# US 10,118,782 B2 · Sheet feeder, image recording apparatus having the sheet feeder, and computer-readable medium therefor

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- Number: US 10,118,782 B2
- Document ID: US10118782B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/718,109
- Filed: 2017-09-28
- Published: 2018-04-05
- Granted: 2018-11-06
- Earliest claimed: 2016-09-30
- Assignees: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
- Applicants: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
- Inventors: Keisuke Wakakusa
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10118782B2

## CPC

- B65H 7/06: responsive to presence of faulty articles or incorrect separation or feed (B65H7/14 takes precedence)
- B41J 11/006: {Means for preventing paper jams or for facilitating their removal}
- B41J 11/0095: {Detecting means for copy material, e.g. for detecting or sensing presence of copy material or its leading or trailing end}
- B41J 13/0018: {in the sheet input section of automatic paper handling systems}
- B65H 1/04: adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile
- B65H 3/0669: {Driving devices therefor}
- B65H 3/0684: {on moving support, e.g. pivoting, for bringing the roller or like rotary separator into contact with the pile}
- B65H 3/5223: {Retainers of the pad-type, e.g. friction pads}
- B65H 5/062: {between rollers or balls}
- B65H 7/18: Modifying or stopping actuation of separators
- G03G 15/6502: {Supplying of sheet copy material; Cassettes therefor}
- B65H 2511/414: of mode of operation
- B65H 2511/51: Presence
- B65H 2511/515: Absence
- B65H 2513/40: Movement
- B65H 2513/50: Timing
- B65H 2553/51: Encoders, e.g. linear
- B65H 2553/82: with regard to the direction of transport of the handled material
- B65H 2701/131: Edges
- B65H 2801/03: Image reproduction devices
- B65H: HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY

## Abstract

A sheet feeder includes a controller configured to perform a driving process of supplying a motor with an electric current to rotate a roller, perform a stopping process of stopping supplying the electric current in response to determining that the motor has not rotated before a second sensor detects a sheet, when an accumulated rotational quantity of the roller is less than a threshold, set a retry upper limit to a first value, the accumulated rotational quantity being detected by a first sensor in the driving process performed for a first time, when the accumulated rotational quantity of the roller is equal to or more than the threshold, set the retry upper limit to a second value more than the first value, and repeatedly perform the driving process and the stopping process until a number of retries reaches the retry upper limit or until the second sensor detects the sheet.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sheet feeder comprising:
a tray having a supporter configured to support a sheet placed on the tray;
a roller disposed in a position contactable with the supporter, the roller being configured to, when rotating in a particular direction, feed the sheet supported by the supporter, in a conveyance direction along a conveyance path;
a motor configured to generate a driving force to rotate the roller in the particular direction;
a first sensor configured to detect a rotational quantity of the roller;
a second sensor configured to detect that the sheet reaches a particular position on the conveyance path; and
a controller configured to perform a particular process comprising:
a driving process comprising:
supplying the motor with an electric current;
a stopping process comprising:
in response to determining that the motor has not rotated before the second sensor detects that the sheet reaches the particular position, stopping supplying the electric current to the motor;
a setting process comprising:
when an accumulated rotational quantity of the roller is less than a threshold, setting a retry upper limit to a first value, wherein the accumulated rotational quantity is detected by the first sensor in the driving process performed for a first time after a beginning of the particular process, and the first value is equal to or more than one; and
when the accumulated rotational quantity of the roller is equal to or more than the threshold, setting the retry upper limit to a second value more than the first value; and
repeatedly performing the driving process and the stopping process until a number of retries to perform the driving process reaches the retry upper limit or until the second sensor detects that the sheet reaches the particular position.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the particular process further comprises:
again performing the setting process in response to determining that the motor has not rotated in the driving process executed for a second or subsequent time after the beginning of the particular process and that the retry upper limit is the first value.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1, further comprising a guide member configured to define at least a part of an outer side of a curved section of the conveyance path, the curved section being curved along the conveyance direction.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the conveyance path extends in a direction intersecting a supporting surface of the supporter, and
wherein the sheet feeder further comprises a guide section disposed between the conveyance path and a downstream end of the supporter in the conveyance direction, the guide section being configured to come into contact with a leading end of the sheet fed by the roller and to guide the sheet into the conveyance path.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the supporter is further configured to make a rotational resistance of the roller rotating in contact with the supporter greater than a rotational resistance of the roller rotating in contact with the sheet supported by the supporter.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the particular process further comprises:
performing the driving process for the first time in response to receipt of a sheet feeding instruction; and
performing the setting process only when the sheet feeding instruction includes an instruction to feed a glossy paper.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1, further comprising a switcher switchable between:
a transmission state where the switcher transmits the driving force generated by the motor to the roller; and
a non-transmission state where the switcher does not transmit the driving force generated by the motor to the roller,
wherein the particular process further comprises:
switching the switcher into the non-transmission state from the transmission state, after the stopping process and before the driving process to be next performed.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the particular process further comprises:
in response to the rotational quantity of the roller detected by the first sensor having continued to be zero during a threshold period of time, determining that the motor has not rotated.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the driving process of the particular process further comprises:
in response to a rotational speed of the motor being lower than a target speed, increasing an electric current to be supplied to the motor; and
in response to the rotational speed of the motor being higher than the target speed, decreasing the electric current to be supplied to the motor, and
wherein the particular process further comprises:
in response to having continued to supply a maximum current during a threshold period of time, determining that the motor has not rotated.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1, further comprising a notification provider,
wherein the particular process further comprises:
in response to the number of retries reaching the retry upper limit, controlling the notification provider to provide a notification that the sheet has not reached the particular position.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The sheet feeder according to claim 1,
wherein the controller comprises:
a processor; and
a memory storing processor-executable instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the particular process.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

An image recording apparatus comprising:
the sheet feeder according to claim 1;
a conveyance roller disposed downstream of the particular position in the conveyance direction, the conveyance roller being configured to convey the sheet in the conveyance direction; and
an image recorder disposed downstream of the conveyance roller in the conveyance direction, the image recorder being configured to record an image on the sheet,
wherein the particular process further comprises:
in response to the second sensor detecting that the sheet reaches the particular position, controlling the conveyance roller to convey the sheet to a specific position to face the image recorder; and
controlling the image recorder to record an image on the sheet conveyed by the conveyance roller to the specific position.

### Claim 13

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that are executable by a processor coupled with a sheet feeder, the sheet feeder comprising:
a tray having a supporter configured to support a sheet placed on the tray;
a roller disposed in a position contactable with the supporter, the roller being configured to, when rotating in a particular direction, feed the sheet supported by the supporter, in a conveyance direction along a conveyance path;
a motor configured to generate a driving force to rotate the roller in the particular direction;
a first sensor configured to detect a rotational quantity of the roller; and
a second sensor configured to detect that the sheet reaches a particular position on the conveyance path, the instructions being configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a particular process comprising:
a driving process comprising:
supplying the motor with an electric current;
a stopping process comprising:
in response to determining that the motor has not rotated before the second sensor detects that the sheet reaches the particular position, stopping supplying the electric current to the motor;
a setting process comprising:
when an accumulated rotational quantity of the roller is less than a threshold, setting a retry upper limit to a first value, wherein the accumulated rotational quantity is detected by the first sensor in the driving process performed for a first time after a beginning of the particular process, and the first value is equal to or more than one; and
when the accumulated rotational quantity of the roller is equal to or more than the threshold, setting the retry upper limit to a second value more than the first value; and
repeatedly performing the driving process and the stopping process until a number of retries to perform the driving process reaches the retry upper limit or until the second sensor detects that the sheet reaches the particular position.