CA1200535A

CA1200535A - Hand-held electrically selectable labeler

Info

Publication number: CA1200535A
Application number: CA000426365A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Paul H. Hamisch, Jr.
Original assignee: Monarch Marking Systems Inc
Current assignee: Avery Dennison Retail Information Services LLC
Priority date: 1983-04-21
Filing date: 1983-04-21
Publication date: 1986-02-11

Abstract

HAND-HELD ELECTRICALLY SELECTABLE LABELER
Abstract of the Disclosure There is disclosed a hand-held labeler having a print head with electrically selectable printing elements for printing and applying pressure sensitive labels. The labeler has a housing with a handle and structure for mounting a roll of pressure sensitive labels releasably carried on a carrier web. The labeler has a movable section which mounts a keyboard and a control circuit on a circuit board. The control circuit controls the printing elements. Labels are printed by the printing elements as the carrier web is advanced, and labels are delaminated at a delamin-ator and dispensed into label applying relation to an applicator. The print head is mounted on a support and is continuously spring-urged toward the platen.
Movement of the print head toward the platen is limited to prevent damage. The support and the print head can be moved away from the platen from the out-side of the labeler to facilitate threading of the web. The print head support can be skewed to provide uniform pressure contact of the printing elements with the labels. An electrical energy source, for example a battery, can be located in a hole in the label roll. Electrical energy from the battery ter-minals passes to the control circuit via contacts associated with the label roll mounting structure.
In another embodiment, the handle can comprise a rechargeable battery. The drive includes an elec-trical stepping motor and in another embodiment, the drive is mechanically accomplished.
Printing is accomplished by a plurality of individually controllable printing elements, prefer-ably arranged in a single line array disposed on the print head in a direction transverse to the direction of advancement of the web. The array may be only one character width or height long, or may extend across the entire width of the web, in order to permit any size characters of any font and any orientation to be printed. When a long array is used, a serial-to-parallel converter may be incorporated in the print head to reduce the number of connections that need be made to the head. By utilizing thermal printing ele-ments, the characters can be made to appear as if they were formed of individual print elements, or as if they were continuously printed simply by control-ling the length of time that the printing elements are engaged to thereby control the amount of smear and burn produced on the web.

Description

t.~S3S

Docket M-416 ~ IAND-EIELD ELECTRICALLY SELECTABLE LABELER
Background of the Invention Field of the Invention This invention relates to the art of hand-held labelers.
Brief Description of the Prior Art ~ prior art hand-held labeler using thermographic printing means is disclosed in U.S. patent ~o. 4,~64,396 grallted April 28, 1981 to Donald S. Stewart. Mechanically operated labelers are disclosed in U.S. patent No.
3,957,562 granted May 1~ 7~ to Paul El. Hamisch, Jr.
and UOS. patent No. 4,116,747 granted September 26, 1978 to Paul H. Hamisch, Jr~ The llamisch, Jr. and St~wart patents are assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of the present application. A hal~-held labeler with a battery in the handle portion is disclosed in Genman patent No~

2,253,565 granted December 16, 1~76 to Schroter.
Summary of the Invention This invention relates to a hand-held labeler for printing and applying pressure sensitive labels. The labeler has a housing which mounts a label roll. The roll includes a carrier web on which a series of pressure sensitive labels are releasably mounted. The labeler has a print head with electrically selectable printing elements, specifically of the thermographic type. The print head is mounted on a support which can be skewed relative to a cooperable platen to provide uniform pressure contact between the printing elements and the labels~ The support is preferably spring urged toward the platen so that the printing elements exert pressure against the adjacent labelO
The amount of force exerted against the label can ~ varied by .~LZO~53~i nO cket M-416 s~aced apart screw-type adjusters. The amount of relati~e movement of the print head and the platen toward each other is limited to prevent damaye to the printing elements should there be no label web between the printing elements and the platenO When the thermographic print head is used there can be damage to both the printing elements and the platen if the printing elements contact the platen while energized. The support and its printing elements can be moved relatively away from the platen P to facilitate threading of the labeler. The support is preferably lo made of metal and has a plurality of fins for dissipating heat from the printing elements. A label deflector connected to the support deflects printed labels into label applying relationship with respect to a label applicator. The support with its fins and the label deflector are preferably integrally molded.
The invention provides a convenient to use, compact arrangement for a hand-held labeler. The applicator is disposed at the front portion of the housing and the label roll is mounted at a rear portion of the housing. The housing has a movable section for mounting a keyboard. The keyboard is used to input data to a control circuit which in turn controls the printing elements and operates a visual display. The movable section is preferably disposed at the top portion of the housing and is movable between open and closed positions.
In the open position the user is provided with access to inside of the housing. The handle preferably extends in the downward direction and in one embodiment is shown to comprise a rechargeable battery. In that embodiment, the carrier web is advanced by means of a stepping motor coupled to a feed wheel through a speed reducer. In another embodiment the carrier web is advanced by a manually operable actuator disposed at the handle. The battery is located in the central hole in the label roll. The battery terminals make contact with contacts which are connected to the circuit board. Thus, the battery i.s compactly arranged on the labeler and yet the handle i5 capable of mounting the actuator.

0()S3~i Docket M 416 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand-held labeler in accordance with one embodimen~ of the inven-tion:
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the labeler showing structure located in the housing;
FIG. 3 is a perspective partially exploded view of a drive mechanism for a toothed eed wheel;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing o the relationship of thermographic printing elements to a platen roller;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, partly broken away, side elevational view of the labeler;
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a print head assembly and structure to which it is moun~ed;
FIG. 7 is a perspective, partly phantom view of a labeler similar to the embodimen~ of FIGS.
1 through 6, but using a manual drive for the carrier web;
FIG. 8 is an exploded, perspective, dia-grammatic view shnwing the drive for the carrier web;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a fluidic drive for driving the feed wheel a~ a substantially constant rate irrespective of the speed of actuation ~2~ 3~

Doc)cet M-~16-C
of a manually operable actuator;
FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a Eragment of the Eluidic device;
FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing the manner in which a label roll and a battery which it carries are mounted to the labeler;
FIG~ 12 is a functional block diagram of the electronic control circuitry of the labeler according to the invention;
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram including subfigures 13a through 13f of the Inicrocomputer utilized in the labeler;
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a s~epper motor driver usable in conjunction with the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram including subfigures 15a and 15b of a thermographic print head and control circuitry usable in one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram including subigures 16a and 16b of a visual display and ~isplay driver usable in conjunction with the present invention;
FIG. 17 on sheet 7 is a schematic diagram of a reset circuit for the microcomputer utilized in the present invention;
FIGS. 18 and 19 are illustrations of two different thermographic print heads usable in conjunction with the present invention;
FIG. 20 is an illustration of various types of characters that can be printed by the labeling machine according to the present invention; and FIGS. 21-26 are logical flow diagrams describing the logical sequence of operations performed by the microcomputer during data input and label printing operations, with FIG. 26 appearing on sheet 15.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFE~RED EMBODIMENTS

Referring initially to FIG. 1, th~re is 53~

shown a hand-held labeler generally indicated at 20.
The labeler 20 includes a housing generally indicated at 21 comprised of housing sections 22 and 23 which define opposite sides of the labeler 20. The ho~sing 21 also includes a movable housing section 24 as shown to be pivotally mounted on the same axis as the label applicator 25 which is shown to comprise a rotatable roll. The housing also includes a handle 26 provided by the outer shell of a rechargeable battery. The handle 26 is removable as shown by phantom lines in FIG. 1. As seen, the applicator 25 is disposed at the front portion of ~he housing 21 and a label roll R is mounted to a rear portion of the housing 21. A
keyboard 27 having a plurality of manually selectable keys 28 is shown to be disposed at a top portion of the housing 21. A visual display 29 is disposed adjacent the keyboard 27 and is shown to face upwardly and rearwardly. More specifically, the keyboard 27 and the display 29 are mounted on the movable section 24 of the housing 21. The movable section 24 can be latched in the closed position by means of latch teeth 30 (FIG. 2) which cooperate with manually movable latches 31 moun~ed by the respective housing sections 22 and 23. However, the latches 31 are movable to release the movable section 24 so that the movable section 24 can be pivoted to the open position shown in FIG. 2.
With reference to FIG. 2, there is diagram-matically illustrated a printed circit board 32 dis-posed in underlying relationship with respect to thekeyboard 27. The circuit board is shown to be adjacent and generally parallel to the keyboard Z7, as also shown in FIG. 5. A flexible, ribbon connector 33 comprised of a suitable number of side by-side elec-trical conductors (nst shown) is connected to a switch 34, to a stepping motor 35 (FIG. 3), and to a pl~ralityof electrically selectable printing elements 36' disposed on a print head 36. The switch 34 has a switch button 37 disposed at the handle 26 in a position to be operated by the user's index finger. The stepping motor 35 has an output shaft 38 to which a spur gear 39 is secured, The spur gear 39 is a pinion and is rela-tively small. The spur gear 39 meshes with a rela-tively large gear 40 to which is secured a relativel~
small gear 41. The gear 41 is a pinion for a rela-tively large qear 42. A drive shaft 43 secured to the gear 42 drives a feed wheel 44 having a plurality of peripherally spaced teeth 45O The teeth 45 engage a carrier web W at cuts C to draw the carrier web W
and labels L which it carries from the label roll R.
As best shown in FIG. 5, the web W is drawn over the roll R and passe.s over a resilient device 46 to between a brake roll 47 and a brake surface 48, to and partial-ly around a roll 49, to between the printing elements 35 and the platen 50, through a sharp bend about a delaminator 51 where the leading label on the web W
is dispensed into label applying relationship with respect to applicator 25, partially around a roll 52, partially around a roll 53, into engagement with the toothed feed wheel 44, and out of the apparatus as indicated at 54. With reference to FIG. 4, it will be noted that in the event there is no carrier web W
between the printin~ elements 36' and the platen 50, flanges or rolls 50' contacting the platen support 58 at locations 50" will prevent the printing elements 36' from contacting the platen roll 50. This will prevent damage to both the platen 50 and to the printing elements 36' which can re~ult from energi-zation of the printing elements 36'~ For example, i~
the labeler 20 has a thermographic print head 36, the

3~

printing elements will not burn or fuse onto the platen 50, and the printing elements 36' will not be ruined.
With reference to FIG. 6, there are shown fragmentary portions of subframe sections 55 and 56 mounted on the housing 21. The subframe sections mount a platen assembly generally indicated at 57.
The subframe sections 55 and 56 also mount the delam-inator 51 and the roller 52. The platen assembly 57 includes a support 58 for the print head 36. As shown, the print head 36 includes plurality of separate printing elements 36'. The printing elements 36' are each connected to one of the conductors of the ribbon connector 33 and are separately energizable. Alter-natively, a serial-to-parallel converter (not shown) may be mounted adjacent to the head 36 and interposed between the elements 36' and the ribbon connector 33 in order to reduce the number of conductors required in the ribbon connector 33. The use of such a con-verter is particularly advantaseous when a long arraycontaining a large number of elements is used as the print head 36. The labels L are sensitive to heat and the heated area of the label L which a heated printing element 36' contacts will change color, for example, become darker. A deflector 59 guides a dela-minated label into label applying relationship with respect to the applicator 25. The support 58 rotatably mounts the roll 49 about which ~he carrier web W passes.
A retainer plate 60 having a plurality of hold-down fingers 61 holds the ribbon connector 33 in position.
Screws 62 are threadably received by the support 58.
A retainer 63 also holds the ribbon connector 33 in position. Screws 64 are threadably received by the support 58. The support 58 has oppositely extending projections 65 and 66. The respective projec~ions 65 53~

and 66 threadably receive a threaded portion 67 of a pin 68. Each pin 68 has an enlarged portion provid-ing a shoulder 69. A spring 70 nests in a pocket 71 and bears against the respective subframe sections 55 and 56. The other end of the respec~ive spring 70 bears against the shoulder 69 to urge the support 58 and the print head 36 which it carries in the counter-clockwise direction. The support 58 is pivotally mounted on a pin 72 which also mounts the roll 49.
The pin 72 is received in elongated holes 72' in res-pective subframe sections 55 and 56. The springs 70 urge the printing elements 36' into contact with the adjacent label L as best shown in ~IG. 4. The printing elements 36' exert a selected amount of pressure against the label L in accordance with the adjustment of the threaded pins 68. Because the pin 72 is undersize with respect to the holes 72 in which it is received, the support 58 and the print head 36 can skew with repect to the platen 50. As shown, the printing elements 36' are arranged in a line which extends transversely to the direction of movement of the carrier web W. If, for example, either end portion of the line of printing elements 36 is bearing too heavily against the label L, the respective threaded pin 68 adjacent that end can be turned to reduce the spring pressure. It is a feature of the invention to be able to skew the support 58 by adjusting means which are disposed at spaced apart locations. Both housing sections 22 and 23 have enlarged cutouts or holes 75 into which the projections 65 and 66 respec-tively project. The projections 65 and 66 extend far enough so that they can be easily actuated by the user. During threading of the labeler 20, the carrier web W is passed along the path illustrated in ~IG. 5.
~hen the leading end of the carrier web W is in position ~2~ 3S

g to be passed between the print head 36 and the platen 50, the user pushes on the projections 65 and 66 to pivot the support clockwise as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6 to move the printing elements 36' away from the platen 50. In this way the leading end of the carrier W can be pushed through the space between the printing elements 36' and the platen 50. If desired, the print head 36 can be fixedly held in position and the platen 50 can be selectably moved toward and away from the print head 36 by an alternative construction, not shown. When the threading of the labeler is complete, the projections 65 and 66 can be released whereupon the springs 70 urge the support 58 and the print head 36 counterclockwise to their normal position as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
With reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 7 through 10, there is shown a labeler 20A identical to the labeler 20 except as described below. The labeler 20A uses a drive for a~vancing the carrier web W which is manually powered. The handle 74 mounts a pivot 75 for a manually engageable lever actuator 76. The lever actuator 76 carries a gear section 77 which meshes with a gear 78. The gear 78 carries a pawl 79 which cooperates with a ratchet wheel 80 secured to the feed wheel 44. The ratchet wheel 80 is shown to have a plurality of teeth 81 with which a pawl 79 cooperates. A fluidic device generally indicated at 82 is shown to be disposed in the handle 74 and bears against the handle 74 and the actuator or lever 76.
The fluidic device 82 includes a tubular cylinder 83 having a closed end portion 84 and a tubular piston 85 having a closed end portion 86. The cylinde~ 83 and the piston 85 have respective integrally formed bearinys 87 and 88 in contact with bearing surfaces 89 and 90 of the handle 90 of the handle 74 and the 53Si lever 76, respectively. The cylinder 83 has an internal flange 91, and the piston 85 has an external flange 92 to limit separational movement. A resilient O-ring 93 is disposed between the piston 85 and the cylinder 83 to provide an air seal therebetween. The cylinder 83 and the piston 85 combine to provide a chamber 94. A compression-type drive spring 95 is disposed in the chamber 94 and bears against respec-tive end portions 84 and 86 of the cylinder 83 and the piston 85. The drive spring 95 can be located outside the chamber according to another embodiment, if desired. The end portion 84 contains a restricted orifice 96 and the end portion 86 contains an opening 97 which is alternately opened and closed by means of a valve 98. The constxuction of the valve 98 and the end portion 86 are shown in greater detail in FIG.
10. The valve 98 is of the flapper type and has an anchor portion 99 anchored in a recess 100. The valve 98 has a flexible resilient portion 101. The opening 97 has a tapered entry 102 for receiving the valve 98. The opening 97 is considerably larger than the restricted orifice 96. When it is desired ~o operate the labeler 20A, the user squeezes the lever 76 to cause the piston 85 to telescope into the cylinder 83 and compress the drive spring 95, thereby causing air within the chamber 94 to pass outwardly through the orifice 96 and the opening 97, and the fluidic device 82 provides essentially no fluid resistance because air can readily escape from the chamber 94. Essentially all of the resistance is afforded by the spring 95O
~hen the lever 76 is released the spring 95 acts on the lever 76 to drive the gear 98 and in turn the ratchet wheel 80 and the feed wheel 44 at an essen-tially constant rate. It i5 noted that upon release of the lever 76, the valve 98 closes so that the only 535i air entering the chamber 94 is through the restricted orifice 96. Accordingly, the fluidic device B2 moves from its distended position to its extended position at a controlled, essentially constant rate. Accor-dingly, the feed wheel 44 is driven at an essentiallyconstant rate. Printing on the labels L takes place while the carrier web W and the label L which it carries are advancin~ through the labeler 28. To accommodate for variations in the angular velocity of the feed wheel 44, a shaft encoder generally indicated at 103 is provided. The shaft encoder 103 includes a plurality of markings 104 on the feed wheel 44 and a pickup device or sensor 105.
Because the labeler 20A does not rely on battery energy to advance the carrier W, the battery used to energize the printing elements 36' can be relatively small. According to the invention, a battery 107 i5 positioned in a central hole 106 in the label roll R as best shown in FIG. 11. It is preferred that the battery 107 fit snugly in the label roll hole 106. As shown, the frame sections 55 and 56 rotatably mount roll mounting members 108. Elec-trical contacts generally indicated at 109 are suit-ably mounted within the mounting members 108 and are urged by respective springs 110 into contact with opposed terminals 111 and 112 of the battery 107.
Electrical energy from the battery 107 is passed from the contacts 109 to conductors 113 and to the ribbon connector 33 to the circuit board 32. The battery 107 can be part and parcel of the label roll R in which event the battery 107 would fit snugly in the label hole 106.
Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown the interrelationship between many of the previously described mechanical and electromechanical portions 53~i of the labeler such as the keyboard 27, the display 29, the stepping mo~or 35, the print head 36, the trigger 37 and the control circuitry, which is respon-sive to inputs from the keyboard 27 and the trigger 37 and serves to control the display 29, the stepping motor 35 and the print head 36. The control circuitrY
is generally designated by the reference numeral 200 in FIG. 12, and comprises a microcomputer 202 which includes a central processing unit, a read-only memory and a random-access memory (not shown in FIG. 12 but described in a subsequent portion of the application) which cooperate to perform the functions required to receive data from the keyboard 27 and provide the required computations to drive the display ~9, the stepping motor 35 and the print head 36 in accordance with the instructions received from the keyboard 27.
The control signals from the microcomputer 202 that drive the display 29 are applied to a display driver 204 and are processed thereby to convert the data from the microcomputer 202 to segment driving data that activate predetermined segments of the display 29. A motor driver 206 is responsive to step data from the microcomputer 202 and serves to energize various windings of the stepping motor 35 in a pre-determined sequence in response to the step data inorder to cause ~he motor 35 to rotate. A print head driver 208 provides power to the individual elements of the print head 36. The print head driver may be simply a plurality of amplifiers, one for earh element, which amplify signals from the microcomputer 202, or may include a serial-to-parallel converter that con-verts serial digital data from the microcomputer 202 to parallel data for driving each of the individual elements of the print head 36. When a serial-to~
parallel converter is employed, the print head driver S35;

208 is preferably located on the same hybrid circuit ~oard as the print head 36 in order to substantially reduce the number of leads required between the micro-computer 202 and the assembly containing the print head 36. This substantial reduction is achieved because each element of ~he print head 36 must have an individual lead connected thereto, and if the print head driver 208 contained only amplifiers, or if it were not located on the same circuit board as the print head 36, the cable interconnecting the print head circuit board and the microcomputer would require a lead for each element. Since several hundred elements can be contained in the print head, it would not be practical to build such a cable.
However, by including a serial-to-parallel converter in the print head driver, and by locating the print head driver 208 on the same hybrid circuit board as the print head 36, only that number of leads required to supply the required data at the desired printing rate need be provided.
A switch 210 is controlled by the trigger 37 and causes the microcomputer 202 to advane the stepping motor 35 in order to cause the motor 35 to feed the web whenever ~he trigger 37 is depressed. A
stop feed switch 212, which may be controlled, for example, by a cam 35' driven by the motor 35, or by a notch or the like in the web, is coupled to the micro-computer 202 and serves to terminate the advancement of the web after the web has been advanced a predeter-mined amount, generally the length or width of a labelOA reset circuit 214 is coupled to the source of power for the labeler, such as, for example, the output of the regulated voltage which powers ~he control cir-cuitry, resets the microcomputer 202 each time the power is turned on to assure that no ex~raneous data ~ 2(~(~535 is present in the microcomputer 202 prior to the entry of any data by the keyboard 27.
In operation, data to be printed is entered into the microcomputer 202 manually via the keyboard S 27, or automatically from another computer or data output source, such as, for example, a cassette recorder (not shown). The entered data may be numeric, alphanumeric and may be of various fonts and sizes, depending on the complexity of the program stored in the microcomputer 202. For example, if the data were entered from the keyboard 27, any of the digits 0 through 9 could be entered, as well as a dollar sign, slash and period. Also, with an appro-priate program, the font can be changed to larger or block letters, for example, by depressing the BK key on the keyboard 27. Spaces can be entered by depres-sing the S key, and the memory can be cleared in the event of an error by depressing the C key. Also, different fonts can be entered by depressing various combinations of keys, for example, by simultaneously pressing the BK and ~ keys prior to or while entering data if the microcomputer 202 is programmed to recog-ni2e such combinations.
Each line of entered data is di~played on the display 29 as it is being entered, and if two lines of data are being entered, the display is cleared after the entry of the first line 80 that the second line can be displayed. Once the input data has been correctly entered, as evidenced by the display 29, any number of labels can be printed by depressing the trigger 37 to close the switch 210. The closing of the switch 210 causes the microcomputer 202 to energize the motor 35 via the motor driver 206, and to maintain the motor 35 energized until the ~witch 212 is closed, for example, by a notch or other indexing mark on the 3~

web, or by a cam 35' or the like driven by the motor 35 which indicates that a complete label has been printed. The motor is then deenergized, and the printing will stop until the trigger 37 is depressed again.
During the time that the motor 35 is being driven by the microcomputer 20~, the various elements in the print head 36 are energized by the microcomputer 202 via the print head driver 208 in the sequence necessary to cause the input data to be printed in the desired fontO The data from the microcomputer 202 is applied to the print head driver 208 in parallel or serial form, preferably in serial form, in which case the pxint head driver converts the 1~ input informa~ion into parallel form for simulta-neously energizing all of the elements in the line array that need to be energized in order to define one line of the array forming the character or characters being printed.
The microcomputer 202 of FIG. 12 is illus-trated in greater detail in FIG. 13. The microcomputer 202 can take on many different configurations, and a typical configuration is illustrated in FIG. 13. In the circuit illustrated in FIG. 13, the microcomputer 202 contains a central processing unit (CPU) 220 which contains, in the present embodiment, an onboard random-access memory (RAM) having a capacity of 128 bytes, as well as an internal clock whose frequency is con-trolled by a quartz crystal 222 and a pair of capaci-tors 224 and ~26. In the present embodiment, an MC
6802 integrated circuit manufactured by Motorola, Incorpora~ed, is used as the central processing unit 220; however, many similar integrated circuits manu-factured by other manufacturers are available~
A read-only memorv ~ROM~ 228 is used in conjunction with the central processing unit 220.
The read-only memory 228 serves to store various data such as the program that controls the operation of the CPU 220, various data, format data, error checking data, and various miscellaneous data necessary to assure proper ope~ation of the labeler. As in the case of the central processing unit 220, various circuits suitable for use as the read-only memory 228 are available, but in the present embodiment, a type 2716 read-only memory, which is capable of storing 16,000 bits of information, or 2,000 words of 8 bits each, is used as the read-only memory 228. The capa-city of the read-only memory 228 may be either increased or reduced as necessary, depending on the number of functions desired of the labeling machine, and the number of fonts and formats required. The type 2716 read-only memory illustrated in FIG. 13 is manufactured by Motorola, Incorporated, Texas Instru-ments and other manufacturers.
The microcomputer 2D2 also contains a pro-grammable timer module (PTM) 230 which operates in conjunction with the CPU 220 and provides various timing signals, such as, for example, timing signals for controlling the time duration that the thermo-graphic printing elements are energized, as well as a 32 Hz signal (and a 32 Hz inverted signal from the inverting amplifier 232) necessary for the operation of the display driver 204. In addition, a 3 to 8 bit demultiplexer 234, which may be a 74 LS I38 demulti-plexer available from various manufacturers, as well as a pair of peripheral interface adapters (PIA's) 236 and 238, which may be, for example, a type MC
6821 peripheral interface adapter available from various manufacturers, are also employed. The func-tion of the 3 to 8 bit demultiplexer 234 is to select 53~i small portions of the memory 228 for further processing by the CPU ~20, and the peripheral interface adapters 236 and 238 serve to provide an interface between the various peripheral elements of the labeling machine, such as, for example, the keyboard 27, the start feed trigger 37, the stop feed switch 212 r as well as the print head driver 208 and display driver 204.
In the schematic diagram illustrated in FIG. 13, most of the connections to the various inte grated circuits are designated by three different designations, namely, by the pin number of the inte-grated circuit package, by the integrated circuit manufacturer's mnemonic designation, and by an inter-connection designation which defines the interconnec~
tions between the various integrated circuits. In the diagram of FIG. 13, the pin number designations are shown above each lead to each integrated circuit, and are positioned just outside of the blocks that represent each of the integrated circuits. Typical pin designations range from 1 through 16 for an inte-grated circuit requiring relatively few connections, such as the demultiplexer 234 to a range of 1 through 40 for integrated circuits requiring more connec~ions, such as the CPU 220 and the peripheral interface adaptors 236 and 238. The manufacturer's mnemonics are placed adjacent to the pin numbers inside the various blocks representing the various integrated circuits, and serve generally to identify the various functions performed. For example, mnemonics beginning with a prefi~ A indicate address bits and mnemonics beginning with the prefix D indicate data bits.
Finally, the interconnection designations are placed adjacent the pin numbers outside of the various blocks defining the various integrated circuits. These inter-connection designations are also mnemonic in form~

S3~i ~18-and if the same interconnection designation is present on leads extending from two or more different integrated circuits, it indicates that those leads are interconnected. Using this convention in a specific example, the lead designated AD 0 on the CPU
220 would be connected to the leads designated AD O on the ROM 228, the PIAl 236 and the PIA2 238.
In operation, data is entered into the CPU
220 from the keyboard 27 via the PIAl 236. The PIAl 236 is sensitive to interconnéctions between the ter-minals designated as COLl through COL4 and ROWl through ROW4 to determine which of the switches of ~he keyboard 27 have been closed by a depression of the corresponding keys during the entry of data. The data thus entered is converted by the PIAl 236 to display data at outputs Dl through D4 for driving the display driver 204, as well as to data usable by the CPU 220 appearing at the outputs DB0 ~hrough D~7 of the PIAl 236. The entered data is also applied to the PTM 230, as well as to the PIA2 238 which receives the entered data (after processing by the CPU 220) and drives various elements of the prin~ head 36 corresponding to outputs DOTl through DOT7 of the PIA2 238. The PIA2 238 also sequentially strobes the six digits of the display via the outputs DIGl through DIG6.
In addition, the PIAl 236 drives the motor driver 206 by applying motor phase signals Al, A2, and Bl, B2 sequentially to the motor driver 206 when-ever the switch 210 is closed by depressing the trigger 37. The drive signals continue to be generated until the sensing switch 212 is closed by an index mark on ~he web, or otherwise.
The motor driver 206 is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 14, and comprises four ampli-fier drivers 240, 242, 244 and 246, which drive one 3~

winding 248 o~ the stepper motor 35, and four ampli-fier drivers 250, 252, 254 and 256, which drive a second winding 258 of the motor 35. The motor driver 206 is responsive to the Al, A~, and Bl, B2 signals from the PIA1 236 and serves alternatively to energize the windings 248 and 258 in opposite directions depending upon which one of the signals Al, A2, or Bl, B2 is present, and causes the motor to be advanced one step each time the signal present at Al, A2, Bl, or B2 is stepped.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13, each of the DOTl through DOT7 outputs from the PIA2 238 drives a single printing element of the print head 36. Such a system is acceptable as long as the number of individually actuable printing elements remains relatively small, as in the case of the seven elements driven by the outputs DOTl through DOT7.
However, if a print head having a substantially larger number o~ individually selectable printing elements is required, the number of leads required between the PIA2 238 and the print head 36 can rapidly become excessive. For example, if the print head 236 contains two-hundred fifty-six individually addressable ele-ments, two-hundred fifty-six individual leads would be required to interconnect the print head 36 and the PIA2 238 if the system of FIG. 13 were employed. This would result in a highly impractical structure. There-fore, in order to avoid this problem, and in accordance with another important aspect of the present invention, the PIA2 238 is replaced with the circuitry of FIG.
15, generally designated by the reference numeral 238', which drives the circuitry and thermal elements located on a thick ~ilm substrate 239 which may be a thick film print head of the type manufactured by the R.ohm Corporation of Irvine, California.

~ZQ~53~

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, a PIA 260 receives data representative of the character to be printed from the CPU 220 via the data lines DB0 through DB7. The data thus received is converted to serial form and appears at the output of the PIA 260 designated as DATA IN. In addition, common signals designated as COMMl and C0MM2, as well as strobe signals STRSELA through STRSELD, whose function will be described in a subsequent portion of the specification, are generated. The DATA IN signals are applied to a shift register 262 (located on the substrate 2393 which stores the serial data, and the COMMl and C0MM2 signals are applied ~o alternate printing eiements of the thermographic printing head 36 (also located on the subs~rate 239). The STRSELA through STRSELD signals are applied to a 4 to 16 bit demultiplexer 264, which may be a type 74154 demultiplexer manufactured by various manufacturers.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, the print head 3~ is also located on the substrate 239 and contains two-hundred fifty-six individual printing elements connected to a one-hundred twenty-eight stage shift register (located on the substrate 239) via one-hundred twenty-eight drivers which, in the present embodiment, are one-hundred twenty-eight AND gates (also located on the substrate 239).
The two-hundred fifty six printing elements 36' are connected to two common lines, namely, the lines designated as COMMl and C0MM2 by two-hundred fifty-six diodes 270 ~located on the substrate 239~.
One-hundred twenty-eight of the diodes 270 are con nected to the common line COMMl and the one~hundred twenty ei~ht diodes 270 are connected to the common line C0MM2. Each of the AND gates 266 is connected to a pair of adjacent resistive thermal printing ele-ments, and each element of each pair of adjacent printing elements is connected to a different one of the lines COMMl and C0MM2 via one of the diodes 270.
Thus, a single one o~ each pair of adjacent printing elements can be selected by addressing both elements of the pair via the appropriate AND gate 266, and energizing one of the common lines COMMl or C0MM2 to determine which printing element of the pair is to be energized.
As a result of the use of the two common lines COMMl and C0MM2, the shift register 262 need have only one-hundred twenty-eight stages rather than two-hundred fifty-six/ or one-half the number of printing elements. The data for the one-hundred twen~y-eight printing elements associated with the common line COMMl is first loaded into the shift register 262 via the DATA IN line, and the common line COMMl is energized in order to energize the one-hundred twenty-eight printing elements associated ~0 with the common line COMMl in accordance with the data stored in the shift register 262 at that time.
Subsequently, data ~or the one-hundred twenty-eight printing elements connected to the common line C0MM2 is loaded into the shift register 262 via the DATA IN
line, and the common line C0MM2 is energized in order to energize various ones of the printing elements associated with the common line C0MM2 in accordance with the data now stored in the shift register 262.
Thus, by loading the data into the shift register 262 in two passes and alternately energizing one-half of the t~o-hundred fifty-six print elements of the print head 36, the number of stages in the shift register 262 can be reduced by a factor of two.
The previous discussion assumed that all of the AND gates 266 were continuously enabled, and as a ~()53~

result, would transfer the contents of the shift register 262 independently of any other inputs applied to the AND gates 266. Such a sys~em is readily workable and can be achieved simply by making the second input of each of the AND gates 266 hi~h.
However, under certain circumstances, particularly a5 in the case of a hand held labeler, the battery power available to drive the print head 36 is limited.
Consequently, it is not desirable to drive as many as one-half of the total number of print elements at any one time since this requires a substantial amount of peak battery power. Consequently, the AND gates 266 are strobed in sixteen strobes STRl through STR16, in the present embodiment, under the control of the strobe signals STRSCLA through STRSCLD. As a result, no more than eight printing elements are energized at any one time, thus providing a substantial reduction in peak power requirements. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, the data for one-hundred twenty-eight printing elements is first stored in the shift register 262, and the AND gates 66 are strobed sequentially, eight at a time, in a sixteen strobe sequence until all one-hundred twenty-eight of the AND gates 266 have been strobed. Then the data for the second one-hundred twenty-eight printing elements is loaded into the shift register 262, and the AND
gates 266 are again sequentially strobed to energi~e the second group of printing elements. ~lthough, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15 uses a sixteen strobe sequence, it should be understood that any number of strobes may be used in the sequence, and if more battery or other peak power is available, a shorter sequence wherein a greater number of the AND gates 266 are simultaneoulsy strobed during each strobe may be used.

In the illustrated embodiment, the individual printing elements 36' are aligned in a straight line array disposed in a direction substantially perpendi-cular to the direction of travel of the carrier web W; however, the printing elements 36' may be arranged in various patterns, and the print head 36 may be skewed with respect to the direction of travel of the web W, depending on practical design considerations and intended use. For example, a single line array of the type illustrated in FIG. 15B provides a great deal of format flexibility, and permits virtually any character or symbol to be printed, depending on the sophistication of the microprocessor 220, its associated components and programming. If only a few characters of a particular type are required, the single line array may be s~ewed or even curved to accomodate the particular type of characters being printed, and thus permit a reduction in the complexity of the microprocessor 220 and its associated circuitry and programming. Also, for other applications, it may be desired to use a multiple line printing head, a matrix, or even to offset alternate ones of the printing elements 36 in the direction of travel of the web W to compensate for web movement during the interval between energization of the lines COMMl and C0MM2. If the printing elements are energi2ed se~uen-tially, the line may be skewed to compensate for web movement.
The display driver 204 and the display 29 are illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 16. As is illustrated in FIG. 16, the display 29, in the present embodiment, consists of six individual seven-segment displays, which may be, for example, light emitting diode displays, liquid crystal displays or the like.
In addition, i~ alpha chara~ters are required in addi-~20~53S
-2~-tion to the numeric characters, additional segments may be provided. Decimal points are also provided between the digits of the display.
The driver 204 comprises six converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282. In the illustrated embodiment, type 4056 converters, manufactured by RCA
and other manufacturers, are used as the converters 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 28~; however, any converter suitable for converting a four-bit digit defining word to a seven-bit word for illuminating various segments of the display may be used.
Each of the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282 has four inputs Dl through D4 that are connected to the PIAl 236 and receive digit defining data from the PIAl 236. In addition, each of the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282 has an input connected to one of the display strobe outputs DIGl through DIG6 of the PIA2 238. A 32 Hz clock signal is also applied to the display as well as to the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282. The seven outputs of each of the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 2B0 and 282 are connected to the seven segments of each of the digits of the display, designated as segments a through g on each of the digits and on the outputs of the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282.
In operation, the digit defining information is presented to all of the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282 via the inputs Dl through D4. The data defining the digits is presented sequen-tially, in synchronism with strobe signals that are applied to the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282 via the inputs DIGl through DIG6. Thus, when da~a defining the first digit is applied to the inputs Dl through D4, the strobe DIGl goes low and ~2~ 53~;

causes the converter driver 272 to read the data on the lines Dl through D4 defining the first digit.
5imilarly, data defining the second through sixth digits is presented on the lines Dl through D4 in synchronism with the respective strobes DIG2 through DIG6 to cause the various converter drivers 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282 to read the respective digit data on the lines Dl through D~ at the time they are strobed.
Once the digit data has been read by the converter drivers 272, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 282, the appro-priate ones of the segments a through g of the various digits are illuminated to generate the required display.
Since the display illustrated in FIG. 16 is designed to display price information, all of the decimal points, except for decimal points associated with the fifth digit are connected to the 32 Hz clock signal to prevent them from being illuminated.
Conversely, the decimal point associated with the fifth digit is connected to an out-of-phase 32 Hz signal to render it permanently illuminated. However, if a permanently illuminated decimal point between the dollars and cents digits of the display is not desired, illumination of various decimal points can be controlled by the microprocessor via one o~ the peripheral interface adapters to provide selective illumination of the various decimal points.
The reset circuit 214 is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 17, and in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 17t a type 555 timer circuit and an amplifier 286 are used to provide a reset pulse to the circuitry after power is first applied to the circuit. Although the reset circuit illustrated in FIG. 17 employs a timer and amplifier, any suitable reset circuit that provides a reset pulse ater turn on to the CPU 222, the PTM 230 t and the PIAs 236 and ~2~(~5~5 -2~-238 may be utilized.
Re~erring now to FIG. 18, there is shown a typical physical layout fQr the print hea~ and driver circuitry illustrated schematically in FIG. 15. As illustrated in FIG. 18, the print head 36 is located on the substrate 239, and the print head driver cir-cuitry is fabricated from one or more integrated circuits 208 also located on the substrate 239.
Interconnections between the integrated driver cir-cuitry 208 and the individual print elements are madeby a plurality of thick film metallic conductors 292 deposited on the substrate 239 by vapor deposition or other hybrid or thick film circuit techniques. The conductors 292 correspond to the interconnections between the AND gates 266 and the print head 36 (FIG.
lS), and if a print head having two-hundred fifty-six individual elements and two common lines, such as the lines COMMl and C0~2, is utilized, the number of individual conductors 292 may be as few as one~hundred thirty, one-hundred twenty-eight to provide ~he inter-connections between the individual printing elements and the AND gates 266 plus two to serve as the common lines CO~l and C0MM2. The inputs to the driver cir-cuitry 208 may be provided by a plurality o~ conductors 294, similar to the conductors 292. The conductors 292 serve to apply the DATA IN signal as well as the various strobe signals and common signals to the inte-grated circuit driver circuitry 208. A connector 296 provides an electrical connection between the conduc-tors 294 and the ribbon connector 33 (FIG. 6~. Since it is no longer necessary to provide a direct connec-tion between the microprocessor and each of the indi-vidually addressable printing elements when a serial-to-parallel converter is used, the number of conductors 294 and the number of conductors in the ribbon )535 connector 33 may be substantially reduced.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18, the individual printing elements of the print head 36 are disposed on a single straight line that is dis-posed in a direction substantially perpendicular tothe direction of advancement of the web carrying the labels (shown in dashed lines in FIG. 18). By making the length of the print head 36 at least equal to the width of the label web, printing can be made ~o occur on any area of the web, thereby permitting any size characters that can be accommodated by the web to be printed. In addition, reverse, or negative, characters wherein the background is darkened and the characters are light (unprinted) can also be printed utilizing the configuration of FIG. 18. Also, by appropriate programming of the microprocessor characters of various fonts and sizes, as well as various orientations, for example, perpendicular to or parallel to the direction of advancement of the web. Skew characters can also be printed. Also, by appropriate programming, or by utilizing a print head having two spaced groups o~
printing elements, such as the groups 36a and 36b ~FIG. 19), certain areas of the web may be reserved as blank areas. Also, by appropriate programming or by utili~ing two spaced groups of printing elements, two sets of identical labels can be simultaneously printed on a double width web. These labels can sub-sequently be separated, either by cutting, or by tearing if a perforated web is utilized. FIG. 20 shows few of the various types of characters that can be printed by the labeler according to the present invention, but it should be understood that many other characters including alpha and numeric characters, including script and non-standard characters, as well as designs can be printed.

i~Q~35 FIGS. 21-26 illustrate the various logical sequences followed by the logic circuits during the entry and printing of data. FIGS. 21 and 22 illus-trate the initialization routine wherein the various timers, clocks, registers, etc. are cleared prior to the entry of new data. In addition, FIG. 21 illus-trates the font and/or format selection process along with some error checking wherein the font and/or format is selected by entering, via the keyboard or otherwise; data to identify the font and/or format selec~ed. In addition, the program determines whether the data entered represents a valid font or format, and restricts the data that may be entered once the format has been selected. For example, if the dollar format has been selected, only numbers preceded by a dollar sign and having a decimal point between the dollars and cents figures may be entered and printed.
If less restrictive formats are selected, any form of data may be entered. Also, the VALID KEY ENTERED
block of FIG. 22 may incorporate various error check-ing logic, such as, for example, logic permitting only certain characters to be placed in a certain field, check digit logic, and logic requiring the data to be entered twice for verification purposes.
FIG. 23, in conjunction with the print sub-routine of FIG. 25, illustrates the prinSing process.
In the printing process, the stepping motor is started in order to advance the web, and the characters, in the selected fon~ and format, are taken from the print buffer. The data de~ining each column forming the selected characaters is sequentially applied to the print head to form ~he selected charac~ers on a column-by-column basis as the web is advanced. During the printing process, the length of time that each print element is maintained energized may also be adjusted Q(~535 depending on the size of the character being printed, and whether a continuously printed character, or a character wherein the individual imprints are visible, is desired. When the printing of a first character has been completed, the next character (or characters, when more than one character is being printed across the width of the web) is withdrawn from the print buffer and the process is repeated until all of the entered characters have been printed.
FIG. 24 illustrates a typical logic sequence that would be employed if a series of labels having a predetermined numeric or alphanumeric sequence were desired. As illustrated in FIG. 24, the keyboard is first enabled to receive data defining the first label as well as data defining the increment between succes-sive labels (and possibly the number of increments required or the data defining the last label). In addition, data defining the quantity of each label required may be entered. Once the data has been entered and the print switch activated, the print routine is started to cause a label to be printed.
After a label has been printed, a determination is made to see if all required labels of one type have been printed. If not, the print subroutine is con-tinued until all have been printed. After all labelsof one type have been printed, the number or character in the print buffer is incremented (or decremented) by the previously entered increment (or decrement).
The routine then pauses until the print switch is again activated whereupon the required nu~ber of labels containing the incremented (or decremented) characters are printed.
FIG. 26 illustrates the logical sequence employed for the controlling of the web advancing s~epping motorO Basically, the logic gradually slews (.J~35 the motor up to speed as the printing sequence begins, maintains the motor operating at relatively constant speed until the end of the label is reached, as indi-cated by a notch or the like in the web or otherwise, and gradually slows the motor to a stop after the end of the label has been sensed.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in ligh~ of the above teachings. Thus, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically des-cribed above.

Claims

Docket M-416-C
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, the housing having a front portion, a rear portion, and a top portion, the handle depending in a downward direction, a label applicator mounted on the front portion, label roll mounting means disposed at the rear portion, electrically selectable printing elements disposed in the housing, means for advancing the carrier web, a keyboard disposed at the top portion of the labeler, a visual display disposed adjacent the keyboard for displaying data entered into the keyboard a control circuit for the print head and the display, means including a circuit board for the control circuit disposed adjacent and in underlying relationship to the keyboard, and means electrically connecting the control circuit with the keyboard, the printing elements and the display.

2. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, a label applicator mounted on the housing, the housing having label roll mounting means, electrically selectable printing elements disposed in the housing, means for advancing the carrier web, a keyboard disposed on the housing, a visual display disposed adjacent the keyboard for displaying data entered into the keyboard, a control circuit for the print head and the display, means including a circuit board for the control circuit disposed adjacent and in generally parallel relationship to the keyboard, and means electrically connecting the control circuit with the keyboard, the printing elements and the display.

3. A hand-held labeler as defined in either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the advancing means includes a stepping motor mounted to the housing, the stepping motor having an output shaft, a first relatively small gear secured to the output shaft, a second relatively large gear meshing with the first gear, a third relatively small gear secured to the second gear, a fourth relatively large gear meshing with the third gear, and the advancing means including a feed wheel driven by the fourth gear.

4. A hand-held labeler as defined in either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the handle is removably mounted to the remainder of the housing and comprises a rechargeable battery.

5. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing including a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, and means for spacing the printing elements of the print head from the platen at all times to prevent damage to the printing elements in the event of absence of the carrier web between the printing elements and the platen.

6. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 5, wherein the platen includes a roller and the spacing means comprises a pair of spaced flanges on the roller for limiting the movement of print head and the platen relatively toward each other.

7. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, and means for skewing the mounting means and the platen relative to each other to promote uniform printing by the printing elements on the labels.

8. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of thermographic printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, and means for selectably positioning the printing elements to promote uniform printing by the printing elements on the labels.

9. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, means for pivotally mounting the print head support, means for skewing the print head support relative to the platen to promote uniform printing by the printing elements on the labels, and wherein the skewing means includes a pair of individual adjusting devices for adjusting the pressure contact at the line by printing elements to promote uniform printing.

10. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasab1y secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means in the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, the mounting means including a support for the print head, means for pivotally mounting the print head support, means for skewing the print head support relative to the platen to promote uniform printing by the printing elements on the labels, wherein the skewing means includes a pair of individual adjusting devices for adjusting the pressure contact at the line of printing elements to promote uniform printing, and means for selectively moving the platen and the printing elements relatively away from each other to facilitate threading of the labeler.

11. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means of the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, the housing having opening means, and means projecting through the opening means for moving the print head and the platen relatively away from each other to facilitate threading of the labeler.

12. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 11, wherein the opening means includes a pair of openings in the sides of the housing, the moving means including a pair of projections projecting into the openings, the openings being large enough to enable movement of the projections.

13. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, spring means for biasing the support and the printing elements which it supports relatively toward the platen to effect pressure contact of the printing elements against the label, and manually movable means for overcoming the biasing force of the spring means to move the printing elements relatively apart from the platen to facilitate threading of the labeler.

14. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means in the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, and spring means for urging the print head support and the platen relatively toward each other to provide continuous pressure contact between the printing elements and the label.

15. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, spring means for urging the support and the platen relatively toward each other, and means for limiting the relative movement of the print head toward the platen so that absent a carrier web between the printing elements and the platen the printing elements will remain spaced from the platen.

16. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, a pin pivotally mounting the support to the housing, a pair of projections connected to opposite sides of the support, each projection having a threaded hole, a threaded pin received in each threaded hole, a compression spring received about each pin for urging the support and the printing elements which it carries toward the platen into contact with a label, the housing having means providing a pair of spaced oversized holes for receiving the support mounting pin, and the threaded pins being rotatable to adjust the support to cause the printing elements to exert uniform contact pressure against the label along the entire line of printing elements.

17. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 16, wherein the sides of the housing have a pair of spaced oversized openings for receiving the projections, and the projections being manually movable from outside the housing to move the support and the printing elements which it supports away from the platen to facilitate threading of the labeler.

18. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced pass the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, and wherein the support is composed of metal.

19. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 18, wherein the support is composed of a one-piece metal casting having heat-dissipating fins.

20. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, a support for the print head, and a deflector on the support for deflecting the printed label into label applying relationship with the label applying means.

21. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 20, wherein the support and the deflector are integrally constructed of metal.

22. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, a manually engageable actuator disposed at the handle and movable between an initial position and an actuated position, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means including an electrically selectable printing head for printing on labels, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, a toothed member engageable with tooth engageable means on the carrier web, means for moving the toothed member at a substantially constant rate irrespective of the rate at which the actuator moves between the initial and the actuated positions, the moving means including a drive spring providing the energy for moving the toothed member, and means for operating the printing elements while the toothed member is advancing the carrier web and the labels which it carries.

23. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 22, wherein the moving means further includes a fluidic device for controlling the rate at which the drive spring drives the toothed member.

24. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 23, wherein the fluidic device comprises a piston-cylinder device which is ineffective to resist movement of the actuator from the initial position to the actuated position but is effective to control the rate of return movement of the actuator from the actuated position to the initial position.

25. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 22, wherein the moving means includes a device having a cylinder and a cooperable piston defining a chamber, the drive spring being disposed in the chamber and acting on both the piston and the cylinder, means for enabling air to exit freely from the chamber when the actuator moves from the initial position to the actuated position and for admitting air into the chamber at a controlled rate when the actuator returns from the actuated position to the initial position.

26. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 25, wherein the device is disposed in the handle and acts against the handle and the actuator.

27. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 22, wherein the moving means includes a device having a cylinder and a cooperable piston defining a chamber, the drive spring being disposed in the chamber and acting on both the piston and the cylinder, wherein the piston is tubular and terminates at an end portion, the piston being disposed for telescoping movement in the cylinder, a valve on the piston for allowing air to enter the chamber freely when the piston moves to a distended position relative to the cylinder during movement of the actuator front its initial to its actuated position, a restricted orifice in the cylinder for allowing air to enter the chamber when the actuator is released as the piston moves to an extended position relative to the cylinder during return of the actuator from its actuated position to its initial position, and means providing an air seal between the piston and the cylinder.

28. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle and means for mounting a label roll, a print head having electrically selectable printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels from the carrier web, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the web, the label roll having a central hole adapted to receive a battery, and a pair of electrical contacts for contacting the terminals of the battery.

29. A hand-held labeler for printing and applying labels releasably adhered to a carrier web by pressure sensitive adhesive, comprising: a housing having a handle, means for holding a label roll, means including a print head having electrically selectable printing elements for printing on the labels, a control circuit for the print head, means for delaminating printed labels from the web, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, the housing having a movably mounted section which is movable between a closed position and an open position to provide access to the inside of the housing, means including a keyboard mounted on the movably mounted section, means including a circuit board for the control circuit disposed in the housing adjacent to the keyboard, and means electrically connecting the control circuit with the keyboard and the printing elements.

30. A hand-held labeler for printing and applying labels releasably adhered to a carrier web by pressure sensitive adhesive, comprising: a housing having a handle, means for holding a label roll, means including a print held having electrically selectable printing elements for printing on the labels, a control circuit for the print head, means for delaminating printed labels from the web, means for applying printed labels including an applicator, means for advancing the carrier web, the housing having a movably mounted section, means including a keyboard mounted on the movably mounted section, means including a circuit board for the control circuit disposed adjacent to the keyboard, means electrically connecting the control circuit with the keyboard and the printing elements, wherein the applicator comprises a roll, and means for pivotally mounting the movably mounted section and the applicator on the same axis.

31. A hand-held labeler adapted to print And apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, the housing having a front portion, a rear portion, and a top portion, the handle depending in a downward direction, a label applicator mounted on the front portion, label roll mounting means disposed at the rear portion, electrically selectable printing elements disposed in the housing, means for advancing the carrier web, a keyboard disposed at the top portion of the labeler, a visual display disposed adjacent the keyboard for displaying data entered into the keyboard, a control circuit for the print head and the display, means including a circuit board for the control circuit disposed adjacent and in underlying relationship to the keyboard, means electrically connecting the control circuit with the keyboard, the printing elements and the display, wherein the advancing means includes a motor mounted to the housing, a speed reducer driven by the motor, and a feed wheel driven by the speed reducer.

32. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, a label applicator mounted on the housing, the housing having label roll mounting means, electrically selectable printing elements disposed in the housing, means for advancing the carrier web, a keyboard disposed on the housing, a visual display disposed adjacent the keyboard for displaying data entered into the keyboard, a control circuit for the print head and the display, means including a circuit board for the control circuit disposed adjacent and in generally parallel relationship to the keyboard, means electrically connecting the control circuit with the keyboard, the printing elements and the display, wherein the advancing means includes a motor mounted to the housing, a speed reducer driven by the motor, and a feed wheel driven by the speed reducer.

33. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means for supporting a label supply roll on the housing, means for printing on labels, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, wherein the printing means includes thermographic printing elements, wherein the label supply roll has a central hole adapted to receive a battery, and electrical contacts for contacting the battery and electrically connected to the thermographic printing elements.

34. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means and to the web advancing means, means for skewing the mounting means and the platen relative to each other to promote uniform printing by the printing elements on the labels, wherein the thermographic printing elements extend in a direction generally transverse to the direction of the path of the web, and wherein the skewing includes springs acting at spaced locations to provide substantially uniform pressure of the printing elements against the label during printing and means for individually adjusting the forces exerted by the springs.

35. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing as the printing elements are selectably energized while the web in being advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, means for skewing the mounting means and the platen relative to each other to promote uniform printing by the printing elements on the labels, wherein the thermographic printing elements extend in a direction generally transverse to the direction of the path of the web, and wherein the skewing means includes springs acting at spaced locations to provide substantially uniform pressure of the printing elements against the label during printing and adjusting screws for adjusting the forces exerted by the springs.

36. A hand-held labaler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, means for printing on the labels, the printing means including an electrically selectable print head having a line of thermographic printing elements and a platen in printing cooperation with the line of printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web, means for mounting the printing elements essentially stationarily during printing, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to between the line of thermographic printing elements and the platen to enable printing at the printing elements are selectably energized while the web is bring advanced past the line of stationary printing elements, to the delaminating means, and to the web advancing means, wherein the thermographic printing elements extend in a direction generally transverse to the direction of the path of the web, wherein the mounting means includes a support for mounting the printing elements, means mounting the support for skewing movement, and wherein the means mounting the support for skewing movement includes springs acting at spaced locations on the support to provide substantially uniform pressure of the printing elements against the label during printing.

37. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure senstive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a front portion, a rear portion and a handle, a label applicator mounted on the front portion, label roll mounting means disposed at the rear portion, thermographic printing elements disposed in the housing for printing on the labels, means for delaminating printed labels, means for advancing the carrier web to bring the labels successively to the print head and the delaminating means, a keyboard on the housing, a control circuit for selectively energizing the printing elements, and wherein the handle depends downwardly of the front and rear portions and contains a rechargeable battery.

38. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 37, wherein the housing further includes a central portion disposed between the front and rear portions, wherein the advancing means includes an electric motor disposed at the central portion.

39. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 38, wherein the advancing means further includes a feed wheel engageable with the carrier web and driven by the electric motor.

40. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 33, including a speed reducer drivingly coupling the electric motor and the feed wheel.

41. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 39, including a toothed means drivingly coupling the electric motor and the feed wheel.

42. A hand-held labeler as defined in either one of 38 or 39, wherein the electric motor is generally aligned with the depending handle.

43. A hand-held labeler as defined in either one of claims 40 or 41 wherein the electric motor is generally aligned with the depending handle.

44. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, comprising: a housing having a handle, means on the housing for carrying a label roll of pressure sensitive labels, a thermographic print head for printing on the labels, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying printed labels, means for advancing the web, means defining a path for guiding the web from the label roll to the printing means, to the delaminating means and to the web advancing means, means including spaced springs for urging the print head and the platen into uniform printing contact, and means for selectively moving the platen and the printing elements relatively away from each other to facilitate threading of the labeler.

45. A hand-held labeler adapted to print and apply pressure sensitive labels releasably secured to a carrier web, wherein the carrier web has feed cuts registered with the labels, comprising: a housing having a handle, a thermographlc print head having electrically selectable printing elements, means for delaminating printed labels, means for applying labels, means for advancing the carrier web to register the labels successively with the print head and with the label applying means, and a control circuit for selectively energizing the printing elements, wherein the advancing means includes an electric motor and a feed wheel driven by the electric motor, the feed wheel having an axis of rotation, the feed wheel having teeth cooperable with the feed cuts, the motor being coupled to the feed wheel by a speed reducer so that the feed wheel rotates substantially slower than the electric motor, means sensing the position of the feed wheel, and means responsive to the sensing means and coupled to the control circuit for stopping the electric motor when a label has been advanced into label applying relationship with respect to the label applicating means.

46. A hand-held labeler as defined in claim 44, wherein the sensing means includes a member on the axis of the feed wheel.