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US 5,320,336 AGranted
Sheet stacking device with vertically movable tray
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorShinji Asami
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for stacking sheets sequentially driven out of an image forming apparatus on a tray. The device is capable of stacking both of stapled sheets and non-stapled sheets accurately without damaging them. In a stapling mode, the tray is positioned at a home position in which the top surface of the tray or the top-most sheet in the tray is spaced apart from a positioning roller a distance greater than a thickness of a maximum number of sheets which can be stapled together.
Claims3
A sheet stacking device for an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- discharge roller means for discharging a sheet driven out of the image forming apparatus;
- tray means for stacking the sheets sequentially discharged by said discharge roller means;
- rotatable positioning roller means facing the top of the sheets stacked on said tray means;
- sensing means for sensing a level of uppermost one of the sheets stacked on said tray means;
- tray moving means for adjusting the level of the uppermost one of the sheets in response to an output of said sensing means;
- and
- control means for locating, when non-stapled sheets are discharged one by one, said tray means at a home position where said tray means contacts said positioning roller means or locating, when stapled sheets are discharged, said tray means at a home position where said tray means is spaced apart from said positioning roller means.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.