Abstract: A thermal printing apparatus has a pair of transporting rollers for transporting a medium to be printed, a head angle member which holds a thermal head at right angles to a direction of transporting the medium transported by the pair of transporting rollers and which is pivotally supported at one end thereof, and a device for pivoting the head angle member so as to move the thermal head towards and away from the medium. The apparatus further has a shaft moving device which moves a shaft for mounting thereon the head angle member depending on a thickness of the medium.

Abstract: In a printer which can print both a paper roll and cut paper, when cut paper is printed, a gap between the cut paper and a platen can be keep fixed. In an ink-jet printer 1 wherein a printing position for a paper roll 5 is formed in a part of a printing position 11 for cut paper 5, the surface of a platen for a paper roll 16 defining the printing position for the paper roll 5 is backed at least by a dimension G equivalent to the thickness of the paper roll from the surface of a platen for cut paper 13 defining the printing position for the cut paper 4. When cut paper is printed, a gap between a part of cut paper carried with the part overlapped on a paper roll and the platen is equal to a gap between the other part of the cut paper and the platen. Therefore, the deterioration caused by the variation of the gap of the quality of printing on cut paper can be solved.

Abstract: A printer and control method therefor improve the operability of loading recording paper to the printer, and specifically enable recording paper to be loaded reliably and easily with a simple operation. Opening of the release lever that is operated to load recording paper in the printer is detected to automatically start a recording paper feed operation. When closing of the release lever is then detected, recording paper transportation is stopped and the recording paper loading process is terminated. A recording paper detector is also provided to detect the presence of recording paper, and the recording paper transport amount is then controlled based on recording paper detector output. When a predetermined amount of recording paper is transported through the printer, recording paper transportation is stopped and loading the recording paper is completed.

Abstract: A thermal printer has a multiple element print head which is movable relative to a platen in a printing stroke to transfer ink from a ribbon to a substrate film sandwiched between the print head and the platen. The print head is mounted so as to be movable across the platen in the printing stroke and in a return stroke, and towards and away from the platen at the beginning and end of the printing stroke respectively, The print head is driven by a print head drive mechanism including and electric motor. The motor is so coupled to the print head as to cause it to execute each of the above-described print head movements. During the printing stroke, the ribbon is moved in the same direction as the print head.

Abstract: According to the type of paper sheet specified through an operation unit (111) by the user, the environmental temperature detected by a thermistor (110), and the spacing between the paper sheet and a paper sensor, detected by a lift height sensor (113), respectively, the correction values for the start and end positions where the printing heads start and end the printing in a horizontal direction are beforehand stored in a memory (112). Before printing, a CPU (104) detects the paper edge positions of the paper sheet on the basis of the output from a paper sensor (303), and reads the corresponding correction values from the memory (112) according to the type of paper sheet, the environmental temperature and the lift height. A window control unit (106) corrects the paper edge position with the correction values, thereby generating a window signal which controls the side margins of the paper sheet.

Abstract: An apparatus for opening a platen in an impact printer is implemented. The apparatus permits rapid loading of a paper supply while maintaining the required tolerance in the spacing of the platen and a printhead. The mechanism also accommodates the printing of form documents in which the thickness of the document material may be variable. The mechanism adjusts to the varying thickness of the document medium while maintaining the required tolerance in the spacing between the platen and printhead.

Abstract: A machine for printing flat objects of various thicknesses successively fed the length of a table by means of a feed mechanism and printed by means of a printing mechanism is provided. The feed mechanism includes at least two feed rollers between which the objects pass. Each of the at least two feed rollers is rotatable about an axis of rotation and at least one of the feed rollers is motorized. The printing mechanism includes a revolving printing drum and a motorized counter-printing roller rotatable about an axis of rotation. The machine also includes a lever having a first end, a second end, and a middle. The lever is pivotable at its middle and joined at its middle by a stop joint.

Abstract: An apparatus for adjusting head gap depending upon the thickness of printing paper in an ink jet printer. The apparatus may be constructed with a unit for moving a printer head into a vertical direction of the printing paper so as to adjust the head gap corresponding to a distance between a nozzle of the printer head and the printing paper.

Abstract: A thermal printing mechanism has a printer head for printing on a flat object transported in a transport direction through the thermal printing mechanism. A roll lever is pivotable about a pivot axis at its first end. A counterpressure roll is mounted to the second end of the roll lever and supports the flat object for printing by the printer head. A freely rotatable roll is positioned in the vicinity of the printer head and mounted in a fixed position relative to the pivot axis. A mechanism for adjusting a position of the counterpressure roll at the freely rotatable roll in accordance with a thickness of the flat object passing between the counterpressure roll and the freely rotatable roll is provided and the print head thus always applies the same pressure onto the object to be printed.

Abstract: A mount (9) is disclosed for mounting an ink jet printhead (11) in position to imprint indicia on a surface (7) of an object (5) conveyed along a path (3) past the printhead. The mount comprises a support (21) and a slide (53) carried by the support. The slide has a slide body (55) connected to the support, a slide member (57) movable relative to the slide body along a slide axis (SA) between an extended position (as shown in FIG. 1) and a retracted position (not shown), and device for resiliently biasing the slide member relative to the slide body toward its extended position. Mounting plate (43) is provided for carrying the slide relative to the support such that the slide axis (SA) may be adjusted relative to the support so as to position the slide axis so as to either be perpendicular to the direction of movement of the object conveyed along the path or to be angled (as shown in FIG. 3) toward the object approaching the printhead at an oblique angle.

Abstract: Both a printing-medium support (such as a platen) and a printhead-carriage slide-rod are supported and located in common from a single chassis. Preferably a pair of positive stops is used to locate the slide-rod, and a biasing retainer forcibly abuts the rod against, selectively, either stop of the pair of positive stops. Alternatively the two positive stops are instead used to locate the print-medium support--or separate pairs of such stops are used to locate both the slide-rod and the print-medium support respectively. A respective biasing retainer forcibly engages each located support element against one or the other of its stops. In another facet of the invention, an accurate system establishes and adjustably controls printhead-to-print-medium spacing without an assembly fixture. An adjustable mechanism (such as the biasing retainer mentioned above), distinct from both support elements, locates one of the two supports relative to the other.

Abstract: A device that automatically detects the stiffness of the paper as an indicator of paper weight and thickness. The detection system of the invention includes a moveable media guide and a sensor responsive to movement of the guide. It is desirable that the media guide have a curved media contact surface to resist the paper as it is pushed along the guide. A biasing element operatively coupled to the guide may be used to regulate the resistance of the guide to the advancing paper. Stiff heavier weight paper causes the guide to move as the paper is pushed along the contact surface of the guide. Less stiff lighter weight paper will not cause the guide to move, or at least not as much as the stiff heavier weight paper. A sensor responds to the movement of the guide to detect the stiffness and, therefore, the weight of the paper.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus, with an image forming device for forming an image on a sheet, and a position restricting unit being in contact with a surface of the sheet on a side of said image forming apparatus and keeping distance between the sheet and said image forming device constant.

Abstract: A Z-fold print media handling system for printing banners and the like uses an inkjet printing mechanism without a tractor-feed. A series of stuttering stopping and starting steps generates varying static and dynamic frictional forces to separate the first sheet of a Z-fold stack from the remainder of the stack. Both conventional cut-sheet media and Z-fold media are fed using the same printing mechanism, which pulls the media toward a printzone through frictional engagement with a first surface of the media. To prevent printhead crashes and smearing the image near the perforations joining the Z-fold sheets, the printhead to media spacing is increased for Z-fold media over the standard spacing used for cut-sheet media. A cam feature is incorporated into the media drive clutch disk to determine whether an operator has set a selector lever for cut-sheet or Z-fold printhead to media spacing.

Abstract: A device that automatically detects the strength of the paper as an indicator of paper weight and thickness. The detector includes a deflector acting on the paper or other sheet media and a deflection sensor that is responsive to the deflection of the paper. The deflector may be gravity or a mechanical device, or a combination of both. A mechanical deflector typically will include a contact member and a gate member. The contact member is biased against and deflects the sheet media advancing past the detector. The sensor is in operative communication with the gate member of the deflector. The deflector is operative to move between a first position, wherein the sensor outputs a first signal, and a second position, wherein the sensor outputs a second signal.

Abstract: By moving the printing head of a printing unit to a position outside the printing area, a paper stop is pivoted into the paper transport path and, by lowering the printing head, a gap is opened both between the printing head and printing abutment and between the paper pressure rollers, the coupling of the printing head to the paper pressure rollers in relation to the lowering movement simultaneously effecting adjustment of the printing head gap.

Abstract: The present invention provides a recording apparatus in which a recording medium is conveyed by a driven rotary member and a convey rotary member urged against the driven rotary member by a biasing means supported by a rockable support member, so that an image is recorded on the recording medium contacted with the driven rotary member by a recording means disposed at a downstream side of the convey rotary member. Wherein, when the convey rotary member is rotated in the recording medium conveying direction, the support member is shifted toward a direction for urging the convey rotary against the driven rotary member, by a rotational force of a rotation drive transmitting member of the convey rotary member, so that convey accuracy of the recording medium is improved and the good recording is performed.

Abstract: A printing apparatus and method can maintain an appropriate spacing between a print head and the overall printing surface of printing media of a wide range of thicknesses, with a platen mechanism that allows the printing medium to move in parallel displacement, namely both in a direction downstream along the advance of the printing medium and in a direction away from the print head.

Abstract: Apparatus having an array of print heads for transmitting energy to a colorant donor element to cause colorant to transfer to produce color filter array patterns in an image-receiving layer of a color filter array includes a structure for locating the colorant donor element and the image-receiving layer a precise sublimation gap G from the image-receiving layer surface; and for maintaining this sublimation gap G to compensate for dimensional variations in the image-receiving layer.

Abstract: A print head 6 is disposed next to a transportation path for transporting a cut-sheet form V. A guide frame 17 with a guide member 17a projecting into the transportation path away from the print head 6 is disposed on the cut-sheet form V insertion opening side of the print head 6. A platen unit 16 with a platen 33 is mounted to rotate freely, and a frame member 30 is disposed on the platen unit 16. When the platen unit 16 is closed, the guide member 17a of the guide frame 17 and the guide member 30b of the frame member 30 touch, thus forming an ejection path guiding the roll paper S away from the junction with the cut-sheet form V transportation path. When the platen unit 16 is opened, the guide member 17a of guide frame 17 and the guide member 30b of frame member 30 separate, thereby enabling cut-sheet form V insertion.

Abstract: An image recording device being capable of setting a separating pawl and a print head at an appropriate location by a position changeover operation at one point according to types of recording sheets. The device comprises a sheet feeder having the separating pawl which is switched over to an effecting position or non-effecting position according to types of recording sheets, and a recording section having a print head for recording images onto the recording sheets passed through between a platen and the print head. The distance between the print head and the platen can be changed over, and linking to this changeover operation, the positions of the separating pawl is switched over.

Abstract: A self-adjusting printing assembly for accommodating generally planar media of differing thickness comprising a printing head for placement of indicia on said media, a guide assembly positioned adjacent said printing head for guiding said media to said printing head. The guide assembly includes a planar platen for continuously supporting one surface of said planar media and a planar shield member fixedly supported with respect to said platen for continuously supporting said surface of said planar media. The assembly also includes means for movably mounting said platen with respect to said shield for movement in a direction toward and away from said planar shield while maintaining said planar platen generally parallel to said shield for accommodating said media of differing thickness, and a drive means for urging said media through said guide assembly and towards said printing head.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to prevent a sheet of continuous-form paper from slackening when it is fed back in a printer capable of feeding both sheets of continuous-form paper and cut-form paper.

Abstract: A method and a device for adjusting the printing position of a printer head. When a recordable medium having a greater thickness than that of a standard cut sheet of letter size paper is inserted in an electrophotographic apparatus, it is often necessary to increase the distance between the top recordable medium in the paper supply tray and the paper input port in the electrophotographic apparatus to allow a greater number of thick sheets of recordable medium to be loaded. One method of increasing the distance is to rotate a guide panel into a position that abuts the electrophotographic apparatus and increases the distance between the paper supply tray and the paper receiving port. Unfortunately, this causes the printer head to require adjustment, as the horizontal positioning of the printable medium fed into the printer has changed. This inventive method and device uses a sensor to determine when the guide panel has been rotated and automatically adjusts the printer head's position.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus has an image forming unit for forming an image on a recording member, an inputting device for manually inputting information regarding the recording member, a control for controlling image forming conditions on the basis of the input value by the inputting device, a detector for detecting the thickness of the recording member, and a warning unit for warning of the abnormality of the input to the inputting device on the basis of the input value by the inputting device and the detection value of the detector.

Abstract: A plurality of lines are printed by the print head of a printer which is moved in a predetermined print direction on a sheet placed on a planar supporting surface wherein the sheet is fed perpendicular to the print direction. The print head is slidably mounted on a guide bar which is supported by a frame parallel to the sheet supporting surface so as to permit moving the lower end of the print head upwardly and downwardly relative to the support surface. The frame is biased in the downward direction normally. During non-print operation, a driving lever moves the frame upwardly to raise the print head to an initial position spaced above the support surface by a predetermined distance where it is maintained. During a print operation, the driving lever engages the frame to drive it upwardly or downwardly with the upward movement against the bias force.

Abstract: A sheet thickness sensing apparatus of an image recording apparatus includes a thickness sensing circuit for generating a sheet thickness value corresponding to a reflective optical quantity sensed by a reflective optical sensor which is separately installed opposite to a reflective surface moving correspondingly according to the thickness of a fed sheet. A head driving enable time or a head gap is adjusted correspondingly to the thickness of the sheet.

Abstract: An ink jet printer having an ink jet head for ejecting ink onto a sheet of paper or the like during a printing operation is provided. A gap defining member is also provided in opposition to the ink jet head. The gap defining member has a planar portion which supports the sheet of paper or the like on its rear face, and thus defines the distance of the gap between the sheet of paper and the ink jet head. The gap defining member also has a plurality of ribs extending from the planar portion in the direction of the paper feed path. These ribs help to guide and to further support the sheet of paper or the like.

Abstract: A mechanism is provided with a slide adjustment member that is mounted on a frame supporting a carriage assembly of a printer. The carriage assembly is pivotally mounted upon a support shaft carried by a frame. The slide adjustment member has indexing teeth that engage with a plurality of saw-tooth detents. The sawtooth detents are longitudinally disposed upon a surface that is at a slight angle in the range between 3 and 4 degrees, and preferably about 3.44 degrees with respect to the horizontal. Horizontal movement of the slide member over this angled surface causes the carriage assembly to pivot about the support shaft. In so pivoting, the printhead carried upon the carriage assembly is forced to move with respect to the platen, thus changing the paper thickness gap therebetween. Each indexed movement of the slide member past a detent tooth provides a change of 0.003 inches in the gap. This change is equivalent to the difference between single and double ply paper.

Abstract: An automatic adjusting device for accurately adjusting a platen gap including an encoder 14 for outputting pulse signals in accordance with a moving distance of a carriage, a pulse width detector for detecting a pulse width of the pulse signal when the carriage is moved from a reference position in a direction of the platen, a difference calculator for calculating a difference between a pulse width of the pulse signal sent from the pulse width detector and a pulse width of a stored pulse signal, a contact detector for judging a contact position of the recording head with the platen surface by comparing the difference with the reference value, and a controller for controlling a platen gap in accordance with the thickness of a recording medium charged on the platen detected by a pulse signal sent from the encoder and a signal sent from the contact detector.

Abstract: It is an object of the invention to prevent a sheet of continuous-form paper from slackening when it is fed back in a printer capable of feeding both sheets of continuous-form paper and cut-form paper.

Abstract: A gap adjusting device moves a print head vertically via a carriage shaft eccentrically supported by a displacement gear. The displacement gear is provided with a gap lever, which restricts rotational movement of a driving force transmission mechanism by abutting on a stop when a pulse motor drives the print head to move away from a platen. The pulse motor becomes out of phase, thereby defining the position as a reference position. The amount of rotation of the pulse motor is adjusted, starting from the reference position, thereby adjusting a vertical position of the print head. The reference position of the print head is established without the risk of causing damage to dot pins, by defining the initial condition of the pulse motor.

Abstract: In a label printer printing on individual labels carried in spaced relationship on a surface of a longitudinally moving backing strip, this invention discloses apparatus for adjustably sensing leading edge positions of the labels. A stationary member is carried above the backing strip on one side of the backing strip. A movable member is carried by the stationary member for longitudinal movement along the path of the backing strip. There is provision for adjusting the longitudinal position of the moving member. A sensor is carried by the movable member for sensing leading edge positions of individual labels as a function of a change of thickness between the backing strip alone and the backing strip with a label on the surface. Both optical and mechanical versions are disclosed.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head for ejecting ink, a carriage for carrying the recording head, and a mechanism for adjusting a gap between a recording medium disposed on a platen and the recording head, and a gap adjusting method for adjusting a gap between a recording medium disposed on a platen and a recording head. Bearings attached to the carriage and mounted on a guide shaft are displaceable with respect to the carriage, and the bores of the bearings are eccentric with respect to the guide shaft. This enables the carriage to be displaced in a horizontal plane in accordance with the thickness of recording paper, and to consequently incline the ejection-outlet-array line of the recording head on the carriage. Further, the carriage is pivoted about one of the bearings in a plane including the bearings in accordance with the thickness of the paper.

Abstract: In a printing machine such as an impact printer, the printing gap between a print head and a platen is appropriately adjusted to cope with a variety of paper sheets. For adjusting the printing gap, the platen (or print head) is moved toward the print head (or platen) to press a paper sheet and then the platen (or print head) is moved to an origin position. Thereafter, the platen (or print head) is moved closer to the print head (or platen) by an appropriate pressing distance obtained by subtracting an appropriate value for the printing gap from the distance between the pressing position and the origin position.

Abstract: A label printer for printing labels can typically have a pressure roller and a corresponding print head, which print head can have a support, a spring base plate, and a spring disposed between the support and the spring base plate to bias the print head into engagement with the pressure roller. The spring base plate can be rotationally mounted on a bearing shaft which is preferably parallel to the pressure roller, and the free end of the bearing shaft can be flattened over a portion of its length to form two parallel key surfaces for engaging with a locking element that adjusts the biasing force of the spring by engaging and positioning the spring base plate.

Abstract: User adjustment of an automatically established gap between a print head and a platen allows adjustment of print head gap relative to a set point by a simple key actuation operation which is preferably conducted during printing operation so that the user can directly observe the result of the adjustment. Storage of user defined adjustment values in non-volatile memory are correlated with measured thicknesses or tolerance ranges thereof and can be recalled after power off/power on cycles and/or after change of paper stocks in the printer. Adjustment limits are imposed to prevent printer damage and user adjustment can be carried out at higher resolution than automatic head gap setting. Graphical and fixed legend displays are preferably provided for confirmation of the adjustment and informing the operator of limits and operating limits and conditions of the gap adjustment.

Abstract: According to a method of adjusting a head gap, a wire dot head is set to a predetermined position of a reference head gap; a printing pattern for detecting printing time is printed by a plurality of pins; reference printing times of respective pins are detected. Next, a test printing is performed with test printing dots previously selected from printing data, and printing time of the test printing is detected. Then, the thickness of the printing media is calculated based on the reference printing time and the printing time of the test printing. At that time, a rule of thumb in which the difference of the printing time corresponds to the difference of the head gap, is used. Then, a shift amount of the wire dot head is calculated for setting the head gap to an optimum value according to the thickness of the printing media, and gap shifting mechanism shifts the wire dot head by the shift amount. This leads to highly accurate detection of the head gap and improves printing quality thereof.

Abstract: A system for automatically adjusting the print head gap of an impact printer, particularly for paper stocks of differing thicknesses and multi-layer forms, provides for measurement of an absolute distance between an undeflected platen position and a home position of the print head. Paper stock thickness is measured by measuring the distance to the home position from a position of the print head when a predetermined force is exerted by the print head against the platen. Since a similar measurement is made when paper stock is not present in the printer and using the same force against the platen, platen flexure is removed as a source of error and a standardized force is available for compression of the paper stock during measurement. Improved accuracy is achieved at high speed while avoiding the use of position encoder/decoder arrangements. A wider range of manufacturing variations in printer geometry and rigidity can be accommodated with uniformly improved print quality.

Abstract: A leaf plate is disposed in abutment, through a guide path of printing paper, with a feed roller whose peripheral surface is in contact with the guide path. The printing paper is transported by the feed roller rotationally driven while the printing paper is pressed against the feed roller by the leaf plate. In the course of transportation of the printing paper, the printing paper fed by the feed roller is guided along a flat paper guide surface, and printing is performed by having ink jetted from a nose portion of an ink jet head to the printing paper being guided as described above. Immediately before the printing position in the guide path, there are disposed a plurality of projections in contact with the guide path and at predetermined intervals in the direction transverse to the printing paper. By bringing the transported printing paper into contact with the projections, the amplitude of undulations continuously produced in the printing paper in the direction transverse to the paper is reduced.

Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a printing head for printing on a bank book, a platen disposed opposite the printing head, and a cam mechanism for moving the platen. A sensor detects the thickness of the bank book which is between the printing head and the platen, and a sensor moving mechanism moves the sensor toward or away from the platen. A controller controls the operation of the cam mechanism and the sensor moving mechanism as the sensor is moved to a measuring position approaching the printing head. The printing head is moved toward the platen according to a detected value and then the sensor is retracted from the measuring position. As a result, after moving the printing head, the sensor does not contact the surface of the bank book, and therefore does not produce jamming or oblique feeding of the bank book during a line feed or printing operation.

Abstract: A method and associated apparatus for determining edges of tags/labels carried by a backing strip over a fixed surface. The method comprises the steps of, disposing a sensor above the fixed surface measuring the distance to a surface passing beneath it and outputting a first signal reflecting the distance; receiving and amplifying the first signal to a usable level second signal and outputting the second signal; and, receiving and comparing changes in the second signal to a pre-established threshold amount and outputting a third signal indicating an edge has been found when the second signal changes more than the pre-established threshold amount. Contacting and non-contacting approaches to accomplishing the measurement are disclosed.

Abstract: A recording apparatus which records on a recording medium. The recording apparatus includes a recording head which prints on a recording medium, a body of revolution which is rotatably mounted, and a platen roller capable of being displaced in the recording head direction and in the body of revolution peripheral direction. The platen roller is positioned against the recording head.

Abstract: An automatic platen gap adjusting device for a printer for automatically adjusting a relative gap length between a platen and a recording head, and for checking whether the recording head and a recording sheet are in contact after the adjustment.

Abstract: In a printer, a carrier having a print head and an indicator mounted thereon is moved toward and away from the platen, so that the carrier is at one of a retracted position at which a distance between the print head and the platen is at a maximum, a contact position at which a switch member mounted on the indicator is in contact with a surface of a printing sheet, and a printing position at which the carrier is slightly retracted from the contact position to define a predetermined gap between the print head and the printing sheet. A switch member for detecting a printing sheet, i.e., a thickness of the sheet, is mounted on a flat portion of the indicator.

Abstract: In forming a desired print gap between a sheet of paper fed on a platen and a print head by driving a moving mechanism for changing a space between the platen and the print head, a condition where the space between the platen and the print head becomes smaller than a predetermined value is detected, and in this case the space between the platen and the print head is increased by a driving portion for driving the moving mechanism. Accordingly, when a thin paper is used as the sheet of paper, cutting, wrinkling, etc. of the thin paper can be prevented.

Abstract: A print head pressure-contact device equipped with a linkage for applying a print head onto a platen of a printer, comprises a drive lever having a driven connection with a motor and a driven lever rotatably linked to the drive lever. The drive lever has a cam and the driven lever has a cam follower cooperative with the cam, such that a power transmission is changed from a linkage transmission to a cam transmission within a predetermined angle range with respect to an angle between the two levers.

Abstract: An automatic platen gap adjusting apparatus is provided with (i) a stepping motor for moving a carriage provided with a recording head in the direction of a platen, (ii) a rotary encoder for producing a plurality of pulse signals proportional to the rotational speed of the motor, the rotary encoder being equipped with a detection mark on its circumference, (iii) a time difference integrating device for obtaining the integrated value of the time difference between the pulse signal from the rotary encoder and the driving pulse of the stepping motor, while moving the carrier from a reference position in the direction of the platen, and (iv) an abutment decision device for detecting whether the value thus obtained has reached a predetermined value. The thickness of the paper is calculated by a paper thickness calculation device according to the number of pulses produced up to the moment the signal is produced from the abutment decision device.

Abstract: A flat bed printing mechanism for a postage meter is disclosed which includes a flat printing die, a platen mounted beneath the printing which is movable toward and away from the printing die to as to bring the image area of a mail piece disposed over the platen into printing contact with the printing die. The platen supports a resilient pressure pad which contacts the mail piece, and there is a resilient means interposed between the upper surface of the platen and the lower surface of the pressure pad to support the pressure pad in spaced relationship with the upper surface of the platen so that the pressure pad is free to move both linearly and angularly with respect to the platen when the platen moves upwardly to press the mail piece against the printing die, to cause the plane of the upper surface of the pressure pad to conform to the plane of the image area of the mail piece as the platen pushes the image area of the mail piece upwardly toward the printing die.

Abstract: A thermal printing device having a print mechanism which includes a platen roller assembly in combination with a movable print head assembly. Further aspects of the present invention include a switch mechanism and a tape supply cartridge with switch activation/deactivation members for automatically facilitating adjustment of print parameters to match tape supply upon insertion of the cartridge.