The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 07, 2012
Filed:
Aug. 17, 2010
Naohiro Kikkawa, Kawasaki, JP;
Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Tokyo, JP;
Shinji Asami, Machida, JP;
Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Kawasaki, JP;
Tomohiro Furuhashi, Fujisawa, JP;
Kiichiroh Gotoh, Yokohama, JP;
Naohiro Kikkawa, Kawasaki, JP;
Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Tokyo, JP;
Shinji Asami, Machida, JP;
Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Kawasaki, JP;
Tomohiro Furuhashi, Fujisawa, JP;
Kiichiroh Gotoh, Yokohama, JP;
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An spine formation device includes a sheet conveyer, a contact member including a first row of grooves provided in a contact surface thereof to house a projection projecting from a folded portion of a bundle of folded sheets, a driving unit to move the contact member, first and second sandwiching units to squeeze the bundle, a discharge unit, and a controller. The first row of grooves extends in parallel to the folded portion of the bundle and includes at least a first pair of grooves inclined in different directions with an interval therebetween varying in size with location of the grooves in a first direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction. The contact member is moved to change the size of interval between the first pair of grooves at a position aligned with the projection projecting from the folded portion of the bundle of folded sheets.