Ink cassette and printer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021237496-A1
Application number	US-202117158816-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 26, 2021
Priority date	Jan 31, 2020
Publication date	Aug 5, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

An ink cassette comprises a supply bobbin, a winding bobbin, and an enclosure including a supply bobbin storage portion and a winding bobbin storage portion. In the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion, an opening is provided in one side surface of the enclosure, with an elastic piece provided within each of the openings, and a rotation restricting portion is provided on an inner side of another side surface of the enclosure. The supply bobbin and the winding bobbin has a rotation-restricted portion. The supply bobbin and the winding bobbin are biased by the elastic pieces toward the other side surface in which the rotation restricting portions are provided, and the rotation-restricted portions engage with the rotation restricting portions and restrict rotation of the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An ink cassette comprising:
a supply bobbin on which an ink ribbon is wound; a winding bobbin for winding up the ink ribbon fed from the supply bobbin; and an enclosure including a supply bobbin storage portion that rotatably stores the supply bobbin and a winding bobbin storage portion that rotatably stores the winding bobbin, wherein in each of the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion, an opening is provided in one side surface of the enclosure, with an elastic piece provided within each of the openings, and a rotation restricting portion is provided on an inner side of another side surface of the enclosure, the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin are capable of moving in a rotational axis direction, and each has a rotation-restricted portion, and the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin are each biased by the elastic pieces toward the other side surface in which the rotation restricting portions are provided, and the rotation-restricted portions engage with the rotation restricting portions and restrict rotation of the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin.

2 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein each of the elastic pieces has a bent portion that is bent within a plane substantially orthogonal to a rotational axis of the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin.

3 . The ink cassette according to claim 2 ,
wherein the bent portion is bent at greater than or equal to 90 degrees.

4 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the elastic pieces bias the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin by contacting corresponding tip ends of the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin on the one side surface side in the rotational axis direction.

5 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the elastic pieces are formed so that tip ends of the elastic pieces that bias the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin are wider than base portions of the elastic pieces.

6 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein a projection portion that projects from the side surface is provided in a periphery of each of the openings in the one side surface of the enclosure.

7 . The ink cassette according to claim 6 ,
wherein the projection portions are formed so tip ends of the projection portions project beyond positions of the elastic pieces in the rotational axis direction when the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin have moved toward the one side surface of the enclosure.

8 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein each of the elastic pieces has an inclined surface inclined toward an interior of the enclosure.

9 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein a length of the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion in the enclosure in a direction orthogonal to the rotational axis direction is less than or equal to 20 mm.

10 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein a width of the openings is less than or equal to 10 mm.

11 . The ink cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the ink cassette is mounted in a printer, the rotation-restricted portions disengage from the rotation restricting portions by the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin being moved, by a member of the printer, toward the one side surface of the enclosure in which the elastic pieces are provided.

12 . A printer in which an ink cassette can be mounted and removed,
the ink cassette comprising: a supply bobbin on which an ink ribbon is wound; a winding bobbin for winding up the ink ribbon fed from the supply bobbin; and an enclosure including a supply bobbin storage portion that rotatably stores the supply bobbin and a winding bobbin storage portion that rotatably stores the winding bobbin, wherein in each of the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion, an opening is provided in one side surface of the enclosure, with an elastic piece provided within each of the openings, and a rotation restricting portion is provided on an inner side of another side surface of the enclosure, the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin are capable of moving in a rotational axis direction, and each has a rotation-restricted portion, and the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin are each biased by the elastic pieces toward the other side surface in which the rotation restricting portions are provided, and the rotation-restricted portions engage with the rotation restricting portions and restrict rotation of the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin, the printer comprising: a member configured to, when the ink cassette is mounted, cause the rotation-restricted portions to disengage from the rotation restricting portions by moving the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin toward the one side surface of the enclosure in which the elastic pieces are provided.

13 . An ink cassette comprising a supply bobbin storage portion configured to support a supply bobbin on which an ink sheet to which ink is applied is wound, a winding bobbin storage portion configured to support a winding bobbin that winds up the ink sheet pulled out from the supply bobbin, and a connecting portion that connects the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion, the ink cassette capable of being mounted in a printer using an axial direction of the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin as a mounting direction,
wherein the connecting portion includes a first connecting portion that connects a near side of the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion with respect to the mounting direction, and a second connecting portion that connects a far side of the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion with respect to the mounting direction, and the second connecting portion projects further toward the far side in the mounting direction than the supply bobbin storage portion and the winding bobbin storage portion, and the supply bobbin and the winding bobbin.

14 . The ink cassette according to claim 13 ,
wherein the second connecting portion includes: a first projecting portion that extends along the ink sheet fed from the supply bobbin storage portion toward the winding bobbin storage portion and projects toward the far side in the mounting direction; a second projecting portion that extends from the first projecting portion to the winding bobbin storage portion, connects to the winding bobbin storage portion, and projects toward the far side in the mounting direction; and a third projecting portion that extends from the first projecting portion to the supply bobbin storage portion, connects to the winding bobbin storage portion, and projects toward the far side in the mounting direction.

15 . The ink cassette according to claim 14 ,
wherein the second projecting portion connects to a surface of the winding bobbin storage portion on the far side with respect to the mounting direction, and the third projecting portion connects to a surface of the supply bobbin storage portion on the far side with respect to the mounting direction.

16 . The ink cassette according to claim 14 ,
wherein the supply bobbin storage portion includes a feed-side guide wall that guides the ink sheet pulled from the supply bobbin toward the winding bobbin storage portion, and the third projecting portion extends along the feed-side guide wall, and the winding bobbin storage portion includes a winding-side guide wall that guides the ink sheet from the feed-side guide wall toward the winding bobbin storage portion, and the second projecting portion

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Suzuki Masaki
• Yano Yukiteru

Classifications

• B41J35/28

  Detachable carriers or holders for ink-ribbon mechanisms · CPC title

• B41J35/04

  Ink-ribbon guides · CPC title

• B41J33/003

  Ribbon spools · CPC title

• B41J29/13 Primary

  Cases or covers · CPC title

• B41J17/32 Primary

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