Patents Examined by Lisa Waag
  • Patent number: 4723773
    Abstract: Sheet feeding systems provide a sheet receiving nip at a peripheral region of a rotary sheet transport and arrange sheets in a stack having a stack and formed by a bottom sheet and spaced from the nip by a distance shorter than the minimum length of any of the sheets. The stack is temporarily lifted from a stack rest, and the bottom sheet is removed therefrom. Sheet jams are prevented by advancing any bottom sheet to the rotary sheet transport in a plane intersecting that rotary sheet transport at a distance from the nip. Each bottom sheet is further advanced from that intersecting plane to the nip, and such advanced bottom sheet is engaged with the nip for transport away from the stack with the rotary sheet transport. The stack end is returned to the stack rest after said removal of a bottom sheet, and the temporary stack end lifting, sheet advancing, sheet engaging and stack end returning steps are repeated individually for further bottom sheets advanced from the stack end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1988
    Assignee: Bell & Howell Company
    Inventors: Dwight G. Westover, Andrew J. Scherer
  • Patent number: 4705266
    Abstract: A sheet convey device includes a plurality of feed rollers for conveying a sheet in a standing state, and guide plates for guiding the sheet to be conveyed. The device has helical rings, wound on two ends of the feed rollers in different winding directions, for guiding the sheet toward the central portions of the feed rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1986
    Date of Patent: November 10, 1987
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Tsutomu Sasage, Minoru Matsumoto, Toru Yoshikawa