Dual-speed drive mechanism
OwnerMichael Nordlund, Manish Agarwalinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dual-speed printer drive mechanism is disclosed. The drive mechanism includes a drive motor, a drive roller for feeding a media sheet toward and through a printing area and a drive transmission for coupling the drive roller to the drive motor for turning the drive roller with different gear reduction ratios. The drive mechanism further includes a gear reduction ratio selector disposed in the drive transmission for selectively turning the drive roller at a first gear reduction ratio for feeding the media sheet to the printing area, and for selectively turning the drive roller at a second gear reduction ratio for feeding the media sheet with precision for image printing while in the printing area.
Claims14
A printer drive mechanism, comprising:
- a drive motor;
- a drive roller for feeding a media sheet towards and through an image printing area;
- a drive transmission for coupling the drive roller to the drive motor for turning the drive roller at different speeds;
- and
- a speed selector disposed in the drive transmission for selecting turning speeds of the drive roller at a first speed for feeding the media sheet to the printing area and at a second speed for feeding the media sheet with precision for image printing while in the printing area, wherein the speed selector comprises a clutch gear coupled to the motor wherein the clutch gear is movable between a first and a second position, wherein the first and second positions respectively correspond to the first and second speeds.
(canceled)
A printer drive mechanism, comprising:
- a drive motor;
- a drive roller for feeding a media sheet towards and through an image printing area;
- a low-reduction gear train coupled to the drive roller and selectively engagable with the drive motor for selectively coupling the drive roller to the drive motor and for turning the drive roller at a first speed;
- a harmonic drive coupled to the drive roller and selectively engagable with the drive motor for selectively coupling the drive roller to the motor and for turning the drive roller at a second speed;
- and
- a clutch gear movable between a first and a second position for selectively engaging one of the low-reduction gear train and the harmonic drive with the drive motor.
A process for feeding a media sheet in a printer, comprising the steps of:
- coupling a low-reduction gear train to a drive roller and a drive motor to feed the media sheet at a first speed towards a print zone in the printer before the media sheet reaches the print zone;
- decoupling the low-reduction gear train from the driver moto when the media sheet reaches the print zone;
- and
- coupling a harmonic drive to the drive motor and the drive roller to feed the media sheet at a second speed through the print zone where images are printed onto the media sheet.
A printer having a drive mechanism for handling a media sheet, the drive mechanism comprising:
- a drive motor;
- a drive roller for feeding a media sheet towards and through an image printing area;
- a low-reduction gear train coupled to the drive roller and selectively engagable with the drive motor for selectively coupling the drive roller to the drive motor and for turning the drive roller at a first speed;
- a harmonic drive coupled to the drive roller and selectively engagable with the drive motor for selectively coupling the drive roller to the motor and for turning the drive roller at a second speed;
- and
- a clutch gear movable between a first and a second position for selectively engaging one of the low-reduction gear train and the harmonic drive with the drive motor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.