Self aligning transport mechanism for media of variable media widths
AssigneeMars, Incorporated
InventorsJerome Daout, Mike Nunn, Robert Clauser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus and method for aligning media. The device includes a passageway and at least one rotor. The rotor may have a surface shaped to drive a media in an intermittent fashion, or a plurality of rotors may contact the media in an intermittent fashion. Intermittent drive may also be achieved by modulating the contact pressure between a rotor and the media.
Claims25
An apparatus comprising:
- a passageway;
- and
- at least one rotor (4) having a surface shaped to drive a media (2) in an intermittent fashion.
An apparatus comprising:
- a passageway;
- and
- at least one rotor (4) having a contact surface shaped to drive a media (2) in an intermittent fashion, wherein the rotor surface is generally circular and the intermittent drive is obtained by modulating the contact pressure.
An apparatus comprising:
- a passageway;
- at least one rotor (4) having a continuous and substantially circular contact surface including at least one high friction region (23) and at least one low friction region (24) arranged to drive a media (2) in an intermittent fashion.
A method of aligning media comprising:
- driving media into a media passageway;
- and
- allowing the media to rotate about one or more fixed centers of at least one rotor as the media contacts at least one side wall of the media passageway.
A method of producing a lateral shift in the location of a media comprising:
- driving media into a media passageway;
- and
- shifting the media via a combination of rotations about a plurality of intermittent centers.
A method for continuously driving media comprising:
- driving the media into a passageway having a plurality of rotors;
- and
- transporting the media with drive rotors having surfaces arranged to have intermittent degrees of contact with the media.
A method of aligning media comprising:
- releasing stored strain energy in a flexible media using an intermittent drive system;
- and
- allowing the media to slide against at least one side wall.
A method of transporting flexible media in a media transport system comprising:
- driving the flexible media into a passageway using an intermittent drive system;
- and
- permitting stored strain energy of the flexible media to be released such that the media aligns itself during transport.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.