JP2001019196A - Sheet separating conveyer and image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely prevent the generation of an abnormal sound with separating performance left as maintained. SOLUTION: A sheet supported to a sheet loading base 100 is conveyed downstream by a preliminary conveying roller 104, separated sheet by sheet between a separating roller 106 and a brake member 116, and conveyed downstream. In the case of conveying this sheet separated, a vibration is generated by rubbing of the brake member 116 and the sheet 1 and transmitted to a hold member 107, but by a damping member 118 arranged between a pressing member 117 and the hold member 107, the vibration is damped, and the generation of an uncomfortable sound can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet separating and conveying apparatus for sequentially separating and conveying a plurality of sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a document reading apparatus as a conventional sheet separating and conveying apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
In the figure, 1 is a sheet such as a document, 100 is a sheet mounting table for supporting the sheet, and 104 is a semi-moon-shaped preliminary cut-out part of the outer periphery of which conveys the sheet from the sheet mounting table 100 to the downstream or downstream. A transport roller, 105
Is a weight for placing the sheet on the sheet and urging the sheet to the preliminary conveying roller. Reference numeral 106 denotes a separation roller for separating and conveying the sheet 1. Only the lowermost sheet of the sheets stacked in cooperation with a brake member 116 formed of rubber or an elastomer member is indicated by an arrow A in the drawing. Separated and transported in the direction.

Here, the brake member 116 is connected to the holding member 10.
7, and is indicated by an arrow P in FIG.
When the holding member 107 is pressed in the direction, the brake member 116 is pressed by the separation roller 106 to perform the above operation.

[0004] Reference numerals 108 and 109 denote conveying roller pairs for conveying the sheet 1 sent from the separation roller to the downstream side. Reference numeral 111 denotes a reading unit for reading information on the sheet, and reference numerals 112 and 113 denote paper discharge rollers for conveying the sheet onto a paper discharge tray 114. Preliminary transport roller 1
03 is transported by a pair of transport rollers 108, 1
The image is read by the reading unit 111 while being conveyed by 09, and the information signal is sent to an image forming unit (not shown).

In the sheet separating and conveying apparatus having such a structure, when the sheet 1 passes through the sheet 1 separated by the brake member 116, the sheet 1 and the brake member 116 are rubbed.
An unpleasant rubbing sound was occurring. In particular, the abnormal noise occurred as the sheet 1 had a lower surface roughness such as art paper. Conventionally, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 60-9839 proposes to dispose a foamable cushioning material between a brake member and a holding member for the purpose of preventing the abnormal noise, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-238574. Proposals have been made to arrange a cushioning material at a portion where the holding member is connected to the main body.

[0006]

However, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 60-9839 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-238574 disclose various types of sheets, such as electrophotographic paper, ink-jet paper, and art. It has been difficult to prevent the separation performance of paper and the like from deteriorating, and to ensure that no abnormal noise is generated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to surely prevent generation of abnormal noise while maintaining separation performance.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet conveying means formed by a friction member, and a brake member comprising a flexible member for contacting the sheet conveying means and separating a sheet therebetween. A holding member for holding the brake member, a pressing member for pressing the brake member against the sheet conveying means, and a buffer member provided between the holding member and the pressing member. It is characterized by having.

The sheet conveying means is a roller member;
The brake member is pressed against the outer periphery of the roller member by the pressing member, and is brought into pressure contact with the roller member.

[0010] The pressing member is formed of a metal elastic member.

The elastic member is a coil spring.

[0012] The present invention is characterized in that the buffer member is formed of a flexible member.

[0013] The buffer member is a rubber member.

[0014] The buffer member is a sponge member.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The sheet separating / conveying apparatus shown in this embodiment is an image reading apparatus, FIG. 1 is a central sectional view of the image reading apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a partially detailed perspective view of FIG.

First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a sheet such as a document, 100 denotes a sheet mounting table, and 104 denotes a sheet mounting table.
A preliminary transport roller 105 having a partially cutout semicircular outer periphery for transporting the sheet from 0 to the downstream, and a weight 105 for resting on the sheet and urging the sheet against the preliminary transport roller 105.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a separation roller serving as a sheet conveying means for separating and conveying the sheet, and 116 denotes a brake member formed of rubber or an elastomer member.
Then, the separation roller 106 and the brake member 116 cooperate to separate and convey only the lowermost sheet of the sheet 1 in the direction of arrow A in the figure. Here, the brake member 116 is fixed to the holding member 107, and the holding member 10 is moved in a direction indicated by an arrow P in FIG.
When the shutter 7 is pressed, the brake member 116 is pressed by the separation roller 106 and the above operation can be performed. The coil spring of the pressing member is arranged along the axial direction of the separation roller 106 as shown in FIG. 2, so that the apparatus can be downsized in the thickness direction.

Here, in the present embodiment, the pressing member 1
A cushioning member 118 is arranged between 17 and the holding member 107. The cushioning member 118 is formed of a rubber member, but may be a foaming member such as a sponge or the same material as the pressing member 117 and the holding member 107. However, when the cushioning member 118 is formed of the same material, it is preferable that the cushioning member 118 is only sandwiched between the pressing member 117 and the holding member 107 and not fixed thereto. In the present embodiment, buffer member 118 is fixed to holding member 117.

Reference numerals 108 and 109 denote conveying roller pairs for conveying the sheet sent from the separation roller downstream. 1
Reference numeral 11 denotes reading means for reading information on the sheet, and reference numerals 112 and 113 denote paper discharge roller pairs for conveying the sheet to a paper discharge tray (not shown). The sheet conveyed by the preliminary conveyance roller 103 is a conveyance roller pair 108, 1
The image signal is sent to the image forming means (not shown) by the reading means 111 while being conveyed by the reading means 09.

According to the above configuration, the following operation and effect can be obtained.

The sheets supported by the sheet mounting table 100 are conveyed downstream by the preliminary conveyance rollers 104, separated one by one between the separation roller 106 and the brake member 116, and conveyed downstream. When the sheet is separated and conveyed, vibration is generated due to friction between the brake member 116 and the sheet 1 and transmitted to the holding member 107.
Thus, the sound is not attenuated as in the prior art.

This is because the pressing member 117 is usually formed of a metal spring or the like and is easily deformed, easily absorbs vibration energy, and further increases the vibration of a single cycle. Is most effective in absorbing the vibration of the pressing member 117, and in the present embodiment, the pressing member 11
A cushioning member 118 is arranged between the holding member 107 and the holding member 107 to attenuate the vibration of the holding member 107, thereby preventing a rubbing noise between the sheet 1 and the brake member 116.

When the shock absorbing member 118 is a foaming member such as rubber or sponge, the vibration energy is absorbed by the internal deformation of the shock absorbing member 118 and the friction between the shock absorbing member 118 and the holding member 107 and the shock absorbing member 118 and the pressing member 117. At least one of the cases where the vibration energy is absorbed by the slip accompanied by

The separated sheet is a pair of conveying rollers 108,
After the image is conveyed by 109 and the image is read by the reading unit 111, the image is discharged to the outside by a pair of paper discharge rollers 112 and 113.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the coil spring of the pressing member is
However, the coil spring may be arranged along the vertical direction of the holding member 107.

[0026]

As described in detail above, in the present invention,
By providing the buffer member between the holding means and the pressing member, it is possible to reliably prevent the generation of abnormal noise while maintaining the sheet separating performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an image reading apparatus provided with a sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial detailed perspective view of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of an image reading apparatus provided with a conventional sheet separating and conveying apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 sheet mounting table, 104 sheet mounting table 105 weight 106 separation roller (sheet conveying means) 107 holding member 116 brake member 117 pressing member 118 buffer member

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A sheet conveying means formed by a friction member, a brake member made of a flexible member for contacting the sheet conveying means and separating a sheet therebetween, and holding the brake member A sheet holding member, a pressing member for pressing the brake member against the sheet conveying means, and a cushioning member provided between the holding member and the pressing member. Separation transfer device. 2. The sheet separating and conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet conveying means is a roller member, and the brake member is pressed against the outer periphery of the roller member by the pressing member. apparatus. 3. The sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is formed of a metal elastic member. 4. The sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the elastic member is a coil spring. 5. The sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the buffer member is formed of a flexible member. 6. The sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the buffer member is a rubber member. 7. The sheet separating and conveying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the buffer member is a sponge member. 8. A sheet separating / conveying device according to claim 1, further comprising: a reading unit for reading an image of a sheet sent from the sheet separating / conveying device. Image reading device.