JPH07314862A - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an injury in an ink ribbon when the ink ribbon is repacked. CONSTITUTION:A feeding real 7 on which a nonused ink ribbon 16 is wound, and a winding reel 8 are fitted to a lower case 4 composing a cassette body. Since the ink ribbon 16 is freely rotatively engaged with pawl means 35, 36 formed on an inner wall of the lower case 4, even though the ink ribbon 16 is pulled out from the feeding reel 7, neither creases nor folds are generated in the ink ribbon owing to deviation of the feeding reel 7 from the lower case 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette in which ink ribbons can be refilled, and more particularly to an ink ribbon cassette in which the ink ribbons can be easily refilled and the ink ribbons are not damaged during refilling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink ribbon is heated by a thermal head to transfer the melted ink to the recording paper while moving the thermal head relative to the intermittently conveyed recording paper in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording paper. Fusing type serial thermal transfer printers are known. The ink ribbon used in such a melt-type serial thermal transfer printer is wound around a supply reel so as to be efficiently replaced by the printer, and is housed in a cassette for the ink ribbon together with the take-up reel to be stored in the ink ribbon cartridge. Supplied as a set. When the ink ribbon is set in the fusion type serial thermal transfer printer, the ink ribbon cassette is set together.

Conventionally, such an ink ribbon cassette has been disposed of when all the stored ink ribbons have been used up. However, in order to protect the environment and reduce industrial waste, an ink ribbon cassette has recently been provided in which the cassette body of the ink ribbon cassette can be opened and closed, and the stored ink ribbon can be refilled and reused. In order to refill the ink ribbon of such an ink ribbon cassette, the cassette body is opened, the take-up reel around which the used ink ribbon is wound and the supply reel are taken out, and the unused ink ribbon is wound around the supply ribbon. Assemble the reel and take-up reel at a predetermined position of the upper case or the lower case,
The ink ribbon is pulled out from the supply reel and passed through to the winding reel, the ends of the ink ribbon are locked to the winding reel, and the upper and lower cases are closed.

[0004]

Such an ink ribbon cassette is mounted on a head carriage provided with a thermal head of a melting type serial thermal transfer printer,
Since the structure moves together, it is desirable to be small and lightweight. Therefore, in order to attach the supply reel and the take-up reel to the cassette body, the groove formed on the end surface of each reel and the ridge formed on the reel mounting portion of the upper and lower cases are fitted and sandwiched between the upper and lower cases. It has a simple structure. However, in such a reel mounting method, when the ink ribbon is pulled out from the supply reel at the time of refilling the ink ribbon, the supply reel often comes out of the case or is displaced, and the ink ribbon is wrinkled or folded. May occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon cassette which can be refilled without damaging the ink ribbon when refilling the ink ribbon cassette.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, an ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1 is refilled with an ink ribbon on the inner wall of an upper case or a lower case for accommodating a supply reel and a winding reel. At this time, a claw member that engages with the ink ribbon wound around the supply reel to prevent the supply reel from shifting from a predetermined position is provided.

Further, in the ink ribbon cassette according to the second aspect, a gap is provided between the claw member and the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon so that the supply reel can rotate.

[0008]

When the cassette body including the upper case and the lower case is opened and the ink ribbon is refilled, the claw member formed on the inner wall of the upper case or the lower case is attached to the ink ribbon wound around the supply reel. To prevent the supply reel from shifting from the predetermined position by engaging with, so that even if the ink ribbon is pulled out from the supply reel, the supply reel is displaced and the ink ribbon is wrinkled. Absent. Further, since the gap is provided between the claw member and the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon, there is no hindrance to the rotation of the supply reel during and after the refilling of the ink ribbon.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 2 showing the back side of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, the ink ribbon cassette 2 is an upper case 3.
A supply reel 7 in which an unused ink ribbon is wound inside a cassette body 5 including a lower case 4 and
A reel 8 for winding up a used ink ribbon is rotatably housed. Upper and lower case 3,
The openings 4 and 10 for exposing the supply reel 7 and the take-up reel 8 to the outside and inserting the spindle, which is the drive shaft provided on the head carriage of the fusion type serial thermal transfer printer, are formed at 4. ing. Cassette body 5
The engaging claws 11 formed on the upper case 3 are engaged with the engaged parts 12 of the lower case 4 so as to be separably combined.

A notch 15 into which the thermal head 13 (see FIG. 1) is inserted is formed in front of the cassette body 5. An ink ribbon 16 coated with black ink is pulled out from the inside of the cassette body 5 and passed through the front of the notch 15. The thermal head 13 that has entered the notch 15 heats the ink ribbon 16 from the back side to perform thermal transfer on the recording paper 14 (see FIG. 1). Further, an elongated hole 17 is formed on the side of the notch 15 of the lower case 4, and a mode switching pin 18 constituting a peeling mode switching mechanism incorporated in the cassette body 5 slides from the elongated hole 17. It is projected freely. Further, positioning holes 19 and 20 are formed in the lower case 4, and when the ink ribbon cassette 2 is set in the head carriage, positioning pins formed in the head carriage are inserted and used for positioning.

