JPH01242284A - Apparatus for driving ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize a carriage, by pivotally supporting a main gear by a cassette to support the cassette so as to make the same revolvable around the main gear while bringing a follower gear into engagement with the main gear and pressing the follower gear against the drive gear of a recording apparatus by a spring. CONSTITUTION:A main gear 30 and a follower gear 31 for feeding a ribbon are pivotally supported in a ribbon cassette 1 and a drive gear 25 is rotated by the motor 50 of a drive source to rotate the follower gear 31 meshing with the main gear 30 through the opening part of a ribbon cassette 1 and the ink ribbon frictionally held between the follower gear 31 and the main gear 30 is fed forward. By this constitution, ribbon driving force can be received from the side surface of the ribbon cassette 1. Therefore, the miniaturization of a recording apparatus can be achieved by reducing the dimension of a carriage in an up-and-down directions as compared with a conventional structure and the number of gears are also reduced to make it possible to simplify a whole structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a driving device for a fabric type ink ribbon cassette used in a recording device such as a printer, typewriter or facsimile.

[Conventional technology]

As a type of replaceable ink ribbon cassette that feeds the ink ribbon to the front of the head in a recording device, an endless ink ribbon stored in a case is fed through the front of the head by a feeding mechanism consisting of a main gear and a slave gear. Fabricator type devices configured to feed are used.

FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a conventional fabric type ink ribbon cassette drive device.

In FIG. 5, a main gear 101 and a secondary gear 102 for feeding the ribbon are pivotally supported in an engaged state in a cassette 100, and a gear 4 is driven by a drive source (such as a motor) 105 installed on the carriage of the recording device. The fabric ink ribbon was configured to be sent between the main gear 101 and the slave gear 102 by rotating the slave gear 103 coaxially through the gear 103 that engaged with the main gear 101. .

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with the conventional ink ribbon cassette drive device,
As shown in FIG. 5, since the structure is such that the driving force is taken in from the bottom surface, there is a problem in that the printer mounting the ribbon drive system and the ink ribbon cassette becomes large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fabric-type ink ribbon cassette drive device that can solve the problems of the prior art described above and can downsize the carriage.

[Failure to solve the problem]

The present invention provides an ink ribbon cassette having a mechanism for feeding an endless ink ribbon using a main gear and a slave gear, in which the main gear is pivotally supported on the cassette, and the slave gear is engaged with the main gear and rotates around the main gear. The above-mentioned object is achieved by configuring the drive gear to be supported by a spring and to press the driven gear against the drive gear of the recording device with a spring.

According to the above configuration, the driving force can be received from the side surface of the ribbon cassette, and the carriage can be downsized.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink ribbon cassette driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an ink ribbon cassette 1 is detachably attached to a ribbon feeding mechanism 2.

The ribbon cassette 1 is constructed by storing an ink ribbon and ribbon guide means in a case formed by an upper case 3 and a lower case 4, and feeds the ink ribbon 5 exposed at the tip through the front surface of a head (not shown). Driven like that.

The ribbon cassette 1 is formed with a boss 6.7 and a slit 8A for positioning and fixing it on the ribbon feeding mechanism 2, and the ribbon feeding mechanism 2 is attached by attaching a stand 8 to a carriage (not shown) with a fulcrum 9. It is attached so that it can swing.

The ribbon feeding mechanism 2 has a positioning boss 6.7 for the cassette 1.
A detachable lever 10.11 is provided for latching.

These attachment/detachment levers 10.11 are attached to their respective rotating shafts.
12.13 so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow A or B, and is biased to rotate in the direction of arrow B by a spring (not shown).

Therefore, when the ribbon cassette 1 is pushed down, the locking pawl 14.15 of the attachment/detachment lever 10.11 is pushed down by the boss 6.7, and the attachment/detachment lever 10.11 is rotated in the direction of arrow A.

When the ribbon cassette throat 1 is pushed down sufficiently, the attachment/detachment lever 10111 returns in the direction of arrow B by the force of the spring, and the positioning boss 6.7 enters below the locking pawl 14.15 and is locked. At this time, the positioning claw 16 of the ribbon feeding mechanism 2 fits into the positioning slit 8 of the ribbon cassette 1.

In this way, the ribbon cassette 1 is positioned and fixed on the mounting table 8.

Back side 20 of ribbon cassette 1, that is, guide arm 1
7. A recess 19 recessed by a depth D from 2° from the rear surface is formed on the opposite surface of 7.18, and when the cassette is installed, the recess 19
The indicator 21 on the stand 8 is fitted inside.

Since the concave portion 19 is recessed by the distance D from the back surface 20 in this way, the indicator 2I on the upper side of the base 8 can be placed in a position advanced by the distance, and the shape of the base 8 can be reduced accordingly. be able to.

For the above-mentioned installation, there are several rotation shafts 23 on the rotation shaft 23 provided on the table 8.
An arm 24 that rotates around 3 is rotatably supported,
A drive gear 25 is pivotally supported on the arm 24.

This drive gear 25 has a structure in which two feed teeth are arranged coaxially.

When the fabric lifter type ink ribbon cassette 1 is mounted on the ribbon feeding mechanism 2, the arm 24 is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the drive gear 25 is inserted into the ribbon cassette 1 through an opening formed in the ribbon cassette 1. meshes with the slave gear,
Ribbon feed force is transmitted.

The rotational force of the drive gear 25 is obtained from a drive source (motor) not shown.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the detailed structure of the fabric type ink ribbon cassette 1 shown in FIG. 1 with the upper case 3 removed.

In FIG. 2, a ribbon feed gear mounting plate 26 is rotatably supported on a support shaft 32 formed in the lower case 4 by fitting a center hole 37 therein.

The gear is attached to the bearing 27 provided on the plate 26 with a slave gear 31.
is rotatably supported, and the mounting is done through the center hole 3 of the slope 26.
A center hole 38 of the main gear 30 is rotatably fitted into the support shaft 32 inserted through the shaft 32 and meshed with the slave gear 31 .

When installing these gears, the main gear 30 is placed on the slope 26, the ink ribbon 5 is sandwiched between the main gear 30 and the secondary gear 31, and the center holes 37 and 38 are connected to the support shaft 32, respectively. They are installed together.

To attach the gear, a spring 29 is stretched between the boss 28 of the plate 26 and the boss 39 of the lower case 4, and to attach the gear, the plate 26 is urged to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2 around the center hole 37. has been done.

A roller 35 for reducing friction is fitted into each of the guide pins 34 formed at predetermined positions of the lower case 4, thereby forming a guide path for the fabric-type ink ribbon.

Further, a boss 33 is formed on the lower case 4 as a stopper for regulating the clockwise rotating position of the gear mounting plate 26.

Figure 3 shows the upper case 3 of the ink ribbon cassette 1 in Figure 2.
FIG.

In FIG. 3, the endless ink ribbon 5 pulled out from the outlet of the ink ribbon storage section 36 in the cassette/cassette is guided by the surfaces of several rollers 35 rotatably fitted to the guide pins 34. It passes through the guide arm 17 and is once led out.

The ink ribbon 5 that has been exposed and passed through the front surface of the head (not shown) is introduced into the ribbon cassette 1 again via the guide arm 18, and is transferred to the main gear 30 via the roller 35 rotatably fitted to the guide pin 34. The frictional force of the slave gear 31 causes the ink ribbon to be fed into the inlet of the ink ribbon storage section 36 again.

In this case, the main gear 30 and the slave gear 31 are mounted on the plate 26 so that the main gear 30 and the slave gear 31 can swing, so the distance between the shafts of the main gear 30 and the slave gear 31 is fixed and they are always engaged. By doing so, it was possible to simplify the shape and structure of the gear transmission mechanism that can be turned on and off.

On the other hand, the driven gear 31 is mounted via a slope 26 by a spring 29 to a driving gear 25 which is pivotally supported on the recording apparatus side in FIG. 1 (in the illustrated example, the ribbon feeding mechanism 2 on the carriage). The ink ribbons 5 are meshed with each other and rotated by the drive gear 25, and the endless ink ribbon 5 is sequentially fed by the frictional force with the main gear 30.

The meshing force between the drive gear 25 and the slave gear 31 at this time is given by the spring force of the spring 29.

Therefore, the slave gear 31 is always urged in the direction of arrow E (FIG. 3), and the ink ribbon 5 is reliably fed by the rotation of the drive gear 25.

In Figures 1 to 3, the same parts are given the same numbers, and their repeated explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the driving portion of the main gear 30 and the slave gear 31, viewed from the direction of the arrow X in FIG.

In Fig. 4, a main gear 30 and a slave gear 31 for feeding the ribbon are supported within the ribbon drive force (1).
j, 26), and the drive source (motor) 5
By rotating the drive gear 25 at 0, the slave gear 31 meshed through the opening of the cassette case 1 rotates, and the ink ribbon 5 held by friction between the slave gear 31 and the main gear 30 rotates. Sent.

As is clear from the arrangement shown in FIG. 4, according to the ribbon driving device of the present invention, the ribbon driving force can be received from the side surface of the ribbon cassette 1. Therefore, compared to the conventional structure shown in FIG. The size of the recording device can be reduced by reducing the dimension in the direction, and the structure can be simplified by reducing the number of gears.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the main gear is pivotally supported on the cassette, and the subordinate gear is supported rotatably around the main gear while engaging with the main gear, and the subordinate gear Since the ribbon is configured to be pressed by a spring against the drive gear of the recording device, the ribbon driving force can be received from the side of the cassette, making it possible to downsize the carriage and the recording device that uses the carriage. A drive device for an ink ribbon cassette that can achieve this is obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a driving device for an ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette shown in FIG. 1 with the upper case removed, and FIG. A plan view excluding the case, and FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the main part of the ribbon drive device according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the main parts of a conventional ribbon drive device. 1------ Ink ribbon cassette, 5-1---
--- Ink ribbon, 25--- Drive gear, 26----- Gear mounting plate, 29--
--・-・-Spring, 30---- Main gear, 31---
---First follower gear, 32-...-- Support shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an ink ribbon cassette that has a mechanism for feeding an endless ink ribbon using a main gear and a slave gear, the main gear is pivotally supported on the cassette, and the slave gear rotates around the main gear while engaging with the main gear. A drive device for an ink ribbon cassette, characterized in that the driven gear is supported by a spring and the driven gear is pressed against a drive gear of a recording device by a spring.