Sheet feeding device, image forming apparatus, and image forming system
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsMasato Hashimoto, Tatsuya Sugawara, Hideaki Takahashi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sheet feeding device includes a sheet stacking table, an air blower, a feeder, and an air sucker. The sheet stacking table stacks a bundle of sheets. The air blower blows air to the bundle of sheets to float an uppermost sheet from the bundle of sheets. The feeder feeds the uppermost sheet. The air sucker sucks air in such a direction that a sheet in vicinity of the uppermost sheet moves away from the feeder. The air sucker includes a suction nozzle to suck air, a suction fan to generate a negative pressure, a suction duct to communicate the suction nozzle with the suction fan, and an opening-and-closing mechanism to shut off and release ventilation in the suction duct.
Claims12
A sheet feeding device comprising:
- a sheet stacking table to stack a bundle of sheets;
- an air blower to blow air to the bundle of sheets to float an uppermost sheet, of the bundle of sheets, from other sheets of the bundle of sheets;
- a feeder to feed the uppermost sheet;
- an air sucker to suck air in direction to move a sheet in a vicinity of the uppermost sheet, away from the feeder, the air sucker including:
- a suction nozzle to suck the air;
- a suction fan to generate a negative pressure;
- a suction duct to communicate the suction nozzle and the suction fan;
- and
- an opening-and-closing mechanism to shut off and release ventilation in the suction duct;
- and
- control circuitry to cause the opening-and-closing mechanism to switch shut-off and release of the ventilation in the suction duct,
- wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the opening-and-closing mechanism to shut off the ventilation in the suction duct for a period of time, during which the air blower blows air, and
- wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the opening-and-closing mechanism to release the ventilation in the suction duct for a period of time, during which the air blower does not blow air.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.