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US 8,944,428 B2Granted
Removable media dam with separator roll positioner for a media tray
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorsChad Michael Piening, Louann Behymer Samuels, Curtis Duane Woodson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A removable media dam for a media input tray. The removable media dam is mountable in a front wall of the media tray and may contain one or more rollers for feeding media from the media input tray. The removable media dam includes a separator roll positioner for angularly rotating a separator roll between a retracted position and an extended position to adjust the height of the separator roll with respect to a media contact surface thereby varying the media sheet separation force applied by the separator roll to media sheets being fed from the media tray. In one form, the removable media dam is mountable by a user without the use of tools.
Claims32
A removable media input tray for a media feed device, comprising:
- a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls extending between the front and rear walls, the walls extending upwardly from the bottom, the walls and bottom defining a media storage location for holding media to be fed by the media feed device;
- the front wall having a front portion having a first height, a rearwardly extending top portion, two side portions extending rearward from the front portion and downward from the top portion and a rear portion, the rear portion extending vertically from the bottom to a second height that is less than the first height, the front portion, the top portion, the two side portions and the rear portion defining a cavity in the front wall;
- a mount disposed on one of the side portions of the front wall;
- and
- a removable media dam structure removably mountable within the cavity in the front wall, the removable media dam comprising:
- a top panel;
- a rear panel;
- a media contact surface having a top edge and a bottom edge and having an opening therethrough;
- a pair of opposed side panels depending from the media contact surface, the top panel and the rear panel with the media contact surface extending between the side portions of the front wall with the top edge proximate the top panel and the bottom edge proximate the top of the back portion of the front wall wherein the pair of opposed side panels, the top panel, the rear panel and the media contact surface define a cavity in the removable media dam structure;
- a mount on one of the opposed side panels for removable engagement with the mount on one of the side portions of the front wall so that the media contact surface forms an obtuse angle with respect to the bottom of the tray when the removable media dam structure is mounted in the cavity in the front wall;
- a support positioned within the cavity in the removable media dam structure with the opening through the media contact surface positioned between the support and one side panel of the pair of opposed side panels;
- and
- a separator roll positioner pivotally mounted between the support and the one side panel, the separator roll positioner including a wheelset rotatably mounted therein and having an axis of rotation that is transverse to the two side walls of the media tray, the wheelset having an axle with a separator roll mounted thereon with an end of the axle being engageable with a drive source in the media feed device for axially rotating the wheel set and the separator roll being aligned with and moveable through the opening in the media contact surface;
- wherein pivoting the separator roll positioner angularly rotates the separator roll to and maintains the separator roll at one of a retracted position, one or more intermediate positions and an extended position with respect to the media contact surface where, when in the retracted position, a radial surface of the separator roll is at a first height with respect to the media contact surface, where, when in the extended position, the radial surface of the separator roll is at a second height with respect to the surface of the media contact surface that is greater than the first height and where, when in the one or more intermediate positions, the radial surface of the separator roll has respective heights that are greater than the first height and less than the second height.
11 more elements
A removable media input tray for a media feed device, comprising:
- a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls extending between the front and rear walls, the walls extending upwardly from the bottom, the walls and bottom defining a media storage location for holding media to be fed by the media feed device;
- the front wall having a front portion having a first height, a rearwardly extending top portion, two side portions extending rearward from the front portion and downward from the top portion and a rear portion, the rear portion extending vertically from the bottom to a second height that is less than the first height, the front portion, the top portion, the two side portions and the rear portion defining a cavity in the front wall;
- a mount disposed on one of the side portions of the front wall;
- and
- a removable media dam structure removably mountable within the cavity in the front wall, the removable media dam structure comprising:
- a top panel having a slot with an undersurface of the top panel having a plurality of spaced detents aligned along a length of the slot;
- a rear panel;
- a media contact surface having a top edge and a bottom edge and having an opening therethrough;
- a pair of opposed side panels depending from the media contact surface, the top panel and the rear panel, the media contact surface extending between the side portions of the front wall with the top edge proximate the top panel and the bottom edge proximate the top of the back portion of the front wall;
- the pair of opposed side panels, the top panel, the rear panel and the media contact surface defining a cavity in the removable media dam structure;
- a mount on one of the opposed side panels for removable engagement with the mount on one of the side portions of the front wall so that the media contact surface forms an obtuse angle with respect to the bottom of the tray when the removable media dam structure is mounted in the cavity in the front wall;
- a support positioned within the cavity in the removable media dam structure with the opening through the media contact surface positioned between the support and one side panel of the pair of opposed side panels;
- and
- a separator roll positioner pivotally mounted between the support and the one side panel, the separator roll positioner comprising:
- a bracket having a lever and a pair of arms depending from a support member, the pair of arms pivotally mounted to the support and the one side panel, and the lever having a catch thereon sized to be received in one of the plurality of detents and a tab on a distal end of the lever, the tab extending through the slot;
- and
- a wheel set including a separator roll mounted on an axle, the wheel set being rotatably mounted within the bracket between the pair of arms and having an axis of rotation that is transverse to the two side walls of the media tray with one end of the axle extending through one arm of the pair of arms that is adjacent to the one side panel and through an opening in the one side panel, the one end of the axle being engageable with a drive source in the media feed device for axially rotating the wheel set;
- wherein movement of the tab of the lever along the slot pivots the bracket angularly rotating the separator roll of the wheel set to between a retracted position, one or more intermediate positions and an extended position where, when in the retracted position, the radial surface of the separator roll is at a first height with respect to the media contact surface, where, when in the extended position, the radial surface of the separator roll is at a second height with respect to the surface of the media contact surface that is greater than the first height and where, when in the one or more intermediate positions, the radial surface of the separator roll has respective heights that are greater than the first height and less than the second height with one detent of the plurality of detents being positioned at each of the retracted, extended and one or more intermediate positions for engaging the catch to maintain the separator roll at a selected one of the retracted, extended and one or more intermediate positions.
15 more elements
A removable media dam structure for removable mounting in a cavity in a front wall of a media input tray for a media feed device, the front wall having a front portion having a height H1, a rearwardly extending top portion, two side portions extending rearward from the front portion and downward from the top portion and a back portion, the back portion extending vertically from the bottom to a height H2 that is less than the height H1 and a pair of opposed mounts on the side portions of the front wall, the removable media dam structure comprising:
- a top panel;
- a rear panel;
- a media contact surface having a top edge, a bottom edge, and opposed first and second side panels depending from the media contact surface, the media contact surface extending between the side portions of the front wall with the top edge proximate the top of the front portion of the front wall and the bottom edge proximate the top of the back portion wherein the opposed first and second side panels, the top panel, the rear panel and the media contact surface define a cavity in the removable media dam structure;
- a pair of mounts respectively mounted on the opposed first and second side panels for removable engagement with respective ones of the pair of opposed mounts on the side portions of the front wall so that the media contact surface forms an obtuse angle with respect to the bottom of the media input tray when the media dam structure is mounted in the cavity in the front wall;
- a support positioned within the cavity in the removable media dam structure with the opening through the media contact surface positioned between the support and one side panel of the pair of opposed side panels;
- and
- a separator roll positioner pivotally mounted between the support and the one side panel, the separator roll positioner including a wheelset rotatably mounted therein and having an axis of rotation that is transverse to the two side portions of the media tray, the wheelset having an axle with a separator roll mounted thereon with an end of the axle being engageable with a drive source in the media feed device for axially rotating the wheel set and the separator roll aligned with and moveable through the opening in the media contact surface;
- wherein pivoting the separator roll positioner angularly rotates the separator roll to and maintains the separator roll at one of a retracted position, one or more intermediate positions and an extended position with respect to the media contact surface where, when in the retracted position, a radial surface of the separator roll is at a first height with respect to the media contact surface, where, when in the extended position, the radial surface of the separator roll is at a second height with respect to the surface of the media contact surface that is greater than the first height and where, when in the one or more intermediate positions, the radial surface of the separator roll has respective heights that are greater than the first height and less than the second height.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.