Method Of Collecting Print Media In A Vertical Orientation

1 . A method of collecting printed sheets of media from a printer, comprising the steps of:

ejecting a printed sheet from the printer;

allowing said sheet to fall from the printer assuming a substantially vertical path;

capturing the leading edge of said sheet; and

applying a retaining force to said sheet, said retaining force having a component substantially perpendicular to said substantially vertical path; and

collecting said sheet on a retaining surface, said retaining surface being inclined with respect to said substantially vertical path.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer has a pagewidth inkjet printhead.

3 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing the retaining surface with an incline of about 10° to 15° from said substantially vertical path.

4 . A method according to claim 3 , further comprising the step of arranging a stop surface which projects from the retaining surface substantially orthogonal to the incline of the retaining surface,

wherein, in the capturing and force applying steps the leading edge of said sheet contacts the stop surface thereby stopping the motion thereof along said substantially vertical path and applying said retaining force thereto.

5 . A method according to claim 4 , further comprising the step of providing the retaining surface with an incline of about 10° to 15° from said substantially vertical path, whereby the stop surface is provided with an angle of about 10° to 15° from the horizontal.

6 . A method according to claim 4 , further comprising the step of imparting a lateral curvature to said sheet collected on the retaining surface orthogonal to said substantially vertical path.

7 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the step of allowing said sheet to fall, said sheet is allowed to fall under gravity to assume said substantially vertical path.

8 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer comprises:

a media supply for supplying media for printing;

a printhead for printing on said media;

a print media collector for collecting said printed media in said capture, force application and collection steps; and

a transport device for transporting the media through a delivery path from the media supply to the media collector via the printhead, the media supply and collector being substantially vertically disposed and the media delivery path passing through an angle of at least 140°.

9 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer is arranged to print on media supplied from a media supply and deliver printed media to a media collector in said capture, force application and collection steps, the printer comprising:

a base;

a print engine for printing an image on media; and

a substantially vertically extending body connecting the base and the print engine, said body having at least two substantially vertically extending surfaces, the media supply being provided on a first surface of said surfaces of the body and the media collector being provided on a second surface of said surfaces of the body.

10 . A method according to claim 1 performed in a system for collecting printed sheets of media from the printer, the system comprising:

a print engine having a printhead for printing images on sheets of media and an outlet arranged to eject said printed sheets from the print engine in a substantially vertical path; and

a collector disposed beneath said outlet having a collection surface inclined with respect to said substantially vertical path for collecting said ejected sheets and a foot portion projecting from the collection surface, the foot portion being arranged to project into the substantially vertical path of said ejected sheets and has a contact surface arranged to contact a leading edge of said sheets to stop movement thereof in said substantially vertical path, said contact surface being arranged to urge said sheets toward the collection surface for collection.

11 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein, in said capture, force application and collection steps, a collector for collecting media fed from the printer is used, the collector comprising:

a substantially vertical collection surface adapted to collect one or more sheets of print media fed from said printer in a substantially vertical direction and to retain said one or more sheets in a substantially vertical orientation, the collection surface being arranged to impart a lateral curvature to the collected print media orthogonal to the feed direction of the print media.

12 . A method according to claim 1 performed in a system for indicating a state of the printer, the system comprising:

a light source arranged to emit light of a plurality of colours;

a light transmitting channel extending along a surface of the printer and arranged so as to transmit light from the light source and emit said light along a length of the channel; and

a controller arranged to control the light source in response to a detected operational state of the printer, so that the light transmitting channel emits predefined different colours to indicate predefined different states of the printer.

13 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer comprises:

a housing having a print engine for printing;

a media supply tray for receiving media for printing by said print engine, said print media supply tray arranged to be received by the housing so that said media is maintained in a substantially vertical orientation; and

a retaining element provided on the housing and arranged to contact the media when the supply tray is received by the housing so as to retain the media in said substantially vertical orientation.

14 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer comprises:

a print media supply for supplying media for printing;

a printhead for printing on said media;

a print media collector for collecting said printed media in said capture, force application and collection steps;

a transport device for transporting the media through a delivery path from the media supply to the media collector via the printhead; and

a detachable stand for supporting the media supply, the printhead and the media collector in an operating orientation in which the media supply and collector are substantially vertically disposed and the media delivery path defines an angle of at least 140°.

15 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer is a desktop printer comprising a pagewidth printhead arranged as a two-dimensional array of at least 5000 printing nozzles for printing across the width of media supplied from a substantially vertically orientated media supply and delivered to a substantially vertically orientated media collector after printing, the media supply and collector being provided on different sides of a substantially vertically extending body of the printer.

16 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the printer is a desktop printer comprising an array of ink ejecting nozzles configured as a pagewidth printhead arranged to print on media supplied from a substantially vertically orientated media supply by ejecting drops of ink across the width of said media at a rate of at least 50 million drops per second and to deliver the printed media to a substantially vertically orientated media collector, the media supply and collector being provided on different sides of a substantially vertically extending body of the printer.