Top card feeder
AssigneeZIH Corp.
InventorDanny Louie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A top card feeder feeds cards into a receiving device from the top, the top card feeder having a card holder for holding a stack of cards, a door pivotally mounted near the bottom of the top card feeder, an elastic means adapted to pull the card holder upward, a locking mechanism adapted to lock the door and to rotate a pulley assembly in response to the movement of the door, the pulley assembly being coupled to the card holder for moving the card holder vertically within a chamber of the top card feeder.
Claims38
A medium holding device for holding a stack of media to be fed into a receiving device, comprising:
- a door;
- a back wall, said back wall having an elongated vertical slot;
- a medium holder for holding the stack of media;
- a door locking mechanism adapted to lock said door in a closed operational position and in an open loading position, said door locking mechanism being coupled to said door and to said back wall;
- a door opening mechanism coupled to said door locking mechanism and adapted to release said door locking mechanism for unlocking said door;
- a pulley assembly coupled to said door locking mechanism for moving said medium holder vertically, said pulley assembly being further coupled to said back wall;
- and
- an elastic means coupled to said medium holder for providing upward pulling forces to said medium holder.
A medium holding device for holding a stack of media to be fed into a receiving device, comprising:
- a medium holder for holding the stack of media;
- a door pivotally coupled to the medium holding device, said door having a door handle;
- a first gear coupled to said door;
- a lock pivotally coupled said first gear, said lock having a stop latch;
- a locking element having at least two notches for housing the stop latch;
- a release plate coupled to said lock for pressing said lock to release the stop latch from the notches;
- a first pulley;
- a second gear fixedly coupled to said first pulley for rotating said first pulley, said second gear being engaged to said first gear for rotation in response to a movement of said door;
- a second pulley;
- a belt coupled to said first and second pulleys for rotating said first and second pulleys;
- a pulling nob fixedly coupled to said medium holder and to said belt for vertically moving said medium holder when the first pulley rotates;
- and
- an elastic means coupled to said medium holder for providing upward pulling forces to said medium holder.
A medium holding device for holding a stack of media to be fed into a receiving device, said medium holding device comprising:
- a medium holder adapted for movement between a bottom elevation and a top elevation, said medium holder being adapted to feed media into a receiving device;
- a door adapted to move between an open position and a closed position, said door being coupled to said medium holder;
- elastic means adapted to pull said medium holder in a first direction;
- and
- a counteracting mechanism coupled to said medium holder, the counteracting mechanism being adapted to interrupt the travel of said medium holder as said medium holder moves between said bottom elevation and said top elevation, said counteracting mechanism comprising a pulley assembly and a locking mechanism coupled to said pulley assembly and to said door for locking said door closed and for pulling said medium holder according to said opening or closing movements of said door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.