CA1174501A - Sheet feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for automatically feeding sheet material such as fan fold paper to a photocopier in which the apparatus may be movable towards and away from the window of the photocopier either by disconnecting the apparatus completely from the photocopier by means of readily releasable clamps or by pivoting part of the apparatus away from the window of the photocopier whereby the apparatus may be used not only to photo-copy fan fold paper but used in a conventional manner to photocopy normal documents. Control signals to operate the apparatus are derived by a light sensitive means viewing the light source within the photocopier through the window of the photocopier.

Description

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- 2 -The present invention relates to sheet feeding apparatus.

The apparatus is particularly for use with a photocopier.
Photocopiers of conventional form will reproduce information from a single sheet. If more than one sheet is to be reproduced it is generally necessary for an operator to manually feed one sheet after another to the photocopier for reproduction. A particular problem arises in the use of continuous sheet material such as computer fan fold paper. This fan fold paper is widely used, and if it is desired to photoreproduce the information on the fan fold paper then it has to be ~ed by hand to the photocopier which is tedious and time consuming~ It is known, however, to provide photoc~piers with a device for feeding fan fold paper for reproduction but this has the disadvantage that ! if built into the photocopier, it increases the cost of the photocopier and if it is to be built into an existing photocopier as in US Patent Specification 4068946 the photocopier requires extensive modification, both to attach the apparatus and to provide appropriate signals to operate the apparatus. FuPthermore, persons having only a limited requirement for such a facility have to purchase or hire a photocopier with this facility built in at greater cost than a conventional photocopier despite their limited use for such a machine or hire or buy an accessory for existing photocopier which requires extensive modi~ication o~ the photocopier and is hence unnecessarily expensive. Furthermore in the US Specif-lcation 4068946 the apparatus ~or eeding ~an old paper which ma~ be an accessory seems to be solely intended to convert a conventional photocopier to a photocopier which may feed an ~old paper and there seems no provtsion for the easy removal of the paper feeding apparatus, either temporarily or ~or extensive periods whereby the ,, ,~ , .

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photocopier may also be used in its conventional mode to photoreproduce conventional documents - Thus once the accessory has been attached to the photocopier it is dedicated to the copying of fan fold paper.

It is therefore a first object of the present inv~ntion to provide an apparatus for automatically feeding sheet material to a photocopier for reproduction which can be removably connected to the photocopying apparatus.

It is a second object of the invention that the signals required to control the apparatus are provided from the photocopier by releasable means.
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It is a further object of the invention to provide apparatus ~or automatically feeding sheet material to a photocopier in such a manner that the apparatus may be readily adapted to allow the photocopier to be used to photocopy normal documents when not required to automatically feed sheet material.

The ~resent invention provides apparatus for automatic-ally feeding sheet material to a photocopier for reproduction comprising means for removably connectiny the apparatus to a photocopier, means for feeding the sheet material, said feeding means being adapted to feed said sheet material discontinuously so that whilst the sheet material is stationary it may be reproduced, and releasable means ~or receiving signals from the photo-copier for controlllng operation of the feeding means.

3 The releasable signal receivlng means may comprise a releasable connection such as a plug and socket connection for passing an elec-trical signal from some poin~ inside ~he photocopier to control the apparatus of the invention. This would be a simple solution to the problem of synchronising the photocopier and the apparatu~ but would, however, re~uire modification , 7~S~

of e~isting photocopiers. We therefore prefer to control operation of the apparatus by light sensi-tive means adapted for receiving light from the light source within the photocopier.

The apparatus is also adap-ted so that at least part of it may be readily moved away from the window of the photocopier whereby the photocopier may be utilised to photocopy conventional documents without the use of the apparatus.

