US3754278A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Thermal printing system
Assignee: American Microsystems Holding Corp
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Filing: 1971-12-01
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Granted: 1973-08-21
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Expires: 1991-12-01
Abstract
Abstract A thermal printer for electronic calculators or other computing devices comprises a multi-layer print head with a metallized layer on one outer surface formed as a series of master characters each comprised of a plurality of segments which are electrical resistance elements that extend between end contacts. These contacts are connected to an intermediate or buried metallized layer within the ceramic body which in turn provides for interconnections with another metallization layer including input ground and driver lead contact pads formed on the other outer surface of the ceramic body. A logic control sub-system for the printer receives signals from a driver output such as a calculator computing circuit and thereby controls the electrical energy furnished to the various character segments on the print head to heat them and produce the appropriate printout when the print head is in contact with heat sensitive paper. This subsystem stores the information received from the driver output and then utilizes the stored information in a multiplexing or time sharing arrangement to energize sequentially groups of preselected segment portions of all the master characters during a series of separate consecutive time periods of the print cycle.
Inventors
- 👤 H Borden
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 05:47
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/315; B41J2/32; B41J2/345
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
170 words
A thermal printing system for producing a printed record of a data output from an electronic measuring or computing apparatus, said system comprising: a print head including a planar member of electrically nonconductive material, a series of master characters formed from a layer of electrically conductive material on the upper surface of said planar member, each said master character being comprised of a plurality of segments capable of forming human readable characters when viewed in preselected segment combinations, contact terminals at the ends of said segments for each of said master characters, interconnect means on and within said print head for conducting electrical current to each of said character segments; and a logic and control sub-system connected to said print head and including means for receiving and storing data from said measuring or computing apparatus and providing means responsive to the receipt of said data for utilizing the stored data to supply electronic current to predetermined groups of said character segments on a sequential time-sharing basis during a print cycle.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
170 words
A thermal printing system for producing a printed record of a data output from an electronic measuring or computing apparatus, said system comprising: a print head including a planar member of electrically nonconductive material, a series of master characters formed from a layer of electrically conductive material on the upper surface of said planar member, each said master character being comprised of a plurality of segments capable of forming human readable characters when viewed in preselected segment combinations, contact terminals at the ends of said segments for each of said master characters, interconnect means on and within said print head for conducting electrical current to each of said character segments; and a logic and control sub-system connected to said print head and including means for receiving and storing data from said measuring or computing apparatus and providing means responsive to the receipt of said data for utilizing the stored data to supply electronic current to predetermined groups of said character segments on a sequential time-sharing basis during a print cycle.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
111 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 1 wherein said planar member comprises an upper ceramic plate and a lower ceramic plate; said master characters are formed from a top metallized layer on the surface of said upper ceramic plate; and said interconnect means includes an intermediate metallized layer between said ceramic plates forming conductive paths arranged in a predetermined manner, a lower metallized layer on the bottom suRface of said lower ceramic plate forming a plurality of conductive paths terminating in bonding pads, and a multiplicity of connector means extending through said upper and lower ceramic plates for interconnecting the contact terminals of the segments of said master characters.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
81 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 2 wherein said intermediate metallized layer is formed to provide conductive paths that interconnect one terminal of each segment for all of the master characters with four separate ground paths, said lower metallized layer including four bonding pads connected to said ground paths of said intermediate metallized layer and sixteen bonding pads for driven inputs connected through both said ceramic plates to the ungrounded ends of master characters on said top metallized layer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
72 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 2 wherein each said master character has generally a figure eight configuration comprised of seven connected segments of substantially equal width and thickness including two pairs of substantially vertical segments and three spaced apart top, bottom and middle horizontal segments, one of said vertical segments including an enlarged end portion spaced from the junction of said middle horizontal segment and an adjacent vertical segment.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
55 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 4 wherein the three upper segments and four lower segments are connected together at their ends to form a continuous metal path and means forming ground connections at one end of both the top and bottom horizontal segments and the opposite end of the middle horizontal segments.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 3 wherein said bonding pads for the driving leads are spaced apart along one side of the bottom surface of said lower plate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
78 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 1 wherein said logic and control means comprises: means for receiving and decoding data from said apparatus; a plurality of storage means for storing decoded data; means for enabling the output of said storage means in a time sequential order to provide groups of output control signals; electrical power means; and switch means responsive to said output control signals for supplying power from said power means to said print head.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
41 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 7 wherein said storage means comprises a pair of shift registers for each character segment and capable of storing data for that segment for each of the master characters on the print head.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
45 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 7 wherein said output enabling means comprises an exposure timer including means for increasing and decreasing the length of time during which said switch means are operative to cause heating current to flow from said power means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
58 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 7 including clock means for enabling said shift registers to shift and store data from said decoding means and counter means for shifting the data received from one group of shift registers to another group so that a plurality of data storage means can be loaded and thereafter sampled sequentially.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 7 wherein said electrical power means is a 110 volt AC source and said switch means comprises a bank of triacs connected to said power source.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
222 words
A thermal printing system for producing a printed record of a data output from an electronic measuring or computing apparatus, said system comprising: a print head including an upper planar member of electrically non-conductive material, a series of master characters formed from a top metallized layer on said upper planar member, each said master character being comprised of a plurality of seven segments capable of forming human readable characters when viewed in preselected segment combinations, contact means at the ends of said segments for each of said master characters, means On said print head for conducting electrical current to each of said character segments; a logic and control sub-system including decoder means for receiving and decoding data from said electrical apparatus representing a group of characters to be printed out, said decoder means having at least seven output leads for producing encoded data representing the use of each segment for each of the characters to be printed, storage means for receiving and storing the encoded segment data for each character to be printed, means for extracting the stored segment data from said storage means in groups of segments for a plurality of characters and means for energizing said print head to print said groups of segments in a time sequential manner until all of the characters have been printed in one cycle.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
222 words
A thermal printing system for producing a printed record of a data output from an electronic measuring or computing apparatus, said system comprising: a print head including an upper planar member of electrically non-conductive material, a series of master characters formed from a top metallized layer on said upper planar member, each said master character being comprised of a plurality of seven segments capable of forming human readable characters when viewed in preselected segment combinations, contact means at the ends of said segments for each of said master characters, means On said print head for conducting electrical current to each of said character segments; a logic and control sub-system including decoder means for receiving and decoding data from said electrical apparatus representing a group of characters to be printed out, said decoder means having at least seven output leads for producing encoded data representing the use of each segment for each of the characters to be printed, storage means for receiving and storing the encoded segment data for each character to be printed, means for extracting the stored segment data from said storage means in groups of segments for a plurality of characters and means for energizing said print head to print said groups of segments in a time sequential manner until all of the characters have been printed in one cycle.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 12 including an eighth lead from said decoder means representing a decimal point.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
83 words
The thermal printing system as described in claim 13 wherein said storage means comprises a pair of shift registers for each of the characters to be printed, clock means for controlling the shifting of segment data into said shift registers, and exposure timer means controlled by said clock means for extracting stored data from groups of said shift registers on a time sequential basis, and switch means responsive to signals from said shift registers for supplying electrical heating power to said print head.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-08-20 | 1977-02-19 | 1977-08-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-08-20 | 1981-02-19 | 1981-08-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-08-20 | 1985-02-19 | 1985-08-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |