JPH09156188A - Tape/ribbon composite cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To highly accurately position a ribbon cassette, by guiding and positioning the ribbon cassette to a tape cassette via three pairs of guide parts and parts to be guided. SOLUTION: A ribbon cassette 50 accommodating an ink ribbon is mounted detachably from above to a tape cassette 30 accommodating a tape 31 as a printing medium, thereby constituting a tape/ribbon composite cassette 350. In order to guide/position the ribbon cassette 50 to the tape cassette 30, the tape cassette 30 is provided with positioning pins 38, 39 and a positioning part 40 at a front end of a partition wall 37. Moreover, columnar parts 66, 68 are set perpendicularly at an upper wall part 52 of the ribbon cassette 50, which have engaging holes 65, 67 to be engaged with the positioning pins 38, 39 respectively. The ribbon cassette 50 also has an engaging part 69 to be engaged with the positioning part 40.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape / ribbon composite having a tape cassette containing a tape as a print medium to be printed by a printer, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon and detachably attached to the tape cassette. The present invention relates to a cassette, and more particularly to an improved cassette for guiding and positioning a ribbon cassette with respect to a tape cassette.

[0002]

The applicant of the present invention has put into practical use a label producing printer suitable for producing a tape-shaped label.
In this printer for label production, in order to enable multicolor printing, a tape cassette that accommodates a tape as a print medium and is detachably attached to the printer, and an ink ribbon that is detachably attached to the tape cassette are attached. A tape / ribbon composite cassette having a ribbon cassette is applied. As the ribbon cassette, a plurality of types of ribbon cassettes in which different color ribbons are housed are applied.

On the other hand, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-74956 discloses that
A tape / ribbon composite cassette similar to that described above, which is applied to a printer for producing a tape-shaped label, is also described. In this tape / ribbon composite cassette, in order to mount and position the ribbon cassette on the tape cassette, a housing opening for mounting the ribbon cassette is formed on the tape cassette, and the outer peripheral shape of the ribbon cassette is set to the housing opening. The ribbon cassette is formed in the same shape as the peripheral wall surface, and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette is guided by the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening to positionally regulate the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette.

The tape cassette and the ribbon cassette are formed with a head insertion portion into which a print head is inserted when the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette are mounted in the printer. The print head inserted into the head insertion portion has an ink ribbon drawn from the ribbon cassette. The tape drawn out from the tape cassette comes into contact with the outer surface side of the ink ribbon, and printing is performed by the print head on a portion of the ink ribbon and the tape which is sandwiched between the print head and the platen.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Like the tape / ribbon composite cassette described in the above publication, the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette is guided by the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening to positionally regulate the ribbon and the ribbon with respect to the tape cassette. The cassette can be almost positioned. However, in order to be able to mount the ribbon cassette in the accommodation opening of the tape cassette, a minute gap is required between the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette, and rattling due to the minute gap is caused. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette decreases, and the printing quality deteriorates.

In other words, if the rattling occurs, the transfer of the ink ribbon becomes unstable between the print head and the platen and in the vicinity thereof, and the position of the ink ribbon with respect to the tape fluctuates, so that a certain print quality cannot be ensured. . Therefore, if the gap between the peripheral wall surface of the accommodation opening and the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette is extremely small, it becomes difficult to smoothly attach / detach the ribbon cassette to / from the tape cassette, or when the ribbon cassette thermally expands. It becomes impossible to attach and detach. It is an object of the present invention to improve the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette in the tape / ribbon composite cassette while ensuring the detachability of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tape / ribbon composite cassette which accommodates a tape as a print medium and is detachably attached to a printer having a print head, and an ink ribbon. In a tape / ribbon composite cassette having a ribbon cassette detachably attached to the tape cassette, in order to guide and position the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette when attaching the ribbon cassette to the tape cassette, In addition to providing guides at three locations separated from each other,
The ribbon cassette is provided with three guided portions that engage with the three guiding portions.

When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette, the three guided portions of the ribbon cassette engage with the guide portions formed at three positions separated from each other of the tape cassette, so that the tape cassette is guided to the tape cassette. The ribbon cassette is guided and positioned, and the state is maintained even after the ribbon cassette is attached to the tape cassette. For guiding and positioning through three sets of guide parts and guided parts that are separated from each other,
It can be positioned with high precision. In particular, if the three sets of guide parts and the guided parts are formed to be elongated in the ribbon cassette attaching / detaching direction, the contact area between the three sets of guide parts and the guided parts is also reduced, so that the sliding resistance when attaching / detaching the ribbon cassette is also reduced. The ribbon cassette is small, and the detachability of the ribbon cassette is not impaired. Even if the sliding gap between the guide part and the guided part is set small, the sliding resistance does not increase so much, so the sliding gap is sufficient. The positioning accuracy can be improved by reducing the size.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the tape / ribbon composite cassette according to the first aspect, wherein the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette have a head insertion portion into which a print head is inserted when the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette are mounted in a printer. At least one set of the guide part and the guided part of the set of the guide part and the guided part,
It is provided near the head insertion part. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette in the vicinity of the head insertion portion formed in the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette can be increased, the rattling of the ink ribbon with respect to the tape can be regulated, and the printing quality can be stabilized. In addition, the same operation as the first aspect is achieved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the tape / ribbon composite cassette according to the second aspect, wherein at least one set of guide portion and guided portion provided near the head insertion portion is an ink ribbon facing the head insertion portion. The ribbon cassette is configured to be positionally regulated with respect to the tape cassette in a direction in which the tape in the vicinity of the outer side thereof is separated from the tape cassette. Although the ink ribbon facing the head insertion portion and the tape near the outside thereof are in a remarkably close positional relationship, the ink ribbon facing the head insertion portion and the vicinity of the outside thereof are provided by the at least one set of the guide portion and the guided portion. Since the position of the ribbon cassette is regulated with respect to the tape cassette in the direction in which the tape is separated from the tape cassette, the upper end of the tape and the lower end of the ink ribbon do not interfere with each other when the ribbon cassette is loaded into the tape cassette from above, and the ribbon jam It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is a label producing printer for producing a tape-shaped label by multi-color printing characters, symbols and characters on a tape as a print medium,
The present invention is applied to a tape / ribbon composite cassette applied to this printer. The tape / ribbon composite cassette includes a tape cassette detachably attached to the printer and a ribbon cassette detachably attached to the tape cassette.

First, the label producing printer will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 1, a keyboard 2, a liquid crystal display 3, a cassette cover 4, a cutter lever 5 and the like are provided on the upper surface of the label producing printer 1, and a printing mechanism 10 is arranged below the cassette cover 4. ing. When the cover open lever 6 is slid to the right in FIG. 1, the cassette cover 4 is opened, and the printing mechanism 10 is opened with the cassette cover 4 open.
The tape cassette 30 can be mounted on the tape cassette 30, and the ribbon cassette 50 can be mounted on the tape cassette 30.

Tape cassette 30 and ribbon cassette 50
The tape cassette 30 is configured separately from
The tape cassette 3 which is detachably attached to 0
The tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 are configured so that the ribbon cassette 50 can be detachably attached to the tape cassette 30.
The combination of and is the tape / ribbon composite cassette 3
50.

Next, the printing mechanism 10 will be briefly described. FIG. 2 is a view in which the tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 are mounted on the printing mechanism 10 of the printer 1 and the inside of the tape cassette 30 and the ribbon cassette 50 is partially crossed so that the roller holder 11 is covered with a platen. 1
2 and the sub roller 13 are provided so as to swing integrally with the roller holder 11 about the pivot shaft 14.
The roller holder 11 is configured to swing open / close in response to opening / closing of the cassette cover 4. And platen 1
At a position near the rear side of 2, the thermal head 14 composed of, for example, 96 heating elements arranged in a vertical direction, and a head holder 15 for holding the thermal head 14 are provided. The thermal head 14 and the head holder 15 correspond to the print head.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a tape 31 serving as a print medium is wound around a tape spool 32 and mounted in the tape cassette 30, and the tape spool 32 is substantially U-shaped when viewed from the rear side of the tape spool 32. The tape outlet 32 near the thermal head 14 while being guided by the curved tape guide path.
From the tape outlet 32 to the thermal head 14
Of the tape cassette 30 and the sub-roller 13 for feeding the tape to the outside of the tape cassette 30.

The tape 31 is wound around the tape spool 32, and the tape knob 34 is configured to be engaged with the tape spool 32 and rotate integrally with the tape spool 32. 32 can be rewound. A head insertion portion 35 for inserting the thermal head 14 and the head holder 15 is formed in the central portion in the left-right direction near the front end of the tape cassette 30.
Also, in the right part of the central portion of the tape cassette 30,
A bottomed accommodating portion 37 that accommodates the main body 51 of the ribbon cassette 50 is formed. Head insertion portion 35 and accommodation portion 3
A partition wall 37 is formed between 6 to partially partition the two.

On the other hand, the main body portion 51 of the ribbon cassette 50 is loosely fitted in the accommodating portion 36 formed in the tape cassette 30, and the upper wall portion 52 of the ribbon cassette 50 covers the upper surface of the tape cassette 30. It is installed in a covered state. 3 shows the tape cassette 30, FIG. 4 shows the ribbon cassette 50, and FIG. 5 shows the tape cassette 30.
A tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 in which the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted is shown in FIG. The ribbon cassette 50 is positioned in the horizontal direction and the height direction with respect to the tape cassette 30, and is detachably fixed via three claws (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, an ink ribbon 54 wound around a ribbon spool 53 is mounted on a ribbon cassette 50 and guided to the front surface of the thermal head 14 by being guided by ribbon guides 55 to 58. And guide rod 5
It is wound on the take-up spool 61 via 9 and the ribbon guide 60. A clutch spring 62 is attached to the lower portion of the take-up spool 61 to prevent the ink ribbon 54 from loosening. A head insertion portion 63 for inserting the partition wall 37 and the thermal head 14 is formed on the left portion near the front end of the ribbon cassette 50.

The upper wall portion 52 of the ribbon cassette 50 has one
Since the pair of knobs 64 are formed, these knobs 6
By grasping 4 with a finger, the ribbon cassette 50 can be easily attached and detached. By contacting the upper wall portion 52 of the ribbon cassette 50 with the upper end surface of the tape cassette 50, the vertical position of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 is determined, and the three claws of the tape cassette 30 are fixed to the ribbon cassette 50. By engaging the three holes, the ribbon cassette 50 is detachably fixed to the tape cassette 30.

The platen 12 and the sub-roller 13 are mounted on the roller holder 11, and when the cassette cover 4 is closed, the roller holder 11 swings toward the pressure contact side in conjunction with this, and the platen 12 is brought into pressure contact with the thermal head 14. , The sub roller 13 is brought into pressure contact with the tape feed roller 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon 54 led to the front surface of the thermal head 14 contacts the front surface of the thermal head 14, and the tape 3 is attached to the front surface of the ink ribbon 54.
1, the ink ribbon 54 and the tape 31 are pressed against the thermal head 14 by the platen 12, and the thermal head 14 prints a character string in a dot pattern on the tape 31 via the ink ribbon 54. It The front end portion of the printed tape 31 is led out to the outside from a slit 8 formed in the main body case 7 through a space between the active blade 16 and the passive blade 17 which constitute the cutter. The active blade 16 is connected to the cutter lever 5 by the connecting plate 18, and the tape 31 is cut by the active blade 16 and the passive blade 17 by operating the cutter lever 5.

Next, a guide positioning mechanism for guiding and positioning the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 when and after mounting the ribbon cassette 50 on the tape cassette 30 will be described. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a vertical positioning pin 38 is provided at the rear end of the tape cassette 30, and a vertical positioning pin 39 is provided at the right end of the tape cassette 30. A vertical rib-shaped positioning portion 40 is provided at the end portion, and the upper ends of the positioning pins 38 and 39 are formed in a tapered shape.

In the ribbon cassette 50, a columnar portion 66 having an engaging hole 65 with which the positioning pin 38 engages with a minute gap, and a positioning pin 39 with a minute gap in the front-rear direction and a loose fit in the left-right direction. Engagement hole 67 to engage
And a columnar portion 68 having an engagement portion 69 with which the positioning rib 40 engages so that the positioning rib 40 can be precisely positioned in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction.
Is provided. The positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69
Is provided at the rear end of the head insertion portion 63 so as to correspond to the rear of the thermal head 14. The positioning pins 38 and 39 and the positioning portion 40 correspond to guide portions, respectively, and the engaging holes 65 and 67 and the engaging portion 69 correspond to guided portions.

If the positioning pins 38 and 39 are engaged with the engagement holes 65 and 67 with almost no clearance, the positioning portion 40 and the engagement portion 69 may be omitted.
It is possible to secure the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30, but in that case, the sliding resistance between the positioning pins 38 and 39 and the engagement holes 65 and 67 becomes large, so that On the other hand, the ribbon cassette 50 cannot be smoothly attached and detached. Therefore, the positioning pin 38 is engaged with the engagement hole 65 with a minute gap, and the positioning pin 39 is engaged with the engagement hole 67 with a minute gap in the front-rear direction and in the left-right direction in a loose-fitting manner. The positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69 are configured to secure the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the tape cassette 30 near the thermal head 14. Therefore, the sliding resistance when the ribbon cassette 50 is attached and detached can be reduced, so that the ribbon cassette 50 can be smoothly attached and detached with a light attaching and detaching force.

When the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette 50 in the front-rear direction with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 is low, when the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted on the tape cassette 30 from above, the tape 31 is attached to the upper end of the tape 31. Although the lower end of the ink ribbon 54 may be caught and ribbon jam may occur and the print quality may become unstable, the ribbon cassette for the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 via the positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69. Since the positioning accuracy of 50 in the front-rear direction is secured, the above problem does not occur.

The positioning pins 38 and 39 project from the upper end surface of the tape cassette 30. When the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted, the positioning pins 38 and 39 are engaged with the engagement holes 65 and 67, respectively. In order to mount the ribbon cassette 50 after the two-dimensional positioning in the horizontal direction,
The outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette 50 is mounted with almost no contact with the peripheral wall surface of the housing portion 36 of the tape cassette 30. Therefore, the tape / ribbon composite cassette can be mounted smoothly as compared with the conventional tape / ribbon composite cassette, in which both are positioned through contact between the outer peripheral wall surface of the ribbon cassette and the peripheral wall surface of the accommodating portion of the tape cassette. Further, since the ribbon cassette 50 is detached and replaced while the tape cassette 30 is attached to the printing mechanism 10, the ribbon cassette 50 can be smoothly attached and detached.

The opening window 41 shown in FIG. 3 is an opening for manipulating the tape 31 on the tape guide path with a finger to feed the tape, and an opening window similar to this is a front side wall portion opposite to the opening window 41. Is also formed. It is possible to print in a plurality of colors by replacing the ribbon cassette 50 of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350, but in that case, the tape 31 may be rewound as necessary, so that the tape feeding as described above may be performed. An opening window 41 is provided for this purpose.

A plurality of detecting actuators 42 are attached to and retractable from one corner of the tape cassette 30, and the printing mechanism 10 includes a plurality of detecting actuators 42 corresponding to the plurality of detecting actuators 42. A plurality of detection switches (not shown) are provided to push up the detection operating elements 42 by a predetermined small stroke. At one corner of the ribbon cassette 50, one or a plurality of actuating portions 70 that selectively push down the plurality of detection actuators 42 and one or a plurality of escape holes 71 that do not push down are formed. The detection switch is operated by the detection operator 42 that is pressed down by the operation unit 70. These are tape cassette 3
It is provided to detect the type of 0 (type of tape 31) and the type of ribbon cassette 50 (type of ink ribbon 50).

In the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 applied to the tape-shaped label producing printer 1 described above, the positioning pins 38 and 39, the positioning portion 40, and the columnar portions 66 and 68 having the engaging holes 65 and 67 and the engaging portions. Joint part 69
Since the guide positioning mechanism is provided, the ribbon cassette 50 can be accurately positioned with respect to the tape cassette 30 when and after mounting the ribbon cassette 50 on the tape cassette 30, as described above.

In particular, the positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69,
The ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the direction (that is, rearward) in which the ink ribbon 54 facing the head insertion portions 35 and 63 and the tape 31 near the outside thereof are separated.
Since the position of the ribbon cassette 50 can be regulated, the ribbon cassette 50
At the time of mounting, the lower end of the ink ribbon 54 does not interfere with the upper end of the tape 31 and the ribbon jam does not occur. Further, since the positional relationship between the tape 31 and the ink ribbon 54 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 is kept constant, the print quality does not change.

Further, the outer peripheral wall of the main body 51 of the ribbon cassette 50 is constructed so as to hardly contact the peripheral wall of the accommodating portion 36 of the tape cassette 30.
Since the sliding resistance between 8, 39 and the engaging holes 65, 67 is also small, the ribbon cassette 50 can be smoothly attached / detached with a light attaching / detaching force when the tape cassette 30 is attached / detached.

Next, a guide positioning mechanism in which the guide positioning mechanism of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 according to the above embodiment is partially modified will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. The main components of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 that have not been changed are as follows.
The same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted. In this guide positioning mechanism, the positioning pins 38, 39 and the engagement hole 6
5, 67 and columnar portions 66, 68 are the same as above.

Instead of the positioning portion 40 and the engaging portion 69, the positioning pin 45 having a small vertical height is provided on the bottom wall portion of the accommodating portion 36 in the vicinity of the rear side of the head insertion portion 35 of the tape cassette 30. A positioning pin 45 having a tapered upper end is fixed upright. An engaging hole 75 with which the positioning pin 45 engages with almost no gap is formed in a portion of the lower portion of the main body 51 of the ribbon cassette 50 corresponding to the positioning pin 45. still,
The positioning pin 45 corresponds to the guide portion, and the engagement hole 75 corresponds to the guided portion.

Accordingly, the positioning pin 45 engages with the engagement hole 75 from the time when the ribbon cassette 50 is being mounted on the tape cassette 30, and the engaged state is maintained even after mounting. Therefore, the position of the ribbon cassette 50 with respect to the tape cassette 30 in the vicinity of the thermal head 14 can be set with high accuracy, and thus the same action and effect as the guide positioning mechanism of the tape / ribbon composite cassette 350 of the above-described embodiment. Is obtained.

The guide positioning mechanism is merely an example, and the structure of the positioning pin, the engaging hole, the positioning portion, the engaging portion, etc. can be changed as appropriate, and the location of the positioning pin and the engaging hole is also the same as the above-mentioned embodiment. It is not limited to the form. Of course, various modifications may be added and implemented without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0035]

In the tape / ribbon composite cassette according to the first aspect of the present invention, the tape cassettes are separated from each other in order to guide and position the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette when mounting the ribbon cassette on the tape cassette. The guide portions are provided at three locations, and the ribbon cassette is provided with three guided portions that engage with the three guide portions, respectively.
Since the ribbon cassette is guided and positioned with respect to the tape cassette through the three sets of guide parts and guided parts when and after mounting the ribbon cassette to the tape cassette, the ribbon cassette is positioned with high accuracy. can do. In particular, if the three sets of guide parts and the guided parts are formed to be elongated in the attaching / detaching direction of the ribbon cassette, the contact area between the three sets of guide parts and the guided parts also becomes small, so the sliding resistance when the ribbon cassette is attached / detached. Does not impair the detachability of the ribbon cassette, and even if the sliding gap between the guide part and the guided part is set small, the sliding resistance does not increase so much. It can be made sufficiently small to improve the positioning accuracy.

The tape / ribbon composite cassette according to claim 2 has the same effect as that of claim 1, but the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette have a head insertion portion into which the print head is inserted when mounted in the printer. However, since at least one set of the guide part and the guided part of the three sets of the guide part and the guided part is provided in the vicinity of the head insertion part, the positioning accuracy of the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette in the vicinity of the head insertion part is high. It is possible to prevent the ink ribbon from rattling against the tape and stabilize the printing quality.

According to the tape / ribbon composite cassette of the third aspect, the same effect as that of the second aspect is obtained, but at least one set of the guide portion and the guided portion provided in the vicinity of the head inserting portion is the head inserting portion. Since the position of the ribbon cassette is regulated with respect to the tape cassette in the direction of separating the ink ribbon facing the tape and the tape near the outside thereof,
The position of the ribbon cassette can be regulated with respect to the tape cassette in the direction in which the ink ribbon facing the head insertion portion and the tape near the outside thereof are separated from each other, and the upper end portion of the tape when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette from above. And the lower end of the ink ribbon do not interfere with each other, and it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of ribbon jam.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a label producing printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a printing mechanism of the printer and a tape / ribbon composite cassette.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tape cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a tape / ribbon composite cassette.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a printing mechanism and a tape / ribbon composite cassette according to a modified embodiment.

7 is a perspective view of a tape cassette of the tape / ribbon composite cassette of FIG. 6. FIG.

8 is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette of the tape / ribbon composite cassette of FIG. 6. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printer for Label Creation 14 Thermal Head 30 Tape Cassette 31 Tape 35 Head Insertion Section 38,39 Positioning Pin 40 Positioning Section 45 Positioning Pin 50 Ribbon Cassette 54 Ink Ribbon 63 Head Insertion Section 65,67 Engagement Hole 66,68 Columnar Section 69 Engagement part 75 Engagement hole 350 Tape / ribbon cassette

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tape having a tape cassette that accommodates a tape as a print medium and is detachably attached to a printer having a print head, and a ribbon cassette that accommodates an ink ribbon and is detachably attached to the tape cassette. -In the ribbon composite cassette, guide portions are provided at three mutually separated locations of the tape cassette in order to guide and position the ribbon cassette with respect to the tape cassette when the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette. A tape / ribbon composite cassette, wherein the cassette is provided with three guided portions that engage with the three guiding portions, respectively. 2. The tape cassette and the ribbon cassette each have a head insertion portion into which a print head is inserted when the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette are mounted in a printer, and at least one guide portion of the three guide portions and the guided portion. 2. The tape / ribbon composite cassette according to claim 1, wherein the portion and the guided portion are provided near the head insertion portion. 3. At least one set of a guide portion and a guided portion provided in the vicinity of the head insertion portion with respect to the tape cassette in a direction of separating the ink ribbon facing the head insertion portion and the tape near the outside thereof. The tape / ribbon composite cassette according to claim 2, wherein the ribbon / cassette is configured to positionally regulate the ribbon cassette.