METHOD OF DETECTING OVERLAPPING SHEETS WITHIN A PAPER FEED MECHANISM, A DETECTOR FOR DETECTING OVERLAPPING SHEETS, A FEED MECHANISM INCLUDING SUCH A DETECTOR AND AN APPARATUS INCLUDING SUCH A DETECTOR
First Claim
1. A paper feed detector to detect when a plurality of overlapping sheets of paper occur in a transport path intended to transport paper to a first region, the paper feed detector comprising:
- a) a light source and image forming arrangement adapted to form an image having a spatially varying intensity; and
b) an image detector;
wherein an optical path from the light source to the image detector passes through the transport path, and the image detector is adapted to assess degradation of the image to make an assessment of the number of sheets within the transport path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A paper feed detector is disclosed for detecting when a plurality of overlapping sheets of paper occur in a transport path intended to transport paper to a first region. The paper feed detector includes a light source and an image forming arrangement adapted to form an image having a spatially varying intensity; and an image detector. An optical path from the light source to the image detector passes through the transport path. The image detector is adapted to assess degradation of the image to make an assessment of the number of sheets within the transport path.
7 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A paper feed detector to detect when a plurality of overlapping sheets of paper occur in a transport path intended to transport paper to a first region, the paper feed detector comprising:
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a) a light source and image forming arrangement adapted to form an image having a spatially varying intensity; and
b) an image detector;
wherein an optical path from the light source to the image detector passes through the transport path, and the image detector is adapted to assess degradation of the image to make an assessment of the number of sheets within the transport path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of monitoring transport of sheets of paper within a paper transport path arranged to feed paper to a first region, the method comprising:
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a) forming a test image having at least one distinguishable feature therein; and
b) detecting the test image with an image detector so as to identify the at least one distinguishable feature therein;
wherein, in use, paper within the paper transport path is introduced into an optical path conveying the test image to the image detector and the image detector is arranged to estimate a change in the at least one distinguishable feature and as a function of that change determine a number of sheets of paper in the optical path. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification