Patent ID: 7586509

Claim:
A thermal transfer printer ribbon cassette apparatus releasably attached to a thermal transfer printer which comprises: the printer comprises a printer main body, a thermal head and a platen roller mounted to the main body and being operable such that a printing sheet and a thermal transfer ribbon are held between the thermal head and the platen roller and are transported, and the thermal head and the platen roller perform printing on the printing sheet, the printer main body having a printer has a cassette attachment face, the cassette apparatus comprises a cassette main body formed by a printer-side base plate that extends along a direction of transport of the printing sheet and the thermal transfer ribbon and that opposes the cassette attachment face of the printer main body, a handle-side base plate that opposes the printer-side base plate and that comprises handles for an attachment/detachment operation, and a support shaft for fixing the handle-side base plate and the printer-side base plate with a gap not less than the width of the thermal transfer ribbon and the printing sheet, the cassette main body comprises a ribbon supply spindle for supplying the thermal transfer ribbon to a transport path for the thermal transfer ribbon and a ribbon winding spindle for winding the thermal transfer ribbon transported on the transport path, the spindles are releasably disposed between the handle-side base plate and the printer-side base plate, a cassette main body stay positioned between the handle-side base plate and the printing-side base plate, the stay having a main guide hole into which a main guide shaft protruding from the printer main body side in the cassette main body direction is fit removably, a guide cut-away part guidable along the printer main body stay formed from the printer main body side toward the printer-side base plate and being formed in the printer-side base plate, a final positioning engagement pin being formed in the printer main body stay of the printer main body, and a final positioning engagement hole being formed in the handle-side base plate, the cassette main body being releasably attached to in the printer main body by engagement and disengagement of the main guide shaft of the printer main body with and from the main guide hole of the cassette main body stay and by engagement and disengagement of the final positioning engagement pin of the printer main body stay with and from the final positioning engagement hole of the handle-side base plate.