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US 6,640,059 B2Granted
Apparatus for facilitating jam clearance in a printer
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsPaul M. Fromm, Richard C. Benton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an apparatus, such as a fuser for xerographic printing, wherein sheets pass through a nip formed by two moving rollers, a substantially enclosed, effectively funnel-shaped path is defined to direct sheets from the nip to a subsequent processing station. When a jam condition occurs in the path, a movable surface defining the path moves to increase a size of the path. The increase in size prevents impaction of subsequent sheets entering the path, and also facilitates manual jam clearance.
Claims21
An apparatus useful in moving sheets, comprising:
- a first roller and a second roller, forming a nip therebetween;
- means defining a substantially enclosed post-roller path downstream of the nip along a process direction toward an output opening;
- opening means for increasing a size of the post-roller path;
- detecting means for detecting a jam condition within the post-roller path;
- and
- wherein the opening means increases a size of the post-roller path in response to detecting a jam condition.
3 more elements
An apparatus useful in moving sheets, comprising:
- a first roller and a second roller, forming a nip therebetween;
- means defining a substantially enclosed post-roller path downstream of the nip along a process direction toward an output opening, the means defining the post-roller path including at least one movable surface;
- and
- opening means for increasing a size of the post-roller path, the opening means including moving means for moving the movable surface, and the moving means including an electromechanical actuator.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.