Printer
AssigneeVideojet Technologies Inc.
InventorsJeremy ELLIS, Keith BUXTON
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A printhead for a thermal transfer printer comprising a plurality of printing elements, each of the printing elements being configured to transfer ink from an ink carrying ribbon to a substrate, and at least one sensor arranged to sense ink carrying ribbon. The at least one sensor comprises at least one emitter arranged to emit radiation towards the ribbon and a plurality of receivers. Each of the plurality of receivers is arranged to receive a respective reflected signal reflected by the ribbon, each reflected signal is based upon radiation emitted by the at least one emitter.
Claims20
A printhead for a thermal transfer printer comprising:
- a plurality of printing elements, each of the printing elements being configured to transfer ink from an ink carrying ribbon to a substrate;
- and
- at least one sensor arranged to sense ink carrying ribbon, the at least one sensor comprising at least one emitter arranged to emit radiation towards the ribbon and a plurality of receivers, each of the plurality of receivers being arranged to receive a respective reflected signal reflected by the ribbon, each reflected signal being based upon radiation emitted by the at least one emitter.
A printhead according to claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of receivers is arranged to receive a reflected signal reflected by the ribbon, the reflected signal being based upon a signal emitted by a respective one of the plurality of emitters.
A thermal transfer printer comprising:
- first and second spool supports, respectively receiving first and second spools of ink carrying ribbon;
- a ribbon drive arranged to cause the transfer of ribbon between said first and second spools in a first direction;
- and
- a printhead, the printhead comprising:
- a plurality of printing elements, each of the printing elements being configured to transfer ink from the ink carrying ribbon to a substrate;
- and
- at least one sensor arranged to sense ink carrying ribbon, the at least one sensor comprising at least one emitter arranged to emit radiation towards the ribbon and a plurality of receivers, each of the plurality of receivers being arranged to receive a respective reflected signal reflected by the ribbon, each reflected signal being based upon radiation emitted by the at least one emitter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.