JPH06340135A - Tape cassette mounting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To certainly cut a tape without making a tape cassette hard to mount, in a tape cassette mounting device equipped with a tape cutting mechanism, by fixing a tape cassette only at the time of the cutting of the tape. CONSTITUTION:In a tape cassette mounting device 1 equipped with a cassette loading part 10 loaded with a tape cassette 40 wherein a tape 55 is received in a cassette main body 41 and a tape cutting mechanism 20 cutting the tape 55 in the cassette main body 41 mounted on the cassette loading part 10, the cassette pressing mechanism 30 fixing the cassette main body 41 at the time of the cutting of the tape 55 in connection with the tape cutting operation of the tape cutting mechanism 20 is provided. This cassette pressing mechanism 30 is equipped with a stopper 37 connected to the link mechanisms 33, 35 shaken in connection with the tape cutting mechanism 20 to push the side part opposed to the tape cutting part 46 of the tape cutting mechanism 20 to the cassette main body 41.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette loading device having a tape cutting mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printing device, a handy type device which can easily print desired information at a desired place has been widely used. As one of the handy type printing devices, it is possible to print desired information on an adhesive tape with release paper, cut the printed adhesive tape with a tape cutting mechanism, and use it as a label. There is a so-called label printer. In a printing cassette used in such a label printer, a so-called label tape and an ink ribbon are housed in a cassette body, mounted on the label printer, and the ink ribbon is attached by a print head such as a thermal head of the label printer. The desired information is printed on the label tape by using the label tape. After that printing,
The ink ribbon is rewound inside the cassette body, and only the label tape is sent out of the cassette body, and the label tape is pushed out at a predetermined position by the cutter teeth of the tape cutting mechanism provided in the label printer. For example, by rotating a cutter lever provided in a label printer, a cutter gear is rotated, a cutter holder equipped with a cutter cartridge is pushed out, and a tape is cut. In this case, the tape cassette is mounted on the label printer main body, but is not completely fixed because there is a clearance for alignment.

[0003]

As described above, according to the label printer having the tape cutting mechanism, the user can easily cut the label tape after printing. However, when the tape is cut, there is a clearance in the mounted state of the tape cassette, so when the cutter cartridge is pushed out and the force is applied to the tape cassette, the tape cassette escapes and the tape breakage becomes worse. was there. Further, if the clearance between the tape cassette and the label printer main body is made small, it is difficult to mount the tape cassette.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette loading device which can fix the tape cassette only when the tape is cut, and can surely cut the tape without making the mounting of the tape cassette difficult. Especially.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cassette loading section in which a tape cassette having a tape stored in the cassette body is loaded, and the cassette body loaded in the cassette loading section. In a tape cassette mounting device having a tape cutting mechanism for cutting the tape inside, a cassette holding mechanism for fixing the cassette main body at the time of cutting the tape is provided in association with the tape cutting operation of the tape cutting mechanism. It is configured. The cassette pressing mechanism is, for example, a link mechanism that swings in conjunction with the tape cutting mechanism, and a side that is connected to the link mechanism and that faces the tape cutting section of the tape cutting mechanism with respect to the cassette body. It is composed of a stopper that pushes a part.

[0006]

When the tape is cut, the cassette body is fixed by the cassette pressing mechanism which is interlocked with the tape cutting operation, so that the tape cassette can be surely cut without the escape of the tape cassette. Further, since the clearance between the tape cassette and the cassette loading portion is secured, it is not difficult to mount the tape cassette. By using the cassette holding mechanism using the link mechanism and the stopper, the side portion of the tape cassette facing the tape cutting portion can be pushed by the stopper, so that the tape cassette can be effectively fixed when the tape is cut.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a tape cassette mounting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First,
1 and 2 showing a printing apparatus 1 as an example of a tape cassette loading apparatus to which the present invention is applied, 2 is an apparatus main body, 3 is a key input unit, 4 is a display unit, 10 is a cassette loading unit, and 11 is a drive unit. Shaft, 12 and 13 are positioning pins, 14
Is a tape outlet, 15 is a print head (thermal head), 16 is a platen roller, 20 is a tape cutting mechanism,
Reference numeral 21 is a cutter lever, and 22 is a cutter tooth.

