Xerox Corporation

William Brant

Thomas Acquaviva

Barry Paul Mandel

Robert P Siegel

George J Roller

John R Falvo

Joseph J Ferrara

David R Kamprath

Joseph Salvatore Vetromile

Venkatesh H Kamath

Alan G Schlageter

Steven W Baldwin

Lawrence Dee Dipzinski

Randolph Cruz

Karl M Kau

Prashant K Phadnis

John Lombino

James M Cassidy, Jr

Louis J Bressler

A post-fusing apparatus is provided in an electrostatographic reproduction machine for adding a controlled amount of moisture to a side of a fused toner image carrying copy sheet to control curl. The sheet conditioning apparatus includes a moisturizing agent supply and splitting assembly, including a supply source containing moisturizing agent and a plurality of rotatable metering rollers forming at least first and second moisture splitting nips, for splitting a layer of supplied moisturizing agent, and forming a thin film of moisture. The sheet conditioning apparatus also includes a rotatable moisture applying roller forming a moisture splitting and receiving nip with the moisture agent supply and splitting assembly, for receiving the thin film of moisture therefrom. The rotatable moisture applying roller also forms a moisture applying nip with a side of the fused toner image carrying copy sheet for applying a desired amount of moisture from the received thin film of moisture thereon onto the fused toner image carrying copy sheet so as to control curl therein. Importantly, the sheet conditioning apparatus includes a control system, including nip pressure adjustment assemblies and a programmable controller, for adjusting nip pressure in the moisture receiving nip and the moisture applying nip to control the desired amount of moisture being applied onto the fused toner image copy sheet. The programmable controller also includes an equilibrium moisture content value (M.sub.f) for copy sheets that are same as the fused toner image carrying copy sheet, and the nip pressure adjustment assemblies are adjusted and controlled such that the desired amount of moisture being applied is about 1.5% greater than the equilibrium moisture content value (M.sub.f).

Post-fusing sheet conditioning apparatus

A paper conditioner to control image dependent curl which uses one or more counter-rotating transfer rollers which are initially spaced from their respective back-up rollers in the intercopy gap, and which come together as the lead edge enters the nip area, and separates when the trail edge is about to pass. This permits the rollers to have a less demanding runout tolerance by bringing the rollers together when the sheet is in the nip, and then articulating the rollers apart in the intercopy gap.

Paper conditioner with articulating back-up/transfer rollers

A vacuum corrugation feeder employs a vacuum feedhead working in conjunction with an air knife to feed sheets from the top or bottom of a stack. A retractable corrugator is included in the vacuum feedhead which prevents smearing of coated sheets due to relative motion between sheet surfaces and the corrugator.

Vacuum corrugation feeder with a retractable corrugator

A top vacuum corrugation feeder includes articulating suction fingers to assist in raising the top sheet of a stack of sheets to the feedhead of the vacuum corrugation feeder. The suction fingers are rotated down from their interleaved position between feed belts to contact the top sheet in the sheet stack and raises the top sheet to the feed belts. As a result, the feeder can handle heavy sheets, curled sheets, and sheets which are edge welded.

Top vacuum corrugation feeder with articulating suction fingers

A sheet stacking and registration system particularly suited for high speed sequentially stacking of the flimsy printed sheets output of a high speed reproduction apparatus in a sheet stacking area, with a stacking registration position; with a vacuum belt sheet transport system acquiring only a limited lead edge area of the sheets and transporting them over the stacking area with non-slip sheet feeding towards the registration position; and an integral system peeling the lead edges of the sheets off of the vacuum transport and guiding them downwardly and towards the lead edge registration position while reducing but partially maintaining the sheet's vacuum acquisition, and applying a normal force, preferably with a roller pressing down the lead edges of the peeled off sheet against the previously stacked sheets adjacent the registration position, to frictionally slow the sheet as it approaches the registration position, and also holding down the sheet after it reaches the stacking position. The sheet transport may have spaced belt flights with spaced patterns of vacuum apertures spaced between substantially unapertured areas along the belts, and a synchronized belt drive to synchronously engage the lead edge areas of the incoming sheets. An upstream natural arcuate inversion path with a side registration system may be integrated therewith.

High speed printed sheet stacking and registration system

A photoreceptor apparatus constructed of a photoreceptor belt releasably attached to the surface of a cylindrical mandrel. The photoreceptor belt is preferably attached to the mandrel by means of a movable segment of the mandrel that is retracted into the mandrel to allow installation of the belt by reducing the effective circumference of the mandrel.

Mandrel with a retractable segment for mounting a belt photoreceptor on

An apparatus which adhesively binds a set of sheets by applying a strip having an adhesive to one surface thereof to the spine of the set. The apparatus includes a compiling station which holds at least one set of sheets. A transport advances the set of copy sheets from the compiling station to the bind and to a receiving station. The transport is movable from a non-operative position, coupling the compiling station to the receiving station, to an operative position coupling the compiling station to the binder. In addition, there is a manual insertion station located at the operative position enabling a set of sheets to be inserted into the transport when the transport is positioned in the operative position. The transport is then adapted to advance the manually inserted set of sheets to the binder which then binds the manually inserted set of sheets to one another.

Modular binding apparatus with rotating transport

A mechanism for shuttering of vacuum ports of a vacuum platen transport (VPT) plenum in correspondence with the size of the documents being transported from the document tray of a recirculating document handler. The shuttering mechanism is coupled to a movable side guide of the document tray and includes a flexible coiled tape mounted with respect to the vacuum plenum of the VPT and movable side guide of the document tray such that movement of the side causes the tape to seal off vacuum slots within the plenum that are not located beneath documents.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

William Brant