JPS6232116B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cartridge used in type serial printers and the like.

Conventionally, serial printers have used cloth ink ribbons and film ink ribbons, and recently cartridge-type ink ribbons have come to be used to improve the ease of replacing ink ribbons. In particular, when high printing quality is required, a multi-strike film ribbon is implemented and used as a cartridge type, but due to the characteristics of the film ribbon, unlike cloth ribbons, it is impossible to create a card cartridge with an endless structure. Therefore, film ribbons have the disadvantage that the life of the ink ribbon is extremely short compared to cloth ribbons, and the cost of the ribbons is high.

In order to solve these drawbacks of the film ribbon, the present invention makes the width of the film ribbon twice that of the conventional film ribbon, and when the upper half is used up, the ribbon cartridge is mounted upside down and the lower half before the reverse mounting is mounted. By placing the film ribbon on the upper side and sending the film ribbon in the opposite direction to the direction before reverse mounting, the film ribbon can be used by reciprocating over the entire length of the film ribbon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-strike film ink ribbon cartridge that has approximately the same external dimensions as conventional ribbon cartridges, but doubles the ribbon life compared to conventional ribbon cartridges. be. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon cartridge that doubles the lifespan of the ribbon and is relatively low-cost due to the use of common parts with conventional ink ribbon cartridges.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cartridge case having first and second mounting surfaces, first and second spools rotatably supported by the cartridge case, and a second spool having one end attached to the first spool. An ink ribbon wound in one rotational direction and having the other end wound around the second spool in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction is rotationally engaged with the first spool. a first ribbon running means for winding the ink ribbon onto the first spool and having a first engaging portion on the first mounting surface side with a rotational driving means provided in the printer; The first spool is rotationally engaged with the second spool in the same rotational engagement relationship as the first ribbon traveling means, and the ink ribbon is wound onto the second spool and the second mounting means is rotated. There is obtained an ink ribbon cartridge characterized in that it is provided with a second ribbon traveling means having a second engaging portion with the rotation driving means on the surface side.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, feed drive rollers 2 and 3 and cores 4 and 5 are rotatably supported by the outer frame of an ink ribbon cartridge 14. As shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a rubber belt 1 is hooked around feed drive rollers 2, 3 and cores 4, 5. As shown in FIG. 2, an idle roller 7 is attached to the feed drive roller 2, and an idle roller 8 is attached to the feed drive roller 3 by sandwiching and pressing the ribbon 6 with piano wire springs 9, 9', respectively, and the ribbon 6 is pressed against the ribbon 6. It constitutes a mechanism.

One end of the ink ribbon 6 is wound clockwise around a sleeve 10, and the other end is wound around a sleeve 11 clockwise.

The sleeves 10 and 11 each fix the end of the ribbon 6 and are attached to the cores 4 and 5 via claw latches that transmit rotation in only one direction. Therefore, the sleeve 10 rotates together with the core 4 as the core 4 rotates in the direction of the arrow g.
It can be rotated independently in the direction opposite to arrow g. Similarly, the sleeve 11 rotates together with the core 5 as the core 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow h,
It can be rotated independently with respect to rotation in the opposite direction of arrow h.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the ink ribbon cartridge 14 is mounted on a carrier unit (not shown) of a serial printer with the side on which the symbol e (1) is displayed facing up, the feed drive roller 2 is the serial printer's carrier unit's ribbon drive shaft (not shown) and the back side of the ribbon cartridge (designated f).
When the rubber belt 1 is engaged in the direction of the arrow k (the surface side where is displayed) and the rotational force in the direction of the arrow k is transmitted, the rubber belt 1 runs in the direction of the arrow m shown by the solid line. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the core 4 rotates in the direction of arrow g and the ribbon 6 is pulled in the direction of arrow a and wound into the sleeve 10. As the winding diameter of the ribbon 6 increases, a slip occurs between the core 4 and the belt 1, and the tension arm 12 made of piano wire
Continue winding the ribbon 6 while controlling the winding tension. At this time, as is clear from FIG. 2, the tension arm 13
Since tension is applied to the ink ribbon 6 fed out from the printer 1 and directed toward the take-up side, the ink ribbon 6 at the printing position does not slacken.

On the other hand, feed drive rope 3 with rubber belt 1
When the core 5 is rotated counterclockwise in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sleeve 11 transfers the frictional force that prevents the sleeve 11 from rotating further, regardless of the counterclockwise rotation of the core 5. ), so the ribbon 6 wound around the sleeve 11 is unwound with an appropriate tension. When the unwinding reaches the end of the ribbon 6, the end of the ribbon 6 is fixed to the sleeve 11, so the tension arm 13 made of piano wire bends as shown by the broken line, indicating that the end of the ribbon 6 has been reached. The tip of the tension arm 13 protruding outside the outer frame of the ink ribbon cartridge operates a ribbon end detection switch provided in the carrier unit. This makes it possible to stop the printing operation of the serial printer.

In this way, the unused ribbon 6 is rewound from the state shown by the broken line c (only the sleeve 11 side is shown), and the upper half of the ribbon 6 is used for printing while being fed each time printing is performed at a predetermined pitch. .

At the time of termination detection, the state shown by the broken line d will be used.

After that, the ink ribbon cartridge 14 is inverted and mounted on the carrier unit (1, which is the display symbol e).
When the cross slot of the feed drive roller 3 engages with the ribbon drive shaft and the rotational force in the direction of arrow l is transmitted, the rubber belt 1 moves in the direction of arrow n shown by a broken line. runs and rotates, the ribbon 6 is sent in the direction of arrow b,
Caught up in core 5. At this time, the unused portion of the lower half of the ribbon 6 is held at the printing position.

That is, the relationship between the supply and winding of the drive rollers 2 and 3, sleeves 10 and 11, and tension arms 12 and 13 at this time is reversed by reversing the front and back of the cartridge 14.

In this way, the ribbon 6 is reciprocated, and the ribbon 6
The upper and lower sides of are used for printing.

As explained above, the present invention is equipped with two sets of ribbon feed mechanisms, and a ribbon cartridge that can be mounted inverted accommodates ink ribbons with a width that can be used for two stages of printing. This has the effect of doubling the life of the ribbon.

Furthermore, the directions in which the ink ribbon of the present invention is wound around the first and second spools are opposite to each other (symmetrical about the central axis of the ribbon cartridge), and the first and second spools are By making the rotational engagement relationship with the second ribbon traveling means the same, the traveling amount of the ink ribbon can be made constant regardless of the amount of winding around the spool, and the ink ribbon can remain on the supply side spool. Even if the cartridge is reversed and the relationship between the winding and supply of the first and second spools is reversed,
The ink ribbon 11 can be driven normally. As a result, when the amount of ink ribbon taken up on the supply spool is low before printing, by reversing the cartridge, it is possible to prevent interruption of the printer's printing operation due to the ink ribbon running out. .

Furthermore, even if an operator inserts a cartridge into the printer with the wrong side of the cartridge, the ink ribbon will not sag from the supply reel, and the operator can simply reinstall the cartridge correctly and the printer will print. It has the effect of being able to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view with the top cover of the outer frame of the ink ribbon cartridge 14 shown in FIG. 1 removed. 1... Rubber belt, 2, 3... Feed drive roller, 4, 5... Core, 6... Ribbon, 7, 8... Idle roller, 9, 9'... Spring, 10, 11
...Sleeve, 12, 13...Tension arm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A cartridge case having first and second mounting surfaces, first and second spools rotatably supported by the cartridge case, and one end attached to the first spool in a first rotational direction. an ink ribbon whose other end is wound around the second spool in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction, and the ink ribbon is rotationally engaged with the first spool and the ink ribbon a first ribbon running means that is wound around the first spool and has a first engagement portion with a rotational drive means provided on the printer on the first mounting surface side; and the first ribbon running means. a first tension applying means for controlling the tension of the ink ribbon run by the second spool in the same rotational engagement relationship as the first spool and the first ribbon running means; a second ribbon running means that is rotatably engaged to wind the ink ribbon onto the second spool and has a second engagement portion with the rotational drive means on the second mounting surface side; and second tension applying means for controlling tension of the ink ribbon run by the ribbon running means.