JPH06106828A - Ink ribbon and printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a printing device which does not require a cassette storing an ink ribbon and enables smooth replacement of the ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:A guide sheet 26 with rigidity which does not allow itself from hanging down by its own weight is provided at the tip of a film 25 coated with ink. If the tip is arranged at a specified position, a winding roll 29 provided on a device side is driven so that an ink ribbon 24 is allowed to be taken up by the winding roll 29 by a specified amount from a feed roll 28 side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat transfer type ink ribbon and a printing apparatus in which ink on an ink ribbon is melted and transferred onto a sheet by a heat sensitive head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus of this type, a thermal head is arranged opposite to a platen roller. The ink ribbon accommodated in the dedicated cassette passes between the thermal head and the recording paper on the platen roller, and the ink ribbon is transferred onto the recording paper in the meantime.

[0003]

However, since the above-mentioned ink ribbon is housed in a dedicated cassette, it is necessary to replace the entire cassette when replacing the ink ribbon. And that cassette is a cassette case,
Since it is composed of a supply roll, a winding roll, etc. and has a large number of parts, there is a problem in terms of cost.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable that the ink ribbon is not housed in a dedicated cassette but is replaced with one roll around which the ink ribbon is wound. However, in this case, a problem occurs when the ink ribbon is attached.

That is, since the ink ribbon is composed of a thin film coated with ink, when the ink ribbon is wound around the take-up roll on the printer side, the ink ribbon hangs or breaks. There was a problem that it hindered the installation work.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon and a printing apparatus capable of smoothly exchanging an ink ribbon without requiring a cassette for accommodating the ink ribbon. To provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in the first invention, a guide sheet having rigidity such that it does not sag under its own weight is provided at the tip of the film coated with ink. The summary will be given.

Further, in the second invention, when the tip of the ink ribbon wound around the supply roll is arranged at a predetermined position,
The gist of the invention is to provide a roll driving unit that drives a winding roll provided on the apparatus side to wind a predetermined amount of the ink ribbon from the supply roll side onto the winding roll.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the invention, since the guide sheet is provided at the tip of the ink ribbon so as not to hang down by its own weight, the ink ribbon is prevented from dripping or breaking when the ink ribbon is mounted.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the leading end portion of the ink ribbon wound around the supply roll is placed at a predetermined position when the ink ribbon is mounted, the roll drive control means
The take-up roll on the device side is driven. As a result, the ink ribbon is wound around the winding roll.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a facsimile machine will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, a reading section 2 for reading an image on a document G is arranged inside the apparatus case 1. Further, inside the apparatus case 1, a recording unit 3 for printing on the recording paper P based on the received image data and the like is arranged. Further, a paper feed cassette 4 for accommodating the recording paper P is removably mounted on the lower portion of the apparatus case 1 in the vertical direction. Recording unit 3
The upper part 1a of the device case 1 corresponding to can be opened and closed.

A document tray 6 on which documents G are stacked and supported is arranged on the upper part of the apparatus case 1, and a feeding force is applied to the document G on the tray 6 by a feed assist roller 7. Further, in the apparatus case 1, a separation roller 8 and a separation pad 9 for feeding the originals G one by one are supported. A pair of guide plates 1 is provided on the downstream side of the separation roller 8.
0 is supported, and both guide plates 10 form a transfer passage 10a through which the document G passes.

A reading window 11 is provided on the one guide plate 10.
Are formed. Then, the reflected light emitted from the light source 12 to the original G through the reading window 11 passes through the reading window 11 again, and finally illuminates the image sensor 15 through the plurality of mirrors 13 and the lenses 14. That is, the image of the document G is read by the image sensor 15.

A plurality of feed rollers 17 are rotatably supported between the transfer passage 10a and the document discharge port 16. The roller 17 discharges the document G after the image is read from the document discharge port 16.

A large number of recording papers P are accommodated inside the paper feed cassette 4 in a stacked state. A half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 18 is installed above the paper feed cassette 4 so as to be positively rotatable. Then, by the rotation of the paper feed roller 18, the recording paper P is sent from the inside of the paper feed cassette 4 via the guide plate 19 toward the recording unit 3 one by one. Also,
By the rotational force of the feed roller 20, the feed force is further applied to the recording paper P delivered from the paper feed cassette 4.

Next, the recording section 3 will be described. The recording unit 3 is composed of a platen roller 22, a thermal head 23 disposed in contact with the platen roller 22, and the like. An ink ribbon 24 is sandwiched between the platen roller 22 and the thermal head 23.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the ink ribbon 24 comprises a film 25 coated with ink and a guide sheet 26 made of synthetic resin, which is adhered to the tip of the film 25 and has no ink. There is. The synthetic resin sheet forming the guide sheet 26 has a rigidity higher than the rigidity of the film 25 and is such that it does not sag under its own weight. The rigidity is such that it bends when a slight force is applied from the outside. The leading edge of the guide sheet 26 is formed in an oblique shape. Further, a plurality of feed holes 27 are formed at the same pitch on both sides of the guide sheet 26. In addition, the ink ribbon 24
Before being mounted in the apparatus, is in a state of being wound around a supply roll 28 that is detachable from the apparatus case 1.
Then, when printing is performed after being mounted in the apparatus, the ink ribbon 24 is wound around a winding roll 29 that is rotatably fixedly supported in the apparatus case 1. In this embodiment, the replacement of the ink ribbon 24 is performed for each supply roll 28.

A gear 3 is attached to the shafts of the two rolls 28 and 29.
0 and 31 are provided respectively. This gear 30,3
The driving force of the motor M that constitutes the roll driving means is transmitted to the both rolls 28, 29 via 1
29 is rotated. The motor M is drive-controlled by a controller C described later.

At both ends of the winding roll 29, there are formed feed rollers 32 having feed teeth 32a for ribbon feeding which constitute roll driving means. This feed dog 32
The distance a is substantially the same as the pitch of the feed holes 27 formed in the guide sheet 26 of the ink ribbon 24. Also,
An auxiliary roller 33 is rotatably supported above the feed roller 32. On the peripheral surface of the auxiliary roller 33, a plurality of recesses 33a that engage with the feed teeth 32a of the feed roller 32 are formed. That is, the auxiliary roller 33 rotates as the winding roll 29 rotates.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a guide plate 34 formed in a curved shape in the winding direction of the winding roll 29 is arranged at a position facing the winding roll 29. The guide plate 34 is used for the ink ribbon 2
4, the guide sheet 26 is the winding roll 2
It is for guiding the ink ribbon 24 in the winding direction when the ink ribbon 24 is wound around 9. .

A ribbon sensor 35 is arranged near the auxiliary roller 33. When the ribbon sensor 35 detects a mark (not shown) at the end of the ink ribbon 24, the motor M is rotated in the reverse direction and the ink ribbon 24 is wound around the supply roll 28.

Further, while the motor M is rotating in the reverse direction, the ink ribbon 2
When the mark (not shown) at the start end of 4 is detected by the ribbon sensor 35, the reverse rotation of the motor M is stopped. Figure 1
As shown in, a guide plate 36 is provided on the upstream side of the platen roller 22. Further, the guide plate 36
A pair of supply rollers 37 for supply is supported on the upstream side of the so as to be positively rotatable. On the other hand, on the downstream side of the platen roller 22, a pair of ejection feed rollers 38 are rotatably supported. A recording paper discharge tray 39 is arranged further downstream thereof.

Between the feed roller 37 and the feed roller 20 arranged on the side of the sheet cassette 4,
The recording paper feed passage 40 formed by a pair of guide plates 41 communicates with each other. When the recording paper P delivered from the paper feed cassette 4 passes through the recording paper feed passage 40 and is supplied to the recording unit 3, the recording unit 3 makes a desired recording paper P. Data, received image information, etc. are printed. Then, the recording paper P is ejected to the recording paper ejection tray 39 by the rotational force of the ejection feed roller 38.

Next, the electrical configuration of the above facsimile apparatus will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. Note that, here, only the electrical configuration related to the main part of the present invention will be described.

The controller C is a central processing unit (CP).
U) 51, a read-only memory (ROM) 52 that stores each control program in advance, and a readable / writable memory (RAM) 5 that temporarily stores various information.
3 and 3.

The image sensor 15, the ribbon sensor 35 and the switch 42 provided on the apparatus case 1 are connected to the input side of the CPU 51. Also, CPU5
The thermal head 23 and the motor M are connected to the output side of 1. When the ON signal is input from the switch 42, the CPU 51 drives the motor M to rotate in the normal direction for a fixed time (5 seconds in this embodiment). The CPU 51 also drives the motor M and the recording unit 3 when printing the received image information and each data.

Next, the operation of the facsimile apparatus configured as described above will be described. Fig. 6 CP of controller C
7 is a flowchart showing a processing routine executed by U51 when the ink ribbon 24 is attached.

First, in step 101, it is awaited that the ribbon sensor 35 is turned on. When the ink ribbon 24 is used up and the end mark is detected by the ribbon sensor 35, the motor M is reversed in step 102, and the drawn ink ribbon 24 is again supplied to the supply roll 2.
It is rolled up to 8. Then, when the mark of the starting end of the ink ribbon 24 is detected by the ribbon sensor 35 in step 103, the rotation of the motor M is stopped in step 104. At this time, it is preferable to display a message on the display (not shown) prompting replacement of a new ink ribbon at the same time when the motor M is stopped.

Therefore, the operator can open the upper portion 1a of the apparatus case 1 and replace the supply roll 28 having the new ink ribbon 24 with the old one. That is, the worker removes the old supply roll 28 and replaces it with the new supply roll 28.
And the feed holes 27 of the guide sheet 26 are engaged with the feed teeth 32a of the feed roller 17. And CPU
Reference numeral 51 waits for the closing of the upper portion 1a of the apparatus case 1, that is, the ON operation of the switch 42 following the completion of ribbon replacement.

Then, at step 105, it is judged if the ON signal is inputted from the switch 42. When the switch 42 is turned on, the process proceeds to the next step 106. In steps 106 and 107, the motor M is normally driven for 5 seconds. Therefore, the ink ribbon 24 is pulled out by the rotation of the feed roller 20. In this case, since the guide sheet 26 has such rigidity that it does not hang down under its own weight,
The guide plate 34 is engaged with the guide plate 34.
It is wound around the winding roll 29 along the curved shape of. Then, in step 108, the driving of the motor M is stopped and the subsequent processing is ended.

In this embodiment, when the ink ribbon 24 is replaced, the used ink ribbon 24 is first fed to the supply roll 2.
It is wound up on side 8. Then, the supply roll 28 is removed from the device case 1. Next, the supply roll 28 around which the unused ink ribbon 24 is wound is mounted in the device case 1. Then, the leading end of the ink ribbon 24 wound around the supply roll 28, that is, the guide sheet 26.
Is drawn out to the winding roll 29 side. When the guide sheet 26 is detected by the ribbon sensor 35, the motor M is driven and the rolls 28 and 29 are rotated.

In this way, the ink ribbon 24 is set in the required state. As described above in detail, in the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 24 can be replaced without accommodating the ink ribbon 24 in the dedicated cassette, unlike the conventional case. Therefore, the cassette case and the like are not needed, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost of the ink ribbon can be reduced.

When replacing the ink ribbon,
It is possible to carry out the work with the guide sheet 26 having no ink, and the work can be carried out easily. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but may be configured as follows, for example, within the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the CPU 51 drives the motor M in the normal direction based on the operation of the switch 42 on the apparatus case, and the winding roll 29 is rotated in the winding direction. . This is the upper part 1 of the device case 1.
The motor M may be automatically rotated normally by the closing operation of a.

(2) In the above embodiment, the embodiment is embodied as a facsimile machine, but it may be embodied as a word processor or printer equipped with a thermal transfer type printing device. (3) In the above-described embodiment, the feed hole 27 is formed in the guide sheet 26, and the feed tooth 32a of the feed roller 32 that is integrally rotated with the take-up roll 29 is engaged with the hole 27 to wind the ink ribbon 24. However, the ink ribbon 24 is formed without forming the feed hole 27 in the guide sheet 26 and the feed roller 32 in the winding roll 29.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the winding is performed.

In this case, on the upper part of the winding roll 29,
An auxiliary roller 33 that holds the ink ribbon 24 in cooperation with the take-up roll 29 is provided so as to be movable in the extension line direction of the diameter of the take-up roll 29. Therefore, the feed roller 32 and the feed hole 27 on the guide sheet 26 are unnecessary.

[0038]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
There is no need for a cassette for accommodating the ink ribbon, the number of parts is reduced, and the ink ribbon can be replaced inexpensively and easily, which is an excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a facsimile apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing an ink ribbon, rolls, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an ink ribbon, rolls, and the like.

FIG. 4 is a schematic development side view showing an ink ribbon, rolls, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU.

[Explanation of symbols]

24 ... Ink ribbon, 25 ... Film, 26 ... Guide sheet 28 ... Supply roll, 29 ... Winding roll, 32 ... Feed roller that constitutes roll driving means, M ... Motor that constitutes roll driving means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tip of a film coated with ink,
An ink ribbon provided with a guide sheet having a rigidity such that it does not sag under its own weight. 2. When the front end of the ink ribbon wound around the supply roll is arranged at a predetermined position, a take-up roll provided on the apparatus side is driven to move a predetermined amount of the ink ribbon from the supply roll side. A printing apparatus provided with a roll driving unit that winds a winding roll.