Facsimile transceiver
AssigneeGraphic Sciences, Inc.
InventorsRobert E. Krallinger, Vladimir Ignatjev, Ralph K. Rand, Matthew Joseph Costello
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compact facsimile transceiver occupying minimum space includes a straight-line transmitter section and a receiver section disposed beneath a portion of the transmitter. The transmitter transports documents through its scanner section, one by one in essentially a straight line by means of simplified and improved paper-handling apparatus which holds the documents flat. An editor in the transmitter permits segments of the documents being transmitted to be selectively deleted from the transmission. The receiver includes a simple and efficient paper-cutter mechanism and paper-transporting apparatus.
Claims44
A facsimile transceiver comprising a transmitter arranged to feed a first document in substantially straight line motion from a document store, through a scanner, into a first receiving tray, and a receiver positioned beneath said first tray and arranged to feed paper on which a document is to be reproduced from a paper store, through a writing head, into a second receiving tray in a direction transverse to the direction in which said first document is fed.
In a facsimile receiver having means feeding a continuous sheet of paper for reproduction of documents thereon, a cutter head for cutting the sheet to selected sizes, spring means for driving the cutter across said sheet, and a motor driven chain extending over a pair of sprockets and carrying a pin for engaging said head and returning it to a starting position, said pin releasing said head on passing around one of said sprockets, the improvement comprising
- A. a switch connected to remove driving current from said motor when actuated to thereby halt movement of said chain, and
- B. an arm positioned for contact with said pin and movement therewith when said pin returns to said one sprocket, said arm actuating said switch to deenergize said motor prior to disengagement of said pin with said head.
A facsimile receiver including
- means feeding a continuous sheet of paper for reproduction of documents thereon,
- roller means guiding said paper,
- a flexible plate bearing against a portion of said roller means for assisting the passage of said sheet of paper,
- means for separating said flexible plate and said portion of said roller means from each other to provide a space into which said paper can be fed,
- a cutter head for cutting the sheet to selected sizes,
- drive means for driving the cutter across said sheet, and
- means coupled to said drive means for cocking said cutter and preparing it for a cutting operation.
A facsimile receiver including
- a printing station and a cutting station,
- means feeding a continuous sheet of paper for reproduction of documents thereon at said printing station,
- roller means for guiding said paper from said printing station to said cutting station, and
- paper cutting means at said cutting station comprising
- a first fixed plate having a first projecting tab and having a slot,
- a second plate pivotally coupled to said first plate and having a second projecting tab,
- said first and second being disposed adjacent to each other,
- a pin secured to said second plate and slidably disposed in said slot,
- a cutting blade secured to said second plate and pivotable therewith into and out of cutting position, and
- means secured to said first plate slidably mounting said first plate and said cutting means on a shaft on which said cutting means can be moved into and out of cutting relationship with said sheet of paper.
Document transporting apparatus comprising
- a tray supporting a plurality of documents and having a front end,
- first means adjacent to the front end of said tray for extracting one document at a time from said tray,
- a generally horizontal support plate disposed adjacent to said first means to receive said documents, and
- roller means in operative relation with said support plate for grasping and transporting said documents along a path between said roller means and said support plate, said roller means being pivotally mounted with respect to said horizontal plate so that it can move toward and away from said horizontal plate to accommodate documents of different thicknesses.
A flat bed facsimile transmitter comprising
- A. means forming a document entrance station for receiving documents to be transmitted,
- B. a scanner for scanning each document and generating electrical signals indicative of the contents thereof for transmission to a receiver,
- C. feed means positioned to remove from the entrance station and advance them through said scanner in substantially straight-line motion, said feed means including
- 1. first document advance means, including a pair of rotary wheels, for advancing said document at a first rate to a first position in said scanner,
- 2. second document advance means for advancing said document through said scanner at a second, slower rate, and including first and second belts traveling over corresponding first and second pairs of rotary wheels, and a platform segment adjacent said belts and along which said documents are advanced by motion of said belts,
- 3. a first motor driving said rotary wheels,
- 4. a second motor driving said belts,
- 5. clutch means coupling said wheels to said belts for motion therewith when said first motor is energized, and decoupling said wheels from said belts when said second motor is energized, and
- 6. means mounting said platform in cantilever fashion for pressing against said belts whereby said belts frictionally engage documents positioned between themselves and said platform, and
- D. means forming a document exit station for receiving documents exiting from said scanner.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.