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US 6,174,096 B1Granted
Printing apparatus
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorRichard Hunter Harris
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus to drive a ribbon carrying a printing medium in an impact printer is implemented. The apparatus accommodates manual tightening of the ribbon by decoupling the drive motor from the ribbon cartridge without use of a clutch mechanism. A gear train effecting the required speed reductions between a drive motor and the ribbon cartridge spool also implements the decoupling. Reliability of the ribbon drive is improved thereby, and manufacturing and assembly costs are reduced over ribbon drives now used in impact printers.
Claims8
A printer comprising:
- a printer head;
- a ribbon cartridge including a ribbon and a housing to position the ribbon adjacent to the printer head such that printing on a print medium can occur;
- a ribbon drive motor including a drive shaft;
- a ribbon drive coupled to the ribbon drive motor and coupled to the ribbon cartridge such that the ribbon is advanced relative to the print head in response to a movement of the drive shaft, the ribbon drive including means for disengaging said ribbon drive motor from said ribbon cartridge;
- a means operable for permitting a manual advancing of said ribbon relative to said print head, and
- wherein said means for disengaging said ribbon drive motor from said printer cartridge further comprises:
- a first gear having a first axis of rotation;
- and
- a second gear having a second axis of rotation perpendicular to the first axis of rotation engaging said first gear, wherein said first gear is operable for disengaging from said second gear when said ribbon is manually advanced.
6 more elements
A printer comprising:
- a printer head:
- a ribbon cartridge including a ribbon and a housing to position the ribbon adjacent to the printer head such that printing on a print medium can occur;
- a ribbon drive motor including a drive shaft;
- a ribbon drive coupled to the ribbon drive motor and coupled to the ribbon cartridge such that the ribbon is advanced relative to the print head in response to a movement of the drive shaft, the ribbon drive including means for disengaging said ribbon drive motor from said ribbon cartridge;
- a means operable for permitting a manual advancing of said ribbon relative to said print head;
- wherein said means for disengaging said ribbon drive motor from said printer cartridge further comprises:
- a first gear having a first axis of rotation;
- and
- a second gear having a second axis of rotation perpendicular to the first axis of rotation engaging said first gear, wherein said first gear is operable for disengaging from said second gear when said ribbon is manually advanced;
- and
- wherein said ribbon drive further comprises:
- a third gear, said third gear adapted for operating with said ribbon drive motor;
- and
- a fourth gear engaging with said third gear, wherein said fourth gear is adapted for pivoting about said third gear, said third gear forming an axis thereby, said fourth gear being attached to said first gear and pivoting therewith.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.