US5238235A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Sheet feeding apparatus
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1991-08-07
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Granted: 1993-08-24
•
Expires: 2011-08-07
Abstract
Abstract A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet containing device for supporting sheets, a sheet supply device for feeding out the sheet from the sheet containing device, and a path surface for deflecting the sheet by abutting the sheet fed from the sheet supply device against the path surface to guide the sheet in a predetermined direction. In such sheet feeding apparatus, a rotary feeding device for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting with a surface of the sheet fed from the sheet supply device, which is opposite to a surface facing the path surface, is provided.
Inventors
- 👤 Tetsuhiro Nitta
- 👤 Takehiko Kiyohara
- 👤 Yasuhiro Unosawa
- 👤 Shigeru Yoshimura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 08:56
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J13/00; B65; B65H; B65H5/00; B65H5/06; B65H5/068; B65H3/00; B65H3/02; B65H3/06; B65H3/0661
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
115 words
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; and conveying means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means for conveying the sheet, wherein peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said conveying means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
115 words
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; and conveying means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means for conveying the sheet, wherein peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said conveying means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the whole of said rotary feeding means or a portion of said rotary feeding means which slidingly contacts the sheet is made of material having a relatively high coefficient of friction.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said rotary feeding means comprises a sliding contact roller.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a member having a relatively high coefficient of friction is mounted on a peripheral surface of said sliding contact member.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said path surface comprises a flat surface.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sheet fed from said sheet supply means is deflected by said path surface by an angle of about 45-75 degrees with respect to said sheet feeding direction.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said rotary feeding means and said sheet supply means are driven by a same drive source.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
133 words
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; manual sheet supply means for manually supplying the sheet between said path surface and said rotary feeding means; and conveying means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means for conveying the sheet, wherein peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said conveying means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
133 words
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; manual sheet supply means for manually supplying the sheet between said path surface and said rotary feeding means; and conveying means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means for conveying the sheet, wherein peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said conveying means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said manual sheet supply means comprises a manual sheet insertion opening, and a tray disposed in the vicinity of said insertion opening.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
40 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said rotary feeding means serves to apply the feeding force to the sheet fed from said sheet containing means and to guide the sheet inserted by said manual sheet supply means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the whole of said rotary feeding means or a portion of said rotary feeding means which slidingly contacts the sheet is made of material having a relatively high coefficient of friction.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
18 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said rotary feeding means comprises a sliding contact roller.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a member having a relatively high coefficient of friction is mounted on a peripheral surface of said sliding contact roller.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
123 words
An image forming system comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means, disposed away from said path surface, for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; and image forming means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means, for forming an image on the sheet while conveying it, wherein peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said image forming means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
123 words
An image forming system comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means, disposed away from said path surface, for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; and image forming means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means, for forming an image on the sheet while conveying it, wherein peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said image forming means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
37 words
An image forming system according to claim 14, wherein said image forming means includes a feed roller, and wherein a sheet feeding speed of said feed roller is selected slower than that of said rotary feeding means.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
39 words
An image forming system according to claim 15, further including a driving force transmitting means for transmitting a driving force from a drive source for driving said feed means to said rotary feeding means and said sheet supply means.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
An image forming system according to claim 14, wherein the whole of said rotary feeding means or a portion of said rotary feeding means which slidingly contacts the sheet is made of material having a relatively high coefficient of friction.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
18 words
An image forming system according to claim 14, wherein said rotary feeding means comprises a sliding contact roller.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
An image forming system according to claim 18, wherein a member having a relatively high coefficient of friction is mounted on a peripheral surface of said sliding contact roller.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
50 words
An image forming system according to claim 14, wherein said sheet containing means, said sheet supply means and said path surface constitute a sheet supply portion separate from said image forming means, and further including a connection means for removably mounting said sheet supply portion on said image forming means.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
An image forming system according to claim 20, wherein said sheet supply portion is mounted on said image forming means in such a manner that a longitudinal direction of said sheet supply portion is directed vertically.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
34 words
An image forming system according to claim 14, wherein said image forming means utilizes an ink jet recording method for forming the image by discharging ink by using thermal energy generated by electrical/thermal converters.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
44 words
An image forming system according to claim 14, wherein said image forming means utilizes an ink jet recording method for forming the image by discharging ink by the growth of a bubble generated by the heating exceeding nucleate boiling by means of electrical/thermal converters.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
55 words
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sheet containing means comprises a pressure plate for urging the sheets stacked therein against said sheet supply means and separation pawls for separating the sheet to be fed, and said sheet feeding apparatus further comprises a protrusion for lifting the sheet by a predetermined amount.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
117 words
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; recessed portions, formed on said path surface, each of said recessed portions having an inclined portion diverging outwardly of the width of the sheet as it travels downstream in the sheet feeding direction; and rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
117 words
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; recessed portions, formed on said path surface, each of said recessed portions having an inclined portion diverging outwardly of the width of the sheet as it travels downstream in the sheet feeding direction; and rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
138 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; recessed portions forming said path surface, each of said recessed portions having an inclined portion diverging outwardly of the width of the sheet as the sheet travels downstream in the sheet feeding direction; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; and image forming means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means, for forming an image on the sheet while conveying it.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
138 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; recessed portions forming said path surface, each of said recessed portions having an inclined portion diverging outwardly of the width of the sheet as the sheet travels downstream in the sheet feeding direction; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; and image forming means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means, for forming an image on the sheet while conveying it.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
154 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; manual sheet supply means for manually supplying the sheet between said path surface and said rotary feeding means; conveying means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means for conveying the sheet; and image forming means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means, for forming an image on the sheet while conveying it, wherein the peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said conveying means.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
154 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: sheet containing means for supporting sheets therein; sheet supply means for feeding out a sheet from said sheet containing means; a path surface disposed along a sheet feeding path in a direction transverse to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet fed by said sheet supply means for deflecting the sheet; rotary feeding means disposed away from said path surface for applying a feeding force to the sheet by slidingly contacting the sheet deflected by said path surface; manual sheet supply means for manually supplying the sheet between said path surface and said rotary feeding means; conveying means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means for conveying the sheet; and image forming means, disposed downstream of said rotary feeding means, for forming an image on the sheet while conveying it, wherein the peripheral speed of said rotary feeding means is faster than a conveying speed of said conveying means.
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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) | 1996-08-23 | 1997-02-22 | 1997-08-24 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2000-08-23 | 2001-02-22 | 2001-08-24 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2004-08-23 | 2005-02-22 | 2005-08-24 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |