Patent ID: 6854842

Claim:
An ink jet printer comprising: (a) a frame defining a sheet moving path and a printing zone; (b) copy sheet moving means for moving a supplied copy sheet along said sheet moving path and through said printing zone; (c) a printhead assembly mounted to said frame within said printing zone for printing liquid ink images onto one side of said supplied copy sheet; (d) electronic components including a relative humidity (RH) sensor, and a controller connected to said sheet moving means and to said printhead assembly for controlling operations thereof; and (e) a dual function air cooling and drying system mounted to said frame for moving air to cool said electronic components and to then dry said liquid ink images on said one side of said supplied copy sheet, said dual function air cooling and drying system including conditioning means positioned between said electronic components and said liquid ink images on said supplied copy sheet for selectively varying a condition of air being moved from said electronic components to said liquid images.