US20010017442A1 - Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method - Google Patents
Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20010017442A1 US20010017442A1 US09/852,716 US85271601A US2001017442A1 US 20010017442 A1 US20010017442 A1 US 20010017442A1 US 85271601 A US85271601 A US 85271601A US 2001017442 A1 US2001017442 A1 US 2001017442A1
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- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- sheet
- tip portion
- sheet discharging
- discharging
- holding member
- 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.)
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
- G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
- G03G15/65—Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material
- G03G15/6552—Means for discharging uncollated sheet copy material, e.g. discharging rollers, exit trays
-
- 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
- B65H29/02—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by mechanical grippers engaging the leading edge only of the articles
-
- 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
- B65H29/26—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by dropping the articles
- B65H29/34—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by dropping the articles from supports slid from under the articles
-
- 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
- B65H2404/60—Other elements in face contact with handled material
- B65H2404/63—Oscillating, pivoting around an axis parallel to face of material, e.g. diverting means
-
- 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
- B65H2404/60—Other elements in face contact with handled material
- B65H2404/68—Other elements in face contact with handled material reciprocating in transport direction
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
- B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
- B65H2701/13—Parts concerned of the handled material
- B65H2701/131—Edges
- B65H2701/1311—Edges leading edge
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
- B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
- B65H2701/18—Form of handled article or web
- B65H2701/182—Piled package
- B65H2701/1828—Parts concerned of piled package
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
- G03G2215/00—Apparatus for electrophotographic processes
- G03G2215/00362—Apparatus for electrophotographic processes relating to the copy medium handling
- G03G2215/00789—Adding properties or qualities to the copy medium
- G03G2215/00822—Binder, e.g. glueing device
- G03G2215/00827—Stapler
Definitions
- This invention relates to a sheet discharging apparatus included in an image forming apparatus or a sheet post-processing apparatus connected with the image forming apparatus.
- a sheet discharging device is provided at a discharging exit, which includes a sheet discharging roller 200 as a driving roller, and a driven roller 202 which can contact and separate from the sheet discharging roller 200 .
- the sheet discharging device is configured to discharge a sheet or a set of stapled sheets on a sheet discharging tray 206 with the sheet or the set of stapled sheets sandwiched and conveyed between the sheet discharging roller 200 and the driven roller 202 .
- the height of the sheets stacked on the sheet discharging tray 206 is detected by a sheet surface detecting device which includes a sheet surface detecting lever 208 positioned at substantially a center of a sheet discharging tray 206 , and sensors 210 and 212 .
- a sheet surface detecting device which includes a sheet surface detecting lever 208 positioned at substantially a center of a sheet discharging tray 206 , and sensors 210 and 212 .
- the sheet discharging tray 206 is driven to move down so as to receive additional discharging sheets.
- the above-described sheet surface detecting device functions as a full stacked sheets detecting device which detects that the sheets are stacked to the full capacity on the sheet discharging tray 206 .
- a reference numeral 214 designates a guide plate which guides the sheet or the set of stapled sheets to the discharging exit of the sheet post-processing apparatus
- a reference numeral 216 designates a discharging sensor
- a reference numeral 218 designates a pullback roller which pulls back the discharged sheet to an end fence (not shown) of the sheet discharging tray 206 so as to align the trailing edge of the discharged sheet.
- the stapled sheets 204 are prone to have so-called back curls, i.e., the tip portion of the stapled sheets 204 is curled downward by gravity depending on thickness, weight, or material of the stapled sheets 204 .
- the back curl increases an angle ( ⁇ ) formed between the stapled sheets 204 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 206 at the contact point of the tip portion of the stapled sheets 204 with the surface of the sheet discharging tray 206 .
- the stapled sheets 204 may be stacked on the sheet discharging tray 206 with its tip portion bent inward, i.e., the tip portion of the stapled sheets 204 U-shaped, as illustrated in FIG. 24.
- the above-described bend of the stapled sheets 204 may cause inadequate stacking and a detection error of the sheet surface detecting device.
- a known sheet discharging apparatus includes a protrusive member 220 on the surface of the sheet discharging tray 206 such that a relatively small angle is formed between the tip portion of a sheet or a stapled sheets 204 and the surface of the protrusive member 220 . Thereby, bending of the sheet or the set of stapled sheets 204 is avoided.
- the protrusive member 220 is made detachable from the sheet discharging tray 206 .
- the characteristic of the above image recording apparatus is that a hook member 224 including a latch part 224 a at its tip portion, is swingably provided in the vicinity of a downstream side of the sheet discharging device 222 .
- the hook member 224 swings upward by being pushed by a recorded sheet P, and the sheet P is directed in the sheet discharging direction with the leading edge of the sheet P caught by the latch part 224 a of the hook member 224 .
- As the tip portion of the sheet P is turned up by being caught by the latch part 224 a toward the front side.
- the recording condition on the underside of the sheet P can be confirmed visually.
- the hook member 224 is pushed to swing upward, and then the leading edge of the sheet P is released from the latch part 224 a and the sheet P falls down to be stacked.
- the sheet tip portion bending problem can be avoided because the tip portion of the sheet is turned up.
- a sheet having a strong tension such as a thick paper or a set of stapled sheets
- the sheet or the set of stapled sheets configured to stretch between the latch part 224 a and a discharging exit of the image recording apparatus due to the strong tension and the leading edge of the above sheet or sheets may not be released from the latch part 224 a in an appropriate manner. As a result, inadequate discharging of the sheet or the sheets may be caused.
- an object of this invention is to overcome the above-described and other problems with background sheet discharging apparatuses by providing a novel sheet discharging apparatus and method for discharging a sheet or sheets adequately, in which a sheet tip portion bending problem can be prevented with a simple configuration.
- a sheet discharging apparatus includes a sheet discharging device which discharges a sheet on a sheet discharging tray.
- a sheet tip portion guide device holds a tip portion of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device, guides the sheet in a sheet discharging direction while holding the tip portion of the sheet, and releases the sheet by releasing the tip portion of the sheet held.
- the sheet tip portion guide device may include a holding member which holds the tip portion of the sheet and which moves in the sheet discharging direction with the tip portion of the sheet held by a pushing force of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device.
- the sheet is guided in the sheet discharging direction.
- the holding member may be configured to swing so as to release the tip portion of the sheet by the pushing force of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device.
- the sheet discharging apparatus includes a swing regulation member so as to regulate swings of the holding member for a predetermined distance after the holding member starts to move by the pushing force of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device.
- the swing regulation member may include a shape curved upward in the sheet discharging direction.
- the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a catch device which catches the holding member at a position in which the holding member does not interfere with the discharged sheet.
- the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a displacing device which displaces the swing regulation member such that the holding member is swung at an arbitrary position in the sheet discharging direction to release the tip portion of the sheet. Further, a plurality of the arbitrary positions may be set.
- the tip portion of the sheet may be released by making a moving speed of the holding member faster than a sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device. Further, a plurality of arbitrary positions to make the moving speed of the holding member faster than the sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device may be set.
- the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a sheet release position switch device to select one of the plurality of the arbitrary sheet release positions.
- the sheet tip portion guide device may be configured so as to move to a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with the discharged sheet.
- the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a shifting device which shifts the sheet tip portion guide device to the position.
- the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a control device which controls the shifting device so as to shift the sheet tip portion guide device selectively between a sheet guide position and the position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with the discharged sheet according to a sheet process mode.
- the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a sheet correction member provided in the vicinity of the sheet discharging device to regulate a change of a shape of the sheet at substantially a central part of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction.
- FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an overall structure of a finisher including a sheet discharging apparatus of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of an operation of a sheet surface detecting device of the finisher of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a moving up and down mechanism of a sheet discharging tray of the finisher of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of an operation of an upper limit switch of the sheet discharging tray of the finisher of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a sheet tip portion guide device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating configurations of control parts of the finisher and a copying machine for the sheet discharging apparatus of the present invention
- FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 5 when a tip portion of a set of stapled sheets is released;
- FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a sheet tip portion guide device of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 9;
- FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 12 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a sheet tip portion guide device of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 12;
- FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a modification of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 14;
- FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 15, when a holding member is caught at a position in which the holding member does not interfere with a discharged sheet or sheets;
- FIG. 17 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 18 is a perspective view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17, when a sheet tip portion guide device is positioned at a sheet guide position;
- FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating configurations of control parts of the finisher and the copying machine for the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17;
- FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a control operation according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 21 is a side view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17, when the sheet tip portion guide device is positioned at a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with a discharged sheet or sheets;
- FIG. 22 is a perspective view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17, when the sheet tip portion guide device is positioned at a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with a discharged sheet or sheets;
- FIG. 23 is a side view illustrating a condition of a background sheet discharging apparatus, when an angle ( ⁇ ) is formed between a tip portion of a set of stapled sheets and a surface of a sheet discharging tray of the background sheet discharging apparatus,
- FIG. 24 is a side view illustrating a condition of a background sheet discharging apparatus, when a tip portion of stapled sheets is bent;
- FIG. 25 is a side view illustrating a condition of a background sheet discharging apparatus, when an angle is formed between a tip portion of a set of stapled sheets and a surface of a protrusive member of the background sheet discharging apparatus;
- FIG. 26 is an explanatory view of inadequate stacking in a background sheet discharging apparatus including a protrusive member
- FIG. 27 is an explanatory view of another inadequate stacking in a background sheet discharging apparatus including a protrusive member
- FIG. 28 is an explanatory view of an operation of a background sheet discharging apparatus.
- FIG. 1 there is illustrated an overall structure of a sheet post-processing apparatus (hereinafter called a finisher) including a sheet discharging apparatus of the present invention.
- a finisher a sheet post-processing apparatus
- the finisher is connected to a side of a photocopying machine 2 as an image forming apparatus.
- a sheet transfer portion J which transfers a sheet from the photocopying machine 2 to the finisher.
- an entrance sensor S 1 In the vicinity of a sheet transfer portion J which transfers a sheet from the photocopying machine 2 to the finisher, there are provided an entrance sensor S 1 and entrance rollers 4 .
- a sheet transferred into the finisher by the entrance rollers 4 is discharged by one of the following three sheet discharging routes according to the sheet processing modes:
- the sheet is conveyed through a sheet discharging route A and is discharged from a discharging exit E 1 to a proof tray 6 which is provided at an upper part of the finisher;
- the sheet is conveyed through a non-staple route B and is discharged from a discharging exit E 2 to a sheet discharging tray 8 without a stapling operation;
- the sheet is conveyed through a staple route C and is discharged from the discharging exit E 2 to the sheet discharging tray 8 after a stapling operation.
