MXPA97004021A - Special material feeding guide and leaf feed device used by the mi - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a replaceable material guide for use with a sheet feeding mechanism. The material guide includes a support plate, an edge guide projecting substantially straight angles from the support plate, and a first sheet drag friction bearing engaged with the support plate. The guide is designed so that the first friction bearing faces a friction roller of a sheet feeding mechanism when the guide is mounted on the sheet feeding mechanism. A sheet feeding apparatus is also provided in which the material guide is inserted into the blade feeding mechanism.

Description

SPECIAL MATERIAL FEEDING GUIDE AND LEAF FEED DEVICE THAT USES THE SAME FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to a sheet feeding apparatus and, more particularly, to a guide of material installable by the customer for use with a sheet feeding mechanism that allows customers to accommodate the mechanism of sheet feeding for different types of materials such as transparencies, postcards, thank-you cards and paper that has a high coefficient of friction. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE The sheet feeding mechanisms employed in printers, copiers and the like must be able to feed a wide variety of materials having different characteristics such as stiffness, thickness and coefficient of friction. Due to the wide variety of physical characteristics most sheet feeding mechanisms can not successfully feed all different types of materials. A typical sheet feeding mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,348,283. This sheet feed mechanism includes rollers 1, 1 'mounted rotatably on a roller shaft 2, a spring loaded pressure plate 4, a separating claw 5 and friction bearings 23. The separating claw 5 is normally constructed to separate the material within a narrow range of thickness and stiffness. The friction bearings 23 are made of material having a relatively high coefficient of friction, such as artificial skin and are installed in confronting relation to the sheet supply rollers 1,1 'to reduce double feeding of sheets. Typically, the rollers 23 are made of a material having a coefficient of friction against the material that is only slightly greater than the coefficient of friction between the sheets of the material. In this way, this friction material is selected because it has a coefficient of friction a little greater than that of the standard pulp. Although the friction material having a suitable coefficient of friction for a wide range of materials can be selected, in order to compensate the material having different coefficients of friction out of range, the device must be reconfigured internally with different springs, spring fittings, and the similar. In addition, no action is taken to handle the material that has different stiffness and thickness. According to the above, there is a need for a device installable by the customer which can adapt a sheet feeding mechanism that is capable of handling a wide variety of different materials having varying thickness, texture and friction coefficients. OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus that solves the above mentioned problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus having a replaceable friction bearing which is simple in construction, effective in use and inexpensive to manufacture. Another object of the present invention is to provide a replaceable friction bearing that can be used with a sheet feeding mechanism that is also simple in construction, effective in use and inexpensive to manufacture. These and other objects are achieved by providing a replaceable material guide for use with the sheet feeding mechanism. The material guide includes a support plate, an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from the support plate, and a first sheet drag friction bearing, engaged with the support plate. The guide is designed so that the first friction bearing faces a friction roller of a sheet feeding mechanism when the guide is mounted on the sheet feeding mechanism. A sheet feeding apparatus is also provided in which the material guide is inserted into the sheet feeding mechanism. These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description. Exemplary embodiments of the invention are provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an exploded view according to a first embodiment of the present invention illustrating a first material guide and associated sheet feeding mechanism.; Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the material guide inserted in the sheet feeding mechanism; Figure 3 is a bottom-up view of the material guide shown in Figures 1 and 2; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention illustrating a second material guide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 3, a material guide 10 is shown which is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. A conventional sheet feeding mechanism is generally indicated at 12. For convenience, the material guide 10 and the sheet feeding mechanism 12 will be described in relation to the orientation shown in Figures 1 and 2, and accordingly, the terms such as "above", "to the left", and "bottom", etc., as used herein are constructed in the relative sense. Although the particular sheet feeder and / or guide device disclosed herein may be applicable to a wide variety of paper feeding situations, exemplary embodiments disclose the use of a material guide as part of a paper feeding mechanism. sheets for a printer