JPH0245597B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing ink ribbons used in printers, typewriters, and the like.

Conventionally, the production of ink ribbons has involved a heat cutting process 2 in which the original fabric 1 is cut into ribbon widths, a coating process 3 in which ink is further coated, an aging process 4 in which aging is performed, and spooling as shown in Fig. 1. This is carried out through the following steps: a spooling step (in the case of spooled ribbon), and a packaging step 6, in which packaging is performed.

By the way, typewriter ribbons, which are commonly used, are usually 13 mm wide and 11 m long. In this manufacturing method, the original fabric 1, which has a width of 35 to 55 inches, is mainly heat-cut to 13 mm. However, although it varies depending on the loom, the density in the width direction of the original fabric 1 is lower and rougher in the center than at both ends. Current weaving methods cannot prevent this coarseness and density. Therefore, when the conventional ink ribbon mentioned above is used in a wire dot matrix impact printer, there is a difference in print density between the wires facing the fibers and the wires facing between the fibers, resulting in a decrease in print quality. There was a drawback. Furthermore, regarding the lifespan of the original fabric 1, the lifespan of the coarse portions is extremely reduced compared to the dense portions.

The reason for this is that the life of the original fabric 1 is L, the running speed of the dot is V, the printing force peak value F _n ,
When expressed as contact time τ _c , it can be expressed as L∝V ² F _n ^-2 τ _c ^-1 .

This is because the weave of the original fabric 1 has three warp threads 7, as shown in a micrograph in FIG. 2a and a schematic diagram in FIG. 2b, and a gap 9 is generated. This is because the structure of the threads in the gap 9 has a small number of overlapping warp threads 7 and weft threads 8, and the stress received during printing becomes locally high. For these reasons, in order to reduce the print quality and the lifespan of the original fabric 1, some fabrics are made denser by special specifications, such as increasing the number of warp threads 7 or weft threads 8. However, as the number of prints increases, the material of the ink ribbon becomes thicker, and the pixel diameter of the print increases.
There was a drawback that the print quality deteriorated.

This invention was made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and by making the density of the ink ribbon uniform,
In addition, the thickness of the original fabric is equivalently reduced to improve printing quality. This invention will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram of an ink ribbon manufacturing method showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this diagram,
11 is the original fabric, 12 is the ribbon width heat cutting process, 13 is the ink coating process, 14
15 is a roll rolling process, 15 is an aging process, 16 is
is the spooling (in case of spool winding) process, 17
indicates the packaging process. Each step will be explained below.

The width of the original fabric 11 of the ink ribbon is often 35 to 55 inches, depending on the loom. Therefore, it is necessary to cut this raw fabric 11 into a specified ribbon width. Normally, nylon fabric is widely used due to its cost and longevity, so here we will discuss nylon fabric as an example. If you simply cut it, both ends of the cut part will come loose. To prevent this, heat cutting is performed in a heat cutting process 12. This is a commonly used method.

Next, the cut original fabric 11 is coated with ink in an ink coating step 13,
Rolling is performed in a roll rolling step 14, and the space 9 in FIG. 2 is eliminated.

Next, even if ink coating is applied, ink does not adhere to nylon, so it takes a certain amount of time for the oil-based ink to stably adhere around the fibers using capillary action to fill the gaps between the fibers. , aging is performed in an aging step 15. Usually it is left for a week depending on the quality of the ink. Once the ink has stably adhered to the ribbon, it is wound onto a spool to a predetermined length in a spooling step 16. Furthermore, the wound up ink ribbon is packaged in a packaging step 17 to complete the manufacturing process.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the surface condition of the roll used in the roll rolling process 14. FIG. 4a shows a diagonal pattern, FIG. 4b shows a cross pattern, FIG. 4c shows a parallel pattern, and FIG. 4d shows a partially convex pattern.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, since the ink coating treatment was directly applied to the original fabric 1 cut in the heat cutting process 2, the fiber structure of the original fabric 1 remained in a woven state. As shown in Fig. 3, after heat cutting, ink is applied in an ink coating step 13, and then rolled in a roll rolling step 14, resulting in a uniform coating with no gaps as shown in the micrograph of Fig. 5. I can see that I am getting used to it.

In addition, in this way, the ink coating step 13
Since the rolling step 14 is performed after the step 14, there is a great advantage that the processing time of the aging step 15 is shortened due to the ink application and forced adhesion effect. In addition, the distance between each mesh and protrusion of the roll used for rolling is
The pitch is preferably 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm, and it is not preferable that the pitch be sharp and may damage the raw fabric 11. The material may be any material as long as it has the hardness required to move the weave of the original fabric 11 and is insoluble in oil. It goes without saying that the surface shape of the roll may be other than that shown in FIG. 4 as long as it has convex portions that provide the effect.

FIGS. 6a and 6b are micrographs showing pixel diameters when a conventional ink ribbon and an ink ribbon according to the present invention are used. As a result, it can be seen that the printed image quality is more improved in the case of FIG. 6b, which uses the ink ribbon manufactured according to the present invention.

As explained above, this invention adds a rolling process that has a large number of convex parts on the surface to the conventional process, so the structure of the warp and weft is made uniform, and in terms of printing life, no wire dots are present in any part. Since the contact is almost uniform, stress is reduced and life can be improved. In addition, regarding printing quality, since the tips of the wire dots uniformly contact the ribbon, the pixel diameter becomes clear. Furthermore, the thickness of the original fabric can be made thinner by roller rolling than by conventional manufacturing methods, which is an excellent effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a process diagram of a conventional ink ribbon manufacturing method, Figures 2a and b are micrographs and schematic diagrams showing the structure of a conventional raw fabric, and Figure 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. Manufacturing process diagrams, Figures 4a to 4d are diagrams each showing an example of the surface condition of the roll, Figure 5 is a micrograph showing the structure of the original fabric according to the embodiment of the present invention, and Figures 6a and b are the conventional 1 is a micrograph showing an ink ribbon and a pixel diameter when using the ink ribbon according to the present invention. In the figure, 11 is the original fabric, 12 is the heat cutting process, 13 is the ink coating process, 14 is the roll rolling process, 15 is the aging process, 16 is the spooling process, and 17 is the packaging process.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Heat cut the raw fabric to a predetermined width, then apply ink coating, and then provide a large number of convex portions on the surface, and have a pitch of 0.1 to 0.2 mm between the convex portions, and A method for producing an ink ribbon, comprising rolling the raw fabric using a roller made of a material that does not damage the weave and is insoluble in oil, and then aging to obtain a predetermined ink ribbon. .