^■ technical Field

The present invention pertains to printers and, more particularly, to high speed printers operable with various paper feeds including manually fed or continuous roll papers, cut paper sheets or continuous forms.

Background Art

High speed printers, such as those utilizing matrix. printing techniques, have become extremely popular and are desirable for use in as many applications as possible. It is extremely desirable to incorporate high speed printers in office systems to satisfy the growing market demand for increased speed in correspondence quality and word process- ing output for rough draft and data processing requirements. To be acceptable for use in office systems, high speed printers are preferably of a small size to be supported on a desk or table top and preferably should be able to print on various types of paper including cut paper sheets, con- tinuous roll paper, individual sheets of paper of varying sizes and continuous forms. Prior art printers cannot accept the various types of paper utilized in present day office systems and, thus, have the disadvantages, when incorporated into an office system, of limiting the type of printout available for office work.

The prior art, as exemplified by U. S. Patent 3,753,483 to Lundquist et al, utilizes a dual feed apparatus for a typewriter such that, paper can be fed downwardly to the rear of a platen cylinder, as is conventional, or upwardly from below the platen cylinder by a tractor drive, and the

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prior art, as exemplified by U. S. Patent 4,204,668 to Yanagawa, provides apparatus for feeding paper into a machine, either manually or with the use of a cassette feeder. Prior art apparatus, as exemplified by the above patents, accordingly, does not have the versatility required to be acceptable in office systems.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art by establishing paper paths in a high speed printer for receiving cut paper sheets, continuous roll and irregular size paper, or continuous forms.

.Another object of the present invention is to construct a high speed printer having multiple paper paths compactly for support on a desk or table top.

The present invention has a further object in that a bail is movable relative to a rotating cylindrical platen to engage cut paper sheets or continuous roll or irregular size paper while being moved to a position so as hot to engage continuous forms.

.Another object of the present invention is to utilize a cylindrical platen in a high speed printer in combination with a movable bail to permit cut paper sheets to be deli¬ vered via a picker roll around the platen from a side posi- tion, to permit continuous roll or irregular size paper to be delivered to the platen from the top thereof and to permit continuous forms to be delivered to the platen from the bottom with the bail moved to a position so as not to inter- ferece with the continuous forms. -

Some of the advantages of the present invention over the prior art are that the printer can accept paper for printing of all types and sizes without requiring manual modification of the printer or paper feed mechanism, and the printer and paper feed mechanisms are simple in structure and operate to smoothly deliver paper around the platen to the printing station.

The present invention is generally characterized in a printer with multiple paper paths including a housing having an opening for receiving manually fed paper, cut paper sheets and continuous forms and an exit for delivery of printed manually fed paper, paper sheets and forms from the housing, a cylindrical platen rotatably disposed in the housing, printing means disposed in the housing adjacent the periphery of the platen, a first paper feed path in the housing includ¬ ing a picker for delivering cut paper sheets to the platen at a first position therealong, a second paper feed path in the housing for delivering conti.nuous forms to. the platen at a second position therealong downstream from the first position, and a third paper feed path in the housing for delivering manually fed paper to the platen at a third position upstream from the first position.

The present invention is further generally characterized in a printer with multiple paths including a cylindrical rotatable platen, matrix printing means disposed adjacent the platen, a bail mounted to be movable from a normal position engaging the platen downstream of the printing means to a displaced position spaced from the platen upstream of the printing means, a first paper feed path for supplying con- tinuous forms to the platen at a position upstream of the

printing means and downstream of the displaced position of the bail, and a second paper feed path for supplying paper to the platen for movement past the printing means via rotation of the platen.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a high speed printer according to the present invention for use with cut paper sheets. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the high speed printer of the present invention for use with manually fed paper.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the high speed printer of the present invention for use with continuous forms.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the high speed printer of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagramatic view of the high speed printer of the present invention receiving cut paper sheets.

Fig. 6 is a diagramatic view of the high speed printer-: of the present invention receiving manually fed paper. Fig..7 is a diagramatic view of the high speed printer of the present invention receiving continuous forms.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention -

A high speed printer 10 with multiple paper paths for printing on paper of various types and sizes is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 with the printer 10 illustrated in Fig. 1 receiving cut paper sheets 12 in a cassette 14 disposed in an opening 16 in the top of a housing 18 of a size to be supported on a desk or table top. A control panel 20 is mounted on the right side of the housing 18 to permit control of the printer by an operator. An exit opening 22 is dis¬ posed at the front of the housing adjacent a curved deflec¬ tor 24 for stripping paper from the platen for exit via opening 22.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the housing 18 has an opening 26 in the top thereof for receiving manually fed paper to be supplied to the platen, it being appreciated that the term "manually fed paper" is meant to include sheets of paper of varying sizes as well as continuous roll paper initially fed through the opening 26. The manually fed paper exits the housing through opening 22 in the same -manner as the cut paper sheets illustrated in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 3, the printer 10 is illustrated for use with continuous forms 28 supplied to the printer via an opening 30 in the bottom of the housing 18 and the continuous forms 28 after printing exit the housing via the opening 16.

