5-14
Phaser 600 Color Printer
5
Theory of Operation
At this point, the X-axis motor energized to position the printhead in front of the
head-to-media set portion of the back-tension blade. The head-to-media motor
energizes to drive a shim between the media and the printhead pushing the
printhead slightly away from the drum. The tailpiece on the printhead
“locks-in” and hold the printhead in this position. This sets the printhead at the
optimum head-to-media distance (about 32 mils) for printing. This action
assures the printhead will always be the same distance from the media surface
regardless of the thickness of the media.
Next the X-axis motor drives the printhead across the width of the drum.
Paper-edge sensors on the printhead, detect the left and right edge of the media
informing the image processor of the width of media currently installed in the
printer. Following this, the Y-axis motor reverse to “unload” the media by
driving the media backward until the leading edge of the media is again at the
point where it was first inserted at the upper feed rollers. This way, new media
can easily be exchanged for the currently installed media