32 and 33 drive the gears 38 and 39 to advance the slide 42 in the direction of arrow a shown in fig1 the spring assemblies 98 and 99 and abutment faces 101 action on shoulders 102 hold the slides 42 and 82 together for movement as a unit until the teeth 140 and 141 abut the shoulder 142 as shown in fig1 accordingly movement of the slide 82 and the print head 69 are arrested however the slide 42 can continue to move in the direction of arrow a upon continued actuation of the actuator 30 when inclined face 143 of the slide 42 contacts the roller 132 the leaf spring 123 is caused to deflect in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in fig1 for example and the link 118 is pivoted clockwise to move the abutment face 142 out of the path of the teeth 140 and 141 thereupon the spring assemblies 98 and 99 drive the print head 69 into printing cooperation with the platen 50 to print the desired indicia on a label l when the actuator 30 is released the spring assembly 35 returns the actuator 30 the gears 38 and 39 the slides 42 and 82 and the print head 69 to their initial or home positions the printing force exerted by the print head 69 on the label l and the.