Did You Know...
...When G.G. Hubbard learned of his future son-in-law's invention, he called it "only a toy." His daughter was engaged to a young man named Alexander Graham Bell.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8137015 | Image forming method for determining a position of an ink ribbon with a boundary line A method of forming an image on a transfer sheet based on electronic data uses an image forming device and an ink ribbon cartridge. An ink ribbon of the ink ribbon cartridge has a plurality of ink films formed thereon with boundary lines being provided between the i... | 03/20/2012 |
| 7857533 | Method of judgement of ink ribbon jamming Magnetic force lines 51 are generated in the direction from a first limited portion 52 of an inside peripheral face 50a of a ribbon-delivering cylindrical core 50 toward an opposing second limited portion 54. A first magnet ... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7753605 | Tape drive and printing apparatus A tape drive for use in for example a transfer printing apparatus to drive a printer ribbon. The printer ribbon is mounted on two spools each of which is driven by a respective stepper motor. A controller controls the energization of the motor such that the ribbon i... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7748917 | Tape drive and printing apparatus A tape drive for use in for example a transfer printing apparatus to drive a printer ribbon. The printer ribbon is mounted on two spools each of which is driven by a respective stepper motor. A controller controls the energization of the motor such that the ribbon i... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7722268 | Tape drive and printing apparatus A tape drive for use in for example a transfer printing apparatus to drive a printer ribbon. The printer ribbon is mounted on two spools each of which is driven by a respective stepper motor. A controller controls the energization of the motor such that the ribbon i... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7682094 | Tape drive and printing apparatus A tape drive for use in for example a transfer printing apparatus to drive a printer ribbon. The printer ribbon is mounted on two spools each of which is driven by a respective stepper motor. A controller controls the energization of the motor such that the ribbon i... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7559710 | Rotary-torque adjuster, ink-ribbon conveying mechanism, and printer A rotary-torque adjuster that adjusts rotary torque of a rotational member includes a rotary shaft, the rotational member secured to the rotary shaft and rotating integrally with the rotary shaft, a plurality of clutch disks rotatably attached to the rotary shaft, a... | 07/14/2009 |
| 7537403 | Ribbon cassette A ribbon cassette structure is provided. The provided ribbon cassette structure includes a cartridge having at least a rotating structure. The rotating structure includes a first actuating element, a first connecting element, a second actuating element and a support... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7367728 | Ink ribbon cartridge having shaft connecting members An ink ribbon cartridge including a cartridge frame, take-up shaft connecting members, and supply shaft connecting members is provided. The take-up shaft connecting members support and rotatably connect ends of a take-up shaft to the cartridge frame and the supply s... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7226226 | Printing apparatus A printing apparatus (10) includes a carrier ribbon supply tool (12) and a carrier ribbon take-up spool (16), a print head (22) having a plurality of heating elements which are individually addressable and energizable selectively to remov... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7213990 | Ink ribbon cartridge An ink ribbon cartridge, having a frame, a pair of supply shaft connecting members for connecting ends of a supply shaft to the frame, a first take-up shaft connecting member for connecting an end of a take-up shaft to the frame, the first take-up shaft connecting m... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7150572 | Tape drive and printing apparatus A tape drive for use in for example a transfer printing apparatus to drive a printer ribbon. The printer ribbon is mounted on two spools each of which is driven by a respective stepper motor. A controller controls the energization of the motor such that the ribbon i... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7073962 | Thermal-transfer printer The thermal-transfer printer includes: a pair of head attaching arms 12 having fitting holes 12c respectively inserted with support shafts 9 and having center lines inclined to axis lines of the supporting shafts 9 by a predetermin... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7059791 | Tape printer A pinion wheel for a spitter mechanism of a tape printer includes a first surface that does not engage with a tape, and a second surface for contact with a portion of the tape. Rotation of the pinion wheel causes the second surface to engage and move the portion of ... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7052194 | Apparatus and method for controlling a ribbon transport mechanism An apparatus for controlling a ribbon transport mechanism of a ribbon feed system includes a supporting structure carrying a plurality of ribbon transport devices including a ribbon storage spool, a ribbon take-up spool, and at least one ribbon guide around which ro... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7037013 | Ink-receptive card substrate In a method of forming an ink-receptive card substrate, an ink-receptive material is provided. The ink-receptive material includes a backing layer and an ink-receptive coating on a surface of the backing layer. Next, a card member is provided. Finally, the ink-recep... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6979141 | Identification cards, protective coatings, films, and methods for forming the same The present invention relates to a protective film for application to a card member and forming identification cards having protective films. The method of applying protection to a card member includes providing a protective film. The protective film includes a prot... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6923581 | Printer using ink ribbon A plurality of current patterns with regard to driving current which flows in a driving motor for a ribbon winding shaft are set in advance. The driving motor is driven based on the current pattern selected from a plurality of current patterns on an operation panel.... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6860659 | Traction device for heat-sensitive ink ribbon A recording deice includes a cylinder (1) of heat-sensitive ink ribbon (2), a rewinding cylinder (5), and a marking header (19). The device prevents unused segments of ribbon being left between markings. The device has a moving support ( | 03/01/2005 |
