JPH06115234A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate insertion and extraction in a tape printing apparatus by enabling the ribbon cassette and tape cassette to be inserted and extracted easily, and permitting them to be turned into one cartridge. CONSTITUTION:Since the structure is made such that insertion and extraction can be done by providing snap-fits 4-2 and 4-1, insertion and extraction can be performed readily with the tape cassette 18, and by putting the ribbon cassette 17 and tape cassette 18 together, a tape cartridge 19 is formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a tape cartridge for a tape printing apparatus dedicated to printing on a tape contained in a tape cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional tape printer is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-3.
23429 has the structure shown in FIG. 2, and the ribbon cassette 78, the transparent tape 102, and the tape with release paper 70 are separated. Therefore, the ribbon cassette 78, the transparent tape 102 and the tape with release paper 70 are separately mounted when they are mounted in the tape printing apparatus.

In the structure shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-56666, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 15, the printing tape 17 and the double-sided adhesive tape 19 are all housed in a single ribbon tape ribbon cassette 1. Has become.

[0004]

However, Japanese Patent Application No. 62-
323429, the ribbon cassette 78
When the transparent tape 102 and the tape 70 with release paper are attached to the tape printing device separately, it is very difficult to attach and also difficult to remove when used. It was very annoying to the person.

In the method shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 2-56666, the combination of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 15, the printing tape 17 and the double-sided adhesive tape 19 is limited to one type, and the user has several types of thermal transfer ink. When it is desired to combine various colors with the ribbon 15, the printing tape 17, and the double-sided adhesive tape 19, many ribbon cassettes 1 for label tapes have to be purchased.

The present invention has been made to solve such drawbacks, and has a structure which can be easily attached to and detached from a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon and a tape cassette containing a transparent tape and a tape with release paper. To provide a tape cartridge that can be easily combined and integrated, and to freely combine a plurality of tape cassettes corresponding to a plurality of adhesive colors or tape colors and a plurality of ribbon cassettes corresponding to a plurality of ink colors. Therefore, it is possible to supply colorful prints to users at low cost.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a ribbon cassette having an ink ribbon and a tape cassette having an adhesive tape member and a tape member. One of the tape cassettes has an elastic portion having a convex portion or a concave portion, and the other has a concave portion engaging with the convex portion or a convex portion engaging with the concave portion, and the opening portion of the ribbon cassette. The ink ribbon exposed at 1 and the tape member exposed at the opening of the tape cassette are combined and combined so as to overlap with each other.

[0008]

According to the above structure of the present invention, the ribbon cassette having the elastic portion having the convex portion or the concave portion can be easily attached and detached by engaging the convex portion or the concave portion having the tape cassette, respectively. Several tape cartridges can be obtained by combining any ribbon cassette and tape cassette.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a tape cartridge 19 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The tape cartridge 19 is composed of a ribbon cassette 17 and a tape cassette 18, and the tape cartridge 19 is removed for clarity. Shows. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the ribbon cassette 17 is attached to the tape cassette 18 as seen from the cross section AA.

The structure of the tape cartridge 19 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a hole 6-1 whose outer peripheral surface is formed of a rubber member and which is rotatably supported by a platen roller shaft (not shown).
A platen roller (shown in FIG. 4) rotatably supported, 7 is a tape feed transmission gear shaft (not shown)
A tape holding roller 8 having a hole 7-1 (described in FIG. 4) pivotally supported on the rotatably supported rotatably, a transparent film 8 is drawn in the direction of arrow F and exposed at the opening 21. There is. Reference numeral 9 is a double-sided tape composed of release paper and adhesive, 10 is a tape guide roller having a groove (not shown) on the circumferential surface, and 11 is a snap fit portion of the ribbon cassette. A tape case (lower) and a tape case (upper) 12 each having an engaging claw 11-1 and an engaging groove 11-2. Further, a penetrating portion 13 is provided near the center of the outer shape of the tape cassette 18 constituted by the tape case (upper) 12 and the tape case (lower) 11 so that the ribbon cassette 17 can be inserted and removed. The above is the description of the structure of the tape cassette 18.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a thermal ink ribbon in which an ink having a characteristic of being melted by heat generated by a print head 2 (shown in FIG. 5) is applied to a film body, which is drawn in the direction of arrow I and exposed at an opening 20. There is. The deformed hole 3-1 on the ribbon take-up core 3 engages with a ribbon take-up shaft (not shown), the power of the ribbon take-up shaft is transmitted, and the ink ribbon 1 is taken up by the ribbon take-up core 3. To be 4 is a snap fit used when detaching from the tape case (bottom) 11 4-
The ribbon case (lower) having 1 and 4-2 and the snap fits 4-1 and 4-2 have a spring property and can be tilted by applying a force from the outside. Further, the snap fit 4-1 has an engaging claw 4-3 for engaging with the engaging groove 11-2 of the tape case (lower) 11, and the snap fit 4-2 has the engaging shape of the tape case (lower) 11. Engaging claw 1
It has an engagement window 4-4 for engaging with 1-1. The above is the description of the structure of the ribbon cassette 17. A ribbon cassette 17 constituted by the ribbon case (upper) 5 and the ribbon case (lower) 4 has a thermal head (FIG.
A penetrating portion 22 for interposing the above). The outer shape of the ribbon cassette 17 is formed to be slightly smaller than the shape of the penetrating portion 13 of the tape cassette 18, so that the ribbon cassette 17 and the tape cassette 18 can be smoothly inserted and removed. Further, when the ribbon cassette 17 is mounted on the tape cassette 18, the positions of the opening 20 and the opening 21 are substantially aligned with each other, and the ink ribbon 1 and the transparent film 8 are superposed.

The above is the description of the structure of the tape cartridge 19 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Next, a method for detaching the ribbon cassette 17 from the tape cassette 18 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken from a section AA (shown in FIG. 1) showing a state where the ribbon cassette 17 is removed from the tape cassette 18.

Snap fit 4 of ribbon cassette 17
-1 and 4-2 are moved by the index finger 14 and the thumb 15 to move the index finger 14 in the arrow B direction and the thumb 15 in the arrow C direction. At that time, the engaging window 4-4 of the ribbon case (lower) 4 and the engaging claw 11- of the tape case (lower) 11 which have been engaged until then.
1 is an engagement window 4-4 by tilting the snap fit 4-2 to the inner wall 4-5 of the ribbon case (lower) 4.
The engagement claw 11-1 is in a state where the engagement is released. On the other hand, the engagement claws 4-3 of the ribbon case (bottom) 4 and the engagement groove 11-2 of the tape case (bottom) 11 that are engaged with each other are also positions where the snap fit 4-1 is disengaged. It is released by tilting to. In this state, by raising the ribbon cassette 17 in the direction of arrow D, the ribbon cassette 17 can be smoothly removed without coming into contact with each component. When the ribbon cassette 17 is attached to the tape cassette 18, the ribbon cassette 17 is inserted into the penetrating portion 13 of the tape cassette 18 from above. At that time, snap fits 4-1 and 4-2 are tape cases (bottom) 11
The insertion claws 11-1 and 11-2 of the tape case (bottom) 11 are inserted along the engagement claws 11-1 and the engagement grooves 11-2 of FIG. And is mounted on the tape cassette. Therefore, the tape cartridge 19 is configured in this state.

FIG. 4 is a top sectional view showing the inside of the tape cartridge 19 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The running path of the tapes will be described with reference to FIG.

By pulling out the transparent film 8 adhered to the double-sided tape 9 in the direction of arrow E, the transparent film 8 rotates in the direction of arrow F, and the double-sided tape 9 rotates in the direction of arrow G. At that time, the tape guide roller 10 in contact with the double-sided tape 9 rotates in the direction of arrow H. As the transparent film 8 runs, the thermal ink ribbon 1 is sent in the direction of arrow I, and the slack generated there is taken up by the ribbon take-up core rotating in the direction of arrow J.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the tape cassette 18 of the embodiment of the present invention in which the ribbon cassette 17 is attached to the tape cassette 18 is attached to the tape printer.

The print head 2 is positioned in contact with the platen roller 6, and the tape feed roller 16 is positioned in contact with the tape pressing roller 7. This state is a printable state. The printing operation is the same as the printing operation described in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-323429. Therefore, the ink applied to the thermal ink ribbon 1 is transferred to the transparent film 8 for printing, and the ink is transferred to the transparent film 8. Stick the double-sided tape 9 together.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the ribbon cassette is provided with the snap fit so as to be detachable, the ribbon cassette can be easily inserted into and removed from the tape cassette, and both can be combined to form an integrated tape cartridge. can do.

Therefore, when the tape cartridge is mounted on the tape printer, the tape cartridge can be easily mounted with one touch, thus eliminating the operational trouble for the user. Also, by freely combining a plurality of tape cassettes corresponding to a plurality of adhesive colors and a plurality of ribbon cassettes corresponding to a plurality of ink colors, it is possible to provide colorful printing at low cost.

As described above, according to the present invention, the great effects as described above can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a tape cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a tape cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing how the ribbon cassette is removed from the tape cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an upper sectional view showing the inside of the tape cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing a state in which the tape cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention is attached to the tape printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Thermal Ink Ribbon 3 Ribbon Winding Core 4 Ribbon Case (Lower) 5 Ribbon Case (Upper) 6 Platen Roller 7 Tape Holding Roller 8 Transparent Film 9 Double-sided Tape 11 Tape Case (Lower) 12 Tape Case (Upper) 17 Ribbon Cassette 18 Tape cassette 19 Tape cartridge

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ribbon cassette including an ink ribbon, and a tape cassette including an adhesive tape member and a tape member, wherein either one of the ribbon cassette and the tape cassette has an elastic portion having a convex portion or a concave portion. On the other hand, a concave portion that engages with the convex portion or a convex portion that engages with the concave portion is provided, and the ink ribbon exposed at the opening portion of the ribbon cassette and the tape exposed at the opening portion of the tape cassette. A tape cartridge characterized in that the tape cartridge is constructed by combining members so that they are superposed.