HEAT TRANSFERABLE LINE PRINTER AND INK RIBBON CASSETTE FOR IT

Abstract: A heat transferable line printer used with a cassette (C) carrying a heat transferable ink ribbon (37) capable of being printed many times. The ink ribbon cassette comprises a case (36) which is symmetrical to left and right, a pair of spools provided within the case, one spool serving as a winding spool whereas the other serving as a supply spool, both of which carry the ink ribbon, and cylindrical hub gears (41,43) supported on opposite ends of each of the spools and projected from a notch (65) provided on the side of the case. The printer comprises a print unit (A) and a feed unit (B) which are pivotably connected with each other through a shaft (1), the feed unit including a platen extending parallel to the shaft, the print unit having a thermal head (9) extending along the platen. The print unit comprises a pair of spool shafts (5,6) selectively fitted into the hubs projecting from the side of the ink ribbon cassette, the ink ribbon cassette being inversely mounted on the print unit.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal printer for heat-transferring an ink from a melting or sublimating type ink ribbon to a plain paper, and more particularly to a construction for detachably mounting an ink ribbon cassette in a line printer having a fixed thermal head extending widthwise of the plain paper. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART A printer using a heat transferable ink ribbon is well known in U.S. Patent No. 3,596,055, in which printer, a thermal head is carried on a carriage and moved in a reciprocating manner across the paper along the platen together with the carriage. An ink ribbon is arranged along the passage of the thermal head and transported across the paper in synchronism with the movement of the thermal head. Such a printer is called a serial type. U.S. Patent No. 3,984,809 discloses a heat transferable line printer having a fixed thermal head extending widthwise of paper, wherein an ink ribbon is superposed on the paper, passes between the thermal head and the platen along with the paper and is fed in the same direction. The heat transferable line printer is advantageous in that a multicolor print be rendered easy, and in case of monochrome, a high speed printing be realized. The heat transferable ink ribbon is made in the form of a cassette and replaceably mounted on the printer. In the case of the heat transferable line printer, in order to replaceably support the ink ribbon cassette, a body thereof comprises a lower unit and an upper unit which are divisible from each other, one unit being carried on the thermal head while the other unit carrying the platen, both the units being pivotably connected. According to U.S. Patent No. 4,632,585 issued on December 30, 1986, when the upper unit is pivotally opened relative to the lower unit, a cassette holder appears in that open portion, and therefore the ink ribbon cassette can be inserted from the front of said open portion. This inserting direction for the cassette is generally the same as the transporting direction for the ink ribbon. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 125,685/1985 laid-opened on July 4, 1985, after the upper unit or cover has been opened, the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the lower unit from the top. In this case, the inserting direction for the cassette is generally the direction perpendicular to the transporting direction for the ink ribbon. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 262,678/1985 laid-opened on December 26, 1985, the ink ribbon cassette is mounted from the lower side on the back side of the upper unit or cover. This method of mounting is just the opposite to that proposed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 125,685/1985. The remaining or another method was proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 114,876/1986 laid-opened on June 2, 1986. In this method, two cantilever shafts are provided within a lower unit, and an ink ribbon cassette is mounted within the lower unit so that these shafts are in engagement with a center hole of a reel within the ink ribbon cassette. A melting or sublimating type ink ribbon used in a heat transferable printer has been discarded after single use. However, recently, such ribbons that may be used many times have been developed for use. In a heat transferable line printer used together with a cassette having an ink ribbon capable of being used many times as described above, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 212,287/1984 laid-opened on December 1, 1984, when the end of the ink ribbon is detected, a portion between the thermal head and the platen is opened, and the ink ribbon passes therebetween and is automatically wound back. When this winding-back is terminated, printing starts again. Such an automatic winding-back function surely seems to be convenient, but actually, time required for the winding back is so great that may not ignor, and loss resulting from the stoppage of printing during that period is not allowable. Further, a driving mechanism for relatively isolating the thermal head from the platen becomes complicated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a heat transferable line printer which is well suited for use with a cassette carrying a heat transferable ink ribbon capable of being used many times. It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a heat transferable line printer in which an ink ribbon cassette is designed symmetrically to left and right so that the cassette may be mounted on a print unit from either side. According to the present invention, there is provided a heat transferable line printer wherein when an ink ribbon is transported from one spool to the other within a cassette and reaching the end, the cassette can be inverted and mounted on the print unit, without winding back the ink ribbon, to start re-using. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the mode of a replacement of an ink ribbon cassette in a heat transferable line printer according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the heat transferable line printer shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a friction clutch shown in FIG. 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, the heat transferable line printer according to the present invention comprises a print unit A having a fixed thermal head 9 and a feed unit B connected for pivotal movement through the print unit A and a shaft 1, the print unit A replaceably receiving a heat transferable ink ribbon cassette C. The print unit A has a housing 2 including a bottom 2a and three sides 2b, 2c and 2d. Referring to FIG. 3, the side 2c is in the form of a double-wall construction including an upright support plate 2e and a cover 2f, and a space 63 is formed therebetween. The upright support plate 2e of the side 2c is formed of a rigid material, for example, aluminum diecast, and supports a support arm 12 extending laterally therefrom. It is noted that the support arm 12 can be formed integral with the upright support plate 2e. A bracket 72 (FIG. 1) is mounted on the support arm 12, and a shaft 11 for pivotably supporting a head holder 10 is secured between the bracket 72 and the upright support plate 2e. The head holder 10 holds a line type thermal head 9, which is biased by means of a spring 13 mounted in a hole 12a of the support arm 12 (FIG. 2). Turning back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the feed unit B has a cover 69 having a U-shape in section which also serves as a cover for the housing 2, the cover 69 having a platen 56 rotatably supported thereon. The platen 56 is operatively connected to an electric motor 64 mounted externally of the cover 69, and is rotated by the motor 64. The feed unit B is pivotably connected to the print unit A through the shaft 1 and can be opened and closed about the shaft 1. FIG. 1 shows the state wherein the feed unit B is opened whereas FIG. 2 illustrates the state wherein the unit is closed, in which closed state, the platen 56 comes into resilient contact with the thermal head 9 against a drag of the spring 13. In this case, a latch 70 provided on the feed unit B engages an aperture 71 formed in the housing side 2d of the print unit A to retain the resilient contact between the platen 56 and the thermal head 9. The cover 69 includes a feed guide plate 57 and an ejection guide plate 59, the guide plates 57 and 59 defining a passage for paper passing between the platen 56 and the thermal head 9. Referring to FIG. 3, the print unit A comprises a winding spool shaft 5 and a supply spool shaft 6 comprising two cantilever rods firmly secured to bosses 7 and 8, respectively, of the upright support plate 2e, to support an ink ribbon cassette C having a pair of spools 48 and 49 in engagement with the shafts 5 and 6. The ink ribbon cassette C includes the pair of spools 48 and 49 within a case 36, and a heat transferable ink ribbon 37 is extended between the spools 48 and 49. The spools 48 and 49 each comprise cylindrical cores 38 and 39, flanges 50, 51, 52 and 53 provided on the opposite ends thereof, a pair of hubs 40 and 41, and 42 and 43 inserted into the opposite ends of the cores 38 and 39, and pipes 44 and 45 for interconnecting the pair of hubs 40 and 41, and 42 and 43. In this case, gears 40a, 41a, 42a and 43a are formed around the hubs 40, 41, 42 and 43, respectively. In both the sides of the case 36 are formed slits or notches 65 including holes with which are engaged the pair of hubs 40 and 41 of the first spool 48 and the pair of hubs 42 and 43 of the second spool 49, respectively. The hubs 40, 41, 42 and 43 each loosely engage the relevant notches 65 and are projected slightly outwardly. This ink ribbon cassette C is designed symmetrically to left and right so that the cassette C may be mounted on the print unit A from either side thereof. Referring again to FIG. 3, the upright support plate 2e is formed with a notch 3 adjacent to the boss 7 supporting the winding spool shaft 5, and a geared system including a friction clutch (FIG. 4) is provided within the double-wall space 63 in association with the notch 3. This geared system operatively connects, when the ink ribbon cassette C is mounted on the print unit A, a motor 16 mounted on the housing 2 with the hub gear 40a of the first spool 48 of the ink ribbon cassette C. A gear 62 is secured to a shaft 62 of the motor 16, the gear 62 being meshed with a slip gear 18 through an idler 17. Referring to FIG. 4, the slip gear 18 is fitted in and around a sleeve 14b integrally extending from a drive gear 14, and is movable with respect to the sleeve 14b. The slip gear 18 and drive gear 14 are connected through a friction clutch which will be described later. On the axial opposite ends of the slip gear 18 are arranged a first and second driving-side disks 21 and 23 formed of a wear-resistant material, the first driving-side disk 21 being opposed through a felt sheet 20 to a first driven-side disk 19 secured to the end of the sleeve 14b, whilst the other second driving-side disk 23 is opposed through a felt sheet 24 to a second driven-side disk 25 secured to the side of the drive gear 14. The first and second driving-side disks 21 and 23 have notches 21a and 23a, respectively, and