CA1294237C - Dust shield for a printer - Google Patents

Dust shield for a printer

Info

Publication number
CA1294237C
CA1294237C CA000551065A CA551065A CA1294237C CA 1294237 C CA1294237 C CA 1294237C CA 000551065 A CA000551065 A CA 000551065A CA 551065 A CA551065 A CA 551065A CA 1294237 C CA1294237 C CA 1294237C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
paper
assembly
particles
printer
sprockets
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
CA000551065A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Anthony Wayne Ebersole
Chuong C. Ta
Robert W. Beauchamp
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
HP Inc
Original Assignee
Hewlett Packard Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hewlett Packard Co filed Critical Hewlett Packard Co
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1294237C publication Critical patent/CA1294237C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41JTYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J29/00Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J29/12Guards, shields or dust excluders

Landscapes

  • Handling Of Sheets (AREA)
  • Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A dust shield for preventing paper dust from fouling a printer and printhead mechanism is disclosed. In a sprocket-wheel paper drive printer, the sprockets are at least partially encased as they enter and exit the holes in the paper. Paper particles are trapped and then channelled away from mechanisms, such as a thermal ink jet cartridge printhead, whose operation may be detrimentally affected by such dust.

Description

~ ~ 12~4~i'7 1 ¦ , DESCRIPTION
2 ¦ DUST SHIELD FOR A PRINTER
¦ BACKGROUND 03? THE INVENTION
41 l. Field of the Invention 51 The present invention generally relates to printers such 61 as those which are commonly used in conjunction with a 81 computer terminal. More particularly, the presant invention l relates to a shielding device for keeping printing media 91 particles away from the printhead and other moving parts of lll the printer that such particles or accumulations of particles 121 can disrupt.
l 2. Description of the Related Art 13¦ one of the problems with the use of computer-type 14¦ printers is paper dust and accumulations o~ paper dust ox the 15¦ interference such can cause to the printhead and other moving 16¦ parts within the printer. For example, in an impact-hammer 17 type printhead, dust can accumulate on the hammerheads and 18 degrade the print ~uality. The problem is increased when the printer uses continuous, ~an-fold paper which has 2 perforations between each sheet. If the paper is of the type 22l which uses sprocket wheel paper advance drive, sprocket holes 23 and perforations also exist along tear-off strips on each side of each sheet, adding further sources of unwanted paper 24 dust.
In fact, experiments by the inventors indicate that the 26 primary source of paper dust is the æprocketiholes themselves. In other words, as the sprocket is inserted and withdrawn during paper advance, the contact between the sprocket and the perimeter of each sprocket hole creates paper dust.
Paper dust is particularly a nuisance to a thermal ink jet printhead which has a set of tiny orifices designed to eject boiled ink vapor droplets. A single particle of paper dust may be sufficient to clog such an orifice. A general description of such ink jet technology can be found, for example, in the Hewlett Packard Journal, Volume 36, Number 5, May 1985.
WALLACE ET AL., U.S. Patent 4,411,706, present a method and apparatus for keeping dust away from ink jet printhead orifices by using an air counterflow technique. This concept requires complicated, costly mechanism design.
Hence, there is a need for a simple means for preventing paper dust from interfering with the operational parts of a printer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Various aspects of the invention are as follows:
A printing media particle shielding device mounted on a printer sprocket wheel drive assembly for advancing printing media, said printer having a means for printing on said media, comprising:
means for initially catching particles emitted by said media at said assembly, having an enclosed channel region for catching and directing said particles away from said means for printing; and means for channeling said particles, attached to said means for initially catching particles, for channeling said particles away from said means for initially catching particles, said assembly, and said means for printing.
A paper dust shield for a printer having a sprocket wheel paper drive assembly for advancing paper, having ,,. ' . . .

~2~;237 edges perforated with peripherally located holes for catching by sprockets of said assembly, past a printhead, comprising:
a component which fully covers the sprockets of said assembly over that portion of said sprocket wheel wherein said sprockets catch said holes and which downwardly channels paper dust particles emitted by the contact of said sprockets with said paper away from said assembly and said printhead.

2a . .
, . . .

~ ~L2~ 37 1 ¦ An advantage of the present invention is that it 2 ¦ decreases the susceptibility of the printhead to paper dust 3 ¦ interference or clogging.
4 ¦ Another advantage of the preferred embodiment of the 51 present invention is that it provides protection for the 61 printhead by holding down the sides of the print media as it 71 passes by the printhead.
81 Other objects, features and advantages of the present 9¦ invention will become apparent upon consideration of the 10¦ following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, 11 in which like reference designations represent like features 12 throughout th~ FIGURES.
13 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
14 FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
16 FIGURE 2 is a schematic plan view (front) of the present 17 invention as shown in FIGURE 1;
18 FIGURES 3-3B are schematic plan views o~ the present 19 invention as shown in FIGURE 1 in which FIGURES 3 and 3A are side views an~ 3B is taken in plane 4-4 as shown in FIGURE 3, 22 and FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the embodiment as 24 shown in FIGURE 1 in combination with a sprocket wheel assembly.
26¦~ he drawings re~erred to in this description should ~e 2~ ~ 3 1 ~294237 1 ¦ understood as not being drawn to scale except if specifically 32 ¦ noted.
¦ D~TAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
4 ~ Reference is made now in detail to a specific embodiment 5 ¦ of the present invention, which illustrates the best mode 6 ¦ presently conte~nplated by the inventor(s) for practicing the 71 invention. Alternative embodiments are also briefly 81 described as applicable. Referring now to FIGURE 1, a 9¦ preferred embodiment of the dust shield 1 of the present 10¦ invention is shown. Each sprocket wheel paper drive assembly 21 of the printer is to be equipped with such a shield 1. The 31 dust shield 1 has two particular features: a sprocket hole 1 1 dust catcher 3 and a channeling plate 5.

The catcher 3, as shown in more detail in FIGURES 2 and 3, is formed to have a curved channel region 7 which will 16 allow free passage o~ paper catching sprockets. A shield 17 strip 9, ~' borders each side of the channel region 7 in 18 order to prevent paper dust particles generated by the sprocket/paper hole contact from being discharged over the rim 11 of the channel region 7 where it still could cause a 2221 problem, such as by transferring to and blocking a printhead 23 orifice (not shown). There i5 al~o provided a keyed pin 13 fox connecting the catcher 3 to a sprocket wheel assqmbly 101 24 as shown in FIGURE 4. The combination o~ keyed pin 13 with fixed pin 14 aligns and~connects the shield 1 to the sproket 26 wheel assembly 101.

28 ~ 4 1 ~2~ 3~

¦ As will be apparent to a person skilled in the art, the l channel region can be made large enough also to guide larger 31 pieces of paper which may be torn loose by the sprocket 41 assembly out of the top of the catcher where they can be 51 easily removed by the operator.
6 The channeling plate 5 in this embodiment is formed of a thin, flexible metal sheet. Its upper edge 15 is connected 8 to the lower edge 17 of the catcher 3, ~uch as by well-known insert molding techniques, e.g. tabs 16 are inserted into the mold prior to plastic injection. The lower portion 19 of the 12 plate 5 has a bend 21. The flat 23 which forms the lower end 25 of the channeling plate 5 has a catch-hole 27 for 13 attaching the channeling plate 5 to the sprocket wheel 14 assembly 101, as shownin FIGURE 4, by allowing a catch projection 103 on the assembly 101 to be inserted into the 16 catch-hole 27.
As will be recognized by a person ~killed in the art, 18 the channeling plate 5 and the shield strips ~, 9' can also 19 act as a paper guide to prevent the sprockets 107 from 221 prematurely releasing the paper. By having the dust shield 1 22 ~ixed to the drive sprocket assembly 101, the need for the 23 operator to open and close typical, known sprocket paper 24 hold-down mechanisms is eliminated. ~
In operation, as can be seen in FIGURE 4, the sprocket wheel 105 rotates (counter-clockwise) and the sprockets 107 26 grab and pull the paper around the wheel assembly 101. As 28~ 5 ~ 237 1 ¦ the wheel 105 turns, the sprockets 107 are partially encased ~¦ firstly by the channelling plate 5 and, secondly, by the 31 catchex 3, the prockets passing unimpaired along the channel 41 7. Paper dust emitted from each hole in the paper tear-off 51 strips falls (generally due to the force of gravity) down the 6 catcher channel region 7 to the channel plate 5. The shield strips 9, 9' prevent dust particles from being emitted over 8 the rim of the channel region 7. The channel plate 5 further 9 directs the paper dust particles away from the operational mechanisms of the printer toward the bottom of the sprocket 11 wheel assembly 101 where it can be sa~ely released to fall to 12 the bottom of the printer housing (not shown). If the sprockets 107 enter the paper holes before reaching the 154 position where the sprocket is in the channel region 7 of the catcher 3, dus~ emitted will ~all directly onto the 16 channeling plate 5 and thus be channelled toward the bottom 17 o~ the printer housing.
18 It will also be recognized by a person skilled in the 19 art that the paper dust shield could be constructèd from many 21 materials. Moreover, the invention could be made as an 2 integral unit and even as an integral member of a sprocket 23 whesl assembly. Furthermore, the dust shield 1 can be made Z4 to be retrofitted to sprocket wheel assemblies by modi~ying the pin 13 and catch-hole 27 to adapt the dust shield to the particular sprocket wheel assembly in ~uestion.

28 ~ ~ 6 ~' I ~ 37 1¦ The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of 21 the present invention has been presented for purposes of 31 illustration and description. It is not intended to be 41 exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form 61 disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will 71 be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. The l embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain 81 the principles of the invention and its practical application l to thereby anable others sXilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various 11 modifications as are suited to the particular use 12 contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention 13 be defined by the claims appended hereto and their e valents.

I

26~;

28 ~ 7 1~ ~

Claims (5)

1. A printing media particle shielding device mounted on a printer sprocket wheel drive assembly for advancing printing media, said printer having a means for printing on said media, comprising:
means for initially catching particles emitted by said media at said assembly, having an enclosed channel region for catching and directing said particles away from said means for printing; and means for channeling said particles, attached to said means for initially catching particles, for channeling said parti-cles away from said means for initially catching particles, said assembly, and said means for printing.
2. The device as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said means for initially catching particlas further comprises shield strip members along each upper rim of said channel region for inhibiting the emission of said particles over said rim.
3. A paper dust shield for a printer having a sprocket wheel paper drive assembly for advancing paper, having edges perforated with peripherally located holes for catching by sprockets of said assembly, past a printhead, comprising:
a component which fully covers the sprockets of said assembly over that portion of said sprocket wheel wherein said sprockets catch said holes and which downwardly channels paper dust particles emitted by the contact of said sprockets with said paper away from said assembly and said printhead.
4. The paper dust shield as set forth in claim 3 wherein said shield is an integral component of said sprocket wheel paper drive assembly.
5. The paper dust shield as set forth in claim 3 further comprising means for attaching said component to said assembly.
CA000551065A 1987-03-11 1987-11-04 Dust shield for a printer Expired - Lifetime CA1294237C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US2464587A 1987-03-11 1987-03-11
US024,645 1987-03-11

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1294237C true CA1294237C (en) 1992-01-14

Family

ID=21821663

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000551065A Expired - Lifetime CA1294237C (en) 1987-03-11 1987-11-04 Dust shield for a printer

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0282207B1 (en)
JP (1) JPS63239075A (en)
CA (1) CA1294237C (en)
DE (1) DE3870677D1 (en)

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3050171A (en) * 1961-05-26 1962-08-21 Teletype Corp Paper exit dust shield
JPS5634474A (en) * 1979-08-31 1981-04-06 Canon Inc Printer
ATE39090T1 (en) * 1985-01-25 1988-12-15 Siemens Ag DOCUMENT PROCESSING DEVICE FOR INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BE SEPARATED FROM A CROSS-PERFORATED CONTINUOUS PAPER WEB.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS63239075A (en) 1988-10-05
EP0282207A3 (en) 1989-02-08
DE3870677D1 (en) 1992-06-11
EP0282207B1 (en) 1992-05-06
EP0282207A2 (en) 1988-09-14

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Legal Events

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MKLA Lapsed