Lexmark International, Inc.

William Joseph Thornhill

David Erwin Rennick

George Keith Parish

Kevin Dean Schoedinger

David Emerson Greer

John Wayne Gassett

Johnnie A Coffey

Christopher Gregory Chee

Thomas Campbell Wade

Daniel George Mlejnek

Michael Kurt Gordon

Friedbert R Becker

A single aligning roller is disposed at angle to each of two reference barriers to which a printed sheet is to be advanced so as to be aligned at a specific location for stapling. The aligning roller exerts a greater force towards the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned. The aligning roller is preferably at 66&deg; to the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned.

Finisher with single roller for frictionally moving each sheet

Sheets ( ) exit printer ( ) into finisher ( ) through corrugation rollers ( ) encounter actuator tab ( ) to thereby rotate actuator ( ) upward. Bails ( ) are engaged by this and rotate upward. Each bail has a wing ( ), which prevents curling. When the sheet is exited, gravity acting on the sheet and the actuator tab causes the sheet to drop. The bails also drop under gravity. The sheet is positioned to drop flat and near the exit, as intended for the finisher to form stacks of sheets.

Finisher with sheet placement control

A printer (,) exits paper sheet(s) onto a table (,) where they are stacked and bound by stapler (,). Curl in the sheets is controlled by eccentric guide (,), which has a high section (,) which moves over the sheet as they are moved across the table (by pusher,). The sheets are guided under clamp arm (,) by encountering the angled side (,) of clamp arm (,). In the embodiment the sheets are first moved backward against reference wall,(by pusher,), and they are moved (by pusher,) under clamp arm,until encountering reference wall,. The next sheet drops off of table,while a low section (,) of the guide is position toward the next exiting sheet. In this manner a group of sheets is formed into a regular stack and are bound by the stapler.

Stacker controlling curl

A substrate sensing mechanism is provided for use in a printer output bin. The sensing mechanism includes a flag having a shape such that when one or more substrates, which have been removed from the bin, are manually reinserted into the bin, the one or more substrates are directed beneath the flag without causing a substrate feed failure. The flag is also positioned and shaped so as to move to a full bin position when a portion of one or more curled substrates extends to or above a level of the substrate output path immediately adjacent the bin entrance.

Substrate sensing mechanism for use in a printer output bin

A bail assembly has a first portion of an arm pivotally supported by a printer frame. A second portion of the arm is slidably supported by the first portion of the arm so that the length of the arm can be adjusted in accordance with the length of sheets being fed to a support for stacking. The second portion of the arm has a stop pivotally mounted on its distal end. The stop has a flange for engaging each of the fed sheets so that the leading edges of the sheets are in substantial vertical alignment. The first portion of the arm has notches, which are spaced apart the differences in the sizes of the sheets being fed, to receive a detent on the second portion of the arm to releasably hold the second portion of the arm in its adjusted position on the first portion of the arm. The second portion of the arm has two curved surfaces for engaging each fed sheet adjacent its leading edge in a transverse line point contact prior to the pivotally mounted stop engaging the leading edge of the fed sheet.

Bail assembly

A feed roll has a plurality of equiangularly spaced flat faces thereon for engaging a restraint roll to form a nip therebetween through which the lowermost envelope in a stack of envelopes is fed. A spring continuously urges the restraint roll into engagement with the feed roll. In one embodiment, curved portions connect the flat faces to each other. In another embodiment, the adjacent flat faces intersect each other to form comers on the periphery of the feed roll.

Envelope feeder

A stack of envelopes has its lowermost envelope advanced from the stack by two sets of longitudinally spaced kick rollers, which are driven through a gear train by a unidirectional motor. A separator, which includes a feed roll and a restraint roll driven by the unidirectional motor, allows only one envelope to pass therethrough. The gear train includes two sets of interrupted teeth on a gear for stopping advancement of each of the two sets of kick rollers so that another envelope is not advanced from the stack during a cycle of operation. The gear has a third set of interrupted teeth for stopping the feed and restraint rolls after the envelope has passed the separator. The envelope is advanced to a printer by drive rolls, which cooperate with spring biased back-up rolls to form a nip, driven by the unidirectional motor. When the envelope enters the drive rolls, a latch holds the gear having the interrupted teeth from rotating. When the envelope passes the drive rolls, the unidirectional motor is stopped, and the latch is released.

In a liquid toner chamber (2) of a copier or printer a top plate (5) is moved upward and allowed to fall. The capacitance between the plates is used to define their separation and the time for the plates to move between predetermined locations is used to define the concentration of the liquid toner. This is accurate and inexpensive, while other measurement systems are not suitable to measure the high concentrations with which this invention functions.

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Lexington, KY, United States of America

William Joseph Thornhill