Feeding device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorMizuna Tanaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A feeding device includes a receptacle, a conveyor, an elastic member, and a load adjuster. The receptacle is vertically movable and holds a stack of sheets. The conveyor feeds an uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle in a feeding direction in which a sheet of the stack of sheets is fed. The elastic member biases the receptacle to press the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle against the conveyor. At least when a height of the stack of sheets on the receptacle is equal to or greater than a given value, the load adjuster applies a reduced magnitude of load downward to the stack of sheets on the receptacle in response to a decrease in the height of the stack of sheets.
Claims18
A feeding device, comprising:
- a receptacle vertically movable and configured to hold a stack of sheets;
- a conveyor configured to feed an uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle in a feeding direction in which a sheet of the stack of sheets is fed;
- an elastic member configured to bias the receptacle to press the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle against the conveyor;
- a load adjuster configured to, at least when a height of the stack of sheets on the receptacle is equal to or greater than a given value, apply a reduced magnitude of load downward to the stack of sheets on the receptacle in response to a decrease in the height of the stack of sheets;
- and
- a pair of side fences each including a fence face configured to contact a side end face of the stack of sheets on the receptacle,
- wherein the load adjuster is a brush disposed on the fence face of each of the side fences, and
- wherein the brush is configured to contact the stack of sheets on the receptacle in a decreased width along the feeding direction in response to the decrease in the height of the stack of sheets, at least when the height of the stack of sheets on the receptacle is equal to or greater than the given value.
A feeding device, comprising:
- a receptacle vertically movable and configured to hold a stack of sheets;
- a conveyor configured to feed an uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle in a feeding direction in which a sheet of the stack of sheets is fed;
- an elastic member configured to bias the receptacle to press the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle against the conveyor;
- a load adjuster configured to, at least when a height of the stack of sheets on the receptacle is equal to or greater than a given value, apply a reduced magnitude of load downward to the stack of sheets on the receptacle in response to a decrease in the height of the stack of sheets;
- and
- a pair of side fences each including a fence face configured to contact a side end face of the stack of sheets on the receptacle,
- wherein the load adjuster is a brush disposed on the fence face of each of the side fences, and
- wherein the brush includes adjacent bristles at a vertical interval shorter than a thickness of a thinnest sheet feedable.
A feeding device, comprising:
- a receptacle vertically movable and configured to hold a stack of sheets;
- a conveyor configured to feed an uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle in a feeding direction in which a sheet of the stack of sheets is fed;
- an elastic member configured to bias the receptacle to press the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets on the receptacle against the conveyor;
- a load adjuster configured to, at least when a height of the stack of sheets on the receptacle is equal to or greater than a given value, apply a reduced magnitude of load downward to the stack of sheets on the receptacle in response to a decrease in the height of the stack of sheets;
- and
- a fence including a fence face configured to contact an end face of the stack of sheets on the receptacle,
- wherein the load adjuster is a brush disposed on the fence face, and
- wherein the brush has an upper horizontal width smaller than a lower horizontal width.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.