JP3580332B2 - Tape and ribbon composite cassette - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tape / ribbon combined cassette having a tape cassette containing a tape as a print medium to be printed by a printer, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon and detachably attached to the tape cassette, and particularly to a tape cassette. The present invention relates to a device for preventing interference between a tape and a ribbon when a ribbon cassette is mounted.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The present applicant has commercialized a label producing printer suitable for producing a tape-shaped label.However, this label producing printer accommodates a tape as a print medium in order to enable multicolor printing. A tape / ribbon combined cassette having a tape cassette detachably mounted on a printer and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon and detachably mounted on the tape cassette is applied. As the ribbon cassette, a plurality of types of ribbon cassettes each containing a ribbon of a different color are applied.
[0003]
On the other hand, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 3-74756 discloses a tape-ribbon composite cassette similar to that described above which is applied to a printer for producing a tape-like label. In this tape / ribbon combined cassette, an accommodating opening for attaching the ribbon cassette to the tape cassette is formed in order to attach and position the ribbon cassette to the tape cassette. The ribbon cassette is formed in the same shape as the peripheral wall surface, and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette is guided and regulated by the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening, so that the ribbon cassette is positioned with respect to the tape cassette.
[0004]
The tape cassette and the ribbon cassette are formed with a head insertion portion for inserting a print head when mounted on a printer, and an ink ribbon derived from the ribbon cassette comes into contact with the print head inserted into the head insertion portion, The tape led out of the tape cassette comes into contact with the outer surface of the ink ribbon, and printing is executed by the print head on a portion of the ink ribbon and the tape that is sandwiched between the print head and the platen.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As in the tape / ribbon composite cassette described in the above publication, the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette is guided and regulated by the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening so that the ribbon cassette can be substantially positioned with respect to the tape cassette.
However, in order to be able to mount the ribbon cassette in the accommodation opening of the tape cassette, a minute gap is required between the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette. Occurs, the accuracy of positioning the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette is reduced, and the print quality is reduced.
[0006]
That is, when the rattling occurs, the transfer of the ink ribbon becomes unstable between the print head and the platen and in the vicinity thereof, the position of the ink ribbon fluctuates with respect to the tape, and a constant print quality cannot be secured. Therefore, if the gap between the peripheral wall surface of the housing opening and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette is extremely small, it becomes difficult to smoothly attach / detach the ribbon cassette to / from the tape cassette, or when the ribbon cassette thermally expands. Or become irremovable.
[0007]
Further, with the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette attached, the ink ribbon and the tape are brought close to the front of the print head, and the platen is brought into contact with the print head to perform printing. When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette in the mounted state, there is a problem that the ink ribbon in which the lower end of the ink ribbon interferes with the lower end of the tape is jammed, and it is difficult to mount the ribbon cassette smoothly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to prevent interference between a tape and an ink ribbon when a ribbon cassette is mounted on a tape cassette in a tape / ribbon combined cassette while ensuring the detachability of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette. .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The tape / ribbon composite cassette according to the first aspect stores a tape as a print medium and is detachably mounted on a printer having a print head, and the tape cassette stores an ink ribbon and is detachably mounted on the tape cassette. In a tape / ribbon composite cassette having a ribbon cassette, a tape exposure portion and a ribbon exposure portion for bringing a tape and an ink ribbon close to a print head in a state where the tape / ribbon composite cassette is mounted on a printer are respectively provided in the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette. The tape cassette is provided with a plurality of guides spaced apart from each other for guiding and positioning when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette, and the ribbon cassette is provided with a plurality of guides respectively engaging with the plurality of guides. A guide unit is provided, and a ribbon cassette is attached to the tape cassette attached to the printer. When mounting, the restricting portion provided on the printer main body, and forming a controlled portion that is the position regulating the direction in which the ink ribbon of the ribbon exposed portion from the tape of the tape exposure portion is spaced ribbon cassette.
[0009]
When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette, the plurality of guided portions of the ribbon cassette engage with the plurality of mutually separated guide portions of the tape cassette, and the ribbon cassette is guided and positioned with respect to the tape cassette. This state is maintained even after the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette.
Since the positioning and guiding are performed via the plurality of guide portions and the guided portion that are separated from each other, the positioning can be performed with high accuracy. In particular, if the three sets of guide portions and the guided portions are formed to be elongated in the ribbon cassette attaching / detaching direction, the contact area between the plurality of guide portions and the guided portions is reduced, and the sliding resistance when attaching / detaching the ribbon cassette is also reduced. In addition, the detachability of the ribbon cassette is not impaired, and even if the sliding gap between the guide portion and the guided portion is set small, the sliding resistance does not increase so much. As a result, the positioning accuracy can be improved.
[0010]
When the ribbon cassette is mounted, the regulated portion formed on the ribbon cassette is regulated by the regulating portion provided on the printer body in the direction in which the ink ribbon of the ribbon exposed portion is separated from the tape of the tape exposed portion. Therefore, the lower end of the ink ribbon does not interfere with the lower end of the tape and the ink ribbon does not jam, and the ribbon cassette can be mounted smoothly.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tape / ribbon combined cassette according to the first aspect, wherein the regulating portion comprises a vertically-oriented projection formed on a head holder of the print head, and the regulated portion engages with the projection. It is characterized by comprising an engaging groove oriented in a direction. Therefore, the restricting portion can be formed by effectively utilizing the head holder, and the configuration for the restricting portion is simplified.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
This embodiment applies the present invention to a label producing printer for producing a tape-shaped label by printing characters, symbols, and characters in multicolor on a tape as a printing medium, and a tape / ribbon composite cassette applied to this printer. This is an example of a case where the present invention is applied. The tape / ribbon composite cassette includes a tape cassette detachably mounted on a printer, and a ribbon cassette detachably mounted on the tape cassette.
[0013]
First, the label producing printer will be briefly described.
As shown in FIG. 1, a keyboard 2, a liquid crystal display 3, a cassette cover 4, a cutter lever 5 and the like are provided on an upper surface portion of the label producing printer 1, and a printing mechanism 10 is disposed below the cassette cover 4. ing. When the cover open lever 6 is slid to the right in FIG. 1, the cassette cover 4 is opened. The tape cassette 30 can be mounted on the printing mechanism 10 with the cassette cover 4 opened, and the tape cassette 30 The ribbon cassette 50 can be mounted.
[0014]
The tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 are configured separately from each other. In a state where the tape cassette 30 is detachably mounted on the printing mechanism 10 from above, the ribbon cassette 50 is detachably mounted on the tape cassette 30 from above. The combination of the tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 is a combined tape / ribbon cassette 350 (see FIG. 5).
[0015]
Next, the printing mechanism 10 will be briefly described.
FIG. 2 is a view in which the tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 are mounted on the printing mechanism 10 of the printer 1 and partially crossed so that the inside of the tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 can be seen. The sub-roller 12 and the sub-roller 13 are provided so as to swing integrally with the roller holder 11 about the pivot shaft 11a. The roller holder 11 is configured to swing open and close according to opening and closing of the cassette cover 4. At a position near the rear side of the platen 12, a thermal head 14 composed of, for example, 96 heating elements arranged vertically and a head holder 15 for holding the thermal head 14 are provided. Note that the thermal head 14 and the head holder 15 correspond to a print head.
[0016]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a tape 31 as a print medium is wound around a tape spool 30a and mounted on the tape cassette 30, and has a substantially U-shaped curved shape in plan view from near the rear side of the tape spool 30a. While being guided by the tape guide path, it reaches the tape outlet 32 near the thermal head 14, is led out to the tape exposed portion 37 from the tape outlet 32, and the tape 31 of the tape exposed portion 37 approaches the front surface of the thermal head 14. The tape is fed out of the tape cassette 30 by the tape feed roller 33 of the tape cassette 30 and the sub-roller 13 for feeding the tape.
[0017]
Since the tape 31 is wound around the tape spool 30a and the tape knob 34 is configured to engage with the tape spool 30a and rotate integrally, the tape 31 is wound by manually rotating the tape knob 34. You can go back. A head insertion portion 35 for inserting the thermal head 14 and the head holder 15 is formed in the center in the left-right direction near the front end of the tape cassette 30, and a rightward portion of the center of the tape cassette 30 is A bottomed accommodation section 36 for accommodating the main body 50a of the ribbon cassette 50 is formed.
