JPS6014707B2 - rotary device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to image recording and printing, and more particularly to rotary printing.

The invention, in its preferred embodiment, is described using a type of rotary printer in which images are formed by electrical discharges selectively placed on a discharge sensing vapor. Since the speed of modern data processing equipment has increased considerably, there is a need for a high speed, low cost data printer.

Very high speed data printers have been developed. However, such puddings are usually very complex and expensive. Fairly inexpensive printers have been devised, but they are typically slow and complex. As a result, the cost of such printers in terms of dollars per unit of print speed (characters per second) is undesirably high. Furthermore, such known puddings are extremely complex and large. Maintenance costs are relatively high, and the loss of operating time due to malfunctions is also undesirably high. Also, many known printers are very noisy during operation. According to the above discussion, the main object of the present invention is to provide a recorder or printer with relatively high speed and low cost; the cost per unit speed is very reasonable.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to propose a printer that is compact, simple and reliable. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that is relatively smooth and quiet in operation so as not to disturb surrounding persons during printing. According to the invention, the above objects are satisfied by proposing a rotary electric printer comprising a rotor and a plurality of electrically actuatable printing members fixed to the rotor. . Drive means are provided for rotating the rotor to move the printing member across the recording surface. Means is provided for generating an electrical position signal indicative of the position of the rotor, and responsive to the position signal, selectively activates each of the marking members when the rotor is in a predetermined position. Actuation means are provided for electrical actuation.

The main feature of the invention is that the insertion and removal of the needle is speed dependent.
That is, it is constructed to depend on centrifugal force, and when the rotational speed is below a predetermined speed, the needle is positioned away from the support means so as not to come into contact with the paper.

The effect of this feature is that the needle does not come into contact with the recording paper from the beginning of the rotor's rotation until it rotates at a constant speed, which reduces the resistance to rotor rotation due to contact between the paper or the support and the needle. This means that even a small torque motor can rotate and it does not take long to reach normal rotation from the beginning.

Furthermore, according to the needle mounting means of the present invention, the needle can be inserted and removed simply by rotating the needle head or the arm on which the needle is mounted around the shaft, which eliminates friction and wear parts unlike the conventional type. Very few.

According to one feature of the invention, means are provided for changing the position of the print made on the recording surface by at least one of the printing members, the changing means being arranged to Means are provided for varying the time separation between successive operations.

By this means, the relative position of the printed image can be adjusted on the recording member without moving the printing member on the rotor. This eliminates the need to rebalance the rotor and other adverse effects that may result from mechanical adjustment of the printing member. Preferably, the recording surface is in the form of a strip of discharge sensitive vapor which can be wrapped around a portion of the roller when it comes into contact with the printing member.

Preferably, the vapor strip is moved across the rotor in a direction perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the rotor. According to another feature of the invention, the characters are printed by forming the characters from dots made by a plurality of needles arranged in groups extending in the direction of the ball.

Each printing section contains one needle group. Preferably, there are enough needles in each group to form one complete character in one pass across the recording surface. Thus, one pass of the rotor across the recording surface prints at least as many characters as there are printheads. Preferably, the characters are formed in words extending in the longitudinal direction of the recording strip, and the recording strip is wide enough to accommodate multiple lines of the document to be printed.

In this case, coded information representing a character is stored in a mechanical memory, and the coded information is read out sequentially such that each printhead prints a character in a vertical column, and the characters in each column are placed on separate lines of the document. Thus, during each pass across the recording strip, each head prints not just one character, but as many characters as there are in the row of characters to be printed. In a preferred device, three such heads are used so that the number of characters printed on each rotation of the rotor is equal to three times the number of lines in the document.
There are several. Therefore, higher printing speeds can be obtained even at moderate rotor speeds. It is also within the scope of the present invention to print words in directions other than longitudinally across the recording strip.

In this case, the printing speed is also relatively high. According to a further feature of the invention, the electrical position signal for indicating the position of the rotor is provided by an indicator rotating with the rotor and spaced apart by a desired spacing between dots of the printed image. It is generated depending on the display object being used.

Preferably, this indicator is an opaque line on a transparent disk mounted on the same shaft as the rotor. A plurality of detectors are provided to detect this display.

Preferably, the number of detectors is equal to the number of recording heads. 1
one detector remains fixed) and the other two detectors move around the disk to effectively change the enabling and disabling of each of the three needle heads without actually moving any of the heads. The angle can be adjusted with.

This allows character alignment to be adjusted to compensate for uneven needle wear and similar problems without mechanically adjusting the head relative to the rotor. Preferably, the memory used to store the character codes is such that the data can be recycled so that repeated copies of the printed document can be made. Preferably, the base strip is fed continuously past the rotor at a speed directly proportional to the speed of the rotor.

This provides the same spacing between letters or lines (based on which direction the word is printed) regardless of the speed of the rotor. This is easily accomplished by linking the beber feed roller to the same shaft that drives the rotor. This shaft is driven by a relatively high torque DC motor at low speeds, which is relatively inexpensive and can be powered by a battery to make the printer portable. A vapor feed roller extends outwardly from the crab body.

A curved guide body fits snugly over the body in order to hold the vapor and guide it to the cylindrical sleeve used as a platen on which the needle is placed when the vapor is not in contact. be combined. The vapor feed roller pairs with an idler roller mounted on the guide body to pull the vapor from the roll. The vapor is passed from the rollers over a guide bar that is located generally in the plane of travel of the top of the arced vapor through the printer.

The guide bar is positioned to bend the vapor at a substantial angle such that the point of delivery of the vapor to the printer remains approximately the same despite variations in the diameter of the vapor roll. There is. This prevents the vapor from becoming clogged and stuck or from forming folds on the vapor. Particularly simple means are provided for electrically connecting the conductive part of the vapor to the return contact of the power supply, ie electrical grounding means.

This must be provided to ensure a discharge between the needle and the vapor. One embodiment thereof consists of a helical spring on a bent rod. In a preferred embodiment, the vapor drive wheel is made of metal and is used to ground the vapor, thus performing two functions simultaneously. To deliver vapor at a certain speed, the timing discs and rollers are all always equal to each other or directly proportional to each other, and the printer operates accurately over a very wide range of speeds.

To ensure that the print is relatively uniform in blackness and legibility despite speed variations, automatic blackness control circuitry is provided. The speed of the rotor is sensed and the voltage applied to the needle varies directly with speed such that the higher the rotor speed, the higher the voltage applied, and the lower the rotor speed, the lower voltage is applied. This helps ensure that the blackness of the printed image is relatively uniform. A mechanism is provided to automatically retract the needle from the recording vapor when the rotor speed falls below a predetermined minimum value.

