Xerox Corporation

Denis J Stemmle

Egon S Babler

Robert P Robideau

Morton Silverberg

Timothy M Minerd

John F Derrick

Russell L Phelps

Allen J Lucas

A scanner disposed within a portable copier includes a scan carriage, a document indexer for transporting a document along a document transport path, a copy sheet indexer for transporting a copy sheet along a copy sheet transport path, and a printhead and ink supply cartridge, preferably a ribbon cartridge, supported by the scan carriage. The document and copy sheet paths are disposed on opposite sides of the ribbon cartridge, allowing removal and replacement of the ribbon cartridge on the scan carriage without disturbing the position of either the copy sheet or the document. Separate motors drive the document and copy sheet indexers, so that the copy sheet may be ejected from the device without advancing the document and without moving the scan carriage.

Portable copier and method of using a portable copier

A pivoting platen for use with a printhead of a printing device includes a rigid portion and a compressible portion. The compressible portion contacts a sheet, which is pressed against the compressible portion by the printhead. The platen pivots about a rotational axis as the printhead scans across the sheet, creating uniform pressing forces between the printhead and the platen. These uniform pressing forces ensure uniform density of the image bands printed by the printhead.

Pivoting platen for use in printing device

Ribbon cartridge

A high capacity sheet stacking system for stacking substantial quantities of the sequential sheet output of a reproducing apparatus on a sheet stacking tray providing an inclined sheet stacking surface at a substantial angle from the horizontal for receiving and registering sheets against an upstanding stack edge registration or alignment surface. Here, this stack edge alignment surface is automatically varied in height above the stacking surface with the change in stack height in the tray, in coordination with vertical repositioning of the sheet input level to the tray with stack height, so that an elevator system is not required for the stacking tray, and a simple fixed position tray may be used, yet high sheet stacking capacity provided.

High capacity sheet stacking system with variable height input and

A sorter apparatus for receiving and attaching sets of sheet material in succession at a sheet input station. A plurality of bins are provided for receiving the sheet material in a first position within each bin. The bin has a slidable tray mounted thereon. The slideable tray is movable in a direction, transverse to the sheet input direction, to displace the sheet material, received within each bin, to a second position where the sheet set is attached. The slideable tray is then returned to the first position and another bin is positioned at the sheet attaching position where the process is repeated.

Sorting and finishing apparatus

A digital copying apparatus produces a right reading image with an image reading unit co-mounted on a carriage with an image printing unit. After a width of a document is scanned, either bidirectionally or unidirectionally, and digitized, it is stored in a band memory buffer before it is printed on the next successive sweep. The digitized data stored in the band memory buffer may be processed while it is stored, prior to being printed.

Right reading image for read/write components co-mounted on a single X-Y

A scanner has a frame assembly containing a carriage movably mounted in the frame assembly for scanning movement in a scanning path in a first direction along the length of the frame assembly, which includes at least one sheet transport path and a roll to index a sheet through the path in a direction transverse to the first direction. The scanning carriage is driven in the scanning path by a lead screw rotatably engaged with the scanning carriage for scanning movement along the length of the lead screw and a reversible motor. In a preferred embodiment the scanning carriage supports a reading head and/or a printing head for reading an image on a document and printing an image on a copy sheet and the pitch of the threads of the lead screw are selected so than an integer multiple of steps of a stepper motor provides a linear displacement of the carriage of one pixel width and a clock pulse generator simultaneously drives the stepper motor and the reading and/or printing heads.

Scanning carriage drive and image timing

An automatic document feeder having top and bottom sheet feeders for selectively feeding top and bottom document sheets from the top and bottom of a stack of documents placed in an input tray of the document feeder is used to feed documents onto a copier platen in proper signature page order. The automatic document feeder selectively feeds the documents in accordance with a signature sequence by feeding a first document from either the top or from the bottom of the stack, followed by feeding alternate pairs of documents from the top and from the bottom of the stack, starting with an opposite one of the top and bottom of the stack from the one containing the first document, until all documents are fed to the copier platen. The documents are moved two at a time as a signature document pair in the signature sequence directly from the automatic document feeder to the imaging station. Preferably, the documents are fed long-edge-first onto the copier platen while the signature copy sheets which receive page images from the signature document pairs are fed short-edge-first through a duplex paper path of the copier. When the collated stack of documents is arranged face-up in the automatic document feeder, with page one on top of the stack, feeding occurs in the following sequence, wherein T represents a sheet fed from the top of the document stack and B represents a sheet fed from the bottom of the document stack: T,B B, T T, B B, T . . .

Signature job copying system and method

A scanner has a frame assembly including a carriage movably mounted in the frame assembly for scanning movement in a scanning path in a first direction along the length of the frame assembly, the frame assembly includes at least one sheet transport path with an indexer to index a sheet through the path; the indexer including at least one index roll mounted on a rotatable shaft having a barrel cam at one end which is actuated by the scanning carriage at the end of the scanning path to rotate the at least one index roll a portion of a revolution.

Indexing mechanism for compact scanner

A plural mode system of transporting sheets in an output path of a copier or printer to a sheet stacking area, with selectable sheet inversion provided by opposing first and second sheet feeding rollers forming a sheet transporting nip engaging the leading edge of a sheet, by a relative orbital motion of the opposing rollers to progressively pivot the nip and thereby change the angular direction of motion of the leading edge of the sheet. A selection between faceup and facedown stacking of the sheets is provided by selectable orbital motion of the nip. The sheet is inverted for stacking by orbital motions pivoting the nip by greater than 90 degrees with the sheet's leading edge held in the nip, so that subsequently the leading edge of the sheet is moving in a direction substantially different from the direction of motion of the leading edge when the leading edge first entered the nip. For faceup stacking, a movable sheet deflector gate deflects sheets in the output path away from the nip, upstream of said nip, to bypass the nip, and feed those selected sheets directly from the output path into the sheet stacking station without inversion from different upstream rollers.

Orbiting nip sheet output with faceup or facedown stacking and integral

In a system of transporting sheets in an output path of a copier or printer to a sheet stacking area with opposing first and second sheet feeding rollers forming a sheet transporting nip engaging the leading edge of a sheet, while producing a relative orbital motion of the opposing rollers to progressively pivot the nip and thereby change the angular direction of motion of the leading edge of the sheet, plural mode selectable operation of this pivotal motion is provided. There is a selection between faceup and facedown stacking of the sheets by one selectable orbital motion of the nip. This selected orbital motion pivots the nip by greater than 90 degrees with the sheet's leading edge held in the nip, so that subsequently, the leading edge of the sheet is moving in a direction substantially different from the direction of motion of the leading edge when the leading edge first entered the nip, and the sheet is inverted. Another selectable orbital motion of the nip pivots the nip to feed the sheet into a separate area for further sheet processing. Another selectable orbital motion of the nip pivots the nip in the opposite direction to feed the sheet into a top stacking tray. Other selectable movements of the same orbiting nip unit can provide other output selections, such as a duplexing or highlight color sheet return, all without requiring any moving gates or baffles, and with positive sheet control.

Orbiting nip plural mode sheet output with faceup or facedown stacking

A scanner having a frame assembly for supporting a movable document reading head for scanning movement in a scanning path in a first direction has a document transport to transport a document through the scanner and a drive to move the reading head across the document to read at least a portion of the document, the reading head having an optical imaging assembly including a frame supporting an imaging platen, the scanner including a floating document backstop opposite the imaging platen and extending across the scanning path to precisely position a document on the platen during an imaging operation. In a preferred embodiment the scanner includes a printing head with a comounted printing head.

Scanner with floating backstop

Combined input scanner and output scanner has a scanning carriage adapted for scanning movement having a reading head secured thereto for scanning a document to produce a digital image and a printing head secured thereto for relative movement with respect to a copy sheet and electrically connected to the reading head for printing a digital image on a copy sheet. The reading head includes a solid state device with input reading elements and the printing head includes a solid state device with output printing elements which are securely comounted in the same plane to the same planar substrate.

Compact read/write scanner

A scanner comprising a frame assembly for supporting a movable carriage for scanning movement in a scanning path in a first direction, a sheet transport to transport a sheet through the scanner, means to move the carriage across the sheet to perform an operation on the sheet and a single source of electromechanical power to drive all of the transport and means to move in the scanner. In a preferred embodiment the carriage includes a reading head and a printing head and the scanner has a document transport path and a copy sheet transport path.

Scanner with single source mechanical power

A scanner has a frame assembly containing a carriage movably mounted in the frame assembly for scanning movement in a scanning path in a first direction along the length of the frame assembly from a home position to an end of scan position, the frame assembly including at least one sheet transport path including at least one index roll on a rotatable shaft to index a sheet through the path, the scanner further including a toggle frame supporting at one end at least one idler roll for forming a sheet transporting nip with at least one index roll and at the opposite end at least one sheet registration gate, the toggle frame being pivotally mounted to alternately provide a copy sheet transporting nip and a sheet registration gate in said sheet transport path, the frame being activated to provide a registration gate in the sheet transport path by the scanning carriage when it is adjacent to or at the home position.

Growing community of inventors

Webster, NY, United States of America

Denis J Stemmle