[0018]
On the other hand, the main body 50a of the ribbon cassette 50 is loosely fitted into the accommodating portion 36 formed in the tape cassette 30, but the ribbon cassette 50 is placed in a state where the upper wall 52 covers the upper surface of the tape cassette 30. Be attached. 3 shows the tape cassette 30, FIG. 4 shows the ribbon cassette 50, and FIG. 5 shows a tape / ribbon combined cassette 350 in which the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30. The ribbon cassette 50 is positioned in the horizontal direction and the height direction with respect to the tape cassette 30, and is detachably fixed through three claws (not shown).
[0019]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, an ink ribbon 54 wound around a ribbon spool 53 is mounted on the ribbon cassette 50, guided by ribbon guides 55 to 58, and led out to the ribbon exposing portion 51. The ink ribbon 54 of the exposed portion 51 is positioned in contact with the front surface of the thermal head 14, and the ink ribbon 54 used for printing is wound on a winding spool 61 via a guide rod 59 and a ribbon guide 60. A clutch spring 62 for preventing the ink ribbon 54 from loosening is attached to a lower portion of the take-up spool 61. Further, a head insertion portion 63 for inserting the thermal head 14 is formed at a left portion near the front end of the ribbon cassette 50.
[0020]
Since a pair of knobs 64 are formed on the upper wall portion 52 of the ribbon cassette 50, the ribbon cassette 50 can be easily attached and detached by grasping these knobs 64 with fingers. By contacting the upper wall 52 of the ribbon cassette 50 with the upper end surface of the tape cassette 50, the vertical position of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 is determined. When the ribbon cassette 50 is engaged with the two holes, the ribbon cassette 50 is detachably fixed to the tape cassette 30.
[0021]
The platen 12 and the sub-roller 13 are mounted on the roller holder 11, and when the cassette cover 4 is closed, the roller holder 11 swings to the pressure contact side in conjunction therewith, so that the platen 12 comes into pressure contact with the thermal head 14 and the sub-roller 13 Is brought into pressure contact with the tape feed roller 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon 54 led out to the ribbon exposure portion 51 on the front surface of the thermal head 14 contacts the front surface of the thermal head 14, and the tape 31 of the tape exposure portion 37 is attached to the front surface of the ink ribbon 54. The ink ribbon 54 and the tape 31 are superimposed, and a character string or the like is printed in a dot pattern by the thermal head 14 on the tape 31 via the ink ribbon 54 while being pressed against the thermal head 14 by the platen 12. The front end portion of the printed tape 31 passes between the active blade 16 and the passive blade 17 constituting the cutter and is led out of the slit 8 formed in the main body case 7. The active blade 16 is connected to the cutter lever 5 by the connecting plate 18, and the tape 31 is cut by the active blade 16 and the passive blade 17 by operating the cutter lever 5.
[0022]
Next, a mechanism for guiding and positioning the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30 from above, and a mechanism for guiding the ribbon cassette 50 to the tape cassette 30 from above. A mechanism for restricting the ink ribbon 54 from interfering with the tape 31 when the tape 31 is mounted will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, a vertical positioning pin 38 is provided at the rear end of the tape cassette 30, and a vertical positioning pin 39 is provided at the right end of the tape cassette 30. , 39 are formed in a tapered shape. At the rear end of the head holder 15, a restricting portion 40 formed of a vertically oriented protrusion is formed.
[0023]
The ribbon cassette 50 has a columnar portion 66 having an engagement hole 65 with which the positioning pin 38 is engaged with a minute gap, and a member in which the positioning pin 39 is loosely engaged in the lateral direction with a minute gap in the front-rear direction. A columnar portion 68 having a mating hole 67 and a regulated portion 69 formed of an engagement groove in a vertical direction with which the regulating portion 40 is engaged so as to be accurately positioned in the front-rear direction are provided.
The restricting portion 40 and the regulated portion 69 are provided near the rear side of the thermal head 14, and when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30 mounted on the printing mechanism 10, the tape of the tape exposing portion 37. The position of the ribbon cassette 50 is regulated in the direction in which the ink ribbon 54 of the ribbon exposing portion 51 is separated from the base 31 (that is, in the rearward direction). The positioning pins 38 and 39 correspond to guide portions, and the engaging holes 65 and 67 correspond to guided portions, respectively.
