EP0734876A2 - Drucker zum Bedrucken von einem bandförmigen Aufzeichnungsträger - Google Patents

Drucker zum Bedrucken von einem bandförmigen Aufzeichnungsträger Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0734876A2
EP0734876A2 EP96301983A EP96301983A EP0734876A2 EP 0734876 A2 EP0734876 A2 EP 0734876A2 EP 96301983 A EP96301983 A EP 96301983A EP 96301983 A EP96301983 A EP 96301983A EP 0734876 A2 EP0734876 A2 EP 0734876A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ribbon
print medium
print
platen
print head
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP96301983A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0734876A3 (de
Inventor
Michael Cameron Green
Anthony James Palmer
Alan Hall
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ITW Ltd
Original Assignee
ITW Ltd
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ITW Ltd filed Critical ITW Ltd
Publication of EP0734876A2 publication Critical patent/EP0734876A2/de
Publication of EP0734876A3 publication Critical patent/EP0734876A3/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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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
    • B41J17/00—Mechanisms for manipulating page-width impression-transfer material, e.g. carbon paper
    • B41J17/02—Feeding mechanisms
    • B41J17/04—Feed dependent on the record-paper feed, e.g. both moved at the same time

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a thermal printer for printing on a continuous print medium by thermal ink transfer from a print ribbon.
  • thermo transfer printer It is known to print continuous packaging material and other continuous print media such as label bearing substrates with alphanumeric information and other symbols using a thermal transfer printer.
  • a print head having a row of electronically driven heating elements is brought to bear against an ink-carrying thermal transfer ribbon lying over the print medium while the print medium is driven perpendicularly to the row of print elements.
  • the ribbon is supplied from a take-off spool and then passes along a ribbon path which extends between the print head and the path of the print medium, and thereafter is fed onto a take-up spool, the ribbon travelling across the print head at at least approximately the same speed as the print medium whilst printing is taking place.
  • the path followed by the print medium extends around movable rollers which deflect the print medium by variable amounts both upstream and downstream of the print head. These rollers impose significant stresses on the print medium and complicate threading when the print medium is loaded into the printer. Such a printer operates typically at print medium speeds up to 200 mm per second.
  • a thermal printer for printing on a continuous print medium by ink transfer from a thermal print ribbon, comprising means defining a print medium path between inlet and outlet regions of the printer, a platen extending transversely of the said path, a thermal print head having energisable print elements and located in an opposing relationship with respect to the platen on the other side of the print medium path from the platen, means defining a ribbon path which, between the print head and the platen, runs in the same direction as and lies adjacent the print medium path, a printing actuator operable to bring the print head and the platen together in successive printing operations, and ribbon drive means operable to drive the ribbon along the ribbon path at variable rates during the printing operations, the print medium path defining means being arranged such that the print medium travels past the print head at an instantaneous rate which is substantially the same as that with which it enters the inlet region.
  • the speed with which the ribbon is driven during each printing operation is variable in response to the print medium speed of travel so as to match the speed with which the print medium is fed past the print head.
  • This may be achieved, for example, by forming the platen as a roller around which the print medium is wrapped so that the speed of rotation of the roller is a measure of the speed of passage of the print medium.
  • a shaft encoder typically an optical encoder, is used to provide an input to processing means forming part of the printing actuator to control movement of the print head and energisation of the printing elements.
  • the ribbon may be driven by a stepper motor coupled to a ribbon drive roller, the speed of operation of the stepper motor being governed by the sensed speed of rotation of the platen roller.
  • the printer may be arranged such that the ribbon is pressed against the printing medium so that, providing the ribbon is fed from and taken up on spools at a sufficient rate, the speed of the ribbon across the print head during the printing operation is determined entirely by frictional drive from the print medium, no separate ribbon drive motor being required.
  • the printer In this way it is possible to operate the printer over a wider range of speeds than prior art printers, with the print medium passing the print head at substantially the same rate as it is fed to and extracted from the printer.
  • the printer is capable of operating at print medium speeds up to 400 mm per second.
  • the invention includes a method of printing on a continuous print medium, comprising providing a printer having a print head with energisable print elements, and a platen, the print head and the platen being located in an opposing relationship with respect to each other, feeding the print medium to the printer at a continuous feed rate and passing it between the print head and the platen in the same direction as and adjacent the print medium, feeding a print ribbon between the print head and the platen, and periodically bringing the print head and the platen together and energising the print elements with the ribbon in contact with the print medium to cause transfer of ink from the ribbon to the print medium in a printing operation, wherein the print medium is passed between the print head and the platen at a rate corresponding to the rate at which the print medium is fed to the printer during and between successive printing operations and wherein, during each printing operation, the ribbon is passed between the print head and the platen in contact with the print medium, the rate at which the ribbon moves during the printing operation being variable in response to the rate of travel
