MACHINE FOR PRINTING MULTI-LINE TEXTS OF ALPHABETICAL AND NUMERICAL CHARACTERS ON A DOCUMENT

• US 3,861,301 A
• Filed: 11/21/1973
• Issued: 01/21/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Emilio Di Marzio, Ivo Spiazzi
• Original Assignee: Emilio Di Marzio, Ivo Spiazzi
• Inventors: Di Marzio, Emilio, Spiazzi, Ivo
• Primary Examiner(s): Burr, Edgar S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coven, Edward M.
• Application Number:
  US05/418,038
• Time in Patent Office: 426 Days
• Field of Search: 101/93C,111 235/58,60 340/172.5
• US Class Current: 101/93.08
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 1/20 with types or dies mounted on endless bands or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/08 by flight printing with type font moving in the direction of the printed line, e.g. chain printers

Abstract

There is disclosed a machine which enables addresses or other multi-line texts of alphabetical and numerical characters to be printed on a document in a single operating cycle. This machine comprises a support means on which data relative to the identity and position of the various characters contained in the text to be printed are stored, a reading complex for reading said data stored on the support means and a printing assembly controlled by said reading complex so as to orderly print on a document the several characters read by the reading complex.

Claims

1. A machine for printing a multi-line text of alphabetical and numerical characters on a document, said text being formed from m lines and k typographical spaces per line, comprising a reading complex for data, stored on a support means, relative to the identity and position of the various alphabetical and numerical characters contained in the text to be printed, and a printing assembly controlled by said reading complex, said printing assembly being composed of a support unit for print characters and a support unit for print hammers arranged to co-operate with said print characters for printing alphabetical and numerical characters on a document fed between said hammers and said print characters, said support unit for print characters containing an ordered succession of as many rows of n (n >

OR = k) like print characters as there are alphabetical and numerical characters in the language adopted for the text to be printed, said support unit for print hammers containing a succession of m rows, spaced apart by one step in said succession of rows of print characters, of n print hammers provided with respective means for their independent operation into a position of engaement with respective print characters, said units being disposed and made to move one with respect to the other in the direction of development of said succession of rows of print characters in such a manner that one group, different each time, of m successive rows of print characters, comes in turn into a printing area in which the print characters are in a position facing, and suitable for engagement with, the m rows of print hammers, said support means for stored data being divided into a number m of store sectors, in each of which is stored the data relative to the identity and position of the alphabetical and numerical characters contained in one line of the text to be printed, and each of said sectors being divided in its turn into a number h (k <

