JP3129546B2 - Ink ribbon cartridge and printing equipment - 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 cartridge which winds and accommodates an ink ribbon used for printing and a printing apparatus which detachably mounts the ink ribbon cartridge to execute printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink ribbons consumed when printing a desired character string on paper or tape have been replenished to a printing device in the form of a cartridge, thereby facilitating replacement work. This type of ink ribbon cartridge stores a long ink ribbon in a compact form, and in order to facilitate supply to printing equipment, winds and stores the ink ribbon in a cylindrical ink ribbon core to print. In general, the used ink ribbon is wound and collected on a ribbon winding core. In order to make the ink ribbon cartridge, which is a consumable, as inexpensive as possible, the ink ribbon core and the ribbon take-up core are configured to be rotatable, and a driving unit for rotating and driving the ribbon take-up core is provided on the printing device side. ing.

[0003]

However, since the ink ribbon core is configured to rotate by being engaged with a drive shaft of a drive unit provided in the printing device, the ink ribbon core is not attached to the printing device before it is mounted. There is a problem that the ink ribbon easily rotates due to vibration or the like in the state, and the ink ribbon may be slackened. The slack of the ink ribbon has been involved in the ink ribbon drive mechanism, causing a failure or causing a reduction in print quality.

In response to such a problem, another member such as a piece of paper for restricting the rotation of the ink ribbon core is sandwiched between the ink ribbon cores at the time of shipment from the factory, or a special case is prepared. Although a method for preventing the slack of the ribbon has been proposed, it has not been a drastic solution in the following points.

[0005] In the method of restricting the rotation of the ink ribbon by using a separate member, a process of manufacturing an ink ribbon cartridge,
The management process becomes complicated. Further, the user is forced to remove another member when using the cartridge. Further, if the user forgets to remove the separate member and mounts the cartridge on the printing device, this may cause a failure of the ink ribbon driving mechanism of the printing device.

In the special case, for example, a locking claw is formed on the inner surface of the case to engage with the ink ribbon core and prevent its rotation when the ink ribbon cartridge is housed. This necessitates an increase in the unit price of the ink ribbon cartridge, which is contrary to the purpose of providing the ink ribbon cartridge which is a consumable item at low cost.

Further, in such an ink ribbon cartridge, a tape or the like on which an ink ribbon is to be printed is sandwiched between a platen and a print head. Therefore, when printing is not being performed, the user is forced to pull out the tape. Then, a problem has been pointed out that the ink ribbon is pulled out of the cartridge as the tape is pulled out.

The ink ribbon cartridge and the printing apparatus of the present invention solve the above problems, easily and surely prevent the slack of the ink ribbon due to the unexpected rotation of the ink ribbon core, and solve the problems such as the protrusion of the ink ribbon. It was made with the aim of eliminating it.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink ribbon cartridge comprising: a tubular ink ribbon core for winding and storing a long ink ribbon used for printing on a printing device; A cylindrical ribbon take-up core for taking up and collecting the ink ribbon used for printing is provided in a case, and the ink ribbon cartridge is detachably mounted on the printing device. An engagement portion is formed on an exposed portion of the ink ribbon core in a state where the ink ribbon core is rotated, and an engagement piece that engages with the engagement portion to prevent the rotation of the ink ribbon core is rotatable. Cut a part of the bottom wall of the case
One end of the engagement piece is formed integrally with the bottom wall as if pulled out.
Is moved in the direction along the bottom wall of the case,
The engagement with the engagement portion is released .

[0010] Here the engagement piece may be tongues which at least the tip is movable by the elasticity of the bottom wall to form a slit having a predetermined shape on the case bottom wall of Lee ink ribbon cartridge. As for the winding core, Oyo the engagement portion
Similarly to the first and second engagement pieces , a second engagement portion and a second engagement piece may be provided. Further, the tip of the engagement piece is inclined with respect to the engagement portion.
And the tip of the second engaging piece is opposed to the second engaging portion.
It is also preferable that they are configured to face each other at an angle.

Meanwhile, the printing apparatus of the present invention using such an ink ribbon cartridge is freely mounted removably a cartridge according to claim 1 in the cartridge mounting portion, and is winding housed in the ink ribbon cartridge during printing A printing device using an ink ribbon, wherein when the ink ribbon cartridge is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion, the printing device contacts an engagement piece formed on the ink ribbon cartridge and engages one end of the engagement piece. in releasing direction
The gist is that an abutment protrusion that moves in a direction along a bottom wall of the case is provided upright.

In the case of a printing apparatus in which an ink ribbon cartridge having an engagement piece formed on a ribbon winding core of the ink ribbon cartridge is mounted, the printing apparatus contacts the second engagement piece formed on the ink ribbon cartridge. It is also possible to provide a second abutting projection for moving the second engagement piece in the disengagement direction.

Further, another invention of a printing device is a cylindrical ink ribbon core for winding and storing a long ink ribbon used for printing of the printing device, and a printing ink of the printing device. An ink ribbon cartridge having a cylindrical ribbon take-up core for winding and collecting the ink ribbon, and a tape on which printing is performed with ink from the ink ribbon, detachably mounted on a cartridge mounting portion, and the tape and a print head in close contact, sandwiching between the platen and an ink ribbon, when printing, conveys the tape, in synchronization with the conveyance of the tape, driving means for rotating the ribbon winding core , during non-execution of printing, when pulled out the tape to the outside, with the drawer of the tape, and a ribbon winding core driving means for rotating the ribbon winding core A character device, said drive means,
A stepping motor as a driving source, the stepping
A first transmission mechanism for transmitting rotation of the motor to the platen;
The first transmission mechanism branches off in the middle, and the stepping mode
Transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the rotor to the ribbon winding core
With the door, the ribbon winding core driving means, said platen
Transmission of rotation from the motor side to the stepping motor.
Disengage the one-way clutch before the first transmission mechanism.
Along with the stepping motor rather than the branch,
As the tape is pulled out, the platen
When the rotation is transmitted to the first transmission mechanism, the rotation
Due to the movement of the one-way clutch accompanying the transmission,
By interrupting the transmission of rotation to the stepping motor,
The gist is that it is configured by:

[0014]

[0015]

When the ink ribbon cartridge constructed as described above is in a single state before being mounted on a printing device, a part of the bottom wall of the ink ribbon cartridge case is fitted to the engagement portion of the ink ribbon core. As if hollowed out, the bottom
An engagement piece formed integrally with the wall engages to prevent rotation of the ink ribbon core. One end of this engagement piece is
When it moves in the direction along the wall, it disengages from the engaging part.
It is. If the same engagement portion and engagement piece are provided for the ribbon take-up core, the rotation of the ribbon take-up core when the ink ribbon cartridge is in a single state is prevented.

Further, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the ink ribbon cartridge having the engagement piece formed by utilizing the bottom wall is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion, the contact protrusion is formed by the engagement piece of the ink ribbon cartridge. Is moved in the direction along the bottom wall of the case, which is the disengagement direction. As a result, the engagement between the ink ribbon core engaging portion and the engaging piece is released only by mounting the ink ribbon cartridge on the cartridge mounting portion. Similarly, if the second engaging portion and the second engaging piece are provided on the ribbon take-up core side and the contact protrusion is provided on the side where the ink cartridge is mounted, the second engaging portion and the second engaging portion are provided. Realizes a similar effect.

