CA1169014A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

R. F. Gildersleeve 1-1-1 PRINTER

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A ribbon cartridge for use on a daisywheel typewriter includes a housing with a pair of extended arms which allow for insertion of an exposed ribbon span in a pair of ribbon guides which are especially shaped to provide for easy acceptance of such ribbon. After the ribbon is placed in the guides, the cartridge is pulled rearwardly and placed in its fixed platform.
The ribbon guides reciprocate during printing, to expose the current line of printing, while the platform remains in a fixed plane.

Description

6g ~ ~ R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-1 P~INTER

BACKGROUND OF T~E INVENTION
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The present invention is directed to an inked ribbon cartridge, and more particularly a cartridge which is especially suitable for a printer or typewriter.

PRIO~ ART STATEMENT

At the present time, many ribbon cartridges include at their initial or beginning portion a non-inked leader which may be pulled out of the cartridge by the operator and placed in a pair of ribbon guides in the printer or typewriter. This is true of rihbon cartridges for the IBM
Selectric typewriter, whose ribbon cartridge is mounted on a stable platform and only the ribbon is moved for the purpose of exposing the line of printing. This is also true of other prior art including those manufactured by Qume Corporation, the assignee of the present invention. Other ribbon cartridges are provided with a pair of arms which extend therefrom and which carry the ribbon therein and provide a free span of ribbon for ease of installation in the printer or typewriter. Such cartridges have been mounted on a tiltable platform to provide for exposure o~
the ~ine of printing. The arms of these cartridges extend very close to stationary ribbon pins. Such cartridges and typewriters are presently manufactured by ~erox Corporation.

~6~4 R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l SUMMARY OF_THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ribbon cartridge removably mounted on a typewriter having a fixed ribbon cartridge support, and a pair of movable ribbon guides through which a span of ribbon is fed, said guides holding said span of ribbon in a printing relationship with a printing medium and a print element, said guides being movable to move said ribbon span to expose the current line of printing on the printing medium, said fixed ribbon cartridge support maintaining said cartridge in a fixed plane relative to said movable ribbon guides and ribbon span, the improvement comprising: a housing containing the ribbon and having a pair of spaced arms extending therefrom for supporting the span of ribbon, the length of said span being greater than the spacing of said pair of ribbon guides; said ribbon having a predetermined width dimension, said arms having throat openings permitting the exit and re-entrance of said ribbon into said housing, said openings having a height dimension greater than said ribbon width sufficient to allow flexure of the lengths of ribbon between said guides and respective openings when said guides are moved to expose said line of printing; said arms with respect to extension from said housing toward said ribbon guides being long enough to enable said exposed span of ribbon to be slidably placed in said guides by manual manipulation of said housing only, but short enough to provide said lengths which are long enough for flexure.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer or the like, the combination comprising: a frame, including a platform; a cylindrical platen rotatable relative to said platform about the symmetrical axis of said platen, said platen axis beinq fixed relative to said platform and spaced from said ~69~ R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l platform in a direction normal to said axis; first and second ribbon guides, each including a V-shaped fork, each fork having two tines attached together at the hottom thereof to form a V, the upper ends of the tines of each V
being spaced apart lengthwise of the platen adjacent thereto; means to support said ribbon guides relative to said platform adjacent to but spaced from said platen somewhere in an approximately vertical plane approximately normal to a line between said platform and said axis; a ribbon cartridge fixed relative to said platform and having a housing to carry an inked ribbon, said ribbon cartridge housing having first and second arms spaced further apart than the outermost surfaces of the innermost tines, said arms projecting approximately in a horizontal plane and approximately toward said axis, said arms having means to guide the entrance and exit of said ribbon thereto and therefrom and subsequently through said first ribbon guide to said second guide providing a predetermined length of ribbon therebetween, and through said second ribbon guide;
and active means mounted in a fixed position relative to said platform between said cartridge and said predetermined length of ribbon actuable to cause a symbol to be created by engagement with said predetermined length of ribbon, said arms extending along opposite sides of said active means over the major dimension thereof in a direction approximately normal to said axis, but spaced from said platen and said ribbon guides, said arms providing adequate space for said active means yet making it possible to minimize the length of said ribbon between the ends of said arms, said minimum length making it possible to thread said ribbon through said ribbon guides without manually touching the same and only by manual movement of said cartridge housing, the said minimum length being stiffer and easier to thread than a longer length, the ribbon being extremely ~6~ R- F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l flexible and difficult to thread because of its relatively small width and thickness compared to the said minimum length.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer comprising: fixed means including a fixed platform; an inked ribbon cartridge removably mounted in a fixed position on said platform, said cartridge having two laterally spaced approximately parallel hollow projections of substantially the same length, said cartridge having an lnked ribbon and means to move said inked ribbon in a span thereof out of the end of either one of said projections into the other; a platen having a cylindrical surface and heing mounted on said fixed means to rotate about a horizontal axis equally spaced from the end of each of said projections; left hand and right hand V-shaped ribbon guides both lying substantially in a vertical plane parallel to said axis, said span of ribbon being in a substantially vertical plane, said left hand ribbon guide being formed in a V by left hand and right hand legs, said left hand ribbon guide right hand leg extending to a position above said left hand ribbon guide left hand leg, the left hand side of said left hand ribbon guide right hand leg being notched to receive said ribbon below a shoulder thereon, said right hand ribbon guide being formed in a V by left hand and right hand legs, said right hand ribbon guide left hand leg extending to a position above said right hand ribbon guide right hand leg, the right hand side of said right hand ribbon guide left hand leg being notched to receive said ribbon below a shoulder thereon; a printwheel mounted on said fixed means to rotate spokes thereof on one side of said ribbon opposite the side on which said platen is located; and a hammer assembly between said projections, said printwheel and said cartridge, said hammer assembly being mounted on said fixed means in a position to impact said printwheel spokes to cause printing on paper positioned between said ribbon and said platen.

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~ ~ ~ R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF_THE DRAWINGS
Figure l is a perspective view of a ribbon cartridge embodying the present invention as it would be installed on a typewriter or printer of the daisywheel type.
Figure 2 is a perspective view showing ribbon cartridge as it is about to be installed.
Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the right hand side ribbon guide.
Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the guide of Figure 3.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views taken along the lines 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7 of Figure 3.
Figures 8A and 8B are an elevation and plan views of the cartridge of Figure 2 showing the ribbon as it exits and re-enters the arms of the cartridge.
Figure 3C is a vertical sectional view taken on line 8c-8c shown in Figure 8B.
Figure 9 is a perspective view, partially in phantom, of the ribbon lift mechanism.
Figure 10 is a view identical to Figure 9 except showing the ribbon mechanism in an actuated position and also showing a block diagram of the ribbon lift control unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMsODIMENT
Figure 1 illustrates a ribbon cartridge 10 as it would be installed in a printer or typewriter, only a portion of which is illustrated for clarity's sake. The typewriter preferably includes a platen 11 or other type bar and at least one printing element 12. The typewriter or printer depicted in Figure 1 is the so-called daisy~heel printer which includes a movable carriage, the cartridge 10 being removably mounted on the - 3b ~

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R. F. Gildersleeve~ 1 Page 4 carriage along with a rotatable daisywheel print element 12 and a pair of ribbon guides 13 and 14. The carriage provides a fixed plat~orm 45 in that the cartridge 10 is fixed in essentially a predetermined plane as the carriage is moved to and fro during printing operations. The guides 13 and 14 hold a span of ribbon 16 in printing relationship between the daisywheel 12 and the platen 11 (which would normally carry paper on it). A hammer assembly 17, when actuated, strikes a spoke of the daisywheel 12 against the ribbon 16 to cause printing to occur on the paper.
Cartridge 10 includes the main body 18 and extending arms 19 and 20 through which the ribbon lengths 21 and 22 exit and re-en-ter the cartridge 10. These ribbon lengths 21 and 22 extend between openings 24 and 23 (Figure 8A) at the ends of the arms 19 and 20 and the ribbon guides 13 and 14. These lengths 21 and 22 flex when the ribbon guides 13 and 14 move upward and downward (as shown by the arrows in Figures 9 and 10) when printing a current line of printing. This flexure occurs at a point which is substantially at the end of arms 19 and 20. Thus, arms 19 and 20 are located far enough away from the ribbon guides 13 20 and 14 (or rather arms 19 and 20 are short enough) to allow sufficient flexure while the ribbon 16 is moved to expose a line of printing.
In Figure 2 a human hand 26 is shown grasping the cartridge 10 for insertion of the exposed ribbon span 16 into the 25 ribbon guides 13 and 14. The length of the arms 19 and 20 should preferably be long enough to enable the exposed span 16 to be easily placed in guides 13 and 14 by manual manipulation of the body 18 of the cartridge 10 only. Preferably, the length of the arms 19 and 20 should be approximately two-thirds of the distance ; 30 between the body 18 of the cartridge 10 and the guides 13 and 14;
however, other lengths of arms 19 and 20 will also be found to operate well, as mentioned with respect to Figure 8B. Arms 19 and 20 must clear obstacles such as the thickness of the ribbon lift mechanism which supports arms 13 and 14 and must accommodate the components of the printer mechanism, for example, including the hammer 17, as is better illustrated in Figure 1.

R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l Page 5 Furthermore, the spacing of the arms 19 and 20 should be greater than the spacing of the guides 13 and 1~ for ease of insertion of the ribbon span 16' therein.
Figure 8A better shows the entrance and exit of the ribbon span 16' (Figure 2) ribbon from the cartridge arms 19 and 20 in an elevational view of the body 18. The ribbon cross-sections are shown at numerals 21 and 22 as they exit and re-enter throat openings 23 and 24 at the ends of arms 19 and 20, respectively. To permit sufficien-t flexing of the ribbon lengths 21 and 22, the openings 23 and 24 have a height dimension which is sufficiently greater than the ribbon width to facilitate flexing of the lengths 21 and 22. When practicing the present invention, we prefer to make the openings 24 and 23 approximately 32% longer than the width of the ribbon when the arms 19, 20 are approximately two-thirds the distance between body 18 and guides 13 and 14.
Figure 8B is a plan view of the cartridge 10, shown with the ribbon 16, 21, 22 extended and fed through the ribbon guides 13 and 14. As previously mentioned, dimension "A" shown in Figure 8B is approximately two-thirds the length of dimension "B"; howeverl those practicing the present invention may decide to modify this ratio in other embodiments. When practicing the present invention, we prefer that the body 18 of the cartridge 10 be approximately 5 1/8" by 3 1/4" and that the arms 19 and 20 extend approximately 1 1/16" from the body 18 (dimension "A").
Dimension "C", the distance between the arms 19 and 20, is then preferably on the order of 3 1/8" and the height of the throat openings 23 and 24 (Figure 8A) is about 1/3 inch. O~ course, these dimensions reflect our preferred embodiment and other dimensions will certainly be found by others practicing our invention to be q~ite satisfactory for their applications.
When this invention is practiced, the exposed span portion 16 need not be a non-inked or clear leader, but may be inked and thus ready or immediate printing. In addition, because of the configuration of the guides 13 and 14, the human ~6~
R. F. Gildersleeve~ l Page 6 hand need not pull out the ribbon 16, 21, 22 as necessary in some prior art devices but it may be easily inserted into the guides 13 and 14. This is an especially desirable feature for the operator who wishes to use several different cartridges 10 during use, such as to change the color of the printing. Of course, not having a non-inked leader can also reduce the cost of manufacturing the ribbon cartridge 10.
preferable design for the ribbon guides 13 and 14 to facilitate the insertion of the cartridge 10 is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, especially in Figure 4 where the right hand side guide 14 has two upstanding left and right portions 31 and 32.
As illus-trated, these portions 31, 32 diverge from one another to form a "V", indicated at numeral 33, for easy entry of the ribbon 16. The mode of placement of the ribbon span 16 is more clearly indicated in Figure 2. The "V" occurs in a plane which is almost parallel to the span of ribbon 16 as is more clearly illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 8B. When the ribbon 16, 21 is installed as illustrated by the cross-hatched portion 21 and span 16, the configuration of portions 31 and 32 inhibit both up and down and to and fro movement of the ribbon 16, 21 so that it will not escape the ribbon guide 14 during the movement of the ribbon lift 51 (Figures 9 and 10). The recessed portion or channel 34 of ribbon portion 31 helps to retain the ribbon 16, 21 in its proper place.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show various cross-sections of the ribbon guide 14. The left hand side guide 13 is a mirror image of guide 14, and therefore is not depicted in detail for the sake of brevity. The ribbon guide portions 31 and 32 extend from a link 36 as illustrated both in Figures 3 and 4 which pivots at 30 axes 37 and 38 with respect to links 39 and 40. Links 39 and 40 are the lower and upper bail-lift assembly links. Details of the bail-lift assembly are clearly illustrated in Figures 9 and 10.
This bail-lift assembly, with the exception of the configuration of guides 13 and 14, is well known in the prior art having been used for over a year in printers sold by the assignee of the $

~69~
R. F. Gildersleeve~ 1 Page 7 present invention. As illustrated in Figure 9, the lower and upper links 39 and 40 and also the corresponding links -for ribbon guide 13, namely 39' and 40', pivot on the axes 42 and 43.
Axes 42 and 43 are fixed in a frame 44. Another portion of the same frame, designated with numeral 45, is the fixed platform for ribbon cartridge 10. The lower linlcs 39 and 39' are mechanically operated at overhang portion 49.
A spring 46 normally holds the ribbon guides 13 and 14 in a down position for exposing a line of printing. However, as illustrated in Figure 10, upon actuation by a ribbon lift control unit 47 a solenoid assembly 48 is actuated to draw down the overhang portion 49 of the ribbon lift assembly 51 overcoming spring 46 and moving the guides 13 and 14 up into a printing position. The pivot points 42 and 43 as well as pivot points 37 and 38 are preferably vertically disposed and thus the entire ribbon lift assembly 51, including links 36, 39 and 40 and frame 44, constitute a parallelogram, the link portion 36 of which (illustrated in Figure 4) remains vertical when reciprocating. Thus an effective vertical ribbon lift is provided. Moreover, the ribbon lift assembly 51 of Figures 9 and 10 is capable of moving only a short distance, and has a relatively low mass (particularly if light weight metals and/or plastics are utilized), and thus is capable of rapid movement after every character of printing. ~hus, the line of printing appears to the human observer to be clearly visible at all times. Preferably, guides 13 and 14 including links 36~ are made of nylon material whereas the links 39 and 40 (and 39' and 40') and the overhang 49 are formed from steel. A small piece of ferromagnetic material 50, such as iron, is preferably attached to overhang 49 for attraction to solenoid 48.
Because of this rapid operational capability of the ribbon lift mechanism 51, it is desirable that the ribbon 16, 21, 22 and its cartridge 10 have similar capability. This capability is provided by the present invention where the ribbon lengths 21 and 22 are long enough in combination with the openings 24 and 23 ~L6~4 R. F. Gildersleeve~ l P~ge 8 in the arms 19 and 20 of the housing provide reasonable flexing.
Furthermore, the throat openings 23 and 24, as they recede as channels into the arms 19 and 20, decrease slightly in height to provide space in the front of the arms 19, 20 for the flexure and to channel the ribbon 21, 22 to and from the ribbon storage cavity, which has a height only slightly greater than the width of the ribbon 16, 21, 22. A preferable configuration of arm 19 is shown in partial section in Figure 8C.
In addition to fast operation, this cartridge 10 has the added advantage of easy insertion into the typewriter or printer without a human hand 20 touching the ribbon span 16l itself and, moreover, without any need to tilt the platform 45. It should now be readily apparent that requiring the cartridge 10 and platform 45 to tilt for the ribbon lift adds undesirable mass to the apparatus, as well as cost and complexity. The additional mass tends to slow printing operations and to make the line of printing less visible to a human observer.
The cartridge 10 as illustrated in Figure 2 is as it would come from the manufacturer. The user, since the distance between the arms 19 and 20 is greater than the spacing of the guides 13 and 14, can easily place the exposed span of ribbon 16 in the ribbon guides 13 and 14. The cartridge 10 then is pulled rearwardly to the position shown in Figure 1 to expose the lengths 21 and 22 and placed on its fixed platform 45 which is illustrated in phantom in Figures 9 and 10.
~ aving described the invention with regard to a preferred embodiment, modification will now suggest itself to those skilled in the art. Certainly, other sizes of cartridges may be manufactured which enjoy the same advantages as our cartridge. Our invention is not to be limited to the embodiment described, except as set forth in the appended claims.

