JPH0751377B2 - Ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette in a thermal transfer recording apparatus that performs thermal transfer recording using a thermal transfer ink sheet and a thermal head.

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional thermal transfer ink sheet cassette in a thermal transfer recording apparatus, there is an ink sheet holding mechanism (ink sheet cassette) as disclosed in, for example, JP-A-60-105561. FIG. 7 shows the configuration.

In FIG. 7, reel guides 27 and 28 are provided on reel shafts 25 and 26 respectively arranged on both sides of the casings 23 and 24 in order to hold the ink sheet 20 wound on the tubular winding core 21. The reel shafts 25, 26 and the core guide members 27, 28 guide and hold the inner diameter surfaces of both ends of the core 22. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the ink sheet 20 is separately coated on the ink surface of yellow, magenta, cyan, etc., and the ink sheet 20 is wound around the core 21 and between the core 22 and the core 22. And is wound in the direction of arrow E. The spring 29 serves to position and bias the winding core 22 with respect to the housings 23 and 24, and also to apply back tension when the ink sheet 20 is wound.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette as described above, the accuracy between the cores can be maintained accurately by, for example, the bearings 30 and 31, and the housings 23 and 24 can maintain sufficient accuracy. It was necessary to have strength. Therefore, the conventional thermal transfer ink sheet cassette has a large size and weight as a single cassette and is expensive in cost. This is because conventionally, in this type of ink sheet cassette, the ink sheet cassette is also designed based on the idea that it is an important part or part of the device in terms of the device configuration, based on the idea of repeated use. The method of removing the entire core from the cassette housing and replacing the core is not suitable for the so-called disposable application, in which the consumed ink sheet is discarded as a whole. However, the ink sheet itself is originally a consumable item,
When it is difficult for a user to replace an exhausted ink sheet or repeatedly use an ink sheet cassette, for example, in a home-use thermal transfer recording device, the ink sheet cassette can also be discarded together with the exhausted ink sheet, which is an inexpensive and easy-to-use ink. A sheet cassette was requested.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide an ink sheet cassette that is inexpensive and excellent in discardability while maintaining a certain accuracy and strength as a single unit, which is indispensable for constructing a thermal transfer recording apparatus for home use and the like. Further, in order to make the ink sheet cassette as a consumable item suitable for home use, it has been necessary to construct the ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer, which can be easily attached to and detached from the thermal transfer recording device, etc.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a supply reel around which a thermal transfer ink sheet is wound, a take-up reel around which the thermal transfer ink sheet is stretched and wound up, a supply reel, and A cassette housing for housing the take-up reel, a handle portion integrally provided with the cassette housing between the supply reel and the take-up reel shaft, and a cassette near the central portion between the supply and take-up reel shaft on the handle portion. And a locking portion for locking the case to the device.

Effects According to the present invention, by configuring the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette as described above, it becomes possible to easily discard the exhausted thermal transfer ink sheet together with the ink sheet cassette, and further, the thermal transfer of the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette. It is possible to provide an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer which is easily attached to and detached from a recording device and has excellent handleability.

Example Hereinafter, the structure of an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer (hereinafter simply referred to as an ink sheet cassette) in one example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 are perspective views of an ink sheet cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, ink for thermal transfer recording is applied to the thermal transfer ink sheet 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as an ink sheet), for example, to perform color recording as shown in FIG. Ink such as yellow, magenta, and cyan are separately coated for each color. In general, as the ink to be applied, a heat-meltable pigment ink, a heat-sublimable dye ink, or the like is used.

The ink sheet 1 is wound around a supply reel 2, and one end of the ink sheet 1 is stretched around a take-up reel 3 and wound in the direction of arrow A. The supply reel 2 and the take-up reel 3 are housed in the supply reel housing 4 and the take-up reel housing 5, respectively. The cassette housing 7 is composed of a supply reel housing portion 4, a take-up reel housing portion 5, and a connecting portion 6 that connects the respective housing portions, and constitutes an ink sheet cassette body.

The handle portion 8 is provided integrally with the ink sheet cassette housing 7 between the axes of the supply reel 2 and the take-up reel 3 to facilitate handling of the ink sheet cassette and loading into the thermal transfer recording apparatus. It constitutes the hydration part of. Further, when the cassette housing 7 is made of an inexpensive thin resin material, paper material or the like, the convex grip portion 8 provided integrally with the cassette housing 7 has a plurality of internal ribs as shown in FIG. It is fixed to the housing by 8a or the like and helps maintain the strength of the cassette housing 7.

On the handle portion 8 provided on the cassette housing 7, a concave locking portion 9 for locking the ink sheet cassette housing 7 on the thermal transfer recording apparatus is provided near the central portion between the supply and take-up reel shafts. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, a locking means 10 provided in the thermal transfer recording apparatus is engaged with the locking portion 9 to lock the ink sheet cassette housing 7.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, by pressing the ink sheet cassette in the direction of arrow C by the cassette urging spring 12 provided in the thermal transfer recording device, the locking position can be used as the fixing reference of the ink sheet cassette. Further, the ink sheet cassette can be easily taken out by fixing the ink sheet cassette only by the insertion operation of the ink sheet cassette and by the releasing operation of moving the locking member 10 in the direction of the arrow D.

Further, since the locking member 10 is provided on the handle portion 8 that is reinforced with respect to strength, not only is it stable in accuracy, but also the deformation of the cassette due to the locking operation (the operation of attaching and detaching the cassette) can be reduced. Furthermore, since it is easy to incorporate the locking means into the device mechanism, it is possible to downsize the device and easily perform maintenance work during the assembly process and maintenance service.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the locking portion 9 has a convex projection 13 and a notch 14 as shown in FIGS.
It is needless to say that the function and the effect are not changed even if they are configured by the above.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette can be formed of, for example, a thin resin or paper material, and the consumed thermal transfer ink sheet can be easily discarded together with the cassette. Therefore, the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette suitable for home use can be provided at low cost as a consumable item that can be easily and surely attached to and detached from the thermal transfer recording device and has excellent handleability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are perspective views of a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a loaded state of the cassette. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer ink sheet, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of an ink sheet cassette of a conventional example. 1 ... Ink sheet for thermal transfer, 2 ... Supply reel, 3 ...
… Take-up reel, 7 …… Cassette housing, 8 …… Handle part, 8a
...... Rib, 9 ...... Locking part.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Sakamoto 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Noriyuki Kawamura, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 72) Inventor Tetsuya Tonomura 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Namemoto ▲ Yoshi ▼ Teru 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) Reference Documents JP-A-1-301352 (JP, A) JP-A-63-165170 (JP, A) JP-A-62-256675 (JP, A) JP-A-60-101070 (JP, A) JP-A-60- 220775 (JP, A) JP 60-236780 (JP, A) JP 60-21288 (JP, A) Actually opened 63-149745 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A supply reel around which a thermal transfer ink sheet is wound, a take-up reel around which the thermal transfer ink sheet is stretched and wound up, and a cassette housing for accommodating the supply reel and the take-up reel. The cassette housing is locked to the apparatus near the central portion between the supply and take-up reel shafts on the handle portion, which is integrally provided with the cassette housing between the supply reel and the take-up reel shafts. An ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer that has a locking part that can be tightened.