JP4059282B2 - Cassette and tape printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cassette that accommodates a tape as a print medium in a tape spool and is detachably mounted on a printer having a print head, and a tape printer that mounts the cassette.

  The applicant of the present application has put into practical use a label printer (tape printer) suitable for producing a tape-like label. In order to enable multi-color printing in this printer for label production, A tape / ribbon composite cassette having a tape cassette that can be detachably mounted on a printer (tape printer) and a ribbon cassette that can store an ink ribbon and is detachably mounted on the tape cassette Yes. As the ribbon cassette, a plurality of types of ribbon cassettes each storing different color ribbons are applied.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 describes a tape / ribbon composite cassette similar to the above which is applied to a printer for producing a tape-like label as described above. In this tape / ribbon composite cassette, in order to mount and position the ribbon cassette on the tape cassette, an accommodation opening for attaching the ribbon cassette to the tape cassette is formed, and the outer peripheral shape of the ribbon cassette is defined as the accommodation opening. It is formed in the same shape as the peripheral wall surface, and the ribbon cassette is positioned with respect to the tape cassette by guiding the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette with the peripheral wall surface of the housing opening and regulating the position.

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 led out from the ribbon cassette contacts the print head inserted into the head insertion portion, The tape led out from the tape cassette comes into contact with the outer surface side 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. The platen is attached to the tape cassette.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-70956

  Like the tape / ribbon composite cassette described in Patent Literature 1, the ribbon cassette can be substantially positioned with respect to the tape cassette by guiding the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette with the peripheral wall surface of the housing opening and regulating the position. . However, in order for the ribbon cassette to be able to be mounted in the accommodating opening of the tape cassette, a minute gap is required between the peripheral wall surface of the accommodating opening and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette is lowered, and the printing quality is lowered.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a cassette capable of stabilizing printing quality and a tape printing apparatus on which the cassette is mounted.

In order to achieve the above object, the cassette according to claim 1 is a cassette mounted on a tape printer having a printing means for printing on a tape and a cutting means for cutting the tape, and has a peripheral wall. Yes to a cassette case having a lower case and upper case, and the tape spool winding a tape rotatably supported within said cassette case, printed tape pulled out from the tape spool by said printing means is effected A tape conveyance path that leads to the outside of the cassette case via a printing position, a tape feed roller that conveys the tape from the printing position to the tape conveyance path, and an upstream side in the tape conveyance direction from the cutting means, The tape formed on the peripheral wall of the cassette case at the end of the tape conveyance path and printed by the printing means is the cassette case. And a tape discharge portion for feeding the scan outside of the tape feed roller is in the tape feeding direction upstream side of the tape discharge portion, conveyed the tape the tape feed roller is its maximum diameter portion in contact with the tape The upper case is provided with a recess so that the maximum diameter portion of the tape transport roller protrudes from the upper case , in the vicinity of the tape discharge portion and on the tape discharge side wall of the cassette case, A stepped portion projecting from the side wall surface to the downstream side in the tape transport direction is provided, and the projecting portion of the stepped portion is disposed close to the regulating portion for regulating the width direction and the thickness direction of the tape and the cutting means. forming a tape discharge end surface of the tape discharge portion, the step portion is formed by the lower case and the upper case, the height of the step portion formed by the lower case width direction of said tape And it is characterized in that it is configured lower than the position of the upper end of the.

The tape printing apparatus according to claim 2, said cassette, and a cassette mounting portion in which the cassette is mounted, and a thermal head arranged on the cassette mount is mounted according to claim 1 A cassette mounting portion is provided.

According to cassette according to claim 1, a cassette is loaded in the tape printing apparatus provided with cutting means for cutting the tape and printing means for printing on the tape, the lower you have a wall casing A cassette case having an upper case, a tape spool that is rotatably supported in the cassette case and wound with a tape, and a tape drawn from the tape spool is passed through a printing position where printing is performed by the printing means. A tape conveyance path that leads to the outside of the cassette case, a tape feed roller that conveys the tape from the printing position to the tape conveyance path, and upstream of the cutting means in the tape conveyance direction, The tape formed on the peripheral wall of the cassette case at the end and printed by the printing means is sent out of the cassette case. Tape and a discharge portion, the tape feed roller is in the tape feeding direction upstream side of the tape discharge portion, the tape feed roller carries the tape in contact maximum diameter portion on the tape, the upper case for Is provided with a recess so that the maximum diameter portion of the tape transport roller protrudes from the upper case, and the tape is discharged from the side wall of the cassette case to the side of the tape discharge side of the cassette case. A stepped portion protruding downstream in the transport direction is provided, and a taper of the tape discharging portion is provided in the protruding portion of the stepped portion so as to be close to the regulating portion for regulating the width direction and the thickness direction of the tape and the cutting means. the discharge end face is formed, the step portion is formed by the lower case and the upper case, the height of the step portion formed by the lower case than the position of the upper end of the width direction of the tape Because they are configured low, it is possible to reliably convey the tape, an effect that is stabilized cutting the tape.

According to the tape printer of claim 2, a cassette to which the cassette according to claim 1, a cassette mounting portion to which the cassette is mounted, and a thermal head disposed in the cassette mounting portion is mounted. Since the mounting portion is provided, a tape printer having the effect of the cassette according to claim 1 can be provided.

  This embodiment is a case where the present invention is applied to a tape / ribbon composite cassette that is applied to a printer for label production, in which characters, symbols, and characters are printed in multiple colors on a tape as a printing medium to create a tape-like label. It is an example. The tape / ribbon composite cassette includes a tape cassette that is detachably attached to a printer and a ribbon cassette that is detachably attached to the tape cassette.

First, the label producing printer 1 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 the upper surface portion of the label producing printer 1, and the printing mechanism 10 is disposed below the cassette cover 4. ing. When the cover open lever 6 is slid rightward in FIG. 1, the cassette cover 4 is configured to open, and the tape cassette 30 can be attached to the printing mechanism 10 with the cassette cover 4 opened. The ribbon cassette 50 can be mounted.

  The tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 are configured separately, and the ribbon cassette 50 is configured to be detachably mounted on the tape cassette 30 in a state where the tape cassette 30 is detachably mounted on the printing mechanism 10. A combination of the tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 is a tape / ribbon composite cassette 350.

Next, the printing mechanism 10 will be briefly described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram 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. 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 / close in response to opening / closing of the cassette cover 4. In the vicinity of the rear side of the platen 12, a thermal head 14 composed of, for example, 96 heating elements arranged in a vertical direction and a head holder 15 for holding the thermal head 14 are provided. The thermal head 14 and the head holder 15 correspond to the print head.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the tape cassette 30, a tape 31 as a printing medium is wound around and stored in a tape spool 32. From the vicinity of the rear side of the tape spool 32, a substantially U-shaped curve is obtained in plan view. To the tape outlet 19 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 while being guided by the tape guide path, and is led out from the tape outlet 19 to the opening 80 and led to the front surface of the thermal head 14, and the tape feed roller 33 of the tape cassette 30. And the sub-roller 13 for feeding the tape to the outside of the tape cassette 30. As described above, a tape path that guides the tape 31 led out from the tape spool 32 so as to pass through the opening 80 is provided.

  Since the tape 31 is wound around the tape spool 32 and the tape knob 34 is configured to rotate integrally with the tape spool 32, the tape 31 is wound by manually rotating the tape knob 34. Can be returned. A head insertion portion 35 for inserting the thermal head 14 and the head holder 15 is formed at the center in the left-right direction of the front end portion of the tape cassette 30, and a ribbon is formed at the right side of the center portion of the tape cassette 30. A bottomed accommodating portion 36 for accommodating the main body portion 51 of the cassette 50 is formed. Between the head insertion part 35 and the accommodating part 36, the partition wall 37 which partitions off partially between both is formed.

  An opening 80 is formed on the left side of the front portion of the head insertion portion 35 so as to face the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette 30 (tape / ribbon composite cassette 350) and face the thermal head 14 when attached to the printer 1. The tape path has a tape outlet 19 for leading the tape 31 upstream of the opening 80 in the tape conveyance direction, and the tape outlet 19 is configured to restrict the vertical movement of the tape 31 in the width direction. ing.

A tape feed roller 33 that feeds the tape 31 in cooperation with the sub roller 13 provided in the printer 1 is accommodated on the left side of the head insertion portion 35 at the front end portion of the tape cassette 30, and the tape cassette corresponding to the tape feed roller 33 is accommodated. A concave portion 81 is formed in the front side surface portion 30, and a roller projecting opening 82 for projecting the front end portion of the tape feed roller 33 to the outside is formed in the concave portion 81. As a result, the tape 31 can be reliably clamped and fed by the tape feed roller 33 and the sub-roller 13 with the tape cassette 30 mounted in the printer 1.
2 and 7, a recess is also formed in the tape discharge side wall 95 of the tape cassette 30 corresponding to the tape feed roller 33, from the bottom of the recess toward the downstream side on the tape path. A protruding step 96 is formed. Further, the protruding portion of the step portion 96 is formed with regulation portions 97 and 99 for regulating the width direction and the thickness direction of the tape 31 and a tape discharge end face 98 close to the passive blade 17. Therefore, the tape 31 is reliably conveyed to the tape discharge end face 98 close to the passive blade 17 by the protruding portion of the step portion 96 and the restricting portions 97 and 99.

  On the other hand, the main body 51 of the ribbon cassette 50 is loosely mounted in the accommodating portion 36 formed in the tape cassette 30, but the ribbon cassette 50 is in a state in which the upper wall portion 52 covers the upper surface of the tape cassette 30. Installed. 3 shows the tape cassette 30, FIG. 4 shows the ribbon cassette 50, and FIG. 5 shows the tape / ribbon composite 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 via three claws (not shown).

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, an ink ribbon 54 wound around a ribbon spool 53 is mounted and stored in the ribbon cassette 50, guided by ribbon guides 55 to 58, led out to an opening 85, and then the thermal head 14. Is taken up by a take-up spool 61 via a guide rod 59 and a ribbon guide 60. As described above, an ink ribbon path that guides the ink ribbon 54 led out from the ribbon spool 53 so as to pass through the opening 85 is provided. A clutch spring 62 for preventing the ink ribbon 54 from being loosened is attached to the lower portion of the take-up spool 61.

  A head insertion portion 63 for inserting the partition wall 37 and the thermal head 14 is formed at the left portion of the front end portion of the ribbon cassette 50. An opening 85 that faces the outer peripheral portion of the ribbon cassette 50 (tape / ribbon composite cassette 350) and faces the thermal head 14 when mounted on the printer 1 is formed on the left side of the front surface of the head insertion portion 63. Here, the opening 85 has a front wall, a rear wall substantially parallel to the front wall, and left and right side walls.

  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. The upper wall portion 52 of the ribbon cassette 50 is brought into contact with the upper end surface of the tape cassette 30 to determine the vertical position of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30. When engaged with the two holes, the ribbon cassette 50 is detachably fixed to the tape cassette 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, 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 with it, and the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 Is mounted on the printer 1, the platen 12 is in pressure contact with the thermal head 14, and the portion of the tape 31 that passes through the openings 80 and 85 and the portion of the ink ribbon 54 are sandwiched between the platen 12 and the thermal head 14. In addition, the sub-roller 13 comes into pressure contact with the tape feed roller 33 via the tape 31.

  The ink ribbon 54 led out to the front surface of the thermal head 14 contacts the front surface of the thermal head 14, and the tape 31 is overlapped on the front surface of the ink ribbon 54. The ink ribbon 54 and the tape 31 are joined to the thermal head 14 by the platen 12. A character string or the like is printed in a dot pattern by the thermal head 14 on the tape 31 through the ink ribbon 54 in a state of being pressed. Of the tape path and the ink ribbon path, both path portions in the openings 80 and 85 are substantially parallel and collinear, and the tape 31 and the ink ribbon 54 in both path portions are in contact with each other.

  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 from the slit 8 formed in the main body case 7. The active blade 16 is connected to the cutter lever 5 by a 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.

  Next, a guide positioning 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 after the mounting will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, 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. A longitudinal rib-shaped positioning portion 40 is provided at the rear end portion, and the upper end portions of the positioning pins 38 and 39 are tapered.

  The ribbon cassette 50 has a columnar portion 66 having an engagement hole 65 with which the positioning pin 38 engages with a minute gap, and the positioning pin 39 engages with a minute gap in the front-rear direction and loosely in the left-right direction. A columnar portion 68 having an engaging hole 67 and an engaging portion 69 that engages the positioning portion 40 so as to be accurately positioned in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction are provided. The positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69 are provided at the rear end portion of the head insertion portion 63 so as to correspond to the rear of the thermal head 14.

  Here, if the positioning pins 38 and 39 are configured to engage with the engagement holes 65 and 67 with almost no gap, the positioning relative to the tape cassette 30 can be eliminated even if the positioning portion 40 and the engagement portion 69 are omitted. Although it is possible to ensure the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50, in this case, the sliding resistance between the positioning pins 38 and 39 and the engagement holes 65 and 67 becomes large, so that the ribbon cassette relative to the tape cassette 30 is increased. 50 cannot be removed smoothly.

  Therefore, the positioning pin 38 is engaged with the engagement hole 65 with a minute gap, and the positioning pin 39 is configured to be engaged with the engagement hole 67 with a minute gap in the front-rear direction and loosely in the left-right direction, and The positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69 are configured to ensure the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14. Therefore, since the sliding resistance when attaching / detaching the ribbon cassette 50 can be reduced, the ribbon cassette 50 can be smoothly attached / detached with a light attachment / detachment force.

  When the positioning accuracy in the front-rear direction of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 is low, the ink ribbon 54 is attached to the upper end of the tape 31 when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30 from above. There is a risk that the lower end of the ribbon will be caught and ribbon jam may occur and the print quality may become unstable. Since the positioning accuracy in the direction is ensured, the above problem does not occur.

  The positioning pins 38 and 39 protrude from the upper end surface of the tape cassette 30. When the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted, the engaging pins 65 and 67 are engaged with the positioning pins 38 and 39 respectively in the horizontal direction. Since the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted after the two-dimensional positioning, the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted with almost no contact with the peripheral wall surface of the accommodating portion 36 of the tape cassette 30. Therefore, as in the conventional tape / ribbon composite cassette, it can be smoothly mounted as compared with positioning both through contact between the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette and the peripheral wall surface of the accommodating portion of the tape cassette. Further, since the ribbon cassette 50 is attached and detached while the tape cassette 30 is attached to the printing mechanism 10, the ribbon cassette 50 can be smoothly attached and detached.

  The opening window 41 shown in FIG. 3 is an opening for operating the tape 31 on the tape guide path with a finger to feed the tape, and an opening window similar to this is formed on the front side wall on the opposite side of the opening window 41. Has been. By replacing the ribbon cassette 50 of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350, it is possible to print in a plurality of colors. However, in this case, the tape 31 can be rewound as necessary. An opening window 41 is provided for this purpose.

  In addition, a plurality of detection actuators 42 are attached to a corner of the tape cassette 30 so as to be able to protrude and retract, and the printing mechanism 10 has a plurality of detection switches (corresponding to the plurality of detection actuators 42). There are provided a plurality of detection switches (not shown) that push the detection actuators 42 upward by a predetermined small stroke. One corner portion of the ribbon cassette 50 is formed with one or a plurality of operation portions 70 for selectively pressing the plurality of detection actuators 42 and one or a plurality of relief holes 71 for not pressing the operation, The detection switch is operated by the detection operation element 42 pressed by the operation unit 70. These correspond to detected portions provided for detecting the type of tape cassette 30 (type of tape 31) and the type of ribbon cassette 50 (type of ink ribbon 50).

  In the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 applied to the printer 1 for producing a tape-like label described above, the positioning pins 38 and 39, the positioning portion 40, the columnar portions 66 and 68 having the engaging holes 65 and 67, and the engaging portion 69 are provided. As described above, the ribbon cassette 50 can be positioned with high accuracy with respect to the tape cassette 30 when and after the ribbon cassette 50 is attached to the tape cassette 30.

  In particular, the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the direction in which the ink ribbon 54 facing the head insertion portions 35 and 63 and the tape 31 in the vicinity of the ink ribbon 54 are separated from each other by the positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69 (ie, rearward). Since the position of the ink ribbon 54 can be regulated, 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, and a 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 fixed positional relationship, the print quality does not vary.

  Further, the outer peripheral wall of the main body 51 of the ribbon cassette 50 is configured so as to hardly come into contact with the peripheral wall of the accommodating portion 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 also small, when the ribbon cassette 50 is attached to or detached from the tape cassette 30, it can be smoothly attached and detached with a light attachment / detachment force.

  Next, a guide positioning mechanism obtained by partially changing the guide positioning mechanism of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The main components that have not been changed are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350, and description thereof is omitted. In this guide positioning mechanism, the positioning pins 38 and 39, the engagement holes 65 and 67, and the columnar portions 66 and 68 are the same as described above.

  Instead of the positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69, a positioning pin 45 having a small vertical height is provided on the bottom wall portion of the accommodating portion 36 in the vicinity of the rear side of the head insertion portion 35 of the tape cassette 30. A positioning pin 45 whose upper end is tapered is fixed upright. An engagement hole 75 for engaging the positioning pin 45 with almost no gap is formed in a portion corresponding to the positioning pin 45 in the lower part of the main body 51 of the ribbon cassette 50.

  Therefore, the positioning pin 45 engages with the engagement hole 75 from the time when the ribbon cassette 50 is being attached to the tape cassette 30, and the engagement state is maintained even after the attachment. Therefore, since the position of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 can be set with high accuracy, the same operation and effect as the guide positioning mechanism of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 of the above-described embodiment. Is obtained.

  The guide positioning mechanism is merely an example, and the structure of the positioning pin, the engagement hole, the positioning portion, the engagement portion, and the like can be changed as appropriate. The location of the positioning pin and the engagement hole is also limited to the above embodiment. Is not to be done. In addition, it goes without saying that various modifications can be added and implemented without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is a plan view of a label producing printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the printing mechanism and tape / ribbon composite cassette of the printer. It is a perspective view of a tape cassette. It is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette. It is a perspective view of a tape / ribbon composite cassette. It is a top view of a printing mechanism and a tape / ribbon composite cassette according to a modified embodiment. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a tape cassette in the tape / ribbon composite cassette of FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette in the tape / ribbon composite cassette of FIG. 6.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label production printer 30 Tape cassette 31 Tape 16 Active blade 17 Passive blade 95 Side wall 96 Step part 97,99 Restriction part 98 Tape discharge end surface

Claims (2)

A cassette mounted on a tape printing apparatus comprising printing means for printing on a tape and cutting means for cutting the tape,
A cassette case having a lower case and the upper case have a circumferential wall, and the tape spool winding a tape rotatably supported within said cassette case, printing by the printing means the tape pulled out from the tape spool A tape transport path that leads to the outside of the cassette case via the printing position to be performed;
A tape feed roller for transporting the tape from the printing position to the tape transport path;
A tape that is formed on the peripheral wall of the cassette case at the end of the tape conveyance path and upstream of the cutting means in the tape conveyance direction, and for feeding the tape printed by the printing means to the outside of the cassette case With a discharge part ,
The tape feed roller is on the upstream side of the tape discharge direction of the tape discharge portion, and the tape feed roller conveys the tape with its maximum diameter portion contacting the tape
The upper case is provided with a recess so that the maximum diameter portion of the tape transport roller protrudes from the upper case,
In the vicinity of the tape discharge portion and on the side wall on the tape discharge side of the cassette case, a step portion protruding from the side wall surface to the downstream side in the tape transport direction is provided. Forming a tape discharge end face of the tape discharge portion in the vicinity of the cutting means and the restriction portion for restricting the width direction and the thickness direction ,
The step portion is formed by the lower case and the upper case, and the height of the step portion formed by the lower case is configured to be lower than the position of the upper end in the width direction of the tape. cassette The cassette of claim 1 ;
A cassette mounting portion on which the cassette is mounted ;
A tape printing apparatus comprising: a thermal head disposed in the cassette mounting portion .

Images