Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6799759
-
Patent Number
6,799,759
-
Date Filed
Thursday, March 27, 200321 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, October 5, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 493 384
- 493 405
- 493 444
- 270 5808
- 270 5811
- 270 5812
- 270 5814
- 270 5816
- 270 5817
- 270 32
- 270 37
- 399 410
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
In a booklet maker, as would be found in conjunction with a copier or printer, sheets to be folded and stapled into a booklet are accumulated in a slot. At the bottom of the slot, a selectably extendable contact member presses an accumulating set of sheets against a sidewall of the slot following the entry of each new sheet into the slot. The contact member decreases curling and fluffing of sheets within the slot, which can cause imprecisions in registering, stapling, or creasing of the sheets as they are formed into a booklet.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to a booklet maker, as would be used, for instance, in conjunction with a digital copier or printer.
BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Booklet makers are well-known devices for forming folded booklets which are stapled along the crease thereof. It is becoming common to include booklet makers in conjunction with office-range copiers and printers (as used herein, a “copier” will be considered a type of “printer”). In basic form, a booklet maker includes a slot for accumulating signature sheets, as would be produced by a printer. The accumulated sheets, forming the pages of a booklet, are positioned within the stack so that a stapler mechanism and complementary anvil can staple the stack precisely along the intended crease line. In one embodiment, the creased and stapled sheet sets are then pushed, by a blade, completely through crease rolls, to form the final main fold in the finished booklet. The finished booklets are then accumulated in a tray downstream of the crease rolls. One example of a practical booklet maker design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,280.
The present disclosure relates to an improved design of a booklet maker, which is particularly useful in conjunction with an office-range digital printer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for folding a set of sheets, comprising means defining a slot for accumulating sheets, the slot including a sidewall and a bottom. A selectably-operable contact member is disposed near the bottom of the slot, the contact member being operable to press at least one accumulated sheet against the sidewall of the slot. Means are provided for operating the contact member following entry of a sheet into the slot. A crease roll is disposed adjacent the slot. A blade is provided for directing the set of sheets toward the crease roll.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a simplified elevational view of a “finisher module,” including a booklet maker, as would be used with an office-range digital printer.
FIGS. 2 and 3
are detailed views showing the operation of a device in conjunction with a booklet maker as in FIG.
1
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1
is a simplified elevational view of a “finisher module,” generally indicated as
100
, including a booklet maker, as would be used with an office-range digital printer. Printed signature sheets from the printer
99
are accepted in an entry port
102
. Depending on the specific design of finisher module
100
, there may be numerous paths such as
104
and numerous output trays
106
for print sheets, corresponding to different desired actions, such as stapling, hole-punching and C- or Z-folding. It is to be understood that the various rollers and other devices which contact and handle sheets within finisher module
100
are driven by various motors, solenoids and other electromechanical devices (not shown), under a control system, such as including a microprocessor (not shown), within the finisher module
100
, printer
99
, or elsewhere, in a manner generally familiar in the art. For present purposes what is of interest is the booklet maker generally indicated as
110
.
Booklet maker
110
defines a “slot” which is here indicated as
112
. Slot
112
accumulates signature sheets (sheets each having four page images thereon, for eventual folding into pages of the booklet) from the printer
99
. Each sheet is held within slot
112
at a level where a stapler
114
can staple the sheets along a midline of the signatures, the midline corresponding to the eventual crease of the finished booklet. In order to hold sheets of a given size at the desired level relative to the stapler
114
, there is provided at the bottom of slot
112
an elevator
116
, which forms the “floor” of the slot
112
on which the edges of the accumulating sheets rest before they are stapled. The elevator
116
is placed at different locations along slot
112
depending on the size of the incoming sheets, so that the trailing edge of the sheets will initially be adjacent the sheet ordering roll assembly
111
. Also, elevator
116
is, for a given sheet size, movable (by means not shown, but typically including a motor or solenoid) among three positions, a first position where the trailing edge of the sheets are adjacent the sheet ordering roll assembly
111
, a second position where the midpoint of the sheets are adjacent the stapler
114
, and a third position, as will be described below.
As printed signature sheets are output from printer
99
, elevator
116
is positioned so that the trailing edge of the output sheets (which would be at the top of slot
112
) are disposed at sheet ordering roll assembly
111
. When all of the necessary sheets to form a desired booklet are accumulated in slot
112
, elevator
116
is moved from its first position to a second position where the midpoint of the sheets are adjacent the stapler
114
. Stapler
114
is activated to place one or more staples along the midpoint of the sheets, where the booklet will eventually be folded.
After the stapling, elevator
116
is moved from its second position to a third position, where the midpoint of the sheets are adjacent a blade
118
and a nip formed by crease rolls
120
. The action of blade
118
and crease rolls
120
performs the final folding, and sharp creasing, of the sheets into the finished booklet. Blade
118
contacts the sheet set along the stapled midpoint thereof, and bends the sheet set toward the nip of crease rolls
120
, which draw all the sheets in and form a sharp crease. The creased and stapled sheet sets then drawn, by the rotation of crease rolls
120
, completely through the nip, to form the final main fold in the finished booklet. The finished booklets are then conducted along path
122
and collected in a tray
124
.
FIGS. 2 and 3
are detailed views showing the operation of a device in conjunction with a booklet maker as in FIG.
1
. Of interest is the elevator
116
, forming a backstop to retain the sheet sets at the bottom of slot
112
. As shown, there is associated with backstop
116
a solenoid
130
, having a plunger
132
with an end cap (or, more broadly, a “contact member”) which is movable from a first, retracted position (shown in
FIG. 2
) to a second, extended position (shown in
FIG. 3
) which extends into slot
112
and presses a set of sheets S against one wall of the slot
112
. In this embodiment, plunger
132
is extended to its second position when the solenoid
130
is energized, such as through a control system as described above. Also, although a solenoid with a plunger is illustrated, any equivalent hardware can be used, such as including a stepper motor, for instance.
As can be seen by comparing
FIGS. 2 and 3
, when the plunger
132
is extended into its second position, the sheets S which are in slot
112
at any time are pushed against a wall of slot
112
. The configuration of sheets S in
FIG. 2
shows why the use of plunger
132
is desirable: without the plunger
132
, the accumulating sheets in slot
112
may be curved and/or “fluffed” (have appreciable cushions of air between adjacent sheets). The curving and fluffing can result in imprecisions in the placement of staples by stapler
114
as shown in
FIG. 1
, and/or in the folding of the booklet by blade
118
as shown in FIG.
1
: the curving and fluffing will alter the location of the true midpoint of the sheets during stapling or folding. The curving and fluffing can also effectively close off the slot
112
, preventing or resisting the following sheet(s) from entering the slot
112
causing jams or process mis-registration (poor alignment in the direction of sheet travel).
According to one embodiment, the solenoid
130
is activated to extend plunger
132
against a full or partial set of sheets in slot
112
following the placement of each new sheet in slot
120
, with the plunger being withdrawn back into its
FIG. 2
position in intervals to allow each new sheet to fully enter slot
112
. However, the pressing of plunger
132
after the entry of each sheet helps to open up space within slot
112
for receiving the next sheet, which provides a practical advantage, as can be seen by comparing
FIGS. 2 and 3
.
As shown in the illustrated embodiment, plunger
132
defines a contact member which is of a small size, such as one-half inch in diameter or generally less than three square inches in effective area, where it contacts the sheet in slot
112
. It may alternately be desirable, in some circumstances, to have a larger contact member, contacting the sheet over more surface area. A larger contact member may be useful in pushing air from between sheets in the slot
112
; however, in some designs, due to static electricity in the sheets, a large contact member may cause the sheet to stick to the left wall, and thus cause the sheet to get out of order relative to other sheets which will enter slot
112
later.
A flapper drive roll, indicated as
113
, also penetrates into the paper path slot
112
after each sheet is fed into slot
112
, but before the solenoid
130
is energized to ensure that the sheet is driven all the way to the backstop
116
. However, the action of flapper drive roll
113
also generates fluff and curl in the lower half of the slot
112
, reinforcing the requirement of using solenoid
130
to remove/reduce the fluff and curl in the lower half of slot
112
.
When the full sheet set is accumulated in slot
112
, the extended plunger
132
can be used to pin the whole stack in position for stapling and moving of the stack on elevator
116
so that the midpoint of the stack is aligned with the blade
118
. When the creasing from blade
118
begins, the plunger
132
is released so that the sheet stack can be drawn through the creasing rolls
120
as shown in FIG.
1
.
Claims
- 1. An apparatus for folding a set of sheets, comprising:means defining a slot for accumulating sheets, the slot including a sidewall and a bottom; a selectably-operable contact member operable to press at least one accumulated sheet against the sidewall; means for operating the contact member following entry of a sheet into the slot; the means for operating the contact member retracting the contact member during entry of a sheet into the slot; a crease roll disposed adjacent the slot; a blade for directing the set of sheets toward the crease roll; a stapler positioned to staple a set of sheets within the slot; an elevator movable within the slot, the elevator being movable to move a sheet within the slot; the elevator and contact member being operable so that the contact member presses a sheet against the sidewall as the elevator moves a predetermined portion of the sheet in the slot between the stapler and the blade.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sheet order roll assembly disposed at a predetermined location along the slot.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the contact member defines less than three square inches of area to contact a sheet.
- 4. An apparatus for folding a set of sheets, comprising:means defining a slot for accumulating sheets; an elevator movable within the slot, the elevator being movable to move a sheet within the slot, the elevator having a sidewall associated therewith; a contact member for pressing at least one accumulated sheet against the sidewall; the contact member being selectably actuable; means for operating the contact member following entry of a sheet into the slot; the means for operating the contact member retracting the contact member during entry of a sheet into the slot; a blade useful for folding at least one sheet accumulated in the slot; and a stapler positioned to staple a set of sheets within the slot; the contact member pressing at least one sheet against the sidewall as the elevator moves a predetermined portion of the sheet in the slot between the stapler and the blade.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sheet order roll assembly disposed at a predetermined location along the slot.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the contact member defines less than three square inches of area to contact a sheet.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5316280 |
Watkiss |
May 1994 |
A |
6022011 |
Hirose |
Feb 2000 |
A |
6145825 |
Kunihiro et al. |
Nov 2000 |
A |
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2001019268 |
Jan 2001 |
JP |