CA1190087A - Within-line color change printing - Google Patents
Within-line color change printingInfo
- Publication number
- CA1190087A CA1190087A CA000400010A CA400010A CA1190087A CA 1190087 A CA1190087 A CA 1190087A CA 000400010 A CA000400010 A CA 000400010A CA 400010 A CA400010 A CA 400010A CA 1190087 A CA1190087 A CA 1190087A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- cable
- carriage
- ribbon
- states
- printer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J35/00—Other apparatus or arrangements associated with, or incorporated in, ink-ribbon mechanisms
- B41J35/04—Ink-ribbon guides
- B41J35/10—Vibrator mechanisms; Driving gear therefor
- B41J35/12—Vibrator mechanisms; Driving gear therefor adjustable, e.g. for case shift
- B41J35/14—Vibrator mechanisms; Driving gear therefor adjustable, e.g. for case shift for multicolour work; for ensuring maximum life of ink ribbon; for rendering ink-ribbon inoperative
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- Impression-Transfer Materials And Handling Thereof (AREA)
Abstract
WITHIN LINE COLOR CHANGE PRINTING
Abstract of the Disclosure In the printer disclosed herein, shifting of a multi-color ribbon carried on a movable carriage is effected by a pair of solenoids which are selectively energized or de-energized in various combinations. A mechanical conversion means, such as a linkage, converts the pair of input motions to a four-position output motion. This output motion is coupled to means for posi-tioning the ribbon so that four different colors are provided.
Abstract of the Disclosure In the printer disclosed herein, shifting of a multi-color ribbon carried on a movable carriage is effected by a pair of solenoids which are selectively energized or de-energized in various combinations. A mechanical conversion means, such as a linkage, converts the pair of input motions to a four-position output motion. This output motion is coupled to means for posi-tioning the ribbon so that four different colors are provided.
Description
1 Back~round o f the Invention The present invention relates to multi-color printing and more particularly to a ribbon shi f ting mechanism which can be utilized with a printer of the type in which a printhead, together with a multi~color ribbon, is traversed along a paper-supporting platen.
Multi-color printiny utilizing multi-color ribbons is, of course, not new ~ sel Two~color ribbons are quite typically utili~ed in ordinary typewriters and, increasinyly, multi-color capability is being introduced into high speed computer data printers~ Examples of the la~ter are illustrated in U.S, Letters Patent Nos. 4,073,371; 4,088,218; 4,111,293, and 4,236,839. A
need has been perceived, however, for an improved method of color changing for use in prir.ters of the type in which a printhead, together with its ribbon, is traversed along a paper-supporting platen. In particular, a need was felt to generate ribbon shifting motions within the carriage, independent of its posi-tionO In particular, it was desired that the color changing operation occurs as rapidly as possible so that color could be changed within a line, with as little delay as possible. In most prior art multi-color printers actually reaching the marketplace color changing was typically accomplished only at the ends of the line.
Among the several objects of the present invention may be noted the provision of a moving printhead type of printer uti-lizing a multi-color ribbon; the provision of such a printer in which color may be changed within a line; the provision of such a printer in which motion is coupled into a moving printhead 1 carriage independent oE the carriage position; the provisi.on of such a printer which will c~lange colors quite rapidly; the provi-sion of such a printer which is highly reliable and which is of relatively sirnple and inexpensive construction. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
Summary of the Invention -B.riefly, printers constructed in accordance with the present invention are of the type in which the carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen and characters are formed by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper. The ribbon is shifted to bring different colored portions into align-ment with the printhead by a mechanism including a pair of solenoids which are selec~ively energized or de-energized in v~rious combinationsO A mechanical conversion means, such as a linkage, converts the pair of input motions to a four-position output motion. This output motion is coupled to means for posi-tioning the ribbon so that four different colors are provided.