Preferably, the needle is retracted over a spring.
When the rotor reaches the desired minimum speed, the needle is automatically brought into engagement with the recording bar by centrifugal force acting against the spring and keeping the needle in contact with the vapor. . This prevents the stylus from damaging or tearing the recording vapor as new vapor is fed through the printer, and facilitates removal of the rotor containing the stylus from the printer. The present invention also provides a simple and economical adjustment mechanism for adjusting the axial position of the needle.

Furthermore, another simple mechanical structure is provided for adjusting the radial extent of the needle to compensate for wear, as well as for alignment purposes. The present invention also provides a means for easily installing and removing the rotor from the printer through a simple slide latch.

A spring is provided to push the rotor away from the drive shaft when the latch is released. The result of the above features is a printer that satisfies the above objectives.

That is, this printer has a remarkable 4-inch size, simple structure, and light weight. Nevertheless, the printer is fast, relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain, and quiet in operation. The above and other objects and effects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1 and 2 are constructed in accordance with the present invention.
2 shows an example of a printer 20 that has been installed.

The nuclear printer 20 includes a base plate 22 and a cylindrical weight body 24.
, a cylindrical sleeve 26 used as a braten, a rotor 28 mounted on a shaft 48 to rotate within the sleeve 26, and a drive motor 30 for rotating the rotor 28. A timing disk 54 for timing the printing is also attached to the shaft 48. Discharge sensing vapor 36 is accumulated on a roll 34 included in supply device 32 .

This vapor 36 is passed upwardly from the roll 34 and through a straight guide bar 35 to a curved vapor guide body 38. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide body 38 is hinged to the outer surface of the mackerel body 24 at four points so that it can be easily lifted. As shown in FIG. 1, latch 42 retains guide body 38 when the printer is in operation. Referring to FIG. 2, a drive roller 56 is provided which pulls the vapor from the roll 34 and through the curved guide body 38 so that the vapor forms an arc. and feed the bar through the sleeve 26 near the uppermost inner surface of the sleeve 26.

After the printing is formed on the underside of the vapor 36, the vapor exits the left edge of the sleeve 26 as shown in FIG. A ring 46 for breaking vapor is provided on the left edge of the sleeve 26. The ring 46 has a tin-toothed upper edge 47 to facilitate tearing off a length of vapor strip. The lower (concave) surface of the vapor strip 36 is first coated with a clear colored material, and then coated with a light colored material such as aluminum or zinc oxide, which light colored material is used for electrical discharge. can be removed by being eroded or vaporized by sparks.

The rotor 28 includes three needle heads 62, 64, and 66, each having five parallel needles 68 equally spaced apart in the grain direction (see FIGS. 5 and 6). As will be explained in detail below, vapor feed roller 56 and rotor 28 are continuously driven by three drive motors.

The stylus is selectively energized to form an image on the underside of the vapor by forming dots in a 5 x 7 matrix. An example of a print made by printer 20' is shown in FIG. Each needle head has five wires, which are sufficient to make all the dots for the horizontal portion of the character to be printed. Thus, each time a stylus head passes over the recording paper, it produces at least one printed character. Preferably, the words are printed on the vapor strip as shown in FIG. 3, ie in the longitudinal direction indicated by arrow 31.

Additionally, if multiple lines of text are to be printed, the data is stored in the device's memory and each needle head prints one full vertical column of characters, one character from each line. It is read out as follows. For example, the first column A of the characters in FIG. is printed by one pass of the stylus head. Since there are three needle heads, three columns of characters are printed each time the rotor rotates. Therefore, the number of characters per revolution that the printer prints is equal to three times the number of lines that are being printed. Of course, the words can also be formed in a vertical direction rather than horizontally as shown in FIG.

The printer's speed capabilities when operating in such mode are comparable to those in other modes. Now printer 20
will be explained in detail.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the printer 2
The drive device of 0 comprises a shaft 48 and a drive motor 30, both of which have already been described.

The motor 30 is attached to the end plate 701 of the body 24 by screws 80. A toothed drive wheel 78 is fixed to the output shaft 76 of the motor 30.
The drive wheel drives a toothed timing belt 50 (FIGS. 2 and 4) to drive a large toothed wheel 52 fixed to shaft 48. Wheels 78 and 52 are sized to provide a 4:1 reduction. A timing disc 54 is fixed to the wheel 52,
Therefore, it is fixed to the shaft 48. The shaft 48 is mounted on a ball bearing 72 of an end plate 70, and a retainer 74 is fixed to the right end of the shaft (
(See Figure 5).

Another end plate 88 is provided on the opposite side of the crab body 24. The shaft 48 rotates on ball bearings 92 in the end plate 88 and is held by a holder 108 fixed to the shaft. Rotor 28
is attached by means of screws to a slider 110 (FIGS. 4 and 5), which is likewise attached at its other end to a slip ring disc 104, which abuts against the holder 108. .

The slider, slip ring and rotor 128 are held against the retainer 108 by a threaded nut 114, which is connected to the screw 4 at the left end of the shaft 48.
9 (Fig. 4). Thus, rotor 28, spacer 110, slip ring disc 104, gear wheel 52, and timing disc 54 all rotate together at the same speed. Rubber vapor feed roller 56 is driven by its gear connection to shaft 48.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the roller 56 is connected to a shaft 96 secured to the upper extension 89 of the end plate 88.
is rotatably mounted on the A slot 91 is provided through which the upper surface of roller 56 extends. A downward extension 90 of end plate 88 forms a bearing support for shaft 84 , to which is secured a worm gear 86 that meshes with worm gear 82 secured to shaft 48 .

This combination drives a bevel gear 92 that meshes with another bevel gear 94 on shaft 96, which drives weber feed roller 56 at a substantially lower speed than rotor 28. The feed roller 56 is an idler roller 98 attached to the shaft 100 of the curved vapor guide body 38.
is paired with

A cover 102 is ironed onto the idler roller 98 to protect it. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the recording vapor 36 is secured between two rubber rollers 56 and 98 such that rotation of the roller 56 draws the vapor through the printer without substantially slipping. I am caught in between.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the electrical circuit formed when a spark is formed between the needle 68 and the vapor 36.

The conductive lower surface 39 of the preferred recording vapor must be connected to the return terminal of a power source 69 connected to the needle 68 in order to create an electrical discharge. Since this return terminal is grounded, the bottom surface of the bar must also be grounded. This is accomplished by the unique grounding arrangement shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5.

The grounding device consists of a helical conductive spring 58 wrapped around a bent metal rod 60, which rod 60 is secured to an end plate 70' and grounded as shown in FIG. There is. Both ends of the spring 58 are held in position by a retaining ring 61. As shown in FIG. 5, the rod 60 is bent forward and arcuate to fit under the right edge of the cover 38.

