Abstract: A method of controlling the velocity of a copy substrate in an electrophotographic reproduction machine which includes a substrate registration system for transporting and registering the substrate and a toner image traveling to a toner image transfer point at a transfer velocity. The method includes decelerating the substrate from a process velocity to a low velocity, where the transfer velocity is greater than the low velocity and less than the process velocity, registering the substrate via the substrate registration system, and accelerating the substrate to the transfer velocity for image transfer.

Abstract: A method of controlling the velocity of a copy substrate in an electrophotographic reproduction machine which includes a substrate registration system for transporting and registering the substrate and a toner image traveling to a toner image transfer point at a transfer velocity. The method includes decelerating the substrate from a process velocity to a low velocity, where the transfer velocity is greater than the low velocity and less than the process velocity, registering the substrate via the substrate registration system, and accelerating the substrate to the transfer velocity for image transfer.

Abstract: A system and method electronically determines an edge of a copy substrate to be printed on. A copy substrate is inserted between a linear light source array and a linear sensor array and a light segment of the linear light source array is illuminated. An edge location of a shadow created by the copy substrate intersecting a light path between the illuminated light segment and the linear sensor array is measured, and a location of the edge of the copy substrate is calculated based on the measured shadow location. A second light segment of the linear light source on an opposite side of an expected copy substrate edge position of the light segment can also be illuminated, and a second edge location of a shadow created by the copy substrate intersecting a light path between the illuminated second light segment and the linear sensor array can be measured wherein this second measurement can be used with the first to calculate a location of the edge of the copy substrate.

Abstract: An enlarged buckle chamber is positioned within an easily accessible, copy sheet transport path and used to compile sheets during fault cycle down in copiers/printers whenever sheets are prevented from reaching the output in sequence by jammed sheets. The user can then clear most jams by accessing the jam area plus the "easy to reach" area where internally purged sheet are gathered, thereby avoiding having paper distributed all over the paper path.

Abstract: A system and method electronically determines an edge of a copy substrate to be printed on. A copy substrate is inserted between a linear light source array and a linear sensor array and a light segment of the linear light source array is illuminated. An edge location of a shadow created by the copy substrate intersecting a light path between the illuminated light segment and the linear sensor array is measured, and a location of the edge of the copy substrate is calculated based on the measured shadow location. A second light segment of the linear light source on an opposite side of an expected copy substrate edge position of the light segment can also be illuminated, and a second edge location of a shadow created by the copy substrate intersecting a light path between the illuminated second light segment and the linear sensor array can be measured wherein this second measurement can be used with the first to calculate a location of the edge of the copy substrate.

Abstract: A duplex path loop having a acceleration nip cooperating with a belt transport and retime nip to allow duplexing of sheets while minimizing skipped pitches on the photoreceptor. As each sheet to be duplex printed is removed from the process path after first side imaging it is accelerated to create a gap between it and subsequent sheets. The sheet is then stalled or slowed in a retime nip, while subsequent sheets to be duplexed are simultaneously driven by the same transport, the first mentioned sheet being reinserted into the process path at the proper time for receiving the second side image before the arrival of the second sheet at the retime nip. Subsequent duplex sheets are handled in the same manner so that duplex copies are interleaved or otherwise reinserted into the process path with first side copies so that skipped pitches on the photoreceptor are minimized.

Abstract: A printer for printing images from a photoconductor onto copy sheets and tab stock includes stalled roller registration nip in a copy sheet path. The printer has a special materials tray and a sheet feeder for feeding tab stock from the tray to the paper path. Dual sensors connected to an AND gate are positioned in line across the paper path downstream of the special materials feeder to sense the feeding of tab stock and send a signal to a controller which stops the sheer feed. Once a signal is received by the controller that an image is in a particular position on the photoconductor, the sheet feeder is started again by the controller with the roller registration nip operating at process speed as well. When standard copy sheets are fed from conventional paper trays, the stalled roller registration nip operates to stall and register copy the sheets before they are fed to the U photoconductor.