FIG. 1 showing the inside of the ink ribbon cassette 2.
In the cassette body 5, a supply reel 7 around which an unused ink ribbon 16 is wound is arranged on the right side, and a winding reel 8 around which the used ink ribbon 16 is wound is arranged on the left side. ing. Further, in the cassette body 5, three pins 22a, 22 are provided on the supply reel 7 side.
b and 22c have two pins 22 on the winding reel 8 side.
d and 22e are provided upright and these pins 22a to 2e are provided.
Guide rollers 23a, 23b, 23c, 23d, and 23e that guide the ink ribbon 16 are rotatably attached to 2e. Further, on both sides of the above-mentioned cutout 15, open portions 24a and 24b are formed which serve as passages for the ink ribbon 16 from the inside of the cassette body 5 to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the supply reel 7 is attached to the cassette body 5 in the grooves 7a and 7b formed on both end surfaces of the supply reel 7 around the inner wall of the opening 9 of the lower case 4. It is performed by fitting the ridge 25 formed on the inner wall of the upper case 3 and the ridge 26 formed on the inner wall of the upper case 3. The take-up reel 8 is also rotatably attached to the cassette body 5 by the same groove and ridge.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon 1 is attached to the take-up reel 8 side in the cassette body 5 at the time of thermal transfer.
A peeling mode switching mechanism 28 for switching the mode of peeling 6 from the recording paper is assembled. The melting type thermal transfer printer applies heat to the ink ribbon to melt the ink,
Recording is performed by transferring the melted ink to the recording paper, and when the melted ink is solidified, the ink ribbon and the recording paper are joined. Therefore, the ink ribbon must be peeled from the recording paper, but if this peeling method is not performed properly, even the ink transferred to the recording paper may peel off. For example, if the content to be recorded is characters or a binary image, the area of the ink transferred to the recording paper is large, so even if the ink ribbon is strongly peeled off, the ink will not peel off, but in the case of a halftone image. Since the area of ink is small, the ink will come off unless it is gently removed. The peeling mode switching mechanism 28 switches the angle of the ink ribbon 16 with respect to the recording paper 14 to more appropriately move the ink ribbon 16 to the recording paper 14.
It is for peeling from.

The peeling mode switching mechanism 28 is provided with a peeling roller 29 which is also a guide roller on the winding reel 8 side. The peeling roller 29 is provided at a free end of an arm 31 which is rotated around a pin 30 provided upright on the lower case 4. The arm 31 is biased clockwise by a spring 32, and the other end of the mode switching pin 18 is in contact with the arm 31. Mode switching pin 18
Is attached to a slide plate 33, and the slide plate 33 is slidably fitted in a groove 34 formed in the lower case 4. When the mode switching pin 18 presses the arm 31 to rotate it counterclockwise,
The peeling roller 29 moves to the left side as shown in the figure, and is set to the halftone image print mode position. This allows
The angle of the ink ribbon 16 with respect to the recording paper 14 becomes θ1, and the ink ribbon 16 can be gently peeled off.

When the pressure applied to the arm 31 by the mode switching pin 18 is released, the arm 31 is rotated clockwise by the urging force of the spring 32 to move to the right as shown in FIG. Move to the binary image print mode position such as line drawing. As a result, the angle of the ink ribbon 16 with respect to the recording paper 14 becomes θ2, and the ink ribbon 16 becomes stronger.
Can be peeled off. The slide plate 33 is driven by, for example, a solenoid incorporated in the head carriage.

In this way, the ink ribbon 16 is pulled out from the supply reel 7 in the cassette body 5 and hung on the guide rollers 23a to 23c, and pulled out from the cassette body 5 through the opening 24a in front of the notch 15. After passing, it enters the cassette body 5 again from the opening 24b, is hooked by the peeling roller 29 and the guide rollers 23d, 23e, and is locked by the winding reel 8. And the reel 8 for winding
Is rotated by the spindle of the melting type serial thermal transfer printer, the ink ribbon 16 is wound up on the winding reel 8 and is heated by the thermal head 13 inserted in the notch 15 in the middle thereof, and the recording paper 14
Recording is performed by thermal transfer.

At a position on the inner wall of the lower cover 4 which does not interfere with the path of the ink ribbon 16 from the supply reel 7 to the guide roller 23a, the ink ribbon 16 wound around the supply reel 7 is engaged and supplied. Claw members 35 and 36 are provided to prevent the groove 7a of the reel 7 (see FIG. 3) and the protrusion 25 of the lower case 4 from coming off.

As shown in FIG. 3, a gap 37 is formed between the outer peripheral surface 16a of the ink ribbon 16 wound around the supply reel 7 and the claw members 35 and 36.
Therefore, when the ink ribbon 16 is pulled out from the supply reel 7, the supply reel 7 is rotated without any trouble. Further, at this time, the ink ribbon 16 is moved by the claw members 35, 3
Since it is held down by 6, the fitting between the groove of the supply reel 7 and the protrusion 25 of the 7a lower case 4 does not come off. As described above, since the supply reel 7 is not displaced when the ink ribbon is refilled, the ink ribbon 16 is not wrinkled. The upper case 3 has holes 3a and 3b formed at positions facing the claw members 35 and 36, and the claw members 35 and 36 are inserted when the upper case 3 is attached to the lower case 4.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
The ink ribbon cassette 2 shown in FIG. 2 is set in a fusion-type serial thermal transfer printer, and the mode changing pin 18 is slid according to the contents to be printed appropriately. As a result, the peeling mode switching mechanism 28 (see FIG. 1) is switched to the halftone image mode or the binary image mode, and the ink ribbon 16 that is suitable for the content to be printed is peeled off.

