JP3278400B2 - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette used for a printer or the like, and more particularly, to an ink ribbon cassette in which an upper portion of a ribbon accommodating portion is opened and which is mounted, the ink ribbon may pop out before mounting. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette in which the ribbon in the ribbon storage unit does not fall down during transportation or the like, and the running failure does not occur.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional ink ribbon cassette,
When replacing a new cassette with a used cassette and installing it in the printer, the ribbon inside may accidentally leak out or the ribbon may fall down in the ribbon storage unit during transportation.
Occasionally, driving was hindered. In particular, when a long ink ribbon is used, the internal pressure increases as the ribbon is run and used for printing. Therefore, the ribbon accommodating portion needs to be wide and large. However, in such a cassette in which the ribbon storage portion is wide and large, the ribbon inside the cartridge is new and the dead space is large. That was a problem. In order to solve these problems, there is a device in which a stopper for preventing the ribbon from flowing out or for preventing the ribbon from falling down is provided.

[0003] However, in these cassettes with stoppers, if the stoppers come off during transportation, the effect of preventing the ribbon from flowing out or falling down can not be obtained. If the printer is forgotten to be removed, the printer will operate with the ribbon still in the stopper state, causing a fatal defect such as a failure of the printer.

To solve these problems, Japanese Utility Model Application
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.-103755 proposes a method of attaching a stopper so that the stopper does not accidentally fall off during transportation, and that when the printer is mounted on a printer, the printer does not operate unless the stopper is removed. Has been made. However, for these stoppers, it is necessary to make a dedicated hole in the cassette case, or to form the stopper itself in a special shape. Furthermore, since the stopper must be removed by the user who uses it, there is a burden on the user side, and the user is required to take precautionary notes.

In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 60-175652, a ribbon sub-case having a ribbon inlet and a ribbon outlet is mounted in a ribbon accommodating portion in place of a stopper so as to be movable. When the ribbon is new, it is contained in the sub case, so that an ink ribbon cassette that does not fall down and that does not accidentally pop out has been proposed.

However, this ribbon cassette includes:
Since the sub case is mounted, it is good when the ribbon is new, but when the ribbon is run, the ribbon is unreeled from the sub cassette, folded into the ribbon accommodating part, and then unfolded. At this time, since there is no return to the sub-cassette portion, a dead space is created. As the ribbon is used, in order to absorb the expanding ribbon, a volume equivalent to the apparent volume of the expanded ribbon plus the dead space of the sub-cassette is required, which is wasteful. .

Further, in order to reduce the number of parts of the cassette body and to reduce the cost, the cover which is usually mounted on the upper part of the ribbon accommodating portion of the cassette is omitted, and when the device is mounted on the printer by a member on the printer side. Some have a lid configured. Since these do not have a cover as they are and the ribbon pops out during transportation or the like, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the ribbon from popping out, such as providing a lid with a separate member.

In this case, if the cover member is usually made of a material such as synthetic resin used for the cassette case, it does not make sense to reduce costs and the like. Therefore, the cover member is made of an inexpensive material such as paper. Often do. However, even if the lid member is made of a material such as paper, a stopper for preventing the ribbon from falling down is additionally provided, and in the case of a lid made of paper or the like, the stopper is relatively firmly engaged because the lid is easily deformed. Otherwise, the conventional ink ribbon cassette has many restrictions, such as being accidentally dropped and requiring a countermeasure.

[0009]

Attempts have been made to provide a ribbon stopper and to reduce the number of parts as described above in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. Among the ribbon cassettes in which the lid attached to the ink cartridge is omitted, an ink ribbon cassette in which the ribbon stopper formed by a separate member is also omitted has not yet been proposed. An object of the present invention is to propose a solution to the above-mentioned problem.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an empty space for storing a new ribbon in a synthetic resin cassette case molded with the upper portion of the ribbon storage portion opened. The present invention has been completed by providing a box-shaped portion for filling in, and by providing a lid member which is removed when the printer is mounted. That is, the present invention provides: "1. a synthetic resin cassette case (1) molded in a state where the upper portion of the ribbon accommodating portion is opened;
An ink ribbon cassette comprising: a 120 m endless ink ribbon (2); a pair of retraction rollers (3); and a ribbon storage part (4) for storing the ink ribbon (2) folded by the retraction rollers (3). A lid member is provided which can be engaged with the upper part of the opened ribbon storage portion of the cassette case and which is removed when the printer is mounted. The lid member is formed of a member which can be easily bent and / or cut off , and has a longitudinal direction. An ink ribbon cassette comprising a box-shaped portion having at least one end bent. 2. 2. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the lid member is formed of a paper member having both surfaces covered with a synthetic resin film. ".

According to the above ink ribbon cassette, when a new cassette is replaced with a used cassette and is mounted on a printer, a cassette case made of synthetic resin molded with the upper portion of the ribbon storage portion opened is used. Even with a ribbon cassette in which the top and bottom members of the cassette case are omitted, the ribbon inside the cartridge case does not inadvertently flow out, and the ribbon does not fall down in the ribbon storage unit during transportation, causing no trouble in running. In addition, the old and new ribbon cassettes can be exchanged reliably.

Further, the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention comprises:
Since the lid member is provided with a box-shaped portion serving as a ribbon stopper, the user can unconsciously remove the stopper simply by removing the lid and setting it in the printer, thereby preventing a catastrophic failure due to forgetting to remove the stopper. Is what you can do.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention basically comprises a synthetic resin cassette case (1) molded in a state in which the upper portion of the ribbon accommodating portion is opened. An ink ribbon cassette is used which has an endless ink ribbon (2), a pair of retraction rollers (3), and a ribbon storage part (4) for storing the ink ribbon (2) folded by the retraction rollers (3).

At this time, a cover member is provided at the open portion of the opened ribbon storage portion, but it is preferable that the cover portion is formed of a member such as paper which can be easily bent and / or cut off. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, at least one end in the longitudinal direction of the lid member is bent to form a box-shaped portion (8). Free space (10)
Is effectively buried to provide a stopper for preventing the ribbon from falling down, and has both the function of the lid and the function of the stopper.

That is, the cover member is easily bent and / or
Alternatively, it is formed of a cuttable member, and at least one end in the longitudinal direction is bent and provided with a stopper, so that it is possible to have both the function of the lid and the function of the stopper. is there.

The easily foldable and / or cuttable member constituting the lid member used in the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention is preferably paper, and is constituted by a paper member covered on both sides with a synthetic resin film. Can prevent ink from penetrating into the paper,
It is preferable from the viewpoint of ink contamination. In this case, the synthetic resin film is preferably a polyethylene terephthalate resin film from the viewpoint of processability and the like. In a specific polypropylene resin film or the like, there is a case where ink in a portion in contact with the ribbon is removed by the resin film. In addition to papers, thin synthetic resin films and sheets such as PET and ABS, which are relatively easy to bend and / or cut out, can be used.

As the material of the cassette case used for the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, thermoplastic resin generally used for injection molding can be used. Among them, ABS resin is preferable in view of workability, strength, price and the like.

The rewinding roller used in the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention is preferably a rubber roll. Examples of the material include a rubber-based material represented by NBR and a foamed urethane roller. Among them, NBR is most suitable in terms of oil resistance and wear resistance.

As the endless ink ribbon used in the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, a ribbon having a structure in which a non-volatile ink is impregnated into a fabric material such as 6,6 nylon is usually used.

In the case of the configuration of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, the longer the length of the stored ink ribbon, the greater the effect. When a long ribbon is used, when the ribbon is new and when printing is advanced, the internal pressure increases by running the ribbon, so that the stored ribbon gradually expands and the difference increases, The ribbon storage needs to be large and large.

In other words, when such a long ribbon is stored, the size of the ribbon storage portion is adjusted to the apparent volume of the ribbon when the internal ribbon expands.
When the ribbon is new, the empty space is large, and when the ribbon is transported or the like, the ribbon collapses, which causes a problem of running failure. Therefore, in such a case, it is preferable to use the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention since a greater effect can be obtained.

The length of the stored endless ink ribbon is preferably 15 to 120 m. If longer,
It is necessary to increase the size of the cassette to be stored. As a result, the size of the printer is also increased. Therefore, there is a tendency that the size of the cassette can be reduced and the space cannot be saved. So it doesn't make much sense.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention. The cassette case (1) in FIG. 1 is provided with a retraction roller (3), and an ink ribbon (2) is folded and stored in a ribbon storage section (4). The state shown in this figure is immediately after the ribbon is fed, but the ribbon storage section (4) is larger than the ribbon size immediately after the feeding so that the ribbon that grows as it is used and travels can be stored. When the folded ribbon is compressed toward the roller, an empty space (10) as shown in FIG. 2 is generated. As described above, this empty space is not preferable because it causes a problem such as ribbon collapse. Conventionally, to solve this problem, a ribbon stopper (9) as shown in FIG.
And so on. On the other hand, in the present invention, at least one end in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is bent as a bent portion (6) to provide a box-shaped portion (8), whereby the ribbon is formed. By closing the opened cassette case with the lid member (5) having the stopper for preventing the ink cartridge from falling down, the ink ribbon does not pop out before being mounted, and the ribbon in the ribbon storage portion is long. Even in this case, it is possible to obtain an ink ribbon cassette in which the ribbon does not fall down during transportation or the like and a running failure does not occur.

The cover member (5) is engaged with the upper part of the opened ribbon storage portion of the cassette case by an engaging portion (7) provided on the cassette case and the cover member so as not to be easily removed. Things.

[0026]

As described above, in the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, in a cassette case made of a synthetic resin molded in a state where the upper portion of the ribbon storage portion is opened, the ribbon in the ribbon storage portion is prevented from falling down. By providing the lid member with the stopper, the ink ribbon does not fly out before mounting, and even if the ribbon in the ribbon storage unit is a long ribbon, the ribbon falls down during transportation, etc.
This is an excellent effect that an ink ribbon cassette that does not cause running failure can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an ink ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of a cassette case of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention (when the ink ribbon is new).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a lid member of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a cassette case of a conventional ink ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cassette case 2 Endless ink ribbon 3 Recession roller 4 Ribbon storage part 5 Lid member 6 Bending part 7 Engaging part 8 Box-shaped part 9 Ribbon stopper 10 Empty space

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 32/02 B41J 35/04-35/08 B41J 17/28, 17/30

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cassette case (1) made of a synthetic resin molded in a state in which an upper portion of a ribbon storage portion is opened, an endless ink ribbon (2) having a length of 15 to 120 m, and a pair of retraction rollers (3). ) And a ribbon storage section (4) for storing the ink ribbon (2) folded by a rewinding roller (3), which can be engaged with an upper part of the opened ribbon storage section of the cassette case. A lid member that is removed when the printer is mounted, the lid member is formed of a member that can be easily bent and / or cut off , and has a box-shaped portion that is bent at least at one end in the longitudinal direction. Characteristic ink ribbon cassette. 2. The paper cover according to claim 1, wherein the lid member is formed of a paper member whose both surfaces are covered with a synthetic resin film.
2. The ink ribbon cassette according to item 1.