OR = h <

OR = n) of subsectors, each of which is provided with an ordered succession of storage positions in which the data relative to the alphabetical or numerical character situated in a determined position in a line of the text to be printed is stored according to a code which comprises the use of storage positions increasingly more distant from a reference position for storing data regarding the identity of progressively successive alphabetical and numerical characters in accordance with an order of succession corresponding to that of the print characters contained in the printing assembly, said reading complex comprising at least one reading device including m readers, each of which is designed for reading the data stored in one sector of the support means and comprises in its turn h reading elements, each of which is controlled so as to scan in succession, starting from the aforementioned reference position, the various storage positions of a subsector of the support means in such a manner as to read the character identity data stored in a determined storage position of said subsector in any moment of time, the time lag of which from the moment of scanning said reference position depends on the distance between the storage position used and said reference position, the h reading elements included in each reader being independently connected to the means for operating the same number of hammers of one of the m rows of hammers of the printing assembly so as to cause the independent operation of these latter at each reading of a piece of data stored in the various subsectors of a store sector of the support means, and being made to scan the respective subsectors of the support means simultaneously and in phase with each other so that all the data regarding the identity of equal characters stored in one sector of the support means is read simultaneously and gives rise to the simultaneous operation of all the hammers associated with the reading elements which read this data and then to the simultaneous printing of all the equal characters contained in one line of the text to be printed, the reading movement and the mutaual movement of the two units of the printing assembly being synchronised and put into mutual phase in such a manner that the reading of a determined piece of data regarding the character identity by one of the reading elements of a determineD reader always coincides with the appearance of the corresponding row of print characters in a position facing those hammers forming part of the row associated with the reading elements of that reader, and the readers associated with the, in turn, successive rows of hammers in the direction of mutual movement of the two units of the printing assembly being controlled in such a manner as to scan the respective sectors of the support means with mutual time lags corresponding to one step in the succession of storage positions in the support means and in the succession of rows of hammers and print characters of the printing assembly, so that the control actions for the operation of a row of hammers of the printing assembly for the printing of a group of equal alphabetical or numerical characters on a line of the document to be printed are delayed, with respect to those for the operation of the previous row of hammers for the printing of the same alphabetical or numerical characters on the previous line of the document, by a time sufficient to allow the corresponding row of print characters to move from the position facing said previous row of hammers to the position facing the row of hammers being operated.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, in which said succession of rows of print characters is carried by at least one chain made to move in the direction of development of said succession along a substantially elliptical path which comprises at least one straight portion which defines the printing area.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, in which in said straight portion of the path of the chain there is provided a rigid plate disposed behind the print characters so as to act as a backing element for the pressure applied by the print hammers when these move into the position of engagement with the print characters.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising a printing ribbon driven so as to move within the printing area between the print characters and the document to be printed, said ribbon being wound at its ends on two reels controlled so that one is driven and the other is idle vice versa alternately, means being provided for automatically putting the reel into the idle condition until that moment in which it becomes driven, and for automatically driving the reel until that moment in which it becomes idle before the complete unwinding of the ribbon from this latter reel.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1, in which support means for stored data consists of a card punched according to Hollerith code, which is divided into m card sectors, each of which comprises h subsectors each consisting of one column of punchable positions of the card.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5, in which said reading complex comprises four reading devices arranged in succession along a reading path of the card at a distance apart equal to nine steps of punchable positions of the card in the direction of development of the columns of this latter, the reading elements of said devices which are designed for scanning the same column of the card being connected to the same means of operation of a print hammer and being connected together in such a manner that those belonging to the second, third and fourth device in the direction of reading of the card are activated only by the reading of a perforation in the first, second and third line respectively of the card in the same direction of reading by the reading element belonging to the first device, this activation giving rise to the deactivation of this latter reading element, there being also provided means for limiting this activation to only the reading of the perforations subsequent to the third line of punchable positions of the card.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6, in which said reading elements are composed of a signal emitting part and a signal receiving part, the emitting parts of the reading elements designed for scanning the same column of the card being connected to a common feed supply by way of respective circuit brAnches alternately selectable by changeover means, and a common circuit branch controlled by switching means associated with a first cam, said first cam being rotated at a speed such as to make one quarter of a turn for each complete passage of the card through a reading device and having a contour shaped so as to close said switching means at each passage of a perforation through a position corresponding with that of the reading element of the first device and at each passage of a perforation subsequent to the third line through a position corresponding with that of the reading elements of the second, third and fourth device, the receiving part of the reading element of the first device being connected to the pointer of a rotating changeover switch driven in such a manner that the pointer becomes positioned at three different fixed contacts to coincide with the reading of the first three lines of the card and at a continuous conducting sector to coincide with the reading of the other lines of the card, said conducting sector and the receiving parts of the reading elements of the second, third and fourth device being connected to a means of operation of a print hammer, said three fixed contacts being connected to respective means for controlling the changeover of said changeover means so as to operate these latter to select the reading element of the second device, the reading element of the third device and the reading element of the fourth device respectively following the reading of a perforation in the first, second and third line of the card respectively.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 5, in which said reading complex comprises a preliminary reading unit which carries out the simultaneous scanning of all sectors of the card, a decoder and a number m of stores, each of which is designed to store the data read in a respective sector of the card, and comprises n store columns in each of which the data read in one of the columns of the card is stored according to a code which provides for the energising of a store element which stands at a greater distance from a reference element the further the alphabetical or numerical character of said data stands in the order of succession of the print characters, the store elements of each of said stores being connected to the hammers of a respective row of hammers, the lines of each store being scanned by a reader out of phase by one step of said lines with respect to the readers of the other stores.