Did You Know...
...Daniel Webster invented a "bull plow" to pull out tree stumps. It didn't catch on because it was huge and required four oxen to pull it!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8186668 | Stack feeding aeration device and method An aeration device adapted to aerate one or more sheets of a stack of sheets includes a side blower configured to selectively provide an air stream at an outlet thereof along an airstream direction so as to impinge against at least a portion of the stack. A height d... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8177218 | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus A sheet feeding device includes a loading tray configured to receive a plurality of sheets thereon; a sheet transporting unit which transports the uppermost sheet among the sheets to an image forming unit; a blowing unit which blows air to one end portions of the sh... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8167296 | Image forming apparatus A sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus which can certainly feed sheets without being influenced by an aging change of fan characteristics are provided. An air is blown to sheets stacked on a tray by an air blowing mechanism having a plurality of fa... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8141864 | Recording-medium feeding device A recording-medium feeding device feeds a recording medium by separating loaded recording media sheet by sheet. An air outlet blows air to the recording media from a lateral side with respect to a direction of feeding the recording-medium. The air outlet is formed c... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8113501 | Sheet supply device A sheet supply device includes a sheet storing section on which sheets are stacked and are stored; a sheet feed unit controlled by a controller that feeds the sheets stored in the sheet storing section to a next process; and an air blower controlled by the controlle... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8074978 | Sheet feeding device and image-forming apparatus An image-forming apparatus and sheet feeding device capable of feeding sheets without skewing or multi-feeding of sheets using a small number of side air blowing drive sources. The sheet feeding device has a plurality of side discharge nozzles comprising side discha... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8042797 | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus A sheet feeding apparatus 80 includes a lifter plate 23 that is disposed in a sheet storage case 4 and stacks a sheet 7a, an air heater 14 and a fan 11 that blow heated air to the sheet 7a stacked on the... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8011652 | Sheet feed device and image forming apparatus A sheet feed device includes an air flow generating part that generates an air flow for floating a sheet; a feed member that feeds a sheet by rotating, while applying a load to the top one of sheets stacked; and a transport condition sensing unit that is positioned ... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7934720 | Method and apparatus for controlling a fluffer port in an image production device A fluffer section and method for controlling a fluffer port in an image production device is disclosed. The fluffer section may include a variable port configuration device that contains a plurality of fluffer port configurations, a stepper motor that moves the vari... | 05/03/2011 |
| 7874556 | Printer with reversible air flow sheet picker A printer for sheets of porous media supplied from a stack of such sheets. The printer has a printhead, a sheet pick-up assembly having a conduit connected to a reversible air supply, the conduit having an outlet directed towards a top sheet of the stack for directi... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7832720 | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus An upper limit detection sensor detects that a top face position of a sheet stack on a tray reaches an upper limit position which enables feeding of sheets one by one by a sheet feeding portion and a lower limit detection sensor detects that the top face position of... | 11/16/2010 |
| 7819397 | Media stack sheet fluffer method and apparatus, and a media processing device arranged with the same A media stack sheet media stack fluffer jet flow is provided to a first plurality of media stack sheets in a media stack. The media stack sheet media stack fluffer jet flow then is provided to a second plurality of media stack sheets in the media stack. The second p... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7770883 | Printer incorporating rotatable pick-up assembly of air nozzles A printer comprising: a support structure; a feed arrangement positioned on the support structure and configured to feed an endmost sheet of print media from the stack and including a movable pick-up assembly, the pick-up assembly having an array of spaced apart noz... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7748698 | Method and apparatus for controlling a fluffer port in an image production device A method and apparatus for controlling a fluffer port in an image production device is disclosed. The method may include receiving an input from one or more sensors; the one or more sensing at least one of media type, media weight, temperature, and humidity, selecti... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7744080 | Sheet feed device and image forming apparatus A sheet feed device includes a sheet storage portion, a pick-up unit, a sheet-feed separation unit, and an air blower. The sheet storage portion stores a stack of sheets. The pick-up unit picks up the sheets stored in the sheet storage portion. The sheet-feed separa... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7740240 | Paper feeding apparatus for feeding sheets of paper In a paper feeding apparatus, a paper feeding unit has a paper mounting surface provided with an air-blowing outlet. The paper feeding structure feeds an uppermost sheet of a stack of paper on the paper mounting surface. An air pump supplies air to an air-blowing ou... | 06/22/2010 |
| 7722029 | Sheet feed method, a sheet feeder, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeder A method for use in a sheet feeder having a sheet stacking unit with a bottom plate to support a sheet bundle in which air is blown against a side edge of the sheet bundle near the topmost sheets of the bundle, thereby lifting these sheets from the bundle, and separ... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7708264 | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus A sheet feeding device, having: a sheet feeding tray which stacks a paper sheet bundle formed by a plurality of sheets; a first blower which blows air to a side edge of the paper sheet bundle stacked on the sheet feeding tray; a second blower which blows air to a le... | 05/04/2010 |
| 7690642 | Method of controlling environment within media feed stack A method maintains an environment within an interior of a sheet feeder during dead-cycling of an image forming device to which the sheet feeder is operatively connected. The method jets pulses of air into the interior of the sheet feeder that houses two or more piec... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7677551 | Document conveying apparatus A document conveying apparatus (1) includes a conveying unit (30) inside a document feeding section (10), and the conveying unit (30) includes two fans (34) for cooling the inside of the document conveying apparatus (1). The... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7677552 | Unstacker apparatus having a retractable blower member Unstacker apparatus (1) for unstacking flat items (E), the unstacker apparatus comprising a flat item feed magazine (M) in which the flat items are disposed in a stack and on edge and are moved in a certain direction (D) until they reach an unstacking plate (... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7637491 | Sheet stacking device, sheet feeding device, and image forming apparatus A sheet cassette including a sheet stacking case configured to contain sheets, the sheet stacking case having a securing mechanism for securing an air supply unit supplying air, and a duct for sending the air supplied from the air supply unit to end portions of the ... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7621521 | Sheet feeding unit, sheet feeding apparatus, and image forming apparatus A feeding unit is detachably attached to a sheet cassette in which sheets are loaded. The feeding unit includes a sheet tray on which sheets are loaded, and a fan for blowing air against the side surface of a stack of sheets loaded on the sheet tray, the sheet tray ... | 11/24/2009 |
| 7607653 | Systems and methods for maintaining the density of grouped sheet articles Systems and methods are provided for maintaining density and positioning of a grouped sheet articles, such as for feeding of sheet articles from or into the group. One or more pneumatic sensing systems can be used to monitor and control pressure of sheet articles wi... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7591459 | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus has a sheet feeding apparatus which separates and feed a sheet one by one using a loosening fan which blows air from an air blowing portion for loosening the sheet on a tray. The rotating speed of the sheet loosening fan is adjusted while ... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7568691 | Image forming apparatus A sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus which can certainly feed sheets without being influenced by an aging change of fan characteristics are provided. An air is blown to sheets stacked on a tray by an air blowing mechanism having a plurality of fa... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7556257 | Printer incorporating a sheet displacement mechanism having an array of spaced apart nozzles A printer includes a support structure. A feed arrangement is positioned on the support structure and is configured to feed an endmost sheet of print media from the stack. The feed arrangement includes a movable pick-up assembly, the pick-up assembly having an array... | 07/07/2009 |
| 7549628 | Printer incorporating opposed printhead assemblies A printer comprising: a support structure; a feed arrangement positioned on the support structure and configured to feed an endmost sheet of print media from the stack and including a movable pick-up assembly, the pick-up assembly having an array of spaced apart noz... | 06/23/2009 |
| 7540487 | Printer incorporating pick-up assembly of air nozzles A printer comprising: a support structure; a feed arrangement positioned on the support structure and configured to feed an endmost sheet of print media from the stack and including a movable pick-up assembly, the pick-up assembly having an array of spaced apart noz... | 06/02/2009 |
| 7540488 | Printer incorporating air displacement mechanism A printer comprising: a support structure; a feed arrangement positioned on the support structure and configured to feed an endmost sheet of print media from the stack and including a movable pick-up assembly, the pick-up assembly having an array of spaced apart noz... | 06/02/2009 |
| 7540486 | Printer incorporating interposed air expulsion and air suction nozzles A printer comprising: a support structure; a feed arrangement positioned on the support structure and configured to feed an endmost sheet of print media from the stack and including a movable pick-up assembly, the pick-up assembly having an array of spaced apart noz... | 06/02/2009 |
| 7533877 | High speed printer with gas-operated sheet feeding A high speed printer for printing on sheets of porous media supplied from a stack of such sheets includes opposed pagewidth printheads. A sheet pick-up assembly is positioned operatively upstream of the pagewidth printheads. The sheet pick-up assembly has a gas cond... | 05/19/2009 |
| 7500665 | Method and device for improving pressure control in a sheet feeder Disclosed herein is a sheet feeding apparatus including a blower for blowing air through a stack of sheets, and a controller configured to operate the blower at a high power setting for a predetermined time period based upon elapsed off time and to subsequently oper... | 03/10/2009 |
| 7497431 | Pneumatic type paper feeding apparatus An air current distributing apparatus includes: a cylinder having a first air port communicated with a supply source of an air current and also having a second, a third, a fourth and a fifth air port respectively communicated with an injection port of the air curren... | 03/03/2009 |
| 7458570 | Sheet-supplying device A sheet-supplying device has a sheet-accommodating tray, a raising/lowering unit, a first position sensor, a second position sensor, a controlling unit. The raising/lowering unit raises and lowers the sheet-accommodating tray substantially. The first position sensor... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7451973 | Sheet feeding unit, sheet feeding apparatus, and image forming apparatus A feeding unit is detachably attached to a sheet cassette in which sheets are loaded. The feeding unit includes a sheet tray on which sheets are loaded, and a fan for blowing air against the side surface of a stack of sheets loaded on the sheet tray, the sheet tray ... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7445205 | Automatically variably heated airflow for separation of humid coated paper print media Sheet separation, feeding and printing with reduced image deletions of various types of print media sheets from a stack thereof, especially coated print media sheets with high humidity adhesion difficulties, is assisted by a sheet air puffer for a sheet separator/fe... | 11/04/2008 |
| 7431290 | Device for guiding a print carrier, method for producing a print carrier guiding device and machine for processing a print carrier A device for guiding a print carrier includes nozzles. The nozzles have tongues bounded by at least one at least approximately comb-shaped contour. A machine includes the guiding device and a method is provided for producing the guiding device. ... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7419152 | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus When a top sheet of a sheet stack stacked on a sheet tray capable of moving up and down is fed by sheet feeding device, air is blown to the end face of the sheet stack by air blowing device for improving a separation characteristic. The quantity of blown air for the... | 09/02/2008 |
| 7389981 | Paper feeding apparatus for printer having double feed prevention unit A paper feeding apparatus of a printer is provided and includes a double feed prevention unit. The paper feeding apparatus includes a finger unit for generating a curl at a front edge portion of the paper picked up by the pick-up roller. The finger unit presses the ... | 06/24/2008 |
