JP2000351463A - Sheet material feeding device and sheet material processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably separate and feed loaded recording film materials one by one even if adhesiveness of them are high. SOLUTION: A sucker holding member 11 is lowered. A topmost recording film material F is sucked by suckers 14, 15. The sucker holding member 11 is elevated. Therefore, a separating craw 102 separates the tip in the feeding direction of the topmost recording film material F from a second or the later recording film material. After that, a separating bar 103-1 positioned in the home position shown in the figure is rotated around a support shaft 103a clockwise to the recording film material. At this time, since the separating bar 103-l is interposed between the topmost recording film material and the second recording film material the topmost recording film material is reliably separated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus provided in a sheet processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on sheet materials fed one by one.

[0002] The sheet material processing apparatus referred to here includes:
For example, an image recording apparatus (a printer, a copier, and the like) that records an image on a recording material (sheet material) fed one by one.
Facsimile) and a document information reading device that reads information of a document (sheet material) fed one by one.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet material processing apparatus such as an image recording apparatus and a document information reading apparatus is provided with a sheet material feeding apparatus for separating and feeding sheet materials stacked one by one one by one. . Various types of sheet material feeding devices are employed, and one of them is configured to adsorb the uppermost sheet material among the stacked sheet materials to reach a predetermined position. Sheet material delivery means for lifting and delivering;
Some sheet material separating means are provided with sheet material separating means for separating the leading end side of the uppermost sheet material in the sending direction of the uppermost sheet material sucked and lifted by the sheet material sending means from other sheet materials.

[0004]

However, in the case of the sheet feeding apparatus having this configuration, there is no problem when the separation between the sheet materials is high, but when the adhesion between the sheet materials is high, the above-mentioned sheet material is not problematic. Separation is difficult in an area where the separating means does not function (the rear end side of the sheet material), and a separation failure occurs. In addition, as a cause of improving the adhesiveness between sheet materials, for example, there is static electricity or entanglement of fibers.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a sheet material which can be reliably separated and fed one by one even if the stacked sheet materials have high adhesion. It is an object to provide a feeding device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sheet feeding means for sucking the uppermost sheet material among the stacked sheet materials, lifting the sheet material to a predetermined position, and feeding the sheet material from the stacking section. And a leading end separation unit that separates a leading end in the sending direction of the uppermost sheet material sucked and lifted by the sheet material sending unit from a second and subsequent sheet materials. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention intervenes between the uppermost sheet material and the second sheet material from the leading end side in the feeding direction and extends from the leading end to the trailing end of the uppermost sheet material. And an intervening sheet separating means for separating the sheet material. More specifically, the intervening sheet separating means includes a top sheet and a second sheet at the time when the top sheet absorbed and lifted by the sheet feeding means is separated by the leading end separating means. Intervene between sheet materials.

[0008] For example, the intervening sheet separating means is a rod-shaped member which rotates about a support shaft at one end. The rod-shaped member has a roller member at the tip. The rod-shaped member rotates in a range from the front end to the rear end of the sheet material. After rotating to the rear end of the sheet material, the rod-shaped member is interposed between the uppermost sheet material and the second sheet material until the uppermost sheet material is sent out from the stacking unit.

The intervening sheet separating means performs an operation for assisting the separation performed by the leading end separating means. For example, when separation by the tip separation means is performed,
The bar-like member as the sheet material intervention / separation means rotates between the home position and a predetermined position to assist the separation performed by the leading end separation means.

A sheet material feeding apparatus according to the present invention separates and feeds stacked sheet materials one by one in a sheet material processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on sheet materials fed one by one. It is used as a means to do.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an image recording apparatus (inkjet printer) provided with a sheet material feeding apparatus 100 according to the present invention.

First, an outline of the image recording apparatus will be described.

A recording film material (sheet material) F is stacked in the cassette 92. The recording film material F in the cassette 92 is fed out one by one from the uppermost recording film material. Then, the fed recording film material F is guided by guides 35 and 36 and fed into the nip of the pair of transport rollers 34.

