JPH043826Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette in a serial printer, and particularly relates to replenishing ink to the ink ribbon.

[Conventional technology]

Some conventional ink ribbon devices are used by storing an ink ribbon in a cassette to form an ink ribbon cassette, which is then mounted on a carriage. This was designed to facilitate the mounting of the ink ribbon, to prevent stains on the hands and the surrounding area of the mounting part during mounting, and to reduce the size of the ribbon.

On the other hand, although the life of an ink ribbon is generally determined by the amount of ink ribbon impregnated into the ink ribbon, the reality is that the life of the ink ribbon base fabric itself is much longer. Therefore, in order to extend the life of the ink ribbon, it has been proposed to include an ink replenishing means for replenishing the ink ribbon with an appropriate amount of ink.

Furthermore, some of the above-mentioned ink ribbon cassettes are provided with an ink replenishing means within the cassette. This conventional example will be explained based on FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the conventional example with the lid of the cassette removed. First, endless ink ribbon 1
, only a part of which is exposed to the outside, and most of which is housed in the cassette 2, and a driving wheel 3 and a driven wheel 4 rotatably provided in the cassette 2.
It is held in such a way that it can run. This driven wheel 4 is supported by a movable support member 5, and is pressed toward the driving wheel 3 by a spring 6.
Further, the drive wheel 3 is driven and rotated by a power (not shown). By this rotation of the drive wheel 3, the ink ribbon 1 is drawn into the ribbon storage section 2a of the cassette 2 and stored in a folded state. The stored ink ribbon 1 is pulled out from the arm-shaped ribbon guide part 2b on the left side in FIG. 2 of the cassette 2, passes through the arm-shaped ribbon guide part 2c on the right side in FIG. Return to car 4.

At this time, the ink replenisher 7 is attached to the driven vehicle 4.
Since the ink replenishing part 7a is in contact with the ink replenishing part 7a, the ink seeping out from the stick-shaped ink replenishing part 7a is supplied to the driven wheel 4 and further transferred to the ink ribbon 1.

This ink replenishment will be explained based on FIG. 3.
FIG. 3 shows that ink is supplied to the driven wheel 4 from the ink replenishing part 7a.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example showing the state and amount of ink supplied to the ink. As shown in FIG. 3, the ink replenishment section 7a
is in contact with the driven wheel 4, and as the driven wheel 4 rotates, the ink contained in the ink replenishing part 7a is sequentially supplied to the outer circumference of the driven wheel 4, and is further sandwiched between the driven wheel 3 and the driven wheel 3. Ink ribbon 1
transcribed into.

Incidentally, the amount of ink supplied from the ink replenishing section 7a to the driven wheel 4 is as shown in FIG. That is, the amount of ink in the portion of the ink ribbon 1 corresponding to the printing area increases as it goes downward, and the amount of ink is approximately the same above and below that portion.

The reason why the amount of ink is distributed in this way is that the ink accumulates downward due to the influence of gravity. Therefore, when the action of replenishing and consuming this ink to the ink ribbon 1 is repeated, the ink shown in FIG. It becomes a replenishment distribution. As shown in this figure, the ink ribbon 1 has a printing area A provided in parallel with a predetermined width at the center of the base fabric of the ink ribbon 1 in the longitudinal direction, and printing is performed above and below with this printing area A in between. The structure has a non-printing area where printing is not performed. and,
By forming this into a ring shape, an endless ink ribbon 1 is formed, which is mounted in a cassette 2 as shown in FIG.

That is, by using the ink ribbon 1 having such a structure, the ink is transferred to the printing medium (not shown) in the print area A of the ink ribbon 1, so the replenished ink is constantly consumed, and as shown in the figure, the ink is transferred to the print medium (not shown). The amount of ink decreases and becomes thinner, and in the non-printing area below printing area A where no transfer to the print medium occurs, ink is only replenished and not consumed, so the amount of ink is large. As time passes, the printed result becomes darker. Note that the reason why the ink becomes thinner as it approaches the print area A below and above the print area A is because the ink is transmitted downward due to the influence of gravity and is accumulated or consumed.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

Therefore, in such a conventional example, the ink concentration distribution in the printing area A of the ink ribbon is such that the amount of ink is small at the top and increases from the middle to the bottom, as shown in FIG. It is not uniform. In other words, as the ink falls downward due to the influence of gravity, the amount of ink in the printing area A becomes uneven between the upper and lower halves, resulting in uneven printing results. There is a problem that the quality deteriorates.

