Electrophotographic apparatus incorporating offset stacking
AssigneeBull HN Information Systems Italia S.p.A.
InventorCarlo Fare
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrophotographic apparatus incorporating a sorter device formed by a double pair of driving rollers for ejecting sheets from the apparatus and delivering them into a collecting bin, the two roller pairs acting on the side edges of the sheets at selectively controllable velocities to selectively produce an angular deflection of the outgoing sheets in either of two directions and their delivery into the collecting bin in different positions rotated from each other, the bin having an opening dihedral with side walls which define the maximum amounts of imparted deflection for the two positions.
Claims17
An electrophotographic apparatus incorporating a sorter device, wherein a fixing station imparts a forward speed, along an outgoing path of travel in a forward direction, to a print carrier with two side bands extending along said forward direction, one side of the print carrier having an image fixed thereon, characterized in that said apparatus comprises:
- first and second friction entrainment rollers adapted to be driven independently and being arranged axially along a transverse direction to said outgoing path and respectively juxtaposed to third and fourth freely rotating pressure rollers, said print carrier being conveyed to said rollers to interpose said two side bands between said first and third rollers and said second and fourth rollers, respectively, with the side having the image fixed thereon in contact with said third and fourth rollers;
- a first means for imparting a first peripheral velocity to said first roller;
- a second means for imparting to said second roller a second peripheral velocity different than said first peripheral velocity and selected from at least two velocities;
- a control means for controlling said second means to impart to said second roller a selected one of said at least two velocities;
- and
- a print carrier collecting bin.
A sorting device for selectively positioning in one of at least two locations a print carrier transported in a forward direction to said sorting device, said print carrier having first and second side bands extending along said first direction, said sorting device comprising:
- first roller means for engaging and imparting a first forward velocity to said first side band of said print carrier;
- second roller means adapted to be driven independently of said first roller means for engaging and imparting a second forward velocity, different than said first forward velocity, to said second side band of said print carrier;
- control means for controlling a relative velocity difference between said first forward velocity and said second forward velocity;
- and
- a print carrier collecting bin positioned adjacent said first and second roller means and including first and second deposit areas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.