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US 11,878,466 B2Granted
Sealing assemblies
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsRhys Owen Mansell, Mohammad Jowkar, Francesc Tarrida Tirado
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Example implementations relate to one or more than one sealing assembly to seal an aperture, coupling two chambers, the aperture being arranged to accommodate a printhead carriage; the assembly comprising: at least a pair of curtains capable of being disposed in a sealing relationship with the aperture; the at least a pair of curtains being capable of being positioned one either side of the printhead carriage, and spooling and unspooling mechanisms comprising a pair of spools onto which the pair of curtains can be spooled and unspooled in response to movement of the printhead carriage to maintain the sealing relationship with the aperture.
Claims17
A sealing assembly comprising:
- a barrier comprised of a pair of sealing curtains positioned to cover and seal an aperture that is arranged to accommodate a printhead carriage, the barrier arranged so that portions of the printhead carriage are placed at separate sides of the barrier, a first curtain in the pair of sealing curtains being positioned on a first side of the printhead carriage and a second curtain in the pair of sealing curtains being positioned on a second side of the printhead carriage that is opposite the first side;
- a primary pair of spools and a secondary pair of spools disposed on the printhead carriage, the first curtain being attached to a first spool in the primary pair of spools and the second curtain being attached to a second spool in the primary pair of spools, the first and second curtains being spooled and unspooled by the first and second spools of the primary pair of spools in response to movement of the printhead carriage;
- a pair of protective curtains attached to the secondary pair of spools, the pair of protective curtains being positioned to overlap with the pair of sealing curtains to reduce particulate pollution on the pair of sealing curtains;
- and
- a biasing member configured to urge one or more of the first or second curtain in the pair of sealing curtains into a sealing relationship with the aperture.
2 more elements
A 3D printer having a sealing assembly comprising:
- a barrier comprised of a pair of sealing curtains positioned to cover and seal an aperture, the barrier arranged so that portions of a printhead carriage are placed at separate sides of the barrier, a first curtain in the pair of sealing curtains being positioned at a first side of the printhead carriage and a second curtain being positioned at a second side the printhead carriage that is opposite the first side;
- spooling and unspooling mechanisms that comprise a primary pair of spools and a secondary pair of spools disposed on the printhead carriage, the first curtain being attached to a first spool in the primary pair of spools and the second curtain being attached to a second spool in the primary pair of spools, the pair of sealing curtains being spooled and unspooled by the primary pair of spools in response to movement of the printhead carriage while maintaining a sealing relationship with the aperture;
- and
- a pair of protective curtains attached to the secondary pair of spools, the pair of protective curtains being positioned to overlap with the primary pair of sealing curtains to reduce particulate pollution on the primary pair of sealing curtains.
1 more element
A sealing assembly comprising:
- a barrier comprised of a pair of sealing curtains positioned to cover and seal an aperture, the barrier arranged so that portions of a printhead carriage are placed at separate sides of the barrier, a first curtain in the pair of sealing curtains being positioned on a first side of the printhead carriage and a second curtain in the pair of sealing curtains being positioned on a second side of the printhead carriage that is opposite the first side;
- a primary pair of spools and a secondary pair of spools disposed on the opposite sides of the printhead carriage, the first curtain being attached to a first spool in the primary pair of spools and the second curtain being attached to a second spool in the primary pair of spools, the first and second curtains being spooled and unspooled by the first and second spools of the primary spools in response to movement of the printhead carriage to maintain a sealing relationship with the aperture;
- a pair of protective curtains attached to the secondary pair of spools, the pair of protective curtains being positioned to overlap with the primary pair of sealing curtains to reduce particulate pollution on the primary pair of sealing curtains;
- and
- a rotating mechanical coupling that extends between the primary pair of spools to mechanically couple, and rotate with, the primary pair of spools to synchronize rotation of the primary pair of spools that occurs with, or in response to, movement of the printhead carriage.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.