JPH0151345B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a print package in which a rotationally drivable print element is housed in a cartridge.

The present invention is convenient for storage and transportation when not in use for printing or when removed from the printer, and eliminates the need to readjust the rotational position of the printing element when attached to the printer and ready to be used for printing. The object is to provide a print package whose print element can be attached to a printer.

To this end, the present invention includes a printing element and a cartridge housing the printing element, the printing element being rotationally driven within the cartridge while engaged with a drive hub of the printer. wherein the printing element is provided with a protrusion oriented in a specific direction, and the cartridge is provided with an opening oriented in a specific direction that matches the protrusion. and the protrusion and the aperture are such that the protrusion and the aperture fit into each other only when the printing element is in one rotational position with the printing element not engaged with a drive hub of a printer. This configuration achieves the desired effect as described above.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Shown in FIG. 1 are a cartridge 1, a daisy foil print element 2 and a motor drive hub 3 for character selection. Cartridge 1 and print element 2 constitute a print package. The printing element 2 is housed within the cartridge 1 and rotated within the cartridge 1 by the hub 3 during the actual printing operation.

The cartridge 1 mainly consists of a storage container 4 and a back plate 5.
It consists of The housing 4 has a front plate 6 having an opening 7 constituting the orienting means and a slot 8 for a printing hammer. The front panel 6 is a printer/
Facing the printing mechanism, which includes a motor and print hammer for character selection directed to the carrier. Slot 8 is provided to accommodate a printing hammer used in known techniques for printing. The opening 7 has an arrowhead shape and is formed approximately at the center of the front plate 6. The aperture 7 is provided with a protrusion 29 which serves as a means for orienting the print element 2 so as to maintain the print element 2 in a constant rotational position (home position) while the print element 2 is being removed from the printer, as will be described later. Collaborate. The side plates 9 and 10 are integral with the front plate 4. The side plates 9 and 10 have respective recesses 11 and 12 into which the operator's thumb and fingers are inserted for gripping the cartridge 1. Front plate 6
The lower part of the beveled edge 13 of the cover
and 14 whose edges terminate in a bottom edge 15. The container 4 has no side walls at the beveled edges 13 and 14 and at the bottom edge 15.
The outer circumference of the back plate 5 is symmetrical with the outer circumference of the front plate 6 from the recesses of the side plates 9 and 10 to the bottom edge 15.

Beveled edges 13 and 14 and back plate 5
The engagement portion serves two useful purposes. One is that this removal of the corners reduces the mass of the cartridge carried by the printer carrier during printing operations. The other is to form a guide for inserting the cartridge into the carrier container.

The upper part of the receptacle 4 has ramps 16 and 17 which extend from adjacent recesses 11 and 12 to near the top center of the receptacle 4 and terminate in the slot 8. Slot 8 has sides 18 and 19 and bottom 20
has. Slot 8 is used for printing during the printing process.
It is large enough to allow the hammer to pass freely through it, and small enough to reduce the chance that the operator will touch the print element with his or her thumb or fingers. The sloped portions 16 and 17 are arranged so that the print element 2 is placed in the cartridge 1 when the print element 2 is stored in the cartridge 1.
This provides an enclosure and, as much as possible, allows the operator to visually check the printed lines.

The container 4 supports a ribbon guide 21, which is assembled from a rod of metal wire shaped as shown. Referring to FIG. 3, the storage container 4
The inside of the ribbon guide 21 is provided with pedestals 22 and 23 having openings for attaching the ends of the ribbon guide 21.
A ribbon guide 21 is provided for guiding the typewriter ribbon into raised and lowered positions relative to the slot 8 during the printing process.

The card holder 24 is supported at the upper end of the back plate 5 as an integral part of the back plate 5. A shaped aperture 25, generally aligned with slot 8, is located horizontally and centrally within card holder 24. The dimensional requirements for opening 25 and slot 8 are somewhat different. That is, the aperture 25 must (1) be positioned so that it is properly aligned with the printer platen and (2) allow instantaneous rebound of the print element petals when on-the-fly printing processes are considered. , the petal must be wide enough to avoid contact with the sides of the aperture 25. While meeting these requirements, the aperture 25
must be small enough to restrain the operator from approaching the print element 2. or,
The front plate 6 and the back plate 5 are spaced sufficiently close to each other to inhibit operator access through either the top or bottom of the cartridge 1. Therefore, when the print element 2 is stored in the cartridge 1, the only area of the print element 2 that is easily accessible to the operator is that which is accessible through the opening 7.

Further, with particular reference to FIG. 1, and with particular reference to print element 2, as noted above, print element 2 is housed within and rotated within cartridge 1 during printing operations. The printing element 2 is then placed midway between the inside of the front plate 6 and the inside of the back plate 5 while being rotated. Print element 2 is daisy foil shaped and has a hub 26 in the center. A radially extending petal 27 is connected to the hub 26. At the outward extremities of the petals 27 are type or character metal strips 28, which are used in printing methods of known type. The type 28 is arranged on the printing side of the printing element 2. The opposite side of the printed element 2 is the striking side. The petal 27 is structured such that its striking side is struck by a print hammer. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, the central hub 26 is circular and dish-shaped and has a flanged outer circumference 55 to which a petal 27 is connected. As shown, the hub 26 supports a protrusion 29 on its protruding side. The protrusion 29 is on the striking side of the printing element 2. The protrusion 29 has an outer circumferential shape of an arrowhead surrounding the rotation axis of the print element 2 . The protrusion 29 is the cartridge 1
It has an outer circumferential shape corresponding to the opening 7 and is inserted into the opening 7. The shapes of the arrowheads of the projections 29 and the openings 7 are symmetrical with respect to a line passing through the rotational axis of the printing element 2 and perpendicular to the print line when the cartridge 1 containing the printing element 2 is attached to the printer. The shapes of the protrusions and openings thus have no rotational symmetry with respect to the rotation axis of the print element 2. Thus, when the protrusion 29 is fitted into the opening 7, the cartridge 1 directs the print element 2 in one desired specific direction, such as the home position.

A frying pan-shaped recess 30 surrounding the rotation axis of the print element 2 is formed in the protrusion 29 . The bottom surface of the recess 30 is the surface on the protruding side of the hub 26. The recess 30 has a cylindrical projection 3 having an opening 32.
1 is formed. The opening 32 is formed coaxially with the rotation axis of the printing element 2 and has a bottom 33 below the bottom surface of the recess 30 . Aperture 32 is provided to accommodate a character selection motor drive shaft which extends through hub 3 to rotate the print element and prevent wobbling of the print element, as will be described in more detail below.

Drive hub 3 shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5
is specifically referred to herein. The drive hub 3 is assembled from a cylinder 34 coaxially joined to a cup-shaped flange 35. A D-shaped opening 36 passes through the center of the cylinder 34 and flange 35. The aperture 36 is for accommodating a character selection motor drive shaft 37 having a D-shaped cross-section matching the shape of the aperture. The D-shaped opening 36 provides a connection between the shaft 37 and the hub 3 for reliable rotational transmission. The hub 3 may be coupled along and glued to the shaft 37 as shown. If the fit between the shaft 37 and the aperture 32 is sufficiently tight, the aperture 32 is fairly deep, and the shaft 37 extends considerably into the aperture 32, then the print element 2 will fit between the print element 2 and the shaft 37. Stable in the radial direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation. That is, the tendency for the print element to wobble even slightly is considerably reduced. Since the front plate 6 and the back plate 5 are closely spaced, any wobbling of the print element 2 on the shaft 37 is particularly undesirable in terms of fatigue, breakage, and free rotation.

The radially extending arm 39 is connected to the flange 3
It is supported on the outer periphery of 5. Adjacent to the outer end of arm 39 , drive pin 40 is configured to be inserted into opening 41 of print element 2 . The opening 41 is formed at the end of the handle 43 of the frying pan-shaped recess 30. Pin 40 is used to rotate print element 2 as shaft 37 rotates when it is inserted into aperture 41. The pin 40 and the opening 41 have the same outer peripheral shape. Both have flat sides and arcuate ends.

The width of the opening 41 (width here refers to the width of the print element 2
The width of the pin 40 (the length in the direction parallel to the print line when the cartridge 1 containing the cartridge is attached to the printer and the print element 2 is at the home position) is the same as the width of the pin 40 (the length in the direction parallel to the print line). The difference must be small. This is to reduce play between the print element 2 and the hub 3 when the print element 2 is rotated by the hub 3.
However, to accommodate tolerance variations,
Since the length of the opening 41 in the direction perpendicular to the width (in the vertical direction in FIG. 4) is made somewhat longer than the corresponding length of the pin 40, the shaft 3 of the pin 40
By increasing the length parallel to 7, the drive contact area for the aperture 41 is increased, thereby reducing fatigue and denting problems. The handle 43 is sufficiently wide to facilitate accommodation of the rib 42.

The outer periphery of the flange 35 is the inner periphery 44 of the recess 30.
It has a larger diameter. Accordingly, the surface 45 of the flange 35 abuts the surface of the protrusion 29 for radially aligning and stabilizing the print element to further reduce wobble of the print element.
Planar contact between the surface 45 of the flange 35 and the stabilizing surface of the projection 29 is effected by a spring 48 which presses the printing element 2 towards the hub 3. The role of the spring 48 will be explained in more detail later, but it is only noted here that the spring 48 forces the printing element 2 towards the hub 3 so that the tip 38 of the shaft completely reaches the bottom of the opening 32 of the printing element. I'll keep it. Note that even if the outer periphery of the flange 35 is larger than the inner periphery 44, the print element 2
The dimensions must be such that the hub 3 can pass freely through the opening 7 when the cartridge 1 is latched into the cartridge 1 and the hub 3 is properly oriented with respect to the print element 2.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 6, the back or print side 56 of print element 2 is shown. On the printing side 56 , a protruding post 46 for a bearing is supported centrally on the dished side 47 of the central hub 26 . The strut 46 is a cylinder 4 carrying a bullet-shaped projection 50 with an arcuate cross-section.
Produced from 9. The bulge 50 acts like a bearing for the printing element 2 against the spring 48 during rotation of the printing element 2. In other words, spring 48 acts like a bearing surface for overhang 50. When the print element 2 is stored in the cartridge 1 and not used in a printing process, the spring 48 biases the print element 2 toward the bulge 50 to latch it within the cartridge 1. Give a thrust.

Before further explaining the relationship between print element 2 and spring 48, it is important to note that spring 48 and cartridge 1
Let's discuss some unusual details. Referring to FIG. 3, spring 48 is a leaf spring having an arcuate central portion 51 extending toward and adjacent opening 7. Referring to FIG. The front plate 6 and the back plate 5 are connected at a constant interval, and the spring 48 is bent into an arcuate shape so that the center portion 51 of the spring 48 acts on the inside of the front plate 6. The back plate 5 has a rectangular recess 52 on its inside to hold the spring 48 in the desired position relative to the opening 7. Spring ends 57 and 58
are arranged in the recess 52 and act towards the inside of the back plate 5. The lengths of the spring 48 and the recess 52 (in the direction perpendicular to the print line when the cartridge 1 is attached to the printer) are set so that the spring 48 bends with a gentle slope. The ends 57 and 58 are held in the recess 52 by the front plate 6 acting against the bend 51.

The spring 48 forces the protrusion 29 into the aperture 7 when the protrusion 29 and the aperture 7 are aligned. The engagement of projections 29 and apertures 7 properly orients print element 2 in cartridge 1 and latches it into the desired rotational position (home position).
This allows the print package assembled from print element 2 and cartridge 1 to be stored without the print element moving from a fixed rotational position when removed from the printer.
Can be transported.

When the print element 2 is to be installed in the printer, the cartridge 1 with the print element 2 latched is inserted into the receiving hopper of the daisy foil printer. Thereafter, the drive hub 3 and the shaft 37 of the character selection motor coupled thereto are moved toward the central hub 26. Since the printing element 2 is fitted into the aperture 7 and held in the only rotational (home) position according to the invention, there is no need to readjust the rotational position of the printing element 2 when the printer side is in a predetermined rotational position. The printing element 2 can be engaged with the drive hub 3 of. That is, the shaft 37 engages the opening 32 and the pin 40 engages the opening 4.
1 and the surface 45 contacts the surface of the protrusion 29. Furthermore, movement of the hub 3 in the same direction moves the overhang 50 of the printing element 2, which movement causes the ends 57 and 58 of the spring 48 to extend in a direction perpendicular to the print line. Finally, the projection 29 is released from the opening 7 and the print element 2 is unlatched to rotate in the cartridge 1. Print element 2 for character selection and printing processing
While rotating the arm 39 and pin 40
enters the cartridge 1 and the spring 48 acts as a bearing surface for the overhang 50.

When the printing process is finished, the print element 2 and drive hub 3 return to their home positions. Cartridge 1
When removing the printer from the printer, in the opposite order to the above-mentioned order, the drive hub 3 and the motor shaft 37 on the printer side are moved back while still being engaged with the print element 2,
The protrusion 29 is recombined with the aperture 7 and settled into a predetermined rotational (home) position. Further, the drive hub 3 and the like move back and leave the print element 2. Therefore, the cartridge 1 can be manually removed from the printer.

Thus, the print package of the present invention is convenient for storage and transportation, with the print element being held in one rotational position in the cartridge when not in use for printing or when removed from the printer. In addition, when it is installed in a printer and used for printing, the print element fits into the opening of the cartridge in the only rotational position, so there is no need to readjust the rotational position. 3 has the effect of making it easier to engage.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is an exploded perspective view showing the print cartridge, print element, and character selection motor drive hub for rotating the print element; FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the print element shown in FIG. 1;
The figure is a rear perspective view of the cartridge shown in Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a side view of the drive hub shown in Figure 1;
6 is a front view of the drive hub shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the print element shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 1... Cartridge, 2... Print element, 7
...Opening, 29...Protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A print package including a print element and a cartridge for storing the print element, and configured to be rotationally driven within the cartridge while the print element is engaged with a drive hub of a printer. The print element is provided with a protrusion shaped to face in a specific direction, the cartridge is provided with an opening shaped to match the protrusion and faced in a specific direction, and the protrusion and the opening are arranged in the print element. With the element not engaged with the printer's drive hub,
A print package characterized in that the protrusion and the aperture fit into each other only when the print element is in one rotational position.