JPH04133786A - Ink ribbon cassette attachment device and ink ribbon cassette therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable switching action in a short time without fouling a finger or a recording medium by binding two ink ribbon cassettes placed over the other, supporting these bound cassette in a freely rocking manner and positioning the cassettes to a specified spot so that an ink ribbon comes to a position to meet a printing head. CONSTITUTION:The first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 are bound in one separable piece by a cassette binding part consisting of the first hook part 4a of the first cassette, the first protruding part 7d of the second cassette, the second hook part 4b of the first cassette, the second protruding part 7e of the second cassette, the first protruding part 4c of the first cassette, the first hook part 7f of the second cassette, the second protruding part 4d of the first cassette and the second hook part 7g of the second cassette. Only cassette where a tired ink ribbon is loaded can be replaced as the first cassette 4 can be separated from the second cassette 7 so that the cost of consumables is minimized. The first 4 and the second cassette 7 formed in one piece can be supported on a carriage in freely rocking manner by a right 7a and a left rocking shaft 7b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement in the operability of an ink ribbon for a printer, particularly an ink ribbon loaded in a cassette.

[Conventional technology]

Fabric ribbons have a long lifespan and low consumables costs, but have the drawbacks that pixel shapes are unclear and print density decreases as the number of printed characters increases. On the other hand, film ribbons have good printing quality but are expensive for consumables. Therefore, in the past, the ink ribbon was changed depending on the purpose of use.

Furthermore, conventional color ink ribbons have four colors (black, yellow, red, and blue), and their widths are uniform.

However, since black color is overwhelmingly used, only black color is consumed, resulting in high consumables costs. For this reason, users usually use a black ribbon, switch to the color ribbon only when printing in color, perform color printing, and then switch back to the black ribbon once this is completed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In order to change the ink ribbon, the user must open the printer's exterior and remove the cassette in which the ink ribbon is loaded. To attach the cassette, it is necessary to insert the ink ribbon into a small gap between the print head and the platen, and to mechanically connect the cassette and the drive source for transmitting driving force. The operation of changing the ink ribbon as described above is not easy for the user, and it takes a considerable amount of time to change the ink ribbon. Furthermore, there is also the disadvantage that fingers get dirty when changing the hook, and this dirt adheres to the recording medium.

Moreover, if two types of ink ribbons are installed in a printer and driven simultaneously, the ink ribbons that are used less often, such as film ribbons, will be unnecessarily worn out or damaged. Not only that, but the energy for driving the ink ribbon is also wasted.

[Means and actions to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, two ink ribbon cassettes are stacked and combined, the combined cassette (hereinafter referred to as a combined cassette) is supported swingably, and the combined cassette is positioned at a predetermined position so that the ink ribbon corresponds to the print head. At this time, the ink ribbon driving force transmission path is switched in conjunction with the coupling cassette swinging operation.

Two types of ink ribbons are always installed in this device, and the desired ink ribbon is switched by an instruction from an operation panel. Then, in conjunction with the selection of a desired ink ribbon, the ink ribbon driving force transmission path is switched to drive only the desired ink ribbon.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail.

In Figure 1, (A) is a plan view, (B) is a front view, (
q is a side view.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a print head, which works together with the platen 2 to display characters, symbols, tables, etc. on the recording medium 5. Reference numeral 3 designates a first ink ribbon, which is loaded into the first cassette 4, driven by the ink ribbon drive section 4e of the first cassette, and moves counterclockwise.

A second ink ribbon 6 is loaded into the second cassette 7, and is driven by an ink ribbon drive section 7h of the second cassette to move clockwise.

The first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 have a first hook portion 4a of the J-th cassette and a first projection portion 7 of the second cassette.
d1 The second hook portion 4b of the first cassette, the second protrusion 7e of the second cassette, and the first protrusion 4C of the first cassette
and the first hook portion 7f of the second cassette, the second projection portion 4d of the first cassette, and the second hook portion 7g of the second cassette.
They are releasably coupled together by a cassette coupling section consisting of. Since the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 are separable, only the cassette loaded with the worn-out ink ribbon can be replaced, thereby minimizing the cost of consumables.

The integrated first cassette 4 and second cassette 7 are
A cam 410 attached to a pulse motor shaft 69 of a pulse motor 67 is rotated by a carriage 65 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) supported by a right swing shaft 7a and a left swing shaft 7b so as to be swingable. It is swayed by.

Next, the ink ribbon driving force transmission path will be explained using FIG. 2.

The driving force transmission switching means linked to the rocking of the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 includes a switching piece 7c at the bottom of the second cassette 7, a switching gear 25, and a switching lever 2.
7.

65 is a carriage on which the print head 1, the first cassette 4, the second cassette 7, an ink ribbon driving force transmission means, and an ink ribbon switching means are mounted. The driving belt 36 is tensioned and suspended by a frame body (not shown).
As the carriage 35 moves, the drive pulley 31 rotatably supported by the carriage 65 is rotated. The main drive gear 29 is fixed to the main drive pulley 61. The switching lever 27 is rotatably supported coaxially with the driving gear 29 and the driving pulley 61, and rotatably supports the switching gear 25. The rotation of the switching lever 270 is caused by the rotation of the first gear 15 rotatably supported by the carriage 65.
and is regulated by the second gear 26. The switching gear 25 is biased into engagement with the first gear 15 by a torsion coil spring (not shown) when there is no cassette.

Further, the switching gear 25 is provided with a hole in its center, into which a switching piece 7c provided on the bottom surface of the second cassette 7 engages. Then, as the 20th cassette 7 swings, the switching piece 7c moves the switching gear 25, and the switching gear 25 is moved to the first gear 15 or the second gear.
The gear 23 is engaged with the gear 23.

On the other hand, the aforementioned driving belt 66 and driving pulley 61 work together to serve as an ink ribbon driving source.

That is, the main drive gear 29 rotates together with the main drive pulley 31 and transmits its rotational force to the switching gear 25. Furthermore, by transmitting the rotational force to the first gear 15 or the second gear 23, either gear is driven.

The first driving force transmission means is composed of a first gear 15, a first driving belt 16, a first driving pulley 11, a first cassette driving bin 9, and an ink ribbon driving section 4e of the first cassette. The first drive belt 16 transmits the driving force of the first gear 15 to the first drive pulley 11 and rotates the first cassette drive bin 9. The first cassette drive bin 9 is
It is engaged with the ink ribbon drive section 4e of the cassette, and the first
The ink ribbon 6 is moved counterclockwise.

The second driving force transmitting means is composed of a second gear 23, a second driving belt 21, a second driving pulley 19, a second cassette driving bin 17, and an ink ribbon driving section 7h of the second cassette. The second drive belt 21 transmits the driving force of the second gear 26 to the second drive pulley 19 and rotates the second cassette drive bin 17. The second cassette drive bin 17 is
It engages with the ink ribbon drive section 7h of the second cassette and moves the second ink ribbon 6 clockwise.

3 and 4, the means for positioning the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 will be explained.

The cassette positioning means is a pulse motor 37 and a cam 41.
Consists of. The cam 41 is in contact with the bottom surface of the second cassette 7, and the weight of the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 is applied to the cam 41.
9 and is rotated by a pulse motor 67. The pulse motor 67 is fixed to the carriage 65.

When the pulse motor 37 rotates in response to an instruction to switch the ink ribbon, the cam 41 rotates and the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 swing.

Then, the ink ribbon cassette to be used is positioned at a predetermined position corresponding to the print head 1 (FIG. 1).

If necessary, a spring is provided between the second cassette 7 and the carriage 650, and the bottom surface of the second cassette 7 is forcibly pressed against the cam 41 by the spring force to move the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7. You can speed up the .

Normally, the first cassette 4 is selected, a fabric ink ribbon is used, and printing is performed with low consumable costs in high-speed printing mode. switching gear 25
(FIG. 2), the switching piece 7c provided at the bottom of the second cassette 7 engages with the first gear 15, and the first cassette drive bin is connected via the first drive belt 16 and first drive pulley 11. Rotate 9. The first cassette drive bin 9 is
The ink ribbon drive unit 4e of the cassette is rotated, and the first
move the ink ribbon 3 counterclockwise.

When high-density printing mode 1-' is set, pulse motor 3
7 rotates the cam 41, the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 7 swing about the right swing shaft 7a and the left swing shaft 7b, and the second cassette 7 is selected. Due to the rocking of the second cassette 7 at this time, the switching piece 7C provided at the bottom of the second cassette 7 moves the switching gear 25 and engages with the second gear 23, thereby causing the second drive belt 21 and the second cassette 7 to move. The second cassette drive bin 17 is rotated via the second drive pulley 19. The second cassette drive pin 17 rotates the ink ribbon drive section 7h of the second cassette and moves the second ink ribbon 6 clockwise.

At the same time, the engagement between the switching gear 25 and the first gear 15 is released, thereby preventing unnecessary movement of the first ink ribbon B.

When high-speed printing mode is set again, the pulse motor
67 rotates the cam 41, causing the first cassette 4 and the second cassette 4 to rotate.
cassette 7 is swung, and the first cassette 4 is selected. The switching gear 25 engages with the first gear 15 through the switching piece 7c, and the ink ribbon drive section 4e of the first cassette.
Rotate.

At the same time, the engagement with the second gear 26 is released.

As another example, the first cassette is loaded with a black ink ribbon, and the 20th cassette is loaded with ink ribbons of three colors, yellow, red, and blue.Usually, the black ribbon in the first cassette is used to specify the color. Select the second cassette only when . The width of the black ribbon and the color ribbon are the same to meet the demand for the frequently used black ribbon.

In this embodiment, in order to simplify the components, the cassette coupling portion and the switching piece for switching the driving force transmission path are provided in the ink ribbon cassette, but they may be provided as components of the apparatus itself.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention combines two ink ribbon cassettes in an overlapping manner, supports the combined cassette in a swingable manner, and positions the combined cassette at a predetermined position to align the ink ribbon with the print head. Since the printer is configured to be positioned in the printer, two types of ink ribbons can be installed in the printer at any time, and the desired ink ribbon can be switched by an instruction from the operation panel. As a result, the ink ribbon can be used without staining fingers or recording media.
Can be switched in a short time.

In addition, since it is equipped with a driving force transmission switching means that switches the ink ribbon driving force transmission path in conjunction with the swinging of the first and second cassettes, it is possible to drive only the desired ink ribbon, and it is possible to drive only the desired ink ribbon. The ink ribbon is not driven, minimizing the cost of consumables.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, mainly showing a cassette, (Al is a plan view, 1 is a front view, and (Q is a side view). Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. 3 mainly shows the ink ribbon driving force transmission means (N is a plan view, (B) is a front view. FIG. 3 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, mainly showing the cassette positioning means. Fig. 4 is a side view showing the cassette positioning means of the embodiment of the present invention. 1...Print head, 6...First ink ribbon, 4... ...First cassette, 6...Second ink ribbon, 7...Second cassette, 7c...Switching piece, 9...・First cassette drive bin, 11...
・First drive pulley 16...First drive belt ・15...First gear, 17...Second cassette drive bin, 19...
...Second drive pulley 21...Second drive belt, 26...Second gear, 25...Switching gear, 27...Switching lever 29... ...Driver gear, 61...Driver pulley 66...Driver belt, cam. Figure 2 (A) Figure 1 (B) Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A cassette attachment device in a printer that prints by printing an ink ribbon loaded in a cassette with a print head, comprising: a cassette coupling section for stacking and coupling two cassettes; a cassette support part that swingably supports two cassettes (hereinafter referred to as combined cassettes); cassette positioning means for positioning the ink ribbon at a predetermined position; driving force transmission switching means for switching the transmission of the driving force for driving the ink ribbon to the other cassette in conjunction with the swinging operation of the combined cassette;
An ink ribbon cassette mounting device comprising: (2) The ink ribbon cassette attachment device according to claim 1, wherein the cassette coupling portion is provided on the cassette. (3) The ink ribbon cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the driving force transmission switching means comprises: a switching piece provided on the cassette; and a gear engaged with the switching piece and supported in a swingable manner. Set mounting device. (4) the cassette coupling portion according to claim 1; The switching piece according to claim 3; An ink ribbon cassette characterized by having.