Image forming apparatus

Claim 2

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a document, on a sheet, comprising: an image carrier; image forming means for forming an electrostatic image corresponding to an image on a document, on the image carrier; transfer means which causes the sheet to be in contact with said image carrier, to transfer the latent image formed on said image carrier onto the sheet; first peel-off means for electrically peeling the sheet off said image carrier, after the transfer operation; second peel-off means which is engaged with the sheet to mechanically peel the sheet off said image carrier, after the transfer operation; and sheet position-control means for selectively moving the sheet between a first position at which the sheet is engaged with said second peel-off means and a second position at which the sheet is not engaged with said second peel-off means.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said position-control means comprises a stacking tray, and a pair of side plates which are movable, in order to control the position of the sheet stacked in said stacking tray.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said pair of side plates has a rack, a pinion meshed with said rack, a motor for driving said pinion, thereby regulating the positions of said side plates of said stacking tray by driving said motor.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said position-control means is arranged in a re-feed unit for re-feeding a sheet, after a first copying operation, toward said image carrier, to perform a second copying operation.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said re-feed unit comprises a selector guide for selectively guiding the sheet to a tray for receiving a sheet after the first copying operation, and also comprises said position-control means.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said re-feed unit comprises a reverse unit for conveying the sheet after the toner image has been transferred, to face its surface to said image carrier, and for reversing the sheet, in order to perform a multiple copying operation, and conveys the sheet to face its back surface to said image carrier, when in a double-side copying mode, and conveys the sheet to face its front surface to said image carrier by means of said reverse unit, when in a multiple-coping mode.

Claim 8

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first peel-off means has a deelectrifier for removing the sheet electrostatically attached to said image carrier, by use of deelectrifying charges.

Claim 9

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said second peel-off means is a tape-like member.

Claim 10

An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second peel-off means comprises a Mylar member.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second peel-off member is arranged in said transfer means, to extend in the conveying direction of the sheet.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said second peel-off member is arranged at a position corresponding to an edge portion of the sheet along the conveying direction thereof.

Claim 13

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said position-control means has a processor for setting the sheet at a position at which the sheet is not engaged with said second peel-off means if a command for selecting the position of the sheet is not supplied for a predetermined period of time.

Claim 14

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image forming means comprises exposure means for radiating light onto the document, to expose it.

Claim 15

An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said exposure means has a lens block which is movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet, and which moves said lens block in accordance with the position of the sheet moved by said position-control means, to form a latent image on said image carrier, so that the image of the document is formed at substantially the center of the sheet.

Claim 16

An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said lens block has a rack coupled thereto, and has a motor for driving a pinion meshed with said rack.

Claim 17

An image forming apparatus for forming an image of a document on a sheet, comprising: an image carrier; image forming means for forming an electrostatic image corresponding to an image on a document, on the image carrier; transfer means, which causes the sheet to be in contact with said image carrier, for transferring the latent image formed on said image carrier onto the sheet; first peel-off means for electrically peeling the sheet off said image carrier after a transfer operation; second peel-off means which is engaged with the sheet to mechanically peel the sheet off said image carrier after a transfer operation; and re-feed means for feeding a sheet having a latent image transferred thereto toward the transfer means for an additional transfer of a latent image thereto so as to achieve at least one of a double-side copying mode and a multiple-copying mode, the sheet fed first to the transfer means and being peeled from the image carrier by the first peel-off means and the sheet fed subsequently to the transfer means and being peeled from the image carrier by the second peel-off means.

Claim 18

An image forming apparatus for forming an image of a document on a sheet, comprising: an image carrier; image forming means for forming an electrostatic image corresponding to an image on a document, on the image carrier; transfer means, which causes the sheet to be in contact with said image carrier, for transferring the latent image formed on said image carrier onto the sheet; first peel-off means for electrically peeling the sheet off said image carrier after a transfer operation; second peel-off means which is engaged with the sheet to mechanically peel the sheet off said image carrier after a transfer operation; and re-feed means for feeding a sheet having a latent image transferred thereto toward the transfer means for an additional transfer of a latent image thereto so as to achieve at least one of a double-side copying mode and a multiple-copying mode, the sheet fed first to the transfer means and being peeled from the image carrier by the first peel-off means and the sheet fed subsequently to the transfer means and being peeled from the image carrier by the second peel-off means.

Claim 19

An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said re-feed means includes a stacking tray, and a pair of side plate which are movable, in order to control the position of the sheet stacked in said stacking tray.

Claim 20

An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein each of said pair of side plates has a rack, a pinion meshed with said rack, a motor for driving said pinion, thereby regulating the positions of said side plates of said stacking tray by driving said motor.

Claim 21

An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said re-feed means comprises a reverse unit for conveying the sheet after the latent image has been transferred, to face its surface to said image carrier, and for reversing the sheet, in order to perform a multiple copying operation, and conveys the sheet to face its back surface to said image carrier, when in a double-side copying mode, and conveys the sheet to face its front surface to said image carrier by means of said reverse unit, when in a multiple-copying mode.

Claim 22

An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the first peel-off means has a deelectrifier for removing the sheet electrostatically attached to said image carrier, by use of deelectrifying charges.

Claim 23

An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said second peel-off means is a tape-like member.

Claim 24

An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said second peel-off means comprises a Mylar member.

Claim 25

An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said second peel-off member is arranged in said transfer means, to extend in the conveying direction of the sheet.

Claim 26

An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said second peel-off member is arranged at a position corresponding to an edge portion of the sheet along the conveying direction thereof.

Claim 27

An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein image forming means comprises exposure means for radiating light onto the document, to expose it.

Claim 28

An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said exposure means has a lens block which is movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet, and which moves said lens block in accordance with the position of the sheet moved by said position-control means, to form a latent image on said image carrier, so that the image of the document is formed at substantially the center of the sheet.

Claim 29

An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said lens block has a rack coupled thereto, and has a motor for driving a pinion meshed with said rack.

Claim 30

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a document, on a sheet, comprising: an image carrier; image forming means for forming an electrostatic image corresponding to an image on a document, on the image carrier; transfer means, which causes the sheet to be in contact with said image carrier, for transferring the latent image formed on said image carrier onto the sheet; first peel-off means for electrically peeling the sheet off said image carrier, after a transfer operation; second peel-off means which is engaged with the sheet to mechanically peel the sheet off said image carrier, after a transfer operation; and selecting means for selecting a first mode in which the sheet is peeled from the image carrier by said first peel-off means and a second mode in which the sheet is peeled from the image carrier by said second peel-off means.

Claim 31

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a document, on a sheet, comprising: an image carrier; image forming means for forming an electrostatic image corresponding to an image on a document, on the image carrier; transfer means, which causes the sheet to be in contact with said image carrier, for transferring the latent image formed on said image carrier onto the sheet; first peel-off means for electrically peeling the sheet off said image carrier, after a transfer operation; second peel-off means which is engaged with the sheet to mechanically peel the sheet off said image carrier, after a transfer operation; and selecting means for selecting a first mode in which the sheet is peeled from the image carrier by said first peel-off means and a second mode in which the sheet is peeled from the image carrier by said second peel-off means.

Claim 32

An apparatus according to claim 28, which further comprises re-feed means for feeding a sheet having a latent image transferred thereto toward the transfer means for an additional transfer of a latent image thereto so as to achieve at least one of a double-side copying mode and a multiple-copying mode, and wherein the first peel-off means is used in said first mode for the first and subsequent peeling of the sheet, and the first peel-off means is used for only the first peeling of the sheet in said second mode with the second peel-off means being used for the subsequent peeling of the sheet.

Claim 33

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said selecting means comprises a processor for selecting the second mode in the absence of a mode selecting command for a predetermined time.

Claim 34

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said selecting means comprises sheet position control means for selectively moving the sheet to a first position at which the sheet is engaged with the second peel-off means and to a second position at which the sheet is not engaged with the second peel-off means.

Claim 35

An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein said re-feed means includes a stacking tray, and a pair of side plates which are movable, in order to control the position of the sheet stacked in said stacking tray.

Claim 36

An apparatus according to claim 32, wherein each of said pair of side plates has a rack, a pinion meshed with said rack, a motor for driving said pinion, thereby regulating the positions of said side plates of said stacking tray by driving said motor.

Claim 37

An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein said re-feed means comprises a reverse unit for conveying the sheet after the latent image has been transferred, to face its surface to said image carrier, and for reversing the sheet, in order to perform a multiple copying operation, and conveys the sheet to face its back surface to said image carrier, when in a double-side copying mode, and conveys the sheet to face its front surface to said image carrier by means of said reverse unit, when in a multiple-copying mode.

Claim 38

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said first peel-off means has a deelectrifier for removing the sheet electrostatically attached to said image carrier, by use of deelectrifying charges.

Claim 39

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said second peel-off means is a tape-like member.

Claim 40

An apparatus according to claim 36, wherein said second peel-off means comprises a Mylar member.

Claim 41

An apparatus according to claim 36, wherein said second peel-off member is arranged in said transfer means, to extend in the conveying direction of the sheet.

Claim 42

An apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said second peel-off member is arranged at a position corresponding to an edge portion of the sheet along the conveying direction thereof.

Claim 43

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein image forming means comprises exposure means for radiating light onto the document, to expose it.

Claim 44

An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein said exposure means has a lens block which is movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet, and which moves said lens block in accordance with the position of the sheet moved by said position-control means, to form a latent image on said image carrier, so that the image of the document is formed at substantially the center of the sheet.

Claim 45

An apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said lens block has a rack coupled thereto, and has a motor for driving a pinion meshed with said rack.