WIPING PRINT MEDIA

• US 20180104970A1
• Filed: 07/20/2015
• Published: 04/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Jorba Closa, Joan Albert, Casanova, David, Flotats Villagrasa, Carles
• Granted Patent: US 10,787,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0015 for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing selective coating B41J2/2114
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/17 Cleaning arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/38 Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism

Abstract

An example printing apparatus is described comprising a wiping element before the print zone, for slipping in contact with a print medium and wiping a printing surface of the print medium. An implementation of a wiping roller for wiping the printing surface of a print medium may comprise a rigid core, a layer of elastic material and a driving pinion. An example method for printing is also described, comprising spreading over a larger print medium area, by wiping, amounts of a substance that may migrate through a print medium and that is present on the printing surface of a print medium, before printing on the print medium.

Claims

1. A printing apparatus comprising a print zone and a wiping element before the print zone, in a direction of print media advance through the apparatus, for slipping in contact with a print medium and wiping a printing surface of the print medium.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wiping element is a wiping roller.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the wiping roller comprises a layer of elastic material.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the wiping roller comprises a sheath of textile material covering the layer of elastic material.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the elastic material is foam rubber.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the maximum compressibility of the layer of elastic material is at least of 50%.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, comprising a motor to drive the wiping roller in rotation.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the wiping roller comprises a driving pinion and the apparatus comprises a transmission between the motor and the driving pinion of the wiping roller.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wiping element is stationary in the apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wiping element has a wiping surface having a dynamic friction coefficient, with vinyl print media, below 0.7.

11. A wiping roller for wiping the printing surface of a print medium in a printing apparatus, wherein the wiping roller comprises a rigid core, a layer of elastic material attached to an outer surface of the rigid core, and a driving pinion.

12. A method for printing, comprising spreading over a larger print medium area, by wiping, amounts of a substance that may migrate through a print medium and that is present on the printing surface of a print medium, before printing on the print medium.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein wiping is performed with a wiping roller slipping in contact with the printing surface of the medium.

14. The method of claim 13 comprising rotating the wiping roller with an angular speed such that the relative tangential speed of the surface of the wiping roller with respect to the printing surface of the print medium is between about 2 in/s and about 5 in/s (between about 50.8 mm/s and about 127 mm/s).

15. The method of claim 13, wherein during wiping a tension of the print medium maintains contact between the wiping roller and a printing surface of the print medium.