Abstract:
Methods are provided for driving sheets through a transaction-based printer. A sheet drive forwards a sheet through a printing station to a cutting station where the sheet is severed from a spool by a cutter. Movement of a kicker element is coordinated with that of the cutter so that the severed sheet is kicked into a bin located in the top cover of the printer. The printer can be, for example, an ink-jet, dot matrix, dye sublimation or thermal printer used to print tickets, vouchers, coupons or the like.

Description:
This application is a divisional of commonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/970,500 filed on Oct. 20, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,416, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/379,373 filed on Mar. 4, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,515. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a stacker for a printer and, in particular, to methods for stacking paper tickets, vouchers and the like that exit a transaction-based printer. The invention is particularly useful, e.g., in connection with gaming and lottery printers that provide racetrack tickets, lottery tickets or the like. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   High speed printers, such as inkjet, thermal, dye sublimation and dot matrix printers are used to provide vouchers, coupons, tickets, receipts and the like (all generally referred to herein as “tickets”) to consumers. For example, when a winning lottery prize becomes relatively large, the lines at ticket sales counters become long. In addition, the number of tickets purchased by each person in the line can be relatively large. Heretofore, most point of sales (POS) and other transaction-based printers have been designed to issue one ticket, voucher, coupon or receipt at a time. Sales personnel are therefore required to remove each printed sheet manually from the printer. When a number of lottery or wagering tickets, for example, are purchased in a single transaction, the sales person must compile all of the tickets for that transaction by hand. This can be a time consuming procedure leading to errors being made and long delays in ticket sales. 
   It would be advantageous to provide an automatic stacking function for printers used in such environments. Such a stacking function would be particularly advantageous for high speed printers that dispense quantities of tickets, vouchers, receipts, coupons and other printed substrates. Such printers are often used in wagering and lottery terminals, as well as in other point of sale terminals such as those used to print train tickets, bus tickets, movie and theater tickets, retail coupons, and other substrates of value. 
   The present invention provides an automated stacker for a printer and methods for stacking tickets in a printer having the aforementioned and other advantages. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is a primary object of the present invention to improve transaction-based printers, such as POS printers, ticket printers, and the like. It is a further object to provide a gaming and lottery printer and associated methods that will help speed the sale of tickets. 
   It is a still further object of the present invention to reduce the amount of manual handling required to produce a series of tickets, vouchers, coupons or other printed substrates purchased under one sale transaction. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic stacker for a small transaction-based printer that does not increase the size of the printer. 
   These and other objects of the present invention are attained by a transaction-based printer that has a first drive for advancing a sheet through the printer in a first direction. A kicker element is adapted to contact the sheet after printing. A second drive is operatively associated with the kicker element for advancing the sheet in a second direction opposite the first direction. An output bin is provided for collecting the sheet when it is advanced in the second direction. 
   In another embodiment, a sheet drive is provided for advancing sheet material from a spool through a printing station and then registering the sheet in a stationary condition within a cutting station. A cutter, such as a rotary cutter, is mounted within the cutting station. The cutter can include, for example, a stationary blade and a movable blade for severing the registered sheet from the spool. A kicker element (e.g., a kicker wheel) is mounted upon a shaft within the cutting station. A clutch allows the kicker element to freely rotate in one direction as the sheet is forwarded into the cutting station. A drive system that is associated with the cutter control mechanism reverses the direction of rotation of the kicker element once the cutting operation is completed, locking the clutch and thus causing the severed sheet to be kicked into a collecting bin. 
   A method for stacking tickets in a printer is provided, in which sheets are driven through a printer in a first direction. The sheet is printed on, momentarily stopped, and advanced in a second direction opposite the first direction after it has been stopped. The sheet is collected in an output bin when it is advanced in the second direction. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a further understanding of the present invention, reference will be made to the following detailed description of the invention which is to be read in association with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a point of sale printer showing the printer cover slightly raised; 
       FIG. 2  is a left perspective view of the printer shown in  FIG. 1  with the bottom part of the printer housing being removed to further show the cutter and kicker element drive system; 
       FIG. 3  is a right perspective view of the printer similar to that shown in  FIG. 2  further showing the sheet feed drive system; 
       FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the printer main frame with parts broken away to better illustrate the cutting station of the printer; and 
       FIG. 5  is a partial sectional view taken through the drive roller of the sheet feed drive. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Turning now to the drawings, there is illustrated a printer, generally referenced  10 , that embodies the teachings of the present invention. It is noted that the illustrated printer is only one example embodiment of a printer that can incorporate the features of the present invention. 
   The printer  10  includes a rectangular shaped housing  12  upon which a hinged cover  13  is provided. The hinge is located at the back of the housing cover so that the cover can swing upwardly and rearwardly to provide ready access to a paper bin located in the rear of the printer housing. The bin is configured to accept a supply spool of paper  15 , which serves as the substrate for printing a ticket, voucher, coupon or the like. A main feed roller  17  is rotatably mounted in the cover and contains a gear  18  that is affixed to one end of feed roller shaft  19 . The feed roller gear  18  is arranged to mesh with an intermediate or idler gear  20  when the cover is closed. The idler gear  20  forms part of the main drive system of the printer and is coupled to the main drive gear  23  by means of a second idler gear  24 . The drive gear  23  is mounted upon the output shaft  25  of a drive motor that is housed within the control section  27  of the printer. 
   The present printer as herein described is a thermal printer, however, as should become apparent from the disclosure below, the present invention is applicable for use in any type of gaming, lottery, POS, or other transaction-based printer that is known and used in the art. For a thermal printer implementation, the paper on the supply spool is fabricated of a heat sensitive (i.e., thermal) material. The end of the spool first is threaded through a printing station  29  as illustrated in  FIG. 5  and is held tightly against a thermal printing head  30  by the feed roller  17  when the cover is moved to a closed position. Sufficient friction is provided between the printing head and the feed roller to advance the paper through the printing station, where a desired image is applied to the paper based on an input from the printer control section  27  using well known thermal printing techniques. 
   The imaged substrate is advanced by the feed roller into the cutting station  35  ( FIG. 4 ) where the paper is registered and the feed roll drive is deactivated as the printed ticket, voucher, coupon or the like is severed from the supply spool. A rotary cutter is located in the cutting station. The cutter includes a stationary upper blade  40  and a coacting rotatable lower blade  41  ( FIG. 4 ). The paper is guided into the cutting station between the two blades and as will be described in greater detail below, and is cut from the spool by rotating the movable blade past the fixed blade. It should be appreciated that the particular type of cutter is not critical, and other types of cutters can be substituted for the rotary cutter described herein. Alternatively, precut paper stock can be used, in which case no cutter is required in the printer. 
   The operation of the cutter in the illustrated embodiment is independently controlled through a separate cutter drive system best illustrated in  FIG. 2  and generally referenced  43 . The cutter drive system includes its own cutter drive motor  46  mounted upon the main frame  47  of the printer. The shaft  44  of the cutter drive motor passes through the side wall  48  of the frame and has a drive pinion  45  secured thereto. The drive pinion is coupled to a drive wheel  50  ( FIG. 4 ) by a pair of idler gears  51  and  52  that are arranged to turn the drive wheel at a desired speed. A pin  53  is mounted upon the outer face of the wheel and protrudes outwardly from the wheel face. 
   As illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , a rocker arm  55  is secured to one end of the rotatable cutter blade  41  by means of a mounting hub  56 . The arm contains an elongated slot  57  in which the drive wheel pin rides. An optical sensor  58  is mounted within a housing adjacent to the drive wheel. A tab or flag  59  is carried by the drive wheel and is adapted to pass through a slit in the sensor housing to generate an output signal to the controller indicating when the rotatable blade has reached the end of cut position. At this time, the direction of rotation of the cutter motor is reversed and the rotatable cutter blade is returned to the home or start of cut position. 
   A gear segment  60  is carried upon the mounting hub of the rocker arm. The gear segment mates with an idler gear  62  which in turn mates with a drive gear  63  affixed to one end of a kicker roll shaft  65  that is journaled for rotation in the upper part of the printer main frame  47 . A kicker roll  67  is carried upon the kicker roll shaft and is coupled to the shaft by a one way clutch  69 . Paper that is forwarded into the cutting station will pass through a nip created between the kicker roll and a backing plate  70  that is carried by the cover. The nip is formed when the cover is brought to a fully closed position. The clutch is arranged to permit the kicker roll to rotate freely upon the kicker roll shaft when the paper is forwarded from the printing station into the cutting station and as the movable blade is moved from its home position to the end of cut position. 
   Upon the return stroke of the rotatable cutter blade, the rotation of the kicker roll shaft is reversed and the clutch now locks the kicker wheel to the shaft. Accordingly, the severed paper ticket, voucher, coupon or the like (the “cut sheet”) is driven by the kicker wheel through the discharge opening  75  in the cover back toward a collecting bin  77  located in the top of the cover. A sheet guide is positioned at the entrance to the bin that directs the cut sheet into the bin. The bottom wall  80  of the bin ( FIG. 1 ) is inclined downwardly and serves to direct the sheets entering the bin downwardly so that the lower portion of each sheet is captured under the top half wall  83  of the bin. 
   While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred mode as illustrated in the drawing, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in detail may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.