JP3719223B2 - Ribbon cartridge for recording apparatus and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ribbon cartridge of a recording apparatus that records an image on a sheet by causing a recording wire of a recording head to protrude and depositing ink of an ink ribbon on the sheet, and a recording apparatus including the ribbon cartridge.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the recording apparatus, while the recording head travels in the axial direction of the platen, a plurality of recording wires in the recording head are struck onto a sheet positioned on the front peripheral surface of the platen via an ink ribbon, and an image is applied to the sheet There is a dot impact printer that records.
[0003]
The ink ribbon is accommodated in a carriage mounted with a recording head or in a ribbon cartridge that is detachably attached to the frame body. FIG. 7 shows a ribbon cartridge 100 mounted on the frame body.
[0004]
On the other hand, in the printer described above, a control board unit is disposed at the rear of a printing apparatus main body including a print head and a platen, and the control board unit and the print head are connected by a flexible flat cable (FFC). A recording signal is transmitted from the control board unit to the recording head via the flexible flat cable.
[0005]
The flexible flat cable is bent in a U-shape between the portion held by the frame and the recording head, but the bent portion does not vibrate as the recording head travels. Guided by pressure contact. Thereby, the said bending part of a flexible flat cable will not swell beyond a fixed value, and the vibration is suppressed.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Incidentally, reinforcing ribs 101 are integrally formed on the back surface of the ribbon cartridge 100 shown in FIG. 7 in order to increase its rigidity. However, the reinforcing rib 101 is not formed in consideration of a flexible flat cable. For this reason, when the reinforcing rib 101 is formed at a position corresponding to the flexible flat cable, the bent portion 102 of the flexible flat cable comes into sliding contact with the reinforcing rib 101 during the running of the recording head, and this bent portion. There is a concern that the wear of the flexible flat cable may deteriorate due to wear of 102.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and provides a ribbon cartridge for a recording apparatus that suppresses wear of a recording signal transmission cable connected to a recording head and improves its durability. There is to do.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the recording head is connected to the control board unit, and the recording head side of the recording signal transmission cable for transmitting the recording signal from the control board unit to the recording head is press-contacted. In a ribbon cartridge of a recording apparatus that is mounted on a main body and stores an ink ribbon therein, a reinforcing rib that reinforces the ribbon cartridge is formed on a surface that contacts the transmission cable. The transmission cable is characterized in that it is formed on both sides in the width direction of the transmission cable along the transmission cable in order to regulate the deflection in the width direction of the transmission cable.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the reinforcing rib is formed along a region where the recording signal transmission cable contacts.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the ink of the ink ribbon is printed on the basis of a recording signal transmitted from the recording substrate unit via a recording signal transmission cable connected between the recording head and the control substrate unit. In a recording apparatus that records an image on a sheet attached to the sheet, the ink ribbon is stored in a ribbon cartridge mounted on the recording apparatus main body, and the ribbon cartridge is stored in the recording signal transmission cable. A pressing rib is formed on the surface of the ribbon cartridge that contacts the cable, and a reinforcing rib that reinforces the ribbon cartridge is formed on the surface of the ribbon cartridge, and the reinforcing rib regulates the deflection of the transmission cable in the width direction. Therefore, it is characterized in that it is formed on both sides in the width direction of the transmission cable along the transmission cable.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the reinforcing rib in the ribbon cartridge is formed along a region where the recording signal transmitting cable contacts. .
[0012]
The inventions according to claims 1 to 4 have the following effects.
[0013]
In the ribbon cartridge, a reinforcing rib for reinforcing the ribbon cartridge is formed on the contact surface of the recording signal transmission cable, and the reinforcing rib is used to regulate the deflection in the width direction of the transmission cable. Since the cable is formed on both sides of the transmission cable in the width direction along the transmission cable, the cable does not come into contact with the reinforcing rib, so that the wear of the recording signal transmission cable can be suppressed. Durability can be improved.
