Claims
- 1. A copier for producing duplex copies from originals, the copies and originals including support sheets having first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a process section for establishing representations of originals, said process section including an exposure position at which the support sheets of such originals are located for copying;
- a document feeder comprising means for receiving the support sheets of such originals and means for circulating the original support sheets one-after-another from said receiving means, twice to said exposure position, and then back to said receiving means, said circulating means presenting to said exposure position for copying a different face of each original support sheet on successive presentations of such sheet to the exposure position; and
- a copy duplexing section comprising first and second transfer stations, first and second means for receiving copy support sheets, and means for feeding the copy support sheets from said first receiving means to said first and second transfer stations and then to said second receiving means, said copy feeding means presenting the first face of each copy support sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said first transfer station and the second face of each copy support sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said second transfer station.
- 2. A copier for producing duplex copies automatically from a duplex original, the respective copies and original including a set of support sheets having first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a process section for establishing representations of original sheets, one-representation-after-another, said process section including an exposure platen at which the original sheets are located in a position to be copied;
- a document feeder including a sheet-receiving hopper spaced from said exposure platen and means for repeatedly circulating the original support sheets one-after-another from said hopper, into engagement with said platen first and second times for presenting the first and second faces for copying, and then back to said sheet-receiving hopper, said circulating means presenting to said platen for copying a different face of each original sheet each time such sheet is presented; and
- a copy duplexing section comprising first and second transfer stations adjacent to said process section, a supply hopper for storing the copy support sheets, an exit hopper for receiving the copy support sheets, and means for feeding the copy support sheets, one after another, from said supply hopper to said first and second transfer stations and then to said exit hopper, said copy feeding means presenting one face of each copy support sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said first transfer station and another face of such support sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said second transfer station.
- 3. Reproduction apparatus for producing copies from an original, the original including a set of support sheets, and each respective copy including a corresponding set of support sheets, the original and copy sheets both having first and second faces, said apparatus comprising:
- a process section for establishing representations of the first and second original faces, said process section having an exposure position in which faces of the original sheets are located for copying;
- a document feeder including a hopper for receiving the set of original sheets, and means for circulating and recirculating the original sheets one-after-another from said hopper, twice to said exposure position, and then back to said hopper, said circulating and recirculating means presenting to said platen for copying a different original face for each time said process section establishes a representation; and
- a copy duplexing section including first and second transfer stations operatively associated with said process section, a copy-sheet supply hopper, copy-sheet receiving means, and a copy feeder for feeding the copy sheets from said supply hopper, to said first and second transfer stations and then to said copy-sheet receiving means, said copy feeder including a sheet inverting device located between said first and second transfer stations, said feeder being effective to present one face of each copy sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said first transfer station and to present another face of such copy sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said second transfer station.
- 4. Reproduction apparatus for producing a desired number of copies from an original, the original comprising a set of support sheets having a page-sequential order on first and second faces of the support sheets, and each copy produced comprising a set of support sheets corresponding to said original set in page-sequential order on first and second faces the copy support sheets, said apparatus comprising:
- a process section including an exposure station at which original sheets are positioned for copying, the process section having an optical arrangement for viewing original pages at the exposure station, and means for producing an imagewise distribution of marking particles representing an original page viewed by said optical arrangement; a document feeder comprising a hopper for receiving the original set and means for circulating the set of original support sheets one-after-another from said hopper, twice to said exposure station, and then back to said hopper, said circulating means presenting said original set to the exposure station for viewing by said optical arrangement one-page-at-a-time and in page-sequential order, last page first, and a number of times equal to the desired number of copies; and
- a copy duplexing section comprising first and second transfer stations positioned adjacent said process section, a copy-sheet supply hopper, a fuser, and means for feeding the copy sheets from said supply hopper, to said first and second transfer stations and then to said fuser, said feeding means including a sheet inverting device positioned adjacent to said process section and between said first and second transfer stations for inverting each copy support sheet as it is fed from the first transfer station to the second transfer station so that each sheet receives on two different faces thereof visible representations from said process section in said first and second transfer stations.
- 5. A copier for producing multiple copies of originals, the copies and originals each comprising a plurality of sheets having first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a document feeder comprising a hopper for receiving and supporting original sheets, an exposure station spaced from said hopper, means for circulating one-original-sheet-after-another from said hopper to said exposure station and back to said hopper, and sheet inverting means for turning the original sheets over to present both faces thereof to said expsoure station for copying;
- a process section for establishing visible representations of original sheets in said exposure station, said process section including a single photoconductor for supporting latent electrostatic images of the original faces presented for copying, a plurality of processing stations for acting on said photoconductor to render the images visible, and means for moving said photoconductor relative to said stations for sequentially establishing the representations one-after-another along said photoconductor; and
- a duplexing section for transferring the visible representations from said photoconductor to the copy sheets, said duplexing section including first and second transfer zones, a copy sheet inverter located between said zones for inverting a copy sheet as it travels from the first zone to the second zone, and means for sequentially presenting the copy sheets one-after-another first to said first transfer zone for receiving a visible representation from said photoconductor on the first faces of the copy sheets, then to said sheet inverter for turning the copy sheets over, and then to said second transfer zone for receiving a visible representation from said photoconductor on the second faces of the copy sheets.
- 6. The invention as set forth in claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 further comprising coordinating means for controlling said feeder repeatedly to present the original sheets to the exposure station in page-sequential order, said process section for establishing one representation for each respective presentation of an original sheet, and said duplexing section to present one copy-sheet face in synchronism with each respective establishment of a representation.
- 7. A copier for producing copies of an original, the copies and original each comprising a plurality of sheets having first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a document feeding section including a hopper for receiving and supporting the original sheets, an exposure station spaced from said hopper, means for circulating one-original-sheet-after-another from said hopper to said exposure station for copying and back to said hopper, and sheet inverting means for turning the original sheets over during circulation of the sheets, said circulating means presenting each face of an original sheet to the exposure station for copying;
- a process section for establishing imagewise distributions of marking particles representing the original sheet faces presented to said exposure station, said process section including a photoconductor for supporting latent electrostatic images of the originals circulated to said exposure station, a developing station applying marking particles to said latent images to create the imagewise distributions, and means for moving said photoconductor relative to said stations for sequentially establishing the imagewise distributions one-after-another along said photoconductor; and
- a duplexing section for transferring the imagewise distributions from said photoconductor to the copy sheets, said transfer section including first and second transfer zones, a copy sheet inverter located between said zones for inverting a copy sheet as it travels from the first zone to the second zone, and means for sequentially presenting the copy sheets one-after-another first to said first transfer zone for receiving a visible representation from said photoconductor on the first faces of the copy sheets, then to said sheet inverter for turning the copy sheets over, and then to said second transfer zone for receiving a visible representation from said photoconductor on the second faces of the copy sheets.
- 8. A copier for producing multiple copies of an original having a page-sequential order, the original and copies respectively comprising a set of flat sheets having odd and even pages on first and second faces thereof, said copier comprising:
- a process section including an exposure platen for supporting the original pages and means for establishing imagewise distributions of marking particles representing the original pages so supported;
- a collating document feeder comprising a single hopper for holding the original set, and means for circulating the sheets in the original set one-after-another from said hopper twice to said exposure platen and back to said hopper, said circulating means including document inverting means for alternately presenting even and odd original pages to said exposure platen; and
- a copy duplexing section having first and second transfer stations, a first hopper for holding a supply of copy sheets, a second hopper for receiving copy sheets, and means for feeding the copy sheets from said first hopper twice to said process section and then to said second hopper, said feeding means including copy sheet inverting means between said transfer stations for turning copy sheets over to alternately present the second and first faces of the copy sheets, respectively, to receive the imagewise distributions representing the even and odd original pages in the second and first transfer stations.
- 9. Reproduction apparatus for making copies of documents, said documents including sets of sheet material having first and second faces bearing information to be copied and said copies including corresponding sets of support material bearing the copied information;
- a document feeding section including an exposure position where the document sheets are positionable for copying, a document hopper for receiving the document sheets in a set of such sheets, and means for circulating the document sheets, one-after-another, from the bottom of the set in said document hopper to said exposure position for a first presentation, away from and back to said exposure position for a second presentation, and then to the top of the set in said document hopper, said circulating means including means for inverting the respective document sheets zero or an even number of times between said hopper and said exposure position, an odd number of times between the first and second presentations to said exposure position, and an odd number of times between said exposure position and said document hopper;
- a process section including means for forming imagewise distributions of marking particles, one-after-another, containing information copied from the document sheets, said forming means establishing only one imagewise distribution for each respective presentation of a document sheet; and
- a copy duplexing section including supply and exit hoppers and means defining a path from said supply hopper to said process section and then to said exit hopper, first and second transfer stations in said path for transferring the imagewise distributions from said process section to the copy supports, a turn-around device in said path between said transfer stations for inverting the supports an odd number of times between said stations, and a fusing device in said path between said second transfer stations and said second hopper, and means for feeding copy supports in said path, one-after-another, from said first hopper to said first transfer station, through said turn-around device to said second transfer station, and then through said fuser to said second hopper.
