JPH02172779A - Cassette for thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent generation of slacks or scratches on transfer paper by providing a protecting cover section which covers the sides of supply-side and takeup-side rolls in a closed state on a transfer paper cover which may be opened partly in the outer shell of a transfer paper storage section. CONSTITUTION:A cassette for a thermal transfer printer consists of a protecting cover 18a of a transfer paper cover 18 which completely covers both end sections of a supply-side and a takeup-side roll 38, 40 from the side, and prevents generation of slacks or scratches on transfer paper 36 due to the forced rotation of both end sections of the rolls 38, 40 by an external force outside a cassette case 10, before said cassette is attached to a printing device. If the cassette is attached to the printing device, a cover 34 for recording paper is pushed backward to form an opening 32 for recording paper 24. At the same time, the cover 18 for transfer paper, interlocked with the cover 34 rotates upward, and an opening 54 for transfer paper 36 is formed in front of a transfer paper storage section 14. Thus it is possible to prevent generation of slacks or scratches on transfer paper with a simple configuration.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cassette for a thermal transfer printer in which a transfer paper cover can be opened and closed so that a take-up roll can be taken out, and in particular, a cassette for a thermal transfer printer in which a transfer paper cover can be opened and closed, and a take-up roll can be taken out. This relates to a protective cover portion that covers the side portions.

[Prior Art] FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views of a cassette for a thermal transfer printer, which the applicant of the present application applied for prior to filing this application. In these figures, 60 is a cassette for a thermal transfer printer. The printer cassette consists of a flat box-shaped main body 62 and a transfer paper cover 64 attached to the upper surface of the main body 62.

The upper part of the main body 62 on the insertion side (the right side in the drawing) is open, and the transfer paper cover 64 is attached to this opening. The transfer paper cover 64 has a projecting piece 64a formed near its end and is attached to the opening of the main body 62 so as to be openable and closable. A spring 66 is attached to each part of the main body 62 to which the transfer paper cover 64 is attached.
The transfer paper cover 64 is urged in the closing direction by this spring 66.

A handle 68 consisting of a wide groove is formed in the upper surface of the main body 62 in the width direction along the rear end side (left side in the drawing). This handle 68 facilitates attachment and detachment of the thermal transfer printer cassette 60 to and from a printer device (not shown). Guide grooves 70 are formed in the longitudinal direction on both side surfaces of the main body 62, respectively. The guide groove 70 is formed to be shifted from the center of its thickness toward the upper surface so that the thermal transfer printer cassette 60 is not installed upside down.

A pair of holes 72 are provided in the distal end surface of the main body 62 on the insertion side. The spacing between the holes 72 is equal to the width of the arm (not shown) of the printer device into which the arm (not shown) is inserted. Reference numeral 74 designates a lock pin for the transfer paper cover 64. When the thermal transfer printer cassette 60 is inserted into the printer device, this lock pin 74 is pushed and the transfer paper cover 64 is locked.
will be unlocked.

Inside the main body 62, a recording paper storage section (left side inside) and a transfer paper storage section (right side inside) are integrally formed. ,
A take-up roll 80 is provided for winding up the transfer paper 76 wound around the supply roll 78. Each roll 78
．． A split groove into which a coupler (not shown) of a printer device can be fitted is formed at both ends of each core 78a, 80a of 80, and a feed-out shaft and a wind-up shaft of the printer device are respectively inserted into the split groove. They are designed to fit together.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described cassette for a thermal transfer printer, both ends of the cores of the supply roll and the take-up roll protrude outward from the side of the case.

There are problems in that the supply roll and the take-up roll are forcibly turned from the outside, which can cause the transfer paper to sag or become damaged, and dust can also get into the case.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A cassette for a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention includes a transfer paper accommodating portion and a recording paper accommodating portion integrally formed, and a supply side roll around which transfer paper is wound around the transfer paper accommodating portion. and a winding side roll, and a part of the outer shell of the transfer paper storage section is a transfer paper cover that can be opened and closed, and the side part of the supply side roll and the winding side roll is attached to the transfer paper cover in the closed state. The above problem has been solved by providing a protective cover portion that covers the.

[Function 1] In the present invention, when the transfer paper cover is closed, the protective cover portion hermetically covers both ends of the supply roll and the take-up roll, so that they cannot be rotated from the outside. Moreover, when the transfer paper cover is opened, it does not interfere with the engagement of the rotating shaft of the printer device with both ends of the supply roll and the take-up roll.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 3 are perspective views of a cassette for a thermal transfer printer showing an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these figures, the outer shell of the cassette for a thermal transfer printer consists of a flat box-shaped cassette case 10, and the inside of this cassette case is partitioned into front and rear parts by partition walls 12 as shown in FIG. The front side (left side in the drawing) is the transfer paper storage section 14, and the rear side (the right side in the drawing) is the recording paper storage section 1.
It is 6.

The cassette case 10 includes a transfer paper cover 18 that constitutes the upper case of the transfer paper storage section 14, an upper half 20 that constitutes the upper case of the recording paper storage section 16, and a transfer paper cover 18 and the upper half 20 that are arranged downwardly. It consists of a lower half 22 as a lower case that is supported from above.

Recording sheets 24 are stacked and stored in the recording sheet storage section 16, and both front and lower corners of the recording sheets are locked by separating claws 26, and are pressed downward by a spring 30 via a presser plate 28. There is.

An opening 32 is formed at the front shelf position of the bottom surface of the recording paper storage section 16 (see FIGS. 6 and 7), and this opening has a recording paper whose tip is curved downward into an L-shape. A paper cover 34 is attached so as to be slidable in the direction indicated by arrow A. With the opening 32 closed, the paper cover 34 keeps the interior of the paper storage section 16 in a substantially sealed state, preventing dirt and dust from entering. This prevents dirt and dust from entering the interior and eliminates the influence of dirt and dust on printing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the thermal transfer printer cassette with the transfer paper cover open, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, on the lower half 22 side of the transfer paper storage section 14, there is a roll support section 3 located inside the side surface of the cassette case 10.
3 is formed, and a U-shaped notch 35 is formed in the front and rear of this roll support part, and the supply side roll 38 and the winding side roll 40 on which the transfer paper 36 is wound are placed in this U-shaped notch 35. They are stored in parallel in the transfer paper storage section 14 with both ends fitted together.

The transfer paper cover 18 is attached to the front side of the lower half 22 so as to be openable and closable, and when closed, the transfer paper storage section 14 is kept in a substantially sealed state to prevent dirt and dust from entering the inside of the transfer paper opening 4. We try to prevent dirt and dust from affecting printing as much as possible.

The transfer paper cover 18 includes a protective cover part 1 that covers both ends of the supply roll 38 and the take-up roll 40 from the sides.
8a is formed, and when the lid is closed, the supply side roll 38
and the transfer paper storage section 14 including both ends of the winding side roll 40.
When the lid is closed, the upper transfer paper opening is opened, and the sides of the supply roll 38 and the take-up roll 40 are also opened, so that when the printer is installed, the take-up roll 40 is pulled out of the transfer paper storage unit 14, the supply side roll 3 stored in the transfer paper storage unit 14
8 so that the rotational drive transmission means (for winding up the transfer paper when taking out the cassette, for applying pack tension to the supply roll 38 during printing) engages from the side thereof. There is.

Shafts 18b are mounted facing each other at the inner rear end position of the protective cover portion 18a of the transfer paper cover 18, and each shaft is provided with an arm 42 extending rearward. An engaging pin 44 is provided inwardly on each side.

Further, upwardly rising side walls 34a are formed at both ends of the recording paper cover 34, and a cam groove that becomes higher from the front to the rear is formed in this side wall. An engagement pin 44 at the tip of the arm 42 is slidably engaged with a cam groove formed on both side walls 34a of the recording paper cover 34.

In addition, in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, 46 is the lower half 22.
A pair of guide grooves formed parallel to the elongated direction on the bottom surface of the
Reference numeral 48 indicates a groove for preventing erroneous insertion, which is continuous with the transfer paper cover 18 and the upper half 20 and is provided along the longitudinal direction on both side walls thereof, and 50 is a notch for inserting a loading member.

Next, the operation of the opening/closing mechanism of the thermal transfer printer cassette described above will be explained.

First, the thermal transfer blink cassette is in the state shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 before being installed in the printer device. That is, the transfer paper cover 18 completely covers both ends of the supply roll 38 and the take-up roll 40 from the sides, and both ends of the supply roll 38 and the take-up roll 40 can be viewed from outside the cassette case 10. This prevents the transfer paper 36 from becoming slack or damaged due to forced rotation.

When this cassette for a thermal transfer printer is installed in a printer device (not shown), a bin (not shown) is formed on the front lower surface of the lower half 22 for opening the recording paper cover provided on the printer device side when the cassette is inserted. The recording paper cover 3 moves backward through the guide groove 48 and comes into contact with the L-shaped bent portion at the tip of the recording paper cover 34.
4 to the rear to form a recording paper opening 38 on the bottom surface of the lower half 22, as shown in FIG.

When the recording paper cover 34 moves rearward in this way, the engagement pin 44 is pushed down along the slope of the cam groove, and the arm 42 moves toward the shaft 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7.
8b as a center, and the rotation of this arm 42 causes the transfer paper cover 18 to rotate upward, and as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a transfer paper opening 54 is formed on the front side of the transfer paper storage section 14. As shown in FIGS.

When the transfer paper cover 18 rotates upward, the protective cover part 18a also rotates around the supply side roll so as not to get in the way of the rotation shaft of the printer device engaging with both ends of the supply side roll 38 and the take-up side roll 40. 38 and the winding side roll 40 and rotate upward together.

When printing, the loading member (
(not shown) pulls out the take-up roll 40 from the transfer paper opening 54, and a paper feed roller (not shown) provided in the printer device enters from the recording paper opening 32 to remove the recording paper. 24, this paper feeding roller works together with a separating claw 26 to take out the recording papers 24 one by one, and the taken out recording papers 24 are fed to a platen (not shown).

Next, when the cassette is removed from the printer device, the recording paper cover 34 and the transfer paper cover 18 are automatically closed in the opposite direction, since the recording paper cover 34 is always urged in the closing direction by the spring 56. direction, and the recording paper opening 32 and the transfer paper opening 54 are automatically closed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, the transfer paper cover is provided with a protective cover portion that covers the sides of the supply roll and the take-up roll when the transfer paper cover is in the closed state. The supply roll and take-up roll will not be forcibly turned from outside the case, causing the transfer paper to sag or be damaged. This has the effect that it does not get in the way of the rotation shaft of the printer device engaging with both ends of the take-side roll.

Furthermore, the present invention has an extremely simple configuration.

This also has the effect of reducing the number of parts required for the protective cover and reducing manufacturing costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention viewed from above;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cassette of Fig. 1 with the transfer paper cover open, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cassette of Fig. 1 seen from below, and Fig. 4 is the IV of Fig. 3. -IV is a sectional view taken along arrows, Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along -V in Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cassette in Fig.
The sectional view taken along arrows 1--2 in the figure, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views of a conventional cassette for a thermal transfer printer. IO...Cassette case, 12...Bulkhead, 14...
・Transfer paper storage section, 16... Recording paper storage section, 18...
Transfer paper cover, 18a...protective cover part, 18b...
...axis, 20...upper half, 22...lower half, 2
4... Recording paper, 26... Separation claw, 28... Pressing plate, 30... Spring, 32... Recording paper opening,
33... Roll support section, 34... Recording paper cover
34a...-Side wall, 35... Notch, 36... Transfer paper, 38...- Supply side roll, 40... Winding side roll,
42... Arm, 44... Engagement pin, 46... Guide groove, 48... Erroneous insertion prevention groove, 50... Notch, 5
4...Opening for transfer paper, 56...Spring. */ Figure [ ta2 Patent applicant Kunio Kakiki, representative of Victor Japan Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A transfer paper storage section and a recording paper storage section are integrally formed, a supply side roll and a winding side roll on which transfer paper is wound are stored in the transfer paper storage section, and one part of the outer shell of the transfer paper storage section is 1. A cassette for a thermal transfer printer, characterized in that the transfer paper cover has a transfer paper cover that can be opened and closed, and the transfer paper cover is provided with a protective cover that covers the sides of the supply roll and the take-up roll in a closed state.