CA1191473A - Spliceless ribbon structure having leader and trailer and method of manufacture therefor - Google Patents
Spliceless ribbon structure having leader and trailer and method of manufacture thereforInfo
- Publication number
- CA1191473A CA1191473A CA000408728A CA408728A CA1191473A CA 1191473 A CA1191473 A CA 1191473A CA 000408728 A CA000408728 A CA 000408728A CA 408728 A CA408728 A CA 408728A CA 1191473 A CA1191473 A CA 1191473A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- ribbon
- ink
- substrate
- leader
- trailer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J31/00—Ink ribbons; Renovating or testing ink ribbons
- B41J31/10—Ink ribbons having arrangements to facilitate threading through a machine
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J33/00—Apparatus or arrangements for feeding ink ribbons or like character-size impression-transfer material
- B41J33/003—Ribbon spools
- B41J33/006—Arrangements to attach the ribbon to the spool
Landscapes
- Impression-Transfer Materials And Handling Thereof (AREA)
- Joining Of Building Structures In Genera (AREA)
- Machines For Manufacturing Corrugated Board In Mechanical Paper-Making Processes (AREA)
- Document Processing Apparatus (AREA)
- Branch Pipes, Bends, And The Like (AREA)
- Mechanical Coupling Of Light Guides (AREA)
- Metal Extraction Processes (AREA)
- Printers Characterized By Their Purpose (AREA)
- Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)
- Separation Using Semi-Permeable Membranes (AREA)
- Golf Clubs (AREA)
- Joining Of Corner Units Of Frames Or Wings (AREA)
Abstract
SPLICELESS RIBBON STRUCTURE HAVING LEADER AND
TRAILER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREFOR
Abstract of the Disclosure A ribbon of the single use film substrate, completely transferrable ink layer type, is disclosed wherein the leader and trailer are formed by adhering over the inked side of the ribbon a thin adhesive faced tape or foil and where the tape or foil is adhesively engaged with the substrate in a region having had all or part of the ink removed therefrom to provide an adherent surface. The tape or foil is further provided with a region of adhesive engagement for attachment to supply and takeup spools.
TRAILER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREFOR
Abstract of the Disclosure A ribbon of the single use film substrate, completely transferrable ink layer type, is disclosed wherein the leader and trailer are formed by adhering over the inked side of the ribbon a thin adhesive faced tape or foil and where the tape or foil is adhesively engaged with the substrate in a region having had all or part of the ink removed therefrom to provide an adherent surface. The tape or foil is further provided with a region of adhesive engagement for attachment to supply and takeup spools.
Description
LE9-81-006 ~9~473 SPLICELESS RIBBON STRUCTURE HAVING LEADER ~ND
TRAILER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREFOR
Background of the Inventlon When ribbon is manufactured, the substrate material such as a cast polyethylene is coated in larg~ wide rolls with an ink material which is capable of being transferred from the substrate to the printed page by impact. As this material is fed from the large wide xolls referred to as jumbo rolls, it is slit by a slitter and wound upon individual ribbon cores for subsequent use on a printer or typewriter. After an appropriate amount of ribbon has been wound upon the cores, the slitter is stopped and a segment of the ribbon stock which remains unslit is cut out and a non-inked material typically spliced into the gap to form a leader and trailer. This material is then passed through the slitter to subdivide it in width to the width of the ribbons being spooled and is wound partially onto the spool in the slitter. At this point, the ribbon stock and slitter are stopped and the ribbon spool wound with ribbon and leader are severed near the center of the leader/trailer film.
A portion of the material accompanies the ribbon on the spools, thus forming a spliced-on leader. The remaining portion of the leadex/trailer material which has been severed is then attached to new empty spools to form the spliced-o~ trailex and it is then wound along with ribbon onto the spools to the desired diameter.
The cutting of the ribbon stock and the subsequent splicing in and slitting of the leader/trailer material then has the potential of causing misalignment LE9-81-00~
and thus causing the spools to not wind uniformly.
When this occurs, the ribbon spool and the ribbon thereon are rejected as improperly wound and discarded, thus increasing the cost of t~e ultimate praduct. Additionally, if leader/trailer material is not firmly taped into the bulk ribbon strand, the bond may b~eak, requiring rethreading of the slitter and the subsequent loss of a large number of ribbons in production.
The prior art technique requires the assembly of several separate webs to accomplish the formation of the leader trailer composite and then this material must be adhesively attached to the film of the ribbon.
U. S. Patent 3!286,808 to John PO Arena, et al, is an example of such a ribbon structure and the assembly of a plurality of tapes and foils in precise controlled locations .
As taught in the prior art and by industry standards, a ribbon leader is normally a spliced-in assembly and serves to carry the attaching tape, which is used to connect the start of the ribbon to the takeup spool, and further serves to provide a clean handlin~ length of material to protect the operator from ink contamination during the loading of t~e xibbon into the typewriter. Similarly, a xibbon trailer is a spliced-in assembly of tape and film and serves to carry t~e attaching t~pe whic~ is used ta att~ch the end of the ribbon assembly to the center or supply hub. ~ddi1:ionally, the spliced-in trailer assembly ~
typlcally provides a visual end of ~ibbon warning Via its contr~sting colo~ and further provides a threshald print interruption featuxe to terminate pxinting kefore xibbon feed becomes inhibited by the lack of additional ribbon supply. An interruption in feed can have the undesirable effect of causing light and dark characters which require subsequent correction before typing can be continued. One common undesirable effect of a contrasting colored trailer material is that the typewriter can impact the material upon ribbon depletion,.thereby causing a transferring of the colored material to t~e typed page which usually cannot be coxrected.
With the l~rge n~nber of tapes and foils required to form the prior art leader and trailer composite, and the subsequent splicing-in of the assembly into the bulk ribbon strand or web (together wi-th the removal of the span of ribbon material to accomrnodate the leader and trailer), an automated assembly of such a ribbon structure is impractical inasmuch as the materials are thin and tend to tangle, pucker, and tear, and in view of the fact that the alignment is critical during the passage of the leader/trailer composite through th~ slitter.
State of the art ribbon slitters used in industry all bring the ribbon past the leader/trailer station in a "~ace downl' or ink down fashion~ Since the key element of both the leader ~nd trailer is th.e adhesive attachin~ means used to attach both ends of the ribbon to their ~espectiye spools, it is generally not possible to m~ke even the simplest form of leader and trailer, having only these attaching rnea~s, without cutting into the ribbon web and splicing-in a section o~ leader and tx~iler ~ssembly.
`\
LE9-81-006 ~9~7~
Summary of the Invention The present ribbon str.ucture i5 formed to eliminate problems experienced with the prior art assembly technique and ribbon structures by adhesively placing into position with the ribbo:n separate leader and trailer foils having at least one adhesive side and engageable with the ink side of the substrate of the ribbon structure. In the simplest form, both the leader and trailer can consist of single strips of . 10 double-sided tape, where one adhesive surface attaches to the xibbon stock and the other used later to attach the ribbon ends to their respective hubs. In the preferred embodiment, the leader and.trailer will each be a laminate. o~ ~ariable length foils first attached to the ribbon stock and having no adhesive on the back or outside and having attached to the non-adhesive side, the double-sided tape above described. ~o insure adequate adhesion between the adhesive foils forming the leader. and trailer, a band of ink is~remoYed from the ribbon substrate transverse to the path o~ the r.ibbon and the adhesively faced foils are then engaged with the substrate of the ribbon structure as well as the ink lying beyond the Xespective bands and in the area encompassed by the said leadeF~trailer foilS. Such engagement with the bands by the adhesive ~ace of the leader and trailer insures adhesion o~ the leadex/tr~iler to the ribbon structure notwit~standing the rel~tively easy remo~al o~ the ink ~rom the substrate o~ the xibbonO Further/ the adhesion of ~he txailex to the ink ~ace o~ the ribbon str~cture insUres tha~t the ink is encapsulated in the laminate and is thus not capable.of transfer to the paper when i~p~cted by a printing element. Inasmuch as there is LE9-81-006 1~91~73 no colored material available to the typed sheet, no transfer may occur and ther0by spoil the text appearanc~ on the typed sheet when the ribbon is exhausted. The width ~f the trailer may be adjusted to provide an adequately long ~railer to insure typed interruption before the trailer is pulled from the spool of the ribbon core~ Similarly, the length of the leader may be adjusted to provide a length of ink encapsulated ribbon to provide clean loading of the ribbon where required.
Additionally, one of the bands of ribbon substrate from which the ink has been removed prior to attaching .. ..... . .. .
the leader/trailer thereto, will act as a warning of a visible nature to the operator that the ri.bbon end is near. Thus, when the operator observes this transparent gap in the trailer approaching the print point, the operator may change the ribbon at that time without interrupting printing or can continue typing until the transparent gap interrupts printing in the normal fashion.
The assembly of the ribbon structure pri~r to slitting may be accomplished with special.mechanisms by enyaging the underneath or ink surface of the bulk ribbon structure trans~erse to the long axis of the ribbon stock with an adhesive tape and forcibly adhering t~e tape to tl~e ink and pulling the tape from proximity of ~he ink su~face thereby re~oVing the ink from the substrate. This may be acco~plished readily by~ passin~ an adhes.iYe tape around ~ ~heel which is moveable across the width of the bulk roll of tape where the wheel can force the tape into adhe~iYe engagemen~ with the ink ~nd as the wheel rolls and the tape is taken up onto a takeup apparatus, 31 ~9~
the ink is pulled from the substrate. As the wheels and the tape contact point progxesses laterally across the bulk ribbon stock removing a plurality of bands of ink from the substrate, the leader/trailer ~oils may be pulled from separate rolls and positioned relative to the ribbon widt~ such that the foils and ribbon will lie in substantially face to face arrangement, whereupon two platens, one on either side of the composite structure, are forced together to accomplish the sandwiching. Upon severing of the foil members, the laminated structure of the foil composites and ribbon stock may then be slit in a conventional manner.
The advantages in the structure of the ribbon as described herein and the procedure for assembling the composite ribbon~trailer~leader struct~re are significant from a reliability as well as cost m; n; m; zation viewpoint.
The use of the foils as laminates instead of spliced-in leader and trailer assemblies maintains spliceless integrity of the ribbon ~eb for ~uiding, feeding and slitting and thereby insures enhanced alignment upon passage through t~e slitter and ~ reduced number o~
de~ective ~ibbon xolls due to skewed ribbon and pulled apart splices.
Additionally, the apparatus and s~ructure are such that the slittin~ and spooling operations are greatly enh~nced due to the elimination of the need to xemo~e a segment or span o~ the bulk xibbon web.
~ further advantage is that the ribbon provides a precise end of ribbon warning without the possibility ,~ .
-i~9~ 3 of a transfer of either a partial ink layer or color from a trailer -thereby spoiling the appearance of the type~ copyO
The present invention provides a printing roll for use in a printing ribbon. The roll has a layer of transferable ink on one side thereof and ink masking means masking predetermined proportions of the layer of ink. The roll is designed to be severed at the ink masking means into a plurality of ribbon lengths so that each length of ribbon terminates in a portion of masking means at each of its ends.
The invention also provides a method of making and winding small prin-ter-usable rolls of ribbon having an ink permeable substrate and a marking material on one surface of the substrate from bulk rolls of the ribbon. The improvement comprises adhesively applying to preselected portions of the ribbon over the marking material an uninked film to form a preselected laminated portion on the substrate. The ribbon is subsequently split to the desired widths and the slit ribbon with the laminated portions are wound on a plurality of spools to form printer usable rolls of ribbon.
