JPH065968U - Color ribbon guide structure - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To prevent ink ribbon skew and prevent accidents such as ink ribbon color mixing, ribbon detachment, and ribbon breakage. [Structure] The ribbon guide 4 has a guide member surface 17 that can move forward and backward from the feeding guide surface, and is rotatably attached to the feeding guide surface. The guide member surface 17 is disposed substantially parallel to the feeding guide surface when positioned at a specific position adjacent to the ink ribbon cartridge 32, and when the ink ribbon cartridge 32 is moved from the specific position by the arc motion. A guide member 16 is provided which rotates so that the guide member surface 17 contacts the running surface of the ink ribbon 31 pulled out from the cartridge 32 substantially in parallel.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention is capable of selecting a track by moving an ink ribbon cartridge, in which a multicolor ink ribbon having different colors is arranged for each track, with respect to the tip of the print head nose, and printing with the ink of the selected track. The present invention relates to a color ribbon guide structure in a printing device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 FIG. 7 shows the main structure of a conventional printing apparatus having a multicolor ink ribbon switching mechanism of this type. In FIG. 7, on the side facing the platen, a main shaft 101 arranged in parallel with the platen and a guide rail (not shown) are provided, and a carriage frame 102 is provided so as to straddle the main shaft 101 and the guide rail. Has been done.

More specifically, one end of the carriage frame 102 is slidably and rotatably attached to the main shaft 101, and the other end of the carriage frame 102 is movable on a guide rail via a roller (not shown). It is posted in. A print head 103 and the like are arranged on the carriage frame 102. In addition, a pair of left and right guide shafts 105a and 105b for attaching the ribbon guide 104 is provided upright on one end side of the carriage frame 102.

A cylindrical ribbon guide post 104a having a through hole at its center is provided at an upper portion of the ribbon guide 104 corresponding to the guide shafts 105a and 105b, and a lift bar for vertically moving the ribbon guide 104 is provided at a lower portion thereof. A pair of clamp portions 104b for fitting 106 are separately formed on the left and right sides and integrally formed. The ribbon guide 104 is mounted on the carriage frame 102 in such a manner that the guide shafts 105a are inserted into the through holes of the ribbon guide posts 104a and are movable in the direction orthogonal to the operation direction of the carriage frame 102. .

The lift bar 106 is arranged in parallel with the main shaft 101, both ends of which are engaged with guide grooves 107a and 107b provided on the side frame, respectively, and one end side of which is freely rotatable to rotation fulcrums 108a and 108b. The cartridge brackets 109 and 110 fixed to the cartridge brackets 110 and 110 are inserted into and supported by the long holes 111 and 112 provided at the tips on the other ends.

The cartridge brackets 109 and 110 are detachably attached with an ink ribbon cartridge 114 on which an ink ribbon 113 is arranged, and partly formed on the side surfaces of the cams 115 and 116 (not shown). An arm 118 is provided which engages with the groove cam and moves (arc motion) the cartridge brackets 109 and 110 in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow 117 in FIG. 7 about the rotation fulcrums 108a and 108b.

Further, a sensor lever 119 is provided on the cartridge bracket 109, and a shift sensor 120 is arranged below the sensor lever 119. The sensor lever 119 is controlled by the arm 118 and the groove cam, and when the cartridge brackets 109 and 110 move in the vertical direction, a part of the sensor lever 119 crosses the shift sensor 120 and shifts at this time. The origin of the operation (home position) of the cartridge brackets 109 and 110 can be determined from the output obtained from the sensor 120.

Gears are formed on the peripheral surfaces of the cams 115 and 116, and the drive gears 122 and 123 fixed to both ends of the drive shaft 121 and integrally rotatably attached to the peripheral gears. Are meshed. An output gear 127 of a motor 126 is power-engaged with the drive gear 122 via motor flange gears 124 and 125. Therefore, when the motor 126 is driven and the output gear 127 rotates in the direction of the arrow 128 in the figure, that is, in the clockwise direction, this rotation causes the output gear 127, the motor flange gears 125 and 124, the drive gear 122, the drive shaft 121, and the drive. The gears 123 are transmitted to the cams 115 and 116 through the gears 123, respectively, and the cams 115 and 116 rotate in the direction of arrow 129 in the drawing.

Most of the ink ribbon 113 mounted integrally with the ink ribbon cartridge 114 on the cartridge brackets 109 and 110 is housed in the ink ribbon cartridge 114, and only the portion necessary for printing is sequentially drawn out. The ink ribbon cartridge 114 is of a type that is run into the ink ribbon cartridge 114 again, and the ink ribbon 113 is divided into a plurality of (four in this embodiment) tracks 113a, 113b, 113c, 113d. This is a so-called multicolored color ink ribbon in which ink of different colors is provided for each track. Then, the ink ribbon 113 is mounted on the cartridge brackets 109 and 110 together with the ink ribbon cartridge 114 while passing between the nose portion 103a of the print head 103 and the ribbon guide 104.

Next, the operation of shifting the ink ribbon 113 in the vertical direction and selecting one of the tracks 113a to 113d to switch the color of the ink in the printing apparatus thus configured will be described. When the tracks 113a to 113d of the ink ribbon 113 are switched, that is, the color is switched, the motor 126 is moved by a fixed pulse number corresponding to the track, and the origin position (detected by the sensor lever 119 and the shift sensor 120) ( Rotate from home position).

When the motor 126 is driven, the output gear 127 rotates in the direction of arrow 128, and at the same time, the motor flange gears 125 and 124, the drive gear 122, the drive shaft 121, the drive gear 123, and the cams 115 and 116 are moved. Each is rotated together. Then, by the rotation of the cams 115 and 116, the cartridge brackets 109 and 110 are vertically moved around the rotation fulcrums 108a and 108b via the arms 118 engaged with the groove cams in accordance with the shape of the groove cams. The ink ribbon 113 is moved (circular movement), and the ink ribbon 113 is vertically shifted by this movement, so that one of the tracks 113a to 113d is selected. That is, one of the selected tracks 113a to 113d is arranged in front of the nose portion 103a of the print head 103, and the color of the ink in the arranged track is switched.

8 and 9 show a state in which the ink ribbons 113 are switched in this way. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the track 113a at the uppermost end of the ink ribbon 113 is selected, and FIG. This shows a state in which the track 113d at the lowermost end of the ribbon 113 is selected. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, when the track 113a at the uppermost end of the ink ribbon 113 is selected, the ink ribbon cartridge 114 connects the print head 103 with the center of the print head center line 130 that connects the centers of the rotation fulcrums 108a and 108b. And is displaced downward by an angle θ, and when the track 113d at the lowermost end of the ink ribbon 113 is selected as shown in FIG. It is in a displaced state. At this time, the ribbon guide 104 is guided by the guide shafts 105a and 105b provided on the carriage frame 102 and linearly moves in the vertical direction together with the ink ribbon 113 to be corrected.

