JPH0410067Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette that replenishes ink to the ink ribbon in a wire dot printer to extend the life of the ink ribbon.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional ink ribbon cassette will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is a side view. An ink ribbon 5 is supplied between the head 3 and a corresponding platen 4.

The ink ribbon 5 normally runs on one plane as indicated by W in FIG. 3 so as to supply ink only to the portions corresponding to the print head 3 and platen 4.

On the other hand, the printing head 3 has a thin tip called a nose corresponding to the platen 4, and has a cylindrical shape except for the tip. Therefore, as shown by L in FIG. 3, the print head 3 and the ink ribbon cassette 1
Usually, there is a space between the printer and the printer, and this space is a dead space where nothing is mounted, resulting in poor mounting efficiency for the printer.

In addition, the life of an ink ribbon is mainly determined by the amount of ink that is impregnated into the ink ribbon.
The lifespan of the ink ribbon base fabric itself is much longer than this. Therefore, various methods of replenishing ink have been proposed with the aim of extending the life of the ink ribbon. For example, an ink roll or an ink tank is built into the ink ribbon storage section of the ink ribbon cassette case, and this is used to replenish the ink. It is supplied to the ribbon base fabric,
When such an ink supply body is added and expanded in the ink ribbon cassette, the shape of the ink ribbon cassette increases, and the dead space L shown in FIG. 3 described above increases, which further deteriorates the mounting efficiency. There was a problem that hindered the miniaturization and weight reduction of equipment.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, an ink replenisher integral with an ink ribbon cassette case is formed protruding above or below an ink ribbon storage part, an ink impregnated body made of a porous material or a fiber material is housed in this ink replenisher, and the ink replenisher is housed in the ink refill body. An ink replenishment part connected to the impregnated body and through which the ink impregnated in the ink impregnation body permeates is made to protrude into the ink ribbon storage part, and the side of this ink replenishment part that protrudes into the ink ribbon storage part is provided in the ink ribbon cassette case. The configuration is such that ink is supplied to the ink ribbon by bringing it into contact with a roller or gear that circulates the ink ribbon.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, the replenishment ink impregnated in the ink impregnation body housed in the ink refill body that is integrally formed with the ink ribbon cassette case and protruding above or below the ink ribbon storage portion is transferred to the ink ribbon. The ink permeates into the ink replenishing part protruding into the storage section, is supplied to a roller or gear that circulates the ink ribbon provided in the ink ribbon cassette case, and is transferred onto the ink ribbon.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink ribbon cassette. In the figure, 6 is an ink ribbon cassette case, and 7 is an endless ink ribbon, a part of which is exposed from a thin tip 8 formed on the ink ribbon cassette case 6. Most of them are housed in the ink ribbon cassette case 6.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a drive roller rotatably provided in the ink ribbon cassette case 6, and 10 a driven roller that is in pressure contact with the drive roller 9. The ink ribbon is held between the drive roller 9 and the driven roller 10. ing. The driven roller 10 is supported by a movable support member 11, and is pressed toward the drive roller 9 by a spring 12. The drive roller 9 receives power from the space movement of the carriage and rotates in the direction of the arrow.

13 is an ink ribbon storage section formed in the ink ribbon cassette case 6, 14 is an ink ribbon guide section, and the endless ink ribbon 7 is drawn into the ink ribbon storage section 13 by the rotation of the drive roller 9 and folded. Stored in a folded state. The ink ribbon 7 pulled out from the ink ribbon storage section 13 passes through the ink ribbon guide section 14, exits at the tip end 8, and then passes through the ink ribbon guide section 14 again between the driving roller 9 and the driven roller 10. Return to

Reference numeral 15 designates an ink replenisher that also serves as a lid for the ink ribbon cassette case 6, and has a plurality of locking pins 16 protruding from the ink replenisher.
The ink replenisher 15 is fixed by fitting into the hole 71 bored in the hole 71 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 1 in FIG. Ink impregnated body 19
The protruding body 21 of the ink-impregnated body 19 is housed in the protruding part 20 formed in the hollow part 18, and the ink replenishing part 22 abuts on this protruding body 21. It protrudes from the body 21 and contacts the drive roller 10. As a result, the ink impregnated in the ink-impregnated body 19 permeates into the ink replenishing part 22 from the protruding body 21, is supplied to the driven roller 10, and is further transferred to the ink ribbon 7.

Note that since the protruding portion 20 of the hollow portion 18 is processed integrally with the ink replenisher 15, the driven roller 10
There is no deformation of the hollow portion 18 due to the lateral pressure. Therefore, even if the relative position between the ink replenishing section 22 and the driven roller 10 deviates due to a manufacturing error, only the amount of curvature of the ink replenishing section 22 changes, the lateral pressure remains uniform, and the amount of replenishing ink does not change.

