Tape cartridge

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017190195-A1
Application number	US-201515510672-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 31, 2015
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A tape cartridge detachably mounted to a cartridge mounting section of a tape printer includes a cartridge casing that has a first casing on a front side in a mounting direction in which the tape cartridge is mounted to the cartridge mounting section, and a second casing on a rear side with respect to the front side in the mounting direction, a tape roll that is accommodated in the cartridge casing and in which a print tape is wound around a spool, and a rotating guide section that is provided in the second casing and guides the rotation of the tape roll in sliding contact with an inner circumferential surface of the spool.

First claim

1 . A tape cartridge detachably mounted to a cartridge mounting section of a tape printer, the tape cartridge comprising:
a cartridge casing that has a first casing on a front side in a mounting direction in which the tape cartridge is mounted to the cartridge mounting section, and a second casing on a rear side with respect to the front side in the mounting direction; a tape roll that is accommodated in the cartridge casing and in which the print tape is wound around the spool; and a rotating guide section that is provided in the second casing and guides the rotation of the tape roll in sliding contact with an inner circumferential surface of the spool.

2 . The tape cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the second casing and the rotating guide section are integrally formed.

3 . The tape cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating guide section is formed into a cylindrical shape, and comes into sliding contact with the entire circumference of the inner circumferential surface of the spool.

4 . The tape cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating guide section has at least one sliding-contact piece that is disposed in a circumferential direction around the spool.

5 . The tape cartridge according to claim 4 , wherein the one sliding-contact piece is disposed on a normal line of a position at which the print tape is fed and a winding state is released.

6 . The tape cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the spool includes:
a tape core around which the print tape is wound; and an annular rib which is provided in an inner circumferential surface of the tape core and in an axially intermediate portion of the inner circumferential surface of the tape core, and includes a shaft hole being formed in a shaft center of the tape core, and the tape cartridge further includes a spool pivoting support section which extends from the rotating guide section, and is inserted into the shaft hole to rotatably and pivotally support the spool.

7 . The tape cartridge according to claim 6 , wherein the rib includes a ratchet that is provided on a surface of the second casing, and
the tape cartridge further includes a coil spring which is disposed inside the rotating guide section and inside the core pivoting support section, and receives the second casing and brings a wire end into contact with the ratchet to restrict rotation of the spool.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Kosuge Shinsaku
• Nakajima Yasumasa

Classifications

• B41J3/4075 Primary

  Tape printers; Label printers · CPC title

• B41J17/32

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

• B41J15/044 Primary

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

• B41J32/00 Primary

  Ink-ribbon cartridges · CPC title

• B41J3/36

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