JPH08252964A - Heat transfer printer and ribbon cassette used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To discriminate the type of an ink ribbon contained in a ribbon cassette without using a plurality of types of cassette cases having different shapes and to reduce in size the cassette. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of detecting switches 17 opposed to the detector 30 of a ribbon cassette 19 to be inclined with respect to the end face of a carriage 5 are aligned and disposed on the upper surface of the carriage 5. The cassette 19 is mounted at the carriage 5, the switch 17 of a specific position is selectively pressed in response to the type of an ink ribbon 21 contained in the cassette 19, and the type of the ribbon 21 in the cassette 19 is detected by the combination of the ON and the OFF of the switches 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer that applies heat to ink in an ink ribbon contained in an ink ribbon to transfer it to a sheet for printing, and a ribbon cassette used in the thermal transfer printer. In particular, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer and a ribbon cassette capable of discriminating the type of ink ribbon contained in a ribbon cassette without using a plurality of types of cassette cases having different shapes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer. A platen 2 having a flat plate shape is arranged at a substantially central portion of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is disposed below the front side of the platen 2 of the frame 1 in parallel with the platen 2. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed on the front edge of the frame 1, and a carriage 5 reciprocates along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 on the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. It is movably attached. The leading end of the carriage 5 faces the platen 2,
A thermal head 6 is attached to and detachable from the platen 2 by a drive mechanism (not shown). An ink ribbon is housed inside the upper surface of the carriage 5, and the ink ribbon is attached to the thermal head 6. A ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between the platen 2 and the platen 2 is detachably attached. Further, the carriage 5
A winding bobbin 7 for winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette and a feeding bobbin 8 for feeding the ink ribbon are disposed on the upper surface of the.

A sheet insertion port 9 for feeding a sheet (not shown) to the front of the platen 2 is formed at the rear of the platen 2, and the sheet insertion port 9 has the sheet insertion port 9 at a predetermined speed. A paper feed roller 10 that conveys a paper is provided. A pressure contact roller 11 that is pressed against the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably disposed below the paper feed roller 10, and the paper feed roller 10 is connected to the transmission gear group 12 on one side surface of the frame. A paper feed motor 13 that is rotationally driven via is provided. Then, by driving the paper feed motor 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 10, the paper inserted between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11 is pinched and conveyed from the paper insertion port 9. It is designed to do.

In the conventional thermal transfer printer, a sheet is inserted from the sheet insertion port 9, the sheet is sandwiched between the sheet feeding roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11, and the sheet feeding motor 13 causes the sheet feeding roller 10 to move. The sheet is conveyed at a predetermined speed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5 by rotating the sheet. On the other hand, the thermal head 6
In the state of being pressed against the paper with a predetermined pressing force,
While the carriage 5 is moved and the winding bobbin 7 is rotated to wind up the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette, the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal to print a desired print on the paper. Is to do.

In such a conventional thermal transfer printer, there are many kinds of ink ribbons stored in the ribbon cassette, such as an ink ribbon for hot peeling or an ink ribbon for cold peeling, a single color ink ribbon or a color ink ribbon. However, conventionally, the shape of the cassette case of the ribbon cassette is changed according to the type of the ink ribbon, and the change of this shape turns on and off the detection switch (not shown) arranged on the carriage.
It was designed to identify the type of ink ribbon. Then, for example, in the case of an ink ribbon for cold peeling, the peeling roller is operated to control the peeling distance of the ink ribbon to be long and to perform cold peeling,
In the case of a color ink ribbon, desired printing control is performed according to the type of ink ribbon, such as control to perform color sensing.

[0006]

However, in the ribbon cassette applied to the above-mentioned conventional thermal transfer printer, the type of the ink ribbon accommodated is identified by changing the shape of the cassette case. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of types of cassette cases corresponding to the types of ink ribbons, which leads to an increase in the number of parts of the ribbon cassette, an increase in parts cost, and an increase in manufacturing cost. Have

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and it is possible to determine the type of ink ribbon contained in a ribbon cassette without using a plurality of types of cassette cases having different shapes, and moreover, the ribbon cassette. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer that can be miniaturized and a ribbon cassette used in the thermal transfer printer.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the features of the thermal transfer printer according to the invention of claim 1 are:
The point is that a plurality of detection switches that are inclined with respect to the end surface of the carriage and that face the detection portion of the ribbon cassette are arranged on the upper surface of the carriage. The thermal transfer printer according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the detection switch is formed on the surface of the cassette case outside the outermost circumference of the ink ribbon wound around the delivery reel and the take-up reel. It is arranged so as to face the above-mentioned detected portion. Furthermore, a feature of the ribbon cassette according to the present invention as set forth in claim 3 is that a ribbon reel is wound inside a cassette case and is engaged with the delivery bobbin and the take-up bobbin, respectively. A guide roller that engages with the second take-up bobbin is arranged between the recess into which the thermal head is inserted and the take-up reel, and is wound around the delivery reel and the take-up reel. On the surface of the cassette case outside the outermost circumference of the ink ribbon, there is provided a detection unit for pressing at least one of a plurality of detection switches arranged on the upper surface of the carriage so as to be inclined with respect to the end surface of the carriage. There is a point.

By adopting such a configuration, by mounting the ribbon cassette on the carriage, the detection switch at a specific position is selectively pressed depending on the type of the ink ribbon stored in the ribbon cassette. The type of the ink ribbon inside the ribbon cassette can be detected by the combination of ON and OFF operations of the detection switch, and the type of the ink ribbon can be changed without changing the shape of the cassette case of the ribbon cassette. Therefore, desired print control can be performed.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
The description will be made with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a carriage portion of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention and a ribbon cassette of the present invention mounted on the carriage. In this thermal transfer printer, along a platen (not shown). A thermal head 6 is attached to the carriage 5 which is reciprocally movable so that the thermal head 6 can be moved toward and away from the platen. The thermal head 6 serves as the center of the thermal head 6 on the upper surface of the carriage 5. The support shaft 14 is formed so as to project. In addition, on the upper surface of the carriage 5,
A take-up bobbin 7 and a delivery bobbin 8 are rotatably arranged, and a second take-up bobbin 15 and a second delivery bobbin 16 are rotatably arranged on the upper surface of the carriage 5. There is. Further, three detection switches 17, 17 ... Are inclinedly arranged at a corner of the upper surface of the carriage 5, and an ink ribbon to be used is provided near the support shaft 14 on the upper surface of the carriage 5. A photo sensor 18 is provided for detecting the end and detecting the color marker of the color ink ribbon.

An ink ribbon 21 is wound inside a cassette case 20 of a ribbon cassette 19 mounted on the carriage 5 and engaged with a delivery bobbin 8 and a take-up bobbin 7 of the carriage 5, respectively. A delivery reel 22 and a take-up reel 23 are housed respectively, and on both inner side portions of the ribbon cassette 19,
A pair of guide rollers 24, 24 that are engaged with the second delivery bobbin 16 and the second winding bobbin 15 of the carriage 5 and guide the ink ribbon 21 are provided.
In addition, a concave portion 25 into which the thermal head 6 is inserted while being mounted on the carriage 5 is formed in a central portion of one side of the cassette case 20, and the concave and convex positions on both sides of the concave portion 25 of the cassette case 20 are symmetrical. Notches 26, 26 into which the support shaft 14 is inserted are formed in each of them.

Further, inside the cassette case 20, a plurality of parts are provided at the part between the delivery reel 22, the take-up reel 23 and each guide roller 24, the recess 25 and the tip of each notch 26. Guide member 27
a, 27b, 28a, 28b, 29a, 29b are provided.

The ink ribbon 2 wound around the delivery reel 22 at a corner of the cassette case 20.
Three detection holes 30, 30 ... Constituting the detection portion are formed at a position outside the outermost periphery of No. 1 so as to be inclined with respect to the end surface of the cassette case 20 so as to correspond to the detection switch 17 of the carriage 5. In this way, the detection hole 30
By forming the incline, it is possible to secure a large forming space. Then, each of these detection holes 30 is closed by a seal or the like according to the type of the ink ribbon 21, and the closed detection holes 30 press the detection switch 17 mounted on the carriage 5. The type of the ink ribbon 21 can be detected by the mechanical operation of operating.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described.

In this embodiment, by mounting the ribbon cassette 19 on the carriage 5 of the thermal transfer printer, the detection switch 17 corresponding to the closed detection hole 30 among the detection holes 30 is pressed. The type of the ink ribbon 21 inside the ribbon cassette 19 is detected by a combination of ON and OFF operations of the detection switch 17.

Then, by the detection switch 17, for example, the ink ribbon 21 is peeled off in the cold state.
If it is detected that the peeling distance of the ink ribbon 21 is formed to be long by operating a peeling roller (not shown), the peeling at the time of cold is controlled, and
If it is detected that the ink ribbon 21 is for thermal peeling, the ink ribbon 21 is not operated without operating the peeling roller.
Control is performed to secure a large peeling angle of the ink ribbon 21. Further, when the ink ribbon 21 is the color ink ribbon 21, the desired printing control is performed according to the type of the ink ribbon 21 such as performing color sensing. I am supposed to do it.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the shape of the cassette case 20 of the ribbon cassette 19 is not changed, and the type of the ink ribbon 21 is detected by the closed state of the detection hole 30 formed in the cassette case 20 to determine whether it is appropriate. Since it is possible to perform various printing drive controls, it is not necessary to use a plurality of ribbon cassettes 19 having different shapes, and as a result, the number of parts can be reduced, the cost of parts can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost is low. can do.
Moreover, since the detection hole 30 is formed to be inclined with respect to the end surface of the cassette case 20, the detection hole 30 is formed as compared with the case where the detection hole 30 is formed parallel to the end surface or the side surface of the cassette case 20. A large space can be secured and the cassette case 20 can be downsized. Further, due to the closed state of the detection hole 30 of the ribbon cassette 19, the carriage 5 of the thermal transfer printer is
Since the ON / OFF state of the detection switch 17 can be set so as to correspond to the type of the ink ribbon 21 by mechanically operating the detection switch 17 arranged at, the mechanical operation allows the ink ribbon 21 to be stably operated. The type can be detected.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be variously modified as necessary.

[0020]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer and the ribbon cassette according to the present invention, the ink ribbon is formed by a combination of ON and OFF operations of each detection switch depending on the closed state of the detection portion formed in the cassette case of the ribbon cassette. It is not necessary to use a plurality of ribbon cassettes having different shapes, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and reduce the cost of parts. And can be manufactured at low cost. Moreover, as compared with the case where the detection portion of the ribbon cassette facing a plurality of detection switches that are arranged slantingly with respect to the end surface of the carriage is formed parallel to the end surface or the side surface of the cassette case, the space for forming the detection portion is large. It is possible to secure a large amount, and it is possible to stably detect the type of the ink ribbon by the detection switch. Furthermore, the ribbon cassette of the present invention,
Since the detection unit sets the state of the detection switch by a mechanical operation of pressing the detection switch of the thermal transfer printer, it is possible to stably detect the type of the ink ribbon used also in this respect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carriage portion and a ribbon cassette mounted on the carriage showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the ribbon cassette of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Carriage 6 Thermal Head 17 Detection Switch 19 Ribbon Cassette 20 Cassette Case 21 Ink Ribbon 22 Feeding Reel 23 Take-up Reel 24 Guide Roller 25 Recessed 26 Cutout 30 Detection Hole (Detection)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A delivery bobbin, a take-up bobbin, and a second take-up bobbin are arranged on the upper surface of a carriage which is equipped with a thermal head and is configured to reciprocate along a platen. A thermal transfer printer in which a ribbon cassette is mounted, wherein a plurality of detection switches that are inclined with respect to the end face of the carriage and face the detection portion of the ribbon cassette are arranged in an array on the upper surface of the carriage. 2. The detection switch is arranged so as to face the detection portion formed on the surface of the cassette case outside the outermost circumference of the ink ribbon wound around the delivery reel and the take-up reel. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein 3. A thermal transfer printer comprising a carriage, which is equipped with a thermal head and is configured to reciprocate along a platen, on which a delivery bobbin, a winding bobbin, and a second winding bobbin are arranged. A ribbon cassette mounted on an upper surface of a carriage for use, wherein an ink ribbon is wound inside a cassette case and is engaged with the delivery bobbin and the take-up bobbin, respectively; A guide roller that engages with the second take-up bobbin is arranged between the recess into which the thermal head is inserted and the take-up reel, and the guide roller is wound around the delivery reel and the take-up reel. On the surface of the cassette case outside the outermost circumference of the ink ribbon, the upper surface of the carriage is aligned and arranged so as to be inclined with respect to the end surface of the carriage. A ribbon cassette comprising a detection unit that presses at least one of a plurality of detection switches provided.