JPH04226375A - Tape printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position a thermal ink ribbon by a suitable angle even if a printed discharged tape is drawn out manually by a user providing a means for transmission/release of a driving power wherein rotation of a motor is transmitted to a transfer means in the case of rotation in one direction of the motor, and a power transmission is released in rotation in another direction. CONSTITUTION:A transfer means 11 which transfers a tape 37 and an ink ribbon 34 and a motor 11 which is a power source are provided. Rotation of the motor 3 is transmitted to the transfer means in the case of rotation in one direction of the motor 3, and its transmission is released by a power transmission/ releasing means 76 in rotation in another direction.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a tape printing apparatus exclusively used for printing on tape stored in a tape cassette.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a tape printing device that performs printing using a tape cassette containing a thermal ink ribbon and tapes, a drive source for a ribbon winding means that winds up the thermal ink ribbon is used. The driving source for the tape feeding means is the same motor, and the motor gear is positioned so as to mesh with a wheel train connecting the ribbon winding means and the tape feeding means.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in conventional tape printing devices, when the user manually pulls out the printed and discharged tape, the tape feeding means rotates as the tape is pulled out. However, since the load resistance of the motor is large, the tape feeding means does not rotate and the tape slips and is pulled out. Therefore, since the ribbon is not wound up as the tape is transported, the thermal ink ribbon is also transported and sent out toward the tape discharge port. If printing is performed in this state, printing will be performed with the thermal ink ribbon in a slack state, and therefore printing will be performed without the thermal ink ribbon forming an appropriate peeling angle near the print head. Therefore, there was a drawback that good printing quality could not be obtained. Furthermore, when a large amount of thermal ink ribbon is transported, the thermal ink ribbon becomes locked within the tape cassette, making the tape cassette unusable.

[0004] The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its purpose is to ensure that the thermal ink ribbon is always in contact with the print head even if the user manually pulls out the printed and discharged tape. An object of the present invention is to provide a tape printing device that can be positioned at an appropriate angle relative to the tape printing device. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tape printing device that can prevent a large amount of thermal ink ribbon from being sent out within a tape cassette and prevent the risk of the tape cassette becoming unusable.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the tape printing device of the present invention includes a transport means for transporting the tape and the ink ribbon, a motor as a power source of the transport means, and a motor for transporting the tape and the ink ribbon. It is characterized by comprising a power transmission/release means that transmits the rotation of the motor to the transfer means when the motor rotates in one direction, and cancels the transmission when the motor rotates in the other direction.

[0006]

[Operation] The tape printing device with the above structure does not print even if the user pulls out the printed and discharged tape by hand.
The thermal ink ribbon is always wound around the ribbon winding core without sagging.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view showing the structure of the tape printing apparatus of the present invention without a tape cassette, and FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the lid 20 of the tape cassette mounting section is open. The structure will now be explained using FIGS. 1 and 2.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a print head which has a plurality of heating elements (not shown) equidistantly spaced and is held on a head support 6;
7 is a head arm that has a contact portion 7-1 with the release lever shaft 16 and is pivotally supported by the head arm shaft 9; 8 is a head support shaft that serves to pivotally support the head support 6 on the head arm 7; 10; is a head pressing spring that serves to bias the head arm 7 in the direction of arrow E. Reference numeral 11 denotes a tape feed roller fixed to the shaft portion 28-1 of the tape feed gear 28;
13 is a tape feeding roller holder that has a contact portion 12-1 and holds the tape feeding gear 28; 13 is a tape feeding roller spring that serves to bias the shaft portion 28-1 in the direction of arrow F;
Reference numeral 29 denotes a tape feed roller holder shaft that pivotally supports the tape feed roller holder 12. 14 is mainframe 1
It is supported by a release lever support shaft 15 fixed to the double arrow G.
Release lever that can be rotated in the direction, 16 is release lever 1
This is the release lever shaft fixed to 4. 17 is a release lever that is guided by the subframe 2, movable in the direction of the double arrow H, and is in contact with the release lever 14; 20 is a release cam shaft 21 having a release cam 18 that serves to control the movement of the release lever 17; A lid 19 that can be rotated about a fulcrum is a printer case to which the main frame 1 is fixed. 3 is a motor which is a pulse motor having a motor gear 22; 51 is a planetary lever supported by the motor shaft 3-1 and having a planetary gear shaft 52; 53 is supported by the planetary gear shaft 52 and meshes with the motor gear 22; 26 is the reduction gear 23
and a ribbon winding gear which receives rotation of the motor gear 22 via a transmission gear A24, 4 a ribbon winding shaft having a friction clutch structure and driven by a ribbon winding gear 26, 27 a reduction gear 23 and a transmission gear B25. Motor gear 22 through
30 is a tape feeding gear shaft, 31 is a platen roller shaft, 2-1 and 2
-2 is a tape cassette positioning shaft provided on the subframe 2. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the release lever 17 is pushed in the direction of arrow A by the release cam 18. Therefore, the release cam 18 receives a reaction force in the direction of the arrow I due to the forces of the head pressing spring 10 and the tape feed roller spring 13, and is prevented from rotating in the direction of the double arrow J. Furthermore, the planetary gear 53 is not in mesh with the reduction gear 23. The above is the explanation showing the structure of the tape printing device of the present invention.

