Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Tatsuo Nishikawa

Shigeru Suzuki

Koichi Noguchi

Kyoji Omi

Minoru Iwamoto

As a scanning element of an electrophotographic copying machine begins to move, a feed roller moves a sheet of copy paper into the bite of register rollers which are held stationary. This movement of the copy paper is accomplished in a period of time which is less than that required for the scanning element to reach a predetermined scan synchronizing point. The feed roller is then stopped so that the copy paper is slightly buckled and thereby resiliently urged into the bite of the register rollers. When the scanning element reaches the scan synchronizing point, a sensor causes the register rollers to rotate thereby feeding the copy sheet through the machine in synchronization with the movement of the scanning element. The copy machine may employ a seamless photoconductive drum or belt moving at constant speed in which case an electrostatic image is formed on the drum or belt by the scanning element. The image is developed by toner particles and transferred to the copy sheet. The copy machine may also be of the type in which the copy sheet itself is photoconductive and is imaged directly by the scanning element.

Copy paper feed system

A device for imparting back tension of a predetermined magnitude to the portion of strip material disposed between a take-up reel and a supply reel when the strip material wound at one end on the supply reel and at the other end on the take-up reel is paid out of the supply reel by rotating the take-up reel. The device has particular utility in an electrophotographic copying apparatus employing a photosensitive drum in which a strip of photoconductive film is interchangeably mounted and comprises a novel mechanism, light in weight and low in cost, which has the effect of imparting to the strip back tension which it is required to have when in use and yet enabling the strip to be advanced and wound on the take-up reel with the exercise of a force slightly in excess of the back tension present in the strip.

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Tokyo, Japan

Tatsuo Nishikawa