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EP0631877A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Print material variable support mechanism

Assignee: HP Inc
•
Filing: 1994-06-17
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2014-06-17
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Abstract

Abstract A print material variable support mechanism (10) to reduce buckling of print material (38) toward a printhead (22) during printing. The preferred embodiment includes a moveable platen (12) pivotally mounted adjacent a drive roller (32). The platen is positioned adjacent and below a printhead (22) such that the printhead and the platen define a print zone (26) therebetween. A measuring device (16) is operatively associated with a print controller (18) such that the print controller effects movement of the platen during relatively high ink density printing such that the sheet (38) is allowed to buckle downwardly. In the preferred embodiment, the measuring device (16) is an ink drop counter which determines how many, ink drops are placed on the sheet (38) to create the desired image.

Inventors

  • 👤 Sandra Y. Okazaki
  • 👤 John Paul Harmon

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-27 22:58
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J11/00; B41J11/20; B41J11/0045; B41J11/005; B41J13/00; B41J13/10; B41J13/14

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 125 words
A wet ink printer mechanism (10) to reduce buckling of print medium (38) toward a printhead (22) during printing, the printer mechanism comprising: a moveable platen (12) positioned adjacent a print medium (38) during printing, the platen (12) supporting the print medium (38) during relatively low ink density printing and the platen moving away from the print medium during relatively high ink density printing thereby allowing the print medium to buckle away from a printhead (22) during relatively high ink density printing, and a platen control device including an ink density sensing mechanism (16) operatively associated with the platen (12) to effect movement of the platen away from the print medium when the ink density sensing mechanism (16) senses relatively high ink density during printing.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 48 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 1 which further comprises a buckling limiter (24) positioned adjacent the print medium (38) and downstream from the printhead (22), the buckling limiter preventing the print medium from buckling past the buckling limiter to prevent the print medium from contacting the printhead.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 50 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 1 which further comprises a drive mechanism (14) operatively associated with the platen (12) and the ink density sensing mechanism (16) such that the drive mechanism selectively moves the platen to a retracted position when the sensing mechanism (16) senses relatively high ink density.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 47 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 1 which further comprises a printhead (22) for printing on a print medium (38), the printhead (22), the printhead and the platen defining a print zone (26) therebetween, the print zone having an entrance region (28) and an exit region (30).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 37 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 4 which further comprises a feed device (32) positioned upstream of the print zone entrance region (28), the feed device conveying the print medium through the print zone (26) during printing.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 17 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 1 wherein the ink density sensing mechanism (16) includes a densitometer.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 21 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 1 wherein the ink density sensing mechanism (16) includes a printhead jet firing event counter.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 18 words
The printer mechanism (10) of claim 1 wherein the ink density sensing mechanism (16) includes an optical scanner.

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