US 2010/0025914 A1 · IMAGING APPARATUS WITH MEDIA PICKUP SYSTEM EMPLOYING CURVED SURFACE FOR MEDIA SEPARATION

Abstract

A media pickup system suitable for use with an imaging apparatus including a pickup assembly including at least one pickup bar having a concave channel a curved surface, and an actuator configured to move the pickup bar between a first position and a second position, wherein the pickup assembly, when the pickup bar is in the second position, is configured to selectively engage and draw a portion of a first sheet of a stack of sheets of imaging media into the concave channel to bend the first sheet to create and air channel between and to separate the first sheet from a remaining portion of the stack of sheets of imaging media.

Claims28

Dependent claims

An imaging apparatus, comprising:

a media source including a stack of one or more sheets of imaging media;
and
a pickup assembly including:
a pickup bar moveable between a first position and a second position and having a concave channel with a curved surface;
a plurality of suction cups positioned in a spaced fashion in and along the concave channel and configured to contact a first sheet of imaging media of the stack when the pickup bar is in the second position;
and
a vacuum system configured to deliver a vacuum to the suction cups when the pickup bar is in the second position to cause the suction cups to engage the first sheet and to draw and deform the suction cups against the curved surface to bend the first sheet to create an air channel between and separate the first sheet from a remaining portion of the stack.

4 more elements

An actuator system suitable for use with a media pick-up system of an imaging apparatus, the actuator system comprising:

a drive linkage assembly including a drive point configured to move in a first plane defined by a first axis and a perpendicular second axis;
at least one idler linkage assembly including an idler point configured to move in a second plane defined by the first axis and a third axis perpendicular to the first and second axes;
a support element pivotally coupled to the drive point and pivotally coupled to the idler point such that together the drive point, idler point, and support element can move linearly along only the first axis;
and
an actuator coupled to and configured to apply a drive force to the drive linkage assembly to move the drive point along the first axis to move the support element linearly along the first axis.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Imaging apparatus with media pickup system employing curved surface for media separation

Life of this patent

Imaging apparatus with media pickup system employing curved surface for media separation

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims28