Claims
- 1. A method of forming an image onto a transparent print medium by an ink-jet printing device having an optical medium sensor for sensing edges of the transparent print medium, comprising the following steps:
- providing a roll of a transparent print medium, the medium having affixed to a first surface thereof an opaque reflective layer coincident with lateral edges of the transparent medium and coterminous with a transverse edge of the transparent print medium;
- loading the roll of the transparent print medium into the printer device such that said transverse edge extends orthogonally to a medium advance path of the printing device at a first lateral edge of the transparent print medium;
- advancing the transparent print medium along the medium advance path to a device printing region;
- using the optical sensor to locate lateral edges of the transparent print medium by location of outer edges of said opaque reflective layer and to enable ink-jet printing operations;
- performing the ink-jet printing operations on a second surface of the transparent print medium opposed from the first surface to form an image on a portion of the roll of the print medium; and
- cutting the transparent print medium to separate the portion of the print medium from the roll.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of removing said opaque reflective layer from the transparent print medium after said printing operations have been completed.
- 3. The method of claim 1 further characterized in that said optical sensing means operates by sensing reflected optical energy from said opaque reflective layer, and said opaque reflective layer has in excess of thirty percent opacity.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said transparent medium is a layer of transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and said opaque reflective layer is defined by one or more layers of PET filled with barium sulfate to provide sufficient opacity to operate said sensing means.
- 5. A method of forming an image onto a transparent medium by an ink-jet printing device having an optical medium sensor disposed for operation along a medium path and an optical edge sensor disposed to sense lateral edges of the print medium, comprising the following steps:
- providing a roll of a transparent print medium, the medium having removably affixed to a first surface thereof a first reflective layer portion at a first lateral edge of the medium, a second reflective layer portion at a second lateral edge of the medium, and a third reflective layer portion intermediate to the lateral edges at a position for tripping a media sensor;
- loading said roll of print medium into the printing device and advancing a leading edge of said medium along the media path to the printing region past the optical medium sensor;
- using the optical medium sensor to detect the presence of a print medium in the media path by interaction with reflective material;
- using the optical edge sensor to locate the lateral edges of the medium by location of outer edges of said reflective layer material;
- performing ink-jet printing operations on a portion of said roll on a second surface of said print medium opposed from the first surface.
- 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of removing said reflective layer portions from the medium after said printing operations have been completed.
- 7. The method of claim 5 wherein said first reflective layer portion is defined by a first reflective strip of reflective layer material, and said second and third reflective layer portions are defined by a second reflective strip of reflective layer material.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein said optical medium sensor is arranged to detect a target area of print medium spaced a nominal sensor distance from said second lateral edge, and said second strip has a width at least as wide as said sensor distance.
- 9. The method of claim 5 further characterized in that said optical edge sensor and said optical medium sensor operate by sensing reflected optical energy from said reflective layer portions, and said reflective layer portions have in excess of thirty percent opacity.
- 10. The method of claim 5 wherein said transparent medium is a layer of transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and said reflective layer portions are defined by one or more layers of PET filled with barium sulfate to provide sufficient opacity to operate said sensors.
- 11. The method of claim 5 wherein said first, second and third reflective layer portions are defined by a single layer of reflective material extending across the complete lateral extent of said transparent medium and removably affixed thereto by a pressure-sensitive adhesive.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said transparent medium is a layer of transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and said reflective layer is a layer of PET filled with barium sulfate to provide sufficient opacity to operate said sensors.
- 13. The method of claim 5 wherein said first, second and third reflective layer portions are respectively defined by first, second and third strip layers of a reflective material.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said transparent medium is a layer of transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and said reflective strip layers each are one layer of PET filled with barium sulfate to provide sufficient opacity to operate said sensors.
- 15. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
- cutting the transparent print medium to separate the portion of the print medium from the roll.
RELATED APPLICATION
This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/235,769, filed Apr. 29, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,202 which in turn is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/137,388, filed Oct. 14, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,119 which in turn is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/876,986, filed May 1, 1992, now abandoned.
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
235769 |
Apr 1994 |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
876986 |
May 1992 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
137388 |
Oct 1993 |
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