The upper part of the spring coil resiliently presses against the lower surface of the vapor 36 and forces the vapor upwardly against the guide body 38. The multiple coils of the spring make multiple relatively closely spaced contacts to make good ground contact with the underside of the vapor. This combined ground connection and vapor tensioning means also performs a third function of assisting in arching the vapor to facilitate its passage through the guide body 38.

1, 2, 4, and 5, the vapor roll 34 is housed in a spindle 120, and the ends of the spindle are connected to a pair of supply V layers 32. end plate 122 of
It is secured to the slot 118 of.

The end plate 122 is the base plate 22 of the printer.
Fixed. The friction created by the various components of the feed system tends to prevent the vapor feed roll from turning too far after the vapor feed has been stopped. As is most readily apparent from FIG. 5, bar or roller 35 serves to bend the vapor coming from roll 34 by a substantial angle before passing it through the printer.

However, this bar always presents vapor to the printer at approximately the same height, unlike when vapor is pulled directly from roll 34. Substantial movement of the feed point is undesirable in that it tends to cause the vapor to crease or wrinkle, thereby interfering with the smooth feeding of the vapor. Therefore, the feeding device 32 uniformly and smoothly feeds the strip to the printer. Structure of the Rotor FIG. 6 shows the structure of the rotor 28 and its three needle heads 62.
, 64 and 66 are shown.

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic diagram of the rotor 28 taken in the direction of line 6--6 in FIG. 5, with the spacer 110 and other elements omitted. 6, the points of contact between the circle 125 representing the inner surface of the platen sleeve 26 and the needle 68 are indicated by reference numerals 119, 121, and 123.

The needle 68 is mounted on a solid epoxy resin base which is secured to a bracket 128 mounted on the rotor 28. The bracket 128 has a bent slot 130 with a screw 132 to allow the needle head to be moved outwardly or inwardly to increase or decrease the pressure of the needle against the platen or bar on the platen. There is. As is clear in Figure 6, points 119, 121, 1
The angle between the radius line extending through 23 and the needle is approximately 70
It is o.

The angle formed between needle 68 and tangent 127 of point 119 is therefore 200 degrees. The needle thus moves over the platen and bar at an angle substantially less than vertical. This makes the mechanism operate more smoothly and reduces the possibility that the needle will tear the vapor as it traverses from the platen to the edge of the vapor. Referring again to FIG. 5, it can be seen that the platen sleeve 26 has a diameter substantially greater than the diameter of the pupil body 24.

This is necessary to allow vapor 36 to enter the inner surface of the platen sleeve. The lower two-thirds (reference numeral 116) of the trailing edge of the sleeve 26 has a diameter such that it mates with the flange 93 of the end plate 88 and is secured therein by three screws (not shown). 4. Little. The vapor breaking ring 46 is iron-mounted in a recess 95 on the inner surface of the leading edge of the sleeve 26.

As also apparent from FIG. 5, each of the needle heads 62, 64 and 66 is connected to the rear terminal of the slip ring plate 104 by a wire 112 (see also FIG. 9). .

This terminal is connected through plate 104 to a slip ring on the other side of plate 104. needle head 62
and 64 are shown offset from their actual positions in FIG. 5 for more clarity.
Discharge Timing Structure The timing of dot formation by the needle is important to accurately print characters and other images.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 4, 5, and 7, this timing function is defined by a series of thin opaque black lines 166 (7
) and a transparent disk 5 with a single thick black line 168 painted on it
It is given according to 4. Ideally, the three sensors A, B, and C, as well as the three needle heads 62, 64, and 66, would be spaced 12 points apart from each other, but depending on the structure of the bar body 24 and the vapor guide body 38, this may not be possible. Can not do it.

Due to structural constraints such as
are located 80 degrees apart, and sensors A and B are repositioned 6 degrees apart. Sensor B is fixed in position. However, sensors A and C are movable circumferentially relative to disk 54 to adjust the start and stop timing of printing depending on the needle head relative to each other. This makes initial head alignment relatively easy, and also allows for easy adjustments without moving the needle head to prevent uneven needle wear or other print misalignments. do. This prevents rotor imbalances and makes the adjustment process quite simple. Timing Adjustment Referring to FIGS. 4, 11, 12 and 7, a fixed sensor, sensor B, includes a detector structure 146 secured to a mounting plate 148.

This detector structure 146 includes a U-shaped weight body,
One arm is a small light emitting diode (LED)
153 (FIG. 11), which emits light toward the other arm, which includes a small phototransistor 155 for detecting the light. A mask consisting of a small piece of film that is opaque except for a small thin slit (
(not shown) covers the phototransistor so as to pass only the light incident on the narrow slit. The detector 146 of sensor B is inserted through the hole 138 in the weight body 24 and fixed in position after the disk 54 is attached to the ridge.

The two arms of detector 146 are located at marks 166 and 16
Mounted around the edge of the disk such that light from an LED is emitted through the disk and detected by a phototransistor in the area where the 8 is fixed. Each of the other sensors A and C also includes the same detector 146.

The detector 146 of each sensor A and C is attached to an L-shaped bracket 154 attached to a mounting bracket 150 at 152.
will be installed on the Bracket 154 is longitudinal group 1
It has a long arm with 56. Figure 4 shows 11
Referring to Figures 1 and 12, 21 adjacent cam devices 158 and 160 are provided.

Each cam device has a body that is rotatably ironed into a hole in the end plate 70 of the ridge 24 and has a slotted head that allows the device to be turned with a screwdriver. Each cam shaft 158 and 160 also has an eccentrically mounted pin 162 or 164. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, pins 162 or 164 are glued to group 156. When the head of cam device 158 or 160 is turned, the arm of bracket 154 is raised or lowered relative to pivot point 152, changing the position at which the detector senses lines 166 and 168. Pivot point 152 is shown schematically in FIG. The detailed operation of disk 54 and sensors A, B, and C in timing the printing of the printer will be described in detail with respect to FIGS. 8-10.

However, generally each thin closely spaced line 1
66 is one dot (or one line of up to 5 dots)
The medium-wide pulse mark 168 acts as a reference mark. A very precise adjustment to counterfeit printing can be achieved by slightly moving the position of either or both sensors A and B relative to sensor B using cams 158 and 160;
This can be done by varying the relative start and stop times of the prints made by the needle heads. ELECTRICAL CONTROL CIRCUIT FIG. 9 shows the electrical control circuit of printer 20.

Drive motor 30 is shown in the lower left corner of FIG. 9, and needle 68 is shown in the upper corner of the stone. Slip ring disc 104, brush 1 in contact with the slip ring
06, and a wire 112 from the slip ring to the needle.
Also shown in the upper right corner. It will be apparent from FIG. 9 that each slip ring is followed in such a way that each brush 106 is in constant contact with three needles, one from each of the three needle heads. The position of each such needle is the same in each needle head. That is, the outermost brush is connected to the first needle of each head, the next brush is connected to the second needle, and so on. This means that the needles of all three heads (labeled groups A, B, C in Figure 9) are energized at the same time.
Therefore, vapor strip 36 should be no wider than one third of the circumference of platen 26. Otherwise, another print will be made on the vapor strip. Of course, if you wish to use a wider vapor strip,
The needle can be selectively biased by a segmented slip ring. Direct current is supplied throughout this control circuit from the DC power supply when 117 volts/60 days power is supplied, or alternatively from the battery.

At the top center of FIG. 9 is shown a memory 200 consisting of six 480 bit shift registers.

Connected to the output of this memory 200 is a ROM code converter 202, commonly referred to as a "character generator".
, which converts character identification signals from memory 200 into corresponding dot matrix signals appearing on five output lines 203. This dot matrix signal is used to enable a selected one of the five needles in contact with the vapor strip to be energized to form a line of dots for a particular character to be printed. It will be done. Code converter 202 generates information on output line 203 one after another to form seven successive rows of dots for a given character to enable printing of the character in a 5x7 dot matrix form. Addressed by book input leads 264, 266, 268.

This procedure is explained in detail below. Data input memory 200 has sufficient capacity to store characters for a twelve line document.

By adding more shift registers, the memory 20
0 storage capacity can be increased. If the inside of the vapor strip is 10 melons (4 inches) and the text height is approximately 4.4 inches (3/16 inch), and the spacing between character lines is minimal, up to 24 character lines can be placed between the vapor strips. If you are willing to add the required storage capacity, you can make the character lines as long as you want.In effect, the characters are printed on one line and instead of memory 200. If "Fm○" memory is used in the ``Fm○'' memory, character lines can be made to virtually infinite length.
A memory control circuit 206 is provided for reading data from and writing to memory 200.
A high frequency clock signal (eg, IMHZ) is applied to one input of NAND gate 228 via input line 226. A slightly lower frequency strophe pulse is applied via another input line 216. This strobe pulse is applied to one input of gate 218. During data input, D-type flip-flop 236 (shown in the lower left corner of FIG. 9) is in a reset state, with a signal present at output Q and no signal present at output Q. This “low” on the output Q
The signal enables gate 218, which passes the strobe pulse through another gate 220 and gate 222.
The endpoint 200' is applied via read/write line 224. This strobe pulse causes data to be input to the final shift register via a common data input line 225. When flip-flop 236 is reset, the Q signal from flip-flop 236 is applied via line 244 to inhibit gate 219 and prevent data from being taken through the gate.

At the same time as data is read into the memory 200, the gate 2
The output of 22 is passed through line 230 to another shift register 2.
32 clock inputs, and the core shift register also has 4 clock inputs.
It has a storage capacity of 80 bits and memory 2
It is the same as the 00 shift register.

This shift register 232 is used as a detector to detect when memory 200 is full and signal the start of a printing operation. When motor start shift register 232 is full, it sends an output signal on line 234 to the clock input of flip-flop 236.

This sets flip-flop 236 and generates a signal on the Q output line, which is sent via line 238 to motor drive circuit 208, which is a solid state relay.
The circuit completes the circuit to the drive motor 30 and begins operation of the motor. The change of flip-flop 236 to the set state enables gate 219, thus allowing data to be interrogated from memory during printing. This will be explained below. Gate 218 is also disabled by the signal on Q, and data can no longer be written to the memory from input line 204. The operation of flip-flop 236 to set the end margin of the recording vapor strip also changes the state of its Q lead, which activates the margin counter circuit.

Counter 246 controls timing disk 54 (nineth mark) before the printer can begin printing to provide a certain amount of unprinted space on the vapor between the cut end of the vapor strip and the document to be printed. Count two "column sync" signals representing two revolutions in Figure). Column Synchronization Signal Generation In the lower left corner of FIG. 9 are shown the three sensors A, B, and C shown in FIGS. 166 and a thick timing mark 168 are detected.

Detectors A, B, and C shown in FIG. 9 may include intensifiers and Schmitt trigger circuits to intensify and shape the pulses from the detectors. The "column synchronization" signal shown in the waveform diagram of FIG. 8 is a signal counted by the margin counter.

These signals are generated as follows. Shelf synchronization counter 2
12 is provided, and the counter 212 has two J-
K-type flip-flops 300 and 302 are provided. Flip-flop 302 receives the signal from sensor C on its clock input, and both flip-flops 300 and 302 receive the signal from sensor B via their "clear" leads. Referring now to FIG. 7, the disk 54 rotates counterclockwise.

Sensors A, B, and C generate signals when the transparent portion of disk 54 is between the LED and the phototransistor and allows light to reach the phototransistor. Therefore, when the transparent area of disk 54 faces sensor B, the "clear" input leads of flip-flops 302 and 300 are pulled low to reset field sync counter 212.
Thick mark 168 (2.5 thicker than any mark 166)
When the signal (about twice as wide) passes sensor 8, it temporarily removes the "clear" signal from flip-flops 300 and 302 and allows the pulses received from sensor C, which is now sensing thin mark 166, to pass through these flip-flops. Make flops countable. When the thick mark 168 is first detected by sensor B, it seems that the thin mark 166 is ending;
This is not the case since sensor B is nominally 6 pins away from sensor A, while sensor B is located 64.10 degrees from the front end of sensor A. Therefore, sensor C is spaced 220 degrees clockwise from sensor B, and the rear end of thin mark 166 is 244 degrees apart. r away, still a few marks 16
6 is left to pass through sensor C. Therefore, counter 212 will count up by two by the end of fat pulse 168 and the counter will be cleared again. This produces an output pulse at the Q of flip-flop 300. This pulse is the "column sync" signal shown in FIG. 8 and appears on line 248 of FIG. After the thick pulse passes through sensor B, but before the thin line reaches sensor B, counter 212 remains cleared) and no "column sync" signal is generated.

After the thin lines 166 reach sensor B and after both sensors B and C sense these thin lines,
Counter 212 is reset once every clear interval between these thin lines, so it cannot count 2 and cannot generate a "column sync" signal. As a result, the "column sync" signal is generated only once per revolution of disk 54, and when fat mark 168 passes sensor B. As mentioned above, this "Column Sync" signal is provided on line 248 to a margin counter 246 which counts two signals.

This counter 246 then provides an output signal on line 250 to start the printing operation. Start of printing Referring to the lower center part of FIG. 9, the margin counter 24
The signal on line 250 of 6 is applied to the clock input of another D-type flip-flop 251 which changes its state and produces a signal on its Q output line.

This signal is provided via line 254 to the margin counter to inhibit the margin counter, and is also provided via line 252 to the print enable flip-flop 254 as a "start" signal. Flipflop flop 254 is D
It is a type flip-flop, and its clock lead 253 is connected from the AND gate 290 in the center right side of FIG.
is clocked by a signal applied to the

This AND gate 290 receives an enable input on its lower lead and is enabled by a pulse from sensor A received on line 298. This AND gate actually sends the pulses from sensor A to the clock input of flip-flop 254. Thus, the first pulse generated at sensor A by thin line 166 on the code disk, together with the "start" signal on line 252, causes flipflop 254 to change state. A subsequent clock pulse from sensor A also times the subsequent operation of flip-flop 254. This operation of flip-flop 254 changes the state of Q output line 256 and Q output line 274. At the same time, a "quotient state" signal on line 256 is applied to one input of another NAND gate 260. The other input of the NAND gate is also high because it is connected to the Q output of another D-type flip-flop 258, which is now cleared. The output of dot row force counter gate 260 enables dot row counter 262.

The function of the counter is to count the line of dots being printed and the spacing between character lines;
ROM code converter 2/02 via 66 and 266
and causes converter 202 to provide that information via AND gate 272 and intensifier 314 to brush 106 and to needle 68. Of course, neither AND gate 272 will produce a proper output signal unless both inputs of AND gate 272 are in the same state. One input of each gate 272 is connected to the output of a three-input positive NAND gate 270.

The output of the gate 270 is connected to the input leads (274 and 276
) enable each of the AND gates 272 when the signals of each of the AND gates 272 are in the correct state. The signal on line 274 is in the proper state when flip-flop 254 is set to enable printing. Lead 276 is connected to one of multiplexer circuits 282 (located on the lower right side of FIG. 9).
The multiplexer constantly receives the pulses generated by sensors A, B, and C through thin wires 166', as will be explained further below. Gate 270 is therefore enabled repeatedly by the timing pulses generated by thin line 166, but only during short periods of these pulses. These timing pulses are also applied from line 284 to line 263 to dot row counter 262.

The dot row counter counts this timing pulse and therefore steps through its address routine and counts the number of dot rows that are being printed. Since each character has 7 dots in the vertical direction, the counter for this dot row will step by 7 pulses,
The combination of outputs on lines 264, 266 and 268 is repeatedly changed to sequentially address ROM code converter 202. During the eighth count, line 271 of the dot row counter goes "high".

This inhibits gate 270 and sends an enable signal via "clear" line 277 to flip-flop 2.
58. This flip-flop 258 does not actually change its state at this time. This is because the flip-flop is an O-type device and requires a clock pulse at its clock input in order for it to be able to change state. The signal on line 271 is also sent to character line counter 278, causing it to advance by one count. Character line spacing selection flipflop 258 clock output line 257
is actually line 264 because it selects the spacing between character lines.
or connected to 268.

Line 264 is energized when counter 262 counts to 2, and line 268 is energized when counter 262 counts to 5.
It is activated when the count is reached. If a character line corner of 2 was selected by connecting line 257 to line 264, then on the ninth count by dot line counter 262 line 264 goes high, which is a flip-flop. .

258. If a character line spacing of 5 were selected, the same operation would occur at a count of 12 instead of 9.

Next character discussion flip-flop When flop 258 is set, its Q
The output becomes high, and the one-shot multivibrator 261 of the memory control circuit 206 in the upper left part of FIG.
Gives a signal to activate.

This one-shot multivibrator generates pulses which are applied to the discussion/write line 224 through gates 219, 220 and 222 for reading information for another character from memory 200. It should be noted that the information for the first character already appears on the output leads of memory 200 because it is the first information stored in memory 200. Flippoof Flop 2
Setting 58 causes its Q output to be in a low state,
This causes the output of gate 260 to go high and resets all outputs of dot row counter 262 to zero.

The resulting low signals on lines 271 and 277 reset flip-flop 258 and re-enable gate 270 to allow the next character to be printed. The dot row counter 262 now starts anew counting the timing pulses received via line 263, and printing of the next character in the column begins.

The next character is printed in the same manner as the first character, and the process is repeated until a character has been printed in each of the 12 or 24 character lines to be printed. In this way, one column of characters is completed. Character Line Counter The signal on the output lead 271 from the dot line counter 262 is also provided to a character line counter 278, which counter 278 counts the number of character lines printed in the printhead's pass across the lilac vapor strip. Count the number of.

Two separate connections are made to the character line counter 278, one that allows the internal circuitry to count up to the IZ character line and the other that allows it to count up to 24 characters; is arbitrarily selected by the user. If 12 character lines are to be printed, then
After the Z-threaded character is printed on a particular print head, character line counter 278 provides an output signal on line 280 to AND gate 282, which outputs a signal from flip-flop 236 to line 240. also receives input via , so fritzboo flop 254 is now cleared. This disables the printer until it is time to start the next vertical character column when the next printhead is in position to start printing. Dot timing dot timing circuit 210 is multiplexer 282
In addition to the shelf synchronization counter 212, a data selection counter 214 and a counter 288 for dividing by 117 are provided.

Multiplexer 282 has its input lines 291 and 29
2 to connect separate input signals to output leads 284 and 286.

The following table describes the operation of multiplexer 282. The comb synchronization word is in the state (1 triset.

Data selection circuit 214 includes a pair of JK type flip-flops 304 and 306.

When the first pulse from counter 288 dividing by 117 changes the state of flip-flop 304, this changes the data on output lines 284 and 286 based on the table above.

When the next pulse is received from circuit 288, the state of second flip-flop 306 is changed and line 2
The data for 84 and 286 change again based on the table above. In this way, first the A signal, then the B signal, and then the C signal are applied to the circuit to control printing. Now the 8th
Referring to the figure, the "column sync" signal occurs at the hour mark, and the sensor timing signal starts slightly later at the time mark. Now, with particular reference to the B sensor waveform of FIG. 8, it will be apparent that sensor B begins generating timing pulses at time t2. Referring again to FIG. 9, the pulse from sensor B is provided to a counter 288 which divides by 117 via multiplexer output lead 286. Printing by needle head A ends at time et al. (FIG. 8) when the character line counter clears the print enable flip-flop 254. When counter 288 has counted 117 pulses (1/3 of the 351 pulses caused by thin mark 166 on the disk), counter 288 generates an output signal which
one input of the gate, and the other input of the gate is connected to the Q line of flip-flop 300. Therefore this asodogate 294 is enabled and line 2
A signal is sent through 96 to clear the character line counter 278. This removes the output of the character line counter on line 280, thereby disabling AND gate 282, causing print enable flip-flop 254 to change state and causing printhead B to print another character column 0. start. This occurs a short time later. The needle head B prints characters from time t4 to time t6.

