up an impact printer utilizing the present invention these elements include a platen 26 upon which the paper 28 comes to rest during the impact printing step the ribbon shield 30 is positioned as shown on the other side of the paper 28 and is positioned on top of the ink ribbon 32 which itself is located between the lower side of the ribbon shield 30 and the upper facing surface of a cover plate member 34 the cover plate member 34 includes a plurality of elongated openings 36 therein adapted to receive a corresponding plurality of impact print hammers or stylus members 38 as shown these hammers or stylus members 38 are electromechanically driven through the elongated openings 36 and through the correspondingly aligned openings 40 in the ribbon shield 30 as the ribbon 32 is driven into contact with the paper 28 coming to rest against the platen 26 referring now to fig2 c and 2d there is shown the ribbon shield construction according to the present invention and including an opening 40 in the shield 30 defined by a first smaller diameter 41 and a second larger diameter 42 as the ribbon 32 drags or wipes against the lower edge 42 defining the larger diameter there.