Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-15
2002-05-28
Skaggs, H. Grant (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
C271S185000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06394447
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet inversion device provided in a copier that requires the alignment of pages in a multiple-copy process or the inversion of a sheet in double-side printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A general example of this type of sheet inversion device is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-232848. In the inversion structure shown in
FIG. 24
, a feed-in roller
242
and a feed-out roller
243
both contact the circumferential outer surface of a clockwise rotating intermediate roller
241
. When a sheet
244
, sandwiched between the intermediate roller
241
and the feed-in roller
242
, is delivered, the sheet
244
is fed along a guide plate
245
after being deflected obliquely upward by an opposed belt
246
, and defines an inclined inversion path
247
between the guide plate
245
and the opposed belt
246
.
When the trailing end of the sheet
244
is removed from between the intermediate roller
241
and the feed-in roller
242
, gravity causes the trailing end (lower end) of the sheet
244
to hang downward in the drawing. At this time, while the opposite belt
246
is rotated counterclockwise, the trailing end (lower end) of the sheet
244
is guided to and grasped by the intermediate roller
241
and the feed-out roller
243
, and is fed in the opposite direction.
However, because the conventional structure depends on gravity to shift sheets
244
introduced, along the inclined inversion path
247
, from the feed-in direction, and to position them for pickup and removal by the intermediate roller
241
and the feed-out roller
243
, the shifting of the sheets
244
for pickup by the intermediate roller
241
the feed-out roller
243
is not precisely performed and feeding failures occur.
Therefore, a sheet inversion device has been provided, wherein an inversion roller, which is rotated in the direction opposite to the sheet feed-in direction, and a pressing guide member, which applies a feed-in load to a sheet, are provided inside the inversion path, so that the inversion of the sheet does not depend on gravity.
However, in this case, since the inversion roller is rotated in the direction opposite to the sheet feed-in direction, the inversion roller applies the delivery force to the sheet in the opposite direction. As a result, if a sheet is thin, the leading edge of the sheet is bent or compressed when a strong holding pressure is applied by the inversion roller and the pressing guide member. And if a sheet is thick, a weak holding pressure applied by the inversion roller and the pressing guide member will not hold the sheet securely, and when the sheet is conveyed upward, its own weight may cause it to fall.
Additionally, for this device, while the sheet
244
is inverted, i.e., when the sheet
244
is released from the rollers
241
and
242
and before it is again sandwiched between the rollers
242
and
243
, the sheet
244
is free. Therefore, when the free sheet
244
drops of its own weight, while the feeding force of the belt
246
acts on it, the sheet
244
is skewed and is obliquely discharged. When stapling is required in the following process, sheets discharged in the skewed state would be stapled. To prevent this, the discharged sheets must be manually aligned, and when double-side copying is performed, images will be copied onto sheets that are skewed during the inversion process, so that the copying performance is deteriorated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Since a large inertial feeding force is produced when a sandwiched sheet is linearly fed, and since the leading edge of a sheet tends bend when it contacts another member, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet inversion device that includes a retraction structure that can eliminate an overload applied to the leading edge of a sheet, so that the sheet can be smoothly inverted, regardless of its thickness.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sheet inversion device that does not skew sheets, even when the sheets are free and feeding force is applied, and that can align sheets as they are discharged.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a sheet inversion device for reversing the surfaces of a sheet that has been fed into said sheet inversion device, comprises:
a first roller, located at the start of an inversion path in the direction in which a sheet is input or output along said inversion path, that rotates in only one direction;
a second roller, arranged parallel to said first rollers, that rotates with said first roller so as to feed said sheet into said inversion path;
a third roller, located in parallel to said first rollers on the opposite side of said first rollers from said second rollers, that rotates with said first rollers to feed out and discharge said sheet from said inversion path;
a fourth roller, located inside said inversion path, for applying a feeding force, in a discharge direction relative to a sheet feeding force applied by said first and second rollers, that causes said fourth rollers to slip across said sheet; and
a pressing and guide member, for applying, with said fourth roller, a sheet pressing force that resists the advance of a sheet that is being fed;
wherein a pressing face of said pressing and guide member has the same arced shape as has the circumferential outer face of said fourth roller.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the arrangement of the first aspect, said pressing guide member comprises a first member for applying a pressing force and a second member having the same shape as the outer circumferential face of said fourth roller; and wherein said second member is permitted to pivot in the feeding direction at a fulcrum position whereat said second member is supported by said first member.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the arrangement of the second aspect, an intermediate portion of said second member is located at said fulcrum position, and an elastic member for adjusting a pivoting distance is employed to couple together said first member and the rear portion of said second member.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a sheet inversion device for reversing the surfaces of a sheet that has been fed into said sheet inversion device, comprises:
a first roller, located at the start of an inversion path in the direction in which a sheet is input or output along said inversion path, that rotates in only one direction;
a second roller, arranged parallel to said first rollers, that rotate with said first roller so as to feed said sheet into said inversion path;
a third roller, located in parallel to said first rollers on the opposite side of said first rollers from said second rollers, that rotates with said first rollers to feed out and discharge said sheet from said inversion path;
a fourth roller, located inside said inversion path, for applying a feeding force, in a discharge direction relative to a sheet feeding force applied by said first and second rollers, that causes said fourth rollers to slip across said sheet; and
urging means for pushing said pressing guide member against said fourth roller upon the application of a force by said pivoting lever.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, sheet inversion device for reversing the surfaces of a sheet hat has been fed into said inversion device, comprises:
a first roller, located at the start of an inversion path in the direction in which a sheet is input or output along said inversion path, that rotates in only one direction;
a second roller, arranged parallel to said first rollers, that rotate with said first roller so as to feed said sheet into said inversion path;
a third roller, located in parallel to said first rollers on the opposite side of said first rollers from said second rollers, that rotates with said first rollers to feed out and discharge said sheet from said inversion path;
a fourth roller, located inside s
Kakinuma Takeshi
Kawai Norikazu
Kirino Koji
Ono Takahiro
Foley & Lardner
Omron Corporation
Skaggs H. Grant
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