Xerox Corporation

Samuel P Sadtler

Timothy Gordon Shelhart

Aaron Michael Moore

Donald Richard Fess

A print head protection system is used in connection with an inkjet printer having a print head adapted for elevating, and a belt moving over a platen. A plurality of acoustic sensors is arrayed transversely to the process direction. The acoustic sensors measure a combined thickness of the belt, the platen, and the media sheet. An analyzer will detect if the media sheet is in contact with the media transport. An error signal is created when the thickness is below a predetermined value, indicating the media sheet is not in contact with the media transport. A mitigation control is operative to mitigate print head damage in response to the signal. Printing is halted in response to the signal to preclude damage to the print head. The sheet is discarded.

Inkjet print head protection by acoustic sensing of media

A sheet-receiving surface comprises retractable bars movable between a first position and a second position. The first position is a first distance away from a mounting support. The second position is a second distance away from the mounting support. The first distance is greater than the second distance. Pivot arms, having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, are rotationally attached at the first end to the retractable bars and rotationally attached at the second end to the mounting support. Bias elements, operatively connected to the pivot arms, bias the retractable bars to the first position. A link is operatively connected to the retractable bars and an actuator. The sheet-receiving surface accumulates sheets of media into sets of sheets. Responsive to operation of the actuator, the link applies a force to move the retractable bars to the second position, forming an opening to allow the sets of sheets to drop, forming a stack of sets of sheets.

Cycling media support for compiled sets using one motor direction

A print head protection system is used in connection with an inkjet printer having a print head adapted for elevating. A projector upstream of the print head projects a reference pattern onto the media sheet. An imaging camera captures a digital image of the projected pattern. An analyzer compares the digital image of the projected pattern with the reference pattern. If moir&#xe9; fringes are detected, the moir&#xe9; fringes are analyzed for media sheet curl. An error signal is created when the sheet curl exceeds a predetermined distance above the process path. A mitigation control raises the print head to preclude damage in response to the signal. Alternately, the sheet can be discarded.

Inkjet print head protection by scanning and moire analysis

An exemplary apparatus herein includes a registration item positioned at the end of a shelf. Further, tamper elements contact the sides of sheets of media on the shelf to align them and push them toward the registration item. In addition, a frame element is connected to each of the tamper elements and a biased member is connected to the frame element. A motor is connected to the biased member. Rotation of the motor moves the tamper elements in a closed curve path motion relative to the shelf and the registration item. With increasing speed of the rotation of the motor, the biased member expands, and this increases the distance of the closed curve path motion and increases the force applied by the tamper elements against the sheets of media being moved toward the registration item along the shelf.

Sheet registration using orbital tampers

An apparatus includes a compiler surface that receives sheets of media, and a registration surface positioned at one end of the compiler surface. The leading edges of the sheets of media contact and are aligned by the registration surface. A rotatable cam is positioned at the other end of the compiler surface. The rotatable cam has a lobe, and the surface of the lobe is a high-friction surface. When the rotatable cam is at a 'first' rotation position, this causes the lobe to contact the bottom sheet as the sheets of media are received onto the compiler surface. When the rotatable cam is at a 'second' rotation position, this causes the lobe to move out of the way and avoid contacting any of the sheets of media as the sheets of media are ejected from the compiler surface.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, NY, United States of America

Samuel P Sadtler