US 4,709,911 AGranted

Automatic sheet feeding device

AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.

InventorsEisaku Saiki, Masataka Kawauchi

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An automatic sheet feeding device for feeding sheets of low rigidity and high coefficient of friction, such as documents of small thickness and thin sheets with carbon backing, including feeding rollers, separating rollers, a rotating mechanism for rotating the separating rollers, and a regulating mechanism for regulating a torque applied to the separating rollers. A torque tending to rotate the separating rollers in a direction in which the sheets are fed is applied thereto by the feeding rollers, and a torque tending to rotate the separating rollers in a direction opposite the direction in which the sheets are fed is applied thereto by the separating roller rotating mechanism through the regulating mechanism for regulating the torque applied to the separating rollers which is a friction clutch. By adjusting the torque transmitting force of the friction clutch, one of the two torques is selectively applied to the separating rollers depending on whether or not the sheets are held between the feeding rollers and separating rollers.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An automatic sheet feeding device for successively feeding sheets from a stack of sheets by separating the sheets, each sheet having a substrate and a material applied to a surface of the substrate so the material side of the sheet has a higher coefficient of friction than the substrate side of the sheet, the device comprising:

feeding means for feeding the sheets from said stack of sheets;
separating means cooperating with said feeding means for separating the sheets, such that said material side of the sheet to be fed tends to be separated from the substrate side of an adjacent sheet when a friction force acts on the material side of the sheet to be fed as a result of each sheet being in contact with said separating means during feeding, so as to allow the sheets to be fed one by one by said feeding means, a coefficient of friction of the separating means with respect to the sheets being lower than the coefficient of friction of the feeding means with respect to the sheets and higher than a coefficient of friction of one sheet with respect to another sheet;
torque regulating means for regulating a torque applied to said separating means;
rotating means for rotating the separating means through said torque regulating means;
and
wherein said separating means are maintained in engagement with the rotating means and feeding means in such a manner that the separating means can be rotated freely in a direction in which the sheets are fed and in a direction opposite to the direction in which the sheets are fed.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 07/022,958Filed 6 Mar 1987 · continuation
Priority: JP 58-2272516 Feb 1983
Granted: 1 Dec 1987
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

B65H 3/5284
The retainers positioned over articles separated from the bottom of the pile: retainers of the roller type, e.g. rollers
B65H 3/06
Using friction forces between articles and separator: rollers or like rotary separators
B65H 3/46
Separating articles from piles: supplementary devices or measures to assist separation or prevent double feed
B65H 2401/10
Materials used for the handling apparatus or parts thereof; Properties thereof: materials