JPH05139005A - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an ink ribbon cassette which suppresses the generation of a jamming, etc., as much as possible by eliminating the slack of an ink ribbon almost assuredly. CONSTITUTION:For an ink ribbon cassette 1 equipped with a slack eliminating means 5 to eliminate the slack of an ink ribbon 2, which is generated by the vertical reciprocating motions of a head 6 on the surface of the ink ribbon 2 at the time of printing, by moving the ink ribbon 2 from the running path by the energizing force of an elastic member in a cassette in which a pair of take-up/feeding hubs 3, 4 are contained, the slack eliminating quantity of the slack eliminating means 5 is in a range of 1.5 to 3.0 times to the slack quantity of the ink ribbon 2, which is generated by the reciprocating motions of the head 6 in the vertical direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette, and more particularly to an ink ribbon cassette for surely removing looseness of an ink ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink ribbon cassette, an ink ribbon is moved from a traveling path by a biasing force of an elastic member into a cassette containing a pair of winding / supplying hubs, and the head is moved above the ink ribbon surface during printing. There is known a slack eliminating means for removing the slack of the ink ribbon caused by the reciprocating movement perpendicular to the above.

The slack eliminating means usually comprises a leaf spring or the like,
By pressing the ink ribbon, the slack of the ink ribbon caused by the movement of the thermal head or the like is removed. The head faces the ink ribbon surface that travels during printing, reciprocates perpendicularly to the surface, and presses the ink ribbon against the printing paper surface, thereby causing slack in the ink ribbon. Conventionally, the amount of slackening (or slacking capacity) of the leaf spring due to the pressing of the ink ribbon is approximately the same as the amount of slackening of the ink ribbon caused by the reciprocating movement of the head (1.0 to 1.1 times).
It was

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned ink ribbon cassette, the ink ribbon is caught on the printing paper surface during printing (when the peelability of the ink ribbon is poor, etc.) and the ink ribbon and the head are printed on the printing paper surface. Since it is relatively moving even with respect to the head, an indefinite amount of slack is generated more than the slack by the head, and the slack eliminating means of the related art cannot sufficiently remove the slack of the ink ribbon. there were. For this reason, it may not be possible to completely separate the ink ribbon having poor releasability from the printing paper surface, which causes jamming of the ink ribbon.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon cassette in which the occurrence of jamming and the like is suppressed as much as possible by removing the slack of the ink ribbon almost certainly.

[0006]

As a result of intensive studies to solve such problems, the present inventors have identified the amount of slack eliminating by the slack eliminating means with respect to the indefinite amount of slack. The above problems have been solved by setting the range. That is, according to the present invention, the ink ribbon is moved from the traveling path by the urging force of the elastic member in the cassette containing the pair of winding / supply hubs, and the head is perpendicular to the ink ribbon surface during printing. In an ink ribbon cassette having a slack eliminating means for removing the slack of the ink ribbon caused by the reciprocating movement of the ink ribbon, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means is equal to the slack amount of the ink ribbon caused by the reciprocating movement of the head in the vertical direction. On the other hand, the present invention has been achieved by providing an ink ribbon cassette characterized by being in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 times.

[0007]

According to the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means is 1.5 times or more the slack amount due to the vertical reciprocating movement of the head. Even if the releasability from the ink ribbon is poor, both are reliably separated and jamming does not occur. Further, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means is not more than 3.0 times the slack amount of the head, so that the movement amount of the ink ribbon (or the moving space of the elastic member) from the traveling path by the slack eliminating means is suppressed as much as possible. However, there is no problem that the winding diameter of the ink ribbon around the winding / supply hub must be reduced due to the space, which may occur when the moving amount increases.

[0008]

Embodiments of the ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the inside of a reversing type ink ribbon cassette, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the ink ribbon cassette before the head is moved. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the main part of the ink ribbon cassette when the head moves in the direction perpendicular to the ink ribbon surface, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the main part of the ink ribbon cassette showing the slack state of the ink ribbon after the head moves. It is a figure.

In the ink ribbon cassette according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon 2 is moved from the traveling path into the cassette 1 in which a pair of winding / supplying hubs 3 and 4 are housed by the urging force of an elastic member. The structure having the slack eliminating means 5 for removing the slack of the ink ribbon 2 caused by the reciprocating movement of the head 6 perpendicularly to the surface of the ink ribbon 6 at the time of printing is substantially the same as that of a known ink ribbon cassette. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1, in the reversing type ink ribbon cassette 1, the structure in which each of the winding / supplying hubs 3 and 4 can be a winding hub or a supplying hub is the same as that of the known reversing type ink ribbon cassette. is there.

In the ink ribbon cassette according to this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means 5 is determined by the reciprocating motion of the head 6 in the vertical direction. The range is 1.5 to 3.0 times the amount L (L = distance ABCD-distance AD).
This embodiment will be further described. The slack eliminating means 5 is composed of a leaf spring whose base end is fixed to the main body of the cassette 1 and whose front end presses the surface of the ink ribbon 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means 5 is the difference between the traveling length S of the ink ribbon at the distance from the position D to the guide roller 7 and the traveling length T shown by the one-dot chain line. ing. The slack removal amount is in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 times the slack amount L of the ink ribbon (L = distance ABCD-distance AD).

In the ink ribbon cassette of this embodiment constructed as described above, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means 5 is 1.5 times or more the slack amount due to the vertical reciprocating movement (repetitive movement) of the head 6. Therefore, according to the test results described later, even if the print paper surface and the ink ribbon are poorly peeled from each other, they are almost certainly peeled from each other and jamming does not occur.

In addition, in order to increase the amount of slack of the slack eliminating means 5, it is necessary to increase the amount of movement of the ink ribbon from the traveling path. For this reason, if the amount of slack is increased, the rotating area of the leaf spring of the slack eliminating means becomes large, and it is necessary to reduce the winding diameter of the ink ribbon wound around the winding / supply hub due to space problems. this is,
This is against the attempt to use a long ribbon as long as possible in the cassette.

In this embodiment, however, the amount of slack eliminating means 5 is 3.0 times or less than the amount of slack L of the head 6, so that the amount of movement of the ink ribbon 2 by the slack eliminating means 5 is as small as possible. Since it is suppressed, it is not necessary to reduce the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 2 around the winding / supply hub 3 or 4. Furthermore, based on the following experimental results of the present inventors,
In order to substantially prevent the jamming, the slack removal amount of the slack removal means 5 is 1.5 times, particularly 1.8 times or more, the slack removal amount L due to the vertical reciprocating motion of the head 6. Preferably there is. In order to prevent the slack eliminating means 5 from affecting the winding diameter of the ink ribbon,
The slack eliminating means 5 is preferably provided substantially in the center of the cassette 1 main body, and the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means 5 is 3.0 with respect to the slack amount L due to the reciprocating motion of the head 6 in the vertical direction. It is preferably not more than twice, and particularly preferably not more than 2.5 times.

[0014]

[Experimental Example] An ink ribbon having a poor releasability between the printing paper surface and the ink ribbon is used, and the slack eliminating amount is generated by the head reciprocating in the direction perpendicular to the ink ribbon surface during printing. 1.1 for the slack amount L of
Ink ribbon cassettes having a range of from 3.0 to 3.0 times were produced, and using these as samples, the peeling state of the ink ribbon during running was examined. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0015]

[Table 1] × Those that do not peel off. △ Some are peeled off and some are not. ○ Those that can be peeled off for normal printing.

From the experimental results, it is understood that when the amount of slack removal is 1.5 times or more, only the peeled state can be seen. Further, if the amount of slack is more than three times, the amount of movement of the leaf spring increases, which affects the winding diameter of the ink ribbon. In the above-described embodiment, the leaf spring is used as the slack eliminating means 5, but the invention is not limited to this, and any elastic member that achieves the object of the present invention may be used, and its shape and material are limited. Not a thing.

In the above embodiment, the reversal type ink ribbon cassette is used, but the non-reversal type ink ribbon cassette may be used.

[0018]

The ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention is
By removing the slack of the ink ribbon almost certainly, it is possible to suppress jamming and the like as much as possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the inside of an inversion type ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the ink ribbon cassette before the head moves.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the main parts of the ink ribbon cassette, showing a state in which the head moves vertically to the ink ribbon surface.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of relevant parts of the ink ribbon cassette showing a slackened state of the ink ribbon after the head has moved.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ink Ribbon Cassette 2 Ink Ribbon 3, 4 Winding / Supply Hub 5 Loosening Means 6 Head 7 Guide Roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon is moved from a traveling path by a biasing force of an elastic member in a cassette containing a pair of winding / supplying hubs so that the head is perpendicular to the ink ribbon surface during printing. In an ink ribbon cassette having slack eliminating means for removing the slack of the ink ribbon caused by reciprocating movement, the slack eliminating amount of the slack eliminating means is different from the slack amount of the ink ribbon caused by the reciprocating movement of the head in the vertical direction. And the range is 1.5 to 3.0 times.