Patent Grant
7789579
The present invention relates to a hand held stamp for printing on a stationary print medium.
Rubber stamps have been known for a long time and embody a variety of constructions including a fixed face or a movable face. In the latter the inked rubber surface is moved vertically into contact with the paper or media being stamped. The stamp is normally a fixed message and cannot be altered. In some cases, however, a series of numbers or letters can be provided on a closed loop, configured such that one of the series is presented for printing at any one time. A common example of such a stamp is an adjustable date stamp.
A number of fixed stamps are employed in office to apply short messages, frequently used messages to paperwork in a relatively permanent way (for example, “Faxed”; “Copy”; or “Confirmation” stamps). This creates considerable inventory as well as a limitation that any different message requires a new stamp to be created and, once created, the new stamp has only one functional purpose.
While rubber stamps are common in office environments there are other types of markers. Stencils are one such type and it is contemplated that the instant invention may be used in place of stencils.
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application:
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a marking device for printing indicia on print media, the marking device including:
By using a compact, movable printhead, a digital stamp can print a single message or a plurality of separate messages and can be made so that the message(s) can be either pre-programmed or programmable. In the latter case, the programmability of the stamp may be done via a link to a computer system, via a separate module which can be attached to the stamp device, or by some other method within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art. Preferably, the printing means is an inkjet printhead.
Preferably, printing only occurs when said housing is in contact with print media.
Preferably, the housing has an aperture through which said printing means can print when said means for moving said printing means is operative with said housing in contact with said print media.
The means for moving the printing means may operate either manually or automatically.
Preferably, the printing mechanism includes ink supply means accommodated within said housing which are modular and may be replaceable.
Print media includes any material suitable for printing thereon such as paper products, fabric, plastics material, and metallic film or other film so treated as to allow fixing and/or absorption of the ink employed. In addition, the properties and characteristics of the ink may be adjusted to improve the fixing and/or absorption of the ink with a particular or range of print media.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with respect to the following figures in which:
Referring to
Fixed to the outside of the upper housing 10 is a slide 14 which is fixed to a printed circuit board 16 on the inside of the upper housing 10. In the lower housing 12, a printhead 30 is located at one end 32 of an opening 34 in the lower housing 12 and is supplied with ink from ink cartridge 20 via ink connector 19 and tubes 52. The printed circuit board (PCB) 16 has the necessary solid state memory 15 and processing capabilities to operate the printhead 30 and control other function within the stamp housing, such as detecting the presence or absence of an ink cartridge 20. Solid state memory includes, for example, ROM, PROM, EEPROM or low power consumption RAM such as CMOS, DRAM or SRAM devices.
Slide 14 is used to select what indicia are to be printed as stored in memory 15. The slide 14 may be a potentiometer whose resistance value is interpreted by circuitry on PCB 16 to select a print choice from memory 15, or may be a selector switch which chooses the required print by contacting conductor strips or fingers on PCB 16 which strips are coded for the desired location in memory 15. The selector switch may be a linear slide switch, as shown, or may be a rotary switch.
A battery (not shown) for operating the printhead 30 can be accommodated in or associated with the ink cartridge 20 which is supported on base moulding 22.
The printhead 30 moves across the opening 34 and in doing so prints the selected indicia 24, characteristic of the stamp, for example as illustrated in
In the embodiment shown in
A return spring 42 is fixed between a stationary part 47 of the lower housing 12 and axle 31 on printhead 30 and ensures that the printhead 30 and upper housing 10 will return to their initial starting positions as shown in
A tambour or shutter 55 covers the opening 34 when the stamp is not in use (see
A copper arm 56 extends from the lower housing 12 to cover the printhead 30 when in the “home position” as shown in
A sensor (not shown) for example, a CCD image sensor, may be provided on the side of the printhead 30 to detect the position of the printhead 30 with respect to the housing to coordinate printing by the printhead 30. Signals from the CCD image sensor are fed to circuitry on PCB (printed circuit board) 16 for processing. This circuitry controls the operations of the printhead 30. The printhead 30 is a type of electromechanically driven inkjet printhead and the circuitry provides the signals to the respective ink nozzles required to print the message stored in ROM or RAM on the PCB 16.
The ink cartridge 20 is replaceable so that the stamp can be reused once the ink supply has been exhausted. It is also contemplated that a stamp may be used once only and therefore that the ink cartridge 20 is not designed to be replaceable in some forms of the invention.
One embodiment of a replaceable cartridge 20 is shown in
Alternatively, provision for a battery pack may be provided elsewhere within the housing to fulfil these requirements or to supplement them.
The printhead 30 can be of a type of sufficient size and detail to print across and along the opening 34 but preferably involves an inkjet printhead of a type such as disclosed in the inventor's earlier applications as listed below in the Appendix.
The stamp according to the invention may be operated mechanically, as described above, or may be operated fully electrically, in which case the upper housing need not be made moveable with respect to the base housing but the two housings could be of a fixed configuration.
Other ways of moving the printhead 30 are also contemplated, including using a DC or an AC motor under internal power or through an external power connection. Regulation of the motion of the printhead 30 may be provided by a mechanical governor or by the control circuitry for the motor such as by using a stepper motor or a synchronous AC motor.
As an alternative to the CCD image sensor, positioning of the printhead 30 may be sensed by an optical quadrature wheel.
If the stamp is electrically powered, the power may be provided internally either from a separate battery pack, from a battery integral with the ink cartridge, from a generator or dynamo operated when the upper housing is moved downwardly, as described above, or by an external wired connection, for example a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection (see
Various embodiments of the stamp are contemplated and four further embodiments thereof are shown in
In
In
In the embodiment shown in
As shown in
The stamp may be used to replace the prior art rubber stamps used in office environments but may also be used in a variety of other situations, for example, to print a barcode and/or price on a tag or label with the tag or label fixed to the product or separate therefrom. In the latter case, an embodiment such as described with respect to
The foregoing description has been limited to specific embodiments of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that variations and modifications may be made to the invention, with the attainment of some or all of the advantages of the invention. For example, it will be appreciated that the invention may be embodied in hardware and/or software in a suitably programmed device, both aspects of which are readily accomplished by those of ordinary skill in the respective arts. Therefore, it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS0489 | Feb 2002 | AU | national |
This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/737,720 filed on Apr. 19, 2007, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,461,985, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/503,920 filed on Aug. 9, 2004, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,220,068, which is a national phase application (371) of PCT/AU03/00152 filed on Feb. 12, 2003, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090066735 A1 | Mar 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11737720 | Apr 2007 | US |
| Child | 12272740 | US | |
| Parent | 10503920 | US | |
| Child | 11737720 | US |
