Tape supply cartridge

Paper tape supply box

Technical field

The present invention relates to a paper tape supply box as a whole, and in particular to a paper tape supply box used in a labeling machine. The labeling machine is used to print marks on this paper tape for selective use. Paste it onto the desired substance. More specifically, the present invention relates to a paper tape supply cassette of the type generally used as a non-layered, thermal transfer paper tape supply cassette.

Background technique

There are a large number of prior art tape supply cassettes and related patents for connecting labels or tape printers. These paper tape supply cassettes provide the print head with a wound printing paper tape for printing marks on the paper tape to be selectively affixed to the desired substance later. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,188,469; 5,350,243; 5,653,542; 5,813,773; 4,927,278; 4,983,058 and 5,419,648 etc. exemplify and disclose some of these paper tape supply cassettes. These tape supply cassettes are designed for use in labeling machines or printers that have a cassette accommodating cavity for accommodating the cassette in an operable position, a thermal print head and an associated platen roller, The associated pressure roller is selectively moved toward or away from the print head, and the paper tape is placed between the associated pressure roller and the print head, the purpose of which is to fix or transfer an image on the paper tape. Such labeling machines or printers also include means for advancing the paper tape through the print head and various other reel elements through the device.

Although the prior art paper tape supply cassettes can work satisfactorily for their special applications, there is still a continuing need for improvements to such paper tape supply cassettes. The main features that continue to be improved here include: the ability of the paper tape supply box to accommodate different sizes and widths of paper tape relative to the transfer ribbon. The paper tape supply box guides the paper tape through the supply box and at the same time ensures that a suitable paper tape is reached. The ability of resistance and the ability of the tape supply cassette to minimize the jam of the tape at the cutting position, etc. Therefore, there is a need for an improved tape supply cassette for the above-mentioned tape printer and a tape for such a tape supply cassette.

Summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved paper tape supply cassette for labeling machines or printers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved tape guiding device for such a supply cassette.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved paper tape feeding and guiding mechanism that combines the parameters of the paper tape to ensure the optimal movement of the paper tape through the supply box while preventing the paper tape supply reel from idling.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved device at the paper tape outlet end of the supply cassette so as to limit or eliminate the blocking problem caused by the interaction between the printing paper tape and the paper tape cutting device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved non-layered, thermal transfer type paper tape supply cassette.

The present invention relates to a belt supply article box of a printer. The belt supply article box includes: a reel for supplying articles with a belt; a transfer belt reel for transferring images to the belt; and a guiding belt for supplying articles and transferring A guide device with a guide arm; the guide arm includes: the guide device; an outer side wall; an inner side wall; the guide device and the outer side wall form a belt guide channel for the belt to supply articles; the guide device and the inner side wall form A separate transfer belt guide channel; the guide device has at least one protruding portion, and the at least one protruding portion is higher than the outer side wall and the inner side wall.

These and other objects of the present invention will become clearer by referring to the drawings, the description of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a tape supply cassette according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an isometric and exploded view of the tape supply cassette of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an elevation view of the inside of the bottom of the tape supply cassette of the present invention, wherein the tape supply cassette has a tape supply spool, a ribbon supply spool, and a ribbon rewind spool, and various other components are removed.

Figure 4 is an elevation view of the inside of the top of the paper tape supply box.

Figure 5 is a bottom elevation view of the assembled paper tape supply box.

Fig. 6 is a vertical view of the inside of the bottom of the paper tape supply box similar to Fig. 3, showing the path of the paper tape and the ink ribbon.

Figure 7 is a partial view partially showing the tape outlet end of the tape supply cassette combined with the tape cutting device.

Fig. 8 is a partial front elevation view of the paper tape outlet end of the paper tape supply cassette.

Fig. 9 shows a view of a paper tape supply cassette similar to Fig. 6 in which the paper tape supply cassette incorporates a second embodiment of the paper tape cutting device.

Fig. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a view along the section line 10-10 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 11a is a partial cross-sectional view showing a view along the section line 11-11 in Fig. 10.

Figure 11b is a view similar to Figure 11a, except that the top and bottom of the tape supply box are assembled together.

Fig. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another embodiment similar to Fig. 10;

Fig. 13a is a partial cross-sectional view showing a view along the section line 13-13 in Fig. 12.

Figure 13b is a view similar to Figure 13a, except that the top and bottom of the tape supply box are assembled together.

Fig. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of a part of the tape supply cassette, showing the tape supply installed between the two halves of the tape supply cassette.

