JPS6120792A - Ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a large-capacity ribbon cassette which can be simply set and can also be operated with small drive forces by providing a movable head inserting portion, together with a carriage, to the ribbon cassette to be fixed to a serial printer. CONSTITUTION:The frontal face of a ribbon cassette body 1 has a length over the whole feeding region of the head mechanism 20. The body 1 is fixedly held on the printer body. A head inserting portion 4 is slidably provided along rails 9 in the opening 6 of the frontal face. A ribbon 5 is sent through a pin 3 from a ribbon winder 2, passed by the outside of each pin 4a, and wound around the ribbon winder 2 in the body 1. The ribbon cassette is set so that a projection 27 and a thermal head 23 on the mover 26 of the head mechanism 20 are inserted into the center hole 15 of the head inserting portion 4. Since only the head inserting portion 4 is moved with the movement of the mechanism 20 during the printing period, the ribbon cassette can be operated with very small drive forces.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette used in a serial printer such as a thermal transfer type serial thermal printer.

[Prior art]

Generally, in ribbon cassettes used in serial printers, printing is performed by feeding and taking in the ribbon from the cassette according to the movement of the print head during the printing process. In some cases, the ribbon cassette itself moves as the head moves, and in others the ribbon cassette is fixed. In addition to being limited in the amount of ribbon stored, the entire ribbon cassette transfer area becomes a dead space, resulting in poor space efficiency, and the winding mechanism for winding up the ribbon also has to be moved, making the entire system complicated. In addition, the type with a fixed ribbon cassette requires a large driving force to transport the head carriage, and it is complicated to insert the ribbon into the ribbon guide part of the head carriage. The ribbon may interfere with the paper being inserted when inserting the printed material, and in this case, there is a risk that ink may adhere to the paper and stain it. They had the disadvantage of being easily damaged.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional ones as described above, allows the ribbon cassette to be easily installed, eliminates interference with paper, and, despite having a large ribbon storage capacity, does not require a head carriage. To provide a ribbon cassette whose mounting part is lightweight and can be moved with a small driving force.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette for a serial printer, in which a head insertion section coupled to a head carriage and transported is configured to be movable in the paper direction with respect to a ribbon cassette body fixedly installed in the printer. This is an overview.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

First, a schematic diagram of a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is shown, in which a ribbon cassette main body 1 has a part 1a which is wider in the middle than the other part 1b, and this middle wide part 1.
A pair of ribbon windings (ribbon spools) 2 are provided on a,
The ribbon 5 unwound and fed out from the ribbon winding on the unwinding side is directed by a plurality of pins 3 and is placed at the tip in the slot insertion part 4 which is slidably provided on the front surface of the ribbon cassette main body 1. After passing through the outside of each pin 4a, the ribbon is further directed by pins 3 in the ribbon cassette body 1 and wound onto another ribbon roll 2. The front part of the ribbon cassette main body 1 has a length that spans the entire transfer area of a head mechanism (head carriage) 20, which will be described later, and the ribbon cassette main body 1 is held in a fixed state by being attached to the printer main body from above. ,
The ribbon winding 2 is connected to a ribbon feeding mechanism (not shown).

The relationship between the ribbon cassette body 1 and the head insertion portion 4 is as shown in FIG.
is an opening 6 that is slightly wider than the width of the long ink ribbon 5.
Further, rails 9 extending in the middle and wide direction of the ribbon cassette are respectively disposed on the lower surface of the upper plate section 7 near the opening 6 and on the upper surface of the lower plate section 8 opposite thereto.

The head insertion portion 4 has a U-shape in longitudinal section, and
The upper plate 10 and the lower plate 11 are provided with a groove 12 in which the shaft 9 disposed opposite to the inner surface of the ribbon cassette body 1 can be positioned, and the upper plate 10 and the lower plate 11 are provided with a groove 12 in the center thereof. has an opening 14 in the front, that is, on the platen 13 side.
A central hole 15 having a diameter is drilled in each case.

Guide pins 4a are provided between the upper plate 10 and the lower plate 11 adjacent to the opening 14, respectively, for the ribbon 5 to contact and change the direction. On the side of the ribbon cassette main body 1, guide plates 16 are provided which face each other and whose central portions are close to each other.

FIG. 3 shows a head mechanism (head carriage) 20 of a serial printer, in which a head support 22 is slidably provided on a guide shaft 21 extending parallel to the platen 13. At the same time, a thermal head 23 is attached to this head support 22,
Further, an engaging portion 22a is provided at the rear of the head support body 22.
is provided, and an operating shaft 24 extending parallel to the guide shaft 21 is inserted into the engaging portion 22a, so that the head support 22 and the thermal head 23 provided thereon are
is swingable about the guide shaft 21 as a fulcrum by rotation or vertical movement of the operating shaft 24, thereby controlling the crimping state of the thermal head 23.

In addition, the drive shaft 2 is screwed together with the drive shaft (spiral shaft) 25.
The movable body 26, which is movable along the drive shaft 25 during the rotation of 5, is provided with protrusions 26a on its front side, that is, on the side of the head support 22, which are sandwiched between both sides of the head support 22. In addition, a recess 26b is formed in the protrusion 26a to allow the guide shaft 21 to pass through, so that when the drive shaft 25 rotates, the head mechanism 20 is connected to the head support 22 and the thermal barrier via the moving body 26. The head 23 can be moved along the guide shaft 21.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the ribbon cassette according to the present invention is attached to a serial printer having the above-mentioned head mechanism. The projection 27 on the upper surface of the movable body 26 of the head mechanism 20 and the thermal head 23 connected to the upper part of the head support body 22 are inserted into the central hole 15 of the head insertion part 4 disposed in the head insertion part 4. Place the ribbon cassette.

As a result, the thermal head 23 is located at a position corresponding to the ink ribbon 5, and the width A of the thermal head 23 is smaller than the width B of the protrusion 27.
Further, the width B of the protrusion 27 is the width C of the central hole 15.
Since the width is just enough to be inserted into the ribbon cassette, the thermal head 23 and protrusion 27 of the head mechanism 20 can be placed very easily by simply positioning them in the center hole 15 of the head insertion part 4 of the ribbon cassette. It is something that can be done.

Further, the paper to be printed is sent out between the platen 13 and the roller 28 that is in contact with the platen 13, but in the non-printing state, the ink ribbon is lower than the tip of the head insertion part 4 relative to the platen 13. ht, f
Since the leading edge of the paper sent out from the platen 13 and the rollers 28 comes into contact with the front surface of the head insertion section 4, it is directed upward by the front surface of the head insertion section 4. There is no risk of contact with the ink ribbon 5.

During printing, as the head mechanism 20 moves, only the head insertion section 4 of the ribbon cassette moves relative to the ribbon cassette body 1, so the load placed on the movement of the head mechanism is very small. The driving force required for the movement is very small.

In the above embodiment, a pair of curved guide plates 16 were provided at the head insertion portion, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that pins 30 may be used as shown in FIG. Further, in the embodiment, a ribbon cassette of a both-end winding type is shown, but it is of course applicable to a so-called endless type ribbon cassette, and it is obvious that it can be used for serial printers other than thermal transfer type thermal printers.

〔Effect of the invention〕

With the above structure, even if the amount of ribbon stored is large, the part that moves with the head mechanism is very light, so it can be used satisfactorily even when the driving force of the head mechanism is small. At the time of installation, all that is required is to position the head mechanism within the central hole of the head insertion portion of the ribbon cassette, making it possible to install it with a very simple operation. Furthermore, since the ink ribbon can be positioned inward from the tip of the head insertion part in the non-printing state, there is no chance of the tip of the paper coming into contact with the ink ribbon and getting dirty when loading paper, making it extremely clean. It has excellent effects such as being able to print on paper.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a ribbon cassette according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a part of the main part, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the head mechanism, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the ribbon cassette and head mechanism are combined, and Figure 5 is another embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example. 1. Ribbon cassette body 2. Ribbon spool for winding ribbon) 3. Me. Pin 4. Head insertion section 5. - Ribbon 6 ------- Upper plate part 8 - Lower plate part 9 - One rail 10 - Me 11 Upper plate 11 --- Lower plate 12 --- Groove 13 --- Platen 14 --- Opening 15 --- Center hole 16 --- Guide plate 20 --- Head mechanism (head carriage) 21--
--- One guide shaft 22 --- One head support 23 --- Thermal head 24 --- One operating shaft 25 --- One drive shaft 26 --- -Movable body 27---Protrusion 28---One roller 30---Bin Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A ribbon cassette used in a serial printer, which is fixed to the printer and has a head insertion part on the front side of the ribbon cassette body containing an ink ribbon, which is fed to a head carriage and is slidable in the direction of the print width. , a ribbon cassette characterized in that a part of the ink ribbon stretched in the width direction of printing is positioned on the front side of the head insertion part.