Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-25
2002-10-01
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C347S049000, C347S050000, C267S158000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06457804
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to printers in facsimile machines and, more particularly, to the apparatus for mounting print cartridges in these printers for facsimile printing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The general design and construction of carriages that retain and align print cartridges in printers and scan these print cartridges through print zones is well known. Examples of the patents that have issued in the field of ink jet printing technology include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,836 entitled “Printhead Cartridge and Carriage Assembly” by Ta et al. issued Jul. 5, 1988;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,026 entitled “Ink-jet Printer with Printhead Carriage Alignment Mechanism” by Rasmussen et al. issued Oct. 3, 1989;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,018 entitled “Printhead-Carriage Alignment and Electrical Interconnect Lock-in Mechanism” by Pinkerpell issued Mar. 6, 1990; and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,063 entitled “Spring Cartridge Clamp for Inkjet Printer Carriage” by Rhoads issued Feb. 21, 1995.
Prior facsimile machines have proven to be quite satisfactory; however it is believed that facsimile users want a facsimile machine with a smaller profile. In other words, users wish to reproduce all of the currently available facsimile functions in a product of reduced size. This desire has resulted in a need for a smaller printer and with it, a smaller carriage.
Such requirements result in numerous design challenges. First, the forces that a user must exert for the insertion and removal of a print cartridge from a carriage must be kept within an acceptable range, that is to say, to be as small and as comfortable as possible. Second, since the height of the carriage is less, the mechanical moment arm between the datums on the print cartridge and the latch spring is less. More specifically, they are closer together during loading, operating, and unloading. Third, the latch on the present print cartridge is located behind the margin of the print cartridge where in prior cartridges the latch was located at the margin. This positioning reduces the mechanical moment arm even further. Thus, to achieve the same insertion and removal force as is present on larger, prior carriages, the force exerted by the latch spring must be increased. Prior solutions would have made the latch spring stouter, but as a spring gets thicker, it will not bend as far and still spring back. In addition, increasing the size of the latch spring is undesirable because the space available for the spring has been substantially reduced.
Thus, it is apparent from the foregoing that although there arc many different latch spring designs for the carriages in facsimile machines, designing a latch spring for a low height facsimile printer presents many challenges.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly and in general terms, an apparatus according to the invention includes a cantilever spring having a free end and an anchorable end. The spring is doubled back on itself to obtain a long effective length in a short space.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4706097 (1987-11-01), Harmon
patent: 4755836 (1988-07-01), Ta et al.
patent: 4872026 (1989-10-01), Rasmussen et al.
patent: 4907018 (1990-03-01), Pinkerpell et al.
patent: 5106586 (1992-04-01), Muszak et al.
patent: 5392063 (1995-02-01), Rhoads
patent: 6135587 (2000-10-01), Mulh et al.
Kline Daniel S.
Santhanam Ram
Scholz Marcus
Yamamoto Junji
LandOfFree
Spring for latching a print cartridge in a carriage does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Spring for latching a print cartridge in a carriage, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spring for latching a print cartridge in a carriage will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2952078