JPS5914204Y2 - ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endless ink ribbon cassette provided in a gap between a print head and a platen, for example in a wire tod printer.

In recent years, wire tod printers that are relatively inexpensive and capable of high-speed printing have become widely used for central control unit printing or as console printers. Long endless ink ribbon cassettes (hereinafter referred to as ribbon cassettes) have come into use.

Conventionally, a ribbon cassette has a ribbon storage chamber 2 provided inside a U-shaped ribbon cassette main body 1, as shown in FIG. 1, and a drive roller 3 and a pinch roller 4 arranged at the entrance of this storage chamber 2. There is.

The ink ribbon 5 is sandwiched between the drive roller 3 and the pinch roller 4, and stretched through openings 1a and 1b formed at both ends of the main body 1. It is adapted to be moved from one opening 1a to the other opening 1b by rotation.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the state in which the ribbon cassette is installed in the printer, where 6 is a carriage on which the print head 7 is mounted and is movable in the left and right direction, and 8 and 8 are rotatable on the carriage 6. A guide roller is pivoted to guide the ribbon 5, a platen 9 is placed opposite the print head 7, and a sheet of paper 10.

In the printer configured as described above, the ribbon cassette 1 has the advantage of being easy to handle.

However, since the ink ribbon 5 needs to be stretched through the guide rollers 8.8, there are problems as described below.

That is, 1. When the ink ribbon 5 is not stretched around the guide rollers 8, 8 and the carriage 6 is located at the left end,
The printed characters are hidden by the ink ribbon 5 and cannot be seen.

2. Since the distance between the print head 7 and the platen 9 is narrow, the paper 10 becomes soiled as the carriage 6 moves.

3. When inserting the paper 10 between the ink ribbon 5 and the platen 9, the leading edge of the paper 10 gets caught on the ribbon 5.

Therefore, the current situation is that operators get their fingers dirty when handling the ink ribbon 5, and are not taking advantage of its benefits.

The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an ink ribbon cassette that allows an operator to wind an ink ribbon around a guide roller without getting his hands dirty when installing the ribbon cassette into a printer. It is something to do.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

However, the same parts as in FIGS. 1 and 2 are given the same reference numerals.

In the figure, 21 is a U-shaped locking body fixed to the side wall of the storage chamber 23 of the main body 22, and a groove 21a of this locking body 21 has an L
A letter-shaped arm piece 24 is removably inserted, and this arm piece 24
Pins 25, 25 are spaced apart and fixed to the end-side surface of the.

The ink ribbon 5 is stretched in a bent state via the pins 25, 25.

Although the engagement between the arm piece 24 and the groove 21a of the locking body 21 fixed to the main body 22 will not be described in detail, it is constructed so that the operator can easily attach and detach it.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the state in which the ribbon cassette is installed in the printer, and 8 and 8 are guide rollers fixed on the movable carriage 6 on which the print head 7 is mounted. The ink ribbon 5 wound around the pins 25 and 25 is arranged so that one side passes through the platen side with respect to the guide roller 8, and the other side passes through the storage chamber side of the main body 22 with respect to the guide roller 8.

Therefore, by printing in this state, the printed characters can be confirmed without being hidden by the ink ribbon 5, and problems such as the operator getting his hands dirty and staining the paper 10 can be prevented.

Next, when the ink impregnated in the ink ribbon 5 runs out and the arm piece 24 is to be removed, the ribbon 5 is attached to the pin 2.
5. By moving the arm piece 24, which is wound around the pins 25 and 25, upward in FIG.
5, and can be wound and stretched around guide rollers 8,8.

At this time, if some slack occurs in the ribbon 5, the driving roller 3 may be rotated manually or the like to maintain the initial tension.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the ink ribbon cassette and the arm piece are held together at a predetermined position, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. Locking body 2 having a length corresponding to the longitudinal dimension
1' may be fixed to the side wall of the storage chamber 23', and the arm piece 24 may be detachably engaged with the groove 21'a formed by the side wall and the inner wall of the locking body 21'. The same effect is achieved.

In this case, the ribbon cassette can be attached by moving the arm piece 24 in accordance with the stop position of the carriage 6.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional ink ribbon cassette, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the ribbon cassette installed in a printer, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an ink ribbon cassette showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the ribbon cassette shown in FIG. 3 installed in a printer, and FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an ink ribbon cassette showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1a... Exit opening, 1b... Artificial opening, 5... Ink ribbon, 24...
Arm piece, 22, 22'... Ink ribbon cassette.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A U-shaped ink ribbon cassette is characterized by a removably attached arm piece provided with a pair of pins for bending the ink ribbon exposed and stretched from the outlet opening to the inlet opening. Ink ribbon cassette.