With Edge Aligner Patents (Class 270/58.12)
  • Patent number: 11891259
    Abstract: A hold down finger for a finisher process tray contacts the top sheet of paper on a paper tray to prevent subsequently printed pages from disturbing pages disposed on the paper tray. The hold down finger includes gears that move a portion of the hold down finger that contacts the top sheet of paper from a retracted position to a forward hold down position along a substantially elliptical path. After each sheet is printed and placed on top of other pages in the paper tray, the paper tray lowers and the hold down finger continues along the substantially elliptical path back to the retracted position. A rack gear associated with the paper tray engages a cylindrical gear of the hold down finger to return the hold down finger to the retracted position if the paper tray is forced upwards while the hold down finger is in the forward position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Toshiba TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: William M. Connors, Donn D. Bryant, Brad W. Towe
  • Patent number: 11603281
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus for processing sheets includes: a stack tray on which a sheet is stacked; a discharge roller pair composed of first and second rollers and configured to discharge a sheet onto the stack tray, the second roller being configured to be movable between a pressure contact position to contact with the first roller and a retracting position to separate from the first roller; and a pressure contact/separation mechanism for moving the second roller from the retracting position to the pressure contact position. The pressure contact/separation mechanism changes the timing at which the second roller reaches the pressure contact position according to the type of a sheet to be discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventors: Satoshi Iwama, Toshikazu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11553098
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a motor, a sheet feeding roller, a separation roller, a conveyance roller, a first clutch set provided in a transmission path of a driving force transmitted from the motor to the sheet feeding roller, and a second clutch set provided in a transmission path of a driving force transmitted from the motor to the separation roller. The first clutch set includes a first one-way clutch and a first two-way clutch, and the second clutch set includes a second one-way clutch and a second two-way clutch. A maximum value of a first play angle set between a first transmission portion and a first transmitted portion in the first two-way clutch is larger than a maximum value of a second play angle set between a second transmission portion and a second transmitted portion in the second two-way clutch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshimune, Tianjin Xie
  • Patent number: 11492227
    Abstract: A sheet post-processing apparatus including a binding mechanism, a tray, a shift mechanism, and a control unit is provided. The binding mechanism is configured to apply binding to a sheet. The sheet applied with the binding is stacked on the tray. The shift mechanism is configured to perform a shift operation in which a side surface of the sheet is pushed and the sheet is deviated in a sheet width direction orthogonal to a discharge direction during discharge of the sheet to the tray. The control unit is configured to cause the shift operation to be performed by dividing the number of times for the shift operation into a plurality of times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yoshiaki Sugizaki
  • Patent number: 11434099
    Abstract: A media processing apparatus includes a media transporter, a stacking portion on which media are stacked, a binding processing portion that binds an upstream end portion of a media bundle, a pair of ejection rollers that eject the media bundle, and a displacement mechanism that displaces a first roller of the pair of ejection rollers to a nipping position at which the media bundle is nipped and a separated position at which the first roller is separated from the media bundle, in which, when the media bundle, the upstream end portion of which is closed, is to be ejected from the stacking portion, the first roller is disposed in the nipping position and ejection of the media bundle is started, the first roller is displaced to the separated position during ejection of the media bundle, and, thereafter, the first roller is disposed again at the nipping position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Furumido, Masaki Miyazawa, Masayoshi Miyakawa, Hiroki Chino
  • Patent number: 11427428
    Abstract: A medium discharging device includes a side cursor, a moving unit, a discharge unit, and a side guide. The side cursor is provided in a processing tray and is provided movable in an intersecting direction intersecting a discharging direction of the medium, aligns an end portion of a media bundle in the intersecting direction, and guides the media bundle in the discharging direction when the media bundle is discharged. The moving unit moves the side cursor in the intersecting direction. The discharge unit discharges the media bundle from the processing tray to the discharge tray where the media bundle is placed. When the media bundle is discharged, the side guide is disposed alongside the side cursor in the discharging direction and restricts movement of the media bundle in the intersecting direction, which is discharged by the discharger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Furumido, Shota Hiramatsu, Katsuyuki Kondo, Chiaki Shimada
  • Patent number: 11370631
    Abstract: A sheet post-processor includes a processing tray, a sheet discharge port, a discharge roller pair, a pair of cursor members, a pair of support members, and an interlocking mechanism. The interlocking mechanism includes a pair of coupling members arranged in the processing tray so as to be reciprocatable in a sheet width direction. The pair of coupling members are coupled to or decoupled from the pair of cursor members in accordance with movement of the pair of cursor members. While being coupled to the pair of cursor members, the pair of coupling members contact the pair of support members so as to displace the pair of support members to a protruding position, and while being decoupled from the pair of cursor members, the pair of coupling members separate from the pair of support members so as to displace the pair of support members to a retracted position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Terumitsu Noso
  • Patent number: 11365079
    Abstract: Example printer finishing apparatus are described herein. An example printer disclosed herein includes an alignment guide, a track to align a sheet relative to the alignment guide, a clamp to move between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the sheet, and a force applicator coupled to the clamp. The force applicator is to cause the sheet to engage the alignment guide when the clamp is in the lowered position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Bruce G. Johnson, Robert Yraceburu, Wesley R. Schalk, Luke P. Sosnowski
  • Patent number: 11358821
    Abstract: A medium discharging apparatus includes a first tray in which a medium is received and placed, a second tray in which a medium discharged from the first tray is received, a discharging mechanism that discharges the medium from the first tray toward the second tray, and a first curl suppressing member that is located above a rear end region of the medium in the discharge direction and that moves so as to follow movement of the rear end region while maintaining an attitude of the medium until the medium placed on the first tray is discharged from the first tray to the second tray by the discharging mechanism and placed on the second tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Atsushi Nakazawa
  • Patent number: 11352233
    Abstract: A sheet stacking device includes a pair of first sheet stackers, a pair of sheet alignment members, a second sheet stacker, a sheet removal portion, and control circuitry. The first sheet stackers stack both end portions of a sheet in a direction orthogonal to a sheet ejecting direction. The sheet alignment members contact both ends of the sheet in the orthogonal direction to align the sheet on the first sheet stackers. The second sheet stacker is disposed lower than the first sheet stackers and stacks the sheet dropped from between the first sheet stackers. The sheet removal portion is disposed on one side in the orthogonal direction. The control circuitry causes one of the first sheet stackers and one of the sheet alignment members to move toward an opposite side of the sheet removal portion in the orthogonal direction after the sheet is dropped from between the first sheet stackers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Hirako, Kentaroh Fukami
  • Patent number: 11351808
    Abstract: A recording medium post-processing device includes a binding unit and a hole forming unit. The binding unit performs a binding process on a recording medium bundle. The hole forming unit performs a hole forming process in a region of recording media that constitute the recording medium bundle including a part of a binding region in which the binding process is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventors: Hidenori Tanaka, Hiroki Oka, Ayumi Ikegaya, Keiichi Asajima, Yuzo Fujita, Ryusuke Yamanashi
  • Patent number: 11330138
    Abstract: An image scanning unit optically scans a document image of a document. A transportation device performs transportation of the document set at a front insertion-ejection port as an insertion port and ejection port of the document. A controller performs in a first scanning mode image scanning of a top sheet of the document if the document has been bound with a staple. In the first scanning mode, the controller performs image scanning of a partial scanning area in the top sheet while transporting the document using the transportation device, and reverses a transportation direction of the document at a time point that the image scanning of the partial scanning area is finished. The partial scanning area is from a front end to a predetermined position of the top sheet, and the predetermined position is a position nearer to the front end than a binding position of the staple.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Harada, Shinji Hayashi, Atsushi Fujiki, Nozomu Inami, Shuichi Masui
  • Patent number: 11274011
