daisywheel printer

printer A kind of impact printer where the characters are

arranged on the ends of the spokes of a wheel (resembling the

petals on a daisy).

The wheel (usually made of plastic) is rotated to select the

character to print and then an electrically operated hammer

mechanism bends the selected spoke forward slightly,

sandwiching an ink ribbon between the character and the paper,

as in a typewriter.

One advantage of this arrangement over that of a typewriter is

that different wheels may be inserted to produce different

typefaces.

(1998-04-28)