Printer ready to print detection system for a thermal printing mechanism

Abstract

Thermal print mechanism comprising a printer chassis, a thermal printhead, a platen roller having a conductive shaft, a manner of imparting motion to put the platen roller in rotation, two lateral conductive contacts arranged on the printer chassis so as to be directly or indirectly in electrical contact with two opposite ends of the platen roller conductive shaft for conducting of electrical current, thus forming an electrical switch. At least one nonconductive part of one end of the conductive shaft interacting with one two lateral conductive contact or at least one nonconductive element mounted on said one end of the conductive shaft, is arranged so as to open and to close the switch when the platen roller is rotating.

Claims

1. A thermal printing mechanism comprising: a printer chassis, a thermal printhead, a platen roller having a conductive shaft, a motion means to put the platen roller in rotation trough a platen roller gear fixedly mounted on one end of the platen roller conductive shaft, two lateral conductive contacts arranged on the printer chassis so as to be directly or indirectly in electrical contact with two opposite ends of the platen roller conductive shaft for conducting of electrical current, thus forming an electrical switch, characterized in that on one of the ends of the conductive shaft interacting with one of the lateral conductive contacts there is at least one nonconductive part that is integral with said one end of the conductive shaft (6) or there is at least one nonconductive element fixedly mounted on said one end of the conductive shaft, said at least one non conductive part or said at least one nonconductive element being arranged at contact area of said one end of the conductive shaft so as that during rotation of the platen roller the respective lateral conductive contact being able to successively interact with the conductive part of said end of the shaft, providing a direct or indirect electrical contact, or with said at least one nonconductive part or element, thus successively closing and, respectively, opening electrical circuit of the switch.

2. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the motion means is not capable to rotate the platen roller against the thermal printhead when there is no paper in between.

3. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the platen roller is detachable from the printer chassis and movable between two possible positions, a first printing position where the platen roller is held in the printer chassis and allows the thermal printing mechanism to print, and a second open position where the platen roller is detached from the printer chassis.

4. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said nonconductive element comprises a nonconductive part of the platen roller gear that is mounted on one end of the conductive shaft.

5. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein between at least one of the ends of the conductive shaft and one lateral conductive contact at least one additional conductive element is arranged for indirect conduction of electrical current between the conductive shaft and said lateral conductive contact, said at least one additional conductive element being designed so as to eliminate the friction forces between the lateral conductive contact and the conductive shaft in rotation.

6. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said additional conductive element comprises a conductive bush rotatably mounted on at least one end of the conductive shaft so as to provide electrical contact between the conductive shaft and inner surface of the conductive bush, wherein the respective lateral conductive contact is arranged so as to be in electrical contact with outer surface of the conductive bush.

7. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the lateral conductive contacts is in the form of a conductive spring.

8. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the lateral conductive contacts is designed as a pressure means for the conductive shaft so as to urge the platen roller against the thermal printhead.

9. The thermal printing mechanism according to the claim 8, wherein one lateral conductive contact is in continuous mechanical contact with the nonconductive platen roller gear for urging the platen roller against the thermal printhead, and said lateral conductive contact is in intermittent electrical contact with at least one additional conductive element arranged in the nonconductive platen roller gear so as to be in continuous electrical contact with the conductive shaft.

10. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said at least one additional conductive element is flexible and is positioned inside a cylindrical body of the nonconductive platen roller gear, having one end being in continuous electrical contact with the conductive shaft, and other end arranged so as to protrude through a respective opening arranged in circumferential wall of said cylindrical body of the nonconductive platen roller gear and to bend when in intermittent electrical contact with respective lateral conductive contact during rotation of the conductive shaft.

11. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the printer chassis is conductive and at least one of the lateral conductive contacts, is also in contact through its second end with the printer chassis.

12. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the lateral conductive contacts is in contact through its second end with a conductive pad located on a flexible circuit.

13. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 12 wherein the flexible circuit is in contact with one of the two lateral conductive contacts through the printer chassis.

14. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 12, wherein the flexible circuit is a single side flexible circuit and is folded on itself to generate a first contact pad and a second contact pad, the first contact pad being electrically connected to the second end of the lateral conductive contact (4 or 5), and the second contact pad being electrically connected to the printer chassis.

15. The thermal printing mechanism according to claim 12 wherein the flexible circuit has two terminals in a flexible circuit terminal area to transfer the signals from the switch to an electronic controller of the thermal printing mechanism and wherein a first terminal on the terminal area of the flexible circuit, which is always connected to the printer chassis, in all positions of the switch, is connected to the ground on the electronic controller of the thermal printing mechanism.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The characteristics of the invention will be disclosed in details in the following description of preferred embodiments, given as non-restrictive examples, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the thermal printing mechanism according to the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the inner part of a preferred embodiment of the thermal printing mechanism according to the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic detail view of the pressure means and related electrical connections on the motion means side of the thermal printing mechanism;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic partly exploded view of a variant where the non conductive part is constituted by the platen roller gear mounted on the conductive shaft and additional conductive elements mounted on the platen roller gear are indirectly and periodically electrically connecting the lateral conductive contact to the conductive shaft;

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic detail view of the motion means side of a variant of the thermal printing mechanism showing the assembled platen roller gear with its conductive elements;

(7) FIG. 6 is a schematic partly exploded detail view of the mounting of the lateral conductive contact in the form of a spring on the side opposite to the motion means, and the mounting of the indirect electrical connection through the bush;

(8) FIG. 7 is a partly exploded detail view of the assembly of the lateral conductive contact on the platen roller gear side with the flexible circuit on the printer chassis side;

(9) FIG. 8 is a partly exploded detail view of the assembly of the lateral conductive contact on the platen roller gear side with the flexible circuit on the lateral conductive contact side;

(10) FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the flexible circuit and its terminal area;

(11) FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of another exemplary embodiment of the thermal printing mechanism according to the present invention, wherein the pressure means for the platen roller are not the lateral conductive contacts and are not flexible;

(12) FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of the thermal printing mechanism according to the present invention, wherein the conductive shaft is in direct contact with the lateral conductive contacts;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(13) FIG. 1 schematically shows the thermal printing mechanism according to the present invention. The thermal printing mechanism comprises a printer chassis 2; a thermal printhead 1; a platen roller 3 having a conductive shaft 6; a motion means 11 to put the platen roller 3 in rotation trough a platen roller gear 14 fixedly mounted on one end of the platen roller conductive shaft 6, a paper guide 8 and a gear train protector 10. Preferably the paper guide 8 and the gear train protector 10 are nonconductive.

(14) FIG. 2 shows the inner part of a preferred embodiment of the thermal printing mechanism according to the present invention. The thermal printhead 1 is fixedly mounted on the conductive printer chassis 2. In alternative variants the thermal printhead can also be assembled in a known way on a rotative support.

(15) The thermal printing mechanism further comprises two lateral conductive contacts 4 and 5 arranged on the printer chassis 2 so as to be in a contact with the two opposite ends of the platen roller conductive shaft 6 in the printing position of the platen roller 3 for conducting electrical current, thus forming an electrical switch for indication of the status of the platen roller position.

(16) In the embodiment shown of the figures the platen roller 3 is movable between two possible positionsopen position and printing position. The lateral conductive contacts 4 and 5 in this embodiment are also pressure means for the platen roller and comprise wire spring that have an angled shape part 7 at first end that interacts with conductive shaft 6, said angled shape part 7 is provided in order to create a hard point when the platen roller 4 moves from the open position to the printing position and vice-versa.

(17) According to the present invention at one of the ends of the platen roller conductive shaft 6, that interacts with one of the lateral conductive contacts 4 or 5, there is at least one nonconductive part that is integral with said one end of the conductive shaft 6 or there is at least one nonconductive element fixedly mounted on said one end of the conductive shaft 6. Said at least one non conductive part or said at least one nonconductive element being arranged at contact area of said one end of the conductive shaft 6 with respective lateral conductive contact, wherein said at least one nonconductive part or element generates at least one open switch pulse during one full rotation of the platen roller conductive shaft 6. Such arrangement assures that during rotation of the platen roller 3 the respective lateral conductive contact 4 successively interacts with the conductive shaft 6, providing a direct or indirect electrical contact, or with the nonconductive part or element thus successively closing and, respectively, opening the electrical circuit of the switch.

(18) As could be seen from the FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the non conductive element mounted on the conductive shaft comprises the nonconductive platen roller gear 14, fixedly mounted on the conductive shaft. The lateral conductive contact 4, being also a pressure means for the thermal printhead, is in continuous mechanical contact with the platen roller gear 14. The groove 19 guides laterally the lateral conductive contact 4 and reduces the wearing against the nonconductive platen roller gear 14, since the mechanical contact pressure is following a half circle instead of a single point.

(19) In this variant, two flexible additional conductive elements 15 are inserted opposite to one another into the cylindrical body of the nonconductive platen roller gear 14. Each flexible conductive element 15, for example, has four sections with different function. First section 15a is arranged perpendicular to the conductive shaft 6 to ease the mounting of the flexible conductive elements 15 into the platen roller gear 14, before the assembly of the platen roller gear 14 with the flexible conductive elements 15 into the conductive shaft 6. Second section 15b is arranged parallel to and is in continuous electrical contact with the conductive shaft 6 through a surface 24 arranged on the conductive shaft 6. Third section 15c has a reduced width to be flexible, so as to allow the flexible conductive element 15 to bend when the lateral conductive contact 4 pushes it. Finally the last forth section 15d has a hook-shaped protrusion in order to hardly protrude from an opening 13 (in the form of a slot as shown on the FIG. 4) arranged in circumferential wall of the cylindrical body of the platen roller gear 14, said forth section 15d is in intermittent electrical contact with the lateral conductive contact 4 during rotation of the conductive shaft 6.