    Abstract: A sheet post processing device includes a loading tray on which a sheet conveyed thereto is loaded, a side end edge binding stapler fixed at a position opposed to a side end edge, along a conveyance direction, of a sheet bundle of a plurality of sheets loaded on the loading tray, the side end edge binding stapler performing a first binding process on the side end edge, a conveyance unit that moves the sheet bundle on the loading tray in the conveyance direction, and a controller that controls the conveyance unit. The controller can cause the conveyance unit to move the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction so as to perform the first binding process on the sheet bundle with the side end edge binding stapler at a plurality of positions along the side end edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Rina Okada, Masahiko Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 11272068
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus is connected to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet. The post-processing apparatus includes a post-processor, a sensor, and a controller. The post-processor performs post-processing on the sheet. The sensor is provided in a space where the post-processor operates and provides an output based on a presence of a foreign substance in the space. The controller acquires a first output value from the sensor prior to the image forming apparatus forming the image on the sheet, acquires a second output value from the sensor after the image forming apparatus forms the image on the sheet and before the post-processor performs the post-processing on the sheet, and determines whether or not the foreign substance is present in the space based on the first output value and the second output value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kikuo Mizutani
  • Patent number: 11215946
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet, a stacking portion on which the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit is stacked, a first regulation member configured to regulate a position of an edge portion, in a conveyance direction, of the sheet stacked on the stacking portion, a second regulation member configured to regulate a position of an edge portion, in a width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, of the sheet stacked on the stacking portion, a binding unit supported movably in the conveyance direction and configured to perform a binding process of binding the sheet stacked on the stacking portion, and a moving unit configured to move the second regulation member in the conveyance direction accompanied with a movement, in the conveyance direction, of the binding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomooku Koyama, Jun Agata, Yasuhiro Nakahara, Hiroharu Tsuji
  • Patent number: 11142423
    Abstract: A sheet stacking device includes a sheet outlet, a lower discharge roller, and a paddle member. The paddle member is disposed coaxially to a rotation shaft of the lower discharge roller, and is driven to rotate independently of the lower discharge roller in the same direction as the lower discharge roller, so as to contact downward an upstream part in a discharging direction of a sheet discharged through the sheet outlet. The paddle member includes a base part in which the rotation shaft is inserted, an arm part protruding in a direction separating from an axis center of the base part, and a paddle elastic part protruding from the arm part. A rotation speed of the paddle member is the same as a rotation speed of a discharge roller pair when the sheet passes through a nip of the discharge roller pair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi Kotani
  • Patent number: 11027937
    Abstract: An example print medium loading device includes a loading unit on which a print medium is loadable, a transporting roller unit to transport a print medium toward the loading unit, and a moving gate between the loading unit and the transporting roller unit. The loading gate moves according to locations to which the print medium is transported. In an example, when a first print medium is loaded on the loading unit and the transporting roller unit transports a second print medium toward the loading unit, the moving gate is positioned at the first location to overlap a trailing end of the first print medium toward the moving gate. When the leading end of the second print medium is past the moving gate and the second print medium is loaded on the loading unit, the moving gate sequentially moves through the first through fourth positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Eiji Fukasawa, Tae Hong Kim, Dong Sun Jung
  • Patent number: 10994566
    Abstract: A paper processing device includes a casing, a transfer roller assembly and a paper pressing mechanism. The casing includes a paper placement platform. The plural papers from a printing device are transferred to the paper placement platform by the transfer roller assembly. The paper pressing mechanism is located under the casing. The paper pressing mechanism includes a support frame, a pressing bar, a driving mechanism and a linking mechanism. The pressing bar includes a protrusion block. The protrusion block is penetrated through an opening of the casing. The protrusion block and the paper placement platform face each other. The linking mechanism is connected between the driving mechanism and the pressing bar. While the linking mechanism is driven by the driving mechanism, the pressing bar is moved linearly relative to the support frame, and the protrusion block is moved from an initial position to a target position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: PRIMAX ELECTRONICS LTD.
    Inventor: Yu-Lun Chang
  • Patent number: 10981745
    Abstract: A sheet post-processing device includes a processing tray, a post-processing mechanism, a discharge roller pair, a bundle discharge member, a loading tray, a sheet holding member, a discharge drive portion, a tray lifting-lowering drive portion, a sheet holding drive portion, and a control portion. In a case where a number A of sheets included in a sheet bundle loaded on the processing tray is smaller than a predetermined number A1, the control portion discharges the sheet bundle onto the loading tray by using the discharge roller pair, with the loading tray arranged at a reference position. In a case where the number A of the sheets included in the sheet bundle is equal to or larger than the predetermined number A1, the control portion discharges the sheet bundle onto the loading tray by using the bundle discharge member, with the loading tray having been lifted above the reference position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Takashi Kotani, Kazuhisa Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 10941013
    Abstract: A paper sheet post-processing device includes a processing tray, an aligning member that aligns paper sheets on the processing tray, a swingable holder that supports the aligning member, a swinging mechanism that causes the holder to swing, and a control unit that controls the swinging mechanism. The swinging mechanism includes a rotation shaft inserted into a shaft insertion portion of the holder with play in a rotation direction. The control unit controls the rotation shaft to rotate and stop at a predetermined rotation angle position corresponding to a stack height of the sheets stacked on the processing tray, so that the holder is disposed at a contact position. At the contact position, the holder is allowed to swing in a retracting direction with respect to the rotation shaft within a predetermined play range. The play range is set to be larger in proportion to the stack height of the sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Keisuke Egawa
  • Patent number: 10781066
    Abstract: A sheet postprocessing device includes a sheet conveying passage, a sheet tray, an inlet guide, a processing device, and a blowing device. Though the sheet conveying passage, a sheet on which an image has been formed is conveyed. The sheet tray is arranged downstream of the sheet conveying passage and has sheets stacked on it. The inlet guide is arranged at the downstream end of the sheet conveying passage and guides a sheet to the sheet tray. The processing device performs predetermined processing on a sheet stacked on the sheet tray. The blowing device blows air, from the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction, between the top face of the top-most sheet in the sheets stacked on the sheet tray and the bottom face of the subsequent sheet sent from the inlet guide into the sheet tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Tadahisa Kishimoto, Terumitsu Noso
  • Patent number: 10696084
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a sheet processing device includes a moving member, an extrusion member, a first motor, a second motor, a first power transmission unit, a second power transmission unit, and a shaft. The first motor drives the moving member. The second motor drives the extrusion member. The second motor is a motor separated from the first motor. The first power transmission unit includes a first rotor. The first power transmission unit transfers power from the first motor to the moving member. The second power transmission unit includes a second rotor. The second power transmission unit transfers power from the second motor to the extrusion member. The shaft supports the first rotor and the second rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shoichi Dobashi
  • Patent number: 10501276
    Abstract: In accordance with an embodiment, a sheet processing apparatus comprises a processing tray, a longitudinal alignment mechanism, a horizontal alignment mechanism and an interlocking mechanism. The processing tray can stack a sheet. The longitudinal alignment mechanism includes a rotatable paddle. The longitudinal alignment mechanism can align the sheets stacked on the processing tray in a sheet conveyance direction. The horizontal alignment mechanism includes a horizontal alignment plate movable in a sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction. The horizontal alignment mechanism can align the sheets placed on the processing tray in the sheet width direction. The interlocking mechanism interlocks the paddle in the sheet width direction in synchronization with the movement of the horizontal alignment plate in the sheet width direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Taki
  • Patent number: 10481542
    Abstract: The present sheet processing apparatus comprises: a pressure tooth part that has a concave-convex surface and pressurizes the sheet bundle; a receiving tooth part that is disposed opposite to the pressure tooth part so as to receive pressurization from the pressure tooth part with the sheet bundle held therebetween; a moving part that reciprocates the pressure tooth part with respect to a receiving surface of the receiving tooth part; and a drive part that drives the moving part that moves the pressure tooth part for crimping of the sheet bundle. The pressure tooth part is divided in the direction crossing the pressurizing direction of the pressure tooth part into a plurality of pressure tooth parts, and the obtained pressure tooth parts are sequentially pressurized for crimping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventor: Misao Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 10322598
    Abstract: A bundle of printing media by eco-stapling often has a smaller thickness than a bundle of printing media by needle stapling by the thickness corresponding to an amount of used staples, although they have the same number of printing media, and there is room capable of stacking bundles in many cases in the eco-stapling. According to an embodiment, when a printing medium that has undergone an image forming process is taken in, stapling processing is performed on the printing medium, and then the printing medium is discharged to the tray, the following process is performed. That is, when the process is performed in accordance with instructed stapling processing, and the printing medium that has undergone the process is discharged outside the apparatus, the amount of printing media stacked on the tray is controlled in accordance with instructed stapling processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Finetech Nisca Inc.
