ACCESSORY DEVICE

Abstract

An accessory device is for an electronic marking device. The accessory device has a connection device for releasably connecting to an electronic marking device, and the accessory device has a stop for limiting movement of a document transversely to a printhead of a connected electronic marking device. A deflecting mechanism deflects the document, and the stop and the deflecting mechanism are arranged on different sides of the printhead of the connected electronic marking device. An electronic marking device includes a printhead, a movement detector, and a controller. The controller is connected to the movement detector and to the printhead and is configured to actuate the printhead in order to print a document when movement of the electronic marking device over the document is detected by the movement detector. The electronic marking device has a stop for limiting movement of the document transversely to the printhead.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. An accessory device for an electronic marking device, the accessory device comprising: an attachment mechanism for releasable attachment to an electronic marking device and an opening for exposing a printing head of the electronic marking device; at least one abutment for limiting a displacement of a support transversely to a direction of printing; a deflector for deflecting the support in a direction which differs from the direction of printing, wherein the abutment and the deflector are arranged on different sides of the opening and the direction of printing runs from the abutment, under the opening, to the deflector.

16. The accessory device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the deflector has at least one abutment which limits a transverse displacement of the support with respect to the deflector.

17. The accessory device as claimed in claim 15, the accessory device comprising at least two abutments, wherein the abutments are configured to limit a displacement of a support transversely to the direction of printing before and after a deflection of the support at the deflector.

18. The accessory device as claimed in claim 15, the accessory device comprising at least two abutments for limiting a displacement of a support transversely to the direction of printing and on different sides of the opening.

19. The accessory device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the abutments are formed in through passages of the accessory device.

20. The accessory device as claimed in claim 19, wherein all the through passages have the same width, in particular a width of 10 mm to 40 mm.

21. The accessory device as claimed in claim 19, wherein the abutments are formed by an inner border of the through passages.

22. The accessory device as claimed in claim 19, wherein the abutments are formed by the inner border of adapters which are respectively received in the through passages.

23. The accessory device as claimed in claim 22, wherein the adapters are introduced releasably into the through passages.

24. The accessory device as claimed in claim 22, wherein the adapters are pivotably mounted with respect to the through passages.

25. The accessory device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the abutments are respectively formed by an inner border of an indentation in the through passages.

26. The accessory device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the abutments are formed in through passages of the accessory device, wherein the accessory device has at least four of the through passages, wherein a first pair of the through passages is configured to orientate the support under the printing head of an attached electronic marking device and a second pair of the through passages is configured to orientate the support in a same plane and parallel to an orientation in the first pair and under the electronic marking device, wherein the deflector for deflecting the support is arranged between the first pair and the second pair.

27. An electronic marking device comprising: a printing head; a movement detector; a controller, wherein the controller is connected to the movement detector and to the printing head and is configured to activate the printing head to print onto a support when a movement of the electronic marking device relative to the support is detected by the movement detector; at least one abutment for limiting a displacement of the support transversely to the printing head; a deflector for deflecting the support in a direction which differs from the direction from the abutment to the deflector, wherein the abutment and the deflector are arranged on different sides of the printing head.

28. The electronic marking device as claimed in claim 27, wherein the controller is configured to reverse a longitudinal component of the movement detected by the movement detector and to activate the printing head based on the reversed movement to print onto the support.

29. The accessory device as claimed in claim 19, wherein all the through passages have a width of 15 mm.

30. The accessory device as claimed in claim 19, wherein all the through passages have a width of 25 mm.

31. The accessory device as claimed in claim 19, wherein all the through passages have a width of 30 mm.

Description

[0035] The disclosure will now be described in further detail on the basis of exemplary embodiments, to which it is not limited, and with reference to the drawings. In the drawings:

[0036] FIG. 1 schematically shows an electronic marking device which is suitable for attachment to an accessory device;

[0037] FIG. 2 schematically shows a view of an arcuate accessory device with removable adapter;

[0038] FIG. 3A schematically shows a top view of the accessory device of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 3B and 3C respectively show a section along the lines B-B or C-C in FIG. 3A;

[0039] FIG. 4 schematically shows an accessory device with pivotably mounted adapters in the closed condition;

[0040] FIG. 5 schematically shows the accessory device in accordance with FIG. 4, with pivotably mounted adapters in the open condition;

[0041] FIG. 6A schematically shows the accessory device in accordance with. FIG. 5 in a top view and FIG. 6B shows a section along the line B-B in FIG. 6A;

[0042] FIG. 7A schematically shows the accessory device in accordance with FIG. 4 in a top view and FIG. 7B shows a section along the line B-B in FIG. 7A;

[0043] FIG. 8 schematically shows an accessory device with a deflector; and

[0044] FIG. 9 shows the underside of the accessory device of FIG. 8.

