JP3898359B2 - Tape storage cassette for printing - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing tape cassette containing a magnetic tape for printing that is used by being mounted on a printing apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, office equipment (or household stationery) commonly called a tape printer or a label printer for printing on a tape has been marketed and widely used.
[0003]
FIG. 5 schematically shows the configuration of such a printing tape and the internal configuration of the tape printer. As shown in FIG. 1, the tape printer 1 feeds a long printing tape 2 to a printing section where the platen roll 3 and the thermal head 4 are in pressure contact with each other, and the ink ribbon 5 is fed from a supply roll 6 to a take-up roll 7. While being wound around, the thermal head 4 prints on the tape-like paper 2 as a “tape printer”, for example. This is cut into a predetermined length by the cutters 8a and 8b, and a tape (or label) 9 as shown in a circle A in the figure is created.
[0004]
The above-mentioned printing tape 2 is supplied as a tape-shaped printing paper in a state in which a release paper 9c is laminated on a printing layer 9a via an adhesive layer 9b, as shown by a label 9 in an enlarged circle in the figure. As shown in the figure, a desired print is applied and cut out to a predetermined length. The release paper 9c of the label 9 is peeled off and removed and fixed to a desired symmetrical object by the adhesive layer 9b.
[0005]
Conventionally, such a printed label cannot be easily peeled off by being firmly bonded once it is attached to an object. That is, it is not designed to peel it off and put it back on again.
[0006]
In recent years, a sheet-like magnet material is known. The magnet sheet is cut into an appropriate size, and an appropriate content is written with a sign pen, for example, and this is attached to a white board (iron plate) or other magnetic material. Therefore, a proposal has been made to print and use such a magnetic sheet with a tape printer (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-64743).
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in order to scrutinize the gazette, no particular pursuit has been made for specific application to tape printers that have been put into practical use in recent years, and no suggestion has been expressed.
[0008]
Generally, a commercially available tape printer has a form in which a tape body is housed in a cassette and used for printing, and is a small portable device as a whole. For this reason, the tape transport path is also configured in a complicated manner for miniaturization. Therefore, simply incorporating the technical idea described in the above publication into a tape printer of a type that is currently widely available and used, It is not something that can be put into practical use immediately. In order to apply a magnetic tape to a tape printer, it is necessary to fully consider the thickness and magnetic force of the tape.
[0009]
Here, when the inventor of the present application applied a magnetic tape to a commercially available tape printer and performed a test for practical use, the magnetized layer of the magnetic tape is composed of a rubber-like member. It has been found that there is a problem that there is no waist as a whole, and thus the posture during conveyance becomes unstable, resulting in print misalignment.
[0010]
That is, first, when producing a magnetic tape as a printing tape, a magnetic sheet (magnetic material sheet) is first prepared or an existing one is purchased and processed into a tape shape. . Usually, this magnet sheet has a direction (orientation) called a magnetized wire in which the S and N poles of the magnet are alternately adjacent to each other and are provided with a certain width.
[0011]
When processing this magnet sheet into a tape shape, pay attention to the above-mentioned magnetized wire, if you do not process it, the completed magnetic tape is wound around a tape reel and stored in a printing tape storage cassette for printing. Trouble occurs when trying to execute.
[0012]
Fig. 6 (a) is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a prototype magnetic tape that is small-wound on a tape reel. Fig. 6 (b) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the n-th winding for easy understanding. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing only the three layers of the lower (n−1) th and upper n + 1th windings. As shown in FIG. 2A, in this example, the entire tape is formed such that the direction (direction) of the magnetized wire of the magnet tape 10 coincides with the width direction of the magnet tape 10. FIG. 2B shows a problem that may occur in this case.
[0013]
That is, as described above, since the direction (direction) of the magnetized wire of the magnetic tape 10 is oriented in the width direction of the magnetic tape 10, the winding diameter of the magnetic tape 10 wound around the tape reel differs depending on the winding layer. For this reason, the magnetic poles of the magnetic tape 10 that overlap in the vertical direction are the same or different, and are not constant. In other words, as shown in FIG. 5B, a certain part is drawn to the left (see the left-pointing arrow of the nth winding in FIG. 10B), and a certain part is drawn to the right (see FIG. ) N + 1 turn right arrow), and some parts try to stick to the center of the winding (see n + 1 turn down arrow in the same figure (b)), and some part is away from the winding part Try to do (see the up arrow for n + 1 turns in Fig. 2 (b)).
[0014]
For this reason, when the magnetic tape 10 is pulled out from the printing tape storage cassette mounted on the tape printer and supplied to the printing unit, the back tension varies and the force required to pull out the magnetic tape fluctuates. For this reason, the conveyance of the magnetic tape 10 becomes unstable, causing a problem that good printing cannot be performed.
[0015]
In view of the above-described conventional situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing tape storage cassette that realizes printing on a magnetic tape without hindrance.
[0016]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The configuration of the printing tape storage cassette of the present invention will be described below.
Print tape storage cassette of the present invention, the elongated printing medium wound in a hold reel, accommodates an ink ribbon, with detachably mounted to the mounting portion of the printer, the printing A printing tape storage cassette in which the printing medium and the ink ribbon are conveyed to a thermal head of the printing apparatus by the apparatus, and the ink of the ink ribbon is thermally transferred to the printing medium. The medium is a magnetic tape having a magnetic layer in which a magnetic material is dispersed and magnetized, and the magnetic tape is magnetized in a direction along a longitudinal direction which is a direction conveyed by the printing apparatus, and the ink ribbon Is formed by forming a non-magnetic ink on a substrate .
[0017]
Further, for example, as described in claim 2, a printing ink ribbon formed by forming a nonmagnetic ink on a base material is further provided.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the magnetic layer of the magnetic printing tape. The printed surface of the magnetic printing tape 12 shown in FIG. 2 is formed on a polyester-based surface in order to improve the printability (ink acceptability) on the surface (lower surface in the drawing) of a film layer 13 such as a PET resin of about 38 μm. A surface treatment layer 14 made of the above resin is formed by coating.
[0020]
The back surface (upper surface in the drawing) of the magnetic printing tape 12 is made of, for example, a resin such as polyethylene chloride or a rubber polymer such as natural rubber, neoprene, isoprene, NBR (nitrol butadiene rubber), SBR (styrene butadiene rubber) or the like. A 100 to 300 μm sheet-like magnetic layer 15 in which a ferromagnetic powder such as magnetite, ferrite, cobalt oxide or the like is mixed is bonded to the back surface of the resin film layer 13 via an acrylic adhesive layer 16. Has been.
[0021]
The magnetic layer 15 itself may be formed in advance in a sheet shape, cut out as a magnetic printing tape, and adhered to the back surface of the resin film layer 13 with the acrylic adhesive layer 16. For example, as a resin-based magnetic tape, a composite resin magnet material using a thermoplastic resin such as nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene chloride, or vinyl acetate as a binder can be used.
[0022]
That is, these are heated and rolled with a rolling roller or the like, and a magnetic tape is formed by blending the magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic powder contained therein in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface. As the strong magnetic substance powder, known powders such as ferrite powder such as Ba ferrite and Sr ferrite, alnico magnet (Fe—Cr—Co) based magnet powder, rare earth cobalt magnet powder, rare earth iron magnet powder and the like can be used. .
[0023]
More specifically, for example, a polyamide resin having a melt viscosity of 30 to 50 poise at 200 ° C. and 80 to 90% by weight of barium ferrite powder and 0.1 to 1% by weight of zinc stearate or polyethylene wax are added. Is heated to 150 to 180 ° C., kneaded, rolled to a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5, and immediately after rolling, a 10,000 Oersted orientation magnetic field is applied by a magnetizer, and this is cooled to reduce the magnetic force. A sheet can be obtained. As the surface magnetic flux density of this magnetic sheet, 700 to 1600 G (Gauss) is obtained, and any of them can be used as the magnetic tape for printing of the present invention.
[0024]
Magnetized wires 18 with a spacing of 2 mm are formed on the magnetized surface 17 of the magnetic layer 15 of the magnetic printing tape 12. The magnetic printed tape 12 has the direction of the magnetized wires 18 in the direction of the tape. It is formed so as to coincide with the longitudinal direction.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic printing tape 12 is wound around a tape reel 21 and stored in a tape cassette 22 (printing tape storage cassette). The tape cassette 22 shown in the figure has a magnetic printing tape 12 wound around a tape reel 21 and an ink ribbon 24 having a non-magnetic ink layer formed around an ink ribbon reel 23.
[0026]
The magnetic printing tape 12 and the ink ribbon 24 are overlapped and passed through the opening of the recess 25 formed in the upper part of the tape cassette 22. Then, the printed portion of the magnetic printing tape 12 is drawn to the right outside the tape cassette 22, and the used portion 24 ′ of the ink ribbon 24 is taken up by the ribbon take-up reel 27.
[0027]
The ink ribbon 24 excludes mixing of magnetic metal powder or the like into the ink and binder. That is, the ink ribbon that has been widely used so far generally uses an iron oxide (magnetic material) -based pigment to prevent shining, but in this embodiment, there is a problem of blurring of printing. In order to solve this problem, priority is given to demagnetization, and pigments of such a magnetic system are deleted and a colorant is mixed.
[0028]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a finished product in which a side lid 26 is attached to the tape cassette 22 and a tape printer used by mounting the tape cassette 22. As shown in the figure, the tape printer 30 includes a key input unit 32 below the upper surface of the housing 31. The key input unit 32 includes a cursor key, a format setting key, a print key, a cancel key, a function key, and a print. A plurality of operation keys 33 including a magnification key, a capital letter / small letter selection key, a shift key, a single kanji key, a conversion key, a non-conversion key, an execution key, a character input key that combines kana input and alphanumeric input, and the like are provided. .
[0029]
In addition, a display unit 34 made of a liquid crystal display device is disposed on the upper left of the key input unit 32, and a tape cassette storage unit 35 is formed on the right side thereof. In the figure, the tape cassette housing portion 35 is shown with the lid member of the tape printer 30 removed so that the inside can be seen. In the tape cassette housing portion 35, a thermal head 36 is disposed so as to be rotatable up and down, and a platen roller 37 is urged toward the thermal head 36 so as to face the thermal head 36.
[0030]
A guide plate 38, a tape reel support pin 39, an ink ribbon winding drive shaft 41, and a tape cutter 42 (42a, 42b) are disposed so as to surround the thermal head 36. A tape discharge port 43 is formed on the right side of the tape cutter 42.
[0031]
When the tape cassette 22 is stored in the tape cassette storage portion 35, the tape reel support pin 39 engages with the reel hole 21 in the tape cassette 22 around which the magnetic printing tape 12 is wound. The ink ribbon take-up drive shaft 41 is engaged with the ink ribbon take-up reel hole 22.
[0032]
Further, when the tape cassette 22 is mounted in the tape cassette housing portion 35 in this way, the tip of the magnetic printing tape 12 is pinched with a finger and inserted into the slit of the tape discharge port 43, and the printing location is connected to the thermal head 36. It is inserted into the gap facing the platen roller 37 to set the initial mounting state.
[0033]
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the tape cassette 22 containing the magnetic printing tape 12 is mounted in the cassette housing portion 35 of the tape printer 30. In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS.
[0034]
As shown in FIG. 4, when the tape cassette 22 is mounted in the cassette housing portion 35, the thermal head 36 of the tape printer 30 is inserted under the magnetic printing tape 12 and the ink ribbon 24 passed through the recess 34. A platen roller 37 is disposed so as to face the thermal head 36 and sandwich the magnetic printing tape 12 and the ink ribbon 24 with the thermal head 36. Hereinafter, the operation of the tape printer 30 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0035]
4, when printing is instructed by the operation key 33 from the key input unit 32 shown in FIG. 3, the tape printer 30 is driven from a drive system (not shown) and the thermal head 36 rotates upward. A heating element disposed at the tip of the heating element is pressed against the platen roller 37 via the ink ribbon 24 and the magnetic printing tape 12. As a result, the ink ribbon 24 and the magnetic printing tape 12 are pressed and sandwiched between the platen roller 37 and the thermal head 36.
[0036]
The magnetic printing tape 12 and the ink ribbon 24 are conveyed along with the rotation of the platen roller 37 in the conveying direction while being guided by the guide plate 38. The thermal head 36 generates heat from the heating element array in accordance with image information (printing information), and thermally transfers the ink on the ink ribbon 24 onto the printing surface of the magnetic printing tape 12.
[0037]
Here, even if the magnetic printing tape 12 wound in a small volume on the tape reel 21 is wound with the winding diameter of each layer sequentially increasing, that is, the length of the tape due to the difference in winding diameter between the upper and lower winding layers. Even if there is a deviation in the direction, since the upper and lower magnetic poles of the wound layer are the same as described above, there is no difference in magnetic force depending on the location. That is, back tension variation does not occur.
[0038]
Therefore, when pulling out the magnetic printing tape 12 from the tape cassette 22 to the printing unit, the force required for the pulling does not vary due to variations in back tension. That is, the platen roller 37 can perform stable conveyance, and the magnetic printing tape 12 is conveyed while maintaining a stable and correct posture.
[0039]
As a result, proper printing (transfer) without any problems such as misalignment is performed, and the printed portion 12 ′ of the magnetic printing tape 12 passes through the tape cutter 42 and is fed out from the tape discharge port 43. The printed portion 12 ′ fed out to an appropriate length from the tape outlet 43 is cut off by the tape cutter 42 (42 a, 42 b).
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the printing tape provided with the magnetic layer is accommodated in the tape cassette, it is possible to easily print the label tape with the back surface magnet, Since the tape is made so that the direction of the magnetization line of the magnetic layer coincides with the longitudinal direction of the tape, the back tension when pulling out the magnetic printing tape wound around the tape reel to the printing part is constant and there is no variation Therefore, it is possible to perform stable conveyance while pulling out the magnetic printing tape with a constant force, and thereby it is possible to perform good printing without problems such as misalignment.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printing tape storage cassette according to an embodiment with a side cover removed.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a magnetic layer of a magnetic printing tape accommodated in a printing tape storage cassette according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a completed product in which a side cover is attached to the tape cassette and a tape printer used by mounting the tape cassette in the embodiment;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the tape cassette according to the embodiment in a state where the tape cassette is mounted on the tape printer.
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a conventional printing tape and the internal configuration of a tape printer.
FIG. 6A is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a prototype magnetic tape that is slightly wound on a tape reel, and FIG. 6B is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the n−1, n and n + 1 turns. It is a figure which takes out and shows only 3 layers of eyes.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conventional tape printer 2 Conventional printing tape 3 Platen roll 4 Thermal head 5 Ink ribbon 6 Supply roll 7 Winding roll 8a, 8b Cutter 9 Tape (or label)
9a Printing layer 9b Adhesive layer 9c Release paper 10 Prototype magnetic tape 12 Magnetic printing tape 13 Resin film layer 14 Surface treatment layer 15 Magnetic layer 16 Acrylic adhesive layer 17 Magnetized surface 18 Magnetized wire 21 Tape reel (reel hole)
22 Tape cassette (printing tape storage cassette)
23 Ink ribbon reel 24 Ink ribbon 25 Cassette recess 26 Cassette side cover 27 Ribbon take-up reel (reel hole)
30 Tape Printer 31 Housing 32 Key Input Unit 33 Operation Key 34 Display Unit 35 Tape Cassette Storage Unit 36 Thermal Head 37 Platen Roller 38 Guide Plate 39 Tape Reel Support Pin 41 Ink Ribbon Rewind Drive Shaft 42 (42a, 42b) Tape Cutter 43 Tape outlet

Claims (1)

And elongated printing medium wound in a hold reel, accommodates an ink ribbon, with detachably mounted to the mounting portion of the printer, the ink ribbon and the printing medium by the printing device And a tape storage cassette for printing in which the ink of the ink ribbon is thermally transferred to the printing medium by being conveyed to the thermal head of the printing apparatus ,
The medium to be printed is a magnetic tape having a magnetic layer in which a magnetic material is dispersed and magnetized, and the magnetic tape is magnetized in a direction along a longitudinal direction which is a direction conveyed by the printing device ,
The printing tape storage cassette, wherein the ink ribbon is formed by forming a non-magnetic ink on a base material .

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