Patent Publication Number: US-10308009-B2

Title: Magnetic media holder for printer

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/592,413 for a Magnetic Media Holder for Printer filed May 11, 2017 (and published Aug. 21, 2017 as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0246854), now U.S. Pat. No. 9,975,324, which claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/881,458 for a Magnetic Media Holder for Printer filed Oct. 13, 2015 (and published Apr. 13, 2017 as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0100945), now U.S. Pat. No. 9,656,487. Each of the foregoing patent applications, patent publications, and patents is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to printers and a mechanism for holding rolls of print media. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Generally speaking, industry and desktop printers are often equipped with a media holder to position a roll of print media into a desirable position. Certain printers are often equipped with a rotational media holder to achieve high precision printing. A rotational holder conventionally utilizes a frictionally gripping system to hold onto an internal core of a media roll. However, many users are facing issues with such systems due to wide variation in the core size for media from different suppliers. The result is that often a high level of insertion force is required for cores of smaller diameter and insufficient gripping force is encountered for larger diameter cores. This can affect printing performance and may require a change in media supplier. 
     Therefore, a need exists for an improved gripping mechanism for holding roll media for a printer. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention embraces an improved gripping mechanism for holding roll media for a printer. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, a print media holder device has a first grip member and at least one permanent magnet attached to the first grip member. A second grip member has at least one permanent magnet attached to the second grip member. The print media holder device has an outer dimension that is defined as a distance from an outermost portion of the first grip member to an outermost portion of the second grip member. An electromagnet is disposed between the first and second grip members, where when the electromagnet is selectively energized the permanent magnets attached to the first and second grip members are repelled in a manner that increases the outer dimension of the print media holder device to grip a media core. 
     In certain implementations, the first grip member terminates at an outermost point with one or more grip edges that are configured to grip the media core. In certain implementations, the second grip member terminates at an outermost point with one or more grip edges that are configured to grip the media core. In certain implementations, the electromagnet is selectively energized with a specified current to establish a specified repelling force. In certain implementations, the print media holder device resides within a printer. 
     In another exemplary embodiment, a print media holder device has a first grip member having a first grip edge with a first grip member magnet attached to the first grip member. A second grip member has a second grip edge. The print media holder device has an outer dimension that is defined as a distance from an outermost portion of the first grip member&#39;s grip edge to an outermost portion of the second grip member&#39;s grip edge. A second magnet is disposed between the first and second grip edge. At least one of the second magnet and the grip member magnet comprises an electromagnet that is selectively energized in a manner that generates repelling forces between the grip member magnet and the second magnet such that the first and second grip edges pushed outward by magnetic force in a manner that increases the outer dimension of the print media holder device to grip a media core. 
     In certain example implementations, first grip member magnet comprises a permanent magnet and where the second magnet comprises an electromagnet. In certain example implementations, the first grip member magnet comprises an electromagnet and where the second magnet comprises a permanent magnet. In certain example implementations, a second grip member magnet is attached to the second grip member. In certain example implementations, the first and second grip member magnets comprise a permanent magnet and where the second magnet comprises an electromagnet. In certain example implementations, the first and second grip member magnets comprise an electromagnet and where the second magnet comprises a permanent magnet. In certain example implementations, the electromagnet is selectively energized with a specified current to establish a specified repelling force. In certain example implementations, the print media holder device resides within a printer. 
     In yet another exemplary embodiment, a print media holder device has a plurality of grip members, each having a grip edge and a plurality of grip member magnets, each attached to one of the grip member. The print media holder device has an outer diameter that is defined as distance from an outermost portion of the first grip member edges. A plurality of central magnets is disposed at a central location with respect to the plurality of grip members. The at least one of the central magnets and the grip member magnets include an electromagnet that is selectively energized in a manner that generates repelling forces between the grip member magnets and the central magnets such that the grip edges are pushed outward by magnetic force in a manner that increases the outer diameter of the print media holder device to grip a media core. 
     In certain embodiments, the grip member magnets comprise permanent magnets and where the central magnets comprise electromagnets. 
     In certain embodiments, the grip member magnets comprise electromagnets and where the central magnets comprise permanent magnets. In certain embodiments, the electromagnet is selectively energized with a specified current to establish a specified repelling force. In certain embodiments, the print media holder device resides within a printer. 
     The foregoing illustrative summary, as well as other exemplary objectives and/or advantages of the invention, and the manner in which the same are accomplished, are further explained within the following detailed description and its accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts an example embodiment of a media holder device consistent with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  further depicts the example embodiment of the media holder device with media engaged in a manner consistent with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  further depicts the example embodiment of the media holder device with media disengaged in a manner consistent with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention, in certain implementations, provides a mechanism for gripping a media core for a printer. 
     A magnetic media holder device consistent with the present teachings provides for improved adaptation to variations in media core size for rolled print media over that of more conventional media core gripping techniques used within printers. This magnetic core gripping device utilizes magnetism to control and adjust the gripping force that is used to hold the media core over a wide range of sizes and can improve the printer performance. 
     At the same time, the present core gripping system can automatically reduce the gripping force to facilitate easy loading/unloading of the media at a very low insertion/removing force during media loading/unloading to improve the user experience. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a magnetic holding system  10  as it resides within a printing device (printer) includes a pair of core movable grip members  14  and  18  (e.g., grip members which terminate at the outermost point with one or more gripping edges that grab the interior of a media core at the center of a roll of print media such as paper) which ultimately engage the interior of a roll of print media  22  at a core  26  (shown in cross-section). The media holder  10  includes one or more permanent magnets  30  in the movable grip members. Additionally, one or more electromagnets  34  are positioned between the movable grip members to generate repulsion forces that repel the permanent magnets so as to mechanically engage the media core  26  when the electromagnets are engaged. The electromagnets serve as control magnets that control the position of the grip members  14  and  18 . 
     The magnetic energizing of the electromagnets can be controlled by a processor or a simple switching mechanism (not shown) which selectively engages the electromagnets with an appropriate strength and polarity to generate repulsive or attractive forces with respect to the permanent magnets. The repulsive forces may be automatically adjusted using current provided by the printer system to the electromagnets to maintain contact with the inner side of the media core based upon the size of the inner diameter of the media core  26 . In this manner the dimension D of the media holder device can be adjusted. The print media holder device has an outer dimension D that is defined as distance from an outermost portion of the first grip member  14  to an outermost portion of the second grip member  18  as shown. When the electromagnet is energized to engage the media core  26 , the dimension D increases until the core  26  is contacted and engaged. 
     In order to accomplish engagement with core  26 , the electromagnets  34  are energized so as to create electromagnetic force having a polarity with respect to magnets  30  that cause the grip members  14  and  18  to be pushed away from the electromagnets  34  in the direction shown by arrows  40  and  44  (away from the electromagnets). When the holder  10  is to be inserted into a new media core, the electromagnetic force from  34  can be removed to allow the grip members  14  and  18  to freely accept the new core  26 . In another variation, the polarity of the electromagnets can be reversed to create an attractive force between magnets  30  and electromagnets  34  to produce forces in the opposite direction as that shown by arrows  40  and  44  so as to cause the grip members  14  and  18  to be attracted by the electromagnets  34  and assume a smaller outer dimension that will easily pass within a core  26  of the smallest anticipated size. Thus, in essence, the outer diameter of the holder  10  is adjusted by use of electromagnetic forces from selectively actuated electromagnets  34  which selectively push the grip members  14  and  18  outward to increase the holder&#39;s diameter so as to appropriately grip a variety of sizes of media cores. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the same media holder device  10  is depicted with the grip members  14  and  18  engaging the inner surface of the core  26 .  FIG. 3  shows the same media holder device  10  with the grip members  14  and  18  disengaged from the inner surface of core  26  to allow for easy loading and unloading of media. 
     Thus, a print media holder device consistent with these teachings has a first grip member having a first grip edge. A first grip member magnet is attached to the first grip member. A second grip member has a second grip edge. The print media holder device has an outer dimension that is defined as a distance from an outermost portion of the first grip member&#39;s grip edge to an outermost portion of the second grip member&#39;s grip edge. A second magnet is disposed between the first and second grip edges. At least one of the second magnet and the grip member magnet is an electromagnet that is selectively energized in a manner that generates repelling forces between the grip member magnet and the second magnet such that the first and second grip edges pushed outward by magnetic force in a manner that increases the outer dimension of the print media holder device to grip a media core. 
     In this example, the first grip member magnet can be a permanent magnet and where the second magnet can be an electromagnet. Or, the first grip member magnet can be an electromagnet and the second magnet can be a permanent magnet. The electromagnet can be selectively energized with a specified current to establish a specified repelling force. The print media holder device resides within a printer so as to carry the print media consumed by the printer. 
     Many variations will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the present teachings. For example, while the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3  depict an example having two electromagnets  34  and four permanent magnets  30  using a pair of grip members  14  and  18 , this should not be considered limiting. A single electromagnet  34  could be used in conjunction with multiple or single permanent magnets  30  on each of the grip members  14  and  18 . Additionally, more than two electromagnets paired with more than four permanent magnets could also be used without limitation. Further, although two grip members  14  and  18  are shown and described, there is no reason why more than two movable holder members cannot be utilized. Furthermore, a single stationary grip member could be used in conjunction with a single movable grip member without limitation. Additionally, while the electromagnets  34  are shown at the center and permanent magnets attached to the holder members, their relative positions could be reversed with the permanent magnets being situated centrally and the electromagnets carried by the holder members. The electromagnet can be selectively energized with a specified current to establish a specified repelling force that is suitable to gripping a variety of media cores. Many other variations will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the present teachings. 
     To supplement the present disclosure, this application incorporates entirely by reference the following commonly assigned patents, patent application publications, and patent applications:
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     In the specification and/or figures, typical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed. The present invention is not limited to such exemplary embodiments. The use of the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The figures are schematic representations and so are not necessarily drawn to scale. Unless otherwise noted, specific terms have been used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation.