Abstract: The present invention relates to an assembly of electromagnetic actuators for the hammers of an impact printer arranged side by side and extending along a line. Each actuator comprises a first stator part formed with at least one pole piece, a second stator part formed with at least one pole piece and positioned relative to the first stator part so that the pole pieces are spaced apart so as to form a gap therebetween. A single coil is associated with one of the stator parts. Each actuator also includes an armature member formed with a body of non-magnetizable material, at least one armature element of magnetizable material and a hammer head. The armature member is supported between the stator parts so that the armature element is located adjacent to the gap. Energization of the coil causes the generation of a flux which passes across the gap and through the armature element tending to move the armature element into the gap and to cause the hammer head to move into a print position.

Abstract: The invention relates to a print hammer bank of electromagnetic print hammer actuators in modular design of the type which includes a plurality of actuators each of which comprises a stator formed in two halves, each half including an electromagnet and a plurality of pole pieces, and means for positioning the stator halves relative to each other so that the ends of the pole pieces of the two halves are spaced apart in pairs so as to form a plurality of aligned operating gaps. The armature elements are designed so that the volume of each armature element is of the order of the volume of the associated operating gap.

Abstract: A circuit is provided to compensate for crosstalk between individual cells of a photodetector array by combining the signals produced by adjacent cells in the array together with a predetermined crosstalk factor.

Abstract: A printer prints characters by printing selected character elements in a matrix of print positions arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns. The printer includes storage means for storing sets of character data elements which are used for printing the character elements. The printer also includes logic means for selectively performing logical operations on the sets of character data elements in order to vary the sets of character data elements in accordance with certain rules and thereby vary the print quality in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions of the characters which will be printed using the stored character data elements.The stored sets of character data elements are selected so that they can be used for printing characters which have a high print quality in the horizontal direction and a low print quality in the vertical and diagonal directions.

Abstract: A yieldably supported ramp controls the lowering of a print head onto a record carrier. An elastically deformable element having non-linear deformation characteristics is preferred to define the desired force displacement characteristics.

Abstract: A printer of the type including a platen, a bank of hammers extending in a straight line and spaced from the platen, a metal band on which are mounted print elements and drive means for moving the band between the platen and the hammer bank is provided with means for controlling the movement of the band. This band movement control means includes a guide surface extending along the hammer bank and bearing means located adjacent to one edge of the guide surface and including at least one bearing surface extending perpendicular to the guide surface. The control means also includes a permanent magnet means located adjacent to the guide surface and the bearing means and adapted to attract one surface of the band to the guide surface and one edge of the band to the bearing surface.

Abstract: Changeable finger tools for the gripper of an object manipulator are held in place by a self-releasing detent supplemented by frictional forces produced by the gripper. The retention technique enables fast, efficient automatic changing of the finger tools.

Abstract: An ink that fluoresces in the near infrared is used to mark documents such as bank checks for automatic identification. Markings with this ink are reliably detectable, even in the presence of other markings commonly found on such documents. The preferred fluorescent material of our invention is a phenoxazine dye 3,7-BIS(diethylamino) phenoxazonium nitrate.

Abstract: A sufficiently thick gliding layer is produced on the recording surface of a record carrier of the type comprising an aluminum layer applied over a lacquer layer coated on a support layer. The back surface of the support layer is also coated with a lacquer layer. A fatty acid or a mixture of fatty acids is admixed with one of the two lacquer layers and a metal-diketone or a metal-keto-ester is admixed with the other lacquer layer in approximately in a stoichiometric ratio to the fatty acid. Following the coating of the material with aluminum in a vacuum, the record carrier material is wound into a roll, and stored.

Abstract: The mounting arrangement permits the mounting of a face mounted electric motor in right-angular relationship on a support frame member without requiring the use of separate fasteners, such as screws and the like, and is of particular value when mounting of the motor by robotic techniques. The motor is provided with a mounting flange having a pair of diametrically opposed outwardly extending mounting ears with mounting openings provided therein. A pair of motor support members is provided on the support frame and includes semi-spherical cam projections which are aligned with the openings in the mounting flange when the mounting face of the motor is positioned against the support frame and rotated until the semi-spherical cam projections snap into position in the openings in the mounting ears.

Abstract: A high-speed reciprocating actuator, of the type used as a print hammer in high-speed printers or for operating valves or the like, is made more compact and efficient by the arrangement of a stator yoke. The stator yoke provides a series of aligned magnetic gaps that cooperate with armature bars contained in a reciprocating ram member. These gaps are made part of a plurality of independent flux conducting loops. One or more activating coils pass through each of the loops to induce magnetic flux when ram actuation is desired.

Abstract: An electromagnetic actuator for performing an individual stepping, switch or impact movement consists of an electromagnetic actuator and a pivoted or rocking armature moving. The rotational design of the electromagnetic actuator enables only one excitation coil to serve a plurality of magnetic gaps.

Abstract: A multi-gap magnetic character reader is provided with the ability to automatically detect double documents. Where only weak signals are sensed, all signals are combined and compared to a reference. Where the weak signals are due to a piggyback document, the combined signals will be large with respect to the reference. Multiple documents thus detected are directed to a special reject bin.

Abstract: Arrangement for a print head having at least one print electrode and being movable relative to a record carrier transported over a support, and pressed down onto the record carrier by the effect of an actuator, where a first frame piece (4) carrying the print electrode (6) supported in a holder (5) is pivotably fixed, via a spring arrangement (2,3) biasing the print head towards the record carrier, to a second frame piece (1) opposite the first frame piece (4), where furthermore an electromagnetic actuator (9, 10) between the two frame pieces is attached to the second frame piece (1) to which a resilient ferromagnetic armature (14) is also fixed and through its greater bias acting against the bias of the spring arrangement (2, 3) abuts against a non-ferromagnetic stop (15) provided at the first frame piece and facing the end of the armature, which thus lifts the print head against the force of the spring arrangement (2, 3), and where by the operation of the actuator (9, 10), the print electrode ( 6) places it

Abstract: A system for compressing image data, when input in the form of run length coded sequential lines of image data, encodes variable length segments of the current to-be-coded line two dimensionally in terms of the detected relationship between the constants of five registers. The run length code words of the current line and the immediately previous reference line are accessed sequentially and selectively from respective FIFO buffers under the control of switching logic which also establishes a pattern of connections, unique to the generated code representing the immediately previous current line segment, coupling the outputs of the registers and the buffers to the inputs of the registers through adders to establish the next set of five values in terms of which segment coding takes place. One dimensional coding can be accommodated.

Abstract: An emiter marking pattern is provided on a lead screw in parallel with the thread of the lead screw. A carriage driven along by the lead screw contains a transducer for sensing the emitter marking pattern on the lead screw to produce electrical output signal pulses indicative of incremental displacement of the carriage. A printhead can be mounted on the carriage and the electrical output signal pulses from the transducer used to control printing operations. The emitter marking pattern can be designed to provide control signals for other purposes, for example for controlling start-up, running, deceleration and reversal of a motor driving the lead screw.