JPS6137461A - Tape and ribbon tow-body cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to various tape and ribbon printing devices, and more particularly, to tape and ribbon printing devices in which a tape spool and a print ribbon are releasably coupled to each other in separate housings. The present invention relates to the design of cartridge assemblies for use in apparatus such that one ribbon can be easily replaced with another while continuing to use the same tape as the printed substrate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bradshaw et al., U.S. Pat. There is. The apparatus includes a print station in which a predetermined force can be applied to a font element that can be placed in alignment with the print station, and a tape and carbon-coated ribbon can be advanced through the print station from a single cartridge. . In the Bradshaw et al. device cited above, the carbon ribbon and the tape substrate to be printed are simultaneously drawn from a single cartridge and fed through this print station. The cartridge includes a box-like enclosure within which a spool of tape and a spool of cancer are rotatably mounted. The tape and ribbon exit the housing and pass through an elongated tape guide, which may be integrally coupled to the housing. Additional information regarding the design and construction of prior art print cartridges may be obtained from Brandshaw et al. Patent No. 4,226,547.

The print cartridge of the present invention is believed to be a significant improvement over the prior art, particularly as represented by the print cartridge described in the Bradshaw et al. patent No. 4,226,547, cited above. . Whereas the Bradshaw print cartridge recesses both the tape substrate and carbon ribbon into a single housing, in the present invention the tape and ribbon supply spools are individually housed in separate housings and are A device is provided for releasably locking the two together when inserted into the machine itself. The operator can then use the same continuous tape substrate with the flexibility and freedom of choice to replace the carbon ribbon, thereby giving the operator the freedom to change the color of printed letters, numbers or other graphic information. It will be done.

In addition to the increased flexibility afforded by the present invention as suggested above, the design and construction features of this cartridge mean that it can be manufactured at relatively low cost, thus making the improved This means that it can be priced competitively with other tape and cartridge products that do not have flexibility characteristics. More specifically, the housing for the tape supply spool can be considered as a two-piece purchase including a front half and a back half, each of which halves being preferably molded from a suitable plastic; Apparatus is provided for joining the two halves together to form a shell or enclosure for a rotatably mounted tape spool. Each of these "halves" has a guide member integrally formed therewith which serves to feed the tape from the spool to the print station in the desired direction. A flexible, deformable member is located within the guide and traverses the tape travel path to provide a preferred direction (outward) for tape movement within the cartridge. The tape housing may also include a device for inhibiting arbitrary rotation of the tape spool itself to prevent unnecessary dislodging of the tape from the tape supply f-h within the housing.

Similarly, the ribbon housing may include a two-piece molded plastic assembly, the two of which may include a device for joining them together to form a comparative compartment. Disposed within this compartment and extending across its width dimension is a post upon which a spool of carbon ribbon may be rotatably mounted. The carbon ribbon housing also has a guide device projecting outward therefrom forming a path from the spool to a work station of the printing device.

This cartridge ribbon housing has a flexible structure formed on one side edge with a hook at one end.
A deformable leaf spring element is arranged to cooperate with an engaging latch integrally formed with the tape housing. This device allows the ribbon housing and tape housing to be releasably coupled to each other. When so coupled, the guide members of the tape housing are held in cooperative relationship with the corresponding guide members of the ribbon housing such that the ribbon and tape exit the cartridge and enter the print station in a flat, They are placed in a face-to-face relationship.

The present invention not only provides greater flexibility to the end user in terms of color selection and type of tape media to be printed, but also eases inventory requirements for both manufacturers and dealers. Various types of media can be stocked separately from various types of ribbons. Thus, customers desiring a particular combination of tape and ribbon can be satisfied by suitably selecting two separate housings and mating them together.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved cartridge assembly for feeding tape and ribbon to dry lettering machines.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved tape and ribbon cartridge that includes separate separable housings, one for the tape supply and the other for the carbon ribbon supply.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tape and ribbon cartridge for use in dry lettering equipment that allows rapid selection and matching of carbon ribbon type to tape type.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge that is easily assembled and manufactured from low cost components while still providing excellent performance and high reliability.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the drawings. Like numbers refer to corresponding parts in the several drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, the tape-ribbon composite cartridge is generally designated by the numeral 10 and is seen to include a first housing member 12 and a second housing member 14, which members will be described in detail below. One is designed to be releasably coupled to the other in such a way that the The housing member 12 includes a pair of generally symmetrical parts preferably molded from high impact polystyrene or other suitable plastic material. This segment or 4416A and 18
each includes a side wall 20 and an R wall 2 formed integrally with the side wall and projecting perpendicularly therefrom over the entire circumference of the side wall.
2. A small opening 24 is left in the edge wall 22 immediately adjacent the rear edge of the housing. These segments 1G and 18 are designed to snap into each other in the manner described below, and their edge walls form a lap joint 25 along the midline or seam and are generally closed. Make a container.

Projecting perpendicularly from the inner surface of the side wall of this molded plastic segment 18 is a cylindrical spindle 26 onto which a spool 27 of plastic tape 28 can be rotatably mounted.

The tape is adapted to receive a printed image when it reaches the print station of a machine using the composite cartridge assembly of FIG. Since the spool of tape is generally circular, the side and edge walls of segments 16 and 18 are formed into generally concentric circular contours, such as at 30, over a predetermined portion of their circumference, thereby winding onto this spool 27. It has been found convenient to increase the amount of tape available.

First housing member 12 includes a guide device 32 that includes an elongate member integrally coupled to each of a pair of molded plastic segments 16 and 18. These long members are the edge wall 2
2 and defines a tape travel path leading from a reel of tape 28 contained within the housing member 12 to a printing station of the lettering machine in which the cartridge is used, as will be explained below.

A notch 34 is formed on the lower surface of this guide device 32.
It is arranged to align with the edge of the cartridge holder of the printing machine in which the cartridge of the present invention is used.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the internal structure of this first housing member 12 can be appreciated by looking at segment 18. Since both housing halves 16 and 18 are virtually identical, it has been deemed unnecessary to indicate the internal purchase of segment 16. Projecting inwardly from the inner surface of the side wall 20 is an arcuate surface 36 which joins the edge wall 22, for example at 38, to form an extension of the circular curvature 30 of the edge wall.

Molded integrally along the upper edge of the guide member portion of this housing half 18 are a plurality of spaced apart cylindrical members 40.
And they are about half as long as the width of this housing. Further protruding from the exposed end of this circular surface 40 are concentric pins 42 which are fitted with a snap fit into corresponding cylindrical holes formed in an integrally molded element 44 as part of the other housing segment 16. The length is suitable for puppies.

In this manner, the two halves of the housing snap together to form a receiving chamber for the tape spool 28. Additional pin and socket members may be provided, e.g.
may be provided.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the guide member 32 includes a rigid, one-piece wedge 48 having a notch 50 angled therein for receiving a smooth, flexible, pliable insert 52. include. This insert 52 may be made of soft rubber, plastic or even textile material and it functions as a friction brake for the tape exiting the first housing, all as explained in detail below. Also integrally molded with housing segments 16 and 18 are inwardly projecting surfaces 54, 56 and 58. These protrusions act as spacers to add stiffness or rigidity to the guide member 32 when the two halves of the housing are fitted together.

A dashed line 60 indicates the path of travel of the plastic tape after it leaves the rotating spool 27. It first passes over the edge of the arcuate surface 36, then over the rounded front edge of the molded wedge-shaped projection 48, and then between the upper end of the visibility brake member 52 and the cooperating surface of the molded projection 54. It passes under the molded projections 56 and 58 and exits the open end 62 of the guide. It may also be desirable to include a baseline increase device associated with the tape spool to prevent the spool of tape 28 from rotating unintentionally within the housing, creating a loose tape condition within the housing.

This friction-increasing device comprises, for example, a flexible metal member coupled to the interior of the housing by fitting into an elongated hole 41 made in the arcuate surface 36 and arranged to cooperate by pressing against the outer periphery of the tape reel. A plastic or rubber wiper 39 may also be included. Alternatively, it may include a corrugated washer or compression spring device mounted on the spindle 26 to cooperate with the side of the tape spool. 'Also illustrated in FIG. 6 just within the opening 24 is a latching device 64 having an inclined surface terminating in a shoulder region 66.' This latching device may also be integrally molded with the cartridge halves so that when the two are mated, the shoulder 66 extends the entire width of the Y cartridge below the opening 24.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the second housing member 14 is similar to the first housing member 12, although in a different shape.
You can see that it was assembled using the same borrowing method as that used for . That is, it includes a pair of molded plastic parts 70 and 72 that snap together in a side-by-side relationship to form an enclosure for a spool 74 of printed ribbon, which spool has a molded plastic part γ.
It is rotatably mounted on a post or spindle 76 that is integrally formed with one of the side walls of the 0 or 72 and projects inwardly from the sole. Similar to the first housing member 16,
This second housing member 12 also includes a guide device 78, which is in the form of an elongate member integrally connected to each pair of molded plastic housing parts TO and 72 and which extends inwardly extending edge walls 80 and 82. Configure. This four-gun housing 140 The two halves are tape housing 12
0 are joined together in the same manner used to join the two halves. That is, the parts are shaped to create lap joints along their mating edges and
pins are molded to project from the end face of the cylindrical spacer member 86, and these pins are connected to corresponding holes (not shown) formed in the cylindrical projections molded as part of the housing half. cooperate.

The ribbon housing 14 further includes means for releasably attaching it to the tape housing member 12. Specifically, integrally molded with side edges 80 and 82 and near their lower ends are hook members 88 and 90 forming an n-face 92 adapted to cooperate with shoulder surface 66 of tape housing 12.

These edges 80 and 82 are slit a predetermined distance as at 94 to separate these edges from the mating sides of the cartridge housing. These edge surfaces then act as leaf springs since the plastic material from which these parts are made provides a certain degree of elasticity.

Still referring to FIG. 2, molded as part of the guide member 78 on its underside are regular plastic spacer members 96 and 98. Spacer member 96 has an angled leading edge 100, while spacer member 98 includes an L-shaped notch 102 in its leading edge. The relative spacing of spacers 96 and 98 and the location of coupling member 86 are such that they engage spacer members 54, 56 and 58 of housing member 12, and A pin and socket coupling is adapted to fit between those of the housing 14. More particularly, the L-shaped notch 102 may fit under a corresponding notch made in the spacer member 58;
And when this is done, the angled leading edge 100 of the spacer member 96 abuts the corresponding angled trailing edge of the spacer member 56. Thus, when the ribbon housing 14 is pushed into the tape housing 12, surfaces 88 and 90 slide down the ramps of the latch until the hook elements engage the latch 64. - Dotted line 10 in Figure 2
4 depicts the path taken by the carbon ribbon 74. When the ribbon housing is attached to the tape housing, the tape and ribbon exit the composite cartridge face-to-face. That is, the first plane of the tape is aligned with the first plane of the ribbon as it moves from the cartridge to the print station of the machine in which the cartridge is used.

Although not shown in the drawing, print ribbon spool 7
It may be desirable to provide a braking device to 4 as well. This brake will be made to cooperate with the pool in such a way that a certain amount of tension must be applied to it in order to pull the print ribbon from the spool. Then, the spool rotates on its own and the housing 1
This prevents the accumulation of slack loops in the 4.

In most cases, a pup bottle and water device can be used to securely join the molded plastic housing parts or segments together, but these mating halves can be bonded together by heat, chemical or ultrasonic bonding. It is also possible to bond them more tightly together using techniques, all of which are well known in the art.

Advantages of the Invention By providing a device for releasably coupling the tape housing 16 to the ribbon housing 14, it is possible to easily exchange different ribbons, thereby:
For example, printed plastic tape facilitates the use of multicolor printing techniques without having to be repeatedly cut and applied to graphic works. That is, multicolored lettering can be printed on a continuous strip of tape exiting spool 28.

Furthermore, it is possible to mix and match ribbon types and tape media in a manner that reduces overall inventory requirements for manufacturers and/or dealers. Given ten ribbon color choices and four types of tape media, there is no need to maintain an inventory of forty different cartridges as is required when using prior art cartridge designs. Instead, an inventory of only 14 housings is required to supply all customers.

The present invention has been described in detail herein in order to comply with patent law and to provide those skilled in the art with the information necessary to apply this novel principle and to make and use the necessary specialized parts. . It is understood, however, that the invention may be carried out with distinctly different equipment and apparatus, and that various modifications may be made, both with respect to equipment details and operating procedures, without departing from the scope of the invention itself. It should be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape and ribbon cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of one half of the print ribbon housing. FIG. 6 is a side view of one half of the tape housing. 12)...First housing member 14...Second housing member 16.18...Plastic segment 20...Side wall 22...Edge wall 26...Cylindrical projection 27.74...Spool 28...Tape 32.78...Guiding device 36...Circular surface 64...Latch device 70.72...Plastic part 88.90...Hook device

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) A print cartridge assembly for use in a lettering machine having a print station, the print cartridge assembly comprising:
The print cartridge assembly includes a tape supply and a print ribbon supply, the lettering machine causes the ribbon supply to print on the tape supply, and the print cartridge includes (a) a first housing member (12); (b) the spool of tape (27) rotatably mounted within and generally surrounded by the first housing member; (c) the second housing member (14); (d) the second housing. a spool (74) of said print ribbon rotatably mounted within and generally surrounded by said member; (e) a guide projecting outwardly from both said first and second housing members; Device (32,
78), and (f) a device for allowing said ribbon supply to be replaced by a ribbon supply of a different color, said last-mentioned device being capable of releasing said first housing member into said second housing member. a guide device associated with the first and second housing members to allow the second housing member to be replaced with a new second housing member containing a ribbon of a different color;
and a print cartridge for aligning the tape and ribbon exiting a second housing member in a face-to-face relationship such that the ribbon can be used to print on the tape as it enters the print station of the lettering machine. assembly. (2) In the print cartridge assembly of claim 1, the first housing member includes: (a) each side wall (20) and a circumference of at least a portion of the outer circumference of the side wall; a pair of generally symmetrical molded plastic segments (22) having edge walls (22) extending perpendicular to
16, 18); and (b) a device for joining the paired edge walls of the segments along a midline to form a generally closed container. (3) A print cartridge assembly according to claim 2, further comprising a cylindrical projection (26) extending perpendicularly from one of said side walls and onto which said spool of tape is rotatably mounted. assembly. (4) A print cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the pair of side walls and edge walls of the segment are generally circularly curved over a predetermined portion of their outer periphery, and the cylindrical protrusion A print cartridge assembly in which the center of the circularly curved portion is at a point extending from one of the sidewalls. (5) A print cartridge assembly according to claim 4, further coupled to at least one of the side walls of the pair of molded plastic segments and in the same direction from the side wall as the edge wall. an arcuate surface (36) extending into and forming an extension of the circularly curved portion of the edge wall. (6) A print cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the guide device (32) associated with the first housing member (a) is integrally attached to each pair of molded plastic segments; A print cartridge assembly including an elongate member coupled and projecting outwardly from the edge wall to define a tape travel path from the first housing member toward the print station of the lettering machine. (7) The print cartridge of claim 1, wherein the second housing member includes: (a) a side wall and an edge wall extending perpendicularly from the side wall along a predetermined portion of the outer periphery of the side wall; (b) a pair of molded plastic parts (70, 72) having edge walls of the molded plastic parts joined together along a midline to form a generally closed spool for the printed ribbon spool; A print cartridge assembly including an apparatus for forming a container. (8) A print cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the guide device (78) associated with the second housing member is integrally coupled to each of the pairs of molded plastic parts; A print cartridge assembly including an elongate member forming an extension of the edge wall of a second housing member and forming a path of travel for a print ribbon from the second housing member toward the print station of the lettering machine. (9) The print cartridge of claim 2, wherein the device for releasably attaching the first housing member to the second housing member comprises: (a) a latching device (64) integrally formed in position on at least one of the edge walls;
, and (b) a resilient hook device (88, 90) integrally formed with the second housing member to engage the latching device.
, a print cartridge assembly including: