Active pre-registration system employing a paper supply elevator
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorAlan G. Schlageter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pre-registration system increases the latitude of present active registration systems by decreasing the lateral offset of sheets before they reach the active registration system. This is accomplished by pivoting and translating a sheet supply elevator with stepper motors in conjunction with sensing a lateral edge of sheets in order to direct the sheets to the proper lateral position to be fed into the active registration system with a minimum of lateral offset.
Claims16
An active pre-registration apparatus, comprising:
- a pivotable and translatable sheet supply elevator, and wherein said sheet supply elevator is adapted to hold a stack of sheets;
- a device for pivoting and translating said sheet supply elevator;
- a lateral edge sensor which senses the lateral edge of moving sheets downstream of said sheet supply elevator;
- and
- a controller adapted to receive a signal from said lateral edge sensor and in turn actuate said device to thereby pivot and translate said sheet supply elevator to a predetermined position.
Apparatus for propositioning sheets before they are fed to a registration unit, comprising:
- a sheet supply elevator adapted to hold a stack of sheets in a predetermined position, said sheet supply elevator being both pivotable and translatable;
- a device adapted to pivot and translate said sheet supply elevator a predetermined amount;
- a sheet lateral edge sensor positioned downstream of said registration unit and adapted to sense the lateral edge of moving sheets en route to said registration unit;
- and
- a controller adapted to receive a signal from said lateral edge sensor and in turn actuate said device to pivot and translate said pivoting transport to an optimum position for transporting sheets to the registration unit with a minimum of lateral offset.
A method for pre-registering sheets transported to a downstream registration location, comprising the steps of:
- providing a sheet elevator adapted to hold a stack of sheets and feed sheets therefrom seriatim to a downstream registration location, and wherein said sheet elevator is both pivotable and translatable;
- providing an input transport for receiving sheets from said sheet elevator and transporting them to said downstream registration location;
- providing a driving device for pivoting and translating said sheet supply elevator;
- sensing a lateral edge of moving sheets fed from said sheet supply elevator;
- and
- actuating said driving device in response to said sensing of the lateral edge of the sheets to thereby pivot and translate said sheet supply elevator to an optimum position.
A system for laterally registering a sheet, comprising:
- a sheet supply elevator for holding a stack of sheet for feeding seriatim therefrom, and wherein said sheet supply elevator rotates and translates in a predetermined plane;
- a device for rotating and translating said sheet supply elevator within said predetermined plane;
- a lateral edge sensor which senses the lateral edge of sheets moving downstream of said sheet supply elevator, and
- a controller adapted to receive a signal from said lateral edge sensor and in turn actuate said device to thereby rotate and translate said sheet supply elevator to achieve lateral registration of sheets transported in said predetermined plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.