Abstract:
A post print finishing device that incorporates an imaging material binder into the post print handling and finishing functions. In one exemplary embodiment, the finishing device includes a flipper module, an accumulator module and a binder module. The binder module binds sheets together by reactivating imaging material applied to binding regions on the sheets by a printing device. The flipper module receives a sheet leading edge first and discharges the sheet trailing edge first. That is to say, the flipper module flips the sheet before discharging the sheet for further processing. The accumulator module stacks the sheets, presents the sheets to the binder for binding and then discharges the bound stack to the output bin.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention is directed to a post print finishing device in which imaging material is used to bind a printed documented.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Current devices and methods for printing and binding media sheets involve printing the desired document on a plurality of media sheets, assembling the media sheets into a stack, and separately stapling, clamping, gluing and/or sewing the stack. In addition to imaging material used to print the document, each of these binding methods require separate binding materials, increasing the cost and complexity of binding. Techniques for binding media sheets using imaging material are known in the art. These techniques generally involve applying imaging material such as toner to defined binding regions on multiple sheets, assembling the media sheets into a stack, and reactivating the imaging material, causing the media sheets to adhere to one another.  
           [0003]    The present invention was developed to integrate an imaging material binder into a post print finishing device such as the stapler/stacker devices commonly used with middle to high end printers and copiers. The modular implementation shown in the drawings and detailed below was developed for use in the Hewlett-Packard Company model C8085A stapler/stacker with the imaging material binder module replacing the stapler module. Various techniques and structural configurations for binding documents using imaging material are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/320,060, filed May 26, 1999 titled Binding Sheet Media Using Imaging Material, 09/482,124, filed Jan. 11, 2000 titled Apparatus and Method For Binding Sheet Media, and Ser. No. 09/866,017, filed May 24, 2001 titled Apparatus and Method for Binding Sheet Media, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.  
           [0004]    When imaging material binding is used, each sheet of paper or other print media includes imaging material, such as toner, applied to one or more selected binding regions in addition to the print image applied to each sheet. The binding regions are usually located along one edge of the media sheet on one or both sides. All of the imaging material applied to the sheet is activated as part of the print process. The imaging material applied to the binding region(s) is reactivated in the binder to bind the multiple sheets of a document together. The bound document may be formed by reactivating the imaging material in a stack of sheets in the document at the same time or by individually binding each sheet one after another to the stack. The strength of the inter-sheet bond is a function of the type, area, density, and degree of reactivation of the imaging material applied to the binding region of each sheet. By varying these parameters the inter-sheet bond can be made very strong to firmly bind the document or less strong to allow easy separation. When the imaging material is toner, such as that used in laser printers, the imaging material will usually be reactivated by applying heat and pressure as in the exemplary embodiment of the invention detailed below. Other imaging materials and reactivation techniques may also be used, such as those described in the &#39;060 application.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a post print finishing device that incorporates an imaging material binder into the post print handling and finishing functions. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the finishing device includes a flipper module, an accumulator module and a binder module. The binder module binds sheets together by reactivating imaging material applied to binding regions on the sheets by a printing device. The flipper module receives a sheet leading edge first and discharges the sheet trailing edge first. That is to say, the flipper module flips the sheet before discharging the sheet for further processing. The accumulator module stacks the sheets, presents the sheets to the binder for binding and then discharges the bound stack to the output bin. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer and attached stacker illustrating one type of document printing and finishing system in which the invention may be implemented.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a modular stacker constructed according to one embodiment of the invention showing the flipper, paper path, accumulator and binder modules.  
         [0008]    FIGS.  3 - 10  are side elevation views showing the routing of media sheets through the stacker of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows a sheet routed to the upper/single sheet output bin. FIGS.  4 - 7  show a sheet routed to the stack of sheets in the accumulator in preparation for binding. FIGS.  8 - 10  show the stack routed to the binder, bound and then discharged to the lower/stacker output bin.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 11 is a detailed perspective view of the binder module of FIG. 2. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]    The invention will be described with reference to the printer  10  and attached stacker  12  shown in FIG. 1. The invention may be implemented in any document production system in which it is necessary or desirable to use an imaging material binder. Printer  10  and stacker  12 , therefore, represent generally any suitable printing device (e.g., printers, copiers, and multi-function peripherals) and associated post print finishing device in which imaging material is used to bind a printed documented.  
