Claims
- 1. Self-regulating ribbon reinking means in a cassette including an enclosure having a body and a cover therefor, and an endless ribbon within said enclosure, said ribbon re-inking means comprising
- means for driving said ribbon for use in printing operations, an
- ink supply roll rotatably supported from said body at a fixed location within the enclosure, and
- ink transfer means comprising pivot means integral with said cassette body, a carriage comprising a rigid bar, said bar being pivotally mounted at substantially its midpoint on the pivot means, a transfer roll and a balancing roll of substantially identical structure, said balancing and transfer rolls being mounted within the enclosure on opposite ends of said bar, said transfer roll engaging said ink supply roll and serving to transfer ink from said ink supply roll to said ribbon, said ribbon being trained about said transfer and balancing rolls such that tension in said ribbon creates forces acting on said balancing and transfer rolls, the force acting on said balancing roll tending to rotate the carriage in the same sense as the force acting on said transfer roll, said forces created by the tension in said ribbon being substantially the only forces acting to rotate the carriage, a decrease of ink in said ribbon increasing said forces and thus causing said carriage to rotate in a first rotational direction, thereby increasing the contact pressure between the transfer roll and the ink supply roll so that an increased volume of ink flows from said ink supply roll to said transfer roll, and an increase of ink in said ribbon decreasing said forces and causing said carriage to rotate in a second direction, opposite to said first direction, thus decreasing the contact pressure between said transfer roll and said ink supply roll so that a decrease volume of ink flows from said ink supply roll to said transfer roll.
- 2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said ribbon comprise a pair of opposed rollers.
- 3. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said ink transfer roll is rockably supported adjacent the ink supply roll and is opposed to rockable movement by said balancing roll.
- 4. The subject matter of claim 1 including guide means for directing said ribbon in a path to provide sufficient contact with said balancing roll and with said transfer roll for rotational driving thereof.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 528,867 filed on Sept. 2, 1983, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 374,823, filed May 4, 1982, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0019649 |
Dec 1980 |
EPX |
156810 |
May 1904 |
DE2 |
2550305 |
May 1977 |
DEX |
2033872 |
May 1980 |
GBX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
528867 |
Sep 1983 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
374823 |
May 1982 |
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