Patent · US Expired

Sheet post-processing apparatus

US5852764A · kind A · utility

20Cited by
4References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 13, 1997
Grant dateDec 22, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 13, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03G2215/00421
  • WIPO fieldHandling
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A sheet is discharged from an image forming apparatus either onto a first discharge tray through a first transport path by sheet entry rollers via first transport rollers without being reversed, or onto a second discharge tray by second discharge rollers as being guided to a branched transport path by a first switching member formed in a midpoint of the transport path and further guided to a second transport path by a second switching member. The first and second transport rollers are capable of rotating in a reverse direction, and the sheet being fed to the first discharge tray is transported by the second transport rollers after being reversed to be discharged onto the first discharge tray in a reversed state. Therefore, in response to an image forming mode, a discharge end of the sheet and a discharge state of the sheet can be set as desired. In the case of discharging the sheet in a reversed state, as the first or second discharge tray can be used as a switch back transport path, the sheet post-processing apparatus can be reduced in size.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.