Serial type thermal printer

Claim 2

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said two ink film cassettes are arranged on said carriage with respective ink film takeup directions opposite to each other.

Claim 3

A carriage sift type the thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including a single color.

Claim 4

A carriage sift type the thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including a single color.

Claim 5

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including yellow, magenta and cyan arranged in a selected alternating order.

Claim 6

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including yellow, magenta and cyan arranged in a selected alternating order.

Claim 7

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said head projecting means in said carriage includes a mechanism for alternately pressing and releasing said two thermal heads, and single drive source for actuating said mechanism.

Claim 8

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said head projecting means in said carriage includes a mechanism for alternately pressing and releasing said two thermal heads, and single drive source for actuating said mechanism.

Claim 9

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means operatively connected to said two ink film cassettes for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said ink film drive mans is operable to take up only the ink film in one of said ink film cassettes during a forward movement of said carriage and to take up only the ink film in the other ink film cassette during a backward movement of said carriage.

Claim 10

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means operatively connected to said two ink film cassettes for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said ink film drive mans is operable to take up only the ink film in one of said ink film cassettes during a forward movement of said carriage and to take up only the ink film in the other ink film cassette during a backward movement of said carriage.

Claim 11

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 5, wherein said ink film drive means includes a single reversible rotary drive source, a first one-way clutch operable with a forward rotation of said rotary drive source, a second one-way clutch operable with a reverse rotation of said rotary drive source, a first transmission shaft for connecting said first one-way clutch to a takeup reel in one of said ink film cassettes, and a second transmission shaft for connecting said second one-way clutch to a takeup reel in the other ink film cassette.

Claim 12

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means operatively connected to said two ink film cassettes for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said ink film drive means is operable to take up the ink films in said two ink film cassettes during one of a forward movement and a backward movement of said carriage, and includes a single rotary drive source rotatable in one direction, a drive gear fixed on an output shaft of said drive source, a first driven gear fixed on a driven shaft connected to a takeup reel in one of said ink film cassettes , a second driven gear fixed on a driven shaft connected to a takeup reel in the other ink film cassette, a transmission gear interposable selectively between said drive gear and said first driven gear and between said drive gear and said second driven gear to transmit torque of said rotary drive source to one of said takeup reels in said ink film cassettes, and switching means for interposing said transmission gear selectively between said drive gear and said first driven gear and between said drive gear and said second driven gear.

Claim 13

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage including two ink films and ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, each of the cassettes being provided with a film supply reel and a film takeup reel arranged on a same plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carriage movement, head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said cassettes, and ink film drive means operatively connected to said two ink film cassettes for transporting the ink films in a direction parallel to the direction of carriage movement at a position opposed to said platen roller and for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said film drive means; wherein said ink film drive means is operable to take up the ink films in said two ink film cassettes during one of a forward movement and a backward movement of said carriage, and includes a single rotary drive source rotatable in one direction, a drive gear fixed on an output shaft of said drive source, a first driven gear fixed on a driven shaft connected to a takeup reel in one of said ink film cassettes , a second driven gear fixed on a driven shaft connected to a takeup reel in the other ink film cassette, a transmission gear interposable selectively between said drive gear and said first driven gear and between said drive gear and said second driven gear to transmit torque of said rotary drive source to one of said takeup reels in said ink film cassettes, and switching means for interposing said transmission gear selectively between said drive gear and said first driven gear and between said drive gear and said second driven gear.

Claim 14

A carriage shift type thermal printer comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage being adapted to carry two ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, and including head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said ink film cassettes, and film drive means for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said ink film drive means to print by using one of said thermal heads and an ink film corresponding to said one of said thermal heads during a forward movement of said carriage and to print by using the other thermal head and an ink film corresponding to said other thermal head during a backward movement of said carriage.

Claim 15

A carriage shift type thermal printer comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage being adapted to carry two ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, and including head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said ink film cassettes, and film drive means for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said head projecting means and said ink film drive means to print by using one of said thermal heads and an ink film corresponding to said one of said thermal heads during a forward movement of said carriage and to print by using the other thermal head and an ink film corresponding to said other thermal head during a backward movement of said carriage.

Claim 16

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 8, wherein said two ink film cassettes are arranged on said carriage axially of said platen roller with respective ink takeup directions opposite to each other.

Claim 17

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein each of said two ink film cassettes is mounted on said carriage with a film takeup reel and a film supply reel arranged in a direction perpendicular to a direction of carriage movement.

Claim 18

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contain ink films of the same color.

Claim 19

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including a single color.

Claim 20

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including yellow, magenta and cyan arranged in a selected alternating order.

Claim 21

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein said head projecting means in said carriage includes a mechanism for alternately pressing and releasing said two thermal heads, and a single drive source for actuating said mechanism.

Claim 22

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein said ink film drive means in said carriage is operatively connected to said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage.

Claim 23

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 15, wherein said ink film drive means is operable to take up only the ink film in one of said ink film cassettes during a forward movement of said carriage and to take up only the ink film in the other ink film cassette during a backward movement of said carriage.

Claim 24

A thermal printer as claimed in claim 16, wherein said ink film drive means includes a single reversible rotary drive source, a first one-way clutch operable with a forward rotation of said rotary drive source, a second one-way clutch operable with a reverse rotation of said rotary drive source, a first transmission shaft for connecting said first one-way clutch to a takeup reel in one of said ink film cassettes, and a second transmission shaft for connecting said second one-way clutch to a takeup reel in the other ink film cassette.

Claim 25

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage being adapted to carry two ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, and including head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said ink film cassettes, and ink film drive means for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said two thermal heads independently of each other to press the thermal heads upon the platen roller so that each of the thermal heads is pressed against the platen roller during only one of a forward movement and a backward movement of said carriage, wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including a single color.

Claim 26

A carriage shift type thermal printer, comprising: a rotatable platen roller for guiding recording paper; a carriage opposed to and reciprocable axially of said platen roller, said carriage being adapted to carry two ink film cassettes arranged axially of said platen roller, and including head projecting means for pressing upon said platen roller two thermal heads associated with said ink film cassettes, and ink film drive means for taking up ink films; and control means for controlling said two thermal heads independently of each other to press the thermal heads upon the platen roller so that each of the thermal heads is pressed against the platen roller during only one of a forward movement and a backward movement of said carriage, wherein one of said two ink film cassettes mounted on said carriage contains a black ink film and the other contains a color ink film including a single color.