GB1583569A - Ink supply device for hand labeller - Google Patents

Description

(54) INK SUPPLY DEVICE FOR HAND LABELER (71) We, KABUSHIKI KAISHA SATO KENKYUSHO, a Japanese Company of 21-23, 3-chome, Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates generally to labeling machines, and more particularly to ink supply devices for use with label printing and applying machines of portable type (which will be shortly referred to as "hand labelers").

In a hand labeler or a tag printing and app]ying machine, the printing process has conventionally been carried out using a plurality of ink rollers which are impregnated with ink of the same or different colours. By way of example only, the printing process will now be reviewed in connection with the disclosure of United States Patent No. Re 27889 in which the dichroic process is carried out. In this disclosure, specifically, two (paired) printing heads are fixed to a pair of yokes which are made swingable up and down by the actuation of a hand lever. A pair of rotating arms, which are operative to hold such two ink rollers, as are impregnated with ink of different colours, in independent but rotatable manner in front of and at the back of the printing heads, are mounted pivotally in the machine frames of the hand labeler in a manner to be urged by a spring.

Each time the yokes are lowered by the squeezing action of the hand lever, the front and rear printing heads are also lowered while pushing aside at their lower edges the front and rear ink rollers which are attached rotatably to the rotating arm urged by the spring. As a result, the front ink roller is allowed to turn on the type surface, which is located at the lowermost end of the front printing head, so as to supply its ink thereto, whereas the rear ink roller is allowed to turn on the type surface of the rear printing head so as to supply its ink thereto. When the hand lever is further squeezed to lower the yokes, the type surfaces of the respective printing heads are brought into contact with a label so as to effect the dichroic printing operations.

However, the rotating arm for holding the front and rear ink rollers is composed of front and rear separate portions. It necessarily follows that the rotating arm portion for the rear ink roller has to be arranged substantially at the center of the inside of the machine frames of the hand labeler. As a result, the overall size of the hand labeler is accordingly enlarged, and the attachment and removal of the rear rotating arm portion become so difficult as to deteriorate usability when it is intended to effect replacement of the rear ink roller.

In another disclosure of United States Patent 3,902,952 on the other hand, a holder, in which two ink rollers of different colours are rotatably mounted, is attached to a front portion of a hand labeler by means of a holder, through which the ink rollers are forced onto the type surfaces by the action of a spring so as to supply the ink thereto. There is conducted an improvement, in which the attachment and removal of the ink roller holder are facilitated.

However, the following disadvantages are raised because a forced ink-oozing system is not employed in either proposal.

Since the ink rollers are brought into contact with the type surfaces by the biasing force of the spring, the pressure of the ink rollers to be exerted upon the type surfaces becomes weaker and weaker as the biasing force of the spring becomes weaker due to the aging effects. Then, the application of ink is so deteriorated to blur the print on the label. This drawback is fatal for a hand labeler which is used to print the name of a shop requiring especial clearness.

Since, on the other hand, the depressions on the ink rollers by the type surfaces are reduced as the biasing force of the spring is weakened, it becomes impossible to pump up the ink, which is reserved deeply in the center portions of the ink roller, to the roller surfaces. This prohibits the use of ink except that stored in the vicinity of the surfaces of the ink rollers. As a result, the ink rollers can be used for a limited number of labels only, thus rendering the reviewed hand labelers uneconomical.

In case, moreover, the hand lever is erroneously squeezed too swiftly, it may take place either that the ink rollers are kept away from contact with the type surfaces or that their contacts are remarkably weak even if possible. As a result, no print is obtained on the label or difference rises in the shape between the two colours.

According to the invention there is provided an ink supply device for use with a hand labeler capable of accomplishing a plurality of operational cycles, each cycle having the steps of printing, dispensing and applying a label from a continuous label strip to an article, the device comprising at least two ink rollers for impregnation with ink, an ink roller assembly for removably holding said ink rollers; a holder adapted to removably hold said ink roller assembly, and at least two cartridge frames attached or attachable removably to said ink roller assembly respectively for holding said ink rollers in a rotatable manner, and retaining means for retaining at least one of said cartridge frames in said holder and having manually engageable portions operable for effecting attachment and removal of said at least one of said cartridge frames.

One embodiment provides an ink supply device of forced ink-oozing type for use with a hand labeler which is made practical for printing a label with the name of a shop of such a small scale as has reluctantly given up the printing idea partly because the colour for indication of the shop name is different from that for indication of the price of a commodity in accordance with the current business practice and partly because the number of rolls of continuous label strip to be ordered once is limited to a small value.

In one example of an ink supply device of the above type, a box-shaped ink roller assembly made partly by holding a front ink roller in an integral box-shaped holder through a rotatable positioning holder and partly by holding a rear ink roller directly in the box-shaped holder can be inserted with ease by arranging not only such grooves as are located in parallel with an attaching line but also attaching projections and can be retained by means of such a pair of knobs as are biased to slide, thereby to facilitate the replacement of the ink rollers.

Attaching members are attached swingably to the holder in an upwardly biased manner to have their front guide rollers located on the attaching line joining the attaching shafts of the rotating arm and the holder and the centre of the rear guide rollers of the holder, thereby to facilitate and ensure the attacEi- ment and removal of the ink roller assembly to and from the holder.

The pressure of the ink rollers to be exerted upon the type surfaces of the front and rear printing heads, respectively, are forcibly regulated to a constant proper level at all times by guiding the guide rollers of the attaching members in guide grooves so that the ink reserved in the center portions of the ink rollers may be forced to ooze to the surfaces so as to uniformalize the quantity of supply of the ink to a proper level, thus making it possible to print a number of labels in high precision without any shading for a prolonged time period.

The great space occupied in the conventional system by the front and rear rotating arms and by the ink rollers is minimized by holding the paired ink rollers in the form of its integral assembly, thereby to reduce the size and weight of the hand labeler as a whole to such an extent as to allow its handling by a female operator having relatively small hands.

The invention may be performed in various ways and one specific embodiment with possible modifications will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the whole construction of a hand labeler which is equipped with an ink supply device according to the present invention, with its machine frame of near side being removed and with the guide rollers having their centres located on the attaching line; Fig. 2 is a simplified side elevation also showing the construction of the hand labeler, in which the ink rollers are in contact with the type surfaces as a result of the actuation of the hand lever with the guide rollers having their centres dislocated from the attaching line;; Fig. 3 is also a simplified side elevation but shows the condition, in which the ink rollers have passed over the type surfaces to dislocate the centres of the guide rollers from the attaching line; Fig. 4 is also a simplified side elevation but shows the condition in which the hand lever is further actuated to shift the ink rollers in the forward direction and to locate the centres of the guide rollers on the attaching line; Fig. 5 is also a simplified side elevation but shows the condition in which the hand lever is squeezed to its full stroke to locate the centres of the guide rollers on the attaching line and to protrude the knobs to the outside of the machine frames to such an extent as to permit attachment and removal of the ink roller assembly; ; Fig. 6 is a series of perspective views showing the conditions in which the parts of the ink supply device are disassembled and in which they are assembled; Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the condition, in which the ink roller assembly of the ink supply device is attached to the holder; Fig. 8(A) is a longitudinal section of the front link roller and shows the condition, in which it is supplying its ink to the front type surface; and Fig. .8(B) is also a longitudinal section of the rear ink roller and shows the condition, in which it is supplying its ink to the rear type surface.

Fig. 1 shows the overall construction of a hand labeler which is equipped with an ink supply device 8 according to the present invention. Indicated at reference numerals 1 and 1 are machine frames of the hand labeler 8, with which a grip 2 is made integral at the rear side (or at the righthand side of Fig. 1). Between these machine frames 1 and 1, there is pivotally jointed by means of a pivot shaft 3 a hand lever 4, the front portion of which is formed into a pair of yokes 5 and 5 of bifurcated shape.

To the leading ends of the yokes 5 and 5, moreover, there is fixed a printing device 7 which is equipped with two printing heads 6a and 6b. A spring pin 60 is mounted in the grip 2. Indicated at numeral 61 is a spring hole which is formed at one end of the hand lever 4, and an actuating spring 62 is interposed under tension betwen the hole 61 and the spring pin 60 so that the yokes 5 and the hand lever 4 may be biased to turn clockwise at all times about the pivot shaft 3 by the compression of the spring 62.

The ink supply device 8 is generally composed, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, of an ink roller assembly 11 for holding two ink rollers 9 and 10, of a holder 12, to which the ink roller assembly 11 is removably attached, of attaching members 57 and 57, and of a rotating arm 13.

The ink rollers 9 and 10 are equipped, rspectively, with ink impregnated bodies 80 and 81 which are impregnated with ink of different colours such as black and red.

As shown in more detail in Fig. 6, the front ink roller 9 of the ink roller assembly 11 is formed at both its ends with shafts ends 15, which are fitted in holes formed in leg portions 16 and 16 of a cartridge frame 14 such that they are attached rotatably to the cartridge frame 14. This cartridge frame 14 is formed to have a U-shaped section such that it is formed with a pair of attaching projections 17 and 17 at the upper ends of its leg portions 16 and 16 and that it is formed with a C-shaped retaining portion 18 at the outer surface of its bridge portion.

Indicated at reference numeral 19 is a trifurcated holder, to which the cartridge frame 14 is removably attached. The trifurcated holder 19 has its outer leg portions 20 and 20 formed with holes 21 and 21.

To these legs portions 20 and 20, there are attached integrally a pair of engaging rings 23 and 23, which are formed with such holes 22 and 22 as are registered with the holes 21 and 21 of the leg portions 20 and 20. The trifurcated holder 19 is further formed at its bridge portion 49 with an engaging projection 24 which is sized and shaped to engage with the C-shaped retaining portion 18 of the cartridge frame 14.

The centre leg portion 44 of the trifurcated holder 19 is formed at its leading and lower ends with engaging notches 45 and 46 of substantially semicircular shape, respectively.

Likewise, the rear roller 10 is also attached rotatably to a U-shaped cartridge frame 25 in the same manner as the front ink roller 9.

The cartridge frame 25 is formed at the lower ends of its leg portions with a pair of attaching projections 26 and 26 and at the outer surface of its bridge portion with a C-shaped retaining portion 27.

Indicated at reference numeral 28 is a box-shaped assembly body, to which the holder 19 and the cartridge frame 25 are to be attached. The assembly body 28 has both its side walls 29 and 29 formed in the order from the front side (or from the lefthand side of Fig. 6) with rectangular holes 30 and 30, round holes 31 and 31 and notches 32 and 32 which are made open upward. The assembly body 28 has its rear wall formed at its surface integrally with an engaging projection 33 which is made engageable with the C-shaped retaining portion 27 of the cartridge frame 25.

Indicated at reference numeral 43 is a flexible member, which has its one end 47 fixed to the front end of the assembly body 28 and its other end formed with a positioning projection 48. This positioning projection 48 is made to have such flexibility as to rock up and down about the fixed end 47.

Indicated at reference numerals 34a and 34b are a pair of knobs, which are divided into outside and inside portions by flanges 35 and 35, the outside portions being formed with rectangular portions 36 and 36 while the inside portions being formed with cylinder portions 37a and 37b. The rear extending portions 38 and 38 of the flanges 35 and 35 are formed on their outer surfaces with retaining rods 39 and 39 in a projecting manner. The outside surfaces of the rectangular portions 36 and 36 are shaped to form rough non-slip surfaces 40 and 40.

Here, the cylinder portion 37a is made to have a larger diameter that the other cylinder portion 37b such that the latter portion 37b can be fitted in the bore 41a of the former portion 37a.

Those members and parts thus far described are assembled in the following manner to form the ink roller assembly 11 More specifically, after a coil spring 42 is inserted into the bores 41a and 41b of the cylinder portions 37a and 37b of the knobs 34a and 34b, the smaller cylinder portion 37b is forced into the bore 41a of the larger cylinder portion 37a so that the knobs 34a and 34b may come close to each other.

These knobs 34cur and 34b are placed, while being pushed to each other, between the side walls 29 and 29 of the assembly body 28. Then, the knobs 34a and 34b are released so that the rectangular portions 36 and 36 and the retaining rods 39 and 39 of the knobs 34a and 34b may be fitted ify the elastic force of the coil spring 42 into the rectangular holes 30 and 30 and the round holes 31 and 31, respectively. Since, in this instance, the engaging rings 23 and 23 of the holder 19 have already been fitted in the round holes 31 and 31, it should be noted that the retaining rods 39 and 39 will pass through the holes 21 and 21 of the holder 19 and through the holes 22 and 22 of the engaging rings 23 and 23 until their leading ends protrude to the outside.

Then, the holder 19 is turned counterclockwise about the retaining rods 39 and 39 so that the bridge portion 49 may come to its upper position and so that the engaging notch 45 at the front end of the centre leg portion 44 may be brought into engagement with the positioning projection 48 of the flexible member 43, thus fixing the holder 19 in position. The C-shaped retaining portion 18 of the cartridge frame 14, to which the front ink roller 9 is attached, is slid sideways on the engaging projection 24 of the bridge portion 49 of the holder 19 so that they may constitute an integral structure. Then, the C-shaped retaining portion 27 of the cartridge frame 25, to which the rear link roller 10 is attached, is also slid into engagement with the engaging projection 33 at the rear end of the assembly body 28, thus finishing the assembly process of the ink roller assembly 11.

Moreover, after the cartridge frame 14 is attached to the holder 19, the temporary assembly composed of the front ink roller 9 as well as the holder 19 and the cartridge frame 14 is turned clockwise so that it may be held substantially in a horizontal position in the assembly body 28. Since, in this instance, the engaging notch 46 at the lower end of the centre leg portion of the holder 19 comes into engagement with the positioning projection 48 of the flexible member 43, those three parts constituting that temporary assembly can be held in the horizontal positions, and the front ink roller 9 can be prevented from becoming irrotatable as a result that it is brought into contact with the bottom of the assembly body 28.

For this purpose, there should be formed a considerable spacing between the back of the positioning projection 48 and the bottom of the assembly body 28.

Now, the construction of the holder 12 will be described in the following. This holder 12 is formed to have a generally U shape such that its side walls 50 and 50 have their rear portions curved inwardly to form a pair of horizontal attaching grooves 51 and 51 at their protruding inner sides. Moreover, a pair of guide rollers 53 and 53 are attached rotatably to the rear ends at the outer sides of the side walls 50 and 50 by means of attaching shafts 52.

These guide rollers 53 are made to have their axes aligned with those of the rear ink roller 10.

The side walls 50 and 50 are formed at their front outer surfaces with rectangular recesses 54 and at the rear ends of the recesses 54 and 54 with notches 55 and 55, which have their upper portions cut away.

The recesses 54 and 54 are formed at their front portions with engaging holes 71 and 71, and annular pivot shafts 56 and 46 are attached to the side walls 50 and 50 in a coaxial relationship with the holes 71 and 71 so that attaching members 57 and 57 may be pivotally supported on the shafts 56 and 56 through their pivot holes 84 and 84 which are formed at their front ends.

The attaching members 57 and 57 are formed at their positions below the holes 84 and 84 integrally with slender elastic members 58 and 58, which have their leading ends abutting against the bottoms 59 and 59 of the recesses 54 so as to bias the attaching members 57 and 57 to rotate upward. Thus, the attaching members 57 and 57 have their front ends formed with regulating surfaces 85 and 85 which are brought into abutment engagement with regulating surfaces 86 and 86 formed at the front backs of the holder 12, thereby ensuring the aforementioned horizontal positioning effects.

Moreover, the rear portions of the attaching members 57 and 57 are so thickened that attaching grooves 63 and 63 may be formed to extend horizontally in the inner surfaces of their inwardly protruding portions.

To the outer rear ends of the attaching members 57 and 57, on the other hand, there are rotatably attached by means of shafts 64 and 64 a pair of guide rollers 65 and 65, the centres of which are normally positioned to be in such an attaching line X X as joins the centre of the pivot shafts 56 for the holder 12 and the rotating arm 13 and the centre of the guide rollers 53. Moreover the centre of these guide rollers 65 is positioned in alignment with the centre of the ink roller 9.

As shown in Fig. 1, the rotating arm 13 has its upper ends attached swingably to the leading end portions of the yokes 5 and 5 and its lower enls attached swingably to the shafts 56 at the front portions of the holder 12. A pair of guide pins 67 and 67 fixed to the inner walls of the machine frames 1 and 1 are fitted in a pair of guide grooves 68 and 68, which are formed at the both sides of the rotating arm 13, such that the former may slide in the latter.

Then, the ink roller assembly 11 is attached to the holder 12, which has been swingably attached to the rotating arm 13, in accordance with such assembly procedure as will be described hereinafter.

First of all, the grip 2 and the hand lever 4 are fully squeezed to the last, as shown in Fig. 5, until the holder 12 assumes its upright position to partially protrude from the front end of the machine frames 1. In this instance, the centre of the guide rollers 65 of the attaching members 57 is located on the attaching line X-X. In other words, both the grooves 63 of the attaching members 57 and the grooves 51 of the holder 12 are oriented in parallel with the attaching line X-X.

At the next step, when the rough surfaces 40 and 40 of the knobs 34a and 34b of the assembly 11 are held between the fingers of the operator, as seen from Fig. 6, the knobs 34a and 34b will approach each other while compressing the coil spring 42. As this approach proceeds, the retaining rods 39, which have protruded to the outside from the side walls 29 and 29 of the assembly body 28, have their leading ends forced into the holes 22 and 22 until the side walls 29 and 29 become flat. The assembly 11 under this condition is inserted from the upper open portion 69 of the holder 12, as seen from Fig. 5 (or from the front open portion 69, as seen from Fig. 6), with the rear ink roller 10 being directed downward (or rearward, as seen from Fig. 6).

In this instance, moreover, the attaching projections 26 and 26 of the cartridge frame 25 are fitted in the grooves 51 and 51, while the attaching projections 17 and 17 of the cartridge frame 14 are fitted in the grooves 63 and 63 of the attaching members 57 and 57. The assembly 11 is then pushed downwardly of the holder 12 (or rearwardly, as seen from Fig. 6) until the leading ends of the projections 17 and 17 abut against the stop surfaces 70 and 70 of the grooves 63 and 63 to stop there. After that, when the rough surfaces 40 and 40 of the knobs 34a and 34b are released, the knobs 34a and 43b are allowed to return to their initial positions.

As a result, the retaining rods 39 and 39 made integral with the knobs 34a and 34b are also allowed to protrude to the outside from the side walls 29 and 29 to engage with the holes 71 and 71 of the holder 12, which are formed just in positions, so that the ink roller assembly 11 and the holder 12 may be retained and combined to ensure attachment of the ink rollers 9 and 10 to the holder 12.

With close reference to Figs. 1 to 5 and to Figs. 8(A) and 8(B), the inner walls of the machine frames 1 and 1 are formed in predetermined positions with front guide grooves 72 and 72 and with rear guide grooves 73 and 73. These guide grooves 72 and 73 are generally inclined downward in the forward direction (or in the leftward directions of the drawings), but the front end portions of the front guide grooves 72 are inclined upward such that their upper ends are formed with rearward return portion 74. On the contrary, the rear guide grooves 73 are made to have their front end portions oriented substantially horizontally.

The front guide grooves 72 and 72 are made to- receive the guide rollers 65 and 65 attached to the attaching members 57 and 57, while the rear guide grooves 73 and 73 are made to receive the guide rollers 53 and 53 attached to the holder 12. Thus. as the ink supply device 8 moves back and forth, the respective guide rollers 65 and 53 can turn in the guide grooves 72 and 73.

Incidentally, indicated at reference numeral 75 in Fig. 1 is a label holder which is made operative to hold a roll of continuous label strip 76 in a rotatable manner.

Indicated at numeral 77 is a label feed mechanism which is made operative to feed a continuous strip of labels 78 from the label roll 76 onto a platen 79.

The operations of the ink supply device according to the present invention will now be described in the following. At first, the grip 2 and the hand lever 4 are squeezed from the conditions of Fig. 1 so that the hand lever 4 may be turned upward (or counterclockwise). Then, the yokes 5 are also turned counterclockwise (or downward) about the pivot shaft 3, and the rotating arm 13 is turned clockwise about the shaft 66.

In this instance, however, it should be noted that the rotating arm 13 is guided for rotation while having its guide grooves 68 being regulated by the guide pins 67 which are formed to project from the inner walls of the machine frames 1. As a result, the ink roller assembly 11 will move forward as the rotating arm 13 rotates, because it is attached to the holder 12 which in turn is attached pivotally to the rotating arm 13.

Since, in this instance, the guide rollers 53 and 53 of the holder 12 and the guide rollers 65 and 65 of the attaching members 57 and 57 are guided to move forward by the rear guide grooves 73 and 73 and by the front guide grooves 72 and 72, respectively, the front and rear ink rollers 9 and 10 are allowed to turn while exerting a regulated constant pressure to the type surfaces 7e and 7b of the printing device 7.

In this meanwhile, the centre of the guide rollers 65 is located between the attaching line X-X. Since the front ink roller 9 is made coaxial with the guide rollers 65, it is also located below the line X-X while applying a predetermined pressure to the type surface 7a The reason why the ink roller 9 (or the guide rollers 65) has to be positioned below the line X-X is that the type surface 7a is moved downward more than the type surface 7b from their respective positions of Fig. 1 because the distance between the pivot shaft 3 and the type surface 7a is made larger than that between the shaft 3 and the type surface 7h. Moreover, the reason why the notches 55 and 32 are formed is that the front ink roller 9 can rotate downward about the shafts 56 (or 39).

