Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Hewlett-packard Company

David Claramunt

Carles Flotats

Jose M Rio Doval

Rodrigo Ruiz

Francesc Subirada

Xavier Gros

Antonio Monclus

Jesus Garcia

Ezequiel Jordi Rufes

Marc Jansa

Francisco Javier Rodriguez

Antonio Hinojosa

Francisco Guerrero

Francisco Javier Perez

Cristina Sabater

Joaquim Brugue

Jose Antonio Alvarez

Raimon Castells

Francisco-Javier Perez

Laura Sanchez-Domingo

Fernando Juan

Xavier Alonso

Lluis Hierro

Martin Urrutia

Xavier Soler

Emilio Carlos Cano

Jordi Gimenez

Eduardo Martin

Ventura Caamano

Pedro Luis Las Heras

Joaquim Veciana

Luis Hierro

Fancesc Subirada

Abel Marron

Albert Perez

Sergi Casas

Cristian Cachera

Marta Tua

Joan Alonso

In some examples, a first heating stage heats a print medium to a first temperature in a printing region when printing latex ink on the print medium, and a curing heating stage heats, in a curing zone, the print medium to a curing temperature greater than the first temperature to cure the latex ink on the print medium. A cooling stage located between the first and curing heating stages cools the print medium by directing a first part of airflow from the cooling stage to a printing zone, the cooling performed after the print medium has been heated by the first heating stage and prior to heating of the print medium by the curing heating stage. A second part of the airflow is directed from the cooling stage to the curing zone.

Printing onto a print medium

Systems and methods for printing are described. One example is a tension module for a printer including a throughput roller including a length to diameter ratio of at least 10:1 and a material on the surface thereof having a friction coefficient value less than 1. In addition, the module includes a plurality of pinch rollers arranged parallel to the throughput roller and, the pinch rollers supporting the throughput roller and providing a pressure on a print medium when passed along the throughput roller. Further, the module includes a motor to rotate the throughput roller. Still further, the module includes a tension lever including a plurality of stops, each of the stops being associated with one of a plurality of tension settings. Manipulation of the tension lever between two of the stops adjusts the pressure between the throughput roller and the pinch rollers on the print medium.

Tension module for wide format inkjet printers

A controller controls a first heating stage to heat a printing medium to a first temperature in a printing region when printing latex ink on the printing medium, and controls a second heating stage to heat the printing medium to a second temperature greater than the first temperature in a curing region to cure the latex ink on the medium. The controller controls a cooling stage located between the first and second heating stages to cool the printing medium after the printing medium has been heated by the first heating stage and prior to heating of the printing medium by the second heating stage.

Printing device and control method

A printing device and method for printing a latex ink on a printing medium is disclosed. The printing device comprises a heating stage for heating the medium at least during printing the latex ink on said medium, a further heating stage for curing the latex ink on the medium and a controller arrangement for individually controlling the heating stage and the further heating stage, whereby the controller arrangement is arranged to reduce the heat output of the heating stage during a non-printing mode of the printing device and to reduce the heat output of the further heating stage during a non-curing mode of the printing device.

Systems and methods for wide format ink printing are described. In one embodiment, a tension module for wide format inkjet printers is described which includes a throughput roller comprising a material having a length to diameter ratio of at least 10:1 and a friction coefficient value less than 1. The tension module further includes a plurality of pinch rollers adjacent to and supporting the throughput roller, and a motor operable to rotate the throughput roller. The plurality of pinch rollers and the rotation of the throughput roller in combination are operable to draw the print medium between the plurality of pinch rollers and the throughput roller.

A wet ink printer uses a heated printhead. A platen guides and supports the print medium during printing, and has a plurality of raised ribs. In an example, the ribs extend on the base generally along the advance direction of the print media. Each rib comprises a discontinuous series of rib portions, and wherein between each adjacent pair of ribs is provided a spacing to allow deformation of the print medium towards the platen base.

Printer with print head platen

The method comprises the steps of feeding media from a media roll, arranged about an axis, through an input driving device and an output driving device of the media advance mechanism, wherein the output driving device engages the media with lower friction than said input driving device; releasing said input driving device such that it does not engage the media; and causing the media to move in the media advance mechanism such that the media is pulled taut between the roll and the output driving device and later the media slips with respect to said output driving device, whereby the media is aligned at right angles to the roll axis by effect of the friction between the media and the output driving device.

Method for reducing media skew in a media advance mechanism

A printer device comprising a mechanism adapted to generate an image on an image surface, the device comprising a sensor adapted to image a predetermined optical object located substantially on the image surface, the device being adapted to determine at least one dimension of the object's image and thereby determine the distance separating the mechanism and the image surface.

Media-position sensor system

A medium feeding system for a hardcopy apparatus comprising: a revolving arrangement for supporting a roll of medium, the revolving arrangement comprising a friction ring, the friction ring rotating around a friction ring rotation axis; and a braking element comprising two pivotally arranged jaws, whereby the friction ring is bitten by said jaws; whereby the braking element is rotatable around the friction ring rotation axis; and means to push the jaws against the friction ring; and means to pull the jaws away from the friction ring; whereby the means to pull the jaws away from the friction ring are triggered by the rotation of the friction ring.

Method of feeding a medium and medium feeding system

A multicolor-printer has at least a first and a second print station, first and second optical sensors and a surface recordings comparator. The first and second print stations are arranged to print images on a surface of a moving recording medium. The first and second optical sensors view, at the first and second print stations, an area of the recording medium surface to obtain at least one first surface recording, in a manner related to the first print station's image printing, and second surface recordings, respectively. A storage is arranged to store the first surface recording. The surface recordings comparator is arranged to test, during the recording medium movement, for correspondence of second surface recordings with the stored first surface recording. The printer is arranged to repeatedly, within one image, register raster lines of the image of the second print station to corresponding raster lines of the image of the first print station in response to correspondences found between the first and second surface recordings.

Multicolor-printer and method of printing images

A method for image recognition. In the method, a section of an element is imaged while the element is at a first speed to obtain a first image pattern. The section of the element is also imaged while the element is at a second speed to obtain a second image pattern. The first speed differs from the second speed. In addition, the apparent speeds of the element in the first image pattern and the second image pattern are made to appear approximately the same.

Making the apparent speed of elements imaged at different speeds approximately the same for image recognition

A media-positioning sensor assembly in one embodiment of the invention is disclosed that includes a mechanism and a media-positioning sensor. The mechanism moves back and forth over media along a first axis. The media advances past the mechanism along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. The media-positioning sensor is situated on the mechanism and is to detect positioning of the media relative to the mechanism along at least one of the first axis and the second axis.

Dual-axis media-positioning sensor

A sensor system for detecting skew in print media along the feed path of a hardcopy device is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention the system is arranged to generate a first image of a portion of print media at a first position along the feed path and to generate a second image of the portion of print media at a second position along the feed path, the system is arranged to compare the first and second images and thereby detect a change in the angle of skew of the media between the first and second positions.

Media-position media sensor

A sensor system for detecting skew in print media along the feed path of a hardcopy device is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention the system is arranged to generate a first image of a area of print media at a first position along the feed path and to generate a second image of the area of print media at a second position along the feed path, the system is arranged to compare the first and second images and thereby detect a change in the angle of skew of the media between the first and second positions.

An embodiment of the invention is disclosed in which media advances at a first speed to an interim position based on signals from a first sensor having a first accuracy. While the media is advancing at the first speed, signals are accumulated from a second sensor having a second accuracy greater than the first accuracy. Upon the media reaching the interim position, an actual position of the media is adjusted based on the signals accumulated from the second sensor.

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Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Spain

David Claramunt