JPH01316286A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the generation of inferiority in printing by a method wherein when a printing head is within a printing area, a ribbon is not fed and only when the printing head is an approach sections on both outsides of the printing area, the ribbon is fed. CONSTITUTION:While a printing head 16 travels in a printing area A, a feed click 47 of a linkage material 39 is separated from a ratchet wheel 35. Only while said printing head 16 travels in runway sections B, C on both outsides of the printing area A, the feed click 47 of the linkage material 39 is engaged with the ratchet wheel 35 and an ink ribbon 31 is fed in a specified direction. Therefore, while the printing head 16 travels in the printing area A, action on a driving device 22 of a load by engagement of the feed click 1 with the ratchet wheel 35 is canceled. Consequently inferiority in printing such as a character width of a printing character becoming narrow or an interval pitch of adjacent printing characters becoming small, etc. is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a serial printer that performs printing operations on printing paper while driving a print head in the character feeding direction along printing lines on printing paper. The present invention relates to a printer configured to drive an ink ribbon in a ribbon feeding direction using a drive mechanism for reciprocating a print head along a print line as a drive source.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, an ink ribbon is driven in the ribbon feeding direction using a drive mechanism for reciprocating a print head as a drive source, such as the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-21812. . In this case, in order to reciprocate the print head along the print line, a drive system that rotates in forward and reverse directions constantly rotates the rotating shaft in the - direction via a one-way latch, and rotates integrally with the rotating shaft. The rotating member drives an intermittent feeding mechanism having a pawl width, a feed pawl, etc., and the ink ribbon is intermittently transferred by a fixed amount via the pawl width.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the conventional ribbon feeding device described above,
When the print head is reciprocated by the drive mechanism (drive system), the print head is within the print area J3,
Despite the printing operation, the feed pawl engages with the pawl shape and feeds the ribbon.

When the feed pawl engages with the pawl mold and rotates the pawl mold while the print head is within its printing area, the load associated with the rotation of the pawl is applied to the drive mechanism, causing the print head movement speed to temporarily decrease. The speed will be reduced accordingly. This temporary deceleration of the print head may cause printing defects such as the character width of the printed character becoming narrower or the spacing between adjacent printed characters becoming smaller.

[1] In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention does not feed the ribbon when the print head is within the print area, but only when the print head is in the run-up section on both sides of the print area. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer capable of preventing printing defects by performing feeding.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, this invention provides a print head that is reciprocated along a print line by a drive mechanism and performs printing operations on printing paper, and the print head. An ink ribbon is arranged along the print line on the front surface of the head facing the print paper, and a ribbon feeding mechanism for feeding the ink ribbon. The movement of the drive mechanism is transmitted to the ribbon feed am only while traveling in the run-up section on both sides of the area.
The present invention includes a transmission mechanism that operates a ribbon feeding mechanism and sends the ink ribbon in a predetermined direction.

(Function) In the printer configured as described above, the print head is reciprocated by the drive mechanism over the print area and the run-up sections on both sides of the print area. In the print area, the print head prints on the print paper through an ink ribbon disposed in front of the print head. When the print head moves beyond the printing area and runs in the run-up section, the movement of the drive mechanism is transmitted to the ribbon feeding mechanism by the transmission mechanism, so the ribbon feeding mechanism is activated, thereby moving the ink ribbon in a predetermined direction. Sent.

In this way, by operating the ribbon feeding mechanism only while the print head is traveling in the run-up section, when the print head is within the printing area, the load due to the operation of the ribbon feeding mechanism is applied to the drive mechanism. The things that happen are eliminated.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 5, which shows a printer mainly used as a register from the side, the rear side of the printer main body 1 is equipped with a paper storage section 2 for storing a printing H15 wound into a roll in a replaceable manner. A vapor holder 3 is installed.

A free roller 6 for guiding the drawn-out portion 5a of the printing paper 5 is rotatably disposed at the upper part of the rear side of the left and right side frames 4 of the printer main body 1. Also,
Inside the printer main body 1, there is a guide plate 7 for configuring a paper guide path for the drawer portion 5a of the printing paper 5.
8.9.10 and a predetermined number of rollers 11, 12.13 are provided.

A drawer portion 5 for printing paper 5 is located in the middle of the paper guide path.
A platen 15 and a print head 16 are arranged to face each other with a gap through which a is inserted.

On the downstream side of the platen 15 and the print head 16 in the paper feeding direction, there is a pair of driven and driven paper feeding rollers 17.1 for pulling out and transporting the drawn portion 5a of the printing paper 5.
8 are arranged.

The print head 16 is mounted on the cartridge 11 and 19, and is reciprocated along the print line by a drive mechanism to perform a printing operation by passing an ink ribbon onto the paper surface of the drawer portion of the print paper 5. ing.

Above 4. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the spear 19 is
The guide @ 20 installed between the left and right frames 4 and the upper edge of the front plate 21 guide the printing line in parallel with the printing line.