- the sheet conveyed by transfer rollers 12 is directed to the sheet discharging route A leading to the proof tray 6 by a separation guide pick 10 , which is disposed downstream from the entrance rollers 4 .
- the sheet is conveyed by transfer rollers 12 and 14 in the sheet discharging route A and is then discharged on the proof tray 6 by discharging rollers 16 .
- the separation guide pick 10 is driven by a solenoid (not shown).
- the separation guide pick 10 is positioned in a position illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 1.
- rollers i.e., the entrance rollers 4 , the transfer rollers 12 and 14 , and the discharging rollers 16 ), respectively include a drive and driven roller pair.
- Other transfer rollers and discharging rollers hereinafter denoted by a single numeral also include a drive and driven roller pair.
- a separation guide pick 18 is disposed downstream of the separation guide pick 10 , and directs a sheet, which is directed in the horizontal direction by the separation guide pick 10 that is illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 1, selectively to the non-staple route B in which a staple operation is not performed and to the staple route C in which a staple operation is performed.
- the separation guide pick 18 is also driven by a solenoid (not shown) and switches its position selectively between the position illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 1 (i.e., the position for forming the non-staple route B), and the position illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 1 (i.e., the position for forming the staple route C).
- a sheet is conveyed in the non-staple route B by transfer rollers 20 , and is then discharged to the sheet discharging tray 8 by a sheet discharging device 70 and a sheet tip portion guide device 72 A (both described later).
- the sheet discharged on the sheet discharging tray 8 is pulled back to an end fence 50 by a sponge-made pullback roller 48 with the trailing edge of the sheet abutted against the end fence 50 , so that the sheet is stacked on the sheet discharging tray 8 with the trailing edge of the sheet aligned.
- a sheet is conveyed in the staple route C by transfer rollers 24 , 26 , and 28 to a staple unit 30 in which a staple operation is performed.
- a set of stapled sheets is discharged to the sheet discharging tray 8 by the sheet discharging device 70 and the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A.
- the sheet directed to the staple route C is stacked on a staple tray (not shown) by discharging rollers 32 .
- the sheet On the staple tray, the sheet is aligned in the sheet conveying direction one by one by a striking roller 34 .
- the sheet is aligned in the sheet width direction (i.e., in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction) by a jogger fence pair 36 .
- a stapler 38 is driven based on a staple signal transmitted from a control device (not shown) during an interval between jobs.
- the set of stapled sheets is pushed up by a release belt 42 including a release pick 40 in the direction indicated by an arrow U in FIG. 1, and is then discharged to the sheet discharging tray 8 by the sheet discharging device 70 and the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A.
- the set of stapled sheets discharged on the sheet discharging tray 8 is pulled back to the end fence 50 by the pullback roller 48 with the trailing edge of the sheets abutted against the end fence 50 , so that the sheets are stacked on the sheet discharging tray 8 with the trailing edge of the sheets aligned.
- the striking roller 34 is driven and swung by a solenoid (not shown) around a supporting point 34 a , and periodically strikes the sheet fed to the staple tray so as to abut the sheet against an end fence 44 .
- the striking roller 34 rotates in a counterclockwise direction.
- a reference numeral 46 indicates a guide plate
- a reference character S 2 indicates a discharging sensor.
- a sheet surface detecting device 52 is provided above the sheet discharging device 70 .
- the sheet discharging tray 8 is driven to move down so as to receive additional discharged sheets. That is, the finisher according to the embodiments of the present invention adopts a configuration in which a large number of sheets can be discharged on the sheet discharging tray 8 .
- the sheet surface detecting device 52 includes a sheet surface detecting lever 54 which is aligned with substantially the widthwise center of the sheet discharging tray 8 . Also included are sensors 56 and 58 provided above the sheet discharging device 70 . The sheet surface detecting operation of the sheet surface detecting device 52 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The sheet surface detecting lever 54 is supported so as to seesaw. One end of the sheet surface detecting lever 54 is disposed to contact the sheet discharging tray 8 when no sheet is stacked thereon as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 2.
- the one end of the sheet surface detecting lever 54 contacting the surface of the sheets stacked on the sheet discharging tray 8 is raised as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 2.
- Another end of the sheet surface detecting lever 54 is disposed so as to be detected by the sensors 56 and 58 .
- the sensors 56 and 58 detect that the sheet discharging tray 8 is at the home position, the height of the stacked sheets on the discharging tray 8 exceeds a predetermined height, and so on, in cooperation with the sheet surface detecting lever 54 .
- the sheet discharging tray 8 is provided with a pair of up-down lift belts 62 which are driven by an up-down motor 60 via gears and a timing belt.
- the discharging tray 8 moves up and down by forward and reverse rotations of the up-down motor 60 .
- a lower limit sensor 64 is provided in the vicinity of a lower part of the up-down lift belts 62 .
- an interception board 66 which is provided at one side of the sheet discharging tray 8 , intercepts the lower limit sensor 64 , the up-down motor 60 stops. Thereby, the sheet discharging tray 8 stops moving down at the position of the lower limit sensor 64 , which is the lowest moving position of the sheet discharging tray 8 .
- the sheet discharging device 70 includes a discharge drive roller 74 and a discharge driven roller 76 which contacts and presses the discharge driver roller 74 by its gravity or a bias force of a spring (not shown) or the like.
- the driven roller 76 is provided so as to contact and separate from the drive roller 74 via a supporting plate 78 such that both a sheet and a set of stapled sheets can be discharged through the drive roller 74 and the driven roller 76 .
- the supporting plate 78 shifts upward, as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 1, so as to adjust a nip part between the discharging roller 74 and the driven roller 76 to the thickness of a set of stapled sheets.
- the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A includes timing pulleys 80 and 82 which are supported by a bracket (not shown) fixed to the finisher; a timing belt 84 which is spanned around the timing pulleys 80 and 82 : a holding member 86 which is provided to the timing belt 84 to receive and hold a tip portion of a sheet or a set of sheets discharged from the finisher; a home position detecting sensor 87 which detects a standby position (i.e. a home position), of the holding member 86 ; and a stepping motor 88 which drives the timing pulley 80 located at the upstream side in the sheet discharging direction.
- a standby position i.e. a home position
- the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A includes a pair of guide plates and is disposed such that the sheet surface detecting lever 54 is positioned in the middle of the pair of guide plates.
- the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A is configured so as to hold and guide both ends of a leading edge of a sheet or a set of sheets in the sheet discharging direction.
- the distance between the pair of guide plates of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A is set to be shorter than the length of the minimum size sheet in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction.
- a control device 90 including a microcomputer controls the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A. Information from each of the home position detecting sensor 87 , the discharging sensor S 2 and the stepping motor 88 is input to the control device 90 .
- the first embodiment of the present invention there are two sheet release operation modes to release a sheet or a set of sheets held by the holding member 86 depending on a position at which the sheet or sheets are released from the holding member 86 .
- the modes are as follows:
- the sheet or sheets are released from the holding member 86 by making the moving speed of the holding member 86 faster than the sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device 70 after the holding member 86 holds and guides the sheet or sheets through a short distance in the sheet discharging direction.
- the sheet or sheets are released after the holding member 86 holds and guides the sheet or sheets through a long distance in the sheet discharging direction.
- the above-described two sheet release operation modes may be selected by manipulating a sheet release position switch device 92 provided to the finisher.
- the control device 90 controls the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A based on the selected sheet release position. Though it is not shown in figures, the control device 90 is configured to display the selected sheet release operation mode, for example, on an operation panel 94 (illustrated in FIG. 7) provided to the photocopying machine 2 .
- the information of sheet size which is set by the manipulation of the operation panel 94 of the photocopying machine 2 or which is detected by a sheet size detecting sensor 96 of the photocopying machine 2 , is input from a control device 98 of the photocopying machine 2 to the control device 90 of the finisher.
- the above-described two sheet release operation modes may be selected based on the above-described sheet size information as an alternative to the selection with the sheet release position switch device 92 .
- the control device 90 controls the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A to release a sheet or a set of sheets in the short distance sheet release mode, and when a large size sheet is set on the operation panel 94 or is detected by the sheet size detecting sensor 96 , the control device 90 controls the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A in the long distance sheet release mode.
- the control device 90 starts to drive the stepping motor 88 so as to move the holding member 86 in the sheet discharging direction after a predetermined time (i.e., when the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 rides on the holding member 86 and is held thereby).
- the holding member 86 is controlled to move in the sheet discharging direction at substantially the same speed as the sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device 70 . Therefore, the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 is guided in the sheet discharging direction, while being held by the holding member 86 (i.e., riding on the holding member 86 ).
- the control device 90 controls to change a stepping signal input to the stepping motor 88 such that the moving speed of the holding member 86 becomes higher than the sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device 70 , when the holding member 86 reaches a position P 1 .
- the holding member 86 releases the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 and thereby the set of stapled sheets 100 is left behind, and the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 falls down to the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 .
- an angle ( ⁇ ) formed between the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point of the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 with the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 becomes much smaller than the angle ( ⁇ ) which is formed when the set of stapled sheets 100 falls down to the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 immediately after having been discharged from the sheet discharging device 70 as in the background sheet discharging apparatus. Thereby, the bending of the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 is avoided. The longer the holding member 86 guides the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 , the smaller the above-described angle ( ⁇ ) becomes.
- the control device 90 controls the position P 1 by counting the step number of the stepping motor 88 . After the holding member 86 releases the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 , the control device 90 reverses the stepping motor 88 , and thereby the holding member 86 returns to the home position to wait for the next set of stapled sheets discharged from the sheet discharging device 70 .
- the holding member 86 may hold the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 on the surface of the holding member 86 . Therefore, the holding part of the holding member 86 has an L-shaped form and its flat part is formed in a slightly downward slanting condition looking from the side so that the holding member 86 can smoothly release the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 .
- the control device 90 controls the stepping motor 88 such that the moving speed of the holding member 86 becomes higher than the sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device 70 when the holding member 86 arrives at a position P 2 . Even when a sheet is long and curled downward, bending of the sheet is surely avoided with the above long distance sheet release mode.
- the tip portion of the long sheet is pushed up along the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 after falling down to the sheet discharging tray 8 until the end portion of the sheet is discharged completely, and the tip portion of the sheet may be bent while being pushed up.
