Variable acceleration take-away roll (TAR) for high capacity feeder
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsKenneth P. Moore, Leonid Buchman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A variable acceleration TAR. The properties and dimensions of the sheets in a stack are entered by a user or determined automatically. Since it is known from either customer provided input or automatic sensing what sheet length and resulting pitch size are feeding from any tray, the acceleration profile for the TAR is customized according to how much time is available to bring the sheet to transport speed in a given pitch zone. For longer sheet length with higher mass, there is also more acceleration time available and can reduce the required acceleration to a value that the motor and drive nip friction can handle thereby keeping motor size down and making more efficient use of the available torque of the motor with no added cost.
Claims19
A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of at least one take-away nip dependent predetermined sheet parameter to set a maximum sheet acceleration based on the heaviest sheet weight and the shortest and longest photoconductor pitch lengths as well as reducing the acceleration of the take away nip dependent on acquisition time required by the feed head for acquiring a sheet having at least one predetermined parameter.
An electrophotographic printing machine having a sheet feeder, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- and
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of at least one take-away nip dependent upon sheet parameter;
- and wherein:
- the controller sets a maximum sheet acceleration based on the heaviest sheet weight and the shortest and longest photoconductor pitch lengths as well as reducing the acceleration of the take away nip dependent on acquisition time required by the feed head for acquiring a sheet having at least one predetermined parameter.
A sheet feeding apparatus for a device operable at a number of pitches, each pitch having an associated pitch time,, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of said take-away nip dependent upon determination of sheet mass and pitch time.
An electrophotographic printing machine having a sheet feeder, the electrophotographic machine operable at a number of pitches, each pitch having an associated pitch time, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- and
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of said take-away nip dependent upon determination of sheet mass and pitch time.
A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of said take-away nip dependent upon at least one predetermined sheet parameter;
- and wherein:
- the printing machine has discrete pitch zones;
- and
- the controller includes an acceleration profile for the take-away nip dependent upon how much time is available to bring the sheet to transport speed in a given pitch zone.
An electrophotographic printing machine having a sheet feeder, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of said take-away nip dependent upon at least one predetermined sheet parameter;
- and wherein the controller controls motor acceleration by an exponential function which has an acceleration constant multiplying factor.
An sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:
- a sheet stack support;
- a pneumatic feed head, adjacent said stack support for acquiring the top sheet of a stack;
- a take-away nip adjacent an end of the stack for feeding the sheets inseriatum from said stack;
- a controller coupled to said take-away nip and varying the speed and acceleration of said take-away nip dependent upon at least one predetermined sheet parameter;
- and wherein the controller controls motor acceleration by an exponential function which has an acceleration constant multiplying factor.
A method of operating a sheet feeding apparatus having a take-away nip, comprising:
- varying a speed and an acceleration of the take-away nip dependent on determination of sheet mass and pitch time.
A method of operating an electrographic printing machine having a sheet feeder having a take-away nip, comprising:
- varying a speed and an acceleration of the take-away nip dependent on determination of sheet mass and pitch time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.