Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ackground o~ the-Invention
This invention relat~s to inking apparatus employed in
~ypewriters, teleprinters~ and in high-speed printers used
in informa-tion processin~ systems and, more particularly, to
endless inX-ribbon cartridge~ emplo~ea with such inking appara~
tus and provided with driving mechan.;.sms w~ich are especi~lly
.imple,
Endless ink-ribbon cartridges have recently been adopted
~or use in ~he field o typewriters, teleprint~rs, and like
devices~ Such cartridge~ consi3t of a housing wherein the
ink-rib~on ls appropriataly disposed~ 50 that ~e replacement
of a ribbon, once exhausted or worn out, is per;~ormed ~ re-
placing tbe entire cartridge without ~he need ~or handling
the ri~bon..
:15 Because it is anticipated that once used, ~t~e entir~
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cartridge will be disposed o~, it is a requirement of ~he
ca~tridge structure that it be extremely ~Lm~le and f~bricated
of inexpensive material~, so as to result in a low cost~ Yn : :
order to contain the cost, simplicity o~ Con~trUc~iQn and
~20~ asse~bly is an essential element.
one form of prior art cartridge, for exampla, consists ~ :
:of a~plastic body provided wi~h two exte~ding a.rms, bot~ the
b~dy~and the arm~ being hollow. The ink ri~bon, dispo~
randomly in the body hous.iny, .is drawn ~rQm an o~tput arm
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and re-turned to the housing through a reentry arm. O~ly the
xibbon portion extending be~ween the two arms is exposed
externally, and in such 20ne the printing members of the type-
writer, teleprin~er or printer coop~ralte and interact with ~he ~;
ink-ribbon to effect the printing of the desired symbol~ or
characters on print~receiving media~
The ink~ri~bon is driven a~d reinserted into the car~
tridge by means o~ a knurled wheel di9po~ed in the boay ~ou~-
in~ of the cartridge, proximate to the opening between th~ ..
reentry arm and the housing. The knurled wheel, provided wi~ha mechanical clutch accessible externally to the cartridge, is
rotated by a ~tor member cooperating wi~h ~he clutch. Thi~
~irst knurled wheel rests ayainst a second w~eel, al~o ~nu~le~,
:~ whi~h is mounted on a re~ilient support which urges the second
1~ ~ wheel against the firs~O The ink-ribbon is in~erposed be~ween
the two knurled wheels and due to ~he rota~ion of thes~ two ..
wheels, w~ich ~unction a~ two engaged gear~ iF pulled insi~e
th~e: cartrid~ and, cone.e~uently, drawn rom ~he output arm~.
~ :Although this type o~ pxior art cartridge and it~ de-
20~ æcribë~drlving mechanism is rel~tively simple, it has the :
iaadvantage that the knuxling on the drivin~ wheelis cau3eis
a~consiaera~le wearing o~ the ink~ribbon so that ~e ribbon
is rendered unserviceable after a short period o use. More- ~
ver,~the employment o two opposed whee].s, one o~i which is ;:
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mounted on a resilient support or ot~erwise hinged and pro-
vided with a thrust spring, make~ ~or a construction compli-
cation that is detrimental to an economical fabrication.
Accordingly; it is the principal object o~ the pre~ant
invention to provide an ink--ribbon cartridge which eliminate~
the above-mentioned disadvantage~ of prior art ink-ri~bon
cartridgesO
Ano'ther object of the present invention is to prDvide
an ink-ribbon cartridge which is relatively simple ~o con-
~truct and assemble~
. Another object of the present irlvention is to providean in~ ri~on cartridge which is relatively inexpensive to
con~tru~t and assemble and which is ~abricatea of inexpen- -
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: ~ive component~ and materials~
~15:~ Another o~ject o-f the present invQntion is to pro~îd~ a
simple and inexpensive inking apparaku~ for use with high-
p~ed~ printers used in infonmation processing syst~m~.
Summary~ o~ the Invention ::;
hes~ above-mentionQd disadvantagas of pxior art ink-
~O~ xib~on cartridg~s are eliminated ~y the cartridge o ~he
present invention, wherein the driv.incJ o ~he ink ribbon is
o~,tained b~ mean~ oL a wheel having a smooth sur~ace. Such
sur~ace i!~:providecl wi.th a high coefici~nt of ~riction and
~; cooperates with a si.mple spring or pre~sure tongue engaged
~25 ~:in the ci~rtridge body.
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sri.ef Description of the Drawin~
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The invention will be described with re:~erence to the
accompanying drawing, wherein:
~ igure 1 is an a~ploded perspective vi~w o:~ ~he car-
5 tridge of the invention;
Figure lA iB a ver~ical sectio~ of the driving rol].er
o:e the cartrid~s of Fig~ l; and
Figure 2 is a schematic view o:e the cart:ridge oi~ th~3
J~ .invention, .illustrating the path and di~position c3:E th~ .in~
10 x.ibbon insid~ and outside the car~ridge.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
~ The ink-ril:)bon ca~tridge o Fig. 1 s:~o~prises a pla~tif~ ~;
body 1. Body 1, in turn, compris~s a flat bottom wall 2 and
~side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6. liqalls 2-6 are ~lisposed to :Eorm a
15 ~ housing or ma~azine o~ approxlmately xe~tangular shape in ~.
section,:which i~ encIosed hy a top cover 35~ : :
Bottom wall 2 extends outwardly ~ro~ th~ above-de~crib~ :
rectsngular hou~ing in regi~tration wi~h the lower edge~ of
~ ;side~wall5 3~ 5 and 6, whi~h also extend out~ardly ~rom ~uch ~
-20~ housing, to form a pair o~ armq 7 and 8. Thus, arm 7 ha~ a~ ::, .
external sida wa11 3A and an in~ernal side wall 6A~ an~ arm 8
has ~an external side wall 5~ and an intexnal side wall 6s~
The~c~orresponding one3 of internal side walls 6A and 6B and
external ~lde wall~ 3A and SA are disposed ~ubstantially
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parallel to each other to fonm two elongated housing~, or
slots, which communicate with the above-mentioned rectangu-
:Lar housing or mayazine~
The ink-ribbon, whose ends are joined to ~orm an endles3
loop, is stored randomly in the housing of the c~rtridge.
portion of th~ ri.bbon pa~ses through the slot o~ arm 7, emerge~
~rom arm 7 at tip 9 thereof, through an aperture exi~ting be-
tween walls 3A and 6A, and e~tend~ across to arm B. The r~bbon
en~er~ arm a at tip 10 thereof, throuyh ~n aperture existing
between walls 5A and 6B, passes through the slo~ of arm 8, and
closeæ again on it~elf within the cartridge housing,
For claxit~ of ~he instant de~cription~ the pat~s and
disposition of the ink-rib~on, which are not shown in ~i~. 1,
are illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein, for conven.ience, ~he
~15 reference numeral~ identi~yiny the variou~ elements, id~ntical
to those shown in Fig. 1, have been omitted.
Duriny the operation of the cartridge, the ink-r~bbon
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; must mov~ ~etween tips 9 and 10 in order to avoid repe.kitivel~
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~ ; prin~in~ on t~e~same length of ribbon. To this end, t~e ink- ;
20~ :~:rib~on must i~ue from arm 7 and ~e reintroduced into the
ho~sing through arm 8~ Moreover, an appropriate tension must
be exerted on the portion o~ the ribbon external to the car-
: tridge in order to avo.id o~cillations in the ribbon and the
~ po~ihility o~ jan~ing of the printing mechan:ism, which,
25~: aJ.though no~ illustrated in the dr~wings, .is located, as is
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well ~nown, in close proximity to the in~-ribbon~ For this
purpose there are provided a ~uitable brake, disposed in ~rm
7, and a driving mechanism, disposed in the housing proxim~te
to the ink~ri~bon outlet of arm 8. ;
S The bra~e comprises a single lea~ ~pring 11 bent in the
~orm of a double L so as to provide near one end thereof a ~ -:
small projection or step 12 of appxopriate height, equal to Ij
or slightly greater tha~ the thickneæs of wall 3~. A ælit
13 in wall 3A, has inserted ~herein the step portio~ of sprin~
11. By such an arrangement, on~ end of spring 11 i5 securely
an~hored to wall 3A while the free end 14 Qf spring 11 i~
: disposed against and exext~ an appropriat~ pressure on the
tip portion of internal wall 6A within the slot of arm 7~
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~ The ink-ribbon is intexposed between wall 6A and spring
~15~ ll and, ~hereore, is subject to a certain pre~sure~ Such
pressure,~coupled:with the:friction of the ri~bon, assures
that an~adequate tension is exerted on ~he ribbon during
moveme~t~thereof. : ,
~ he~dri-~ng~mechanism of the cartxidge of Fig. 1, wherein
20:~ :thç~instant~inventi.on more properly resiaes, co~pxises a driv-
: in~roller~;15. Roller lS compri~es, Fig~ 1~, all a~ial cylin-
drical~hub 16~p~ovided with two or more cylindrical elements
3~7~and~ 18,:~o~ somewhat greater diameter ~nd appropriately
~ sp~ced apart so:as to fo ~ therebetween one or more cylindri-
:25 ~ cal channel~. One:end;o~ hub ~6 pro~ects beyond the cylindrical
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elements to form a sp.indle, or p.ivot, 19. The other end oE
hub 16 projects beyond the cylindrical element~ to form with
a ~irst section 20 a pin or sha~t~ and with ~he end portion,
which is suital: l~y knurled, a knob Spindle l9 is pro~rided
with one or more axial coupling ~lots;, one o:E which i~ ~;hown
in section in Fig. lA and designa-ted by reference numeral 21
Each of cylindrical elements 17 and 18 is provided with
paripheral toroidal groove in which a respecti~e one o~
ring~ 2~ and 23 is seated. Rings 22 a~d 23 are mad~ of rub~er
or another ela~ic material having a high coe~icien~ of fric-
tion.
Bottom wall 2 i~ provided with a circular openiny 24,
Pig. 1, disposed proximate to the opening between the rib~on
~lot in arm 8 and the cartridge housing~ Spindl~ 19 o~ hub
16 is disposed in opening 24 ~or driving ro~ler 15 to turn in
opening 24~ Similarly, section 20 o~ the o~her end o* hub 16
i6 disposed in an opening 49 provi~ed in covsr 35 to turn in ~ :~
. such opening. ~ :
Exte~nal side wall 5A is provided with a slit 25 and
20~ sid~e waJl 5 is provided with a slit 26. A lea spring 27 is
ben~at one end 28 i.n the ~orm of a double L and i~ bent at
the:opp~site end 29 in the ~orm o a single L. End 28 is in-
~; serte~ in slit 25, whereby spring 27 is ~ecurely anc~ored to
the~body o the cartridge.. On the other hand, slit 26 has
.~5~ w~idt:h adequate to allow end 29 to slide fre~ly therein~
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Spring 27 is ~lig~tly bent so that the fre~ end thereof
is disposed against rings 22 and 23 and e~erts an appropriate
pressure thereon. The thrust e~erted by spring 27 against
dxiving roller 15 i5 oppo~ed by a counterthrust element 30.
Element 30 comprise~ a small plate o~ thickness equal to
the depth o~ the hou~ing. The lower and upper faces o~ such
plate 3~ are provided wi~ respectiv~ pins 31 ana 32. Pin
31, on the lower face, is di~po~ed in a corre~ponding opening
33 provided in bottom wall 2 o~ the cartridge, Pin 32, on ~le
upper face, is di~posed i~ a corresponding opening ~8 provided
in cover 35. One wall o~ ment 30 is s~aped in the ~orm o~
a cylindrical ~egment and is pro~ided wi~h a tooth, or projec-
tion, 34 shaped in the form o~ a segment of a ring of apprv~
pxiate thickness. . ~:-
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lS: ~ Too~h 34 engages with the cylindrical channel proviaed
between c~lindrical elamen~s 17 and 18 of d~iving roller 15
to ~provide an opposing surfa~e which rest~ against cylindrical
hub 16~to oppo~e the thr.ust o~ spring 27. The thrust so
~ exerted on element 30 is xeleased by element 30 to ~ide wall
20~ o:bod~ 1 o~ the cartridge, against which rests a ~ide of
element 30 which is opposite ~ tooth 34. Inasmuch as the
effect of the thrust exerted on element 30 is nok perp~ndicu-
: lar~to~the contact sur~ace bet.ween element 30 and wall 6,
p.ins 31 and 32 prevent the sliding of element 30 along wall 6
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The ink-ribbon is interposed and pressed be~ween driving
roller 15 and spring 27. Because the coefficient o~ friction
between the ink-ribbon and rubber rings 22 and 23 i~ much
greater than the~coe~ficient of friction betwaen the ink-ribbon
and ~he metallic surface of spring 27, the ink-xi~bon i~
pulled by driving roller 15 when the latter is rotated.