After all the ink ribbons 16 stored in the cassette body 5 are used, the claw engagement between the upper case 3 and the lower case 4 is released, and the upper case 3 is removed.
Open up. As shown in FIG. 4, on the lower case 4, a supply reel 7 on which the ink ribbon 16 is wound and a winding reel 8 on which the used ink ribbon 16 is wound are placed. Then, the take-up reel 8 and the supply reel 7 are taken out, but since the ink ribbon 16 is completely wound up on the supply reel 7, the claw members 35 and 36.
Is not engaged by and can be easily removed.

Next, the supply reel 7 around which the unused ink ribbon 16 prepared in advance is wound, and the winding reel 8 are assembled to the lower case 4 at predetermined positions. Figure 3
As shown in FIG. 5, the supply reel 7 has the protrusions 25 formed on the lower case 4 fitted into the grooves 7 a formed on the end surface, and the claw members 35 and 36 are engaged with the ink ribbon 16. Similarly, the take-up reel 8 also has a groove and a ridge so that the lower case 4
Attached to.

Then, the ink ribbon 16 is pulled out from the supply reel 7, and the ink ribbon 16 is pulled by the claw members 35 and 3.
Since the groove 7a is not disengaged from the ridge 25 and the supply reel 7 is not displaced because it is engaged with the ink ribbon 6,
A gap 3 is formed between the outer peripheral surface 16a of the nozzle 6 and the claw members 35 and 36.
Since the supply reel 7 is provided, the supply reel 7 can be rotated without any hindrance, and the ink ribbon 16 is not wrinkled or bent. As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon 16 pulled out from the supply reel 7 is hooked on the guide rollers 23a to 23c, pulled out of the cassette body 5 from the opening 24a, passes through the front of the notch 15, and is again drawn. The cassette body 5 is put into the cassette body 5 through the opening 24b, and the peeling roller 29, the guide roller 23d,
It is hung on 23e and locked to the winding reel 8.

After passing the unused ink ribbon 16 through the respective guide rollers in this manner, the upper case 3 is moved to the lower case 4
Engage the claw with. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the claw member 3
Reference numerals 5 and 36 enter the holes 3 a and 3 b of the upper case 3. In this way, the refilling of the ink ribbon 16 is completed, and the ink ribbon cassette 2 is set again in the printer for use, but the outer peripheral surface 16a of the ink ribbon 16 and the claw members 35,
Since the gap 37 is provided between the supply reel 7 and the supply reel 36, the supply reel 7 can rotate without any trouble. Also,
After using the refilled ink ribbon 16, the ink ribbon 16 can be refilled and reused again.

In the above embodiment, the ink ribbon cassette having the peeling mode switching mechanism has been described, but the present invention can be applied to an ink ribbon cassette having no peeling mode switching mechanism. Also,
Although the ink ribbon is a black ink ribbon, the present invention can be applied to an ink ribbon for color printing in which ink ribbons of a plurality of colors such as cyan, magenta and yellow are alternately arranged.

[0025]

As described above, the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention has the ink wound around the supply reel at the time of refilling the ink ribbon on the inner wall of the upper case or the lower case which constitutes the cassette body which can be opened and closed. Since the claw member that engages with the ribbon and prevents the supply reel from shifting from the predetermined position is provided, when the ink ribbon is pulled out from the supply reel when the ink ribbon is refilled, the supply reel shifts. It does not move to cause wrinkles or breaks in the ink ribbon.

Further, since the gap is provided between the claw member and the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon so that the supply reel can rotate, the supply reel can be easily operated at the time of refilling the ink ribbon and after the refill. It can be rotated and the ink ribbon can be pulled out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the inside of an ink ribbon cassette when an ink ribbon is not used.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the back side of the ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the inside of the ink ribbon cassette when the ink ribbon has been used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Ink ribbon cassette 3 Upper case 4 Lower case 5 Cassette body 7 Supply reel 8 Winding reel 16 Ink ribbon 35, 36 Claw member 37 Gap

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A supply reel, on which an ink ribbon is wound, and a take-up reel, on which a used ink ribbon is wound, are refilled in a cassette body composed of an upper case and a lower case that can be opened and closed. In the ink ribbon cassette that is reused as a cartridge, the inner reel of the upper case or the lower case is engaged with the ink ribbon wound around the supply reel when the ink ribbon is refilled, and the supply reel is displaced from a predetermined position. An ink ribbon cassette, characterized in that it is provided with a claw member that prevents 2. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein a gap is provided between the claw member and the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon so that the supply reel can rotate.