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:
Jun. 13, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 22, 1998
Mitsuo Kubo, Yokohama, JP;
Shinichiro Fujii, Mishima, JP;
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An ink-jet printer includes a rotary drum having a peripheral surface with a plurality of suction holes arranged therein for rotating at a constant speed, a sheet loader for loading a paper sheet to the peripheral surface of the rotary drum, a sheet holding system for holding the paper sheet on the peripheral surface of the rotary drum by applying negative suction pressure to the paper sheet via the suction holes, and a print head for printing an image by jetting ink onto the paper sheet. The rotary drum has an outer cylindrical member which serves as the peripheral surface, an inner cylindrical member having a diameter smaller than the outer cylindrical member, and a partitioning wall for fixing the inner cylindrical member in the outer cylindrical member at a uniform distance from the outer cylindrical member and for partitioning the space between the inner cylindrical member and the outer cylindrical member into a plurality of air rooms in a drum rotational direction. The sheet holding system includes a plurality of suction air holes which are arranged in the inner cylindrical member to associate with the air rooms, a suction unit for suctioning air via the suction air holes to set the air rooms in a negative pressure state, and an air-flow control mechanism for sequentially setting the suction air holes from a closed state to an open state as the suction holes pass a loading position of the paper sheet by rotation of the rotary drum.