         [0011]    Referring to FIG. 1, printer  10  and stacker  12  together make up a document production system designated generally by reference number  14 . Printed sheets are output by printer  10  to stacker  12  where they are routed to an upper/loose sheet output bin  16  or to a lower/stacker output bin  18 . Unbound sheets are collected face up in loose sheet bin  16 . Bound documents are collected face down in stacker bin  18 .  
         [0012]    A stacker  12  constructed according to one embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a side elevation view looking into stacker  12  showing the flipper module  20 , paper path module  22 , accumulator module  24  and binder module  26 . Each module is mounted to a frame  28 . Frame  28 , which forms the main body or “skeleton” of stacker  12 , is made from sheet metal or other suitable structurally stable materials. A power supply  30  and controller  32  are mounted to the lower portion of frame  28 . Power supply  30  and controller  32  are electrically connected to the operative components of modules  20 ,  22 ,  24  and  26 . Controller  32  contains the electronic circuitry and programming necessary to control and coordinate various functions of the components in stacker  12 . The details of the circuitry and programming of controller  32  are not particularly important to the invention as long as the controller design is sufficient to direct the desired functions as described below.  
         [0013]    The modular design of stacker  12  shown in FIG. 2 is adapted from the Hewlett-Packard Company model C8085A stapler/stacker. Each module  20 ,  22 ,  24  and  26  is operatively coupled to but otherwise independent of the adjacent module. In the stacker of the present invention, the stapler module used in the C8085A stapler/stacker is replaced with binder module  26  and controller  32  is modified accordingly to control the operation of an imaging material binder rather than a stapler.  
         [0014]    For sheets that will be stacked, bound and output to bin  18 , flipper  20  makes the leading edge of each sheet output by printer  10  the trailing edge for routing to paper path  22  and accumulator  24 . Flipping the sheets in this manner from face up to face down is necessary to properly stack the sheets in accumulator  24  prior to binding. Paper path  22  moves each sheet face down to accumulator  24  where the sheets are collected, registered, moved to binder  26  (when binding is desired) and then output to bin  18  (bound or unbound). Binder  26  reactivates the imaging material applied to select binding regions on sheets collected in accumulator  24  to bind the sheets together.  
         [0015]    The operation of flipper  20 , paper path  22 , accumulator  24  and binder  26  will now be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.  3 - 10 . FIG. 3 shows a sheet routed to loose sheet bin  16 . FIGS.  4 - 7  show a sheet routed to accumulator  24  in preparation for binding. FIGS.  8 - 10  show the stack routed to binder  26 , bound and then ejected to stacker bin  18 .  
         [0016]    Referring to FIG. 3, a sheet of paper or other print media  34  is output by printer  10  to stacker  12  through printer output rollers  35  and received into flipper  20  through flipper receiving port  37 . As flipper entry sensor  36  detects sheet  34  entering flipper  20 , flipper entry rollers  38  and flipper tray rollers  40  are driven forward as indicated by arrows  42  to move sheet  34  toward bin  16 . For sheets routed to loose sheet bin  16  through flipper discharge port  39 , rollers  38  and  40  are continually driven forward until sheet  34  reaches bin  16 . In the embodiment shown in the Figures, flipper entry rollers  38  and flipper out rollers  44  share the same drive roller  46 . Drive roller  46  is movable up or down to engage an opposing idler roller as necessary to move sheet  34  along one of two desired paper paths, as best seen by comparing FIGS. 3 and 4.  
         [0017]    Referring now to FIG. 4, for sheets routed to accumulator  24 , flipper entry and tray rollers  38  and  40  are driven forward until just after the trailing edge of sheet  34  clears flipper entry rollers  38 , as detected by flipper middle sensor  48 , such that the trailing edge of sheet  34  clears directional guide  50 . Then, drive roller  46  is moved down to flipper out roller  44  and reversed along with flipper tray rollers  40  to route sheet  34  toward paper path  22  through flipper routing port  41  and paper path receiving port  53 . Paper path rollers  52  move sheet  34  through paper path  22  down to accumulator  24 . Flipper exit sensor  54  detects when sheet  34  has cleared the flipper module  20 . Paper path exit sensor  56  detects when sheet  34  has cleared the paper path module  24  through paper path discharge port  55 . Exit sensors  54  and  56  are used to control paper path rollers  52 . When paper path exit sensor  56  detects that sheet  34  is leaving the paper path module  24 , then paper path rollers  52  are stopped unless another sheet has cleared the flipper module  20  as detected by flipper exit sensor  54 .  
