Endless drive belt apparatus for processing card tickets with magnetic track
AssigneeElectronique Serge Dassault
InventorMichel M. G. Gaucher
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ticket (1) is driven by an endless belt (10) which is serrated on one surface. The belt engages only a fraction of the width of the ticket. At a print station which includes a dot-matrix print head (145, 146) the ticket passes over a smooth platen roller (150) which includes a portion (152) of reduced diameter in which the belt is received so that its smooth surface comes level with the rest of the cylindrical surface of the platen roller. The print head moves along a generator line of the platen roller, and the roller itself or the drive belt provide the required backing for printing on the ticket.
Claims10
Card ticket processing apparatus including conveyor means for conveying a ticket along a path internal to the apparatus between a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, and a print station at a first point along the said path for printing on the ticket, said conveyor means including an endless drive belt running round a circuit defined by guide wheels, the improvement wherein said belt is serrated and co-operates with each ticket over a fraction of the width of the ticket, and said print station co-operates with a smooth platen roller located at said first point along the said path;
- said smooth roller having a notched portion over which said belt passes, the notched portion being of such a depth that the ticket-contacting surface of the belt is level with the rest of the cylindrical surface of the smooth roller where the belt passes over the roller;
- said print station being movable transversely relative to the belt to enable it to print on a ticket which is backed by a continuous platen surface which is constituted partly by the smooth roller and partly by the belt where it is level with the roller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.