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US 7,401,774 B2Granted
Dual friction region separation pad, and media separator and media separator mechanism using same
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorNathaniel D. Ginzton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A media separator, that cooperates with a media pick to form a nip in a feed path of a media handling apparatus, supports a separation pad that includes first and second friction regions for movement relative to the media separator, against a bias force, in a feed direction of a sheet of media through the nip. The first and second friction regions selectively engage the sheet of media passing through the nip with a retard/separation force determined by the bias force, to retard and control a feeding operation of the sheet of media through the nip, and to feed plural sheets of media through the nip one at a time.
Claims15
A media separator that cooperates with a media pick to form a nip in a feed path and to feed sheets of media through the nip, one at a time in a feed direction, the media separator comprising:
- a separation pad having a contact surface that forms at least a portion of the nip and a slide surface, the contact surface including a first friction region having a first coefficient of friction, and a second friction region arranged upstream of the first friction region in the feed direction and having a second coefficient of friction less than the first coefficient of friction;
- a bracket that supports the separation pad in the nip for movement along the feed direction relative to the bracket between a first position, in which a sheet of media fed through the nip frictionally engages the first friction region and moves the separation pad in the feed direction relative to the bracket by a friction force with the separation pad, against a bias force, and a second position, in which the sheet of media fed though the nip contacts the first friction region and the second friction region and the separation pad frictionally engages the sheet of media fed through the nip with a retard/separation force equal to the bias force, the bracket including a guide surface that engages the slide surface of the separation pad and supports the separation pad for sliding movement along the feed direction relative to the bracket between the first position and the second position;
- and
- a retard spring connected between the bracket and the separation pad, and wherein in the first position the sheet of media fed through the nip in the feed direction engages the first friction region with a friction force sufficient to cause the separation pad to move from the first position to the second position against the bias force of the retard spring, and in the second position the separation pad frictionally engages the sheet of media with a retard/separation force equal to the bias force of the retard spring.
1 more element
A media separator mechanism comprising:
- a media pick that frictionally drives a sheet of media in a feed direction;
- and
- a media separator that forms a nip with the media pick, the media separator comprising:
- a separation pad having a contact surface that forms at least a portion of the nip and a slide surface, the contact surface of the separation pad including a first friction region having a first coefficient of friction, and a second friction region arranged upstream of the first friction region in the feed direction of the sheet of media and having a second coefficient of friction less than the first coefficient of friction;
- a bracket that supports the separation pad in the nip for movement along the feed direction relative to the bracket between a first position, in which the sheet of media fed through the nip frictionally engages the first friction region and moves the separation pad in the feed direction relative to the bracket by a friction force with the separation pad, against a bias force, and a second position, in which the sheet of media fed through the nip contacts the first friction region and the second friction region and the separation pad frictionally engages the sheet of media fed through the nip with a retard/separation force equal to the bias force, the bracket including a guide surface that engages the slide surface of the separation pad and supports the separation pad for sliding movement along the feed direction relative to the bracket between the first position and the second position;
- and
- a retard spring connected between the bracket and the separation pad, and wherein in the first position the sheet of media fed through the nip in the feed direction engages the first friction region with a friction force sufficient to cause the separation pad to move from the first position to the second position against the bias force of the retard spring, and in the second position the separation pad frictionally engages the sheet of media with a retard/separation force equal to the bias force of the retard spring.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.