Each printer usable roll has a leader and a trailer which is provided by severing the roll at the laminated portions.
~9~7~3 -7a-Drawing Fig. 1 illustrates an apparatus for positioning and assembling the foil composite to the ribbon structure.
Fig. 2 illustrates the removal of the ink layer from the ribbon structure.
Fig. 3 illustrates the ink layer having been removed from the ribbon structure and the positions of the foil composites prior to adhesive engagement with the ribbon structure.
Fig. 4 illustrates the positlon of the ribbon composites forming the leader/trailer when in a sandwiched or assembled position.
Fig. 5 illustrates the ribbon spool with the ribbon wound upon the supply spool and having an enlarged sectional view of the leader portion of the ribbon.
Fig. 6 illustrates the supply spool with t~e txailer ~ttached thereto and not haYing been wound onto ~he supply spool.
Fig. 7 illustrates a complete ribbon assembly wit~
the leader attached to a takeup spool and the ribbon wound on the supply spool.
LE9-81-006 ~ ~9 ~ 473 Description of the Invention As ribbon stock is unrolled from a jumbo roll and ~ed to a slitter, as is conventional, the ribbon stock lO.comprising a suhstrate 12 and an i.nk layer 14 will pass through a leader/trailer station 16 i.llustrated in Fig. 1. The ribbon 10 is positioned between an upper platen 18 and a lower platen 20.
The platens 18 and 20 are flat plates which are moveable into a position where they forcibly engage opposite sides of the ribbon 10.
In the position illustrated i~ Fig. 1, platens 18 and 20 are withdrawn and held withdrawn by platen : lift control 22 and 24. With the platens 18 and 20 withdrawn from their juxtaposed position, a space rsufficient to traverse the ribbon web 10 with carrier 26 is provided. Carrier 26 carries thereon at least a roller ~8 around which is passed a web of adhesive tape 30 and in the disclosed.embodiment carries three rollers 28 and.tape 30.
Adhesive tape 30 is pro~ided from supply spool 32 and accumulated afte~ use on takeup spool 34. Takeup spool 3~ is powered by drive 36 to wind the consumed ribbon onto the takeup spool 34 as carrier 26 translates rom le~t to right across the path of ribbon 10. The transl~tion of carriex 26 will place roller 23 i:n a position as indicated by the phantom lines with tape span 30 passing around roller 28.
During such passa~e from le~t to right, platen 18 is lowered by platen lift control 22 to provide a solid backing for ribbon 10. Thus, substrate 12 and ink layer 14 are trapped between adhesive tape 30 and pl~ten 18 with platen 18 providing a resistive f~
backing force against ribbon lO. Carrier 26 is caused to translate fro~ right to left by carrier drive 38 which drives the carrier in any conventional mannex. This drive may be a chain drive, rack and pinion drive, leadscrew drive or any ot:her suitable approach and is not a significant basis for this invention and, therefore, need not be described in detail.
As carrier 26 is moved to its leftmost limit of drive by carriex drive 38, the gripper carried by carrier 26 is placed into engaging relationship with a foil composite 42. As carrier 26 is moved to the right by drive 38, the gripper, under the influence of gripper control 44 will grasp foil composite 42 and pull foil lS composite to extend across the complete width of the path occupied by ribbon lO. Foil composite 42 is formed by unreeling foil 46 and at the same time pulling therewith a tape 48 which has adhesive on both sides. Foil 46 is provided with an adhesive material on one side which forms the inner surface of the wrap ~,~ on its supply spool 50.
After carxier 26 has been withdrawn from between ribbon 10 and platen 20, platen lift control 24 may be energized to xaise platen 20 to trap foil composite 25 42 and ribbon lO between pl~ten 2~ and platen 18 and forcibly engage the adhesive side of foil composite 42 with the ink side 14 of ribbon 10.
Foil Gomposite 42 may then be severed by any conventional ~echnique such as hot wire, sheer or other severing de~ice. The structure of the leader trailer has at this point been fabrlcated together with the ribbon lO t~ form a composite laminate. This laminate may LE9-81-006 ~19i~7~
then be passed onto subsequent processing stations.
.
Referring to Fig~ 2, the ribbon stock 10 is adhesively engaged by the adhesive tape 30 as the tape 30 passes about roller 28. Rollers 28 are conveniently commonly mounted upon shaft 52 for ease in movement and control. As the tape passes about the periphery of roller 28 and is pulled downward from the ribbon 10, ink layer 14 îs adhesively removed from substrate 12 and carried on the adhesive face of tape 30. After roller 28 has completed its passage, the ribbo~ stock 10 is as it appears in Fig. 3, greatly enlarged. The channels for~ed into ink layer 14 are those regions of the ink material which were removed by adhesive engagement with tape 30 as described with reference to Fig. 2. As the carrier 26 in Fig. 1 moves toward the right to pull the tape from engagement with ink layer 14 and remove the ink layer 14 from substrate 12, it also pulls foil composite 42 transverse to the length of ribbon stock 10.
Foil composite 42 is illustrated in Fig. 3. There may be sepa~te foil composites for the leader and trailer.
Face 54 of foil 56 is adhesive and is positioned to engage the ink side 14 o~ ribbon stock 10. ~here foil 56 overlies a region where the ink layer 14 has been disrupl:ed and removed, the adhesive surface S4 of foil 56 will then engage the substrate 12 for a firm adhesive attaGhment. Carried on the non-adhesive face 58 of foil 56 is a double-faced adhesive tape 60.
Double-faced adhesive tape 60 will adhere on one side to the non-adhesive face 58 of foil 56 and will expose the second adhesive face of 6~ of tape 60.
Referring again to Fig. 1, after foil composite 42 has been positioned transverse to the path of ribbon stock 10, platens 18 and.20 are actuated to squeeze the entire overlaid material into a laminated structure which is illustrated in Fig. 4. The squeezing of the adhesivé faced foil 56 causes adherence to the substrate 12 where the ink layer 14 has been removed and further adheres to the ink layer 14 where the ink remains on the ribbon structure 10.
The adhesive strips 60 with the adhesive face 62 exposed will then provide attachment point for the ribbon spools.
As the ribbon is slit, the transverse foil composites 42 will then become trailer and leader, the leader ; portion 64 being primarily for purposes of attaching the.end of the ribbon to the takeup spool during final assembly of the ribbon assembly and the trailer 66 being primarily adapted for attachment to t~e supply spool with tape 60 and the extending out away from the supply spool for a finite distance of a non-inked surface ~n Eoil 56 to Frovide an encapsulated ink length of trailer from whi~h printin~ cannot be accomplished thxough ink transfer. The portion 64 can be len~thened to fo~ ~n enca~sulated ink length of ribbon ~or clean h~ndling, if required.
The substrate 1~ i~ transparent to -translucent and with the re~oval of ~he ink laye~ 14 in finite ~ands transverse to the bulk ribbon stock 10, a window 68 of some transmissability to llght is created and overlaid subsequently with foil 56. This gap in the ink layer and thus the transmissability o~ ht therethrough provides a visual warning to -the operator that the end of the ink layer is imminent.
The length 70 of ribbon stock 10 is waste and results from characteristics of the techniques employed to slit the ribbon stock 10 and may vary from slitting machine type to slitting machine type.
~eferring to Fig. 5, the ribbon 10 has been wound upon the spool and the leader severed from the bulk supply of the ribbon stock. The advantage of extending the foil 56 to either side of the region from which the ink layer 14 had been removed is that upon the complete sandwiching o~ the foil composite with the ribbon stock 10, a laminated structure results which has substantially enhanced rigidity and handling characteristics than that of the exceedingly thin film ribbon 10 hy itself.
Fig. 6 illustrates the trailer portion 66 of the ribbon 10 adhesively attached by tape 60 to the supply 5po41 72, ~ith the ~oil 56 extending leftward from the point o~ attachment and overlying the ink layer 14 to pro~ide a non-printing sur~a~e in conjunction with the end Of xibbon warning window 68. The length of trailex poXtion 66 may be varied according to the desires of the person implementing the ribbon spoo~ assembly and the needs of the xibbon feed mechanism upon whic~ the ribbon asse~bly will be utiliæed.
Referring to Fig. 7, takeup spool 7~ i5 illustrated in bonding contact with the adhesi~e strip 60 on ~9~7~3 leader structure 64. The extension of foil 56 to one or both sides of the zone from which the ink layer 14 had been removed frcm substrate 12 adds rigidity through the laminating characteris-tics to the ribbon 10. In the event that a clean handling surface is desired over an extended length of the end of the ribbon, the foil 56 may be enlarged to provide any desired extended length toward the supply spool. It is also possible that an additional zone of ink removal may be desirable proximate to the edge of foil 56 if the length of the leader portion 64 is extended.
The enlarged views of the ribbon where attached to a takeup spool such as in Figs. 6 and 7 bear no dimensional relationship to the illustrated spools but are only illustrative of the method of engaging the spools with the adhesive tape 60.
In addition to simplifying the assembly of the ribbon : structure with trailers and leaders, the leader and trailer structure also per~it substantially enhanced possibilities for full and complete automation of the assembly of the leader/trailer composite to the bulk ribbon web 10. The control of gripper control ~4 drives 36 and 38 and platen li~t cont~ols 22 and
TRAILER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREFOR
Background of the Inventlon When ribbon is manufactured, the substrate material such as a cast polyethylene is coated in larg~ wide rolls with an ink material which is capable of being transferred from the substrate to the printed page by impact. As this material is fed from the large wide xolls referred to as jumbo rolls, it is slit by a slitter and wound upon individual ribbon cores for subsequent use on a printer or typewriter. After an appropriate amount of ribbon has been wound upon the cores, the slitter is stopped and a segment of the ribbon stock which remains unslit is cut out and a non-inked material typically spliced into the gap to form a leader and trailer. This material is then passed through the slitter to subdivide it in width to the width of the ribbons being spooled and is wound partially onto the spool in the slitter. At this point, the ribbon stock and slitter are stopped and the ribbon spool wound with ribbon and leader are severed near the center of the leader/trailer film.
A portion of the material accompanies the ribbon on the spools, thus forming a spliced-on leader. The remaining portion of the leadex/trailer material which has been severed is then attached to new empty spools to form the spliced-o~ trailex and it is then wound along with ribbon onto the spools to the desired diameter.
The cutting of the ribbon stock and the subsequent splicing in and slitting of the leader/trailer material then has the potential of causing misalignment LE9-81-00~
and thus causing the spools to not wind uniformly.
When this occurs, the ribbon spool and the ribbon thereon are rejected as improperly wound and discarded, thus increasing the cost of t~e ultimate praduct. Additionally, if leader/trailer material is not firmly taped into the bulk ribbon strand, the bond may b~eak, requiring rethreading of the slitter and the subsequent loss of a large number of ribbons in production.
The prior art technique requires the assembly of several separate webs to accomplish the formation of the leader trailer composite and then this material must be adhesively attached to the film of the ribbon.
U. S. Patent 3!286,808 to John PO Arena, et al, is an example of such a ribbon structure and the assembly of a plurality of tapes and foils in precise controlled locations .
As taught in the prior art and by industry standards, a ribbon leader is normally a spliced-in assembly and serves to carry the attaching tape, which is used to connect the start of the ribbon to the takeup spool, and further serves to provide a clean handlin~ length of material to protect the operator from ink contamination during the loading of t~e xibbon into the typewriter. Similarly, a xibbon trailer is a spliced-in assembly of tape and film and serves to carry t~e attaching t~pe whic~ is used ta att~ch the end of the ribbon assembly to the center or supply hub. ~ddi1:ionally, the spliced-in trailer assembly ~
typlcally provides a visual end of ~ibbon warning Via its contr~sting colo~ and further provides a threshald print interruption featuxe to terminate pxinting kefore xibbon feed becomes inhibited by the lack of additional ribbon supply. An interruption in feed can have the undesirable effect of causing light and dark characters which require subsequent correction before typing can be continued. One common undesirable effect of a contrasting colored trailer material is that the typewriter can impact the material upon ribbon depletion,.thereby causing a transferring of the colored material to t~e typed page which usually cannot be coxrected.
With the l~rge n~nber of tapes and foils required to form the prior art leader and trailer composite, and the subsequent splicing-in of the assembly into the bulk ribbon strand or web (together wi-th the removal of the span of ribbon material to accomrnodate the leader and trailer), an automated assembly of such a ribbon structure is impractical inasmuch as the materials are thin and tend to tangle, pucker, and tear, and in view of the fact that the alignment is critical during the passage of the leader/trailer composite through th~ slitter.
State of the art ribbon slitters used in industry all bring the ribbon past the leader/trailer station in a "~ace downl' or ink down fashion~ Since the key element of both the leader ~nd trailer is th.e adhesive attachin~ means used to attach both ends of the ribbon to their ~espectiye spools, it is generally not possible to m~ke even the simplest form of leader and trailer, having only these attaching rnea~s, without cutting into the ribbon web and splicing-in a section o~ leader and tx~iler ~ssembly.
`\
LE9-81-006 ~9~7~
Summary of the Invention The present ribbon str.ucture i5 formed to eliminate problems experienced with the prior art assembly technique and ribbon structures by adhesively placing into position with the ribbo:n separate leader and trailer foils having at least one adhesive side and engageable with the ink side of the substrate of the ribbon structure. In the simplest form, both the leader and trailer can consist of single strips of . 10 double-sided tape, where one adhesive surface attaches to the xibbon stock and the other used later to attach the ribbon ends to their respective hubs. In the preferred embodiment, the leader and.trailer will each be a laminate. o~ ~ariable length foils first attached to the ribbon stock and having no adhesive on the back or outside and having attached to the non-adhesive side, the double-sided tape above described. ~o insure adequate adhesion between the adhesive foils forming the leader. and trailer, a band of ink is~remoYed from the ribbon substrate transverse to the path o~ the r.ibbon and the adhesively faced foils are then engaged with the substrate of the ribbon structure as well as the ink lying beyond the Xespective bands and in the area encompassed by the said leadeF~trailer foilS. Such engagement with the bands by the adhesive ~ace of the leader and trailer insures adhesion o~ the leadex/tr~iler to the ribbon structure notwit~standing the rel~tively easy remo~al o~ the ink ~rom the substrate o~ the xibbonO Further/ the adhesion of ~he txailex to the ink ~ace o~ the ribbon str~cture insUres tha~t the ink is encapsulated in the laminate and is thus not capable.of transfer to the paper when i~p~cted by a printing element. Inasmuch as there is LE9-81-006 1~91~73 no colored material available to the typed sheet, no transfer may occur and ther0by spoil the text appearanc~ on the typed sheet when the ribbon is exhausted. The width ~f the trailer may be adjusted to provide an adequately long ~railer to insure typed interruption before the trailer is pulled from the spool of the ribbon core~ Similarly, the length of the leader may be adjusted to provide a length of ink encapsulated ribbon to provide clean loading of the ribbon where required.
Additionally, one of the bands of ribbon substrate from which the ink has been removed prior to attaching .. ..... . .. .
the leader/trailer thereto, will act as a warning of a visible nature to the operator that the ri.bbon end is near. Thus, when the operator observes this transparent gap in the trailer approaching the print point, the operator may change the ribbon at that time without interrupting printing or can continue typing until the transparent gap interrupts printing in the normal fashion.
The assembly of the ribbon structure pri~r to slitting may be accomplished with special.mechanisms by enyaging the underneath or ink surface of the bulk ribbon structure trans~erse to the long axis of the ribbon stock with an adhesive tape and forcibly adhering t~e tape to tl~e ink and pulling the tape from proximity of ~he ink su~face thereby re~oVing the ink from the substrate. This may be acco~plished readily by~ passin~ an adhes.iYe tape around ~ ~heel which is moveable across the width of the bulk roll of tape where the wheel can force the tape into adhe~iYe engagemen~ with the ink ~nd as the wheel rolls and the tape is taken up onto a takeup apparatus, 31 ~9~
the ink is pulled from the substrate. As the wheels and the tape contact point progxesses laterally across the bulk ribbon stock removing a plurality of bands of ink from the substrate, the leader/trailer ~oils may be pulled from separate rolls and positioned relative to the ribbon widt~ such that the foils and ribbon will lie in substantially face to face arrangement, whereupon two platens, one on either side of the composite structure, are forced together to accomplish the sandwiching. Upon severing of the foil members, the laminated structure of the foil composites and ribbon stock may then be slit in a conventional manner.
The advantages in the structure of the ribbon as described herein and the procedure for assembling the composite ribbon~trailer~leader struct~re are significant from a reliability as well as cost m; n; m; zation viewpoint.
The use of the foils as laminates instead of spliced-in leader and trailer assemblies maintains spliceless integrity of the ribbon ~eb for ~uiding, feeding and slitting and thereby insures enhanced alignment upon passage through t~e slitter and ~ reduced number o~
de~ective ~ibbon xolls due to skewed ribbon and pulled apart splices.
Additionally, the apparatus and s~ructure are such that the slittin~ and spooling operations are greatly enh~nced due to the elimination of the need to xemo~e a segment or span o~ the bulk xibbon web.
~ further advantage is that the ribbon provides a precise end of ribbon warning without the possibility ,~ .
-i~9~ 3 of a transfer of either a partial ink layer or color from a trailer -thereby spoiling the appearance of the type~ copyO
The present invention provides a printing roll for use in a printing ribbon. The roll has a layer of transferable ink on one side thereof and ink masking means masking predetermined proportions of the layer of ink. The roll is designed to be severed at the ink masking means into a plurality of ribbon lengths so that each length of ribbon terminates in a portion of masking means at each of its ends.
The invention also provides a method of making and winding small prin-ter-usable rolls of ribbon having an ink permeable substrate and a marking material on one surface of the substrate from bulk rolls of the ribbon. The improvement comprises adhesively applying to preselected portions of the ribbon over the marking material an uninked film to form a preselected laminated portion on the substrate. The ribbon is subsequently split to the desired widths and the slit ribbon with the laminated portions are wound on a plurality of spools to form printer usable rolls of ribbon.
Each printer usable roll has a leader and a trailer which is provided by severing the roll at the laminated portions.
~9~7~3 -7a-Drawing Fig. 1 illustrates an apparatus for positioning and assembling the foil composite to the ribbon structure.
Fig. 2 illustrates the removal of the ink layer from the ribbon structure.
Fig. 3 illustrates the ink layer having been removed from the ribbon structure and the positions of the foil composites prior to adhesive engagement with the ribbon structure.
Fig. 4 illustrates the positlon of the ribbon composites forming the leader/trailer when in a sandwiched or assembled position.
Fig. 5 illustrates the ribbon spool with the ribbon wound upon the supply spool and having an enlarged sectional view of the leader portion of the ribbon.
Fig. 6 illustrates the supply spool with t~e txailer ~ttached thereto and not haYing been wound onto ~he supply spool.
Fig. 7 illustrates a complete ribbon assembly wit~
the leader attached to a takeup spool and the ribbon wound on the supply spool.
LE9-81-006 ~ ~9 ~ 473 Description of the Invention As ribbon stock is unrolled from a jumbo roll and ~ed to a slitter, as is conventional, the ribbon stock lO.comprising a suhstrate 12 and an i.nk layer 14 will pass through a leader/trailer station 16 i.llustrated in Fig. 1. The ribbon 10 is positioned between an upper platen 18 and a lower platen 20.
The platens 18 and 20 are flat plates which are moveable into a position where they forcibly engage opposite sides of the ribbon 10.
In the position illustrated i~ Fig. 1, platens 18 and 20 are withdrawn and held withdrawn by platen : lift control 22 and 24. With the platens 18 and 20 withdrawn from their juxtaposed position, a space rsufficient to traverse the ribbon web 10 with carrier 26 is provided. Carrier 26 carries thereon at least a roller ~8 around which is passed a web of adhesive tape 30 and in the disclosed.embodiment carries three rollers 28 and.tape 30.
Adhesive tape 30 is pro~ided from supply spool 32 and accumulated afte~ use on takeup spool 34. Takeup spool 3~ is powered by drive 36 to wind the consumed ribbon onto the takeup spool 34 as carrier 26 translates rom le~t to right across the path of ribbon 10. The transl~tion of carriex 26 will place roller 23 i:n a position as indicated by the phantom lines with tape span 30 passing around roller 28.
During such passa~e from le~t to right, platen 18 is lowered by platen lift control 22 to provide a solid backing for ribbon 10. Thus, substrate 12 and ink layer 14 are trapped between adhesive tape 30 and pl~ten 18 with platen 18 providing a resistive f~
backing force against ribbon lO. Carrier 26 is caused to translate fro~ right to left by carrier drive 38 which drives the carrier in any conventional mannex. This drive may be a chain drive, rack and pinion drive, leadscrew drive or any ot:her suitable approach and is not a significant basis for this invention and, therefore, need not be described in detail.
As carrier 26 is moved to its leftmost limit of drive by carriex drive 38, the gripper carried by carrier 26 is placed into engaging relationship with a foil composite 42. As carrier 26 is moved to the right by drive 38, the gripper, under the influence of gripper control 44 will grasp foil composite 42 and pull foil lS composite to extend across the complete width of the path occupied by ribbon lO. Foil composite 42 is formed by unreeling foil 46 and at the same time pulling therewith a tape 48 which has adhesive on both sides. Foil 46 is provided with an adhesive material on one side which forms the inner surface of the wrap ~,~ on its supply spool 50.
After carxier 26 has been withdrawn from between ribbon 10 and platen 20, platen lift control 24 may be energized to xaise platen 20 to trap foil composite 25 42 and ribbon lO between pl~ten 2~ and platen 18 and forcibly engage the adhesive side of foil composite 42 with the ink side 14 of ribbon 10.
Foil Gomposite 42 may then be severed by any conventional ~echnique such as hot wire, sheer or other severing de~ice. The structure of the leader trailer has at this point been fabrlcated together with the ribbon lO t~ form a composite laminate. This laminate may LE9-81-006 ~19i~7~
then be passed onto subsequent processing stations.
.
Referring to Fig~ 2, the ribbon stock 10 is adhesively engaged by the adhesive tape 30 as the tape 30 passes about roller 28. Rollers 28 are conveniently commonly mounted upon shaft 52 for ease in movement and control. As the tape passes about the periphery of roller 28 and is pulled downward from the ribbon 10, ink layer 14 îs adhesively removed from substrate 12 and carried on the adhesive face of tape 30. After roller 28 has completed its passage, the ribbo~ stock 10 is as it appears in Fig. 3, greatly enlarged. The channels for~ed into ink layer 14 are those regions of the ink material which were removed by adhesive engagement with tape 30 as described with reference to Fig. 2. As the carrier 26 in Fig. 1 moves toward the right to pull the tape from engagement with ink layer 14 and remove the ink layer 14 from substrate 12, it also pulls foil composite 42 transverse to the length of ribbon stock 10.
