Method and apparatus for pinless feeding of web to a utilization device

摘要

A system and method for utilizing a continuous pinless web that is free of tractor pin feed holes within a utilization device that is originally adapted to feed web having tractor pin feed hole strips along its widthwise edges is provided. The utilization device can comprise an IBM high-volume laser printer having an image transfer drum synchronized to a pair of tractor pin feed drive units. A drive roller is operatively connected to the lower pin feed unit according to a preferred embodiment. A registration controller is utilized to synchronize the movement of the web with the operation of the utilization device element using a differential and a separate registration motor. The image transfer drum and drive roller are each synchronized to a central drive motor that generates pulses via an encoder. The pulses track the movement of the image transfer drum. A mark sensor reads marks on the web to synchronize actual movement of the web with the image transfer drum using the registration motor. The movement of the registration motor is averaged over the length of each section or page in the web to avoid jump discontinuities. The printer's fuser section draws web from the image transfer element at a controlled rate and with a desired steering alignment. Signals that emulate those originally generated by a skew/advance/retard sensor that tracks pin feed holes are generated by comparing fuser drive pulses to drive motor pulses and monitoring the location of the pinless web edge as it passes under a dedicated edge location sensor.