Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Kaneko Co., Ltd.

O/a Technologies, Inc.

Ricon Company, Ltd.

Tamaki Kaneko

Tugio Okuzawa

Hideo Kikuchi

Kunio Hibi

Sunao Ikeda

Isao Nakamura

Yohtaro Kakitani

Yutaka Koizumi

Yasuhiro Tabata

Toyokazu Satomi

Shingo Matsushita

Seiichi Miyakawa

Kazuya Tsutsui

Tatsuaki Nagao

Yoshihisa Nakaya

Ikoh Miyazawa

Yasuhiro Takahashi

Masao Hosaka

Kenichi Mizuma

Kenich Mizuma

Tsugio Okuzawa

Kohshi Ebata

An image forming apparatus may include an image forming mechanism configured to form an image and transfer the image on a sheet member, and/or a sheet processing unit. The sheet processing unit may include a sheet aligning unit, an ejection sheet tray configured to stack the sheet member, a sheet stopper configured to align the sheet member at a trailing edge thereof, a return mechanism configured to return the sheet member stacked on the ejection sheet tray to the sheet stopper, and/or a discharging mechanism configured to discharge the sheet member, aligned by the return mechanism, from the sheet stopper to the ejection sheet tray. The sheet aligning unit may include a stacking mechanism configured to stack the sheet member transferred into the sheet aligning unit and/or a sheet aligning mechanism configured to align the sheet member.

Image forming apparatus including sheet processing unit capable of aligning sheets

The present invention provides a sheet processing apparatus, such as a finisher or sorter, for implementing predetermined processing such as alignment and stapling on an inserted sheet material (i.e. any sheet-form recording medium such as recording paper, transfer paper, or an OHP sheet), and an image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus comprises a rear end fence horizontal portion that contacts the end portion of the sheet member on the upstream side of a sheet member conveyance direction during alignment of the sheet member, a rear end fence vertical portion for supporting the other parts of the sheet member, and a staple unit for stapling the sheet member. The stapling direction in which a staple is punched by a stapler of the staple unit is set to be parallel to the rear end fence horizontal portion that contacts the rear end portion of the sheet member.

Sheet processing apparatus and image forming apparatus comprising same

A sheet processing apparatus includes a receiver, an aligner, a stapler, a loading table, and a pusher. The receiver is configured to receive sheets. The aligner is configured to align the sheets. The stapler is configured to staple the aligned sheets. The loading table is configured to load the stapled sheets. The pusher is configured to push the stapled sheets from the stapler toward the loading table.

Image forming apparatus, sheet processing apparatus, and sheet processing method capable of bookbinding

A sheet processing apparatus includes a first roller pair conveying a sheet received from an external apparatus, a second roller pair conveying the sheet conveyed from the first roller pair, a jogging tray configured to receive the sheet conveyed from the second roller pair and jog the received sheet, and a binding device configured to bind a stack of sheets received and jogged by the jogging tray. The second roller pair can be driven to rotate such that sheets received from the external device and conveyed by the first roller pair one after another are pinched by the second roller pair one after another while being overlapped one upon another with leading edges thereof shifted stepwise one after another and are held by the second roller pair to be further conveyed to the jogging tray.

Sheet processing apparatus

A sheet processing apparatus receives sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus one after another on a binding tray to be stacked on top of another, jogs each sheet as the sheet is received on the binding tray, binds a set of the sheets on the binding tray with a binding device, and discharges the bound set of the sheets from the binding tray. Sheets received from the image forming apparatus one after another after the binding device has started binding the set of the sheets on the binding tray and before the binding tray has returned from a discharging position to a receiving position are received one after another, stacked on top another and held on a sheet holding device. The sheet holding device releases the held sheets to be fallen and received on the binding tray after the binding tray has returned to the receiving position.

Sheet processing apparatus and method

A binding apparatus includes a receiving device configured to receive a sheet from outside and convey the sheet, and a sheet folding device configured to fold the sheet, conveyed by the receiving device, in two at a center portion thereof in a direction the sheet is conveyed, so as to be a folded sheet, and convey the folded sheet with the folded portion thereof being a leading edge of the folded sheet. A jogging device includes a jogging table and is configured to receive and jog the folded sheet, conveyed by the sheet folding device, one after another, so as to be stacked into a stack of folded sheets on the jogging table. A binding device is configured to bind the stack of folded sheets stacked on the jogging table at an edge portion of the stack of folded sheets at the side where the folded portion of each folded sheet of the stack of folded sheets is located. A discharging device is configured to discharge the bound stack of folded sheets.

Sheet folding and binding apparatus and method

An image forming and binding system and method for producing a booklet of a document file, in which images of two pages of the document file are formed on each side of a full-size sheet (such as an A3 or B4 size sheet) conveyed in its longitudinal direction and an image of one page of the document file is formed on each side of a half-size sheet half the size of the full-size sheet (such as an A4 or B5 size sheet) conveyed in its lateral direction, and in which the full-size sheet conveyed in its longitudinal direction is folded in two at its center portion in the longitudinal direction thereof and the folded full-size sheet is stacked one upon another to be bound at its folded side edge portion and the half-size sheet conveyed in its lateral direction is conveyed without being folded to be stacked and bound while being mixed with the folded full-size sheet, so that blank pages in the booklet, which are caused when the number of total pages of the document file is not a multiple number of 4, are reduced.

Image forming and binding system and method

A sheet ejector for transporting sheets discharged from a sheet handling apparatus such as electronic copying machine or facsimile machine to a sheet tray is disclosed. The sheet discharged from the sheet handling apparatus is pinched by a movable member which is moved to the sheet tray to transport the sheet therewith and to eject the sheet to the sheet tray.

Sheet ejector

A sorter having a plurality of receptacles vertically disposed at given intervals includes a lift member for receiving a copied sheet. The lift member is vertically movable between a home position at which it can receive a sheet and positions corresponding to those of the receptacles. The lift member includes a pair of discharge rollers controlled so as to pinch a sheet being discharged to the sorter while the lift member is vertically moving between the home position and the level of one of the receptacles.

Sorter

A sheet discharge device carrying to sheet trays recorded sheets sent from an electrostatic copying machine, facsimile and other sheet handling devices. Each sheet discharged from a sheet handling device is pinched by a movable member, carried to one of sheet trays by moving the movable member to the sheet tray, and then discharged thereon. The sheet carry direction is changed by a desirable angle before discharging the sheet on the sheet tray.

Sheet discharge device

A sorter sorting a plurality of sheets one by one onto a plurality of receptacles disposed vertically. In the sorter, a minimum of two sheet dividers is provided in front of these receptacles to sort sheets by independently raising or lowering these sheet dividers.

An automatic document feeder of an electrophotographic copying apparatus includes a feeding tray, a device for feeding to an exposing station one document sheet after another from a stack of document sheets piled on the feeding tray by starting with the lowermost document sheet of the stack, and a device for returning the document sheets to the feeding tray and placing same on the uppermost document sheet of the stack after the document sheets have been treated for exposure. The automatic document feeder further includes a sensor for sensing that a job sheet is disposed beneath the lowermost document sheet of the stack of document sheets on the feeding tray. The job sheet is placed beneath the lowermost sheet of the stack of a series of document sheets piled on the feeding tray by successively stacking the document sheets with the first document sheet of the series constituting the lowermost document sheet of stack or placed over the uppermost document sheet of the stack which is constituted by the last document sheet of the series, and has a mark on its surface for controlling the automatic document feeder and a main body of the copying apparatus.

Automatic document feeder

A copying apparatus capable of copying and printing an image of a document on one side or on either side of a printing sheet including a plurality of image recording units each including an image recording member and a variety of devices associated with the image recording member for performing image copying. The adjacent two image recording units are connected together by a printing sheet transporting path provided with printing sheet reversing means having a switch member. Printing sheets each having an image of a document copied and printed on one side thereof by the image recording member of the first image recording unit have their posture reversed by the printing sheet reversing means so that an opposite side thereof will face the image recording member of the second image recording unit, whereby the image of the document can be printed on the opposite side of the printing sheets.

Growing community of inventors

Fujisawa, Japan

Tamaki Kaneko