Thermal printer

Details Thermal printer Thermal printer

2000-09-16

2003-11-11

Nguyen, Lamson (Department: 2861)

Incremental printing of symbolic information

Thermal marking apparatus or processes

Housing or mounting

Reexamination Certificate

active

06646667

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
An object of the invention is a thermal printer. The field of the invention is that of thermal printers, and more particularly that of thermal printers contained in payment terminals for bank cards, for example. These are therefore thermal printers with a small printing width and a fixed print head. The aim of the invention is to ensure that the paper on which the printing is to be done will be supported homogeneously on the print head, and to achieve this with a device that is simpler and costs less to manufacture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, bank payment terminals are provided with a thermal print head having a width of about 58 mm, and comprising about 384 printing points. This amounts to a definition of 6.6 dots per millimeter. This print head is fixed to the frame of the printer by an elastic device that gives the print head mobility along one direction. The thermal paper is held against the print head by a paper feed roller. The feed roller is fixedly held to the cover of the paper-loading bin. Thus when this cover is opened to refill the printer with paper, the feed roller moves away from the print head. This leaves the user fully free to position the paper. Then, when the cover is closed again, the paper-feed roller presses the paper against the print head. In order to position the roller accurately with respect to the print head and, therefore ensure that the paper is held properly, the roller rests against a fixed stop on the frame of the printer.
FIG. 1
shows a print head
101
fixed to a frame
102
by an elastic link
103
that gives the head
101
mobility in a horizontal direction. A sheet of paper
104
is held against the head
101
by a roller
105
. The roller
105
is supported on a stop
106
fixed to the frame
102
. Furthermore, the roller
105
is mobile around a hinge
107
.
The problem with this device is that, when it is being made, it accumulates numerous dimensional and tolerance values that must be adhered to in order to ensure that the roller
105
is accurately positioned. The dimensions relate to the frame, on the stop
106
, the hinge
107
and the print head
101
. Indeed, while the link
103
makes it possible to compensate for a slight defect in a horizontal positioning of the roll, it cannot compensate for a defect in the vertical positioning. The stop
106
therefore needs to be fixed precisely with respect to the frame
102
. Similarly, the play of the hinge
107
should be zero. This is therefore a solution difficult to implement.
The invention resolves these problems firstly by fixedly joining the stop and the print head and, secondly by making the print head mobile in two directions. Thus, the print head corrects the positioning errors of the paper feed roller caused by poor machining or by borderline compliance with dimensional requirements, along a horizontal direction and a vertical direction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention therefore is a thermal printer comprising a frame, a print head, a paper feed roller, and a securing stop for the paper feed roller wherein the securing stop for the paper feed roller is rigidly fixed to the print head.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4507667 (1985-03-01), Tsuboi
patent: 4750880 (1988-06-01), Stephenson et al.
patent: 5005026 (1991-04-01), Sakai
patent: 5173718 (1992-12-01), Takayama et al.
patent: 5366302 (1994-11-01), Masumura et al.
patent: 5882126 (1999-03-01), Bowling
patent: 6053648 (2000-04-01), Mistyurik
patent: 6118469 (2000-09-01), Hosomi
patent: 4005810 (1991-08-01), None
patent: 0765761 (1997-04-01), None
patent: 2234713 (1991-02-01), None
patent: 02128854 (1990-05-01), None
patent: 08011385 (1996-01-01), None

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