Patent ID: 7845638

Claim:
A method of operating a laser imaging apparatus, the method comprising: receiving a leading edge of a sheet of photothermographic imaging media in a nip formed by a roller pair; driving the roller pair so as to begin extracting the sheet from a media source and driving the sheet along a transport path toward an input engagement point of a laser exposure unit, wherein a length of the transport path is less than a transport direction length of the sheet, wherein the roller pair includes a drive roller and a moveable idler roller; opening the nip formed by the roller pair upon engagement of the leading edge of the sheet by the input engagement point, wherein opening the nip includes moving the idler roller from a closed position where the idler roller forms the nip with the drive roller to an open position where the idler roller is spaced from the drive roller; positioning a media guide between the roller pair and the laser exposure unit to form a portion of the transport path and to direct the leading edge from the roller pair to the input engagement point, wherein a first end of the media guide is positioned proximate to the roller pair; positioning a stationary idler roller between the driven roller pair and the input engagement point such that the sheet transitions from following the media guide to traveling over a surface of the stationary idler roller after the leading edge is engaged by the input engagement point; and extracting a remaining portion of the sheet from the media source by pulling the sheet along the transport path via at least the input engagement point of the laser exposure unit while simultaneously exposing a desired image on the sheet.