Compact printer with cassette-drawer sheet feeder

Abstract

A sheet supply station for a compact printer of the type having a housing, a feed/transport member which is rotatably mounted within a forward portion of the housing and is adapted to sequentially move sheets from a supply location at the bottom of the housing, through the print zone and out an egress in the upper surface of the housing. The sheet supply station comprises: (a) a drawer, including a drawer face and a drawer bottom, which is constructed to support a sheet stack and slidably mounted for movement in and out of the rear wall of the printer between a withdrawn position enabling stack insertion and a closed position wherein the drawer face is approximately flush with the rear wall; (b) side guides for engaging and centering a sheet stack, which is supported on the bottom wall, during its movement into the housing from the withdrawn drawer position; and (c) an indexing wall located transverse to the drawer path to accurately position an inserted stack beneath the feed/transport member. Sheet buckling structures are provided for reliably feeding single sheets sequentially from the top of a sheet stack.