JPH0361571A - Ink ribbon cartridge mounting and detaching mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a cartridge mounting and detaching mechanism replaceable without contaminating the hand by mounting a pair of ribbon guides provided on both sides at the leading end of a printing head, a gear train for moving said guides in vertical direction, and a drive motor. CONSTITUTION:An ink ribbon cartridge mounting and detaching mechanism has a pair of ribbon guides 1, 1 freely movable in vertical direction and provided on both sides at the leading end of a printing head, gears 2, 3 for moving the ribbon guides 1, 1 in the vertical direction, and a drive motor 9 connected drivably to the gears 2, 3, and the pair of ribbon guides 1, 1 are raised by the drive motor 9 through the gears 2, 3 on the basis of a replacement command of an ink ribbon cartridge 7 fed from an operating panel and an ink ribbon 8 is mounted on the ribbon guides 1, 1 under this state. By again issuing a setting completion command of the ink ribbon cartridge 7 from the operating panel, the ribbon guides 1, 1 are allowed to fall and to be mounted at a predetermined position. Therefore, the ink ribbon cartridge can be easily set within a short time without touching said cartridge with the hand.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an IR side for attaching and detaching an ink ribbon cartridge used in a printer, and particularly to a mechanism for attaching and detaching a harmonica type ink ribbon cartridge.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, there have been two types of ink ribbon cartridges used in printers that print using ink ribbons: hand-held ones. There was also a harmonica type thing. Among these, the handy type ink ribbon cartridge is
It is relatively easy to set up, but with the harmonica type, after setting the ink ribbon cartridge in the holder, the ink ribbon is inserted between the platen and the print head by grasping it with both hands.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, the conventional method for attaching and detaching a harmonica type sink ribbon cartridge is to first fit the ink ribbon cartridge into a cassette holder, and then insert the ink ribbon into the gap between the print head and the platen with both hands. The disadvantage was that your hands got dirty because you had to pick it up and put it in. In addition, in normal dot impact printers, the gap between the print head and 1 latin is very narrow, so
The disadvantage was that it was difficult to insert the ink ribbon and it took a lot of effort.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide an ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism that can be replaced easily and without getting one's hands dirty.

The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism for a printer that prints via an ink ribbon, including a pair of ribbon guides that are provided on both sides of the print head tip and are movable in the vertical direction, and a mechanism for making the ribbon guide move in the vertical direction. and a drive motor drivingly connected to the gear train.

[Example] Next, an ink ribbon cartridge attaching/detaching mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism of the present invention generally consists of a pair of ribbon guides 1.1 that are provided on both sides of the front end of the print head and are movable in the vertical direction; 1.1 for vertical movement, and a drive motor 9 drivingly connected to the gear 2.3.

The ribbon guide 1.1 has a rack 1a cut at its rear so as to move vertically, and is drivingly connected to a drive motor 9 via a gear 2.3. Also, ribbon guide 1.
1 is configured to be held movably in the vertical direction with respect to the ribbon guide support 4.

Next, a mechanism for attaching and detaching an ink ribbon cartridge using the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

As mentioned above, in the conventional dot impact type printer, the gap between the print head 5 and the platen 6 is very narrow, making it difficult for the ink ribbon 8 to enter.

In the present invention, in response to an instruction to replace the ink ribbon cartridge 7 from the operator panel, the paired ribbon guides 11 are moved by the drive motor 9 to the gear 2. In this state, the ink ribbon 8 is raised in the direction of arrow A via the gear 3 (FIG. 2), and the ink ribbon 8 is mounted on the ribbon guide 1.1.

By issuing an instruction to set the ink ribbon cartridge 7 again from the operator panel, the ribbon guide 1
．． 1 is lowered in the direction of arrow B, and the ink ribbon 8
is installed in a predetermined position (Fig. 3).

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention moves the ribbon guide up and down to attach and detach the ink ribbon cartridge in a wide space, so the ink ribbon can be easily and quickly removed without touching the ink ribbon by hand. Can be set.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism according to the present invention. 2 and 3 are detailed views of the operation of the ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism of FIG. 1, respectively. 1... Ribbon guide 1a... Rack 2...
Gear 3... Gear 4... Ribbon guide support 5... Print head 6... Platen 7... Ink ribbon cartridge 8... Ink ribbon 9... Drive motor

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An ink ribbon cartridge attachment/detachment mechanism for a printer that prints via an ink ribbon includes a pair of ribbon guides that are provided on both sides of the print head tip and are movable in the vertical direction, and the ribbon guides are movable in the vertical direction. An ink ribbon cartridge attaching/detaching mechanism for a printer, comprising: a gear train for movement; and a drive motor drivingly connected to the gear train.