Xerox Corporation

Tektronix, Inc.

David W Hanks

Donald B Maclane

Ronald F Burr

Sharon S Berger

Marcia Dawn Haney

Mark H Cowan

Michael W Whalen

Brian Edward Sonnichsen

Richard Guy Chambers

Carl Thomas Urban

James Dudley Padgett

Arthur C Van Horne

Nasser Alavizadeh

Meade M Neal

Barry G Mannie

William H Tomison

Richard Brzezinski

Clayton W Carpenter

A container including a first tank for receiving a liquid, a second tank that is selectively pressurizable, a check valve for permitting fluid flow from the first tank to the second tank, and a manifold structure having a first port fluidically coupled to the first tank and a second port fluidically coupled to the second tank.

Ink jet apparatus

A system and method for sensing the positioning the printhead in one or more of a standby position, a wipe position, and a printing position uses electrical signals from a drive motor as an indicator of whether the printhead has properly moved to a desired position. As the printhead is tilted to a print position, a first position electrical signal is detected by sampling a resistance on the torque motor at a first time. A second position electrical signal is determined by sampling another resistance on the motor at a second time. A slope is calculated between the first position sample and the second position sample. The calculated slope is analyzed to determine whether the printhead is operating properly. Thus, the need for standalone sensors to determine the positioning of the printhead is eliminated.

Systems and methods for determining printhead in a print position

A system and method for determining proper positioning of the printhead as it travels between first and second positions by sampling an electrical resistance signal of a motor during tilting of the printhead, calculating an average of specified samples at a time, and comparing the calculated average to a predetermined threshold to determine whether the printhead is operating properly. Thus, the need for sensors to determine the positioning of the printhead is eliminated.

Systems and methods for determining printhead in a standby position

A media guiding apparatus and related method for reliably directing a media sheet from a media tray to a transport nip are provided. In one embodiment the media guiding apparatus includes at least one guide member that extends from a first guide surface adjacent to the transport nip to the sheet separator in the media tray. The guide member cooperates with a second guide surface to create a substantially uninterrupted media path between the sheet separator and the transport nip. The guide member is also extendible as the sheet separator moves relative to the first and second guide surfaces within the media tray. In another embodiment, the media guiding apparatus comprises a fan that creates a positive air pressure that urges the sheet against a guide surface as the sheet advances toward the transport nip.

Method and apparatus for guiding media

A stripper blade assembly for an ink jet offset printer has a thin blade fixedly mounted on a top surface of a blade holder. The blade holder includes at a trailing edge flexible eyelet portions that extend downwards to snap over protuberances on mechanical connectors overmolded onto a rotatable shaft in order to secure the blade holder to the shaft. The thin blade engages the surface of an offset drum of the ink jet offset printer along the width of the drum at an appropriate point in the print process to strip the leading edge of a print medium from the offset drum surface, minimizing damage to the offset drum surface and to the printed image on the print medium while also minimizing the risk of a jam.

Stripper blade assembly

A printer for generating an image on a media sheet has a printer body with a media path extending from a media supply in a downstream direction to a media exit. An output tray and a media ejection mechanism are connected to the printer body adjacent the media exit. The ejection mechanism has a number of drive roller pairs, each of which includes a first roller and a second roller contacting each other at a nip defining a nip plane. The first rollers of the respective roller pairs are coaxial with each other, and the second rollers of the respective roller pairs are coaxial with each other. The nips of the drive roller pairs occupy a common plane, and the drive roller pairs are spaced apart from each other to define a gap. The ejection mechanism includes at least one corrugation roller positioned in the gap, rotatable on a corrugation roller axis, and having a curved surface portion displaced from the nip plane.

Printer with media corrugation at media output

An ink jet array print head (101) includes four media-width linear ink jet arrays (100). Ink flows from four sets of manifolds (106) through acoustically matched inlet filters (116), inlet ports (117), inlet channels (118), pressure chamber ports (120), and ink pressure chambers (122). Ink leaves the pressure chambers through outlet ports (124) and flows through oval outlet channels (128) to orifices (108), from which ink drops (110) are ejected. The ink pressure chambers are bounded by flexible diaphragms (130) to which piezo-ceramic transducers (132) are bonded. To minimize inter-jet cross-talk caused by pressure fluctuations in the manifolds, compliant walls (150) form one wall along the entire length of each manifold. An improved ink feed system (210) supplies four colors of ink to the print head. Phase-change inks are melted and deposited in ink catch basins (202), funneled into ink storage reservoirs (204), and fed to the print head through ink stack feeds (206) having substantially equal lengths and cross-sectional areas to improve jetting uniformity. Manifold tapering, inlet port positioning, and an elevationally upward slope of the ink stack feeds enhances purgeability of the ink feed system and the ink jet print head.

High-performance ink jet print head having an improved ink feed system

An ink jet printer (10) having a print head (14) for directing an ink jet toward a sheet of paper (16) includes automatic print head spacing apparatus (80) that holds the print head apart from the sheet of paper by a preselected distance. In a preferred embodiment, the printer includes a rotatable drum (20) for supporting the sheet of paper and media securing system (24) of a first predetermined thickness for securing the paper to the drum. The print head is positioned at the preselected distance after a major surface (130) of the print head engages and is pushed back by the media securing system.

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Forest Grove, OR, United States of America

David W Hanks