1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a modular printing system for printing and presenting tickets or vouchers.
2. Description of Related Art
Printers are now widely used to print various kinds of information bearing objects. For example, printers are used to print vouchers, tickets, coupons, receipts, and game tokens. In many of these applications it is necessary to place printers in small, inaccessible spaces. For example, if a printer is used in a gaming device, the printer must occupy a minimum amount of space so that it does not interfere with the operation of other devices. In this application it is also important that a printer occupy a minimum amount of space on the front of the machine so that the space can be used to present information or entertaining graphics to the user.
Such demanding requirements present a difficult challenge to printer designers. The smaller a printer becomes, the more difficult it is to perform routine maintenance or to correct faults. The smaller the amount of space a printer occupies, the more difficult it is to access and remove the printer. What has long been needed is a printer that is small and occupies a minimum amount of space, yet is designed to allow technicians to easily access the printer and service the printers components.
The present invention comprises a printer system. The printer system comprises a support frame, a chassis, a media holder, and a printer assembly. The support frame is adapted to support other components of the printer system. The chassis is slidably attached to the support frame, wherein the chassis is adapted to be slid at least partially out of the support frame. The media holder is attached to the chassis and it is adapted to hold printable media. The printer assembly is removable and attached to the chassis. The printer assembly comprises a printer and a controller. The printer is adapted to print on the media and the controller is adapted to control the printer.
The above description sets forth, rather broadly, the more important features of the present invention so that the detailed description of the preferred embodiment that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.