Dye ribbon package for use with a thermal printer and a method of

Abstract

A dye ribbon package for use with a thermal printer and containing for that purpose in spaced parallel relation therein a supply spool wound with dye ribbon and a take up spool for rewinding the dye ribbon as it is unwound from the supply package, a leading end of the dye ribbon on the supply spool being attached to the take up spool, each spool having a winding core with a free end portion, in which the package has a bottom wall and at each of the opposite sides of the bottom wall normal to the spool axes upstanding lateral wall integral with the bottom wall. Each lateral wall has two laterally spaced apart panels, both cut out downwardly from their edges opposite the bottom wall to removably receive the free end portions of the spool cores and permit free access to the end faces of the spool cores. The opposite sides of the bottom wall are spaced apart a distance greater than the length of the spool cores so that the upstanding outer penel wall at least partially shields the core end faces without preventing axial access thereto through the cut out in the outer wall panel. In cross-section, the lateral walls can be of inverted U-shape and inwardly sloping inverted V-shape.