Patents Examined by Gerald W McClain
  • Patent number: 7798489
    Abstract: A media handling system for an image forming machine includes a stationary frame, a platform supporting a stack of media sheets thereon, a bin supporting the platform and in turn supported on the stationary frame for undergoing movement relative thereto between a first position in which the bin locates the platform below and aligned with a pick mechanism and movable relative to the bin toward and away from the pick mechanism and a second position in which the bin displaces the platform away from and out of alignment with the pick mechanism, and a motion transmitting assembly coupled between the stationary frame, platform and bin and operable to convert movement of the bin between first and second positions relative to the stationary frame into movement of the platform relative to the bin toward and away from the pick mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas Andagan Baena, Jr., Moneleo De Castro Cedeno, Daniel Paul Cahill, William Paul Cook, Edward Lynn Triplett, Jason Lee Rowe
  • Patent number: 7793935
    Abstract: A feeding paper apparatus includes a rod having a fulcrum member thereon, and two pressing unit disposed on the opposite ends of the rod. Each pressing unit has a connecting device disposed on the rod, a buffering device movably and pivotally disposed on the connecting device, and a pressing wheel rotatably disposed on the buffering device. The pressing wheels provide the same component force on the corresponding feeding paper wheel so as to improve the quality of feeding paper. Furthermore, a method for using the feeding paper apparatus is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Chih-Hwa Wang
  • Patent number: 7793930
    Abstract: A paper feeding mechanism applied to an office machine for feeding a paper is disclosed. The paper feeding mechanism comprises a first adjusting board having a first fixing component, a second adjusting board having a second fixing component, a paper feeding body having a first groove and a second groove wherein the first fixing component is penetrated through the first groove and the second fixing component is penetrated through the second groove, and a flexible component having a bending structure wherein one end of the flexible component is fixed on the first fixing component of the first adjusting board and the other end of the flexible component is fixed on the second fixing component of the second adjusting board. Thereby the first adjusting board and the second adjusting board are moved simultaneously and in opposite directions by means of the bending structure so as to adjust a relative distance between the first adjusting board and the second adjusting board in response to a size of the paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Teco Image Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Cheng Lung Lin
  • Patent number: 7793932
    Abstract: The present invention provides a paper collecting tray that reduces or eliminates paper curling. The collecting tray has a wire structure using springs or movable bands to support various size papers. These springs are provided in one embodiment to support paper sheets having 8.5 inch widths, 24 inch widths and 36 inch widths. These are configured to provide substantial support for the sheets and configured to prevent paper curling when the paper is passed to the collecting tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: David Alan Bartman
  • Patent number: 7784784
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for transferring printed products conveyed in a shingled flow in a conveying direction by a conveyor to a transporter positioned above the conveyor. The shingled flow is conveyed with circulating clamps. Each printed product respectively projects with a leading end over a front end of a following printed product in the conveying direction and the circulating clamps respectively clamp the leading end of the printed products. Each printed product is lifted from below along one side of the shingled flow in a transfer region formed by the shingled flow and the above-positioned transporter. After the printed products are is lifted up, a trailing end of each printed product is gripped by a clamp of the transporter and then the printed products are further transported.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Mueller Martini Holding AG
    Inventors: Rolf Meyerhans, Ueli Mattmann
  • Patent number: 7780161
    Abstract: A method of picking sheet media in a printer is provided. In the method a pick-up roller is caused to contact with sheet media of a supply of sheet media, the pick-up roller is rotatably driven with a motor via a gear assembly so that the pick-up roller picks up the sheet media and delivers the picked sheet media to a sheet media transport mechanism for transporting sheet media past a printhead, and substantially at the point of delivery of a leading edge of the picked sheet media to the sheet media transport mechanism by the pick-up roller, a first gear of the gear assembly is disengaged from a second gear of the gear assembly to cease the driving of the pick-up roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
    Inventors: Kia Silverbrook, Tobin Allen King, Gregory Michael Tow, Attila Bertok, Geoffrey Philip Dyer, Robert John Brice, Paul Ian Mackey, Christopher Hibbard
  • Patent number: 7775517
    Abstract: A card collection mechanism may include a card collection box for collecting a card, a feeding roller for carrying the card from a feeding passage to the card collection box, and a guide part for guiding the card to the card collection box. The guide part guides the card while the guide part causes the card to be resiliently bent in a direction where an urging force directed to a surface of the feeding roller is applied to the card when the card is fed to the card collection box, and the feeding roller carries the card to a state in which the card is capable of being collected in the card collection box. The card collection mechanism may be used in a card issuing device having a card issuing part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Nidec Sankyo Corporation
    Inventor: Keiji Ohta
  • Patent number: 7770881
    Abstract: A sheet material feeding device comprises a sheet material housing part housing a sheet bundle having a plurality of sheet being stacked; a conveying-out unit press-contacting onto the front edge side of the upper surface of the sheet bundle to exert a push-out force, feeding a sheet by the push-out force in a predetermined conveying-out direction, and separating the sheet from the sheet bundle; a feeding unit arranged on the downstream side of the sheet material housing part along the conveying-out direction and continuing the feeding of the sheet, and after the conveying-out unit moves away from the rear edge of a preceding sheet, the conveying-out unit conveys a following sheet in a state that the following sheet is overlapped at the lower side of the preceding sheet until the front edge of the following sheet reaches a predetermined guide position set between the sheet bundle and the feeding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Yokemura, Shinji Masaki, Koji Udagawa, Yumiko Kurosawa, Masahiro Mori, Masayoshi Nishida
  • Patent number: 7766316
    Abstract: A device for arranging sheets in a stack that includes a surface for supporting the stack, one of the surface and the stack define a stack face. The device includes an adjustment unit, a rotatable shaft, a first roller, a second roller, a strip-off wheel, and a center roller. The strip-off wheel is fixedly mounted to the rotatable shaft such that the strip-off wheel rotates with the shaft. The strip-off wheel includes a plurality of teeth that are operable to contact the stack face such that rotation of the strip-off wheel pulls a first sheet from the stack. The center roller is between the first roller and the second roller. The center roller is operable to transport the first sheet pulled from the stack to a transfer device and to receive a second sheet from the transfer device and transfer the second sheet to an end of the stack face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Landwehr, Peter Heimann
  • Patent number: 7766320
    Abstract: A media handling system includes a platform, a bin supporting the platform below and for undergoing movement toward and away from a sheet feeding position, a first motion transmitting assembly coupled between the platform and bin and tailored to counterbalance the weight of the platform and any stack such that as the weight decreases the platform is lifted toward the sheet feeding position to maintain the stack top below a lower limit position thereof, a control mechanism to sense the position of the stack top relative to a given range between the lower limit position to an upper home position, and a second motion transmitting assembly drivingly coupled to the platform via the first motion transmitting assembly and responsive to the control mechanism sensing to cause the first motion transmitting assembly to further lift the platform to and maintain the stack top position within the given range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas Andagan Baena, Jr., Kim Limpahan Balahan, Stacey Edward Balch, Daniel Paul Cahill, William Paul Cook, Robert Ryan Fresnoza Cruz, Irvin Langit Libres, Jake Tia Pia, Jason Lee Rowe
  • Patent number: 7766328
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus with a buffer system is disclosed, in which a sheet feeding drum has a certain rotational speed regardless of the size of the sheet to feed a plurality of sheets to a sheet finisher and eject the sheets after exactly aligning them. The sheet feeding apparatus includes sheet feeding grips 36a, 36b, 36c and 36d provided on the outside of a sheet feeding drum 105 at certain intervals, and a sheet feeding grip controller (cam) 42 allowing the sheet feeding grips to selectively grip the sheets moving through the outside of the sheet feeding drum 105. The sheets gripped by the sheet feeding grips are buffered by the end fence and are ejected to a sheet finisher through a sheet ejection path when the end fence is opened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignees: KRDC Co., Ltd., Gradco (Japan) Ltd.
    Inventor: Seung-Kyoon Noh
  • Patent number: 7753361
    Abstract: A paper feeding apparatus includes a driving shaft, a swing arm unit sleeved rotatably on the driving shaft, a pickup shaft disposed rotatably on the swing arm unit, and a device configured as an idle wheel unit or a damping gear. The device is interconnected between the driving shaft and the pickup shaft such that rotation of the driving shaft results in upward and downward pivoting movement of the pickup shaft, thereby allowing for paper loading and paper pickup, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Asia Optical Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hsien-Chi Lin, Kung-Hsin Teng
  • Patent number: 7753367
    Abstract: In a printing system in which the print media sheets are alternately fed from the same stack in the same tray by two sheet feeders at opposite sides into different sheet paths, at least one of the sheet feeders is repositionable towards and away from the other for feeding different size sheets, and the connecting sheet path is repositionable with the repositioning of the sheet feeder. The repositioning of the sheet feeder and its associated sheet path may be automatic in coordination with the normal resetting of a tray stack edge guide with the loading of different size sheets into the tray. The enhanced rate sheet feeding may be for a dual print engine printing system and/or selectably common or reversed sheet facing. Alternating coordinated lifting of a nudger roll of one sheet feeder with operation of the opposing sheet feeder, and retard nips spaced from the stack, may be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Barry P. Mandel, Robert A. Clark, Kathleen A. Feinberg
  • Patent number: 7748696
