Media feed and carriage motion mechanism for shuttle-type printers

A mechanism for a shuttle-type printer, the shuttle-type printer having a media feed assembly for transferring a recording media through a printing station and having a printhead supporting carriage mounted at the printing station to move bidirectionally across the media, the mechanism comprising:

• indexing means for controllably advancing the recording media through the printing station to position the media relative to the carriage, the indexing means having first and second complementary components that mechanically mate to incrementally move the media, the first complementary component comprising a slotted indexing wheel having at least one slot being provided on the media feed assembly and the second complementary component comprising a peg pivotally mounted on the carriage to mechanically engage the slot and rotate the slotted indexing wheel;
• and
• single drive means operably connected to the carriage for simultaneously (1) moving the carriage to enable the first and second complementary components to mate, and (2) indexing the media through the printing station when the first and second complementary components mechanically mate;
• the peg being supported in an extended position to slide through the slot and rotate the slotted indexing wheel when the carriage is moved in one direction relative to the indexing wheel, and the peg being pivoted to a retracted position to avoid the slot when the carriage is moved in an opposite direction relative to the indexing wheel.

A shuttle-type printer comprising:

• a media feed assembly to controllably transfer a recording media through a printing station;
• a carriage operably mounted at the printing station to move bidirectionally across the media;
• and
• means mechanically connected to the carriage and media feed assembly for simultaneously (1) moving the carriage and (2) indexing the media through the printing station, said means including a single motor, said means further comprising:
• a slotted indexing wheel mounted to the media feed assembly, the slotted indexing wheel having at least one slot;
• peg pivotally connected to the carriage to slide through the slot and rotate the slotted indexing wheel when the carriage is moved in one direction and to avoid slot when the carriage is moved in an opposite direction;
• the means controllably indexing the media through the printing station as the slotted indexing wheel is rotated.