JPH0623764U - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The pressing spring of the driven roller is configured so as to also function as a separator to reduce the number of parts, thereby reducing the cost and downsizing. [Structure] The roller body 1 is provided at an intermediate portion of the driven roller 17.
Shafts 17b, 17c, 17d having a smaller diameter than 7a are formed, and the split pieces 20a, 20b, 20c of the leaf spring 20 are formed on the roller main body 17 on the shafts 17b, 17c, 17d.
It is engaged so as to have both the function of giving an elastic contact force to a and the function as a separator.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette used in a printer.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 FIG. 4 shows a conventional structure of this kind of ink ribbon cassette. According to this structure, a storage chamber 2 for storing the ink ribbon 1 in a meandering state is provided, and one end of this storage chamber 2 is provided. A drive roller 3 and a driven roller 4 elastically contacting the drive roller 3 via the ink ribbon 1 are provided in the section. In the vicinity of the driving roller 3 and the driven roller 4, block-shaped separators 5 and 6 are arranged in parallel, and a compression coil spring 7 for pressing the driven roller 4 via one separator 6 is provided. The driven roller 4 is elastically contacted with the drive roller 3 via the ink ribbon 1 by the spring force of the coil spring 7. When the driving roller 3 is rotationally driven, the ink ribbon 1 is moved in the direction of arrow A by the driving roller 3 and the driven roller 4 and fed into the storage chamber 2 while being pulled out from the storage chamber 2 during the transfer. The separator 5 prevents the ink ribbon 1 from being wound around the driving roller 3 and the separator 6 prevents the ink ribbon 1 from being wound around the driven roller 4 so that the ink ribbon 1 can be smoothly transferred without being caught. ing .

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, a total of five parts including the driving roller 3, the driven roller 4, the compression coil spring 7 and the two separators 5 and 6 are required as the constituent parts for transferring the ink ribbon 1. In addition to the high cost, a large space is required to install each of these parts, and the ribbon cassette as a whole becomes large in size. In particular, since the separators 5 and 6 are formed in a block shape and are arranged in parallel with the driving roller 3 and the driven roller 4 in the vicinity thereof, the separators 5 and 6 are arranged in the juxtaposed direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4). There was a problem that the entire ribbon cassette became large.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon cassette that can be manufactured at a low cost and can be downsized by reducing the number of parts.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 According to the present invention, a drive roller and a driven roller that makes elastic contact with the drive roller via the ink ribbon are provided at one end of a storage chamber that stores the ink ribbon in a meandering state. The drive roller and the driven roller store the ink ribbon. An ink ribbon cassette that is fed into the chamber and pulled out of the storage chamber.The driven roller has a shaft portion with a diameter smaller than the pressing surface that presses the ink ribbon against the drive roller. A cantilever-supported flat plate-shaped pressing spring that makes the driven roller elastically contact the driven roller is attached to the driven roller. The engaging piece that gives the elastic contact force is formed to also function as a separator that prevents the ink ribbon from winding around the driven roller. It is characterized by a door.

[0006]

[Action]

 According to the present invention, the single pressing spring makes the driven roller elastically contact the drive roller via the ink ribbon and prevents the ink ribbon from being wound around the driven roller.

[0007]

【Example】

An ink ribbon cassette to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. In this ink ribbon cassette, a box-shaped cassette case 10 is provided as shown in FIG. 1, and two different color bands such as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are arranged side by side in the width direction of the cassette case 10. Endless multicolor ink ribbon 11 is installed.

The cassette case 10 is formed with arms 12 and 13 projecting in parallel in the same direction at both ends, and a part of the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is hung between the tips of these arms 12 and 13. There is. When the printer is mounted on the printer, the print head 14 is positioned between the arms 12 and 13 as indicated by the chain double-dashed line, and the multi-color ink ribbon 11 faces the print head 14 between the arms 12 and 13. It is now used for printing. Further, at the time of printing, the cassette case 10 is swung with respect to the print head 14 by a driving means (not shown), so that a desired color band of the multi-color ink ribbon 11 is selectively opposed to the print head 14 and the print color is changed. Can be switched.

A storage chamber 15 for storing the multicolor ink ribbon 11 in a meandering state is formed inside the cassette case 10, and the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is mounted in a loop shape through the storage chamber 15. That is, the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is hung from both ends of the storage chamber 15 through the insides of both arms 12 and 13 and between the ends of the arms 12 and 13.

The storage chamber 15 is provided with a driving roller 16 at one end thereof and a driven roller 17 elastically contacting the driving roller 16 via the multicolor ink ribbon 11, and is driven by the driving roller 16 and the driven roller 17 at the time of printing. The color ink ribbon 11 is transferred in the direction of arrow B. That is, the drive roller 16 is rotationally driven during printing, and the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is nipped and conveyed by the drive roller 16 and the driven roller 17 in response to this drive force. Then, in response to this conveying force, the used portion of the multicolor ink ribbon 11 passes from between the tips of the arms 12 and 13 through the inside of one arm 13 and between the driving roller 16 and the driven roller 17 and the inside of the storage chamber 15. At the same time as it is sent to the inside, the unused portion of the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is pulled out from the inside of the storage chamber 15 through the inside of the other arm 12 between the tips of the arms 12 and 13. A leaf spring 18 for pressing the multicolor ink ribbon 11 against the inner wall of the arm 12 is attached between the storage chamber 15 and the arm 12 on the side where the ink ribbon 11 is drawn out. Tension is applied to the multicolor ink ribbon 11 so that the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is not loosened between the ends of the arms 12 and 13 when the ribbon 11 is transferred.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drive roller 16 is rotatably supported at its both ends by bearing holes 10 a and 10 b formed in the cassette case 10. A drive shaft (not shown) of the printer is axially engaged with a shaft portion of the drive roller 16 in a state where the drive roller 16 is mounted on the printer, and the drive roller 16 is rotationally driven at the time of printing through the drive shaft. At the same time, the other end shaft portion is projected to the outside of the cassette case 10 through the bearing hole 10b so that it can be manually rotated if necessary. A pair of flange portions 16a that come into contact with the inner wall of the cassette case 10 are formed at an intermediate portion of the drive roller 16, and a pair of roller main bodies 16b are formed between the pair of flange portions 16a. It is axially positioned by a pair of flange portions 16a, and a driven roller 17 is elastically contacted with the pair of roller bodies 16b via the multicolor ink ribbon 11. Each of the flange portions 16a is formed with a diameter smaller than that of the roller body 16b so as not to come into contact with the multicolor ink ribbon 11. The roller main bodies 16b are axially separated from each other and also axially separated from the flange portion 16a, and face each other between the color bands in the widthwise intermediate portion of the multicolor ink ribbon 11. At the same time, a shaft portion 16c having a diameter smaller than that of the roller body 16b is formed. Shaft portions 16d and 16e are formed.

A block-shaped separator 19 is provided in the vicinity of the driving roller 16, and the separator 19 allows the multicolor ink ribbon 11 to be smoothly transferred without winding around the driving roller 16. There is. The separator 19 is engaged with the cassette case 10 via an engagement pin (not shown), and is arranged inside the storage chamber 15 so as to face the multicolor ink ribbon 11. The separator 19 is provided with engagement pieces 19a, 19b, 19c that engage with the respective shaft portions 16c, 16d, 16e of the drive roller 16, and these engagement pieces 19a, 19b, 19c connect the drive roller 16 to the drive roller 16. The multicolor ink ribbon 11 is prevented from winding. That is, the engagement pieces 19a, 19b, 19c are engaged with the shaft portions 16c, 16d, 16e to extend the engagement pieces 19a, 19b, 19c so as to intersect the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 16b. When the color ink ribbons 11 are transferred, the multicolor ink ribbons 11 are separated from the outer circumference of the roller body 16b.

The driven roller 17 is supported in bearing grooves 10 c and 10 d formed in the cassette case 10 such that both end shaft portions are rotatable and can be brought into contact with and separated from the drive roller 16. The driven roller 17 is axially positioned by contacting the end surfaces of both end shaft portions with the bottom walls of the bearing grooves 10c and 10d. A pair of roller bodies 17a as pressing portions are formed in the middle of the driven roller 17, and these roller bodies 17a elastically contact the respective roller bodies 16b of the drive roller 16 via the multicolor ink ribbons 11. Has been done. The roller main bodies 17a are axially separated from each other, and a shaft portion 17b having a diameter smaller than that of the roller main body 17a is formed between the roller main bodies 17a so as to face each color band in the widthwise intermediate portion of the multicolor ink ribbon 11. In addition, shaft portions 17c and 17d having a diameter smaller than that of the roller main body 17a are formed between the bearing grooves 10c and 10d and the shaft supporting portions to face both widthwise end portions of the multicolor ink ribbon 11.

A leaf spring 20 as a pressing spring is provided in the vicinity of the driven roller 17, and each roller body 17 a of the driven roller 17 is connected to the driving roller 16 via the multicolor ink ribbon 11 by the leaf spring 20. The multicolor ink ribbon 11 is elastically contacted with each roller body 16b and is smoothly transferred without being wound around the driven roller 17.

The leaf spring 20 is cantilevered in the holding groove 10 e formed in the cassette case 10 so as to face the multicolor ink ribbon 11 inside the storage chamber 15, and its free end is the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller 17. Has been extended towards. At the free end side of the leaf spring 20, as shown in FIG. 3, split pieces 20a, 20b, which are engaging pieces that engage with the shaft portions 17b, 17c, 17d of the driven roller 17, 20c is formed, and by these divided pieces 20a, 20b, 20c, each roller body 17a of the driven roller 17 is elastically contacted with each roller body 16b of the drive roller 16 via the multicolor ink ribbon 11 and The winding of the multicolor ink ribbon 11 around each roller body 17a of the roller 17 is prevented. That is, each of the divided pieces 20a, 20b, 20c is engaged with each of the shaft portions 17b, 17c, 17d so that each roller main body 17a is provided with the elastic contact force to each roller main body 16b of the drive roller 16 and each shaft. By engaging the divided pieces 20a, 20b, 20c with the portions 17b, 17c, 17d, the divided pieces 20a, 20b, 20c are extended so as to intersect the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 17a, and the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is formed. It also functions as a separator that separates the multicolor ink ribbon 11 from the outer periphery of the roller body 17a during transfer.

According to the above configuration, the driven roller 17 is elastically contacted with the drive roller 16 via the multicolor ink ribbon 11 by the single leaf spring 20, and the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is wound around the driven roller 17. Therefore, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost and size can be reduced. In particular, since the driven roller 17 is elastically contacted with the driving roller 16 via the multicolor ink ribbon 11 and the leaf spring 20 having a thin structure is used as a member for preventing the multicolor ink ribbon 11 from winding around the driven roller 17, It is effective for downsizing.

In the above embodiment, the driven roller 17 is provided with three shaft portions 17b, 17c and 17d, and the leaf spring 20 is provided with three divided pieces 20a and 20b which engage with the shaft portions 17b, 17c and 17d. , 20c are formed, a shaft portion having a diameter smaller than that of the roller body 17a is formed in the driven roller 17, and the leaf spring 20 applies elastic force to the driven roller 17 and also functions as a separator on the shaft portion. It suffices for the structure to be engaged, and for example, the leaf spring 20 may be formed with an engaging piece that engages with only one shaft portion 17c.

Further, in the above embodiment, the ink ribbon cassette to which the multicolor ink ribbon 11 is attached has been described, but it is of course applicable to an ink ribbon cassette to which a monochromatic ink ribbon is attached.

[0019]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, since the driven roller can be elastically contacted with the drive roller via the ink ribbon and the ink ribbon can be prevented from being wound around the driven roller by the single pressing spring. It has the excellent effect of reducing the number of parts and achieving low cost and downsizing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a conventional structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Multicolor Ink Ribbon 15 Storage Chamber 16 Drive Roller 17 Driven Rollers 17b, 17c, 17d Shaft 20 Leaf Spring (Pressing Spring) 20a, 20b, 20c Split Piece (Engagement Piece)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A drive roller and a driven roller elastically contacting the drive roller via the ink ribbon are provided at one end of a storage chamber for storing the ink ribbon in a meandering state, and the drive roller and the driven roller provide the drive roller. The ink ribbon cassette is drawn out from the storage chamber while the ink ribbon is fed into the storage chamber, and the driven roller has a shaft portion having a diameter smaller than a pressing surface for pressing the ink ribbon against the drive roller. In the vicinity of the driven roller, a flat plate-shaped pressing spring for elastically contacting the driven roller with the driving roller is cantilever-supported, and the pressing spring has a free end portion which is engaged with the shaft portion. When the driven roller is engaged with the driven roller, an engagement piece for applying an elastic contact force to the drive roller is formed so that the ink ribbon is wound around the driven roller. An ink ribbon cassette characterized in that it is also configured to function as a separator that prevents the