Lexmark International, Inc.

Christopher Patrick Murphy

Edmund Hulin James, Iii

Michael Clark Campbell

Thomas Eugene Pangburn

David Kyle Murray

Jerry Wesley Raider

Michael Shayne Wilson

Kurt Matthew Korfhage

Christopher Keith Caspar

Terry Lee King

Nolan Francis Luckett

A maintenance unit for use in an ink jet printer includes a maintenance frame coupled to a printer frame, a maintenance sled moveably coupled to the maintenance frame and a spreader mechanism coupled to the maintenance sled, wherein the spreader mechanism disperses waste ink over a waste ink accumulation region as the maintenance sled moves relative to the maintenance frame.

Apparatus for increasing waste ink accumulation capacity in an ink jet

Printer (1) has a large paper support tray (7) on one side, which is rotated outward to feed continuous forms (9). The length of tray 7 is extended by moving outward extension 7a. Tray 7 is folded into printer 1 when not in use.

Integrated long sheet feeder

Each sheet of a stack of media is aligned with a fixed alignment surface prior to being fed towards a process station of a printer by a single pick roll. During the first portion of its cycle of operation, the sheet advancing force of the pick roll, which is offset from the axis or centerline of the sheet, exerts a torque on at least the uppermost sheet of the stack to have one of its sides engage the alignment surface if it is skewed. When the one side of the sheet is not engaging the alignment surface when the pick roll is initially energized, the uppermost sheet's leading edge engages a resilient projection of an insert of a rib, which is offset from the axis of the sheet but farther from the alignment surface than the pick roll. The skewed sheet pivots about the projection, which is formed of a high coefficient of friction material, extending beyond the surface of the rib. During the remainder of its energization, the pick roll advances the sheet towards the process station of the printer.

Sheet aligning apparatus

Disclosed is a replaceable media guide for use with a sheet feeding mechanism. The media guide includes a support plate, an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from the support plate, and a first sheet engaging friction pad engaged with the support plate. The guide is designed so that the first friction pad faces a friction roller of a sheet feeding mechanism when the guide is mounted on the sheet feeding mechanism. A sheet feeding apparatus is also provided in which the media guide is inserted into the sheet feeding mechanism.

Specialty media feed guide and sheet feeding apparatus using same

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Lexington, KY, United States of America

Christopher Patrick Murphy