JPH051903Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to the structure of a connecting portion between a flexible cable and a movable part such as a printed circuit board mounted on a carriage in a printer or the like.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a rear view of a printing section in a printer having a conventional structure of a connecting section between movable parts and a flexible cable.

In the figure, 1 is a guide shaft, 2 is a carriage movably attached to the guide shaft 1, 3 is a printed circuit board fixed on the carriage 2, 4 is a ribbon feed mechanism, and 5 is an ink ribbon cassette. 4 and the ink ribbon cassette 5 are stacked and fixed on the printed circuit board 3 using locking means such as screws or elastic claws.

6 is a print head mounted on the front end of the printed circuit board 3; 7 is a motor fixed to the bottom surface of the printed circuit board 3; 8 is a pinion attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 7; And the motor 7 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 3.

A flexible cable 9 is used for supplying power from a control board (not shown) to the printing head 6 and inputting a recording signal, and for supplying power to the motor 7 and inputting a drive signal.

This flexible cable 9 has a plurality of conductor patterns formed from one longitudinal end of a flexible film material to the other end, and the end of each conductor pattern is used as a terminal for connection. A predetermined portion of the carriage 2 is arranged along the moving direction of the carriage 2 and is folded back, and the tip of the folded portion, that is, one end of the flexible cable 9 is inserted between the case of the ribbon feed mechanism 4 and the printed circuit board 3 together with the elastic plate 10. By sandwiching the
The terminal at one end is press-connected and fixed to the terminal of the printed circuit board 3, and the terminal at the other end is connected to a terminal of the control board or a terminal of a relay board or the like connected to the control board.

This configuration drives the motor 7 and rotates the pinion 8 attached to its rotating shaft by meshing with a rack (not shown) provided parallel to the guide shaft 1, thereby connecting the carriage 2 and the carriage mounted thereon. The above-mentioned parts are integrated together by arrows a and b.
The printing head 6 prints on printing paper set on a platen (not shown) via an ink ribbon (not shown) fed from an ink ribbon cassette 5 by a ribbon feed mechanism 4. At this time, following the movement of the printed circuit board 3 together with the carriage 2 etc. in the directions of arrows a and b, the flexible cable 9 changes from the state shown by the solid line shown in the figure to the state shown by the two-dot chain line, or from the state shown by the two-dot chain line. It makes a bending movement from the state shown by to the state shown by the dashed-dotted line.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

Therefore, in the conventional structure, when the above-mentioned bending motion is repeated, bending stress is concentrated near the connection part of the flexible cable with the printed circuit board, that is, the part A in FIG. 2, and as a result, the conductor pattern becomes significantly fatigued. There was a problem in that the conductor pattern was easily broken in this part A.

The present invention was developed to solve this problem, and can suppress the bending stress applied near the connection part of the flexible cable with the printed circuit board (movable part), making it difficult for the conductor pattern to break. The purpose is to realize the structure of the connection part between a flexible cable and a movable part.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention folds back a flexible cable arranged along the moving direction of a movable part, and connects the tip of the folded part to the movable part by pressure welding or soldering. In the structure of the connection part with the movable part, one end of the flexible film piece is formed in almost the same shape as the tip of the flexible cable, and the other end is formed with a part perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable. One end of this film piece is stacked and fixed onto the tip of the flexible cable as a tapered chevron shape whose cross-sectional area gradually changes up to the tip without holding the film piece, and the other end of the film piece is set as a free end and is fixed to the movable cable. It protrudes in the direction of movement of the part.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, when the folded portion of the flexible cable bends below the film piece as the movable part moves, the folded portion of the flexible cable bends around the connecting portion with the movable part. When bending above the film piece, the free end of the film piece restrains the bending of the flexible cable at the connection with the moving part.

As mentioned above, the free end of this film piece has a tapered mountain shape in which the cross-sectional area gradually changes up to the tip without having a part perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable, and Since only one end of the flexible cable on the opposite side is fixed on one end of the flexible cable, the bending stress applied near the connection part of the flexible cable with the movable part that comes into contact with the film piece is suppressed, and one end of the flexible cable Bending stress is no longer concentrated in one place, and thereby it is possible to completely prevent disconnection of the conductor pattern near the connection portion.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a rear view of the printing section of a printer equipped with an embodiment of the structure for connecting a flexible cable and a movable part according to the present invention. The figure shows a state in which it has moved toward the other end. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of the shape of the film piece used in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In Fig. 1, 1 is a guide shaft, 2 is a carriage, 3 is a printed circuit board, 4 is a ribbon feed mechanism, 5 is an ink ribbon cassette, 6 is a print head, 7 is a motor, 8 is a pinion, 9 is a flexible cable, and 10 is an elastic cable. The plates are identical to those of FIG. 2 and are similarly assembled.

11 is a film piece, and this film piece 11 is a third film piece.
As shown in the figure, one end 11a is formed in almost the same shape as the part where the terminal of the flexible cable 9 (two-dot chain line in Fig. 3) is formed, and a long hole 12 is provided in this part. Also, film piece 11
The other end 11b has no part perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable 9, and is formed into a tapered mountain shape whose cross-sectional area gradually changes up to the tip.

As shown in FIG. 1, one end 11a of this film piece 11 is stacked on one end of the flexible cable 9 and is fixed by being sandwiched between it and the elastic plate 10, and the other end 11b is a free end. It is made to protrude in the direction of movement of the printed circuit board 3.

The elongated hole 12 provided at one end 11a of the film piece 11 is for bringing the elastic plate 10 pressed by the case of the ribbon feed mechanism 4 into direct contact with the flexible cable 9. The terminals are connected to the corresponding terminals of the printed circuit board 3 by uniform pressure contact.

Next, the effect will be explained.

For example, when the motor 7 is rotated in the forward direction, the pinion 8
Due to the action of a rack (not shown), the printed circuit board 3 moves together with the carriage 2 and the like in the direction of the arrow a, as shown in FIG. At this time, A near the connection part of the flexible cable 9 with the printed circuit board 3
The section is bent downward as before.

That is, when the folded portion of the flexible cable 9 is bent below the film piece 11, it is bent around the connection portion with the printed circuit board 3.

On the other hand, when the motor 7 is reversely rotated and the printed circuit board 3 is moved together with the carriage 2 etc. in the direction of arrow b as shown in FIG. Therefore, the A part of the flexible cable 9 tends to bend upward, but since the flexible film piece 11 is located on this A part, the tapered shape of the film piece 11 The upward bending of the part A is suppressed by the free end of the film piece 11, and at the same time, the other free end 11b of the film piece 11 has a part that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable 9. In addition, the film piece 11 is not entirely fixed to the flexible cable 9, but one end is fixed on one end of the flexible cable 9. Therefore, the flexible cable 9 is gently bent upward at the other end 11b.

Therefore, as a result, the bending stress applied to the portion A of the flexible cable 9 can be alleviated, and the bending stress will not be concentrated in one place of the flexible cable 9.

In the embodiment described above, the film piece 11 is placed between one end of the flexible cable 9 and the elastic plate 10.
Although one end 11a of the film piece 11 is sandwiched and fixed, if the terminal of the flexible cable 9 and the terminal of the printed circuit board 3 are to be connected by soldering or the like, the one end 11a of the film piece 11 is inserted into the flexible cable 9.
It is sufficient to overlap one end of the elastic plate 10 and fix it by adhesion or the like. In this case, the elastic plate 10 becomes unnecessary, and the elongated hole 12 shown in FIG. 3 can be omitted.

Further, in the above embodiment, the printed circuit board 3 mounted on the printer's carriage 2 is used as the movable part connected to the flexible cable 9, but the movable part is not limited to this, and the movable part may be another electrical component. It may be hot.

Furthermore, the shape of the film piece 11 is not limited to a substantially pentagonal shape except for one end 11a as shown in FIG. It may be triangular, semicircular, semielliptical, etc. as long as it has a tapered shape in which the cross-sectional area gradually changes without having any shape.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, in the present invention, one end of a flexible film piece is formed in almost the same shape as the tip of the flexible cable, and the other end is formed at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable. One end of this film piece is stacked and fixed onto the tip of the flexible cable, and the other end is free. By having the end protrude in the moving direction of the movable part, when the folded part of the flexible cable bends below the film piece as the movable part moves, the connection part with the movable part can be bent. When the bent portion of the flexible cable is bent at the center and bent above the film piece, the free end of the film piece suppresses the bending of the flexible cable at the connection portion with the movable part.

As mentioned above, the free end of this film piece has a tapered mountain shape in which the cross-sectional area gradually changes up to the tip without having a part perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable, and Since only one end of the flexible cable on the opposite side is fixed on one end of the flexible cable, the bending stress applied near the connection part of the flexible cable with the movable part that comes into contact with the film piece is suppressed, and one end of the flexible cable Bending stress is no longer concentrated at any location, and therefore, even if the flexible cable repeatedly bends, it is possible to completely prevent disconnection of the conductor pattern near the connection portion.

In addition, since the present invention has a small radius of curvature of the flexible cable when the movable part is at one end of its movement range, that is, at the position shown in Figure 1, there is no need for space to accommodate the extra length of the flexible cable, resulting in a smaller device. This also has the effect of being able to achieve this.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of the printing unit in a printer equipped with an embodiment of the structure of the connecting portion between a flexible cable and a movable part according to the present invention, and the figure shows a state in which the movable part has moved to one end of the flexible cable. Figure 2 shows a state in which the movable part has moved to the other end of the flexible cable. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the shape of the film piece used in the embodiment of FIG. 1. 1... Guide shaft, 2... Carriage, 3
... Printed circuit board, 9 ... Flexible cable, 10 ... Elastic board, 11 ... Film piece.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A flexible cable arranged along the moving direction of a movable part is folded back, and the end of the folded part is connected to the movable part by pressure welding or soldering. In the structure of the connection part, one end of the flexible film piece is formed in almost the same shape as the tip of the flexible cable, and the other end is cut without having a part perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable. One end of this film piece is stacked and fixed onto the tip of the flexible cable as a tapered mountain shape whose area gradually changes up to the tip, and the other end of the film piece is set as a free end in the direction of movement of the movable part. When the folded part of the flexible cable is bent below the film piece as the movable part moves, the folded part of the flexible cable is bent around the connection part with the movable part, and the folded part of the flexible cable is bent below the film piece. A structure of a connecting portion between a flexible cable and a moving part, characterized in that when the flexible cable is bent upward, the tapered free end of the film piece suppresses the bending of the flexible cable at the connecting part with the moving part.