Sheet feeder
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorYoshiaki Ushirogata
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sheet feeder for an electrophotographic copier or like image forming apparatus includes a structure for aligning the trailing edges of a large amount of paper sheets which are stacked on a tray. The structure includes a back fence mounted on a transmission member which is stretched in the widthwise direction of the sheets. The back fence is movable in the widthwise direction of the sheets between an operative position for aligning the trailing edges of the sheets and an inoperative direction for facilitating the supply of sheets onto the tray. The movement of the back fence between the operative and inoperative positions is interlocked with the upward and downward movements of the tray.
Claims4
A sheet feeder for feeding a large amount of paper sheets one at a time from a predetermined draw-out position of said sheet feeder comprising:
- a housing having a pair of side walls which are positioned parallel to an intended direction of sheet feed of said sheet feeder;
- a tray supported by said side walls by means for elevating and lowering, said tray being loaded with a stack of paper sheets;
- and
- aligning means movable to an operative position which corresponds to the trailing edges of the sheets for aligning the trailing edges of the sheets on said tray when said tray is elevated and to an inoperative position for enabling the sheets to be loaded on said tray when said tray is lowered, and drive means for selectively moving said aligning means to the operative position and the inoperative position thereof in a direction perpendicular to the intended direction of sheet feed and in synchronization with a start of elevation and a start of lowering of said tray, respectively, and at a higher rate than the elevation and the lowering of said tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.