Xerox Corporation

Rank Xerox Ltd.

John H Looney

Thomas Acquaviva

David G Anderson

Thomas F Szlucha

Hugh L Jones

Timothy M Davis

Randolph Cruz

Donald R Tickner

Terry L DeWaters

A liquid ink printing machine, for forming an image on a recording medium moving along a path, including an arrangement for reducing media feedhead loads on media being fed in the printing machine. This is accomplished by using the printing machine's printhead carriage to contact a lever which will lower a paper tray holding the media once media being fed has reached an advance nip past the feedhead, thus reducing drag on the media being fed.

Carriage driven tray lowering device for an ink jet printer

A ball-on-belt transport includes a belt with a steel ball positioned on top of the belt and a magnet on the back side of the belt with the ball forming a nip with the belt to provide necessary normal force against a conveyed sheet and thereby allowing easy lateral pulling of sheets in clearing jams from the nip. Alternatively, a steel ball is retained while in contact with a belt to apply a normal force to a sheet on the belt equal to the weight of the steel ball. The ball is encased in a housing that is surrounded by a solenoid coil such that when current is applied to the coil, it acts as a solenoid and raises the ball off the belt surface and thus releases the nip pressure.

Magnetic ball-on-belt transport

A segmented flexible heater disposed adjacently to a paper path in a printing machine for heating a recording medium before printing and during printing. The segmented flexible heater includes a curved first portion for preheating the paper and a substantially planar second portion for heating the paper in a print zone wherein the second portion generates heat energy having a temperature greater than the heat energy generated by the first portion. The first portion includes apertures for accommodating drive rollers for moving the recording medium into the print zone area heated by the second portion. The apertures in the flexible heater provide for continuous heating of the recording medium before and during heating. The second portion is preferably at least two printing swaths wide to prevent thermal shock to the portion of the printing medium being printed on.

Segmented flexible heater for drying a printed image

A two member stripping device has a pivotable stripping finger and a mounting bracket for supporting the pivotable stripping finger in stripping engagement with a photoreceptor, the mounting bracket having two spaced parallel integrally molded support arms with male pivot bearing surfaces for pivotally supporting the stripping finger, the male bearing surfaces being oppositely faced toward each other on the interior of the arms; the stripping finger having integrally molded a stripping tip at one end, a pivoting ballast at the opposite end connected by a web member which has female pivot bearing surfaces between the finger and the ballast in the shape of cups on each side of the web for pivotal engagement with the male bearing surfaces, the extension of the female bearing surfaces extend axially beyond the operating bearing surfaces as a protective shield for the bearing surfaces.

Stripping device

Sheet transport apparatus has a pair of driven transport rolls and a pair of associated idler nip rolls forming sheet transport nips therebetween and defining a sheet transport path, one of the pair of transport rolls and pair of idler rolls being fixedly supported in a sheet feed table, the other of the pair of transport rolls and pair of idler rolls being mounted on a shaft which is pivotally mounted about an axis perpendicular to the shaft and parallel to the sheet feeding path, the shaft being pivotally mounted at the midpoint between the pair of rolls in a pivot housing extending across the sheet feeding path, one end of the pivot housing fixedly engaging the sheet feed table and including a spring to bias the other end of the pivot housing toward the sheet feed table to enable the shaft to pivot about the axis to provide the same nip force between each of the driven transport roll and its associated idler nip roll.

Sheet transport apparatus

An automatic printing machine for producing successive duplex prints forms an image on a first side of successive print substrates, transports successive substrates having images on a first side through the machine to form images on the opposite side of the substrate. The substrate transport path inverts each successive substrate twice about an axis perpendicular to the direction of the path and has a side shifting inverter to invert successive substrates once about an axis parallel to the path direction and includes a first substrate guide with a top sheet insertion baffle and a bottom sheet insertion baffle defining a portion of the substrate transport path, one of the baffles having at least one aperture for a rotatable segmented drive roll having a flat segmented portion and a curved segmented portion, the curved portion extending through the aperture when the drive roll is rotated to be in substrate driving engagement with the remaining baffle, the flat segmented portion of the drive roll not extending through the aperture when adjacent the aperture. The inverter further include a direction reversing arcuate substrate guide to guide a substrate around a direction reversing path about an axis parallel to the path direction and a transport to transport a substrate through the arcuate guide. In a preferred embodiment the inverter portion of the duplex path is in a removable cassette which is interchangeable with a print substrate cassette.

Duplex feeder with side shifting inversion

In a sheet stacking control system for a printer or copier in which sheets are sequentially fed by a sheet output for stacking in a stacking tray up to a desired preset maximum stacking level, a plural mode stack height sensing and sheet delivery detection apparatus in which a common sensor with a common actuating member is actuated by a sheet being fed by the sheet output to provide a first intermittent signal, and this same plural mode apparatus is also actuated to provide a second signal in response to the stack of sheets in the tray approaching a desired preset maximum stacking level. The first and second signals from the common sensor are distinguishable signals, so that the first, intermittent, signal is interpreted as a count of the number of sheets being outputted, and the second, continuous, signal is interpreted as a full tray condition or a sheet jam, and this second signal can provides a control signal for stopping the production or outputting of further sheets to that output tray. The actuating member is preferably an elongated light weight pivotal arm normally angularly extending across the sheet output path and down into the stacking tray to normally rest with its outer end on top of the stack of sheets except when pivoted up by another sheet being fed into the tray. Corrugating and downward pressure on the sheet being outputted upstream of the exit rolls cooperatively resists both premature sheet lead edge drooping over the stack and the weight of the actuating arm, which arm weight subsequently provides trail edge sheet settling or knockdown assistance once the trail edge of the sheet is released by the exit rolls.

