The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 22, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 15, 1994
David W Hubbard, Stamford, CT (US);
Pitney Bowes Inc., Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for deskewing sheets as they are transported along a path. An intake roller assembly and an urged roller assembly are positioned along the path. The urge roller assembly bears upon a sheet with a forced selected so that the urge roller will slip if the sheet is blocked before the sheet is damaged. A rotatable element having a pair of stop elements in an upstream and a pair of deflecting elements at a downstream end is pivotable mounted beneath the path and rotates in a plane normal to the path, and is bias so that the deflecting elements intersect the path and the stop element are clear from the path. When the intake roller assembly drives a sheet against the deflecting elements the rotatable element rotates as the sheet rides over the deflecting element so that the stop elements intersect the path. If the sheet is skewed, that is if one edge is advanced, that edge will encounter the stop elements first. The urge roller assembly will then slip on the advanced side of the sheet while driving the other side forward until the sheet is deskewed. As the sheet is deskewed the deflecting elements are cleared and the rotatable element rotates to remove the stop elements from the path and the deskewed sheet continues for further processing. A pair of parallel guide plates are provided above and below the path to guide the sheet and increase its effective stiffness.