The present invention also provides apparatus for automatically feeding sheet material to a photocopier for reproduction comprising means for feeding the sheet material, said feeding means being adapted to feed said sheet material discontinuously so that whilst the sheet material is stationary it can be reproduced, means for receiving signals from the photocopier for controlling operation of the feeding means, and means for connecting the apparatus to the photocopier whereby at least part of the apparatus is movable towards and away from a window of the photocopier, whereby when moved away from the window of the photocopier, the photocopier may be utilised in a conventional manner to photocopy other documents.

The apparatus of the in~ention therefore provides an apparatus which ma~ be add~d to an existing pho,tocopier ox ma~ be hired for a short period as desired and no 3~ ~tensi~e modi~ication of the photocopLer is required.
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Variable delay means may be provided for delaying the feed of said sheet material so that a particular portion of the sheet material may be reproduced a predetermined number of times. Thus the photocopier, which is operating continuously, will continue to reproduce the same portion of the sheet material for the ! number of times depending upon the time which that portion of sheet material is applied to the photocopier. This time may be varied to vary the number of traverses that the light source of the photocopier makes and the nu~ber of traverses may be counted by the light sensitive means to provide the desired number of copies.

Means may be provided to control the feed of sheet material between each stationary phase so as to move the sheet material forward by a predetermined distance if the sheet material is on separate sheets.

- A preferred arrangement of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
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Figure 1 is a general view from the rear and to one side of the apparatus of the invention when removably attached to a photocopier, Figure 2 is a side view from the right of the front part of the apparatus of the invention, .

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Ficure 3 is a front view o the part of the apparatus shown in Figure 2, Figures 4 to 6 are side views of respectively a roller, a trigger and a stripper plate of the apparatus, Figure 7 is a side view o~ a second embodim~nt of the apparatus according to the invention attached to a '10 photocopier, Figure 8 is a side ~iew of the control apparatus of the apparatus of Figure 7 with the side plate of the control box removed showing the mechanism inside, and, '' Figure 9 is a perspective view of the apparatus of --Figures 7 and 8.

' The apparatus is shown in general arrangement in Figure 1. As is clear from Figure 1 the apparatus is adapted~to rest over the t~op of a flat.bed photocopier 10 and is clamped thereto by means of clamps 11 which will be described later.

The apparatus includes two parallel rail members 12, 13 each comprisiny a horizontal porti.on 1~ a:nd a genexally vertical portion 16, 17. rrhe horizontal portions 1~, 15 extend horizontall~ across the top of the ~lat ~ed photocopier 10 on each side o -the opening o~ which material to be reproduced by the photocopier 10 should be laid. The open,ing'g~nerally ~orms a glass window. 'rhe,vertical portions 16, 17 o~ the rail members 12 and 13 extend downwardly parallel to the ront face of the photocopier 10.

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1~L'7~5 The horizontal portions 14, 15 are similar and each comprise two tubular members 18, 19, the tubular members 18 being towards the front of the apparatus a~d the tubular members 19 being towards the back of the apparatus and the tubular members 19 being of greater diameter than the tubular members 18 whereby the two tubular members 18, 19 telescope within one another.

Within the end of the tubular members 18 are mounted respective captive nuts (not shown) and extending through the tubular mem~ers 19 are respective threaded . rods (not shown) engaging a respective captive mlt, : the threaded rods carrying at their outer ends,.
~' 15 ~beyond the tubular members 19~ respective knurled knobs 20, 21. The knurled knobs are fixed to the threaded rods so that rotation of the knurled knobs 20, 21 will cause the tubular members 18, 19 to . .
telescope into one another to a variable degree. - - ~
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.The.clamps 11 comprise finger members Z2, 23, attached to respective tubular members 18 a~d mounted so as - to be downwardly d.epending so that, as shown in Figur~ 1, the finger members 22 abut against the ~ron~ ~ertical surface of the photacopier 10. The finger members 23 are attached to the rear end of the tubular members 19 and again a~e mounted so as to . .

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downwardly depend to grip the rear vertical surface of the photocopier 10.

The finger members 23 each include bearing means-24 , '5 and between whi'ch is rotatably mo~mted a rear roller ' 25.

As will be understood from Figures 1 to 3 there is arranged between the rail members 12, 13 ad'jacent ,~ 10 the front of the photocopier means 27 for 'eeding .
the sheet material forwardly from a tray 26 mounted on the rear of the photocopie~ 10 across the glass '~
window and to the front of the photocopier 10. : .
Feeding means 27 comprises four rollers 28~ 29, 30, 31 adapted so that the tangent rom their uppermo~t points is generally parallel with the top surface ' ~ .
of the photocopier 10 so that the sheet material 32 is fed a~ross the glass windo~.-. parallel to the upper surface of the photocopier 10.
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To prevent damage.to the operator~s eyes owing t~
the intense light emitted through the glass window from inside the photocopier 10 there is provided an opaque blanket 33 extending between the rail members 12, 13 ~nd between the fro~t and rear of the '. , photocopier 10, the ~:lanket 33 being mounted on ,' a spring loaded roller 34 mo~mted ~etween ~inger members 23. ' ' , At the front end of the rail mem'ber 13 there is mounted a 'box 35 comprising the means for driving .

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, and controlling the rotation o~lthe-plastics rolle~-s 28 to 31. - ,: l . ~
Referring to Figure 3, the rollers 28 to .
S 31 are all .mounted.on-a tube 36.
The rollers 28 to 31 are a sliding fit on the t~be 36 and may be slid therealong to space them as desired. The tube 36 has two end members 37, 38, - a driven axle 39 passing through the end members 37~ 38 and through the tube 36. The end members 37, 38 are rotata~le relative to the axle 39 which is rotatably mounted between two plates 40, 41, one attached to one rail member 12 and the other 38 attached to the other rail member 13. Mounted -- - 15 adjacent one end of the axle 39.is a pin 42 whic~ .
is pushed by means o~ a rotatable knob 43 into.
engagement with the end member 38 so as to cause the tube 36 to rotate with the axle 39. The axle .. 39 is driven by a pulley 44 mounted within the box 20 35.
:1 . . , The outer rollers 28, 29 are o~ larger d~ameter than the inner rollers 30, 31 and as will be clear rom Figures 2 and 4 e~ch of the rollers 28 and 29 ~5 includes extending outwardly from its circumferent- !, ial surface pins 4S spaced at predetermined intervals aro~rld the circl~n.Eerence (only three are shown in Figure 4). The outer di~meter o~ the outer ro:llers 28, 29 (but e~lucl-.Lng the pins 45) .

1 ~74~1 is the s~ne as the outer diameter of the rollers 30, 31.

The outer rollers 28, 29 each include a groov~ 46 in their circum~erential sur~aces. Stripper plates 47 (illustrated in Figures 3 and 6) are mounted by means of a semi-circular notch 48 on a cylindrical bar 49 which extends between rails 12, 13 parallel to the axle 39 and at a suita~le distance therefrom so that two fingers 50 o the stripper plate 47 extend into the groo~e 46.
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Within the box 35 is mounted means ~or driving the pulley 44 so as to draw the conti~uous sheet across the photocopier 10 in a discontinuous man~er.
The pulley 44 is driven by means o~ a belt 50 driven - in turn by a pulley 51 driven by means of gearing (~ot shown) and an electric motor 52. The pulley 44 includes two pins 53, 54 which project parallel to the axis of the pulley 44 and from its side.
Within the box 35 is mounted a solenoid 55, the plunger 56 of which abuts a pivotally mounted latch i -57 of nylon, the latch 57 includi~g a shoulder 58 cooperating with a trigger S9 of folded metal which is illustrated in more detail in Fi~ure 5.
Th~ t~igger 59 incl-ldes a ~i~st shoulder 60 and a second s~oulder 61 and is pivo~ally rnounted by rnearls oE a pivot 62. A spring 63 ur~es ~he trigger S9 in an anticlockwise direction in Figure 2.

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The trigger 5~ also includes a back surface 64 which abuts a microswitch 65.

The exact relative disposition of the parts is illustrated clearly in Figure 2.
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Also mounted withi.n the box 31 is an electronic counter 66 including (not shown) means by which a number of counts may be preset on a suitable indexing means.
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: Light sensor means 67 in the form of.a photocell is . mount~d in the box 35 and light is passed thereto : - by light guide means 68 mo-unted on rail 12 from -: - 15 a position adjacent the glass window and a hole ~. . . ~
. 69 is provided in the blanket 33 through which the light sensor 67 ma~ view the top surface of the sheet material over the glass window.
'. : ,. ' ~: ' . ' : . 20 The apparatus may also include, extending betwee~
the rail members 12, 13 a~ the end opposite the box ` . 35 a further roller including a mask which may be pulled across the top of the photocopier to mask around the glass window.
:~5 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' The present appara~us is used as follows. .I

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_ 12 -Whilsk the apparatus is being set up the blanket 33 is retracted on its roller 34 as is the mask.
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The apparatus.is laid.over 'the photocopier so that ., the rail members:l2,:13.each''extend from ~ront to rear o the photocopier 10 as shown in Figure 1, the ~ertical portions 16, 17 of the rail members passing down the'front of the photocopierO The horizontal portions 14, 15 of the rail members 12, 13 extend horizontally parallel to the top sur~ace of the photocopier and the apparatus is,then connected releasably to the photocopier as follows.
- , The fro~t finger mem~ers 22 are arranged so as to ,~ 15 be adjacent the front vertical sur~ace of the ~~' , , photocopier 10~ and the rear finger members.23 are , . , arranged to be behind and adjacent the rear vertical surface of the photocopier 10. The knobs 20, 21 are then rotated so as to rotate the threaded rod which will pull the tubular members 18 into the tubular members 19 and thereby pull the finger mem~ers 22, . 23 together until they engage the front and rear , vertical surfaces of the photocopier and clamp the photocopier. The apparatus is thereby remova~ly clamped'to the photocopier.
1, l~e rails 12, 13 are spaced from the top sur~ace of ,l the phokocopler ~y means o shoulders 7~ on the ~inger members 22, 23..

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S ~7~5 The mask is pulled across the top of the photocopier and is aligned as desired with the glass window.
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If fan fold paper is to be copied then the pile of S fan fold paper is situated on the tray 26 ~ehind the photocopier and the leading edge of the an fold paper is passed over the top surface of'the, ' photocopier and across the glass window. Pin holes-extend down each s;de of the fan fold paper and the 10 leading pin holes are engaged with whichever of the ,~
- '' roller pairs 28, 29 or,30, 31 are suitable.

The blan~et 33 is then pulled across so as to cover - , the fan old paper over the glass window. This ~, lS prevents light passing from the photocopier into ' the operator's eyes which is unpleasant and undesirable. As previously indicated, the light sensor 67,when the blanket 33 is in this position~
views through a hole 69 in the blanket the top 20 surface of the fan fold paper a~ove the glass windowO
The light source is sufficiently strong that light passes through the sheet to be recorded ky the light ', , , sensor 67.

2S The counter 6G is set to the desired number of reproductio~s o~ each part of the fan fold paper~
Let u~ a~s~ that th~s courlter is eet ~t number 3.

