Automatically returned paper ball assembly of a printer

Apparatus for setting a sheet of paper in position around a rotatably supported platen roller, comprising:

• a rotatably supported platen roller;
• driving means for rotating said platen roller;
• a paper bail assembly including at least one bail roller, said paper bail assembly being pivotally supported and capable of taking a set position where said bail roller is pressed against said platen roller, a first retracted position wherein said bail roller is separated away from said platen roller and a second retracted position where said bail roller is further separated away from said platen roller, said paper bail assembly being normally biased toward said set position;
• position control means for controlling the position of said paper bail assembly, said position control means being operatively coupled to said paper bail assembly and said platen roller and temporarily holding said paper bail assembly in said first or second retracted position when said paper bail assembly is manually moved thereto;
• detecting means for detecting said paper bail assembly when said paper bail assembly is manually moved to said second retracted position, and for generating a detection signal in response to detecting that the paper bail assembly is at said second retracted position;
• and
• drive control means for controlling said driving means, said drive control means being responsive to said detection signal from said detecting means to cause said driving means to rotate said platen roller first in a normal direction over a first predetermined amount and then in a reverse direction over a second predetermined amount, wherein said rotation of said platen roller in the reversed direction causes said paper bail assembly to return to said set position through an automatic interaction with said position control means.