JPS6085984A - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive to reduce the size and cost of a printer and to enhance operability of an ink ribbon cassette while contriving to effectively utilize an ink ribbon, by a method wherein a connecting member for detachably connecting both winding and take-up reels to an ink ribbon take-up driving shaft is selectively connected to the take-up reel, and is rotated. CONSTITUTION:The ink ribbon cassette is placed with a face A directed upward and a face B directed downward, and a driving shaft 9 is passed through a center hole of the first reel 4 provided at a lower part of the interior of the cassette, and is fitted into the connecting member 7 fitted into the second reel 6. When the shaft 9 is rotated, the reel 6 is rotated, and the ink ribbon 5 is let off from the reel 4, is guided by a guide roller 8, and is taken up by the reel 6. after completely taking up the ribbon 5, the ink ribbon cassette is detached from the carriage by a means such as hands, and the face A and the face B are reversed. Then, the connecting member 7 fitted into the reel 6 is refitted into the reel 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette used in a printer or the like as an output device for a computer or the like.

Structure of conventional examples and their problems In ink ribbon cassettes used in conventional thermal transfer printers, impact printers, etc., ink ribbons in which ink is applied and fixed to a film base are used. 11
The drawback is that the ink surface used for printing cannot be used again. In response to this, in recent years, ink ribbons having ink surfaces that can be printed multiple times have been developed, and there is a need for an ink ribbon cassette that can effectively utilize this ink ribbon.

In conventional ink ribbon winding devices, a supply reel and a take-up reel are generally placed on a flat surface.

When using multiple ink ribbon cassettes and rewinding the ink ribbon, after winding the ink ribbon onto the take-up reel with an end spool, the ink ribbon is re-wound onto the supply reel using a power means such as a motor. There must be.

However, this method requires power means such as a motor to rewind the ink ribbon, which increases the cost of the printer.

Furthermore, there are drawbacks such as the time it takes to rewind.

Therefore, by reversing the upper and lower surfaces of the ink ribbon cassette and driving it again, the ink ribbon can be used effectively. However, in this method, since the width of the ink ribbon cassette is large, it is difficult to handle it with one hand when inverting the ink ribbon cassette, resulting in difficulty in operability. Problems arise, such as the size being considerably larger than that of .

Therefore, by installing one reel in a cassette, a compact ink ribbon cassette with good operability can be obtained.

There is a problem in that the cassette cannot be reversed.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks, and aims to provide an ink ribbon cassette that can make the printer more compact, reduce costs, and improve the operability of the ink ribbon cassette while effectively utilizing the ink ribbon. shall be.

Structure of the Invention The present invention comprises a cassette that houses a first reel and a second reel for winding or winding an ink ribbon having printing ink formed on a film, and a cassette in which both the reels are arranged coaxially and one above the other. The ink ribbon cassette is equipped with a connecting member that detachably connects both reels and a drive shaft for taking up the ink ribbon, and the connecting member is selectively connected to the reel on the winding side of both the reels and rotated. By doing so, it is possible to provide a compact and inexpensive printer and an easy-to-handle ink ribbon cassette while effectively utilizing the ink ribbon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an ink ribbon cassette in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating its operation.

In FIG. 1, 1il-t cassette main body, 2 a cassette lid, 3 a thin plate-shaped partition plate made of metal, etc., and 4 an ink ribbon 6 wound thereon, and a first ink ribbon placed at the lower part of the cassette. Reel 6 is a second reel placed in the lower part of the cassette. Partition plate 3Vi first reel 4 and second reel
The reel 6 is divided into upper and lower parts. Reference numeral 7 denotes a coupling member, which selectively couples the first girdle 4 or the second girdle 6 to the drive shaft 9. For this connection, the first reel 4 and the second reel 6 are provided with a groove for fitting into the inner surface of the hollow center hole. - The force coupling member 7 has a means such as a lip for fitting into the groove of the hollow center hole of both reels at one end, and a serration portion 7a is provided at the other end for easy handling with fingers, etc. It is. A guide roller 8 guides the two ink ribbons 6. 9r/'i This is a drive shaft for winding up the ink ribbon, and is fitted into the coupling member 7.

Ribs etc. are provided around the periphery so that the rotation can be transmitted. 1o is a carriage, and a drive shaft 9 and a print head 11 are mounted on the carriage 10. Reference numeral 12 denotes a guide shaft, which guides the entire carriage 1°.

The operation of the ink ribbon cassette of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below.

First, the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on a carriage 10 together with a print head 11, and the carriage 10, which is pivotally supported by a guide shaft 12, performs printing by reciprocating in the length direction of the guide shaft 12. As shown in Figure 2, one ink ribbon cassette is arranged with side A at the top and side B at the bottom. The drive shaft 9 passes through a hollow center hole of the first reel 4 disposed in the lower part of the cassette, and is further fitted into a coupling member 7 fitted into the second reel 6. As the drive shaft 9 is rotated, the second reel 6 is rotated, and the ink ribbon 6 is guided from the first reel 4 to the guide roller 8 and wound onto the second reel 6.

Next, as shown in Figure 2, after the ink ribbon 6 has been completely wound up.

As shown in FIG. 2C, the ink ribbon cassette is removed from the carriage 10 by hand or the like, and the A side and the B side are reversed. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2d, the connecting member 7 that has been fitted into the second reel 6 is refitted into the first reel 4, thereby achieving the same state as in FIG. 2a. In this way, the above operations are repeated multiple times.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first reel 4 and the second reel 6 for winding or winding the ink ribbon 5 are all coaxially installed, and the drive shaft 9 drives the reel on the supply side. By penetrating the cassette and rotating the take-up reel through the connecting member 7f, by turning the back side of the cassette over and over again.
Even after all the ink ribbon 6 is wound onto the reel on the winding side,
Since there is no need to rewind the film again, a rewind mechanism, especially a motor, etc., is not required, and the number of parts and cost of the printer can be reduced. Also, since the time required for rewinding can be saved, printing speed can be increased. Furthermore, when rewinding the ink ribbon 60, it is necessary to perform the rewinding at high speed in order to shorten the time required for one rewind. For this reason, deterioration of the ink ribbon 6 occurs, but in the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, the deterioration of the ink ribbon 6 is small.
Longer life can be achieved.

Furthermore, by superimposing two reels on the same axis, the length of the ink ribbon cassette in the carriage running direction, that is, the width of the ink ribbon cassette, is reduced, so the width of the main body of the printer can be reduced, and the printer can be made more compact. Furthermore, the ink ribbon cassette can be held and removed with one hand, improving operability.

In particular, it becomes easy to reverse the ink ribbon cassette.

Moreover, when the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the carriage 10, the drive shaft 9 can be easily connected to the coupling member 7 by rotating the serration portion 7a of the coupling member T with a finger or the like.
Since it can be inserted into the ink ribbon, it is possible to further improve the ease of mounting and also to take up the slack of the ink ribbon.

In one embodiment, the drive shaft 9 passes through the supply reel located at the lower part of the ink ribbon cassette.

As shown in Fig. 3, even if the connecting member 7 is inserted into the take-up reel at the bottom of the ink ribbon cassette and rotated once, the connecting member 7 is inserted into the take-up reel. realizable.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a cassette that houses a first reel and a second reel for winding or winding an ink ribbon on which printing ink is formed on a film, and in which the two reels are placed coaxially and overlappingly;
A coupling member is provided for detachably coupling both the reels and a drive shaft for winding the ink ribbon, and the coupling member is selectively coupled to the reel on the winding side of the two reels and rotated. It is possible to realize an ink ribbon cassette that allows ink ribbons to be used efficiently and with a long life, and that also improves the ease of attaching and detaching the ink ribbon cassette, and provides a compact and inexpensive printer.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an ink ribbon cassette 7 in an embodiment of the present invention.
), FIGS. 2a to 2d are sectional views explaining the operation of the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1...Cassette body, 2...Cassette lid, 3...Partition plate, 4...First reel,
6... Partition board. 6...Second reel, 7. River...Connecting member-7
a. Serration section, 8... Guide roller, 9... Drive shaft, 10... Carriage, 11... Print head - 12... ...Guide shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a cassette containing a first reel and a second reel for winding an ink ribbon with ink formed on a film base, and a cassette in which the two reels are coaxially stacked, and a drive for winding the two reels and the ink ribbon; An ink ribbon cassette comprising: a coupling member detachably coupled to a shaft, the coupling member being selectively coupled to a take-up reel of both reels and rotated.