According to the embodiment with the above configuration, the ink replenisher 1
The ink in the ink-impregnated body 19 contained in the hollow part 18 of 5 is supplied from the ink replenishing part 22 to the driven roller 10,
Ink can be transferred and supplied to the ink ribbon 7 which is being moved while being sandwiched between the two.

5 and 6 show a second embodiment, 6
7 is an ink ribbon cassette case, and 7 is an endless ink ribbon, which is the same as in the above embodiment.
Differences from the above embodiment will be explained below. 23
is a roll-shaped ink-impregnated body made of a porous material such as a sponge or a fiber material such as felt, and is rotatably mounted in the hollow portion 18 of the ink replenisher 15. 24 is also a roll-shaped ink replenishment part made of the same material as above but with a small porosity, and is also rotatably mounted and in contact with the ink impregnated body 23. protrudes into the ink ribbon cassette case 6 from the lower surface of the ink replenisher 15, and the ink replenisher 24 is brought into contact with the driven gear 10. This driven gear 10 comes into contact with the drive gear 9 and circulates the ink ribbon 7 therebetween.

According to the configuration of the above embodiment, the driven gear 10 is rotated by the rotation of the drive gear 9 and feeds the ink ribbon 7 sandwiched between both gears. rotate,
This causes the ink-impregnated body 23 to rotate. As a result, the ink impregnated in the ink-impregnated body 23 permeates into the ink replenishing portion 24 due to mutual rotation. The porosity of the ink-impregnated body 23 and the ink replenishing part 24 is determined so that the amount of ink that permeates at this time is equal to the amount of ink supplied by the ink replenishing part 24 to the ink ribbon 7. An appropriate amount of ink is transferred and supplied to the ink ribbon 7.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the third embodiment, in which the ink-impregnated body 25 is placed in the ink ribbon cassette case 6.
In this embodiment, the bottom of the ink ribbon cassette case 6 can be cut off and used as a lid 26.
Since the ink replenishing part 27 and the driven gear 10 are assembled inside the ink ribbon cassette case 6 by having the same structure as the first embodiment and using the bottom as a lid, the positional relationship between the two can be determined correctly. Become.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the ink-impregnated body 19 and the protruding body 21 that constitute the ink replenisher 15. When the ink-impregnated body 19 and the protruding body 21 are made of a fiber material such as felt, the fiber direction of the former is horizontal. The latter direction is preferably vertical, and the orientation and density of the fibers may be selected depending on the quality, clay, amount, etc. of the ink.

Furthermore, when the ink-impregnated body 19, the protrusions 21, and the ink replenisher 22 are formed of porous materials, the porosity of the ink-impregnated body>protrusions>ink replenisher is often satisfied. It is possible to hold the ink, make the protruding body 21 ooze out and hold a certain amount of ink, and transfer an appropriate amount of ink from the ink replenishing part 22 to the driven roller 10.

[Effect of idea]

As described above in detail, the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention has an ink replenisher integrally formed with the ink cassette case above or below the ink ribbon housing section, which has conventionally been a dead space, and is provided with an ink replenisher for refilling. An ink-impregnated body impregnated with ink is stored therein, and the ink can be transferred to the ink ribbon by a roller or gear that circulates the ink ribbon.

Therefore, since the replenishment ink is stored in a space that has not been previously installed, it has the effect of increasing the mounting efficiency of the ink ribbon cassette in the printer, and it also has the effect of increasing the mounting efficiency of the ink ribbon cassette in the printer. Since the ink replenisher can be enlarged to accommodate a large capacity ink-impregnated body, the ink ribbon has the effect of extending its life.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the conventional example, FIG. 3 is a side view of the same, FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of the second embodiment, Figure 6 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the main part, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the third embodiment, and Figure 8 is an ink-impregnated body, protrusion, and ink replenishment. It is a sectional view showing the state of the part. 6... Ink ribbon cassette case, 7... Ink ribbon, 9... Drive roller, 10... Driven roller, 15... Ink replenisher, 18... Hollow part,
19... Ink-impregnated body, 22... Ink replenishment part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An ink replenisher integrated with the ink ribbon cassette case is formed protruding above or below the ink ribbon storage part, and an ink impregnated body made of a porous material or a fiber material is housed in the ink replenisher and is connected to the ink impregnation body. Then, an ink replenishment part through which the ink impregnated in the ink-impregnated body permeates is protruded into the ink ribbon storage part, and the side of the ink replenishment part that protrudes into the ink ribbon storage part is used to circulate the ink ribbon provided in the ink ribbon cassette case. An ink ribbon cassette, characterized in that the ink ribbon cassette is adapted to supply ink to the ink ribbon by contacting with a roller or a gear.