Abstract:
A receipt printer which includes a light source providing a beam, a light source movement mechanism which moves the beam between a first position and a second position, a laser mechanism which receives the beam when the beam is in the first position and uses the beam to print onto plain paper, and a thermal mechanism that receives the beam when the beam is in the second position and uses the beam to print onto thermal paper is disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to point of sale terminals and more particularly to receipt printers for use with a point of sale terminal.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.  
         [0005]     One example of an information handling system is a point of sale (POS) terminal. A point-of-sale terminal is a computerized replacement for a cash register. A point of sale terminal can include the ability to record and track customer orders, process credit and debit cards, connect to other systems in a network, and manage inventory. Generally, a point of sale terminal has as its core an information handling system, which is provided with application specific programs and I/O devices for the particular environment in which the point of sale terminal will serve. A point of sale system for a restaurant, for example, is likely to have all menu items stored in a database that can be queried for information in a number of ways. Point of sale terminals are used in most industries that have a point of sale such as retail stores, restaurants, and lodging.  
         [0006]     Known point of sale solutions often include receipt printers. There are two main categories of receipt printers, single station receipt printers and multi-station receipt printers. A single station receipt printer is a printer that is dedicated to printing out a single receipt (such as a 3 inch wide receipt). Thermal receipt technology has become a popular choice for single station receipt printers because of the fast print speed and lack of consumables other than the thermal paper itself.  
         [0007]     Multi-station printers combine the thermal receipt printing functionality with an additional one or more print heads that are used for endorsing checks, filling out checks or printing custom sized forms. Due to the need for multiple print heads, multi-station printers are often expensive and can be unreliable. The solutions for printing on plain paper checks or forms are usually either an impact print mechanism or an inkjet print mechanism. Both of these solutions are slower than thermal and often require the use of additional consumables (either print ribbon or ink cartridges).  
         [0008]     It is desirable to provide a receipt printer which includes multiple printing technologies without requiring multiple print heads or without requiring impact or inkjet print mechanisms.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     In accordance with the present invention, a receipt printer is provided which includes multiple printing technologies without requiring multiple print heads or without requiring impact or inkjet print mechanisms. More specifically, the receipt printer provides a low cost highly reliable printer that can print to thermal paper for high volume receipts and plain paper checks and forms. In an embodiment, the receipt printer combines a laser printer mechanism and a thermal print mechanism using a single light source to drive both the laser printer mechanism and the thermal print mechanism.  
         [0010]     More specifically, in an embodiment, the receipt printer includes a single paper path which is used simultaneously for plain paper and for thermal paper. The light source may be a laser diode. The light source is coupled to a mechanism that has at least two positions. A first position allows an emitted beam to operate with the laser printer mechanism, by for example charging an OPC/toner mechanism, for printing on plain paper. A second position allows the emitted beam to directly strike the thermal paper. Alternately, the beam of the light source may be redirected after the beam is emitted from the light source by a movable mirror (using for example, MIMS or DLP technology). In another embodiment, a second light source could also be used to produce a second emitted beam instead of moving the light source or redirecting the beam.  
         [0011]     Additionally, the receipt printer may also be extended to include a sensor source such as a CCD linear scanner which is tuned to the frequency of the light source. In operation, a sheet to be scanned is placed in front of the light source via the single paper path and the sensor detects light reflected at each scan point to generate an image array.  
         [0012]     In one embodiment, the invention relates to a receipt printer which includes a light source providing a beam, a light source movement mechanism which moves the beam between a first position and a second position, a laser mechanism which receives the beam when the beam is in the first position and uses the beam to print onto plain paper, and a thermal mechanism that receives the beam when the beam is in the second position and uses the beam to print onto thermal paper.  
         [0013]     In another embodiment, the invention relates to a point of sale terminal which includes system controller and a receipt printer coupled to the system controller. The receipt printer includes which includes light source providing a beam, a light source movement mechanism which moves the beam between a first position and a second position, a laser mechanism which receives the beam when the beam is in the first position and uses the beam to print onto plain paper, and a thermal mechanism that receives the beam when the beam is in the second position and uses the beam to print onto thermal paper.  
         [0014]     In another embodiment, the invention relates to an information handling system which includes a system controller and a receipt printer coupled to the system controller. The receipt printer includes which includes light source providing a beam, a light source movement mechanism which moves the beam between a first position and a second position, a laser mechanism which receives the beam when the beam is in the first position and uses the beam to print onto plain paper, and a thermal mechanism that receives the beam when the beam is in the second position and uses the beam to print onto thermal paper.  
         [0015]     In another embodiment, the invention relates to a printer which includes which includes light source providing a beam, a light source movement mechanism which moves the beam between a first position and a second position, a laser mechanism which receives the beam when the beam is in the first position and uses the beam to print onto plain paper, and a thermal mechanism that receives the beam when the beam is in the second position and uses the beam to print onto thermal paper. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]     The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a point of sale terminal in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic block diagram of an information handling system for use within a point of sale terminal.  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of a receipt printer for use with the point of sale terminal.  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of the operation of the laser portion of the receipt printer.  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of another receipt printer for use with the point of sale terminal. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a perspective view of a point of sale terminal  100  in accordance with the present invention is shown. More specifically, the point of sale terminal  100  includes terminal housing  110 , a keyboard  112 , a monitor  114  and a printer  116 . The housing  110  includes a cash drawer  120  as well as a removable face panel  130 . The form factor of the terminal housing  110  is such that the monitor  114  and the printer  116  fit comfortably on top of the terminal housing  110 . The printer  114  includes multiple paper path functionality such that the printer may print on both plain paper and thermal paper via a single paper path.  
         [0023]     Referring briefly to  FIG. 2 , a system block diagram of an information handling system  200  is shown. The information handling system  200  is an example the controller system  210  included within the point of sale terminal  100 . The information handling system  200  includes a processor  202 , input/output (I/O) devices  204 , such as the display  114 , the keyboard  112  as well as a mouse and associated controllers, non-volatile memory  204  such as a hard disk and drive, and other storage devices  208 , such as a floppy disk and drive and other memory devices, and various other subsystems  210 , all interconnected via one or more buses  212 . The information handling system  200  also includes a powered USB hub  230 . The information handling system may also include the printer  116 .  
         [0024]     For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of a receipt printer  116  for use with the point of sale terminal is shown. The receipt printer  116  includes multiple printing technologies without requiring multiple print heads or without requiring impact or inkjet print mechanisms. More specifically, the receipt printer  116  can print to thermal paper for high volume receipts and plain paper checks and forms. The receipt printer combines a laser printer mechanism  310  and a thermal print mechanism  312  using a single light source  320  which drives both the laser printer mechanism  310  and the thermal print mechanism  312 . Thus, the light source  320  is conceptually part of both the laser print mechanism  310  and the thermal print mechanism  312 .  
         [0026]     The receipt printer  116  includes a single paper path  330  through which both standard paper  340  and thermal paper  342  pass to be printed via either the laser printer mechanism  310  or the thermal print mechanism  312 .  
         [0027]     Depending on the intensity of the light source  320 , the thermal print mechanism  312  might include a lens  350  to focus the energy of the light source  320 . In one embodiment, the light source may be a laser diode.  
         [0028]     The light source is coupled to a mechanism  360  that has at least two positions. A first position allows an emitted beam  362  to operate with the laser printer mechanism  310 , by for example charging an OPC/toner mechanism  364 , for printing on plain paper  340 . A second position allows the emitted beam  262  to directly strike the thermal paper  342 . Alternately, the beam  362  of the light source  320  may be redirected after the beam  362  is emitted from the light source by a movable mirror (using for example, MIMS or DLP technology).  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a block diagram of the operation of the laser mechanism  310  of the receipt printer  116  is shown. The laser mechanism  310  includes a photoreceptor coated drum or belt  410 , a cleaner  412 , a charger  414 , a toner cartridge  416 , a charger  418  and a fuser  420 . It will be appreciated that variations of the laser mechanism  310  are contemplated.  
         [0030]     In operation, the cleaner  412  cleans any remaining toner from the drum  410  at step  1 . Next the charger  414  erases and charges the photoreceptor on the spinning drum at step  2 . Next the light source  320  exposes the photoreceptor to light at step  3 . Next, the toner cartridge  416  applies toner to the drum  410  at step  4 . Next, the image is transferred onto the paper  340  by charging the paper to pull the toner off of the drum  410  via the charger  418  at step  5 . Next, the fuser  420  heats and compresses the melted toner into the paper fibers at step  6 . Next, the paper  340  exits the print mechanism  310 .  
         [0031]     The present invention is well adapted to attain the advantages mentioned as well as others inherent therein. While the present invention has been depicted, described, and is defined by reference to particular embodiments of the invention, such references do not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts. The depicted and described embodiments are examples only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the invention.  
         [0032]     For example,  FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of another receipt printer for use with the point of sale terminal. The receipt printer  500  includes a sensor  510  such as a CCD linear scanner. The sensor  510  is tuned to the frequency of the light source  320 . In operation, a sheet to be scanned is placed in front of the light source  320  via the single paper path  330  and the sensor  510  detects light reflected at each scan point to generate an image array.  
         [0033]     Also for example, a second light source could also be used to produce a second emitted beam instead of moving the light source or redirecting the beam.  
         [0034]     Consequently, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects.