Xerox ColorQube 9303 Series, Руководство по обслуживанию

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February 2013
8-32 ColorQube® 9303 Family
Principles of Operation
Media Paths
The following describes the sequence of events as media moves through the IME media path.
Refer to
Figure 1 .
Figure 1 Simplex path
Sheets enter the IME media path from the optional Tray 5, Tray 4 (bypass tray), or one of Trays
in the 3TM. Sheets enter the vertical transport on the left side and are fed into the horizontal
transport. Sheets exit the feeders at a regular pitch. If the machine is operating in burst mode,
the first sheet in a burst mode pair is held at nip C reducing the inter-document gap between
the pair.
Following traversal of a portion of the horizontal transport, the media enters the registration /
preheat assembly. Within the registration / preheat assembly are plates that warm the sheets
to improve the transfer of the image to the media. Heavier media moves more slowly through
the preheater in order for it to reach the required temperature.
The skew and position of the media is determined by a scan bar. This information is then used
to determine how to get the paper to be de-skewed and orientated correctly from inboard to
outboard. This is generally accomplished by intentionally skewing the paper twice. The sum of
the two actions causes the media to be both aligned inboard to outboard and the lead edge to
be de-skewed. The movement of the paper through the registration / preheat assembly is
called 'wag' because of these unusual movements.
This intentional skewing of the paper is accomplished by the steering rollers. These shafts
align with one another but are separate and are driven by separate stepper motors. Depending
upon the width of the media, various idlers are engaged to provide drive to the paper. This is
accomplished with the rear drive motor by running it in reverse.
The sheet then enters the transfix area. The transfix sub-system consists of two major ele-
ments:
• Transfix linkages that apply force to the transfix roller.
• A transfix roller, which presses the sheet to the drum so that image transfer occurs.
Just beyond the transfix point the stripper blade is located, which strips the lead edge of the
media from the drum to ensure that it enters output portion of the paper path. If a sheet is not
successfully stripped, it can wrap around the drum and collide with the printheads, which are
mounted in close proximity to the drum. This can cause blocked jets due to the transfer of
paper fibres to the printheads. Damage to the printheads is undesirable as they are expensive
to replace.
At nip L the paper path divides. Sheets can either be sent to the exit module, or diverted into
the duplex path,
Figure 3 . The duplex path is used both for sheets to be duplexed and for
sheets that require inverting prior to exit (e.g. tab stock which must be fed tab-trailing through
the IME, but tab-leading into a finisher). The duplex path extends all the way back beyond nip
F in the left-hand vertical paper path. Once sheets have been reversed down the vertical paper
path, they then proceed as for the first side. However transfix is performed at half speed to
avoid damage to the image already marked (solid ink images are vulnerable to scratching and
burnishing when still tacky from the transfix process).
When operating in burst mode, the second sheet of a pair is held back once it is through trans-
fix in order that sheets are delivered to the finisher at a regular pitch. Timing sensors are
placed throughout the paper path in order to facilitate the timely movement of sheets. The sen-
sors are also used for jam detection.
Input Paper Path
Media is delivered to the IME from the following sources:
• Trays 1 to 3
• Tray 4 (bypass tray)
• Tray 5
Output Paper Path
Media exits the IME through the exit module.