JP4862914B2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tape cassette that is detachable from a tape printer.

  Conventionally, when a box-shaped tape cassette is mounted on a cassette mounting portion of a tape printer, it is vertically fitted so that the flat portion (that is, the upper and lower surfaces) of the tape cassette is aligned with the cassette mounting portion that opens upward. It is. More specifically, in a rectangular parallelepiped tape cassette having a side surface of a predetermined height, the user can vertically fit the cassette mounting portion while holding the side surface portion with a finger while maintaining the flat portion substantially horizontal. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3543659

  However, depending on the position of the tape, ink ribbon, etc. stored inside the tape cassette, it may be difficult to maintain the flat portion of the tape cassette in a substantially horizontal state when the tape cassette is installed, and the cassette is installed with the tape cassette tilted. May be fitted into the part. In the tape printer, if printing is performed with the tape cassette tilted as described above being mounted, there is a risk of running failure of the tape or ink ribbon or printing failure at the print head.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette that can be accurately and smoothly attached to and detached from a tape printer.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a tape cassette according to a first aspect of the present invention is formed at a predetermined height along a pair of wall surfaces forming a rectangular plane opposed to each other and the peripheral edges of the pair of wall surfaces. A box-shaped cassette case having an open side wall, a first opening provided at one corner of at least one of the pair of wall surfaces, and a diagonal of the one corner at at least one of the pair of wall surfaces. A second opening that is provided at another corner located above and into which a guide shaft for guiding the mounting to the tape printer can be inserted; a tape roll around which a tape as a printing medium is wound; and the tape A ribbon roll around which an ink ribbon used for printing is wound, and the tape roll is divided into two cassette cases in which the cassette case is divided on the basis of a line connecting the first opening and the second opening. Out of the area The ribbon roll is housed in the cassette case so that the center of gravity of the tape roll is located in one area, and the ribbon roll is placed in a second area different from the first area in the two areas. Is stored in the cassette case so that its center of gravity is located.

  A tape cassette according to a second aspect of the present invention is a cylindrical tape feed roller that is rotatably provided between the pair of wall surfaces and draws out the tape from the tape roll in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention. The tape feed roller has an insertion hole into which a roller support shaft for rotatably supporting the tape feed roller is inserted, and the first opening is inserted into the tape feed roller. It is characterized by facing a hole.

  A tape cassette according to a third aspect of the invention includes a ribbon take-up spool that winds up the ink ribbon drawn out from the ribbon roll and used for printing in addition to the configuration of the invention according to the first or second aspect. The ribbon take-up spool is provided inside the cassette case so that the center of gravity of the ribbon take-up spool is located in the second region, and is supported rotatably on the cassette case. To do.

  In addition to the structure of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the tape opening of the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the first opening and the second opening are among the pair of wall surfaces, The tape cassette is provided on a first wall surface facing the tape printer when the tape cassette is mounted.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the tape cassette according to the fourth aspect, in addition to the configuration of the fourth aspect, at least one of the first opening and the second opening is configured such that the pair of the first and second openings in the attaching / detaching direction of the tape cassette. It is the through-hole provided facing the wall surface of this.

  A tape cassette according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the tape cassette according to the fourth aspect, wherein at least one of the first opening and the second opening is a hole provided in the first wall surface. It is a recessed part extended toward the inside of the said cassette case in the attachment or detachment direction of the said tape cassette.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the tape cassette according to the seventh aspect, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the second opening corresponds to the second opening in the tape printer. When the provided guide shaft is inserted, it is a long hole having an opening width that is tightly locked to at least a part of the side surface of the guide shaft.

  According to the tape cassette of the first aspect of the invention, the tape roll and the ribbon roll are accommodated in the cassette case, and the first opening and the second opening are provided at diagonal positions in the cassette case. The center of gravity of the tape roll is located in the first region of the two regions into which the cassette case is divided with reference to the line connecting the first opening and the second opening. The center of gravity of the ribbon roll is located in the second region of the two regions. Therefore, by disposing the tape roll and ribbon roll, which are heavy objects, in a distributed manner, the weight difference between the first area and the second area can be reduced, and the deviation of the weight balance of the tape cassette can be suppressed. Further, the tape cassette can be smoothly attached to and detached from the tape printer along at least the guide shaft inserted into the second opening. Further, when the tape cassette is attached / detached along two guide shafts inserted into the two openings, attachment / detachment to / from the tape printer can be performed more accurately.

  According to the tape cassette of the invention according to claim 2, the first opening is provided at a position facing the insertion hole of the tape feed roller. According to this, the guide shaft inserted into the first opening can be a roller support shaft that rotationally drives the tape feed roller. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1, it is possible to accurately guide and position the tape feeding roller having high tape running and printing quality and its vicinity along the roller support shaft. Further, it is not necessary to separately provide a guide shaft to be inserted into the first opening, and the configuration on the tape printer side can be simplified.

  According to the tape cassette of the invention of claim 3, the center of gravity of the ribbon take-up spool that is rotatably supported inside the cassette case is located in the second region. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1 or 2, when the weight of the tape roll is larger than that of the ribbon roll, the weight difference between the first region and the second region is reduced by the weight of the ribbon take-up spool. Thus, it is possible to suppress an imbalance in the weight balance of the tape cassette.

  According to the tape cassette of the invention of claim 4, at least one of the first opening and the second opening is provided on the first wall surface facing the tape printer when the tape cassette is mounted. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, when the tape cassette is mounted, a corresponding guide shaft is inserted into at least one of the first opening and the second opening of the tape cassette. Can be made.

  According to the tape cassette of the invention according to claim 5, at least one of the first opening and the second opening is a through hole provided to face the pair of wall surfaces. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 4, at least one of the first opening and the second opening can be easily formed. Further, the tape cassette can be smoothly guided along the guide shaft without being influenced by the axial length of the guide shaft inserted into at least one of the first opening and the second opening.

  According to the tape cassette of the invention according to claim 6, at least one of the first opening and the second opening is a recess extending toward the inside of the cassette case. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 4, the guide shaft inserted into at least one of the first opening and the second opening is restricted from moving in the circumferential direction by the inner wall of each opening. Therefore, the tape cassette can be guided accurately and smoothly along the guide shaft.

  According to the tape cassette of the invention of claim 7, the second opening is a long hole having an opening width that is tightly locked to at least a part of the side surface of the guide shaft inserted therein. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, when the tape printer is mounted on the tape cassette, the tape cassette is mounted in the direction in which the second opening is closely locked with the guide shaft. Can be positioned.

2 is a perspective view of the tape printer 1 with a cassette cover 6 closed. FIG. It is a perspective view of the tape printer 1 in the state which the cassette cover 6 opened in 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the tape cassette 30 and the cassette mounting part 8 in 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of cassette mounting part 8 in a 1st embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted | worn in 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted | worn in 1st Embodiment. It is side surface sectional drawing for demonstrating the state by which the tape cassette 30 and the platen holder 12 were opposingly arranged. 3 is a plan view of the tape cassette 30. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the tape cassette 30. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the tape cassette 30 with the first tape support hole 65 and the first tape spool 40 as the center. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the tape cassette 30 with the winding support hole 67 and the ribbon winding spool 44 as the center. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a roller support hole 64 and a tape feed roller 46. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the tape cassette 30 with a guide hole 47 as the center. FIG. It is a right view which shows the mounting process of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 1st Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the mounting process of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 1st Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the state with which the tape cassette 30 was mounted | worn with the cassette mounting part 8 in 1st Embodiment. 4 is a front sectional view showing a state in which the tape drive shaft 100 is inserted into the tape feed roller 46. FIG. FIG. 6 is a front sectional view showing a state in which a ribbon take-up shaft 95 is inserted into a ribbon take-up spool 44. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in another example of 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of tape cassette 30 in another example of a 1st embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in another example of 1st Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the state in which the tape cassette 30 in the other example of 1st Embodiment was mounted in the cassette mounting part 8. FIG. It is the top view expanded centering on the 1st tape support hole 65 of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in another example of 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the tape cassette 30 and the cassette mounting part 8 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view of cassette mounting part 8 in a 2nd embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted | worn in 2nd Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the mounting process of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the state with which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in the cassette mounting part 8 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view of cassette mounting part 8 in another example of a 2nd embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in another example of 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in another example of 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in 3rd Embodiment. It is a top view of tape cassette 30 in another example of a 3rd embodiment. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in another example of 3rd Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the state in which the tape cassette 30 in the other example of 3rd Embodiment was mounted | worn with the cassette mounting part 8. FIG. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in 4th Embodiment. It is a right view which shows the state in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in the cassette mounting part 8 in 4th Embodiment. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the tape cassette 30 and the cassette mounting part 8 in a 1st modification. It is a top view of cassette mounting part 8 in the 1st modification. It is a right view which shows the state in which the tape cassette 30 in the 1st modification was mounted | worn with the cassette mounting part 8. FIG. It is a right view which shows the state in which the tape cassette 30 in the 1st modification was mounted | worn with the cassette mounting part 8. FIG. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the tape cassette 30 and the cassette mounting part 8 in a 2nd modification. It is a right view which shows the state in which the tape cassette 30 in the 2nd modification was mounted | worn with the cassette mounting part 8. FIG. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the tape cassette 30 and the cassette mounting part 8 in a 3rd modification. It is a top view of the cassette mounting part 8 in which the tape cassette 30 was mounted in the 4th modification. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the right side surface of the tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. FIG. FIG. 50 is a right side view showing a state in which the tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 49 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the right side surface of the tape cassette 30 showing a modification of the guide hole 47. FIG. FIG. 55 is a right side view showing a state where the tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 54 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. It is front sectional drawing of the tape cassette 30 centering on the 1st tape support hole 65 and the 1st tape spool 40 in a modification. It is a right view which illustrates the state where the tape cassette 30 was exhibited.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The drawings to be referred to are used for explaining the technical features that can be adopted by the present invention, and the configuration of the apparatus described, the flowchart of various processes, etc., unless otherwise specified. It is not intended to be limited to that, but merely an illustrative example.

  In the following description, the lower left side of FIG. 1 is the front side of the tape printer 1, the upper right side of FIG. 1 is the rear side of the tape printer 1, and the lower right side of FIG. 1 is the left side of the tape printer 1, the upper side of FIG. 1 is the upper side of the tape printer 1, and the lower side of FIG. 3 is the front side of the tape cassette 30, the upper left side of FIG. 3 is the rear side of the tape cassette 30, the upper right side of FIG. 3 is the right side of the tape cassette 30, and the lower left side of FIG. The upper side of FIG. 3 is the upper side of the tape cassette 30 and the lower side of FIG. 3 is the lower side of the tape cassette 30 (the same applies to FIGS. 24, 38, 42, and 44).

  In practice, the gear group including the gears 91, 93, 94, 97, 98, and 101 shown in FIG. 3 is covered by the bottom surface of the recessed portion 8a. 3 is not shown in FIG. 3 (the same applies to FIGS. 24, 38, 42, and 44). Further, in FIG. 3, the side walls forming the periphery of the cassette mounting portion 8 are shown, but this is only a schematic diagram, and the side walls shown in the drawing are drawn thicker than the actual (the same applies to FIG. 24). ). On the other hand, in FIG. 38, in order to facilitate understanding, the side wall forming the periphery of the cassette mounting portion 8 is removed and shown (the same applies to FIGS. 42 and 44). 5 and 6 show the state in which the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 with the upper case 31a removed (FIGS. 21, 26, 30, 31, 32, and 32). 34, 36, and 45 are also the same).

<First Embodiment>
The tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, the tape cassette 30 accommodates one print medium (specifically, a thermal paper tape) and has three guide holes for guiding attachment / detachment to the tape printer 1 as an example. To do. Further, the case where the tape printer 1 has three guide shafts for guiding the tape cassette 30 to an appropriate mounting position (hereinafter referred to as an appropriate position) corresponding to the above three guide holes will be exemplified.

  First, a schematic configuration of the tape printer 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. In the following, thermal type tape cassette 30 containing only thermal paper tape, receptor type tape cassette 30 containing printing tape and ink ribbon, laminated type containing double-sided adhesive tape, film tape and ink ribbon A tape printer 1 configured as a general-purpose machine that can commonly use a plurality of tape cassettes 30 of different tape types, such as the tape cassette 30 of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape printer 1 includes a main body cover 2 having a rectangular shape in plan view. On the front side of the main body cover 2, a keyboard 3 including character keys such as characters, symbols, and numbers, various function keys, and the like is disposed. On the rear side of the keyboard 3, a liquid crystal display 5 capable of displaying input characters and symbols is provided. On the rear side of the liquid crystal display 5, a lid-like cassette cover 6 that is opened and closed when the tape cassette 30 is replaced is provided. Inside the main body cover 2 corresponding to the cassette cover 6, there is provided a cassette mounting portion 8 that forms an area in which the tape cassette 30 can be attached and detached. The cassette mounting unit 8 is provided with a transport mechanism that pulls out the tape from the tape cassette 30 and transports it, a printing mechanism that prints characters and the like on the surface of the tape, and the like, which will be described in detail later.

  A discharge slit 9 for discharging the printed tape to the outside is provided behind the left side surface of the main body cover 2. A discharge window 11 is formed on the left side surface of the cassette cover 6 to expose the discharge slit 9 to the outside with the cassette cover 6 closed. Near the center of the front surface of the cassette cover 6, a hook-like locking lock 4 that protrudes downward from the lower surface thereof is provided. The main body cover 2 is provided with a lock hole 7 at a position corresponding to the lock 4. When the cassette cover 6 is closed, the lock 4 is fitted into the lock hole 7 and locked. The natural opening of the cassette cover 6 is prevented.

  Next, the internal structure of the main body cover 2 will be described with a focus on the cassette mounting portion 8 with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 schematically show the internal structure of the main body cover 2 (particularly, the shape and structure of the cassette mounting portion 8) for easy understanding. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 7, a head holder 74 on which a thermal head 10 including a heating element (not shown) is mounted is fixed to the front portion of the cassette mounting portion 8. A tape feed motor 23 that is a stepping motor is disposed outside the cassette mounting portion 8 (upper right side in FIG. 3). A drive gear 91 is fixed to the lower end of the drive shaft of the tape feed motor 23. The drive gear 91 is engaged with the gear 93 through the opening, and the gear 93 is engaged with the gear 94. A substantially cylindrical ribbon take-up shaft 95 is provided on the upper surface of the gear 94 so as to drive a ribbon take-up spool 44 described later. The ribbon take-up shaft 95 is provided with a plurality of cam members 95a extending from the base end side toward the tip end side of the shaft body on the outer peripheral side so as to form a radial shape in plan view (see FIG. 14). Further, a gear 97 is engaged with the gear 94, a gear 98 is engaged with the gear 97, and a gear 101 is engaged with the gear 98. On the upper surface of the gear 101, a substantially cylindrical tape drive shaft 100 is erected to rotate and drive a tape feed roller 46 described later. The tape drive shaft 100 is provided with a plurality of cam members 100a extending from the proximal end side toward the distal end side of the shaft body on the outer peripheral side so as to form a radial shape in plan view (see FIG. 14).

  When the tape feed motor 23 is driven to rotate counterclockwise with the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is moved counterclockwise via the drive gear 91, gear 93, and gear 94. It is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction. The ribbon take-up shaft 95 rotates the ribbon take-up spool 44 in which the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is inserted. Further, the rotation of the gear 94 is transmitted to the tape drive shaft 100 through the gear 97, the gear 98, and the gear 101, and the tape drive shaft 100 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction. The tape drive shaft 100 rotates the tape feed roller 46 in which the tape drive shaft 100 is inserted. A substantially cylindrical auxiliary shaft 110 that is inserted into and removed from a first tape support hole 65 described later is provided on the rear side of the gear 98.

  Two positioning pins 102 and 103 are provided on the periphery of the cassette mounting portion 8. The positioning pin 102 is provided on the left edge portion of the cassette mounting portion 8 corresponding to a pin hole 53 described later formed on the bottom surface of the tape cassette 30. The positioning pin 102 positions the height position and the planar position of the tape cassette 30 on the left edge side of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. The positioning pin 103 is provided on the right edge portion of the cassette mounting portion 8 corresponding to a common portion 32 described later located at the right rear portion of the tape cassette 30. The positioning pin 103 positions the height position of the tape cassette 30 on the right edge side of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8.

  A guide shaft 120 that is inserted into and removed from a guide hole 47 described later is erected on the right rear portion of the cassette mounting portion 8. The guide shaft 120 is a substantially cylindrical shaft body, and two shaft portions (a large diameter shaft portion 120a and a small diameter shaft portion 120b) having different diameters, and a large diameter shaft portion 120a and a small diameter shaft portion 120b are connected to each other. The taper portion 120c is provided (see FIG. 14). The large-diameter shaft portion 120 a is a shaft portion that forms the proximal end side of the guide shaft 120, and is a portion having the largest diameter in the guide shaft 120. The small-diameter shaft portion 120b is a shaft portion that forms the distal end side of the guide shaft 120, and has a smaller diameter than the large-diameter shaft portion 120a. Between the large-diameter shaft portion 120a and the small-diameter shaft portion 120b, there is provided a tapered portion 120c that gradually decreases in shaft diameter from the large-diameter shaft portion 120a toward the small-diameter shaft portion 120b to form a tapered inclined surface. Yes.

  By the way, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted, the cassette mounting portion 8 has a substantially rectangular recessed portion 8a having rounded corners in plan view so as to substantially correspond to the planar shape of a cassette case 31 described later. Have A plane that extends upward from the recessed portion 8 a and forms a step shape is a cassette support portion 8 b that faces the lower surface (details will be described later) of the common portion 32 of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a switch unit 20 in which a plurality of detection switches 21 are arranged is provided on the rear side surface of the platen holder 12 (that is, the surface facing the thermal head 10). Specifically, the switch unit 20 is provided with a plurality of through holes, and the terminal shafts of the detection switches 21 provided on the detection sensor substrate 22 protrude rearward from the respective through holes. As will be described later, each detection switch 21 detects the type of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting section 8 by the arm identification section 80 (a combination of the non-pressing section 81 and the pressing section 82) of the tape cassette 30. belongs to.

  Here, the positional relationship of each member erected on the cassette mounting portion 8 will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the dashed-two dotted line in FIG. 4 has shown the dividing line J mentioned later. The tape drive shaft 100, the guide shaft 120, the auxiliary shaft 110, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the positioning pin 102, and the head holder 74 described above are the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47 of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. The first tape support hole 65, the take-up support hole 67, the pin hole 53, and the head mounting portion 39 (all of which will be described later) are provided at positions facing each other.

  The tape drive shaft 100 is erected in a first shaft installation region 8 c including a corner portion located on the left front side in the cassette mounting portion 8. More specifically, the first shaft installation region 8c is composed of nine regions formed when the cassette mounting portion 8 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view is divided into, for example, three equal parts in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. Of these, the region is located at the leftmost front. The first shaft installation area 8c is adjacent to the left side of the head holder 74 fixed at the front center of the cassette mounting portion 8, and is located downstream of the print position of the thermal head 10 in the tape transport direction, which will be described later. is doing.

  The guide shaft 120 is erected on the second shaft installation region 8 d including a corner portion located on the right rear side in the cassette mounting portion 8. More specifically, the second shaft installation region 8d is composed of nine regions formed when the cassette mounting portion 8 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view is divided into, for example, three equal parts in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. Of these, it is the region located at the rightmost rear. That is, when the cassette mounting portion 8 is viewed in plan, the corner included in the second axis installation region 8d is located at the opposite corner of the corner included in the first axis installation region 8c.

  The first installation region 8e occupies the rear side of the dividing line J when the cassette mounting portion 8 is divided in plan view with respect to the dividing line J connecting the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120 in plan view. The second installation region 8f occupies the front side of the dividing line J. The auxiliary shaft 110 is erected in the first installation region 8e, and specifically, is located on the left rear side when viewed from the center of the cassette mounting portion 8 in plan view. The ribbon take-up shaft 95 is erected in the second installation region 8f, and specifically, is located on the right front side when viewed from the center of the cassette mounting portion 8 in plan view. Here, the auxiliary shaft 110 and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 are positioned substantially symmetrically about the dividing line J in plan view.

  A positioning pin 102 is provided adjacent to the rear side of the tape drive shaft 100. A positioning pin 103 is provided adjacent to the front side of the guide shaft 120. The positioning pins 102 and 103 support the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 in the vicinity of the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120, respectively.

  Each member erected on the cassette mounting portion 8 has a positional relationship on the plane as described above. The height position at which these members are erected differs depending on which of the above-described recessed portion 8a and cassette support portion 8b is provided. That is, the members (here, the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102 and 103) provided in the cassette support portion 8b are the members (here, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary member provided in the recessed portion 8a). The shaft 110 is erected from above the head holder 74). In addition, the height relationship of each member erected on the cassette mounting portion 8 will be described later.

  2 to 6, the arm-shaped platen holder 12 is pivotally supported on the front side of the head holder 74 so as to be swingable about the shaft support portion 12a. At the front end side of the platen holder 12, a platen roller 15 provided so as to be able to contact and separate relative to the thermal head 10 and a tape feed roller 46 into which the tape drive shaft 100 is inserted are provided so as to be able to contact and separate. The movable transfer roller 14 is pivotally supported so as to be rotatable together.

  The platen holder 12 is connected to a release lever (not shown) that moves in the left-right direction in conjunction with opening and closing of the cassette cover 6. When the cassette cover 6 is opened, the release lever moves to the right, and the platen holder 12 moves toward the standby position shown in FIG. In the standby position shown in FIG. 5, the platen holder 12 moves away from the cassette mounting portion 8, and the tape cassette 30 can be attached to and detached from the cassette mounting portion 8. The platen holder 12 is always elastically biased to the standby position by a winding spring (not shown).

  When the cassette cover 6 is closed, the release lever moves to the left, and the platen holder 12 moves toward the printing position shown in FIG. At the printing position shown in FIG. 6, the platen holder 12 moves in the direction approaching the cassette mounting portion 8. If the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, the platen roller 15 presses the thermal head 10 via the print medium tape (here, the thermal paper tape 55), and the movable transport roller 14 moves to the tape. Then, the tape feed roller 46 is pressed. As a result, at the printing position shown in FIG. 6, printing can be performed using the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8.

  A transport path for transporting the printed tape is provided between the tape discharge port 49 and the discharge slit 9. A cut mechanism 17 for cutting the printed tape at a predetermined position is provided in the transport path. The cutting mechanism 17 includes a fixed blade 18 and a movable blade 19 that is supported so as to be movable in the front-rear direction (vertical direction shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) so as to face the fixed blade 18. The movable blade 19 is moved in the front-rear direction by a cutter motor (not shown).

  Next, the structure of the tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment will be described. In the following, as a general-purpose cassette that can mount various tape types such as thermal type, receptor type, laminate type, etc., by changing the type of tape stored in the inside and the presence or absence of ink ribbon as appropriate The tape cassette 30 comprised is illustrated.

  The overall configuration of the tape cassette 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 5, and 6 to 9. The tape cassette 30 has a cassette case 31 that is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing composed of a lower case 31b and an upper case 31a fixed to the upper portion of the lower case 31b. In the upper case 31a, a rectangular plane portion that is long in the left-right direction perpendicular to the direction facing the lower case 31b forms the upper wall surface 35 of the cassette case 31. A flat surface portion of the lower case 31 b that is orthogonal to the direction facing the upper case 31 a and has substantially the same shape as the upper wall surface 35 forms the lower wall surface 36 of the cassette case 31. The cassette case 31 includes a side portion of the upper case 31a extending from the entire outer edge of the upper wall surface 35 toward the lower case 31b and a side portion of the lower case 31b extending from the entire outer edge of the lower wall surface 36 toward the upper case 31a. Side wall 37 is formed. That is, the cassette case 31 is formed at a predetermined height across a pair of upper wall surface 35 and lower wall surface 36 that form a rectangular plane opposed to each other in the vertical direction, and the outer edges of the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36. This is a box-shaped case body having a side wall 37. The cassette case 31 does not need to be surrounded by the side wall 37 in its entirety on the periphery of the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36, and an opening that exposes the inside of the cassette case 31 to a part of the side wall 37 (for example, the rear wall). May be provided, or a boss connecting the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 may be provided at a position facing the opening. In addition, the vertical direction of the cassette case 31 (that is, the direction in which the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 face each other) is the direction in which the tape cassette 30 is attached to and detached from the cassette mounting portion 8 (hereinafter, the tape cassette 30 attachment / detachment direction). Is approximately the same.

  A first tape support hole 65 that rotatably supports the first tape spool 40 around which the first tape is wound is formed on the left rear side as viewed from the center of the tape cassette 30 in plan view. A second tape support hole 66 for rotatably supporting a second tape spool (not shown) around which the second tape is wound is formed on the right rear side as viewed from the center of the tape cassette 30 in plan view. A ribbon support hole 68 that rotatably supports a ribbon spool (not shown) around which an ink ribbon is wound is formed on the right front side as viewed from the center of the tape cassette 30 in plan view. Between the first tape support hole 65 and the ribbon support hole 68, the ribbon is taken out from the ribbon spool, and the ribbon take-up spool 44 that winds up the ink ribbon used for printing characters and the like is rotatably supported. A winding support hole 67 is formed.

  The tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment is mounted as a so-called thermal type tape cassette in which a thermal paper tape 55 is wound around a first tape spool 40 as a first tape. The thermal type tape cassette 30 does not need to store another print medium, and therefore does not include a second tape spool around which the second tape is wound. Further, since there is no need to store the ink ribbon, the ribbon spool around which the ink ribbon is wound is not provided.

  On the front right side of the tape cassette 30, there is provided an arm portion 34 that extends slightly forward of the tape cassette 30 and is folded at a right angle toward the center. The arm part 34 guides an unused tape or ink ribbon and supplies it to the head mounting part 39 from an opening 34a provided at the tip thereof. The head mounting portion 39 is a space surrounded by the inner surface of the arm portion 34 and the front surface of the tape cassette 30 and is a portion into which the thermal head 10 of the tape printer 1 is fitted. The head mounting portion 39 has a thickness (length in the front-rear direction) so that play in the front-rear and left-right directions occurs with respect to the head holder 74 when the head holder 74 including the thermal head 10 is mounted. The opening width is larger than the lateral width (length in the left-right direction).

  The arm side surface 33 constituting the front surface of the arm portion 34 is provided with an arm identification portion 80 configured in a pattern corresponding to the type of tape cassette 30 (for example, tape width, tape type, etc.). The arm identification unit 80 is an identification unit corresponding to each of the plurality of detection switches 21, and includes a non-pressing part 81 that is a switch hole into which the switch terminal can be inserted and removed and a pressing part 82 that is a surface part from which the switch terminal cannot be inserted and removed. Have one.

  A roller support hole 64 is provided in the left front portion of the tape cassette 30. Inside the roller support hole 64, a tape feed roller 46 is rotatably supported. The tape feed roller 46 pulls out an unused tape in cooperation with the opposed movable conveyance roller 14. A pair of upper and lower regulating members 63 are provided on the upstream side in the tape transport direction as viewed from the tape feed roller 46. The regulating member 63 regulates the printed tape in the width direction downstream of the thermal head 10 in the tape transport direction and guides the tape toward the tape discharge port 49. The tape transport direction is a direction in which the tape stored in the tape cassette 30 is transported in the cassette mounting unit 8 when printing is performed by the tape printer 1.

  The guide hole 47 according to the first embodiment has a curved shape in which both sides facing in the front-rear direction in a plan view form a straight line, and both sides facing in the left-right direction have a constant distance from the opening center of the guide hole 47. It has the opening shape which makes | forms. The opening width of the guide hole 47 is larger than the diameter of the small diameter shaft portion 120b of the guide shaft 120 in all directions passing through the opening center of the guide hole 47 in plan view. However, the guide hole 47 has the largest opening width in the left-right direction passing through the opening center of the guide hole 47 in plan view, and the smallest opening width in the front-rear direction passing through the opening center of the guide hole 47 in plan view. The opening width in the front-rear direction passing through the opening center of the guide hole 47 is substantially equal to the diameter of the large-diameter shaft portion 120a of the guide shaft 120.

  A guide wall 38 is erected in the vicinity of the regulating member 63. A separation wall 48 is erected between the guide wall 38 and the ribbon take-up spool 44. These configurations function when the tape cassette 30 is a laminate type. That is, the guide wall 38 guides the used ink ribbon conveyed via the head mounting portion 39 away from the film tape and toward the ribbon take-up spool 44. The separation wall 48 prevents the used ink ribbon guided along the guide wall 38 and the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape supported by being wound around the first tape spool 40 from contacting each other.

  By the way, as described above, the cassette case 31 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having rounded corners in plan view as a whole. On the other hand, a common portion 32 having a constant width (a height dimension T to be described later) is provided over a predetermined height on all side surfaces of the cassette case 31 regardless of the type of tape cassette 30 (for example, tape width). And in the predetermined | prescribed corner | angular part (specifically, the corner | angular part in which the tape discharge port 49 is not provided) which the cassette case 31 has, the common part 32 protrudes sideways so that it may make a right angle in planar view. Yes. The common portion 32 faces the above-described cassette support portion 8 b in the cassette mounting portion 8 when the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. At this time, in the cassette mounting portion 8, a state from the lower surface of the cassette case 31 to a predetermined height (that is, the lower surface of the common portion 32) enters the recessed portion 8 a. Thereby, regardless of the thickness of the tape cassette 30 (the vertical length of the cassette case 31), the common portion 32 is held at the same height position by the cassette support portion 8b.

  Specifically, the common portion 32 is a portion having a height dimension T formed symmetrically in the vertical direction with respect to the center line N in the height (width) direction of the cassette case 31 as shown in FIG. 7 ( (See FIG. 13). The height dimension T of the common portion 32 is set to the same dimension regardless of the tape width of the print medium stored in the tape cassette 30. As an example, it is assumed that the height dimension T of the common portion 32 is “12 mm”. Specifically, as the tape width increases (for example, 18 mm, 24 mm, 36 mm, etc.), the height dimension of the cassette case 31 increases accordingly, but the height dimension T of the common portion 32 is constant. When the tape width is equal to or less than the height dimension T (for example, 6 mm, 12 mm, etc.), the height dimension of the cassette case 31 is 16 mm which is the height dimension T + 4 mm of the common portion 32.

  With reference to FIGS. 10-13, the detail of each part which comprises the tape cassette 30 is demonstrated. Below, the hole part (1st tape support hole 65, the winding support hole 67, the roller support hole 64, the guide hole 47) formed in the tape cassette 30, and the member relevant to these hole parts are demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the first tape spool 40 is rotatably supported through a first tape support hole 65 that passes through the cassette case 31 in the vertical direction. Specifically, the first tape support hole 65 is formed between an opening 65a and an opening 65b, which are recessed holes extending in directions opposite to each other from the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36, and the openings 65a and 65b. The shaft hole 65c is in communication. The upper case 31a extends from the opening 65a toward the lower wall surface 36, and includes a plurality of locking ribs 84 radially from the center of the opening 65a in plan view. Each locking rib 84 is a hook-like body projecting in a direction in which the respective leading end sides face each other inside the cassette case 31. The lower case 31b includes a cylindrical tube wall 85 that extends from the opening 65b toward the upper wall 35. A plurality of slits 87 cut in the vertical direction of the cylindrical wall portion 85 are formed radially from the center of the opening 65b in a plan view. Head portions 86 for closing the open ends of the slits 87 are provided on the upper ends of the slits 87 in the cylindrical wall portion 85. Inside the cassette case 31, locking ribs 84 respectively corresponding to the heads 86 provided on the distal end side of the cylindrical wall portion 85 are locked through the slits 87. In addition, in the inside of the cylindrical wall portion 85, a shaft hole 65c penetrating the cassette case 31 in the vertical direction connects the openings 65a and 65b.

  The first tape spool 40 has a double wall structure of an inner wall 40a and an outer wall 40b. The inner wall 40a is a cylindrical body whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical wall portion 85, and has a height dimension smaller than the tape width of the print medium. A shaft hole 40d penetrating in the vertical direction is formed in the inner wall 40a. The outer wall 40b is a cylindrical body that is provided on the outer diameter side of the inner wall 40a and surrounds the inner wall 40a over the entire circumference, and has a height dimension substantially the same as the tape width of the print medium. A first tape (a thermal paper tape 55 in the first embodiment) is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the outer wall 40b. Between the inner wall 40a and the outer wall 40b, a connecting body 40c, which is a plate-like member whose longitudinal direction is the longitudinal direction, is radiated from the center of the inner wall 40a and the outer wall 40b in a plan view. The first tape spool 40 is formed in a double cylinder shape in which the inner wall 40a and the outer wall 40b are coaxial with each other by the connecting body 40c. The first tape spool 40 is rotatably supported around the axis in the cassette case 31 while being pivotally supported by the cylindrical wall portion 85 inserted into the shaft hole 40d. In the first tape spool 40, the opening width of the shaft hole 65c is smaller than the shaft diameter of the auxiliary shaft 110 in order to reduce circumferential play generated with respect to the auxiliary shaft 110 inserted into the shaft hole 65c. About the same or slightly larger.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the ribbon take-up spool 44 is rotatably supported through a take-up support hole 67 that passes through the cassette case 31 in the vertical direction. Specifically, the winding support hole 67 includes an opening 67a and an opening 67b, which are through holes formed at positions facing each other on the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36, respectively. The ribbon take-up spool 44 has a cylindrical shape having a height dimension substantially equal to the width of the cassette case 31 (that is, the length in the vertical direction). A flange-like support portion 44e is provided on the upper end edge and the lower end edge of the outer surface of the ribbon take-up spool 44 so as to protrude over the entire circumference in the radially outward direction.

  Inside the cassette case 31, the upper end portion 44 a is fitted into the opening portion 67 a of the upper wall surface 35, and the lower end portion 44 b is fitted to the opening portion 67 b of the lower wall surface 36. The support portion 44e provided at the upper end edge of the ribbon take-up spool 44 abuts on the upper case 31a from below to restrict the upward movement of the ribbon take-up spool 44. A support portion 44e provided at the lower end edge of the ribbon take-up spool 44 abuts on the lower case 31b from above and restricts the downward movement of the ribbon take-up spool 44. As a result, the ribbon take-up spool 44 is rotatable about the axis in the cassette case 31 while being supported by the both end portions 44a and 44b.

  Inside the ribbon take-up spool 44, a shaft hole 44c penetrating in the vertical direction is formed. On the inner peripheral surface of the ribbon take-up spool 44 (that is, the inner wall forming the shaft hole 44c), a plurality of engagement ribs 44d are provided slightly below the center position in the vertical direction. When the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, the ribbon take-up shaft 95 described above is inserted into the shaft hole 44c through the opening 67b. A plurality of cam members 95 a formed around the ribbon take-up shaft 95 are engaged with a plurality of engagement ribs 44 d provided on the ribbon take-up spool 44. As a result, the rotation of the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is transmitted to the ribbon take-up spool 44 (that is, the ribbon take-up spool 44 rotates with the rotation of the ribbon take-up shaft 95). The ribbon take-up spool 44 has an opening width of the shaft hole 44c of the ribbon take-up shaft 95 so that play in the circumferential direction occurs with respect to the ribbon take-up shaft 95 when the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is mounted. It is larger than the shaft diameter.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the tape feed roller 46 is rotatably supported through a roller support hole 64 that penetrates the cassette case 31 in the vertical direction. Specifically, the roller support hole 64 includes an opening 64a and an opening 64b, which are through holes formed at positions facing each other on the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36, respectively. A pair of restricting members 63 projecting in opposite directions along the front edge of the cassette case 31 are formed at positions near the openings 64a and 64b. On the rear side of the pair of regulating members 63, a guide wall 38 is erected over the upper case 31 a and the lower case 31 b adjacent to the pair of regulating members 63. The interval width between the base ends of the pair of regulating members 63 is set to be the same as the tape width of the print medium.

  The tape feed roller 46 has a cylindrical shape having a height dimension substantially equal to the width of the cassette case 31 (that is, the length in the vertical direction). The main body 46e of the tape feed roller 46 has a larger diameter than the openings 64a and 64b, and an outer peripheral surface thereof is a roller surface 46c that comes into contact with the print medium. The length in the vertical direction of the roller surface 46c (that is, the tape feed width in the tape feed roller 46) is set to be the same as the tape width of the print medium. The upper end portion 46a and the lower end portion 46b that protrude in the vertical direction from the main body portion 46e of the tape feed roller 46 have slightly smaller diameters than the openings 64a and 64b, respectively. In addition, inside the tape feed roller 46, a shaft hole 46d penetrating the main body 46e in the vertical direction connects both end portions 46a and 46b.

  Inside the cassette case 31, the upper end portion 46 a is fitted into the opening portion 64 a of the upper wall surface 35, and the lower end portion 46 b is fitted into the opening portion 64 b of the lower wall surface 36. The main body 46e contacts the upper case 31a from below and restricts the upward movement of the tape feeding roller 46, and contacts the lower case 31b from above to restrict the downward movement of the tape feeding roller 46. . As a result, the tape feed roller 46 is rotatable about the axis within the cassette case 31 while being supported by both end portions 46a and 46b.

  A plurality of engagement ribs 46f (see FIG. 17) are provided on the lower end side of the inner peripheral surface of the tape feed roller 46 (that is, the inner wall forming the shaft hole 46d). When the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape drive shaft 100 described above is inserted into the shaft hole 46d through the opening 64b. A plurality of cam members 100 a formed around the tape drive shaft 100 are engaged with a plurality of engagement ribs 46 f provided on the tape feed roller 46. As a result, the rotation of the tape drive shaft 100 is transmitted to the tape feed roller 46 (that is, the tape feed roller 46 rotates with the rotation of the tape drive shaft 100). The tape feed roller 46 has an opening width of the shaft hole 46d larger than the shaft diameter of the tape drive shaft 100 so that a slight play in the circumferential direction occurs with respect to the tape drive shaft 100 when the tape drive shaft 100 is mounted. Is also slightly larger.

  As shown in FIG. 13, a guide hole 47 penetrating in the vertical direction of the cassette case 31 is formed at the right rear portion of the cassette case 31. Specifically, the guide hole 47 is a shaft that communicates between the openings 47a and 47b, and the openings 47a and 47b, which are recessed holes that extend in directions opposite to each other from the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36, respectively. It consists of holes 47c. Here, since the guide hole 47 is located within the range of the common portion 32 located at the right rear portion of the cassette case 31 in plan view, the opening 47 b is formed on the lower surface of the common portion 32. Inside the cassette case 31, cylindrical cylindrical wall portions 89 that form shaft holes 47c that allow the openings 47a and 47b to communicate with each other are provided on the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 (here, the lower surface of the common portion 32). Are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the second tape support hole 66 also includes a pair of openings 66 a and 66 b formed at positions facing each other on the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36. Each of the openings 66a and 66b is connected to a recess that is recessed into the cassette case 31 in a facing direction. The second tape spool (not shown) is a cylindrical body having a height dimension substantially the same as the tape width of the print medium, and the second tape is wound around the outer peripheral surface thereof. When the second tape is stored in the cassette case 31, the recesses that are continuously provided from the openings 66a and 66b are respectively inserted into the openings at both ends of the shaft hole that penetrates the second tape spool in the vertical direction. . As a result, the second tape spool is rotatable about the axis in the cassette case 31 while being pivotally supported by the second tape support hole 66. Note that the tape cassette 30 of the first embodiment does not include the second tape spool in the cassette case 31.

  Similarly, the ribbon support hole 68 also includes a pair of openings 68a and 68b formed at positions facing each other on the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36, respectively. The openings 68a and 68b are connected to recesses that are recessed into the cassette case 31 in opposite directions. The ribbon spool (not shown) is a cylindrical body having a height dimension substantially the same as the tape width of the print medium, and an ink ribbon is wound around the outer peripheral surface thereof. When the ink ribbon is stored in the cassette case 31, recesses that are continuously provided from the openings 68 a and 68 b are inserted into both end openings of shaft holes that penetrate the ribbon spool in the vertical direction. As a result, the ribbon spool is rotatable about the axis within the cassette case 31 while being supported by the ribbon support hole 68. The tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment does not include a ribbon spool in the cassette case 31.

  Here, the positional relationship of each part provided in the tape cassette 30 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 8, and FIG. In addition, the dashed-two dotted line in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 has shown the dividing line K mentioned later. The roller support hole 64, the guide hole 47, the first tape support hole 65, the take-up support hole 67, the pin hole 53, and the head mounting portion 39 described above are the tape drive shaft 100 of the cassette mounting portion 8 in which the tape cassette 30 is mounted. , The guide shaft 120, the auxiliary shaft 110, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the positioning pin 102, and the head holder 74.

  Specifically, the roller support hole 64 is formed in the first hole forming region 30 a including a corner portion located on the left front side in the tape cassette 30. More specifically, the first hole forming region 30a is, among the nine regions formed when the tape cassette 30 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view is divided into, for example, three equal parts in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, This is the area located at the leftmost front. The first hole forming region 30 a is adjacent to the left side of the head mounting portion 39 provided at the front center of the tape cassette 30. In other words, the first hole forming region 30 a is located on the downstream side in the tape transport direction as viewed from the head mounting portion 39. Therefore, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted at an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8, the corner included in the first hole forming region 30a faces the first shaft installation region 8c described above.

  The guide hole 47 is formed in the second hole forming region 30 b including a corner portion located on the right rear side in the tape cassette 30. More specifically, the second hole forming region 30b is, among the nine regions formed when the tape cassette 30 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view is divided into, for example, three equal parts in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, This is the area located at the far right rear. In other words, when the tape cassette 30 is viewed in plan, the corner included in the second hole forming region 30b is located opposite to the corner included in the first hole forming region 30a. Therefore, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted at an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8, the corner portion included in the second hole forming region 30b faces the above-described second shaft installation region 8d.

  When the tape cassette 30 is divided in plan view with respect to a dividing line K that connects the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47 in plan view, the first storage area 30c occupies the rear side of the dividing line K. The second storage area 30d occupies the front side of the dividing line K. The first tape support hole 65 is formed at or near the center of gravity of the first storage area 30c having a triangular shape in plan view (that is, the intersection connecting the middle lines of the three sides forming the first storage area 30c). The winding support hole 67 is formed at or near the center of gravity of the second storage region 30d having a triangular shape in plan view (that is, the intersection connecting the middle lines of the three sides forming the second storage region 30d). Here, the first tape support hole 65 and the winding support hole 67 are located substantially symmetrically about the dividing line K in plan view.

  On the rear side of the roller support hole 64 in the lower case 31 b, a pin hole 53 is formed adjacent to the roller support hole 64 so as to be recessed upward at a depth substantially equal to the height dimension of the positioning pin 102. The tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 is supported in the vicinity of the roller support hole 64 by the positioning pin 102 inserted into the pin hole 53, and in the vicinity of the guide hole 47 by the positioning pin 103 contacting the common portion 32. Supported.

  Note that the second tape support hole 66 is formed on the dividing line K in a plan view, and specifically, is located approximately in the middle between the center of the tape cassette 30 in a plan view and the guide hole 47. The ribbon support hole 68 is formed in the second storage region 30 d, and more specifically, is located on the right front side of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the winding support hole 67.

  Due to the positional relationship as described above, the weight balance of the tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment is as follows. As described above, the first tape spool 40 is rotatably supported in the first tape support hole 65 inside the tape cassette 30. This means that at least the rotation center of the first tape spool 40 (that is, the shaft hole 40d) is provided within the range of the first storage region 30c in plan view. In other words, it means that the center of gravity of the first tape (here, the thermal paper tape 55) wound around the first tape spool 40 is located within the range of the first storage region 30c in plan view. .

