EP0131300A1 - Imprimante de lignes à matrice de points - Google Patents

Imprimante de lignes à matrice de points Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0131300A1
EP0131300A1 EP84108008A EP84108008A EP0131300A1 EP 0131300 A1 EP0131300 A1 EP 0131300A1 EP 84108008 A EP84108008 A EP 84108008A EP 84108008 A EP84108008 A EP 84108008A EP 0131300 A1 EP0131300 A1 EP 0131300A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
hammer
arms
printer according
line printer
matrix line
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP84108008A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0131300B1 (fr
Inventor
C. Gordon Whitaker
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mannesmann Tally Corp
Original Assignee
Mannesmann Tally Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Mannesmann Tally Corp filed Critical Mannesmann Tally Corp
Publication of EP0131300A1 publication Critical patent/EP0131300A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0131300B1 publication Critical patent/EP0131300B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J9/00—Hammer-impression mechanisms
    • B41J9/02—Hammers; Arrangements thereof
    • B41J9/127—Mounting of hammers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J9/00—Hammer-impression mechanisms
    • B41J9/02—Hammers; Arrangements thereof
    • B41J9/133—Construction of hammer body or tip

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to dot matrix printers, and more particularly to dot matrix line printers.
  • dot matrix printers can be separated into two types of printers.
  • Line printers and serial printers Both types of printers form images (characters or constructions) by selectively printing a series of dots in an X-Y matrix.
  • a dot matrix serial printer has a head which moves back and forth horizontally continuously or step by step on a sheet of paper. The head contains a vertical column of dot pressure elements. When the column position of a character position is reached during printing, the corresponding number of dot printing elements is actuated to form dots. A row of the vertical columns of dots formed in this way forms the desired symbol.
  • dot matrix line printers have dot printing devices for forming horizontal dot lines while the paper is being fed through the printer step by step. A series of horizontal lines of dots forms an image, that is, a series of characters or a construction.
  • the present invention relates to dot matrix line printers and not to dot matrix serial printers.
  • Each hammer arm of the dot pressure device described in U.S. Patent 4,351,235 includes a permanent magnet, stator, and plates that form a ferromagnetic path between the permanent magnet and the stator.
  • the stand carries a spool and is located on the stiffening side of the print hammer opposite the anvil. If no current flows through the coil, the print hammer is attracted to the stator by the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet and is therefore tensioned.
  • the tensioned hammers are released by energizing the coils to form dots, the coils generating a magnetic field that counteracts the magnetic stator pulling field generated by the permanent magnet.
  • dot printing devices for dot matrix line printers of the type described in US Pat. No. 4,351,235 have a number of advantages over previous printing devices for such printers and thus represent a significant advance in technology, these dot printing devices can nevertheless be improved.
  • the dot pressure device described in U.S. Patent 4,351,235 has a two-part hammer arm.
  • a two-part hammer is expensive to manufacture and therefore undesirable.
  • the two parts must be shaped and welded accordingly.
  • Another disadvantage of these point printing devices is that the hammer only hits the tip of the reel stand. Since the pole tip is small, the stator wear is high and thus the service life of the point printing devices shorter than desired.
  • the present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages mentioned.
  • the present invention relates to a hammer module for a dot matrix line printer.
  • the hammer module has a projecting multi-arm hammer.
  • the multi-arm hammer includes a plurality of hammer arms each with a thin spring area and a thick head area formed from a piece of resilient ferromagnetic material.
  • each module has magnetic circuits for each hammer arm, consisting of a common permanent magnet, a stand, an arm of a bending plate and an arm of a quick-release plate.
  • the stand is mounted on the tip of the bending plate arm.
  • the bending plate and the snap back plate lie in parallel planes on opposite sides (poles) of the permanent magnet.
  • the stands, the flex plate arms and the back plate arms are sized and positioned so that the tip of the stands (coplanar) lie in the same plane as the outer surface of the back plate arms. In addition, a gap is provided between the tips of the stands and the associated back plate arms.
  • the head portion of the one-piece hammer arm is positioned so that it is attracted both by the tip of the associated stand and by the end of the quick-release arm and strikes accordingly.
  • the attraction force is applied by the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet when the coils wound around the stator are not excited.
  • the tightening force acts on the thin spring area of the hammer arms and leads to tensioning the hammer arms. When a coil is excited, it generates a magnetic field which counteracts the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet.
  • the opposing magnetic flux releases the associated tensioned hammer arm and generates a force with which a ball welded to the opposite side of the hammer arm shoots against the band of a pressure pick-up device.
  • the ball impact presses the tape against a print recording medium (e.g. a sheet of paper) and forms a dot.
  • a one-piece hammer module 11 designed according to the invention includes: a permanent magnet 13; a bending plate 15; a snap back plate 17; a plurality of cylindrical coil stands 19; a plurality of coils 21; and a multi-arm hammer 23.
  • the multi-arm hammer 23 shown in FIG 1 has 3 hammer arms 25 which extend outwards from a base 27 on a common plane.
  • the bending plate 15 shown has three arms 29 which extend outwards in a common plane from a base 31; the illustrated snap-back plate 17 has 3 arms 33 which extend outwards in a common plane from a base 35.
  • the number of stands 19 and coils 21 shown is three.
  • the one-piece hammer module 11 is based on three, this embodiment, although preferred, means no limitation.
  • the triple form is preferred because from the standpoint of manufacturability it results in a module of favorable size.
  • three can be divided into 66 parts, and this is the preferred number of dot printing elements, for printing a standard line with 132 characters.
  • the permanent magnet 13 is an elongated, rectangular, parallel-flat permanent magnet.
  • the polarization of the permanent magnet is selected so that one pole (for example the north pole) of the magnet lies on one long side and the other pole (for example the south pole) on the opposite long side.
  • the base 35 of the snap back plate 17 is mounted on one of the polarized surfaces of the elongated permanent magnet 13; the base 31 of the snap back plate 15 is mounted on the other polarized surface.
  • the planar bending and snap back plates 15 and 17 lie in parallel planes.
  • the arms 29 and 33 of the flex and snap plates 15 and 17 are formed and positioned to be in alignment with each other.
  • the base 31 of the bending plate 15 has two threaded holes 37 between the bending plate arms 29.
  • One of the coil stands 19 is attached to the outside of each arm 29 of the bending plate 15.
  • the coil stands extend orthogonally outwards from the plane of the bending plate 15 to the snap-back plate 17.
  • the coil stands are preferably attached to the arms by radial riveting of the stands into the holes in the arms.
  • a coil 21 is mounted on each of the coil stands 19.
  • the base 35 of the quick-release plate 17 has two countersunk bores 39 between the quick-release plate arms 33 so that it can be aligned with a pair of slots 41 provided in the permanent magnet 33.
  • the slots in turn can be aligned with the threaded holes 31 in the base of the bending plate 15.
  • a pair of non-magnetic pan head screws 42 are inserted into the countersunk holes 39 and the slots 41 and screwed into the threaded holes 37. After tightening the pan head screws, the permanent magnet 13 is clamped between the base 31 of the bending plate 15 and the base 35 of the snap-back plate 17.
  • the stands 19 are of such a length that the outer surface of the tips of the stands 19 lie in one plane (coplanar) with the outer surface of the arms 33 of the bending plate 17.
  • the tips of the arms 33 of the snap-back plate 17, which lie next to the stands 19, are curved, so that there is a gap of constant distance between the curved periphery of the arms 33 and the adjacent periphery of the stands 19.
  • the base 27 of the multi-arm hammer 23 has 3 holes 43, each of which is aligned with one of the hammer arms 25.
  • the multi-arm hammer 23 is positioned so that its base 27 lies above the base 35 of the snap-back plate 17. In this position, the holes 43 in the base 27 of the row of hammer 23 are aligned with the three threaded holes 45 in the base 35 of the snap back plate 17.
  • the screws 47 extend through the holes 43 in the base 27 of the multi-armed hammer 23 into the threaded holes 45 in the base 35 of the snap back plate 17.
  • the base 27 of the multi-arm hammer 23 is at the base of the snap back plate 17 attached.
  • the multi-arm hammer 23 is made from a piece of ferromagnetic material based on the invention. That is, the base 27 and arms 25 of the multi-arm hammer are integrally formed from a planar piece of ferromagnetic material. In addition, all of the arm areas described below are fully integrated.
  • the multi-armed hammer is made from a sheet of a suitable ferromagnetic material such as alloy steel 4130 using conventional chemical milling processes. Undesired areas of material are chemically etched away (i.e., milled) in a conventional manner to obtain hammer arms of the shape described below. After completion, the tips of the print hammer arms are bent and pressure balls 49 are welded to the bent tips, as described in more detail below.
  • the multi-arm hammer 23 is relatively thick.
  • the hammer arms 25 lie in a common plane.
  • the hammer arm plane (coplanar) lies in a plane with the plane of the base 27.
  • the hammer arms 25 all extend outward from the base in the same direction, similar to the teeth of a comb.
  • the hammer arms 25 all have a thin spring region 51, followed by a thick head region 53. The thickness of the head region 53 corresponds approximately to the thickness of the base 27.
  • the thin spring areas 51 When viewed in the common plane of the base 27 and the arms 25, the thin spring areas 51 have the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, wherein the longer parallel sides of the trapezoid are integrated with the base 27 of the multi-arm hammer 23.
  • the isosceles trapezoidal shape of the thin spring areas 51 has been chosen for illustration only.
  • the thin spring areas can, if desired, also have other shapes. For example, they can be rectangular.
  • the thick head regions 53 of the hammer arms 25 are integrated with the shorter parallel sides of the trapezoidal thin spring regions 51.
  • the preferred fiber direction of the hammer arms is shown by arrows 54.
  • the edges of the thick head area 53 initially extend outward in parallel lines.
  • a pair of ears 55 protrude outward from the parallel edges.
  • the edges of the thick head region 53 curve towards one another and end in a narrow tip 57.
  • a surface of the tip 57 is in the region 59 between the end of the conical region and the end of the tip Material removed. Material is only removed from one surface of the tip. The other side of the surface remains flat. As described below, this reduction in material serves to achieve a sharp bend radius.
  • the tip 57 is bent 90 ° and the end of the bent tip is flattened. As shown in FIGURE 6, the tip 57 is bent so that the area 59 which lies between the end of the conical area and the end of the tip where the material has been removed forms the outside of the curvature.
  • the pressure ball 49 (FIG 1) is attached to the flattened surface.
  • the pressure balls are preferably made of tungsten carbide and welded to the ends of the tips 57 of the hammer arms 25 by means of resistance welding.
  • the ears 55 form easily detectable points of attack for bending the hammer arms 25 away from the plane of the base, so that the gap described below between the hammer arms and the reel stand tips and the ends of the snap plate arms is not in a magnetic field.
  • the hammer arms are bent so that the hammer arm plane is no longer (caplanar) in a plane with the base.
  • the bending angle is of course extremely small.
  • the surface of the head region 53 which lies between the thin spring region 51 and the region 59 where the material has been removed from the tip 57, can preferably be provided with a wear-resistant coating in accordance with the invention. As shown in FIG 2, this surface strikes the bobbin stand tips and the adjacent outer surface of the arms 33 of the snap-back plate 17. This area is preferably coated with a layer of dense chrome. Although a coating applied by electrolysis is preferred, other coatings, such as an electroless nickel coating improved with particles, can be used if desired.
  • the permanent magnet 13 After assembly in the manner shown and already described in FIGURES 1 and 2, the permanent magnet 13 generates a magnetic field (represented by arrows in FIGURE 2), which pulls the head regions 53 firmly against the associated coil stand tips and ends of the arms 33 of the snap-back plate 17. These ends form poles at the same time. If there is no magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet 13, the head regions 53 are separated from the coil stand tips and ends of the snap-back plate arms by a very small space, preferably in the range from 16 thousandths of an inch to 20. If the permanent magnet pulls the head regions 53 over the gap against the tips of the bobbin stand and the ends of the snap-back plate arms, the thin regions 51 of the hammer arms 25 are under tension.
  • the coils 21, which are mounted on the stands 19, are excited so that they counteract the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet.
  • the corresponding hammer arm is released when current flows through one or more coils.
  • the energy stored in the thin area 51 under tension is used to move the end of the hammer arm and thus the ball 49 away from the tip of the bobbin stand.
  • the pressure ball thereby strikes a tape against a suitable pressure recording medium (such as paper), which is supported with the aid of a roller (not shown). A dot is therefore printed on the print recording medium.
  • the current through the coil stops flowing when the hammer arm snaps back from the stroke and the snap-back hammer arm is cocked because the head portion 51 is pulled back against the tip of the stator and the adjacent end of the snap back plate arm by the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet.
  • the present invention eliminates the disadvantages of prior print hammer devices such as the type of print hammer device described in U.S. Patent 4,351,235. More specifically, the creation of a one-piece pressure hammer of the type described herein means that no more stiffening has to be welded to a spring element, which leads to lower costs in the production of the hammer row. Moreover, reducing t Sverschl depict the south because the hammer arm also impacts both on the recoil plate than on the rack top, which in turn leads to a considerably longer service life of the print hammer device. In the end the introduction of a thick base instead of a separate clamping element, as described for the print hammer assembly in U.S. Patent 4,351,235, further reduces the hammer row cost.
  • a printing hammer module with 3 arms is shown and described, the number 3 only being an example.
  • a print hammer module constructed in accordance with the present invention may have a greater or lesser number of hammer arms. This also applies to a single hammer arm.
  • the invention can also be used in a different way than specifically described here.

Landscapes

  • Impact Printers (AREA)
EP84108008A 1983-07-11 1984-07-09 Imprimante de lignes à matrice de points Expired EP0131300B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US512470 1983-07-11
US06/512,470 US4503768A (en) 1983-07-11 1983-07-11 Single piece hammer module

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0131300A1 true EP0131300A1 (fr) 1985-01-16
EP0131300B1 EP0131300B1 (fr) 1988-09-07

Family

ID=24039235

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP84108008A Expired EP0131300B1 (fr) 1983-07-11 1984-07-09 Imprimante de lignes à matrice de points

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US4503768A (fr)
EP (1) EP0131300B1 (fr)
JP (1) JPS6038168A (fr)
CA (1) CA1219169A (fr)
DE (1) DE3473857D1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2244955A (en) * 1987-07-01 1991-12-18 Printronix Inc Magnetic arrangements in hammerbanks for dot-matrix printers.

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4584937A (en) * 1983-12-07 1986-04-29 Mannesmann Tally Corporation Long release coil hammer actuating mechanism
JPS60174659A (ja) * 1984-02-22 1985-09-07 Hitachi Ltd 印字機構
US4771689A (en) * 1985-09-25 1988-09-20 Dataproducts Corporation Unitary spring armature for a dot matrix printer
US5237918A (en) * 1987-05-09 1993-08-24 Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd. Printing head in a dot-line printer
US4790674A (en) * 1987-07-01 1988-12-13 Printronix, Inc. Impact printer having wear-resistant platings on hammer springs and pole piece tips
US4833980A (en) * 1987-08-31 1989-05-30 Mannesmann Tally Corporation High efficiency coil posts for print hammer actuators
US5361693A (en) * 1992-12-08 1994-11-08 Printronix, Inc. Tungsten carbide welded printer tips
US6437280B1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2002-08-20 Printronix, Inc. Printer hammer tip and method for making

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4233894A (en) * 1978-06-02 1980-11-18 Printronix, Inc. Print hammer mechanism having dual pole pieces
EP0022480A1 (fr) * 1979-07-11 1981-01-21 International Business Machines Corporation Mécanisme d'actionnement électromagnétique pour marteaux d'impression
EP0047883A2 (fr) * 1980-09-11 1982-03-24 Mannesmann Tally Corporation Dispositif d'impression par points notamment pour des imprimantes de lignes en matrice
EP0052202A1 (fr) * 1980-11-17 1982-05-26 International Business Machines Corporation Commande pour un marteau imprimant

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
SE417141B (sv) * 1977-11-09 1981-02-23 Facit Ab Anordning for astadkommande av markeringar pa ett upptecknigsmedium
JPS5845952B2 (ja) * 1979-04-27 1983-10-13 株式会社パイロット ドツトプリンタのプリントハンマ−
JPS57152960A (en) * 1981-03-18 1982-09-21 Nec Corp Driving mechanism for printer head

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4233894A (en) * 1978-06-02 1980-11-18 Printronix, Inc. Print hammer mechanism having dual pole pieces
EP0022480A1 (fr) * 1979-07-11 1981-01-21 International Business Machines Corporation Mécanisme d'actionnement électromagnétique pour marteaux d'impression
EP0047883A2 (fr) * 1980-09-11 1982-03-24 Mannesmann Tally Corporation Dispositif d'impression par points notamment pour des imprimantes de lignes en matrice
EP0052202A1 (fr) * 1980-11-17 1982-05-26 International Business Machines Corporation Commande pour un marteau imprimant

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2244955A (en) * 1987-07-01 1991-12-18 Printronix Inc Magnetic arrangements in hammerbanks for dot-matrix printers.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS6038168A (ja) 1985-02-27
CA1219169A (fr) 1987-03-17
DE3473857D1 (en) 1988-10-13
EP0131300B1 (fr) 1988-09-07
US4503768A (en) 1985-03-12

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