JPH071806A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a small-sized printer capable of printing monochromatically and printing in color at lower cost. CONSTITUTION:A carriage 20 is constituted such that a ribbon guide arm 62 of a color printing ribbon cartridge of stationary type is mountable instead of a monochrome printing ribbon cartridge of on-carriage type whose ribbon is to be taken up by the reciprocation of the cartridge 20. A color selection ribbon take-up device 80 having a color selecting mechanism, a ribbon take-up mechanism, and a drive motor for these mechanisms is attachable to a printer body. A color cartridge attaching plate 70 is provided with an adjusting lever 76 having an eccentric disc for adjusting the rocking position of the color cartridge by abutting against the cam of the color selecting mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer capable of color printing as well as monochrome printing.

More specifically, a so-called on-carriage type ribbon cartridge mounted on a carriage is used for monochrome printing, and a so-called stationary type ribbon cartridge mounted on a printer body is used for color printing. It is about the printer that you are trying to use.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Printers capable of color printing as well as monochrome printing have been known.

There are two types of ribbon cartridges for printers, one of which is an on-carriage type which is mounted on a carriage and the other of which is a stationary type which is attached to a printer body. The one for color printing is prepared. The ribbon for color printing is generally composed of a multicolor ribbon composed of four colors of black, red, blue and yellow.

As a conventional printer, for example, an on-carriage type ribbon cartridge is used for both monochrome printing and color printing as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-13359, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 225386/1987. It is known that a stationary type ribbon cartridge is used for both monochrome printing and color printing.

[0006]

Among the above-mentioned conventional printers, the one using the on-carriage type ribbon cartridge for both monochrome printing and color printing has the following problems.

When performing color printing, it is necessary to select which color, black, red, blue or yellow, which forms the ribbon, is printed. Therefore, the selection mechanism (hereinafter, color selection mechanism) is selected. ,) And a motor for operating this. In a printer using an on-carriage type ribbon cartridge, since the ribbon cartridge is mounted on the carriage, it is necessary to mount the color selection mechanism, the motor, etc. on the carriage.

Therefore, there is a problem in that the carriage becomes large, and therefore the carriage motor for reciprocating the carriage also becomes large, and the printer as a whole also becomes large.

Further, when the carriage becomes large, there is a problem that the print area of the print head becomes relatively small because the width of extension of the carriage in the print digit direction of the print head becomes large.

Further, the increase in size of the carriage motor has been a factor of cost increase.

On the other hand, among the conventional printers described above, a printer using a stationary type ribbon cartridge for both monochrome printing and color printing is expensive because it requires a dedicated mechanism for winding the ribbon or a motor. There was a problem.

It is known that printers using any type of ribbon cartridge have a standard condition for monochrome printing and optional parts required for color printing. However, the one that uses the on-carriage type ribbon cartridge in the standard state also uses the on-carriage type ribbon cartridge as an option, and the one that uses the stationary type ribbon cartridge in the standard state does not The problems mentioned above have not been solved because of the use of ribbon cartridges.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a printer capable of not only monochrome printing but also color printing, which can be miniaturized and cost reduced. .

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, a printer according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a platen and a carriage having a print head facing the platen and reciprocating along the platen. In the printer, an on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge in which a ribbon is wound by reciprocating movement of the carriage can be mounted on the carriage, and the on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge is replaced. In addition, a stationery type color printing ribbon cartridge attached to the printer body is configured to be attachable.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the first aspect, a color selection unit having a color selection mechanism and a drive motor thereof when the stationery type ribbon cartridge for color printing is attached is provided in the printer body. It is characterized in that it is configured to be removable.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the first aspect, the ribbon take-up unit having a ribbon take-up mechanism and a drive motor thereof when the stationery type ribbon cartridge for color printing is attached is used. It is characterized in that it can be attached to and detached from the main body.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the first aspect, the color selection mechanism, the ribbon winding mechanism, and these mechanisms when the stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge is attached are driven. A color selection / ribbon winding unit having a single drive motor and a power transmission switching means for transmitting the drive from the drive motor to the color selection mechanism or the ribbon winding mechanism is attachable to and detachable from the printer body. It is characterized by being configured.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the second or fourth aspect, the color selection mechanism has a cam for rocking the color printing ribbon cartridge, and the cam comes into contact with the cam. An adjusting means for adjusting the swing position of the color printing ribbon cartridge is provided on the color printing ribbon cartridge side.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the fifth aspect, the adjusting means is composed of a rotatable adjusting lever having an eccentric plate that contacts the cam of the color selecting mechanism. And

[0020]

According to the printer of the present invention, the carriage is configured so that an on-carriage type ribbon cartridge for monochrome printing in which the ribbon is wound by the reciprocating movement of the carriage can be mounted and the on-carriage type cartridge is mounted. Instead of the monochrome printing ribbon cartridge, a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge attached to the printer body can be mounted. Therefore, when performing monochrome printing, the monochrome printing ribbon cartridge is installed in the carriage. When the color printing is performed, a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge can be attached to the printer body.

The on-carriage type ribbon cartridge for monochrome printing used for monochrome printing is designed such that the ribbon is wound by the reciprocating movement of the carriage, and when performing color printing. Since the stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge is used, it is not necessary to mount a ribbon winding motor, a color selection mechanism, and a drive motor for the ribbon on the carriage.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to reduce the size of the carriage in the printer capable of monochrome printing and color printing, and thereby to enlarge the printing area. Further, the carriage motor and the printer as a whole can be downsized, and the cost can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the first aspect, the color selection unit having the color selection mechanism and its drive motor when the stationery type ribbon cartridge for color printing is attached is used. Since it is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the main body, the color selection unit can be attached to the printer main body only when performing color printing.

Therefore, for example, a state in which an on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge is mounted can be set as a standard state, and a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge and a color selection unit can be prepared as optional items. Thus, the standard printer can be provided to the user at a lower cost.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer according to the first aspect, wherein the ribbon take-up unit has a ribbon take-up mechanism and a drive motor for the ribbon-type ribbon cartridge for color printing. Since the printer is detachably attached to the printer body, the ribbon winding unit can be attached to the printer body only when performing color printing.

Therefore, for example, a state in which an on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge is mounted can be set as a standard state, and a ribbon winding unit of a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge can be prepared as an optional item. As a result, the standard printer can be provided to the user at a lower cost.

In contrast to an on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge, a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge generally uses a multicolored ribbon, and therefore has a large width and a long circumferential length, and therefore a ribbon winding torque. growing. For this reason, it is possible to use it in common with the ribbon winding mechanism of the monochrome printing ribbon cartridge, but this causes a problem that the drive motor becomes large and the ribbon winding mechanism becomes complicated and large. .

On the other hand, according to the printer of the third aspect, the ribbon winding unit of the stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge can be prepared as an optional item, thereby making the printer in the standard state cheaper. Can be provided to users at.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the first aspect, the color selection mechanism, the ribbon take-up mechanism, and these mechanisms when the stationery type ribbon cartridge for color printing is attached. A color selection / ribbon winding unit having a single drive motor for driving the printer and power transmission switching means for transmitting the drive from the drive motor to the color selection mechanism or the ribbon winding mechanism is attached to / detached from the printer body. Since this is possible, the color selection / ribbon winding unit can be attached to the printer body only when performing color printing.

Therefore, for example, the state in which the on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge is mounted is set as the standard state, and the color selection / ribbon winding unit of the stationery type color printing ribbon cartridge is prepared as an optional item. As a result, the standard printer can be provided to the user at a lower cost.

That is, according to the printer of the fourth aspect, the color selecting function and the ribbon winding function of the color printing ribbon cartridge can be added by a single unit, and a more inexpensive and small size printer can be provided. Can be provided to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the second or fourth aspect, the color selection mechanism has a cam for swinging the color printing ribbon cartridge, and is in contact with the cam. Since the adjusting means for adjusting the swinging position of the color printing ribbon cartridge is provided on the color printing ribbon cartridge side, the color selection unit or the color selection / ribbon winding unit printer is provided by a simple mechanism. It can be attached to the main body in a stable state.

That is, for example, in the case where a stationery type ribbon cartridge for color printing and a color selection unit (or a color selection / ribbon winding unit) are optional products, the positions when these optional products are attached to the printer main body. Since it is not always easy to ensure accuracy, it is necessary to provide adjustment means. This adjusting means can be provided on the color selection unit (or color selection / ribbon winding unit) side, but in that case, the mechanism becomes complicated, or the color selection unit (or color selection / ribbon winding unit) is used. There is a problem that the mounting state of the unit) becomes unstable.

On the other hand, according to the printer of the fifth aspect, since the adjusting means is provided on the side of the color printing ribbon cartridge, the color selecting unit (or the color selecting / ribbon winding unit) is constituted by a simple mechanism. ) Can be stably attached to the printer body.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the fifth aspect, the adjusting means is composed of a rotatable adjusting lever having an eccentric plate that contacts the cam of the color selecting mechanism. The adjustment work only needs to be performed by rotating the adjustment lever, so that the user can easily perform the adjustment work.

[0036]

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

First, an outline of this printer will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the printer.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a printer main body, and its case is composed of a lower case 11 and an upper case 12 fitted to the lower case 11 in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

The paper feed cassette 2 is mounted on the bottom of the lower case 11.

A sheet feeding mechanism 3 feeds the cut sheets (not shown) contained in the sheet feeding cassette one by one.

The fed sheet passes through the sheet feeding path A1 and
After passing through the paper feed mechanism 4, it reaches a printing portion A formed between the platen 5 and the print head 21 mounted on the carriage 20.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a base frame made of a metal plate. The base frame 13 has an electric system E (see FIG. 7).
A partition plate 14 is provided to partition the mechanical system M (see FIG. 7) such as the head 21 and the like. This partition plate 14
It also serves as a rack 14 a that meshes with an ink ribbon winding drive gear 22 mounted on the carriage 20.

The carriage 20 has a carriage guide shaft 1
5, the carriage motor 30 as shown in FIG.
Is driven to move parallel to the platen 5 via the timing belt 31. When one head is printed by the head 21 as the carriage 20 moves, the platen 5 is rotated by the drive of the paper feed motor 40 (see FIG. 7), and the paper is fed by the space between lines, The line is printed.

The sheet printed by the printing section A is discharged from the sheet discharge port 7 to the sheet discharge tray 8 through the sheet discharge path A2 and the sheet discharge mechanism 6.

The printer as described above is capable of not only monochrome printing but also color printing. In monochrome printing, an on-carriage type ribbon cartridge mounted on a carriage is used, and in color printing. , A stationery type ribbon cartridge attached to the printer body is used. The state of performing monochrome printing is the standard state, and the ribbon cartridge for color printing necessary for performing color printing is an optional item.

First, the standard state in which monochrome printing is performed will be described.

When performing monochrome printing, as shown in FIG. 3, an on-carriage type ribbon cartridge for monochrome printing (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a cartridge) 5 is used.
0 is mounted on the carriage 20. In the carriage 20,
A pair of supporting portions 23, 23 are provided, and the cartridge 50 is fixed on the carriage 20 by elastically fitting pins 51, 51 protruding on both sides of the cartridge 50 into the groove portion 23a of the supporting portion. To be done. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage 20, and FIG. 5 is a chain double-dashed line showing the cartridge 50 mounted on the carriage. In addition,
The cartridge 50 is also shown in FIG.

When the printer is operated in this state, the carriage 20 moves to rotate the ink ribbon winding drive gear 22 meshing with the rack 14a, and the monochrome ink ribbon 52 is wound and the head is wound. 21 is supplied to the front surface of the head 21, and monochrome printing is performed by the head 21.

Next, the case of performing color printing will be described.

FIG. 6 is an internal structural view of the printer showing a state in which a color printing ribbon cartridge is attached, and FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view.

In this embodiment, the parts necessary for color printing are a color printing ribbon cartridge (hereinafter also simply referred to as a color cartridge) 60 and a cartridge mounting plate 7.
0, and a color selection and ribbon winding unit 80, which are provided to the user as a set.

The color cartridge 60 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a box-shaped main body 61 and the main body 61
A ribbon guide arm 62 slidably attached to the body 61 on the front side of the
And have.

The ribbon guide arm 62 includes a base portion 62b slidably attached to the main body 61,
The base portion 62b is composed of a pair of arm portions 62a, 62a integrally extending forward, and the base portion 62b and the arm portion 62a are provided with guide pins 62g for guiding the ribbon.

The color ribbon 63 is a black 63 in a track shape.
a, a red 63b, a blue 63c, and a yellow 63d. The color ribbon 63 has an endless shape, and as shown in FIG.
Also, the main body 6 is pulled out from the pull-out opening 61a by the winding operation of the pinch roller 65 which follows this.
1 is guided by the guide pin 61b of No. 1, the four guide pins 62g of the ribbon guide arm 62, and the guide pin 61c of the main body 61, and is wound into the main body 61 by the winding roller 64 and the pinch roller 65. There is.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the cartridge mounting plate 70 is formed by punching and bending a plate material, and includes a bottom plate 71, a front plate 72, a rear plate 73, side plates 74,
It consists of 75. The color cartridge 60 is placed on the bottom plate 71, and the front plate 72 and the rear plate 73 hold the lower portions of the front and rear surfaces of the main body 61 of the color cartridge 60.
4, 75 hold both side surfaces of the main body 61.

A cartridge mounting plate (hereinafter also simply referred to as mounting plate) 7 is provided on both side surfaces of the color cartridge body 61.
Pins 66 and 67 longer than the plate thickness of 0 are provided (see FIG. 8), and a rib-like projection 68 extending in the up-down direction is provided on the surface on which the pin 66 is provided (right side surface in FIG. 9). Is provided. Then, one pin 66 is fitted in a hole 74a formed in one side plate 74 of the mounting plate 70, and a projection 68 is formed in a slit 74b formed in the side plate 74.
The color cartridge 60 is set on the mounting plate 70 by fitting the pin 67 and the other pin 67 to the L-shaped slit 75a provided on the other side plate 75 of the mounting plate 70.

The pins 66 of the color cartridge body 61,
Since 67 is formed longer than the plate thickness of the mounting plate 70, when the color cartridge 60 is set on the mounting plate 70, these pins 66 and 67 are located on the side plates 74 and 75 of the mounting plate 70, respectively. Project. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the protrusions (that is, the pins 66 and 67) are used to fit the pins 66 and 67 into the L-shaped slits 16a and 16a formed in the side frames 16 and 16 of the printer main body, respectively. By matching, the color cartridge 60 and the mounting plate 70 can be attached to the side frame 1
6, 16 can be attached so as to be swingable.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the carriage 20 with the color cartridge 60 attached. As shown in the figure, when a color printing ribbon cartridge 60 is attached to the printer body instead of the on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge 50, the ribbon guide arm 62 of the color printing ribbon cartridge 60 is shown. Are mounted on the carriage 20. In this case, the base portion 62b of the ribbon guide arm 62 receives a rightward force by the support portion 23 on the left side of the carriage when the carriage 20 moves to the right,
When the carriage 20 moves to the left, the right support portion 2
3 receives a force to the left and is not restrained by the support portion 23 when moving up and down due to the ribbon shift.

As shown in FIG. 10, the adjustment lever mounting portion 73a is integrally formed on the rear plate 73 of the cartridge mounting plate 70.
Is provided, and the adjustment lever 76 is attached to the mounting portion 73a.
Is rotatably attached by a shaft 77. The adjusting lever 76 is integrally formed with an eccentric plate 76a that comes into contact with a cam 82d of a color selecting mechanism described later. The mounting portion 73b has a radial latch 73b centered on the shaft 77.
Is formed, and the adjustment lever 7 is attached to the latch 73b.
By engaging the protrusions 76b formed on the guide 6, the adjusting lever 76 is prevented from rotating with a contact force with the cam 82d.

The color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 is
As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, the case 81, the color selection mechanism 82, the ribbon winding mechanism 83, and the color selection mechanism 82 or the ribbon winding mechanism 83 built in the case 81 are selectively provided. A drive motor 84 for driving,
It has a planetary gear mechanism 84b as a power transmission switching means for transmitting the drive from the drive motor 84 to the color selection mechanism 82 or the ribbon winding mechanism 83. The color selection mechanism 82 is shown on the left side of the motor 84 in FIG. 14 as an aa ′ section in FIG. 13, and the ribbon winding mechanism 83 is shown on the right side of the motor 84 as a bb ′ section in FIG. 13. There is.

In the color selecting mechanism 82, when the motor 84 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 13, the planetary gear mechanism 84b having the gear 84a fixed to the output shaft of the motor as a sun gear also rotates counterclockwise. The driven gear 82c is rotated clockwise through the transmission gears 82a and 82b, and the cam 82d integrally formed with the driven gear 82c is rotated clockwise. Note that FIG. 15 shows a developed view of the cam 82d. The arrow in the figure indicates the rotation direction of the cam.

In the ribbon winding mechanism 83, when the motor 84 rotates clockwise in FIG. 13, the planetary gear mechanism 84b also rotates clockwise, and the driven gear 83d rotates counterclockwise via the transmission gears 83a, 83b, 83c. The ribbon winding ratchet 83e, which is integrally formed with the driven gear 83d, is rotated counterclockwise.

As shown in FIG. 12, the case 81 is provided with a hook portion 81a. This hook portion 81a is
As shown in FIGS. 13 and 7, the color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 can be attached to the printer body 10 by fitting the pins 16b protruding from the side frame 16 of the printer body 10. .

Therefore, when performing color printing, first, the ribbon cartridge 50 for monochrome printing is removed from the carriage 20, and then the color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 is attached to the printer body 10 as described above. After that, the color cartridge 60 is set on the mounting plate 70 as described above, and is mounted on the printer body (this state is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7). Color cartridge 60 and mounting plate 7
When 0 is attached to the printer main body 10, as shown in FIG. 13, the ribbon take-up ratchet 83e penetrates the long hole 71a formed in the bottom plate 71 of the attachment plate 70 and the take-up roller 64 of the color cartridge 60 (see FIG. 8 (b)) and the adjustment lever 76 of the mounting plate 70
The eccentric plate 76a comes into contact with the cam surface of the cam 82d (see FIG. 10).

When the printer is operated in such a state, the color guide 63 is wound while the color ribbon 63 is wound by the operation of the motor 84 of the color selecting / ribbon winding unit 80 which is normally rotating in the clockwise direction. And is supplied to the front surface of the head 21, and the carriage 20
While moving the ribbon guide arm 62,
Printing is performed by the head 21. When it is necessary to change the color to be printed, the motor 84 of the color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 rotates counterclockwise by a predetermined number of steps, and the cam 82d correspondingly rotates by a predetermined angle. Rotate. Since the eccentric plate 76a of the adjusting lever 76 of the mounting plate is in contact with the cam surface of the cam 82d, the cam 82d
When d rotates by a predetermined angle, the mounting plate 7 is correspondingly rotated.
0 and the color cartridge 60 swing about the shafts 66 and 67 in the directions of arrow a or b in FIG. As a result, the ribbon guide arm 62 and the color ribbon 63 guided thereby also swing, and the colors to be printed by the head 21 are black 63a, red 63b, blue 63c,
It is selected as one of yellow 63d (see FIG. 8A).

If, for example, a black color and a red color adjacent thereto are mixed due to an error in the mounting position accuracy of the color cartridge 60, the adjustment lever 76 can be easily rotated to correct it. be able to.

According to the printer as described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.

(I) The carriage 20 is the carriage 20
The on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge 50 in which the ribbon is wound by the reciprocating motion of the above is configured to be mountable, and instead of the on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge 50,
Since the ribbon guide arm 62 of the stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge 60 attached to the printer body 10 is configured to be attachable, the monochrome printing ribbon cartridge 50 is mounted on the carriage 20 when performing monochrome printing. When the color printing is performed, the stationery type color printing ribbon cartridge 60 can be attached to the printer body 10.

The on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge 50 used for monochrome printing has its ribbon wound up by the reciprocating motion of the carriage 20, and when performing color printing. Since a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge 60 is used for the carriage, it is not necessary to mount a ribbon winding motor, a color selection mechanism, and a drive motor for the carriage 20 on the carriage 20.

Therefore, the size of the carriage 20 can be reduced, and as a result, the printing area extending in the left-right direction in FIGS. 5 and 11 can be enlarged. Further, the carriage motor 30 (see FIG. 2) and the entire printer can be downsized, and the cost can be reduced.

