Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Pitney Bowes Inc.

Kazuya Asano

Naoya Kamimura

Hiroshi Igarashi

Noritsugu Ito

Yoshiteru Hattori

Takashi Nakata

Shinji Kimura

Shogo Suzuki

Susumu Misu

A hot-melt type ink jet printer includes a nozzle head for ejecting a hot-melt type ink onto a sheet. The printer has a sheet feed passage defined by, in order from an upstream side in a sheet feeding direction, a sheet supply roller, a preheat platen, a sheet feed roller, a main platen, a cooling platen, discharge roller and a sheet discharge opening. The preheat platen and main platen have preheater and main heater, respectively, and these platen and the cooling platen are supported on a frame. A first suction port is formed between the main platen and the cooling platen and a second suction port is formed between the cooling platen and the frame. A power board and a cooling fan is provided within the frame for cooling the power board. By rotation of the cooling fan, air is introduced from the sheet discharge opening into the frame through the first and second suction ports to also cool the cooling platen and the heating platen.

Hot-melt type ink jet printer having heating and cooling arrangement

Before print is made by letting hot melt ink gush out from the nozzle head, paper is heated rapidly to its required temperature, thus enhancing the ink fixing performance of the print. Relative to paper carrying rollers, a preheat platen with preheater on its back side is located upstream in the carriage passage and a main platen with main heater on its back side is located downstream in the carriage passage. Downstream of the main platen are installed a cooling platen, which is cooled by first and second air intake openings to allow air to pass into the printer, and paper ejecting rollers. The surface temperature of the preheat platen is set higher than that of the main platen so that the temperature required for unprinted paper will be reached rapidly.

Method and apparatus for preheating a printing medium in a hot melt ink

A hot melt ink jet printing device 1 includes guides 27 disposed on a printing surface 11 of a platen 12 at both sides of a print area and guides 28 disposed downstream side of the platen 12 in a sheet feed direction F. Heaters 21, 25 are mounted on an under surface of the platen 12 for applying heat to a recording sheet 7 placed on the printing surface 11. The print head 13 is disposed away from the platen 12 such that a nozzle surface 13a of the print head 13 confront the printing surface 11. The guides 27, 28 effectively prevent the recording sheet 7 from rising off the printing surface 11 toward the print head 13 when the recording sheet 7 is supplied with heat from the heater 21, 25. In this way, the recording sheet 7 is prevented from contacting the nozzle surface 13a.

Mechanism for preventing recording sheet from contacting print head in

A postage meter includes a printing device for printing a dot-matrix postal indicia on a mailpiece; and a drive train system having a moveable platen for positioning the mailpiece in fixed relationship to the printing device; a priming pump operatively connectable to the printing device for priming the printing device; a gear train; and a motor engaged with the gear train for driving into operation, via the gear train, both the platen and the priming pump. A method for driving components of a postage meter, includes energizing a motor in a first direction for driving, via a gear train, a platen into a fixed position relative to a printhead used for printing a postage indicia; driving, via the gear train, a priming pump into operation for priming the printhead; and during driving of the priming pump utilizing the gear train for effectuating moving of a wiper blade into a position for wiping the printhead.

Drive gear system using a single motor for a priming operation and

A print head is supported on an upper frame of a printing device and a platen and a feeding device are supported on a lower frame. Further, a circuit substrate, a print head moving motor, and a feeding device driving motor are also supported on the upper frame. The upper and the lower frame are connected by a connection member around a rotating axis which is substantially orthogonal to the feeding direction of the print medium. The rotating axis is near a side of the platen in order to easily open and shut the upper frame. When a lock arm is released, the upper frame is pushed up by only a small angle through operation of a pre-open lever and is held in a pre-open position. When upper frame is further opened in an opening direction, the upper frame is held in a fully open position by the operation of an open lock lever. When in the fully open state, the exchange of print paper and/or the removal of the jammed paper can be done easily and safely.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Kazuya Asano