Paper clamp device for a printer

Claim 1

A paper clamp device for a printer having a character carrier driven along a printing line direction, a ribbon shield and a hammer cover, wherein a printing paper travels between said shield and said hammer cover during printing, comprising: a plurality of sideways-slippage preventing rollers; means for mounting said preventing rollers to said ribbon shield so that said preventing rollers are rotatably mounted, peripheral surfaces of said preventing rollers extending from a front face of a wall of said ribbon shield opposite said hammer cover into an area through which said printing paper travels, said preventing rollers being capable of rotating in a direction in which said printing paper travels, each preventing roller having a ring fixed to said peripheral surface thereof, said rings having a large coefficient of friction; a plurality of pressing plates located on said hammer cover opposite respective preventing rollers, said printing paper traveling between said preventing rollers and said pressing plates; means for biasing said pressing plates and said preventing rollers towards one another; said plurality of preventing rollers, rings, pressing plates and said biasing means being provided along a line substantially perpendicular to said direction in which said printing paper travels, a number of said preventing rollers being equal to a number of said pressing plates; said preventing rollers, rings, pressing plates and said biasing means inhibiting movement of said paper parallel to said printing line direction so as to oppose a sideways force imparted to said paper by said character carrier which tends to move said paper parallel to said printing line direction.