COMPACT SHUTTLE PRINTER MECHANISM

Abstract: The present dot printer comprises a suspension spring and frame element (1) constituted by two identical E-shaped plate spring elements (2, 3), having each a stile (10), and an upper (11), a central (12) and a lower (13) legs. A member (7) supporting the dot printing elements (22) is connected to the upper pair of legs (10) and positioned in front of and parallely to a platen (26). The central pair of legs (11) are connected to a frame piece (9) which is rigdly affixed to the printer frame. The upper and lower pairs of legs (10, 12) are connected together through a bar (6). Both stiles (10) of both E-shaped elements (2, 3) are also connected together. Driving means (14, 15, 16) connected to the free ends of both the upper and lower pairs of legs (10, 12), imparts a reciprocating motion, thereto, with a substantial linear velocity, in a direction parallel to a print line. The linear velocity is obtained either through electronic or mechanical means.

Description: COMPACT SHUTTLE I'RINTER MECHANISM Field of the Invention This invention relates to dot matrix printers in general and to print head suspension or carrier systems for such printers in particular, and to drive mechanisms for oscillating the print head carrier or suspension systems therein. Prior Art A wide variety of dot matrix print mechanisms are known, of course. Those employing a shuttle principle in which print ]ieads are affixed to a movable carrier are commonplace, but those in which the print heads and the carrier move together as a single piece are relatively few. Only U. S. Patent 4,127,334 is presently known to the applicant for this latter type of design. This patent utilizes a generally E-shaped pair of flexible spring elements to support a rigid frame on which are mounted one or more print heads for reciprocation along a print line. The E-shaped spring elements are known to provide a linear translation when the top and bottom legs of the E-shaped springs are anchored to framework and the center leg is flexed back and forth. Two sets of such E-shaped springs are employed in this known patent, with one set of springs at each end of a general printing region and with the print head framework being affixed to the center legs of the E-shaped springs. This obscures the printing since the line of print produced is in a lower vertical position than the top of the springs. This patent also includes an off-center crank reci procating driving means operating as an ordinary connecting rod and crank mechanism. This mechanism introduces forces which are not in the desired line of travel and hence introduces unwanted vibrations in a direction perpendicular to the desired printing line. Also, such a mecanism cannot impart a linear velocity to the print head framework and, therefore, makes the control of the printing operation much more complex. In addition, this patent employs compound springs built up from several pieces requiring mechanical affixation in an interconnection with the other elements such as the print head mounting framework and requires additional frame elements for mounting the springs themselves. The complex assembly of multiple pieces is subject to requiring periodic adjustment, lay involve additional manufacturing and maintenance expense, and may also produce a higher degree of unreliability due to the . numerous parts and concommitant potential areas for mechanical failure. Objects of the Invention In view of the foregoing difficulties with the known prior art, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved reciprocating shuttling printer of reduced cost and complex ity. An additional object of the present invention is to provide improved reciprocable driving means to provide a pure linear velocity in direct axial alignment with the motion of the shuttle framework along the printing line. Still a further object of this invention is to provide a compact, low cost printer of modular form that can be added in replication to a given terminal or printing application where one or more printing stations may be required for the same machine. Summary The dot printer according to the invention comprises = an elongated printing element support member, one or more dot printing elements mounted on said sup port member orthogonally thereto, a platen arranged adjacent to and parallel with said support member, a suspension spring and frame element essentially com posed of two identical parallel E-shaped plate spring elements having each a style and three legs, said sup port member being rigidly mounted between the free ends of the first (upper) pair of legs, the free ends of the second (central) pair of legs being connected to a frame piece which is rigidly affixed to the frame of said printer, said support member and the free ends of the third (lower) pair of legs being connected together through a connector bar, and said styles of both E- shaped element being connected together through braces, and drive means causing a linear speed reciprocation move ment of said printin element support member in a direct ion parallel to said platen, without orthogonal or off-axis forces, According to a specific aspect of the invention, the various part of the suspension spring and frame element and the printing element support member are molded as one piece plastic element, According to another aspect of the invention the drive means comprise a fixed field magnet and a coil suspended in the field of the magnet and moving thereto upon application of electrical current to the coil, and electronic control means connected to said coil to modify the current in said coil in terms of its displacement, and to move this coil with a linear speed between both ends of its displacement, According to another aspect of the invention the drive means comprise a uniformly rotating motor, a meshed pair of non circular gears, one of which being coupled to the motor, the other one being coupled to the driving shaft of a crank and rod type mechanism, the geometrical configuration of said non circular gears being such that said driving shaft is rotated at an irregular angular velocity which, when transmitted to said crank and rod type mechanism cause, the free and of said rod to move at a substantially linear velocity. The invention will now be described with regard to preferred embodiments showing the best modes contemplated for utilizing the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings as follows. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 illustrates a pictorial view of the one-piece molded plastic print head suspension, compound cantilever spring and head mounting frame element. Figure 2 illustrates an exploded schematic view of the major components for the printer utilizing the one-piece molded suspension and spring assembly of the present invention as well as the voice coil driver assembly of the present invention and other elements of the preferred embodiment. Figure 3 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view taken toward the edge of the paper in a printer constructed according to the general scheme shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 illustrates the emitter output, velocity of the print head and direction of travel for several half cycles of operation. Figure 5 illustrates the air moving function of the vanes of the rear of the E-spring assemblies which are integrally molded with the device shown in Fig. l. Figure 6 illustrates an electrical flow chart and schematic diagram for the control and feedback of the voice coil linear driver mechanism shown in Fig. 2. Figure 7 illustrates the detail of the voice coil winding employed in the preferred embodiment. Figure 8 is a force and displacement chart for operation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 over a complete cycle of oscillation from left to right and back. Figure 9 is a force and displacement chart for the forces to be generated by the drive means to drive the carrier assembly as shown in Fig. 2. Figure 10 illustrates an alternative reciprocating drive mechanism utilizing noncircular gears to provide an irregular angular velocity and provide abrupt transitions in direction with a smooth and linear velocity profile intermediate the transitions. Figure 11 is a comparison of the velocity output profile developed by a mechanism depicted in Fig. 7 as contrasted with normal circular gearing output results. Figures 12 and 13 schematically illustrate the nomemclature and measurement conventions adopted for describing the noncircular gear set values in connection with Appendix Table I. Detailed Specification The print head suspension framework and mounting system which is depicted in Figure 1 is an integrally molded single piece of plastic. The design was originated to obtain the lowest possible parts cost. It requires, due to the flexing of the E-shaped cantilever spring members, a relatively low tensile modulus in order to keep the spring rate as low as possible since the spring loads will be reflected as loads on the moving voice coil driver system. However, creep modulus of the selected material must be sufficiently high so as to minimize cold flow problems. A number of materials were surveyed and parts were modeled. The most effective material is a polysulfone having a creep modulus of 22,750 kg/cm2 at 50C and 280 kg/cm2 load, a tensile modulus of 24780 kg/cm2 and a specific gravity of 1.37. Other suitable materials are a polyester and copolymers of engineering structural polymer. In general, the desired materials must have 1.1 to 1.4 specific gravity, 23800 kg/cm2 minimum tensile modulus and a creep modulus of 22400 kg/cm2 minimum at 50Qe and 105 kg/cm2 load. Turning to Figure 1, the one-piece molded print element shuttle suspension and frame member 1 is seen to comprise two relatively E-shaped cantilever spring elements at the ends 2 and 3 respectively. The molded E-shaped spring members are made such that each member.2 and 3 has first, second and third legs numbered 11, 12 and 13, respectively. Legs 12 are made twice the width of legs 11 and 13 so that the spring rate of the outer leaves 11 and 13 exactly equals that of the center leaf 12. The outer ends forming the bar or stile of the E-shape on each of the spring suspension members 2 and 3 connected together through braces l0a and lOb, the styles and the braces being formed together in a common piece 10. As will be seen later, when the suspension elements of the molded spring assembly are operated in flexure, the end pieces 10 can be utilized to provide a fanning and cooling action for electronic components necessary for the operation of the printer. Print head carrier frame 7 and aligning member 8 are integrally molded with the spring suspension system. A connector bar 6 connecting the upper framework elements 7 and 8 to the lower framework elements 4 and 5 assures that elements 4, 5, 7 and 8 will move together in reciprocation. Framework element 5 is not visible on the figure because it connects both legs of element 4 and is hidden behind connector bar 6. The oscillatory drive means applies reciprocating forces along the lines EE in Figure 1. This means will be described in greater detail below. Elements 7 and 8 are shown witli alignment holes for accepting wire matrix print heads. It is equally advantageous to employ ink jet dot printers, thermo electric printers, and the like. The holes shown in members 7 and 8 are therefore only indicative of the relative position of a plurality of dot forming heads which may be carried by members 7 and 8. The frame piece 9 is integrally molded with the E-spring elements and is affixed to the center legs 12 of each Eshaped spring end piece 2 and 3,- respectively. Frame piece 9 is affixed to rigid framework in the printing machine mechanism not shown. Thus the center legs 12 are rigidly anchored by the attachment frame members 9 to a mechanical ground. The element 5 may have attached to it an optical apertured grid strip to serve as a timing emitter of the well known sort normally employed in wire matrix or dot matrix printers to give appropriate timing pulses for use in electronic control system for synchronizing the firing of the dot matrix solenoids or the like to construct the desired characters. Turning to Figure 2, the overall major component of a preferred embodiment of a dot matrix printer mechanism utilizing the integrally molded spring framework suspension and carrier assembly 1 are shown. A linear voice coil actuator 14 having a movable armature or coil 15 and a driving bulkhead 16 as utilized in the preferred embodiment are also shown together with other elements in the preferred design. A roller member not shown in Figure 2 is affixed to the bottom of the frame member 5 or 4 to interact with the cam member 17 at each end of oscillatory stroke. This action rocks the cam member 17 in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction depending upon the direction of motion of member 4. A ontway clutch 18 torqued by cam 17 provides a unidirectional rotary motion output on shaft 19 for the purpose of incrementing a paper feed roller 20 and driving a ribbon drive spindle 21. An individual print element 22 is sbown positioned coaxially in line with a set of the apertures in the frame member 7 and 8, it being understood that one or more such print'heads 22 may be employed and that they may be of any of a variety of types. An emitter aperture grid 23 containing numerous apertures or slots 24 may be affixed to member 4 or 5 for oscillation back and forth with the carrier and suspension. The emitter grid 23 may pass between the typical photo source and sensor mounting block 25. This block contains a light emitting diode and a photo sensor on opposite sides of a slot through which the emitter grid 23 reciprocates in a well known fashion. A fixed platen 26 is shown positioned adjacent the printing area where the print head 22 will be reciprocated. Paper feed roll 20 can, through a normal friction feeding engagement with a paper supply 2, cause the paper to increment by one dot height. It is necessary to feed the paper supply at the end of each reciprocating stroke of the carrier to begin printing a new dot. This is done by means of cam member 17, one way clutch 18, etc. Turning to Figure 3, a schematic cross section of the major elements depicted for the assembly in Figure 2 is illustrated. As may be seen, the feed roll 20 is depicted as roll pair 20A and 20B which frictionally grip and drive the paper 2?. The cantilever suspension assembly 1 is rigidly affixed by the frame pieces 9 attached to the center leg 12 of each of the E-shaped spring members. The molded framework 7 and 8 are shown together in a mere schematic representation. The print heads 22 would be coplanarly arranged with respect to the printing line on platen 26 as indicated. An overall cover which may incorporate a plastic tearing knife or guide bar 28 is also shown. Turning to Figure 4, a timing diagram for a preferred embodiment of the printer as schematically illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 is shown. in Figure 4 line A illustrates a velocity chart versus time. An initial "set up" time between point A and point C during which the one-piece molded carrier and print head assembly is accelerated from 0 to 396 millimeters per second velocity is shown. This time period may be arbitrary, but typically requires approximately 20 milliseconds. From point C to point D on line A; one full cycle of printing consisting of a left to right and a right to left printing stroke is indicated. The elapsed time of 111 milliseconds (H) is arbitrary and of course longer print lines or greater or lower speeds might be employed. The desired printing stroke covers approximately 16.6 millimeters which is sufficient to encompass 10 dot matrix characters of 5 dots of primary width each. As shown by section E in Figure 4, a brief period at the end of each printing stroke left to right or right to left is allowed for paper feeding time, approximately 13.6 milliseconds as shown. The left to right and right to left print strokes are indicated in sections F and G, respectively, and are truncated to show only a few of the 50 emitter pulses on line B which would be desired. Between the times labeled T1 and T50, these emitter pulses would be produced by the aperture emitter 23 shown in Figure 2. Each emitter pulse has a total duration I which corresponds to a distance of approximately .339 millimeters of lateral travel. Wire firing for wire matrix print heads can be easily timed to the rising or falling edge of such pulses produced by an emitter. Turning to Figure 5, a plan view of a portion of the integrally molded spring and suspension means 1 is shown. Only the leaves of the E-shaped spring members 11, 12 and 13 and the connecting end pieces 10 are indicated. The rest position is identified as position