Sheet-material associating – Associating or disassociating – Sheet associating
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-11
2002-06-18
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet-material associating
Associating or disassociating
Sheet associating
C270S058080, C270S058130, C270S058140
Reexamination Certificate
active
06406013
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing device which is provided to an image forming device having functions of copying, facsimiling, printing, and the like, and which feeds out sheets of paper supplied from the image forming device after performing a post-processing operation such as a stapling operation with respect to the sheets of paper.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A recent copying machine is designed so as to be used in combination with an automatic document transporting device and a sheet post-processing device, for realizing automation of a copying operation, and automation of a stapling operation or a punching operation with respect to sheets of paper having been subject to the copying operation, and the like.
The sheet post-processing device is a device which performs a post-processing operation such as stapling or punching with respect to sheets of paper which are fed out of a copying machine after original images are copied thereon, so that every stack of paper, which is composed of a predetermined number of sheets of paper, is stapled or punched.
For example, one conventional sheet post-processing device is disclosed by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,920 (the Japanese Publication for Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3-227694/1991 (Tokukaihei 3-227694)).
FIG. 22
is an explanatory view illustrating an arrangement of a sheet post-processing device
100
disclosed by the publication.
In the sheet post-processing device
100
, sheets of paper fed out of a copying machine main body are fed in through a feed-in opening
108
. Then, in the case where the stapling operation is applied to the sheets, the sheets are guided by a gate
101
to a path
102
.
The sheets transported through the path
102
are introduced to a staple tray
103
from its bottom upward, so that the sheets are stacked thereon.
When a predetermined number of the sheets are stacked on the staple tray
103
, a stapling operation is applied by a stapler
104
to a lower edge of the sheets thus stacked. The stack of paper thus stapled is moved upward, with its lower edge pushed up by a discharge belt
105
, and the stack of paper is brought up till being discharged onto a discharge tray
106
. Upon discharge, the stacked sheets are transported with the edges to which the stapling operation is not applied going in front in the transporting direction.
According to the arrangement of the sheet post-processing device
100
, however, the sheets to be subject to the stapling operation are fed in through the feed-in opening
108
which is positioned above the staple tray
103
. The sheets are transported through the path
102
and introduced onto the staple tray
103
from below, thereby being stacked thereon.
For this reason, the path
102
is curved substantially in a U shape in the vicinity of junction of the path
102
with the staple tray
103
, and in the case of the aforementioned arrangement, it is necessary to increase a radius of curvature of the curving part to some extent. This is because jamming of paper tends to occur during transportation in the case where the radius of curvature is set too small. Therefore, the foregoing arrangement has a drawback in that a floor area that the sheet post-processing device
100
occupies becomes large.
Further, as described above, in the sheet post-processing device, the feed-in opening
108
is formed at a position higher than that for the staple tray
103
. In such an arrangement as relative position relationship between the staple tray
103
and the feed-in opening
108
is thus specified, a position for the staple tray
103
or the feed-in opening
108
is limited, thereby, for example, causing a space around the staple tray
103
to be narrowed, and limiting freedom in designing the sheet post-processing device. Such limitation is likewise caused in the case where the feed-in opening
108
is formed at a position lower than that for the staple tray
103
.
Furthermore, with the foregoing arrangement of the sheet post-processing device
100
, upon discharge of the stapled sheets of paper, the stacked sheets are transported with the edges to which the stapling operation is not applied going in front in the transporting direction. Therefore, upon paper discharge, the front edges of the stacked sheets tend to fan out, causing lower sheets to be bent under upper sheets.
Another conventional sheet post-processing device is arranged so that the stapler is moved to a stapling position so as to perform the stapling operation with respect to the stack of paper on the staple tray. With the foregoing arrangement wherein the stapler is moved, however, there arises a drawback in that structure of the sheet post-processing device becomes complicated, or a drawback in that the sheet post-processing device becomes bulkier.
Incidentally, jamming of paper tends to take place during transportation of paper, in the case of a sheet post-processing device which is arranged so that sheets of paper ejected from the copying machine are stacked on a post-processing tray so that the stapling operation as the post-processing operation is applied to the stack of paper thereon, and thereafter the stack of paper is discharged onto a discharge tray. In this case, a jamming sheet is not easily taken out, unless the transport path inside the sheet post-processing device is openable.
Such a structure which facilitates taking out of a jamming sheet is hereinafter referred to as a paper jam solving structure. A copying machine with such a paper jam solving structure is disclosed by, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,989 (the Japanese Publication for Laid-Open Patent Application No. 61-239256/1986 (Tokukaisho 61-239256)).
FIG. 23
is an explanatory view illustrating a sheet transport path in the copying machine disclosed by the foregoing publication. As shown in
FIG. 23
, in this copying machine, a sheet (paper) is fed from feed cassettes
201
through feed rollers
202
,
203
, and
204
to a position below a photoreceptor
205
. Subsequently, an image on the photoreceptor
205
is transferred to the sheet, and thereafter the sheet is transported to a fixing device (not shown) by a conveyer belt
206
provided with air suction means. After a fixing operation, the sheet is fed out.
Here, in the copying machine, the conveyer belt
206
is substantially horizontally disposed. Besides, the conveyer belt
206
is movably provided so as to incline downward by pivoting around a shaft
206
a
provided on a downstream side of a transport direction. Furthermore, a supporting member
207
of the feed rollers
203
is provided vertically, and rotatably with respect to a shaft
207
a
provided in a bottom part of the supporting member
207
.
Furthermore, the conveyer belt
206
is supported by a supporting arm
209
. The supporting arm
209
has a roller
208
at its top end, and is supported by a shaft
209
a
provided at a bottom end thereof so that the supporting arm
209
is rotatable with respect to the shaft
209
a.
The supporting member
207
is supported by a connecting piece
210
, with one side of the supporting member
207
being pinned to one end of the connecting piece
210
. The other end of the connecting piece
210
is rotatably connected to a middle part of the supporting arm
209
.
In the case of the foregoing arrangement, if jamming of paper takes place, the supporting arm
209
is rotated around the shaft
209
a
as axis in an anti-clockwise direction, as shown in FIG.
24
. With the rotation, the conveyer belt
206
rotates around the shaft
206
a
as axis in a clockwise direction. As a result, a transport path between the photoreceptor
205
and the conveyer belt
206
is opened.
Besides, the anti-clockwise rotation (laying down) of the supporting arm
209
causes the connecting piece
210
to pull the supporting member
207
. As a result, a transport path facing the feed rollers
203
is opened.
Thus, the copying machine is arranged so that only by laying down the supporting arm
209
, the transport paths on the feed-in and feed-out sides with respe
Josako Takehiko
Kanezaki Masahiro
Nagata Jinichi
Nanba Toyoaki
Takada Hironori
Ellis Christopher P.
Mackey Patrick
Renner Otto Boisselle & Sklar
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
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