US3707911A - Document positioning means for use with an imprinter - Google Patents

Document positioning means for use with an imprinter Download PDF

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US3707911A
US3707911A US00086704A US3707911DA US3707911A US 3707911 A US3707911 A US 3707911A US 00086704 A US00086704 A US 00086704A US 3707911D A US3707911D A US 3707911DA US 3707911 A US3707911 A US 3707911A
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guide means
document
document guide
print bed
pair
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J Patterson
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Farrington Business Machines Corp
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    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41LAPPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR MANIFOLDING, DUPLICATING OR PRINTING FOR OFFICE OR OTHER COMMERCIAL PURPOSES; ADDRESSING MACHINES OR LIKE SERIES-PRINTING MACHINES
    • B41L19/00Duplicating or printing apparatus or machines for office or other commercial purposes, of special types or for particular purposes and not otherwise provided for
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41LAPPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR MANIFOLDING, DUPLICATING OR PRINTING FOR OFFICE OR OTHER COMMERCIAL PURPOSES; ADDRESSING MACHINES OR LIKE SERIES-PRINTING MACHINES
    • B41L47/00Details of addressographs or like series-printing machines

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  • PKTENTEDJM 2191a sum 3 0F 5 INVENTOR JAMES M. PATTERSON, JR.
  • This invention relates to document positioning means for use with an imprinter and, in particular, document positioning means which. permit positioning of a document such as a sales invoice at one of two positions on the print bed where the first position is removed from the second position both along the length and width of the print bed.
  • FIG. 1 is a plan view of an imprinter having an illustrative embodiment of the document positioning means of this invention, the document positioner being placed in a first setting so as to accommodate the first of two possible invoices usable with the imprinter.
  • the imprinter head assembly containing the platen roller is not shown in this view in order to facilitate understanding of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. In this view the imprinter head assembly is shown.
  • FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 4 is a plan view of the imprinter shown in FIG. 1 with the document positioner in its other position so as to accommodate the other invoice usable with the im printer.
  • the imprinter head assembly has not been shown to facilitate understanding of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.
  • FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along line 66 of FIG. 4.
  • FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of an illustrative embodiment of a document guide means employed in the invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a plan view of an illustrative document such as a sales invoice illustrating the location of customer and dealer identification information as required by one credit system.
  • FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating another document such as a sales invoice illustrating the location of customer and dealer information as required by a second credit system.
  • FIGS. 1-7 illustrate a preferred embodiment of the document positioning means of this invention for use with an imprinter.
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 will be discussed in order that the problem solved by this invention may be better understood.
  • FIG. 8 illustrates the document 10 such as an invoice used by one credit system.
  • This credit system requires that the customer and dealer identification information blocks 12 and 14 be imprinted on the invoice in the positions indicated.
  • These invoices are typically read by an automatic character recognition machine which typically operates as a high speed, automatic input device to a computerized billing or inventory system or the like.
  • the information be fairly accurately positioned on the invoice or else the character reader will not be able to correctly read the imprinted information.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates another document 16 such as an invoice used by a second credit system.
  • This second credit system requires that the customer identification information 18 and the dealer identification information 20 be imprinted on the invoice 16 at the respective positions indicated in FIG. 9. his clear from a comparison of FIGS. 8 and 9 that the customer and dealer information required by the first and second credit systems varies positionwise on the respective invoices l0 and 16 both along the length and width of the invoices.
  • the customer and dealer identification information 18 and 20 must also be fairly accurately positioned on the invoice 16 in order to facilitate automatic reading thereof as discussed above.
  • FIG. 1 there is shown a plan view of an imprinter 22 having a print bed generally indicated at 24.
  • printing plate 26 which typically may be a credit card and dealer printing plate 28, which typically is permanently affixed to the print bed 24 by means such as screws 30 and 32.
  • the credit card is held in place by guides 34, 36, and 38, guides 34 and 36 being secured to the print bed 24 by screws 40 and 42 respectively while guide 38 is also permanently attached thereto by means not shown but well known to those of ordinary skill in this art.
  • Guide 38 is typically made of a flexible material to accommodate placement of the credit card 26 on the print bed 24.
  • the credit card 26 and dealer plate always assume a fixed position with respect to the print bed 24 regardless of where credit and dealer information is to be imprinted on the document.
  • one credit system may position the customer and dealer information on the respective customer and dealer plates differently than another credit system. Thus, this will cause the position of the imprinted information to vary somewhat from one system to another.
  • the document positioning means of this invention is needed to effect the amount of positioning required so that a single imprinter may accommodate the invoices of the different credit systems.
  • FIG. 2 there is shown a cross-section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
  • the imprinter head assembly is located at 44 and mounted therein in a well-known fashion on shaft 46 are roller platens 48 and 50.
  • Shaft 46 is connected by appropriate mechanical means generally located at 52 and 54 to the side arms 56 and 58 respectively of the head 44.
  • the side arms 56 and 58 each have connected thereto at least two bearings, one of the bearings for side arm 56 being indicated at 60 and one of the bearings for side arm 58 being indicated at 62.
  • the bearings ride within tracks 64 and 66 respectively disposed along the length at the imprinter sides to facilitate manual or automatic movement of the imprinter head assembly 44 over the print bed to thereby effect imprinting from the customer and dealer plates 26 and 28 onto a document disposed on the print bed as the rollers 48 and 50 respectively pass over the printing plates 28 and 26.
  • the above described operation of the imprinter head assembly 44 and the structure thereof is well known to those of ordinary skill in this art and the details thereof form no part of this invention. It should be appreciated that the print rollers 48 and 50 are fixed positionwise along the length of shaft 46 and always respectively coact with printing plates 28 and 26 which, as stated above, are
  • FIGS. 1-3 the document positioner is shown in a first position where it will receive a first document 68 shown in phantom lines corresponding for example to the invoice shown in FIG. 8.
  • a pair of bifurcated members 70 and 72 are mounted on a common shaft 74.
  • Shaft 74 is rotatably positioned with respect to the bottom of print bed 24 by mounting blocks 76 and 78 which are secured to print bed 24 by appropriate means such as the screws shown in FIG. 1.
  • bifurcated member 72 includes arms 80 and 82. Connected to arm 80 is an upwardly projecting movable document guide 84 having a seat portion 86. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 movable document guide 84 is disposed within a rectangular opening 88 provided within the print bed 24. As shown in FIG. 2 the top of guide 84 is disposed below the level of print bed 24 and thus the guide is ineffective to locate the document on the print bed. Rather, when the document positioner is in the position indicated in FIG. 2, this function is served by upwardly projecting, fixed guide member 90 which is fixedly attached to the print bed 24.
  • the other arm 82 of bifurcated member 72 has attached thereto a right angle member or movable document guide 92,-the right angle being clearly shown in FIG. 1.
  • this member coacts with a right angle opening 94 disposed within the print bed 24.
  • the right angle member comprises a first upwardly projecting member 96 and a second one 98.
  • guide 92 projects upwardly through the opening 94 when the bifurcated member 72 is positioned as shown.
  • the member 96 positions the invoice 68 along the width of the print bed while the member 98 positions the invoice along the length of the printing bed.
  • a seat 100 is provided which engages the bottom of the print bed 24 adjacent the opening 94 as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and thus upward movement thereof is limited.
  • Seat 86 performs a similar function when the bifurcated member 72.is switched to its other position.
  • lever 102 connected to shaft 74, the purpose of lever 102 being to switch bifurcated members 70 and 72 to their respective alternate positions. Since bifurcated members-70 and 72 are mounted on common shaft 74 the manual positioning of lever 102 to its opposite positions will simultaneously position bifurcated members 70 and 72.
  • a block 104 having an opening 106 disposed therein is mounted onto print bed 24 by appropriate means such as screws 108 and 112. The slot 106 is disposed over a similar opening 114 coaxially disposed within the print bed 24 and shaft 102 projects through the coaxial slots 106 and 114 so that it may be readily manually operated as indicated in FIG. 2.
  • a pair of leaf springs 116 and 118 are provided. As indicated in FIG. 2 a narrow indentation or groove 120 is provided in the bottom of base plate 24.
  • the leaf springs 116 and 118 are disposed adjacent one another on opposite sides of the slot 120 as indicated in FIG. 1.
  • the upper ends of the leaf springs 116 and 118 are respectively inserted in groove 120.
  • the lower ends of the springs 116 are inserted in a slot 122 disposed on the top middle portion of bifurcated member 72 as indicated in FIG. 2.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of bifurcated member 70.Bifurcated members 70 and 72 are constructed exactly the same. However, member 70 is mounted on shaft 74 in a manner opposite to that of member 72. Thus, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 the portions of member 70 corresponding to the previously described portions of member 72 have the same reference numerals except that they have also been primed for purposes of clarity. In addition openings 88' and 94 are provided in print bed 24 which respectively correspond to openings 88 and 94 and which serve a function corresponding to these openings.
  • a fixed document guide 124 is provided on the print bed 24 and is shown in fragmentary cross-section in FIG. 7. The purpose of guide 124 is to facilitate document location on the print bed when bifurcated member 70 is in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 as will be described in more detail hereinafter.
  • the invoice is such as to require imprinting at the upper portion thereof as indicated in FIG. 8.
  • the invoice should be located on the print bed in the manner shown in FIG. 1.
  • lever 102 would be positioned toward the forward portion of the print bed whereby members 96 and 98 of right angle member 92 will be operative to position the upper right corner of invoice 68; upwardly projecting member 90 will be operative to locate the lower" edge of the invoice; stop 124 will be operative to locate the left edge of the invoice (also see FIG. 7); and guide 84 will be operative to locate the upper left edge of the invoice.
  • the invoice is now located on print bed 24 in such a manner that when the imprinter head assembly 44 is moved across the print bed the customer and dealer identification information on plates 26 and 28 will be imprinted in the correct position thereon.
  • the lever 102 when it is necessary to imprint on the invoice 68' in the positions indicated in FIG. 9, the lever 102 is switched as indicated in the figure.