- 10. A copier for providing copies from originals, the copies and originals including support sheets defining first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a process section for establishing visible representations of the original sheets, said process section including an exposure platen for supporting the original sheets to be copied;
- a document feeder including a sheet receiving hopper and means for circulating the original support sheets, one-after-another, from said hopper to said platen and back to said hopper, said circulating means defining:
- an original duplex path for presenting the original twice to said platen, once with the second face engaging the platen and once with the first face engaging the platen, and
- an original simplex path for presenting the original once to said platen, with the first face engaging the platen;
- a copy section including first and second transfer stations, a supply hopper, a fuser and an exit hopper, said copy section defining:
- a copy duplex path and means for feeding copy supports from said supply hopper to said first and second transfer stations, then to the fuser and then to said exit hopper, said copy feeding means presenting one face of each respective copy support to receive a visible representation from said process section in said first transfer station and another face of such support to receive a visible representation from said process section in said second transfer station; and
- a copy simplex path and means for feeding copy supports from said supply hopper to said first transfer station, then to the fuser and then to said exit hopper, said copy feeding means presenting the first face of each respective copy support to receive a visible representation from said process section at said first transfer station;
- control means for selectively directing:
- the original sheets in said original duplex path and the copy sheets in said copy duplex path to produce duplex copies from duplex originals;
- the original sheets in said original simplex path and the copy sheets in said copy duplex path to produce duplex copies from simplex originals; and
- the original sheets in said original simplex path and the copy sheets in said copy simplex path to produce simplex copies from simplex originals.
- 11. A copier for producing copies from originals having first and second faces, the copies comprising support sheets having first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a process section for establishing representations of originals for transfer to support sheets;
- a document feeder including means for receiving originals, and means for circulating and recirculating the originals one-after-another from said receiving means to said process section and then back to said receiving means, said circulating means presenting to said process section for copying at least one face of each original on each circulation of such original; and
- a copy duplexing section including first and second transfer stations at which representations of originals are transferred from the process section to copy support sheets, first and second means for receiving copy support sheets, and means for feeding the copy support sheets from said first receiving means sequentially to said first and second transfer stations and then to said second receiving means, said feeding means presenting the first face of a copy support sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said first transfer station and presenting the second face of such copy support sheet to receive a representation from said process section in said second transfer station.
- 12. The invention as set forth in claim 11 wherein said circulation means of said document feeder further comprises a sheet inverter for inverting an original, the sheet inverter being located so that an original is circulated from the process section through the inverter and then back to the process section a second time whereby both faces of an original are presented to said process section for copying.
- 13. Apparatus for producing a set of copies from an original set, the sets each including support sheets arranged in the same page sequential order; said copier comprising:
- a process section having a viewing position at which pages of original sheets are located for copying, and means for producing a representation of an original page that is located at the viewing position;
- a document feeder having means for receiving the original set with the first page of the set on top and facing upwardly, and means for circulating the original support sheets one-after-another from the bottom of the original set in said receiving means to said viewing position and then back to the receiving means on top of the set in said receiving means, said circulating means presenting the support sheets of said original set to said viewing position for copying sequentially, and the circulating means presenting each page of the original set to the viewing position once for each copy of such page that is produced; and
- a copy duplexing section comprising first and second transfer stations positioned adjacent said process section, a copy-sheet supply hopper, a fuser, and means for feeding copy sheets along a path extending from said supply hopper, to said first and second transfer stations and then to said fuser, said feeding means including a sheet inverting device positioned along said path between said first and second transfer stations for inverting a copy sheet as it travels between said transfer stations so that each copy sheet receives a representation from said process section on one face at said first transfer station and a representation from the process section on the opposite face at the second transfer station.
- 14. A copier for producing copies from originals having first and second faces, the copies comprising support sheets having first and second faces, said copier comprising:
- a process section for establishing representations of originals for transfer to support sheets;
- a recirculating document feeder comprising means for receiving originals, and sheet presenting means for sequentially removing document sheets from the receiving means and presenting the removed sheets to the process section, said sheet presenting means comprising means defining a non-inverting sheet path leading from the receiving means to the process section so that sheets can be advanced along such path from the receiving means to the process section with the same face of the sheet facing upwardly in the receiving means and in the process section, said presenting means further comprising a first sheet inverting path for inverting a sheet as it travels between the receiving means and the process section so that the face of the sheet that faces upwardly in the receiving means is inverted to face downwardly in the process section, a sheet returning means comprising a sheet path extending from the process section to the receiving means, said returning means being shaped to invert a document sheet once as it travels from the process section to the receiving means, and a second sheet inverting path located with respect to the process section for receiving a sheet fed from the process section and for returning the sheet to the process section with the sheet being inverted as it travels through the second sheet inverting path so that a second face of the sheet is presented to the process section; and
- a copy section including a transfer section at which representations of originals are transferred from the process section to copy support sheets, first and second means for receiving copy support sheets, and means for feeding the copy support sheets from said first receiving means to said transfer station and then to said second receiving means.
