Claims
- 1. A system for dissipating static electric charge build-up caused substantially by the passage of a moving ribbon between a rotating platen and a thermal printhead, said system comprising:
(a) a ribbon frame made substantially of electrostatically dissipative material and adapted to support said thermal printhead proximate to said rotating platen; (b) a power supply unit electrically coupled to said ribbon frame for grounding said ribbon frame to said power supply; and (c) a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) electrically coupled between said power supply and earth ground for grounding said power supply, said electrostatically dissipative material in said grounded ribbon frame automatically dissipating static electric charge as said moving ribbon comes into physical contact with at least one portion of said ribbon frame.
- 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said electrostatically dissipative material comprises about 15% carbon fiber, about 2% silicone and about 83% polycarbonate.
- 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said electrostatically dissipative material contains about 5% to 30% carbon fiber.
- 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said ribbon frame is grounded to said power supply unit by way of a ground cable.
- 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said power supply unit is grounded to said PCBA by way of a ground wire.
- 6. The system of claim 1, wherein said PCBA is connected to earth ground by way of a grounding wire.
- 7. A system for dissipating static electric charge build-up caused substantially by the passage of a moving ribbon between a rotating platen and a thermal printhead, said system comprising:
(a) a ribbon frame made substantially of electrostatically dissipative material; (b) a printhead bracket removably coupled to said ribbon frame and made substantially of said electrostatically dissipative material, said printhead bracket adapted to support said thermal printhead proximate to said rotating platen; and (c) a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) electrically coupled between said printhead bracket and earth ground for grounding said printhead bracket, said electrostatically dissipative material in said grounded printhead bracket automatically dissipating static electric charge as said moving ribbon comes into physical contact with at least one portion of said printhead bracket.
- 8. The system of claim 7, wherein said electrostatically dissipative material comprises about 15% carbon fiber, about 2% silicone and about 83% polycarbonate.
- 9. The system of claim 7, wherein said electrostatically dissipative material contains about 5% to 30% carbon fiber.
- 10. The system of claim 7, wherein said printhead bracket is grounded to said PCBA by way of a ground cable.
- 11. The system of claim 7, wherein said PCBA is connected to earth ground by way of a grounding wire.
- 12. The system of claim 7, wherein said electrostatically dissipative material in said ribbon frame automatically dissipates static electric charge as said moving ribbon comes into physical contact with at least one portion of said ribbon frame.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/675,193, filed Sep. 29, 2000, entitled “Printer With Ribbon Fold Out Mechanism”, having common inventor and assignee, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/292,093, filed May 17, 2001, entitled “System For Dissipating Electric Charge During Printing”, having common inventors and assignee, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60292093 |
May 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09675193 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
09964721 |
Sep 2001 |
US |