JPH10244738A - Tape cassette with ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance operability when a ribbon cassette is attached to and detached from a tape cassette, and easily form both cassette cases for the tape cassette and the ribbon cassette. SOLUTION: A tape cassette 20 detachably mountable to a tape printing apparatus is provided with a ribbon cassette 30 containing a ribbon 32, which is detachably housed from above into a ribbon cassette housing portion 21f of the tape cassette 20. In this tape cassette 20 with the ribbon cassette, a pair of guide shafts 21a, 21b for vertically guiding the ribbon cassette 30 are provided at two places spaced from each other on an outer peripheral wall of a tape case 21 of the tape cassette 20. On the other hand, an upper wall portion 31a which is superposed on an upper face of the tape case 21 is provided to a ribbon case 31 of the ribbon cassette 30, and engaging legs 31b, 31c, which are engaged with the plurality of the guide shafts 21a, 21b from above to be vertically guided, integrally formed at the upper wall portion 31a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette, and more particularly to an improved operability when a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon is attached to and detached from a ribbon cassette accommodating portion provided on the tape cassette. It is about things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, the present applicant has disclosed Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-106.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 555-555, a plurality of types of tape cassettes accommodating a printing tape as a printing medium and an ink ribbon are prepared in accordance with a plurality of colors and tape widths, and the characters and marks of the inputted text are printed by a thermal head. Proposed a tape-shaped label producing apparatus suitable for producing a label suitable for printing on a printing tape via an ink ribbon and attaching to a spine of a file. In this label producing apparatus, each time the size or print color of the label to be produced is changed, it can be replaced with a tape cassette having a print tape of a desired tape width and a ribbon-color ink ribbon.

Recently, as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 3-74856, a large-sized label accommodating an ink ribbon and a printing tape is used to create a label in which the input text is printed by changing the printing color for each text. Replacing the tape cassette requires a large amount of cassette replacement work.
The ink ribbon is made independent of the tape cassette and made into a cassette, and when changing the printing color, only the small ribbon cassette that is detachably attached to the penetrating part of the tape cassette is replaced, so that the color can be changed. There has been proposed a tape printer which simplifies cassette replacement work.

That is, a penetrating portion having the same shape as the outer shape of the ribbon cassette is formed substantially at the center of the tape cassette.
One handle is provided on the upper surface of the upper case of the ribbon cassette. When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette, first, the handle is lifted by grasping the handle so that the ribbon cassette substantially corresponds to the penetrating portion. The ribbon cassette can be removed from the tape cassette by rotating and moving the tape cassette into the through-hole, pushing it into the penetrating portion, and grasping and lifting the handle.

[0005]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the tape printer described in the above publication, the outer shape of the ribbon cassette is substantially the same as the size of the penetrating portion of the tape cassette. When the ribbon cassette is attached to and detached from the penetrating portion while being guided by the outer peripheral wall, the contact area between the ribbon cassette and the outer peripheral wall is large, so that the contact resistance increases and one handle is provided. Therefore, the ribbon cassette is mounted while being tilted to the left or right, or while being tilted back and forth, so that the mounting of the ribbon cassette into the penetrating portion is not smooth, and the operability at the time of attaching and detaching the ribbon cassette is poor.

By the way, generally, a ribbon cassette includes:
A head accommodating portion for accommodating the print head is formed, a ribbon exposed portion is formed facing the head accommodating portion, and a portion near the upstream side in the ribbon feeding direction from the ribbon exposed portion is
A ribbon guide section comprising a pair of guide walls for guiding the feeding of the ink ribbon with the ribbon sandwiched from both sides is formed, and a tape exposure section is formed on the tape cassette so as to face the head accommodating section. A tape guide portion formed of a pair of guide walls for guiding the feeding of the print tape with the tape sandwiched from both sides is formed at a portion near the upstream side in the tape feeding direction from the portion.

That is, it is desirable that the print tape and the ink ribbon be fed out substantially in parallel and close to each other so as to face the print head. Therefore, a pair of guide walls of the ribbon guide portion and the tape guide portion are made thinner. In addition, when accommodating a wide ink ribbon or printing tape, when each guide wall is formed to be thinner and wider, each guide wall may be deformed or fall down, and the cassette case of the ribbon cassette or the tape cassette may be formed. There is a problem that molding is difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette which can improve the operability when the ribbon cassette is attached to and detached from the tape cassette, and can easily form the tape cassette and the cassette case of the ribbon cassette. is there.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is detachably mounted on a printing device having a print head and contains a tape as a print medium. In a tape cassette, a ribbon cassette accommodating a ribbon cassette accommodating a ribbon for printing in a ribbon cassette accommodating portion in a detachable manner from above, the tape cassette having a plurality of spaced apart portions on an outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette. A tape guide provided in the ribbon cassette, a head accommodating a print head inserted from below through the bottom wall of the tape cassette, and the tape cassette; A tape exposing section for exposing the tape to the head accommodating section; and a ribbon cassette. An upper wall portion overlapping with the upper surface of the tape cassette, a guided portion integrally formed with the upper wall portion and engaged with the plurality of guide portions from above to be guided in a vertical direction; And a ribbon exposing portion provided on the ribbon cassette to make the ribbon abut on the inner surface of the tape facing the head accommodating portion.

[0010]

In the tape cassette with a ribbon cassette according to the present invention, guide portions for vertically guiding the ribbon cassette are provided at a plurality of spaced locations on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette. An upper wall portion overlapping the upper surface is provided, and a guided portion which is engaged with a plurality of guide portions from above and guided vertically is integrally formed on the upper wall portion, so that the ribbon cassette is a tape cassette. When the ribbon cassette is attached to the tape cassette, the ribbon cassette can be attached to the ribbon cassette accommodating portion provided on the tape cassette by grasping the ribbon cassette with a finger, engaging each guided portion with the corresponding guide portion from above and pushing it down. .

At this time, each guided portion is vertically guided by the guide portion without the ribbon cassette coming into contact with the ribbon cassette accommodating portion, so that the contact resistance between the ribbon cassette and the tape cassette is reduced, and the tape cassette is prevented from contacting. Since the plurality of guide portions provided on the outer peripheral portion are separated from each other, the ribbon cassette can be easily and smoothly mounted in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion in a stable posture. When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette, the vertical position of the ribbon cassette is determined by the upper wall portion of the ribbon cassette overlapping the upper surface of the tape cassette. Can be accurately positioned at the mounting position.

A head accommodating section for accommodating a print head inserted from below through a bottom wall of the tape cassette; a tape exposing section for exposing the tape to the head accommodating section; Since the cassette is provided with a ribbon exposing portion which makes the ribbon abut the inner surface of the tape facing the head accommodating portion, the print head located in the head accommodating portion has the ribbon and the tape exposed by the ribbon exposing portion. Since the tape exposed at the exposed portion is in contact with the tape, the print head can print on the tape via the ribbon.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

This embodiment is a tape cassette which is detachably mounted on a tape-shaped label producing apparatus having a thermal head and contains a print tape as a print medium. This is a case where the present invention is applied to a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette in which the accommodated ribbon cassette is detachably accommodated.

As shown in FIG. 1, a keyboard 4 provided with various function keys in addition to character keys such as letters, symbols, and numerals is provided at the front of a main body cover 2 of the tape-shaped label producing apparatus 1. A liquid crystal display 5 capable of displaying input characters and symbols is provided immediately behind the keyboard 4, and a main body cover 2 corresponding to the cassette cover 3 opened and closed when the ribbon cassette 30 is replaced. Inside the thermal head 12 and the printing tape 22
A thermal printing mechanism 10 having a tape / ribbon transfer mechanism capable of transferring the ink and the ink ribbon 32 is provided. Here, by sliding the slide knob 6 to open the cassette cover 3, the ribbon cassette 30 can be exchanged, and by pressing the cutting knob 46 downward,
The printed printing tape 22 can be manually cut by the tape cutting mechanism.

First, the tape cassette 18 with a ribbon cassette in which the ribbon cassette 30 is detachably accommodated in the tape cassette 20 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the tape cassette 20 will be described. A tape spool 23 around which a print tape 22 made of a thin film is wound is provided rotatably inside a tape case 21 of the tape cassette 20. The print tape 22 fed from the spool 23 is
The tape is guided in a curved shape by a plurality of guide portions, passes immediately before the thermal head 12, is transferred in a tape feed direction by a tape feed roller 24 pivotally attached to the tape cassette 20, and is discharged to the outside of the tape cassette 20. It is configured to:

Also, as shown in FIG.
A pair of guide shafts (corresponding to guide portions) for vertically guiding and supporting the ribbon cassette 30 at the time of attaching and detaching the ribbon cassette 30 described below are provided at two spaced apart locations on the outer peripheral wall of the first cassette. The lower ends of 21a and 21b are integrally formed. Further, the tape case 21 has a pair of lower end wall portions 2 that abut against and support the lower side of the ribbon cassette 30.
1c and 21d are respectively formed.

Next, the ribbon cassette 30 which is detachably mounted in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f of the tape cassette 20 will be described.

In the ribbon case 31 of the ribbon cassette 30, an upper wall portion 31a, which is in contact with a part of the upper surface of the tape case 21 from above and overlaps with the upper portion, extends horizontally and is integrally formed, and has an end portion of the upper wall portion 31a. A pair of engaging legs (corresponding to guided portions) 31b having a through hole, which are engaged with the pair of guide shafts 21a 21b of the tape case 21.
c is formed so as to be located at the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette 20, and the notch portion 21e of the tape case 21 is formed.
The vertical wall 31d contacting the tape cassette 2
0, and a lid member 31e is attached thereto. The ribbon cassette 30 has a head accommodating portion 37 for accommodating the thermal head 2 inserted from below through the tape cassette 20.

Further, inside the ribbon case 31, a ribbon spool 33 around which the ink ribbon 32 is wound and a ribbon winding spool 34 for winding the ink ribbon 32 are rotatably provided. The loaded ink ribbon 32 temporarily approaches the print tape 22 when facing the thermal head 12 and the ribbon case 3
It is configured to be bent at a substantially acute angle at a separation portion 35 a of a separation member 35 integrally formed with the separation member 35, separated from the print tape 22, and wound up by a ribbon take-up spool 34.

On the other hand, the tape case 21 has a ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f for accommodating the ribbon cassette 30.
(See FIG. 7), and a pair of knob pieces 3 are provided on the upper surface of the lid member 31e and the upper wall portion 31a of the ribbon cassette 30.
1f and 31g are respectively formed.

That is, when printing, first, the tape case 2
1 is mounted in a mounting recess (not shown) provided in the main body cover 2, and then a ribbon cassette 30 having an ink ribbon 32 of a desired print color is mounted in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21 f of the tape case 21 from above. First, with a pair of knob pieces 31f and 31g grasped by two fingers, a pair of engaging legs 31b and 31c are fitted to corresponding guide shafts 21a and 21b through through holes, respectively. While being engaged, the ribbon cassette 30 is moved downward to be housed in the ribbon cassette housing portion 21f.

At this time, the ribbon cassette 30 does not come into contact with the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f, and each of the engaging legs 3
1b and 31c are vertically guided by guide shafts 21a and 21b, respectively.
0, and the pair of guide shafts 21a and 21b provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette 20 are separated from each other, so that the ribbon cassette 30 can be smoothly and stably placed in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f. It can be easily mounted in a posture that has been set. When the ribbon cassette 30 is mounted on the tape cassette 20, the ribbon cassette 30
The upper wall 31a overlaps the upper surface of the tape cassette, and the lower end of the ribbon cassette 30 is
The upper and lower positions of the ribbon cassette 30 are determined by contacting the pair of lower end walls 21c and 21d from above, so that the ribbon cassette 30 is accurately positioned at a predetermined mounting position with respect to the tape cassette 20. Is held.

The tape cassette 20 is provided with a tape exposing section 25 for allowing the contained printing tape 22 to face the head accommodating section 37.
A tape guide portion 26 that is open toward the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f and guides the feeding of the print tape 22 is formed at a portion near the upstream side in the tape feeding direction. A separating member 27 for separating the printing tape 22 from the ink ribbon 32 is attached. The ribbon cassette 30 has the ink ribbon 32 with the print tape 22 facing the head accommodating portion 37.
A ribbon exposed portion 38 is formed in contact with the inner surface of the ink ribbon 32. At a portion near the upstream side of the ribbon exposed portion 38 in the ribbon feeding direction, the ribbon exposed portion 38 is opened toward the tape guide portion 26 and the ink ribbon 32 is fed out. Is formed.

That is, the tape guide portion 26 and the ribbon guide portion 39 can be omitted by notching and opening the guide walls on the opposite sides, respectively.
2 and the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32
Can be fed out substantially in parallel and close to each other, and the separating member 27 prevents the fed print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 from coming into close contact with each other until they reach the thermal head 12, thereby preventing the print tape 22 from being stained. Can be prevented.

Here, 24 mm or 32 mm
In order to accommodate the ink ribbon 32 having a width of 2 mm and the tape cassette 20 having the printing tape 22 having a width of 24 mm or 32 mm, the guide walls of the ribbon guide portion 39 and the tape guide portion 26 are made thinner, respectively. Even in the case of molding wider, the tape guide portion 26 and the ribbon guide portion 39 are omitted by notching and opening the guide walls on the opposite sides, so that the ribbon guide portion 39 and the tape guide portion are omitted. Since the molding die 26 is simplified, deformation can be prevented and molding can be performed easily.

A plurality of types of ribbon cassettes 30 are prepared according to the ribbon colors (red, green, yellow, black,...) Of the ink ribbons 32 and the ribbon widths (12, 18, 24, 32 mm). At the lower end of the vertical wall portion 31d of the ribbon case 31, a detection hole group 36 formed by combining a maximum of six detection holes 36a is formed in order to detect any one of these plural types of ribbon cassettes 30. ing. However, in FIG. 6, one detection hole 36a is formed.

Then, the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 3
A rubber platen roller 40 that presses the thermal head 12 via the printer 2 and a rubber tape feed sub-roller 41 that presses the tape feed roller 24 via the print tape 22 are rotatably pivoted to a roller holder 42. Supported. Then, the roller holder 42 is moved from the release position shown in FIG.
When the tape drive motor 44 provided on the main body frame 11 is driven in a predetermined rotation direction, the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 are moved by the platen roller 40 and the tape feed sub-roller 41. Are transferred in the feed direction, respectively, and the thermal head 1
2 is printed on the print tape 22.

Here, the main body frame 11 near the end of the tape transfer path is provided with a tape cutting mechanism 45 having a movable blade and a fixed blade for cutting the printed printing tape 22 and the tape cutting mechanism. A tape detecting mechanism 5 having a light emitting element 51 and a light receiving element 52 on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction
0 is provided.

As described above, the pair of guide shafts 21a and 21b are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette 20, the upper wall portion 31a is provided on the ribbon cassette 30, and the guide shaft 21a is provided on the end of the upper wall portion 31a. , 21b are engaged from above and guided in the vertical direction by a pair of engaging legs 31b, 31c.
Further, a pair of knob pieces 31f and 31g are respectively formed on the upper surface of the lid member 31e and the upper wall portion 31a, and the ribbon cassette 30 is attached to the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f provided in the tape cassette 20. When attaching
First, a pair of engaging legs 31b and 31c are fitted to corresponding guide shafts 21a and 21b through through holes in a state where the pair of knob pieces 31f and 31g are grasped by two fingers, respectively. While being aligned, the ribbon cassette 30 is moved downward and stored in the ribbon cassette storage section 21f.

At this time, the ribbon cassette 30 does not come into contact with the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f, and each of the engaging legs 3
1b and 31c are vertically guided by guide shafts 21a and 21b, respectively.
0, and the pair of guide shafts 21a and 21b provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette 20 are separated from each other, so that the ribbon cassette 30 can be smoothly and stably placed in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion 21f. It can be easily mounted in a posture that has been set.

When the ribbon cassette 30 is mounted on the tape cassette 20, the vertical position of the ribbon cassette 30 is determined because the upper wall 31a of the ribbon cassette 30 overlaps the upper surface of the tape cassette 20.
The ribbon cassette 30 can be accurately positioned at a predetermined mounting position with respect to the tape cassette 20.

Further, an open tape guide section 26 is provided on the ribbon cassette accommodating section 21f near the upstream side of the tape exposing section 25 of the tape cassette 20 in the tape feeding direction. An open ribbon guide section 39 is provided on the tape guide section 26 side near the upstream side in the ribbon feed direction, and a separation member 27 for separating the print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 is provided at the downstream end of the tape guide section 26. Since the tape guide portion 26 and the ribbon guide portion 39 are provided, the guide walls on the opposite sides can be omitted by opening the respective guide walls, and the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 fed out to the thermal head 12 are substantially parallel. In addition, they can be fed out in a close proximity.

Further, the separation member 27 can prevent the printing tape 22 from being stained without the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 being fed out coming into close contact with each other until they reach the thermal head 12. Further, even when the guide walls of the ribbon guide portion 39 and the tape guide portion 26 are formed to be thinner and wider, respectively, the guide walls on the opposite sides of the ribbon guide portion 39 and the tape guide portion 26 are opened. The guide walls of the ribbon guide portion 39 and the tape guide portion 26 can be easily formed by simplifying the molding die, thereby preventing deformation and preventing deformation.

A plurality of guide shafts are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette 20, and a pair of engaging legs which are engaged with the plurality of guide shafts from above and guided in the vertical direction are provided on the ribbon cassette 30. A plurality of wall parts 31a,
Within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention, for example, a pair of knob pieces are provided on the upper wall 31a, or the upper wall 31a and the lid member 31e are integrally formed. Various changes may be made based on techniques and techniques obvious to those skilled in the art. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to various tape cassettes with a detachable ribbon cassette by sequentially replacing a plurality of ribbon cassettes 30 having different ribbon colors.

[0037]

As described above, according to the tape cassette with a ribbon cassette according to the present invention, the guide portion is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette, the upper wall portion is provided on the ribbon cassette, and the upper wall portion is covered with the upper wall portion. Because the guide part was formed integrally,
When the ribbon cassette is mounted in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion provided in the tape cassette, each guided portion is vertically guided by the guide portion without contacting the ribbon cassette accommodating portion. Since the contact resistance with the cassette is reduced and the plurality of guide portions provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette are separated from each other, the ribbon cassette can be easily and smoothly mounted in the ribbon cassette accommodating portion in a stable posture. . When the ribbon cassette is mounted on the tape cassette, the vertical position of the ribbon cassette is determined by the upper wall portion of the ribbon cassette overlapping the upper surface of the tape cassette. Can be accurately positioned at the mounting position.

A head accommodating portion for accommodating a print head inserted from below through the bottom wall of the tape cassette is provided. The tape cassette is provided with a tape exposing portion for exposing the tape to the head accommodating portion. Since the cassette is provided with a ribbon exposing portion which makes the ribbon abut the inner surface of the tape facing the head accommodating portion, the print head located in the head accommodating portion has the ribbon and the tape exposed by the ribbon exposing portion. Since the tape exposed at the exposed portion is in contact with the tape, the print head can print on the tape via the ribbon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tape-shaped label producing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a thermal printing mechanism in which a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 with only a ribbon cassette removed.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the tape cassette with the ribbon cassette removed.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the inside of the ribbon cassette.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the ribbon cassette and the tape cassette.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tape-shaped label producing apparatus 10 Thermal printing mechanism 12 Thermal head 18 Tape cassette with ribbon cassette 20 Tape cassette 21a Guide shaft 21b Guide shaft 21f Ribbon cassette accommodating part 22 Printing tape 25 Tape exposed part 26 Tape guide part 27 Separator 30 Ribbon cassette 31a Upper wall portion 31b Engagement leg 31c Engagement leg 31f Knob piece 31g Knob piece 32 Ink ribbon 37 Head accommodating part 38 Ribbon exposure part 39 Ribbon guide part 44 Tape drive motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tape cassette removably mounted on a printing apparatus having a print head and containing a tape as a print medium, and a ribbon cassette receiving section containing a ribbon for printing. A tape cassette provided with a ribbon cassette detachably accommodated from above, provided at a plurality of spaced apart locations on the outer peripheral portion of the tape cassette, a guide portion for vertically guiding the ribbon cassette, provided on the ribbon cassette, A head accommodating portion for accommodating a print head inserted from below through a bottom wall of the tape cassette; a tape exposing portion provided on the tape cassette, and exposing the tape to the head accommodating portion; And an upper wall portion overlapping the upper surface of the tape cassette, and integrally formed on the upper wall portion, A guided portion engaged with the number of guide portions from above and guided in the vertical direction; and a ribbon exposure provided on the ribbon cassette and allowing the ribbon to abut on the inner surface of the tape facing the head accommodating portion. And a tape cassette with a ribbon cassette.