JPS6280077A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable both a ribbon carriage and a head carriage to be simultaneously moved by the same distance in the same direction, by providing one of the carriages with an engaging part for engagement with the other carriage, and engaging the carriages to each other when performing printing. CONSTITUTION:Immediately after a printing action for one character is completed, a stepping motor 44 is rotated by a predetermined amount. The rotation of the stepping motor 44 is transmitted to a driving pulley 46, and a driving belt 50 is moved, whereby a head carriage 40 is moved along a guide shaft. At this time, since a pair of the second arms 54, 54 of the head carriage 40 are clamped by a pair of the first arms 52, 52 of a ribbon carriage 28, the second arm 54 on the side of the moving direction of the head carriage 40 pushes the first arm 52 on the side of the moving direction of the ribbon carriage 28, so that the ribbon carriage 28 is moved together with the head carriage 40 in the moving direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing device in which a housing is divided into two parts and these housings are rotatably attached, and in particular a ribbon cassette attached to one of the housings. The present invention relates to a printing device in which a unit and a printing unit attached to the other housing slide synchronously.

[Prior Art] Printing devices such as typewriters are required to be able to directly view printed characters immediately after key-in. A type wheel having a configuration in which a plurality of type characters are arranged around a flat outer periphery is also considered to have this function.

For example, as shown in a partial cross-sectional view of a conventional printing device in FIG.
2 had to be mounted at an angle nearly perpendicular to the bottom surface of the housing 74. For this reason, the mechanical height of the printing device must be higher than the diameter of the type wheel 72, and as a result, the mechanical height is increased, making it inconvenient to store and carry, and the increased height also increases the housing cost. The problem was that the weight of the machine increased.

Further, in printing devices, the keys are generally arranged at higher positions from the front side to the back side in order to make the keys easier to see for the typist and to make the keys easier to operate. For this reason, the height of the rear side of the housing had to be made relatively high. Therefore, from this point of view as well, the housing becomes taller, making it impossible to achieve compactness, and moreover, it is not possible to overcome the disadvantages that the weight increases accordingly.

To overcome these drawbacks, the applicant has proposed a housing for the printing device in two parts: a front housing with a keyboard and a ribbon cassette, and a rear housing with a printing element and its drive means. A printing device has been provided which includes housings, one housing being rotatably attached to the other housing.

In this printing device, when in use, the housing is bent into a dogleg shape to bring the printing element and ribbon into a predetermined positional relationship, and when not in use, the housing is in a straight state. By having such a configuration,
It has become possible to make the machine more compact by lowering the height of the machine compared to conventional machines, and to have the ability to see the printed characters directly.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] - In this way, in a case where the housing is divided into two parts, the ribbon carriage that holds the ribbon cassette and the head carriage that holds the printing element are respectively attached to separate housings. Therefore, these carriages must be simultaneously moved in the same direction and the same distance for each print.

Therefore, as a method for simultaneously moving these carriages, it is conceivable to provide means for driving each ribbon carriage and head carriage provided in each housing, and to operate these driving means synchronously. However, the use of two driving means increases the cost and weight, which goes against the purpose of dividing the housing into two to make it lighter and more compact.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and includes dividing the housing of a printing device into two parts, a housing equipped with a ribbon carriage and a housing equipped with a head carriage.
In a printing device in which the housing is rotatably mounted, a ribbon carriage and a head carriage, which are mounted in separate housings, are simultaneously moved by the same distance in the same direction using one driving device. The purpose is to provide

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a housing of a printing device including a front housing that holds a ribbon cassette and is equipped with a ribbon carriage that is movable in the printing line direction. ,
In a printing device comprising two housings: a rear housing equipped with a printing element and a head carriage movable in the printing line direction, and one housing is rotatably attached to the other housing. The one carriage is provided with an engaging portion for engaging with the other carriage, so that both carriages are in an engaged state at least during printing.

[Function] The present invention having the above configuration allows the head carriage and the ribbon carriage to engage with each other when the housings are bent into a dogleg shape, and the drive means is driven by one drive means. One carriage provided in the housing on the same side as the slider is slid along the length of the platen, and at the same time, the other carriage provided in the housing on the other side that is engaged with that carriage is synchronously moved in the same direction. It slides the same amount.

[Example] Next, the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the printing device according to the present invention when it is not in use, Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to the first [J] when it is in use, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the ribbon carrier 2. , FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the head carriage, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the relationship between the head carriage, ribbon carriage, and carriage drive device when not in use, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the external appearance of the printing device when in use. It is a diagram. The housing of the printing device is composed of two parts: a liquid front housing 10 and a liquid rear housing 12.
0 and the rear housing 12 are rotatably attached to the platen 14 about the position of the platen shaft 16 with their liquid open surfaces facing each other. The end position of one side of the rotation of the front housing 10 and the rear housing 12 is such that their upper and lower surfaces are on the same plane (FIG. 1), and the end position of the rotation of the other titer is as follows. The state in which they are bent into a dogleg shape with their lower sides close to each other (Fig. 2,
Figure 6).

A keyboard 20 having a plurality of keys 18 such as character keys and symbol keys is attached to the front of the upper surface of the front housing 10. Further, inside the front housing 10, there is provided a ribbon carriage 28 that holds a ribbon cassette 24 that stores the ribbon 22 facing the platen 14, and a ribbon drive device 26 that winds up the ribbon 22. A wire 27 is wound around the ribbon drive device 26, which is stretched between the side surfaces of the front housing 10 in parallel with the platen 14, and a ribbon carriage 28 is suspended horizontally between the sides of the front housing 10 in parallel with the platen 14. It is attached so that it can reciprocate along two guide shafts 30.

On the other hand, inside the rear housing 12, there are printed characters 32 at the tip.
a type wheel 34 consisting of a plurality of radially arranged spokes, and a type 32 of the type wheel 34;
a character selection motor 35 that selectively moves the character to a printing position in accordance with the operation of the key 18, a printing hammer 36 that strikes the rear surface of the type 32 selected by the character selection motor 35, and a paper meter that guides the printing paper 37. 38 and a ribbon guide 39 is provided. The type wheel 34 is attached to the rear housing 1
It is installed almost parallel to the bottom of 2. The head carriage 40 includes a guide shaft 42 and a guide plate 4 that are horizontally suspended on the side surface of the rear housing 12 in parallel with the platen 14.
3, so that it can be moved back and forth. That is,
The ribbon carriage 28 and head carriage 40 are mounted so that they can reciprocate in parallel with each other.

Further, when not in use as shown in FIG. 1, the type wheel 34 mounted within the rear housing 12
Ribbon cassette 2 mounted within front housing 10
It is located away from the ribbon 22 of No. 4. When each housing is folded in use, the type wheel 34
and the ribbon cassette 24 rotate about the platen shaft 16, and the type wheel 34 and the ribbon cassette 24 approach each other to form a nearly perpendicular positional relationship as shown in FIG. Further, in use, the selected type 32 of the type wheel 34 is positioned opposite the platen 14 with the ribbon 22 interposed therebetween.

Inside the rear housing 12, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a step motor 44 for moving the head carriage 40.
and a drive pulley 46 rotationally driven by the step motor 44. Further, a rotatable driven pulley 48 is attached to the drive pulley 46 at a position parallel to the platen 14, and a drive belt 50 is wound between the driven pulley 48 and the drive pulley 46. There is. The middle of the drive belt 50 is fixed to a fixing member 51 provided on the upper surface of the head carriage 40, and the head carriage 40 is fixed to the drive belt 50.
It is transported along with the movement of.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ribbon carriage 28 includes:
A pair of first arms 52, 52 are integrally formed and extend toward the rear housing 12 at a distance. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the head carriage 40 is also integrally formed with a pair of first arms 54, 54 that extend toward the front housing 10 at a distance. Moreover, the distance D1 between the inner surfaces of the pair of first arms 52.52 is as shown in FIG.
The distance D2 between the outer surfaces of the arms 52 and 54 is set equal to the distance D2, so that both arms 52 and 54 are always in contact regardless of whether they are in use or not. Therefore, the ribbon carriage 28 and the head carriage 40 are configured so that they can always move together, and the step motor 44
is rotated, and both carriages 28 .
40 can be moved back and forth along the length of the platen 14.

Next, when a key 18 such as a 0 character key is pressed to explain the printing operation of the printing device configured as described above, an input signal corresponding to that key is transmitted to a control means (not shown) such as a central processing unit (CPU). ), the character selection motor 35 is rotated by a signal from the control means, and the type wheel 34 is rotated to move the type 32 corresponding to the key 18 to the printing position. At the same time, the printing hammer 36 presses the type wheel 3.
The rear surface of the selected type 32 of No. 4 is struck toward the platen 14. Then, the struck type 32 comes into contact with the printing paper 37 on the platen 14 via the ribbon 22, and printing is performed. This completes the printing operation for one character.

Immediately after the printing operation for one character is completed, the step motor 44 rotates by a predetermined amount. The rotation of the step motor 44 is transmitted to the drive pulley 46 to move the drive belt 50, thereby moving the head carriage 40 along the guide shaft 38. At this time, the pair of first arms 54, 54 of the head carriage 40 are held between the pair of first arms 52, 52 of the ribbon carriage 28, so that the first arm 54 on the moving direction side of the head carriage 40 holds the ribbon. The first member 52 on the moving direction side of the carriage 28 is pushed, and as a result, the ribbon carriage 28 is moved together with the head carriage 40 in the moving direction. Further, even when the head carriage 40 is moved in the opposite direction, the first arm 54 on the opposite moving direction side pushes the first arm 52 on the opposite moving direction side, and the ribbon carriage 28 moves in the opposite moving direction together with the head carriage 40. be moved to.

In the above embodiment, the distance D1 between the inner surfaces of the first arms 52.52 and the distance D2 between the outer surfaces of the first arms 54.54 were set equal;
For example, when the ribbon carriage 28 is moved by the head carriage 40,
If there is a slight difference between the distance Di between the inner surfaces of the pair of first arms 52.52 and the distance D2 between the outer surfaces of the pair of first arms 54.54, the head carriage 40 at the first character Although the amount of movement from the ribbon carriage 28 is slightly different, since the impact position of the type 32 on the ribbon 22 is only slightly shifted from the predetermined pitch position, there is no problem even if the amount of movement is slightly different. There isn't.

From the second character onwards, the first arm 52 on the moving direction side
Since the head carriage 40 and the first arm 54 are in contact with each other, the head carriage 40 and the ribbon carriage 28 are always moved in the same positional relationship.

Further, in the above embodiment, the first arm 52 and the first arm 54 were always in contact, but the first arm 52 and the first arm 54 only need to be in the engaged state during use. If the first arms 52 and 54 can be separated when not in use, the pair of first arms 54 and 54 can be held inside the pair of first arms 52 and 52 when in use. As such, the distance DI between the inner surfaces of the pair of first arms 52.52 is preferably set to be slightly larger than the distance D2 between the outer surfaces of the pair of first arms 54.54.

Further, in the above embodiment, the pair of second arms 54,54 of the head carriage 40 are connected to the ribbon carriage 28.
The pair of second arms 54, 54 are placed inside the pair of first arms 52.52.
It may be arranged outside of 52.

Also, as in the above embodiment, the step motor 44
It is desirable to move the head carriage 40 side with the step motor 44 from the viewpoint of obtaining accurate printing pitch.
Alternatively, the ribbon carriage 28 side may be moved.

Although not described in detail, it goes without saying that the present invention can be practiced with various modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention configured as described above, the bed carriage and the ribbon carriage, which are separately attached to two housings, are brought into direct contact with each other, and the ribbon is moved by one driving means for transporting the head carriage. Since the carriage is also driven, the ribbon carriage can be moved in the same direction and the same distance at the same time as the head carriage is moved.

In addition, since the ribbon carriage and head carriage, which are attached to separate housings, can be synchronously slid by one driving means, compared to the case where a driving means is provided for each carriage, the driving means can be moved synchronously. By using only one piece, cost reduction and weight reduction can be achieved.

Furthermore, by keeping the head carriage and ribbon carriage engaged in any state in which the housings are rotated, the carriage on the driven side can come off from the carriage on the driving side when not in use, and the gap between the carriages can be prevented. There is no problem with the positional relationship.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the printing device according to the present invention when it is not in use, FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 when it is in use, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ribbon carriage, and FIG. Figure 5 is a perspective view of the head carriage, Figure 5 is a plan view showing the relationship between the head carriage, ribbon carriage, and gear ridge drive device when not in use, Figure 6 is an external perspective view of the printing device when it is in use, and Figure 6 is a perspective view of the printing device when it is in use. FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view showing a conventional printing device. 10...Front housing, 12...Rear housing, 24...Ribbon cassette, 28...Ribbon carriage, 34...Type wheel , 40... Head carriage, 52... First arm, 54... Second arm. Figure 4Figure 3

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) The housing of the printing device includes a front housing that holds a ribbon cassette and is equipped with a ribbon carriage that is movable in the print line direction, and a head carriage that is equipped with a printing element and that is movable in the print line direction. In a printing device consisting of two housings, a rear housing having a rear housing, and one housing being rotatably attached to the other housing, the one carriage has an engagement for engaging with the other carriage. A printing device characterized in that a mating portion is provided so that both carriages are in an engaged state at least during printing. (2) The ribbon carriage is provided with a pair of first arms extending in the direction of the head carriage, and the head carriage is provided with a pair of second arms extending in the direction of the ribbon carriage, and the housings are connected to each other. Claim 1, characterized in that the arm on one side holds the arm on the other side at any rotational position.
Printing device as described in section.