A in which only the top most leaf 11 of the E-shaped member is visible. On a printing stroke to the right (to position B for element 10) the center leaf 12 becomes exposed as leaves 11 and 13 flex to the left (equiva lent to the print head carrier 7, 8 moving toward the right in Figure 1 and 2). In the opposite direction of travel from the rest position A, printing is also accomplished. The left is indicated by the position of element 10 indicated by a letter C. This back and forth motion of the leaves 11, 13 and the common connector members 10 produces a significant air flow shown generally by the arrows in Figure 5 which may be directed or channeled to impinge upon a circuitboard 29 carring electronic component 30 schematically shown as resistances. As is well known in the printer field, electronic circuit boards 29 typically require small cooling fans or other source of air flow to provide adequate cooling and stable operation of sensitive electronic components. By adding a fan shaped flap 10 as the common connector illustrated in Figures 1 and 2,--etc., the integrally molded spring and suspension carrier assembly also serves as a fan to provide this cooling flow of air. The linear voice coil driving assembly 14, 15 and 16 indicated in Figure 2 can be driven electronically using power drive amplifiers similar to those employed in the audio or high fidelity industry. The specific drive coils are mounted in the armature 15 and are supplied with current by the circuit shown schematically in Figure 6. An additional winding is supplied in the armature 16 to provide a back electromotive force (EMF) pick up signal providing feedback for the control of the precise velocity and position of the armature 16. The circuitry of Figure 6 schematically shows the overall drive and feedback control technique Separate windings 31 and 32 are schematically illustrated and will be described further with respect to specific figures depicting them later. A waveform generator 33 generates a rising voltage waveform of the proper shape and duration (to be described below) at its output 34. This is summed with the feedback coming on line 35 which provides a small correction to the output signals which are then applied to a power driving amplifier 36 for eventually driving coil 31. As current is applied to coil 31 by the amplifier 36, the fixed pole piece 14 (not shown in Figure 6) interacts with the electromagnetically generated field of the coil 31 to cause the coil to move inward or outward along the pole piece in element 14 in a manner similar to which a voice coil drives an ordinary audio speaker element. Feedback signals are generated by an EMF generated in coil 32 through a load resistor 37. These signals are sensed at an input buffer amplifier and inverted in inverter 39 where they may be at the output compared or summed with the output from the waveform generator in the summer 40. These provide, if any difference or excess exists, a feedback control on line 35 to the summer 41 for modifying. the input of power drive amplifier 36 to more accurately control the velocity and position of the moving coil 31. Overall limits on the voltage excursions can be compared in threshold gate 42 and employed to drive an indicator which will be described in further detail below. The circuit of Figure 6 may be further described as follows. The feedback coil 32 is physically attached to the mounting core of the power drive coil 31 so that the two coils move together in the presence of the same magnetic field. As the power coil 31 moves, an electro motive force will be generated in the feedback coil 32. Under normal operation, this feedback should be identical in amplitude waveform and frequency to that of the drive coil signal coming from the power drive amplifier 36. Should any aberration of motion occur during the operation of the printer such as by means of a paper jam or intrusion of a foreign object, the signal produced by the feedback coil will be different from that provided to the power amplifier 36. The circuit in Figure 6 processes the feedback signal to detect or correct for these conditions. The feedback signal is sent to an inverting amplifier 39 through a buffer amplifier 38 to avoid any distortion interaction from the feedback coil 32 modifying the operation of the drive coil 31. From the inverting amplifier 39 the signal is summed with the original driving signal in the summer 40 to yield a correction signal. In normal operation the correction signal will be very small and will be centered about 0. The small signals are fed back into the drive amplifier 36 through summer 41. The resulting motion of the drive coil 31 will be one that better tracks the input waveform. If there is a malfunction such that the motion of the drive coil 31 is impeded and differs significantly from the original driving signal, this will be detected by a threshold gate 42 detecting a level of feedback beyond set limits which may be chosen as desired. This event can be used to shut off power and illuminate a light or LED to notify the user that a regular operating condition has occured. A reset button or switch can be installed if-desired to reset and resume operation. Details for the drive coil 31 and the feedback coil 32 in the preferred embodiment are as follows. The drive coil consists of 240 turns in two layers of 120 turns each of close wound enamel insulated &num;31 gauge magnet wire and exhibits a total resistance of approximately 6.6 ohms. The feedback winding for coil 32 is one layer of 40 turns of &num;36 gauge enamel insulated magnet wire wound on a .76 mm pitch on the outer layer of the inner drive coil but insulated therefrom by a single layer of insulating tape between windings. This latter winding exhibits 3.6 ohm resis .once. The return leg of the winding is brought back inside of the turns of the winding coil to hold it securely in place in the same manner that voice coils are wound on bobbins. The coil is shown schematically in Figure 7. In Figure 7 the moving armature 15 and the driving cross head 16 are attached to a bobbin core 43 which may be of nonmagnetic metal, cardboard, plastic or the like. In the preferred embodiment,- this bobbin is made of aluminum for strength and is machined to a smooth finish for a close but non-frictional fit into the aperture of the driving pole piece 14. Figure 8 i illustrates the spring loading forces moving right and left including the forces occasioned by the cam paper incrementer mechanism 17 and 18, etc. These force must be supplied by the driving coil and result in the total force shown in Figure 9 for one complete cycle from right to left and back to the right again. As may be understood, when the spring carrier suspension mechanism is deflected to the right or left of center, energy stored in the spring is released so that for at least a portipn of the return stroke, the coil need not supply as much force. However, after crossing the center or 0 force position, additional energy must be supplied to deflect the spring in the opposite direction. When these forces are operated at or near the natural period of vibration for the spring suspension system, some efficiency in operation results. If the frequency of oscillation of current reversal applied to the driving coil is adjusted to be at or approximately the same as the natural period of vibration of the spring and carrier mass suspension system, very small additional forces are required in order to keep the system in motion. These are chiefly those forces which are extracted by the paper incrementing mechanism near each end of the travel from left to rigllt or right to left. Frictional losses are minimum since there are no bearings, pivots, slides, etc. Frictional losses due to air motion are the primary source of loss other than the direct mechanical loss due to extraction of force by the paper incrementing mechanism previously described. Figure 10 illustrates an alternative mechanical gear and reciprocating crank mechanism to replace the voice coil driver. A motor 44 supplies a continuous uniform velocity output through the matched circular gear set 45 to shaft 46 carrying the first of a noncircular gear set 47A and 47B. The constant angular velocity output at shaft A is converted into an irregular angular velocity output by the non-circular gear set 47A and 47B to provide an irregular angular velocity output on shaft B labeled 48. The one to one circular gear set 49 applies this irregulai velocity to a matched circular gear set 50 through the shaft. In the circular gear set 50, each gear is supplied with a driving pin 51 connected to or journalled in individual arms of a flexible plastic connecting rod 52 like a conventional crank and rod mechanism. This rod 52 provides a direct linear output with no component of force orthogonal to the direction of travel at its output point 53. A helical thread mounted on a drum 54 operates with fixed interposer pins attached to an incrementing wheel (not shown) to increment the wheel by one thread pitch length on the helix 54 with each rotation of the shaft. Each full rotation of the shaft 51 provides an increment at the beginning of a rotation (end of the.previous rotation) and another increment halfway through a revolution. Thus, the helical thread is configured to present a cam surface which is not sloped for approximately one-half of a revolution and then it is stepped upward by the distance equal to a given dot row height representing the end of one left to right or right to left stroke at the output 53. This will increment the paper by one dot height Then, with continued rotation of shaft the shaft, further increment will occur at the end of the return stroke. These details of the helical thread path on drum 54 would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art and are not described further. The flexing drive coupling member 52 can be molded of plastic to reduce cost as is done in the preferred embodiment The non-circular gear set 47A and 47B is utilized to better control the output motion at point 53. The velocity profile obtained differs substantially from that that would be obtained with normal circular gearing. Figure 11 illustrates the difference. In Figure 11, the upper curves illustrate the tracing obtained of velocity and time given a normal circular gear set with an input drive rotating at 540 RPM which yields approxi mately nine cycles per second or 111 milliseconds per cycle. Thle velocity labeled V1 is slightly greater than that at V2 from the effect of the crank pin and angular thrust output being different at one end of the throw from the other as is well known in the mechanical arts. The lower portion of Figure 11 illustrates the velocity profile versus time that may be obtained with the noncircular gearing shown in Figure 1Q. Initial high velocity acceleration rates followed by a flat sustained velocity and an abrupt but smooth transition to the opposite direction are shown. The velocity profiles can be designed so that the maximum V1 and V2 velocities are equal and that the velocity is maintained at a very steady rate over the interval of a print line which is most desirable. The non-circular gear set comprises two identical gear of non-circular form. They are so designed that the sum of radii measured from each gear center to their common mesh point is constant. In the case illustrated, the constant is 30 mm. This can be verifed in Appendix Table 1 by adding the radii R1 and R2 at each degree of rotation measured as R for gear 1 in the Table. A full set of radius values for each gear in one-degree increments for 0 through 360 is listed in the Table. For gear 1, r is zero when the longest diameter is horizontal in the small Figure 12. Since each gear will rotate by an amount that will produce an equal peripheral travel and R1 does not equal R2, it follows as shown in Figure 13, that rl does not equal r2 for most gear positions. The starting position is shown in Figure 12 with gear 1 set with its longest axis horizontal and defined as 0 degree rotation for purposes of this description. Also for purposes of description, gear 1 in Figure 12 is assumed to rotate counter clockwise. Gear 2 will be engaged with a slight amount of pre-rotation in the clockwise direction as shown in Figure 12 and in the first entry in Table I as 1.49198681 degrees of rotation (measured in this case relative to the gear's shortest axis positioned horizontally). The other table entries follow the same format under each degree of rotation for gear 1. The entries are : degree of rotation rl, gear designation (gear 1), R1 (tangent radius for gear 1), r2 degree of rotation for gear 2, and R2 (tangent radius for gear 2). Further details of the non-circular gear set employed in the preferred embodiment are given below in the Appendix, Table 1 which shows the radius of the gears as a function of angular rotation for one full 3600 arc. These gears can be of molded plastic for quiet operation and low cost manufacture. This arrangement has the result of achieving a flat velocity profile across the print line distance This is of interest in providing high forces for the incrementing function without the limitation of requiring these forces to be extracted fromthe maximum ends of travel of a voice coil as disclosed above where the force available requires higher currents at these points. The flexing V-shaped coupling element 52 provides the unique result of counter balancing orthogonal forces. The two counter rotating gears provide orthogonal forces that directly cancel in the V flex coupling 52. Only the resultant straight linear thrust along the axis of symmetry midway between the two shafts of the output gears are produced along the line shown at the output coupling 53. This mechanical design for the drive mechanism has the additional advantage in that the motor 44 can supply at its output pulley a continuous rotary drive for driving printing ribbon and the like without the necessity of the more complex stepwise camming and incrementing arrangement necessary with the above disclosed voice coil prime driver designs However, the voice coil design is easily constructed with a minimum of mechanical cost and complexity and provides a basically electronically controlled mechanism. Either drive may be satisfactorily employed provided that appropriate spacings in the emitter grid are used to adjust the aforementioned velocity profile differences.It will be understood that the nonconstant velocity output of the voice coil is not a detriment in such operations since actual wire firing timings for printing the dots are derived from a physical displacement registered by the emitter grid. 'S APPENDIX - TABLE I 0. 1. 17. 96141301 1. 49198681 12. 03858699 EMI18.1 8. 16. 1. @ - 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141@01 13. 42788129 25. 36377578 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 1. 9. 17. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 2. 983973631 14. 9198681 26. 85576259 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 2. 10. 18. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 4. 475960431 16. 41195491 28. 3477494 12. 03858699 12. 03958699 12. 03858699 3. 11. 19. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 5. 9679@@241 17. 90384172 23. 83973621 12. 03858699 12. 03859699 12. 03858699 4. 12. 20. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 7. 459934053 19. 29582853 31. 33172302 12. 03858699 12. 03859699 12. 03858699 5. 13. 21. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 9. 951920862 20. 98781534 32. 8@370@@@ 12. 03958699 12. 03858699 12. 0@858699 6. 14. 22. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 10. 94396767 22. 37960315 34. 31569664 12. 03858699 13. 03858699 12. 03858699 7. 15. 23. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 11. 915@@448 23. 87178897 35. 86768345 13. 03@58699 12. 03858699 13. 03858699 24. 32. 40. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 85093341 17. 24136579 37. 29967026 49. 17869283 60. 48561194 12. 03858699 12. 14906659 12. 75863421 25. 33. 41. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 80918199 17. 09909739 38. 79165707 50. 63956133 61. 81103063 13. 03858699 12. 19081801 12. 90090261 26. 34. 42. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 75966524 16. 92919857 40. 28364388 52. 09047469 63. 10622272 12. 03858699 12. 24033476 13. 07080143 27. 35. 43. 1. 1. 1. 17. 95843948 17. 70168353 16. 72078763 41. 77501532 53. 52983296 64. 365@9385 12. 04156052 12. 29831647 13. 27921237 28. 36. 44. 1. 1. 1. 17. 9494876 17. 63433785 16. 45263075 23. 26453602 54. 95590603 65. 57994493 12. 0505124 12. 36566215 13. 54736925 29. 37. 45. 1. 1. 1. 17. 93446227 17. 55646252 16. 06993424 44. 75095649 56. 36679603 66. 73346776 12. 06553773 12. 44353748 13. 93001576 30. 39. 46. 1. 1. 1. 17. 91323062 17. 46652229 15. 26. 23300314 57. 76038548 67. 73346776 12. 03679938 12. 53347771 15. 31. 39. 47. 1. 1. 1. 17. 31@@6522 17. 36244372 14. @@33724 47. 769@6733 59. 13434303 6@. 659@8457 12. 11453478 13. 63755128 15. 5866276 48. 56. 64. 1. 1. 1. 14. 16097317 13. 073753 12. 43105749 69. 55225033 76. 08600759 81. 9545062 15. 83902683 16. 926247 17. 56814251 49. 57. 65. 1. 1. 1. 13. 96463522 12. 97903913 12. 36680428 70. 42312099 76. 84854029 82. 65584273 16. 03531478 17. 02096087 17. 63319572 50. 58. 66. 1. 1. 1. 13. 79797032 12. 88923633 12. 30447502 71. 27474086 77. 60182263 83. 35118661 16. 20202968 17. 11076377 17. 69552498 51. 59. 67. 1. 1. 1. 13. 65052384 13. 80386124 12. 24474567 72. 10966203 78. 34640082 84. 040@2729 16. 34947616 17. 19613876 17. 75525433 52. 60. 68. 1. 1. 1. 13. 51705096 12. 72352336 12. 18750757 72. 92972469 79. 08276499 84. 72503853 16. 48294904 17. 27747664 17. 81249243 53. 61. 69. 1. 1. 1. 13. 36440198 12. 64490138 12. 13266505 73. 73634436 79. 81136364 85. 69408021 16. 60559802 17. 35503862 17. 86733495 54. 62. 70. 1. 1. 1. 13. 29052385 12. 57072777 12. 08913344 74. 53065884 80. 5326059 86. 07819982 16. 71947715 17. 42927233 17. 91986656 55. 63. 71. 1. 1. 1. 13. 17398623 13. 49977709 12. 02983756 75. 31361233 81. 24686978 86. 74763@31 16. 82601377 17. 50022291 17. 97016244 72. 80. 88. 11. 98171033 11. 66869145 11. 47169612 87. 4126087 92. 59647382 97. 60391364 18. 01828967 18. 33130855 18. 52830388 73. 81. 89. 1. 1. 1. 11. 93569176 11. 63798904 11. 4546893 88. 0733421 93. 2302818 98. 22157325 18. 06430824@ 18. 36201096 18. 5453107 74. 82. 90. 1. 1. 1. 11. 89172804 11. 60906212 11. 43933211 88. 73004353 93. 86151998 98. 8378944 18. 10827196 18. 39093788 18. 56066789 75. 83. 91. 1. 1. 1. 11. 84977073 11. 58188883 11. 42561536 89. 38291521 94. 4903515 99. 45302192 18. 15022927 18. 41811117 18. 57408474 76. 84. 92. 1. 1. 1. 11. 80977619 11. 55644937 11. 41353062 90. 03215275 95. 11699635 100. 0670993 18. 19022381 18. 44355063 18. 58646938 77. 85. 93. 1. 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'a . 139. 4373121 148. 9513436 100. @@@@@@@4 15. 83901883 12. 75863421 12. 149@6659 151. 159. 167. 1. 1. 1. 14. 4139724 17. 36244872 17. 88546522 140 352033 150. 3251212 161. 8525036 a 'r- a: a' I::;' a' a: a-a,.?', '-a.':' a' a-' a' a' a 168. 176. 184. 1. 1. 1. 17. 91320063 17. 96141301 17. 96141301@ 163. 3345502 175. 2617969 187. 1976914 12. 08679938 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 169. 177. 185. 1. 1. 1. 17. 99446227 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 164. 8309707 176. 7537837 188. 6896782 12. 06553773 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 170. 178. 186. 1. 1. 1. 17. 9494876 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 186. 3104914 178. 2457705 190. 181665 12. 0505124 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 171. 179. 187. 1. 1. 1. 17. 93843948 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 167. 8018628 179. 7377578 191. 67@6@18 12. 04156052 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 172. 180. 188. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 169. 2938496 181. 2297441 193. 1656386 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 12. 03858699 173. 181. 189. 1. 1. 1. 17. 96141301 17. 96141301 17. 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619203 322. 9889016 329. 0280971 18. 31559715 17. 63602475 16. 60880199 336. 344. 352. 1. 1. 1. 13. 56897309 16. 92919857 17. 75966524 339. 8539112 338. 4118275 349. 5832968 16. 43102691 13. 07080143 12. 24033476 237. 345. 353. 1. 1. 1. 1@. 76945629 17. 09906729 17. 80918199 330. 7022781 339. 7372461 351. 0441653 16. 23054371 12. 90090261 12. 19081801 338. 346. 354. 1. 1. 1. 14. 00473924 17. 24134579 17. 85093341 531. 5778337 341. 088595 352. 5134908 15. 99526066 12. 75863421 12. 14906659 339. 347. 355. 1. 1. 1. 14. 30598452 17. 36244872 17. 68546522 3@2. 489@903 342. 4624726 153. 3836549 15. 69401548 12. 63755128 12. 11453478 340. 348. 356. 1. 1. 1. 15. 17. 46653229 17. 91220062 223. 4893903. 343. 8560621 355. 4719016 15. 12. 53347771 12. 08679938 341. 349. 357 1. 1. 1. 16. 06998424 17. 55646252 17. 93449227 234. 6430132 345. 2669521 356. 9583221 13. 93001576 12. 44353748 12. 06553773 342. 350. 358. 1. 1. 1. 16. 45263075 17. 63433765 17. 9494876 325. 8574652 346. 693@251 358. 4478418 13. 54736925 12. 36566215 12. 0505124 343. 351. 359. 1. 1. 1. 16. 72078763 17. 70168253 17. 95643948 337. 1166354 348. 1323834 359. 9393142 13. 27921237 12. 29831647 12. 04156052 336. 344. 352. 1. 1. 1. 13. 56897309 16. 92919857 17. 75966524 329. 9539112 338. 4118275 349. 5832968 16. 43102691 13. 07080143 12. 24033476 337. 345. 353. 1. 1. 1. 1@. 76345639 17. 09909739 17. 80318199 230. 7022781 339. 7372461 351. 0441653 16. 23054371 12. 90090261 12. 19081801 238. 346. 354. 1. 1. 1. 14. 00473934 17. 24136579 17. 85093341 331. 5778337 341. 089595 352. 5134908 15. 99526066 12. 75863421 12. 14906659 339. 347. 355. 1. 1. 1. 14. 30593452 17. 36244872 17. 88546522 332. 4993903 342. 4624726 253. 9893549 15. 69401548 12. 63755128 12. 11453478 340. 348. 356. 1. 1. 1. 15. 17. 46652229 17. 91320062 333. 4893903. 343. 8560621 355. 4719016 15. 12. 53347771 12. 09679938 341. 349. 357. 1. 1. 1. 16. 06939424 17. 55646252 17. 93446227 334. 6430132 345. 3663521 356. 95@3221 13. 93001576 12. 44353748 12. 06553773 342. 350. @5@. 1. 1. 1. 16. 45263075 17. 634337@5 17. 9434976 335. 3574652 346. 6930251 358. 4479423 13. 54736925 12. 36566215 12. 0505124 343. 351. 359 1. 1. 1. 16. 72078763 17. 70168353 17. 3584@948 337. 1146354 346. 1323834 359. 93@3142 13. 27921237 12. 29831647 12. 04156052

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A dot printer comprising: at least one dot printing element (22); an elongated support member (7) for said printing element, a platen (26) arranged adjacent to and parallel with said support member, a suspension spring and frame element (1) comprising two identical and parallel E-shaped plate spring elements (2, 3) having each a stile (10), a first (upper), a second (central) and a third (lower) legs (11, 12, 13), forming a pair of stiles and three pairs of legs, the ends of said support member (7) being respectively connected to the free ends of one pair of said legs, the free ends of at least one of the remaining pairs of legs being rigidly affixed to the frame of said printer to support the whole suspension element, and drive means (14-16) for reciprocating said support member in a direction parallel to said platen, characterized in that the ends of said support member (7) are respectively rigidly connected to the free ends of the first (upper) pair of legs (11), the free ends of the second (central) pair of legs (12) are connected to a frame piece (9) which is rigidly affixed to the frame of said printer, said support member (7) and the free ends (4) of the third (lower) pair of legs (13) are linked together through a connector bar (6), said stiles (10) of said E-shaped elements are connected together through braces (lOa, lob), said drive means are designed to cause a linear speed reciprocation movement of said printing element support member without orthogonal or off-axis forces. 2. Dot printer according to claim 1, characterized in that said E-shape plate spring elements (2, 3), said support member (7), said frame piece (9) and said connector bar (6) constitute a unitary molded flexible plastic element. 3. Dot printer, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said drive means are arranged to reciprocate both the first (upper) and the third (lower) pairs of legs (11, 13), thus flexing said first and second pair of legs and moving said support member (7) and said dot printing element (22) back and forth along a print line parallel to said platen (26). 4. Dot printer according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the combined spring rates of said first and third pairs of legs equals that of said second pair of legs. 5. Dot printer according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that said drive means comprise a fixed field magnet (14), a winding coil (15) suspended in the field of said magnet and moving with respect thereto upon application of electrical current to said coil, the external end of said coil being connected to said printing element support member for reciprocation thereof, said coil (15) comprising: a first winding (31) receiving a driving current from a waveform generator (33) and a second winding (32) including a circuit contain ing an inverting, amplifier (38, 39) sommation means (40, 41) and control means for modifying the driver ing current applied to said first winding to pro duce exact tracking between input driving signals to said winding and the resulting physical motion thereof. 6. Dot printer according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that it further comprises paper print media drive means (20) for feeding said paper (27) incrementally past said platen (26), incremental cam and clutch means (17, 18), and an interposer means so affixed to said suspension spring and frame element as to be reciprocated therewith and to interact with said cam and one way clutch means for providing intermittent rotary output, said intermit tent rotary output being connected to said paper media drive and incrementing means (20) to increment said paper at the end of each said reciprocation. 7-. Dot printer according to any one of claims I to 4, characterized in that said drive means comprise a uniformly rotating motor (44), a meshed pair of non-circular gears (47A, 47B), one of which (47A) being coupled to said motor (44), the other one (47B) being coupled to the driving shaft of a crank and rod type mechanism (50, 51, 52), the geometrical configuration of said non-circular gears being such that said driving shaft is rotated at an irregular angular velocity which, when transmitted to said crank and rod type mechanism causes the free end of said rod (52) to move at a substantially linear velocity, said free end being connected to said support member (7) to provide said linear reciprocation movement. 8. Dot printer according to claim 7, characterized in that said driving shaft of said crank and rod mechanism is coupled to the shaft of another identical crank and rod type mechanism arranged symmetrically with respect to the first one, the respective free ends of both rods (52) being connected together and both rods being so mounted that they always form a V, more or less flared according to the angular position of the shafts, but having always the same symmetry axis, which symmetry axis is parallel to the direction of said reciprocating movement. 9. Dot printer according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said stiles (10) of said E-shaped elements are adapted to cause a fanning of air whenever said legs are flexed back and forth by said reciprocation. 10. Dot printer according to any one of claims 2 to 9, characterized in that¯ said unitary molded flexible element is molded integrally of a plastic having a specific gravity of at least 1.06, a tensile modulus of at least 23800 kg/cm2 and a creep modulus of at least 22400 kg/cm2 at 5 C and 105 kg/cm2 load.

Inventors: GRUBBS, WILLIAM ANDREW, KEKAS, DENNIS HARRY, MCCRAY, CHARLES MARTIN
Applicants: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B41J3
IPC codes: B41J25, B41J2