Printer having transport assembly suitable for wide print media

Abstract

A printer comprising: a fixed printhead assembly defining a print zone; an input transport assembly for feeding print media along a media path and into the print zone, the input transport assembly being positioned upstream of the print zone; and an exit transport assembly positioned downstream of the print zone for receiving the print media from the print zone. The input transport assembly exerts a higher gripping force on the print media than the exit transport assembly and the exit transport assembly is configured to provide a higher transport speed than the input transport assembly, such that the print media has a degree of slippage relative to the exit transport assembly.

1 . A printer comprising:
 a fixed printhead assembly defining a print zone;   an input transport assembly for feeding print media along a media path and into the print zone, the input transport assembly being positioned upstream of the print zone;   an exit transport assembly positioned downstream of the print zone for receiving the print media from the print zone,   
       wherein:
 the input transport assembly exerts a higher gripping force on the print media than the exit transport assembly; and 
 the exit transport assembly is configured to provide a higher transport speed than the input transport assembly, such that the print media has a degree of slippage relative to the exit transport assembly. 
 
     
     
         2 . The printer of  claim 1 , wherein the exit transport assembly comprises a moving belt assembly. 
     
     
         3 . The printer of  claim 2 , wherein the moving belt assembly comprises a plurality of moving endless belts and at least one vacuum chamber for gripping the media on an upper surface of the belts. 
     
     
         4 . The printer of  claim 3 , wherein the moving belt assembly is a modular assembly comprised of a plurality of moving belt modules and a plurality of stationary vacuum chamber modules disposed in an alternating arrangement such that the moving belt modules are spaced apart across the media path. 
     
     
         5 . The printer of  claim 4 , wherein the moving belt modules and stationary vacuum chamber modules each have sidewall openings defined therein, such that a common vacuum chamber extends through all the modules in the moving belt assembly. 
     
     
         6 . The printer of  claim 4 , wherein each moving belt module comprises at least one endless belt tensioned between a drive pulley and an idler pulley, and wherein each drive pulley of the moving belt assembly is mounted on a common drive shaft for rotation therewith. 
     
     
         7 . The printer of  claim 1 , wherein the input transport assembly comprises a drive roller assembly. 
     
     
         8 . The printer of  claim 1 , wherein the printer is configured to move the print media past the fixed printhead assembly at a first speed when the media is engaged with both the input and exit transport assemblies, and is further configured to move the print media at a second speed once a trailing edge of the print media has disengaged from the input transport assembly, wherein the second speed is greater than the first speed. 
     
     
         9 . The printer of  claim 8 , wherein the moving belt assembly comprises an encoder for monitoring the speed of the media. 
     
     
         10 . The printer of  claim 1 , wherein a fixed vacuum platen is positioned in the print zone. 
     
     
         11 . The printer of  claim 1  wherein the fixed printhead assembly includes a staggered array of fixed inkjet printheads that overlap each other to collectively span the media path. 
     
     
         12 . The printer of  claim 1 , which is a wide format printer. 
     
     
         13 . The printer of  claim 12  wherein the media path is greater than 17 inches wide.