Lexmark International, Inc.

Michael Kurt Gordon

Daniel Joseph Westhoff

Jeffrey Allen Ardery

David Emerson Greer

Thomas Campbell Wade

Stacey Vaughan Mitchell

William Joseph Thornhill

An entrance guide for externally fed sheet () to printer () is configured to bow the sheets. In one embodiment guides () within slothave upper and lower configurations which force sheet into a bow. In one embodiment slot () is bowed and is sufficiently narrow in height to only accept a bowed sheet. The bowed sheets do not sag against the printer (), which aids in sheet registration.

Sheet feeder avoiding sheet sag

Sheets ( ) exit printer ( ) into finisher ( ) where they are moved against perpendicular reference walls ( ) by frictional fingers ( ). The fingers are rotated away while a sheet is moved downward. Since the fingers are near their reference surface, buckling of the sheets normally does not occur, so the sheet stays in place. In an embodiment, the fingers move with a resilient force selected to be low enough so that the fingers stop when the sheet contacts the reference wall.

Finisher with frictional sheet mover

Sheets ( ) exit printer ( ) into finisher ( ) through corrugation rollers ( ) encounter actuator tab ( ) to thereby rotate actuator ( ) upward. Bails ( ) are engaged by this and rotate upward. Each bail has a wing ( ), which prevents curling. When the sheet is exited, gravity acting on the sheet and the actuator tab causes the sheet to drop. The bails also drop under gravity. The sheet is positioned to drop flat and near the exit, as intended for the finisher to form stacks of sheets.

Finisher with sheet placement control

A pivotally mounted bail actuator is pivotally moved from its home position to an elevated position by the leading edge of a sheet of paper exiting from sheet path exit rollers of a printer. The pivotally mounted bail actuator has a wire bail extending for more than half of the sheet width. When the sheet exits from the sheet path exit rollers, both the pivotally mounted bail actuator and the sheet simultaneously fall by gravity, and the wire bail contacts the sheet to remove any longitudinal beam and to create a lateral beam extending the width of the sheet. A rear portion of the sheet falls onto an upper support surface with most of the sheet falling onto a lower support surface. If the sheet does not have a longitudinal beam, a lateral beam is created by the height difference of the two support surfaces on which the sheet is supported. The sheet is aligned on the upper support surface.

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Lexington, KY, United States of America

Michael Kurt Gordon