Device for intermittently driving printing rings in a printer

In a device for driving printing character supporting means in a printer having control circuit means for issuing a printing selection command to initiate a printing operation in said printer, a plurality of printing character supporting means rotatable about a first axis, each said plurality of printing character supporting means including printing characters thereon, swingable levers each rotatably supporting the respective printing character supporting means and swingable about a second axis so as to move said printing character supporting means towards and against a platen and away therefrom, driving means for rotating each printing character supporting means about said first axis thereby permitting the respective printing character supporting means to be selectively moved towards and against said platen while the respective printing character supporting means is rotated so as to position a selected one of the printing characters at a printing position in cooperation with said platen upon receipt of said printing selection command from said control circuit of the printer so as to print said selected one of the printing characters to be printed onto a paper held between said printing character supporting means and said platen, the improvement wherein

• each of said printing character supporting means being independent of each other,
• each said printing character supporting means being rotatable by said driving means independently of said other printing character supporting means,
• said printing means being controlled by driving pulses for rotation of said printing character supporting means intermittently to select said selected one of said printing characters and upon receipt of the printing character selection command to stop the rotation of said printing character supporting means and commence the swinging movement of said swingable levers,
• means responsive to a printing signal for swinging said swingable lever supporting said respective printing character supporting means about said second axis for movement thereof towards and against said platen after said driving means has positioned a selected printing character supporting means at a printing position,
• said driving means comprising a pair of plunger-solenoids cooperating with a ratchet wheel secured to a driving shaft for driving said printing character supporting means, said pair of solenoids being driven intermittently and alternatingly by said driving pulses, and
• both said plunger-solenoids being alternately operated by the driving pulse during the operation of non-selection, while, during the operation of selection, only one of said plunger-solenoids is operated by said driving pulses.

In a device for driving printing character supporting means in a printer having control circuit means for issuing a printing selection command to initiate a printing operation in said printer, a plurality of printing character supporting means rotatable about a first axis, each said plurality of printing character supporting means including printing characters thereon, swingable levers each rotatably supporting the respective printing character supporting means and swingable about a second axis so as to move said printing character supporting means towards and against a platen and away therefrom, driving means for rotating each printing character supporting means about said first axis thereby permitting the respective printing character supporting means to be selectively moved towards and against said platen while the respective printing character supporting means is rotated so as to position a selected one of the printing characters at a printing position in cooperation with said platen upon receipt of said printing selection command from said control circuit of the printer so as to print said selected one of the printing characters to be printed onto a paper held between said printing character supporting means and said platen, the improvement wherein

• each of said printing character supporting means being independent of each other,
• each said printing character supporting means being rotatable by said driving means independently of said other printing character supporting means and the coupling relationship between said driving means and said printing character supporting means being maintained at all times thereby insuring the rotation of said printing character supporting means as said driving means rotates,
• said driving means being controlled by driving pulses for rotation of said printing character supporting means intermittently to select said selected one of said printing characters and upon receipt of the printing character selection command to stop the rotation of said printing character supporting means and commence the swinging movement of said swingable levers, and
• means responsive to a printing signal for swinging said swingable lever supporting said respective printing character supporting means about said second axis for movement thereof towards and against said platen after said driving means has positioned a slected printing character supporting means at a printing position, said driving means being stationarily held when said printing character supporting means is operated for the selective printing.