MEDIA PROCESSING
Apparatus is described that has a flexion component configured to apply a force to a first portion of media within a media path of a media processing device. The apparatus has a support portion configured to couple the apparatus to the media processing device. The media path provides a path along which the media is transported and has a feed area. The flexion moves a second portion of the media away from the feed area of the media path. A method of applying a force to media is also described.
Latest Hewlett Packard Patents:
Many media processing devices, such as printers and scanners, are configured to transport media along a media path. For example, a printer may deposit ink on paper transported along a media path and a scanner may capture an image of a document that passes one or more image acquisition devices. In these media processing devices, media typically enters the media path using one or more feed areas arranged along, or at the start of, the media path. A media feed area may use friction to transport media. For example, a media feed area may comprise one or more rotating rollers, which are positioned to contact media within the media path. The friction between the rotating rollers and the media thereby causes the media to be transported along the media path.
Certain media processing devices comprise a media transport arranged to feed media back into an initial area following media processing. For example, media may be driven in two opposing directions along the media transport and/or may be routed so as to use a common media holding area. In these cases, there may be a difficulty if media that has already been processed by the media processing device is fed back into the device. This behaviour may lead to media becoming jammed in the media path and/or damage the media. This may occur with batch scanning devices.
In media processing devices comprising feed areas 30, such as the one shown in
To aid in explanation,
As a particular example, in the event that the rollers 30a, 30b subsequently change direction of rotation while the media 40 remains in the vicinity of the rollers 30a, 30b, the trailing portion of the media 40 may be “recaptured” by the rollers 30a, 30b, and pulled back into the media path 20.
As another example, continued rotation, of the lower roller 30b in the same (i.e. anti-clockwise) direction could cause the trailing portion of the media 40 to be pulled into a gap 50 between the lower roller 30b and the lower wall 20b. Further continued rotation of the lower roller 30b can cause more of the media 40 to be fed into the gap 50. The media 40 may become lodged in the gap 50 thereby blocking the media path 20. The media 40 may alternatively or additionally become damaged.
It will be appreciated generally that any contact between media 40 and a moving part of a feed area 30 can cause media 40 to be captured, and fed into a part of a media processing device 10 that is undesirable i.e. a part which the media 40 should not be fed into.
Recapture of processed media 40 by a feed area 30 of a media processing device 10 may be found with media processing devices that process media 40 in batches, e.g. with one or more sheets of media. This is because, once a first piece of media 40 has been processed by the media processing device, a trailing portion of the first piece of media 40 will typically remain in the vicinity of the last feed area 30 from which it was ejected. When the feed area 30 begins to operate again (in order to transport a second piece of media 40 along the media path 20) the first piece of media 40 can be recaptured by the feed area 40. Thus, in order to avoid this, the first piece of media must be removed from the media processing device before the second piece of media is processed. This is somewhat burdensome on the user of the media processing device particularly if a large batch of media 40 is to be processed.
More specifically,
As will be seen, the second portion 40b of the media 40 in
In short, therefore, by creating a flexion in a first portion 40a of the media 40, a second portion 40b is moved away from the feed area 30 of the media processing device 10, thereby reducing the risk that the second portion 40b will be recaptured by the feed area 30.
An example of implementing the flexion component will now be described. Referring back to
In the exemplary arrangement shown in
The at least one roller 90 could be, for example, a cylindrical roller, as depicted in
Additionally, or alternatively, the flexion component 70 may be rotatably coupled to the support portion 80 about a coupling axis 100 which is offset from a centre of gravity of the flexion component 70. Thus, the flexion component 70 may be biased to rotate about the coupling axis 100 under the force of gravity towards a position of equilibrium. In
Such an arrangement is particularly useful in the case where the media 40 is transported beneath the flexion component 70. In such an arrangement, the position of equilibrium may comprise a case where the flexion component 70 rests on the lower wall 20b of the media path 20. Thus, when media 40 is transported out of the media processing device, e.g. from right-to-left in
The force may he applied at any angle to the direction of media transport. The angle at which the force is applied will alter the shape of the flexion. Thus, the direction of the force can be selected such that the resultant flexion is shaped to be compatible with a particular shape and configuration of a media path 20 and/or media feed area 30.
Advantageously, the force applied to the media 40 via the flexion component 70 is sufficient to create a deflection in the media 40 that is large enough to move the second portion 40b of media 40 far enough away from the feed area 30 that there is little or no risk of capture by the feed area 30. However, the force is also not so great that it causes damage to the media. It will be appreciated that the optimum force will vary for different media 40, and may depend on factors such as the thickness and rigidity of the media 40, and also the material from which the media 40 is made. As such the flexion component may apply a load in a particular way, e.g. using one or more of a weight load, a spring load and a motorised load, depending on the media and/or media path configuration that is used in an embodiment.
In the arrangement where the flexion component 70 comprises at least one roller 90, and is also rotatably coupled to the support portion 80 about a coupling axis 100 that is offset from the centre of gravity of the flexion component 70, the flexion component 70 may comprise an arm portion 110 for linking the roller portion 90 to the support portion 80. Such an arrangement is illustrated schematically in
In one case, a force applied by one or more of upper roller 30a and lower roller 30b determines whether media is ejected such that it is not recaptured by the media processing device. For example, in an eject case, upper roller 30a and/or lower roller 30b apply a first force that propels a leading edge of a sheet of media past the at least one roller 90 of the above described apparatus. In this case, although the flexion component 70 is applying a downward weight load, the at least one roller 90 rotates, allowing the media sheet to pass a distance into the media tray 45. By calibrating the first force and the weight load, media can be ejected such that the case shown in
The arm portion 110 as shown in
In one example, the width of the flexion component 70 in the direction perpendicular to the direction of media transport is substantially equal to the width of the media 40 in the direction perpendicular to the same direction. For example, in
In an alternative embodiment, the apparatus 60 may comprise a plurality of flexion components 70, which are distributed at regular intervals across the media path 20 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of media transport. Such an arrangement is depicted schematically in
As mentioned in relation to
When the axle portion 110a is in the first aperture portion 120a, the flexion component 70 is caused to be in a retracted position, in which the flexion component 70 is held up and out of the media path 20. When the axle portion 110a is in the second aperture portion 120b, on the other hand, the flexion component 70 is held in the position as described above in relation to
The axle portion 110a may be configured to move from the second aperture portion 120b to the first aperture portion 120a by the action of a user of opening a cover of the media processing device 10 that is in the vicinity of the axle portion 110a. For example, the cover may be configured to lift the axle portion 110a from the second aperture portion 120b to the first aperture portion 120a when the cover is lifted. Thus, when the cover of the media processing device 10 is open, the flexion component 70 is held in a retracted position, out of the media path 20, thereby enabling the user to easily gain access to the media path 20. A user may wish to access the media path 20 to clear an obstruction within the media path 20, or to fix components within the media path 20, for example.
When the user subsequently shuts the cover of the media processing device 10, the cover may be configured to push the axle portion 110a back down into the second aperture portion 120b. Thus, when the cover of the media processing device 10 is closed, the flexion component is held in the position as described above in relation to
In one variation, the flexion component 70 may be retractable, such that it enables a flexion in the media 40 to be selectively generated. This in turn means that the media 40 can be selectively recaptured by the feed area 30 of a media processing device 10. In other cases, e.g. after an eject case with a weight load, media may be recaptured by the media processing device after a user has reconfigured the media in the media tray. For example, a user may apply a small force to the media in the direction of travel along the media path; this force may move the media towards the feed area and allow it to be fed into the media processing device by way of the friction rollers.
In some examples, the method may comprise using the weight of a flexion component to apply a load to the media whereby to apply the above-mentioned force to the first portion of media. This may be achieved, for example, by rotatably coupling the flexion component to a support portion about an axis which is off-set from the centre of gravity of the flexion component. Such a configuration has been discussed in more detail above in relation to
Alternatively, the method may comprise applying a force to a plurality of first portions of the media, which extend across the media in a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction of transport of the media along the media path. This may be achieved, for example, by using an apparatus such as the one depicted in
Referring back to
In one example, in a case where the above-mentioned force is applied to the first portion of media via a flexion component, which resides in the media path, the method may comprise a further step of retracting the flexion component from the media path. Retracting the flexion component in such a way may he useful in the case that the user of the media processing device wishes to access the media path of the media processing device. Alternatively, or additionally, the retraction of the flexion component may be carried out to cause the media to be recaptured by the feed area and fed back into the media path.
The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples. Further examples are envisaged. It will be appreciated, in particular, that the term “media” is used herein to refer to any material which can be processed by a media processing device, such as a scanner or printer. “Media” may include, in particular, sheets of material such as sheets of paper, cardboard, plastic, or fabric. A “flexion” in a sheet of media has been used herein to refer to any displacement and/or bending of the media that is created by a force applied to the media, and which altars the planar geometry of the media within the media path, e.g. any deflection of the media caused by the application of a load. The term “feed area” has been used herein to refer to any area of a media processing device which causes media to be transported along a media path, and should not be limited, for example, to feed areas which utilise friction to transport media. As particular examples, a feed area may utilise gravity and/or a manual feed system in order to transport media along a media path.
It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one example may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the examples, or any combination of any other of the examples. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed.
Claims
1. Apparatus comprising:
- a support portion configured to couple the apparatus to a media processing device, the media processing device having a media path along which media is transported, the media path having a feed area;
- a flexion component configured to apply a force to a first portion of media within the media path and thereby cause a flexion in the media, the flexion moving a second portion of the media away from the feed area of the media path.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexion component comprises at least one roller for applying the force to the first portion of the media.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexion component is rotatably coupled to the support portion about an axis perpendicular to a direction of transport of the media along the media path.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexion component is rotatably coupled to the support portion about an axis which is off-set from the centre of gravity of the flexion component.
5. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the flexion component comprises an arm portion, the arm portion comprising an elongate member which couples the roller portion to the support portion.
6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexion component is coupled, via an axle, to an axle aperture of the support portion, and wherein the axle aperture is configured such that the flexion component can be retracted into a portion of the axle aperture, such that the flexion component is maintained in a position in which it no longer applies a force to the media.
7. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexion component extends across the first portion of media in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of media transport, whereby to create a substantially uniform flexion across the width of the media.
8. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of flexion components that extend across the first portion of media in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of media transport, each of the plurality of flexion components being configured to apply a force to a respective section of the first portion of media, whereby to create a substantially uniform flexion across the width of the media.
9. A method comprising:
- applying a force to a first portion of media within a media feed path of a media processing apparatus,
- wherein the force results in a flexion in the media, the flexion moving a second portion of the media away from a feed area of the media feed path.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises applying the force to the first portion of media via at least one roller.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein applying a force to the first portion of media comprises using the weight of a flexion component to apply a load to the media.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein said force is applied via a flexion component resident within the media path, and the method further comprises retracting the flexion component from e media path whereby to stop applying the force to the first portion of media.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises applying said force to a first portion of media which extends across the media in a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction of media transport.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises applying a force to a plurality of first portions of the media, said portions extending across the media in a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction of media transport.
15. Media processing apparatus comprising:
- a media path along which media is transported, the media path having a feed area; and,
- a flexion component configured to apply a force to a first portion of media within the media path and thereby cause a flexion in the media, the flexion moving a second portion of the media away from the feed area of the media path.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 30, 2014
Publication Date: Jan 12, 2017
Applicant: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. (Houston, TX)
Inventor: Francisco Gomez (Barcelona)
Application Number: 15/113,171