Card cleaning roller assembly

• US 6,582,141 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2001
• Issued: 06/24/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Assa Abloy AB
• Original Assignee: Fargo Electronics Inc. (Assa Abloy AB)
• Inventors: OʼMara, Neil E., Meier, James R.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, ANTHONY H
• Application Number:
  US10/025,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20020106229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 553 Days
• Field of Search: 101/425, 101/424, 101/423, 400/701, 152/565, 152/565.1, 152/565.2
• US Class Current: 400/701
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/17 Cleaning arrangements

Abstract

A card printer is provided with a cleaning roller that will pick up debris on the surface of a card on which printing is to take place. The cleaning roller has a sticky surface, that is engagement with a band of adhesive tape that moves to contact the surface of the cleaning roller and remove debris that is on the cleaning roller surface. The tape is preferably formed in an endless band mounted on a pair of rollers that are in a common housing with the cleaning roller. The housing is removably mounted in the printer, and can be opened for replacement of the band of tape.

Claims

1. A cleaning roller assembly cartridge for a printer that feeds a substrate into the printer, comprising a cartridge housing, a cleaning roller rotatably mounted at one end of the cartridge housing about a roller axis for engaging a surface of the substrate to be printed, said cleaning roller having a surface onto which particles will adhere, a pair of spaced film support rollers rotatably supported on the cartridge housing on axes parallel to the roller axis, an endless band of a film having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface mounted on the film support rollers engaging the cleaning roller at a location spaced from a region of engagement of the cleaning roller and the substrate, said film being driven by the cleaning roller and operating to remove debris on the surface of the cleaning roller, and laterally extending studs on the cartridge housing for engaging support members on a printer for removably mounting the cartridge housing on the printer to position the film in contact with the cleaning roller.

2. The cleaning roller assembly of claim 1, wherein said endless band has a lateral width greater than the width of a substrate that is being fed into the printer.

3. A cleaning roller assembly for a printer that feeds a substrate into the printer, comprising a housing, a cleaning roller supported in the housing for engaging a surface of the substrate to be printed, said cleaning roller having a surface onto which particles will adhere, a pair of spaced idler rollers supported in the housing, a band of film mounted over the idler rollers, the film having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface engaging the cleaning roller at a location spaced from a region of engagement of the cleaning roller and the substrate, said film being driven by the cleaning roller to move around the idler rollers, and operating to remove debris on the surface of the cleaning roller, wherein said housing has sidewalls, a back wall and an open side, a cover for said open side movably mounted on the housing to provide access to the open side, said rollers all having shafts mounted on saddle shaped receptacles formed on the side walls of the housing, the cover having covering saddle portions that hold the shafts of the rollers in position when the cover is closed.

4. The cleaning roller assembly of claim 3 and a latch for holding said dust cover in position on the housing.

5. A cleaning roller assembly for a printer that feeds a substrate into the printer, comprising a housing, the housing having sidewalls with laterally extending guides, the guides being adapted to be removably received in support members on the printer to support the housing, a cleaning roller mounted in the housing for engaging a surface of the substrate to be printed when the guides are received in the support members, said cleaning roller having a surface onto which particles will adhere, a pair of spaced apart idler rollers mounted in the housing, and a band of film having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface mounted over the idler rollers, the film engaging the cleaning roller at a location spaced from a region of engagement of the cleaning roller and substrate, said film surface engaging the cleaning roller and being driven by the cleaning roller and operating to remove debris on the surface of the cleaning roller.

6. The cleaning roller assembly of claim 5, wherein the guides on the sidewalls are configured to be held by spring catches on the support members to removably hold the housing in a position wherein the cleaning roller will engage a surface of the substrate to be printed.

7. The cleaning roller assembly of claim 5, wherein the idler rollers have center shafts, and the housing has an openable cover, the idler rollers being mounted on shaft supports in the housing that are opened when the cover is opened to permit the idler rollers to be removed from the housing.

8. The cleaning roller assembly of claim 5, wherein the housing has an openable cover extending between the sidewalls to provide an opening between the sidewalls, said rollers all having shafts mounted on saddles formed on the sidewalls that are opened to permit removal of the rollers when the cover is opened, the cover having wall portions that cover the saddles to hold the shafts of the rollers in position when the cover is closed.

9. A cleaning roller assembly cartridge for a printer that feeds a substrate into the printer, comprising a cartridge housing, a cleaning roller rotatably mounted at one end of the cartridge housing about a roller axis for engaging a surface of the substrate to be printed, said cleaning roller having a surface onto which particles will adhere, a pair of spaced film support rollers rotatably supported on the cartridge housing on axes parallel to the roller axis, an endless band of a film having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface mounted on the film support rollers engaging the cleaning roller at a location spaced from a region of engagement of the cleaning roller and the substrate, said film being driven by the cleaning roller and operating to remove debris on the surface of the cleaning roller, and guides on the cartridge housing for mating with support members on a printer for removably mounting the cartridge housing on the printer, the support members including slots, and the guides on the cartridge housing engaging the slots, said film support rollers and said cleaning roller all have axes lying on a common plane.

10. A roller cleaner assembly for a printer having a frame, a card cleaning roller, the roller cleaner removing debris and lint from the outer surface of the card cleaning roller, a cartridge housing removably mounted on the frame, the frame and cartridge housing having co-operations guide members that interfit to position the cartridge housing in a working position on the frame, the card cleaning roller being rotatably mounted in the housing with a portion exposed for engaging a card, a pair of spaced support rollers mounted in the housing, an endless band of flexible film having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface mounted on the support rollers with the pressure sensitive adhesive surface facing outwardly, said card cleaning roller being supported in the cartridge housing in contact with the pressure sensitive adhesive surface, when the cartridge housing is in its working position, so that as said card cleaning roller rotates the endless band of film is driven by the outer surface of the card cleaning roller in a path defined by the support rollers.