JPH0415105B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cartridge used in small-sized printers and the like.

[Prior art]

Below, a conventional ink ribbon cartridge will be explained based on the drawings, and its drawbacks will be described.

First, parts will be explained based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a conventional ink ribbon cartridge and its attached state, and FIG. 2 is a side view.

In the figure, 1 is a platen, 2 is a platen shaft rotatably supported via a bearing on a side frame of the printer (not shown), 3 is a pressure roller disposed in rotatable contact with the platen 1;
Reference numeral 4 denotes a printing paper arranged so as to pass from below the platen 1 to above the platen 1 through between the platen 1 and the pressure roller 3.

5 is the print head, 6 is the tip of the print head 5,
Reference numeral 7 designates a cartridge on which the printing head 5 is mounted while maintaining a predetermined gap between its tip 6 and the platen 1, and 8 and 9 designate guide shafts that guide the carriage 7 to move parallel to the platen shaft 2. .

Reference numeral 10 denotes an ink ribbon cartridge, and the ink ribbon cartridge 10 includes a main storage section 10c that stores most of the ink ribbons described later, and an entrance side guide formed at one end of the main storage section 10c so as to face each other. It has a cartridge case consisting of an arm (second guide arm) 10a and an exit side guide arm (first guide arm) 10b. 11 is a ribbon drive pulley; 12 is two ribbon feed rollers, one of which is coaxial with and in contact with the ribbon drive pulley 11; 13 is a ribbon card cartridge 10;
The endless ink ribbon is housed in the main storage section 10c in a tight meandering manner, and is arranged along the ink ribbon running route from the outlet guide arm 10b to the entrance guide arm 10a, and then between the ribbon feed rollers 12 and back to the main storage section 10c. The ink ribbon 14 is a lock lever rotatably provided on both sides of the carriage 7 to mount and fix the ink ribbon cartridge 10 on the carriage 7, and is rotated to fix the ink ribbon cartridge 10 from both sides.

To run the ink ribbon 13 in the ink ribbon cartridge 10 configured as described above, the ribbon drive pulley 11 is driven by a ribbon live mechanism (not shown), and the two ribbon feed rollers 12 are rotated. , ink ribbon 1
3 travels from the main storage section 10c to the exit side guide arm 10b and the entrance side guide arm 10a, and is stored in the main storage section 10c. In addition, the outlet guide arm 10b of the inlet guide arm 10a surrounds the tip 6 of the print head 5 as much as possible to prevent the ink ribbon 13 from being exposed so as not to stain hands with ink when replacing the ink ribbon cartridge 10. It is best to have a shape that minimizes the amount of noise as much as possible.

The ink ribbon cartridge 10 has an inlet guide arm 10a, an outlet guide arm 10b, and a main storage section 10c arranged in one plane on the platen 1. This will be done from the top in Figure 2. Therefore, it is not possible to arrange the printer components above the carriage 7, and conventionally guide shafts 8 and 9 have been arranged below the carriage 7 as shown in the figure.

Furthermore, due to the functionality of the printer, it is necessary to support the printer so that there is a gap between the tip 6 of the print head 5 and the platen 1, and the center of the platen 1 and the center of the print head 5 move parallel to each other without shifting. It is desirable that the guide shafts 8, 9 and the tip 6 of the print head 5 form a triangle as large as possible.

In this way, the carriage 7 is placed under the print head 5.
The configuration in which the guide shafts 8 and 9 are arranged has the following drawbacks.

There are cases where it is required to print on sturdy thick paper as the printer's printing paper, and in this case, if the printing paper is arranged as shown in Figure 2 above, the printing paper is thick. There is a drawback that the paper rises from the surface of the platen 1 and comes into contact with the tip 6 of the print head 5, making it impossible to feed the paper.

To solve this problem, there is a method of feeding the paper from the direction of arrow b shown in FIG.
This method has guide shafts 8 and 9, so
Although not shown, a disadvantage is that it is not possible to arrange a feed roller or a paper guide member necessary for feeding the paper.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention enables an ink ribbon cartridge to be arranged in a direction perpendicular to the corresponding direction of a platen and a print head, thereby enabling efficient implementation, and an ink ribbon cartridge having a simple structure and excellent functionality. The purpose is to realize this.

[Structure of the invention]

Therefore, in the present invention, a first guide arm and a second guide arm are provided at one end of a main storage section that stores an ink ribbon so as to face each other, and the first guide arm and the second guide arm are provided from the main storage section to one end of the main storage section that stores the ink ribbon. In the ink ribbon cartridge having an ink ribbon running route that reaches the main storage section again through the guide arm, the tips of the first guide arm and the second guide arm are respectively approximately parallel to the thickness direction.
bent at 90°, and at the bent part of each guide arm,
The present invention is characterized in that a ribbon bending guide is provided which contacts the ink ribbon to change its traveling direction by approximately 90 degrees and applies tension due to friction to the ink ribbon between both guide arms.

According to such an ink ribbon cartridge, it is possible to arrange the ink ribbon cartridge in a direction perpendicular to the corresponding direction of the platen and the print head, so that it can be efficiently mounted.

Furthermore, the ribbon bending guides provided in the bending portions of the first guide arm and the second guide arm can apply tension to the ink ribbon between the two guide arms and hold it in a state suitable for printing. It has a simple structure and is functionally excellent, and furthermore, it is easy to attach and detach the cartridge case, which consists of the first guide arm, the second guide arm, and the main storage part, because it is only necessary to attach it to the carriage.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, two embodiments of the ink ribbon cartridge according to the present invention, which are characterized by the above-mentioned object and structure, will be explained based on the drawings, and the effects thereof will be described.

First, parts of the first embodiment will be explained based on the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are used for parts with the same names as in the conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the first embodiment of the ink ribbon cartridge according to the present invention, in which 10 is the ink ribbon cartridge, and the inlet side guide arm (the second
The configuration is the same as the conventional one, including the guide arm) 10a, the exit side guide arm (first guide arm) 10b, the main storage section 10c, the ribbon drive pulley 11, the pair of ribbon feed rollers 12, and the ink ribbon 13. However, the ink ribbon cartridge 1 of this embodiment
0 indicates the entrance side guide arm 10a and the exit side guide arm 1.
Bend each tip of 0b approximately 90 degrees in the thickness direction,
A ribbon bending guide 15 is provided in each bending portion to contact the ink ribbon 13 to change its traveling direction by approximately 90 degrees, and to apply tension due to friction to the ink ribbon 1 between the guide arms 10a and 10b.
It has been established that

Therefore, in this embodiment, the ink ribbon 13 stored in the main storage portion 10c in a tightly meandering manner is bent in a direction approximately 90 degrees from the exit side guide arm 10b by the ribbon bending guide 15 provided at the bending portion thereof.゜After being changed, the ribbon bending guide 15, which enters from the entrance side guide arm 10a and is provided at the bending part, passes between the guide arms 10a and 10b, and the direction is approximately changed again.
The ink ribbon is rotated by 90 degrees to form an ink ribbon running route that passes between the ribbon feed rollers 12 and returns to the main storage section 10c.

The ink ribbon 13 is moved by the ribbon feed roller 12 rotating while holding the ink ribbon 13 therebetween. That is, the ink ribbon 13 is taken up by a pair of ribbon feed rollers 12. At that time, ink ribbon 1
3 comes into contact with the ribbon bending guide 15 and changes its running direction by approximately 90 degrees, so a frictional force acts on the ink ribbon 13 due to the contact with the ribbon bending guide 15, which causes tension to be applied to the ink ribbon 13. Therefore, the ink ribbon 13 exposed between the guide arms 10a and 10b is held in a straight line, and is in a state suitable for printing.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the installed state of the ink ribbon cartridge 10 according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side view, in which 1 is a platen, 2 is a platen shaft, 3 is a pressure roller, 4 is printing paper, and 5 is a printing The head 6 is the tip of the print head 5, and 7 is a carriage, which is located at the back of the print head 5 and supports the print head 5. 8 is a guide shaft of the carriage 7; 10 is an ink ribbon cartridge that can be vertically arranged according to the present invention; 14 is a lock lever for fixing the ink ribbon cartridge 10 rotatably provided on both sides of the carriage 7; 16; 16a is a guide shaft loosely fitted into the recess of the carriage 7; 16a is a rack formed over the entire upper end surface of the guide shaft 16;
17 is a guide shaft 1 which is pivotally supported by a carriage 7.
6, a pinion meshing with the rack 16a; 18, two feed rollers disposed in contact with the tip 6 of the print head 5 and the lower part of the opposite part of the platen 1; 19, two feed rollers disposed at the same portion with a predetermined gap It is a media guide.

As explained in FIG. 3 above, the ink ribbon 1
3 to the main storage section 1 of the ink ribbon cartridge 10
Since the ink ribbon cartridge 10 can travel by turning approximately 90 degrees laterally with respect to 0c, it has become possible to arrange the ink ribbon cartridge 10 vertically as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Therefore, the carriage 7 can be placed behind the print head 5, creating a space below the print head 5, which improves the degree of freedom in design.
As shown in FIG. 5, a medium feed roller 18 and a medium guide 19 can be arranged to make it possible to feed the printing medium from the direction of arrow b. This allows printing on the printing paper 4 wound around the platen 1 and printing without any problem by feeding thick printing media from the direction of arrow b.

In this embodiment, as the guide shaft 16 moves in parallel, the pinion 17 supported by the carriage 7 rotates, and the carriage 7 moves to transport the print head 5, and also transports the print head 5 via a one-way mechanism (not shown). The ribbon drive pulley 11 of the ribbon cartridge 10 is driven, and the ribbon feed roller 12 rotates to cause the ink ribbon 13 to travel.

Further, since it can be formed into an isosceles triangle with the guide shafts 8 and 16 as the base and the tip 6 of the print head 5 as the apex, the gap between the tip 6 of the print head 5 and the platen 1 can be ensured.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. The same reference numerals are used for parts with the same names as in the above description.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an ink ribbon cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7A to 7C are side views showing the installation procedure.

In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a ribbon bending guide in which the entrance-side guide arm 10a and the exit-side guide arm 10b are formed at a predetermined angle and protrude symmetrically to a predetermined position.

This second embodiment has a structure in which a ribbon bending guide is provided in a conventional ink ribbon cassette, and when not in use, the ink ribbon 13 is not suspended from the ribbon bending guide 20 and is positioned on the same plane as the main storage section 10c. The ink ribbon 13 is bent at approximately 90 degrees with respect to the main storage portion 10c by the ink ribbon bending guide 20 due to the linkage with the tip 6 of the print head 5 when it is attached to the apparatus, although many of its exposed parts are exposed. This allows the work to be carried out without touching the exposed portion of the ink ribbon 13.

Next, the installation state of the ink ribbon cartridge 10 according to the second embodiment will be explained using FIG. 7.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, hold the ink ribbon cartridge 10 diagonally and hook the exposed portion of the ink ribbon 13 to the tip 6 of the print head 5.
Then, as shown in Figure B, when the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is gradually raised, the ink ribbon 13 comes into contact with the ribbon bending guide 20 and is gradually bent to about 90 degrees. When the ink ribbon cartridge 10 becomes vertical, the installation is complete, and as shown in Figure C, the ink ribbon 13 is attached to the ink ribbon cartridge 10.
from the tip 6 of the print head 5.
Incidentally, if the printing head 5 is moved backward at this time, the work will be made easier.

In this second embodiment, the same purpose as in the first embodiment can be achieved without covering the bent portion of the ink ribbon 13 with the ink ribbon cartridge 10. In addition, the ribbon bending guide 2 in this embodiment
0 can also be made to have a bendable structure, which is very effective in packaging and the like.

In the first and second embodiments described above, an endless ink ribbon 13 is used, so this will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are perspective views showing two examples of endless ink ribbons, and FIG. Since the traveling direction is changed, once the ink ribbon 13 rotates once, printing will continue on the printing trajectory of the previous traveling.

