Patent · US Expired

Integrated chassis for automatic document feeder in a scanning unit

US6433897B1 · kind B1 · utility

8Cited by
17References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 10, 2000
Grant dateAug 13, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 15, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N1/193
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In a scanning unit such as a facsimile machine, an automatic document feeder transports individual sheets from a stack of documents along a document path over a scanning window to an output tray. An upper guide member includes an integrated chassis which provides most of the functional features required for picking individual sheets from a stack of documents in an input tray and transporting the sheet past a scanning window. The various components incorporated in the integrated chassis include a document separation mechanism, pre-scanning pinch rollers, post-scanning pinch rollers, a spring-loaded limiter with minimal paper path obstruction, a hinging mechanism to facilitate manual access to the document path, a latching mechanism, referencing datums, and ESD grounding including ESD brushes adjacent the document path and an ESD shield for a circuit board housed in the upper guide member. In the preferred form, the integrated chassis is formed from an enlarged sheet metal plate which attaches to the underside of a manual control/display panel with the circuit board sandwiched therebetween.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.