Foil composite 42 is illustrated in Fig. 3. There may be sepa~te foil composites for the leader and trailer.
Face 54 of foil 56 is adhesive and is positioned to engage the ink side 14 o~ ribbon stock 10. ~here foil 56 overlies a region where the ink layer 14 has been disrupl:ed and removed, the adhesive surface S4 of foil 56 will then engage the substrate 12 for a firm adhesive attaGhment. Carried on the non-adhesive face 58 of foil 56 is a double-faced adhesive tape 60.
Double-faced adhesive tape 60 will adhere on one side to the non-adhesive face 58 of foil 56 and will expose the second adhesive face of 6~ of tape 60.
Referring again to Fig. 1, after foil composite 42 has been positioned transverse to the path of ribbon stock 10, platens 18 and.20 are actuated to squeeze the entire overlaid material into a laminated structure which is illustrated in Fig. 4. The squeezing of the adhesivé faced foil 56 causes adherence to the substrate 12 where the ink layer 14 has been removed and further adheres to the ink layer 14 where the ink remains on the ribbon structure 10.
The adhesive strips 60 with the adhesive face 62 exposed will then provide attachment point for the ribbon spools.
As the ribbon is slit, the transverse foil composites 42 will then become trailer and leader, the leader ; portion 64 being primarily for purposes of attaching the.end of the ribbon to the takeup spool during final assembly of the ribbon assembly and the trailer 66 being primarily adapted for attachment to t~e supply spool with tape 60 and the extending out away from the supply spool for a finite distance of a non-inked surface ~n Eoil 56 to Frovide an encapsulated ink length of trailer from whi~h printin~ cannot be accomplished thxough ink transfer. The portion 64 can be len~thened to fo~ ~n enca~sulated ink length of ribbon ~or clean h~ndling, if required.
The substrate 1~ i~ transparent to -translucent and with the re~oval of ~he ink laye~ 14 in finite ~ands transverse to the bulk ribbon stock 10, a window 68 of some transmissability to llght is created and overlaid subsequently with foil 56. This gap in the ink layer and thus the transmissability o~ ht therethrough provides a visual warning to -the operator that the end of the ink layer is imminent.
The length 70 of ribbon stock 10 is waste and results from characteristics of the techniques employed to slit the ribbon stock 10 and may vary from slitting machine type to slitting machine type.
~eferring to Fig. 5, the ribbon 10 has been wound upon the spool and the leader severed from the bulk supply of the ribbon stock. The advantage of extending the foil 56 to either side of the region from which the ink layer 14 had been removed is that upon the complete sandwiching o~ the foil composite with the ribbon stock 10, a laminated structure results which has substantially enhanced rigidity and handling characteristics than that of the exceedingly thin film ribbon 10 hy itself.
Fig. 6 illustrates the trailer portion 66 of the ribbon 10 adhesively attached by tape 60 to the supply 5po41 72, ~ith the ~oil 56 extending leftward from the point o~ attachment and overlying the ink layer 14 to pro~ide a non-printing sur~a~e in conjunction with the end Of xibbon warning window 68. The length of trailex poXtion 66 may be varied according to the desires of the person implementing the ribbon spoo~ assembly and the needs of the xibbon feed mechanism upon whic~ the ribbon asse~bly will be utiliæed.
Referring to Fig. 7, takeup spool 7~ i5 illustrated in bonding contact with the adhesi~e strip 60 on ~9~7~3 leader structure 64. The extension of foil 56 to one or both sides of the zone from which the ink layer 14 had been removed frcm substrate 12 adds rigidity through the laminating characteris-tics to the ribbon 10. In the event that a clean handling surface is desired over an extended length of the end of the ribbon, the foil 56 may be enlarged to provide any desired extended length toward the supply spool. It is also possible that an additional zone of ink removal may be desirable proximate to the edge of foil 56 if the length of the leader portion 64 is extended.
The enlarged views of the ribbon where attached to a takeup spool such as in Figs. 6 and 7 bear no dimensional relationship to the illustrated spools but are only illustrative of the method of engaging the spools with the adhesive tape 60.
In addition to simplifying the assembly of the ribbon : structure with trailers and leaders, the leader and trailer structure also per~it substantially enhanced possibilities for full and complete automation of the assembly of the leader/trailer composite to the bulk ribbon web 10. The control of gripper control ~4 drives 36 and 38 and platen li~t cont~ols 22 and
2~ are all con~entional automated controls and may be implemented in any one o~ a number o~ possible ways accordin~ to ~e desires of ~he implementer.
It should be borne in mind that all o~ these controls could be implemented in such a way as to be manually operated and would still provide an enhanced ribbon structure inasmuch as the ribbon lO would remain in a continuous web to insure integrity and proper.
alignment and feeding during the slitting and spooling operation and, as such, would still provide a finished ribbon spool of enhanced quality.
One additional advantage to the positioning of tape 60 on the leader portion 64 is that when the ribbon is slit and fully wound, the spool does not at that point of the manufacturing process have attached thereto the takeup spool 74. The adhesive strip 60 - may be engaged with the outer wrap of ribbon 10 on the spool as illustrated in Fig. 5 thereby retaining the end of the ribbon 10 in a fixed location ~or handling and transporting of the ribbon disc 76 to subsequent assembly operations as needed. A further advantage to the leader laminate section 6~ is that it will display sufficient rigidity for automated handling and assembly should that ~unction be desirable from the producer's standpoint inasmuch as substantially better handling characteristics are provided by the laminate than would be a segment of the exceedingly thin film ribbon l~ with~ut any supporting laminate structure. Characteristically, the laminate f~rms a type of bi-metallic action where the end will project fro~ the ribbon circu~ference in a semi-rigid fashion
It should be borne in mind that all o~ these controls could be implemented in such a way as to be manually operated and would still provide an enhanced ribbon structure inasmuch as the ribbon lO would remain in a continuous web to insure integrity and proper.
alignment and feeding during the slitting and spooling operation and, as such, would still provide a finished ribbon spool of enhanced quality.
One additional advantage to the positioning of tape 60 on the leader portion 64 is that when the ribbon is slit and fully wound, the spool does not at that point of the manufacturing process have attached thereto the takeup spool 74. The adhesive strip 60 - may be engaged with the outer wrap of ribbon 10 on the spool as illustrated in Fig. 5 thereby retaining the end of the ribbon 10 in a fixed location ~or handling and transporting of the ribbon disc 76 to subsequent assembly operations as needed. A further advantage to the leader laminate section 6~ is that it will display sufficient rigidity for automated handling and assembly should that ~unction be desirable from the producer's standpoint inasmuch as substantially better handling characteristics are provided by the laminate than would be a segment of the exceedingly thin film ribbon l~ with~ut any supporting laminate structure. Characteristically, the laminate f~rms a type of bi-metallic action where the end will project fro~ the ribbon circu~ference in a semi-rigid fashion
Claims (6)
1. A spliceless single use bulk transfer type print-ing ribbon assembly comprising a pair of spools, a length of spliceless ribbon extending between said spools, said ribbon comprising an ink impermiable substrate and an ink layer thereon, a length of ink masking means adhesively attached to said substrate and having an end proximate at least one end of said ribbon, and a zone of adhesive proximate each of said ends of said ribbon, and juxtaposed with said ink masking means and engaged with said spools, said ink layer having been selectively removed in an area proximate said ends of said ink masking means and said ink masking means is adhesively engaged in said area with said substrate to enhance adhesion.
2. The method of making a spliceless bulk transfer type printer ribbon comprising the steps of providing a ribbon composite comprising an ink impermiable substrate and a layer of bulk transfer type ink marking material thereon, selectively removing at least a zone of said ink marking material from said substrate and adhesively applying an adhesive attaching means to said substrate in said region where said ink marking material has been removed.
3, The method of claim 2 wherein said ribbon composite is slit to provide a plurality ribbons of machine useable width.
4. The method of claim 2 or 3 further comprising the steps of adhesively attaching said adhesive attaching means to at least a spool and spooling said composite onto said spool.
5. The method of claim 2 further comprising a step of selectively removing a further zone of said ink marking material from said substrate, thereby forming an end of ribbon warning.
6. The method of claim 2 wherein said ink marking material is removed from a zone proximate each end of said composite and said adhesive attaching means is applied to each of said zones.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US30679181A | 1981-09-29 | 1981-09-29 | |
| US306,791 | 1981-09-29 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1191473A true CA1191473A (en) | 1985-08-06 |
Family
ID=23186857
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000408728A Expired CA1191473A (en) | 1981-09-29 | 1982-08-04 | Spliceless ribbon structure having leader and trailer and method of manufacture therefor |
Country Status (9)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP0075672B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS5863492A (en) |
| AT (1) | ATE23488T1 (en) |
| AU (1) | AU553869B2 (en) |
| BR (1) | BR8204990A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1191473A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3274219D1 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES277011Y (en) |
| MX (1) | MX152423A (en) |
Families Citing this family (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4933315A (en) * | 1987-02-20 | 1990-06-12 | Dai Nippon Insatsu Kabushiki Kaisha | Heat transfer sheet |
| US6089768A (en) * | 1998-05-05 | 2000-07-18 | Printronix, Inc. | Print ribbon feeder and detection system |
Family Cites Families (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE431113A (en) * | 1938-11-29 | |||
| US2789677A (en) * | 1955-11-14 | 1957-04-23 | Smith Corona Inc | Carbon ribbon supply for typewriters |
| US3286808A (en) * | 1964-06-05 | 1966-11-22 | Ibm | Typewriter ribbon combination |
| JPS4995716A (en) * | 1973-01-19 | 1974-09-11 | ||
| JPS5270007U (en) * | 1975-11-18 | 1977-05-25 |
-
1982
- 1982-07-23 AT AT82106658T patent/ATE23488T1/en active
- 1982-07-23 DE DE8282106658T patent/DE3274219D1/en not_active Expired
- 1982-07-23 EP EP82106658A patent/EP0075672B1/en not_active Expired
- 1982-08-04 CA CA000408728A patent/CA1191473A/en not_active Expired
- 1982-08-17 AU AU87233/82A patent/AU553869B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1982-08-25 BR BR8204990A patent/BR8204990A/en unknown
- 1982-09-08 JP JP57155307A patent/JPS5863492A/en active Granted
- 1982-09-28 ES ES1982277011U patent/ES277011Y/en not_active Expired
- 1982-09-29 MX MX194582A patent/MX152423A/en unknown
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| MX152423A (en) | 1985-07-12 |
| ES277011Y (en) | 1985-02-01 |
| BR8204990A (en) | 1983-08-02 |
| DE3274219D1 (en) | 1987-01-02 |
| ATE23488T1 (en) | 1986-11-15 |
| AU553869B2 (en) | 1986-07-31 |
| AU8723382A (en) | 1983-04-14 |
| EP0075672A3 (en) | 1984-06-06 |
| ES277011U (en) | 1984-07-01 |
| JPH0260514B2 (en) | 1990-12-17 |
| JPS5863492A (en) | 1983-04-15 |
| EP0075672B1 (en) | 1986-11-12 |
| EP0075672A2 (en) | 1983-04-06 |
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