With these construction arrangements, therefore, each of the ink rollers 9 and 10 can be so prevented from being too close to and too apart from the corresponding one of the type surfaces 7a and 7b that it can press the surface 7a and 7b under a preset suitable pressure at all times. Thus, the spongy ink-impregnated bodies 80 and 81 of the ink rollers 9 and 10 can turn on the type surfaces 7a and 7b while having their surfaces forcibly depressed by the surfaces 7a and 7b.

As a result, the ink, which has been reserved in the centre portions of the inkimpregnated bodies 80 and 81, can be pumped out to automatically ooze to the outer circumferences of the respective ink rollers 9 and 10 by the pumping action which takes place when the depressions in the bodies 80 and 81 restore their original shapes. Thus, the application of ink to the type surfaces 7a and 7b can be performed sufficiently and uniformly.

When the hand lever 4 is further squeezed to rotate, the ink supply device 8 is moved forward, as shown in Fig. 3, to a position in front of the hand labeler, where the device 8 is inclined upwardly to the front. In this instance, the centre of the guide rollers 65 is located before and below the attaching line X-X, similarly to the condition of Fig.

2. During this position change, the guide rollers 53 and 53 for the rear ink roller 10 are moved below the original positions because they are guided to turn in the rear guide grooves 73 which are inclined downward to the front. As a result, it should be noted that there is absolutely no fear that the rear ink roller 10 is brought into contact with the type surface 7a of the front printing head 6a.

When the hand lever 4 is further squeezed, as shown in Fig. 4, the ink supply device 8 is moved not only forward but also upward until it takes a substantially upright position.

In this meanwhile, the centre of the guide rollers 65 is returned to the attaching line X-X, and the rear ink roller 10 arrives at the front end of the rear guide groove 73.

When, moreover, the hand lever 4 is squeezed to its full stroke, the yokes 5 are moved further downward, as shown in Fig.

5, and the guide rollers 65, which have already reached the upper ends of the front guide grooves 72, enter their rearward return portions 74. In this meanwhile, the centre of the guide rollers 65 are located on the attaching line X-X.

As has been described already, the attaching and detaching operations of the ink roller assembly 11 are accomplished under the condition, in which the hand lever 4 is gripped to its full stroke, as shown in Fig.

5. More specifically, it is not until that condition is attained that the rough surfaces 40 of the knobs 34a and 34b are allowed to protrude to the outside of the machine frames 1 so that they may become ready for being manually held.

In case the ink of the ink roller 9 or 10 is consumed to the last after an elongated use has been performed with labels 82, the paired knobs 34a and 34b of the ink roller assembly 11 are held at their rough surfaces 40 and 40 and pulled upward along the attaching line X-X by the fingers of the operator. Then, the retaining rods 39 and 39, which have been effecting their positioning actions until then, are retracted into the inside of the side walls 29 and 29 together with the knobs 34a and 34b. As a result, the attaching projections 17, 17 and 26, 26 can be slid along the line X-X within the attaching grooves 63, 63 and 51, 51, thus rendering the ink roller assembly 11 ready for removal from the holder 12.

When it is intended to replace the front ink roller 9, the attaching projections 17 and 17 are manually held so as to turn to an upright position the temporary assembly which is composed of the ink roller 9, the cartridge frame 14 and the holder 19, and the positioning projection 48 of the flexible member 43 is brought into engagement with the front engaging notch 45 which is formed at the centre leg 44 of the holder 19. After that, the cartridge frame 14 is slid sideways in a manner to disengage its C-shaped retaining portion 18 from the engaging pro jection 24 of the holder 19. Then, the used ink roller 9 is disposed together with the cartridge frame 14, and another cartridge frame 14, to which a fresh ink roller 9 is attached, is attached to the holder 19.

In the case of replacement of the rear ink roller 10, on the other hand, the cart ridge frame 25 is at first slid sideways to allow its removal from the engaging projection 33 of the assembly body 28. Then, a fresh ink roller 10 is attached to the assembly body 28 together with another cartridge frame 25.

The overall operations of the hand labeler will now be described in the following. When the hand lever 4 is squeezed, the ink supply device 8 as a whole is turned clockwise so that the type surfaces 7a and 7b of the printing device 7 may be brought into contact with a label 82, which is separated from the continuous label strip 78 and placed on the platen 79, thus effecting the desired printing operations.

When the hand lever 4 is released from its squeezed condition, the yokes 5 are returned upward in the clockwise direction by the compression of the actuating spring 62. As a result, the rotating arm 13 is moved in the opposite direction to that followed during the above squeezing action. Thus, the guide rollers 65 and 53 are turned along the guide grooves 72 and 73. In this meanwhile, the ink roller assembly 11 is retracted rightwardly of the drawings to apply its ink to the type surfaces 7a and 7b while passing through the conditions of Figs. 4, 3 and 2 in this order, and it is finally returned to its original condition of Fig. 1.

During the above releasing operations, on the other hand, the label feed mechanism 77 is actuated to effect feeding of the continuous strip of labels 78, and at the same time the printed label 82 is separated from its backing paper and fed to a position below an applicator 83.

Although the guide means for the guide rollers 65 and 53 is exemplified, in the foregoing embodiment, into the guide grooves 72 and 73, it should be understood that the guide means must not be limited thereto but can naturally employ a variety of guide devices such as guide rails.

Moreover, the present invention should not be limited to the ink supply device of dichroic type but can be applied to such an ink supply device as is equipped with a plurality of ink rollers, for example, a monochronic ink supply device having two ink rollers of the same colour.

As has been described hereinbefore, the following advantages can be obtained.

Since the assembly holding the ink rollers can be attached and removed with ease, and since the ink rollers themselves can be attached and removed with each the replacement of the ink rollers can be accomplished in remarkably simplified and short-.

ened manners.

Since, moreover, the ink-impregnated bodies of the respective ink rollers are brought into contact to turn on the type surfaces under a regulated constant pressure at all times, the quantity of ink to be applied to the type surfaces can be regulated at a constant level at all times, thus ensuring the highly precise printing operations of the labels with the desired uniform shading.

Since, still moreover, not only the ink in the vicinity of the surfaces of the respective ink-impregnated bodies but also the ink in their centre portions can be consumed without substantial waste, a remarkably increased number of labels can be subjected to the printing operation by the use of a set of the ink rollers, thus rendering the hand labeler using the present ink supply device highly economical.

Since, still moreover, the paired-ink rollers are held in its integrated assembly, the space to be required can be reduced in comparison with the conventional system, thus reducing the overall bulk of the hand labeler.

Even if the hand lever is squeezed and released at a high speed, the resultant ink shading in the prints on the labels can be maintained at a minimum level.

With these in mind, the hand labeler equipped with the ink supply device can find its most suitable application in a hand labeler which can print in a dichroic manner both the price of a commodity and the name of a shop, especially, a shop of such a small scale as has reluctantly been forced to give up that printing idea because the number of rolls of the continuous labels strip to be ordered once is limited to a small value.

The hand labeler thus constructed can also find its suitable application in a hand labeler which can print the labels with such indicia, for example, the bar codes or the OCR characters for optical scanning systems as especially require the highly precise printing operation.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. An ink supply device for use with a hand labeler capable of accomplishing a plurality of operational cycles, each cycle having the steps of printing, dispensing and applying a label from a continuous label strip to an article, the device comprising at least two ink rollers for impregnation with ink, an ink roller assembly for removably holding said ink rollers; a holder adapted to removably hold said ink roller assembly, and at least two cartridge frames attached or attachable removably to said ink roller assembly respectively for holding said ink rollers in a rotatable manner, and retaining means for retaining at least one of said cartridge frames in said holder and having manually engageable portions operable for effecting attachment and removal of said at least one of said cartridges frames.

2. An ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein said retaining means comprises projections adapted to be received in grooves which are formed in said holder.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (9)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. a fresh ink roller 10 is attached to the assembly body 28 together with another cartridge frame 25. The overall operations of the hand labeler will now be described in the following. When the hand lever 4 is squeezed, the ink supply device 8 as a whole is turned clockwise so that the type surfaces 7a and 7b of the printing device 7 may be brought into contact with a label 82, which is separated from the continuous label strip 78 and placed on the platen 79, thus effecting the desired printing operations. When the hand lever 4 is released from its squeezed condition, the yokes 5 are returned upward in the clockwise direction by the compression of the actuating spring 62. As a result, the rotating arm 13 is moved in the opposite direction to that followed during the above squeezing action. Thus, the guide rollers 65 and 53 are turned along the guide grooves 72 and 73. In this meanwhile, the ink roller assembly 11 is retracted rightwardly of the drawings to apply its ink to the type surfaces 7a and 7b while passing through the conditions of Figs. 4, 3 and 2 in this order, and it is finally returned to its original condition of Fig. 1. During the above releasing operations, on the other hand, the label feed mechanism 77 is actuated to effect feeding of the continuous strip of labels 78, and at the same time the printed label 82 is separated from its backing paper and fed to a position below an applicator 83. Although the guide means for the guide rollers 65 and 53 is exemplified, in the foregoing embodiment, into the guide grooves 72 and 73, it should be understood that the guide means must not be limited thereto but can naturally employ a variety of guide devices such as guide rails. Moreover, the present invention should not be limited to the ink supply device of dichroic type but can be applied to such an ink supply device as is equipped with a plurality of ink rollers, for example, a monochronic ink supply device having two ink rollers of the same colour. As has been described hereinbefore, the following advantages can be obtained. Since the assembly holding the ink rollers can be attached and removed with ease, and since the ink rollers themselves can be attached and removed with each the replacement of the ink rollers can be accomplished in remarkably simplified and short-. ened manners. Since, moreover, the ink-impregnated bodies of the respective ink rollers are brought into contact to turn on the type surfaces under a regulated constant pressure at all times, the quantity of ink to be applied to the type surfaces can be regulated at a constant level at all times, thus ensuring the highly precise printing operations of the labels with the desired uniform shading. Since, still moreover, not only the ink in the vicinity of the surfaces of the respective ink-impregnated bodies but also the ink in their centre portions can be consumed without substantial waste, a remarkably increased number of labels can be subjected to the printing operation by the use of a set of the ink rollers, thus rendering the hand labeler using the present ink supply device highly economical. Since, still moreover, the paired-ink rollers are held in its integrated assembly, the space to be required can be reduced in comparison with the conventional system, thus reducing the overall bulk of the hand labeler. Even if the hand lever is squeezed and released at a high speed, the resultant ink shading in the prints on the labels can be maintained at a minimum level. With these in mind, the hand labeler equipped with the ink supply device can find its most suitable application in a hand labeler which can print in a dichroic manner both the price of a commodity and the name of a shop, especially, a shop of such a small scale as has reluctantly been forced to give up that printing idea because the number of rolls of the continuous labels strip to be ordered once is limited to a small value. The hand labeler thus constructed can also find its suitable application in a hand labeler which can print the labels with such indicia, for example, the bar codes or the OCR characters for optical scanning systems as especially require the highly precise printing operation. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. An ink supply device for use with a hand labeler capable of accomplishing a plurality of operational cycles, each cycle having the steps of printing, dispensing and applying a label from a continuous label strip to an article, the device comprising at least two ink rollers for impregnation with ink, an ink roller assembly for removably holding said ink rollers; a holder adapted to removably hold said ink roller assembly, and at least two cartridge frames attached or attachable removably to said ink roller assembly respectively for holding said ink rollers in a rotatable manner, and retaining means for retaining at least one of said cartridge frames in said holder and having manually engageable portions operable for effecting attachment and removal of said at least one of said cartridges frames.

2. An ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein said retaining means comprises projections adapted to be received in grooves which are formed in said holder.

3. An ink supply device as claimed in

claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

4. A hand labeler having an ink supply device as claimed in any preceding claim, including a printing head, the ink rollers being adapted to be turned on type faces of the printing head to apply ink thereto, the holder being operable to move in a direction to effect the ink application of the ink rollers to the type faces, and guide means formed in side walls of the labeler for guiding the ink rollers into contact with the type faces.

5. A hand labeler device according to claim 4, further comprising a rotating arm interposed between a manually actuatable member of said hand labeler and said holder for moving said ink roller assembly as a whole between an ink supply position, where said ink rollers are in contact with the type surfaces of said printing head, and a refuge position, where said ink roller assembly is apart from said printing head so as to permit free movement of the same, in response to the manual action of said actuatable member.

6. A hand labeler according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein said guide means includes two pairs of guide grooves which are formed in the side walls of said hand labeler.

7. A hand labeler according to claim 6, further comprising two pairs of guide rollers mounted at both sides of said holder and fitted rotatably in said two pairs of guide grooves, respectively.

8. A hand labeler according to claim 7, further comprising a pair of attaching members swingably attached to said holder for holding one pair of said guide rollers in a a rotatable manner.

9. A hand labeler substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.