Sheet conveyance apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image forming system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9885994-B2
Application number	US-201615188778-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 21, 2016
Priority date	Jul 21, 2015
Publication date	Feb 6, 2018
Grant date	Feb 6, 2018

Abstract

A sheet conveyance apparatus which conveys sheets fed from a first sheet feeding unit and sheets fed from a second sheet feeding unit to a merging point, inserts the sheets fed from the first sheet feeding unit into the sheets fed from the second sheet feeding unit in a predetermined order at the merging point, and discharges the sheets fed from the first sheet feeding unit and the sheets fed from the second sheet feeding unit to a downstream side includes: a jam detecting unit configured to detect a jam of a sheet in the first sheet feeding unit; and a control unit configured to newly feed sheets which are before the predetermined order, in which a sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted, and have not been fed from the second sheet feeding unit, and convey the newly fed sheets to the downstream side.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet conveyance apparatus which conveys sheets fed from a first sheet feeding unit and sheets fed from a second sheet feeding unit to a merging point, inserts the sheets fed from the first sheet feeding unit into the sheets fed from the second sheet feeding unit in a predetermined order at the merging point, and discharges the sheets fed from the first sheet feeding unit and the sheets fed from the second sheet feeding unit to a downstream side through the merging point, the sheet conveyance apparatus comprising:
a jam detecting unit configured to detect a jam of a sheet in the first sheet feeding unit; and
a control unit configured to (i) newly feed, when the jam is detected by the jam detecting unit, sheets which precede a position in the predetermined order at which the sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted, which sheets have not yet been fed from the second sheet feeding unit, and (ii) convey the newly fed sheets to the downstream side through the merging point.

2. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first sheet feeding unit comprises a primary sheet-feeding conveyance unit configured to separate sheets one by one and convey the sheets to a resist part, and a secondary sheet-feeding conveyance unit configured to convey the sheets from the resist part to the merging point, and
the jam detecting unit detects a jam of a sheet in the primary sheet-feeding conveyance unit.

3. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sheets to be newly fed from the second sheet feeding unit are image forming sheets until a sheet right before the position in the predetermined order at which the sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted.

4. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sheets to be newly fed from the second sheet feeding unit are image forming sheets until a sheet right before a top sheet in a job or a set including the sheet causing the jam.

5. An image forming apparatus comprising:
the sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 ; and
an image forming unit,
wherein the first sheet feeding unit is an interleaf inserting apparatus which inserts an interleaf into sheets on which an image has been formed by the image forming unit.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the first sheet feeding unit is positioned downstream of the image forming unit, and the second sheet feeding unit is positioned upstream of the image forming unit.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein at a point when the jam is detected by the jam detecting unit, when sheets after the position in the predetermined order at which the sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted have been fed from the second sheet feeding unit, the control unit stops or discharges the fed sheets after the position in the predetermined order to a discharge destination different from a discharge destination of sheets before the position in the predetermined order.

8. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second sheet feeding unit comprises a sheet tray that accommodates a plurality of sheets.

9. An image forming system which conveys sheets fed from an interleaf inserting apparatus and sheets fed from an image forming apparatus to a merging point, inserts the sheets fed from the interleaf inserting apparatus into the sheets on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus in a predetermined order at the merging point, and discharges the sheets fed from the interleaf inserting apparatus and the sheets fed from the image forming apparatus to a downstream side through the merging point, the image forming system comprising:
a jam detecting unit configured to detect a jam of a sheet in the interleaf inserting apparatus; and
a control unit configured to (i) newly feed, when the jam is detected by the jam detecting unit, sheets which precede a position in the predetermined order at which the sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted, which sheets have not yet been fed from the image forming apparatus, and (ii) convey the newly fed sheets to the downstream side through the merging point.

10. A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable control program to control a sheet conveyance apparatus, the program causing a computer to execute:
conveying sheets fed from a first sheet feeding unit and sheets fed from a second sheet feeding unit to a merging point;
inserting the sheets fed from the first sheet feeding unit into the sheets fed from the second sheet feeding unit in a predetermined order at the merging point;
discharging the sheets fed from the first sheet feeding unit and the sheets fed from the second sheet feeding unit to a downstream side through the merging point;
detecting a jam of a sheet in the first sheet feeding unit;
newly feeding, when the jam is detected, sheets which precede a position in the predetermined order at which the sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted, which sheets have not been fed from the second sheet feeding unit; and
conveying the newly fed sheets to the downstream side through the merging point.

11. The non-transitory recording medium storing the program according to claim 10 , wherein the sheets to be newly fed from the second sheet feeding unit are image forming sheets until a sheet right before the position in the predetermined order at which the sheet causing the jam is supposed to be inserted.

12. The non-transitory recording medium storing the program according to claim 10 , wherein the sheets to be newly fed from the second sheet feeding unit are image forming sheets until a sheet right before a top sheet in a job or a set including the sheet causing the jam.

Assignees

• Konica Minolta Inc

Inventors

• Asakawa Minoru

Classifications

• G03G15/6538

  Devices for collating sheet copy material, e.g. sorters, control, copies in staples form · CPC title

• B65H2513/42

  Route, path · CPC title

• B65H7/06

  responsive to presence of faulty articles or incorrect separation or feed (B65H7/14 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65H1/00

  Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated (carriers used for associating, collating, or gathering articles B65H39/00) · CPC title

• G03G15/655

  Placing job divider sheet between set of sheets · CPC title