Patents Examined by Kenneth W. Bower
  • Patent number: 6910687
    Abstract: The present invention is embodied in a separator sheet handling assembly (10) that includes a lifting assembly (20) adapted to receive a pallet (12) containing a stack of separator sheets (14). The lifting assembly (20) positions the stack of separator sheets (14) into a predetermined location where a feed assembly (30) engages a separator sheet (16) positioned at the top of the stack of separator sheets (14). The feed assembly (30) removes the separator sheet (16) and transports it to a test assembly (50) where the separator sheet (16) is monitored for a particular characteristic such as cleanlines or structural integrity. The separator sheet (16) is delivered to a first storage assembly (60) if the separator sheet (16) has the particular characteristic, or a second storage assembly (70) if the separator sheet (16) does not include the particular characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2005
    Assignee: Arrowhead Systems LLC
    Inventors: Jeff G. Van Nice, Dennis A. VanderHoeven, Brian E. Busse
  • Patent number: 6908081
    Abstract: A fixed separating plate, having a separating strip, is provided to a middle of a lower end portion of a sheet holder, which holds a plurality of sheets, in a sheet width direction. A pair of first and second movable separating plates are provided on each side of the fixed separating plate. The first and second movable separating plates are upwardly urged and can descend lower than the fixed separating plate. The first and second movable separating plates independently rotate downward when the first and second movable separating plates are pressed by leading edges of the sheets that are subjected to a sheet feeding force from the sheet feed roller. With this structure, the degree of the inclined angles of the movable separating plates, which receive the leading edges of the side areas of the sheets to be fed, can be changed in accordance with the size and rigidity of the sheets stacked on the sheet holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2005
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Takito, Hiroshi Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6908010
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a driven rotary body rotating in pressure contact with and driven by a conveyance rotary body. The driven rotary body includes a shaft portion molded from a resin as an integral body, a recess positioned around a center in a longitudinal direction for parting a mold horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the driven rotary body and a roller portion positioned on each side of the recess.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2005
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaya Shinmachi, Yasutsugu Saijo, Tetsuhiro Nitta
  • Patent number: 6905120
    Abstract: A printing plate is only guided by and wound around peripheral surfaces of cylinders. The cylinders are disposed along an axis of a rotating shaft at predetermined intervals, and support the entire printing plate with substantially equal balance. The printing plate has a degree of firmness, and thus, the printing plate can hold itself in a substantially cylindrical shape even if it is merely rolled in the air. Therefore, the whole printing plate can be accurately wound and held onto a peripheral locus of a predetermined radius coaxial with the rotating shaft merely by disposing guide members as auxiliary guides for positioning and winding parts of the printing plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2005
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takashi Fukui
  • Patent number: 6899326
    Abstract: A first non-recording region is situated in one of both outer sides of a recording region in a main scanning direction of recording. A second non-recording region is situated in the other one of the both sides of the recording region. A power source provides a driving force. A driving gear is interconnected with the power source. A transmission gear is operable to be coupled with the driving gear to transmit the driving force to a rotatable member. An actuator is operable to move in the main scanning direction. A first trigger is disposed in the first non-recording region. A second trigger is disposed in the second non-recording region. A clutch is interconnected with the trigger so as to couple the driving gear and the transmission gear when the one of the first trigger and the second trigger is actuated by the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhisa Kawakami, Masaki Shimomura, Takuya Yasue, Toru Fukushima
  • Patent number: 6896117
    Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus for processing a sheet. When a medium having various patterns detected by a plurality of detecting sections for individually detecting plural kinds of features from a sheet, each detecting section detects plural kinds of features from the medium. The features detected from the medium are compared with a predetermined reference value so that the condition of the apparatus can be judged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Hiroshi Nomura
  • Patent number: 6896254
    Abstract: The invention relates to a pick arm for picking a media from a media stack. The pick arm includes a first arm section and a second arm section which are pivotally connected together. Each of the first and second arm sections have respective first and second ends. A media roller is attached to the first end of the first arm section and the second end of the second arm section is attached to drive means configured to apply a torque to the pick arm. When the applied torque is insufficient to enable the pick arm to pick up a media and drive it up a separation wall, the media roller is arranged to automatically move from a first position to a second position. The second position being located distal from the first position in a direction away from the separation wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Seng San Koh, Cherng Linn Teo, Pui Wen Huang
  • Patent number: 6893016
    Abstract: A combined insert feeder and printer is employed such that blank inserts are stored in its hopper. The blank inserts are then fed by a transporter to a printer. The printer prints onto the insert to create a printed insert which is transported into a moving pocket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Graphic Management Associates, Inc.
    Inventors: Darrell E. Pav, Randy R. Seidel, Michael White
  • Patent number: 6889848
    Abstract: A combined coin sorting and dispensing apparatus for motor vehicles which may be mounted in or integrally formed with the dashboard, console, or an existing interior door or side panel, or placed in an existing pocket of the vehicle. The coin sorter has a hopper with a coin slot, a coin sorter plate, a coin holder support, and a plurality of coin holders. In operation, coins placed in the hopper pass through the coin slot, and fall onto an inclined sorter plate which sorts the coins into the coin holders. The motion of the motor vehicle as it is being driven assists in moving the coins through the hopper, down the coin slot, and down the sorter plate. The sorted coins are stored in the coin holders until needed at which time they are manually or automatically dispensed from the holders. Methods for sorting the coins using the disclosed combined coin sorting and dispensing apparatus are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: John Hugh Allison
  • Patent number: 6889972
    Abstract: A banknote dispenser is constructed to include a housing adapted to hold banknotes in a stack for dispensing, a power module, a transferring wheel set driven by the power module to spread a stack of banknotes into a stepped stack of banknotes and then to dispense banknotes individually by a respective push block being rotated with a respective wheel of the transferring wheel set, an output wheel set adapted to transfer banknotes individually from the transferring wheel set to a banknote outlet, and a sensor adapted to control the operation of the power module subject to the presence of banknotes in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: International Currency Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Hung-Yi Chang
  • Patent number: 6886825
    Abstract: In order cost effectively and in spite of the lowest possible expenditure on construction to permit the logical provision of printing plates of different types and sizes for an extremely wide range of printing plate exposers, in an apparatus for loading and/or unloading an exposer, in particular a drum exposer, with printing plates, having a suction means comprising at least one sucker plate and at least two suction heads connected to a vacuum system for picking up printing plates, in particular thermal printing plates, and a pivoting device for pivoting the suction means, it is proposed that the sucker plate be constructed in the form of a cylindrical segment and the suction means be pivotable about an axle which is arranged substantially parallel to the axis of the cylindrical segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Inventors: Michael Graf, Peter Berner
  • Patent number: 6886828
    Abstract: A sheet finishing apparatus is provided with a discharge device for discharging a sheet; a support device arranged below the discharge device; a storage device arranged below the support device; an aligning device having a reference member as a reference to align the sheet and alignment rotating members for moving the sheet to the reference member; a shift device for shifting the discharge device to move the sheet to a position where the sheet can contact the alignment rotating members; a finishing device for finishing the sheet aligned by the discharge device, the shift device and the aligning device in a state that the sheet straddles between the support device and the storage device; and a transport device for transporting the sheets finished by the finishing device to the storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Assignee: Nisca Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Saito
  • Patent number: 6883799
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet storage portion that can store sheets with various sizes and accurately detect a size of the sheets. The sheet feeding apparatus has a sheet storage device, a supporting device for supporting the sheet storage device in a moving path between a sheet replenishing position and a sheet feeding position, a frame for fastening the supporting device, a sheet feeding device for separating the sheets into a single sheet and feeding the single sheet, and a sheet size detecting device established in the moving path for detecting the size of the sheets stored in the sheet storage device. The sheet size detecting device overlaps the sheet storage device in a sheet stacking direction when the sheet storage device is positioned at the sheet feeding position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2005
    Assignee: Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru Matsuki, Tomohisa Shimizu
  • Patent number: 6883801
