JPH05294049A - Ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly change peel force with respect to peeling at the time of heating and peeling at the time of cooling and to perform good printing due to proper peel force corresponding to the kind of printing. CONSTITUTION:A taking-up bobbin 7 and a feed-out bobbin 8 are arranged on the upper surface of the carriage 5 freely reciprocally moved along a platen 2 in a freely detachable manner and a taking-up reel 49 having an ink ribbon wound therearound and a feed-out reel 50 are arranged in the carriage 5 so as to be respectively engaged with the bobbins 7,8. Further, the taking-up guide roller 51 and the feed-out guide roller 52 respectively engaged with the second taking-up bobbin 40 and second feed-out bobbin 41 formed to the carriage 5 are arranged on the way of the running route of an ink ribbon 47 and the outer diameter of at least one of the guide rollers 51, 52 is changed corresponding to the kind of the ink ribbon 47.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette,
In particular, the present invention relates to a ribbon cassette in which a guide roller is rotationally driven to perform an ink ribbon winding and feeding operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer. A platen 2 having a flat plate shape is arranged at a substantially central portion of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is arranged in parallel to the platen 2 below the front side of the platen 2 of the frame 1. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed on the front edge of the frame 1, and a carriage 5 reciprocates on the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. It is movably attached. A thermal head 6 is attached to the tip of the carriage 5 so as to face the platen 2, and an ink ribbon is stored on the upper surface of the carriage 5, and the ink ribbon is attached to the thermal head 6 and the platen 2. A ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between the two is installed. Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a winding bobbin 7 for winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette and a delivery bobbin 8 for delivering the ink ribbon are arranged.

A sheet insertion port 9 for feeding a sheet (not shown) to the front of the platen 2 is formed in the rear of the platen 2, and the sheet insertion port 9 has a predetermined speed at the portion. A paper feed roller 10 that conveys a paper is provided. Below the paper feed roller 10, a pressure contact roller 11 which is brought into pressure contact with the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably arranged, and the paper feed roller is provided with a transmission gear group 12 on one side surface of the frame. A paper feed motor 13 that is driven to rotate is provided. Then, by driving the paper feed motor 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 10, the paper inserted between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11 is pinched and conveyed from the paper insertion opening 9. It is designed to do.

In the conventional printer, a sheet is inserted through the sheet insertion port 9, the sheet is sandwiched between the sheet feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11, and the sheet feed motor 13 drives the sheet feed roller 10. By rotating and driving, the paper is conveyed at a predetermined speed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5. On the other hand, the thermal head 6 is pressed against the paper with a predetermined pressing force, and in this state, the carriage 5 is moved and the winding bobbin 7 is rotated to wind the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette, By driving the thermal head 6 based on a desired print signal, desired printing is performed on the paper.

Conventionally, for example, plain paper, which is a general recording paper, and an overhead projector (OH
When printing on plain paper, the thermal head is pressed against the platen with a strong pressure contact force with the OHP paper used for P). In this state, hot peeling printing is performed. When printing on OHP paper, cold peeling printing is performed with the thermal head pressed against the platen with a weak pressing force. ..

[0006]

However, in such a conventional thermal transfer printer, when performing peeling printing at the time of heat, a large take-up torque of the ink ribbon is formed,
It is possible to obtain better printing by forming a large peeling force of the ink ribbon from the paper. Also, when performing cold peeling printing, in contrast to hot peeling printing, the ink ribbon winding It is possible to obtain better printing by forming the take-off torque to be small and the peeling force of the ink ribbon from the paper to be small. The same ribbon cassette that contains the ink ribbon for cold peeling is used, and the peeling force does not change depending on the structure of the ribbon cassette. Since the torque is constant, there is a problem that good printing cannot be performed by various types of printing with an appropriate peeling force.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and the winding torque can be appropriately changed with respect to hot peeling and cold peeling, and an appropriate peeling force depending on the type of printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ribbon cassette capable of performing excellent printing according to.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the ribbon cassette according to the present invention is detachably mounted on the upper surface of a carriage which is reciprocally movable along a platen, and is internally mounted on the carriage. In a ribbon cassette having a take-up reel and a take-up bobbin, which are respectively engaged with the take-up bobbin and the take-up bobbin, on which an ink ribbon is wound, and a take-up reel and a take-up reel, which are provided in the ribbon cassette A winding guide roller and a feeding guide roller that are engaged with the second winding bobbin and the second feeding bobbin formed on the carriage, and at least the winding guide roller or the feeding guide roller The feature is that one outer diameter is changed according to the type of the ink ribbon.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the winding drive torque of the second winding bobbin is changed by changing the outer diameter of at least one of the winding guide roller and the feeding guide roller of the ribbon cassette according to the type of the ink ribbon. Since the peeling force of the ink ribbon can be changed even when the peeling force is constant, for example, when performing peeling printing at hot and cold peeling, It can be adjusted appropriately.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer in which a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is mounted. A thermal head 6 is attached to a carriage 5 which is reciprocally movable along a platen 2. A motor 14 is provided for performing contact / separation operation with respect to the platen 2 and ink ribbon winding control, and a transmission gear 16 is meshed with an output pinion gear 15 of the motor 14. This transmission gear 16
A gear portion 18 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cam 17 is meshed with the cam 17, and the head contact / separation cam groove 19 and the head contact / separation cam groove 19 are wider than the head contact / separation cam groove 19 on the upper surface of the cam 17. The shallow ribbon winding cam grooves 20 are formed, respectively.

A support shaft 21 is disposed near the platen 2 of the carriage 5. In the present embodiment, the support shaft 21 is located on the upper surface of the carriage 5 as shown in FIG. It is formed so as to project. A substantially T-shaped head lever 22 constituting a head contact / separation mechanism is swingably attached to the support shaft 21 about the support shaft 21, and a portion of the head lever 22 near the platen 2 is attached. A head mount 23 facing the platen 2 is fixed by screws. A thermal head 6 is mounted on the surface of the head mount 23 facing the platen 2, and a stopper 24 is provided on the head mount 23 so as to have a predetermined distance from the back surface of the head mount 23. It is projected.

Further, a substantially L-shaped head pressure contact lever 25 is attached to the support shaft 21 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 21, and the head pressure contact lever 25 is provided.
The head contact / separation cam groove 19 of the cam 17 is provided at one end of the
Is formed with a pin 26. The other end of the head pressure contact lever 25 is arranged between the back surface of the head mount 23 of the head lever 22 and the stopper 24. The other end of the head pressure contact lever 25 has a spring holding portion 27. Is erected. Further, the spring holding portion 2
A strong pressure contact spring 28 is interposed between the head mounting base 23 and the head mounting base 23, and the head pressure contact lever 25 is brought into contact with the stopper 24 of the head lever 22 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28. The head pressure contact lever 25 and the head lever 22 are integrally rotated by the rotation of the cam 17 when the head is moved up and down.

A drive gear 30 meshed with a rack 29 formed in the printer is rotatably arranged on a support shaft 31 on the carriage 5, and the support shaft 31 and the head lever 22 are provided. A weak pressure contact spring 32 having a weaker spring pressure than the strong pressure contact spring 28 is provided between the head lever 22 and the platen 2 so that the head lever 22 always applies a biasing force to the platen 2. There is.

A swing plate 33 is attached to the support shaft 31 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 31,
A pin 34 that engages with the ribbon winding cam groove 20 of the cam 17 is formed at one end of the swing plate 33. Here, the pin 34 of the oscillating plate 33 is formed thicker than the width of the head contact / separation cam groove 19.
Does not fall into the head contact / separation cam groove 19. Further, support shafts 35 and 36 are provided on both sides of the support shaft 31 of the swing plate 33 so as to project therefrom.
A winding transmission gear 37 and a delivery transmission gear 38 that are meshed with the drive gear 30 are rotatably attached to the gears 5 and 36, respectively.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an ink ribbon take-up bobbin 7 and an ink ribbon delivery bobbin 8 are arranged on the carriage 5, respectively, and as shown in FIG.
Below the winding bobbin 7, the winding transmission gear 3 is provided.
A take-up gear 39 meshing with 7 is coaxially attached via a friction mechanism (not shown).

Further, in the present embodiment, the carriage 5 is provided with a second take-up bobbin 40 and a second feed-out bobbin 41, respectively, and below the second take-up bobbin 40. A second winding gear 43, which meshes with the winding gear 39 of the winding bobbin 7 via a transmission gear 42, is coaxially attached. Below the second delivery bobbin 41, a second delivery gear 45 which is meshed with the delivery transmission gear 38 via a plurality of transmission gears 44 is coaxially attached. Then, by the swing of the swing plate 33, the take-up transmission gear 37 and the delivery transmission gear 3
8 is meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, respectively, whereby the take-up bobbin 7, the second take-up bobbin 40 and the second delivery bobbin 41 are rotationally driven.

Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a photo sensor 4 for detecting the end of the ink ribbon to be used and a color marker of the color ink ribbon.
6 are provided.

Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a ribbon cassette 48 accommodating an ink ribbon 47 is detachably mounted, and the ribbon cassette 48 is engaged with the take-up bobbin 7 and the delivery bobbin 8 and the ink ribbon A take-up reel 49 around which 47 is wound and a delivery reel 50 are arranged. The ribbon cassette 48 has the second
A winding guide roller 51 and a feeding guide roller 52 which are engaged with the winding bobbin 40 and the second feeding bobbin 41 to guide the ink ribbon 47 are provided.
In this embodiment, the winding guide roller 51 is
The ribbon cassette 48 accommodating the hot peeling ink ribbon 47 has an outer diameter of, for example, about 10 mm, and in the ribbon cassette 48 accommodating the cold peeling ink ribbon 47, Outer diameter is
For example, the winding guide roller 51 of the hot peeling ink ribbon 47 has a smaller outer diameter than the winding guide roller 51 of the hot peeling ink ribbon 47. Is formed in. Further, a concave portion 53 into which the thermal head 6 is inserted is formed in a central portion of the ribbon cassette 48 on the platen 2 side, and the support shafts 21 are respectively provided at symmetrical positions on both sides of the concave portion 53 of the ribbon cassette 48. Is formed with a notch 54.

Since FIG. 1 shows a so-called multi-time ink ribbon cassette which can be used upside down, two notches 54 are formed at symmetrical positions of the recess 53 into which the thermal head 6 is inserted. However, in the case of a so-called one-time ribbon, the notch 54 is
It may be formed only in one place.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, when the cam 17 is rotated in the leftmost direction in the drawing, the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is located at the outermost periphery of the head contact / separation cam groove 19. The head pressure contact lever 25 is swung to the leftmost side in FIG. 2, the head pressure contact lever 25 is contacted with the stopper 24 of the head lever 22 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28, and the head mount 23 is moved. Since the head pressure contact lever 25 is operated together with the head pressure contact lever 25, the thermal head 6 is held in the head-up state separated from the platen 2 by the swing of the head pressure contact lever 25.

On the other hand, by the ribbon winding cam groove 20,
The oscillating plate 33 is oscillated to the left, and the take-up transmission gear 37 and the sending-out transmission gear 38 supported by the oscillating plate 33 are meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, respectively. When the drive gear 30 meshed with the rack 29 is rotationally driven by moving the plate 5 along the platen 2, the take-up gear 39, the second take-up gear 43 and the second take-up gear 43 and the second take-up gear 43 via the transmission gears 42 and 44. The delivery gear 45 is rotationally driven, and the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40
By the rotational drive of the second delivery bobbin 41, the ink ribbon 47 is wound and delivered.