Furthermore, in the printing apparatus to claim 8 which is the invention of good enough serial <br/> mounting, the ink ribbon cartridge, the tape to be printed is also housed, when pulling out the tape, ribbon Ri by the winding core driving means, from the platen side
The rotation transmission of the rotation to the stepping motor is
Wake associated with transmission of rotation of motor to first transmission mechanism
The movement of the latch is interrupted, and the ribbon winding core is rotated. Therefore, if you forcibly pull the tape out,
Along with this, the ink ribbon is taken up by the ribbon take-up core and is not drawn out.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the structure and operation of the present invention described above, a tape cartridge according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and a tape writer which detachably incorporates the tape cartridge and prints on a tape will be described below. Will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the appearance of the tape writer 1, and FIG.
Is a right side view of the same. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an assembled state of the tape cartridge 10 mounted on the tape writer 1, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the same. In this embodiment, since the ink ribbon and the tape to be printed with the ink ribbon are housed in the same cartridge, this cartridge which is also the ink ribbon cartridge is hereinafter referred to as a tape cartridge.

As shown, the tape writer 1 includes a main body case 50H for accommodating various components, an input section 50C having 63 input keys, a main body cover 50K that can be opened and closed,
A display unit 50D that is provided under the main body cover 50K so as to be visible and displays a character string and other information;
Tape cartridge 1 provided at the upper left of the main body
0 is a cartridge mounting section 50A that is removably mounted.
(Not shown in FIG. 1). A window 50L for confirming the mounting of the tape cartridge 10 is provided on the main body cover 50K.
And a window 50M that allows direct viewing of the display unit 50D, and a transparent plastic plate is fitted into both windows 50L and 50M.

When this tape writer 1 is used,
First, open the main body cover 50K and open the cartridge mounting section 5
0A with the tape cartridge 10 attached, and the main body cover 5
Close 0K. Then, the power is turned on by operating the power switch 50J provided on the right side of the main body, and the input unit 50C is turned on.
Enter the character to be printed from. When a character string input as necessary is converted to a kana-kanji character or the like and a predetermined key is operated to instruct printing, printing is performed on the tape T supplied by the tape cartridge 10 by the printer unit 50B of the thermal transfer system. . The printed tape T is discharged from a tape discharge port 10A provided on the left side surface of the tape writer 1. The tape T used in the present embodiment has a printing surface processed in order to improve the placement of the ink by thermal transfer, and a peelable peeling tape is adhered to the adhesive back surface. Therefore, by cutting the printed tape with a built-in cutter and peeling off the release tape on the back surface, the tape T on which characters and symbols are printed can be attached to a desired place.

Next, the structure and function of the tape cartridge 10 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. FIG.
Is a sectional view taken along the line A-A. This tape cartridge 1
No. 0 is capable of storing tapes of different widths by a similar assembling configuration. In the embodiment, five types of tape cartridges are provided in which the width of the stored tape is 6 mm, 9 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm, and 24 mm. FIG.
The tape width is 6m among the five types of tape cartridges.
m, and FIG. 7 shows a tape width of 24 mm.
It is sectional drawing which drew the thing. In order to simplify the drawing, the reference numerals of the respective members in FIG. 7 are omitted. 6 and 7, a part of the print head is illustrated in a sectional view of the tape cartridge in order to explain a state of attachment to the tape writer 1.

The platen 12 used at the time of printing is a hollow cylindrical member, and good adhesion can be obtained between the five types of tapes T and ink ribbons R having different widths and the print head to enable high quality printing. Therefore, a platen rubber 14 according to the tape width is wound around the outer peripheral surface. In this embodiment, a total of two types of platen rubber are used: a platen rubber having a width of 12 mm for tapes of 6 mm, 9 mm and 12 mm (see FIG. 6), and a platen rubber having a width of 18 mm for tapes of 18 mm and 24 mm (see FIG. 7).

The outer peripheries of the upper and lower ends of the platen 12 are:
The tapen portion is formed to have a slightly smaller diameter than the shaft diameter of the platen 12, and the small diameter portion is rotatably loosely fitted into fitting holes 16A and 18A formed in the top wall 16 and the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. , Platen 12 is rotatable. The fitting holes 16A and 18A have a substantially oval shape as shown in FIG. The platen 12 erected on the tape cartridge 10 in this manner is detachable from a platen drive shaft, which will be described later, provided on the tape writer 1, and when engaged with the platen drive shaft, the platen 12 The rotational driving force must be able to be transmitted. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the hollow portion of the platen 12
As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
2A are formed at equal intervals.

In addition, the tape cartridge 10 is provided with a tape core 20, an ink ribbon core 22, and a ribbon take-up core 24 for taking up and storing the long tape T and the ink ribbon R in a compact manner. Further, the tape cartridge 10 is provided with an entrance hole 32 into which a print head described later enters. This entry hole 3
The outer periphery 28 and the guide wall 34 are formed.

The tape core 20 is a large-diameter hollow cylindrical reel, which is designed to take up and store a long tape T thinly. Therefore, the rotational angular velocity of the tape core 20 at the time of pulling out the tape T located at the outermost periphery (reference numeral a in FIG. 3) and the tape T at the same speed when the tape T located at the innermost periphery (reference numeral b in FIG. The configuration is not so different from the rotational angular velocity of the tape core 20. Further, even when the tape T of a material having a small curvature at the time of winding storage and weak in bending stress is used, it can be stored without difficulty.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tape core 20 includes
A shaft hole 20B is formed at the center thereof, and is rotatably fitted into a shaft body 18B which is erected from the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. A circular thin film 20A is attached to the upper and lower ends in the axial direction of the tape core 20, and the surface on the tape T side is an adhesive layer. This film 20A functions as a flange portion for the tape T,
Since the adhesive layer is provided on the surface on the tape T side,
The edge of the tape T is lightly attached to the film 20A.
Therefore, even if the tape T is pulled out by the rotation of the platen 12 and the tape core 20 is driven to rotate, the tape T is not separated. A curved thin plate-shaped washer 23 is interposed between the lid constituting the top wall 16 of the tape cartridge 10 and the film 20A on the upper surface of the tape core 20, and the tape core 20 is deformed by the deformation of the washer 23. Is pressed in the direction of the bottom wall 18 to restrict the free rotation of the tape core 20.

The tape T wound and stored in the tape core 20
Reaches the platen 12 via a tape guide pin 26 erected from the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10,
The tape is guided to the tape outlet 10A of the tape cartridge 10.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ink ribbon core 22 is formed of a small-diameter hollow cylindrical member.
The outer peripheries of the upper and lower ends are slightly smaller in diameter.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, six grooves are formed at equal intervals in the axial direction on the end surface of the small-diameter lower end portion to form an engaging portion 22A. The small diameter portion on the lower end side is loosely fitted in a circular fitting hole 18C formed in the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. The hollow portion at the upper end of the ink ribbon core 22 is the tape cartridge 1.
It is loosely fitted to a cylindrical guide projection 16C protruding from the top wall 16 of the 0. Accordingly, in this state, the ink ribbon core 22 is rotatably held as the ink ribbon R is pulled out.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, on the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10, near the bottom of the ink ribbon core 22 and a ribbon winding core 24 described later,
A thin substantially L-shaped engagement piece 18D is formed. The engagement piece 18D is formed by hollowing out a part (a hatched portion X in FIG. 3) of the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. Therefore, the tip of the engagement piece 18D is
Is movable along the plane direction of the bottom wall 18 with the base end portion 18E connected to the bottom wall 18 as a fulcrum due to the elasticity of the member constituting. When no force is applied to the engaging piece 18D, the movable end thereof is located inside the outer periphery of the fitting hole 18C, so that the movable end is loosely fitted to the fitting hole 18C as described above. Engage with any of the six engagement portions 22A formed at the end of the fitted ink ribbon core 22,
The rotation of the ink ribbon core 22 is prevented.

The ink ribbon R supplied by being wound up and stored in the ink ribbon core 22 is guided by the ribbon guide roller 30 to be superposed with the tape T described above, reaches the platen 12, and further enters the print head. Entry hole 3
2 to the ribbon winding core 24 via a guide wall 34 formed on the peripheral surface of the ribbon winding core 24. When the tape cartridge 10 is in an unused state, that is, when only the starting end of the ink ribbon R is attached to the ribbon take-up core 24, the drawing state of the ink ribbon R is indicated by reference character C in FIG. R
The same state when all of the above are wound on the ribbon winding core 24 is indicated by reference numeral d.

