JPH03264387A - Ink ribbon feed mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a multi-strike ink ribbon to be rewound to eliminate the need for reversing an ink ribbon cartridge directly by an operator by providing a pinch roller feeding the multi-strike ink ribbon reversely and a drive change- over means changing over the transmission of a rotating force to a capstan roller for driving said pinch roller. CONSTITUTION:A pulley 2b is rotated by a drive motor 8 to move a carriage 9. A pinch roller (R) 5 on the carriage 9 is abutted against a capstan roller (R) 4. Thereafter, a solenoid 3 is excited to actuate an arm 15, whereby a pulley gear 2a is disengaged from a detent part 2e of a gear stopper 2c, and the transmission of a rotating device force to the pulley 2b is interrupted. On the other hand, simultaneously, the pulley gear 2a rotates in engagement with a capstan gear 4a. After a predetermined amount of a multi-strike ink ribbon 11 contained in a ribbon cartridge 10 is taken up in a reverse direction through the pinch roller (R) 5, a drive motor 8 is brought to a stop.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon feed mechanism for a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to an ink ribbon feed mechanism for rewinding a multi-strike ink ribbon.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of ink ribbon feed mechanism, when using a multi-strike ink ribbon that can print on the same area several times by applying heat-melting ink to a film made of polyester resin, etc., the ink After printing on one side of the ribbon, the ribbon cartridge is used by inverting it, so printing is performed by repeating the inversion operation until the ink ribbon reaches its usage limit.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional ink ribbon feed mechanism described above is only equipped with a mechanism to feed the ink ribbon in the forward direction, so the operator has to repeatedly reverse the ribbon cartridge directly until the ink ribbon reaches its usage limit, resulting in poor operability. There is a drawback.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention is provided with a ribbon cartridge that accommodates a multi-strike ink ribbon, an ink ribbon feeding mechanism for forwarding the multi-strike ink ribbon, and a thermal head for printing, parallel to the platen. Ink for a thermal transfer serial printer that prints on printing paper wrapped around the platen, comprising a carrier that can slide on the carrier, and a pulley that is attached to an endless belt that connects the carrier and is driven by a drive motor. In the ribbon feed mechanism, the carrier has a pinch roller that feeds the multi-strike ink ribbon in a reverse direction, a capstan roller that drives the pinch roller provided near the carrier, the pulley and the capstan. The present invention is characterized by comprising a drive switching means for switching transmission of the rotational force of the drive motor to the roller.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the ink ribbon feed mechanism of the present invention.

2(a) and 2(b) are side views showing the operating path from the drive motor 8 to the capstan roller (R) 4 in FIG. 1, respectively. Figure 1.

In FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the ink ribbon feed mechanism of the present invention includes a pulley gear assembly 1. Pulley gear 2a, pulley 2b, gear stopper 2c, pulley spring 2d, solenoid 3. Capstan roller (R)4. Capstan gear 4a, pinch roller (R
)5. Capstan roller (L)6. Pinch roller (L
) 7° drive motor 8. Carriage 9. Ribbon cartridge IO multi-strike ink ribbon If, thermal head 12. Platen 13. It consists of a side frame 14° arm 15 and a fulcrum @16, and a ribbon cartridge 1 that stores a multi-strike ink ribbon 11.
Thermal head 1 is on the carry Fuji 9 that can attach 0.
A capstan roller (L) 6 and a pinch roller (L) 7 are attached to one end of 2, and a pinch roller (L) 7 is attached to the other end.
R) 5 is attached. Note that, in FIG. 1, the ribbon cartridge 10 is not mounted on the carriage 9 in order to make it easier to understand the structure and arrangement of the carriage section. Carriage 9 pinch roller (
A pulley gear assembly 1 is attached to the side frame 14 of the R>5 example, and the carriage 9 is connected to a drive belt attached to the pulley gear assembly 1 and is driven by a drive motor 8 that engages with the pulley gear assembly 1. and reciprocate in parallel along the platen 13 attached to the left and right side frames 14. This pulley gear assembly 1 consists of a pulley gear 2a, a pulley 2b, a gear stopper 2c, and a pulley spring 2d, and the pulley gear 2a, pulley 2b, and gear stopper 20 are arranged coaxially. The gear stopper 20 has a detent portion 2e shaped like a hat gear at one end in the axial direction, and the other end is fixed in the longitudinal direction on the axis of the pulley 2b. Further, a gear stopper 20 passes through the pulley gear 2a, and the gear stopper 20 is rotatable as a rotating shaft and can also be reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the rotating shaft. The pulley gear 2a is pressed in the direction of the day tent portion 2e by the pulley spring 2d provided on the opposite side.
The side surface of the gear stopper 2C is engaged with the detent portion 2e of the gear stopper 2C. This pulley gear 2a is engaged with a drive motor 8 having a drive gear, and a capstan gear 4a that is directly connected to a capstan roller (R) 4 attached to the pinch roller (R) 5 side of the side frame 14. However, the capstan gear 4a is engaged by the axial movement of the pulley gear 2a.
or arranged to separate. Further, near the pulley gear 2a, there is a fulcrum If! which is driven by the solenoid 3 and operates. 16 in the center is arranged, and one end of this arm 15 is in contact with the side surface of the pulley gear 2a on the detent section 2e side. Then, by energizing the solenoid 3, the arm 15 is connected to the pulley gear 2.
The structure is such that the stopper 2C is disengaged from the detent portion 2e by moving the stopper 2C.

Next, the operation of the ink ribbon feed mechanism of the present invention will be explained. When rewinding the ink ribbon, the pulley 2b is rotated by the drive motor 8 from the initial state shown in FIG. 2(a) to move the carriage 9 in the direction of the arrow, and the capstan is moved as shown in FIG. 2(b). roller(
After abutting the pinch roller (R>5 on the carriage 9) against R>4, the solenoid 3 is energized to operate the arm 15 to release the engagement between the pulley gear 2a and the daytent portion 2e of the gear stopper 2C, Transmission of the rotational driving force to the pulley 2b is cut off.At the same time, the pulley gear 2a engages with the capstan gear 4a and rotates.
After the multi-strike ink ribbon 11 housed in the ribbon cartridge 10 is wound up in the opposite direction to a preset amount via the pinch roller (R) 5, the drive motor 8 is stopped. At the same time, the excitation of the solenoid 3 is released, the pulley gear 2a is pushed down by the pulley spring 2d, the engagement between the pulley gear 2a and the capstan gear 4a is released, and the transmission of rotational force is cut off. It engages with the daytent part 2e of the gear stopper 20, transmits rotational force to the pulley 2b, returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 2(a), and the thermal head 12 mounted on the carriage 9 prints on the recording paper. At the same time, the multi-strike ink ribbon 11 is wound in the forward direction by a capstan roller (L>6) and a pinch roller (L)7.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the ink ribbon feed mechanism of the present invention, there is a pinch roller that feeds the multi-strike ink ribbon in the opposite direction, a capstan roller that drives the pinch roller, and rotation of these pinch rollers and the capstan roller. By providing a drive switching means for switching force transmission, it becomes possible to rewind a multi-strike ink ribbon, and there is an effect that the operator does not need to directly reverse the ribbon cartridge.

Roller (R), 6... Capstan roller (L), 7
... Pinch roller (L), 8... Drive motor, 9.
... Carriage, 10 ... Ribbon cartridge, 11
...Multi-strike ink ribbon, 12... Thermal head, 13... Platen, 14... Side frame, 15... Arm, 16... Fulcrum shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A ribbon cartridge that stores a multi-strike ink ribbon is installed, and it has an ink ribbon feeding mechanism that sends the multi-strike ink ribbon in a forward direction and a thermal head for printing, and can slide in parallel to the platen. An ink ribbon of a thermal transfer type serial printer that prints on printing paper wrapped around the platen, comprising a carrier, and a pulley that is attached with an endless belt connected to the carrier and driven by a drive motor.
In the feed mechanism, the carrier has a pinch roller that sends the multi-strike ink ribbon in a reverse direction, a capstan roller that is provided near the carrier and drives the pinch roller, and the pulley and the capstan roller. and drive switching means for switching the transmission of the rotational force of the drive motor.