- the short distance sheet release mode may be sufficient in the sheet discharging apparatus. This is because the sheet may be pushed up along the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 after falling down to the sheet discharging tray 8 until the end portion of the sheet is discharged completely. Therefore, the length of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A in the sheet discharging direction may be short, and accordingly the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A may be made compact.
- the above-described configuration of the sheet discharging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is particularly effective in preventing the sheet tip bending problem when the sheet discharging tray 8 is fixed and does not move up and down and when a distance H between the discharging exit E 2 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 is relatively long. This is because the angle between the stapled sheets 100 discharged from the sheet discharging device 70 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 becomes greater as the distance H becomes longer, and thereby the tip of the stapled sheets 100 is prone to be bent.
- the stepping motor 88 is used as a separate driving source for the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A in the first embodiment of the present invention, other separate driving sources may be used or a driving source for the finisher may be used via a clutch or the like.
- FIGS. 9 and 10 a sheet discharging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is described referring to FIGS. 9 and 10.
- the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described first embodiment will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- a sheet tip portion guide device 72 C of the second embodiment has a different configuration from that of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 A of the first embodiment.
- the characteristic of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 C is that a driving source is not required to drive the holding member. Rather, the holding member moves by a pushing force of the discharged sheet or sheets.
- the sheet tip portion guide device 72 C includes a rail member 120 which is fixed slantwise to the finisher via brackets (not shown), and a holding member 122 which moves through the rail member 120 .
- the holding member 122 includes a rectangular U-shaped slider 124 which slides along the inside of the rail member 120 , and a Z-shaped holding section 126 which is swingably supported by the slider 124 .
- a vertical portion 126 a of the holding section 126 are convex portions 126 b .
- the holding section 126 is supported by the slider 124 by engaging the convex portions 126 b with holes formed in the slider 124 .
- the rail member 120 is formed by a pair of channel members. Between upper parts of the pair of channel members, a plate cam 128 is sandwiched and is fixed to the channel members as a swing regulation member to regulate swings of the holding section 126 . Further, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a stopper 130 is formed at the upstream end of the rail member 120 in the sheet discharging direction to position the holding member 122 at a home position.
- the holding member 122 starts to move when the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 abuts against the vertical portion 126 a of the holding section 126 .
- the holding member 122 moves at substantially the same speed as the sheet discharging speed of the set of stapled sheets 100 .
- the holding section 126 pushed by the stapled sheets 100 reaches the position in which the plate cam 128 does not regulate the holding section 126 , the holding section 126 swings in the clockwise direction as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 9. Thereby, the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 is released from the holding section 126 , and falls to the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 .
- the holding section 126 is formed such that the lower flat portion 126 d side is heavier than the upper flat portion 126 c side. Therefore, immediately after releasing the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 , the holding section 126 swings back in the counterclockwise direction to the original position due to the weight balance between the lower flat portion 126 d side and the upper flat portion 126 c side. At the same time, the holding member 122 returns to the home position by its gravity, moving through the slant rail member 120 .
- the above-described sheet release position of the holding member 122 can be changed by changing the length of the plate cam 128 in the sheet discharging direction.
- a driving source for moving the holding member 122 is not required, and therefore a driving control operation is not necessary.
- a sheet discharging apparatus capable of avoiding a bending of a sheet or sheets can be achieved at a relatively low cost.
- FIG. 11 another sheet discharging apparatus according to a third embodiment, which also does not require a driving source for a holding member is described.
- a sheet tip portion guide device 72 D includes a sector-shaped rail member 132 which is fixed to the finisher to serve as a swing regulation member and a holding member 133 to hold discharged sheets.
- the holding member 133 includes an arm 134 whose upper end part is swingably supported by the rail member 132 , and a Z-shaped holding section 136 which is swingably supported by a lower end part of the arm 134 via a shaft 136 b .
- a stopper 138 is provided to position the holding member 133 at a home position.
- the holding section 136 cannot swing due to the regulation by the rail surface 132 a .
- the holding member 133 is pushed by the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 due to the friction between the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the lower flat portion 136 d .
- the holding member 133 starts to move when the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 abuts against the vertical portion 136 a of the holding section 136 .
- the rail member 132 is sector-shaped and the rail surface 132 a is curved upward in the sheet discharging direction, as the sheet or sheets push the holding section 136 of the holding member 133 , the holding member 133 is displaced upward. Thereby, the holding section 136 changes its posture to a posture in which the tip portion of the sheet or sheets can be easily released from the holding section 136 .
- the tip portion of the sheet or sheets can be released from the holding section 136 at a shorter distance in the horizontal direction and more easily than the sheet discharging apparatus in the second embodiment
- the holding section 136 When the holding section 136 reaches a position in which the holding section 136 is not regulated by the rail surface 132 a as indicated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 11, the holding section 136 starts to rotate. Thereby, the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 is released from the holding section 136 and falls to the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 forming a relatively small angle between the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 . Thus, the stapled sheets 100 are discharged on the sheet discharging tray 8 without being bent.
- the holding section 136 is formed such that the lower flat portion 136 d side is heavier than the upper flat portion 136 c side. Therefore, immediately after releasing the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 , the holding section 136 swings back in the counterclockwise direction to the original position due to the weight balance between the lower flat portion 136 d side and the upper flat portion 136 c side. At the same time, the holding member 133 returns to the home position by its gravity.
- FIGS. 12 and 13 A fourth embodiment of the present invention is now described referring to FIGS. 12 and 13.
- the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described embodiments will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- a sheet discharging apparatus of the fourth embodiment has no driving source to drive a holding member to hold discharged sheets and that it can set a sheet release position for the holding member at arbitrary positions.
- a sheet tip portion guide device 72 E includes a rail member 140 which is fixed slantwise to the finisher via brackets (not shown), a holding member 142 which moves through the rail member 140 , a bar 146 as a swing regulation member to regulate swings of the holding member 142 , and a solenoid 148 serving as a displacing device for the swing regulation member which enables the holding member 142 to swing at an arbitrary position in the sheet discharging direction.
- the holding member 142 includes an L-shaped holding section 150 , a pair of arms 152 which extend upward from both upper ends of the holding section 150 and then curve downward slantwise and face each other, and a cylindrically shaped abutment portion 154 which extends between the tip portions of the pair of arms 152 .
- a shaft 156 is passed through the pair of arms 152 .
- the shaft 156 is engaged with a rail groove 140 a of the rail member 140 , and thereby the holding member 142 is swingably supported by the rail member 140 .
- a stopper 158 is formed at the upstream end of the rail member 140 in the sheet discharging direction to position the holding member 142 at a home position.
- the solenoid 148 When the holding member 142 is located at the home position as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 12, the solenoid 148 is turned off, and the bar 146 is positioned within the rail member 140 and abuts against the abutment portion 154 of the holding member 142 as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 12. Thereby, the holding member 142 cannot swing.
- the holding member 142 When the set of stapled sheets 100 is discharged from the sheet discharging device 70 and the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 rides on the holding section 150 while the holding member 142 is located at the home position, the holding member 142 is pushed by the stapled sheets 100 due to the friction between the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the holding section 150 .
- the holding member 142 starts to move when the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 abuts against a vertical portion 150 a (illustrated in FIG. 13) of the holding section 150 .
- the holding member 142 first moves at substantially the same speed as the sheet discharging speed of the set of stapled sheets 100 .
- the solenoid 148 is turned on and the bar 146 is pulled up from the rail member 140 at a predetermined position, the abutment portion 154 becomes free from the regulation by the bar 146 . Therefore, the holding member 142 swings in the clockwise direction by being pushed by the set of stapled sheets 100 as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 12.
- the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 is released from the holding section 150 and falls down on the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 forming a relatively small angle between the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapled sheets 100 and the surface of the sheet discharging tray 8 .
- the stapled sheets 100 are discharged on the sheet discharging tray 8 without being bent.
- the holding member 142 is formed such that the holding section 150 side is heavier than the arms 152 side. Therefore, immediately after releasing the tip portion of the set of stapled sheets 100 , the holding member 142 swings back in the counterclockwise direction to the original position due to the weight balance between the holding section 150 side and the arms 152 side. At the same time, the holding member 142 returns to the home position by its gravity, moving along the slant rail groove 140 a.
- a sheet release position can be set at arbitrary positions by controlling a timing to turn on and off the solenoid 148 .
- the sheet discharging apparatus can be configured such that a sheet release position is switched among a plurality of sheet release positions by the sheet release position switch device.
- a bending of a tip portion of a sheet can be prevented in the fourth embodiment.
- FIG. 14 A sheet discharging apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is next described referring to FIG. 14.
- the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described embodiments will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- the sheet discharging apparatus of the fifth embodiment is modified from the one in the third embodiment of the present invention.
- a sheet tip portion guide device 72 F includes a sector-shaped rail member 160 as a swing regulation member, which is fixed on the finisher, and a holding member 162 to hold discharged sheets.
- the holding member 162 includes a pair of arms 166 whose upper end portions are rotatively supported by the rail member 160 via a shaft 164 , and a Z-shaped holding section 136 which is swingably supported by lower end portions of the pair of arms 166 via a shaft 168 .
- a stopper is provided on the rail member 160 , the description and illustration of the stopper are omitted.
- a pair of convex portions 170 is integrally formed with the rail member 160 such that the pair of convex portions 170 protrudes in the direction of the thickness of the rail member 160 .
- the pair of convex portions 170 serves as a catch device to catch the holding member 162 at the position in which the holding member 162 does not interfere with the discharged sheet.
- the holding member 162 When a thin sheet having weak tension is discharged, the holding member 162 may not be able to guide the thin sheet due to lack of pushing force of the thin sheet, and thus the holding member 162 may interfere with the discharge of the thin sheet. Therefore, when sheets are thin, in order to avoid the interference of the holding member 162 with the thin sheets, the holding member 162 is moved in advance so as to be caught by the pair of convex portions 170 at the position in which the holding member 162 does not interfere with discharged sheets.
- the sheet tip portion guide device 72 F is provided to guide a sheet or a set of sheets discharged from a discharging exit E 2 with both ends of the leading edge of the sheet or sheets held by the holding member 162 .
- a central part of the stapled sheets 100 may bulge upward due to stapling when such stapled sheets 100 are discharged.
- the bulged central part of the stapled sheets 100 may contact an upper edge of the discharging exit E 2 , and thereby the stapled sheets 100 may be caught due to the friction between the stapled sheets 100 and the upper edge of the discharging exit E 2 .
- the set of stapled sheets 100 may not be discharged adequately.
- a sheet correction member 172 is provided in the vicinity of the sheet discharging device 70 (not shown in FIG. 15) so as to regulate the bulge of the sheet or sheets at substantially the central part of the sheet or sheets in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction.
- the shape of the sheet correction member 172 is not limited to the one illustrated in FIG. 15, and the sheet correction member 172 may be formed in any shape suitable for suppressing a bulge at a central part of the sheet or sheets in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction.
- the shape of the sheet correction member 172 is made similar to the sector portion of the rail member 160 so as to make the sheet discharging speed at the central part of the sheets the same as those of the pair of rail members 160 and discharge the sheet or sheets smoothly.
- an additional sheet tip portion guide device 72 F may be provided at the central part of the discharging exit E 2 as the sheet correction member 172 .
- the above-described catch device such as the convex portions 170 , may also be provided to the rail member 132 in FIG. 11 of the third embodiment of the present invention.
- the above-described sheet correction member 172 may be also applicable to each sheet discharging apparatus according to the first through fourth embodiments of the present invention.
- a sixth embodiment of the present invention is described referring to FIGS. 17 through 22.
- a characteristic of the sixth embodiment is that a shift of the holding member 162 between a sheet guide position and a position in which the holding member 162 does not interfere with the discharged sheet is made automatically as an alternative to the manual shift by an operator according to the sheet type, which is described in the fifth embodiment.
- a sheet tip portion guide device 72 G includes a sector-shaped rail member 160 ′, which does not have the pair of convex portions 170 described in the fifth embodiment, and the holding member 162 which is guided by the rail member 160 ′.
- the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G is configured to be shifted by a shifting device 174 to an arbitrary position in which the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G does not interfere with a sheet or sheets.
- the shifting device 174 is provided to the finisher such that the shifting device 174 can slide up and down by a guide member (not shown).
- the shifting device 174 includes a slide base 176 to which the rail member 160 ′ is fixed, a bracket 178 which is fixed to the slide base 176 , an arm 184 which is rotatively supported at a central part thereof as a fulcrum by a bracket 180 , which is fixed to the finisher via a shaft 182 , and a solenoid 186 .
- One end of the arm 184 is rotatively connected to the bracket 178 , and another end is rotatively connected to a tip portion of a movable rod 186 a of the solenoid 186 .
- FIG. 17 illustrates a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus where the solenoid 186 is turned off and the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G is ready to hold and guide a sheet or sheets discharged from the sheet discharging device 70 , which is also illustrated in FIG. 18.
- the solenoid 186 is configured to be controlled by a control device 188 .
- an input device 190 i.e., a switch
- the control device 188 includes a microcomputer including a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and the like.
- a control operation of the control device 188 for the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G is described referring to a flowchart illustrated in FIG. 20, and referring to FIGS. 21 and 22.
- the control device 188 judges if a staple mode is selected based on input information from a control device 98 (illustrated in FIG. 19) of the copying machine in step S 1 . If the answer is YES in step S 1 , the control device 188 judges if the number of stapled sheets is X or more in step S 2 . When stapled sheets are thin and the number of stapled sheets is small, the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G may not be pushed by the stapled thin sheets and may interfere with the discharge of the stapled thin sheets. Therefore, the number of stapled sheets is judged relative to X in step S 2 to avoid an inadequate discharge of the stapled thin sheets.
- step S 2 it may be possible to turn off the solenoid 186 to shift the position of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G to a sheet guide position.
- an operator's setting for turning on and off the solenoid 186 with the input device 190 is checked first, and the position of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G is controlled based on the above-described operator's setting. Therefore, after step S 2 , the control device 188 judges if the solenoid 186 is turned off with the input device 190 in step S 3 . If the answer is YES in step S 3 , the control device 188 turns off the solenoid 186 and positions the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G at a sheet guide position in step S 4 .
- step S 3 the control device 188 turns on the solenoid 186 so as to shift the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G in step S 5 .
- the solenoid 186 is turned on, the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G is shifted upward to a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G does not interfere with a sheet or sheets discharged from the sheet discharging device 70 as illustrated in FIGS. 21 and 22.
- a thin paper P for example, is discharged without being guided by the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G.
- step S 1 or step S 2 if the staple mode is not selected in step S 1 or if the number of stapled sheets is not X or more in step S 2 , the control device 188 judges if the solenoid 186 is turned on with the input device 190 in step S 6 . If the answer is YES in step S 6 , the control device 188 turns on the solenoid 186 and shifts the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G upward in step S 7 . If the answer is NO in step S 6 , the control device 188 turns off the solenoid 186 and positions the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G at a sheet guide position in step S 4 .
- a sheet type setting device 192 may be provided on the operation panel 94 as illustrated in FIG. 19 so as to set a sheet type, for example, a thick sheet and a thin sheet, and the control device 188 may control the operation of the sheet tip guide portion 72 G based on the information of the above-described sheet type.
- the above-described configuration of the sheet discharging apparatus according to the sixth embodiment may also be applied to each sheet discharging apparatus according to the first through fourth embodiments other than the fifth embodiment.
- an operator may turn on and off the solenoid 186 with a switch each time the sheet or sheets are discharged, so as to shift the position of the sheet tip portion guide device 72 G.
Abstract
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- This invention relates to a sheet discharging apparatus included in an image forming apparatus or a sheet post-processing apparatus connected with the image forming apparatus.
- 2. Discussion of the Background
- In a background sheet post-processing apparatus, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 23, a sheet discharging device is provided at a discharging exit, which includes a
sheet discharging roller 200 as a driving roller, and a drivenroller 202 which can contact and separate from thesheet discharging roller 200. The sheet discharging device is configured to discharge a sheet or a set of stapled sheets on asheet discharging tray 206 with the sheet or the set of stapled sheets sandwiched and conveyed between thesheet discharging roller 200 and the drivenroller 202. - The height of the sheets stacked on the
sheet discharging tray 206 is detected by a sheet surface detecting device which includes a sheetsurface detecting lever 208 positioned at substantially a center of asheet discharging tray 206, andsensors sheet discharging tray 206 reaches a predetermined height, thesheet discharging tray 206 is driven to move down so as to receive additional discharging sheets. If thesheet discharging tray 206 is fixed to the sheet post-processing apparatus, the above-described sheet surface detecting device functions as a full stacked sheets detecting device which detects that the sheets are stacked to the full capacity on thesheet discharging tray 206. - Referring to FIG. 23, a
reference numeral 214 designates a guide plate which guides the sheet or the set of stapled sheets to the discharging exit of the sheet post-processing apparatus, areference numeral 216 designates a discharging sensor, and areference numeral 218 designates a pullback roller which pulls back the discharged sheet to an end fence (not shown) of thesheet discharging tray 206 so as to align the trailing edge of the discharged sheet. - As illustrated in FIG. 23, when the set of
stapled sheets 204 is discharged on thesheet discharging tray 206, thestapled sheets 204 are prone to have so-called back curls, i.e., the tip portion of thestapled sheets 204 is curled downward by gravity depending on thickness, weight, or material of thestapled sheets 204. The back curl increases an angle (α) formed between thestapled sheets 204 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 206 at the contact point of the tip portion of thestapled sheets 204 with the surface of thesheet discharging tray 206. - If the discharging operation of the set of
stapled sheets 204 continues in the above back curl condition, thestapled sheets 204 may be stacked on thesheet discharging tray 206 with its tip portion bent inward, i.e., the tip portion of thestapled sheets 204 U-shaped, as illustrated in FIG. 24. The above-described bend of thestapled sheets 204 may cause inadequate stacking and a detection error of the sheet surface detecting device. - The above-described sheet tip portion bending problem occurs not only in the discharged set of stapled sheets but also in the sheet which is discharged one by one on the
sheet discharging tray 206. - In order to address the above-described sheet tip portion bending problem, as illustrated in FIG. 25, a known sheet discharging apparatus includes a
protrusive member 220 on the surface of thesheet discharging tray 206 such that a relatively small angle is formed between the tip portion of a sheet or astapled sheets 204 and the surface of theprotrusive member 220. Thereby, bending of the sheet or the set ofstapled sheets 204 is avoided. Theprotrusive member 220 is made detachable from thesheet discharging tray 206. - However, in the above-described sheet discharging apparatus with the
protrusive member 220, when a sheet is discharged on thesheet discharging tray 206 one by one (hereinafter called a shift stack mode), the surface of a trailing end part of the stacked sheets is projected due to theprotrusive member 220 as illustrated in FIG. 26. In addition, the trailing edge of some sheets does not reach a position to contact a surface of thepullback roller 218 so as to be pulled down by thepullback roller 218 to be abutted against the end fence. As a result, some of the sheets cannot be pulled back surely to be abutted against the end fence, and thereby inadequate stacking is caused. - Moreover, because the surface of the stacked sheets is projected on the
protrusive member 220, as illustrated in FIG. 27, a sheet stacking on the stacked sheets does not slide on the surface of the stacked sheets to the end fence by gravity after the trailing edge of the sheet falls down to the surface of the stacked sheet. As a result, the trailing edge of the sheet does not reach a position to contact a surface of thepullback roller 218 so as to be pulled down by thepullback roller 218 to be abutted against the end fence. Thereby, the sheet is not pulled back to be abutted against the end fence, and the sheet is stacked with its leading edge positioned forward. - Further, in the shift stack mode, when the sheet has so-called face curls at the trailing end portions thereof in the sheet discharging direction (i.e., the trailing end portions of the sheet are curled upward), and when the sheet is discharged on the
protrusive member 220, the trailing edge of the sheet is positioned above the surface of thesheet discharging tray 206. As a result, the trailing edge of the sheet contacts thesheet discharging roller 200 and is pulled by thesheet discharging roller 200. - In light of the above-described inadequate sheet stacking, when the sheet is discharged in the shift stack mode or the sheet is prone to have face curls, the
protrusive member 220 is detached from thesheet discharging tray 206 in the sheet discharging apparatus. - As stated above, in the background sheet discharging apparatus with the
protrusive member 220, an operator is inconvenienced by having to detach and attach theprotrusive member 220 according to the types of sheets and stacking mode. Further, when theprotrusive member 220 is detached from thesheet discharging tray 206, the advantage of preventing the sheet tip portion bending problem may be abandoned. - In Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 6-329320 of 1994, an image recording apparatus is described in which a recording condition of a sheet can be visually confirmed one by one in a sheet facedown discharging method.
- As illustrated in FIG. 28, the characteristic of the above image recording apparatus is that a
hook member 224 including alatch part 224 a at its tip portion, is swingably provided in the vicinity of a downstream side of thesheet discharging device 222. Thehook member 224 swings upward by being pushed by a recorded sheet P, and the sheet P is directed in the sheet discharging direction with the leading edge of the sheet P caught by thelatch part 224 a of thehook member 224. As the tip portion of the sheet P is turned up by being caught by thelatch part 224 a toward the front side. The recording condition on the underside of the sheet P can be confirmed visually. As the sheet P advances in the sheet discharging direction, thehook member 224 is pushed to swing upward, and then the leading edge of the sheet P is released from thelatch part 224 a and the sheet P falls down to be stacked. - In the above-described image recording apparatus of JP No. 6-329320, the sheet tip portion bending problem can be avoided because the tip portion of the sheet is turned up. However, when a sheet having a strong tension, such as a thick paper or a set of stapled sheets is discharged, the sheet or the set of stapled sheets configured to stretch between the
latch part 224 a and a discharging exit of the image recording apparatus due to the strong tension and the leading edge of the above sheet or sheets may not be released from thelatch part 224 a in an appropriate manner. As a result, inadequate discharging of the sheet or the sheets may be caused. - In another Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-45498, a sheet discharging apparatus is described in which a tip portion of a sheet is pinched by a claw on a chain and the sheet is transferred by driving the chain. The sheet is released from the claw at a predetermined position with a cam mechanism.
- In the above-described sheet discharging apparatus of JP No. 7-45498, the sheet is discharged adequately without being bent, because the sheet is released from the claw at a designated position. However, a chain driving mechanism, and the cam mechanism which regulates the sheet release from the claw, increase the cost of the sheet discharging apparatus. In addition, because the sheet is transferred with the leading edge of the sheet pinched by the claw, a pinching mark remains at the leading edge of the sheet.
- Accordingly, an object of this invention is to overcome the above-described and other problems with background sheet discharging apparatuses by providing a novel sheet discharging apparatus and method for discharging a sheet or sheets adequately, in which a sheet tip portion bending problem can be prevented with a simple configuration.
- According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a sheet discharging apparatus includes a sheet discharging device which discharges a sheet on a sheet discharging tray. A sheet tip portion guide device holds a tip portion of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device, guides the sheet in a sheet discharging direction while holding the tip portion of the sheet, and releases the sheet by releasing the tip portion of the sheet held.
- According to the present invention, the sheet tip portion guide device may include a holding member which holds the tip portion of the sheet and which moves in the sheet discharging direction with the tip portion of the sheet held by a pushing force of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device. Thus, the sheet is guided in the sheet discharging direction.
- In addition, the holding member may be configured to swing so as to release the tip portion of the sheet by the pushing force of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device. The sheet discharging apparatus includes a swing regulation member so as to regulate swings of the holding member for a predetermined distance after the holding member starts to move by the pushing force of the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging device. The swing regulation member may include a shape curved upward in the sheet discharging direction. The sheet discharging apparatus may further include a catch device which catches the holding member at a position in which the holding member does not interfere with the discharged sheet.
- The sheet discharging apparatus may further include a displacing device which displaces the swing regulation member such that the holding member is swung at an arbitrary position in the sheet discharging direction to release the tip portion of the sheet. Further, a plurality of the arbitrary positions may be set.
- According to the present invention, the tip portion of the sheet may be released by making a moving speed of the holding member faster than a sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device. Further, a plurality of arbitrary positions to make the moving speed of the holding member faster than the sheet discharging speed of the sheet discharging device may be set.
- The sheet discharging apparatus may further include a sheet release position switch device to select one of the plurality of the arbitrary sheet release positions.
- According to the present invention, the sheet tip portion guide device may be configured so as to move to a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with the discharged sheet. The sheet discharging apparatus may further include a shifting device which shifts the sheet tip portion guide device to the position.
- The sheet discharging apparatus may further include a control device which controls the shifting device so as to shift the sheet tip portion guide device selectively between a sheet guide position and the position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with the discharged sheet according to a sheet process mode.
- According to the present invention, the sheet discharging apparatus may further include a sheet correction member provided in the vicinity of the sheet discharging device to regulate a change of a shape of the sheet at substantially a central part of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction.
- A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
- FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an overall structure of a finisher including a sheet discharging apparatus of the present invention;
- FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of an operation of a sheet surface detecting device of the finisher of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a moving up and down mechanism of a sheet discharging tray of the finisher of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of an operation of an upper limit switch of the sheet discharging tray of the finisher of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a sheet tip portion guide device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating configurations of control parts of the finisher and a copying machine for the sheet discharging apparatus of the present invention;
- FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 5 when a tip portion of a set of stapled sheets is released;
- FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a sheet tip portion guide device of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 9;
- FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 12 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a sheet tip portion guide device of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 12;
- FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a modification of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 14;
- FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 15, when a holding member is caught at a position in which the holding member does not interfere with a discharged sheet or sheets;
- FIG. 17 is a side view illustrating a sheet discharging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 18 is a perspective view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17, when a sheet tip portion guide device is positioned at a sheet guide position;
- FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating configurations of control parts of the finisher and the copying machine for the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17;
- FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a control operation according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 21 is a side view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17, when the sheet tip portion guide device is positioned at a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with a discharged sheet or sheets;
- FIG. 22 is a perspective view illustrating a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus of FIG. 17, when the sheet tip portion guide device is positioned at a position in which the sheet tip portion guide device does not interfere with a discharged sheet or sheets;
- FIG. 23 is a side view illustrating a condition of a background sheet discharging apparatus, when an angle (α) is formed between a tip portion of a set of stapled sheets and a surface of a sheet discharging tray of the background sheet discharging apparatus,
- FIG. 24 is a side view illustrating a condition of a background sheet discharging apparatus, when a tip portion of stapled sheets is bent;
- FIG. 25 is a side view illustrating a condition of a background sheet discharging apparatus, when an angle is formed between a tip portion of a set of stapled sheets and a surface of a protrusive member of the background sheet discharging apparatus;
- FIG. 26 is an explanatory view of inadequate stacking in a background sheet discharging apparatus including a protrusive member;
- FIG. 27 is an explanatory view of another inadequate stacking in a background sheet discharging apparatus including a protrusive member; and
- FIG. 28 is an explanatory view of an operation of a background sheet discharging apparatus.
- Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated an overall structure of a sheet post-processing apparatus (hereinafter called a finisher) including a sheet discharging apparatus of the present invention.
- In the embodiments of the present invention, the finisher is connected to a side of a
photocopying machine 2 as an image forming apparatus. In the vicinity of a sheet transfer portion J which transfers a sheet from thephotocopying machine 2 to the finisher, there are provided an entrance sensor S1 and entrance rollers 4. A sheet transferred into the finisher by the entrance rollers 4 is discharged by one of the following three sheet discharging routes according to the sheet processing modes: - (1) the sheet is conveyed through a sheet discharging route A and is discharged from a discharging exit E1 to a
proof tray 6 which is provided at an upper part of the finisher; - (2) the sheet is conveyed through a non-staple route B and is discharged from a discharging exit E2 to a
sheet discharging tray 8 without a stapling operation; and - (3) the sheet is conveyed through a staple route C and is discharged from the discharging exit E2 to the
sheet discharging tray 8 after a stapling operation. - The sheet conveyed by
transfer rollers 12 is directed to the sheet discharging route A leading to theproof tray 6 by aseparation guide pick 10, which is disposed downstream from the entrance rollers 4. The sheet is conveyed bytransfer rollers 12 and 14 in the sheet discharging route A and is then discharged on theproof tray 6 by dischargingrollers 16. Theseparation guide pick 10 is driven by a solenoid (not shown). For directing the sheet to the sheet discharging route A and theproof tray 6, theseparation guide pick 10 is positioned in a position illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 1. The above-described rollers (i.e., the entrance rollers 4, thetransfer rollers 12 and 14, and the discharging rollers 16), respectively include a drive and driven roller pair. Other transfer rollers and discharging rollers hereinafter denoted by a single numeral also include a drive and driven roller pair. - A
separation guide pick 18 is disposed downstream of theseparation guide pick 10, and directs a sheet, which is directed in the horizontal direction by theseparation guide pick 10 that is illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 1, selectively to the non-staple route B in which a staple operation is not performed and to the staple route C in which a staple operation is performed. Theseparation guide pick 18 is also driven by a solenoid (not shown) and switches its position selectively between the position illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 1 (i.e., the position for forming the non-staple route B), and the position illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 1 (i.e., the position for forming the staple route C). - In a non-staple mode ( i.e., in a sort/stack mode), a sheet is conveyed in the non-staple route B by
transfer rollers 20, and is then discharged to thesheet discharging tray 8 by asheet discharging device 70 and a sheet tipportion guide device 72A (both described later). The sheet discharged on thesheet discharging tray 8 is pulled back to anend fence 50 by a sponge-madepullback roller 48 with the trailing edge of the sheet abutted against theend fence 50, so that the sheet is stacked on thesheet discharging tray 8 with the trailing edge of the sheet aligned. - In a staple mode, a sheet is conveyed in the staple route C by
transfer rollers staple unit 30 in which a staple operation is performed. A set of stapled sheets is discharged to thesheet discharging tray 8 by thesheet discharging device 70 and the sheet tipportion guide device 72A. - A detailed operation of the finisher in the staple mode will now be described. The sheet directed to the staple route C is stacked on a staple tray (not shown) by discharging
rollers 32. On the staple tray, the sheet is aligned in the sheet conveying direction one by one by astriking roller 34. The sheet is aligned in the sheet width direction (i.e., in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction) by ajogger fence pair 36. Astapler 38 is driven based on a staple signal transmitted from a control device (not shown) during an interval between jobs. That is, an interval between a time when a last sheet of a set of sheets is stacked and a time when a first sheet of a subsequent set of sheets is stacked in the staple tray. The set of stapled sheets is pushed up by a release belt 42 including arelease pick 40 in the direction indicated by an arrow U in FIG. 1, and is then discharged to thesheet discharging tray 8 by thesheet discharging device 70 and the sheet tipportion guide device 72A. The set of stapled sheets discharged on thesheet discharging tray 8 is pulled back to theend fence 50 by thepullback roller 48 with the trailing edge of the sheets abutted against theend fence 50, so that the sheets are stacked on thesheet discharging tray 8 with the trailing edge of the sheets aligned. - The
