Abstract: An early roll closure method and apparatus associated with an electrophotographic or xerographic device for fixing a toner image onto a copy sheet by application of heat and pressure. A lower closing force is exerted on the fuser rollers during early roll closure than when fixing an image to a copy sheet. The use of a backup roll made of bare metal facilitates this technique. This early roll closure method also allows the temperature of the heated fuser roll to be reduced along the entire circumference. The early roll closure is only allowed to occur on the first sheet of a copy or fusing run.

Abstract: Bank for accommodating adjacent ram units. Each of these consists of a flat, narrow frame. A tongue-shaped ram, driven by an electromagnetic actuator, extends in a recess of the frame. For accommodating and guiding the individual print ram units, the bank is provided with a receiving bar and a comblike holding bar between which the frames are arranged. Extension pieces of the lower frame elements can be accommodated by slits in the receiving bar. The upper frame elements are held in recesses of the comblike holding bar. The tongue-shaped rams are laterally guided by the electromagnetic actuators which are arranged on both sides of the frame and are aligned to each other.

Abstract: A Large Scale Integration (LSI) data flow component is described for use as a building block, the component being capable of use singly or in combination to provide data flow paths and functions of different data widths for a processor or microprocessor. A component with an eight-bit data flow is described as a "byte slice", wherein individual byte control is provided within a multiple-byte configuration so that single data flow components within the group can operate independently of other components under control of external logic. Components may operate on a stand-alone, a multiple-byte, or nonactive-byte basis. A control scheme permits functions of one component to be influenced by actions or logic of another component to permit efficient implementation of arithmetic algorithms.

Abstract: An electromagnet consists of two essentially symmetrically designed magnetizable E-shaped yoke halves each embraced by a coil. The facing pole ends of the yoke halves form three aligned operating gaps. Between the operating gaps a tongue-shaped ram is arranged which is shiftable in the direction of the line of alignment of the operating gaps. The cross-section of the ram is adapted to the area of the operating gaps. The ram comprises cuboid-shaped armature bars of magnetizable material. The armature bars are geometrically designed in such a manner that their volume is on the order of magnitude of the operating gap volume. In the original position of the ram the armature bars are essentially positioned in front of the operating gaps of the electromagnet. Upon excitation of the electromagnet, the armature bars are pulled into its operating gaps, being accelerated in the process.The windings of the coils exciting the yoke halves are essentially positioned between the E-legs of the yoke halves.

Abstract: An improved data processor control subsystem in which a cycle counter having a plurality of cascade-connected stages also comprises one or more supplemental or dummy stages, which can be selectively inserted or removed from the chain of cascade-connected stages, to alter the number of sub-cycles in an operating cycle, thereby decreasing the complexity of associated decoding circuitry.

Abstract: A method of making a plurality of multi-wire nonimpact printheads provides precise inter-wire spacing accuracy and repeatability of manufacturing steps to enable mass production.A plurality of slats are molded, one alongside another on a cylindrical support shell, parallel to the shell axis. A helical thread is engraved on the slats along the axial length of the support shell. A continuous wire is wrapped in the thread and the portions of the wire on the slats are encapsulated. The support shell and wrapped wire is cut between adjacent slats to obtain a plurality of printhead blanks. Each blank is machined to smooth the exposed print wires. The resultant printheads may be used in page- width nonimpact printers.

Abstract: A bandgap reference voltage generator consists of a plurality of transistors with the same geometry. This circuit provides a stable temperature-compensated low reference voltage on the order of two volts.

Abstract: A transport system is disclosed, including an air film shuttle conveyor for conveying semiconductor chips from a loading to an unloading station, the conveyor comprising a base plate and upstanding side guide walls extending longitudinally of the base plate, the guide walls being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the lateral dimension of said chips; further included are means providing a laminar air flow which surrounds the chips and forms an air film supporting them and propelling them downstream such that the slight spacing between the chips and the guide walls causes the flow resistance to be higher in the one region defined by said slight spacing than in the region defined by the spacing between the chips, whereby a continuous and flexible separation action occurs between the chips.

Abstract: A fuser roll apparatus in a toner fixing station associated with an electrophotographic or xerographic device for fixing a toner image onto a copy sheet by the application of heat and pressure. The fusing apparatus includes a pair of fuser rollers and a linkage mechanism coupling a control cam and the fuser rollers. An electromechanically operated latch, in the form of a solenoid, is interposed in the linkage mechanism coupling the control cam and fuser rollers. So long as the solenoid is energized, the opening of the rollers is controlled solely by the rotation of the cam. If the solenoid is deenergized however, the rollers are maintained in an open position. Thereafter, until the solenoid is again energized, the rollers remain open and are unaffected by rotational movement of the cam.

Abstract: In a computer system, paging operates and a method of use thereof are provided for extending the addressing capability of a processor by using a page register. The page register includes means for storing different codes for different operations to be performed on the memory. The memory is divided into four groups of memory within 2.sup.n addresses such that there is paged and unpaged ROM and paged and unpaged RAM. The unpaged ROM and RAM include only a single block which is directly addressed by the n bit address bus. The paged ROM and RAM includes a plurality of blocks or pages, one of which is selected to be addressed by the page register. The page register responds to the address bus and to signals from the processor defining the memory operation to be performed by providing page signals, selecting one page of paged memory.

Abstract: An information transfer system is described that includes a central processing unit (CPU) interconnected with a peripheral device such as an operator console by an interface bus of finite capacity. Transfer of information in the system is normally in a preferred direction from the CPU to the console. Provision is made to transfer information concerning key depressions on the console from the console to the CPU without using the bus by utilizing a normally continuously operating counter in the CPU that provides a sequence of coded count signals representative of individual keys that are provided on the console and that may be depressed. A comparator in the console compares coded count signals from the CPU counter with coded signals from the console representative of actual key depressions and provides a stop signal to the CPU counter via a single control line when an equal compare of the CPU counter and console coded signals occurs.

Abstract: A fuser roll apparatus in a toner fixing station associated with an electrophotographic or xerographic device for fixing a toner image onto a copy sheet by the application of heat and pressure. The fusing apparatus includes a pair of fuser rollers and a linkage mechanism coupling a control cam and the fuser rollers. An electromechanically operated latch, in the form of a solenoid, is interposed in the linkage mechanism coupling the control cam and fuser rollers. So long as the solenoid is energized, the opening of the rollers is controlled solely by the rotation of the cam. If the solenoid is deenergized however, the rollers are maintained in an open position. Thereafter, until the solenoid is again energized, the rollers remain open and are unaffected by rotational movement of the cam.

Abstract: There is disclosed herein a dot matrix tilting print head assembly in which the print head is rotatably mounted in frame means. Solenoid means are provided for rotating the print head a controlled distance so that printing occurs between previously printed dots. Means are provided for controlling the distance to be one half of the center-to-center distance between printed dots. This entails maintaining very low tolerances for the mechanically moving parts. In addition, there is provided means for removing the print head alone from the frame means.

Abstract: A processor intercommunication system includes a plurality of stations which are interconnected by a transmission link, each station having an associated processor. Further, each station comprises means which provide a data link protocol mechanism for establishing and maintaining a multiplicity of logical connections or transfer sessions between the station and several other stations. Thus application programs of all kinds in the processors can communicate with programs or data files in remote processors and need not be involved in communication operations which are handled by the stations. Link access circuitry is provided also in each station for absorbing the physical and topological characteristics of the transmission link so that the data protocol circuitry establishing and maintaining logical connections is independent of these characteristics.

Abstract: A clamping device for securing a photoconductor in the form of a closed loop, flexible sleeve on a drum having a channel on the drum periphery, and with the channel running substantially parallel to the drum central axis, along the length of the drum, is disclosed. The clamping device comprises an elongated bar having a cross-sectional configuration for fitting within the channel, means for latching the bar to the drum when the bar is in position within the channel, and an electrically conducting spring positioned relative to the bar and the sleeve for making an electrical connection between the photoconductor sleeve and the drum, and for applying variable tension to the sleeve in response to forcing of the sleeve partially into the channel by the bar.

Abstract: In a loop-structured communication system interconnecting a plurality of data processors without central controller, stations comprise modems which can start loop operation and achieve synchronous frame transmission around the loop through all participating stations.In an initialization procedure after system start or after loss of frame synchronization on the loop, modems select a temporary master station.The temporary master will adapt total loop delay to be an integer multiple of the basic frame period, and will transmit available frames. All active modems adapt their timing to the circulating stream of frames until the whole loop and all participating stations are synchronized.Synchronization conditions are continuously monitored in all stations to start resynchronization or initialization procedures if necessary. In a specific arrangement, the location of a loop failure which prevents establishment of synchronization can be determined.

Abstract: A printer is provided with facilities for increasing the printing throughput. This involves a partial line turnaround operation. The printer has means to move a form or document past a print line, a ribbon drive assembly, and a print assembly incorporating a plurality of print wires arranged in print head groups, each group comprising a predetermined number of print wires. If, as an example, the print assembly has two, four, six, or eight print heads, each can accommodate eight wires in the embodiment described. The print wires are arranged in a slanted serrated pattern and provision is made herein to insure that the print heads move at least far enough to print their assigned character locations prior to the performance of any turnaround in individual lines being printed. Routine involves the accessing of tables stored in conjunction with a microprocessor, the tables indicating the optimum turnaround situations for the different print head configurations.

Abstract: A synchronous data transmission system between remote stations is shown wherein data is transmitted parallel by bit serial by group over a plurality of parallel lines extending between sending and receiving stations. A parity line is also included in the transmission system for checking errors and a clock line is included for synchronization of the parallel data being transmitted. Information is transmitted from one station to another with alternating even and odd parity for succeeding groups of parallel data. The information is checked at the receiving station for even-even or odd-odd parity in succeeding groups of data. Longitudinal redundancy checking (LRC) is also added to the checking at a receiving station. The combination of the even and odd parity checking and the LRC checking provides a level of data transmission error checking which is almost as effective in finding errors as a far more costly CRC checking mechanism.

Abstract: An illumination system for a document scanner comprising a fluorescent lamp for illuminating a document to be scanned and an efficient light guide which "pipes" the light to the target document area. The fluorescent lamp has an aperture defined by an aperture angle wherein the lamp radiance is determined by the aperture angle. The light guide has a trapezoidal longitudinal cross section. An input window associated with the narrow base of the trapezoidal shape light guide is coupled to the aperture of the lamp. An output window associated with the wide base of the trapezoidal shape light guide is directed to the document area.