Print head transport mechanism

摘要

A print head transport mechanism of a postage meter for printing postal indicia which are of greater height than a printing height of a print head comprises a carriage to traverse the print head over a band of a print receiving area. The print head is mounted in a sub-carriage mounted on the carriage and the sub-carriage is displaceable in the direction of printing height of the print head. A cam connected between the sub-carriage and the carriage is operable to displace the sub-carriage. The cam is provided with friction surfaces that engage with friction pads during traverse of the carriage to operate the cam and thereby displace the sub-carriage so that printing is effected in a first band during traverse of the print head in one direction and printing is effected in an adjacent band during traverse of the print head in a second direction opposite to said first direction.