Method and apparatus for combining one or more of tamping a stack of substrates, laterally offsetting a substrate, and actuating other mechanisms useful in printing in an image forming device

摘要

An approach is provided to cause an operation comprising one or more of a substrate tamping process, a substrate offset process, and a mechanism actuation process. The approach involves determining an instruction to cause the operation. The approach also involves causing a movement of one or more of a slide element and a shaft based on the instruction. The slide element and the shaft are configured to move in a first direction and a second direction along a length of the shaft. The movement in the first direction and the second direction of one or more of the slide element and the shaft corresponds to the operation.

主权项

1. A method useful in printing comprising:
providing a substrate handling device having: one or two shafts positioned orthogonally to a substrate ejection direction of the device, two slide elements for sliding both on the one shaft or one each on the two shafts, two substrate handling paddles associated one each with the two slide elements, a plurality of motors for (1) moving two slide elements with respect to the one or two shafts or (2) moving the one or two shafts with respect to the two slide elements, and a controller for controlling operations of the plurality of motors; determining, with the controller, an instruction to cause an operation comprising one of a substrate tamping process, a substrate offset process, and a mechanism actuation process, the substrate tamping process including causing movement of the two slide elements with one of the plurality of motors being a tamping motor, the substrate offset process including causing movement of the two slide elements with a second one of the plurality of motors being an offset motor; and controlling, with the controller, the plurality of motors to cause a movement of one or more of the two slide elements and the one or two shafts based on the instruction, the two slide elements and the one or two shafts being configured to move in a first direction and a second direction along an axial length of the one or two shafts, movement of the one or two shafts being caused to move by a third one of the plurality of motors that is an actuator motor different from the tamping motor and the offset motor, wherein the movement in the first direction and the second direction of one or more of the two slide elements and the one or two shafts corresponds to the operation.