US3261283A

US3261283A - Printer with rotary print wheels

Info

Publication number: US3261283A
Application number: US391866A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold B Vroom; Michael S Juhas
Original assignee: Veeder Root Inc
Current assignee: Veeder Industries Inc
Priority date: 1964-08-25
Filing date: 1964-08-25
Publication date: 1966-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 1983-07-19
Also published as: DE1499489B2; DE1499489A1; GB1088361A; DE1499489C3

Description

y 1966 H. B. VROOM ETAL PRINTER WITH ROTARY PRINT WHEELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 25, 1964 INVENTORS HAROLD B. VROOM MICHAEL S. JUHAS ATTORNEYS July 19, 1966 H. B. VROOM ETAI.

PRINTER WITH ROTARY PRINT WHEELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1964 HAROLD B. VROOIVI MICHAEL S. JUHAS ATTORNEYS July 1966 H. B. VROOM ETAL 3,

PRINTER WITH ROTARY PRINT WHEELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 25, 1964 HAROLD B. VROOM MICHAEL S. JUHAS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,261,283 PRINTER WITH ROTARY PRINT WHEELS Harold B. Vroom, Simsbury, and Michael S. Jnhas, Torrington, Conn, assignors to Veeder-Root Incorporated, New Britain, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 391,866 Claims. (Cl. 10195) The present invention relates to a new and improved printer of the type conventionally having a plurality of coaxial printing wheels with angularly spaced peripheral printing characters or type and rotatable for locating the printing characters at printing positions for cooperation with a pressure applicator for printing.

It is a principal aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer of the type described for producing high quality printing capable of being read with optical reading equipment.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer for producing printing of consistent and even density.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide in a printer of the type described an arrangement for accurately locating and rigidly supporting the print wheels for printing.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide in improved printer useful in combination with a driven counter for selectively printing the count of the counter.

It is another aim of the present ivention to provide in a printer of the type having printing hammers for the printing wheels, a new and improved hammer construction and operation for producing even and consistent printing.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer having utility for selective printing with either a manual or a suitable power-operated drive.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a printer having a compact and economical assembly of parts adapted to give reliable and maintenance-free operation over a long service life.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is -a partially exploded perspective view, partly broken away and partly in section, of an embodiment of a printer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse section view of the printer;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged rear view, partly 'broken away and partly in section, of the printer; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial longitudinal section view of the printer, partly broken away and partly in section, showing the print Wheels of the printer in more detail.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, an embodiment of the printer of the present invention, generally denoted by the numeral 10, is shown to comprise a stationary or principal frame portion 12 having an elongated base 14 and front and

rear face plates

16, 18 upstanding at the longitudinal ends of the base, the front face plate 16 being shown detached from the base 14 in FIG. 1 for clarity. The base 14 is shown formed with a pair of upstanding longitudinally spaced stanchions 20, and a secondary frame portion or carriage 22 is mounted on the stanchions by a pivot pin 24 for relative movement with respect to the frame portion 12 between a pivotally withdrawn position and an extended or printing position shown in the drawings. The movable frame portion 22 is shown formed with a base 26 and an overlying cover 28 3,251,283 Patented July 19, 1966 which is rigidly secured to the base 26 by machine screws 30 and spaced in parallel relationship therewith by a U- .shaped spacer 32 to provide a suitable slot or receptacle 34 for receiving a ticket, as for example an IBM card, or the like for printing. A suitable entrance slot 35 is provided in the face plate 16 for alignment with the slot receptacle 34 when the movable frame portion 22 is in its withdrawn position and thereby provide for insertion of the ticket into the slot receptacle 34 before the frame portion 22 is pivoted to its printing position.

The counter is shown driven by an electromechanical mounted on the base 26 with its shaft 42 rotatably mounted within suitable bushings 44 about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of the frame portion 22. Mounted on the shaft 42 are a plurality of coaxial counter or print wheels 45-51 having angularly spaced peripheral printing characters or type, which in the shown embodiment are formed for printing the numeral sequence 0-9.

