CA1064536A - Endless ink-ribbon cartridge for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

ENDLESS INK-RIBBON CARTRIDGE FOR PRINTER

Abstract of the Disclosure A simple and inexpensive endless ink-ribbon cartridge for printers used in information processing systems, wherein the ink-ribbon is driven by the cooperation of a driving roller, which is provided with surface elements having a high coefficient of friction, and an opposing spring member.

Description

~ackground o~ the-Invention This invention relat~s to inking apparatus employed in ~ypewriters, teleprinters~ and in high-speed printers used in informa-tion processin~ systems and, more particularly, to endless inX-ribbon cartridge~ emplo~ea with such inking appara~
tus and provided with driving mechan.;.sms w~ich are especi~lly .imple, Endless ink-ribbon cartridges have recently been adopted ~or use in ~he field o typewriters, teleprint~rs, and like devices~ Such cartridge~ consi3t of a housing wherein the ink-rib~on ls appropriataly disposed~ 50 that ~e replacement of a ribbon, once exhausted or worn out, is per;~ormed ~ re-placing tbe entire cartridge without ~he need ~or handling the ri~bon..
:15 Because it is anticipated that once used, ~t~e entir~
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cartridge will be disposed o~, it is a requirement of ~he ca~tridge structure that it be extremely ~Lm~le and f~bricated of inexpensive material~, so as to result in a low cost~ Yn : :
order to contain the cost, simplicity o~ Con~trUc~iQn and ~20~ asse~bly is an essential element.
one form of prior art cartridge, for exampla, consists ~ :
:of a~plastic body provided wi~h two exte~ding a.rms, bot~ the b~dy~and the arm~ being hollow. The ink ri~bon, dispo~
randomly in the body hous.iny, .is drawn ~rQm an o~tput arm ::

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and re-turned to the housing through a reentry arm. O~ly the xibbon portion extending be~ween the two arms is exposed externally, and in such 20ne the printing members of the type-writer, teleprin~er or printer coop~ralte and interact with ~he ~;
ink-ribbon to effect the printing of the desired symbol~ or characters on print~receiving media~
The ink~ri~bon is driven a~d reinserted into the car~
tridge by means o~ a knurled wheel di9po~ed in the boay ~ou~-in~ of the cartridge, proximate to the opening between th~ ..
reentry arm and the housing. The knurled wheel, provided wi~ha mechanical clutch accessible externally to the cartridge, is rotated by a ~tor member cooperating wi~h ~he clutch. Thi~
~irst knurled wheel rests ayainst a second w~eel, al~o ~nu~le~, :~ whi~h is mounted on a re~ilient support which urges the second 1~ ~ wheel against the firs~O The ink-ribbon is in~erposed be~ween the two knurled wheels and due to ~he rota~ion of thes~ two ..
wheels, w~ich ~unction a~ two engaged gear~ iF pulled insi~e th~e: cartrid~ and, cone.e~uently, drawn rom ~he output arm~.
~ :Although this type o~ pxior art cartridge and it~ de-20~ æcribë~drlving mechanism is rel~tively simple, it has the :
iaadvantage that the knuxling on the drivin~ wheelis cau3eis a~consiaera~le wearing o~ the ink~ribbon so that ~e ribbon is rendered unserviceable after a short period o use. More- ~
ver,~the employment o two opposed whee].s, one o~i which is ;:

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mounted on a resilient support or ot~erwise hinged and pro-vided with a thrust spring, make~ ~or a construction compli-cation that is detrimental to an economical fabrication.
Accordingly; it is the principal object o~ the pre~ant invention to provide an ink--ribbon cartridge which eliminate~
the above-mentioned disadvantage~ of prior art ink-ri~bon cartridgesO
Ano'ther object of the present invention is to prDvide an ink-ribbon cartridge which is relatively simple ~o con-~truct and assemble~
. Another object of the present irlvention is to providean in~ ri~on cartridge which is relatively inexpensive to con~tru~t and assemble and which is ~abricatea of inexpen- -.;
: ~ive component~ and materials~
~15:~ Another o~ject o-f the present invQntion is to pro~îd~ a simple and inexpensive inking apparaku~ for use with high-p~ed~ printers used in infonmation processing syst~m~.
Summary~ o~ the Invention ::;
hes~ above-mentionQd disadvantagas of pxior art ink-~O~ xib~on cartridg~s are eliminated ~y the cartridge o ~he present invention, wherein the driv.incJ o ~he ink ribbon is o~,tained b~ mean~ oL a wheel having a smooth sur~ace. Such sur~ace i!~:providecl wi.th a high coefici~nt of ~riction and ~; cooperates with a si.mple spring or pre~sure tongue engaged ~25 ~:in the ci~rtridge body.
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~1 sri.ef Description of the Drawin~
-The invention will be described with re:~erence to the accompanying drawing, wherein:
~ igure 1 is an a~ploded perspective vi~w o:~ ~he car-5 tridge of the invention;

Figure lA iB a ver~ical sectio~ of the driving rol].er o:e the cartrid~s of Fig~ l; and Figure 2 is a schematic view o:e the cart:ridge oi~ th~3 J~ .invention, .illustrating the path and di~position c3:E th~ .in~
10 x.ibbon insid~ and outside the car~ridge.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment ~ The ink-ril:)bon ca~tridge o Fig. 1 s:~o~prises a pla~tif~ ~;
body 1. Body 1, in turn, compris~s a flat bottom wall 2 and ~side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6. liqalls 2-6 are ~lisposed to :Eorm a 15 ~ housing or ma~azine o~ approxlmately xe~tangular shape in ~.
section,:which i~ encIosed hy a top cover 35~ : :
Bottom wall 2 extends outwardly ~ro~ th~ above-de~crib~ :
rectsngular hou~ing in regi~tration wi~h the lower edge~ of ~ ;side~wall5 3~ 5 and 6, whi~h also extend out~ardly ~rom ~uch ~
-20~ housing, to form a pair o~ armq 7 and 8. Thus, arm 7 ha~ a~ ::, .
external sida wa11 3A and an in~ernal side wall 6A~ an~ arm 8 has ~an external side wall 5~ and an intexnal side wall 6s~
The~c~orresponding one3 of internal side walls 6A and 6B and external ~lde wall~ 3A and SA are disposed ~ubstantially ., .
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parallel to each other to fonm two elongated housing~, or slots, which communicate with the above-mentioned rectangu-:Lar housing or mayazine~
The ink-ribbon, whose ends are joined to ~orm an endles3 loop, is stored randomly in the housing of the c~rtridge.
portion of th~ ri.bbon pa~ses through the slot o~ arm 7, emerge~
~rom arm 7 at tip 9 thereof, through an aperture exi~ting be-tween walls 3A and 6A, and e~tend~ across to arm B. The r~bbon en~er~ arm a at tip 10 thereof, throuyh ~n aperture existing between walls 5A and 6B, passes through the slo~ of arm 8, and closeæ again on it~elf within the cartridge housing, For claxit~ of ~he instant de~cription~ the pat~s and disposition of the ink-rib~on, which are not shown in ~i~. 1, are illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein, for conven.ience, ~he ~15 reference numeral~ identi~yiny the variou~ elements, id~ntical to those shown in Fig. 1, have been omitted.
Duriny the operation of the cartridge, the ink-r~bbon :
; must mov~ ~etween tips 9 and 10 in order to avoid repe.kitivel~
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~ ; prin~in~ on t~e~same length of ribbon. To this end, t~e ink- ;
20~ :~:rib~on must i~ue from arm 7 and ~e reintroduced into the ho~sing through arm 8~ Moreover, an appropriate tension must be exerted on the portion o~ the ribbon external to the car-: tridge in order to avo.id o~cillations in the ribbon and the ~ po~ihility o~ jan~ing of the printing mechan:ism, which, 25~: aJ.though no~ illustrated in the dr~wings, .is located, as is ~ 6 - I

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well ~nown, in close proximity to the in~-ribbon~ For this purpose there are provided a ~uitable brake, disposed in ~rm 7, and a driving mechanism, disposed in the housing proxim~te to the ink~ri~bon outlet of arm 8. ;
S The bra~e comprises a single lea~ ~pring 11 bent in the ~orm of a double L so as to provide near one end thereof a ~ -:
small projection or step 12 of appxopriate height, equal to Ij or slightly greater tha~ the thickneæs of wall 3~. A ælit 13 in wall 3A, has inserted ~herein the step portio~ of sprin~
11. By such an arrangement, on~ end of spring 11 i5 securely an~hored to wall 3A while the free end 14 Qf spring 11 i~
: disposed against and exext~ an appropriat~ pressure on the tip portion of internal wall 6A within the slot of arm 7~
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~ The ink-ribbon is intexposed between wall 6A and spring ~15~ ll and, ~hereore, is subject to a certain pre~sure~ Such pressure,~coupled:with the:friction of the ri~bon, assures that an~adequate tension is exerted on ~he ribbon during moveme~t~thereof. : , ~ he~dri-~ng~mechanism of the cartxidge of Fig. 1, wherein 20:~ :thç~instant~inventi.on more properly resiaes, co~pxises a driv-: in~roller~;15. Roller lS compri~es, Fig~ 1~, all a~ial cylin-drical~hub 16~p~ovided with two or more cylindrical elements 3~7~and~ 18,:~o~ somewhat greater diameter ~nd appropriately ~ sp~ced apart so:as to fo ~ therebetween one or more cylindri-:25 ~ cal channel~. One:end;o~ hub ~6 pro~ects beyond the cylindrical ' ~ ~: ' :

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elements to form a sp.indle, or p.ivot, 19. The other end oE
hub 16 projects beyond the cylindrical element~ to form with a ~irst section 20 a pin or sha~t~ and with ~he end portion, which is suital: l~y knurled, a knob Spindle l9 is pro~rided with one or more axial coupling ~lots;, one o:E which i~ ~;hown in section in Fig. lA and designa-ted by reference numeral 21 Each of cylindrical elements 17 and 18 is provided with paripheral toroidal groove in which a respecti~e one o~
ring~ 2~ and 23 is seated. Rings 22 a~d 23 are mad~ of rub~er or another ela~ic material having a high coe~icien~ of fric-tion.
Bottom wall 2 i~ provided with a circular openiny 24, Pig. 1, disposed proximate to the opening between the rib~on ~lot in arm 8 and the cartridge housing~ Spindl~ 19 o~ hub 16 is disposed in opening 24 ~or driving ro~ler 15 to turn in opening 24~ Similarly, section 20 o~ the o~her end o* hub 16 i6 disposed in an opening 49 provi~ed in covsr 35 to turn in ~ :~
. such opening. ~ :
Exte~nal side wall 5A is provided with a slit 25 and 20~ sid~e waJl 5 is provided with a slit 26. A lea spring 27 is ben~at one end 28 i.n the ~orm of a double L and i~ bent at the:opp~site end 29 in the ~orm o a single L. End 28 is in-~; serte~ in slit 25, whereby spring 27 is ~ecurely anc~ored to the~body o the cartridge.. On the other hand, slit 26 has .~5~ w~idt:h adequate to allow end 29 to slide fre~ly therein~
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Spring 27 is ~lig~tly bent so that the fre~ end thereof is disposed against rings 22 and 23 and e~erts an appropriate pressure thereon. The thrust e~erted by spring 27 against dxiving roller 15 i5 oppo~ed by a counterthrust element 30.
Element 30 comprise~ a small plate o~ thickness equal to the depth o~ the hou~ing. The lower and upper faces o~ such plate 3~ are provided wi~ respectiv~ pins 31 ana 32. Pin 31, on the lower face, is di~po~ed in a corre~ponding opening 33 provided in bottom wall 2 o~ the cartridge, Pin 32, on ~le upper face, is di~posed i~ a corresponding opening ~8 provided in cover 35. One wall o~ ment 30 is s~aped in the ~orm o~
a cylindrical ~egment and is pro~ided wi~h a tooth, or projec-tion, 34 shaped in the form o~ a segment of a ring of apprv~
pxiate thickness. . ~:-, lS: ~ Too~h 34 engages with the cylindrical channel proviaed between c~lindrical elamen~s 17 and 18 of d~iving roller 15 to ~provide an opposing surfa~e which rest~ against cylindrical hub 16~to oppo~e the thr.ust o~ spring 27. The thrust so ~ exerted on element 30 is xeleased by element 30 to ~ide wall 20~ o:bod~ 1 o~ the cartridge, against which rests a ~ide of element 30 which is opposite ~ tooth 34. Inasmuch as the effect of the thrust exerted on element 30 is nok perp~ndicu-: lar~to~the contact sur~ace bet.ween element 30 and wall 6, p.ins 31 and 32 prevent the sliding of element 30 along wall 6 ~, . g ..

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~5~, The ink-ribbon is interposed and pressed be~ween driving roller 15 and spring 27. Because the coefficient o~ friction between the ink-ribbon and rubber rings 22 and 23 i~ much greater than the~coe~ficient of friction betwaen the ink-ribbon and ~he metallic surface of spring 27, the ink-xi~bon i~
pulled by driving roller 15 when the latter is rotated.
The arrow~ in Fig~ 2 xepre~ent the direction of rotation of driving xoller 15 and the direction o~ advance o~ the ink- :
rib~on. Thesa direction~ are imperative, in the sen~e that driving roller 15 must pull the ri~bon into the housing o~
the cartridge. An oppo~ite ribbon driving direction would result in crowding of th~ ri~bon into and o~st~u~ting of th~
slot o ~he arm 8 with ~7hich the driving mechanism i5 asso-~ ~ c~iated. The driving mechanism itself would al~o be jammed.
:15 It is to be ~oted th~t there i~ ~ sImilar danger inside the housing of ~he cartridge if there is a very great crowding of~the xibbon:therein, In ~act, the ink-ri~bon may tend to ollow the movement of and to wind around driving roller 15~
~ Thls~latter~problem i~ overcome b~ cou~terthrust el~m~n~ 30 and :20~ toothi34 which positivaly prevent the ink-ribbon ~rom follow-in~;;dri~ing roller 15 beyond a certain point. ~ooth 34 assnre~ the positive separation of t~e ribbon ~rom roller 15, pr~venting the ri~bon from being introduced between driving ~ ~roller~15 and counterthrust elem~nt 30. on the vthe~ hand, 25~ in~oxder to preven the ink-ribbon ~rom being in~kroduced under :.

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spring 27, the latter is bent, as mentioned above, i.n the form of an L in order that its end 29 can be inserted into slit ~6 in side wall 5.
As previou~ly de~cribed herein~ body 1 o~ -the cartridge is closed by a cover 35~ Cover 35 consists o~ a ~lat elem~n~
of form subs~antially like that of bottom wall 2 of bo~y 1.
Thus, cover 35 has an appro~imatel~ rectangular portion 35A
for covering th4 housing o tha cartridge and two extensions 35B and 35C for closing respectively the slot~ o~ arms 7 and 8~ .
10Pins 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41, disposed near the edges o~ cover 35, are inserted by pres~ure into corre~ponding :~ opening~ 42, 43, 44~ 45, ~6 and 47 which are provided on the .
upper face of the side walls o~ body 1. Such pin~ and opQn-ings assure the relative positioning o~ bod~ I and cover 35, 15~ as well as theix se~ure fast~ning together~
Cover 35 is also prov~ded with opening~ 4~ and 49, a~
mentioned above. Pin 32 o~ counterthrust elentent 30 i3 dis-: posed- in opening 4~ and cylindrical h~b 16 o~ dri~ing roller 15 is~d~sposea:in opening ~9O The cixcular opening 49 act~ a~ a bea~ing for~section 20 o~ hub 16, whereas the end p~rtion o~
hu~ 16 ~orms a kno~ which e~tends externally o~ cover 35.
:When the cartrid~e i~, positioned in the printer, an axial clutch, not shown, provided with at Ieast one tooth, ~ngages 610t 21 oF driving roller 15 to impart to roller 16 a rotary :
~25~ :dri.ving motion obtained ~rom an appropriate motor member, not ' : :;~ ::::;

.illustrated, but disposed externally to the cartridge. On the other hand, above the upp~r side! of cover 35, the knob end of hub 16 ena~les the manual driving of the ribbon to pro-vide ~or the re~toratiOn of an appropriate tens.ion in the rib-5 bon portion e~ternal to the cartridge, in ~he ev~n~ that duringhandling o~ the cartridge and it~ positioning in the print~r such ribbon portion becomes slack.
The ~astening of cover 35 to body 1 of the cartridge assures that springs 11 and 27, counterthrust elemen~ 30 and ~riving roller 15 cannot escape from their raspective sea~s~
It is evidenk, therefore, tha~ the de3cribed cartridge at~a.ins various advantages, by extr~mely si~ple and ine~pen-sive means, as follows:
avoiding wear of the ink-rib~on by avoiding ~he ~15~ ~ use of knurled driving wheels;
avoiding ~he: u~e G~ elastic supports ~or -the driv-ing member3; and preventing the ja~ning o~ the drivi~g mechanis~
While the princip~e~ of the invention have now been mad~
~20~ clear in an illustrative e~bodiment, there will ~e immediately obvious~to those skilled in the art modi~ications in s~ructure, arrang~ments, t~e elem~nt~ and components use~ in the practice of~the invention, and otherwise, which are particularly adap- , ;
tecl for specific environments and operat.ing re~uiremen-ts, w.ith-~5~ out depar~ln~ ~rom those prlnciples~ The appended claims ~re : :: :

therefore intended to cover any such modifications, within the limits only o~ the -true spirit and scope of s~h~ invention , : ~ ' .

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Claims (5)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An endless ink-ribbon printer cartridge of the kind having a body providing a housing for said ink-ribbon, wherein said body has a bottom wall, side walls, a ribbon entrance opening, a ribbon exit opening, and a cover providing a top wall for the housing thereof, said cartridge being char-acterized by comprising:
an ink-ribbon driving roller having a cylindrical hub, a plurality of annular elements coaxial to said hub and spaced apart to form at least one channel therebetween, and a plurality of rings of material having a high coefficient of friction disposed on the periphery of said annular elements;
axial clutch means in said hub for coupling with a motor member;
said driving roller being disposed inside said hou-sing and rotatable in an opening of said bottom wall and an opening of said cover; and a leaf spring anchored to one of said side walls and thrusting radially against said rings, whereby said rib-bon, interposed between said spring and said rings is driven by the combined effect of the rotation of said driving roller, the friction of said rings, and the thrust exerted by said spring;
and being further characterized in that said leaf spring, proximate to the region of its thrust against said rings, comprises a portion bent at an angle, said portion being freely slideable in a corresponding opening of the adjacent one of said side walls, whereby said ink-ribbon is prevented from entering between said spring and said adjacent side wall.

2. The cartridge of Claim 1, characterized by further comprising a counterthrust element, said counterthrust element being disposed proximate to said driving roller and having means for being attached to said body and at least one counterthrust tooth disposed in said channel and resting against said hub, whereby said counterthrust element achieves the dual effect of opposing the thrust of said spring and effecting, as the circumstances require, the separation of said ribbon from said rings.

3. In an ink-ribbon cartridge for a printer, wherein said cartridge comprises walls defining a housing, an output arm and a re-entry arm, said arms being hollow and spaced apart to communicate with said housing at spaced apart points through first openings in respective ends of said arms, each of said arms having a second opening in the other end thereof, and wherein an endless ink-ribbon is disposed, the majority portion of said ribbon being stored randomly in said housing, said ribbon emerging from said housing through said output arm, emerging from said second opening in said output arm, extending between said second openings, entering said second opening in said re-entry arm, and re-entering said housing through said re-entry arm, an improved mechanism for driving said ink-ribbon comprising:
a driving roller disposed inside said housing proximate to said first opening of said re-entry arm, said roller comprising a cylindrical hub and a pair of annular elements mounted on and coaxial with said hub, said annular elements being spaced apart along said hub to provide an annular channel between said elements, the peripheral sur-face of said annular elements being of a material having relatively high coefficient of friction;
said hub being mounted for rotation in said walls, one end of said hub extending through one of said walls, said hub end having coupling means for engaging with a rotary driving member disposed external to said housing, a leaf spring anchored to one of said walls and thrusting against the peripheral surfaces of said annular element, whereby said ink-ribbon is driven by being inter-posed between said annular element and said spring; and said spring proximate to the region of its thrust against said annular elements, comprising a portion bent at an angle, said portion being freely slideable in a corres-ponding opening of the adjacent wall of said housing whereby said ink-ribbon is prevented from entering between said spring and said side wall.

4. The improved mechanism of Claim 3, further comprising a counterthrust element diposed inside said housing and anchored by said walls, a portion of said counterthrust element being disposed in said channel and resting against said hub.

5. The improved mechanism of Claim 3 or 4, further comprising a spring member disposed in said output arm for exerting pressure against an internal surface of said output arm, whereby said ink-ribbon in said output arm is inter-posed between said spring member and said surface.