CA1129478A - Reciprocating paper handling apparatus for use in an ink jet copier - Google Patents
Reciprocating paper handling apparatus for use in an ink jet copierInfo
- Publication number
- CA1129478A CA1129478A CA341,289A CA341289A CA1129478A CA 1129478 A CA1129478 A CA 1129478A CA 341289 A CA341289 A CA 341289A CA 1129478 A CA1129478 A CA 1129478A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- printing
- sheet
- conveyor belt
- printing head
- flat support
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
- 238000007639 printing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 74
- 230000033001 locomotion Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 230000001360 synchronised effect Effects 0.000 claims description 5
- 230000003252 repetitive effect Effects 0.000 claims 1
- 238000007641 inkjet printing Methods 0.000 abstract description 3
- 230000009850 completed effect Effects 0.000 description 8
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000002411 adverse Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000003491 array Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000002457 bidirectional effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000306 component Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000638 stimulation Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/485—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by the process of building-up characters or image elements applicable to two or more kinds of printing or marking processes
- B41J2/505—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by the process of building-up characters or image elements applicable to two or more kinds of printing or marking processes from an assembly of identical printing elements
- B41J2/5056—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by the process of building-up characters or image elements applicable to two or more kinds of printing or marking processes from an assembly of identical printing elements using dot arrays providing selective dot disposition modes, e.g. different dot densities for high speed and high-quality printing, array line selections for multi-pass printing, or dot shifts for character inclination
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
- B41J11/007—Conveyor belts or like feeding devices
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
- B41J11/0085—Using suction for maintaining printing material flat
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
- B65H29/24—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by air blast or suction apparatus
- B65H29/241—Suction devices
- B65H29/242—Suction bands or belts
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H5/00—Feeding articles separated from piles; Feeding articles to machines
- B65H5/22—Feeding articles separated from piles; Feeding articles to machines by air-blast or suction device
- B65H5/222—Feeding articles separated from piles; Feeding articles to machines by air-blast or suction device by suction devices
- B65H5/224—Feeding articles separated from piles; Feeding articles to machines by air-blast or suction device by suction devices by suction belts
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2403/00—Power transmission; Driving means
- B65H2403/90—Machine drive
- B65H2403/92—Electric drive
- B65H2403/923—Synchronous motor
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
- B65H2404/20—Belts
- B65H2404/23—Belts with auxiliary handling means
- B65H2404/232—Blade, plate, finger
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S271/00—Sheet feeding or delivering
- Y10S271/902—Reverse direction of sheet movement
Abstract
RECIPROCATING PAPER HANDLING APPARATUS
FOR USE IN AN INK JET COPIER
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A paper handling system capable of providing a single or multiple pass of a printing medium by an ink jet printing head for the reproduction of original documents utilizes an endless conveyor belt to support the printing medium. The belt can be driven both for-wardly and in reverse to cycle the printing medium under a printing head which prints tracks of information onto the medium. After each cycle, the printing head is advanced in a direction transverse to the motion of the printing medium until complete coverage of the printing medium is achieved. Either an interlace or band printing scheme can be used.
FOR USE IN AN INK JET COPIER
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A paper handling system capable of providing a single or multiple pass of a printing medium by an ink jet printing head for the reproduction of original documents utilizes an endless conveyor belt to support the printing medium. The belt can be driven both for-wardly and in reverse to cycle the printing medium under a printing head which prints tracks of information onto the medium. After each cycle, the printing head is advanced in a direction transverse to the motion of the printing medium until complete coverage of the printing medium is achieved. Either an interlace or band printing scheme can be used.
Description
, 7 8 ~ACI~GROUND OF TIIE INVENTIO~
This invention relates to copying and dupli~
cating devices~ and more particularly, to such devices ~herein recording is accomplished by means of a non-contact jet drop print head. A number of such devicesare shown in the prior art as sho~n, for instance, by Ranger et al~ U~ S. patent No. 1,817,098, Behane et al, U. S. patent ~o. 3,604,846, and Loughren, U. S. patent ~ No~ Re. 27~555. Each of these prior art devices supports a copy sheet on a rotating drum, across which a jet drop print head is translated. A somewhat different arrangement is disclosed in Taylor, U. S. pat-ent No. 3,564,120, where a plurality of jet drop print heads are scanned in rotary arcs over a print receiving paper being transported in a horizontal plane. These prïor art devices are so configured that they are gen-erally adaptable for use in an office copying or dupli-cating environment. However, they are all considered to be too slow for most office copying requirements.
A fas~er copier is disclosed in Cahill et al, U. S. patent No. 3,689,693, which uses a plurality of jet drop print heads, typically eight, to cooperatively print portions of an original and collectively print an entire reproduction of an original document. This re-duces the printing time significantly, but the system is somewhat limited by the~fact that it has only one printing nozzle per head. An even faster printer is disclosed by Van EIook, U. S. patent No. ~,009,332, which employs multiple nozzle heads which print interlaced helical tracks.
However, both of these devices require the attachment of a printing medium such as paper to a rotating drum which then must rotate a desired number of revolutions under a printing head to accomplish the reproduction of an original document. ~aper handling B~N 6703 2g4 78 -2-s~stems for loading and unloading paper onto the drum, combined with dif~erent speed of rotation requirements for the drum at different stages of processing, renders these rotating drum systems complex and adversely affects the overall reliability of the system. Accord-ingly~ the need e~ists in the art for a simple and reliable paper handling system capable of providing a single or multiple pass of a printing medium such as copy paper under an ink jet printing head ~or the-reproduction o~ original documents.
SUMMARY OF THE IN~IENTION
In accordance with the present invention aprinting medïum such as copy paper is fed onto an end-less conveyor belt, which is preferably porous. A
vacuum plenum chamber is positioned below the upper side of the belt and provides a means of holding the printing medium onto the belt. The belt may be made to operate in either a forward or reverse direction through use of drive means such as two servo motor devices attached to the conveyor belt.
An ink jet printing head is positioned above the belt and has a direction of movement perpendicular to the line of belt movement (and thus print medium movement). Copying is accomplished by reciprocating the printing medium under the printing head for a pre~
determined number of cycles. This number may vary depending upon the number of orifices used for printing in the printing head, the desired degree of resolution, and the system copy rate. After each pass of the print-ing medium under the printing head, the head is indexedin a direction perpendicular to the direction of move-ment of the printïng medium a predetermined distance.
This distance is also variable and will depend upon whetller or not printing is to be accomplished by print-ing discrete bands or is to be interlaced with printingfrom previous cycles. Printing is laid down during BFN 670~129478 _3_ both the forward and reverse movement of the printing medium. When used in conjunction with known document scanning and print control techniques, the printing media handling sy~tem of the present invention provides an efficient and reliable means of copying documents.
It is al~o desirable that the system be designed to ~rint a complete copy in an odd number of - cycles. In this manner, printing will be completed at the end of the forward motion portion of the cycle, the finished copy can be ejected into a receiver, and a new sheet of copy material can be fed onto the belt while the printing head is indexed back to its initial starting position.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, it is possible to have a stationary printing head which is the full width of the printing medium. A complete copy may be printed on a single pass of the printing medium under the printing head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the major com-ponents of the copier system;
Fig. 2 is a top view of the conveyor belt and drive mechanism and shows the positioning of the print-ing head with respect to the printing medium; and Fig. 3 is a side view of the copier system.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EriBoDIr~ENTs As generally il]ustrated by Fig. 1, a printing medium such ~s paper 12 is stored and fed from paper feeder 10. Individual sheets of paper 12 are fed in a known manner ~y an arrangement not shown) onto the paper handling system 20. Paper handling system 20 comprises a series of endless belts 22 having perfora-tions 24 therein. Alternatively, the belts may be fabricated of materials sufficiently porous so that a Yacuum applied from plenum chamber 26 underneath belts 22 BFN 6703 ~ 12947~ ~
- ~, will be sufficient to hold individual sheets of paper 12 in, place during the printing operation. In still a "
different embodiment, a single belt may be used as the support means for the paper.
~elts 22 are driven by synchronous dri~e motors 28 and 3a attached to rollers 27 and 29, respec-tiyely~ When sheet 12 is fed onto the conveyor belt, it ''' is advanced untïl its leading edge registers against a clip 25. A vacuum is then pulled through cham~er 26 and belt 22 to maintain sheet 12 in proper position through-out the copying process. Motor 30 drives roller 29 so th,at the conveyor belt and sheet 12 are advanced forward toward a line formed by the intersection of a vertical plane extending from the p,rinting head to the conveyor belt. Printing is commenced when sheet 12 reaches this line and continues until the first informtion track has been printed along the entire length of the sheet.
Forward drive motor 30 then disengages to permit advanc-ing motor 34 to index print head 32 a predetermined distance transverse to the direction of flow of sheet 12.
After indexing is completed, reverse drive motor 28 engages roller 27 and sheet 12 is passed in the opposite direction under printing head 32 for another information track to be printed. As will be more fully explained below, there are several alternative methods of printing these tracks.
After the sheet 12 has traversed a predetermined number of cycles under printing head 32, copying is com-pleted, and the sheet is indexed forward by forward drive motor 30 and ejected into paper receiver 40 which is capable of holding a multiple number of completed copies 42. Preferably, copying will be completed in an odd number of cycles so that as sheet 12 is indexed forward off belts 22 and into paper receiver 40, a new sheet is being loaded onto the conveyor from paper feeder 10.
1 1 L ~3 4 7 8 -This is best illustrated in Fig. 2 where a completed copy is advanced forwardly off of belts 22 while a new sheet 12 is loaded onto belts 22. Stop bars 25 are positioned along belts 22 to provide correct spacing between sheets.
As shown by the arrows in Fig. 3, a sheet 12 is loaded from paper feeder 10 onto the conveyor belt and held in position by a vacuum pulled from chamber 26.
Forward and reverse drive motors rotate rollers 27 and 29 so that sheet 12 travels back and forth under print-ing head 32. After copying is completed, sheet 12 is advanced forwardly in paper receiver 40.
In an alternative embodiment, printing head 32 may extend the entire width of sheet 12. As sheet 12 passes under the stationary printing head, copying is completed in a single pass. Orifice~ in the printing head may be arranged in either a single row or in a double row, one row offset from the other, from which streams of ink drops will fall on sheet 12.
Printing head 32 is preferably of laminar con-struction as generally taught by Beam et al, U.S. patent No. 3,586,907, and produces an array of longitudinally spaced jets. As indicated above, if desired, the print-ing head may have two parallel rows of orifices from which jets are produced, one row slightly offset from the other, as taught by Mathis, U.S. Patent No.
3,701,998. Typical geometry of the orifices is 0.04 mm diameter orifices spaced on 0.5 mm centers. Details of drop stimulation are taught by the above mentioned Beam et al and Mathis patents as well as by Lyon et al, U.S.
Patent No. 3,73~,393.
Printing head 32 is supported on a worm 36 driven by a synchronous drive motor 34 under the direc-tion of a control unit 38. The pitch of worm 36 and the speed of motor 34 may be varied to produce the desired BFN 670~ ~ 2 94 ~ ~ ~6-amount of transverse movement in printing head 32.Movement of belts 22 by the forward and reverse motors is also controlled by control unit 38 in conjunction with drive motor 34 to provide proper timing and move-ment o~ sheet 12 and printing head 32. Control unit 38is also adapted to be connected to a scanning device generally of the type shown in Paranjpe et al, U. S.
patent No. 4,112,469 but modified to have bidirectional motion of the scanning mirror. Scanning of a document to be copied may be coupled with simultaneous printing of the information scanned as taught in the above mentioned Paranjpe et al patent.
It will be appreciated that the resolution obtained in the printed copy is a function of the size of the ink drops and the inter-drop spacing on the print medium. A number of different approaches have been taken to increase the resolution obtainable. For e,xample, multiple rows of jets may be,used in the printing head with each row servicing print lines on the
This invention relates to copying and dupli~
cating devices~ and more particularly, to such devices ~herein recording is accomplished by means of a non-contact jet drop print head. A number of such devicesare shown in the prior art as sho~n, for instance, by Ranger et al~ U~ S. patent No. 1,817,098, Behane et al, U. S. patent ~o. 3,604,846, and Loughren, U. S. patent ~ No~ Re. 27~555. Each of these prior art devices supports a copy sheet on a rotating drum, across which a jet drop print head is translated. A somewhat different arrangement is disclosed in Taylor, U. S. pat-ent No. 3,564,120, where a plurality of jet drop print heads are scanned in rotary arcs over a print receiving paper being transported in a horizontal plane. These prïor art devices are so configured that they are gen-erally adaptable for use in an office copying or dupli-cating environment. However, they are all considered to be too slow for most office copying requirements.
A fas~er copier is disclosed in Cahill et al, U. S. patent No. 3,689,693, which uses a plurality of jet drop print heads, typically eight, to cooperatively print portions of an original and collectively print an entire reproduction of an original document. This re-duces the printing time significantly, but the system is somewhat limited by the~fact that it has only one printing nozzle per head. An even faster printer is disclosed by Van EIook, U. S. patent No. ~,009,332, which employs multiple nozzle heads which print interlaced helical tracks.
However, both of these devices require the attachment of a printing medium such as paper to a rotating drum which then must rotate a desired number of revolutions under a printing head to accomplish the reproduction of an original document. ~aper handling B~N 6703 2g4 78 -2-s~stems for loading and unloading paper onto the drum, combined with dif~erent speed of rotation requirements for the drum at different stages of processing, renders these rotating drum systems complex and adversely affects the overall reliability of the system. Accord-ingly~ the need e~ists in the art for a simple and reliable paper handling system capable of providing a single or multiple pass of a printing medium such as copy paper under an ink jet printing head ~or the-reproduction o~ original documents.
SUMMARY OF THE IN~IENTION
In accordance with the present invention aprinting medïum such as copy paper is fed onto an end-less conveyor belt, which is preferably porous. A
vacuum plenum chamber is positioned below the upper side of the belt and provides a means of holding the printing medium onto the belt. The belt may be made to operate in either a forward or reverse direction through use of drive means such as two servo motor devices attached to the conveyor belt.
An ink jet printing head is positioned above the belt and has a direction of movement perpendicular to the line of belt movement (and thus print medium movement). Copying is accomplished by reciprocating the printing medium under the printing head for a pre~
determined number of cycles. This number may vary depending upon the number of orifices used for printing in the printing head, the desired degree of resolution, and the system copy rate. After each pass of the print-ing medium under the printing head, the head is indexedin a direction perpendicular to the direction of move-ment of the printïng medium a predetermined distance.
This distance is also variable and will depend upon whetller or not printing is to be accomplished by print-ing discrete bands or is to be interlaced with printingfrom previous cycles. Printing is laid down during BFN 670~129478 _3_ both the forward and reverse movement of the printing medium. When used in conjunction with known document scanning and print control techniques, the printing media handling sy~tem of the present invention provides an efficient and reliable means of copying documents.
It is al~o desirable that the system be designed to ~rint a complete copy in an odd number of - cycles. In this manner, printing will be completed at the end of the forward motion portion of the cycle, the finished copy can be ejected into a receiver, and a new sheet of copy material can be fed onto the belt while the printing head is indexed back to its initial starting position.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, it is possible to have a stationary printing head which is the full width of the printing medium. A complete copy may be printed on a single pass of the printing medium under the printing head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the major com-ponents of the copier system;
Fig. 2 is a top view of the conveyor belt and drive mechanism and shows the positioning of the print-ing head with respect to the printing medium; and Fig. 3 is a side view of the copier system.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EriBoDIr~ENTs As generally il]ustrated by Fig. 1, a printing medium such ~s paper 12 is stored and fed from paper feeder 10. Individual sheets of paper 12 are fed in a known manner ~y an arrangement not shown) onto the paper handling system 20. Paper handling system 20 comprises a series of endless belts 22 having perfora-tions 24 therein. Alternatively, the belts may be fabricated of materials sufficiently porous so that a Yacuum applied from plenum chamber 26 underneath belts 22 BFN 6703 ~ 12947~ ~
- ~, will be sufficient to hold individual sheets of paper 12 in, place during the printing operation. In still a "
different embodiment, a single belt may be used as the support means for the paper.
~elts 22 are driven by synchronous dri~e motors 28 and 3a attached to rollers 27 and 29, respec-tiyely~ When sheet 12 is fed onto the conveyor belt, it ''' is advanced untïl its leading edge registers against a clip 25. A vacuum is then pulled through cham~er 26 and belt 22 to maintain sheet 12 in proper position through-out the copying process. Motor 30 drives roller 29 so th,at the conveyor belt and sheet 12 are advanced forward toward a line formed by the intersection of a vertical plane extending from the p,rinting head to the conveyor belt. Printing is commenced when sheet 12 reaches this line and continues until the first informtion track has been printed along the entire length of the sheet.
Forward drive motor 30 then disengages to permit advanc-ing motor 34 to index print head 32 a predetermined distance transverse to the direction of flow of sheet 12.
After indexing is completed, reverse drive motor 28 engages roller 27 and sheet 12 is passed in the opposite direction under printing head 32 for another information track to be printed. As will be more fully explained below, there are several alternative methods of printing these tracks.
After the sheet 12 has traversed a predetermined number of cycles under printing head 32, copying is com-pleted, and the sheet is indexed forward by forward drive motor 30 and ejected into paper receiver 40 which is capable of holding a multiple number of completed copies 42. Preferably, copying will be completed in an odd number of cycles so that as sheet 12 is indexed forward off belts 22 and into paper receiver 40, a new sheet is being loaded onto the conveyor from paper feeder 10.
1 1 L ~3 4 7 8 -This is best illustrated in Fig. 2 where a completed copy is advanced forwardly off of belts 22 while a new sheet 12 is loaded onto belts 22. Stop bars 25 are positioned along belts 22 to provide correct spacing between sheets.
As shown by the arrows in Fig. 3, a sheet 12 is loaded from paper feeder 10 onto the conveyor belt and held in position by a vacuum pulled from chamber 26.
Forward and reverse drive motors rotate rollers 27 and 29 so that sheet 12 travels back and forth under print-ing head 32. After copying is completed, sheet 12 is advanced forwardly in paper receiver 40.
In an alternative embodiment, printing head 32 may extend the entire width of sheet 12. As sheet 12 passes under the stationary printing head, copying is completed in a single pass. Orifice~ in the printing head may be arranged in either a single row or in a double row, one row offset from the other, from which streams of ink drops will fall on sheet 12.
Printing head 32 is preferably of laminar con-struction as generally taught by Beam et al, U.S. patent No. 3,586,907, and produces an array of longitudinally spaced jets. As indicated above, if desired, the print-ing head may have two parallel rows of orifices from which jets are produced, one row slightly offset from the other, as taught by Mathis, U.S. Patent No.
3,701,998. Typical geometry of the orifices is 0.04 mm diameter orifices spaced on 0.5 mm centers. Details of drop stimulation are taught by the above mentioned Beam et al and Mathis patents as well as by Lyon et al, U.S.
Patent No. 3,73~,393.
Printing head 32 is supported on a worm 36 driven by a synchronous drive motor 34 under the direc-tion of a control unit 38. The pitch of worm 36 and the speed of motor 34 may be varied to produce the desired BFN 670~ ~ 2 94 ~ ~ ~6-amount of transverse movement in printing head 32.Movement of belts 22 by the forward and reverse motors is also controlled by control unit 38 in conjunction with drive motor 34 to provide proper timing and move-ment o~ sheet 12 and printing head 32. Control unit 38is also adapted to be connected to a scanning device generally of the type shown in Paranjpe et al, U. S.
patent No. 4,112,469 but modified to have bidirectional motion of the scanning mirror. Scanning of a document to be copied may be coupled with simultaneous printing of the information scanned as taught in the above mentioned Paranjpe et al patent.
It will be appreciated that the resolution obtained in the printed copy is a function of the size of the ink drops and the inter-drop spacing on the print medium. A number of different approaches have been taken to increase the resolution obtainable. For e,xample, multiple rows of jets may be,used in the printing head with each row servicing print lines on the
2~ print medium which interlace with the print lines ~çrviced by a dif~e~ent row of jets. In another a,pproach, j~tS may be spaced apart bY substantial dis-tan~es and the print medium repeatedly passed under the pri~ting head. After a sufficient number of passes 2~ ~with the printing head being advanc'ed a preset distance ~ter ea~h pass), each jet will have serviced a number of p~int lines on the print medium suEficient to form a ~and of a width equal to the inter-jet spacing. Such an ~rrangement is shown in a rotary drum ~opier environ-~Q ~ent by Cahill et al, U. S. patent No. 3,689,693.
Paranjpe et al, U. S, patent No. 4,112,469,uses an interlace printing nlethod using one or more jet arrays movin~ axially along a rotating drum upon which a aopy sheet is attached. In an array having _ nozzles ~5 spaced k resolution elements apart, the nozzle array is advanced axially by n resolution elements during each 1~ ~9~8 revolution of the drum. The numbers n and k are chosen so that they have no prime factors in common greater than unity. Rotation of the drum an~ axial movement of the array result in an interlace pattern of print lines which are slightly inclined with respect to the copy paper. Other interlace printing schemes ~ave also been used in a rotary drum copier environment. Among them are commonly assigned U.S. Patent No. 4,131,898 issued December 26, 1978, and U.S. Patent No. 4,198,642 issued April 15, 1980, both to Gamblin. Any of the above printing schemes may be readily modified to operate in the conveyor belt system of the present invention. The particular printing scheme chosen will depend upon the type of printed matter on documents to be copied and the desired resolution to be obtained.
While the apparatus and methods described herein constitute preferred embodiments of the inven-tion, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus and methods, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.
