Inked ribbon cartridge with ribbon drag device

Claim 1

In a ribbon cartridge for a typewriter or like machine having a housing for ribbon supply and take-up spools and having spaced outwardly extending arms for guiding ribbon drawn by take-up means from a supply spool out of an exit aperture across a gap defined by said spaced outwardly extending arms and into an entry aperture, said take-up means including a drive wheel and a take-up spool rotatably mounted in said housing and biased toward one another to maintain a nip with the periphery of said spool and said drive wheel in frictional engagement, means for guiding ribbon between said entry aperture and the nip of said take-up spool and wheel including spaced abutments and a flexible member anchored in said cartridge and extending along a side wall of said cartridge, said flexible member having a length greater than the distance between said abutments and anchored to at least one of said abutments whereby it can be flexed toward said side wall, and a resilient pad secured to and biased by said flexible member against said cartridge side wall to apply drag to ribbon passing between said pad and cartridge side wall to tension said ribbon subsequent to its passage through said entry aperture and in advance of its entry into the nip of said take-up spool and drive wheel.