The arrow~ in Fig~ 2 xepre~ent the direction of rotation
of driving xoller 15 and the direction o~ advance o~ the ink- :
rib~on. Thesa direction~ are imperative, in the sen~e that
driving roller 15 must pull the ri~bon into the housing o~
the cartridge. An oppo~ite ribbon driving direction would
result in crowding of th~ ri~bon into and o~st~u~ting of th~
slot o ~he arm 8 with ~7hich the driving mechanism i5 asso-
~ ~ c~iated. The driving mechanism itself would al~o be jammed.
:15 It is to be ~oted th~t there i~ ~ sImilar danger inside
the housing of ~he cartridge if there is a very great crowding
of~the xibbon:therein, In ~act, the ink-ri~bon may tend to
ollow the movement of and to wind around driving roller 15~
~ Thls~latter~problem i~ overcome b~ cou~terthrust el~m~n~ 30 and
:20~ toothi34 which positivaly prevent the ink-ribbon ~rom follow-
in~;;dri~ing roller 15 beyond a certain point. ~ooth 34
assnre~ the positive separation of t~e ribbon ~rom roller 15,
pr~venting the ri~bon from being introduced between driving
~ ~roller~15 and counterthrust elem~nt 30. on the vthe~ hand,
25~ in~oxder to preven the ink-ribbon ~rom being in~kroduced under :.
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spring 27, the latter is bent, as mentioned above, i.n the form
of an L in order that its end 29 can be inserted into slit ~6
in side wall 5.
As previou~ly de~cribed herein~ body 1 o~ -the cartridge
is closed by a cover 35~ Cover 35 consists o~ a ~lat elem~n~
of form subs~antially like that of bottom wall 2 of bo~y 1.
Thus, cover 35 has an appro~imatel~ rectangular portion 35A
for covering th4 housing o tha cartridge and two extensions
35B and 35C for closing respectively the slot~ o~ arms 7 and 8~ .
10Pins 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41, disposed near the edges
o~ cover 35, are inserted by pres~ure into corre~ponding
:~ opening~ 42, 43, 44~ 45, ~6 and 47 which are provided on the
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upper face of the side walls o~ body 1. Such pin~ and opQn-
ings assure the relative positioning o~ bod~ I and cover 35,
15~ as well as theix se~ure fast~ning together~
Cover 35 is also prov~ded with opening~ 4~ and 49, a~
mentioned above. Pin 32 o~ counterthrust elentent 30 i3 dis-
: posed- in opening 4~ and cylindrical h~b 16 o~ dri~ing roller 15
is~d~sposea:in opening ~9O The cixcular opening 49 act~ a~ a
bea~ing for~section 20 o~ hub 16, whereas the end p~rtion o~
hu~ 16 ~orms a kno~ which e~tends externally o~ cover 35.
:When the cartrid~e i~, positioned in the printer, an axial
clutch, not shown, provided with at Ieast one tooth, ~ngages
610t 21 oF driving roller 15 to impart to roller 16 a rotary :
~25~ :dri.ving motion obtained ~rom an appropriate motor member, not
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.illustrated, but disposed externally to the cartridge. On
the other hand, above the upp~r side! of cover 35, the knob
end of hub 16 ena~les the manual driving of the ribbon to pro-
vide ~or the re~toratiOn of an appropriate tens.ion in the rib-
5 bon portion e~ternal to the cartridge, in ~he ev~n~ that duringhandling o~ the cartridge and it~ positioning in the print~r
such ribbon portion becomes slack.
The ~astening of cover 35 to body 1 of the cartridge
assures that springs 11 and 27, counterthrust elemen~ 30 and
~riving roller 15 cannot escape from their raspective sea~s~
It is evidenk, therefore, tha~ the de3cribed cartridge
at~a.ins various advantages, by extr~mely si~ple and ine~pen-
sive means, as follows:
avoiding wear of the ink-rib~on by avoiding ~he
~15~ ~ use of knurled driving wheels;
avoiding ~he: u~e G~ elastic supports ~or -the driv-
ing member3; and
preventing the ja~ning o~ the drivi~g mechanis~
While the princip~e~ of the invention have now been mad~
~20~ clear in an illustrative e~bodiment, there will ~e immediately
obvious~to those skilled in the art modi~ications in s~ructure,
arrang~ments, t~e elem~nt~ and components use~ in the practice
of~the invention, and otherwise, which are particularly adap- , ;
tecl for specific environments and operat.ing re~uiremen-ts, w.ith-
~5~ out depar~ln~ ~rom those prlnciples~ The appended claims ~re
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therefore intended to cover any such modifications, within
the limits only o~ the -true spirit and scope of s~h~ invention
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