JPH03266682A - Ink ribbon feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce weight and make possible a high-speed data printing by providing a planetary gear which branches a power of a dedicated motor for selecting between printing colors of ink ribbon to an ink ribbon switching mechanism and a clutch mechanism for interrupting the feed action of an ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:If a color motor 32 rotates clockwise, a color idle gear 30 becomes engaged with a cam follower gear 33 to actuate an ink ribbon print color switching mechanism. If the color motor rotates counter-clockwise, the color idle gear 30 becomes disengaged from the cam follower gear 33 to engage with an MS gear 27. An MS pulley 26 draws in a tension bar 22 by the rotary force of the MS gear 27 to cause an idle plate 24 and a clutch gear 19 to rotate centered around the center of a feed gear 18 as a rotating center. Subsequently, a torque piece gear 20 is separated to stop the feed action of an ink ribbon. If the color motor 32 rotates clockwise, the clutch gear 19 is engaged with the torque piece gear 20 by the force of a bias spring 25 to restart the feed action of an ink ribbon.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon feeding device for a printer device having a function of switching the color of an ink ribbon, and in particular, an ink ribbon feeding device having a clutch mechanism for switching the color of an ink ribbon. This invention relates to an ink ribbon feeding device for a serial printer, which receives power from a dedicated motor and can freely intermittent the feeding operation of the ink ribbon.

[Conventional technology]

The ink ribbon feed device in a conventional serial printer device always operates to follow the lateral feeding operation of the carrier, and also performs the ink ribbon feeding operation even when the carrier is not being fed.

In addition, a large stepping motor is used, and the ink ribbon printing color switching operation and ribbon feeding operation are alternately operated by a one-way clutch that drives shaft rotation in only one direction.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, the ink ribbon feed device of conventional serial printers is configured to always work in conjunction with the carrier's traverse feed mechanism via gears, so even when there is space movement without printing or when the carrier is empty-feeding. This method has the disadvantage that the ink ribbon is wasted due to the ink ribbon feeding operation.

In addition, since the feeding operation of the ink ribbon and the operation of switching the printing color of the ink ribbon are operated alternately by one motor,
This method also has the disadvantage that the motor becomes large and the cost increases, and furthermore, the weight of the carrier increases, making it unsuitable for high-speed printing.

[Means to solve the problem]

The ink ribbon feeding device of the present invention includes a rack that transmits power from a transverse feed mechanism of a carrier, a corresponding drive gear, and a planetarium gear, and has a rack that transmits power from a transverse feed mechanism of a carrier, a corresponding drive gear, and a planetarium gear. It is equipped with a planetarium gear that branches into an ink ribbon switching mechanism section and a clutch mechanism section for intermittent feeding operation of the ink ribbon.

That is, the ink ribbon feed device of the present invention is an ink ribbon feed device for a serial printer that receives power from a carrier traverse feed device to feed the ink ribbon, and has a color motor, and when the color motor rotates clockwise. A collar idle gear and a cam follower gear that operate, and a clutch gear and a torque piece gear that engage with each other by the force of a bias spring, and a collar motor gear, a collar clutch gear, and a collar idle plate that operate when the collar motor rotates counterclockwise. MS gear and MS that mesh through
It includes a pulley, a tension bar that is retracted by the MS pulley, and an idle plate and a clutch gear that are separated from the torque piece gear by movement of the tension bar.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the rotation of the stepping motor 6 is transmitted to the carrier 11 via the timing belt 8 stretched between the motor pulley 7a and the drive pulley 7b, and the carrier 11 is fed laterally along the platen 3. It has become.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a ribbon feeding device housed inside the carrier-receiving BonPace of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

In FIG. 1, the power from the carrier transverse feed mechanism is transmitted through a rack 13 and a corresponding drive gear 14 to a coaxial drive gear 15 and a planetary gear 16a.
and is transmitted to feed gear 18 or drive gear 15, planetary gear 16b, idle gear 17 and feed gear 18, and further transmitted to clutch gear 19, torque piece gear 20 and torque piece 21, and finally feeds the ink ribbon. . In this transmission process, when the collar motor 32 rotates clockwise, the collar idle gear 30 and the cam flow gear 33
The ink ribbon print color switching mechanism operates when the two are engaged. When rotating counterclockwise, color motor gear 3
1, the color clutch gear 29, and the color idle gear 30 connected by the color idle plate 28.
This rotational force causes the MS pulley 26 to pull in the tension bar 22, which rotates the idle plate 24 and clutch gear 19 around the center of the feed gear 18, separating it from the torque piece gear 20 and feeding the ink ribbon. Stop the operation. When the color motor 32 is rotated clockwise, the clutch gear 19 and the torque piece gear 20 are engaged with each other by the force of the bias spring 25, and the ink ribbon feeding operation is restarted.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the operation of the carrier and the feeding operation of the ink ribbon in the embodiment shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the carrier stops the ink ribbon feeding operation at a stop point P1 of the ink ribbon feeding operation after printing is completed, and moves by performing a non-printing space operation at high speed. Reduce return movement speed for a certain period of time to earn points
Step 2 rotates the collar motor and operates the clutch gear. Further, at point P3, the ink ribbon feeding operation is started, and at point P4, the carrier accelerates toward constant speed operation. At point P5, the carrier becomes constant speed and resumes printing operation. At this time, the ink ribbon is fed at a constant speed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the ink ribbon feed device of the present invention transmits power from the carrier traverse feed mechanism to the ink ribbon feed device via gears, and disconnects the clutch gear from the torque piece or engages it by rotation of the color motor. When the speed of the carrier becomes low, the color motor is reversed from counterclockwise rotation to clockwise rotation to engage the clutch gear and torque piece gear. By transmitting the power of the carrier cross-feeding mechanism to the torque piece to feed the ink ribbon, it is possible to achieve a smooth ribbon feeding operation without ribbon breakage, and the clutch mechanism that intermittents the feeding operation eliminates waste. This has the effect of reducing running costs by feeding the ink ribbon. In addition, since the motor for ink ribbon feeding is not mounted on the carrier, the ink ribbon feeding device for serial printers can be reduced in weight, capable of high-speed printing, and low in cost, as well as being highly reliable. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing details of the ribbon feed section inside the carrier of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a characteristic diagram showing operation. 3...Platen, 6...Stepping motor, 7a
...Motor pulley, 7b...Drive pulley, 8.
...Timing belt, 11...Carrier, 13...
・Rack, 14/15... Drive gear, 16a/1
6b...Bane gear, 17...Idle gear, 18...Feed gear, 19...Clutch gear,
20... Torque piece gear, 21... Torque piece, 22... Tension bar, 24... Idle plate, 25... Bias spring, 26... MS pulley, 27... MS gear, 28 ...Color idle plate, 29...Color clutch gear, 30...
Color idle gear, 31... Color motor gear, 3
2...Collar motor, 33...Cam floor gear.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) It has a rack that transmits power from the cross-feeding mechanism of the carrier, a drive gear and a planetarium gear provided corresponding to the rack, and the power of a dedicated motor for switching the printing color of the ink ribbon is transmitted to the ink ribbon. An ink ribbon feeding device comprising a planetarium gear that branches into a switching mechanism section and a clutch mechanism section for intermittent feeding operation of the ink ribbon. (2) In an ink ribbon feeding device of a serial printer that receives power from a carrier cross-feeding device to feed the ink ribbon, it includes a color motor, a color idle gear and a cam follower that operate when the color motor rotates clockwise. A clutch gear and a torque piece gear that are engaged by the force of a gear and a bias spring, and an MS that is engaged through a collar motor gear, a collar clutch gear, and a collar idle plate that operate when the collar motor rotates counterclockwise. An ink ribbon feeding device comprising a gear, an MS pulley, a tension bar drawn in by the MS pulley, and an idle plate and a clutch gear separated from the torque piece gear by movement of the tension bar.