JPH0655533B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing on a print medium using an ink ribbon cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is a side view of a conventional printer of this type, and FIG. 9 is a plan view thereof. In the figure, 1 is a platen, 2 is a platen shaft rotatably supported by a side frame of a printer (not shown) through bearings, 3
Is a pressure roller rotatably arranged in contact with the platen 1, and 4 is a printing paper (printing medium) arranged so as to pass from below the platen 1 to above the platen 1 between the platen 1 and the pressure roller 3. Reference numeral 5 is a print head, 6 is a front end surface of the print head 5, 7 is a carriage, and 8 and 9 are guide shafts for guiding the carriage 7 to move in parallel with the platen shaft 2. The front end surface 6 is mounted on the carriage 7 while maintaining a predetermined gap with the platen 1. Reference numeral 10 denotes an ink ribbon cartridge. The ink ribbon cartridge 10 has a main storage portion 10c for storing most of the ink ribbons described later, and a second inlet-side second portion formed at one end of the main storage portion 10c. The cartridge case includes a guide arm 10a and a first guide arm 10b on the outlet side.

Reference numeral 11 is a ribbon drive pulley, and 12 is a pair of ribbon feed rollers arranged on the inlet side of the main storage section 10c. On the other hand, the ribbon feed roller 12 is provided coaxially with the ribbon drive pulley 11. Reference numeral 13 is an endless ink ribbon, and most of the ink ribbon 13 is the main storage unit 10 of the ink ribbon cartridge 10.
It is tightly meandered and stored in c, and travels along the ink ribbon running route from the outlet side guide arm 10b to the inlet side guide arm 10a, the ribbon feed rollers 12, and the main storage unit 10c again. It is located in. 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a lock lever rotatably provided on both sides of the carriage 7 for mounting and fixing the ink ribbon cartridge 10 on the carriage 7. The lock lever 4 rotates to fix the ink ribbon cartridge 10 from both sides.

In the printer thus constructed,
When printing, the carriage 7 is driven by a space mechanism (not shown).
When the ribbon drive pulley 11 is rotationally driven by a ribbon drive mechanism (not shown), the pair of ribbon feed rollers 12 holding the ink ribbon 13 is rotated. The ink ribbon 13 is the main storage unit 10.
It is pulled out from c and travels again to the main storage unit 10c via the first guide arm 10b and the second guide arm 10a. In this way, the print head 5 is driven while running on the ink ribbon 13, and the first and second guide arms 10a, 10
Printing is performed by transferring ink to the printing paper 4 on the platen 1 via the ink ribbon 13 exposed between b.

The ink ribbon cartridge 10 used in such a printer is provided with the second guide arm 10a and the first guide arm 10a in order to prevent the hands from being stained with ink when the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is replaced.
It is desirable that the guide arm 10b encloses the front end surface 6 of the print head 5 as much as possible to minimize the exposure of the ink ribbon 13. In addition, the ink ribbon cartridge 10 includes a second guide arm 10a, a first guide arm 10b, and a main storage portion 10c within one plane on the platen 1.
Since the platen 1 and the print head 5 are arranged and fixed so as to be parallel to the facing direction, the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is detached and attached from above in FIG. It will be. Therefore, the components of the printer cannot be arranged above the carriage 7, so that the guide shafts 8 and 9 are arranged below the carriage 7 as shown. On the other hand, in terms of the function of the printer, it is necessary to support the gap between the front end surface 6 of the print head 5 and the platen 1 and the center of the platen 1 and the center of the print head 5 so as to move in parallel without being displaced from each other. , Guide shafts 8 and 9
Also, it is required that the tip end surface 6 of the print head 5 is arranged so as to form a triangle as large as possible.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printer, since the ink ribbon cartridge is arranged and fixed so as to be parallel to the facing direction of the print head and the platen, the carriage of the carriage is not fixed. Two guide shafts for guiding the movement must be arranged below the print head, and as described above, these two guide shafts should be arranged so as to form a triangle as large as possible with the tip surface of the print head. As required
There is a problem that the carriage part becomes large and, as a result, the device becomes large. Further, there are cases where it is required to perform printing by using a thick cardboard paper that cannot be wrapped around the platen as the printing paper sheet. In this case, the direction of the arrow b shown in FIG. A method may be considered in which the sheet is fed from below, which is orthogonal to the facing direction. However, since one of the guide shafts is located on the platen side, the medium feed including a feed roller that feeds the sheet in the direction of the arrow b and a sheet guide member. There is also a problem that the mechanism cannot be arranged.

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems. The apparatus can be downsized, and a medium feeding mechanism for placing a thick cardboard that cannot be wound along the platen. It is an object of the present invention to realize a printer capable of arranging.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention has an ink ribbon arranged in front of a print head and drives the print head so that the ink of the ink ribbon is printed on a print medium supported by a platen. In a transfer printer, a first guide arm and a second guide arm are projectingly formed at one end of a main storage unit accommodating an ink ribbon so as to face each other, and the first guide arm and the second guide arm are provided. The ink is led from the main storage portion through the first guide arm and the second guide arm to the main storage portion again by bending the tips of the arms toward the platen side in the direction in which the platen and the print head face each other. Equipped with an ink ribbon cartridge that forms a ribbon running route,
The print head is sandwiched between the first guide arm and the second guide arm, and the ink ribbon exposed between the first guide arm and the second guide arm is positioned on the front end surface of the print head. It is characterized in that an ink ribbon cartridge is arranged in the.

[0009]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, since the ink ribbon cartridge can be arranged and fixed in the direction orthogonal to the facing direction of the print head and the platen, two guide shafts for guiding the movement of the carriage are provided. It is possible to dispose on the back side of the print head, so that even if the two guide shafts are arranged so as to form a triangle as large as possible with the front end surface of the print head, the carriage portion does not become large, That is, the depth can be reduced when the platen and the print head are horizontally opposed, and the height can be reduced when the platen and the print head are vertically opposed. Can be downsized. Also, by disposing the guide shaft on the back side of the print head, one of the guide shafts will not be located on the platen side.
Printing paper made of strong thick paper that cannot be wound around the platen It is also possible to arrange a medium feeding mechanism that feeds the paper from below, which is orthogonal to the direction in which the print head and the platen face each other.

[0010]

[Examples] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are used for parts having the same names as in the conventional example. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cartridge shown in FIGS. In the figure, 1 is a platen, 2 is a platen shaft, 3 is a pressure roller, 4 is a print sheet, 5 is a print head, 6 is a front end surface of the print head 5, and 7 is a carriage arranged vertically.
The carriage 7 is located on the back side of the print head 5 and carries the print head 5. Reference numeral 8 is a guide shaft for guiding the movement of the carriage 7, 10 is an ink ribbon cartridge, 14 is a lock lever for fixing the ink ribbon cartridge 10 rotatably provided on both sides of the carriage 7, and 16 is a guide shaft 8 of the guide shaft 8. With the other guide shaft arranged above, this guide shaft 16
Is loosely fitted in the recess of the carriage 7, and a rack 16a is formed over the entire upper end surface thereof.

A pinion 17 is supported by the carriage 7 and meshes with the rack 16a of the guide shaft 16. Reference numeral 18 denotes two feed rollers arranged below the facing portion 6 of the print head 5 and the platen 1 so as to be in contact with each other.
Reference numeral 19 denotes two medium guides arranged at the same portion with a predetermined gap. The ink ribbon cartridge 10 has a first
Guide arm 10b, second guide arm 10a, main storage 10
c, the ribbon drive pulley 11, the pair of ribbon feed rollers 12, and the ink ribbon 13 are the same as the conventional ones, but the first guide arm 10b and the second guide arm 1
0a is bent by approximately 90 ° toward the platen side in the direction in which the print head and the platen face each other, and the running direction is changed by approximately 90 ° by making contact with the ink ribbon 13 in each bent portion. Guide arms 10a, 10b
A ribbon bending guide 15 for applying a tension due to friction to the ink ribbon 1 in between is provided.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the main storage section 10c
The ink ribbon 13 housed in a tightly meandering manner is changed in direction from the outlet side guide arm 10b by a ribbon bending guide 15 provided at the bent portion of the ink ribbon 13 by approximately 90 °, and then, between the guide arms 10a and 10b. Through the guide arm 10a on the inlet side, and the ribbon bending guide 15 provided at the bent portion.
By this, the direction is changed again by approximately 90 °, and an ink ribbon traveling route is formed which returns between the ribbon feed rollers 12 and returns to the inside of the main storage portion 10c. The running of the ink ribbon 13 is performed by the ribbon feed roller 12 holding the ink ribbon 13 and rotating. That is, it is performed by pulling the ink ribbon 13 by the pair of ribbon feed rollers 12. At that time, the ink ribbon 13
Is in contact with the ribbon bending guide 15 and the traveling direction is approximately 9
Since the ink ribbon 13 changes by 0 °, a frictional force is exerted on the ink ribbon 13 due to the contact with the ribbon bending guide 15, and a tension is applied to the ink ribbon 13, whereby the guide arm 10
The ink ribbon 13 exposed between a and 10b is held in a linear shape, and is in a state suitable for printing.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is erected vertically, the print head 5 is sandwiched between the first guide arm 10b and the second guide 10a, and exposed between the first guide arm 10b and the second guide arm 10a. The ink ribbon cartridge 10 is inserted from above the print head 5 so that the formed ink ribbon 13 is located on the front end surface of the print head, and the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is provided with a lock lever 14 rotatably provided on both sides of the carriage 7. Place it between and fix it. When the guide shaft 16 is translated in the longitudinal direction in this state, the pinion 17 pivotally supported by the carriage 7 is rotated to move the carriage 7 to carry the print head 5, and at the same time, an ink is fed via a one-way mechanism (not shown). The ribbon drive pulley 11 of the ribbon cartridge 10 is driven,
The ribbon feed roller 12 rotates to rotate the ink ribbon 13.
When the print head is driven, the ink of the ink ribbon 13 located on the front end surface 6 is transferred to the print paper 4 on the platen 1 to print.

In the printer of this embodiment, as described above, the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is inserted and fixed in a direction orthogonal to the facing direction of the platen 1 and the print head 5, that is, from above, so that the carriage 7 is fixed. It can be guided by the guide shafts 8 and 16 arranged on the back side of the print head 5 and provided above and below, thereby removing the conventional guide shaft 9 located on the platen 1 side. Therefore, a space can be formed under the print head 5, and this space can improve the degree of freedom in design. As shown in FIG. 1, a medium feed mechanism including a medium feed roller 18 and a medium guide 19 is provided in this space. Are arranged. As a result, the print paper that cannot be wound around the platen 1 is placed between the platen 1 and the print head 5 by the arrow b.
The printing paper can be fed from the direction and printed on the printing paper in the same manner as described above. Also, the guide shaft 8
Since it is possible to form an isosceles triangle with the bases 16 and 16 as the bases and the tip surface 6 of the print head 5 as the apex, the gap between the tip surface 6 of the print head 5 and the platen 1 can be surely guaranteed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another structural example of the ink ribbon cartridge 10 used in the present invention, and FIGS.
(C) is a side view which shows an attachment procedure. In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a ribbon bending guide in which the second guide arm 10a and the first guide arm 10b have a predetermined angle and are symmetrically projected to a predetermined position. In this structural example, a ribbon bending guide is provided at the tip of the conventional ink ribbon cartridge 10, and the ink ribbon 13 is not used.
Is not suspended by the ribbon folding guide 20 and is located on the same plane as the main storage portion 10c, and there are many exposed portions thereof. However, when the ink ribbon 13 is attached to the carriage 7, the ink ribbon 13 is linked with the front end surface 6 of the print head 5. Is bent by approximately 90 ° by the ink ribbon bending guide 20, and the work can be performed without touching the exposed portion of the ink ribbon 13.

The mounting will be described with reference to FIG. 5. First, as shown in FIG. 5A, the ink ribbon cartridge 10 is held obliquely and the front end surface 6 of the print head 5 is held.
Hook the exposed part of the ink ribbon 13 on. And
Ink ribbon cartridge 10 as shown in FIG.
Then, the ink ribbon 13 comes into contact with the ribbon bending guide 20 and is gradually bent by approximately 90 °. When the ink ribbon cartridge 10 becomes vertical, the mounting is completed, and the ink ribbon 13 is arranged on the front end surface 6 of the print head 5 as shown in FIG. If the print head 5 is retracted at the time of this attachment, the work becomes easier.
In this structure example, it is possible to achieve the same purpose as that of FIG. 3 without covering the bent portion of the ink ribbon 13 with the ink ribbon cartridge 10. Further, the ribbon bending guide 20 in the present structural example may have a bendable structure, which is very effective in packaging and the like.

Since the ink ribbon cartridge 10 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 uses the endless ink ribbon 13, a corresponding example will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 6
(A) and (B) are perspective views showing two corresponding examples of the endless ink ribbon 13. FIG. 7A is used in the above-described embodiment, and the guide 15 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 13 to change the traveling direction by approximately 90 ° twice, so that when the ink ribbon 13 makes one rotation, printing after the previous traveling is performed. It will be printed on the locus. However, if one end of the ink ribbon 13 is twisted 180 ° as shown in FIG.
Since the upper half and the lower half of 3 can be continuously used, a new portion can be used for printing even in the second rotation, the life of the ink ribbon 13 can be extended, and the ink ribbon 13 can be effectively used.

Ink ribbon cartridge 10 described above
In both cases, the endless ink ribbon 13 is used, but it goes without saying that the ink ribbon cartridge 10 using a non-endless ink ribbon can be similarly used. To do. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cartridge 10 using the non-endless ink ribbon 13, 20 is a take-up shaft of an unused ink ribbon, and 21 is a take-up shaft of a used ink ribbon, similar to the above description. Ink ribbon 13 is about 9 times twice
Unused ink ribbon take-up shaft 2 by changing the running direction by 0 °
It is completely wound up from 0 to the used winding shaft 21 to complete the use. Further, although the example of the round platen is shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a printer having a horizontal inserter for printing a passbook used in a bank or the like. This is because thick paper such as a passbook is fed between the platen 1 and the print head 5 in the direction of arrow b shown in FIG.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first guide arm and the second guide arm are formed so as to be opposed to each other at one end of the main storage portion for accommodating the ink ribbon, and The tips of the first guide arm and the second guide arm are directed toward the platen side in the facing direction of the print head and the platen, respectively.
The ink ribbon cartridge is formed by bending and forming an ink ribbon running route from the main storage portion to the main storage portion through the first guide arm and the second guide arm, and again, the first guide arm and the second guide arm are provided. The print head is sandwiched between the guide arm and the first
The ink ribbon cartridge is arranged such that the ink ribbon exposed between the guide arm and the second guide arm is located on the front end surface of the print head, and the ink ribbon cartridge is arranged in the facing direction between the print head and the platen. Since they can be arranged and fixed in the directions orthogonal to each other, it is possible to arrange the two guide shafts for guiding the movement of the carriage on the back side of the print head, and thereby the two guide shafts can be arranged. Even if the carriage is arranged so as to form a triangle as large as the tip surface of the print head, the size of the carriage does not increase, that is, the depth can be reduced when the platen and print head are horizontally opposed. Since the platen and print head are vertically opposed to each other, the height can be reduced. Effect that downsizing of the location is possible.

Further, by disposing the guide shaft on the back surface of the print head, one of the guide shafts is not located on the platen side, so that the print paper print head and the platen are made of rigid thick paper that cannot be wound along the platen. There is also an effect that it is possible to dispose a medium feeding mechanism that feeds a sheet from below, which is orthogonal to the facing direction of the sheet. Furthermore, the ink ribbon cartridge is shown in FIG.
In the example of FIG. 7, the first and second guide arms are made as long as possible to reduce the exposure of the ink ribbon, and in the example of FIG. 4, the exposed portion of the ink ribbon is hooked on the tip of the print head. Since the ink ribbon cartridge can be attached to the apparatus without touching the ribbon, there is an effect that the operator's hands can be easily worked without soiling the hands. With such an effect, it can be beneficially used in a bottom bus printer, a horizontal inserter printer, or the like that prints thick paper or a passbook.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cartridge shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another structural example of the ink ribbon cartridge used in the present invention.

5 is a side view showing a procedure for attaching the ink ribbon cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing two corresponding examples of the endless ink ribbon in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an ink ribbon cartridge using a non-endless ink ribbon used in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a conventional printer.

9 is a plan view of FIG. 8. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Platen 4 Printing Paper 5 Print Head 6 Tip Surface 7 Carriage 8 Guide Shaft 10 Ink Ribbon Cartridge 10a Second Guide Arm 10b First Guide Arm 10c Main Storage Section 13 Ink Ribbon 14 Lock Lever 15 Ribbon Folding Guide 16 Guide Shaft 16a Rack 17 Pinion 20 Ribbon bending guide

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer in which an ink ribbon is arranged in front of a print head, and the print head is driven to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon to a print medium supported by a platen. One end of a main storage unit for storing the ink ribbon. A first guide arm and a second guide arm projecting from each other so as to face each other, and the tips of the first guide arm and the second guide arm are respectively formed in the platen and the print head in the facing direction. An ink ribbon cartridge that is bent approximately 90 ° toward the side and forms an ink ribbon running route from the main storage unit to the main storage unit again through the first guide arm and the second guide arm,
The print head is sandwiched between the first guide arm and the second guide arm, and the ink ribbon exposed between the first guide arm and the second guide arm is positioned on the front end surface of the print head. A printer characterized in that an ink ribbon cartridge is arranged in the printer.