JPH1076738A - Cleaning cassette and thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning cassette for simultaneously cleaning a printing head and a platen and preventing the excessive wear of the printing head, and a thermal printer. SOLUTION: A cleaning tabe 4 is formed simply of Japanese paper of a tape shape or by forming into a tape shape a synthetic resin film having Japanese paper thinly applied to both sides thereof, and is then wound round a tape unwinding reel 2 of a cleaning cassette 1 with its starting end being locked to a winding reel 3. A cleaning liquid container 6 comprising a felt member 6-2 impregnant with a solvent is mounted as required and the solvent is impregnated into the both sides of the cleaning tape. A printing head 8 rotates upwardly to a printing position and press the cleaning tape against a platen roller 9, and the platen roller 9 then rotates at a speed slightly faster than that at which it rotates during printing. The cleaning tabe 4 is wound round the winding reel 3, and the printing head 8 and the platen roller 9 are brought into sliding contact with the cleaning tape 4, whereby dust and dirt are removed therefrom.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a cleaning cassette and a thermal printer using the cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a print head and a platen of a printer are liable to be stained with fine ink particles and fiber debris because an ink ribbon and a paper are always in sliding contact. If these are soiled, the printing performance deteriorates, so that they must be cleaned from time to time. For cleaning, generally, a cotton swab is impregnated with alcohol, and the swab impregnated with the alcohol is used to clean a printing portion of a print head and a rubber roller of a platen.

However, it is troublesome and troublesome for ordinary users to prepare a cotton swab and alcohol. Further, if the inside of the apparatus is crowded, a problem occurs that the swab does not reach the printing portion of the print head and cleaning cannot be performed.

[0004] For this reason, for example, in the case of a label printer in which a cassette containing an ink ribbon and a tape-shaped print sheet is exchangeably mounted to perform printing, the back surface of the ink ribbon, that is, the surface that comes into sliding contact with the print head. There is a method in which an abrasive is applied to the print head, and the print head is cleaned while printing is performed by this. Further, in such a label printer, there is also a method of cleaning using a cleaning-dedicated cassette containing only a tape member coated with an abrasive.

[0005]

By the way, when the amount of the abrasive applied to the printing member is increased, the print head rapidly wears out beyond the degree of cleaning. Further, when the abrasive is applied, there is also a problem that unevenness is caused in the press contact between the print head and the ink ribbon, which adversely affects printing. Therefore, it has been extremely technically difficult to properly apply the abrasive to the ink ribbon.

In a printer using a cleaning cassette dedicated to cleaning, in which a printing tape and an ink ribbon are transported by a platen roller, the platen roller is engaged with a drive system of a main body device. When driven, the printing tape and the ink ribbon are rotated while being pressed against the print head to convey them. The printed printing tape is discharged out of the machine, and the used ink ribbon is taken up by a take-up reel that is engaged with a take-up drive unit having a clutch mechanism of the drive system.

When a cleaning cassette dedicated to cleaning is mounted on the cleaning tape, the cleaning tape pressed and held by the platen roller and the print head is conveyed by the rotation of the platen roller, and the surface of the print head slides on the cleaning tape to clean the cleaning tape. Is performed.

However, at this time, the print head is cleaned, but the platen roller is not cleaned because it is rotating at the same speed as the cleaning tape.

In this case as well, there is no other method of cleaning the platen roller except for using a cotton swab impregnated with alcohol, and therefore, there is still a complaint in that it is troublesome.

[0010] The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning cassette which can simultaneously clean a print head and a platen and which can be used without an excessive wear of a print head, and a thermal printer to which the cassette is mounted.

[0011]

The construction of the cleaning cassette and the thermal printer according to the present invention will be described below.

First, in the cleaning cassette according to the first aspect of the present invention, the print head and the platen are indirectly pressed against each other via the ink ribbon and the print medium transferred by the transfer means, and the print head is driven to generate heat to drive the platen. A cleaning cassette mounted on a thermal printer that rotationally drives the ink ribbon to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon to a print medium, wherein the cleaning cassette travels between the platen and the print head by the transfer means or the platen, and It is provided with a tape-shaped cleaning member that comes into contact with either the print head or the platen.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to transport the cleaning member at a transport speed higher than the transport speed of the platen, the transport rotational force stronger than the rotational force of the platen transporting the cleaning member. It further comprises a transport roller that rotates with. Further, for example, as set forth in claim 5, the cleaning device further includes a cleaning liquid impregnating device that slides on the cleaning member and impregnates the cleaning member with the cleaning liquid.

[0014] The cleaning member is formed on a loop-shaped endless tape, for example. Further, for example, as described in claim 4, it is made of Japanese paper, nonwoven fabric, cloth-like synthetic fiber, or a film having abrasive particles provided on the surface.

Next, in the thermal printer according to the present invention, the print head and the platen are indirectly pressed against each other via the ink ribbon and the print medium transferred by the transfer means, and the print head is driven to generate heat so as to generate heat. And a tape-like cleaning member inserted between the print head and the platen and transferred by the transfer means or the platen. And a pressure force at which the print head and the platen are indirectly pressed through the cleaning member when the cleaning cassette is mounted on the apparatus main body. And a pressure control means for controlling the pressure to a small value.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional plan view showing the configuration of the cleaning cassette according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1A shows a print head and a print head on the main unit side when mounted on the main unit (tape printer). The platen roller is also shown. FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a cleaner liquid container arbitrarily attached to the cleaning cassette.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the cleaning cassette 1 uses a normal tape printer tape cassette, and normally uses only two reels, each having three reels. That is, the cleaning cassette 1
Has a tape winding reel 2 and a take-up reel 3 inside, and a long cleaning tape 4 is wound around the tape winding reel 2.

The cleaning tape 4 is formed by, for example, thinly attaching Japanese paper to both sides of a tape-like polyester film. In addition, if the user is sufficiently stiff and has no elasticity, Japanese paper may be used as it is. Further, for example, a nonwoven fabric having an appropriate thickness may be used as it is (without using a polyester film) in a tape shape. In addition, woven or knitted fabric made of ultrafine denier synthetic fiber, which has been developed in recent years and used for polishing glass (wiping glasses) or for cleaning painted objects (wiping automobiles), etc., is made of thin fabric. May be used in the form of a tape.

The cleaning cassette 1 has a recess 5 formed therein, and the cleaning tape 4 is stretched over the opening of the recess 5 and has a starting end at the take-up reel 3.
It is locked to. A cleaner liquid container 6 is detachably provided between the tape winding reel 2 and the concave portion 5.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the cleaner liquid container 6 has a cylindrical body side part 6-1 partially cut out, and a felt member 6-2 from the inside is cut out from the notch part. It is disposed so as to protrude outside. One end of the cleaner liquid container 6 is open, and a flange 6-3 is formed at this open end.

When the cleaner liquid container 6 is inserted into a predetermined position of the cleaning cassette 1 as shown in FIG. 1A, the cleaning liquid container 6 is positioned by a receiving portion (not shown) of the cleaning cassette 1 and the flange 6-3. Then, the felt member 6-2 comes into contact with the lower surface of the cleaning tape 4. The pressing member 7 contacts the upper surface of the cleaning tape 4,
The cleaning tape 4 is pressed against the felt member 6-2.

When the cleaning cassette 1 constructed as described above is mounted on the main unit as shown in FIG. 1 (a), the print head 8 enters the concave portion 5, and the print head 8
The platen roller 9 faces the cleaning tape 4. The print head 8 and the platen roller 9 are fixedly supported on one end of a bracket (not shown) of the main body device, respectively. When the bracket supporting the print head 8 rotates up and down, the print head 8 rotates up and down in the concave portion 5, that is, between the print position and the non-print position.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the operation state of the cleaning cassette 1. Note that the illustration of the cleaner liquid container 6 and the holding member 7 described above is omitted in FIG. Further, as described above, the cleaning cassette 1 may be configured such that the cleaner liquid container 6 and the pressing member 7 are not provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, when a drive switch (not shown) of the main unit is turned on, the print head 8 moves from the lower non-printing position shown in FIG. 1A to the upper printing position shown in FIG. To rotate the cleaning tape 4 to the platen roller 9.
Press The platen roller 9 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, and this rotation transports the cleaning tape 4 from left to right, and the take-up reel 3 removes the used cleaning tape 4 'at the same winding speed as this transport speed. Take up. As a result, the print head 8 comes into sliding contact with the soft and tough fibers of the Japanese paper of the cleaning tape 4 and is appropriately polished to remove dust and dust.

When the cleaning liquid container 6 and the holding member 7 are provided as shown in FIG. 1A, a relatively weak solvent such as alcohol is poured into the cleaning liquid container 6 in advance. If you keep the alcohol, felt
-2, soak the cleaning tape into Japanese paper. At this time, when the cleaning tape 4 is made of only Japanese paper (or nonwoven fabric, woven fabric, or knitted fabric) that does not use a polyester film, the alcohol well penetrates the surface that comes into contact with the platen roller 9. by this,
Not only can dirt and dust on the print head 8 be better removed, but also dirt and dust attached to the platen roller 9 can be removed by the action of dissolving alcohol.

In the configuration of the cleaning cassette 1 shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 described above, the drive system of the main unit is not particularly shown, but the rotational force of the platen roller 9 is in the cleaning mode. Is configured to be larger than the rotational force of the take-up reel 3, ie,
If the rotation drive (linear velocity of the surface) of the platen roller 9 is configured to be faster than the winding speed of the take-up reel 3, the platen roller 9 and the cleaning tape 4 are in sliding contact with each other, and a polishing action is generated. The cleaning of the platen roller 9 can be performed without a solvent as described above.

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view showing the structure of the cleaning cassette according to the second embodiment. 2, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. Further, a print head and a platen roller on the side of the main body are shown. In the cleaning cassette 10 shown in FIG. 3, the take-up reel 3 shown in FIG. 2 is removed.

In this case as well, when a drive switch (not shown) of the main unit is turned on, the print head 8 rotates from the non-print position shown in FIG. Press Platen roller 9
Rotates counterclockwise in the figure to rotate the cleaning tape 4
From left to right. The print head 8 comes into sliding contact with the cleaning tape 4 to remove dust and dirt.

In this case, the used cleaning tape 4 'is discharged outside the machine, cut off, and discarded. As described above, since the used cleaning tape 4 ′ is not taken up in the cleaning cassette 10, it is not necessary to consider the take-up allowance of the take-up reel 3 shown in FIG.

The amount of the cleaning tape that can be wound on the tape winding reel 2 in advance is limited by the winding space of the winding reel 3 in the case of FIG.
Originally, the take-up reel 3 is for winding an ink ribbon of an extremely thin ground, and is configured to wind an ink ribbon of the same length as a thick printing tape having a large winding space in a small winding space. The whole is configured. That is, the take-up reel 3 is provided with only a small (narrow) take-up space. Therefore, the amount of the cleaning tape that can be wound on the tape winding reel 2 in advance is extremely small regardless of the wide winding space.

In the second embodiment, since the used cleaning tape 4 'is discharged outside the apparatus and the take-up reel 3 is not used, the small take-up space of the take-up reel 3 is restricted. The cleaning tape 4 can be wound on the tape winding reel 2 to the full width of the winding space indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Therefore, the amount of the cleaning tape is larger than in the case of FIG. 1A or FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing the structure of a cleaning cassette according to the third embodiment. FIG. 1A shows the same components as those shown in FIG.
The same reference numerals are assigned to them. Further, a print head 8 and a platen roller 9 on the main body device side are additionally shown. In this example, a loop-shaped (endless) cleaning belt 21 is used instead of the cleaning tape 4 shown in FIG. The material of the cleaning belt 21 is the same as that of the cleaning tape 4 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning belt 2
1 is wound around the tape winding reel 2, the opening of the recess 5, the idle reel 22, and the ribbon winding reel 23. The cleaner liquid container 6 and the holding member 7 may be provided as shown in the drawing, or may be omitted.

In this case, when a drive switch (not shown) of the main unit is turned on, the print head 8 rotates from the lower non-printing position to the printing position as shown in FIG.
Is pressed against the platen roller 9. The platen roller 9 rotates counterclockwise in the figure to rotate the cleaning belt 21 clockwise. The print head 8 slides on the cleaning belt 21 to remove dust and dust. In this case, the cleaning belt 21 can be repeatedly used until the adsorbed dust and dust accumulate and become unsuitable for use, and therefore, it is economical.

FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are views showing a state where the operation of the platen roller 9 is changed in the cleaning mode in the above embodiment. still,
3A and 3B, the illustration of the cleaning cassette 20 is omitted, and only the print head 8, the platen roller 9, and members related thereto are taken out and shown. As shown in FIG. 1A, the print head 8 is supported by a head bracket 24, and the head bracket 24 rotates about a support shaft 25 between a non-print position and a print position. On the other hand, the platen roller 9 is supported by a platen bracket 26, and the platen bracket 26 also moves around a support shaft 25 between a non-printing position shown in FIG. 6A and a printing position shown in FIG. Rotate. This rotation is performed by rotating the cam 27 around the support shaft 27-1 in a counterclockwise direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. The pin 26-1 of the bracket 26 slides along the cam groove 27-2. As a result, the pin 26-1 moves from the position near the outer peripheral portion of the cam 27 shown in FIG. 7A to the position near the center portion shown in FIG. As a result, the upper end of the key-shaped platen bracket 26 on which the pins 26-1 are disposed pivots rightward in the drawing, and the lower end supporting the platen roller 9 pivots downward to rotate the platen. The roller 9 presses against the print head 8. In FIG. 2B, illustration of the cleaning belt 21 interposed between the platen roller 9 and the print head 8 is omitted.

The cam groove 27-2 is displaced steplessly, so that the rotation of the cam 27 from the position shown in FIG. 2A to the position shown in FIG. By stopping, the displacement amount of the pin 26-1, that is, the rotation angle of the platen bracket 26, that is, the pressing force of the platen roller 9 against the print head 8 is appropriately set to be weaker and less than the pressing force at the time of printing. be able to.

With this weakly set pressing force, the frictional force between the platen roller 9 and the cleaning belt 21 is reduced as compared with the complete transporting force during printing (transporting force that does not cause slippage). That is, the platen roller 9 conveys the cleaning belt 21 to clean the print head 8 on the one hand, and slides on the cleaning belt 21 due to slippage caused by low frictional force on the other hand. By this sliding contact, the platen roller 9 is cleaned.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view showing the structure of a cleaning cassette according to the fourth embodiment. 4, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. The print head 8 on the main unit side
And the platen roller 9. In this example, FIG.
And the driving method of the cleaning belt 21 is different.
This will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the cleaning cassette 30, the cleaning belt 21 is stretched around the tape winding reel 2, the opening of the recess 5, the idle reel 22, and the ribbon winding reel 23. And
A pressing roller 31 for pressing the cleaning belt 21 to prevent slippage is provided on the ribbon winding reel 23.
Further, a small diameter intermediate gear 33 for transmitting the rotational force of the ink ribbon winding reel 32 to the large diameter ribbon winding reel 23 at a high speed is provided. A gear 23-1 is formed coaxially on the ribbon winding reel 23, and a gear 32-1 is formed coaxially on the ink ribbon winding reel 32. The above-mentioned intermediate gears 33 are those gears 32
-1 and 23-1. The cleaner liquid container 6 and the holding member 7 may be provided as shown in the drawing, or may be omitted.

The gear 32-1, the intermediate gear 33, and the gear 23 which rotate as shown by arrows B, C and D in FIG.
The gear ratio of -1 is set so that the ink ribbon take-up reel 32 rotates at a normal speed and the peripheral linear speed of the ribbon take-up reel 23 becomes faster than the normal print tape transport speed. .

The ribbon winding reel 23 can be rotated by the intermediate gear 33 and the pressing roller 31 with a transfer rotational force stronger than the rotational force at which the platen roller 9 transfers the cleaning belt 21. That is, on the main unit side, when the driving device that engages with the ink ribbon take-up reel 32 normally rotates at the printing speed and the platen roller 9 also normally rotates at the printing speed,
The cleaning belt 21 circulates clockwise in the drawing at a moving speed higher than the conveying speed of the printing tape conveyed during printing (the peripheral surface linear speed of the platen roller 9).

Thus, the print head 8 and the cleaning belt 21 not only come into sliding contact with each other, but also
Also, the cleaning belt 21 comes into sliding contact with the cleaning belt 21 as much as it moves faster. As a result, cleaning of the print head 8 and the platen roller 9 is performed simultaneously.

In the case of this cleaning cassette, the drive of the ribbon take-up reel and the drive of the platen roller can be performed in the cleaning mode in the same manner as in the print mode. No drive control is required, and no special drive mechanism is required. Therefore, the manufacturing cost does not increase, and the user can easily use it by attaching it to the main unit that has been used. By simply mounting and driving the cleaning cassette, the rotational force of the cleaning tape can be made different from the rotational force of the platen roller to be conveyed, so that the print head and the platen roller can be cleaned simultaneously.

In the fourth embodiment, the platen roller 9
The rotation of the ribbon winding reel 23 is rotated so that the rotation of the ribbon winding reel 23 is faster than the normal printing tape transport speed, but is not limited thereto. Instead, the rotation of the ribbon winding reel 23 may be rotated so as to be the same as the transport speed of the print tape, and the rotation of the platen roller 9 may be rotated so as to be slower than the transport speed of the print tape during printing. .

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. In the fifth embodiment, the configuration of both the main unit and the cleaning cassette is the same as that of FIG. 6, and only the driving mode is different. That is, in this example, the cleaning key is not set, and after the cleaning cassette is mounted, the feed key provided on the main unit is continuously operated for a certain period of time. The feed key is used for forcibly (artificially) adjusting the position of the sheet by a platen roller before or after printing in the print mode, thereby driving the cleaning tape. Even in this case, the cleaning cassette of the present invention can be used without making any changes to the main unit.

The fifth embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. The configuration shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 can be similarly applied. Next, a sixth embodiment will be described. The sixth embodiment also has the same configuration as that of FIG. 6 for both the main unit and the cleaning cassette, and differs only in the method of controlling the power supply to the print head. That is, in this example, the power supply circuit is controlled so as not to energize the print head in the cleaning mode. Alternatively, control is performed so as to suppress heat generation to a low level.
Thus, in the case of a dry cleaning tape that does not use a solvent, for example, even in the case of a nonwoven fabric that is vulnerable to heat, it is possible to prevent inconvenience such that the tape surface is scraped off by heat to generate fine particles and adhere to the print head. be able to. Also, in the case of a wet cleaning cassette that uses a solvent, heat (print head heat) is not suddenly applied to the solvent, so that there is no danger of chemical change of the solvent and use it with confidence. Can be.

Incidentally, the sixth embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. The configuration shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 and the configuration using the above-described feed key can be similarly applied.

[0048]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the cleaning tape is made of Japanese paper or a fibrous material having the same flexibility and strength as that of Japanese paper, dust and dirt on the print head are removed. In addition, excessive polishing of the print head can be prevented. In addition, since Japanese paper or a fiber material equivalent thereto is used for the cleaning tape, it becomes easy to cause a solvent such as alcohol to penetrate the front and back surfaces, and thus it is possible to simultaneously clean not only the print head but also the platen roller. . Further, since the surface linear velocity of the platen roller is made slower than the transport speed of the cleaning tape or the cleaning belt, not only the print head but also the platen roller comes into sliding contact with the cleaning tape or the cleaning belt. The platen roller and the platen roller can be cleaned simultaneously, which is convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a plan sectional view showing a configuration of a cleaning cassette according to a first embodiment together with a print head and a platen roller on a main unit side, and FIG. 1 (b) is arbitrarily attached to the cleaning cassette. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cleaner liquid container to be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of a cleaning cassette.

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view showing a configuration of a cleaning cassette according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing a configuration of a cleaning cassette according to a third embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a state where the operation of the platen roller 9 is changed in the cleaning mode in the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view showing a configuration of a cleaning cassette according to a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 10, 20, 30 Cleaning cassette 2 Tape winding reel 3 Take-up reel 4 Cleaning tape 5 Depression 6 Cleaner liquid container 6-1 Body side 6-2 Felt member 6-3 Flange 7 Pressing member 8 Print head 9 Platen roller 21 Cleaning belt 22 Idle reel 23 Ribbon winding reel 24 Head bracket 25 Support shaft 26 Platen bracket 26-1 Pin 27 Cam 27-1 Support shaft 27-2 Cam groove

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Horino 3-2-1, Sakaemachi, Hamura-shi, Tokyo Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Hamura Technical Center

Claims (6)

[Claims] An indirect contact between a print head and a platen via an ink ribbon and a print medium transferred by a transfer unit, the print head being driven to generate heat, and the platen being driven to rotate, thereby causing ink on the ink ribbon to be driven. A cleaning cassette mounted on a thermal printer that transfers the image data to the print medium, wherein the cleaning device travels between the platen and the print head by the transfer means or the platen and at least one of the print head and the platen. A cleaning cassette comprising a tape-shaped cleaning member that comes into contact with one side. 2. The cleaning cassette according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is formed on a loop-shaped endless tape. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a transport roller configured to rotate the platen at a higher rotational speed than the rotational speed at which the platen transports the cleaning member so as to transport the cleaning member at a higher transport speed than the transport speed of the platen. 3. The cleaning cassette according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The cleaning cassette according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is made of Japanese paper, nonwoven fabric, cloth-like synthetic fiber, or a film having abrasive particles provided on a surface thereof. 5. The cleaning cassette according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning liquid impregnating device that slidably contacts the cleaning member and impregnates the cleaning member with a cleaning liquid. 6. A print head and a platen are indirectly brought into pressure contact with each other via an ink ribbon and a print medium transferred by a transfer unit, the print head is driven to generate heat, and the platen is rotated to drive the ink on the ink ribbon. A cleaning cassette that stores a tape-shaped cleaning member that is inserted between the print head and the platen and that is transferred by the transfer unit or the platen. When the cleaning cassette is mounted on the main assembly of the apparatus, the press contact force for indirectly pressing the print head and the platen through the cleaning member is controlled to be smaller than the press contact force at the time of printing. A thermal printer comprising control means.