§
Luxuse
Patent Intelligence
Sign In
← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0053035A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Sheet feeding apparatus

Assignee: Xerox Corp
•
Filing: 1981-11-24
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2001-11-24
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract Sheet feeding apparatus including a cylindrical tube (80) mounted above a stack of documents (62) for separating individual documents from the stack. The cylindrical tube (80) houses a rotatably mounted shaft (90) to which are secured a series of spaced beater (112) and turbine (110) blades respectively. The cylindrical tube defines a series of apertures along its bottom surface which are aligned with the beater blades and allow the beater blades to extend outwardly into contact with a separated sheet (68). At one end of this cylindrical tube is coupled a vacuum source (86) which when energized rotates the turbine blades (110) and reduces the pressure inside the tube. Accordingly, a single sheet (68) is first separated from the top of the stack by attraction toward the reduced pressure inside the tube and once separated is driven away from the stack by the beater blades (112) mounted to the rotating shaft.

Inventors

  • 👤 David Mark Montes

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-02 22:27
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H5/00; B65H5/22; B65H5/222; B65H5/226; B65H3/00; B65H3/08; B65H3/10; B65H2301/00; B65H2301/40; B65H2301/42; B65H2301/423; B65H2301/4232; B65H2301/42324

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 90 words
Sheet feeding apparatus characterised in that it comprises: a generally cylindrical tube (80) mounted in relation to a sheet supply (62), said tube defining one or more openings (84) positioned along its length opposite said supply; means (86) for creating a pressure reduction inside said tube to attract individual sheets to said tube openings, and drive means (90, 112) rotatably supported inside said tube and extending through said one or more openings for contacting a sheet (68) attracted to said tube and for moving said sheet away from said supply.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 90 words
Sheet feeding apparatus characterised in that it comprises: a generally cylindrical tube (80) mounted in relation to a sheet supply (62), said tube defining one or more openings (84) positioned along its length opposite said supply; means (86) for creating a pressure reduction inside said tube to attract individual sheets to said tube openings, and drive means (90, 112) rotatably supported inside said tube and extending through said one or more openings for contacting a sheet (68) attracted to said tube and for moving said sheet away from said supply.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 47 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a shaft (90) centrally mounted in said tube (80) having at least one radially extending beater blade (112) which extends through said one or more openings (84) during each revolution of said shaft to contact the sheet.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 55 words
The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said drive means further comprises a number of turbine blades (110) mounted to said shaft (90) and responsive to said means for creating a pressure reduction to rotate said shaft and thereby rotate said radially extending beater blades (112) through said one or more openings to contact said sheet.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 34 words
The apparatus of claim 2 or claim 3 wherein said tube (80) has a longitudinally-extending flat surface (82) facing the sheet supply (62), said one or more openings (84) being in said flat surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 62 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said beater blades (112) have a diameter greater than the general internal diameter of the tube (80), the tube being provided internally with circumferential grooves (114) to accommodate the tips of the' beater blades, whereby the tips of the beater blades, on rotation thereof, extend through said one or more openings (84) in the flat surface.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 22 words
The sheet feeder of claim 4 or claim 5 wherein said shaft, beater blades and turbine blades comprise a lightweight plastics material.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 33 words
A copying machine in which copy sheets are supplied to an imaging station from a sheet supply by means of a sheet feeding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3403904A Cited
GB1183877A Cited
US3630516A Cited
US4043549A Cited
US4127263A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag