EP0289217B1 - Sheet transporting apparatus - Google Patents
Sheet transporting apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0289217B1 EP0289217B1 EP19880303606 EP88303606A EP0289217B1 EP 0289217 B1 EP0289217 B1 EP 0289217B1 EP 19880303606 EP19880303606 EP 19880303606 EP 88303606 A EP88303606 A EP 88303606A EP 0289217 B1 EP0289217 B1 EP 0289217B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- sheet
- rollers
- sheets
- tray
- nip
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
- B65H29/12—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by means of the nip between two, or between two sets of, moving tapes or bands or rollers
- B65H29/14—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by means of the nip between two, or between two sets of, moving tapes or bands or rollers and introducing into a pile
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
- B65H2301/40—Type of handling process
- B65H2301/42—Piling, depiling, handling piles
- B65H2301/421—Forming a pile
- B65H2301/4214—Forming a pile of articles on edge
- B65H2301/42146—Forming a pile of articles on edge by introducing articles from above
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
- B65H2404/10—Rollers
- B65H2404/14—Roller pairs
- B65H2404/142—Roller pairs arranged on movable frame
- B65H2404/1421—Roller pairs arranged on movable frame rotating, pivoting or oscillating around an axis, e.g. parallel to the roller axis
- B65H2404/14211—Roller pairs arranged on movable frame rotating, pivoting or oscillating around an axis, e.g. parallel to the roller axis the axis being one the roller axis, i.e. orbiting roller
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2801/00—Application field
- B65H2801/03—Image reproduction devices
- B65H2801/06—Office-type machines, e.g. photocopiers
Definitions
- This invention relates to a sheet transporting apparatus particularly, although not exclusively, useful for delivering the copy sheets in a copying machine.
- the apparatus is of the kind which includes a pair of rollers forming a sheet feeding nip, and may advantageously be used in conjunction with a sheet receiving means for receiving successive sheets fed from the nip.
- Such a sheet transporting apparatus is commonly used in xerographic copiers, in conjunction with stack receiving means comprising a tray which receives copy sheets fed out in a generally horizontal direction, the tray often being inclined either upwardly or downwardly in the direction of sheet feed.
- the angle of inclination is usually less than 45°.
- the copy sheets are fed out of the processor of a copier in a face-up orientation, and will frequently leave the processor with their imaged faces in the order 1-n, assuming an input sequence of documents being copied which are copied in that order.
- US-A-4 647 032 describes a device for turning over paper sheets in which the leading edge of a sheet is fed horizontally between fixed axis rollers to a sheet turning arrangement.
- the sheet turning arrangement comprises a rotating endless belt having projections which engage the leading edges of sheets and carry them round through at least 90° before releasing them, inverted, into a catch tray.
- a sheet inverter in a copier is described in GB-A-1 475 094.
- a pair of feed rollers are mounted in a frame, to enable rotation of the entire roller pair about an axis through the nip.
- Another problem encountered with a sheet transporting apparatus which is arranged to collect sheets in a tray is the difficulty of feeding sheets of different lengths into the tray. If the sheet transporting arrangement which feeds sheets into the tray is sufficiently far from the end stop of the tray to accommodate the longest sheets to be fed, then shorter sheets to be fed may fall short and may not reach the end stop, or may collide with the trailing edges of previously stacked sheets, even if, as is commonly the case, the catch tray slopes 'downhill' from the sheet entry point. Conversely, if the sheet transporting arrangement is closer to the end stop, so that shorter sheets are stacked correctly, then it will not be possible to stack sheets longer than a certain length.
- the present invention is intended to provide a relatively simple, yet reliable, way of forming a 1-n output stack from a 1-n input sequence as well as to enable a range of sheet sizes to be stacked reliably into a conventional tray.
- a sheet transporting apparatus including a pair of rollers forming a sheet transporting nip, and adapted, when in an initial position, to engage the leading edge of a sheet delivered thereto, characterised by means arranged to produce an oribital motion of the rollers one about the other so as to progressively change the direction of motion of the sheet while the sheet is advancing through the nip.
- the nip between the rollers, in its initial position is oriented so as to receive a sheet delivered thereto in a generally horizontal direction, and at the position in said orbital motion furthest from the initial position is oriented so that it is advancing the sheet generally vertically downwards.
- the apparatus is suitably used in conjunction with a generally vertical sheet receiving tray to provide a sheet inverting stacker.
- the sheet receiving tray is inclined closer to a horizontal orientation (preferably uphill) and the nip makes an orbital motion to a position somewhere between 90° and 180° from its initial position, thereby inverting the sheets into a generally horizontal stack.
- the sheet transporting apparatus is used in conjunction with a generally horizontal sheet receiving tray to provide a sheet stacking apparatus capable of reliably stacking sheets over a wide range of sheet lengths without any adjustments being needed to the locations of the rollers or the tray.
- the apparatus of the invention is a simple, reliable, and compact apparatus, and has very good tolerance to a wide range of paper weights and sizes.
- a copying machine 10 such as a xerographic copying machine, delivers copy sheets 11 through the sheet feeding nip 12 of a pair of feed rollers 13, 14 into a compiler tray 15.
- the lower roller 13 is a driven roller, and the upper roller 14 is an idler.
- the copy sheets 11 are delivered, face-up, in succession towards the nip 12 in a generally horizontal orientation.
- a sensor 16 such as a micro switch or an electro-optic sensor, detects the leading edge 17 of the sheet 11 and activates a cam-operated orbiting roller mechanism or other suitable drive mechanism such as the belt drive to be described below.
- This mechanism causes the upper roller 14 to move angularly around the lower roller 13 in the clockwise direction, in orbital fashion. This orbital motion takes place during sheet feeding by the rollers, the nip 12 producing generally horizontal feeding of the sheet 11 as its leading edge passes between the rollers, as shown in Figure 1b.
- the shroud 18 of the upper roller 14 moves with the roller throughout.
- the feed rollers contine to feed the sheet 11 as the upper roller 14 continues its orbital motion until the nip 12 is substantially vertical, as shown in Figure 1c, at which point the sheet 11 is being fed substantially directly downwards.
- the upper roller 14 dwells in this position (due to the configuration of the cam mechanism) until the leading edge 17 of the sheet 11 contacts the base 19 of tray 15 ( Figure 1d).
- the orbital motion of the upper roller 14 (and shroud 18) is reversed, so that its axis starts to move anti-clockwise around the lower roller, although the lower roller 13 continues to be driven in the sheet feed direction thereby forming a buckle in the sheet 11 as seen in Figure 1d.
- the trailing edge 20 of sheet 11 is fed through the nip 12 as the roller 14 returns towards its starting position, thereby directing the trailing edge of the sheet generally horizontally towards the upper part of the tray, effectively "peeling" the sheet 11 into the tray 15.
- a stack corrugation tongue 21 is pivotally mounted adjacent the base 19 of the tray 15, and is moved into and out of pressing engagement with the sheets in tray 15 by a driving arrangement linked with the mechanism causing the orbital motion of the upper roller 14.
- the stack corrugation tongue 21 presses the sheets in tray 15 towards the rear of the tray, the tray and the tongue being so shaped as to form a vertically-extending corrugation in the sheets. This provides beam strength to the stack, which enables the stack to stand on its edge.
- a side tamping arm 22 ( Figures 3, 4) which is activated after a sheet has been discharged from the nip 12 but before the stack corrugation tongue 21 contacts the set. This action accurately aligns the vertical edges of the stack of sheets in the tray 15.
- the sheet stacking apparatus of the invention is incorporated in a finisher station 30 for a xerographic copier 10.
- the compiler tray 15 of Figure 1 is represented by two fold-down partial trays constituted by set support arms 15a, 15b.
- the corrugations produces by stack corrugation tongue 21 are formed by pressing the tongue into the space between the two set support arms 15a, 15b.
- set support arms 15a, 15b are folded down, causing the set to drop into a larger capacity catch tray 31.
- An offsetting function can be introduced by causing the tamping arm to move alternate compiled sets of copies by a greater distance than the other sets.
- incoming sheets arrive with their registration edges at a first position, and are moved by the tamping arm 22 to either one of two second positions. Compiled sets are then passed, prior to discharge, to alternate offset positions on catch tray 31.
- a stapler 32 may be provided adjacent the lower corner of the compiler tray into which the copy sheets are registered.
- the stapler is activated, and the tamper arm is then moved so as to push the stapled set out of the stapler throat to one of the two offset positions.
- the stapler is arranged, as seen in Figure 3, so that its anvil 33 is on the machine side of the compiler tray, with the moving parts and the driving mechanis 34 located within a housing 35 ( Figure 2).
- FIG. 5 An example of a driving arrangement for the orbiting rollers is illustrated in Figure 5.
- Driven rollers 13 and idler rollers 14 are carried respectively on drive shaft 40 and idler shaft 41.
- Shaft 40 is journaled for rotation in end members 42 and 43 of support frame 44, and is driven by drive pinion 45 which in turn is driven by, for example, drive belt 46.
- the drive rollers 13 rotate, causing rotation of the idler rollers 14 by frictional engagement, the idler rollers 14 either being journaled for rotation on idler shaft 41, or being fixed to shaft 41 which is then journaled for rotation in end members 42 and 43 of frame 44.
- the frame 44 In order to produce orbital motion of the idler rollers 14 about thee axis of driven rollers 13, the frame 44 is caused to make angular movements about the axis of drive shaft 40.Angular movement of the frame 44 is achieved by means of a drive pinion 47 secured to end member 42, the drive shaft 40 being journaled for rotation relative to the drive pinion 47.
- a drive belt 48 engages pinion 47, and is operated to cause angular motion of the pinion 47, and hence the frame 44.
- FIG. 6 a xerographic copying machine which has a duplex copying facility uses a buffer tray that incorporates a sheet transporting apparatus according to the invention.
- Figure 6 shows (diagrammatically) only those components which are involved in the movement of copy paper sheets through the apparatus.
- a copy sheet is fed, by a feed roller 50, from a stack 51 of sheets supported on an elevating stack carrier 52.
- the sheet as indicated by arrow A, is guided to a pair of primary transport rollers 53, and then, as indicated by arrow B is guided to a second pair of transport rollers 54.
- the transport rollers 54 convey the sheet (arrow C) to a xerographic transfer station 55 where a developed electrostatic latent image is transferred from a photoreceptor belt 56 on to the upper surface of the copy sheet.
- the sheet carrying the transferred image as indicated by arrow D, then passes through a fuser 57 comprising a heated roller and a backup roller.
- the fuser 57 fixes the developed image on to the upper surface of the copy sheet, which is then guided to output rollers 58, as indicated by arrow E.
- the sheet is transported completely through the output rollers 58, as shown by arrow F, and into a suitable output tray (not shown). If, however, images are to be formed on both sides of the sheet (i.e. a duplex copy), then the sheet is recirculated so that it can receive an image on its other side, as will now be described.
- the sheets are held following the imaging of the first sides in a duplex buffer tray 63.
- the gate 61 is raised, as shown in broken outline, so that the sheets are fed into the buffer tray (arrows L) for sheets less than a predetermined length, the axes of the rollers 60 remain stationary throughout the feeding of sheets into the buffer tray 63.
- a stack of sheets is formed in the buffer tray 63, and an elevating base brings the top sheet in the stack into engagement with buffer tray feed roller 64. Sheets fed by the buffer tray feed roller 64 are guided (arrow Q) up to primary feed rollers 53 to make a second pass in the fashion just described for the single copy duplex mode.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Paper Feeding For Electrophotography (AREA)
- Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)
- Pile Receivers (AREA)
- Separation, Sorting, Adjustment, Or Bending Of Sheets To Be Conveyed (AREA)
Description
- This invention relates to a sheet transporting apparatus particularly, although not exclusively, useful for delivering the copy sheets in a copying machine. The apparatus is of the kind which includes a pair of rollers forming a sheet feeding nip, and may advantageously be used in conjunction with a sheet receiving means for receiving successive sheets fed from the nip.
- Such a sheet transporting apparatus is commonly used in xerographic copiers, in conjunction with stack receiving means comprising a tray which receives copy sheets fed out in a generally horizontal direction, the tray often being inclined either upwardly or downwardly in the direction of sheet feed. The angle of inclination is usually less than 45°. Typically, the copy sheets are fed out of the processor of a copier in a face-up orientation, and will frequently leave the processor with their imaged faces in the order 1-n, assuming an input sequence of documents being copied which are copied in that order. A simple catch tray arranged to receive each copy in turn, face-up, will thus put
sheet 1 into the tray first, followed by the succession of sheets on top of each other as far as sheet n, thereby forming a stack withsheet 1 on the bottom and sheet n on the top. The stack removed from the tray is accordingly in reverse order, i.e. n-1, compared with the input sequence (1-n). As will be seen, one way of obtaining an output stack with 1-n sheet order is to invert each sheet so that it is placed face- down in a catch tray. The complete stack in the output tray will then be a face- down stack, which, when inverted as a whole, to make it a face-up stack, will be a 1-n stack like the input stack. - Because of the inconvenience of an output stack in n-1 order, various ways have been tried to solve the problem of providing an output stack in 1-n order, involving either sheet inversion, as mentioned above, or a stacking method which involves feeding the sheets successively into the bottom of a stack.
- One example of a sheet inverter for copy sheets discharged from a copier is described in US-A-4 300 757, in which sheets emerging horizontally from between fixed-axis feed rollers at the discharge port of a copying machine are deflected downwardly by a fixed deflector. The downwardly deflected leading edge of a sheet falls on to a catch tray, and the trailing edge continues in the sheet feed direction so as to invert the sheets onto the catch tray.
- US-A-4 647 032 describes a device for turning over paper sheets in which the leading edge of a sheet is fed horizontally between fixed axis rollers to a sheet turning arrangement. The sheet turning arrangement comprises a rotating endless belt having projections which engage the leading edges of sheets and carry them round through at least 90° before releasing them, inverted, into a catch tray.
- Another example of a sheet inverter in a copier is described in GB-A-1 475 094. Here a pair of feed rollers are mounted in a frame, to enable rotation of the entire roller pair about an axis through the nip. A sheet enters the nip, the rollers stop feeding, the frame is rotated through 180°, and the rollers (now rotating in the opposite sense) feed the inverted sheet out in the original feed direction.
- These known sheet inversion techniques are either unreliable, or involve rather complex mechanisms. Furthermore, they are not suitable for use in copiers which handle a range of copy sheet sizes.
- Another problem encountered with a sheet transporting apparatus which is arranged to collect sheets in a tray is the difficulty of feeding sheets of different lengths into the tray. If the sheet transporting arrangement which feeds sheets into the tray is sufficiently far from the end stop of the tray to accommodate the longest sheets to be fed, then shorter sheets to be fed may fall short and may not reach the end stop, or may collide with the trailing edges of previously stacked sheets, even if, as is commonly the case, the catch tray slopes 'downhill' from the sheet entry point. Conversely, if the sheet transporting arrangement is closer to the end stop, so that shorter sheets are stacked correctly, then it will not be possible to stack sheets longer than a certain length. In order to accommodate the range of sheet sizes in common use, it is possible to use two or more sheet transporting arrangements with a deflector plate between them. All sheets are fed by a first set of feed rollers, and shorter sheets are also fed by a second set. Longer sheets are deflected by the deflector plate after the sheet has passed through the first set of rollers, thereby by-passing the second set. The problem with this arrangement is that although it works well for sheets of two lengths related to the positions of the two sets of rollers, it is not so reliable for intermediate lengths. Typically, therefore, additional sets of feed rollers and deflectors are used to accommodate multiple sheet sizes. This makes the mechanism more complex and expensive and less reliable. Another way of accommodating the normal range of sheet sizes is to use 'uphill' stacking, i.e. to feed the sheets upwards onto a sloping tray. Uphill stacking is not suitable, however, when the leading edges of the stacked copies must be registered, for example for subsequent duplex imaging or stapling. In practice, both of these approaches require additional components and additional space compared with using a conventional sheet transporting arrangement to feed sheets into a generally horizontal tray.
