US3850097A

US3850097A - High speed printers with staggered fonts

Info

Publication number: US3850097A
Application number: US00352162A
Authority: US
Inventors: D Sweeney
Original assignee: Mohawk Data Sciences Corp
Current assignee: Mohawk Data Sciences Corp
Priority date: 1962-03-08
Filing date: 1973-04-18
Publication date: 1974-11-26
Anticipated expiration: 1991-11-26

Abstract

A high speed on-the-fly line printer employs print hammers which span five print positions and which are actuatable in sync with a continuously rotating print drum such that each hammer is adapted to print a character in each of the five print positions which it spans. The print drum has a separate font of type characters for each print position, the fonts associated with any one hammer being staggered about the periphery of the drum such that they scan past the hammer one font at a time (all the types of one font passing the hammer before any type of another font passes the hammer). The hammers are driven by electronic control means which generate hammer firing pulses through comparison of the data to be printed against character codes representing the print drum type characters as they come into alignment with the different print positions. The control means operate to fire each hammer a plurality of times to print a plurality of characters during a single revolution of the print drum. The control means inhibits the generation of hammer firing pulses during passage of alternate type fonts past each hammer, thereby permitting adequate hammer recovery time after each firing and enabling each hammer to print its five characters in less than two complete revolutions of the drum.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Sweeney Nov. 26, 1974 HIGH SPEED PRINTERS WITH [73] Assigneez. Mohawk Data Sciences Corporation,

East Herkimer, NY.

22 Filed: Apr. 18,1973

21 Appl. No.: 352,162

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 178,371, March 8, 1962,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 101/93 C, 197/49, 178/32, 340/172.5, 235/619 [51] Int. Cl B4lj 5/00 [58] Field of Search 101/93 C, 99, 110,94;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 373,508 11/1887 Wiley 178/32 X 1,838,584 12/1931 Smith 101/94 1,933,650 11/1933 Bascom 340/318 2,658,106 11/1953 Hell 178/30 2,757,605 8/1956 Dumey 101/93 C 2,796,830 6/1957 Hilton 101/93 C 2,915,967 12/1959 Gehring et a1. .1 101/93 C 2,926,602 3/1960 MacDonald et al7 101/93 C 2,949,846 8/1960 Hoffman et a1. 101/93 C 2,978,977 4/1961 Eckert et a1. 101/93 C 3,024,723 3/1962 Wasserman 101/93 C 3,128,693 4/1964 Thiemann 101/93 C 3,158,090 11/1964 Wasserman 101/93 C 3,220,343 11/1965 Wasserman 101/93 C Print Command Wilkins et al. 101/93 C Wasserman l0I/93 C Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-E. H. Eickholt Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert R. Hubbard; Richard H. Smith [57] ABSTRACT A high speed on-the-fly line printer employs print hammers which span five print positions and which are actuatable in sync with a continuously rotating print drum such that each hammer is adapted to print a character in each of the five print positions which it spans. The print drum has a separate font of type characters for each print position, the fonts associated with any one hammer being staggered about the periphery of the drum such that they scan past the hammer one font at a time (all the types of one font passing the hammer before any type of another font passes the hammer). The hammers are driven by electronic control means which generate hammer firing pulses through comparison of the data to be printed against character codes representing the print drum type characters as they come into alignment with the different print positions. The control means operate to fire each hammer a plurality of times to print a plurality of characters during a single revolution of the print drum. The control means inhibits the generation of hammer firing pulses during passage of alternate type fonts past each hammer, thereby permitting adequate hammer recovery time after each firing and enabling each hammer to print its five characters in less than two complete revolutions of the drum.

19 Claims, 34 Drawing Figures Pulse Gen System filming Dotcl Comparison and Gate Circuit s Dotu SHEET 01 u; 23

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Claims

1. A printer comprising: a print wheel bearing two fonts of character types on different sectors of the wheel and in different columns of its circumferential surface; a hammer having a face positioned to strike against said character types and having a width sufficient to span each column; means for rotating said print wheel so that the fonts pass by the hammer face one at a time sequentially; means for actuating said hammer when a selected character type in either of said fonts is in striking position; and means for inhibiting the operation of said actuating means during the passage of one of said fonts for at least those wheel revolutions in which the actuating means is operated to actuate said hammer during the passage of the other of said fonts.

2. A printEr comprising: a print wheel bearing two pluralities of character types on different sectors of the wheel and in different columns of its circumferential surface; a hammer having a face positioned to strike against said character types and having a width sufficient to span each column; means for rotating said print wheel so that the character type pluralities pass by the hammer face one at a time sequentially; means for actuating said hammer when a selected character in either of said pluralities is in striking position; and means for inhibiting the operation of said actuating means during the passage of one of said pluralities for at least those wheel revolutions in which the actuating means is operated to actuate said hammer during the passage of the other of said pluralities.

3. In a high speed printer, a type carrier assembly including: a movable type carrier adapted to support a plurality of printing type arranged in rows in the direction of movement; a plurality of printing hammers supported in positions to strike the printing type, each of the printing hammers including a head portion arranged to span at least two rows of the printing type; circuit means to actuate the printing hammers in accordance with a predetermined logic; the two rows spanned by a head portion comprising: a first plurality of printing type positioned in one row; a second plurality of like printing type positioned in the other of the two rows; and one printing type in the first plurality being displaced relative to the corresponding printing type in the second plurality by a distance at least equal to the length of one of said pluralities of printing type, so that the head portion of the associated printing hammer can strike any of the printing type in the first plurality before striking any of the printing type in the second plurality; and inhibit means for preventing said circuit means from actuating said hammers for the duration of hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals for each hammer occurring at least after it has been actuated during the passage by it of the type plurality in one of its associated rows and each said recovery interval lasting until the type plurality in the other of its associated rows has passed it by.

4. In a high speed printer, a type carrier assembly including: a movable carrier means adapted to support a plurality of printing type arranged in rows extending in the direction of movement of the carrier means; a plurality of printing hammers supported in positions to strike the printing type, each of the printing hammers including a head portion arranged to span at least two rows of the printing type; a circuit means to actuate the printing hammers in accordance with a predetermined logic; the two rows spanned by a head portion comprising: all the printing type in one of the two rows being arranged sequentially in a linear group with a space after the end of the group at least equal to the length of the group; all the printing type in the other of the two rows being arranged sequentially in a linear group similar to the arrangement in the one of the two rows; and the two groups of printing type being displaced in the direction of movement of the carrier means so that the second-mentioned group is positioned adjacent the space after the first-mentioned group, so that the head portion of the associated printing hammer can strike each printing type in the first-mentioned group before striking any printing type in the second-mentioned group; and inhibit means for preventing said circuit means from actuating said hammers for the duration of hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals for each hammer occurring at least after it has been actuated during the passage by it of the plurality of printing type in one of its associated rows and each said recovery interval lasting until the plurality of printing type in the other of its associated rows Has passed it by.

5. In a high speed printer, a type carrier assembly including: a movable carrier means adapted to support a plurality of printing type arranged in rows extending in the direction of movement of the carrier means; a plurality of printing hammers supported in positions to strike the printing type, each of the printing hammers including a head portion arranged to span at least three rows of the printing type; circuit means to actuate the printing hammers in accordance with a predetermined logic; the three rows spanned by a head portion comprising: all the printing type in each respective row being arranged sequentially in a linear group with a space after each group at least equal to twice the length of the group, the spacing between the types within said groups being equal to the spacing between the first and last types in groups which are adjacent to one another in the direction of movement of said carrier means; and each group being displaced relative to the other groups in the direction of movement of the carrier means, so that the head portion of the associated printing hammer can strike the printing type in only one group during any one stroke; and inhibit means for preventing said circuit means from actuating said hammers during hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals for each hammer occurring at least after it has been actuated during the passage by it of the type plurality in one of its associated rows and said recovery interval lasting until the next adjacent type plurality in another of its associated rows in the direction of carrier movement has passed it by.

6. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document comprising: a hammer positioned adjacent said row and having a striking face spanning a plurality of adjacent data positions; a type carrier movable past said hammer and positioned with respect to said hammer and said document so as to cause printing of a selected character on said document when said hammer is actuated, the type being arranged on said carrier in a plurality of fonts which pass said hammer one font at a time sequentially as the carrier moves, the type characters within said fonts being spaced so as to be presented to said hammer one character at a time; means for moving said carrier; timing means operating in synchronism with the movement of said carrier for generating a series of output code characters identifying the sequence in which the type characters of at least two of said fonts are presented to said hammer; actuating means responsive to the identity of said selected character with one of said output code characters for actuating said hammer to cause printing of the selected character corresponding to said selected code in one of said data positions spanned by said hammer; and means for inhibiting the operation of said actuating means during hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals occurring at least after each hammer actuation which occurs during the passage by said area of a first of said fonts and said recovery interval lasting until the next sequentially presented font has scanned past said area.

7. The printer set forth in claim 6 wherein the plurality of type fonts on said carrier is at least equal in number to the number of data positions spanned by said hammer, and wherein said actuating means includes control means for causing each character printed in said row of data positions by said hammer to be printed from a different one of said type fonts.

8. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, comprising: a hammer positioned adjacent said row and having a striking face spanning a plurality of adjacent data positions; a moving type character member positioned adjacent said row and having on its surface a plurality of identical, multi-character type fonts arranged to scan past the area defined by said spanned data positions, said fonts being oriented such that the characters thereof pass said area one at a time and such that all the characters of one font pass said area before any of the characters of another font pass said area; code means operating in synchronism with the motion of said member for generating a sequence of code signals representing the type characters of a font in the order in which they pass said area, said sequence of signals being repeated as each font passes said area; means for storing coded input data representing characters to be printed in said spanned data positions; signal comparison means for generating pulses to actuate said hammer; means for controlling said signal comparison means to compare different sequences of said code signals with different ones of said stored input data characters whereby each equal comparison results in actuation of said hammer, pressing said document against said member to print a character in one of said data positions; and inhibit means for preventing said control means from actuating said hammer during recovery intervals, said recovery intervals occurring at least after each hammer actuation which occurs during the passage of a first font by said area and said recovery interval lasting until the next sequentially presented font has passed said area.

9. The printer set forth in claim 8 wherein said control means presents said different stored input data characters for comparison in a predetermined sequence determined by the arrangement of said fonts on said type character member.

10. The printer set forth in claim 8 wherein said inhibiting time interval commences at the termination of a series of said code signals and lasts at least as long as a series of said code signals.

11. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, comprising: a plurality of print hammers positioned adjacent said document, each said hammer spanning a set of adjacent ones of the data positions; a rotating type drum positioned on the opposite side of said document from said hammers, said drum having on its surface a plurality of identical, multi-character type fonts arranged such that each font passes serial-by-character behind a different one of said data positions as said drum rotates, the fonts associated with the set of data positions spanned by any one of said hammers being oriented such that all the characters of one font pass their data position before any characters of another font pass their respective data position; code means operating in synchronism with the rotation of the drum for generating a series of code signals representing the characters of a font in the order in which they move past said row of data positions, said series of code signals being repeated as each new type font passes a set of said data positions; means for storing coded input data representing characters to be printed in said data positions, each said character being stored in said storage means at a location corresponding to the data position in which the character is to be printed; signal comparison means for generating pulses to actuate said hammers; means for controlling said comparison means to perform successive comparison sequences, each said sequence effecting the comparison of one series of said code signals with a selected plurality of said input data characters, said plurality of characters being selected from those locations in said storage means corresponding to the data positions then being passed by a font on said type drum, each equal comparison resulting in actuation of an associated one of said hammers whereby said document is pressed against said drum to print a character; and means for inhibiting said comparison operation during hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals for each hammer occurring at least after it has been actuated during passage of a font in one of its associated data positions and said hammer recovery intervals lasting for at least the period oF time required to generate one of said comparison sequences.

12. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, comprising: a print hammer positioned adjacent said row and having a striking face spanning a plurality of adjacent ones of the data positions; a continuously rotatable type drum positioned adjacent said row and mounted for rotation about an axis parallel thereto, said type drum having on its surface a plurality of groups of type characters positioned to scan, as said drum rotates, past the area defined by the data positions spanned by said hammer, a different type group being associated with each different data position, said different groups being arranged to move past their respective data positions in series such that all characters of a group are presented to a data position before any characters of another group are presented to any other data position; means for actuating said hammer a plurality of times during one revolution of said drum, each said actuation operating to force said document into printing engagement with a different one of said type groups to print a character in a different one of said data positions; and inhibit means for preventing said actuating means from actuating said hammer during hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals occurring at least after said hammer has been actuated during the passage by said area of one of said fonts and said hammer recovery interval lasting until the next sequentially presented font has passed by said area.

13. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, comprising: a print hammer positioned adjacent said row and having a striking face spanning a plurality of adjacent ones of the data positions; a continuously rotatable type drum positioned adjacent said row and mounted for rotation about an axis parallel thereto, said type drum having on its surface a plurality of groups of type characters positioned to scan, as said drum rotates, past the area defined by the data positions spanned by said hammer, a different type group being associated with each different data position, said different groups being arranged to move past their respective data positions in series such that all characters of a group are presented to a data position before any characters of another group are presented to any other data position; means for actuating said hammer a plurality of times during one revolution of said drum, said actuations operating to force said document into printing engagement in a predetermined print sequence with different ones of said type groups to print characters in different ones of said data positions, the spacing between said different ones of said type groups, measured along the circumference of said drum from the last character of one group to the first character of the next said group in said print sequence, being at least equal to the distance traversed by a point on the surface of the drum during a time interval equal to the minimum cycle time of said hammer and hammer actuating means; and inhibit means for preventing the actuating means from actuating said hammer during hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals occurring at least after said hammer has been actuated during the passage by said area of one of said type character groups and said hammer recovery intervals lasting until the next sequentially presented type character group has passed by said area.

14. The printer set forth in claim 13 wherein the spacing between individual type characters within each type group is no greater than that required to prevent the striking face of said hammer from striking an edge portion of the character adjacent the character being printed.

15. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, comprising: a print hammer positioned adjacent said row and having a striking face spanning a plurality of adjacent ones of the data positions; a type drum pOsitioned adjacent said row and mounted for rotation about an axis parallel thereto; means for rotating said type drum at a substantially constant velocity to move the surface thereof past said row in a direction perpendicular thereto; said type drum having on its surface a plurality of groups of type characters positioned to scan past the area defined by the data positions spanned by said hammer, a different type group being associated with each different data position, said different groups being arranged to move past their respective data positions in series such that all characters of a group are presented to a data position before any characters of another group are presented to any other data position; means for actuating said hammer to force said document into printing engagement with said type drum to print a character in a selected one of said data positions; and control means including character position means for generating code signals identifying the characters passing said area and comparing means for comparing said code signals with data to be printed, said comparing means operating to generate output signals to activate said hammer actuating means in response to said comparisons, said character position means operating to present said code signals to said comparing means in a sequence wherein each series of code signals representing a type group is separated by a recovery interval having a duration at least equal to the time required to generate an entire series of code signals to permit said print hammer and said hammer actuating means to recover to their original condition in preparation for the next print operation.

16. A printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, comprising: a print hammer positioned adjacent said row and having a striking face spanning a plurality of adjacent ones of the data positions; a type carrier positioned adjacent said row; means for moving said type carrier at a substantially constant velocity past said row; said type carrier having on its surface a plurality of groups of type characters positioned to scan past the area defined by the data positions spanned by said hammer, said characters being spaced from one another in the direction of movement of said type carrier by substantially equal amounts, said characters further being arranged such that they move past said area one at a time with each of said spanned data positions being sequentially presented with all the characters of at least one of said type groups such that they scan past said area one group at a time whereby all the characters of one group move past a data position before any characters of another group move past any other data position; means for actuating said hammer to force said document and said type carrier into printing engagement; character position means for generating code signals identifying the type characters passing said area; control means responsive to said code signals for operating said hammer actuating means to print selected characters in said data positions spanned by said hammer; and inhibit means for preventing said control means from responding to said code signals during a recovery interval following each operation of said hammer actuating means, said recovery interval being of sufficient duration to permit said print hammer and said hammer actuating means to recover to their original condition in preparation for the next print operation, said recovery interval lasting until the next sequentially presented character group has passed said area.

17. In a printer for printing data in a row of data positions on a document, the combination comprising: a rotating print wheel positioned adjacent said row and bearing a number of fonts of character types arranged on different wheel sectors and in different columns of its circumferential surface, so that the fonts scan past the area defined by said data positions sequentially; a hammer positioned adjacent sAid row and having a striking face spanning all of the wheel columns; control means operating in synchronism with the print wheel rotation for selectively actuating said hammer to strike said document against said character types; and inhibit means for preventing said control means from actuating said hammer during hammer recovery intervals, said hammer recovery intervals occurring at least after each hammer actuation which occurs during the passage by said area of a first of said fonts and said recovery interval lasting until the next sequentially presented font has scanned past said area.

18. In a printer as set forth in claim 17 wherein said number is an odd number.

19. In a printer as set forth in claim 18 wherein said recovery intervals occur during the passage by said area of every other font.