Patent ID: 6055410
Filing Date: 2000-04-25
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
In an electrostatographic printing apparatus having at least one vertical transport path for transporting sheets from sheet-feeding cassettes along a first curvature toward an image reproducing section therein, a bypass/stack sheet-feeding system configuration comprising:a sheet-loading tray capable of bearing a stacked supply of sheets;tray drawer rails flanking said sheet-loading tray in a sheet-feeding direction thereof;drawer tracks disposed in a casing of the eletrostatographic printing apparatus for guiding said tray drawer rails;a sheet-feeding pickup roller on a driven rotator shaft supported on said sheet-loading tray for drawing out sheets loaded thereon;a pressing mechanism in the front end of said sheet-loading tray for pressing endwise sheets loaded thereon against said sheet-feeding pickup roller;a bypass sheet-transport path disposed in the electrostatographic printing apparatus casing adjacent a leading end in the sheet-feeding direction of said sheet-loading tray for transporting sheets from said sheet-loading tray to the image reproducing section; andsheet-feed plying rollers for sequentially plying into said bypass sheet transport path sheets drawn out by said sheet-feeding pickup roller; whereinsaid bypass sheet-transport path curves from said sheet-feed plying rollers upward along a second curvature toward the image reproducing section larger than the first curvature.