A sheet feeding device (2) for separating an outermost sheet (4) from a stack (6). The sheet feeding device (2) comprises a stack support means (8) positioned in a first portion (10) of a housing (12), and a feed module (14) detachably mounted to a second portion (16) of the housing (12) and adapted to be positioned in contact with the stack (6). The feed module (14) includes an urging means (18) mounted on the feed module (14) by an infeed shaft (20) and a feed means (22) mounted on the feed module (14) by a feed roller shaft (24). A separation means (26) is detachably and pivotally mounted to the second portion (16) of the housing (12) by a support means (28). The separation means (26) is positioned adjacent to the feed means (22) so as to define a nip therebetween. A drive means (32) for driving the feed module (14) is mounted to the second portion of the housing (12). A clutch means (90) attached to the drive means (32) transmits an intermittent drive force to the feed module (14). A method for feeding an outermost sheet from a stack through a sheet feeding device is also described.
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30. In a method for feeding an outermost sheet from a stack through a sheet feeding device, said method comprising
placing a stack on a sheet feeding device; urging said outermost sheet on top of the stack forward using a feed module which is removably mounted on a housing of said sheet feeding device; separating said outermost sheet from the stack using a separation means; transporting said outermost sheet through a sheet transport means; and controlling the feed module using an electronically actuatable clutch driven by a drive means.
33. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a feed means for feeding an outermost sheet, said feed means being positionable in frictional contact with said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward a sheet transport means; a separation means positioned adjacent to the feed means to prevent double feeding of sheets along a sheet path between said feed means and said separation means, wherein a nip is defined between the feed means and the separation means, said separation means including an internally braked separation roller which is detachably mounted on a support means which is attached to a housing; and a clutch means in operable association with said feed means for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed means.
8. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a feed means for feeding an outermost sheet, said feed means being positionable in frictional contact with said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward a sheet transport means; a separation means positioned adjacent to the feed means to prevent double feeding of sheets along a sheet path between said feed means and said separation means, wherein a nip is defined between the feed, means and the separation means, said separation means including an internally braked separation roller; a clutch means in operable association with said feed means for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed means; and a retraction means for retracting the separation means away from the sheet path to permit a manual feeding of sheets to said sheet path, said retraction means being coupled to the separation means.
0. 36. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a feed means for feeding an outermost sheet, said feed means being positionable in frictional contact with said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward a sheet transport means; a separation means positioned adjacent to the feed means to prevent double feeding of sheets along a sheet path between said feed means and said separation means, wherein a nip is defined between the feed means and the separation means said separation means including an internally braked separation roller; an intermittent driver in operable association with said feed means for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed means; and a retraction means for retracting the separation means away from the sheet path to permit a manual feeding of sheets to said sheet path, said retraction means being coupled to the separation means.
0. 37. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a feed module for feeding an outermost sheet, said feed module being positionable in frictional contact with said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward a sheet transport; a separation device positioned adjacent to the feed module to prevent double feeding of sheets along a sheet path between said feed module and said separation device wherein a nip is defined between the feed module and the separation device, said separation device including an internally braked separation roller; an intermittent driver in operable association with said feed module for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed module; and a retraction means for retracting the separation device away from the sheet path to permit a manual feeding of sheets to said sheet path, said retraction means being coupled to the separation device.
0. 35. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack, said sheet feeding device comprising:
a sheet transport; a feed roller for feeding said outermost sheet from said stack positioned so as to frictionally contact the outermost sheet of said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward the sheet transport; a separation device positioned adjacent to said feed roller so as to define a nip between the separation device and the feed roller and to prevent double feeding along a sheet path between said feed roller and said separation device; and an intermittent driver in operable association with said feed roller for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed roller; wherein said sheet transport comprises:
a sensor for sensing when a trailing edge of said outermost sheet is positioned downstream of the nip and activating said intermittent driver in response thereto, and for sensing when a leading edge of said outermost sheet is positioned downstream of a first transport roller of the sheet transport and deactivating the intermittent driver response thereto; said sheet feeding device further comprising a housing for mounting said feed roller, said feed roller comprising a feed module which is detachably mounted to said housing.
1. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack, said sheet feeding device comprising:
a sheet transport means; a feed means for feeding said outermost sheet from said stack positioned so as to frictionally contact the outermost sheet of said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward the sheet transport means; a separation means positioned adjacent to said feed means so as to define a nip between the separation means and the feed means and to prevent double feeding along a sheet path between said feed means and said separation means; and a clutch means in operable association with said feed means for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed means; wherein said sheet transport means comprises: a trailing edge sensing means for sensing when a trailing edge of said outermost sheet is positioned downstream of the nip and activating said clutch means in response thereto; and a leading edge sensing means for sensing when a leading edge of said outermost sheet is positioned downstream of a first transport roller of the sheet transport means and deactivating the clutch means in response thereto; said sheet feeding device further comprising a housing for mounting said feed means, said feed means comprising a feed module which is detachably mounted to said housing. 0. 34. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack, said sheet feeding device comprising:
a sheet transport means; a feed means for feeding said outermost sheet from said stack positioned so as to frictionally contact the outermost sheet of said stack to advance said outermost sheet toward the sheet transport means;
a separation means positioned adjacent to said feed roller so as to define a nip between the separation means and the feed means and to prevent double feeding along a sheet path between said feed means and said separation means; and an intermittent driver in operable association with said feed roller for transmitting an intermittent drive force to said feed means; wherein said sheet transport means comprises: a sensing means for sensing when a trailing edge of said outermost sheet is positioned downstream of the nip and activating said intermittent driver in response thereto, and for sensing when a leading edge of said outermost sheet is positioned downstream of a first transport roller of the sheet transport means and deactivating the intermittent driver response thereto; said sheet feeding device further comprising a housing for mounting said feed means, said feed means comprising a feed module which is detachably mounted to said housing. 0. 41. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a stack support disposed in a housing; a feed module detachably mounted to said housing so as to be positionable in contact with said stack; said feed module comprising: an urging roller for urging an outermost sheet from said stack, said urging roller being mounted in said feed module by an infeed shaft; and a feed roller for feeding the outermost sheet received from said urging roller, said feeding roller being mounted in said feed module by a feed roller shaft; a separator for preventing a double feeding of sheets, said separator being detachably mounted to said housing by a support, said separator being positionable adjacent to the feed module so as to define a nip between the feed module and the separator; a sheet transport mounted to the housing for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed module; a drive mounted to the second portion of the housing for driving the sheet transport and the feed module for transmitting an intermittent drive force from the drive to said feed module; and a retraction device for retracting the separator away from the feed module to permit a manual feeding of sheets to the sheet transport, said retraction device being coupled to the separator, wherein said separator comprises an internally braked separation roller. 0. 40. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a stack support means disposed in a first portion of a housing; a feed module detachably mounted to a second portion of said housing so as to be positionable in contact with said stack; said feed module comprising: an urging means for urging an outermost sheet from said stack, said urging means for being mounted in said feed module by an infeed shaft; and a feed means for feeding the outermost sheet received from said urging means, said feeding means being mounted in said feed module by a feed roller shaft; a separation means for preventing a double feeding of sheets, said separation means being detachably mounted to said first portion of said housing by a support means, said separation means being positionable adjacent to the feed module so as to define a nip between the feed module and the separation means; a sheet transport means mounted to the housing for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed module; a drive mounted to the housing for driving the sheet transport means and the feed module for transmitting an intermittent drive force from the drive to said feed module; and a retraction means for retracting the separation means away from the feed module to permit a manual feeding of sheets to the sheet transport means, said retraction means being coupled to the separation means, wherein said separation means comprises an internally braked separation roller. 24. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a stack support means disposed in a first portion of a housing; a feed module detachably mounted to a second portion of said housing so as to be positionable in contact with said stack; said feed module comprising: an urging means for urging an outermost sheet from said stack, said urging means being mounted in said feed module by an infeed shaft; and a feed means for feeding the outermost sheet received from said urging means, said feeding means being mounted in said feed module by a feed roller shaft; a separation means for preventing a double feeding of sheets, said separation means being detachably mounted to said first portion of said housing by a support means, said separation means being positionable adjacent to the feed module so as to define a nip between the feed module and the separation means; a sheet transport means mounted to the housing for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed module; a drive means mounted to the second portion of the housing for driving the sheet transport means and the feed module; a clutch means connected to said drive means for transmitting an intermittent drive force from the drive means to said feed module; and a retraction means for retracting the separation means away from the feed module to permit a manual feeding of sheets to the sheet transport means, said retraction means being coupled to the separation means, wherein said separation means comprises an internally braked separation roller.
0. 39. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a stack support for supporting said stack positioned in a housing; a feed module detachably and pivotally mounted to said housing for positioning in contact with said stack, said feed module comprising: an urging roller for urging an outermost sheet from said stack, said urging roller being mounted on said feed module using an infeed shaft, and a feed roller for feeding the outermost sheet received from said urging roller, said feed roller being mounted on said feed module using a feed roller shaft; a separation device for preventing double feeding of sheets, said separation device being detachably mounted to the housing by a support, said separation device being positioned adjacent to the feed roller and defining a nip between the separation device and the feed roller; a driver for driving the feed module, said driver being mounted in the housing wherein said driver transmits an intermittent drive force from the driver to said feed module; and a sheet transport mounted to the housing for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed roller; wherein said sheet transport comprises: a series of transport rollers for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed roller, said series of transport rollers being mounted on said housing; a series of idler rollers opposing said series of transport rollers; a sensor for detecting a trailing edge of the outermost sheet, so that said intermittent driver is activated when said trailing edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said sensor, and for detecting a leading edge of said outermost sheet, so that said driver is deactivated when said leading edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said sensor. 0. 38. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a stack support means for supporting said stack positioned in a housing; a feed module detachably and pivotally mounted to said housing for positioning in contact with said stack, said feed module comprising: an urging means for urging an outermost sheet from said stack, said urging means being mounted on said feed module using an infeed shaft, and a feed means for feeding the outermost sheet received from said urging means, said feed means being mounted on said feed module using a feed roller shaft; a separation means for preventing double feeding of sheets said separation means being detachably mounted to the housing by a support means, said separation means being positioned adjacent to the feed means and defining a nip between the separation means and the feed means; a drive means for driving the feed module, said drive means being mounted in the housing; an intermittent driver connected to said drive means for transmitting an intermittent drive force from the drive means to said feed module; and a sheet transport means mounted to the housing for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed means; wherein said sheet transport means comprises: a series of transport rollers for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed means, said series of transport rollers being mounted on said housing; a series of idler rollers opposing said series of transport rollers; a sensing means for detecting a trailing edge of the outermost sheet, so that said intermittent driver is activated when said trailing edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said sensing means, and for detecting a leading edge of said outermost sheet, so that said intermittent driver is deactivated when said leading edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said sensing means. 10. A sheet feeding device for separating an outermost sheet from a stack comprising:
a stack support means for supporting said stack positioned in a first portion of a housing; a feed module detachably and pivotally mounted to a second portion of said housing for positioning in contact with said stack, said feed module comprising: an urging means for urging an outermost sheet from said stack, said urging means being mounted on said feed module using an infeed shaft, and a feed means for feeding the outermost sheet received from said urging means, said feed means being mounted on said feed module using a feed roller shaft; a separation means for preventing double feeding of sheets said separation means being detachably mounted to the first portion of the housing by a support means, said separation means being positioned adjacent to the feed means and defining a nip between the separation means and the feed means; a drive means for driving the feed module, said drive means being mounted in the second portion of the housing; a clutch means connected to said drive means for transmitting an intermittent drive force from the drive means to said feed module; and a sheet transport means mounted to the housing for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed means; wherein said sheet transport means comprises: a series of transport rollers for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed means, said series of transport rollers being mounted on said second portion of said housing; a series of idler rollers opposing said series of transport rollers and mounted on said first portion of said housing; a trailing edge sensing means for detecting a trailing edge of the outermost sheet, wherein said trailing edge sensing means is positioned downstream of the nip, so that said clutch means is activated when said trailing edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said trailing edge sensing means; and a leading edge sensing means for detecting a leading edge of said outermost sheet, wherein said leading edge sensing means is positioned downstream of a first transport roller, so that said clutch means is deactivated when said leading edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said leading edge sensing means. 2. A sheet feeding device as in
a feed module frame; at least one urging roller mounted on said feed module frame via an in feed shaft, said at least one urging roller having a first one way bearing positioned therein; and at least one feed roller mounted on said feed module frame via a feed roller shaft, said at least one feed roller having a second one way bearing positioned therein.
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29. A sheet feeding device as in
a frame mounted to the second portion of the housing, a series of transport rollers mounted in the frame for receiving said outermost sheet from the feed means; a trailing edge sensing means for detecting a trailing edge of the outermost sheet, wherein said trailing edge sensing means is positioned downstream of the nip, so that said clutch means is activated when said trailing edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said trailing edge sensing means; and a leading edge sensing means for detecting a leading edge of said outermost sheet, wherein said leading edge sensing means is positioned downstream of a first transport roller, so that said clutch means is deactivated when said leading edge of said outermost sheet is detected by said leading edge sensing means.
31. A method as in
activating the electronically actuatable clutch; sensing a leading edge of said outermost sheet in the sheet transport means; deactivating the electronically actuatable clutch; sensing a trailing edge of said outermost sheet in the sheet transport means; and activating the electronically actuatable clutch.
32. A method as in
retracting the separation means away from the feed module, and manually feeding another sheet to the sheet transport means.
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In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sheet feeding device 2 for separating an outermost sheet 4 from a stack 6 shown in
A separation means 26, shown in
A drive means 32 for driving the feed module 14 is mounted in the second portion 16 of the housing 12 as shown in FIG. 8. Referring again to
Referring again to
The urging means 18 preferably has at least one urging roller 46 positioned on an urging roller hub 48 having a first one way bearing 50 positioned therein and mounted on an infeed shaft 20. The infeed shaft 20 has a first end 52 and a second end 54, and an infeed gear 56 positioned near the first end 52 of the infeed shaft. The second end 54 rests in the first bearing 58 formed by the feed module housing 40 and the first end 52 of the infeed shaft 20 rests in the second bearing 60 formed by the feed module housing 40.
The feed means 22 preferably comprises at least one feed roller 62 being positioned on a feed roller hub 64 having a second one way bearing 66 positioned therein. The at least one feed roller 62 is mounted on a feed roller shaft 24. Preferably, the feed roller shaft 24 has a first end 68 and a second end 70. The first end 68 is attached to a self-centering coupling gear 72 that is in operable association with a drive shaft 74. (See
The second end 70 of the feed roller shaft 24 preferably has a self-centering support hub 76 mounted thereon. The self-centering support hub 76 is received by a movable support shaft 78 having a compression spring 82 mounted thereon. The movable support shaft 78 is biased by the compression spring 82 toward the self-centering support hub 76. The drive shaft 74 is rotatably carried by the drive shaft support means 36 and the movable support shaft 78 is slidably and rotatably carried by the support shaft support means 38 as shown in FIG. 6. Preferably, the feed roller shaft 24 has a longitudinal axis 98, and the feed module 14 is pivotable about the longitudinal axis 98. This pivotability enables variation in the height of the stack placed on the stack support means 8. The feed module 14 in the illustrated embodiment can accommodate a stack height of approximately 0.6 inches.
