International Business Machines Corporation

Lexmark International, Inc.

Earl G Edwards

Charles E Peterson

Bernard L Wilzbach

Michael R Headrick

Michael Craig Leemhuis

John Wayne Gassett

Carl A Queener

James Philip Harden

Stephen Todd Olson

William D Clark

Armando V Flores

Leon C Brown

Daniel L Huber

Peter G Robinson

Clement C Wilson

Jerry T Robinson

A printer (1) and portable stations (2 and 3) when located side-by-side form a guide (1a, 2a, and 3a) for paper sheets sent out by printer 1. The paper is moved upward into U-shaped guide 1a by pinch rollers (6 and 7) and then moved laterally by pinch rollers (8 and 9) in guide 1a. Similar rollers are in guides 2a and 3a to direct the paper to the selected station and then downward.

Printer with distribution stations having U-shaped sheet guide

A moving document copier machine with a hinged cover of a recirculating semiautomatic document feed device for pivoting away from the top surface of the machine to expose the document feed path and enable the copying of a book or like object. A spine or rail means is provided along one edge of the document feed path to receive the center break of an opened book. Roll means interior to the document feed path support that portion of the book to be copied as it moves across the viewing station while other rollers, exterior to the document feed path, support that portion of the book not to be copied. A gate is provided to register the book.

Method and apparatus for limiting book wear while being copied

Fusing of a toned sheet of copy paper is accomplished by a fusing nip formed by a resilient hot roll and a rigid backup roll. The sheet is introduced to the fusing nip in a unique manner such that the sheet's initial contact to the hot roll fuser is substantially only a point on the sheet's leading edge. This is accomplished by orientation means operable to bow the sheet's leading edge, and/or to produce skew between the fusing nip and the sheet's leading edge.

Hot roll fusing nip and means to control orientation of a sheet's

A moving-document copier wherein a loop-shaped path is used to recirculate a document once for each requested copy, the recirculation path having a skewed turn-around guide which intentionally skews the document's leading edge during recirculation, to avoid document jams. The document is subsequently realigned for rescanning to make another copy. A copy-request counter operates to pivot the skewed turn-around guide to a document-intercept position so long as more copies are needed. When all requested copies have been imaged, the document is allowed to proceed to an exit tray.

Copier and recirculating document feeder

An apparatus which provides for a constant center distance between all drive components in a hot roll fusing assembly during fusing nip opening/closing. This apparatus includes a roll closure device which utilizes a high mechanical advantage toggle mechanism in conjunction with a cam drive. The toggle mechanism is comprised of a pivot arm pinned to the fuser frame and a force-cell attached to the pivot arm and the shaft through the backup roll. The backup roll is constrained to rotate about the cam shaft. When the cam rotates, it rotates the pivot arm, which in turn drives the backup roll either towards or away from the hot roll while maintaining a constant center distance between the backup roll center line and a center line through the cam shaft. The drive means for the backup roll includes a first gear drivingly coupled thereto which rotates on the same axis and which meshes with a second gear rotating on the same shaft as the cam. Thus, with power input at the cam shaft, the backup roll is driven with minimum backlash by gears whose center distance is constant regardless of backup roll position.

Hot roll fuser roll closure apparatus

Apparatus in a copier fusing assembly for distributing the wear on a hot roll occasioned by the use of variable length copy sheets. This wear is distributed over the horizontal length of the hot roll by reversing the hot roll, end-for-end. Easy reversal of the hot roll is made possible by utilization of a hot roll subframe which is removably mounted in the copier fuser mainframe. A hot roll handle on the subframe allows for manual removal of the subframe and hot roll from the mainframe and out of the copier where they are reversed and inserted back into the mainframe. Operation of a latch handle moves a sheet detach bar and sheet transport exit-ways away from the downstream side of the fusing nip to facilitate jam clearance.

Apparatus to facilitate jam recovery and hot roll reversal in a fusing

An electrophotographic copier having a hot roll fuser assembly. This assembly is slidably supported by a pair of rails. When the fuser assembly is locked into its fusing position, within the copier, it is relatively inaccessible for purposes of inspection, cleaning and/or jam clearance. In its withdrawn, inoperative position, a single manually operable jam clearance handle is operator accessible. Manual actuation of this handle, from a folded to an extended position, is effective to move both a sheet peeler or detach bar, and a sheet transport channel away from the fusing nip. When the handle is moved back to its folded position, the sheet detach bar and transport channel are accurately positioned, and locked in an operative position closely adjacent to the downstream side of the fusing nip, so as to aid in release of the sheet from the fusing nip, and to guide the sheet away from this nip.

Hot roller fuser having manually operable jam clearance mechanism

A xerographic copying apparatus having a hot roll fuser and a peeler bar which includes a fluid jet to assist in stripping the toned copy sheet from the hot roll. The peeler bar and jet geometry cooperate with the fusing nip to create aerodynamic forces which tend to peel the sheet's leading edge from the hot roll. This force producing means includes an air jet. The air jet produces pressure differentials to initially pick and guide the sheet's leading edge from the hot roll. The combination of these pressure differentials and the peeler bar's guide surface, positioned to one side of the sheet's path downstream of the hot roll, provides an unconfined and sole support guidance means for the sheet as it leaves the hot roll.

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

Earl G Edwards