Wet printed media output management system
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsBaskar Parthasarathy, Sathiyamoorthy T. Sivanandam, Danny Lian Hock Ng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printer having a system to manage the output path of wet printed media is disclosed. In such a system, the wet printed media are held for a time before being ejected into an output tray to avoid the smearing of the wet print markings made on the media. The system achieves this holding time by causing the wet printed media to travel an additional distance over movable ramps before being ejected. In addition, the movements of the ramps are synchronized with the various operations in the printing cycle of the printer.
Claims16
An apparatus for managing wet printed media output in a printer capable of handling multiple media sizes and thicknesses in a multi-user network environment, comprising:
- a drive mechanism for positioning a medium in the printer to receive wet print markings;
- an ejection mechanism operating cooperatively with the drive mechanism for causing the medium to flatten out during wet print marking in a printing operation, and independently for ejecting the wet printed medium in an ejection operation;
- and
- an automated holding member movably connected to the printer so that the automated engagement of the holding member in a first position is synchronized with the printing operation for providing a selected holding distance to hold the wet printed medium advancing past the ejection mechanism, and the automated engagement in a second position is synchronized with the ejection operation for the ejection of the wet printed medium.
A method for managing wet printed media output in a printer capable of handling multiple media sizes and thicknesses in a multi-user network environment, the printer having a drive mechanism, an ejection mechanism and an holding member, comprising the steps of:
- advancing a wet printed medium, by cooperatively operating the drive mechanism and the ejection mechanism in a printing operation when the media receives wet print markings;
- ejecting the wet printed medium by using the ejection mechanism in an ejection operation;
- automating the movement of the holding member;
- engaging the holding member in a first position synchronized with the printing operation for providing a selected holding distance to hold the wet printed medium advancing past the ejection mechanism;
- and
- engaging the holding member in a second position synchronized with the ejection operation for ejecting the wet printed medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.