The present invention was devised to solve the above problem, and its purpose is to provide a high-quality ink ribbon cassette by allowing the ink ribbon to be uniformly replenished from the ink replenishment section. .

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a driving wheel and a driven wheel arranged rotatably opposite each other in a cassette,
In the ink ribbon cassette in which the ink ribbon is sandwiched between the driving wheel and the driven wheel, and the ink replenishing section is brought into contact with the driving wheel or the driven wheel, the ink replenishing section is pressed against the ink ribbon pressure contact section of the driving wheel or the driven wheel. It is characterized in that the ink ribbon pressure contact part is pressed against the printing area of the ink ribbon and the upper part thereof.

[Effect]

In the present invention having the above characteristics, first, while the ink ribbon is running by the rotation of the driving wheel, ink is supplied to the ink ribbon pressing part of the driving car or driven car by the ink replenishing part, and the ink ribbon is removed from the ink ribbon pressing part. Replenish ink in the printing area and above it. Here, even if the ink in the printing area of the ink ribbon is transmitted downward due to the influence of gravity and accumulates, the ink in the upper part of the printing area is transmitted and supplied to the printing area, so that the ink density in the printing area is kept uniform.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6 to 9.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state in which ink is refilled from an ink replenishing unit to an ink ribbon, and Fig. 5 is an embodiment of the present invention showing a state in which the lid of an ink ribbon cassette is removed. FIG. 6 is a side view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state in which ink is refilled from an ink replenishing unit to a driven vehicle supported by a movable support member, and FIG. 7 is a side view of a main part of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a side view of the ink ribbon used in one embodiment, and is a distribution diagram of ink replenishment to the ink ribbon according to one embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that the same parts as in the conventional example are given the same numbers and their explanation will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, the drive wheel 8 is composed of gear parts 8a and 8b divided into two upper and middle stages, and the drive wheel 9 is composed of gear parts 9a, 9b, and 9c divided into three stages, upper, middle, and lower. , and the drive wheel 8 and the driven wheel 9 are arranged such that the gear parts 8a and 9a of the upper stage are meshed with each other, and the gear parts 8b and 9b of the middle stage are meshed with each other. The gear part 9a
The lower outer periphery of the ink ribbon 10 and the outer periphery of the gear portion 9b form an ink ribbon pressure contact portion B, which is in pressure contact with the printing area C of the ink ribbon 10 shown in FIG. That is,
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 from experimental values, an area of printed character height H + 1.5 mm is defined as an ink replenishment area, and the ink ribbon pressure contact portion B of the driven wheel 9 corresponding to this ink replenishment area, that is, the gear portion 9a. By bringing the ink replenishing part 11a into contact with the lower outer periphery of the gear 9b and the outer periphery of the gear part 9b, good printing results can be obtained.

As described above, the reason why the ink replenishment area to the ink ribbon 10 is set to the printed character height H+1.5 mm is to solve the problem of uneven ink density caused by the conventional example described above. That is, the ink supply area in the middle gear portion 4b of the conventional driven wheel 4 shown in FIG. 3 has a distribution situation as shown in FIG. The amount of ink is affected by gravity, so it is less at the top and more at the bottom.

Therefore, the ink ribbon 1 receives ink replenishment from the gear portion 4b having such a distribution,
In addition, this is consumed by performing printing operations, and if such operations are repeated, the ink replenishment distribution of the ink ribbon 1 will become as shown in FIG. 4 above. . That is, the ink density in the upper and lower non-printing areas of the ink ribbon 1 is high, and the ink density in the printing area A where the ink is transferred to a print medium (not shown) is low; therefore, the density in the printing area A is also There is a natural difference between the upper half, which receives ink replenishment from the upper non-printing area due to the influence of gravity, and the lower half, which continues to be consumed without being replenished, and it was not possible to keep these constant. It is.

Therefore, in this embodiment, by considering the influence of gravity and ink consumption in the printing area C, it is possible to replenish the printing area C with ink from above the printing area C of the ink ribbon 10. I tried to keep the concentration uniform. As a result, the 8th
Ink replenishment distribution to the ink ribbon 10 as shown in the figure was obtained.

In FIG. 5, the endless ink ribbon 10 shown in the figure is only partially exposed to the outside, and most of it is housed in the cassette 2, and a drive wheel rotatably provided in the cassette 2 8 and a driven vehicle 9 so as to be movable. This driven wheel 9 is supported by a movable support member 5, and is pressed toward the driving wheel 8 by a spring 6. Further, the drive wheel 8 is driven and rotated by a power source (not shown).

Due to the rotation of this drive wheel 8, the ink ribbon 10
is drawn into the ribbon storage section 2a of the cassette 2 and stored in a folded state. The stored ink ribbon 10 is pulled out from the arm-shaped ribbon guide part 2b on the left side in FIG. 5 of the cassette 2, passes through the arm-shaped ribbon guide part 2c on the right side in FIG. Return to car 9.

At this time, the ink replenisher 1 is attached to the driven wheel 9.
Since the ink replenishing parts 11a of 1 are in contact with each other as shown in FIG.
The ink that oozes out is supplied to the driven wheel 9 and further transferred to the ink ribbon 10. Here, the ink ribbon 10 repeats the action of being replenished and consumed with ink as described above, and when the replenishing ink is affected by gravity, it becomes ready for printing with the ink replenishment distribution shown in FIG. .

In this embodiment, the driven wheel 9 or the driving wheel 8 has three or two stages of gear parts 9a, 9b, 9c, 8.
Although the steps a and 8b are formed, the number of steps is not limited to this. Further, although gears are formed on the driven wheel 9 or the driving wheel 8, the same effect can be obtained by using rollers.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention, the ink replenishing part is pressed against the ink ribbon pressure contact part of the driving vehicle or the driven vehicle, and the ink ribbon pressure contact part is pressed against the printing area of the ink ribbon and the upper part thereof. Particularly, while the ink ribbon is traveling by the rotation of the drive wheel, the ink replenishing section supplies ink to the ink ribbon pressure contact section of the drive wheel or driven wheel, and the printing area and the printing area of the ink ribbon are supplied from the ink ribbon pressure contact section. Since ink is replenished in the upper part, the following effects are achieved.

In other words, even if the ink in the upper half of the printing area of the ink ribbon drops due to the influence of gravity and accumulates at the bottom, ink is replenished from the ink replenishment part to the non-printing area above the printing area. Since the ink falls from this non-printing area to the upper half of the printing area under the influence of gravity and is replenished, the ink density in the printing area is kept uniform. As a result, the shading of the print is eliminated, and the print quality can be improved.

Further, since ink is not replenished below the printing area of the ink ribbon, which does not require any ink replenishment, no ink is wasted in the non-printing area below the printing area.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of essential parts showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the conventional example with the lid of the cassette removed, Fig. 3 is a diagram explaining the ink supply state and main parts of the conventional example, Fig. 4 is an ink replenishment distribution diagram of the conventional example, and Fig. 5 is A plan view showing the inside of a cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a side view of essential parts showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a side view of an ink ribbon used in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a distribution diagram of ink replenishment of an ink ribbon according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a distribution diagram of ink supply to a driven vehicle in a conventional example. 2...cassette, 8...driver, 8a, 8b,
8c... Gear part, 9... Driven wheel, 9a, 9b, 9
c... Gear part, 10... Ink ribbon, 11...
Ink replenisher, 11a... Ink replenisher.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A driving wheel and a driven wheel are rotatably arranged opposite to each other in a cassette, an ink ribbon is sandwiched between the driving wheel and the driven wheel, and an ink replenishing part is brought into contact with the driving wheel or the driven wheel, To refill ink to the ink ribbon,
The ink ribbon cassette is supplied to the ink ribbon by the ink replenishing section via the driving wheel or the driven wheel while the ink ribbon is traveling by the rotation of the driving wheel. What is claimed is: 1. An ink ribbon cassette, characterized in that the ink ribbon is placed in pressure contact with the printing area of the ink ribbon and its upper part.