U.S. patent application number 12/267605 was filed with the patent office on 2010-04-08 for printing media loading apparatus.
Invention is credited to Chun-Chia Huang.
Application Number | 20100084811 12/267605 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42075172 |
Filed Date | 2010-04-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100084811 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang; Chun-Chia |
April 8, 2010 |
PRINTING MEDIA LOADING APPARATUS
Abstract
A printing media loading apparatus includes a roller that has a
narrow slit thereon and is used for loading a printing media. There
are two nicks respectively on the two sides of the roller, and the
narrow slit extends to the two nicks. The printing media loading
apparatus further includes at least a detachable fixing unit,
installed in a nick on one of the two sides of the roller for
fixing the diameter of the roller.
Inventors: |
Huang; Chun-Chia; (Taipei
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NORTH AMERICA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 506
MERRIFIELD
VA
22116
US
|
Family ID: |
42075172 |
Appl. No.: |
12/267605 |
Filed: |
November 9, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/264 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03B 27/462
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/264 |
International
Class: |
B65H 5/06 20060101
B65H005/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 8, 2008 |
TW |
097138670 |
Claims
1. A printing media loading apparatus, comprising: a roller, for
loading a printing media; wherein the roller comprises a narrow
slit thereon.
2. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 1, wherein the
narrow slit extends to two sides of the roller.
3. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 2, further
comprising: a detachable fixing unit, installed in the narrow slit
on the roller for fixing the diameter of the roller.
4. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 2, wherein there
are two nicks respectively on the two sides of the roller, the
narrow slit extends to the two nicks, and the printing media
loading apparatus further comprises: at least a detachable fixing
unit, installed in a nick on one of the two sides of the roller for
fixing the diameter of the roller.
5. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 4, wherein there
are two omega-shaped, C-shaped or T-shaped protrusions on two sides
of the detachable fixing unit, and the two protrusions match the
nick on one side of the roller.
6. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 4, wherein the
detachable fixing unit comprises a detaching hole.
7. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 2, wherein the
narrow slit extends along an axial direction of the roller.
8. The printing media loading apparatus of claim 1, being a photo
paper loading apparatus.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a printing media loading
apparatus, and more particularly, to a printing media loading
apparatus that has a roller having a narrow slit thereon for
loading a printing media.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] In the present market, commercial photo printers usually use
roller type photo papers, in which the photo paper to be printed is
rolled onto the roller layer by layer. When transporting the roller
type photo paper, the shapes of the photo paper and the roller will
change as environmental factors (e.g., temperature or moisture)
change. Since the respective coefficients of expansion of the photo
paper and the roller are different from each other, the degree of
shape change of the photo paper and the roller will be not the
same. Accordingly, the inner layers of the rolled photo paper that
are closest to the roller will incur dents (compressed marks)
caused by the start of the photo paper, and these dents will
decrease the quality of the printed photos. Conventionally, the
photo paper is discarded when it incurs dents, and more photo paper
is prepared, to solve the abovementioned problem. The cost of
preparing more paper can be high. Thus, preventing the inner layers
of the rolled photo paper from incurring dents while not increasing
the cost of the paper is an urgent problem in this field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It is therefore one of the objectives of the present
invention to provide a printing media loading apparatus whose
roller for loading a printing media has a narrow slit thereon, to
resolve the above-mentioned problem.
[0006] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, a printing media loading apparatus is disclosed. The
printing media loading apparatus comprises a roller, which is for
loading a printing media, wherein the roller comprises a narrow
slit thereon.
[0007] These and other objectives of the present invention will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is an exploded diagram illustrating a printing media
loading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating that a detachable fixing
unit is installed on a roller for the printing media loading
apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a detailed schematic diagram illustrating the
detachable fixing unit shown in FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a detailed schematic diagram illustrating how the
detachable fixing unit is installed on the roller shown in FIG.
2.
[0012] FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a protrusion of
a detachable fixing unit of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 6 is another exemplary diagram illustrating a
protrusion of a detachable fixing unit of the present
invention.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a detachable fixing unit
according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a printing media loading
apparatus according to another embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] Certain terms are used throughout the description and
following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled
in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component
by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish
between components that differ in name but not function. In the
following description and in the claims, the terms "include" and
"comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be
interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to . . . ".
[0017] Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is an exploded diagram
illustrating a printing media loading apparatus 100 according to an
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the
printing media loading apparatus 100 includes a roller 110 for
loading a printing media, such as photo paper. The roller 110
includes a narrow slit 112 thereon. In this embodiment, the narrow
slit 112 extends to the two sides of the roller 110 along an axial
direction of the roller 110; however, this is not a limitation of
the prevent invention. In another embodiment of the present
invention, the narrow slit 112 can extend to the two sides of the
roller 110 along any directions. When the roller 110 expands and
changes shape as the environment changes, for example, when the
temperature rises, and the roller 110 is rolled with a printing
media (e.g., photo paper), the roller 110 rolled with the printing
media substantially expands towards the narrow slit 112 (direction
A shown in FIG. 1) instead of from inside to outside (direction B
shown in FIG. 1). Accordingly, the inner layers of the rolled photo
paper that are closest to the roller 110 will not easily incur
dents (compressed marks) caused by the start of the photo
paper.
[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, in the embodiment of the printing media
loading apparatus 100, there are two nicks 114 respectively on the
two sides of the roller 110, and the narrow slit 112 extends to the
two nicks 114. In addition, the printing media loading apparatus
100 further includes two detachable fixing units 120. When the
printing media (e.g., photo paper) is intended to be rolled on the
roller 110, the fixing units 120 can be installed in nicks 114 on
the two sides of the roller 110 respectively in order to fix the
diameter of the roller 110 (as shown in FIG. 2). When the printing
media has been completely rolled on the roller 110, the fixing
units 120 can be detached from the roller 110 to ensure that the
inner layers of the printing media will not incur dents (compressed
marks) during transportation.
[0019] Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a detailed schematic
diagram illustrating the detachable fixing unit 120 shown in FIG.
1. In this embodiment, there are two omega (.OMEGA.) shaped
protrusions 122 on two sides of the fixing unit 120. The
omega-shaped protrusions 122 can match the nick 114 on the side of
the roller 110 to fix the diameter of the roller 110 (as shown in
FIG. 4). In addition, the detachable fixing unit 120 further
includes a detaching hole 124, which can help detach the fixing
unit 120 from the roller 110.
[0020] Please note that the fixing units 120 are not limited to be
installed on the roller 110 to fix the roller 110's diameter by
means of the omega-shaped protrusions 122 in the present invention.
In other words, the fixing units 120 can be installed on the roller
110 to fix the diameter of the roller 110 by any means. Take FIG. 5
for example, which is an exemplary diagram illustrating a
protrusion of a detachable fixing unit of the present invention. As
shown in FIG. 5, the fixing units 520 are installed on the roller
510 to fix the roller 510's diameter by means of the C-shaped
protrusions 522. Take FIG. 6 for another example, which is another
exemplary diagram illustrating a protrusion of a detachable fixing
unit of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the fixing units
620 are installed on the roller 610 to fix the roller 610's
diameter by means of the T-shaped protrusions 622. In another
embodiment of the present invention, the printing media loading may
only comprise one detachable fixing unit that is disposed in the
narrow slit 112 on the roller 210. Take FIG. 7 for example, which
is a diagram illustrating a detachable fixing unit according to
another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7,
the printing media loading apparatus 700 comprises only a
detachable fixing unit 720, which is disposed in the narrow slit
712 and nicks 714 to fix the roller 710's diameter. In addition, in
the present invention, the fixing units 120 are optional units. In
other words, in other embodiments of the present invention, the
printing media loading apparatus 100 does not include any fixing
units but is still able to ensure that the inner layers of the
printing media will not incur dents (compressed marks) during
transportation. Take FIG. 8 for example, which is a diagram
illustrating a printing media loading apparatus according to
another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8,
the narrow slit 812 of the printing media loading apparatus 800
does not go through the surface of the roller 810, so there is no
requirement for a detachable fixing unit to fix the roller 810's
diameter.
[0021] Compared with the prior art, the printing media loading
apparatus of the present invention utilizes the formation of a
narrow slit on the roller to solve the problem of the inner layers
of the rolled paper incurring dents (compressed marks), and does
not increase the cost of the paper.
[0022] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention.
* * * * *