JP2000007176A - Paper sheet separation and transporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a separation and transporting device for sheets of paper which prevents occurrence of double feed of sheets and/or out of feeding by allowing precise setting of the sheet separating pressure and lessens the restriction on the arrangement of components. SOLUTION: A separation and transporting device 10 for sheets of paper is equipped with a feed roller 14 which abuts to the undersurface of a sheet S placed on a table and a reverse roller 15 having a built-in torque limiter held swingably by a bracket 22 in such a way as abutting from above to the feed roller 14 and rotating in the direction opposite the sheet transportation, wherein a spring 23 is set between the forefront of the bracket 22 and a stopper 26 fixed to a pin 25 installed upright on an opening/closing cover 24, and the plumb component of the resilient force of this spring 23 is applied in the swinging direction of the reverse roller 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet separating / conveying apparatus, and more particularly to a return member having a built-in torque limiter, which is loaded and driven or driven by a load corresponding to a frictional resistance between a feed member and a sheet. The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating and transporting separated sheets one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a sheet separating and conveying apparatus for separating stacked sheets one by one and continuously conveying the stacked sheets to a processing position by an apparatus main body.
2. Description of the Related Art A document (paper) loaded on a facsimile machine, a copying machine, or the like is transported to a reading position.
An example of this type of sheet separating and conveying device is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-164863. In the paper separating / conveying device described in this publication, a feed roller (feeding member) rotates and feeds out a sheet on a sheet table in a conveying direction, and a reverse roller (return member) comes into contact with the feed roller via the sheet. , A predetermined separation pressure is generated by rotating in the reverse direction, and the paper other than the lowermost paper is returned in the reverse direction, thereby separating and transporting the lowermost paper one by one. The reverse roller generally has a built-in torque limiter, and is driven to rotate by a load of frictional resistance between sheets. However, when the reverse roller comes into contact with a feed roller via one sheet, it is driven to rotate. It is designed so that the stacked sheets can be separated and transported to the last sheet.

[0003]

As described above, in the above-mentioned conventional paper separating and conveying apparatus, usually, the reverse roller is swingably disposed above the feed roller in order to convey the paper in the horizontal direction. Thus, the frictional resistance between the feed roller and the reverse roller with respect to the sheet is set so that the double feed and the non-feed of the sheet do not occur, and the limit value of the torque limiter in the reverse roller is set.

However, in this component arrangement, the weight of the reverse roller itself and its swing holding structure affects the separation pressure, and the separation pressure causes the double feed or non-feed of the paper due to the variation in the weight of the reverse roller and the like. It may enter the area to be made. In particular, if the separation pressure is set high considering the frictional resistance between papers depending on the type, double feeding of paper will occur, and if the separation pressure is set low, non-feeding will occur or paper will be set. There is a problem that the reverse roller is lifted and the leading edge of the paper cannot be stopped.

Further, in order to minimize the influence of the variation in the weight of the reverse roller and the like, parts are arranged so that the separation pressure due to the weight of the reverse roller and the like is reduced, so that the degree of freedom in design is limited. There was also.
Therefore, the present invention reduces the influence of the weight of the return member and the like so that the separation pressure of the sheet can be easily and accurately set, thereby preventing the occurrence of double feed or non-feed of the sheet and at the same time, the component arrangement. The purpose of this is to reduce the restrictions.

[0006]

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a paper table on which stacked papers are placed, and a feeder which rotates in the transport direction by contacting the lower surface of the papers on the paper table. A feed member that is rotatably held so as to abut against the feed member from above and rotates in a direction opposite to the paper conveyance direction and has a built-in torque limiter. While the paper is sent out in the transport direction, the return member returns the paper other than the lowermost paper in the reverse direction to separate and transport the papers one by one. In the case of the last one paper, the return member is a feed member through the paper. A sheet separating and conveying device that is driven and rotated by a drive, characterized in that an urging means for urging the return member in a direction crossing the swinging direction is provided.

In the paper separating and conveying apparatus, preferably, the return member is swingable by being held by a rotatable member rotatably provided at a position distant from a position where the return member is disposed as a rotation fulcrum. On the other hand, the urging means is supported by a support member having one end connected to the rotation member or the return member itself and the other end arranged at a position separated from the rotation fulcrum of the rotation member. The biasing direction of the biasing means is set to a direction intersecting with an extension line connecting the rotation fulcrum of the rotating member and the position supported by the support member. The supporting position of the rotating member can be adjusted in a direction intersecting an extension line connecting the rotating fulcrum of the rotating member and the supporting position of the supporting member, and the biasing direction of the biasing means is adjusted by the rotating fulcrum of the rotating member and Extension line connecting the support position by the support member It is preferable to be adjusted in the direction of or.

As a result, the urging force of the urging means is applied to the return member so that the urging force resists the pressing force abutting on the feed member (so that the vertical component is directed upward).
When it is set, the influence of its own weight and the swing structure on the separation pressure of the paper is reduced, while when the vertical component is set to be directed downward, the pressing force (which contacts the feed member) To the separation pressure). Therefore, the separation pressure of the sheet by the return member abutting on the feed member can be set with high accuracy, and the torque limiter can function properly. Further, by making the biasing direction of the biasing means adjustable, it is possible to adjust the pressing force according to, for example, the state of the apparatus and the type of paper.

[0009]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 are views showing an embodiment of a sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to the present invention. First, the configuration will be described. 1 and 2, a paper separating and conveying device 10 is mounted on an image reading device provided in an apparatus main body H such as a copying machine.
Documents (paper) stacked (placed) on the paper table 11
The originals S are separated from the bundle S one by one, and are conveyed so as to pass over a reading position R by the optical contact sensor 20 of the image reading apparatus and are carried out of the apparatus.

In the paper separating and conveying apparatus 10, the pickup roller 13 rotates in the conveying direction of the
The document bundle S pressed onto the sheet table 11 is sent downstream to abut against the nip portion between the feed roller 14 and the reverse roller 15 (or may be abutted at the time of document setting), and the feed roller (feed member) 14 Rotates in the transport direction while contacting the lower surface of the document S, and a reverse roller (return member) 15 having a built-in torque limiter (not shown)
The reverse roller 15 is rotated in a reverse direction in a state where the reverse roller 15 is rotated in the reverse direction to generate (return) a separation pressure that restricts the reverse roller 15 from being sent downstream of the original bundle S, and the feed roller 14 causes the lowermost one original to move. S is separated and transported in the direction of the optical contact sensor 20. In the case of the last original, the frictional resistance between the originals S and the original S and the roller 1
The reverse roller 15 whose limit value is set so as to be between the frictional resistances of the originals S and S
The feed roller 14 is driven to rotate by the drive of the feed roller 14 which comes into contact therewith, so that the conveyance is not obstructed. One original S is transported so that the pair of transport rollers 16 and 17 of the driving roller and the driven roller is nipped by the nip portion and passes over the reading position R by the optical contact sensor 20 and is out of the apparatus. Take it out.

In the paper separating and conveying apparatus 10, a reverse roller 15 is configured to transmit a driving force from a driving motor (not shown) by a gear portion meshing with a driving gear 21.
The reverse roller 15 is rotatably held by a bracket (rotating member) 22 that is rotatably supported with the rotation shaft of the drive gear 21 as a rotation fulcrum.
Is designed to abut against the upper side. Therefore, the reverse roller 15 is held by the bracket 22 so as to be able to swing up and down, and its own weight and the
The weight of the bracket makes contact with the feed roller 14 from above, and the weight of the bracket 22 and the weight of the bracket 22 constitute a component in which the pressing force against the feed roller 14 is applied.

The bracket 22 of the present embodiment is
One end of a spring (elastic member) 23 that is extended so that a pulling force acts on a tip end part that is separated from the rotation fulcrum is connected to one end of the spring 23. Pin (support member) 25
Is connected to a stopper 26 mounted so that a fixed (supporting) position in the vertical direction can be adjusted. With this configuration,
In accordance with the fixed position of the stopper 26 to the pin 25, a small narrow angle α is formed between the extended line L1 from the pivot point of the bracket 22 toward the distal end thereof and the extended line L2 toward the fixed position of the stopper 26. The reverse roller 15 can be urged in a direction crossing the swing direction (gravity direction) by applying the elastic force P of the spring 23 to the tip of the bracket 22. For this reason, the elastic force P of the spring 23 that pulls in an arbitrary direction can be applied to the bracket 22, and the pressing force with which the reverse roller 15 contacts the feed roller 14 due to the vertical component of the elastic force P is applied to the bracket 22. Can be adjusted via Since the vertical component of the elastic force P is very small, the variation can be set to be small.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG.
When the stopper 26 is fixed to the pin 25 so that the tip of the bracket 22 is located below the extension line L2, an upward vertical component of the elastic force P of the spring 23 is added to the tip of the bracket 22. The pressing force with which the reverse roller 15 contacts the feed roller 14 can be easily set or reduced so that the document S can be reliably separated and conveyed by the separation pressure generated by the rotation of the reverse roller 15. can do.
As a result, by setting the separation pressure of the document S by the reverse roller 15 with high accuracy and appropriately functioning the built-in torque limiter, the document S can be separated and conveyed without causing double feeding or non-feeding. .

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the reverse roller 15
When a force is applied so that the front end of the bracket 22 is positioned above the extension line L2 while floating away from the front end, the downward vertical component of the elastic force P of the spring 23 is applied to the front end of the bracket 22. In this state, the reverse roller 15 is added to the pressing force of the reverse roller 15 abutting on the feed roller 14, so that the reverse roller 15 can be prevented from separating from the feed roller 14.
The document S can be set by abutting the nip portion between the feed roller 14 and the reverse roller 15. At this time, the vertical component of the elastic force P of the spring 23 applied to the tip of the bracket 22 is determined by the extension lines L1 and L2.
Is a very small angle (because the narrow angle between the extension and contraction direction of the spring 23 and the extension line L2 is also very small), as shown in FIG. Is also good. In this case, when the reverse roller 15 separates from the feed roller 14, similarly, FIG.
As shown in the figure, Psinβ is added to the pressing force of the reverse roller 15.

Conversely, when the stopper 26 is fixed to the pin 25 such that the tip of the bracket 22 is located above the extension line L2, as shown in FIG. Of the elastic force P of the reverse roller 15, the pressing force of the reverse roller 15 against the feed roller 14 is added to the separation pressure generated by the rotation of the reverse roller 15, and the document S is separated and conveyed. can do. As a result, even when the original S having a small frictional resistance between the originals S is processed, such as the original S which is color-copied and the silicon oil is adhered thereto, the separation pressure suitable for the original S is highly accurate. The separation pressure of the document S can be set at the same time, and the document S can be separated and conveyed without causing non-feeding.
Also in this case, the downward vertical component of the elastic force P of the spring 23 is added to the pressing force of the reverse roller 15 against the feed roller 14, so that the feed of the reverse roller 15 by the set original S is performed. The document S can be abutted and set in these nip portions while limiting the separation from the rollers 14. At this time, the elastic force P of the spring 23 applied to the tip of the bracket 22
The vertical component of Ps is similarly Ps as shown in FIG.
The value may be roughly set by inγ.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the vertical component of the elastic force of the spring 23 is applied to the reverse roller 15 so that the pressing force of the reverse roller 15 against the feed roller 14 affects the separation pressure of the sheet S. The separation pressure of the sheet S can be set with high accuracy. Further, by changing the fixing position of the stopper 26 to which the one end of the spring 23 is connected to the pin 25, the separation pressure of the sheet S can be adjusted. Therefore, by properly operating the torque limiter, it is possible to reliably separate and convey the sheet S to the last sheet without causing double feed or non-feed. Therefore, the reverse roller 1
The component arrangement can be designed without considering the variation in the weight of the brackets 5 and the bracket 22, and the degree of freedom in design can be improved.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the return member is urged in a direction intersecting the swinging direction, and a vertical component (gravity direction) urging force is applied to the return member. By reducing the influence of the pressure, the separation pressure of the sheet can be set with high accuracy, and the torque limiter can be operated properly. In addition, the document S can be abutted and set at these nip portions by limiting the separation of the reverse roller 15 from the feed roller 14. Therefore, it is possible to surely separate and transport the last sheet without generating double feed or non-feed, and it is possible to design the component arrangement without considering the variation in weight of the return member and the like. Also,
By adjusting the direction in which the return member is urged,
For example, it is possible to adjust the pressing force that comes into contact with the feed member according to the state of the apparatus or the type of paper.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to the present invention, and is a partially transparent front view showing an example of mounting the apparatus on a main body of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective front view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective front view for explaining the operation.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective front view for explaining the operation.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective front view for explaining an operation at the time of setting different from those in FIGS. 4 and 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Paper separation conveyance device 11 Paper table 12 Pressure plate 13 Pickup roller 14 Feed roller (feed member) 15 Reverse roller (return member) 16, 17 Transport roller pair 21 Drive gear 22 Bracket (rotation member) 23 Spring (elastic member) 25 Pin (support member) 26 Stopper

Claims (3)

[Claims] A sheet table on which the stacked sheets are placed, a feed member which is in contact with the lower surface of the sheet on the sheet table and rotates in the transport direction, and is swingable so as to contact the feed member from above. A return member that holds and rotates in the opposite direction to the paper transport and has a built-in torque limiter, and the feed member sends out the lowermost paper on the paper table in the transport direction, while the return member feeds other than the lowermost paper. By returning the sheet in the reverse direction, the sheets are separated and conveyed one by one, and in the case of the last one sheet, the return member is a sheet separation and conveyance device that rotates following the driving of the feed member through the sheet. A sheet separating / conveying device provided with an urging means for urging in a direction intersecting with the swinging direction. 2. The urging means, wherein the return member is held by a rotatable member rotatably provided at a position distant from a position where the return member is disposed as a fulcrum, and the urging means is provided. A biasing means, wherein one end is an elastic member connected to the rotating member or the return member itself, and the other end is supported by a supporting member disposed at a position separated from the rotation fulcrum of the rotating member; 2. The paper separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biasing direction is set to a direction crossing an extension line connecting the rotation fulcrum of the rotation member and the position supported by the support member. 3. A biasing means for biasing said biasing means, wherein a supporting position of said biasing means by said supporting member is adjustable in a direction intersecting an extension line connecting a pivot point of rotation of said rotating member and a supporting position by said supporting member. 3. The sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a direction of the rotation is adjustable in a direction intersecting an extension line connecting a rotation fulcrum of the rotation member and a support position of the support member.