striking roller 34 is driven and swung by a solenoid (not shown) around a supportingpoint 34 a, and periodically strikes the sheet fed to the staple tray so as to abut the sheet against an end fence 44. Thestriking roller 34 rotates in a counterclockwise direction. In FIG. 1, areference numeral 46 indicates a guide plate, and a reference character S2 indicates a discharging sensor. - A sheet
surface detecting device 52 is provided above thesheet discharging device 70. When the height of the stacked sheets on thesheet discharging tray 8 reaches a predetermined height, thesheet discharging tray 8 is driven to move down so as to receive additional discharged sheets. That is, the finisher according to the embodiments of the present invention adopts a configuration in which a large number of sheets can be discharged on thesheet discharging tray 8. - The sheet
surface detecting device 52 includes a sheetsurface detecting lever 54 which is aligned with substantially the widthwise center of thesheet discharging tray 8. Also included aresensors sheet discharging device 70. The sheet surface detecting operation of the sheetsurface detecting device 52 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The sheetsurface detecting lever 54 is supported so as to seesaw. One end of the sheetsurface detecting lever 54 is disposed to contact thesheet discharging tray 8 when no sheet is stacked thereon as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 2. As sheets are stacked on thesheet discharging tray 8, the one end of the sheetsurface detecting lever 54 contacting the surface of the sheets stacked on thesheet discharging tray 8 is raised as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 2. Another end of the sheetsurface detecting lever 54 is disposed so as to be detected by thesensors sensors sheet discharging tray 8 is at the home position, the height of the stacked sheets on the dischargingtray 8 exceeds a predetermined height, and so on, in cooperation with the sheetsurface detecting lever 54. - As illustrated in FIG. 3, the
sheet discharging tray 8 is provided with a pair of up-down lift belts 62 which are driven by an up-downmotor 60 via gears and a timing belt. The dischargingtray 8 moves up and down by forward and reverse rotations of the up-downmotor 60. In the vicinity of a lower part of the up-down lift belts 62, alower limit sensor 64 is provided. When aninterception board 66, which is provided at one side of thesheet discharging tray 8, intercepts thelower limit sensor 64, the up-downmotor 60 stops. Thereby, thesheet discharging tray 8 stops moving down at the position of thelower limit sensor 64, which is the lowest moving position of thesheet discharging tray 8. - When the
sheet discharging tray 8 is moved up, and thepullback roller 48 is pushed up by thesheet discharging tray 8, as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 4, one end portion of thepullback roller 48 contacts anupper limit switch 68. Thereby, theupper limit switch 68 is turned off and the up-downmotor 60 stops so that thesheet discharging tray 8 stops moving. Thus, breakage of thesheet discharging tray 8 which may be caused by its overrun is prevented. - Referring back to FIG. 1, the
sheet discharging device 70 includes adischarge drive roller 74 and a discharge drivenroller 76 which contacts and presses thedischarge driver roller 74 by its gravity or a bias force of a spring (not shown) or the like. The drivenroller 76 is provided so as to contact and separate from thedrive roller 74 via a supportingplate 78 such that both a sheet and a set of stapled sheets can be discharged through thedrive roller 74 and the drivenroller 76. In the staple mode, the supportingplate 78 shifts upward, as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 1, so as to adjust a nip part between the dischargingroller 74 and the drivenroller 76 to the thickness of a set of stapled sheets. - Hereinafter, a sheet discharging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is described. Referring to FIG. 5, the sheet tip
portion guide device 72A includes timing pulleys 80 and 82 which are supported by a bracket (not shown) fixed to the finisher; atiming belt 84 which is spanned around the timing pulleys 80 and 82: a holdingmember 86 which is provided to thetiming belt 84 to receive and hold a tip portion of a sheet or a set of sheets discharged from the finisher; a homeposition detecting sensor 87 which detects a standby position (i.e. a home position), of the holdingmember 86; and a steppingmotor 88 which drives the timingpulley 80 located at the upstream side in the sheet discharging direction. - As illustrated in FIG. 6, the sheet tip
portion guide device 72A includes a pair of guide plates and is disposed such that the sheetsurface detecting lever 54 is positioned in the middle of the pair of guide plates. The sheet tipportion guide device 72A is configured so as to hold and guide both ends of a leading edge of a sheet or a set of sheets in the sheet discharging direction. The distance between the pair of guide plates of the sheet tipportion guide device 72A is set to be shorter than the length of the minimum size sheet in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction. - Referring to FIG. 7, a
control device 90 including a microcomputer controls the sheet tipportion guide device 72A. Information from each of the homeposition detecting sensor 87, the discharging sensor S2 and the steppingmotor 88 is input to thecontrol device 90. - In the first embodiment of the present invention, there are two sheet release operation modes to release a sheet or a set of sheets held by the holding
member 86 depending on a position at which the sheet or sheets are released from the holdingmember 86. The modes are as follows: - (1) a short distance sheet release mode; and
- (2) a long distance sheet release mode.
- Specifically, in the short distance sheet release mode, the sheet or sheets are released from the holding
member 86 by making the moving speed of the holdingmember 86 faster than the sheet discharging speed of thesheet discharging device 70 after the holdingmember 86 holds and guides the sheet or sheets through a short distance in the sheet discharging direction. In the long distance sheet release mode, the sheet or sheets are released after the holdingmember 86 holds and guides the sheet or sheets through a long distance in the sheet discharging direction. The above-described two sheet release operation modes may be selected by manipulating a sheet releaseposition switch device 92 provided to the finisher. When a certain sheet release position is selected with the sheet releaseposition switch device 92, thecontrol device 90 controls the sheet tipportion guide device 72A based on the selected sheet release position. Though it is not shown in figures, thecontrol device 90 is configured to display the selected sheet release operation mode, for example, on an operation panel 94 (illustrated in FIG. 7) provided to thephotocopying machine 2. - Referring to FIG. 7, the information of sheet size, which is set by the manipulation of the
operation panel 94 of thephotocopying machine 2 or which is detected by a sheetsize detecting sensor 96 of thephotocopying machine 2, is input from acontrol device 98 of thephotocopying machine 2 to thecontrol device 90 of the finisher. The above-described two sheet release operation modes may be selected based on the above-described sheet size information as an alternative to the selection with the sheet releaseposition switch device 92. Specifically, when a small size sheet is set on theoperation panel 94 or is detected by the sheetsize detecting sensor 96, thecontrol device 90 controls the sheet tipportion guide device 72A to release a sheet or a set of sheets in the short distance sheet release mode, and when a large size sheet is set on theoperation panel 94 or is detected by the sheetsize detecting sensor 96, thecontrol device 90 controls the sheet tipportion guide device 72A in the long distance sheet release mode. - Next, a guide operation of the sheet tip
portion guide device 72A is described. Referring to FIG. 5, when the discharging sensor S2 detects the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100, thecontrol device 90 starts to drive the steppingmotor 88 so as to move the holdingmember 86 in the sheet discharging direction after a predetermined time (i.e., when the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 rides on the holdingmember 86 and is held thereby). At this time, the holdingmember 86 is controlled to move in the sheet discharging direction at substantially the same speed as the sheet discharging speed of thesheet discharging device 70. Therefore, the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 is guided in the sheet discharging direction, while being held by the holding member 86 (i.e., riding on the holding member 86). - Referring to FIG. 8, when the short distance sheet release mode is selected with the sheet release
position switch device 92, thecontrol device 90 controls to change a stepping signal input to the steppingmotor 88 such that the moving speed of the holdingmember 86 becomes higher than the sheet discharging speed of thesheet discharging device 70, when the holdingmember 86 reaches a position P1. As a result, the holdingmember 86 releases the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 and thereby the set of stapledsheets 100 is left behind, and the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 falls down to the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8. Because the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 falls down to the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 after having been guided through a certain distance, an angle (α) formed between the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point of the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 with the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 becomes much smaller than the angle (α) which is formed when the set of stapledsheets 100 falls down to the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 immediately after having been discharged from thesheet discharging device 70 as in the background sheet discharging apparatus. Thereby, the bending of the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 is avoided. The longer the holdingmember 86 guides the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100, the smaller the above-described angle (α) becomes. Thecontrol device 90 controls the position P1 by counting the step number of the steppingmotor 88. After the holdingmember 86 releases the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100, thecontrol device 90 reverses the steppingmotor 88, and thereby the holdingmember 86 returns to the home position to wait for the next set of stapled sheets discharged from thesheet discharging device 70. - Because the moving speed of the holding
member 86 and the sheet discharging speed of thesheet discharging device 70 are substantially the same until the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 is released from the holdingmember 86, the holdingmember 86 may hold the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 on the surface of the holdingmember 86. Therefore, the holding part of the holdingmember 86 has an L-shaped form and its flat part is formed in a slightly downward slanting condition looking from the side so that the holdingmember 86 can smoothly release the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100. - When the long distance sheet release mode is selected with the sheet release
position switch device 92, thecontrol device 90 controls the steppingmotor 88 such that the moving speed of the holdingmember 86 becomes higher than the sheet discharging speed of thesheet discharging device 70 when the holdingmember 86 arrives at a position P2. Even when a sheet is long and curled downward, bending of the sheet is surely avoided with the above long distance sheet release mode. - If the long and curled sheet is discharged in the short distance sheet release mode, the tip portion of the long sheet is pushed up along the surface of the
sheet discharging tray 8 after falling down to thesheet discharging tray 8 until the end portion of the sheet is discharged completely, and the tip portion of the sheet may be bent while being pushed up. - If a sheet is not prone to be curled strongly by the finisher and the sheet is discharged adequately without being bent even when the sheet is long, the short distance sheet release mode may be sufficient in the sheet discharging apparatus. This is because the sheet may be pushed up along the surface of the
sheet discharging tray 8 after falling down to thesheet discharging tray 8 until the end portion of the sheet is discharged completely. Therefore, the length of the sheet tipportion guide device 72A in the sheet discharging direction may be short, and accordingly the sheet tipportion guide device 72A may be made compact. - When the holding
member 86 moves a distance longer than the length of the set of stapledsheets 100 in the sheet discharging direction, the tail end of stapledsheets 100 falls down from thesheet discharging device 70 to thesheet discharging tray 8 after the tail end of the stapledsheets 100 passes through the nip portion of the dischargingrollers sheets 100 is released from the holdingmember 86 in due course without speeding up the movement of the holdingmember 86. However, speeding up the movement of the holdingmember 86 enables the holdingmember 86 to return to the home position at a relatively short interval. Accordingly, a sheet discharging interval of thesheet discharging device 70 for the set of stapledsheets 100 can be made shorter. - The above-described configuration of the sheet discharging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is particularly effective in preventing the sheet tip bending problem when the
sheet discharging tray 8 is fixed and does not move up and down and when a distance H between the discharging exit E2 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 is relatively long. This is because the angle between the stapledsheets 100 discharged from thesheet discharging device 70 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 becomes greater as the distance H becomes longer, and thereby the tip of the stapledsheets 100 is prone to be bent. - Though the stepping
motor 88 is used as a separate driving source for the sheet tipportion guide device 72A in the first embodiment of the present invention, other separate driving sources may be used or a driving source for the finisher may be used via a clutch or the like. - Next, a sheet discharging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is described referring to FIGS. 9 and 10. For the sake of clarity, the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described first embodiment will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- A sheet tip portion guide device72C of the second embodiment has a different configuration from that of the sheet tip
portion guide device 72A of the first embodiment. The characteristic of the sheet tip portion guide device 72C is that a driving source is not required to drive the holding member. Rather, the holding member moves by a pushing force of the discharged sheet or sheets. - Referring to FIG. 9, the sheet tip portion guide device72C includes a
rail member 120 which is fixed slantwise to the finisher via brackets (not shown), and a holdingmember 122 which moves through therail member 120. - As illustrated in FIG. 10, the holding
member 122 includes a rectangularU-shaped slider 124 which slides along the inside of therail member 120, and a Z-shapedholding section 126 which is swingably supported by theslider 124. Provided on both sides of avertical portion 126 a of the holdingsection 126 areconvex portions 126 b. The holdingsection 126 is supported by theslider 124 by engaging theconvex portions 126 b with holes formed in theslider 124. - Referring further to FIG. 10, the
rail member 120 is formed by a pair of channel members. Between upper parts of the pair of channel members, aplate cam 128 is sandwiched and is fixed to the channel members as a swing regulation member to regulate swings of the holdingsection 126. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 9, astopper 130 is formed at the upstream end of therail member 120 in the sheet discharging direction to position the holdingmember 122 at a home position. - When the holding
member 122 is located at the home position as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 9, an upperflat portion 126 c of the holdingsection 126 abuts against theplate cam 128, and thereby the holdingsection 126 cannot swing. When the set of stapledsheets 100 is discharged from thesheet discharging device 70 and the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 rides on a lowerflat portion 126 d of the holdingsection 126 while the holdingmember 122 is located at the home position, the holdingmember 122 moves by being pushed by the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 due to the friction between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of lowerflat portion 126 d of the holdingsection 126. If the frictional force between the lowerflat portion 126 d of the holdingsection 126 and the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 is relatively small, the holdingmember 122 starts to move when the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 abuts against thevertical portion 126 a of the holdingsection 126. - First, the holding
member 122 moves at substantially the same speed as the sheet discharging speed of the set of stapledsheets 100. When the holdingsection 126 pushed by the stapledsheets 100 reaches the position in which theplate cam 128 does not regulate theholding section 126, the holdingsection 126 swings in the clockwise direction as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 9. Thereby, the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 is released from the holdingsection 126, and falls to the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8. Thus, a relatively small angle is formed between the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8. Thus, the stapledsheets 100 are discharged on thesheet discharging tray 8 without being bent. - The
holding section 126 is formed such that the lowerflat portion 126 d side is heavier than the upperflat portion 126 c side. Therefore, immediately after releasing the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100, the holdingsection 126 swings back in the counterclockwise direction to the original position due to the weight balance between the lowerflat portion 126 d side and the upperflat portion 126 c side. At the same time, the holdingmember 122 returns to the home position by its gravity, moving through theslant rail member 120. - The above-described sheet release position of the holding
member 122 can be changed by changing the length of theplate cam 128 in the sheet discharging direction. - In the second embodiment of the present invention, a driving source for moving the holding
member 122 is not required, and therefore a driving control operation is not necessary. Thus, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a sheet discharging apparatus capable of avoiding a bending of a sheet or sheets can be achieved at a relatively low cost. - Referring to FIG. 11, another sheet discharging apparatus according to a third embodiment, which also does not require a driving source for a holding member is described.
- A sheet tip
portion guide device 72D according to the third embodiment includes a sector-shapedrail member 132 which is fixed to the finisher to serve as a swing regulation member and a holdingmember 133 to hold discharged sheets. - The holding
member 133 includes anarm 134 whose upper end part is swingably supported by therail member 132, and a Z-shapedholding section 136 which is swingably supported by a lower end part of thearm 134 via ashaft 136 b. On arail surface 132 a of therail member 132, astopper 138 is provided to position the holdingmember 133 at a home position. - When the holding
member 133 is located at the home position as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 11, the holdingsection 136 cannot swing due to the regulation by therail surface 132 a. When the set of stapledsheets 100 is discharged from thesheet discharging device 70 and the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 rides on a lowerflat portion 136 d of the holdingsection 136 while the holdingmember 133 is located at the home position, the holdingmember 133 is pushed by the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 due to the friction between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of the lowerflat portion 136 d. When the frictional force between the lowerflat portion 136 d and the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 is relatively small, the holdingmember 133 starts to move when the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 abuts against thevertical portion 136 a of the holdingsection 136. - Because the
rail member 132 is sector-shaped and therail surface 132 a is curved upward in the sheet discharging direction, as the sheet or sheets push theholding section 136 of the holdingmember 133, the holdingmember 133 is displaced upward. Thereby, the holdingsection 136 changes its posture to a posture in which the tip portion of the sheet or sheets can be easily released from the holdingsection 136. - In the sheet discharging apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the tip portion of the sheet or sheets can be released from the holding
section 136 at a shorter distance in the horizontal direction and more easily than the sheet discharging apparatus in the second embodiment - When the holding
section 136 reaches a position in which theholding section 136 is not regulated by therail surface 132 a as indicated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 11, the holdingsection 136 starts to rotate. Thereby, the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 is released from the holdingsection 136 and falls to the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 forming a relatively small angle between the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8. Thus, the stapledsheets 100 are discharged on thesheet discharging tray 8 without being bent. - Like the second embodiment of the present invention, the holding
section 136 is formed such that the lowerflat portion 136 d side is heavier than the upperflat portion 136 c side. Therefore, immediately after releasing the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100, the holdingsection 136 swings back in the counterclockwise direction to the original position due to the weight balance between the lowerflat portion 136 d side and the upperflat portion 136 c side. At the same time, the holdingmember 133 returns to the home position by its gravity. - A fourth embodiment of the present invention is now described referring to FIGS. 12 and 13. For the sake of clarity, the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described embodiments will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- The characteristics of a sheet discharging apparatus of the fourth embodiment are that it has no driving source to drive a holding member to hold discharged sheets and that it can set a sheet release position for the holding member at arbitrary positions.
- Referring to FIG. 12, a sheet tip
portion guide device 72E includes arail member 140 which is fixed slantwise to the finisher via brackets (not shown), a holdingmember 142 which moves through therail member 140, abar 146 as a swing regulation member to regulate swings of the holdingmember 142, and asolenoid 148 serving as a displacing device for the swing regulation member which enables the holdingmember 142 to swing at an arbitrary position in the sheet discharging direction. - As illustrated in FIG. 13, the holding
member 142 includes an L-shapedholding section 150, a pair ofarms 152 which extend upward from both upper ends of the holdingsection 150 and then curve downward slantwise and face each other, and a cylindrically shapedabutment portion 154 which extends between the tip portions of the pair ofarms 152. - At the curved portions of the pair of
arms 152, ashaft 156 is passed through the pair ofarms 152. Theshaft 156 is engaged with arail groove 140 a of therail member 140, and thereby the holdingmember 142 is swingably supported by therail member 140. Further, astopper 158 is formed at the upstream end of therail member 140 in the sheet discharging direction to position the holdingmember 142 at a home position. - When the holding
member 142 is located at the home position as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 12, thesolenoid 148 is turned off, and thebar 146 is positioned within therail member 140 and abuts against theabutment portion 154 of the holdingmember 142 as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 12. Thereby, the holdingmember 142 cannot swing. When the set of stapledsheets 100 is discharged from thesheet discharging device 70 and the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 rides on theholding section 150 while the holdingmember 142 is located at the home position, the holdingmember 142 is pushed by the stapledsheets 100 due to the friction between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of the holdingsection 150. If the frictional force between the holdingsection 150 and the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 is relatively small, the holdingmember 142 starts to move when the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 abuts against avertical portion 150 a (illustrated in FIG. 13) of the holdingsection 150. - The holding
member 142 first moves at substantially the same speed as the sheet discharging speed of the set of stapledsheets 100. When thesolenoid 148 is turned on and thebar 146 is pulled up from therail member 140 at a predetermined position, theabutment portion 154 becomes free from the regulation by thebar 146. Therefore, the holdingmember 142 swings in the clockwise direction by being pushed by the set of stapledsheets 100 as illustrated by a two-dots-and-dash line in FIG. 12. Thereby, the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100 is released from the holdingsection 150 and falls down on the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 forming a relatively small angle between the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8 at the contact point between the tip portion of the stapledsheets 100 and the surface of thesheet discharging tray 8. Thus, the stapledsheets 100 are discharged on thesheet discharging tray 8 without being bent. - The holding
member 142 is formed such that the holdingsection 150 side is heavier than thearms 152 side. Therefore, immediately after releasing the tip portion of the set of stapledsheets 100, the holdingmember 142 swings back in the counterclockwise direction to the original position due to the weight balance between the holdingsection 150 side and thearms 152 side. At the same time, the holdingmember 142 returns to the home position by its gravity, moving along theslant rail groove 140 a. - In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a sheet release position can be set at arbitrary positions by controlling a timing to turn on and off the
solenoid 148. Like the first embodiment of the present invention, the sheet discharging apparatus can be configured such that a sheet release position is switched among a plurality of sheet release positions by the sheet release position switch device. Like the other embodiments described above, a bending of a tip portion of a sheet can be prevented in the fourth embodiment. - A sheet discharging apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is next described referring to FIG. 14. For the sake of clarity, the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described embodiments will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- The sheet discharging apparatus of the fifth embodiment is modified from the one in the third embodiment of the present invention.
