Patent ID: 8783850

Claim:
Apparatus for drying media having first and second sides and moving along a media path in a printer, comprising: a) first and second printing stations arranged successively along the media path, adapted to selectively deposit ink on a first selected one of the sides and a second selected one of the sides of the media, respectively; b) a dryer arranged along the media path downstream of the first printing station and upstream of the second printing station to dry the ink deposited on the first selected one of the sides of the media; c) a first rotatable member around which the media path passes, so that the first selected one of the sides of the media contacts the first rotatable member while the media passes from the first printing station to the second printing station, and a bypass media path is defined from the first printing station past the first rotatable member to the second printing station; and d) a media-path extender arranged along the media path between the first printing station and the first rotatable member, downstream of the dryer, the media-path extender including a dry-side rotatable member and a wet-side rotatable member around which the media path passes, the dry-side and the wet-side rotatable members arranged so that the side other than the selected first of the sides contacts the dry-side rotatable member downstream of the first printing station, and the selected first of the sides contacts the wet-side rotatable member downstream of the dry-side rotatable member, the contact of the wet-side rotatable member to the first selected one of the sides of the media being the first point of contact with the first selected one of the sides of the media downstream of the first print station, so that an extension media path is defined from the first printing station past the dry-side rotatable member, the wet-side rotatable member, and the first rotatable member, in that order, to the second printing station; e) wherein the printer is adapted to selectively transport the media either along the bypass media path or along the extension media path, and the distance along the extension media path from the first printing station to the wet-side rotatable member is longer than the distance along the bypass media path from the first printing station to the first rotatable member.