Ribbon cassette with friction mechanism

A ribbon cassette comprising:

• a take-up reel and a feed reel supported for rotation in a housing, and an ink ribbon wound on the take-up reel and the feed reel;
• a print head receiving part formed in a section of a passage for the ink ribbon between the take-up reel and the feed reel to receive a thermal print head therein when the ribbon cassette is set in place on a thermal transfer printer;
• a take-up pinch roller and a feed pinch roller supported for rotation at a position between the print head receiving part and the take-up reel and at a position between the print head receiving part and the feed reel, respectively;
• and
• a friction mechanism for exerting a frictional force to the feed pinch roller to apply a tensile load to the ink ribbon,
• wherein the friction mechanism comprises an elastic friction member capable of exerting a frictional force on a core barrel included in the feed pinch roller by clasping the core barrel.