JPH04214380A - Serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a carrier for supporting a printing head approach a platen when the high speed type printing head is mounted on a wire dot type serial printer. CONSTITUTION:A component guiding an ink ribbon 12 onto a printing surface side of a printing head 12 is composed of two position pins 13. These position pins 13 are disposed in upright on both sides of a tip part of the printing head on a carrier 4 for supporting the printing head. A space on a front side of the carrier which has been conventionally necessitated for guiding the ink ribbon can be narrowed thereby, and the carrier 4 is enabled to approach a platen 2.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serial printer, and more particularly to a structure for guiding an ink ribbon to the printing surface side of a wire dot print head.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, along with the demand for personal computers and the progress of office automation, the demand for high-speed printers has increased. Conventionally, as this type of serial printer, there is one that employs an impact type wire dot type print head that uses a printing wire. This wire dot type print head uses an ink ribbon housed in a harmonica-type cassette, and the ink ribbon is guided to the print surface side of the print head by a ribbon guide of a card holder that presses the print paper toward the platen. The ribbon guide was positioned in front of the print head main body (on the platen side) in the card holder. Further, the ink ribbon has a Möbius structure, and conventional serial printers are configured to print on different parts of the ink ribbon in two stages, upper and lower, as the ink ribbon runs.

0003

However, the conventional serial printer configured as described above has a problem in that it is not possible to increase the speed of the printer by using a print head with shorter wires. This is because when the length of the print head wire is shortened, the print head approaches the platen, and the carrier on which the print head is mounted interferes with the ribbon guide of the card holder. To solve this problem, the ribbon guide can be removed, but if the ribbon guide is removed, the ink ribbon will come off during travel, making printing impossible. Further, although conventional serial printers are configured to print on two different parts of the ink ribbon, upper and lower, there is a problem that increasing the speed increases the ink ribbon replacement cycle and shortens its lifespan.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In a serial printer according to a first aspect of the invention, a guide member for guiding an ink ribbon is constituted by guide pins erected on both sides of a print head tip of a carrier.

A serial printer according to a second invention is the serial printer according to the first invention, in which a spacer that supports the ink ribbon and changes the position of the ink ribbon upward with respect to the print head is detachably attached to the guide pin. It was established in

A serial printer according to a third invention is the serial printer according to the first invention, wherein the guide pin is formed by a screw screwed into the carrier and is provided so as to be freely retractable from the carrier, and the guide pin is provided in the longitudinal direction of the carrier. A spacer is provided in the center to support the ink ribbon.

[0007]

[Operation] According to the first invention, since there is no need for a space for installing an ink ribbon guide member between the carrier for supporting the print head and the card holder, interference between the carrier and the card holder can be suppressed. The interval between the two can be set short.

According to the second invention, the part of the ink ribbon that is struck by the print head can be changed up or down depending on the presence or absence of a spacer, and according to the third invention, by changing the screwing amount of the guide pin, The part of the ink ribbon that is struck by the print head can be moved up or down. Therefore, according to the second and third inventions, a wide ink ribbon can be used.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the first invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the main parts of a serial printer according to the first invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the serial printer according to the first invention. In these figures, 1 is a serial printer according to the first invention. This serial printer 1 includes a wire dot type print head 3 disposed opposite to a platen 2, and this print head 3.
The carrier 4 is provided with a carrier 4 for supporting the carrier 4, and a carrier driving means 5 for reciprocating the carrier 4 along the platen 2. The print head 3 used in this embodiment is a high-speed type with a shorter printing wire than the conventional one.

A half-wound printing paper 6 is removably attached to the platen 2. Further, the print head 3 is normally configured to be moved back and forth together with the carrier 4 within a range facing the print surface of the platen 2.

The carrier driving means 5 includes a guide shaft 7 that guides the carrier 4 to reciprocate parallel to the center axis 2a of the platen 2, and a spacing motor 8 as a drive source that moves the carrier 4 at a constant speed. , and a timing belt 9 that transmits the driving force of the spacing motor 8 to the carrier 4. This timing belt 9 is
A pulley 9a mounted on the rotating shaft of the spacing motor 8, and a pulley 9 located on the opposite side of the pulley 9a.
It is wrapped around b.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a card holder that presses the printing paper 6 against the platen 2. This card holder 11 is arranged at the front of the carrier 4, and is connected to the print head 3 and the platen 2.
It is positioned between.

12 is a harmonica type cassette (not shown)
The ink ribbon stored in , 13 is this ink ribbon 1
This position pin serves as a guide pin that guides the print head 2 toward the printing surface of the print head 3. The position pins 13 are provided upright on both sides of the print head tip on the upper surface 4a of the carrier 4. And ink ribbon 1
2 is passed from the position pin 13 to the platen 2 side and guided to the printing surface of the print head 3.

In the serial printer configured as described above, when the print head 3 moves together with the carrier 4 during a printing operation, the ink ribbon 12 is passed between the card holder 11 and the position pin 13 while slidingly contacting the position pin 13. That will happen. With this structure in which the ink ribbon 12 is guided by the position pin 13, the ink ribbon 12 will not come off the print surface of the print head 3 during travel.

Therefore, with such a structure, there is no need for a space for installing the ink ribbon guide member between the carrier 4 and the card holder 11, so that interference between the carrier 4 and the card holder 11 can be suppressed. The interval between the two can be set short. Therefore, a print head 3 with a short printing wire can be used.

Next, the second invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the main parts of a serial printer according to the second invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view showing the main parts of the serial printer according to the second invention. Shows installed condition. FIG. 5 is a side view showing an enlarged main part of the serial printer according to the second invention, and shows a state in which the spacer is removed. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an ink ribbon used in the second invention. In these figures, the same or equivalent members as those explained in FIGS. 1 and 2 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations will be omitted. In these figures, 21 is a spacer, and this spacer 21 is formed in a generally cylindrical shape as a whole, and is detachably attached to two position pins 13, 13, respectively. Further, the inner diameter of this spacer 21 is set to a size that allows the position pin 13 to fit therein, and when it is attached to the position pin 13, it is placed on the upper surface 4a of the carrier 4. Furthermore, this spacer 21
In this embodiment, the height dimension (axial dimension) is approximately one-fourth of the total width of the ink ribbon 12. The ink ribbon 12 used in this embodiment is approximately twice as wide as the conventional ink ribbon, and as shown in FIG. There is.

In the serial printer equipped with the spacer 21 in this manner, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink ribbon 12 is supported by the spacer 21 and guided by the position pin 13. At this time, due to the Möbius structure of the ink ribbon 12, the second printing section 12b and the third printing section 12c are connected to the print head 3.
will be hit. Then, when the spacer 21 is removed from the upper surface 4a of the carrier 4, the vertical position of the ink ribbon 12 is lowered by the height of the spacer 21, and this time, the first printing part 12a and the fourth printing part 12d of the ink ribbon 12 are lowered by the height of the spacer 21. is printed by the print head 3.

Therefore, according to the second invention, the portion of the ink ribbon 12 that is struck by the print head 3 can be changed vertically depending on the presence or absence of the spacer 21. For this reason,
Using the wide ink ribbon 12, four different portions of the ink ribbon 12 can be used for printing.

In the above-described embodiment, the spacer 21 was detachably attached to the position pin 13, but as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a structure in which the position pin with the spacer can be attached to the carrier so that it can be retracted from the carrier is also available. It is also possible to do this.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main parts of a serial printer according to the third invention, and shows a state in which the spacer is raised. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts of a serial printer according to the third invention, and shows a state in which the spacer is lowered. In these figures, the above figure 1
Components that are the same as or equivalent to those explained in FIG. In these figures, 31 connects the ink ribbon 12 to the print head 3.
The spacer-equipped position pin 31 serves as a guide pin for guiding toward the printing surface side of the print head 3. The spacer-equipped position pin 31 is disposed on both sides of the tip of the print head 3 in the same manner as the position pin 13 described above. and,
This position pin 31 with a spacer is formed by a screw screwed into the upper part of the carrier 4, and a spacer 32 for supporting the ink ribbon 12 is provided at the center in the longitudinal direction.
are integrated.

In the serial printer equipped with the spacer-equipped position pin 31 configured as described above, the carrier 4 can be attached by loosening the spacer-equipped position pin 31.
If the ink ribbon 12 is made to protrude significantly from the print head 3, the spacer 32 will be positioned above, as shown in FIG. 7, and the ink ribbon 12 will be positioned above the print head 3. At this time, the printing section 12 of the second stage of the ink ribbon 12 shown in FIG.
The print head 3 will strike the printing portion 12c on the third stage. Furthermore, when the spacer-equipped position pin 31 is tightened and inserted into the carrier 4, the spacer 32 is positioned at the lower side as shown in FIG.
2 is positioned below with respect to the print head 3. At this time, the print head 3 hits the first-stage printing section 12a and the fourth-stage printing section 12d of the ink ribbon 12 shown in FIG.

Therefore, according to the third invention, the portion of the ink ribbon 12 that is struck by the print head 3 can be changed up or down depending on the screwing amount of the position pin 31 with spacer. Therefore, even with this structure, four different portions of the ink ribbon 12 can be used for printing using the wide ink ribbon 12.

[0025]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, in the serial printer according to the first aspect of the present invention, the guide member for guiding the ink ribbon is constituted by guide pins erected on both sides of the print head tip in the carrier. Since there is no need for a space for installing an ink ribbon guide member between the carrier for supporting the print head and the card holder, it is possible to set the distance between the two to be short while suppressing interference between the carrier and the card holder. . Therefore, since it is possible to use a high-speed print head with a short printing wire, it is possible to obtain a serial printer capable of high-speed printing.

A serial printer according to a second invention is the serial printer according to the first invention, in which a spacer that supports the ink ribbon and changes the position of the ink ribbon upward with respect to the print head is detachably attached to the guide pin. Since the serial printer according to the third invention is provided in
According to the second invention, the guide pin is formed by a screw screwed into the carrier and is provided so as to be freely retractable from the carrier, and a spacer for supporting the ink ribbon is provided in the longitudinal center of the guide pin. For example, the part of the ink ribbon that is struck by the print head can be changed up or down depending on the presence or absence of a spacer, and according to the third invention, the part of the ink ribbon that is hit by the print head can be changed up or down by changing the screwing amount of the guide pin. be changed. For this reason,
According to the second and third inventions, different portions of the ink ribbon 12 in multiple stages can be used for printing using a wide ink ribbon, which has the effect of extending the life of the ink ribbon.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing main parts of a serial printer according to a first invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing essential parts of the serial printer according to the first invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing essential parts of a serial printer according to a second invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an enlarged main part of the serial printer according to the second invention, and shows a state in which a spacer is attached.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an enlarged main part of the serial printer according to the second invention, with the spacer removed.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ink ribbon used in the second invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts of the serial printer according to the third invention, and the figure shows a state in which the spacer is raised.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main parts of the serial printer according to the third invention, and the figure shows a state in which the spacer is lowered.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Platen 3 Print head 4. Career 11 Card holder 12 Ink ribbon 13 Position pin 21 Spacer 31 Position pin with spacer 32 Spacer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A carrier supporting a wire dot type print head includes a card holder located between the print head and a platen to press the print paper against the platen, and a guide for guiding an ink ribbon to the printing surface side of the print head. What is claimed is: 1. A serial printer to which a member is attached, wherein the guide member is constituted by guide pins erected on both sides of a print head tip of the carrier. 2. The serial printer according to claim 1, wherein the guide pin is removably provided with a spacer that supports the ink ribbon and changes the position of the ink ribbon upward with respect to the print head. printer. 3. The serial printer according to claim 1, wherein the guide pin is formed by a screw screwed into the carrier and is provided so as to be freely retractable from the carrier, and a spacer supporting the ink ribbon is provided at the longitudinal center of the guide pin. A serial printer characterized by being provided with.