Gravity-assisted wall registration system

A gravity-assisted wall registration system comprising:

• a transport member including a surface on which an associated sheet is translated in a process direction, the surface defining an angle with respect to horizontal in a cross-process direction of at least 1 degree;
• a registration wall adjacent a lower end of the surface which defines a registration edge for registering the sheet;
• a drive mechanism;
• and
• at least one rotation mechanism, driven by the drive mechanism, for translating the sheet in the process direction, each rotation mechanism including at least one drive member with an axis of rotation parallel to the surface in the cross-process direction, each drive member including a sliding mechanism, at a periphery of the drive member, enabling the sheet to slide, under gravity, on the surface, toward the registration wall into an alignment position, in contact with the registration wall,
• wherein the sliding members include flexible members which extend radially outward from the at least one drive member, and
• wherein each flexible member has a width of up to 2 mm, in the cross-process direction and/or wherein the flexible members are defined by annular portions of first disks having a first radius, which are spaced, in the cross-process direction, by second disks of a smaller radius than the first disks.

A printing system comprising a sheet transport system, the sheet transport system comprising:

• a first registration system, the first registration system being a gravity-assisted wall registration system, comprising:
• a transport member including a surface on which an associated sheet is translated in a process direction, the surface defining an angle with respect to horizontal in a cross-process direction of at least 1 degree;
• a registration wall adjacent a lower end of the surface which defines a registration edge for registering the sheet;
• a drive mechanism;
• and
• at least one rotation mechanism, driven by the drive mechanism, for translating the sheet in the process direction, each rotation mechanism including at least one drive member with an axis of rotation parallel to the surface in the cross-process direction, each drive member including a sliding mechanism, at a periphery of the drive member, enabling the sheet to slide, under gravity, on the surface, toward the registration wall into an alignment position, in contact with the registration wall;
• and
• a second registration system, which receives sheets registered by the gravity-assisted wall registration system.

A printing system comprising:

• a marking device which applies a marking material to associated sheets of print media;
• a sheet transport system which transports the sheets in a process direction to the marking device, the sheet transport system including a gravity-assisted registration system comprising:
• a transport member including a surface on which the sheets are translated in the process direction, the surface defining an angle with respect to horizontal in a cross-process direction of at least 1 degree;
• a registration wall adjacent a lower end of the surface which defines a registration edge for registering the sheets;
• a drive mechanism;
• and
• at least one rotation mechanism, each rotation mechanism including:
• at least one first rotatable member, driven by the drive mechanism, the first rotatable member being positioned above the sheet, with an axis of rotation parallel to the surface in the cross-process direction, which translates the sheets in the process direction, each drive member including a sliding mechanism, at a periphery of the drive member, enabling each of the sheets to slide, under gravity, on the surface, toward the registration wall into an alignment position, in contact with the registration wall, and
• at least one second rotatable member, positioned below the sheet to provide a nip with one of the at least one first rotatable members, and having an axis of rotation parallel to the surface in the cross-process direction.

A method of printing comprising:

• transporting a sheet of print media in a process direction on a print media path;
• registering the sheet of print media with a gravity-assisted registration system to reduce at least one of skew and lateral shift;
• and
• applying a marking material to the sheet with a marking device positioned on the paper path, upstream or downstream of the gravity-assisted registration system;
• wherein the gravity-assisted registration system comprises:
• a transport member including a surface on which the sheet is translated in the process direction, the surface defining an angle with respect to horizontal in a cross-process direction, of at least 1 degree;
• a registration wall adjacent a lower end of the surface which defines a registration edge for registering the sheet;
• a drive mechanism;
• and
• at least one rotation mechanism, driven by the drive mechanism, each of the at least one driven rotation mechanism including at least one drive member, positioned above the paper path, with an axis of rotation parallel to the surface in the cross-process direction, which translates the sheet in the process direction, each drive member including a sliding mechanism, at a periphery of the drive member, enabling the sheet to slide, under gravity, on the surface, toward the registration wall into an alignment position, in contact with the registration wall.