[0045] FIG. 1 schematically shows an electronic marking device 1 for use in association with an accessory device 9 (FIGS. 2 to 7). The electronic marking device 1 is located on a support 2 to be printed and can be displaced relative to it transversely to the surface normal 3 in the directions 4 and 5 and be rotated about the surface normal 3 3 in the direction 6. The system therefore has three degrees of freedom. As can be seen in FIG. 1, in the lower region, the electronic marking device 1 has a small projection 7 with a groove 8 on its side. This groove serves on the one hand to enable better orientation of the print and on the other hand, it is used to secure the electronic marking device 1 in the accessory device 9 and to prevent any movement between the electronic marking device 1 and the accessory device 9. The projection 7 and the groove 8 are located on both sides of the electronic marking device 1 and are arranged symmetrically.

[0046] FIG. 2 schematically shows an arcuate accessory device 9 with two through passages 10 which each receive an adapter 11. In this regard, the adapters 11 can be inserted into the through passages 10 from above and removed from above. In the received condition, the adapters 11 lie on the border of the respective through passage 10. The arcuate inner border is divided into an upper inner border 12 and two lateral inner borders 13. The upper inner border 12 has the shape and dimensions of the outer border of the electronic marking device 1. The lateral inner borders 13 have a separation from each other which corresponds to the width of the electronic marking device 1 including the projections 7. The lateral inner borders 13 may also follow the shape of the outer edge of the marking device 1 including the projections 7. At the lateral inner borders 13 of the accessory device 9, a flat projection 14 is formed which prevents the electronic marking device 1 from falling through the opening in the central region 15 of the accessory device 9 formed by the frame when the marking device 1 is inserted. Furthermore, a pin 16 is located at each lateral inner border 13. These pins 16 are connected to the grooves 8 on the electronic marking device 1 upon insertion thereof. In this manner, the orientation of the marking device 1 is centrally fixed in the accessory device 9.

[0047] The adapters 11 in turn have through passages 10′ through which a support to be printed which has a width that is smaller than the width of the through passages 10′ of the adapters 11, for example a strip of paper, can be guided. In this regard, the abutments 17 which form the guide are formed by the insides 18 of the through passages 10′ of the adapters 11. The through passages 10′ in this regard are narrower than the corresponding through passages 10 in which the adapters 11 are arranged. In this regard, the support is introduced into the through passages 10′ in a manner such that in the central region 15 in which the electronic marking device 1 is located, it runs under the accessory device 9 and can be printed by the printing head of an attached electronic marking device 1. Starting from the border of the adapters 11 with which they, abut the accessory device 9, wing portions extend on both sides into the respective through passage 10. An inclined surface in the through passage 10 of the accessory device 9 remains free of the adapter 11 here. The adapters 11 have gripping surfaces which extend outwards from the through passage 10′, i.e., in the direction away from the central region 15, over the border of the accessory device 9. In this mariner, the adapters 11 can be removed from the through passages 10 with the aid of the gripping surfaces.

[0048] When the adapters 11 are removed from the accessory device 9, the guide is formed by the abutments 17′ which in turn are formed by the insides 18′ of the through passages 10 of the accessory device 9.

[0049] As can be seen in FIGS. 2, 3B and 3C, the underside of the accessory device 9 in the region in which a support which is guided through the through passage 10 is located has an indentation 19 in the direction of the top 20. This indentation 19 serves to prevent the support to be printed from becoming trapped when, for example, the accessory device 9 is placed on a table. This should guarantee free movement of the support in the printing direction 21. It can also be seen that the indentation 19 extends over the entire length of the accessory device 9. This means that the support to be printed can be guided through only one through passage 10′ and guided out on the other side under the accessory device 9, or the support needs only to be pulled along under the accessory device 9 without guiding it through one of the through passages 10′. Correspondingly, the scope of the invention also encompasses an accessory device without through passages. In this regard, the abutments may be formed by the side borders of the indentation 19. Correspondingly, the accessory device could, for example, be a plate with a strip-shaped indentation on an underside and an opening for the printing head of an electronic marking device.

[0050] Furthermore, the accessory device 9 has two handles 22 to make it easier for a hand to grasp and hold it. FIGS. 4 to 7 show a similar accessory device 9′, but in this case with pivotably mounted adapters 23. This pivotable mounting permits a rapid change between two different widths for the guide by opening or closing the adapters 23. The adapters 23 are attached to the pivot axis on the accessory device 9 via pins 24 so that the adapters 23 can be engaged in the accessory device 9 and are then pivotably mounted. The pivotably mounted adapters 23 have an abutment 25 in the vicinity of the pivot axis which limit its movement when opening. When closing, the movement is limited by a tab 26 which is radially beyond the pivot axis and forms a part of the adapter 23. As can be seen in FIG. 7B, in the closed condition, a contact 27 is formed by the aforementioned tab 26 alone, apart from the pin 24, between the adapter 23 and the accessory device 9′. In contrast to the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, the adapters 23 have an inclined surface which covers the inclined surface of the through passages 10. This ensures that a support cannot be pushed under the adapter 23. For the purposes of clarity, the properties of the accessory device 9′ and those of the adapter 23, which have already been described in FIGS. 2 and 3, have not been described again. Identical parts are provided with identical reference numerals. Here, only the differences between the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 have been described. Reference should be made to FIGS. 2 and 3 for further details in this regard.

[0051] In order to use the accessory device, the support (for example a tape) can be pulled through the through passages and past the printing head. As an alternative, the marking device may be pulled along on the support. In addition, the marking device could also be held upside down (for example in the case of an accessory device without through passages) and the tape could be guided over the marking device.

[0052] FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment of the accessory device 9″ in an isometric top view which is intended for use with an electronic marking device in which a movement detector is arranged transversely offset with respect to the printing direction next to the printing head. This accessory device 9″ has four through passages 10a-10b which are arranged in pairs on two sides of the accessory device 9″. Two of the through passages 10a, 10b are opposite each other centred about the printing head; the other two through passages 10c, 10d are next to them, transversely offset with respect to the printing direction 21 and in this regard are substantially centrally arranged about the movement detector of the electronic marking device 1. Furthermore, the accessory device 9″ has a deflector 28 in the form of a pin 29 which is located in the printing direction 21 to one side of the symmetrical portion of the base section. Here, the pin protrudes substantially normally out of a plane in which the support is guided through the through passages 10a-d. The cross sectional area of the pin 29 decreases in the direction away from the base section in the axial direction. This is so that when guided around the pin 29, the support does not have to be turned through a full 90°, therefore reducing the physical strain on the support. The section of the base to which the pin 29 is attached and which has a larger extent than the largest cross sectional area of the pin 29 acts as an abutment 28′ for the deflector 28 and prevents the support to be printed from slipping off in the direction of the base section. Next to the base section, the pin 29 is additionally connected to the accessory device 9″ via a fillet 30. The fillet 30 acts to stabilise the pin 29 during operation. Furthermore, the accessory device 9″ has an opening in its central region 15 which exposes at least the printing head and the movement detector of the attached electronic marking device 1. The accessory device 9″ has flat protrusions 14 to prevent the attached electronic marking device 1 from falling through. In addition, protrusions 16 are present on the accessory device which engage in associated grooves 8 of the electronic marking device 1 when attached and therefore act to provide optimal orientation thereof in the accessory device 9″.

[0053] FIG. 9 shows the underside of the accessory device 9″. It can be seen that indentations 19 are provided on the underside between the respectively opposite through passages 10a-d. Like the other embodiments, these act to enable the support to be guided along the underside of the accessory device 9″ without becoming trapped between the accessory device 9″ and a platform on which it is placed.

[0054] In order to print a support with an electronic marking device 1 using the accessory device 9″, the support is guided into one of the openings 10a, 10c from above, guided along under the device and guided up through the respectively opposite opening 10b, 10d. Afterwards, the support to be printed is turned through almost 90°, guided around the deflector 28 and then turned back through the same angle (alternatively, the support can also be turned through 90° by an appropriate deflector and then turned again through 90°). After this, it is guided once again through the respective other through passage 10d, 10b on the same side, guided along under the device 9″ and finally guided out and up through the remaining through passage 10c, 10a. In operation, or more precisely during the printing procedure, tension is exerted, for example, on one of the two parts of the support leaving the accessory device 9″. This moves the support between a first pair of through passages 10a-b in the direction of the deflector 28 and between the second pair of through passages 10c-d away from the deflector 28. In this regard, that portion of the support which is located between the first pair is printed and the other portion between the second pair is guided past the movement detector and acts to detect the speed of movement of the support and can control the printing head as a function of the movement. In this regard, the controller for the printing head takes into account the fact that the movement detected by the movement detector is in the opposite direction to that of the portion of the support to be printed.

[0055] The construction of the accessory device 9″ of FIGS. 8 and 9 may be combined with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 described above.