- A sheet tip
portion guide device 72F according to the fifth embodiment includes a sector-shapedrail member 160 as a swing regulation member, which is fixed on the finisher, and a holdingmember 162 to hold discharged sheets. - The holding
member 162 includes a pair ofarms 166 whose upper end portions are rotatively supported by therail member 160 via ashaft 164, and a Z-shapedholding section 136 which is swingably supported by lower end portions of the pair ofarms 166 via ashaft 168. Though a stopper is provided on therail member 160, the description and illustration of the stopper are omitted. - At an end portion of a
rail surface 160 a of therail member 160, a pair ofconvex portions 170 is integrally formed with therail member 160 such that the pair ofconvex portions 170 protrudes in the direction of the thickness of therail member 160. The pair ofconvex portions 170 serves as a catch device to catch the holdingmember 162 at the position in which the holdingmember 162 does not interfere with the discharged sheet. - When a thin sheet having weak tension is discharged, the holding
member 162 may not be able to guide the thin sheet due to lack of pushing force of the thin sheet, and thus the holdingmember 162 may interfere with the discharge of the thin sheet. Therefore, when sheets are thin, in order to avoid the interference of the holdingmember 162 with the thin sheets, the holdingmember 162 is moved in advance so as to be caught by the pair ofconvex portions 170 at the position in which the holdingmember 162 does not interfere with discharged sheets. - Specifically, when an operator swings the holding
member 162 upward, the top ends of the pair ofarms 166 abut against the pair ofconvex portions 170. When the operator further pulls up the holdingmember 162 strongly, the pair ofarms 166 passes over the pair ofconvex portions 170 because thearms 166 are made of elastic and flexible materials, and is then held by theconvex portions 170 with their lower ends caught by the pair ofconvex portions 170 as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 16. When the operator needs to return the holdingmember 162 to the original position, the pair ofarms 166 can be moved by pulling down strongly enough to pass over the pair ofconvex portions 170 in the opposite manner. - As illustrated in FIG. 14, the sheet tip
portion guide device 72F is provided to guide a sheet or a set of sheets discharged from a discharging exit E2 with both ends of the leading edge of the sheet or sheets held by the holdingmember 162. However, when a set ofsheets 100 is stapled a central part of the stapledsheets 100 may bulge upward due to stapling when such stapledsheets 100 are discharged. The bulged central part of the stapledsheets 100 may contact an upper edge of the discharging exit E2, and thereby the stapledsheets 100 may be caught due to the friction between the stapledsheets 100 and the upper edge of the discharging exit E2. As a result, the set of stapledsheets 100 may not be discharged adequately. - In order to avoid the above-described inadequate discharge of the stapled
sheets 100, as illustrated in FIG. 15, asheet correction member 172 is provided in the vicinity of the sheet discharging device 70 (not shown in FIG. 15) so as to regulate the bulge of the sheet or sheets at substantially the central part of the sheet or sheets in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction. - The shape of the
sheet correction member 172 is not limited to the one illustrated in FIG. 15, and thesheet correction member 172 may be formed in any shape suitable for suppressing a bulge at a central part of the sheet or sheets in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction. In this embodiment, the shape of thesheet correction member 172 is made similar to the sector portion of therail member 160 so as to make the sheet discharging speed at the central part of the sheets the same as those of the pair ofrail members 160 and discharge the sheet or sheets smoothly. Alternatively, an additional sheet tipportion guide device 72F may be provided at the central part of the discharging exit E2 as thesheet correction member 172. - The above-described catch device, such as the
convex portions 170, may also be provided to therail member 132 in FIG. 11 of the third embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, the above-describedsheet correction member 172 may be also applicable to each sheet discharging apparatus according to the first through fourth embodiments of the present invention. - A sixth embodiment of the present invention is described referring to FIGS. 17 through 22. A characteristic of the sixth embodiment is that a shift of the holding
member 162 between a sheet guide position and a position in which the holdingmember 162 does not interfere with the discharged sheet is made automatically as an alternative to the manual shift by an operator according to the sheet type, which is described in the fifth embodiment. - For the sake of clarity, the members having substantially the same functions as the ones used in the above-described embodiments will be designated with the same code and their description will be omitted.
- As illustrated in FIG. 17, a sheet tip
portion guide device 72G includes a sector-shapedrail member 160′, which does not have the pair ofconvex portions 170 described in the fifth embodiment, and the holdingmember 162 which is guided by therail member 160′. The sheet tipportion guide device 72G is configured to be shifted by a shiftingdevice 174 to an arbitrary position in which the sheet tipportion guide device 72G does not interfere with a sheet or sheets. - The
shifting device 174 is provided to the finisher such that the shiftingdevice 174 can slide up and down by a guide member (not shown). The shiftingdevice 174 includes aslide base 176 to which therail member 160′ is fixed, abracket 178 which is fixed to theslide base 176, anarm 184 which is rotatively supported at a central part thereof as a fulcrum by abracket 180, which is fixed to the finisher via ashaft 182, and asolenoid 186. One end of thearm 184 is rotatively connected to thebracket 178, and another end is rotatively connected to a tip portion of amovable rod 186 a of thesolenoid 186. - FIG. 17 illustrates a condition of the sheet discharging apparatus where the
solenoid 186 is turned off and the sheet tipportion guide device 72G is ready to hold and guide a sheet or sheets discharged from thesheet discharging device 70, which is also illustrated in FIG. 18. - As illustrated in FIG. 19, the
solenoid 186 is configured to be controlled by acontrol device 188. On anoperation panel 94 of the copying machine, an input device 190 (i.e., a switch) is provided to selectively turn on and off thesolenoid 186. Thecontrol device 188 includes a microcomputer including a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and the like. - A control operation of the
control device 188 for the sheet tipportion guide device 72G is described referring to a flowchart illustrated in FIG. 20, and referring to FIGS. 21 and 22. - Referring to the flowchart in FIG. 20, the
control device 188 judges if a staple mode is selected based on input information from a control device 98 (illustrated in FIG. 19) of the copying machine in step S1. If the answer is YES in step S1, thecontrol device 188 judges if the number of stapled sheets is X or more in step S2. When stapled sheets are thin and the number of stapled sheets is small, the sheet tipportion guide device 72G may not be pushed by the stapled thin sheets and may interfere with the discharge of the stapled thin sheets. Therefore, the number of stapled sheets is judged relative to X in step S2 to avoid an inadequate discharge of the stapled thin sheets. If the answer is YES in step S2, it may be possible to turn off thesolenoid 186 to shift the position of the sheet tipportion guide device 72G to a sheet guide position. However, in this embodiment, an operator's setting for turning on and off thesolenoid 186 with theinput device 190 is checked first, and the position of the sheet tipportion guide device 72G is controlled based on the above-described operator's setting. Therefore, after step S2, thecontrol device 188 judges if thesolenoid 186 is turned off with theinput device 190 in step S3. If the answer is YES in step S3, thecontrol device 188 turns off thesolenoid 186 and positions the sheet tipportion guide device 72G at a sheet guide position in step S4. - If the answer is NO in step S3, the
control device 188 turns on thesolenoid 186 so as to shift the sheet tipportion guide device 72G in step S5. Specifically, when thesolenoid 186 is turned on, the sheet tipportion guide device 72G is shifted upward to a position in which the sheet tipportion guide device 72G does not interfere with a sheet or sheets discharged from thesheet discharging device 70 as illustrated in FIGS. 21 and 22. Thereby, as illustrated in FIG. 22, a thin paper P, for example, is discharged without being guided by the sheet tipportion guide device 72G. - Returning to step S1 or step S2, if the staple mode is not selected in step S1 or if the number of stapled sheets is not X or more in step S2, the
control device 188 judges if thesolenoid 186 is turned on with theinput device 190 in step S6. If the answer is YES in step S6, thecontrol device 188 turns on thesolenoid 186 and shifts the sheet tipportion guide device 72G upward in step S7. If the answer is NO in step S6, thecontrol device 188 turns off thesolenoid 186 and positions the sheet tipportion guide device 72G at a sheet guide position in step S4. - In the above-described control operation steps of the present embodiment, though the
control device 188 judges based on the information of the staple mode selection, a sheettype setting device 192 may be provided on theoperation panel 94 as illustrated in FIG. 19 so as to set a sheet type, for example, a thick sheet and a thin sheet, and thecontrol device 188 may control the operation of the sheettip guide portion 72G based on the information of the above-described sheet type. - Further, the above-described configuration of the sheet discharging apparatus according to the sixth embodiment may also be applied to each sheet discharging apparatus according to the first through fourth embodiments other than the fifth embodiment.
- Furthermore, as an alternative to automatically shifting the position of the sheet tip
portion guide device 72G, an operator may turn on and off thesolenoid 186 with a switch each time the sheet or sheets are discharged, so as to shift the position of the sheet tipportion guide device 72G. - Obviously, numerous additional modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
- This document is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 10-217811 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Jul. 31, 1998, and on Japanese Patent Application No. 11-134253 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on May 14, 1999, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Claims (36)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/852,716 US6394448B2 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 2001-05-11 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
Applications Claiming Priority (6)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP21781198 | 1998-07-31 | ||
JP10-217811 | 1998-07-31 | ||
JP11-134253 | 1999-05-14 | ||
JP13425399A JP3844177B2 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 1999-05-14 | Paper discharge device |
US09/362,713 US6264191B1 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 1999-07-29 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
US09/852,716 US6394448B2 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 2001-05-11 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/362,713 Division US6264191B1 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 1999-07-29 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20010017442A1 true US20010017442A1 (en) | 2001-08-30 |
US6394448B2 US6394448B2 (en) | 2002-05-28 |
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ID=26468396
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US09/362,713 Expired - Lifetime US6264191B1 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 1999-07-29 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
US09/852,716 Expired - Lifetime US6394448B2 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 2001-05-11 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US09/362,713 Expired - Lifetime US6264191B1 (en) | 1998-07-31 | 1999-07-29 | Sheet discharging apparatus and a sheet discharging method |
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US (2) | US6264191B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP3844177B2 (en) |
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-
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- 2001-05-11 US US09/852,716 patent/US6394448B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JP3844177B2 (en) | 2006-11-08 |
US6264191B1 (en) | 2001-07-24 |
JP2000103560A (en) | 2000-04-11 |
US6394448B2 (en) | 2002-05-28 |
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