JPS5913081Y2 - Ink ribbon cassette for printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette for a printer containing an ink supply body.

Conventionally, as ink ribbon cassettes for printers, a ribbon inlet and a ribbon outlet are provided on the front left and right sides of the cassette body, respectively, and a pair of feed rollers are provided in pressure contact with each other on the ribbon inlet side of the main body. The ink ribbon is passed from the inside of the cassette body through the ribbon outlet to the ribbon guides placed on the left and right sides of the printing area, and then passed through the ribbon inlet and between both feed rollers and into the cassette body, and then the feed roller is connected to the printer. A known configuration is known in which the ink ribbon is rotated by a constant angle in conjunction with the printing operation, thereby circulating the ink ribbon by a constant amount.

However, with conventional ribbon cassettes of this type,
The life of an ink ribbon ends when it runs out of ink, so in order to extend the life of an ink ribbon, it was necessary to increase the size of the cassette body so that a longer ink ribbon could be used.

It is also conceivable to replenish ink inside the cassette body, but in this case, it is extremely difficult to apply ink uniformly to the ribbon, resulting in the disadvantage that printing with uniform density cannot be performed.

In addition, when setting a conventional ink ribbon cassette into a printer, the ink ribbon protruding between the ribbon outlet and the ribbon inlet is grasped by hand and passed through the ribbon guides on the left and right sides of the printing area. This also has the disadvantage that the operator's hands get dirty, and the printing paper, etc. gets stained with ink.

The present invention was developed in consideration of these points.
The aim is to create an ink ribbon cassette for printers that is small enough to automatically and precisely replenish the ink ribbon over a long period of time, and that can be loaded into the printer without getting the operator's hands dirty. Our goal is to provide the following.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the ink ribbon cassette 1 set in a printer, where 2 is a platen and 3 is printing paper.

The ink ribbon cassette 1 has a pair of guide arms 5a, 5b protruding from the left and right sides of the cassette body 4 toward the platen 2, and guide rollers 6a, 6b are rotatably attached to the tips of each arm 5a, 5b. ing.

Then, with this ink ribbon cassette 1 installed in the printer, both guide arms 5a and 5b are positioned on both sides of the print head 7, and both guide rollers 6a and 6
b is opposed to the platen 2 with the printing paper 3 sandwiched therebetween.

Inside the cassette body 4, a pair of feed rollers 8a and 8b are provided at the base end of the first guide arm 5a.

One feed roller 8a is rotatably supported directly within the cassette body 4, and is driven to rotate by a fixed angle in the direction of arrow A for each printing operation by a drive means provided on the printer side.

The other feed roller 8b is rotatably supported by a roller support 9 that is detachably attached to the cassette body 4.

The roller support body 9 is biased in one direction by a spring 10, so that the feed roller 8b is elastically pressed against the feed roller 8a.

Further, an ink supply body 11 is housed in the guide arm 5a on the side where the pair of feed rollers 8a and 8b are provided.

This supply body 11 is constructed by combining an ink-impregnated member 12 such as a sponge and a baffle plate 13 made of a non-impregnated material such as a metal plate.

That is, the ink-impregnated member 12 is fixedly provided along the longitudinal direction of the guide arm 5a, and has a linear and L-shaped cut groove 12a in the longitudinal direction of the guide arm 5a.
, 12b.

The rising pieces 13a, 13b of the baffle plate 13 are fitted into these grooves 12a, 12b.

Further, on one side of the impregnating member 12, there is a stepped portion 16a that engages with the shaft support 14 that pivotally supports the feed roller 8a and the ribbon introduction port 15 provided on the side of the guide arm 5a. , 16b are formed, and a ribbon contact portion C is formed between these step portions 16a and 16b.

Note that the other guide arm 5b is attached to the cassette I/main body 4.
A ribbon outlet (not shown) is provided at a lateral position.

The endless ink ribbon 17 is then passed from the inside of the cassette main body 4 through the ribbon outlet to the guide roller 6b.
and 6a, and passes through the ribbon inlet 15 and between the two feed rollers 8a and 8b into the cassette body 4, and the impregnated member is passed through the ribbon inlet 15 and between the feed rollers 6a and 6b. It slides into contact with the ribbon contact portion C of No. 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon cassette 1 has a cover 18 that closes the upper openings of the cassette body 4 and guide arms 5a, 5b, and an ink replenishment hole is provided at the tip of the cover 18. 18a is the opening.

Therefore, the tip side portion of the guide arm 5a of the ink-impregnated member 12 is used as the ink replenishment portion B.

In the ink ribbon cassette 1 configured as described above, a pair of guide arms 5a and 5b are provided protruding from the left and right sides of the main body 4 in the same direction from the cassette 1, and a guide roller provided at the tip of each arm. 5a.

Since the ink ribbon 17 is passed between the guide rollers 6a and 6b, simply by setting the ink ribbon cassette 1 in the printer, the ink ribbon 17, which is passed between the guide rollers 6a and 6b, is connected to the platen 2 and the print head 7. will be located between.

Therefore, the operator does not have to grasp the ink ribbon and pass it to the ribbon guides on the left and right sides of the printing section, unlike the conventional printers, and does not have to get his hands dirty.

Further, an ink supply body 11 is provided in the guide arm 5a on the side of the ribbon introduction port 15, and the ink ribbon 17 is connected to the introduction port 1.
Since the ink-impregnated member 12 is brought into sliding contact with the ribbon contacting portion C of the ink-impregnated member 12 at the position introduced from 5, the ink is automatically refilled to the ink ribbon 17, and the ink is transferred to the ink-impregnated member 12 from the ribbon contact portion C. Since the ink ribbon 17 is uniformly adhered while reaching the outlet, the ink ribbon 17 can be used for a long period of time without being replaced.

The ink supply body 11 is constructed by providing cut grooves 12a, 12b in the ink impregnation member 12, and fitting the rising pieces 13a, 13b of the baffle plate 13 into the cut grooves 12a, 12b. The ink impregnated into the ink replenishment portion B of the ink impregnation member 12 through the replenishment hole 18a is
The ink ribbon 17 passes between the two rising pieces 13a and 13b.
It penetrates into the ribbon contact part C in contact with the ribbon while being detoured along the direction of the arrow shown by the dotted line.
Excessive adhesion of ink to the ink ribbon 17 is prevented.

In the above embodiment, the ink supply body 1 was housed in the guide arm 5a on the side of the ribbon introduction port 15, but it may be housed in at least one guide arm.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a pair of guide arms are provided protruding from the left and right sides of the cassette body in the same direction, and the equal ribbon is hung on both guide arms, so that the operator can You can load the cassette into the printer without having to hold the ink ribbon or getting your hands dirty.

The inner space of at least one guide arm is used to accommodate the ink supply body, and an endless ink ribbon is slid into contact with the ribbon contacting part of the supply body, making the cassette exceptionally attractive. The ink ribbon can be automatically refilled with ink without increasing the size.

Furthermore, the ink supply body is formed of an ink-impregnated member and a baffle plate, and the ink replenishment portion of the ink-impregnated member is made to infiltrate while bypassing the ink flow toward the ribbon contacting portion. It is possible to provide an ink ribbon cassette for printers that has many advantages, such as preventing excessive supply of ink and replenishing ink uniformly over a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing only the main parts of the same embodiment. 1... Ink ribbon cassette, 4...
Cassette body, 5a, 5b... guide arm,
8a, 8b...Feed roller, 11...
Ink supply body, 12...Ink impregnation member, 12
a, 12b... Cut groove, 13... Baffle plate, 17... Ink ribbon, 18 a...
・Ink refill hole, B...Ink refill part, C・
...Ribbon contact area.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a cassette main body, a pair of guide arms protruding from the left and right sides of the main body in the same direction, a pair of feed rollers provided in pressure contact with the base end of one of the guide arms; An endless ink ribbon is passed from the inside of the cassette body to the ends of both guide arms, passes between both feed rollers and goes around the cassette body, and is fixed inside at least one guide arm along the length of this arm. an ink-impregnated member that is provided with a ribbon contact portion on which the ink ribbon slides and has the tip end portion of the guide arm as an ink replenishment portion; An ink ribbon cassette for a printer, comprising a baffle plate that allows ink to permeate while bypassing the ink flow from the ink to the ribbon contact area.