  On the other hand, the tape cassette 30 of the first embodiment does not include another print medium (second tape) or ink ribbon. That is, in the tape cassette 30, the first storage area 30c where the center of gravity of the thermal paper tape 55 is located is heavier than the second storage area 30d. The tape cassette 30 having such a weight balance is fitted vertically to the cassette mounting portion 8 while maintaining the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 substantially horizontal while the user holds the side walls 37 on both left and right sides with fingers, for example. At this time, due to the weight deviation of the tape cassette 30, the first storage region 30 c side tends to be inclined downward with the dividing line K as the rotation center.

  On the other hand, in the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 described above, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, guide guide) erected on the cassette mounting portion 8 are used. The shaft 120 and the auxiliary shaft 110) are respectively inserted into three guide holes (the roller support hole 64, the guide hole 47, and the first tape support hole 65) provided in the tape cassette 30, so that the tape cassette 30 is loaded into the cassette. Guided to the appropriate position of the section 8. The manner in which the tape cassette 30 is attached to and detached from the cassette mounting portion 8 will be described in detail later.

  When the tape cassette 30 is mounted at an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape drive shaft 100 is inserted into the tape feed roller 46, and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is inserted into the ribbon take-up spool 44. When the cassette cover 6 is closed, the platen holder 12 moves to the printing position, the platen roller 15 faces the thermal head 10, and the movable conveyance roller 14 presses the tape feed roller 46. As a result, the tape printer 1 is in a state capable of executing printing on the print medium.

  When the platen holder 12 moves from the standby position to the printing position, the switch unit 20 provided on the platen holder 12 faces the arm identification unit 80 provided on the tape cassette 30. At this time, if the tape cassette 30 is mounted at an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8, each detection switch 21 is set according to the pattern of the identification portion (non-pressing portion 81 and pressing portion 82) constituting the arm identification portion 80. Are turned on or off, respectively. Specifically, the detection switch 21 facing the non-pressing portion 81 is inserted into the non-pressing portion 81 and is turned off. The detection switch 21 facing the pressing portion 82 is pressed by the pressing portion 82 and is turned on.

  In the tape printer 1, information about the tape cassette 30 is acquired based on the combination of on / off of each detection switch 21. The tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment is a general-purpose cassette capable of mounting various types of tapes, but is mounted as a thermal type tape cassette containing only the thermal paper tape 55 as a printing medium. Therefore, the tape printer 1 detects, for example, “thermal type with a tape width of 36 mm” as the type of the tape cassette 30 based on the detection result of the switch unit 20.

  In the first embodiment, when printing is performed in the tape printer 1, the tape feed roller 46 that is rotationally driven via the tape drive shaft 100 is moved from the first tape spool 40 to the thermal paper tape in cooperation with the movable conveyance roller 14. Pull out 55. The thermal paper tape 55 pulled out from the first tape spool 40 is transported along the transport path in the arm portion 34 while passing the outside of the ribbon support hole 68 in a plan view. Further, the thermal paper tape 55 is supplied from the opening 34 a of the arm portion 34 to the head mounting portion 39 and is conveyed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 15. Then, characters, figures, symbols, etc. are printed on the printing surface of the thermal paper tape 55 by the thermal head 10. Thereafter, the printed thermal paper tape 55 is further conveyed toward the tape discharge port 49 by the cooperation of the tape feeding roller 46 and the movable conveying roller 14 and is cut by the cutting mechanism 17.

  When the above printing is performed, the ribbon take-up spool 44 is also rotationally driven via the ribbon take-up shaft 95. However, the ribbon spool is not accommodated in the tape cassette 30 of the first embodiment. Therefore, the unused ink ribbon is not drawn out or the used ink ribbon is not taken up by the ribbon take-up spool 44. In other words, even when the thermal type tape cassette 30 is used in the tape printer 1 having the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the rotational drive of the ribbon take-up shaft 95 affects the printing operation on the thermal paper tape 55. Can be printed properly. In the tape cassette 30 described above, the ribbon take-up shaft 95 may be similarly idled in the take-up support hole 67 without providing the ribbon take-up spool 44.

  Here, the attachment / detachment aspect of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 1st Embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16, the right side surface of the tape cassette 30 is shown, but only the hole relating to the attachment / detachment of the tape cassette 30 is indicated by a virtual line (two-dot chain line) for easy understanding. Moreover, although the schematic cross section which looked at the cassette mounting part 8 from the right side is shown, in order to understand easily, only the axial part regarding attachment / detachment of the tape cassette 30 is illustrated. However, in FIG. 16, the guide hole 47 and the vicinity thereof are shown as a cross-sectional view in a right side view.

  First, the height relationship of each member erected on the cassette mounting portion 8 will be described. In the first embodiment, the head holder 74, the tape drive shaft 100, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are at least axial lengths (vertical lengths) larger than the height dimension T of the common portion 32. Have Of these, the three guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120) have substantially the same axial length. Further, the axial lengths of the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are larger than the axial length of the ribbon take-up shaft 95 and the vertical size of the head holder 74. Therefore, in a state where the head holder 74, the tape drive shaft 100, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, and the auxiliary shaft 110 are erected, the tape drive shaft 100 and the auxiliary shaft 110 are based on the height position of the flat portion of the recessed portion 8a. The height position at the upper end of the ribbon holder is the largest, the height position at the upper end of the head holder 74 is the largest, and the height position at the upper end of the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is the smallest. However, the height position at the upper end of the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is substantially equal to the height position at the upper end of the thermal head 10 fixed to the head holder 74.

  As described above, the guide shaft 120 is erected on the cassette support portion 8b positioned above the recessed portion 8a. The upper end of the guide shaft 120 is higher in height than any of the upper ends of the head holder 74, the tape drive shaft 100, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, and the auxiliary shaft 110. The height (vertical direction length) from each upper end of the tape drive shaft 100 and the auxiliary shaft 110 to the upper end of the guide shaft 120 is the height (up and down) from the lower wall surface 36 of the tape cassette 30 to the lower surface of the common portion 32. Direction length). That is, the guide shaft 120 extends above the height position of the tape drive shaft 100 and the auxiliary shaft 110 by the amount that the thickness of the tape cassette 30 is reduced by the stepped shape of the common portion 32.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the user mounts the tape cassette 30 in the cassette mounting portion 8, the roller support hole 64, the first tape support hole 65, and the guide hole 47 are respectively connected to the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide. The relative position in a plan view is made substantially coincident with the shaft 120, and as described above, the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 are fitted vertically while being kept substantially horizontal. When the tape cassette 30 is moved downward toward the cassette mounting portion 8, the upper ends of the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are provided on the lower wall surface 36 of the tape cassette 30 as shown in FIG. Entry into the openings 64b, 65b, 47b almost simultaneously. On the other hand, the head holder 74 and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 are not entering the tape cassette 30 because their upper ends are positioned below the lower wall surface 36.

  When the tape cassette 30 is further moved downward from the state shown in FIG. 15, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are respectively inserted into the shaft holes 46d, 65c, and 47c through the openings 64b, 65b, and 47b. Inserted from below. Inside the shaft holes 46d, 65c, 47c, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 inserted in the shaft holes 46d, 65c, 47c are restricted from moving in the circumferential direction by the inner walls of the shaft holes 46d, 65c, 47c, respectively. It will be in the state which can slide along the standing direction (namely, up-down direction). In other words, the tape cassette 30 is guided along the direction in which the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are inserted into the shaft holes 46d, 65c, and 47c, respectively, and the lower part is also subjected to its own weight. Move to.

  The upper end edges of the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are tapered so that the shaft diameter decreases toward the upper end. Therefore, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 can be appropriately and properly positioned even if there is a slight shift in the relative position in plan view with respect to the roller support hole 64, the first tape support hole 65, and the guide hole 47. It can be inserted smoothly. Further, since the shaft diameter of the tape drive shaft 100 is slightly smaller than the opening width of the tape feed roller 46 (shaft hole 46d), the planar position of the tape feed roller 46 in the roller support hole 64 slightly changes due to vibration, inclination, or the like. However, the tape drive shaft 100 can be inserted smoothly.

  Further, as described above, the guide hole 47 has an opening width larger than the shaft diameter of the tip end portion of the guide shaft 120 (the aforementioned small diameter shaft portion 120b), and in particular, has an opening width in the left-right direction that is larger than the opening width in the front-rear direction. large. Therefore, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted, the guide shaft 120 can be inserted into the guide hole 47 even if the relative position of the guide hole 47 in plan view with respect to the guide shaft 120 is slightly shifted in the left-right direction. Thereby, since it is not necessary to accurately position each corresponding hole of the tape cassette 30 with respect to all of the three guide shafts provided in the cassette mounting portion 8, the burden on the user when mounting the tape cassette 30 is reduced. It is reduced. Further, at the time of manufacturing the tape cassette 30, in order to make the dimension width of the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47 completely coincide with the dimension width of the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120, an advanced dimension is required for the operator. Accuracy is required. In that respect, by forming a play in the left-right direction in the guide hole 47, a slight error in dimensional accuracy for forming the guide hole 47 is allowed, so that the burden at the time of manufacturing the tape cassette 30 is reduced.

  As the tape cassette 30 is guided downward, the head holder 74 including the thermal head 10 is inserted into the head mounting portion 39 from below, and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is inserted into the shaft hole through the opening 67b. It is inserted into 44c from below. As described above, since play occurs even when the head holder 74 is mounted on the head mounting portion 39, the head mounting portion 39 is in a loose insertion state in which the head holder 74 can be displaced in the front-rear and left-right directions. Moreover, since the opening width of the ribbon take-up spool 44 (shaft hole 44c) is larger than the shaft diameter of the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the ribbon take-up shaft 95 can be displaced in the circumferential direction within the ribbon take-up spool 44. It becomes a state.

  As shown in FIG. 16, when the tape cassette 30 is moved downward along the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120, the positioning pins 103 erected on the cassette support portion 8b become the tape cassette. It contacts the lower surface of the common part 32 located at the right rear part of 30. At the same time, although not shown in FIG. 16, the positioning pin 102 erected on the cassette support portion 8 b is inserted into the pin hole 53, and the upper end of the positioning pin 102 contacts the top wall in the pin hole 53. That is, the height position of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 is defined as the height position supported by the positioning pins 102 and 103.

  At the same time, the proximal end side of the guide shaft 120 (the large-diameter shaft portion 120a described above) is fitted into the guide hole 47 (shaft hole 47c) while being guided along the tapered portion 120c. As described above, since the shaft diameter of the large-diameter shaft portion 120a is substantially equal to the opening width of the guide hole 47, the large-diameter shaft portion 120a is closely locked from the front-rear direction of the guide hole 47, Displacement in the direction (particularly in the front-rear direction) is restricted. Further, the positioning pin 102 is locked inside the pin hole 53, and the displacement of the positioning pin 102 in the circumferential direction is restricted. That is, the planar position of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 is defined as a planar position that is locked by the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102.

  By the way, printing by the thermal head 10 is performed along a direction (here, the front-rear direction of the tape cassette 30) orthogonal to the tape transport direction. Therefore, in order to prevent the deviation of the printing position with respect to the tape, it is preferable that the mounting position in the front-rear direction of the tape cassette 30 is accurately defined. On the other hand, even if the mounting position of the tape cassette 30 is slightly shifted along the tape transport direction (here, the left-right direction of the tape cassette 30), the print quality is not greatly affected. When the guide shaft 120 is inserted, the guide hole 47 of the first embodiment causes a slight play in the left-right direction with respect to the large-diameter shaft portion 120a, so that the tape cassette 30 can be attached and detached without sacrificing the print quality. Can be smooth.

  Thus, in the first embodiment, the tape cassette 30 is guided to the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by the three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, auxiliary shaft 110, and guide shaft 120). The tape cassette 30 is positioned at an appropriate plane position by the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102, and is positioned at an appropriate height position by the positioning pins 102 and 103. When the tape cassette 30 is positioned at an appropriate position, the cam member 100a provided on the proximal end side of the tape drive shaft 100 is properly applied to the engagement rib 46f of the tape feed roller 46 as shown in FIG. Is engaged. As shown in FIG. 18, the cam member 95 a provided on the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is properly meshed with the engagement rib 44 d of the ribbon take-up spool 44. Further, the thermal head 10 provided in the head holder 74 is arranged at an appropriate printing position of the head mounting portion 39. That is, as described above, the tape printer 1 is in a state where it can appropriately perform printing on the print medium.

  When removing the tape cassette 30 from the cassette mounting portion 8, for example, the user may pull the tape cassette 30 upward from the cassette mounting portion 8 while holding the side walls 37 on both left and right sides with fingers. Also at this time, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the vertical direction by the three guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120). Therefore, in the process of removing the tape cassette 30 from the cassette mounting portion 8, it is possible to prevent the tape cassette 30 from being tilted and being caught on the inner wall or the like of the cassette mounting portion 8.

  By the way, the tape cassette 30 of 1st Embodiment has the weight balance which the 1st storage area 30c side tends to incline downward. On the other hand, a first tape support hole 65 penetrating the center of gravity of the first tape (thermal paper tape 55) is provided in the first storage area 30c. The tape printer 1 is provided with an auxiliary shaft 110 that is inserted into the first tape support hole 65. When the tape cassette 30 is attached or detached, the first storage area 30 c that is likely to float or tilt inside the cassette mounting portion 8 is guided in the vertical direction by the auxiliary shaft 110 inserted into the first tape support hole 65. Therefore, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted, the tape cassette 30 is prevented from being lifted or tilted due to the first storage area 30c tilting downward.

  Further, the tape cassette 30 has a pair of diagonal portions (specifically, the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47) of the tape cassette 30 and the center of gravity of the first tape (specifically, the first tape portion). It is guided in the vertical direction at three points with the tape support hole 65). Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prevent the positional deviation or inclination of the tape cassette 30 during the process of being attached to the cassette attaching portion 8. Note that the center of gravity of the entire tape cassette 30 is preferably located in a region connecting the roller support hole 64, the first tape support hole 65, and the guide hole 47 in plan view. According to this, the weight of the tape cassette 30 acts evenly distributed at three points (that is, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120) where the tape cassette 30 is guided in plan view. Then, the tape cassette 30 can be smoothly moved in the attaching / detaching direction, and the occurrence of positional deviation and tilt in the process of mounting the tape cassette 30 can be more reliably prevented.

  The tape cassette 30 has four corners in plan view. The left front corner where the roller support hole 64 is provided and the right rear corner where the guide hole 47 is provided at the opposite corner. The attachment / detachment of the tape cassette 30 is guided at at least two points with respect to the section. At the corner on the left front of the tape cassette 30 and in the vicinity thereof, the tape feeding roller 46 feeds the tape and the thermal head 10 performs printing. Further, the tape is exposed to the outside from the cassette case 31 for feeding out the tape and printing. Therefore, the positioning of the tape cassette 30 at the left front corner greatly affects the print quality and tape running. Further, in order to perform the tape feeding by the tape feeding roller 46, the tape driving shaft 100 for rotating the tape feeding roller 46 is essential.

  From the above, by adopting a configuration in which the tape cassette 30 is guided in the attaching / detaching direction at the left front corner, the tape cassette 30 is accurately positioned in the vicinity of the position where the tape is fed and printed. be able to. Further, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a problem (so-called jam) in which the tape exposed to the outside in the process of mounting the tape cassette is entangled with other members. Further, by using the tape drive shaft 100 as one of the guide shafts, it is not necessary to separately provide a shaft body for guiding the left front corner portion of the tape cassette 30, and the structure of the tape printer 1 is simplified. can do. Further, the tape cassette 30 is stably guided at both diagonal positions where the maximum distance between the two points in the tape cassette 30 can be secured in a plan view by the configuration in which the tape cassette 30 is guided in the attaching / detaching direction at the right rear corner. Can be guided in the direction of attachment / detachment.

  In a state where the tape cassette 30 is mounted at an appropriate position, the dividing line J and the dividing line K substantially coincide with each other in plan view (see FIGS. 5 and 6). The tape cassette 30 is accommodated in the recessed portion 8a and the common portion 32 is supported by the cassette support portion 8b without causing an inclination or a positional shift with respect to the cassette mounting portion 8. The thermal head 10 fixed to the head holder 74 is disposed at an appropriate printing position in the head mounting portion 39. The tape drive shaft 100 and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 are properly fitted and inserted into the tape feed roller 46 and the ribbon take-up spool 44 without causing any shaft misalignment. The switch unit 20 (the plurality of detection switches 21) provided on the platen holder 12 faces the arm identification unit 80 (non-pressing unit 81 and pressing unit 82) provided on the arm side surface 33 without causing any positional deviation. The type of the tape cassette 30 is accurately detected. Therefore, in the tape printer 1, the risk of running failure of the tape or ink ribbon or printing failure at the thermal head 10 is greatly reduced, and appropriate printing can be performed.

  In the above embodiment, the tape cassette 30 in which the general-purpose cassette is a thermal type is used in the tape printer 1 which is a general-purpose machine. Accordingly, one tape printer 1 can be used for various types of tape cassettes such as a thermal type, a receptor type, and a laminate type, and it is not necessary to use a different tape printer for each unit. When manufacturing a tape cassette, a cassette case is usually formed by combining a plurality of dies and then pouring resin. If the tape cassette is compatible with a tape having the same tape width, an arm identification unit 80 is formed. Since a common mold can be used except for some molds, such as a mold included in a part, the cost is greatly reduced. When trying to create a thermal type tape cassette in the form of taking advantage of this advantage, the thermal paper tape 55 can be wound around the first tape spool 40 with respect to a general-purpose cassette case as in the above embodiment. This is effective for storing the long thermal paper tape 55.

  By the way, in the said embodiment, although the case where the tape cassette 30 which comprised the general purpose cassette to the thermal type was used for the tape printer 1 which is a general purpose machine was illustrated, it is not limited to this.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 21, a thermal type dedicated tape printer 1 that does not use an ink ribbon for printing on a print medium is configured. That is, if the tape printer 1 is a dedicated machine that uses only the thermal type tape cassette 30, the ribbon winding shaft 95 that rotates the ribbon winding spool 44 may not be provided. Therefore, the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is not erected on the gear 94.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, a thermal type tape cassette 30 capable of storing only a thermal paper tape is configured. That is, if the tape cassette 30 is dedicated to the thermal type, it is not necessary to have a configuration for storing other print media and ink ribbons. Therefore, the second tape spool and the second tape support hole 66 for supporting the second tape spool, the take-up support hole 67 for supporting the ribbon take-up spool 44 and the ribbon take-up spool 44, the ribbon spool and Ribbon support holes 68 for supporting the ribbon spool are not provided.

  Even when such a configuration is adopted, the tape cassette 30 is attached to and detached from the tape printer 1 in the same manner as described above. That is, the three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, guide shaft 120, auxiliary shaft 110) are respectively inserted into the corresponding three guide holes (roller support hole 64, guide hole 47, first tape support hole 65). Thus, the tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 (see FIG. 22).

  20 and FIG. 21, the tape cassette 30 of the dedicated cassette has a ribbon take-up spool 44 and the like on the second storage area 30d side as compared with the tape cassette 30 of the general-purpose cassette shown in FIGS. The weight of the first storage area 30c is further increased by the amount that is not. Then, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted, the first storage area 30c side is more easily inclined downward, and the tape cassette 30 is likely to be inclined or floated at the cassette mounting portion 8. According to the first embodiment, as described above, the auxiliary shaft 110 is inserted into the guide hole 47 penetrating the first storage region 30c, and the attachment / detachment of the tape cassette 30 is guided. Therefore, even if the weight of the first storage area 30c in the tape cassette 30 increases, the tape cassette 30 can be prevented from tilting or floating.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the case where the auxiliary | assistant axis | shaft 110 with a shaft diameter a little smaller than the opening width of the shaft hole 65c was inserted / removed in the opening center of the shaft hole 65c of the 1st tape support hole 65 by planar view was illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this (see FIGS. 5 and 6, etc.). That is, the auxiliary shaft 110 may be provided so as to be positioned in a direction in which the tape cassette 30 attached to and detached from the cassette mounting portion 8 is inclined in plan view, and to be in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole 65c.

  For example, the auxiliary shaft 110 shown in FIG. 23 has a shaft diameter smaller than the opening width of the shaft hole 65c (here, about ½ of the shaft hole 65c), and when the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. It is provided so as to be located on the upper left side of the opening center of the shaft hole 65c in plan view. The auxiliary shaft 110 has a shaft diameter smaller than the opening width of the shaft hole 65c, and contacts the upper left portion (hereinafter, the left rear side surface) in plan view on the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole 65c. Therefore, when the tape cassette 30 is attached / detached, the tape cassette 30 is guided along the auxiliary shaft 110 by inserting / removing the auxiliary shaft 110 while contacting the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole 65c, as in the above embodiment. The

  Here, when the tape cassette 30 to be attached to and detached from the cassette mounting portion 8 is guided along two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120), the direction in which inclination is likely to occur during the attachment and detachment is the dividing line K. And a direction F (a dashed line in FIG. 23) perpendicular to the line. On the other hand, the left rear side surface of the shaft hole 65c with which the auxiliary shaft 110 shown in FIG. 23 comes into contact is the center of rotation (partition line K) in the orthogonal direction F where the tape cassette 30 is likely to be inclined when the shaft hole 65c is viewed in plan. It is the position farthest from the center.

  That is, the auxiliary shaft 110 shown in FIG. 23 defines the appropriate planar position of the first tape support hole 65 by the distance from the dividing line K in plan view. And since the auxiliary shaft 110 is in contact with the left rear side surface of the shaft hole 65c, the tape cassette 30 is prevented from being inclined in the orthogonal direction F with the dividing line K as the rotation center in plan view. In FIG. 23, the auxiliary shaft 110 is provided so as to be located on the upper left side with respect to the opening center of the shaft hole 65c. However, the tape cassette 30 is inclined in another direction (for example, more than the opening center of the shaft hole 65c). Even if it is provided so as to be located on the left side or the upper side, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

<Second Embodiment>
The tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, the tape cassette 30 accommodates one print medium (specifically, a non-thermal print tape) and an ink ribbon, and two guides for guiding the attachment / detachment to the tape printer 1. The case where it has a guide hole is illustrated. Further, the case where the tape printer 1 has two guide shafts for guiding the tape cassette 30 to an appropriate position corresponding to the above two guide holes will be exemplified.

  As shown in FIGS. 24 to 26, the tape printer 1 according to the second embodiment is different in tape type as the tape printer 1 according to the first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 to 7). This is a general-purpose machine that can use a plurality of tape cassettes 30 in common. However, the point that the auxiliary shaft 110 is not provided is different from the tape printer 1 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 24, the tape cassette 30 according to the second embodiment is mounted with various types of tapes in the same manner as the tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment (see FIGS. 3 and 7 to 13). It is a possible general-purpose cassette. However, as shown in FIG. 26, in the tape cassette 30 of the second embodiment, the first tape spool 40 is rotatably supported by the first tape support hole 65, and the non-thermal printing tape is used as the first tape. 57 is wound around the first tape spool 40. Further, the ribbon spool 42 is rotationally supported by the ribbon support hole 68, and the ink ribbon 60 used for printing on the print tape 57 is wound around the ribbon spool 42. That is, the tape cassette 30 of the second embodiment is mounted as a so-called receptor type tape cassette. The receptor-type tape cassette 30 does not need to store another print medium, and therefore does not include a second tape spool around which the second tape is wound.

  In the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 described above, the tape feed roller 46 that is rotationally driven through the tape drive shaft 100 when the printing is performed in the tape printer 1 is performed in cooperation with the movable transport roller 14. The printing tape 57 is pulled out from the tape spool 40. Further, the ribbon take-up spool 44 that is rotationally driven via the ribbon take-up shaft 95 pulls out the unused ink ribbon 60 from the ribbon spool 42 in synchronization with the printing speed. The print tape 57 drawn out from the first tape spool 40 is transported along the transport path in the arm portion 34 while passing outside the ribbon support hole 68 in a plan view. Further, the printing tape 57 is supplied from the opening 34 a to the head mounting portion 39 with the ink ribbon 60 superposed on the surface thereof, and is conveyed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 15 of the tape printing apparatus 1. Then, characters, figures, symbols, etc. are printed on the printing surface of the printing tape 57 by the thermal head 10. Thereafter, the used ink ribbon 60 is peeled off from the printed printing tape 57 by the guide wall 38 and taken up on the ribbon take-up spool 44. On the other hand, the printed printing tape 57 is further conveyed toward the tape discharge port 49 and is cut by the cutting mechanism 17.

  As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 26, the positional relationship of each part provided in the tape cassette 30 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but differs in the following points. That is, in the first tape support hole 65, the first tape spool 40 around which the printing tape 57 is wound is rotatably supported. Therefore, the center of gravity of the print tape 57 is located within the first storage area 30c in plan view. On the other hand, in the ribbon support hole 68, the ribbon spool 42 around which the unused ink ribbon 60 is wound is rotatably supported. In the winding support hole 67, the ribbon winding spool 44 around which the used ink ribbon 60 is wound is rotatably supported. Therefore, the center of gravity of the ink ribbon 60 is located within the range of the second storage region 30d in plan view.

  With the above-described positional relationship, in the tape cassette 30 according to the second embodiment, the weights of the first storage area 30c and the second storage area 30d with respect to the dividing line K are approximated. The tape cassette 30 having such a weight balance is fitted vertically to the cassette mounting portion 8 while maintaining the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 substantially horizontal while the user holds the side walls 37 on both left and right sides with fingers, for example. At this time, the inclination of the tape cassette 30 with the dividing line K as the rotation center is suppressed by reducing the weight deviation in the tape cassette 30. Further, in general, when the weight of the print tape 57 is larger than that of the ink ribbon 60, the weight difference between the first storage region 30c and the second storage region 30d is further reduced by the weight of the ribbon take-up spool 44 (that is, The deviation of the weight of the tape cassette 30 is reduced).

  The attachment / detachment aspect of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 27 and FIG. Note that the height relationship between the respective members erected on the cassette mounting portion 8 is the same as that in the first embodiment except that the auxiliary shaft 110 is not provided.

  When the user mounts the tape cassette 30 on the cassette mounting portion 8, the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47 are substantially aligned with the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120 in the plan view, respectively, as described above. In this manner, the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 are fitted vertically while maintaining substantially horizontal. When the tape cassette 30 is moved downward toward the cassette mounting portion 8, the upper ends of the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120 are opened at the lower wall 36 of the tape cassette 30 as shown in FIG. , 47b are entered almost simultaneously.

  When the tape cassette 30 is further moved downward from the state shown in FIG. 27, the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120 are inserted into the shaft holes 46d and 47c from below through the openings 64b and 47b, respectively. The tape cassette 30 is guided along the standing direction (that is, the vertical direction) of the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120 inserted into the shaft holes 46d and 47c, respectively, and is also moved downward due to its own weight. Moving. Along with this, the head holder 74 provided with the thermal head 10 is inserted into the head mounting portion 39, and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 is inserted into the shaft hole 44c from below through the opening 67b.

  As shown in FIG. 28, when the tape cassette 30 is moved downward along the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120, the positioning pin 103 erected on the cassette support portion 8b is moved to the right rear portion of the tape cassette 30. It contacts the lower surface of the common part 32 located in the position. At the same time, although not shown in FIG. 28, the positioning pin 102 erected on the cassette support portion 8 b is inserted into the pin hole 53, and the upper end of the positioning pin 102 contacts the top wall in the pin hole 53. As described above, in the second embodiment, the tape cassette 30 is guided to the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by the two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120). The tape cassette 30 is positioned at an appropriate plane position by the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102, and is positioned at an appropriate height position by the positioning pins 102 and 103. Even when the tape cassette 30 is removed from the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape cassette 30 is guided upward along the two guide shafts.

  The guide hole 47 of the second embodiment is an elliptical opening having a major axis in the left-right direction and a minor axis in the front-rear direction in plan view. The diameter (major axis and minor axis) of the guide hole 47 is larger than the diameter of the small-diameter shaft portion 120b of the guide shaft 120, and in particular the opening width in the left-right direction is larger than the opening width in the front-rear direction. Further, since the short diameter of the guide hole 47 is substantially equal to the diameter of the large-diameter shaft portion 120a of the guide shaft 120, when the guide shaft 120 is inserted, the guide shaft 47 is tightly locked to the large-diameter shaft portion 120a from the front and rear direction. , Play occurs in the left-right direction of the large-diameter shaft portion 120a. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, it is not necessary to accurately position the corresponding holes of the tape cassette 30 with respect to all of the two guide shafts provided in the cassette mounting portion 8. The burden on the user at the time of wearing is reduced. Also, the tape cassette 30 can be smoothly attached and detached without sacrificing the print quality.

  The tape cassette 30 of the second embodiment has a weight balance that approximates the weight between the first storage area 30c and the second storage area 30d. For this reason, in the process of mounting the tape cassette 30 on the cassette mounting portion 8, inclination due to the weight of the tape cassette 30 hardly occurs. Therefore, the tape cassette 30 can be guided to the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by the two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120) without providing the auxiliary shaft 110 as in the first embodiment. it can.

  Further, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the vertical direction at two points of a pair of diagonal portions (specifically, the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47) of the tape cassette 30 in plan view. That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the attaching / detaching direction around the dividing line K passing between the center of gravity of the print tape 57 and the center of gravity of the ink ribbon 60. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prevent the positional deviation or inclination of the tape cassette 30 during the process of being attached to the cassette attaching portion 8.

  By the way, in the said embodiment, although the case where the tape cassette 30 which comprised the general purpose cassette as the receptor type was used for the tape printer 1 which is a general purpose machine was illustrated, it is not limited to this.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, a receptor type exclusive tape cassette 30 capable of storing only a print tape and an ink ribbon is configured. In other words, if the tape cassette 30 is dedicated to the receptor type, it is not necessary to have a configuration for storing other print media. For this reason, the second tape spool and the second tape support hole 66 for supporting the second tape spool are not provided.

  Further, since the tape printer 1 of the second embodiment does not include the auxiliary shaft 110, the first tape support hole 65 into which the auxiliary shaft 110 is inserted may not be provided in the tape cassette 30. For example, as shown in FIG. 29, instead of the first tape support hole 65, a cylindrical wall portion 65 d that pivotally supports the first tape spool 40 inside the cassette case 31 extends over the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36. You may set up.

  Even when such a configuration is adopted, the tape cassette 30 is attached to and detached from the tape printer 1 in the same manner as described above. That is, two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120) are respectively inserted into the corresponding two guide holes (the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47), so that the tape cassette 30 is attached to the cassette mounting portion 8. It is guided to an appropriate position (see FIG. 28).

  In the above embodiment, the weight balance of the tape cassette 30 is adjusted by a configuration in which the center of gravity of the printing tape 57 is positioned in the first storage region 30c and the center of gravity of the ink ribbon 60 is positioned in the second storage region 30d. . However, the weight of the printing tape 57 varies depending on the thickness and material of the tape. For example, when a heavy print tape 57 is used depending on the tape material or the like, the center of gravity of the tape cassette 30 is not positioned on the line connected by the two guide holes (the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47), and the first storage is performed. It is assumed that it is biased toward the region 30c.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 31, as in the first embodiment, the tape cassette 30 is configured to be provided with the first tape support hole 65 (see FIG. 24), and the tape printer 1 is the auxiliary device described above. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure (refer FIG.3, FIG.4 etc.) in which the axis | shaft 110 was provided. Then, as in the first embodiment, the tape cassette 30 attached to and detached from the cassette mounting portion 8 is guided by the auxiliary shaft 110 in addition to the two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120). (See FIGS. 14 to 16). That is, even when the center of gravity of the entire tape cassette 30 is biased toward the first storage area 30c due to the weight of the printing tape 57, the tape cassette 30 can be smoothly mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 as in the first embodiment. can do.

<Third Embodiment>
A tape printer 1 and a tape cassette 30 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the third embodiment, the case where the tape cassette 30 stores one print medium (specifically, a thermal paper tape) and has two guide holes for guiding attachment / detachment to / from the tape printer 1 is illustrated. To do. Further, the case where the tape printer 1 has two guide shafts for guiding the tape cassette 30 to an appropriate position corresponding to the above two guide holes will be exemplified.

  As shown in FIG. 32, the tape printing apparatus 1 according to the third embodiment is similar to the tape printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment (see FIGS. 24 to 26). This is a general-purpose machine that can use the cassette 30 in common. Unlike the first embodiment, the auxiliary shaft 110 is not provided.

  The tape cassette 30 according to the third embodiment is a general-purpose cassette capable of mounting various types of tapes, similarly to the tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment (see FIGS. 3 and 7 to 13). However, as shown in FIG. 32, in the tape cassette 30 of the third embodiment, the second tape spool 41 is rotatably supported by the second tape support hole 66, and the thermal paper tape 55 is the second tape. It is wound around a tape spool 41. That is, the tape cassette 30 of the third embodiment is mounted as a so-called thermal type tape cassette. Since the thermal type tape cassette 30 does not need to store other print media and ink ribbon, the thermal type tape cassette 30 includes a first tape spool on which the first tape is wound and a ribbon spool on which the ink ribbon is wound. Absent.

  In the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 described above, printing on the thermal paper tape 55 is executed as in the first embodiment. However, unlike the first embodiment, the thermal paper tape 55 is pulled out from the second tape spool 41.

  As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 32, the positional relationship of each part provided in the tape cassette 30 according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but differs in the following points. In other words, the second tape support hole 66 rotatably supports the second tape spool 41 around which the thermal paper tape 55 is wound. Therefore, the center of gravity of the thermal paper tape 55 is positioned on the dividing line K in plan view.

  Due to the positional relationship as described above, in the tape cassette 30 according to the third embodiment, the center of gravity of the entire tape cassette 30 is located on or near the dividing line K in plan view. The tape cassette 30 having such a weight balance is fitted vertically to the cassette mounting portion 8 while maintaining the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 substantially horizontal while the user holds the side walls 37 on both left and right sides with fingers, for example. At this time, since the center of gravity of the tape cassette 30 is located on or near the dividing line K, the tape cassette 30 is suppressed from being inclined with the dividing line K as the rotation center.

  The attachment / detachment aspect of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 3rd Embodiment is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment (refer FIG. 27 and FIG. 28). That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120). Even when the tape cassette 30 is removed from the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape cassette 30 is guided upward along the two guide shafts.

  Note that the guide hole 47 of the third embodiment forms a perfect circular opening in plan view, and has an opening width larger than the shaft diameter of the small diameter shaft portion 120b of the guide shaft 120. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, it is not necessary to accurately position the corresponding holes of the tape cassette 30 with respect to all of the two guide shafts provided in the cassette mounting portion 8. The burden on the user at the time of wearing is reduced. However, the diameter of the guide hole 47 is substantially equal to the shaft diameter of the large-diameter shaft portion 120 a of the guide shaft 120. Therefore, when the guide shaft 120 is inserted into the guide hole 47, the large diameter shaft portion 120 a is tightly locked from the entire circumferential direction of the guide hole 47. According to this, the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 can be positioned at a more accurate planar position.

  The tape cassette 30 of the third embodiment has a weight balance in which the center of gravity is located on or near the dividing line K in plan view. For this reason, in the process of mounting the tape cassette 30 on the cassette mounting portion 8, inclination due to the weight of the tape cassette 30 hardly occurs. Therefore, the tape cassette 30 can be guided to the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by the two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120) without providing the auxiliary shaft 110 as in the first embodiment. it can.

  Further, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the vertical direction at two points of a pair of diagonal portions (specifically, the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47) of the tape cassette 30 in plan view. That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the attaching / detaching direction around the dividing line K passing through the center of gravity of the thermal paper tape 55 or the vicinity thereof. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prevent the positional deviation or inclination of the tape cassette 30 during the process of being attached to the cassette attaching portion 8.

  By the way, in the said embodiment, although the case where the tape cassette 30 which comprised the general purpose cassette to the thermal type was used for the tape printer 1 which is a general purpose machine was illustrated, it is not limited to this.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 34, a thermal type dedicated tape printer 1 that does not use an ink ribbon for printing on a print medium is configured. As described above, the thermal type dedicated tape printer 1 does not include the ribbon take-up shaft 95, but here, unlike the tape printer 1 shown in FIG. 19, does not include the auxiliary shaft 110 (see FIG. 34). . On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 33 and 34, a thermal type exclusive tape cassette 30 capable of storing only a thermal paper tape is configured. However, unlike the thermal type tape cassette 30 shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the thermal paper tape 55 is configured to be accommodated on the dividing line K as described above. Therefore, the first tape spool and the first tape support hole 65 for supporting the first tape spool, the take-up support hole 67 for supporting the ribbon take-up spool 44 and the ribbon take-up spool 44, the ribbon spool and Ribbon support holes 68 for supporting the ribbon spool are not provided.

  Even when such a configuration is adopted, the tape cassette 30 is attached to and detached from the tape printer 1 in the same manner as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 35, two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120) are inserted into the corresponding two guide holes (the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47), respectively, thereby the tape cassette. 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8.

<Fourth Embodiment>
With reference to FIGS. 36 and 37, the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 according to the fourth embodiment will be described. In the fourth embodiment, the tape cassette 30 stores two print media (specifically, a double-sided adhesive tape and a film tape) and an ink ribbon, and two guides for guiding attachment / detachment to the tape printer 1. The case where it has a guide hole is illustrated. Further, the case where the tape printer 1 has two guide shafts for guiding the tape cassette 30 to an appropriate position corresponding to the above two guide holes will be exemplified.

  As shown in FIGS. 36 and 37, the tape printer 1 according to the fourth embodiment is different in tape type as the tape printer 1 according to the second embodiment (see FIGS. 24 to 26). This is a general-purpose machine that can use a plurality of tape cassettes 30 in common. Unlike the first embodiment, the auxiliary shaft 110 is not provided.

  The tape cassette 30 according to the fourth embodiment is a general-purpose cassette capable of mounting various types of tapes, similarly to the tape cassette 30 according to the first embodiment (see FIGS. 3 and 7 to 13). However, as shown in FIGS. 36 and 37, in the tape cassette 30 of the fourth embodiment, the first tape spool 40 is rotatably supported by the first tape support hole 65, and the double-sided adhesive tape is used as the first tape. 58 is wound around the first tape spool 40. The second tape spool 41 is rotatably supported by the second tape support hole 66, and the film tape 59 is wound around the second tape spool 41 as the second tape. The ribbon spool 42 is rotatably supported by the ribbon support hole 68 and the ink ribbon 60 is wound around the ribbon spool 42. That is, the tape cassette 30 of the fourth embodiment is mounted as a so-called laminate type tape cassette.

  In the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 described above, the tape feed roller 46 that is rotationally driven through the tape drive shaft 100 when the printing is performed in the tape printer 1 is performed in cooperation with the movable transport roller 14. The film tape 59 is pulled out from the tape spool 41. Further, the ribbon take-up spool 44 that is rotationally driven via the ribbon take-up shaft 95 pulls out the unused ink ribbon 60 from the ribbon spool 42 in synchronization with the printing speed. The film tape 59 pulled out from the second tape spool 41 is transported along the transport path in the arm portion 34 while passing the outside of the ribbon support hole 68 in a plan view. Further, the film tape 59 is supplied from the opening 34 a to the head mounting portion 39 in a state where the ink ribbon 60 is superposed on the surface thereof, and is transported between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 15 of the tape printer 1. Then, characters, figures, symbols and the like are printed on the printing surface of the film tape 59 by the thermal head 10. Thereafter, the used ink ribbon 60 is peeled off from the printed film tape 59 by the guide wall 38 and taken up on the ribbon take-up spool 44. On the other hand, the double-sided adhesive tape 58 is pulled out from the first tape spool 40 by the cooperation of the tape feeding roller 46 and the movable conveying roller 14. The double-sided adhesive tape 58 is overlapped and stuck on the printing surface of the printed film tape 59 while being guided and wound between the tape feeding roller 46 and the movable conveying roller 14. The printed film tape 59 with the double-sided adhesive tape 58 attached (that is, the printed tape 50) is further conveyed toward the tape discharge port 49 and cut by the cutting mechanism 17.

  As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 36, the positional relationship of each part provided in the tape cassette 30 according to the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but differs in the following points. That is, the first tape spool 40 around which the double-sided adhesive tape 58 is wound is rotatably supported in the first tape support hole 65. Therefore, the center of gravity of the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 58 is located within the range of the first storage region 30c in plan view. On the other hand, in the ribbon support hole 68, the ribbon spool 42 around which the unused ink ribbon 60 is wound is rotatably supported. In the winding support hole 67, the ribbon winding spool 44 around which the used ink ribbon 60 is wound is rotatably supported. Therefore, the center of gravity of the ink ribbon 60 is located within the range of the second storage region 30d in plan view. The second tape support hole 66 rotatably supports the second tape spool 41 around which the film tape 59 is wound. Therefore, the center of gravity of the film tape 59 is located on the dividing line K in plan view.

  With the above-described positional relationship, in the tape cassette 30 according to the fourth embodiment, the weights of the first storage area 30c and the second storage area 30d with respect to the dividing line K are approximated. Furthermore, the center of gravity of the entire tape cassette 30 is located on or near the dividing line K in plan view. The tape cassette 30 having such a weight balance is fitted vertically to the cassette mounting portion 8 while maintaining the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 substantially horizontal while the user holds the side walls 37 on both left and right sides with fingers, for example. At this time, the tape cassette 30 is inclined with the dividing line K as the rotation center due to the fact that the weight deviation in the tape cassette 30 is small and the center of gravity of the tape cassette 30 is located on or near the dividing line K. Is suppressed. Further, in general, when the double-sided adhesive tape 58 is heavier than the ink ribbon 60, the weight difference between the first storage area 30c and the second storage area 30d is further reduced by the weight of the ribbon take-up spool 44 (that is, The weight deviation of the tape cassette 30 is reduced).

  The attachment / detachment aspect of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting part 8 in 4th Embodiment is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment (refer FIG. 27 and FIG. 28). That is, as shown in FIG. 37, the tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by two guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100 and guide shaft 120). Even when the tape cassette 30 is removed from the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape cassette 30 is guided upward along the two guide shafts.

  The guide hole 47 of the fourth embodiment has a substantially rectangular opening whose opening width in the left-right direction is larger than the opening width in the front-rear direction in plan view, and whose four corners are rounded in plan view. It is a long hole having an opening shape. Each opening width of the guide hole 47 in the front-rear direction and in the left-right direction is larger than the diameter of the small-diameter shaft portion 120b of the guide shaft 120, and in particular, the opening width in the left-right direction is larger than the opening width in the front-rear direction. The opening width in the front-rear direction of the guide hole 47 is substantially equal to the diameter of the large-diameter shaft portion 120a of the guide shaft 120. On the other hand, play occurs in the left-right direction of the large-diameter shaft portion 120a. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, it is not necessary to accurately position the corresponding holes of the tape cassette 30 with respect to all of the two guide shafts provided in the cassette mounting portion 8. The burden on the user at the time of wearing is reduced. Also, the tape cassette 30 can be smoothly attached and detached without sacrificing the print quality.

  The tape cassette 30 of the fourth embodiment has a weight balance in which the weight is approximated between the first storage region 30c and the second storage region 30d, and the center of gravity is located on or near the dividing line K in plan view. . For this reason, in the process of mounting the tape cassette 30 on the cassette mounting portion 8, inclination due to the weight of the tape cassette 30 hardly occurs. Therefore, the tape cassette 30 can be guided to the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by the two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120) without providing the auxiliary shaft 110 as in the first embodiment. it can.