[0024]
Here, if the positioning pins 38 and 39 are configured to engage with the engagement holes 65 and 67 with almost no gap, even if the restricting portion 40 and the restricted portion 69 are omitted, the tape cassette 30 can be moved. Although the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 can be ensured, the sliding resistance between the positioning pins 38 and 39 and the engaging holes 65 and 67 becomes large. 50 cannot be smoothly attached or detached. Therefore, the positioning pin 38 is engaged with the engagement hole 65 with a minute gap, and the positioning pin 39 is engaged with the engagement hole 67 with a minute gap in the front-rear direction and in a left-right direction in a loose fit manner, and The positioning section 40 and the regulated section 69 ensure the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 in the front-back direction and the left-right direction with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14, and at the time of mounting the ribbon cassette 50, The lower end is configured to prevent the occurrence of ribbon jam by being hooked on the upper end of the tape 31. Therefore, the sliding resistance at the time of attaching and detaching the ribbon cassette 50 can be reduced, so that the ribbon cassette 50 can be attached and detached smoothly with a small attaching / detaching force. The occurrence of ribbon jam can be prevented.
[0025]
When the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 in the front-back direction with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 is low, when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30 from above, the ink ribbon 54 is attached to the upper end of the tape 31. There is a risk that the lower end of the tape may be caught and the ribbon jam may occur, and that the printing quality may become unstable. However, the ribbon for the tape cassette 30 and the printing mechanism 10 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 via the regulating portion 40 and the regulated portion 69. Since the positioning accuracy of the cassette 50 in the front-back direction is ensured, the above-described problem does not occur.
[0026]
The positioning pins 38, 39 protrude from the upper end surface of the tape cassette 30. When the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted, the positioning pins 38, 39 are engaged with the engaging holes 65, 67, respectively, so that the positioning pins 38, 39 are horizontally moved. Since the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted after the two-dimensional positioning, the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted almost without contacting the peripheral wall surface of the housing portion 36 of the tape cassette 30.
Therefore, as compared with the conventional tape / ribbon composite cassette, the tape cassette can be mounted more smoothly than when the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette and the peripheral wall surface of the tape cassette accommodating portion are positioned together. In addition, since the ribbon cassette 50 is attached and detached and replaced while the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the printing mechanism 10, the ribbon cassette 50 can be attached and detached smoothly.
[0027]
The opening window 41 shown in FIG. 3 is an opening for feeding the tape 31 on the tape guide path by operating the tape 31 with a finger, and a similar opening window is also formed on the front side wall opposite to the opening window 41. Have been. By replacing the ribbon cassette 50 of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350, printing can be performed in a plurality of colors. In this case, the tape 31 is rewound if necessary. Window 41 is provided.
[0028]
A plurality of detection operators 42 are provided at one corner of the tape cassette 30 so as to be freely retractable. The printing mechanism 10 includes a plurality of detection switches (corresponding to the plurality of detection operators 42). (Not shown), and a plurality of detection switches are provided to push up the detection actuators 42 by a predetermined small stroke upward.
At one corner of the ribbon cassette 50, one or a plurality of operating portions 70 for selectively pressing down the plurality of detection operating elements 42 and one or a plurality of escape holes 71 not to be pressed down are formed. The detection switch is operated by the detection operation element 42 pressed down by the operation section 70. These are provided to detect the type of the tape cassette 30 (the type of the tape 31) and the type of the ribbon cassette 50 (the type of the ink ribbon 50).
[0029]
In the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 applied to the tape-shaped label producing printer 1 described above, the positioning pins 38 and 39, the columnar portions 66 and 68 having the engagement holes 65 and 67, and the regulating portion formed on the head holder 15 are provided. Since the regulated portion 69 that engages with the tape cassette 40 is provided, as described above, the ribbon cassette 50 is positioned with high accuracy when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30 and after the mounting. be able to.
[0030]
In particular, the regulating unit 40 and the regulated unit 69 move the printing mechanism 10 in a direction (backward) in which the ink ribbon 54 of the ribbon exposing unit 51 is separated from the tape 31 of the tape exposing unit 37 facing the thermal head 14. Since the position of the ribbon cassette 50 can be regulated by the position of the ribbon cassette 50, the lower end of the ink ribbon 54 does not interfere with the upper end of the tape 31 when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted, so that ribbon jam does not occur. Further, since the positional relationship between the tape 31 and the ink ribbon 54 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 is maintained at a constant positional relationship, the print quality does not change.
[0031]
Further, the outer peripheral wall of the main body 50a of the ribbon cassette 50 is configured to hardly contact the peripheral wall of the housing 36 of the tape cassette 30, and the sliding between the positioning pins 38 and 39 and the engaging holes 65 and 67 is performed. Since the dynamic resistance is small, the ribbon cassette 50 can be smoothly attached / detached with a small attaching / detaching force when attaching / detaching the ribbon cassette 50 to / from the tape cassette 30.
[0032]
The location, number, and structure of the positioning pins 38, 39, the engagement holes 65, 67, the columnar portions 66, 68, the restricting portion 40, the restricted portion 69, and the like can be appropriately changed, and are limited to the above embodiment. It is not done. In addition, it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
In the tape / ribbon composite cassette according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of guide portions separated from each other are provided on the tape cassette in order to guide and position the ribbon cassette relative to the tape cassette when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette. In addition, the ribbon cassette is provided with three guided portions that respectively engage with the plurality of guide portions, and when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette and after mounting, the plurality of guided portions and the guided portion are interposed. Thus, since the ribbon cassette is guided and positioned with respect to the tape cassette, the ribbon cassette can be positioned with high accuracy.
In particular, if the plurality of guide portions and the guided portions are formed to be elongated in the direction of attachment / detachment of the ribbon cassette, the contact area between the plurality of guide portions and the guided portions is reduced, and the sliding resistance when attaching / detaching the ribbon cassette is also reduced. And the detachability of the ribbon cassette is not impaired, and even if the sliding gap between the guide part and the guided part is set small, the sliding resistance does not increase so much. The size can be reduced to increase the positioning accuracy.
[0034]
Further, when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette mounted on the printer, the position of the ink ribbon on the ribbon exposed portion is regulated by the restricting portion provided on the printer main body in the direction in which the ink ribbon on the ribbon exposed portion is separated from the tape on the tape exposed portion. Since the regulating portion is formed on the ribbon cassette, the regulated portion formed on the ribbon cassette is exposed from the tape on the tape exposing portion by the regulating portion provided on the printer body when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette. Since the positions of the ink ribbons are regulated in the direction in which the ink ribbons are separated from each other, the lower end of the ink ribbon does not interfere with the lower end of the tape, so that the ink ribbon does not jam and the ribbon cassette can be mounted smoothly.
[0035]
According to the tape / ribbon combined cassette of the second aspect, the same effect as that of the first aspect is obtained, but the regulating portion comprises a vertically oriented projection formed on the head holder of the print head, and the regulated portion has the projection. Since the vertical direction engaging groove engages with the head holder, the restricting portion can be formed by effectively utilizing the head holder, so that the configuration for the restricting portion is simplified.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a label producing printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a printing mechanism and a tape / ribbon composite cassette of the printer.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tape cassette.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the tape / ribbon combined cassette.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a ribbon cassette and a head holder.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Label Making Printer 14 Thermal Head 15 Head Holder 30 Tape Cassette 31 Tape 37 Tape Exposure 38, 39 Positioning Pin 40 Regulator 50 Ribbon Cassette 51 Ribbon Exposed 54 Ink Ribbon 65, 67 Engagement Hole 66, 68 Column 69 Regulated part 350 Tape / ribbon composite cassette

Claims (2)

In a tape / ribbon combined cassette having a tape cassette containing a tape as a print medium and detachably mounted on a printer having a print head, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon and detachably mounted on the tape cassette. ,
With the tape / ribbon composite cassette attached to a printer, a tape exposure portion and a ribbon exposure portion for bringing the tape and the ink ribbon close to the print head are provided on the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette, respectively.
In order to guide and position the ribbon cassette when mounting the ribbon cassette, the tape cassette is provided with a plurality of guide portions separated from each other, and the ribbon cassette is provided with a plurality of guided portions respectively engaging with the plurality of guide portions. And
When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette mounted on the printer, the position of the ink ribbon on the ribbon exposed portion is regulated by the restricting portion provided on the printer main body in the direction in which the ink ribbon on the ribbon exposed portion is separated from the tape on the tape exposed portion. Part was formed in the ribbon cassette,
A combined tape and ribbon cassette. 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the restricting portion includes a vertical protrusion formed on a head holder of the print head, and the regulated portion includes a vertical engaging groove that engages with the protrusion. 3. Tape ribbon composite cassette.

Images