Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Kazuo Umemura

Takeshi Yokoi

Kazuhiko Takagi

Rikuo Sonoda

Shigeo Nakamura

Hiroshi Yamanaka

Tamotu Kato

Hiroyasu Kuragairi

A sheet feed device for feeding a sheet-like material includes a feed roller disposed upstream with respect to a sheet feeding direction for feeding the sheet-like material and main and auxiliary roller pair disposed downstream with respect thereto for further feeding the sheet-like material fed out by the feed roller. At the start of feeding the sheet-like material, both the feed roller and the main and auxiliary roller pair are rotated, and after the sheet-like material is fed a certain distance and grasped by the main and auxiliary roller pair, only the main and auxiliary roller pair is rotated, whereby a load imposed to a motor for rotating both the feed roller and main and auxiliary roller pair is lessened. According to another aspect of the invention, the sheet-like material is frictionally fed by the main and auxiliary roller pair, but in case where the peripheral speed of the auxiliary roller becomes slower than that of the main roller due to slippage caused by the sheet-like material interposed therebetween, the auxiliary roller is forcibly rotated at the peripheral speed substantially equal to that of the main roller, whereby the sheet-like material is prevented from being curved, jammed or wrinkled during the sheet feeding process.

Sheet feed device for use in a printer or the like

A feeding apparatus for a printer wherein an uppermost sheet of a sheet stack placed on a support member is delivered by a feed roll in contact with the uppermost sheet, through a clearance formed between a presser member which engages the upper surface of the uppermost sheet, and an elastic member which is disposed adjacent to the presser member for abutting contact with the edges of the sheet stack. The apparatus includes a support mechanism for supporting the presser and elastic members such that the two members are movable toward and away from each other, and a biasing spring for biasing the two members toward each other. The relative position of the presser and elastic members and the amount of the clearance therebetween during a normal sheet feeding operation are determined by a stopper device. In the event of jamming of a sheet between the presser and elastic members, the two members may be moved away from each other against a biasing action of the spring, whereby the jammed sheet may be easily removed. Also disclosed are various other devices for facilitating the removal of the jammed sheet, such as a device for positively enlarging the clearance between the presser and elastic member, and a device for moving sheet advancing rolls away from each other.

Apparatus for feeding recording medium, having means for easy handling

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Kazuo Umemura