Patent ID: 7108221

Claim:
Apparatus for rotatably holding a paper supply roll, having a cylindrical peripheral surface and a hollow cylindrical core, within a printer, wherein the apparatus comprises: a lower support surface for engaging the peripheral surface of the paper supply roll; a cavity for holding the paper supply roll, extending within the printer above the lower support surface; a pair of spaced-apart side plates disposed within the cavity, wherein each of the side plates includes a mounting structure; and a bearing member held within each of the mounting structures, wherein the bearing members are held in axial alignment with one another, wherein each of the bearing members includes a tapered surface for engaging the hollow cylindrical core, each of the bearing members is mounted to be moved between an inward position having the tapered surface of the bearing member disposed within the space between the side plates and an outward position having the tapered surface of the bearing member held out of the space between the side plates, each of the bearing members is held in the inward position and in the outward position, and includes a flat surface opposite said tapered surface, each said bearing member is held within said mounting structure in said inward position, with said tapered surface facing inward, and in said outward position, with said tapered surface facing outward, each said bearing member includes parallel slots extending along opposite sides of said bearing member and a hole extending through said bearing member between said parallel slots, and each said mounting structure is formed as a wire spring, pushing said bearing member inward, including a pair of legs extending within the slots at each side of said bearing member and an end portion extending from each of the legs within the hole extending through said bearing member.