JPH0117871B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer capable of printing in multiple colors using an ink ribbon divided into multiple colors in the width direction.

Conventional printers that print red and black, especially wire dot printers, use ink ribbons that are divided into red and black colors in the width direction, and are arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the ink ribbons is horizontal, while multiple dots are printed in the vertical direction. Using a printing head with printing elements arranged, and switching the ink ribbon vertically,
Printing is performed by switching from red to black or from black to red. Therefore, the width of the black and red ink ribbons must be wider than the array width (height) of the dot printing elements. Therefore,
For example, if you use an ink ribbon with five colors, the width of the ink ribbon will be five times as large, making it an extremely wide ink ribbon, and the switching distance will also be large, which has the disadvantage of not being able to switch ink ribbon colors quickly. It was hot.

The present invention eliminates the above drawbacks, and will be explained in detail below using examples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an ink ribbon divided into five colors in the width direction as shown in FIG. 4, 2 is an ink ribbon cartridge that stores the ink ribbon 1, and 3a to 3c are guide rollers for the ink ribbon 1. , 4 is a motor for a rotary drive shaft 4a, 5 is a one-way roller 5a, which is rotationally driven in one direction by the rotary drive shaft 4a of the motor 4, and 6 is in contact with this drive roller 5 via the ink ribbon 1. A pinch roller 7 is pressed by a spring 6a, and 7 is a guide shaft 7.
A carrier 8 guided by a and performing a spacing operation is attached to the rotational drive shaft 4a of the motor 4,
a drive roller that is rotationally driven; 9 is a guide roller;
10 is a wire that is hung between the drive roller 8 and the guide roller 9 and has both ends fixed to the carrier 7, and 11 is a dot printing element. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 in detail, 12 includes two inclined surfaces 12b and 12c parallel to a printing hole 12a facing the printing surface of the dot printing element 11.
It is a ribbon folding member that is slidably supported on the carrier 7. This ribbon bending member 12 is connected to the carrier 7 by the first inclined surface 12b.
A member that bends the ink ribbon 1 pulled out according to the spacing method in the arrangement direction of the dot printing elements 11 and guides it into the through hole 12a, and bends the bent ink ribbon 1 again in the spacing direction by the second inclined surface 12c. It is. Furthermore, 13
14 is an ink ribbon switching mechanism whose details are shown in FIG. 2, one end of which is connected to the output end 13a of the ink ribbon switching mechanism 13, as shown in FIG.
A wire 15 whose other end is connected to the ribbon folding member 12 is a spring whose one end is connected to the ribbon folding member 12 and the other end is connected to the carrier 7.

Note that the ink ribbon switching mechanism 13 shown in FIG.
, 16 to 18 are plunger magnets,
19a-19c are each plunger magnet 16-
The guide rollers 20 attached to the moving shafts 16a to 18a of 18 are guided by the guide rollers 19a to 19c, one end is fixed, and the other end is connected to the output end 13.
This is the wire connected to a. As for the operation of this ink ribbon switching mechanism 13, when the plunger magnet 16 is energized, the moving shaft 16a moves by a distance of "1", and the ribbon bending member 12 moves by a distance of "1" via the wire 20 and the wire 14. move only. When the plunger magnet 17 is energized, the moving shaft 17a moves by a distance of "2",
Ribbon folding member 12 moves a distance "2" via wire 20 and wire 14. When the plunger magnet 18 is energized, the moving shaft 18
a moves a distance "4" and ribbon folding member 12 moves a distance "4" via wire 20 and wire 14. In this manner, the output end 13a moves from the home position "0" to the distance "7" by selectively energizing the plunger magnets 16 to 18, so that the color of the ink ribbon 1 can be switched.

Next, the operation of the printer with the above configuration will be explained. First, when the motor 4 is rotated in steps, the carrier 7 performs a spacing operation via the drive roller 8 and the wire 10. Therefore, the dot printing element 11 and the ribbon bending member 12 are positioned at the printing position. In this way, it is possible to sequentially print in the same color. Next, when the ink ribbon switching mechanism 13 is driven, for example when the plunger magnet 17 is energized, the moving shaft 17a moves by a distance of "2", so that the ribbon bending member 1
2 moves a distance "2" via wire 20 and wire 14. At this time, ink ribbon 1
is in a stationary state, the ribbon bending member 12
moves by a distance of “2”, dot printing element 1
The color of the ink ribbon 1 facing the ink ribbon 1 is switched to the color two adjacent ink ribbons. In this way, when the ink ribbon 1 is in a stationary state, the ribbon bending member 12
By moving the ribbon, a desired ribbon color can be positioned, and printing can be performed in a desired printing color.

Note that when the ribbon bending member 12 moves, the ink ribbon 1 must remain stationary, but if there is a possibility that the ink ribbon 1 will also move, as shown in FIG.
a and 21b, and levers 22a and 2
2b are rotated around shafts 23a and 23b, respectively. Therefore, the pinch rollers 24a and 2
4b fixes the ink ribbon 1 to the members 25a and 2.
5b and can prevent the ink ribbon 1 from moving. Further, FIG. 7 shows the case where the ink ribbon 1 is wound around open reels 26a and 26b, and it goes without saying that the operation is the same as that in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 shows the case where the ink ribbon cartridge 27 is attached to the carrier 7. When the cartridge 7 is spaced, the ink ribbon feed roller 28 rotates and feeds the ink ribbon 1. Of course, this is the same as in FIG.

As described above in detail, according to the printer according to the present invention, the ink ribbon color can be easily switched by moving the ribbon bending member in the spacing direction by the ink ribbon switching mechanism, so that the ribbon color can be switched at high speed. It has the effect of

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the ink ribbon switching mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a ribbon folding member shown in FIG. 1. , FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the details of the ink ribbon shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the arrangement relationship of the dot printing element, the ink ribbon switching mechanism, and the ink ribbon. FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views showing details of the ribbon bending member shown in the figure, FIGS. 6 and 7 are views showing a mechanism for preventing the ink ribbon from moving when the ribbon bending member is moved, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the details of the ribbon bending member shown in the figure. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another embodiment of such a printer. 1... Ink ribbon, 2... Ink ribbon cartridge, 3a to 3c... Guide roller, 4...
Motor, 4a... Rotation drive shaft, 5... Drive roller, 5a... One-way roller, 6... Pinch roller, 6a... Spring, 7... Carrier, 7
a... Guide shaft, 8... Drive roller, 9...
... Guide roller, 10 ... Wire, 11 ... Dot printing element, 12 ... Ribbon bending member, 12
a...Through hole, 12b and 12c...Slanted surface, 1
3... Ink ribbon switching mechanism, 13a... Output end, 14... Wire, 15... Spring, 16
~18...Plunger magnet, 16a~18
a...Moving axis, 19a-19c...Guide roller, 20...Wire, 21a and 21b...Magnet, 22a and 22b...Lever, 23
a and 23b... shaft, 24a and 24b...
Pinch rollers, 25a and 25b... Fixed member, 26a and 26b... Open reel, 2
7... Ink ribbon cartridge, 28... Ink ribbon feed roller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Ink ribbon 1 divided into multiple colors in the width direction
an ink ribbon cartridge 2 for storing the ink ribbon 1; a plurality of dot printing elements 11 arranged in at least one row in the vertical direction; and a through hole 12a for printing facing the printing surface of the dot printing element 11. and first and second inclined surfaces 12b and 12c that are parallel to each other, and the first inclined surface 12
The ink ribbon 1 pulled out in the spacing direction of the carrier 7 by b is bent in the arrangement direction of the dot printing elements 11 and guided into the through hole 12a, and then
a ribbon bending member 12 that bends the bent ink ribbon 1 again in the spacing direction by the inclined surface 12c of the ink ribbon 1; and a ribbon bending member 12 that selectively moves the ink ribbon 1 in the spacing direction while keeping the ink ribbon 1 stationary; An ink ribbon switching mechanism 13 that switches the color of the ribbon 1; a carrier 7 equipped with the dot printing element 11, a ribbon bending member 12, and an ink ribbon switching mechanism 13 that performs a spacing operation; and a spacing operation of the carrier 7. Feed means 2 for feeding the ink ribbon 1 synchronously
8. A printer characterized by comprising: