Chris A Rasmussen

US Patent:

47596490, Jul 26, 1988

Filed:

Feb 24, 1987

Appl. No.:

7/018242

Inventors:

Kieran B. Kelly - Vancouver WA
William R. Huseby - Vancouver WA
Robert P. Callaway - Vancouver WA
Chris A. Rasmussen - Vancouver WA

Assignee:

Hewlett-Packard Company - Palo Alto CA

International Classification:

B41J 1128
B41J 1516

US Classification:

4006163

Abstract:

Method and apparatus are provided for moving perforated continuous paper (10) through a dual axis printer (12), with both axes (14, 30) driven, while regulating the feed with the perforations and maintaining a controlled tension (38a) in the paper between the two driven axes. The novel approach in this invention is the addition of a set of spring-loaded friction surfaces (56a-62a), incorporated into a gear transmission (50), which limit the amount of torque which can be transmitted to the unregulated drive axis, with the direct effect of controlling the tension in the paper between the two axes. In order to create this tension, the unregulated axis is driven at a slightly greater speed than the regulated axis (with speed measured in terms of inches of paper per revolution of the driven gear (20)). In normal operation, the slack in the paper is taken up, to the point at which the tension is at the correct level, and then enough slip occurs at the friction surfaces to drive the same amount of paper at both the regulated drive (16) and unregulated drive (32). The unregulated drive is only overdriven slightly (e. g. , about 0.

US Patent:

57679886, Jun 16, 1998

Filed:

Feb 13, 1996

Appl. No.:

8/601421

Inventors:

Michael D. Dobbs - Vancouver WA
Gary K. Cutler - Battle Ground WA
David B. Patton - Vancouver WA
Wallace T. Thrash - Portland OR
Chris A. Rasmussen - Vancouver WA

Assignee:

Hewlett-Packard Company - Palo Alto CA

International Classification:

H04N 104

US Classification:

358474

Abstract:

A scanner is housed in a similar body to that of a removable printer ink jet cartridge and can be inserted in place thereof. The scanner includes a light source mounted on the scanner housing which is able to emit light through an aperture in the housing, a CCD array mounted on the housing to receive light reflected off the image, a lens positioned between the image and the CCD for focusing the reflected light on the CCD, scanner electronics coupled to the CCD array for converting the analog output of the CCD to image data, and means for selecting between optically scanning media or printing thereupon. The scanner electronics transmits the image data to a printer CPU via a flexible interconnect which is normally used to select the individual nozzles of the removable printer cartridge. The printer CPU can forward the image data to a host personal computer for permanent storage in a first mode or store the image data in printer memory for contemporaneous reproduction in a second copy mode.