Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ricoh Elemex Corporation

Mitsuru Ichikawa

Masatoshi Hosoi

Yuichi Fujii

Nobuyoshi Seki

Yuji Ueno

Hideo Yamazaki

Yoshihide Sugiyama

Yoshiaki Ushirogata

Kazunori Kubota

Tetsuji Watanabe

Toshikazu Sato

Kazuya Murata

Tetsuji Watanbe

Norihisa Masamura

A sheet processing apparatus is provided with a conveying path forming member that forms a sheet conveying path having a curved portion through which a front edge of the sheet passes, a sheet conveying unit that conveys the sheet along the sheet conveying path, a sheet folding unit that folds the sheet along the folding line in the sheet conveying path, and then conveys the sheet toward a discharge direction with the folding line discharged first as a front edge, and a sheet position defining unit that defines a position of the front edge of the sheet in the curved portion of the sheet conveying path so that a target position of the folding line on the sheet coincides with a folding position of the sheet folding unit. The sheet position defining unit can adjust an inclination of the front edge of the sheet.

Sheet processing apparatus and image forming system

A sheet handling apparatus comprises: a stacking mechanism to stack sheets of one or more printable media as a sheaf; a sheet conveyance mechanism to transport the sheaf to a respective position; a stapling mechanism to perform a stapling operation with respect to the sheaf; and a plurality of sheet regulating mechanisms disposed at positions spaced from each other along a sheet conveyance path, each sheet regulating mechanism being operable to align ends of the sheets in the sheaf according to a sheet conveyance direction. An image forming apparatus comprises such a sheet handling apparatus and an image forming device to form respective images upon the sheets and to provide the sheets to the sheet handling apparatus.

Sheet handling apparatus capable of effectively performing sheet processing, and an image forming apparatus using the same

A sheet processing apparatus for punching a sheet having a detachable punching unit for accomplishing wide varieties of combinations of punching conditions such as a number of the hole, diameter of the hole, and a position of the hole at a sheet. A sort of the punching unit which is mounted to the apparatus is recognized by a recognition device and one of a sheet conveying speed, a punching speed, and a punch operation timing is controlled by a controller in accordance with a condition predetermined for each sort of the punching unit which is recognized by the recognition device.

Sheet processing apparatus and sheet processing method

A finisher for finishing sheets for use in a copier, printer or similar image forming apparatus having a sorter for sorting sheets on a plurality of bins, and further having a stapler or a punching device. A bin moving member is provided for moving the plurality of bins to predetermined positions in which the bin moving member moves the bins to a positioning relationship such that an interval A between a first bin for accepting the discharged sheets from a discharging member and a third bin located at a position immediately over the first bin, an interval B between the first bin and a second bin located at a position immediately under the first bin, and an interval D between the third bin located at a position immediately over the first bin and a fifth bin located at a position immediately over the third bin are broader than an interval E between other adjacent regular bins.

Finisher for image forming apparatus

A finisher for binding paper sheets sequentially driven out of an image forming apparatus. A finisher moves along an edge of a stack of sheets and curves around a corner. A pair of individualy operated gripper fingers grabs the stack of sheets and moves the stack into position for finishing.

Movable finisher device with multiple stack gripping fingers

A finisher for use with a copier, printer or similar image forming apparatus for stapling or otherwise finishing paper sheets sequentially driven out of the apparatus. The paper sheets entering the finisher one after another are collected on a tray. A paper sorting mechanism moves the tray in a reciprocating motion in a horizontal plane in a direction perpendicular to an intended direction of paper discharge onto the tray. The paper sorting mechanism has a paper pressing member movable in a reciprocating motion in interlocked relation to the tray, a paper positioning member for urging the paper sheet discharged onto the tray to a predetermined position, a drive source for causing the tray into a reciprocating motion, and a drive source for driving the tray in the vertical direction such that the tray receives paper sheets at an optimal level. A height sensor is associated with the paper pressing member for determining that the paper sheets sequentially stacked on the tray has reached a predetermined height.

Growing community of inventors

Nishio, Japan

Mitsuru Ichikawa