The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 09, 1984
Filed:
Apr. 30, 1981
Willie Goff, Jr, Austin, TX (US);
Errol R Williams, Jr, Round Rock, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Apparatus for feeding ribbon in an impact printer or typewriter is provided in which the ribbon metering means are very simple and minimize the potential for damage to the ribbon. Ribbon is fed from a supply reel to a take-up reel each of which is adapted to support a portion of an inventory of ribbon running from the supply reel to the take-up reel. The apparatus includes a drive mechanism which drives the take-up reel at a selected one of a plurality of different rotational velocities, apparatus for sensing the portion of the inventory of ribbon on one of the reels and for producing an electrical signal representative of the radius of said portion, and apparatus for selecting one of said rotational velocities in response to said signal. The sensing apparatus used to sense the portion of the ribbon inventory which remains on the supply reel is capacitive sensing apparatus.