The ribbon take-up core 24 is formed of a hollow cylindrical member having substantially the same shape as the ink ribbon core 22, as shown in the figure. The outer peripheries of the upper and lower ends are formed to have a slightly smaller diameter, similarly to the ink ribbon core 22. Six engagement portions 24A are recessed at regular intervals on the end surface of the small diameter lower end. On the other hand, this ribbon winding core 24
Is engaged with a ribbon take-up core drive shaft, which will be described later, provided on the tape writer 1 similarly to the platen 12 so as to be rotatable. It is formed at intervals. The small-diameter portions formed at the upper and lower ends of the ribbon winding core 24 thus configured are loosely fitted into the circular fitting holes 16G, 18G formed in the bottom wall 18 and the top wall 16 of the tape cartridge 10. It is installed to be rotatable.

In order to prevent accidental rotation of the ribbon take-up core 24, the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 has a thin L-shaped portion whose inner end is located inside the outer periphery of the fitting hole 18G as described above. A letter-shaped engagement piece 18H is formed. That is, a portion of the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 (hatched portion Y in FIG. 3) is hollowed out, and the engagement piece 18
H. When the cartridge 10 is in a single state,
The end of the engagement piece 18H is engaged with one of the six engagement portions 24A formed at the end of the ribbon winding core 24, and the rotation of the ribbon winding core 24 is prevented. . The tips of the engaging pieces 18D, 18H are connected to the engaging portions 22A, 24A.
A, rather than at a right angle, the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon winding core 24
It is possible to rotate counterclockwise.

The engaging portion 2 of such an ink ribbon core 22
2A and engagement piece 18D and ribbon winding core 24
The engagement between the engagement portion 24A and the engagement piece 18H is released by attaching the cartridge 10 to the cartridge attachment portion 50A, and the configuration thereof will be described later together with the structure of the cartridge attachment portion 50A. I do.

The ink ribbon R wound on the ribbon winding core 24 is a thermal transfer type ribbon, and a plurality of widths are prepared in accordance with the width of the tape T on which printing is performed. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A 12 mm wide ink ribbon for a 9,12 mm tape, an 18 mm wide ink ribbon for a tape width of 18 mm (not shown), and a 24 mm wide ink ribbon for a tape width of 24 mm as shown in FIG. A total of three types of ink ribbons R are prepared.

When the width of the ink ribbon R is equal to the height of the tape cartridge 10 (see FIG. 7), the ink ribbon R is guided by the top wall 16 and the bottom wall 18, so that the ribbon is wound up. Although a flange portion is not formed on the outer periphery of the core 24, in the case of the tape cartridge 10 having a small ribbon width, the outer periphery of the ribbon take-up core 24 is provided so that the ink ribbon R can be stably supplied to the platen 12. Is formed with a flange portion 24C adapted to the width of the ink ribbon R wound and stored.
Guides the ink ribbon R (see FIG. 6).

As described above, there are five types of tape cartridges 10 according to the present embodiment, depending on the width of the tape T stored therein. Since the printable area and the like differ depending on the width of the tape T, it is necessary to detect the type of the tape cartridge 10. In the tape cartridge 10 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, three detection holes 18Ka, 18Kb, and 18Kc are provided on the bottom wall 18 of the cartridge so that the type of the tape cartridge 10 can be determined. That is, the detection holes 18Ka, 18Kb, and 18Kc are formed at different depths in accordance with the width of the tape T wound and stored.

Type of tape cartridge 10 and detection hole 1
FIG. 8 shows the relationship with 8Ka, Kb, and Kc. As shown, three detection holes 18Ka, 18Kb, and 18Kc of the tape cartridge 10 accommodating a tape width of 6 mm.
Are all shallowly drilled. Also, in the tape cartridge 10 having a tape width of 9 mm, only the detection hole 18Ka is formed in the tape cartridge 12mm, the detection hole 18Kb is formed in the tape width of 12mm, and only one detection hole 18Kc is formed in the tape width of 18mm. When the tape width is 24 mm, the two detection holes 18Ka and 18Ka are provided.
Kb is deeply drilled.

The tape cartridge 1 described in detail above
0 is the tape cartridge mounting unit 50 of the tape writer 1
A is attached. FIG. 1 shows the inside of the tape writer 1.
As shown in FIG. 9, which is an end view of the AA-AA in FIG.
D, a control circuit section 50F for controlling the printer section 50B, etc.
Is provided.

On the back side of the tape writer 1, a battery housing 50 is provided.
I is provided, and six AA batteries serving as power sources for the entire apparatus can be mounted. A power switch 50J is provided on the right side of the main body. The power can also be supplied from an AC adapter (not shown) from a plug 50N provided on the right side of the main body.

Hereinafter, each of the mechanical components of the tape writer 1 will be sequentially described. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the configuration of the tape cartridge mounting section 50A, and FIG.
1 is a platen 12 driven by the power of the stepping motor 80.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a main configuration of a driving mechanism 50P that drives the like.
It is.

The cartridge mounting portion 50A is arranged on the left rear side of the main body of the tape writer 1, and is formed as a mounting space conforming to the shape of the tape cartridge 10 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, a shaft and a print head 60 that engage with the hollow portions of the ribbon take-up core 24 and the platen 12 are provided upright in the mounting space. Further, the rotation of the stepping motor 80 is controlled by the platen 12 below the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A.
The drive mechanism 50P for transmitting the drive mechanism 50P is provided, but is separated by the case of the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A.
0P cannot be seen directly. FIG. 11 shows a state in which this case is removed. The mounting space is usually covered with the main body cover 50K when the tape cartridge 10 is mounted.

The mounting or replacement of the tape cartridge 10 in the cartridge mounting section 50A is performed by
This is done with 0K open. When the slide button 52 provided in front of the cartridge mounting portion 50A is slid to the right, the engagement between the main body cover 50K and the main body is released, and the main body cover 50K rotates with the cover hinge 54 at the rear portion of the main body as a fulcrum and opens it. be able to. Note that the slide button 52 is constantly receiving a leftward biasing force in the figure by locking a spring arm 52A provided integrally with a locking portion on the main body side.

When the main body cover 50K is opened by operating the slide button 52, the print head 60 for performing printing on the tape T of the tape cartridge 10 can attach and detach the tape cartridge 10. About this behavior,
explain. As shown in FIG. 11, the print head 60 is rotatably mounted on a head rotating shaft 64 erected from a base board 61, and a head main body 65 in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged via an insulator 65a. Heat sink 6 to be attached
5b, a frame 67 supporting the heat radiating plate 65b by the connecting plate 67a, a coil spring 66 for urging the print head 60 toward the initial position, and a flexible cable 68 as an electric wiring to the head main body 65. And In addition,
The connection between the frame 67 and the connecting plate 67a is made by driving a pin 67b into an opening of the connecting plate 67a, and the radiating plate 65b to which the head body 65 is mounted is rotatable about the pin 67b. . As a result, the print head 60
Is pushed out to the platen 12 side, the head body 65
Will uniformly hit the tape T sandwiched between the platen 12.

The lower end of the frame 67 is largely extended and formed as a link plate 62. This link plate 62
Are sewn and arranged between gear trains to be described later, and the ends thereof are located near the boundary with the display unit 50D (FIG. 10).
reference). A coil spring 69 is hooked on an end of the link plate 62, and connects the drive member 63 and the link plate 62. The drive member 63 has a substantially triangular shape, and an end 63b opposite to the end 63a to which the coil spring 69 is coupled has a body cover 50K as shown in FIG.
It is arranged at the position facing to. An operation arm 50S extends downward and is formed at a position facing the end 63b of the main body cover 50K, and the operation of closing the main body cover 50K pushes down the end 63b.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 10 schematically showing this movement. As shown, as the main body cover 50K is pushed down, the operation arm 50S pushes down the end 63b of the drive member 63,
At the same time, the link plate 62 is
Rotates rightward in FIG. This movement of the link plate 62 causes the print head 60 to rotate against the biasing force of the coil spring 66. As a result, the print head 60 moves from the retracted position to a print position facing the platen 12 of the mounted tape cartridge 10. That is, when the operation of closing the main body cover 50K is performed, the print head 60 is set to a printable position. Conversely, when the operation of opening the main body cover 50K is performed, the operation of moving the print head 60 to the retracted position, which is necessary when the tape cartridge 10 is removed or mounted, which is the next normally performed operation, is performed simultaneously. Will be realized. The print head 60 once moved to the retracted position remains at the position while the main body cover 50K is opened by the coil spring 66, and when the main body cover 50K is closed, the print head 60
2 returns to the position where it is pressed.

The bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 50A in this manner is engaged with the engaging portions 22A, 24A for preventing the rotation of the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon winding core 24. As described above, the engaging pieces 18D and 18H are provided. The engagement pieces 18D, 18H are formed by hollowing out a part of the bottom wall 18 (FIGS. 3, 4 and hatch portions X and Y).
As shown in FIG. 10, two wedge-shaped abutment projections 70A and 70B are provided upright at a portion of the cartridge mounting portion 50A corresponding to a middle position between the hatch portion X and the hatch portion Y. Therefore, when the tape cartridge 10 is mounted on the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A, the contact projections 70A and 70B are fitted into the hatch portions X and Y, and the engaging pieces 18D and 18H are connected to the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon winding core. 24 are pressed apart in a direction away from the engagement portions 22A, 24A. Thereby, the engagement pieces 18D, 1
The engagement by 8H is released, and the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon take-up core 24 become rotatable.

Next, a transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the stepping motor 80 to the platen drive shaft 72 of the platen 12 will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, a first gear 81 is attached to a rotating shaft 80A of a stepping motor 80, and a clutch arm 80B is fitted to the rotating shaft 80A with a predetermined friction. . The clutch arm 80B includes a second gear 82, a third gear 8
3 together with a three-way clutch. That is,
When the stepping motor 80 rotates in the direction of arrow C shown in the figure, the clutch arm 80B rotates in the direction of arrow C together with the second gear 82 due to friction between the rotating shaft 80A and the clutch arm 80B, and engages with the third gear 83. I do. As a result, the rotation of the stepping motor 80 is transmitted to the third gear 83. About the function of the one-way clutch,
It will be described later.

The rotation of the third gear 83 is transmitted to the fifth gear 85 and the sixth gear 86 via the fourth gear 84 while repeating gear down. Fifth gear 8
Reference numeral 5 has its rotating shaft connected to the take-up core drive shaft 74, and takes up the ink ribbon R by the rotation of the stepping motor 80. Note that the ribbon winding core 24 is actually
Is mounted with a predetermined friction on the take-up core drive shaft 74, and in a normal state, the rim 74A is driven by the stepping motor 80.
However, if the ribbon take-up core 24 cannot rotate due to the end of the ink ribbon R or the like, it is determined that the ribbon take-up core 24 slips with respect to the rotation of the take-up core drive shaft 74. ing.

The rotation of the sixth gear 86 is further transmitted to the seventh gear 87 to rotate the platen drive shaft 72. A rim 72 </ b> A is provided below the platen drive shaft 72 to engage with and drive the unevenness of the inner peripheral surface of the platen 12. Therefore, when the stepping motor 80 rotates and its rotation is transmitted to the third gear 83 by the one-way clutch, the platen drive shaft 72 and the take-up core drive shaft 74 eventually rotate, and the platen 12 The tape T sandwiched between the platen rubber 14 provided on the outer periphery and the head body 65 of the print head 60 is transported in accordance with printing, and the ink ribbon R is wound up in synchronization with the transport of the tape T. Go on.

The platen 12 and the ribbon take-up core 24
The protrusions 72B and 74B that engage with the engagement ridges 12A and 24B formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hollow are formed at equal intervals. The platen drive shaft 72 and the take-up core drive shaft 7
4 is driven at a predetermined rotation speed by the stepping motor 80, the tape T and the ink ribbon R are pulled out from the tape core 20 and the ink ribbon core 22 by a predetermined amount to be superposed on each other, and the gap between the platen rubber 14 and the print head 60 is formed. Let it pass. At this time, the print head 60
, And the amount of heat generated in units of dots is controlled to thermally transfer the ink of the ink ribbon R to the tape T and print on the tape T. After printing, tape cartridge 1
From 0, only the tape T on which printing is completed is discharged, and the ink ribbon R used for printing is wound up and collected by the ribbon winding core 24.

When the tape T is conveyed together with the printing as described above, the tape T is sent out from the tape discharge port 10A on the left side of the main body. The tape T is originally cut by a cutting mechanism described later, but some users may try to pull out the tape T before cutting.
In a state where the main body cover 50K is closed, the print head 60 presses the tape T against the platen rubber 14 of the platen 12, so that when the tape T is forcibly pulled out, the platen drive shaft 72 also tries to rotate. However, since the gear is down and there is a certain amount of holding torque of the stepping motor 80, the platen drive shaft 72 cannot be rotated by a normal drive mechanism. Naturally, the winding core drive shaft 74 does not rotate either. Therefore, when the tape T is pulled out, the ink ribbon R is pulled out together with the tape T. When the tape T is cut using the cutting mechanism in this state, the ink ribbon R is also cut, so such a situation should not occur.

In this embodiment, the clutch arm 8 described
This problem is avoided by a one-way clutch constituted by OB and the second and third gears 82 and 83.
That is, when trying to pull out the tape T, the platen drive shaft 72 rotates together with the platen 12. The rotation of the platen drive shaft 72 is transmitted to a third gear 83 via a gear train.
And rotate it clockwise. At this time, the second gear 82 tries to rotate, but the rotation shaft 80A of the stepping motor 80 does not rotate.
The rotation force of 3 pushes back the clutch arm 80B that supports the second gear 82, and releases the engagement between the second gear 82 and the third gear 83. As a result, the third gear 83 to the seventh gear
The gear 87 is cut off from the stepping motor 80, and the take-up core drive shaft 74 is also rotated by the rotation of the platen drive shaft 72 accompanying withdrawal of the tape T. Accordingly, the ink ribbon R is also wound up with the pulling out of the tape T, so that the ink ribbon R is not drawn out together with the tape T. When the stepping motor 80 rotates, the clutch arm 80B moves to the third gear 83 again by the rotation, and the second gear 82 and the third gear 83 are engaged. The movement of the clutch arm 80B is temporarily restricted by the opening 80C provided on the base 61 and fitted with the tip of the clutch arm 80B.

By the above printing operation, the tape cartridge 1
The printed tape T discharged from 0 to the left is shown in FIG.
Using the cutting mechanism whose detailed configuration is shown in FIG. 0 and FIG. 13, the cutting can be easily performed as follows. FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. Cutter support shaft 9 protruding from the bottom of cartridge mounting portion 50A
2 is a rotatable substantially "L" shaped tape cutter 9;
The tape cutter 90 is maintained in a state shown by a solid line in FIG. 13, that is, a state in which a clockwise rotating force is applied by the elastic force of the spring 94. This rotational force causes the tape cutter 90
90A pushes the cutter button 96 upward from its back surface. Left end 90A of tape cutter 90
Is formed in a forked shape, into which a pin 96A provided on the back surface of the cutter button 96 is inserted. Therefore,
When the cutter button 96 is pressed down, the left end 90A of the tape cutter 90 is moved downward accordingly.

The right end 90B of the tape cutter 90
Is formed with a moving blade 98 for cutting the tape T, and is separated from the fixed blade 91 attached to the side surface of the cartridge mounting portion 50A at a fixed angle. The shoulder 93 of the tape holder 93 is provided on the back of the right end 90B.
A is in contact (see FIG. 10). This tape holder 93
As shown in FIG. 10, the tape 95 is urged in the direction of the running path of the tape T by a spring 95. When the tape cutter 90 rotates and the movable blade 98 moves in the direction of the fixed blade 91, the tape It moves in the direction of the travel path of T. Since the fixed wall 97 is provided on the opposite side of the running path of the tape T, the tape holder 93 is provided with the moving blade 98 and the fixed blade 9.
Prior to cutting of the tape T by 1, the tape T is fixed to the fixing wall 97. The movement of the tape holder 93 is detected by the detection switch 99. As will be described later, this detection switch 99 is for preventing printing from being performed while the tape T is being cut.

The cutting of the tape T is achieved by pushing down the cutter button 96 against the elastic force of the spring 94. Press down the cutter button 96 and press the tape cutter 9
0 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG.
The moving blade 98 formed in B also rotates in the same direction. As a result, first, the tape holder 93 holds down the tape T between the fixed wall 97 and the moving blade 98. Then, the moving blade 98 gradually overlaps with the fixed blade 91 from the lower part thereof, passes through the print head 60, and moves to the outside of the print head 60. The tape T located is cut.

Next, the details of the input unit 50C, the display unit 50D, the printer unit 50B and the like incorporated in the tape writer 1 will be described. For the sake of easy understanding of the whole, the control circuit unit 50F will be described first. An outline of the electrical configuration of each unit to be performed will be described. Immediately below the main body cover 50K, a control circuit unit 50F assembled on a printed circuit board is provided.
Is incorporated together with the printer unit 50B and the like. FIG. 14 shows the overall electrical schematic configuration. That is, the control circuit unit 50F of the tape writer 1 includes ROM, RAM,
A one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 110 and a mask R in which an input / output port is integrated.
In addition to the OM 118, various circuits for interfacing the CPU 110 with the input unit 50C, the display unit 50D, the printer unit 50B, and the like are incorporated. The CPU 110 is connected to the input unit 50C, the display unit 50D, and the like via the interface circuit or directly, and controls them.

As shown in FIG. 15, the input unit 50C
Eight character input keys and 15 function keys are provided for a total of 63 keys. The character input keys have a so-called full key configuration based on the JIS arrangement, and are the same as general word processors, such as having a well-known shift key in order to suppress an increase in the number of keys to be operated. The function keys enable frequently-used functions such as character input, editing, and printing to be executed with a single touch, and enhance the functionality of the tape writer 1.

Each of these keys is assigned to an 8 × 8 matrix. That is, as viewed from the CPU 110, as shown in FIG. 14, the 16 input ports PA1 to PA8 and the PC1 to PC8 are grouped as shown in the drawing, and 63 types of keys of the input unit 50C are arranged at their intersections. ing. The power switch 50J is provided independently of the matrix key, and is connected to the non-maskable interrupt NMI of the CPU 110. C
When the power switch 50J is operated, the PU 110 activates an interrupt that cannot be masked, and performs various processes such as power-on or power-off.

The detection output from the open / close detection switch 55 for detecting the opening / closing of the main body cover 50K is input to the port PB5, and the CPU 110 monitors the open / close state of the main body cover 50K by interruption. The open / close detection switch 55 is
The movement of the body cover 50K is detected by the movement of the open / close detection switch engagement protrusion 55L (see FIG. 12) provided at the end of the body cover 50K. When the open state of the main body cover 50K is detected while the print head 60 is being driven, a predetermined error is displayed on the main display unit 50Da, and the power supply to the printer unit 50B is turned off.

Ports PH, PM, PL of CPU 110
Are connected to the head rank determination unit 112. The head rank determination unit 112 divides the resistance value of the print head 60 having a large variation due to the manufacturing process into several ranks based on the measurement result, and three jumper units 112A of the head rank determination unit 112 according to the measurement result. , 112
B, 112C. Therefore, the CPU 11
0 reads the state of the head rank determining unit 112, and determines the driving time of the print head 60 according to the input result;
That is, the calorific value is corrected to prevent variations in print density.

Since printing by the printer unit 50B is performed by thermal transfer, the density of printing varies not only with the energizing time of the print head 60, which is a thermal head, but also with the outside air temperature and drive voltage. These are detected by the temperature detection circuit 60A and the voltage detection circuit 60B. These circuits 60A and 60B are integrated into the print head 60, and output from the CPU 110 is a two-channel analog-to-digital conversion input port AD1, AD2.
It is connected to the. The CPU 110 uses this port AD
The power supply time of the print head 60 is corrected by converting the voltages 1 and 2 into digital signals and reading them.

The discrimination switch 102 is connected to the ports PB1 to PB3 of the CPU 110. The discrimination switch 102 is provided at the lower right corner of the cartridge mounting section 50A as shown in FIG. The discrimination switch 102 is formed by integrally forming three cartridge discrimination switches 102A, 102B, and 102C that enter the three detection holes 18K formed in the tape cartridge 10, respectively. This cartridge discriminating switch 102
The protrusion lengths of A, 102B, and 102C are designed in accordance with the depth of the detection hole 18K formed in the tape cartridge 10 described above. And the switch is turned on. Further, the cartridge discriminating switch 102 that has entered the deeply formed detection hole 18K is loosely fitted into the detection hole 18K as it is, and the switch is turned off. Therefore, the three cartridge discrimination switches 10 of this discrimination switch 102
By detecting the states of the tape cartridges 2A, 102B, and 102C, the type of the tape cartridge 10 currently mounted in the cartridge mounting section 50A, that is, the tape cartridge 1
It is possible to determine the width of the tape T stored in 0. The information on the width of the tape T is used not only for controlling the size of characters to be printed, but also for controlling the printer unit 50B described later.

A signal from the contact of the plug 50N is input to the port PB7 of the CPU 110. Plug 50
N is the DC power from the AC adapter 113 to the jack 1
15 is accepted by being inserted, but at this time,
By the function of the break contact, the power supply 11
4, the power supply to the battery 4 is cut off, and the power consumption of the battery BT is avoided. At the same time, a signal of another contact provided on the plug 50N is input to the port PB7 of the CPU 110. Therefore, by determining this signal, the CPU 110 can determine whether the main power supply of the tape writer 1 is based on the AC adapter 113 or the battery BT, and perform different control. In this embodiment, when power is supplied from the AC adapter 113, the printing speed by the printer unit 50B is maximized, while when power is supplied from the battery BT, the printing speed by the printer unit 50B is , The peak of the current flowing through the print head 60 is suppressed, and the power consumption of the battery BT is reduced.

The mask ROM 118 connected to the address bus and data bus of the CPU 110 is a 16 × 1
It is a 16-megabit mask ROM that stores a set of four types of kana, kanji, and special characters of 5, 24 × 24, 32 × 32, and 48 × 48. The 24-bit address bus AD, the 8-bit data bus DA, the chip select signal CS, and the output enable signal OE
Ports PD0 to PD33. These signals are also directly connected to the external input / output connector 50Ea, so that the extension unit 50E attached to the external input / output connector 50Ea can access the same as the mask ROM 118.

The extension section 50E provided so as to be directly connectable to the control circuit section 50F serves as an insertion portion of a ROM pack or a RAM pack which is optionally supplied as an external storage element. By inserting a ROM pack or a RAM pack into this insertion slot, electrical connection with the external input / output connector 50Ea of the control circuit unit 50F is completed, and the CPU 110
Information can be transmitted and received. With this configuration, a ROM pack that stores special characters and symbols for various drafting, maps, chemistry, and mathematics or character fonts other than Japanese, such as Gothic, Mincho, and print fonts, is attached to the extension unit. A desired character string can be edited. Similarly, a RAM pack in which information can be freely written is attached to the expansion unit, and information larger than the amount of information that can be stored is stored in the RAM area inside the tape writer body, and a library of print character strings is created. Can be used for exchanging information with the tape writer 1.

The mask ROM 118 or the extension unit 50E
The dot data of the character read from the
And the LCD controller 11 of the display control circuit 116.
6A is also input.

The CPU 11 via the display control circuit 116
The display unit 50D controlled by 0 is disposed under the main body cover 50K whose corresponding part is transparent, and the user can visually recognize the display unit 50D through the main body cover 50K. In the display unit 50D, two types of electrode patterns are formed on a liquid crystal panel. As shown in FIG. 16, one of them is a dot matrix pattern having a height of 32 × 96 and a second is a dot matrix pattern. 28 are pentagonal electrode patterns arranged so as to surround the area of the matrix. The area where the electrodes of the dot matrix pattern are formed is a main display section 50Da for displaying a print image.
And the area where the pentagonal electrode pattern is formed is referred to as the indicator section 50Db.

The main display section 50Da is used as a liquid crystal display panel capable of displaying 32 dots high by 96 dots wide. In the present embodiment, since each character at the time of character input and editing is displayed on the main display using a character font having a width of 16 and a height of 15 dots, 6 characters × 2
Line display is possible. In displaying each character, the processing state of the tape writer 1 can be visually displayed by using a positive display, a negative display, a blinking display, or the like according to the editing state.

Further, since the main display section 50Da is in a dot matrix format and its display contents can be freely controlled, it is also possible to display the current print image layout when a predetermined key input is made. When the layout display is instructed, as shown in FIG. 17, 4 × 4 dots at the time of printing correspond to one dot of the main display portion, the tape width is displayed in a negative manner, and a print character string is outlined in white. Is displayed. At this time, the total length of the tape is numerically displayed as information to assist the print image. When the layout of the print image is too large to be displayed on the main display unit 50Da at a time, the entire print layout can be confirmed by scrolling up, down, left, and right using the cursor keys.

The indicator section 50Db is for displaying the function being executed by the tape writer 1 at the present stage, and is arranged around the main display section 50Da. Each display body t obtained corresponding to the pentagonal electrode pattern in the indicator section 50Db is
It is provided corresponding to a character representing a function printed around D. Character input mode status such as "Romaji input" and "lower case input", style specification status such as "number of lines" and "enclosing rule" to be printed and edited, and format specification status such as "equal layout" and "adjustment" When the state setting is executed or selected, the display body t at the position of the character indicating the state is made visible.

The printer unit 50B of the tape writer 1
The mechanical components include a print head 60 and a stepping motor 80, and the electrical components include a printer controller 120 and a motor driver 122 for controlling the same. The print head 60 is a thermal head in which 96 heating points are arranged in one vertical line at a pitch of 1/180 inch. The temperature detection circuit 60A for detecting the outside air temperature and the voltage detection for detecting the supply voltage described above. The circuit 60B is built in. Stepping motor 80
Is a known configuration that controls the rotation angle by appropriately controlling the phases of the four-phase drive signals. Stepping motor 8
The tape feed amount in one step of 0 is designed to be 1/360 inch by the configuration of the gear train which is a reduction mechanism. In addition, a two-step rotation signal is output to the stepping motor 80 in synchronization with the printing of each dot performed by the print head 60. As a result, the printer unit 50B
Printing is performed at 180 dots / inch not only in the width direction of the tape but also in the length direction thereof.

The detection switch 99 described above is connected to the printer controller 120 and the motor driver 122 by the CP.
It is interposed in the common line connected from U110. Since the detection switch 99 detects the use state of the cutting mechanism, when the cutting mechanism is about to be used during printing, the detection switch 99 is used.
Is activated, and the operation of the printer unit 50B is immediately stopped. In this case, since signals from the CPU 110 to the printer controller 120 and the motor driver 122 continue to be sent, if the use of the cutting mechanism is stopped, printing is continued.

In this embodiment, since the use of the cutting mechanism during printing hinders the transport of the tape T, the printing operation (especially the tape feeding operation) is immediately stopped. , The power is forcibly cut off, but the output of the detection switch 99 is once taken into the CPU 110 and the same processing as when the main body cover 50K is opened may be performed. In addition, instead of the detection switch 99, as a mechanical configuration, the movement of the movable blade 98 causes the clutch arm 80 to move.
B may be pushed to prevent the rotation of the stepping motor 80 from being transmitted to the platen drive shaft 72.

In addition to the components described above, the tape writer 1 has a power supply unit 114 incorporated therein, and the battery BT is formed by the RCC method using an IC and a transformer.
As a result, a stable 5 V power supply for backup and logic circuits is obtained. A port PV is assigned to the CPU 110 for controlling its voltage.

Note that the tape writer 1 of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, there is a margin function for securing a tape margin by a specified distance before and after a character string to be printed. The margin function includes a tape feed phase control signal for the front margin outputted before transmitting the 96-bit serial print data as described above, and a rear margin output signal outputted after transmitting all the serial print data. And a tape feed phase control signal. On the other hand, if the designated distance of such a margin is smaller than the separation distance between the printing position and the tape cutting position (less than 8 mm in this embodiment), the designated front margin cannot be realized. In this case, after the printing is completed, the tape T is fed by the amount of the trailing margin, and the print head 6
This is done by printing a single cut mark PCM when 0 is at the tape position before the next print position by the specified front margin. If the discharged tape T is cut at the position of the cut mark PCM, it is possible to easily obtain a print tape having a necessary amount of front margin.

CPU 1 for controlling peripheral circuits as described above
Various programs for executing the above-described operations are stored in the internal ROM 10. Also, its internal RA
M is partly used as a system reserved area used when executing various programs stored in the internal ROM, and is used as a text area for editing characters and a file area for storing the contents of the text. It has been released as a space used by users.

The text area is assigned an area for accepting a confirmed input of up to 125 characters, and stores, in addition to a character code, style data and mode data for editing the character. Therefore, the stored contents are appropriately added or updated by a character input or an editing operation from the input unit.

The file area has 150 files in the internal RAM.
0 characters, 2000 for optional RAM pack
An area where characters can be registered is allocated. Also, the internal R
By the file management program stored in the OM, 1 to 99 variable length files can be stored and managed in this file area, and a basic operation environment such as file registration and call deletion is provided.

Next, among the functions achieved by the control circuit unit configured as described above, a particularly characteristic control of multi-line printing will be described. As shown in FIG. 19, the tape writer 1 of this embodiment uses four font data from 16.times.16 to
The fonts which are prepared in the OM 118 and which do not have the number of overlapping dots among the fonts can be enlarged up to twice in length and up to four times in width. Therefore, the maximum font is 9
As shown in FIG. 19, the number of printable dot combinations is 6.times.192 dots.
Therefore, when editing the print character string over multiple lines,
In addition to the normal character input operation of inputting a character string to be printed on each line, it is necessary to specify a print font of the character string to be printed on each line.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in place of the character font designation, the relative magnitude relation of the character strings to be printed on each line (for example, in the case of three-line printing, the first line is large and the second line is large) (Large on the third line) is input by key operation of the input unit. Further, in order to further simplify the key operation, options are prepared in advance as shown in FIG. 20 to exemplify a case of three-line printing (in this embodiment, the same × 3, small, small,
Large, small / large / large, large / small / small, large / large / small), and selecting this replaces the input. Note that this is realized as a simple setting mode, and a mode for setting the number of dots for each line is also provided. In this case, the total number of dots in the vertical direction in a plurality of rows must be set so as not to exceed 96.

After completing all the inputs, the input unit 50C
When a key instructing "print" among the function keys is operated, a multi-line print processing program whose flowchart is shown in FIG. 21 is started, and the CPU 110 performs the following processing. When the processing of the multi-line print processing program is started, first, the CPU 110 reads the magnitude relation between the selected character strings of the lines and the detection signal of the cartridge discrimination switch 102 prior to the print command (step 10).
0, 110), and confirms information related to printing. And
The width of the currently mounted tape T is determined from the detection result of the cartridge determination switch 102, and from the determination result and the magnitude relationship between the character strings of each line, the character of each line is referred to with reference to a font map stored in advance in the internal ROM. The font is determined (step 120).

FIG. 20 shows a font map used for three-line printing as an example of the font map. As shown in the figure, the font map is created such that when the size relationship of each line character string and the tape width are determined, the print font used for printing each line is uniquely determined. Is 12 mm and the size of the character strings on each line is “large and small”, the print font used for printing each line is font S in the first line, font P in the second line, and font P in the third line. Is determined.
In the case where the number of print lines is two, the determination is made in the same manner, but the description is omitted here.

When the print font to be used for printing each line is determined in this manner, the print font corresponding to the character code of the character string to be printed is sequentially read from the mask ROM 118 (step 130), and the dot font to be printed is obtained. (Step 140), and the dot pattern is
The print control (step 150) is performed in which 96 bits of serial data are cut out for each column and transferred to the printer unit as described above.

The tape cartridge 10 constructed as described above is provided on the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 at the engaging portion 22A of the ink ribbon core 22 when it is in a single state before being mounted on the tape writer. Engagement piece 18
D engages to prevent rotation of the ink ribbon core 22. The ribbon take-up core 24 is also provided with a pair of engagement portions 24A and an engagement piece 18H.
The rotation of 4 is prevented. Therefore, the slack of the ink ribbon R when the tape cartridge 10 is conveyed can be reliably prevented without using a separate member such as a piece of paper or a special case, and a failure caused by forgetting to remove the separate member can be completely prevented. Can be avoided. Moreover, the engagement portions 22A, 24
The engagement state between A and the engagement pieces 18D and 18H can be easily performed by simply performing the work of mounting the tape cartridge 10 on the tape writer 1 and automatically releasing by the action of the contact projections 70A and 70B. Very good.

Further, in the present embodiment, the tips of the engaging pieces 18D and 18H are inclined obliquely with the engaging portions 22A and 24H.
The ink ribbon R is rotatable in a direction in which the ink ribbon R is not loosened even when the tape cartridge 10 is in a single state. Therefore, if the contact protrusions 70A, 70B are worn or broken, or if the mounting position of the tape cartridge 10 is slightly deviated, the contact protrusions 70A, 70B
B, the engaging portion 18A of the engaging piece 18D, the engaging portion 22A of the engaging piece 18H,
There is an advantage that the ink ribbon R for printing can be normally taken up even when the detachment from the engagement portion 24A is not completely performed.

Even after the tape cartridge 10 is once used, if it is detached from the cartridge mounting portion 50A, the engagement portion 22A of the ink ribbon core 22 and the engagement portion 24A of the ribbon take-up core 24 will have the engagement piece. 18D and 1
8H is reengaged to prevent the rotation of the cores 22 and 24 and, consequently, the slack of the ink ribbon R. This configuration is extremely useful in view of the fact that the tape cartridge 10 can be appropriately removed from the tape writer 1 even during use, depending on the width of the tape T contained therein. The significance of providing a rotation preventing mechanism not only for the ink ribbon core 22 but also for the ribbon winding core 24 is exclusively here.

In this embodiment, since the tips of the engaging pieces 18D and 18H are obliquely opposed to the engaging portions 22A and 24A, the tape cartridge 10 is mounted on the tape cartridge. The ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon take-up core 24 are rotatable in a direction in which the slack of the ink ribbon R is eliminated even in a state where the ink ribbon R is removed from the portion 50A.
Therefore, the user who noticed the slack of the ink ribbon R,
It is easy to remove the slack by rotating the ribbon winding core 24 using a driver or the like.

Further, in the tape writer 1 of the present embodiment, when the user tries to forcibly pull out the tape T, the clutch arm 80B rotates clockwise in FIG. 11, and the third gear 83 and the second gear 82 are rotated. Release the engagement with. As a result,
The platen 12 against the holding force of the stepping motor 80
Is no longer necessary, and when the tape T is pulled out,
The platen drive shaft 72 of the platen 12 and the take-up core drive shaft 74 of the ribbon take-up core 24 rotate. Therefore, the ink ribbon R is loosened with the pulling out of the tape T,
There is no possibility that the tape cartridge 10 is pulled out of the tape cartridge 10.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the tape cartridge 10 in which the ink ribbon R and the tape T on which the ink ribbon R is to be printed are integrated and the tape writer 1 which executes printing on the tape T. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be embodied in various forms.

For example, the present invention can be easily applied to an ink ribbon cartridge containing only an ink ribbon for thermal transfer and a word processor using the ink ribbon cartridge. Further, the present invention is applicable to a dot impact type printer and its ink ribbon, regardless of the recording method and the recording target.

[0091]

As described above with reference to the embodiments, when the ink ribbon cartridge of the present invention is in a unitary state before being mounted on a printing apparatus, the ink ribbon cartridge engages with the engaging portion formed on the ink ribbon core. Ribbon cartridge case
The engagement piece integrally formed with the bottom wall engages as if a part of the bottom wall was hollowed out . One end of this engagement piece is
When it moves in the direction along the bottom wall, the engagement with the engagement part is released
Is done. This makes it possible to simply and reliably prevent the ink ribbon from sagging due to accidental rotation of the ink ribbon core. Therefore, there is no need for a special case or a piece of paper for preventing rotation.

Further, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the ink ribbon cartridge having the engagement piece formed by utilizing the bottom wall is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion, the contact projection is formed by the engagement piece of the ink ribbon cartridge. that one end of the moving in the direction along the bottom wall of the case is a disengaging direction to release the engagement between the ink ribbon core engaging portion and the engaging piece to freely rotate easily the ink ribbon core it can. Therefore,
The operation of removing the separate member for preventing rotation is simplified, and the failure of the printing device due to forgetting to remove such another member can be prevented.

Further, if a pair of engaging portions and engaging pieces are provided on the ribbon take-up core and the corresponding contact projections are provided on the printing device side, the same effect is exerted on the ribbon take-up core. In addition, it is possible to more reliably prevent the ink ribbon from sagging when the ink ribbon cartridge is removed from the printing device during use.

[0094] On the other hand, according to the printing apparatus of the eighth aspect , the rotation of the platen along with the tape being pulled out to the outside.
Is transmitted to the first transmission mechanism, the ribbon winding core drive means moves the one-way clutch with the transmission of the rotation.
The transmission of rotation to the stepping motor by
Since the ribbon take-up core is rotated in the ribbon take-up direction, there is an effect that the ribbon is not loosened or pulled out together with the tape due to the forced withdrawal of the tape.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tape writer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the tape writer 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an assembly configuration of the tape cartridge 10 in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 5 shows the tape cartridge 10 in FIG.
It is an arrow end view.

FIG. 6 is an end view showing the internal structure of a tape cartridge having a tape width of 6 mm among five types of tape cartridges.

FIG. 7 is an end view showing the internal structure of the tape having a width of 24 mm.

FIG. 8 shows a tape T stored in a tape cartridge 10.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between the width of the detection hole and the depth of three detection holes 18K.

FIG. 9 is an end view of the tape writer 1 as viewed in the direction of arrows AA-AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a configuration of a tape cartridge mounting section 50A.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a gear train and a mechanism for moving a print head 60 between a retracted position and a print position.

12 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 10, illustrating a mechanism for moving the print head 60. FIG.

FIG. 13 is an end view taken along the line CC of FIG. 10 for explaining the cutting mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration centering on a CPU 110;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a key arrangement of an input unit 50C.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a display unit 50D.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a layout display performed on the display unit 50D.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a printing state on a margin.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of print fonts prepared in a mask ROM 118.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a font map used for three-line printing.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a multi-line print processing program.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tape writer 10 ... Tape cartridge 10A ... Tape discharge opening 12 ... Platen 12A ... Engaging strip 14 ... Platen rubber 16 ... Top wall 16A, 18A ... Fit hole 16B, 18B ... Guide protrusion 16C ... Guide protrusion 16G ... Fit Mating hole 18 ... Bottom wall 18C ... Fit hole 18D ... Engagement piece 18E ... Base end 18G ... Fit hole 18H ... Engagement piece 18K ... Detection hole 18Ka, 18Kb, 18Kc ... Detection hole 20 ... Tape core 20A ... Flange part 22 ... Ink ribbon core 22A ... Engaging part 24 ... Ribbon winding core 24A ... Engaging part 24B ... Engaging strip 24C ... Flange part 26 ... Tape guide pin 28 ... Outer circumference 30 ... Ribbon guide roller 32 ... Entry hole 34: guide wall 50A: tape cartridge mounting section 50B: printer section 50C: input section 50D: display section 50Da: main table Unit 50Db Indicator unit 50E Extension unit 50Ea External input / output connector 50F Control circuit unit 50H Body case 50I Battery storage unit 50J Power switch 50K Body cover 50L Window 50M Window 50N Plug 50P Drive mechanism 50S ... Operation arm 52 ... Slide button 52A ... Spring arm 54 ... Cover hinge 55 ... Open / close detection switch 60 ... Print head 60A ... Temperature detection circuit 60B ... Voltage detection circuit 61 ... Base board 62 ... Link plate 63 ... Drive member 63a ... End 63b ... End 64 ... Head rotating shaft 65 ... Head body 65a ... Insulator 65b ... Heat radiating plate 66 ... Coil spring 67 ... Frame 67a ... Connecting plate 67b ... Pin 68 ... Flexible cable 69 ... Coil spring 70A, 70B ... Abutment Projection 72: Platen drive shaft 72A ... Rim 72B, 74B ... Protrusion 74 ... Winding core drive shaft 74 ... Winding core drive shaft 74A ... Rim 80 ... Stepping motor 80A ... Rotating shaft 80B ... Clutch arm 80C ... Opening 81 ... First gear 82 ... Second Gear 82 ... third gear 83 ... third gear 84 ... fourth gear 85 ... fifth gear 86 ... sixth gear 87 ... seventh gear 90 ... tape cutter 90A ... left end 90B ... right end 91 ... fixed blade 92 ... cutter support shaft 93A ... shoulder 94 ... spring 95 ... spring 96 ... cutter button 96A ... pin 97 ... fixed wall 98 ... moving blade 99 ... detection switch 102 ... cartridge discrimination switch 102 ... discrimination switch 102A, 102B , 102C ... Cartridge discriminating switch 110 ... CPU 112 ... Head rank discriminating unit 112A, 112B, 112C ... Jumper section 113 ... AC adapter 114 ... power supply unit 115 ... jack 116 ... display unit control circuit 116A ... LCD controller 118 ... mask ROM 120 ... printer controller 122 ... motor driver R ... ink ribbon T ... Tape

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-23970 (JP, A) JP-A-3-199077 (JP, A) JP-A-4-226375 (JP, A) JP-A-5-1990 92652 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model 2-78356 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 4-64160 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 5-39961 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 35/28 B41J 29/54 B41J 33/14

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tubular ink ribbon core for winding and storing a long ink ribbon used for printing on a printing device, and winding and collecting the ink ribbon used for printing on the printing device. An ink ribbon cartridge detachably mounted on the printing device, wherein the exposed portion of the ink ribbon core in a state in which the ink ribbon is wound and stored is provided in the case. An engaging portion that forms an engaging portion and that prevents the rotation of the ink ribbon core by engaging with the engaging portion is formed on a bottom wall of the case that rotatably supports the ink ribbon core . As if partly hollowed out,
The engaging piece is formed integrally with the bottom wall, and one end of the engaging piece moves in a direction along the bottom wall of the case.
When it is, the engagement with the engagement portion is released
Ink ribbon cartridge, characterized in that. Wherein the engagement piece is, the case bottom wall of the ink ribbon cartridge to form a slit of a predetermined shape, to claim 1, which is a tongue-like product at least the tip is movable by the elasticity of the bottom wall The ink ribbon cartridge as described in the above. 3. The ink according to claim 1, wherein the second engagement portion is formed on the ribbon winding core, and the second engagement piece that engages with the second engagement portion is formed on the case. Ribbon cartridge. 4. A second engaging piece that engages with a second engaging portion formed in the ribbon winding core forms a predetermined-shaped gap in a bottom wall of the case of the ink ribbon cartridge. 4. The ink ribbon cartridge according to claim 3 , wherein the ink ribbon cartridge is a tongue-shaped object whose at least the tip is movable by elasticity of a wall. 5. A front end of said engaging piece with respect to said engaging portion.
The end of the second engagement piece is obliquely opposed to the second engagement piece.
5. The device according to claim 3, which is obliquely opposed to the joint.
An ink ribbon cartridge according to any one of the above. 6. The ink ribbon cartridge according to claim 1, wherein :
Cartridge is removably attached to the cartridge mounting section for printing.
The ink ribbon cartridge
A printing device using an ink ribbon , wherein the ink ribbon cartridge is mounted on the cartridge.
When the ink ribbon cartridge is attached to the
Abutting the formed engaging piece, and releasing one end of the engaging piece from the
Abutment to move in the direction along the bottom wall of the case
A printing device with a standing upright. 7. The ink ribbon cartridge according to claim 3, wherein :
Cartridge is removably attached to the cartridge mounting section for printing.
The ink ribbon cartridge
A printing device using an ink ribbon , wherein the ink ribbon cartridge is mounted on the cartridge.
When the ink ribbon cartridge is attached to the
Abuts the formed second engagement piece and engages the second engagement piece
Printing with a second abutment projection that moves in the release direction
machine. 8. A long sheet used for printing on a printing device.
Cylindrical ink ribbon that winds and stores
Core and the ink used for printing by the printing device.
A tubular ribbon take-up core for taking up and collecting a bon;
And a tape on which printing is performed with the ink of the ribbon.
The ink ribbon cartridge into the cartridge
The tape and the ink ribbon are attached to the platen so that it can be
The print head to be sandwiched and the tape for printing
Transport and in synchronization with the transport of the tape,
Drive means for rotating the winding core, and when printing is not executed,
When the tape is pulled out, the tape is pulled out.
A ribbon winding core for rotating the ribbon winding core in accordance with the
A driving device, comprising: a stepping motor as a driving source; and a first device for transmitting rotation of the stepping motor to a platen.
A transmission mechanism of branches from the middle of the first transmission mechanism, and a second transmission mechanism for transmitting rotation of the stepping motor to the ribbon winding core, the ribbon winding core driving means, said platen To the stepping motor of rotation from the side
The one-way clutch for blocking the transmission, Keru the set to the stepping motor side of the branch of the first transmission mechanism
Together, of the platen with the drawer to the exterior of the tape
When the rotation is transmitted to the first transmission mechanism, the rotation
Due to the movement of the one-way clutch accompanying the transmission,
By interrupting the transmission of rotation to the stepping motor,
Printing equipment configured Te.