US3726520A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of paper by means of electrostatic adsorption
Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
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Filing: 1970-08-10
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Granted: 1973-04-10
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Expires: 1990-08-10
Abstract
Abstract For automatically conveying sheets of paper one after another from the top of a stack of sheets of paper to a predetermined position by taking advantage of the electrostatic adsorption phenomenon, an apparatus comprises sheet of paper carrier means electrostatically charged by charging means, means for supporting said carrier means in parallel opposed relation to the sheet of paper to pick up said sheet of paper under electrostatic force and means for releasing the sheet of paper from said carrier means after the sheet of paper is located in the predetermined position, whereby the sheets of paper can be fed automatically regardless of the thickness of the sheets of paper, the presence or absence of a folded line or wrinkles in the sheets of paper and the type of paper.
Inventors
- 👤 T Doi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 23:09
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H3/00; B65H3/18; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S271/00; Y10S271/901
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
286 words
An apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of paper, one at a time, from one predetermined position in a stack containing a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other to another predetermined position spaced from said stack; said apparatus comprising: flexible film means including an endless belt engaged around spaced belt rollers, charging means for electrostatically charging said film means, first moving means including means for rotatably driving at least one of said belt rollers for moving the film means to a first predetermined position where a planar surface of the film means is located parallel to and adjacent to a sheet at the top of said stack, at least a portion of the film means having been electrostatically charged by said charging means such that the sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film at least when the film is in said first position, second moving means for moving the film means and adsorbed sheet from the first position to a second predetermined position spaced from said stack, releasing means for releasing said sheet from said film means after the film means and adsorbed sheet have been moved from the first position, and stack conveying means for intermittently positioning the stack in a position adjacent the endless belt, wherein said stack conveying means includes a pivotal lever, biasing means, and a solenoid means, said stack being supported at one portion of the lever which is normally biased downwardly by said biasing means, said solenoid means being operably connected to another portion of said lever for raising the one portion, said solenoid means including means to position the stack adjacent the belt when a sheet is to be transfeRred to the belt from the stack.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
286 words
An apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of paper, one at a time, from one predetermined position in a stack containing a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other to another predetermined position spaced from said stack; said apparatus comprising: flexible film means including an endless belt engaged around spaced belt rollers, charging means for electrostatically charging said film means, first moving means including means for rotatably driving at least one of said belt rollers for moving the film means to a first predetermined position where a planar surface of the film means is located parallel to and adjacent to a sheet at the top of said stack, at least a portion of the film means having been electrostatically charged by said charging means such that the sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film at least when the film is in said first position, second moving means for moving the film means and adsorbed sheet from the first position to a second predetermined position spaced from said stack, releasing means for releasing said sheet from said film means after the film means and adsorbed sheet have been moved from the first position, and stack conveying means for intermittently positioning the stack in a position adjacent the endless belt, wherein said stack conveying means includes a pivotal lever, biasing means, and a solenoid means, said stack being supported at one portion of the lever which is normally biased downwardly by said biasing means, said solenoid means being operably connected to another portion of said lever for raising the one portion, said solenoid means including means to position the stack adjacent the belt when a sheet is to be transfeRred to the belt from the stack.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the charging means are located between the belt rollers within the space surrounded by the endless belt.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
48 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said releasing means comprises discharging means for discharging the electrostatic charge on the belt, said discharging means being located adjacent the path of the belt in a position closer to the second predetermined position than is the charging means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said discharging means is located between the belt rollers within the space surrounded by the endless belt.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the releasing means includes a rigid guide plate arranged adjacent the belt roller positioned closest to said predetermined second position.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said releasing means includes means for introducing the sheet to a conveyor system in a facsimile apparatus.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
196 words
An apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of papers, one at a time, from one predetermined position in a stack containing a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other to another predetermined position spaced from said stack; said apparatus comprising: flexible film means, charging means for electrostatically charging said film means, first moving means for moving the film means to a first predetermined position where a planar surface of the film means is located parallel to and adjacent to a sheet at the top of said stack, at least a portion of the film means having been electrostatically charged by said charging means such that the sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film at least when the film is in said first position, second moving means for moving the film means and adsorbed sheet from the first position to a second predetermined position spaced from said first stack, and releasing means for releasing said sheet from said film means after the film means and adsorbed sheet have been moved from the first position, wherein said film means is a film of predetermined length having one end fixed to the surface of a rotatable drum.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
196 words
An apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of papers, one at a time, from one predetermined position in a stack containing a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other to another predetermined position spaced from said stack; said apparatus comprising: flexible film means, charging means for electrostatically charging said film means, first moving means for moving the film means to a first predetermined position where a planar surface of the film means is located parallel to and adjacent to a sheet at the top of said stack, at least a portion of the film means having been electrostatically charged by said charging means such that the sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film at least when the film is in said first position, second moving means for moving the film means and adsorbed sheet from the first position to a second predetermined position spaced from said first stack, and releasing means for releasing said sheet from said film means after the film means and adsorbed sheet have been moved from the first position, wherein said film means is a film of predetermined length having one end fixed to the surface of a rotatable drum.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
224 words
An apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of papers, one at a time, from one predetermined position in a stack containing a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other to another predetermined position spaced from said stack; said apparatus comprising: flexible film means, charging means for electrostatically charging said film means, first moving means for moving the film means to a first predetermined position where a planar surface of the film means is located parallel to and adjacent to a sheet at the top of said stack, at least a portion of the film means having been electrostatically charged by said charging means such that the sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film at least when the film is in said first position, second moving means for moving the film means and adsorbed sheet from the first position to a second predetermined position spaced from said first stack, and releasing means for releasing said sheet from said film means after the film means and adsorbed sheet have been moved from the first position, wherein said flexible film means comprises a film of predetermined length having one end fixed to a rotatable drum, said drum and film being so arranged that the sheet of paper is positioned between the film and the surface of the drum while being transferred to the second position.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
224 words
An apparatus for automatically conveying sheets of papers, one at a time, from one predetermined position in a stack containing a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other to another predetermined position spaced from said stack; said apparatus comprising: flexible film means, charging means for electrostatically charging said film means, first moving means for moving the film means to a first predetermined position where a planar surface of the film means is located parallel to and adjacent to a sheet at the top of said stack, at least a portion of the film means having been electrostatically charged by said charging means such that the sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film at least when the film is in said first position, second moving means for moving the film means and adsorbed sheet from the first position to a second predetermined position spaced from said first stack, and releasing means for releasing said sheet from said film means after the film means and adsorbed sheet have been moved from the first position, wherein said flexible film means comprises a film of predetermined length having one end fixed to a rotatable drum, said drum and film being so arranged that the sheet of paper is positioned between the film and the surface of the drum while being transferred to the second position.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
112 words
An apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that said film is initially positioned in lapping engagement around said drum, the first moving means including means for unwinding a portion of said film from the drum and positioning said portion over said stack at which time the top sheet is electrostatically adsorbed to the film, said second moving means including means for rotatiNg the drum and thereby wind the film and the adsorbed sheet positioned radially inwardly of the film onto the surface of the drum, said releasing means including means for releasing said sheet from the film while the first moving means is unwinding the film preliminarily to obtaining another sheet.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said film has a film hook at the end opposite the end fixed to the drum, and in that said first moving means includes a hook releasably engageable with said film hook.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
75 words
An apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that said drum includes ferromagnetic materials, and in that said film has a permanent magnet adjacent said film hook for attaching the end of the film to the drum when the film hook is out of engagement with the hook of the moving means, whereby the sheet of paper is held in position against the drum during the time the respective hooks are released from one another.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
61 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said releasing means includes a rigid plate member positioned adjacent the film path near the place on the circumference of the drum where the film starts winding onto the drum such that when the film is unwound from the drum the sheet is deflected away from the film by said plate member.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said film means is treated so that the electrostatic charge is dissipated in the presence of light.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that said drum is constructed so as to be positionable with respect to light-electricity converter means so that the sheet can be scanned by the converter means while the sheet is on the drum.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-04-09 | 1976-10-09 | 1977-04-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-04-09 | 1980-10-09 | 1981-04-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-04-09 | 1984-10-09 | 1985-04-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |