Method and apparatus for measuring ink dry time

1. Field of the Invention A dry time sensor apparatus for an ink jet printer includes a light source emitting light onto a selected area of ink on a print medium such that the light reflects off of the selected area of ink. A reflective device receives the reflected light and reflects the light a se...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Fish, Gerald Lee, Heink, Philip Jerome, Pickett, Peter Brown
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.10.2002
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Summary:1. Field of the Invention A dry time sensor apparatus for an ink jet printer includes a light source emitting light onto a selected area of ink on a print medium such that the light reflects off of the selected area of ink. A reflective device receives the reflected light and reflects the light a second time back onto the selected area of ink such that the light is reflected a third time by the selected area of ink in a predetermined direction. The predetermined direction is substantially nonvarying over a range of angles of orientation of the print medium and a range of distances of the print medium from the light source. A reflected light detecting device receives the light reflected in the predetermined direction.