JPH02274583A - Ink ribbon feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inhibit a wasteful consumption of ink ribbon by providing a clutch mechanism that is actuated as necessary between a rotating body and a drive mechanism. CONSTITUTION:In a printing mode state, a carrier 6 moves at a constant speed as shown in a period (a) while conducts printing, and an ink ribbon 10 is also fed at a constant speed alpha. Next, in a non-printing period, the carrier 6 finishes printing at a point P1, and a solenoid is actuated to separate a clutch gear 12A from a torque piece gear 11 to stop the feeding of the ribbon 10. Then, the carrier 6 is traveled to a point P2 within a short time through periods (b), (c), and (d). In the meantime, the solenoid has been continuously actuated, and the ribbon 10 completely stops running as shown in a part beta, therefore being not consumed at all. On the other hand, when the actuation of the solenoid is stopped at the point P2, a gear 12A moves so as to again engages with the gear 11. While the carrier 6 is accelerated to a predetermined speed (a), the ribbon 10 is also accelerated to recover to a predetermined speed alpha before a printing restart point P5, and a printing action is again started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to an ink ribbon feeding device, and in particular,
The present invention relates to an ink ribbon feeding device suitable for increasing the usage efficiency of ink ribbons.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in a dot type printer in which a printer head and a ribbon cassette move together, an ink ribbon feed device is configured to always follow the movement of a carrier. Therefore, while the carrier is moving, the ink ribbon is always traveling, and this effectively prevents the occurrence of unclear print output due to repeated use of the same location on the ink ribbon.

Further, as a power source for feeding the ink ribbon, there are those that obtain power mechanically from the movement of a carrier, or those that have a mechanism that separately provides a stepping motor for feeding the ink ribbon.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above conventional example, as the carrier moves, the ink ribbon is constantly fed to blank spaces where the ink ribbon is not needed, resulting in a lot of waste.
As a result, there was an inconvenience that the consumption amount increased.

In addition, in the case of a structure in which a stepping motor is provided exclusively for feeding the ink ribbon, manufacturing costs increase, and the weight of the carrier also increases, making it incompatible with high-speed printing.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a more economical ink ribbon feeding device that improves the inconveniences seen in the conventional examples, and in particular, suppresses wasteful consumption of ink ribbons.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, in the present invention, in an ink ribbon feeding device that includes a rotating body that applies running force to the ink ribbon and a drive mechanism that drives this rotating body, a The method is to equip the vehicle with a clutch mechanism that operates. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned purpose.

[For production]

First, at the same time as the carrier moves, the drive mechanism is activated, the rotating body is driven, the ink ribbon runs, and printing operation is started.

Next, as soon as the carrier reaches the non-printing area, the clutch mechanism is activated under the control of, for example, an external control means to separate the rotating body from the drive mechanism.

Next, when the carrier moves further and reaches the printing location,
Immediately before this, the clutch i mechanism is operated under the control of, for example, the above-mentioned external control means to connect the drive mechanism and the rotating body.

As a result, the running of the ink ribbon while the carrier is passing through the non-printing space is temporarily interrupted.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

This embodiment of FIG. 2 has base frames l and 5, ::(
7) Side frames 2A and 2B are installed on both sides of the He-X7 L/-41, respectively. The side frames 2A and 2B are installed facing each other with a constant interval between them.

A platen 3 forming a printing surface is rotatably installed between the side frames 2A and 2B.

A printer head 4 for print output and a ribbon cassette 5 are arranged opposite the printing surface (outer peripheral surface) of the platen 3. The printer head 4 and ribbon cassette 5 are
11illF is placed on the carrier 6. The ribbon cassette 5 is placed on a carrier 6 via a ribbon base 7.

The carrier 6 is urged by a carrier conveying means 8 and guided by a main slide shaft 9, so that it can reciprocate along the platen 3 described above.

The carrier conveying means 8 is constructed between a driven pulley 8D rotatably supported by one side frame 2A, a driving pulley 8C supported by the other side frame, and between the driving pulley 8C and the driven pulley 8D. It consists of a timing bell) 8B and a stevening motor 8A connected to a drive pulley 8C.

The carrier 6 is equipped with an ink ribbon feed mechanism 10.

This ink ribbon feed mechanism IO is configured to feed an ink ribbon (not shown) in the ribbon cassette 5 to a torque piece IIA.
The vehicle includes a torque piece gear 11 as a rotating body that applies running force via a torque piece gear 11, and a drive mechanism 13 connected to the torque piece gear 11 via a clutch mechanism 12.

