US Patent 7300220 Hand-separable ribbon spool assembly

A hand-separable ribbon spool shaft assembly adapts a plain ribbon spool so as to provide drive and location functions. The shaft assembly is composed of at least two shaft parts that are assembled to the ribbon spool and cooperate to provide a manual hand-action locking mechanism. First and second ends of the shaft assembly provide bearing and locating surfaces when the shaft assembly is positioned in a printer. The bearing and locating services allow the ribbon spool shaft assembly to rotate during operation of the printer, and the assembly further includes a gear drive means for driving the rotating ribbon spool.