JPH08337028A - Identification ring, and manufacturing method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an identification ring that is available for reusing even though foil separation is occurred to a transfer foil, and to provide a manufacturing method therefor. CONSTITUTION: In an identification ring that is composed of a ring main body having a bearing at its center, a driving part 18a provided at the ring main body with rotative driving force transmitted thereto from the outside, and an identification part 18b provided at least at a part on the outer periphery of the ring main body for transferring identification information by means of transfer foil, a positioning hole 18c for positioning in the roatative direction is provided at the side of the ring main body.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an identification ring used for a transfer ribbon cassette or the like loaded in a thermal transfer printer, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a transfer ribbon cassette, and FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view thereof. The cassette 1 includes a cassette case 4 including a body 2 and a lid 3 each having large windows 2a and 3a in the center, a supply bobbin 6 for feeding a transfer ribbon 5, and a winding bobbin 7 for winding the cassette. The bobbins 6 and 7 are arranged in the cassette case 4 in parallel with each other with a space therebetween. That is, the bobbins 6 and 7 are rotatably supported by the shaft portions 8 and 9 at one end on the same side by the bearing portions 10 and 11 formed on the side wall 2 a of the body 2. Further, the cylindrical support shafts 12 and 13 at the other end are circular openings 14 and 15 formed by semicircular cutouts of the body 2 and the lid 3.
Supported by.

Each bobbin 6, 7 has a support shaft 12 on the other end side,
Collars 16 and 17 are provided at the base of 13, and grooves 16a and 17a are radially formed on the outside thereof. The grooves 16a and 17a can be engaged with and disengaged from ribs (not shown) provided inside the openings 14 and 15, respectively. On the other hand, in the supply bobbin 6, a spring 19 is arranged between the side wall 2b of the body 2 and the discrimination ring 18 while pressing the outer surface of the discrimination ring 18 against the shaft portion 8 on one end side. . A spring 20 is arranged on one end side of the winding bobbin 7 between the side wall 2b of the body 2 and the end surface of the bobbin 7 while pressing the end surface of the bobbin 7. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the identification ring 1 is provided at the corner of the cassette case 4.
A window portion 3b is formed in a state in which a part of the lid portion 3 is cut out so that a part of 8 is exposed.

8 and 9 are enlarged views showing a conventional example of an identification ring. The identification ring 18 has a rubber 21 on the outer periphery.
The drive unit 18a wound with the and the identification unit 18 adjacent to the drive unit 18a
b are arranged in two rows, and a bar code 22 is provided in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the identification portion 18b.

In the cassette 1, after the transfer ribbon 5 is wound around each bobbin 6 and 7, the discriminating ring 18 is fitted to the shaft portion 8 of the supply bobbin 6 such that the drive portion 18a thereof is on the outside. Both bobbins 6 and 7 are housed in the cassette case 4 and assembled. Each bobbin 6,
In the assembled state, 7 are springs 19 and 2, respectively.
Is pushed by 0, and the grooves 16a and 17a of the collar portions 16 and 17 are
Engages with the ribs on the inner surfaces of the openings 14 and 15, so that the bobbins 6 and 7 are prevented from idling and the transfer ribbon 5 is prevented from loosening.

When this cassette 1 is mounted on a printer, the bobbins 6 and 7 are pushed against the pressing force of the springs 19 and 20, the grooves 16a and 17a are released from the ribs, and the bobbins 6 and 7 are released. 7 is in a rotatable state. Then, before supplying the transfer ribbon 5 and starting recording, the bobbins 6 and 7 are
By rotating the drive portion 18a from the window portion 4a of the cassette case 4 by a drive system different from the one that rotates, the entire identification ring 18 is rotated around the shaft portion 8 and the barcode 22 on the outer periphery thereof is removed. By reading, it is possible to recognize the number of screens and the usage of the transfer ribbon 5.

[0007]

The above-mentioned conventional identification ring 18 includes the base film / release layer / bar code pattern layer /
The bar code 22 was printed on the outer periphery of the identification portion 18b by hot stamping using a transfer foil made of an adhesive layer or the like. In this transfer foil, foil dropout (pinhole) may occur due to rod deflection or the like. When the foil is removed, it must be treated as a defective product, which is a waste of resources.

An object of the present invention is to provide an identification ring which can be reused even when foil is missing from the transfer foil and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is provided with a ring main body having a bearing portion in the center and the ring main body, and a rotational driving force from the outside is transmitted. An identification ring provided with a drive unit that is provided on at least a part of the outer periphery of the ring main body and to which identification information is transferred using a transfer foil, the identification ring provided on the ring main body, It is characterized in that a positioning means for positioning is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an identification ring according to the first aspect, the identification ring is positioned and mounted on a receiving jig by the positioning means, Identification information is transferred to the identification portion of the identification ring using the transfer foil by a transfer head that moves in synchronization with rotation.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since the positioning means is provided on the side surface of the ring body, the positioning ring is mounted on the receiving jig, and the transfer head moving in synchronization with the rotation of the receiving jig moves the identification ring. The identification information can be transferred to the outer circumference by using a transfer foil. Therefore, even if the transfer foil has a foil missing or the like, the transfer can be accurately performed again and the transfer can be performed again, so that it is not necessary to treat it as a defective product.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and the like. 1 to 3 are views showing an embodiment of an identification ring and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the identification ring 18-1 of this embodiment comprises a drive section 18a having a rubber 21 wound around the outer periphery thereof and an identification section 18b adjacent to the drive section 18a arranged in two rows. A bar code (identification information) 22 is provided in the circumferential direction on the outer circumference of the identification section 18b by a method described later. The identification ring 18-1 is further formed with a positioning hole (positioning means) 18c on the side surface of the ring body.

As shown in FIG. 2 or 3, the movable support base 30 is a base that can be moved up and down, and has transfer foil rolls 31 and take-up reels 32 at the left and right ends thereof, and a heating plate on the lower side. Has 33. This hot platen 33 has a stamp section 3
A bar code mark is formed on the lower surface of 3a,
A rack 33b is provided on the lower surface of the main body 33c.

The fixed support 34 has a guide 35 on its upper surface.
Is provided, and the mounting base 36 is movable left and right along the guide 35. The mounting base 36 is a base for mounting the identification ring 18-1 according to the present embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 1, is provided with a receiving jig 37 for positioning and mounting the identification ring 18-1.

The receiving jig 37 includes an identification ring 18-1.
Is provided with a shaft portion 37a, a pinion gear 37b that meshes with the rack 33b of the heating plate 33, and a position texture projection 37c that fits into the position texture hole 18c of the identification ring 18-1.

Next, a method of manufacturing the identification ring of this embodiment will be described. First, the take-up reel 32 is rotated, and the transfer foil F is unwound by a predetermined length from the transfer foil roll 31 and placed along the heating plate 33, and then the moving support base 30 is moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Lower it. At this time, the rack 33b of the heating plate 33 and the pinion gear 37b of the receiving jig 37 mesh with each other. Then, the stamp portion 33a of the heating plate 33 presses the transfer foil F against the identification ring 18-1 in the mounting base 36.

Then, in this state, as shown in FIG.
The mount 36 is advanced in the direction of arrow B along the guide 35. As a result, the receiving jig 37 is rotated by the meshing of the rack 33b and the pinion gear 37b, so that the hot plate 33 applies thermal pressure to the transfer foil F while the identification ring 18-1 is transferred. The adhesive layer of the transfer foil F is heat-sealed along the outer periphery of the identifying portion 18b, and the peeling layer / bar code pattern layer / adhesive layer is transferred to the outer periphery of the identifying portion 18b, thereby transferring the barcode 22.

In this way, after the bar code 22 is printed on the identification portion 18b of the identification ring 18-1, the movable support base 30 is raised to its original position and the attachment 36 is attached.
Back to the original position. Then, after replacing the identification ring 18-1 of the fixture 36 with a new one, hot stamping is performed in the same manner as described above.

Here, if the transfer foil F is missing, the same identification ring 18-1 is again attached to the fixture 36, and hot stamping is performed in the same manner as described above. At this time, the identification ring 18-1 is attached to the receiving jig 37.
On the other hand, since the positioning is performed in the rotation direction, a new barcode can be transferred by accurately overlapping the previously transferred barcode without slipping. Therefore, the identification ring 18-1 is no longer processed as a defective product. This transfer can be performed twice or more.

4 and 5 are views for explaining another embodiment of the manufacturing method of the discrimination ring according to the present invention. In the example of FIG. 3 described above, the fixed support base 34 is moved left and right (arrow B), but in this embodiment, the fixed support base 34 is not moved and the movable support base 30 is moved left and right. (Arrow D).

Regarding the bar code pattern layer of the transfer foil, an aluminum vapor deposition layer having a metallic luster is preferably used when the bobbin is black, but a black ink layer is used when the bobbin is white. Appropriate methods such as hot stamping may be adopted with a transfer foil having been subjected to.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and changes can be made, which are also within the scope of the present invention. For example, the transfer ribbon using the identification ring according to the present invention can be applied to a cassette having a spring, a bobbin, a cassette case, etc. other than those described in the above embodiments. Also, the identification ring 18-
The drive unit 18a may have a gear on its outer circumference. Further, a protrusion may be provided on the identification ring 18-1 side and a hole may be provided on the receiving jig 37 side. The shape of the holes and the projections is not limited to a circle, but may be a quadrangle or a polygon. The positioning means may be a combination of a key and a keyway.

[0023]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since the positioning means is provided on the side surface of the ring body, the ring jig is positioned and mounted on the receiving jig and synchronized with the rotation of the receiving jig. The moving transfer head can transfer the identification information to the outer circumference of the identification ring by using a transfer foil. Therefore, even if the transfer foil is missing,
There is an effect that it is not necessary to treat it as a defective product because it can be accurately positioned and transferred again.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an identification ring and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an identification ring and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an identification ring and its manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the method for manufacturing an identification ring according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the method for manufacturing an identification ring according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a transfer ribbon cassette.

7 is an exploded perspective view of the cassette shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an identification ring according to a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing an identification ring according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18-1 Identification ring 18c Positioning hole 22 Bar code 33 Hot plate 33a Stamp part 33b Rack 37 Receiving jig 37b Pinion gear 37c Positioning protrusion F Transfer foil

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A ring main body having a bearing portion in the center, a drive unit provided on the ring main body and transmitting a rotational driving force from the outside, and a transfer unit provided on at least a part of an outer periphery of the ring main body. An identification ring, comprising: an identification portion to which identification information is transferred using a foil; and an identification ring provided on the ring main body for performing positioning in a rotational direction. 2. The method for manufacturing an identification ring according to claim 1, wherein the identification ring is positioned and mounted on a receiving jig by the positioning means and is synchronized with rotation of the receiving jig. A method of manufacturing an identification ring, wherein identification information is transferred to the identification portion of the identification ring using the transfer foil by a moving transfer head.