[0013]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 As described above, in the conventional printing apparatus, when the colors on the ink ribbon 113 are switched by the multicolor ink ribbon switching mechanism, the ink ribbon cartridge 114 makes an arc motion about the rotation supporting points 108a and 108b. The ribbon guide 104 is guided by guide shafts 105a and 105b provided on the carriage frame 102 and moves linearly in the vertical direction together with the ink ribbon 113. Therefore, in the uppermost track 113a and the lowermost track 113d, the inclination angle θ of the ink ribbon cartridge 114 with respect to the print head center line 130 and the inclination of the ink ribbon 113 with respect to the ribbon guide surfaces of the guide shafts 105a and 105b. The angle θ becomes large. Therefore, when the ribbon guide 104 moves to the upper end side, the ink ribbon 113 tends to skew downward, and conversely, when the ribbon guide 104 moves to the lower end side, the ink ribbon 113 tends to skew upward. Become. As a result, there is a problem in that the ink ribbon 113 may be detached from the ribbon guide 104, and the ribbon may be broken. Furthermore, since the ink ribbon 113 moves within the ribbon guide 104, even if the lift bar 106 is accurately moved to a predetermined position, color mixing is caused and printing quality is degraded.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to prevent ink ribbon skew caused by rotational movement of an ink ribbon cartridge and linear movement of a ribbon guide at the tip of a print head. Another object of the present invention is to provide a color ribbon guide structure that can prevent accidents such as color mixing of ink ribbons, detachment of ribbons, and ribbon breakage by eliminating them.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, in the color ribbon guide structure according to the present invention, the ribbon guide arranged at the front end of the print head moves the ink ribbon in conjunction with the circular movement of the ink ribbon cartridge around the rotation fulcrum. It is used for a printing apparatus having a multicolor ink ribbon switching mechanism that moves linearly in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction, and has a guide member surface that can move forward and backward from the ribbon feeding guide surface of the ribbon guide. Then, it is rotatably attached to the ribbon feeding guide surface, and when the ribbon guide is positioned at a specific position, the guide member surface is arranged substantially parallel to the ribbon feeding guide surface. When the ink ribbon cartridge is moved from the specific position by the arc motion, it is pulled out from the ink ribbon cartridge. Is provided with a guide member that rotates in a state where the guide member surface is substantially parallel to contact with the running surface of the ink ribbon.

[0016]

[Action]

 With this configuration, when the ribbon guide is moved from a specific position, the guide member surface of the guide member rotates so as to come into contact with the running surface of the ink ribbon pulled out from the ink ribbon cartridge substantially in parallel. Since the contact angle θ between the ink ribbon and the ribbon guide is corrected, it is possible to keep the ink ribbon in a state of being always in contact with the feed guide surface of the ribbon guide at a right angle. As a result, the skew of the ink ribbon can be eliminated.

[0017]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main structure of a printing apparatus to which the color ribbon guide structure according to the present invention is applied, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the printing apparatus with the ribbon guide removed, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a rear side of the guide, partially disassembled. 1 to 3, a main shaft 1 and a guide rail 2 arranged in parallel with the platen are provided on the side facing a platen (not shown), and the carriage extends over the main shaft 1 and the guide rail 2. A frame 3 is provided.

First, the peripheral structure of the print head 6, the carriage frame 3, and the ribbon guide 4 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and one end of the carriage frame 3 slides on the main shaft 1. Further, it is rotatably attached, and the other end side is movably mounted on the guide rail 2 via a roller 7 and attached. In addition, a pair of left and right guide shafts 5a and 5b are erected on one end side of the carriage frame 3.

A print head 6 is arranged on the carriage frame 3 via a nose frame 8 fixed to the carriage frame 3 with a mounting screw 9. Further, the nose frame 8 is provided with projections 10a and 10b on both the left and right sides of the print guide 6a on the surface facing the back surface of the ribbon guide 4.

The ribbon guide 4 includes a base portion 4a, a ribbon feeding guide portion 4b having an opening 11 for letting the tip of the printing nose 6a escape in the middle, and a ribbon guide 4 provided outside the ribbon feeding guide portion 4b so as to stand on the base portion 4a. A cylindrical ribbon guide post 4c having a through hole 12 in the center is integrally formed, and a lift bar 13 for vertically moving the ribbon guide 4 is provided below the base portion 4a (see FIG. The clamp portion 4d is fitted integrally with the clamp portion 4d. Further, on the upper end side of the ribbon guide post 4c, a restricting projection 4e for restricting the upward pulling-out of the ink ribbon 31 is integrally formed.

Further, the ribbon feeding guide portion 4b is formed at a position corresponding to the convex portions 10a, 10b on the side of the nose frame 8 with slits 14 penetrating to the front and back sides extending vertically. ing. In addition, a concave groove 15 is formed on the back side of the ribbon guide 4 so as to intersect the slit 14 at a right angle. A guide member 16 is mounted in each of the slits 14 from the back surface side of the ribbon guide 4.

