Importance

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Abstract

A ribbon cartridge is detachably connectable to a high speed band printer. The cartridge includes a body which has a ribbon storage compartment where the ribbon is contained in a multiplicity of serpentine folds. The body has a ribbon inlet end and outlet end, and guide arms extend from the inlet and outlet ends to guide the endless ribbon to define an exposed loop of the ribbon between the outermost ends of the guide arms. The exposed loop is positioned in the printer adjacent the paper to enable the ribbon to be impacted by appropriate printing characters. The body includes an opening which receives the ribbon drive rollers of the printer in a manner which engages the ribbon and advances it progressively. Adjacent the inlet end of the body, and in the region of the opening, the device includes a ribbon control assembly which cooperates with the rollers to assure proper threading of the ribbon between the rollers as well as to minimize any tendency for the ribbon to jam in the machine or in the cartridge. The outlet end of the body contains a mobius loop device which reverses the ribbon as it begins to exit from the cartridge so as to present the opposite face of the ribbon to the paper during the next printing cycle. The ribbon control assembly is operated automatically and concurrently with movement of the drive rollers to grip or release the ribbon.

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First Claim