Electrophotography – Document handling – Copy
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-13
2003-02-25
Grainger, Quana M. (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Document handling
Copy
C270S039010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06526256
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technology to make a document which is folded in two or in three, and in particular, to a technology to conduct folding processing that is suitable for a process to form an image on a sheet.
A processing apparatus to conduct folding processing for a sheet is widely applied in the field of bookbinding, and a processing apparatus to fold a sheet or to fold relatively small number of sheets is also widely applied as one to make a sealed document for mail.
Conventional folding processing apparatuses are large-sized and expensive, and are intended to conduct a large amount of processing at high speed.
However, depending on a type of a document, there are a good many documents which are relatively small in quantity and require different handling, in addition to a large amount of unified documents. In the case of a sealed document for direct mailing, for example, a document wherein an individual slip carries different information such as an address and other information sometimes needs to be folded, and in that case, manual operations to group individual different documents are needed before or after the documents are processed in the folding process apparatus.
The conventional apparatus to conduct a large amount of uniform processing has a problem that overall efficiency cannot be improved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to solve the aforesaid problem in the conventional folding processing apparatus in the case of processing documents wherein a group of documents in a small quantity are different from each other and/or wherein individual slips are different from each other, and to provide a small-sized and inexpensive finishing apparatus which can cope flexibly with various applications and can make folded documents at high overall efficiency and an image forming apparatus having therein the finishing apparatus.
Accordingly, to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the above-mentioned object of the present invention can be attained by an image-forming apparatus and finishers described as follows.
(1) An image forming apparatus, comprising: a first folding device and a second folding device, both of which conduct folding processing while conveying a sheet; a controller to control both of the first folding device and the second folding device; and a selector that makes it possible to select a two-folding mode or a three-folding mode; wherein the controller controls the first folding device so as to eject the sheet after folding the sheet double when the two-folding mode is selected by the selector, while the controller controls the first folding device so as to fold the sheet double, and then, further controls the second folding device so as to eject the sheet after further folding the sheet in three when the selector selects the three-folding mode.
(2) The image-forming apparatus of item 1, wherein the first folding device comprises: a first conveyance-folding device that conveys the sheet; and a knife-shaped folding member to feed the sheet into the first conveyance-folding device in a state that a folded portion of the sheet is its forefront, and the second folding device comprises: a second conveyance-folding device that folds and conveys the sheet; and a stop guiding member to stop a leading edge of the sheet conveyed by the second conveyance-folding device.
(3) The image-forming apparatus of item 2, wherein the stop guiding member guides the sheet along a conveyance path of the sheet in a three-folding process, while the stop guiding member retreats from the conveyance path in a two-folding process.
(4) The image-forming apparatus of item 1, further comprising a binding device, wherein the binding device, the first folding device and the second folding device are successively arranged in a conveyance direction of the sheet.
(5) The image-forming apparatus of item 4, wherein the binding device comprises an intermediate stacker inclined, and the first folding device is arranged along a conveyance path that is inclined in a direction opposite to that of the intermediate stacker.
(6) The image-forming apparatus of item 4, wherein the binding device comprises an intermediate stacker inclined, and the first folding device is arranged along a conveyance path that is inclined in the same direction as that of the intermediate stacker.
(7) The image-forming apparatus of item 1, further comprising a binding device, wherein the binding device is arranged on a downstream side in a conveyance path of the sheet with respect to the first folding device.
(8) The image-forming apparatus of item 1, further comprising: a stacking member disposed on the upstream side of the first folding device to stack a plurality of sheets on it.
(9) An image-forming method, comprising the steps of: forming an image on an obverse surface of a sheet; conveying the sheet on which the image is formed; folding the sheet at a first position that is about ⅔ of its total length from a leading edge of the sheet in a conveyance direction of the sheet so that the obverse surface becomes convex, in a first folding process; and folding the sheet at a second position that is about ⅓ of its total length from the leading edge of the sheet in the conveyance direction of the sheet so that the obverse surface becomes convex, in a second folding process.
(10) The image-forming method of item 9, wherein the first folding process and the second folding process are conducted for the sheet that is conveyed so that a tip of the image is positioned at the leading edge of the sheet.
(11) An image-forming apparatus, comprising: an image-forming device to form an image on an obverse surface of a sheet; a first folding device to convey the sheet on which the image is formed and to fold the sheet at a first position that is about ⅔ of its total length from a leading edge of the sheet in a conveyance direction of the sheet so that the obverse surface becomes convex; and a second folding device to fold the sheet, folded by the first folding device, at a second position that is about ⅓ of its total length from the leading edge of the sheet in the conveyance direction of the sheet so that the obverse surface becomes convex.
(12) The image-forming apparatus of item 11, wherein a folding process conducted by the first folding device is only enabled, and a delivering operation of the sheet, which is folded double, is enabled.
(13) The image-forming apparatus of item 11, wherein the first folding device comprises a knife-shaped folding member.
(14) The image-forming apparatus of item 11, wherein the second folding device comprises: a conveyance-folding device to convey and fold the sheet; and a stop guiding member to stop a leading edge of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance-folding device.
(15) A method for finishing a sheet on which an image is formed, wherein a first folding device folds the sheet in case of folding the sheet double, while a second folding device further folds the sheet after the first folding device folds the sheet in case of folding the sheet in three.
(16) A finisher for finishing a sheet on which an image is formed, comprising: a first folding roller; a second folding roller contacting the first folding roller; a knife-shaped folding member to insert a folded portion of the sheet into a nip formed between the first folding roller and the second folding roller; a third folding roller contacting the second folding roller at a downstream side of the first folding roller in a conveyance direction of the sheet; and a stopper guide member to stop the sheet conveyed by the second folding roller; wherein a combination of the first folding roller, the second folding roller and the knife-shaped folding member folds the sheet as a first folding process, while a combination of the second folding roller, the third folding roller and the stopper guide member folds the sheet as a second folding process.
(17) A finisher for finishing a sheet on which an image is formed, comprising: a first folding roller; a second folding
Hattori Masato
Nishizawa Eiichiro
Tenda Tadashi
Wakabayashi Hiroyuki
Yoshie Kohji
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Grainger Quana M.
Konica Corporation
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