Kabushiki Kaisha Suwa Seikosha

Shinshu Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Seiko Epson Corporation

Epson Corporation

Shinshu Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha and Kabushiki Kaisha Suwa Seikosha

Shinsu Seika Kabushiki Kaisha

Shinsu Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Tadayoshi Shimodaira

Yoshihiro Mitsui

Yoshifumi Gomi

A hand-held printing calculator for printing calculating results on elongated paper strips from a bundle of paper strips disposed within the calculator is provided. The calculator includes a microprinter having a paper feeding assembly including feeding elements disposed before and after the print position and in the same plane as the advancing paper for maintaining the paper flat during printing. In another embodiment of the invention, a detection sensor detects the absence of a paper strip at the print position for generating a signal for feeding the next paper strip so that paper is continuously fed to the print position.

Hand-held printing calculator

An ink ribbon winding and reversing assembly suitable for use in a printer having two ratchet wheels for winding ink ribbon spools and an ink ribbon cassette having two rotatably mounted ink ribbon spools is provided. The assembly includes a feeding lever formed with opposed pawls for driving a first ratchet wheel in a first winding direction in response to displacement of the feeding lever. A detecting lever formed with a central arm disposed between the spools is biased towards the unwinding spool and causes the feeding lever to be displaced toward the unwinding spool at completion of winding thereon in response to the feeding lever shifting engagement to drive the second spool. This reversal process is repeated at completion of winding in each direction. The central arm of the detecting lever is formed with lateral guide surfaces for permitting engagement of an ink ribbon spool and an ink ribbon cassette with the detecting layer in a single snap-in motion.

Ink ribbon winding and reversing assembly

Inkroller set

A light-weight micro-printer including a one piece molded plastic main frame is provided. The printer frame includes two substantially parallel side frames spaced apart from each other a distance of the width of a print paper with integrally molded support members between the side frames. The support members function as a paper guide member and isolate an electromagnet disposed within the frame.

Micro-printer with unitary plastic frame

In a character-selecting mechanism for a printer, an electromagnet which controls the engagement and disengagement of a pawl with a ratchet and, thereby, the actual printing step, is supplemented with a permanent magnet having spaced-apart poles. A core arm lies within a core passage in the electromagnet and protrudes into the magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet. Activation of the electromagnet by a current pulse magnetizes the core arm to a polarity such that it is repelled by a pole next to which the core arm is disposed in a first position so that the core arm moves toward the other pole to take up a second position. During the transit from first to second position the core arm which is connected through a core member to a pawl brings the pawl into engagement with the ratchet. The energy requirement for effecting engagement of the pawl with the ratchet is substantially smaller than that of mechanisms relying on an electromagnet alone, whereby reducing both the size and the power consumption of such a printer.

Character-selecting mechanism for a printer

A small sized printer wherein the duration of the print cycle and the sequence of printing operations, during a print cycle, is controlled. The printer includes a plurality of print characters circumferentially disposed therearound, the print characters being selectively positioned in a print position by rotating the print ring from a rest position to a print position during each print cycle. A motor is adapted to be energized to rotate the print rings from a rest position to a print position during each print cycle. The instant invention is particularly characterized by a detection arrangement for detecting the rotary position of the print rings and generating a character selection timing signal representative of each of the rotational positions of the print ring. A print selection arrangement is associated with each of the print rings for selectively positioning same at predetermined print positions during each print cycle in response to the character selection timing signal produced by the detection arrangement being applied thereto. The detection arrangement is further adapted to detect the rotary position of the print rings and generate a reference signal that is distinct from the character position timing signal produced during each print cycle, the motor being utilized to rotatably drive the print rings being deenergized in response to the reference signal being applied thereto.

Printer control assembly

A print character selection mechanism for use with printers of the type wein print characters are circumferentially disposed about the character ring and are selectively positioned in a print position by deenergizing an electromagnetic coil is provided. Each of the character rings includes a ratchet gear having a plurality of circumferentially disposed teeth, which teeth correspond to print characters circumferentially disposed about the print character ring. The instant invention is particularly characterized by a comb-shaped yoke member having a plurality of selection yokes, associated with each of the character rings, and a common yoke supporting each of the selection yokes. An electromagnetic coil is disposed about each selection yoke and is normally energized to induce a flux field in the selection yoke. A plurality of selection members are normally disposed in a rest position in abutting engagement with a selection yoke when the electromagnetic coil is energized. A resilient biasing member is disposed in engagement with each of the selection members for resiliently biasing each of the selector means into engagement with a ratchet wheel associated therewith to thereby select a print position of the character ring when the electromagnetic coil, associated with the selection yoke, is deenergized.

Print character selection mechanism

A compact flying printer has a continuously rotating print drum and ratchet wheel, a trigger lever positionable to be struck by a tooth of said ratchet wheel and a hammer lever driven by said trigger lever and provided with a print hammer at its end. The trigger lever is formed with a linear guide portion for regulating the motion thereof and an energy-transmitting portion projected for transmitting energy from said ratchet wheel to said hammer level. Paper and ribbon are advanced by selective coupling of a transmitting member to a continuously rotating rotor operated in conjunction with the print drum.

Compact flying printer

A compact flying printer has a continuously rotating print drum and ratchet wheel, a trigger lever positionable to be struck by a tooth of said ratchet wheel and a hammer lever driven by said trigger lever and provided with a print hammer at its end. The trigger lever is formed with a linear guide portion for regulating the motion thereof and an energy-transmitting portion projected for transmitting energy from said ratchet wheel to said hammer lever.

Growing community of inventors

Shiojiri, Japan

Tadayoshi Shimodaira