The transport roller pair 34 sends the recording film material F onto the platen 95 and repeats intermittent transport. Then, the recording head 96 ejects ink onto the recording film material F stopped on the platen 95 to record an image. After the recording of the image, the recording film material F is moved to the discharge roller pair 97.
Is discharged onto the tray 94.

Here, the sheet material feeding apparatus 100 of the present invention separates the recording film materials F in the cassette 92 one by one and feeds them to the image recording section. Next, the sheet material feeding device 100 of the present invention will be described.

2 to 4 show the structure of the sheet feeding apparatus 100 according to the present invention.

The sheet feeding apparatus 100 of the present invention includes a feeding mechanism 101 as a sheet feeding means, a separating claw 102 as a leading end separating means, and a separating rod 103-1 as an intervening sheet separating means. Is provided.

The delivery mechanism 101 includes a support shaft 24, a movable member 23, contact / separation members 19 and 20, and a suction cup holding member 11.

The feed mechanism 101 has both ends of a support shaft 24 supported by an image recording apparatus main body (not shown). In this case, the support shaft 24 is rotatable with respect to the image recording apparatus main body. As shown in FIG. 1, the delivery mechanism 101 is disposed above the cassette 92 at the leading end in the delivery direction.

The rotating member 23 includes a suction cup (suction means) 1.
This is for rotating the sucker holding member 11 holding 4 and 15 around the support shaft 24. This rotating member 2
Numeral 3 is mounted on the support shaft 24 so as to be rotatable around the axis and immovable in the axial direction.

The rotational driving of the motor 28 is transmitted to the rotating member 23 via gears 29 and 27.
Here, the gear 27 is on the support shaft 24 and the rotating member 23
It is fixed on the side. The gear 27 is loosely fitted on the support shaft 24 (see FIG. 3).

The contacting / separating members 19 and 20 include suction cups 14 and 15
This is for moving the suction cup holding member 11 holding the moving member 11 in a direction of coming and going (approaching and separating) from the rotating member 23. Both ends of the two contact / separation members 19 and 20 connected in an X-shape by the pin 18 are connected to the respective contact / separation members 19 and 2
0 is connected to the rotation member 23 and the suction cup holding member 11 so as to be rotatable about the pin 18. here,
This coupling structure will be described in detail.

On the front and rear side walls of the rotating member 23, horizontal elongated holes 23a, 23a (one not shown) for inserting the slide pin 21 and circular holes 23b for inserting the fixed pin 22 are provided.
23b (one not shown) is provided. On the front and rear side walls of the suction holding member 11, circular holes 11a, 11a (one not shown) for inserting the fixing pin 16 and a slide pin 17 are provided.
Are provided with horizontal elongated holes 11b, 11b (one is not shown).

One end (upper end) of the contact / separation member 19 has a long hole 2
A slide pin 21 inserted into 3a, 23a is inserted, and a fixing pin 16 inserted into the circular holes 11a, 11a is inserted through the other end (lower end). Contact member 20
The fixing pin 22 inserted in the circular holes 23b, 23b is passed through one end (upper end) of the, and the slide pin 17 inserted in the long holes 11b, 11b is passed through the other end (lower end).

When the slide pins 21, 17 of the two contacting / separating members 19, 20 move the slots 23a, 11b leftward in FIG. 3, the contacting / separating members 19, 20 become longer in the vertical direction (extend). The sucker holding member 11 moves in a direction away from the rotating member 23. Also, two contact / separation members 1
The slide pins 21, 17 of 9, 20 are elongated holes 23a, 11
b is moved to the right in FIG.
9 and 20 become longer (reduced) in the lateral direction, and the suction cup holding member 1
1 moves in a direction approaching the rotating member 23. The suction cup holding member 11 moves in a direction parallel to the support shaft 24 both when moving in a direction away from the rotation member 23 and when moving in a direction approaching the rotation member 23.

