Solenoid Operated Ramp in Printer Paper Control (16-Sep-2009)

A Color Xerographic printer or Printing Press may have an inline spectrophotometer (ILS) which measures the color of the printed sheets as they pass through the printer during printing.  One of the critical parameters of the ILS in use is that the measurement target (paper) must be located to a +/-0.25mm tolerance. The desire is to have a tighter baffle gap only for ILS applications and not normal print jobs, in order to minimize potential paper jams and edge defects.  In order to provide the positional accuracy (+/- 0.25mm) required for an ILS to properly function without inhibiting the paper path for non-ILS jobs, this idea proposes use of an actuated ramp to locally reduce the paper path gap. The nominal paper gap is 2mm, and the ramp would reduce this gap to 0.8mm +/-0.25mm. As part of the machine cycle up procedure, a linear solenoid would be charged, thereby raising the ramp into ILS measurement position. A stepper motor, servo motor or pneumatic valve could be used instead of a solenoid.

This idea proposes a solenoid activated ramp, which is raised prior to an ILS routine. The nominal paper gap is 2mm, and the ramp would reduce this gap to 0.8mm +/-0.25mm. As part of the machine cycle up procedure, a linear solenoid would be charged, thereby raising the ramp into ILS position. Optimiza...