At time k', the character line counter again operates to stop printing. Meanwhile, a timing pulse from sensor C is being applied to counter 288 from time to time. When counter 288 generates an output again after counting 117 pulses from sensor C, the third stylus head is ready to start printing at t7 and the character line counter is At this point, printing continues until printing is stopped. Then the column sync pulse occurs again at to,
The printing process is repeated again for another rotation of rotor 28. This is repeated many times until all the information in the memory 200 has been read out and printed. While information is being read from memory 200, shift register 232
Shifts only the same shift as each of the memory shift registers.

Circuitry (not shown) is provided to provide a pulse on line 234 to return flip-flop 236 to its initial state when register 232 is full, deenergizing motor drive circuit 208 and stopping the motor. There is. This circuit resets any previously set shift registers or flipflops to prepare the circuit for the next print run. Repeating Printing If it is desired to repeat the same printing process to produce duplicate copies of a document, this can be easily accomplished as follows.

Before loading memory, “
The "R STROBE" input and the "R" input to the shift register of memory 200 are connected together and to a source of a low state signal.The shift register of memory 200 does not read data destructively; The same is true for shift register 232. Therefore, in this mode of operation, the printer prints the same document as many times as desired. Automatic blackness control circuit According to another feature of the invention, an automatic blackness control circuit 215 is provided.

The circuit includes a one-shot multivibrator tachometer 308 whose output is provided to an integrator circuit 310 whose output is multiplied by a linear multiplier 312. The output of the intensifier 312 is applied to the input of an intensifier 314 to increase or decrease the voltage applied to the needle according to the speed of the rotor. The pulses provided via line 284 have a frequency that is directly proportional to the speed of the rotor.

This is because these pulses are fine pulses generated one after another by lines 166 at sensors A, B, and C. The output pulse of the tachometer 308 is constant. This is because some of them are determined only by the characteristics of the multipiperator. However, since the time between pulses varies with rotor speed, the output of integrator 310 varies directly with rotor speed.
This increases or decreases the output of intensifier 312 and intensifier 314. For example, in a preferred embodiment of the invention that has been assembled and successfully tested, the voltage applied to the needle was 50 volts at a printing speed of 500 characters per second. . Print speed is 30 per second
For 00 characters and the same number of character lines and the same line spacing, the needle voltage was 70 volts. The blackness and readability of printed characters are improved by a circuit that automatically controls the blackness.
The rotor speed remains at a relatively constant level despite wide variations.

As a demonstration example, if the rotor is simply turned by hand at a very slow speed and
Very satisfactory printing was achieved for speeds up to 000 characters. It should be understood that a speed of 3000 characters per second is not considered an upper speed limit for this device.

Although this speed varies depending on the number of lines of characters being printed, etc., a significant advantage of the present invention is that speeds of up to 3,000 characters per second can be achieved at relatively low cost and with a simple and compact machine. It is. Applications and Modifications It is clear that the present invention has wide utility in printing alphanumeric characters.

For example, the present invention may be particularly useful for making "hard copies" from cathode ray tubes or TV screens at computer terminals or elsewhere. The "pages" of data that appear on a cathode ray tube screen at any given time can easily be printed as a group. The pudding of the present invention is small in size (for example, 4 inches).
x 10 arc x 20 ca (8 inches or less), so it can be installed in the same module with multiple cathode ray tube display screens. The present invention can be effectively used in many applications where small external dimensions are important.

For example, the present invention is useful on aircraft, spacecraft, police cars, fire trucks, and other emergency vehicles. The printer of the present invention is believed to make an excellent low cost, reliable stock quote printer, especially when operated in a mode in which the printout consists of a single line of characters.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the logic circuitry of a convenience terminal may be used to replace some of the control circuitry shown in FIG.

Alternatively, a general purpose computer can be specifically programmed to generate the printer control signals. Although it is preferred in the present invention to use an electrical discharge process, the rotor's three printheads can have other configurations.

One is to use a group of pushrods instead of needles for each head. In such embodiments,
Each push rod is actuated by an electromagnet to strike an ink-filled glue stick or the like to form characters in the form of a dot matrix on ordinary vapor. Apparatus for forming dots from ink can similarly be used to form characters by dots on ordinary vapor. The number of print heads on the rotor can be varied as can the number of needles in each head. However, it has been found that there is a distinct advantage in using three print heads, with each head printing one character field per pass. It is evident in FIG. 3 that there is a slight variation from left to right in the starting points of the top and bottom rows of print. This is because the recording paper is continuously moved as the rotor rotates, and this means that the starting position of the last character line is shifted longitudinally by a small amount from the starting position of the first character line. It means to be able to do something. It has conveniently been found that this small amount of skew is usually acceptable and does not need to be compensated for in data printers. However, if a skew occurs in a particular use of the printer, this skew can be compensated for as shown in FIG. Figure 13 shows
As shown in the accompanying drawings, except that the direction of vapor feed is at an angle of 204 minutes from the longitudinal axis of the printer, which angle is sufficient to compensate for the skew caused by the printer. 1 is a schematic plan view of the printer of FIG.

Of course, this compensation angle 8 can be varied as required if changes are made to the number of heads and/or the number of diagonal wires. A mechanical device for aligning the print over the three heads, namely cam wheels 158 and 160.
Although a mechanical device has been described that makes adjustments by turning the , this same adjustment can be made by purely electronic means.

In this variation, each head's print start is adjusted by adjusting a counter that allows that head to advance or lag the print by a certain amount compared to other heads. The same function can be achieved by However, with current technology, it is believed that the mechanical adjustments described above provide better accuracy at a lower cost than that required to obtain the same accuracy by electronic means. Removable Rotor Structure FIG. 14 shows a rotary printer 20 that is substantially identical to the printer shown in the preceding figures except for the rotor structure and vapor grounding structure at the left end of the printer.

14 and 15, three needle heads 420 are secured to the inner surface of rotor 28. Referring now to FIGS.

For clarity, only two heads 420 are shown in FIG. 15, and only one head is shown in FIG. 14. Now, Figures 17 and 18 and Figure 1
4 and 15, each needle head includes five closely spaced parallel needle wires 65 that are molded into needle support 424. Referring to FIGS.

Printed circuit panel 42 fixed to this support 424
6 supplies electrical energy to the needle. This assembly is secured to an L-shaped slide member 428. The member 4
28 slides in the group of mounting blocks 422. An adjustment screw 432 is threadedly engaged with depending lower portion 430 of slide member 428 and is rotatably engaged with body 422 . Therefore, this screw 432
By turning the slide members 428 can be moved and the position of the needles 68 on their bodies can be adjusted. Each of the three needle heads is pivotally connected to rotor 28 by a support structure shown in FIGS. 14 and 19 and described below.

Each needle head 420 has an arm 434 fixed to the body 422 that extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extension of the needle 68.

At the end of this arm 434 there is a large hollow section 436 which is lead-filled or has a heavy metal insert 43.
8 included. This insert 438 provides a relatively large mass for use in centrifugally extending the needle into engagement with the recording vapor 36. Referring now to FIG. 15, each arm 434 has a tension spring 454 attached to it and its other end attached to a pin 456 which extends parallel to the drive shaft 48.

The connection point between spring 454 and arm 434 is between block 422 and end 436 of arm 434.
The structure operates to automatically retract needle 68 from recording vapor 36 when the rotational speed of rotor 28 falls below some predetermined minimum speed, such as 500 revolutions per minute.

The tension spring rotates printhead 420 clockwise about a pivot axis indicated at 452. This moves the needle away from the vapor 36. When rotor 28 begins to rotate, centrifugal force acts on heavy insert 438 at the end of arm 434, tensioning the spring and turning arm 434 counterclockwise.

When the desired speed is reached, needle 68 engages the surface of recording vapor 36. A stop structure is provided to prevent increased rotational speed from compressing the needle 68 too much against the vapor 36. This stop structure is a cam 458 (Fig. 15).
and a screw 460. Body 42 of each print head
The trailing edge of 2 engages the cam to stop counterclockwise rotation of the print head due to centrifugal force and stabilize the position of needle 68 in the desired alignment. This position is screw 460
It can be changed by rotating. Adjusting the Needle The degree to which the needle 68 is moved in the radial direction is determined by turning the screw 432 to adjust the needle or to compensate for the initial position of the needle or the wear of the needle, as explained above. Adjustment can be made by simply moving the valve outward or retracting it inward.

Each needle head 420 is also axially adjustable (parallel to drive shaft 48) by structures shown in detail in FIGS. 19 and 14.

An adjustment screw 412 with a head is provided on the outer surface of the rotor disk 28. This screw 412
has a smooth shaft 446 that is ferrolocked to and slides within a sleeve 448;
8 acts as a bearing for the shaft 446 and the inner surface of the block 422. As shown in FIG. 17, block 422 has a large hole 442 into which a sleeve 448 is fitted, and a small screw in plate 440 (FIG. 18) attached to one side of the needle head. A hole 444 is provided. Referring again to FIG. 19, the screw is held in place by a snap ring 45 which is fitted to a group at the end of shaft 446. Shaft 446 has a threaded end 452 that fits into threaded hole 444 . Adjustment of the head is simply made by inserting a screwdriver into a slot in the head 412 of the adjustment screw and turning it.

This is done in block 4 so that each print head is aligned in the vertical direction.
22 and the disk 28. This helps ensure that each character printed by the printer is properly spaced from the characters printed by each of the other stylus heads. Mounting and Removing the Rotor The rotor 28 is mounted to the shaft 48 by the structure shown in FIG.

A hub 400 is provided. Rotor 28 is secured to the hub by four screws 402 (FIG. 16). hub 4
Fixed to the other end of 00 is a slip ring disc 104, which makes electrical contact with the printer's electrical circuitry, as will be explained in detail below. A stop 108 is provided on the shaft. The hap 40 has a central concave ear in which a pin 456 is located. These are the pins to which spring 454 is attached. Note that the first
Referring to Figure 4, the hap 400 has a recessed window 457 at its rear.
A compression spring 459 is inserted into the concave ear.

This compression spring supports against the stop member 108 and the hub 400 and pushes the rotor outwardly away from the shaft 48 to assist in removing the rotor. Now, the first
Referring to FIG. 6, rotor 28 is secured to the end of drive shaft 48 by a latch mechanism. The latch mechanism includes a latch plate 404 with two vertical end tabs 406;
Tab 406 can be pressed to slide 04. Member 404 is secured to the outer surface of rotor 28 by a pair of glue pet 410, and rivets 410 retain slide member 404 in a pair of elongated slots. A warped washer is provided between the rivet head and the slide member to ensure a constant frictional engagement between the slide member 404 and the face of the rotor to hold the slide member in the position from which it is moved. (not shown) is placed.
The slide member 404 has a slot with a large hole 408 whose diameter is slightly larger than the weave of the drive shaft 48 . The drive shaft 48 has a circumferential group 418
(FIG. 14), in which the edge of the slide section 404 is fitted into the slot to rest on the end of the shaft 48. Therefore, simply by sliding the slide member 404 downward as shown in FIG. 16, the slide member disengages from the shaft end and the disk can be removed.

Spring 459 then pushes the rotor outward to assist in rotor removal. When replacing the rotor, the end of shaft 48 is inserted through hole 408 and slide member 404 is pushed upwardly to re-engage the slide member with the shaft end and lock the rotor in place.

The rotor mounting and needle adjustment structure described above is very advantageous. When it is desired to remove the rotor from the printer, or alternatively when it is desired to begin threading a new strip of recording paper through the printer, the needle is retracted and removed from engagement with the recording paper. Therefore, the needle 68 does not cause any obstruction. Additionally, the proper print speed is reached more quickly than off-print because wear of the needle against the vapor is not present until the desired minimum operating speed is reached. The apparatus includes means for adjusting the needle in all directions without removing the rotor from the printer. This adjustment can be easily made by turning the screw 412 exposed at the open left end of the printer. A simple mechanical means is also provided to adjust the effective length of the needle by simply turning the screw 432. This facilitates initial alignment of the needles to create a properly aligned, easy-to-follow print.
Two of the three photocells and their associated electronic circuitry used in the embodiment described above with respect to FIGS. It can be eliminated by providing mechanical adjustment depending on the use. The rotor was made easy to remove by providing a simple slide latch as shown in FIG. Ease of removal was increased through the use of spring 459. Alternative Vapor Grounding Structure FIG. 14 also shows an alternative structure for grounding the edge vapor 36.

Instead of the curved spring structure 58 described above, the vapor feed wheel 56 is made of metal (eg, steel) and is grounded by brushes 461. This brush 4
61 contacts the end of the shaft 96 on which the wheel 56 is mounted. This structure provides a convenient rotating ground contact for grounding the recording vapor. This eliminates the wear and friction caused by sliding contacts and reduces vapor spillage. Furthermore, the wheels 56 are made of metal instead of rubber.
This is achieved by crimping wheel 56 against wheel 98 during a substantial period of rest.
Prevents 6 from being dented. Materials and Specifications Specifications for some materials and components of printers constructed and successfully tested in accordance with the present invention are set forth below.

Appropriate recording materials are readily available. Suitable vapors coated with a black opaque material and then coated with either aluminum or zinc oxide are available from FitzC., Scranton, Pennsylvania. P.
1. and AtlanTollnduetries are available. The preferred vapor has a total thickness of 0.05 (0.0
02 inches). Aluminum coated vapor is preferred. That's what it means. This is because it typically requires only low needle pressure to vaporize this vapor'aluminum coating and exude the black material underneath. The needles used successfully were 0.175 mm (0.00 inch) in diameter;
They were spaced approximately 0.4 ribs (0.016 inches) apart from center to center.

The desired spacing of dots on the vapor is approximately 0.4 cap in both horizontal and vertical directions. However, the o of the rotor
It should be noted that, depending on the rotation, the vertical spacing of the dots is sometimes small. When printing text, this sometimes improves printing in that it tends to join the dots together into solid vertical lines. The material of the needle is thoriated tungsten.

The most desirable angle range between the needle and platen is 60 to 7
00 (see Figure 6). In order to achieve low cost and light weight, it is preferable that the printer body be molded from plastic as much as possible.

Thus, while the main drive shaft 48 is made of metal, the body 24 and many other parts are molded from a plastic material, such as glass fiber filled polystyrene, which has good strength and wear properties. The platen 26 is preferably molded from glass fiber filled "SAN" (styrene-acrylonitrile polymer) or from glass fiber filled "L" polycarbonate plastic material or nylon.

Platens made of glass fiber-filled SAN that are 30% shorter (e.g. less than 0.7 skin (1/32 inch) long) are non-conductive and the needles are made of a very stiff material. Nevertheless, it has been found to have excellent properties in that even if the needle is subjected to erosion, it does not wear out significantly.

A direct current motor known to be suitable for driving the present printer is manufactured by Coleman Co. It is part number FYOM-63200-51 manufactured by.

The motor is 315 mm (1.26 inches) in diameter and 4.8 mm (1.95 inches) long. Its operating pressure is 12 volts DC and 440 volts. P. 72 meters (1 oz. inch) at 1.3 amps
It has an output torque of Optical sensors 1 4 used to sense marks on timing disc 54
6 is manufactured by Optr Hada Corporation.

This sensor is called an “optical switch” and has part number OBP.
It is 800. A similar device manufactured by Spectmnic, part number PNSPX1872S, is also suitable. This sensor was modified by simply adding a mask as described above. The code used to encode the characters is a well-known code called "ASCII".

This is advantageous because code converters for use with such codes are readily available. In the electric control circuit shown in FIG. 9, some parts are specifically specified as follows.

These parts are readily available from a number of different companies unless otherwise indicated. Parts Specifications ROM Converter Si Liuetics Corp. 2512 “Character Generator” manufactured by 202 and shifted in memory 2oo operating in ASCIIO code
Fukuregister 232 with register and shift data recirculation characteristics Integrated circuit shift register 25291I Free Sobu-Flo So 74S Integrated circuit O type (Flip I'
236, 251, 254, puflop) bistable multi 258 noiplator n flipp-
Flotsu 7yama S7 Beni-K type integrated circuit (Hupu I1300,
302, 304, Rip-Flop) Bistable Ma 306
Multi-bractor multiplexer 2
82 Integrated circuit multiplexer type 74153 Do, Soto row counter Connected as a circuit to divide by 16 262
Integrated circuit 4-bit counter Margin counter 246 7 connected as a circuit for dividing by 2
Rainbow S90 integrated circuit counter character line counter 278 74S74 flipflop connected to input as divide by 2 circuit SI9
Achievement circuit counter gate 270 7427 integrated circuit and Noah gate integrator 310 A7 with capacitive feedback
41 calculation differential intensifier one-shot, Soto Takome 74SI2
1 integrated circuit one-shotter 308 Tomano Rechino Ibrator and Gate 272 integrated circuit?
403 NAND gate gate 222, 282, 294, integrated circuit 74 S thigh and gate 290 counter 286 Two 74 SI 93 Minato mirror circuits connected as a circuit to divide by 117 counter OR gate 218, 219, 74 SOZ integrated circuit NOR gate 220 of the above of the present invention The description is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a front perspective view of a printer configured according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the printer of FIG. 1, with the vapor guide body lifted and some vapor removed; The figure shows a part of the recording vapor strip used in the printer shown in Fig. 1, and shows a part of the recording vapor strip that holds a printed reproduction material actually made outside of this printer. The figure is an exploded front perspective view of the printer shown in Figure 1, Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in Figure 1, and Figure 6 is a direction taken along line 6-6 in Figure 5. The first thing I saw in
A front view showing the rotor of the equipment shown in the figure, Figure 7 is the same as Figures 1 to 5.
8 is a front view, partially schematically shown, of the diamond-backed timing disc shown in FIG. 8; FIG. 8 is a set of waveform diagrams illustrating the operation of the timing disc and its associated electronic circuitry;
9 and 10 are diagrams showing the electrical control circuits of the printer shown in FIGS. FIG. 13 is a partially schematic top view of another embodiment of the invention; FIG. 14 is a partially sectional side view of another embodiment of the printer of the invention; FIG. The figure is the first
16 is a front view of the rotor 80 shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, and FIG. 17 is a front view of the rotor 80 shown in FIGS. 18 is a front view of the printhead shown in FIG. 17, and FIG. 19 is a side view of one of the printheads of the illustrated printer; FIG. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the structure; 20...Printer, 24...Lotus body, 26.
... Sleeve (platen), 28 ... Rotor, 3
0... Drive motor, 32... Vapor supply device, 34
...Roll, 36 ... Vapor, 38 ... Vapor guide body, 48 ... Shaft, 54 ... Timing disk, 56 ... Drive roller, 62, 64, 66
...needle head, 68...needle. f'G. / f/G2 ''03 F'G. 5 f/○. 4 F'G6 F/G 8 f/○// '/G'2 F/G 9 'ノ○ ＾り'/G ＾wo'/G. '4'/G AFnoG'5'/0. '6 F/6'A''○. '8 F/G. '9

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A needle, a means for supporting the recording sheet, a driving means for causing the needle and the support to rotate relative to each other, and a driving means for causing the needle and the support to rotate relative to each other, and the needle to be brought into contact with the sheet by centrifugal force during the rotational movement. A needle positioning means that positions the needle near the support and moves the needle away from the support when the rotation speed is below a predetermined range, and the rotation speed below the predetermined range refers to the above-mentioned rotation speed. needle positioning means, the contact between the needle and the recording sheet or its support means being sufficient to allow the drive means to reach a substantial speed of rotational movement without any resistance; The needle positioning means includes a rotor 28, a plurality of support arms 434, each mounted for movement on the rotor about a shaft 446, and each supporting arm 434, each fixing at least one needle in a position remote from the shaft. ,
It is characterized by comprising an elastic means 454 that pulls each of the arms 434 back toward the rotor rotation axis in a direction away from the means for supporting the recording sheet when the rotational speed of the rotor 28 falls below a predetermined range. Rotary device.