JPH0260514B2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

A ribbon structure wherein the leader (64) and trailer (66) are formed by adhering over the inked side (14) of the ribbon a thin adhesive faced tape or foil (56) and where the tape or foil (56) is adhesively engaged with the substrate (12) in a region having had all or part of the ink removed therefrom to provide an adherent surface. The tape or foil (56) is further provided with a region (62) of adhesive engagement for attachment to supply and take-up spools.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to printing ribbons for printers and methods of manufacturing the same.

Description of the Background Art In manufacturing ribbons, a substrate, such as cast polyethylene, is coated with an ink material in a series of wide rolls. The ink material is capable of being transferred from the substrate to the printing paper during impression. When this coated material is sent from a group of large, wide rolls called jumbo rolls, it is cut vertically into a predetermined width by a sliver (cutting machine), and then individually wound around small ribbon cores. It will be destroyed. It is something that can later be used in printers (including typewriters). After a predetermined amount of ribbon has been wrapped around the core, the slitter is stopped. Then, a portion of the ribbon stock (raw material) that has not yet been cut lengthwise is cut off. A member, usually without ink, is then spliced into the separated gap and wrapped during manufacturing onto a leader (tip piece when used for printing, but which becomes the supply spool after manufacturing). forming a trailing end piece) and/or a trailer (the trailing end piece of the supply spool after manufacture). The material is then passed through a slitter, divided into pieces of the same width as the ribbon being wound, and partially wound onto a spool in the slitter. At this point, the ribbon stock and slitter are stopped and the ribbon spool with the ribbon and leader wound thereon is cut off near the center of the leader/trailer film. A portion of the member becomes attached to the ribbon on the spool to form a spliced-on leader. When the leader/trailer member is separated, the remaining portion is attached to another empty spool to form a spliced-on trailer. It is then wound with ribbon onto the spool to the desired diameter.

This initial separation of the ribbon stock and subsequent leader/trailer splicing (spride
The in- and longitudinal cutting actions could cause misalignment and the spool would not be wound evenly. When this happens, the ribbon spool and the ribbon wound thereon are thrown away as unsuitable for winding and are thrown away, ultimately increasing manufacturing costs. Also, if the leader/trailer is not securely attached between the wide ribbon stocks, breakage of the seam can occur. In this case, it becomes necessary to pass the ribbon through the slit again, and a large amount of ribbon is wasted during manufacturing.

Prior art techniques required the assembly of several separate lengths to form a leader/trailer composite and required that the composite be attached to a ribbon film. US Pat. No. 3,286,808 shows an example of such a ribbon construction. It also discloses combining multiple tapes and foils with precise positioning control.

According to the above-mentioned conventional examples and standard methods in this technical field, ribbon leaders are usually assembled by splicing,
A smudge-proof handling section that serves to carry mounting tape for attaching the beginning of the ribbon to the take-up spool and to protect the operator from ink smearing when loading the ribbon into the typewriter. Provide work as a. Similarly, ribbon trailers are spliced-in combinations of tape and film with mounting tape used to centrally attach the ends of the ribbon construction to the hub of the supply spool. There is a role to play. This spliced trailer structure also serves to visually indicate the end of the ribbon since its color is conspicuous. This provides a print limit abort feature that terminates printing before ribbon advance is inhibited because no more ribbon can be supplied. If the feed is interrupted, the undesirable effect of brightness and darkness on the characters may occur, and corrective action must be taken before continuing typing. One undesirable phenomenon common to trailer elements that are colored for contrast is that when a typewriter runs out of ribbon, the typewriter hits the element and the colored element is transferred to the printing paper. Moreover, it is usually impossible to correct it.

Conventional techniques require multiple tapes or foils to create a leader and trailer composite, and then seam the composite into a wide, long ribbon stock (with some tape or foil to accommodate the leader and trailer). It has been impractical to automatically manufacture such ribbon structures, as it is necessary (as well as removing lengths of ribbon). Automation is difficult, especially when the parts are thin and susceptible to tangling, wrinkling, tearing, etc., and alignment of the leader/trailer complex as it passes through the slitter is critical.

Conventional ribbon slitters used in the art transport the ribbon "face down", ie, with the ink side or layer facing down, as it passes through the leader/trailer station. Adhesive attachment means used to attach the ends of the ribbon to each ribbon spool are typically provided as part of both the leader and trailer;
Even the simplest form of leader and trailer having only these attachment means could not be made without cutting into long length-like ribbons and then splicing the parts of the combined leader and trailer structure.