No printing is performed at the position of the cam 17, and when the color ink ribbon 47 is used, color sensing by the photosensor or the ink ribbon 4 is performed.
The slack removal operation is performed when the slack is at 7.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the cam 17 is rotated to the right by driving the motor 14 from the state of FIG. 2, the head pressure contact lever 25 is not rocked and the thermal head 6 is moved to the platen. The rocking plate 33 is rocked rightward by the ribbon winding cam groove 20 while being held in a head-up state separated from the position 2, and the transmission gears 42 and 44 of the rocking plate 33 are separated from the winding gear 39. It In this state, even if the carriage 5 moves, the rotation of the drive gear 30 is not transmitted to the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40, and the winding operation of the ink ribbon 47 is not performed. Used for return operation or ribbon save operation.

Further, when performing normal printing on plain paper or the like, as shown in FIG. 4, by further driving the motor 14 from the state shown in FIG. 3 to rotate the cam 17 to the right, Since the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is located at a position closest to the center of rotation of the head contact / separation cam groove 19, the head pressure contact lever 25 is supported by the support shaft 2
It is swung in the rightmost direction around 1. This allows
The head pressure contact lever 25 is separated from the stopper 24 of the head mount base 23, and the head mount base 23 is separated by a spring holding portion 27 of the head pressure contact lever 25 via a strong pressure contact spring 28.
Is pressed, and in this state, the head lever 22 is
Since the urging force of the weak pressure contact spring 32 is applied, a pressing force that is the sum of the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28 and the urging force of the weak pressure contact spring 32 is applied to the head mount 23. The thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 with a strong pressing force.

On the other hand, the oscillating plate 33 is rotated leftward from the state shown in FIG. 3, and the winding transmission gear 37 of the oscillating plate 33 is meshed with the winding gear 39 again and is sent out. The transmission gear 38 meshes with the transmission gear 44, and the movement of the carriage 5 causes the ink ribbon 47 to be wound and delivered.

In this state, by moving the carriage 5, the drive gear 30 is rotationally driven via the rack 29, and the winding gear 39, via the transmission gears 42, 44.
The second winding gear 43 and the second feeding gear 45 are rotated to drive the winding bobbin 7, the second winding bobbin 40 and the second feeding bobbin 41 to rotate, whereby the winding reel 49 and the winding reel 49 are wound. The ribbon guide 4 is rotated by rotating the take-out guide roller 51 and the delivery guide roller 52, respectively.
By winding the ink ribbon 47 of No. 8 and driving the thermal head 6 based on a desired print signal,
Printing is performed on a predetermined sheet. At this time, in the present embodiment, since the outer diameter of the winding guide roller 51 is formed large, the outer peripheral surface of the winding guide roller 51 with respect to the rotation of the second winding bobbin 40 having a constant rotational force. The rotation torque of the winding guide roller 51 is increased, the winding torque of the winding guide roller 51 is increased, and the ink ribbon 47 can be separated from the paper with a large peeling force, and the thermal head 6 has a strong pressing force. Since it is pressure-contacted with, good printing can be performed by peeling at the time of heat.

Unlike normal printing, when printing is performed on paper for an overhead projector (OHP) or the like, as shown in FIG.
Is driven to rotate the cam 17 further to the left, the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is positioned at the innermost peripheral portion of the head contact / separation cam groove 19, and the head contact / separation cam groove 19 at this position is located. Is formed to have a large width, a gap is formed between the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 and the head contact / separation cam groove 19. As a result, the head pressure contact lever 25 is rotated so as to contact the stopper 24 by the biasing force of the strong pressure contact spring 28, so that the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 by the biasing force of only the weak pressure contact spring 32. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing with a weak pressure contact force as compared with the case of normal printing. Also,
Even when the cam 17 is rotated, the take-up transmission gear 37 and the delivery transmission gear 38 of the swing plate 33 are held in a state of being meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, so that normal printing is performed. In the same manner as in the above case, the ink ribbon 47 can be wound and delivered by moving the carriage 5. In this case, the ribbon cassette 4
Since the winding guide roller 51 of No. 8 has a smaller diameter than the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 accommodating the ink ribbon 47 for hot peeling, the winding guide roller 51 by the rotation of the second winding bobbin 40. By reducing the winding torque of, the winding is substantially performed only by the winding bobbin, and as a result,
The ink ribbon 47 can be peeled off from the paper with a weak peeling force, and since the thermal head is pressed against with a weak pressing force, proper printing can be performed by peeling under cold conditions.

By selecting the position of the cam 17 according to the required situation in this way, various operations required for the thermal transfer printer can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the case where the second winding bobbin 40 is directly connected to the winding gear 39 of the winding bobbin without a friction mechanism has been described. When the bobbin 40 is connected to the winding gear 39 through a friction mechanism,
The winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 containing the hot peeling ink ribbon 47 is formed to have a smaller diameter than the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 containing the cold peeling ink ribbon 47. You can do this. Further, the delivery guide roller 52 of the ribbon cassette 48 that is engaged with the second delivery bobbin 41 is also changed in outer diameter according to the type of the ink ribbon 47, so that the delivery amount of the ink ribbon 47 can be controlled. By controlling, the winding torque can be adjusted, and further, the peeling force can be adjusted by changing the outer diameters of both the winding guide roller 51 and the delivery guide roller 52. Good.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the peeling force of the ink ribbon 47 can be changed by changing the outer diameter of the winding guide roller 51 of the ribbon cassette 48 according to the type of the ink ribbon 47. Therefore, even if the winding drive torque by the second winding bobbin 40 is constant, the peeling force can be appropriately adjusted for the hot peeling print and the cold peeling print, and the hot peeling print and the cold peel print can be adjusted. Good printing can be performed with an appropriate peeling force according to the time peeling printing.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but various modifications can be made if necessary.

[0034]

As described above, in the ribbon cassette according to the present invention, the winding torque can be changed according to the type of the ink ribbon by changing the outer diameter of the guide roller. Even if the winding drive torque by the second winding bobbin is constant, the peeling force can be properly adjusted for various prints, and appropriate peeling can be performed according to hot peeling print and cold peeling print. There is an effect that good printing can be performed by force.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer equipped with a ribbon cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an ink ribbon sensing operation state by the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

3 is a configuration diagram showing a carriage return operation state of the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a printing state on plain paper by the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

5 is a configuration diagram showing a printing state on OHP paper by the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view showing a ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 platen 5 carriage 6 thermal head 7 winding bobbin 8 feeding bobbin 17 cam 19 head contacting / separating cam groove 20 ribbon winding cam groove 21 support shaft 22 head lever 25 head pressure contact lever 33 swing plate 37 winding transfer gear 38 sending-out transmission gear 39 winding-up gear 40 second winding bobbin 41 second sending-out bobbin 43 second winding-up gear 45 second sending-out gear 47 ink ribbon 48 ribbon cassette 49 winding-up reel 50 sending-out reel 51 winding-up Guide roller 52 Feeding guide roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carriage, which is reciprocally movable along a platen, is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the carriage, and is engaged with a winding bobbin and a feeding bobbin disposed on the upper surface of the carriage. In a ribbon cassette including a take-up reel around which an ink ribbon is wound and a take-out reel, a second take-up bobbin and a second take-out bobbin formed on the carriage in the middle of a traveling path of the ink ribbon. A winding guide roller and a delivery guide roller that are engaged with the bobbin are provided, and the outer diameter of at least one of the winding guide roller and the delivery guide roller is changed according to the type of the ink ribbon. Ribbon cassette.