[0014]
Further, since the reinforcing rib is formed on the ribbon cartridge, the rigidity of the ribbon cartridge can be increased.
[0015]
In addition, since the reinforcing ribs are formed on both sides in the width direction of the cable along the recording signal transmission cable, the reinforcing rib serves as a restricting member, and the fluctuation in the width direction of the recording signal transmission cable. Can be prevented.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0020]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer main body of a dot impact printer to which an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer main body of FIG.
[0021]
The printer 10 as the recording apparatus shown in these drawings strikes a large number of recording wires (not shown) of the recording head 18 against the sheet S via the ink ribbon 31 to record dots, thereby displaying an image including characters. This is a dot impact printer for recording. Here, the sheet S is a passbook, a postcard, an envelope or the like in addition to plain paper such as cut paper or continuous paper. In particular, the cut paper includes single copy paper, and the continuous paper includes continuous copy paper.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 includes a printer main body 11 as a recording apparatus main body, a push tractor unit 12 and a discharge unit 13 that are detachably attached to the printer main body 11, and can also be detachably attached to the printer main body 11. 2, and an upper case and a lower case (not shown) that respectively cover the upper and lower portions of the printer main body 11.
[0023]
The printer main body 11 includes a base frame 14 as a main body frame, a sheet guide frame 15 (FIG. 2), a left side frame 16 and a right side frame 17, a printing mechanism unit 20 including a recording head 18 and a carriage 19, and a platen. 21 and a sheet conveying mechanism 23 having a sheet guide 22 and a pinch roller 25 (FIG. 2).
[0024]
The base frame 14 and the seat guide frame 15 are arranged substantially in parallel as shown in FIG. 2, and the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 are erected on both ends of the base frame 14 and the seat guide frame 15, respectively. Fixed. As shown in FIG. 1, a carriage guide shaft 24 is bridged between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 so as to be pivotable, and a platen 21 is bridged so as to be rotatable. Has been. The seat guide 22 is disposed between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 and is fitted and fixed to the seat guide frame 15. In addition, a tractor unit mounting portion and a discharge unit mounting portion (not shown) to which the push tractor unit 12 and the discharge unit 13 can be mounted, respectively, are provided at the rear and upper portions of the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17, respectively. Yes.
[0025]
The push tractor unit 12 shown in FIG. 1 feeds continuous sheets as sheets S to the sheet transport mechanism 23, and the sheet supply guide 34 feeds single sheets as sheets S one by one (in the case of continuous cut sheets). Are fed to the sheet transport mechanism unit 23 one by one. The discharge unit 13 pulls out continuous paper or cut sheet paper from the sheet transport mechanism 23 to the outside of the printer 10.
[0026]
That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation of the tractor belt 26 of the push tractor unit 12 causes the continuous paper to be guided to the sheet guide 22 of the sheet transport mechanism 23 by the action of the pin 27 of the tractor belt 26. The sheet is fed in the direction of the arrow α toward the front of the platen 21 via a sheet conveyance path 28 formed between the sheet guide 22 and the platen 21. When the push tractor unit 12 is not in operation, the cut sheet paper can be supplied from the sheet supply guide 34 one by one (or one by one) to the front of the platen 21 via the sheet conveyance path 28. Further, as described later, the continuous paper or the cut sheet on which characters or the like are recorded by the recording head 18 is pulled out from the platen 21 of the sheet transport mechanism 23 in the direction of the arrow β by the rotation of the discharge roller 29 of the discharge unit 13. . As a result, the continuous sheet or cut sheet is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the later-described main scanning direction of the carriage 19.
[0027]
The carriage 19 shown in FIG. 1 is slidably inserted into the carriage guide shaft 24 and has a recording head 18 mounted thereon. Since the carriage guide shaft 24 is arranged in parallel with the platen 21, the carriage 19 is provided so as to be movable (running) in the main scanning direction that coincides with the axial directions of the platen 21 and the carriage guide shaft 24.
[0028]
By forward or reverse rotation of a carriage drive motor (not shown), the carriage 19 is guided to the carriage guide shaft 24 via the timing belt 30 (FIG. 2) and travels leftward or rightward in FIG. 1 in the main scanning direction.
[0029]
The recording head 18 includes a large number of recording wires, and an ink ribbon 31 is positioned in front of the protruding direction of these recording wires. While the recording head 18 travels in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 19, the recording wire protrudes and strikes the ink ribbon 31, and the ink on the ink ribbon 31 is conveyed between the platen 21 and the ink ribbon 31. An image including characters is recorded on the sheet S by being attached to the sheet S (continuous paper or cut paper).
[0030]
This recording operation by the recording head 18 is performed by recording one line by the recording wire of the recording head 18 while the carriage 19 travels leftward or rightward in the main scanning direction. When the sheet S is continuous paper, the platen 21, the push tractor unit 12 and the discharge unit 13 of the sheet conveying mechanism unit 23 shown in FIG. 2 are used. When the sheet S is cut sheet, the sheet conveying mechanism unit 23 is used. The platen 21, the pinch roller 25, and the discharge unit 13 each convey the sheet S by a predetermined amount (for the normal line interval), and these operations are repeated.
[0031]
2 is an opening formed between the base frame 14 and the sheet guide frame 15, and is a bottom sheet for supplying the sheet S from below the printer 10 into the sheet transport mechanism 23. Supply port.
[0032]
In addition, the drive control of the platen 21, the push tractor unit 12 and the discharge unit 13, the travel control of the carriage 19, and the control of the recording operation by the recording wire of the recording head 18 are controlled by a control board 33 (FIG. 2) as a control device. Is implemented. For example, the control board 33 is disposed below the sheet guide frame 15 behind the printer body 11.
[0033]
The control board 33 and the recording head 18 are connected by a flexible flat cable 36 (FFC) shown in FIG. 1 as a recording signal transmission cable. The flexible flat cable 36 extends from the control board 33 and is routed and attached to the main body frame (the seat guide frame 15, the left side frame 16 or the right side frame 17, and the base frame 14), and then attached to the base frame 14. A cable holder 37 is used to hold the cable holder 37 and the position from the cable holder 37 to the recording head 18 is bent into a U shape. A recording signal is transmitted from the control board 33 to the recording head 18 via the flexible flat cable 36, and the recording head 18 records an image on the sheet S based on the recording signal.
[0034]
Further, the ink ribbon 31 shown in FIG. 2 is accommodated in the ribbon cartridge 38 shown in FIGS. The ribbon cartridge 38 is detachably mounted between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 so as to face the base frame 14.
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 3, the back surface 38 </ b> A of the ribbon cartridge 38 has a U-shaped bent portion 39 extending to the recording head 18 side of the flexible flat cable 36, that is, the flexible flat cable 36. The cable 36 is pressed by the elasticity. By this pressure contact, the bent portion 39 of the flexible flat cable 36 is suppressed from bulging to a certain value or more, the vibration of the flexible flat cable 36 is prevented, and the fixed end portion with the recording head 18 is mainly broken. Is prevented.
[0036]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a reinforcing rib 40 for reinforcing the ribbon cartridge 38 is formed on the back surface 38 </ b> A of the ribbon cartridge 38 at a position away from the position where the flexible flat cable 36 contacts. Yes. That is, the reinforcing ribs 40 are integrally formed along the extending direction of the flexible flat cable 36 on both sides in the width direction of the flexible flat cable 36 on the back surface 38 </ b> A of the ribbon cartridge 38. Further, the reinforcing rib 40 is formed on the back surface 38 </ b> A of the ribbon cartridge 38 along a region W where the flexible flat cable 36 contacts when the recording head 18 runs along the carriage guide shaft 24.
[0037]
Therefore, according to the said embodiment, there exist the following effects (1)-(4).
[0038]
(1) The ribbon cartridge 38 is formed with a reinforcing rib 40 for reinforcing the ribbon cartridge 38 on the back surface 38A with which the flexible flat cable 36 contacts. The reinforcing rib 40 is formed in the width direction of the flexible flat cable 36. The flexible flat cable 36 is not in contact with the reinforcing rib 40 and is formed on the back surface 38A because the flexible flat cable 36 is formed on both sides in the width direction of the flexible flat cable 36 so as to regulate the deflection to the back surface 38A. Since the surface contact is made, the wear of the flexible flat cable 36 can be suppressed, and the durability of the flexible flat cable 36 can be improved.
[0039]
(2) Since the reinforcing rib 40 is formed on the ribbon cartridge 38, the rigidity of the ribbon cartridge 38 can be increased.
[0040]
(3) Since the reinforcing ribs 40 are formed on both sides in the width direction of the flexible flat cable 36 along the extending direction of the flexible flat cable 36, the reinforcing ribs 40 serve as restricting members and are flexible. The flat cable 36 can be prevented from shaking in the width direction. As a result, malfunction of a carriage drive motor (not shown) due to movement of the flexible flat cable 36 in the width direction can be prevented.
[0041]
(4) Measures for improving the durability of the flexible flat cable 36 against the pressing of the flexible flat cable 36 to the back surface 38A of the ribbon cartridge 38 are performed by changing the shape and position of the reinforcing rib 40 of the ribbon cartridge 38. Therefore, it is not necessary to take positive measures against the flexible flat cable 36. As a result, the cost for the flexible flat cable 36 can be reduced in order to improve the durability of the flexible flat cable 36.
[0042]
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to this.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
According to the ribbon cartridge of the recording apparatus according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, it is possible to suppress wear of the recording signal transmission cable connected to the recording head and improve its durability.
[0044]
According to the recording apparatus according to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to suppress wear of the recording signal transmission cable connected to the recording head and improve its durability.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer main body of a dot impact printer to which an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer main body of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow III in FIG.
4A is a front view showing the ribbon cartridge of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is a view taken along arrow IV of FIG. 4A.
5A is a rear view showing the ribbon cartridge of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5B is a side sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 5A.
6 is a perspective view showing the ribbon cartridge of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional ribbon cartridge.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Printer (recording device)
11 Printer body (recording device body)
18 Recording head 31 Ink ribbon 33 Control board part 36 Flexible flat cable 38 Ribbon cartridge 39 Bending part 40 Reinforcing rib S Sheet W area

Claims (4)

The recording head is connected to the control board unit, the recording head side of the recording signal transmission cable for transmitting a recording signal from the control board unit to the recording head is pressed into contact with the recording head, and the ink ribbon is mounted inside the recording apparatus main body. In the ribbon cartridge of the recording device for storing
A reinforcing rib that reinforces the ribbon cartridge is formed on a surface that contacts the transmitting cable, and the reinforcing rib is provided on the transmitting cable so as to restrict a swing in the width direction of the transmitting cable. A ribbon cartridge of the recording apparatus, wherein the ribbon cartridge is formed on both sides in the width direction of the transmission cable.   2. The ribbon cartridge for a recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing rib is formed along a region where the recording signal transmission cable contacts. Based on the recording signal transmitted from the recording substrate unit via the recording signal transmission cable connected between the recording head and the control substrate unit, the ink of the ink ribbon is attached to the sheet and applied to the sheet. In a recording device for recording images,
The ink ribbon is housed in a ribbon cartridge mounted on the recording apparatus main body, and the ribbon cartridge presses the recording head side of the recording signal transmission cable,
A reinforcing rib that reinforces the ribbon cartridge is formed on a surface of the ribbon cartridge that contacts the cable, and the reinforcing rib is used for the transmission cable in order to restrict the vibration of the transmitting cable in the width direction. A recording apparatus formed along the cable on both sides of the transmission cable in the width direction.   4. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the reinforcing rib in the ribbon cartridge is formed along a region where the recording signal transmission cable contacts.

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