Bookbinding: process and apparatus – Apparatus – With control means responsive to sensed condition
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-22
2001-12-04
Wellington, A. L. (Department: 3722)
Bookbinding: process and apparatus
Apparatus
With control means responsive to sensed condition
C101S485000, C270S037000, C270S052160, C270S058080, C399S082000, C399S407000, C412S001000, C412S006000, C412S009000, C412S010000, C412S012000, C412S014000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325585
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet perforation device for forming holes in a sheet by punching at predetermined positions on the sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sheet sorters are known that sort sheets of paper ejected from image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and bind the sheets by means of stapling.
In recent years, sheet sorters have also been proposed of a type having a punching unit which punches holes in successive sheets ejected from an image forming apparatus so as to form holes at predetermined positions in each of the successive sheets. The punching unit is disposed along the path of travel of the ejected sheets so that the sheets are perforated as they move through the punching unit. The pitch, or spacing, of the holes formed by the perforation device is fixed.
The use of this type of punching unit, however, has the following problems. If the punching unit is designed to form two holes, and if the sheet to be perforated has a dimension equal to or less than the spacing between the holes, the sheet is not perforated because the sheet is between the punchers, or the sheet may be imperfectly perforated such that one or both edges of the sheet are notched in a crescent form. Such imperfectly perorated sheets must be discarded. Ejection of a sheet having no perforation at all when the punching function is activated may lead the user to the erroneous conclusion that the punching failure is attributable to a malfunction of the apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a sheet perforation device which overcomes the above-described problems in the known art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet perforation device which avoids imperfect punching, thereby avoiding the wasting of sheets.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet perforation device which is improved so as to avoid any misunderstanding by the user that the punching function has failed due to malfunction.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet perforating device in accordance with the invention.
To these ends, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet perforation device comprising: punching means for punching holes in a sheet; determining means for determining whether positions of holes to be punched fall within a dimension of the sheet; and warning means for issuing a warning when the determining means has determined that the position of at least one of the holes to be punched falls outside the dimension of the sheet.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: image forming means for forming an image on a sheet; punching means for punching holes in the sheet carrying the image formed by the image forming means; sheet dimension detecting means for detecting a dimension of the sheet; determining means for determining, based on the sheet dimension detected by the sheet dimension detecting means, whether the positions of the holes to be punched fall within the dimension of the sheet; and interrupting means for interrupting the start of an image forming operation of the image forming means.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: image forming means for forming an image on a sheet; punching means for punching holes in the sheet carrying the image formed by the image forming means; punching setup means for setup of said punching means to enable the punching means to perform a punching operation; sheet dimension detecting means for detecting dimension of the sheet; determining means for determining, based on the sheet dimension detected by the sheet dimension detecting means, whether the positions of the holes to be punched fall within the dimension of the sheet; and setup interrupting means operative in response to an output of the determining means for stopping the punching setup means from performing the setup operation.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5383754 (1995-01-01), Sumida et al.
patent: 5746162 (1998-05-01), Hosoi et al.
patent: 6120015 (2000-09-01), Albright et al.
Nimura Mitsuo
Sasaki Ichiro
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Henderson Mark T.
Wellington A. L.
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