Hewlett-packard Company

Shannon D Casey

Kieran B Kelly

Steve Orrin Rasmussen

Daniel R Dwyer

Allan G Olson

Thomas E McCue, Jr

Raymond C Sherman

Blair M Kent

Gene D Jones

Kevin D O'Hara

Michael M Leon

Craig D Sunada

Sandra Y Okazaki

Inkjet printer

A sheet media handling system is provided for use in a sheet processor (e.g., a printer). Such system incorporates an input tray for storing one or more sheet media prior to input through the printer's input port with the input tray vertically stacked with the printer's output support structure or tray. The system also has a single sheet medium guide mechanism adjacent the printer's output support structure, where the medium guide mechanism routes a single medium to the input port when the single medium is inserted therein. The single sheet medium guide mechanism includes a skew-abatement substructure and a deflection mechanism. The skew-abatement substructure is designed to facilitate alignment of and routing of a single medium towards the input port by contacting a first edge of the single medium and an opposite second edge of the single medium. Such a deflection mechanism is designed to deflect a single medium toward and into the input port by contacting the upper surface of the single medium while also contacting the lower surface of the single medium. The invented system facilitates easy manual insertion and alignment of a single medium (e.g., an envelope or postcard) into the input port of a printer without affecting the existing supply of sheet media in the input tray.

Sheet media handling system for aligned insertion of single sheet medium

A method and apparatus is achieved for creating or restoring a high friction surface to a drive roller 52. Abrasive pads 12 define a scrubbing surface for acting upon a media roller's surface 54-58. As the roller's surface is scrubbed, creping occurs which increases the surface's coefficient of friction, and more particularly, the coefficient of friction between the roller and media sheet ('COF(rm)'). In one embodiment, the creping apparatus is formed by a pair of plates 16, 18 hinged along one edge 30 and open along an opposite edge 28. A spring 19 is positioned between the plates biasing the plates apart at the open end. One or more abrasive pads are attached to the outer surface of one plate 18. The spring is selected to provide a specific biasing force. To create or restore a high friction surface, the apparatus 10 is positioned adjacent to the roller 52. By approximately defining the force applied between the roller 52 and abrasive pads 12 and by using an abrasive pad of known grit, initially surface contaminants, if any, are scrubbed from the roller surface 54-58. As the scrubbing continues, the elastomer surface 54-58 begins to fatigue. Small pieces of rubber tear from the surface while scrubbing the fatigued surface. After several minutes of operation, the scrubbing action generates a creped surface having an increased coefficient of friction.

Method and apparatus for creating or restoring high friction surface to

Growing community of inventors

Camas, WA, United States of America

Shannon D Casey