Patent ID: 6536758
Filing Date: 2003-03-25
Classification: B41J,B65H

Abstract:
A card feeder assembly including:a hopper for storing a stack of cards to be fed, each card having a thickness; a card drive for urging an end card of the stack from the hopper, said card drive being driven to move cards in a first direction and forming a support plane for the end card in the stack; a wall of said hopper having an outlet opening therethrough aligned with the end card and through which the end card is fed when driven by the card drive; a control gate slidably mounted relative to the outlet opening and having a flexible blade that reduces a height of the outlet opening to less than a thickness of the end card, whereby the flexible blade flexes in response to the end card when driven through the outlet opening; and a cam operator for changing the position of the control gate to adjust the height of the outlet opening.