Xerox Corporation

Aaron T Nelson

Brent Rodney Jones

Keng Leong Ng

Yin Mei Sia

Joshua King Hoyt

Scott J Korn

Thomas R Edney

Wai Ki Kong

Ng Boon Hang

Yin Mei (Regina) Sia

Alan Boo Keng Aik

Sheau Ming Ng

Boon Hang Ng

A device for tensioning a flexible drive member includes a pair of opposing contact elements adapted to simultaneously engage upper and lower spans of the flexible drive member. The device further includes a connecting member to draw the contact elements together and position the contact elements at a selected distance from each other to provide a predetermined tension to the flexible drive member. The tensioning device may be implemented in a print substrate transport subsystem adapted to move media through a print system.

Simplified and adaptable flexible drive tensioner

An upper piggybacked unit of a tandem unit is provided with a hinge unit and at least one motion lock to prevent the upper unit from falling away from the lower unit when it is tandemly coupled to the lower unit and the lower unit is pivoted to a non-horizontal position. The motion lock may inhibit rotation and/or translation of the upper unit. The motion lock may also be self-actuating, such as a gravity dependent lock mechanism. A lock override mechanism may be provided to allow the lock to yield to excessive force without causing damage. The lock enable condition may be automatically reset after the override condition so that no special knowledge or action on the part of the user is required to return the hinge to normal operation. The motion locks are particularly useful when provided on a reprographic device, such as a copier, facsimile, printer or malfunction device having an upper unit that forms a sheet feeder unit, a lower unit that forms a scan housing, and a fixed base below the lower unit that may contain a marking engine.

Hinge with tandem pivot structure motion lock and override

A media path control device has two sets of parallel arms with opposing rollers to manipulate the movement of print media. The arms are moveable in a substantially vertical plane through motors. The arms can be of different lengths to establish an optimal trajectory or height of the media to change the trajectory or travel path of the media. The rollers are reversible to change the trajectory or travel path of the media. Rotation of the arms may be stopped at various points along their travel arc to position the media at a desired or plane.

Media path direction control device and method of reversing a media path

Module components are packaged individually and delivered in a non-integrated state. These separate modules may be assembled readily without the use of specialized tools. A preferred configuration is a solid ink printer base module and a second module mounted to the base module through a quick coupling, quick release mechanism. The coupling mechanism may include a hinge and a self-actuating catch. A module coupling system with complementary parts on each module comprises: a first module having a coupling housing and a catch engagement surface, and a second module having a physical, three-dimensional guide surface, a biased retractable catch, a catch decoupling device, and a catch reset mechanism.

Low effort, high reliability quick coupling mechanism

Growing community of inventors

West Linn, OR, United States of America

Aaron T Nelson