Separator Adjustable Or Retractable Relative To Pack Patents (Class 271/117)
  • Patent number: 7946572
    Abstract: A paper pick-up mechanism for a feeder includes a pick-up roller, a pick-up roller shaft, a separation roller, a transmission shaft, a gear set and a transmission gear shaft. Two one-way clutches are respectively coupled to the transmission shaft and the transmission gear shaft in parallel. When the transmission shaft is rotated in a direction opposite to a sheet-feeding direction, the gear set, through the cooperation of the two one-way clutches are used as a planetary gear set to lift up the pick-up roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Avision Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Sheng, Sung-Po Cheng, Ku-Ming Chen
  • Patent number: 7926803
    Abstract: Various media drive and methods move a media drive member relative to a medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Raymond C. Sherman, Allan G. Olson, Wesley R. Schalk, Juan D. Ramos
  • Patent number: 7918445
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device to feed a sheet in a sheet stack into a sheet feeding path is provided. the sheet feeding device includes a feed roller configured to contact the sheet stack and feed the sheet in a feeding direction, a guide member, having a guide surface, which is configured to contact a side of the sheet fed by the feeding roller, to guide the sheet being fed along a guiding direction, and a shifting unit to shift the feed roller in a direction toward the guide surface before the feed roller is rotated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tsugio Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110074094
    Abstract: A sheet feeder, including: a holding portion for holding sheets; a sheet supply portion; an inclined member having an inclined surface for guiding each sheet in a sheet feed direction along the inclined surface; a first separation protrusion provided integrally on the inclined member so as to protrude from the inclined surface such that its distal end is located more downstream in the sheet feed direction than its proximal end; a plurality of second separation protrusions formed of a metal and disposed more upstream in the sheet feed direction than the first separation protrusion, each second separation protrusion protruding from the inclined surface through a corresponding one of openings formed in the inclined member, the second separation protrusions being arranged in the sheet feed direction; and a fixing member by which the second separation protrusions are fixed to the inclined member on a surface thereof opposite to the inclined surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2010
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo ASADA, Satoru NAKAKITA
  • Publication number: 20110074093
    Abstract: A sheet feeder, including; a sheet holding portion; a sheet supply portion; an inclined member having an inclined surface and configured to guide each sheet in a sheet feed direction; and separation protrusions which are provided on the inclined member and each of which protrudes from the inclined surface such that a distal end thereof is located more downstream in the sheet feed direction than a proximal end thereof, wherein each separation protrusion has a contact surface and said each sheet comes into contact with one or more contact surfaces of the separation protrusions, and wherein each separation protrusion protrudes from the inclined surface such that the distal end of one of the separation protrusions is located more downstream in the sheet feed direction than the proximal end of another of the separation protrusions that is located immediately downstream of the one of the separation protrusions in the sheet feed direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2010
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo ASADA, Keisuke WAKAKUSA
  • Publication number: 20110074092
    Abstract: A sheet feeder, including: a holding portion for holding sheets; a sheet supply portion; an inclined member disposed downstream of the holding portion and having an inclined surface for guiding each sheet in a sheet feed direction along the inclined surface; a plurality of first separation protrusions provided on and integrally with the inclined member and arranged in the sheet feed direction, each first separation protrusion protruding from the inclined surface such that its distal end is located more downstream in the sheet feed direction than its proximal end; and a plurality of second separation protrusions formed of a metal, each second separation protrusion protruding from the inclined surface through a corresponding one of openings formed in the inclined member at a position in the sheet feed direction between corresponding adjacent two of the first separation protrusions, the second separation protrusions being arranged in the sheet feed direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2010
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo ASADA, Keisuke WAKAKUSA
  • Patent number: 7914216
    Abstract: A method of interrupting a printing operation in a continuous transport process in which a first roller and a second roller transports plural printing mediums including a first medium on a tray in a transport direction to a printing area at which the printing operation is performed to each printing medium, the second roller is arranged at a downstream side of the first roller in the transport direction, and a third roller comes in contact with the first roller at a contact point to transport the printing mediums together with the first roller and is separated from the first roller not to transport the printing mediums, the method includes: separating the third roller from the first roller, when a trailing end edge of the first medium at least apart of which is disposed in the printing area is located at an upstream side of a predetermined point in the transport direction, and driving the second roller to transport the first medium after the third roller is separated from the first roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takuya Yasue, Jun Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 7907886
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body having an image forming section; a sheet feed section having a sheet cassette that accommodates a recording sheet and can be drawn out and loaded to the main body; and a sheet misalignment preventing mechanism that intermittently comes into contact with an uppermost recording sheet in the sheet cassette so as to prevent misalignment of the recording sheet in a loading direction when the sheet cassette drawn out of the main body is reloaded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2011
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Norichika Katsura, Tadasu Taniguchi, Masaharu Kimura, Masahiko Fujita, Yasuhiro Takai
  • Patent number: 7905479
    Abstract: A feeder unit to feed sheets is provided. The feeder unit includes a main frame, being swingably supported at a pivotal end by a first shaft, and arranged to extend from the first shaft toward an upper level of a tray, a rotary member, which is rotatably supported, and is arranged to come in contact with a topmost surface of the sheets, a pair of opposing walls, formed in the main frame, a secondary frame, having a pair of supporting walls which come to face the opposing walls, a gear train to transmit rotation force to the rotary member, a positioning system to situate the secondary frame in a predetermined position, and a detachment restricting system to restrict the secondary frame from being detached from the main frame. The secondary frame is situated in the predetermined position when the rotary member rotates in a direction to feed the sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenji Samoto
  • Patent number: 7891656
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet releasing mechanism, a casing, a sheet feeding channel, a sheet pick-up module and a driving shaft. The sheet releasing mechanism includes a control lever and a base. The control lever includes a protruding part. The base includes a first restriction groove and a second restriction groove. When the protruding part is accommodated within the first restriction groove, the sheet releasing mechanism is in a sheet-holding status. When the protruding part is accommodated within the second restriction groove, the sheet releasing mechanism is in a sheet-releasing status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Primax Electronics Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei-Hsun Hsu, Wen-An Huang, Chao-Min Yang, Chung-Kai Wang
  • Patent number: 7866658
    Abstract: A media pick system includes a media support, a pick roller, disposed above media support, configured to selectively contact and pick sheets of media disposed upon the media support, and clearance means, associated with the media support, for providing contact-free clearance around the pick roller during a media out condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Kevin Bokelman, Michael Janczyk, Ryan M. Smith
  • Patent number: 7857303
    Abstract: An over-stack protective portion is provided on a stopper member. When a sheet feeding device is in a standby position, the over-stack protective portion is held in a position in which the over-stack protective portion is in pressure contact with sheets having the maximum stacking height capable of being fed and supported by a sheet supporting portion. Also, when the sheets are to be fed, the pressure contact of the over-stack protective portion with the sheets having the maximum stacking height is released.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2010
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Oomori, Masao Amano, Eiichiro Kimizuka, Daisuke Aoki
  • Publication number: 20100308528
    Abstract: A sheet stopping mechanism includes a guiding element, a sheet stopping element and a guiding slot. The guiding element includes a sheathing part and an extension arm. The sheathing part is sheathed around an axle of the sheet pick-up roller. The sheet stopping element includes a stopping part, a protrusion part and a contact part. The extension arm of the guiding element is upwardly sustained against at the contact part of the sheet stopping element. The protrusion part of the sheet stopping element is accommodated within the guiding slot. When the sheet pick-up roller is moved toward a sheet input tray, the guiding element is uplifted. As a result, the protrusion part of the sheet stopping element is shifted and rotated in the guiding slot, and a front edge of the paper sheet is no longer hindered by the stopping part of the sheet stopping element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2009
    Publication date: December 9, 2010
    Inventors: Ming-Chieh Chung, Ming-Hung Chung
  • Publication number: 20100301543
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes a holding unit configured to hold a stack of sheets; a pickup roller, which feeds a sheet placed on top of the stack held in the holding unit when the pickup roller comes in contact with the sheet; a holder arm having a distal end to which the pickup roller is attached, wherein the holder arm has a swing center set at a position closer to the pickup roller side than the holding unit, and wherein the distal end of the holder arm extends from the swing center to the holding unit side; and a resiliently-deformable unit, which generates a swing moment to swing the holder arm to increases contact surface pressure between the sheet held in the holding unit and the pickup roller, wherein the swing moment increases as a contact angle between an extension direction of the holder arm and the sheet increases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2010
    Publication date: December 2, 2010
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Junki UEYAMA, Makoto HATTORI
  • Patent number: 7837188
    Abstract: A paper-stopped linkage mechanism, located at the upper cover of the office machine, includes a paper feeder mechanism, a paper stopper mechanism and a linkage. The paper feeder mechanism is movably located at the upper cover and has at least one paper-feeding roller. The paper stopper mechanism is movably located at the upper cover. The linkage is swingingly pivoted with the upper cover. The linkage has a first linking portion and a second linking portion. The first linking portion and the second linking portion are respectively connected with the paper feeder mechanism and the paper stopper mechanism. The paper feeder mechanism and the paper stopper mechanism are linked by the linkage and move in the opposite directions. Both the paper feeder mechanism and the paper stopper mechanism are located at the upper cover and are linked by the linkage so that the paper stopper mechanism can be driven immediately.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Cal-Comp Electronics & Communications Company Limited
    Inventors: Yang-Teh Lee, Hsien-Chang Wu
  • Patent number: 7828282
    Abstract: An imaging system includes a media holder configured to hold a plurality of sheets of media. A pick arm, including a pick roller, is positioned to contact an individual sheet of the plurality of sheets of media in the media holder. A member has a measurable property that is sensed by a sensor in correlation with a position of the individual sheet of the media in the media holder. The member or the sensor is movable by the pick arm along a path such that the measurable property is sensed by the sensor in order to provide a signal indicative of the position of the individual sheet of media in the media holder. The member produces zero drag upon the individual sheet of media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventor: Hongsheng Zhang
  • Patent number: 7828283
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a sheet feed apparatus for an electronic device are disclosed. The sheet feed apparatus includes a mount pick arm that pivotally moves closer to a stack of media as the media is picked from the stack of media. A pick arm is pivotally connected to the mount pick arm and picks media from the stack of media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Murray Learmonth, William H. Schwiebert, Tsai-Yi Lin, Dentarg Huang
  • Publication number: 20100259801
    Abstract: A sheet feeder having a sheet-stopping function includes a rotating shaft, a sheet-input roller and a sheet-stopping mechanism. The rotating shaft is rotatable in a first direction and a second direction. The sheet-input roller mounted on the rotating shaft feeds a sheet. The sheet-stopping mechanism is driven by the rotating shaft to switch between a sheet-stopping state and a non-sheet-stopping state. The rotating shaft is rotated in the first direction to enable the sheet-stopping mechanism to enter the non-sheet-stopping state and allow the sheet to come into contact with the sheet-input roller. The rotating shaft is rotated in the second direction to enable the sheet-stopping mechanism to enter the sheet-stopping state and block up a passage to the sheet-input roller. A scan apparatus using the sheet feeder is also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Inventor: Sung-Po CHENG
  • Patent number: 7810803
    Abstract: An apparatus in an example comprises a sheet holder, a separator surface, a feed head, and one or more arms. The sheet holder supports one or more sheets of media. The separator surface receives a leading edge of a sheet of the one or more sheets of media. The feed head is selectively positionable against a face of the sheet. The one or more arms extend toward an intermediate location of the separator surface to constrain the sheet from movement away from the separator surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Tim M. Hoberock, David F. D. Buck, Samrin Sing
  • Patent number: 7802784
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus has a liftable stacking member on which a sheet is stacked, a feeding member which feeds the sheet in abutment against the uppermost one of the sheets placed on the stacking member, the feeding member moving from a separation position to an abutment position, a driving portion which lifts the stacking member, a sensor to detect that an uppermost sheet is below a predetermined position, and a control portion configured to control the driving portion so as to lift the stacking member when a signal from the sensor is received in sequence a plurality of times, which the control portion receives from a sensor due to the feeding member moving from the separation position to the abutment position repeatedly, indicate that the uppermost one of the sheets placed on the stacking member is located below a predetermined position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuichi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 7798483
    Abstract: When a sheet reaches a sheet separator, an operation mechanism rocks a pick arm, thereby separating a paper feed roller from the sheet. At that time, a roller presses another roller and a separation pad holder through a separation roller and a sheet which is separated by the separation pad, and a pressure welding pressure between the separation roller and the separation pad is reduced. With this, the separation roller and the separation pad can be separated from each other with a small and simple mechanism, and a back tension when a sheet is fed can be reduced inexpensively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akira Oomori
  • Patent number: 7798482
    Abstract: A feeding roller is rotatable about an imaginary rotational axis extending in an axial direction and is configured to be rotatingly driven in a rotational direction for feeding a recording medium to a conveying path. A supporting section rotatably supports the feeding roller at a position in confrontation with the recording medium accommodated in a recording-medium accommodating section. A driving unit is configured to generate a rotational driving force. A transmitting unit is configured to transmit the rotational driving force to a central part of the feeding roller with respect to the axial direction. A guiding section prevents the recording medium accommodated in the recording-medium accommodating section from displacing in the axial direction. The supporting section rotatably supports the feeding roller in such a manner that an angle of the imaginary rotational axis relative to a reference direction can be changed by a predetermined amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuji Koga, Daisuke Kozaki
  • 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
  • Publication number: 20100194030
    Abstract: A drive transmission apparatus includes a sun gear driven by a drive source, a planetary gear, a supporting member that supports the planetary gear capable of revolving around the sun gear in a rotatably engaged state with the sun gear, a driven gear that is engaged with the planetary gear when the planetary gear revolves and moves to an engagement position by the rotation of the sun gear in a first direction, and a rotational force providing unit that provides a rotational force to the driven gear to rotate the sun gear in a second direction opposite to the first direction via the planetary gear when the planetary gear is engaged with the driven gear. When the sun gear is rotated in the second direction by the drive source, the rotational force providing unit blocks the revolution of the planetary gear by rotating the planetary gear via the driven gear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2010
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takayuki Okamoto, Masaya Shimmachi
  • Patent number: 7766319
    Abstract: A recorded medium feeding device includes a pickup roller that feeds recorded medium downstream from a setting position by contacting with the recorded medium and rotating and a separating means for separating recorded medium to be fed and subsequent recorded media from the next page onward. The positions of a nip point of the separating means and a place where the pickup roller contacts the recorded medium in the direction orthogonal to the recorded medium feeding direction with respect to a recorded medium of a predetermined size to be fed by the pickup roller are located within a range deviated to one side from the center of the recorded medium of the predetermined size. A path elongating portion that elongates the feed path length of the recorded medium by abutting the recorded medium is apart from the nip point and the place where the pickup roller contacts the recorded medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Miyamoto, Tsuyoshi Sugiura
  • Patent number: 7758038
    Abstract: A printer comprising: a support frame; and a sheet media pick-up device pivotally mounted to the support frame so as to be pivotable relative to a supply of sheet media, the pick-up device comprising: a driven roller arranged to be rotated so as to contact and pick-up sheet media from the supply of sheet media and deliver the picked sheet media to a sheet media transport mechanism of the printer; and a motor for rotatably driving the roller, wherein the motor and driven roller are arranged to pivot with the pick-up device, the pick-up device being configured to pivot so that the driven roller is consistently positioned to contact and pick-up the sheet media as the supply of sheet media is successively depleted after each pick-up.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 20, 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: 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: 7753363
    Abstract: A paper feeding device includes a cover, a base, a pickup roller assembly and at least one paper blocking unit. The paper blocking unit is placed beside the pickup roller assembly, has a paper blocking element and a projection projecting from the upper portion of the side wall of the pickup roller assembly. The paper blocking element includes a connecting portion, a paper blocking arm, a pivot rotatablely connecting the cover. A connecting arm extends upwards from the end of the pivot, a blocking portion projects from the outer side of the connecting arm, a passage is formed between the blocking portion and the connecting arm. The projection can be downward against the blocking portion of the paper blocking element or pass through the passage of the paper blocking element to allow the paper to be fed in, so the cooperation is easy, the paper feeding device works smoothly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Foxlink Image Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chia-Chih Liu, Chih-Ming Lin, Huan-Hsing Hsiao
  • Publication number: 20100156032
    Abstract: A roller assembly for conveying stacked sheet material along a feed path. The roller assembly includes a first roller adapted for rotation within a housing, a second roller pivotally mounting about an axis to the housing and opposing the first roller to define a roller nip, a spring biasing mechanism operative to bias the second roller about the pivot axis toward the first roller to effect optimum frictional engagement of the roller nip with the face surfaces of the stacked sheet material and a transmission assembly operative to (i) transfer rotational motion of the first roller to the second roller, (ii) drive the first and second rollers in opposing directions to convey the stacked sheet material along the feed path, and (iii) facilitate pivot motion of the second roller about the pivot axis to vary the spacing of the roller nip and accommodate stacks of sheet material which vary in thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2008
    Publication date: June 24, 2010
    Applicant: Pitney Bowes Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph A. Trudeau, Robert F. Marcinik
  • Patent number: 7731176
    Abstract: A sheet picking system for picking a sheet of media includes a power source having a driveshaft. A first housing arm containing a drive gear is drivably coupled to the driveshaft. The drive gear defines a first pivot axis for the first housing arm, wherein the drive gear is driven by the driveshaft to rotate about the first pivot axis. A second housing arm contains an intermediate gear, a transmission device, and a pick roller. The transmission device is configured to rotatably couple the intermediate gear to the pick roller. The intermediate gear is positioned to be meshed with the drive gear. The intermediate gear defines a second pivot axis for the second housing arm. A link mechanism pivotably couples the first housing arm at the first pivot axis to the second housing arm at the second pivot axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Lexmark Internatinoal, Inc.
