Tape cassette

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9498988-B2
Application number	US-201514641681-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2009
Publication date	Nov 22, 2016
Grant date	Nov 22, 2016

Abstract

A tape cassette includes a box-like housing, a tape mounted within the housing, a hole and a first indicator portion. The housing includes a top wall having a top surface, a bottom wall having a bottom surface and opposing the top wall, and a front wall having a specified height and being formed along peripheries of the top wall and the bottom wall. The hole is provided in the front wall. The first indicator portion includes at least one first aperture and indicates a first element among a plurality of elements of a type of the tape. The first indicator portion is provided in a portion, spaced from the front wall, of the bottom wall. The hole and the one first aperture is located to intersect a virtual line orthogonal to the front wall when viewing along a vertical direction orthogonal to the top wall and the bottom wall.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tape cassette comprising:
a box-like housing that includes a top wall having a top surface, a bottom wall having a bottom surface and opposing the top wall, and a front wall being formed along peripheries of the top wall and the bottom wall;
a tape mounted within the box-like housing;
an ink ribbon mounted within the box-like housing and to be used for printing on the tape;
a ribbon take-up spool on which a used ink ribbon is to be wound, the used ink ribbon being a portion of the ink ribbon that has been used for printing, the ribbon take-up spool being rotatably supported by a first support through-hole provided in the top wall and a second support through-hole provided in the bottom wall;
a hole provided in the front wall; and
a first indicator portion including at least one first indicator aperture and indicating a first element among a plurality of elements of a type of the tape, the first indicator portion being provided in a portion, spaced from the front wall, of the bottom wall,
wherein the first support through-hole, the second support through-hole, the hole, and a first aperture of the at least one first indicator aperture intersect a first virtual line orthogonal to the front wall when viewing along a vertical direction orthogonal to the top wall and the bottom wall, the first virtual line being located between a center line orthogonal to the front wall and a second virtual line orthogonal to the front wall, the center line being located at a center position in a left-right direction of the tape cassette, the left-right direction being a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction and orthogonal to the first virtual line, the second virtual line passing through center positions of the first support through-hole and the second support through-hole when viewing along the vertical direction,
wherein a first virtual flat plane including a whole of a first opening edge, formed on the bottom surface, of the first aperture provided in the bottom wall is substantially orthogonal to a second virtual flat plane including a whole of a second opening edge, formed on a surface of the front wall, of the hole provided in the front wall.

2. The tape cassette according to claim 1 , wherein:
the box-like housing further includes a first tape housing area and a second tape housing area at an inside thereof;
the first tape housing area in which the tape is stored has a generally circular shape when viewing along the vertical direction;
the second tape housing area is formed as a space having a generally circular shape when viewing along the vertical direction;
the first tape housing area and the second tape housing area are aligned with each other in the left-right direction such that the first tape housing area and the second tape housing area contact each other; and
the first virtual line passes through a contact position where the first tape housing area and the second tape housing area contact each other.

3. The tape cassette according to claim 1 , wherein the first indicator portion indicates a tape color and a print color as the first element, the tape color being a color of the tape itself, and the print color being a color to be formed on the tape.

4. The tape cassette according to claim 3 , wherein the first indicator portion indicates, as the print color, an ink color of the ink ribbon.

5. The tape cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second indicator portion provided in the front wall, the second indicator portion indicating a second element, other than the first element, among the plurality of elements of the type of the tape.

6. The tape cassette according to claim 5 , wherein the second indicator portion indicates, as the second element, at least a width of the tape mounted in the box-like housing.

7. The tape cassette according to claim 5 , wherein the second indicator portion indicates, as the second element, whether a print mode is a normal image print mode or a mirror image print mode.

8. The tape cassette according to claim 5 , wherein:
the first aperture is located at a position in the first indicator portion in accordance with a predetermined pattern corresponding to a tape color of the tape mounted in the box-like housing, the tape color being a color of the tape itself; and
the second indicator portion has at least one second aperture, the second aperture being located at a position in the second indicator portion in accordance with a predetermined pattern corresponding to the type, other than the tape color, of the tape mounted in the box-like housing.

9. The tape cassette according to claim 5 , wherein:
the first indicator portion is provided at a generally central position in the left-right direction of the box-like housing; and
the second indicator portion is provided at a generally central position in the left-right direction of the box-like housing.

10. The tape cassette according to claim 5 , wherein:
the box-like housing further includes an arm portion formed by the front wall and an arm rear wall provided between the top wall and the bottom wall and located behind the front wall;
the arm portion has an arm front surface being a portion of a front surface of the front wall;
the hole and the second indicator portion are provided in the arm front surface; and
the first indicator portion is provided in a rear end portion of the bottom wall, the rear end portion being at an opposite side of the tape cassette with respect to the arm front surface.

11. The tape cassette according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first indicator portion includes a first lateral information section adjoining a rear end of the bottom wall, the first lateral information section being a strip-shaped section extending along the left-right direction; and
a tape-color indicating aperture is provided at a position in the first lateral information section in accordance with a predetermined pattern corresponding to a tape color of the tape mounted in the box-like housing, the tape color being a color of the tape itself.

12. The tape cassette according to claim 11 , wherein:
the first indicator portion further includes a second lateral information section provided on the bottom wall and located farther from the rear end of the bottom wall than the first lateral information section, the second lateral information section being a strip-shaped section extending along the left-right direction; and
a ribbon-color indicating aperture is provided at a position in the second lateral information section in accordance with a predetermined pattern corresponding to an ink color of an ink ribbon mounted within the box-like housing and to be used for printing on the tape.

13. The tape cassette according to claim 12 , wherein:
the first indicator portion further includes a reference vertical information section located on the first virtual line when viewing along the vertical direction, the reference vertical information section being a strip-shaped section extending along a front-rear direction parallel to the first virtual line; and
at least one of the tape-color indicating aperture and the ribbon-color indicating aperture is provided in the reference vertical information section.

14. The tape cassette according to claim 13 , wherein:
the first indicator portion includes a plurality of vertical information sections that are a plurality of strip-shaped sections extending along the front-rear direction and aligned in the left-right direction;
the plurality of vertical information sections include the reference vertical information section and a subordinate vertical information section arra

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Yamaguchi Koshiro
• Sago Akira
• Horiuchi Takashi
• Iriyama Yasuhiro
• Shibata Yasuhiro
• Nagae Tsuyoshi
• Kato Masato
• Imamaki Teruo

Classifications

• B41J32/00

  Ink-ribbon cartridges · CPC title

• B41J3/4075

  Tape printers; Label printers · CPC title

• B41J11/009

  Detecting type of paper, e.g. by automatic reading of a code that is printed on a paper package or on a paper roll or by sensing the grade of translucency of the paper · CPC title

• B41J15/044 Primary

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

• B41J2/325

  by selective transfer of ink from ink carrier, e.g. from ink ribbon or sheet · CPC title