Fig. 15 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a view along the section line 15-15 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the paper tape.

detailed description

The present invention relates to a paper tape supply box, in particular, to a paper tape supply box that is generally used as a non-layered paper tape supply box. This type of tape supply box is designed for use in labeling machines or printers. These labeling machines or printers include a tape supply box accommodating cavity, a print head 7 (Figure 6), and one that can move toward or away from the print head 7 With a platen roller 8 that defines the printing and non-printing positions, a device for advancing the tape and ink ribbon through the tape supply cassette and through the printing station, and a device for selectively cutting the tape after printing.

In the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, firstly refer to Figures 1 and 2, where Figure 1 shows the supply box in a fully assembled form, and Figure 2 shows the supply box in an exploded form. Generally speaking, the supply box 10 includes a supply box top 11 and a supply box bottom 12. When assembling, the top 11 and the bottom 12 are fixed together to form a supply box 10, and the supply box 10 contains the paper ribbon supply 13, the ribbon supply spool 23 and the ribbon take-up spool 17. The supply box also includes a paper tape outlet end 14, a paper tape outlet slot 15 provided on the paper tape outlet end 14, and a print head cavity or groove for accommodating the print head when the supply box is inserted into the printer. Area 16. The print head cavity is defined on one side by a tape/ribbon guide arm 38, where the guide arm 38 is used to guide the paper and ink ribbon to the printing station. The areas 18 and 19 in the top 11 and the bottom 12 of the supply box respectively define areas for accommodating the ribbon supply spool 23 and the ribbon take-up spool 17. The tape advancing roller 20 is provided at the tape outlet end of the supply cassette. In the preferred embodiment, the roller 20 is a drive paper feed roller with internal splines, ribs or other devices that cooperate with the printer drive shaft.

The latch rib 21 is arranged on one side of the supply box and cooperates with a latch member (not shown) on the printer, so as to fix the supply box in the printer when the supply box is inserted into the cavity of the supply box. The second pin rib 22 (FIG. 3) is arranged on the opposite side of the supply box bottom 12 and cooperates with a second printer pin member (not shown).

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the inside of the supply box bottom 12 is very clearly shown. As shown in the figure, the supply box bottom 12 includes a bottom wall 25 and a side wall 24 that extends upward from the bottom wall 25 substantially at a right angle and extends around a basic portion of the supply box. Processed integrally with the bottom wall 25 are a paper tape supply hub 26 and a plurality of paper tape support ribs 28, and the paper tape support ribs 28 extend radially outward from the hub 26. The hub 26 generally has a cylindrical structure, extends upward from the bottom wall 25 substantially at a right angle, and functions to rotatably support the hub 84 of the paper tape supply reel 13. A pair of tape containment wall portions 29, 29 are provided for containing the tape supply reel 13 in a substantially ring-shaped structure. The elongated tape guide wall 30 extends from the inner portion of the side wall 24 to the tape passing groove 31 located between the pair of spaced-apart wall portions 32, 32. The guide wall 30 extends upward from the bottom wall 25 substantially at a right angle and ensures that the paper tape from the paper tape supply 13 is properly and accurately guided from the paper tape reel 13 to the paper tape passing groove 31.

A pair of tape guides/pillars 34 and 34 are integrated with the bottom wall 25, and the tape guides/pillars 34, 34 extend substantially upward from the bottom wall 25 at a right angle. The tape guide/posts 34, 34 support corresponding rollers 35, 35 for guiding the tape wound on the ribbon supply spool 23, wherein the ribbon supply spool 23 is rotatably mounted on the support column 36. In a preferred embodiment, the rollers 35, 35 have a generally cylindrical structure and have a cylindrical inner opening slightly larger than the outer diameter of the posts 34, 34. This allows the paper tape to be pushed freely by the paper tape advancing device and to be pushed around the posts 34,34. In the preferred embodiment, a blocking member 33 is placed between the rollers 35, 35 to prevent the paper tape from being sent between the rollers 35, 35 unintentionally or intentionally. Therefore, the piece 33 forces the paper belt to have a single path around the outside of the rollers 35, 35. It can be clearly seen from FIG. 15 that the blocking member preferably has a structure having a substantially trapezoidal cross-section.

The tape/ribbon guide arm 38 defined by a portion of the supply cassette bottom 12 includes an outer side wall 39 and an inner side wall 40, which are substantially parallel to each other. Each of the walls 39 and 40 has substantially the same height from the bottom wall 25 and is higher than the main part of the side wall 24 extending around the outer periphery of the bottom of the supply box. Roughly located in the middle part between the walls 39 and 40 is a paper tape/ribbon separation wall or barrier, which is defined by a pair of posts 41, 41 and a wall portion 42 , Wherein the wall portion 42 and the pillars 41, 41 are processed as a whole and extend between the pillars 41, 41. As best shown in FIG. 10, the pillars 41, 41 are higher than the wall portions 39 and 40, and the wall portion 42 is either significantly shorter than the pillars 41, 41, or significantly shorter than the walls 39 and 40. The upper ends of the posts 41, 41 are provided with a groove portion 44, which is designed to accommodate an upper paper tape guide 45, which defines a paper tape/ribbon guide with the supply box top 11 The corresponding part of the arm 38 is machined as a whole. This part of the supply box top 11 includes a pair of low wall portions 46 and 47 which are designed to cooperate with the wall portions 39 and 40 when the supply box is assembled.

The bottom wall 25 is provided with a pair of bottom paper tape/ribbon guide edges 48 and 49 in the area of the paper tape/ribbon guide arm 38 for guiding the lower edges of the paper tape and the ink ribbon to pass through the guide arm 38 at the same height. On the contrary, the ribbon side of the barrier between the wall portion 42 and the wall 40 is provided with a pair of guiding edges, which are only used to guide the ribbon edges of the ribbon. A pair of spaced-apart paper tape guides 45 are provided on the side of the paper tape between the wall portion 42 and the wall 39 of the stopper, and the pair of guides are only used to guide the tape edge of the paper tape.

As shown in Figure 11b, when the top 11 and bottom 12 of the supply box are assembled, the tape/ribbon guide arm 38 defines a guide channel 50 for the ribbon and a guide channel 51 for the paper tape. As shown in the figure, the specific embodiment shown in Figures 10, 11a and 11b is designed for a supply box in which the ribbon is wider than the paper, and the bottom edge of the paper ribbon and the ribbon are both Guided by a common guide edge at the same height. In the embodiment of FIGS. 11a and 11b, the paper tape guiding edge 49 guides the bottom edge of the paper tape and the ribbon at the same time, while the guiding edge 52 guides the top edge of the ribbon, and the guide 45 guides the top edge of the paper ribbon.

Figures 12, 13a and 13b show an alternative embodiment for the tape arm. The embodiment of Figures 12, 13a, and 13b is similar to the embodiment of Figures 10, 11a, and 11b, except that this embodiment is designed for a supply cassette in which the paper tape and the ink ribbon have the same width. When assembled as shown in Fig. 13b, the paper tape/ribbon guide arm in this embodiment defines a ribbon channel 50 and a paper ribbon channel 51, and the two channels have the same height dimension. As shown in the figure, when the tape/ribbon guide arm 38 is assembled, the arm 38 defines the ribbon passage 50 and the tape passage 51 having the same height. In this embodiment, both the channels 50 and 51 are defined by the guide edge 49 at their bottoms, and are defined by the guide edge 52 at their tops.

The bottom of the supply box also includes a number of connecting holes 55. These connecting holes 55 are located through the bottom of the supply box for mating with corresponding connecting posts 56 from the top of the supply box, so as to maintain the supply box when the supply box is assembled. The supply box top 11 and bottom 12 are connected together.

After the paper and ink ribbons leave the guide arm 38, they pass through the printing station, as shown in FIG. From there, the ink ribbon is guided around the wall defining the print head recess 16 while the paper ribbon is guided through the paper ribbon pusher or paper feed roller 20. In the preferred embodiment, the guide ribs 58 and 59 are not only at the same height, but also at the same height as the guide edges 48 and 49 in the guide arm 38.

As best shown in FIGS. 1-6, the print head recess area 16 is defined on one side by the inner wall portion 40 of the bottom of the supply box and the inner wall portion 68 of the top of the supply box, and on the opposite side by the wall portions 86, 88, and 89 limited. These wall portions 86, 88, and 89 are formed integrally with the bottom wall 25, and extend upward from the bottom wall 25 substantially at a right angle. These wall portions 86, 88, and 89 are connected to each other at their sides to form a substantially continuous wall, which together with the wall portion 40 defines the cavity 16. As shown, the ends of the wall portions 86 and 40 are spaced apart from each other to provide an opening through which the platen roller 8 (Figure 6) can move relative to the print head 7 to define a printing station. These wall portions 86, 88, and 89 collectively constitute a guiding portion for guiding the ink ribbon following the printing operation at the printing station. As shown in the figure, the connections between the wall portions 86 and 88 and the wall portions 88 and 89 are provided with rounded edges 90 and 91 to provide a smooth, low-friction surface for advancing the ribbon to the ribbon take-up spool 17.

The supply box top 11 shown in FIG. 4 includes a top wall 64 and a side wall 65 that extends around most of the side wall 24 on the outer periphery of the supply box top 11. A part of the top of the supply box corresponds to the tape/ribbon guide arm 38. This part includes an outer side 66 and an inner side 68, which are substantially parallel to each other and correspond to the sides 39 and 40 of the supply box bottom 12, respectively. In the preferred embodiment, the wall portions 66 and 68 are shorter than the remainder of the side wall 65.

The inner side of the top 11 of the supply box includes elements corresponding to various elements in the bottom 12 of the supply box, and these elements include a plurality of connecting posts 56 located at positions passing through the top wall 64. These connecting posts 56 are designed to be inserted into the corresponding connecting holes 55 in the bottom of the supply box, thereby fixing the top 11 to the bottom 12. The top of the supply box also includes a generally annular rib 60 and a plurality of ribs 61 extending radially outward from the rib 60. The annular rib 60 is aligned with the hub 26 (FIG. 3) and has an inner ring size substantially equal to the outer ring size of the hub 26 so that the upper edge of the hub 26 is seated in the annular rib 60 when the supply box is assembled. The rib 61 is similar to the rib 28 at the bottom of the supply box, and its function is to support the reel of the paper tape 11 in a direction perpendicular to the top and bottom of the supply box. The supply box top 11 also includes a pair of column accommodating holes 62, 62, which have an inner ring size and are designed to accommodate the upper ends of the guide columns 34, 34, as shown in FIG. 15.

As best shown in Figure 5, the bottom side of the supply box includes an opening 69 aligned with the inner hub 26 and a recessed area 70 located in a corner of the bottom of the supply box. This area 70 is used to accommodate several supply boxes for inspection.hole71. These holes 71 are aligned with one or more plunger switches associated with the printer, and the purpose is to provide the printer with characteristics of the paper tape in the supply box, such as the width of the paper tape, whether it is layered or non-layered, and many more. The bottom of the supply box also includes an opening 72 through which the ribbon take-up shaft extends from the printer to interact with the ribbon take-up shaft 17 and rotate the ribbon take-up shaft 17. The tape advance opening 74 is provided near the tape exit end of the supply cassette, and is designed to provide an interface between the tape advance shaft of the printer and the tape advance spool 20.

As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the tape exit end 14 includes a generally flat surface 75, a shoulder 76, and a tape exit slot or opening 15. The flat surface 75 preferably extends from the shoulder 76 through the groove 15 to the uppermost end of the supply box. In a preferred embodiment, the generally flat surface 75 and the shoulder 76 together form a groove area for accommodating an embodiment of the fixed paper tape cutting member 78 of the printer. As shown in the figure, the member 78 extends inwardly from an outer surface portion of the side wall of the supply box and the latch rib. Associated with the cutting member 78 is a second cutting member 79, which is designed to move toward and away from the cutting member 78, as shown. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the cutting device is a cutting mechanism in which the cutting member 78 accommodates one half of the scissors, and the cutting member 79 includes the other half of the scissors. In order to help prevent the paper tape from hanging or jamming on the cutting member 79 during the cutting operation, the paper tape outlet slot 15 has a certain angle upward in the direction in which the paper tape passes through the wall portion 80. The angle value of the inclination of the groove 15 is preferably greater than about 5°, more preferably between about 5° and 60°.

Although the requirement for the inclined outlet slot 15 is less than that of the scissors cutting mechanism shown in FIG. 7, for example, when used with the cutting mechanism shown in FIG. 9, that is, the blunt cutting mechanism, this inclined outlet slot It's particularly ideal. Specifically, this mechanism includes a fixed support 81 and a knife 82. In this type of cutting mechanism, the cutter 82 is movably cut and matched with the support 81 along an arc relative to a pivot point. When the angled slot 15 is used in this type of cutting mechanism, the knife portion 82 can be moved away from the support 81 without the paper tape moving with it. Without such an inclined or angled exit opening 15, the tendency of the cutter 82 to jam the end of the paper tape and block the printer is significantly increased.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 14, the paper tape reel 13 includes a central support hub 84 that is designed to fit over the hub 26. After the reel of the paper tape 13 is assembled into the supply box, a positioning disk 85 is placed on each side of the paper tape reel 13. The positioning plate includes a surface (inner surface) and an opposite surface (outer surface), wherein the inner surface is glued or includes a small amount of adhesive, and the outer surface is relatively smooth or frictionless . The positioning discs 85 and 85 have two main functions. First, they prevent the spool of the paper tape 13 from idling or loosening when the supply cassette is not in use or being operated. Without the discs 85 and 85, any movement of the supply cassette may cause the spool of the paper tape 13 to loosen. Second, the positioning discs 85 and 85 control the drag amount of the paper tape reel 13. Combining the specific type and stiffness of the paper tape and the amount of force required to push or pull the paper tape around the rollers 35, 35, this drag must be such that it ensures that the paper tape is properly advanced and passed through the supply box. Specifically, when the paper tape passes through the supply cassette and passes through the print head, the paper tape should have a sufficient drag amount so that the paper tape will not spin or slack. On the other hand, the amount of drag must be small enough so that the paper tape advancing device forwards the paper tape through the system. In addition, this controlled drag must be continuous regardless of whether it is at the beginning of the reel 13 or at the end of the reel 13. In addition, the paper tape must be stiff enough to prevent the paper tape from jamming on the tape cutting mechanism, thereby blocking the printer.

The paper tape 13 used in the supply cassette of the present invention tends to be a so-called non-layered paper tape that includes a print-receiving tape layer and a release layer. Specifically, as best shown in FIG. 16, the print-receiving tape layer includes a substrate 92 and a coating 93 applied thereon. In a preferred embodiment, the substrate 92 is a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet. The substrate 92 preferably has an inert filler, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), to make the substrate white. Because of the presence of TiO2, it is preferable that the specific gravity of the substrate 92 is greater than about 1.1, preferably greater than about 1.2, and most preferably greater than about 1.3. Having such an inert filler, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), is preferably a chemical brightener used in prior art substrates, because this inert filler can provide dimensional stability and prevent discoloration when heated. The substrate 92 is preferably about 2 mils (0.002 inches) thick. The type of substrate used to manufacture the paper tape 13 of the present invention is preferably a PET substrate produced by DuPont.

A thermally activated polyester resin coating 93 is coated on the print receiving surface of the substrate 92. The polyester resin coating 93 is a relatively thin coating, and its function is mainly to receive the printed image from the transfer paper belt. Therefore, the chemical characteristics of the coating 92 must be compatible with the chemical characteristics of the transfer ribbon. In addition, both the coating 93 and the substrate 92 are preferably compatible (i.e., both are polyester).

An adhesive layer 94 is applied to the reverse side of the substrate 92. The adhesive is preferably a high-quality, self-crosslinking acrylic adhesive, which is resistant to UV radiation and various chemicals and petroleum distillates.

The second part of the paper tape 13 is a release liner, which includes a cardboard 95, an intermediate coating 96 and an outer release coating 97. In a preferred embodiment, the paper layer 95 is kraft paper with increased density, the coating 96 is a polyethylene coating, and the coating 97 is a silicon coating.

In a preferred embodiment, the overall thickness of the paper tape 13 is about 7 mils (0.007 inches), including a print-receiving paper tape portion (including the substrate) that is thinner than the release liner portion (including the paper layer 95 and coatings 96 and 97) 92 and layers 93 and 94).

The ribbon provided on the ribbon supply spool 23 is a so-called thermal transfer or thermally active ribbon. In other words, the ribbon can effectively transfer an image from the ribbon to the print-receiving surface of the paper ribbon. The paper tape and the ink ribbon used in the supply cassette of the present invention are preferably compatible with each other.

For the supply box of the present invention, it is also important that the paper tape has sufficient stiffness, so that when the paper tape exits the exit slot 15 and is cut by the cutting mechanism, the paper tape can be hard enough to prevent shrinking with the movable cutting member. Back and exercise. In a preferred embodiment, such hardness is obtained by the total thickness of the cardboard layer 95 and the coating layers 96 and 97 being greater than the thickness of the print receiving portion of the paper tape.

When the supply cassette is fully assembled, the paper tape extends from the paper tape reel 13 along the paper tape path shown in FIG. 6. Specifically, the paper tape extends from the reel 13 through the path 31 between the elements 32, 32, and the paper tape is guided by the guide wall 30 at the reel 13. From there, the paper tape continues to extend around the guide rollers 35, 35 and passes through a path 51 in the guide arm 38 between the posts 41, 41 and the wall portion 39. From there, the paper tape then extends to and passes through the printing area between the print head 7 and the platen roller 8, then passes through the advancing area between the roller 20 and the printer drive roller 9, and then exits the exit slot 15 outward. The ribbon extends from the ribbon supply spool 23, passes through a path 50 between the columns 41, 41 and the wall portion 40, passes through the printing area between the print head 7 and the platen roller 8, and then surrounds the wall portion 86 , 88 and 89 reach the ribbon take-up spool 17.

Although the description of the preferred embodiment has been very specific, various modifications can be made without departing from the idea of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is intended to be set forth by the appended claims, rather than being limited by the description of the preferred embodiments.