(Ii) A color selection mechanism 82, a ribbon winding mechanism 83, a single drive motor 84 for driving these mechanisms when the stationery type color printing ribbon cartridge 60 is attached, Since the color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 having the planetary gear mechanism 84b for transmitting the drive from the drive motor 84 to the color selection mechanism 82 or the ribbon winding mechanism 83 is configured to be detachable from the printer body 10, The color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 can be attached to the printer body 10 only when printing is performed.

The state in which the on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge 50 is mounted is set as a standard state, and the color selection / ribbon winding unit 8 of the stationery type color printing ribbon cartridge 60 is set.
Since 0 is prepared as an optional item, the standard printer can be provided to the user at a lower cost.

In this embodiment, a color selection unit,
Ribbon take-up unit and a single unit i.e.
Although the color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 is configured, the color selection unit and the ribbon winding unit may be configured as different units and provided to the user.

(Iii) The adjusting lever 76 for adjusting the swinging position of the color printing ribbon cartridge 60 by contacting the cam 82d of the color selection / ribbon winding unit 80 has the mounting plate 70 on the color printing ribbon cartridge side.
The ribbon winding color selection unit 80 can be attached to the printer body 10 in a stable state with a simple mechanism.

(Iv) Since the rocking position adjusting means of the color printing ribbon cartridge 60 is composed of the adjusting lever 76, the adjusting work only needs to be performed by rotating the adjusting lever 76. Therefore, the user can easily perform the adjustment work. Adjustment work can be performed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0078]

According to the printer of the present invention, not only monochrome printing but also color printing can be performed, and it is possible to reduce the size and reduce the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal structure diagram showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a carriage and a carriage motor portion.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an attachment of a monochrome printing ribbon cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a carriage.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a carriage to which a ribbon cartridge for monochrome printing is attached.

FIG. 6 is an internal structural diagram of a printer to which a color printing ribbon cartridge is attached.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

8A and 8B are views showing a color printing ribbon cartridge, in which FIG. 8A is a perspective view and FIG. 8B is a schematic plan view showing an internal structure.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view for explaining the mounting of the color printing ribbon cartridge on the mounting plate.

10 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a carriage to which a color printing ribbon cartridge is attached.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a color selection / ribbon winding unit.

FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of the printer body to which the color selection / ribbon winding unit is attached.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG.
-The figure which drew the b'section on the right side.

FIG. 15 is a development view of a cam.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Platen 10 Printer Main Body 20 Carriage 21 Print Head 50 Monochrome Printing Ribbon Cartridge 60 Color Printing Ribbon Cartridge 62 Ribbon Guide Arm 70 Cartridge Mounting Plate 76 Adjustment Lever 76a Eccentric Plate 80 Color Selection / Ribbon Winding Unit 82 Color Selection Mechanism 82d Cam 84 Drive motor

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshikazu Otaka 3-5-3 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano Seiko Epson Corporation

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printer comprising a platen and a carriage that carries a print head facing the platen and reciprocates along the platen, the carriage comprising:
An on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge, in which a ribbon is wound by the reciprocating movement of a carriage, can be mounted, and a stay attached to the printer body is used instead of the on-carriage type monochrome printing ribbon cartridge. A printer characterized in that a ribbon type color printing ribbon cartridge is mountable. 2. A color selection unit having a color selection mechanism and a drive motor for mounting a stationary type color printing ribbon cartridge is detachably attached to the printer body. 1
The listed printer. 3. A ribbon take-up unit having a ribbon take-up mechanism and a drive motor for the case where a stationery type ribbon cartridge for color printing is attached is detachably attached to a printer body. The printer according to claim 1. 4. A color selection mechanism, a ribbon winding mechanism, a single drive motor for driving these mechanisms, and a drive from this drive motor when a stationary type ribbon cartridge for color printing is attached. 2. A printer according to claim 1, wherein a color selection / ribbon winding unit having a power transmission switching means for transmitting the color to the color selection mechanism or the ribbon winding mechanism is detachably attached to the printer body. 5. The color selection mechanism has a cam for rocking the color printing ribbon cartridge, and adjusting means for adjusting the rocking position of the color printing ribbon cartridge by contacting the cam. 5. The printer according to claim 2 or 4, wherein is provided on the side of the color printing ribbon cartridge. 6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the adjusting unit is composed of a rotatable adjusting lever having an eccentric plate that comes into contact with the cam of the color selecting mechanism.