JPH04220385A - Ink ribbon cartridge mounting device of video printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To mount an ink ribbon cartridge directly between a platen roller and thermal head. CONSTITUTION:A cartridge insertion opening 13 is formed in one of a pair of side plates 11, 12 arranged at both ends of a platen roller 7 and the other side wall 11 or 12 is provided with driving gears 14, 15 of the bobbin side gears 4, 5 of a cartridge 1. The driving gears 14, 15 can move axially of the side wall 11 or 12 for the purpose of coping with the collision of the teeth of gears 14, 15 with each other. Also, the center distance between the driving gears 14, 15 and gears 4, 5 is surely secured by a positioning guide 20.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cartridge loading device for a video printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Video printers use frame-sequential ink ribbons. In other words, the field sequential ink ribbon is
It consists of a film base material of a predetermined width, on which dyes made of transparent pigments such as yellow, magenta, and cyan are continuously provided in equal lengths in a predetermined order.

In FIG. 4, this field-sequential ink ribbon is designated by the reference numeral R, and the entire cartridge is designated by the reference numeral 1. According to this, the cartridge 1 includes a ribbon supply side bobbin 2 and a ribbon winding side bobbin 3. In this case, each rotation shaft 2 of each bobbin 2, 3
Gears 4 and 5 are attached to a and 3a so as to rotate integrally with the rotating shafts 2a and 3a. In addition, gear 4,
On the opposite side of 5, springs 6, 6 are provided which normally bias the bobbins 2, 3 in the right direction in the figure and press the gears 4, 5 against the frame 1a of the cartridge 1. In addition,
Although not shown, a stopper consisting of a female and male fitting is provided between the gears 4, 5 and the frame 1a, and this prevents the ink ribbon R from loosening inadvertently when not in use. .

[0004] When printing, cartridge 1
As shown in FIG. 5, the printing paper is sent between the platen roller 7 and the thermal head 8, and first, for example, a yellow dye is transferred onto the printing paper. Next, the transfer surface of one screen of the print paper is returned, and then the magenta dye is transferred onto the yellow transfer surface. In this way, by overlapping and transferring each color onto the same screen,
A predetermined color image is printed on print paper.

[0005]

By the way, when loading the cartridge 1 between the platen roller 7 and the thermal head 8, conventionally a guide rail is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the platen roller 7, The cartridge 1 was conveyed along the rail.

However, according to these methods, the length of the guide rail is required to be at least the entire length of the cartridge 1, which hinders miniaturization.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and its structural feature is that a ribbon supply side bobbin and a winding side bobbin of a field-sequential type ink ribbon are connected to each other. In an ink ribbon cartridge loading device for a video printer, in which an ink ribbon cartridge including an ink ribbon cartridge having a gear attached to the rotating shaft of each bobbin is loaded between a platen roller and a thermal head, an ink ribbon cartridge is loaded between a platen roller and a thermal head. The ink ribbon cartridge has a pair of side plates arranged oppositely along the same side, one side plate having an insertion opening for the ink ribbon cartridge, and the other side plate having a driving gear that meshes with the gear. The drive gears are movable in the axial direction relative to the other side plate.

[0008]

According to the above structure, the ink ribbon cartridge can be directly loaded between the platen roller and the thermal head from the width direction thereof.

[0009] Furthermore, even if the gear on the cartridge side collides with the drive gear on the device side during loading, there is no particular problem because the drive gear can move in its axial direction, and the drive As the gears rotate, both gears will mesh immediately.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view to facilitate understanding of the relationship between the cartridge 1 and the loading device 10, and for convenience of illustration, the platen roller 7 is also shown separated.

The loading device 10 includes a pair of side plates 11 and 12 arranged parallel to each other along a plane orthogonal to the rotational axis X of the platen roller 7. One side plate 1
1 has an insertion opening 13 for the cartridge 1 formed therein. Although not shown in detail, the platen roller 7 is disposed above the virtual plane including the insertion port 13, and the thermal head is disposed opposite to the platen roller 7 below.

The other side plate 12 is provided with drive gears 14 and 15 that mesh with the gears 4 and 5 on the cartridge 1 side (see the previously explained diagram). In this case, drive gear 1
4 is operatively connected to a motor via a friction gear (not shown), and meshes with the gear 4 to apply back tension to the supply bobbin 2 when unwinding the ink ribbon.

The drive gear 15 is connected to a motor (not shown), meshes with the gear 5, and directly drives the winding bobbin 3.

Each drive gear 14, 15 is mounted to the side plate 12 so as to be movable in its axial direction. Since both have the same configuration, one drive gear 14 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.

The rotation shaft 14a of the drive gear 14 is connected to the side plate 12.
The transmission gear 1 is protruded out of the device through the
6 is installed. A spacer 17 is interposed between the side plate 12 and the drive gear 14. Same spacer 17
consists of a cylindrical body having a plurality of leg pieces 17a that can be freely inserted into the side plate 12. Note that an arrowhead-shaped stopper 17b is formed at the end of the leg piece 17a.

A spring 18 is disposed between the spacer 17 and the side plate to bias the drive gear 14 toward the left side in the figure, that is, toward the cartridge 1 side through the spacer 17.

The transmission gear 16 is meshed with the friction gear 19, but in this case, the transmission gear 16 also moves in relation to the drive gear 14, so in this example, the friction gear 19 is made thicker in consideration of the amount of movement. I have to.

Furthermore, in order to ensure the distance between the shafts of the gears 4, 5 and the drive gears 14, 15 when loading the cartridge 1, a positioning guide 20 is provided on the side plate 12 as shown in FIG. is provided. The positioning guide 20 on the drive gear 14 side will be described. The positioning guide 20 includes a conical recess 20a into which the rotating shaft 2a fits. A similar positioning guide 2 is provided on the drive gear 15 side.
0 is set.

In the above configuration, by inserting the cartridge 1 from the insertion port 13 with its width direction as the insertion direction, the cartridge 1 is loaded between the platen roller 7 and the thermal head.
Even if the peaks of the gears 4 and 5 collide with the peaks of the drive gears 14 and 15, there is no problem because the drive gears 14 and 15 retract against the spring 18, and due to the rotation of the drive gears 14 and 15, Both gears will mesh immediately.

Furthermore, since the rotating shafts 2a and 3a are fitted into the conical recess 20a of the positioning guide 20 and their centers are determined, the distance between the respective gears 4 and 5 and the driving gears 14 and 15 is also ensured. be done.

[0021]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the ink ribbon cartridge can be directly loaded between the platen roller and the thermal head, which greatly contributes to miniaturization of the entire apparatus. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a driving gear incorporated in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is attached.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a positioning guide provided in relation to a drive gear.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an ink ribbon cartridge on which the present invention is based.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Ink ribbon cartridge 2 Supply side bobbin 3 Winding side bobbin 4,5 Gear 6 Spring 7 Platen roller 8 Thermal head 11, 12 Side plate 13 Insertion port 14, 15 Drive gear 17 Spacer 18 Spring 20 Positioning guide 20a Conical recess

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: An ink ribbon cartridge comprising a ribbon supply side bobbin and a take-up side bobbin of a field-sequential type ink ribbon, and a gear attached to the rotating shaft of each bobbin, is provided between a platen roller and a thermal head. The ink ribbon cartridge loading device of the video printer to be loaded has a pair of side plates facing each other along a plane perpendicular to the axis of the platen roller, and one of the side plates has an insertion opening for the ink ribbon cartridge. is formed, and the other side plate is provided with drive gears that mesh with the gears, and each of the drive gears is movable in the axial direction relative to the other side plate. Ink ribbon cartridge loading device for video printers.