Abstract: A printhead cartridge and carriage assembly (10) is provided comprising: a carriage (12); a snap-spring (62) for securing a printing cartridge (14) in postion on the carriage; and an interconnect strip (16) for supplying electrical signals to the cartridge, including a force loading spring pad (24) for urging a portion of the interconnect strip against a portion of the cartridge. The cartridge has top (32), bottom (34), sides (36, 38), front (40) and rear (42) surfaces and includes a printhead (44) on the bottom surface, an electrical contact strip (46) on the back surface connected to the printhead, referencing pads (56) on the side surface, and a lip (64) on the back surface for accepting the snap-spring. Referencing surface (60) are provided for receiving the referencing pads on the cartridge. The spring pad urges the interconnect strip against the electrical contact of the cartridge.

Abstract: A novel ink-jet printer (10) is provided. The print provides both paper supply tray (12) and paper collection tray (18) in the front (14) of the printer for ease of paper handling and reduced footprint. The paper collection tray is provided with a pair of opposed output rails (22) which support a sheet of paper (16c) during printing to permit ink on a sheet of paper (16b) previously printed to dry. A paper handling mechanism is provided which eliminates a sheet pickup motor and associated elements. The paper handling mechanism is configured to pick off a sheet of paper from a stack of input paper, bring it around paper drive rollers (24) onto a platen (26), where the printing operation, employing a printhead cartridge (32), occurs. The printer further includes a service station (230) for clearing clogged nozzles in the printhead (33) and removing bubbles therefrom, for covering the nozzles with a protective cap (266), and for wiping contaminants off the nozzles.

Abstract: A locking system is described for detachably securing two workpieces together (e.g., two housing sections). Elongated arms are carried by one workpiece and a corresponding opening(s) is present in the other workpiece. The outer end of each elongated arm is resiliently deflectable so that it is deflected when being inserted into the opening in the one workpiece; then the arm springs back. A locking arm on the second workpiece is then able to move behind the end of the elongated arm to restrict deflection of the arm, thus preventing any unintentional unlocking of the two workpieces.

Abstract: Several problems of alignment associated with ink-jet printers are alleviated by four aspects. In the first, a reverse bow (B) in the paper (12) is created for printing on single sheets of paper. The reverse bow, which in the transverse axis of the paper, forces the paper flat against the platen (14) by using the paper's own stiffness.In the second aspect, the paper and the carriage (30) are referenced to the same part (the carriage guide (10)). In this configuration, the paper is urged against the underside of the carriage guide off of drive rollers (18), through the reverse bow, and onto the platen, where it is printed. The carriage is referenced to the carriage guide through a slider bump by means of a carriage shaft and gravity.The carraige guide comprises stiff thin sheet metal, which is closely-toleranced and has well-controlled dimensions. Thus, this part is good to reference to, rather than molded-in parts, which are not stiff enough at the required thickness.

Abstract: An active paper drop mechanism (20) for ink-jet printers is provided. The mechanism comprises a pair of opposed, movable rail members (22) associated with opposed walls (14) of a horizontal-disposed output collection tray (12) for receiving sheets (10) of printed media.In particular, each rail member is provided with return spring (26) that act to maintain the rails in a closed position. In that position, the rails support a sheet of the print medium during the printing operation, thus giving the ink on the previously printed-on sheet (10') time to dry.The rails are provided with a wing member (32) and are pivotally secured (38) in the floor of the output tray, with the pivot point spaced inwardly from the wing member. Downward pressure against the wing member thus causes the rail to rotate outward from its closed position, into a recess (24) provided in the side of the output tray. This provides sufficient clearance for the sheet to drop into the output stack.

Abstract: A novel ink-jet printer (10) is provided. The printer provides both paper supply tray (12) and paper collection tray (18) in the front (14) of the printer for ease of paper handling and reduced footprint. The paper collection tray is provided with a pair of opposed output rails (22) which support a sheet of paper (16c) during printing to permit ink on a sheet of paper (16b) previously printed to dry.A paper handling mechanism is provided which eliminates a sheet pickup motor and associated elements. The paper handling mechanism is configured to pick off a sheet of paper from a stack of input paper, bring it around paper drive rollers (24) onto a platen (26), where the printing operation, employing a printhead cartridge (32) occurs.The resulting printer is easy to manufacture, has reduced complexity by eliminating components in the paper drive mechanism and is lower in cost.