22 Oct
2007
22 Oct
'07
4:13 p.m.
On 22 Oct 2007 at 23:26, Tony Duell wrote:
Thet idea was not uncommn at the time. DEC made one
called the 'LA324'
which could take a colour ribbon and mechanically shifted it up and down
to change colour. I also rememebr using an Epson printer in the mid 1980s
that could take a 'colour kit' which was a motor + mechanical bits to
tilt the ribbon.
Some Diablo Hytype printer models had a ribbon-shift solenoid also on
the print head. Typically, just two colors, red and black. The big
problem with any of these multicolor ribbon systems is that there is
ink transfer from the printhead pins to the ribbon that eventually
causes the lighter colors to get contaminated with the darker ink
colors. And the multicolor ribbons were substantially more expensive
than monochrome ribbons.
But then, many typewriters, including my old Smith-Corona manual, had
a ribbon-shift levers--so it's not a new idea by any means.
Cheers,
Chuck