Since the two contacting / separating members 19 and 20 are connected in an X-shape by the pin 18, the slide pin 21 fitted in the elongated hole 23a or the slide pin 17 fitted in the elongated hole 11b is formed. When one of the pins is moved in the left-right direction, the other pin is moved in the same direction and the same distance in conjunction with the movement. Here, the slide member 25 mounted on the support shaft 24 causes the elongated hole 23 to move.
The slide pin 21 fitted in a is moved in the left-right direction.

A slide pin 2 is attached to a part of a slide member 25 which is slidably and non-rotatably fitted on the support shaft 24.
One is passed. Thereby, the slide pin 21 can be moved by the slide member 25. Support shaft 2
4 is provided with a male screw part 24a, and the female screw part 26 of the slide member 25 is screwed to the male screw part 24a. Therefore, when the support shaft 24 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, the slide member 25 moves on the support shaft 24 leftward or rightward. That is, the slide pin 21
Moves the long hole 23a leftward or rightward. Support shaft 24
, The rotational drive of the motor 31 is transmitted via the gears 32 and 30.

The suction cup holding member 11 includes a plurality of suction cups 14, 1
5 is installed facing downward. Each suction cup 14, 15
Are connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) via a flexible pipe (not shown). Therefore, when the vacuum pump is driven, a suction force is generated in each suction cup 14,15.

As shown in FIG. 4, the separation claw 102 is located at the left corner on the leading end side in the feeding direction of the stacked recording film material (bundle) F. The suction cup 14 provided on the suction cup holding member 11 adsorbs the recording film material F at a position near the separation claw 102. The other suction cup 14 is located at a position slightly to the right of the center of the sheet to be fed.
To adsorb.

As shown in FIG. 4, the separation bar 103-1 is
It is arranged on the same side as the separation claw 102. This separation rod 1
03-1 is a spindle 1 arranged downstream in the feeding direction.
It is rotatable around 03a. This separation rod 10
Reference numeral 3-1 denotes a position slightly higher than the separation claw 102, and its tip extends to the upper part of the separation claw 102. The position a in FIG. 4 is the home position of the separation bar 103-1. Separating rod 1
Numeral 03-1 rotates when driven by the motor 104. The motor 104 is driven by gears 105 and 106.
To the separation bar 103-1.

Next, the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 for this description.

FIG. 5 shows the state of paper feed standby. At this time, the suction cup holding member 11 is at the 6 o'clock position, which is the home position for rotation. Further, the suction cup holding member 11 is at a maximum ascending position which is a home position for ascending and descending. Further, the separation bar 103-1 is at a position a which is a home position.

When a paper feed command is issued, the motor 31 is driven in the descending direction to lower the suction cup holding member 11 to a position where the suction cups 14, 15 contact the uppermost recording film material F.
This state is shown in FIG. Then, when the suction cups 14, 15 contact the uppermost recording film material F, the vacuum pump is driven. Thus, the suction cups 14 and 15 adsorb the uppermost recording film material F.

Subsequently, the motor 31 is driven in the ascending direction to raise the suction cup holding member 11 to a position where the suction cups 14 and 15 exceed the separation claw 102. This state is shown in FIG.
When the suction cups 14 and 15 exceed the separation claw 102, the suction cup 1
As shown in FIG. 2, the corners of the uppermost recording film material F adsorbed at 4 and 15 are bent by the separating claws 102, and
Separated from the recording film material after the first sheet. In addition, sucker 1
At the time when the motors 4 and 15 exceed the separation claw 102, the motor 104
Is driven to rotate the separation bar 103-1 several times between the position a and the position b. This is an operation for assisting the separation by the separation claw 102.

Subsequently, the motor 31 is driven in the ascending direction, and the recording film material F adsorbed on the suction cups 14 and 15 is moved.
The suction cup holding member 11 is moved up to a position where the tip of the suction pad reaches the entrance of the guides 35 and 36. This state is shown in FIG. When the leading end of the recording film material F reaches the entrances of the guides 35 and 36, the motor 104 is driven and the separation rod 103
-1 is rotated from position a to position d, and further rotated to position c. At this time, the separation rod 103-1 intervenes between the topmost recording film material and the second recording film material and rotates from the front end to the rear end of the recording film material. Separate completely.

Subsequently, the motor 28 is driven to rotate the suction cup holding member 11 clockwise to the 12 o'clock position. This state is shown in FIG. At this time, the suction cups 14, 15 and the like move in groove portions (not shown) formed in the guide 36. When the suction cup holding member 11 reaches the position at 12:00, the leading end of the recording film material F adsorbed by the suction cups 14 and 15 enters the nip of the transport roller pair 34.

Subsequently, the vacuum pump is stopped to release the suction state of the recording film material F, and the motor 31 is driven to return the suction cup holding member 11 to the home position for raising and lowering.
This state is shown in FIG. Thereafter, the motor 28 is driven to return the suction cup holding member 11 to the 6 o'clock position, which is the home position for rotation (the state of FIG. 5).

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 11 shows another configuration example of the separation rod. The separation bar 103-2 shown here has a roller member 107 attached to the tip. In this way, the sliding resistance with the recording film material F is reduced, and the recording film material F is not easily damaged.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention,
After the leading end separating means separates the leading end of the uppermost sheet material, the intervening sheet separating means intervenes between the uppermost sheet material and the second sheet material to cause the leading end to trailing end. Since the separation is performed, even the sheet material in the close contact state can be surely separated. Therefore, separation failure and conveyance failure do not occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of an image recording apparatus (inkjet printer) provided with a sheet material feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a sheet material feeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a delivery mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an arrangement relationship of a suction cup, a separation claw, and a separation rod in a recording film material loading section.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing another configuration example of the separation rod.

[Explanation of symbols]

14, 15 sucker (sheet material suction means) 100 sheet material feeding device 101 feeding mechanism (sheet material feeding means) 102 separation claw (tip separation means) 103-1, 103-2 separation rod (sheet material intervention separation means) ) 107 Roller member F Recording film material (sheet material)

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C059 AA05 AA07 AA16 2H072 BA05 BA08 BA13 BA19 BB05 CA03 3F343 FA02 FA03 FB02 FB03 FB04 FC01 GA01 GB01 GC01 GD01 HA12 HB03 JB02 JB20 JB24 JB28 JC10 JC11 JC16 JD16 LC12

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material sending means for sucking the highest sheet material among the stacked sheet materials, lifting the sheet material to a predetermined position, and sending out the sheet material from a stacking section; And a leading end separating means for separating the leading end of the sheet material in the feeding direction from the second and subsequent sheet materials. A sheet material feeding device comprising sheet material intervening separating means for intervening between sheet materials and separating the topmost sheet material from the front end to the rear end. 2. The inter-sheet material intervening separating means includes a top sheet material and two sheets when the top sheet material sucked and lifted by the sheet material sending means is separated by the leading end separating means. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material feeding device intervenes between the eye sheet materials. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the intervening sheet separating unit is a rod-shaped member that rotates around a support shaft at one end. 4. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the rod-shaped member that rotates about the support shaft has a roller member at a tip. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 3, wherein the rod member rotates in a range from a front end to a rear end of the sheet. 6. The bar-shaped member is interposed between the uppermost sheet material and the second sheet material until the uppermost sheet material is sent out from the stacking section after rotating to the rear end of the sheet material. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the intervening sheet separating unit performs an operation to assist the separation performed by the leading end separating unit. 8. When the separation by the tip separation means is performed, the rod-shaped member assists the separation performed by the tip separation means by rotating between a home position and a predetermined position. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 7, wherein 9. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sheet feeding means has a plurality of sheet suction means for sucking the sheet material. 10. A sheet material processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on sheet materials fed one by one, as means for separating and feeding the stacked sheet materials one by one. A sheet material processing apparatus comprising any one of the sheet material feeding apparatuses according to any one of claims 9 to 9.