Ink jet printer

A printer for successively printing upon a plurality of sheets of print receiving material by printing along a plurality of print lines on each sheet comprising:

• rotatable support means for supporting a sheet of print receiving material,
• drive means for rotating said rotatable support means,
• supply means, positioned adjacent one side of said rotatable support means, for loading a sheet of print receiving material thereon,
• a print head, adjacent said rotatable support means, for printing along a number of said plurality of print lines during each rotation of said rotatable support means such that, after a plurality of rotations of said rotatable support means, printing is accomplished along all of said plurality of print lines,
• ejector means, positioned adjacent said rotatable support means on a side thereof substantially opposite said supply means, for removing a sheet of print receiving material from said rotatable support means after printing is accomplished along all of said plurality of print lines, and
• control means for controlling loading of a sheet by said supply means and removal of a sheet by said ejector means such that printing is initiated before a sheet is completely loaded onto said support means, continues during a plurality of rotations of said support means, and terminates after a portion of the sheet has been removed, whereby the time required for loading and unloading of a sheet is minimized and the overall speed of the printer is enhanced.

A method of printing successively upon a plurality of sheets of print receiving material, printing occurring along a plurality of parallel print lines on each sheet to form a print image thereon, comprising the steps of:

• (a) rotating a sheet supporting drum adjacent a printer,
• (b) supplying a sheet of print receiving material to the rotating sheet supporting drum and loading said sheet thereon,
• (c) initiating printing along a number of print lines on said sheet of print receiving material as said sheet is loaded onto said drum,
• (d) rotating said drum a predetermined number of times while printing along different ones of said plurality of print lines during each rotation of said drum,
• (e) removing said sheet from said drum on a side of said drum substantially opposite to that at which said sheet was loaded onto said drum,
• (f) continuing printing of said sheet during removal of said sheet from said drum,
• (g) initiating loading of a sheet of print receiving material onto said drum prior to termination of printing of the sheet being removed from said drum, and
• (h) repeating each of said steps (c) - (g) for each successive sheet which is to be printed.