- 15. The invention as set forth in claim 14 wherein said non-inverting sheet path comprises a closed end passageway, and the invention further comprising a diverter movable between first and second positions and being located with respect to said passageway and said first sheet invertng path so that (1) the diverter is effective in its first position to direct original sheets fed from the receiving means into the first inverting path and (2) the diverter is effective in its second position to direct original sheets fed from the receiving means into the non-inverting path.
- 16. A recirculating document feeder for feeding one or more document sheets to an exposure position for copying of the sheets, the feeder comprising:
- a hopper spaced from the exposure position and adapted to receive a set of document sheets in their normal page sequential order; and
- sheet presenting means for sequentially removing document sheets from the hopper and presenting the removed sheets to the exposure position, such sheet presenting means comprising means defining a non-inverting sheet path leading from the hopper to the exposure position so that sheets are advanced along such path from the hopper to the exposure position with the same face of the sheet facing upwardly in the hopper and in the exposure position, and said presenting means further comprising a sheet inverting path for inverting a sheet as it travels between the hopper and the exposure position so that the face of the sheet that faces upwardly in the hopper is inverted to face downwardly in the exposure position, and sheet returning means comprising a sheet path extending from the exposure position to the hopper, said returning means being shaped to invert a document sheet once as it travels from the exposure position to the hopper.
- 17. The invention as set forth in claim 16 wherein said presenting means further comprises a second sheet inverting path located with respect to the exposure position for receiving a sheet fed from the exposure position and for returning the sheet to the exposure position with the sheet being inverted as it travels through the second sheet inverting path so that as it travels through the second sheet inverting path so that a second face of the sheet is presented for exposure; and
- means for controlling the feeding of a document sheet into the inverting or non-inverting paths so that one or both faces of a document sheet can be presented at the exposure position for copying of the document sheet.
- 18. The invention as set forth in claim 16 wherein said hopper is positioned above the exposure position, the non-inverting sheet path comprises a closed-end passageway, and the invention further comprises drive means for advancing a sheet in a first direction for feeding the sheet into the passageway and for advancing a sheet in a second direction for feeding the sheet out of the passageway.
- 19. A recirculating document feeder for feeding one or more document sheets to an exposure position for copying of the sheets, the feeder comprising:
- a hopper spaced from the exposure postion and adapted to receive a set of document sheets in a predetermined page sequential order; and
- sheet presenting means for sequentially removing document sheets from the hopper and presenting the removed sheets to the exposure position, such sheet presenting means comprising means defining a non-inverting sheet path leading from the hopper to the exposure position so that sheets are advanced along such path from the hopper to the exposure position with the same face of the sheet facing downwardly in the hopper and in the exposure position, and said presenting means further comprising means defining a sheet inverting path leading from and returning to the exposure position for receiving a sheet fed from the exposure position and inverting the sheet as it travels through the sheet inverting path so that upon return to the exposure position a second face of the sheet is presented for exposure, and sheet returning means comprising means defining a sheet path extending from the exposure position to the hopper, said returning means being shaped to invert a document sheet once as it travels from the exposure position to the hopper.
- 20. A recirculating document feeder for feeding one or more document sheets to an exposure position for copying of the sheets, the feeder comprising:
- a document hopper for receiving the document sheets in a set of such sheets, and means for circulating the document sheets, one-after-another, from the bottom of the set in said document hopper to said exposure position for a first presentation, away from and back to said exposure position for a second presentation, and then to the top of the set in said document hopper, said circulating means including means for inverting the respective document sheets zero or an even number of times between said hopper and the first presentation at said exposure position, an odd number of times between the first and second presentations to said exposure position, and an odd number of times between the second presentation at said exposure position and said document hopper.
- 21. The invention as set forth in claim 20 wherein said circulating means further comprises means for inverting the respective document sheets an odd number of times between said hopper and the first presentation at said exposure position, and the invention further comprising means for controlling said circulating means to present either one face or both faces of a document sheet to the exposure position for copying.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 768,666, filed Feb. 14, 1977, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3615129 |
Drawe et al. |
Oct 1971 |
|
3841754 |
Drexler et al. |
Oct 1974 |
|
3862802 |
Till |
Jan 1975 |
|
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
768666 |
Feb 1977 |
|