Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Shuzo Tsubo

Yasuhiro Iwata

A device for stapling sheets at a stapling zone includes a conveyor for conveying the sheets to be collated to the stapling zone, a detector for detecting the overall thickness of sheets conveyed by the conveyor to the stapling zone, a first stapler for stapling the sheets collated at the stapling zone, and a second stapler for stapling the sheets collated at the stapling zone. In the device, one of the first and second staplers is selected to be actuated in accordance with the overall thickness of the stack of sheets detected by the detector.

Stapling device and image forming apparatus having a stapling device

An image forming apparatus of this invention has a sorter which includes a first document tray on which first documents are placed, a second document tray on which second documents are placed, and two paths which can be switched. When an interrupt copying mode is selected, copies relating to the second documents can be sorted through a path which is different from the path employed for copies relating to the first documents. Even if a great number of copies must be produced and a plurality of copies must be obtained from a plurality of original documents, the wait time can be reduced and the efficiency of the copying operation of the image forming apparatus can be enhanced. Mixture of copies relating to two different original documents can be prevented, and the original documents can surely be separated. Therefore, complexity of copying operations can be relaxed.

Image forming apparatus

In a document feeding apparatus, a document table carrying documents is provided with a stopper plate. The stopper plate can move between a stop position to retain the documents on the document table and a release position to allow the documents on the document table to move by the force of gravity. A first guide plate to guide the forward edges of the documents is provided on the lower-course side of the document table with respect to the document feeding direction. An obtuse angle is formed between the plane containing the first guide plate and the plane containing the document table. The forward edges of the documents transferred from the document table are guided by the first guide plate so that they are trued up in an oblique manner. On the document feeding side of the guide plate intake rollers are arranged which pick up and deliver, one by one, the documents guided by the guide plate in an orderly manner. The intake rollers are coupled to a first drive mechanism, and are rotated thereby in one direction to pick up the documents.

Sheet feeding apparatus

In a method of forming images on respective upper and lower surfaces of a copy sheet in accordance with a page order of an odd number of documents, the documents are sequentially fed from the final page two at a time, and every other image is sequentially formed on the sheets. Subsequently, the documents are fed again from the final page, a noncopied sheet is fed to form the final image on one surface before the every other images are formed on the sheets each having an image on one surface. Finally, the images are formed on the other surfaces of the sheets each having the image on one surface in an order of a count-down sequence of the pages.

Method of forming images

A sheet feeding apparatus including feeding rollers arranged above a sheet table on which sheets are stacked, and contactable with the top of the sheets, and a pressing member arranged below the sheet table to project above through the sheet table and intermittently press the sheets on the sheet table to contact the top of the stacked sheets with the feeding rollers. The top sheet of the stack can be reliably fed by the pressing member and the feeding rollers to conveying rollers and then conveyed by the conveying rollers. The sheets stacked on the sheet table can be reliably fed one by one from the top of the stacked sheets.

A copy sheet-feeding apparatus comprises a switch and control mechanism. The switch detects an open state of a sheet cover capable of exposing a stack of copy sheet and a closed state of the cover sheet capable of enclosing the stack, and generates signals denoting the open and closed states of the sheet cover. The control mechanism controls a drive mechanism for moving a sheet rest supporting the stack of copy sheets between a first position capable of receiving the copy sheets and a second position capable of supplying the sheet to a copying press. Receiving the signal denoting the open state of the sheet cover from the switch, the control mechanism causes the sheet rest to be moved to the first position, and, receiving the signal denoting the closed state thereof, causes the sheet rest to be moved to the second position.

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Shuzo Tsubo