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:
Mar. 01, 2016
Filed:
Mar. 17, 2014
Konica Minolta, Inc., Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Atsuhiko Shimoyama, Tahara, JP;
Noboru Oomoto, Toyokawa, JP;
Hiroaki Umemoto, Neyagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Mizuno, Aisai, JP;
Ryo Oshima, Anjo, JP;
KONICA MINOLTA, INC., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A sheet feeding device having; a mounting portion capable of accommodating a stack of sheets; a blowing device that blows air onto the stack placed in the mounting portion, thereby floating at least a top sheet from the stack; a suction/transportation mechanism that includes a suction belt provided above the mounting portion and attracting the top sheet floated by the blowing device to transport the attracted sheet toward a transportation path; an image pickup device disposed so as to capture an image of the floated top sheet and the next sheet therebelow; and an illuminating device that emits light toward an area to be captured by the image pickup device. The light emitted by the illuminating device illuminates a plane in a direction approximately normal thereto, the plane including the closest end surface of the stack of sheets to the image pickup device.