Among these, the drive mechanism 13 includes a first ribbon drive gear 13A that rotates at a speed corresponding to the movement of the carrier 6, a feed gear 13B that rotates by being biased by this first ribbon drive gear 13A, and a feed gear 13B that rotates by being biased by this first ribbon drive gear 13A. Gear 13B
and a relay gear section 14 that is interposed between the feed gear 13B and the first ribbon drive gear 13A and always drives the feed gear 13B to rotate in the same direction even if the moving direction of the carrier 6 changes. In this case, the first ribbon drive gear 13A is meshed with a rack 6A disposed along the moving direction of the carrier 6.

Thereby, the moving force of the carrier 6 is transmitted as rotational force to the first ribbon drive gear 13A via the rack 6A.

The relay gear section 14 includes a second ribbon drive gear 14A installed coaxially with the first ribbon drive gear 13A described above, and a V-shaped arm 14B centered on the second ribbon drive gear 14A. It includes two planetary gears 14C and 14D that are meshed with each other.

When the carrier 6 moves in the six directions shown in FIG.
The rotational force of the first ribbon drive gear 13A is transmitted to the feed gear 13B via one of the planetary gears 14c.

Moreover, when the carrier 6 moves in the direction B in FIG.
The ribbon drive gear 13A rotates in the opposite direction to the above-described movement of the carrier 6 in the A direction, but in this case, the rotational force is transmitted to the other MM gear 14D, and the feed is transmitted via the idle gear 14E. The rotational force is transmitted to gear 13B. Therefore, even if the moving direction of the carrier 6 changes, the feed gear 13B always rotates in the same direction, and the torque piece gear 11 can always be rotated in the same direction via the clutch mechanism 12. .

The clutch mechanism 12 includes a clutch gear 12A meshed with the aforementioned feed gear 13B, and this clutch gear 12.
A is integrally connected to the feed gear 13B, and the idle plate 12B is reciprocally rotated around the feed gear 13B described above, and thereby the clutch gear 12A is meshed with the torque piece gear 11 described above. It is configured by a solenoid 12C that closes or releases the meshing state of the two.

Next, the relationship between the movement of the carrier 6 and the winding of the ink ribbon will be explained based on FIG.

In the print mode, the carrier 6 is controlled by a control means (not shown) to move at a constant speed as shown in section C in the figure to print. Along with this, the ink ribbon is also fed at a constant speed α. Next, when a non-printing section such as a blank space comes, the carrier 6 operates the solenoid 12C when printing is completed at time 21, and the clutch gear 1
2A is removed from the torque piece gear 11. This stops the feeding of the ink ribbon.

Next, the carrier 6 is accelerated in section b in this embodiment, and C
It is controlled so that it slides at high speed in the section, decelerates in section d, and moves to point 22 in a short time. During this time, the solenoid 12c continues to operate, and the state in which the clutch gear 12A is disengaged from the torque piece gear 11 is maintained. As a result, the ink ribbon, like the part β, completely stops running, and is therefore in a state where it is not consumed at all.

When the operation of the solenoid 12C is stopped at time points -4 and 22, the clutch gear 12A moves in the direction of meshing with the torque piece gear 11 again by the action of the original position return spring (not shown), and is brought into meshing state at time point 23. While the carrier 6 accelerates from the low speed range e to the predetermined speed a,
The ink ribbon feed rate is also accelerated. As a result, the speed returns to the predetermined speed α 25 times before printing is restarted, and thereby the printing operation is restarted smoothly.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the print head 4 encounters a non-printing section, the feeding of the ink ribbon is interrupted, and wasteful consumption of the ink ribbon can be eliminated.

Furthermore, in accordance with this, the load on the stamping motor 8A for feeding the ink ribbon is reduced in the non-printing section, making it possible to move the carrier at high speed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when the print head encounters a non-printing section as described above, feeding of the ink ribbon is interrupted, thereby eliminating wasteful consumption of the ink ribbon.

This makes it possible to provide an ink ribbon feeding device that is more effective than ever before.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an ink ribbon feeding device, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the entire printer, and FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a time chart of ink ribbon feed control. lO... Ink ribbon feed mechanism, 12...
...Clutch mechanism, 12A...Clutch gear, 12C...Solenoid, 13...
Drive 4t9i! , 13A... Ribbon drive gear A, 14... Relay gear section. Figure Figure Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an ink ribbon feed device including a rotating body that applies running force to the ink ribbon and a drive mechanism that drives this rotating body, a An ink ribbon feeding device characterized by being equipped with an activated clutch mechanism.