Paranjpe et al, U. S, patent No. 4,112,469,uses an interlace printing nlethod using one or more jet arrays movin~ axially along a rotating drum upon which a aopy sheet is attached. In an array having _ nozzles ~5 spaced k resolution elements apart, the nozzle array is advanced axially by n resolution elements during each 1~ ~9~8 revolution of the drum. The numbers n and k are chosen so that they have no prime factors in common greater than unity. Rotation of the drum an~ axial movement of the array result in an interlace pattern of print lines which are slightly inclined with respect to the copy paper. Other interlace printing schemes ~ave also been used in a rotary drum copier environment. Among them are commonly assigned U.S. Patent No. 4,131,898 issued December 26, 1978, and U.S. Patent No. 4,198,642 issued April 15, 1980, both to Gamblin. Any of the above printing schemes may be readily modified to operate in the conveyor belt system of the present invention. The particular printing scheme chosen will depend upon the type of printed matter on documents to be copied and the desired resolution to be obtained.
While the apparatus and methods described herein constitute preferred embodiments of the inven-tion, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus and methods, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims (9)
1. Printing media handling system for jet drop printing apparatus for copying or duplicating comprising:
flat support means for supporting a sheet to be printed, paper feeding means for feeding said sheet to said flat support means, rotary drive means for driving said flat support means in both a forward and reverse direction, a printing head positioned above said flat support means and including an orifice plate provided with a series of orifices defining an array of jet printing nozzles for generating an array of parallel jets to print a series of tracks of image information on said sheet on said flat support means, advancing means for advancing said printing head in a direction generally transverse to the direc-tion of movement of said flat support means, and a paper receiving means for receiving said sheet from said flat support means after completion of printing thereon.
flat support means for supporting a sheet to be printed, paper feeding means for feeding said sheet to said flat support means, rotary drive means for driving said flat support means in both a forward and reverse direction, a printing head positioned above said flat support means and including an orifice plate provided with a series of orifices defining an array of jet printing nozzles for generating an array of parallel jets to print a series of tracks of image information on said sheet on said flat support means, advancing means for advancing said printing head in a direction generally transverse to the direc-tion of movement of said flat support means, and a paper receiving means for receiving said sheet from said flat support means after completion of printing thereon.
2. The system of claim 1 where said flat support means comprises a porous endless conveyor belt.
3. The system of claim 2 including a vacuum plenum chamber positioned under the upper surface of said porous conveyor belt.
4. The system of claim 3 where said rotary drive means comprise two synchronous motors, one adapted to drive said conveyor belt in a forward direction and one adapted to drive said conveyor belt in a reverse direction.
5. The system of claim 3 including control means to control and coordinate the operation of said rotary drive means with said advancing means.
6. The system of claim 5 where said printing head prints a track of image information on said sheet for each pass of said sheet under said print head.
7. The system of claim 6 where the frequency of repetitive movement of said sheet past said printing head is so related to the speed of advance of said printing head by said advancing means that successive sets of printed tracks are shifted by a distance equal to the width of one of said tracks multiplied by the number of nozzles in said printing head.
8. The system of claim 1 where said advancing means advances said printing head in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said flat support means.
9. A paper handling system for a jet drop printing apparatus for copying or duplicating comprising:
a flat, porous, endless conveyor belt having a vacuum plenum chamber positioned thereunder for supporting a sheet of paper to be printed, paper feeding means for feeding said sheet to said conveyor belt, two synchronous motors connected to said conveyor belt, one adapted to drive said conveyor belt in a forward direction and one adapted to drive said conveyor belt in a reverse direction, a printing head positioned above said conveyor belt and including an orifice plate provided with a series of orifices defining an array of jet printing nozzles for generating an array of parallel jets to print a series of tracks of image information on said sheet on said conveyor belt, a worm gear connected to said printing head and driven by a drive motor for advancing said printing head in a direction generally transverse to the direction of movement of said conveyor belt, paper receiving means for receiving said sheet from said conveyor belt after completion of printing thereon, and control means to control and coordinate the operation of said synchronous motors and the move-ment of said printing head, whereby said sheet is repetitively passed under said printing head and tracks of information are printed on each successive pass.