- The present invention is intended to provide a relatively simple, yet reliable, way of forming a 1-n output stack from a 1-n input sequence as well as to enable a range of sheet sizes to be stacked reliably into a conventional tray.
- According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet transporting apparatus including a pair of rollers forming a sheet transporting nip, and adapted, when in an initial position, to engage the leading edge of a sheet delivered thereto, characterised by means arranged to produce an oribital motion of the rollers one about the other so as to progressively change the direction of motion of the sheet while the sheet is advancing through the nip.
- In one preferred apparatus in accordance with the invention, the nip between the rollers, in its initial position, is oriented so as to receive a sheet delivered thereto in a generally horizontal direction, and at the position in said orbital motion furthest from the initial position is oriented so that it is advancing the sheet generally vertically downwards. In this form, the apparatus is suitably used in conjunction with a generally vertical sheet receiving tray to provide a sheet inverting stacker. In a variation of this form of apparatus, the sheet receiving tray is inclined closer to a horizontal orientation (preferably uphill) and the nip makes an orbital motion to a position somewhere between 90° and 180° from its initial position, thereby inverting the sheets into a generally horizontal stack.
- In another preferred apparatus in accordance with the invention, the sheet transporting apparatus is used in conjunction with a generally horizontal sheet receiving tray to provide a sheet stacking apparatus capable of reliably stacking sheets over a wide range of sheet lengths without any adjustments being needed to the locations of the rollers or the tray.
- The apparatus of the invention is a simple, reliable, and compact apparatus, and has very good tolerance to a wide range of paper weights and sizes.
- A sheet transporting apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
- Figures 1a to 1d are diagrammatic cross sectional views illustrating the operation of an inverting sheet stacking apparatus incorporating the invention;
- Figure 2 is a perspective view of an inverting sheet stacking apparatus incorporating the invention;
- Figure 3 is a diagrammatic cross sectional side view of the apparatus of Figure 2;
- Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the apparatus of Figure 2;
- Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of an orbiting roller arrangement suitable for use in the apparatus of the invention, and
- Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of part of a xerographic copying machine which has a duplex copying facility utilising a duplex buffer tray incorporating the invention.