(20) In the above described variant, with two flexible additional conductive elements 15 arranged between two nonconductive parts of the platen roller gear 14, for one full rotation of the conductive shaft 6, the switch state generates four electrical transitions, and each closed switch state corresponds to a bending of the flexible conductive element 15. The mechanical force of this bending being defined by the flexible portion 15c of the flexible conductive element 15, thus the wearing of the hook-shaped protrusion 15d against the lateral conductive contact 4 is kept very low.

(21) Although in the present embodiment there are two diametrically opposed additional conductive elements 15 mounted in the platen roller gear 14, to one skilled in the art will be clear that same functionality can be achieved with one, three or more conductive elements.

(22) In the case the lateral conductive contact are different from the pressure means, it is also clear that a low force lateral conductive contact mounted on the chassis can be used, and the additional conductive elements may not need to be flexible, leading to a simple conductive part continuously electrically connected to the conductive shaft 6.

(23) In such variant the at least one nonconductive part or at least one nonconductive element mounted on at least one end of the conductive shaft 6, may be achieved also in a different way than using the platen roller gear 14 like by filling notches on the circumferential surface of the shaft with non conductive material, applying stripes of non-conductive coating on the circumferential surface of the shaft, creating a slot in the conductive shaft and filling it with non conductive material of a part of the platen roller gear 14, or by any other way that one skilled in the art could use.

(24) The partly exploded view on the FIG. 6 shows the mounting of the spring 5 on a nonconductive shaft 9 mounted on the nonconductive paper guide 8. The conductive shaft 6 is rotatably inserted in additional conductive element comprising a conductive bush 23 so as to be in electrical contact with inner surface of the conductive bush 23. The lateral conductive contact 5 having also the pressure means function is in contact with the outer surface of the immobile conductive bush 23. A circlip 25 retains the conductive bush 23 on the conductive shaft 6.

(25) The second end 20 of the spring 5 is in electrical and mechanical contact with the printer chassis 2.

(26) Preferably the thermal printing mechanism according to the invention comprises also a single side flexible circuit 17 with a first contact pad 21 and a second contact pad 22 as sown on FIGS. 7 and 8.

(27) The elasticity of the wire spring 4, urges its second end 16 against the first contact pad 21 on the flexible circuit 17, thus urging the second contact pad 22 on the flexible circuit 17 against the printer chassis 2 as shown on FIGS. 3, 7 and 8.

(28) Said wire spring 4 is mounted on a nonconductive shaft 12 arranged on a nonconductive paper guide 8 as shown on the FIG. 3. This allows the wire spring 4 to be electrically isolated from the printer chassis 2.

(29) Both contact pads 21 and 22 of the flexible circuit 17 correspond to both ends of the electrical switch terminals located on a terminal area 18 of the flexible circuit 17.

(30) FIG. 7 shows the second contact pad 22, and FIG. 8 shows the first contact pad 21. Finally two tracks on the flexible circuit 17, connect these two contacts to two corresponding terminals in the terminal area 18 of the flexible circuit 17 as shown on the FIG. 9.

(31) Said terminals could be used directly to switch on a light like a LED. In a preferred embodiment, both terminals are connected to an electronic controller board which is processing the information coming from the switch, in order to control the printer operation.

(32) Preferably said flexible circuit 17 is a single side flexible circuit, to keep its price low. Two conductive pad areas are made on the flexible circuit 17, in order to generate the first contact pad 21 and the second contact pad 22, both contacts being one over the other, when the flexible circuit is folded on itself.

(33) When the switch is closed, the electricity flows through the first terminal on the terminal area 18 of the flexible circuit 17, to the printer chassis 2 through the second contact pad 22, due to the pressure exerted by the extremity 16 of the wire spring 4, then to the extremity 20 of the wire spring 5, then to the platen roller conductive shaft 6 through the extremity 7 of the wire spring 5 and the conductive bush 23, and via the extremity 7 of the wire spring 4, to the first contact pad 21 and then to the second terminal on the terminal area 18 of the flexible circuit 17 thanks again to the pressure of the extremity 16 of the wire spring 4, thus closing the switch circuitry.

