Controlling vacuum flow for ink-jet hard copy apparatus

A vacuum platen system for transporting a sheet material comprising:

• a platen having ports permitting airflow therethrough at predetermined positions of a surface thereof, wherein said platen has a series of channels oriented across a direction of travel of the belt thereacross, and wherein each of said channels has at least one port coupling each of said channels to said vacuum device, and wherein said channels have a cross-dimension in the direction of travel of the belt thereacross that is less than or equal to a distance separating the belt perforations in the direction of travel of the belt;
• a vacuum device associated with the platen and inducing the airflow, the vacuum device including a vacuum box and a vacuum inducing mechanism associated with the vacuum box for creating a negative pressure within the vacuum box and inducing the airflow in an approximate range of six cubic feet per hour per square inch to one-hundred cubic feet per hour per square inch;
• and
• a transport belt superjacent the surface, having an array of belt perforations such that the perforations through the belt have a diameter less than associated port diameters.