Card separation apparatus and card separation method
AssigneesKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorKikuo Mizutani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A card separation apparatus includes a movable tray having a surface onto which a sheet is conveyed after a card has been separated from the sheet, and a card separation unit mounted on the surface for movement with the movable tray, the card separation unit having an opening through which the sheet is conveyed, and a controller configured to send an instruction to the movable tray to be moved at a predetermined timing after a leading edge of the sheet to which the card is attached enters the opening, so as to cause the sheet to be initially separated from the card.
Claims20
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a paper feeding unit configured to supply a sheet on which a card is attached;
- a printing unit configured to form an image on the card attached to the supplied sheet;
- a conveying roller configured to convey the sheet together with the card on which the image is formed;
- a movable tray comprising
- a card separation unit mounted on a surface of the movable tray and having an opening through which the sheet is conveyed;
- and
- a controller configured to move the movable tray so as to separate the card from the sheet when a leading edge of the sheet is conveyed to the opening of the card separation unit.
A method carried out by an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:
- supplying a sheet on which a card is attached, to a printing unit;
- forming, by the printing unit, an image on the card attached to the supplied sheet;
- conveying, from the printing unit to a movable tray, the sheet together with the card on which the image is formed, the movable tray comprising a card separation unit mounted on a surface of the movable tray and having an opening through which the sheet is conveyed;
- and
- moving the movable tray so as to separate the card from the sheet when a leading edge of the sheet is conveyed to the opening of the card separation unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.