JPH02116584A - Ribbon cassette for thermal transfer printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the reuse of a taken-up ink ribbon by a method wherein respective parts of a cassette are formed laterally symmetrical so that the cassette can be again loaded on a printer in a reversed state and that the ribbon taken up by a second reel can be reused while being taken up from the second reel to a first reel. CONSTITUTION:A center guide roller 56 is disposed on the center of a cassette. Slack-preventive parts 53, guide rods 54, printing head fit parts 55, and window parts 55 are formed laterally symmetrical. Reels 51, 52 have the same shape. A cassette A can be loaded on a printer for use so that a printing head 6 is nested into the righthand printing head fit part 55. In this case, a ribbon 50 on the righthand reel 51 is taken up by the lefthand reel 52. After the ribbon 50 on the righthand reel 51 is used up, the cassette A is reversed and loaded on the printer so that the printing head 6 can be nested into the head fit part 55. Then, the ribbon on the reel 52 is again used while being taken up onto the reel 51.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette for thermal transfer printing used in a printing device such as a printer.

[Conventional technology]

Ribbon cassettes are widely used in various thermal transfer printing devices such as thermal transfer printers for word processors.

An example of this cassette will be described with reference to FIG. 3. This cassette is equipped with a pair of glue 51 and 52, one of which has a printing ribbon 50 wound therein in advance, and is pulled out from there. The loose end of the ribbon
and is guided by a guide rod 54 to a portion 55 into which the print head 6 is fitted, and from there, a guide roller 5
6 and a guide rod 57 to the reel 52.

A spring 531 is arranged in the locking part 53, and the spring force allows the ribbon to move, but the ribbon receiver is lightly pressed against the part 532 so as not to loosen.

This cassette is attached to a cassette mounting portion of a printing device (not shown), and at that time, the cassette faces the platen 7 of the printing device, and the print head 6 is fitted into the head fitting portion 55. At the start of the printing operation, the ribbon 50 is wound onto the reel 52 and used.

In some of the cassettes, the guide rod 54 is replaced with a guide roller, and the roller 56 is replaced with a light pressure plate spring for preventing loosening.

Thermal transfer type ribbon cassettes generally have the structure described above, and the used part of the ribbon will be ink-stained because the ink will be transferred to the transfer material such as paper, so the ribbon 5
Once 0 has been used, the cassette is discarded.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, 7. The used ribbon does not mean that all of the ink on it has been transferred to the transfer material (a considerable portion still remains on the ribbon. Therefore, it is not suitable for copying, etc., but It is possible to reuse the used ribbon for trial printing, drafting, etc.

However, in the current cassette, there is no means for easily rewinding the used ribbon into its original reel shape, so it is virtually impossible to reuse the ribbon.

When you dare to reuse used ribbon,
First, it is necessary to fit a suitable rod into the shaft hole of the reel where the ribbon was wound, and rotate it by hand to reverse the reel and rewind the ribbon, which takes an extremely long time. Therefore, it is almost impossible to perform such ribbon unwinding. Therefore, as mentioned above, once the first ribbon has been used, the cassette must be discarded, which is extremely wasteful.

Therefore, the present invention provides a ribbon cassette for thermal transfer printing in which one of a pair of reels is wound onto the other reel, and the ribbon cassette is used while the ribbon is wound onto the other reel. The purpose is to provide a cassette that can be reused.

[Means to solve the problem]

In accordance with the above object, the present invention provides a ribbon cassette for thermal transfer printing in which the ribbon on one of a pair of reels is wound onto the other reel, and the cassette 1 is entirely turned over and placed in a printing device. Each part is formed symmetrically so that it can be reattached and the ribbon wound on the other reel can be reused while being wound from the other reel to the one reel. The present invention provides a ribbon cassette.

Note that "left-right symmetrical" does not necessarily mean that the left and right sides are completely symmetrical; in other words, the reel is driven in such a way that the ribbon can be turned over or turned over again and installed in the printing device, and the reel can be reused. If necessary, each part may be formed symmetrically so as to be able to do so.

[Function] According to the ribbon cassette of the present invention, the used ribbon wound from one reel to the other reel is 1. The cassette can be reused by turning it over and attaching it to the printing device. Furthermore, the reused ribbon that has been re-wound onto the original reel as a result of its reuse can be used by turning the cassette over again and mounting it on the printing device, if desired. It can thus be used in either direction to wind the ribbon on the first reel onto the second reel or to wind the ribbon on the second reel onto the first reel.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross section of one embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross section of another embodiment.

The embodiment cassette shown in FIG. 1 has the center guide roller 56 of the conventional cassette shown in FIG. The fitting portion 55 and the window portion 58 are formed symmetrically, and the reel 51
．． 52 are formed in the same shape.

The cassette A shown in FIG. 1 can be used, for example, by being attached to a printing device so that the print head 6 fits into the print head fitting part 55 on the right side as shown in FIG.
The ribbon 50 on the right glue 51 is wound onto the left glue 52.

When the ribbon 50 on the right side glue 51 is finished being used,
The cassette A is turned over and installed so that the print head 6 fits into the head fitting part 55 shown on the left side in FIG. Reused.

The ribbon thus wound onto each reel can be reused by turning the cassette over or over.

If the structure of the cassette mounting part of the printing device allows it,
It can also be formed like a ribbon cassette B shown in FIG. The cassette B has one print head fitting part 55 on the center line, and guide rollers 56 on the left and right sides of the print head fitting part 55.
It is equipped with a guide rod 54 and a locking part 53,
The entire structure is symmetrical.

This cassette I-B can be used by installing the print head 6 so that it fits into the head fitting part 55 and winding up the ribbon 50 on the reel 1 onto the reel 52. It is also possible to use the ribbon while winding it onto the reel 51.

In any of the above embodiments, once the ribbon 50 is used, the printed portion becomes empty of ink, so it is usually not suitable for reuse after the first use, but It is possible to use it once or more for trial printing and drafting, which is more economical. When the ribbon has been used for the first time, a means for indicating this, such as a "used" label L covered by a suitable peelable cover piece, is provided at a suitable location on the outside of the cassette. Once this is complete, the cover piece may be peeled off.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be implemented in various other forms as long as the structure of the cassette mounting section of the printing device permits.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, there is provided a ribbon cassette for thermal transfer printing in which one of a pair of reels is wound onto the other reel, and the ribbon wound onto the other reel is easily removed. It is possible to provide reusable cassettes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional cassette. 50... Ribbon, 51.52... Reel, A, B... Cassette. Applicant Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. 1st drawing 2nd figure 5C

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a thermal transfer printing ribbon cassette in which the ribbon on one of a pair of reels is used while being wound on the other reel, the entire cassette can be turned over and reinstalled in the printing device, and the 1. A ribbon cassette, wherein each part is formed symmetrically so that the ribbon wound on the reel can be reused while being wound from the other reel to the one reel.