Patent ID: 7787791

Claim:
A method for feeding media to a printer containing a media fixing mechanism containing a nip comprising: determining an actual feed time (FTa) for a first sheet of media in a print job to reach said nip; determining a pick delay (PD) for said media; adding said feed time (FTa) to said pick delay (PD) to obtain an intial time to a fuser nip (FTf (i) ) for said first sheet; determining a ramp time (RT) for said fuser to reach a target temperature; determining a virtual paper path location of said first sheet from said initial time to a fuser nip (FTf (i) ) using a time/distance/velocity relationship defined by the following equation: V = D T wherein V is a velocity based on the speed of a feed roller, D is distance of said first sheet along the virtual paper path in the printer and T is said initial time to said fuser nip (FTf (i) ); determining a time to said fuser (FTf) for said first sheet based on said virtual paper path location; comparing said ramp time (RT) to said time to said fuser nip (FTf); and sending a signal to turn said fuser on if said ramp time (RT) is greater than or equal to said time to said fuser nip (FTf).