Xerox Corporation

Joseph J Ferrara

Barry Paul Mandel

Joseph M Ferrara, Jr

Charles Donahue Rizzolo

Richard A Van Dongen

Anthony T DeSanctis

Paul Michael Fromm

Thomas Acquaviva

James D Rees

George J Roller

John R Falvo

Injae Choi

William E Kramer

Raymond A Naramore

Frederick A Green

Venkatesh H Kamath

Stephen D Cipolla

Donald E Johnston

William Brant

Jeffrey W Ryan

Lawrence C Hubler

Gerald A Buddendeck

Roger N Albright

Raymond C Bassett

Karl M Kau

Paul F Morgan

L James Rolph

Peter A Mayfield

Michael K Sabocheck

Louis J Bressler

Brian Whaites

A system and method are provided for implementing selectable roll positioning for web printing in devices, including post processing devices, for advanced image forming systems. A selectable drive system for continuous feed or web material image receiving medium substrate can 'with the flip of a switch' transition the drive system from a tensioned web (transport) pulling system in a downstream device to a slack web nip-drive system as may be dictated by other system and/or operating characteristics. The selection of a particular drive method is based on a constitution of the continuous feed or web material image receiving media; a composition of a marking material deposited on the continuous feed or web material image receiving media; or a post-processing technique that the continuous feed or image receiving media, as marked, may undergo in the production of an output document.

Systems and methods for implementing selectable roll positioning for web printing in a post processing device of an image forming system

A re-time sheet buffering system is used in connection with a finisher for a digital printing system and a plurality of media sheets arranged in sets. A path loop between a sheet path entrance and exit provides space for buffering. A registration nip decelerates, registers and accelerates sheets 1 through N. A first retime nip holds sheets 1 and 2 of the set at registration speed for a longer time than remaining sheets, to gain time for finishing, and then accelerates sheets 1 and 2. A second retime nip accelerates sheets 1 and 2 of the set to compiling speed. Sheets are transported, compiled, stapled, and ejected.

Re-time sheet buffering system for digital print finishers

According to aspects described herein, there is disclosed an apparatus and method for de-skewing substrate media in a printing system. The apparatus includes at least one sensor for measuring skew of the substrate media being transferred relative to a process direction, and a nip assembly for moving the substrate media in the process direction. The nip assembly includes a nip having a drive roller and an idler roller for engaging the substrate media. The nip assembly is pivotal from a default position an amount responsive to the measured media skew. The drive roller is selectively stopped to permit a leading edge of the substrate media to engage the stopped drive roller.

Apparatus and method for the registration and de-skew of substrate media

According to aspects described herein, there is disclosed an apparatus for de-skewing substrate media in a printing system. The apparatus including and idler roller and a drive roller. The idler roller for engaging substrate media. The drive roller cooperating with the idler roller to form a nip assembly for moving the substrate media in a process direction. The drive roller rotatably supported on a shaft axis by a first bearing element and a second bearing element. The first and second bearing elements disposed remote from one another along the shaft axis. The shaft axis pivotally supported at the first bearing element for aligning the shaft axis with a substrate media skew. The shaft axis configured to pivot about a pivot axis perpendicular to the shaft axis and extending through the first bearing element.

Substrate media registration and de-skew apparatus, method and system

According to aspects described herein, there is disclosed an apparatus for de-skewing substrate media in a printing system. The apparatus includes at least one sensor for measuring skew of the substrate media being transferred relative to a process direction. The apparatus also includes a nip assembly for moving the substrate media in the process direction. The nip assembly includes a drive roller and an idler roller for engaging the substrate media. The drive roller is rotatably supported on a shaft axis, with the shaft axis being pivotally supported substantially at one end thereof for aligning the shaft axis with the measured substrate media skew. The shaft axis pivots about a pivot axis perpendicular to the shaft axis.

A paper or sheet buffering system is provided which avoids having to shut down the entire system when the paper path or transport is overloaded. A rotating disk having an attached collection and dispensing finger(s) is used to pull excess sheets off the transport and hold them until it is suitable to dispense them back on to the transport.

Sheet buffer device with rotating disk

Sheets can be manipulated for punching, perforating and/or folding. The systems and methods according to this invention allow sheets to be punched and/or perforated in various configurations. The systems and methods according to this invention allow sheets to be folded in various forms and/or configurations. Sheets can be inverted to ensure proper orientation. The systems and methods according to this invention allow the number and/and or locations of punches and/or perforations and the type and/or length of folds to be controlled on a sheet-by-sheet basis. The systems and methods according to this invention allow the sheet preparation module to be optionally configured within the photocopying system depending on the needs and flexibility of the finishing requirements of the operator. The modularity of the sheet preparation module design as a 'plug and play' unit enables greater functionality for the manipulation of sheets.

Sheet preparation module architecture and control methods

In a mailboxing system in which the different numbers and types of printed sheets being printed by the different users of a shared users printer are separately stored in different assigned mailbox bins in an array of mailbox bins, there is provided a system for automatically changing the spacing between selected adjacent bins to provide selectably different sheet stacking capacities for different bins for the different numbers of printed sheets being stored in the respective bins of different users. With this system the bin capacity can also be automatically reduced when the sheets are removed from that bin. Greatly increased overall and individual bin sheet stacking capacity is thus provided for the same overall system size as compared to conventional fixed spacing bins. Also, many more print jobs can be stored in the same user-assigned bin instead of having to split up large print jobs into other, overflow, bins. A simple split (dual independently rotated sections) auger bin movement system can provide the automatic bin repositioning for the selectable variable bin capacity.

Printer mailboxing system with automatic variable capacity bins

An improved sheet folder for flimsy printed sheets with an automatic fold position correction system. The folder may have an input sheet feeder, a fold chute with a chute entrance, reversible sheet feeding rollers in the fold chute adjacent to the chute entrance, fold rollers, a folded sheets output path, and a sensor system for sensing the length of folded sheets in the folded sheets output path. A sheet to be folded is may be partially fed into the fold chute, engaged by the reversible rollers, and fed thereby further into the chute by a selected distance corresponding to a desired folding position along the sheet. Then, the reversible rollers are stopped at a selected sheet stopping position and reversed to feed the sheet into the fold rollers, cooperatively with the input sheet feeder. The fold rollers feed the folded sheet into the folded sheets output path. The sensor system there provides a control signal modifying the selected stopping position of the reversible rollers, to provide a fold position correction system. For integral or separate fold skew correction, the reversible rollers are transversely spaced and separately servo driven, and the sensor system is a plural sensor array extending transversely across the folded sheets path to provide skew correction signals differently controlling the selected stopping positions of the separately driven reversible rollers. Additionally disclosed is a special fold position correction system for 1/2 or even-folded sheets.

Automatically continuously variable fold position sheet folding system

An automatic document handler includes a compact document handling system capable of automatically feeding cut sheet documents and computer form documents to a pair of scanner arrays arranged on opposite sides of a curvilinear document transport path. The document handling system includes a constant velocity transport comprising at least a roller pair located along a curved portion of the curvilinear transport path to eliminate interference between a sliding scanner array and document feed rollers. The document handler scans originals without transporting them over the platen and the platen cover serves as an input tray for computer form original documents.

Dual scanning electronic reprographic document handler

In an on-line printed sheets output handling system for the sequential output by a reproduction system, in which the printed sheets are registered in neatly superposed sets which are optionally fastened together by a finishing system, which is laterally repositionable to provide variable set finishing; a lateral registration system for said printed sheets output is repositionable with said finishing system, and has a sheet registration member engaging and laterally registering the printed sheets to selectable variable lateral sheet registration positions by the finisher lateral movement repositioning system rather than a separate lateral repositioning system, with a registration disengagement system for moving the sheet registration member out of registration engagement with the sheets after a set of sheets has been laterally compiled and before the finishing system is laterally repositioned. The finishing system may comprise two staplers, one of which is fixed, and the other of which is laterally repositionable and carries the sheet registration member of the lateral registration system. This system may be integral a disk inverter stacker system.

Variable sheet sets stapling and registration positions system

In a sheet compiling and fastening system, in which a plurality of printed sheets may be stacked in a compiler with their opposing lateral edges being tamped with opposing edge tampers repositionable to different sheet dimensions, dual U shaped binding edge registration members are respectively connected to these dual edge tampers, laterally offset, so as to automatically reposition therewith for optimized registering of a binding edge of the sheets which is orthogonal to the tamped sheet edges. A single stapler is movable parallel to this binding registration edge for selectably plurally stapling the stacked sheets, and the edge registration members are dimensioned to be movable by the edge tamper movement system directly through the open jaw of the stapler to avoid interference and provide a more compact system.

Automatic sheet stacking edge registration members repositioning system

A job set compiler for compiling the printed sheets output of a printer or copier into superposed stacks of the printed sheets, inverted. The printed sheets are sequentially individually fed into a first sheet retaining unit, which rotates to move the sheet into a second sheet retaining unit neatly compiling a plurality of the sheets therein in an arcuate configuration as a complied set. The second sheet retaining unit then rotates to eject the compiled set of plural sheets. The first sheet retaining unit is concentrically rotatably mounted inside of the second sheet retaining unit. A stapling system may be provided for stapling the compiled sets while they are so held in the second sheet retaining unit.

Disk compiler integrated into a disk stacker or disk-in-disk finisher

The invention is directed to a document reproduction system which includes an improved apparatus for imaging both sides of a duplex document while also providing for simplex side only imaging. A document feeder, operating in a constant velocity transport mode, moves a document to be copied along a continuous path from a feed tray to a deposit tray. Two illumination and scanning stations are positioned adjacent two locations of the path of the document travel, each scanning station adapted to scan one side of the document, either simplex or duplex. The scanning station associated with scanning the simplex side of the document projects line images of the scanned document along an optical path onto a light sensitive image medium. In a first embodiment, the projection device is a linear gradient index lens array and the light sensitive member is a linear sensor array. The scanning station associated with scanning the second, duplex, side of the document projects the duplex side line images, via a second gradient index lens array, along an optical path which is generally optically aligned with, and includes, the first optical path. Thus, the duplex line images are projected through a first gradient index lens array whose output is optically coupled into and projected by the lens array associated with the simplex scanning. Control devices are provided to enable a simplex or duplex mode of operation. Several embodiments of the invention are provided to demonstrate feasibility with document feeder inputs at different locations.

Document reproduction system including a duplex document handler with

A stapling apparatus for an office machine includes a housing having a fixed position output providing a sequential source of sheets. An output tray is mounted on the housing adjacent the output for supporting the sheets. A compiler shelf is located on the housing adjacent the output tray. A compiling mechanism is mounted on the housing. A stapler is movably mounted on the housing and is longitudinally reciprocable in relation to the shelf and the compiling mechanism. The stapler and the compiler mechanism are so located in relationship to each other that the stapler has a strictly linear motion along an edge of the sheets.

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Webster, NY, United States of America

Joseph J Ferrara