JPS5845080A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit printing operation only when ribbon cassette is exactly set by using a system in which when the ribbon cassette is set the body of the cassette makes the contactor of a detector work for an impact type serial printer. CONSTITUTION:When setting a ribbon cassette 4, the projected piece 10 of the ribbon cassette 4 is fitted into the notched portion 12 of a fixing base 6 fixed to a carriage base 7, and a projection 11 made of an elastic and deformable material, fixed to the other side of the cassette 4, is fitted into the notched portion 13 of a support plate 5 fixed to the carriage base 7 in an elastically deforming manner. By this, the ribbon cassette 4 is positioned in the carriage base 7, and under the condition, the body of the ribbon cassette 4 pushes down the contactor 20 of a ribbon cassette setting detector 19 to make a switch 21. By the detection signal, the printer is put into a printing operation state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer equipped with a device for detecting whether or not a ribbon cassette is installed properly.
``There is.

Generally, in impact type serial printers,
Ribbon cassettes, in which an endless ink ribbon is housed in a cassette, are used to improve the operability of ink ribbon replacement, to prevent contamination during ink ribbon replacement, to improve the reliability of an ink ribbon feeding mechanism, and to reduce costs.

However, when this type of ribbon cassette is installed in the printer, if it is not installed correctly, there is a danger that the ink ribbon will be misaligned with respect to the printing position, and if printing is performed in this state, it may be difficult to do so. It causes print infidelity.

-1 If the feed roller that feeds the ink ribbon in the ribbon cassette is not built into the ribbon cassette, if the ribbon cassette is not fully installed, the ink ribbon will be tilted with respect to the feed roller. It's in a state of
If you feed the ink ribbon too much, it may cause ribbon jams or poor ribbon feeding.

The present invention has been developed in consideration of the various drawbacks mentioned above, and it is possible to use the ribbon cassette normally when the ribbon cassette is installed in the printer. The printer should only operate when the machine arrives. That is, the present invention provides a printer having a ribbon cassette attachment detection device that enables the printer to operate only after the ribbon cassette is properly positioned and attached.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a platen, 2 is paper to be printed, and 3 is a print head, which is fixed to a carriage pace 7. 4 is a ribbon cassette;
An ink ribbon is housed therein, and a portion of the ink ribbon is formed to pass between the paper 2 and the printing blade 3. Reference numeral 5 designates a support plate fixed to the carriage pace 7, which positions and supports the ribbon cassette 4. Reference numeral 6 designates a round fixed base that positions the ribbon cassette 4, like the support plate 5.

That is, the ribbon cassette 4 is accurately positioned and fixed by the support plate 5 and the fixed base 6. 8 is a ribbon feed drive roller, 9 is a ribbon feed driven roller, the ink ribbon is clamped between these rollers 8 and 9, and is pressed and fed with a predetermined pressure. 10 is a claw-shaped protrusion. It is fixed to the ribbon cassette 4 with one piece. Reference numeral 11 denotes a protrusion, which is fixed to the revolver cassette 4 and is made of an elastically deformable material. The protrusions 10 and projections 11 fit into the notches provided in the opposing fixed base 6 and the notches 13 provided in the carriage space 7, respectively, to position and fix the ribbon cassette 4. Reference numeral 14 denotes a guide roller fixed to the carriage pace 7, and a guide pusher 15 facing the guide roller 14 maintains a predetermined gap between the platen 1 and the tip of the print head 3 while moving the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. This is for moving the carriage in the B direction. Reference numeral 16 denotes a guide pusher fixed to the carriage pace 7, and the guide pusher and a guide rail 17 facing the guide pusher 16 are used to hold the print head 3 so that it is always perpendicular to the platen IK when the carriage slides. . Reference numeral 18 denotes a drive pulley that converts the reciprocating movement of the carriage into unidirectional rotation and drives the ribbon feed drive roller 8. 19 Expanded ribbon force set attachment detection device (second
The ribbon cassette 4 is fixed to the carriage pace 7 (see figure), and detects that the ribbon cassette 4 is correctly installed by the operation of the contactor.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next. Regarding the attachment of the ribbon cassette 4, the protrusion 10 fixed to the ribbon cassette 4 is
The protrusion 11 fixed to the carriage pace 7 is fitted and inserted into the cutout part of the fixed base 6, and the protrusion 11 fixed to the other side is pushed into the cutout part 13 of the support plate 5 fixed to the carriage pace 7 while being elastically deformed. Make it fit. The ribbon cassette 4 is now positioned and fixed on the carriage pace 7. On the other hand, when pushing the first protrusion 11 into the notch 13 and fitting it into the notch 13 as shown in FIG. The contact of the cassette mounting detection device 19, which is fixed to the holder, is pushed down from the dashed line in the figure to the solid line, and the switch 4 is turned on to operate the detection device 19. This is K]
It is detected and confirmed that the ribbon cassette 4 is correctly installed, and a detection signal is output. The printer becomes ready to print by detecting this detection signal.

Next, when removing the ribbon cassette 4, contrary to the above, first remove the protrusion 11 from the notch 13 of the support plate 5,
Thereafter, by pulling out the protruding piece 10 from the notch 12 of the fixed base 6, the ribbon cassette 4 is moved to the carriage pace 7.
You can take it out.

At this time, the contact of the ribbon cassette attachment detection device 19 is
It is pushed up from the solid line in FIG. 2 to the dashed-dotted line, the switch 21 is turned off, and the detection signal of the detection device 19 is no longer output. (This is K), it is confirmed that the ribbon cassette 4 is not installed, and the printer line becomes unable to print. That is, when the detection signal of the ribbon cassette attachment detection device 19 is not output, it indicates that the ribbon cassette 4 is not attached or the attachment condition is defective, which is an abnormal state in which sibling is not possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, the printer becomes ready for printing when the ribbon cassette is accurately positioned and installed, so that the following effects can be obtained.

■ Completely prevents printing defects due to mismatch between the print head and ink ribbon, and ink ribbon failure due to rounded ribbon jams where the ink ribbon feed drive roller's feed direction and ink ribbon feed direction do not match. It was expressed so that it could be done.

■ Since no output signal is obtained even if the ribbon cassette is not installed, it is now possible to prevent incorrect printing without an ink ribbon.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a printer equipped with a ribbon cassette according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view of a printer equipped with a ribbon cassette attachment detection device according to the present invention. 1...Platen 3...Print head 4.
...Ribbon cassette 5...Support plate 6...Fixed pace 7...Carriage pace lO...
・Protrusion piece 11...Protrusion 12, 13・
... Notch 19 ... Ribbon cassette attachment detection device addition ... Contactor patent issuer: Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd. Patent attorney Noriyuki Noriyuki (and one other person)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printer in which a ribbon cassette containing an endless ink ribbon is removable, a claw-like protrusion and a protrusion made of an elastically deformable material are fixed to the ribbon cassette, and the protrusion is opposed to the protrusion. A ribbon cassette mounting detection device is fixed to the carriage base, and the protrusions are connected to the fixed pace and the support plate 1 [K is fitted to connect the ribbon cassette. 1. A printer characterized in that when a ribbon cassette is attached and a contactor of the detection device is activated at 9 o'clock on the body of the ribbon cassette, a 0-number output is obtained from the detection device.