Patent Application
20100032883
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of image forming devices and, more particularly, to a kiosk-installable printer having a duplex path utilized to deliver printed media sheets to the lower front exterior of the printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some image forming devices, such as printers, utilize either C-shaped or S-shaped paper paths, such as seen in
Representative printers having the C-shaped paper path are described in U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2007/0182086 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,820 both assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The operations of these printers are conventionally well-known. In each printer, after a media sheet is introduced through either an input tray or a multi-purpose feeder, the media sheet is aligned and then fed to image forming stations downstream. The printers are capable of forming an image on one or both sides of the media sheet and delivering it to the top collection station of the printers. However, these printers are not capable of outputting the printed media sheet beyond the footprint of the printer so that it could be easily delivered out of a kiosk or other like enclosure to the general public.
Thus, there is a need for an innovation to overcome this shortcoming so that the market for these printers can be expanded by adapting them for use in kiosks and the like.
The present invention meets this need by providing an innovation that allows a printed media sheet to be delivered outside of the footprint of the C-shaped paper path printer after making only minimal modification to the printer. This innovation takes advantage of a pre-existing duplex path in the printer. The need thus satisfied by this minimal modification of the printer is the provision of the capability of outputting printer media sheets from the printer at a lower front exterior location thereon so that they can exit the cabinet of a kiosk enclosing the printer.
Accordingly, in an aspect of the present invention, an image forming device includes a housing having a collection site on an exterior top portion thereof adapted to receive printed media sheets and a lower front opening to exterior of the housing, an image formation path in the housing extending from an entrance end adjacent a source of supply of media sheets in the housing, past an image forming station in the housing, to an exit end adjacent to the collection site, a duplex path in the housing extending from an inlet end adjacent to the collection site to an outlet end adjacent the entrance end of the image formation path and the lower front opening in the housing, a media sheet directing mechanism disposed in the housing between the exit end of the image formation path, the collection site, and the inlet end of the duplex path and selectively operable to deliver printed media sheets to the collection site or the inlet end of the duplex path, and a deflector mechanism in the housing between the lower front opening and the outlet end of the duplex path and operable to divert printed media sheets from the duplex path through the lower front opening to exterior of the housing.
In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the deflector mechanism includes a diverter body disposed in the housing between the outlet end of the duplex path and the lower front opening in the housing. The diverter body has a main portion, disposed at a predetermined angle of slope relative to a horizontal plane, defining a discharge path extending downwardly and outwardly from the outlet end of the duplex path to the lower front opening of the housing. The diverter body is mounted in a stationary position in the housing and, as an example, on a media input tray disposed in the housing below the entrance end of the image formation path and adapted to hold a stack of the media sheets so as to provide the source of supply of media sheets.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the deflector mechanism includes a diverter body movably disposed in the housing for undergoing movement between first and second orientations wherein the first orientation the diverter body deflects media sheets along a discharge path extending downwardly and outwardly from the outlet end of the duplex path through the lower front opening to the exterior of the housing and wherein the second orientation the diverter body deflects media sheets to move along a return path extending from the outlet end of the duplex path to the entrance end of the image formation path. The deflector mechanism also includes a prime mover disposed in the housing and drivingly coupled to the diverter body and being selectively operable to move the diverter body to change the diverter body between the first and second orientations thereof.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, one or more embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the views. Also, terms such as “top”, “lower”, “front” and the like, are used herein as terms of convenience and not of limitation.
Referring now to
The printer 10 includes a housing 12 and a media input tray 14 removably disposed in the housing 12 through a lower front opening 16 in the housing 12 and providing a source of media sheets for the operations of the printer 10. The input tray 14 is sized to hold a first stack 18 of the media sheets. A sheet pick mechanism 20 also disposed in the housing 12 feeds or picks the media sheets from the tray 14 and along a ramp 22 that directs the sheets further along toward an entrance end 24a of an image formation path 24. The sheet pick mechanism 20 may include a roller 26 positioned on a pivoting arm 28. The pivoting arm 28 causes the roller 26 to remain in contact with a topmost sheet on the first stack 18. Rotation of the roller 26 removes the media sheet from the stack 18 with the leading edge contacting the ramp 22 so that the sheet will thus be moved toward the entrance end 24a of the image formation path 24.
A multi-purpose feeder 30 may also be included in the housing 12 of the printer 10 to move additional media sheets toward the entrance end 24a of the image formation path 24. The multi-purpose feeder 30 includes a support floor 32 adjacent to another ramp 34. An additional sheet pick mechanism 36 is provided, having a pivoting arm 38 and a roller 40 thereon. Rotation of the roller 40 moves the media sheet from the support floor 32 up the ramp 34 toward the entrance end 24a of the image formation path 24. The additional sheet pick mechanism 36 within the multi-purpose feeder 30 may be the same or different from the sheet pick mechanism 20 associated with the media input tray 14.
The operation of the printer 10 is conventionally well-known. After a media sheet is introduced through the input tray 14 or a multi-purpose feeder 30, the media sheet is presented at the entrance end 24a of the image formation path 24 as defined by a nip 42 of a media alignment mechanism 44 formed between its pair of rollers 46. The media alignment mechanism 44 removes lateral skew from the media sheet and precisely times its passage on to the image forming stations 48 located downstream along the image formation path 24.
After the media sheet passes the media alignment mechanism 44 it contacts a transport belt 50, which carries the media sheet along the image formation path 24 past successive photoconductor units 52 of the image forming stations 48. At each successive photoconductor unit 52, a latent image is formed by an imaging device 54 and optically projected onto a photoconductive member. The latent image is developed by applying toner to the photoconductive member from a toner reservoir. The toner is subsequently deposited on the media sheet as it is conveyed past each of the photoconductor units 52 by the transport belt 50.
The toner is then thermally fused to the media sheet by a fuser 56 and the sheet then passes through an exit end 24b of the image formation path 24 to a media sheet directing mechanism in the form of a pair of reversible exit rollers 58 which feed the media sheet face down onto a media sheets collection site 60 on a top exterior portion 62 of the printer housing 12. Alternatively, the exit rollers 58 may reverse motion after the trailing edge of the media sheet has passed an inlet end 64a to a duplex path 64. The reversed exit rollers 58 then direct the media sheet through the inlet end 64a of the vertically-oriented duplex path 64 to where the media sheet moves through an internal structure 66 defining the duplex path 64 to an outlet end 64b of the duplex path 64 from which the media sheet then travels through a return path 68 defined between a pair of upper and lower guides 70, 72 that interconnect the outlet end 64b of the duplex path 64 with the nip 42 at the entrance end 24a of the image formation path. Then the media sheet is transported back through the image formation path 24 where it is processed for the printing of another image on the back side of the media sheet. The doubled-sided printed media sheet is then delivered face down to the collection site 60 on the printer housing 12.
The prior art printer 10 of
Turning now to
The deflector mechanism 76 is thus disposed in the housing 12 between the lower front opening 16 and the ends of the upper and lower guides 70,72 adjacent to the outlet end 64b of the duplex path 64. The deflector mechanism 76 is operable to divert printed media sheets from the duplex path 64 to exterior of the housing 12 through the lower front opening 16 therein. Two exemplary embodiments of the deflector mechanism 76 are disclosed herein, the first illustrated in
As seen in
As seen in
The foregoing description of one or more embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.
