Telecom Italia S.p.a.

Alberto Colombi

Marco Dellea

Alessandro Scardovi

Gianrico Scarton

Roberto Morandotti

Marco Brigando

Piero Salussolia

A printer and a module for supporting a paper roll therefore, the module comprising: a body for housing the roll; a first supporting member for the roll before that the roll is unwound for the printing operation; a second supporting member for the roll, after the roll has been wound at the end of printing operations; and a first engaging member carried by said body and disposable in a first configuration wherein it is coupled with a second engaging member carried by the printer to secure the module on the printer; the first engaging member is further disposable in a second configuration, wherein it is released from the second engaging member to permit the extraction of the module from the printer.

Printer and extractable module therefor

The ink jet printer comprises a printhead () movable in front of a printing medium () and provided with an ink cartridge () integral with it; the cartridge is filled with ink from a main, high capacity tank (), which is connected at intervals to the cartridge () by means of a capillary element. During each connection, the capillary element () is brought into contact with the sponge () inside the cartridge, while a peristaltic pump () mounted integral upon the main tank provides a pressure suitable for generating a sufficient flow of ink to refill the cartridge () in a short time frame. To perform the refilling, the cartridge is brought at the end of its stroke into a service station () mounted on the body of the main tank (), which is moved against the cartridge by means of a motor-driven linkage, controlled by a refilling management programme, in response to the signals of a cartridge ink level sensor.

Ink jet printer with high capacity tank and associated ink refilling system

The ink jet printer comprises a printhead () movable in front of a printing medium () and provided with an ink cartridge () integral with it; the cartridge is filled with ink from a main, high capacity tank (), which is connected at intervals to the cartridge () by means of a capillary element. During each connection, the capillary element () is brought into contact with the sponge () inside the cartridge, while a peristaltic pump () mounted integral upon the main tank provides a pressure suitable for generating a sufficient flow of ink to refill the cartridge () in a short time frame. To perform the refilling, the cartridge is brought at the end of its stroke into a service station () mounted on the body of the main tank (), which is moved against the cartridge by means of a motor-driven linkage, controlled by a refilling management program, in response to the signals of a cartridge ink level sensor.

In a receipt printer (), suitable for printing on a paper ribbon of different widths, wound on a roll () arranged in a seat () in the printer, a wall is provided for the lateral positioning () of the roll of paper () in its seat, to keep the paper ribbons, or the respective rolls () of at least two different widths in the proper printing position, independently of the width of the ribbon; the positioning wall () is arranged inside the seat () of the roll of paper, with a first surface () facing a side (') of the same roll (). When the roll () is replaced with another roll () of different width, the positioning wall () is repositioned in the seat (), rotated through 180&#xb0;, to laterally retain the new roll () with the second face (), opposite the first face (); the positioning wall () is suitable for being attached to the walls () of the seat () through flat tabs (), protruding beyond the edge () of the positioning wall (); the positioning tabs () are all arranged staggered on one side (), with respect to the median plane of the wall () and flush with one () of the two faces of the positioning wall () and are also suitable for engaging corresponding pairs of slots () formed in the walls of the seat ().

System and element for laterally positioning paper rolls of different width

The device () for detecting end of paper comprises a support () mounted on a wall () of a printer () of receipts, obtained from a tape () of paper wound on a roll (), contained in a housing () of the printer (). The printer () is preferentially employed at a Point Of Sale (POS) and may be arranged on a horizontal work plane () set on its base (), or inclined by about 90&#xb0;, on a front wall (). As a result, the roll () is set into the housing () alternatively in two positions, corresponding to the inclination assumed by the printer. A detecting lever () in hinge-mounted on the support () and is provided with two arms () spread apart, forming an angle of approximately 120&#xb0;. Fixed to each of the ends of the arms () is a projecting element (), each of which suitable for engaging a hole in a central sprocket () of the roll (), when the latter has reached its minimum dimension, in which a given length of tape remains of the sprocket (), indicating that the latter is closed to running out. The two projecting elements () are positioned in such a way that only one of these enters the hole in the sprocket (), when the printer () is set in one of the two positions; the support () is moved linearly on the wall () by way of a toothed cam (), in order to adapt the position of each of the projecting elements to the dimensions of the sprocket () of the paper roll.

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Strambino, Italy

Alberto Colombi