Media handling in an ink-jet printer
US5527123A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 28, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jun 18, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 28, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41J13/14
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Described herein is a printer having a printhead which traverses laterally across a sheetlike print medium and which thereby defines a laterally-extending print zone across the print medium. A paper transport mechanism in the printer has drive rollers and associated pinch wheels to drive the print medium through the printer's print zone. The paper transport mechanism further includes an upper print media guide and a lower print medium guide. The two print medium guides are shaped at their transverse ends to bow the transverse edges of the print medium downwardly to reduce its tendency to buckle upwardly into the printhead. In order to fit the upper print medium guide into the limited available space above the drive rollers, it is made of a lower molded portion for paper contact and an upper backing portion for rigidity. A pinch finger extends toward the printer's print zone beyond the pinch wheels to establish a pinch point against the drive roller in near proximity to the print zone.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.