Claims
- 1. A printing cartridge for radially printing onto a rotating circular media, comprising:
an ink print head having a plurality of nozzles operable to dispense ink onto the rotating circular media; and a motion mechanism coupled with the ink print head to allow radial movement of the print head over the rotating circular media.
- 2. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 1, wherein the motion mechanism is designed to be engagable with an actuator of a receptacle when the cartridge is coupled with the receptacle, the actuator being operable to move the print head via the motion mechanism.
- 3. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 2, wherein the motion mechanism is a cam wheel having a groove for receiving a pin coupled to the print head, and wherein the cam wheel is engagable with the actuator of the receptacle when the cartridge is coupled with the receptacle, the actuator being operable to rotate the cam wheel and move the print head via the pin moving along the groove.
- 4. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 3, wherein the motion mechanism further comprises a bladder assembly for supporting an ink reservoir coupled to the print head, wherein the bladder assembly is also coupled with the print head.
- 5. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 4, wherein the bladder assembly includes two pivots on two opposing sides of the bladder assembly, the pivots being positioned to slidably and pivotably engage with two rails of an inside surface of the cartridge.
- 6. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 3, wherein the groove is configured to allow vertical and horizontal movement of the print head when the cam wheel rotates.
- 7. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 6, wherein the cam wheel includes a service station for maintaining the print head.
- 8. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 7, wherein the service station includes a spit, a wipe, and a cap device.
- 9 A printing cartridge as recited in claim 8, wherein the groove is further configured to rotate the print head over the service station.
- 10. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 2, wherein the cartridge and the receptacle are arranged together so that the cartridge remains in a fixed position with respect to the rotating media when the print head is moving over the media.
- 11. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 2, wherein the motion mechanism includes an attachment mechanism coupled with the print head, and wherein the attachment mechanism is engagable with the actuator of the receptacle when the cartridge is coupled with the receptacle, the actuator being operable to move the print head via the attachment mechanism.
- 12. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 11, wherein the actuator includes a motor coupled with a lever arm which is engageable with the attachment mechanism when the cartridge is inserted within the receptacle.
- 13. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 12, wherein the motion mechanism includes a second attachment mechanism coupled with a service platform, and wherein the attachment mechanism is engagable with a second actuator of the receptacle when the cartridge is coupled with the receptacle, the second actuator being operable to move the service platform with respect to the print head via the second attachment mechanism.
- 14. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
a print service component configured to service the print head by cleaning and/or capping the nozzles of the print head.
- 15. A printing cartridge as recited in claim 2, wherein the cartridge is sized to couple with a printer receptacle, wherein the printer receptacle is positioned adjacent to or integrated with a standard slimline CD-R device, so that a combination of the cartridge, the printer receptacle and the standard slimline CD-R device substantially fit within a standard ½ height computer bay.
- 16. A method of radially printing onto a rotating media using a cartridge having an ink print head having a plurality of nozzles operable to dispense ink onto the rotating circular media and a motion mechanism coupled with the ink print head to allow radial movement of the print head over the rotating circular media, the method comprising:
engaging with the motion mechanism of the cartridge to thereby move the print head over the rotating circular media; and dispensing ink onto the rotating circular media.
- 17. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising engaging with the motion mechanism of the cartridge to thereby active servicing of the print head.
- 18. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising inserting the cartridge into a slimline printer system to activate engagement of the motion mechanism of the cartridge.
- 19. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising inserting the cartridge into a combination compact disc recorder and printer system which is sized to fit within a standard height computer bay to activate engagement of the motion mechanism of the cartridge.
- 20. A radial printing and compact disc recording (CD-R) system, comprising:
a CD-R drive for recording on a rotating media, the CD-R drive having a standard slimline size; and a radial printing receptacle arranged to receive a cartridge, the radial printing receptacle being positioned adjacent to or integrated with the CD-R drive, the radial printing receptacle and cartridge being operable to print onto the rotating media, wherein the radial printing receptacle and cartridge are sized such that a combination of the radial printing receptacle, cartridge, and CD-R drive substantially fit within a standard ½ height computer bay.
- 21. A system as recited in claim 20, wherein the cartridge comprises:
an ink print head having a plurality of nozzles operable to dispense ink onto the rotating media; and a motion mechanism coupled with the ink print head to allow radial movement of the print head over the rotating media, the radial movement being with respect to a circular motion of the rotating media.
- 22. A system as recited in claim 21, wherein the motion mechanism is designed to be engagable with an actuator of a receptacle when the cartridge is coupled with the receptacle, the actuator being operable to move the print head via the motion mechanism.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part co-pending of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/872,345, filed Jun. 1, 2001 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/208,759, filed Jun. 2, 2000. This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,295, issued Jul. 24, 2001. These applications and patent are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60208759 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09872345 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Child |
10159729 |
May 2002 |
US |