Appeal No. 97-2904
Application 08/565,457
Appellant’s invention relates to a sheet-advancing
apparatus (claims 1, 2 and 4 through 7) and to a printing
machine (claims 8, 9 and 11 through 14). Claims 1 and 8, which
are the only independent claims on appeal, both call for a
transport (70), a controller (95) and means (100-103) for
sensing a sheet advancing on the transport.
According to the independent claims, the transport has
two modes of operation. In the first mode of operation, a
sheet is releasably secured to the transport, and in the
second mode of operation, the frictional force between the
sheet and the transport is reduced to permit relative movement
between the sheet and the transport. The independent claims
both recite that the controller is responsive to the sensing
means to switch the transport between the two modes of
operation. Appealed claim 8 is more limited than appealed
claim 1 in that it recites that the transport advances the
sheet to a transfer station (J) where the sheet receives a
visible image from a recording medium (10). According to
appellant’s specification, the purpose of permitting relative
movement between the sheet and the transport in the second
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