- Referring to Figures 1a to 1d, a
copying machine 10 such as a xerographic copying machine, delivers copy sheets 11 through thesheet feeding nip 12 of a pair offeed rollers compiler tray 15. Thelower roller 13 is a driven roller, and theupper roller 14 is an idler. The copy sheets 11 are delivered, face-up, in succession towards thenip 12 in a generally horizontal orientation. A sensor 16 (Figure 1a), such as a micro switch or an electro-optic sensor, detects the leadingedge 17 of the sheet 11 and activates a cam-operated orbiting roller mechanism or other suitable drive mechanism such as the belt drive to be described below. This mechanism causes theupper roller 14 to move angularly around thelower roller 13 in the clockwise direction, in orbital fashion. This orbital motion takes place during sheet feeding by the rollers, thenip 12 producing generally horizontal feeding of the sheet 11 as its leading edge passes between the rollers, as shown in Figure 1b. Theshroud 18 of theupper roller 14 moves with the roller throughout. - The feed rollers contine to feed the sheet 11 as the
upper roller 14 continues its orbital motion until thenip 12 is substantially vertical, as shown in Figure 1c, at which point the sheet 11 is being fed substantially directly downwards. Theupper roller 14 dwells in this position (due to the configuration of the cam mechanism) until the leadingedge 17 of the sheet 11 contacts thebase 19 of tray 15 (Figure 1d). At this point, the orbital motion of the upper roller 14 (and shroud 18) is reversed, so that its axis starts to move anti-clockwise around the lower roller, although thelower roller 13 continues to be driven in the sheet feed direction thereby forming a buckle in the sheet 11 as seen in Figure 1d. Thetrailing edge 20 of sheet 11 is fed through thenip 12 as theroller 14 returns towards its starting position, thereby directing the trailing edge of the sheet generally horizontally towards the upper part of the tray, effectively "peeling" the sheet 11 into thetray 15. - The fact that the leading edge of the sheet is positively fed into the
tray 15, and not dropped, and that the trailing edge if fed with the peeling motion that tends to "lay" the sheet into the tray, produces excellent registration of stacked sheets in the tray. It also enables a wide range of sheet sizes and paper weights to be handled without risk of collisions or paper jams. - In order to assist the stack in the
tray 15 in maintaining its vertical orientation, astack corrugation tongue 21 is pivotally mounted adjacent thebase 19 of thetray 15, and is moved into and out of pressing engagement with the sheets intray 15 by a driving arrangement linked with the mechanism causing the orbital motion of theupper roller 14. When theupper roller 14 is in its initial position (Figure 1a) thestack corrugation tongue 21 presses the sheets intray 15 towards the rear of the tray, the tray and the tongue being so shaped as to form a vertically-extending corrugation in the sheets. This provides beam strength to the stack, which enables the stack to stand on its edge. As the oribiting motion of theupper roller 14 commences (Figure 1b) thestack corrugation tongue 21 moves away from the tray, and achieves maximum displacement from the tray when thenip 12 is substantially vertical (Figure 1c). This enables the fed sheet 11 to be placed unhindered into the tray. As theupper roller 14 returns towards its initial position (Figure 1d) thestack corrugation tongue 21 is moved back into contact with the stack so as to corrugate the most recently fed sheet 11. - Also driven from the mechanism which causes the orbital motion of the upper roller is a side tamping arm 22 (Figures 3, 4) which is activated after a sheet has been discharged from the
nip 12 but before thestack corrugation tongue 21 contacts the set. This action accurately aligns the vertical edges of the stack of sheets in thetray 15. - Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the sheet stacking apparatus of the invention is incorporated in a
finisher station 30 for axerographic copier 10. In this circumstances, thecompiler tray 15 of Figure 1 is represented by two fold-down partial trays constituted byset support arms 15a, 15b. The corrugations produces bystack corrugation tongue 21 are formed by pressing the tongue into the space between the two setsupport arms 15a, 15b. Once a compiled set has been completed, setsupport arms 15a, 15b are folded down, causing the set to drop into a largercapacity catch tray 31. An offsetting function can be introduced by causing the tamping arm to move alternate compiled sets of copies by a greater distance than the other sets. - Referring to Figure 4, incoming sheets arrive with their registration edges at a first position, and are moved by the tamping
arm 22 to either one of two second positions. Compiled sets are then passed, prior to discharge, to alternate offset positions oncatch tray 31. - As part of the finisher function, a
stapler 32 may be provided adjacent the lower corner of the compiler tray into which the copy sheets are registered. Thus when stapled set of copies are required, as each set is compiled the stapler is activated, and the tamper arm is then moved so as to push the stapled set out of the stapler throat to one of the two offset positions. - The stapler is arranged, as seen in Figure 3, so that its
anvil 33 is on the machine side of the compiler tray, with the moving parts and the drivingmechanis 34 located within a housing 35 (Figure 2). - An example of a driving arrangement for the orbiting rollers is illustrated in Figure 5. Driven
rollers 13 andidler rollers 14 are carried respectively ondrive shaft 40 andidler shaft 41.Shaft 40 is journaled for rotation inend members support frame 44, and is driven bydrive pinion 45 which in turn is driven by, for example, drive belt 46.Thus, on operation ofdrive belt 46, thedrive rollers 13 rotate, causing rotation of theidler rollers 14 by frictional engagement, theidler rollers 14 either being journaled for rotation onidler shaft 41, or being fixed toshaft 41 which is then journaled for rotation inend members frame 44. In order to produce orbital motion of theidler rollers 14 about thee axis of drivenrollers 13, theframe 44 is caused to make angular movements about the axis of drive shaft 40.Angular movement of theframe 44 is achieved by means of adrive pinion 47 secured to endmember 42, thedrive shaft 40 being journaled for rotation relative to thedrive pinion 47. Adrive belt 48 engagespinion 47, and is operated to cause angular motion of thepinion 47, and hence theframe 44. - Referring now to Figure 6, a xerographic copying machine which has a duplex copying facility uses a buffer tray that incorporates a sheet transporting apparatus according to the invention. Figure 6 shows (diagrammatically) only those components which are involved in the movement of copy paper sheets through the apparatus. A copy sheet is fed, by a
feed roller 50, from astack 51 of sheets supported on an elevatingstack carrier 52. The sheet, as indicated by arrow A, is guided to a pair ofprimary transport rollers 53, and then, as indicated by arrow B is guided to a second pair oftransport rollers 54. Thetransport rollers 54 convey the sheet (arrow C) to axerographic transfer station 55 where a developed electrostatic latent image is transferred from aphotoreceptor belt 56 on to the upper surface of the copy sheet. The sheet carrying the transferred image, as indicated by arrow D, then passes through afuser 57 comprising a heated roller and a backup roller. Thefuser 57 fixes the developed image on to the upper surface of the copy sheet, which is then guided tooutput rollers 58, as indicated by arrow E. - If the image is to be formed on only one side of the copy sheet (i.e. a simplex copy), the sheet is transported completely through the
output rollers 58, as shown by arrow F, and into a suitable output tray (not shown). If, however, images are to be formed on both sides of the sheet (i.e. a duplex copy), then the sheet is recirculated so that it can receive an image on its other side, as will now be described. - For duplex copying, instead of the sheet passing completely through
output rollers 58, it is stopped just before its trailing edge arrives at the nip between the output rollers. The output rollers are then reversed, so that the sheet passes back between them, as indicated by arrow G. The geometry of the output rollers and the surrounding sheet guiding surfaces is such that on reversal of the output rollers, the sheet is fed back into alower guide throat 59, as indicated by arrow H, rather than towards thefuser 57. The sheet then passes (arrow I) into the nip of a pair oftransport rollers 60 which constitute a sheet transporting apparatus in accordance with the invention. - When a single duplex copy is to be produced from an original, the axes of
transport rollers 60 remain stationary, and by means of agate 61 the sheet is guided (arrow J) alongsheet guide 62 towards primary transport rollers 53 (arrow K). As the sheet approachesrollers 53, its imaged face is uppermost, so that on its second pass through the xerographic system (arrows B, C, D and E) its imaged face is lowermost, so that it can receive an image on its blank face. The sheet, carrying images on both faces after the second pass, is conveyed completely out of the machine by output rollers 58 (arrow F) and deposited in the output tray. - In the case where multiple copies are to receive duplex images, in a mode where all the first sides of a set of copy sheets are imaged first, followed by all the second sides, the sheets are held following the imaging of the first sides in a
duplex buffer tray 63. To achieve this, thegate 61 is raised, as shown in broken outline, so that the sheets are fed into the buffer tray (arrows L) for sheets less than a predetermined length, the axes of therollers 60 remain stationary throughout the feeding of sheets into thebuffer tray 63. A stack of sheets is formed in thebuffer tray 63, and an elevating base brings the top sheet in the stack into engagement with buffertray feed roller 64. Sheets fed by the buffertray feed roller 64 are guided (arrow Q) up toprimary feed rollers 53 to make a second pass in the fashion just described for the single copy duplex mode. - Finally, for sheets longer than the predetermined length, instead of the axes of the
transport rollers 60 being held stationary throughout the feeding of a sheet, the rolles are first held stationary, and then caused to make an orbiting motion, as previously described herein, with the axis of the idler roller (the upper roller as seen in Figure 6) making a clockwise orbital motion around the drive roller (the lower roller), so that the sheet is laid down onto the tray somewhat as indicated by arrows M, N and P, with arrow P representating the path followed by the longest sheets. In this way, sheets of a wide range of lengths can be deposited in the buffer tray, and the sheets can be longer than the distance between the end of the buffer tray nearestfeed roller 64 and the nip between therollers 60. Thus, as a long sheet is fed betweenrollers 60, its leading edge is first fed into contact with the end ofbuffer tray 63 just belowfeed roller 64. At around this time, the orbiting motion ofrollers 60 is commenced, so that the trailing edge of the sheet is guided first generally downwards towards thetray 63, and eventually in a direction away from the far end of thetray 63, as indicated by arrows P when the orbiting roller is in the broken line position shown. The effect is a "peeling" motion of the sheet onto the tray. Sheets considerably longer than the tray can be deposited onto the tray, without the need for an unduly long paper path, and without the need for additional deflectors or feed rollers. After deposition of a sheet, the orbiting motion of therollers 60 is reversed to return the nip to its original position prior to the arrival of the leading edge of the next sheet to be stacked.
Claims (10)
a pair of rollers (13, 14) forming a sheet transporting nip (12), and adapted, when in an initial position, to engage the leading edge (17) of a sheet (11) delivered thereto, characterised by
means (44, 47) arranged to produce an orbital motion of the rollers one about the other so as to progressively change the direction of motion of the sheet while the sheet is advancing through the nip.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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GB8709616 | 1987-04-23 | ||
GB878709616A GB8709616D0 (en) | 1987-04-23 | 1987-04-23 | Sheet transporting apparatus |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0289217A1 EP0289217A1 (en) | 1988-11-02 |
EP0289217B1 true EP0289217B1 (en) | 1992-03-04 |
Family
ID=10616216
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19880303606 Expired - Lifetime EP0289217B1 (en) | 1987-04-23 | 1988-04-21 | Sheet transporting apparatus |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0289217B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2613912B2 (en) |
DE (1) | DE3868681D1 (en) |
GB (1) | GB8709616D0 (en) |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE68923066T4 (en) * | 1988-11-26 | 1996-02-15 | Canon Kk | Sheet finishing device and image forming device. |
JP2794428B2 (en) * | 1988-12-12 | 1998-09-03 | キヤノン株式会社 | Sheet transport device |
Family Cites Families (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE3413238A1 (en) * | 1983-04-11 | 1984-10-25 | Gradco Systems, Inc., Santa Ana, Calif. | BOW SORTING DEVICE |
JPS61114959A (en) * | 1984-11-07 | 1986-06-02 | Tokyo Electric Co Ltd | Paper ejector of business machine |
-
1987
- 1987-04-23 GB GB878709616A patent/GB8709616D0/en active Pending
-
1988
- 1988-04-21 EP EP19880303606 patent/EP0289217B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1988-04-21 DE DE8888303606T patent/DE3868681D1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1988-04-22 JP JP63100035A patent/JP2613912B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB8709616D0 (en) | 1987-05-28 |
EP0289217A1 (en) | 1988-11-02 |
JP2613912B2 (en) | 1997-05-28 |
DE3868681D1 (en) | 1992-04-09 |
JPS63288858A (en) | 1988-11-25 |
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