US5090674A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Image forming apparatus
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1990-04-18
•
Granted: 1992-02-25
•
Expires: 2010-04-18
Abstract
Abstract The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus comprising image forming means for forming an image on a sheet, sheet stacking means for successively stacking sheets on which the image is formed by the image forming means, with shifting by a predetermined amount in a sheet feeding direction one from the other, feeding means for feeding the sheet one by one from a sheet stack obtained by stacking the sheets with shifting by the predetermined amount one from the other, conveying means for conveying the sheet stack formed by the sheet stacking means in normal and reverse directions between the sheet stacking means and the feeding means, and control means for controlling the conveying means in such a manner that the conveying means returns said sheet stack from the feeding means to the sheet stacking means to stack the sheets on which the image is formed by the image forming means after they have been fed by the feeding means, for obtaining a new sheet stack.
Inventors
- 👤 Takashi Ozawa
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 13:25
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03G; G03G15/00; G03G15/65; G03G15/6555; G03G15/6579; G03G15/01; G03G15/0105; G03G15/0121; G03G15/0142; G03G15/0147; G03G15/0152; G03G15/0163; G03G15/22; G03G15/23; G03G15/231; G03G15/232; G03G15/234; G03G2215/00; G03G2215/00362; G03G2215/00367; G03G2215/00417; G03G2215/0043; G03G2215/00434
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
138 words
A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising: first conveying means for holding a sheet stack in which sheets are stacked offset from adjacent sheets by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction and conveying the stack in a conveying direction and a direction reverse thereto; second conveying means for conveying the sheet to be held on said first conveying means and offset stacking the sheet; feeding means disposed downstream of said first conveying means in the sheet conveying direction, for feeding out the sheet from the stack held in said first conveying means; and controlling means for controlling said first and second conveying means so that the stack is conveyed in the reverse direction in order to offset stack the sheet conveyed by said second conveying means on the stack after the sheet is fed by said feeding means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
138 words
A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising: first conveying means for holding a sheet stack in which sheets are stacked offset from adjacent sheets by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction and conveying the stack in a conveying direction and a direction reverse thereto; second conveying means for conveying the sheet to be held on said first conveying means and offset stacking the sheet; feeding means disposed downstream of said first conveying means in the sheet conveying direction, for feeding out the sheet from the stack held in said first conveying means; and controlling means for controlling said first and second conveying means so that the stack is conveyed in the reverse direction in order to offset stack the sheet conveyed by said second conveying means on the stack after the sheet is fed by said feeding means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first conveying means includes a tray on which the sheets are stacked.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first conveying means has conveying rotary members for feeding a sheet together with the previously fed sheets each time when the sheet is fed thereto.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said feeding means feeds the sheet while pinching said sheet therebetween.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said feeding means includes a pair of feeding rotary members for pinching the sheet therebetween.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein first conveying means conveys the sheet while pinching said sheet therebetween.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first conveying means includes a pair of feeding rotary members for pinching the sheet therebetween.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
63 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control means controls said first conveying means in such a manner that, when the sheet is fed, said first conveying means conveys said sheet stack to said feeding means until a sheet in said stack nearest to said feeding means is released from a pinched condition by means of said first conveying means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, when the sheet is fed, said first conveying means pinches the sheets other than a sheet to be fed by said feeding means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
157 words
An image forming apparatus, comprising: image forming means for forming an image on a sheet; first conveying means for holding a sheet stack in which sheets are stacked offset from adjacent sheets by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction and conveying the stack in a conveying direction and a direction reverse thereto; second conveying means for conveying the sheet on which an image is formed by said image forming means to be held on said first conveying means and offset stacking the sheet; feeding means disposed downstream of said first conveying means in the sheet conveying direction, for feeding out the sheet from the stack held in said first conveying means; and controlling means for controlling said first conveying means so that the stack is conveyed in the reverse direction in order to stack the sheet conveyed by said second conveying means offset to adjacent sheets after the sheet is fed by said feeding means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
157 words
An image forming apparatus, comprising: image forming means for forming an image on a sheet; first conveying means for holding a sheet stack in which sheets are stacked offset from adjacent sheets by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction and conveying the stack in a conveying direction and a direction reverse thereto; second conveying means for conveying the sheet on which an image is formed by said image forming means to be held on said first conveying means and offset stacking the sheet; feeding means disposed downstream of said first conveying means in the sheet conveying direction, for feeding out the sheet from the stack held in said first conveying means; and controlling means for controlling said first conveying means so that the stack is conveyed in the reverse direction in order to stack the sheet conveyed by said second conveying means offset to adjacent sheets after the sheet is fed by said feeding means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said first conveying means has conveying rotary members for feeding the sheet together with the previously fed sheets each time when the sheet is fed thereto.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
