Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
6g ~ ~ R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-1
P~INTER
BACKGROUND OF T~E INVENTION
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The present invention is directed to an inked
ribbon cartridge, and more particularly a cartridge which is
especially suitable for a printer or typewriter.
PRIO~ ART STATEMENT
At the present time, many ribbon cartridges include
at their initial or beginning portion a non-inked leader
which may be pulled out of the cartridge by the operator and
placed in a pair of ribbon guides in the printer or
typewriter. This is true of rihbon cartridges for the IBM
Selectric typewriter, whose ribbon cartridge is mounted on a
stable platform and only the ribbon is moved for the purpose
of exposing the line of printing. This is also true of
other prior art including those manufactured by Qume
Corporation, the assignee of the present invention. Other
ribbon cartridges are provided with a pair of arms which
extend therefrom and which carry the ribbon therein and
provide a free span of ribbon for ease of installation in
the printer or typewriter. Such cartridges have been
mounted on a tiltable platform to provide for exposure o~
the ~ine of printing. The arms of these cartridges extend
very close to stationary ribbon pins. Such cartridges and
typewriters are presently manufactured by ~erox Corporation.
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SUMMARY OF_THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a ribbon cartridge removably mounted on a
typewriter having a fixed ribbon cartridge support, and a
pair of movable ribbon guides through which a span of ribbon
is fed, said guides holding said span of ribbon in a
printing relationship with a printing medium and a print
element, said guides being movable to move said ribbon span
to expose the current line of printing on the printing
medium, said fixed ribbon cartridge support maintaining said
cartridge in a fixed plane relative to said movable ribbon
guides and ribbon span, the improvement comprising: a
housing containing the ribbon and having a pair of spaced
arms extending therefrom for supporting the span of ribbon,
the length of said span being greater than the spacing of
said pair of ribbon guides; said ribbon having a
predetermined width dimension, said arms having throat
openings permitting the exit and re-entrance of said ribbon
into said housing, said openings having a height dimension
greater than said ribbon width sufficient to allow flexure
of the lengths of ribbon between said guides and respective
openings when said guides are moved to expose said line of
printing; said arms with respect to extension from said
housing toward said ribbon guides being long enough to
enable said exposed span of ribbon to be slidably placed in
said guides by manual manipulation of said housing only, but
short enough to provide said lengths which are long enough
for flexure.
According to another aspect of the present
invention, there is provided a printer or the like, the
combination comprising: a frame, including a platform; a
cylindrical platen rotatable relative to said platform about
the symmetrical axis of said platen, said platen axis beinq
fixed relative to said platform and spaced from said
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platform in a direction normal to said axis; first and
second ribbon guides, each including a V-shaped fork, each
fork having two tines attached together at the hottom
thereof to form a V, the upper ends of the tines of each V
being spaced apart lengthwise of the platen adjacent
thereto; means to support said ribbon guides relative to
said platform adjacent to but spaced from said platen
somewhere in an approximately vertical plane approximately
normal to a line between said platform and said axis; a
ribbon cartridge fixed relative to said platform and having
a housing to carry an inked ribbon, said ribbon cartridge
housing having first and second arms spaced further apart
than the outermost surfaces of the innermost tines, said
arms projecting approximately in a horizontal plane and
approximately toward said axis, said arms having means to
guide the entrance and exit of said ribbon thereto and
therefrom and subsequently through said first ribbon guide
to said second guide providing a predetermined length of
ribbon therebetween, and through said second ribbon guide;
and active means mounted in a fixed position relative to
said platform between said cartridge and said predetermined
length of ribbon actuable to cause a symbol to be created by
engagement with said predetermined length of ribbon, said
arms extending along opposite sides of said active means
over the major dimension thereof in a direction
approximately normal to said axis, but spaced from said
platen and said ribbon guides, said arms providing adequate
space for said active means yet making it possible to
minimize the length of said ribbon between the ends of said
arms, said minimum length making it possible to thread said
ribbon through said ribbon guides without manually touching
the same and only by manual movement of said cartridge
housing, the said minimum length being stiffer and easier to
thread than a longer length, the ribbon being extremely
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flexible and difficult to thread because of its relatively
small width and thickness compared to the said minimum
length.
According to still another aspect of the present
invention, there is provided a printer comprising: fixed
means including a fixed platform; an inked ribbon cartridge
removably mounted in a fixed position on said platform, said
cartridge having two laterally spaced approximately parallel
hollow projections of substantially the same length, said
cartridge having an lnked ribbon and means to move said
inked ribbon in a span thereof out of the end of either one
of said projections into the other; a platen having a
cylindrical surface and heing mounted on said fixed means to
rotate about a horizontal axis equally spaced from the end
of each of said projections; left hand and right hand
V-shaped ribbon guides both lying substantially in a
vertical plane parallel to said axis, said span of ribbon
being in a substantially vertical plane, said left hand
ribbon guide being formed in a V by left hand and right hand
legs, said left hand ribbon guide right hand leg extending
to a position above said left hand ribbon guide left hand
leg, the left hand side of said left hand ribbon guide right
hand leg being notched to receive said ribbon below a
shoulder thereon, said right hand ribbon guide being formed
in a V by left hand and right hand legs, said right hand
ribbon guide left hand leg extending to a position above
said right hand ribbon guide right hand leg, the right hand
side of said right hand ribbon guide left hand leg being
notched to receive said ribbon below a shoulder thereon; a
printwheel mounted on said fixed means to rotate spokes
thereof on one side of said ribbon opposite the side on
which said platen is located; and a hammer assembly between
said projections, said printwheel and said cartridge, said
hammer assembly being mounted on said fixed means in a
position to impact said printwheel spokes to cause printing
on paper positioned between said ribbon and said platen.
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~ ~ ~ R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF_THE DRAWINGS
Figure l is a perspective view of a ribbon cartridge
embodying the present invention as it would be installed on a
typewriter or printer of the daisywheel type.
Figure 2 is a perspective view showing ribbon cartridge
as it is about to be installed.
Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the right hand
side ribbon guide.
Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the guide of
Figure 3.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views taken along the
lines 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7 of Figure 3.
Figures 8A and 8B are an elevation and plan views of
the cartridge of Figure 2 showing the ribbon as it exits and
re-enters the arms of the cartridge.
Figure 3C is a vertical sectional view taken on line
8c-8c shown in Figure 8B.
Figure 9 is a perspective view, partially in phantom,
of the ribbon lift mechanism.
Figure 10 is a view identical to Figure 9 except
showing the ribbon mechanism in an actuated position and also
showing a block diagram of the ribbon lift control unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMsODIMENT
Figure 1 illustrates a ribbon cartridge 10 as it would
be installed in a printer or typewriter, only a portion of which
is illustrated for clarity's sake. The typewriter preferably
includes a platen 11 or other type bar and at least one printing
element 12. The typewriter or printer depicted in Figure 1 is
the so-called daisy~heel printer which includes a movable
carriage, the cartridge 10 being removably mounted on the
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R. F. Gildersleeve~ 1 Page 4
carriage along with a rotatable daisywheel print element 12 and a
pair of ribbon guides 13 and 14. The carriage provides a fixed
plat~orm 45 in that the cartridge 10 is fixed in essentially a
predetermined plane as the carriage is moved to and fro during
printing operations. The guides 13 and 14 hold a span of
ribbon 16 in printing relationship between the daisywheel 12 and
the platen 11 (which would normally carry paper on it). A hammer
assembly 17, when actuated, strikes a spoke of the daisywheel 12
against the ribbon 16 to cause printing to occur on the paper.
Cartridge 10 includes the main body 18 and extending arms 19
and 20 through which the ribbon lengths 21 and 22 exit and
re-en-ter the cartridge 10. These ribbon lengths 21 and 22 extend
between openings 24 and 23 (Figure 8A) at the ends of the arms 19
and 20 and the ribbon guides 13 and 14. These lengths 21 and 22
flex when the ribbon guides 13 and 14 move upward and downward
(as shown by the arrows in Figures 9 and 10) when printing a
current line of printing. This flexure occurs at a point which
is substantially at the end of arms 19 and 20. Thus, arms 19
and 20 are located far enough away from the ribbon guides 13
20 and 14 (or rather arms 19 and 20 are short enough) to allow
sufficient flexure while the ribbon 16 is moved to expose a line
of printing.
In Figure 2 a human hand 26 is shown grasping the
cartridge 10 for insertion of the exposed ribbon span 16 into the
25 ribbon guides 13 and 14. The length of the arms 19 and 20 should
preferably be long enough to enable the exposed span 16 to be
easily placed in guides 13 and 14 by manual manipulation of the
body 18 of the cartridge 10 only. Preferably, the length of the
arms 19 and 20 should be approximately two-thirds of the distance
; 30 between the body 18 of the cartridge 10 and the guides 13 and 14;
however, other lengths of arms 19 and 20 will also be found to
operate well, as mentioned with respect to Figure 8B. Arms 19
and 20 must clear obstacles such as the thickness of the ribbon
lift mechanism which supports arms 13 and 14 and must accommodate
the components of the printer mechanism, for example, including
the hammer 17, as is better illustrated in Figure 1.
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R. F. Gildersleeve-l-l-l Page 5
Furthermore, the spacing of the arms 19 and 20 should be greater
than the spacing of the guides 13 and 1~ for ease of insertion of
the ribbon span 16' therein.
Figure 8A better shows the entrance and exit of the
ribbon span 16' (Figure 2) ribbon from the cartridge arms 19
and 20 in an elevational view of the body 18. The ribbon
cross-sections are shown at numerals 21 and 22 as they exit and
re-enter throat openings 23 and 24 at the ends of arms 19 and 20,
respectively. To permit sufficien-t flexing of the ribbon
lengths 21 and 22, the openings 23 and 24 have a height dimension
which is sufficiently greater than the ribbon width to facilitate
flexing of the lengths 21 and 22. When practicing the present
invention, we prefer to make the openings 24 and 23 approximately
32% longer than the width of the ribbon when the arms 19, 20 are
approximately two-thirds the distance between body 18 and
guides 13 and 14.
Figure 8B is a plan view of the cartridge 10, shown with
the ribbon 16, 21, 22 extended and fed through the ribbon
guides 13 and 14. As previously mentioned, dimension "A" shown
in Figure 8B is approximately two-thirds the length of dimension
"B"; howeverl those practicing the present invention may decide
to modify this ratio in other embodiments. When practicing the
present invention, we prefer that the body 18 of the cartridge 10
be approximately 5 1/8" by 3 1/4" and that the arms 19 and 20
extend approximately 1 1/16" from the body 18 (dimension "A").
Dimension "C", the distance between the arms 19 and 20, is then
preferably on the order of 3 1/8" and the height of the throat
openings 23 and 24 (Figure 8A) is about 1/3 inch. O~ course,
these dimensions reflect our preferred embodiment and other
dimensions will certainly be found by others practicing our
invention to be q~ite satisfactory for their applications.
When this invention is practiced, the exposed span
portion 16 need not be a non-inked or clear leader, but may be
inked and thus ready or immediate printing. In addition,
because of the configuration of the guides 13 and 14, the human
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R. F. Gildersleeve~ l Page 6
hand need not pull out the ribbon 16, 21, 22 as necessary in some
prior art devices but it may be easily inserted into the
guides 13 and 14. This is an especially desirable feature for
the operator who wishes to use several different cartridges 10
during use, such as to change the color of the printing. Of
course, not having a non-inked leader can also reduce the cost of
manufacturing the ribbon cartridge 10.
preferable design for the ribbon guides 13 and 14 to
facilitate the insertion of the cartridge 10 is illustrated in
Figures 3 and 4, especially in Figure 4 where the right hand side
guide 14 has two upstanding left and right portions 31 and 32.
As illus-trated, these portions 31, 32 diverge from one another to
form a "V", indicated at numeral 33, for easy entry of the
ribbon 16. The mode of placement of the ribbon span 16 is more
clearly indicated in Figure 2. The "V" occurs in a plane which
is almost parallel to the span of ribbon 16 as is more clearly
illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 8B. When the ribbon 16, 21 is
installed as illustrated by the cross-hatched portion 21 and
span 16, the configuration of portions 31 and 32 inhibit both up
and down and to and fro movement of the ribbon 16, 21 so that it
will not escape the ribbon guide 14 during the movement of the
ribbon lift 51 (Figures 9 and 10). The recessed portion or
channel 34 of ribbon portion 31 helps to retain the ribbon 16, 21
in its proper place.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show various cross-sections of the
ribbon guide 14. The left hand side guide 13 is a mirror image
of guide 14, and therefore is not depicted in detail for the sake
of brevity. The ribbon guide portions 31 and 32 extend from a
link 36 as illustrated both in Figures 3 and 4 which pivots at
30 axes 37 and 38 with respect to links 39 and 40. Links 39 and 40
are the lower and upper bail-lift assembly links. Details of the
bail-lift assembly are clearly illustrated in Figures 9 and 10.
This bail-lift assembly, with the exception of the configuration
of guides 13 and 14, is well known in the prior art having been
used for over a year in printers sold by the assignee of the
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R. F. Gildersleeve~ 1 Page 7
present invention. As illustrated in Figure 9, the lower and
upper links 39 and 40 and also the corresponding links -for ribbon
guide 13, namely 39' and 40', pivot on the axes 42 and 43.
Axes 42 and 43 are fixed in a frame 44. Another portion of the
same frame, designated with numeral 45, is the fixed platform for
ribbon cartridge 10. The lower linlcs 39 and 39' are mechanically
operated at overhang portion 49.
A spring 46 normally holds the ribbon guides 13 and 14
in a down position for exposing a line of printing. However, as
illustrated in Figure 10, upon actuation by a ribbon lift control
unit 47 a solenoid assembly 48 is actuated to draw down the
overhang portion 49 of the ribbon lift assembly 51 overcoming
spring 46 and moving the guides 13 and 14 up into a printing
position. The pivot points 42 and 43 as well as pivot points 37
and 38 are preferably vertically disposed and thus the entire
ribbon lift assembly 51, including links 36, 39 and 40 and
frame 44, constitute a parallelogram, the link portion 36 of
which (illustrated in Figure 4) remains vertical when
reciprocating. Thus an effective vertical ribbon lift is
provided. Moreover, the ribbon lift assembly 51 of Figures 9
and 10 is capable of moving only a short distance, and has a
relatively low mass (particularly if light weight metals and/or
plastics are utilized), and thus is capable of rapid movement
after every character of printing. ~hus, the line of printing
appears to the human observer to be clearly visible at all
times. Preferably, guides 13 and 14 including links 36~ are made
of nylon material whereas the links 39 and 40 (and 39' and 40')
and the overhang 49 are formed from steel. A small piece of
ferromagnetic material 50, such as iron, is preferably attached
to overhang 49 for attraction to solenoid 48.
Because of this rapid operational capability of the
ribbon lift mechanism 51, it is desirable that the ribbon 16, 21,
22 and its cartridge 10 have similar capability. This capability
is provided by the present invention where the ribbon lengths 21
and 22 are long enough in combination with the openings 24 and 23
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R. F. Gildersleeve~ l P~ge 8
in the arms 19 and 20 of the housing provide reasonable flexing.
Furthermore, the throat openings 23 and 24, as they recede as
channels into the arms 19 and 20, decrease slightly in height to
provide space in the front of the arms 19, 20 for the flexure and
to channel the ribbon 21, 22 to and from the ribbon storage
cavity, which has a height only slightly greater than the width
of the ribbon 16, 21, 22. A preferable configuration of arm 19
is shown in partial section in Figure 8C.
In addition to fast operation, this cartridge 10 has the
added advantage of easy insertion into the typewriter or printer
without a human hand 20 touching the ribbon span 16l itself and,
moreover, without any need to tilt the platform 45. It should
now be readily apparent that requiring the cartridge 10 and
platform 45 to tilt for the ribbon lift adds undesirable mass to
the apparatus, as well as cost and complexity. The additional
mass tends to slow printing operations and to make the line of
printing less visible to a human observer.
The cartridge 10 as illustrated in Figure 2 is as it
would come from the manufacturer. The user, since the distance
between the arms 19 and 20 is greater than the spacing of the
guides 13 and 14, can easily place the exposed span of ribbon 16
in the ribbon guides 13 and 14. The cartridge 10 then is pulled
rearwardly to the position shown in Figure 1 to expose the
lengths 21 and 22 and placed on its fixed platform 45 which is
illustrated in phantom in Figures 9 and 10.
~ aving described the invention with regard to a
preferred embodiment, modification will now suggest itself to
those skilled in the art. Certainly, other sizes of cartridges
may be manufactured which enjoy the same advantages as our
cartridge. Our invention is not to be limited to the embodiment
described, except as set forth in the appended claims.
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6/23/83
