Sheet-material associating – Associating or disassociating – Sheet associating
Reexamination Certificate
2003-05-28
2004-08-31
Mackey, Patrick (Department: 3651)
Sheet-material associating
Associating or disassociating
Sheet associating
C270S058160, C399S410000, C271S221000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06783125
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stapler processing apparatus which is suitable for a paper collating machine that staples a plurality of papers loaded into the machine and subsequently discharges the stapled papers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present applicant of the invention has proposed a stapler processing apparatus loaded on a paper collating machine before (Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-38756). As shown in
FIG. 1
, this stapler processing apparatus
100
includes a paper jogging tray
102
into which a collated sheet (consisting of plural papers stacked up)
101
is loaded from the transfer-downstream side of a collating body and which is inclined so as to lower its transfer-downstream side to the transfer-upstream side, a paper jogging unit
107
that allows a presser jogging member
106
to urge the collated sheet
101
to a paper-tip reference wall
104
at the lowermost position of the paper jogging tray
102
and a paper-side reference wall
105
on the lateral side of the tray
102
, a stapler
108
for stapling the collated sheet
101
jogged by the paper jogging unit
107
and a paper discharging unit
111
that nips the collated sheet
101
stapled by the stapler
108
between an upper roller
109
and a lower roller
110
thereby to discharge the collated sheet
101
from the top of the paper jogging tray
102
due to the action of a transporting force by the rotations of the upper and lower rollers
109
,
110
on the collated sheet
101
.
The operation of the above stapler processing apparatus
100
will be described with reference to an operational flow chart of FIG.
2
. First, the collated sheet
101
collated by the collating body is loaded to the paper jogging tray
102
in a loading direction IN (step S
100
). Then, the presser jogging member
106
moves from its stand-by position (a solid line of
FIG. 1
) to the jogging position (an imaginary line of
FIG. 1
) to urge the end face of the collated sheet
101
against the paper-side reference wall
105
, thereby jogging the papers (step S
101
). This so-jogged collated sheet
101
is stapled by the stapler
108
(step S
102
). After stapling, the presser jogging member
106
returns the stand-by position and the upper roller
109
moves to the contact position to nip the collated sheet
101
between the upper roller
109
and the lower roller
110
. Then, the upper roller
109
and the lower roller
110
are rotated. The rotations of the rollers
109
,
110
allow a feeding force to act on the collated sheet
101
, so that it is discharged in an unloading direction OUT (step S
103
).
Meanwhile, the paper jogging unit
107
can jog the papers by displacing the presser jogging member
106
from the stand-by position to the jogging position, the jogging position is established in accordance with a specific standard size for the papers forming the collated sheet
101
. Thus, at the jogging position, an appropriate jogging is carried out by pinching the lateral end faces on both sides of the collated sheet
101
between the paper-side reference wall
105
and the presser jogging member
106
.
However, it is noted that there may exist a collated sheet
101
of which size is somewhat larger than the standard size established for the collated sheet
101
. If papers exceeding the standard size are jogged by the presser jogging member
106
, the paper jogging unit
107
will jog the collated sheet
101
while its intermediate portion is being bent upward, as shown in FIG.
3
. When the so-bent collated sheet
101
is stapled by the stapler
108
, the resultant staple position of the sheet
101
may be deviated from the formal staple position of the collated sheet
101
having no bending.
In order to suppress the above bending of the collated sheet
101
, as shown in
FIG. 4
, it may be expected to make the upper roller
109
press down the so-bent collated sheet
101
and thereupon, the stapler
108
staples the collated sheet
101
whose bending has been eliminated. However, at a point of time of discharging the collated sheet
101
by the upper roller
109
and the lower roller
110
, the feeding operation of the collated sheet
101
becomes unstable since it is easy to be fed obliquely, thereby being at the root of paper jam.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Under such a circumstance, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stapler processing apparatus that can stabilize both of the stapling position of papers to be collated and the feeding operation in discharging the papers even if the size of the papers is somewhat larger than the standard size.
In the first aspect of the present invention, a stapler processing apparatus comprises: a paper jogging tray into which a plurality of papers are to be loaded; paper jogging means for jogging the papers by forcing respective end faces of the papers to a reference wall of the paper jogging tray; a stapler for stapling the papers jogged by the paper jogging means; paper pressing means for nipping the papers stapled by the stapler; paper discharging means for discharging the papers from the paper jogging tray by acting a transfer force due to the rotations of an upper and lower rollers on the papers; and control means for controlling the operations of the paper jogging means, the stapler, the paper pressing means and the paper discharging means in such a manner that at stapling the papers by the stapler, the control means makes the paper pressing means in close contact with the paper jogging tray thereby pressing the stapled papers to the paper jogging tray, after completing the stapling operation of the stapler, the control means makes the paper jogging means to stop a paper jogging operation thereof and the paper pressing means to separate from the paper jogging tray thereby once releasing the papers from the paper pressing means and subsequently, the control means makes the paper pressing means in close contact with the paper jogging tray and also makes the paper discharging means start discharging the stapled papers.
In the stapler processing apparatus constructed above, if the size of the papers is somewhat larger than the standard size, the paper jogging means will jog the papers in the deflected condition where the intermediate portion of the papers is raised. However, the deflection of the papers is suppressed by the paper pressing means pressing them down. Then, the stapler staples the papers while the deflection is being suppressed. After the stapling operation of the stapler, the paper jogging means is released from pressing the papers and further, the paper pressing means is also released from pressing the papers to the paper jogging tray. As a result, the deflection of the papers is canceled and the discharging operation of the papers is carried out while any deflection is being removed therefrom.
In the second aspect of the present invention, another stapler processing apparatus comprises: a paper jogging tray into which a plurality of papers are to be loaded; paper jogging means for jogging the papers by forcing respective end faces of the papers to a reference wall of the paper jogging tray; a stapler for stapling the papers jogged by the paper jogging means; a pair of upper and lower rollers for nipping the papers stapled by the stapler therebetween; paper discharging means for discharging the stapled papers from the paper jogging tray by acting a transfer force due to the rotations of the upper and lower rollers on the papers; and control means for controlling the operations of the paper jogging means, the stapler, the upper and lower rollers and the paper discharging means in such a manner that at stapling the papers by the stapler, the control means makes the upper roller in close contact with the lower roller thereby pressing the stapled papers to the paper jogging tray; after completing the stapling operation of the stapler, the control means makes the paper jogging means to stop a paper jogging operation thereof and the upper roller to separate from the l
Higashi Koji
Shoji Hideo
Berkowitz Marvin C.
Mackey Patrick
Nath Gary M.
Riso Kagaku Corporation
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