Patent ID: 8308159

Claim:
An apparatus for aligning a media sheet, comprising: a support; a sheet feed system for transporting the media sheet along a plane of a media feed path in a media feed direction; and an alignment assembly rotatably coupled to the support and positioned to intersect the media feed path, the alignment assembly applying an aligning force to the media sheet being transported, the alignment assembly comprising: a deflectable member having a plurality of sets of arms extending therefrom into the plane of the media feed path, each set of arms comprised of at least two spaced apart and aligned arms, each of the at least two arms has a contact surface defining a plane unique to each set of arms wherein contact between each of the at least two arms and the media sheet being transported aligns the media to the plane of the at least two arms; and a biasing member coupled between the deflectable member and the support, the biasing member for providing the aligning force in a direction opposite the media feed direction; wherein the transported media sheet exerts a media engagement force against the at least two arms of a set, aligning the transported media sheet, and when the media engagement force exceeds the aligning force, the transported media sheet deflects the deflectable member and passes the alignment assembly.