The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 06, 1988
Filed:
May. 09, 1986
Arthur Cleary, Derry, MA (US);
Calvin Winey, Tewksbury, MA (US);
Advanced Color Technology, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
An ink jet printer with a continuous supply of sheet material from a spool contained within an imaging drum. The sheet material is withdrawn from the interior of the drum by a pair of rollers carried by the drum and removably connected to an external drive system. The sheet material travels around the drum and is held by the rollers in that position. The external drive system is then disconnected allowing the drum to rotate while a printing head scans the surface of the sheet material to produce the desired image. After the imaging process, the drum is stopped in a predetermined position and the rollers connected to the external drive. The rollers are then driven to eject the imaged sheet material while a fresh supply is withdrawn from the interior of the drum and wrapped around its outer surface. The ejected sheet material is sheared by a transverse cutter and the sheared end of the sheet material is withdrawn by the rollers to a length short enough that it does not interfere with the subsequent imaging step. Means are provided for tensioning the sheet material around the drum prior to the next imaging process. The operation of the drive mechanism in three modes, a rest mode while the drum rotates, a paper ejecting mode, and a paper tensioning mode, is controlled by the lateral position of the cutter mechanism.