JPH0325971Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette used in impact serial printers, etc., and particularly relates to an ink ribbon cassette that eliminates the problem of ink ribbon winding at the beginning of use. .

(b) Background of the Technology In recent years, serial printers have been developed and put into practical use as terminals for various computers and office machines such as word processors. Ink ribbons are used for printing in these printers, and ink ribbon cassettes containing ink ribbons are widely used.

(c) Prior art and problems The conventional method will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a wire dot printer to which the present invention is applied;
The figure is a plan view showing a conventional method.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wire dot printer has a side frame 9, on which a platen 10 is rotatably supported. A printing paper 11 is inserted or wound around the platen 10, and the printing paper 11 is fed in the direction of arrow A in the figure by sprockets 12a, 12b, etc. On the other hand, on the front side of the platen 10, in the lower part of the figure, a carrier 13 is slidably fitted into a guide shaft 15 provided parallel to the platen 10; It is threadedly engaged with the feed screw 16. The feed screw 16 is connected to a motor 19 via a belt 17, etc., and the feed screw 16 rotates the carrier 13 in the direction of arrows C and D in the figure by the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 19.
can be moved in the direction. The carrier 13 is equipped with an ink ribbon cassette 20.
An endless ink ribbon 20a is housed in the ink ribbon cassette 20 with a portion thereof exposed to the platen 10 side. Further, a print head 21 is installed in the carrier 13 so as to be surrounded by an ink ribbon cassette 20, and the print head 21 is provided with a plurality of print magnets for forming prints by dots.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon cassette 20 has an ink ribbon 20a housed in a frame 1, and ribbon guides 2a and 2b are provided above both ends of the frame 1. Ribbon guide 2a
A friction spring 2c is provided to press the ribbon 20a against the side wall of the frame 1.
An ink ribbon 20a is hung between the ribbon guides 2a and 2b.

Further, pulleys 3 and 4 are provided at the left end of the frame 1 and a belt 5 is hung thereon, and a shaft 4a of the pulley 4 is formed so as to be connectable to an external drive source. A pinch roller 6 is arranged below the pulley 4 in the figure, and the pinch roller 6 is urged in the direction of arrow E by a presser spring 7.
The ink ribbon 20a is sandwiched between the ink ribbon 20a and the belt 5, and is in rolling contact with the belt 5. The pulleys 3 and 4 and the pinch roller 6 are rotatably supported in a bearing hole provided in the frame 1. A bearing hole for the pinch roller 6, indicated by a dotted line in the figure, is formed in an elliptical hole 1a, so that the pinch roller 6 can move in the directions of arrows E and F.

Therefore, when this ink ribbon cassette 20 is mounted on the carrier 13, the shaft 4a of the pulley 4 is connected to the drive source, so the pulley 4 rotates in conjunction with the printing operation of the printer, and the belt 5 and pinch roller 6 release the ink. The ribbon 20a is wound into the frame 1 from the ribbon guide 2b, and the ink ribbon 20a in front of the print head 21 moves accordingly.

With such a configuration, the printing head 21
When activated, the printing wire of the printing magnet collides with the printing paper 11 on the platen 10 shown in FIG. While doing so, printing is performed on the printing paper 11. When one line of printing is completed, the sprocket pins 12a, 12b, etc. are driven to start a new line.
Print paper 11 is transported in the direction of arrow A by a predetermined feed amount. The print head 21 continues printing while moving in the direction of arrow C.

However, this ink ribbon cassette 20 can hold the ink ribbon 2 regardless of whether it is used or stored unused.
Since the ink ribbon 0a is always pressed against the belt 5 by the pinch roller 6, if the ink ribbon 20a is left unused for a long period of time, the ink ribbon 20a will be attracted to the pinch roller 6 at the pressing point, causing a winding failure at the beginning of use. There is a drawback that there is.

(d) Purpose of the invention The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and is to provide an ink ribbon cassette that can prevent the ink ribbon from being rolled up incorrectly at the beginning of use.

(e) Structure of the invention The present invention maintains the pinch roller in a state separated from the drive member by inserting the pinch roller into an oval hole formed in the bearing portion of the frame so that the pinch roller can move. This ink ribbon cassette is characterized in that it is equipped with a tongue piece member that can be used for printing.

(f) Example of the invention The following is an example of the invention in Figures 3 to 5.
This will be explained with reference to the figures. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the tag of FIG. 3. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures. Third
In the figure, a tongue piece member (hereinafter referred to as a tag) 8 is an oval hole 1
It is shown inserted from point a and held between the frame 1 and the end of the shaft 6a of the pinch roller 6. At this time, the tag 8 restricts the movement of the shaft 6a in the direction of the arrow E, and the shaft 6a is separated from the pulley 4 by a gap a. As shown in FIG. 5, the tag 8 has a racket shape with a tongue portion 8a at its tip, and is made of, for example, stiff cardboard.

With this configuration, when storing the ink ribbon cassette 20 unused, inserting the tag 8 in the state shown in FIG. 4 allows the ink ribbon 20a and the pinch roller 6 to be stored without contacting each other. be able to.

When using the ink ribbon cassette 20, the tag 8 can be removed and attached to the printer.

In this way, the pinch roller 6 can be separated from the ink ribbon 20a to prevent the ink ribbon from being attracted.

Further, even when the ink ribbon cassette 20 is not used for a long period of time, the same effect can be obtained by inserting the tag 8.

In the above example, the tag 8 made of cardboard is inserted between the frame 1 and the end of the shaft 6a, but it goes without saying that other members may be used.

(g) Effect of the invention As explained above, according to the invention, when an ink ribbon cassette is stored unused, the tag is inserted between the frame and the end of the shaft of the pinch roller to prevent the ink ribbon and the pinch roller from attracting each other. This has the effect that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a winding failure at the beginning of use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a wire dot printer to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a plan view explaining a conventional method, FIG. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the tag of FIG. 3. In the figure, 1 is a frame, 2a, 2b are ribbon guides, 3, 4 are pulleys, 5 is a belt, 6 is a pinch roller, 7 is a presser spring, 8 is a tag, 8
a is a tongue piece, 20 is an ink ribbon cassette, 20
a indicates an ink ribbon.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] An endless ribbon is housed in a cassette having ribbon guides at both ends of the frame, and the ink ribbon is held between a pinch roller biased by a spring and the pinch roller. The ink ribbon cassette has a driving member that rotates with the cassette, guides the ink ribbon exposed outside the cassette between the ribbon guides, and drives the driving member to wind the ink ribbon into the cassette. and a tongue piece member capable of maintaining the pinch roller in a state separated from the drive member by inserting it into an oval hole formed in the bearing portion of the pinch roller of the frame so that the pinch roller can move. An ink ribbon cassette characterized by comprising: