JPH1158905A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a ribbon cassette replacing time by preliminarily allowing a color ribbon cassette to be replaced to stand by at a printing mechanism part during printing and mounting and detaching the color ribbon cassette after the completion of printing. SOLUTION: The ribbon cassette changing mechanism of this printer has a printing mechanism part 10 for performing printing, a ribbon cassette housing unit 2 capable of housing a ribbon cassette 1 and an elevator mechanism part 3 capable of feeding the ribbon cassette 1 between the printing mechanism part 10 and the ribbon cassette housing unit 2. The elevator mechanism part 3 individually has slide mechanisms 1, 4 capable of feeding the ribbon cassette 1 only to the printing mechanism part 10 from the ribbon cassette housing unit 2 and slide mechanisms 2, 5 capable of feeding the ribbon cassette 1 only to the ribbon cassette housing unit 2 from the printing mechanism part 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for performing multicolor printing on large-sized paper, and more particularly to a printing apparatus having a ribbon cassette change mechanism for reducing a waiting time for ribbon cassette replacement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-177274, which is a ribbon change mechanism of a prior art printer, FIG. 4 shows a ribbon change mechanism of an impact type serial color printer. In this serial color printer, the impact hammer 48
, A rotatable ribbon cartridge 41 is rotatably mounted in the vicinity, and ribbons 46 of different colors are provided on the rotatable ribbon cartridge 41 by tens of degrees.
The color ribbon can be exchanged by rotating the rotary ribbon cartridge 41 by a predetermined angle.

[0003]

The first problem is that, in the prior art, when multi-color printing is performed with more than the number of colors of the rotary ribbon cartridge, the rotary type cartridge is printed after completion of printing with a predetermined color ribbon. Since printing is performed by exchanging the ribbon cartridge, in multi-color printing, the cartridge is frequently exchanged and a waiting time is generated. The reason is that there is a waiting time for mounting / removing the rotary ribbon cartridge in the printing mechanism.

[0004] A second problem is that the number of color ribbons in a rotary ribbon cartridge is limited. The reason is that since the color ribbon is stretched over the printing operation range of the rotary ribbon cartridge of the printing mechanism, there is a limit in increasing the number of colors.

[0005] A third problem is that color unevenness in printing is likely to occur. The reason is that the supply of the color ink is performed not by the ribbon cartridge containing the long color ribbon but by the rotary ribbon cartridge leached from the sponge.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the limitation of the number of colors by making it possible to use a ribbon cassette of a required number of colors, and to place a ribbon cassette of the next color to be used near a printing mechanism during printing. An object of the present invention is to change the ribbon cassette immediately after printing is completed after the printing is completed, thereby shortening the ribbon cassette replacement time.

[0007]

A ribbon cassette change mechanism of a printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a printing mechanism (10 in FIG. 1) for performing printing and a ribbon cassette storage unit (FIG. 1) capable of storing a ribbon cassette. 2) and an elevator mechanism (3 in FIG. 1) capable of transporting the ribbon cassette between the printing mechanism and the ribbon cassette storage unit. The elevator mechanism (Fig. 1
3) moves the ribbon cassette (1 in FIG. 1) from the ribbon cassette storage unit (2 in FIG. 1) to the printing mechanism (1 in FIG. 1).
0), a slide mechanism (4 in FIG. 1) that can be conveyed only to
And a slide mechanism (5 in FIG. 1) that can be transported only from the printing mechanism to the ribbon cassette storage unit. An elevator mechanism is provided separately from the printing mechanism and the ribbon cassette storage unit, and a slide mechanism for transporting the ribbon cassette only from the ribbon cassette storage unit 2 to the printing mechanism, and a ribbon only from the printing mechanism to the ribbon cassette storage unit. By separating the slide mechanism from the slide mechanism for transporting the cassette, the next necessary ribbon cassette can be taken into the ribbon cassette storage unit even during printing, and can be mounted in the elevator mechanism and stand by. For this reason, the ribbon cassette is exchanged between the printing mechanism and the elevator mechanism as soon as printing is completed, and the next printing can be started in a short time.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1 showing the overall configuration of a ribbon change mechanism according to a first embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention, a ribbon cassette 1 for accommodating ribbons of different colors, and a ribbon cassette storage unit 2 for accommodating a plurality of ribbon cassettes 1. An elevator mechanism unit 3 having a slide mechanism for moving the ribbon cassette 1 into and out of the ribbon cassette storage unit 2 and the printing mechanism unit 10, and a printing mechanism unit for mounting the ribbon cassette 1 and printing with a color ribbon. 10
And, it is mainly divided into. The elevator mechanism 3 includes a slide mechanism 4 that transports the ribbon cassette 1 from the ribbon cassette storage unit 2 to the printing mechanism 10 only.
A slide mechanism 5 for transporting the ribbon cassette 1 from the printing mechanism 10 only to the ribbon cassette storage unit 2,
Is provided. Further, the elevator mechanism 3 is supported on the shaft 8 by the shaft support 9 and the belt 6 is fixed to one of the shaft supports 9 by the belt fixing portion 7, so that the elevator mechanism 3 can move in the vertical direction.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Several types of ribbon cassettes 1 necessary for printing are stored in a ribbon cassette storage unit 2.
To be stored. Next, when a higher-level device (not shown) sends a print command, the motor pulley 15 rotates and is transmitted to the belt 6 by the driving source, and a part of the belt 6 is fixed by the belt fixing unit 7 so that the elevator mechanism 3 Is moved up and down to stop at the position of the ribbon cassette 1 to be used. At this time, the belt 6 is stretched between the motor pulley 15 and the pulley 16 to eliminate the transmission loss from the driving source, perform the operation in the motor pulley rotation direction 14, and the elevator mechanism 3
Since the shaft supporting portion 9 is connected to the shaft 8, the shaft supporting portion 9 can move in the elevator mechanism operating direction 13. The elevator mechanism 3 moves between the positions where the designated ribbon cassette 1 is stored, takes out the ribbon cassette 1 to be used from the ribbon cassette storage unit 2, moves the ribbon cassette 1 in the cassette transport direction 11 by the slide mechanism 4, and lifts the elevator. After being housed in the mechanism section 3, it is moved to the position of the printing mechanism section 10, and the ribbon cassette 1 is mounted on the printing mechanism section 10 from the slide mechanism 4 to perform printing. During the printing, the ribbon cassette 1 to be used next is taken out by the slide mechanism 4 in the same manner as described above, and thereafter, it moves to a position where the height of the print mechanism section 10 and the slide mechanism 5 match, and waits. After printing, the ribbon cassette 1 in the printing mechanism unit 10 is detached and moved in the cassette transport direction 12 by the slide mechanism 5 and housed in the elevator mechanism unit 3, and the ribbon cassette 1 in the slide mechanism 4 is removed from the printing mechanism unit 10. And continue printing. During printing, the ribbon cassette 1 in the slide mechanism 5 is returned to the ribbon cassette storage unit 2,
In order to get the next ribbon cassette 1,
The elevator mechanism 3 is moved.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a modification of the first embodiment, in which a ribbon cassette 1, a ribbon cassette storage unit 2 for storing a plurality of ribbon cassettes 1, a cassette transport mechanism A17 for loading / unloading the ribbon cassette 1, and a cassette transport mechanism. It is mainly divided into an elevator mechanism 3 having B18 and a printing mechanism 10 for performing printing. The elevator mechanism section 3 includes a cassette transport mechanism A17 and a cassette transport mechanism B18 for taking out the ribbon cassette 1 in both directions of the printing mechanism section 10 and the ribbon cassette storage unit 2, and mounting or detaching the ribbon cassette 1, and storing the cassette. The ribbon cassette 1 can be moved in each of the transport mechanism operating directions 19. Further, the belt 6 is stretched between the motor pulley 15 and the pulley 16 to eliminate transmission loss from the driving source, to allow the elevator mechanism 3 to move in the motor pulley rotation direction 14, and a part of the belt 6 is moved to one side by the belt fixing part 7. Fixed to the shaft support 9,
Since the elevator mechanism 3 is connected to the shaft 8 by the shaft support 9, when the motor pulley 15 rotates by the driving source, the rotation is transmitted to the belt 6, and the elevator mechanism operating direction 13 can move in the vertical direction. According to the above configuration, when a print command is sent from the host device, the ribbon cassette 1 to be used is moved to the ribbon cassette transport mechanism A1.
7 or the ribbon cassette transport mechanism B18, and is repeatedly taken out and transported to and mounted on the printing mechanism unit 10.

[0011]

The first effect is that the ribbon cassette to be printed next can be mounted on the elevator mechanism during printing and can be on standby. As a result, the ribbon change mechanism can shorten the ribbon cassette replacement time. The reason is,
This is because the elevator mechanism has two means for attaching and detaching the ribbon cassette separately from the printing mechanism.

The second effect is that the elevator mechanism can accommodate the ribbon cassette of a required number of colors in the ribbon cassette storage unit so that the ribbon cassette can be taken in and out.
This allows the ribbon change mechanism to be provided with a required number of color ribbon cassettes and used by designation. The reason is that the provision of the elevator mechanism allows the ribbon cassette storage unit to store a ribbon cassette of a required number of colors.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a ribbon cassette change mechanism of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of the ribbon cassette change mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the ribbon cassette change mechanism of the printing apparatus according to the present invention and the operation thereof.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ribbon cassette 2 Ribbon cassette storage unit 3 Elevator mechanism part 4 Slide mechanism 5 Slide mechanism 6 Belt 7 Belt fixing part 8 Shaft 9 Shaft support part 10 Printing mechanism part 11 Cassette transport direction 12 Cassette transport direction 13 Elevator mechanism operation direction 14 Motor pulley Rotation direction 15 Motor pulley 16 Pulley 17 Cassette transport mechanism A 18 Cassette transport mechanism B 19 Cassette transport mechanism operating direction

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for performing multicolor printing by exchanging a ribbon cassette for accommodating a color ribbon, a printing mechanism for attaching or detaching the ribbon cassette according to a printing color, and a cassette for accommodating a plurality of ribbon cassettes. A storage unit, first means for removing the ribbon cassette from the cassette storage unit and mounting the ribbon cassette on the printing mechanism, and second means for detaching the ribbon cassette from the printing mechanism and storing the ribbon cassette in the cassette storage unit. A printing apparatus, comprising: an elevator mechanism having the following; and a ribbon change mechanism comprising: 2. The cassette storage unit, comprising: a first slide mechanism for taking out the ribbon cassette from the cassette storage unit and mounting the ribbon cassette on the printing mechanism unit; and detaching the ribbon cassette from the printing mechanism unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a second slide mechanism that is stored in the printing apparatus. 3. The elevator mechanism section, wherein a ribbon cassette is taken out of the cassette storage unit and mounted on the printing mechanism section, or a ribbon cassette is detached from the printing mechanism section and stored in the cassette storage unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second mechanism.