Abstract: A feeder apparatus includes a feed tray for stacking documents, a document detection sensor for detecting the documents on the feed tray, a supply roller for contacting a top surface of the documents on the feed tray and supplying the documents, and a support plate disposed in front of the feed tray for supporting a leading edge of the documents in a feed direction and being able to rise and fall between a lower limit position where the documents are loaded on the feed tray and an upper limit position where the top surface of the documents contacts the supply roller. The support plate is controlled to wait at a standby position below the upper limit position after the documents are loaded on the feed tray and move from the standby position to the upper limit position upon receiving a feed signal to start feeding the documents.

Abstract: An automatic document feeder includes a feed tray 2 on which documents are placed, a feeder 4 for feeding documents on the feed tray 2 to a conveyor path, conveying 8 for conveying the fed documents to an image reading position, a discharging 9 for discharging the read documents onto a discharging tray 37, and a controller by which the discharging speed of the documents after being read so that the discharging speed varies with respect to the conveying speed, wherein, if the conveying speed when reading a document is within a predetermined range, the discharging speed after reading the document is controlled to be equal to the conveying speed when reading the document, and if the conveying speed when reading the document is out of the predetermined range, the discharging speed after reading the document is controlled to be within the predetermined range.

Abstract: The present invention provides a nonwoven fabric made of fine denier filaments of superior bulkiness, heat insulation property and tensile strength, and a production method thereof. This nonwoven fabric is made of fine denier filaments produced by first preparing. First a thermoplastic polymer component "A", then another thermoplastic polymer component "B" which is insoluble in the component "A" and of which the melting point is higher than that of the component "A" by 30.degree. to 180.degree. C. Adopting a bicomponent melt spinning method employing the component "A" and the component "B", the bicomponent conjugate filaments, on which surface at least component "A" is exposed, are obtained. By accumulating these bicomponent conjugate filaments, a web is formed. Then heat is applied to the predetermined areas on the web throughout its entire thickness, whereby only the component A is softened or molten, and the bicomponent conjugate filaments are heat bonded to one another, thus a fleece is obtained.

Abstract: An automatic document feeder is formed of a transfer device having a transfer belt situated above a platen to transfer a sheet on the platen, and a belt motor for actuating the transfer belt, a sheet detecting device situated near the transfer belt for detecting the sheet, and a feeding device located near the transfer belt at a side of the sheet detecting device. The feeding device feeds the sheet between the transfer belt and the platen. A controlling device is electrically connected to the sheet detecting device and the belt motor. The controlling device, while the belt motor for transferring the sheet on the platen is actuating, outputs a stop signal to stop the belt motor when a predetermined time has passed after the sheet detecting device detects the sheet so that the sheet is placed on a predetermined position on the platen. The feeder further includes a compensating device connected to the controlling device.

Abstract: A heat-bondable fiber in the form of a core-sheath type composite fiber comprising a core component and a sheath component which covers the periphery of the core component. The sheath component is formed of copolymer polyethylene consisting of predetermined material and having predetermined properties. The core component is made of a fiber-forming polymer whose melting point is more than 30.degree. C. higher than that of the sheath component. The fineness of the core-sheath type composite fiber is less than 8 deniers. Such heat-bondable fiber provides a nonwoven fabric in which the force of adhesion of the heat-bondable fiber to other dissimilar fibers is high and the hand of the fabric is soft. This nonwoven fabric contains at least 15 percent of the heat-bondable fiber and is heat-treated at a temperature less than the melting point of the core component.

Abstract: A nonwoven fabric formed of highly spinnable heat bonded continuous filaments which is strong and soft and is superior in hand. The nonwoven fabric is formed by heat-bonding filaments of linear low density polyethylene so that the number of defects is not more than 0.01/kg, the weight is 10-100 g/m.sup.2, the percentage bond area is 7-20% and the total hand value is 4-300 g. The nonwoven fabric is produced by melt-extruding the above-mentioned linear low density polyethylene to form filaments which are drawn by air guns at a high speed so that they are deposited on a moving collection belt to form a web which is then heat treated at a temperature 15.degree.-30.degree. C. lower than the melting point of the filaments. The nonwoven fabric an be formed of filaments of hollow or flat cross section. It is also possible to utilize bicomponent filaments having a sheath component made of linear low density polyethylene and a core component made of polyethylene terephthalate.

Abstract: A nonwoven fabric formed of highly spinnable heat bonded continuous filaments which is strong and soft and is superior in hand. The nonwoven fabric is formed by heat-bonding filaments of linear low density polyethylene so that the number of defects is not more than 0.01/kg, the weight is 10-100 g/m.sup.2, the percentage bond area is 7-20% and the total hand value is 4-300 g. The nonwoven fabric is produced by melt-extruding the above-mentioned linear low density polyethylene to form filaments which are drawn by air guns at a high speed so that they are deposited on a moving collection belt to form a web which is then heat treated at a temperature 15.degree.-30.degree. l C. lower than the melting point of the filaments. The nonwoven fabric an be formed of filaments of hollow or flat cross section. It is also possible to utilize bicomponent filaments having a sheath component made of linear low density polyethylene and a core component made of polyethylene terephalate.

Abstract: A biconstituent fiber having good spinnability, a binder fiber made thereof, and a nonwoven fabric produced therefrom and which has high tensile strength and comfortable soft touch are provided. The biconstituent fiber is composed of linear low-density polyethylene and crystalline polypropylene and may be hollow or flat in cross section. A binder fiber may be produced from a bicomponent structure in which the biconstituent fiber serves as a sheath component and polyethylene terephthalate as a core component.