Pa Consulting Services Ltd.

Francotyp-postalia Gmbh

Esselte Meto International Produktions Gmbh

Other

Frankl & Kirchner Gmbh Co Kg Fabrik Fur Elektromotoren U. Elektrische

Thule United Limited

Thule United Limited a British Company

Alan J Harry

Paul R Nailor

Juergen Schoon

Fred Adelmann

Peter Franzen

Robert M Pettigrew

John Poley

Douglas S MacArthur

Robert M Petigrew

Vincent Geake

A device suitable for printing bar codes is disclosed, this device comprising a housing, means for holding a label supply roll, printing means for applying indicia to a label, means for supplying data to determine the nature of the indicia printed on the label, and means for supplying electrical energy to operate the device, characterised in that said print unit is an ink jet printer.

Bar code printing

A method of bar code printing is disclosed. The bar code is printed directly onto packaging material associated with the product, and in that the ink used to produce the bar code is such that indicia constituting the bar code can be discriminated regardless of the background onto which the bar code is printed.

The invention provides a number of improvements useful in printers which may be of the fixed, portable or hand-held types. In one aspect, the printer, which comprises a housing, a printing unit, means for feeding to said printing unit a substrate onto which indicia are to be printed, means for feeding a thermal transfer ribbon to said printing unit, and means for providing electrical power to operate the printer, is characterized by means permitting independent movement of said substrate and said thermal transfer ribbon within said printing unit. In another aspect, the printer includes means for supplying power to operate the printer, for example dynamo driven by a manual trigger. In a further aspect, the means for supplying power comprises a piezoelectric motor. In a further aspect, the printer is intended for printing bar codes, and comprises a housing; a thermographic print head; means for supplying a substrate to said print head, and a power supply for said thermographic print head, characterized in that the printer is arranged to apply substantially constant and continuous power to heat the elements of the thermographic print head during a bar code printing operation.

Printing systems

Improved printers are disclosed which are characterized by means for inputting data which is arranged to function without the use of an alpha-numeric keyboard. The data inputting means may be a cursor moving device operating in conjunction with a graphics display system; a graphics display system having a touch-sensitive screen; a speech recognition unit; a memory or 'smart card'; or an integral bar code reader. The cursor moving devices may be, for example, a tracker ball or a mouse.

Printers and ancillary systems

A ribbon cassette, such as in inked ribbon for a printing machine, has a supply spool and a take-up spool. An unwinding force is applied to the ribbon and the take-up spool is driven from the supply spool through a slip coupling. The configuration of the driving connection between the spools is such as to lead to a theoretical speed of the take-up spool which is always geater than is actually needed to match the speed of unwinding from the supply spool. Slip however occurs to match the speeds and to maintain tension in the ribbon.

Ribbon cassettes

A ribbon cassette, such as in inked ribbon for a printing machine, has a supply spool and a take-up spool. An unwinding force is applied to the ribbon and the take-up spool is driven from the supply spool through a slip coupling. The configuration of the driving connection between the spools is such as to lead to a theoretical speed of the take-up spool which is always greater than is actually needed to match the speed of unwinding from the supply spool. Slip however occurs to match the speeds and to maintain tension in the ribbon.

Postal franking apparatus in which both semi-permanent and variable information to be printed onto an envelope is stored electrically in a memory and is read out to form printing control signals for controlling a thermal printer containing thermally activable inking means at a printing station into which the envelope is placed. The thermal printer is in the form of an elongate conductive plate having a large plurality of electrical connections along its length to which are fed the printing control signals in synchronized relationship to passage of the envelope, the plate being of sufficiently high resistivity that only localized areas thereof are heated by the currents associated with the control signals, and ink is applied to the envelope only at the heated localities.

Relating to postal franking machines

A movement monitoring device for monitoring the movement of items past or through a work station wherein the items move synchronously with a ribbon through or past the work station. The transport of the items is monitored by a detector which monitors the linear movement of the ribbon. Signals from the detector can be used to activate the work station at intervals corresponding to the passage of the items.

Postal franking machine

In a machine which uses cassettes, a compartment is provided for receiving the cassette. Examples of such machines are printing machines using an inked ribbon cassette. In the compartment there is a V-shaped toggle spring which is pivotally mounted at its vertex with two arms and extending forward so that when a cassette is inserted and pushed in against both arms, the latter are splayed apart and the spring pivots and snaps the cassette into a 'home' position in which it is retained by a cooperating means on the cassette and the compartment.

Ribbon cassettes and apparatus for receiving same

Independent control by a single motor of two members mounted on a shaft, e.g. print wheels in a printing machine such as a postal franking machine, is enabled by having the first member either fixed in rotation to the shaft or connected to the shaft by a one-way clutch, and having the second member connected to the shaft by a one-way clutch, the arrangement being such that rotation of the shaft in one direction causes movement of the first member only (by direct drive or by the action of the associated clutch) and rotation of the shaft in the other direction causes movement of the second member only, by the action of the associated clutch.

Drive unit

A franking machine adapted to print variable data as well as constant data onto mail as it is presented to the variable data including a plurality of endless bands of self-inking material containing printing indicia around their external surfaces; a separate drive for each band for advancing same to present different ones of said printing indicia to the printing station; microprocessor adapted to control the operation of the separate drive; transducers adapted to produce an electrical signal indicative of the position to which a band has moved at any instant relative to a reference position; and, a device for feeding to the microprocesser the electrical signal or signals derived therefrom whereby the microprocessor is continually made aware of the position occupied by each movable band.

Franking machine having variable data incorporated onto endless bands

In a clutch-and-brake unit for use with a continuously rotating, motor-driven shaft, for example in an industrial sewing machine, a single disk has a clutch surface on one side and a brake surface on the other side. The disk is magnetically urged into operative engagement with clutch and brake pressure plates facing the respective clutch and brake surfaces of the disk, the clutch pressure plate being rotated by the motor-driven shaft to rotate the disk and a shaft connected thereto when operatively engaged, and the brake pressure plate being non-rotatable to brake the shaft. The brake pressure plate is also constantly urged into light contact with the brake surface sufficient to brake the disk and shaft only when the disk is not operatively engaged with the clutch pressure plate. This prevents the disk and connected shaft from rotating when neither the clutch nor the brake are operatively engaged and eliminates engagement noise when the brake pressure plate is operatively engaged.

Electromagnetic clutch-brake for industrial sewing machine

A vibratory screening machine as described separating solid particles from liquid in which a fine mesh screen (30) includes an inclined region extending upwardly to a discharge edge (34) over which solid material (36) separated by filtration can pass. Vibration of the screen (30) causes the solid particulate material to move towards the discharge edge (34). The screen (30) forms the base of a reservoir having sides (10) and a weir or dam (46) at the opposite end to the discharge edge (34) and is slidable in and out to provide for cleaning and/or replacement. A suspension of liquid and solid particulate material is supplied to the machine along a pipeline (28) and is discharged onto the rear end of the screen (30) from a discharge head (24). One or more intermediate screens of similar design may be located above the main vibrating screen and above one another and the suspension of liquid and solid material discharged onto each of the screens overflows onto the rear end of the screen immediately therebelow. Trays (68) and (70) are provided to catch liquid draining through.

Vibratory screening apparatus for screening liquids

A vibratory screening machine as described separating solid particles from liquid in which a fine mesh screen (30) includes an inclined region extending upwardly to a discharge edge (34) over which solid material (36) separated by filtration can pass. Vibration of the screen (30) causes the solid particulate material to move towards the discharge edge (34). The screen (30) forms the base of a reservoir having sides (10) and a weir or dam (46) at the opposite end to the discharged edge (34). A suspension of liquid and solid particulate material is supplied to the machine along a pipeline (28) and is discharged onto the rear end of the screen (30) from a discharge head (24). One or more intermediate screens of a similar design are located above the main vibrating screen and above one another and the suspension of liquid and solid material discharged onto the first screen overflows onto the rear end of the screen immediately therebelow. Trays (68) and (70) are provided to catch liquid draining through.

Growing community of inventors

Royston, United Kingdom

Alan J Harry