Resistive media size sensing system
First Claim
1. A media size sensing system for determining the size of media supplied to an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:
- a power supply;
a media input member that receives media supplied to the inkjet printing mechanism, with the media having an edge orthogonal to a dimension of the media, wherein the media input member has a contact surface area with a longitudinal axis, with the contact surface area comprising plural mutually parallel ridges which intersect the longitudinal axis;
an energized strip supported by the media input member and coupled between the power supply and an electrically neutral ground potential, wherein the energized strip is supported by the contact surface area to extend along the longitudinal axis and over the plural ridges;
a size adjuster slideably mounted to the media input member to contact the edge of media received by the input member;
a sliding conductor supported by the size adjuster and electrically coupled to the energized strip at a location which varies a resistance of the energized strip according to the magnitude of said dimension of media received by the input member, wherein the sliding conductor comprises a finger member biased into contact with the energized strip and biased to engage at least one of the plural ridges to secure the size adjuster against the media edge; and
a controller coupled to the sliding conductor to determine said dimension of the media in response to the resistance of the energized strip when the size adjuster contacts the media edge.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A resistive sensing system is provided for determining the size of print media which has been loaded into an input member inkjet printing mechanism for printing. The media is typically has length and width dimensions, and the printing mechanism has sliding length and width size adjusters which are pushed into contact with the media edges to secure the media in the input member for printing. The length and width size adjusters each have sliding contacts which engage an energized conductive strip at a location corresponding to the position of the size adjusters. The printing mechanism has a controller that interprets an electrical signal received from the sliding contacts to determine what size of media is loaded in the printing mechanism. An inkjet printing mechanism having such a resistive media size sensing system is also provided, along with a method of determining the size of media loaded into the printing mechanism.
57 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A media size sensing system for determining the size of media supplied to an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:
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a power supply; a media input member that receives media supplied to the inkjet printing mechanism, with the media having an edge orthogonal to a dimension of the media, wherein the media input member has a contact surface area with a longitudinal axis, with the contact surface area comprising plural mutually parallel ridges which intersect the longitudinal axis; an energized strip supported by the media input member and coupled between the power supply and an electrically neutral ground potential, wherein the energized strip is supported by the contact surface area to extend along the longitudinal axis and over the plural ridges; a size adjuster slideably mounted to the media input member to contact the edge of media received by the input member; a sliding conductor supported by the size adjuster and electrically coupled to the energized strip at a location which varies a resistance of the energized strip according to the magnitude of said dimension of media received by the input member, wherein the sliding conductor comprises a finger member biased into contact with the energized strip and biased to engage at least one of the plural ridges to secure the size adjuster against the media edge; and a controller coupled to the sliding conductor to determine said dimension of the media in response to the resistance of the energized strip when the size adjuster contacts the media edge. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of determining the size of media loaded into an input member of an inkjet printing mechanism, with the media having a first dimension and a first edge orthogonal thereto, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing the media input member with a contact surface area having a longitudinal axis, with the contact surface area comprising plural mutually parallel ridges which intersect the longitudinal axis; energizing a strip of a conductive material supported by the input member, and supporting the energized strip with the contact surface area to extend along the longitudinal axis and over the plural ridges; monitoring an electrical value set by the location of a size adjuster contacting the first edge of media loaded into the input member, with the size adjuster being slideably supported by the input member, with the size adjuster comprising a sliding conductor in electrical contact with the energized strip, and with said electrical value being dependent upon the location of the sliding conductor along the energized strip, wherein the sliding conductor comprises a finger member biased into contact with the energized strip and biased to engage at least one of the plural ridges to secure the size adjuster against the media edge; correlating the monitored electrical value with a dimension value selected from a group of known electrical values each corresponding to a media dimension; and issuing an output signal indicative of the correlated dimension value selected for the media first dimension. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An inkjet printing mechanism for printing on media, comprising:
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a media input member that receives media having an edge orthogonal to a dimension of the media, wherein the media input member has a contact surface area with a longitudinal axis, with the contact surface area comprising plural mutually parallel ridges which intersect the longitudinal axis; a media handling system that delivers media from the media input member to a printzone; an inkjet printhead that selectively ejects ink to print on media in the printzone; a power supply; an energized strip supported by the media input member and coupled between the power supply and an electrically neutral ground potential, wherein the energized strip is supported by the contact surface area to extend along the longitudinal axis and over the plural ridges; a size adjuster slideably mounted to the media input member to contact the edge of media received by the input member; a sliding conductor supported by the size adjuster and electrically coupled to the energized strip at a location which varies a resistance of the energized strip according to the magnitude of said dimension of media received by the input member, wherein the sliding conductor comprises a finger member biased into contact with the energized strip and biased to engage at least one of the plural ridges to secure the size adjuster against the media edge; and a controller coupled to the sliding conductor to determine said dimension of the media in response to the resistance of the energized strip when the size adjuster contacts the media edge. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification