Xerox Corporation

Thomas J Hamlin

Klaus K Stange

Richard E Smith

James R Cassano

Clifford L George

William B Edwards

A roll-up apparatus is provided for automatically rolling up a plurality of media sheets such as copy sheets from a document copier. In one embodiment a pair of semicircular guide members and a removable plastic C shaped ring are aligned perpendicular to the media sheet feed motion. The first and succeeding sheets are scrolled up within the circular interior space formed by the guide members and the C ring. The guides are designed to retract after the roll-up operation leaving the rolled up copies to be restrained by the C ring. The C ring and rolled up sheets can then be conveniently moved to a desired location.

Document roll-up system

A roll supply having a pair of idler belts for supporting a supply roll of sheet material, stationary and movable knife blades, the latter having a V-shaped cutting edge, an eccentric for reciprocating the movable knife blade in one direction into cutting relation with the stationary knife blade, the movable knife blade having projections which rest on the stationary knife blade, a spring biasing the movable knife blade against the stationary knife blade, the movable knife blade being made of spring steel deformed into a slight V-shape relative to the stationary knife blade so that as the movable blade is reciprocated, the movable blade is displaced in a direction substantially normal to the direction of blade movement and a pair of cutting points are established which move together at the center, severing the sheet material, first and second roll pairs for advancing the sheet material to a cutting position, and control for actuating the roll pairs and the eccentric to cut the sheet length selected.

Cut sheet roll supply

A sorting apparatus arranged to receive a stream of sheets for collating the same into booklets having a rotary sorter comprised of a plurality of bins each of which includes a sheet clamping device to hold sheets in registered orientation in the bins. Control means cooperate with the clamping means to release the sheets at a loading station to permit egress of the sheets one at a time into the bins as the sorter rotates, and to release the clamping devices at an unloading station to permit removal of the completed booklets.

Copying machine with a rotary sorter having sheet gripping devices

A finishing station is disclosed as having a rotary sorter arranged to receive a stream of sheets at a loading station and to collate them into booklets or copy sets. An adhesive binder is positioned at an unloading station and is arranged for movement toward and away from the edges of the booklets while still in the sorter bins of the sorter. When moved toward the edges of the booklets, an applicator roller in the binder is arranged to apply adhesive material to the edges in timed sequence relative to sheet loading.

Copying machine with rotary sorter and adhesive binding apparatus

A copying machine/finisher system is disclosed as having a rotary sorter arranged to receive a stream of copy sheets produced by a processor in conjunction with an automatic document handling apparatus of the type which produces multiple copies of a document sheet placed at an exposure station. The sorter collates the stream into booklets as the sorter is rotated in an indexing manner. An adhesive binder and a stapler are selectively positioned to effect binding while the booklets are still in the bins of the sorter. Binding is effected in timed relationship with sheets still entering the sorter. The sorter/finishing apparatus may also be a stand alone system.

Copying apparatus with finisher having stapler and adhesive binder

A friction retard feeder adapted to feed sheets from a stack into a paper path located in a horizontal plane includes a tray which holds a stack of sheets at an angle of between 15.degree. and 20.degree. with respect to the paper path. A paddle wheel having a plurality of blades is positioned a predetermined distance in front of sheets stacked in the tray so that as the paddle wheel is rotated the blades in a first position strike the top sheet in the stack in a plane parallel to the top of the stack and separates it from the remaining sheets in the stack. Continued rotation of the paddle wheel causes the blades to deflect downward in front of the stack and thereby inhibit movement of sheets other than the top sheet from the stack. The tray also includes a high friction surfaced pad that cooperates with the paddle wheel in order to enhance the feeding of sheets near the bottom of the tray.

Paddle retard feeder

A copying system for copying either duplex or simplex original document sets as pre-collated copy sets, utilizing a document handling system providing selective automatic recirculative pre-collation copying of either duplex or simplex document sheets, with selective automatic sheet inversion. Also described is an integral sheet stack normal force/jogger unit for continuous and simultaneous top loading and bottom feeding from either opposite or common directions from a stack of document or copy sheets.

Duplex/simplex precollation copying system

An automatic document handler adapted to receive a stack of documents to be copied for feeding the documents seriatim to the platen of a copy machine and returning the copied documents to the stack. A combination vacuum-document separator in conjunction with a precisely located air knife in relation to the vacuum belts and a document tray having a 'U' shaped pocket therein is provided to assure positive feeding of each document to the platen without misfeeds or multifeeds.

Sheet separator

An automatic document handler employing a bottom vacuum sheet separator in conjunction with an air knife, a single blower with a cyclically operated air valve being utilized to provide sub-atmospheric air for the separator and pressurized air for the air knife to provide enhanced feeder performance and automatically compensate for variable paper weights.

Document handler

In a first embodiment a stop having a plurality of ports is connected to and covers an end of a rectangular sleeve. In a region near the stop a narrow wall of the sleeve also has a plurality of ports. A nozzle coupled to a pump provides a flow of air into the other end of the sleeve and the air exits through the ports. With this arrangement, a rectangular sheet inserted into said other end of the sleeve is fluidly brought into registration with the narrow wall and stop. As the sheet is brought into registration fluid injected or drawn through holes in a wide wall of the sleeve is used to force at least a part of the sheet against one of the wide walls and the resulting friction serves to brake the traveling sheet, thereby minimizing impact forces between the sheet, the narrow wall, and the stop. In a second embodiment, similar to the first, the narrow wall and stop include internal projections against which an inserted sheet is registered. In a third embodiment, similar to the first, a manifold is coupled to the ports and a vacuum pump is coupled to the manifold to accelerate registration. In a fourth embodiment, similar to the third, the pumps are replaced with a reversible pump to register and discharge a sheet.

Pneumatic registration apparatus

A sheet stacking and feeding system for a copier with an integral normal force/jogger unit allowing continuous and simultaneous top loading and bottom feeding from opposite or common directions from a stack of documents or copy sheets. Disclosed are continuously rotating foraminous spaced counterbalanced jogging rollers engaging the top of the stack to provide lead edge or trail edge sheet pull-down and stacking registration against the front stack stop, and to provide a controlled uninterrupted normal force to edges of the feed belt of a bottom sheet retard feeder. This system is disclosed in a copying system for copying either duplex or simplex original document sets as pre-collated copy sets. A document handling system provides automatic recirculative pre-collation copying of duplex or simplex document sheets with selective different sheet inversion and different sheet restacking directions.

Jogging and normal force for sheet feeding

A method for changing the direction of travel of a sheet includes the steps of providing a pocket, guiding a sheet traveling in a first direction into the pocket, and providing a fluid stream in the pocket to bias the sheet in a substantially opposite direction, thereby reversing the direction of travel of the sheet.

Method for reversing the direction of travel of a sheet

A method for registering a stack of sheets with respect to perpendicularly related axes includes the steps of providing a first sleeve for accommodating the stack of sheets; providing a stop at one end of the sleeve; placing the stack in the sleeve; and providing in the sleeve a fluid stream, whereby the fluid stream moves the sheets down the sleeve in unison and moves the sheets into registration with a wall of the sleeve and the stop. In a modified method a second sleeve is provided in alignment with and adjacent to said first sleeve. The sheets are first placed inside the second sleeve and fluid is drawn from the first sleeve to move the stack. Assistance in moving the stack is provided by fluid injected into the second sleeve, care being taken to prevent a net flow of air out of a gap between the first and second sleeves.

Method for transporting and registering stacked sheets

A system wherein documents are presented to an exposure station of reproduction apparatus includes a housing in which a rack for storing documents is located. The rack includes a plurality of pockets in each of which a document may be stored, the rack being movable in a vertical direction so that any one of its pockets may be aligned with an opening in the housing. Fluid streams are used to either move a document in an aligned pocket through the opening and to the exposure station or from the exposure station into the pocket. Copies of documents presented to the exposure station are made by the reproduction apparatus. Adjacent the housing there is located an inverter into which documents from the rack are fluidically fed as desired. Inverted documents are returned to the rack with the assistance of a fluid stream. Inverted documents may be fed to the exposure station to provide duplex copies.

Growing community of inventors

Macedon, NY, United States of America

Thomas J Hamlin