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( The photocopyier is then switcht?d to : : :
its continuous:'. reproduction mode a~d operation commences. The photocopier will reproduce the part . o~ the fan fold paper over the glass window three times and as i9 conventional the photocopier includes - a powerful light sour~e which moves or the ~ight from which is scanned across the g~ass sheét and hence across the fan fold paperj and this lîght input is sensed b~ the light sensor 67. Each time the light 10 sensor 67 senses the light frorn the photocopier it passes a signal to the counter 66 and once the counter 66 has counted three such signals which wlll corre~pond to ~he ~hotocopier having reproduced the part of the . fan fold paper over the window three times, it passes ~ 15 a signal to.the solenoid 55. Energisation of the .-~~ . solenoid 55.causes the latch 57 to be lifted which in turn releases the trigger 59 which may then be retracted by means of the spring 63 anticl~ckwise in Figure 2. .This releases the pulley 44 and operates ZO the microswitch 65 which ca~ses the motor 52 to be switched on to rotate the pulley 44 through the belt . : SO and pulley 51. ~ .

The pu-lley 44 continues to rotate ~or almost a complete ~ur~. ~y this time ~he solenoid 55 is no longer enexgised and the latch 57 is urged downwardly in F.lgure 2~bu~ is prevented from downward movqment by kha trigger S9. As the second pin 54 passes the ,, ::

7 ~ ~0 second shoulder 61 of the trigger S9 it rotates the trigger 59 back to the position shown in Figure 2 there~y resetting the latch 57 and the trigger 59 in the position shown in Figure 2 so that when the S first pin 53 completes a rotaticn it engages once again with the first shoulder 60 of the trigger 59.
The latch and trigger and pull.ey ha~e then returned to their original posit;ons bu~ the pulley has rotated by 360.
- The diameter of the rollers 28, 29 are arranged that . one rotation.in this way is sufficient for the rollers .- . 28, 29 to pull ~ means of the pins 42 the ~an folcl paper by one complete window length so that a second 15 sheet length contigous.with the sheet length just . ~
- : - photocopied then o~erlays the window ready to be photocopied by the photocopier. Furthermore, it is arranged that this movement takes place in less than the time between successive p~otocopying actions ~
the photocopier so that by the time the photocopier .
is ready to photocopy a fourth time the second sheet length has been presented to the glass window. The action ca~l then be repeated and e~entually three copies of the complete fan ~old paper may be ~5 photoreproduced.
. ; ~ ' ,i Xn some circt~stances there are other acljustments to be macle to the apparatus. For ~xample in ma~y cases , ,,, , :

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the point along the ~an ~old paper sheet at whichone wishes to begin photocopying will not exactly . align with the glass window and this means that the rollers 28, 29 must be rotated rel~tive to the axle 39 and-as d.escribed above this is done by releasing the ~ube.36 ~rom the axle 39 and rotating the tu~e 36 . .relative tc the axle 39 until the fa~ fold paper is .
: . aligned as desired with.the glass~ window.

10 .As shown in Figure 2 the stripping plates ensure that .
the fan fold.paper as ~t is ~ed by the rollers 2~, 29 i-s:released to.drop..to the~ront oE the photocopier.
' After use, the apparatus may be released and li~ted.
,. . ~15 from the photocopier so that the photocopier may be :xeturned to its normal use.
, . ', . . ' , . ' ' ' The facility cE readily removin~ the apparatus from .the photocopier makes the photocopier more flexible tha~ would otherwise be so and allows a person or .. compan~ owning a photocopier to utilise the apparatus :to allow them to reproduce fan fold paper without the ;necessity of ~uying a photocopier speci:Eically adapted for the purpose at a considera~le saving in cost.
Although we h~e descri~ed the apparatus for use with fan fold paper, any continuous she.et material may be reprocluced in this way by similar apparatus.

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If simple rolls of sheet material are to be reproduced without or example pin holes along each side then the rollers 28, 29 need not carry pins.

As the photocopier has been set to its continuous - ~ operation mode it will continue to operate even when the fan fold paper has been completely fed through the apparatus. Under those circumstances, means may be provided for sensing when the fan fold pa~er has been completely fed through the apparatus and, if the photocopier is connected to the electrical mains through a suitable switching connection, the photocopier may be switched off.

Also guide roller means may be provided above the roliers - 28 to 31 to guide the fan fold paper to the rollers 28 to 31.