The guide member 16 is formed as a chip piece having a size that allows the guide member 16 to rotate in the front-rear direction with the engagement position with the concave groove 15 as a fulcrum. The front surface of the guide member 16 is formed as a flat guide member surface 17, and the rear surface is formed with a cutout portion 18 for receiving the convex portions 10a and 10b on the nose frame 8 side. Further, a support shaft 19 is attached to the side surface of the guide member 16 in a state of penetrating through a substantially intermediate position of the side surface so as to correspond to the concave groove 15. The guide member 16 is housed in the slit 14 from the back side of the ribbon guide 4 with the guide member surface 17 as the front side until the support shaft 19 is housed in the recess groove 15 and regulated. It is attached so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction with a support shaft 19 housed in 15 as a fulcrum. In addition, the ribbon guide 4 with the guide member 16 attached in this way moves in the direction orthogonal to the operation direction of the carriage frame 3 by inserting the guide shafts 5a and 5b into the through holes 12 of the ribbon guide post 4c. Is mounted on the front side of the nose frame 8 while covering the front surface of the nose frame 8.

4 to 5 show a state in which the ribbon guide 4 is attached to the front side of the nose frame 8 in this way. When the support shaft 19 corresponds to the center line 20 of the print head 6, the ribbon guide 4 is arranged without the projections 10a and 10b on the nose frame 8 side colliding with the notches 18 of the guide member 16. As a result, the guide member 16 is directed straight up and down, and the guide member surface 17 is arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the ribbon feeding guide portion 4b, that is, the ribbon feeding guide surface, and retracted from this ribbon feeding guide surface. It is placed in the closed state (see FIG. 5).

On the other hand, the ribbon guide 4 is moved in a state where the support shaft 19 is arranged above the center line 20 of the print head 6, and the ink ribbon 31 (see FIG. 3) is moved with respect to the ribbon guide 4. When tilted by the angle θ, the lower edge 18b of the cutout portion 18 of the guide member 16 hits the protrusions 10a and 10b on the nose frame 8 side. As a result, the guide member 16 rotates about the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum (see FIG. 4) so that the lower side of the guide member surface 17 projects toward the ink ribbon 31 (see FIG. 3), and the running surface of the ink ribbon 31 is moved. It is possible to correct the twist of the ink ribbon 31 due to the gap caused by the inclination angle θ by making contact with the ink ribbon 31 substantially in parallel.

Conversely, when the ribbon guide 4 is moved so that the support shaft 19 is located below the center line 20 of the print head 6 and the ribbon guide 4 is inclined with respect to the ink ribbon 31, the guide The protrusions 10a and 10b on the nose frame 8 side collide with the upper edge 18a of the cutout portion 18 of the member 16. As a result, the guide member 16 rotates about the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum so that the upper side of the guide member surface 17 projects toward the ink ribbon 31 side (see FIG. 6), and becomes substantially parallel to the running surface of the ink ribbon 31. The state of contact is obtained.

Next, the structure other than the above will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The lift bar 13 is arranged in parallel with the main shaft 1, and both ends thereof are guided by guide grooves 22a and 22b provided in the side frame. The cartridge brackets 24 and 25, which are engaged with each other and are rotatably fixed to the rotation fulcrums 23a and 23b, are inserted into and supported by the long holes 25a and 25b provided at the tips on the other ends of the cartridge brackets 24 and 25, respectively. Has been done.

The ink cartridge cartridges 32 on which the ink ribbons 31 are arranged are detachably attached to the cartridge brackets 24 and 25, and some of them are formed on the side surfaces of the cams 27 and 28 (not shown). An arm 30 is provided which engages with the groove groove cam and moves (circularly moves) the cartridge brackets 24 and 25 in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow 29 in FIG. 3 about the rotation fulcrums 23a and 23b. .

