Portable printing apparatus with movable paper feed gate
First Claim
1. In a portable printing apparatus including a printer, the combination comprising:
- a housing for containing and supporting a printer, said housing having first and second separable sections with opposed first and second walls and mating peripheral edges that releasably interfit with one another to close the housing along said peripheral edges, said housing having an access opening to admit into said housing printing sheets in a fan-fold stack having joined perforated edge portions defining perforations for tearing separation of the sheets and a cover for covering said access opening during use, said housing having a discharge slot through which each sheet is discharged after having printing performed thereon, andsheet and printer support means mounted in said housing including a tray with an opening for receiving and supporting said stack, said tray opening being covered by said cover during use, a shelf-like support wall extending beyond a wall of said tray for supporting a printer and a movable feed gate adjacent an edge surface of said tray wall supported for bidirectional movement relative to said edge surface defining a sheet feed slot of a variable size to allow said perforations to pass through said feed slot as a succession of said sheets are passed from said stack through said feed slot, through said printer and out said discharge slot,said tray including spaced side walls and spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a top edge terminating below the top edge of the side walls, said movable feed gate having ends and being slidably supported at said ends by said side walls with said top edge of said one end wall and a bottom edge of said gate defining said sheet feed slot,said ends of said gate being slidably confined in a pair of opposed facing channel means along the inside of said side walls and including a slide coupling means slidably interconnecting the ends of said gate with said side walls,said slide coupling means having cooperating means to hold said gate in a raised position when the cover is retracted to facilitate feeding of the top sheet of said stack into the printer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Portable printing apparatus is disclosed that includes a portable, weather-proof housing adapted to be carried by a user as by a shoulder strap. The housing is made up of two separable housing sections joined at releasable interfitting weather-proof joints which contains and supports for transport a printer as well as the electric circuits including an onboard microprocessor on a circuit board to store data and operate the printer and a battery to power the circuits and printer. The housing has an access opening which enables sheets that are printed on to be placed in the housing. A combination sheet tray and support wall for the printer is releasably fastened to the inside of the housing. A slidable cover is mounted to slide in a wall of the housing and is arranged to cover the top of the tray and enclose and protect the sheets in the tray against the weather. The electric circuit enables command signals to be input to operate the printer and the microprocessor to store data to operate the printer.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. In a portable printing apparatus including a printer, the combination comprising:
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a housing for containing and supporting a printer, said housing having first and second separable sections with opposed first and second walls and mating peripheral edges that releasably interfit with one another to close the housing along said peripheral edges, said housing having an access opening to admit into said housing printing sheets in a fan-fold stack having joined perforated edge portions defining perforations for tearing separation of the sheets and a cover for covering said access opening during use, said housing having a discharge slot through which each sheet is discharged after having printing performed thereon, and sheet and printer support means mounted in said housing including a tray with an opening for receiving and supporting said stack, said tray opening being covered by said cover during use, a shelf-like support wall extending beyond a wall of said tray for supporting a printer and a movable feed gate adjacent an edge surface of said tray wall supported for bidirectional movement relative to said edge surface defining a sheet feed slot of a variable size to allow said perforations to pass through said feed slot as a succession of said sheets are passed from said stack through said feed slot, through said printer and out said discharge slot, said tray including spaced side walls and spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a top edge terminating below the top edge of the side walls, said movable feed gate having ends and being slidably supported at said ends by said side walls with said top edge of said one end wall and a bottom edge of said gate defining said sheet feed slot, said ends of said gate being slidably confined in a pair of opposed facing channel means along the inside of said side walls and including a slide coupling means slidably interconnecting the ends of said gate with said side walls, said slide coupling means having cooperating means to hold said gate in a raised position when the cover is retracted to facilitate feeding of the top sheet of said stack into the printer. - View Dependent Claims (7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18)
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2. In a portable printing apparatus including a printer, the combination comprising:
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a housing for containing and supporting a printer, said housing having first and second separable sections with opposed first and second walls and mating peripheral edges that releasably interfit with one another to close the housing along said peripheral edges, said housing having an access opening, printing sheets admitted into said housing through said access opening, said printing sheets being in a fan-fold stack having joined perforated edge portions defining perforations for tearing separation of the sheets and a cover for covering said access opening during use, said housing having a discharge slot through which each sheet is discharged after having printing performed thereon, and sheet and printer support means mounted in said housing including a tray with an opening for receiving and supporting said stack, said tray opening being covered by said cover during use, a shelf-like support wall extending beyond a wall of said tray for supporting a printer and a movable feed gate adjacent an edge surface of said tray wall supported for free bi-directional movement relative to said edge surface defining a sheet feed slot of a variable size to allow said perforations to pass through said feed slot as a succession of said sheets are passed form said stacks through said feed slot, through said printer and out said discharge slot, said tray including spaced side walls and spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a top edge terminating below the top edge of said side walls, said movable feed gate having opposite ends slidably confined in a pair of opposed facing channel means along the inside of said side walls with said top edge of said one end wall and a bottom edge of said gate defining said feed slot. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. In a portable printing apparatus, the combination comprising;
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a printer, a housing for containing and supporting said printer, said housing having first and second separable sections with opposed first and second walls and mating peripheral edges that releasably interfit with one another to close the housing along said peripheral edges, said housing having an access opening, printing sheets admitted into said housing through said access opening, said printing sheets being in a fan-fold stack having joined perforated edge portions defining perforations for tearing separating and a cover for covering said access opening during use, said housing having a discharge slot through which each sheet is discharged after having printing performed thereon, sheet and printer support means mounted in said housing including a tray with an opening for receiving and supporting said stack, said tray opening being covered by said cover during use, a shelf-like support wall extending beyond a wall of said tray for supporting said printer and a movable feed gate adjacent an edge surface of said tray wall supported for free bi-directional movement relative to said edge surface defined a sheet feed slot of a variable size to allow said perforations to pass through said feed slot as a succession of said sheets are passed from said stack through said feed slot, through said printer and out said discharge slot, said tray including spaced side walls and spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a top edge terminating below the top edge of said side walls, said movable feed gate having opposite ends slidably confined in a pair of opposed facing channel means along the inside of said side walls with said top edge of said one end wall and a bottom edge of said gate defining said feed slot, electric circuit means mounted on a circuit board in said housing and coupled to said printer for use in controlling the operation of said printer, a battery mounted in said housing for providing electric power, control means on the housing operable by the user to regulate the power to said electric circuit means and to operate said printer, and a top of sheet sensor connected to said electric circuit means and recessed in said edge surface to sense the top of each sheet passed through said slot.
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30. In portable printing apparatus, the combination comprising:
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a printer, a portable weather-proof housing containing said printer, said housing having two separable sections with opposed top and bottom walls that have mating peripheral edges that releasably interfit one within another to close the housing along said peripheral edges, said housing having an access opening, printing sheets admitted into said housing through said access opening, said printing sheets being in a fan-fold stack having perforated edge portions joining the sheets, said housing having a sliding cover for covering said access opening during use, said cover being movable between a closed position in which an end edge of said movable cover forms one side of said discharge guide slot and an open position to allow the insertion of sheets of paper to said tray, said housing having a sheet discharge slot through which a printed sheet is passed, said tray including spaced side walls and spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a top edge terminating below the top edge of said side walls, said movable feed gate having opposite ends slidably confined in a pair of opposed facing channel means along the inside of said side walls with said top edge of said one end wall and a bottom edge of said gate defining said feed slot, sheet and printer support means in said housing including a tray arranged for supporting said stack and a printer support wall extending beyond a wall of said tray, said printer being mounted on said support wall, electric circuit means on a circuit board in said housing, means for receiving input signals and providing output signals to control a printing operation of said printer, said electric circuit means including a programmed microprocessor for receiving input data from selected input devices, storing data and controlling the location of characters printed by the printer on the sheet, and a portable hand-held computer coupled to said electric circuit means having a keyboard for inputting data to operate said printer. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification