Cassette

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12122172-B2
Application number	US-202117489737-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2021
Priority date	Mar 31, 2019
Publication date	Oct 22, 2024
Grant date	Oct 22, 2024

Abstract

A cassette includes: a case including a first layer and a second layer and having a head space at the first layer; and a roll disposed at the second layer and into which a medium to be printed is wound about a rotation axis in a winding direction. The medium to be printed includes a to-be-printed layer and a release layer, and is disposed at the case such that the to-be-printed layer is on an inner side thereof and the release layer is on an outer side thereof in the winding direction. The case has a conveyance path for conveying the medium to be printed. The conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed in the winding direction from the roll to the head space through an opening defined at a boundary between the first layer and the second layer in the case.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cassette comprising:
a case including a first case, a second case and a plate, and having a head space at the first case; and
a roll disposed at the second case and into which a medium to be printed is wound about a rotation axis in a winding direction, the rotation axis extending in a first direction, wherein:
the medium to be printed includes a to-be-printed layer and a release layer, the medium to be printed is disposed at the case such that the to-be-printed layer is on an inner side of the medium to be printed in the winding direction and the release layer is on an outer side of the medium to be printed in the winding direction;
the case has a conveyance path for conveying the medium to be printed;
the first case and the second case are arranged in the first direction;
the plate is positioned between the roll and the head space in the first direction, the plate having an opening; and
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed in the winding direction from the roll to the head space through the opening.

2. The cassette according to claim 1 , wherein the opening is located opposite to the head space in a third direction orthogonal to the first direction and a second direction, the first direction being a direction from the first case toward the second case, the second direction being a direction in which the medium to be printed is conveyed in the head space.

3. The cassette according to claim 1 , wherein:
the case has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having four corner portions; and
the conveyance path extends to the head space via at least three corner portions of the four corner portions of the case.

4. The cassette according to claim 3 , wherein:
the three corner portions include a first corner portion, a second corner portion, and a third corner portion;
the first corner portion is located at the second case;
a portion of the second corner portion is located at either of the first case and the second case;
the third corner portion is located at the first case;
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed extends between the first corner portion and the second corner portion in an inclined manner relative to the medium to be printed wound into the roll;
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed extends between the second corner portion and the third corner portion in an inclined manner relative to the medium to be printed wound into the roll;
the conveyance path is defined such that medium to be printed extends between the third corner portion and the head space horizontally to the medium to be printed wound into the roll; and
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed via the first corner portion, the second corner portion, and the third corner portion in this order, whereby the medium to be printed moves from the second case to the first case to reach the head space.

5. The cassette according to claim 4 , wherein:
the case further includes a fourth corner portion at the second case;
an upstream end of the opening in a conveyance direction of the medium to be printed is located at the fourth corner portion;
the case has a to-be-printed-medium outlet at the first case, the to-be-printed-medium outlet overlapping the fourth corner portion in a direction from the second case toward the first case; and
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed via the fourth corner portion, the first corner portion, the second corner portion, and the third corner portion in this order, whereby the medium to be printed moves from the second case to the first case to reach the to-be-printed-medium outlet via the head space.

6. The cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising an ink ribbon at the first case.

7. The cassette according to claim 6 , further comprising a feed spool for the ink ribbon,
wherein a feed axis of the feed spool is located within a projected area of the roll.

8. The cassette according to claim 6 , further comprising a feed spool for the ink ribbon and a take-up spool for the ink ribbon,
wherein the opening does not overlap any of the roll, the feed spool, and the take-up spool in a direction from the second case toward the first case.

9. The cassette according to claim 6 , further comprising a feed spool for the ink ribbon and a take-up spool for the ink ribbon,
wherein the opening is located around the rotation axis of the roll and further to an outer side than the feed spool and the take-up spool.

10. The cassette according to claim 1 , wherein:
the case includes a guide for the medium to be printed at the first case;
the second case is located above the first case; and
a spacing of a gap in a direction from the second case toward the first case between the case and an upper edge of the medium to be printed in the opening is greater than a spacing of a gap in the direction from the second case toward the first case between the guide and the upper edge of the medium to be printed in the first case.

11. A cassette comprising:
a case including a first case, a second case and a plate, and having a head space at the first case; and
a roll disposed at the second case and into which a medium to be printed including a to-be-printed layer and a release layer is wound about a rotation axis such that the to-be-printed layer is on an inner side of the medium to be printed, the rotation axis extending in a first direction, wherein:
the case has a conveyance path for conveying the medium to be printed;
the first case and the second case are arranged in the first direction;
the plate is positioned between the roll and the head space in the first direction, the plate having an opening; and
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed from the roll to the head space through the opening.

12. The cassette according to claim 11 , wherein:
in the roll, the medium to be printed is wound about the rotation axis in a winding direction; and
the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed in the winding direction from the roll to the head space in at least a section of the conveyance path.

13. The cassette according to claim 12 , wherein the conveyance path is defined such that the medium to be printed is conveyed in the winding direction from the roll to the head space in all sections of the conveyance path.

14. The cassette according to claim 11 , wherein:
the roll is a second roll; and
the cassette further including a first roll into which a material is wound, disposed at the first case, the material engageable with the medium to be printed on the conveyance path.

15. The cassette according to claim 14 , the material is one of a ribbon and a tape.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Murayama Kentaro

Classifications

• B41J31/10

  Ink ribbons having arrangements to facilitate threading through a machine · CPC title

• B41J15/06

  characterised by being applied to printers having stationary carriages · CPC title

• B41J15/044 Primary

  Cassettes or cartridges containing continuous copy material, tape, for setting into printing devices · CPC title

• B41J3/36

  for portability {, i.e. hand-held printers or laptop printers (B41J3/4075 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B41J17/32 Primary

  Detachable carriers or holders for impression-transfer material mechanism · CPC title