Eastman-Kodak Company

William I Morris

Steven J Sparer

Stanley W Stephenson

Xin Wen

Eric P Hochreiter

Franklin D Ehrne

Frederick J Schwab

Sheet feeding apparatus and method for reliably feeding sheets from a column of sheets. The sheet feeding apparatus includes separation tangs each having a step-wise topography of reduced contact area for the sheets in order to reduce frictional drag on the sheets as the sheets are fed into an imaging apparatus. This allows for reliable feeding of the sheets because the reduced contact area of the separation tangs reduces contact time, as well as frictional drag, with the separation tangs. Moreover, the step-wise topography of the tangs individually separates each sheet from the column of sheets to be fed into the imaging apparatus in order to avoid multiple-feeding of the sheets.

Sheet feeding apparatus and method for reliably feeding sheets from a

A resistive thermal printer has a platen drive mechanism which includes (1) a thermal printhead having an array of selectively-activatable thermal elements and (2) a rotatably-driven platen roller opposed to the printhead and forming a nip with the printhead through which a receiver medium is driven by the platen roller while the thermal elements are selectively activated. The platen roller has an outer layer of perfluorinated polymer. The platen roller includes a compliant layer below the outer layer of perfluorinated polymer.

Coated platen roller for improving registration in a platen-drive

A film code reader assembly for a film scanner provides film path for accurately guiding the scanning film past a film code reading location where optically readable film codes are extracted by a code reader. The assembly self-aligns the film code reader in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the film, and orients film film code reader with respect to the film code-bearing edge of the scanning film.

Film code reader assembly for a film scanner

An apparatus for driving a scanning gate of a photographic film scanning apparatus utilizes a reversible m s , stepping motor, and a system driven by the motor for moving the gate in a pendulum-like manner. The means comprises a shaft, a gear sector fixedly connected on the shaft and a crank arm fixedly connected on the shaft so as to operatively engage the scanning gate, and a worm configured to be driven by the motor. A biasing device is arranged between the gear sector and a chassis of the scanning apparatus to maintain a positive engagement between the worm and the gear sector. Additional biasing devices are connected between the crank arm and the gate to provide for adjustment of the gate about two axes. The additional biasing devices between the crank arm and the gate include plural springs extending laterally from a pin projecting from a surface of the crank arm facing the gate to a pin mounted on the gate and having an axis parallel to the axis of the pin projecting from the surface of the crank arm, and plural springs extending from pins projecting from opposite sides of the crank arm to pins on the gate having axes parallel to the axes of the pins extending from the opposite sides of the gate.

Scanning apparatus gate drive system and method

A sheet-feeding apparatus comprises sheet-feeding rollers for advancing sheets, one at a time, from a stack of sheet material. The sheet-feeding rollers are supported by a drive shaft which is mounted for movement toward and away from the sheet stack so that the feed rollers may be selectively displaced from the stack, for example, to effect sheet replenishment. A cam surface associated with a slidable stack support cooperates with a cam-follower associated with the roller shaft to effect displacement of the feed rollers from the stack during sliding movement of the stack support. A pair of one-way clutches and a rack and pinion arrangement cooperate to allow the sheet-feed rollers to rotate freely during initial contact with the top sheet in the stack, thereby avoiding premature feeding of such sheet during a stack reloading process.

Sheet-feeding apparatus with one-way clutch to avoid premature

A sheet clamping apparatus for a thermal printer drum includes a clamping lever mounted in a recess of the drum, fixed cam members, and a mechanism mounted on an end surface of the drum and connected to the clamping lever and operatively associated with the cam members for moving the lever between open sheet receiving and ejecting positions and a closed sheet clamping position as the drum rotates.

Receiver clamping arrangement for thermal printers

A compliant head loading mechanism for a thermal printer which in a loaded condition compliantly loads a thermal head against a dye-carrier and a receiver to form a printing nip. The mechanism includes two brackets each of which is pivotably mounted on a fixed pivot shaft. A head loading spring connects the two brackets. The lower bracket has two arms which have holes that receive the pivot shaft. One hole permits only rotational motion of the lower bracket while the other hole is a slot that permits rotational and translation motion of the lower bracket. The slot is tilted to prevent the drag force exerted by the rotating roller against the media (dye-carrier and receiver) from the inducing a twisting moment into the lower bracket.

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Oakfield, NY, United States of America

William I Morris