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:
Jun. 01, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 07, 1997
Jeffrey A Small, Rochester, NY (US);
James E Elly, North Chili, NY (US);
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY (US);
Abstract
Dye cartridge system adapted to reduce an exterior envelope of a printer and method of providing same. The printer comprises a housing having a front sidewall that has an aperture therethrough. A platen and a print head are disposed in the housing. The print head is movable from a first position spaced-apart from the platen to a second position adjacent to the platen, such that the platen and the print head define a clearance therebetween when the print head is in the first position. A dye donor cartridge carrying a dye donor ribbon is insertable through the aperture and into the housing to a position adjacent to the print head. A rod-shaped catch-member is attached to the end portion of the dye ribbon. Moreover, a dye ribbon take-up spool, which is permanently disposed in the housing has a recess therein for receiving the catch-member. When the catch-member is received in the recess and the take-up spool is rotated, the dye ribbon winds about the take-up spool. The neck portion is sized to be received through the clearance for interference-free insertion of the cartridge. In this manner, the cartridge may be loaded through the aperture in the front sidewall rather than by opening a top panel of the printer, so that the exterior envelope of the printer is reduced. This allows the printer to reside in a confined space with limited headroom.