APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT FEEDING
A document input device having a gravity feed paper tray is adapted such that the separator pad is mounted on the base, as opposed to the cover, so that when the cover is opened to access the paper path (as during clearing of a paper jam), paper in the paper tray is held in place by the force of the separator pad against the pick roller, even though the cover is open. The separator pad may be attached to a rod that is attached to the base so as to permit the rod and separator pad to remain in place when the cover is in the open position. A leaf spring may be placed between the rod and the separator pad for biasing the separator pad against the pick roller. Also, the cover may include a spring for biasing the separator pad against the pick roller when the cover is in the closed position.
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This application claims benefit of Provisional application No. 61/017,060 filed Dec. 27, 2007, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically feeding documents into a scanner, copy machine, fax machine, or the like and, more particularly, to a gravity loaded, motor-fed automatic document feeder having a pick roller and separator pad designed to hold the document sheets in place in the paper tray when the device is opened to address a paper jam or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to an automatic document feeder mounted to a document input device such as a scanner, copy machine, or fax machine that is designed to convey documents or paper into the document input device. Generally, the invention relates to gravity loaded, motor fed automatic document feeders that include input document trays at an acute angle to the horizontal whereby the force of gravity feeds the documents into a motorized picker mechanism that picks a single sheet from the input tray for scanning, copying, faxing or the like. For example,
Unfortunately, automatic document feeders jam from time to time. For example, if the pad separator 110 and pick roller 104 select two or more documents instead of one, or if the selected document is askew or has folds, one or more of the documents may jam in the device, causing a malfunction. The user then must open the cover 102 to clear the document jam. In devices of the type illustrated in
Prior art document feeders of the type illustrated in
The present invention addresses this problem in the art by providing a design whereby the documents in the paper tray do not fall into the paper path when the cover of the scanner, copy machine, or fax device is opened, as when clearing a paper jam.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA document input device, such as a scanner, copy machine, or fax machine, having a gravity feed paper tray is adapted to address the afore-mentioned problems in the prior art devices by mounting the separator pad on the base, as opposed to the cover, so that when the cover is opened to access the paper path (as during clearing of a paper jam), paper in the paper tray is held in place by the force of the separator pad against the pick roller, even though the cover is open. The separator pad may be attached to a rod that is attached to the base so as to permit the rod and separator pad to remain in place when the cover is in the open position. A leaf spring may be placed between the rod and the separator pad for biasing the separator pad against the pick roller. Also, the cover may include a spring for biasing the separator pad against the pick roller when the cover is in the closed position.
A detailed description of illustrative embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to
Generally, though not exclusively limited thereto, the invention described herein is applicable to document input devices that are small enough to be used on a desktop and that are generally gravity loaded, motor fed input devices that may be opened to expose the paper path of the documents. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the document input device may be used with a scanner, a copy machine, a fax machine, and the like. Such devices are referred to herein interchangeably as a “scanner” or a “document input device.” Either term is intended to encompass any device that inputs paper or paper documents into a device for processing in some fashion.
The document feeder of the scanner 300 functions in the following way. Paper is placed on the paper tray 304 so that it rests on the pick roller 308. To take one sheet of paper, the pick roller 308 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow 312. This rotation moves the paper through the paper path 318 towards the exit area 306. The force applied against the pick roller 308 by separator pad 314 functions to separate the paper in the paper tray into a single sheet for feeding into the paper path 318. As the paper passes through the paper path 318, the paper is scanned, copied, or faxed depending upon the selected function of the scanner 300.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, metal leaf springs may be mounted to the rod 316 at 324 adjacent to the separator pad 314 such that the spring runs in parallel to the separator pad 314 and provides extra support for the paper to stay in the paper tray by biasing the separator pad 314 against the pick roller 308.
Alternatively, in another exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in
The scanner 300 of the present invention has the advantage that when the cover 302 is opened while paper is in the paper tray 304, the paper does not fall into the paper path 318. This is important, because when a paper jam occurs the user needs to open the cover of the scanner 300 to remove the paper jam. If this happens when some paper is still in the paper tray, the paper is held up because the separator pad 314 remains in contact with the pick roller 308. This is particularly convenient for the user when the paper tray 304 is adapted to include an insert 702 (
Those skilled in the art also will readily appreciate that many additional modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiment without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the invention. For example, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a stronger leaf spring could be used to hold the separator pad 314 in place on the rod 316 so that no spring 700 in the cover 302 would be needed. In such case, a sensor for sensing that the cover 302 is open would be desirable in order to prevent the scanning, copying, and/or fax function from operating unless the cover 302 is sufficiently closed. Accordingly, any such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the following exemplary claims.
What is claimed:
Claims
1. A document input device comprising:
- a base having a gravity feed paper tray;
- a motorized pick roller mounted to the base for feeding paper from the paper tray through a paper path;
- a cover attached to the base, the cover having a closed position for covering the paper path when the document input device is in use and an open position as when needed to clear a paper jam; and
- a separator pad attached to the base and having one end in contact with the pick roller to control the feeding of paper, wherein the separator pad remains in contact with the pick roller when the cover is in the open position so as to prevent paper in the paper tray from falling into the paper path when the cover is in the open position.
2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the separator pad is attached to a rod which is attached to the base and wherein the rod and separator pad remain in place when the cover is in the open position.
3. The input device according to claim 2, further including a spring between the rod and the separator pad for biasing the separator pad against the pick roller.
4. The input device according to claim 3, wherein the spring is a leaf spring.
5. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the cover comprises a spring for biasing the separator pad against the pick roller when the cover is in the closed position.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 23, 2008
Publication Date: Jul 2, 2009
Applicant: DIGITAL BUSINESS PROCESSES, INC. (Philadelphia, PA)
Inventors: Harris Romanoff (Narberth, PA), Peter Michaelian (Tappan, NY)
Application Number: 12/343,171