Further, a sensor lever 33 is provided on each of the cartridge brackets 24 and 25, and a shift sensor 34 is arranged below the sensor lever 33. When the cartridge brackets 24 and 25 move vertically due to the control of the arm 30 and the groove cam, a part of the sensor lever 33 crosses the shift sensor 34, and the output obtained from the shift sensor 34 at this time The origin of the operation of the cartridge brackets 24 and 25 (home position) can be set.

Gears are formed on the peripheral surfaces of the cams 27, 28, and drive gears 36, 37 fixed to both ends of the drive shaft 35 and integrally rotatably attached to the peripheral gears, respectively. It is meshed. An output gear 41 of a motor 40 is power-engaged with the drive gear 36 via motor flange gears 38 and 39. Therefore, when the motor 40 is driven and the output gear 41 rotates in the direction of arrow 42 in FIG. 3, that is, in the clockwise direction, this rotation causes the output gear 41, the motor flange gears 39, 38, the drive gear 36, the drive shaft 35, It is transmitted to the cams 27 and 28 via the drive gears 37, respectively, and the cams 27 and 28 rotate in the direction of arrow 43 in FIG.

Most of the ink ribbon 31 mounted integrally with the ink ribbon cartridge 32 on the cartridge brackets 24 and 25 is housed in the ink ribbon cartridge 32, and only the portion necessary for printing is sequentially drawn out. Of the type in which the ink ribbon 31 is run into the ink cartridge 32 again, and the ink ribbon 31 is divided into a plurality of (four in this embodiment) tracks 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d. It is a so-called multicolor ink ribbon in which different colors of ink are provided for each track. Then, the ink ribbon 31 is mounted together with the ink ribbon cartridge 32 on the cartridge brackets 24 and 25 while passing between the nose portion 6a of the print head 6 and the ribbon guide 4.

Next, the operation of shifting the ink ribbon 31 in the vertical direction and selecting one of the tracks 31a to 31d to switch the color of the ink in the printing apparatus thus configured will be described. When the tracks 31a to 31d of the ink ribbon 31 are switched, that is, the colors are switched, the motor 40 is moved by the fixed pulse number corresponding to the track, and the origin position (detected by the sensor lever 33 and the shift sensor 34) ( Rotate from home position).

When the motor 40 is driven, the output gear 41 rotates in the direction of arrow 42, and at the same time, the motor flange gears 39, 38 and the drive gear 36, the drive shaft 35, the drive gear 37, the cams 27, 28. Are rotated together. Then, the rotation of the cams 27, 28 causes the cartridge brackets 24, 25 to move upward and downward around the rotation fulcrums 23a, 23b via the arms 30 engaged with the groove cams, depending on the shape of the groove cams. The ink ribbon 31 is moved (circular movement), and the ink ribbon 31 is vertically shifted by this movement, so that one of the tracks 31a to 31d is selected. That is, one of the selected tracks 31a to 31d is arranged in front of the nose portion 6a of the print head 6, and the color of the ink in the arranged track is switched.

In this structure, the ink ribbon 31 is shifted together with the ink ribbon cartridge 32 by the arc motion of the cartridge brackets 24 and 25, the track 31b or 31c of the ink ribbon 31 is selected, and the ribbon guide 4 is rotated by the support shaft 19. Is located adjacent to the center line 20 of the print head 6, the protrusions 10a and 10b on the side of the nose frame 8 are arranged in the notch 18 of the guide member 16 without hitting each other. The member 16 is directed straight up and down, the guide member surface 17 is arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the ribbon feeding guide portion 4b, that is, the ribbon feeding guide surface, and is arranged in a state of being retracted from this feeding guide surface (FIG. 5). reference). As a result, the ink ribbon 31 is fed in a state substantially parallel to the ribbon feeding guide surface of the ribbon guide 4.

On the other hand, the lowermost track 31d of the ink ribbon 31 is selected, the ribbon guide 4 is moved to a state in which the support shaft 19 is arranged above the center line 20 of the print head 6, and this ribbon is moved. When the guide 4 tilts with respect to the ink ribbon 31 (see FIG. 3), the lower edge 18b of the cutout portion 18 of the guide member 16 hits the protrusions 10a and 10b on the nose frame 8 side. As a result, the guide member 16 pivots about the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum (see FIG. 4) so that the lower side of the guide member surface 17 projects to the ink ribbon 31 (see FIG. 3) side, and the traveling surface of the ink ribbon 31 moves. It is possible to obtain a state in which they are substantially parallel to each other.

On the contrary, the uppermost track 31a of the ink ribbon 31 is selected, and the ribbon guide 4 is moved in a state where the support shaft 19 is moved to the lower side of the center line 20 of the print head 6, and the ribbon guide 4 is moved. On the other hand, when the ink ribbon 31 is inclined at the angle θ, the convex portions 10a and 10b on the nose frame 8 side collide with the upper edge 18a of the cutout portion 18 of the guide member 16. As a result, the guide member 16 rotates about the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum so that the upper side of the guide member surface 17 projects toward the ink ribbon 31 side (see FIG. 6) and becomes substantially parallel to the running surface of the ink ribbon 31. A state is obtained in which the ink ribbon 31 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 31 and the twist of the ink ribbon 31 is corrected.

Therefore, according to the structure of this embodiment, the ribbon guide 4 is located above or below a specific position (position adjacent to the center line 20 of the print head 6) in a state where the tracks 31b and 31c are selected. When it is moved to the side, the guide member surface 17 of the guide member 16 is rotated so as to come into contact with the running surface of the ink ribbon 31 pulled out from the ink ribbon cartridge 32 substantially in parallel with the ink ribbon 31 and the ribbon guide 4. Since the contact angle θ is corrected, it is possible to keep the ink ribbon 31 in a state of being always in contact with the feeding guide surface of the ribbon guide 4 at a right angle. As a result, the skew of the ink ribbon 31 can be eliminated.

In the above embodiment, the guide member 16 is rotated only when the track 31a or 31d is selected, but when the track 31b or 31c is selected. However, the structure may be such that the print head 6 is rotated by an amount proportional to the amount of displacement with respect to the center line 20 of the print head 6.

[0038]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the color ribbon guide structure of the present invention, when the ribbon guide is moved from a specific position, the guide member surface of the guide member is moved relative to the running surface of the ink ribbon pulled out from the ink ribbon cartridge. The contact angle θ between the ink ribbon and the ribbon guide can be corrected by rotating it so that the ink ribbon and the ribbon guide contact each other almost in parallel, so keep the ink ribbon in contact with the feeding guide surface of the ribbon guide at a right angle. It is possible to save the ink ribbon skew and prevent the accidents such as ink ribbon color mixture, ribbon detachment, and ribbon breakage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial detailed perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial detailed perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a structure of a main part of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation state diagram of a ribbon guide portion.

FIG. 5 is an operation state diagram of a ribbon guide portion.

FIG. 6 is an operation state diagram of a ribbon guide portion.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a structure of a main part of a conventional device.

FIG. 8 is an ink ribbon switching operation state diagram.

FIG. 9 is an operation state diagram of an ink ribbon switching operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 ribbon guide 6 print head 16 guide member 17 guide member surface 23 rotation fulcrum 24 cartridge bracket 25 cartridge bracket 31 ink ribbon 32 ink ribbon cartridge

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A ribbon guide arranged at the tip of a print head moves linearly in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which an ink ribbon is fed in association with an arc movement of an ink ribbon cartridge about a rotation fulcrum. In a printing device having a color ink ribbon switching mechanism, the ribbon guide is rotatably attached to the ribbon feeding guide surface having a guide member surface that can advance and retreat from the ribbon feeding guide surface of the ribbon guide, When the ribbon guide is positioned at a specific position, the guide member surface is arranged substantially parallel to the ribbon feeding guide surface, and when the ink ribbon cartridge is moved from the specific position by the arc motion, the ink The guide member surface comes into contact with the running surface of the ink ribbon pulled out from the ribbon cartridge substantially in parallel. Color ribbon guide structure characterized in that a guide member which rotates state.