    Inventors: Jessíe Mondoñdo Bato-on, Gil Alfredo Vargas
  • Patent number: 7731171
    Abstract: As one embodiment, a paper feeding device is provided with a pickup roller for pulling out an uppermost positioned sheet of loaded sheets, and a paper feeding roller for transporting the sheet pulled out by the pickup roller. Spanning between the pickup roller and the paper feeding roller, a roller belt is provided that is capable of moving relatively in a circumferential direction with respect to an outer circumferential surface of the paper feeding roller. The roller belt obtains rotational drive from the pickup roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatsugu Ohishi, Masaharu Kimura, Norichika Katsura, Yasuaki Fukada
  • Patent number: 7722030
    Abstract: A sheet feeder is provided. The sheet feeder includes a sheet tray which retains a sheet; a first rotating body for applying a first conveying force to the sheet retained in the sheet tray; a second rotating body for applying a second conveying force to the sheet retained in the sheet tray; and a conveying force transfer unit which controls the second rotating body based on whether the first rotating body slips on the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2010
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Wataru Sugiyama, Noritsugu Ito, Shingo Ito, Naokazu Tanahashi
  • Patent number: 7717415
    Abstract: A paper feeding device which includes a pickup roller assembly picking up a sheet of paper and transferring the paper, a stopper controlling the paper so that a front end of the paper is located on a lower portion of the pickup roller, a sensing unit sensing whether the paper is loaded or not on the paper feeding board, and a probe unit that is rotated with the stopper and turns on/off the sensor unit. Therefore, the probe unit for turning the sensor unit on/off is operated with the stopper to reduce the number of components, thus reducing the cost and stabling the quality of product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Won-taek Kim, Myung-woo Yang
  • Patent number: 7708266
    Abstract: A sheet feeder comprising: a feed roller which feeds sheet by rotating in contact with the sheet; a separation roller which is disposed at a downstream side of a sheet feeding direction; a supporting member which supports the feed roller and the separation roller, the supporting member is supported so as to be swingable around the rotation axis of the separation roller; a drive source which drives the supporting member so as to swing; an arm pivot which is disposed between the drive source and the supporting member; a first arm which is disposed at a side of the drive source; and a second arm which is disposed at a side of the supporting member, the second arm is able to be separated from the first arm; wherein the first arm and the second arm are integrally swung around the arm pivot by the drive source, thereby the supporting member swinging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Atsuo Hirose
  • Patent number: 7708265
    Abstract: A sheet feeder includes a housing having a cassette housing part recessed horizontally from the front surface toward the depth direction and a sheet feed cassette that can be drawn from the cassette housing part. The sheet feed cassette has an open top for storing sheets of paper. The sheet feeder includes a pressure plate provided pivotably about a first pivot so as to be inclined downwardly toward the depth direction of the sheet feed cassette and a pressure mechanism that presses sheets of paper against a pick-up roller when the sheet feed cassette is pushed into the cassette housing part. The sheet feeder includes a pressure plate regulation mechanism that inclines the pressure plate downwardly toward the depth direction while separating sheets of paper on the pressure plate or the pressure plate from the pick-up roller when the sheet feed cassette is drawn from the cassette housing part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takuro Kusama
  • Publication number: 20100102501
    Abstract: Sheet feeding systems and methods for using such systems to feed a sheet from a stack in a document processing system are disclosed. An exemplary sheet feeding system may include a feed roll, a retard system, a trailing edge retention system and a system for automatically an selectively separating the feed roll and the retard system. The feed roll may be configured to drive a first sheet of a stack of sheets in a process direction. The retard system may be configured to prevent one or more second sheets from being driven in the process direction. The trailing edge retention system may be configured to automatically and selectively retain one or more second sheets in the stack by applying a force to a trailing portion of at least one second sheet, thus allowing the feed roll and retard system to be separated during much of the feed cycle. As a result, wear of the feed roll and/or retard system may be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: XEROX CORPORATION
    Inventor: Barry Paul Mandel
  • Patent number: 7703763
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a tray having a bottom surface. The tray holds at least one sheet therein, and has a recess formed in the bottom surface. A rotating member moves between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the rotating member contacts a sheet held in the tray, and in the second position, the rotating member is separated from the tray. The rotating member selectively rotates to convey a sheet held in the tray in a when the rotating member is in the first position. An operative portion moves in and out of the recess in the bottom surface of the tray, and movement of the operative portion corresponds to a movement of the rotating member into the second position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yukio Shiohara, Keisuke Wakakusa, Tetsuo Asada
  • Patent number: 7703762
    Abstract: When a paper feed cassette is again mounted, a pressing portion of a pressing member is brought into contact from the front side on a second surface of an extending portion of a contacting member, and the contacting member is pressed by the pressing member to be displaced from the retract position to the contact position. At this time, the pressing portion of the contacting member presses a pressed portion of a disc member to rotate a third cam itself in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing. Accordingly, the lift lever locked by the third cam is released, and an end portion of an arm member is allowed to move upward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Makoto Hattori
  • Publication number: 20100096800
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus including a cross-directionally moving device for moving a sheet in a direction crossing a sheet discharging direction, and a cross-side restricting member for receiving one side edge of the sheet moved in the crossing direction by the cross-directionally moving device, and restricting the movement of the sheet, wherein the cross-directionally moving device moves the next sheet from a position between the other side edge of the sheet received by the cross-side restricting member and the cross-side restricting member to the cross-side restricting member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2009
    Publication date: April 22, 2010
    Applicant: CANON FINETECH INC.
    Inventor: NAOYASU FUNADA
  • Patent number: 7694954
    Abstract: A sheet pick-up device includes a sheet pick-up arm, a driving shaft and a collar. The sheet pick-up arm has a sleeve at the outside surface thereof. The driving shaft is penetrated through the sheet pick-up arm and the sleeve. The collar is sheathed around the driving shaft and includes at least one flexible vane in contact with the inner surface of the sleeve. The height of the flexible vane relative to the outer surface of the collar is greater than the radial distance between the outer surface of the collar and the inner surface of the sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2010
    Assignee: Primax Electronics, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hsin-Wen Lee
  • Publication number: 20100084806
    Abstract: A paper feed unit for a printer to form an image on a print paper by an image former, the paper feed unit including: a paper feed tray that stacks print papers to be fed; a paper transfer route that transfers print papers; a register roller that is provided upstream of the image former in a paper transfer direction in the paper transfer route and holds a fed print paper to adjust a timing to transfer the fed print paper to the image former; a pick-up roller that transmits a print paper stacked in the paper feed tray to the register roller, the pick-up roller being smaller in width than a width of a print paper to be transmitted; and a regulator that comes into contact with a loose portion of a print paper loosened in a paper feed route in between the pick-up roller and the register roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Publication date: April 8, 2010
    Applicant: RISO KAGAKU COPORATION
    Inventor: Naoya MASUDA
  • Patent number: 7690644
    Abstract: A supply station for positioning enclosures on an enclosure-collating path of a mail-processing installation allows a simple conversion from operation for processing a stack of comparatively flexible, thin enclosures to operation for processing a stack of comparatively thick, essentially inflexible enclosures. The conversion is achieved using a magazine housing inside a supply station housing mounted so that it can be secured in two different pivot positions, whereby in one pivot position the lowermost enclosure of a stack of enclosures is bent using a vacuum arrangement in which the front end of the enclosure in the withdrawal direction can be gripped by a gripper, while in a second pivot position of the magazine housing, the front end in the withdrawal direction of a lowermost, comparatively thick and essentially inflexible enclosure is pushed by means of a pusher arrangement directly into the open claws of the gripper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Pitney Bowes Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Sting, Christian Botschek, Rainer Oberheim
  • Patent number: 7686291
    Abstract: A sheet conveyance device includes a pick-up roller, a handling member, and a roller-movement-timing changing unit. The pick-up roller is movable between a feeding position where a recording sheet stacked in a sheet tray is fed and a feed standby position where the pick-up roller is separated from the recording sheet. The handling member is disposed on downstream of the pick-up roller in a sheet conveyance direction. The handling member separates the recording sheet fed by the pick-up roller one by one and conveys the separated recording sheet. The roller-movement-timing changing unit changes roller movement timing at which the pick-up roller is moved from the feeding position to the feed standby position, in accordance with a sheet information of a used recording sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takuji Miyazawa
  • Patent number: 7686292
    Abstract: A sheet feeder (20) includes a tray (30) for receiving a recording sheet (P). A feed roller (41) is disposed above the tray (30) and feeds the sheet (P). A bottom plate (50) is at a downstream end of the tray (30) and moves up and down for pressingly contacting a leading end of the sheet (P) with the roller (41). A position changer (60) moves the bottom plate (50) between a first position (S1) where the bottom plate (50) contacts the roller (41), and a second position (S2) where the bottom plate (50) is spaced from the roller (41). An elevating mechanism (70) moves the bottom plate (50) set to the second position up and down each time the sheet (P) is fed and brings the leading end of the sheet (P) into contact with the roller (41) when the bottom plate (50) is moved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Kyocera Mita Corporation
    Inventor: Manabu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 7681877
    Abstract: An image forming device includes a paper supply apparatus including an adjustable knock-up plate to store a plurality of papers and having a lifter, a pick-up roller and feed roller to pick up each of the plurality of papers and feed each of the plurality of papers into the image forming device respectively, a motor to drive a plurality of units in the image forming device including the knock-up plate, and a brake unit to selectively transmit and disconnect power to the lifter. The lifting operation of the knock-up plate, to smoothly supply papers to the image forming device, is performed by receiving power from an existing arbitrary motor installed within the image forming device, and not from an exclusive motor that is solely used to drive and lift the knock-up plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jung-yun Won
  • Patent number: 7681876
    Abstract: A printer comprising: a sheet media transport mechanism for transporting sheet media past a printhead; a pick-up roller arranged to be rotated so as to contact and pick-up sheet media from a supply of sheet media and deliver the picked sheet media to the sheet media transport mechanism; and a gear assembly for communicating a driving force of a motor to the pick-up roller so as to rotate the pick-up roller, wherein a first gear of the gear assembly is arranged to disengage from a second gear of the gear assembly substantially at the point of delivery of a leading edge of the picked sheet media to the sheet media transport mechanism so as to cease communication of the driving force of the motor to the pick-up roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 23, 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: 7677556
    Abstract: A holding member is rotatably axially supported to the apparatus main body, holds the sheet feeding unit to a rotational edge, and moves the sheet feeding unit to one of a sheet feeding position and a standby position and a gear train. By transferring the rotation of the opening/closing operation of the feed tray to the holding member through the gear train so that the sheet feeding unit is moved along with the opening/closing operation of the feed tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2010
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shigeo Murayama, Kenichi Nakao
  • Publication number: 20100059929
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device has: a sheet accommodating portion that accommodates a sheet stack of a plurality of sheets; a sheet carrying plate that is provided within the sheet accommodating portion and stacks the sheet stack thereon; a pickup roller that contacts an upper face of the sheet stack and dispatches a sheet on an uppermost layer of the sheet stack, an elevator mechanism that displaces the sheet carrying plate between a sheet feeding position in which the upper face of the sheet stack contacts the pickup roller, and a separating position in which the upper face of the sheet stack separates from the pickup roller by a predetermined distance; and a controller that controls an operation of the elevator mechanism such that the sheet carrying plate is lowered to the separating position after a sheet feeding operation for feeding a sheet at the sheet feeding position is completed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2009
    Publication date: March 11, 2010
    Applicant: KYOCERA MITA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Keiji Okumura
  • Patent number: 7673871
    Abstract: A sheet feeder has a tray for receiving one or more media sheets. An arm is configured to pivot relative to the tray. A roller is rotatably coupled to the arm. A biasing device is coupled to the arm. The biasing device biases the arm to pivot toward the tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2010
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Kevin Bokelman, Glenn W. Gaarder, Ryan M. Smith
  • Publication number: 20100044954
    Abstract: Provided is a feed device including: a loading unit in which a plurality of sheet members is loaded in a stacked state; a delivery member which performs a feed operation in a state in which a contact surface thereof is in contact with an uppermost sheet member of the sheet members loaded on the loading unit and delivers the sheet member in a feed direction using friction force with the uppermost sheet member as the feeding force; a gate member which is configured to move in a direction to and from the contact surface of the delivery member and has an inclined surface with which a front end of the sheet member delivered by the delivery member collides with; and a gate energizing member which energizes the gate member in a direction approaching to the contact surface of the delivery member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2009
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Satoshi KOBAYASHI