Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-12
2001-08-28
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
active
06280018
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to printers utilizing removable printing structures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Printers such as ink-jet printers employ printing elements which require periodic removal and replacement. In the case of ink-jet printers, the printing elements include nozzle arrays typically mounted on pens or print cartridges, and can require periodic replacement as the nozzle array wears out, becomes clogged, or when an internal ink supply becomes exhausted.
In the past, the user has manually inserted and removed the ink-jet pens or print cartridges into receptacles on the printer, e.g. on a traversing carriage. This in turn requires that the receptacles be readily accessible to the user, typically by lifting a cover to gain access. User access becomes problematic for some printers, and so it would be advantageous to provide a solution to the problem of removing and replacing ink-jet pens, print cartridges or other printing elements in a printer in which the user does not have ready access to the receptacle in which the printing element is mounted during printing operations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a printer is described wherein a pen carrier is provided for transporting the pen from a front panel or other location readily accessible to the user, to the printer carriage receptacle which holds the pen during printing operations. The user simply drops the ink jet pens into position on the carrier, and initiates a load sequence. The carrier then takes the pens and loads them into the carriage for printing. This allows simple loading and unloading of ink-jet pens even when the carriage is buried at the back of the machine and the user only has access to the front face of the machine.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for loading ink-jet pens into a traversing carriage of an ink-jet printer is described, and includes the following:
loading an ink-jet pen into a pen shuttle positioned at a shuttle access station;
with the carriage positioned at a carriage loading station, moving the pen shuttle from the access station to the carriage loading station;
transferring the pen from the pen shuttle to a pen stall in the carriage.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a printer is disclosed, and includes a traversing carriage having a receptacle for holding a printing element during printing operations. A printing element shuttle is arranged for movement along a shuttle path which includes a shuttle access station and a carriage loading station. The printer further has a shuttle drive system for moving the shuttle along the shuttle path, the shuttle and the carriage arranged to transfer a printing element between the carriage and the shuttle with the carriage positioned at the carriage loading station.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4135245 (1979-01-01), Kemplin et al.
patent: 4920357 (1990-04-01), Johnson
patent: 5455609 (1995-10-01), Gast et al.
Belon Juan B.
Escobedo Sergio
Mayer Jeremy F.
Schwiebert William H.
Hewlett--Packard Company
Le N.
Vo Anh T. N.
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