U.S. patent application number 11/551720 was filed with the patent office on 2007-12-27 for object feeding system.
Invention is credited to Liang-Qing Su.
Application Number | 20070296138 11/551720 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38872827 |
Filed Date | 2007-12-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070296138 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Su; Liang-Qing |
December 27, 2007 |
OBJECT FEEDING SYSTEM
Abstract
The present invention provides an object-feeding system. The
feeding system includes an object feeder and a pickup roller. The
object feeder includes an object separating ramp and a tray part.
The object separating ramp is placed along an object feeding
direction. The tray part is for loading at least an object to be
fed, and the tray part includes a main body and a protruding
portion sticking out from the main body and connected to the object
separating ramp, wherein the protruding portion and the main body
constitute a hollow part. The pickup roller is for feeding the
object by rolling, wherein the hollow and the pickup roller
separately locate two sides of the object and the pickup roller
locates the hollow place above.
Inventors: |
Su; Liang-Qing; (Kaohsiung
County, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NORTH AMERICA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 506
MERRIFIELD
VA
22116
US
|
Family ID: |
38872827 |
Appl. No.: |
11/551720 |
Filed: |
October 22, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/109 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 3/06 20130101; B65H
2405/1119 20130101; B65H 1/04 20130101; B65H 2405/1112 20130101;
B65H 2405/1136 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/109 |
International
Class: |
B65H 3/06 20060101
B65H003/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 26, 2006 |
TW |
095122908 |
Claims
1. An object-feeding system, comprising: an object feeder,
comprising: an object separating ramp, placed along an object
feeding direction; and a tray part, for loading at least an object
to be fed, including: a main body; and a protruding portion,
sticking out the main body and connected to the object separating
ramp, wherein the protruding portion and the main body form a
hollow part; and a pickup roller, for feeding the object by
rolling, wherein the hollow part and the pickup roller are
respectively located at two sides of the object and the pickup
roller is located above the hollow part.
2. The object-feeding system of claim 1, wherein the hollow part is
located on the protruding part, where the surface facing the object
to be fed of the main body is higher than the surface facing the
object to be fed of the protruding part.
3. The object-feeding system of claim 1, wherein the hollow part is
located on the main body, where the surface facing the object to be
fed of the main body is lower than the surface facing the object to
be fed of the protruding part.
4. The object-feeding system of claim 1, wherein the hollow part is
located between the protruding part and the main body.
5. The object-feeding system of claim 1, further comprising an
object isolating device revolvably connected to the protruding
part, wherein the object isolating device is located at a first
location to isolate the object to be loaded by the tray part and
the object separating ramp if the object-feeding system is in a
non-feeding situation, and the object isolating device revolves
from the first location to a second location such that the object
to be fed can be fed if the object-feeding system is in a feeding
situation.
6. The object-feeding system of claim 1, wherein the pickup roller
has a normal force self-compensation structure.
7. An object-feeding system, comprising: an object feeder,
comprising: an object separating ramp, placed along an object
feeding direction; and a tray part, for loading at least an object
to be fed, including: a main body; and a protruding portion,
sticking out from the main body and connected to the object
separating ramp, wherein the protruding portion and the main body
form a hollow part; and an elastic supporting device, located above
the hollow part; and a pickup roller, for feeding the object by
rolling, wherein the hollow part and the pickup roller are
respectively located at two sides of the object and the pickup
roller is located above the hollow part.
8. The object-feeding system of claim 7, wherein the hollow part is
located on the protruding part, where the surface facing the object
to be fed of the main body is higher than the surface facing the
object to be fed of the protruding part.
9. The object-feeding system of claim 7, wherein the hollow part is
located on the main body, where the surface facing the object to be
fed of the main body is lower than the surface facing the object to
be fed of the protruding part.
10. The object-feeding system of claim 7, wherein the hollow part
is located between the protruding part and the main body.
11. The object-feeding system of claim 7, further comprising an
object isolating device, revolvably connected to the protruding
part, wherein the object isolating device is located at a first
location to isolate the object to be loaded by the tray part and
the object separating ramp if the object-feeding system is in a
non-feeding situation, and the object isolating device revolves
from the first location to a second location such that the object
to be fed can be fed if the object-feeding system is in a feeding
situation.
12. The object-feeding system of claim 7, wherein the elastic
supporting device comprises: a supporting board; and an elastic
device, with two ends respectively connected to the supporting
board and the protruding part to provide an elastic force to the
supporting board.
13. The object-feeding system of claim 12, wherein the elastic
device is a spring.
14. The object-feeding system of claim 7, wherein the pickup roller
has a normal force self-compensation structure.
15. An object-feeding system, comprising: an object feeder,
comprising: an object separating ramp, placed along an object
feeding direction; and a tray part, comprising: a first tray,
connected to the object separating ramp; and a second tray, located
on the first tray, for loading at least one object to be fed,
wherein the second tray is made of elastic material; and a pickup
roller, for feeding the object by rolling.
16. The object-feeding system of claim 15, further comprising an
object isolating device revolvably connected to the protruding
part, wherein the object isolating device is located at a first
location to isolate the object to be loaded by the tray part and
the object separating ramp if the object-feeding system is in a
non-feeding situation, and the object isolating device revolves
from the first location to a second location such that the object
to be fed can be fed if the object-feeding system is in a feeding
situation.
17. The object-feeding system of claim 15, wherein the pickup
roller has a normal force self-compensation structure.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an object feeder, and
particularly relates to an object feeder with a tray part having a
function for automatically adjusting the angle of paper
feeding.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Paper feeders are widely used in various kinds of office
machines such as copy machines, printers or fax machines. Their
function is to transmit the papers one by one to a processing
device such as a print module to ensure continuing procession.
[0005] Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram
illustrating a prior art paper feeder 100. The paper feeder 100
includes a paper object separating ramp 110 and a tray part 120.
Normally, the paper feeder 100 is designed so that the pickup
roller 130 only catches one paper at a time. Normal force N occurs
while the pickup roller 130 contacts the papers, and the
possibility of also catching the next paper is increased, i.e.
multi-feeding can occur if N is large enough to provide a
frictional force to the next paper. On the other hand, misfeeding
may occur if the normal force N is too small. Prior art paper
feeders always utilize normal force ACM
(auto-compensated-mechanism) to prevent such problems from
occurring.
[0006] Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram
illustrating the relation between N/P (the ratio between normal
force N and paper picking force P) and paper stacking height h. In
the prior art, N/P is proportional to d-h (where d indicates the
distance between a hub 132 of an ACM structure and the tray part
120). Thus, if d is fixed and h increases, N/P will decrease. As
shown in FIG. 2, N/P is inversely proportional to h. N/P is 0.55
and 0.9 respectively if h is 15 mm and 0 mm (the height of only one
paper). That is, the normal force from the ACM structure when h=0
mm is 1.6 times the normal force from the ACM when h=15 mm if the
paper picking force P is the same. In other words, normal force N
is inversely proportional to paper height h, but a larger normal
force N provides a larger frictional force to the next paper and
the possibility for multi-feeding is increased. The paper
separating ramp should provide suitable resistance to prevent such
multi-feeding from occurring.
[0007] Please refer to FIG. 1 again. As can be seen, the force from
the paper separating ramp 110 to the front edges of papers (the
frictional force) prevents the next paper from also being fed. The
frictional force depends on the ramp angle .theta., paper weight
and the frictional coefficient .mu. between the front edges of
papers and the ramp. The larger the ramp angle .theta., the smaller
the resistant force to the paper. On the other hand, the smaller
the ramp angle .theta., the larger the resistant force to the
paper. Also, the larger the friction coefficient .mu., the larger
the resistant force to the paper. According to the prior art, the
threshold value of .mu. for feeding papers smoothly is .mu.=tan
(.psi.-.pi./2). Thus, the paper can be fed smoothly if the angle
between the paper separating ramp and the paper reaches the
threshold angle .psi.. For papers with larger weight, the
probability for multi-feeding is increased if the angle is too
large, and mis-feeding or a paper jam may happen if the angle is
too small. Thus, the paper feeder design becomes more complex.
[0008] The paper separating method applied to self-compensation
mechanism can be classified into three groups as detailed
below:
[0009] (1) As shown in FIG. 1, the paper separating ramp is
designed to have flexibility and the paper separating face can
compensate the paper entering angle corresponding to the paper
weight. The paper with a larger weight will press the ramp (to the
left) to generate a larger paper entering angle to decrease the
resistant force. In practice, if a user places papers by utilizing
too large a force, the ramp may be pressed, affecting the initial
entering angle due to the force from the user even when
light-weighted papers are utilized, thus the compensating function
may be useless.
[0010] (2) U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,821 discloses an apparatus for
compensating resistant force for papers of different weight by
controlling the location of the paper separating ramp 110.
Therefore, for papers with larger weight, the paper separating ramp
110 is located far from a paper pickup device, and for papers with
smaller weight, the paper separating ramp 110 is located near the
paper pickup device. Such a kind of apparatus is too complicated,
however, and the user must determine the weight of papers and
control the location of the paper separating ramp 110 manually if
the compensation mechanism is desired to be applied.
[0011] (3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,040 discloses an apparatus with a
paper separating ramp 110 having a buckling device with a
comparatively large frictional coefficient value such that a paper
can be separated from another paper due to buckling force during
pick-up. Also, the buckling device has flexibility such that the
paper head of papers of large weight push the buckling device
flexibly. Afterwards, the paper separating operation is performed
by the ramp with a comparatively low frictional coefficient,
thereby the mis-feed or jam due to insufficient twist force
provided by the self-compensation structure can be avoided.
[0012] One of the objectives of the present invention is to solve
the problem where the ratio between the normal force N and
picking-up force P will be too high if the stacking height of
papers is low such that multi-feeding occurs. Another objective of
the present invention is to provide a paper separating structure to
prevent a next paper from being fed due to frictional force between
the papers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention provides an object feeding system for
providing a buffering space between the pickup roller and the
hollow part while the pickup roller picks up papers to decrease a
necessary normal force when the stacking height of papers is low
(that is, the ratio between the normal force N and the paper
catching force P). Also, the paper entering angle between the paper
and ramp can be compensated according to the normal force to solve
the above-mentioned problem by achieving the effect of buckling
paper separating.
[0014] The present invention provides an object-feeding system. The
feeding system includes an object feeder and a pickup roller. The
object feeder includes an object separating ramp and a tray part.
The object separating ramp is placed along an object feeding
direction. The tray part is for loading at least an object to be
fed, and the tray part includes a main body and a protruding
portion sticking out from the main body and connected to the object
separating ramp, wherein the protruding portion constitutes a
hollow with this main body situated in the hollow. The pickup
roller is for feeding the object by rolling, wherein the hollow and
the pickup roller are located at separate two sides of the object
and the pickup roller is located above the hollow.
[0015] The present invention also provides an object-feeding system
comprising an object feeder and a pickup roller. The object feeder
comprises: an object separating ramp, placed along an object
feeding direction; a tray part, for loading at least an object to
be fed and an elastic supporting device, located above a hollow.
The tray part includes a main body; and a protruding portion,
sticking out from the main body and connected to the object
separating ramp, wherein the protruding portion and the main body
form a hollow part. The pickup roller is used for feeding the
object by rolling, wherein the hollow part and the pickup roller
are respectively located at two sides of the object and the pickup
roller is located above the hollow part.
[0016] The present invention also provides an object-feeding system
comprising an object feeder and a pickup roller. The object feeder
comprises an object separating ramp placed along an object feeding
direction and a tray part. The tray part includes a first tray
connected to the object separating ramp; and a second tray located
on the first tray, for loading at least one object to be fed,
wherein the second tray is made of elastic material. The pickup
roller is used for feeding the object by rolling.
[0017] These and other objectives of the present invention will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art paper
feeder.
[0019] FIG. 2 is the ratio between the normal force and paper
picking force corresponding to paper height.
[0020] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeding
system according to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, comprising an object feeder according to a first
embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the paper picking
operation of the object feeding system shown in FIG. 3.
[0022] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of
the object isolating device.
[0023] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an object feeder
according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system according to a preferred
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the object
feeding system 200 comprises an object feeder 300, a pickup roller
210 and an object to be fed 330 (ex: a paper). The object feeder
300 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 comprises an
object separating ramp 310, a tray part 320 and an object isolating
device 360, wherein the object separating ramp 310 is placed along
an object feeding direction for the object to be fed 330; and the
tray part 320 is used for loading at least an object to be fed 330.
As shown in FIG. 3, the tray part 320 includes a main body 322 and
a protruding portion 324. The protruding portion 324 sticks out
from the main body 322 and connects to the object separating ramp
310, and the protruding portion 324 and the main body 322 form a
hollow part 350. In the present embodiment, the hollow part 350 is
located on the protruding part 324, where a first surface 325
facing the object to be fed 330 of the main body 322 is higher than
a second surface 323 facing the object to be fed of the protruding
part 324. Furthermore, the pickup roller 210 has a normal force
self-compensation structure for feeding the object to be fed 330 by
rolling. Also, the hollow part 350 and the pickup roller 210 are
respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed 330, and
the pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 350.
[0033] It should be noted that since the first surface 325 is
higher than the second surface 323 while the object to be fed 330
is located in the object feeder 300, the front edge part of the
object to be fed 330 tilts down in the direction from the main body
322 to the protruding part 324. Thus the object feeder 300 is
separated from a first object surface 332 located above the first
face 325 and a second object surface 334 located above the second
face 323.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 3, the pickup roller 210 presses down to
touch the second object surface 334 while the pickup roller 210
starts to operate. The distance D between the hub 212 and tray part
320 of the pickup roller 210 is smaller than the distance d in the
prior art. Thus, the ratio N/P between normal force N and paper
picking force P will decrease such that the problem of a too large
normal force N due to a high N/P value from low stacking height of
papers is removed.
[0035] Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram
illustrating the paper picking operation of the object feeding
system shown in FIG. 3. The angle between the object separating
ramp 310 and the second object surface 334 is .theta. having a
relatively small value such that the object separating ramp 310
provides more resistance to an object head 335, and the pickup
roller 210 should provide extra normal force to press the object to
be fed 330 down. At the same time, the second object surface 334
suffers the pressure from the pickup roller 210 to generate
deformation, and the second object surface 334 generates shift. As
shown in FIG. 4, an angle .psi. is formed between the object
separating ramp 310 and the shifted second object surface 334. The
object to be fed 330 can be smoothly picked up from the pickup
roller 210 if the pickup roller 210 keeps pressing down to
continuously increase the angle between the object separating ramp
310 and the shifted second object surface 334 to reach
.mu.=tan(.psi.-.pi./2). In this case, the curving operation of the
object to be fed 330 is similar to the buckling effect shown in the
prior art (3) and the function of paper separating can thereby be
reached.
[0036] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of
the object isolating device 360 shown in FIG. 3. The object
isolating device 360 is revolvably connected to the protruding part
324, and is located at a first location 362 vertical to the tray
part 320 to isolate the object to be fed 330 and the object
separating ramp 310 while the object feeder 300 is pulled out from
a machine body (not illustrated). Additionally, a protruding lump
370 pushes a bottom 366 of the object isolating device 360 out if
the object feeder 300 is pushed into the main body of the machine,
and a top 368 of the object isolating device 360 revolves to a
second location 364 in an anti-clockwise direction to allow the
object 330 to be fed. Therefore the object to be fed 330 will not
contact the object separating ramp 310, such that the limitation is
decreased and the shape-changing ability of the paper is increased.
In turn, the demand for motor torque during paper picking process
is decreased and the damage due to the curing of the object header
335 is also decreased.
[0037] Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 601 according to a second
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the object
feeding system 601 comprises an object feeder 600 and a pickup
roller 210. The object feeder 600 comprises an object separating
ramp 610, a tray part 620 and an object isolating device 660,
wherein the object separating ramp 610 is placed along an object
feeding direction, and the tray part 620 is used for loading at
least an object to be fed (not illustrated). As shown in FIG. 6,
the tray part 620 includes a main body 622, a protruding portion
624 and an elastic supporting device 626. The protruding portion
624 sticks out from the main body 622 and connects to the object
separating ramp 610, and the protruding portion 624 and the main
body 622 form a hollow part 650. In the present embodiment, the
hollow part 650 is located on the protruding part 624, where a
surface facing the object to be fed of the main body 622 is higher
than a surface facing the object to be fed of the protruding part
624. In the present embodiment, the elastic supporting device 626
is located on the surface facing the object to be fed of the
protruding part 624 and the protruding part 624 comprises a
supporting board 627 and an elastic device 629, for example, a
string, with two ends respectively connected to the supporting
board 627 and the protruding part 624 to provide an elastic force
to the supporting board 627. Furthermore, the pickup roller 210 has
a normal force self-compensation structure to feed the object to be
fed by rolling. Also, the hollow part 650 and the pickup roller 210
are respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed, and
the pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 650. The
operation of the object feeding system 601 is similar to that of
the object feeding system 200. That is, the pickup roller will
press down the object to be fed and the supporting board 627
jointly to curve the object to be fed, and a detailed description
therefore omitted for brevity.
[0038] Please refer to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 701 according to a third
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the object
feeding system 701 comprises an object feeder 700 and a pickup
roller 210. The object feeder 700 comprises an object separating
ramp 710, a tray part 720 and an object isolating device 760,
wherein the object separating ramp 710 is placed along an object
feeding direction, and the tray part 720 is used for loading at
least an object to be fed (not illustrated). The tray part 720
comprises: a first tray 722, connected to the object separating
ramp 710; and a second tray 724, located on the first tray 722, for
loading at least one object to be fed, wherein the second tray is
made of elastic material such as a spongy material. In this
embodiment, the object feeding system 701 also uses the same paper
separating operation as the object feeding system 200, that is, the
pickup roller will press down the object to be fed and the second
tray 724 jointly to curve the object to be fed.
[0039] Please refer to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 801 according to a fourth
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the object
feeding system 801 comprises an object feeder 800 and a pickup
roller 210. The object feeder 800 comprises an object separating
ramp 810, a tray part 820 and an object isolating device 860,
wherein the object separating ramp 810 is placed along an object
feeding direction, and the tray part 820 is used for loading at
least an object to be fed (not illustrated). The tray part 820
comprises: a main body 822, a protruding portion 824, and an
elastic supporting device 825. The protruding portion 824 sticks
out from the main body 822 and connects to the object separating
ramp 810. The protruding portion 824 and the main body 825 form the
hollow part 850. In this embodiment, the hollow part 850 is located
on the protruding part 824, and the elastic supporting device 825
is made of elastic material such as a spongy material.
Additionally, the pickup roller 210 has a normal force
self-compensation structure to feed the object to be fed by
rolling. Also, the hollow part 850 and the pickup roller 210 are
respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed, and the
pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 850. The
operation of the object feeding system 801 is similar to that of
the object feeding system 701, the main difference being that the
object feeder 800 does not provide a full layer of elastic material
on the tray part 820. Since the pickup roller 210 only touches the
front region of the object to be fed 330, as shown in FIG. 3, the
elastic material just needs to be provided below the pickup roller
210 to perform the paper separating function.
[0040] Please refer to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 901 according to a fifth
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the object
feeding system 901 comprises an object feeder 900 and a pickup
roller 210. The object feeder 900 comprises an object separating
ramp 910, a tray part 920 and an object isolating device 960,
wherein the object separating ramp 910 is placed along an object
feeding direction, and the tray part 920 is used for loading at
least an object to be fed 930. The tray part 920 comprises: a main
body 922 and a protruding portion 924. The protruding portion 924
sticks out from the main body 922 and connects to the object
separating ramp 910. The protruding portion 924 and the main body
922 form a hollow part 950. In the present embodiment, the hollow
part 950 is located on the main body 922, where a first surface 925
facing the object to be fed 930 of the main body 922 is higher than
a second surface 923 facing the object to be fed 930 of the
protruding part 924. Additionally, the pickup roller 210 has a
normal force self-compensation structure to feed the object to be
fed 930 by rolling. Also, the hollow part 950 and the pickup roller
210 are respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed
930, and the pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part
950.
[0041] The operation of the object feeding system 901 is similar to
the object feeding system 200. It should be noted that there is no
apparent difference between the distance D (the distance between
the hub 212 of the pickup roller 210 and the tray part 920) and the
distance d of the prior art. Thus, according to FIG. 2, the ratio
N/P between the normal force N and paper picking force P cannot be
improved, but there is still compensation for the paper entering
angle while picking up papers.
[0042] Please refer to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 1001 according to a sixth
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10, the
object feeding system 1001 comprises an object feeder 1000 and a
pickup roller 210. The object feeder 1000 comprises an object
separating ramp 1010, a tray part 1020 and an object isolating
device 1060, wherein the object separating ramp 1010 is placed
along an object feeding direction, and the tray part 1020 is used
for loading at least an object to be fed (not illustrated). As
shown in FIG. 10, the tray part 1020 includes a main body 1022, and
a protruding portion 1024. The protruding portion 1024 sticks out
from the main body 1022 and connects to the object separating ramp
1010, and a hollow part 1050 is formed on the main body 1022. The
elastic supporting device 1026 is located on the surface of the
hollow part 1050 facing the object to be fed, and the elastic
supporting device 1026 comprises a supporting board 1027 and an
elastic device 1029. The elastic device 1029, for example a string,
has two ends respectively connected to the supporting board 1027
and the protruding part 1024 to provide an elastic force to the
supporting board 1027. Furthermore, the pickup roller 210 has a
normal force self-compensation structure to feed the object to be
fed by rolling. Also, the hollow part 1050 and the pickup roller
210 are respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed,
and the pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 1050.
The paper separating operation of the object feeding system 1001 is
similar to that of the object feeding system 901, that is, the
pickup roller will press down the object to be fed and the
supporting board 1027 jointly to curve the object to be fed, thus
it is omitted for brevity.
[0043] Please refer to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 1101 according to a seventh
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the
object feeding system 1101 comprises an object feeder 1100 and a
pickup roller 210. The object feeder 1100 comprises an object
separating ramp 1110, a tray part 1120 and an object isolating
device 1160, wherein the object separating ramp 1110 is placed
along an object feeding direction, and the tray part 1120 is used
for loading at least an object to be fed (not illustrated). In this
embodiment, the tray part 1120 includes a main body 1122, a
protruding portion 1124, and an elastic supporting device 1125. The
protruding portion 1124 sticks out from the main body 1122 and
connects to the object separating ramp 1110, and a hollow part 1150
is formed on the main body 1122. The elastic supporting device 1125
is located on the surface of the hollow part 1150 facing the object
to be fed, and the elastic supporting device 1125 is made of
elastic material such as a spongy material. Furthermore, the pickup
roller 210 has a normal force self-compensation structure to feed
the object to be fed by rolling. Also, the hollow part 1150 and the
pickup roller 210 are respectively located at two sides of the
object to be fed, and the pickup roller 210 is located above the
hollow part 1150. The paper separating operation of the object
feeding system 1101 is similar to that of the object feeding system
910, and thus is omitted for brevity.
[0044] Please refer to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 1201 according to an eighth
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the
object feeding system 1201 comprises an object feeder 1200 and a
pickup roller 210. The object feeder 1200 comprises an object
separating ramp 1210, a tray part 1220 and an object isolating
device 1260, wherein the object separating ramp 1210 is placed
along an object feeding direction, and the tray part 1220 is used
for loading at least an object to be fed (not illustrated). The
tray part 1220 includes a main body 1222, and a protruding portion
1224. The protruding portion 1224 sticks out from the main body
1222 and connects to the object separating ramp 1210. In this
embodiment, the main body 1222 and the protruding portion 1224 form
the hollow part 1250. Additionally, the pickup roller 210 has a
normal force self-compensation structure to feed the object to be
fed by rolling. Also, the hollow part 1250 and the pickup roller
210 are respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed,
and the pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 1250.
The operation of the object feeding system 1201 is similar to that
of the object feeding system 910, and thus is omitted for
brevity.
[0045] Please refer to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 1301 according to a ninth
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 13, the
object feeding system 1301 comprises an object feeder 1300 and a
pickup roller 210. The object feeder 1300 comprises an object
separating ramp 1310, a tray part 1320 and an object isolating
device 1360, wherein the object separating ramp 1310 is placed
along an object feeding direction, and the tray part 1320 is used
for loading at least an object to be fed (not illustrated). The
tray part 1320 includes a main body 1322, a protruding portion
1324. The protruding portion 1324 sticks out from the main body
1322 and connects to the object separating ramp 1310, and the main
body 1222 and the protruding part 1224 form a hollow part 1350. The
elastic supporting device 1326 is located on the surface of the
hollow part 1350 facing the object to be fed, and the elastic
supporting device 1326 comprises a supporting board 1327 and an
elastic device 1329. The elastic device 1329, for example, a
string, has two ends respectively connected to the supporting board
1327 and the protruding part 1324 to provide an elastic force to
the supporting board 1327.
[0046] Furthermore, the pickup roller 210 has a normal force
self-compensation structure to feed the object to be fed by
rolling. Also, the hollow part 1350 and the pickup roller 210 are
respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed, and the
pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 1350. The paper
separating operation of the object feeding system 1301 is similar
to that of the object feeding system 901, that is, the pickup
roller will press down the object to be fed and the supporting
board 1327 jointly to curve the object to be fed, thus it is
omitted for brevity. In this embodiment, flexible material such as
a film can be located above the hollow part 1350 for connecting the
main body 1322 and the protruding part 1324 to substitute for the
supporting board 1327 and the elastic device 1329.
[0047] Please refer to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram
illustrating an object feeding system 1401 according to a tenth
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the
object feeding system 1401 comprises an object feeder 1400 and a
pickup roller 210. The object feeder 1400 comprises an object
separating ramp 1410, and a tray part 1420, wherein the object
separating ramp 1410 is placed along an object feeding direction,
and the tray part 1420 is used for loading at least an object to be
fed (not illustrated). The tray part 1420 includes a main body
1422, a protruding portion 1424 and an elastic supporting device
1425. The protruding portion 1420 sticks out from the main body
1422 and connects to the object separating ramp 1410. In this
embodiment, the hollow part 1450 is located between the main body
1222 and the protruding portion 1224 and the elastic supporting
device 1425 is made of elastic material such as a spongy material.
Additionally, the pickup roller 210 has a normal force
self-compensation structure to feed the object to be fed by
rolling. Also, the hollow part 1450 and the pickup roller 210 are
respectively located at two sides of the object to be fed, and the
pickup roller 210 is located above the hollow part 1450. The paper
separating operation of the object feeding system 1401 is similar
to that of the object feeding system 910, and thus is omitted for
brevity.
[0048] It should be noted that the object isolating device is not
necessary and the object feeding system can still operate without
the object separating device. Additionally, the first embodiment is
only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not a
limitation of the scope of the disclosed system. The object feeding
system with a pickup roller having a buffer region below for
performing paper separating function also falls in the scope of the
present invention.
[0049] The present invention provides an object feeding system for
providing a buffering space between the pickup roller and a hollow
part while the pickup roller picking up papers to decrease a
necessary normal force when the stacking height of papers is low
(that is, the ratio between the normal force N and the paper
catching force P). Also, the paper entering angle between the paper
and ramp can be compensated according to the normal force to solve
the above-mentioned problems by achieving the effect of buckling
paper separating.
[0050] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
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