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:
Jul. 07, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 28, 1995
Minoru Takeuchi, Tamayama-mura, JP;
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., , JP;
Abstract
A thermal transfer printer wherein a desired ribbon cassette is identified and selected from among plural ribbon cassettes held by a cassette holding portion and is loaded automatically onto a cassette carrier disposed on a carriage. The carriage is provided with a photosensor for detecting an identification mark provided on each ribbon cassette and a control section which judges whether there is any ribbon cassette held by the holding portion and of which type the ribbon cassette is, in accordance with a signal provided from the photosensor as the carriage moves. The carriage is further provided with a mechanism for making control so as to prevent loosening of ink ribbon at the time of ribbon cassette replacement.