Claims
- 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.
- 2. A sheet feeding device as in claim 1 wherein said separation means, said clutch means and said sheet transport means are further mounted on said housing, said feed module including: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.
- 3. A sheet facing device as in claim 2, wherein said feed roller shaft has a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is attached to a self-centering coupling gear that is in operable association with a drive shaft, and said second end of said feed roller shaft has a self-centering support hub mounted thereon, said self-centering support hub being receivingly engaged with a movable support shaft having a compression spring mounted thereon, wherein said drive shaft is carried by a drive shaft support means attached to the housing and said movable support shaft is slidably attached to a support shaft support means attached to the housing and is urged by the compression spring toward the self-centering support hub on the second end of the feed roller shaft.
- 4. A sheet feeding device as in claim 3, wherein said drive shaft has a first end and a second end, wherein a drive coupler is attached to the first end of said drive shaft, and said second end of said drive shaft is connected to said clutch means that provides an intermittent drive force to the drive shaft, said drive coupler being axially engagable with said self-centering coupling gear, and said clutch means comprises an electronically actuatable clutch.
- 5. A sheet feeding device as in claim 2, wherein said feed roller shaft has a longitudinal axis, and said feed module is mounted to the housing so as to pivot about said longitudinal axis to accommodate variation in the height of the stack, wherein the outermost sheet is the topmost sheet.
- 6. A sheet feeding device as in claim 2, wherein said separation means comprises an internally braked separation roller mounted on a pivot shaft, detachably mounted on a support means which is pivotally attached to the housing and is biased toward the feed means by a spring means.
- 7. A sheet feeding device as in claim 2, wherein the at least one urging roller and the at least one feed roller are decoupled from the infeed shaft and the feed roller shaft by the first one way bearing and the second one way bearing, so that a downstream series of transport rollers carried by the sheet transport means can rotate at a faster rate than the rotation rate of the at least one feed roller and the at least one urging roller without causing excessive tension on a fed sheet, wherein the at lesat one feed roller and the at least one urging roller rotate freely about the infeed shaft and the feed roller shaft toward the sheet transport 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.
- 9. A sheet feeding device as in claim 8, wherein said internally braked separation roller is mounted on a support means via a pivot shaft, wherein said support means comprises a yoke defining a pair of slots therein and the pivot shaft is removably received by said pair of slots, and wherein the retraction means comprises an actuator means for causing the yoke to pivot about a yoke pivot axis in a direction away from the feed 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.
- 11. A sheet feeding device as in claim 10, wherein said second portion of said housing defines an indent for receiving the feed module adjacent to said stack support means.
- 12. A sheet feeding device as in claim 11, wherein said indent is flanked by portions of the housing defining a drive shaft support means and a support shaft support means.
- 13. A sheet feeding device as in claim 12, wherein said feed module comprises a feed module housing having an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein said feed module housing forms a first bearing between the upper portion and the lower portion and a second bearing between the upper portion and the lower portion.
- 14. A sheet feeding device as in claim 13, wherein said urging means comprises at least one urging roller being positioned on an urging roller hub having a first one way bearing positioned therein, and wherein the outermost sheet is a topmost sheet.
- 15. A sheet feeding device as in claim 14, wherein said at least one urging roller is mounted on an infeed shaft having a first end, a second end, and an infeed gear positioned near the first end of the infeed shaft; wherein said second end is disposed in said first bearing formed by the feed module housing, and said first end of the infeed shaft is disposed in said second bearing formed by the feed module housing.
- 16. A sheet feeding device as in claim 15, wherein said feed means comprises at least one feed roller being positioned on a feed roller hub having a second one way bearing positioned therein, said feed roller hub being positioned on the feed roller shaft.
- 17. A sheet feeding device as in claim 16, wherein said feed roller shaft has a first end and a second end, wherein said first end of the feed roller shaft is attached to a self-centering coupling gear that is in operable association with a drive shaft, and said second end of said feed roller shaft has a self-centering support hub mounted thereon, said self-centering support hub being received by a movable support shaft having a compression spring mounted thereon, wherein said drive shaft is rotatably carried by said drive shaft support means and said movable support shaft is slidably carried by said support shaft support means and is urged by the compression spring toward the self centering support hub on the second end of said feed roller shaft.
- 18. A sheet feeding device as in claim 17, wherein said drive shaft has a first end and a second end, wherein a drive coupler is attached to the first end of said drive shaft, and said second end is connected to said clutch means that provides an intermittent drive force to the drive shaft, said drive coupler being axially engagable with said self-centering coupling gear, and said clutch means comprises an electronically actuatable clutch.
- 19. A sheet feeding device as in claim 18 further comprising an idler gear for transferring the drive from the coupling gear to the infeed gear, said idler gear being positioned between and in operable association with the infeed gear and the self centering coupling gear.
- 20. A sheet feeding device as in claim 18, wherein said feed roller shaft has a longitudinal axis, and said feed module is pivotally attached to the second portion of the housing by the feed roller shaft to accommodate variation in the height of the stack.
- 21. A sheet feeding device as in claim 18, wherein said at least one urging roller is decoupled from the at least one feed roller by the second one way bearing so that when the electronically actuatable clutch is inactive, the at least one urging roller is not driven by movement of the feed roller.
- 22. A sheet feeding device as in claim 17, wherein the at least one urging roller and the at least one feed roller are decoupled from the infeed shaft and the feed roller shaft by the first one way bearing and the second one way bearing, so that the series of transport rollers can rotate at a faster rate than the rotation rate of the at least one feed roller and the at least one urging roller without causing excess tension on a fed sheet, wherein the at least one feed roller and at least one urging roller rotate freely about the infeed shaft and the feed roller shaft in the direction of the sheet transport means.
- 23. A sheet feeding device as in claim 10, wherein said separation means comprises an internally braked separation roller mounted on a pivot shaft, detachably mounted on a support means, said support means being pivotally attached to the first portion of the housing and being biased toward the feed means by a spring means.
- 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.
- 25. A sheet feeding device as in claim 24, wherein the second portion of the housing comprises a panel means defining an opening therein, said panel means further defining a door, wherein said separation means is positioned within the opening so that when the door is in a closed position, the separation means is partially covered by the door.
- 26. A sheet feeding device as in claim 24, wherein said internally braked separation roller is mounted on a pivot shaft which is connected to the housing by a support means, wherein said support means comprises a yoke pivotally mounted to said first portion of said housing, said yoke defining a pair of slots therein, wherein the pivot shaft is removably received by each of said pair of slots, and wherein the retraction means comprises an actuator means for causing the yoke to pivot about a yoke pivot axis in a direction away from the feed module.
- 27. A sheet feeding device as in claim 26, wherein the first portion of the housing disengages from and pivots away from the second portion of the housing to expose the separation means and the sheet transport means.
- 28. A sheet feeding device as in claim 24, wherein the internally braked separation roller further comprises a core overlaid with a soft compliant material that is coated with a material having a Shore/durometer of less than 35.
- 29. A sheet feeding device as in claim 24, wherein said sheet transport means comprises: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.
- 30. In a method for feeding an outermost sheet from a stack through a sheet feeding device, said method comprisingplacing 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.
- 31. A method as in claim 30 further comprising the steps of: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 claim 30, further comprising the steps of:retracting the separation means away from the feed module, and manually feeding another sheet to the sheet transport 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Parent Case Info
This application is a reissue application for U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,539 issued Jul. 13, 1999 on U.S. Ser. No. 08/825,037 filed Mar. 26, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
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403216428 |
Sep 1991 |
JP |
405032356 |
Feb 1993 |
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Divisions (1)
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08/825037 |
Mar 1997 |
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09/900568 |
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Reissues (1)
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08/825037 |
Mar 1997 |
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09/900568 |
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