Sheet feeding apparatus for copying machines

Claim 2

A sheet feed-in apparatus for feeding a superposed sensitized copy and an original into a copying machine, comprising: a pair of feed-in rollers including a first roller and a second roller rotatably driven in timed relation at a given speed and direction of rotation; said first roller including a plurality of roller sections mounted on a common shaft and each provided with a compliant peripheral covering coacting with the surface of the original being fed; mounting means for supporting the first roller for movement between a first position in which the roller sections are in feeding engagement with the original, and a second position in which at least one end of the first roller is vertically separated from the second roller in response to at least one of the roller sections being spaced from the original by a foreign object attempting to pass into the nip of the feed-in rollers; and switch means actuable in response to movement of the first roller to the second position for reversing the direction of rotation of the feed-in rollers.

Claim 3

A sheet feed-in apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the peripheral coverings of the roller sections include nylon tufted bristles disposed in a helical formation.

Claim 4

A sheet feed-in apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the peripheral coverings of the roller sections include a covering of urethane foam.

Claim 5

A sheet feed in apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said switch means is responsive to movement of said first roller to the second position for simultaneously reversing the rotation and reducing the speed of said feed-in rollers.

Claim 6

A sheet feed-in apparatus as set forth in claim 1 which further includes means controlled by the switch means for reducing the speed of the feed-in rollers to a predetermined speed.

Claim 7

A sheet feed-in apparatus as set forth in claim 5 which further includes a manually operable means for restoring the feed-in rollers to said given speed and direction of rotation.

Claim 8

A sheet feed-in apparatus for receiving and directing a superposed sensitized copy and an original document into a copying machine, comprising: a pair of feed-in rollers including a first roller and a second roller driven in timed relation; said first roller including a plurality of roller sections mounted on a common shaft and each having a peripheral covering of nylon tufted bristles arranged in a spiral configuration to afford a smoothing action against the surface of the original document being fed into the machine; mounting means for supporting the first roller for movement between a first position in which the roller sections are in engagement with the original document, and a second position in which at least one end of the first roller is vertically separated from the second roller in response to at least one of the roller sections being spaced from the original document by a foreign object attempting to pass between the first and the second rollers; and switch means actuable in response to movement of the first roller to the second position for reversing the direction of rotation of the feed-in rollers to thereby prevent passage of a foreign object into the machine.

Claim 9

A sheet feed-in apparatus for receiving and directing a superposed sensitized copy and an original document into a copying machine, comprising: a pair of feed-in rollers including a first roller and a second roller driven in timed relation; said first roller including a plurality of roller sections mounted on a common shaft and each having a peripheral covering of nylon tufted bristles arranged in a spiral configuration to afford a smoothing action against the surface of the original document being fed into the machine; mounting means for supporting the first roller for movement between a first position in which the roller sections are in engagement with the original document, and a second position in which at least one end of the first roller is vertically separated from the second roller in response to at least one of the roller sections being spaced from the original document by a foreign object attempting to pass between the first and the second rollers; and switch means actuable in response to movement of the first roller to the second position for reversing the direction of rotation of the feed-in rollers to thereby prevent passage of a foreign object into the machine.

Claim 10

In a copying machine including a sheet feed-in apparatus having an entryway and an exitway for receiving and directing a superposed sensitized copy and an original into the copying machine, said sheet feed-in apparatus comprising: a pair of feed-in rollers including a first roller and a second roller rotatably mounted adjacent the entryway; said first roller including a plurality of roller sections mounted on a common shaft; mounting means for supporting the first roller of said feed-In rollers for movement between a first position in which the roller sections are in contact engagement with the second roller and a second position in which at least one end of the first roller is vertically separated from the second roller in response to at least one of the roller sections being moved out of contact engagement with the second roller; a pair of feed rollers including an upper roller and a lower roller rotatably mounted adjacent the exitway; drive means for positively rotating the second roller of said feed-in rollers and the lower roller of said feed rollers in timed relation in a direction to advance the sheets towards the exitway when the first roller of said feed-in rollers is in the first position; and switch means actuable in response to movement of the first roller of said feed-in rollers to the second position for reversing the direction of rotation of the driven rollers; whereby the first roller of said feed-in rollers is moved to the second position in response to at least one of the roller sections being held out of contact engagement with the second roller by a foreign object attempting to pass into the nip of the feed-in rollers.

Claim 11

In a copying machine including a sheet feed-in apparatus having an entryway and an exitway for receiving and directing a superposed sensitized copy and an original into the copying machine, said sheet feed-in apparatus comprising: a pair of feed-in rollers including a first roller and a second roller rotatably mounted adjacent the entryway; said first roller including a plurality of roller sections mounted on a common shaft; mounting means for supporting the first roller of said feed-In rollers for movement between a first position in which the roller sections are in contact engagement with the second roller and a second position in which at least one end of the first roller is vertically separated from the second roller in response to at least one of the roller sections being moved out of contact engagement with the second roller; a pair of feed rollers including an upper roller and a lower roller rotatably mounted adjacent the exitway; drive means for positively rotating the second roller of said feed-in rollers and the lower roller of said feed rollers in timed relation in a direction to advance the sheets towards the exitway when the first roller of said feed-in rollers is in the first position; and switch means actuable in response to movement of the first roller of said feed-in rollers to the second position for reversing the direction of rotation of the driven rollers; whereby the first roller of said feed-in rollers is moved to the second position in response to at least one of the roller sections being held out of contact engagement with the second roller by a foreign object attempting to pass into the nip of the feed-in rollers.

Claim 12

A sheet feed-in apparatus as set forth in claim 8 in which the roller sections of the first roller are each provided with a compliant peripheral covering in contact feeding engagement with the original being fed to provide a wiping, uncurling action to the original, and to allow for partial withdrawal of the original and the copy for register realignment of the sheets.