Ribbon supply mounting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9931874-B2
Application number	US-201615349719-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2016
Priority date	Nov 13, 2015
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A mounting of a ribbon supply on a re-useable cartridge is described where the mounting is designed so that the supply friction, supply and control of the ribbon supply are substantially independent of the cartridge. When the supply rolls are initially mounted on the cartridge, the supply rolls are frictionally engaged with the cartridge to reduce the tendency for the supply rolls to rotate or move prior to being loaded into the printer, which would loosen the ribbon material by unwinding, thereby reducing slack in the ribbon material. When the cartridge is loaded into a card personalization machine, features on the card personalization machine automatically reduce the frictional engagement between the supply rolls and the cartridge, permitting the supply rolls to rotate substantially freely relative to the cartridge so that the supply friction, supply and control are substantially independent of the cartridge.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A roll cap that is mountable at an end of a spool of a roll of a ribbon supply, comprising:
a cap body having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and a central axis extending from the first end to the second end;
a neck that extends from the first end toward the second end and that is sized to fit into the end of the spool;
a first flange formed on the cap body at an end of the neck, the first flange is positioned between the neck and the second end;
a second flange formed on the cap body at a position so that the first flange is between the neck and the second flange;
the first flange and the second flange define a channel therebetween; and
a protrusion projecting from the second end of the cap body in a direction away from the first end, and the protrusion is centrally located on the second end with the central axis extending through the center of the protrusion.

2. The roll cap of claim 1 , wherein the cap body is generally cylindrical, the first flange is circumferentially continuous and has a first diameter, and the second flange is circumferentially continuous and has a second diameter that is greater than or less than the first diameter.

3. The roll cap of claim 1 , wherein the second flange is disposed at the second end of the cap body.

4. The roll cap of claim 1 , wherein the protrusion has a tip end, and the tip end is convexly curved in a direction away from the first end.

5. The roll cap of claim 2 , wherein the neck is generally cylindrical, and the neck has a diameter that is less than the first diameter of the first flange.

6. A ribbon supply, comprising:
a ribbon supply roll and a ribbon take-up roll, each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll has a spool with a first end and a second end;
a roll cap mounted at either the first end or the second end of at least one of the spools, the roll cap includes:
a cap body having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and a central axis extending from the first end to the second end;
a neck that extends from the first end toward the second end and that is sized to fit into first end or the second end of the at least one spool;
a first flange formed on the cap body at an end of the neck, the first flange is positioned between the neck and the second end;
a second flange formed on the cap body at a position so that the first flange is between the neck and the second flange;
the first flange and the second flange defined a channel therebetween; and
a protrusion projecting from the second end of the cap body in a direction away from the first end, and the protrusion is located on the second end so that the central axis extends through the protrusion.

7. The ribbon supply of claim 6 , wherein the cap body is mounted at the first end of the spool of the ribbon supply roll or the cap body is mounted at the first end of the spool of the ribbon take-up roll.

8. The ribbon supply of claim 6 , wherein the spool of the ribbon supply roll includes a ribbon wound thereon, and an end of the ribbon is connected to the spool of the ribbon take-up roll.

9. The ribbon supply of claim 8 , wherein the ribbon is a print ribbon or a retransfer film.

10. A method of removably mounting a ribbon supply on a removable cartridge of a card personalization machine, the ribbon supply including a ribbon supply roll and a ribbon take-up roll each of which has a spool with a longitudinal axis, the method comprising:
installing each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll at a respective mounting location defined on the removable cartridge;
installing includes sliding each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll into the respective mounting location in a direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the spool via an entrance/exit defined on the removable cartridge; and
when each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll are installed at the respective mounting location, generating a releasable friction between each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll to prevent rotation of the respective spool about the longitudinal axis.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising attaching a roll cap to the spool of each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll, and generating the releasable friction includes generating the releasable friction between each of the roll caps and the removable cartridge.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising resiliently biasing each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and away from the removable cartridge when the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll are mounted at their respective mounting locations.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein resiliently biasing each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll comprises applying a resilient biasing force to each of the roll caps.

14. A ribbon supply assembly comprising:
a removable cartridge of a card personalization machine, the removable cartridge defining a first mounting location that is configured for receiving a ribbon supply roll and a second mounting location that is configured for receiving a ribbon take-up roll, each of the first and second mounting locations is devoid of a spindle;
the ribbon supply roll mounted at the first mounting location and the ribbon take-up roll mounted at the second mounting location, each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll includes a spool having a longitudinal axis;
a releasable friction between the ribbon supply roll and the removable cartridge at the first mounting location, and a releasable friction between the ribbon take-up roll and the removable cartridge at the second mounting location, to prevent rotation of the respective spool about the longitudinal axis.

15. The ribbon supply assembly of claim 14 , wherein each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll includes a roll cap secured to an end of the spool thereof, and each of the roll caps is releasably frictionally engaged with the removable cartridge to generate the releasable friction.

16. The ribbon supply assembly of claim 15 , wherein each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll are resiliently biased in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and away from the removable cartridge.

17. The ribbon supply assembly of claim 16 , further comprising resilient biasing forces acting on the roll caps of each of the ribbon supply roll and the ribbon take-up roll in the direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and away from the removable cartridge.

Assignees

• Entrust Datacard Corp

Inventors

• Paulson Arthur J
• Kalthoff James A
• Zaborowski Alexander K
• Hoeve Bryan D

Classifications

• B41J33/16 Primary

  with drive applied to spool or spool spindle · CPC title

• B65H75/185

  End caps, plugs or adapters · CPC title

• B65H75/10

  without flanges, e.g. cop tubes · CPC title

• B41J35/28 Primary

  Detachable carriers or holders for ink-ribbon mechanisms · CPC title

• B41J33/52

  Braking devices therefor · CPC title