  • the ribbon path may be defined by guides and, between the print head and the platen, runs in the same direction as and lies adjacent the print medium path, the printing actuator being operable to move the print head towards and away from the platen in successive printing operations, to compress the ribbon and the print medium together along a line of printing elements on the printing head.
  • the print head may be mounted on a print head carrier which is pivotable about an axis running transversely to the print medium path, the print elements being spaced from this axis to execute the above-mentioned movement towards and away from the platen as a nodding motion.
  • the platen is preferably a roller having a diameter not greater than 20 mm.
  • the print head carrier is linked to the shaft of a stepper motor coupled to the printing actuator, with the printing elements spaced from the axis of rotation of the motor so that they follow an arcuate locus which passes through the surface of the platen roller at a location where it supports the print medium.
  • Operation of the stepper motor over a small angular range successively in opposite directions moves the print head towards and away from the platen roller at the beginning and end respectively of each successive printing operation.
  • Rigid coupling of the print head carrier to the motor shaft e.g. by means of cranks and a connecting rod or by direct co-axial connection results in accurate positioning of the print head elements with respect to the print medium as it travels over the platen roller and with respect to the platen roller axis of rotation.
  • the invention also includes, according to a third aspect thereof, a printer for printing on a continuous print medium by ink transfer from a print ribbon, comprising means defining a print medium path, a platen extending transversely of the path, a print head having energisable print elements and located in an opposing relationship with the platen on the other side of the print medium path from the platen, means defining a ribbon path which, between the print head and the platen, runs in the same direction as and lies adjacent the print medium path, a ribbon take-off spool, a ribbon take-up spool which is belt driven via a slipping clutch drive, and a printing actuator operable to bring the print head and the platen together in successive printing operations.
  • the printer may further comprise a ribbon drive pulley located in the ribbon path between the print head and the take-up spool, and a ribbon drive motor coupled to the drive pulley, the take-up spool being belt-driven by the said motor.
  • the take-up spool may be belt-driven directly from the print medium or from the roller driven by the passage of the print medium.
  • the belt drive may include a driven roller arranged to bear against either the print medium where it lies over the platen or an alternative supporting surface, or against a roller which is rotated by the passage of the print medium.
  • the driven roller may be mounted on the print head carrier so as to drive the take-up spool only during a print operation, i.e. when the print head bears against the ribbon, the print medium and the platen.
  • the invention is applicable primarily to printing variable information on continuous plastics film packaging material, with each print operation being triggered by, for example, sensing the position of products to which the packaging material is to be applied as they travel along an adjacent conveyor.
  • the information includes sell-by dates, serial numbers, pricing information, and bar codes.
  • a printer for the continuous printing of a continuous print medium by transfer from a thermal transfer print ribbon has a base unit 10 and a removable ribbon cassette unit 12.
  • the base unit which is mounted to a frame of the printer (not shown), contains a print head stepper motor 14 mounted on a front plate 16 ofthe unit 10, and a ribbon drive stepper motor 18 similarly mounted on the front plate 16.
  • a pivotable print head carrier 20 which supports a print head 22.
  • Coupling of the print head carrier 20 to the motor shaft 14S is by way of a parallelogram linkage lying behind the front plate 16 and comprising a first crank 24 fixed to the motor shaft 14S, a connecting link or rod 26, and a second crank 28 generally in the form of a semi-circular plate which is mounted on a shaft 30 supporting the print head carrier 20.
  • Shaft 30 takes the form of a boss 30B on the front side of plate 16, with an axially extending tongue 30T to which the print head carrier 20 is bolted.
  • the motor shaft 18S ofthe ribbon drive stepper motor 18 is attached to a drive spindle 32 which, like the print head carrier 20, projects perpendicularly from the front plate 16 of the base unit 10.
  • the cassette unit 12 is shown in Figure 1 spaced from the base unit 10.
  • the cassette unit 12 when fitted to the base unit 10, the cassette unit 12 is closer to the base unit 16, such that ribbon spools 34, 36, which are rotatably mounted on a front plate 38 of the cassette unit 12, are coextensive with the print head 22 in terms of their location in a direction perpendicular to the front plate 38 of the base unit 40.
  • a ribbon drive roller 32 is also attached to the cassette unit front plate 30 visible in Figure 1 below ribbon spool 34, and also in Figure 3.
  • the relative positioning of the ribbon spools 34, 36, the print head 22, and the ribbon drive roller 40 may be ascertained by comparison of Figure 1 with Figure 3.
  • the ribbon 42 itself is shown in full lines in Figure 3, but in phantom lines in Figure 1 for clarity. Certain items shown in Figure 1 are not shown in Figure 2, and vice versa.
