Constant lead edge paper inverter system

Abstract

A printing apparatus capable of duplex imaging that maintains the lead edge of a sheet constant, is disclosed. The printing apparatus includes a first transport path to route a sheet along a processing direction, an edge position detector to detect a lead edge of the sheet, a marking device that prints on a first side of the sheet, a second transport path to receive the sheet from the marking device, and an inverter mechanism that receives the sheet from the second transport path and inverts the sheet along a cross-processing direction that is perpendicular to the processing direction. The printing apparatus also includes a third transport path that receives the inverted sheet and routes the inverted sheet back to the first transport path. With this configuration, upon being routed back to the first transport path, the edge position detector detects the same lead edge of the sheet as previously detected and the marking device prints on a second side of the sheet.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of Invention [0002] The present disclosure relates to digital document production equipment and, more specifically, to duplex capable imaging machines. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] Digital document production equipment is very common in today's office environment. Generally, such equipment, which includes printers, copiers, facsimiles, or other multifunction machines, is configured to place text and images, based on digital data, onto media, such as paper sheets. [0005] By way of example, consider the case of digital copiers, where original documents bearing images to be recorded on paper sheets are typically loaded into the tray of a document handler. The documents are drawn one sheet at a time and moved relative to an image sensor. The image sensor records reflected light from a series of small areas in the original image as the image moves past the sensor to yield a set of digital signals representative of the image to be...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

It will be appreciated that, given paper length and cut angle tolerances, the use and registration of opposite side edges increases the risks of duplex image misalignment and placement errors.

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