    Abstract: A sheet member holding apparatus which holds a winding direction end portion of a sheet member that is wound around a rotary body. Centrifugal force generated by rotation of the rotary body is efficiently utilized to hold the end portion securely and prevent looseness or the like of the sheet member, because the holding apparatus is designed such that the expression {(?1+?2)×(L2/L1)×m}>c×r×t is satisfied. L1 is distance from a fulcrum to a clamp section, L2 is distance from the fulcrum to a center of gravity, m is mass of a plate of the apparatus per unit length in the rotary body's axial direction, t is thickness and c is density of the sheet member, and ?1 and ?2 are coefficients of friction between the sheet member and, respectively, the clamp section and the rotary body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2005
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takashi Fukui
  • Patent number: 6883800
    Abstract: In a paper convey method and device in an image forming apparatus according to this invention, a first sensor detects that the first paper sheet is fed from a paper feed unit, and a CPU outputs a control signal defining a desired cycle time at which paper sheets should be conveyed. A second sensor then detects the timing at which each paper sheet passes near a reverse motor in a reverse/paper discharge unit. The same or another CPU compares the timing of the passage of each paper sheet with the cycle time defined by the control signal and determines a delay or advance for each paper sheet. The desire cycle time is realized by controlling the reverse motor and a paper discharge motor in accordance with the determination result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2005
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masanaka Mizuno
  • Patent number: 6880821
    Abstract: A paper feeding cassette for an image forming apparatus includes an inclined supporter including an inclined plate fixedly disposed in a cassette body and a support plate for reciprocating, a separation guide including a fixing guide fixedly supported on the inclined plate and a moving guide movably supported on the support plate, and a reciprocating unit reciprocating the support plate. Accordingly, the moving guide selectively comes into contact with a sheet such that a friction resistance generated at a front end of the sheet varies in a degree in accordance with a type of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Gyeong-ho Park
  • Patent number: 6880823
    Abstract: A sheet collection apparatus has a stacking portion to stack mails in the standing position, a back-up plate in contact with one end of stacked mails in the stacked direction, and take-in rollers arranged at the positions contacting the other end of stacked mails. The take-in rollers are rotated at a slower peripheral speed than the conveying speed of mails taken in the stacking portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Shinichi Itoh, Naruaki Hiramitsu
  • Patent number: 6880818
    Abstract: An apparatus which can shingle a series of products and a method relating thereto, the apparatus, in one embodiment, having first upper and lower moving surfaces to receive a product, a second upper moving surface at an exit end of the first moving surfaces, the second upper surface being angled downwardly, a deflector to deflect the leading edge of the product moving along the second upper moving surface, and a second lower moving surface located below the deflector to receive a product. The device provides a positive control for the product and eliminates the use of delivery fan (fly) systems. Also provided are devices to reform various combinations of copies as used in the printing industry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Inventors: Edward Desaulniers, John Lovaghy, Robert Classen
  • Patent number: 6880819
    Abstract: A sheet feeder capable of immediately detecting a paper jam includes a housing, a motor attached to the housing, a driving roller, a driven roller, a rotation speed detector and a control circuit. The motor drives the driving roller to rotate, and the driving roller drives the driven roller to rotate. The driven roller cooperates with the driving roller to feed a sheet therethrough. The rotation speed detector detects the rotation speed of the driven roller and outputs a rotation speed signal. The control circuit receives the rotation speed signal to judge whether or not a paper jam occurs according to the rotation speed signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Assignee: Avision Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Chen, Chi-Yao Chen
  • Patent number: 6877741
    Abstract: Manually-insert banknotes are aligned by using a fan to reduce the air pressure above a banknote so that it is pulled into engagement with a drive means which drives the edge of the banknote to a guide, causing the banknote to rotate until the edge is aligned with the guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2005
    Assignee: Mars, Incorporated
    Inventors: Roberto Polidoro, Guillermo Garcia