Sheet conveyor for use in copying machines

A sheet conveyor for conveying a sheet while the sheet being fed is held by a sheet gripper supported by a conveying means comprising:

• a sheet gripper;
• a conveying means for transporting said sheet gripper in a substantially straight direction and including means for changing the direction of said conveying means;
• said conveying means including attachment means spaced at predetermined positions along a length of said conveying means;
• said sheet gripper including a sheet pressure rod and a sheet retainer, said sheet pressure rod being affixed to a first pair of attachment means, said sheet retainer being affixed to a second pair of attachment means, said sheet pressure rod being disposed upstream in the direction of transporting with respect to said sheet retainer;
• said sheet retainer being a substantially U-shaped member including, relative to the direction of transporting, a trailing long leg member and a leading shorter leg member, said trailing long leg member including at least one cut-out portion which forms a sheet retaining arm;
• said sheet pressure rod including a hold plate with an outwardly projecting restricting finger;
• wherein a sheet is supplied to said sheet conveyor during the changing of direction of said conveying means and abuts against said restricting finger of said hold plate, thereafter said conveying means travels in said substantially straight direction and said sheet pressure rod pivots said hold plate and said restricting finger into engagement with said sheet retainer whereby said sheet is sandwiched between said trailing long leg, said sheet retaining arm and said hold plate during transporting through said substantially straight portion and is released during a subsequent changing of direction of said conveying means.