JPH05270089A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To enable easy and accurate mounting of each support wheel of an ink ribbon and storage of the ink ribbon in a ribbon cassette. [Structure] Ribbon cores (11, 2) on the winding side and winding side
A first identification mark (61) for distinguishing from the other ribbon core end is attached to one end of any one of 1), and the ribbon core end (22) with the first identification mark (61) is attached.
A support wheel (25) attached to
Second identification mark (62) corresponding to the identification mark (61)
And a second part of the accommodating part (45) of the ribbon cassette (40) accommodating the ribbon core (21) to which the support wheel (25) having the second identification mark (62) is attached.
The third identification mark (63) corresponding to the second identification mark (62) is provided at the position corresponding to the identification mark.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a schematic structure of a conventional line type thermal printer. In the figure, 1 is a printer main body. The printer body 1 includes a paper cassette 2, a paper transporting means 3, a platen 7, a thermal head 8 and an ink ribbon 1.
0A, a ribbon cassette 40, a ribbon drive mechanism 51 and the like are provided.

Here, the sheet conveying means 3 is formed so as to take out the sheets P one by one from the sheet cassette 2 and convey them between the platen 7 and the thermal head 8 and to discharge them in a predetermined direction after printing by the thermal head 8. ing. Specifically, the sheet conveying means 3 is composed of a sheet feeding motor 4, feed rollers 5a, 5b, feed rollers 5a, 5b, and a sheet conveying motor 6 capable of synchronously rotating the platen 7 in the arrow direction. ing.

The ink ribbon 10A is housed in a ribbon cassette 40, and as shown in FIG. 7, an ink sheet 31 is wound around it, and support wheels (ribbon wheels 15, 15) can be attached to and detached from both ends 12L, 12R. The ribbon core 11 on the winding source side attached to and the support wheels for driving (ribbon gears 25, 25) detachably attached to both ends 22L and 22R of the ribbon core 11 are rotationally driven by the ribbon driving mechanism 51 to rotate the winding source. The ribbon core 21 on the take-up side winds up the ink sheet 31 pulled out from the ribbon core 11 on the side.

Here, the ribbon cores 11 and 21 have the same cylindrical shape in order to reduce the manufacturing cost and facilitate the parts management. Similarly, the ribbon wheels 15, 15
They have the same shape and the ribbon gear 25,
The 25 pieces have the same shape. The ink sheet 31 has a structure in which ink is applied to one surface of a transparent base film, and the ink application surface is set so that the ink application surface faces downward in FIG. In addition, each support wheel (15, 1
5, 25, 25) are detached from the used ribbon cores 11 and 21 when the ink ribbon 10A is replaced, and attached to new ribbon cores for reuse. Reference numeral 19 denotes a tension spring for preventing ink sheet slack, which applies a brake to the ribbon wheel 15 to pull out the ink sheet 3 from the ribbon core 11 on the winding source side.
A constant tension is applied to 1.

The ribbon cassette 40, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, has a lower body 40L and an upper body 40U.
And is formed so as to be vertically dividable. The ribbon cassette 40 has a first accommodating portion 41 for accommodating the ribbon core 11 on the winding side of the ink ribbon 10A and a second accommodating portion 4 for accommodating the ribbon core 21 on the winding side.
5 and.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the ribbon drive mechanism 51 is composed of a ribbon drive gear 53 meshing with the ribbon gear 25 and a ribbon motor 52 for rotationally driving the drive gear 53.

In the above thermal printer, however, the paper P and the ink sheet 31 are inserted between the thermal head 8 and the platen 7 by the paper conveying means 3 and the ribbon drive mechanism 51, and the thermal head 8 applies ink to the paper. Thermally transferred.

Here, the user selects the ink ribbon 10A.
Used ribbon cores 11 and 21
The ribbon wheels 15 and 15 and the ribbon gears 25 and 25 removed from are attached to the corresponding new ribbon cores 11 and 21, respectively. At this time, ribbon wheel 1
5, 15 both ends 12L, 1 of the ribbon core 11 on the winding side
2R, ribbon gears 25, 25 on the winding side ribbon core 2
Correctly attach to both ends 22L, 22R of 1.

Next, the ink ribbon 10A is stored in the ribbon cassette 40. At this time, the ribbon core 11 on the winding side of the ink ribbon 10A is correctly stored so that the ribbon core 11 on the winding side is stored in the first storing portion 41 and the ribbon core 21 on the winding side is stored in the second storing portion 45. It should be noted that, in this storing operation, the right and left sides of the ink ribbon 10A should be taken into consideration so that the ink sheet 31 has a front side and a back side. Ink sheet 3
The ink ribbon 10A is stored so that the ink application surface of No. 1 faces downward in FIG.

[0011]

By the way, in the above-described thermal printer, since the ribbon cores 11 and 21 on the winding side and the winding side are formed in the same shape, the ribbon wheels 15 and 15 and the ribbon gears 25 and 25 are omitted. It is difficult to know which of the ribbon cores 11 and 21 should be attached. In addition, the ink ribbon 10A is attached to the ribbon cassette 4
It is difficult to know which of the ribbon cores 11 and 21 should be accommodated in each of the accommodating portions 41 and 45 of the ribbon cassette 40 when storing in the 0.

Further, since the ink sheet 31 has a front side and a back side, it is necessary to store the right and left sides of the ink ribbon 10A in the ribbon cassette 40 without mistake. It is easy to happen. Therefore, the user is required to use each support wheel (1
5, 15, 25, 25) and the front, rear, left, and right directions of the ink ribbon 10A must be determined while reading the manual and the explanations, and it takes a lot of time and labor to replace the ink ribbon.

As one measure to solve such inconvenience, it is considered that the ribbon wheels 15 and 15 and the ribbon gears 25 and 25 are attached to the ribbon gears 11 and 21 in advance and supplied to the user as consumables. However, with this, the reusable ribbon wheel 15 and ribbon gear 25
Will be attached to the ink sheet 31 for sale, which imposes a heavy financial burden on the user.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer capable of easily and accurately mounting each support wheel of an ink ribbon and storing the ink ribbon in a ribbon cassette. The purpose of. It is a second object of the present invention to provide a thermal printer in which each support wheel of the ink ribbon can be attached more simply and accurately.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal printer in which an ink sheet is wound and a support wheel is detachably attached to both ends of the thermal printer, and a ribbon core is detachably attached to both ends. The ribbon ribbon on the winding side is housed, and the ink ribbon including the ribbon core on the winding side that winds the ink sheet pulled out from the ribbon core on the winding side by being rotationally driven through the driving support wheel attached to In a thermal printer provided with a ribbon cassette having a first accommodating portion and a second accommodating portion for accommodating a winding-side ribbon core, one end portion of one of the winding-side ribbon core and the winding-side ribbon core is provided. , A support wheel attached with a first identification mark for distinguishing it from other ribbon core end portions and attached to the ribbon core end portion with this first identification mark A second identification mark corresponding to the first identification mark, and at a position corresponding to the second identification mark of the accommodation portion of the ribbon cassette accommodating the ribbon core to which the support wheel having the second identification mark is attached, The second
It is characterized in that a third identification mark corresponding to the identification mark is provided.

In the thermal printer according to the second aspect of the present invention, the ribbon core on the winding source side on which the ink sheet is wound and the supporting wheels are detachably attached to both ends, and the drive core which is detachably attached to both ends thereof are provided. A thermal printer having an ink ribbon comprising a ribbon core on a winding side that winds an ink sheet pulled out from a ribbon core on the winding side by being rotationally driven via a supporting wheel for the winding side and the winding side. The first identification groove portion is provided at both ends of one of the ribbon cores, and the second identification groove portion having a shape different from that of the first identification groove portion is provided at both ends of the other ribbon core. The support wheels attached to both ends of the ribbon core have a first protrusion that can be fitted into the first identification groove.
A support wheel attached to both ends of a ribbon core having a second identification groove is provided with a second protrusion that can be inserted into the second identification groove and cannot be inserted into the first identification groove. To do.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the present invention having the above-described structure, when attaching each support wheel of the ink ribbon, the support wheel having the second identification mark is attached to the end of the ribbon core having the first identification mark. The good thing is that you can easily determine without having to check each manual or instruction manual.

If one of the four support wheels is attached, the other attachment can be easily determined. That is, if a support wheel of the same type as the support wheel is attached to the opposite end of the ribbon core to which the support wheel with the second identification mark is attached, and the remaining support wheel is attached to the other ribbon core, Support wheels can be mounted in the correct places.

Further, each ribbon core of the ink ribbon is accommodated in each accommodating portion such that the support wheel having the second identification mark on the ink ribbon side is aligned with the portion of the accommodating portion of the ribbon cassette marked with the third identification mark. Simply, the ink ribbon can be stored in the ribbon cassette in the correct posture.

Therefore, it is possible to easily and accurately attach the support wheels of the ink ribbon and store the ink ribbon in the ribbon cassette.

According to the invention of claim 2 having the above-mentioned structure, the first core is provided at both ends of the ribbon core having the first identifying groove.
The support wheel with the protrusion is attached, but the second
Support wheels with protrusions cannot be attached. As described above, since the mounting itself is not completed unless the support wheel and the ribbon core are properly combined, the mounting of the respective support wheels of the ink ribbon can be performed more easily and accurately.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) The thermal printer according to the present embodiment is configured such that each support wheel of the ink ribbon 10 (ribbon wheel 1
5, 15 and the ribbon gears 25, 25) and the one end (22R) of the one ribbon core (21) and the end thereof are selected so that the ink ribbon 10 can be easily and accurately stored in the ribbon cassette 40. Division (22
R) corresponding to the supporting wheel (25) and the identification mark (61,
62, 63), the ink ribbon 10,
In addition to the ribbon cassette 40 and the like, the printer main body 1, the paper cassette 2, the paper transport means 3, the platen 7, the thermal head 8, and the ribbon drive mechanism 51 are included. In addition,
The same components as those shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted or simplified.

Here, in this thermal printer, a first identification mark 61 for identifying one end of one of the ribbon cores 11 and 21 on the winding side and the winding side from the other ribbon core end is attached. There is. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the first identification mark 61 is the ribbon core 21 on the winding side.
To the right end 22R of the other ribbon core end (12L, 12
R, 22L) and is formed by giving a different color. More specifically, the ribbon cores 11 and 21 are
It is made of a cylindrical paper tube with the same shape (diameter, length, etc.) and material to make the parts common, and the color of each end is the color of the paper (light brown). The right end portion 22 of the ribbon core 21 on the take-up side is black, which can be clearly distinguished from the color.
The first identification mark 61 is formed on R.

The support wheel (25) attached to the ribbon core end (22R) having the first identification mark 61 is provided with the second identification mark 62 corresponding to the first identification mark. In the present embodiment, the second identification mark 62 is formed by applying the same color (that is, black) as the first identification mark 61 to the ribbon gear 25 attached to the right end portion 22R of the ribbon core 21 on the winding side.
More specifically, the ribbon gear 25 is molded using a black resin. The other ribbon gear 25 and the ribbon wheels 15 and 15 are molded using white resin.

Further, a ribbon core (21) to which a ribbon wheel (25) having a second identification mark 62 is attached
As shown in FIG. 3, a third identification mark 63 corresponding to the second identification mark 62 is provided at a position corresponding to the second identification mark of the accommodating portion (45) for accommodating the. In the present embodiment, the third identification mark 63 is a black circle having the same color as the second identification mark 62 in the second accommodating portion 45 of the ribbon cassette 40 shown in FIG.
It is formed by attaching to the middle right end portion 46R.

Next, the operation will be described. the user,
When replacing the ink ribbon, the ribbon cassette 40
Is removed from the printer body 1, and the used ink ribbon 10 is taken out from the cassette 40. Then, the ribbon wheels 15 and 15 and the ribbon gears 25 and 25 are
Remove from each ribbon core 11, 21 for reuse. Next, the ribbon wheels 15 and 15 and the ribbon gears 25 and 25 are attached to the ribbon core 11 on the winding source side and the ribbon core 21 on the winding side to which the new ink sheet 31 is attached.

At this time, it is sufficient to attach the ribbon gear 25 having the second identification mark 62 to the end portion 22R of the ribbon core 21 having the first identification mark 61. You can easily judge without doing it.

Here, the four support wheels (15, 1
5, 25, 25), if one attachment point is known, the other attachment points can be easily determined. That is, another white ribbon gear 25 is attached to the end 22L on the opposite side of the ribbon core 21 to which the ribbon gear 25 with the second identification mark 62 is attached, and the remaining white ribbon wheel 15 is attached to the other ribbon core 11. , 15 allows each support wheel (15, 15, 25, 25) to be mounted in the correct location.

Further, each ribbon core 11 of the ink ribbon 10 is arranged so that the ribbon gear 25 having the second identification mark 62 on the ink ribbon 10 side is aligned with the third identification mark 63 provided on the accommodating portion 45 of the ribbon cassette 40. The ink ribbon 10 can be stored in the ribbon cassette 40 in a correct posture only by storing 21 in the storage portions 41 and 45.

Therefore, each support wheel of the ink ribbon 10 (ribbon wheels 15, 15, ribbon gear 25,
25) can be attached and the ink ribbon 10 can be stored in the ribbon cassette 40 easily and accurately.

Further, since the identification marks 61, 62, 63 are formed in the same color, it is possible to attach the support wheels (15, 15, 25, 25) to the ribbon cassette 40 of the ink ribbon 10 at a glance. You can see the storage location of.
Therefore, each support wheel (1
5, 15, 25, 25) and the ink ribbon 10 can be stored in the ribbon cassette 40 more easily and accurately.

Further, since each identification mark 61, 62, 63 is formed in a single color, it is easy and easy to manufacture.

In the above embodiment, the first identification mark 6
Although 1 is attached to the right end 22R of the ribbon core 21 on the winding side, it may be attached to the end of another ribbon core (for example, the left end 12L of the ribbon core 11).

Further, at the left end portion 22L of the ribbon core 21,
A color mark different from the black first identification mark 61 may be attached. For example, red is applied to the left end portion 22L of the ribbon core 21. Then, one ribbon gear 25 is made red in correspondence with this red mark. Also, the ribbon cassette 40
A red circle is attached to the left end portion 46L of the second housing 45 of FIG. With such a configuration, the support wheels (15, 15, 25, 25) of the ink ribbon 10 can be attached and the ink ribbon 10 can be stored in the ribbon cassette 40 more easily and accurately, and one ribbon core ( For example, it is possible to prevent a mistake in mounting the ribbon wheel 15 and the ribbon gear 25 on the ribbon core 11) one by one.

(Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, each support wheel (15, 15, 25, 25) of the ink ribbon 10 is used.
If the combination of and the respective ribbon cores (11, 21) is not correct, the mounting itself is not completed, and the mounting of each support wheel (15, 15, 25, 25) can be performed more easily and accurately. is there. Each component except the ink ribbon 10 (the printer body 10 and the like)
Has the same configuration as that of the thermal printer of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

Specifically, this thermal printer is shown in FIG.
, The ribbon cores 11 and 2 on the winding side and the winding side are shown in FIG.
The first identification groove portion 71 is provided at both ends of any one of the first and the second identification groove portions 73 different in form from the first identification groove portion 71, and provided at both ends of the other ribbon core.
The support wheels attached to both ends of the ribbon core having the identification groove portion 71 are provided with the first protrusions 75 that can be inserted into the first identification groove portions 71, and are attached to both ends of the ribbon core having the second identification groove portion 73. A support wheel that can be inserted into the second identification groove portion 73 and the first identification groove portion 71.
The second protrusion 77 that cannot be fitted is provided in the above (in FIG. 5, only the identification groove 71 and the protrusion 75 on the right side are shown).

In the present embodiment, the first identifying groove portion 71 is provided at the left and right end portions 12L and 12R of the ribbon core 11 on the winding side.
It is formed by two grooves 72, 72 provided at 0 ° pitch intervals. The second identifying groove portion 73 is formed by four grooves 74, 74, 74, 74 provided at 90 ° pitch intervals on the left and right end portions 22L, 22R of the ribbon core 21 on the winding side.

Further, the ribbon wheel 15 is provided with a first protrusion 75 which can be inserted into the first identification groove 71. The first protrusion 75 is formed by protrusions 76, 76 formed at 180 ° pitch intervals on the outer peripheral surface portion of the ribbon wheel 15 which is fitted into the ribbon core 11. In addition, the ribbon gear 25 has a second protrusion 77 that can be inserted into the second identification groove 73 and cannot be inserted into the first identification groove 71.
Is provided. The second protrusion 77 has a 90 ° angle on the outer peripheral surface of the ribbon gear 25, which is fitted into the ribbon core 21.
The projections 78, 78, 78, 78 are formed at pitch intervals.

Therefore, in this second embodiment, both ends 12L, 1 of the ribbon core 11 having the first identifying groove 71 are formed.
Each ribbon wheel 15 having the first protrusion 75 on 2R
The ribbon gear 25 having the second protrusion 77 cannot be attached. As described above, if the combination of the support wheels (15, 15, 25, 25) and the ribbon cores (11, 21) is not correct, the attachment itself is not completed. Therefore, the support wheels (15, 15, 25) of the ink ribbon 10 are not completed. , 25) can be mounted more easily and accurately.

[0040]

According to the invention of claim 1, one end of one of the winding-side ribbon core and the winding-side ribbon core is provided with a first identification mark for distinguishing it from the other ribbon core end.
A ribbon wheel having a second identification mark corresponding to the first identification mark attached to the support wheel attached to the end of the ribbon core provided with the first identification mark, and the support wheel attached with the second identification mark attached Since the third identification mark corresponding to the second identification mark is provided at the position corresponding to the second identification mark in the accommodating portion of the ribbon cassette for accommodating The ribbon cassette can be stored easily and accurately.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the first core is provided at both ends of either one of the ribbon core on the winding side and the ribbon core on the winding side.
While providing the identification groove portion, the second identification groove portion having a different form from the first identification groove portion is provided at both end portions of the other ribbon core, and the support wheel attached to both end portions of the ribbon core having the first identification groove portion, The second protrusion is provided on the support wheel, which is provided at both ends of the ribbon core having the first identification groove portion and the first protrusion portion insertable into the first identification groove portion.
Since the second protrusion that can be inserted into the identification groove and cannot be inserted into the first identification groove is provided, the support wheels of the ink ribbon can be attached more easily and accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a main part of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of storing the ink ribbon of the first embodiment in a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation of storing the ink ribbon of the first embodiment in a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a main part of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a conventional thermal printer.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining attachment points of conventional ribbon wheels and ribbon gears.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an operation of storing a conventional ink ribbon in a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation of storing a conventional ink ribbon in a ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Ink Ribbon 11 Ribbon Core 12L, 12R End Part 15 Ribbon Wheel (Support Wheel) 21 Ribbon Core 22L, 22R End Part 25 Ribbon Gear (Support Wheel) 31 Ink Sheet 40 Ribbon Cassette 41 First Storage Part 45 2nd accommodating part 61 1st identification mark 62 2nd identification mark 63 3rd identification mark 71 1st identification groove part 73 2nd identification groove part 75 1st protrusion part 77 2nd protrusion part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A ribbon core on the winding side, to which an ink sheet is wound, and support wheels are detachably attached to both ends, and is driven to rotate via a drive support wheel which is detachably attached to both ends. Ink ribbon including a winding-side ribbon core that winds up the ink sheet pulled out from the winding-source-side ribbon core, a first storage portion that stores the winding-source-side ribbon core, and a winding-side ribbon core A thermal printer including a ribbon cassette having a second accommodating portion, wherein a first identification mark for identifying one end of one of the ribbon core on the winding side and the end of the other ribbon core from another ribbon core And a second identification mark corresponding to the first identification mark is attached to the support wheel attached to the ribbon core end portion to which the first identification mark is attached, A third identification mark corresponding to the second identification mark is provided at a position corresponding to the second identification mark in the accommodation portion of the ribbon cassette accommodating the ribbon core to which the support wheel with the second identification mark is attached. And a thermal printer. 2. A ribbon core on the winding source side on which an ink sheet is wound and support wheels are removably attached to both ends, and a drive wheel which is removably attached to both ends of the ribbon core is rotationally driven. A thermal printer having an ink ribbon comprising a winding-side ribbon core that winds up an ink sheet pulled out from the winding-side ribbon core, wherein both ends of one of the winding-side ribbon core and the winding-side ribbon core A first identifying groove portion is provided on the other end of the ribbon core, and a second identifying groove portion having a shape different from that of the first identifying groove portion
A ribbon core having an identification groove portion, a support wheel attached to both ends of a ribbon core having a first identification groove portion, provided with a first protrusion that can be fitted into the first identification groove portion, and a second identification groove portion. A thermal printer characterized in that support wheels attached to both ends of the thermal printer are provided with second protrusions that can be inserted into the second identification groove and cannot be inserted into the first identification groove.