US3392814A

US3392814A - Serial data printer and paper supply therefor

Info

Publication number: US3392814A
Application number: US635625A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald O Rasmussen; John D Gearheart
Original assignee: Clary Corp
Current assignee: Clary Corp
Priority date: 1967-05-02
Filing date: 1967-05-02
Publication date: 1968-07-16
Anticipated expiration: 1985-07-16

Description

July 16, 1968 Q, RASMUSSEN ET AL 3,392,814

SERIAL DATA PRINTER AND PAPER SUPPLY THEREFOR Original Filed March '7, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QR Rm ER (Q RY INVENTORS DONALD 0. RASMUSSEN JOHN D. GEARHEART Z/ i ATTORNE y 16, 1963 D. o. RASMUSSEN ETAL 3,392,814

SERIAL DATA PRINTER AND PAPER SUPPLY THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. DONALD 0. RASMUSSEN JOHN D. GEARHEART Mm/w Original Filed March 7, 1966 ATTORNEK.

United States PatentOffice Patented July 16, 1968 3,392,814 7 SERIAL DATA PRINTER AND PAPER SUPPLY THEREFOR Donald 0. Rasmussen, Arcadia, and John D. Gearheart, Covina, Calif., assignors to Clary Corporation, San Gabriel, Calif., a corporation of California Continuation of application Ser. No. 532,469, Mar. 7, 1966. This application May 2, 1967, Ser. No..635,625 3 Claims. (Cl. 19749) ABSTRACT OF THE -DISCLO SURE -A printer for printing on a strip of record material and comprising a rotatable type wheel, means for supporting a supply roll of record material directly adjacent the type wheel and with its axis at an acute angle to the axis of the type wheel, and means for guiding the strip laterally from the'outer periphery of the supply roll to the type wheel.

. This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 532,469 filed Mar. 7, 1966 now abandoned.

This invention relates to serial printers for printing data on a strip of paper or the like and has particular reference to a high speed miniature or compact printer capable of being mounted in a relatively small space such as an opening in aninstrument panel of an airplane, tank, truck or the like. Such openings are generally on the order of 3 /2 inches in diameter, requiring relatively small parts in order to fit within the required dimensions. On the other hand, such printers are generally subjected to rather rough handling, such as is found in military service, and must be capable of printing reliably while being subjected to high shock and vibration forces. Additional- 1y, it is highly desirable that the supply of paper strip be easily and quickly replaced so as to avoid disrupting printing of amessage when the supply of paper strip becomes exhausted,

It thereforebecomes a principal object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable, high speed, miniature printer.

Another object. is to provide a printer of the above type which is extremely compact and unaffected by vibration and shock.

. Another object is to provide a printer of the above type in which a supply roll of paper or other record material may be readily and quickly replaced at the front of the printer and without removing the printer from its mountmg. I H

v Another object is to provide a printer which has a minimum of operating partsand is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be readilyunderstood onjreference to the following specification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a serial printer embodying a preferred form of the present invention and showing the same mounted in an opening in an instrument panel.

FIG. 2 isa sectional elevation view, partly broken away, of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating part of the tap feed mechanism and is taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 5.

FIG. S is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the printer is shown as being mounted .in an opening 11 of an instrument panel 12, such as may be found in an airplane, truck, tank, etc. The printer comprises a forward body part 13 havin a surrounding flange 14 which is removably secured to the panel 12 by screws '15. A soft gasket 20 is interposed between the flange 1 4 and the panel.

A series of bosse s, one of which is shown at 16, are formed integral with the body part 13 and extend rear ward' therefromto support bars 17 which have mounted therebetween various electrical equipment (not shown) for controlling printing, tape feeding, etc. I

A housing shell 18 surrounds the equipment to the rear of the panel 12 and is held by suitable means (not shown) against the gasket 20 to seal the interior of the printer against the entrance of dirt, dust or the like. v

A continuously rotating type wheel 21 is provided having a series of regularly spaced type characters 22 formed around the periphery thereof. The type wheel is'mounted on a hub 23 fastened on the shaft 24 of a constant speed electric motor 25. The latter is secured to the body part 13 by screws 26.

The type wheel 21 is adjustable through a limited angle relative to the hub member, and for this purpose it is clamped to the hub member by screws 27 which pass through a clamp disc 28 and through arcuate slots 30 in the type wheel.

Means are provided to transfer an imprint of a selected type character 22 onto a narrow paper tape 31 which is suitably treated to render an imprint of a type character thereon visible. For this purpose, a hammer 32 of ferrous metal having a striking head 33 is pivoted on a pivot rod 34 supported by brackets 35 formed integral with the body part 13. The hammer is normally held out of contact with the tape 31 by gravity and by a permanent magnet 36 mounted on a bracket 37 forming part of the body part 13.

The hammer 32 is actuated to impact the tape against a selected type character 22 by means of a solenoid generally indicated at 38. The solenoid comprises a tubular support 40 suitably attached to the bracket 37 and which slideably supports a solenoid armature 41 having a shank 42 engageable with the rear end of the hammer 32.

Upon energization of a solenoid coil 43, the armature 41 is impelled to the left, FIG. 2, forcing the hammer clockwise to strike the tape and thus transfer an imprint from the particular type character aligned with the hammer at that moment onto the tape.

