JPH0858199A - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an ink ribbon cassette constituted so that the ink ribbon cassette having a roll set thereto in a correct direction can be correctly mounted on an apparatus main body in a correct direction. CONSTITUTION: In an ink ribbon cassette 4 wherein the supply roll S1 and taking-up roll S2 of a single pass ink ribbon R are respectively supported by the support cap attaching holes 20, 21 of a housing 7 through first and second support caps 18, 19, the structure of the key 34 and key groove 31 of the supply roll S1 and the supply roll support cap 18 is made different from that of the key 35 and key groove 33 of the taking-up roll S2 and the taking-up roll support cap 19. Further, the diameter of the revolving shaft 18b of the first support cap 18 is made different from that of the revolving shaft 19b of the second support cap 19 and the attaching structures of the support cap attaching holes 20, 21 are made mutually different.

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 for mounting a thermal ink ribbon and disposing it at a printing position in a printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermal transfer type printing apparatus, ink is melted on a thermal ink ribbon by a thermal head and transferred to a paper side for printing. The thermal ink ribbon is wound around a supply roll and a take-up roll so as to run between both rolls. Both rolls are set in the housing of the ink ribbon cassette, and inside the main body of the device together with the ink ribbon cassette. It is designed to be loaded into. Support caps are attached to both ends of the supply roll and the take-up roll, and both rolls are attached to the mounting portion of the housing by a total of four support caps. Then, when the cassette is mounted on the apparatus body, the gear portion formed on the support cap meshes with the drive gear in the apparatus body, and as a result, the rotation is transmitted from the drive gear to rotate both rolls. Has become.

[0003]

However, the shapes of the gear portions of the four support caps are not all the same, and when a certain support cap is fitted on different rolls and set in the housing, the gears of the apparatus main body cannot mesh with each other. There are cases. In that case, the ink ribbon cassette cannot be loaded in the apparatus main body. for that reason,
If the support cap is accidentally mounted and both rolls are set in the housing, the user will notice the mistake in mounting the support cap only at the stage of mounting on the main body of the device, and at this stage again It was troublesome to correctly reattach the support cap to the roll.

If the front and rear of the roll are mistakenly set in the housing, the end of the ink ribbon will come to the ribbon start position. This mistake is often found after actually restarting printing, and it is troublesome to set the ink ribbon in the correct direction again. In this case, in the case of a multi-pass ink ribbon cassette, it is sufficient to take it out of the device body and replace it before and after loading it again. It cannot be replaced. Therefore, in the cassette for a single-pass ink ribbon, it is necessary to remove both rolls from the housing once and replace the rolls in the front and back, which is very troublesome. Further, if the rolls are exchanged, the gears will not mesh with the drive gears of the apparatus body unless the support caps are also exchanged forward and backward. As a result, both the support caps and the rolls must be remounted from the beginning, which is too complicated.

The present invention is to solve the above problems at once. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon cassette in which a roll for setting an ink ribbon set in the correct direction can be loaded in the apparatus main body in the correct direction without fail.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention of claim 1, the supply roll of the thermal ink ribbon and the winding roll of the same ribbon are respectively provided with a first support member and a second support member. In the ink ribbon cassette supported by the mounting portion of the housing via the feeding roll and the first supporting member, the engaging structure is different from the winding roller and the second supporting member. The gist is that the mounting structure of the support member to the mounting portion is different from each other.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the ink ribbon cassette according to the first aspect of the invention, the first and second support members are fitted to both ends of the roll, and the two are arranged in a concavo-convex relationship on the fitting surface. The gist of the invention is to prevent the rotation and to make the supply roll and the first support member, and the concavo-convex formation positions of the winding roll and the second support member different from each other. According to a third aspect of the invention, in the ink ribbon cassette according to the first or second aspect of the invention, the first and second support members have a main body fitted to both rolls and a rotating shaft. The gist of the present invention is to have a mounting structure in which the diameters of the rotation shafts of both supporting members are different from each other and can be mounted only to the corresponding mounting portions.

[0008]

With the above structure, in the invention of claim 1, when the support member is attached to the supply roll and the take-up roll, the engaging structure of the supply roll and the first support member and the take-up roll are provided. The engaging structure of the second support member is different from that of the second support member so that the roll and the support member can be installed correctly. Then
When mounting the roll on which the support member is mounted to the mounting portion of the housing, if the mounting structures of the first supporting member and the mounting portion of the second supporting member are different from each other, the mounting direction of the roll on the housing is always constant. Therefore, there is no mistake in mounting.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, the engaging structure of the operation of the invention of claim 1 is made into a concave-convex relationship on the fitting surface between the supporting member and the roll, and by this concave-convex relationship, the supporting member and the roll are The idle rotation between the two is prevented. Claim 3
In addition to the actions of the first and second aspects of the invention, since the rotating shafts are formed to have different diameters, the roll can be smoothly rotated as in the conventional case and can be attached to the mounting portion. There is no mistake in the installation of.

[0010]

EXAMPLE An example in which the cassette case for an ink ribbon of the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine will be described below with reference to FIG.
~ It demonstrates based on FIG. The facsimile apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 4 is a model in which the sheet feeding cassettes 2a and 2b are mounted in two stages, and the lower sheet feeding cassette 2b can be mounted separately. A recording unit (not shown) and a reading unit (not shown) are arranged in the apparatus body 3. Further, the ink ribbon cassette 4 is detachably arranged in the recording section. An upper cover 5 is provided on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 3, and is rotated upward when the cassette 4 is attached or detached to be opened.

Next, the ink ribbon cassette 4 loaded in the apparatus main body 3 will be described. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the ink ribbon cassette 4 is turned upside down and placed on a horizontal plane F. In this state, the ink ribbon R is exchanged. The cassette 4 is composed of a housing 7, a supply roll S1 and a winding roll S2 set in the housing 7. When the cassette 4 is loaded in the facsimile apparatus 1, the ink ribbon cassette 4 is turned over 180 degrees, and the upper cover 5 is opened and loaded into the apparatus main body 3 from the open portion. ing. In the following description of the ink ribbon cassette 4, the left side is the left side and the right side is the right side in the mounted state in FIG. The upper side is the upper side and the lower side is the lower side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the housing 7
Is composed of a pair of left and right main body frames 8a and 8b in which the two rolls S1 and S2 are housed, and a support frame 9 which is between both ends of the main body frames 8a and 8b and which connects the main body frames 8a and 8b at a predetermined interval. There is. On the outer surfaces of the main body frames 8a and 8b, outwardly bulged curved surface-shaped guide portions 11 for guiding the passage of the recording paper P are formed. As shown in FIG. 1, the main body frame 8a on the left side
A pair of supply roll holding plates 13 for holding the supply roll S1 are formed at both ends of the guide portion 11. A pair of take-up roll holding plates 14 for holding the take-up roll S2 is formed at both ends of the guide portion 11 of the right main body frame 8b. Both holding plates 13 and 14 are guide portions 1
It is a plate body integrally formed with 1. Both holding plates 13 and 14 have different colors (for example, if the holding plate 13 for the supply roll is red, the holding plate 14 for the take-up roll).
Is colored blue).

As shown in FIG. 1, a holding plate 1 for a supply roll.
3 and the take-up roll holding plate 14 open toward the center of the cassette 4, that is, in the direction along the running direction of the ink ribbon R. In the state of FIG. A mounting groove 15 that is horizontal with respect to is formed. Engagement protrusions 17 are provided above and below the opening 16 of each mounting groove 15 to prevent the rolls S1 and S2 from falling off when the support caps 18 and 19 at both ends are mounted. Substantially circular support cap mounting holes 20 and 21 are formed in the mounting groove 15 so as to be continuous with the opening 16. The support cap mounting hole 20 of the supply roll holding plate 13 has a smaller diameter than the support cap mounting hole 21 of the winding roll holding plate 14.

A keyhole-shaped expansion permitting portion 22 is formed continuously with the support cap mounting holes 20 and 21. As a result of forming the expansion permitting portion 22, the mounting groove 15 is bent vertically to expand. Also, it has an elastic structure that allows it to return. A mounting portion 23 is formed adjacent to the opening 16 for temporarily placing the support caps 18 and 19. Rolling prevention protrusions 24 that prevent the support caps 18 and 19 from rolling are provided at the ends of the mounting portion 23 so as to project upward.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support frame 9 having a substantially angled cross section is composed of a support frame main body 25 and an eaves portion 26. The support frame body 25 is integrated with both holding plates 13 and 14 at both ends thereof. A stand portion 28 is formed on the eaves portion 26 so as to contact the mounting surface F to support the housing 7 in a stable manner as shown in FIG. 1 and also to function as a handle when the housing 7 is attached to or removed from the device. Has become. A pair of body frames 8
Further, the opening portion 29 is formed at the center of the housing 7 by the pair of support frames 9, and the single-pass ink ribbon R runs in the opening portion 29. The single-pass ink ribbon R is sandwiched by a heat-sensitive head and a platen roller (not shown), the ink of the single-pass ink ribbon R is melted by the heat-sensitive head, and image information is printed on the recording paper.

Next, the supply roll S1 and the winding roll S2 mounted on the housing 7 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the supply roll S1 is supported between the two supply roll holding plates 13 in a suspended state by a supply roll support cap 18. The take-up roll S2 is supported between the two take-up roll holding plates 14 in a suspended state by a take-up roll support cap 19.

The supply roll S1 and the winding roll S2 are cylindrical bodies made of paper or synthetic resin. Supply roll S
The base end side of the single-pass ink ribbon R is fixed to the outer surface of 1. The single-pass ink ribbon R is an elongated ribbon-shaped ink ribbon sheet, and is formed by applying a heat-meltable ink on a base film. The single-pass ink ribbon R is wound around the outer circumference of the supply roll S1 and has its tip extended and fixed to the outer surface of the take-up roll S2.

Both ends of the supply roll S1 are fitting portions 30 to which the support cap 18 for the supply roll is fitted.
It is colored in the same color as the supply roll holding plate 13.
Two key grooves 31 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the fitting portion 30 at positions offset by 90 degrees. On the other hand, both ends of the take-up roll S2 are formed as fitting portions 32 to which the take-up roll support cap 19 is fitted, and the take-up roll holding plate 1 is provided.
It is colored in the same color as 4. 1 on the inner peripheral surface of the fitting part 32
Two keyways 33 are formed at positions shifted by 80 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the supply roll support cap 18 includes a cylindrical cap body 18a, a rotary shaft 18b fitted in the support cap mounting hole 20, and a gear formed on the head of the body. It is composed of a portion 18c.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the take-up roll support cap 19 includes a cylindrical cap body 19a, a rotating shaft 19b fitted in the support cap mounting hole 21, and a gear portion formed on the head of the body. And 19c. The support cap 18 for the supply roll is the holding plate 1 for the supply roll.
3 and the fitting portion 30 of the supply roll, and the winding roll support cap 19 is colored in the same color as the winding roll holding plate 14 and the fitting portion 32 of the winding roll. The support cap mounting holes 20 and 21
Corresponding to the rotation shaft 18 of the supply roll support cap 18
The diameter b is smaller than the rotation shaft 19b of the winding roll support cap 19.

Keys 34 and 35 are formed on the bases of the cap bodies 18a and 19a of the support caps 18 and 19, respectively. The key 34 of the supply roll support cap 18 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), they are formed at two positions that are offset by 90 degrees.
Then, it is adapted to engage with the key groove 31 formed in the fitting portion 30 of the supply roll S1 at a distance of 90 degrees.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the keys 35 of the take-up roll support cap 19 are formed at two positions shifted by 180 degrees. The take-up roll S2 is engaged with the key groove 33 formed in the fitting portion 32 at a distance of 180 degrees.

Next, the operation of the ink ribbon cassette 4 of this embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG.
The supply roll support cap 18 is fitted to the fitting portion 30 of the supply roll S1, and the winding roll support cap 19 is fitted to the fitting portion 32 of the winding roll S2. Since the supply roll support cap 18 and the fitting portion 30 of the supply roll S1 and the winding roll support cap 19 and the fitting portion 32 of the winding roll S2 have the same color, the colors are used as a reference.
In this case, the support caps 18 and 19 are attached to the predetermined fitting portion 3
The key 3 of the caps 18 and 19 when not trying to be fitted to 0 and 32 and trying to be fitted to different fitting portions 30 and 32
4, 35 cannot be engaged with the keyways 31, 33. For example, the key 34 of the supply roll support cap 18 is displaced from the key groove 33 of the fitting portion 32 of the take-up roll S2, so the supply roll support cap 18 should be fitted to the take-up roll S2. Is no longer possible.

The key grooves 31 and 33 and the keys 34 and 35 are engaged with each other so that the support caps 18 and 19 are engaged with both rolls S1 and S.
In a state of being fitted to the two fitting portions 30 and 32, the support caps 18 and 19 of both rolls S1 and S2 are once placed on the placing portion 22 formed on both holding plates 13 and 14. Here, the support caps 18, which have the same color as the holding plates 13, 14,
19 should be placed. Then each support cap 1
8 and 19 into the opening 16 of the mounting groove 15 for both rolls S1 and S
Push 2 while rolling. Then, the rotation shafts 18b and 19b of the respective support caps 18 and 19 press the engagement protrusions 17 of the opening 16, and the mounting groove 15 is allowed to expand due to the action of the expansion permitting portion 22 to rotate. Axis 18
b and 19b are fitted into the support cap mounting holes 20 and 21. The connecting portions 18c, 19c are the support cap mounting holes 20,
At the same time when the mounting groove 15 is fitted into the mounting groove 15, the mounting groove 15 returns to the original position from the expanded state, and the support caps 18 and 19 are mounted on the mounting groove 1.
Set to 5.

In this case, both rolls S1 and S2 cannot be set in the housing 7 even if the supply roll S1 and the winding roll S2 are interchanged. Take-up roll S, for example
2 when trying to suspend it between the holding plates 13 for the supply rolls,
Since the rotation shaft 19b of the take-up roll support cap 19 is larger than the diameter of the support cap mounting hole 20 of the holding plate 13, it cannot be inserted. Similarly, the rotation shaft 18b of the supply roll support cap 18 of the supply roll S1 is smaller than the diameter of the support cap mounting hole 21 of the winding roll holding plate 14 and easily slips out of the opening 16. S1 cannot be suspended between the holding plates 14 for the winding roll.

After setting both rolls S1 and S2 in the housing 7, the ink ribbon cassette 4 is turned upside down 180 degrees so that it is suspended on the frame 36 in the apparatus main body 3 as shown in FIG. To the top.

Next, when both rolls S1 and S2 are to be removed for replacement, the cassette 4 is taken out from the apparatus main body 3 and then inverted, and conversely the support cap mounting hole 2
The respective support caps 18 and 19 fitted in Nos. 0 and 21 are pressed against the opening 16 of the mounting groove 15 in the direction opposite to that when the two rolls S1 and S2 are set. Then, each support cap 1
The rotating shafts 18b and 19b of 8 and 19 press the engaging protrusion 17 of the opening 16, and the mounting groove 15 is expanded again. Then, the rotating shafts 18b and 19b come out of the opening 16 and are temporarily placed on the placing portion 22 again.

With the above-mentioned structure, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The supply roll support cap 18 is the supply roll S1.
The support cap 19 for the take-up roll is fitted only to the fit-in part 30 of the take-up roll S2, and only to the fit-in part 32 of the take-up roll S2. Then, the supply roll support cap 18 can be suspended only between the supply roll holding plates 13,
The take-up roll support cap 19 can be suspended only on the take-up roll holding plate 14. That is,
When a new single-pass ink ribbon R is attached, only one type of pattern is set in which the two rolls S1 and S2 are correctly set in the housing 7 due to the engagement relationship between the support caps 18 and 19 and the holding plates 13 and 14. Therefore, both rolls S1 and S2 are never set in the housing 7 by mistake.

(2) The fitting portion 30 of the supply roll S1, the supply roll support cap 18, and the supply roll holding plate 13 are colored in the same color. The fitting portion 32 of the take-up roll S2, the take-up roll support cap 19, and the take-up roll holding plate 14 are also colored in the same color. Accordingly, if the rolls S1 and S2 are properly set in the housing 7 if they are combined so that the colors are the same, the number of mistakes in combining them in an incorrect pattern is reduced.

(3) Fitting portions 30 of both rolls S1 and S2,
32 has the same diameter, and the cap bodies 18a and 19a of both support caps 18 and 19 have the same shape. That is, the mistaken fitting of the support caps 18 and 19 is prevented only by the difference in the formation positions of the key grooves 31 and 33 and the keys 34 and 35, and it is necessary to change the diameter of the special rolls S1 and S2 to design. There is no. Also, the key grooves 31, 33 and the keys 34, 35
Not only prevents the support caps 18 and 19 from being mistakenly fitted but also prevents the support caps 18 and 19 from idling while being fitted to the fitting portions 30 and 32 of the rolls S1 and S2.

(4) Two supply roll support caps 18 having the same shape are fitted to both fitting portions 30 of the supply roll S1, and two fitting shapes 32 are fitted to both fitting portions 32 of the winding roll S2. The take-up roll support cap 19 is fitted.
That is, only two types of support caps are required for the four fitting portions 30, 34, and four types or three types are required.
It is not necessary to prepare a kind of support cap.

(5) When the front and rear of the roll are mistakenly set in the housing (that is, when the support cap itself is mistakenly fitted in the roll), the end of the ink ribbon is at the ribbon start position. Will come. In this case, in the case of a multi-pass ink ribbon cassette, it is sufficient to take it out of the device body and replace it before and after loading it again. It cannot be replaced. Therefore, in order to set the rolls correctly in the cassette for single-pass ink ribbon, it is necessary to remove the rolls from the cassette, remove the support caps from the rolls, and mount the support caps and the rolls in the correct correspondence relationship.

However, in this embodiment, the support caps 18, 19 are formed by the keys 34, 35 corresponding to the key grooves 31, 33.
There is no mistake in fitting when fitting the holding plates 13, 14
Since the diameters of the rotary shafts 18b and 19b were changed to eliminate the setting error when the sheet was set, the above-mentioned problems that occurred in the single-pass ink ribbon cassette were solved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be modified and implemented as follows. In the above embodiment, the cap bodies 18a, 1 of the supply roll support cap 18 and the winding roll support cap 19 are provided.
The diameter of 9a is the same, and the key grooves 31, 33 and the keys 34, 35 are the same.
Due to the difference in the formation position of the support cap 18, the support caps 18 and 19 are prevented from being fitted incorrectly. However, the shape of the cap bodies 18a and 19a itself is changed without using the key grooves 31 and 33 and the keys 34 and 35, and the fitting portions 30 and 32 having the corresponding shapes are formed on both rolls S1 and S2. Good. For example, one support cap 18 has a quadrangular cross section,
The other support cap 18 has a hexagonal cross section. Anyway, if the support caps 18 and 19 and the corresponding fitting portions 30 and 32 have different shapes, it is possible to prevent the support caps 18 and 19 from being fitted wrongly.

Further, the key grooves 31, 33 and the keys 34, 35
Of course, the formation position of may be a position other than 90 degrees and 180 degrees. In the above embodiment, the rotation shaft 18 of the support caps 18, 19 is
b and 19b are fitted and inserted into the support cap mounting holes 20 and 21 through the opening 16 which is opened in the lateral direction with respect to the loading direction of the ink ribbon cassette 4. However, even if the opening 16 is not in the lateral direction as described above, it is free to apply the present invention.

Although the single-pass ink ribbon R is used as the ink ribbon in the above embodiment, it is of course possible to use a multi-pass ink ribbon. However, in this case, when loading the ink ribbon cassette 4 into the apparatus main body 3 for the first time so that the end of the ink ribbon does not come to the ribbon start position, it is necessary to take care not to reverse the loading direction. .

In addition, the present invention can be applied to a copying machine, a printer or the like in place of the facsimile machine 1, and can be freely modified and implemented without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Additional Notes Further, other technical ideas grasped by the above-mentioned embodiments will be described below together with their effects. (1) In addition to the constitution of the invention of claim 2 or 3, the cassette for the ink ribbon is for a single-pass ink ribbon, and the housing of the cassette is provided with a loading direction indicating means (guide recess) for not making a mistake in the loading direction. To form. In this way, the loading direction of the single-pass ink ribbon cassette into the apparatus body will not be mistaken. (2) In addition to the constitution of the invention of claims 1 to 3, the first support member and the first support member fitting portion formed on the supply roll and the supply roll attachment portion are colored in the same color, and the second The support member, the second support member fitting portion formed on the winding roll, and the winding roll attachment portion are colored in the same color as the above. In this way, if the rolls are combined so that the colors are the same, both rolls will be set correctly in the housing 7, and there will be less chance of combining them in an incorrect pattern.

[0037]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above in detail,
According to the ink ribbon cassette of the invention described above, when a new ink ribbon is mounted, only one type of pattern in which both rolls are correctly set in the housing due to the engagement relationship between the supporting member and the mounting portion is provided. Therefore, both rolls are not set in the housing by mistake in the front-rear direction. In addition to the above, in the invention of claim 2,
At the same time that the first and second support members are not mistakenly attached to the roll, the support member is free from idling due to the uneven relationship on the fitting surface.

In addition, in the third aspect, the roll can be smoothly rotated as in the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a state in which an ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention is placed upside down.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a supply roll and a winding roll in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a support cap in the same embodiment, in which (a) is a supply roll support cap and (b) is a winding support cap.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a facsimile device loaded with an ink ribbon cassette of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an ink ribbon cassette is loaded in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... Ink ribbon cassette, 7 ... Housing, 16 ...
Opening, 18 ... Support cap for supply roll as first support member, 19 ... Support cap for take-up roll as second support member, 18b ... Rotation shaft, 20 ... Support cap mounting hole as mounting part, 31, 33 ... Key groove as an engaging structure, 34,
35 ... Engaging structure key, S1 ... Supply roll, S2 ... Winding roll, R ... Single-pass ink ribbon which is a thermal ink ribbon.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon cassette in which a heat-sensitive ink ribbon supply roll and a ribbon take-up roll are supported by a mounting portion of a housing via first and second support members, respectively. An ink ribbon cassette in which an engagement structure with a support member is different from an engagement structure with a winding roll and a second support member, and attachment structures of both support members are different from each other. 2. The first and second support members are fitted to both ends of a roll, both of which are prevented from rotating due to the concavo-convex relationship on the fitting surface, and the supply roll, the first support member, and the winding member. 2. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the take-up roll and the second support member have different engagement positions at different concave and convex formation positions. 3. The first and second support members have a main body fitted to both rolls and a rotation shaft, and the diameters of the rotation shafts of the both support members are different from each other. The cassette for an ink ribbon according to claim 1 or 2, which has a mounting structure that can be mounted only with.