Printers and printing

• US 20070084371A1
• Filed: 10/13/2005
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Rosen, Yossi, Genkin, Vadim, Nagler, Sharon, Lewinz, Lior, Yushtein, Haim
• Granted Patent: US 7,644,658 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 101/415.100
• CPC Class Codes: B41F 27/1231 by translatory motion substantially tangential to support surface
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/10 using a liquid developer
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/166 with means for conditioning the holding member, e.g. cleaning

Abstract

A blanket fastening assembly for securing an image transfer blanket to an intermediate transfer member drum of an electrostatic printer comprising a resilient biasing arrangement adapted to be connected to an end of the blanket to act in use so as to resiliently tension the blanket, with at least one end portion of the blanket being held in use by a resilient biasing clamping member which is adapted to move during the operational life of the drum so as to accommodate stretching of the blanket whilst maintaining tension in the blanket.

Claims

1. A blanket fastening assembly for securing an image transfer blanket to an intermediate transfer member drum of an electrostatic printer, the fastening assembly comprises a resilient biasing arrangement adapted to be connected to an end of the blanket to act in use so as to resiliently tension the blanket, with at least one end portion of the blanket being held in use by a resiliently biasing clamping member which is adapted to move during the operational life of the drum so as to accommodate stretching of the blanket whilst maintaining tension in the blanket.

2. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the blanket comprises an electrically conductive layer which is adapted to be held at a required electrical potential.

3. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the resilient biasing arrangement comprises a slidably mounted carriage which is adapted to locate one end of the blanket.

4. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which the biasing arrangement comprises at least one spring which, in use, bears against the carriage.

5. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 which comprises a fixedly mounted member which, in use, is adapted to locate one end of the blanket in a substantially fixed position relative to the intermediate transfer member drum, and a slideably mounted member which is connected to a resilient assembly, and the slideably mounted member is adapted to move the other end of the blanket so as to tension the blanket resiliently.

6. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 which is in the form of a replaceable unit which is adapted to be replaceably attached to the intermediate transfer member drum, wherein the assembly has a generally oblong envelope adapted to fit into an axial channel of the drum.

7. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 which comprises an electrical biasing connector which, in use, is adapted to electrically connect to an electrically conductive portion of the blanket.

8. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 which comprises a clamp arrangement which, in use, is adapted to clamp an end of the blanket to the assembly.

9. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 8 in which the clamp arrangement comprises a toothed portion which, in a clamped condition, is adapted to bite into the blanket.

10. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 9 in which the toothed portion is adapted, in use, to make electrical contact with an electrically conductive portion of the blanket.

11. A blanket fastening assembly as claimed in claim 1 which comprises a tension adjustment arrangement which allows a user to adjust the resilient biasing arrangement so as to set an initial tension applied to the blanket.

12. A blanket fastening assembly according to claim 1 further comprising a de-tensioning arrangement which, in use, acts on the resilient biasing arrangement against the action of a circumferential tensioning spring so as to reduce the tension to which the blanket is subjected.

13. A printer comprising imaging apparatus adapted to generate an ink image to be transferred to a substrate, the imaging apparatus comprising a blanket-mounting drum around which an image transfer blanket is removably secured, the blanket being adapted to receive an ink image for subsequent transfer therefrom, wherein the blanket is secured to the blanket mounting drum by a blanket fastening assembly comprising a spring-biased connector which is adapted to be connected to an end of the blanket so as to tension the blanket circumferentially of the blanket mounting drum.

14. An image transfer blanket for a printer comprising an image transfer surface adapted to receive and release an ink image, an electrically biasing layer adapted to cause the blanket in use to have an electrical potential, a first end region and a second, spaced, end region, the blanket being adapted to be wrapped around a drum in use with the first and second end regions generally adjacent each other, wherein at least one of the end regions has at least one of:

(i) apertures adapted to locate around projections of the drum and to control the positioning of the blanket on the drum;

(ii) a blanket clamping strip attached to said end portion and adapted to be releasably engaged by blanket clamping strip fixing formations on the drum;

(iii) a blanket clamping strip attached to said end portion and adapted to be releasably engaged by blanket clamping strip fixing formations on the drum, and said strip having teeth which extend through the blanket to the electrically biasing layer and which are electrically conductively coupled to the electrically biasing layer.