Abstract: A printer combines the technologies of xerographic and thermal ink jet printing into a unit which is capable of high resolution text and color graphics. The printer is capable of forming a composite image including a xerographic printing portion and a Thermal Ink Jet (TIJ) printing portion by printing the xerographic portion using known xerographic techniques and the thermal ink jet portion by a thermal ink jet printing array associated with the printer. The portions may be printed in any order and may be dried by a drying station after printing of each portion or after both portions have been printed. At least one thermal ink jet printing array can serve as an annotator which is capable of printing additional information onto a copy such as company letterhead, special instructions, addresses or the like.

Abstract: An electrophotographic copying apparatus is disclosed having an imaging system for selectively shifting an image on an output copy sheet in response to a particular image shift selection by a operator. Electronic input signals, representative of selective image position, are transmitted to a system control circuit via a user interface device which, in turn, generates a signal for transmission to a lens drive circuit. The lens positions the image at the appropriate location on the photoreceptor so as to properly position the output image on the output copy sheet in accordance with the selected image shift. An algorithm is provided for determining the appropriate lens position relative to its "home" position and for accomplishing required lens movement.

Abstract: A feed screw for use in a rectangular bin outlet permits uniform feed from the bin along a length of the screw. This is achieved with a screw of uniform pitch on a shaft comprising a plurality of coaxial and contiguous cylindrical sections having progressively decreasing diameters dimensioned so that the differences in volume capacity between each pair of contiguous sections are equal over such length.

Abstract: A document registration system is disclosed which enables documents of various sizes to be registered at different corner registration positions on a platen and to be projected onto a photoreceptor so that the projected images have one side aligned along a common edge parallel to the edge of the photoreceptor. A lens drive and control circuit is provided for determining lens position, comparing it with a home position and moving the lens to a new position associated with the particular registration and magnification.

Abstract: A trail edge registration system is disclosed that includes drive belts adapted to accept sheets from a source. The drive belts have pin-like members on the surface thereof that are adapted to contact the trail edge of the sheets and provide the timing and skew registration function, as well as the transport function for the system. A scuffer roll mechanism side registers the sheets in the transport before they are contacted by the pin-like members on the belts.

Abstract: A system employing at least one separation roller continuously contacting the outside surface of a web and tracked to move in a fixed approximately elliptical path, for compensating for web motion during separation of the web from another surface to enable a bead of accumulated material built up at the line of contact between the web and the other surface to pass therebetween without changing the web velocity. During the separation period, the advancing velocity of at least one surface is reduced so that at least one surface is advanced at a slower rate than its rate prior to separation, or stopped. In a preferred embodiment, the system is employed in photoelectrophoretic imaging to bypass a bead of imaging suspension built up at the imaging nip during separation of two webs immediately after completion of imaging to thereby permit dissipation or passage of the liquid bead without changing the advancing web velocity by reason of the separation operation.

Abstract: A web drive system consisting of two independent speed controlled servos used to drive at least two webs is provided for use in a photoelectrophoretic web machine. The servo drive systems cooperate in the transporting of the webs to eliminate speed differential tensions between the two webs held together by friction and electrical tacking force. The first servo system may be bi-polar controlled. The second servo system may be uni-polar controlled and switched between speed and torque control modes. When the webs are held apart, the second servo system will be in speed control and whenever the webs are in contact, the second servo system is switched to the torque control mode.

Abstract: A system for compensating for motion during separation of a web from another surface to enable a bead of accumulated material built up at the line of contact between the web and the other surface to pass therebetween without changing the web velocity. In a preferred embodiment, the system is employed in photoelectrophoretic imaging to bypass a bead of imaging suspension built up at the imaging nip during separation of two webs immediately after completion of imaging to thereby permit dissipation or passage of the liquid bead without changing the advancing web velocity.

Abstract: A system employing at least one separation roller continuously contacting the outside surface of a web and tracked to move in a fixed approximately elliptical path, for compensating for web motion during separation of the web from another surface to enable a bead of accumulated material built up at the line of contact between the web and the other surface to pass therebetween without changing the web velocity. During the separation period, the advancing velocity of at least one surface is reduced so that at least one surface is advanced at a slower rate than its rate prior to separation, or stopped. In a preferred embodiment, the system is employed in photoelectrophoretic imaging to bypass a bead of imaging suspension built up at the imaging nip during separation of two webs immediately after completion of imaging to thereby permit dissipation or passage of the liquid bead without changing the advancing web velocity by reason of the separation operation.