Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.

Minolta Camera K.k.

Minolta Camera Kaisha

Toshio Matsui

Keichi Kinoshita

Akiyoshi Johdai

Hiroki Yamashita

Takuma Ishikawa

Kuniaki Ishiguro

Kazuhito Ozawa

Yasuhiko Doi

Wataru Kurahashi

Katsuya Yasuda

Hirokazu Yamada

Tadashi Maruyama

Kazuyuki Kubota

Yutaka Irie

Yoshihisa Kawai

Yasuo Nakamura

Soichi Iwao

Masaru Komura

Norihiko Suzuki

Shigemitsu Shimizu

Takeshi Yoshikai

Naoki Kubo

Fumitoshi Atsumi

Nobuo Kitou

Yasuhiro Doi

Masaya Ohta

A sorter-finisher wherein sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are distributed among a plurality of bins in a sorter unit, and thereafter the sheets are taken out of each bin and transported to a finisher unit to be finished. The bins are put one upon another, and they are movable up and down. A take-out unit for taking sheets out of each bin in order to transport the sheets to the finisher unit is installed above the bins positioned for the distributing operation. Each bin is moved up to the position facing the take-out unit and further is laterally moved toward the take-out unit, and the sheets in the bin are taken out thereof nipped by a pair of rollers. Further, the sorter-finisher comprises a transporting unit which is a route from the discharge portion of the image forming apparatus to a receiving/take-out portion of the sorter unit, and sheets are transported to the bins and also transported to the finisher unit through the transporting unit.

Sorter-finisher provided for an image forming apparatus

A sheet storing apparatus wherein sheets ejected from a copying machine one after another are stacked in order, and the sheets are supplied to the copying machine again. The apparatus comprises a sheet storing unit wherein sheets are stored, a transporter for transporting sheets to the storing unit, a regulator for preventing sheets supported by a sheet support surface of the storing unit from moving back toward the entrance thereof, a pressure member for pressing each sheet transported to the unit against the support surface and a refeeder for feeding out the stored sheets one by one. Each time a sheet is transported to the unit, the pressure member presses the sheet, whereby the end of the sheet passes through the regulator to be put between the support surface and the regulator. Also, in feeding sheets out of the unit, the pressure member presses the sheet stack against the refeeder. The pressure member has a mechanism for adjusting the pressure on the sheet stack in proportion to the thickness of the stack. Each time a sheet is transported to the unit, the timing of actuating the pressure member is determined, and the position of the pressure member is detected. When it is not detected that the pressure member is in a pressing position within a specified time after a timing signal was generated, a controller judges that a sheet jam has occurred.

Sheet storing apparatus for sheets ejected from a copying machine

A copying system including an image forming device for forming an image on each of the sheets, a sheet refeeding device for successively accommodating the first copied sheets, and successively refeeding same, after the first image forming is finished, to the image forming device, to form a second image thereon, the copying system inputting the number of sheets to be copied, detecting a sheet size, determining the maximum copiable number of sheets corresponding to the detected sheet size, wherein the sheet refeeding device includes a first winding device, a second winding device and a web extended on the first and second winding device, wherein the web is wound around the first winding device while supporting the sheets thereon so as to accommodate the sheets on the first winding device, and wherein the web is unwound from the first winding device and wound around the second winding device so as to feed the sheets for the image forming process.

Copying system having a sheet refeed device

An image forming apparatus with a binding function wherein small bands of toner are deposited on paper sheets, a plurality of said sheets are then stacked and thereafter said small bands of deposited toner are fused, thereby binding said sheets. In order to form said small bands of toner on an electrostatic latent image carrier, the present invention is provided with a charger disposed between an exposure position and the developing position so as to be movable perpendicularly to the paper transport direction, an optical shutter disposed in the image exposure optical path and selectably operable, or a scale disposed at one side of a platen glass for preventing light from reaching the image carrier. Said small band of toner formed on the image carrier may be developed by a special toner such as waste toner removed from the surface of the image carrier after being supplied to copy the original document image, white toner, color toner, or highly self-adhesive toner. The apparatus may further comprises controller for controlling the apparatus so as not to form the binding toner on a suitable cover sheet of the sheet stack. The width of the binding toner deposited on the sheet may be controlled so as to be variable by changing the timing for transporting sheets toward a transfer station.

Image forming apparatus with a binding function

A paper container has a finisher unit which comprises transporting rollers to transport copying papers ejected from a copying machine to a tray, a paddle wheel to transport a copying paper to a reference member for alignment immediately after a trailing edge of the copying paper leaves the transporting rollers, and a stapler to staple the copying papers aligned on the tray. The paper container also has a stack unit to stack the stapled papers. The stack unit is permanently secured onto the image forming device, or an distance between the stack unit and the finisher unit is arbitrarily adjusted, while the finisher unit is attached to the image forming device and detached if so required.

Paper container with a paper binding function

A sheet storing apparatus comprising a tray for receiving sheets ejected from a copying machine, a first shift unit for reciprocating the tray in the direction perpendicular to the ejection of sheets, an aligning member for aligning the sheets on the tray, which is in contact with the surface of the top of the sheets on the tray and a second shift unit for shifting the aligning member in the same direction as that of the shifting of the tray. The sheets are divided by the shifting of the tray every time a set of sheets finishes to be transported onto the tray, and the aligning member is shifted synchronized with the shifting of the tray. Further, the sheet storing apparatus is provided with a rotatable ejection roller for transporting sheets onto the tray and a round transport member which is in contact with the ejection roller and rotatable together with the rotation of the ejection roller, and through between which and the ejection roller the sheets are transported onto the tray, and the ejection roller is shifted in the direction perpendicular to the ejection of sheets synchronized with the shifting of the tray.

Sheet storing apparatus provided for a copying machine

A sheet transporting apparatus comprising an outlet for sheets, a first path through which sheets ejected from a copying machine are transported in a first direction, to the outlet and in a second direction to be reversed from the outlet, a diverter for diverting the travel of sheets, which is disposed in the vicinity of the outlet and movable between a first position where sheets traveling in the first direction are guided to a handling apparatus attached at the outlet and a second position where sheets are guided to a space between respective outside frames of the transporting apparatus and the handling apparatus, a second path for receiving sheets traveling in the second direction along the first path and transporting the sheets, a storing unit wherein sheets transported through the second path are stored and a refeeding section for feeding sheets stored in the storing unit to the copying machine. In a first mode, the diverter is set to the first position so that sheets ejected from the copying machine are transported to the handling apparatus through the first path. In a second mode, the diverter is set to the second position so that sheets ejected from the copying machine are transported in the first direction, then reversed in the second direction, and finally transported to the sheet storing unit through the second path.

Sheet transporting apparatus provided for a copying machine

A copy sheet stack apparatus stacks copy sheets discharged from an image-forming device and binds them be means of a staple. The apparatus comprises a first accommodating device for accommodating copy sheets discharged from the image-forming device, a staple device for binding by way of the staple the copy sheets accommodated into the first accommodating device, a second accommodating device disposed below the first accommodating device to accommodate a bundle of the copy sheets bound be means of the staple, a fall device for making the bundle of the copy sheets bound by way of the staple fall from the first accommodating device to accommodate into the second accommodating device by its own weight, and a guide device disposed between the first accommodating device and the second accommodating device to guide the bundle of the copy sheets fallen from the first accommodating device to the second accommodating device. The guide device has a curl device for curling each bundle of the copy sheets in a direction intersecting perpendicularly to a bundle discharging direction so as to make each bundle thereof get rigid to smooth discharge it.

Copy sheet stack apparatus

A sheet storing apparatus comprising a tray for receiving sheets ejected from a copying machine, a first shift unit for reciprocating the tray in the direction perpendicular to the ejection of sheets, an aligning member for aligning the sheets on the tray, which is in contact with the surface of the top of the sheets on the tray and a second shift unit for shiting the aligning member in the same direction as that of the shifting of the tray. The sheets are divided by the shifting of the tray every time a set of sheets finishes to be transported onto the tray, and the aligning member is shifted synchronized with the shifting of the tray. Further, the sheet storing apparatus is provided with a rotatable ejection roller for transporting sheets onto the tray and a round transport member which is in contact with the ejection roller and rotatable together with the rotation of the ejection roller, and through between which and the ejection roller and sheets are transported onto the tray, and the ejection roller is shifted in the direction perpendicular to the ejection of sheets synchronized with the shifting of the tray.

An apparatus for storing the sheets discharged from a copying machine or the like vertically for subsequent refeeding of the sheets to the copying machine, comprises side regulating plates for regulating the side ends of the stored sheet, a lower regulating plate for regulating the lower end of the stored sheet, a guide member for guiding each of the sheets transported downward to the lower regulating plate and holding the sheet in a widthwise deflected condition, a paddle wheel for urging each of the sheets downward, a refeeding belt for refeeding the stored sheets, and a separation pad for preventing the sheets from being refed in plurality of a time by contacting the refeeding belt. The side regulating plates are moved back and forth, the lower regulating plate is moved donward and upward, the refeeding belt is rotated backward, and the separation pad is moved away from the refeeding belt in response to the detection signal from a sensor with respect to each of the sheets being refed.

Sheet storing apparatus for copying machine

A copying apparatus includes an image forming device, a sheet reversal mechanism, and a sheet holding device having a tray, each of the components being independently separable. The sheet reversal mechanism transports to the tray each sheet either in face-up condition or with its face turned downward. The tray is lowered according to the volume of sheets loaded thereon and is caused to shift on a horizontal plane under a specified timing control. The lowering of the tray is effected through detection by a sensor of the volume of sheets loaded on the tray. After each such lowering, any downward movement of the tray is inhibited until a next sheet is loaded on the tray.

Copying apparatus having a device for holding sheets

An apparatus for storing papers ejected from a copying machine or the like and stapling them after alignment, comprises a contacting member which contacts each paper being transported into a stapling tray to urge the paper for alignment in a specified portion, and a plurality of pressing members for pressing the transported papers at the upper portion thereof against the tray, each of the pressing members is individually adapted correspondingly to the sizes of papers. The contact between the contacting member and the papers is relieved when the stapled papers are discharged from the tray. The pressing members are actuated in conjunction with the paper transporting operation correspondingly to the size of papers. The contacting member is arranged at a location less distant from transport rollers for transporting papers into the tray than the length of paper in the direction of transporting paper on the tray.

Paper handling apparatus with a paper stapling function

In a sorter-finisher with a sorting and stapling functions, the sheets ejected from a copying machine are transported and stored one by one into bins which are movable in the vertical direction along a guiding member, after taking out from each of the bins, the sheets are stapled by a stapling device. The guiding member, for preventing sheets on the bins from sliding down, have a first opening through which sheets ejected from the copying machine are fed onto one of the bins located opposite to the first opening and a second opening through which sheets held on one of the bins located opposite to the second opening are taken out. A first gate member provided at the first opening is movable from a closing position where the first gate member closes the first opening to an opening position where the first gate member is out of the first opening. A second gate member provided at the second opening is movable from a closing position where the second gate member closes the second opening to an opening position where the second gate member is out of the second opening.

Sorter-finisher

A sorting apparatus having a first sorter connectable to a second sorter. The first sorter has a plurality of sorting bins and non-sort discharge outlet. A non-sort tray or a bridge is selectively connected to the discharge outlet. The bridge has a first sheet path for transporting the discharged sheet to the second sorter and a second sheet path for transporting the discharged sheet to another non-sort tray provided to the bridge.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Toshio Matsui