However, as shown in Figure B, if one part of the ink ribbon 13 is twisted 180 degrees to form an endless Möbius ring shape, the upper and lower halves of the ink ribbon 13 can be used continuously. A new part can be used for printing even at the rotation, the life of the ink ribbon 13 can be extended, and the ink ribbon 13 can be used effectively.

In this embodiment, an endless ink ribbon 1 is used.
3 is used, but it goes without saying that it can also be used in a non-endless ink ribbon cassette, and the ink ribbon cassette is shown in the figure below.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ink ribbon cassette made of endless ink ribbons, 20 is a winding shaft for unused ink ribbons, 21 is a used winding shaft, and as in the above description, the ink ribbon 13 is rolled twice.
The traveling angle is changed by 90°, and the ink ribbon is completely wound from the unused ink ribbon take-up shaft 20 to the used take-up shaft 21, and its use is completed.

Further, in both of the above embodiments, an example of a round platen was shown, but the present embodiment can also be applied to a printer having a horizontal inserter for printing passbooks used in banks, etc. This is because the passbook has a structure that allows the passbook, which cannot be easily bent in the direction of arrow b shown in FIG. 5, to run straight upward.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the ink ribbon cartridge of the present invention, the tips of the first guide arm and the second guide arm are each bent approximately 90 degrees in the thickness direction, and the ink ribbon cartridge is bent at approximately 90 degrees in the thickness direction. Since the ribbon bending guide is provided in contact with the ribbon to change its running direction approximately 90 degrees and to apply tension due to friction to the ink ribbon between both guide arms,
The ink ribbon cartridge can be mounted on the carriage in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the printing head and the platen face each other, and this reduces the mounting space for the ink ribbon cartridge, which has the effect of enabling efficient mounting. The ribbon bending guide provided in the bending part of the first guide arm and the second guide arm can apply tension to the ink ribbon between the two guide arms and hold it in a state suitable for printing, making it easy to use. It has excellent structure and functionality.
In addition, since it can be installed on the carriage in the above-mentioned orientation, it is possible to install the carriage and the guide shaft that guides its movement on the back side of the print head. Since a mechanism for feeding the print medium between the print head and the platen can be added, it is also possible to print on thick print medium that cannot be wrapped around the platen.

In addition, in the first embodiment, both the guide arms on the exit and inlet sides are made as long as possible to reduce the exposure of the ink ribbon, and in the second embodiment, the exposed part of the ink ribbon is hooked to the tip of the print head. This allows the ink ribbon cartridge to be attached to the device without touching the ink ribbon with the operator's hands. Since it is only necessary to fix the cartridge case to the carriage, it is also possible to easily attach and detach the cartridge case.

Due to this effect, it can be usefully used in bottom pass printers, horizontal inserter printers, etc. that print thick paper, bankbooks, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a conventional ink ribbon cartridge and its installed state, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the same, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cartridge according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the installation procedure of the cartridge. 8A and 8B are perspective views showing two corresponding examples of endless ink ribbons, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ink ribbon cartridge using a non-endless ink ribbon. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Platen, 5...Printing head, 6...Tip, 7...Carriage, 10...Ink ribbon cartridge, 10a...Entrance side guide arm, 10b
...Exit side guide arm, 10c...Main storage section, 13...
...Ink ribbon, 20... Ribbon bending guide.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first guide arm and a second guide arm are provided at one end of a main storage section that stores an ink ribbon so as to face each other, and the first guide arm and the second guide arm are provided from the main storage section to the first guide arm. In the ink ribbon cartridge in which the ink ribbon travel route is formed to reach the main storage section again via the second guide arm, the tips of the first guide arm and the second guide arm are each bent approximately 90 degrees in the thickness direction. and a ribbon bending guide is provided at the bending portion of each guide arm to contact the ink ribbon to change its traveling direction by approximately 90 degrees and to apply tension due to friction to the ink ribbon between both guide arms. An ink ribbon cartridge featuring: