GB1593106A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENT IN OR RELATING TO PRINTING APPARATUS (71) We, LRC, INC., a corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of Colorado, United States of America, of Technical Research Park, Riverton, Wyoming 82501, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to printing apparatus and in particular, but not exclusively, to matrix printing apparatus for high speed printing of tickets formed from a continuous roll of paper stock.

Customarily, matrix printer apparatus is comprised of a print head having print wires arranged in a coumn and mounted on a movable carriage to advance along each line of a print medium in forming individual characters, following which the print medium is indexed to the next line as the print head is returned to the margin for printing each next line in succession, The number of print wires is selected according to the height of the characters formed so that as the head is advanced across the paper each character is formed by selectively activating certain of the print wires at closely spaced incremental positions to individually form each character followed by spacing and proceeding to the next character.In the high speed printing information on a relatively narrow print medium, or in other words, where the margins are relatively close to one another, considerable savings in motion, time and energy may be realised by providing a print head with a sufficient number of print wires to traverse the entire width of the print medium and thereby obviate movement of the print head back and forth across each line to be printed; instead, characters or designs may be formed on the print medium by activating different selected print wires in each line or row as the print medium is advanced in a direction transversely of the row of print wires.Printing in this manner may be best exemplified by reference to its use in the printing of betting tickets for various wagering operations or games of chance in which it is desirable that the tickets be readable both by the customer and by special code readers so that the information printed on each ticket may be verified instantaneously prior to turning over the ticket to the customer.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for printing successive portions of a continuous strip print medium, the apparatus comprising a print bar, a stationary print head disposed in confronting relation to the print bar and including print wires extending towards the print bar, the ends of the print wires adjacent the print bar being arranged in a row and terminating in impression surfaces, guide means for guiding the print medium between the print bar and print head transversely of the row of print wires, means for advancing the print medium between the print bar and print head at a substantially constant speed, means for generating print wire energisation-enabling signals correlated with the speed of advance of the print medium, wire drive means energisable to drive selectively the wires to print in dot matrix form on the print medium as the print medium is continuously advanced past the print head, the timing of energisation of the wire drive means being dependent on said energisation-enabling signals, and means for carrying a supply of the print medium, tension-sensing means between the supply means and the print medium advancing means for sensing the tension in the print medium as it is drawn from the supply means by the print medium advancing means, and print medium drive means engageable with the print medium in its path between the supply means and the said tension-sensing means, the print medium drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the print medium as sensed by the tensionsensing means to co-operate with the said print medium advancing means in advancing the print medium through the apparatus.

Further according to the present invention there is provided ticket printing apparatus comprising a print bar disposed in confronting relation to a print head, guide means establishing a guide path between the print bar and print head for advancement of a length of paper stock from a supply roll.

paper drive means stationed in the guide path upstrean of the print head for continuously driving the paper at a predetermined speed along the guide path and including means operative to sense the rate of advance of the paper along the guide path and to generate signals correlated with such rate of advancement, tension-sensing means for sensing the tension in the paper stock as it is drawn from the supply roll. the drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the paper stock as sensed by the tension-sensing means. a cutter mechanism disposed in the guide path downstream of the print bar. the cutter mechanism including a stationary blade member provided with a cutting edge in proximity and in facing relation to the path of paper travel away from the print head, a rotary blade including a cutting edge aligned with and in spaced.

facing. relation to the stationary cutting edge.

and reciprocatory means for energizing the rotary blade to shear across said stationary cutting edge whereby to sever the paper on a line normal to its direction of travel without interrupting continuous advance of the paper past the print head, and ejector mechanism movable into engagement with the severed paper downstream of the cutter mechanism, the ejector mechanism including roller drive means to advance the paper as it is severed in a direction away from the cutter mechanism.

and deflector means for deflecting the paper as it is severed into a discharge area downstream of the ejector mechanism.

Still further according to the present invention there is provided ticket printing apparatus comprising a print bar disposed in confronting relation to a print head, paper advancing means for continuously advancing a length of paper stock at a predetermined speed from a supply roll along a guide path passing between the print bar and print head, the advancing means being arranged upstrean of said print head in the direction of paper advance, paper drive means stationed in the guide path upstream of the print head for continuously driving the paper stock at a predetermined speed along the guide path, tension-sensing means for sensing the tension in the paper stock as it is drawn from the supply roll, the drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the paper stock as sensed by the tension-sensing means, a cutter mechanism disposed in the guide path and including a stationary blade provided with a cutting edge in proximity and in facing relation to the path of paper advance, a rotary blade including a cutting edge normally aligned with and in spaced, facing.

relation to the cutting edge of the stationary blade, and reciprocatory drive means for reciprocating said rotary blade to move across the cutting edge of the stationary blade whereby to sever the paper stock to form tickets on a line normal to its direction of advance and to reverse said rotary blade to its initial position in spaced facing relation to the cutting edge of the stationary blade, and an ejector mechanism movable into engagement with the tickets downstream of the print head and including means operative independently of the paper advancing means to advance the tickets in a direction away from the cutter mechanism into a discharge area downstream of the ejector mechanism.

A ticket printer embodying the invention will now be particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ticket printer; Figure 2 is a front view of the ticket printer; Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on line 3 -3 of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged top plan view of a cutter head of the ticket printer; Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed view of the print head of the printer; Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of control circuitry of the printer; and Figure 7 shows a typical ticket in printed form.

The ticket printer shown in the drawings broadly comprises main side frames 12 interconnected in spaced parallel relation to support a print head 13 therebetween. Print head 13 is of the matrix type having print wires W located in facing relation to a print bar 14. The print bar presents a rigid printing surface 14' directly opposite to the print head and aligned along the path of movement of a continuous strip print medium in the form of a heavy paper stock as represented at P which is advanced upwardly along a guide path 15 between a pressure roller 16 and a capstan 17. As the paper stock continues upwardly past the print bar it advances through a cutter mechanism designated 18 into a stacking area designated 20. Generally, as printing of each ticket proceeds lineby-line the paper stock will advance continuously past the cutter mechanism, and at the completion of the printing operation for each ticket the paper stock is cut a predetermined number of spaces beyond the last printed line. The cut portion of the paper or ticket stock is then ejected by an ejector mechanism into the stacking area in a manner to be described and where as represented the tickets T are collected or stacked together on edge at the upper extremity of the printer.

The paper stock is advanced and guided into the printing area from a paper supply roll 22 by a stripper roll assembly made up of a drive capstan 23 and pressure roller 24 which strips or draws the paper stock up wardly around a guide roller 26 and into an entry guide path designated 28 leading into the stripper roll assembly. From the stripper roll assembly the paper stock is guided by an extension 29 of the entry guide 28 downwardly through a generally U-shaped loop, tension sensor, region designated 30 where the paper stock is reversed and caused to continue upwardly along the vertical guide path 15 which is aligned with the advancing capstan 17. In manner to be described, a slider 32 senses the tension in the paper stock and selectively activates the stripper assembly in order to assist in the advancement of the paper into the printing area.In this relation, the paper stock for ticket printing is relatively heavy and due to the intermittent operation of the print head between each ticket to be printed the loop sensor in cooperation with the upper capstan 17 and stripper drive 23 permits the paper stock to be advanced at a uniform rate past the print bar.

The rate of advancement of the paper stock is preferably sensed by a timing or strobe disc 34 located on the capstan 17 and which in cooperation with an optical switch 35 will sense the rate of advancement of the paper and generate signals to control activation of the print head drive circuit.

The print head 13 is of the dot matrix type and comprises three banks of seventeen print wires represented at W arranged in a single row with bar code print wires W' at each end of the row. In a conventional manner, each of the print wires W and W' is driven by a separate solenoid represented at S under the control of a drive circuit represented at 36 which in turn is responsive to signals generated by the optical switching circuit 35 in cooperation with the, strobe disc 34.For the purpose of illustration, the strobe disc 34 may be keyed to the capstan drive shaft and has 66 notches represented at N in its outer periphery which in response to rotation of the capstan at the rate of 1.1 inches per revolution will cause passage of six notches or windows on the strobe disc per l/lOth of an inch of linear paper movement; or in other words, one strobe signal is produced for each .016 inch of paper movement.Thus as the paper moves each increment. or 0.016 inch, one strobe window passes the strobe reader or optical switch 35 so that every time the drive circuit senses a transition in the strobe electronic means will generate a signal for activation of selected print wire solenoids, As indicated previously, the print wires W are preferably arranged in three bands so that when a strobe signal is received selected solenoids S in the first band of print wires are fired immediately upon recognition of that strobe. After a predetermined time delay, the second bank of solenoids is fired. and after another time delay the third bank of solenoids can be fired. Generally, the time delays are of the order of five hudred microseconds between each bank for the purpose of reducing the power otherwise required to energize a great number of solenoids at one time.

The print wires W' for the bar codes are not actuated as often as the print wires W since the bar codes are provided more for the purpose of identification at the beginning and end of each ticket. Thus, for instance the bar codes may be printed at increments of 0.050 inch so as to print a bar code on either side of the ticket to identify the end of or the start of a ticket as well as the other information relating to the ticket.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the paper stock P is driven at a constant velocity past the print bar 14 by the pressure roller 16 which is pivotally mounted on a pivot shaft 40 and caused to bear against the surface of the capstan 17 by a lever 41 which is springloaded as at 42 against the front surface of the paper guide 15. The capstan 17 has the ends of its drive shaft 43 journaled in bearings (not shown) in the frames 12; and a pulley 45 at one end of the drive shaft 43 is driven by a timing belt 46 from of a drive pulley 47 which is keyed to the drive shaft of motor drive 48 to impart rotation through the timing belt to the capstan 17, all as shown in Figure 1.In addition, the pressure roller 16 can be forced away from the capstan by a tab or lever 49 which also pivots about the pivot shaft 40 to bear against the lower end of the lever 41 and by inward pressing will overcome the force of the spring 42 to seperate the pressure roller from the capstan whenever it is desired to temporarily interrupt advancement of the paper stock past the print bar.

The print bar 14 is preferably formed as a unitary part of the capstan which forms the support for the cutter so that the print bar 14 will remain properly aligned with the cutter section notwithstanding repeated impact by the print wires against the print bar surface.

The print bar 14 therefore extends horizontally between side flanges 50 which extend along the inner surfaces of the side frames 12 then continue outwardly into laterally projecting ears 51, the latter forming downward continuations of a die casting which defines a vertical mounting plate 52 for cutter bar 53.

As best seen from Figure 3, the cutter bar 53 is affixed to the lower edge of the vertical mounting plate 52 by screws 54 passing upwardly through grommets or flexible washers so that the cutter bar 53 extends rearwardly in a horizontal direction directly above the upper edge of the print bar 14. The rearward bevelled edge of the cutter bar 53 defines a stationary cutting edge or blade 55 which is disposed along the path of movement of the paper. A generally V-shaped cutting edge 56 is formed in rotary blade 58 which is caused to rotate about a horizontal axis to shear the blade 58 across the stationary cutting edge 55, as best seen from Figure 4.

Located directly above the cutter bar 53 and spaced behind the vertical mounting plate 52 is a vertical guide wall 60 which is affixed by mounting screws 61 in spaced parallel relation to the mounting plate 54. An inclined guide wall 62 preferably defines an integral part of the die casting for the mounting plate 54 and print bar 14 and is so disposed as to converge upwardly in closely spaced relation to the vertical guide wall 60 thereby forming a convergent guide path for continued upward vertical movement of the paper P toward the stacking area. A guide plate 70 forms an upward vertical extension of the guide wall 60 and includes a horizontal passage 63 for inserion of a drive shaft 64 for eject rollers 65, and the shaft 64 is springloaded by spring 66 to force the eject rollers 65 against capstan drive roller 68.Preferably the stationary guide plate 70 is formed as a unitary extension of the guide wall 60 and housing at the upper extremity of the printer assembly intermediately between the side frame portions. The capstan drive 68 is driven by endless flexible drive belt 72 which is trained over drive pulley 73 at the end of a motor drive shaft or eject motor 74 and a driven pulley 75 which is keyed to the capstan drive shaft 68'. In addition. a ticket deflector plate 76 has its lower end coiled about the capstan drive shaft 68' so as to be spring-loaded in a forward direction toward the upper stationary guide 70 in the stacking area. In this way, as the tickets are advanced through the convergent guide section defined between the mounting plates 60 and 62 into the stacking area they will be shifted by the deflector plate 76 against the stationary guide.

As described, the tickets are formed by severing the leading end of the continuous roll of paper a predetermined number of spaces, or pulses as determined by the optical switch, after the printing is completed so as to leave a slight margin beneath the last line of print. For instance, the paper may be a relatively heavy stock having a width of the order of two inches. Accordingly, it is highly desirable that the paper be advanced into the printing section with a minimum of friction or drag imposed upon the main capstan 17 so as to assure that the paper will be advanced at a continuous, even rate of speed past the print head.To this end, the paper supply roll 22 has a core which is mounted on a spindle 80 the opposite ends of which are inserted into open slots 81 which are aligned in the rearward extension plates 82 of the main frame members 12 so that the paper roll is readily insertable and replaceable from the rear of the assembly. In the loaded position, the outer surface of the roll 22 is contacted by the upper free end 83 of the pivotal arm member 84. the arm being pivotal about a shaft 85 mounted in the frame 12 directly beneath the supply roll 22, and a torsion spring (not shown) biases the free end 83 against the outer surface of the roll 22.A "low paper" condition is sensed whenever the arm member 84 advances inwardly toward the center or core of the roll 22 a sufficient distance to cause a lateral extension 86 to engage an actuator on limit switch 87 whreby to energize a suitable signal generator or alarm. not shown, or in the alternative to cut off the power to the various motor drives in the printer apparatus in response to a low paper condition.

The free or leading end of the paper is advanced or drawn from the roll 22 around the guide roller 26 which has a roller shaft 88 journaled in aligned, arcuate slots 89 so as to reduce friction on the paper as it is caused to bend around the roller 26 into the entry guide 28. A stripper motor assembly includes the drive capstan 23 which is driven by stripper motor 23' through drive belt 90 and pulley 91 to frictionally engage the paper as it exits from the entry guide 28. A pressure roll 24 is disposed on the other side of the guide path and is biased against the capstan by a spring-loaded lever 92.

The loop sensor assembly 30 serves as a movable guide for advancement of the paper into the fixed guides defining the vertical guide path 16. A generally U-shaped rib 29 forms a continuation of the guide path leading away from the drive capstan 23 to form the outside of a guide path extending downwardly then upwardly around the loop sensor assembly into alignment with the outer rib 15' on the fixed vertical guide path 15. A fixed inner guide rib 27 extends for a limited distance away from the drive capstan 23. In the loop sensor assembly, an inner spaced, movable loop guide includes a pair of spaced ribs 93 and 94 interconnected by a common plate 95 which is pivotal about a shaft 96 so as to locate the ribs 93 and 94 in inner spaced relation to opposite sides of the outer guide member. The loop sensor assembly includes a relatively large guide roller 97 which is mounted on the free end of the loop sensor arm 98 so as to be journaled on the pivot shaft 96 for the movable guide as described, the shaft 96 being slidable in slot 99 in the outer side frame members 12. In turn, an inner slot 100 is formed in the slider 32 which is constrained to move in a generally vertical direction along the guide path formed by a series of guide pins 102. The slider 32 includes a cam surface 104 which is movable into engagement with upper and lower switch actuators 105 and 106 on switch members 107 and 108, respectively.

From the relationship described and shown, it will be noted that the guide roller 97 has its outer peripheral surface normally disposed in inner spaced relation to the lower return end of the fixed extension guide 29.

However, it is free to move upwardly along with the pivot shaft 96 in advancing through the inner slot 100 formed in the slider 32 so that initially the guide roller 97 will be free to advance upwardly independently of any movement of the slider 32. However, when the shaft 86 reaches the upper edge of the slot in the slider 32, it will then cause the slider to advance along with the guide roller 97 and cause the cam surface 104 on the slider to control opening and closing of the switch actuators 105 and 106. Movement of the guide roller in the manner described is determined by the tension of the paper as it is advanced continuously by the main capstan 17.

If there is relatively little tension on the paper, the guide roller will be free to assume the position as shown in Figure 1 and the cam surface 104 on the slider will be in the position as shown closing the lower switch actuator 106, and the upper switch actuator 105 remaining open. This lower extreme position would serve to indicate that the machine is out of paper or in other words that there is complete abscence of tension or upward drawing force on the guide roller in which case it would then break the circuit into the main motor drive for the drive capstan 17.An intermediate position, or a "normal static" position is defined when the guide roller is caused to rise by the paper to a sufficient level to cause the high point on the cam surface to be positioned between the two switch actuators 105 and 106, which position would normally be reached when the paper roll is larger and there is relatively little tension on the paper as it is advanced off the roll 22 by the main capstan 17. However, as the tension in the paper increases as a result in reduction of the size of the paper roll, the shaft 96 will continue to rise thereby causing the slider 32 to advance to its uppermost position at which point its cam surface 104 will have depressed the upper switch actuator 105 to energize the stripper motor 23' for the drive capstan 23.The motor 23' is operative to drive its capstan 23 at a speed approximately ten per cent faster than the speed of advancement of the capstan 17 so that as the two motors are running simultaneously the loop will be restored by virtue of the paper being fed into the loop area faster than it is being drawn out. Initially. the shaft 96 will start to return to its lower position, but friction in the system between the switch actuator 105 and cam surface 104 on the slider 32 will cause the slider to remain in its separate position to keep that switch closed until the shaft 96 engages the lower edge of the slot on the slider causing the cam surface 104 to begin to move away from the upper switch actuator and the stripping motor is shut off.

In the preferred form of ticket printer as described, most desirably the print wires W are mounted in solenoids arranged in three banks, laterally spaced of one another across a common arcuate mounting plate 110. The mounting plate is disposed at the rearward divergent end of a generally V-shaped frame in which upper and lower sides 113 and 114 of the frame converge forwardly and terminate in a common nose portion 115. As shown in Figure 5, a series of openings 116 and wider bar code openings 117 are formed in a bearing plate 118 inserted in the nose 115 of the leading edge of the print head frame, and the print wires converge forwardly through individual guide tubes, not shown, which are supported within the cavity of the frame by a potting compound designated C, then pass through a pre-aligner designated at 119.The print wires W and W' are adapted to form impressions on the paper by striking a print ribbon 120 which is advanced along a generally vertical guide path between the guide path of the paper and the front bearing plate 118 of the print head 13. The print ribbon 120 is advanced from a supply spool 122 along an inclined path defined by guide pins 123 then downwardly past the front of the bearing plate 118 and returned across a rearward guide path as defined by the guide pins 124 for rewinding upon a take-up spool 125. A motor drive not shown is provided for driving the take-up spool 125 to advance the print ribbon 120 along the vertical guide path and reverse gearing not shown is provided to drive the supply spool 122 in the event that it is desired to employ a reusable ribbon and to reverse its path of travel from the take-up spool back onto the supply spool.

As illustrated in Figure 7, the ticket printer is capable of printing characters or impressions of various different designs and sizes by energizing selective ones of the print wires as the paper is continuously advanced across the print bar. For the purpose of illustration.

the strobe disc 34 is designed to generate six pulses through the optical switch 35 for each one-tenth of an inch of paper movement; or in other words, one strove signal per 0.016" of paper movement. As represented in Frgure 6, each strobe signal generated by the switch 35 is applied through a microprocessor 130 to activate selected solenoids in each bank of solenoids S to impress dots D on each line of the paper, or for every 0.016" of paper movement. For instance, the logic in the microprocessor is designed to conserve electrical power by sequentially firing the banks of solenoids at closely spaced, but staggered, time intervals on the order of 300 microseconds apart.Thus, assuming that the time interval between each strobe signal is 1.6 milliseconds, the firing of selected wires in each bank of solenoids can be sequenced to fire at staggered intervals within the time period between strobe signals so long as the last bank of solenoids has completed its firing ahead of the arrival of the next signal or pulse. The bar codes represented at B in Figure 7 are not printed as often as the numerical or character dots represented at D; and generally are printed in increments of 0.050 of an inch to provide a bar code on either side of the ticket to provide additional information in coded form on the ticket. A predetermined time interval after the last line has been printed on the paper to comprise the desired information on the ticket, a signal from the microprocessor to the solenoid drive circuit energizes cutter solenoid 132.As seen from a consideration of Figures 1. 2 and 4.

solenoid 132 drives a plunger 133 to pivot a crank 134 whereby to rotate the cutter blade 58 and sever the paper P.

The strobe signals generated by the strobe disc 34 are applied by the optical switch 35 through buffer electronics represented at 140 which shapes the signals into low logic level signals for application to the microprocessor 130. In response to input signals received from Keyboard 141 in correlation with pulses received from the buffer electronics, the microprocessor applies signals to solenoid drive circuit 142 for the print wire solenoids S to sequentially fire selected solenoids in each bank, as described earlier, as well as to fire the bar code solenoids. A bar code reader 144 is stationed directly above the print head 13 to sense the bar code B printed on the ticket for comparison with information in the micrprocessor 130 in order to verify the information printed on each ticket.At the end of the bar code as sensed by the microprocessor, a signal is applied through the solenoid drive circuit 142 to the cutter solenoid 132 in order to activate the cutter and sever the leading end of the paper from the continuous paper roll.

A motor drive circuit 145 also receives signals from the microprocessor 130 in order to control activation of the various motor drives specifically including the main motor drive 47 for the capstan 17, the eject motor 74 for the ejector capstan 68 and the reversible motor drive 146 for the ribbon spools 122 and 125. In addition, when it is desired to reverse the ribbon motor drive, a ribbon reverse switch 146' may be actuated by the operator to reverse the direction advancement of the ribbon across the print head.If desired, and as shown, the low paper sensor switch 87 associated with the paper supply roll 22 may be electrically connected into the microprocessor 130 in order to transmit a signal indicating a low paper condition as described; and similarly, the loop sensor switch 108 may be employed to transmit a signal to the microprocessor to relate that the machine is out of paper whenever the guide roller is permitted to drop to its low position.

In the alternative, either or both of the low paper and out paper switches may be utilised to generate a visible signal whenever a low paper or out of paper condition occurs, respectively.

There is illustrated in Figure 7 a portion of a ticket T which may typically be employed for race tack betting operations. Here the information concerning the race is printed in various different sizes of numbers and letters, as represented at D, and the bar code B is formed along opposite margins of the ticket for verification of the information on the ticket as well as to provide additional information if desired. As seen from the configuration of the ticket, printing proceeds lineby-line in a lengthwise direction, as represented by the arrows. For the purpose of illustration and not limitation the tickets may be composed of relatively heavy paper stock of the order of two inches in width and which is fed from a continuous roll 22 of the order of eight inches in diameter.The length of each ticket is dictated according to the space required for the information to be printed and may be varied in length according to the size and amount of information printed.

However, it can be appreciated that the method and apparatus employed for printing tickets is readily conformable for use in a number of printing operations, especially where the margins are relatively narrow and it is desirable to print continuously line-byline through a stationary print head 13 at high rates of speed.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Apparatus for printing successive portions of a contiuous strip print medium, the apparatus comprising a print bar, a stationary print head disposed in confronting relation to the print bar and including print wires extending towards the print bar, the ends of the print wires adjacent the print bar being arranged in a row and terminating in impression surfaces, guide means for guiding the print medium between the print bar and print head transversely of the row of print wires, means for advancing the print medium between the print bar and print head at a substantially constant speed, means for generating print wire energisation-enabling signals correlated with the speed of advance of the print medium, wire drive means energisable to drive selectively the wires to print in dot matrix form on the print medium as the print meduim is continuously advanced past the print head, the timing of energisation of the wire drive means being dependent on said energisation-enabling signals, and means for carrying a supply of the print medium, tension-sensing means between the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (19)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. 1.6 milliseconds, the firing of selected wires in each bank of solenoids can be sequenced to fire at staggered intervals within the time period between strobe signals so long as the last bank of solenoids has completed its firing ahead of the arrival of the next signal or pulse. The bar codes represented at B in Figure 7 are not printed as often as the numerical or character dots represented at D; and generally are printed in increments of 0.050 of an inch to provide a bar code on either side of the ticket to provide additional information in coded form on the ticket.A predetermined time interval after the last line has been printed on the paper to comprise the desired information on the ticket, a signal from the microprocessor to the solenoid drive circuit energizes cutter solenoid 132. As seen from a consideration of Figures 1. 2 and 4. solenoid 132 drives a plunger 133 to pivot a crank 134 whereby to rotate the cutter blade 58 and sever the paper P. The strobe signals generated by the strobe disc 34 are applied by the optical switch 35 through buffer electronics represented at 140 which shapes the signals into low logic level signals for application to the microprocessor 130. In response to input signals received from Keyboard 141 in correlation with pulses received from the buffer electronics, the microprocessor applies signals to solenoid drive circuit 142 for the print wire solenoids S to sequentially fire selected solenoids in each bank, as described earlier, as well as to fire the bar code solenoids. A bar code reader 144 is stationed directly above the print head 13 to sense the bar code B printed on the ticket for comparison with information in the micrprocessor 130 in order to verify the information printed on each ticket.At the end of the bar code as sensed by the microprocessor, a signal is applied through the solenoid drive circuit 142 to the cutter solenoid 132 in order to activate the cutter and sever the leading end of the paper from the continuous paper roll. A motor drive circuit 145 also receives signals from the microprocessor 130 in order to control activation of the various motor drives specifically including the main motor drive 47 for the capstan 17, the eject motor 74 for the ejector capstan 68 and the reversible motor drive 146 for the ribbon spools 122 and 125. In addition, when it is desired to reverse the ribbon motor drive, a ribbon reverse switch 146' may be actuated by the operator to reverse the direction advancement of the ribbon across the print head.If desired, and as shown, the low paper sensor switch 87 associated with the paper supply roll 22 may be electrically connected into the microprocessor 130 in order to transmit a signal indicating a low paper condition as described; and similarly, the loop sensor switch 108 may be employed to transmit a signal to the microprocessor to relate that the machine is out of paper whenever the guide roller is permitted to drop to its low position. In the alternative, either or both of the low paper and out paper switches may be utilised to generate a visible signal whenever a low paper or out of paper condition occurs, respectively. There is illustrated in Figure 7 a portion of a ticket T which may typically be employed for race tack betting operations. Here the information concerning the race is printed in various different sizes of numbers and letters, as represented at D, and the bar code B is formed along opposite margins of the ticket for verification of the information on the ticket as well as to provide additional information if desired. As seen from the configuration of the ticket, printing proceeds lineby-line in a lengthwise direction, as represented by the arrows. For the purpose of illustration and not limitation the tickets may be composed of relatively heavy paper stock of the order of two inches in width and which is fed from a continuous roll 22 of the order of eight inches in diameter.The length of each ticket is dictated according to the space required for the information to be printed and may be varied in length according to the size and amount of information printed. However, it can be appreciated that the method and apparatus employed for printing tickets is readily conformable for use in a number of printing operations, especially where the margins are relatively narrow and it is desirable to print continuously line-byline through a stationary print head 13 at high rates of speed. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for printing successive portions of a contiuous strip print medium, the apparatus comprising a print bar, a stationary print head disposed in confronting relation to the print bar and including print wires extending towards the print bar, the ends of the print wires adjacent the print bar being arranged in a row and terminating in impression surfaces, guide means for guiding the print medium between the print bar and print head transversely of the row of print wires, means for advancing the print medium between the print bar and print head at a substantially constant speed, means for generating print wire energisation-enabling signals correlated with the speed of advance of the print medium, wire drive means energisable to drive selectively the wires to print in dot matrix form on the print medium as the print meduim is continuously advanced past the print head, the timing of energisation of the wire drive means being dependent on said energisation-enabling signals, and means for carrying a supply of the print medium, tension-sensing means between the

supply means and the print medium advancing means for sensing the tension in the print medium as it is drawn from the supply means by the print medium advancing means, and print medium drive means engageable with the print medium in its path between the supply means and the said tension-sensing means, the print medium drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the print medium as sensed by the tensionsensing means to co-operate with the said print medium advancing means in advancing the print medium through the apparatus.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the print head is operative to form characters the direction of reading of which is parallel to the direction of travel of the print medium past the print head.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the signal-generating means is operative to control the pront head to enable a combination of characters and code designations to be printed on the print medium.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the row of print wires is divided into a number of sections, the print wires being sequentially fired in each section in succession to form desired lines of print in response to signals generated by said signal-generating means.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the print medium advancing means includes means operative to sense the speed of advance of the print medium and to generate signals correlated therewith for feeding to said signal-generating means, means for carrying a supply of the print medium, tension-sensing means between the supply means and the print medium advancing means for sensing the tension in the print medium as it is drawn from the supply means by the print medium advancing means, and print medium drive means engageable with the print medium in its path between the supply means and the said tension-sensing means, the print medium drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the print medium as sensed by the tension-sensing means to co-operate with the said print medium advancing means in advancing the print medium through the apparatus.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the guide means is arranged to guide the print medium around a loop-shaped path portion between the supply means and the print medium advancing means, the tension-sensing means including a roller arranged in the bottom of the loop-shaped path portion.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising cutter means for severing the print medium after printing, including a cutter disposed downstream of the print head, and means for energizing the cutter to sever each said portion of the print medium after completion of printing thereon by the print head, and eject means for directing the severed portions of the print medium in a direction away from the print head and cutter.

8. Ticket printing apparatus comprising a print bar disposed in confronting relation to a print head, guide means establishing a guide path between the print bar and print head for advancement of a length of paper stock from a supply roll, paper drive means stationed in the guide path upstream of the print head for continuously driving the paper at a predetermined speed along the guide path and including means operative to sense the rate of advance of the paper along the guide path and to generate signals correlated with such rate of advance, tension-sensing means for sensing the tension in the paper stock as it is drawn from the supply roll, the drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the paper stock as sensed by the tension-sensing means, a cutter mechanism disposed in the guide path downstream of the print bar, the cutter mechanism including a stationary blade member provided with a cutting edge in proximity and in facing relation to the path of paper travel away from the print head, a rotary blade including a cutting edge aligned with and in spaced, facing, relation to the stationary cutting edge, and reciprocatory means for energizing the rotary blade to shear across said stationary cutting edge whereby to sever the paper on a line normal to its direction of travel without interrupting continuous advance of the paper past the print head, and ejector mechanism movable into engagement with the severed paper downstream of the cutter mechanism, the ejector mechanism including roller drive means to advance the paper as it is severd in a direction away from the cutter mechanism, and deflector means for deflecting the paper as it is severed into a discharge area downstream of the ejector mechanism.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, in which the guide means further include spaced guide members disposed on opposite sides of the guide path between the cutter mechanism and the ejector mechanism, the guide members converging in a direction towards the ejector mechanism.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 or claim 9. in which the said rotary blade has a generally V-shaped cutting edge the opposite sides of which are slanted at corresponding angles away from a common point of intersection therebetween toward the stationary cutting edge.

11. Apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, in which the guide means defines an elongate guide slot defining the guide path between the supply roll and paper advancing means. the guide slot including an arcuate. loop-shaped portion forming part of the tension-sensing means. the said paper drive means including a stripper motor and means for engaging with the paper in its movement through the guide slot between the supply roll and the said loop-shaped portion. said tension-sensing means further including a switch and means for yieldably contacting the paper along the loop-shaped portion and responsive to increasing tension in the paper to move in a direction engaging the switch. the switch being activated in response to movement of said yieldable means to energize the stripper motor.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11. in which the tension-sensing means includes a slide member. the said yieldable means being in the form of a roller supported for sliding movement in the slide member. the slide member being movable into and out of engagement with the said switch in response to movement of the roller.

13. Apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12. in which the print head comprises print wires converging towards the print bar, the print wires terminating in impression surfaces arranged in a row, and means responsive to signals fed thereto to activate selected print wires in the row of print wires to impress a series of dots to form a line of print on the paper stock as it is continuously advanced past the print head.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, in which the print wires are controlled to form characters on the paper stock the direction of reading of which is parallel to the direction of the paper stock past the print head, and in which certain said print wires are operative to print coded information simultaneously with the printing of characters on each ticket.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14, in which the said print wires are arranged in banks. the print wires being capable of being sequentially fired in each bank in succession to form each line of print in response to signals fed thereto by signal-generating means of the apparatus, the apparatus further comprising means arranged on the guide path for sensing the coded information printed on the paper stock.

16. Ticket printing apparatus comprising a print bar disposed in confronting relation to a print head, paper advancing means for continuously advancing a length of paper stock at a predetermined speed from a supply roll along a guide path passing between the print bar and print head, the advancing means being arranged upstrean of said print head in the direction of paper advance, paper drive means stationed in the guide path upstream of the print head for continuously driving the paper stock at a predetermined speed along the guide path, tension-sensing means for sensing the tension in the paper stock as it is drawn from the supply roll, the drive means being energized in response to increasing tension in the paper stock as sensed by the tension-sensing means, a cutter mechanism disposed in the guide path and including a stationary blade provided with a cutting edge in proximity and in facing relation to the path of paper advance, a rotary blade including a cutting edge normally aligned with and in spaced, facing, relation to the cutting edge of the stationary blade. and reciprocatory drive means for reciprocating said rotary blade to move across the cutting edge of the stationary blade whereby to sever the paper stock to form tickets on a line normal to its direction of advance and to reverse said rotary blade to its initial position in spaced facing relation to the cutting edge of the stationary blade, and an ejector mechanism movable into engagement with the tickets downstream of the print head and including means operative independently of the paper advancing means to advance the tickets in a direction away from the cutter mechanism into a discharge area downstream of the ejector mechanism.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16, in which the said rotary blade has a generally V-shaped cutting edge the opposite sides of which are slanted at corresponding angles away from a common point of intersection therebetween toward the cutting edge of the stationary blade, the rotary blade being reciprocal about an axis in spaced parallel relation to the cutting edge of the stationary blade.

18. Ticket printing apparatus according to claim 16 or claim 17, including an elongate guide slot defining the guide path of paper stock advance between the supply roll and paper advancing means, said guide slot including a generally U-shaped portion forming part of the tension-sensing means, said paper drive means including a stripper motor including means engageable with the paper in its advance through the guide slot from the supply roll and said U-shaped portion, said tension sensing means being in the form of loop sensing means for sensing the tension in the paper as it is drawn from the supply roll along the guide slot by the paper advancing means through the Ushaped portion, the tension sensing means further including a pair of switch members and a slider with a roller yieldably contacting the paper along the U-shaped portion and responsive to increasing tension in the paper to move in a direction causing said slider to engage one of said switch members, and thereby activate said stripper motor, the other of switch members being activated in response to absence of paper in said Ushaped portion to generate a "no paper" signal.

19. Printing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.