Abstract: In a fixing apparatus for an electrophotographic apparatus which comprises a suction apparatus (14) for attracting a rear surface of recording material (6) which continues longitudinally and holds a toner image on a major surface thereof, a preheater (10) for preheating the recording material while adhering the recording material to the preheater by attracting force of the suction apparatus, and a pair of fixing rollers (11) formed by a heat roller and a pressure roller urged to each other, wherein the recording material is sandwiched and carried while being heated and pressurized by the heat roller and the pressure roller at a pressing portion therebetween thereby to fix the toner image on the major surface of the recording material, the fixing apparatus further comprises a recording material lifting apparatus (15) having a projection member (15a) movable relative to the surface of the preheater.

Abstract: A printer includes a tractor unit for feeding continuous form paper, encoders driven in synchronization with the tractor unit, and detecting sensors for detecting the encoders to generate feed pulses at a standard interval. The printer further includes a paper top sensor for detecting a leading edge of the continuous form paper to generate paper top signal and is arranged to control the feed of the paper based on the feed pulse generated after the paper top signal. In order to adjust the printing position on the paper in case where the scanning position is misaligned due to a manufacturing error, the position of the detecting sensors is adjustable with respect to the encoders to compensate for the error. Further, the position of the paper top sensor is adjustable with respect to the tractor unit in order to keep the relationship between the feed pulse and the paper top signal unchanged regardless of the adjustment of the detecting sensors.

Abstract: An electrophotographic printer has an electro-thermally operating fixing station (23) with a heated fixing roller (86) and a feed roller (87) which can be pivoted on and away. With the aid of an unheated, pivoting paper guide saddle (93), the reel paper is guided around the fixing roller (86) at a predeterminable wrapping angle (U) for the purpose of preheating before the actual fixing. In order to fix the printed image on the reel paper (12) in an offset-free and smudge-free manner during the starting and stopping process, the movements of the elements of the fixing station (23) and the transport of the paper are coordinated in such a way that there is no relative movement between the fixing roller (86) and toner image on the reel paper (12) when the reel paper is placed against the fixing roller (86) and when the reel paper (12) is stripped off the fixing roller (86).

Abstract: Laser printers are provided parallel one another so that their respective control panels face one another to define a single work station. Paper web travels from an unwind machine through the first laser printer, and instead of being provided directly to a rewind roll or the like, the paper web is adapted to move around turning bars associated with the output end of the laser printer and the input end of a second laser printer. The turning bars are oriented parallel to one another and a reversing roller results in travel of the paper web, in an upside down fashion, to a second laser printer so that it can be printed on one side in the first laser printer and on the opposite side in the second laser printer. The laser printers are also capable of printing on two individual paper webs with individual unwind and rewind machines associated with the opposite ends of the two laser printers thereby providing for conventional operation of the laser printers in an alternative mode of operation.

Abstract: A continuous forms printer utilizing paper without pinholes along each edge is provided with a first paper transfer device on the input side of the printing station and a second paper transfer device on the output side of the printing station. The two paper transfer devices are operated at slightly different speeds in order to place tension in the continuous forms at the printing station in order to control registration and magnification problems. For example, a vacuum transport belt is placed on the output side and operated at a slightly greater speed than the printer. The belt is provided with friction characteristics and operated at a vacuum pressure to allow slippage of the belt and paper at the desired tension. By placing positive paper control on the output side, the directional stability of the continuous forms is improved thus avoiding skew control problems.

Abstract: An electrophotographic apparatus is provided in which toner stick hardly occurs by improving the cooling effect on the strip of paper sheets after they are heat-fixed. This electrophotographic apparatus includes a fixing unit for heating toner transferred on a continuous strip of paper sheets and fixing the toner, and a folding unit for supplying a folding force to the continuous strip of paper sheets. A conveyer unit is arranged in the back stage of the electrophotographic apparatus for transferring the continuous strip of paper sheets, received from folding unit, in the horizontal direction.

Abstract: A printer for selectively printing on one or both sides of a web-shaped recording medium includes a paper turn-over apparatus in the paper conveying channel. The turn-over apparatus is a removable unit and can be changed from a turn-over operation for two sided printing to a parallel conveyance for one sided printing of two recording mediums. A conveyor that moves the recording medium through the printer has an adjustable width to adapt to different recording medium widths. The conveyor includes a return which returns the recording medium to the turn-over apparatus after being printed on one side. The return includes a traction roller pair and a lever to swivel one of the rollers in and out. A connecting channel leads from the traction rollers and includes guide baffles. Conveyor rollers are arranged along the connecting channel at less than the spacing of the folds in the folded recording medium.

Abstract: An electrophotographic printer device for both-sided printing of a tape-shaped, narrow recording medium (10) and for single-sided printing of a wide recording medium or a plurality of parallel, narrow recording media (10/1,10/2,10/3) contains a printer module that is designed for printing recording media differing in width. A delivery module and a turn-over module (28) are removably arranged in the printer module, the narrow recording medium (10) being turned over after the printing of the front side and being reconducted through the printer module for printing the back side via said delivery module and turn-over module.

Abstract: A motion-absorbing region is formed in a continuous form, and a passively rotatable fixing roller is moved into contact with the continuous form when the motion-absorbing region is formed. The motion-absorbing region absorbs the difference in relative speed between the fixing roller and the continuous form, keeping the difference or delay from being transmitted along the form to the region where a toner image is applied to the form. The electrophotographic transfer of the image to the continuous form is started before the pressure roller is moved into contact with the continuous form. The motion-absorbing region can be a slack region formed by feeding the form while the form is not under tension, or a resilient region formed by applying a resilient biasing device to the form while the form is under tension.

Abstract: An electrographic printer device is designed for printing tape-shaped recording media (10) with different tape widths in different operating modes such as single-color and multi-color simplex printing, single-color and multi-color duplex printing and for simultaneous printing of two recording medium webs in parallel operation. It comprises a module-like device structure with a printer module having a means for generating toner images arranged therein. A single fixing station (18) is arranged above this means. Via a deflection means (28), the recording medium (10) is supplied in single-color or multi-color duplex mode to a return channel (38) that contains a turn-over station (30).

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a feed roller mechanism disposed downstream of a transfer corotron 412 constituting a transfer section and composed of driven rollers 506 located on both edges of a continuous recording medium 100 which are outside an image transfer area and a drive roller 508 extending over the whole width of the continuous recording medium 100, so that when transferring a toner image from an image recording member 402, on which the toner image is to be formed, to the continuous recording medium 100, friction by the rollers achieves reliable conveyance against an attraction between the image recording member 402 and the continuous recording medium 100 without disturbing an unfixed image on the continuous recording medium 100.

Abstract: A sheet feeder feeds a continuous form in a reverse feeding direction to the normal feeding direction from a position detected by a first sheet sensor. A timer counts a predetermined interval until the continuous form is surely fed by the distance from the sensor to the exterior of the printer. An additional sensor, downstream of the first sheet sensor and close to the sheet outlet in the normal printing direction, is used with the timer and appropriate counting intervals to detect paper jams as the reversely fed continuous form passes through the printer. A controller stops the reverse feeding upon the detection of a jam, and displays a jam error message on a display provided to a control panel. The sheet feeder is alternatively a pair of rollers or a tractor unit.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus improved so that the leading end of a sheet can be exactly stopped in a nip position of registration rollers, and an image transferred to the sheet is not shifted. A locking device is provided in relation to the registration rollers provided in a conveying path. When the leading end of a cut sheet is inserted into the conveying path and is fed to the registration rollers, the registration rollers are brought into a state where it cannot be rotated by the locking device. Therefore, the leading end of the cut sheet fed is reliably stopped in the nip position of the registration rollers, and cannot enter the conveying path beyond this position. The conveyance of the cut sheet is thereafter resumed by the registration rollers and reaches a downstream pair of conveying rollers where the sheet is subjected to so-called secondary sheet feeding to an image forming section.

Abstract: In a document feeding system for unfolding and feeding an elongated web multi-sectional computer form (CF) document from one end of a fan-folded stack in a document input stacking area to an imaging station, a CF document unfolding assistance system is provided by a mounting system cantilever mounting from behind the fan-folded stack a single smoothly radiused cylindrical CF unfolding assistance bar, with a radius of approximately 5 to 8 mm, rotatable between a completely non-obstructing rear storage position and a stationary operating position overlying the document input stacking area, and with a detent system for detaining the CF unfolding assistance bar in the operating position, in which this CF unfolding assistance bar is in a fixed position spaced intermediately above the CF web stack by about 5 cm and extending horizontally over the stack substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction in a position which is spaced closer to the one end of the stack than its opposite end, approximately 11 cm from

Abstract: A charge removing member is arranged just upstream of an image transfer area along a continuous form transport path, between the last guiding portion and the transfer area, to remove accumulated charge on the continuous form. The charge removing member is alternatively a brush contactable to the form, a non-contact conductive member, a brush movable toward and away from the form, or a brush that acts as a guide member. Further alternatively, the brush contacts the form only during reverse feeding of the form, and in this case, is alternatively movable toward and away from the form, movable toward and away from the form in association with a transfer unit, or positioned to contact a straight form while being out of contact with a form bent by a transfer unit.

Abstract: In a thermal fixing system for fixing toner images on the front side of a recording medium in an electrographic printer or copier device, wherein the back side of the recording medium can already have a fixed toner image. The thermal fixing means contains a heat transfer fixing station that fixes the toner images on the recording medium, and contains a pre-heating saddle that precedes the heat transfer fixing station in a running direction of the recording medium. A sliding surface that accepts the recording medium over its back side is allocated to the pre-heating saddle. The sliding surface is constructed of a toner-repellant material at least in a contact region with the recording medium. The preheating saddle is designed as a low temperature saddle with the largest possible constructional length, so that a temperature difference between recording substrate and saddle surface is as small as possible. The preheating saddle has, in the recording substrate running direction, a plurality of heating zones.

Abstract: In the fixing station, the recording substrate 4 is transported by friction between two rollers (1, 2). In order to tauten the recording substrate (4), it is braked by a braking device (3) upstream of the rollers (1, 2). A length equalizing element (5) equalizes any length differences occurring in the recording substrate (4). The rotational speed of the rollers (1, 2) is controlled as a function of the deflection of the length equalizing element (5). The deflection time (txy) between reaching a deflection point a and a deflection point b is registered and compared with a desired deflection time (tsp). The braking force of the braking device (3) is reduced if the desired deflection time (tsp) is exceeded.

Abstract: An image recording apparatus according to the present invention has a photosensitive drum, a pre-transfer roller, and a fixing roller. The photosensitive drum, the pre-transfer roller and the fixing roller are generally rotated at an equal peripheral speed. Particularly, the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum and the peripheral speed of the fixing roller are equal to each other, whereby there is no problem that an image transferred to a rolled-paper sheet from the photosensitive drum extends due to the leading end of the rolled-paper sheet being pulled after reaching the fixing roller. On the other hand, after the leading end of the rolled-paper sheet reaches the fixing roller, the peripheral speed of the pre-transfer roller is so controlled as to be lower than the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum during a predetermined time period.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus which includes a paper delivery unit which is provided as to be rockable and displaceable between an operating position close to a photosensitive drum and a standby position remote from the photosensitive drum; a supporting link system, operably coupled to the paper delivery unit, for holding the paper delivery unit at the operating position; and energizing device, operably coupled to the supporting link system, for energizing the paper delivery unit so as to move from the standby position to the operating position. The paper delivery unit includes a transferring device for transferring a toner image from the photosensitive drum onto a sheet, a tractor for feeding the sheet, disposed in the upstream of the transferring device in a paper delivery direction, and a suction feeder for holding and delivering the sheet, disposed in the downstream of the transferring device in the paper delivery direction.

Abstract: An accent color printer for printing on a continuous web of material has spaced apart drums, and a flexible continuous belt positioned around the drums. The belt defines a transport path having an arcuate portion at one of the drums. A platen cooperates with the belt to define a curvilinear print region for said transport path. An input module positions a continuous web onto the moving belt. Print heads positioned adjacent the belt print accent colors onto the web at the print region. An outfeed module removes the web from the belt at arcuate portion of the transport path and tensions the removed web whereby the web forms a capstan wrap with the belt at the arcuate portion of the transport path. The capstan wrap results in the tension in the web at the printer region being increased from the tension in the web removed from the belt.

Abstract: An electrographic printer device for printing tape-shaped recording media (10) in duplex and simplex printing contains two transfer printing stations (15/1,15/2) that can be pivoted against and away from the photoconductive drum (11). The first transfer printing station (15/1) serves for transferring toner images allocated to the front side, the second transfer printing station (15/2) serves for transferring back side toner images. A mechanical buffer storage (29) and a turn-over means (28) with preceding intermediate fixing station in the form of a photoflash fixing station (31) are arranged between the transfer printing stations (15/1,15/2).

Abstract: A broad swing arm having a finger at its swinging end extends from an axis near a fixing unit to a tractor, overtop and next to a continuous form transport path. Any bulge or buckle caused by a paper jam and forming in the continuous form at any position between the fixing unit and tractor, and across the width of the form, is detected as the swing arm is pushed up at some point along its length, moving the finger away from a sensor monitored by a controller. Printing in the printer is stopped when the sensor detects that the finger has been moved.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus having a structure in which it is judged whether or not the trailing end of a continuous sheet is fixed to a feeding reel. The continuous sheet wound around the feeding reel is pulled out, and is conveyed through a conveying path passing through an image forming section. When the continuous sheet is conveyed, the rotation or the stop of the feeding reel is detected. When the stop of the rotation of the feeding reel is detected while the continuous sheet is being conveyed, it is judged that the continuous sheet has been used up. The continuous sheet is further conveyed for a predetermined time period after the judgment. It is judged whether or not the trailing end of the continuous sheet is fixed to the feeding reel depending on whether or not the continuous sheet exists in a predetermined position of the conveying path.

Abstract: A digital copy machine includes an image reading unit IR, an image memory, an image formation unit PRT, and a circulation type sheet transportation mechanism having a transportation path of a length that can accommodate n (n.gtoreq.2) sheets for reversing the side of the sheet having a copy image formed on one side to the opposite side and refeeding the same to a copy position. In duplex copying using at least n sheets, the timing of feeding the first sheet is set so that the n-th sheet arrives at the copy position only after the time when the copy of an original image of the (2n-1)th page can be initiated in order to set the number of circulating sheets to n.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus capable of cutting a strip-shaped continuous sheet on which an image is formed to a desirable cutting length. A rolled-sheet is conveyed by registration rollers and the like. The rolled-sheet is further led to the vicinity of a photosensitive drum through pre-transfer rollers. The rolled-sheet to which a toner image has been transferred is subjected to toner fixing processing by a fixing device. When the leading end of the rolled-sheet reaches the pre-transfer rollers, the rotational speed of a sheet feeding motor is increased during a predetermined time. Consequently, the sheet conveying speed on the upstream side of the pre-transfer rollers in a direction of sheet conveyance is increased, thereby forming slack in a sheet portion between the registration rollers and the pre-transfer rollers. Consequently, tension exerted on a sheet portion between the fixing device and the pre-transfer rollers does not affect the conveyance of the sheet by the registration rollers.

Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a guiding path for guiding a sheet, a detector for detecting the presence/absence of the sheet in the guiding path, a power-supply switch for turning on and off a power supply, and a determination device for determining whether the sheet comprises a rolled sheet or a cut sheet according to whether the detector detects or does not detect the sheet, respectively, when the power-supply switch has been turned on.

Abstract: Each photoreceptor unit in a multi station printing system has a torque limited drive unit which provides rotational torque to overcome most of, but not all, of the rotational drag forces on the photoreceptors. In this manner, the web contact with the photoreceptor can control the speed of the photoreceptor by overrunning the torque provided by the motor but minimizing the possibly of slip or tearing of the web due to high torque loads imparted to the web by the multiple photoreceptor units of the printer.

Abstract: An electrostatographic printer for forming an image onto a web comprises at least one toner image-producing electrostatographic station having a drum onto which a toner image can be formed, a transport for conveying a web past the image-producing station, apparatus for controlling the speed and tension of the web while it is running past the image-producing station, and transfer apparatus for transferring the toner image on the drum onto the web. The printer is characterized by a control arrangement for switching between a printing mode wherein a printing web moves in synchronism with the peripheral speed of the drum and a refurbishment mode wherein a refurbishment web moves at a faster speed relative to the peripheral speed of the drum and in contact therewith, to cause refurbishment of the drum surface.

Abstract: A toner image carrying member is disposed beside the substantially mid-point of a delivery path for continuous paper. A first delivery device and second delivery device are disposed upstream and downstream of the toner image carrying member in a delivery direction of the continuous paper, respectively. The delivery speed of the second delivery device in the delivery direction is controlled to be greater than the delivery speed of the first delivery device, thereby imparting tension to the continuous paper.

Abstract: An electrographic printer device is designed for printing web-shaped recording media (10) having different web widths in different operating modes, such as single-colored and multi-colored simplex printing, single-colored and multi-colored duplex printing and for simultaneously printing two recording medium webs in parallel operation. To this end, the units of the printer device such as intermediate carrier (11), transfer printing station (15) and fixing station (18) comprise a usable width of at least twice the web width of a narrow recording medium. The printer device further contains a deflection means (28) following the fixing station (18) and engageable as needed and having an allocated return channel to the transfer printing station (15) via which the recording medium (10) is turned and resupplied to the transfer printing station (15) in single-color or multi-color duplex mode.

Abstract: A continuous form electrophotographic printer is provided with a guiding member upstream of a photoconductive drum. The electrophotographic printer retracts paper after it has once passed a fixing unit and been heated, and the guiding unit is provided with an urging member to smooth distorted or wrinkled paper.