| 6799913 | Torque clutch apparatus and printer apparatus A simple and lightweight torque clutch apparatus capable of freely changing a torque and a printer apparatus capable of tension controlling of ink ribbon in a simplified structure are proposed. A torque clutch apparatus includes a shaft, a first gear rotatably fitte... | 10/05/2004 |
| 6666597 | Geared drive hub assembly for a printer cartridge A geared drive hub assembly for a printer cartridge containing a geared drive hub removably engaged with a spool. The geared drive hub contains a gear and a base connected to the gear; the base is integrally connected to a first stepped spline, a second s... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6637957 | Printer with ribbon fold out mechanism and plastic ribbon clutch A ribbon mechanism mounted in the lid of a printer includes a ribbon carriage pivotally coupled to the lid for folding out of the lid by virtue of its mass when the lid is open and for folding in the lid as the lid is closed. The invention comprises a clu... | 10/28/2003 |
| 6629791 | Thermal ink ribbon traction device A traction device has an origin cylinder (1) of heat-sensitive ink ribbon (2), a rewinding cylinder (5), traction means and a marking header. The device prevents unused segments of ribbon being left between markings. The device has a moving support (6) gu... | 10/07/2003 |
| 6517268 | Printer and method of controlling it A printer comprises a printing mechanism (9) composed of a platen (9b) and a printing head (9c) for printing on a recording medium (C, S) via an ink ribbon, a paper path (30, 33) for guiding the recording medium to and past said printing mechanism (9), th... | 02/11/2003 |
| 6494631 | Printer with ribbon fold out mechanism A ribbon mechanism mounted in the lid of a printer includes a ribbon carriage pivotally coupled to the lid for folding out of the lid by virtue of its mass when the lid is open and for folding in the lid as the lid is closed. A gear train is mounted on th... | 12/17/2002 |
| 6478486 | Printer with ribbon advance mechanism A ribbon advance mechanism has a advancing spool, a metal support shaft for supporting a advancing spool base part for rotation, and a coil spring attached between a base part of the advancing spool and the support shaft. The coil spring is mounted on a c... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6382853 | Method of preventing dust from adhering to ink ribbon of printer and printer A thermal printer free of the unevenness of an image is devised so that dust is prevented from adhering to an ink ribbon. In the thermal printer for generating a color image on a recording material by a thermal head and others using an ink ribbon, the ink... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6361228 | Thermal printer with improved ribbon transport A thermal printer having a source of print media, a source of print ribbon, a rotatable platen, and a print head in associated placement with the platen over which print ribbon and media pass for printing purposes. A pivotally connected ribbon support is ... | 03/26/2002 |
| 6315471 | Apparatus for controlling ribbon tension in a thermal printer The invention described a thermal printer. The thermal printer has a supply reel, a take-up and a pair of motors. Each motor connects with the supply reel and the take-up reel, respectively. A detecting apparatus detects ribbon and the reel parameters whi... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6142686 | Method and apparatus for maintaining ribbon tension A bidirectional hand held label printer with a novel labeling media and ink ribbon drive mechanism. A delay is introduced in the labeling media and ink ribbon drive mechanism to pretension the ribbon prior to feeding labeling media and ribbon past the pri... | 11/07/2000 |
| 6082912 | Thermal printer with a mode changing gear A thermal transfer type printer comprising a sun gear 10 connected (indirectly) with a motor 1, exchanging arms 11, 14 having a pin 13,16 respectively, planet gears 12,15, an exchanging gear having bosses 18,19 and engaging with the planet gear 12, a cam ... | 07/04/2000 |
| 6082914 | Thermal printer and drive system for controlling print ribbon velocity and tension A thermal printer having a supply of media with a rotatable platen on which the media is moved for printing by a thermal printing head. A supply spindle supplies print ribbon from a supply spool mounted thereon, and a take-up spindle takes up the used pri... | 07/04/2000 |
| 6006661 | Stamp-making apparatus, as well as function changeover mechanism, exposure system and stamp-making object material-detecting device therefor A stamp-making apparatus is provided in which a transparent presser plate is arranged such that the presser plate is parallel with a stamp-making object material, an ink ribbon having a stamp image formed thereon is urged against the stamp-making object m... | 12/28/1999 |
| 5975777 | Printing apparatus with a shuttle for moving the printing ribbon A printing apparatus for printing on a substrate, including a base mounting a storage spool for printing ribbon, a ribbon take-up spool, and there being a ribbon path from the storage to the take-up spool through a printing station, a print head relative ... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5911528 | Apparatus and method for controlling ribbon motor for color printing based on time not used following printing A method of controlling the operation of a ribbon motor for a color printing system, including the stop of rotating a ribbon in reverse by one color pitch so as to prevent the deterioration of print quality due to dust particulates on a surface of the rib... | 06/15/1999 |
| 5893669 | Ribbon feeding device for printer A ribbon feeding device for a printer, which is simple in structure and easy to assemble and in which engagement between a pinion supported on a carriage and a rack is maintained when the carriage for carrying a printing head moves toward and away from th... | 04/13/1999 |
| 5857785 | Label printing apparatus A label printing apparatus includes a printing unit for printing an image on a front surface of a label tape having a back surface bearing an adhesive layer via an ink ribbon having a back surface bearing a removal layer. The apparatus further includes a ... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5820277 | Printer There is disclosed an improved thermal printer with a rigid frame made from a main frame plate with compound bends and a base plate, record member supply roll mounting and guide devices, an ink ribbon and record member web feed control system, a print hea... | 10/13/1998 |
| 5820278 | Printing ribbon feeding device This invention relates to a device (11) for the feeding of a printing ribbon (12), comprising a train of three gears having a first gear (13) arranged centrally in the train and meshed with the second (14) and with the third gear (20). The gears (13, 14, ... | 10/13/1998 |
| 5820280 | Printer with variable torque distribution A printer includes a variable torque assembly that allows a printer controller to vary torque on supply and take-up reels in response to monitored diameter of the supply or take-up reels. In one embodiment, the variable torque assembly is a torque divider... | 10/13/1998 |
