Ribbon transport mechanism having driven pivoting carrier beam and method of using

A thermal transfer printer having a ribbon transport mechanism for transporting a printer ribbon from a ribbon supply reel, past a print head, and to a used ribbon take up reel, the ribbon transport mechanism comprising:

• a. a ribbon transport path from the supply reel to the used ribbon take up reel via the print head;
• and
• b. a first and a second pair of ribbon guide means located in said path, the first pair being located on a ribbon feed side of the print head and the second pair being located on a ribbon removal side of the print head;
• and
• c. a first and a second moveable ribbon guide means located in said path, the first moveable ribbon guide means being located between the guide means of said first pair of ribbon guide means and the second moveable guide means being located between the guide means of said second pair of ribbon guide means;
• and
• d. a carrier beam member pivoting about a pivot point and carrying said moveable ribbon guide means, the first moveable ribbon guide means being located to one side of said pivot point and the second moveable ribbon guide means being located on the other side of said pivot point;
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• e. a drive means, pivoting said beam member about said pivot point by the drive means acting directly on said beam member causing said moveable ribbon guide means to move relative to said ribbon transport path and thus transport the ribbon along said path.

A method for operating a printer having a ribbon transport mechanism so as to print an image on a surface of a substrate into contact with which a print head has brought a ribbon in register with the print head, the method comprising:

• a. providing a ribbon transport path from a supply reel to a used ribbon take up reel via the print head;
• and
• b. also providing a first and a second pair of ribbon guide means located in said path, the first pair being located on a ribbon feed side of the print head and the second pair being located on a ribbon removal side of the print head;
• and
• c. further providing a first and a second moveable ribbon guide means located in said path, the first moveable ribbon guide means being located between the guide means of said first pair of ribbon guide means and the second moveable guide means being located between the guide means of said second pair of ribbon guide means;
• and
• d. further providing a carrier beam member pivoting about a pivot point and carrying said moveable ribbon guide means, the first moveable ribbon guide means being located to one side of said pivot point and the second moveable ribbon guide means being located on the other side of said pivot point;
• and
• e. further providing a drive means, whereby pivoting of said beam member about said pivot point by the drive means acting directly on said beam member causes said moveable ribbon guide means to move relative to said ribbon transport path and thus transport the ribbon along said path,
• f. wherein the beam member is pivoted about its pivot point in a first direction so as to move the first moveable ribbon guide means with respect to said ribbon path on the feed side of the print head so as to draw un-used ribbon from the ribbon supply reel and form a loop of un-used ribbon in the ribbon transport path on the ribbon feed side of the print head;
• g. pivoting the beam member in the opposite direction so as to draw ribbon from said loop past the print head as the substrate to be printed travels past the print head and the print head is actuated to print the desired image on the substrate and use the ribbon, the used ribbon on a downstream side of the print head being formed into a loop of used ribbon by relative movement of said second moveable ribbon guide with respect to said ribbon transport path;
• h. repeating step f by pivoting the beam member in said first direction so as to form a new loop in the ribbon on the ribbon feed side of the print head and to collapse the loop of used ribbon on the ribbon removal side of the print head;
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• i. interlinking the operation of the print head and the ribbon transport mechanism whereby used ribbon is progressively taken up by the ribbon take up reel.