a flat, porous, endless conveyor belt having a vacuum plenum chamber positioned thereunder for supporting a sheet of paper to be printed, paper feeding means for feeding said sheet to said conveyor belt, two synchronous motors connected to said conveyor belt, one adapted to drive said conveyor belt in a forward direction and one adapted to drive said conveyor belt in a reverse direction, a printing head positioned above said conveyor belt and including an orifice plate provided with a series of orifices defining an array of jet printing nozzles for generating an array of parallel jets to print a series of tracks of image information on said sheet on said conveyor belt, a worm gear connected to said printing head and driven by a drive motor for advancing said printing head in a direction generally transverse to the direction of movement of said conveyor belt, paper receiving means for receiving said sheet from said conveyor belt after completion of printing thereon, and control means to control and coordinate the operation of said synchronous motors and the move-ment of said printing head, whereby said sheet is repetitively passed under said printing head and tracks of information are printed on each successive pass.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US06/001,716 US4207579A (en) | 1979-01-08 | 1979-01-08 | Reciprocating paper handling apparatus for use in an ink jet copier |
| US001,716 | 1987-01-09 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1129478A true CA1129478A (en) | 1982-08-10 |
Family
ID=21697464
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA341,289A Expired CA1129478A (en) | 1979-01-08 | 1979-12-05 | Reciprocating paper handling apparatus for use in an ink jet copier |
Country Status (8)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4207579A (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS55111264A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1129478A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3000466C2 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2445766A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2040818B (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1129051B (en) |
| NL (1) | NL7908927A (en) |
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| US4487645A (en) * | 1983-07-18 | 1984-12-11 | Weston Colin K | Sheet carrier for tractor-feed printers |
| EP0168592B1 (en) * | 1984-05-29 | 1988-08-03 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Device for reading and/or for printing on record carriers |
| JPH0811447B2 (en) * | 1986-03-20 | 1996-02-07 | キヤノン株式会社 | Image forming device |
| NL8601449A (en) * | 1986-06-05 | 1988-01-04 | Oce Nederland Bv | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING SHEETS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS. |
| US4878071A (en) * | 1988-03-11 | 1989-10-31 | Rastergraphics, Inc. | Paper transport and paper stabilizing system for a multicolor electrostatic plotter |
| DE68928318T2 (en) * | 1988-12-30 | 1998-02-19 | Canon Kk | Ink jet recording device |
| US5936651A (en) * | 1988-12-30 | 1999-08-10 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Recording medium conveying mechanism for image recording apparatus |
| US5280308A (en) * | 1989-02-23 | 1994-01-18 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding device |
| DE3907329A1 (en) * | 1989-03-03 | 1990-09-06 | Siemens Ag | DEVICE FOR TRANSPORTING RECORDING SHEETS IN AN INK PRINTER |
| US5237343A (en) * | 1989-03-24 | 1993-08-17 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet head substrate, ink jet head having same and manufacturing method for ink jet head |
| US5365256A (en) * | 1989-12-29 | 1994-11-15 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Recording apparatus with recording medium conveyance control for fixing recorded ink |
| US5003325A (en) * | 1990-01-22 | 1991-03-26 | Rastergraphics, Inc. | Electric field paper stabilizing system for an electrographic plotter, printer or the like |
| CA2112792A1 (en) * | 1993-01-29 | 1994-07-30 | Donald F. Rogowski | Paper surface roughness analyzer |
| US5668581A (en) * | 1993-10-27 | 1997-09-16 | Mita Industrial Co., Ltd. | Ink jet printing apparatus |
| JPH08156353A (en) * | 1994-10-07 | 1996-06-18 | Canon Inc | Printing apparatus |
| DE19508180C2 (en) * | 1995-03-09 | 1998-10-01 | Siemens Ag | Device for printing markings on flat mail items with suction belt transport |
| US5526028A (en) * | 1995-05-26 | 1996-06-11 | Xerox Corporation | Liquid ink printer transport belt cleaner |
| WO1997009253A1 (en) * | 1995-09-08 | 1997-03-13 | Cutting Edge, Inc. | Reduced vacuum hold down system |
| US5992994A (en) * | 1996-01-31 | 1999-11-30 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Large inkjet print swath media support system |
| US5745887A (en) * | 1996-08-23 | 1998-04-28 | Pitney Bowes Inc. | Method and apparatus for remotely changing security features of a postage meter |
| US6168269B1 (en) | 1997-01-30 | 2001-01-02 | Hewlett-Packard Co. | Heated inkjet print media support system |
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| JPH11192720A (en) * | 1998-01-05 | 1999-07-21 | Seiko Epson Corp | Ink jet recorder, ink filling method, and ink supplying method |
| EP0955174A3 (en) * | 1998-05-07 | 1999-11-24 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Bi-directional printing with controlled hue shifts |
| JP2000062259A (en) * | 1998-08-19 | 2000-02-29 | Ricoh Co Ltd | Ink-jet recording apparatus |
| US6318854B1 (en) | 1998-09-29 | 2001-11-20 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Inkjet printing media handling system with advancing guide shim |
| US6139140A (en) * | 1998-09-29 | 2000-10-31 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Inkjet printing apparatus with media handling system providing small bottom margin capability |
| US6179419B1 (en) | 1998-09-29 | 2001-01-30 | Hewlett-Packard | Belt driven media handling system with feedback control for improving media advance accuracy |
| US6508529B2 (en) | 1998-09-29 | 2003-01-21 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Inkjet printing media handling system and method for reducing cockle growth |
| US6394596B1 (en) | 1999-10-05 | 2002-05-28 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Belt-type media support for a printer |
| US6273550B1 (en) | 2000-02-23 | 2001-08-14 | Mutoh Industries Inc. | Inkjet printer capable of minimizing chromatic variation in adjacent print swaths when printing color images in bidirectional mode |
| US6254092B1 (en) * | 2000-04-17 | 2001-07-03 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Controlling vacuum flow for ink-jet hard copy apparatus |
| JP2002103598A (en) * | 2000-07-26 | 2002-04-09 | Olympus Optical Co Ltd | Printer |
| US6349647B1 (en) | 2000-09-11 | 2002-02-26 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Apparatus and method for drying printing composition on a print medium |
| US7216968B2 (en) * | 2003-05-24 | 2007-05-15 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Media electrostatic hold down and conductive heating assembly |
| US6997549B2 (en) * | 2004-02-26 | 2006-02-14 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Media hold down system |
| JP6321498B2 (en) * | 2014-09-10 | 2018-05-09 | キヤノンファインテックニスカ株式会社 | Sheet transport device |
| EP3207426B1 (en) * | 2014-10-15 | 2019-10-09 | OCE-Technologies B.V. | Printing apparatus with aligning anchor and substrate handling method |
| CN104555505A (en) * | 2014-12-02 | 2015-04-29 | 河北海贺胜利印刷机械集团有限公司 | Movable locating and conveying device |
| FR3062340B1 (en) * | 2017-01-31 | 2020-10-23 | Mgi Digital Tech | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR TRANSPORTING SUBSTRATES IN A PRINTING MACHINE |
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| US2242268A (en) * | 1939-01-09 | 1941-05-20 | Katherine M Sherman | Typewriter attachment |
| US2816160A (en) * | 1954-07-02 | 1957-12-10 | Charles J Young | Continuous feed facsimile scanners with endless belt suction type drive |
| US3562761A (en) * | 1968-12-23 | 1971-02-09 | Dick Co Ab | Drop phasing in ink drop writing apparatus |
| US3698706A (en) * | 1971-02-24 | 1972-10-17 | Scm Corp | Electrostatic printer |
| US3703628A (en) * | 1971-03-29 | 1972-11-21 | Recognition Equipment Inc | System for document coding and identification |
| CH562462A5 (en) * | 1974-02-11 | 1975-05-30 | Wifo Forschungsinst Ag | |
| JPS512496U (en) * | 1974-06-20 | 1976-01-09 | ||
| JPS5234234U (en) * | 1975-09-02 | 1977-03-10 | ||
| US4063254A (en) * | 1976-06-28 | 1977-12-13 | International Business Machines Corporation | Multiple array printer |
| US4106061A (en) * | 1977-03-03 | 1978-08-08 | The Mead Corporation | Density control for ink jet copier |
| US4112469A (en) * | 1977-04-21 | 1978-09-05 | The Mead Corporation | Jet drop copying apparatus |
| JPS53144734A (en) * | 1977-05-24 | 1978-12-16 | Ricoh Co Ltd | Copying machine |
-
1979
- 1979-01-08 US US06/001,716 patent/US4207579A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1979-12-05 CA CA341,289A patent/CA1129478A/en not_active Expired
- 1979-12-12 NL NL7908927A patent/NL7908927A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
-
1980
- 1980-01-07 IT IT67015/80A patent/IT1129051B/en active
- 1980-01-07 GB GB8000372A patent/GB2040818B/en not_active Expired
- 1980-01-07 FR FR8000224A patent/FR2445766A1/en active Granted
- 1980-01-08 JP JP82780A patent/JPS55111264A/en active Pending
- 1980-01-08 DE DE3000466A patent/DE3000466C2/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| US4207579A (en) | 1980-06-10 |
| IT8067015A0 (en) | 1980-01-07 |
| FR2445766B1 (en) | 1984-01-13 |
| NL7908927A (en) | 1980-07-10 |
| DE3000466A1 (en) | 1980-07-24 |
| FR2445766A1 (en) | 1980-08-01 |
| GB2040818B (en) | 1983-05-05 |
| JPS55111264A (en) | 1980-08-27 |
| DE3000466C2 (en) | 1983-09-01 |
| GB2040818A (en) | 1980-09-03 |
| IT1129051B (en) | 1986-06-04 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| MKEX | Expiry |