  • a platen roller 44 and a deflection roller 46 are shown in Figure 2 but not in Figures 1 and 3. These components are mounted on the printer frame or other apparatus which the printer is associated.
  • continuous film material to be printed enters the printer in an inlet region 52, passes over and wraps around platen roller 44 from where it follows a downwardly inclined path to pass underneath and wrap around a deflection roller 46 before passing to an outlet region 54 of the printer.
  • the positioning of platen and deflection rollers 44 and 46 is such that the film substrate 50 is nowhere deflected through an angle greater than 60° by any one guiding element, and preferably not greater than 45°.
  • the function of the deflection roller 46 may be performed instead by any deflecting support for the film substrate 50 positioned to cause the substrate to be wrapped partly around the platen roller.
  • Both platen roller 44 and deflection roller 46 have axes of rotation which extend at right angles to the direction of travel of the substrate film 50, and both axes are fixed in position so that the path of the substrate film 50 remains substantially constant during and between successive printing operations.
  • the instantaneous rate at which the film 50 passes over the platen 44 always matches the rate at which it is supplied to and extracted from the printer through the inlet and outlet regions 52 and 54.
  • the thermal transfer ribbon 42 follows a ribbon path as follows. Firstly, a supply of the ribbon is provided on a feed spool 36 which is mounted by means of a bearing (not shown) fixed to the cassette unit front plate 38. A degree of friction is built into this bearing to maintain tension in ribbon 42. From spool 36, the ribbon 42 passes over a break detector roller 58 attached to the end of a break detector arm 60 which is rotatable about the rotation axis of the feed spool 36 and biased in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 3 by a spring 62.
  • the ribbon 42 passes over guide rollers 64 and 66 attached to the cassette unit front plate 30 and thence through a region which, when the cassette unit 12 is loaded into the base unit 10, lies between the print head 22 and the platen 44.
  • the ribbon then passes over a further guide roller 68.
  • the head and the platen are seen in Figure 2, as are also guide rollers 66 to 68, so that the location of the ribbon path relative to the head and platen can be seen.
  • the ribbon 42 passes over platen 44 it is in frictional contact with the substrate film 50.
  • the ribbon 42 is held in contact with substrate film 50 only between the start and finish of each printing operation, during which the lower surface ofthe print head 22 bears against the platen 44 through the ribbon 42 and film 50, as shown in Figure 2. At other times, the print head 22 is raised by operation of its stepper motor 14.
  • the ribbon 42 travels over guide roller 70 and is then wrapped around the drive roller 40.
  • a pinch roller 72 mounted on a pivotable support arm 74, maintains the ribbon 42 in gripping contact with drive roller 40.
  • Drive roller 40 has a rubber sleeve and is driven by motor 18 via a toothed belt 75 and toothed pulleys 75P behind base unit front plate 16 on the motor shaft 18S and the spindle 32, (shown in Figures 1 and 2) so that the ribbon 42 is pulled through the space between the print head 22 and the platen 44.
  • the ribbon 42 passes to a take-up spool 38 which is belt-driven by a belt 76 from a pulley 78 (see Figure 1) mounted on the shaft of drive roller 40.
  • the mounting bearing (not shown) of the take-up spool 34 is mounted on a shaft fixed to the cassette unit front plate 30 and, like the mounting bearing of the feed spool 36, has a degree of friction built in.
  • the diameter of the pulley 34P associated with take-up spool 34 together with the diameter of the pulley associated with drive roller 40 are such that the shaft bearing the take-up spool 34 is always driven faster than the speed of rotation necessary to take up the ribbon 42 from the drive roller 40, regardless of the diameter of the ribbon reel.
  • the friction slip built into the connection between spool 34 and the belt-driven shaft allows the respective speeds of rotation of the drive roller 40 and the take-up spool 34 to be different from each other.
  • the print head 22 has side-facing printing elements 82 ( Figure 1) extending along a line parallel to the axis of rotation 84 of the print head carrier 20. These printing elements 82 project from a lower surface 86 of the print head 22 which, in the printing position of the print head 22 is tangential to the platen roller 44, as shown by the chain lines in Figure 2.
  • the arcuate locus followed by the line of printing elements 82 when the print head 22 is pivoted about axis 84 passes through the intersection of a tangent parallel to the print head lower surface 86 and the platen roller surface. Consequently, the ribbon 42 and the substrate film 50 are pinched between the print head 22 and the platen roller 44 precisely at the line of printing elements 82.
  • these elements are heated under electronic control, and the film 50 and ribbon 42 are passed together over the element, ink is transferred from the ribbon 42 to the film 50 to print characters and symbols according to pre-programmed information incorporated in the signals fed to the print head 22.
  • the ribbon 42 is in contact with film 50 and normally travels at the same speed. This is achieved by mounting an optical shaft encoder on a shaft bearing the platen roller 44. The output of the encoder is representative of the speed of the film 50, and by processing this output signal, the stepper motor 18 driving ribbon drive roller 40 is adjusted such that the ribbon is driven at the correct speed. This synchronisation between ribbon 42 and film 50 can be maintained over a wide range of speeds.
  • the preferred embodiment is capable of operating at a film speed of 400 mm per second.
  • the shaft encoder associated with the platen roller 44 is shown in Figure 4 by reference numeral 90.
  • Encoder 90 provides an input signal representative of film speed to an input 92 of a processor unit 94.
  • the processor unit has at its heart a microprocessor, and has three outputs. These are a first output 96 coupled to a first motor driver circuit 98 for moving the print head between its inactive retracted position and its active extended position (respectively shown in Figure 2) by means of stepper motor 14 and its associated linkage.
  • a second output of the processor unit 94 is a multi-wire input 100 coupled to the energisable elements 82 of the print head 22.
  • the third output 102 is coupled to a second motor driver 104 to control stepper motor 18, thereby stopping and starting the ribbon, and controlling the ribbon speed during each printing operation.
  • trigger input 106 which receives a trigger signal initiating each printing operation.
  • the trigger signal is generated by sensing the position of products to which the substrate film is to be applied as packaging, as the products travel along an adjacent conveyer.
  • Another input 108 receives the information to be printed from a memory 110.
  • the processor is programmed firstly to move the print head 22 to its extended position, to start the ribbon drive motor, and to initiate printing by energising the elements of the print head 22 in accordance with the information stored in the memory 110 thereby to print the information as a pattern or a series of characters.
  • the speed at which the ribbon is driven via driver 104 and motor 18 is determined according to the film speed signal input received by the processor at input 92, so as to drive the ribbon at the same speed as the film.
  • the rate at which the print head elements are driven i.e. the rate at which the pattern or characters are printed
  • processor unit 94 is also varied by processor unit 94 according to the film speed signal input.
  • the processor When the processor senses that all of the information relating to the required design has been supplied from memory 110 and has been fed to the print head 22, it issues a stop signal to the ribbon driver 104 to stop ribbon travel and the driver 98 for the print head motor 14 receives a signal causing the motor to withdraw the print head to its retracted, inactive position.
  • a processor 94 then waits for the next trigger signal on 106 before repeating the above process. Further inputs 112 and 114 of the processor 94 are called respectively to a ribbon status sensor 116 and a ribbon break sensor 118 which are respectively associated with a spring loaded pivotable arm 120, seen in Figure 3.
  • This arm 120 has a roller 122 at its distal end contacting the periphery of the ribbon supply on ribbon feed spool 36, so that when the ribbon supply runs low, an alarm can be activated and/or operation of the packaging apparatus of which the printer is part can be halted.
  • the break sensor 118 is responsive to excessive clockwise movement of arm 60 (see Figure 3) to sense breakage of the ribbon 42 which, during normal operation, keeps roller 58 approximately in the position shown in Figure 3.
  • roller 40 contains a clutch bearing 40C which is so mounted within the roller 40 that it is allowed to float in the sense that the centre of bearing 40C need not coincide exactly with the centre of the roller 40.
  • Needle rollers of the clutch bearing which are self-locking when driven in one rotary direction, engage the outer surface of shaft or spindle 32 and drive is transferred from spindle 32 to the bearing 40C and thence via pins 40P to the roller 40.
  • the floating nature of the clutch bearing 40C within the roller 40 allows for a degree of mismatch between the axis 128 of drive spindle 32 and that 130 of roller 40 when the cassette unit 12 is mounted on the base unit 10.
  • the cassette unit 12 is located on base unit 10 by means of a retention pin 132 and a tubular socket 134, as shown in Figure 1.
  • Figure 6 An alternative embodiment is shown in Figure 6. In many respects this alternative printer corresponds to that shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and corresponding parts are correspondingly numbered in Figure 6.
  • Figure 6 is diagrammatic in the sense that it is a front view of the printer base unit 10 with certain components of the ribbon cassette unit shown superimposed so that the interaction of both units can be seen.
  • the printer has no ribbon drive roller. Instead, synchronisation of the ribbon travel and ribbon speed with film travel and film speed is achieved solely by frictional contact between ribbon 42 and film 50 between the print head 22 and platen roller 44. This frictional contact is sufficient to overcome the resistance to movement of the ribbon 42 presented by the frictional bearing mounting 36B of feed spool 36 and the frictional resistance produced by break detector pin 58 and roller 66 defining the ribbon path upstream of the print head 22.
  • Drive for the take-up spool 34 is derived from a roller 140 (shown in dotted lines in Figure 6) which is mounted on the print head carrier 20 in such a position that it contacts the substrate film 50 alongside the ribbon 42. Indeed, film 50 is pinched between drive roller 140 and platen roller 44.
  • a pulley (not shown) is mounted for rotation with roller 140 and a belt 142 is threaded around this pulley to transfer rotational drive to the take-up spool 34.
  • a clutch element between the shaft driven by belt 142 and spool 34 to allow the speed of rotation of spool 34 to vary as the diameter of the taken up ribbon reel increases with use of the ribbon 42.
  • the drive belt 142 for the ribbon take-up spool 34 is tensioned by means of a roller 144 mounted at the end of an arm 146 which pivots about the bearing 34B ofthe spool 34 and is spring-loaded so as to be biased in the anti-clockwise direction as seen in Figure 6.
  • tapered positioning pins 150 are attached to the cassette unit front plate and engage in apertures (not shown) in the base unit 10.
EP96301983A 1995-03-31 1996-03-22 Drucker zum Bedrucken von einem bandförmigen Aufzeichnungsträger Withdrawn EP0734876A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB9506651.0A GB9506651D0 (en) 1995-03-31 1995-03-31 A printer for printing on a continuous print medium
GB9506651 1995-03-31

