Sheet media realignment mechanism

A sheet media realignment mechanism in media feed equipment, the realignment mechanism comprising:

• a rotatable sheet pick/feed mechanism defining adjacent thereto a single sheet media feed zone, said pick/feed mechanism including one or more rotatably moveable frictional expanses for engaging a top sheet in a plural-sheet media stack;
• a pivotable member operatively coupled with said pick/feed mechanism for at least partial rotation therewith;
• said pivotable member having connected therewith a generally radially extending strut;
• a drive mechanism for rotating said pivotable member with a predefined first force into various predefined rotational orientations of said pivotable member including a first sheet-feeding orientation;
• a pivotal lever extending into said feed zone, said lever nominally traversing said feed zone, said lever being temporarily urged by said strut, upon rotation of said pivotable member, into a non-obstructing orientation that permits feeding by said pick/feed mechanism of the top sheet of the stack by engagement of the top sheet with said expanses;
• and
• a return mechanism operatively connected with said lever for returning said lever to said nominally obstructing position within said feed zone upon rotation by said drive mechanism of said member into said first orientation,
• said lever urging media sheets below the top sheet into substantial leading edge stacked alignment free of said feed zone.

In a printer having a single-sheet feed mechanism for feeding a top sheet from a vertical stack of plural such sheets by rotation of two or more laterally spaced rollers defining a cylinder and selectively engaging such top sheet, the improvement comprising:

• a radially extending first member rotatably disposed adjacent one such roller, said first member extending outwardly normal to a central axis of such cylinder with its distal end terminating within the radius thereof;
• a lever pivotally connected to the printer's chassis, said lever being in lateral alignment with said first member, said lever nominally extending into such cylinder for engagement by said first member when such rollers are in a first predefined rotational orientation, a distal end of said lever being moved by said first member downstream to a position generally tangent to the outer surface of such cylinder;
• and
• a return mechanism active when such rollers are in a second predefined rotational orientation to return said lever to such original position as the trailing edge of the top fed sheet clears said lever, the lever urging any sheets that may have been advanced downstream by such rotation back into leading edge alignment in the stack.