A printer 1 as a tape cassette loading device is provided with a key input section 3 and a display section 4 on the front side of an apparatus main body 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and a cassette opened on the back side as shown in FIG. A loading unit 10 is formed, and a lid (not shown) is detachably provided above the cassette loading unit 10. The key input unit 3 is provided with a character input key for creating a character string data such as a label print name, a headline, and an index, a kana / kanji conversion key, and a line feed key. Character string data, message data, and the like based on key input are displayed on the display unit 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drive shaft 1 on the right side of the drawing is provided in the cassette loading portion 10 which is a concave portion having a rectangular shape in plan view.
1, a positioning pin 12 on the left side of the drawing and a positioning pin 13 on the upper right side of the drawing are provided, and a tape discharge port 14 is formed by cutting out a side wall portion on the right side of the drawing. And
In the cassette loading unit 10, a thermal head 15 which is a print head protruding from the bottom surface on the display unit 4 side, a platen roller 16 are arranged, and a tape cutting mechanism 20 is further arranged. The tape cutting mechanism 20 includes the positioning pin 1 on the right side of the thermal head 15 in the figure.
It is installed so as to face No. 3. That is, the tape cutting mechanism 20 includes a cutter lever 21 assembled in the upper right corner of the apparatus main body 2 in the drawing, and cutter teeth 22 that are moved forward by the rotation operation of the cutter lever 21.

The tape cassette used in the above printing apparatus 1 is the printing cassette 40 shown in FIG. That is, the printing cassette 40, which is a tape cassette, has an ink ribbon supply spool 52 in which an ink ribbon 51 is wound inside a cassette case 41 that forms the cassette body.
And an ink ribbon take-up spool 53 for winding the ink ribbon 51 and a print-receiving tape supply spool 56 around which a print-receiving tape 55 is wound. Here, the ink ribbon 51 has a known structure in which a base material is impregnated with a heat-melting ink or a heat sublimation ink. The print-receiving tape 55 is a label tape formed by laminating release paper on a base material with an adhesive layer interposed therebetween.

Further, the cassette case 41 is formed with a print head accommodating recess 42 on one long side thereof, and in the print head accommodating recess 42, an ink ribbon is formed from a passage hole 43 on the right side of the drawing. 51 and the label tape 55 are led out so as to be exposed to the outside. Then, the ink ribbon 51 is returned to the inside of the cassette case 41 again from a passage hole (not shown) on the left side of the print head accommodating recess 42 in the drawing, but the label tape 55 is discharged as it is to the left side of the print head accommodating recess 42 in the drawing. It has become so. That is, the cassette case 41 has upper and lower protrusions 44, 44 on the left side of the print head accommodating recess 42 in the drawing, and a tape guide pin 45 is provided between the protrusions 44, 44. Is the tape cutting section 46.

The above printing cassette 40 is used in the printing apparatus 1.
With respect to the cassette loading section 10 of the above, the print head housing recess 42 of the cassette case 41 is aligned with the thermal head 15,
The ink ribbon take-up spool 53 is engaged with the drive shaft 11, and the print-receiving tape supply spool 56 is attached to the positioning pin 12.
And the positioning hole 47 (see FIG. 6) is aligned with the positioning pin 13 and mounted. In this mounted state, the ink ribbon 51 and the label tape 55 are
It is sandwiched between the thermal head 15 and the platen roller 16. The printing is performed by rotating the drive shaft 11 and the platen roller 16 together with the thermal head 15
Is moved to the platen roller 16 side and its heating element is driven.

That is, the drive shaft 11 and the platen roller 1
By the rotational drive of 6, the ink ribbon take-up spool 5
3, the ink ribbon 51 is wound up, and is sandwiched between the thermal head 15 and the platen roller 16 to perform printing on the label tape 55 from the ink ribbon 51 in a close contact state, and the printed label tape 55 is a tape guide. It is ejected from the tape ejection port 14 of the printer 1 via the pin 45. When the above printing is completed, the cutter lever 21 of the printing device 1 is rotated to move the cutter teeth 22 forward, and the tape cutting portion 46 of the cassette case 41 of the printing cassette 40 is printed. The label tape 55 is cut into desired lengths by the cutter teeth 22.

At the time of cutting the tape, there is a clearance between the cassette case 41 and the cassette loading section 10 for facilitating the mounting, and as shown in FIG. Since there is clearance, the cassette case 41 escapes due to the pressing of the cutter teeth 22 forward, and the label tape 55
The sharpness may be poor. Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the printer 1 is equipped with the cassette pressing mechanism 30 that fixes the cassette case 41 in conjunction with the tape cutting operation of the tape cutting mechanism 20.

First, the structure of the tape cutting mechanism 20 will be described. In FIG. 5, 23 is a cutter holder, 24 is a cutter cartridge, and 25 is a cutter guard. The cutter cartridge 24 holding the cutter teeth 22 is fixed to the cutter holder 23, and the cutter teeth 22 advance and retreat to the cutter guard 25. It is free. On the other hand, the cutter gear 2 is attached to the rotation shaft 21a of the cutter lever 21.
6 is integrally provided, and the cutter gear 26 is meshed with the cutter gear 27 integrally provided on another rotating shaft 27a. Then, in the long hole 27b of the cutter gear 27, the engaging pin 23a provided integrally with the cutter holder 23 is provided.
Are engaged.

A guide groove 23b is formed in the cutter holder 23, and guide pins 17, 17 are engaged with the guide groove 23b. Although not shown, a spring for urging the cutter lever 21 counterclockwise in the drawing is also provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the guide pins 28, 28 are provided on the front surface of the cutter cartridge 24.
And the cutter guard 2 via the coil springs 29, 29.
5 is held, and the cutter guard 25 has a shape that abuts the tape cutting portion 46 of the cassette case 41 and has a passage hole 25 a for the cutter tooth 22.

The tape cutting mechanism 20 having the above structure is
When the cutter lever 21 is rotated clockwise in the drawing,
The cutter gear 27 that meshes with the cutter gear 26 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, and the engagement pin 23a that engages with the elongated hole 27b is pushed downward in the figure. And a cutter holder 23 provided with this engagement pin 23a
Is linearly moved downward in the figure by the engagement of the guide pins 17, 17 into the guide groove 27b. As a result, the cutter guard 25 advances, and the cutter guard 25 first comes into contact with the tape cutting portion 46 of the cassette case 41. Then, the cutter teeth 22 advance from the passage hole 25a of the cutter guard 25, and the label tape 5 after printing is printed.
5 cuttings are made.

Next, the cassette pressing mechanism 30 according to the present invention.
Will be described. In FIG. 5, 31 is a stopper gear, 33 and 35 are arms constituting a link mechanism, 37 is a stopper, 39 is a stopper guide, and the stopper gear 31 meshes with the cutter gear 26.
A long arm 33 is pivotally connected to the stopper gear 31 via a pivot pin 32. This arm 33
3, is arranged along the lower part on the right side of the cassette loading portion 10 in the figure, and further, a short arm 35 is pivotally connected to the tip of this arm 33 via a pivot pin 34. ing. This arm 35 is used for the cassette loading unit 1
0 is arranged along the lower side of the lower side of the figure, and is rotatable around the support shaft 36 at the intermediate portion.

A piece-shaped stopper 37 is pivotally connected to the tip of the arm 35 by a pivot pin 38.
The stopper 37 is movable between the left and right stopper guides 39 in the cassette loading section 10. That is, the stopper guides 39, 39 are provided at right angles to the side portion of the cassette case 41 facing the tape cutting portion 46 of the printing cassette 40 mounted in the cassette loading portion 10. Therefore, the stopper 37 can freely push in the side portion of the cassette case 41 that faces the tape cutting portion 46.

The cassette pressing mechanism 30 having the above structure
When the cutter lever 21 is rotated clockwise in the drawing to cut the tape, the stopper gear 32 meshing with the cutter gear 26 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing as shown in FIG. 32 to pivot pin 3
The arm 33 connected by 2 moves downward in the drawing. Then, the arm 35 connected to the arm 33 by the pivot pin 34 rotates clockwise in the drawing around the support shaft 36, and the stopper 38 connected to the arm 35 via the pivot pin 38 moves to the left and right. Stopper guide 3
The space between 9 and 39 is advanced toward the cassette case 41, and the side portion of the cassette case 41 facing the tape cutting portion 46 is pushed in.

As described above, when the label tape 55 is cut by the forward movement of the cutter teeth 22, the side portion of the cassette case 41 facing the tape cutting portion 46 is pushed by the stopper 37 so that the cassette case 41 is mechanically effective. A fixed state is obtained. Therefore, the cassette cartridge 41 is pushed by the pushing force of the cutter cartridge 24.
Will not run away and the cutter teeth 22
Thus, the label tape 55 can be surely cut. Moreover, only when the tape is cut, the stopper 37 pushes the side of the cassette case 41 facing the tape cutting portion, and the cassette case 41 and the cassette loading portion 1
Since the clearance with 0 (refer to the clearance between the positioning hole 47 and the positioning pin 13 shown in FIG. 6) is secured, the printing cassette 40 can be easily mounted.

In the above embodiments, the printing apparatus is equipped with the printing cassette containing the ink ribbon and the print-receiving tape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the print-receiving tape is used. It may be another tape cassette loading device having a cassette loading section for loading the stored printing cassette or another tape cassette. Further, the configuration of the tape cutting mechanism, the configuration of the cassette pressing mechanism, and the like are arbitrary, and it is needless to say that the specific detailed structure and the like can be appropriately changed.

[0023]

As described above, according to the tape cassette loading apparatus of the present invention, by fixing the tape cassette only when the tape is cut, the tape cassette can be securely loaded without making it difficult to load the tape cassette. Can be cut. Further, according to the cassette pressing mechanism of the second aspect, it is possible to effectively fix the tape cassette at the time of cutting the tape by pressing the side portion of the tape cassette facing the tape cutting portion with the stopper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus as an example of a tape cassette mounting apparatus to which the present invention is applied, as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 2 is also a schematic perspective view seen from the back side, showing the cassette loading section with the case lid removed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a tape cassette mounted state in which the periphery of the cassette loading portion is also partially broken.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an appearance of a printing cassette as an example of a tape cassette used.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway schematic plan view showing a state before the tape is cut, showing a configuration example of the tape cutting mechanism and the cassette pressing mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of the tape cutting mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a state when the tape according to the present invention is cut, similarly to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 tape cassette mounting device (printing device) 2 device body 3 key input part 4 display part 10 cassette loading part 11 drive shaft 12, 13 positioning pin 14 tape discharge port 15 print head (thermal head) 16 platen roller 20 tape cutting mechanism 21 Cutter lever 22 Cutter teeth 23 Cutter holder 24 Cutter cartridge 25 Cutter guard 26, 27 Cutter gear 28 Guide pin 29 Coil spring 30 Cassette holding mechanism 31 Stopper gear 33, 35 Arm that constitutes the link mechanism 37 Stopper 39 Stopper guide 40 Tape cassette ( Printing cassette) 41 Cassette body (cassette case) 42 Print head accommodating recess 43 Passage hole 45 Tape guide pin 46 Tape cutting portion 47 Positioning hole portion 51 Ink ribbon 52 Nkuribon supply spool 53 the ink ribbon take-up spool 55 receiving tape (label tape) 56 receiving tape supply spool

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41J 32/00 Z B65H 35/07 L 9037-3F

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tape comprising: a cassette loading section into which a tape cassette having a tape stored in the cassette body is loaded; and a tape cutting mechanism for cutting the tape in the cassette body loaded in the cassette loading section. A cassette loading device, comprising: a cassette pressing mechanism that fixes the cassette body when the tape is cut, in conjunction with the tape cutting operation of the tape cutting mechanism. 2. The cassette pressing mechanism includes a link mechanism that swings in conjunction with the tape cutting mechanism, and is connected to the link mechanism so as to face a tape cutting portion formed by the tape cutting mechanism with respect to the cassette body. 2. The tape cassette loading device according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper that pushes a side portion of the tape cassette.