Universal ribbon cartridge

A ribbon cartridge for use on more than one type of printer, the printer including a drive shaft with a driving head at the end thereof, the driving heads of the printers located in different positions and rotating in different directions, comprising:

• a body;
• a supply spool having a supply of ribbon mounted within the body;
• said body having a ribbon exit arm and a ribbon entrance arm, said arms defining a path therebetween for passage of ribbon from said supply spool, out through the exit arm, along said path, and in through the entrance arm;
• means for gathering ribbon, said gathering means mounted on the body and having a ribbon drive means;
• a first drive gear mounted on the body in a first position;
• a second drive gear mounted on the body in a second position, said second drive gear rotatably engaged with both the first drive gear and with said ribbon drive means so that said first drive gear and said ribbon drive means rotate in a first direction while said second drive gear rotates in a second direction;
• said first and second drive gears configured and located for driven engagement with the driving head of a printer whereby said cartridge is adaptable for use with printers having different driving head locations and different directions of driving rotation;
• and
• a take-up spool mounted on the body and rotatably coupled to said gathering means so that said gathered ribbon is collected on said take-up wheel.

An improved ribbon cartridge of the type with a body, a supply spool, an exit arm, an entry arm, means for gathering ribbon including a ribbon drive wheel, an idler wheel and a take-up spool, the improvement comprising:

• an idler wheel carrying arm having a pivot point at one end thereof for pivotal attachment to the body of said ribbon cartridge and a spring extending from the other end thereof;
• said idler wheel rotatably mounted on said carrying arm;
• said idler wheel carrying arm having a first position where the free end of said spring extends outwardly through an aperture in said body so that said spring is not stressed and therefore said idler wheel is spaced apart from said drive wheel;
• and
• a second position of said idler wheel carrying arm where the free end of said spring is enclosed within the interior of the body after being urged inwardly through said aperture so that said spring is in a stressed condition thereby biasing said idler wheel against said drive wheel.

An improved method for mounting a biased idler wheel within a ribbon cartridge having a top and a bottom comprising the steps of:

• positioning the pivot element of an idler wheel carrying arm, said arm having the idler wheel secured thereto, onto the bottom of the cartridge so that a spring element extending from the carrying arm extends through an aperture in the side of the cartridge;
• aligning the top of the cartridge with the bottom of the cartridge;
• securing the top of the cartridge to the bottom of the cartridge;
• urging the spring element back into the cartridge so that the spring element is flexed thereby biasing the idler wheel against a ribbon drive wheel.