KR100904877B1 - Ink ribbon cassette and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an ink cassette capable of facilitating a replacement operation of an ink ribbon without dirtying hands or fingers. In the ribbon cassette having the ink ribbon 15 provided taut toward the second guide portion 14b provided at the opposite end from the first guide portion 14a provided at the end of the ribbon case 14, the ink ribbon ( 15, the ribbon guide 17 for guiding the ink ribbon 15 to the printing head 8 portion is fitted to the tightly mounted portion, and the ribbon guide 17 is detachable to the ribbon case 14. Let's do it. Furthermore, the ribbon guide 17 covers the ink ribbon 15 by the ribbon protector 18 in a shape in which the ink ribbon 15 is in sliding contact.

Ribbon cassette, printer, printing, ink ribbon, ribbon guide, ribbon protector

Description

Ink ribbon cassettes and printers {INK RIBBON CASSETTE AND PRINTER}             

1 is a side view showing the concept of the configuration of the printer of the present invention.

2 is an external view showing a ribbon cassette of the present invention.

3 shows the details of the ribbon guide.

4 is a partial perspective view showing a relationship between a ribbon guide and a ribbon protector.

Fig. 5 is a front view showing the main part when the ribbon cassette is attached to the head carrier.

6 is an explanatory view showing a method for attaching a ribbon cassette of the present invention.

It is a side view which shows the state at the time of exchange of the ribbon cassette in the printer of this invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1: ribbon cassette 2: printer

7a: protrusion 8: printing head

12: head protector 14: ribbon case

14a: first guide 14b: second guide

14c: protrusion 15: ink ribbon                 

17: Ribbon guide 18: Ribbon protector

The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette for a printer for printing onto a medium via an ink ribbon by a print head, and a printer using the ink ribbon cassette.

[0003] There are printers for bookkeeping in bank accounts, such as financial institutions, and book and journal printers as output devices for personal computers used in ordinary homes. Among these printers, particularly in impact printers or thermal transfer printers that print on the media led by the platen portion via ink ribbons, ink applied to the ribbons is consumed each time printing is performed, and therefore the ink ribbons must be replaced occasionally. . Since the replacement operation of the ink ribbon is generally performed by the user, various studies have been conducted to facilitate the replacement of the ink ribbon.

For example, Japanese Patent No. 2775820 discloses a printing mechanism that facilitates an operation for replacing an ink ribbon. In this printing mechanism, the printing head and the medium pressing member having the ink ribbon guide function are supported by the carrier. This carrier is movable in a direction perpendicular to the printing surface of the printing medium. In addition, the carrier is configured to be rotatable about the support rail and is movable horizontally along the support rail. The medium pressing member is rotatable in a direction away from the printing head.

In the printer described above, the ribbon replacement operation is easy, but the user must draw the ink ribbon into the printing head portion. Ink of a general impact printer is hard to fall off when attached to a hand, a finger, and clothes, and requires skill even when trying to guide a ribbon using a ballpoint pen or the like instead of a hand. In addition, if the ribbon cannot be set correctly, the media may be fouled or lost, which is difficult for the user.

This invention is made | formed in order to solve the said subject, and an object of this invention is to provide the ribbon cassette which is easy to handle at the time of ribbon replacement.

In order to solve the above-mentioned subject, the ribbon cassette which concerns on this invention is an ink ribbon cassette which supplies an ink ribbon to the printing head which performs printing,

A housing having an ink ribbon outlet and an ink ribbon recovery port,

An ink ribbon accommodated inside the housing and exited from the ink ribbon discharge port and exposed to the outside of the housing in the middle of entering the ink ribbon recovery port;                     

A ribbon guide mounted to the exposed ink ribbon,

In the use of the ink ribbon cassette, the ribbon guide is mounted to the printing head, and the ink ribbon is led to the printing head.

In the ribbon cassette, the ribbon guide is detachable from the housing.

Furthermore, the ribbon cassette is characterized in that the ribbon guide slidably supports the ink ribbon and, at the same time, protects the ink ribbon from outside by slidably movable by a ribbon protector.

