Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-05
2004-01-20
Meier, Stephen (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C347S050000, C400S320000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06679580
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to printers, and more particularly, to supplying power and signal to print carriages.
Some plotters and printers (collectively, “printers”) such as those used with home or business personal computers (PC's) print each swath of text or graphics by moving pens or printheads (collectively, “pens”) relative to paper moving through the printer. Typically, the pens are mounted on a motorized printer carriage that moves back and forth over the paper.
Typically, a flexible cable connects the carriage to a printer control system of the printer. In that configuration, the flexible cable delivers power, provides ground, and delivers data and control signals to the carriage, ultimately controlling the pens.
Such system is illustrated in FIG.
1
. In
FIG. 1
, a printer
10
includes a printer carriage
12
connected to a printer control system
13
(hidden under a receiving station
14
) via a flexible cable
18
. The printer control system
13
is illustrated in FIG.
2
and can include power supply portion and a data and control portion. In the illustrated sample, the carriage
12
includes four pens
16
. Further, in the illustrated sample, the flexible cable
18
is a “ribbon” cable including a plurality of flexible wires.
The flexible cable
18
, tethering the print carriage
12
to the printer control system
13
, degrades quality of the printer due to its mechanical nature. This is better illustrated using FIG.
2
.
FIG. 2
is a simplified schematic representation of the printer
10
of FIG.
1
. Ideally, the pens
16
, thus the carriage
12
, of the printer
10
contact the plane
22
of the paper
24
at a normal angle to the plane
22
of the paper
24
. Any angular rotation or torque of the carriage
12
relative to the plane
22
of the paper
24
decreases print quality. Such angular torque of the carriage
12
are caused by varying torsional forces (illustrated as a directed arc
26
) exerted by the flexible cable
18
as it is stretched, compressed, or otherwise moved during the movement of the carriage
12
. In the illustrated printer
10
, the carriage
12
moves by sliding on a sliding bar
28
in the horizontal directions indicated by a directed line
30
. The degree of torsional force
26
depends on various factors including mass, length, and stiffness of the flexible cable
18
, current slackness and compression of the flexible cable
18
, and speed of the movement of the carriage
12
.
Further, the flexible cable
18
presents hurdles to improvements in print quality and speed. For example, print quality and speed can be improved by increasing the number of pens in the carriage. However, the increase in the number of pens requires heavier wire in the flexible cable
18
to carry more power. Moreover, the increase in the number of pens requires additional data lines in the flexible cable
18
to control the additional pens. The increase in the mass of the flexible cable increases angular torque
26
of the carriage
12
thereby reducing print quality. Moreover, the increase in the mass of the flexible cable
18
decreases the speed in which the carriage
12
can be moved thereby negating the gains in the print speed due to the additional pens.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved apparatus to deliver power, data, and control to the printer carriage to overcome these shortcomings.
SUMMARY
These needs are met by the present invention. According to one aspect of the present invention, a printer has a power bus for delivery of power to a print carriage and a first charge pickup system for transfer of power from the power bus to the print carriage.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a printer comprising includes a power bus and a ground return bus. A first charge pickup system transfers power from the power bus to a print carriage. A second charge pickup system provides a ground return path to the print carriage. The first charge pickup system has a first conductor facilitating the transfer of power and a spring for maintaining contact between the power bus and the print carriage. The second charge pickup system has a second conductor connecting the print carriage to the ground return bus.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5334920 (1994-08-01), Ito et al.
patent: 5396078 (1995-03-01), Klaus et al.
patent: 6123470 (2000-09-01), Chiu
patent: 6130695 (2000-10-01), Childers et al.
patent: 6290333 (2001-09-01), Corrigan, III
Agilent Technologie,s Inc.
Huffman Julian D.
Meier Stephen
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