JPH06191586A - Lock mechanism of spool - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for a user to lock and unlock a spool every time it is brought in and out of service. CONSTITUTION:A spool 14 or 14' is rotatably housed in a box 2, and a continuous groove 22 in the circumferential direction is formed on the spool 14. Two or more recessed parts 23 are formed at the adjacent place to the groove 22 at intervals in the circumferential direction and connected to the groove 22. Lock clows 9 are provided in the box 2 with thire tips located in the groove 22 or the recessed parts 23. A contracted coil spring 31 is mounted between the inner face of the box 2 and the one-end of the spool 14 or 14' to force 14 or 14' toward the lock clows 9. When it is out of service, the spool is moved by the driving force of the coil spring 31 to a position the lock clows 9 are located in the recessed parts 23, so that the spool is prevented from rotating. When it is in service, the spool moves against the driving force of the coil spring 31 to a position the lock clows 9 are located in the groove 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel spool locking structure. For details, regarding the lock structure of the spool in a device in which the spool is rotatably housed in the housing, such as an ink ribbon cartridge used in a printer, the user locks and unlocks the spool one by one when using or not using it. It aims to provide a new spool locking structure that does not need to be locked.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in order to prevent a spool from idling when not used in an ink ribbon cartridge, conventionally, a seal is attached to a portion of the spool protruding from the casing and the casing, or A locking member, which is a separate component, is fitted to the portion of the spool protruding from the housing.

[0003]

However, in the conventional spool lock structure described above, it is inadvertently
If you forget to remove the sticker or forget to remove the lock member and attach it to the printer as it is, you may damage the printer.

Further, since these seals and locking members are disposable items, there is a problem that resources are wasted.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the spool locking structure of the present invention comprises a housing in which the spool is rotatably housed, and a continuous groove is formed in the spool in the circumferential direction. A plurality of concave portions are formed in a position adjacent to the concave groove and circumferentially spaced apart from each other in a continuous state with the concave groove, and a tip of the housing is located in the concave groove or the concave portion. A lock pawl is formed, and an elastic means for urging the spool in the direction in which the lock pawl is located in the recess is interposed between the inner surface of the housing and one end of the spool. The lock claw is positioned in one of the recesses to prevent the spool from rotating due to the generated moving force, and during use, the spool moves against the moving force of the elastic means to move the lock claw into the recess. Which is located in the groove That.

[0006]

Therefore, in the spool lock structure of the present invention, when not in use, the spool is moved by the elastic means so that the lock pawl on the housing side is located in the concave portion and the spool cannot rotate. When mounted on a device such as a printer, the spool is moved against the moving force urged by the elastic means, and the lock claw on the housing is located in the groove extending in the circumferential direction to prevent the spool from moving. It becomes rotatable.

As described above, according to the spool lock structure of the present invention, the spool is unlocked or locked by being attached to or detached from the device.
It is possible to prevent accidents due to forgetting to release the lock or forgetting to lock without paying special attention.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the lock structure of the spool of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the spool lock structure in the ink ribbon cartridge 1 used in the printer.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a housing, which has a substantially cylindrical shape and has two spool accommodating portions 4 and 4'having circular openings 3 and 3 at one end.
Are parallel to each other and are spaced apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction, and the spool accommodating portions 4 and 4'are integrally connected by connecting portions 5 and 5 at both ends thereof.

Ribbon loading / unloading holes 6 and 6 are formed on the side surfaces of the spool accommodating portions 4 and 4 'that face each other.

Reference numeral 7 indicates a position near the rear end of one of the spool accommodating portions 4 (the side of the spool accommodating portions 4, 4'where the openings 3 and 3 are formed is the front side, and the opposite side is the rear side). Is a reading window formed on the outer side, that is, on the opposite side of the portion where the ribbon loading / unloading hole 6 is formed.

Bearing pins 8, 8 project forward from the rear end faces of the spool accommodating portions 4, 4 '.

Further, lock claws 9, 9, ... Are projectingly provided from above and below a portion corresponding to substantially front end portions of the bearing pins 8, 8 between upper and lower lock claws 9 and 9, respectively. Are spaced apart by a predetermined distance.

Further, shallow circular recesses 10 and 10 are formed in a portion of the wall surface on which the bearing pins 8 and 8 project so as to surround the base portions of the bearing pins 8 and 8.

The casing 2 as described above is formed by joining the upper and lower casing halves 11 and 12 made of thermoplastic synthetic resin in a state where they are butted against each other. At this time, the spool, which will be described later, is positioned in the spool accommodating portions 4, 4 '.

The housing halves 11 and 1 are designated by 13, 13, ...
2 is a welding rib protruding from the side edge of the two housing halves 11 and 12, and the two housing halves 11 and 12 are joined by welding the welding ribs in a state where the two housing halves 11 and 12 are abutted on each other. .

Reference numerals 14 and 14 'are spools, 14 is a supply side spool, and 14' is a winding side spool.

The spools 14, 14 'have a substantially cylindrical shape, and the ribbon winding portions 15, 15 occupy most of the middle portion.
And the ribbon winding portions 15 and 15 are continuously provided at the front ends, and
Coupling portions 16 and 16 each having a diameter larger than that of the ribbon winding portions 15 and 15 and a continuous portion provided at the rear end of the ribbon winding portions 15 and 15 and having a diameter smaller than that of the ribbon winding portions 15 and 15. An outer peripheral surface at a position near the rear ends of the coupling parts 16, 16 is formed by integrally forming the diameter parts 17, 17 and the end parts 18, 18 continuously provided at the rear ends of the small diameter parts 17, 17. Flanges 19 and 19 are provided in a protruding manner.

Further, the coupling portions 16 and 16 are formed with connecting concave portions 20 and 20 which are open at the front end surfaces thereof, and the spool 14 and the spool 14 are formed on the inner peripheral surfaces of the connecting concave portions 20 and 20, respectively.
14 'are provided with engaging projections 21, 21 ... Which extend in the axial direction.

On the outer peripheral surface of the base portion in contact with the small-diameter portions 17, 17 of the end portions 18, 18, the concave groove 2 extending over the entire circumference thereof.
2, 22 are formed.

Then, the concave grooves 22, 2 of the end portions 18, 18
, Which are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, are formed in the portion between the rear end and the rear end.
Engaging projections 24, 24, ... Are formed between 3 ,.

The bottom surfaces of the recesses 23, 23, ... Are located in the same plane as the bottom surfaces of the recess grooves 22, 22 ,.

The engaging protrusions 24, 24, ... Have their concave grooves 2 when viewed from the direction orthogonal to the axes of the spools 14, 14 '.
It is formed in a serrated shape with sharp edges on the 2 and 22 sides. Further, the diameter of the circle circumscribing the engaging protrusions 24, 24, ... Is the same as or smaller than the outer diameter of the small diameter portions 17, 17. Further, the space between the tips of the upper and lower lock claws 9 and 9 is formed to be the same as or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the bottom surface of the concave grooves 22 and 22.

Bearing holes 2 are formed in the rear walls of the end portions 18, 18.
5 and 25 are formed, and circular recesses 26 and 26 are formed on the rear surface of the rear wall at positions surrounding the bearing holes 25 and 25.

27 is an annular cord ring,
The small diameter portion 17 of the supply spool 14 is rotatably fitted on the outside. A driven gear 28 is formed at a rear end portion of the cord ring 27, and a predetermined information element such as a bar code, for example, the spool 14 is formed on an outer peripheral surface of a portion of the cord ring 27 other than the portion where the driven gear 28 is formed. An information element 29 is formed for transmitting various kinds of information regarding the ink ribbon wound around.

Reference numeral 30 denotes an ink ribbon in the shape of a strip, the ends of which are ribbon winding portions 1 of the spools 14 and 14 '.
Each of them is separately fastened to each of 5, 5 and most of them are wound around the ribbon winding portion 15 of the supply spool 14.

In the spools 14 and 14 ', the bearing pins 8 and 8 of the housing 2 are inserted into the bearing holes 25 and 25, and the flanges 19 of the coupling portions 16 and 16,
The front portion from 19 is inserted into the openings 3 and 3 of the housing 2, and thereby is housed in the spool housing portions 4 and 4 ′ of the housing 2 in a rotatable state.

Then, the ink ribbon 30 is led out of the spool accommodating portions 4, 4'through the ribbon inlet / outlet holes 6, 6.

Numerals 31 and 31 are coil springs, the front and rear ends of which are externally fitted to the bearing pins 8 and 8 respectively and the recesses 10 and 10 of the housing 2 and the spools 14 and 14 '.
Are respectively received in the recesses 26, 26 of the housing 2 and are compressed between the inner surface of the housing 2 and the rear end surfaces of the spools 14, 14 ', whereby the forward movement force of the spools 14, 14' is obtained. The spools 14 and 14 'are in a state in which the flanges 19 and 19 of the spools 14 and 14' are in contact with the opening edge portions of the openings 3 and 3 of the inner surface of the front end wall of the spool housing portions 4 and 4'of the housing 2. ing.

In this state, the tips of the lock claws 9, 9, ... Of the casing 2 are located at positions corresponding to the recesses 23, 23 ,. , Lock claws 9, 9, ...
It is located within one of 3, ...

Therefore, when the spools 14 and 14 'try to rotate, the tips of the lock claws 9, 9, ... Are engaged with the engaging projections 24 adjacent to the recesses 23, 23 in which they are located.
24, thereby preventing the spools 14 and 14 'from rotating, that is, the spools 14 and 14' are locked.

Therefore, when not in use, the spools 14, 1
4'is locked.

When the above-described ink ribbon cartridge 1 is mounted in the printer, the drive shaft 32 provided in the printer is internally fitted and coupled to the coupling recess 20 of the take-up spool 14 ', and is also provided in the printer. The driven shaft 33 is internally fitted and coupled to the coupling recess 20 of the supply spool 14.

When the drive shaft 32 or the driven shaft 33 is connected to each spool 14, 14 ', these spools 1
4, 14 'are pushed into the case 2 against the biasing force of the coil springs 31, 31, and the tips of the lock claws 9, 9, ...
It moves into the 4'recessed groove 22, 22. Therefore, when the spools 14 and 14 'are about to rotate, the locking pawls 9 and 9,
There is nothing that blocks ..., and the spools 14 and 14 'are in a rotatable state.

As described above, the lock on the spools 14 and 14 'is released only by mounting the printer on the printer.

When the ink ribbon cartridge 1 is removed from the printer, the coil springs 31, 31
The spools 14 and 14 'are returned to their original positions by the urging force of, and the spools 14 and 14' are locked again.

The driven gear 28 and the information element 29 of the cord ring 27 attached to the supply spool 14 are the housing 2
When the ink ribbon cartridge 1 is mounted on the printer by facing the reading window 7 to the outside, the reading gear provided on the printer side meshes with the driven gear 28 to rotate the code ring 28. Then, the reading unit also provided on the printer side reads the information element 29.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, the lock structure of the spool of the present invention is formed by rotatably housing the spool in the case, and the spool is formed with a continuous groove in the circumferential direction. A plurality of recesses are formed adjacent to the recessed groove at intervals in the circumferential direction so as to be continuous with the recessed groove, and the housing has a lock claw whose tip is located in the recessed groove or the recessed portion. Is formed, and elastic means for urging the spool in the direction in which the lock claw is located in the concave portion is interposed between the inner surface of the housing and one end of the spool, and is urged by the elastic means when not in use. By the moving force, the lock claw is positioned in one of the recesses to prevent the spool from rotating, and when in use, the spool moves against the moving force of the elastic means to move the lock claw into the recessed groove. Characterized by being located in To.

Therefore, in the spool lock structure of the present invention, when not in use, the spool is moved by the elastic means so that the lock pawl on the housing side is located in the recess and the spool cannot rotate. When mounted on a device such as a printer, the spool is moved against the moving force urged by the elastic means, and the lock claw on the housing is located in the groove extending in the circumferential direction to prevent the spool from moving. It becomes rotatable.

As described above, according to the spool lock structure of the present invention, the spool may be unlocked or locked by being mounted on or removed from the device.
It is possible to prevent accidents due to forgetting to release the lock or forgetting to lock without paying special attention.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the ink ribbon cartridge, but the present invention is not limited to the ink ribbon cartridge as long as the spool is rotatably housed in the housing. Even if it exists, it can be applied, and such a thing is also in the category of the present invention.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective parts in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment when carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is limited thereby. Should not be construed in the open.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example in which a spool lock structure of the present invention is applied to a spool lock structure in an ink ribbon cartridge.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the whole.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a spool.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an enlarged main part of the spool.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a spool is locked.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the lock of the spool is released.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a main part of a casing half which constitutes the casing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 housing 9 lock claws 14 and 14 'spool 22 concave groove 23 concave portion 24 protrusion 31 elastic means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A spool is rotatably housed in a housing, and a continuous groove is formed in the spool in a circumferential direction.
A plurality of concave portions are formed at a position adjacent to the concave groove at intervals in the circumferential direction so as to be continuous with the concave groove, and the housing has a lock claw whose tip is located in the concave groove or the concave portion. A resilient means is formed between the inner surface of the housing and one end of the spool for biasing the spool in the direction in which the lock claw is located, and when not in use, the resilient means is biased by the resilient means. By the force, the lock claw is positioned in one of the recesses to prevent the spool from rotating, and when in use, the spool moves against the moving force of the elastic means to move the lock claw into the recessed groove. Spool lock structure characterized by being positioned. 2. The projection located between the discontinuous recesses is formed in a saw-tooth shape in which at least the end on the recess groove side is sharp when viewed from the direction orthogonal to the axis of the spool. The lock structure for a spool according to claim 1. 3. The spool lock structure according to claim 1, wherein the lock claws are vertically opposed to each other.