This disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for printing information on a card, e.g., a time card. More particularly, the disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for informing the user of the location on the card where the information will be printed so that the user can properly align the card before printing commences.
The word “card” is used herein in its broadest sense and includes any piece of material upon which information can be printed, irrespective of the piece's shape or composition. As non-limiting examples, a “card” can be composed of paper or plastic and can have the configuration of, for example, a standard time card, e.g., 3-4″×8-10″, a printed form, e.g., an 8.5″×11″ form, or a multi-part form.
Manually-activated printers are widely used to record a variety of information on cards including, most commonly, time and date information. In a typical scenario, the user inserts and aligns a card, e.g., a time card, in the printer and then activates the printer by, for example, pushing a “start” button. Alternatively, the printer can be activated by the card contacting a trip switch or the like within the printer. In this latter case, the user will align the card with respect to the location where printing is expected to occur and then push the card into its final position so that it contacts the trip switch and activates the printer.
A long-standing problem with manually-activated printers has been ensuring that the printing occurs at the location desired by the user. This is especially so in the case of time cards where multiple entries are to be made on a single card, e.g., a series of time and date entries, as routinely occurs with time cards. In the past, a plastic strip with a slot to show the print head path has been used to address this problem. The plastic strip is mounted on the printer's platen and the user positions the card under the strip so that the slot in the plastic aligns with the desired printing location.
The plastic strip approach has suffered from a number of problems. For example, the strip can be damaged as a result of inserting a card from the side as opposed to the front, thus snagging the plastic strip and tearing or deforming it. Also, because the strip is inside the unit, an auxiliary light is often required so that the user can see the slot when aligning the card.
The present disclosure overcomes these problems by eliminating the plastic strip and instead providing an optical printing guide which uses shaped-illumination to illuminate the portion of the card where the printing will take place. In this way, the user can easily and accurately align the card in the printer with full confidence that the printing will take place at the desired location.
In accordance with a first aspect, a printer (5) is disclosed which includes:
(a) a platen (9) for receiving a card (13) upon which information is to be printed;
(b) a print head (1); and
(c) an optical assembly for illuminating a portion (7) of a card (13) when the card (13) is received by the platen (9), said optical assembly comprising a light source (10) and a light source shaping assembly (11);
wherein:
(i) during use, the print head (1) prints information on a card (13) as the print head (1) moves along a path of motion; and
(ii) the portion (7) of the card illuminated by the optical assembly is indicative of the location at which the information will be printed on the card (13) by the moving print head (1).
In accordance with a second aspect, a method of printing information on a card (13) is disclosed which includes:
(a) bringing a card (13) into contact with a platen (9) of a printer (5);
(b) adjusting the location of the card (13) relative to the platen (9) so that a shaped light beam (12) illuminates an area (7) of the card (13);
(c) activating the printer (5) so that information is printed on the card (13) in the area (7) that was illuminated by the shaped light beam (12); and
(d) removing the card (13) from the platen (9).
The reference numbers used in the above summaries of the various aspects of the invention are only for the convenience of the reader and are not intended to and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention. More generally, it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary of the invention and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention.
Additional features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as exemplified by the description herein. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. It is to be understood that the various features of the invention disclosed in this specification and in the drawings can be used in any and all combinations.
The reference numbers used in the figures correspond to the following:
As discussed above, the printer disclosed herein uses shaped-illumination to inform a user of the location on a card where information will be printed. In particular, the shaped-illumination illuminates a portion (area) of the card where the printing will occur. In most cases, all of the printing will occur in the illuminated portion of the card, although some printing can occur outside that area if desired.
During use, carriage assembly 3 and thus print head 1 move along member 4 (the “print head guide member”) from a print start position (e.g., the first position; see
As can be seen in the figures, a light source 10, e.g., an LED, is mounted on print head guide member 4, which, in an embodiment, is composed of molded plastic, e.g., an ABS or polycarbonate polymer. Light from the light source passes through light source shaping assembly 11 which shapes the light into shaped light beam 12, i.e., the shaped-illumination.
Prior to insertion of a card into the printer, shaped light beam 12 illuminates area 7 on platen 9 (see
As can be seen most clearly in
In addition, the use of a single molded component allows the shaped-illumination to be produced with essentially no additional cost since the print head guide member is going to be produced in any event. Adding a light source shaping assembly, e.g., a plurality of baffles, to the mold for the print head guide member involves little added expense. As to the light source, as noted above, light sources have previously been used in card printers which employ plastic strips for card alignment. For card printers of this type, i.e., printers that already have a light source, implementation of the technology of the present disclosure will, in fact, reduce unit cost by eliminating the plastic strip without the need to add any parts to provide the strip's function.
A variety of modifications that do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention will be evident to persons of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing disclosure. The following claims are intended to cover the specific embodiments set forth herein as well as modifications, variations, and equivalents of those embodiments.
This application claims the benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/769,846 filed Feb. 27, 2013, the contents of which in its entirety is hereby incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61769846 | Feb 2013 | US |