Replaceable donor sheet assembly with memory for use with a thermal printer
First Claim
1. An assembly providing a supply of donor sheet for use in a printing operation and for replaceable use with a donor sheet cassette, said assembly comprising:
- a core having a tubular core body, which said core body extends along a longitudinal axis between a base end and a drive end, and which said core body also has a central opening extending along the longitudinal axis between said base end and said drive end;
a selected length of donor sheet wound about said core body;
said core body also having a plurality of drive elements, which said drive elements extend along and radially of the longitudinal axis, and are located within said central opening substantially at the drive end of said core body; and
a memory element mounted within said central opening of said core body and substantially at said drive end of said core body and inboard of said drive elements, said memory element having a data transfer face substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and facing said base end of said core body and a back face facing said drive end of said core body.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are the following: a wide format thermal printer for printing a multicolor graphic product on a printing sheet; a vacuum workbed for supporting a sheet material for performing work operations, such as cutting, printing or plotting, thereon; a replaceable donor sheet assembly, which includes a memory, for use with a thermal printer; methods and apparatus for improved thermal printing, including methods and apparatus for conserving donor sheet and reducing the amount of time required to print a multicolor graphic product; a thermal printhead including a memory; and methods and apparatus for the alignment of a sheet material for printing or performing other work operations on the sheet material. The wide format thermal printer can include provision for the automatic loading of cassettes of donor sheet from a cassette storage rack. The vacuum workbed can include provision for determining the size of the sheet material supported by the workbed, and for controlling the suction applied to the apertures in a worksurface of the workbed. Also disclosed are methods and apparatus for controlling the tension of the donor sheet during printing with a wide format thermal printer.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An assembly providing a supply of donor sheet for use in a printing operation and for replaceable use with a donor sheet cassette, said assembly comprising:
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a core having a tubular core body, which said core body extends along a longitudinal axis between a base end and a drive end, and which said core body also has a central opening extending along the longitudinal axis between said base end and said drive end;
a selected length of donor sheet wound about said core body;
said core body also having a plurality of drive elements, which said drive elements extend along and radially of the longitudinal axis, and are located within said central opening substantially at the drive end of said core body; and
a memory element mounted within said central opening of said core body and substantially at said drive end of said core body and inboard of said drive elements, said memory element having a data transfer face substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and facing said base end of said core body and a back face facing said drive end of said core body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An assembly for providing a supply of donor sheet for use with a wide format thermal printer for printing a multicolor graphic product onto a printing sheet in separate color planes, said assembly for replaceable insertion in a refillable donor sheet cassette, the cassette for replaceably mounting on a cassette receiving station mounted with a thermal printhead of the thermal printer, the cassette receiving station adapted for receiving the cassette such that a section of donor sheet is positioned under the thermal printhead and interposed between the printhead and the printing sheet when printing, said assembly comprising:
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a core having a tubular core body, which said body extends along a longitudinal axis between a base end and a drive end, and which said body core also has a central opening extending along the longitudinal axis between said base end and said drive end;
a selected length of donor sheet wound about said core body;
said core body also having a plurality of drive elements, which said drive elements extend along and radially of the longitudinal axis, and are located within said central opening substantially at the drive end of said core body; and
a memory element mounted within said central opening of said core body and substantially at said drive end of said core body and inboard of said drive elements, said memory element having a data transfer face substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and facing said base end of said core body and a back face facing said drive end of said core body.
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Specification