JPS61263790A - Ink ribbon fold detecting mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent troubles concerning broken characters, ribbon winding or the like from occurring due to folding of an ink ribbon and obviate wasting of the ribbon due to breakage of the ribbon, by providing a means for detecting an abnormality in the width or the thickness of the ink ribbon, at a passage for the ribbon. CONSTITUTION:In the exterior of a ribbon guide 12a of a ribbon cassette 12, photosensors 16a, 16b are provided oppositely to side edge parts E1, E2 of the ink ribbon 7, and are connected to a controlling part 18. The photosensors 16a, 16b are constituted of light-emitting elements A1, B1 and light-receiving elements A2, B2 supported respectively by support members 17a, 17b, which are fitted to a frame 13. In normal condition, the photosensors 16a, 16b are shielded by the side edge parts E1, E2 of the ribbon 7. When the ink ribbon 7 is folded, either of the photosensors 16a, 16b detects the reduction in the ribbon width, ad either of detection signals c1, c2 is sent to the controlling part 18, whereby the printing operation is stopped, and an alarm buzzer is operated. The folded state of the ink ribbon 7 can be detected also through the thickness of the ribbon.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Summary] An ink ribbon breakage detection mechanism for a printer device, which detects ink ribbon breakage by providing a detection means for detecting an abnormality in the width or thickness of the ink ribbon at a running position of the ink ribbon. This makes it possible to prevent printing defects, ribbon tears, etc.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to ink ribbons used in printer devices, and more particularly to an ink ribbon breakage detection mechanism that can prevent missing prints, ribbon tears, etc. due to bends in the ink ribbon.

In recent years, with the progress of office automation, serial printers such as wire tod printers have been developed and put into practical use as print output devices for various computer terminals, word processors, and the like.

The ink ribbon used in this serial printer is either wound around a spool or stored in a ribbon cassette, and is mounted on the device and runs as the printing is performed. A mechanism that prevents such problems is desired.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the main parts of a conventional wire tod printer, FIG. 9(a) and crest) are enlarged views of the ribbon feeding roller in FIG. 8, and FIGS. is an explanatory diagram of FIG. 8. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

As shown in FIG. 8, a platen 2 is rotatably supported by a side frame 1, and a printing paper 3 is set on the platen 2. As shown in FIG. The printing paper 3 is sent in the six directions of arrows by a transport mechanism such as a tractor 4.

A print head 6 mounted on a carrier 5 faces a print paper 3 on a platen 2 with an ink ribbon 7 interposed therebetween.

The carrier 5 is slidably fitted into a guide shaft 8 arranged parallel to the platen 2 and hinged to a feed screw 9 which is also parallel to the platen 2. The feed screw 9 is connected to a space motor M via a belt IO, and the carrier 5 is moved in the direction of arrow B in the figure by forward and reverse rotation of the space motor M.
, can be moved back and forth in the C direction.

A print head 6 is mounted on the carrier 5, and the print head 6
is provided with a plurality of printing magnets having printing wires (not shown) for forming printing by dots.

Further, a ribbon cassette 12 is mounted on the frame 13 supported by the side frame l by the bin 15.
The ribbon cassette 12 accommodates an endless ink ribbon 7, which is exposed between ribbon guides 12a and 12b and fed into the ribbon cassette 12 from the ribbon guide 12a by feed rollers Rt and Rz.

As shown in FIG. 9(a) and tb), the feed roller Rt
, Rz are provided with grooves a and b in the center, and groove a+
Separators 14a and 14b are inserted in b to separate the ink ribbon 7 from the rollers R, , Ih.

Referring again to FIG. 8, the ink ribbon 7 is guided to the front surface of the print head 6 by guide rollers R31R41 and guide pins 11 of the frame 13 provided so as to surround the ribbon cassette 12, and as the print head 6 moves for printing, the ink ribbon 7 is not shown. The feed roller R1 is moved one step by the drive mechanism and sent out from the ribbon guide 12b.

Therefore, a print pulse is sent to the print head 6 in response to a print command, the print magnet is selectively energized, and printing is performed by the print wire, and the print head 6 is sent to the carrier 5.
While moving in the direction of arrow B, printing is performed on the printing paper 3 via the ink ribbon 7. The ink ribbon 7 runs as printing is performed. When printing for one line is completed, the printing paper 3 is fed by the tractor 4 or the like to perform a line feed, and the print head 6 continues printing m times in the direction of arrow C.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

According to the above conventional method, even if the ink ribbon 7 is bent as shown in FIG. 10(a) due to a jam of the printing paper 3, etc., the ink ribbon 7 is fed as is, as shown in FIG. 10(1)). When the ribbon cassette 12 is further fed into the ribbon cassette 12, as shown in FIGS. The separator 14a is wound.

14b does not function (and the ink ribbon 7, which has become thicker, is strongly pressed by the rollers R, Ih, and the rollers R+,
There is a problem in that it sticks to Rz and causes problems such as "ribbon wrapping", causing the ribbon to tear and making it unusable.

Measures to solve problem C] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the principle of the present invention.

In the figure, 16 is a detection means for detecting an abnormality in the width or thickness of the ink ribbon in the ink ribbon running section.

Therefore, when the ink ribbon is bent and an abnormality occurs in width or thickness, the detection means 16 is configured to detect and notify.

[Effect]

When a bend occurs in the running ink ribbon, the width becomes narrower and the thickness becomes thicker, so it is detected by the detection means 16, and a detection signal a is sent to a control section (not shown) to notify the abnormality. "Printing chipping" caused by folding and "
Disturbances such as ribbon wrapping can be prevented, and waste of ink ribbon due to ribbon breakage can be eliminated.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. Components in FIG. 2 that correspond to those in FIG. 1 are shown surrounded by dashed-dotted lines.The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3(a) and 3(b), an optical sensor is provided outside the ribbon guide 12a of the ribbon cassette 12, facing both edges E, , E, of the width of the ink ribbon 7. 16
a and 16h are provided and connected to the control section 18, respectively.

The optical sensors 16a, 16b are attached to the holding members 17a, 17.
The light-emitting element AI+B++ and the light-receiving element Δ2. As shown in FIG. 4, when the ink ribbon 7 is bent, the width becomes narrower, so it has the function of detecting either of them and sending a detection signal a+b to the control unit 18.Holding Members 17a and 17b are attached to frame 13.

The control unit 18 has a function of stopping the printing operation when either of the detection signals a and b is input, and notifying the printing operation with an alarm buzzer (not shown).

Since it has such a configuration and function, the optical sensor 16a
, 16b are both edges E14 of the width of the ink ribbon 7 under normal conditions.
! When the ink ribbon 7 is bent, one of the optical sensors 16a and 16b detects that the width has become narrower, and one of the detection signals CI+C2 is sent to the controller 18.
When it is sent to , the printing operation will stop and the alarm buzzer will sound. The operator can then take the necessary action.

Further, different embodiments are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of a different embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of FIG. 5. The same reference numerals refer to the same objects throughout the design.

The difference between FIG. 5 and FIG. 2 of the above embodiment is that the bending of the ink ribbon 7 is detected based on the thickness of the ribbon.

That is, in FIG. 5, fixed rollers 19. which sandwich the ink ribbon 7 running outside the ribbon guide 12a of the ribbon cassette 12 from both sides. and a movable roller 20 are provided.

The movable roller 20 is attached at the midpoint of a lever 22 whose one end is rotatably supported by a fulcrum 21, and the other end, that is, the tip of the lever 22, is attached to a contact of a microswitch 23 provided with a gap therebetween. 23a.

The microswitch 23 is connected to the control unit 24, and when the movable roller 20 moves and the lever 22 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the tip of the lever 22 activates the contact 23a and sends the detection signal C to the control unit. It has a function to send to 24.

Fixed roller 20. Movable roller 21. Lever 22. and the microswitch 23 are both provided on the frame 13.

The control section 24 functions similarly to the control section 18 of the above embodiment when the detection signal C is input.

Having such a configuration and function, the ink ribbon 7
When the ink ribbon 7 is folded, it becomes twice as thick.
Since the ink ribbon 7 pushes the movable roller 21 and rotates the lever 22 in the direction of the arrow, the tip of the lever 22 activates the microswitch 23 and the detection signal C is sent to the control unit 24, stopping the printing operation.

A notification will be given by an alarm buzzer.

Therefore, "printing defects" can be minimized,
Since "ribbon wrapping" can be prevented, ribbon waste due to "ribbon tearing" can be eliminated.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the means for detecting the bending of the ink ribbon 7 is provided outside the ribbon cassette 12.
A method may be adopted in which a fold is detected through this hole using a detection means.

Furthermore, although the case where the ribbon cassette 12 is used in the different embodiments has been described, the present invention can also be applied to the case where a spool is used.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, in order to detect the bending of the ink ribbon 7a that is alternately wound around the spools 25 and 26, the detection means described in the above specific embodiment utilizes the guide rollers 19a and 19b. A similar effect can be obtained by providing the detection means 16c and 16d as shown by the broken line circles.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent problems such as printing defects and ribbon wrapping caused by ribbon bending, and there is an effect that waste of ink ribbon due to occurrence of ribbon curling can be eliminated. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram of the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 6 is an explanatory diagram of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of application of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a conventional wire tod printer. FIGS. 9 (IS) and (b) are enlarged views of the feed roller in FIG. 8, and FIGS. 10 (a) to (d) are explanatory views of FIG. 8. In the figure, 6 is a print head, 7 and 7a are ink ribbons, and 1
2 and 12a are ribbon cassettes; 13 is a frame; 14a and 14b are serrators; 16, 16c and 16d are detection means; 16a and 1
6b is a light secessor, 17a and 17b are holding members, 18
．． 24 is a control section, 19, 19a, and 19b are fixed rollers, 20 is a movable roller, 22 is a lever, 23 is a microswitch, 25.26 is a spool, and R+ and Rz are feed rollers. An extraordinary example 9f A wide view of the agent, a diagram of the beak on the side of Shobang-eup, Figure 5, Akira 4, a plan view of the silkworm rt5, 1=+7, 15-view proboscis, 9 de-mung, and a name of 5m. ← Plan view Figure 7 t [Next A row f] Doctor's roller q$ figure (as: r: SO JIT4td'1Qpn Dantoreri 1st (b) Inkpu P missing, Ding e Hitoshi and Moutsutsu figure 3 Katsumei Diagram 0 Immediately

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a printer device that prints on a printing medium set between a platen member and a printing section via an ink ribbon by the printing section, and runs the ink ribbon as the printing is performed, the ink ribbon running section An ink ribbon breakage characterized in that the ink ribbon is provided with a detection means (16) for detecting an abnormality in the width or thickness of the ink ribbon, and a running abnormality of the ink ribbon is notified based on the detection output of the detection means (16). Detection mechanism. (2) The detection means (16) includes a plurality of optical sensors (16a, 16b) that are shielded by both width edges of the ink ribbon.
) The ink ribbon breakage detection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the ink ribbon breakage detection mechanism is comprised of the following. (3) The detection means (16) includes a fixed roller (19) that clamps the ink ribbon and a movable roller (20) attached to a lever (22) whose one end is rotatably supported.
) and a microswitch (23) provided near the lever (22).