Rigid yet flexible spindle for rolled material
Embodiments of the present invention describe a spindle for use by rolled materials (for example, ribbon, and labels) in a thermal printing device. The spindle contains a rigid side designed to prevent the spindle from flexing during printing. The spindle also contains a flexible side designed to address tolerance issues with the core of the rolled material and to retain the relative movement of the core of the rolled material.
1. A spindle configured to receive rolled material on a core, the spindle comprising:
a shaft comprised of a rigid component and a flexible component, wherein the flexible component of the shaft is comprised of a plurality of flexible cantilevers configured to engage the core; and
a plurality of hard stop features regularly spaced along an axis of the shaft, wherein each hard stop feature corresponds to a location of a free end of each of the plurality of flexible cantilevers.
2. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein successive ones of the plurality of flexible cantilevers have alternating orientations.
3. The spindle of claim 2 , further comprising a base, a free end of the one flexible cantilever nearest the base points in a first direction relative to the shaft and the free end of the successive one flexible cantilever points in a second direction relative to the shaft to define a pattern that repeats until the end of the shaft opposite the base.
4. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of flexible cantilevers are configured to hold the core in place on the spindle and adapt to a variation in core tolerance.
5. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein a percentage of the shaft is comprised of the rigid component and a different percentage of the shaft is comprised of the flexible component.
6. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein 50% of the shaft is comprised of the rigid component and the other 50% of the shaft is comprised of the flexible component.
7. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein the spindle further comprises:
a plurality of buttresses spaced along the axis of the shaft with the flexible cantilevers.
8. The spindle of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of buttresses are spaced between adjacent ones of the plurality of flexible cantilevers.
9. The spindle of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of buttresses are regularly spaced along the axis of the shaft.
10. The spindle of claim 7 , wherein the shaft and plurality of buttresses are made of the same material.
11. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of flexible cantilevers are made of a material configured to support tension and compression forces.
12. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of flexible cantilevers are a continuous part of a single flexible cantilever assembly.
13. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of the flexible cantilevers has a beveled edge on both ends of the surface of the flexible cantilever that is in contact with the core.
14. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein the diameter of the spindle is equal to or less than 0.5 inches.
15. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein the shaft and plurality of hard stop features are made of different materials.
16. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of hard stop features sets a maximum possible displacement for each corresponding flexible cantilever.
17. The spindle of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of hard stop features prevents yielding of each corresponding flexible cantilever.
18. A spindle configured to receive rolled material on a core, the spindle comprising:
a shaft comprising:
a rigid component; and
a flexible component comprising:
a plurality of flexible cantilevers configured to engage the core;
a plurality of buttresses positioned adjacent the plurality of flexible cantilevers; and
a plurality of hard stop features spaced along an axis of the shaft, wherein each hard stop feature corresponds to a location of a free end of each of the plurality of flexible cantilevers.
19. A spindle configured to receive rolled material on a core, the spindle comprising:
a shaft comprising:
a rigid component; and
a flexible component comprising:
a plurality of flexible cantilevers positioned along an axis of the shaft, wherein each flexible cantilever has a free end configured to engage the core; and
a plurality of hard stop features positioned along the axis of the shaft, wherein each hard stop feature corresponds to a location of the free ends of the plurality of flexible cantilevers.