The counter is shown driven by an electromechanical device comprising an electromagnet 52 secured to the underside of the base 26 and a ratchet mechanism 56 mounted on the shaft 42. The ratchet mechanism 56 includes a ratchet wheel 58 fixed to the shaft 42 and in the shown embodiment having a number of teeth, here ten, equal to the number of printing characters on the counter wheels 45-51. A ratchet dog 60 is pivotally mounted on a support arm 62 rotatable on the counter shaft 42 and is urged into engagement with the ratchet wheel 58 by a torsion spring 64. The arm 62 is oscillated on the counter shaft to index the counter in stepwise fashion by a pivotally mounted armature 66 of the electromagnet 52 pivotally connected to toggle links 68 which are pivotally connected to the ratchet arm 62. The armature 66 is drawn upwardly as seen in FIG. 2 against the force of a compression spring 72 when the electromagnet is energized and when the electromagnet 52 is de-energized the compression spring 72 returns the ratchet dog 60 to its initial or normal position which is made adjustable by a stop screw 74 engageable by a lip 76 on the armature.

The lowest order wheel 45 of the counter is fixed to the shaft 42 and is accordingly indexed by the ratchet mechanism 56. For indexing the higher order counter wheels 46-51, the counter is provided with suitable transfer pinions 80 rotatable on a transfer pinion shaft 82 mounted on the base 26 and in a conventional manner the counter wheels are provided with suitable drive and driven

gears

83, 84 for indexing adjacent higher order wheels one step for each full revolution of the adjacent lower order wheels respectively.

A plurality of axially spaced and axially aligned printing hammers 90, 92 are rigidly mounted on the cover 28, for which purpose the printing hammers are provided with enlarged generally rectangular tail or supporting portions 96, 98, respectively, that are secured in spaced relationship within a U-shaped housing 100 by machine screws 101, the housing 100 being rigidly secured to the cover 28 by machine screws 102. The printing hammers 90, 92 are of generally flat construction in close noninterfitting association. Printing hammers alternately mounted with the hammers 92 are in alignment with the print wheels 45-51. The printing hammers 92 are mounted in alignment with the printing characters or type on a slug or bar 94 inserted within a corresponding slot in the base 26 to provide a serial or identification number for the printer.

An operator for the printer comprises a control shaft 109 rotatably mounted on the front and

rear face plates

16, 18 about an axis parallel to the axis of the counter 40, and in the shown embodiment is manually operable by a lever 112. Mounted on the shaft 109 adjacent the front and

rear plates

16, 18 area pair of jump control cams 114 shown provided with a pair of diametrically opposed radial cam edges 116 and diametrically opposed generally spiral edges 118 therebetween. The cams 114 are adapted to engage cam follower blocks 120 mounted on the cover 28 and thereby function, upon rotation of the cams 114 in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1, to pivot the frame portion 22 from its withdrawn to its printing position against the bias of a pair of compression springs 122 and to release the frame portion 22 for return to its withdrawn position by the springs 122. The control cams 114 are rotatable on the control shaft 11E and are driven by the control shaft by ratchet mechanisms comprising radially extending pins or dogs 123 fixed to the shaft and two-tooth ratchet wheels 125 with spiral face cams 127 fixed to the control cams 114. The ratchet mechanisms are thereby adapted to drive the control cams 114 when the control shaft 109 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1. HOW- ever, when the control shaft 109 is rotated in the opposite angular direction, the radial edges 116 on the cams 114 will abut the followers 120 to prevent further angular displacement of the control cams, and therefore the pins 123 will function thereafter to cam the control cams 114 axially against compression springs 126.

The printing hammers 911, 2 are integrally formed with enlarged printing heads 130, 132 and narrow resilient supporting arms 134, 136, respectively, and are preferably formed of a suitable semi-hard plastic, such as Deli-in, to give the hammers sufficient resiliency to be withdrawn from their normal or nonstressed positions spaced from the counter wheels for the storage of sufiicient motive power for subsequently returning the hammer through and beyond its normal position to strike a ticket placed in the slot 34. The hammers 90, 92 thereby provide pressure applicators for printing the ticket with the axially aligned printing characters on the bar 94 and on the print wheels adjacent the slot 34. For printing accuracy, it is preferred that the printing hammers 2t), 92 are designed with the faces 140, 142 thereof positioned to engage the ticket directly above and parallel to the respective type, to strike the ticket only once during each print cycle and thereby prevent double printing due to rebounding motion of the hammer, and with the heads 130, 132 having a relative large mass and sufiicient hardness to provide suflicient impact when striking the ticket.

The printing hammers 90, 92 are integrally formed with

cam followers

144, 146 having lip edges engageable with a hammer control cam 147, shown formed integrally with the control shaft 109. For effecting withdrawal of the printing hammers the control cam 147 is provided with a partially cylindrical holding cam surface 151 which is positioned for engagement by the

followers

144, 146 to withdraw the hammers from their normal or unstressed position as the secondary frame portion 22 is pivoted to its printing position by the control cams 114. The hammer control cam 147 has a generally radial edge 152 for releasing the hammers substantially simultaneously, although independently as each printing hammer operates under its own motive power. The control cam 147 is angularly related to the control cams 114 such that the cams function to pivot the secondary frame portion 22 from its withdrawn position to its printing position against the bias of the compression spring 122 while simultaneously holding and thereby withdrawing the printing hammers from their normal or unstressed positions, and to sequentially release the printing hammers for printing and release the secondary frame portion for return to its withdrawn position by the compression springs 122. In the shown embodiment, after the secondary frame portion has been released, the control shaft 109 may be rotated to its initial position, in the clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 2, for which purpose a torsion spring 153 is provided for returning the control shaft to its initial position through its operational angle of approximately 180.

In order to prevent operation of the printing hammers until a ticket is properly positioned within the slot 34, an interlock 161i is provided which is adapted to lock the control shaft 109 against rotation in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1 until after the ticket has engaged and depressed a control finger portion 163 of. an interlock pawl 161 and thereby pivot the pawl to unlatch the ratchet pin 123. Upon subsequent removal of the ticket, the pawl 161 will re-engage the pin 123 and accordingly relock the control shaft when the control shaft 1119 is returned to its normal position.

For precisely locating and rigidly supporting the print wheels 4551 for printing, each of the print wheels 45-51 is provided with a pair of locating and aligning guides 165 that are suitably fixed to the wheels on opposite sides thereof, and a guide support block 162 is fixed to the stationary frame portion 12 for engagement with the guides 165 when the secondary frame portion 22 is pivoted to its printing position, for which purpose the cam followers are made resilient to ensure engagement by the guides with the guide support block. The support block 162 is formed to provide a plurality of upstanding fingers 164 of generally U-shaped construction transversely aligned with the guides 165 and engageable thereby. The locating and aligning guides 165 are provided with supporting edges 166 for the printing characters respectively substantially diametrically opposed from the respective printing characters to provide direct support for the impact of the printing hammers. In the embodiment shown, the locating and aligning edges 166 are planar and parallel to the face of the respective diametrically opposed printing characters, and the fingers 164 are accordingly formed with planar supporting edges 168 engageable by the guide edges 166. More particularly, the guides 165 are formed in the shape of a star wheel having a number of points, here ten, equal to the number of printing characters on the print wheel and with each locating and supporting edge 166 provided by transversely spaced coplanar edge portions forming sides of adjacent points of an intermediate point on the star wheel diametrically opposed to the respective printing character. The fingers 164 are accordingly provided with central slots 17%) for receiving the intermediate points of the star wheel and thereby additionally provide for transversely locating the guides 165 on the guide support block. Preferably, the locating and aligning guides 165 are of identical configuration and the supporting fingers 164 are of conforming identical configuration with coplanar support edges 168. It can be seen therefore that the cooperating guide edges 166 and support edges 168 provlde for angularly and axially aligning and locating the counter wheels. Also, the U-shaped fingers 164 function to locate the print wheels axially on the countershaft 42 as each of the counter wheels is snugly received between the respective pair of fingers 164.

It can be seen therefore that the locating guides and the guide support cooperate for accurately locating and aligning the printing characters for producing precise and accurate printing capable of being read by optical reading equipment. Additionally, with the printer of the present invention the printing hammers are independently though substantially simultaneously operated to produce consistent and even printing with the aligned printing characters. Further, the printer of the present invention may be conveniently adapted for manual or motor driven operation, and is especially adapted for use with a counter for selective reg1strat1on of the count of the counter.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A printer comprising a frame, a counter having a wheel supporting shaft mounted on the frame and a plurality of coaxial counter wheels mounted on the shaft with angularly spaced peripheral printing characters on the periphery thereof adapted for being indexed to axially aligned printing positions by rotation of the counter wheels; a hammer assembly comprising a plurality of individual axially aligned hammers for the print wheels respectively having tailend portions rigidly secured to the frame, head portions with hammer faces cooperable with the respective printing characters in the axially aligned printing positions for printing, and resilient arm portions intermediate the tail and head portions providing for resilient withdrawal of the head portions from unstressed positions spaced from the printing characters in the axially aligned printing positions for storing motive power for independent operation of the hammers for printing, and means for withdrawing the hammers from their unstressed positions for storing motive power for printing.

2. The printer of claim 1 wherein the hammers are of a semi-hard resilient plastic with integrally formed tail, head and arm portions.

3. A printer comprising a first frame, a second frame pivotally connected to the first frame for movement relative thereto between withdrawn and printing positions, a counter with coaxial counter wheels rotatably mounted on the second frame about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of the second frame, said counter wheels having angularly spaced printing characters on the periphery thereof, a control shaft rotatably mounted on the first frame about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of the second frame, a plurality of axially aligned printing hammers mounted on the second frame for cooperation with the printing wheels respectively, said printing hammers being adapted for withdrawal from the printing whee-ls for storing motive power for printing, first control cam means on the control shaft for controlling the pivotal movement of the second frame relative to the first frame between its withdrawn and printing positions, second control cam means on the control shaft for withdrawing the printing hammers and for releasing the printing hammers with the second frame in its printing position, and locating means for the print Wheels including support means fixed to the first frame engageable with the counter with the second frame in its printing position.

4. The printer of claim 3 further comprising a ticket receptacle in the second frame for receiving a ticket for printing and interlock means for preventing operation of the control shaft releasable by a ticket in the slot receptacle.

5. The printer of claim 3 wherein the first and second control cam means are operable upon rotation of the control shaft in one angular direction to pivot the second frame to its printing position, to withdraw the printing hammers, and to sequentially release the printing hammers for printing and provide for pivotal movement of the second frame to its withdrawn position.

6. The printer of claim 5 wherein the first control cam means includes a cam rotatable on the control shaft having a spiral cam edge for pivoting the second frame to its printing position and a generally radial cam edge for releasing the second frame for return to its withdrawn position, and further comprising one-way ratchet means connecting the control shaft and the cam operable for rotating the cam with the control shaft in said one angular direction.

7. A printer comprising a first frame having a face plate with a ticket slot therein, a second frame pivotally connected to the first frame for movement relative thereto between withdrawn and printing positions, said second frame having a slot receptacle therein aligned with the ticket slot with the second frame in its withdrawn position, a counter with a wheel supporting shaft mounted on the second frame on an axis substantially parallel to the axis of relative pivotal movement of the second frame and a plurality of rotatable coaxial counter wheels mounted on the wheel supporting shaft, said counter wheels having angularly spaced printing characters on the periphery thereof adapted to be indexed to axially aligned printing positions adjacent the slot receptacle by rotation of the counter wheels, a hammer assembly mounted on the second frame having axially aligned printing hammers adapted for individual cooperation with the counter wheels respectively, said hammers being adapted to be withdrawn from the counter wheels for storing motive power for printing, a control shaft rotatably mounted on the first frame, first control means operable by the control shaft for withdrawing the hammers, and second control means operable by the control shaft for pivoting the second frame between its withdrawn and printing positions, and auxiliary counter support means on the first frame for supporting the counter wheels with the second frame in its printing position.

8. The printer of claim 7 wherein the first control means comprises rotatable cam means having a first partially cylindrical cam portion engageable with the hammers for holding them against pivotal movement with the second frame and for thereby withdrawing the hammers from the counter wheels.

9. In combination with a printer having a wheel supporting shaft, a plurality of coaxial print wheels mounted on the wheel supporting shaft having angularly spaced printing characters adapted for being indexed to axially aligned angular printing positions by rotation of the print wheels, and a pressure applicator adapted to cooperate with the printing characters in the axially aligned printing positions for printing, an auxiliary guide and guide support assembly for locating the printing characters for printing comprising, a pair of axially spaced locating and aligning guides fixed for rotation for each of the print wheels and with the print wheel intermediate thereof, and guide support means having a plurality of axially spaced support fingers engageable with the locating and aligning guides respectively substantially diametrically opposite the printing characters at the axially aligned printing positions.

10. In combination with a printer having a wheel supporting shaft, a plurality of coaxial print wheels mounted on the wheel supporting shaft having angularly spaced printing characters adapted for being indexed to axially aligned angular printing positions by rotation of the print wheels, and a pressure applicator adapted to cooperate with the printing characters in the axially aligned printing positions for printing; an auxiliary guide and guide support assembly for locating the printing characters for printing comprising, locating and aligning guides fixed for rotation with the print Wheels respectively having a star wheel contour with a number of points equal to the number of printing characters and forming a pair of transversely spaced coplanar guide edge portions substantially parallel to and diametrically opposed from each of the printing characters respectively, and guide support means engageable with the pair of coplanar edge portions substantially diametrically opposite the printing characters at the axially aligned angular printing positions.

11. In combination with a printer having a wheel supporting shaft, a plurality of coaxial print wheels mounted on the wheel supporting shaft having angularly spaced printing characters adapted for being indexed to axially aligned angular printing positions by rotation of the print wheels, and a pressure applicator adapted to cooperate with the printing characters in the axially aligned angular printing positions for printing, an auxiliary guide and guide support assembly for locating the printing characters for printing comprising, locating and aligning guides fixed for rotation with the print wheels respectively having substantially identical contours with coplanar guide edge portions substantially parallel to and diametrically opposed from the printing characters re spectively and guide support means having coplanar support edge portions engageable with the coplanar guide edge portions substantially diametrically opposite the printing characters at the axially aligned angular printing positions.

12; In combination with a printer having a counter with a wheel supporting shaft and a plurality of coaxial counter Wheels mounted on the wheel supporting shaft having angularly spaced printing characters adapted for being indexed to axially align-ed angular printing positions by rotation of the counter Wheels and a pressure applicator adapted to apply a radial force on the printing characters in the axially aligned angular printing positions for printing, means for locating the axially aligned printing characters for printing comprising, means for pivoting the counter between counting and printing positions, 10- cating and aligning guides fixed for rotation with the print wheels respectively, and auxiliary stationary guide support means engageable with the locating and aligning guides diametrically opposite the axially aligned printing characters in the printing positions with the counter in its printing position and removed from the locating and aligning guides with the counter in its counting position.

13. A printer comprising a first main frame, a second frame connected to the first frame for displacement relative thereto between a Withdrawn position and an extended printing position, a counter with a wheel supporting shaft mounted on the second frame and a plurality of coaxial counter wheels mounted on the Wheel supporting shaft having angularly spaced peripheral printing characters thereon adapted for being indexed to axially aligned angular printing positions by rotation of the counter Wheels, a pressure applicator mounted on the second frame cooperable with the print wheels with the second frame in its printing position for applying a radial force on the printing characters in the axially aligned angular printing positions for printing, auxiliary counter wheel support means on the first frame in engagement with the counter substantially diametrically opposite the axially aligned printing characters in the printing positions with the second frame in its printing position, and means for moving the second frame between its withdrawn and printing positions and for operating the pressure applicator with the second frame in its printing position.

14. A printer comprising a first frame, a second frame connected to the first frame for displacement relative thereto between a withdrawn position and an extended printing position, a counter with a Wheel supporting shaft mounted on the second frame and a plurality of coaxial counter wheels mounted on the Wheel supporting shaft having angularly spaced peripheral printing characters thereon adapted for being indexed to axially aligned angular printing positions by rotation of the counter Wheels, locating and aligning guides for the counter wheels having guide edge portions substantially diametrically opposed from the printing characters respectively, a pressure applicator mounted on one of the frames cooperable with the print wheels with the second frame in its printing position for applying a generally radial force on the printing characters in the axially aligned angular printing positions for printing, auxiliary counter wheel support means on the first frame in engagement with the re spective guide edge portions of the axially aligned printing characters in the printing positions with the second frame in its printing position, and means for moving the second frame between its Withdrawn and printing positions and for operating the pressure applicator with the second frame in its printing position.

15. The printer of claim 14 wherein the respective guide edge portions for the printing characters in the axially aligned angular printing positions are coplanar and substantially parallel to the respective printing characters in the printing positions and wherein the auxiliary counter wheel support means has coplanar support edge portions engageable therewith.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 445,251 1/1891 Massey 10170 2,193,565 3/1940 Murchison 101-95 2,687,088 8/1954 Hennessy et al. 101-95 2,708,873 5/1955 Bra-un 10119 3,173,359 3/1965 Turner 10l79 DAVID KLEIN, Primary Examiner. ROBERT E. PULFREY, Examiner. NATHANIEL HUMPHRIES, Assistant Examiner.