Media advance system for swath printers
US4916638A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 25, 1989 |
| Grant date | Apr 10, 1990 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 25, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N2201/04794
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A media advance system for swath-type printers for precisely positioning the media for successive swath printing. A dual photodiode line sensor is mounted on the print head. The diode active areas are separated by less than the line widths of lines printed in the media margin. Circuitry is provided to provide a signal indicative of the difference between the photocurrents produced by each photodiode. For the first swath of the page or plot, marginal lines are drawn by the first and Nth print device of the print head. Without moving the media, the line sensor is positioned over the marginal line printed by the first device, and the resulting difference signal is saved as a reference value. The media is then advanced until the same value of the difference signal is obtained from the line image of the marginal line drawn by the Nth print device. The media is then advanced a predetermined amount to precisely position the media for the next successive swath to be printed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.