Moreover, in the printer which can attach said ribbon cassette,

A platen installed opposite the print head and supporting the print medium,

A head carrier which mounts the print head and is movable in a direction away from and approaching the platen;

A head protector positioned between the print head and the medium drawn on the platen and pivotally supported on the head carrier,

When the ribbon cassette is attached or detached, the head carrier and the head protector are rotated to provide a predetermined gap between the print head and the head protector, and the ribbon cassette is received from the gap and hanged on the head carrier. It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

(Example)                     

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, each Example of this invention is described in detail, referring drawings.

Example 1:

1 is a side view showing the configuration of the printer of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the ribbon cassette 1 is used at the time of printing (hereinafter, referred to as printing) various characters and drawings on the medium 3 using the printer 2. The conveying roller pair 4 press-contacts from both the upper and lower sides of the medium 3, and sandwiches the medium 3 between them. The conveying roller pair 4 is provided in plural pairs along the medium conveying path 5 (only two are shown in FIG. 1), and is rotated by a stepping motor (not shown) to move the medium 3 to the arrow M. Convey in the direction. The platen 6 is provided at a position facing the printing head 8 to support the medium 3 from the rear surface side at the time of printing. The guide member 9 and the drive member 10 are provided to penetrate through the head carrier 7 on which the print head 8 is mounted, and the tip of the print head 8 is directed to the print surface of the platen 6. Support the print head 8 to be vertical. The guide member 9 slides and supports the head carrier 7 so that the drive member (feed screw) 10 has a groove engraved in the form of a spiral. When the drive member 10 rotates, the driving force for driving the head carrier 7 is transmitted to the head carrier 7 via the spiral groove. That is, the printing head traveling means (not shown) is constituted by the guide member 9, the driving member 10, and the like, and the head carrier 7 is smoothly moved in the printing digit direction.

Fig. 2 is an external view showing the ribbon cassette 1 of the present invention, showing a state before mounting on the printer. The ribbon cassette 1 is comprised by the ribbon case 14, the ink ribbon 15, the knob 16, and the ribbon conveyance roller, the brake member, etc. which are not shown in the inside of the ribbon case 14. As shown in FIG. In the present invention, the ribbon guide 17 is detachably attached to the ribbon case 14 to hold the ink ribbon 15 so as to be movable when used.

At the edge part of the ribbon case 14 in the longitudinal direction, the 1st guide part 14a and the 2nd guide part 14b are formed facing each other, as shown. The first guide portion 14a serves as an outlet for supplying the ink ribbon 15 to the printing head 8. The second guide portion 14b serves as a recovery port of the ink ribbon 15. The ink ribbon 15 is properly tensioned and held for easy handling.

At this time, the unused ribbon cassette 1 is in the same state as shown in Fig. 2, that is, the ribbon guide 17 is mounted on the ink ribbon 15, and a part of the ink ribbon 15 is the guides 14d and 14e. In a state in which it is held in contact with the sealant, it is kept sealed by a vacuum pack or a polyethylene bag or the like to prevent drying of the ink.

3 shows the details of the ribbon guide 17. Two sliding parts 17e forming guide grooves 17c serving as passages of the ink ribbon 15 are inclined so as to form angles with each other. In the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the ink ribbon 15 extends, two operation portions 17g and 17g extend. The operation parts 17g and 17g have locking parts 17a and 17a at the front end and the handle parts 17b and 17b at the rear end. Moreover, the operating portions 17g and 17g are supported by the wall portion 17h at its approximately center portion. When a force is simultaneously applied in the directions of arrows G and H, the operating portions 17g and 17g are elastically deformed with their center portion as a supporting point, so that the locking portions 17a and 17a at the tip end are in the directions of arrows I and J. Widens When the force is removed, the locking portions 17a and 17a resiliently return to their original positions. The ink ribbon 15 is installed in parallel through the two guide grooves 17c, and the ink ribbon protector 18 having the holes 18a through which the dot pins of the print head 8 can pass is guide grooves 17c. ).

4 is a partial perspective view showing the relationship between the ribbon guide 17 and the ribbon protector 18. The ribbon protector 18 is attached to the ribbon guide 17. On the surface where the ink ribbon 15 of the ribbon guide 17 slides, a guide groove 17c having a width slightly larger than that of the ink ribbon 15 is formed, and the ink ribbon (c) is formed in the guide groove 17c. 15), the ribbon protector 18 is attached to the guide groove 17c so as to cover the lid. The attachment of the ribbon protector 18 to the ribbon guide 17 may be screwed locking, bonding, or the like. In the present embodiment, the projections 18b are provided at four locations of the ribbon protector 18, and the four locations of the side walls of the sliding section 17e forming the guide grooves 17c of the ribbon guide 17 are described above. A hole 17d for accommodating the protrusion 18b is provided. The ribbon protector 18 is stuck to the ribbon guide 17 by inserting the ribbon protector 18 into the ribbon guide 17 in the direction of the arrow L, and inserting the projection 18b into the hole 17d. The center of the ribbon protector 18 has a rhombic hole 18a which faces the dot pin of the printing head and has a rounded shape in the leg portion. In recent years, since the high speed factor head is made to narrow the gap with the medium 3 (reducing the operation stroke of the dot pin), the ribbon protector 18 is a metal sheet having a plate thickness of about 0.05 mm to 0.1 mm. It is common to make it. In addition, the portion of the ink ribbon 15 that faces the dot pin of the printing head is likely to be damaged by being fitted with the dot pin. As a result, when the ink ribbon 15 is sent out one after another, zigzag or overlapping in the width direction is caused. It is easy to occur. In order to prevent such a problem, the ink ribbon 15 is guided along the guide groove 17c of a predetermined length.

FIG. 5: is a front view which shows the principal part at the time of attaching the ribbon cassette 1 to the head carrier 7. FIG. In printing, the medium 3 is mounted on the platen 6, and the head protector 12 runs in contact with the medium 3. The ink ribbon 15 passes through the guide groove 17c while contacting the ribbon protector 18 and the ribbon guide 17. The ribbon guide 17 is closest to the medium 3 below the printing head 8, but is sufficiently spaced apart from the medium 3 in the portion except the lower side of the printing head 8. This causes the ink ribbon 15 to contact other portions of the medium when printing near the center hold portion (the center of the center) of the bank account (which has pages from side to side, such as a magazine). This is advantageous because it does not pollute the medium.

FIG. 6: is explanatory drawing which showed the ribbon cassette 1 of this invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the ribbon case 14 contains the ink ribbon 15 in the form of a fan fold, and by rotating the knob 16, the ink ribbon 15 can be sent out in the arrow A direction. In printing, a DC motor (not shown) rotates the shaft of the knob 16. The pair of protrusions 14c and 14c, the guides 14d and 14e, and the stopper 14f are integrally formed on the top of the outer side of the ribbon case 14, and will be described later until the ribbon case 14 is attached to the printer. As described above, the ribbon guide 17 is supported. At this time, the protrusions 14c and 14c, the guides 14d and 14e, and the stopper 14f are not limited to the positions shown, and may be formed as individual components without being integrally formed with the ribbon case 14. Needless to say.

The ribbon guide 17 can be fastened to the ribbon case 14 via the locking part 17a. If the handle 17b is pushed along the stopper 14f on the ribbon case 14 side while the finger 17b is pinched by the finger, the locking portion 17a interferes with the protrusion 14c. If it is pushed further, the locking portion 17a is bent outward and the locking portion 17c is firmly supported by the elastic force so that the locking portion 17a is firmly supported by the elastic force, so that the locking portion 17a does not fall from the ribbon case 14. Do not. The stopper 14f is in contact with the wall portion 17h of the ribbon guide 17 to prevent the ribbon guide 17 from being pressed further toward the ribbon case 14.

When detaching the ribbon guide 17, while holding the two handle portions 17b with fingers, applying an external force to bring them closer to each other, the locking portion 17a freezes to the outside with the center portion as a support point, and the projection portion 14c The jam with is released. At this time, when the ribbon guide 17 is pulled forward, the ribbon guide 17 can be separated from the ribbon case 14. At this time, the shape of the ribbon guide 17 shown in figure does not limit the shape etc. of the handle part 17b as an example of integral molding with plastic resin.

Fig. 7 is a side view showing the head carrier, ribbon guide, and ribbon cassette when the ribbon cassette is replaced in the printer of the present invention.                     

At the lower end of the head carrier 7, a head protector 12 is rotatably attached about the rotation support point 11. The head protector 12 is provided with a hole in a portion facing the central portion of the tip of the print head 8 and protects the vicinity of the tip of the print head 8. As shown in FIG. 1, the head protector 12 is in contact with the ink ribbon 15 and the medium 3 when the tip of the printing head 8 is perpendicular to the printing surface of the platen 6. At the same time, the gap between the print head 8 and the medium 3 can be properly maintained. At this time, this part may be the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2775820. The protrusion part 7a is provided in order to attach the ribbon guide 17 mentioned later.

The cassette stage 13 is for fixing the ribbon cassette 1 detachably operated by the user, and is fixed to a frame (not shown) that supports the guide member 9 and the drive member 10. This cassette stage 13 is provided with a DC motor as a drive source for carrying ribbon, and rotation control is performed by control means (not shown) at the time of printing.

The procedure for removing the ribbon cassette 1 from the printer will be described with reference to FIG. By the release means which is not shown in figure, the whole frame is rotated in the arrow C direction, and the ribbon guide 17 is easy to operate. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, since the head protector 12 can be operated with a finger and rotated to the platen side about the rotation support point 11, the clearance between the head protector 12 and the printing head 8 is shown. It becomes large and is easy to work. When an external force is applied to bring the two handle portions 17b of the ribbon guide 17 close to each other while the fingers are held close to each other, the locking portion 17a is opened outward with the center portion as a support point, and the protrusions of the head carrier 7 7a) is released. In this state, the ribbon guide 17 is pulled in the E direction to separate it from the head carrier 7. The separated ribbon guide 17 is attached to the ribbon case 14 as it was demonstrated in FIG. Next, the entire ribbon cassette 1 is separated from the cassette stage 13.

Here, in the case of discarding the separated ribbon cassette 1, it is not necessary to mount the ink ribbon 15 to the guides 14d and 14e. However, in the case of temporary separation, a part of the ink ribbon 15 is guided ( By attaching to 14d, 14e), excessive load on the ribbon protector 18 with thin plate | board thickness can be prevented.

Since the order in which the ribbon cassette 1 is attached to the printing head 8 is largely opposite to the above-described separation procedure, description thereof is omitted. At this time, as shown in the drawing, the ribbon cassette 1 of the present invention is made to include the ribbon guide 17 so as to be replaced.

As described above, the ink ribbon 15 is guided into a predetermined guide groove 17c provided in the ribbon guide 17, and furthermore, because it is assembled to cover the lid with the ribbon protector 18, the ink ribbon The ribbon protector 18 is not deformed even when the platen 6 or the printing head 8 is cleaned at the same time as the replacement work of (15). The ribbon guide 17 is not only engaged with the projection 7a of the head carrier 7, but is also positioned by the curl of the ink ribbon 15, and surrounded by the head protector 12.

In the ribbon replacement operation in this printer, the handle of the ribbon guide can be supported to guide the ink ribbon to the print head. In other words, the ink ribbon can be accurately set by attaching the ribbon guide without troublesome handling of the ink ribbon. Moreover, there is no ink staining of lines, fingers and clothing. Therefore, since only care is taken so that there is no defective installation of the ribbon cassette to the head carrier, the psychological burden on the user can be reduced.

Claims (4)

An ink ribbon cassette for supplying an ink ribbon to a printing head for printing, A housing having an ink ribbon outlet and an ink ribbon recovery port, A guide formed on the housing, An ink ribbon 15 accommodated in the housing and exiting from the ink ribbon discharge port and exposed to the outside of the housing and installed taut while entering the ink ribbon recovery port; A ribbon guide 17 attached to the exposed ink ribbon and detachable from the housing, A ribbon protector 18 installed on the ribbon guide, When using an ink ribbon cassette, the ribbon guide is mounted to the print head to guide the ink ribbon to the print head, The ink ribbon cassette characterized in that, when the ink ribbon cassette is temporarily removed from the printing head, the ribbon guide is mounted on the housing and the ink ribbon is engaged with the guide. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the ribbon guide, An ink ribbon cassette characterized in that the ink ribbon is slidably supported, and the ink ribbon is slidably moved by a ribbon protector to further protect it from outer space. delete

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