摘要 |
There is disclosed herein an improved apparatus and method for stuffing pre-inked printer ribbon from a ribbon roll into a ribbon cartridge. The apparatus includes a drive motor for pulling the ribbon into the cartridge and a supply motor connected to a spool for automatically feeding ribbon to the cartridge. Between the drive and supply motors, the ribbon passes through a splice detection means, around a length measuring means, and through a cutter mechanism. The length measuring means includes a brake for stopping motion of the ribbon. The cartridge loading apparatus further includes a built-in ribbon welder mechanism for adjoining the end of the pre-inked ribbon to a leader ribbon assembled into the cartridge and a cartridge support means adaptable to any cartridge configuration. |