Summary of the Invention and Embodiments The ribbon structure of the present embodiment includes a leader and trailer foil that are separate from the ribbon and have an adhesive surface on at least one surface and can engage with the ink surface of the base material of the ribbon structure. By including and positioning the same for attachment to the ribbon, problems encountered with prior art ribbon structures and methods of assembly and manufacturing thereof are eliminated. In the simplest embodiment, both the leader and trailer consist of a piece of double-sided adhesive tape, one adhesive side of which adheres to the ribbon stock, and the other adhesive side of which is later attached to the respective take-up spools. Used to attach ribbon ends to hub. In a preferred embodiment, the leader and trailer are each a stack of variable length foils. And it is first mounted on the ribbon stock. The back side, that is, the outside of the foil does not have an adhesive material, and the above-mentioned double-sided adhesive tape is further attached to the side not having an adhesive material to obtain the above-mentioned laminate. To ensure proper adhesion of the adhesive foil forming the leader and trailer, the ink layer on the ribbon substrate is removed from a band transverse to the direction of transport of the ribbon stock. A foil having an adhesive surface is attached to the base material at the strip-shaped portion, and is also attached to a portion of the ink layer adjacent to the strip-shaped portion, so that the ink layer at that portion is attached to the foil of the leader/trailer. covered with. If the strip-shaped portion is attached to the adhesive surface of the leader and trailer as described above, the leader/trailer will be reliably attached to the ribbon structure even if the ink layer is relatively easy to peel off from the ribbon base material. Ru. A trailer attached to the ink side of the ribbon structure encapsulates the ink layer within the laminate structure. Therefore, even if it is struck by the printing element, it will not be transferred to the paper. Transfer does not occur unless colored substances are used in the printing paper. Therefore, even when the ribbon is used up, the print on the printing paper will not be smeared. The length of the trailer can be adjusted accordingly to ensure that printing is stopped before the trailer is withdrawn from the spool of ribbon core. Similarly, the length of the leader can be adjusted so that the portion of the ribbon coated with the ink layer does not stain hands when manually loading the ribbon.

Additionally, the portion of the strip of ribbon structure from which the ink layer has been removed prior to attachment of the leader/trailer also provides a visual warning to the operator of proximity to the end of the ribbon. Therefore, when the operator visually recognizes that this portion of the trailer, ie, the transparent window, approaches the stamping position, the operator only has to replace the ribbon. This replacement occurs before the transparent window prevents printing in the normal manner, thereby allowing typing to continue without interfering with the printing operation.

The ribbon structure assembly process is performed in a unique configuration as described below, prior to longitudinally cutting the ribbon stock. That is, an adhesive tape is positioned on the lower surface of the ribbon stock, that is, the ink surface, in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis, the adhesive tape is pressed against the ink layer on the substrate, and the adhesive tape is pulled from near the ink layer. , thereby removing the ink layer from the ribbon substrate. This is easily done in the manner described below.
That is, adhesive tape is passed around a roller that is movable across the width of the roll of ribbon stock. When this roller moves while rotating as shown above, the adhesive tape on its circumferential surface is pressed against the ink layer. As the roller rotates, the adhesive tape is wound onto the take-up spool, and the ink layer is also peeled off from the substrate by the adhesive tape. There are multiple rolls, and when the contact point between these rolls and the adhesive tape moves across the ribbon stock and multiple strips of ink layer portions are removed from the ribbon substrate, the leader /Trailer foil may be drawn from a separate roll and positioned under the entire width of the ribbon stock. At this time, the foil and ribbon face each other face to face. The two platens, one on each side of the platen, are pressed against each other, and the foil and ribbon sandwiched therebetween form a sandwich-like structure. When the foil member is separated, the laminated structure of the foil composite and ribbon stock may be cut longitudinally in a conventional manner.

The procedures disclosed herein for assembling a ribbon and trailer/leader composite structure and the effects of the ribbon structure are important from the standpoint of reliability and cost reduction.

The use of a laminate of foils in place of traditional spliced-in leader and trailer configurations helps guide, feed, and align the long ribbon as it is cut lengthwise. The ribbon can be maintained without splicing, which improves the alignment of the ribbon as it passes through the sliver, and also eliminates defects such as twisted ribbons or pulled splices. The number of ribbon rolls can be reduced.

Additionally, cutting and winding operations are greatly improved by this apparatus and construction since the leader and trailer can be attached while the long ribbon stock remains connected.

Another advantage is that the end of the ribbon can be accurately indicated, and some ink layers, trailer colors, etc. are not erroneously transferred to the paper and the appearance of the paper is not spoiled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As is conventional, ribbon stock drawn from jumbo rolls is fed toward a slitter (not shown) in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the page of FIG. The ribbon stock 10 includes a base material 12
and an ink layer 14 which passes through the leader/trailer station 16 of FIG. Ribbon stock 10 is attached to upper platen 18
and the lower platen 20. Both platens 18 and 20 are flat plates, and the ribbon 10
It can be moved to a position where both sides are sandwiched.

The platens 18 and 20 are retracted to the position shown in FIG. 1 and held in the retracted position by platen elevation controls 22 and 24. Both platens 18
and 20 are retracted from their lined positions,
A space is created in which the carrier 26 can move the ribbon 10 laterally. At least one roll around which adhesive tape 30 is wound is carried on a carrier 26 . In the example, 3
rolls 28 (see Figure 2) and adhesive tape 30
is carried by the carrier 26.

The adhesive tape 30 is supplied from a supply spool 32 and is wound onto a take-up spool 34 after being used at the station 16 . A drive 36 is used to wind the used adhesive tape onto a take-up spool 34 as the carrier 26 traverses the path of the ribbon 10 from left to right. When the carrier 26 moves laterally, the roll 28 moves to the position shown by the imaginary line, and at that time, the adhesive tape 30 around the roll 28 also becomes the state shown by the phantom line. While the carrier 26 is moving laterally from left to right, the upper platen 18 is lowered to a lower position by the platen elevation control device 22, and the ribbon 1
He firmly supports 0 from behind. Thus, substrate 12 and ink layer 14 are sandwiched between adhesive tape 30 and upper platen 18. carrier 26
is driven by the carrier drive 38 in the same manner as in the prior art, and is laterally moved from left to right.
The carrier drive 28 may be a chain drive, a rack and pinion combination drive, or any other suitable drive configuration, but these are not important to the present invention and will not be discussed further.

When the carrier 26 is moved to its leftmost end by the drive action of the carrier drive 38, the gripper 40 carried by the carrier 26 engages the foil complex 42. As the carrier 26 is moved to the right by the carrier driver 38, the gripper 40, under the action of the gripper control 44, grips the foil composite 42 and pulls out the foil composite 42. , spread across the entire width of the path of the ribbon 10. The foil composite 42 unwinds the rolled foil 46 and at the same time pulls out the rolled tape 48 having adhesive on both sides. The wound foil 46 has a sticky material on its inner surface when wound onto the supply spool 50.

After the carrier 26 is retracted from between the ribbon 10 and the platen 20 (to the right), the platen lift control device 24 is biased to raise the lower platen 20. As a result, between the lower platen 20 and the upper platen 18 there is a foil composite 42 and a ribbon 1.
0 are sandwiched together and the sticky side of the foil composite 42 is pressed against the ink layer 14 of the ribbon 10. The foil composite 42 may then be cut using any conventional technique, such as hot wire or a cutting machine. This leader/trailer structure now forms a composite laminate with ribbon 10. The laminate was fed perpendicular to the plane of the page of Figure 1 to a subsequent processing station, such as a winder or sliver of the type manufactured by The John Dousenberry Corporation, Randolph, New Jersey, under model number 635TT. It will be done.

In FIG. 2, adhesive tape 30 is shown adhering to ribbon stock 10 as it passes around rollers 28. In FIG. 3 rollers 2
8 are mounted on a single shaft 52 common to them so that they can be easily moved and controlled on that shaft. The adhesive tape 30 is attached to the roller 28
As the ribbon 10 is pulled downward around the circumferential surface of the ribbon 10, the ink layer 14 at that portion is peeled off from the base material 12 and adhered to the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape 30 instead. When the roller 28 finishes passing, the ribbon 1
The structure of 0 is as shown in FIG. That is, the third
The groove portion (ink removal portion) formed in the ink layer 14 in the figure corresponds to the portion of the ink layer 14 that has been peeled off by the adhesive force of the adhesive tape 30, as explained in FIG. As the carrier 26 moves to the right in FIG. 1 and pulls the tape adhering to the ink layer 14 and peels the ink layer 14 from the substrate 12, the carrier 26 moves toward the foil composite 42.
is also stretched across the width direction of the ribbon 10.

