JPH06143773A - Ribbon cassette and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a ribbon cassette capable of preventing adhesion of an adhesive layer of a printing tape to a platen and jamming of a printing tape at a tape outlet. CONSTITUTION:A ribbon cassette 1 contains a printing tape 3 and an ink ribbon 5 running between a printing head provided on a printer and a platen 9 which contact with and separate from the printing head. A tape supply spool for supplying the printing tape 3, a ribbon supply spool for supplying the ink ribbon, and the platen 9 are provided. The ribbon cassette 1 consists of a main body part 2 having an opening part where the printing head is to be placed and a cover part for covering the main body part 2. An idler roll 11 having a diameter smaller than that of the platen 9 is disposed on the stream or downstream side of the platen 9. The platen 9 and the idler roll 11 are made of a non- adherent material.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette and a printing device. More specifically, it is a ribbon cassette and a printing device for a novel printing tape having no separator, which prevents adhesion of the printing tape to the platen and prevents clogging of the printing tape at the cassette outlet. The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette and a printing device that can achieve a running state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, characters and symbols are thermally transferred onto a synthetic resin film by using a thermal head, the film is cut at an appropriate position, and then a separator on the back side of the film is formed. There is known a tape printer which peels off the tape and attaches the printed tape to a file, stationery or the like. Then, for this tape printer, a ribbon cassette is used in which a synthetic resin film (printing tape) having a separator on the back surface via an adhesive layer and an ink ribbon are housed.

By the way, the conventional printing tape has the separator as described above, and glassine paper or the like is used as the separator, but the thickness thereof is about half the thickness of the printing tape. Was there. As a result, the length of the printing tape that can be stored in the cassette (hereinafter referred to as the winding length) becomes short, and there is a drawback that the printing tape must be replenished frequently. Moreover, the used cassettes are discarded as they are, but if the winding length is short, the cassettes must be replaced frequently, which is a waste of resources. In addition, it is necessary to peel off the separator after printing on the printing tape and before adhering it to the target object, which is troublesome.

In order to solve such a problem, the applicant of the present application has proposed a printing tape without a separator (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-230509). This printing tape is characterized in that the surface on which an impression is formed has a weak releasability and an adhesive layer having a weak adhesive force is provided on the opposite surface. With such a configuration, the winding length can be increased, there is no need to remove the separator after printing, and the effect of contributing to resource saving can be obtained.

However, even though the printing tape has the above-mentioned excellent advantages, if it is used as it is in a conventional ribbon cassette, the following problems occur.

That is, the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer of the printing tape adheres to the platen, and a smooth running state cannot be obtained. In some cases, the adhesive layer is completely adhered and clogs at the cassette outlet. Further, the printing tape is clogged at the cassette outlet due to the stiffness of the tape itself and the adhesion of the adhesive layer to the tape outlet.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a ribbon cassette suitable for accommodating and using the novel printing tape described above, and a printer suitable for mounting the ribbon cassette. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

A ribbon cassette according to the present invention accommodates a print tape and an ink ribbon which run between a print head provided in a printing device and a platen which comes into contact with and separates from the print head. A ribbon cassette, a tape supply spool for supplying the printing tape,
A ribbon supply spool for supplying the ink ribbon, and a platen, and a main body having an opening in which the print head is disposed, and a lid covering the main body, (1) An idle roll having a diameter smaller than that of the platen is disposed on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen, and the platen and the idle roll are made of a non-adhesive material or are surface-treated with a non-adhesive material. A rubber roll, or (2) an endless belt having a diameter smaller than that of the platen is disposed on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen, and the platen and the idle roll are made of a non-adhesive material. It is characterized by being multiplied by.

Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus including a print head and a platen which comes into contact with and separates from the print head, wherein the platen is made of a non-adhesive material or a non-adhesive material. It is characterized by comprising a rubber roll surface-treated with an adhesive material.

[0010]

In the ribbon cassette of the present invention, since the platen or belt contacting the adhesive layer of the printing tape is made of a non-adhesive material, the tape does not adhere to them. Further, since the idle roll having a diameter smaller than that of the platen is provided on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen, the tape after printing can be reliably guided to the cassette outlet. Also in the printing apparatus of the present invention, since the platen in contact with the adhesive layer of the printing tape is made of a non-adhesive material, the tape does not adhere to the platen.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a ribbon cassette and a printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the main body side of an embodiment of the ribbon cassette of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a ribbon cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the ribbon cassette 1 is composed of a main body portion 2 for accommodating a printing tape or an ink ribbon and a lid portion (not shown). ing.

The main body 2 is made of thermoplastic ABS resin, AS.
A box-shaped member made of resin, PS resin, PC resin, or the like, and inside of which a tape supply spool 4 for supplying the printing tape 3 and a ribbon supply spool 6 for supplying the ink ribbon 5 are provided. There is. Reference numeral 7 is a ribbon take-up spool for taking up the used ink ribbon.

An opening 8 for accommodating a print head (not shown) on the printer side is formed in the main body 2, and a platen 9 is disposed at a position facing the print head. There is. 10 is a slit-shaped tape outlet.

A feature of the present invention is that an idle roll 11 having a smaller diameter than the platen 9 is provided on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen 9 (the tape outlet side is the downstream side based on the movement of the printing tape). In addition, the platen 9 and the idle roll 11 are made of a non-adhesive material such as silicon rubber or a rubber roll surface-treated with a non-adhesive material such as silicon (this embodiment). The idle roll is provided on the downstream side of the platen, but it may be provided on the upstream side). This can prevent the adhesive layer of the print tape 3 from adhering to the platen 9 or the idle roll 11. Among the above non-adhesive materials, it is preferable to use silicone rubber from the viewpoints of maintaining releasability, preventing deterioration of residual adhesiveness, and appropriate flexibility.

The idle roll 11 plays a role of reliably guiding the printing tape 3 to the tape outlet 10 while preventing the printing tape from being jammed due to the "warpage" of the printing tape 3, and has a diameter of 5 to 5 as compared with the platen 9. It is preferably about 50%, and particularly preferably about 15 to 25%.

As the idle roll 11, a roll 12 having a notched center portion may be used as shown in FIG. 2 in addition to the ordinary cylindrical roll, and the roll for preventing the print tape from being wound into the roll. A fork 13 may be additionally provided to prevent the roll from adhering to the adhesive layer of the printing tape more effectively. A mesh roll can also be used.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the ribbon cassette of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the endless belt 14 made of the non-adhesive material described above is attached to the platen 9 and the idle roll 11. The point that they are multiplied is different from that shown in FIG. By giving the belt 14 releasability in this manner, the problem of the sticking of the printing tape can be effectively eliminated.

In the above-described two embodiments, another idle roll may be provided so as to face the idle roll 11 with the printing tape 3 sandwiched therebetween.

FIG. 4 is a partial explanatory view of an embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

Although the above-described ribbon cassette has a platen provided on the ribbon cassette side, the printer of the present invention is a ribbon cassette using a printing tape without the separator, and is a ribbon type without a platen. The present invention relates to a printing device suitable for mounting a cassette.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 20 denotes a ribbon cassette mounted in the printer of the present invention. Inside the ribbon cassette 20, a tape supply spool 22 for supplying a printing tape 21 and an ink ribbon 23 are supplied. There is provided a ribbon supply spool 24 and a ribbon take-up spool 25 for taking up the used ink ribbon 23. On the other hand, a print head 26 and a platen 27 are provided on the printing device side.

A feature of the present invention is that the platen 27 is made of a non-adhesive material such as silicone rubber, or comprises a rubber roll surface-treated with a non-adhesive material such as silicon. This can prevent the adhesive layer of the print tape 21 from adhering to the platen 27, as in the case of the ribbon cassette. Among the above non-adhesive materials, it is preferable to use silicone rubber from the viewpoints of maintaining releasability, preventing deterioration of residual adhesiveness, and appropriate flexibility.

The printed tape is cut at appropriate positions by the cutting means 28 and attached to a desired portion. In addition,
Regarding the other elements such as the character selection dial, the enter key, and the liquid crystal display, those used in a normal printing apparatus can be appropriately adopted in the present invention.

[0026]

As described above, in the ribbon cassette of the present invention, an idle roll having a diameter smaller than that of the platen is provided on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen, and the platen which comes into contact with the adhesive layer of the printing tape or The idle roll is made of non-adhesive material. For this reason, the printing tape may stick to the platen and may not run,
Alternatively, it is possible to reliably prevent the inconvenience of clogging near the tape outlet. Further, also in the printing apparatus of the present invention, since the platen is similarly made of a non-adhesive material, it is possible to reliably prevent the tape from adhering.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main body side of an embodiment of a ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an idle roll in the ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the main body side of another embodiment of the ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial explanatory view of an embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ribbon cassette 2 Main body 3 Printing tape 5 Ink ribbon 8 Opening 9 Platen 11 Idle roll

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A ribbon cassette for accommodating a print tape and an ink ribbon, the print tape running between a print head provided in a printing device and a platen that comes in contact with and separated from the print head, and supplies the print tape. A tape supply spool, a ribbon supply spool for supplying the ink ribbon, and a platen, and includes a main body having an opening in which the print head is arranged, and a lid covering the main body. , An idle roll having a diameter smaller than that of the platen is disposed on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen, and the platen and the idle roll are made of a non-adhesive material or are surface-treated with a non-adhesive material. Ribbon cassette, which is made of a rubber roll that has been cut. 2. The ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the non-adhesive material is silicone rubber. 3. A ribbon cassette for storing a print tape and an ink ribbon, which runs between a print head provided in a printing device and a platen that comes into contact with and separates from the print head, and supplies the print tape. A tape supply spool, a ribbon supply spool for supplying the ink ribbon, and a platen, and a main body having an opening in which the print head is arranged, and a lid covering the main body. An idle roll having a diameter smaller than that of the platen is disposed on the upstream side or the downstream side of the platen, and the endless belt made of a non-adhesive material is hung on the platen and the idle roll. Characteristic ribbon cassette. 4. The ribbon cassette according to claim 3, wherein the non-adhesive material is silicone rubber. 5. A printing apparatus comprising a print head and a platen which comes into contact with and separates from the print head, wherein the platen is made of a non-adhesive material or is surface-treated with a non-adhesive material. A printing device characterized by comprising a rubber roll. 6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the non-adhesive material is silicone rubber.