JPH0516480A - Ink film cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide an ink film cassette in which the direction in which the upper and lower cases are combined and the mounting direction with respect to the printer main body are clarified by changing the structure of the roll storage unit. A roll storage portion on the ink film supply side is formed by a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 50 provided at one end of an upper case 4 of an ink film cassette and a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 53 provided at one end of a lower case 5. 4, a semi-cylindrical portion 51 provided at the other end of the lower case 5 and a semi-cylindrical portion 54 provided at the other end of the lower case 5 form a roll storage portion on the ink film winding side. It is characterized in that the roll accommodating portion formed by and the roll accommodating portion formed by the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 51 and 54 have different outer dimensions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of an ink film cassette for containing an ink film used in a thermal printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the structure of this type of ink film cassette has been shown in FIGS. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional ink film cassette. In the figure, reference numerals 80 and 81 denote an upper case and a lower case that are stacked to form an ink film cassette that can rotatably accommodate the ink film 1. The upper case 80 is a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 84 on the ink film supply side and the ink film take-up side. Of the substantially semi-cylindrical portion 90 and the substantially semi-cylindrical portion 8 respectively
An ink film is formed between the two semi-cylindrical portions 84 and 90, each of which has a frame-shaped structure including a pair of upper side wall connecting plate portions 82 that connect between the bearing portions that are formed by semi-closing at both ends of the semi-cylindrical portions 84 and 90. An opening 92 that exposes 1 is provided.

The lower case 81 has a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 85 on the ink film supply side and a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 89 on the ink film winding side.
And a pair of lower side wall connecting plate portions 8 for connecting between the bearing portions formed by half closing at both ends of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 85 and 89, respectively.
And a frame-shaped structure composed of 3 and 3. The ink film supply roll 87 and the ink film take-up roll 88
Are housed in the substantially semi-cylindrical parts 85 and 89 of the lower case 81, respectively, and the upper case 80 is put on and overlapped with each other to form an ink film cassette.

Next, the assembled state of the conventional ink film cassette shown in FIG. 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 11 is a view showing one side surface of the ink film cassette. FIG. 11a is a side view showing a state in which the upper case 80 and the lower case 81 are disassembled or a state before being assembled. The side surfaces of the end portions of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 84, 85, 90, 89 have a substantially semi-circular shape, and when the upper case 80 and the lower case 81 are overlapped with each other, a substantially circular shape is formed to form an ink film supply roll 87 and an ink film winding roll. The take-up roll 88 is configured as a bearing that can freely rotate (FIG. 11c.). Since the outer dimensions of all the substantially semi-cylindrical portions are the same (FIG. 11c), the roll storage portion on the film supply side formed by the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 84 and 85 and the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 90 and 8 are formed.
The outer dimensions of the roll housing portion on the film winding side formed by 9 are the same in size.

FIG. 11a. 11 is an end view taken along line GG of FIG.
b. As can be seen from the above, since the axial widths of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions of the upper case 80 and the lower case 81 are the same, the upper case 8
When 0 and the lower case 81 are superposed, the end side surfaces of the substantially semi-cylindrical parts 84, 85, 89, 90 on the side surfaces of both cases,
Also, the cuts of the upper and lower side wall connecting plate portions 82 and 83 come into contact with each other and are arranged on the same plane (FIG. 11d.).

[0006]

In the conventional ink film cassette as described above, since the outer dimensions of the roll storage portion on the ink film supply side and the roll storage portion on the ink film take-up side are the same, which one is the ink film supply side? It is difficult to distinguish between the ink film take-up side and the ink film cassette side, and there is a possibility that the upper and lower cases may be combined in the wrong direction when assembling the ink film cassette, or that the mounting direction may be wrong when the ink film cassette is installed in the printer body. was there.

The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problems as described above, and provides an ink film cassette in which the assembly direction of the upper and lower cases and the mounting direction with respect to the printer main body are made clear by the structure of the roll accommodating portion. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides two rolls around which an ink film is wound and first and second rolls arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval. And an upper case formed of a substantially semi-cylindrical portion and a pair of upper side wall connecting plate portions that connect both ends of the first and second substantially semi-cylindrical portions, respectively, and are arranged at the same interval as the predetermined interval. A lower case including a pair of lower side wall connecting plate portions for connecting both end portions of the third and fourth substantially semi-cylindrical portions and the third and fourth substantially semi-cylindrical portions, respectively. By combining a case and a lower case, the first and third substantially semi-cylindrical portions and the second and fourth substantially semi-cylindrical portions respectively accommodate the two rolls. In an ink film cassette configured to form a roll storage part, the first and Each outer dimensions of the second roll housing part provided the ink film cassette, characterized in that the different sizes.

Further, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing an ink film cassette characterized in that the roll housing portion has a larger outer dimension on the ink film winding side than on the ink film supply side.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since the outer dimensions of the roll accommodating portion on the ink film supply side and the outer dimension of the roll accommodating portion on the ink film take-up side are different from each other, the ink film supply side and the ink film supply side are different from each other. Each roll storage part from the ink film winding side is now clearly distinguished,
When the ink film cassette is assembled and attached to the printer, the inconvenience that the assembly direction or the installation direction is wrong is eliminated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a state when the ink film cassette of FIG. 1 is assembled. Side exploded view, b. Its AA line end view, c. Assembly drawing, d. The BB line end view, FIG. 3 shows a. Of the ink film cassette according to the embodiment of the present invention. Side view, b. FIG. 4 is an end view of the C-C line, and FIG. 4 shows a state when the ink film cassette according to the embodiment of the present invention is assembled. Side exploded view, b. The DD line end view,
c. Assembly drawing, d. The EE line end view.

FIG. 5 shows changes in diameter of the ink film rolls on the supply side and the take-up side. At the start of winding, b. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the end of winding, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a printing operation using the ink film cassette according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a roll bearing portion by upper and lower cases. Figure 7b. II partial cross-sectional view, b. Figure 7a. 8 is a side view of the F-F line of FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The structure will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Numerals 4 and 5 are an upper case and a lower case which are superposed to form an ink film cassette capable of rotatably accommodating the ink film 1. The upper case 4 has a predetermined interval. And a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 50 on the ink film supply side that are arranged in parallel.
And the semi-cylindrical portion 51 on the ink film take-up side and the semi-cylindrical portions 50 and 51, which are half closed at both ends, respectively, to connect the bearing portions 91 and 93 forming the bearings of the ink film supply roll 2 and the take-up roll 3 to each other. It is formed in a frame-shaped structure composed of a pair of upper side wall connecting plate portions 52, and has a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 50.
An opening 9 exposing the ink film 1 is provided between
6 is provided. The lower case 5 has a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 53 on the ink film supply side and a substantially semi-cylindrical portion 54 on the ink film take-up side, which are arranged in parallel with each other at the same predetermined intervals as the upper case 4. It is half closed at both ends of 54, and is formed in a frame-like structure composed of a pair of lower side wall connecting plate parts 55 connecting the parts forming the bearing parts 91, 93.

As will be described later in detail, the axial width of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 50, 51 of the upper case 4 is formed wider than the axial width of the approximately semi-cylindrical portions 53, 54 of the lower case 5. ,
When the upper case 4 and the lower case 5 are overlapped with each other, both side surfaces of the upper side wall connecting plate portion 52 and the lower side wall connecting plate portion 55 can be overlapped with each other, so that the upper and lower side wall connecting plate portions, respectively. The width of 52 and 55 in the height direction can be widened to increase the strength thereof.

A protrusion 6 is provided on the outer surface of the lower case 5, and the presence or absence of the protrusion 6 is detected by a sensor such as a micro switch provided on the main body side when the ink film cassette is mounted on the main body of the apparatus. As a result, information such as the type of the ink film 1 stored in the ink film cassette can be transmitted (details will be described later).

Reference numerals 2 and 3 denote ink film supply rolls on the ink film supply side (hereinafter referred to as supply rolls) around which the long ink film 1 is wound, and ink film take-up rolls on the ink film take-up side (hereinafter referred to as take-up rolls). Is. When the supply roll 2 and the winding roll 3 are housed in the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 53 and 54 of the lower case 5 and then the upper case 4 is covered, the ink film cassette shown in FIG. 1 is formed. As will be described later in detail, according to the present invention, the outer shape of the cylinder formed of the substantially semi-cylindrical parts 51 and 54 on the ink film winding side is made to have a size (large in this embodiment) different from that on the ink film supply side. Further, as will be described in detail with FIG. 7 (omitted in FIG. 1), a substantially circular bearing portion 93 formed on both end surfaces of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 50 and 53 and supporting the shaft of the supply roll 2, At least one bearing portion 91, 93 of the substantially circular bearing portion 91 formed on both end surfaces of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 51 and 54 and supporting the shaft of the winding roll 3 is provided for the supported rolls 2, 3. It is formed in a long hole shape having a parallel portion having a width substantially equal to the diameter of the coupling 7 (FIG. 7) attached to the shaft.

Next, the state of the ink film cassette according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 when assembled will be described with reference to FIG. 2 is a view showing only one side surface of the ink film cassette, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the upper case 4 and the lower case 5 are disassembled or a state before being assembled. Both side surfaces of both ends of the substantially semi-cylindrical parts 50, 51, 53, 54 have a substantially semi-circular shape, and when the upper case 4 and the lower case 5 are overlapped with each other, they have a substantially circular shape, and the supply roll 2 and the take-up roll 3 To form a bearing part that can rotate freely (Fig. 2
c. ). Figure 2c. As is apparent from the above, the outer shape of the roll accommodating portion on the ink film take-up side, which is composed of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 51 and 54, is larger than the outer shape of the roll accommodating portion that is composed of the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 50 and 53 on the ink film supply side (or The ink film take-up roll, which has been made and has a thicker roll due to use, can be stored sufficiently, and the distinction between the roll storage part on the supply side and the roll side on the supply side becomes clear. No mistakes were made during assembly and installation in the printer (more on this later).

FIG. 2b. 2a. FIG. 6 is an end view of the upper and lower side wall connecting plate parts 52 and 55 shown in FIG. Since the right side of the figure is the inside of the cassette, the upper side wall connecting plate portion 52 is positioned outside the lower side wall connecting plate portion 55, and the upper side wall connecting plate portion 52 is positioned as shown in FIG. And Figure 2d. As can be seen, when the upper case 4 and the lower case 5 are superposed on each other, both side surfaces of the upper and lower side wall connecting plate portions 52 and 55 are completely superposed to form a reinforced ink film cassette.

FIG. 3 shows an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention a. A side view, and b. The CC line end view is shown. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper and lower side wall connecting plate portions are simply superposed, but in the present embodiment, the lower case 21 is covered with the upper case 20, and the upper and lower side wall connecting plates are superposed. Two holes (any number) may be formed in the plate portions 24 and 25, and the locking pin member 11 may be inserted into the holes to fix the cases 20 and 21. Further, the locking pin member 11 may use another locking member such as a screw.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state when the ink film cassette according to the embodiment of the present invention is assembled. Similarly to the above-described two embodiments, this embodiment is also configured such that the upper and lower side wall connecting plate portions are overlapped with each other on their side portions, but the upper and lower side wall connecting plate portions 32 of the present embodiment are arranged. , 33 are characterized by having locking portions themselves. Figure 4a. And b. In the above, two groove portions are cut in the lower side of the central portion of the upper side wall connecting plate portion 32, and the claw portion 12 protruding inside the remaining portion between them (right side in FIG. 4) is formed. A concave portion 13 is formed in a portion corresponding to the lower claw portion 12 in the center of the lower side wall connecting plate portion 33, and as shown in FIG. And d. As shown in, when the upper case 30 and the lower case 31 are overlapped with each other, the claw portion 12 is fitted into the recess 13 to fix the upper side wall connecting plate portion 32 and the lower side wall connecting plate portion 33. Become. That is, since the upper and lower cases 30 and 31 are made of an elastic material such as plastic, the claw portion 12 and the recess 13 constitute an automatic locking portion that snap-connects the upper and lower cases 30 and 31.

Next, the necessity for one embodiment of the present invention will be explained by describing the states at the start of winding (FIG. 5a.) And the end of winding (FIG. 5b.) Of the ink film based on FIG. Describe. At the start of winding the ink film (FIG. 5a.), The ink film is wound around the ink film supply roll 2 with a diameter D1 (A1), and the ink film is wound around the ink film winding roll 3 side (in the X direction). While being supplied, the thermal head 10 is activated to overlap the image receiving paper and be pressed against the platen.
At that time, the dye on the ink film 1 is sublimated by heat and transferred to the image receiving paper.

The used ink film 1 is wound up on the winding roll 3 in the ink film cassette, but due to shrinkage deformation due to thermal transfer, unevenness occurs in the film, and the winding diameter per ink film of the same length is The take-up roll 3 becomes thicker than the supply roll 2. Therefore, FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, at the end of winding the ink film 1, the thickness of the ink film (A4) wound on the winding roll 3 side is thicker than the thickness D1 at the start of winding, as indicated by D2. Become. Therefore, the diameter of the take-up roll accommodating portion formed by the substantially semi-cylindrical portion on the take-up roll side of the ink film cassette is made larger than the diameter of the supply roll accommodating portion formed by the substantially semi-cylindrical portion on the supply roll side. As a result, the ink film cassette can be configured in the minimum necessary space according to the winding diameters of the supply and take-up rolls, and the mounting direction of the cassette can be clarified thereby (FIGS. 1 to 5). , FIG. 8).

Next, the printing operation using the ink film cassette according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The printer according to this example is a sublimation thermal transfer type thermal printer, in which a rotating cylindrical platen 9 is provided at the center, and an image receiving paper 8 is supplied and wound between it and a pinch roller 14. The ink film 1 supplied from the supply roll 2 to the take-up roll 3 is arranged so as to overlap at the opening of the ink film cassette, and the ink film 1 and the image receiving paper 8 are superposed thereon and pressure-bonded to the platen 9. The thermal head 10 is mounted. The dye on the ink film 1 is selectively driven by driving the platen 9 and the take-up roll 3 to convey the image receiving paper 8 and the ink film 1, while selectively heating the ink film 1 by the thermal head 10 which is pressure-bonded thereto. Is transferred to the image-receiving paper 8. Then, the transferred ink film is wound on the winding roll 3.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, the bearing portion 44 of the ink film take-up roll 3 formed by the substantially semi-cylindrical portions 41 and 42 of the upper case and the lower case will be described in detail. The take-up roll 3 is composed of a take-up roll main body (shaft) 40 on which the ink film 1 is taken up, and coupling members 7 attached to both ends thereof (FIG. 7a.). The coupling member 7 is supported by a roll bearing portion 44 formed by superposing two substantially semi-cylindrical portions 41 and 42, and the winding roll body 40 is also substantially semi-cylindrical portions 41 and 42.
It is stored in the roll storage part formed by. The roll bearing portion 44 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the two parallel portions 43 of the roll bearing portion 44 are provided with parallel portions 43 having a width substantially equal to the diameter of the coupling member 7 parallel to both sides in the substantially feed roll direction (left side in the drawing). Since the circular arc portion between is formed so as to have some allowance with the coupling member 7,
The roll bearing portion 44 is formed in a long hole shape as a whole.

A protrusion 45 having a protrusion extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the parallel portion 43 is formed integrally with the substantially semi-cylindrical portion of the lower case. Therefore, the protrusion 45 is not parallel to the parallel portion 43.
There is no rattling in the direction perpendicular to, and it can be accurately detected by a sensor attached to the device body.
Although the above description has been given on the ink film winding side, the parallel portions may be provided on the supply side or on both sides.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. In each of the cassettes of the above-described embodiments, the upper case is arranged on the outer side and the lower case is formed on the inner side, but the invention is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the lower case 4
Since the axial width of 7 is wider than the axial width of the upper case 46, the lower side wall connecting plate portion 49 is closer to the upper side wall connecting plate portion 48.
Of the upper side wall connecting plate portion 48 inside,
The sides are configured to overlap each other.

Further, the size relationship between the outer diameters of the roll accommodating portions on the supply side and the winding side of the ink film cassette is not limited to the enlargement of the winding side as shown in FIG. 1, for example. . FIG. 9 shows an example in which the outer dimension of the roll-side storage portion on the supply side is larger than that on the winding side according to another embodiment of the present invention. This is used, for example, when an image receiving paper is also wound around the ink film supply roll.

The ink film cassette according to the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and illustrated above, but can be realized in various other configurations.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By making the outer dimensions of the roll storage parts on the ink film supply side and the winding side provided on the upper and lower cases different, it is possible to assemble the ink film cassette at the time of assembling it or when mounting the cassette on the printer. Since the direction and the mounting direction are clear at a glance, the assemblability and operability are improved, and the work can be performed quickly and correctly.

Moreover, by making the outer dimensions of the ink film roll accommodating portion as small as necessary, the ink film cassette and the printer itself can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 shows a state of the ink film cassette shown in FIG. 1 during assembly a. Side exploded view, b. Its AA line end view, c.
Assembly drawing, d. The BB line end view

FIG. 3 shows a. Of an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. Side view, b. The CC line end view

FIG. 4 shows a state during assembly of an ink film cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention a. Side exploded view, b. That DD
Line end view, c. Assembly drawing, d. The EE line end view

5 shows changes in diameter of ink film rolls on the supply side and the take-up side a. At the start of winding, b. Diagram showing the end of winding

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a printing operation using the ink film cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a roll bearing portion by upper and lower cases, a.
Figure 7b. II partial cross-sectional view, b. Figure 7a. FF
Line side view

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ink film cassette showing a case in which the relationship between the outer diameters of the roll storage portions is different according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional ink film cassette.

11 shows an assembled state of the ink film cassette of FIG. Exploded view, b. Its GG line end view, c. Assembly drawing, d. The HH line end view

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Ink film 2: Ink film supply roll 3: Ink film take-up roll 4, 20, 30, 46: Upper case 5, 21, 31, 47: Lower case 6, 45: Protrusion 7: Coupling member 8: Image receiving paper 9 : Platen 10: Thermal head 11: Locking pin member 12: Claw portion 13: Recessed portion 14: Pinch roller 43: Parallel portion 44: Roll bearing portion 22, 23, 27, 28, 34, 35, 36, 37, 4
1, 42, 50, 51, 53, 54: substantially semi-cylindrical parts 24, 32, 52: upper side wall connecting plate parts 25, 33, 55: lower side wall connecting plate parts 91, 93: bearing parts

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Two rolls around which an ink film is wound, and a first roll arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval.
And an upper case including a second substantially semi-cylindrical portion and a pair of upper side wall connecting plate portions that respectively connect both end portions of the first and second substantially semi-cylindrical portions, and the same spacing as the predetermined spacing. A lower case composed of third and fourth substantially semi-cylindrical parts arranged in advance and a pair of lower side wall connecting plate parts respectively connecting both ends of the third and fourth substantially semi-cylindrical parts. , The first and third substantially semi-cylindrical portions and the second and fourth substantially semi-cylindrical portions, respectively, which combine the upper case and the lower case to accommodate the two rolls, respectively. An ink film cassette configured to form a second roll accommodating portion, wherein the outer dimensions of the first and second roll accommodating portions are different from each other. 2. An ink film cassette characterized in that the roll accommodating portion has a larger outer dimension on the ink film winding side than on the ink film supply side.