Print media loading mechanism having displaceable endless belts
View Patent ↗A print media loading mechanism for a modular printer assembly is disclosed. A pair of opposed endless belts is provided. Each belt passes around a pair of rollers. Opposed roller pairs are slidably received by sliders attached to a frame of the printer assembly. A pair of arms is attached to each opposed roller pair, the pair of arms having a common pivot point. A traversing mechanism connects to each pair of arms at the common pivot point. A drive assembly, including at least one worm screw and motor which rotates the worm screw, is also provided. The worm screw interacts with the traversing mechanism in order to move the traversing mechanisms apart and closer together respectively. This in turn moves the opposed endless belts apart and closer together respectively.
1. A print media loading mechanism for a modular printer assembly, the loading mechanism comprising:
a pair of opposed endless belts;
two pairs of rollers, each belt passing around one of the pairs of rollers;
sliders attached to a frame of the printer assembly for slidably receiving opposed roller pairs;
a pair of arms attached to each opposed roller pair, the pair of arms having a common pivot point;
a traversing mechanism connected to each pair of arms at the common pivot point; and
a drive assembly including at least one worm screw and motor for rotating the worm screw, the worm screw interacting with the traversing mechanism for moving the traversing mechanisms apart and closer together respectively, thereby moving the opposed endless belts apart and closer together respectively.
2. The loading mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the belts are foraminous allowing warm air to pass through the belts.
3. The loading mechanism of claim 1 , which includes two motors and respective worm screws with traversing blocks and arms connected to the rollers on opposite sides of the endless belts.
4. The loading mechanism of claim 1 , having a driving motor fixed to the frame for rotating at least one of the rollers.
5. The loading mechanism of claim 4 , which is configured to feed media into the printer assembly by the motor pulling the rollers together until the belts abut, and the drive motor feeding a leading edge of media in between the belts and through the printer assembly.
6. The loading mechanism of claim 5 , which is configured to move the opposed endless belts apart once the media has been fed through the printer assembly.
7. The loading mechanism of claim 6 , which is configured so that the belts are spaced from, and do not bear against the media, during operation of the printer assembly.