Patent ID: 8801306
Filing Date: 2014-08-12
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A printing apparatus for printing on a substrate, the apparatus including a base mounting a storage spool to store ribbon of a kind including a web carrying marking medium, and the base mounting a ribbon take-up spool to take up ribbon, and there being a ribbon path from the storage spool to the take-up spool through a printing station where there is a print head, printing being effected at the printing station when relatively moving the print head and the substrate with the ribbon interposed between substrate and print head so that marking medium is transferred from the web of the ribbon to the substrate, and wherein the apparatus includes a movable ribbon guide member including a pair of ribbon guide member parts about which the ribbon is entrained along the ribbon path, a ribbon guide member drive device including a pair of ribbon guide member part drive motors to move respective ribbon guide member parts of the movable ribbon guide member, and there being a controller which, during or in between at least some printing operations, controls drive of at least the take-up spool to advance ribbon through the printing station, wherein the pair of ribbon guide member parts being movable in a first direction during printing, to effect ribbon movement through the printing station, and the ribbon guide member parts additionally being movable relative to one another via the controller controlling the ribbon guide member part drive motors in response to a ribbon tension input signal representative of ribbon tension along the ribbon path to adjust the ribbon tension in the ribbon path between predetermined tension limits.