Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Hewlett-packard Corporation

Angela S Chen

Geoff Wotton

Steve Orrin Rasmussen

John D Rhodes

Robert M Yraceburu

Stephen G Brown

Steven P Downing

Michael S Millman

Dean A Gaylor

Paul M O'Brien

Michael K Bowen

Michael W Munro

Richard Olson

Heat is uniformly conducted to print media in an ink-jet printer in conjunction with the uniform application of vacuum pressure to the media for supporting the media as it is conveyed on a heated belt through the printer. The heat is applied to the media by conduction, in a manner that does not overheat the print head of the printer nor interfere with the trajectory of the droplets expelled from the print head. The heat is applied to the media in the print zone as well as regions on either side of the print zone where the media enters and exits the print zone. The amount of heat applied to each of these regions is independently controlled, and can be related to the physical characteristics of the particular type of print media or inks that are used.

Conductive heating of print media

An apparatus and method for delivery of sheet media to a printer includes a chassis, a drive motor, a media tray with elevatable pressure plate, a plurality of pick rollers situated opposite movable pinch rollers that come into contact with the pick rollers to form a roller assembly therebetween when in an extended position. A movable separator forms a throat between one of the pick rollers and the leading edge of the separator when it is in an extended position. A common transmission is used to simultaneously position the pinch rollers, separator, and the pressure plate. The apparatus also includes a media retarder for preventing multiple sheets of media from advancing through the apparatus at the same time. The method includes delaying the rotation of the pick rollers until a stack of media has been raised to press against the pick rollers, and the pinch rollers and separator are in an extended position. The pinch rollers and separator are retracted, and the transmission is disengaged from the pick rollers once the media sheet is delivered to a printer feed system.

Apparatus and method for delivery of sheet media to a printer

A mechanism for manifolding a vacuum force to separate surface sectors of a vacuum holddown uses subsurface ducting to apply the vacuum to separate subsurface vacuum plenums wherein each is fluidically coupled to a separate surface sectors. The plenum is segregated by a diaphragm into surface side and vacuum side cavities. Trigger ports and appropriate ducting through the holddown subjacent the surface associated with each sector determine how the vacuum is routed. Only when a trigger port is covered is the vacuum routed to the surface sector associated therewith. The system can be implemented in planar or curvilinear constructs and be provided with features to accommodate a near-continuous range of flexible material sizes. A specific implementation in an ink-jet hard copy apparatus is also described.

Vacuum control for vacuum holddown

The present invention addresses the problem of paper cockle by stretching the paper as it progresses along the paper path through the wet colorant printing station of a hard copy apparatus. The hard copy apparatus uses a paper feed belt system as a paper platen in which the belt or set of belts is splayed along the paper path. Firmly adhering a sheet of print media to the belt, or belts, system, such as by use of a vacuum force, as it travels through the apparatus printing zone, stretches the media orthogonally and particularly in an orientation perpendicular to the paper path.

Method and apparatus for cockle reduction in print media

A platen surface structure construct, particularly useful in a hard copy apparatus for a vacuum holddown, is configured by dimensioning print media platen surface structure channels and ports in order to ensure print media leading edge and trailing edge holddown. Moreover, the vacuum is distributed across the platen surface in accordance with predetermined dye flow characteristics based upon known dye composition and known print medium composition and such that print artifacts are not created by vacuum pulling wet dye through the capillaries of the medium.

Vacuum surface for wet dye hard copy apparatus

Wet colorant hard copy apparatus media handling to reduce cockle

Auxiliary sheet feeder for an inkjet printer

Inkjet printer with an auxiliary sheet feeder

Growing community of inventors

Portland, OR, United States of America

Angela S Chen