Patent ID: 7578503
Filing Date: 2009-08-25
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
1. A variable pressure, belt-driven sheet registration system for use in a sheet handling device, comprising: a series of parallel driven belts, each belt being mounted on a drive roller and an idler roller, said drive rollers being fixedly mounted on a common drive shaft for rotation thereby, said idler rollers being rotatably mounted on separate idler shafts that are coaxially aligned and parallel to said common drive shaft, adjacent idler shafts being flexibly interconnected; said idler rollers and driven belts thereon being cantilevered from and pivoted about said common drive shaft, so that a gravitational force on said idler rollers provides a normal pressure on said driven belts that contact incoming sheets to be registered thereby, thus generating a frictional force by said driven belts to enable said driven belts to register said incoming sheets against a registration wall; a first stepper motor being connected to said common drive shaft for rotation thereof; at least one frame for said driven belts with said common drive shaft being rotatably mounted therein; at least one eccentric cam being attached to a cam shaft and said cam shaft being driven by a second stepper motor for rotation of said at least one eccentric cam; at least one spring being connected between said at least one cam and said at least one frame; and a controller for actuating said second stepper motor to rotate said at least one cam in response to sheet media parameters and cause a spring force to be generated by said at least one spring that selectively varies said normal pressure on said idler rollers and thus varies the frictional force of said driven belts.