Printer assembly with paper guide

Claim 1

A printer assembly, comprising: a printer having an inlet opening adapted to receive a paper web to be printed, an outlet opening for discharging the paper web following printing, and means between said openings forming a paper path therebetween along which the paper web is printed; a horizontal support receiving said printer and provided with a supply of said paper web, said printer being spaced inwardly from an edge of said support; a paper guide carried by said support and defining a path for said paper web having at least one bend, said paper guide comprising a pair of mutually juxtaposed guide members, each of said members having a width at least equal to the width of the paper web and being spaced apart by a gap in which the paper web travels over a length of said guide between a paper-inlet slit and a paper-outlet slit, said paper-inlet slit being located in a region of said edge and such that a major portion of the length of said paper guide is horizontal and extends between said edge and said printer, one of said slits being aligned with a corresponding one of said openings of said printer for selectively receiving the paper web from said printer and feeding the paper web to the printer, both of said mutually juxtaposed guide members having a pair of ends that form said other of said slits wherein both of said ends are located no further than a fingers length inwards of an end of said support so that the other of said slits being freely and directly accessible to fingers of a person for manual feed of the paper web to said guide, said guide members being of about equal length and each member being parallel to the other over substantially their full length; means for varying the length of said straight portion, said means for varying the length of said straight portion including at least two mutually telescoping portions of said guide forming said straight portion; and means for adjusting the height of said gap between said members.