Within the housing 18, as illustrated in Fig. 4, is a cylindrical platen 32 rotatably mounted at a position directly below opening 26 in the top of the housing and above opening 30 in the bottom of the housing. The platen is journaled in side plates (not shown) disposed on opposite sides of the housing 18, and in each side plate is milled an arcuate groove 34 spaced from the periphery of the platen. A pair of arms 36 extend on opposite ends of the platen and each arm 36 carries a pin 38 at the end thereof riding, in each of the grooves 34. Slots 40 are formed in the center of arms 36 and receive shoulder screws 42 extending from the side plates such that the arras 36 pivot about the shoulder screws 42. A bail roller 44 is journaled in the opposite ends of the arms 36 and, at a" normal position, engages the platen downstream of a matrix printing mechanism 46 of conven¬ tional structure- The pin 38 is secured to a wire 48 extending around idler pulleys 50 and 52 and fastened to a drive pulley 54 driven by an electric motor, not shown, such that operation of the motor moves the wire to cause the pins 38 to ride along the grooves 34 and control position of the bail roller 44 as the bail arms 36 pivot about screws 42. A spring 55 is connected with the wire 48 to tension the wire about the

pulleys 50, 52, and 54. A curved plate 56 carries an idler roller 58 engaging platen 32, and the plate 56 has an end 60 contacting the platen at a position just upstream of the printing mechanism 46 to provide a point contact such that movement of the platen drives paper therealong after the paper passes by the idler roller 58. A sensor 62 is disposed between the plate end 60 and the idler roller 58 to sense paper passing thereby and actuate a switch 64 to institute control of the platen. When a cassette 14 of cut paper sheets is disposed in opening 16, the end will be positioned beneath a picker roller 66 which moves the top sheet from the stack of cut paper sheets from the cassette when operated to deliver the sheet to the platen 32 at a position to be moved therearound via contact of the platen with idler roller 58. After the cut sheets are moved around the platen and printed, the cut sheets pass under bail roller 44 and are stripped from the platen via deflector 24 to exit the housing via opening 22. Manually fed sheets enter through opening 26 and are moved by the platen after passing by idler roller 58 in a similar fashion to exit at opening 22. Continuous forms enter the housing via opening 30 in the bottom thereof and are held in tension by spring fingers 68, the continuous forms being supplied to the platen downstream of the end 60 of plate 56 and moving around the platen under the action of a tractor mechanism 70 to exit the housing 18 via opening 16.

The operation of the high speed printer 10 will be described in more detail with respect to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 which illustrate the paths of travel of cut paper sheets, manually fed paper, and continuous forms, respectively.

With respect to cut paper sheets, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the bail 44 will remain in its normal position in engagement with the platen 32 downstream of the printing mechanism 46, the cut paper sheets being picked from the

top of the cassette 14 by picker roller 66 and supplied to the platen at a position adjacent idler roller 58 such that the friction drive between the pJaten and the idler roller 58 and the point contact at end 60 of plate 56 drive the cut paper sheets past the printing station and the bail roller 44 to be stripped from the platen via the deflector and exit the housing, as shown via dashed line 72.

When paper is manually fed through the top opening 26 of the housing, it is supplied to the platen at a position ^• upstream of the position at which the cut paper sheets are supplied to the platen, as illustrated in Fig. 6 via the dashed .line 72, and once passing idler roller 58, the manually fed paper continues past the print head 46 in the same manner as the cut paper sheets to be stripped from the platen by - the deflector to exit the housing.

When continuous forms are to be used with the printer 10, the drive pulley 54 is rotated to cause the wire 48 to move the pin 38 upwards in groove 34 thereby causing the bail arm 36 to pivot, as illustrated in Fig. 7, and move the bail roller 44 to a displaced position upstream of the printing station and spaced from the platen 32. The _, continuous forms enter via opening 30, as shown by dashed line 74, and contact the platen downstream of the position at which the cut paper sheets contact the platen, the continuous forms being moved around the platen and past the printing mechanism 46 via the tractor 70 prior to exit from the housing via opening 16. Conventional control circuitry is utilized to control the operation of picker roller 66; and as each cut sheet is supplie by the picker roller to the platen, the pulley 54 will be operated to move the bail to the displaced position illustrated in Fig. 7, the pulley then being operated in the reverse direct to cause the bail to return from its displaced position to the normal position illustrated in Fig. 5 to capture each

sheet to hold it against the platen during printing. During the manual feed operation, the bail can be controlled via the control panel 20 to be moved to its displaced position and then returned to its normal position once the manually fed paper has been driven around the platen.

From the above, it will be appreciated that the positio of the paper feed paths for the cut paper sheets, manually fed paper and continuous forms about the cylindrical platen 32 coupled with the movement of the bail roller 44 permits either of the three paper feed paths to be utilized to allow printing of any type or size paper.

Inasmuch as.the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intende that all subject matter discussed above and shown in the acco ing drawings be interpreted in an illustrative manner and not in a limiting sense.

OMPI