Photography – Fluid-treating apparatus – Having photographic medium feed
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-29
2001-05-29
Matthews, Alan A. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Fluid-treating apparatus
Having photographic medium feed
C347S262000, C347S264000, C271S304000, C355S027000, C355S028000, C242S533500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240260
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to buffering and transferring sheets of cut media between functional components having different processing speeds within an imagesetting system, and more specifically to a method and system for compensating for a speed differential between an imagesetter and an on-line development/finishing processor in an electronic pre-press system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In existing electronic pre-press systems, images to be printed by offset printing are scanned from photographic sources and digitized. The digitized images are then transmitted to a raster image processor (RIP) for half-tone screening and image rasterization. The rasterized image is then transmitted to an imagesetter for recording of the image onto a medium. Such recording is referred to as imaging or imagesetting, and may for example be performed by photographic recording of an image onto a photosensitive medium such as paper, film, or printing plates. A medium which has had an image recorded onto it by an imagesetter is referred to as imaged medium.
Existing pre-press systems typically include independent functional units for recording images and for subsequent processing. A typical photographic imagesetter operates to record a predefined image onto a medium, for example by first mounting the medium onto the internal surface of a drum (i.e. in an internal drum imagesetter), then exposing the medium with a laser beam via a rotatable, optically reflective element mounted on the interior of the drum. The medium typically may be supplied as a web or as a cut sheet.
Subsequent to imaging, the imaged medium is passed to a development/finishing processor, where the medium will undergo chemical processing for photographically developing, fixing and washing. Alternatively, if the image was burned into the media by a laser, then mechanical finishing would occur in the processor. If the media was supplied by a continuous web, each sheet of exposed media is cut prior to entry into the processor.
Early pre-press systems used off-line development processors. In such early systems, imaged media was collected onto a take up cassette connected to an output of the imagesetter, and then manually transported to the off-line processor. More recent systems have coupled the imagesetter to an on-line processor, which inputs the imaged media directly, automatically from the imagesetter.
A significant drawback of existing systems using on-line processors results from the different processing speeds of the imagesetter and the processor. This and other problems were addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,301 issued Jun. 23, 1998 to Hebert et al. herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for supplemental background information which is not essential but is helpful in appreciating the applications of the present invention. Hebert et al. discloses a media transport bridge for use in transporting and buffering imaged media between an imagesetter and a processor. When a medium is output from the imagesetter, it is transferred to a bridge mechanism between the imagesetter and the processor. The bridge mechanism holds the medium for a predetermined period of time while waiting for the processor to become available. When the processor's availability is detected, the medium is transferred from the bridge to the processor, and the bridge thereafter becomes available to store a second sheet of media from the imagesetter. However, during the time while the bridge is waiting for the processor to accept the second sheet of media, the imagesetter may have to be stalled, waiting for the bridge to become available. Such stalling of the imagesetter potentially causes an unacceptable reduction in overall media throughput. Moreover, existing bridge mechanisms often have high profiles, resulting in undesirably large form factors for products in which they are included.
SUMMARY
It is an object of the present invention to provide in an imagesetting system an apparatus and method for transferring and buffering imaged media sheets between two components so as to compensate for any transfer speed differential between the components. It is another object to provide such an apparatus and method for transferring and buffering imaged media sheets between an imagesetter and an image processor in an imagesetting system, so that the apparatus is compact with a low profile which significantly decreases the overall weight and dimensions of the imagesetting system. These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in view of the following description, drawings and claims.
A system and method for transferring and buffering sheets of media between first and second components of an imagesetting system operates by: moving a transfer buffer having at least two storage devices, to align a first storage device with the first component while concurrently aligning a second storage device with the second component; transferring a first sheet of said media from the first component to the first storage device; moving the transfer buffer to align the first storage device with the second component while concurrently aligning the second storage device with the first component; and transferring the first sheet of the media from the first storage device to the second component while simultaneously transferring a second sheet of the media from the first component to the second storage device. The transfer system includes: a transfer buffer having at least two storage devices mounted thereon, each said storage devices moveable within the transfer buffer and capable of storing one sheet of imaged media; and a controller for automatically controlling operation of the transfer system.
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Krupica Libor
Newton, Jr. Arthur R.
Agfa Corporation
Matthews Alan A.
Sabourin Robert A.
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