JPH078591B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a print ribbon guide structure.

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer, a print ribbon is stretched and guided between a platen and a print head for performing a printing operation. The print ribbon is lifted from the lower paper feed position so that a predetermined portion of the print ribbon faces the print head only when the print head performs a printing operation.

For this reason, in a conventional printer, for example, a guide for tensioning and supporting the print ribbon is provided on a carriage that supports the print head, and a shaft around which the print ribbon is vertically rotated is provided. Supported the member. Therefore, the part of the shaft or the like Ri name required was achieved, the number of parts is increased. Further, it is necessary to provide a large number of parts such as a ribbon swing member on the carriage, which increases the inertial mass of the carriage and makes high-speed driving difficult. Furthermore, the above
The swing center of the guide member is provided on the carriage.
Therefore, the swing radius of the guide member cannot be increased,
The driving amount of the driving means for driving the id member must be increased.
There was also the problem of having to do it. The present invention has been described above.
It was made to solve the problem, and a special member for supporting the guide member for guiding the print ribbon was pressed.
Eliminates the need to install it on the carriage and supports the guide member.
The holding mechanism is simple and the number of parts is small, and moreover, the print ribbon can be accurately arranged in front of the print head according to the rotation of the guide member , and the guide member swings.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printer having a long radius and capable of driving a carriage at high speed.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention to achieve the above object, a platen extending along the printing direction, 該Pu
Two guide shafts provided parallel to Latin and the two guide shafts
It is guided by the guide shaft of and can move parallel to the platen.
A carriage and a platen on the carriage facing the platen.
The print head placed so that the print head
Holding the printing ribbon in a plane against toward the serial platen
Together with the two guide shafts,
A guide member which is swingable in a direction intersecting a printing line with a guide shaft at a certain position as a swing center and which is slidably supported along the guide shaft as the carriage moves; and drive means for swinging the Tei
It

In the present invention having the above structure, the platen and
The carriage is driven by two guide shafts provided in parallel.
It is slidably guided parallel to the Latin. The carriage
The print head placed on the plate faces the platen with the front facing
To do. Guide the print ribbon in front of the print head
The guide member is far from the inner platen of the two guide shafts.
Sliding on the guide shaft with the other guide shaft as the swing center
Supported by Noh. The drive means connects the guide member to the platen.
By swinging around the guide shaft farther from
The print ribbon on the front of the print head.
It is rocked in the direction that intersects with. For printing according to this swing
The position of the print ribbon can be shifted in the width direction of the print ribbon.
To be

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a printer embodying the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer case 1 is composed of an upper case 2 and a lower case 3 which are assembled to each other in the center, and a printing mechanism unit 4 is provided on one side of the inside and a tractor means is provided on the other side. The respective tractor units 5 are housed. The unit frame 6 of the printing mechanism unit 4 includes a hollow erection bar 8 between a pair of left and right side plates 7, a round bar-shaped first guide shaft 9 located above and a round bar-shaped second guide shaft located below. A frame-shaped platen 11 is erected, and a cylindrical platen 11 is rotatably supported between the both side plates 7 above the first and second guide shafts 9 and 10. The carriage 12 includes the first and second guide shafts 9 and 1.
0 is supported so as to be movable in the left-right direction, and the print head 13 is provided above the platen 11 so as to face the platen 11 obliquely from below.
Is placed. The ribbon cassette 14 is arranged between both side plates 7 of the printing unit frame 6, and a part of the ink ribbon 15 pulled out from the inside is transferred along a position facing the print head 13 on the platen 11, that is, a printing position. . Then, while the carriage 12 is moved in the left-right direction, the print head 13 prints on the print paper at the print position on the platen 11 via the ribbon 15. The pair of feed rollers 16, 17, 18 and 19 are respectively arranged in the front and rear of the paper feed direction in the tangential direction of the printing position on the platen 11, and a motor (not shown) is provided.
Is rotated, the feed rollers 16, 17, 18, and 19 are rotated in the paper feed direction together with the platen 11 via a gear mechanism (not shown), and the print paper is transported while being held. . The passage forming member 20 and the guide member 31 are disposed so as to substantially sandwich the tangent line of the platen 11, and the passage forming member 20, the guide member 31, and the feed rollers 16 to 19 form a paper guide passage 21 that passes through the printing position. Has been done. Further, the paper guide passage 21 is substantially flat and is in an inclined state in which the introduction side to the printing position is located below the discharge side. The tractor unit 5 includes a guide shaft 2 extending in the left-right direction.