In one embodiment the solenoids are mounted directly on the carriage. In another embodiment, ~he solenoids are fixedly mounted and the shifting mechanism includes a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the otherO The cable passes over a pair of pulleys mounted on the carriage so at least one of the pullsys is movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of the cable~ The solenoids consti-tute electromac~netically control].ed attachment rneans provided at each end of the cable. ~ach attachmerlt means has a first state 1 and a second state, a change between states providing a corresponding, predetermined change in the free length of the cableO The respective changes in the free lenyth are different for the two a~tachment means so that four different free length values are obtainable. The movable pulley on the carriage is coupled to the ribbon positioning means so that the position of the ribbon can be varied by controlling the free length of the cable through selective energization of the electromagnetically controlled attachment means.
Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a printer mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a view of the back of the carriage employed in the printer of Fig~ l;
Fig. 3 is a back view of a printer carriage employing a different embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 4 is a top view, with parts broken away, of the carriage of Fiy. 3, taken substantially on the line 4-4 in Fig.
3;
20Fig. 5 is a back view of a further embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the mode of operation of the embodiment of Fig. 5.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding part:s throuyhout the several view of the drawings.
~:~9~
1 Descri~tion of the Preferred Embodiment Reerring now to FigsO 1 and 2, reference charac-ter 11 indicates generally a carriage assembly which is traversable along a platen 17 on rails 13 and 15. Platen 17 is illustrated as being of the rotatable ~ype, being journaled on a shaft 19, but it should be understood that a fixed platen might also be used. Mounted on carriage ~ . a printhead 21. The printhead illustrated is of th~ dot matrix type but it should be understood that other forms of printing elements might also be used~
A multi-color ribbon 25 is provided by means of a rib-bon cassette 27, the operative portion of the ribbon being inter-posed between the printhead 21 and the platen 17. The ribbon cassette snaps into and is held by a cradle-like holder 29, the holder being journaled for a rocking motion as indicated at 31.
Paralleling the platen 17, i.e. along the direction of motion of the carriage 11, is a cable 35. ~fter passing around a pulley 37, the right end of the cable 35 is attached to the plunger of a solenoid 39 mounted on the base (not shown) of the printer. Similarly, after pas~ing over a pulley 41, the left hand end of cable 35 is attached to the plunger of a solenoid 43 The stops on the solenoids 39 and 43 are,adjusted so that the operative throw of the solenoid 39 is twice that of the solenoid 43.
Mounted on the carriage 11 are a pair of relatively fixed pulleys 45 and 47 (Fig. 2). A third pulley 49 is mounted on a lever 51 so as to be movable with respect to the other two.
As may be seen, the cable 35 passes under the pulley 45, over the pulley 49, and then under the pulley 47. Lever 51 is biased ~ 3~ ~t~
1 upwardly by a spring 53 so as to maintain appropriate! tension in the cable 35. In this arrangement, the portion of the cable 35 to the left of the carriage is in alignment with the portion to the right of ~he carriage. Thus, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, traversing movement of the carriage 11 along ~he platen 17 will not cause any movement of the movable pulley 49 with respect ~o the relatively fixed pulleys 45 and 47. On the other hand, any change in the free length of the cable 35, e.g~ caused by energization of one or the other of the solenoids 39 and 47, will cause a correspondiny vertical movement of the pulley 49 essentially independent of the position of the carriage A link 55 connects the lever 51 to the back of the cassette holder 29. Accordingly, it can be seen that motion of the lever 51 is coupled to the ribbon casse~te causing it to rock around the pivots 31. The ribbon 25 is a conventional s~riped ribbon, i~e. comprising ~our parallel stripes of different color.
It will thus be understood, that by controlling the rocking mo~e-men of the cassette holder 29, different ones of the colored stripes may be brought into alignment with the printing elements in head 21.
As indicated previously~ the throw of the solenoid 39 is preferably twice that of the solenoid 43. This allows a con-venient binary decoding of the movements to allow four different colors to be accessed in the following manner. I* neither solenoid is energized, the pulley 49 is in its highest position.
If the solenoid 43 is energized alone, the pulley 49 will be in a slightly lower positionO If, on the other hand, the solenoid 39 is energized alone!, the pulley 49 wil~ be brought into a somewhat 8~
1 lower position. Finally, if both solenoids are energized simultaneously, the pulley 49 will be brought into a last or fourth position. Thus, four separate colors may be accessed using this technique, even though the control elements, the solenoids 3g and 43, need respond only to simple on/off or binary control signals.
An advantage of this particular embodiment construction iB that the electromagnetic mechanisms which effect color changing, i.e., the solenoids, are not themselves mounted on the carriage and thus do not increase the mass of the carriage nor require additional flexible wiring to extend thereto. Ra-ther, the parts moving with the carriage can be of relatively low mass so that relatively high speed operation can be obtained.
Similarly, since the control is basically digital, high re-liability of the control circuitry can be expected since an effective digital-to~analog conversion is performed mechanically by the differential control of the free length of the control cable by the solenoids at either end, In the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the cable 35 was turned upwardly within the carriage assembly to directly obtain a vertical component of motion appropriate for rocking the ribbon cassette. In the alternate embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4, the cable is kept in the same horizontal plane and a cam is used to obtain an appropriate vertical component of movement. While the portions of the control cable to the right and to the left of the carriage are at the same vertical height in this latter embodiment, they are in exact horizontal align-ment. Rather, they are not parallel, being somewhat offset in a frontto-back direction as illustrated in Fig. 4.
1 The portion of the control cable corning from the right of the carriage is designated 35A. This portion passes first over an idler pulley 61 which is fixedly attached to the carriage 11~ After leaving the idler pulley 61~ the control cable passes around a relatively movable pulley 63. Pulley 63 is carried on an arm assembly 65 which is pivoted on the carriage as indicated at 67 so as to be movable in a horizontal planeO A second rela-tively fixed idler 71 is provided to maintain a fixed alignment of the portion of the contxol cable to the let of the carriage, this portion being designated by reference character 35Ba Arm 65 is biased to the right by a suitable spring 73 so as to main-tain the control cable under suitable tension. Though the right hand and left hand portions of the control cable are not, in this embodiment, in alignrnent, they are parallel to each other and to the direction of movement of the carriage 11 as it traverses the platen. Accordingly, such movement of the carriage does not generate any movernent of the pulley 63 with respect to the pulleys 61 and 71. In other words movernent of the carriage does not affect the free length of the cable. On the other hand, any change in the free length of the cable will affect a movement of the pulley 63 independent of the position of the carriage.
The outer end of the arm 65 carries a stepped cam sur-face 75. A roller follower 77 mounted on the ribbon cassette holder 29 causes the cassette to move vertically and corresponds with the horizontal movernent of the cam surface 75. If desired, the cam surface may be formed and guided separately from the arm 65 to avoid vertical loading of the arm, the unified construction shown here being for the purpose of clarifying the explanation of the invention.
1 As with the previous embodiments, the solenoid~ which form the attachment points for the end of the control cable may be energized in different combinations to give four different states and consequently four different positions of the relatively movable pulley 63. By mleans of the cam surface 75, the four corresponding pos:itions of the arm 65 translate into four different portions of the multi-color ribbon 25.
In the embodiment illu~trated in Figs. 1-4, the binary weighting of the input movements is obtained by correspondingly determining the lengths of throw of the two input solenoids.
These differing movements are then linearly combined by the pulley system to yield four discrete output positions. In the alternative construction illustrated in Fig. 5, the weighting is performed mechanically, i.e. by a linkage, and the solenoids have equal throws.
Referring now to Fig. 5, it may be seen that the two solenoids, designated by reference characters 111 and 113, are mounted on the carriage assembly 115 by means of a sub-frame 117 The right hand end of a lever 119 is pivotally connected to the plunger 125 of solenoid 113. The midpoint of lever 119 is con-nected, through a 610t 123 providing some lost motion laterally, to the plunger 121 of solenoid 111. A point on the lever 119 midway between the two solenoids is biased upwardly by means of a spring 127. The left hand end of lever 119 is connected/ by a link 129, to the cassette holder 29 in a manner similar to the arrangement illustrated in Fiys. 1 and 2.
The manner in which the two input motions are combined by the linkage to generate four output positions is illustrated 1 in Fig~ 6~ As may be seen, the motions again combine in binary weighted fashion to yield four discrete output positions which are equally spaced. Since input motions are binary in nature, i.e. the solenoid plunger is either fully up or fully down, it can be seen that the system lends itself to direct digital control. Further, color changes can be executed in mid line under wholly electronic control without any need to return to one end or the other of the carriage travel, In view of the foregoing, it may be seen that several objects of the present invention are achieved and other advan-tageous results have been attained.
As various changes could be made in the above construc-tions without departing from the scope of the invention, it should be understood that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Multi-color printiny utilizing multi-color ribbons is, of course, not new ~ sel Two~color ribbons are quite typically utili~ed in ordinary typewriters and, increasinyly, multi-color capability is being introduced into high speed computer data printers~ Examples of the la~ter are illustrated in U.S, Letters Patent Nos. 4,073,371; 4,088,218; 4,111,293, and 4,236,839. A
need has been perceived, however, for an improved method of color changing for use in prir.ters of the type in which a printhead, together with its ribbon, is traversed along a paper-supporting platen. In particular, a need was felt to generate ribbon shifting motions within the carriage, independent of its posi-tionO In particular, it was desired that the color changing operation occurs as rapidly as possible so that color could be changed within a line, with as little delay as possible. In most prior art multi-color printers actually reaching the marketplace color changing was typically accomplished only at the ends of the line.
Among the several objects of the present invention may be noted the provision of a moving printhead type of printer uti-lizing a multi-color ribbon; the provision of such a printer in which color may be changed within a line; the provision of such a printer in which motion is coupled into a moving printhead 1 carriage independent oE the carriage position; the provisi.on of such a printer which will c~lange colors quite rapidly; the provi-sion of such a printer which is highly reliable and which is of relatively sirnple and inexpensive construction. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
Summary of the Invention -B.riefly, printers constructed in accordance with the present invention are of the type in which the carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen and characters are formed by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper. The ribbon is shifted to bring different colored portions into align-ment with the printhead by a mechanism including a pair of solenoids which are selec~ively energized or de-energized in v~rious combinationsO A mechanical conversion means, such as a linkage, converts the pair of input motions to a four-position output motion. This output motion is coupled to means for posi-tioning the ribbon so that four different colors are provided.
In one embodiment the solenoids are mounted directly on the carriage. In another embodiment, ~he solenoids are fixedly mounted and the shifting mechanism includes a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the otherO The cable passes over a pair of pulleys mounted on the carriage so at least one of the pullsys is movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of the cable~ The solenoids consti-tute electromac~netically control].ed attachment rneans provided at each end of the cable. ~ach attachmerlt means has a first state 1 and a second state, a change between states providing a corresponding, predetermined change in the free length of the cableO The respective changes in the free lenyth are different for the two a~tachment means so that four different free length values are obtainable. The movable pulley on the carriage is coupled to the ribbon positioning means so that the position of the ribbon can be varied by controlling the free length of the cable through selective energization of the electromagnetically controlled attachment means.
Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a printer mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a view of the back of the carriage employed in the printer of Fig~ l;
Fig. 3 is a back view of a printer carriage employing a different embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 4 is a top view, with parts broken away, of the carriage of Fiy. 3, taken substantially on the line 4-4 in Fig.
3;
20Fig. 5 is a back view of a further embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the mode of operation of the embodiment of Fig. 5.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding part:s throuyhout the several view of the drawings.
~:~9~
1 Descri~tion of the Preferred Embodiment Reerring now to FigsO 1 and 2, reference charac-ter 11 indicates generally a carriage assembly which is traversable along a platen 17 on rails 13 and 15. Platen 17 is illustrated as being of the rotatable ~ype, being journaled on a shaft 19, but it should be understood that a fixed platen might also be used. Mounted on carriage ~ . a printhead 21. The printhead illustrated is of th~ dot matrix type but it should be understood that other forms of printing elements might also be used~
A multi-color ribbon 25 is provided by means of a rib-bon cassette 27, the operative portion of the ribbon being inter-posed between the printhead 21 and the platen 17. The ribbon cassette snaps into and is held by a cradle-like holder 29, the holder being journaled for a rocking motion as indicated at 31.
