Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-24
2004-08-03
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
C271S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06769682
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a device for reversing the direction of motion of a paper sheet and more particularly to such a device capable of dependably reversing the direction of transportation of a paper sheet, independent of its material quality or shape.
Such devices for reversing the direction of motion of a paper sheet are recently coming to be used frequently in apparatus such as copiers, printers and facsimile machines.
FIG. 1
shows an example of prior art paper reversing device
1
of this kind, disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Tokkai 8-67390, provided with a passage
15
extending vertically between a pair of guide plates
14
a
and
14
b
for guiding a paper sheet vertically upward and downward. An upper driver roller
11
, adapted to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction by means of a motor (not shown), is disposed at one end position (“the start position”)
15
a
of the passage
15
. A paper-supplying follower roller
12
is pressed against the upper driver roller
11
, and a paper-discharging follower roller
13
is pressed against the upper driver roller
11
from the opposite side, sandwiching the upper driver roller
11
with the paper-supplying follower roller
12
. These two follower rollers
12
and
13
are adapted to rotate by following the motion of the upper driver roller
11
. The combination of these three rollers (the upper driver roller
11
, the paper-supplying follower roller
12
and the paper-discharging follower roller
13
) is sometimes referred to as “the tri-roller.”
At a position inside the passage
15
vertically below the tri-roller, there is provided another driver roller (“the lower driver roller
16
”) adapted to be rotated in the clockwise direction by means of another motor (not shown), and another follower roller
18
is disposed opposite thereto. The rotary shaft of this follower roller
18
is supported by a solenoid
17
such that the follower roller
18
is movable horizontally (to the left and the right with reference to
FIG. 1
) by this solenoid
17
. When the follower roller
18
is moved by the solenoid
17
to the left, a gap appears between the follower roller
18
and the lower driver roller
16
for passing a paper sheet therethrough. When the solenoid
17
moves the follower roller
18
to the right, the follower roller
18
is pressed against the lower driver roller
16
and rotates therewith.
The front edge of a paper sheet
2
transported to the paper reversing device
1
is brought to the start position
15
a
of the passage
15
so as to be clamped between the upper driver roller
11
and the paper-supplying follower roller
12
and guided vertically downward through the passage
15
. At this moment, the lower driver roller
16
is not activated and the follower roller
18
is retracted to the left by the solenoid
17
, leaving a gap so as to allow the paper sheet
2
to pass therethrough.
After the front edge of the paper sheet
2
passes through the gap between the lower driver roller
16
and the follower roller
18
, the follower roller
18
is moved to the right by the solenoid
17
such that the paper sheet
2
becomes clamped therebetween. Since the lower driver roller
16
is not driven yet, however, it is caused to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction by the downward motion of the paper sheet
2
(while the follower roller
18
is thereby caused to rotate in the clockwise direction). In other words, the paper sheet
2
continues to be transported downward inside the passage
15
.
As the back edge of the paper sheet
2
passes the contact point between the upper driver roller
11
and the paper-supplying follower roller
12
, the lower driver roller
16
starts to be driven by the associated motor, rotating in the clockwise direction and thereby causing the paper sheet
2
to reverse the direction of its motion and to move in the vertically upward direction inside the passage
15
, while remaining clamped between the lower driver roller
16
and the follower roller
18
. Thus, the upwardly moving paper sheet
2
is discharged out of the passage
15
from its back end while being sandwiched between the upper driver roller
11
and the paper-discharging follower roller
13
.
In summary, the paper reversing device
1
serves to supply the paper sheet
2
downward into the passage
15
from its front edge, to reverse the direction of transportation of the paper sheet
2
after the supplying is completed (when its back edge is brought inside the passage
15
) and to discharge it out of the passage
15
from its back edge by moving it upward. Such a mode of supplying and discharging a paper sheet by means of a tri-roller as described above, that is, the mode of using a driver roller and a paper-supplying follower roller to supply a paper sheet and using the same driver roller and a paper-discharging follower roller to discharge the paper sheet is commonly referred to as the tri-roller method.
A problem with the paper reversing device
1
, as described above, is that the cross-sectional size of the passage
15
is large at its start position
15
a
where a tri-roller is disposed. As a result, the space for the paper sheet to pass through is large, giving rise to the possibility that the back end of the paper sheet
2
may not dependably move from the side of the paper-supplying follower roller
12
to the side of the paper-discharging follower roller
13
when the paper sheet
2
inside the passage
15
is about to be discharged. This probability increases in particular in the case of curled paper.
As explained above, furthermore, the paper sheet
2
which has been supplied into the passage
15
by means of the upper driver roller
11
and the paper-supplying follower roller
12
is guided downward through the passage
15
. This gives rise to another possibility that the paper sheet
2
may undergo a free fall as soon as the back edge of the paper sheet
2
is released from the clamping between the upper driver roller
11
and the paper-supplying follower roller
12
. This probability of free fall is particularly high if the paper sheet is thin or heavy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention in view of the problems described above to provide an improved paper reversing device capable of dependably reversing the direction of motion of a paper sheet and discharging it independently of the material quality or shape of the paper sheet.
A paper reversing device embodying this invention for reversing the direction of motion of a paper sheet, with which the above and other objects of the invention can be accomplished, may be characterized as comprising a passage for guiding the paper sheet therethrough, a plurality of rollers each having a specified function and a guiding member for pressing and guiding a portion of the paper sheet in a specified direction for discharging. One of the rollers (“the first roller”) is a driver roller and its rotation causes the paper sheet to be supplied (in “the first direction”) into and discharged (in “the second direction”) out of the passage. Another roller (“the second roller” or “the paper-supplying follower roller”) is for contacting and rotating with the first roller and thereby transporting the paper sheet in the first direction into the passage. Still another roller (“the third roller” or “the paper-discharging follower roller”) is disposed on the opposite side of the first roller from the second roller such that the second and third rollers sandwich the first roller therebetween, and serves for transporting the paper sheet in the second direction out of the passage by contacting and rotating with the first roller. There is still another roller (“the fourth roller”) which is a driver roller disposed in the passage and serves to allow the front edge of the paper sheet to pass by when it is transported in the first direction by means of the first and second rollers. When the paper sheet has passed between the first and second rollers and its back edge has been disengaged therefrom, however, the guiding me
Kirino Koji
Sumi Masaaki
Beyer Weaver & Thomas LLP
Kohner Matthew J.
Omron Corporation
Walsh Donald P.
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