Collapsable core for printer

A printer, comprising:

• a frame having a vertical wall and a floor;
• a housing pivotally joined at hinges;
• a roll of print media held by a media supply roll mounting assembly and mounted on the vertical wall of the frame;
• a printhead assembly;
• a take-up assembly having a spent liner take-up spindle and a collapsible core, the core includes a hollow member having a bore and has a circumference wherein the core is formed of a deformable resilient material and is deformable along the at least one axially extending groove,
• a wall having an interior and exterior surface and a at least one gap formed in the wall and extending from the exterior surface to the interior surface of the wall,
• at least one axially extending ridge formed on the interior surface of the wall of the core, and
• at least one axially extending relief groove formed on the exterior surface of the wall of the core wherein the at least one gap and the at least one axially extending relief groove are disposed substantially equally around the circumference of the core such that there is about equal space between each the gap and at least one groove.

A method of discarding spent material from a core of a take-up assembly of a printer, comprising the steps of:

• providing a printer having a collapsible core, the core having a circumference an outer circumference and includes at least one gap and a groove each extending along the outer circumference of the core and the gap extends from an outer surface of the core to an inner surface of the core wherein the at least one gap and the at least one axially extending relief groove are disposed substantially equally around the circumference of the core such that there is about equal space between each the gap and at least one groove;
• separating spent material wound on the core from any remaining portion of print material in the printer;
• taking the core off of a spindle;
• applying force to a portion of the circumference of the core;
• compressing the gap to reduce a diameter of the core which includes expanding the groove;
• removing the spent material from the core and releasing the force from the core;
• and
• replacing the core back on the spindle.