Multi-color printer utilizing rotating print cylinder

Claim 2

A printing system providing for precise registration of characters when imprinted in multiple colors upon a print medium, comprising: a. a print cylinder having a plurality of sets of raised characters located around a circumferential surface thereof, one set of raised characters being provided for each color to be imprinted, b. a plurality of inking stations located in proximity to said print cylinder, each of said inking stations including means for selectively inking the raised characters of one of said sets thereof on said circumferential surface with ink of a desired color in response to an inking control signal, c. a printing station also located in proximity to said print cylinder, said printing station including means for selectively impacting the print medium against the characters in any of said plurality of sets on said circumferential surface in response to a print control signal, d. timing means providing timing signals identifying the location of the characters in said plurality of sets relative to said printing station and to each of said plurality of inking stations, e. code generator means providing an output signal representing a desired character to be imprinted and its color, f. logic means responsive to said timing signals and to said output signal including means providing an inking control signal to one of said plurality of inking stations having ink of the desired color and including means providing a print control signal to said printing station.

Claim 3

A system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said sets of raised characters on said circumferential surface of said print cylinder includes a plurality of alpha-numeric characters and a plurality of machine-readable code characters.

Claim 4

A system as recited in claim 2, wherein said plurality of machine-readable code characters in each set are in the form of a bar code.

Claim 5

A system as recited in claim 3, wherein said plurality of alpha-numeric characters in each set are aligned with certain ones of said plurality of bar code characters.

Claim 6

A multi-color printer for coded characters, comprising: a. a rotating print cylinder having located about its circumference a plurality of sets of said characters, one set being provided for each color to be imprinTed, and a plurality of timing channels, each channel being provided for one of said plurality of sets and including means identifying each character in the set, b. a plurality of inking stations which are located in proximity to said print cylinder, each of which includes an ink ribbon of a given color, means for maintaining said ink ribbon in proximity to said print cylinder circumference, and a member for impacting said ink ribbon against said print cylinder in response to an inking control signal, c. a single print station also located in proximity to said print cylinder and including means for maintaining a print medium in proximity to said print cylinder circumference, and a member for impacting said print medium against said print cylinder in response to a print control signal, d. timing means including a plurality of sensors, one sensor for each channel and providing an output timing signal in response to said identifying means therein, e. code generator means providing an output signal denoting a desired character to be imprinted and its color, f. a print logic means including first storage means response to said timing signals for registering the instantaneous location of each character in each set relative to said print station, and comparator means for comparing the color and desired character information contained in said output signal with the registration information in said storage means to provide said print control signal when a desired character in a desired set is in a position to be imprinted, and g. a plurality of inking logic means, each of said inking logic means being associated with one of said inking stations and including second storage means responsive to said timing signals for registering the instantaneous location of each character in one of said sets relative to said inking station, and second comparator means for comparing the color and character information contained in said output signal with the registration information contained in said second storage means to provide said inking control signal when the desired character in its set is in a position to be inked.

Claim 7

A multi-color printer for coded characters, comprising: a. a rotating print cylinder having located about its circumference a plurality of sets of said characters, one set being provided for each color to be imprinTed, and a plurality of timing channels, each channel being provided for one of said plurality of sets and including means identifying each character in the set, b. a plurality of inking stations which are located in proximity to said print cylinder, each of which includes an ink ribbon of a given color, means for maintaining said ink ribbon in proximity to said print cylinder circumference, and a member for impacting said ink ribbon against said print cylinder in response to an inking control signal, c. a single print station also located in proximity to said print cylinder and including means for maintaining a print medium in proximity to said print cylinder circumference, and a member for impacting said print medium against said print cylinder in response to a print control signal, d. timing means including a plurality of sensors, one sensor for each channel and providing an output timing signal in response to said identifying means therein, e. code generator means providing an output signal denoting a desired character to be imprinted and its color, f. a print logic means including first storage means response to said timing signals for registering the instantaneous location of each character in each set relative to said print station, and comparator means for comparing the color and desired character information contained in said output signal with the registration information in said storage means to provide said print control signal when a desired character in a desired set is in a position to be imprinted, and g. a plurality of inking logic means, each of said inking logic means being associated with one of said inking stations and including second storage means responsive to said timing signals for registering the instantaneous location of each character in one of said sets relative to said inking station, and second comparator means for comparing the color and character information contained in said output signal with the registration information contained in said second storage means to provide said inking control signal when the desired character in its set is in a position to be inked.

Claim 8

A multi-color printer as recited in claim 5, wherein: a. said identifying means in each of said timing channels comprises a plurality of timing marks located about the circumference of said print cylinder, one timing mark being provided for each character, b. said sensors providing a timing pulse for each of said timing marks, c. said first storage means in said print logic means and said second storage means in each of said inking logic means comprises a position counter incremented by said timing pulses.

Claim 9

A multi-color printer as recited in claim 5, further comprising a means providing an initialization signal, and wherein each of said inking logic means comprises means responsive to said initialization signal for supplying output signals to said second comparator means which successively denote all characters in a set so that all characters in the set are successively inked in response thereto.