JPS62167068A - Multifilm ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to inexpensively detect the terminal of a ribbon with high accuracy without making the control of printing operation complicated, by detecting the change in the outer diameter of the ribbon by the revolving operation of a detection means to detect the terminal of the ribbon. CONSTITUTION:The outer diameter of a pan cake shaped film 7 changes with the elapse of printing and, when said outer diameter reaches a predetermined one or more, a terminal detection lever 11 is revolved to the direction shown by an arrow C while the surface of the pan cake shaped film 7 is contacted with the end roller 12 of the terminal detection lever 11. A detection switch is provided so as to correspond to the leading end 11a of the terminal detection lever 11 and turned ON/OFF by the revolution of the terminal detection lever 11 to enable the detection of the terminal of the ribbon.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a multi-film ribbon cassette, and more particularly to a multi-film ribbon cassette mounted on a print carrier used in a dot impact serial printer.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in multi-film ribbon cassettes used in impact serial printers, a metal foil is pasted near the end of the film ribbon as a means for detecting the end of the film ribbon, and this is detected by a magnetic sensor. The film ribbon had a non-contact type end detection structure in which the vicinity of the end of the film ribbon was made transparent and the end was detected using an optical element.

[Problems to be Solved] However, when using the above-mentioned conventional technology in a dot-impact serial printer, the printing method of the dot-impact serial printer mainly executes a printing operation for each printing line, so it is difficult to detect the end of the print line. Immediately terminating the printing operation by doing this has the problem that printing operation control becomes complicated, especially when printing is to be combined over multiple lines.

Alternatively, if printing operation control is not performed at this time, a problem arises in that metal foil, transparent film, etc. provided at the end of the multi-film ribbon for detection purposes are fed out to the printing section of the print head.

Furthermore, when the conventional multi-film ribbon end detection means described above is used in a dot-impact serial printer, the detection element becomes expensive, and the reliability becomes extremely low due to dust, ribbon debris, iron powder, etc. during long-term use. r
It had problems such as:

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and enables low-cost and highly reliable ribbon end detection without complicating printing operation control. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-film ribbon cassette that can supply ribbon to a printing surface.

[Means for Solving Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, a ribbon feeding means for sending out the stored ribbon and a ribbon winding means for winding up the ribbon fed out from the ribbon feeding means are provided, and the ribbon feeding means or the ribbon A detection means for detecting a change in the outer diameter of the ribbon wound on the winding means is provided, and the detection means is pivotally supported so that the detection means rotates due to the change in the outer diameter of the ribbon due to the ribbon winding operation. The present invention attempts to achieve the above object by employing a configuration in which a change in the outer diameter of the ribbon is detected by the rotational movement of the detection means, and thereby the end of the ribbon is detected.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. 1st
Figures 4 through 4 show a first embodiment of the invention, Figures 5 through 8 show a second embodiment of the invention, and Figures 9 through 12 show a third embodiment of the invention. be.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the multi-film ribbon cassette, Figure 2
The figure is a right side view of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a front view of Figure 1 with the top cover 2 and feed belt 3 removed, and Figure 4 is a side view of Figure 3.
It is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' in the figure.

Inside the cassette case 1, a pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 before printing is wound around a bobbin 20 serving as a ribbon delivery stage, and the bobbin 20 is rotatable around a rotating shaft 1d formed integrally with the cassette case l. is supported by.

The film ribbon 6a pulled out from the pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 passes through a rotatable roller 17 attached to the tip of the tension arm 16, and is guided by an inclined ribbon bus guide la integrally formed with the cassette case l. te is guided to the printing surface 8.

Further, the tension arm 16 is connected to the film ribbon 6
In order to keep the tension of the film ribbon 6a constant against rotational load fluctuations, a rotating shaft 18 provided in the cassette case 1 is used.
The rotation torque is always suppressed with a constant force in the direction of arrow B by the bias spring 19.

Next, the film ribbon 6b printed on the printing surface 8 passes through the ribbon bus guide 1b, which is on the same plane, and the ribbon pass boss lc, which has a brim on the same plane as the ribbon bus guide 1b, and the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4. It is guided between the tooth surfaces 10a of the idler pulley 10. The idler pulley 10 is rotatably held by the idler holder 9, and is
It is pressed against the feed knob 4 by a force spring 15.

The film ribbon 6a that has passed between the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4 and the tooth surface 10a of the idler pulley 10 passes through a ribbon pass post 1c, and is rotatably held on the inner diameter part of the rotating shaft 1d formed integrally with the cassette case 1. The ribbon can be wound around a pobbin 5 serving as a ribbon winding means.

Further, an end detection lever 11 serving as a detection means that freely rotatably holds an end roller 12 on the same plane as the pobbin 5 is rotatably held on the axis I4 of the cassette case l and is supported by a tension spring 13 as shown in FIG. is held in position.

Furthermore, a feed belt 3 is stretched between the V-groove of the feed knob 4 and the V-groove portion of the pobbin 5, so that the rotation of the feed knob 4 is transmitted to the pobbin 5.

Next, the overall operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

When the feed knob 4 is rotated counterclockwise by a ribbon drive shaft output (not shown), the pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 is rotated counterclockwise and the ribbon 6a is fed out onto the printing surface 8. Then, the feed belt 3 passes through the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4 and the tooth surface 10a of the idler pulley 10.
The film is rolled up into the pobbin 5 by the power transmission, and a pancake-shaped film 7 in a printed state is formed. Depending on the printing process,
When the outer diameter of the pancake-like film 7 changes (states shown in FIGS. 1 to 3) and exceeds a predetermined outer diameter, the surface of the pancake-like film 7 and the end roller 1 of the end detection lever 11
2 is in contact with each other, the end detection lever 11 is rotated in the direction of arrow C. A detection switch (not shown) is provided in correspondence with the tip 11a of the termination detection lever 11, and this detection switch (not shown) is turned on and off by rotation of the termination detection lever 11. This makes detection possible.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 5 to 8. Note that structures similar to those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

5 is a plan view of a multi-film ribbon cassette according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a right side view of FIG. 5, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of FIG. 5 with the upper lid 2 and feed belt 3 removed, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' of FIG. 7.

Inside the cassette case 1, a pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 before printing is securely fixed to a pobbin 20 serving as a ribbon feeding means, and the pobbin 20 is rotated on a rotating shaft 1d formed integrally with the cassette case 1. It is freely supported.

The film ribbon 6a pulled out from the pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 passes through a rotatable roller 42 attached to the tip of a tension arm 41, and is printed by an inclined ribbon path guide 1a integrally formed with the cassette case l. You will be guided to surface 8.

Further, the tension arm 41 is connected to the film ribbon 6
A constant force is applied by the torsion spring 43 to perform a predetermined rotational movement in response to rotational load fluctuations.

Next, the film ribbon 6b printed on the printing surface 8 passes through the ribbon bus guide 1b, which is on the same plane, and the ribbon pass post IC, which has a brim on the same surface as the ribbon bus guide 1b, and the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4. It is guided between the tooth surfaces 10a of the idler pulley lO. The idler pulley 10 is rotatably held by the idler holder 9 and is pressed against the feed knob 4 by a pressure spring 15.

The film ribbon 6a that has passed between the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4 and the tooth surface 10a of the idler pulley lO passes through the ribbon pass post IC and is rotatably held on the inner diameter part of the rotating shaft 1d formed integrally with the cassette case l. The ribbon can be wound around a pobbin 5 serving as a ribbon winding means.

Furthermore, a feed belt 3 is stretched between the V-groove of the feed knob 4 and the V-groove portion of the pobbin 5, so that the rotation of the feed knob 4 is transmitted to the pobbin 5.

Next, the overall operation of the second embodiment will be explained.

When the feed knob 4 is rotated counterclockwise by a ribbon drive shaft output (not shown), the pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 is rotated counterclockwise and the ribbon 6a is fed out onto the printing surface 8 via the roller 42. . Then, it passes through the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4 and the tooth surface 10a of the idler pulley 10, and is rolled up into the pobbin 5 by the power transmission of the feed belt 3, and as a result of the printing process, a pancake-like film 7 is formed in a printed state. As the outer diameter of the cake-like film 7 changes (states shown in FIGS. 7 to 5), at the final end, a change in tension occurs in the ribbon 6a, causing the tension arm 41 to rotate in the direction of arrow B. and the tip 4 of the tension arm 41
A detection switch (not shown) is provided in correspondence with 1a, and this detection switch (not shown) is turned on and off by rotation of the tension arm 41, thereby making it possible to detect the end.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 9 to 12. Note that structures similar to those of the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals.

Figure 9 is a plan view of the multi-film ribbon cassette,
Figure 0 is a right side view of Figure 9, Figure 11 is a plan view with the upper M2 and feed belt 3 removed in Figure 9, and Figure 12 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' in Figure 11. be.

Inside the cassette case l, a pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 before printing is wound around a pobbin 20 serving as a ribbon delivery means, and the pobbin 20 is rotatable around a rotating shaft 1d formed integrally with the cassette case 1. Supported.

The film ribbon 6a pulled out from the pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 passes through a rotatable roller 17 attached to the tip of the tension arm 16, and then passes through the inclined (7) ribbon path guide 1a integrally formed with the cassette case 1.
is guided to the printing surface 8 by.

Further, the tension arm 16 is connected to the film ribbon 6
In order to keep the tension of the film ribbon 6a constant against rotational load fluctuations, a rotating shaft 18 provided in the cassette case 1 is used.
The bias spring 19 always applies rotational torque with a constant force in the direction of arrow B.

Next, the film ribbon 6b printed on the printing surface 8 passes through the ribbon bus guide 1b, which is on the same plane, and the ribbon pass post lc, which has a brim on the same plane as the ribbon bus guide lb, and the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4. It is guided between the tooth surfaces 10a of the idler pulley 10. The idler pulley lO is rotatably held by the idler holder 9 and is pressed against the feed knob 4 by a pressure spring 15.

The film ribbon 6a that has passed between the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4 and the tooth surface tOa of the idler pulley 10 passes through the ribbon pass post IC and is rotatably held on the inner diameter part of the rotating shaft 1d formed integrally with the cassette case l. The ribbon can be wound around a pobbin 5 serving as a ribbon winding means.

Also, an end roller 53 is provided on the same plane as the pobbin 20.
An end detection lever 51 serving as a detection means is rotatably held on the axis 54 of the cassette case 1, and a tension spring 53 keeps the end roller 52 in constant contact with the outer peripheral surface of the pancake 6. It is held in the position shown in Figure 11.

Furthermore, a feed belt 3 is stretched between the V-groove of the feed knob 4 and the V-groove portion of the pobbin 5, so that the rotation of the feed knob 4 is transmitted to the pobbin 5.

Next, the overall operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

When the feed knob 4 is rotated counterclockwise by a ribbon drive shaft output (not shown), the pancake-shaped film ribbon 6 is rotated counterclockwise and the ribbon 6a is fed out onto the printing surface 8. Then, the feed belt 3 passes through the tooth surface 4a of the feed knob 4 and the tooth surface 10a of the idler pulley 10.
The film is rolled up into the pobbin 5 by the power transmission, and a pancake-shaped film 7 in a printed state is formed. Depending on the printing process,
When the outer diameter of the pancake-like film 7 changes (states shown in FIGS. 11 to 9) and exceeds a predetermined outer diameter, the surface of the pancake-like film 7 and the end roller 52 of the end detection lever 51 come into contact with each other and the end is detected. Rotate the detection lever 51 in the direction of arrow C.

A detection switch (not shown) is provided in correspondence with the tip 51a of the termination detection lever 51, and this detection switch (not shown) is turned on and off by rotation of the termination detection lever 11. This makes detection possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a detecting means for detecting a change in the outer diameter of the ribbon wound on the ribbon feeding means or the ribbon winding means is provided, and the rotating operation of the detecting means causes the ribbon to Since the end of the ribbon is detected, the printing operation control is not complicated as in the conventional method, and therefore, it is possible to detect the end of the ribbon at low cost and with high reliability.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the ribbon can be supplied to the printing surface for a certain period of time even after the end is detected.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a multi-film ribbon cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a right side view of FIG. 1, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view showing the internal state of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the multi-film ribbon cassette according to the second embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 6 is a right side view of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the internal state of FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' in FIG. A plan view of a multi-film ribbon cassette according to a third embodiment of the invention, FIG. 10 is a right side view of FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the internal state of FIG. 9, and FIG. 12 is a plan view of FIG. 11. It is a sectional view taken along the line A-A'. 5: Pobbins 6a and 6b as ribbon winding means = ribbon

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Ribbon delivery means for sending out the stored ribbon, and ribbon winding means for winding up the ribbon sent out from the ribbon delivery means, wherein the ribbon is wound around the ribbon delivery means or the ribbon winding means. A detecting means for detecting a change in the outer diameter of the ribbon is provided, and the detecting means is pivotally supported so that the detecting means rotates due to a change in the outer diameter of the ribbon due to a winding operation of the ribbon. A multi-film ribbon cassette characterized in that a change in the outer diameter of the ribbon is detected by operation, and the end of the ribbon is detected based on this.