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Claims (4)

R. F. Gildersleeve-1-1-1 Page 9 WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A ribbon cartridge removably mounted on a typewriter having a fixed ribbon cartridge support, and a pair of movable ribbon guides through which a span of ribbon is fed, said guides holding said span of ribbon in a printing relationship with a printing medium and a print element, said guides being movable to move said ribbon span to expose the current line of printing on the printing medium, said fixed ribbon cartridge support maintaining said cartridge in a fixed plane relative to said movable ribbon guides and ribbon span, the improvement comprising: a housing containing the ribbon and having a pair of spaced arms extending therefrom for supporting the span of ribbon, the length of said span being greater than the spacing of said pair of ribbon guides; said ribbon having a predetermined width dimension, said arms having throat openings permitting the exit and re-entrance of said ribbon into said housing, said openings having a height dimension greater than said ribbon width sufficient to allow flexure of the lengths of ribbon between said guides and respective openings when said guides are moved to expose said line of printing; said arms with respect to extension from said housing toward said ribbon guides being long enough to enable said exposed span of ribbon to be slidably placed in said guides by manual manipulation of said housing only, but short enough to provide said lengths which are long enough for flexure.

2. In a printer or the like, the combination comprising: a frame, including a platform; a cylindrical platen rotatable relative to said platform about the symmetrical axis of said platen, said platen axis being fixed relative to said platform and spaced from said platform in a direction normal to said axis; first and second ribbon guides, each including a V-shaped fork, each fork having two tines attached together at the bottom thereof to form a V, the upper ends of the tines of each V being spaced apart lengthwise of the platen adjacent thereto; means to support said ribbon guides relative to said platform adjacent to but spaced from said platen somewhere in an approximately vertical plane approximately normal to a line R. F. Gildersleeve-1-1-1 Page 10 between said platform and said axis; a ribbon cartridge fixed relative to said platform and having a housing to carry an inked ribbon, said ribbon cartridge housing having first and second arms spaced further apart than the outermost surfaces of the innermost tines, said arms projecting approximately in a horizontal plane and approximately toward said axis, said arms having means to guide the entrance and exit of said ribbon thereto and therefrom and subsequently through said first ribbon guide to said second guide providing a predetermined length of ribbon therebetween, and through said second ribbon guide; and active means mounted in a fixed position relative to said platform between said cartridge and said predetermined length of ribbon actuable to cause a symbol to be created by engagement with said predetermined length of ribbon, said arms extending along opposite sides of said active means over the major dimension thereof in a direction approximately normal to said axis, but spaced from said platen and said ribbon guides, said arms providing adequate space for said active means yet making it possible to minimize the length of said ribbon between the ends of said arms, said minimum length making it possible to thread said ribbon through said ribbon guides without manually touching the same and only by manual movement of said cartridge housing, the said minimum length being stiffer and easier to thread than a longer length, the ribbon being extremely flexible and difficult to thread because of its relatively small width and thickness compared to the said minimum length.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein the innermost tines have top portions higher than that of the corresponding outermost tines.

4. A printer comprising: fixed means including a fixed platform; an inked ribbon cartridge removably mounted in a fixed position on said platform, said cartridge having two laterally spaced approximately parallel hollow projections of substantially the same length, said cartridge having an inked ribbon and means to move said inked ribbon in a span thereof out of the end of either one of said projections into the other; a platen having a R. F. Gildersleeve-1-1-1 Page 11 cylindrical surface and being mounted on said fixed means to rotate about a horizontal axis equally spaced from the end of each of said projections; left hand and right hand V-shaped ribbon guides both lying substantially in a vertical plane parallel to said axis, said span of ribbon being in a substantially vertical plane, said left hand ribbon guide being formed in a V by left hand and right hand legs, said left hand ribbon guide right hand leg extending to a position above said left hand ribbon guide left hand leg, the left hand side of said left hand ribbon guide right hand leg being notched to receive said ribbon below a shoulder thereon, said right hand ribbon guide being formed in a V by left hand and right hand legs, said right hand ribbon guide left hand leg extending to a position above said right hand ribbon guide right hand leg, the right hand side of said right hand ribbon guide left hand leg being notched to receive said ribbon below a shoulder thereon; a printwheel mounted on said fixed means to rotate spokes thereof on one side of said ribbon opposite the side on which said platen is located;
and a hammer assembly between said projections, said printwheel and said cartridge, said hammer assembly being mounted on said fixed means in a position to impact said printwheel spokes to cause printing on paper positioned between said ribbon and said platen.