Motorized cable mechanism for positioning tractors in a printer
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorPeter Gysling
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cable drive system is provided in which a fixedly mounted reversible motor imparts translational motion to a plurality of pairs of elements such as the right and left pairs of paper moving tractors in a high-speed printer. By means of a continuous cable loop routed around passive rotational elements, each element of a pair of elements, each of which is rigidly attached to the cable, can be translated the same distance in the same direction as the other while the relative alignment of one element with respect to the other element is maintained. Means for selectively translating one pair of elements independently or a plurality of pairs of elements simultaneously while maintaining the distance between the pairs are provided.
Claims19
A drive system for imparting translational motion to a plurality of pairs of elements, the elements of each pair having a fixed relationship with respect to each other, for moving a continuous web element, said drive system comprising:
- a support;
- drive means fixedly mounted on said support for providing rotational motion;
- at least two linking means coupled to the drive means;
- at least two pairs of elements slidably coupled to the support for translational motion with respect to said support, each pair of said elements being fixedly attached to a respective one of said linking means;
- and
- a plurality of routing means mounted on said support for routing each of said linking means such that each of said linking means, responsive to rotational motion of the drive means, moves each element of said pair of elements in the same direction and the same distance with respect to said support.
In a high-speed printer, a system for positioning a plurality of pairs of paper-moving tractors comprising:
- a support;
- drive means fixedly mounted on said support for providing rotational motion;
- at least two linking means coupled to the drive means;
- at least two pairs of tractors slidably coupled to the support for translational motion with respect to said support and each of said pairs of tractors being fixedly attached to a respective one of said linking means;
- and
- a plurality of routing means mounted on said support for routing each of said linking means such that each of said linking means, responsive to rotational motion of the drive means, moves each tractor of said pair of tractors in the same direction and the same distance with respect to said support.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.