Cassette

Abstract

To provide a cassette that can be downsized in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to a vertical direction.SOLUTION: A cassette comprises a ribbon case 21 which comprises a first side wall 16a extending in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction, a second side wall 16b extending in a third direction crossing the second direction, and a recessed part wall 16c extending to one side in the second direction from the second side wall 16b and extending in a third direction at the one side in the second direction more than the second side wall 16b to define a recessed part 99, where at least portion of the recessed part 99 overlaps with a print tape roll 26, in the first direction. Therefore, a tape case 20 comprising the print tape roll 26 and the ribbon case 21 comprising the recessed part wall 16c are overlapped with each other in the first direction, that is a vertical direction, and the at least portion of the recessed part 99 is overlapped in the first direction with the print tape roll 26, which enables the cassette 10 to be downsized in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the vertical direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 16

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cassette that is detachably mounted in a printing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a cassette having a tape and an ink ribbon for printing on the tape is known. For example, the ink ribbon cartridge described in Patent Document 1 includes a ribbon cartridge and a print sheet cartridge. The ribbon cartridge contains an ink ribbon and a take-up shaft for winding the ink ribbon. The print sheet cartridge contains a print sheet. A plurality of set claws are provided on the outer peripheral wall of the print sheet cartridge. The plurality of set claws engage with the ribbon cartridge, so that the print sheet cartridge is superimposed on the ribbon cartridge and integrated with the ribbon cartridge. The ribbon cartridge is provided with a head opening into which the head of the printer is inserted. A sheet opening through which the print sheet passes is provided at a position of the print sheet cartridge opposite to the head opening with respect to the roll of the print sheet. After being pulled out of the roll, the print sheet is taken out of the print sheet cartridge through the sheet opening. The print sheet then passes around the outer peripheral wall of the print sheet cartridge and passes through the head opening. In the head opening, the print sheet and the ink ribbon are superimposed on each other, and printing is performed by the head of the printer. The printed sheet is guided by a set pawl on the head opening side to a film gate for discharging the printed sheet. The ink ribbon used for printing is taken up by a take-up shaft. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-156762 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The ink ribbon cartridge is made smaller in size in the direction perpendicular to the vertical direction by providing the ink ribbon and the head opening at different positions in the direction in which the ribbon cartridge and the print sheet cartridge are aligned, i.e., in the vertical direction. In the case of a cassette, further miniaturization in the direction perpendicular to the vertical direction is required.

[0005] The present invention has been made in light of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cassette that can be made compact in a direction perpendicular to the up-down direction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The gist of the first invention is that it comprises: (a) a rotatable printing tape roll around which a printing tape, which is a printing medium, is wound; (b) an outer peripheral wall located on one side of the printing tape roll in a first direction, which is the width direction of the printing tape, the outer peripheral wall comprising a first side wall extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a recess wall extending from the second side wall in one direction in the second direction, the recess extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction of the second side wall, and (c) at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the printing tape roll in the first direction.

[0007] The gist of the second invention is that, in the first invention, the printing tape roll is formed by winding the printing tape around a rotatable printing tape spool, and at least a portion of the recess wall overlaps with the printing tape spool in the first direction.

[0008] The gist of a third aspect of the present invention is that in the second aspect of the present invention, at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the printing tape spool in the first direction.

[0009] The gist of the fourth invention is that in any one of the first to third inventions, the center of rotation of the printing tape roll in the third direction is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

[0010] The gist of the fifth invention is that in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the printing tape roll is formed by winding the printing tape around a rotatable printing tape spool, and in the third direction, at least a portion of the printing tape spool is positioned between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

[0011] The gist of the sixth invention is that in the fifth invention, the center of rotation of the printing tape spool in the third direction is located between the one side end and the other side end of the recess in the third direction.

[0012] The gist of the seventh invention is that, in the fifth or sixth invention, it comprises a first case in which the printing tape roll is housed, and a second case located on one side of the first case in the first direction and having the outer peripheral wall, the second case having an outlet defined by the second side wall and located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction, the printing tape supplied from the printing tape roll being discharged from the second case to the recess, and in the third direction, the center of rotation of the printing tape spool is located between the outlet and the one end of the recess in the third direction.

[0013] An eighth aspect of the present invention is the seventh aspect of the present invention, wherein the recess overlaps with at least a part of the first case in the first direction.

[0014] The gist of the 9th invention is that in any one of the 1st to 8th inventions, it comprises a rotatable supply spool, which is located on one side of the printing tape roll in the first direction, and around which an ink ribbon used for printing on the printing tape supplied from the printing tape roll is wound, and a take-up spool, which is located on one side of the printing tape roll in the first direction, and which is rotatable to take up the ink ribbon supplied from the supply spool, and at least a portion of the supply spool and at least a portion of the take-up spool overlap with the printing tape roll in the first direction.

[0015] The gist of the 10th invention is that in any one of the 1st to 9th inventions, the invention comprises a rotatable laminating tape roll located on one side of the printing tape roll in the first direction, around which a laminating tape to be laminated to the printing tape is wound, and at least a portion of the laminating tape roll overlaps with the printing tape roll in the first direction.

[0016] The gist of the 11th invention is that in the 10th invention, the bonding tape roll is configured by winding the bonding tape around a bonding tape spool, and the bonding tape spool overlaps with the printing tape roll in the first direction.

[0017] The gist of the twelfth invention is that in the eleventh invention, a rotation center of the laminating tape spool is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

[0018] The gist of the 13th invention is that in any one of the 1st to 12th inventions, in the second direction and the third direction, the distance from a central position, which is the center of the cassette in the second direction and the center of the third direction, to the center of rotation of the printing tape roll is smaller than the distance from the central position to the recess.

[0019] The gist of the 14th invention is a printing tape roll comprising: (a) a printing tape roll around which the printing tape is wound; (b) a spacer film abutting the printing tape roll in a first direction which is the width direction of the printing tape; and (c) an outer peripheral wall located on one side of the first direction relative to the printing tape roll and the spacer film, the outer peripheral wall comprising: a first side wall extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; a second side wall extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction; and a recess extending from the second side wall in one direction in the second direction, the recess wall defining the recess extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction relative to the second side wall; and (d) at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the spacer film in the first direction. Effect of the Invention

[0020] According to a first aspect of the invention, the cassette includes: (a) a rotatable print tape roll on which a print tape serving as a print medium is wound; (b) an outer peripheral wall located on one side of the print tape roll in a first direction, which is the width direction of the print tape, the outer peripheral wall including a first side wall extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting with the second direction, and a recess wall defining the recess extending from the second side wall in one direction in the second direction and extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction relative to the second side wall; and (c) at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the print tape roll in the first direction. As a result, the first case including the print tape roll and the second case including the recess wall overlap in the first direction, i.e., the vertical direction, and at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the print tape roll in the first direction, so that the cassette is made compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction.

[0021] According to a cassette of the second invention, the print tape roll is formed by winding the tape around a rotatable print tape spool, and at least a portion of the recess wall overlaps the print tape spool in a first direction, which is the width direction of the print tape, making the cassette smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if at least a portion of the recess wall did not overlap the print tape spool in the first direction.

[0022] According to the cassette of the third aspect of the invention, at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the print tape spool in the first direction, making the cassette more compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if at least a portion of the recess did not overlap with the print tape spool in the first direction.

[0023] According to the cassette of the fourth aspect of the invention, the center of rotation of the print tape roll is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction, which makes the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if the center of rotation was not located between the one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

[0024] According to a cassette of a fifth aspect of the invention, the print tape roll is formed by winding the print tape around a rotatable print tape spool, and at least a portion of the print tape spool is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction, making the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if the center of rotation of the print tape spool was not located between the one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

[0025] According to the cassette of the sixth aspect of the invention, the second case has a center of rotation of the print tape spool located between the outlet and one end of the recess in the third direction, which makes the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if the center of rotation of the print tape spool was not located between the outlet and one end of the recess in the third direction.

[0026] According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the cassette includes a first case in which the print tape roll is housed, and a second case located on one side of the first case in the first direction and having the outer peripheral wall, the second case includes an outlet defined by the second side wall and located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction, the print tape supplied from the print tape roll is discharged from the second case to the recess, and in the third direction, the center of rotation of the print tape spool is located between the outlet and the one end of the recess in the third direction. This makes the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than a case in which the center of rotation of the print tape spool is not located between the outlet and the one end of the recess in the third direction.

[0027] According to the cassette of the eighth aspect of the invention, the recess overlaps with at least a portion of the first case in the first direction, making the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if the recess did not overlap with at least a portion of the first case in the first direction.

[0028] The gist of a ninth aspect of the present invention is a cassette comprising: a rotatable supply spool located on one side of the print tape roll in the first direction, around which an ink ribbon used for printing on the print tape supplied from the print tape roll is wound, and a take-up spool located on one side of the print tape roll in the first direction, rotatable to take up the ink ribbon supplied from the supply spool, wherein at least a portion of the supply spool and at least a portion of the take-up spool overlap with the print tape roll in the first direction, whereby a cassette is made smaller in size in a direction perpendicular to the first direction than a case in which at least a portion of the supply spool and at least a portion of the take-up spool do not overlap with the print tape roll in the first direction.

[0029] According to a cassette of the tenth aspect of the invention, the second case includes a rotatable laminating tape roll around which a laminating tape to be laminated to the print tape is wound, and at least a portion of the laminating tape roll overlaps with the print tape roll in the first direction, making the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than in a case in which at least a portion of the laminating tape roll does not overlap with the print tape roll in the first direction.

[0030] According to a cassette of an eleventh aspect of the invention, the spliced ​​tape roll is configured by winding the spliced ​​tape around a spliced ​​tape spool, and the spliced ​​tape spool overlaps the print tape roll in the first direction, making the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than if the spliced ​​tape spool did not overlap the print tape roll in the first direction.

[0031] According to the cassette of the twelfth aspect of the invention, the center of rotation of the spliced ​​tape spool is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction, which makes the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than in a case where the center of rotation of the spliced ​​tape spool is not located between the one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

[0032] According to the cassette of the thirteenth aspect of the invention, in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions, the distance from a central position of the cassette, which is the center of the cassette in the second direction and the center of the cassette in the third direction, to the center of rotation of the print tape roll is shorter than the distance from the central position to the recessed portion, thereby making the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the first direction than in a case where the distance from the central position of the cassette to the center of rotation of the print tape roll is longer than the distance from the central position to the recessed portion.

[0033] According to the 14th invention, the cassette comprises: (a) a printing tape roll on which the printing tape is wound; (b) a spacer film abutting the printing tape roll in a first direction perpendicular to the winding direction of the printing tape; and (c) a second case having an outer wall located on one side of the first direction relative to the printing tape roll and the spacer film, the second case being located on one side of the first direction relative to the first case, the second case having a first side wall extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a recess wall extending from the second side wall in one direction in the second direction and defining a recess extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction of the second side wall, and (d) at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the spacer film in the first direction. As a result, the first case having the printing tape roll and the second case having the recess wall are stacked in a first direction, i.e., the vertical direction, and at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the spacer film in the first direction, so that the cassette can be made smaller in a perpendicular direction perpendicular to the first direction. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the top side of a cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the cassette in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a case and the internal configuration of the cassette in FIG. 1, with a first case member, a second case member, a third case member, and a fourth case member that configure the case being separated. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the first case member of FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] 2 is a perspective view showing the underside of the first case member of FIG. 1. [Figure 6] 2 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the second case member in FIG. 1 together with the print tape roll. [Figure 7] 2 is a perspective view showing the cassette of FIG. 1 with a first case member removed. FIG. [Figure 8] 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 6, showing a state in which the print tape is stretched from inside the tape case to inside the ribbon case. [Figure 9] 2 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the second case member of FIG. 1. [Figure 10] 2 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the third case member of FIG. 1. [Figure 11] 2 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the third case member of FIG. 1. [Figure 12] 2 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the fourth case member of FIG. 1. [Figure 13] 1. FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing the bottom side of the fourth case member in FIG. [Figure 14] This figure shows the underside of the third case member in Figure 1, and illustrates the paths of the printing tape pulled out from the printing tape roll and the laminating tape pulled out from the laminating tape roll, as well as the path of the ink ribbon pulled out from the ink ribbon. [Figure 15] 2 is a diagram illustrating a stack of a printing tape and a laminating tape fed out from the cassette of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 16] 2 is a plan view of the cassette of FIG. 1, showing the relative positions of a print tape roll, a laminating tape roll, an ink ribbon, and a take-up spool. [Figure 17] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVII-XVII of FIG. 6. [Figure 18] 2 is a diagram illustrating a cassette mounting portion of a printing device into which the cassette of FIG. 1 is mounted. FIG. [Figure 19] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of a non-laminate type cassette according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 20] 20 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Figure 21] 20 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the case and the internal configuration of the cassette in FIG. 19 with a first case member, a second case member, a third case member, and a fourth case member that configure the case separated. FIG. [Figure 22] 20 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the first case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Diagram 23] 20 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of a first case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Figure 24] 20 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the second case member of the cassette in FIG. 19 together with the print tape roll. [Diagram 25] 20 is a perspective view of the cassette of FIG. 19 with a first case member removed. FIG. [Figure 26] 26 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XXVI-XXVI in FIG. 24, showing a state in which the print tape is stretched from inside the tape case to inside the ribbon case in the cassette of FIG. 19. [Figure 27] 20 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of a second case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Figure 28] 20 is a perspective view showing the top side of a third case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Figure 29] 20 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of a third case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Diagram 30] 20 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of a fourth case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Diagram 31] 20 is a bottom view showing the bottom side of the fourth case member of the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Diagram 32] 22 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cassette of FIG. 19, taken along line XXXII-XXXII of FIG. 24. [Diagram 33] 20 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member in FIG. 19, illustrating the path of the print tape pulled out from the print tape roll and the path of the ink ribbon pulled out from the ink ribbon. [Diagram 34] 20 is a diagram illustrating a stack of printing tape and laminating tape fed out from the cassette of FIG. 19. FIG. [Diagram 35] FIG. 20 illustrates the relative positions of the print tape roll, ink ribbon, take-up spool, and recesses of the cassette of FIG. 19. [Diagram 36] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of a cassette according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 37] FIG. 37 is a perspective view showing the underside of the cassette of FIG. 36. [Figure 38] 37 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the cassette of the embodiment in FIG. 36 with a first case member, a second case member, a third case member, and a fourth case member that configure the case separated. FIG. [Figure 39] 37 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the first case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Diagram 40] 37 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the first case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Diagram 41] 37 is a front view showing the top side of the second case member of the cassette in FIG. 36 together with the print tape roll. FIG. [Diagram 42] 37 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the second case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Diagram 43] 37 is a perspective view showing the top side of a third case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Diagram 44] 37 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the third case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Diagram 45] 37 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of a fourth case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Figure 46] 37 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the fourth case member of the cassette of FIG. 36. FIG. [Figure 47] 37 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member in FIG. 36, illustrating the path of the print tape pulled out from the print tape roll and the path of the laminating tape pulled out from the laminating tape roll. [Figure 48] FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating the print tape fed out from the cassette in FIG. 36. [Figure 49] FIG. 37 illustrates the relative positions of the printing tape roll, laminating tape roll, and recesses of the cassette of FIG. 36. [Figure 50] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of a cassette according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 51] FIG. 51 is a perspective view showing the underside of the cassette of FIG. 50. [Figure 52] 51 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the cassette of the embodiment in FIG. 50 with a first case member, a second case member, a third case member, and a fourth case member that configure the case separated. FIG. [Figure 53] FIG. 51 is a diagram illustrating the print tape fed out from the cassette of FIG. 50. [Figure 54] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a cassette according to still another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0036] [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cassette 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, shown from the front side, i.e., from the top. In the description of this embodiment, the upper side of FIG. 1 is the front side of the cassette 10, the lower side is the rear side of the cassette 10, the right side is the left side of the cassette 10, the left side is the right side of the cassette 10, the upper left side is the upper side of the cassette 10, and the lower right side is the lower side of the cassette 10. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cassette 10 shown from the back side, i.e., from the bottom. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the internal configuration of the cassette 10, with the first case member 12, the second case member 14, the third case member 16, and the fourth case member 18 of the cassette 10 separated. The cassette 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and is detachably mounted in a cassette mounting section 104 of a printing device 102 shown in FIG. 18, which will be described later. The cassette 10 includes a first case, i.e., a tape case 20, which is composed of a first case member 12 and a second case member 14, and a second case, i.e., a ribbon case 21, which is composed of a third case member 16 and a fourth case member 18. The first case member 12 to the fourth case member 18 are stacked in the vertical direction shown in FIG. 1. The first case member 12, the second case member 14, the third case member 16, and the fourth case member 18 are fixed to each other in a stacked state by engagement between a plurality of locking claws 27 and fixing claws 28 provided between the outer peripheral walls of the first case member 12, the second case member 14, the third case member 16, and the fourth case member 18, which are stacked on each other, and positioning by a positioning protrusion 29. In this embodiment, the upper surface of each of the case members 12 to 18 is referred to as the upper surface or front surface, and the lower surface is referred to as the lower surface or back surface.

[0037] The ribbon case 21 is located on one side of the tape case 20 in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the ribbon case 21 is located on the lower side, which is one side of the tape case 20 in the vertical direction. The tape case 20 rotatably accommodates the print tape roll 26, on which the print tape 22, which is a print medium, is wound in a first space S1 formed inside. The print tape roll 26 is configured by winding the band-shaped print tape 22 around the print tape spool 24, which is a cylindrical core material. The print tape 22 is wound so that the width direction of the print tape 22 is the first direction, which is the vertical direction. The radial direction of the print tape roll 26 is the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and the radial direction is an orthogonal direction that is orthogonal to the vertical direction. The orthogonal direction can also be referred to as any direction parallel to a plane that is orthogonal to the vertical direction. The print tape 22, the print tape spool 24, and the print tape roll 26 correspond to the print medium, the print medium spool, and the print medium roll.

[0038] The ribbon case 21 rotatably accommodates the ink ribbon roll 72, the laminating tape roll 64, and the take-up spool 76 in a second space S2 formed therein. The ink ribbon roll 72 is configured by winding a strip-shaped ink ribbon 68 around the take-up spool 76 so that the width direction of the ink ribbon 68 is vertical. The ink ribbon 68 is used for printing on the strip-shaped printing tape 22. The take-up spool 76 takes up the ink ribbon 68 pulled out from the ink ribbon roll 72. The laminating tape roll 64 is configured by winding a strip-shaped laminating tape 60, which is to be laminated to the printed printing tape 22, around the laminating tape spool 62 so that the width direction of the laminating tape 60 is vertical.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 2, a take-up spool support hole 94 is provided on the bottom surface of the fourth case member 18 of the cassette 10. A connection hole 96 for the take-up spool 76, which will be described later, is exposed from the take-up spool support hole 94. When the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102, a take-up spool drive shaft 108 provided in the cassette mounting section 104 is inserted into the connection hole 96. In addition, recesses 99 are formed on the side surfaces of the third case member 16 and the fourth case member 18, i.e., on a part of the outer peripheral wall 16w of the ribbon case 21 and on a part of the outer peripheral wall of the second case member 14. When the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102, a print head 106, which will be described later and which will be provided in the cassette mounting section 104, is inserted into the recesses 99. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end of the recess 99 is defined by the bottom surface of the second case member 14.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the first case member 12, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the first case member 12. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the second case member 14 together with the print tape roll. Note that in FIG. 6, the print tape 22 pulled out from the print tape roll 26 is omitted. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the second case member 14. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 6, showing the state in which the print tape 22 is stretched from inside the tape case 20 to inside the ribbon case 21. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the second case member 14, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the third case member 16, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the third case member 16. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the fourth case member 18, and FIG. 13 is a bottom view showing the lower surface side of the fourth case member 18.

[0041] In the first space S1 between the first case member 12 and the second case member 14, the print tape roll 26 is accommodated so as to be rotatable about a first rotation center line C1 parallel to the up-down direction. The first rotation center line C1 is the center of rotation of the print tape roll 26 and also the center of rotation of the print tape spool 24. The first case member 12 and the second case member 14 are rectangular, and the first rotation center line C1 is located approximately to the right of the center in the left-right direction, which is the second direction, and approximately near the center in the front-rear direction, which is the third direction, of the first case member 12 and the second case member 14. The print tape 22 is configured, for example as shown in FIG. 15, by laminating a peeling tape 22c to the surface opposite the printed surface of the printable tape 22a via an adhesive 22b.

[0042] As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, a cylindrical first support protrusion 30 and a first circumferential wall 34 are provided on the lower surface side of the first case member 12. The first support protrusion 30 is inserted into the cylindrical print tape spool 24 to rotatably support the print tape roll 26. The first circumferential wall 34 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the print tape roll 26. The first support protrusion 30 and the first circumferential wall 34 protrude downward from the lower surface side of the first case member 12 with the same center line as the first rotation center line C1. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, a cylindrical second support protrusion 32 and a second circumferential wall 36 are provided on the upper surface side of the second case member 14. The second support protrusion 32 is inserted into the cylindrical print tape spool 24 to rotatably support the print tape roll 26. The second circumferential wall 36 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the print tape roll 26. The second support projection 32 and the second circumferential wall 36 protrude upward from the upper surface side of the second case member 14, with their center line coinciding with the first rotation center line C1. The print tape roll 26 is disposed between the first case member 12 and the second case member 14, with circular spacer films 38 having approximately the same outer diameter as the outer diameter of the print tape roll 26 interposed above and below the print tape roll 26. The spacer films 38 are intended to allow the print tape roll 26 to rotate smoothly, and are made, for example, from a tetrafluoroethylene resin sheet.

[0043] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, print tape gates 40, 42 are formed on the underside of the first case member 12 and the upper side of the case of the second member 14 by cutting out portions of the first circumferential wall 34 and the second circumferential wall 36 in order to pull out the print tape 22 from the print tape roll 26 from a fixed position. As shown in Figure 7, a guide wall 50 is formed on the upper side of the second case member 14 extending to the left from the left end of the print tape gate 42 in order to guide the print tape 22 pulled out from the print tape roll 26 in a fixed direction.

[0044] As shown in Figure 6, the guide wall 50 extending leftward from the left end of the printing tape gate 42 bends toward the long side portion 46b, i.e., backward, before reaching the short side portion 46a of the outer peripheral wall 46, and extends along the second circumferential wall 36 to connect to the long side portion 44b.

[0045] 6, a through hole 52 that is generally L-shaped in front view and extends in the front-rear and left-right directions along the guide wall 50 and the long side portion 46b of the outer circumferential wall 46 is formed in the bottom plate 14a of the second case member 14. A plurality of guide ribs 54 are formed in the bottom plate 14a between the through hole 52 and a portion of the second circumferential wall 36 that faces the guide wall 50 and the long side portion 46b. The multiple guide ribs 54 guide the printing tape 22 that is unwound from the printing tape roll 26 and fed through the printing tape gates 40 and 42 into the through hole 52.

[0046] Fig. 7 shows the cassette 10 without the first case member 12. As shown in Fig. 7, the printing tape 22 unwound from the printing tape roll 26 is guided through the through hole 52 into the second space S2 between the third case member 16 and the fourth case member 18. The printing tape 22 is stretched across the tape case 20 and the ribbon case 21 through the through hole 52 formed in the bottom plate 14a that separates the first space S1 from the second space S2.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 8, the printing tape 22 is hung obliquely from inside the tape case 20 into inside the ribbon case 21 through the through hole 52. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 14 described later, the printing tape 22 is hung up to the recess 99 of the ribbon case 21. FIG. 9 shows the lower surface side of the second case member 14. As shown in FIG. 9, a through hole 52 is opened on the back surface of the bottom plate 14a of the second case member 14, and a guide wall 56 is provided vertically along the through hole 52. FIG. 10 shows the upper surface side of the third case member 16. A through hole 58, a lamination tape roll support hole 66, an ink ribbon support hole 74, a take-up spool support hole 78, and a roller support hole 82 are formed in the ceiling plate 16e of the third case member 16. The through hole 58 is formed at a position corresponding to the through hole 52 of the second case member 14 in order to pass the printing tape 22 pulled out from the printing tape roll 26 into the second space S2. In other words, a portion of the through hole 52 and a portion of the through hole 58 overlap each other in the vertical direction.

[0048] The bottom plate 14a of the second case member 14 and the ceiling plate 16e of the third case member 16 separate a first space S1 in the tape case 20 and a second space S2 in the ribbon case 21.

[0049] The lamination tape roll support hole 66 receives one end of the lamination tape spool 62 around which the lamination tape 60 is wound, and supports the lamination tape roll 64 rotatably around a second rotation center line C2 parallel to the first rotation center line C1. The second rotation center line C2 is the rotation center of the lamination tape roll 64 and also the rotation center of the lamination tape spool 62. As shown in FIG. 15, the lamination tape 60 is made of a transparent film 60a with an adhesive 60b applied to one surface that comes into contact with the printing surface of the printing tape 22 to protect the printing surface. The ink ribbon support hole 74 receives one end of the supply spool 70 around which the ink ribbon 68 is wound, and supports the ink ribbon roll 72 rotatably around a third rotation center line C3 parallel to the first rotation center line C1. The third rotation center line C3 is the rotation center of the ink ribbon roll 72 and also the rotation center of the supply spool 70. The take-up spool support hole 78 receives one end of the take-up spool 76 that winds up the ink ribbon 68 unwound from the ink ribbon roll 72, and supports the take-up spool 76 rotatably about a fourth rotation center line C4 parallel to the first rotation center line C1. The fourth rotation center line C4 is the rotation center of the take-up spool 24. The roller support hole 82 receives one end of the roller 80 that presses the printing tape 22 and the laminating tape 60 between itself and the roller of the printing device 102 to press the printing surface of the printing tape 22 and the adhesive surface of the laminating tape 60 together, and supports the roller 80 rotatably about a fifth rotation center line C5 parallel to the first rotation center line C1.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 11, a laminated tape roll holding wall 84, an ink ribbon roll holding wall 86, a cylindrical protrusion 88, and an arc-shaped wall 92 are formed on the bottom surface of the third case member 16. The laminated tape roll holding wall 84 and the arc-shaped wall 92 are formed in an arc shape around the laminated tape roll support hole 66 to define the position of the laminated tape roll 64. The ink ribbon roll holding wall 86 is formed in an arc shape around the take-up spool support hole 78 to define the position of the ink ribbon roll of the ink ribbon 68 wound around the take-up spool 76. The cylindrical protrusion 88 protrudes downward from the periphery of the ink ribbon support hole 74, and has unevenness arranged in the circumferential direction on its tip surface. Further, a support protrusion 93 is provided on the bottom surface of the third case member 16 for rotatably supporting the upper end of an adhesion prevention roller 91 that prevents the adhesion of the laminating tape 60. Further, as shown in Fig. 12, a support protrusion 95 is provided on the top surface of the fourth case member 18 for connectably supporting the lower end of the adhesion prevention roller 91.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 3, a clutch spring holder 90 containing a clutch spring is fitted to the other end of the supply spool 70 around which the ink ribbon 68 is wound, and the clutch spring in the clutch spring holder 90 provides an appropriate rotational resistance to the ink ribbon roll 72 of the supply spool 70.

[0052] 12 and 13 show the upper and lower surfaces of the fourth case member 18. A take-up spool support hole 94 is formed through the fourth case member 18, into which the other end of the take-up spool 76 is fitted to rotatably support the take-up spool 76. A cylindrical support protrusion 97 is formed in the fourth case member 18, into which the other end of the supply spool 70 is fitted to rotatably support the supply spool 70. A connecting hole 96 formed in the end face on the other end side of the take-up spool 76 is exposed to the lower surface of the fourth case member 18 through the take-up spool support hole 94, as shown in FIG. 2. When the cassette 10 is mounted in the printing device 102, a take-up spool drive shaft 108 of the printing device 102, which will be described later, is inserted into the connecting hole 96 and connected to the take-up spool 76, and the take-up spool 76 is rotated by the drive shaft.

[0053] The fourth case member 18 is provided with a roller exposing hole 98 that exposes the shaft end of the roller 80 at a position corresponding to the roller support hole 82 formed in the third case member 16. A connecting portion 80a formed at the end of the roller 80 on the fourth case member 18 side is exposed on the bottom surface of the fourth case member 18 through the roller exposing hole 98 as shown in FIG. 2. When the cassette 10 is attached to the printing device 102, a roller drive shaft 110 of the printing device 102, which will be described later, is connected to the connecting portion 80a, and the roller 80 is driven to rotate by the roller drive shaft 110.

[0054] 2 and 11, the ribbon case 21 composed of the third case member 16 and the fourth case member 18 has a recess 99 formed therein for accommodating a head holding plate 114 that holds the print head 106 erected in the cassette mounting portion 104 when the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting portion 104 shown in Fig. 18. As shown in Fig. 11, a part of the outer peripheral wall 16w of the third case member 16 has a first side wall 16a extending in the front-rear direction which is a second direction perpendicular to the up-down direction corresponding to the stacking direction, a second side wall 16b extending from the front end of the first side wall 16a in the left-right direction which is a third direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the front-rear direction, and a U-shaped recess wall 16c surrounding the recess 99. The recess wall 16c is composed of an inner wall 16h that faces the second side wall 16b in the front-rear direction and extends in the left-right direction, an inner wall 16i that extends rearward from the right end of the inner wall 16h, an inner wall 16j that extends leftward from the rear end of the inner wall 16i, and an inner wall 16k that extends forward from the left end of the inner wall 16j. The second side wall 16b and the recess wall 16c define the recess 99 so that it extends rearward from the left end of the second side wall 16b and extends in the left-right direction behind the second side wall 16b. As shown in Figures 12 and 13, the fourth case member 18 has a U-shaped notch 18a that corresponds to the recess wall 16c. The recess wall 16c and the notch 18a form the recess 99. As shown in Figure 2, a part of the upper end of the recess 99 is defined by the lower surface of the second case member 14. That is, the recess 99 overlaps with the second case member 14 and the first case member 12 in the vertical direction.

[0055] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member 16 when the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting portion 104 of the printing device 102. As described above, the printing tape 22 is pulled out from the printing tape roll 26 and is diagonally spanned from the first space S1 in the tape case 20 to the second space S2 in the ribbon case 21 through the through hole 52 and the through hole 58. Therefore, in FIG. 14 showing the third case member 16, the printing tape 22 is drawn from the through hole 58 at the rear of the third case member 16. As shown in FIG. 14, the printing tape 22 and the laminating tape 60 are clamped between the roller 80 and the pressing roller 118 of the printing device 102, and are pulled out from the printing tape roll 26 and the laminating tape roll 64, respectively, by the drive of the roller 80. The ink ribbon 68 is pulled out from the ink ribbon roll 72 by the drive of the take-up spool 76 and taken up on the take-up spool 76. 14 shows the transport paths of the printing tape 22, the ink ribbon 68, and the laminating tape 60. The printing tape 22 is shown by a two-dot chain line, the laminating tape 60 by a dashed line, and the ink ribbon 68 by a one-dot chain line.

[0056] As shown in FIG. 14, when the take-up spool 76 and the roller 80 are driven to rotate, the print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 68 are discharged from the discharge port 130 toward the printing location P in a superimposed state. The discharge port 130 is a gap defined by the left end of the second side wall 16b and the left end of the side wall 16h, penetrating in the left-right direction. At the printing location P between the print head 106 and the platen roller 116, the print tape 22 is pressed against the print head 106 via the ink ribbon 68. In this state, a plurality of heating elements arranged on the surface of the print head 106 are selectively driven to generate local heat, so that a portion of the ink 68a provided on one side of the ink ribbon 68 is transferred to the print tape 22, and characters, symbols, etc. are printed on the print tape 22. The used ink ribbon 68 that has passed through the printing location P is carried into the ribbon case 21 from the carry-in port 132 and taken up by the take-up spool 76. The carry-in entrance 132 is located to the left of the discharge opening 130 and is provided in the third case member 16. A transparent laminating tape 60 is pressed and adhered by a roller 80 to the printed surface of the printing tape 22 that has passed through the printing location P. In this way, the printed surface of the printing tape 22 is protected by the laminating tape 60.

[0057] FIG. 15 shows a schematic diagram of a laminate of the printing tape 22 and laminating tape 60 fed out from the cassette 10. Laminating tape 60, which is made of a transparent film 60a with an adhesive 60b applied to one surface, is attached to the printable tape 22a side, i.e., the printing surface side, of the printing tape 22. This protects the ink 68a transferred to the printing surface of the printing tape 22. Note that the sizes and dimensional ratios of the members 22a-22c, 60a, 60b, 68a of the laminate depicted in FIG. 15 are not necessarily accurate.

[0058] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member 16. In the second space S2 between the third case member 16 and the fourth case member 18, i.e., in the ribbon case 21, the laminated tape roll 64, the ink ribbon roll 72, the take-up spool 76, and the roller 80 are housed. As described above, the ribbon case 21 is arranged to be stacked below the tape case 20. When the print tape roll 26 and the spacer film 38 housed in the tape case 20 are projected in the vertical direction onto a projection plane extending in the front-rear and left-right directions in the second space S2, the projected positions of the print tape roll 26 and the spacer film 38 are shown by the dashed line in FIG. 16. Note that since the spacer film 38 has approximately the same diameter as the print tape roll 26, only the dashed line representing the print tape roll 26 is shown in FIG. 16. As shown in FIG. 16, the laminated tape roll 64, the ink ribbon roll 72, and the take-up spool 76 are arranged to be stacked in the vertical direction with the print tape roll 26. At least a portion of the laminating tape roll 64 and at least a portion of the laminating tape spool 62 vertically overlap the printing tape roll 26. More specifically, a portion of the laminating tape roll 64 and a portion of the laminating tape spool 62 vertically overlap the printing tape spool 24 and the printing tape 22 wound around the printing tape spool 24, respectively.

[0059] 16, the print tape roll 26 and the spacer film 38 having approximately the same diameter as the print tape roll 26 overlap in the vertical direction with at least a part of the laminated tape roll 64 having the laminated tape spool 62 and its second rotation center line C2, at least a part of the ink ribbon roll 72 and its third rotation center line C3, at least a part of the take-up spool 76 and its fourth rotation center line C4, the recess 99 and at least a part of the recess wall 16c. When the print tape roll 26 and the spacer film 38 are projected in the vertical direction, the laminated tape roll 64 and its second rotation center line C2, the ink ribbon roll 72 and its third rotation center line C3, the take-up spool 76 and its fourth rotation center line C4, the recess 99 and the recess wall 16c are located within the projection plane. Also, at least a part of the recess 99 and the recess wall 16c overlap in the vertical direction with the print tape spool 24. In addition, in the left-right direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the rotation center of a part of the print tape roll 26 and the print tape spool 24, is located between the right end 99a, which is one end of the recess 99 in the left-right direction, and the left end 99b, which is the other end. In addition, the first rotation center line C1, which is the rotation center of the print tape spool 24, is located between the discharge port 130 and the right end 99a of the recess 99 in the left-right direction. In addition, the laminated tape spool 62 is located between the right end 99a and the left end 99b of the recess 99 in the left-right direction. In particular, the second rotation center line C2, which is also the rotation center of the laminated tape spool 62, is located between the right end 99a of the recess 99 and the discharge port 130 in the left-right direction. Furthermore, in FIG. 16, the distance from the center position M, which is the center of the cassette 10 in the front-rear direction and the center in the left-right direction, to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 26 is set to be smaller than the distance from the center position M to the recess 99.

[0060] Figure 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVII-XVII of Figure 6. In the vertical direction, the distance D between one end (lower side) in the vertical direction of the printing tape roll 26 and the other end (upper side) in the vertical direction of the laminating tape roll 64 is smaller than the width dimension W1 of the laminating tape 60. Since the printing tape 22 and the laminating tape 60 have the same width dimension, the distance D is smaller than the width dimension of the printing tape roll 26.

[0061] FIG. 18 shows a cassette mounting section 104 provided in a part of a printing device 102 included in a printing system 122. The cassette mounting section 104 is provided with a rectangular positioning hole 112 for positioning the inserted cassette 10, and a take-up spool drive shaft 108 and a roller drive shaft 110 erected on the lower surface of the positioning hole 112. The positioning hole 112 functions as a housing section for housing a part of the ribbon case 21, which is the lower case of the cassette 10. The take-up spool drive shaft 108 and the roller drive shaft 110 are rotated in the same direction by a step motor (not shown) via a gear mechanism. In addition, a head holding plate 114 to which a thermal print head (thermal print head) 106 is fixed is erected on the lower surface of the positioning hole 112 of the cassette mounting section 104, and a platen holding member 120 having a platen roller 116 and a pressure roller 118 rotatably provided at its tip end is provided rotatably around its base end. The head holding plate 114 is a metal plate made of, for example, aluminum, and also serves as a heat sink for the print head.

[0062] When the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102, a take-up spool drive shaft 108 and a roller drive shaft 110 erected in the cassette mounting section 104 are connected to the take-up spool 76 and roller 80. Next, when a cover (not shown) of the printing device 102 is closed with the cassette 10 mounted in the cassette mounting section 104, the platen holding member 120 is rotated about its base end, and the platen roller 116 and the pressure roller 118 are pressed against the print head 106 and roller 80 of the cassette 10. The printing device 102 and the cassette 10 constitute a printing system 122.

[0063] The cassette 10 of this embodiment comprises: (a) a rotatable printing tape roll 26 around which the printing medium, that is, the printing tape 22, is wound; and (b) an outer peripheral wall 16w located on one side (lower side) of the first direction, which is the width direction of the printing tape 22, relative to the printing tape roll 26, the outer peripheral wall 16w comprising a first side wall 16a extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall 16b extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a recess wall 16c defining a recess 99 extending in the third direction from the second side wall 16b on one side of the second direction, and (c) at least a portion of the recess 99 overlaps with the printing tape roll 26 in the first direction. As a result, the printing tape roll 26 and its lower recess wall 16c are overlapped in the first direction, i.e., the vertical direction, and at least a portion of the recess 99 is overlapped with the printing tape roll 26 in the first direction, so that the cassette 10 is made smaller in the perpendicular direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.

[0064] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, the print tape roll 26 is formed by winding the print tape 22 around a rotatable print tape spool 24, and at least a portion of the recessed wall 16c overlaps in the first direction with the print tape spool 24. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the recessed wall 16c did not overlap with the print tape spool 24 in the first direction.

[0065] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, at least a portion of the recess 99 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape spool 24. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the recess 99 did not overlap in the first direction with the print tape spool 24.

[0066] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the center of rotation of the print tape roll 26, is located between one end 16a and the other end 16b in the third direction of the recess 99. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the cassette 10 was not located between the one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 99.

[0067] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, the print tape roll 26 is formed by winding the print tape 22 around a rotatable print tape spool 24, and in the third direction, at least a portion of the print tape spool 24 is located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 99. This makes the cassette smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the print tape spool 24 was not located between one end 16a and the other end 16b in the third direction of the recess 99.

[0068] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the center of rotation of the print tape spool 24, is located between the discharge outlet 130 and one end of the recessed portion 99 in the third direction. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape spool 24 was not located between the discharge outlet 130 and one end of the recessed portion 99 in the third direction.

[0069] The cassette 10 of this embodiment comprises a tape case (first case) 20 in which a printing tape roll 26 is housed, and a ribbon case (second case) 21 located on the one side of the tape case 20 in the first direction and having an outer peripheral wall 16w, the ribbon case 21 having an outlet 130 defined by the second side wall 16b and located between one side end 16a and the other side end 16b in the third direction of the recess 99, and through which the printing tape 22 supplied from the printing tape roll 26 is discharged from the tape case 20 to the recess 99, and in the third direction, a first rotation center line C1 which is the center of rotation of the printing tape spool 26 is located between the outlet 130 and one side end of the recess 99 in the third direction. As a result, the cassette 10 is made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when the first rotational center line C1 of the printing tape spool 26 is not positioned between the discharge outlet 130 and one side end 16a of the recess 99 in the third direction.

[0070] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, the recess 99 overlaps in the first direction with at least a portion of the tape case (first case) 20. This makes the cassette smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the recess 99 did not overlap in the first direction with at least a portion of the tape case (first case) 20.

[0071] The cassette 10 of this embodiment includes a rotatable supply spool 70 located on one side of the print tape roll 26 in the first direction, around which the ink ribbon 68 used for printing on the print tape 22 supplied from the print tape roll 26 is wound, and a take-up spool 76 located on one side of the print tape roll 26 in the first direction, which is rotatable so as to take up the ink ribbon 68 supplied from the supply spool 70, and at least a portion of the supply spool 70 and at least a portion of the take-up spool 76 overlap with the print tape roll 26 in the first direction. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in size in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when at least a portion of the supply spool 70 and at least a portion of the take-up spool 76 do not overlap with the print tape roll 26 in the first direction.

[0072] The cassette 10 of this embodiment is located on one side of the print tape roll 26 in the first direction, has a rotatable laminating tape roll 64 wound with the laminating tape 60 to be laminated to the print tape 22, and at least a portion of the laminating tape roll 64 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape roll 26. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than a case in which at least a portion of the laminating tape roll 64 does not overlap with the print tape roll 26 in the first direction.

[0073] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, the lamination tape roll 64 is configured by winding the lamination tape 60 around the lamination tape spool 62, and the lamination tape spool 62 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape roll 26. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the lamination tape spool 62 did not overlap with the print tape roll 26 in the first direction.

[0074] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the second rotation center line C2, which is the rotation center of the laminated tape spool 62, is located between one end portion and the other end portion 16b in the third direction of the recess 99. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when the second rotation center line C2 of the laminated tape spool 62 is not located between one end portion and the other end portion 16b in the third direction of the recess 99.

[0075] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, in the second direction and the third direction, the distance from center position M, which is the center of the cassette 10 in the second direction and the center in the third direction, to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 26 is shorter than the distance from center position M to the recess 99. This makes the cassette 10 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when the distance from center position M of the cassette 10 to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 26 is longer than the distance from center position M to the recess 99.

[0076] The cassette 10 of this embodiment includes: (a) a printing tape roll 26 around which the printing tape 22 is wound; (b) a spacer film 38 that abuts against the printing tape roll 26 in the first direction; (c) a part of the outer peripheral wall 16w located on one side of the first direction relative to the printing tape roll 26 and the spacer film 38, the part including a first side wall 16a extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall 16b extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a recessed portion extending from the second side wall 16b to one side in the second direction, the recessed portion wall 16c being U-shaped to define a recessed portion 99 extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction (the left side of FIG. 16 ) of the second side wall 16b; and (d) at least a part of the recessed portion 99 overlaps with the spacer film 38 in the first direction. As a result, at least a portion of the recess 99 overlaps with the spacer film 38 in the first direction, so that the cassette 10 can be made compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction.

[0077] [Embodiment 2] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, parts common to the embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0078] FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a non-laminate type cassette 210 not using the lamination tape roll 64, which is another embodiment of the present invention, from the front side, i.e., from the top, and FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing the cassette 210 from the back side, i.e., from the bottom. The cassette 210 is generally rectangular parallelepiped-shaped and is detachably mounted in a printer configured similarly to that shown in FIG. 18, except that the dimensions are slightly different and the roller drive shaft 110 is not provided. In the following, the printer 102 shown in FIG. 18 will be used as the printer. The cassette 210 of this embodiment is a non-laminate type not including the lamination tape roll 64 and the roller 80, and is therefore smaller than the cassette 10, which is a laminate type. The cassette 210, like the cassette 10, is provided with a first case, i.e., a tape case 220, which is composed of a first case member 212 and a second case member 214, and a second case, i.e., a ribbon case 221, which is composed of a third case member 216 and a fourth case member 218. The first case member 212 to the fourth case member 218 are stacked in the vertical direction as shown in Fig. 18. The first case member 212, the second case member 214, the third case member 216 and the fourth case member 218 are fixed to each other in a stacked state by engagement between a plurality of locking claws 227 and fixing claws 228 provided between the outer circumferential walls of each of the case members and positioning by a positioning protrusion 229. In this embodiment, the upper surface of each of the case members 212 to 218 is referred to as the upper surface or front surface, and the lower surface is referred to as the lower surface or back surface.

[0079] The ribbon case 221 is located on one side of the tape case 220 in the up-down direction. In this embodiment, the ribbon case 221 is located on the lower side, which is one side of the tape case 220 in the up-down direction. The tape case 220 rotatably accommodates a print tape roll 226 in which a print tape 222, which is a print medium, is wound in a first space S1 formed inside. The print tape roll 226 is configured by winding a strip-shaped print tape 222 around a print tape spool 224, which is a cylindrical core material. The print tape 222 is wound so that the width direction of the print tape 222 is the up-down direction, which is a first direction. The radial direction of the print tape roll 226 is the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and the radial direction is an orthogonal direction that is orthogonal to the up-down direction. The orthogonal direction can also be rephrased as any direction parallel to a plane that is orthogonal to the up-down direction. The print tape 222, the print tape spool 224, and the print tape roll 226 correspond to the print medium, the print medium spool, and the print medium roll. The ribbon case 221 rotatably houses the ink ribbon roll 272 and the take-up spool 276 in a second space S2 formed inside. The ink ribbon roll 272 is configured by winding a strip-shaped ink ribbon 268 around a take-up spool 276 so that the width direction of the ink ribbon 268 is the up-down direction. The ink ribbon 268 is used for printing on the strip-shaped printing tape 222. The take-up spool 276 takes up the ink ribbon 268 pulled out from the ink ribbon roll 272.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 20, a take-up spool support hole 294 is provided on the bottom surface of the fourth case member 218 of the cassette 210. A connection hole 296 for the take-up spool 276 described below is exposed from the take-up spool support hole 294. When the cassette 210 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102, the take-up spool drive shaft 108 provided in the cassette mounting section 104 is inserted into the connection 296. In addition, recesses 299 are formed on the side surfaces of the third case member 216 and the fourth case member 218, i.e., on a part of the outer peripheral wall 216w of the ribbon case 221 and a part of the outer peripheral wall of the second case member 214. When the cassette 210 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102, the print head 106 provided in the cassette mounting section 104 is inserted into the recess 299. As shown in FIG. 20, the upper end of the recess 299 is defined by the lower surface of the second case member 214.

[0081] FIG. 21 is a perspective view for explaining the internal configuration of the cassette 210 with the first case member 212, the second case member 214, the third case member 216, and the fourth case member 218 separated. FIG. 22 is a front view showing the upper surface side of the first case member 212, and FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the first case member 212. FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the second case member 214, FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the second case member 214, and FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXVI-XXVI in FIG. 24, showing a state in which the print tape 222 is stretched from inside the tape case 220 to inside the ribbon case 221. FIG. 27 is a side view of the second case member 214. FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of the third case member 216, and FIG. 29 is a perspective view showing the lower surface side of the third case member 216. FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing the upper surface side of fourth case member 218, and FIG. 31 is a bottom view showing the lower surface side of fourth case member 218. As shown in FIG.

