A portable imprinter for transferring indicia from a printing plate to a document comprising a generally rectangular base adapted to support the document in printing disposition over the plate, a frame mounted on the base, a pair of longitudinally extended slots located on opposite sides of the base at its junction with the frame for insertion of the printing plate and the document, and an imprinting roller assembly comprising a generally rectangular reciprocable carriage movably mounted within said frame, a printing roller supported within a U-shaped bracket, said bracket pivotally retained within said carriage on the side thereof juxtaposed to said base, and a rectangular cover mounted on said carriage on the side thereof opposite said bracket, wherein said bracket is under spring bias, placing said roller in constant contact with said base. During the printing cycle, the bracket pivots into rigid abutment with the cover to provide printing tension to the roller. During the return cycle, the bracket is freely cradled by the carriage, and the roller passes harmlessly along the printed document, thereby avoiding over-printing or other damage thereto.
A portable, handheld data recorder for pressure-transfer printing embossed information onto a form set from a credit card or the like includes a push/pull platen assembly contained in a closed housing but manually operable from the exterior of the device. A releasable retainer also within the housing is provided for holding the form set in place during imprinting and again is manually operable from the exterior of the device. The recorder also includes resilient means for accommodating credit cards of different thicknesses.
An imprinting machine has a surface for receiving an embossed card and a form to be imprinted and a carriage having a roller which is movable over the surface to effect an imprinting operation. The machine is capable of being mounted with the surface substantially vertical, and has a groove for retaining one edge of the form and for retaining the card to prevent them falling away from the surface when the machine is disposed vertically. The other edge of the form is preferably located by a guide and the bottom edge of the form by a stop on the surface.
A printing machine that prints on forms or documents from cards having embossed characters thereon takes into account different thicknesses of cards and forms. The machine provides an even pressure downwards. The printing machine comprises a base; a print bed means on the base for holding embossed printing characters facing upwards; an elongate member having a rectangular cross section, the member positioned above, extending across and parallel to the print bed means and supported from the base; roller head carriage on the elongate member and print roller platen supported from the carriage below the elongate member, guide frame within the carriage having roller means for reciprocal movement on the elongate member with restricted tipping and slewing of the guide frame relative to the elongate member; the guide frame attached to the carriage and having restricted upward movement in one place relative to the carriage, and spring bias means pressing the guide frame upwards in the one plane, pushing the print roller platen in the carriage against the embossed characters on the print bed means and maintaining substantially even printing pressure for varying thickness of forms.