  • the edges 35 and 37 of card holders 34 and 36 respectively are operative to hold the upper edge of the invoice in place;
  • the edge of lever mounting block 104 is operative to hold the right edge of the invoice;
  • member 84 is operative to hold the lower right edge;
  • right angle member 92 is operative to hold the lower left corner of the document in place.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 it can be readily seen that the position of invoice 68 is removed from that of 68' both along the length and width of the print bed.
  • stop 124 is operative to hold the left edge of invoice 68 in place while member 98 of right angle member 92' is operative to hold the left edge of document 68' in place.
  • the position of document 68 with respect to document 68 along the length of the bed 24 can be varied by varying the distance between the members which are operative on the left and right edges of the document when it is in the position shown in FIG. 1 and the members which are operable on these edges when the invoice is in the position shown in FIG. 4.
  • an imprinter comprising a chassis having a print bed (24) disposed thereon; means (34, 36, and 38) for receiving at least one printing plate (26) disposed on said print bed; four openings disposed in said print bed where two of said openings (94, 88) are disposed above the other two openings (88, 94'); a first pair of movable document guide means (92, 84') operative through the upper two of said openings to hold the upper edge of a first document (68) in place while a first one of said four fixed document guide means holds the lower edge thereof in place in response to said document positioning means being set in a first position; a second pair of movable document guide means (84,92') operable through the lower two openings in said print bed to hold the lower edge of a second document (68') in place on said print bed while a second one of said four fixed document guide means holds the upper edge of said invoice or said document in place in response to said document positioning means being placed in a second position;
  • An imprinter comprising a chassis having a print bed disposed thereon;
  • first movable document guide means mounted for movement through a first opening in said print bed so that when said first movable document guide means is in its raised position, it is in opposed relation to said first fixed document guide means
  • second movable document guide means mounted for movement through a second opening in said print bed so that when said second movable document guide means is in its raised position, it is in opposed relation to said second fixed document guide means
  • control means mounted with respect to said chassis and connected to said first and second movable document guide means; said first movable document guide means being raised through said print bed and said second movable document guide means being retracted below said print bed in response to said control means being placed in a first position whereby a first document may be positioned in a first position on said print bed between said first fixed and movable document guide means; said second movable document guide means being raised through said print bed and said first movable document guide means being retracted below said print bed in response to said control means being placed in a second position whereby a second document may be positioned in a second position on said print bed between said second fixed and movable document guide means; and
  • roller platen means movably spaced from said print bed so that upon movement thereof over said print bed, information on said printing plate will be imprinted on a predetermined portion of one of said documents depending on which is positioned on the print bed.
  • first fixed document guide means comprises a first pair of guide means approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other
  • second fixed document guide means comprises a second pair of guide means approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other
  • first movable document guide means comprises at least two members approximately perpendicularly disposed with each other whereby said first fixed and movable document guide means locate opposed corners of said first document on said print bed;
  • said second movable document'guide means comprises at least two members approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other ⁇ whereby said second fixed and movable document guide means locate opposed corners of said second document on said print bed.
  • said second movable document guide means comprises a second pair of movable document guide meansv operative through said second pair of openings to hold the lower edge of said second document in place on said print bed while a first one of said second pair of fixed document guide means holds the upper edge thereof in place in response to said control means being placed in said second position;
  • An imprinter as in claim 5 including a first bifurcated member
  • lever means projecting through said print bed connected to said shaft for rotating said shaft, the particular combination of fixed and movable .document guide members which determine the position of the document on said print bed being determined by the position of said lever;
  • first one of said first pair of movable document guide means being connected to one of the arms of said first bifurcated member and a first one of said second pair of movable document guide means being connected to the other arm of said first

Abstract

Document positioning means for use with an imprinter whereby a document such as a sales invoice may be fixedly located at two different positions on the print bed thereof. The first position may be removed from the second position in two directions-that is, along the length and width of the print bed.

Description

United States Patent [191 Patterson, Jr.
[ 51 Jan. 2, 1972 [54] DOCUMENT POSITIONING MEANS FOR USE WITH AN IMPRINTER [75] inventor: James M. Patterson, Jr., Fairfax County, Va.
[73] Assignee: Farrington Business Machines Corporation, Springfield, Va.
[22] Filed: Nov. 4, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 86,704
[52] US. Cl ..101/269, 101/407 [51] Int. Cl. ..B41f 3/20, 1341f 3/50 [58] Field of Search.101/45, 269, 274, 407,413-415;
3,188,078 6/1965 Peterson ..269/319 X 1,879,964 9/1932 Whitlock ..101/287 2,211,310 8/1940 Andrews ..101/407 3? 1,717,231 6/1929 Krell ..101/287 2,826,410 3/1958 Keene ..271/60 1,686,940 10/1928 Tatouseh ..101/407 BP 3,018,725 1/1962 Maul et a1. ..101/269 1,110,723 9/1914 Spiess ..101/320 3,413,922 12/1968 Wike ..101/407 R X Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-E. M. Coven AttorneyGerald J. Ferguson, Jr.
[5 7 ABSTRACT 7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures ,PATENTEDJAN 2 I91 SHEET 1 [IF 5 INVENTOR JAMES M. PATTERSON, JR.
PKTENTEDJM 2191a sum 3 0F 5 INVENTOR JAMES M. PATTERSON, JR.
M r 1 QT L W LHWHMHMHMHU HHHHMUyMFH w -52: 02$: m m E mung: 9 g R ov I I N m NQ mm 8 k BY M mtmznm 2191s sum u 0F 5 us I22 FIG. 5
INVENTOR JAMES M PATTERSON, JR.
FIG. 6
BY ATTO Y PATENTEDJAN 2 ms 3.707.911
SHEET 5 OF 5 FIG. 8 Y o CUSTOMER INFORMATION |2 DEALER INFORMATION CUSTOMER n/la INFORMATION 7 DEALER |/2O I NFORMATION FIG. 9
INVENTOR JAMES M. PATTERSON JR.
DOCUMENT POSITIONING MEANS FOR USE WITH AN IMPRINTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to document positioning means for use with an imprinter and, in particular, document positioning means which. permit positioning of a document such as a sales invoice at one of two positions on the print bed where the first position is removed from the second position both along the length and width of the print bed.
As is well known various credit systems are becoming well known such as BankAmericard, Master Charge, Central Charge, etc. Many commercial establishments find that they must employ more than one credit system in order to provide satisfactory service to their many customers. However, all of the credit systems do not require that the customer identification information imprinted from the customers credit card be imprinted on the sales invoice in the same place. Thus, one credit system will require that the customer identification information be imprinted on an upper middle portion of the invoice while another credit system will require that this information be imprinted on the lower left portion of the invoice.
Heretofore, this problem has been overcome by providing the commercial establishment with a separate imprinter for each credit system honored by the establishment. Of course, such duplication of imprinters is expensive for the commercial establishment and further, an undue number of imprinters at a sales station results in unnecessary clutter where space is normally at a premium. That is, sufficient space should be provided to readily accommodate the merchandise purchased by the customer. However, if this space is taken up with a number of imprinters, inefficiency and unsatisfactory service result.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART US. Pat. No. 3,421,436 granted on Jan. 14, 1969 to James M. Patterson Jr. (the present inventor) and Rhodes W. Davis and assigned to the assignee of the present application discloses a document locator for use with a variable amount imprinter wherein the document positioning knob is located away from the print bed and adjacent to the digit selecting knobs. Although the imprinter disclosed in this patent is quite useful in many applications, document positioning is limited to one direction along the print bed-namely, along the width thereof. Further, the positioning knob may be conveniently located adjacent the digit selection knobs because the document positioning means is implemented in a variable amount imprinter. However, the document positioning lever of the instant invention is located at the level of the print bed. However, there is no interference between the imprinter head assembly containing the roller platen and the document positioning lever as will be brought out in more detail hereinafter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hence, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a document positioning means for use with an imprinter whereby a document such as a sales invoice may be positioned both along the length and width of the print bed of the imprinter.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an imprinter of the above type wherein the documents correspond to sales invoices of different credit systems.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a document positioning means for use with a non-variable amount imprinter wherein a document may be positioned in one of two fixed positions on the print bed where one position may vary with respect to the other position only along the width of the print bed.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved document positioning means for use with an imprinter whereby the customer and dealer information can be accurately positioned at two different positions on two different invoices respectively to thereby facilitate automatic reading thereof.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the appended claims in conjunction with the following detailed description and the attached drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of an imprinter having an illustrative embodiment of the document positioning means of this invention, the document positioner being placed in a first setting so as to accommodate the first of two possible invoices usable with the imprinter. The imprinter head assembly containing the platen roller is not shown in this view in order to facilitate understanding of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. In this view the imprinter head assembly is shown.
FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the imprinter shown in FIG. 1 with the document positioner in its other position so as to accommodate the other invoice usable with the im printer. The imprinter head assembly has not been shown to facilitate understanding of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along line 66 of FIG. 4.
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of an illustrative embodiment of a document guide means employed in the invention.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of an illustrative document such as a sales invoice illustrating the location of customer and dealer identification information as required by one credit system.
FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating another document such as a sales invoice illustrating the location of customer and dealer information as required by a second credit system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION FIGS. 1-7 illustrate a preferred embodiment of the document positioning means of this invention for use with an imprinter. However, before describing the document locater means in detail, FIGS. 8 and 9 will be discussed in order that the problem solved by this invention may be better understood. FIG. 8 illustrates the document 10 such as an invoice used by one credit system. This credit system requires that the customer and dealer identification information blocks 12 and 14 be imprinted on the invoice in the positions indicated. These invoices are typically read by an automatic character recognition machine which typically operates as a high speed, automatic input device to a computerized billing or inventory system or the like. Thus, it is imperative that the information be fairly accurately positioned on the invoice or else the character reader will not be able to correctly read the imprinted information.
FIG. 9 illustrates another document 16 such as an invoice used by a second credit system. This second credit system requires that the customer identification information 18 and the dealer identification information 20 be imprinted on the invoice 16 at the respective positions indicated in FIG. 9. his clear from a comparison of FIGS. 8 and 9 that the customer and dealer information required by the first and second credit systems varies positionwise on the respective invoices l0 and 16 both along the length and width of the invoices. The customer and dealer identification information 18 and 20 must also be fairly accurately positioned on the invoice 16 in order to facilitate automatic reading thereof as discussed above.
Referring now to FIGS. 1-7, the document positioning means of this invention will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a plan view of an imprinter 22 having a print bed generally indicated at 24. Disposed on the print bed are printing plate 26 which typically may be a credit card and dealer printing plate 28, which typically is permanently affixed to the print bed 24 by means such as screws 30 and 32. Typically the credit card is held in place by guides 34, 36, and 38, guides 34 and 36 being secured to the print bed 24 by screws 40 and 42 respectively while guide 38 is also permanently attached thereto by means not shown but well known to those of ordinary skill in this art. Guide 38 is typically made of a flexible material to accommodate placement of the credit card 26 on the print bed 24. The above described details are well known to those of ordinary skill in this art and form no part of the invention. It should be appreciated that the credit card 26 and dealer plate always assume a fixed position with respect to the print bed 24 regardless of where credit and dealer information is to be imprinted on the document. However, it should be further appreciated that one credit system may position the customer and dealer information on the respective customer and dealer plates differently than another credit system. Thus, this will cause the position of the imprinted information to vary somewhat from one system to another. However, the document positioning means of this invention is needed to effect the amount of positioning required so that a single imprinter may accommodate the invoices of the different credit systems.
Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown a cross-section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1. The imprinter head assembly is located at 44 and mounted therein in a well-known fashion on shaft 46 are roller platens 48 and 50. Shaft 46 is connected by appropriate mechanical means generally located at 52 and 54 to the side arms 56 and 58 respectively of the head 44. The side arms 56 and 58 each have connected thereto at least two bearings, one of the bearings for side arm 56 being indicated at 60 and one of the bearings for side arm 58 being indicated at 62. The bearings ride within tracks 64 and 66 respectively disposed along the length at the imprinter sides to facilitate manual or automatic movement of the imprinter head assembly 44 over the print bed to thereby effect imprinting from the customer and dealer plates 26 and 28 onto a document disposed on the print bed as the rollers 48 and 50 respectively pass over the printing plates 28 and 26. The above described operation of the imprinter head assembly 44 and the structure thereof is well known to those of ordinary skill in this art and the details thereof form no part of this invention. It should be appreciated that the print rollers 48 and 50 are fixed positionwise along the length of shaft 46 and always respectively coact with printing plates 28 and 26 which, as stated above, are
fixedly positioned with respect to the print bed.
Having now described in general terms an imprinter with which the document positioner of this invention operates, the document positioner will now be described in detail. Referring to FIGS. 1-3 the document positioner is shown in a first position where it will receive a first document 68 shown in phantom lines corresponding for example to the invoice shown in FIG. 8. In order to hold and locate the document in the position indicated in FIG. 1, a pair of bifurcated members 70 and 72 are mounted on a common shaft 74. Shaft 74 is rotatably positioned with respect to the bottom of print bed 24 by mounting blocks 76 and 78 which are secured to print bed 24 by appropriate means such as the screws shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, bifurcated member 72 includes arms 80 and 82. Connected to arm 80 is an upwardly projecting movable document guide 84 having a seat portion 86. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 movable document guide 84 is disposed within a rectangular opening 88 provided within the print bed 24. As shown in FIG. 2 the top of guide 84 is disposed below the level of print bed 24 and thus the guide is ineffective to locate the document on the print bed. Rather, when the document positioner is in the position indicated in FIG. 2, this function is served by upwardly projecting, fixed guide member 90 which is fixedly attached to the print bed 24.
The other arm 82 of bifurcated member 72 has attached thereto a right angle member or movable document guide 92,-the right angle being clearly shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 this member coacts with a right angle opening 94 disposed within the print bed 24. As can be seen in FIG. 1 the right angle member comprises a first upwardly projecting member 96 and a second one 98. Referring to FIG. 2 it can be seen that guide 92 projects upwardly through the opening 94 when the bifurcated member 72 is positioned as shown. Thus, the member 96 positions the invoice 68 along the width of the print bed while the member 98 positions the invoice along the length of the printing bed. In order to limit the upper movement of the right angle member 92 a seat 100 is provided which engages the bottom of the print bed 24 adjacent the opening 94 as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and thus upward movement thereof is limited. Seat 86 performs a similar function when the bifurcated member 72.is switched to its other position.
Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown a lever l02 connected to shaft 74, the purpose of lever 102 being to switch bifurcated members 70 and 72 to their respective alternate positions. Since bifurcated members-70 and 72 are mounted on common shaft 74 the manual positioning of lever 102 to its opposite positions will simultaneously position bifurcated members 70 and 72. A block 104 having an opening 106 disposed therein is mounted onto print bed 24 by appropriate means such as screws 108 and 112. The slot 106 is disposed over a similar opening 114 coaxially disposed within the print bed 24 and shaft 102 projects through the coaxial slots 106 and 114 so that it may be readily manually operated as indicated in FIG. 2.
In order to securely hold the bifurcated members in their respective alternate positions a pair of leaf springs 116 and 118 are provided. As indicated in FIG. 2 a narrow indentation or groove 120 is provided in the bottom of base plate 24. The leaf springs 116 and 118 are disposed adjacent one another on opposite sides of the slot 120 as indicated in FIG. 1. The upper ends of the leaf springs 116 and 118 are respectively inserted in groove 120. The lower ends of the springs 116 are inserted in a slot 122 disposed on the top middle portion of bifurcated member 72 as indicated in FIG. 2. Thus, when lever 102 is in the position shown in FIG. 2, spring 118 is compressed to hold the bifurcated member 72 in the position shown. Switching of lever 102 to its other position, as shown in FIG. 5, will relax spring 118 and compress spring 116 so that bifurcated members 70 and 72 are held in their other position. Thus, the document positioner will hold the documents firmly in place during an imprinting operation.
Reference should now be made to FIG. 3 which illustrates a preferred embodiment of bifurcated member 70. Bifurcated members 70 and 72 are constructed exactly the same. However, member 70 is mounted on shaft 74 in a manner opposite to that of member 72. Thus, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 the portions of member 70 corresponding to the previously described portions of member 72 have the same reference numerals except that they have also been primed for purposes of clarity. In addition openings 88' and 94 are provided in print bed 24 which respectively correspond to openings 88 and 94 and which serve a function corresponding to these openings.
A fixed document guide 124 is provided on the print bed 24 and is shown in fragmentary cross-section in FIG. 7. The purpose of guide 124 is to facilitate document location on the print bed when bifurcated member 70 is in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 as will be described in more detail hereinafter.
In operation, it will be assumed that the invoice is such as to require imprinting at the upper portion thereof as indicated in FIG. 8. When such is the case, the invoice should be located on the print bed in the manner shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, lever 102 would be positioned toward the forward portion of the print bed whereby members 96 and 98 of right angle member 92 will be operative to position the upper right corner of invoice 68; upwardly projecting member 90 will be operative to locate the lower" edge of the invoice; stop 124 will be operative to locate the left edge of the invoice (also see FIG. 7); and guide 84 will be operative to locate the upper left edge of the invoice. Hence, the invoice is now located on print bed 24 in such a manner that when the imprinter head assembly 44 is moved across the print bed the customer and dealer identification information on plates 26 and 28 will be imprinted in the correct position thereon.
Further, referring to FIG. 4 when it is necessary to imprint on the invoice 68' in the positions indicated in FIG. 9, the lever 102 is switched as indicated in the figure. Hence, when so positioned the edges 35 and 37 of card holders 34 and 36 respectively are operative to hold the upper edge of the invoice in place; the edge of lever mounting block 104 is operative to hold the right edge of the invoice; member 84 is operative to hold the lower right edge; and right angle member 92 is operative to hold the lower left corner of the document in place.
By comparing FIGS. 1 and 2 it can be readily seen that the position of invoice 68 is removed from that of 68' both along the length and width of the print bed. Thus, for example in FIG. 1, stop 124 is operative to hold the left edge of invoice 68 in place while member 98 of right angle member 92' is operative to hold the left edge of document 68' in place. Of course, the position of document 68 with respect to document 68 along the length of the bed 24 can be varied by varying the distance between the members which are operative on the left and right edges of the document when it is in the position shown in FIG. 1 and the members which are operable on these edges when the invoice is in the position shown in FIG. 4. Similar considerations apply for varying the distance between document positions along the width of the print bed where it is understood that the width of the print bed extends from top to bottom as seen in FIG. 1 while the length thereof extends from left side to right side. Of course, special document guides such as guide 124 may be employed in place of edges 35 and 37 of card guides 34 and 36 or edge 105 of block 104 to implement document position variation as discussed above.
Thus, there has broadly been described an imprinter comprising a chassis having a print bed (24) disposed thereon; means (34, 36, and 38) for receiving at least one printing plate (26) disposed on said print bed; four openings disposed in said print bed where two of said openings (94, 88) are disposed above the other two openings (88, 94'); a first pair of movable document guide means (92, 84') operative through the upper two of said openings to hold the upper edge of a first document (68) in place while a first one of said four fixed document guide means holds the lower edge thereof in place in response to said document positioning means being set in a first position; a second pair of movable document guide means (84,92') operable through the lower two openings in said print bed to hold the lower edge of a second document (68') in place on said print bed while a second one of said four fixed document guide means holds the upper edge of said invoice or said document in place in response to said document positioning means being placed in a second position; and roller platen means movably mounted with respect to said print bed so that upon movement thereof over said print bed information on said printing plate will be imprinted on one of said documents whereby a first portion of said first document is imprinted upon when said document positioning means is in said first position and another portion of said second document is imprinted upon when said document positioning means is in said second position. The foregoing language corresponds to that used in the claims.
Numerous modifications of the invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing disclosure. During such a reading it will be evident that this invention provides an improved document positioning means for use with imprinters for accomplishing the objects and advantages herein stated.
What is claimed is:
1. An imprinter comprising a chassis having a print bed disposed thereon;
means for receiving at least one printing plate disposed on said print bed; a first fixed document guide means disposed on said print bed;
a second fixed document guide means disposed on said print bed; p
a first movable document guide means mounted for movement through a first opening in said print bed so that when said first movable document guide means is in its raised position, it is in opposed relation to said first fixed document guide means second movable document guide means mounted for movement through a second opening in said print bed so that when said second movable document guide means is in its raised position, it is in opposed relation to said second fixed document guide means;
control means mounted with respect to said chassis and connected to said first and second movable document guide means; said first movable document guide means being raised through said print bed and said second movable document guide means being retracted below said print bed in response to said control means being placed in a first position whereby a first document may be positioned in a first position on said print bed between said first fixed and movable document guide means; said second movable document guide means being raised through said print bed and said first movable document guide means being retracted below said print bed in response to said control means being placed in a second position whereby a second document may be positioned in a second position on said print bed between said second fixed and movable document guide means; and
roller platen means movably spaced from said print bed so that upon movement thereof over said print bed, information on said printing plate will be imprinted on a predetermined portion of one of said documents depending on which is positioned on the print bed.
2. An imprinter as in claim 1 where said first fixed document guide means comprises a first pair of guide means approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other said second fixed document guide means comprises a second pair of guide means approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other said first movable document guide means comprises at least two members approximately perpendicularly disposed with each other whereby said first fixed and movable document guide means locate opposed corners of said first document on said print bed; and
said second movable document'guide means comprises at least two members approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other \whereby said second fixed and movable document guide means locate opposed corners of said second document on said print bed.
3. An imprinter as in claim 1 where said first position is spaced from said second position along both the length and the width of said print bed.
4. An imprinter as in claim 1 where said print bed in cludes four openings disposed therein where a first pair of said openings are disposed in opposing relationship with respect to a second pair of openings and where said first fixed document guide means comprises a first pair of fixed document guide means on said print bed and said second fixed document guide means comprises a second pair of fixed document guide means and where said first movable document guide means comprises a first pair of movable document guide means operative through said first pair of openings to hold the upper edge of said first document in place while a first one of said first pair of fixed document guide means holds the lower edge thereof in place in response to said control means being set in said first position; and
said second movable document guide means comprises a second pair of movable document guide meansv operative through said second pair of openings to hold the lower edge of said second document in place on said print bed while a first one of said second pair of fixed document guide means holds the upper edge thereof in place in response to said control means being placed in said second position;
. whereby a first portion of said first document is imprinted upon when said document positioning means is in said first position and another portion of said second document is imprinted upon when said document positioning means is in said second position.
5. An imprinter as in claim 4 where a portion of one of said first pair of movable document guide means holds one side of said first document in position while the second one of said first pair of fixed document guide means holds the other side of said first document in position in response to said control means being placed in its first position.
6. An imprinter as in claim 5 where a portion of one of said second pair of movable document guide means holds one side of second document in position while the second one of said second pair of fixed document guide means holds the other side of said second document in position in response to said control means being placed in its second position.
7. An imprinter as in claim 5 including a first bifurcated member;
a second bifurcated member;
a rotatable shaft upon which said first and second bifurcated members are fixedly mounted at the approximate points where their respective arms intersect;
lever means projecting through said print bed connected to said shaft for rotating said shaft, the particular combination of fixed and movable .document guide members which determine the position of the document on said print bed being determined by the position of said lever;
' first one of said first pair of movable document guide means being connected to one of the arms of said first bifurcated member and a first one of said second pair of movable document guide means being connected to the other arm of said first

Claims (7)

1. An imprinter comprising a chassis having a print bed disposed thereon; means for receiving at least one printing plate disposed on said print bed; a first fixed document guide means disposed on said print bed; a second fixed document guide means disposed on said print bed; a first movable document guide means mounted for movement through a first opening in said print bed so that when said first movable document guide means is in its raised position, it is in opposed relation to said first fixed document guide means second movable document guide means mounted for movement through a second opening in said print bed so that when said second movable document guide means is in its raised position, it is in opposed relation to said second fixed document guide means; control means mounted with respect to said chassis and connected to said first and second movable document guide means; said first movable document guide means being raised through said print bed and said second movable document guide means being retracted below said print bed in response to said control means being placed in a first position whereby a first document may be positioned in a first position on said print bed between said first fixed and movable document guide means; said second movable document guide means being raised through said print bed and said first movable document guide means being retracted below said print bed in response to said control means being placed in a second position whereby a second document may be positioned in a second position on said print bed between said second fixed and movable document guide means; and roller platen means movably spaced from said print bed so that upon movement thereof over said print bed, information on said printing plate will be imprinted on a predetermined portion of one of said documents depending on which is positioned on the print bed.
2. An imprinter as in claim 1 where said first fixed document guide means comprises a first pair of guide means approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other said second fixed document guide means comprises a second pair of guide means approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other said first movable document guide means comprises at least two members approximately perpendicularly disposed with each other whereby said first fixed and movable document guide means locate opposed corners of said first document on said print bed; anD said second movable document guide means comprises at least two members approximately perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other whereby said second fixed and movable document guide means locate opposed corners of said second document on said print bed.
3. An imprinter as in claim 1 where said first position is spaced from said second position along both the length and the width of said print bed.
