Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: TICKET PRESENTER FOR USE WITH A TICKET
PRINTER HAVING A TEAR BAR THEREIN
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to ticket presenters, and more particularly it relates
to a ticket presenter for installation on a ticket printer having a tear bar
therein for severing printed tickets from a strip of ticket paper.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ticket printers having tear bars therein are preferred by most users for their
simplicity and reliability. In this type of printer, the end of the printed
ticket extends through an outlet slot and is simply pulled out by the
customer, causing it to separate from a strip of ticket paper inside the
printer. In most of the prior art devices, the paper strip is fed through the
printer by rollers and is held by the nip of the rollers after a ticket has
been
printed, to allow a customer to pull on it and to cut it.
The cutting blade of the printer, or tear bar, as it is commonly referred to
in this field, is mounted in the outlet chute on the downstream side of the
feed rollers. Generally, the outlet chute has a curve therein and the tear bar
is mounted in that curve and lies against the paper strip. The outlet chute
is aligned relative to the tear bar such that the pulling force applied to the
ticket by a customer makes a large angle with the edge of the tear bar.
Because of this alignment of the outlet chute, the ticket is easily and
reliably severed from the paper strip when a moderate force is applied to
it. These types of severing devices have no moving parts, no electronic
components and are virtually maintenance free.
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Examples of ticket printers having tear bars therein for severing tickets
from a strip of ticket paper are described in the following documents.
US Patent 5,407,115 issued to D.F. Blalock et al. on April 18, 1995;
US Patent 5,980,138 issued to T: Shiozaki et al. on November 9, 1999;
US Patent 6,151,055 issued to H.S. Ackley et al. on November 21, 2000;
US Patent 6,325,558 issued to C.W. Robinson on December 4, 2001;
US Patent 6,524,022 issued to M. Minowa et al. on February 25, 2003;
US Patent 6,575,090 issued to D. Vienneau et al. on June 10, 2003;
US Appl. 200310223,800 published by C.A. Wiklof et al. on Dec. 4, 2003;
Although ticket printers with a stationary tear bar are preferred by many
users, there are applications where ticket printers having mechanical
severing devices therein, incorporated with ticket presenters, are more
suitable. These applications include printers for heavy gauge ticket paper;
tickets that need to be tilted face up before presenting to a customer,
tickets
that should have clean cut edges, or other applications where a tension on
the printed ticket could damage the printing head or other components
inside the printer.
Numerous types ofmechanical severing mechanisms have been developed
in the past. One of the most common severing mechanisms in this field is
a guillotine type having a blade moving across the path of the ticket paper,
either from the side or at right angle with the surface of the paper strip. In
another common type of severing mechanisms, the paper strip lies between
the flat surface of a roll on which a longitudinal segment has been taken off
and an anvil bar. The rotation of the roll causes the paper strip to be
sheared against the anvil bar.
Ticket printers having mechanical severing mechanisms also generally have
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discharge rollers and paper guides which cooperate together to present the
severed ticket to a customer in such a way that it is easily grasped by the
customer. Some printers with mechanical severing mechanisms have
magazines therein for stacking a number of tickets that are printed in
sequence for a same customer. These discharge chutes and associated
rollers; guides and magazines are referred to in the industry as ticket
presenters.
Examples of ticket printers having mechanical severing mechanisms and
ticket presenters are illustrated and described in the following documents:
US Patent 4,192,618 issued to N. Kondur, Jr. et al. on March 1 l, 1980;
US Patent 4,297,039 issued to R. Lees on October 27, 1981;
US Patent 5,215,393 issued to T. Wincent on June 1, 1993;
US Patent 5,478,161 issued to K. Suzuki et al. on December 26, 1995;
US Patent 5,782,567 issued to K. Endo on July 21, 1998;
US Patent 5,921,686 issued to D.J. Baird et al. on July 13, 1999;
US Patent 5,954,438 issued to G.F. Klein et al. on September 21, 1999;
US Patent 6,162,159 issued to C.D. Martini et al. on December 19, 2000;
EP 0,305,153 published by J.R. Maud on March 1, 1989.
In high usage ticket printing applications, with relatively thin paper and
luxurious printer cabinets, as in printers of lottery tickets for example, it
is
often desirable to combine the endurance of a stationary tear bar with the
elegance of a ticket presenter. Although the ticket printers of the prior art
deserve undeniable merits, there is no known prior art that combines the
advantage of a stationary tear bar with the convenience of a ticket
presenter. Therefore, it is believed that a need exists for a ticket presenter
that can be mounted as an optional accessory to a ticket printer having a
tear bar therein.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, however, there is provided a ticket presenter that
is mountable to a ticket printer having a stationary tear bar. The ticket
presenter according to the present invention monitors the tension in the
strip of ticket paper and determines whether the printer is preparing for
printing, is currently printing or has completed printing, and operates
accordingly. Although the ticket presenter according to the present
invention is physically mounted to the frame of a ticket printer, it operates
as a stand alone unit without communication circuit connected to the ticket
printer.
According to one feature of the present invention, there is provided a ticket
presenter for receiving a printed ticket from a printer, for pulling on that
ticket in a controlled manner and for presenting the ticket to a customer
with its printed side facing upward. Broadly, the ticket presenter according
to the present invention comprises a paper inlet path, a paper inlet switch
having a lever extending in the paper inlet path, a pair of rollers in a
downstream side of the paper inlet switch, and an electronic feedback loop
and associated circuitry communicating with the paper inlet switch and the
drive of the rollers: The feedback loop and associated circuitry monitor the
position of the lever in the paper inlet path, by measuring the voltage on the
paper inlet switch, and adjust the speed of the rollers according to that
position.
When the ticket presenter is installed on the outlet side of a ticket printer,
and the paper paths of both devices are aligned, a strip of ticket paper
extending into the ticket presenter is held between the nip of the rollers in
the ticket presenter, and the lever of the switch is urged against the paper
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strip. The extent of a loop formed by the paper strip in the inlet path of the
ticket presenter is monitored by the paper inlet switch, and the speed of the
rollers is adjusted accordingly. During printing of a ticket, the speed of the
rollers is adjusted to maintain the lever of the switch within a certain
region, to prevent pulling too hard or not hard enough on the strip of ticket
paper. When printing stops, the rollers pull on the paper strip with an
appropriate speed and torque to cut the printed ticket from the strip of
paper, against the tear bar of the printer.
The ticket presenter according to the present invention uses the speed of the
strip of ticket paper coming out of the ticket printer as a communication
means to synchronize the speed of the rollers thereof according to the speed
of the ticket printer. The ticket presenter is thereby mountable to various
types of ticket printers without any modification or addition of electronic
hardware to the ticket printer.
In accordance with another aspect of the ticket presenter according to the
present invention, the inlet path extends from the inlet opening thereof to
the nip of the rollers, and an outlet path extends from the nip of the rollers
to an outlet opening thereof. A deflector is mounted above the nip of the
rollers and separates the inlet path and the outlet path. In the present
invention, the rotation of the rollers is reversible, and a ticket storage
slot
extends below the nip of the rollers.
A ticket that has been printed on its lower side is temporarily stored in the
storage slot. After being severed from the strip of ticket paper, the trailing
edge of the ticket is moved below the deflector and up again against the
deflector on the outlet side of the deflector. The ticket is then moved into
the outlet path and presented to a customer with its printed side on top.
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This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the invention
may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of the
invention can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description
of the preferred embodiment thereof in connection with the attached
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several
views, and in which:
FIG.1 is a perspective top, right side and rear view of a ticket printer, on
which is mounted a ticket presenter according to the preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective top, right side and front view of the ticket printer
shown in FIG. 1 with the cover open to show the tear bar and the
paper outlet switch therein;
FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the ticket printer and presenter as seen
along line 3-3 of FIG.1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the functions of the ticket printer and the
functions of the ticket presenter;
FIG. 5 is a diagram of the tension modes applied to the strip of ticket paper
by the rollers of the ticket presenter;
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FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-section view of the printer outlet switch
mounted inside the ticket printer;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-section view of the paper inlet switch mounted
inside the ticket presenter;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-section view of the outlet switch mounted
inside the ticket presenter;
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the voltage on the paper inlet switch
corresponding to various positions of the lever of that switch.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms,
there is shown in the drawings and will be described in details herein one
specific embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is
to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and is not
intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated and described.
The ticket presenter according to the preferred embodiment is described
herein in a combination with a ticket printer to facilitate the drafting of
the
present disclosure: The ticket printer described herein is of the common
type that can print tickets of various lengths and widths on a variety of
thermally sensitive media. It should be appreciated, however, that this
printer is not the only type of printers with which the ticket presenter can
be used.
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The ticket presenter according to the preferred embodiment of the present
invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, in a combination with the ticket
printer. The ticket printer is labelled as 20 and the ticket presenter is
labelled as 22. The ticket printer 20 is illustrated in isolation in FIG. 2 to
show the tear bar 24 therein.
A first limit switch 26 is mounted on the downstream side of the tear bar'
24. This switch 26 is referred to as the printer outlet switch. This printer
outlet switch has a lever 28 extending across the paper path 30, as better
seen in FIG. 6. The lever 28 of the switch 26 is urged toward the paper
path 30 by a torsion spring (not shown) mounted on its pivot. The switch
26 can detect three conditions. The first condition corresponds to the
position of the lever 28 when the lever is fully extended across the paper
path 30. This condition corresponds to a full voltage on the switch
indicating "no paper" in the paper path 30. The second condition
corresponds to the position of the lever 28 when the lever 28 is in an
intermediate position, giving an intermediate voltage across the switch.
This intermediate voltage indicates a "paper present" condition in the paper
path. The third condition is detected when the lever 28 is pushed in fully.
This third position corresponds to a low or no voltage across the switch.
This third position indicates a "paper j am" condition, where wrinkled paper
pushes the lever 28 to its extreme position.
Depending upon which state the printer outlet switch 26 is in, the ticket
printer responds accordingly. For example, if the ticket printer is turned on
and the switch 26 is in the "no paper" condition, then the ticket printer will
feed paper until a "paper present" condition is met. Alternatively, if an
obstruction is placed in front of the paper outlet opening, a loop is formed
in the paper strip, thereby moving the switch lever to the "paper jam"
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position, and the ticket printer stops printing until the obstruction is
removed.
The printer outlet switch 26 is an integral part of the ticket printer
circuitry
(not shown) and its condition outputs are used exclusively to control the
operation of the ticket printer 20.
The ticket printer 20 also has a printing head 32 therein and a drive roller
34 that drives a strip 36 of ticket paper along the paper path 30 and over the
tear bar 24 thereof. The ticket printer 20 can be used in a standalone mode,
wherein a customer could grasp the ticket and pull on it so that the tension
in the ticket forces it against the tear bar 24 and the ticket is cut off from
the strip 36 of ticket paper. The strip 36 of ticket paper is also referred to
herein as the paper strip 36, for convenience.
A cavity 38 in the cover of the ticket printer 20 aligns with the lever 28 of
the printer outlet switch 26 to allow the lever to extend beyond the
thickness of the paper path 30 and to provide an accurate "paper present"
signal.
The other elements of the ticket printer 20 are not illustrated herein because
these elements are well known in the art and do not constitute the focus of
the present invention. Preferably, the tear bar 24 has a smooth edge and
a pointed shape. However, this shape is not essential, as other types of tear
bars can also be used.
The ticket presenter 22 according to the preferred embodiment is mounted
to the structure of the ticket printer 20 in any usual way, which is not
described herein for also not being the focus of the present invention. The
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ticket presenter 22 accepts a ticket that is being printed by the ticket
printer
20 and temporarily stores it until the printing is completed. Then the ticket
presenter 22 pulls on the ticket, cuts the ticket over the tear bar 24, tilts
it
over and presents into a customer. Although the operation of the ticket
presenter 22 is in sequence with the printing of the ticket, the ticket
presenter 22 has its own switches that makes it electronically-independent
from the ticket printer 20, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
In FIG. 4, the ticket printer 20 is represented broadly, as a combination of
a drive roller system 34, a ticket printing head TPH and a tear bar 24. The
ticket presenter 22 is represented broadly as a combination of a paper
position sensor, which function is effected by a paper inlet switch 40, a
traction roller system 42 and a ticket sensor, which function is effected by
an outlet switch 44.
Referring back to FIG . 3, the paper inlet switch 40 is mounted on the
upstream side of a pair of traction rollers 42, and the outlet switch 44 is
mounted on the downstream side of the traction rollers 42. The paper inlet
switch 40, in particular, is used to measure the tension in the strip 36 of
ticket paper. The paper inlet switch 40 has a lever 46 mounted on a pivot
48 as illustrated in~ FIG. 7. The paper inlet switch 40 also has a torsion
spring (not shown) that urges the lever 46 to extend into the paper inlet
path 30'. As the paper strip 36 extends out of the ticket printer 20 and into
the paper inlet path 30' of the ticket presenter 22, the lever 46 of the paper
inlet switch 40 is pressed downward, whereby the presence of the paper
strip 36 can be detected. The tension rollers 42 are then put in motion to
grab the end of the paper strip 36 and to pull on it in a controlled manner.
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A cam 50 is integrally formed with the lever 46 and acts as a flag to cover
a rectangular window 52, which is partly seen in FIG. 7 between a light
emitter and a light receiver (not shown). The voltage on that switch is
proportional to the amount of light passing through the window 52, and
corresponds to the position of the cam 50 across the window 52.
Because of the torsion spring (not shown) which forces the lever 46 of the
paper inlet switch 40 upward with a certain force, the voltage across that
paper inlet switch 40 is representative of the tension applied to the paper
strip 36 by the tension rollers 42: This voltage is used to control the speed
of the tension rollers 42 so that an ideal tension is applied to the paper
strip
36 during printing.
More particularly, the total operating range of the paper inlet switch 40 is
divided into four zones, as shown in FIG. 5. The operating logic
associated with the positions of the paper inlet switch 40 is as follows.
a) When the paper inlet switch 40 reads a P min position and a
corresponding voltage, this signal is interpreted as a minimum tension T
min, to indicate a "no paper" condition. This first condition causes the
ticket presenter 22 to remain in an idle mode.
b) When the paper inlet switch 40 reads a P detect voltage, this signal is
interpreted as being caused by the forward edge of the paper strip 36
entering the ticket presenter 22. Once the paper inlet switch 40 detects the
. presence of a paper strip 36, the tension rollers 42 are started at a preset
default speed. A feedback loop 54, connected to the drive motor (not
shown) of the tension rollers 42 and its associated circuitry (not shown)
adjust the speed of the tension rollers 42 such that the tension in the paper
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strip 36 is maintained between a paper loose condition T zone 1, and a
paper tight condition T zone 2. These two paper tension conditions can be
adjusted within the range of movement of the paper inlet switch 40, by
selecting the voltages associated with the desired corresponding switch
positions P zone 1 and P zone 2.
The calibration of the paper inlet switch 40 and of the speed of the tension
rollers 42 is advantageous for allowing the installation of the ticket
presenter 22 on different types of ticket printers without applying undue
stress on the drive mechanism of the ticket printer and without tearing the
paper strip prematurely. This calibration of the paper inlet switch 40 and
tension rollers 42 is advantageous for matching the speed of the tension
rollers 42 with the speed of the paper strip 36 in a particular printer. The
calibration of the speed of the tension rollers 42 using specific voltages on
the paper inlet switch 40 is not described herein because such method and
circuitry are known to those skilled in the art of motor controls.
c) When the ticket printer 20 has completed the printing of a ticket and
stops feeding the paper strip 36, the sharp rise in tension in the paper strip
causes the lever 46 to move to its lowest position indicating a P maz
voltage on the paper inlet switch 40. This signal causes the tension rollers
42 to pull the paper strip 36 over the tear blade 24 with a preset speed T
maz and a torque of a sufficient magnitude to tear a ticket 56 from the
paper strip 36.
A portion of the ticket 56 is then fed .into a storage slot 58 below the
tension rollers 42 until the trailing edge (not shown) of the ticket is
immediately above the nip 60 of the tension rollers 42, at which point the
rotations of the tension rollers 42 are reversed to feed the ticket into the
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outlet path 62 and to present it to a customer in the usual way.
A deflector 64 is mounted between the inlet path 30' and the outlet path
62 to guide the paper strip 36 from the inlet path and into the nip 60 of the
rollers 42 and then to guide the printed ticket 56 from the storage slot 58
through the rollers 42 and into the outlet path 62. During the feeding of the
printed ticket 56 below the deflector 64, and up again in the outlet path 62,
the ticket is tilted over so that it is presented to a customer with the
printing
facing upward.
The outlet switch 44 is mounted in the outlet path 62, and its purpose,
structure and operation are similar to those of the printer outlet switch 26,
and therefore, further explanation on this switch is deemed unnecessary.
Although the ticket printer described herein has a stationary tear bar 24, it
will be appreciated that the ticket presenter 22 according to the preferred
embodiment can also be used with a printer having a guillotine type cutter.
In that case, the tension rollers 42 are programmed to stop momentarily
when a sharp rise in tension is detected by the paper inlet switch 40 to
avoid pulling on the paper strip 36 during the operation of the mechanical
cutter device.
The preferred switches 40, 44 are preferably set to operate in a normally
closed mode such that a foil voltage is seen in a "no paper condition", as
illustrated in FIG.10. This is particularly advantageous for calibrating the
functions of the switches during an initialization mode.
As to other manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the
same should be apparent from the above description and accompanying
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drawings, and accordingly further discussion relative to the manner of
usage and operation of the invention would be considered repetitious and
is not provided.
While one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and
described herein above; it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art
that
various modifications, alternate constructions and equivalents may be
employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Therefore, the above description and the illustrations should not be
construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the
appended claims
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