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0734876A2 true EP0734876A2 (de) 1996-10-02
EP0734876A3 EP0734876A3 (de) 1997-11-12

Family

ID=10772240

Family Applications (1)

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EP96301983A Withdrawn EP0734876A3 (de) 1995-03-31 1996-03-22 Drucker zum Bedrucken von einem bandförmigen Aufzeichnungsträger

Country Status (8)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0734876A3 (de)
AU (1) AU5033196A (de)
BR (1) BR9601209A (de)
CA (1) CA2173083A1 (de)
GB (1) GB9506651D0 (de)
MX (1) MX9601215A (de)
NO (1) NO961275L (de)
NZ (1) NZ286279A (de)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0842785A1 (de) * 1996-10-15 1998-05-20 ITW Limited Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Thermodruckers
EP0861735A1 (de) * 1997-02-26 1998-09-02 ITW Limited Drucker zum Bedrucken von einem bandförmigen Aufzeichnungsträger
EP0917960A1 (de) * 1997-11-20 1999-05-26 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Aufzeichnungsgerät
US5993092A (en) * 1997-02-26 1999-11-30 Itw Limited Printer with reversible ribbon driving means for rewinding overshot ribbon
GB2338856A (en) * 1998-03-13 1999-12-29 Roland Man Druckmasch Printing by laser-induced thermal transfer
US6307583B1 (en) 1999-09-01 2001-10-23 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Thermal printer with reversible ribbon and method therefor
US7150572B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2006-12-19 Zippher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8317421B2 (en) 2007-03-31 2012-11-27 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive tension control
US8770874B2 (en) 2007-03-07 2014-07-08 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS6018363A (ja) * 1983-07-11 1985-01-30 Fuji Xerox Co Ltd 転写型感熱記録装置
EP0138444A2 (de) * 1983-09-28 1985-04-24 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Bilder druckendes Gerät
JPS60236779A (ja) * 1984-05-10 1985-11-25 Fuji Xerox Co Ltd 薄板状材料搬送装置
JPS61102277A (ja) * 1984-10-25 1986-05-20 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 感熱転写装置
EP0249212A2 (de) * 1986-06-11 1987-12-16 Casio Computer Company Limited Von Hand bewegtes Druckgerät
US4933867A (en) * 1983-05-31 1990-06-12 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Printing apparatus
US5093675A (en) * 1987-04-20 1992-03-03 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Hand-held recording apparatus

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4933867A (en) * 1983-05-31 1990-06-12 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Printing apparatus
JPS6018363A (ja) * 1983-07-11 1985-01-30 Fuji Xerox Co Ltd 転写型感熱記録装置
EP0138444A2 (de) * 1983-09-28 1985-04-24 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Bilder druckendes Gerät
JPS60236779A (ja) * 1984-05-10 1985-11-25 Fuji Xerox Co Ltd 薄板状材料搬送装置
JPS61102277A (ja) * 1984-10-25 1986-05-20 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 感熱転写装置
EP0249212A2 (de) * 1986-06-11 1987-12-16 Casio Computer Company Limited Von Hand bewegtes Druckgerät
US5093675A (en) * 1987-04-20 1992-03-03 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Hand-held recording apparatus

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Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 009, no. 139 (M-387), 14 June 1985 & JP 60 018363 A (FUJI XEROX KK), 30 January 1985, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 010, no. 100 (M-470), 16 April 1986 & JP 60 236779 A (FUJI XEROX KK), 25 November 1985, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 010, no. 281 (M-520), 25 September 1986 & JP 61 102277 A (MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP), 20 May 1986, *

Cited By (24)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0842785A1 (de) * 1996-10-15 1998-05-20 ITW Limited Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Thermodruckers
US6019527A (en) * 1996-10-15 2000-02-01 Itw Limited Method of operating a thermal printer
EP0861735A1 (de) * 1997-02-26 1998-09-02 ITW Limited Drucker zum Bedrucken von einem bandförmigen Aufzeichnungsträger
US5993092A (en) * 1997-02-26 1999-11-30 Itw Limited Printer with reversible ribbon driving means for rewinding overshot ribbon
EP0917960A1 (de) * 1997-11-20 1999-05-26 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Aufzeichnungsgerät
GB2338856A (en) * 1998-03-13 1999-12-29 Roland Man Druckmasch Printing by laser-induced thermal transfer
US6226020B1 (en) 1998-03-13 2001-05-01 Man Roland Druckmaschinen Ag Method and apparatus for producing a print, especially a proof, by means of laser-induced thermal transfer
GB2338856B (en) * 1998-03-13 2002-07-17 Roland Man Druckmasch Laser-induced thermal transfer.
US6307583B1 (en) 1999-09-01 2001-10-23 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Thermal printer with reversible ribbon and method therefor
US7748917B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2010-07-06 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8221009B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2012-07-17 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US7722268B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2010-05-25 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US7150572B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2006-12-19 Zippher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US7753605B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2010-07-13 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8007190B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2011-08-30 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8096715B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2012-01-17 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US7682094B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2010-03-23 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8221010B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2012-07-17 Zipher Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US9233553B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2016-01-12 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8328441B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2012-12-11 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8591127B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2013-11-26 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8770874B2 (en) 2007-03-07 2014-07-08 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive
US8961045B2 (en) 2007-03-07 2015-02-24 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive
US8317421B2 (en) 2007-03-31 2012-11-27 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive tension control

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0734876A3 (de) 1997-11-12
NZ286279A (en) 1997-10-24
NO961275D0 (no) 1996-03-29
NO961275L (no) 1996-10-01
MX9601215A (es) 1997-03-29
CA2173083A1 (en) 1996-10-01
BR9601209A (pt) 1998-01-06
AU5033196A (en) 1996-10-17
GB9506651D0 (en) 1995-05-24

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