Ink cassette with control means for alternately driving one of two spool bearing therein
AssigneeMerlin C.T.C. Production Division Nederland B.V.
InventorsHans Raar, Jan Kelders
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ink ribbon cassette includes two rotatable bearings for respective spools, a drive system for alternately rotating one or the other of the two bearings so that a ribbon extending between the spools positioned on the bearings will be moved in opposite directions depending on which bearing is being rotated, and a control system for controlling which bearing is being driven by the drive system based on actuation by respective trip elements on the ribbon near its opposite ends.
Claims4
An ink ribbon cassette for use in a printing device having a rotatable driver means and for use with first and second spools having an ink ribbon connected therebetween, said ink ribbon including trip means located near opposite ends thereof, said cassette comprising:
- a housing,
- spaced first and second bearing means rotatably mounted in said housing to respectively mount said first and second spools,
- drive means mounted in said housing for alternatively rotating said first bearing means in a first rotational direction and said second bearing means in a second, opposite rotational direction and cause said first and second spools, when mounted on said first and second bearing means, to rotate and move said ink ribbon extending therebetween in alternatively first and second traveling directions within said housing, said drive means comprising a first shaft which is fixedly mounted on said housing and is rotatable by said rotatable driver means of said printing device, a toothed wheel having longitudinal grooves mounted on said first shaft, a second shaft which is fixedly mounted on said housing and which extends in parallel with the first shaft and mounts a tooth wheel having longitudinal grooves that are engaged with the longitudinal grooves of the toothed wheel on the first shaft, a first gear means for driving the first bearing means, and a second gear means for driving the second bearing means, the tooth wheel being slidable along the second shaft between a first position wherein the tooth wheel is in engagement with said first gear means and a second position wherein the tooth wheel is in engagement with said second gear means, and
- control means mounted in said housing and through which said ink ribbon that extends between said first and second spools mounted on said first and second bearing means can pass, said control means controlling whether said tooth wheel is in said first position or said second position, based on actuation by said trip means.
An ink ribbon cassette for use in a printing device having a rotatable driver means and or use with first and second spools having an ink ribbon connected therebetween, said ink ribbon including trip means located near opposite ends therof, said cassette comprising:
- a housing,
- spaced first and second bearing means rotatably mounted in said housing to respectively mount said first and second spools,
- drive means mounted in said housing for alternatively rotating said first bearing means in a first rotational direction and said second bearing means in a second, opposite rotational direction and cause said first and second spools, when mounted on said first and second bearing means, to rotate and move said ink ribbon extending therebetween in alternatively first and second traveling directions within said housing, said drive means including a tooth wheel rotatably mounted in the housing between the first and second bearing means and being cooperable and drivable by said rotatable driver means of said printing device, said tooth wheel mounting a rotatable planet wheel which is alternately engagable with said first and second bearing means, and
- control means mounted in said housing and through which said ink ribbon that extends between said first and second spools mounted on said first and second bearing means can pass, said control means controlling whether said drive means rotates said first bearing means or said second bearing means based on actuation by said trip means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.