2 and the transmission shaft 23, and a pair of left and right pin tractors 24 supported by the shafts 22 and 23 so as to be movable in the width direction of the paper.
The upper surface of the pin tractor 24 is arranged in an inclined state on the substantially same plane as the paper guide passage 21 upstream of the paper guide passage 21 in the paper feeding direction. The pin tractor 24, like the device of the same kind as a normal one, has two shafts 2
This is a structure in which a belt with pins is hung on a pair of pulleys supported by 2, 23. And both pin tractors 24
The feed holes provided on both sides of the continuous printing paper are fitted to the pins of the transmission shaft 23 by the rotation of the motor (not shown).
Is rotated and the pin tractor 24 is rotated, so that continuous printing paper is introduced and guided into the paper guide passage 21. The manual feed guide plate 25 is supported between the both side plates 7 of the printing unit frame 6 above the tractor unit 5 and extends substantially horizontally on the upper surface thereof, and a guide surface 26 that intersects the paper guide passage 21 at a predetermined angle. Are formed. Then, along the guide surface 26 of the guide plate 25, the cut-sheet printing paper is manually guided into the paper guide passage 21. The pair of left and right side guide plates 27 is the guide plate 25.
It is mounted movably in the direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction, and both side edges of the printing paper are guided and regulated by engagement with the side guide plates 27. Next, the support structure of the carriage 12 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1, the first guide shaft 9 located above is rotatable on both sides of the eccentric shaft portions 30 on both sides of the printing unit frame 6. The carriage 12 is supported by the plate 7, and the upper end portion of the carriage 12 is inserted into and supported by the first guide shaft 9 via the sleeve 32 so as to be movable in the print row direction. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, an extension portion extending toward the platen 11 from a substantially middle portion in the longitudinal direction is formed at the upper end portion of the carriage 12, and the nose of the print head 13 is extended from the extension portion. A protrusion 12a that projects toward the portion 13a is formed. A head ribbon guide 60, which will be described later, is inserted into and fixed to the protrusion 12a. When the first guide shaft 9 is rotated about the eccentric shaft portion 30 by operating an operation lever (not shown) fixed to one end of the first guide shaft 9, the axis of the first guide shaft 9 is perpendicular to the printing line direction. The carriage 12 is displaced to the platen 11
Be close to. As a result, the distance between the platen 11 and the carriage 12 is changed, and the distance between the print surface of the print paper on the platen 11 and the print head 13 becomes a constant length regardless of the thickness of the paper, and the thickness is different. Printing can be performed on paper with a constant impact force. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the second guide shaft 10 located below is fixed to both side plates 7 of the frame 6 at both ends, and the sleeve 33 is moved in the axial direction on the second guide shaft 10. It is possible to be inserted. The flat sliding surface 34 is the sleeve 33.
Is formed on the outer periphery of the pin, and the pin-shaped projection 35 is formed at the substantially center thereof.
Is projected. It engages with the sleeve 33 and its cross section is almost U
The engagement arm 36 having a letter shape is formed at the lower end portion of the carriage 12, and one side thereof has a bifurcated sliding portion 37 that engages with the protrusion 35 while sliding on the sliding surface 34 of the sleeve 33. Is provided. With this engagement structure, the lower end of the carriage 12 is movably supported by the second guide shaft 10 through the sleeve 33 in the print row direction, and at the same time with respect to the sleeve 33 on the second guide shaft 10. It is slidably and rotatably connected. Therefore, the first and second guide shafts 9,
Even if the carriages 10 are not assembled with high precision so as to be parallel to each other on the frame 6, the carriage 12 slides on the sleeve 33 on the second guide shaft 10 when the carriage 12 moves in the print row direction. The moving portion 37 is relatively rotated about the protrusion 35, and the carriage 12 is smoothly moved without twisting of the connecting portion and large frictional resistance. Further, by rotating the first guide shaft 9 about the eccentric shaft portion 30, the shaft center is displaced in the direction orthogonal to the printing line direction, the carriage 12 is moved closer to and separated from the platen 11, and the print sheet is printed. The platen 11 is arranged so that the distance between the print surface and the print head 13 is constant regardless of the thickness.
