Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – With means to align sheet
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2001-09-25
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
With means to align sheet
C271S198000, C198S626500, C414S789000, C414S790300, C270S058010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293544
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed in the embodiments described in this application is an improved system for registering and conveying compiled sets of sheets.
In particular, there is disclosed an improved, low cost and simple system for compiling a set of documents in a registered manner and then conveying this compiled set toward an output station or toward any of various workstations for further finishing operations to be performed on the compiled set of documents.
Various types of registration and conveyance systems are known in the art. Many configurations in the Xerox DocuTech® family of multifunctional printers compile and register a set of documents in an output tray near the receiving mouth of the finisher apparatus. A gripper then squeezes and grabs a corner of the fully registered set and pulls the set along a conveyer toward the selected finishing station which may perform binding, stapling, or any similar finishing operation. Although this apparatus works well in most applications, it requires a complicated apparatus with a significant number of moving parts plus sensors to activate and deactivate the gripper apparatus with an appropriate amount of pressure that is sufficient to grip the compiled stack but not great enough to leave an imprint on the paper. In practice, a gripper-type mechanism limits the number of sheets that can be compiled since the gap between the gripper fingers effectively determines the depth of the pile that can be gripped.
It is also known in the art to compile and register a set of documents near the receiving mouth of a finishing apparatus and then to maintain the registration during conveyance by pushing the trailing edge of the compiled set by a registration stop or registration fingers located on a conveyance belt. Although relatively simple and without many moving parts, in an apparatus of this type, the top sheets of the compiled stack may fluff or otherwise slip out of registration. As a result, this type of conveyance apparatus also has an effective upper limit to the number of sheets that can effectively be conveyed in good registration.
It would be advantageous to have a reliable, low cost apparatus capable of reliably receiving a compiled stack of sheets and conveying the compiled sheets with good registration to the selected finishing station.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A specific feature of the specific embodiment(s) disclosed herein is to provide a sheet registration and conveyance apparatus for registering leading and trailing edges of a compiled set of sheets. The apparatus includes: a first movable belt; a first registration stop fixedly mounted on the first belt for registering the leading edge of the sheets; a second movable belt, located next to the first belt; a second registration stop fixedly mounted on the second belt for registering the trailing edge of the sheets; a drive mechanism for moving the second belt relative to the first belt so that the second registration stop registers the trailing edge of the sheets after the first registration stop contacts the leading edge of sheets; and a mechanism for providing movement of the first belt synchronous with movement of the second belt after the second registration stop registers the trailing edge of sheets.
Another aspect of the present invention is a printing machine having a registration and conveyance apparatus for registering leading and trailing edges of a compiled set of sheets. The registration and conveyance apparatus includes: a first movable belt; a first registration stop fixedly mounted on the first belt for registering the leading edge of the sheets; a second movable belt, located next to the first belt; a second registration stop fixedly mounted on the second belt for registering the trailing edge of the sheets; a drive mechanism moving the second belt relative to the first belt so that the second registration stop registers the trailing edge of the sheets after the first registration stop contacts the leading edge of sheets; and a mechanism for providing movement of the first belt synchronous with movement of the second belt after the second registration stop registers the trailing edge of the sheets.
Another aspect of the present invention is a method for registering leading and trailing edges of a compiled set of sheets and for conveying the compiled set of sheets. The method comprises: delivering the compiled set of sheets onto a first movable belt and in contact with a first registration stop fixedly mounted on the first movable belt; after delivery of the compiled set of sheets, moving a second movable belt that is located next to the first movable belt such that a second registration stop fixedly mounted on the second belt contacts the trailing edge of the compiled set of sheets; and, after contact is made between the second registration stop and the trailing edge of the compiled set of sheets, moving the first and the second belts synchronously.
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Mackey Patrick
Walsh Donald P.
Xerox Corporation
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