Abstract: Guide ring arranged coaxially with a drive shaft includes locating and locking features ensuring proper orientation of drive and driven shafts, also ensuring proper backlash between gears mounted thereon. Guide ring is inserted through a keyed aperture of a mounting bracket and brought into proximity with the driven shaft frame. Rotation of motor and guide ring in first direction draws shafts into alignment; mounting bracket is attached to driven shaft frame. Motor and guide ring then rotated in opposite direction to second extreme position in which the motor is locked and driven shaft can rotate freely.

Abstract: Guide ring arranged coaxially with a drive shaft includes locating and locking features ensuring proper orientation of drive and driven shafts, also ensuring proper backlash between gears mounted thereon. Guide ring is inserted through a keyed aperture of a mounting bracket and brought into proximity with the driven shaft frame. Rotation of motor and guide ring in first direction draws shafts into alignment; mounting bracket is attached to driven shaft frame. Motor and guide ring then rotated in opposite direction to second extreme position in which the motor is locked and driven shaft can rotate freely.

Abstract: Guide ring arranged coaxially with a drive shaft includes locating and locking features ensuring proper orientation of drive and driven shafts, also ensuring proper backlash between gears mounted thereon. Guide ring is inserted through a keyed aperture of a mounting bracket and brought into proximity with the driven shaft frame. Rotation of motor and guide ring in first direction draws shafts into alignment; mounting bracket is attached to driven shaft frame. Motor and guide ring then rotated in opposite direction to second extreme position in which the motor is locked and driven shaft can rotate freely.

Abstract: A stack height control assembly utilizing the feedhead as the height sensing member. As a result of incorporating the stack height sensor into the feedhead, several advantages are realized. There is no additional drag imparted to the sheets as the result of a sensing arm or other sensing member. This also reduces the possibility of skewing the sheets with an additional sensing member. The feedhead, due to the normal force required to acquire the sheets also provides an accurate measurement of stack height. The normal force of the feedhead also eliminates and inaccuracies that could be caused by curled sheets in a feed tray. The stack height is also measured "on the fly" as the sheets are being acquired and fed, thus providing an efficient stack height sensing scheme. A floating coupler and sensor flag arrangement can be mounted so that it is engaged with a paper supply drawer as the drawer is moved into an operative position.

Abstract: A replacement roller cartridge for a cut sheet retard feeder. The cartridge assembly includes a feed roll, a nudger roll, and a retard roll aligned so that the axis of rotation are substantially in the same plane within an articulated frame. The frame is inserted into the feed head and pivoted into an active position. Upon insertion into the feed head, the retard roll is captured by a separate retard bracket so that when the feed head is pivoted into the active position the retard roll is withdrawn from the frame and forms a feed nip with the feed roll. The articulated frame is geared so that the frame folds back against itself to provide a very compact unit. A gear train is provided on both sides of the cartridge to drive the feed roll and the nudger roll. The cartridge assembly provides a low cost, easily replaceable unit that eliminates the need for a service technician to replace worn feed rolls.

Abstract: An epicyclic drive train arrangement having a plurality of output drive members which may be selectively driven from a single input drive member. A frame equipped with two pawls is operated by a single solenoid and spring combination. During successive cycles of solenoid operation, a selected pawl engages its mating gear by action of a solenoid plunger rod. The action prevents rotation of the selected gear while the pawl is engaged. The unselected pawl disengages its mating gear thereby allowing it to freely rotate. Multiple epicyclic drive train arrangements may be configured so as to drive a plurality of sheet feeding apparatuses in an electrophotographic printing machine.

Abstract: A stack height control assembly that is remote from the feedhead. A floating coupler and sensor flag arrangement is mounted so that it is engaged with a paper supply drawer as the drawer is moved into an operative position. The feedhead acts as the stack height sensor and through a mechanical engagement with the sensor, which is removed and remote from the supply drawer, signals as the stack is depleted and the elevator mechanism should raise the stack. This control scheme removes complex electrical connectors from the drawer assembly and allows a wide range of substrates to be fed from the paper supply drawer. By allowing the sensor/coupler arrangement to float so as to align with the drawer, the need for extremely tight manufacturing and assembly tolerances with respect to the drawer/sensor arrangement is also obviated.

Abstract: An apparatus which advances sheets from different stacks of sheets. In one mode of operation, two stacks of sheets are supported side by side. A sheet feeder associated with each stack of sheets advances successive uppermost sheets from the respective stack to a transfer station of a printing machine. Alternatively, a single sheet feeder mounted movably in the sheet feeding apparatus may be employed to advance successive sheets from each of the stack of sheets, in lieu two sheet feeders. In the absence of these stacks of sheets, another oversized stack of sheets may be positioned in the sheet feeder. This oversized stack of sheets extends from a first sheet storing section into a second sheet storing section. When two stacks of sheets are disposed in the sheet feeder, one stack is positioned in the first sheet storing section and the other stack is positioned in the second sheet storing section. In this way, the sheet feeding apparatus has capability of feeding multiple size sheets.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining the dimensions of a stack of sheets in the tray. An optical sensor is arranged so that movement of the sheet guides in a paper tray causes a variably graduated scale to be moved past the sensor. The sensor may either be a transmissive or reflective type analog sensor in which the strength of the signal generated by the sensor is converted into a position of the side guides and as the analog scale is continuously variable, there is no need for separate discrete sensors or switches and sheet sizes of any dimension can be accommodated. A recalibration process is used to prevent contamination of the gauge and the associated change in signal strength by this sensor from causing the size determinations to be inaccurate. Alternatively, a digital sensor in cooperation with a digital bar code or other digital scale can be utilized to determine the variable sheet size, which digital sensor and variable scale are insensitive to contamination by dirt or paper particles, etc.

Abstract: A printer for printing images from a photoconductor onto copy sheets and tab stock includes stalled roller registration nip in a copy sheet path. The printer has a special materials tray and a sheet feeder for feeding tab stock from the tray to the paper path. Dual sensors connected to an AND gate are positioned in line across the paper path downstream of the special materials feeder to sense the feeding of tab stock and send a signal to a controller which stops the sheer feed. Once a signal is received by the controller that an image is in a particular position on the photoconductor, the sheet feeder is started again by the controller with the roller registration nip operating at process speed as well. When standard copy sheets are fed from conventional paper trays, the stalled roller registration nip operates to stall and register copy the sheets before they are fed to the U photoconductor.

Abstract: A retard sheet feeder that utilizes a slip clutch with an integral biasing device to separate double fed sheets. A retard roll is provided in circumferential contact with a feed roll to form a drive nip. The retard roll is free to rotate in the feeding direction by the use of a spring that is axially aligned with the roll and allows the roll to slip in the feed direction once a predetermined torque level is reached. The spring may be either internal to the roll or external to the roll. When the drive torque to the retard roll is reduced such as when a double sheet is in the drive nip, the torque is not sufficient to overcome the stored spring energy and the roll is rotated in a reverse direction by the spring to drive the double sheet out of the nip.