US3825249A - Sheet dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

A container or drawer for storing a stack of sheets, and feeding sheets one-by-one from the stack, includes a feed mechanism comprising a manual lever swingable between the top and bottom boundry planes of the drawer and mechanically connected to feed elements resting on the paper stack through a speed augmenting gearing and a one-way clutch.

Description

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,825,249 Zimmer 1 July 23, 1974 SHEET DISPENSER 3,026,732 3/1962 C0rvisier.... 74/125.5 x 3,126,122 3/1964 Sacre .1221/259 X [75] Inventor R0118" 3,617,426 11/1971 Grundman 192 107 M 73 Assigneez Addressograph Mumgraph 3,673,879 7/1972 Plate et a1 74/125.5

Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio Primary ExaminerEvon C. Blunk [22] Flled' 1973 Assistant Examiner-JamesW. Miller [21] Appl. No.: 331,916 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Russell L. Root [52] US. Cl 271/ 109, 74/125.5, 74/142, 57 ABSTRACT 192/46,192/107 M, 221/43, 221/259, 271/114 1 5 In. B65]l 3 0 1 13 00 h 27/02 A COlltElllZlCl O1 drawer for StOI'lIlg a stack of $118615, 58 Field of Search; 221/42, 43, 259; 271/116, and feedmg Sheets P P the Stack,

271/114 192/107 M 74/125 5 142 cludes a'feed mechanism comprislng a manual lever r swingable between the top and bottom boundry planes of the drawer and mechanically connected to feed ele- [56] References Cited ments resting on the paper stack through a speed aug- UNITED STATES PATENTS menting gearing and a one-way clutch. 1,988,732 1/1935 Hawley 221/259 X 1 Claim, 8 Drawing Figures SHEET DISPENSER I This invention relates to sheet dispensers and especially to a simple, low-cost device for readily feeding sheets one-by-one from a stack of sheets held in a protective housing. The'feeding is effected by a manual operation which may be repeated to control the degree to which the sheet is projected, and the arrangement is especially effective for handling sheets of large area.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a top plan of the container and feeding device of the present invention with portions broken away;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail plan to an enlarged scale with parts broken away, and is taken substantially on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, with parts broken away, of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; g

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one element of the clutch mechanism; and

' FIGS. 7 and 8 are detail sections of the clutch mechanism taken substantially on line 7-7 of FIG. 4 and illustrating different phases of the clutch operation.

Referring to FIGS. '1 and 2, there is provided a container or tray 10 designed to receive'a stack of sheets, for example photosensitive sheets for use in connection with a diazo white print machine. The container may' take the form of a drawer as shown, so that its open top will be closed by the surrounding structure, or may be provided with a removable closure (not shown) as will be readily apparent.

The bottom of the container is constructed with an upwardly sloping guide surface 12 leading to an exit point 14 where the paper sheet willemerge from a suitable slot in the cover if provided, or from an opening provided by moving the drawer to a position slightly forward of the fully closed position.

A stack of paper (not shown) is placed in the drawer 12 with its forward-end resting on a portion of the guide surface, and the means for dispensing the paper-includes feed rollers 16 provided with friction surfaces, for example of rubber. Each roller is rotatively supported in the free end of an arm 18'which is rockably supported-on a shaft 20. Counter-weights 22 of appropriate mass are provided so that the weight of arms 18 will be in part counteracted, and rollers 16 will rest with the optimum pressure on the top of the paper stack, the arms gradually swinging downwardly as paper is withdrawn from the stack to follow the top of the stack and continue to rest the feed rollers on the top sheet until all sheets havebeen dispensed.

The shaft 20, as well as rockably supporting the arms, serves as a component of the drive train for the feed rollers 16, and as such carries two pulleys 21 drivingly connected thereto. Belts 24 connect the pulleys 21 with the feed rollers 16 so that rotation of the former produces corresponding rotation of the latter.

As can be seen in FIG. 2 of the drawing, the swing of arms 18 is limited by the top of the paper stack and the top cover of the tray. In order to store a reasonable amount of paper in the shallow tray, it is apparent that the diameter of feed rollers 16 must be kept at a small value to avoid usurping paper stack space.

An exceedingly compact means is provided making it possible for the operator to manually advance the top sheet of the stack by rotating the shaft 20. A flat lever bar 26 provided with a finger piece 28 is pivotally mounted as at 30 on one side of the container 10. A torsion spring 32 urges the lever in a counterclockwise direction (i.e., in a direction to raise the finger piece 28), and the travel of the lever is curtailed by a stop member 34 which limits the upward motion of the lever by striking against a flange 10a on the container, or against the surrounding portions of the cabinet when the container is used as a drawer. Downward travel of the lever is likewise limited by contact of the stop member 34 with the support surface on which the container rests. Accordingly the swinging motion of the lever is confined between the upper and lower boundary planes of the drawer.

As illustrated particularly in FIGS. 3 to 5, the end of the lever 26 remote from the finger piece 28 carries a gear sector 36 which meshes with a pinion 38 rotatable ona post 39 affixed to the wall of the container 10. The pinion 38, through a one way clutch 40, drives an internal gear 50, also rotatable on the post 39, which meshes with a pinion 52 affixed to the end of the shaft 20 to drive'the same. v

The one way clutch 40 is arranged to effect a driving connection between the pinion 38 and gear 50. on the downward stroke of the finger piece 28 (which causes an upward stroke of the sector 36), and a release action on the return stroke. Thus it will be seen that a depression of the finger piece 28 causes counterclockwise rotation of the pinion 38 which carries the gear 50 also in a counterclockwise direction, thus turning the pinion 52 counterclockwise, and the shaft 20, pulleys 22 and feed rollers 16 all counterclockwise, thus acting to feed a sheet from the top of the stack to a graspable position. .On the return stroke of the lever, all parts of the mechanical train remain stationary except the segment 36, the pinion 38 and the connected'clutch part.

An unusually inexpensive and effective clutch arrangement has been provided and comprises a drive portion 42 integrally formed with the pinion 38. The drive portion 42 comprises a cup 44 in which is affixed a stiff pile fabric 46 so constructed that all of the pile elements are sloped with respect to the surface of the fabric, and this slope has a uniform angle to the surface in planes which are approximately normal to the surface, and also normal to the radius of the cup passing through the pile element.

The driven portion of the clutch consists of foraminous sheet element such as a fine screen 48 which is integrally attached to the outer face of the gear 50 and mates with the pile fabric 46.- It receives its drive from the fabric when the pinion 38 and cup 44 are rotated in a counterclockwise direction. This is a direction which crowds pile elements, because of their slope angle, into the openings in the screen and causes a driving relationship to exist as illustrated in FIG. 7. On the return stroke, when the pinion 38 and cup 44 are rotated in a clockwise direction, the pile elements will not dig into the screen but will rather, because of their slope, be'cammed aside, allowing the screen 48 and gear 50 to remain stationary, as seen in FIG. 8.

The geometry and arrangement of the gear train parts is of particular interest from the standpoint of making it possible to accommodate an effective operating pattern within the height of a drawer. Since paper stacks are rather heavy, it is customary to limit the drawer height to prevent overloading. A usual paper drawer might have a height of between 3 and 4 inches. This means that the stroke of the inner or operating end of the lever, if carrying a gear sector, can have a maximum throw of about one-half of the drawer height, i. e. 1% to 2 inches, and the operating arm can be adjusted to any suitable length so as to provide a travel of one fulldrawer height by the finger piece 28. To take full advantage of this limited sector stroke, the axis of the driven pinion should be approximately midway of the drawer height. By having this centralized pinion 38 drive a larger internal gear 50, it is possible to achieve several important ends simultaneously as follows:

1. The shaft can occupy an upwardly offset location so as to be above the paper stack.

2. The direction of rotation of the shaft 20 is of the proper hand to feed sheets out of the drawer at the end near the finger piece 28.

3. Sufficient mechanical advantage is introduced to provide for adequate sheet motion in spiteof the severe limitations on lever travel, so that only one or two operations of the lever are needed to project the sheet far enough to be readily graspable. In the particular construction shown the ratio as between sheet travel and finger piece travel is about 3: 1. In any case a travel, ratio of at least about 2:1 would be required for effective use under the circumstances. Note should also be taken of the arrangement of the counterweights 22 on the overhanging ends of arms 18 previously described. It is important that the feed rollers 16 press on the top sheet of the stack within an appropriate range of pressures depending upon the frictional characteristics of the paper being fed. If the pressure is too light feeding will not occur or will be erratic. If the pressure is too great a tendency to feed plural sheets is noticed. Thus, by replacing the counterweights 22 with others of different value it is possible to accommodate paper sheets of different sizes, weights and surface characteristics in the present device.

In operation, the arms 18 are lifted and a stack of paper is introduced beneath them with the forward margin underlying the feed rolls 16, which are allowed to fall into contact with the top sheet by gravity. If the device is in use as a drawer in a cabinet, the drawer is then closed to protect the paper from dust, or, if the paper is photosensitive, from light. When it is desired to withdraw a sheet for use, the drawer is opened slightly and the operator depresses the finger piece once or twice, the same being returned to home position each time by the spring 32. This projects the top sheet of the stack sufficiently to be grasped, whereupon the operator grasps the leading margin and withdraws withdrawn.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, it will be understood that addi- 4 tions, eliminations and modifications may be made without departing from the ambit of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Sheet storing and feeding means comprising:

a. a shallow tray defining parallel upper and lower planes, having low side walls and including guide means for guiding to a discharge point a sheet forwarded from the top of a stack held in the tray;

b. a shaft extending across the tray and supported rotatably on said side walls;

c. an arm rockable on the shaft and carrying at its free end a feed roller resting on the top of the stack of sheets;

d. a drive member rotatable with the shaft and a belt connecting said drive member and said feed roller for effecting rotation of the latter by the former; and

e. means to rotate said shaft in one direction only comprising: an oscillating lever disposed for convenient manual actuation with a swing no greater than between said upper and lower planes and carrying a gear segment, and a gear train operatively connecting said gear segment and said shaft including:

1. a first small pinion of n teeth meshing with said segment,

2. a first element of a one-way clutch coaxial and integral with said first pinion,

3. a large internal gear having at least 2n teeth mounted coaxially with said first small pinion and approaching the height of said side wall in diame-' ter,

4. a second element of a one-way clutch coaxial and integral with said internal gear and coacting with said first oneway clutch element, and

5. a second small pinion having a number of teeth of the order of magnitude of the number of teeth in said first small pinion, drivingly associated with said shaft and meshing with said internal gear.

Claims (5)

1. Sheet storing and feeding means comprising: a. a shallow tray defining parallel upper and lower planes, having low side walls and including guide means for guiding to a discharge point a sheet forwarded from the top of a stack held in the tray; b. a shaft extending across the tray and supported rotatably on said side walls; c. an arm rockable on the shaft and carrying at its free end a feed roller resting on the top of the stack of sheets; d. a drive member rotatable with the shaft aNd a belt connecting said drive member and said feed roller for effecting rotation of the latter by the former; and e. means to rotate said shaft in one direction only comprising: an oscillating lever disposed for convenient manual actuation with a swing no greater than between said upper and lower planes and carrying a gear segment, and a gear train operatively connecting said gear segment and said shaft including: 1. a first small pinion of n teeth meshing with said segment, 2. a first element of a one-way clutch coaxial and integral with said first pinion, 3. a large internal gear having at least 2n teeth mounted coaxially with said first small pinion and approaching the height of said side wall in diameter, 4. a second element of a one-way clutch coaxial and integral with said internal gear and coacting with said first oneway clutch element, and 5. a second small pinion having a number of teeth of the order of magnitude of the number of teeth in said first small pinion, drivingly associated with said shaft and meshing with said internal gear.

2. a first element of a one-way clutch coaxial and integral with said first pinion,

3. a large internal gear having at least 2n teeth mounted coaxially with said first small pinion and approaching the height of said side wall in diameter,

4. a second element of a one-way clutch coaxial and integral with said internal gear and coacting with said first oneway clutch element, and

5. a second small pinion having a number of teeth of the order of magnitude of the number of teeth in said first small pinion, drivingly associated with said shaft and meshing with said internal gear.

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