Xerox Corporation

Viryl Technologies Corp.

Robert H Brown

Raymond Ruthenberg

Michel Loiselle

Perry C Dong

Robert James Douglas Reeves

Joseph Andre Michel Loiselle

Martyn Mitchell

Michael Wybenga

Scott A Sinclair

Richard Biasutto

Jeffrey R Hudson

Chad W T Brown

David Bognar

James Hashmi

Wayne R Jordan

Romulus A Ban

Mathieu King

Jeff Farrell

Stephen Abellera

The invention provides an improved record making system, the system having a puck former having an outlet, the puck former being movable between an automatic position and a semi-automatic position and adapted to periodically produce a puck and to deliver the puck to the outlet. The system further has a record former having a puck receiver, the record former adapted, upon delivery of the puck to the puck receiver, to automatically produce a record. The record former is positioned relative to the puck former and adapted such that, when the puck former is in the automatic position, the outlet of the puck former is coterminous with the puck receiver of the record former. When the puck former is in the semi-automatic position, the puck receiver is accessible by an operator to permit manual puck feeding.

Record making system

A finisher for an image forming apparatus includes a pair of rotatable downstream rollers and a pair of rotatable upstream roller between which a path on which an imaged medium travels. The finisher determines when a trailing edge of the medium is about to leave a nip of the upstream rollers and then stops a leading edge of the medium. By stopping the leading edge of the medium, the medium buckles and the trailing edge registers against the upstream nip line. A finishing device performs a hole punch, staple, or other finishing operation to the medium when the trailing edge registers against the upstream nip line. The finishing operation is performed at a speed equal to or greater than a speed at which the image forming apparatus forms the image on the medium and outputs the medium to the finisher.

Finisher for image forming apparatus

An apparatus for conveying a substrate or sheet through a printing machine comprises a drive roller and a baffle assembly forming a path for the substrate past the drive roller. The baffle assembly includes an idler roller having an axle rotatably supported within the baffle assembly to cooperate with the drive roller to exert a nip force on the substrate. A nip spring connected to the baffle assembly bears against a bushing carrying the idler roller axle to exert a nip force on the idler roller. A nip force adjustment apparatus is mounted within the baffle assembly and is operable to apply an adjustment force on the bushing of the idler roller to augment the nip force generated by the nip spring. The adjustment apparatus includes an actuator movable between a neutral position and an activated position, a force transmission element movably supported within the baffle assembly to engage, in an operable position, the bushing of the idler roller to exert the adjustment force, and a linkage connecting the actuator to the force transmission element to move the force transmission element into the operable position when the actuator is moved from the neutral position to the activated position.

Nip roller force adjustment mechanism

An improved method for monitoring stack quality in a finisher of a printer includes examining the net displacement of a compiling tray after each set has been ejected. A deviation from the normal increments of displacement for each set triggers a 'tray full' condition which alerts a user to empty the tray.

Stack quality monitoring algorithm

An improved sloped stack detection system for a multi-function finisher includes a reflective sensor which suspends the conveying of stapled sets to an output tray when staple build-up in small stapled sets causes the stacked output to become sloped.

Sloped stack detection sensor and algorithm

A sheet folding apparatus, which may be used in conjunction with a printer or copier, includes a set of rollers forming a buckle zone, in which sheets are caused to buckle for creasing by a folding nip formed by the rollers. A blade is selectably positionable in and out of the buckle zone. When the blade is positioned in the buckle zone, any previously-folded portion of the sheet (such as in C-folding of the sheet) is prevented from being drawn away from the folding nip.

Sheet folding apparatus

Multiple sheet set compiling in a compiler of the seriatim output of printed sheets from a printer with a sheet entry position and a lateral sheet tamping system for laterally tamping the sheets being stacked in the compiler, in which the accumulated stack height of the sheets being compiled is estimated, and in response thereto the height of the top of the lateral sheet tamping system is raised to be maintained above the top of that rising (thicker) stack in the compiler, and lowered for the initial sheets stacking, and the compiler sheet entry position is also automatically raised in proportion to the increasing height of the stack of sheets being compiled in the compiler.

Automatically elevating sheet tamper and sheet input level for compiling large printed sets

Growing community of inventors

Hamilton, Canada

Robert H Brown