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US4445680A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Sheet distribution method

Assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
•
Filing: 1980-09-24
•
Granted: 1984-05-01
•
Expires: 2000-09-24
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Abstract

Abstract A sheet distribution method for collating a plurality of sets of copies produced by a copying machine into respective bins of a collating apparatus operatively connected to the copying machine, each set of copies consisting of one copy of each respective page of an original document, includes the steps of providing a first display unit, displaying a total number of sets of copies to be produced and collated on the first display unit, computing whether the total number of sets is greater than a number of available bins in the collating apparatus, when the total number of sets is smaller than the number of available bins, collating the sets of copies into the respective bins in a single collation operation, when the total number of sets is greater than the number of available bins, collating the sets of copies into the respective bins in a plurality of successive collation operations, providing a second display unit, during collation of a page of the document by the collating apparatus, computing a total number of copies of the page which have been collated, and displaying the total number of copies on the second display unit. The total number of copies is obtained by counting a number of copies of the page which have been collated during a present collation operation to provide a count, computing a previous number of sets of copies which were collated during previous collation operations and adding the count to the previous number of sets to provide the total number of copies.

Inventors

  • 👤 Hideo Kikuchi
  • 👤 Tamaki Kaneko

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 10:48
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H39/00; B65H39/10; B65H2408/00; B65H2408/10; B65H2408/11; B65H2408/118

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 5
Claim 1
Independent Claim 200 words
A sheet distribution method for collating a plurality of sets of copies produced by a copying machine into respective bins of a collating apparatus operatively connected to the copying machine, each set of copies consisting of one copy of each respective page of an original document, comprising the steps of: (a) providing first display means; (b) displaying a total number of sets of copies to be produced and collated on the first display means; (c) computing whether the total number of sets is greater than a number of available bins in the collating apparatus; (d) when the total number of sets is smaller than the number of available bins, collating the sets of copies into the respective bins in a single collation operation; (e) when the total number of sets is greater than the number of available bins, collating the sets of copies into the respective bins in a plurality of successive collation operations; (f) providing second display means; (g) during collation of copies of a page of the document by the collating apparatus, computing a total number of copies of said page which have been collated; and (h) displaying the total number of copies on the second display means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 200 words
A sheet distribution method for collating a plurality of sets of copies produced by a copying machine into respective bins of a collating apparatus operatively connected to the copying machine, each set of copies consisting of one copy of each respective page of an original document, comprising the steps of: (a) providing first display means; (b) displaying a total number of sets of copies to be produced and collated on the first display means; (c) computing whether the total number of sets is greater than a number of available bins in the collating apparatus; (d) when the total number of sets is smaller than the number of available bins, collating the sets of copies into the respective bins in a single collation operation; (e) when the total number of sets is greater than the number of available bins, collating the sets of copies into the respective bins in a plurality of successive collation operations; (f) providing second display means; (g) during collation of copies of a page of the document by the collating apparatus, computing a total number of copies of said page which have been collated; and (h) displaying the total number of copies on the second display means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 64 words
A method as in claim 1, in which step (g) comprises counting a number of copies of said page which have been collated during a present collation operation to provide a count, computing a previous number of sets of copies which were collated during previous collation operations and adding said count to the previous number of sets to provide the total number of copies.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 44 words
An apparatus as in claim 1, in which the collating apparatus comprises a plurality of collators, the method further comprising the step, performed prior to step (c), of: (i) determining the number of available bins by sensing for an available status of each collator.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 26 words
An apparatus as in claim 3, further comprising the step, performed after step (i), of: (j) inhibiting collation when the number of available bins is zero.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3830590A Cited
US4200386A Cited
US4285508A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1987-05-01 1987-10-31 1988-05-01 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1991-05-01 1991-10-31 1992-05-01 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1995-05-01 1995-10-31 1996-05-01 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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