JPS6280084A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain a printing quality, by providing an ink ribbon feeding mechanism, an ink-supplying head brought into contact with an ink ribbon on a feeding passage, a pump and an ink reservoir for supplying an ink, and a pump-driving means. CONSTITUTION:A loop form ribbon 2 is contained in a casing 1 of an ink ribbon feeding mechanism 11, is fed out toward a printing part 4 by feeding rollers 3, and is circulatively moved in the direction of an arrow 6. A printing head 8 is operated to strike the ribbon 2 in the direction of an arrow 9. At a part on the immediate upstream of the position at which the ribbon 2 is re-contained into the casing 1 after passing through the printing part 4, an ink-supplying head 12 is disposed. A pump 14 is provided for feeding an ink reserved in an ink reservoir 16, and when a solenoid is excited once, a predetermined quantity of the ink is supplied to the ink-supplying head 12. The ink supplied to the ribbon 2 is into diffused the ribbon 2 uniformly in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the ribbon 2, so that uniform printing can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing device that performs printing using an ink ribbon impregnated with ink.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink ribbon type printing devices are widely used in various devices such as typewriters, word processors, and computer line printers because of their ease of use.

In this type of printing device, printing is performed by stacking an ink ribbon on a recording paper on a platen and striking it with a print head. As a result, the ink impregnated into the ink ribbon is transferred onto the recording paper. Normally, in order to make the density of this ink uniform, an ink ribbon circulation mechanism is provided in which a new ink ribbon is constantly fed between the print head and the recording paper.

In this mechanism, for example, a long ink ribbon is wound around an open reel, sent out in synchronization with the printing operation of a print head, and wound onto another open reel.

When all the ink ribbons are wound up, the same operation is repeated by reversing the feeding side and the winding side.

There are also endless types of ink ribbons.

An example is shown in Figure 3.

This is a cartridge type ink ribbon whose ink ribbon can be easily replaced. In the figure, an ink ribbon 2 whose leading end and trailing end are connected is housed in a case 1 made of plastic or the like, and the ink ribbon 2 is circulated to a printing section 4 by a pair of feed rollers 3. ink ribbon 2
are accumulated in the endless storage section 5 in a certain amount and are sequentially pulled out in the direction of the arrow 6. The print head 8 prints by hitting the ink ribbon 2 in the direction of the arrow 9.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such a printing device, the amount of ink impregnated into the ink ribbon may decrease, resulting in insufficient print density. Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, an ink replenishment mechanism 10, which is made of felt or the like impregnated with ink, is provided in the middle of the ink ribbon conveyance path. When the ink ribbon 2 comes into contact with and passes through this felt, the ink ribbon 2 is replenished and impregnated with ink each time.

Of course, there are not only cartridge-type devices as shown in FIG. 3, but also open-reel type devices equipped with a similar mechanism.

However, such conventional printing apparatuses have the drawback that the state of ink replenishment changes drastically over time, and that when the ink density becomes insufficient, it cannot be easily recovered.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and it is possible to easily replenish ink in a timely manner when the ink density becomes insufficient.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device that can maintain printing quality.

[Means for solving problems]

The printing device of the present invention includes an ink ribbon transport mechanism that circulates the ink ribbon to a printing section, a replenishment head that wipes the ink ribbon on its transport path and replenishes ink by contacting the ink ribbon, and a replenishment head for replenishing the ink ribbon. The invention is characterized in that it is comprised of a pump for supplying ink, an ink reservoir for storing the ink, and a driving means for driving the pump at appropriate times.

Preferably, the driving means is provided with a manual switch that can be operated by an operator at any time.

Further, the driving means may include a timer that measures the transport time of the ink ribbon, and may drive the pump every time the timer measures a predetermined time.

Preferably, the pump supplies a fixed amount of ink to the replenishment head each time it is driven by the drive means.

[Effect]

In this way, by making it possible to replenish ink from the ink reservoir using a pump at any time, for example, when an operator feels that the ink concentration is insufficient, he or she can replenish the ink by driving the pump at a suitable time.

Furthermore, if a certain amount of ink is automatically supplied each time the ink ribbon is used for a certain period of time, changes in ink density over time can be suppressed.

In addition, if the pump is structured to supply a fixed amount of ink each time it is driven, it will prevent the pump drive device from operating for a longer time than necessary and causing an accident in which the ink is overfilled. It can be prevented.

〔Example〕

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a block diagram of the main parts of a printing device having a cartridge-type ink ribbon transport mechanism 11. As shown in FIG.

In the figure, inside case 1 made of plastic etc.,
An endless ink ribbon 2 is housed therein.

The ink ribbon 2 is circulated in the direction of arrow 6 by a pair of feed rollers 3 built into the case 1 so as to be sequentially sent to the printing section 4. Most of the ink ribbon 2 is folded and stored in the endless storage section 5 of the case 1.

Here, the print head 8 operates to strike the ink ribbon 2 in the direction of the arrow 9. A roller-shaped replenishment head 12 made of sponge or the like is disposed from the printing section 4 immediately before the ink ribbon 2 is re-accommodated into the case 1.

This replenishment head 12 is configured to be supplied with ink from a pump 14 through a tube 13. The pump 14 pumps out a fixed amount of ink stored in the ink reservoir 16 and sends it to the replenishment head 12. As this pump 14, one having a so-called piston type structure and driven by a solenoid is suitable.

That is, when the solenoid is energized once, the piston moves one stroke and the ink within the cylinder is pushed out.

This ensures that a certain amount of ink is supplied to the refill head 12 whenever the solenoid is energized once.

A driving means 17 is connected to the pump 14 for supplying a driving current to a solenoid or the like.

This driving means 17 is composed of a driver 18 constituted by a switch circuit such as a relay, and a manual switch 21 and a timer 22 for operating this driver. The manual switch 21 consists of a push button switch or the like attached to an operation panel or the like of this printing device. Further, the timer 22 advances the time only when the feed roller 3 that conveys the ink ribbon 2 is rotating, for example.
It consists of a so-called time switch that repeats the action of turning on the switch when a certain period of time has elapsed.

When using the printing apparatus configured as described above, the operator presses the manual switch 21 whenever he feels that the ink density is insufficient. This turns on driver 18 and pump 14 supplies a fixed amount of ink to refill head 12 . The replenishment head 12 uniformly replenishes the ink ribbon 2 with ink while rotating in contact with the ink ribbon 2.

In this embodiment, the ink ribbon 2 refilled with ink
Once inside the case 1, the endless storage section 5
After that, it is sent to the printing section 4. During this time, the ink is uniformly diffused in the length direction and the thickness direction of the ink ribbon 2, making it possible to perform printing without unevenness.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the printing device of the present invention.

In this embodiment, an ink reservoir 16, a pump 14, and a replenishment head 12 are housed in a case 1 together with an ink ribbon 2. A line 23 for driving the pump 14 is drawn out from the case 1 and connected to a driving means 17 that is exactly the same as that described in FIG.

In this device as well, the driver 18 is operated by the manual switch 21 or the timer 22, and the pump 1
4 Pour a certain amount of ink from the ink reservoir 16 into the refill head 1
Supply to 2. The replenishing head 12 here shows an example using block-shaped felt. Guide rollers 24 for regulating the conveyance path of the ink ribbon 2 are provided on both sides thereof.

Even with such a structure, the ink ribbon 2 replenished with ink is supplied to the printing section 4, and printing quality can be maintained stably.

[Modified example]

The printing device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

First, the printing device of the present invention does not necessarily use the cartridge-type ink ribbon conveyance mechanism as described above, but may be of a type in which the ink ribbon is wound around an open reel.

Furthermore, the replenishment head may be provided anywhere on the conveyance path, and its shape may be arbitrarily selected.

As the pump, in addition to the one using a solenoid, a rotary set or various other pumps may be used. As a mechanism for sending ink in fixed amounts, a circuit may be provided in the driver that outputs a drive pulse of a constant width so that the pump is driven for a constant time each time.

In addition, although a timer is shown as an example of a mechanism for automatically replenishing ink, it is also recommended to provide a counter that can appropriately count the number of prints or other appropriate mechanisms that automatically turn on the switch depending on the usage status of the ink ribbon. You can also do this.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The printing device of the present invention described above can replenish the ink ribbon with ink in a timely manner, so it can cope with changes in print density over time.

Furthermore, if ink is automatically replenished, printing can be performed with uniform density over a long period of time, and printing quality can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main part showing an embodiment of the printing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the main part showing another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 is an ink ribbon of a conventional printing device. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the transport mechanism. 2... Ink ribbon, 4... Printing section, 11... Ink ribbon transport mechanism, 12...
... Refill head, 14 ... Pump, 16 ... Ink reservoir, 17 ... Drive means, 21 ... Manual switch, 22 ...
·timer. 1st 2nd

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ink ribbon transport mechanism that circulates the ink ribbon to the printing section, a replenishment head that contacts the ink ribbon and replenishes ink on the ink ribbon transport path, and a replenishment head for the replenishment head. A printing device comprising a pump for supplying ink, an ink reservoir for storing the ink, and a driving means for driving the pump at appropriate times. 2. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the driving means includes a manual switch that can be operated by an operator at any time. 3. The driving means has a timer for measuring the conveyance time of the ink ribbon, and the pump is driven every time the timer measures a predetermined time. Printing device. 4. The pump supplies a fixed amount of ink to the replenishment head each time it is driven by the driving means.
Printing device as described in section.