Next, the structure of the tape cassette of the tape printing device of the present invention will be explained. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing the structure of the tape cassette of the tape printing device of the present invention, with FIG. 3 being a top view and FIG. 4 being a top sectional view of FIG. 3. The structure of the tape cassette will now be explained using FIGS. 3 and 4.

35 is a platen roller having a hole 35-1 which is supported by the platen roller shaft 31; 36 is a tape pressing roller which has a hole 36-1 which is supported by the tape feeding gear shaft 30; The thermal ink ribbon 32 is a ribbon winding core 3 which has a shaped hole 32-1 that engages with the ribbon winding shaft 4 and serves to wind up the thermal ink ribbon 34.
3 is a transparent film, 37 is a double-sided adhesive tape with a release material, and 38 is a cassette case (bottom) having positioning holes 38-1 and 38-2 that engage with tape cassette positioning shafts 2-1 and 2-2. , 39 is a cassette case (upper). The transparent film 33 is adhered to the double-sided adhesive tape 37 at the tape pressing roller 36. The above is an explanation of the structure of the tape cassette of the tape printing device of the present invention.

The operation of mounting the tape cassette on the tape printing device will be explained below. 5 and 6 are views showing the tape cassette attached to the tape printing device of the present invention in the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (with the lid 20 open), and FIG. 5 is a top view, and FIG. is a left side view of FIG. 5. The holes 38-1 and 38-2 in the cassette case (lower) are connected to the tape cassette positioning shaft 2-
1 and 2-2, the tape cassette is positioned at the desired position. Also, platen roller 3
5 is pivotally supported by a platen roller shaft 31, and furthermore, a tape pressing roller 36 is pivotally supported by a tape feeding transmission gear shaft 30. As can be seen from FIG. 5, when the tape cassette is installed in the tape printing device, the print head 5 and the tape feed roller 11 can be installed without any obstruction.

7 and 8 are views showing the tape printing device of the present invention in the state shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 with the lid 20 closed, FIG. 7 being a top view, and FIG. 8 being a top view. 7 is a left side view of the vehicle. By rotating the lid 20 in the direction of arrow K, the positioning of the head arm 7 and tape feed roller holder 12 is released, so the print head 5 is urged in the direction of arrow E by the force of the head pressing spring 10. It is positioned in contact with the platen roller 35. Also, in the tape feed roller 11, the tape feed roller spring 13
It is urged in the direction of arrow F by the force , and is positioned in contact with the tape pressing roller 36 . Further, the tape feeding gear 27 and the tape feeding gear 28 are in mesh with each other. This state (shown in FIG. 7) is a printable state.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, 60 is a mechanical section of the tape printing device of the present invention explained above, 5 is a schematic diagram showing the print head 5, and 3 is the motor 3. FIG. 72 is a CPU, which is connected to a print head control circuit 75 and a motor control circuit 76. 71 is an interface, 73 is a ROM
, 74 is a RAM. 77 is a print head control circuit 75
80 is a step drive basic signal which is the basis of the motor control signal 76, and 78 is a signal for rotating the motor 3 in the direction of arrow P1 to the motor control circuit 7.
Motor forward rotation signal sent to 6, 79 sends motor 3 to arrow P2
81 is a print head drive signal for driving the print head 5, and 82 is a motor drive signal for driving the motor 3.

[0014] When print data is input from the interface 71, it is once taken into the RAM 74 and then sent to the CPU.
decodes this data, reads character font data corresponding to the data code from the ROM 73, and controls the mechanical section of the tape printer via the print head control circuit 75 and motor control circuit 76 to execute printing.

FIG. 10 is a time chart showing a series of printing operations of the tape printing apparatus of the present invention, and the series of operations of the tape printing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, the movement of the gear train will be explained. (Figure 7
Since the condition of the gear train in the state shown in FIG. 1 is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, the movement of the gear train will be explained based on FIG. ) When the motor forward rotation signal 78 is turned on, the motor 3 rotates in the direction of arrow P1 (
Figure 10Z1 point). When the motor 3 rotates in the direction of arrow P1, the planetary lever 51 rotates in the direction of arrow Q1, and the planetary gear 53 meshes with the reduction gear 23 (at time Z2 in FIG. 10). When the motor 3 continues to rotate further, the planetary gear 53 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow R, so the reduction gear 23 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow S, and the tape feed transmission gear 27 thereby starts rotating in the direction of the arrow T.
The ribbon take-up gear 26 also rotates in the direction of arrow U (point in time Z3 in FIG. 10).

The tape feed gear 28 receives the rotational force of the tape feed transmission gear 27 in the direction of arrow T, and rotates in the direction of arrow W (FIG. 7).
, and the tape feed roller 11 rotates in the direction of arrow W (time point Z3 in FIG. 10). The above is the movement around the wheel train when the motor 3 is rotated in the direction of arrow P1.

Next, the movement around the tape cassette will be explained using FIG. Arrow W of tape feed gear 28
Since the tape feed roller 11 rotates in the direction of arrow W, the adhered transparent film 33 and double-sided adhesive tape 37 are sent out in the direction of arrow V. Print head 5
In the vicinity, since the transparent film 33 is fed in the direction of the arrow X, the thermal ink ribbon 34 is also fed by a length approximately equal to that of the transparent film 33, and the thermal ink ribbon 34 is connected to the print head 5 and the ribbon winding core 32. There is going to be slack between them. However, since the ribbon take-up core 32 rotates in the direction of arrow U via the ribbon take-up shaft 4 due to the rotation of the ribbon take-up gear 26 in the direction of arrow U, thermal damage occurs between the print head 5 and the ribbon take-up core 34. Ink ribbon 34
The slack is always taken up. The above is an explanation of the movement around the tape cassette when the motor 3 is rotated in the direction of arrow P1.

Applying a print head control signal 77 to the print head control circuit 75 in synchronization with the conveyance of the transparent film 33 in the direction of arrow X (between Z4 and Z5 in FIG. 10) and applying a print head drive signal 81 to the print head 5. Printing is performed on the transparent film 33, and the transparent film 33 is adhered to the double-sided adhesive tape 37 between the tape pressing roller 36 and the tape feeding roller 11 and is discharged in the direction of arrow V. When the predetermined printing (including tape feeding) is completed, the motor forward rotation signal 78 is turned OFF to stop the motor 3 (Fig. 1
0Z6), and then turn on the motor reverse rotation signal 79 (at Z7 in FIG. 10), the motor 3 rotates in the direction of arrow P2, the planetary lever 51 rotates in the direction of arrow Q2, and the planetary gear 53 rotates with the reduction gear 23. Break the mesh. (The state in Figure 1,
(at time Z8 in Figure 10) In this state, turn the motor reverse rotation signal 79 to O.
Set to FF state and stop rotation of motor 3 (Fig. 10Z9
time). In the gear train from the tape feed gear 28 to the ribbon take-up gear 26, the load on the motor 3 is removed.

The above is an explanation of the series of printing operations. Transparent film 33 to which double-sided adhesive tape 37 is attached by the user after printing is completed and rotation of motor 3 is cut off.
When the tape feed roller 11 is pulled out in the direction of arrow V, the tape feed roller 11 rotates in the direction of arrow W, and the rotation is transmitted to the ribbon take-up gear 26 via the gear train, causing the ribbon take-up gear 26 to move in the direction of arrow U.
direction. By the rotation of the ribbon winding gear 26 in the direction of arrow U, the ribbon winding core 3 is moved through the ribbon winding shaft 4.
2 rotates in the direction of arrow U, the slack in the thermal ink ribbon 34 that occurs between the print head 5 and the ribbon take-up core 32 is always taken up. Therefore print head 5
An appropriate peeling angle θ of the thermal ink ribbon 34 is always formed in the vicinity.

As explained above, in the tape printing apparatus of the present invention, the load on the wheel train is reduced by disengaging the motor 3 from engagement with the wheel train after printing is completed. Therefore, when the user pulls out the ejected transparent film 33, the tape feed roller 11 rotates, and the rotation is transmitted to the ribbon winding core 32 via the wheel train, so the thermal ink ribbon 34 is wound up without sagging. It is wound around the core 32.

Although a pulse motor is used in the embodiment of the present invention, the effect remains the same even if a DC motor is used.

[0023]

As described above, in the present invention, even when the user pulls out the ejected transparent film, the thermal ink ribbon is wound up, and the thermal ink ribbon is wound between the print head and the ribbon winding core. It became possible to form a state without sag.

[0024] Therefore, since printing can be performed with the thermal ink ribbon always forming an appropriate peeling angle near the print head, good printing quality can always be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing the structure of a tape printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. 1 showing the structure of a tape printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the appearance of a tape cassette for a tape printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 showing the inside of a tape cassette for a tape printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a top view showing a state in which a tape cassette is installed in the state shown in FIG. 1 (lid 20 is open) in the tape printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

6 is a left side view of FIG. 5 showing a state in which the tape cassette is installed in the state of FIG. 1 (lid 20 is open) in the tape printing device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing the tape printing device according to the embodiment of the present invention in the state shown in FIG. 5 with the lid 20 closed.

8 is a left side view of FIG. 7 showing the tape printing device according to the embodiment of the present invention in the state shown in FIG. 5 with the lid 20 closed;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the tape printing device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a time chart showing a series of printing operations of the tape printing device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Motor 4 Ribbon winding shaft 5 Print head 11 Tape feed roller 22 Motor gear 32 Ribbon winding core 33 Transparent film 34 Thermal ink ribbon 35 Platen roller 37 Double-sided tape 51 Planetary lever 52 Planetary gear

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tape printing device dedicated to printing on a tape using an ink ribbon, comprising: a transport means for transporting the tape and the ink ribbon; a motor serving as a power source for the transport means; A tape printing device comprising a power transmission/release means that transmits the rotation of the motor to the transfer means when the motor rotates in one direction, and releases the transmission when the motor rotates in the other direction. 2. The tape printing device according to claim 1, wherein the power transmission/release means is a planetary mechanism composed of a planetary lever and a planetary gear. 3. Means for rotating the motor so as to transmit the rotation of the motor to the transfer means upon the start of printing, and means for rotating the motor in the opposite direction for a predetermined period of time after the end of printing. 2. The tape printing device according to claim 1, further comprising a tape printing device.