a pin 60 secured to the slip gear 18 comes into engagement with the notches 21a and 23a whereby they are operatively connected. A plurality of springs 26 are arranged between the side of the slip gear 18 and the second driving-side disk 23, and the first and second driving-side disks 21 and 23 are brought into frictional engagement with the first and second driven-side disks 19 and 25 opposed to each other by means of the springs 26. Referring to FIG. 3, the drive gear 14 is rotatably and axially movably supported on a support shaft 14a secured to the cover 2f of the housing 2 along with the friction clutch including the slip gear 18. In this case, a spring 22 is arranged between the cover 2f and the slip gear 18, and in a normal state, the drive gear 14 is biased thereby so as to assume a position at the end of the support shaft 14a. When the ink ribbon cassette C is mounted on the print unit A, the hub gear 40a provided on the first spool 48 of the cassette C is meshed with the drive gear 14 provided on the side of the print unit A and rotated with the drive gear 14 as the latter is driven by the motor 16 to move the ink ribbon 37. When the motor 16 rotates, the gear 62 drives the slip gear 18 through the idler 17. In this case, if the drive gear 14 undergoes a normal load, the slip gear 18 transmits a power to the drive gear 14 through the friction clutch means, but if that load is excessively high, the friction clutch means absorbs the power. If the ink ribbon cassette C is mounted along the axial direction of the spool shafts 5 and 6 and when contact between the hub gear 40a of the cassette C and the drive gear 14 on the side of the print unit A occurs, the drive gear 14 is temporarily moved back in an axial direction and thereafter realizes a proper engagement. The upright support plate 2e is formed with a notch 4 adjacent to the boss 8 supporting the spool shaft 6, and an antislipping means or a back-tension applying means is provided in association with the notch. The back tension applying device comprises a back tension gear 15 rotatably supported on a support shaft 15a secured to the cover 2f of the housing 2, a fixed disk 27 in engagement with a pair of pins 28 and 29 secured to the cover 2f, a pair of rotational disks 32 and 33 in frictional engagement with the sides, respectively, of the fixed disk 27, said rotational disks being supported axially movably but unrotatably with respect to the back tension gear 15, and springs 34 and 35 for resiliently biasing the rotational disks 32 and 33 against the fixed disk 27. The back tension gear 15 is projected slightly outwardly from the notch 4 formed in the upright support plate 2a, and when the ink ribbon cassette C is mounted on the print unit A, the back tension gear 15 comes to mesh with the hub gear 42a of the second spool 49 of the cassette C to frictionally restrain the the rotation of the second spool 49. Further, since the back tension gear 15 is movable in an axial direction, the contact between the back tension gear 15 and the hub gear 42a of the second spool 49 upon the mounting of the cassette C likewise the drive gear 14 is overcome. Turning again to FIG. 1, the case 36 of the ink ribbon cassette C is provided with a shoulder 66 in a portion adjacent to a pair of guide rollers 54 and 55 (FIG. 2) for the ink ribbon 37. The cassette C is mounted, in the state wherein the feed unit B is opened, by fitting the spool shafts 5 and 6 of the print unit A into the hubs 40 and 42 provided on the ends of the respective spools 48 and 49, and thereafter, when the feed unit B is closed, two rods 67 provided on the unit B come into engagement with both shoulders 66 of the cassette C to press the cassette C toward a plate spring 68 mounted on the bottom 2a of the print unit A thereby retaining a proper position. The proper position of the ink ribbon cassette C with respect to the axial direction of the spool shafts 5 and 6 is realized by the design so that thought not shown, a flange is formed on the end of a rod 67 provided on the feed unit B, and the flange may engage the end of the shoulder 66 of the cassette C. A latch assembly 70, 71 serves to keep the feed unit B closed. In mounting the ink ribbon cassette C on the print unit A, the feed unit B is opened from the print unit A, whereby the platen 56 is moved away from the thermal head 9, and therefore the thermal head 9 is moved into a space 80 between the case 36 of the cassette C and the ink ribbon 37. Thereafter, when the feed unit B is closed, the ink ribbon 37 is put between the thermal head 9 and the platen 56. After the feed unit B has been closed, a sheet of paper is inserted into a path defined by the feed guide 57, and the end of the paper is fed between the platen 56 and the thermal head 9, then the printing is ready to start. It is noted that a paper feeder for feeding the paper to the path can be provided. If printing to the paper has been terminated in a well known manner, the paper is fed to an outlet via the ejection guide 59, and ink ribbon 37 moves to the winding spool 48 passing through the guide rollers 54. For easily moving the ink ribbon 37 from the paper, a roller 58 for guiding the ink ribbon 37 in a direction of moving away from the paper is provided on the side of the feed unit B. At the stage when the ink ribbon 37 on the supply spool 49 ceases to exist, printing is stopped, the feed unit B is opened, the ink ribbon cassette C is taken out of the print unit A, and the cassette C is inverted and then again mounted on the print unit A. In this manner, printing by the ink ribbon 37 many times can be extremely easily accomplished by the inversion of the ink ribbon cassette C.

Claims: 1. A heat transferable line printer including a first and a second unit (B, A) pivotably connected with each other through a shaft (1), said first unit (B) having a platen (56) extending parallel with said shaft (1), said second unit (A) having a thermal head (9) extending along said platen (56); one unit (A) selected out of said first and second units (B, A) replaceably supporting a ribbon cassette (C) carrying an ink ribbon (37) passing between said platen (56) and said thermal head (9), said ink ribbon cassette (C) comprising a case (36) which is symmetrical to left and right, a pair of spools (48, 49) provided within said case (36), one spool serving as a winding spool and the other serving as a supply spool, said both spools (48, 49) carrying said ink ribbon (37), and cylindrical hub gears (40a, 41a, 42a, 43a) supported on opposite ends of the spools (48, 49) and projecting from a notch (65) provided in the side of said case (36), said selected unit (A) comprising a pair of spool shafts (5, 6) selectively fitted to hubs (40, 41, 42, 43) projecting from both sides of said ink ribbon cassette (C), power transmission means (16, 18, 14) provided in association with one (5) of said pair of spool shafts (5, 6) and having a friction clutch (Fig. 4) operatively engaged with the hub gear (40a) provided on one selected end of said one spool (48), and back-tension applying means (15, 27, 32, 33) provided in association with the other spool shaft (6) and operatively engaged with the hub gear (42a) provided on one selected end of said other spool (49), said ink ribbon cassette (C) being inversely mounted on said selected unit (A) from either side. 2. A heat transferable line printer according to claim 1, wherein said selected unit is said second unit (A). 3. A heat transferable line printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said power transmission means has an axis (14a) parallel to said one spool shaft (5) and includes a drive gear (14) positioned away from said one spool shaft (5), and wherein the hub gear (40a) provided on the selected end of said one spool (48) is engaged with said drive gear (14). 4. A heat transferable line printer according to claim 3, wherein said drive gear (14) is supported movably in an axial direction thereof. 5. A heat transferable line printer according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said back-tension applying means has an axis (15a) parallel to said other spool shaft (6) and includes a gear (15) positioned away from said other spool shaft (6), and wherein the hub gear (42a) provided on the selected end of said other spool (49) is engaged with said first-mentioned gear (15). 6. A heat transferable line printer according to claim 5, wherein said gear (15) is supported movably in an axial direction thereof. 7. A ribbon cassette (C) carrying a heat transferable ink ribbon (37) capable of being printed many times for a heat transferable line printer, said line printer including a first and a second unit (B, A) pivotably connected with each other through a shaft (1), said first unit (B) having a platen (56) extending parallel to said shaft (1), said second unit (A) having a thermal head (9) extending along said platen, one unit (A) selected out of said first and second units (B, A) replaceably supporting said ink ribbon cassette (C), characterized in that said ink ribbon cassette (C) comprises a case (36) which is symmetrical to left and right, a pair of spools (48, 49) provided within said case (36), said one spool serving as a winding spool whereas said other spool serves as a supply spool, said both spools respectively carrying said ink ribbon (37), and cylindrical hub gears (40a, 41a, 42a, 43a) supported on opposite ends of each of said spools (48, 49) and each projected from a notch (65) provided on the side of said case (36).

Inventors: SHELDON, DUNSTAN P., SUZUKI, KENJI C/O STAR SEIMITSU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicants: MAG-TEK, INC., STAR SEIMITSU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B41J17
IPC codes: B41J17, B41J31