Printer and control method for the same
First Claim
1. A printer comprising:
- a transportation path having a print medium insertion opening and the ejection opening;
a print medium transporter coupled to the transportion path, the print medium transporter adapted to move a print medium in a first orientation through the entire print medium path between the insertion opening and the ejection opening;
an image reader disposed adjacent the transportation path and oriented to capture an image of the print medium;
a printing mechanism disposed adjacent the transportation path and oriented to print on the print medium;
a reverse feed mechanism disposed adjacent the transportation path upstream of the ejection opening and adapted to reverse feed the print medium in a second orientation opposite from the first orientation through the entire print medium path; and
a return path connected to the reverse feed mechanism and to a portion of the transportation path upstream of the image reader.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A compact printer efficiently performs a sequence of processes to front and back sides of a print medium, typically a personal check. The printer has a transportation path for transporting a check P from the insertion opening thereof to the ejection opening by drive rollers, moving the check P through the transportation path. An image scanner captures an image of the print medium as it moves through the transportation path. A print head prints to the print medium. A reverse feed mechanism disposed on the upstream side of the ejection opening reverse feeds a print medium transported in the downstream direction back to the upstream side of the transportation path by way of a form return path for guiding the reversed print medium.
113 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A printer comprising:
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a transportation path having a print medium insertion opening and the ejection opening;
a print medium transporter coupled to the transportion path, the print medium transporter adapted to move a print medium in a first orientation through the entire print medium path between the insertion opening and the ejection opening;
an image reader disposed adjacent the transportation path and oriented to capture an image of the print medium;
a printing mechanism disposed adjacent the transportation path and oriented to print on the print medium;
a reverse feed mechanism disposed adjacent the transportation path upstream of the ejection opening and adapted to reverse feed the print medium in a second orientation opposite from the first orientation through the entire print medium path; and
a return path connected to the reverse feed mechanism and to a portion of the transportation path upstream of the image reader. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
a first gear set that drives the third transport roller forward or reverse according to the direction of motor rotation; and
a second gear set that drives the two transport rollers of the print medium transporter forward regardless of the direction of motor rotation.
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9. A printer as described in claim 8, wherein the second gear set comprises:
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two one-way clutches supported on a rotating shaft of one transport roller of the print medium transporter adapted to alternately transfer torque in the same direction of rotation to said transport roller;
a third gear set that transfers drive force from the motor during forward motor drive to the transport roller by way of one intervening one-way clutch; and
a fourth gear set that transfers drive force from the motor during reverse motor drive to the transport roller by way of the other intervening one-way clutch.
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10. A printer as described in claim 1, in which the printing mechanism comprises:
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a print head; and
a print head transport mechanism for moving the print head substantially orthogonal to the print medium transport direction.
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11. A printer as described in claim 1, further comprising a magnetic ink character reader disposed adjacent the transportation path on a downstream side of the image reader.
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12. A printer as described in claim 11, wherein the magnetic ink character reader comprises:
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a magnetic head; and
a magnetic head transport mechanism for moving the magnetic head substantially orthogonal to the print medium transport direction.
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13. A printer as described in claim 12, wherein the printing mechanism comprises a print head and a print head transport mechanism for moving the print head substantially orthogonal to the print medium transport direction, and wherein the magnetic head transport mechanism is the print head transport mechanism.
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14. A printer as described in claim 1, further comprising a character recognition mechanism adapted to detect magnetic ink characters on the print medium captured and stored by the image reader.
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15. A printer as described in claim 1, further comprising a data capture mechanism adapted to obtain information relating to a print area of the print medium from the print medium image captured by the image reader, wherein the printing mechanism is controlled based on the captured data.
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16. A printer as described in claim 1, further comprising a print medium length detector adjacent the transportation path;
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a reverse feed controller adapted to prohibit reverse feed of the print medium by the reverse teed mechanism when the print medium length detected by the length detector is longer than a length of a circulation path formed by the transportation path and return path.
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17. A printer as described in claim 1, wherein the print medium is a check.
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18. A printer control method for processing a print medium including at least non-magnetic ink characters, the printer control method comprising:
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reading an image of the print medium, including the non-magnetic ink characters, transported through a print medium transporter;
printing to a first side of the print medium by a single printing mechanism;
feeding the print medium to a return path by reversing the print medium transport direction by a reverse feed mechanism; and
printing to a second side of the print medium by the single printing mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (19, 25, 27)
feeding the print medium to the return path by reversing the print medium transport direction by the reverse feed mechanism;
capturing an image of the print medium during the print medium transportation by an image reader; and
ejecting the print medium from an ejection opening.
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25. A control method as described in claim 18, wherein the reading step comprises reading an entire image of the print medium transported through the print medium transporter.
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27. A control method as described in claim 18, wherein the print medium includes magnetic ink characters, and wherein the method further comprises reading the magnetic ink characters of the print medium.
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20. A printer control method for processing a print medium including at least non-magnetic ink characters, the printer control method comprising:
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printing to a first side of a print medium by a single printing mechanism;
reading an image of a printed first side of the print medium, including the non-magnetic ink characters;
feeding the print medium to a return path by reversing the print medium transport direction by a reverse feed mechanism;
printing to a second side of the print medium by the single printing mechanism;
reading an image of the printed second side of the print medium; and
ejecting the print medium from an ejection opening. - View Dependent Claims (26, 28)
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21. A printer control method comprising:
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printing to a first side of a print medium by a printing mechanism;
reading an image of a printed first side of the print medium;
detecting by a length detector a length of the print medium guided to the transportation path; and
ejecting the print medium from an ejection opening when the print medium length detected by the length detector is longer than a length of a circulation path formed by the transportation path and return path.
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22. A printer comprising:
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a transportation path for transporting a print medium from an insertion opening to an ejection opening, the transportation path having a print medium path between the insertion opening and the ejection opening;
transporting device for moving a print medium in a first orientation through the entire print medium path between the insertion opening and the ejection opening;
image reading device disposed adjacent the transportation path for capturing an image of a print medium transported in the transportation path;
printing means disposed adjacent the transportation path for printing to the print medium being transported through the transportation path;
reverse feeding device disposed adjacent the transportation path upstream of the ejection opening for reverse feeding the print medium in a second orientation opposite from the first orientation through the entire print medium path; and
a return path for guiding a print medium reverse fed by the reverse feeding device to a position on the transportation path upstream of the image reading means.
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23. A printer comprising:
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a transportation path having an insertion opening on one end and an ejection opening on an other end and a medium path between the insertion opening and the ejection opening, the entire medium path being U-shaped;
a first roller disposed inside the U-shape at an intermediate part of the transportation path;
a second roller disposed inside the U-shape near the insertion opening to the transportation path; and
a third roller disposed near the ejection opening for pulling a print medium out from the transportation path and then passing the print medium above the first roller for printing to or scanning a reverse side of a first side of the print medium after printing to or scanning the first side of a print medium transported in the transportation path. - View Dependent Claims (24)
the third roller turns in forward and reverse directions.
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Specification