such as an inkjet printer or a laser printer. As shown in Figures 1-3, the material guide 10 includes a support plate 20, an edge guide 22, an interchangeable friction bearing 24, and an integral rearward projection member 28 for its clutch with the mechanism sheet feed 12. The support plate 20, the edge guide 22, and the projection member 28 can be formed integrally from a thermoplastic material. The support plate 20 has a straight right edge 30, a straight front edge 32, a left edge configured in an arched manner 34 and a straight back edge 36. The support plate 20 has an upper surface 38 and a rear surface 40. Edge guide 22 extends upwardly from top surface 38 and has a straight side 42 coextensive with a straight edge portion 30 and a left side 44 which is parallel to straight edge 30. Edge guide 22 also has an amplitude W. Extending backward from the trailing edge 36 and forming a portion of the backward projection member 28 is a backward projection portion 46 integral with and extending downwardly therefrom. a downward projecting portion 48. As shown in Figure 3, extending backward from the rear surface 40 are the projection tabs provided by rear 52, 54. The interchangeable friction bearing 24 is approximately square and is mounted on the support plate 20 close to the front edge 32 and near the left edge 34 as shown in figure 1 within a recess 50. The bearing Friction 24 is mounted on the support plate 20 by any suitable means such as an adhesive, a locking tab or the like. It should be understood that any suitable means which allows the friction bearing 24 to be securely mounted on the support plate 20 during use but which allows the bearing 24 to be easily changed or replaced would be useful in this invention. This allows the user, with a single material guide and a variety of friction bearings 24, to cover a wide range of materials. The coefficient of friction of the bearing 24 can be equal to, or different from, the coefficient of friction of the surface 38 of the support plate 20. Preferably, the coefficient of friction of the bearing 24 is in a range of about 0.2 to about 1.6, and more preferably, greater than about 0.8. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the sheet feeding mechanism 12 includes a thermoplastic pressure plate 60, friction bearings 62, 64 mounted to the pressure plate 60, the rollers 66, 68 mounted in opposite relation to the friction bearings 62, 64 respectively, a sheet separation device 70 such as an angular shield, a friction separator or the like, a fixed side guide member 72, a movable side guide member 74, heavy material carriers 76, and a heavy material guide 78. The pressure plate 60 is deflected in ascending manner by springs (not shown) to maintain the friction bearings 62, 64 in offset relationship with the rollers 66, 68 , respectively. The fixed side guide member 72, the heavy material carriers 76, and the movable side guide member 74 are installed on the sheet feeder mechanism 12 to accommodate sheets of paper of various widths. The movable side guide member 74 is adjustable in relation to the fixed side guide member 72 by moving the movable side guide member 74. The pressure plate 60, adjacent the heavy material carriers 76, is pivotably downwardly of such a position. so that the paper sheets can be fed between the pressure plate 60 and the rollers 66, 68. As shown in Figure 1, a sheet supply roller shaft 82 extends between the fixed side guide member 72 and a left fixed actuator member 84. The roller shaft 82 is connected to an actuator mechanism (not shown) so that the driving force from the feed rollers 66, 68 is transmitted to the uppermost blade directly in contact with the and mounted between the rollers 66, 68 and the pressure plate 60. When the roller shaft 82 and the rollers 66, 68 are rotated by one or more revolutions, only the uppermost sheet is separated from the other sheets. r means of the sheet separation device 70, such as an angular shield, a friction separator or the like and is fed to the heavy material support 76. The separation device 70 is installed only in a corner of the device between the member fixed right side guide 72 and the heavy material holder 76. The heavy material guide 78 is pivotably mounted to the support plate 60 and is movable from an inoperative, generally horizontal, position. (shown in Figure 1) to a vertical operative position (not shown). The guide 78, in the vertical operative position, extends parallel to the right fixed guide member 72. The guide 78 is located at a fixed distance from the right fixed side guide member 72 so that the separation device 70 does not clutch when the paper is fed by the rollers 66, 68. The guide 78 is used when feeding coarse or rigid material that would not be efficiently separated by the separation device 70, and such coarse or rigid material is effectively separated by the heavy material support 76. The friction bearings 62, 64 typically made of a material such as cork having a relatively large coefficient of friction, such as about 0.8, and installed on the pressure plate 60 in opposite relation to rollers 66, 68 to reduce double sheet feeding. As shown in Figure 2, the material guide 10 is inserted between the roller 68 and the pressure plate 60 in such a way that the interchangeable friction bearing 24 is directly above the friction bearing 64. Preferably, the bearing friction 24 has a coefficient of friction different from the coefficient of friction of the friction bearing 64. The heavy material guide 78 is placed in the inoperative horizontal position before the material guide 10 is inserted. The material guide 10 engages a rear portion of the sheet feed mechanism 12 by means of a rearwardly projecting member 28. The rearwardly projecting tabs 52, 54 engage a slot 86 that is formed in the heavy material guide 78. The type of bearing of friction 24 mounted on the material guide 10 depends on the type of material to be fed. The different materials that can be used for the friction bearing 24 include thermoplastic elastomers, corks, plastics, sponge materials, and cottons, among others. In this way, the sheet feeding mechanism 12 can be accommodated to feed many types of materials such as thank-you cards which frequently texturized and therefore have a relatively high coefficient of friction comp to the standard pulp. This first embodiment of the sheet feeding apparatus including the material guide is particularly useful with relatively narrow material that only extends through a friction bearing 64 when one side of the material is placed against the fixed side guide member 72. This is because the roller 66 will not engage the friction bearing 62 when the material guide 10 is inserted between the roller 68 and the pressure plate 60 because the roller 66 is separated from the friction bearing 62. Referring now to Fig. 4, a second embodiment of a material guide 100 is shown. This embodiment is particularly useful for material having an amplitude that would extend through both friction bearings 62, 64 shown in Fig. 1. Having two bearings of friction 124 in clutch so that the material is fed prevents twisting. If only one friction bearing 24 is engaged with a relatively large blade, the blade could be twisted while feeding. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in which a second interchangeable friction bearing 124 is mounted on the material guide 100. From the above detailed description, it should be appt that a guide of replaceable material has been described which can allow the Sheet feeding mechanisms handle many different types of material without requiring any alteration to the sheet feeding mechanism. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the friction bearings associated with the material guides 10 and 100 may be formed integral with the respective guide, such as, for example, by selecting a material for material guidance having the desired frictional characteristics., or when machining a surface of the material guide. Although this invention has been described using the presently preferred exemplary embodiments, it is understood that many modifications can be made to the invention without departing from its spirit or scope. According to the foregoing, the invention is not limited by the foregoing description and drawings, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (31)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the present invention, it is considered as a novelty and therefore the property described in the following claims is claimed as property. A material guide for use with a sheet feeding mechanism, comprising: a support plate; an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from said support plate; a first sheet drag friction bearing engaged with said support plate; and a clutch mechanism for mounting said material guide in the sheet feeding mechanism. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises clutch means for releasably mounting said first bearing on said support plate. 3. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a second sheet drag friction bearing engaged with said support plate. 4. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that said support plate has a lateral edge, said edge guide extending into it. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that said clutch mechanism comprises a member extending outward from a rear edge of said support plate for its clutch with the sheet feeding mechanism and a rear surface on said support plate which has at least one projecting portion extending therefrom for its clutch with the sheet feeding mechanism. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that said clutch mechanism comprises a member extending outwardly from a trailing edge of said support plate for its clutch with the sheet feeding mechanism. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that said clutch mechanism comprises a rear surface on said support plate which has at least a projecting portion extending therefrom for its clutch with the feeding mechanism. of leaves. 8. The material guide according to the claim 1, characterized in that said support plate has a front edge, said bearing being mounted next to it. The material guide according to claim 3, characterized in that it further comprises clutch means for releasably mounting said second sheet drag friction bearing on said support plate. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that said first sheet drag friction bearing and said support plate have different coefficients of friction. The material guide according to claim 1, characterized in that said first sheet drag friction bearing has a coefficient of friction greater than said support plate. A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising: a sheet feeding mechanism, - and a material guide clutched with said sheet feeding mechanism, said material guide including; a support plate; an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from said support plate; a first sheet drag friction bearing engaged with said support plate, and a clutch mechanism for mounting said material guide on said sheet feeding mechanism. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said sheet feeding mechanism includes a first friction friction sheet friction bearing and a corresponding first blade roller mounted in opposite relation thereto, said first embodiment being assembled. frictional drag bearing of said guide material between said first friction bearing and said first corresponding roller. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said sheet feeding mechanism includes: a pressure plate for supporting sheets therein and deflecting them in one direction; a first sheet drag friction bearing secured to said pressure plate and positioned beyond said first sheet drag friction bearing of said material guide; a first roller rotatably mounted above said sheet drag friction bearing for feeding the sheets, - separation means for separating sheets one by one when being fed by said roller, - a first guide member for guiding one of the pair of lateral edges of the sheets supported on said pressure plate, said first guide member being fixed and being located near said separation means; and a second guide member for guiding the other pair of said side edges of the sheets supported on said pressure plate, said second movable guide member being fixed according to the sizes of the sheets, - wherein said edge guide said material guide is mounted adjacent to said first guide member. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that said separation means extend an outward distance of said first guide member in a direction towards said pressure plate, wherein said edge guide of said guide The material has an amplitude greater than the distance in which said separation means extends. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that said first sheet drag friction bearing of said material guide has a coefficient of friction different from said first sheet drag friction bearing. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that said sheet feeding mechanism includes a second sheet drag friction bearing and a second roller mounted in opposed relation thereto, and wherein said material guide includes a second blade drag bearing engaged with said support plate, said second blade drag friction bearing of said material guide being mounted between said second blade drag friction bearing and said second corresponding roller. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that it further comprises clutch means for releasably mounting said first sheet drag friction bearing on said support plate. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that it further comprises a second sheet drag friction bearing engaged with said support plate. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said clutch mechanism comprises a member extending outwardly from a trailing edge of said support plate for its clutch with the sheet feeding mechanism and a member that it extends outwardly from a trailing edge of said support plate for its clutch with said sheet feeding mechanism. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said clutch mechanism comprises a member extending outwardly from a trailing edge of said support plate for its clutch with said sheet feeding mechanism. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said clutch mechanism comprises a rear surface on said support plate which has at least a projecting portion extending therefrom for its clutch with said apparatus of sheet feeding. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said support plate has a front edge, said sliding friction bearing blade proximate thereto being mounted. 24. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that it further comprises clutch means for releasably mounting said second sheet drag friction bearing on said support plate which allows said second bearing to be replaced. 25. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said first sheet drag friction bearing and said support plate have different coefficients of friction. 26. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said first sheet drag friction bearing has a coefficient of friction greater than said support plate. 27. A material guide for use with a sheet feeding mechanism, comprising: a support plate including a first region having a coefficient of friction different from a second region of said support plate; an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from said support plate; and a clutch mechanism for mounting said material guide in the sheet feeding mechanism. 28. A material guide for use with a sheet feeding mechanism, comprising: a support plate having a predetermined coefficient of friction; an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from said support plate; and a clutch mechanism for mounting said material guide in the sheet feeding mechanism. 29. The material guide according to the claim 28, characterized in that said predetermined coefficient of friction is greater than about 0.8. 30. The material guide according to claim 28, characterized in that said predetermined coefficient of friction is in a range of about 0.2 to about 1.6. 31. A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising: a sheet feed mechanism having a region with a first coefficient of friction; and a material guide clutched with said sheet feeding mechanism, said material guide including; a support plate having a region with a second coefficient of friction different from said first coefficient of friction, - an edge guide projecting substantially at right angles from said support plate; a first sheet drag friction bearing engaged with said support plate, and a clutch mechanism for mounting said material guide on said sheet feeding mechanism.