Fully self-contained disposable cartridge for inked ribbons and the like

Claim 1

A ribbon cartridge for use in printers having a print head assembly including a nose, and a paper support movable relative to one another to effect printing at a printing location by printing means located at the nose of the print head assembly, said cartridge comprising: a closed loop of ribbon; a housing having a hollow interior, a portion of said interior forming a substantially U-shaped ribbon storage region having inlet and outlet ends at the opposite ends of said U-shaped storage region and being defined by top and bottom walls joined by spaced-apart inner and outer U-shaped side walls; drive means forming part of said cartridge at the inlet end of said storage region for driving the ribbon into the storage region to engage stripper means for imparting to the ribbon a full fan-fold configuration whereby opposite folds of ribbon extend towards said inner and outer side walls of said housing; the inlet and outlet ends of said ribbon storage region being substantially coplanar and on opposite sides of the nose of said print head assembly; said housing also including a hollow ribbon guiding channel spanning between and being substantially coplanar with said outlet and inlet ends of said storage region for guiding said ribbon from said outlet end to said ribbon driving means, said guiding channel having an opening coinciding with the position occupied by the nose of the print head assembly to expose a portion of the ribbon extending across the guiding channel for engagement by said printing means; said spaced-apart inner and outer U-shaped side walls being spaced apart a sufficient distance to receive said ribbon in said full fan-fold configuration from said inlet end to said outlet end; means located at the outlet end of said storage region for guiding the ribbon out of said storage region and including a first opening through which said ribbon passes and second and third openings on opposite sides of said first opening for accommodating opposite folds of the stored fan-fold ribbon in an alternating fashion as the ribbon is drawn through said first opening by said drive means, said first opening being defined by first and second spaced-apart projections arranged intermediate the side walls of the housing; a third projection extending inwardly from said inner side wall towards said first projection to define said second opening; a fourth projection extending inwardly from said outer side wall towards said second projection to define said third opening, the distance measured across said first opening being significantly greater than the thickness of the ribbon and being so constructed to prevent the ribbon from being creased in the event that multiple plies of the ribbon pass therethrough; and said guiding channel and said U-shaped storage region cooperating to form a central opening for surrounding said print head assembly and the nose of said print head assembly.