         [0018]    Referring to FIGS.  5 - 7 , sheet  34  is guided down from accumulator receiving port  59  through accumulator  24  to accumulator entry rollers  58  and on to accumulator eject rollers  60 . An accumulator entry sensor  62  is positioned immediately upstream from entry rollers  58 . As the trailing edge of sheet  34  passes through entry rollers  58 , as detected by entry sensor  62 , eject rollers  60  move the top sheet  34  back on to stack  64  in accumulator holding tray  66 , as best seen by comparing FIGS. 5, 6 and  7 . In the embodiment shown in the Figures, eject rollers  60  are configured as a pair of variably spaced rollers that are selectively driven as necessary to move top sheet  34  or stack  64 . As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, eject rollers  60  are spaced apart or “open” to receive top sheet  34 . Then, the rollers come together and the top roller is driven counter-clockwise to move top sheet  34  on to stack  64 , as shown in FIG. 7. Eject rollers  60  are driven together, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, counter-clockwise to move stack  64  into binder  76  (FIG. 8) or clockwise to move stack  64  into lower output bin  18  (FIG. 10). Although not shown, at the same time each sheet  34  is routed to holding tray  64 , sheet  34  is aligned with the other sheets in stack  66 .  
         [0019]    A binding operation will now be described with reference to FIGS.  8 - 11 . Referring to FIG. 8, once all the sheets in the document are accumulated in stack  64 , eject rollers  60  draw stack  64  back slightly from registration wall  68 , registration wall  68  is dropped and eject rollers  60  are reversed to move the edge of stack  64  forward into binder  26  through accumulator binding port  63 . Retainer  70  is then lowered against stack  64  to hold stack  64  in position during binding.  
         [0020]    Referring now also to FIG. 11, binder  26  includes mounting brackets  72 , reversible motor  74  (not shown in FIG. 11) and press  76 . Press  76  includes base  78 , carriage  80 , top support plate  82 , lead screw  84  and gear  86 . Motor  74  is operatively connected to carriage  80  through gear  86  and lead screw  84 . Carriage  80  moves alternately toward and away from base  78  along guide posts  90  at the urging of motor  74 . Base  78  and carriage  80  are constructed as heated platens by, for example, applying resistive heating strips  88  along opposing surfaces of base  78  and carriage  80 . Preferably, both platens (base  78  and carriage  80 ) are heated when all sheets in the stack are bound at the same time. Only the top platen (carriage  80 ) needs to be heated when each page or small numbers of pages are bound to the stack using page by page binding techniques such as those described in the &#39;124 application referenced in the Background.  
         [0021]    Base  78  and carriage  80 , the binder platens, form an opening immediately adjacent to accumulator holding tray  66 . Preferably, holding tray  66  and platens  78  and  80  are aligned at substantially the same angle to allow stack  64  to move easily into the opening between platens  78  and  80 . Once the edge of stack  64  is positioned in binder  26 , heating strips  88  are activated and motor  74  is energized to close press  76  by driving carriage  80  against stack  64  and base  78 , as shown in FIG. 9. Heat and pressure are thereby applied to the imaging material applied by printer  10  to the binding region along the edge of the sheets in stack  64 . Motor  74  is then reversed to open press  76  by driving carriage  80  away from stack  64  and base  78 . Retainer  76  is raised off the now bound stack  64 , ejector rollers  60  are reversed again to route the bound stack  64  through accumulator discharge port  61  to stacker bin  18 , and registration wall  68  is raised in preparation for stacking the next print job, as shown in FIG. 10.  
         [0022]    While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing exemplary embodiment, it is to be understood that other forms, details, and embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined in the following claims.