Abstract: A shuttle system transfers an ink-jet pen between a carriage and a shuttle access location on a printer front panel. When a pen load button is pushed, the shuttle will move to an access position. In the access position, the shuttle will open a door and come beyond the front face of the printer. This allows the user to drop the pen(s) into place on the shuttle. Then when the button is pushed again, the pen shuttle will transfer the pens back into the printer, with the door closing, and automatically loads the pen(s) into the printer carriage without manual user intervention. The pen shuttle will then move to a rest position for normal printer operation. If the pen load button is pressed again, the pen shuttle moves back to the carriage and unloads the pen(s) automatically. The pen shuttle again opens the access door and presents the pens to the user.

Abstract: An ink-jet printer includes a printer housing structure, and at least one immobile ink-jet pen including a nozzle array mounted to the housing structure at a print area, the pen remaining stationary during printing operations. A two axis media drive system includes a media drive roller structure which is rotatable to move the medium in a first axis relative to the print area to position the medium relative to the pen nozzle array for a given swath, and a translating media carriage, the drive roller structure supported by the media carriage. The carriage is mounted for translating movement along a second axis transverse to the first direction, to slew the media along the second axis during printing, and a motor system for rotating the media drive roller and for translating the carriage. The motor system is a single motor/encoder system for driving the carriage and the roller.

Abstract: An ink-jet printer includes a printer housing structure, and at least one immobile ink-jet pen including a nozzle array mounted to the housing structure at a print area, the pen remaining stationary during printing operations. A two axis media drive system includes a media drive roller structure which is rotatable to move the medium in a first axis relative to the print area to position the medium relative to the pen nozzle array for a given swath, and a translating media carriage, the drive roller structure supported by the media carriage. The carriage is mounted for translating movement along a second axis transverse to the first direction, to slew the media along the second axis during printing, and a motor system for rotating the media drive roller and for translating the carriage. The motor system is a single motor/encoder system for driving the carriage and the roller.

Abstract: A device for printing comprising a stationary inkjet-style pen, two stationary motors and a paper holder movable on two axes, a slew axis and an advance axis, wherein the paper is moved into the proper position for each step in the printing process by the paper holder and the two motors.

Abstract: A drive roller for an ink-jet printer. The drive roller has a media engaging surface that is roughened by grit blasting along an entire media engaging longitudinal peripheral extent. The surface is hardened by anodizing. The roller is relatively inexpensive to fabricate yet has a small error on diameter and run out, and high traction due to the surface roughness, to provide highly accurate media positioning performance. The drive roller rotates about shaft mounted bearings. The shaft journal is formed with a small raised bump, which has very loose diametrical tolerance requirements, but is short in comparison to the bearing length dimension. When the bearing is press fit onto the shaft journal, the material forming the raised bump is sheared by the bearing. The sheared material drops into a recess on the journal, and does not interfere with the axial positioning of the bearing. The axial position of the bearing is controlled by placing the bearing next to a shoulder formed on the shaft.

Abstract: A drive roller for an ink-jet printer. The drive roller has a media engaging surface that is roughened by grit blasting along an entire media engaging longitudinal peripheral extent. The surface is hardened by anodizing. The roller is relatively inexpensive to fabricate yet has a small error on diameter and run out, and high traction due to the surface roughness, to provide highly accurate media positioning performance. The drive roller rotates about shaft mounted bearings. The shaft journal is formed with a small raised bump, which has very loose diametrical tolerance requirements, but is short in comparison to the bearing length dimension. When the bearing is press fit onto the shaft journal, the material forming the raised bump is sheared by the bearing. The sheared material drops into a recess on the journal, and does not interfere with the axial positioning of the bearing. The axial position of the bearing is controlled by placing the bearing next to a shoulder formed on the shaft.

Abstract: A technique for altering the operating conditions of a printer/plotter, which includes a laminar medium on which the coded marks are made in accordance with parameter values, an optical detector system for reading the laminar medium, a so-called acquisition system which picks up the signals from the optical system, and a microprocessor which can compare the coded values for the parameters with equivalence tables in order to provide the appropriate instructions to the printer/plotter components for changing the parameter settings.

Abstract: A hard copy apparatus with a print media telescoping tray system is disclosed. The telescoping tray system consists of an output tray, a paper tray, and an output tray position detector. The trays are constrained to translate in one line of motion, a substantially planar path into and out of the front of the apparatus, by nesting the paper tray within the output tray and guiding the trays along the line of motion. The trays telescope in a relatively small vertical opening below the paper feed drive mechanism of the apparatus. The telescoping tray system enables two modes of printing operation by providing a paper output path when in the output tray closed mode and by providing a full tray where printed sheets can be stacked during a multi-sheet or batch print job in an output tray open mode.