    Inventor: Yousuke Kozima
  • Patent number: 10322902
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a sheet processing apparatus comprising a sheet tray configured to hold a bundle composed of the sheets fed from conveyance rollers, a wait path configured to keep waiting following sheets upstream the conveyance rollers, an accumulating tray configured to hold a sheet bundle, delivery rollers configured to nip the sheet bundle mounted on the sheet tray and the following sheets, to set off from one another, and to deliver them to the accumulating tray, and to switch back the following sheets to the sheet tray, and a conveyance member configured to convey the following sheets from the sheet tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventor: Takahiro Nakano
  • Patent number: 10315880
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet processing unit that processes a sheet placed on a placing tray, a discharge roller that discharges the sheet processed on the placing tray to a stacking tray, a conveyance roller that discharges a sheet to the placing tray or conveys a subsequent sheet from upstream to downstream of the discharge roller and switchback-conveys the subsequent sheet upstream again, and a standby path (branch path) that keeps the sheet switched back by the conveyance roller on standby. The subsequent sheet is conveyed to a downstream side of the discharge roller by the conveyance roller and then returned to an upstream side again by switchback conveyance. During the switchback conveyance, the discharge roller nips and discharges the sheets on the placing tray to the stacking tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventor: Takahiro Nakano
  • Patent number: 10150643
    Abstract: According to embodiments, a sheet post-processing apparatus includes a processing tray, a vertical alignment section, a horizontal alignment section and a controller. The controller is configured to control the horizontal alignment section to shift the sheet to a first alignment position a predetermined distance from the center of the processing tray in the sheet width direction, control the horizontal alignment section to align the sheet in the sheet width direction at the first alignment position, and control the vertical alignment section to align the sheet in the conveying direction at the first alignment position, control the horizontal alignment section to realign the sheet at the first alignment position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Taki
  • Patent number: 10118787
    Abstract: In a sheet discharge device, upon a discharge of a sheet bundle onto a discharge tray, a lowering control portion lowers the discharge tray by a predetermined lowering distance. After the discharge tray is lowered by the lowering control portion, a lifting control portion waits until a front end of an initial sheet of a next sheet bundle becomes in a state of protruding from a discharge port, and then lifts the discharge tray until an upper-surface detection sensor detects that an upper surface of sheet bundles stacked on the discharge tray has reached a predetermined height.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi Kotani
  • Patent number: 9914612
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus includes a processing tray on which a sheet bundle is placed for discharging onto a discharge tray, a detector configured to detect presence or absence of the sheet bundle on the processing tray, and a controller. The controller is configured to control driving of the processing tray to discharge the sheet bundle onto the discharge tray and to determine whether or not to output an error if a detection result of the detector after the processing tray has been driven to discharge the sheet bundle onto the discharge tray indicates presence of the sheet bundle. The controller outputs the error if the sheet bundle is not a last sheet bundle of a post-processing job and does not output the error if the sheet bundle is the last sheet bundle of the post-processing job.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshihisa Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 9776449
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus which can respectively balance convenience of user using a manual stapling and convenience of user using an online stapling is provided. The finisher includes a stapler for performing predetermined post-processing on a sheet received and a control unit. The finisher also includes a stapler moving motor which moves the stapler to a position where first processing or second processing is performed. In the first processing, the predetermined post-processing is performed on a sheet which is conveyed from an image forming apparatus. In the second processing, the predetermined post-processing is performed on a sheet which is manually inserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiromi Shimura, Keita Takahashi, Hiroto Nishihara, Shinnosuke Iwadate, Teruhito Kai, Kenzo Kumagai
  • Patent number: 9725274
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet holding unit, a sheet conveying unit configured to convey a plurality of sheets one by one onto the sheet holding unit during sheet processing, wherein the plurality of sheets including a first sheet and a second sheet that is conveyed immediately after the first sheet and is a last of the plurality of sheets that is conveyed, an adhesive applying unit configured to apply an adhesive material, and a control unit configured to control the adhesive material applying unit to apply the adhesive material on the first sheet held on the sheet holding unit before the second sheet is conveyed onto the first sheet and cause the adhesive material applying unit to not apply the adhesive material on the second sheet after the second sheet is conveyed onto the first sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Taguchi
  • Patent number: 9665056
    Abstract: A staple processing device includes a staple tray, a staple unit, a rear reference plate, a front reference plate, and an interlocking mechanism. The staple unit performs a staple process on a plurality of sheets loaded on the staple tray. The staple unit is movable along the ends of the sheets in a sheet width direction. The rear reference plate and the front reference plate abut the ends of the plurality of sheets and aligns the plurality of sheets. The interlocking mechanism moves the rear reference plate and the front reference plate in the sheet width direction in interlock with the movement of the staple unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Seiichi Shirasaki, Takeshi Matsuo
  • Patent number: 9409735
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes an endless belt configured to convey the sheet by coming in contact with an upper surface of the sheet stacked on the sheet stacking portion, a shaft extending in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, and a supporting portion rotatably supporting the drive rotating member and supporting the endless belt through the drive rotating member. The supporting portion is configured to be swingable about the shaft and the endless belt is raised and lowered by the supporting portion being swung by a lifting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideto Abe, Rikiya Takemasa, Masaya Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9278571
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a binding portion binding a plurality of sheets stacked on a sheet stacking portion as a bundle by deforming the sheets without a staple. The sheet processing apparatus further includes a moving member moving the sheet bundle bound at a binding position by the binding portion from the binding position and a restricting member restricting the move of the sheet bundle such that a distance between the sheet bundle and the moving member is kept to be less than a predetermined distance in moving the sheet bundle by the moving member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideto Abe
  • Patent number: 9201373
    Abstract: The recording material post-processing device includes a post-processing mechanism, and additional post-processing mechanism and a transport control unit. The post-processing mechanism performs a post-process for a recording material transported from one branched transport path of an image forming device. The additional post-processing mechanism performs an additional post-process other than the post-process performed by the post-processing mechanism for the recording material transported from the other branched transport path of the image forming device. The transport control unit controls transport of the recording material such that the post-process using the post-processing mechanism is performed after the post-process using the additional post-processing mechanism is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hiroaki Awano
  • Patent number: 9090425
    Abstract: A recording-material processing apparatus includes a biding mechanism that moves along a predetermined movement path and binds a recording material stack; a recording-material transport path along which the recording material is transported, the recording-material transport path extending from a first area to a second area, which are next to each other with the movement path therebetween, and extending beside the movement path; a first transport member that is provided in the first area, at a position away from the portion of the recording-material transport path extending beside the movement path, to transport the recording material on the recording-material transport path to the second area; and a second transport member that is provided in the second area, at a position away from the portion of the recording-material transport path extending beside the movement path, to transport the recording material transported by the first transport member to the further downstream side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masatoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 9061538
    Abstract: Bookbinding unit enabling, in encasing inner-leaf sheets in coversheets to form booklets, secure book-forming binding regardless of whether the inner-leaf sheets constitute a simple-sheet bundle or are made up of a plurality of folded-over signature sheets. Constituent components are: inner-leaf sheet tray; coversheet tray; bookbinding process path for guiding sheets from the inner-leaf sheet tray to successive adhesive-application and cover-binding locations; inner-leaf conveyor; coversheet conveyor for conveying coversheets to the cover-binding location; bundle-spine adhesive applicator in the adhesive-application location; and cover binder in the cover-binding location. Components' controller is configured to receive input as to whether inner-sheet-bundle makeup includes saddle-stitch sheets or is of simple sheets only, and, based on the bundle makeup information, varies its control of at least one of the coversheet conveyor, adhesive applicator, and cover binder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichi Nagasawa, Kouichi Kitta, Hideki Orii
  • Patent number: 9016681
    Abstract: To provide a sheet storage apparatus for enabling sheets that are carried out of an image formation apparatus or the like on the upstream side to be loaded and stored in a predetermined position with a correct posture neatly at high speed, a sheet discharge roller and a reverse roller spaced a distance are disposed in a sheet discharge outlet and a tray, a kick member is provided to be swingable in a vertical direction passing a sheet discharge path of a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge outlet, and a posture of the kick member is controlled by shift means. The shift means controls the kick member among a waiting posture retracted upward from the sheet discharge path, an engagement posture for imposing a load on the sheet to engage, and an actuation posture dropping onto the tray together with the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Mizubata, Naoya Nakayama, Daiki Komiyama, Hisashi Osada, Kenji Yoshida, Eiji Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 9010744
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a projection forming unit configured to form a projection on a sheet. The projection is formed in the vicinity of a binding portion of a sheet bundle. When a succeeding sheet bundle is discharged on the sheet bundle in which the projection has been formed on a top surface thereof, the succeeding sheet bundle is stacked by moving on the already stacked sheet bundle without being caught by the binding portion of the already stacked sheet bundle as an end of the succeeding sheet bundle is guided by the projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Naoto Tokuma, Rikiya Takemasa, Hideki Kushida
  • Patent number: 9004481
    Abstract: In a provided apparatus, an upper roller to be engaged with a sheet upper face and a lower roller to be engaged with a sheet lower face are arranged at a sheet discharging port in a manner capable of being pressure-contacted and being separated, the upper roller is formed with a large-diameter soft roll face and a small-diameter hard roll face, and a pressurization force of roller lifting-lowering means with which the upper roller is pressure-contacted to and is separated from the lower roller is switched to be high or low.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignees: Riso Kagaku Corporation, Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Hideki Mimura, Kenta Idezuki, Kenichi Sano
  • Patent number: 9008568
    Abstract: In a sheet storing apparatus of the present invention, a tailing end supporting member which temporarily supports a tailing end of a dropping sheet bundle is arranged between a discharging port of a processing tray to discharge the sheet bundle and the upmost sheet on a stack tray as being movable between an operating position above a sheet placement face and a waiting position outside the stack tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignees: Riso Kagaku Corporation, Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhito Shimura, Makoto Shimizu, Akira Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 8960660
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus includes a stacking unit that stacks a sheet conveyed thereto; a first alignment unit that aligns the sheet or a bundle of sheets stacked in the stacking unit in a sheet conveying direction; a second alignment unit that aligns the sheet or the bundle of sheets stacked in the stacking unit in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction; a pressing unit that presses the bundle of sheets at an end portion thereof on a predetermined one side; and a control unit that causes at least one of the first and second alignment units to execute an alignment operation during a press operation of the sheet or the bundle of sheets performed by the pressing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Tomohiro Furuhashi, Masahiro Tamura, Shuuya Nagasako, Keisuke Sugiyama, Kazuya Yamamoto, Kyosuke Nakada, Tomomichi Hoshino, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Takamasa Matsumoto, Junya Suzuki, Youhei Niitsuma, Kazunori Konno, Kiichiro Goto
  • Publication number: 20150014913
    Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a post-processing apparatus capable of performing conveying to and storing at a predetermined stack tray without causing sheet jamming even when a sheet having larger size than a standard size is introduced. The present invention comprises a post-processing apparatus as a processing tray on which sheets conveyed in a predetermined conveyance direction are stacked into a bundle shape, an aligning device which aligns the sheets conveyed to the processing tray, a binding device which performs a binding process on the sheets aligned by the aligning device, and a controller which controls the aligning device so that a sheet is aligned at a position being apart from the binding device by a predetermined distance when the sheet conveyed to the processing tray has a predetermined size or larger.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2014
    Publication date: January 15, 2015
    Applicants: CANON FINETECH INC., NISCA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yusuke OBUCHI, Masaya TAKAHASHI, Seiji NISHIZAWA
  • Patent number: 8919767
    Abstract: A method for producing a bundle composed of book blocks includes gathering a plurality of printed sheets to form respective book blocks. The plurality of the book blocks are positioned with the same orientation and respectively positioned on lower edges of the printed sheets. Respectively two adjacent book blocks are offset from one another parallel to the lower edges of the printed sheets and transverse to a height of the bundle to be formed, such that a side edge of one of the two book block projects relative to a side edge of the adjacent book block. Thereafter the offset book blocks are combined to form the bundle and the bundle is compressed to fix the offset position of the book blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Mueller Martini Holding AG
    Inventor: Konrad Boos
  • Patent number: 8915492
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a sheet finishing apparatus includes a finishing section configured to apply finishing to a sheet placed on a processing tray, a sheet discharging section configured to discharge the sheet subjected to the finishing to a stack tray via a discharge port, a roller attached to a shaft provided in parallel to the discharge port and which rotate in a first direction for guiding the sheet in the direction of the finishing section and a second direction for discharging the sheet, and an arm attached to the shaft to extend in the centrifuging direction from the shaft, rotate with the torque of the shaft, and idly rotate when force for regulating the torque acts. The arm flaps down the trailing end of the sheet on the stack tray onto the stack tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideaki Sugiyama, Katsuhiko Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 8905394
    Abstract: A sheet post-processing apparatus that is capable of aligning a sheet bundle accurately even if sheet types like sheet sizes are different, and is capable of setting a reference position depending on a selected finish. A conveyance unit conveys a sheet. A sheet stacking unit stacks sheets conveyed by the conveyance unit as a sheet bundle. A stapler applies a staple process to the sheet bundle stacked on the sheet stacking unit. A position determination unit determines a staple position at which the staple process is applied to the sheet bundle. An alignment unit aligns the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction with respect to one of both sides parallel to the sheet conveyance direction. The alignment unit determines the one side as a reference side depending on the staple position determined by the position determination unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Miyake, Mitsuhiko Sato, Takashi Yokoya, Hiromasa Maenishi, Yutaka Ando, Akihiro Arai
  • Patent number: 8905395
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus performs predetermined processing on a sheet or a sheet bundle. The sheet processing apparatus includes: a conveying unit that conveys a sheet along a conveying path; an aligning unit that, each time a sheet is conveyed by the conveying unit, aligns the sheet; a stacking unit that reverses a conveying direction of a sheet to convey the sheet backward to a branch path branched from the conveying path, and stacks the sheet in the branch path; and a binding unit that binds a sheet bundle aligned by the aligning unit, in the conveying path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shingo Matsushita, Takashi Saito, Satoshi Saito, Makoto Hidaka, Katsuhiro Kosuge, Akihiro Musha, Shohichi Satoh, Ikuhisa Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8899569
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment comprises a processing tray configured to receive sheets to be processed, the processing tray having an ejecting side from which sheets are ejected, and a loading tray provided downstream from the processing tray in a sheet ejecting direction and configured to receive sheets ejected from the processing tray. The sheet processing apparatus further comprises a bending restrainer including a restraining member extending almost parallel to the processing tray and covering a portion of the ejecting side of the processing tray, the restraining member configured to restrain bending of sheets ejected from the processing tray to the loading tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naofumi Soga
  • Patent number: 8882106
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus which enable reduction of shift alignment time and improvement of productivity. A shift unit performs a shifting operation for shifting a conveyed sheet, in a lateral direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction. An alignment unit aligns the sheet by a pair of alignment members thereof which are moved toward each other such side edges of the sheet in the lateral direction are held therebetween. A CPU of a finisher controller controls the alignment unit and the shift unit such that an operation for moving the alignment members from respective first standby positions in the lateral direction to respective second standby positions closer to the sheet than the corresponding first standby positions is executed in parallel with the shifting operation by the shift unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiromasa Maenishi, Takashi Yokoya