Epm having a system for detecting fault conditions of the thermal printhead
US5546112A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 28, 1994 |
| Grant date | Aug 13, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 28, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07B2017/0054
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In an electronic postage meter which has a thermal printer and a control system for causing the thermal printer to print a postage indicia, the thermal printer includes a linear array of thermal elements. The electronic postage meter control system is comprised of a print control circuit for producing lengthwise and serially, during a first mode of operation, a composite image having alphanumeric characters and graphic data. The image is divided into a plurality of widthwise sections. A first widthwise section has highly critical alphanumeric character information and graphic information. A second widthwise section of the image having less critical alphanumeric character information. The control system has a second mode of operation for producing serial test data coupled to the thermal elements such that the thermal print elements are selectively responsive to the serial test data for developing for each of the thermal elements an associated test signal during each second mode of operation. A comparison of each test signal for each of the thermal elements against an associated predetermined reference signal is performed in order to automatically generate an associated failure signa…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.