[0082] In the first space S1 between the first case member 212 and the second case member 214, the print tape roll 226 is housed so as to be rotatable about a first rotation center line C1 parallel to the up-down direction. The first case member 212 and the second case member 214 are rectangular, and the first rotation center line C1 is located approximately to the right of the center in the left-right direction, which is the second direction, and approximately near the center in the front-rear direction, which is the third direction, in the first case member 212 and the second case member 214. The print tape 222 is configured by laminating a peeling tape 222c via an adhesive 222b on the surface opposite the printed surface of the printable tape 222a, for example, as shown in Fig. 34.

[0083] As shown in Figs. 21 and 23, a cylindrical first support protrusion 230 and a first circumferential wall 234 are provided on the lower surface side of the first case member 212. The first support protrusion 230 is inserted into the cylindrical print tape spool 224 to rotatably support the print tape roll 226. The first circumferential wall 234 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the print tape roll 226. The first support protrusion 230 and the first circumferential wall 234 protrude downward from the lower surface side of the first case member 212 with the same center line as the first rotation center line C1. As shown in Figs. 24 and 25, a cylindrical second support protrusion 232 and a second circumferential wall 236 are provided on the upper surface side of the second case member 214. The second support protrusion 232 is inserted into the cylindrical print tape spool 224 to rotatably support the print tape roll 226. The second circumferential wall 236 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the print tape roll 226. The second support protrusion 232 and the second circumferential wall 236 protrude upward from the upper surface side of the second case member 214, with their center line coinciding with the first rotation center line C1. The print tape roll 226 is disposed between the first case member 212 and the second case member 214, with circular spacer films 238, each having approximately the same outer diameter as the outer diameter of the print tape roll 226, interposed above and below the print tape roll 226.

[0084] As shown in Figures 23 and 24, on the lower surface side of the first case member 212 and the upper surface side of the case of the second member 214, print tape gates 40, 42 are formed by cutting out parts of the first circumferential wall 234 and the second circumferential wall 236 in order to pull out the print tape 222 from the print tape roll 226 from a fixed position. As shown in Figure 23, on the lower surface side of the first case member 212, a guide wall 248 is formed extending leftward from the print tape gate 240 in order to guide the print tape 222 pulled out from the print tape roll 226 in a fixed direction. As shown in Figure 24, on the upper surface side of the second case member 214, a guide wall 250 is formed extending leftward from the left end of the print tape gate 242 in order to guide the print tape 222 pulled out from the print tape roll 226 in a fixed direction.

[0085] As shown in FIG. 24, a through hole 252 that is substantially L-shaped in front view and extends in the front-rear and left-right directions between the second circumferential wall 236 and the short side portion 246a and the long side portion 46b of the outer peripheral wall 246 is formed in the bottom plate 214a of the second case member 214. A plurality of guide ribs 254 are formed between the through hole 252 and a portion of the second circumferential wall 236 that faces the corners of the short side portion 246a and the long side portion 46b. The plurality of guide ribs 254 guide the printing tape 222 that is unwound from the printing tape roll 226 and fed through the printing tape gates 240 and 242 into the through hole 252. FIG. 25 shows the cassette 210 with the first case member 212 removed. As shown in FIG. 25, the printing tape 222 that is unwound from the printing tape roll 226 is guided through the through hole 252 into the second space S2 between the third case member 216 and the fourth case member 218. The print tape 222 is stretched across the tape case 220 and the ribbon case 221 through a through hole 252 formed in a bottom plate 214a that separates the first space S1 from the second space S2.

[0086] As shown in FIG. 26, the print tape 222 is hung diagonally from inside the tape case 220 into inside the ribbon case 221 through the through hole 252. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 33 described later, the print tape 222 is hung up to a recess 299 of the ribbon case 221. FIG. 27 shows the bottom surface side of the second case member 214. As shown in FIG. 27, a through hole 252 is opened on the back surface of the bottom plate 214a of the second case member 214, and a guide wall 256 is provided vertically along the through hole 252. FIG. 28 shows the top surface side of the third case member 216. A through hole 258, an ink ribbon support hole 274, and a take-up spool support hole 278 are formed in the ceiling plate 216e of the third case member 216. The through hole 258 is formed at a position corresponding to the through hole 252 of the second case member 214 so that the printing tape 222 pulled out from the printing tape roll 226 can pass through the second space S2. In other words, a portion of the through hole 252 and a portion of the through hole 258 overlap each other in the vertical direction.

[0087] A bottom plate 214a of the second case member 214 and a ceiling plate 216e of the third case member 216 separate a first space S1 in the tape case 220 and a second space S2 in the ribbon case 221.

[0088] The ink ribbon support hole 274 receives one end of the supply spool 270 around which the ink ribbon 268 is wound, and supports the ink ribbon roll 272 rotatably about a third rotation center line C3 parallel to the first rotation center line C1. The take-up spool support hole 278 receives one end of a take-up spool 276 that takes up the ink ribbon 268 unwound from the ink ribbon roll 272, and supports the take-up spool 276 rotatably about a fourth rotation center line C4 parallel to the first rotation center line C1.

[0089] 29, an ink ribbon roll holding wall 286 and a cylindrical protrusion 288 are formed on the bottom surface of the third case member 216. The ink ribbon roll holding wall 286 is formed in an arc shape centered on the take-up spool support hole 278 around the take-up spool support hole 278 in order to determine the position of the ink ribbon roll of the ink ribbon 268 taken up on the take-up spool 276. The tip surface of the cylindrical protrusion 288 is provided with unevenness that protrudes downward from the periphery of the ink ribbon support hole 274 and is aligned in the circumferential direction on the tip surface.

[0090] As shown in Figure 21, a clutch spring holder 290 containing a clutch spring is interposed between one end of the supply spool 270 around which the ink ribbon 268 is wound and the tip surface of the cylindrical protrusion 288, and the clutch spring in the clutch spring holder 90 provides the ink ribbon roll 72 with an appropriate rotational resistance when the supply spool 70 is rotated.

[0091] 30 and 31 show the upper and lower surfaces of the fourth case member 218. A take-up spool support hole 294 is formed through the fourth case member 218 on the fourth case member 18 side, into which the other end of the take-up spool 76 is fitted to rotatably support the take-up spool 76. A cylindrical support protrusion 297 is formed in the fourth case member 218, into which the other end of the supply spool 270 is fitted to rotatably support the supply spool 270. A connecting hole 296 formed in the end face on the other end side of the take-up spool 276 is exposed to the lower surface of the fourth case member 218 through the take-up spool support hole 294 as shown in FIG. 21. When the cassette 210 is attached to the printing device 102, the take-up spool drive shaft 108 of the printing device 102 is inserted into the connecting hole 296 and connected to the take-up spool 276, and the take-up spool 276 is rotated by the take-up spool drive shaft 108.

[0092] Fig. 32 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXXII-XXXIII of Fig. 24. Between the tape case 220 and the ribbon case 221, i.e., between the bottom plate 214a of the second case member 214 and the ceiling plate 216e of the third case member 216, a third space S3 having a predetermined volume is formed.

[0093] 20 and 29, a ribbon case 221 composed of the third case member 216 and the fourth case member 218 is formed with a recess 299 for accommodating the head holding plate 114 that holds the print head 106 erected in the cassette mounting portion 104 when the cassette 210 is mounted in the cassette mounting portion 104 shown in Fig. 18. As shown in Fig. 29, a first side wall 216a extending in the front-rear direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, a second side wall 216b extending in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the front-rear direction, and a U-shaped recess wall 216c arranged to surround the recess 299 are formed in part of the outer circumferential wall 216w of the third case member 216. The recess wall 216c is composed of an inner wall 216h that faces the second side wall 216b in the front-rear direction and extends in the left-right direction, an inner wall 216i that extends rearward from the right end of the inner wall 16h, an inner wall 216j that extends leftward from the rear end of the inner wall 216i, and an inner wall 216k that extends forward from the left end of the inner wall 216j. The second side wall 216b and the recess wall 216c define the recess 299 so that it extends rearward from the left end of the second side wall 216b and extends in the left-right direction behind the second side wall 216b. As shown in Figures 30 and 31, the fourth case member 218 has a U-shaped notch 218a that corresponds to the recess wall 16c. The recess wall 216c and the notch 218a form the recess 299. 21, a portion of the upper end of the recess 299 is defined by the lower surface of the second case member 214. That is, the recess 299 overlaps with the second case member 214 and the first case member 212 in the up-down direction.

[0094] 33 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member 216 when the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102. As described above, the printing tape 222 is pulled out from the printing tape roll 226 and is hung diagonally from the first space S1 in the tape case 20 to the second space S2 in the ribbon case 221 via the through hole 252 and the through hole 258. Therefore, in FIG. 33 showing the third case member 216, the printing tape 222 is drawn from the through hole 258 at the rear of the third case member 216. When the cassette 210 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 in which the take-up spool drive shaft 108 is provided, the take-up spool 276 rotated and driven by the take-up spool drive shaft 108 takes up the ink ribbon 268, and the printing tape 222, which is clamped together with the ink ribbon 268 between the print head 106 and the platen roller 116, is pulled out from the printing tape roll 226. In FIG. 33, the path of the print tape 222 and the path of the ink ribbon 268 unwound from the ink ribbon roll 272 by the drive of the take-up spool 276 are shown by a two-dot chain line and a dashed line, respectively.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 33, the print tape 222 and the ink ribbon 268 are discharged from the discharge port 300 toward the printing location P. The discharge port 300 is a gap defined by the left end of the second side wall 216b and the left end of the side wall 216h, penetrating in the left-right direction. At the printing location P between the print head 106 and the platen roller 116, the print tape 222 is pressed against the print head 106 via the ink ribbon 268. In this state, a plurality of heating elements arranged on the surface of the print head 106 are selectively driven to generate local heat, so that a portion of the ink 68a provided on one surface of the ink ribbon 68 is transferred to the print tape 22, and characters, symbols, etc. are printed on the print tape 22. The used ink ribbon 268 that has passed through the printing location P is carried into the ribbon case 221 from the carry-in port 302 and taken up by the take-up spool 276. The carry-in port 302 is located to the left of the discharge port 300 and is provided in the third case member 216.

[0096] Figure 34 shows a schematic diagram of the laminated structure of the printing tape 222 fed out from the cassette 210. The printing tape 222 is a laminate of a printable tape 222a and a release tape 222c attached to the non-printing side of the printable tape 222a via an adhesive 222b. Ink 68a from the printing tape 222 is transferred to the printing side of the printable tape 222a. Note that the sizes and dimensional ratios of the components of the laminated structure shown in Figure 34 are not necessarily accurate.

[0097] FIG. 35 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member 216. In the second space S2 between the third case member 216 and the fourth case member 218, i.e., in the ribbon case 221, the ink ribbon roll 272 and the take-up spool 276 are housed. As described above, the ribbon case 221 is arranged to overlap the tape case 220 below. When the print tape roll 226 and the spacer film 238 housed in the tape case 220 are projected in the up-down direction onto a projection plane extending in the front-rear and left-right directions in the second space S2, the projection positions of the print tape roll 226 and the spacer film 238 are shown by the dashed line in FIG. 35. Note that since the spacer film 238 has approximately the same diameter as the print tape roll 226, only the dashed line representing the print tape roll 226 is shown in FIG. 35. As shown in FIG. 35, the ink ribbon roll 272 and the take-up spool 276 are arranged to overlap the print tape roll 226 in the up-down direction.

[0098] At least a portion of the supply spool 270, at least a portion of the ink ribbon 268 or ink ribbon roll 272, and at least a portion of the ink ribbon 268 that has passed through the take-up spool 276 and the printing location P and is about to be wound onto the take-up spool 276 overlap in the vertical direction with the printing tape roll 226 and the spacer film 38. In other words, at least a portion of the ink ribbon 268 or ink ribbon roll 272 that has been wound onto the take-up spool 276 or is in the process of being wound onto the take-up spool 76 from the feed opening 302 is located within the projection plane of the printing tape roll 226 and spacer film 238 in the vertical direction.

[0099] 35, the print tape roll 226 and the spacer film 238 having approximately the same diameter as the print tape roll 226 overlap in the up-down direction with at least a portion of the ink ribbon roll 272 and its third rotation center line C3, at least a portion of the take-up spool 276 and its fourth rotation center line C4, the recess 299 and at least a portion of the recess wall 216c. When the print tape roll 226 and the spacer film 238 are projected in the up-down direction, at least a portion of the ink ribbon roll 272 and its third rotation center line C3, at least a portion of the take-up spool 276 and its fourth rotation center line C4, the recess 299 and at least a portion of the recess wall 216c are located within the projection plane. In addition, at least a portion of the recess 299 and the recess wall 216c overlap in the up-down direction with the print tape spool 224. In addition, in the left-right direction, a first rotation center line C1 which is the rotation center of a part of the print tape roll 226 and the print tape spool 224 is located between a right end 299a which is one end on the left-right direction of the recessed portion 299 and a left end 299b which is the other end on the left-right direction. In addition, the first rotation center line C1 which is the rotation center of the print tape spool 224 is located between the discharge port 300 and the right end 299a of the recessed portion 299 in the left-right direction. Furthermore, in Figure 35, in the front-rear and left-right directions, the distance from the center position M of the cassette 210 which is the center of the cassette 10 in the front-rear direction and the center in the left-right direction to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 226 is set to be smaller than the distance from the center position M to the recessed portion 299.

[0100] The cassette 210 of this embodiment includes: (a) a rotatable printing tape roll 226 on which a printing tape 222, which is a printing medium, is wound; (b) an outer peripheral wall 16w located on one side of the first direction, which is the width direction of the printing tape 222, relative to the printing tape roll 226, the outer peripheral wall 215 including a first side wall 216a extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall 216b extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a U-shaped recess wall 216c extending from the second side wall 216b in the third direction on one side of the second direction to define a recess 299; and (c) at least a portion of the recess 299 overlaps with the printing tape roll 226 in the first direction. As a result, the tape case 220 with the printing tape roll 226 and the ribbon case 221 with the recess wall 216c are overlapped in the first direction, i.e., the vertical direction, and at least a portion of the recess 299 is overlapped with the printing tape roll 226 in the first direction, so that the cassette 210 is made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.

[0101] According to the cassette 210 of this embodiment, the print tape roll 224 is formed by winding the print tape 222 around a rotatable print tape spool 224, and at least a portion of the recessed wall 216c overlaps with the print tape spool 224 in the first direction. This allows the cassette 210 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the recessed wall 216c did not overlap with the print tape spool 224 in the first direction.

[0102] According to the cassette 210 of this embodiment, at least a portion of the recess 299 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape spool 224. This allows the cassette 210 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the recess 299 did not overlap in the first direction with the print tape spool 224.

[0103] According to the cassette 210 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the center of rotation of the print tape roll 226, is located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 299. This makes it possible to make the cassette 210 more compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the cassette 210 was not located between the one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 299.

[0104] According to the cassette 210 of this embodiment, the print tape roll 226 is formed by winding the print tape 222 around a rotatable print tape spool 224, and in the third direction, at least a portion of the print tape spool 224 is located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 299. This allows the cassette 220 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the print tape spool 224 was not located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 299.

[0105] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the center of rotation of the print tape spool 224, is located between the discharge outlet 300 and one end of the recessed portion 299 in the third direction. This makes it possible to make the cassette 210 more compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape spool 224 was not located between the discharge outlet 300 and one end of the recessed portion 299 in the third direction.

[0106] According to the cassette 10 of this embodiment, the cassette 10 comprises a tape case (first case) 220 in which a printing tape roll 26 is housed, and a ribbon case (second case) 221 located on the one side of the tape case 220 in the first direction and having an outer peripheral wall 215, the ribbon case 221 having an outlet 300 defined by the second side wall 216b and located between one side end 216a and the other side end 216b in the third direction of the recess 299, and through which the printing tape 222 supplied from the printing tape roll 226 is discharged from the tape case 220 to the recess 299, and in the third direction, a first rotation center line C1 which is the rotation center of the printing tape spool 226 is located between the outlet 300 and the one side end of the recess 299 in the third direction. This enables the cassette 210 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when the first rotational center line C1 of the printing tape spool 226 is not positioned between the discharge outlet 300 and one side end 216a of the recess 299 in the third direction.

[0107] According to cassette 210 of this embodiment, recess 299 overlaps in the first direction with at least a portion of tape case (first case) 220. This allows cassette 210 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if recess 299 did not overlap in the first direction with at least a portion of first case 220.

[0108] The cassette 210 of this embodiment includes a rotatable supply spool 270 located on one side of the print tape roll 226 in the first direction, around which the ink ribbon 268 used for printing on the print tape 222 supplied from the print tape roll 226 is wound, and a take-up spool 276 located on one side of the print tape roll 226 in the first direction, which is rotatable so as to take up the ink ribbon 268 supplied from the supply spool 270, and at least a portion of the supply spool 270 and at least a portion of the take-up spool 276 overlap with the print tape roll 226 in the first direction. This allows the cassette 210 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when at least a portion of the supply spool 270 and at least a portion of the take-up spool 276 do not overlap with the print tape roll 26 in the first direction.

[0109] According to the cassette 210 of this embodiment, in the second direction and the third direction, the distance from the center position M, which is the center of the cassette 210 in the second direction and the center in the third direction, to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 226 is shorter than the distance from the center position M to the recess 299. This makes it possible to make the cassette 210 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when the distance from the center position M of the cassette 10 to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 226 is longer than the distance from the center position M to the recess 299.

[0110] The cassette 210 of this embodiment includes: (a) a print tape roll 226 around which the print tape 222 is wound; (b) a spacer film 238 that abuts against the print tape roll 226 in the first direction; (c) a part of the outer peripheral wall 215 located on one side of the first direction relative to the print tape roll 226 and the spacer film 238, the part including a first side wall 216a extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall 216b extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a recessed portion extending from the second side wall 216b to one side in the second direction, the recessed portion wall 216c being formed in a U-shape so as to define a recessed portion 299 extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction (the left side in FIG. 16 ) of the second side wall 216b; and (d) at least a part of the recessed portion 299 overlaps with the spacer film 238 in the first direction. As a result, at least a portion of the recess 299 overlaps with the spacer film 238 in the first direction, so that the cassette 210 can be made compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction.

[0111] [Embodiment 3] Fig. 36 is a perspective view showing a thermal type cassette 410, in which the printing tape 422 itself changes color when heated, as another embodiment of the present invention, from the front side, i.e., from the top, and Fig. 37 is a perspective view showing the cassette 410 from the back side, i.e., from the bottom. The cassette 410 is generally rectangular parallelepiped in shape, has slightly different dimensions, and does not include the ink ribbon roll 72 and the take-up spool 76, but is detachably mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 configured in the same manner as in Fig. 18. The cassette mounting section 104 in this case does not include the take-up spool drive shaft 108, but has a roller drive shaft 110 protruding therefrom.

[0112] The cassette 410 of this embodiment includes a laminated tape roll 464 and a roller 480, but does not include a take-up spool or an ink ribbon roll. The printable tape 422a of the print tape 422 included in the cassette 410 is made of thermal paper that changes color when heated. The cassette 410, like the cassettes 10 and 210, includes a first case, i.e., a tape case 420, which is made up of a first case member 412 and a second case member 414, and a second case, i.e., a ribbon case 421, which is made up of a third case member 416 and a fourth case member 418. The tape case 420 includes a print tape roll 426 in a first space S1 formed therein. The ribbon case 421 is attached so as to be located below the tape case 420, and includes a laminated tape roll 464 in a second space S2 formed therein. The first case member 412, the second case member 414, the third case member 416 and the fourth case member 418 are fixed to each other while being stacked on top of each other by engagement between a plurality of locking claws 427 and fixing claws 428 provided between the outer circumferential walls of each of the case members and positioning by a positioning protrusion 429. In this embodiment, the upper surface of each of the case members 412 to 418 is referred to as the upper surface or front surface, and the lower surface is referred to as the lower surface or back surface.

[0113] The ribbon case 421 is located on one side of the tape case 420 in the up-down direction. In this embodiment, the ribbon case 421 is located on the lower side, which is one side of the tape case 420 in the up-down direction. The tape case 240 rotatably accommodates a print tape roll 426 in which a print tape 422, which is a print medium, is wound in a first space S1 formed inside. The print tape roll 426 is configured by winding a strip-shaped print tape 422 around a print tape spool 424, which is a cylindrical core material. The print tape 422 is wound so that the width direction of the print tape 422 is the first direction, which is the up-down direction. The radial direction of the print tape roll 426 is the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and the radial direction is an orthogonal direction that is orthogonal to the up-down direction. The orthogonal direction can also be referred to as any direction parallel to a plane that is orthogonal to the up-down direction. The print tape 422, the print tape spool 424, and the print tape roll 426 correspond to the print medium, the print medium spool, and the print medium roll.

[0114] The ribbon case 421 rotatably accommodates a lamination tape roll 464 in a second space S2 formed inside the ribbon case 421. In the lamination tape roll 464, a strip-shaped lamination tape 460 to be laminated to the printed tape 422 is wound around a lamination tape spool 462 so that the width direction of the lamination tape 460 is the vertical direction.

[0115] As shown in FIG. 37, a roller exposure hole 498 is provided in the fourth case member 418 of the cassette 410. The shaft end of the roller 480 described below is exposed from the roller exposure hole 498. When the cassette 410 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102, the roller drive shaft 110 provided in the cassette mounting section 104 is inserted into the shaft end. In addition, a recess 499 is formed in the side surface of the third case member 416 and the fourth case member 418, i.e., a part of the outer peripheral wall 416w of the ribbon case 421 and a part of the outer peripheral wall of the second case member 414. When the cassette 410 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104, the print head 106 provided in the cassette mounting section 104 is inserted into the recess 499. As shown in FIG. 37, the upper end of the recess 99 is defined by the lower surface of the second case member 14.

[0116] FIG. 38 is a perspective view for explaining the internal configuration of the cassette 410 with the first case member 412, the second case member 414, the third case member 416, and the fourth case member 418 separated. FIG. 39 and FIG. 40 show the upper and lower sides of the first case member 412, which is configured similarly to the first case member 212 of the cassette 210 of the second embodiment. FIG. 41 and FIG. 42 show the upper and lower sides of the second case member 414, which is configured similarly to the first case member 212 of the cassette 210 of the second embodiment. The upper side of the first case member 412 is configured as shown in FIG. 22, and the lower side of the first case member 412 is configured as shown in FIG. 23. FIG. 43 and FIG. 44 are views showing the upper and lower sides of the third case member 216. FIG. 45 and FIG. 45 are views showing the upper and lower sides of the fourth case member 418.

[0117] In the first space S1 between the first case member 412 and the second case member 414, a print tape roll 426 is housed so as to be rotatable about a first rotation center line C1 parallel to the up-down direction. The first case member 412 and the second case member 414 are rectangular, and the first rotation center line C1 is located approximately to the right of the center in the left-right direction, which is the second direction, and approximately near the center in the front-rear direction, which is the third direction, in the first case member 412 and the second case member 414. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 47, the print-receiving tape 422a is made of a heat-sensitive material that changes color by itself, for example, to black when heated, and a local color-changing region 422d is shown in a part of the print-receiving tape 422a.

[0118] As shown in Figs. 38 and 40, a cylindrical first support protrusion 430 and a first circumferential wall 434 are provided on the lower surface side of the first case member 412. The first support protrusion 430 is inserted into the cylindrical print tape spool 424 to rotatably support the print tape roll 426. The first circumferential wall 434 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the print tape roll 426. The first support protrusion 430 and the first circumferential wall 434 protrude downward from the lower surface side of the first case member 412 with the same center line as the first rotation center line C1. As shown in Fig. 41, a cylindrical second support protrusion 432 and a second circumferential wall 436 are provided on the upper surface side of the second case member 414. The second support protrusion 432 is inserted into the cylindrical print tape spool 424 to rotatably support the print tape roll 426. The second circumferential wall 436 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the print tape roll 426. The second support protrusion 432 and the second circumferential wall 436 protrude upward from the upper surface side of the second case member 414, with their center line coinciding with the first rotation center line C1. The print tape roll 426 is disposed between the first case member 412 and the second case member 414, with circular spacer films 438 having approximately the same outer diameter as the outer diameter of the print tape roll 426 interposed above and below the print tape roll 426.

[0119] As shown in FIG. 41, a through hole 452 that is substantially L-shaped in front view and extends in the front-rear and left-right directions between the second circumferential wall 436 and the short side portion 446a and the long side portion 446b of the outer circumferential wall 446 is formed in the bottom plate 414a of the second case member 414. A plurality of guide ribs 454 are formed between the through hole 452 and a portion of the second circumferential wall 436 that faces the corners of the short side portion 446a and the long side portion 446b. The plurality of guide ribs 454 guide the printing tape 422 that is unwound from the printing tape roll 426 into the through hole 452. As a result, the printing tape 422 is stretched across the tape case 420 and the ribbon case 421 through the through hole 452 formed in the bottom plate 414a that functions as a partition between the first space S1 and the second space S2.

[0120] 42 and 43, a bottom plate 414a of the second case member 414 and a ceiling plate 416e of the third case member 416 separate a first space S1 in the tape case 420 and a second space S2 in the ribbon case 421.

[0121] 44, a laminating roll holding wall 486 and a cylindrical protrusion 488 are formed on the bottom surface of the third case member 416. The laminating roll holding wall 486 determines the position of the laminating tape roll 464. The cylindrical protrusion 488 receives the laminating tape spool 462 of the laminating tape roll 464 and rotatably supports it. The laminating roll holding wall 486 is formed in an arc shape concentric with the cylindrical protrusion 488 to hold the laminating tape spool 462.

[0122] 45 and 46 show the upper and lower surfaces of the fourth case member 418. A bonding tape spool support hole 494 is formed penetrating the fourth case member 418 in the vertical direction. The bonding tape spool support hole 494 receives the end of the bonding tape spool 462 on the fourth case member 218 side to rotatably support it. In addition, a roller exposing hole 498 is formed penetrating the fourth case member 418 in the vertical direction. The roller exposing hole 498 receives the end of the roller 480 on the fourth case member 218 side to rotatably support it, and exposes the shaft end of the roller 480 on the fourth case member 218 side to enable connection between the roller 480 and the roller drive shaft 110.

[0123] 37, a ribbon case 421 composed of a third case member 416 and a fourth case member 418 has a recess 499 formed therein for accommodating a head holding plate 114 that holds the print head 106 erected in the cassette mounting portion 104 when the cassette 410 is mounted in the cassette mounting portion 104 shown in Fig. 18. As shown in Fig. 44, a part of an outer peripheral wall 416w of the third case member 416 has a first side wall 416a extending in a front-rear direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, a second side wall 416b extending in a left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the front-rear direction, and a U-shaped recess wall 416c arranged to surround the recess 499. The recess wall 416c is composed of an inner wall 416h that faces the second side wall 416b in the front-rear direction and extends in the left-right direction, an inner wall 416i that extends rearward from the right end of the inner wall 416h, an inner wall 416j that extends leftward from the rear end of the inner wall 416i, and an inner wall 416k that extends forward from the left end of the inner wall 416j. The second side wall 416b and the recess wall 416c define the recess 499 to extend rearward from the left end of the second side wall 416b and to extend left-right behind the second side wall 416b. As shown in Figures 45 and 46, the fourth case member 418 has a U-shaped notch 418a that corresponds to the recess wall 416c. The recess wall 416c and the notch 418a form the recess 499. 37, a portion of the upper end of the recess 499 is defined by the lower surface of the second case member 414. That is, the recess 299 overlaps with the second case member 414 and the first case member 412 in the up-down direction.

[0124] FIG. 47 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member 416 when the cassette 10 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 of the printing device 102. The printing tape 422 is pulled out from the printing tape roll 426 and is hung diagonally from the first space S1 in the tape case 420 to the second space S2 in the ribbon case 421 through the through hole 452 and the through hole 458. Therefore, in FIG. 47 showing the third case member 416, the printing tape 422 is drawn from the through hole 458 at the rear of the third case member 416. When the cassette 410 is mounted in the cassette mounting section 104 in which the roller drive shaft 110 is erected, the roller 480 driven to rotate by the roller drive shaft 110 conveys the printing tape 422 and the laminating tape 460 while pressing them together. As a result, the printing tape 422 is pulled out from the printing tape roll 426 between the print head 106 and the platen roller 116 and discharged from the discharge port 500. In Fig. 47, the path of the printing tape 422 and the path of the laminating tape 460 are indicated by a two-dot chain line and a dashed line, respectively. In Fig. 47, when a roller 480 (not shown) is driven to rotate, the printing tape 422 is pulled out from the discharge port 500 toward the printing location P, and the laminating tape 460 is overlapped by the roller 480. The discharge port 500 is defined by the left end of the second side wall 416b and the left end of the side wall 416h, and is a gap penetrating in the left-right direction.

[0125] At a printing location P between the print head 106 and the platen roller 116, the print tape 422 is pressed against the print head 106. In this state, a plurality of heating elements arranged on the surface of the print head 106 are selectively driven to generate localized heat, causing the print-receiving tape 422a of the print tape 422 to develop its own color, and characters, symbols, and the like are printed on the print tape 422.

[0126] Fig. 48 shows a schematic diagram of the laminated structure of the printing tape 422 fed out from the cassette 410. The printing tape 422 is a laminate of a print-receiving tape 422a and a release tape 422c attached to the non-printing side of the print-receiving tape 422a via an adhesive 422b. A local coloring region 422d is formed on the print-receiving tape 422a. A transparent film 460a of a laminating tape 460 is laminated on the print-receiving tape 422a, which serves as the base material of the printing tape 422, via an adhesive 460b.

[0127] FIG. 49 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the third case member 416. In the second space S2 between the third case member 416 and the fourth case member 418, i.e., in the ribbon case 421, the lamination tape roll 464 is housed. As described above, the ribbon case 421 is arranged so as to overlap the tape case 420 below. When the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438 housed in the tape case 420 are projected in the vertical direction onto a projection surface extending in the rear direction and the left and right direction in the second space S2, the projection positions of the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438 are shown by the dashed line in FIG. 49. Note that since the spacer film 438 has approximately the same diameter as the print tape roll 426, only the dashed line representing the print tape roll 426 is shown in FIG. 49. As shown in FIG. 49, the lamination tape roll 464 is arranged at a position where it overlaps the print tape roll 426 in the vertical direction.

[0128] At least a portion of the laminating tape roll 464 and the second rotation center line C2 overlap in the vertical direction with the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438. In other words, at least a portion of the laminating tape roll 464 and the second rotation center line C2 are located within the projection plane of the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438 in the vertical direction.

[0129] In FIG. 49, the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438 having approximately the same diameter as the print tape roll 426 overlap in the up-down direction with at least a part of the laminating tape roll 464, the second rotation center line C2, and at least a part of the recess 499 and the recess wall 416c. When the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438 are projected in the up-down direction, at least a part of the laminating tape roll 464, the second rotation center line C2, the recess 499, and at least a part of the recess wall 416c are located within the projection plane. In addition, at least a part of the recess 499 and the recess wall 416c overlap in the up-down direction with the print tape spool 424. In addition, in the left-right direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the rotation center of the print tape roll 426 and the print tape spool 424, is located between the right end 499a, which is one end of the recess 499 in the left-right direction, and the left end 499b, which is the other end of the recess 499. 49, the distance from center position M of the cassette 410, which is the center of the cassette 410 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, to the first center line C1 of the printing tape roll 426 is set to be smaller than the distance from center position M to the recess 499.

[0130] According to the cassette 410 of the present embodiment configured as described above, similarly to the above-described first and second embodiments, (a) a rotatable printing tape roll 426 on which the printing medium, the printing tape 422, is wound, and (b) an outer peripheral wall 415 located on one side of the printing tape roll 426 in a first direction, which is the width direction of the printing tape 422, the outer peripheral wall 415 includes a first side wall 416a extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall 4216b extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and the outer peripheral wall 415 extending from the second side wall 4216b in the third direction on one side of the second direction to define a recess 499, and (c) at least a portion of the recess 499 overlaps with the printing tape roll 426 in the first direction. As a result, the tape case 420 with the printing tape roll 426 and the ribbon case 421 with the recess wall 416c are overlapped in the first direction, i.e., the vertical direction, and at least a portion of the recess 499 is overlapped with the printing tape roll 426 in the first direction, so that the cassette 410 is made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.

[0131] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, the print tape roll 424 is formed by winding the print tape 422 around a rotatable print tape spool 424, and at least a portion of the recessed wall 416c overlaps with the print tape spool 424 in the first direction. This allows the cassette 410 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the recessed wall 416c did not overlap with the print tape spool 426 in the first direction.

[0132] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, at least a portion of the recess 499 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape spool 424. This allows the cassette 410 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the recess 499 did not overlap in the first direction with the print tape spool 424.

[0133] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the center of rotation of the print tape roll 426, is located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 499. This makes it possible to make the cassette 410 more compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the cassette 410 was not located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 249.

[0134] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, the print tape roll 426 is formed by winding the print tape 422 around a rotatable print tape spool 424, and in the third direction, at least a portion of the print tape spool 424 is located between one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 499. This allows the cassette to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if at least a portion of the print tape spool 424 was not located between the one end and the other end in the third direction of the recess 499.

[0135] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the first rotation center line C1, which is the center of rotation of the print tape spool 424, is located between the discharge outlet 500 and one end of the recessed portion 499 in the third direction. This makes it possible to make the cassette 410 more compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape spool 424 was not located between the discharge outlet 500 and one end of the recessed portion 99 in the third direction.

[0136] According to cassette 410 of the present embodiment, recess 299 overlaps in the first direction with at least a portion of tape case (first case) 420. This allows cassette 410 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if recess 299 did not overlap in the first direction with at least a portion of first case 210.

[0137] The cassette 410 of this embodiment is located on one side of the print tape roll 426 in the first direction, has a rotatable laminating tape roll 264 around which the laminating tape 460 to be laminated to the print tape 422 is wound, and at least a portion of the laminating tape roll 464 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape roll 426. This allows the cassette 410 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than when at least a portion of the laminating tape roll 464 does not overlap with the print tape roll 426 in the first direction.

[0138] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, the lamination tape roll 464 is configured by winding the lamination tape 260 around the lamination tape spool 462, and the lamination tape spool 462 overlaps in the first direction with the print tape roll 426. This allows the cassette 410 to be made smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than if the lamination tape spool 462 did not overlap with the print tape roll 426 in the first direction.

[0139] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, in the third direction, the second rotation center line C2 which is the rotation center of the laminated tape spool 462 is located between one end and the other end 416b in the third direction of the recess 499. This makes it possible to make the cassette 410 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than in a case where the second rotation center line C2 of the laminated tape spool 462 is not located between one end and the other end 416b in the third direction of the recess 499.

[0140] According to the cassette 410 of this embodiment, in the second direction and the third direction, the distance from the center position M, which is the center of the cassette 410 in the second direction and the center in the third direction, to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 426 is shorter than the distance from the center position M to the recess 499. This makes it possible to make the cassette 410 smaller in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction than in a case where the distance from the center position M of the cassette 410 to the first rotation center line C1 of the print tape roll 426 is longer than the distance from the center position M to the recess 499.

[0141] The cassette 410 of this embodiment includes: (a) a print tape roll 426 around which the print tape 422 is wound; (b) a spacer film 438 that abuts against the print tape roll 426 in the first direction; (c) a part of the outer peripheral wall 415 located on one side of the first direction relative to the print tape roll 426 and the spacer film 438 of the outer peripheral wall 215, the part including a first side wall 416a extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a second side wall 416b extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction, and a recessed portion extending from the second side wall 416b to one side in the second direction, the recessed portion being formed in a U-shape so as to define a recessed portion 499 extending in the third direction on one side of the second direction (the left side in FIG. 49) of the second side wall 416b; and (d) at least a part of the recessed portion 499 overlaps with the spacer film 438 in the first direction. As a result, at least a portion of the recess 499 overlaps with the spacer film 438 in the first direction, so that the cassette 410 can be made compact in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the up-down direction. [Embodiment 4]

[0142] 50 and 51 are perspective views of the upper surface side and the lower surface side of a cassette 510 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The cassette 510 according to this embodiment includes only a print tape roll 526, as shown in FIG. 52. The print tape 522 of the print tape roll 526 according to this embodiment is configured by laminating a release tape 522c via an adhesive 522b on the surface opposite to the printed surface of a printable tape 522a as a base material, similar to the print tape 422 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 53 shows the print tape 522 after printing, which has been fed out of the cassette 510. The print tape 522 according to this embodiment is configured by a printable tape 522a as a base material made of a heat-sensitive material that develops a color, for example, black by itself when heated, and a release tape 522c laminated via an adhesive 522b on the adhesive surface of the printable tape 522a, similar to the print tape 422 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 34. A local coloring area 522d formed by local heating is shown in a part of the printable tape 522a.

[0143] As shown in FIG. 52, the cassette 510 of this embodiment is configured using a first case member 512, a second case member 514, a third case member 216, and a fourth case member 518 that are configured similarly to the first case member 212, the second case member 214, the third case member 216, and the fourth case member 218 of the cassette 210 of FIG. 21 of embodiment 2, but differs from the cassette 210 in that it does not include an ink ribbon roll 272 on which the ink ribbon 268 is wound around a supply spool 270, and a take-up spool 276 for taking up the ink ribbon 268.

[0144] According to the cassette 510 of this embodiment, the third case member 516 of the cassette 510 has a first side wall 516a, a second side wall 516b, and a recess wall 516c that forms the recess 599, which are similar to the first side wall 216a, the second side wall 216b, and the recess wall 216c that forms the recess 299 of the third case member 216 of the cassette 210, and therefore the same effects as those of the cassette 210 can be obtained.

[0145] It should be noted that the above is merely an embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0146] The cassettes 10, 210, 410, 510 in the above-mentioned embodiment are configured by stacking four case members, namely, the first case member 12, 212, 412, 512, the second case member 14, 214, 414, 514, the third case member 16, 216, 416, 516, and the fourth case member 18, 218, 416, 516, in the vertical direction, but the cassette 10 is not limited to this configuration. For example, as shown in Fig. 54, the cassettes 10, 210, 410, 510 may be configured by stacking three case members, namely, the first case member 12, 212, 416, 516, the fifth case member 501, and the fourth case member 18, 218, 418, 518, in the vertical direction. The fifth case member 501 has a through hole 502 penetrating vertically corresponding to the through holes 52, 58 of the above embodiment, and partitions the first space S1 and the second space S2. The fifth case member 501 may have an upper surface configured in the same shape as the upper surface side of the second case member 14, 214, 414, 514, and a lower surface configured in the same shape as the lower surface side of the third case member 16, 216, 416, 516. In this modified example, the first case member 12, 212, 414, 514 and the fifth case member 501 form a first case having the first space S1 therein, and the fifth case member 501 and the fourth case member 18, 218 form a second case having the second space S2 therein.

[0147] In the above embodiment, the recesses 99, 299, 499, 599 are surrounded by the U-shaped recess wall 16c, 216c, 416c, 516c, but the shape is not limited to this. For example, the recesses may be circular.

[0148] In addition, the print tape roll, lamination tape roll, ink ribbon roll, and take-up spool in the above embodiments have diameters that are horizontal to the front-rear and left-right directions, but they do not have to be horizontal. For example, if the print tape roll is not horizontal to the front-rear and left-right directions, the first direction, which is the width direction of the print tape, will be a direction different from the up-down direction in the above embodiments. In this case, the second direction perpendicular to the first direction, which is the width direction of the print tape, and the third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions will be directions different from the front-rear and left-right directions in the above embodiments, respectively.

[0149] In addition, the positions of the print tape roll, lamination tape roll, ink ribbon roll, and take-up spool are not limited to those shown in the above embodiment. For example, in the first embodiment, the lamination tape roll 64 may be disposed to the right of the take-up spool 76, and the take-up spool 76 may be disposed in front of the ink ribbon roll 72.

[0150] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the recess 99, laminating tape roll 64, supply spool 70, and take-up spool 76 are all positioned so as to vertically overlap the print tape roll 26, but this configuration is not limited thereto. It is sufficient that at least the recess 99 is positioned so as to vertically overlap the print tape roll 26. Similarly, in the second to fourth embodiments, it is sufficient that at least the recess is positioned so as to vertically overlap the print tape roll. Furthermore, in the first to fourth embodiments, the recess or the recess wall vertically overlaps the print tape spool, but it is sufficient that at least the recess or the recess wall vertically overlaps the print tape wound around the print tape spool.

[0151] In addition, the print tape rolls of the first to fourth embodiments described above are configured by winding the print tape around a print tape spool, which is a cylindrical core material, but the print tape may be wound around the first support protrusions and the second support protrusions rather than around the print tape spool to form a print tape roll. Similarly, the lamination tape 60 may be wound without being wound around the lamination tape spool 62, and the outer periphery of the lamination tape 60 may be defined and disposed by the lamination tape roll holding wall 84 and the arc-shaped wall 92. [Explanation of symbols]

[0152] 10, 210, 410, 510: Cassette 12, 212, 412, 512: First case member 14, 214, 414, 514: Second case member 16, 216, 416, 516: 3rd case member 16a, 216a, 416a, 516a: 1st side wall (outer wall) 16b, 216b, 416b, 516b: Second side wall (outer wall) 16c, 216c, 416c, 516c: Recessed walls 16h, 216h, 416h, 516h: Inner wall 16i, 216i, 416i, 516i: Interior wall 16j, 216j, 416j, 516j: Inner wall 16k, 216k, 416k, 516k: Interior wall 18, 218, 418, 518: 4th case member 20, 220, 420, 520: Tape case (first case, upper case) 21, 221, 421, 521: Ribbon case (second case, lower case) 22, 222, 422, 522: Printing tape (printing medium, 1st medium) 22a, 222a, 422a, 522a: Printed tape 22b, 222b, 422b, 522b: Adhesive 22c, 222c, 422c, 522c: Peeling tape 24, 224, 424: Printing tape spool 26, 226, 426, 526: Printing tape rolls 27, 227, 427: Locking claw 28, 228, 428: Fixed claw 29, 229, 429: Positioning protrusions 30, 230, 430: 1st support protrusion 32, 232, 432: 2nd support protrusion 34, 234, 434: First circumferential wall 36, 236, 436: Second circumferential wall 38, 238, 438: Spacer film 40, 240: Printed tape gate 42, 242: Printed tape gate 44, 244, 444: Outer wall of first case member 44a, 244a, 444a: Short side 46, 246, 446: outer peripheral wall of second case member 46a, 246a, 446a: Short side 46b, 246b: Long side 48, 248, 448: Guide wall 50, 250, 450: Guide wall 52, 252, 452: Through holes 54, 254, 454: Guide rib 56, 256, 456: Guide wall 58, 258, 458: Through holes 60, 260: Laminating tape 60a, 260a: transparent film 60b, 260b: Adhesive 62, 462: Laminated tape spool 64, 464: Laminated tape roll 66, 466: Laminated tape roll support hole 68, 268: Ink ribbon 68a, 268a: Ink 70, 270: Supply spool 72, 272: Ink ribbon roll 74, 274: Ink ribbon support hole 76, 276: Take-up spool 78, 278: Take-up spool support hole 80, 280, 480: Lola 80a, 280a: Connection part 82, 482: Roller support holes 84, 484: Laminated tape roll holding wall 86, 286: Ink ribbon roll holding wall 88, 288: Cylindrical protrusion 90, 290: Clutch spring holder 92, 292: Retaining member 94, 294: Take-up spool support holes 96, 296: Connection holes 98, 498: Roller exposure hole 99, 299, 499, 599: recess 102:Printing device 104: Cassette mounting section 106: Print head 108: Take-up spool drive shaft 110: Roller drive shaft 112: Positioning hole 114: Head holding plate 116: Platen roller 118: Pressure roller 120: Platen holding member 122: Printing system 130, 300, 500: Outlet 132, 302: Loading entrance S1: 1st space S2:Second space C1: First rotation center line C2: Second rotation center line C3: Third rotation center line C4: 4th rotation center line C5: 5th rotation center line

Claims

1. a printing tape roll that is rotatable and has a printing tape wound thereon as a printing medium; an outer peripheral wall located on one side of the print tape roll in a first direction, which is a width direction of the print tape, a first side wall extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; a second side wall extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction; a recess wall that defines a recess extending in one direction in the second direction from the second side wall, the recess extending in the third direction on one side of the second side wall in the second direction; The outer peripheral wall includes Equipped with At least a portion of the recess overlaps with the printing tape roll in the first direction. A cassette characterized by:

2. The printing tape roll is formed by winding the printing tape around a rotatable printing tape spool, 2. The cassette of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the recess wall overlaps with the printing tape spool in the first direction.

3. 3. The cassette of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of the recess overlaps with the printing tape spool in the first direction.

4. 4. The cassette according to claim 1, wherein a center of rotation of the print tape roll is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

5. The printing tape roll is formed by winding the printing tape around a rotatable printing tape spool, 5. A cassette according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the printing tape spool is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

6. 6. The cassette according to claim 5, wherein a center of rotation of the printing tape spool in the third direction is located between the one side end and the other side end of the recess in the third direction.

7. a first case in which the printing tape roll is housed; a second case located on the one side in the first direction with respect to the first case and having the outer peripheral wall; Equipped with The second case is an outlet defined by the second side wall, the outlet being located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction, through which the printing tape supplied from the printing tape roll is discharged from the second case into the recess; 7. The cassette according to claim 5, wherein a center of rotation of the printing tape spool in the third direction is located between the discharge opening and the one side end of the recess in the third direction.

8. The cassette according to claim 7 , wherein the recess overlaps with at least a portion of the first case in the first direction.

9. a rotatable supply spool located on one side of the print tape roll in the first direction and around which an ink ribbon used for printing on the print tape supplied from the print tape roll is wound; a take-up spool located on one side of the printing tape roll in the first direction and rotatable to take up the ink ribbon supplied from the supply spool; Equipped with 9. A cassette as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the supply spool and at least a portion of the take-up spool overlap the print tape roll in the first direction.

10. a rotatable laminating tape roll, the laminating tape roll being positioned on one side of the printing tape roll in the first direction and around which a laminating tape to be laminated to the printing tape is wound; 10. The cassette according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the laminating tape roll overlaps with the printing tape roll in the first direction.

11. The bonding tape roll is configured by winding the bonding tape around a bonding tape spool, 11. The cassette of claim 10, wherein the lamination tape spool overlaps the print tape roll in the first direction.

12. 12. The cassette according to claim 11, wherein a rotation center of the laminated tape spool is located between one end and the other end of the recess in the third direction.

13. A cassette as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that in the second direction and the third direction, the distance from a central position that is the center of the cassette in the second direction and the center of the third direction to the center of rotation of the printing tape roll is smaller than the distance from the central position to the recess.

14. A printing tape roll on which a printing tape is wound; a spacer film that contacts the print tape roll in a first direction, which is a width direction of the print tape; an outer peripheral wall located on one side in the first direction with respect to the printing tape roll and the spacer film, a first side wall extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; a second side wall extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and intersecting the second direction; a recess extending from the second side wall in one direction in the second direction, the recess being a recess wall that defines the recess extending in the third direction on one side of the second side wall in the second direction; An outer peripheral wall comprising: Equipped with At least a portion of the recess overlaps with the spacer film in the first direction. A cassette characterized by:

Images