Konica Corporation

Takanori Yoshida

Kazuhiro Hirota

Hisao Hosoya

Yuji Kanazawa

Mamoru Tomotsune

Yukihiko Nishimoto

Masanobu Kawano

Kazuyoshi Omi

Satoru Endo

Naoki Otomo

Shogo Kato

Hideyo Ohashi

An image forming apparatus, having a sheet ejection section, provided in an upper portion of the image forming apparatus, for ejecting a recording sheet onto an upper surface portion of the image forming apparatus; a sheet post-processing apparatus for receiving the recording sheet, ejected from the sheet ejection section, so as to perform a post-processing operation upon the recording sheet; and a coupler for coupling the sheet post-processing apparatus with the image forming apparatus so that at least a part of the post-processing apparatus is located on the upper surface portion of the image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatus in use with a sheet post-processing apparatus

A sheet finishing apparatus is provided with a sheet passage; a conveyor to covey a sheet along the sheet passage; an intermediate stacker on which the sheet conveyed along the sheet passage is placed so that a bundle of sheets is formed on the intermediate stacker; a finisher to conduct a finishing process for the bundle of sheets formed on the intermediate stacker; a sheet delivering section to which the bundle of sheets is delivered; and a sheet delivering device to true up edges of the bundle of sheets on the intermediate stacker before the finisher conducts the finishing process and to deliver the bundle of sheets from the intermediate stacker to the sheet delivering section after the finisher has conducted the finishing process.

Sheet stacker with aligning/conveying rollers and image forming apparatus using the same

A sheet processing apparatus has a function of stapling sheets together, wherein the sheets are fed from an image forming apparatus one by one after images are formed on the sheets. The sheet processing apparatus includes a stapler to staple the sheets together, a sheet guide which guides the sheets along a sheet transporting path from the image forming apparatus to a position at which the sheets are stapled by the stapler, and a reference surface against which edges of the sheets are butted to stop movement of the sheets. The sheets are guided along the sheet transporting path by the sheet guide and the edges of the sheets are butted against the reference surface at a same position relative to a sheet conveying direction, irrespective of whether the sheet processing apparatus is in a stapling mode in which the stapler staples the sheets or a non-stapling mode in which the stapler does not staple the sheets, and irrespective of sizes of the sheets.

Sheet processing apparatus

In an sheet finishing apparatus for receiving a sheet on which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus, and for ejecting the sheet after a front side thereof is reversed, the sheet finishing apparatus includes: a sheet conveyor for conveying the sheet fed from the image forming apparatus downstream; a sheet reversing device for receiving the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveyor, and for reversing the front side of the sheet by rotation; a sheet holder provided on a peripheral portion of the sheet reversing device for holding a leading edge portion of the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveyor, the sheet holder capable of being opened or closed; a sheet stopper for blocking the leading edge portion of the sheet to be stopped at a position where the front side of the sheet is reversed by a rotation of the sheet reversing device; and a sheet stacking member for stacking the sheet separated from the sheet reversing device by a further rotation of the reversing device after the leading edge of the sheet is blocked by the sheet stopper.

Sheet finishing apparatus

A sheet finishing apparatus for finishing a sheet, on which an image has been formed, conveyed from an image forming apparatus, the sheet finishing apparatus includes: a sheet ejecting member for ejecting the sheet after finishing; and an exit tray for receiving the sheet ejected by the sheet ejecting member after finishing is conducted. The exit tray includes a movable exit tray member on which the sheet is stacked, and a stationary exit tray member for supporting the movable exit tray member. The movable exit tray member has a sheet stacking surface on which the sheet is stacked, and a stopper portion provided adjacent to the sheet ejecting member to bring an edge of the sheet into contact with the stopper portion. The movable exit tray member is pivotally supported around a supporting shaft provided on a leading edge portion of the stationary exit tray member. An edge portion of the movable exit tray member, which is adjacent to the sheet ejecting means, can be moved upward or downward according to the number of sheets stacked on the movable exit tray.

Growing community of inventors

Toda, Japan

Takanori Yoshida