Swapping feed and separation rollers
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsSrinivas Guddanti, Chet M. Butikofer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sheet feeding system has a pick roller, a first roller, and a second roller. The ends of the first and second rollers are coupled together. The pick roller acquires, or picks, a sheet from a stack of sheets and passes the sheet to the first and second rollers. One of the first and second rollers discourages unintended sheets passed with the sheet picked from the stack. The other of the first and second rollers advances the sheet. A logic processor evaluates interchange conditions and activates a drive mechanism when the evaluated interchange conditions reaches a threshold value. The drive mechanism interchanges the first and second rollers so that the second roller becomes the first roller and the first roller becomes the second roller.
Claims21
A sheet feeding system comprising:
- (a) first and second parallel rotatable rollers each having first and second ends, the first ends coupled together;
- and,
- (b) a drive mechanism configured to interchange, in position, the first roller for the second roller and the second roller for the first roller.
A method for distributing wear in a sheet feeding system, the method comprising:
- (a) picking a sheet;
- (b) urging the sheet to first and second parallel rotatable rollers;
- (c) rotating one of the first and second rollers to advance the sheet;
- (d) evaluating criteria for interchanging the first and second rollers;
- and,
- (e) responsive to the criteria for interchanging, interchanging the second roller for the first roller and the first roller for the second roller.
A sheet feeding system comprising:
- (a) first and second parallel rotatable rollers each having first and second ends, the first ends coupled together;
- (b) a pick roller configured to acquire a sheet and provide the sheet to the first and second rollers;
- and,
- (c) a drive mechanism configured to interchange, in position, the first roller for the second roller and the second roller for the first roller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.