Tape cassette

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9855779-B2
Application number	US-201414226373-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 26, 2014
Priority date	Dec 25, 2008
Publication date	Jan 2, 2018
Grant date	Jan 2, 2018

Abstract

A tape cassette that includes a housing having a front wall and a tape feed exit located on the front wall, a tape at least partially included within the housing and configured to be fed along a tape feed path extending to the tape feed exit, and tape type indicator apertures formed on the front wall of the housing. A combination of the tape type indicator apertures forms a pattern corresponding to a type of the tape at least partially included within the housing. The tape type indicator apertures include a first tape type indicator aperture and a second tape type indicator aperture, and the tape type indicator apertures are positioned such that the first tape type indicator aperture is not aligned with the second tape type indicator aperture in a direction orthogonal to the tape feed path and parallel to the front wall.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tape cassette, comprising:
a housing having a top wall, a bottom wall, a front wall, and a tape feed exit located on the front wall;
a tape at least partially included within the housing and configured to be fed to the tape feed exit in a tape feed direction along the front wall;
an arm portion formed by the front wall and a first surface behind the front wall, wherein the first surface, a second surface, and a third surface partially surround an opening extending from the top wall to the bottom wall behind the front wall, wherein the second surface is opposed to the first surface, wherein the third surface extends from the second surface toward the first surface, and wherein the tape feed exit is provided on a downstream end of the arm portion in the tape feed direction;
a first aperture formed on both a bottom edge of the front wall and a front edge of the bottom wall; and
an upstream reception portion formed on the bottom wall and the third surface, wherein the upstream reception portion is indented upstream from the third surface in the tape feed direction, wherein the upstream reception portion includes a first edge, a second edge, and a third edge, wherein the first edge, the second edge, and the third edge are positioned on the bottom wall, wherein the first edge connects to a bottom edge of the first surface, wherein the second edge is behind the first edge and is opposed to the first edge, wherein a distance between the first edge and the second edge in a specific direction is less than a distance between the first edge and the second surface in the specific direction, wherein the specific direction is parallel to both the top wall and the bottom wall and is perpendicular to the front wall, wherein the third edge connects an upstream end of the first edge in the tape feed direction and an upstream end of the second edge in the tape feed direction, and wherein the third edge is positioned upstream of an upstream end of the first aperture in the tape feed direction.

2. The tape cassette of claim 1 , wherein the upstream end of the first aperture is positioned downstream of a downstream end of the second edge in the tape feed direction.

3. The tape cassette of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second aperture formed on the front wall above the first aperture, a length of the second aperture in the tape feed direction being greater than a length of the first aperture in the tape feed direction.

4. The tape cassette of claim 3 , further comprising:
a third aperture formed on the front wall, the third aperture being positioned between the first aperture and the tape feed exit in the tape feed direction.

5. The tape cassette of claim 4 , wherein the second aperture and the third aperture are located in a common trench in the front wall.

6. The tape cassette of claim 1 , wherein
the housing has a fourth surface portion at least partially surrounded by the upstream reception portion,
wherein the fourth surface is parallel to the bottom wall and depressed from the bottom wall, and
wherein the fourth surface connects to the third surface.

7. The tape cassette of claim 1 , wherein
the housing has a rear indentation including a rear stepped wall parallel to the top wall and the bottom wall, the rear stepped wall being between the top wall and the bottom wall in a vertical direction perpendicular to the top wall and the bottom wall, the rear indentation being indented from a rear portion of the bottom wall toward the top wall up to the rear stepped wall,
wherein a first virtual line is orthogonal to the front wall and passes through the first aperture and the rear indentation, and
wherein a second virtual line is orthogonal to the front wall and passes through the upstream reception portion and the rear indentation.

8. A tape cassette for use with a label printer having a plurality of tape type detecting switches each having two possible states, the tape cassette comprising:
a housing having a top wall, a bottom wall, a front wall, and a tape feed exit located on the front wall;
a tape at least partially included within the housing and configured to be fed to the tape feed exit in a tape feed direction along the front wall;
an arm portion formed by the front wall and a first surface behind the front wall, wherein the first surface, a second surface, and a third surface partially surround an opening extending from the top wall to the bottom wall behind the front wall, wherein the second surface is opposed to the first surface, wherein the third surface extends from the second surface toward the first surface, and wherein the tape feed exit is provided on a downstream end of the arm portion in the tape feed direction;
a first non-pressing portion comprising a first aperture formed on both a bottom edge of the front wall and a front edge of the bottom wall;
a pressing portion positioned between the tape feed exit and the first non-pressing portion in the tape feed direction on the front wall; and
an upstream reception portion formed on the bottom wall and the third surface, wherein the upstream reception portion is indented upstream from the third surface in the tape feed direction, wherein the upstream reception portion includes a first edge, a second edge, and a third edge, wherein the first edge, the second edge, and the third edge are positioned on the bottom wall, wherein the first edge connects to a bottom edge of the first surface, wherein the second edge is behind the first edge and is opposed to the first edge, wherein a distance between the first edge and the second edge in a specific direction is less than a distance between the first edge and the second surface in the specific direction, wherein the specific direction is parallel to both the top wall and the bottom wall and is perpendicular to the front wall, wherein the third edge connects an upstream end of the first edge in the tape feed direction and an upstream end of the second edge in the tape feed direction, and wherein the third edge is positioned upstream of an upstream end of the first aperture in the tape feed direction,
wherein the pressing portion and the first non-pressing portion are positioned to oppose the plurality of tape type detecting switches of the label printer when the tape cassette is in the label printer,
wherein the pressing portion is configured to change a state of a first opposing one of the plurality of tape type detecting switches when the tape cassette is in the label printer, and the first non-pressing portion is configured to avoid changing a state of a second opposing one of the plurality of tape type detecting switches when the tape cassette is in the label printer,
wherein a combination of the pressing portion and the first non-pressing portion forms a pattern corresponding to a type of the tape at least partially included within the housing, and
wherein the pressing portion and the first non-pressing portion are positioned such that a position of the pressing portion in the tape feed direction is downstream of a position of the first non-pressing portion in the tape feed direction along the front wall.

9. The tape cassette of claim 8 , wherein the first non-pressing portion is a through-hole.

10. The tape cassette of claim 9 , wherein the through-hole has a non-circular shape.

11. The tape cassette of claim 10 , wherein the through-hole has a rectangular shape.

12. The tape cassette of claim 8 , further comprising:
a second non-pressing portion disposed between the pressing portion and the tape feed exit in the tape feed direction, the second non-pressing portion comprising a second aperture; and
a latching portion formed on the front wal

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

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

Classifications

• B41J3/4075

  Tape printers; Label printers · CPC title

• B41J35/36

  Alarms, indicators, or feed disabling devices responsive to ink ribbon breakage or exhaustion · CPC title

• B41J32/00

  Ink-ribbon cartridges · CPC title

• B41J15/00

  Devices or arrangements {of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers,} specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in continuous form, e.g. webs · CPC title

• B41J11/009 Primary

  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