In use, the feed module 14 can be manually replaced by a user by moving the feed module 14 in the direction of the movable support shaft 78, compressing the compression spring 82 and disengaging the coupling gear 72 from the drive shaft 74. (see
In a preferred embodiment, shown in
In use, the at least one urging roller 46 picks up the top or outermost sheet to be fed and urges it toward the at least one feed roller 62. The at least one feed roller 62 then feeds the sheet to a first transport roller 111 that pulls the sheet through an imaging system such as a scanner or photocopy machine. At least one urging roller 46 can be decoupled from at least one feed roller 62 by the second one way bearing 66 so that when the electronically actuatable clutch 91 is inactive, at least one urging roller 46 is not driven by movement of at least one feed roller 62. When the electronically actuatable clutch 91 is turned off, the at least one urging roller 46 is only driven by the force of the sheet being fed, and once the trailing edge 134 of the outermost sheet passes the at least one urging roller 46, the at least one urging roller 46 ceases movement. This use of rollers with one way bearings, keeps unwanted sheets from being fed too soon, thus reducing the chance of sheets being misfed or bunching up. At least one urging roller 46 and at least one feed roller 62 can both be decoupled from the infeed shaft 20 and the feed roller shaft 24 by the first one way bearing 50 and the second one way bearing 66, so that the series of transport rollers 110 can rotate at a faster rate than the rotation rate of at least one feed roller 62 and at least one urging roller 46 without causing excess tension (an amount of tension that could result in damage to a sheet) on a fed sheet. The at least one feed roller 62 and at least one urging roller 46 rotate freely about the infeed shaft 20 and the feed roller shaft 24 in the direction of the sheet transport means.
In a preferred embodiment, the separation means 26 comprises an internally braked separation roller 100 mounted on a pivot shaft 102 as shown in FIG. 5. The pivot shaft 102 is detachably mounted on the support means 28, preferably by a snap fit. The support means 28 is pivotable about a pivot axis 104 and is biased toward the at least one feed roller 62 by a spring means 106. The separation means 26 keeps underlying sheets from being fed into the sheet feeding device too soon. The internally braked separation roller 100 is a roller with an internal braking means (not shown) such as a commercially available magnetic clutch, passive, not actively driven, positioned therein. Use of a magnetic clutch is less expensive and more reliable than the commonly used spring wrap clutch.
The internally braked separation roller 100 can have a core overlaid with a soft compliant material 128 that is coated with a material 129 having a high coefficient of friction, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,277 to Rahman and incorporated by reference herein. The high coefficient of friction material 129 described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,277 is a silicone elastomer having a Shore/durometer of less than 35.
The sheet transport means 117 is for receiving an outermost sheet from the feed means 22. The sheet transport means 117 preferably includes a frame means having a series of transport rollers 110 mounted in the second portion 16 of the housing 12 and a frame means having series of opposing idler rollers 112 mounted in the first portion 10 of the housing 12, as well as a trailing edge sensing means 114 and a leading edge sensing means 116. (See
In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sheet feeding device 2 for separating an outermost sheet 4 from a stack 6 having a stack support means 8 disposed in a first portion 10 of a housing 12, a feed module 14 with an urging means 18 and a feed means 22, and a separation means 26 as described above. There is a sheet transport means 117 for receiving an outermost sheet 4 from the feed means 22 mounted in the second portion 16 of the housing 12 and a retractions means 118 for retracting the separation means 26 out of a sheet path 30. The retraction means 118 is coupled to the separation means 26. Preferably, the second portion 16 of the housing 12 comprises a panel means 120 defining an opening 121 therein. The panel means 120 further defines a door 122 for partially covering the opening. The separation means 26 is positioned within the opening 121 so that when the door 122 is in a closed position, the internally braked separation roller 100 is partially covered. (See
The separation means 26 can be an internally braked separation roller 100 having an internal braking means (not shown) positioned therein as described previously. Preferably, the internally braked separation roller 100 is mounted on a pivot shaft 102. The support means 28 described above preferably comprises a yoke 124 pivotally mounted in the first portion 10 of the housing 12. The yoke 124 defines a pair of slots 126 therein for removably receiving the pivot shaft 102. The yoke 124 also defines a pivot axis 104 which it pivots about when actuated by the retraction means 118. The retraction means 118 can include an actuator means 130 for causing the yoke 124 to pivot about the pivot axis 104 away from the feed module 14. (See FIG. 7). In this embodiment, when a lever 132 is depressed by the user, the actuator means 130 urges the yoke 124 so that it rotates downwardly to move the internally braked separation roller 100 out of position adjacent the sheet path 30. In this state, odd documents such as ones that are stapled, unusually frail or covered in plastic, may be manually fed into the device.
The sheet transport means 117 preferably has a series of transport rollers 110 mounted in the second portion 16 of the housing 12 and a series of opposing idler rollers 112 mounted in the first portion 10 of the housing 12. The sheet transport means also preferably includes a trailing edge sensing means 114, and a leading edge sensing means 116. The trailing edge sensing means 114 is positioned downstream of the nip and detects the trailing edge 134 of the outermost sheet, so that the electronically actuatable clutch 91 is activated when the trailing edge 134 of the outermost sheet is detected by the trailing edge sensing means 114. The leading edge sensing means 116 is positioned downstream of the first transport roller 111 and detects a leading edge 136 of the outermost sheet, so that the electronically actuatable clutch 91 is deactivated when the leading edge 136 of the outermost sheet is detected by the leading edge sensing means 116. Intermittently activating and deactivating the clutch means 90 in this manner allows the sheet feeding device 2 to effectively feed one sheet at a time and reduces the number of multifeeds.
In another preferred embodiment, the first portion 10 of the housing 12 disengages from and pivots away from the second portion 16 of the housing 12, exposing the separation means 26 and the sheet transport means 117. (See
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for feeding an outermost sheet 4 from a stack 6 through a sheet feeding device 2. The method comprises placing a stack on a sheet feeding device as described above, having a feed module 14 detachably mounted on a first portion 10 of a housing 12 and adapted to be positioned in contact with the stack 6. A outermost sheet on top of the stack is urged forward using the feed module 14. The outermost sheet is separated from the stack using a separation means 26. The outermost sheet is transported by the transport rollers 110. Driving of the feed module 14 is controlled by an electronically actuatable clutch 91 that is driven by a drive means 32. The leading edge 136 of the outermost sheet is preferably sensed by the leading edge sensing means 114 and the electronically actuatable clutch 91 is deactivated. The sheet is pulled through the sheet transport means 117 by the transport rollers 110, and the trailing edge 134 of the outermost sheet is preferably sensed by the trailing edge sensing means 116. The electronically actuatable clutch 91 is then activated so that the next sheet in the stack can be picked up by the feed module 14. When an odd shaped document is desired to be fed manually, the separation means 26 can be retracted away from the feed module 14 by the retraction means 118 disclosed previously.
This invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modification can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
PARTS LIST | |
2. | sheet feeding device |
4. | outermost sheet |
6. | stack |
8. | stack support means |
10. | first portion of a housing |
12. | housing |
14. | feed module |
16. | second portion of the housing |
18. | urging means |
20. | infeed shaft |
22. | feed means |
24. | feed roller shaft |
26. | separation means |
28. | support means |
30. | sheet path |
32. | drive means |
34. | indent |
36. | drive shaft support means |
38. | support shaft support means |
40. | feed module housing |
42. | upper portion of feed module housing |
44. | lower portion of feed module housing |
46. | urging roller |
48. | urging roller hub |
50. | one way bearing |
56. | infeed gear |
52. | infeed shaft first end |
54. | infeed shaft second end |
58. | first bearing |
60. | second bearing |
62. | feed roller |
64. | feed roller hub |
66. | second one way bearing |
68. | feed roller first end |
70. | feed roller second end |
72. | self-centering coupling gear |
74. | drive shaft |
76. | self-centering support hub |
78. | movable support shaft |
82. | compression spring |
84. | drive shaft first end |
86. | drive shaft second end |
88. | drive coupler |
90. | clutch means |
91. | electronically actuatable clutch |
96. | idler gear |
98. | axis |
100. | internally braked separation roller |
102. | pivot shaft |
104. | pivot axis |
106. | spring means |
110. | series of transport rollers |
111. | first transport roller |
112. | series of idler roller |
114. | trailing edge sensing means |
116. | leading edge sensing means |
117. | sheet transport means |
118. | retraction means |
120. | panel means |
121. | opening |
122. | door |
124. | yoke |
126. | slots |
128. | compliant material |
129. | friction material |
130. | actuator means |
132. | lever |
134. | trailing edge |
136. | leading edge |
Greene, William J., Maysick, Randall R., Westcott, Robert M., Moore, Steven L.
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