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(11) | EP 0 113 423 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
Impact printer Anschlagdrucker Imprimante par percussion |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0001] This invention relates to an impact printer for selectively printing information directly onto a print medium moving past a print location.
[0002] The following is a list of prior art references which may be considered relevant to the present invention and which puts the advances over the state of the art provided by the present invention into perspective.
FR-1 446 799 issued June 13, 1966, discloses an electro-mechanic printing device.
U.S. Patent 3,672,297, issued June 27, 1972 to Berglund et al and entitled "Printing Control Device in High Speed Chain Printer With Hammers Movable to Plural Print Positions".
U.S. Patent 3,915,276, issued October 28, 1975 to Metz and entitled "Belt Printer".
U.S. Patent 4,056,183, issued November 1,1977 to Beery and entitled "Ribbonless Endorser Having a Shiftable Inked Platen and Feed Roller".
U.S. Patent 4,069,755, issued January 24, 1978 to Beery and entitled "Ribbonless Endorser for Printing Both Fixed and Variable Information on Moving Documents".
U.S. Patent 4,191,104, issued March 4, 1980 to Okabe and entitled "Printer Having Swingable Printing Character Supporting Endless Belts".
U.S. Patent 4,194,846, issued March 25, 1980 to Zerillo entitled "Dot Matrix Printing Device Employing a Novel Image Transfer Technique to Print on Single or Multiple Ply Print Receiving Materials".
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 13, No. 9, February 1971, page 2476, "Ribbonless Flexographic Printer," A. H. Ett et al.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 1, June 1973, page 310 "Ribbonless Ink Printer," R. G. Cross.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 5, October 1978, page 1828, "Digital Color Printer," D. W. Skinner et al.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 11, April 1979, page 4448, "Multicolor Matrix Impact Printer," J. H. Meier.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 22, No.8B, January 1980, page 3671, "Dot Matrix Printer," E. F. Helinski.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 22, No. 10, March 1980, page 4364, "Color Wheel Impact Printer," J. M. Dunn.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 22, No. 10, March 1980, page 4481, "Multiple Ribbon Cartridge Color Printer," J. H. Meier et al.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 1, June 1980, page 144, "Color Matrix Printer," W. T. Pimbley et al.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 4, September 1980, page 1347, "Self-Contained Inking and Print Ware," A. S. Nowselski.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 11, April 1981, page 5218, "Printer Configuration for Duplex Printing," E. G. Lean et al.
[0003] The electromechanic printing device according to FR-1 446 799 comprises a flexible belt movably supported by two wheels. The belt is provided with printing elements. An impact device strikes the printing elements for producing characters on a printing medium.
[0004] The 3,915,276 patent is referenced because it . shows an impact printer with print elements on a rotatable belt but uses a ribbon and does not print in color. The 3,672,297 patent is of the same type as the 3,915,276 reference. The 4,056,183 patent shows a matrix printer using a rotatable inked platen and the 4,069,755 patent shows a matrix wire printer using a rotatable ink stamp without a ribbon. The 4,191,104 patent shows a printer with a rotating belt with print elements thereon. The 4,194,846 patent shows an impact matrix printer wherein ink from a reservoir is directed to a printing element. No ribbon is used and no rotatable belt is employed.
[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an impact printer that does not require a ribbon.
[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a ribbonless impact printer that prints in color.
[0008] A further object of the present invention is to provide a ribbonless impact color printer that prints in an all points addressable matrix mode.
[0009] Still another object of the present invention is to provide an all-points addressable ribbonless impact matrix color printer that incorporates ball-point print elements.
[0010] Still another object of the present invention is to provide an all-points addressable ribbonless impact matrix color printer that incorporates ball-point print elements on a rotating belt.
[0011] The present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a side- elevation view of one embodiment of an impact printer according to the principles of the present invention which uses ink elements on a rotating belt.
FIG. 2 is schematic illustration of a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 further showing print hammers.
FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 indicating the cooperative relationship between the rotatable belt, the print hammers, the ink elements and the paper.
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate side, top and front views respectively, of a ribbonless, all-points addressable color impact matrix printer using ink elements such as ball-point elements mounted on a rotatable belt.
[0013] In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, ball-point print elements 10 are mounted, for example molded, onto rotatable belt 12 with a predetermined spacing between the print elements. Belt 12 is rotated continuously by drive pulley 26. Print hammers 14 are placed behind paper 16 (FIG. 3) which is moved by paper drive mechanism 20. Print hammers 14, when actuated by a signal applied to solenoid 28, achieve printing by pushing the vertically moving paper 16 into contact with a ball-point ink element 10 moving horizontally on rotating belt 12 between platen 24, the surface 22 of which serves as a paper guide.
[0014] Each ball-point print element 10 has an ink reservoir 18 (FIG. 3) or alternatively, several print elements may share one common ink reservoir separated into different chambers, each containing different color ink. The ball-point print elements may be standard ball pen tips.
[0015] The resultant printing format on paper 16 is a function of the speed of print belt 12 and paper 16, the spacing between print elements 10, and the width and repetition rate of print hammers 14. For a three character wide hammer machine with a hammer face width of 0.3 inches, (7,6 mm), print element spacing of 0.34 inches (8,6 mm) a 1 m second print hammer rate, a 5 m second paper stepping rate and a 20 inch per second (508 mm/ s) belt speed, a line printer of 380 lines per minute is achieved.
[0016] In another embodiment, faster printing speed can be achieved by mounting the ball-point print elements, onto the surface of a rotating cylinder as shown in FIG. 4. The structure of FIG. 4, as in FIGS. 1, and 3, includes ball-point print elements 10, print hammers 14, paper 16, ink compartments 18, paper drive mechanism 20, and a shield or platen structure 24.
a print element carrier in the form of a conveyor belt (12), which is located on one side of said print medium at a print location,
a plurality of print elements (10) mounted on said print element carrier (12),
a plurality of print hammers (14) disposed at said print location proximate to and on the side opposite said one side of the print medium, and
means (28) for actuating selected ones of the print hammers for moving the print hammers to bring the print medium located between the print elements and the print hammers into contact with print elements brought into positions opposite the associated print hammers, characterized in that the print elements are ball-point pen tips, each being connected to a separate one of a plurality of ink reservoirs (18) containing either the same ink or different colour inks, for applying ink directly onto said one side of the print medium when brought in contact therewith.
einem Druckelementträger in Form eines Förderbandes (12), das auf einer Seite des Druckmediums an einer Druckstelle angeordnet ist,
mehreren Druckelementen (10), die an dem Druckelementträger (12) befestigt sind,
mehreren Druckhämmern (14), die an der Druckstelle nahe bei dem Druckmedium und auf der zu dessen einer Seite entgegengesetzter Seite angeordnet sind, und
einer Einrichtung (28) zum Betätigen von ausgewählten Druckhämmern zum Bewegen der Druckhämmer, um das Druckmedium, das zwischen den Druckelementen und den Druckhämmern angeordnet ist, in Kontakt mit Druckelementen zu bringen, die in Positionen gebracht worden sind, welche den zugeordneten Druckhämmern gegenüberliegen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Druckelemente Kugelschreiberspitzen sind, die jeweils mit einem separaten Druckfarbbehälter einer Vielzahl von Druckfarbbehältern (18) verbunden sind, welche entweder dieselben oder andersfarbige Druckfarben enthalten, zum Auftragen von Druckfarbe direkt auf die eine Seite des Druckmediums, wenn sie mit diesem in Kontakt gebracht werden.
un support d'éléments d'impression sous la forme d'une courroie convoyeuse (12), qui est placé d'un premier côté du milieu d'impression en un emplacement d'impression,
un pluralite d'éléments d'impression (10) montés sur le support d'éléments d'impression (12),
une pluralité de marteaux d'impression (14) disposés au niveau de l'emplacement d'impression près du milieu d'impression et du côté opposé au premier côté, et
un moyen (28) pour actionnner certains choisis des marteaux d'impression pour déplacer les marteaux d'impression pour mettre le milieu d'impression situé entre les éléments d'impression et les marteaux d'impression en contact avec des éléments d'impression amenés dans des positions faisant face aux marteaux d'impression associées, caractérisé en ce que
les éléments d'impression sont des pointes de stylos à bille, chacune étant reliée à l'un distinct d'une pluralité de réservoirs d'encre (18) contenant soit la même encre soit des encres de couleurs différentes, pour appliquer l'encre directement sur ledit premier côté du milieu d'impression quand il est mis en contact avec elle.