Dual motor aligner
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsDonovan M. Janssen, John P. Mantey, Donald C. Roller, Lance A. Walker
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Abstract
A device for feeding sheets from a supply station aligning the sheets in an X, Y and .theta. coordinates and then gating the sheet into a work station such as the transfer station of a copier. The device includes a pair of independently servo-controlled motors disposed on opposite sides of the sheet. Each motor drives a nip roller which transports the copy sheet. Sensors are disposed to generate signals representative of sheet position in the X, Y and .theta. coordinates. A controller uses the signals to adjust the angular velocity of the motor so that the sheet is squared and is gated onto the work station. The sensors and controller are utilized to measure different parameters associated with the sheet.
Claims7
A sheet handling device for adjusting sheet position prior to entering said sheet into the sheet processing station of a utilization apparatus, said device capable of adjusting said sheet position (1) for skew misalignment, (2) for lateral (side) edge misalignment, and (3) for adjusting sheet speed to that desired for entry into the processing station and for timing the entry of the leading edge of the sheet into the processing station at a desired time, comprising:
- a sheet entry station;
- a sheet transport path coupling said sheet processing station with said entry station;
- independently controlled drive means disposed within said transport path, a first one of such drive means located adjacent a first edge of said transport path and a second one of such drive means located adjacent the opposite edge of said transport path, said drive means for moving said sheet along said transport path to said sheet processing station from said entry station;
- signal generating means disposed within said transport path for sensing sheet position;
- and
- control means responsive to said signal generating means for adjusting the speed of said independently controlled drive means to correct sensed positional misalignment of said sheet for skew misalignment, lateral edge misalignment and for timing the entry of the leading edge of said sheet into said sheet processing station at a desired speed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.