International Business Machines Corporation

James Charles Rogers

James A Craft

Carl A Queener

Gerald B Lammers

Frederick W Johnson

Paul S Bach

The invention concerns a method of controlling a multi-bin sheet collator. Adjacent collator bins are treated as one virtual bin and sheet feeding is controlled appropriately by skipping bins if the number of sets to be collated equals or is smaller than half the number of bins. Thus, multi-page documents having a number of pages exceeding the capacity of a single bin can be collated. In a combined copier/collator the number of copies selected by the operator determines the number of sets, and thus the size and grouping of the virtual bins.

Virtual bin collator control

A document reproduction machine, such as a convenience copier, has an operator selected noncollated tray output and a collated output. To ensure that reproduction of documents does not stop when either the capacity of the tray or the collator is exceeded, automatic control means switch document transport from the tray to the collator for filling up the collator in a noncollating mode, and vice versa.

Document reproduction having output means with plural outputs operable

A document reproduction machine, such as an electrostatic copier, has a copy station with a front reference edge for operator convenience. A reproduction station adjacent the copy station reverses the image such that the reference edge is at a rear or remote position from the operator. The duplicate copy is initially referenced to the rear reference edge. An aligner in a transfer station moves the duplicate copy to a front reference edge and into an exit station which may include a collator. In a minimal transport distance, documents of various lengths are automatically handled and aligned by the apparatus.

Duplicating machine employing image reversing optical paths with front

A copier/collator installation wherein the copier's output copy sheets are collated into sets in a multi-bin collator. The collator bins are vertically stacked. Vertical stacking of the electrostatically charged and heated copy sheets, which therefore tend to curl, is enhanced by providing collator bins having electrically nonconductive walls. The bottom sheet-receiving walls are formed to have a generally concave cross section, facing upward. Considering the direction of sheet movement, this concave surface extends generally transverse the sheet movement. Pivoted and biased paper stabilizing wires hold down the leading portion of the sheet stack in the bin, and also absorbs the sheet's kinetic energy as the sheet enters the bin. A flexible, electrically nonconductive plastic flap, at the bin's entrance or mouth, holds down the sheet's trailing portion, and also absorbs the sheet's kinetic energy. A sheet discharging electrically conductive tinsel is mounted in the top of the bin, intermediate the stabilizing wire and the flap. This tinsel is mounted generally behind the flap so as not to physically engage the sheet.

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

James Charles Rogers