Printer with a fixed and an axially movable character ring

A serial printer for printing characters serially in a laterally spaced pattern forming a line of characters on paper, comprising:

• a single reversible motor;
• a first character print ring having print characters peripherally disposed therearound;
• a second character print ring having print characters peripherally disposed therearound;
• gear means for rotating said first and second character print rings in unison when said motor rotates in a first direction;
• means for selecting and positioning a character on each of said character print rings for printing;
• hammer means for pressing said paper between said character print rings and said hammer, whereby said selected character on each of said character print rings is simultaneously printed;
• means for driving said hammer means;
• means for laterally translating at least one of said character print rings from a standby condition, including a carriage for holding said translatable print rings;
• a pulley;
• a wire connected between said pulley and said carriage;
• and means for rotation of said pulley, rotation of said pulley causing said carriage to translate, said means for rotation of said pulley comprising a ratchet wheel connected to said pulley;
• a cam;
• and a pawl driven by said cam, said pawl when driven engaging and advancing said ratchet, whereby said carriage translates to provide a space between serially printed characters.

A serial printer for printing characters serially in a laterally spaced pattern forming a line of characters on paper, comprising:

• a single reversible motor;
• a first character print ring having print characters peripherally disposed therearound;
• a second character print ring having print characters peripherally disposed therearound;
• means for rotating said first and second character print rings in unison when said motor rotates in a first direction, said means for rotating including gears connected to said motor;
• means for selecting and positioning a character on each of said character print rings for printing, said means for selecting and positioning said characters including detecting means for monitoring the rotational position of said character print rings and producing timing signals corresponding to the position of said characters, and further including first ratchet wheels, one first ratchet wheel associated with each of said character print rings, first pawls, one first pawl for intermittent engagement with an associated first ratchet wheel, and solenoids, one solenoid coupled for driving each first pawl against the associated first ratchet wheel, whereby character ring rotation is stopped for printing;
• hammer means for pressing said paper between said character print rings and said hammer means, whereby said selected character on each of said character print rings is simultaneously printed on said paper;
• means for driving said hammer means, said hammer means driving means including first cam means, said first cam means moving in synchronism with said gears, whereby said first cam position and said hammer pressing is synchronized with said rotation of said character print rings;
• means for laterally translating at least one of said character print rings from a standby condition, whereby said laterally spaced pattern of characters can be serially printed, said means for laterally translating including a carriage for holding said translatable print rings, a pulley, and a wire connected between said pulley and said carriage, means for rotation of said pulley, the rotation of said pulley drawing said wire and causing said carriage to translate, said means for rotation of said pulley comprising a second ratchet wheel connected to said pulley, a second cam moving in synchronism with said gears, and a second pawl driven by said second cam, said second pawl engaging and advancing said second ratchet, whereby said carriage translates to provide a space between serially printed characters;
• and
• means for returning said translated character print rings to said standby condition when said motor rotates oppositely to said first direction, said means for returning including a third cam moving in synchronism with said gearing, said third cam causing said second pawl to disengage from said second ratchet wheel on said pulley, whereby said pulley is free to rotate.