Slidably positionable cartridge having skewed ribbon feed
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorEdward D. Furrow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inked ribbon winding device and an inked ribbon cartridge for use in a printing apparatus. A dispensing and a takeup spool, located closely together and at different elevations in the cartridge, establish a skewed angle of the ribbon traversing the exterior of the cartridge. The ribbon wound about the takeup spool engages a rotatable member fixedly rotatably mounted on a support structure for rotating the takeup spool and drawing the ribbon across a printing position at a substantially constant average rate of movement. The cartridge is longitudinally slidably mounted on the support structure and is urged toward the rotatable member by a biasing means.
Claims25
An inked ribbon supply arrangement for a printing apparatus comprising:
- a ribbon cartridge, said cartridge comprising a housing;
- a ribbon dispensing spool and a ribbon takeup spool rotatably supported in said housing on spaced axes;
- an inked ribbon wound on said dispensing spool, exiting said housing at one location and re-entering said housing at a second location, and having an end attached for winding on said takeup spool;
- a rotatable member extending into said cartridge housing through an aperture at a third location in driving engagement with said ribbon on said takeup spool for rotating said takeup spool thereby to wind said ribbon thereon;
- and
- means for moving said cartridge longitudinally as a function of the diameter of inked ribbon being wound up on said takeup spool.
An inked ribbon winding device for a printing apparatus comprising:
- a ribbon cartridge comprising:
- a housing having a sidewall including a spaced pair of apertures, and a bottomwall having an aperture;
- a ribbon dispensing spool and a ribbon takeup spool rotatably supported in said housing on spaced axes;
- an inked ribbon wound on said dispensing spool, exiting said housing from one of said spaced pair of apertures and re-entering said housing through the other of said spaced pair of apertures, and having an end attached for winding on said takeup spool;
- a rotatable member extending into said cartridge housing through said aperture in the bottomwall thereof for directly engaging said ribbon on said takeup spool under sufficient pressure to rotate said takeup spool thereby to wind said ribbon thereon;
- means located fixedly and externally of said housing for rotatably mounting and driving said rotatable member;
- said rotatable member being fixedly mounted in a support structure, said ribbon cartridge being slidably mounted on said support structure, and said bottomwall aperture of said cartridge housing including an elongated slot enabling said cartridge to be moved relative to said rotatable member by forces resulting from the accumulation of ribbon on said takeup spool.
An inked ribbon cartridge for a printing apparatus comprising:
- (a) a housing having a sidewall and top and bottom walls;
- (b) a ribbon dispensing spool and a ribbon takeup spool rotatably supported on spaced axes in said housing between said top and bottom walls;
- (c) an inked ribbon wound on said dispensing spool, exiting said housing from an aperture in said sidewall, reentering said housing through another aperture in said sidewall thereof, and having an end attached for winding on said takeup spool;
- and
- (d) said bottom wall having an elongated slot positioned adjacent the portion of the takeup spool where the ribbon is wound thereon for admitting a rotatable member to directly engage said ribbon wound on said takeup spool under sufficient pressure to drive said takeup spool through engagement with said inked ribbon wound thereon, and biasing means for moving said cartridge as a function of the diameter of the inked ribbon being wound on said takeup spool.
In a printer having a rotatable ribbon drive member supported at a fixed location on said printer, a disposable ribbon cartridge comprising:
- a housing rotatably supporting a ribbon dispensing spool and a ribbon takeup spool separated from one another on respective axes;
- means for driving ribbon from said dispensing to said takeup spool comprising
- means for engaging ribbon being wound on said takeup spool with said drive member comprising an opening in said housing along a given axis for receiving the drive member, biasing means providing a biasing force having a component along said given axis for maintaining the ribbon being wound on said takeup spool in continuous operative engagement with said drive member during windup of ribbon on the takeup spool, said cartridge responsive to increasing diameter of ribbon being wound on said takeup spool in engagement with said fixedly supported drive member to move along said given axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.