GB2058719A

GB2058719A - Ink Ribbon Cartridge

Info

Publication number: GB2058719A
Application number: GB8030697A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: International Standard Electric Corp
Current assignee: International Standard Electric Corp
Priority date: 1979-09-26
Filing date: 1980-09-23
Publication date: 1981-04-15
Also published as: JPS5655280A; GB2058719B; CH647200A5; CA1169014A; DE3035934A1

Abstract

An ink ribbon cartridge (10) for use particularly on a daisy wheel typewriter or printer includes a housing (18) with a pair of extended arms (19,20) which allow for insertion of an exposed ribbon span (16) in a pair of ribbon guides (13,14) which are especially shaped to provide for easy acceptance of the ribbon. After the ribbon is placed in the guides, the cartridge is pulled rearwardly and placed on a fixed platform. The ribbon guides reciprocate for substantially every character during printing, to expose the current line of printing, while the platform remains in a fixed plane. The openings in the arms (19,20) have a height greater than the width of the ribbon, the arms are equal in length to two thirds of the distance between the housing 18 and the ribbon guides, and the arms are spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of the guides (13,14) thus allowing for ease of initial placing of ribbon span (16) in the guides and for flexing of the ribbon during reciprocation of the guides. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Ink Ribbon Cartridge The present invention is directed to an ink ribbon cartridge and more particularly a cartridge which is especially suitable for a printer or typewriter having a platform for mounting the cartridge and a ribbon lift apparatus for moving the ribbon to expose the line of printing.

At the present time, many ribbon cartridges include at their initial or beginning portion a noninked 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 ribbon 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, and of other prior art of ribbon catridges including those manufactured by the present applicants. 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 of the line of printing. The arms of these cartridges extend very close to stationary ribbon pins. Such cartridges and typewriters are presently manufactured by Xerox Corporation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved ribbon cartridge for a typewriter.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a ribbon cartridge which is easily installed on the typewriter, including the insertion of ribbon through the ribbon guides without the need for manipulation of the ribbon itself (or a leader) by the user.

It is another object of the invention to eliminate the need for a non-inked leader.

It is yet another object to eliminate any need to tilt the cartridge for the purpose of lifting the ribbon to expose the line of printing.

According to the invention in its broadest aspect there is provided an ink ribbon cartridge adapted to be 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, the guides holding the span of ribbon in a printing relationship with a printing medium and a print element, the guides being movable to move the ribbon span to expose the current line of printing on the printing medium, and the fixed ribbon cartridge support maintaining the cartridge in a fixed plane relative to the movable ribbon guides and ribbon span, the cartridge comprising: a housing containing the ribbon and having a pair of spaced arms extending therefrom for supporting the span of ribbon, the length of the span being greater than the spacing of the pair of ribbon guides, the ribbon having a predetermined width dimension, the arms having throat openings permitting the exit and re-entrance of the ribbon into the housing, the openings having a height greater than the ribbon width sufficient to allow flexure of the lengths of ribbon between the guides and respective openings when the guides are moved to expose said line of printing, ad the length of the arms with respect to extension from the housing toward the ribbon guides being great enough to enable the exposed span of ribbon to be easily placed in the guides by manual manipulation only of the housing, but short enough to provide lengths which are long enough for flexure.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 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 the 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;; Figure 8a and 8b and Sc is an elevation and plan view of the cartridge of Figure 2 showing the ribbon as it leaves and re-enters the arms of the cartridge; Figure 9 is a perspective view, partially in dotted lines, 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.

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 simplicity's sake.

The typewriter includes a platen 11 and at least one printing element. The typewriter or printer depicted in Figure 1 is of the so-called daisywheel type which includes a movable carriage (not shown), the cartridge 10 being removably mounted on the carriage along with a rotatable daisywheel print element 12 and a pair of ribbon guides 13 and 14. The carriage provides a fixed platform in that the cartridge is fixed in essentially a predetermined plane as the carriage is moved to and fro during printing operations. The guides hold a span of ribbon 1 6 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 against the ribbon 16 to cause printing to occur on the paper.Cartridge 10 includes a main body 18 and extending arms 19 and 20, through which ribbon lengths 21 and 22 leave and re-enter the cartridge. These ribbon lengths 21 and 22 extend between openings at the ends of the arms 19 and 20 and the ribbon guides 13 and 14. The lengths 21 and 22 flex when the ribbon guides move downward (as shown by the arrows) to expose a current line of printing. This flexure occurs at a point which is substantially at the ends of arms 19 and 20. Thus, the arms are located far enough away from the ribbon guides 13 and 14 (or rather the arms are short enough) to allow sufficient flexure while the ribbon 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 ribbon guides 13 and 14. The length of the arms 19 and 20 should preferably be sufficient to enable the exposed span 1 6' to be easily placed in guides by manual manipulation of the body 18 of the cartridge only. Preferably, the length of the arms 19 and 20 should be approximately two-thirds of the distance between the body 1 8 of the cartidge 10 and the guides; however, other lengths of arms 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, including the hammer 17, for example, as better illustrated in Figure 1.Furthermore, the spacing of the arms 18 and 1 9 should be greater than the spacing of the guides 13 and 14 for ease of insertion of the ribbon therein.

Figure 8a better shows the entrance and exit of the 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 leave and re-enter throat openings 23 and 24 at the ends of arms 19 and 20 respectively. To permit sufficient flexing of the ribbon, the openings 23 and 24 have a height which is sufficiently greater than the ribbon width to facilitate flexing of the lengths 21 and 22. When practising the present invention, we prefer to make the openings approximately 32% longer than the width of the ribbon when the arms 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 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"; however, those practising the present invention may decide to modify this ratio in other embodiments. When practising the present invention, we prefer that the body of the cartridge be approximately 5 1/8" by 3 1/4" and that the arms 19 and 20 extend approximately 11/16" from the body (dimension "A"). Dimension "C", the distance between the arms 1 9, 20, is then preferably on the order 3 1/8" and the height of the throat openings 23 and 24 (Figure 8a) is about 1/3 inch.Of course, these dimensions reflect our preferred embodiment and others dimensions will certainly be found by others practising our invention to be quite satisfactory for their applications.

When this invention is practised the exposed span portion 16' need not be a non-linked or clear leader, but may be inked and thus ready for immediate printing. In addition, because of the configuration of the guides 13 and 14, the human hand need not pull out the ribbon as necessary in some prior art devices but it may be easily inserted into the guides. This is an especially desirable feature for the operator who wishes to use several different cartridges during use, in order, for example, to change the colour of the printing. Of course, not having a non-inked leader can also reduce the cost of manufacturing the ribbon cartridge.

A preferable design for the ribbon guides 1 3 and 14 to facilitate the insertion of the cartridge 10 is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, especialy in Figure 4 where the right hand side guide 14 has two upstanding left and right portions 31 and 32.

As illustrated, these poritons diverge from one another to form a "V", indicated at numeral 33, for easy entry of the ribbon. The mode of placement of the ribbon span is more clearly indicated in Figure 2. The "V" occurs in a plane which is almost parallel to the span of ribbon 1 6 as is more clearly illustrated in Figures 1,2 and 8b. When the ribbon is installed as illustrated by the cross-hatched portion 21 and span 16, the configuration of portions 31 and 32 inhibits both up and down and to and fro movement of the ribbon so that it will not escape the ribbon guide during the movement of the ribbon lift. The recessed portion of channel 34 of ribbon portion 31 helps to retain the ribbon in its proper place.

Figures, 5, 6 and 7 show various crosssections of the ribbon guide 13. The left hand side guide 14 is a mirror image of guide 13, 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 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 applicants. As illustrated in Figure 9, the lower and upper links 39 and 40 and also the corresponding links for ribbon guide 14, namely 39' and 40', pivot on the axes 42 and 43. These axes 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 links 39 and 39' are mechanically operated at overhand portion 49.

A spring 46 normally holds the ribbon guides 13 and 14 in a downward 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, overcoming spring 46 and moving the guides 1 3 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, including links 36, 39 and 40 and frame 40 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 of Figures 9 and 10 is capable of moving only a short distance, and has a relatively low mass (particuiarly if light weight metals and/or plastics are utilized), and thus is capable of rapid movement after every character of printing. Thus, 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 45.

Because of this rapid operational capability of the ribbon lift mechanism it is desirable that the ribbon and its cartridge have similar capability.

This capability is provided by making the ribbon lengths 21 and 22 long enough in combination with the openings in the arms 19 and 20 of the housing to provide reasonable flexing.

Furthermore, the throat openings, as they recede as channels into the arms 1 9 and 20, decrease slightly in height to provide space in the front of the arms for the flexure and to channel the tape to and from the ribbon storage cavity, which has a height only slightly greater than the width of the ribbon. A preferable configuration of arm 19 is shown in partial section of Figure 8c.

In addition to fast operation, this cartridge has the added advantage of easy insertion into the typewriter or printer without a human hand touching the ribbon itself and, moreover, without any need to tilt the platform 45. It should now be readily apparent that requiring the cartridge 10 and platform 1 8 to tilt for the ribbon lift adds undesirable mass to the appparatus, 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 as illustrated in Figure 2 is as it would come from the manufacturer. The user, since the distance between the arms 1 9 and 20 is greater than the spacing of the guides 1 3 and 14, can easily place the exposed span of ribbon 1 6 in the ribbon guides. The cartridge 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 dotted lines in Figures 9 and 10.

Claims

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

2. An ink ribbon cartridge as in claim 1 in which the ribbon consists exclusively of inked surface which is capable of printing on the printing medium and where there is no beginning length of non-inked leader.

3. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 1 in which the ribbon guides are reciprocated for substantially every character, whereby to the human eye the line of printing is continuously present.

4. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 1 in which the ribbon guides capture the ribbon in a channel to restrain such span of ribbon between said ribbon guides from up and down and forward and back movement in the guide itself.

5. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 4 in which the ribbon guides each include an opposed pair of guide portions which diverge at their terminal ends to provide for easy insertion of the span of ribbon.

6. An ink ribbon cartridge of the type adapted to be mounted on a printer or typewriter having a platform for receiving the cartridge, the platform remaining in substantially one plane during printing, and a pair of reciprocating ribbon guides, the guides having means for receiving the ribbon, the cartridge comprising a body having a cavity for storing ribbon and a pair of rigid arms extending from the body including means communicating with the cavity for carrying the ribbon to and from the cavity, the arms having a predetermined length equal to approximately two-thirds of the distance between the body and the ribbon guides when the cartridge is mounted on the printer or typewriter.

7. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 6, wherein the ribbon guides each have a channel for temporarily receiving the ribbon and wherein the ribbon is temporarily inserted into the channels of the guides by manual manipulation of the body.

8. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 6 or 7, wherein the carrying means comprises a channel in each of the arms and openings at the ends of the arms away from the body, the openings having a height of the order of 30% greater than the width of the ribbon.

9. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 8, wherein the guides are spaced apart and the arms are spaced apart wider than the guides.

10. An ink ribbon cartridge as in Claim 9, wherein the guides are coupled to a pair of links at a pair of axes, wherein the links are coupled to a member at another pair of axes for movement of the guides in response to operation of the member and wherein the member is operated by a solenoid.

11. An ink ribbon cartridge substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.