Feed assist assembly
View Patent ↗A media feedpath having a feed assist roller, comprises a media feedpath having a C-shaped portion, a media input and a feed roll nip, an input roller feeding media from the media input, a feed assist roller downstream of the C-shaped portion of the media feedpath, the feed assist roller assisting media indexing through the media feedpath on a single side and without an opposed pinch roller, the feed roll nip having a driven roller and a feed roll pinch roll opposite the driven roll, the feed assist roller being driven by a toggle gear transmission from the driven roller of the feed roll nip, the gear train adapted for toggling to operably engage or disengage the feed assist roller depending on a driving direction of the driven roller of the feed roll nip.
1. A media feedpath having a nipless feed assist assembly, comprising:
a media feedpath having a C-shaped portion, a media input and a feed roller nip;
an input roller feeding media from said media input;
a nipless feed assist roller downstream of said C-shaped portion of said media feedpath, said feed assist roller assisting media indexing through said media feedpath on a single side and without an opposed pinch roller;
said feed roller nip having a driven roller and a feed roller pinch roller opposite said driven roller;
said nipless feed assist roller being driven by a toggle gear transmission from said driven roller of said feed roller nip; and
said toggle gear transmission adapted for toggling to operably engage or disengage said nipless feed assist roller depending on a driving direction of said driven roller of said feed roller nip.
2. The media feedpath of claim 1 , said nipless feed assist roller spaced from a wall of said media feedpath allowing passage of media there between when said media is driven by said input roller.
3. The media feedpath of claim 1 , said feed roller nip pulling said media against said nipless feed assist roller.
4. The media feedpath of claim 1 , said toggle gear transmission engaging said nipless feed assist roller when said driven roller rotates in a forward direction.
5. The media feedpath of claim 4 , said toggle gear transmission disengaging said nipless feed assist roller when said driven roller rotates in a reverse direction.
6. The media feedpath of claim 1 , said toggle gear transmission being a gear train.
7. The media feedpath of claim 1 further comprising a gear generally connected to said nipless feed assist roller for engaging said gear train.
8. The media feedpath of claim 1 wherein said media feedpath is a simplex feedpath.
9. The media feedpath of claim 1 wherein said media feedpath is a duplex feedpath.
10. A feed assist media feedpath assembly, comprising:
a media feedpath having a media input, a C-shaped portion downstream of said media input, and a feed nip downstream of said C-shaped portion;
a nipless feed assist roller positioned between said C-shaped portion and said feed nip for feeding media;
said nipless feed assist roller being over-driven relative to a driven roller of said feed roller nip; and
a toggle gear train assembly driving said feed assist roller in a forward direction or disengaging said nipless feed assist roller when said driven roller is reversed.
11. The feed assist media feedpath of claim 10 , said nipless feed assist roller creating a load buffer in said media between said nipless feed assist roller and said feed roller nip.
12. The feed assist media feedpath of claim 11 , said load buffer being a slight buckle in said media for reducing resistive forces on said nipless feed roller nip.
13. The feed assist media feedpath of claim 10 , said media feedpath comprising a simplex feedpath portion.
14. The feed assist media feedpath of claim 13 , said media feedpath further comprising a duplex feedpath portion.
15. The feed assist media feedpath of claim 10 , said nipless feed assist roller disposed at a junction between said simplex path and said duplex path.
16. A nipless feed assist assembly for a media feedpath, comprising:
a media feedpath having a simplex portion and a feed roller;
a nipless feed assist roller disposed along said feedpath;
a toggle gear train assembly driven by a feed roller gear, said toggle gear train assembly movable between a first position engaging a feed assist gear for driving said feed assist roller and a second position disengaging said feed assist gear; and
said nipless feed assist roller frictionally engaging media in order to assist movement of media through said media feedpath and overdriven relative to said feed roller to provide a load buffer at said nipless feed assist roller.