A drive mechanism 22 for reciprocating the print head 16 relative to the printer 19 is constituted by a belt mechanism whose drive source is a drive motor 23 capable of forward and reverse rotation, such as a stepping motor. However, in this embodiment, the first
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a drive motor 23 is installed on the right side in FIG. 1 of the left and right rear surfaces of the board 24, which is installed at the center in the front-rear direction between the left and right frames 4. A drive shaft 25, which is the output shaft of the motor 23, passes through the substrate 24 and protrudes from the front surface thereof by a predetermined distance. The drive @25 is provided with a drive pulley 26 and an interlocking gear 27 rotatably coaxially and integrally. A driven pulley 28 relative to the driving pulley 26 is rotatably supported on the left side of the front surface of the base plate 24, and an endless driving belt 29 is hung between the pulleys 26, 28. Then, one straight portion of the drive belt 29 and the V-rigidity 19 are connected, and the pulley 26 is rotationally driven by the drive shaft 23, so that the print head 16 is reciprocated together with the 4-cell line 19. It is now possible to do so.

A ribbon cassette 30 is removably held on the front side of the front plate 21 of the printer main body 1 by appropriate holding means. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the ribbon cassette 30 includes a cassette case 31 and a long, endless ink ribbon 31 held in the case so as to be transportable.
and a ribbon feed roller 3 that transports the ink ribbon 31.
2. As shown in FIG. 6, a part of the ink ribbon 31 is exposed from the cassette case 31 on the front surface of the print head 16 and is arranged along the print line of the drawer portion 5a of the print paper 5. There is.

A ribbon feeding shaft 33 serving as a ribbon feeding mechanism is rotatably supported by a bearing member 34 at the lower right side of the front surface of the substrate 24 . Tip portion 3 of the ribbon feed shaft 33
3a, as shown in FIG. 2, projects forward by a predetermined distance through the front plate 21, and its tip 33a can be inserted into the center hole of the ribbon feed roller 32 and can transmit torque. spline fitting. Further, a claw width 35 is provided on the outer periphery of the base of the ribbon feed shaft 33 so as to be rotatable coaxially therewith.

Between the drive shaft 25 and the ribbon feed shaft 33, the drive @2 is provided only while the print head 16 runs in run-up sections B° and c on both sides of the print area A.
A transmission mechanism 36 is provided for transmitting 1/5 helical force to the ribbon feeding shaft 33.

In the transmission mechanism 36, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the interlocking gear 2 of the drive shaft 25 is provided on the front surface of the base plate 24.
A rotating body 38 that meshes with the rotating body 7 via an intermediate gear 37 is rotatably supported. The rotating body 38 rotates once in the forward or reverse direction when the print head 16 moves forward and backward over the mark 7 area mA and the run-up sections B and C on both sides thereof. ．． The number of teeth of each of the intermediate gear 37 and the gear on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 38 is set.

Between the rotary body 38 and the pawl width 35 of the ribbon feed shaft 33, one rotation of the rotary body 38 causes one reciprocating movement, and the print head 16 runs on both sides of the printing area Δ. An interlocking body 39 is provided that engages with the claw width 35 only while traveling in sections B and C and rotates the claw width 35 in the ribbon feeding direction. The interlocking body 39 is
The vertical rod 40 and the horizontal rod 41 are arranged in a substantially T-shape. The interlocking body 39 has two downward elongated holes 42 formed in its vertical rod 40, and connects to a connecting pin 43 protruding from the front of the rotary body 38 at a predetermined distance from the center of the rotary body 38. It is assembled to the front surface of the rotating body 38 in a slidably fitted state. Furthermore, the interlocking body 39 has a support piece 44 whose lower end portion of the vertical rod 40 projects from the surface of the board 24.
In a state in which the long hole 45 in the horizontal direction formed in the horizontal rod 41 and the guide bin 46 protruding from the front surface of the board 24 are fitted in a MlliIi shape, one rotation of the rotating body 38 Accordingly, it is made to reciprocate once in the left and right direction. Further, at the tip of the horizontal rod 41, there is a feed pawl 47 that can come into contact with and separate from the pawl width 35 and removably engages with the pawl width 35 only while the print head 16 travels through the run-up sections R and C. It is formed. Furthermore, the interlocking body 39 is biased by a spring 48 in a direction in which the feed pawl 47 engages with the pawl width 35.

This embodiment is constructed as described above. therefore,
Due to the paper feeding action of the pair of paper feeding rollers 17 and 18, the drawn-out portion 5a of the recording paper 5 is intermittently transferred by an amount corresponding to the print line pitch.

When the paper feed rollers 17, 18 are stopped for intermittent transfer, the drive motor 23 is operated in the forward and reverse directions, and the drive shaft 25 is rotationally driven. For example, with one rotation of the drive pulley 26 that rotates together with the drive @ 25, the drive belt 2
9 is driven forward, and the print head 16 is integrated with the carriage 19.
is moved from the outer end of one run-up section B through the printing area A to the outer end position of the other run-up section C--h, and the rotating body 38 of the ribbon feeding mechanism is rotated once in a predetermined direction.

While the print head 16 travels in the print area A, the print head 16 performs a printing operation based on a print signal from a print control device (not shown), and prints on the drawn-out portion 5a of the print paper 5 through the ink ribbon 31. Ru.

When the print head 16 crosses the print area A and enters the inner end of the other run-up section C as shown in FIG. The feed pawl 47 engages with the pawl width 35. Then, while the print head 16 reaches the outer end of the run-up section C,
While the feed pawl 47 of the moving body 39 engages with the pawl width 35, the ribbon feed shaft 33 is rotated in the ribbon feeding direction together with the same type wheel 35. The rotation of the ribbon feed shaft 33 rotates the ribbon feed roller 32 in the ribbon feed direction, and the ink ribbon 31 is fed a predetermined length.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the print head 16 reaches the outer end of the run-up section C, the drive motor 23 stops, so that the print head 16 reaches the outer end position of the run-up section C. Stop at.

Thereafter, when the pulled-out portion 5a of the print paper 5 has been transported by a length corresponding to one pitch of the print line by the pair of paper feed rollers 17 and 18, the drive motor 23 is reversed. Then, by driving the drive belt 29 in the opposite direction, the print head 16 is moved back from the outer end of the run-up section C to the outer end of one of the run-up sections B via the print area Δ. When the print head 16 passes through the printing area A and enters the inner end of one run-up section B, the feed pawl 47 of the interlocking body 39 engages with the pawl ll35 while the ribbon feed shaft 33
By rotating the ink ribbon 3 in the ribbon feeding direction,
1 is sent for a predetermined length.

As described above, while the print head 16 travels on the print head MA, the feed pawl 47 of the interlocking body 39 is separated from the pawl width 35, and the print head 16 moves to the print area in both outer run-up sections 8. Since the feed pawl 47 of the interlocking body 39 engages with the pawl width 35 to feed the ink ribbon 31 in a predetermined direction only while the print head 16 travels to the print area, , the feed claw 47 and the claw width 3
5 is eliminated from acting on the drive mechanism 22. As a result, printing defects such as a narrowing of the character width of printed characters or a small pitch between adjacent printed characters are prevented.

In the above embodiment, the interlocking body 39 constituting the transmission mechanism 36 between the drive mechanism 22 and the ribbon feeding shaft 33, such as the ribbon feeding mechanism, has a length of approximately T due to the vertical length and the horizontal rod 41. Although the feed pawl 47 which can be engaged with the pawl width 35 is formed at the tip of the horizontal +141, it is not limited to this.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the interlocking body 39 may be constructed of a two-section link 49.50.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
．． 52 to be engaged with the claw width 35 so that they can be connected to each other,
It may be configured such that J3 is located at both the forward and backward movements of the interlocking body 39 that does not take one rotation of the rotating body 38, and the ribbon feed shaft 33 is rotated in the ribbon feeding direction together with the claw width 35. .

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the movement of the driving IEJ mechanism is transmitted to the ribbon feeding mechanism by the transmission mechanism only while the print head runs in the run-up sections on both sides of the printing area. Since the ribbon feeding mechanism is actuated to feed the ink ribbon in a predetermined direction, when the print head is within the printing area, a load due to the operation of the ribbon feeding mechanism acts on the drive mechanism. This can be solved by d1. As a result, it is possible to prevent the movement speed of the print head from being reduced due to the load caused by the operation of the ribbon feeding mechanism, and the width of the printed characters may become narrower.
Alternatively, it is possible to prevent printing defects such as a decrease in the pitch between adjacent printed characters.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, so Fig. 1 is a front view with the main parts of the printer cut away, Fig. 2 is a elevation view, and Fig. 3 shows the print head. Figures 2 and 4 show the state in which the print head enters the inner end of the run-up section C outside the printing area A and the feed claw of the interlocking body engages with the claw width, and the print head reaches the outer end position of the run-up section C. Explanatory diagram showing the moved state, fifth
The figure is a side view schematically showing the printer, FIG. 6 is a front view, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Blink body 55...Print paper 16...Print head 22...Drive mechanism 31...Ink ribbon 33...Ribbon feed shaft 36...Transmission mechanism Applicant Brother Industries, Ltd. 21 Attorney Hidehiko Okada (3 others) Figure 3 Figure 1, Me---1 Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A print head that is reciprocated along the print line by a drive mechanism and prints on the print paper, and a print head that is disposed along the print line on the front surface of the print head that faces the print paper. an ink ribbon; a ribbon feeding mechanism for feeding the ink ribbon; and a ribbon feeding mechanism connected to the drive mechanism to control the movement of the drive mechanism only while the print head runs in a run-up section on both sides of the print area. A printer comprising: a transmission mechanism that transmits a signal to the ink ribbon to operate a ribbon feeding mechanism and sends the ink ribbon in a predetermined direction.