Sheet guide and cooling apparatus

Claim 1

In an apparatus for processing a sheet bearing a developed image, said apparatus having a fixing station for receiving the sheets and rendering said developed image permanently fixed to the sheet by application of heat and pressure, means for establishing a sheet travel path downstream of said fixing station, said path extending in a given plane substantially coplanar with the plane of sheet travel in said fixing station, said means comprising: guide means defining a thermally conductive sheet guide surface parallel to and closely adjacent said given plane downstream of said fixing station, said guide means including an elongated guideplate a series of openings extending therethrough, said guideplate having at least one thermally conductive fin extending therefrom to facilitate cooling of said sheet, said fin being located out of said sheet travel path; and means for positively maintaining successive incremental portions of sheets traveling in said path in face-to-face contact with said sheet guide surface for at least a predetermined period as such sheets move along said path.