Dual mode stack height and sheet delivery detector

A sheet feeder for a copier for the sequential separation and feeding of individual sheets from a stack of sheets with an impact type sheet feeder with flexible frictional flapper blades, a preprogrammed drive for automatically moving the sheet stacking tray towards or away from the sheet feeder, a reference stop automatically limiting the movement of the top of the stack relative to the feeder, and a programmed positioning mode for automatically slightly lowering the tray into an optimum feeding position in which the top of the stack is maintained at a substantially constant level position relative to the feeder, closely adjacent, but slightly spaced below, the limit position, and automatically programmed repositioning to maintain the optimum feeding position and to compensate for the reduction in the height of the stack as sheets are fed, and to provide improved double sheet feed prevention by cycling the tray through small up and down movements coordinated with the feeding of sheets from the stack, for moving the fed sheet into and out of engagement with retard members. Retarding is further assisted by angled take-way rollers deflecting the trail end of the fed sheet down against the next sheet.

Automatic document feeder for copiers

In a sheet feeding system for a copier, for the sequential separation and feeding of individual sheets from a stack of sheets by an impact type sheet feeder, there is provided a plural mode stack repositioning system for automatically repositioning the top sheet of the stack of sheets into an optimum feeding position relative to the impact sheet feeder, which optimum feeding position is closely adjacent to, but slightly spaced below, a maximum limit position of the top of the stack. This stack repositioning system further provides a retard repositioning mode in which the stack of sheets is automatically lowered into a retard position after each sheet feed has been initiated, which retard position is substantially below the optimum feeding position, in response to a sheet feeding sensor detecting a sheet being successfully fed from the stack by the impact sheet feeder and acquired by a take-away feeding system. Fixed position frictional sheet retard members are positioned to frictionally engage the next underlying sheet of the stack in this retard position to resist double sheet feeding. These retard members are not in the sheet feeding path in the optimum or initial sheet feeding position of the stack. There are also provided arrangements for arcuately deflecting the sheets being fed out to and by the take-away feeding system to provide increased normal force against the retard members in the retard position of the stack.

Automatic document feeder/separator for copiers

A printing apparatus including a sorter and an offsetting device. The offsetting device is positioned within the printer and is adapted to translate sheets in route to the sorter alternately front and rearward such that copy sheets are offset before they are driven into the sorter with subsequent copy sheet sets being offset from each other within bins of the sorter.

Copy sheet offsetting device

The present invention is directed towards an optical scanning system for an electrophotograhic printing machine wherein a lens control system is provided to enable lens movement independent of lens movement which occurs during magnification changes. The lens carriage is adapted to be independently driven in one or two directions dependent on the mode of operation selected by the operator and under the control of a system controller which analyzes the inputs which determine lens position (open platen or document feeder mode, output copy size, magnification).

Document registration system

An improved document registration system in a copier having a platen for exposing documents includes a registration edge at the forward end of the platen and at least one foam document aligning belt located adjacent to and above the registration edge. The alignment belt is adapted to extend a short distance over and conform to the registration edge so that documents can be driven toward the registration edge with positive control and thereby reduce up-curl and registration edge jumping.

Conforming document aligner

A compact and low profile document handling unit with short and simple document recirculation paths for recirculating a set of original document sheets to and from one side of the platen of a copier with or without inversion for selective repeated copying of one or both sides of the documents, in which the selectable document inverter in the document recirculation path includes a generally planar document sheet reversing chute which is generally parallel to and closely overlying the platen and a sheet reversing feeder adjacent the same side of the platen for feeding the document sheets into the reversing chute directly from the platen, but inverted, and for feeding them out of the reversing chute to a restacking tray at that same side of the platen without inversion.

Recirculating document handler configuration

A multi-bin sorter comprised of bin arrays with each bin array comprised of a series of vertically oriented bins with an elevator to selectively raise and lower the bins to bring the individual bins into operative juxtaposition with an inlet station. Sheet stacking apparatus is provided for each of the bins which registers individual sets of incoming sheets accurately in machine direction and preserves previously cross direction registration.

Sheet stacking apparatus for sorter

Apparatus for accurately controlling registration of incoming sheets against a stop with minimal buckling. The apparatus includes a roller positioned on top of the stack of sheets which are registered against the stop. A belt encircles the roller and extends thru a slot formed in the stop. The roller is supported by a double pivoted linkage incorporating a counter weight to set a predetermined tension on the belt.

Growing community of inventors

Fairport, NY, United States of America

John H Looney