PHOTOCOPYING MACHINE

MACHINE A PHOTOCOPIER

English Abstract

PHOTOCOPYING MACHINE
ABSTRACT
A duplexing copying machine is provided with an open
operator-accessible buffer storage tray and appropriate
sheet feeding means to feed paper through the machine. In
duplexing mode, sheet feeding takes place from the buffer
store instead of the paper supply store.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A copying machine for making duplex copies, com-
prising a photoreceptor surface, means for forming an image
of information to be reproduced on said surface, a transfer
station for transferring images on said surface to copy
sheets and a copy sheet feeding system, said sheet feeding
system comprising a sheet supply tray, an open operator-
accessible buffer storage tray, sheet feeding means for
feeding sheets from said sheet supply tray to the transfer
station to receive an image on one side thereof, sheet
feeding means for feeding the sheets with an image on one
side from the transfer station to the buffer storage tray,
and sheet feeding means for feeding sheets from said buffer
tray to said transfer station to receive an image on the
other side thereof forming duplex copies.
2. A photocopying machine according to claim 1,
in which the buffer storage tray is adjacent a platen for
supporting original documents to be copied.
3. A photocopying machine according to claim 1 or
2, in which there is provided for the buffer storage tray
a bottom feeder.
4. A photocopying machine according to claim 1 or
2 in which the buffer tray also acts as an output tray
for the duplex copies.

Description

The invention relates to photocopying machines arranged
to copy onto both sides of copy material.
In forming images on both sides of a copy sheet in a photo-
copying machine, it is usual to pass the sheet through
the machine to obtain an image on one side and then store
the sheet~ The stored sheet is later recycled through
the photocopying machine to receive an image on its other
side. In its simplest form in such a photocopying process
the sheet is returned straight away, as soon as the next
image is ready, to receive its second image on its other
side.
An aspect of the inven~ion i~ as follows:
A copying machine for making duplex copies, comprising
a photoreceptor surface, means for forming an image of
information to be reproduced on said surface, a transfer
station for transferring images on said surface to copy
sheets and a copy sheet feeding system, said sheet feeding
system comprising a sheet supply tray, an open operator-
accessible buffer storage tray, sheet feeding means for
feeding sheets from said sheet supply tray to the transfer
station to receive an image on one side thereof, sheet
feeding means for feeding the sheets with an image on one
side from the transfer station to the buffer storage tray,
and sheet feeding means for feeding sheets from said buffer
tray to said transfer station to receive an image on the
other side thereof forming duplex copies.
A photocopying machine having a sheet feeding system according
to the invention will now be described by way of example
with the reference to the accompanying drawing which shows
the machine schematically.
The sheet feeding system includes a supply tray 10 which
has a bottom feeder 11 for drawing copy sheets out of the
tray 10 and feeding the sheets along an arcuate guide and
into contact with a belt feeder 13. The feeder 13 feeds
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sheets through an image transfer station 14 where an image
is transferred from a photoreceptor 15 onto the copy sheet.
-. After the transfer station 14 the sheet is driven around
a 180 arcuate guide 16 and then fed by belt feeders 17
and 18 into an open buffer storage tray l9. The tray l9 is
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provided with a bot-tom feeder 20 for feeding shee~ts from the tray 19 in-to
~ontact with the bel-t feeder 13.
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The photocopying machine inc]udes a pla~en 21 on ~hich originals are placed
for copying. An optional scanning system is provided for projecting an
image of an original onto the photoreceptor 15. Developer station 22 and
cleaning station 23 are provided on either side of the transfer station 14.
The optical system and -the developer -transfer and cleaning stations can be
any con~entional type, all of which are well-~nown in the art of pho-to-
copying machines.
~he photocopying machine can be used for simplex copying in conventional
manner in which case the copy sheets are either fed out of the machine by
extra means not shown or collec-ted in the tray 19 after passing once
through the transfer station 14. In duplex mode~the operation of the
machine is as follows:-
Original documents are arranged in ascending (or decending) page order ofodd numbers, for example 1,3,5, etc~ and placed on the platen in tha-t order.
In the machine described, this is carried out manually by an operator.
However, if there is an automatic document handler provided, the pages are
arranged to be fed,in the order men-tioned above,by the document handler.
Copy sheets arefed from the supply 11 in sequence and receives respec-tive
images of the odd numbered sheets at the transfer station 14. The sheets
are th~n each fed into the buffer tray 19.
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Original documents arrangea in ascending (or descending respectively) page
order if even num~ers 2,4,6, etc. are then placed on, or supplied to~ the
the pla-ten 21. Copying then takes place feedin~ shee-ts ~rom the buffer
tray 19 past the transer station 14 and back into the tray 19. A-t the

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end of -that sequence the -tray 19 has a complete and ordered duplex copy
set of the original documents.
It will be noted if there is a total of or~ginals which is an odd nu~ber,
the finished set in the tray 19 will be in order excep-t for ~le last pagre
which will be a-t the bottom of tray 19. It is possible, if desired, to
arrange for this last sheet -to pass around the shee-t feeding system without
receiving an image so as to be in its correct position in the finished sa-t
in the tray 19.
The arrangemen-t of the tray 19 as an open tray which is readily accessible
to the operator makes it a simple mat-ter to cope with any malfunction
during -the duplex copying of a set. For this reason, the tray is
preferably positioned as shown next to or near the platen 21 where the
operator can observe and supervise the machine if necessary. I-t will also
be noted that the open access of the tray 19 means, as described, tha-t the
tray 19 can ac-t as an output tray ~or simplex or duplex copying as well as
a buffer tray.