Universal donor cartridge

A cartridge for use in a pinch roller receiver type printer, a platen drive printer and a drum drive printer;

• the cartridge comprising:
• a donor ribbon having sets of different donor patches therein;
• a supply housing defining a supply area holding a supply spool having a supply of donor ribbon thereon;
• a take-up housing defining a take-up area holding a take-up spool connected to the donor ribbon;
• donor ribbon guides leading the donor ribbon from the supply housing through a supply end of an access window to a take-up edge of the access window to a take-up edge of the access window, and to the take-up housing;
• and
• a connecting portion holding the supply housing and the take-up housing in a spaced apart relation along a length of the donor cartridge along the length of the cartridge;
• wherein said donor ribbon guides position a supply side edge of the access window apart from the supply housing by a supply side separation that is sufficient to receive a supply side pinch roller and further position the take-up edge of the access window apart from the take-up housing by an extent sufficient to allow the cartridge to be used in printers that utilize pinch rollers;
• and
• wherein supply housing, take-up housing and connecting portion are defined so as to provide a separation area that can accommodate a printhead moved by a mechanism along either of a relatively large first arcurate path about a pivot that is outside the separation area and a second arcurate path about a pivot that is within the separation area.

A cartridge for a thermal donor ribbon having sets different donor material patches, the cartridge comprising:

• a supply spool having a supply of donor ribbon thereon;
• a supply housing positioning the supply spool for rotation about a supply axis;
• a take-up spool linked to a take-up end of the donor ribbon;
• a take-up housing positioning the donor ribbon for rotation about a take-up axis;
• a connecting portion linking the supply housing to the take-up housing with the supply axis being separated from the take-up axis by a separation distance A to provide a separation area between the supply housing and the take-up housing;
• a supply projection extending between and separating the supply housing and the connecting portion;
• a take-up projection extending between and separating the supply housing and the connecting portion;
• said supply projection, donor projection and connecting portion providing a path for the donor ribbon to travel from the supply housing to a supply side waypoint, across an access window of a length C to a take-up waypoint and to the take-up housing;
• wherein said supply housing is offset from the supply spool axis by a supply housing offset distance E, said supply waypoint being offset from the supply spool axis by a supply waypoint offset distance D, a supply side separation F that that is determined as a difference between the supply housing offset distance E and the supply waypoint offset distance D;
• and
• wherein said take up housing is offset from the take-up spool axis by a take-up housing offset distance H, said take-up waypoint being offset from the take-up spool axis by a take-up waypoint offset G, a take-up side separation I that that is determined as a difference between the take-up housing offset distance H and the take-up waypoint offset G.

A cartridge comprising:

• a donor ribbon having sets of different donor material patches thereon;
• a supply housing having at least one exterior surface defining a supply area shaped to position a supply spool for rotation about a supply axis, said supply spool being connected to one end of a supply of donor ribbon, with the supply housing further having a supply projection extending away from the at least one of the exterior surface of the supply housing, said supply projection allowing the donor ribbon to pass from the supply area to a supply waypoint;
• a take-up housing having at least one exterior surface defining a take-up area shaped to position a take-up spool for rotation about a take-up axis, said take-up spool being connected to another end of the donor ribbon, with the take-up housing having a take-up projection extending away from the at least one exterior surface of the take-up housing said take-up projection allowing the donor ribbon to pass from a take-up waypoint to the take-up area;
• and
• a connecting portion holding the supply housing and the take-up housing apart on a common side of the connecting portion to form a separation area therebetween, said connecting portion providing a printing path from the supply waypoint to the take-up waypoint;
• wherein supply housing and said take up housing are positioned apart and above said supply waypoint and said take-up waypoint.