Printer and substrate cooler for preserving the flatness of substrates printed in ink printers
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsPaul M. Fromm, Erwin Ruiz, David A. VanKouwenberg, Linn C. Hoover
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imaging system includes a substrate cooler that reduces the temperature of substrates bearing dried ink images. The substrate cooler has a plurality of rollers, at least one actuator operatively connected to the plurality of rollers, and a controller operatively connected to the least one actuator. The controller is configured to operate the at least one actuator to move the rollers relative to one another to vary the length of the path along which the substrates move through the substrate cooler.
Claims10
An imaging system comprising:
- at least one marking material device configured to form images on substrates;
- a media transport system configured to move the substrates past the at least one marking material device to form with the at least one marking material device images on the substrates;
- a first dryer configured to dry the substrates after the at least one marking material device has formed images on the substrates;
- and
- a substrate cooler configured to receive the substrates after the substrates have been dried by the dryer, the substrate cooler comprising:
- a plurality of rollers;
- at least one actuator operatively connected to the plurality of rollers;
- a controller operatively connected to the least one actuator, the controller being configured to operate the at least one actuator to move the rollers relative to one another to vary a length of a path along which the substrates move through the substrate cooler and to regulate a speed at which the rollers rotate with reference to a temperature to which the substrates were exposed in the dryer;
- a cooling system having:
- a fluid source;
- a pump operatively connected to the fluid source and to the rollers;
- a heat exchanger operatively connected to the rollers and to the fluid source;
- and
- the controller is also operatively connected to the pump, the controller being further configured to operate the pump to circulate fluid through the rollers, the heat exchanger, and the fluid source to absorb heat from the rollers.
A substrate cooler for an imaging system comprising:
- a plurality of rollers;
- at least one actuator operatively connected to the plurality of rollers;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the least one actuator, the controller being configured to operate the at least one actuator to move the rollers relative to one another to vary a length of a path along which substrates move through the substrate cooler and to regulate a speed at which the rollers rotate with reference to a temperature to which the substrates were exposed in a dryer in the imaging system;
- and
- a cooling system having:
- a fluid source;
- a pump operatively connected to the fluid source and to the rollers;
- a heat exchanger operatively connected to the rollers and to the fluid source;
- and
- the controller is also operatively connected to the pump, the controller being further configured to operate the pump to circulate fluid through the rollers, the heat exchanger, and the fluid source to absorb heat from the rollers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.