    Abstract: A sheet feeder (1) having a stack hopper (9) for holding a stack of sheets (8), and feed belts (5, 6, 7) for advancing the bottom-most sheet from the stack, has traction belts (110, 111, 112) between the feed belts. The traction belts extend around a shaft (25) beneath the hopper and around a shaft (27) positioned intermediate the reach of the feed belts, a short distance short of separators (30, 31). The traction belts are preferably thicker than the feed belts and textured on their outer surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Inventor: James C. Kaiping
  • Patent number: 7748700
    Abstract: Sheet feeding device including: a tray unit having a feeding tray for supporting a loaded-on document's trailing end, and a tilting tray for supporting its leading end; a feeding unit that feeds loaded-on documents from off the feeding and tilting trays; and an elevating mechanism that raises/lowers the tilting tray between the positions where documents are set onto and fed from it. The tilting tray is elevated by a lever that comes out of an opening in a feeding-unit cover, in which state the tray unit, which is pivotable with respect to the sheet feeding unit, is kept from pivoting. Otherwise, when the tray unit is pivoted upward from or returned to the load-on document position, tilting-tray movement, in conjunction with the pivoting action, with respect to the feeding tray is restrained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Assignee: Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Seiji Nishizawa, Kazuhisa Mochizuki, Masataka Hamada
  • Patent number: 7748699
    Abstract: A feed device includes a feed roller and a return lever member. The feed roller picks up a first recording medium from recording media stacked on a stacking unit and feeds the first recording medium downstream via a feed path. The return lever member pushes back upstream a second recording medium that has unnecessarily entered the feed path in feeding the first recording medium downstream. The stacking unit includes an end support portion that supports a leading end of the recording media from below. The return lever member includes a lever unit capable of being protruded into and retracted from the feed path. The lever unit pushes back the second recording medium upstream when protruding into the feed path. The lever unit includes a return operative portion that pushes back the second recording medium upstream and a raising portion that raises the second recording medium above the end support portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroki Nakashima
  • Patent number: 7744082
    Abstract: A paper-sheet feeding device including a kicker roller configured to contact a forefront paper-sheet of a plurality of stacked paper-sheets and kick out the forefront paper-sheet; a feed roller to feed-out the paper-sheets to be kicked out by the kicker roller; and a press-fitting roller press-fit against the feed roller to provide a gate unit adapted to separate the paper-sheets to be fed by the feed roller, into one sheet. The kicker roller includes a base part and a high friction part formed in part of the outer circumference of the base part along the circumferential direction and configured to kick out the forefront paper-sheet. The feed roller includes a base part and a high friction part formed over the entire outer circumference of the base part and configured to contact the surface of the paper-sheet to be kicked out by the kicker roller to perform feed-out of the paper-sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Glory Ltd.
    Inventors: Toyofumi Iwami, Hidehiko Matsushita
  • Patent number: 7735820
    Abstract: A sheet delivery apparatus includes sprockets and delivery grippers, a sheet delivery device, a switching cam, and conveyor belt, driving roller, and driven roller. The sprockets and delivery grippers hold and convey a sheet. The sheet delivery device delivers the sheet conveyed by the sprockets and delivery grippers. The switching cam is arranged upstream of the sheet delivery device in a sheet convey direction to release the sheet held by the sprockets and delivery grippers. The conveyor belt, driving roller, and driven roller are arranged below the switching cam to convey the sheet released by the switching cam in the sheet convey direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Komori Corporation
    Inventor: Reiji Ito
  • Patent number: 7731183
    Abstract: A paper feeding apparatus includes a cassette main body that stacks a paper therein, a sidewall that moves in a width direction of the cassette main body, an end wall that moves in a longitudinal direction of the cassette main body, a first movable member that is connected at one end to the sidewall and rotates around a shaft axially fixed to the cassette main body in connection with the sidewall, a second movable member that is connected at one end to the end wall and rotates around a shaft axially fixed to the cassette main body in connection with the end wall, a first detection unit that has a plurality of detection members and detects the size of the paper in the width direction, and a second detection unit that has a plurality of detection members and detects the size of the paper in the longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahiro Ohno, Yousuke Ushiyama, Tokihiko Ise, Toshihiro Matsushima, Tetsuo Shiba
  • Patent number: 7726643
    Abstract: A friction feeder apparatus for handling sheets of paper of differing thicknesses includes a first plurality of laterally spaced apart transport belts positioned in underlying relation to the paper and a second plurality of laterally spaced apart separator wheels positioned in overlying relation to the paper. The transport belts are staggered with respect to the separator wheels. A sheet of paper passing through the feeder apparatus is undeflected from the top as it encounters the transport belts and is unsupported from the bottom as it encounters the separator wheels so that the sheet of paper is not held flat as it passes through the feeder but instead is forced into a wave-like, sinusoidal-like shape. In a first embodiment, the separator wheels are downstream of a fixed nip roller and in a second embodiment, the separator wheels are upstream of the fixed nip roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc.
    Inventor: Todd C. Werner