In a simplified arrangement of the apparatus in which only a single copy of the fan fold paper will be sufficient, the counter 66 can be disposed with. In its place is provided apparatus which detects the light from the photocopier light source. In the case of strobe light source, the detector simply detects the flash of light or in the case of a scanning light source, the light detector detects when the scanning light source passes a particular paint, generally at the end of the scan. The light detector passes an electrical signal to the solenoid 5S to initiate movement o~ the ~an ~old paper ~n accordance with the above described detected light signal. Since the photocopier li~ht source is onl~ flashed once per photocopying action ~in the case o ~ strobe light sourae) or makes a one scan per reproduction, no ; 35 counting is re~uired.

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1~ S~l A second exaple of apparatus according to the invention will now be described with reference to Figures 7, 8 and 9.

The general arrangement of the apparatus is broadly similar to that of the arrangement of Figures 1 to 6.
Similar parts have been given the same reference numbers and will not be described in detail.

As befnre the apparatus is adapted to rest on the top of a flat bed photocopier 10. In the present instance instead of stretching from front to rear of the photocopier the apparatus is adapted to be connected to - points on the top and/or back and~or sides and/or front of the photocopier as is suitable. In the example shown in Figure 7, the photocopier in - ~ question includes two bores ilO into which slips pins 111 mounted on the apparatus and the apparatus is further supported by means of a plate 112 which may be readily mounted to the rear of the photocopier by means of screws already provided. The plate 112 includes a hook which may engage with a suitably formed strut 113 of the apparatus.
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Referring to Figure 9 the general arrangement of the apparatus includes two side plates 114 mounted to the strut 113 and adapted to carry between them the tube 36 and pin rollers 28 to 31 of a similar type to those in Figure 3.

The side plates 114 carry means to engage the pins 11~ .

Pivotally mounted to the front end of the side plates 114 by means of pivot pin 115 is;a platen 116 adapted so as to cover the window of the photocopier and including means whereby to mount the pile 119 of fan ~old paper thereon. The platen 116 is spaced by means of dimples 117 from the window of the photocopier.
The front edge 118 of the platen includes an upstanding lip over which fan fold paper may be fed from the pile ll9 under the platen 116 across the window of the phobocopier.
An apron L21 is provided between the side plates 114 over which the paper may pass from under the rear edge of the platen up to the rollers 28, 29, the apron 121 including mounted therebelow a microswitch 122 operated by a wire arm 123 passing upwardly through a ;hole in the apxon 121, so that as fan fold paper passes over the apxon 121, the wire arm 123 is depressed. This is aided by the weight o~ a drag link 12~ bearing on the top surface of the paper.
Further there are provlded brushes 126 mounted on arms 127 which engage the upper ~ur~ace o~ the paper and urge the paper inko engagement with the pins on the rollers 28 to 31. Two brushes 126 are provided, one ~or each roller ln use.

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- Mounted to one side of one of the side plates 114 is a control box 128 the interior of which is illustrated in more detail in Figure 8.

In general terms, the apparatus in Figure 8 is similar to that in Figure 2 except that the motor drives the tube 36 through a ~riction clutch ~not shown in detail) which is mounted between the motor and the part of the apparatus now to be described.
Connected to rotate with the tube 26 is a plate . carrying a pin 132 corresponding to pin 54 of ~igure 2 and a cut away edge 133. The remaining parts to be . . describea carry the same reference numerals as ~15 corresponding parts in Figure 2. There is provided a solenoid 55, the plunger 56 which abuts a pivotally mounted latch 57, the latch 57 including a pin 58 :~. . cooperating with a shoulder 130 of trigger 59. The trigger 59 includes a finger 134 and a finger 135 and is pivotally mounted by means of a pivot 62. A
spring 63 urges the trigger 59 in an anti-clockwise direction. The latch 57 also includes a back surface 64 which abuts the arm o a microswitch 65. The exact configuration of the parts is illustrated in Figure 8, 2.5 : . :
Mounted within the box is the electronic counter 66 The apparatus o~ the axrangement o~ Figures 7 to 9 i~ operated as ~ollows. A stack of fan fold paper is mounted on the platen 116 and the leading edge o~ the an fold paper is passed over the ~ront edge 118, under .the platen across the window of the photocopier, over the top o~ the apron 121 thereby depressing the wire arm 123 of tbe mLcroswitch, into engagement ov~r .

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the top of rollers on the tube 36, and do~ to form a pile on the rear tray 26.

As the fan ~old paper passes up to engage with the rollers it is urged into engagement with the pins on the rollers by means oE the brushes 128.

As before, the light senso~ views via li~ht lead 68 and through a hole in the platen the top surface of the fan fold paper above the glass window. The light source is su~ficiently strong to be recorded by the light - sensor through the fan fold paper.
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The counter is set for the required number of reprod-uctio~s and operates in the manner described with regard to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 6.

When the counter 65 senas a signal to the solenoid 55 the solenoid lifts the latch 57 so that the pin 58 is disengaged from the adjacent shoulder 130 of the trigger 59 and the trigger 59 is then urged in an anti-cloc~wise direçtion by the spring 63. ~his dis-engages the finger 134 from the edge 133 thereby allowing the tube 36 to rotate. At the same time the lifting of the latch 57 activates the microswitch 65 which switches on the motor to cause the motor to drive the tube 36 one complete revolution. Towards the end o~ the complete revolution in the anti-clockwise direction the pin 132 enyages the back of finger 135, which thereby urges the trigger 59 in a clockwise direction. The shoulder 130 then lifts the latch 57 ancl the pin 58 of the latch 57 reeny~ges with the shou].der 130. This switches off the microswitch 65 whi.ch thereby de-eneryises the motor. The tube 36 comes to rest in a position in which the edge 113 abuts the finger 134 and the motor is allowed to continue overrunning through the action of the friction clutch.

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The provision of the friction clutch prevents the instantaneous stopping of the motor and damage thereto.
Reverse rotation of the tube 36 is prevented by engagement of the pin 132 and ~inger 135.
As with the embodiment of Figures 1 to 6 ! the counter may be replaced by electronic apparatus which detects the light source o~ce per photocopying action and produces a pulse to operate the solenoid 55.
In this case only a single photocopy is taken of each portion of the fan fold paper.

Because the tube 36 is rotated by exactly 360 each rotation as is determîned by engagement of the edge ; 15 133 with the finger 134 the fan fold paper is advanced by an exactly accurate amount each rotatlon.

When the fan fold paper has finished and no paper is passing over the wire arm 123 of the microswitch 122 then the wire arm 123 will lift changing the switch 122 thereby producing a signal. This signal, can be used to operate an alarm or, if coupled to the photocopier can be used to switch of~ the photocopier.

By virtue of the pivotal arrangement of the platen with respect to the remainder of the apparatus it is possible to retain the apparatus on the photocopier and to use ~he platen 116 in place o~ the conventional platen on the photocopier. Thus conventional photocop-ying may be produced between operation o~ the apparatus.

The other parts o~ the apparatus nok specl~icallydescribed with reference t.o the emhodlment o~ Flgures 7 to 9 may be readily understood with re~erence to the embodiment shown ln Figures 1 to 6.
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As with the previous embodiments, the apparatus may be simply removed from the photocopier 10 by lifting thereby disengaging the pins 111 from the bores 110 and the strut 113 from the plate 112. If the microswitch 122 is connected to the photocopier, it may be through a releasable plug and socket.

The apparatus may also include a manual reset button to zero the counter 66 in the case of problems, for example, if the paper feed to the photocopier jams.

There may also be provided a manual button to override the counter which on pressing will feed the fan fold paper and which may be used during the setting up operation to assist in ~eeding the fan fold paper through the apparatus before photocopying commences.

In-the apparatus in which no counter is provided, there may be provided a manual override button which when set allow5 the fan fold paper to be moved forward one sheet at a time rather than the automatic operation described.

It will be understood,that in all versions described, by simply releasing the tube 36 and replacin~ the rollers with dif~erent diameter rollers, the ~an Eold paper may be moved forwardly by a diEfering amount so that dlf~er-en~ dep~h Ean fold paper may be dealt wlth. This ls because the tubea~tates by one complete revolution per Eeed oE the paper/by varying the diameter the llnear length o~ ~an fold paper Eed per xevolution is varied.

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In place of the wire arm 123 and microswitch 122 there may be provided a light reflective system. For example a light source may be provided below the apron which directs light upwardly and a detector is also provided S under the apron which detects light reflected from the fan fold paper. When the fan fold paper has finished the light beam will not be reflected to the light detector and this will switch off the apparatus.

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Claims (16)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Apparatus for automatically feeding sheet material to a photocopier for reproduction comprising means for removably connecting the apparatus to a photocopier, means for feeding the sheet material, said feeding means being adapted to feed said sheet material discontinuously so that whilst the sheet material is stationary it may be reproduced and signal receiving means for receiving signals from the photocopier for controlling operation of the feeding means, said signal receiving means comprising a light sensitive means adapted to receive light from a light source within the photocopier.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising means by which at least part of the apparatus may be readily moved away from a window of the photocopier whereby the photocopier may be utilized to photocopy conventional documents without the use of the apparatus.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said means to move at least part of the apparatus away from the window comprises releasable clamp means whereby the apparatus may be removed from the photocopier.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the means to move at least part of the apparatus away from the window comprises pivot means whereby the part of the apparatus overlying the window can be pivoted away from the window.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the part of the apparatus overlying the window comprises a platen pivotally attached to the remainder of the apparatus, the platen including on its top surface means for mounting a supply of the sheet material.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for feeding the sheet material comprises tooth rollers which are driven so as to rotate by one complete revolution and then stop.

7. Apparatus for automatically feeding sheet material to a photocopier for reproduction comprising means for removably connecting the apparatus to a photocopier, means for feeding the sheet material, said feeding means comprising tooth rollers which are driven so as to rotate by one complete revolution and then stop whereby to feed said sheet material discontinuously so that whilst the sheet material is stationary it may be reproduced, and signal receiving means for receiving signals from the photocopier for controlling operation of the feeding means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising delay means for delaying the feed of the sheet material so that a particular portion of the sheet material may be reproduced a predetermined number of times

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which the delay means is controlled by a counter.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the signal receiving means comprises a light sensitive means adapted to receive light from a light source within the photocopier and in which the means to feed the sheet material includes control means to feed the sheet material only when the light sensitive means receives light from the light source within the photocopier.

11. Apparatus for automatically feeding sheet material comprising means for feeding sheet material discontinuously so that whilst the sheet material is stationary it can be reproduced, means for receiving signals from a photocopier comprising a light sensitive means adapted to receive light from a light source within the photocopier to control operation of the feeding means and means for connecting the apparatus to the photocopier whereby at least part of the apparatus is movable towards and away from a window of the photocopier, whereby when moved away from the window of the photocopier, the photocopier may be utilized in a conventional manner to photocopy other documents

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the means to move at least part of the apparatus away from the window comprises pivot means whereby the part of the apparatus overlying the window can be pivoted away from the window.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 in which the part of the apparatus overlying the window comprises a platen pivotally attached to the remainder of the apparatus, the platen including on its top surface means for mounting a supply of the sheet material.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the means to feed the sheet material includes control means to feed the sheet material only when the light sensitive means receives light from the light source within the photocopier.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 comprising delay means for delaying the feed of the sheet material so that a particular portion of the sheet material may be reproduced a predetermined number of times.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 in which the delay means is controlled by a counter.