Patent ID: 7510178
Filing Date: 2009-03-31
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
1. A sheet-handling device comprising an intermediate tray, an intermediate conveyer passage for guiding a sheet into the intermediate tray, introduction rollers for introducing the sheet into the intermediate conveyer passage, conveying rollers for conveying, into the intermediate tray, the sheet introduced into the intermediate conveyer passage, a holder member for releasably holding the sheet introduced into the intermediate conveyer passage in a manner of being faced to the conveyer surface of the intermediate conveyer passage, holder member drive means for driving the holder member, introduction roller drive means for so driving the introduction rollers as to rotate forward, conveying roller drive means for so driving the conveying rollers as to rotate forward or reverse, and a controller for controlling the drive means; wherein, when a standby/overlap handling mode is set to select the number of pieces of sheets that are to stand by and are to overlap in the intermediate conveyer passage to be a predetermined number N (=2 pieces) to form a next sheaf of sheets following the preceding sheaf of sheets conveyed into the intermediate tray, the controller so controls the drive means that: the introduction rollers and the conveying rollers are rotated forward so that a first sheet introduced into the intermediate conveyer passage is nipped at its leading end by the conveying rollers and is conveyed until the trailing end thereof separates away from the introduction rollers and, thereafter, the conveying rollers are halted; a second sheet is introduced into the intermediate conveyer passage by the introduction rollers in a state where the first sheet is held by the holder member, and the conveying rollers are rotated forward when the leading end of the second sheet has approached a nipping portion of the conveying rollers, so that the leading end of the second sheet is nipped being overlapped on the first sheet that has been nipped already by the conveying rollers, and the sheets of the predetermined number N (=2 pieces) are conveyed in an overlapped manner into the intermediate tray; wherein the distance between a nipping portion of the introduction rollers and the nipping portion of the conveying rollers is set to be shorter than the length in the direction of conveyance of a sheet of a predetermined size introduced into the intermediate passage; wherein the holder member can be displaced by a holder member drive means to a holding position where the trailing end of the sheet is held being faced to the conveyer surface and to a release position where the holding is released, wherein the sheet is introduced into the intermediate conveyer passage is nipped at its leading end by the nipping portion of the conveying rollers and its trailing end passes through the nipping portion of the introduction rollers, and wherein the holder member comprises a holder portion to hold the trailing portion of the sheet relatively movable to the conveyer surface while maintaining the holder member in the holding position and a passing-through opening being capable of passing through the sheet introduced subsequently in the direction of the conveying rollers while maintaining the holder member in the holding position.