Durango Systems, Inc.

Xerox Corporation

Helmut K Waibel

Mario G Plaza

Ivor Weller

James E Cushman

In a serial impact printer including a platen for supporting an image receptor, the platen having a central shaft and a cylindrical impact absorbing sleeve secured thereto, a platen mounting arrangement is provided which is capable of withstanding rapidly repeating, long duration, high impact loads without generating extraneous noise. The ends of the shaft are captured in seats capable of withstanding, without distortion, a high impact printing force in the impacting direction, and are retained in the seats by spring biased arms which restrain the ends of said shaft from rebound movement in a second direction substantially opposite to the impacting direction.

Impact printer platen support

An impact mechanism for use in an impact printer, to deliver a printing force to drive a character element against a platen by means of a print tip movable toward and away from the platen. A rockable bail bar having an axis of rotation substantially parallel to the axis of the platen is constrained to limited angular movement toward and away from the platen by a prime mover connected to the bail bar. A push rod interconnects the print tip and the bail bar for delivering impact forces to the platen as the bail bar is moved toward the platen. The push rod is normally coupled to the bail bar for delivering impact forces to the platen and may be decoupled from the bail bar for drawing the pring tip away from the platen so as to allow the character element to be removed. A decoupling mechanism is provided to lift the push rod off of the bail bar and to recouple it to the bail bar as required.

Impact mechanism for impact printer

An impact mechanism for use in an impact printer, to deliver a printing force to drive a character element against a platen by means of a print tip movable toward and away from the platen. A rockable bail bar having having an axis of rotation substantially parallel to the axis of the platen is constrained to limited angular movement toward and away from the platen by a prime mover connected to the bail bar. A push rod interconnects the print tip and the bail bar so as to close the throat distance for delivering an impact force to the platen as the bail bar is moved toward the platen. A repositioning element, having a portion thereof in alignment with the bail bar, allows the push rod to be drawn away from the platen while being interconnected thereto so as to allow access to and removal of the character element.

A self-feeding feeder for use with printers having rotatably driven friction feed rollers. The feeder includes mounting plates conforming to the shape of the printer print station for removably mounting the feeder. A gear is attached to the friction feed rollers and supplies rotary motion to a pair of drive rollers via an intermediate drive train. A pair of spring loaded guides having integral sides formed therein urge individual cut sheets of media out of an input media support tray and into the printer. The drive mechanism includes a pin and key drive assembly to maintain media spacing. Deflector means and an output tray are provided which automatically collect and collate the sheets of media emerging from the printer.

Printer feeder

An improved print medium driving mechanism for a line or serial printer adapted for advancing either individual cut sheets or a continuous web having regularly spaced perforations preformed along its edges. The driving mechanism operates in either a friction drive mode or a spur drive mode. In friction drive mode, print medium inserted into the mechanism, is guided to a driven friction feed roller. The medium is then clamped between the feed roller and a plurality of pressure rollers. Driven by the feed roller, the medium is advanced and guided around that roller and then between immediately adjacent surfaces of a printhead and a platen. If cut sheets are being driven, they are inserted between lateral guides adjusted to the width of the sheet. Such sheets, after being advanced past the platen, contact a deflector surface of a cover which guides them into a second clamping, driven engagement in a friction feed assembly. Alternatively, perforated, preformed continuous web printing medium may be mated along its edges to spur drive members. Such printing medium engages the spur drive members both upon entering into and departing from its path around the feed roller. With the continuous web medium thus engaged, the driving mechanism is switched to spur drive mode which releases the print medium from frictional engagement at the feed roller. Further, this mode causes the continuous web to be contacted across its width by a tension bar placing it in tension along its path between the spur drive members and around the feed roller.

Print drive medium for line/series printers

An improved, U-shaped printing ribbon cartridge adapted for use with either film or woven printing ribbons of widely varying thicknesses. The printing ribbon feeds from one terminal end of the cartridge, across the open mouth of the 'U' wherein it may be contacted for printing and into the other terminal end of the cartridge. Within the base of the U-shaped cartridge, located to one side thereof, the ribbon passes between a toothed driving wheel and a meshing, toothed pinch wheel for advancing the ribbon under tension. The pinch wheel is pivotably mounted and spring loaded against the driving wheel. Bearings located about both terminal ends of the toothed segment of the driving wheel are received by apertures formed in opposite walls of the cartridge. The driving wheel may be rotated from outside the cartridge by a splined shaft inserted thereinto or turned manually by a conically-shaped terminal end thereof. A ribbon storage compartment extending almost the full length of the base of the U-shaped cartridge stores either the bulk of a continuous loop of a woven ribbon or the spent portion of a film ribbon. Located at the end of the storage compartment opposite to the toothed wheels is either a supply roll of film ribbon or a mobius assembly for cloth ribbon. An aperture formed through a wall of the ribbon cartridge, closed by the mobius forming assembly, permits sensing the end of ribbon condition for cartridges filled with film ribbon.

Printing ribbon cartridge

A print head carriage assembly for a serial printer apparatus, the carriage including a platform having two parallel channels extending laterally through the frame member for receiving self-aligning bearings and carriage guide rails; a central seat within the platform for seating the housing of a matrix print head with the longitudinal dimension of the print head oriented normal to the longitudinal axes of the channels, locking means for securing the matrix print head in place about said central seat with the neck of the head extending substantially normal to the axes of the channels, manifold adjustment means for adjusting the position of the head within the seat relative to the axes of the channels; and means for engaging the platform to a drive means for driving said platform laterally along said guide rails.

Print head carriage assembly for serial printers

A fastener assembly for mounting and securing two structural members in abutting relationship with each other. The assembly includes a planar unitary anchor member of a substantially 'P' shape and wherein one of the structural members to be assembled has a notch comprising a pair of intersecting perpendicular slots to form a substantial T-shaped pattern about an edge of said structural member with the anchor member pressfit into one of said slots with the planar surface of the anchor member normal to the planar surfaces of the structure member and normal to said other slot of said notch; and a locking pin member for engaging a second structure member and including locking means for locking the pin to the anchor member.

Growing community of inventors

Fremont, CA, United States of America

Helmut K Waibel