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US 2009/0214281 A1Published application
Portable printer and methods
AssigneeAvery Dennison Corporation
InventorsJames A. Makley, John D. Mistyurik, Larri B. Williams
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This is disclosed a portable printer that is easy to load with an ink ribbon cartridge and record members web supplies, that is simple, has relatively few parts, is lightweight and has a small footprint.
Claims30
1:
- An ink ribbon cartridge for use in a printer for printing on a web of record members, the ink ribbon cartridge comprising:
- an ink ribbon cartridge frame capable of holding a supply of ink ribbon and spent ink ribbon, and
- a tear edge on the frame capable of tearing off the web.
2:
- An ink ribbon cartridge as defined in claim 1, including
- a supply spool to mount a roll of the ink ribbon supply,
- a take-up spool to mount a roll of the spent ink ribbon,
- a supply frame portion to mount the supply spool,
- a take-up frame portion to mount the take-up spool, the supply and take-up frame portions being spaced apart, wherein the record members are movable along an exit path,
- a pair of spaced apart grippers on the ink ribbon cartridge frame, and a pair of spaced apart gripper arms disposed outboard of the path and cooperable with the grippers.
3 more elements
3:
- A printer, comprising:
- a print head assembly including a print head capable of printing on a web of record members,
- a path for an ink ribbon web from a supply roll, into cooperation with the print head and to a take-up roll,
- an ink ribbon guide disposed on the print head assembly and capable of guiding the ink ribbon web, and
- the guide being manually adjustable while the ink ribbon web is moving.
2 more elements
4:
- A printer as defined in claim 3, wherein the printer includes
- a housing, wherein the print head assembly is disposed in the housing, the print head assembly including
- a mounting member, the print head being mounted on the mounting member, wherein the ink ribbon guide is mounted on the mounting member, the ink ribbon guide comprising:
- a guide plate with a curved portion capable of contacting the ink ribbon,
- a pivot to mount the guide plate for pivotal movement,
- an adjusting screw to cause relative movement between the mounting member and the ink ribbon guide, and the screw being rotatable from outside the housing to adjust the guide to facilitate wrinkle-free advance of the ink ribbon web along the ink ribbon path.
3 more elements
5:
- Method, comprising:
- providing a printer having a housing and a print head assembly with a print head and an ink ribbon guide plate adjacent the print head, an ink ribbon path for an ink ribbon from a supply roll, into cooperation with the print head, about the ink ribbon guide plate and to a take-up roll, the housing having a front portion and a back portion, wherein the ink ribbon guide plate is at the front portion of the housing, and
- adjusting the guide plate through the back portion of the housing while the ink ribbon is moving.
6:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing have first and second housing sections movable between closed and open positions, the housing being capable of receiving a web of record members in roll form in the open position,
- a print head mounted on the first housing section,
- a platen roll cooperable with the print head and mounted on the second housing section to print on the web of record members, and
- a toggle mechanism on the second housing section capable of drawing the print head and the platen roll relatively toward each other into printing pressure cooperation.
2 more elements
7:
- A printer as defined in claim 6, wherein the record members are issued along a path from an exit opening in the housing, wherein the toggle mechanism includes spaced gripper arms that straddle the path of the record members.
8:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing having relatively movable first and second housing sections,
- a print head mounted on the first housing section,
- a platen roll cooperable with the print head and mounted on the second housing section,
- a label roll holder on the second housing section capable of mounting a supply roll of a composite web comprised of labels releasably adhered to a carrier web, and
- a toggle mechanism on the second housing section capable of drawing the print head and the platen roll relatively toward each other into printing pressure cooperation.
3 more elements
9:
- A printer as defined in claim 8, including a third housing section comprising an ink ribbon cartridge received on the first housing section,
- wherein the carrier web is movable past the print head where labels are printed in succession,
- a delaminator capable of delaminating printed labels from the carrier web,
- the toggle mechanism including
- a pair of spaced apart grippers on the ink ribbon cartridge,
- the first housing section providing an exit path for the printed labels, and the toggle mechanism further including a pair of gripper arms disposed outboard of the exit path and cooperable with the grippers.
3 more elements
10:
- A printer, comprising:
- a main housing section, the main housing having a front door, the front door being pivotably mounted for movement between closed and open positions,
- a platen roll mounted on the front door,
- a print head mounted on the main housing section and cooperable with the platen roll to print on a web of record members, the platen roll being movable into cooperation with the print head when the door is moved to its closed position and being movable out of cooperation with the print head when the door is moved to its open position,
- an ink ribbon cartridge frame capable of holding an ink ribbon supply roll and a spent ink ribbon roll, and
- a toggle mechanism on the door engageable with the ink ribbon cartridge frame and capable of drawing the print head and the platen roll relative to each other into printing pressure cooperation.
3 more elements
11:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing having housing sections relatively movable between an open position in which a roll of record members can be inserted into or removed from space within the housing and a closed operating position,
- a roll holder on the housing capable of mounting a web roll of record members,
- a print head and a cooperable platen roll disposed on the housing and capable of printing on the record members,
- the roll holder including holder members between which the web roll is held, the holder further including first and second racks coupled to a pinion enabling movement of the holder members in unison toward and away from each other,
- a third rack connected to one of the first and second racks, and
- a gear meshing with the third rack and capable of moving the holder members slightly apart during relative movement of the housing sections to the closed position.
4 more elements
12:
- A printer as defined in claim 11,
- including at least one spring normally urging the holder members together.
13:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing having first and second housing sections relatively movable between open and closed positions,
- a print head mounted on the first housing section,
- a platen roll mounted on the second housing section and cooperable with the print head in the closed position, the platen roll including a platen shaft having a gear,
- a drive assembly for the platen roll, the drive assembly being capable of driving the platen roll and being mounted on the first housing section, the drive assembly including an electric motor and gearing driven by the electric motor, the drive assembly further including a mounting plate for the electric motor and the gearing, the mounting plate having an open guide slot, the platen shaft being guided by the guide slot to guide the gear into meshing engagement with the gearing when the housing sections are moved relative to each other to the closed position.
2 more elements
14:
- A printer as defined in claim 13, wherein the second housing section comprises a front door, wherein the platen roll is disposed at the upper region of the front door, wherein the lower region of the front door is pivotably mounted to first housing section, and wherein the guide slot has a converging opening.
15:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing,
- a print head mounted in the housing and capable of printing on a web of record members,
- an ink ribbon cartridge frame mountable to the housing and capable of holding an ink ribbon supply roll and a spent ink ribbon roll, the ink ribbon cartridge frame being insertable to an operating position in the housing and removable from the housing,
- a movably mounted holder,
- a registration device including at least one of a light source and a sensor carried by the holder and cooperable with the web,
- the ink ribbon cartridge frame being engageable with the holder to move the registration device into cooperating relationship with the web, and the holder being engageable by the ink ribbon cartridge frame to move the registration device out of the way to enable removal of the ink ribbon cartridge frame from the housing.
4 more elements
16:
- A printer for printing on a web of record members movable along a path, the printer comprising:
- a print head capable of printing on the record members,
- a web guide disposed upstream of the print head, the guide comprising a shaft, a pair of spaced side guide members, each side guide member including a hub portion received about the shaft and a guide portion extending outwardly from the hub portion, each side guide member being selectively positionable on the shaft to accommodate record member webs of different widths, the shaft including at least one enlargement between ends of the shaft, and wherein the record member web is capable of being guided in guided relationship with the enlargement(s) and the hub portions.
17:
- A printer as defined in claim 16, including grooves extending along the shaft,
- wherein each side guide member includes at least one spring finger having a projection cooperable with at least one of the grooves to releasably hold the side guide member in a selected position along the shaft, graduations along the shaft to enable the side guide members to be manually positioned to center justify the web with respect to the print head, and wherein the hub portions and the enlargement(s) have the same outside diameters.
18:
- A printer as defined in claim 16, including
- a holder having a pair of relatively movable holder members for mounting the shaft.
19:
- In combination:
- a printer including a housing,
- at least one elongate slot in the housing open to the exterior of the housing, and
- a resilient bumper slidably received in and along the elongate slot and projecting outwardly of the housing, the bumper having at least one projection cooperable with the housing to secure the bumper in the slot.
1 more element
20:
- The combination defined in claim 19, wherein the projection has at least one flange captured in the housing.
21:
- Method, comprising:
- providing a printer having a housing with an elongate slot extending to the exterior of the housing, and
- sliding a resilient bumper partially into and along the slot.
22:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing,
- a support mounted on the housing,
- a print head mounted on the support and capable of printing on a web of record members,
- an ink ribbon cartridge received on the support,
- a movably mounted guide for the web, the guide being movable between an open position and a closed guiding position, the guide being spring-urged to the open position to enable the ink ribbon cartridge to be received on the support, and the ink ribbon cartridge being engageable with the guide to move the guide toward the closed position against the spring-urging.
3 more elements
23:
- A printer as defined in claim 22,
- wherein the support is pivotally mounted,
- wherein the guide is pivotally mounted,
- a spring connected to the support and the guide in an overcenter arrangement to urge the support and the guide either to the open position or the closed position depending on the position of the ink ribbon cartridge relative to the guide.
1 more element
24:
- A printer as defined in claim 22, wherein the support is movable, wherein the ink ribbon cartridge can cam the support and the guide relatively toward each other.
25:
- A printer as defined in claim 22, including a spring connected to the support and the guide in an overcenter arrangement to urge the guide and the support relatively toward each other when the ink ribbon cartridge has moved the guide onto the support.
26:
- A printer, comprising:
- a housing,
- a support mounted on the housing,
- a print head mounted on the support and capable of printing on a web of record members,
- an ink ribbon cartridge received on the support,
- a sensor and/or a light source,
- a movably mounted holder for the sensor and/or the light source, the holder being movable between an open position and a closed sensing position, the holder being spring-urged to the open position to enable the ink ribbon cartridge to be received on the support, and the ink ribbon cartridge being engageable with the holder to move the holder toward the closed position against the spring-urging.
4 more elements
27:
- A printer as defined in claim 26,
- wherein the support is pivotally mounted on the housing,
- a platen roll,
- wherein the support is mounted for movement between a first position located with respect to the platen roll and a second position apart from the platen roll, and
- wherein the support is spring-urged to the second position.
2 more elements
28:
- A printer as defined in claim 22, wherein the ink ribbon cartridge can engage the holder to cause the support and the holder to move relatively toward each other.
29:
- A printer as defined in claim 22, including
- a spring connected to the support and the holder in an overcenter arrangement to urge the holder and the support relatively toward each other when the ink ribbon cartridge has moved sufficiently onto the support.
30:
- A printer comprising:
- a housing,
- a support movably mounted on the housing between operating and non-operating positions, the support being spring-urged to its non-operating position,
- a platen roll mounted on the housing, the support being located with respect to the platen roll in the operating position, and
- a print head yieldably mounted to the support.
2 more elements