For the purpose of accurately timing the impacting of the hammer with a selected type character, a timing disc 44 of ferrous metal is suitably secured to the hub 23 and has a plurality of regularly spaced slots 144 therearound which, when the type wheel is rotated, move past an induction type pulse generating head 45. As each tab formed by two adjacent slots 144 moves past the head 45, it generates a timing or clock pulse which is transferred by conductor 46 to suitable electrical equipment (not shown), within the housing 18 to properly time the operation of the hammer. A second disc 47 is mounted on the hub 23 and has a single tab 48 effective to generate a pulse in a second induction type pulse generating head 50 for appropriately controlling the electrical equipment. The latter disc is adjustable relative to disc 44 and for this purpose it is clamped to such disc by screws 51 which pass through arcuate slots 52 in disc 44.

In accordance with the present invention, the paper tape 31 is supplied from a supply roll 54 mounted on a spool 53 which is removably fitted over a hub 55 rotatably mounted on a stud 56 secured to a cap member 57. The latter has an enclosing flange 58 removably fitted within a mating flange 60 integral with the body part 13. A spring detent 61 attached to the flange 60 engages a detenting notch 62 in the flange58ato normally hold the cap member in place.

It will be noted that the axis of the spool 53 is sub stantially coincident with the axis of the shaft 24 but is inclined thereto at an angle of 7 degrees. The tape 31, as it unwinds from the supply roll, is guided over three

guide rollers

64, 65 and 66. After leaving roller 66, the tape passes between the type vwheel 21 and the'hammer head 33 and is fed throughan opening 68inthe flange 58 by a feed roller,70. g Y

It will be noted that the axes of the

rollers

64, 65 and 66 extend parallel to the axis of shaft'24;when viewed in plan (see FIG. 3), but the. axes of,

rollers

64 and 65 extend at an angle of 3 /z degrees to-the axis of shaft i 24 when viewed in elevation, (asseeninFIG. 2). Accordingly, the tape 31 is guided rearwardly from the supply roll 54 until it is in line with the type wheel and extends at right angles tothe axis of shaft 24 while passing under the rollers 66 and 70 and the: typewheel. Itwill also be noted that the tape does nottwist as it passes through its guided path.

The tape feed roller 70 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is incrementally rotated by suitable mechanism (not shown) as an incident to each printing operation and cooperates with a pressure roller 71 carried by a lever 72 pivotally supported at 73 on the body part 13. The lever is urged clockwise by a torsion spring 80 to normally hold the tape in frictional engagement with the feed roller 70. A tab 74 is formed on the lever 72 and extends into an opening 75 formed coextensively in the

flanges

58 and 60, permitting the pressure roller to be released by an operator when the cap member is being installed or removed.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the paper supply roll 54 may be quickly and easily replaced without having to remove the printer from its mounting and may be threaded in place between the type wheel 21 and its hammer 32 and between the feed roller 70 and pressure roller 71 with a minimum of difficulty and by unskilled operators. Also, it will be noted that the printer occupies a minimum of space and that the paper supply and guide means is located in front of the body part 13, leaving the rear of the printer mainly for location of electrical control equipment or the like.

Although the invention has been described in detail and certain specific terms and languages have been used, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, What is desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A serial printer for printing on a strip of record material comprising a structure adapted to fit within an opening in a panel or the like,

said structure having an outwardly extending flange adjacent the front end of said structure for attachment to said panel,

drive means on said structure including a rotatable drive shaft having its axis extending at right angles to said flange centrally of said structure, a type wheel on said shaft,

said type wheel being located in front of said flange,

said type w-heel having a plurality of type characters around the periphery thereof,

a printing hammer carried by said structure and co- 4,. operable with said type 'wheelfor transferring an impression of a said type character onto said strip,

means for supporting a supply roll of said strip in front of and adjacent said type wheel with the axis of said roll having atleast one point in common with' the axisof said typewheel,the angle between the axis of said roll and the axis of said type wheel "being between zero degrees and forty-five degrees, means for guiding said strip from theouter periphery of said su pply roll and between said type wheel and saidviprinting device, and I a mounting member removably nounted on said structure at the front of said flange,

said mounting member supporting said supporting means. I i I i 2. A serial printer according to claim 1' comprising means on said flange and said mounting member forming an enclosure forsaid type wheeland said supply roll, a

for advancingsaid strip, A l I rneans in said housing -for rotating said feed roll, I

a spring urged pressure roll in said enclosure for maintaining said strip in frictional engagement with said feed roll, and 1 manually operable means accessible from the exterior of said enclosure for moving said pressure roll away from said feed roll. l r

3.'A serial printer for printing on a'strip of record feed roll in said enclosure and carried by said structure material comprising an elongate housing,

drive means in said housing including a drive shaft having its axis extending lengthwise and centrally of I said housing;

i a type wheel mounted on'said shaft adjacent the front of said housing;

said type wheel having a plurality of type characters around the periphery thereof,

a printing hammer cooperable with said type wheel for transferring an impression of a said type charac' ter onto said record material,

means for supporting a roll of said record material in front of and adjacent said type wheel with the axis of said'roll extending at an acute angle to the axis of said type wheel, and p means for guiding said record material laterally from the outer periphery of said supply roll and between said type wheel and said printing hammer, and

a mounting member removably mounted at the front of said housing, said mounting member supporting said supporting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,089 9/1902 Williams 1971 X 1,567,599 12/ 1925 Kleinschmidt 17842 X 2,017,854 10/1935 Eitzen 17842 X 2,134,998 11/1938 Cavalcante 17842 X 2,226,555 12/1940 Eitzen 17842 X 3,128,695 4/ 1964 Christoif 10193 3,212,617 10/1965 Sugiyama 197-133 3,294,212 12/1966 Gearheart et al 197-133 V FOREIGN PATENTS 127,902 6/1948 Australia. 920,190 11/1954 Germany.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

E. S. BURR, Assistant Examiner.