Single decurler configuration for reduced contamination of decurler

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9370940-B1
Application number	US-201514849817-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 10, 2015
Priority date	Sep 10, 2015
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

A method, non-transitory computer readable medium and apparatus for reducing contamination on a decurler in a printer are disclosed. For example, the method includes printing, by a marking engine, an image on a paper on a first side, inverting, by a first inverter, the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an opposite direction than when passing through the marking engine and decurling, by the de-curler, the paper such that the image on the first side contacts a soft roller of the upstream de-curler.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for reducing contamination on a decurler in a printer, comprising:
printing, by a marking engine, an image on a paper on a first side;
inverting, by a first inverter, the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an opposite direction than when passing through the marking engine; and
decurling, by the decurler, the paper such that the image on the first side contacts a soft roller of an upstream decurler.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image is printed with a water based ink.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printing, by the marking engine, the image on the paper on the first side further comprises:
passing the paper through a registration module;
marking the paper with the image on the first side; and
drying the image on the first side of the paper.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying, by a pre-curler, an up curl to the paper before entering the marking engine.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
moving the paper through one or more transport paths; and
outputting the paper to a paper tray for a simplex path in an 1−N order.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
moving the paper through one or more transport paths;
inverting, by a second inverter, the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an original direction as when passing through the marking engine; and
outputting the paper to a paper tray for simplex path in an N−1 order.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
printing, by the marking engine, a second image on the paper on a second side for duplex printing before the paper enters the first inverter.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
moving the paper through one or more transport paths; and
outputting the paper to a paper tray for a duplex path for an 1−N order.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
moving the paper through one or more transport paths;
inverting, by a second inverter, the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an original direction as when passing through the marking engine; and
outputting the paper to a paper tray for duplex path for an N−1 order.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions, which when executed by a processor, perform operations for reducing contamination on a decurler in a printer, the operations comprising:
causing a marking engine to print an image on a paper on a first side;
causing a first inverter to invert the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an opposite direction than when passing through the marking engine; and
causing the decurler to decurl the paper such that the image on the first side contacts a soft roller of an upstream de-curler.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the image is printed with a water based ink.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the causing the marking engine to print the image on the paper on the first side further comprises:
causing the paper to pass through a registration module;
causing a marker to mark the paper with the image on the first side; and
causing a dryer to dry the image on the first side of the paper.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
causing a pre-curler to apply an up curl to the paper before entering the marking engine.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
causing the paper to move through one or more transport paths; and
causing the paper to be outputted to a paper tray for a simplex path in an 1−N order.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
causing the paper to move through one or more transport paths;
causing a second inverter to invert the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an original direction as when passing through the marking engine; and
causing the paper to be outputted to a paper tray for simplex path for an N−1 order.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
causing the marking engine to print a second image on the paper on a second side for duplex printing before the paper enters the first inverter.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising:
causing the paper to move through one or more transport paths; and
causing the paper to be outputted to a paper tray for a duplex path for an 1−N order.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising:
causing the paper to move through one or more transport paths;
causing a second inverter to invert the paper so that the image on the first side is facing in an original direction as when passing through the marking engine; and
causing the paper to be outputted to a paper tray for duplex path for an N−1 order.

19. An inkjet printer, comprising:
a marking path comprising a registration, a marker and a dryer;
a first transport path located after the marking path;
a pre-inverter located after the marking path and the first transport path to invert a paper so that a most recently printed image on a respective side of the paper is facing in an opposite direction than when passing through the marking engine;
a single decurler located after the pre-inverter comprising a rubber roller and a stainless steel roller, wherein the most recently printed image on the respective side of the paper contacts the rubber roller and does not contact the stainless steel roller;
at least one second transport path located after the single decurler; and
a paper tray located after the at least one second transport path.

20. The inkjet printer of claim 19 , further comprising:
a pre-curler located before the marking path to add an up curl to the paper before entering the marking path; and
a post inverter located after the at least one second transport path and before the paper tray for outputting the paper to the paper tray in an N−1 order.

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Lefevre Jason Matthew
• Levy Michael Jon
• Vankouwenberg David Alan

Classifications

• B41J11/0005 Primary

  Curl smoothing, i.e. smoothing down corrugated printing material, e.g. by pressing means acting on wrinkled printing material · CPC title