink ribbon, hot peel printing is performed with the thermal head 6 pressed against the platen 2 with a strong pressing force. When printing is performed using the thermal sublimation type ink ribbon, the thermal head 6 is pressed with a weaker pressing force compared to the case of the hot melt type ink ribbon, and cold peel printing is performed. [0007] When hot peel printing is performed using a hot-melt ink ribbon, the winding speed of the ink ribbon is increased, the winding torque is increased, and the peeling force of the ink ribbon from the paper is increased. The larger the size of the ink ribbon, the better the printability.When performing cold peel printing using a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon, the ink ribbon is wound up, contrary to the case of the thermal transfer type ink ribbon. At the same time as reducing the speed, the winding torque is reduced,
A good print can be obtained by forming a small force for peeling the ink ribbon from the paper. However, in such a conventional ribbon cassette, the ribbon cassette storing the hot-melt ink ribbon and the ribbon cassette storing the thermal sublimation ink ribbon are the same. Since the winding speed and winding torque are not changed by the structure of the ribbon cassette, the winding speed and winding torque in hot peel printing and cold peel printing are constant, There is a problem that it is not possible to perform good printing with an appropriate winding speed and winding torque for printing using various ink ribbons. In the above-mentioned thermal transfer printer, since the operation of winding the ink ribbon is performed by moving the carriage 5, the winding speed of the ink ribbon is changed according to the type of the ink ribbon. Has a problem that the moving speed of the carriage 5 needs to be changed, and the drive control mechanism becomes complicated. [0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a ribbon cassette capable of changing the winding speed and winding torque of an ink ribbon according to the type of ink ribbon used. It is intended for. [0011] In order to achieve the above object, a ribbon cassette according to the first aspect of the present invention is detachably mounted on an upper surface of a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen. And a take-up reel and a delivery reel, each of which is engaged with a take-up bobbin and a delivery bobbin provided on the upper surface of the carriage, respectively, and on which an ink ribbon is wound, is provided. A ribbon cassette comprising a winding guide roller and a delivery guide roller that are engaged with a second winding bobbin and a second delivery bobbin formed on the carriage at an intermediate portion of a path, wherein the ink cassette is provided. ribbon with a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon, the outer diameter of the take-up guide roller small <br/> than the winding guide rollers for hot melt ink ribbon With the winding moth for hot melt ink ribbon
Smaller coefficient of friction for ink ribbon than id roller
It is characterized by using a material . According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ink ribbon accommodated in the ribbon cassette is a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon, and the outer diameter of the winding guide roller is set to a value for the heat melting type ink ribbon. Take-up guide roller
Smaller diameter and winding for hot-melt ink ribbon
Smaller friction coefficient with the ink ribbon than the guide roller
As a result , the winding torque of the winding guide roller can be reduced, and the winding speed of the ink ribbon can be reduced at a speed lower than the moving speed of the carriage. (2) Even if the take-up bobbin is driven to rotate at the same speed as printing with a hot-melt ink ribbon, the take-up guide roller reduces the take-up force and separates the ink ribbon from the paper with a weak peeling force. This makes it possible to perform proper printing by peeling at a cold time. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer in which a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is mounted. A carriage 5 reciprocally movable along a platen 2 includes a thermal head 6. A motor 14 is provided for controlling the operation of the motor 14 to and away from the platen 2 and the winding of the ink ribbon.
, The transmission gear 16 is meshed. This transmission gear 1
A gear portion 18 formed on an outer peripheral surface of a cam 17 is meshed with the cam 6. On the upper surface of the cam 17, a cam groove 19 for head contact / separation and a width wider than the cam groove 19 for head contact / separation, In addition, a shallowly formed ribbon winding cam groove 20 is formed. Further, a support shaft 21 is provided near the platen 2 of the carriage 5, and in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. It is formed so as to protrude. A substantially T-shaped head lever 22 constituting a head contact / separation mechanism is mounted on the support shaft 21 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 21. A head mount 23 facing the platen 2 is fixed by screwing. A thermal head 6 is mounted on a surface of the head mount 23 facing the platen 2.
A stopper 24 is provided so as to project at a predetermined distance from the back surface of the head mount 23. A substantially L-shaped head pressure lever 25 is attached to the support shaft 21 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 21.
One end of the cam 17 has a cam groove 19 for head contact / separation of the cam 17.
Is formed. The other end of the head pressure lever 25 is disposed between the back surface of the head mount 23 of the head lever 22 and the stopper 24. The other end of the head pressure lever 25 has a spring holding portion 27. Is erected. Further, the spring holding part 2
A strong pressure contact spring 28 is interposed between the head 7 and the head mount 23, and the head pressure contact lever 25 is brought into contact with the stopper 24 of the head lever 22 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28. In this state, the head pressure lever 25 and the head lever 22 are integrally rotated by the rotation of the cam 17 when the head is moved up and down. A drive gear 30 meshed with a rack 29 formed on the printer is provided on the carriage 5 so as to be rotatable about a spindle 31. The spindle 31 and the head lever 22 between, the strong pressure contact weak pressure spring 32 having a weak spring pressure than the spring 28, the head lever 22 is always the thermal head 6 platen 2
Is applied so as to apply an urging force in the direction of pressing the sword. A swing plate 33 is attached to the support shaft 31 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 31.
A pin 34 is formed at one end of the rocking plate 33 to be engaged with the ribbon winding cam groove 20 of the cam 17. Here, the pin 34 of the swing plate 33 is formed to be thicker than the width of the head contact / separation cam groove 19.
Does not fall into the cam groove 19 for head contact / separation. Support shafts 35 and 36 are provided on both sides of the support shaft 31 of the rocking plate 33, respectively.
The take-up transmission gear 37 and the delivery transmission gear 38 meshed with the drive gear 30 are rotatably attached to the gears 5 and 36, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 5 is provided with an ink ribbon take-up bobbin 7 and a delivery bobbin 8, respectively, as shown in FIG.
Below the winding bobbin 7, the winding transmission gear 3
A take-up gear 39 meshed with 7 is coaxially mounted via a friction mechanism (not shown). Further, in the present embodiment, the carriage 5 is provided with a second winding bobbin 40 and a second sending-out bobbin 41, and below the second winding bobbin 40, A second winding gear 43 meshed with a winding gear 39 of the winding bobbin 7 via a transmission gear 42 is coaxially mounted. Below the second delivery bobbin 41, a second delivery gear 45 meshed with the delivery transmission gear 38 via a plurality of transmission gears 44 is coaxially mounted. By the swing of the swing plate 33, the take-up transmission gear 37 and the delivery transmission gear 38 are meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, respectively, whereby the take-up bobbin 7, the second take-up bobbin 40 and the second delivery bobbin 41 are rotationally driven. Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a photo sensor 4 for detecting the end of the ink ribbon to be used and for detecting the color marker of the color ink ribbon.
6 are provided. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the ribbon cassette of the present invention which is mounted on the thermal transfer printer having the above-described configuration. As shown in FIG. A ribbon cassette 48 is detachably mounted on the upper surface. Inside the ribbon cassette 48, an ink ribbon 47 is accommodated.
The ribbon cassette 48 is provided with a take-up reel 49 and a delivery reel 50 which are engaged with the take-up bobbin 7 and the delivery bobbin 8 and around which the ink ribbon 47 is wound. The ribbon cassette 48 is provided with a take-up guide roller 51 and a delivery guide roller 52 which are engaged with the second take-up bobbin 40 and the second delivery bobbin 41 and guide the ink ribbon 47. In this embodiment, the winding guide roller 5 is provided.
1 is a ribbon cassette 4 in which the thermal sublimation type ink ribbon 47 is stored with respect to the outer diameter of the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 in which the heat melting type ink ribbon 47 is stored.
8 is formed so that the outer diameter of the take-up guide roller 51 is smaller. Further, the ribbon cassette 48
A concave portion 53 into which the thermal head 6 is inserted is formed in a central portion of the ribbon cassette 4 on the platen 2 side.
Notched portions 54 into which the support shafts 21 are inserted are formed at symmetrical positions on both sides of the recess 53 of FIG. Since FIG. 1 shows a so-called multi-time ink ribbon cassette which can be used in an inverted manner, two notches 54 are formed at symmetrical positions of the concave portion 53 into which the thermal head 6 is inserted. However, in the case of a so-called one-time ribbon, the notch 54 is
It is only necessary to form them at only one place. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, when the cam 17 is rotated to the leftmost position in the figure, the pin 26 of the head pressure lever 25 is located at the outermost periphery of the head contact / separation cam groove 19. , head pressure lever 25 is swung in the leftmost direction Te placed <br/> 2, the head pressure contact lever 25
Is brought into contact with the stopper 24 of the head lever 22 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring, and the head mount 23 is operated together with the head pressure contact lever 25. The swing of the head pressure contact lever 25 causes the thermal head 6 to move the platen 2 It is held in a head-up state away from the head. On the other hand, the ribbon winding cam groove 20
The swinging plate 33 is swung to the left, and the take-up transmission gear 37 and the sending-out transmission gear 38 supported by the swinging plate 33 are meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, respectively. When the drive gear 30 meshed with the rack 29 is rotationally driven by the movement of the gear 5 along the platen 2, the take-up gear 39, the second take-up gear 43, and the second take-up gear 43 are transmitted via the transmission gears 42 and 44. The delivery gear 45 is driven to rotate, and the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40 are rotated.
The rotation of the second delivery bobbin 41 causes the ink ribbon 47 to be wound and delivered. At the position of the cam 17, no printing is performed, and color sensing by the photo sensor when the color ink ribbon 47 is used or the ink ribbon 4 is used.
The slack removing operation when the slack 7 is performed is performed. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the cam 17 is rotated rightward by driving the motor 14 from the state shown in FIG. 2, the head pressure lever 25 is not swung, and the thermal head 6 The swinging plate 33 is swung rightward by the ribbon winding cam groove 20 while being held in the head-up state separated from the winding gear 2, and the transmission gears 42 and 44 of the swinging plate 33 are separated from the winding gear 39. You. In this state, even when the carriage 5 moves, the rotation of the drive gear 30 is not transmitted to the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40, and the winding operation of the ink ribbon 47 is not performed. Used for return operation or ribbon save operation. When printing is performed using the hot-melt ink ribbon 47, the motor 14 is further driven from the state shown in FIG. 3 to rotate the cam 17 clockwise as shown in FIG. As a result, since the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is located at the position closest to the rotation center of the head contact / separation cam groove 19, the head pressure contact lever 25 swings rightward about the support shaft 21. Is done. As a result, the head press lever 25 is separated from the stopper 24 of the head mount 23, and the head mount 23 is pressed by the spring holding portion 27 of the head press lever 25 via the high pressure spring 28. Since the urging force of the low pressure contact spring is applied to the head lever 22, the pressing force obtained by adding the urging force of the high pressure contact spring 28 and the urging force of the low pressure contact spring 32 is applied to the head mount 23. That is, the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 with a strong pressing force. On the other hand, the oscillating plate 33 is rotated leftward from the state shown in FIG. 3 so that the winding transmission gear 37 of the oscillating plate 33 is meshed with the winding gear 39 again and sent out. The transmission gear 38 is engaged with the transmission gear 44, and the operation of the carriage 5 causes the ink ribbon 47 to be wound and sent out. In this state, by moving the carriage 5, the drive gear 30 is driven to rotate via the rack 29, and the take-up gear 39, via the transmission gears 42 and 44.
By rotating the second take-up gear 43 and the second delivery gear 45, the take-up bobbin 7, the second take-up bobbin 40, and the second delivery bobbin 41 are driven to rotate. The take-up guide roller 51 and the sending-out guide roller 52 are respectively rotated to rotate the ribbon cassette 4.
By driving the thermal head 6 based on a desired print signal while winding up the ink ribbon 47 of No. 8,
Printing is performed on predetermined paper. At this time, in this embodiment, since the outer diameter of the winding guide roller 51 is formed large, the winding guide roller 51 is rotated with respect to the rotation of the second winding bobbin 40 having a constant rotational force. Of the winding guide roller 51 and the amount of winding per rotation of the winding guide roller 51 increase because the circumferential length of the winding guide roller 51 is long. As a result, the winding torque of the winding guide roller 51 increases, and moreover,
By using a friction mechanism (not shown) of the second winding bobbin 40, the ink ribbon 47 can be wound at the same speed as the moving speed of the carriage 5, so that the ink ribbon 47
Can be separated from the paper with a large peeling force,
In addition, since the thermal head 6 is pressed with a strong pressing force, it is possible to perform good printing by hot peeling. When printing is performed using the thermal sublimation type ink ribbon 47, as shown in FIG. 5, the motor 14 is driven from the state shown in FIG. 4 to rotate the cam 17 further leftward. The pin 26 of the head press-contact lever 25 is located at the innermost portion of the head contact / separation cam groove 19, and the width of the head contact / separation cam groove 19 at this position is formed large. A gap is formed between the pin 26 and the cam groove 19 for head contact / separation. As a result, the head pressure contact lever 25 is rotated so as to abut against the stopper 24 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28, so that the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 by the urging force of only the weak pressure contact spring 32. , And printing can be performed with a weak pressing force as compared with normal printing. Further, even when the cam 17 is rotated, the winding transmission gear 37 of the rocking plate 33 and the delivery transmission gear 38
Is held in a state of being meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, so that the carriage 5 can be moved and the ink ribbon 47 can be taken up and sent out as in the case of ordinary printing. . At this time, in this embodiment, the diameter of the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 is made smaller than that of the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 in which the hot-melt ink ribbon 47 is stored. Since a material having a small friction coefficient (for example, polyacetal or the like) is used, the winding guide roller 51 is rotated with respect to the rotation of the second winding bobbin 40 having a constant rotational force.
The rotation torque on the outer peripheral surface of the winding guide roller 51 is reduced, and the winding length of the winding guide roller 51 per rotation is reduced because the outer circumferential surface of the winding guide roller 51 is short. As a result, the winding torque of the winding guide roller 51 is reduced, and the ink ribbon 47 can be wound at a speed lower than the moving speed of the carriage. Even when rotating at the same speed as the printing with the ribbon, the winding force by the winding guide roller 51 is reduced, and the winding is substantially performed only by the winding bobbin. Since the ribbon 47 can be peeled off from the paper with a weak peeling force, and the thermal head 6 is pressed against the paper with a weak pressing force, it is possible to perform appropriate printing by cold peeling. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the ink ribbon 47 accommodated in the ribbon cassette 48 is a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon 47, the outer diameter of the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 is formed to be small. Therefore, the winding torque of the winding guide roller 51 can be reduced, and the winding speed of the ink ribbon 47 can be reduced at a speed lower than the moving speed of the carriage 5. Even when the take-up bobbin 40 is driven to rotate at the same speed as that for printing with the hot-melt ink ribbon, the take-up guide roller 51 reduces the take-up force and the ink ribbon 47 is peeled off from the paper with a weak peeling force. It is possible to perform proper printing by peeling at a cold time. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified as needed. As described above, in the ribbon cassette according to the present invention, when the ink ribbon accommodated in the ribbon cassette is a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon, the outer diameter of the winding guide roller of the ribbon cassette is reduced. Winding for hot melt ink ribbon
Ri from the guide rollers as well as the small, hot melt Inn
From the take-up guide roller for the ribbon to the ink ribbon.
By using a material having a small friction coefficient, the winding torque of the winding roller can be reduced, and the ink ribbon can be wound at a low speed. Even when rotating at the same speed as printing with a hot-melt ink ribbon, the winding force of the winding guide roller can be reduced, and the ink ribbon can be peeled from the paper with a weak peeling force. This has the effect that proper printing can be performed by peeling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer to which a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is mounted. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an ink ribbon sensing operation state by the thermal transfer printer of FIG. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a carriage return operation state by the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a printing state using a hot-melt ink ribbon by the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a structural view showing a printing state using a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon by a printer. FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view showing a ribbon cassette of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer. 2 Platen 5 Carriage 6 Thermal head 7 Winding bobbin 8 Sending bobbin 17 Cam 19 Head contact / separation cam groove 20 Ribbon winding cam groove 22 Headless -25 head pressure lever 33 rocking plate 40 second take-up bobbin 41 second delivery bobbin 47 ink ribbon 48 ribbon cassette 49 take-up reel 50 is sent to the reel 51 take-up guide roller 52 sends the guide rollers

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 32/00 B41J 35/04

Claims (1)

(1) A winding bobbin removably mounted on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen and internally provided on the upper surface of the carriage. And a take-up reel and a take-out reel each of which is engaged with the delivery bobbin and around which the ink ribbon is wound, and a second take-up bobbin formed on the carriage in a middle portion of the travel path of the ink ribbon. A ribbon cassette comprising a take-up guide roller engaged with a second delivery bobbin and a delivery guide roller, wherein the ink ribbon is a thermal sublimation type ink ribbon, and Winding for ink ribbon with hot melt outer diameter
Smaller than the guide roller ,
From the take-up guide roller for the ribbon to the ink ribbon.
A ribbon cassette made of a material having a small friction coefficient .