The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 16, 1988
Filed:
Dec. 15, 1986
C Gordon Whitaker, Mercer Island, WA (US);
Mannesmann Tally Corporation, Kent, WA (US);
Abstract
A twin counterweight, shuttle drive (11) for a reciprocably mounted dot matrix line printer carriage (13) that is shock stabilized to: (a) eliminate instability when the printer is bumped; and, (b) maintain the center point of the carriage peak-to-peak travel in the same position even when the printer is inclined, is disclosed. The shuttle drive (11) comprises a pair of equally sized and configured weight unbalanced gears (43) rotatably coupled together and secured to the mounted dot matrix line printer carriage (13). Rotation of the weight unbalanced gears (43) creates a drive force that shuttles the carriage (13). The gears (43) are positioned such that the drive force is aligned with the center of gravity of the carriage (13) and such that the centers of rotation of the gears (43) lie on a line that is perpendicular to the line of shuttle motion. The carriage (13) is shock stabilized by a journal (83) offset from the axis of rotation of a related gear (43) by a distance (A) equal to the desired peak amplitude of shuttle motion. The center of the journal (83) lies along a line running between the axis of rotation of the gear (43) and the center of gravity (C.G.) of the unbalancing weight (47) mounted on the gear. The journal supports a pair of bearings (93A and 93B) that ride on a pair of offset rods (97A and 97B). As the carriage is reciprocated back and forth along its line of movement, the journal moves back and forth along a line that lies orthogonal to the carriage movement line.