Method and apparatus for pivotally mounted media transport bridge with improved counterbalance system
US5769301A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 23, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jun 23, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 23, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N1/00618
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A media transport bridge is an integral media transport device within an internal drum laser imagesetter that transports media from an imaging area in the drum to an external processor or intermediate buffer. Five pairs of rollers transport the film over the drum. A first stage of the bridge includes a first pair of rollers driven independently so that the first stage is removable and replaceable with a take-up cassette if desired. A friction drive within the imagesetter is adaptable to drive either the first stage or the take-up cassette when installed. Upon removal of the first stage, an automatic adjustment of the bridge is performed to balance the pivotally mounted bridge. The media is moved into the bridge by a pair of drum rollers while the first stage is synchronized with the other four pairs of rollers in the bridge and monitored to keep a slack loop of media at the first stage rollers to eliminate perturbations in the media. A mechanical flag sensor changes state to slow and speed up the bridge rollers to maintain the slack loop.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.