Monarch Marking Systems, Inc.

Pitney Bowes Inc.

Bruce E Taylor

Orville C Huggins

Augustus W Griswold

Lorraine T Porter

John D Mistyurik

Ronald L Fogle

Charles W Klein

Larry D Strausburg

Gregory B Arnold

Robert B Schulte

Kevin L Kipper

There is disclosed method and apparatus which promotes effective peeling of a linerless-type label web from a roll by use of a peel roller in contact with the outer periphery of the roll. The apparatus can include a print head and a driven platen roll. The apparatus can also apply labels which are printed by the apparatus.

Label printing apparatus and method

There is disclosed a printer and a method for printing and dispensing either liner-type or linerless-type labels. A delaminator is selectively positionable so that the carrier web of a liner-type composite label web can be drawn about the delaminator to delaminate and dispense a pressure sensitive label or so that the delaminator is out of the way to avoid problems when using the printer to print and dispense linerless-type labels. The linerless-type label web is prepared by folding an end portion upon itself to facilitate threading through a printer.

Apparatus for selectively dispensing liner-type and linerless-type labels

The thermal printing apparatus includes a base supported registration wall. The registration wall has claps mounted thereto for supporting a thermal ribbon cassette. Also, mounted to the registration wall is a thermal print head which extends over the deck of the thermal print apparatus to define a print station. A platen roller support assembly is mounted in the base for supporting the platen roller parallel to the thermal print head and causing the platen roller to bias an envelope against the thermal print head and causing the envelope and thermal transfer ribbon to simultaneously traverse the thermal print head during a print cycle of the thermal printing apparatus under the influence of a drive motor. An encoder is mounted to the registration wall to interact with the thermal transfer ribbon for position encoding displacement of the thermal ribbon of the thermal ribbon cassette relative to the thermal print head. The output of the encoder is proportional to the rate of change of the position encoded displacement. A microcontroller system is provided for causing the drive motor to drive the platen roller as a select speed and for comparing the output of the encoder means to a desired print speed. If a difference is detected, the microcontroller incrementally increases the drive motor speed until the difference is within a desired minimum range.

Thermal ribbon encoder assembly for a thermal printing postage meter

A thermal ribbon cassette includes a take-up spool and a supply spool rotatively mounted in the cassette housing. The spools are aligned to respective aperture in the rear wall of the housing. The housing has a print head opening located between the supply spool and the take-up spool dividing the cassette into the respective supply side and the take-up side. The thermal ink transfer ribbon supply is wrapped around the supply spool and extending to the take-up spool. An encoder post is rotatively mounted to the rear wall to the supply side of the cassette aligned to an aperture in the rear wall. A first drag post is fixably mounted to the rear wall on the supply side of the cassette and a feed post is fixably mounted to the rear wall on the supply side of the cassette just prior to the print head opening. A drag clutch is provided for preventing the supply spool from turning in the non-feed direction and for providing a predetermined amount of drag to the supply spool. The coefficients of friction and the relative location of the encoder post, drag post and feed post maintain the supply of the thermal ribbon taut.

Thermal transfer ribbon having ribbon follower

There is disclosed a support for a keyboard. The support can be mounted either on a generally horizontal surface such as on a table, a portable cart, or an upper surface of a printer or on a vertical surface such as a wall. The support is adjustable so that the keyboard can be positioned at different inclinations.

Keyboard support

There is disclosed an improved tag banding apparatus which conveys a tag to a stop position, positions tags one-by-one and accumulates the tags in a stack, and bands the stacks in a connected series.

Tag banding apparatus

There is disclosed a printer with an improved arrangement to facilitate changing of inking ribbons. A slide assembly is placed in a load position and loaded with an inking ribbon supply roll. Thereafter, the inking ribbon is threaded about guides. With the print head and the platen of the printer separated, the slide assembly is slid to a printing position where the inking ribbon is disposed in space between the print head and the platen. Thereafter, the print head and platen are moved relatively together so that the printer is now able to print on a record medium.

Slide assembly for mounting a print ribbon

There is disclosed a tag stacker and tag stacking method for taking tags from an output device such as a printer and stacking them in a stack. Tags are inputted one-by-one into the stacker and are moved from a generally horizontal orientation to a generally vertical orientation in a stack. Tags are fed one-by-one into the stack in a hopper, the tags are tamped to settle them in the hopper and the stack is advanced by a conveyor as the stack builds. A side of the stack is guided by an adjustable side guide.

Growing community of inventors

Tipp City, OH, United States of America

Bruce E Taylor