JPS63202488A - Ink ribbon selector of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable optional use, by providing a carriage mounted with a print head and arranged slidably on a guide shaft, and a rolling mechanism mounted with a ribbon cassette and presses the under face of a ribbon cassette mounting table arranged rollably with respect to the carriage. CONSTITUTION:Before an ink ribbon in a ribbon cassette 2 is switched to red one, a motor 17 is rotated by predetermined angle to reduce the projection of a pin 13. Consequently, the ribbon cassette 2 is rotated in the direction A by the force of a spring 27 and the ink ribbon side of the ink ribbon cassette 2 moves upward. Here, a print head strikes an ink ribbon 3 so as to print a red character or symbol onto a print paper 25. At this time, rolling of the ribbon cassette 2 caused by the pin 13 pertains to rotary supporting of the opposite side faces of the ribbon cassette 2 and a ribbon cassette mounting table 9, thereby the ink ribbon 3 is moved up and down only by the pressing force from the bottom of the ribbon cassette 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to an ink ribbon switching device for a printer that is provided with a swing mechanism that swings an ink ribbon cassette having ink ribbons of multiple colors and switches the ink ribbons. Regarding.

(b) Prior Art Generally, in printers, a method is often adopted in which predetermined characters are printed on printing paper by dot printing or thermal transfer using a dot type head.

In recent years, instead of sequentially replacing ribbon cassettes with ink ribbons of one color, for example, black ink ribbon or red ink ribbon, a single ribbon cassette with ink ribbons of a plurality of colors has begun to be used.

In such a ribbon cassette, when printing in a predetermined printing position in a color according to necessity, the ink ribbon must be swung relative to the print head.

Therefore, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-102283, a configuration including a first mechanism that allows the ink ribbon cartridge to swing up and down, and a second mechanism that moves the ribbon lift mechanism up and down, is further developed. A configuration is shown in which ribbon switching is performed by synchronizing the first and second mechanisms.

(8) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The conventional example described above not only has a large number of components, but also has a very complex structure, which leads to an increase in cost. Furthermore, the first and second mechanisms had to be installed in advance, making it impossible for the user to use them as options.

The present invention provides a novel printer ink ribbon switching device that eliminates the above drawbacks.

B) Means for Solving Problems The present invention provides an ink ribbon cassette having ink ribbons of a plurality of colors, a swinging mechanism for switching the ink ribbons,
In an ink ribbon switching device for a printer comprising a print head that prints on print paper and a ribbon feeding mechanism that sequentially feeds the ink ribbon in response to movement of the print head, the print head is mounted and a guide shaft is provided with the ink ribbon switching device. It is comprised of a slidably provided carriage, a ribbon cassette mounting table on which the ribbon cassette is placed and swingably provided relative to the carriage, and a swinging mechanism that presses the lower surface of the mounting table. Ru.

(*) Effect With the configuration of the present invention, the swinging mechanism presses the bottom of the ink ribbon cassette, and the ribbon cassette can be rocked with an extremely simple configuration, and the ink ribbon guide and swinging mechanism can be integrated into a unit. becomes.

(f) The present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. The drawings all show the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view of the main part of the ink ribbon switching device of the printer of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the unit, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main parts of the device, and FIG. 5 is the device,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of main parts showing a state in which an ink ribbon cassette is attached.

In the drawing, (1) is a platen, (2) is an ink ribbon cassette with an ink ribbon (3), (4) is an ink ribbon drive shaft, (5) is a carriage on which a print head (6) is mounted, (7) (8) is a guide shaft that guides the carriage so as to be movable in the left and right direction; (9) is a cassette mounting table on which the ribbon cassette is placed;
) is a ribbon cassette clamping piece extending from the chassis in the printer main body, (11) is a rotation shaft that fits into the rotation hole of the clamping piece, and (12) is a support leg provided on the guide holder;
It is configured to rotate around the support shaft of the mounting table.

(13) is a bin for upper and lower ribbon cassettes having a screw portion (14) for upper and lower parts, (15) and (16) are first and second gears that transmit the rotation from the motor (17), and (18) is the motor. (19) is a case for closing, and (20) is a through hole for protruding a pin.

Next, regarding the ink ribbon switching device of the printer of the present invention,
First, to explain how to assemble the swinging mechanism unit, the motor is fixed to the base plate (18), then the first gear (15) is attached to the motor shaft (21) of the motor, and the second gear (16) is attached to the motor shaft (21) of the motor. ) and the gear part of the bottle (14)
are engaged with each other, and the tip of the bottle (13) is attached to the case (19).
The case (19) protrudes from the upper through hole (20).
) and the base plate (18), they can be integrated as a swinging mechanism unit (22).

The integrated swinging mechanism unit (22) includes a motor (
The rotation of the stepping motor arranged as 17) is transmitted to the first drive gear (15),
The second gear (16) rotates in accordance with the rotation of the gear (
16) and the gear part (14) of the bottle (13), the bottle (13) moves up and down. The swing mechanism unit (22) is attached to the carriage (5). A cassette mounting table (9) is rotatable with respect to the carriage (5), and supports legs (12)
) The swinging angle of the ribbon cassette (2) can be set by the vertical position of the bin (13) which is snapped onto the swinging mechanism unit (22) and protrudes above the swinging mechanism unit (22).

Next, when placing the ribbon cassette (2) on the ribbon cassette mounting base (9), the rear protrusion (23) provided on the back surface of the ribbon cassette (2) is placed on the ribbon cassette mounting base (9). The ribbon cassette (2) is locked by the rear locking piece (24) and can be held in the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 5.

In this state, when the motor (17) is rotated to set the pin (13) at a predetermined position, the pin (13) moves up and down according to the rotation angle of the motor (17).

For example, place the ribbon cassette (2) in the position shown in Figure 1.
If you set , normally if it has four color ink ribbons, black, blue, red, and yellow ink ribbons are built-in from the top, so we will show an example of using black ink ribbon, and print The paper (25) has a black print head (
6), and the ribbon is fed by rotating the ink ribbon drive shaft (4).

When changing the ink ribbon inside the ribbon cassette (2) to another color, for example red, the motor (17
) by a predetermined angle to reduce the amount of protrusion of the pin (13), the ribbon cassette (2) moves in the A direction with a spring (
27), and the ink ribbon side of the ink ribbon cassette (2) moves upward. Accordingly, red characters, symbols, etc. are printed on the printing paper (25) by pressing the ink ribbon (3) with the printing pad (6).

At this time, the ribbon cassette (2) is connected to the pin (13).
Regarding the swinging of the ribbon cassette (2), the rotational support of both sides of the ribbon cassette (2), and the rotational support of the ribbon cassette mounting table (9>),
The ink ribbon (3) is moved up and down simply by pressure from the bottom of the ribbon cassette (2).

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ink ribbon (3) is moved up and down by the ink ribbon guide (26) in response to the swinging of the ribbon cassette mounting base (9). ) with respect to the printing paper (25) can be reliably set.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the ink ribbon switching device of the printer of the present invention, there is no need for a complicated configuration like in the past, and by pressing the bottom surface of the ribbon cassette mounting table from below the ink ribbon cassette, The ink ribbon can be oscillated, and furthermore, according to the device of the present invention, it can be integrated as a oscillation mechanism unit, and the ribbon cassette is oscillated by the above-mentioned mounting table, so that even if parts in the oscillation mechanism cannot be replaced, it is possible to oscillate the ink ribbon. If necessary, replace each unit or replace each unit with a carriage (
5) can be removed and replaced with specified parts, making repair and inspection extremely easy. Also, since it can be installed by the user, options can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of essential parts of an ink ribbon switching device for a printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a swinging mechanism unit used in the device, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the same unit, and FIG. 4 5 is a perspective view of the main part of the same apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the main part of the same apparatus, showing a state in which an ink ribbon cassette is attached. (1)...Platen, (2)...Ink ribbon cassette, (3)...Ink ribbon, (5)...Carriage, (6)...Print head, (9)...Cassette Placement table, (13)...Pin, (14)...Vertical screw portion, (22)...Swinging mechanism unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon cassette having ink ribbons of multiple colors, a swinging mechanism for switching the ink ribbons, and a print head for printing on printing paper, and the ink ribbon is moved in response to printing by the print head. An ink ribbon switching device for a printer that sequentially feeds the ink ribbon includes a carriage on which the print head is mounted and is slidably provided on a guide shaft, and a ribbon on which the ribbon cassette is placed and provided so as to be swingable with respect to the carriage. An ink ribbon switching device for a printer comprising a cassette mounting table and a swinging mechanism that presses the lower surface of the mounting table.