4. An imprinter as in claim 1 where said print bed includes four openings disposed therein where a first pair of said openings are disposed in opposing relationship with respect to a second pair of openings and where said first fixed document guide means comprises a first pair of fixed document guide means on said print bed and said second fixed document guide means comprises a second pair of fixed document guide means and where said first movable document guide means comprises a first pair of movable document guide means operative through said first pair of openings to hold the upper edge of said first document in place while a first one of said first pair of fixed document guide means holds the lower edge thereof in place in response to said control means being set in said first position; and said second movable document guide means comprises a second pair of movable document guide means operative through said second pair of openings to hold the lower edge of said second document in place on said print bed while a first one of said second pair of fixed document guide means holds the upper edge thereof in place in response to said control means being placed in said second position; whereby a first portion of said first document is imprinted upon when said document positioning means is in said first position and another portion of said second document is imprinted upon when said document positioning means is in said second position.
5. An imprinter as in claim 4 where a portion of one of said first pair of movable document guide means holds one side of said first document in position while the second one of said first pair of fixed document guide means holds the other side of said first document in position in response to said control means being placed in its first position.
6. An imprinter as in claim 5 where a portion of one of said second pair of movable document guide means holds one side of second document in position while the second one of said second pair of fixed document guide means holds the other side of said second document in position in response to said control means being placed in its second position.
7. An imprinter as in claim 5 including a first bifurcated member; a second bifurcated member; a rotatable shaft upon which said first and second bifurcated members are fixedly mounted at the approximate points where their respective arms intersect; lever means projecting through said print bed connected to said shaft for rotating said shaft, the particular combination of fixed and movable document guide members which determine the position of the document on said print bed being determined by the position of said lever; a first one of said first pair of movable document guide means being connected to one of the arms of said first bifurcated member and a first one of said second pair of movable document guide means being connected to the other arm of said first bifurcated member; and the second one of said first pair of movable document guide means being connected to one of the arms of said second bifurcated member and the second one of said second pair of movable document guide means being connected to the other arm of said second bifurcated member.
US00086704A 1970-11-04 1970-11-04 Document positioning means for use with an imprinter Expired - Lifetime US3707911A (en)

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US3890899A (en) * 1974-02-25 1975-06-24 Addressograph Multigraph Card gage for data recorder
US4418619A (en) * 1982-01-11 1983-12-06 Pitney Bowes Inc. Imprinting apparatus with relocatable printing device
US20160059531A1 (en) * 2014-09-01 2016-03-03 Fu Tai Hua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Film application apparatus

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US1110723A (en) * 1913-03-07 1914-09-15 Georg Spiess Printing-machine.
US1686940A (en) * 1928-10-09 Charles tatottsek
US1717231A (en) * 1926-09-21 1929-06-11 Krell Joseph Printing machine
US1879964A (en) * 1932-09-27 whitlock
US2211310A (en) * 1939-02-16 1940-08-13 Andrews Thomas Coleman Machine for serial numbering and notching cards
US2826410A (en) * 1953-04-06 1958-03-11 Keene Tom Sheet positioning means for printing presses
US3018725A (en) * 1960-02-10 1962-01-30 Addressograph Multigraph Printing machines
US3188078A (en) * 1963-06-18 1965-06-08 Kermit M Peterson Micrometer workpiece guide means for die presses
US3413922A (en) * 1966-04-13 1968-12-03 Addressograph Multigraph Printing plate supporting means in bed and cylinder printing machines
US3421436A (en) * 1967-01-09 1969-01-14 Farrington Business Mach Selective document positioning means in bed and cylinder print machines

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US1686940A (en) * 1928-10-09 Charles tatottsek
US1879964A (en) * 1932-09-27 whitlock
US1110723A (en) * 1913-03-07 1914-09-15 Georg Spiess Printing-machine.
US1717231A (en) * 1926-09-21 1929-06-11 Krell Joseph Printing machine
US2211310A (en) * 1939-02-16 1940-08-13 Andrews Thomas Coleman Machine for serial numbering and notching cards
US2826410A (en) * 1953-04-06 1958-03-11 Keene Tom Sheet positioning means for printing presses
US3018725A (en) * 1960-02-10 1962-01-30 Addressograph Multigraph Printing machines
US3188078A (en) * 1963-06-18 1965-06-08 Kermit M Peterson Micrometer workpiece guide means for die presses
US3413922A (en) * 1966-04-13 1968-12-03 Addressograph Multigraph Printing plate supporting means in bed and cylinder printing machines
US3421436A (en) * 1967-01-09 1969-01-14 Farrington Business Mach Selective document positioning means in bed and cylinder print machines

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3890899A (en) * 1974-02-25 1975-06-24 Addressograph Multigraph Card gage for data recorder
US4418619A (en) * 1982-01-11 1983-12-06 Pitney Bowes Inc. Imprinting apparatus with relocatable printing device
US20160059531A1 (en) * 2014-09-01 2016-03-03 Fu Tai Hua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Film application apparatus
US10118333B2 (en) * 2014-09-01 2018-11-06 Shenzhenshi Yuzhan Precision Technology Film application apparatus

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