JP3601180B2 - Printer ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cassette of an ink ribbon cassette used in a printer for printing an information recording image such as a video image as a hard copy, that is, a so-called color photograph, and particularly to a bearing mechanism of a spool shaft on which an ink ribbon is wound. It is concerned.
[0002]
[Prior art]
This type of conventional ink ribbon cassette will be described with reference to FIG.
The ink ribbon cassette includes an ink ribbon unit 1 and a cassette housing 4 formed of a plastic material including a lower half 2 and an upper half 3 in which the ink ribbon unit 1 is housed.
[0003]
The ink ribbon unit 1 has a ribbon supply spool shaft 6 around which an unused ink ribbon 5 is wound, and a ribbon take-up spool shaft 7 for winding up a used ink ribbon. One end of each of the spool shafts 6 and 7 is provided with drive shafts 8 and 9 that are driven to rotate by a drive shaft of a printer device (not shown), and the other end is provided with driven shafts 10 and 11. In the case of color printing, the ink ribbon 5 is formed by repeating a Y color (yellow) patch, an M color (magenta) patch, and a C color (cyan) patch (not shown).
[0004]
On the other hand, the lower half 2 of the cassette housing 4 has a substantially boat shape, and driving end bearings 12 and 13 having circular bearing holes 12a and 13a opened at one end thereof are provided. On the other end of the lower half 2, driven-side bearings 14 and 15 having U-shaped shaft grooves 14 a and 15 a are formed at positions facing the driving-side shafts 12 and 13, and the driven-side bearings 14 are formed. , 15 are provided behind spring holders 16,16. In addition, a large opening window 24 is formed on the bottom surface of the lower half 2.
[0005]
In the above-described ink ribbon unit 1, the drive shaft portions 8, 9 of the spool shafts 6, 7 are rotatably supported by the bearing holes 12a, 13a of the drive bearing portions 12, 13 of the lower half 2, and the driven shaft portions. 10 and 11 are rotatably supported by the shaft grooves 14 a and 15 a of the driven side bearing portions 14 and 15 of the lower half 2.
[0006]
At this time, the driven side bearing portions 14 and 15 are spring-supported by spool press spring members 18 and 18 accommodated in the spring holders 16 and 16. Hereinafter, one of the spool pressing spring members 18 will be described with reference to an enlarged view shown in FIG. 5. The spool pressing spring member 18 is integrally formed from a single wire-like member having a high elastic restoring force and fixed to the bottom of the lower half 2. The left and right pair of arched bent portions 19, 19, the shaft holding portions 21, 21, each having a semicircular shape, are raised right and left through the curved portions 20, 20, and the ends have inverted C-shaped spring ends. Parts 22, 22 are formed.
[0007]
The above-mentioned spool pressing spring members 18 are fixed in advance in the spring holders 16, and the driven shaft portions 10, 11 are positioned and pushed into the shaft grooves 14 a, 15 a of the driven bearing portions 14, 15. The spring ends 22, 22 are pushed open to the left and right, and the shaft holding portions 21, 21 are driven to support the driven shaft portions 10, 11. As a result, the driven shaft portions 10 and 11 are prevented from coming off, and the spool shafts 6 and 7 are spring-biased toward the drive shaft portions 8 and 9. FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the driven side shaft portion 10 in a bearing state. In the bearing state, the reduced diameter portion 10a of the driven-side shaft portion 10 is supported by the shaft holding portions 21 and 21. The end surfaces of the spring ends 22 and 22 are in pressure contact with the inner wall surface of the spring holder 16.
[0008]
After the ink ribbon unit 1 is accommodated in the lower half 2 in this manner, the upper half 3 is joined to the lower half 2 having the driven-side bearing portions 14 and 15 by the engaging members 23 and 23. The ink ribbon 5 crossing between the spool shafts 6 and 7 is exposed at the opening window 24 of the lower half 2.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the case where the above-described spool pressing spring member 18 is used for the ink ribbon cassette, as shown in FIG. When the ink ribbon cassette is loaded into a printer (not shown), the ink is transferred to the drive shafts 8 and 9 of the ink ribbon unit 1 when the drive shaft of the printer is engaged with the ink ribbon cassette. The entire ribbon unit is pushed out to the driven shaft portions 10 and 11 side. At this time, since the spool pressing spring member 18 receives the operation of being compressed, the end surfaces of the spring end portions 22, 22 scratch the inner wall surfaces of the spring holders 16, 16. The generation of the scratches 25 causes the end faces of the spring ends 22, 22 to again rub the inner wall surfaces of the spring holders 16, 16 due to the restoration of the spool pressing spring member 18 even when the cassette is removed from the printer.
[0010]
For this reason, if the wall of the spring holder 16 is deeply damaged due to the repeated insertion and removal of the ink ribbon cassette, the original shape of the spool pressing spring member 18 changes, and the bearing state of the driven side shaft portion becomes unstable, or The cutting chips generated from the spring holder 16 have an undesired effect on the mechanism of the printer.
[0011]
The spool pressing spring member 18 has left and right semicircular shaft holding portions 21 and 21 for rotatably bearing the driven side shaft portions 10 and 11. The shaft holding portions 21 and 21 prevent the driven side shaft portions 10 and 11 from slipping out and falling of the driven side shaft portions into the U-shaped shaft grooves 14a and 15a.
[0012]
However, in the mass production process of the spool pressing spring member 18, the shaping of the shaft holding portions 21, 21 in semicircular shapes requires a processing time, which causes a cost increase.
[0013]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and it is possible to prevent a cassette housing from being scratched by a spool pressing spring member and to form a spool pressing spring member at low cost. To obtain an ink ribbon cassette.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an ink ribbon cassette of a printer according to the present invention includes a ribbon supply spool shaft on which an unused ink ribbon is wound and a ribbon winding spool shaft for winding a used ink ribbon, which are separated from a cassette housing. It has a U-shaped bearing portion that accommodates in a state and rotatably bears a driving side shaft portion at one end side of the spool shaft and a driven side shaft portion at the other end side rotatably, In an ink ribbon cassette of a printer having a spool pressing spring member for holding a driven side shaft portion and spring-biasing a spool shaft toward a driving side shaft portion, a parallel type of holding the driven side shaft portion from right and left by a spool pressing spring member. A pair of shaft holding portions, a stopper portion integrally bent inward at an upper portion of the shaft holding portion to prevent removal of the driven side shaft portion, The distal end portion of the spring end which projects outwardly is obtained a round shape curved surface portion.
[0015]
With this configuration, the spool pressing spring member can be formed at a low cost, and the rounded curved surface portion formed at the distal end allows the housing surface to be scratched even when it comes into frictional contact with the cassette housing. Occurrence can be prevented.
[0016]
Further, the curved surface portion is configured to abut against an inner wall surface of a spring holder provided behind the bearing portion. As a result, the spool pressing spring member expands and contracts, and the rounded curved surface portion comes into frictional contact with the inner wall surface of the spring holder, so that it is possible to prevent abrasion of the inner wall surface of the holder.
[0017]
Further, the spool pressing spring member was constituted by a wire-like member having a circular cross section and high elastic restoring force as a whole. Thereby, the forming process of the spool pressing spring member can be easily performed, and the spool pressing spring member with high productivity can be manufactured.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spool press spring member used in the present invention, and the same parts as those of the conventional spool press spring member 18 described with reference to FIG.
[0019]
The spool pressing spring member 18 is integrally formed from a single wire-like member having a high elastic restoring force, and is formed from a pair of left and right arched bent portions 19, 19 via shaft portions 20, 20. , 26 are raised, and stoppers 27, 27 having narrow spaces bent inward are provided above the shaft holding portions 26, 26. Then, spring ends 28, 28 extend from the stoppers 27, 27 in an inverted C-shape, and the distal ends of the spring ends 28, 28 are bent into rounded curved surfaces 29, 29. I have.
[0020]
The spool pressing spring member 18 according to the present invention is configured as described above, and the following description will be made on the driven side shaft portion 10 side of the ribbon supply spool shaft shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. By being fixed in advance and positioning the driven-side shaft portion 10 in the driven-side bearing portion 14 and pushing it in from above, the spring ends 28, 28 are pushed open left and right, pass through the stopper portions 27, 27, and are driven by the driven-side shaft portion. 10 is received in a U-shaped shaft groove 14a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the reduced diameter portion 10a of the driven side shaft portion 10 is supported by the shaft holding portions 26, 26 parallel to the left and right, and the driven side shaft portion 10 is pulled out by the stopper portions 27, 27. It is prevented and the bearing is stably supported. In addition, the curved surfaces 29, 29 at the distal ends of the spring ends 28, 28 are in pressure contact with the inner wall surface of the spring holder 16.
[0021]
Thus, when the ink ribbon cassette is loaded in the printer (not shown) and the ribbon supply spool shaft is pushed out to the driven side shaft portion 10, even if the spool pressing spring member 18 is subjected to the operation of being compressed, the spring end portions 28, 28 are not affected. Since the distal end is formed on the curved surface portions 29, 29, the curved surface portions 29, 29 slide on the inner wall surfaces of the spring holders 16, 16 and do not scratch as in the prior art. In addition, even when the cassette is removed from the printer, the curved curved portions 29, 29 slide on the inner wall surfaces of the spring holders 16, 16 again due to the restoration of the spool pressing spring member 18.
[0022]
Therefore, even if the ink ribbon cassette is repeatedly taken in and out, the wall surface of the spring holder 16 is not damaged at all, and the curved surface portions 29, 29 slide on the wall surface of the spring holder 16 with low friction. Therefore, the durability of the spool pressing spring member 18 itself is also improved. Therefore, the bearing state of the driven side shaft portion 10 can be stably maintained without any change in the original shape of the spool pressing spring member 18, and the chip of the printer is cut by chips generated by scratches as in the related art. It does not affect the mechanism.
[0023]
In addition, the spool pressing spring member 18 does not need to process the left and right semicircular shaft holding portions as in the conventional example for bearing the driven side shaft portion, and the original U-shape on the cassette housing side. Since it has a simple configuration in which the stopper portions 27, 27 for preventing slippage are formed using the shaft groove, the molding cost can be reduced.
[0024]
In addition, since the spool pressing spring member 18 is entirely formed of a wire-like member having a circular cross section and a high elastic restoring force, the forming of the spool pressing spring member 18 can be easily performed, and the spool pressing spring with high mass productivity is inexpensive. A spring member can be manufactured.
[0025]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0026]
In the embodiment, the case where the shaft holding portions 26, 26 of the spool pressing spring member 18 are configured to be parallel to the left and right and the curved end portions 29, 29 are provided at the distal ends of the spring ends 28, 28 has been described. Even if only the curved surface portions 29, 29 are provided at the distal ends of the spring ends 28, 28, and the shaft holding portion has a structure in which semicircular shaft holding portions are provided on the left and right similarly to the conventional example. Good.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the ink ribbon cassette of the printer according to the present invention includes a pair of parallel shaft holding portions that hold the driven side shaft portion from the left and right following the spool pressing spring member, and is integrally formed inward on the upper portion of the shaft holding portion. The spool press spring member is provided with a bent stopper portion for preventing the driven side shaft portion from being pulled out, and a rounded curved surface portion at a tip end of a spring end portion protruding outward from the stopper portion. It enables mass production and can be formed at low cost. In addition, since the curved end portion is formed at the spring end of the spool pressing spring member, the spool pressing spring member slides on the wall surface of the cassette housing with low friction, so that the durability of the spool pressing spring member itself can be improved. Further, there is an effect that scratches are prevented from being generated on the cassette housing, and chips do not affect the mechanism of the printer.
[0028]
In addition, since the curved surface portion abuts against the inner wall surface of the spring holder provided behind the bearing portion, the expansion and contraction operation of the spool pressing spring member can be reduced, so that the occurrence of scratches on the inner wall surface of the holder can be prevented. The powder does not affect the mechanism of the printer.
[0029]
In addition, since the spool press spring member is entirely made of a wire-like member having a circular cross section and high elastic restoring force, the spool press spring member can be easily formed, and a spool press spring member with high productivity can be manufactured. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spool pressing spring member according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a spool shaft in a bearing state using a spool pressing spring member of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a bearing state of the spool shaft.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a separated state of an ink ribbon cassette having a conventional spool pressing spring member.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional spool pressing spring member.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a bearing state of a spool shaft using a conventional spool pressing spring member.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink ribbon unit, 2 lower half, 3 upper half, 4 cassette housings, 6 ribbon supply spool shaft, 7 ribbon take-up spool shaft, 10, 11 driven side shaft portion, 14, 15 drive side bearing portion, 14a, 15a U-shaped shaft groove, 16 spring holder, 18 spool pressing spring member, 26 shaft holding portion, 27 stopper portion, 28 spring end portion, 29 curved surface portion

Claims (3)

A ribbon supply spool shaft around which an unused ink ribbon is wound and a ribbon take-up spool shaft which winds up a used ink ribbon are housed in the cassette housing in a separated state, and a drive shaft portion at one end of each of the spool shafts. A rotatable bearing portion and a U-shaped bearing portion rotatably bearing the driven shaft portion at the other end, sandwiching the driven shaft portion, and connecting the spool shaft to the drive side shaft. In an ink ribbon cassette of a printer having a spool pressing spring member for biasing a spring toward a portion,
A pair of parallel shaft holding portions for holding the driven shaft portion from the left and right by the spool pressing spring member, and the upper portion of the shaft holding portion is integrally bent inward to prevent the driven side shaft portion from being pulled out. An ink ribbon cassette for a printer, comprising: a stopper portion for performing the operation; and a curved end portion at an end of a spring end projecting outward from the stopper portion. The ink ribbon cassette of the printer according to claim 1,
An ink ribbon cassette for a printer according to claim 1, wherein said curved surface portion abuts against an inner wall surface of a spring holder provided behind a bearing portion of said driven shaft portion. The ink ribbon cassette of the printer according to claim 1,
An ink ribbon cassette for a printer, wherein the spool pressing spring member is entirely formed of a wire having a circular cross section and a high elastic restoring force.

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