Paralleling the platen 17, i.e. along the direction of motion of the carriage 11, is a cable 35. ~fter passing around a pulley 37, the right end of the cable 35 is attached to the plunger of a solenoid 39 mounted on the base (not shown) of the printer. Similarly, after pas~ing over a pulley 41, the left hand end of cable 35 is attached to the plunger of a solenoid 43 The stops on the solenoids 39 and 43 are,adjusted so that the operative throw of the solenoid 39 is twice that of the solenoid 43.
Mounted on the carriage 11 are a pair of relatively fixed pulleys 45 and 47 (Fig. 2). A third pulley 49 is mounted on a lever 51 so as to be movable with respect to the other two.
As may be seen, the cable 35 passes under the pulley 45, over the pulley 49, and then under the pulley 47. Lever 51 is biased ~ 3~ ~t~
1 upwardly by a spring 53 so as to maintain appropriate! tension in the cable 35. In this arrangement, the portion of the cable 35 to the left of the carriage is in alignment with the portion to the right of ~he carriage. Thus, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, traversing movement of the carriage 11 along ~he platen 17 will not cause any movement of the movable pulley 49 with respect ~o the relatively fixed pulleys 45 and 47. On the other hand, any change in the free length of the cable 35, e.g~ caused by energization of one or the other of the solenoids 39 and 47, will cause a correspondiny vertical movement of the pulley 49 essentially independent of the position of the carriage A link 55 connects the lever 51 to the back of the cassette holder 29. Accordingly, it can be seen that motion of the lever 51 is coupled to the ribbon casse~te causing it to rock around the pivots 31. The ribbon 25 is a conventional s~riped ribbon, i~e. comprising ~our parallel stripes of different color.
It will thus be understood, that by controlling the rocking mo~e-men of the cassette holder 29, different ones of the colored stripes may be brought into alignment with the printing elements in head 21.
As indicated previously~ the throw of the solenoid 39 is preferably twice that of the solenoid 43. This allows a con-venient binary decoding of the movements to allow four different colors to be accessed in the following manner. I* neither solenoid is energized, the pulley 49 is in its highest position.
If the solenoid 43 is energized alone, the pulley 49 will be in a slightly lower positionO If, on the other hand, the solenoid 39 is energized alone!, the pulley 49 wil~ be brought into a somewhat 8~
1 lower position. Finally, if both solenoids are energized simultaneously, the pulley 49 will be brought into a last or fourth position. Thus, four separate colors may be accessed using this technique, even though the control elements, the solenoids 3g and 43, need respond only to simple on/off or binary control signals.
An advantage of this particular embodiment construction iB that the electromagnetic mechanisms which effect color changing, i.e., the solenoids, are not themselves mounted on the carriage and thus do not increase the mass of the carriage nor require additional flexible wiring to extend thereto. Ra-ther, the parts moving with the carriage can be of relatively low mass so that relatively high speed operation can be obtained.
Similarly, since the control is basically digital, high re-liability of the control circuitry can be expected since an effective digital-to~analog conversion is performed mechanically by the differential control of the free length of the control cable by the solenoids at either end, In the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the cable 35 was turned upwardly within the carriage assembly to directly obtain a vertical component of motion appropriate for rocking the ribbon cassette. In the alternate embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4, the cable is kept in the same horizontal plane and a cam is used to obtain an appropriate vertical component of movement. While the portions of the control cable to the right and to the left of the carriage are at the same vertical height in this latter embodiment, they are in exact horizontal align-ment. Rather, they are not parallel, being somewhat offset in a frontto-back direction as illustrated in Fig. 4.
1 The portion of the control cable corning from the right of the carriage is designated 35A. This portion passes first over an idler pulley 61 which is fixedly attached to the carriage 11~ After leaving the idler pulley 61~ the control cable passes around a relatively movable pulley 63. Pulley 63 is carried on an arm assembly 65 which is pivoted on the carriage as indicated at 67 so as to be movable in a horizontal planeO A second rela-tively fixed idler 71 is provided to maintain a fixed alignment of the portion of the contxol cable to the let of the carriage, this portion being designated by reference character 35Ba Arm 65 is biased to the right by a suitable spring 73 so as to main-tain the control cable under suitable tension. Though the right hand and left hand portions of the control cable are not, in this embodiment, in alignrnent, they are parallel to each other and to the direction of movement of the carriage 11 as it traverses the platen. Accordingly, such movement of the carriage does not generate any movernent of the pulley 63 with respect to the pulleys 61 and 71. In other words movernent of the carriage does not affect the free length of the cable. On the other hand, any change in the free length of the cable will affect a movement of the pulley 63 independent of the position of the carriage.
The outer end of the arm 65 carries a stepped cam sur-face 75. A roller follower 77 mounted on the ribbon cassette holder 29 causes the cassette to move vertically and corresponds with the horizontal movernent of the cam surface 75. If desired, the cam surface may be formed and guided separately from the arm 65 to avoid vertical loading of the arm, the unified construction shown here being for the purpose of clarifying the explanation of the invention.
1 As with the previous embodiments, the solenoid~ which form the attachment points for the end of the control cable may be energized in different combinations to give four different states and consequently four different positions of the relatively movable pulley 63. By mleans of the cam surface 75, the four corresponding pos:itions of the arm 65 translate into four different portions of the multi-color ribbon 25.
In the embodiment illu~trated in Figs. 1-4, the binary weighting of the input movements is obtained by correspondingly determining the lengths of throw of the two input solenoids.
These differing movements are then linearly combined by the pulley system to yield four discrete output positions. In the alternative construction illustrated in Fig. 5, the weighting is performed mechanically, i.e. by a linkage, and the solenoids have equal throws.
Referring now to Fig. 5, it may be seen that the two solenoids, designated by reference characters 111 and 113, are mounted on the carriage assembly 115 by means of a sub-frame 117 The right hand end of a lever 119 is pivotally connected to the plunger 125 of solenoid 113. The midpoint of lever 119 is con-nected, through a 610t 123 providing some lost motion laterally, to the plunger 121 of solenoid 111. A point on the lever 119 midway between the two solenoids is biased upwardly by means of a spring 127. The left hand end of lever 119 is connected/ by a link 129, to the cassette holder 29 in a manner similar to the arrangement illustrated in Fiys. 1 and 2.
The manner in which the two input motions are combined by the linkage to generate four output positions is illustrated 1 in Fig~ 6~ As may be seen, the motions again combine in binary weighted fashion to yield four discrete output positions which are equally spaced. Since input motions are binary in nature, i.e. the solenoid plunger is either fully up or fully down, it can be seen that the system lends itself to direct digital control. Further, color changes can be executed in mid line under wholly electronic control without any need to return to one end or the other of the carriage travel, In view of the foregoing, it may be seen that several objects of the present invention are achieved and other advan-tageous results have been attained.
As various changes could be made in the above construc-tions without departing from the scope of the invention, it should be understood that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Claims (15)
1. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising:
a mechanical combining system for converting a pair of two posi-tion input motions to a four position output motion;
a pair of electromagnetic motion generating means for generating said input motions;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling the output motion of said linkage means to said positioning means whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied by controlling the states of said electromagnetic motion generating means.
a mechanical combining system for converting a pair of two posi-tion input motions to a four position output motion;
a pair of electromagnetic motion generating means for generating said input motions;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling the output motion of said linkage means to said positioning means whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied by controlling the states of said electromagnetic motion generating means.
2. A printer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said combining system comprises a linkage having two input points and an output point.
3. A printer as set forth in claim 2 wherein the output motion is twice as sensitive to one input motion as the other so that four output stages, essentially equally spaced, are provided.
4. A printer as set forth in claim 3 wherein one of said motion generating means is attached to a linkage bar at a point midway between the output attachment point and the attachment point of the other motion generating means.
5. A printer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said combining system includes:
a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, at least a pair of pulleys over which said cable passes, at least one of said pulleys being movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of said cable;
an attachment means for one end of said cable controlled by one of said motion generating means so as to have first and second states, a change between said first and second states providing a predetermined change of a first value in the free length of said cable;
a second attachment means for the other end of said cable controlled by the other of said motion generating means so as to also have first and second states, a change between said first and second states of said second attachment means providing a predetermined change of a second value in the free length of said cable, said second value being different from said first value;
5. A printer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said combining system includes:
a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, at least a pair of pulleys over which said cable passes, at least one of said pulleys being movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of said cable;
an attachment means for one end of said cable controlled by one of said motion generating means so as to have first and second states, a change between said first and second states providing a predetermined change of a first value in the free length of said cable;
a second attachment means for the other end of said cable controlled by the other of said motion generating means so as to also have first and second states, a change between said first and second states of said second attachment means providing a predetermined change of a second value in the free length of said cable, said second value being different from said first value;
Claim 5 continued...
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means,
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means,
6. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising:
a pair of solenoids mounted on said carriage, each operative to generate a two position input motion;
linkage means for converting the pair of two position input motions to a four position output motion;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling the output motion of said linkage means to said positioning means whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied by controlling the states of said solenoids.
a pair of solenoids mounted on said carriage, each operative to generate a two position input motion;
linkage means for converting the pair of two position input motions to a four position output motion;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling the output motion of said linkage means to said positioning means whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied by controlling the states of said solenoids.
7. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising;
a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, at least a pair of pulleys over which said cable passes, at least one of said pulleys being movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of said cable;
an electromagnetically controlled attachment means for at least one end of said cable, said attachment means having first and second states, a change between said first and second states pro-viding a predetermined change in the free length of said cable;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means.
8. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, at least a pair of pulleys over which said cable passes, at least one of said pulleys being movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of said cable;
an electromagnetically controlled attachment means for one end of said cable having first and second states, a change between said first and second states providing a predetermined change of a first value in the free length of said cable;
a second electromagnetically controlled attachement means for the other end of said cable also having first and second states, a change between said first and second states of said second attachment means providing a predetermined change of a second value in the free length of said cable, said second value being different from said first value;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and
a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, at least a pair of pulleys over which said cable passes, at least one of said pulleys being movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of said cable;
an electromagnetically controlled attachment means for at least one end of said cable, said attachment means having first and second states, a change between said first and second states pro-viding a predetermined change in the free length of said cable;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means.
8. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, at least a pair of pulleys over which said cable passes, at least one of said pulleys being movable with respect to the other as a function of the free length of said cable;
an electromagnetically controlled attachment means for one end of said cable having first and second states, a change between said first and second states providing a predetermined change of a first value in the free length of said cable;
a second electromagnetically controlled attachement means for the other end of said cable also having first and second states, a change between said first and second states of said second attachment means providing a predetermined change of a second value in the free length of said cable, said second value being different from said first value;
means for variably positioning a multi-color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and
Claim 8 cont'd.
means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means.
means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means.
9. A printer as set forth in claim 8 wherein said ribbon is positioned at different heights to position different colored portions in alignment with said printing element.
10. A printer as set forth in claim 9 wherein a pair of pulleys are relatively fixedly mounted on said carriage and said movable pulley comprises a third pulley which is mounted for vertical movement and wherein said cable passes under each of said pair of pulleys and over said third pulley between the pair of pulleys.
11. A printer as set forth in claim 10 wherein the portion of said cable on one side of said carriage is in align-ment with the portion on the other side of said carriage.
12. A printer as set forth in claim 8 wherein said movable pulley controls the position of a cam and wherein said ribbon-positioning means includes a follower which controls the position of said ribbon as a function of the position of said cam.
13. A printer as set forth in claim 12 wherein said pulley are mounted in a common plane and wherein the portions of said cable on opposite sides of said carriage are parallel to each other and to the direction of movement of the carriage.
14. A printer as set forth in claim 8 wherein both of said electromagnetically controlled attachment means are sole-noids and wherein the operative stroke of one of said solenoids is twice that of the other.
15. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising:
a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, a pair of pulleys which are fixedly journaled with respect to said carriage and a third pulley which is mounted so as to be movable with respect to the pair, the cable passing sequentially over one of the pair, the movable pulley and the other of the pair so that the position of the movable pulley is controllable as a function of the free length of the cable, the portions of the cable on opposite sides of the carriage being parallel to each other and to the direction of movement of the carriage;
an electromagnetically controlled attachment means for one end of said cable having first and second states, a change between said first and second states providing a predetermined change of a first value in the free length of said cable;
15. In a printer of the type in which a carriage carrying a printhead is traversed along a paper-supporting platen to form characters by driving a printing element against an inked ribbon interposed between the printhead and the paper, a means for shifting the ribbon to bring different colored portions into alignment with the printing head, said shifting means comprising:
a cable extending generally from one end of the platen to the other;
mounted on said carriage, a pair of pulleys which are fixedly journaled with respect to said carriage and a third pulley which is mounted so as to be movable with respect to the pair, the cable passing sequentially over one of the pair, the movable pulley and the other of the pair so that the position of the movable pulley is controllable as a function of the free length of the cable, the portions of the cable on opposite sides of the carriage being parallel to each other and to the direction of movement of the carriage;
an electromagnetically controlled attachment means for one end of said cable having first and second states, a change between said first and second states providing a predetermined change of a first value in the free length of said cable;
Claim 15 cont'd.
a second electromagnetically controlled attachment means for the other end of said cable also having first and second states, a change between said first and second states of said second attachment means providing a predetermined change of a second value in the free length of said cable, said second value being essentially twice that of said first value;
means for variably positioning a multi color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means.
a second electromagnetically controlled attachment means for the other end of said cable also having first and second states, a change between said first and second states of said second attachment means providing a predetermined change of a second value in the free length of said cable, said second value being essentially twice that of said first value;
means for variably positioning a multi color ribbon between said printing element and said platen; and means coupling said positioning means to said movable pulley whereby the position of the ribbon with respect to the printing element can be varied independently of carriage position by controlling the states of said attachment means.
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US06/249,483 US4391540A (en) | 1981-03-31 | 1981-03-31 | Within-line color change printing |
| US249,483 | 1981-03-31 | ||
| US30981681A | 1981-10-08 | 1981-10-08 | |
| US309,816 | 1981-10-08 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1190087A true CA1190087A (en) | 1985-07-09 |
Family
ID=26940103
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000400010A Expired CA1190087A (en) | 1981-03-31 | 1982-03-31 | Within-line color change printing |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1190087A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3211649A1 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2503044B1 (en) |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2045849B2 (en) * | 1970-09-16 | 1973-08-02 | Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin u 8000 München | DEVICE IN TYPEWRITERS AND SIMILAR MACHINES FOR RAISING AND LOWERING THE RIBBON |
| DE2318708A1 (en) * | 1973-04-13 | 1974-10-24 | Litton Business Systems Inc | PRINT HEAD SHIFT DEVICE |
| DE2512337C3 (en) * | 1975-03-20 | 1979-06-28 | Siemens Ag, 1000 Berlin Und 8000 Muenchen | Arrangement for printing machines to switch the ribbon fork |
| DE2514024C3 (en) * | 1975-03-29 | 1984-01-05 | Triumph-Adler Aktiengesellschaft für Büro- und Informationstechnik, 8500 Nürnberg | Summing gear for typing, calculating, booking or similar office machines |
| US4066160A (en) * | 1976-03-17 | 1978-01-03 | Lee Kuo Liang | Single element imprinting assembly with inertially and kinematically independent motion controls |
| DE2743256C2 (en) * | 1977-09-26 | 1984-05-24 | Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München | Device for adjusting the height of the ribbon guide in office machines |
| DE3014820C2 (en) * | 1980-04-15 | 1984-10-31 | Mannesmann AG, 4000 Düsseldorf | Switching device for a multicolored ribbon of a printer, in particular a matrix printer |
-
1982
- 1982-03-30 DE DE19823211649 patent/DE3211649A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1982-03-30 FR FR8205467A patent/FR2503044B1/en not_active Expired
- 1982-03-31 CA CA000400010A patent/CA1190087A/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| FR2503044B1 (en) | 1987-09-11 |
| DE3211649A1 (en) | 1982-10-14 |
| FR2503044A1 (en) | 1982-10-08 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |