DOCUMENT FEEDER WITH PIVOTING DELIVERY TABLE, PARTICULARLY FOR DIGITAL PRINTERS
First Claim
1. In combination,a printer havinga top-feed roller accessible from outside the printer anda feed table positioned to hold a stack of sheets to be fed into the top-feed roller, anda feeder assembly comprisinga bottom-feed sheet feeder physically and electrically separate from the printer, anda delivery table positioned to receive sheets from the sheet feeder and deliver the sheets one at a time to the top-feed roller, the delivery table being pivotably mounted relative to the printer, to allow a free end of the delivery table to move vertically with respect to the top-feed roller, the delivery table being positioned on the feed table.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sheet feeder assembly (1) includes a bottom-feed sheet feeder (3) and a delivery table (5) positioned to receive sheets from the sheet feeder and deliver the sheets one at a time to a top-feed mechanism (205) designed to feed the top sheet of a stack of sheets in a manual feed tray of a printer (7) or the like. The top-feed mechanism includes a lifting support (204) for a stack of sheets. An exit end of the delivery table rests on and moves with the lifting support and delivers sheets one at a time to the top-feed mechanism. A balance mechanism (75) reduces the effective weight of the delivery table.
14 Citations
18 Claims
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1. In combination,
a printer having a top-feed roller accessible from outside the printer and a feed table positioned to hold a stack of sheets to be fed into the top-feed roller, and a feeder assembly comprising a bottom-feed sheet feeder physically and electrically separate from the printer, and a delivery table positioned to receive sheets from the sheet feeder and deliver the sheets one at a time to the top-feed roller, the delivery table being pivotably mounted relative to the printer, to allow a free end of the delivery table to move vertically with respect to the top-feed roller, the delivery table being positioned on the feed table.
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3. (canceled)
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9. In combination,
a device having a top-feed mechanism accessible from outside the device, the top-feed mechanism including a vertically moveable support adapted to hold a stack of sheets and structure that repeatedly delivers the top sheet from the stack into the device, and a feeder assembly comprising a bottom-feed sheet feeder physically and electrically separate from the device, and a delivery table positioned to receive sheets from the sheet feeder and deliver the sheets one at a time to the top-feed mechanism, an exit end of the delivery table being supported by the vertically moveable support and positioned vertically by the vertically moveable support during operation.
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10. A sheet feeder assembly adapted to feed sheets to a device having a top-feed mechanism which pulls a top sheet from a stack of sheets, the sheet feeder assembly comprising
a sheet feeder having a stack hopper adapted to hold a stack of sheets, and feed belts positioned to advance a bottom-most sheet from said stack, and a delivery table positioned to receive sheets from the feed belts at a rearward end of the table and to deliver the sheets to a forward end of the table, the rearward end of the delivery table being pivotably attached to the sheet feeder and being capable of being pivoted at least ten degrees in a vertical direction while the sheet feeder assembly is in operation.
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12. (canceled)
- 13. A method of feeding sheets to a device that includes a pulling mechanism which pulls a top sheet from a stack of sheets, a support for the stack of sheets and a sensor which detects the presence of at least one sheet, the method comprising placing a sheet delivery table on the support to simulate a stack of sheets, and thereafter feeding sheets one at a time to the sheet delivery table from a bottom-feeding, top-loading sheet feeder.
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18. A sheet feeder assembly adapted to feed sheets to a device having a top-feed mechanism which pulls a top sheet from a stack of sheets, the sheet feeder assembly comprising
a sheet feeder having a stack hopper adapted to hold a stack of sheets, and feed belts positioned to advance a bottom-most sheet from said stack, and a delivery table positioned to receive sheets from the feed belts at a rearward end of the table and to deliver the sheets to a forward end of the table, a rearward end of the delivery table being pivotably attached to the sheet feeder, and a balance mechanism which reduces the effective weight of a forward end of the delivery table.
Specification