(34) In a preferred embodiment, the first terminal on the terminal area 18 of the flexible circuit 17, which is always connected to the printer chassis 2 via the second contact pad 22, and this, whatever is the status of the switch, is connected to the ground on the electronic board. Such connection allows to ground the printer chassis 2 for a better protection against electro-static discharge on the thermal printhead 1. The second terminal is then reflecting the status of the switch, being or not connected to ground according to the status of the switch.

(35) FIG. 10 is an embodiment where the pressure means 29 are different elements of the construction than the lateral conductive contacts 26. In general and not only in this variant, the function of the pressure means 29 is not only to urge the platen roller against the printhead, but also to align the platen roller to the dotline of the thermal printhead. To achieve this function, a small component of the force of the pressure means is used to urge the platen roller against two lateral alignment guides. The two lateral alignment guides comprise two horizontal portions of the non conductive paper guide arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the thermal printhead. The two lateral conductive contacts 26 are arranged on contact surfaces of said two lateral alignment guides with respective parts of the platen roller.

(36) An additional conductive element 27 in continuous contact with the conductive shaft 6 is arranged on the platen roller gear 14 and generates a switch pulse when passing over the lateral conductive contact 26, every full rotation of the conductive shaft.

(37) The conductive shaft 6 can be also in direct contact with the lateral conductive contact 26, thus in this embodiment the bush 23 has only the mechanical function to cancel the wearing between the pressure means 29 and the conductive shaft 6.

(38) Such contacts do not need to be flexible since the components of the force of the pressure means in the direction perpendicular to these lateral conductive contacts can be kept low, and therefore such lateral conductive contacts can comprise just a conductive tape, plating or a thin metal plate in order to electrically contact directly or indirectly both ends of the conductive shaft. The further connection to the flexible circuit is not shown on this figure but can be easily realized by modifying the flexible circuit shape and creating pressure point with both lateral conductive contacts in order to insure the electrical continuity of the switch.

(39) FIG. 11, shows another embodiment of direct contact between the conductive shaft 6 and the lateral conductive contact 4, at the platen roller gear side. In this variant the conductive shaft 6 has a slot 28 which is filled by a complementary nonconductive blade which is a part of the platen roller gear 14. Optionally the lateral conductive contact 4, which is flexible, can be simultaneously a pressure means.

(40) These two above example embodiments illustrate the numerous possibilities to realize the same function, with the use of flexible or not lateral conductive contacts, and direct or indirect electrical connection with the conductive shaft.

FUNCTIONING OF THE INVENTION

(41) The information given by the open and closed position of the switch according to the invention can be analyzed by the printer driver software as follows:

(42) When the printer has to print, the switch position is tested.

(43) If the switch is initially closed, the lateral conductive contact 4 is in direct or indirect electrical contact with the platen roller shaft 6. And in the case the platen roller is detachable, said platen roller is in printing position.

(44) Then the platen roller motion means 11 tries to rotate the platen roller 3 up to the position when the switch opens, but for a limited angle corresponding to the angular distance for one of the lateral contact to pass over at least one nonconductive part of or at least one nonconductive element mounted on one end of the conductive shaft 6.

(45) If the switch gets open, there is paper since the platen roller 3 can turn freely. Paper can be fed backward to the original position in order not to loose paper and the printing can start.

(46) If the switch remains closed, there is no paper.

(47) If the switch is initially open, the lateral conductive contact 4 is not in direct or indirect electrical contact with the platen roller shaft 6, or the platen roller 3 is not in printing position in the case the platen roller is detachable.

(48) Then the platen roller motion means 11 tries to rotate the platen roller 3 up to the position when the switch closes, but for a limited angle corresponding to the angular distance for one of the lateral conductive contact 4 to get in direct or indirect electrical contact with the platen roller shaft 6

(49) If the switch gets closed, there is paper since the platen roller can turn freely. Paper can be fed backward to the original position in order not to loose paper and the printing can start.

(50) If the switch remains open, there is no paper or the platen roller is not in printing position in the case the platen roller is detachable or there is a paper jam since the motor cannot nm freely in that case.

(51) During the printing process, the synchronicity between the stepper motor steps and the switch open and close sequence is continuously checked and as soon as the synchronicity is lost, there is a paper jam, paper end, or the platen roller is not any more in the printing position in the case the platen roller is detachable.

(52) With this very simple open and close switch sequence a triple sensing function is achieved: paper presence, paper jam, and platen roller position in case the platen roller is detachable.

(53) By the present invention, the optical sensor usually used to sense the paper presence can be avoided, and replaced by the multifunctional detection system according to the present invention.

(54) Various modifications and/or additions of parts will be apparent to those skilled in the art that will remain within the field and scope of the present invention defined in appended claims. All the parts may further be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

(55) Reference signs for technical features are included in the claims for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.