The foil composite 42 is shown in FIG. There may also be separate foil complexes for the leader and trailer. The top surface of the foil 56 is an adhesive surface 54 and is positioned to adhere to the ink layer 14 of the ribbon stock 10. A foil 5 is placed at the part where the ink layer 14 is peeled off.
6, the adhesive surface 54 of the foil 56 is attached to the base material 1.
It adheres firmly to 2 with its adhesive strength. A double-sided adhesive tape (double-sided adhesive material) 60 is further supported on the non-adhesive surface 58 of the foil 56 . Since it is a double-sided adhesive tape, one adhesive side adheres to the non-adhesive side 58 of the foil 56, but the other adhesive side 62
becomes exposed.

Returning to FIG. 1, the explanation will be continued. A foil composite 42 is placed across the path of the ribbon stock 10.
After the platens 18, 20 are positioned, both platens 18, 20 are biased to squeeze the entire superimposed object between them. As a result, a laminated structure as shown in FIG. 4 is completed. Foil 56 with adhesive surface
Since the adhesive surface 54 is squeezed, the adhesive surface 54 adheres not only to the portion of the base material 12 from which the ink layer 14 has been peeled off, but also to the portion where the ink layer 14 remains. The exposed adhesive side 62 of the double-sided adhesive tape 60 will provide an attachment to the ribbon spool.

When the ribbon is cut, the foil composite 42 extending across the width of the ribbon material becomes a trailer and a leader. The leader 64 serves to attach the ribbon end to the take-up spool later when the ribbon is finally assembled. The trailer 66 also has the primary role of attaching the ribbon to the supply spool, particularly at the double-sided adhesive tape 60 portion thereof. The length of the ink-free surface of the foil 56 of the trailer 66 also provides an ink layer coverage that prevents printing by ink transfer. The leader 64 can be formed to be longer if necessary to have a portion that covers the ink layer 14 of the ribbon, thereby making it possible to handle the ribbon without getting hands dirty.

The substrate 12 is transparent or translucent, and by peeling off the ink layer 14 in a strip of a certain length across the ribbon stock 10, a certain degree of light transmission is obtained. Later, add foil 56 on top of this.
are superimposed. This groove in the ink layer 14 and the light transparency of that portion visually alerts the operator that the end of the ink layer is near.

Ribbon portion 70 of ribbon stock 10 (fourth
Figure 1) is the wasted portion, which is provided depending on the nature of the technique used to cut the ribbon stock 10 lengthwise. Therefore, if a different type of slitter is used, the length of the ribbon portion 70 will also vary.

FIG. 5 shows the ribbon 10 after it has been wound onto the supply spool 72 and its leader 64 has been disconnected from the ribbon stock 10. Ink layer 1
The advantage of extending the foil 56 to both sides of the area where the ribbon 4 was removed is that the sandwich-like laminate structure of the foil composite 42 with the ribbon stock 10 allows the laminate structure to be more sensitive than the very thin ribbon 10 itself. However, the stiffness and handling characteristics can be greatly improved.

FIG. 6 shows a trailer 66 of ribbon 10 being attached to a supply spool 72 with its double-sided adhesive tape 60. A foil 56 extending to the left from its deposited position and superimposed on the ink layer 14 provides a non-printing surface as well as a ribbon end warning window 68. The length of the trailer 66 can vary depending on the preference of the person using the ribbon spool arrangement and the requirements of the ribbon feeding mechanism with which the ribbon spool arrangement will be used.

FIG. 7 shows that the leader 64 is attached to the double-sided adhesive tape 6.
0 shows how it is attached to the take-up spool 74. A foil 56 extending from the substrate 12 to one or both sides of the area from which the ink layer 14 has been removed adds rigidity to the ribbon 10 in a laminated construction. If it is desired to provide a clean handling surface over a long length of the ribbon end, the desired length of foil 5 can be applied to the supply spool 72.
6 can be given. If the leader 64 is to be made longer, it can be made longer so that the area from which the ink is removed is closer to the end of the foil 56.

The enlarged views of the ribbon attached to the spool shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are merely explanatory views for explaining how to engage the spool with the double-sided adhesive tape 60. It does not accurately indicate the dimensional relationship between

This leader and trailer structure not only simplifies manufacturing and assembly of this ribbon structure with trailer and leader, but also allows the ribbon stock 10
It should also be noted that this greatly increases the possibility of fully automating the production of leader/trailer composites to Gripper control 44, carrier drive 38, take-up spool 34 drive 38, and platen lift controls 22, 24 can all be any conventionally known automatic controls.

It should be noted that since ribbon 10 is continuous, all of these controls can be implemented manually and still result in the excellent ribbon structure described above. Continuous ribbon 10 ensures proper alignment and feeding during cutting and winding operations, and therefore superior quality of the finished ribbon spool.

Another advantage of positioning the double-sided adhesive tape 60 on the leader 64 is that the take-up spool 74 does not have to be attached to the supply spool 72 when the ribbon is cut and completely wound onto the supply spool 72. be. double-sided adhesive tape 60
is attached to the outermost wound portion of the ribbon 10 on the supply spool 72 as shown in FIG. The ends of the can be held in a fixed position. Another advantage of the leader 64 is that the laminated structure of that part is different from conventional very thin film films that do not have such a laminated structure.
It is now possible to provide much easier handling properties than the ribbon 10, and thus to provide sufficient stiffness for automated processing and manufacturing, which is desirable from a manufacturing standpoint. Characteristically, this laminate produces a kind of bimetallic effect, allowing the ribbon ends to protrude almost rigidly from the circumferential surface of the wound ribbon.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for positioning and incorporating a foil composite into a ribbon structure. FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 to illustrate the step of peeling the ink layer from the ribbon structure. Third
The figure shows the ink layer removed from the ribbon structure and the position before the foil composite is applied to the ribbon structure. FIG. 4 is a view showing the ribbon composite forming the leader and trailer attached and assembled into a sandwich-like structure. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a ribbon wound around a supply spool and a leader portion of the ribbon. FIG. 6 shows a supply spool with only a trailer attached and no ribbon wound thereon. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the completed ribbon assembly with the leader portion of the ribbon wound on the supply spool attached to the take-up spool. 10... Ribbon or ribbon stock, 12...
... (ribbon) base material, 14 ... ink layer, 16 ...
Leader/trailer station, 18... Upper platen, 20... Lower platen, 22, 24...
...Platen elevation control device, 26...Carrier, 2
8... (carrier) roller, 30... adhesive tape, 32... (adhesive tape) supply spool, 3
4...Take-up spool (of adhesive tape), 36...
Drive device (for take-up spool), 38...Carrier driver, 40...Gripper, 42...Foil complex, 44...Gripper control device, 46...Wound foil, 48...Wound tape , 50... (foil) supply spool, 52... shaft, 54, 62...
Adhesive surface, 56...Foil, 58...Non-adhesive surface,
60...Double-sided adhesive tape, 64...Leader, 66
. . . Trailer, 68 . A rolled ribbon.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ink layer transfer type ribbon installed between a pair of spools spaced apart by a predetermined distance, comprising: an ink-impermeable ribbon base material; and a ribbon formed on one side of the ribbon base material. an ink layer for transfer, which is formed by removing the ink layer from the ribbon base material at or near the end of the ribbon base material; and an ink-impermeable adhesive layer on one side of the ribbon base material. is a one-sided adhesive material, which directly adheres to the ribbon base material in the portion where the transfer ink layer has been removed, and prevents it from protruding beyond the end of the ribbon base material so that the above-mentioned adhesive material near the end An ink layer transfer comprising: a single-sided adhesive material covering an ink layer; and a double-sided adhesive material adhered to the non-adhesive side of the single-sided adhesive material in a portion where the single-sided adhesive material directly adheres to the ribbon substrate. shaped ribbon. 2. From a large ribbon roll including a ribbon consisting of an ink-impermeable ribbon base material and a transfer ink layer formed on one side of the ribbon base material,
In this method, a small ribbon roll of a predetermined width and a predetermined amount that can be used in a printer is manufactured, and one end of the ribbon is stretched from the large ribbon roll and a part of the ink layer of the ribbon is removed from the ribbon. After removing the ribbon across the width direction, the adhesive side of an ink-impermeable single-sided adhesive material is attached to the removed portion of the ink layer over the entire width of the ribbon to remove the ribbon from the removed portion and at least the vicinity of the removed portion. A single-sided adhesive material covering the ink layer is laminated along the width direction of the ribbon, and a portion of the single-sided adhesive material adhering to the removal portion is placed on the non-adhesive surface of the single-sided adhesive material over the entire width of the ribbon. and adhere a double-sided adhesive material to form a laminate, and then cut the ribbon and the laminate to a predetermined width,
Winding a predetermined amount of the cut ribbon onto a plurality of spools to form the small ribbon roll, and cutting the small ribbon roll from the large ribbon roll near the laminate. A method of manufacturing a small ribbon roll of an ink layer transfer type ribbon comprising: