International Business Machines Corporation

Jack W Morris

Kevin F Bulson

Matthew Kevan Zimmer

David R Klueh

Charles L Decoste, Jr

Kent G Urdahl

A very thin film ribbon with good printing and lift-off correction characteristics is achieved by using a blend of polyethylene and isotactic polypropylene as the substrate material. Thicker ribbons with the substrate yield dense printing and print well on rough papers.

Reduced thickness resin substrate in film printing ribbon

Printer ribbon cartridge (1) has a re-inking roller (3) mounted on brackets (33, 35) of a mounting member (31). A leaf panel (45) biases the re-inking roller into transfer roller (5). To prevent failures resulting from permanent deformation of the re-inking roller which can occur during periods of non-use, the transfer roller is mounted on a shaft (9) which is smaller than the central hole (7) of the transfer roller. The printer ribbon (11) is positioned around the transfer roller where tension during normal ribbon feed will force the transfer roller firmly into the re-inking roller, where the ribbon is re-inked prior to entering the stuffed chamber (19) of the cartridge. During periods of non-use the transfer roller moves with respect to its shaft to relieve deformation pressure on the re-inking roller.

Growing community of inventors

Nicholasville, KY, United States of America

Jack W Morris