Ink ribbon cartridge indication system for printer

摘要

A printer includes a print mechanism defining a print region and a removable ink ribbon cartridge. The cartridge includes a body and two arms which are spaced apart and pivotally attached to the body with an ink ribbon across the gap between the ends of the arms in the print region. The printer includes an arm moving mechanism for moving the arms about their pivots on the body of the cartridge so that the portion of the ribbon in the print region can be moved laterally. One of the arms is formed with a first indicator which cooperates with a sensing system on the printer to indicate the lateral position of the ribbon in the print region. The sensing system can also determine whether the cartridge is installed correctly in the printer. A second indicator is located on the arm and the sensing system can detect the position of this second indicator to indicate the type of ribbon in the cartridge.