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:
Apr. 17, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 22, 1999
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A sheet feed mechanism for feeding sheet media in a printing device. The mechanism comprises a slidably retractable tray accommodating a stack of sheet media, and a pick mechanism including a friction roller for picking individual sheets from the stack of sheet media and advancing the sheets along a media path. The pick mechanism is configured such that in use the friction roller applies a compression force on the stack of sheet media to increase the friction force between the friction roller and the top sheet of the stack. When the stack of media is exhausted, the friction roller applies a compression force directly on the tray floor. In order to prevent the friction roller from being dragged around as the tray is retracted, the tray floor includes a ridged surface in a region where the friction roller applies the compression force. The ridged surface also helps to remove paper fragments attached to the friction roller.