Feeder mechanism with adjustable pickup heads

Abstract

In a sheet feeder apparatus, a feeder mechanism for picking up sheets from a stack of sheets of a material includes a support bar, at least one pickup head, and an adjuster. The support bar includes cylindrical ends and an intermediate portion between the cylindrical ends. The cylindrical ends are configured to pivotally couple to control arms of the sheet feeder apparatus. The pickup heads are coupled to the intermediate portion of the support bar and an adjuster is coupled to the support bar at one of the cylindrical ends. The adjuster includes a bracket coupled to the intermediate portion of the support bar, a pivot arm selectively pivotable about the cylindrical end of the support bar, and an adjustment mechanism coupled between the bracket and the pivot arm. The adjustment mechanism pivots the support bar relative to the pivot arm to thereby tilt the pickup heads.

1 . In a sheet feeder apparatus, a feeder mechanism for picking up sheets from a stack of sheets comprising:
 a support bar configured to pivotally couple to control arms of said sheet feeder apparatus, said support bar including a first end, a second end, and an intermediate portion between said first and second ends, at least one of said first and second ends being a cylindrical end;   a pickup head coupled to said support bar at said intermediate portion; and   an adjuster coupled to said support bar at said cylindrical end, said adjuster being configured to pivot said support bar to tilt said pickup head; wherein said adjuster comprises:   a bracket fixedly coupled to said intermediate portion of said support bar;   a pivot arm coupled to said cylindrical end of said support bar, said pivot arm being selectively pivotable about said cylindrical end of said support bar; and   an adjustment mechanism coupled between said bracket and said pivot arm and adapted to pivot said support bar relative to said pivot arm and thereby tilt said pickup head, said adjustment mechanism including a post and a fastener, said post being in fixed engagement with said pivot arm, said post being displaced away from and aligned substantially parallel to said support bar, said fastener being engaged with each of said bracket and said post, and said fastener being oriented substantially perpendicular to said support bar, wherein one of said bracket and said post includes a threaded opening, said fastener is a threaded fastener that extends through said threaded opening, and rotation of said threaded fastener in a first direction draws said bracket toward said post to cause said pickup head to tilt in a sheet transport direction of said sheet feeder apparatus, and rotation of said threaded fastener in a direction opposite to said first direction urges said bracket away from said post to cause said pickup head to tilt in a direction opposite to said sheet transport direction.   
     
     
         2 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  wherein:
 a longitudinal axis of said support bar is arranged perpendicular to a sheet transport direction of said sheet feeder apparatus; 
 said pickup head is suspended below said support bar and configured to be driven into contact with successive ones of said sheets; and 
 said adjuster pivots said support bar about said longitudinal axis to selectively tilt said pickup head in a plane extending substantially vertically and in said sheet transport direction. 
 
     
     
         3 - 5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said threaded fastener includes an adjustment knob for manual rotation of said threaded fastener. 
     
     
         7 . In a sheet feeder apparatus, a feeder mechanism for picking up sheets from a stack of sheets comprising:
 a support bar configured to pivotally couple to control arms of said sheet feeder apparatus, said support bar including a first end, a second end, and an intermediate portion between said first and second ends, at least one of said first and second ends being a cylindrical end;   a pickup head coupled to said support bar at said intermediate portion; and   an adjuster coupled to said support bar at said cylindrical end, said adjuster being configured to pivot said support bar to tilt said pickup head wherein said adjuster comprises:
 a bracket fixedly coupled to said intermediate portion of said support bar; 
 a pivot arm coupled to said cylindrical end of said support bar, said pivot arm being selectively pivotable about said cylindrical end of said support bar; and 
 an adjustment mechanism coupled between said bracket and said pivot arm and adapted to pivot said support bar relative to said pivot arm and thereby tilt said pickup head, wherein said adjustment mechanism includes a post, a fastener, and a spring element, said post being in fixed engagement with said pivot arm, said post being displaced away from and aligned substantially parallel to said support bar, said fastener being engaged with each of said bracket and said post, said fastener being oriented substantially perpendicular to said support bar, and said spring element residing on said fastener and interposed between said bracket and said post. 
   
     
     
         8 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  further comprising multiple pickup heads coupled to said support bar at said intermediate portion, said pickup head being one of said multiple pickup heads, wherein pivoting said support bar concurrently tilts each of said pickup heads. 
     
     
         9 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said pickup head is in non-pivotable engagement with said support bar. 
     
     
         10 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said intermediate portion of said support bar has a generally rectangular cross section. 
     
     
         11 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said pickup head is lengthwise displaceable along said support bar. 
     
     
         12 . A feeder mechanism as claimed in  claim 1  further comprising multiple pickup heads coupled to said support bar at said intermediate portion, said pickup head being one of said multiple pickup heads, and each of said multiple pickup heads being individually lengthwise displaceable along said support bar. 
     
     
         13 - 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . In a sheet feeder apparatus, a feeder mechanism for picking up sheets from a stack of sheets comprising:
 a support bar configured to pivotally couple to control arms of said sheet feeder apparatus, said support bar including a first end, a second end, and an intermediate portion between said first and second ends, at least one of said first and second ends being a cylindrical end;   multiple pickup heads coupled to said support bar at said intermediate portion; and   an adjuster coupled to said support bar at said cylindrical end, said adjuster being configured to pivot said support bar to concurrently tilt each of said pickup heads, said adjuster including:
 a bracket fixedly coupled to said intermediate portion of said support bar; 
 a pivot arm coupled to said cylindrical end of said support bar, said pivot arm being selectively pivotable about said cylindrical end of said support bar; and 
 an adjustment mechanism coupled between said bracket and said pivot arm and adapted to pivot said support bar relative to said pivot arm and thereby tilt said each of said pickup heads, said adjustment mechanism including a post and a fastener, said post being in fixed engagement with said pivot arm, said post being displaced away from and aligned substantially parallel to said support bar, said fastener being engaged with each of said bracket and said post, and said fastener being oriented substantially perpendicular said support bar; wherein one of said bracket and said post includes a threaded opening, said fastener is a threaded fastener that extends through said threaded opening, and rotation of said threaded fastener in a first direction draws said bracket toward said post to cause said each of said pickup heads to tilt in a sheet transport direction of said sheet feeder apparatus, and rotation of said threaded fastener in a direction opposite to said first direction urges said bracket away from said post to cause said pickup head to tilt in a direction opposite to said sheet transport direction. 
   
     
     
         20 . (canceled)