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US 6,644,659 B2Granted
Sheet feeder apparatus and method with throughput control
AssigneeBell & Howell Mail and Messaging Technologies Company
InventorsHerman G. Skadow, Stephen R. Archer, Thomas D. Para, Ramesh Pankajakshan, Richard M. Szewczyk
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sheet feeder apparatus and method with throughput control. By varying the speed at which sheets are fed from a supply, the sheet feeder apparatus and method assures that the throughput capacity of a downstream operation is never exceeded. Speed is varied based upon the length of the sheets being fed. Furthermore, the sheet feeder apparatus can have worn components replaced quickly and by operators of minimal skill level.
Claims7
A sheet feeder apparatus for feeding a supply of sheets along a sheet path, comprising:
- (a) a magazine subassembly, wherein the supply of sheets is supported by the magazine subassembly and fed towards said sheet path;
- (b) a feed subassembly positioned on one side of the sheet path, wherein the outermost sheet is separated from said supply of sheets by the feed subassembly;
- (c) a singulator subassembly, spaced across said sheet path from said feed assembly, wherein the singulator subassembly prevents all but the outermost sheet of said supply of sheets from being separated from said supply of sheets;
- (d) a transport assembly, wherein said separated outermost sheet is fed by the transport assembly downstream for further processing;
- (e) a control system, wherein the size of the sheet separated from said magazine subassembly is determined by the control system, the speed of said feed subassembly is adjusted and held by the control system for predetermined durations, whereby a predetermined sheet gap size is created between the separated sheet and the next sheet to be separated dependent upon the length of said separated sheet.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.