Modular printer assembly with arcuate printheads

Abstract

A modular printer assembly includes a housing having an upper cover, a lower cover, a first side wall, and a second side wall opposing the first side wall; a pair of communication ports, a first communication port of the pair for connecting the modular printer assembly with a first external printer assembly, and the second communication port of the pair for connecting the modular printer assembly with a second external printer assembly, whereby the modular printer assembly is included in a daisy chain of printer assemblies; and a print engine having two printhead assemblies defining a media feed path therebetween, each of the two printhead assemblies having two arcuate printheads provided adjacent each other in a downstream direction. Each arcuate printhead has a radius of curvature approximating a radius of a respective roller assembly provided adjacent each arcuate printhead.

1 . A modular printer assembly comprising:
 a housing having an upper cover, a lower cover, a first side wall, and a second side wall opposing the first side wall;   a pair of communication ports, a first communication port of the pair for connecting the modular printer assembly with a first external printer assembly, and the second communication port of the pair for connecting the modular printer assembly with a second external printer assembly, whereby the modular printer assembly is included in a daisy chain of printer assemblies; and   a print engine having two printhead assemblies defining a media feed path therebetween, each of the two printhead assemblies having two arcuate printheads provided adjacent each other in a downstream direction, wherein   each arcuate printhead has a radius of curvature approximating a radius of a respective roller assembly provided adjacent each arcuate printhead.   
   
   
       2 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each roller assembly is partially received in said curvature of one printhead of a respective printhead assembly. 
   
   
       3 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first side wall includes an air duct with an air inlet, the second side wall includes air exit vents, and the printer further comprises a warm air supply for ducting warm air through the air duct over the print media passing through the housing. 
   
   
       4 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a loading mechanism including a drive assembly with a traversing mechanism engaged with the drive assembly, and a pair of endless belts and the roller assemblies operatively engaged with the traversing mechanism, wherein the drive assembly displaces the traversing mechanism to push and pull the belt and roller assemblies towards and away each other. 
   
   
       5 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising inlet and exit roller assemblies for feeding media to the loading mechanism, the inlet and exit roller assemblies configured to feed the media through the housing at a predetermined rate so that said media only leaves the housing when the fixative has dried. 
   
   
       6 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the endless belts are foraminous to enable warm air ducted through the duct to be blown through the belts over both front and back surfaces of the print media after printing. 
   
   
       7 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 4 , wherein each belt passes around a pair of spaced rollers held captive and operatively vertically displaceable in slides mounted on a frame of the printer. 
   
   
       8 . The modular printer of  claim 7 , wherein each roller is mounted at one end of an arm with opposed ends of each arm connected at a common pivot point to a traverser block, whereby the arms are connected to their associated traverser block scissors-fashion. 
   
   
       9 . The modular printer assembly of  claim 8 , wherein each traverser block is mounted on a worm screw rotatably driven by a motor.