Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Separators
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-19
2001-07-03
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Separators
C221S148000, C221S161000, C221S164000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254084
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The field of art to which this invention relates is-printers, in particular, a feed enhancer for a high volume printer having a top-feeder in which paper stock having labels and/or perforations are fed into the printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In printers of the prior art, particularly those which employ a top-feeder for storing and feeding paper into the printer, paper which has a label affixed thereto or which has one or more perforations presents a problem in that it does not properly feed into the printer. Printing on such paper is particularly troublesome because the paper does not sit flatly upon a feeder tray due to the labels or perforations.
A typical printer
100
of the prior art having such a top-feeder paper feed arrangement is shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
. The top-feeder
102
generally includes a paper tray
103
and employs a pick roller
104
for contacting and feeding a sheet of paper
106
from the top of a paper stack
108
into the printer
100
. A gearbox and motor assembly
110
drive the pinch roller as necessary to feed the paper
108
. If the paper in the paper stack
108
does not sit flatly on the paper tray
103
, the pick roller
104
, which is generally located in the center of the paper along a central axis C—C, does not effectively engage and feed the paper
108
into the printer
100
.
Examples of types of paper which do not lie flatly on the paper tray
103
, are illustrated in
FIGS. 2A-2C
. Respective stacks of the types of paper illustrated in
FIGS. 2A-2C
are illustrated in
FIGS. 3A-3C
together with the paper tray
103
and pick roller
104
of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 2A
illustrates a sheet of paper
200
having a label
202
on one side. The label
202
adds a significant thickness to the overall thickness of the sheet of paper
200
in the area of the label
202
. As can be seen in
FIG. 3A
, when stacked on a paper tray
103
of a printer
100
having a top feeder
102
, the paper
200
has a greater height (H1) on the side with the label
202
than the height (H2) on the side without the label
202
. Because of this uneven height (H1>H2), the pick roller
104
only engages the paper
200
on a portion of its width and causes the paper
200
to rotate as it is being fed into the printer
100
.
FIG. 2B
illustrates a sheet of paper
210
, having two perforations
212
. The perforations
212
run in the same direction as the direction that the paper
210
is fed into the printer
100
. As can be seen in
FIG. 3B
, when stacked on a paper tray
103
of a printer
100
having a top feeder
102
, the paper
210
has a greater height (H3) on the sides than in the middle (H4) (alternatively, if the paper stack is turned 180 degrees such that the top sheet is at the bottom, the paper stack will have a peak at each of the perforations resulting in an M-shaped stack). Because of this uneven height (H3>H4), the pick roller
104
does not properly engage the paper
210
leading to improper feeding of the paper
210
into the printer
100
.
FIG. 2C
illustrates a sheet of paper
220
, having a single perforation
222
. The perforation
222
runs in a direction perpendicular to the direction that the paper
220
is fed into the printer
100
. As can be seen in
FIG. 3C
, when stacked on a paper tray
103
of a printer
100
having a top feeder
102
, looking from the side of the paper stack, a portion
224
of the paper
220
decreases in height from the perforation
222
to the end of the paper
226
. (alternatively, if the paper stack is turned 180 degrees such that the top sheet is at the bottom, the portion
224
will increase in height from the perforation
222
to the end of the paper
226
). Because of this uneven height, the pick roller
104
does not properly engage the paper
210
leading to improper feeding of the paper
210
into the printer
100
.
These problems ultimately cause the paper
200
,
210
,
220
to jam in the printer
100
resulting in downtime of the printer
100
and possibly, expensive maintenance. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art, that these paper configurations are given by way of example only and not as an exhaustive listing thereof. For example the paper may have a combination of those shown or others not shown such as pre-printed stock which has a tendency to curl when stacked upon the printer tray
103
.
Devices are known in the prior art for addressing the uneven thickness and shape of paper to be fed into a printer. The prior art teaches devices for compensating for variations in the thickness between individual sheets of a paper stack being fed into a printer. The prior art devices achieve their objective by sensing the thickness of each piece of paper being fed into the printer and adjusting certain parameters within the printer according to the sensed thickness.
While these devices have their advantages, they are generally complex, costly, and difficult to implement on existing printer designs.
For these reasons a feed enhancer is needed which is simple, inexpensive, easy to retrofit onto existing printers and which can compensate for paper stacks that do not lie flatly and evenly upon a printer feeder which are to be fed into a printer, particularly one which employs a top-feeder system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple feed enhancer for a printer.
It is a yet a further object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive feed enhancer for a printer.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a feed enhancer which is easily retrofitted onto existing printers.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a feed enhancer disposed on a surface of a paper feeder tray to compensate for variations in height and/or shape of a paper stack placed upon the paper feeder tray caused by labels or perforations in/on the individual paper in the stack. The feed enhancer is disposed perpendicular to the direction that the paper is fed into the printer.
In a first variation of the feed enhancer of the present invention, a feed enhancer for eliminating an unevenness in height from a paper stack to be printed by a printer is provided. The printer has a paper feeder including a paper tray for storage of the paper stack on a top surface thereof and for feeding individual paper from the paper stack into the printer for subsequent printing. The feed enhancer comprises an elongated strip disposed at the top surface of the paper tray and positioned perpendicular to a direction in which the individual paper is fed into the printer such that the feed enhancer evens out the unevenness in height of the paper stack in an area of the paper stack that is to be fed into the printer.
In a second variation of the feed enhancer of the present invention, a printer tray for eliminating an unevenness in height from a paper stack to be printed by a printer is provided. The printer has a paper feeder including the paper tray for storage of the paper stack on a top surface thereof and for feeding individual paper from the paper stack into the printer for subsequent printing. The printer tray comprises a feed enhancer having a heightened portion disposed at the top surface of the paper tray and positioned perpendicular to a direction in which the individual paper is fed into the printer such that the feed enhancer evens out the unevenness in height of the paper stack in an area of the paper stack that is to be fed into the printer.
In a third variation of the feed enhancer of the present invention, a printer for eliminating an unevenness in height from a paper stack to be printed is provided. The printer has a paper feeder including a paper tray for storage of the paper stack on a top surface thereof and for feeding individual paper from the paper stack into the printer for subsequent printing. The printer comprises a feed enhancer having a heightened portion disposed at the top surface of the paper tray and positioned perpendicular to a direction in which the individual paper is fe
Bower Kenneth W
Ellis Christopher P.
Olympus America Inc.
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
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