PRINTER WITH RIBBON FOLD OUT MECHANISM AND PLASTIC RIBBON CLUTCH

摘要

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 o f its mass when the lid is open and for folding in the lid as the lid is closed. The inventi on comprises a clutch disk made of plastic, which may be used in a printer mechanism. The design utilizes two different injection molded plastic clutch disks that run face t o face to produce relatively high dynamic and low static frictional forces. The clutch assembl y uses raised areas on one of the pair of clutch disks. The raised areas allow a better overall contact between the disks so as to achieve more desirable coefficients of friction. The materials chosen for the clutch disks not only have the desirable coefficients of friction, but also have good wear characteristics against each other.