Sheet feeder unit
AssigneeMinolta Co., Ltd.
InventorsYasuo Nakamura, Haruhiko Hori
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sheet feeder unit capable of separately supplying cut sheets of any thickness or characteristics without causing any residual deformation. The pile of cut sheets 11 are advanced one by one with a pair of feeding rollers 31 contacting thereto from one side thereof. A friction member 33 of various configurations is disposed at various positions for separating the outermost cut sheet 11 from the other sheets by the frictional force of contact generated therebetween when the friction member is backed away by the advancing cut sheet 11.
Claims31
A sheet feeder unit comprising:
- a support member on which a pile of sheets can be loaded;
- a feeding roller having a nipping position for contacting one face of a pile of sheets when piled on the support member and for sending out the sheets in a sheet feeding direction, the feeding roller being supported around a shaft and having a void portion along the shaft where the feeding roller does not contact with the sheets, the shaft being positioned downstream, in a sheet feeding direction, from said nipping position of the feeding roller;
- and
- a friction member supported at one end thereof, the other end of which extends into the void portion of the feeding roller and is able to contact with a leading edge of the sheets within a range defined by an outside dimension of the feeding roller.
A sheet feeder unit comprising:
- a support member on which a pile of sheets are loaded;
- a feeding roller for contacting one face of a pile of sheets when piled on the support member and for sending out the sheets in a sheet feeding direction;
- a friction member having one end positioned at a leading edge side of the sheets and another end which is supported such that the friction member can contact a leading edge of the sheets within a range defined by an outside dimension of the feeding roller, the friction member having a frictional surface for providing frictional contact with the sheets;
- and
- a restriction member disposed upstream, in said sheet feeding direction, with respect to the friction member, as well as at a side of the sheets where the feeding roller contacts with the sheets.
A sheet feeder unit comprising:
- a support member on which a pile of sheets can be loaded;
- a feeding roller for contacting an uppermost face of the sheets when piled on the support member and for sending out the sheets in a sheet feeding direction;
- and
- a plurality of friction members positioned along a leading edge side of the sheets, each frictional member having a frictional surface disposed at a different inclination angle along a direction of frictional contact with the sheets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.