When the distance between the carriage 12 and the carriage 12 is changed, the sliding portion 37 of the carriage 12 slides along the sliding surface 34 while being engaged with the protrusion 35 of the sleeve 33 on the second guide shaft 10. To be done. Therefore, even when the distance between the platen 11 and the carriage 12 is changed, the sliding portion 37 of the carriage 12 is relatively rotated around the protrusion 35 as in the case before the change, so that the carriage 12 is supported in the print line direction. Instead, it is moved and the printing operation is performed. Next, the supporting structure of the ribbon cassette 14 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the lower second guide shaft 10 sandwiches the print head 13 from the platen 11 on the side opposite to the platen 11. It is spaced apart. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the cassette holder 41 is disposed below the second guide shaft 10
A sprocket 42 which is rotatably supported in the vertical direction and which is rotated by a ribbon feeding motor (not shown) is projected on the upper surface thereof, and a long hole 43 is formed in the side portion. Ribbon cassette 14 containing print ribbon 15
Has elastic fitting portions 44 projecting from the lower ends of both ends thereof. The elastic fitting portions 44 are placed on the cassette holder 41 in a state where the elastic fitting portions 44 are detachably fitted to the second guide shaft 10, and It is rotatably supported by the second guide shaft 10 together with the holder 41. Inside the ribbon cassette 14, a drive feed roller 45 which is engaged with the drive sprocket 42 on the cassette holder 41 and is rotated, and a forward feed roller 46 which is rotated in pressure contact with the drive feed roller 45 are provided. ing. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, the print ribbon 15 is provided with a plurality of different color portions 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d of black, blue, red, and yellow, which are divided in the vertical direction. Ribbon is used. Figure 6
As shown in FIG. 7, the rotary disc 48 is rotatably supported by one side plate 7 of the printing unit frame 6, and an eccentric pin 49 that engages with the long hole 43 of the cassette holder 41 is provided on the inner surface thereof. A driven gear 50 is formed on the outer peripheral edge over a predetermined angle range while being projected. A ribbon lift motor 51, which constitutes a driving means, is mounted on one side plate 7, and a drive gear 52 meshing with a driven gear 50 of the rotary disk 48 is fixed to the motor shaft of the one side plate 7.
When the rotating disk 48 is selectively rotated to a predetermined angular position by the motor 51, the eccentric pin 49 moves in the elongated hole 43 and rotates the cassette holder 41 about the second guide shaft 10. Then, the ribbon cassette 14 placed on the cassette holder 41 is rotationally arranged at four positions in the vertical direction. The spring piece 53 is integrally formed on the rotary disk 48, and a stopper 54 is provided on the side plate 7 so as to intersect the rotation locus of the spring piece 53. The drive gear 52 is driven by the motor 51 as shown in FIG.
When the rotary disk 48 is rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle in the clockwise direction in FIG. 7, the teeth of the drive gear 52 and the teeth of the driven gear 50 are disengaged as shown in FIG. The spring piece 53 is engaged with the stopper 54 and is bent. When the rotation of the drive gear 52 is stopped by the motor 51 from this state, the rotary disc 48 is slightly rotated counterclockwise by the reaction force of the spring piece 53 to the engagement start position of both gears 50, 52, and the ribbon cassette 14 is rotated. Is held at the lowest home position. After that, when the motor 51 rotates by a predetermined amount, the rotating disk 48 rotates by a predetermined amount and the ribbon holder 14 is moved to the second position together with the cassette holder 41.
The ribbon cassette 14 is rotated about the guide shaft by a predetermined amount, and the ribbon cassette 14 is rotated so that a desired color portion of the print ribbon faces the print head 13. Next, the guide structure of the print ribbon 15 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the nose portion 13a of the print head 13 has an engagement hole for engaging with the projection 12a at the upper end of the carriage 12. A head ribbon guide 60, which is composed of a body portion having a body 60a and a ribbon guide surface 60b extending vertically from the front end of the body portion and having a curvature substantially the same as the rotational trajectory of the print ribbon 15, is attached. . When the print head 13 is placed on the upper end of the carriage 12 with the head ribbon guide 60 inserted in the nose portion 13a of the print head 13, the engaging hole 60a engages with the protrusion 12a, and the head ribbon guide 60 together with the print head 13 moves. The ribbon guide 60 is fixed to the carriage 12. The head ribbon guide 60 can rotate the print ribbon 15 without hooking the print ribbon 15 on the tip of the print head 13, and a guide member 6 described later when the carriage 12 slides in the print row direction.
1, the force received by the nose portion 13a of the print head 13 is reduced. The nose portion 1 is provided on the head ribbon guide 60.
A through hole 60c is formed so that the tip of 3a faces. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the synthetic resin guide member 61 is rotatably supported by the base end arm portion 62 about the lower second guide shaft 10, and the carriage 12 is provided between the arm portions 62. Hold the lower engagement sleeve 33 of
The carriage 12 is connected to the carriage 12 so as to be movable in the printing line direction. A mounting member 63 including a pair of standing leg portions 63a and a connecting portion 63b connecting the compatible leg portions 63a is fitted into the opening 63c between the compatible leg portions 63a and the connecting portion 63b across the head ribbon guide 60. Thus, the engaging groove 64 is formed at the tip of the guide member 61 and outside the compatible leg portion 63a. A pair of metal support pins 6
Reference numeral 5 denotes the print head 1 in the moving direction of the carriage 12.
The guide member 61 is provided so as to be positioned on both sides of the protrusion 3 at a distance wider than that between the standing leg portions 63a. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the support frame 6 made of synthetic resin is used.
6 has a pair of elastic leg pieces 67 on the inner surface of which a ridge 68 for engaging with the engaging groove 64 of the mounting portion 63 is formed. It is detachably attached. A pair of upper and lower support pieces 69 are provided on both left and right sides of the support frame 66, and support bosses 70 project from the inner surfaces facing each other, and the support pins 65 on the guide member 61 are substantially the same at the center thereof. A through hole 71 having a diameter is formed. A pair of synthetic resin guide rollers 72 for guiding and supporting the print ribbon 15 in parallel with the platen 11 are formed by loosely fitting the large diameter holes 73 at both ends into the support boss 70 and supporting pieces 69 of the supporting frame 66. It is rotatably held in between. When the support frame 66 is attached to the mounting portion 63 of the guide member 61 as described above, each support pin 65 on the guide member 61 passes through the insertion hole 71 of the support frame 66 and the small diameter holes 74 of both guide rollers 72. The large diameter hole 73 of the guide roller 72 is rotatably supported by the support pin 65 in a state of being separated from the support boss 70 of the support frame 66 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the print ribbon 15 is provided with a pair of guide rollers 72 arranged on both sides of the print head 13.
Thus, the platen 11 and the print head 13 are always stretched and supported in parallel with the platen 11, and when the ribbon feeding is performed together with the printing operation, both guide rollers 72 are smoothly transported with rotation. Further, in this embodiment, as described above, the large diameter portion 73 of each guide roller 72 has the support frame 66.
Since it is directly inserted and supported on the support pin 65 in a state of being separated from the support boss 70, the support piece 66 and the guide roller 7
The contact portion with 2 is limited to the contact surface between the inner surface of the support piece 66 facing each other and both end surfaces of the guide roller 72. Therefore, as compared with the case where the guide roller 72 is rotatably supported only by the support boss 70, the guide roller 72 made of synthetic resin and the support frame 6 are rotated when the guide roller 72 is rotated.
The abrasion between the guide roller 72 and the support roller 6 is extremely small, and the abrasion causes a play between the guide roller 72 and the support frame 66, which prevents the ribbon from being fed smoothly. The obstacle is eliminated. 8 and 9
As shown in FIG. 7, the circumferential surface 7 of the guide roller 72 which constitutes a ribbon supporting surface for guiding and supporting the print ribbon 15 is shown.
5 is a portion of each color 47a, 47b, 4 of the print ribbon 15.
A plurality of grooves 76 are formed corresponding to the boundary between 7c and 47d. Due to this groove 76, the circumferential surface 75 of the guide roller 72 is divided into four divided surfaces 75a, 75b, in the axial direction thereof.
It is divided into 75c and 75d. Further, the groove 76 is formed with a predetermined width, and when the print ribbon 15 is guided by the guide roller 72 and is transferred, even if the print ribbon 15 slides on the circumferential surface 75 in the width direction, the print ribbon 15 is moved. The boundary of 15 always faces the groove 76, and the circumferential surface 75 of the guide roller 72 is
Never come into contact with. Therefore, when the print ribbon 15 is guided and moved by the guide roller 72 in accordance with the printing operation, the color portions 15a to 15d of the print ribbon 15 are guided only by the corresponding divided surfaces 75a to 75d, respectively. It is not guided by 75a-75d. Therefore, each color portion 15a to 1 of the print ribbon 15
5d is a divided surface 75a to 75d that is colored in different colors
Since it does not come into contact with, no color mixing occurs. Next, the connecting means for connecting the guide member 61 and the ribbon cassette 14 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS.
The contact roller 81 is rotatably supported at the center of the upper surface of the guide member 61. The leaf spring 82 is provided on the carriage 12, and the spring force thereof urges the guide member 61 to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 1 so that the contact roller 81 is brought into pressure contact with the lower surface of the ribbon cassette 14. Therefore, the guide member 61 and the ribbon cassette 14 are always connected via the contact roller 81 so as to be integrally rotatable, and when the carriage 12 is moved in the printing line direction, the contact roller 81 is moved. The guide member 61 is moved together with the carriage 12 while rolling along the lower surface of the carriage 12. Also, in this embodiment, as described above, the rotary disk 4 is driven by the ribbon lift motor 51 as the driving means.
When the ribbon cassette 14 is rotated clockwise in FIGS. 6 and 7 and the ribbon cassette 14 is rotated about the lower second guide shaft 10 to the lowermost home position, the guide member 61 is integrated with the ribbon cassette 14. Second guide shaft 10 that is physically the same
The black color portion 47a, which is always located at the uppermost portion of the print ribbon 15, is rotated around the center of the print ribbon 15 so as to face the front surface of the print head 13. Then, from this state, the rotation disk 48 is selectively rotated by the motor 51 to a predetermined angle position, whereby the ribbon cassette 14 and the guide member 61 together with the cassette holder 41 are rotated to three different positions above. Blue, red on the print ribbon 15,
The yellow color portions 47b, 47c, 47d are selectively arranged on the front surface of the print head 13 to perform the printing operation. As described above, the guide roller 7 that holds the print ribbon 15 in a stretched state is provided.
Since 2 rotates about the guide shaft 10 located on the side farther from the platen 11 than the carriage 12, the radius of one rotation increases, and the print ribbon 15 is not wrinkled or loosened. Next, another embodiment of the connecting means between the guide member 61 and the ribbon cassette 14 will be described with reference to FIG. 10. The engaging groove 91 is formed on the front surface of the ribbon cassette 14 so as to extend in the left-right direction. An opening 92 is formed downward at one end. Engaging roller 9
3 is rotatably supported by a support protrusion 94 on the guide member 61, and the ribbon cassette 1 is in a state in which the carriage 12 and the guide member 61 are stationary at one moving end in the print row direction.
4 is mounted, the engagement roller 93 causes the opening 92
To the engaging groove 91, and as the carriage 12 and the guide member 61 move in the printing row direction, the engaging roller 9
3 is rolled along the engagement groove 91.
Therefore, also in this embodiment, the guide member 61 and the ribbon cassette 14 are integrally rotatably connected by the engagement of the engagement roller 93 and the engagement groove 91, and both 61 and 14 are appropriately rotated in the connected state. Print ribbon 1 by moving
Predetermined color portions 47a to 47d on the print head 5 are selectively arranged at positions corresponding to the front surface of the print head 13. The present invention is not limited to the configuration of each of the above embodiments,
It is also possible to embody by arbitrarily changing the configuration of each part without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

As described in detail above, according to the invention of this application, it is not necessary to provide a special supporting member such as a shaft on the carriage for the guide member for the print ribbon, and the structure is simple and the number of parts is large. In addition, the print ribbon can be accurately arranged in front of the print head in accordance with the rotation of the guide member. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a ribbon driving member or the like on the carriage, the carriage can be driven at high speed, which is an excellent effect. Further guide
Since the turning radius of the member can be increased, the guide part
Even if the drive amount of the material driving means is small,
Therefore, the print ribbon can be sufficiently swung.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of an essential part showing an embodiment of a printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a portion of a head ribbon guide.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing an exploded structure of a carriage supporting a lower guide shaft.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing the ribbon cassette and its rotating structure in an exploded manner.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view showing an exploded guide member for the print ribbon.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an enlarged assembly structure of the guide roller.

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view showing another embodiment of the connecting means between the guide member and the ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Guide Axis 11 Platen 13 Print Head 14 Ribbon Cassette 15 Print Ribbon 61 Guide Member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A platen (1) extending along a printing direction.
1) and two plates provided in parallel with the platen (11).
The guide shafts (9, 10) and the two guide shafts (9, 1)
It is possible to move parallel to the platen (11) by being guided by 0)
Carriage (12) and the front of the carriage (12)
A printing sheet placed so as to face the platen (11).
The print head (13) and the plate (13).
The print ribbon (15) on the surface facing the print head (11).
Of holding the two guide shafts (9, 10)
Inside, a guide shaft located far from the platen (11)
(10) is pivotable in a direction intersecting the print line as a swing center a, and those with the movement of the carriage (12)
The guide shaft and the guide member (61) slidably supported along the (10), the printer being characterized in that a drive means for oscillating the guide member (61) (51).