The present invention provides an ink ejection type printhead having a plurality of ink ejection devices and a central axis, the ink ejection devices arranged in a series of groups, each of the groups generally extending along non parallel lines.

A printhead assembly is used with a postage meter of the type having a base supporting a main shaft and a stepper motor drive. The stepper motor drive positions value rods carried by the main shaft according to the value of the postage to be printed. The printhead assembly includes a value module mounted to an outer end of the main shaft so to rotate with the shaft. A dater/slogan module is also mounted to the outer end of the main shaft assembly and is positioned or indexed, such as using guide...

The thermal printhead of a printing terminal requires a controlled voltage to insure uniformity of the print copy. Printhead temperature is sensed by a voltage generating diode on the printhead itself. This feedback voltage is used to control the reference voltage of a switching regulator power supply which in turn provides power to the thermal printhead. The switching regulator comprises an efficient means of providing a controlled voltage to the thermal printhead.

Wear on the elements (5) of a printhead (3) is spread by shifting the region of use of the printhead line by line. Font (13) provides information as to whether any character in a line employs the upper three pels or the bottom three pels of a line. For each line which can be printed from different shift positions of the printhead, selection logic controls paper feed (15) to index platen (9) to the least used of a shifted position of printhead. Only those electrodes over the print line in each sh...

An improved dot matrix actuator is provided which includes a magnetic circuit formed of a yoke assembly and a pivotal armature. The armature is pivotally supported with respect to the yoke by means of a flexure assembly which eliminates the need for a true pivot between the two elements. The elements are shaped so as to maintain a constant small air gap therebetween so as to maximize the magnetic efficiency of the device while eliminating wear. The device is operated just below saturation of the...

A print head operated on a time sharing basis. Print data are transferred from the outside into the print head in synchronization of clock pulses. The print head stores the print data in a shift register, detects input of print data for one print block portion on the basis of the number of clock pulses, then paralleltransfers the print data in the shift register to a latch circuit and at the same time shifts the print block by one block. When high-speed transfer is possible, the print head relea...

A printhead for a light emitting diode printer has a transparent substrate with a row of LED dice mounted on the substrate with their light emitting Junctions adjacent to the substrate so as to emit light through the substrate. Each die has a row of LEDs along its length and a row of connection pads at known locations for making electrical connection to the LED anodes. Metal lines are deposited on the transparent substrate at known locations. Solder bumps between the connection pads and metal li...

A thermal printhead for a thermoprinter having an electrically insulating substrate on which resistors are placed that form impression points and current supply and current discharge leads bonded to the resistors. A structure is provided in this thermal printhead for forming a magnetic field which acts upon the resistors in the immediate proximity of the resistors and along the resistor print line. The magnetic field is directed such that when the current flows through the resistors, the current...

An improved dot matrix actuator is provided which includes a magnetic circuit formed of a yoke assembly and a pivotal armature. The armature is pivotally supported with respect to the yoke by means of a flexure assembly which eliminates the need for a true pivot between the two elements. The elements are shaped so as to maintain a constant small air gap therebetween so as to maximize the magnetic efficiency of the device while eliminating wear. The device is operated just below saturation of the...

A wear-resistant thermal printhead employs a wearplate deposited atop the printhead substrate adjacent the resistive print element as a hard shield to impacting tickets and abrasive material propelled across the printhead. The wearplate comprises a layer of thick film glass doped with a suitably hard material such as zirconia, alumina, or diamonds. Printhead position is adjusted so that the wearplate is impacted instead of the print element and conductive traces carrying current to the print ele...