Printer assembly
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A printer for producing color indicia on documents, said printer comprising:
- in-feed means for receiving a document to be printed;
means defining a curvilinear surface against which documents are supported during printing;
conveyor means for moving received documents over said curvilinear surface, said conveyor means defining a document transport path;
means establishing a pressure differential for holding documents on said conveyor means during movement thereof over said curvilinear surface;
printing means juxtapositioned to said curvilinear surface, said printing means defining a printing zone and comprising plural print heads having ink jets for printing color indicia with wax based ink, said ink jets facing said curvilinear surface whereby ink may be selectively applied to documents moving through said printing zone on said document transport path;
means for transferring received documents from said in-feed means to said conveyor means, said document transferring means including means for heating received documents before delivery thereof to said conveyor means; and
means for controlling the temperature of documents moving along said document transport path to insure that the document temperature is within a predetermined range during movement thereof through said printing zone.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hybrid printing system adds color accents to documents produced by high speed black on white printers using wax based inks. The color indicia is printed while the moving documents are supported against a curved surface and the documents are heated to an appropriate temperature for use of a wax based ink between black printing and color accent printing.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A printer for producing color indicia on documents, said printer comprising:
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in-feed means for receiving a document to be printed; means defining a curvilinear surface against which documents are supported during printing; conveyor means for moving received documents over said curvilinear surface, said conveyor means defining a document transport path; means establishing a pressure differential for holding documents on said conveyor means during movement thereof over said curvilinear surface; printing means juxtapositioned to said curvilinear surface, said printing means defining a printing zone and comprising plural print heads having ink jets for printing color indicia with wax based ink, said ink jets facing said curvilinear surface whereby ink may be selectively applied to documents moving through said printing zone on said document transport path; means for transferring received documents from said in-feed means to said conveyor means, said document transferring means including means for heating received documents before delivery thereof to said conveyor means; and means for controlling the temperature of documents moving along said document transport path to insure that the document temperature is within a predetermined range during movement thereof through said printing zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An aligner for edge justifying a moving document, said aligner comprising:
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platen means for defining a document support surface; edge guide means for defining a linear justifying edge, said edge guide means being juxtapositioned to said platen means and at least in part extending generally transversely with respect to said support surface; belt means for moving documents relative to said platen means, said belt means comprising at least a first movable belt which passes over said support surface, said belt means comprising at least a first movable belt oriented at an angle relative to said justifying edge, documents to be edge justified travelling over said support surface on said belt means; and means for establishing a pressure differential across documents located in registration with said platen means and moving with said belt means, said pressure differential urging the documents in the direction of said support surface but being insufficient to prevent document movement with said belt means whereby the documents will be carried by belt means into contact with said justifying edge and subsequently moved along said justifying edge. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. Apparatus for detecting relative motion between a document disposed on a printer conveyor having a moving transport surface and the conveyor transport surface, said apparatus comprising:
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encoder means for generating a first signal commensurate with the velocity of the conveyor transport surface; first detector means for generating a second signal when a document reaches a first position on the transport path defined by the printer conveyor; second detector means for generating a third signal when the said document reaches a second position on the transport path, said second position being a predetermined distance from said first position; means responsive to said second and third signals for generating a signal commensurate with document velocity; and printer controller means for comparing said signals commensurate with transport surface and document velocity and generating an error signal when the document velocity is less than the transport surface velocity by a predetermined magnitude, said error signal being indicative of relative motion between the document and the conveyor transport surface. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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40. Apparatus for tensioning a continuous web material on which indicia is to be printed, said apparatus comprising:
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a first roller, the web of material passing over said first roller and contacting a first surface thereof; means for capturing the type of material, said capturing means urging the web against said surface of said first roller, the web passing between said first roller and said capturing means; means for exerting a pulling force on the web at a point downstream, in the direction of web advancement, from said first roller; and means for imposing a retarding force to the web in opposition to said pulling force, said retarding force imposing means comprising hysteresis clutch means coupled to said roller, said clutch means resisting rotation of said roller in response to said pulling force whereby a preestablished tension is imparted to the web. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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43. An ink jet cleaning system for cleaning a printhead having a plurality of ink jets, said cleaning system comprising:
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a roller associated with each of said print heads, said rollers each having a roller surface and defining an axis of rotation, said rollers being rotatable in a single direction about said axes of rotation; and means for reciprocally driving said print heads along parallel paths angularly related to said document transport path from first positions displaced from associated of said rollers to second positions where said ink jets are in sealing contact with a said roller surface, said rollers being caused to at least partially rotate from ink jet contact, said driving means further moving said print heads to a third position displaced from said associated rollers, said driving means further moving said print heads past said roller surfaces in a direction which is opposite to said initial motion direction whereby said ink jets are wiped by said roller surfaces and said rollers do not rotate. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. Apparatus for separating documents from an arcuate transport path defined by a flexible belt conveyor, the transport path having a first radius of curvature, said apparatus comprising:
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means causing the belt conveyor to follow an arcuate path having a second radius of curvature which is much smaller than said first radius of curvature whereby a support surface for transported documents will suddenly move away from the document leaving the leading edge thereof unsupported; and means for engaging the unsupported leading edge of a document and transporting the thus engaged document on a new transport path. - View Dependent Claims (49)
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50. A method for printing color indicia on a preprinted document, said method comprising the steps of:
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heating said document to a temperature within a preestablished range; positioning said document on an curvilinear shaped surface; moving said document over said curvilinear shaped surface in a paper path direction; determining the velocity of said document; printing color indicia on said document with a wax based ink at a rate commensurate with said document velocity; and removing said document from said transport surface. - View Dependent Claims (51)
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52. A heating apparatus for heating a document prior to printing in a printer, said printer having a cabinet and a conveyor in said cabinet, said conveyor having a belt for moving said documents past print heads using a wax based ink for printing, said heating apparatus comprising:
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cabinet heaters for raising the ambient temperature of air in said printer; heated surface means for contacting said document prior to said printing; and conveyor heater means for heating said belt. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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Specification