Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering to stack and feeding therefrom – With sheet sensor for selective location
Patent
1990-09-24
1991-12-03
Schacher, Richard A.
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering to stack and feeding therefrom
With sheet sensor for selective location
271 9, 400625, B65H 344
Patent
active
050694359
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sheet stacker for use in combination with a printer to hold printing cut sheets, and having a hand-feed function.
2. Background of the Invention
A known printer is provided with an automatic cut sheet feeder, a printing unit, and a stacker disposed between the automatic cut sheets feeder and the printing unit to hold printed cut sheet, and allows feeding cut sheets by hand through a space behind the stacker to the printing unit. Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-53091 discloses a hand-feed construction having a fixed hand-feed chute formed by a slit between the backside and bottom of a stacker and capable of enabling hand feed when necessary. The hand-feed chute of this known hand-feed construction is blocked by a printed cut sheet delivered to the stacker after printing, and hence the printed cut sheet blocking the hand-feed chute must be removed when feeding a cut sheet by hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,652 discloses a sheet feeder intended to prevent blocking of a hand-feed chute by a printed cut sheet. This sheet feeder has a funnel-shaped hand-feed chute formed of a rear wall of a stacker and a guide plate disposed behind the stacker, and an auxiliary inserter is attached to the funnel-shaped hand-feed chute when necessary. The rear wall of the stacker has a sufficiently large height to prevent a printed cut sheet from blocking the hand-feed chute, and the rear wall of the stacker and the guide plate are disposed so as to form the hand-feed chute in the shape of a funnel. Since the inlet of the hand-feed chute is remote from the printing unit and the inlet is narrow, it is impossible to feed a cut sheet to the printing unit by holding the cut sheet when the cut sheet is short. Therefore, the cut sheet is dropped through the inlet into the hand-feed chute. However, when the cut sheet is curled or charged with static electricity, the leading edge of the cut sheet is unable to reach the printing unit properly, thus causing jamming and making printing impossible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stacker having a hand-feed function ensuring the hand-feed of a cut sheet to the printing unit regardless of the length of the cut sheet and without being obstructed by a printed cut sheet held therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the present invention, a stacker having a hand-feed function disposed between a printing unit and an automatic sheet feeder to hold printed cut sheets has a flat hand-feed chute formed of a front plate, an upper portion of the front plate being cut to form a hand-feed recess communicating with the hand-feed chute, a back plate and side plates, and sheet guides inclined upwardly with respect to a direction of delivery of printed cut sheets and attached to an upper surface of the front plate.
The stacker having a hand-feed function thus constructed guides printed cut sheets along the sheet guides to stack the printed cut sheets. Hence a space is formed between the front plate and the printed cut sheets to allow the hand feed of a cut sheet through the hand-feed chute without being obstructed by the printed cut sheets. Accordingly, printing efficiency is not reduced and ease of printing is improved remarkably.
The hand-feed recess formed by cutting the upper portion of the front plate reduces the distance between the hand-feed recess and the printing unit and hence a leading edge of a cut sheet can be inserted surely into the printing unit by hand regardless of the length of the cut sheet. Since the cut sheet can properly be inserted into the printing unit by hand, print quality is not deteriorated and maintenance is facilitated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stacker having a hand-feed function in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the printing mechanism of a printer combined with the stacker having a hand-feed function in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary p
REFERENCES:
patent: 4475731 (1984-10-01), Wood
patent: 4645192 (1987-02-01), Watanabe
patent: 4789258 (1988-12-01), Gomoll
OKI Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Schacher Richard A,.
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