Rolling platen imprinter

An improved apparatus for imprinting characters embossed on cards comprising a substantially flat imprinting base having on its upper surface a card holder for holding a first printing element consisting of a card with at least one line of embossed characters thereon, said base having on its upper surface at least one other printing element;

• a platen carriage mounted for reciprocal movement over said imprinting base and having at least one roller platen mounted rotatably on at least one roller platen axle mounted in said platen carriage, said printing elements being positioned on said base, control means in said platen carriage for controlling the elevation of said roller platens from said base so that said roller platens imprint characters from said printing elements when said platen carriage reciprocates over said imprinting base;
• at least one of said other printing elements having a charge printer for printing a number set by a charge setter, said charge printer comprising a plurality of digit wheels having raised digits on the rims of said wheels, a digit shaft mounting digit wheels so they are oriented in the direction of travel of said platen carriage, and said charge setter comprising means for accurately and reliably rotating and holding each digit wheel in a position where a particular digit faces upwardly thus selecting the digit to be printed;
• and means for clearing said charge printer after said platen carriage travels over said charge printer printing the amount of the charge therefrom;
• wherein said charge setter further comprises a circular array of gear teeth attached to one of the sides of said digit wheels, said gear teeth engaging a pivotally mounted digit wheel gear segment, said gear segment being rotatable about said pivot by motion of a linear link, one end of said link being pivotally attached to said gear segment and the other end of said link being pivotally attached to a digit setter lever, said digit wheel being oriented for printing by positioning rotatably said digit setter lever, a curved digit cover mounted on said base through which said digit setter lever protrudes;
• and
• wherein said clearing mechanism comprises a downwardly directed cam mounted to one end of said platen carriage;
• a detent roller mounted rotatably on a pivoted detent lever and positioned so as to be activated by said cam on said platen carriage to disengage the spring-loaded detent levers from the gears of the digit wheels and to allow their free rotation on their return to zero, after said platen carriage has traveled over said charge printer;
• a clearing lever positioned adjacent and parallel to said charge setter and having one end pivotally mounted on the floor of said apparatus and the other end upwardly supported by a clearing lever spring fixed and held on said floor;
• a vertically oriented arch-shaped clearing lever yoke having two downwardly directed yoke legs, said clearing lever pivotally attached to said clearing lever yoke between said legs, said yoke positioned so that one of the roller guides of said platen carriage abuts and presses down said yoke when said platen carriage reaches the limit of its travel after printing from said charge printer;
• a substantially flat V-shaped clearing bar support pivotally mounted on said charge setter adjacent to the end of said clearing lever supported by said clearing lever spring, one end of said clearing bar support being pivotally connected to the end of said clearing lever supported by said spring;
• a clearing bar positioned perpendicular to and adjacent to each of said gear segments and attached to the end of said clearing bar support not connected to said clearing lever;
• thus when said roller guide abuts against and pushes down said clearing lever yoke, said clearing lever is forced downwardly and said clearing bar support rotates clockwise forcing said clearing bar to press against said gear segments and said digit wheels to rotate freely back to their original zero position thus clearing said charge printer.

An improved apparatus for imprinting characters embossed on cards comprising a substantially flat imprinting base having on its upper surface a first and a second printing element and mounted in the plane of said base a charge printer, said first printing element comprising a card having embossed characters thereon;

• a card holder for holding said card;
• a platen carriage mounted for reciprocal movement of said base over said printing elements and said charge printer;
• a first roller platen and a second roller platen, a first roller platen axle rotatably mounting said first roller platen to said platen carriage and a second roller platen axle rotatably mounting said second roller platen in said platen carriage in parallel transversely offset relation to said first axle;
• said first roller platen positioned to pass over and imprint from said first printing element and said charge printer and said second roller platen positioned to pass over and imprint from said second printing element;
• platen holding means for holding first one and then the other of said roller platens in a lowered position capable of imprinting characters during travel of said platen carriage over said base and simultaneously holding the other roller platen in a raised, idle position;
• shifting means automatically responsive to the travel of the platen carriage across said base for shifting said raised, idle roller platen into a lowered position capable of imprinting characters and said lowered roller platen simultaneously into a raised, idle position;
• adjustment means for adjusting the vertical elevation of each said roller platens separately from the surface of said imprinting base;
• said charge printer comprising a plurality of digit wheels having raised digits on the rim of each of said digit wheels, a digit shift mounting said digit wheels and being oriented in the direction of travel of said platen carriage, means for accurately and reliably rotating and holding each digit wheel to a position in which a particular select digit faces upwardly for printing;
• and a clearing means responsive to platen carriage movement for clearing said charge printer;
• wherein said clearing means comprises a downwardly directed clearing bar cam attached to one end of said platen carriage;
• a detent roller mounted rotatably on a pivoted detent lever and positioned so as to be activated by said cam on said platen carriage to disengage the spring-loaded detent levers from the gears of the digit wheels and to allow their free rotation on their return to zero after said piston carriage has traveled over said charge printer;
• a clearing lever positioned adjacent and parallel to said charge setter and having one end pivotally mounted on the floor of said apparatus and the other and upwardly supported by a clearing lever spring held on said floor and adapted to engage slidably a perpendicular oriented cylindrical shaft;
• a vertically oriented arch-shaped clearing lever yoke having two downwardly directed yoke legs, said clearing lever pivotally attached to said clearing lever yoke between said legs, said yoke positioned so that one of the roller guides of said platen carriage abuts and presses down said yoke when said platen carriage reaches the limit of its travel after printing from said charge printer;
• a substantially flat V-shaped clearing bar support pivotally mounted on said charge setter adjacent to the end of said clearing lever supported by said clearing lever spring, one end of said clearing bar support having said cylindrical shaft attached thereto and said shaft being pivotally engaged by the end of said clearing lever supported by said spring;
• a clearing bar positioned perpendicular to and adjacent to each of said gear segments and attached to the end of said clearing bar support not engaged by said clearing lever;
• thus when said roller guide abuts against and pushes down said clearing lever yoke, said clearing lever is forced downwardly and said clearing bar support rotates clockwise forcing said clearing bar to press against said gear segments and said digit wheels to rotate freely to their original zero position thus clearing said change printer.