  Further, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the vertical direction at two points of a pair of diagonal portions (specifically, the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47) of the tape cassette 30 in plan view. That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided in the attaching / detaching direction about the dividing line K passing between the center of gravity of the double-sided adhesive tape 58 and the center of gravity of the ink ribbon 60 and passing through the center of gravity of the film tape 59 or the vicinity thereof. Is done. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prevent the positional deviation or inclination of the tape cassette 30 during the process of being attached to the cassette attaching portion 8.

  By the way, in the said embodiment, although the case where the tape cassette 30 which comprised the general purpose cassette to the laminate type was used for the tape printer 1 provided with two guide shafts was illustrated, it is not limited to this. For example, the tape cassette 30 according to the fourth embodiment may be mounted on the tape printer 1 including the three guide shafts according to the first embodiment. In this case, similarly to the first embodiment, three guide holes (roller support hole 64, first tape support hole 65) corresponding to the three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, auxiliary shaft 110, guide shaft 120) are provided. , The tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 (see FIGS. 14 to 16).

<Common elements of the first to fourth embodiments>
In the first to fourth embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to various tape cassettes 30 and the tape printer 1 has been described individually and specifically. Here, common elements necessary for realizing the present invention in the tape cassette 30 and the tape printer 1 exemplified in the first to fourth embodiments will be described.

  The tape cassette 30 according to the first to fourth embodiments includes a box-shaped case (cassette case 31) having a substantially rectangular shape. The box-shaped case includes an upper surface (upper wall surface 35), a lower surface (lower wall surface 36), and a front surface, a rear surface, a left side surface, and a right side surface (side wall 37) that define the corners. Inside the box-shaped case, at least one tape (the thermal paper tape 55, the printing tape 57, the double-sided adhesive tape 58, the tape storage area (first storage area 30c, second storage area 30d) defined in the corners thereof, Film tape) is supported. A pair of recesses (the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47) extending from the lower surface are provided at the corners (first hole forming region 30a and the first hole forming region 30a and the tape storage region) and opposite corners of the substantially rectangular box-shaped case. And the second hole forming region 30b).

  When the tape cassette 30 is mounted, the tape printer 1 according to the first to fourth embodiments is inserted into the pair of recesses (the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47), respectively. At least two guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100 and guide shaft 120) for guiding in the attaching / detaching direction are provided.

  Due to the common elements as described above, in the first to fourth embodiments, the tape, which is a heavy object stored in the tape storage area, has no influence on the weight balance of the tape cassette 30, and each of the pair of recesses There is a common effect that the tape cassette 30 can be attached to and detached from the tape printer 1 more accurately and smoothly along the two guide shafts inserted. Furthermore, in the first to fourth embodiments, as described above, each embodiment has individual configurations and effects on the basis of the common elements and the effects thereof.

  In the above embodiment, the roller support hole 64 corresponds to the “first opening” of the present invention. The guide hole 47 corresponds to the “second opening” of the present invention. The printing tape 57 wound around the first tape spool 40 in the second embodiment and the double-sided adhesive tape 58 wound around the first tape spool 40 in the fourth embodiment are the “tape roll” of the present invention. Is equivalent to. The ink ribbon 60 wound around the ribbon spool 42 in the second and fourth embodiments corresponds to the “ribbon roll” of the present invention. The first storage area 30c corresponds to the “first area” of the present invention. The second storage area 30d corresponds to the “second area” of the present invention.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said 1st-4th embodiment, The change in the range which does not change the summary of invention is possible. Further, the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 can be mounted by appropriately combining the first to fourth embodiments. Hereinafter, modified examples of the tape printer 1 and the tape cassette 30 according to the embodiment will be described.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the cassette mounting portion 8 is configured as a housing portion having a rectangular opening substantially corresponding to the planar shape of the tape cassette 30, but is not limited thereto. Moreover, although the cassette support part 8b which supports the common part 32 from the downward direction inside the cassette mounting part 8 is provided, it is not limited to this. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, the cassette mounting portion 8 may be configured as a flat portion larger than the flat shape of the tape cassette 30. In this case, as shown in FIG. 40, the tape drive shaft 100, the guide shaft 120, the auxiliary shaft 110, the ribbon take-up shaft 95, the positioning pins 102 and 103, and the head holder 74 are in the same positional relationship as in the above embodiment and Their upper ends are erected from the same height position in the cassette mounting portion 8 in the same height relationship as in the above embodiment (in other words, erected on a common plane). The positioning pins 102 and 103 and the guide shaft 120 have an axial length that is larger than the height of the cassette support portion 8b as compared to the above embodiment.

  Even if the cassette mounting portion 8 is configured as a planar portion larger than the planar shape of the tape cassette 30, the mounting and dismounting mode of the tape cassette 30 is the same as in the above embodiment. That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, auxiliary shaft 110, and guide shaft 120). The tape cassette 30 is positioned at an appropriate plane position by the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102, and is positioned at an appropriate height position by the positioning pins 102 and 103. In other words, the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 is defined by the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102 and 103. Therefore, even when the cassette mounting portion 8 does not correspond to the planar shape of the tape cassette 30, the tape cassette 30 can be positioned at an appropriate position.

  By the way, as described above, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are respectively inserted into the openings 64b, 65b, and 47b of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8 at the same timing. Is preferred. As shown in FIG. 40, in the tape cassette 30 having a large tape width (for example, 36 mm), a step is generated in the common portion 32 in the thickness direction (that is, the vertical direction). Therefore, the guide shaft 120 inserted into the opening 47b formed on the lower surface of the common portion 32 is higher than the tape drive shaft 100 and the auxiliary shaft 110 by the height difference formed in the common portion 32. Is big. That is, the height positions of the upper ends of the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are defined by the height positions of the openings 64b, 65b, and 47b of the tape cassette 30 that is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. .

  As shown in FIG. 41, in the tape cassette 30 having a small tape width (for example, 12 mm), there is no step in the thickness direction (that is, the vertical direction) in the common portion 32, so the height of the openings 64b, 65b, 47b. The position is almost equal. Therefore, in the tape printer 1 in which the tape cassette 30 with a small tape width is used, it is preferable that the height positions of the upper ends of the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are substantially equal. That is, the height positions of the upper ends of the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are appropriately set in accordance with the height positions of the openings 64b, 65b, 47b of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. It is preferable to change. According to this, the three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, auxiliary shaft 110, guide shaft 120) correspond to the three guide holes (roller support hole 64, The guide hole 47 and the first tape support hole 65) can be inserted at the same timing.

  Further, it is conceivable that the guide shaft 120 is erected to a higher position (for example, the axial length of the guide shaft 120 is increased) corresponding to the tape cassette 30 (for example, 48 mm) having a larger tape width. However, the axial length of the guide shaft 120 may be limited depending on the shape, size, etc. of the tape printer 1 (particularly, the cassette mounting portion 8). In this case, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, first, the two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the auxiliary shaft 110) have two guide holes (the roller support hole 64 and the first tape support hole). 65). Then, in the process in which the tape cassette 30 moves downward while being guided by the two guide shafts, the third guide shaft (guide shaft 120) is inserted into the third guide hole (guide hole 47). It becomes. In such a mounting mode, the head holder 74 and the ribbon winding shaft 95 may be inserted into the head mounting portion 39 and the winding support hole 67 before the guide shaft 120 is inserted into the guide hole 47, respectively.

  However, as described above, the head mounting portion 39 and the winding support hole 67 have opening widths into which the head holder 74 and the ribbon winding shaft 95 are loosely inserted. Therefore, in the process of mounting the tape cassette 30, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems such that the head holder 74 and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 come into contact with other members and prevent the tape cassette 30 from being mounted. Further, in the process in which the tape cassette 30 is guided only by the two guide shafts, the guide shaft 120 is inserted into the guide hole 47 even if a displacement or inclination occurs in the mounting state of the head mounting portion 39 with respect to the head holder 74. Then, it is corrected to an appropriate mounting state (the same applies to the winding support hole 67 and the ribbon winding shaft 95). Therefore, even when the upper end position of the guide shaft 120 is restricted, the tape cassette 30 can be guided and positioned at the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8.

  More specifically, the tape drive shaft 100 and the auxiliary shaft 110 are equal to or lower than the height of the head holder 74 and the ribbon take-up shaft 95, respectively, and the guide shaft 120 is inserted into the guide hole 47 when the tape cassette 30 starts to be mounted. Even if it does not face, the same effect as the above-mentioned embodiment is produced. Here, in the process of mounting the tape cassette 30 in the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are inserted into the first tape support hole 65, the roller support hole 64, and the guide hole 47, respectively. First, the case where the head holder 74 and the ribbon winding shaft 95 are inserted into the head mounting portion 39 and the winding support hole 67, respectively, will be exemplified.

  In this case, when the head holder 74 and the ribbon take-up shaft 95 are inserted into the head mounting portion 39 and the take-up support hole 67, respectively, the tape cassette 30 is not guided by any of the three guide shafts. In this way, the tape cassette 30 is likely to be displaced or inclined in the mounted state. However, when the tape drive shaft 100, the auxiliary shaft 110, and the guide shaft 120 are inserted into the first tape support hole 65, the roller support hole 64, and the guide hole 47, respectively, by moving the tape cassette 30 further downward, the tape The cassette 30 is corrected to an appropriate mounting state. Thereafter, the tape cassette 30 can be smoothly mounted along the three guide shafts at the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8. Further, the tape cassette 30 can be taken out smoothly from the beginning along the three guide shafts. As described above, even when the upper end positions of all the three guide shafts are restricted, the tape cassette 30 can be guided and positioned at the appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the height position of the tape cassette 30 with which the cassette mounting part 8 was mounted | worn is prescribed | regulated by the positioning pins 102 and 103, it is not limited to this. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 42, the positioning pins 103 may not be provided in the cassette mounting portion 8. In this case, as shown in FIG. 43, the guide hole 47 does not have the opening 47a penetrating the upper wall surface 35 of the tape cassette 30, and the upper end of the guide hole 47 is closed by the top wall 47d. In FIG. 43, the guide hole 47 and the vicinity thereof are shown as a cross-sectional view in a right side view.

  Even if such a configuration is adopted, the manner of attaching and detaching the tape cassette 30 is the same as that of the above embodiment. That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, auxiliary shaft 110, and guide shaft 120). The tape cassette 30 is positioned at an appropriate plane position by the guide shaft 120 and the positioning pins 102. However, at the right edge of the tape cassette 30, the upper end of the guide shaft 120 inserted into the guide hole 47 is positioned at an appropriate height position by contacting the top wall 47d. On the other hand, the left edge of the tape cassette 30 is positioned at an appropriate height position by the positioning pin 102 inserted into the pin hole 53 as in the above embodiment.

  As described above, the guide shaft 120 is erected at a position adjacent to the positioning pin 103. Therefore, by adopting a configuration in which the upper end of the guide shaft 120 is locked in the guide hole 47, the height of the guide shaft 120 can be positioned in the same manner as the positioning pin 103. As described above, by using the guide shaft 120 as one of the positioning shafts in the height direction, it is not necessary to stand the positioning pins 103 separately, and the structure of the tape printer 1 can be simplified. Further, if the height position of the tape cassette 30 is not positioned by the common portion 32 as described above, a cassette case 31 having a shape in which the common portion 32 is not provided in the tape cassette 30 is adopted as shown in FIG. Also good.

  In the above modification (see FIGS. 38 to 43), the case where the tape cassette 30 is guided by the three guide shafts has been described. However, the tape cassette 30 has two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120). The same applies to the case of being guided by. That is, as shown in FIG. 44, even when the auxiliary shaft 110 is not provided in the cassette mounting portion 8, the cassette mounting portion 8 may be configured as a flat portion larger than the planar shape of the tape cassette 30. Further, the height positions of the upper ends of the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120 may be appropriately changed according to the height positions of the openings 64b and 47b of the tape cassette 30 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8. Further, the guide shaft 120 may position the height position of the tape cassette 30 without providing the positioning pin 103. When the auxiliary shaft 110 is not provided, the first tape support hole 65 may not be provided in the tape cassette 30 as described above. For example, instead of the first tape support hole 65, a cylindrical wall portion 65 d that pivotally supports the first tape spool 40 inside the cassette case 31 may be erected across the upper wall surface 35 and the lower wall surface 36 ( (See FIG. 29).

  In the above embodiment, the tape cassette 30 in which the general-purpose cassette is mounted as a thermal type, a receptor type, or a laminate type is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 45, it may be mounted as a so-called heat-sensitive laminate type tape cassette. In this case, in the first tape support hole 65, the first tape spool 40 around which the double-sided adhesive tape 58 is wound as the first tape is rotatably supported. In the second tape support hole 66, the second tape spool 41 around which the thermal paper tape 55 is wound as a second tape is rotatably supported. Since the ink ribbon is not used in the so-called heat-sensitive laminate type tape cassette, no ribbon spool is provided.

  The tape printer 1 in which the tape cassette shown in FIG. 45 is used is the same as in the first embodiment. When printing is performed by the tape printer 1, the tape feed roller 46 that is rotationally driven via the tape drive shaft 100 pulls out the thermal paper tape 55 from the second tape spool 41 in cooperation with the movable conveyance roller 14. The thermal paper tape 55 pulled out from the second tape spool 41 is transported along the transport path in the arm portion 34 while passing the outside of the ribbon support hole 68 in a plan view. Further, the thermal paper tape 55 is supplied from the opening 34 a of the arm portion 34 to the head mounting portion 39 and is conveyed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 15. Then, characters, figures, symbols, etc. are printed on the printing surface of the printing tape 57 by the thermal head 10. On the other hand, the double-sided adhesive tape 58 is pulled out from the first tape spool 40 by the cooperation of the tape feeding roller 46 and the movable conveying roller 14. The double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 58 is overlapped and stuck on the printed surface of the printed thermal paper tape 55 while being guided and wound between the tape feeding roller 46 and the movable conveying roller 14. The printed thermal paper tape 55 with the double-sided adhesive tape 58 attached (that is, the printed tape 50) is further conveyed toward the tape discharge port 49 and cut by the cutting mechanism 17.

  The positional relationship between the parts provided in the tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 45 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but differs in the following points. That is, the center of gravity of the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 58 wound around the first tape spool 40 is located within the range of the first storage region 30c in plan view. The center of gravity of the thermal paper tape 55 wound around the second tape spool 41 is located on the dividing line K in plan view. Due to such a positional relationship, in the tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 45, the first storage area 30c where the center of gravity of the double-sided adhesive tape 58 is located is heavier than the second storage area 30d. Due to the weight deviation of the tape cassette 30, the first storage region 30 c side tends to be inclined downward with the dividing line K as the rotation center.

  45 is the same as that in the first embodiment (see FIGS. 14 to 16). That is, the tape cassette 30 is guided to an appropriate position of the cassette mounting portion 8 by three guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100, auxiliary shaft 110, and guide shaft 120). Further, when removing the tape cassette 30 from the cassette mounting portion 8, the tape cassette 30 is guided upward along the three guide shafts. Of course, when the weight deviation of the tape cassette 30 is small, the tape cassette 30 may be guided by two guide shafts (the tape drive shaft 100 and the guide shaft 120).

  As in the first embodiment, it is preferable that the entire center of gravity of the tape cassette 30 is located in a region connecting the roller support hole 64, the first tape support hole 65, and the guide hole 47 in plan view. . In that respect, in the tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 45, the center of gravity of the thermal paper tape 55 is positioned on the dividing line K. Therefore, the position of the center of gravity of the tape cassette 30 is higher than that in the case where the thermal paper tape 55 is not stored. Approach the side. Therefore, the tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 45 has a weight balance in which the center of gravity tends to be located in a region connecting the roller support hole 64, the first tape support hole 65, and the guide hole 47 in plan view.

  The guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 45 is an elliptical hole similar to that of the second embodiment (see FIG. 24 and the like), but the direction along the dividing line K in the plan view is the major axis and the direction orthogonal to the dividing line K. It differs in that it has a minor axis. According to this guide hole 47, the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 can be increased along the dividing line K, and the burden on the user who positions the tape cassette 30 can be reduced. As described above, the guide hole 47 can be formed in an arbitrary opening shape exemplified by a round hole, an elliptical hole, a long hole, and the like.

  For example, a guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 46 is a long hole similar to that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 8, etc.), but differs in that the front and rear direction is a long side and the left and right direction is a short side in plan view. . According to this guide hole 47, the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 can be increased along the front-rear direction, and the burden on the user who positions the tape cassette 30 can be reduced. 46 illustrates the case where the guide hole 47 is a long hole, the same applies to the guide hole 47 as an elliptical hole having a long diameter in the front-rear direction.

  A guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 47 is a long hole similar to that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 8 and the like), but the direction along the dividing line K is long and perpendicular to the dividing line K in plan view. It differs in that the direction is the short side. According to this guide hole 47, as with the guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 45, the user who positions the tape cassette 30 by increasing the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 along the dividing line K. Can be reduced.

  Further, the guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 48 is a long hole similar to that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 8 and the like), but the direction perpendicular to the dividing line K in a plan view is along the long side and the dividing line K. It differs in that the direction is the short side. According to this guide hole 47, the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 can be increased along the direction perpendicular to the dividing line K, and the burden on the user who positions the tape cassette 30 can be reduced. . In FIG. 48, the case where the guide hole 47 is a long hole is illustrated, but the guide hole 47 is the same as an elliptical hole having a long axis in the direction perpendicular to the dividing line K.

  49 and 50 is provided on the right side surface of the tape cassette 30 in the vertical direction (here, the lower surface of the upper wall surface 35 and the right rear common portion 32) in the right rear portion of the cassette case 31. Is a groove portion that forms a U-shaped cross section that is formed in the side wall 37 that forms a concave shape toward the left in a plan view. The opening width of the guide hole 47 is larger than the shaft diameter of the small diameter shaft portion 120b and is substantially equal to the shaft diameter of the large diameter shaft portion 120a. In this case, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, the guide shaft 120 is inserted into the U-shaped groove-shaped guide hole 47 from below as in the case where the guide hole 47 is a through hole and a recessed portion. The tape cassette 30 is guided along the standing direction of the guide shaft 120. When the large-diameter shaft portion 120a is fitted into the guide hole 47, the tape cassette 30 is positioned.

  49 and 50, as with the horizontally long guide hole 47 illustrated in the first embodiment (see FIG. 8 and the like), there is a burden on the user when the tape cassette 30 is mounted. The tape cassette 30 can be attached and detached smoothly. The guide shaft 120 inserted into the guide hole 47 exposes the tape cassette 30 so as to be visible from the right side. By visually observing the guide shaft 120 inserted into the guide hole 47, it is also possible to confirm whether the tape cassette 30 is attached to or detached from the cassette mounting portion 8.

  The U-shaped groove-shaped guide hole 47 shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 can also be configured in an arbitrary groove shape. For example, the guide hole 47 shown in FIGS. 51 to 53 is a groove similar to the above, but differs in the following points. The guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 51 is different in that it is formed in the side wall 37 that constitutes the back surface of the tape cassette 30 and is a groove that is recessed forward in plan view. In this case, like the guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 46, the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 can be increased along the front-rear direction. The guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 52 is different in that the guide hole 47 is formed in the side wall 37 constituting the right side surface of the tape cassette 30 and is a groove portion recessed along the dividing line K in plan view. In this case, like the guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 47, the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 can be increased along the dividing line K. The guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 53 is different in that the guide hole 47 is formed in the side wall 37 constituting the back surface of the tape cassette 30 and is a groove that is recessed along the direction perpendicular to the dividing line K in plan view. In this case, like the guide hole 47 shown in FIG. 48, the allowable width of the positioning accuracy with respect to the planar position of the guide shaft 120 can be increased along the direction orthogonal to the dividing line K.

  54 and 55 are formed in the side wall 37 and the lower wall surface 36 that constitute the right side surface of the tape cassette 30, and have a U-shaped cross section that is recessed leftward in plan view. It is. The U-shaped groove-shaped guide hole 47 is formed from the lower wall surface 36 at the right rear portion of the cassette case 31 to slightly below the upper wall surface 35, and the upper end of the groove portion is closed by the top wall portion 47e ( That is, the guide hole 47 is not opened upward). The opening width of the U-shaped cross section of the guide hole 47 is larger than the shaft diameter of the small diameter shaft portion 120b and is substantially equal to the shaft diameter of the large diameter shaft portion 120a. In this case, when the tape cassette 30 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 8, the guide shaft 120 is inserted into the U-shaped groove-shaped guide hole 47 from below as in the case where the guide hole 47 is a through hole and a recessed portion. The tape cassette 30 is guided along the standing direction of the guide shaft 120. When the large-diameter shaft portion 120a is fitted into the guide hole 47, the tape cassette 30 is positioned. In particular, at the right edge of the tape cassette 30, the upper end of the guide shaft 120 inserted into the guide hole 47 is positioned at an appropriate height position by contacting the top wall 47e.

  In the guide hole 47 shown in FIGS. 54 and 55, as with the U-shaped groove-shaped guide hole 47 shown in FIGS. 49 and 50, the burden on the user when the tape cassette 30 is mounted is reduced. Can be attached and detached smoothly. Further, by visually observing the guide shaft 120 inserted into the guide hole 47, it is possible to confirm the attachment / detachment state of the tape cassette 30 with respect to the cassette mounting portion 8. Furthermore, by using the guide shaft 120 as one of the positioning shafts in the height direction, it is not necessary to stand the positioning pins 103 separately, and the structure of the tape printer 1 can be simplified.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, while the 1st tape spool 40 is rotatably supported by the cylinder wall part 85 which penetrates the axial hole 40d, it is inserted / removed to the 1st tape support hole 65 at the time of attachment or detachment of the tape cassette 30. The auxiliary shaft 110 is also inserted into and removed from the shaft hole 40d, but is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 56, in the first tape support hole 65, a pair of short cylindrical portions 88 extending so as to face each other in the cassette case 31 from the entire periphery of the opening edges of the openings 65a and 65b are provided. . The first tape spool 40 has a single wall structure in which a thermal paper tape 55 is wound around a spool body 40e which is a cylindrical body having a height dimension substantially the same as the tape width of the print medium (print tape 57, film tape 59). The same). In the cassette case 31, a pair of short cylinder portions 88 are inserted into both end openings of the spool body 40e. Even if such a structure is adopted, the first tape spool 40 is rotatably supported by the pair of short cylindrical portions 88 inserted into the shaft hole 40d, and is also formed in the first tape support hole 65 when the tape cassette 30 is attached or detached. The auxiliary shaft 110 to be inserted / removed is also inserted into / removed from the shaft hole 40d.

  That is, the first tape support hole 65 may be provided so as to face the shaft hole 40d so that the auxiliary shaft 110 can be inserted into and removed from the shaft hole 40d of the first tape spool 40. In other words, when the auxiliary shaft 110 is inserted into and removed from the first tape support hole 65, the first tape support hole 65 and the shaft hole 40d communicate with each other so that the auxiliary shaft 110 is also inserted into and removed from the shaft hole 40d. If you do. For example, in the above embodiment (see FIG. 10), since the shaft hole 65c of the first tape support hole 65 passes through the shaft hole 40d of the first tape spool 40, the opening through which the auxiliary shaft 110 is inserted and removed. The portion 65b communicates indirectly with the shaft hole 40d. In the above modification (see FIG. 56), the opening 65b through which the auxiliary shaft 110 is inserted / removed communicates directly with the shaft hole 40d via the short cylinder portion 65e. In any case, since the first tape support hole 65 faces the shaft hole 40d of the first tape spool 40, the auxiliary shaft 110 inserted and removed from the first tape support hole 65 is also inserted into the shaft hole 40d. It will be inserted and removed. As a result, when the tape cassette 30 is attached or detached, the center of gravity of the tape spool 40 around which the thermal paper tape 55 or the like is wound is guided along the auxiliary shaft 110.

  Similarly to the first tape support hole 65, the roller support hole 64 is also provided so as to face the shaft hole 46d so that the tape drive shaft 100 can be inserted into and removed from the shaft hole 46d of the tape feed roller 46. Just do it. In other words, when the tape drive shaft 100 is inserted into and removed from the roller support hole 64, the roller support hole 64 (here, the opening 64b) and the shaft are arranged so that the tape drive shaft 100 is also inserted into and removed from the shaft hole 46d. What is necessary is just to communicate with the hole 46d.

  In the above embodiment, various tapes and ink ribbons (specifically, thermal paper tape 55, printing tape 57, double-sided adhesive tape 58, film tape 59, and ink ribbon 60) are respectively spooled (specifically, the first tape 1 tape spool 40, second tape spool 40, ribbon spool 42), but is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which various tapes or ink ribbons are wound so as to form a hole at the winding center without using the above-described spool may be employed (so-called coreless type).

  By the way, in the said embodiment, two guide holes (roller support hole 64 and guide hole 47) provided in the tape cassette 30 are used, and along two guide shafts (tape drive shaft 100 and guide shaft 120). Although the case where the mounting to the cassette mounting portion 8 is guided is illustrated, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 57, a pair of shafts 140 corresponding to the roller support holes 64 and the guide holes 47 are erected in advance at a place where the tape cassette 30 is displayed. The pair of shaft bodies 140 includes a shaft portion 140a having a shaft diameter that can be inserted into and removed from the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47, and a base portion 140b having a predetermined height on which the shaft portion 140a is erected. And when exhibiting the tape cassette 30, the shaft part 140a corresponding to each of the roller support hole 64 and the guide hole 47 is inserted. Then, when the tape cassette 30 is moved downward along each shaft portion 140a, the tape cassette 30 is placed on the base portion 140b positioned at the lower end of each shaft portion 140a. Thereby, the tape cassette 30 to be displayed is held at a predetermined height position that is easily visible by the pair of shafts 140.

  In addition, the height positions of the pair of shaft bodies 140 shown in FIG. 57 are increased (for example, the shaft length of each shaft portion 140a is increased), and the plurality of tape cassettes 30 are moved along the shaft portions 140a to the base portion 140b. Stack up sequentially. As a result, a plurality of tape cassettes 30 can be collectively stored, recovered, transported, and the like. In addition, if one tape cassette 30 is positioned at the upper end position of the pair of shaft bodies 140, the tape cassette 30 can be displayed at a height position that is more easily visible. Of course, such a method of use can also be applied to a case where three guide holes (the roller support hole 64, the guide hole 47, and the first tape support hole 65) are provided in the tape cassette 30. The same can be done by using (here, three) shaft bodies 140.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tape printer 8 Cassette mounting part 8a Recessed part 8b Cassette support part 8c 1st axis installation area 8d 2nd axis installation area 8e 1st installation area 8f 2nd installation area 10 Thermal head 30 Tape cassette 30a 1st hole formation area 30b Second hole forming area 30c First storage area 30d Second storage area 31 Cassette case 35 Upper wall surface 36 Lower wall surface 37 Side wall 39 Head mounting portion 40 First tape spool 41 Second tape spool 42 Ribbon spool 44 Ribbon take-up spool 46 Tape Feed roller 47 Guide hole 55 Thermal paper tape 57 Printing tape 58 Double-sided adhesive tape 59 Film tape 60 Ink ribbon 64 Roller support hole 65 First tape support hole 66 Second tape support hole 67 Take-up support hole 68 Ribbon support hole 74 Head holder 95 Ribbon take-up shaft 100 Tape drive shaft 11 Auxiliary shaft 120 guide shaft

Claims (7)

A box-shaped cassette case having a pair of wall surfaces forming a rectangular plane opposed to each other and a side wall formed at a predetermined height along the peripheral edge of the pair of wall surfaces;
A first opening provided at one corner of at least one of the pair of wall surfaces;
A second opening that is provided at another corner located on the diagonal of the one corner of at least one of the pair of wall surfaces, and into which a guide shaft that guides attachment to the tape printer can be inserted;
A tape roll on which a tape as a printing medium is wound;
A ribbon roll around which an ink ribbon used for printing on the tape is wound;
The tape roll is positioned such that the center of gravity of the tape roll is positioned in a first region of two regions into which the cassette case is divided with reference to a line connecting the first opening and the second opening. Stored inside the cassette case,
The ribbon roll is housed in the cassette case so that the center of gravity of the ribbon roll is located in a second area different from the first area of the two areas. . A cylindrical tape feed roller that is rotatably provided between the pair of wall surfaces and draws the tape from the tape roll;
The tape feed roller has an insertion hole into which a roller support shaft that rotatably supports the tape feed roller is inserted,
The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the first opening faces an insertion hole of the tape feeding roller. A ribbon take-up spool for taking up the ink ribbon drawn from the ribbon roll and used for printing;
The ribbon take-up spool is provided in the cassette case so that the center of gravity of the ribbon take-up spool is located in the second region, and is supported rotatably on the cassette case. The tape cassette according to claim 1 or 2.   The first opening and the second opening are provided on a first wall surface of the pair of wall surfaces that faces the tape printer when the tape cassette is mounted. 4. The tape cassette according to any one of 3.   5. The at least one of the first opening and the second opening is a through hole provided to face the pair of wall surfaces in the attaching / detaching direction of the tape cassette. Tape cassette.   At least one of the first opening and the second opening is a recess extending from the hole provided in the first wall surface toward the inside of the cassette case in the attaching / detaching direction of the tape cassette. The tape cassette according to claim 4.   The second opening is closely locked to at least a part of the side surface of the guide shaft when the guide shaft provided in the tape printer corresponding to the second opening is inserted. The tape cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the tape cassette is a long hole having an opening width.

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