20 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said feeding means feeds the sheet while pinching said sheet therebetween.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said feeding means includes a pair of feeding rotary members for pinching the sheet therebetween.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said first conveying means conveys the sheet while pinching said sheet therebetween.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
67 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said control means controls said first conveying means in such a manner that said first conveying means conveys said sheet stack to said feeding means until a sheet in said stack nearest to said feeding means is released from a pinched condition by means of said conveying means, to feed the sheets by means of said feeding means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, when the sheet is fed, said conveying means pinches the sheets other than a sheet to be fed by said feeding means.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
27 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said first and second conveying means hold conveying rotary members rotatable while pinching the sheet therebetween in common.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
31 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a conveying path for introducing the sheet fed by said feeding means to said image forming means for the image formation.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
157 words
A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising: conveying means for conveying a sheet in predetermined direction; a tray for stacking the sheet conveyed by said conveying means; moving means for moving the sheet stacked on said tray, to offset the sheet conveyed by said conveying means in relation to a sheet previously stacked on said tray with shifting by predetermined distance in the predetermined direction with respect to the previously stacked sheet; feeding means for feeding the sheet from a sheet stack obtained by stacking the sheets offset by the predetermined distance; and controlling means for controlling said moving means so that the sheet stack is moved from first position where the sheet is supplied by said feeding means to second position where the sheet being conveyed by said conveying means in order to stack the sheet conveyed by said conveying means on the sheet stack after the sheet is fed by said feeding means offset from one another.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
157 words
A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising: conveying means for conveying a sheet in predetermined direction; a tray for stacking the sheet conveyed by said conveying means; moving means for moving the sheet stacked on said tray, to offset the sheet conveyed by said conveying means in relation to a sheet previously stacked on said tray with shifting by predetermined distance in the predetermined direction with respect to the previously stacked sheet; feeding means for feeding the sheet from a sheet stack obtained by stacking the sheets offset by the predetermined distance; and controlling means for controlling said moving means so that the sheet stack is moved from first position where the sheet is supplied by said feeding means to second position where the sheet being conveyed by said conveying means in order to stack the sheet conveyed by said conveying means on the sheet stack after the sheet is fed by said feeding means offset from one another.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
36 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said moving means moves a sheet together with sheets previously stacked and moved by the predetermined distance, each time when the sheet is stacked on said tray.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
56 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said moving means moves the sheet in said predetermined direction by a first predetermined distance until a trailing edge of said sheet passes through said conveying means, and thereafter, returns said sheet in a reverse direction by a second predetermined distance shorter than said first predetermined distance.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
76 words
A sheet conveying method, comprising steps of: taking out a first sheet from a stack of sheets, said sheets being stacked offset from one another by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction; conveying the remainder of said stack in a direction reverse to the conveying direction and stopping said conveyance when said stack reaches a predetermined position; and offset stacking the sheet by the predetermined distance relative to the last sheet of said stack.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
76 words
A sheet conveying method, comprising steps of: taking out a first sheet from a stack of sheets, said sheets being stacked offset from one another by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction; conveying the remainder of said stack in a direction reverse to the conveying direction and stopping said conveyance when said stack reaches a predetermined position; and offset stacking the sheet by the predetermined distance relative to the last sheet of said stack.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
112 words
An image forming method, comprising steps of: forming a stack of sheets on which images are formed wherein said sheets are offset from one another by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction; conveying the sheet stack in a conveying direction to move said stack to a sheet taking out position; taking out the first sheet in the conveying direction of the stack fed to the taking out position; forming an image on the sheet taken out; conveying the stack in direction reverse to the conveying direction; stacking the sheets taken out and having the image thereon offset from one another on the last sheet of stack which is reversely fed.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
112 words
An image forming method, comprising steps of: forming a stack of sheets on which images are formed wherein said sheets are offset from one another by a predetermined distance in a sheet conveying direction; conveying the sheet stack in a conveying direction to move said stack to a sheet taking out position; taking out the first sheet in the conveying direction of the stack fed to the taking out position; forming an image on the sheet taken out; conveying the stack in direction reverse to the conveying direction; stacking the sheets taken out and having the image thereon offset from one another on the last sheet of stack which is reversely fed.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4220324A
Cited
US4172655A
Cited
DE3336820A1
Cited
US4777498A
Cited
JPS62293258A
Cited
EP0266946A2
Cited
US4805890A
Cited
EP0303276A1
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1995-02-24 | 1995-08-26 | 1996-02-25 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1999-02-24 | 1999-08-26 | 2000-02-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2003-02-24 | 2003-08-26 | 2004-02-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |