JP2004292165A - Bulk sheet feeder with intermediate carrying section, and paper carrying method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem with a conventional sheet feeder wherein the usable range of paper is limited since only sheets of specified sizes can be fed in a paper carrying direction, and users of, for example, copying machines, particularly, stencilling devices which use a variety sizes of sheets cannot use the device. <P>SOLUTION: Based on signals from sensors 50-1 to 50-8 in initialization when the carrying of one sheet of paper P onto the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 is completed, a CPU 86 determines a sheet size, and controls motors 33-1 to 33-3 so as to switch the paper carrying control system of carrying rollers 32-1 to 32-3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit for supplying a sheet-shaped recording medium (paper) to be image-formed to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, a facsimile, a printer, a plotter, and a paper transport method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to an intermediate transport section of a mass feeder and a paper transport method thereof.

  Among image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a printing machine, a facsimile, a printer including an ink jet printer, and a plotter, in the case of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine, a stencil printing machine, and an offset printing machine, a copying machine is used. It is suitable for use when printing a large number of prints based on a plate made from a single document because it uses a plate of the original image. In many cases, printing of sheets is performed.

2. Description of the Related Art A large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit capable of supplying a large amount of papers on which images are to be formed to an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
The invention described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,247 takes out a cut and stacked piece of paper (so-called sheet paper, also referred to as cut paper, hereinafter referred to as "paper") from a storage machine, and interlocks with a graphic high-speed printing machine. A feeding device and its method. According to the invention, with the recent increase in the speed of printing machines and copiers, it is possible to supply a low-priced apparatus which can handle various types of machines, is portable, and has a large paper storage capacity. That is.
US Pat. No. 5,441,247 (SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE SAME: FIGS. 1 to 6)

However, the technique described in US Pat. No. 5,441,247 (Patent Document 1) has the following problems.
(1) Since only paper of a predetermined length can be transported in the paper transport direction, the range of use of the paper is limited. In this case, for example, a user of a stencil printing machine (hereinafter, referred to as a "stencil printing apparatus") using a paper of various sizes, especially a copying machine, cannot be used.

  (2) Since printing can be performed only on paper of a predetermined length as described in (1) above, there is no need to determine the paper size. However, in a large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with an intermediate conveyance unit that can handle sheets of various sizes, if the sheet size can be determined, control for securing the distance between sheets during conveyance becomes simple. If an attempt is made to maintain the inter-sheet distance without discriminating the sheet size, the rear end of the previous sheet (hereinafter referred to as “previous sheet”) conveyed before and the front end of the next sheet conveyed next are detected and detected. It is possible to increase the number of sensors, but the control becomes complicated. Because of this, the cost increases, so it is desired to control with as few sensors as possible.

  (3) In order to achieve the above (2), it is conceivable to install a sensor corresponding to a paper length sensor for determining the length of paper used in a paper feed table of a printing apparatus or the like in the stacking portion. However, this has a problem that the structure becomes complicated, the wiring of the sensor is troublesome, and the cost is increased. Further, there is also a problem that the paper length sensor can classify only into the above two types of sizes of A4 width (A4Y) or less.

(4) When the printing speed corresponds to a particularly low speed (for example, 16 rpm at the time of printing) to a maximum speed (for example, 120 rpm) as in a stencil printing apparatus, the next sheet catches up with the previous sheet conveyed at a low speed. As a result, both papers were scratched or deformed and jammed, and could not be fed at all speeds.
In particular, among stencil printing apparatuses, various types of paper are used. In general, paper is classified into standard paper, thin paper, and thick paper. However, only standard paper that is commonly used for large-volume paper feeding can be used for high-quality paper (such as high-quality 55 kg paper, stencil high-quality paper), medium-quality paper, and recycled paper. Because of paper and the like, they did not correspond to these.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and solves the above-mentioned problems, and finally achieves a particularly high quality among various types of paper (more broadly, a sheet-like recording medium). With an intermediate transport unit that can transport many paper sizes and can feed from low speed to high speed image formation without limiting the image forming speed including the printing speed of the image forming apparatus main body By providing a large-volume paper feeder, in other words, detecting and recognizing the size of paper conveyed by the intermediate conveyance unit and the conveyance speed of the paper on the side of the large-volume paper supply device with the intermediate conveyance unit, the image forming apparatus main body In a state called off-line that is not communicatively connected to the image forming apparatus (for example, there is no electrical connection (signal transmission / reception)), the rear end of the previous sheet is located near the sheet feeding means on the image forming apparatus main body side or the sheet feeding port. Next paper The main object of the present invention is to provide a large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with an intermediate conveyance section and a sheet conveyance method that can sequentially convey the sheet without making contact with the front end. It is.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of intermediate transport units are arranged at intervals from upstream to downstream of the intermediate transport path, and the paper transport unit transports the paper fed from the paper feed mechanism unit. A plurality of papers that are arranged at intervals from upstream to downstream of the transport path, and that have paper detection means for detecting at least one of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the transported paper, so that the paper transported by the intermediate transport unit The size and conveyance speed of the sheet can be detected and recognized on the side of the large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate conveyance section, and the image can be read even when there is no electrical connection (signal transmission / reception) with the image forming apparatus main body side. Provided is a large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit that can sequentially convey a rear end of a previous sheet and a front end of a next sheet to a sheet feeding unit on the forming apparatus main body side or a vicinity of the sheet feeding port without contacting the rear end of the previous sheet and the front end of the next sheet. thing For the purpose.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, at the time of initialization in which one sheet of paper has been conveyed onto the plurality of sheet detecting means, the sheet size is determined based on signals from the plurality of sheet detecting means, and In addition to the object of the present invention, in addition to the object of the present invention, it is possible to determine only where the rear end of the paper is located among the plurality of paper detection means by providing a control means for changing the paper transport control method of each paper transport means. Paper feed is possible, and it is possible to feed regardless of the standard size or irregular size of the paper size. The purpose is to provide.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the initialization state is such that one sheet of paper is located in the sheet conveying means disposed at the most downstream side of the intermediate conveying path, and the leading end of the sheet is fed by the main body feeding means. By setting the position to be possible, it is easy to easily and accurately detect the image forming speed (for example, the printing speed) of the image forming apparatus main body side even when using a sheet having a short sheet size in the sheet conveying direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit.

  According to the present invention, the control means controls the driving means to determine the paper size based on signals from the plurality of paper detection means and to switch the paper transport control method of each paper transport means. In addition to the object of the first aspect of the present invention, the sheet can be conveyed by determining only where the rear end of the sheet is located among the plurality of sheet detecting means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit that can carry a sheet regardless of the size and thereby can carry out a stable sheet conveyance that matches a sheet size.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the object of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the driving means is a stepping motor, and in addition to this, the paper transport distance is made accurate, and highly accurate paper feed amount control is performed at low cost and easily. In addition to this, it is possible to easily and inexpensively switch the paper transport speed by the driving means, and compare the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor with the time passed between the paper detecting means to determine the paper slip amount. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit that can perform more accurate sheet feeding by being able to make a determination.

  In the invention according to claim 6, the control means is configured to control each sheet when the trailing edge of the sheet moves when the conveyance of the sheets on the plurality of sheet detection means starts in response to the start of sheet feeding by the main body sheet feeding means. 4. The image forming apparatus main body according to claim 2, wherein the sheet conveying speed of each sheet conveying unit is controlled in consideration of a signal from a time measuring unit for measuring a time between the detecting units. Even if the image forming speed (e.g., printing speed) of the side is low, it can be recognized as low speed by measuring the time between each sheet detecting means when the trailing edge of the sheet moves, and thereby each sheet conveying means can be recognized. Control that slows down the paper transport speed, the leading edge of the next paper does not catch up with the trailing edge of the previous paper, and a large paper feed with an intermediate transport section that can transport the paper with a stable inter-paper distance. Providing equipment The target.

  In the invention according to claim 7, the control means controls the paper transport speed of each paper transport means in a stepless and real-time manner in consideration of a signal from the transport speed detecting means. In addition to the object of the present invention, even when the image forming speed (for example, printing speed) of the image forming apparatus main body is low, the time between each sheet detecting means when the trailing edge of the sheet moves is determined by the conveying speed detecting means. Can be recognized as a low speed by directly measuring the paper speed, and by controlling the paper transport speed of each paper transport means to be low, the leading edge of the next paper does not catch up with the trailing edge of the previous paper and collides with the stable paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit that can transport paper while ensuring a distance.

  In the invention according to claim 8, by arranging a plurality of paper transport means, in addition to the object of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, at least three paper transport means are provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit that can perform sheet conveyance control of various types of sheet sizes at low cost.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, as described below, the image forming apparatus uses a stencil printing apparatus in which various types of sheets including a sheet size are used and the printing speed is set in a wide range from a low speed to a high speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with an intermediate conveyance section in which the effect of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 8 is particularly remarkable.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, by detecting and recognizing the size of the sheet conveyed by the intermediate conveyance unit and the conveyance speed of the sheet, even if there is no electrical connection with the image forming apparatus main body side, the main body supply is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper transporting method capable of sequentially transporting a trailing edge of a previous paper and a leading edge of a next paper in the vicinity of a paper means or a paper feed port without making the trailing edge contact the leading edge of the next paper.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to each claim employs the following characteristic means and configurations.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a stacking unit capable of stacking a large number of sheets, a sheet feeding mechanism for taking out and feeding the sheets of the stack one by one, and feeding from the sheet feeding mechanism are provided. A large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit, comprising: a main paper feed table of a paper feed unit of the image forming apparatus main body side or an intermediate transport unit for transporting the paper to a vicinity of a paper feed port facing a main paper feed unit of the paper feed unit. , A plurality of the intermediate transport units are disposed at intervals from upstream to downstream of the intermediate transport path, and a paper transport unit that transports the paper fed from the paper feed mechanism unit; And a sheet detecting means for detecting at least one of a leading end and a trailing end of the conveyed sheet.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate transport unit according to the first aspect, the plurality of sheet detections are performed at the time of initialization in which the transport of one sheet onto the plurality of sheet detection means is completed. And a control means for judging the paper size based on a signal from the means and controlling to change a paper conveyance control method of each of the paper conveyance means.
Here, the “control for changing the paper transport control method of each paper transport unit” specifically refers to the paper size (length of the paper along the paper transport direction of the intermediate transport path) detected by the plurality of paper detection units. Corresponding to a sensor that turns off the next sheet (for example, the second sheet take-in sensor as the sheet detecting means shown in FIG. 15) with respect to the rear end of the previous sheet conveyed by the main body sheet feeding means according to The control means changes a series of paper transport control patterns in which transport and stop by a plurality of paper transport means are repeated so that the leading edge of the paper transport is constantly contacted. An example of this paper transport control pattern is shown in the chart of FIG. 15 and flowcharts of the respective drawings, which will be described later, and programs and related data related to the paper transport control pattern are stored in a ROM of a microcomputer as storage means, for example. Is set and stored in advance.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the high-capacity sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate transport section according to the second aspect, the initialization state is such that the sheet is positioned on the sheet transport unit disposed at the most downstream side of the intermediate transport path. And the leading end of the sheet is set at a position where the sheet can be fed by the main body sheet feeding means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate transport unit according to the first aspect, at least one drive unit disposed in the intermediate transport unit and driving each of the sheet transport units, and the plurality of sheet detection units Control means for judging the paper size based on a signal from the means and controlling the driving means so as to switch the paper conveyance control method of each of the paper conveyance means.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate transport section according to the fourth aspect, the driving means is a stepping motor.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate conveying section according to the second or third aspect, the conveyance of the sheets on the plurality of sheet detection units corresponds to the start of sheet feeding by the main unit sheet feeding unit. At the start, there is a timer for measuring the time between the respective paper detecting means when the trailing edge of the paper moves, and the control means considers a signal from the clocking means and conveys each of the papers. The paper transport speed of the means is controlled.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding device with the intermediate transport section according to the second or third aspect, the apparatus further includes a transport speed detecting unit that detects a sheet transport speed of each of the sheet transport units. The invention is characterized in that the paper transport speed of each of the paper transport units is steplessly controlled in real time in consideration of a signal from the transport speed detection unit.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate transport section according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, at least three paper transport units are arranged. I do.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding device with the intermediate conveyance unit according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the image forming apparatus includes a printing drum on which a pre-formed heat-sensitive stencil master is wound. A stencil printing apparatus that performs printing by supplying ink from the inside of the printing drum to press the paper fed from the intermediate conveyance unit against a thermosensitive stencil master on the printing drum. And

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, a stacking section capable of stacking a large number of sheets, a sheet feeding mechanism section for taking out and feeding the sheets of the stacking sheet one by one, and being fed from the sheet feeding mechanism section. A large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit, comprising: a main paper feed table of a paper feed unit of the image forming apparatus main body side or an intermediate transport unit for transporting the paper to a vicinity of a paper feed port facing a main paper feed unit of the paper feed unit. In the paper transport method using the above, by detecting and recognizing the size of the paper transported by the intermediate transport unit and the transport speed of the paper, even in a state where there is no electrical connection with the image forming apparatus main body side, The rear end of the previous sheet and the front end of the next sheet can be sequentially conveyed without contacting the rear end of the previous sheet and the front end of the next sheet near the main body sheet feeding means or the sheet feeding port.
Here, the “state in which there is no electrical connection with the image forming apparatus main body side” is, when expressed in a general concept, that the image forming apparatus main body side and the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate conveyance unit are communicably connected. Off-line, offline connection or offline connection in which communication is not possible with each other, and the paper can be transported (feedable) from the high-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit to the image forming apparatus main body. Means in mode. Specific examples of the “state not communicably connected” include, for example, an offline state in which the communicator is not electrically connected via a communication cable or the like, or a communicable state using, for example, an optical fiber cable or infrared light. An off-line state in which no connection is made can be given (this is the same in the claims, the problem column to be solved by the invention, the effect column, and embodiments and modifications described later).

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding device with the intermediate transport unit according to the third aspect, the plurality of paper detection units are necessary and minimum for determining the paper size that can be transported by the intermediate transport unit. The arrangement number of the sheet detection means is set to a natural number N which increases in this order from upstream to downstream of the intermediate conveyance path, and the number of sheets of paper before being fed by the main body sheet feeding means is set. In the case where the upstream paper conveyed by the plurality of paper conveyance means is the next paper, the paper conveyance control method is such that if the paper size is relatively long, the rear end of the previous paper is N-th. The trailing edge of the preceding sheet is the (N + 1) th sheet detecting means so that the leading edge of the next sheet is conveyed to the position detected by the Nth sheet detecting means when passing through the sheet detecting means. When not passing, the control unit controls each of the sheet transport units so that the leading end of the next sheet stops at a position detected by the Nth sheet detection unit. The trailing edge of the preceding sheet is the (N + 1) th sheet so that the leading edge of the next sheet is conveyed to the (N-1) th sheet detecting means when the trailing edge of the sheet passes the Nth sheet detecting means. When the sheet does not pass through the detecting means, the control means controls the respective sheet conveying means so that the leading end of the next sheet stops at the position detected by the (N-1) th sheet detecting means. .

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the high-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate transport unit according to the eleventh aspect, when the sheet size is relatively long, a sheet to be held between a rear end of the previous sheet and a front end of the next sheet. The number of the sheet detecting means for determining the interval is one, and when the sheet size is relatively short, the number of the sheet detecting means for determining the sheet interval is two.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to solve the above-described problems of the conventional apparatus and to provide a novel large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with an intermediate conveying section and a sheet conveying method using the same. it can. The effects of each claim are as follows.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, with the above configuration, it is possible to detect and recognize the size of the sheet conveyed by the intermediate conveyance unit and the conveyance speed of the sheet on the side of the large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with the intermediate conveyance unit. As a result, even when there is no electrical connection (signal transmission / reception) with the image forming apparatus main body side, the rear end of the previous sheet and the front end of the next sheet come into contact with the paper feeding means on the image forming apparatus main body side or near the paper feeding port. It is possible to convey sequentially without causing it to move.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the control unit, based on signals from the plurality of sheet detection units, at the time of initialization when the conveyance of one sheet onto the plurality of sheet detection units is completed, In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, by performing control to change the sheet conveyance control method of each sheet conveyance means, it is possible to determine only where the rear end of the sheet is among the plurality of sheet detection means. Is determined, it is possible to convey the paper regardless of the standard size or irregular size of the paper size, thereby performing stable paper conveyance suitable for the paper size.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the initialization state is such that one sheet is located in the sheet transporting unit disposed on the most downstream side of the intermediate transporting path, and the leading end of the sheet is set by the main body feeding unit. Since the sheet is set at a position where the sheet can be fed, the image forming apparatus main body can reliably take in the sheet.

  According to the fourth, eleventh, and twelfth aspects of the invention, the control means determines the paper size based on signals from the plurality of paper detection means and drives the paper transport control means to switch the paper transport control method. Since the means is controlled, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the sheet can be conveyed by determining only where the rear end of the sheet is located among the plurality of sheet detecting means. , Regardless of the irregular size, it is possible to carry out a stable paper transport suitable for the paper size.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the driving means is a stepping motor, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the paper transport distance is made accurate, and highly accurate paper feed amount control is inexpensive and simple. Paper feeding speed can be switched easily and inexpensively by the driving means, and the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor is compared with the time required to pass between the paper detecting means. By being able to determine the amount, more accurate sheet feeding is possible.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the control means, when the conveyance of the paper on the plurality of paper detection means starts in response to the start of paper feeding by the main body paper feeding means, when the rear end of the paper moves. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet conveying speed of each sheet conveying unit is controlled in consideration of a signal from a clock unit for measuring a time between each sheet detecting unit. Even if the image forming speed (for example, printing speed) on the main body side is low, it can be recognized as low speed by measuring the time between the paper detecting means when the trailing edge of the paper moves, so that each paper conveying means can be recognized. By controlling the sheet transport speed to be slower, the leading edge of the next sheet does not catch up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet and does not collide, and the sheet can be transported while securing a stable inter-sheet distance. Further, even when a sheet of a short sheet size is used in the sheet conveying direction, the image forming speed (for example, printing speed) of the image forming apparatus main body can be easily and accurately detected.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the control means controls the paper transport speed of each paper transport means in a stepless and real-time manner in consideration of the signal from the transport speed detection means, thereby providing a second or third aspect. In addition to the effects of the invention described above, even if the image forming speed (for example, printing speed) on the image forming apparatus main body side is low, the time between the sheet detecting means when the trailing edge of the sheet moves is determined by the conveying speed. Since the low speed can be recognized by the direct measurement by the detection means, the control of decreasing the paper conveyance speed of each paper conveyance means ensures that the front end of the next paper does not catch up with the rear end of the previous paper and collides with a stable paper. The paper can be conveyed while securing the distance therebetween.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, at least three sheet conveying means are arranged, so that at least three sheet conveying means are provided in addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of the first to seventh aspects. By the paper transport means, it is possible to control the paper transport of various types of paper sizes that are practically used at low cost.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus is a stencil printing apparatus that uses various types of sheets including a sheet size and has a printing speed set in a wide range from a low speed to a high speed. The effects of the invention described in any one of Items 1 to 8 are particularly remarkable.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, by detecting and recognizing the size of the sheet conveyed by the intermediate conveyance unit and the conveyance speed of the sheet, even when there is no electrical connection with the image forming apparatus main body side, The rear end of the previous sheet and the front end of the next sheet can be sequentially conveyed without contacting the rear end of the previous sheet and the front end of the next sheet near the main body sheet feeding means or the sheet feeding port.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention including examples (hereinafter, referred to as “embodiments”) will be described with reference to the drawings. Components (members and components) having the same function, shape, and the like in each embodiment, each modification, and the like, are described once, and are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. In the drawings, components that are configured as a pair and do not need to be specifically distinguished and described will be replaced with the description by appropriately describing one of them in order to simplify the description. For the sake of simplicity of the drawings and the description, even if they are components that should be shown in the drawings, components that do not need to be specifically described in the drawings may be appropriately omitted without omission. When the description is made with reference to the constituent elements of a published patent publication or the like, the reference numerals are shown in parentheses to distinguish them from those of the embodiments and the like.

(1st Embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, based on FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the entire apparatus configuration including the large-volume sheet feeding apparatus with an intermediate conveyance unit according to the present embodiment will be described. In both figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a large-volume paper feed unit as a large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit, reference numeral 100 denotes a stencil printing device as an example of an image forming apparatus, and reference numeral 200 denotes a large-volume paper feed storage device. The paper discharge storage units are respectively shown.

  The large-volume paper feeding / conveying unit 1 and the large-volume paper ejection storage unit 200 are electrically connected by a power cable (not shown). The large-volume paper feed unit 1 and the stencil printing apparatus 100 are supplied with power from the external power sources, for example, via a power cable and a plug (both not shown) for connecting to a commercial external power source. It has become. The high-volume paper feed unit 1 and the stencil printing apparatus 100 are not communicably connected to each other and are placed in a so-called “off-line” state in which no signal is transmitted and received between the units. In addition, the large-volume sheet feeding and transporting unit 1 is mechanically connectable to or detachable from the stencil printing apparatus 100, and the large-volume discharge storage unit 200 is mechanically connectable to and detachable from the stencil printing apparatus 100. The state shown in FIG. 3 represents a state in which they are mechanically connected.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the large-volume paper feed unit 1 is moved along the paper feed direction X, thereby causing an intermediate feed unit 4 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “intermediate feed unit 4”) to be described later. The third conveying roller 32-3 is inserted below the main body feeding roller 111 on the stencil printing apparatus 100 side, is pressed against the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the main body feeding roller 111, and is fed from the mass feeding and conveying unit 1. The connection position at which the paper P can be reliably transferred and the self-movement along the direction X ′ opposite to the paper conveyance direction X as shown in FIG. 3 can be moved between a non-connection position where the press-contact state of the main body paper feed roller 111 is released. As described above, when the large-volume paper feed unit 1 occupies the connection position, the respective positional relationships are such that the third transport roller 32-3 receives a pressing force corresponding to an appropriate paper feed pressure from the main body paper feed roller 111. Is set.

In other words, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the large-volume paper-feeding and conveying unit 1 itself is moved along the paper-conveying direction X, so that the intermediate-conveying unit 4 constituting the large-volume paper-feeding and conveying unit 1. Is maintained at a predetermined height (in the present embodiment, the lowermost part of the main body paper feed tray 110 detected by a lower limit detection sensor (not shown) disposed on the paper side plate). The intermediate transport unit is placed on the main body sheet feeding table 110 which is held at the lower limit position which is also the lowering position, that is, while the main body sheet feeding table 110 does not move up and occupies the lower limit position. The connection position at which the paper P fed from the printer 4 is received by the main body paper feed roller 111 and can be fed, and the paper P itself is moved along the direction X ′ opposite to the paper transport direction X as shown in FIG. Away from the above connection position It is configured to be movable to and from the disconnected position.
The connection position is not limited to “the state in which the main body paper feed tray 110 occupies the lower limit position without ascending ...”, but the main body paper feed table slightly occupies the lower limit position and occupies a position where paper can be fed. In other words, the sheet P fed from the intermediate transport unit 4 while the intermediate transport unit 4 is placed on the main paper feed table 110 while being held at a predetermined height may be used as the main paper feed roller. Any position can be used as long as it is received by 111 and can be fed.

  In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 6 denotes a main body housing forming a frame as a main body of a large-volume sheet feeding device that accommodates a later-described loading unit 2 and a sheet feeding mechanism unit 3 of the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1. Numeral 107 denotes a frame forming a framework of a later-described intermediate conveyance unit main body of the large-volume sheet feeding conveyance unit 1, numeral 107 denotes a main frame housing forming a frame on the main body side of the stencil printing apparatus 100 as an image forming apparatus main body, and numeral 204 denotes a frame. The paper discharge unit housings forming the framework of the main body side of the large-volume paper discharge storage unit 200 as the paper discharge storage device main body are shown.

For convenience of explanation, the stencil printing apparatus 100, the large-volume paper ejection storage unit 200, and the large-volume paper feeding / conveying unit 1 will be described in this order.
The stencil printing apparatus 100 has, for example, substantially the same configuration as the stencil printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-67061 proposed by the present applicant. That is, the stencil printing apparatus 100 is provided on an upper portion of the main body housing 107 and reads an original image. The image reading unit 101 reads image information read by the image reading unit 101 or receives an input from an externally connected device such as a personal computer (not shown). A plate making plate supply section 103 for making and supplying a roll of a heat-sensitive stencil master (not shown) wound in a roll shape based on the obtained image information, and a printing paper (not shown, hereafter simply referred to as “ A sheet feeding unit 104 serving as a sheet feeding unit on the image forming apparatus main body side for separating and feeding the sheet P fed from the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1 toward the printing unit 102 described later. And a printing drum 115 provided with a plate cylinder on an outer peripheral portion for winding a heat-sensitive stencil master (not shown) formed on the outer peripheral surface by the plate making and feeding section 103 or the like. A printing unit 102 as an image forming unit for forming a print image on paper P; a plate discharging unit 105 for peeling a used thermosensitive stencil master from the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum 115 and discharging the master to a plate discharging box (not shown); And a paper discharge unit 106 that discharges the sheet to the outside of the main body casing 107. The stencil printing apparatus 100 is mounted on a dedicated table 108 having casters 109 via a main body housing 107.

  The main body paper feeding unit 104 is provided on the right side of the main body housing 107 and can be loaded with paper P and can be moved up and down. A main body feed roller 111 that feeds out the paper P fed from the large-volume paper feed unit 1, and a main body separation roller 112 that separates the fed paper P one by one and feeds it toward the registration roller pair 114. And a main body separation pad 113 serving as a friction member for separating the paper P one by one by cooperation with a main body separation roller 112, and a printing unit serving as an image forming unit for separating and feeding papers one by one. 102, a pair of registration rollers 114 for sending out at a predetermined timing.

  The main body sheet feeding table 110 is foldable so as to be able to occupy a position for closing the sheet feeding port 125 of the main body housing 107 and a position shown in FIG. A paper presence / absence sensor 127 as a paper presence / absence detecting means for detecting presence / absence of paper on the main body paper supply stand 110 and a paper length on the main body paper supply stand 110 are provided inside the main body paper supply stand 110. And a sheet length sensor 128 as a sheet length detecting means for detecting the sheet length. The paper length sensor 128 controls both the vertical size and the horizontal size of the paper in conjunction with the movement of the pair of left and right side fences (not shown) that can move on the main body paper feed table 110 in the paper width direction Y during the paper alignment operation. Paper size detecting means for detecting the size of the paper. Both the sheet presence sensor 127 and the sheet length sensor 128 are reflection-type photo sensors (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as “reflection-type sensors”) each including a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element.

The main body feeding table 110 employs a plurality of or multiple lifting mechanisms having the same configuration as the automatic intermittent lifting mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 8 of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-18342, for example. The stack of sheets P can be moved up and down. The main body feeding table 110 is occupied by the elevating mechanism so that the top of the stacked papers always occupies a paper feeding position where the main body feeding roller 111 always comes into contact with a predetermined paper feeding pressure (a pressing force capable of conveying the paper). The lifting drive is controlled.
The elevating mechanism of the main body sheet feeding table 110 is not limited to the above-described mechanism, and a mechanism using a wire or the like as shown in FIG. 1 of JP-A-59-124633 is also used.

  The main body feeding roller 111 constitutes a paper feeding unit of the main body feeding unit 104. The main body separation roller 112 and the main body separation pad 113 constitute a separation sheet feeding unit on the main body housing 107 side. Note that the sheet feeding means is not limited to the above-described one, and includes a combination of a sheet feeding roller and a separation pad, or a unit including a pair of separation rollers. The friction separation method such as the above-described separation sheet feeding means, that is, the friction pad separation method, has a simple configuration as compared with a so-called reverse roller separation method in which sheets are separated and fed one by one by two separation roller pairs. There is an advantage that the cost is low.

  As shown in detail in FIG. 9, the main body feeding roller 111 is provided around a shaft 112 a of the main body separating roller 112 on a paper feeding side plate (not shown) of the main body housing 107 at the paper feeding port 125 of the main body feeding section 104. The paper feed arm (not shown) (having a downward opening and having a U-shaped cross section) is swingably and rotatably provided via a shaft 111a at a free end thereof. The main body feeding roller 111 and the main body separating roller 112 are similar to, for example, the paper feeding driving means (30) shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-326732 proposed by the present applicant. Is driven to rotate by the main body feeding mechanism 130 shown in FIG.

  That is, as shown in the figure, one-way clutches (not shown) are respectively interposed between the main body feeding roller 111 and its shaft 111a and between the main body separating roller 112 and its shaft 112a. . A timing pulley 119 is attached to a shaft 111 a of the main body feeding roller 111, and a timing pulley 120 is attached to a shaft 112 a of the main body separation roller 112. A timing belt 121 is stretched between the timing pulley 119 and the timing pulley 120, and the main body separation roller 112 and the main body paper feed roller 111 are connected via the timing belt 121 and each one-way clutch (not shown). It has a driving force transmission relationship. The clutch locking direction (connection direction of the rotational driving force) of each one-way clutch (not shown) is indicated by an arrow in the drawing in which the main body separating roller 112 and the main body feeding roller 111 are rotated to separate and feed the paper P. Is set clockwise. Thereby, the main body separation roller 112 and the main body paper feed roller 111 can rotate only in the clockwise direction. The main body separation roller 112 is driven to rotate by a paper feed motor 122 as a main body paper feed drive unit.

  The shaft 112a of the main body separation roller 112 and the output shaft (not shown) of the paper feed motor 122 are connected to each timing pulley (not shown) and a timing belt (not shown) stretched between these timing pulleys. And a driving force transmission relationship. The paper feed motor 122 is composed of a stepping motor. Therefore, in the case of paper feeding, for example, by rotating the paper feeding motor 122 in the normal direction, the main body separation roller 112 and the main body paper feeding roller 111 are both rotated clockwise and loaded on the main body paper feeding table 110. The uppermost sheet (not shown) or the sheet P fed from the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1 is fed toward the registration roller pair 114 shown in FIG.

  The paper feed arm is provided with a paper feed filler (not shown) also called a light-shielding plate. A light emitting element for detecting a paper feed position is provided on a stationary member (not shown) disposed on the main body housing 107 side near the paper feed filler in such a manner that the free end of the paper feed filler is selectively sandwiched. An appropriate height detection sensor 126 (see FIG. 2), which is a transmission type photo sensor having a light receiving element (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “transmission type sensor”), is fixed. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 123 denotes a movable separation pad holder that houses a compression spring serving as an urging member for urging the main body separation pad 113 in a direction of pressing the main body separation pad 113 against the outer peripheral surface of the main body separation roller 112. Front plates are shown for abutting and aligning the leading ends of sheets (not shown) stacked on a sheet feeding table 110.

  The printing unit 102 is disposed substantially at the center of the main body housing 107, and includes a printing drum 115 on which an ink supply means is provided and on which a heat-sensitive stencil master formed on the outer peripheral surface is wound, and a main body feeding unit 104. And a press roller 116 as pressing means for pressing the paper P fed from the large-volume paper feed unit 1 onto the outer peripheral surface of the print drum 115 and transferring ink to the paper P. As the pressing means, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 and the like of JP-A-2000-141856, an outer peripheral surface substantially equal to the outer diameter of the printing drum 115 is provided, and the pressing means rotates in synchronization with the printing drum 115. An impression cylinder or the like having a paper clamper (holding means) for holding the leading end of the paper on the outer peripheral portion is also used.

The printing speed of the printing drum 115 is changed from the “plate printing speed” (for example, 16 sheets / min: 16 rpm or 30 sheets / min: 30 rpm), as described in JP-A-2000-141856, for example. Printing is performed at a plurality of printing speeds during normal normal printing (in this embodiment, five printing speeds, for example, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 sheets / min: 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 rpm). It is configured to be freely rotatable. Here, for example, 120 sheets / min: 120 rpm is the maximum printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus 100.
The printing drum 115 includes a main motor composed of a DC motor as a driving unit for rotating the printing drum 115, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 of JP-A-2002-36511 proposed by the present applicant. It is rotationally driven by a known printing drum drive mechanism (both not shown).

  On the upper part of the image reading unit 101, an operation is performed to give an instruction to each of the above-described devices and units of the stencil printing apparatus 100 to perform a desired operation, and to confirm and recognize the state of each of the above-described devices and units. An operation panel (not shown) for performing the operation is provided. The operation panel includes an operation panel (90) shown in FIG. 17 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-141856. A plate making start key for generating a start signal for activating each operation, a numeric keypad for setting and inputting the number of prints, etc., and a print start for generating a print start signal for performing a printing operation for the number of prints set and input with the numeric keypad. Key and a speed down key and a speed up key as print speed setting means for selectively setting one print speed from among five print speeds (1st to 5th speed) and rotating the print drum 115 Print speed setting key, and a speed consisting of LED lamps for displaying the print speed set by the speed down key or speed up key. A display device, LCD for displaying time to time the setting-detection information in each operating step that leads to print from the image reading of the document image (liquid crystal display device) and a display unit or the like are arranged.

  The plate discharging section 105 has, for example, the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 1 of JP-A-8-67061, that is, the above-described plate discharging box (not shown) and the used heat-sensitive material from the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum 115. A plate discharge peeling roller pair that peels off the stencil master, a plate discharge conveying belt pair that conveys and discharges the used heat-sensitive stencil master that has been stretched between the plate discharge peeling roller pair and the plate discharge roller pair to the plate discharge box, and the like. have.

  The paper discharge unit 106 is disposed on the left side of the main body housing 107, and is provided with a peeling claw 117 for peeling off the printed paper from the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum 115, and a paper discharge unit for removing the peeled paper from the main body housing 107. It has a suction conveyance unit 118 and the like that discharges a large amount of paper discharged from the unit through a discharge port (not shown) while sucking it.

  The large-volume discharge storage unit 200 has substantially the same configuration as the discharge storage device (1) shown in FIGS. 1 to 9 of JP-A-2002-226122 proposed by the present applicant. Substantially the same operation is performed. The large-volume discharge storage unit 200 has a first discharge tray (23) and a second discharge tray (24) that the discharge storage device (1) has, compared to the discharge storage device (1). Instead, the only difference is that it has a single mass discharge tray 201, and the details of the configuration and the operation description are omitted.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 202 denotes a pair of side fences which are arranged on the left and right sides of the large-volume discharge tray 201 along the paper discharge direction and align the discharged paper in the width direction (both end surfaces of the discharge). Indicates end fences that abut the leading edge of the discharged paper. Like the first discharge tray (23) and the second discharge tray (24) of the above-mentioned publication, the large-volume discharge table 201 can be moved (moved up and down) to the discharge unit housing 204 via a moving body (not shown). ) Is well known. The large-volume sheet storage unit 200 is not limited to this, and may have the same configuration as the sheet storage device (1) shown in FIGS. 1 to 9 of JP-A-2002-226122, for example. Of course it doesn't matter. The large-volume paper discharge storage unit 200 is connected to a paper discharge connection position connected to a paper discharge port (not shown) of the paper discharge unit 106 of the stencil printing apparatus 100 via a caster 205 provided at a lower portion of the paper discharge unit housing 204. It is configured to be movable between a non-discharge connection position separated from the discharge connection position.

  As described above, the large-volume paper feed unit 1 includes the intermediate transport unit 4 as an intermediate transport unit and the large-volume paper feed unit 5 as a large-volume paper feeder. The large-volume paper feeding unit 5 includes a stacking unit 2 capable of stacking a large number of sheets of paper P, a sheet feeding mechanism unit 3 that takes out and feeds the sheets P from the stacking unit 2 one by one, and the main body housing 6 described above. Have. The intermediate transport unit 4 has a function and configuration for transporting one sheet fed from the paper feed mechanism unit 3 to the vicinity of the paper feed port 125 of the main body paper feed unit 104 facing the main paper feed roller 111. I have. The large-volume paper feed unit 5 is mounted and fixed on a base 8 having casters 9 provided at a lower portion of the main body housing 6.

  Hereinafter, the stacking unit 2, the sheet feeding mechanism unit 3, and the intermediate conveyance unit 4 will be described in detail. The left side or the “operation side” may be referred to as “rear side” or the “rear operation side” on the back side of the drawing. For the same purpose, the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction X may be referred to as “front” and the upstream side as “rear”. An auxiliary side plate pair 29 is provided upright on both left and right sides of the main body housing 6 shown in FIG.

  The stacking unit 2 includes a large-volume paper feed tray 10 on which a large amount of paper P can be loaded and raised and lowered, and a pair of right and left sheets as a paper width alignment member for aligning the width (left and right side edges) of the paper P on the large volume paper feed tray 10. Side fences 15 and 16 (see FIG. 4), a paper feed tray elevating mechanism 25 as a paper feed tray elevating means for raising and lowering the large volume paper feed tray 10, and an upper limit position of the large volume paper feed tray 10 or the paper feed roller 11. An appropriate height sensor 26 serving as a paper feed position detecting means or an upper limit detecting means for detecting that the paper feed position is occupied, and a lower limit sensor 27 serving as a lower limit detecting means for detecting a lower limit position of the large-volume paper feed table 10 are provided. are doing. The appropriate height sensor 26 and the lower limit sensor 27 are both transmission type sensors. The appropriate height sensor 26 and the lower limit sensor 27 are respectively provided at predetermined positions in the main body housing 6.

  The large-volume paper feeding table 10 has a structure capable of loading and lifting at least 3000 sheets of, for example, A3 size plain paper, and four cutouts 10 a for enabling the side fences 15 and 16 to move in the paper width direction Y. And A paper presence / absence sensor 66 serving as a paper presence / absence detection unit that detects the presence / absence of paper P on the large volume paper supply base 10 is disposed inside the large paper supply base 10. The paper presence sensor 66 is a reflection type sensor. In this embodiment, “paper size” refers to a paper size defined by at least the length of the paper P along the paper transport direction X, unless otherwise specified.

  As shown in FIG. 4, each of the side fences 15 and 16 is in the form of a quadrangular prism having a hollow rectangular cross section, and is provided two in each of the front and rear sides in the paper transport direction X and the left and right sides in the paper width direction Y. Each of the side fences 15 and 16 is rotated by operating a side fence operation handle 17, and the side fences 15 and 16 are arranged via two side fence center alignment mechanisms (not shown) arranged above and below the main body housing 6. , 16 are moved in the sheet width direction Y so that the side fences 15, 16 can be centered.

  The sheet feeding table elevating mechanism 25 is, for example, a tray elevating mechanism (25) of a paper discharge storage device (1) shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and paragraphs “0024” to “0026” of JP-A-2002-226122. ), And has the same basic configuration as the moving body (57), and moves up and down while maintaining the large-volume sheet feeding table 10 in a substantially horizontal state. Since the sheet feeding table elevating mechanism 25 has a well-known configuration as described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, an elevating drive unit for schematically driving the high-volume sheet feeding table 10 as shown in FIG. The up-and-down motor 28 capable of reversing forward and backward can be mentioned. In the large-volume paper feed table 10, the top of the loaded paper P is always in contact with the paper feed roller 11 with a predetermined paper feed pressure (pressing force capable of conveying the paper) via the paper feed table elevating mechanism 25. It is controlled by a control device described later so as to occupy the position.

  The paper feed mechanism 3 is arranged around the auxiliary side plate pair 29 above the arrangement of the stacking unit 2. As shown in FIG. 5, ignoring the thickness of the members and the like, the paper feed mechanism 3 is simply shown as a paper feed unit, a separate paper feed unit, a paper feed drive unit, and a driving force transmission unit of the main body paper feed unit 104. Since it has the same function and configuration as the main body paper feed mechanism 130 having the means and the like, a code obtained by subtracting the numerical value “100” from the code of each component of the main body paper feed mechanism 130 in order to avoid redundant description. The detailed description will be replaced. The separation roller 12 and the sheet feeding roller 11 are driven to rotate by a sheet feeding motor 22 including a stepping motor as a sheet feeding driving unit. The paper feed motor 22 and the driving force transmitting means are arranged on the outer wall surface of the auxiliary side plate 29 on the back side of the drawing in FIG.

  A paper feed arm (not shown) similar to the main body paper feed unit 104 is provided on a paper feed arm (not shown) similar to the main body paper feed mechanism 130 rotatably supporting the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12. Is attached. An appropriate height sensor 26 is fixedly mounted on a stationary member (not shown) provided on the side of the main body housing 6 near the paper feed filler so as to selectively sandwich the free end of the paper feed filler.

When the high-volume paper feed table 10 rises and the top surface of the paper P pushes up the paper feed roller 11, the paper feed filler swings and the other end turns on (or off) the appropriate height sensor 26. The lift motor 28 is controlled to be stopped by a control device, which will be described later, provided on the side of the large-volume paper feed unit 1. As a result, the sheet P on the top surface of the high-volume sheet feeding table 10 stops at the sheet feeding position.
On the other hand, when the number of stacked sheets decreases as the sheet P is fed, the sheet feed filler swings and the appropriate height sensor 26 is turned off (or turned on), and the elevating motor 28 is rotated by the controller. It is controlled to drive. As a result, the high-volume sheet feeding table 10 is always kept at an appropriate position by rising again. As described above, the high-volume sheet feeding table 10 is always set to an appropriate height by the control device and the appropriate height sensor 26. The lower limit position of the large-volume paper feed table 10 is regulated by a lower limit sensor 27. 1, 2, and 5, reference numeral 14 denotes a face plate that abuts and aligns the leading ends of the sheets P stacked on the large-volume sheet feeding table 10. The face plate 14 is fixed to the auxiliary side plate pair 29 by fastening means such as screws.

  The large-volume sheet feeding device is not limited to the large-volume sheet feeding unit 5 described above. A paper feeding device (100) may be used. That is, a large-volume paper feed unit having a configuration in which an LCT (large-capacity paper feed table) is mounted and can be moved up and down and can be fed with a paper feed unit and a separate paper feed unit may be used.

Next, the intermediate transport unit 4 according to a characteristic configuration of the present invention will be described.
1, 5, 9, 10, and the like, reference numeral 18 denotes an intermediate portion for transporting the sheet P fed from the sheet feeding mechanism unit 3 toward the sheet feeding port 125 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100. 3 shows a transport path. The intermediate transport unit 4 is detachably attached to the auxiliary side plate pair 29 of the main body housing 6.

  As shown in FIG. 5 and the like, the intermediate transport unit 4 includes a plurality (three in the present embodiment) of first paper transport units 30-1 that transport the paper P fed from the paper feed mechanism unit 3. Provided corresponding to the second paper transport means 30-2, the third paper transport means 30-3, and the first paper transport means 30-1, the second paper transport means 30-2, and the third paper transport means 30-3. A first motor 33-1, a second motor 33-2, and a third motor 33-3 which are a plurality of (three in this embodiment) paper transport motors as drive means for independently driving each; The rotational driving forces of the first motor 33-1, the second motor 33-2, and the third motor 33-3 are applied to the first paper transport unit 30-1, the second paper transport unit 30-2, and the third paper transport unit 30-. 3, a first driving force transmitting means 34-1, a second driving force transmitting means 34-2, and a third driving force transmitting means 3-2. A means 34-3 and a pair of guide means for guiding the sheet P conveyed by the first to third sheet conveying means 30-1 to 30-3 to the vicinity of the sheet feeding port 125 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side are constituted. An upper guide member and a lower guide member, which will be described later, first to third sheet conveying means 30-1 to 30-3, the above-described housing 7 for accommodating the pair of sheet guide members, and an upstream of the intermediate conveying path 18. At least one of the leading end and the trailing end of the sheet P to be conveyed, which is arranged on the upper guide member at a predetermined interval across the downstream and is detected (both the leading end and the trailing end of the sheet P in the present embodiment) is detected. It has eight first sensors 50-1 to eighth sensors 50-8 as sheet detecting means for performing the operation.

The first sheet conveying means 30-1 includes a first conveying roller 32-1 and a first pressing roller 31-1 which is pressed against the first conveying roller 32-1. The second paper transport means 30-2 includes a second transport roller 32-2 and a second pressure roller 31-2 which is pressed against the second transport roller 32-2. The third paper transport unit 30-1 includes a third transport roller 32-3. The first paper transport means 30-1, the second paper transport means 30-2, and the third paper transport means 30-3 are arranged in this order at a predetermined interval from the upstream side to the downstream side of the intermediate transport path 18. ing.
The outer peripheral portion including the outer peripheral surface of the first pressure roller 31-1 is made of resin. The first transporting roller 32-1 has at least an outer peripheral portion including an outer peripheral surface formed of a high friction elastic body such as a suitable rubber having a high coefficient of friction with respect to the sheet P used in the large-volume sheet feeding and transporting unit 1. I have. The other second pressure roller 31-2, second transport roller 32-2, and third transport roller 32-3 are the same as above.

Hereinafter, the first paper transporting means 30-1 and the second paper transporting means 30-2 differ only in the arrangement position and have the same components, and are shared. Except for the description, one detailed description will be replaced with the other. When describing the above-described configuration and the like, the numbers after the hyphen in the code indicate the order in which they are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the intermediate conveyance path 18, and “first” to “third”. Prefix may be omitted.
Similarly to the above, the first motor 33-1, the second motor 33-2, and the third motor 33-3 differ only in the arrangement position, and are the same as each other. Except for the description above, one detailed description will be replaced with the other.
Similarly, since the first sensor 50-1 to the eighth sensor 50-8 differ only in the arrangement position and are similar to each other and are shared, except for the explanation of the arrangement position, for example, one first sensor The detailed description of the sensor 50-1 will be replaced with the other description. When describing the above configuration and the like, the numbers after the hyphen in the reference sign indicate the order in which they are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the intermediate conveyance path 18, and “first” to “eighth”. Prefix may be omitted.

  First, the housing 7 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 8, etc., the housing 7 forms a skeleton of the intermediate transport unit 4, has an H shape in plan view, and is open substantially upward. It is formed in a shape. The housing 7 is integrally formed of, for example, a sheet metal subjected to an appropriate surface treatment. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 7a denotes a rear side wall of the housing 7, reference numeral 7b denotes a front wall of the housing 7, and reference numeral 7c denotes a bottom wall. The bottom wall 7c has a stepped shape as viewed from the front as shown in FIGS. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 57 denotes a belt cover shown only in FIG. The belt cover 57 protects the timing belt of the second driving force transmitting means 34-2 from being externally exposed.

  The surroundings of the pair of guide means will be described with reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 9, FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the pair of guide means includes an upper guide plate 35 and an auxiliary upper guide plate 36 as upper guide members constituting an upper guide member, and a lower guide plate 37 as a lower guide member opposed thereto. Consists of The upper guide plate 35, the auxiliary upper guide plate 36, and the lower guide plate 37 are each integrally formed of, for example, a sheet metal subjected to an appropriate surface treatment. A space surrounded by the upper guide plate 35, the auxiliary upper guide plate 36, and the lower guide plate 37 is the intermediate conveyance path 18.

  As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 9, a shaft support 35 d that is cut upward and bent is integrally formed at both ends of the front end of the upper guide plate 35. These shaft support portions 35d, together with bearing portions 37d integrally formed at both ends of the front end portion of the lower guide plate 37 shown in FIG. Be stopped. As a result, the upper guide plate 35 has its base end rotatable by a predetermined angle around the support shaft 45, that is, its free end side is swingable with respect to the lower guide plate 37 and is freely openable and closable. I have.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, at both ends of the rear end portion of the upper guide plate 35, a bent portion 35e which is cut upward and bent is integrally formed. Fixed shafts 47 protruding outward are fixed to these cut portions 35e, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each fixed shaft 47 is provided with an upper guide plate fixing through shaft 48 (hereinafter simply referred to as a “through”) provided at both left and right ends of a rear side wall 7 a of the housing 7 so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle. The opening / closing cam 49 (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) fixed to the shaft 48 ") is selectively engaged and fixed / locked by swinging. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 51 denotes an inclined member fixed to the front end of the lower guide plate 37 and formed of, for example, a sheet metal.

6, 9, and 10, reference numeral 35c indicates a reinforcing rib having a downwardly convex shape. Reinforcing ribs 35c are formed in an appropriate number at the center of the upper guide plate 35 in addition to those shown in the figure.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first sensor 50-1 is provided on the upper guide plate 35 via the sensor mounting member 38, and the second sensor 50-2 to the seventh sensor 50-7 are provided on the sensor mounting member 35. Each of them is attached and fixed by fastening means such as screws (not shown) via 39. In FIG. 6, illustration of the sensor mounting members 38 and 39 is omitted.

  The first sensor 50-1 to the eighth sensor 50-8 are composed of reflection sensors. The upper guide plate 35 has an opening 35a for transmitting the projection light and the reflected light from each of the sensors 50-1 to 50-7 corresponding to the first sensor 50-1 to the seventh sensor 50-7, respectively. It is formed in places. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, the upper guide plate 35 has an opening 35 b for projecting a part of each outer peripheral portion of the first pressure roller 31-1 and the second pressure roller 3-2. Are formed at each of two locations on the front, rear, left and right. An eighth sensor 50-8 is attached to and fixed to the auxiliary upper guide plate 36 by a fastening means such as a screw (not shown) via a sensor attachment member 38. The auxiliary upper guide plate 36 is also formed with an opening (not shown) similar to the opening 35a for transmitting the projection light and the reflection light from the eighth sensor 50-8. As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 9, both front and rear ends of the auxiliary upper guide plate 36 are bent so as to be inclined upward. As shown in FIG. 9, when the large-volume paper feed unit 1 occupies the connection position shown in FIG. An opening 36b for projecting a part of the portion is formed. As shown in FIG. 5, a part of an outer peripheral portion of a third transport roller 32-3, which will be described later, is exposed near the lower portion of the opening 36b.

  The upper guide plate 35 is substantially integrally attached to the upper cover 23 disposed above the upper guide plate 35 by a support member 40 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the upper cover 23 and the upper guide plate 35 may be collectively referred to as an “upper guide unit 46”. Although only one support member 40 is shown in FIG. 10, it is also provided near the first pressure roller 31-1, and connects the upper guide plate 35 and the upper cover 23. The upper cover 23 is integrally formed of, for example, a sheet metal subjected to an appropriate surface treatment. As described above, the free end of the upper guide unit 46 near the large-volume paper feed unit 5 is swingable about the support shaft 45 with respect to the lower guide plate 37, that is, the upper guide including the upper guide plate 35. The unit 46 is configured to be openable and closable between a closed position shown by a solid line in FIG. 5 and an open position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

A knob 24 for opening and closing the upper guide unit 46 with respect to the lower guide plate 37 is attached to the upper surface of the upper cover 23 near the large-volume paper feed unit 5 (paper feed mechanism unit 3). Accordingly, when a paper jam occurs in the intermediate conveyance unit 4, the upper guide unit 46, that is, the upper cover 23 together with the upper guide plate 35 can be opened by holding the knob 24, so that the jammed paper can be easily removed. it can. Also, the cleaning of the pressure rollers 31-1, 31-2 and the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 can be performed by opening the upper cover 23 together with the upper guide plate 35. Is also good. In addition, paper dust and dirt adhering to the sensor surfaces of the sensors 50-1 to 50-7 including the reflection type photosensors can be easily removed.
Further, by disposing the support shaft 45 as a swing fulcrum on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, when removing jammed paper, there is a large space for a hand, so that the work can be performed safely with a margin. it can. For example, when the support shaft 45 is arranged on the side of the large-volume sheet feeding unit 5 opposite to the above, if the user attempts to put his hand from the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, the main body housing 107 becomes an obstacle as shown in FIG. It will be difficult to put your hands.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the first pressure roller 31-1 is formed integrally with the shaft 31a1, and a pair of the first pressure rollers 31-1 is arranged symmetrically at both left and right ends of the shaft 31a1. The same applies to the second pressure roller 31-2. The first pressure roller 31-1 and the second pressure roller 31-2 have a support structure shown in FIGS. 6 and 10 (the first pressure roller 31-1 side is omitted but the same). The first and second pressure rollers 31-1 and 31-2 are partially rotatable between the upper cover 23 and the upper guide plate 35. It is arranged so as to protrude downward from the opening 35b of the 35 and face the paper transport path 18.

The support structure includes a pair of left and right spring guides 42 rotatably supporting the shafts 31a2 at both ends of the pair of second pressure rollers 31-2, and the respective spring guides 42 fixed to the upper guide plate 35 by welding. A pair of left and right upper and lower guide members 43 for guiding in a movable direction, a spring fixing member 41 fixed to the support member 40 with screws so as to cover the pair of spring guides 42 from above, and each spring guide 42 are integrally formed. It mainly comprises a pair of left and right compression springs 44 interposed between the upward convex portion and the downward convex portion formed integrally with each spring fixing member 41.
As the spring guide 42, a material having low sliding contact resistance and good wear resistance is appropriately selected to rotatably support the shaft 31a2. The compression spring 44 functions as an urging member that urges the outer peripheral surface of the second pressure roller 31-2 in a direction of pressing against the outer peripheral surface of the second transport roller 32-2 protruding from above the lower guide plate 37. Have. The same applies to the pair of first pressure rollers 31-1.
Not limited to this embodiment, each pressure roller is disposed on the lower guide member side, and each transport roller is disposed on the upper guide member side, and each pressure roller is biased in a direction of pressing against each transport roller. An urging member (for example, the above-mentioned compression spring) may be arranged on the lower guide member side.

Next, the lower guide plate 37 and the periphery of the upper portion of the housing 7 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The lower guide plate 37 is attached and fixed to the upper part of the box-shaped housing 7 opened upward by fastening means such as screws (not shown) via an appropriate reinforcing member or the like. The lower guide plate 37 has eight openings 37a at lower portions corresponding to the seven openings 35a formed in the upper guide plate 35 and the one opening 36a formed in the auxiliary upper guide plate 36, respectively. . These eight openings 37a are for transmitting each projection light corresponding to the first sensor 50-1 to the eighth sensor 50-8 attached to the upper guide plate 35, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 7, 9, and 10, a part of each outer peripheral portion of the first transport roller 32-1 and the second transport roller 32-2 protrudes from the lower guide plate 37 to the rear end side. Openings 37b are formed at the front, rear, left and right at two locations each. An opening 37b is formed at the center of the front end of the lower guide plate 37 so as to project a part of the outer peripheral portion of the third transport roller 32-3.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, an inclined member 51 whose front end is inclined downward is fixed to the front end of the lower guide plate 37. When the large-volume paper feed unit 1 moves in the paper transport direction X so as to occupy the connection position shown in FIG. 1, the inclined member 51 smoothly moves to the main body paper feed roller 111 and the above-mentioned roller at the lower end of the paper feed filler (not shown). By contacting, the above-mentioned not-shown sheet feeding filler is swung in the direction of engaging with the appropriate height sensor 126 via the above-mentioned not-shown swinging of the sheet feeding arm.

Positioning members 52 are fastened and fixed to the left and right ends near the front end of the lower guide plate 37 by screws. The positioning members 52 are positioned on the left and right sides of the paper feed port 125 and fixed to the main body housing 107 when the large-volume paper feed unit 1 moves in the paper transport direction X to occupy the connection position shown in FIG. The positioning in the sheet width direction Y is performed with respect to the pair of sheet feeding side plates 107A.
On the left and right ends near the rear end of the lower guide plate 37, contact members 53 each having a predetermined thickness are fastened and fixed by screws. When the upper guide unit 46 (the upper cover 23 and the guide plate 35) occupies the closed position, the contact member 53 forms a gap between the lower surface of the upper guide plate 35 and the upper surface of the lower guide plate 37 (for example, a 1.2 mm paper). (The height is secured) to form a stable intermediate transport path 18.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a part of the rear side wall 7a of the housing 7 is shown on the rear side (the right side in the figure) of the lower guide plate 37. Above the left and right rear side walls 7a, the above-described penetrating shaft 48 is rotatably supported via a bearing member. Opening / closing cams 49 having the same phase are fixed to both left and right ends of the through shaft 48, respectively. An opening / closing handle 55 as a fixing means is fixed to the left end of the through shaft 48.

The opening / closing cam 49 communicates and forms a groove (not shown) that slides along the fixed shaft 47 shown in FIG. 6 and a fitting portion (not shown) for locking and fixing. The opening / closing cam 49 and the opening / closing handle 55 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 represent a state where the upper guide unit 46 including the upper guide plate 35 is fixed to the closed position.
That is, when the opening / closing handle 55 is swung clockwise in FIG. 7 with respect to the upper guide unit 46 in the closed position, the two opening / closing cams 49 swing through the penetrating shaft 48. The opening / closing cams 49 are in phase with the respective fixed shafts 47 shown in FIG. 6 so that the fitting portions are engaged with each other, so that the upper guide unit 46 can be reliably fixed in the vicinity of the closed position. The above-mentioned fitting portion of the opening / closing cam 49 is engaged with the fixed shaft 47 of the upper guide unit 46 on the auxiliary side plate 29 (not shown) on the right side (rear side of the paper surface, opposite to the operation side) in FIG. An open / close sensor 67 (shown in FIGS. 12 and 13) as a fixed state detecting means for detecting that the upper guide unit 46 including the unit 35 is fixed and locked to the lower guide plate 37 is fixed. The open / close sensor 67 is a transmission sensor.

  In FIGS. 7, 9 and 10, reference numeral 37c indicates a reinforcing rib having an upwardly convex shape. The reinforcing ribs 37c are formed in an appropriate number at the center of the lower guide plate 37 in addition to those shown in the figure. 5 and 7, reference numeral 54 denotes an upper paper feed plate fixed to the main body housing 6 side. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 56 denotes a stopper fixed to the rear side wall 7a in the vicinity of each opening / closing cam 49. The stopper 56 contacts the opening / closing cam 49 to regulate the open position.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the upper guide plate 35 and the auxiliary upper guide plate 36 as the upper guide members constituting the upper guide member, and the lower guide plate 37 as the lower guide member opposed thereto. Since both of them extend in the vicinity of the paper feed port 125, even if the paper P is thin and has a large variation in stiffness, such as a sheet-changed paper, and the quality of the paper P is unstable, the large-volume paper feed unit 5 supplies the paper P. The paper P can be reliably conveyed and delivered from the paper mechanism unit 3 to the main body paper feed roller 111 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 via the intermediate conveyance unit 4, whereby the protrusion of the main body paper feed roller 111 There is an advantage that the leading end of the paper P is not caught on the portion (refers to a saw-tooth-shaped portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of the roller), and the leading end of the paper P is not broken, scratched, jammed, or the like.

  If the advantage of the present embodiment is not required, at least one of the upper guide member and the lower guide member extends in the vicinity of the main body sheet feeding table 110 or the sheet feeding port 125. It may be. Here, “extending” in the vicinity of the main body sheet feeding table 110 or the sheet feeding port 125 means that the auxiliary upper guide plate 36 is connected to the lower guide This means that it includes the case of being separated and independent from the plate 37.

  Next, the surroundings of the housing 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 8 to 10. Each of the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 is a stepping motor driven by a pulse input. The motors 33-1 to 33-3 are respectively provided with first to third driving force transmitting means 34-1 to 34-3 on a determined bottom wall 7c of the housing 7 via a motor bracket not shown. It is attached and fixed by fastening means such as screws so as to be finely movable so that the tension of each of the constituent timing belts can be adjusted.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as long as the advantages of the above-described embodiment need not be desired. For example, at least one driving unit (for example, a stepping motor) that rotationally drives each of the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3. ) May be provided. In this case, for example, an electromagnetic clutch or the like is provided on at least two of the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3, and the driving force of the driving unit (for example, a stepping motor) is connected and disconnected at an appropriate timing (ON / OFF). OFF) The control may be performed.

As shown in FIG. 8, a pair of the first transport rollers 32-1 is arranged at both left and right ends of the shaft 32a1. These first transport rollers 32-1 are rotatably supported by a first bracket 58 attached and fixed to the bottom wall 7c with screws via a shaft 32a1 and a bearing (not shown). A one-way clutch 61 as a one-way rotational driving force transmitting means is interposed between each first transport roller 32-1 and the shaft 32a1, and each first transport roller 32-1 is arranged as shown in FIG. It is rotatable only in the counterclockwise direction, that is, only in the direction in which the paper P fed from the paper feed mechanism 3 is transported in the paper transport direction X. The second transport roller 32-2 is also the same as described above, and is rotatably supported by a second bracket 59 fixed and screwed to the bottom wall 7c via a shaft 32a2 and a bearing (not shown). The same applies to the second transport roller 32-2 side.
As shown in FIG. 10, the first and second transport rollers 32-1 and 32-2 both have a part of the outer peripheral portion projecting upward from the opening 37b of the lower guide plate 37 and facing the paper transport path 18. Are arranged as follows.

The third transport roller 32-3 is disposed on the most downstream side of the intermediate transport path 18 among the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3, and includes a single roller. The third transport roller 32-3 is rotatably supported by a third bracket 60 fixed and screwed to the bottom wall 7c via a shaft 32a3 and a bearing (not shown). A one-way clutch 61 similar to that described above is interposed between the third transport roller 32-3 and the shaft 32a3. The third transport roller 32-3 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. The paper P fed from the paper mechanism 3 can be rotated only in the direction in which the paper P is transported in the paper transport direction X.
As shown in FIG. 9, the third transport roller 32-3 is also arranged such that a part of its outer peripheral portion projects upward from the opening 37b of the lower guide plate 37 and faces the paper transport path 18. The third conveyance roller 32-3 is located at a position facing the main body feeding roller 111 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side. When the large-volume paper feeding conveyance unit 1 occupies the connection position shown in FIG. It is disposed at a predetermined position shown in each figure of the housing 7 of the intermediate conveyance section 4 so as to be able to squeeze under the outer peripheral surface of the roller 111 and be in pressure contact therewith.

As shown in FIG. 9, inside the front wall 7b of the housing 7, a leaf spring 62 as a braking force applying means for applying an appropriate braking force to the third transport roller 32-3 is provided by a fastening means such as a screw. Mounted and fixed. The braking force by the leaf spring 62 is, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the third driving force transmitting means 34-3 and the third motor 33-3 on the side to which the rotational driving force of the third motor 33-3 is transmitted via the one-way clutch 61. It is applied to a cored bar 32b as a shaft of the three transport rollers 32-3.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the braking force of the leaf spring 62 is controlled by the rotational driving force of the third motor 33-3 via the third driving force transmitting means 34-3 and the one-way clutch 61 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. May be applied to the third transport roller 32-3 itself, which is also the side to which is transmitted. At this time, it is natural that the braking force is applied within a range that does not apply an excessive load to the durability applied to the third transport roller 32-3 and the third motor 33-3 as a driving unit thereof.
By applying the above-described appropriate braking force, it is possible to suppress the influence of inertia during the conveyance of the third conveyance roller 32-3, secure a stable paper stop position, and improve the accuracy of paper conveyance.

  The one-way clutch 61 as the one-way rotational driving force transmission means is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and is disposed on the shaft portion of the third transport roller 32-3 disposed on the most downstream side of the intermediate transport path 18. May be. Further, the braking force by the leaf spring 62 as the braking force applying means is appropriately adjusted including the second transport roller 32-2 and the first transport roller 32-1 arranged on the downstream side of the intermediate transport path 18. You may make it give. In this case, it is preferable that the braking force by the leaf spring 62 is set to be larger as approaching the main body feeding roller 111 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100.

The first driving force transmitting means 34-1 is fixed to the timing pulley 63-1 fixed to the output shaft (rotary shaft) of the first motor 33-1 and to one end of the shaft 32a1 of the first transport roller 32-1. The timing pulley 64-1 and the timing belt 65-1 spanned between the timing pulley 63-1 and the timing pulley 64-1.
The second driving force transmitting means 34-2 is fixed to the timing pulley 63-2 fixed to the output shaft (rotary shaft) of the second motor 33-2 and to one end of the shaft 32a2 of the second transport roller 32-2. Mainly composed of a timing pulley 64-2, and a timing belt 65-2 stretched between the timing pulley 63-2 and the timing pulley 64-2.
Similarly, the third driving force transmitting means 34-3 is configured to connect the timing pulley 63-3 fixed to the output shaft (rotary shaft) of the third motor 33-3 and the shaft 32a3 of the third transport roller 32-3. It is mainly composed of a timing pulley 64-3 fixed to one end, and a timing belt 65-3 stretched between the timing pulley 63-3 and the timing pulley 64-3.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 9, at the lower portion of the housing 7, when the large-volume paper feeding unit 1 occupies the connection position shown in FIG. A sheet length sensor shutter mechanism 70-1 serving as a sheet length detection shutter mechanism for selectively shielding the sheet length sensor 128 in opposition to the sheet length sensor 128, and opposing and selecting the sheet presence sensor 127. A paper presence / absence sensor shutter mechanism 70-2 as a paper presence / absence detection shutter mechanism for electrically shielding is provided. Since the shutter mechanism 70-1 for the sheet length sensor and the shutter mechanism 70-2 for the sheet presence sensor 70-2 have substantially the same configuration, the detailed configuration of the shutter mechanism 70-2 for the sheet presence sensor will be described. A description of the length sensor shutter mechanism 70-1 will be omitted.

  As shown in detail in the front view of FIG. 9A and the side view of FIG. 9B, the shutter mechanism 70-2 for the sheet presence sensor includes a shutter 71-2 as a shielding member and a pull type , A tension spring 73-2 as an urging means, a shutter mechanism protecting member 74-2, a fulcrum shaft 75-2, and a holder 76-2.

  The shutter mechanism protection member 74-2 is an immovable member, and is made of, for example, a sheet metal, and is formed in a substantially U-shape when viewed from the front. The shutter mechanism protection member 74-2 is attached and fixed to the lower surface of the bottom wall 7c of the housing 7 by fastening means such as screws. On the bottom wall of the shutter mechanism protection member 74-2, an opening 74a2 for transmitting the projection light / reflected light from the paper presence / absence sensor 127 is formed. On the right side of the shutter mechanism protection member 74-2 in FIG. 9A, a holder 76-2 for attaching and fixing a solenoid 72-2 with a screw and fixing a fulcrum shaft 75-2 is attached and fixed with a screw. ing. As a result, the holder 76-2 becomes an immovable member like the shutter mechanism protecting member 74-2. A spring locking portion 76a2 for hooking and locking one end of a tension spring 73-2 is formed in a bent manner at the center right end of the holder 76-2 in FIG. 9B.

  The shutter 71-2 is made of, for example, a sheet metal and has a free end whose free end shields and reflects the projection light of the paper presence / absence sensor 127 through the opening 74a2 as shown by a solid line in FIG. 9B. 9B, it is swingable about a fulcrum shaft 75-2 between a paper-free simulated position through which the projection light of the paper presence / absence sensor 127 is transmitted, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9B. At the upper right end of the shutter 71-2 in FIG. 9B, a spring locking portion 71a2 for hooking and locking the other end of the tension spring 73-2 is formed by bending. At the upper left end of the shutter 71-2 in FIG. 9B, a fitting hole for loosely fitting the pin 72a2 press-fit into the tip of the plunger of the solenoid 72-2 is formed. The pin 72a2 of the solenoid 72-2 is connected to the shutter 71-2 through a pin insertion slot (not shown) formed in the holder 76-2 and the fitting hole of the shutter 71-2.

  The lower portion of the shutter 71-2 is bent in an L-shape, and the lower surface thereof is subjected to an appropriate surface treatment for reflecting the projection light from the paper presence / absence sensor 127 to the same extent as the surface of the paper. The tension spring 73-2 is stretched between the spring locking portion 76a2 of the holder 76-2 and the spring locking portion 71a2 of the shutter 71-2, and the free end (lower surface in the figure) of the shutter 71-2. 9B, which is a direction for always occupying the simulated position with paper, is urged clockwise. Further, the urging force of the tension spring 73-2 assists the return of the plunger of the solenoid 72-2 and the pin 72a2 via the shutter 71-2.

Here, the operation of the sheet presence / absence sensor shutter mechanism 70-2 will be described in advance. When power is supplied to the solenoid 72-2 and the solenoid 72-2 is turned on, the plunger and the pin 72a2 move against the urging force of the tension spring 73-2 due to their magnetic attraction, as shown in FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b). The shutter 71-2 swings downward, whereby the free end of the shutter 71-2 swings counterclockwise in FIG. 9B about the fulcrum shaft 75-2, and is shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9B. Occupies the simulated position with no paper shown.
On the other hand, when the power to the solenoid 72-2 is cut off and the solenoid 72-2 is turned off, the plunger and the pin 72a2 swing substantially upward in FIGS. 9A and 9B by the urging force of the tension spring 73-2. As a result, the free end of the shutter 71-2 swings clockwise about the fulcrum shaft 75-2 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 9B, and occupies the paper presence simulated position shown by the solid line in FIG. 9B. It becomes.

When the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1 occupies the connection position shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the solenoid 72-2 is kept turned off by a command from a control device described later, so that the free end of the shutter 71-2 is released. It is in the virtual position where there is a sheet that shields / reflects the projection light of the sheet presence sensor 127. When there is no more paper in the stacking unit 2 and the intermediate conveyance unit 4, the solenoid 72-2 is turned on by a command from the control device, thereby causing the shutter 71-2 to resist the urging force of the tension spring 73-2. 9B oscillates counterclockwise in FIG. 9B about the fulcrum shaft 75-2 and occupies the paperless simulated position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The controller (not shown) recognizes that there is no paper.
On the other hand, when there is a sheet in the intermediate conveyance section 4, the solenoid 72-2 is turned off by a command from the control device, and the free end of the shutter 71-2 is in the sheet-simulated position as described above, and the stencil printing apparatus When the control device on the main body 100 side recognizes that there is a sheet, the paper can be passed from the intermediate transport unit 4 to the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side.

  As compared with the shutter mechanism 70-1 for the paper length sensor, the shutter mechanism 70-2 for the paper presence / absence sensor has the shutter mechanism protecting member 74 when the large-volume paper feed unit 1 occupies the connection position shown in FIG. -2 has a function of abutting against the front plate 124 of the main body paper feeding unit 104 and having a function of performing connection positioning with the inclined member 51. Therefore, the shutter mechanism 70-1 for the paper length sensor has substantially the same components as the shutter mechanism 70-2 for the paper presence / absence sensor, although the shape is partially different, The description is omitted by adding the numeral 1 after the.

  In FIG. 8, reference numeral 135 denotes a rotation axis for aligning the print center (adjusting the width direction of the paper P). One end of the rotating shaft 135 is cut with a male screw (not shown). This is achieved by screwing a male screw at one end of the rotary shaft 135 to a screw member (not shown) having female threads cut on the upper portions of the pair of left and right auxiliary side plates 29 of the main body housing 6. Is used to adjust the width of the paper P in the width direction of the paper P. An operation handle 137 for manual operation is attached and fixed to the other end of the rotating shaft 135 as shown in FIG.

  With reference to FIGS. 11 to 13, an electrical control configuration for controlling the operation of the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1 described later will be described. For simplicity, the illustration of the sensors 26, 27, 66, 67, the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8, etc. is triangular, and the motors 22, 28, 33-1 to 33-3, the solenoids 72-1 and 72-2, etc. are also shown schematically and simplified. 11 to 13, the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 are illustrated as if they were arranged on the lower guide plate 37 side. And the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 are arranged on the upper guide plate 35 side as described above.

  First, the arrangement of the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 and the like will be supplementarily described with reference to FIG. Specifically, the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 are arranged on the upper guide plate 35 at intervals shown in FIG. 11 from upstream to downstream along the sheet transport direction X in the intermediate transport path 18. Arranged and fixed. This corresponds to the paper sizes of 10 types (11 types including B6Y (horizontal)) of the paper P along the paper transport direction X, as shown in parentheses in FIG. Based on what is set. 11 and 15, for example, A3Y (horizontal) size means that the length along the paper transport direction X is 420 mm, and A4T (vertical) size means that the length along the paper transport direction X is for example. The DLY (double letter) size of 210 mm indicates that the length along the sheet conveyance direction X is 432 mm, which is the longest in this embodiment.

  Further, the paper transport length of the intermediate transport path 18 is set to 480 mm corresponding to the DLY size. In FIG. 11, the second pressure roller 31-2 and the second conveyance roller 32-2 are formed from the center of the nip formed by the first pressure roller 31-1 and the first conveyance roller 32-1. The distance from the center of the nip formed by the second pressing roller 31-2 and the second conveying roller 32-2 to the main body feeding roller 111 on the side of the main body feeding section 104 and the third conveyance are 170 mm from the center of the nip. Also illustrated is a distance 170 mm to the center of the nip formed by the roller 32-3.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, in a state where the large-volume paper feed unit 1 occupies the connection position, the main positions of the printing unit 102, the main body paper feed unit 104, and the intermediate transport unit 4 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100. One embodiment of the relationship will be described.
The distance from the center of the nip in the pressed state between the print drum 115 and the press roller 116 to the center of the nip of the pair of registration rollers 114 is about 120 mm. The distance to the center of the nip formed by pressure contact with 32-3 is about 120 mm, and the distance between the main body feed roller 111 and the third transport roller 32-3 from the center of the nip between the print drum 115 and the press roller 116 is increased. The distance to the center of the nip is about 240 mm. Therefore, when the shortest size B5T (182 mm) is used to feed the paper from the intermediate conveyance unit 4 to the main body paper feeding unit 104, the B5T ends at the point where the leading end of the B5T reaches the nip between the print drum 115 and the press roller 116. Is located between the registration roller pair 114 and the main body separation roller 112.

  As will be described before and after, the upper roller of the registration roller pair 114 is configured to be able to freely contact and separate from the lower roller by a contact / separation mechanism having biasing means such as a timing cam and a tension spring (not shown). I have. With this configuration, in a state where the leading end of the sheet is completely held with a certain length in the nip portion between the printing drum 115 and the press roller 116, the upper roller of the registration roller pair 114 is moved downward by the contact / separation mechanism. The load due to the pressure contact at the nip portion of the pair of registration rollers 114 that is separated from the rollers is not applied to the rotation of the paper and the printing drum 115 and the like. For the same purpose, a driving force transmitting means or a power supply unit connected to the main body separation roller 112 and the main body paper supply roller 111 by a one-way clutch provided on each shaft of the main body separation roller 112 and the main body paper supply roller 111 is provided. The load by the paper motor 122 (stepping motor) or the like is not applied to the transported paper and the rotation of the printing drum 115 as much as possible.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 including the common stepping motor are used, the intermediate conveyance path 18 having the predetermined distance as described above, When the paper is transported between the paper transport paths on the side of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100, the paper transport distance (or the paper transport amount) can be controlled by the number of pulses supplied to each stepping motor. Paper can be conveyed. The same applies to the registration motor (not shown) including the sheet feeding motor 22, the sheet feeding motor 122 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, and the stepping motor for rotating the registration roller pair 114 of the main body sheet feeding unit 104.

With reference to FIG. 12, control components used in the present embodiment, including a supplementary description of the above-described control components, will be described.
In FIG. 12, reference numeral 78 indicated by a two-dot chain line indicates a power supply board, reference numeral 78a indicates a power cable for connection to, for example, a commercial external power supply, and reference numeral 79 indicated by a two-dot chain line indicates a control device or the like to be described later. Reference numeral 80 denotes a power switch for connecting / disconnecting (on / off) power supplied to the entire mass paper feed unit 1 via a power cable 78a and the like, and reference numeral 81 denotes a mass paper feed unit. Reference numeral 82 denotes a reset switch serving as an initial set setting means for initializing the operation 1, that is, giving an instruction to start the operation to an initial (or initial set) state. 1 shows a paper feed tray lowering switch for setting the final lowering position of the mass paper feed tray 10.

  The power switch 80 is disposed on the left side wall on the operation side, and the reset switch 81 and the paper feed tray lowering switch 82 are respectively disposed on the upper part of the main body housing 6 which is also called the operation panel of the large-volume paper feed transport unit 1. When replenishing and replenishing sheets to the large-volume paper feed tray 10 of the stacking unit 2, the paper-supply tray lowering switch 82 lowers the large-volume paper feed tray 10 by an amount corresponding to the replenishment, and supplies paper. When a jam or the like occurs in the paper feeding mechanism 3 or the like, the operation is performed when the large-volume paper feeding table 10 is slightly lowered to perform processing or the like.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a main control configuration of the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1. In the figure, a control device 85 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 86, a RAM (readable and writable storage device) 87, a timer 88 as time measuring means, a ROM (read-only storage device) 89 as storage means, and the like. And a microcomputer having a configuration in which the CPU 86 and the ROM 89 are connected by an address bus 90 and a data bus 91, and the CPU 86, the RAM 87, and the timer 88 are connected by a signal bus (not shown). The control device 85 is provided on the arrangement portion of the control board 79 shown in FIG.

  The CPU 86 includes an appropriate height sensor 26, a lower limit sensor 27 provided on the side of the large-volume paper feed unit 5, a paper presence / absence sensor 66 provided on the large-volume paper feed table 10, a plurality of paper size sensors (not shown), a power switch 80, First to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50 provided on the intermediate conveyance unit 4 via a reset switch 81, a paper feed tray lowering switch 82, sensor input circuits and switch input circuits (not shown), and an input port 92 (not shown). -8, which is electrically connected to the open / close sensor 67 via a sensor input circuit (not shown) and an input port 92, respectively, and receives various signals from these sensors and switches. The encoder sensor 151 indicated by a two-dot chain line as a control component of the intermediate transport unit 4 is not provided in the present embodiment, and is used in a modified example described later.

  The CPU 86 is connected to the first feed motor 22, the elevating motor 28, a motor drive circuit (not shown) provided on the side of the large-volume paper feed unit 5, the output port 93, and the first to third motors provided on the intermediate conveyance section 4. The motors 33-1 to 33-3, the paper length sensor solenoid 72-1 and the paper presence / absence sensor solenoid 72-2 are electrically connected to each other via a motor drive circuit (not shown), a solenoid drive circuit, and an output port 93. Based on various signals from the sensors and the switches and a program related to the operation called from the ROM 89, various command signals for controlling the operation of the motors and the solenoids are transmitted. The system controls the entire operation of the large-volume sheet feeding unit 1, such as the start, stop, and timing of each control target unit.

  The ROM 89 has a program shown in a flowchart which will be described later, showing the operation of the whole mass paper feeding and conveying unit 1 or a paper conveying operation flow, and a control / calculation function of the CPU 86 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “function”). Various kinds of related data are stored, and these operation programs and related data are appropriately called by the CPU 86. The RAM 87 has a function of temporarily storing calculation results of the CPU 86, a function of storing various signals such as various settings and input ON / OFF signals and data signals from the switches and the sensors as needed. ing. The timer 88 starts the conveyance of the paper P on each of the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 in response to the start of the paper feeding by the main body paper feeding roller 111 by the activation of the paper feeding motor 122 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100. It has a function as a time measuring means for measuring the time between the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 when the trailing edge of the paper P moves.

  The CPU 86 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a “control device 85” for convenience of description) performs a reset operation, which is an initialization operation in which the conveyance of one sheet of paper P onto each of the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 is completed. Based on the signal from each of the sensors 50-1 to 50-8, the paper size (more precisely, the paper size corresponding to the paper length) is determined, and the paper of each of the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 is determined. It has a first function as control means for performing control for changing the transport control method.

  The state at the time of the reset is such that the paper P is located on the third transport roller 32-3 disposed at the most downstream side of the intermediate transport path 18, and the leading end of the paper P is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. When the position at which paper can be fed by the paper feed roller 111, that is, the stop position P0 of the leading end of the paper P conveyed from the intermediate conveyance unit 4 shown in FIG. Is set in advance so as to be located at a position substantially coincident with the leading end of the sheet. Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 11, the target stop position P0 is about 38.5 mm paper transport from the center of the nip 131 formed by pressing the main body paper feed roller 111 and the third transport roller 32-3. It is set at a position advanced in the direction X. Hereinafter, the state in which the leading edge of the sheet P temporarily stops at the stop position P0 may be expressed as “occupying the reset position” or “at the reset position”.

  In other words, the first function of the control device 85 (the CPU 86) is that the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 are initialized when the conveyance of one sheet of paper P onto the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 is completed. Based on the signal from 50-8, the paper size (correctly, the paper size corresponding to the paper length) is determined, and the paper transport control method of each of the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 is switched. In other words, controlling each of the motors 33-1 to 33-3 can be paraphrased.

  When exerting the first function, the control device 85 (CPU 86) takes into account a signal from the timer 88 relating to a measurement time obtained by measuring the time between any of the preset sensors 50-1 to 50-8. Thus, in addition to the first function, a second function as control means for performing control for changing the sheet conveying speed is provided.

  In this embodiment, since the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3, which are common stepping motors, are used, the paper transport speed of the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 ( The change of the peripheral speed or the rotation speed is performed by changing the frequency (pps: pulse per second) of the pulse supplied to the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 by the control device 85 (CPU 86), that is, the pulse interval. Can be changed easily (acceleration if the pulse interval is narrowed, constant speed if the interval is constant, deceleration if the pulse interval is widened), and this can be easily and accurately performed.

  Next, before describing the details of the specific control operation of the large-volume sheet feeding transport unit 1 in the off-line state, the principle control content of the sheet transport operation in the intermediate transport unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG. deep. In the figure, for simplicity of description, a first sheet P1 and a next sheet P2 are arranged using first to third sensors 50-1 to 50-3 arranged at predetermined intervals in the sheet conveying direction X. A brief description will be given of a sheet conveyance control method relating to the positions of the leading edge and the trailing edge. Hereinafter, the preceding sheet P1 refers to a sheet placed on the intermediate conveyance path 18 of the intermediate conveyance section 4 and taken into the main body sheet feeding section 104, and the next sheet P2 refers to the large-volume sheet feeding table 10 and the sheet feeding mechanism section 3. From the sheet P to the intermediate transport path 18 following the previous sheet P1. In general, the previous sheet P1 can be rewritten as Pn, and the next sheet P2 can be rewritten as Pn + 1. Here, n is a natural number.

  First, as shown in FIG. 14A, since the rear end of the previous sheet P1 does not pass through the second sensor 50-2, the front end of the next sheet P2 is located at the uppermost stream in the sheet transport direction X. It stops at a position before it is detected by the sensor 50-1. However, in this case, even after the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is detected by the first sensor 50-1, the next sheet P2 has the inertia of the transport roller corresponding thereto (the one-way clutch 61 as described above is built in). Therefore, it can be regarded as the inertia of the transport roller) and then stopped by a slowdown.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 14B, when the rear end of the previous sheet P1 passes through the second sensor 50-2 (shielding / reflection → transmission of the reflection type sensor), conveyance of the next sheet P2 is started. Until the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is detected by the second sensor 50-2, the next sheet P2 is transported and proceeds. Whether the next sheet P2 is conveyed downstream in the sheet conveying direction X and advances or stops depends on the positional relationship between the rear end of the previous sheet P1 and the third sensor 50-3 and the sheet length along the sheet conveying direction X. It differs depending on the size (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “paper size”).

  As shown in FIG. 14C, when the rear end of the previous sheet P1 has passed through the third sensor 50-3, the next sheet P2 does not drop its speed (sheet conveying speed). As shown by the dashed line, the tip of the second sensor 50-2 can reach the third sensor 50-3. However, when the rear end of the previous sheet P1 has not passed through the third sensor 50-3, the next sheet P2 stops at the position of the second sensor 50-2 as shown by a solid line in FIG.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the positions of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the front sheet P1 and the next sheet P2 are always detected by the sensors 50-1 to 50-8, and the positions of the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1 and the trailing edge are determined. The paper transport control system is switched so that the paper can be sequentially transported without contacting the leading edge of the next paper P2. In other words, a preset paper transport control pattern is selected from the ROM 89, and each transport roller 32-1 is selected. Specific control for changing the sheet conveyance speed of ~ 32 ~ 3 is performed. According to the present embodiment, the ten types of paper sizes shown in FIGS. 11 and 15 can be detected by the minimum eight sensors 50-1 to 50-8, so that the paper size detection configuration is simplified and the cost is reduced. Can be down.

  Therefore, the present invention is not limited to, for example, the eight sensors 50-1 to 50-8 arranged in the intermediate conveyance path 18 as in the present embodiment, but includes the first to Nth sensors 50-1 to 50-8. 50-N, where N is generally replaced by a natural number and a large number (for example, more than 8) is arranged, and even if the intermediate conveyance path 18 is extended even longer than described above, the preceding sheet P1 (Pn For example, the start / stop of each of the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 and the paper transport speed thereof can be changed so that the trailing edge and the leading edge of the next sheet P2 (Pn + 1) can be transported sequentially without contact. Even when three or more sheets of paper P are placed on the first to Nth sensors 50-1 to 50-N, it is of course possible to control the number of conveyance rollers according to the size of the sheet to be conveyed. It is.

  From the above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and a plurality of intermediate transport units are arranged at intervals from upstream to downstream of the intermediate transport path, and transport the paper fed from the paper feed mechanism unit. And a plurality of paper transporting means for detecting a paper size by detecting at least one of a leading edge and a trailing edge of the transported paper, the plurality of paper transporting means being disposed at intervals from upstream to downstream of the intermediate transport path. It may have first to Nth sensors 50-1 to 50-N as sheet detection means.

  With reference to FIGS. 11 and 15 to 18, a specific paper transport operation by the control device 85, particularly in the intermediate transport unit 4 of the large-volume paper transport unit 1 will be described. As specifically shown in FIG. 11, the detection of the sheet length size in the present embodiment is performed by detecting one sheet P by each of the sensors 50-1 to 50-through the operation at the time of reset shown in FIG. 8, the leading end of the sheet P, that is, the leading end of the preceding sheet P1 is nipped by the nip portion between the main body feeding roller 111 and the third conveying roller 32-3 in FIG. At the stop position P0 at which the control unit 85 stops, the control unit 85 determines based on signals from the sensors 50-1 to 50-8.

  By the way, at the time of reset, on the longest DLY-size and A3Y-size paper P in the paper transport direction X, these sensors are located above (strictly below) the eighth sensor 50-8 to the first sensor 50-1. Is determined to be the maximum sheet length because the eighth sensor 50-8 to the first sensor 50-1 are turned on. Further, in FIG. 11, the shortest B5T size paper P is located on these sensors from the eighth sensor 50-8 to the fifth sensor 50-5. The shortest paper length should be determined when the fifth sensor 50-5 is turned on. However, the shortest paper length is determined when the sixth sensor 50-6 is on / off for the following reason. ing.

  That is, in the chart of FIG. 15, the shortest sheet P in the present embodiment example: the conveyance stop state at the time of resetting the B5T size is particularly 16 rpm or 30 rpm (by the adhesive force of the ink on the outer peripheral surface of the print drum 115 shown in FIG. 1). When trying to realize a printing speed on the lower side of the rotation speed of the printing drum 115 (also a paper conveyance speed corresponding to the peripheral speed) at the time of printing or trial printing for bringing the heat-sensitive stencil master made into close contact, Since the sheet P is short, the sheet P is pinched and conveyed by any two of the first to third sheet conveying units 30-1 to 30-3 (the pressing roller 31 and the conveying roller 32). 9 due to the inertia of the third transport roller 32-3 located at the most downstream position among the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3. Since the fifth sensor 50-5 may overrun in spite of the braking force by the 62, the detection is made surely in the ON / OFF state of the sixth sensor 50-6 by checking the margin. That's why.

  In the table of FIG. 15, the “other speed” is a printing speed during normal printing, and may be, for example, 60 to 120 rpm. "Initial sheet rear end position: between sensors (... 0--5)" corresponds to the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 for detecting the rear end of one sheet P at the time of reset. Indicates the sensor number. In this example, the sensor number “0” indicates an arrangement position of the separation roller 12. The “second sheet take-in sensor” is used to enable the start of taking in the next sheet from the sheet feeding mechanism unit 3 without contacting the leading end of the next sheet following the trailing end of the previous sheet in the reset state. Represents the sensor number at which the sensor for detecting the rear end position of the preceding sheet is turned off when the preceding sheet is taken in and conveyed to the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side. The sensor numbers of the second sheet take-in sensor correspond to the numbers of transport types 1 to 5 described later as shown in parentheses in the table.

  Based on the above description, the paper transport control patterns according to the paper transport control system for transporting the paper P separated and fed from the mass paper feed unit 5 into one sheet are classified into the following five transport types. can do. In other words, when the leading end of the previous sheet P1 in the intermediate conveying section 4 is taken by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 111 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100, the control of when to start conveying the next sheet P2 is performed. That's right. In this embodiment, only one sheet P is sequentially transported because the intermediate transport path 18 is relatively short. However, if the intermediate transport path of the intermediate transport unit is long, the intermediate transport path is determined by the length of each sheet. It is needless to say that the conveyance control can be performed only for the number of sheets on which the paper P is placed.

Transport type 1: ON state from the eighth sensor 50-8 to the first sensor 50-1 Transport type 2: ON state from the eighth sensor 50-8 to the second sensor 50-2 Transport type 3: Eighth sensor 50-8 To the third sensor 50-3 ON state Transport type 4: ON state to the eighth sensor 50-8 to the fourth sensor 50-4 Transport type 5: ON state to the eighth sensor 50-8 to the fifth sensor 50-5
(Alternatively, the eighth sensor 50-8 to the sixth sensor 50-6 are on)

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 16 shows the contents of the transfer control branching processing for transfer types 1 to 5 called from the ROM 89 after the reset operation is completed by the control device 85 (CPU 86). First, in step S <b> 1 of the figure, at the time of reset, it is determined whether or not the rear end of one sheet of paper P is located on the first sensor 50-1. If the trailing end of the sheet P is located at the first sensor 50-1 (the first sensor 50-1 is ON), the process proceeds to step S4, where a sheet transport control subroutine program for the transport type 1 is executed. If the trailing edge of the sheet P is not located at the first sensor 50-1 (the first sensor 50-1 is off), the process proceeds to step S2, and the trailing edge of the sheet P is located at the second sensor 50-2. Is determined. If the trailing end of the sheet P is located at the second sensor 50-2, the process proceeds to step S5, and the subroutine program of the sheet transport control for the transport type 2 is executed. If the trailing edge of the sheet P is not located at the second sensor 50-2, it is determined whether the trailing edge of the sheet P is located at the third sensor 50-3. Hereinafter, since the content is the same, the description including the transport types 3 to 5 on the way is omitted.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 15 to 18, sheet conveyance control of another speed and short size (A4Y, B5Y, letter Y size shown in FIG. 15) in conveyance type 3 executed under the control of control device 85 Here is an example. As an intermediate conveyance condition, each motor speed is set in advance as a standard, and the paper conveyance speed by the paper feed roller 11, the separation roller 12, and the first to third conveyance rollers 32-1 to 32-3 is constant. The feed motor 22 and the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 are controlled. The paper transport speed at this time is set substantially corresponding to the maximum printing speed of 120 rpm (corresponding to 1130 mm / sec in terms of paper transport speed) by the print drum 115 (in the embodiment, it is slightly higher than 1130 mm / sec). The speed has been increased to 1370 mm / sec). The unillustrated control on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side such that the paper conveyance speed by the main body feeding roller 111 and the main body separating roller 112 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side is also the same as described above (in the embodiment, 1272 mm / sec). The paper feed motor 122 is controlled by the device.

  Of course, the paper conveyance speed for taking in the paper by the main body feeding roller 111 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side varies depending on the paper conveyance control method on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side. The stencil printing apparatus main body 100 may finely control the paper conveyance corresponding to each of the printing speeds 16 to 120 rpm, or for example, the stencil printing apparatus main body corresponding to a predetermined range of each printing speed 16 to 120 rpm. In some cases, paper transport control is performed on the 100 side. As a technique similar to this, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-141856 by the present applicant is cited.

As shown in FIG. 15, the initial paper trailing end position of the short size transport type 3 is between the third sensor 50-3 and the second sensor 50-2, and the second sheet take-in sensor is the third sensor. The sensor 50-3 (when is turned off).
The state of the sheet shown in FIG. 17 is such that one sheet of the top sheet P on the high-volume paper feed table 10 is separated and taken out, and is fed and conveyed to the intermediate conveyance path 18 after the end of the reset operation. P1 is shown. The reset stop state of the preceding sheet P1 indicates the transport type 3 in which the eighth sensor 50-8 to the third sensor 50-3 are turned on, and the transport control in the transport type 3 is performed.

  Next, the process proceeds from the state where the previous sheet P1 occupies the reset position shown in FIG. 17 to the state shown in FIG. That is, when the paper feed motor 122 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 is started and started, the main body paper feed roller 111 rotates at a constant rotational speed (the main body speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed 120 rpm (peripheral speed) of the print drum 115 as described above). The rotation is started clockwise at the peripheral speed of the paper feed roller 111, that is, also at the paper conveyance speed), so that the previous paper P1 sandwiched between the main body paper feed roller 111 and the third conveyance roller 32-3 is moved to the main body. The paper is taken into the paper supply unit 104 and is conveyed. At this time, since the third transport roller 32-3 receives an appropriate paper feed pressure from the main body paper feed roller 111, the front paper P1 and the high friction surface (rubber surface) of the outer peripheral surface of the third transport roller 32-3 are not used. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 18 (a), in accordance with the movement of the preceding sheet P1, the rotation starts counterclockwise and follows the rotation. At this time, the load of the third motor 33-3 is negligibly small due to the function of the one-way clutch 61 built in the shaft of the third transport roller 32-3.

Hereinafter, as for the rotation of the main body paper feed roller 111, each of the transport rollers 33-1 to 33-3, the separation roller 12, the paper feed roller 11, and the like, the rotation indicated by a solid line is the rotation by itself, and the rotation indicated by a broken line is not accompanied or rotated. It will be distinguished as representing driven rotation.
In this way, when the preceding sheet P1 advances to the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, the trailing end of the sheet P1 passes through the third sensor 50-3, and the third sensor 50-3 to the first sensor 50-1 are both turned off, the sheet feeding motor 22 And the first motor 33-1 are started simultaneously (rotational drive starts), so that the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12 start rotating clockwise, thereby separating the next sheet P2 into one sheet. Then, the conveyance toward the intermediate conveyance path 18 is started. At this time, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is detected by the first sensor 50-1. Further, when the first motor 33-1 is activated, the first transport roller 32-1 starts rotating counterclockwise, and the next sheet P2 is transferred to the first transport roller 32-1 and the first pressure roller. The paper is conveyed to the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction X while being rotated and conveyed while being pinched by 31-1.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 18B, the next sheet P2 is conveyed while checking the rear end position of the previous sheet P1 by the two sensors of the fourth sensor 50-4 and the fifth sensor 50-5. . In this case, the third sensor 50-3 is on, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 has reached the sensor 50-3, and the fifth sensor 50-5 is on instead of off, and is behind the previous sheet P1. Since the ends are on the same sensor 50-5, both the fourth sensor 50-4 and the fifth sensor 50-5 for the two sheets during the sheet conveyance between the rear end of the previous sheet P1 and the front end of the next sheet P2 are off. Until the next sheet P2 becomes empty, the conveyance control is performed so that the next sheet P2 stops at the position shown in FIG.

  As described above, the sheet P that is started to be conveyed from the high-volume sheet feeding table 10 is conveyed, and after the start of conveyance, (1) the immediately preceding several sheets of the sensors 50 (which change depending on the sheet length) due to the rear end check of the previous sheet P1. Check availability. (2) The next sheet P2 can advance to the next sensor 50 when the rear end of the previous sheet P1 has no sheet P on the predetermined number of sensors 50 (that is, the preceding sheet P1 is advanced). If the previous sheet P1 has not advanced, the operation is stopped until the previous sheet P1 advances. (3) When the leading edge of the next sheet P2 reaches the next sensor 50, the process returns to (1). The sheet conveyance control is repeated to repeat this to the fixed conveyance position (the position where the rear end of the sheet P passes through the eighth sensor 50-8).

  Next, the transport type executed under the control of the control device 85 will be described with reference to the table of FIG. 15, the sheet transport transition state of FIGS. 19 to 20, the flowcharts of FIGS. 21 to 24, and the timing chart of FIG. A detailed example of paper transport control in which the paper transport speed, which is also the printing speed in No. 3, is 16, 30 rpm, and is of a short size (A4Y, B5Y, letter Y size shown in FIG. 15).

  FIG. 25 shows the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-50 in the case where the leading edge of the next sheet P2 does not catch up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1 in the sheet transport control operation shown in FIGS. 8 shows an example of a timing chart related to ON / OFF of -8, and each ON (startup) / off (stop) of the sheet feeding motor 22 and the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3. 21 to 24 start from step S10. In step S10, the respective motor speeds are previously standardized as described above. The stop state of one previous sheet P1 after the end of the reset operation in this example is the same as that shown in FIG. 17 (the transport type in which the eighth sensor 50-8 to the third sensor 50-3 are on). 3).

  Next, from the state where the previous sheet P1 occupies the reset position shown in FIG. 17, as shown in FIG. 19A, the previous sheet P1 is moved to the side of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 by the operation of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 described above. When the process proceeds to, it is determined whether or not the rear end of the preceding sheet P1 has come off the third sensor 50-3 and all of the third sensor 50-3 to the first sensor 50-1 have been turned off (step S11). . That is, here, the check of the second sheet take-in sensor shown in FIG. 15 is performed. Since the third sensor 50-3, which is the second sheet take-in sensor, is turned off, the sheet feeding motor 22 and the first motor 33-1 are simultaneously started (rotational driving starts), thereby feeding the sheet. When the roller 11 and the separation roller 12 start to rotate clockwise, the next sheet P2 is separated into one sheet and starts to be conveyed toward the intermediate conveyance path 18. At this time, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is detected by the first sensor 50-1. When the first motor 33-1 is activated, the first transport roller 32-1 starts to rotate counterclockwise, so that the next sheet P2 is separated from the first transport roller 32-1 and the first pressure roller. The paper is conveyed to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction X while being rotated and conveyed while being pinched by the sheet 31-1. The paper feed motor 22 is driven to transport the leading end of the next paper P2 to the first transport roller 32-1 via the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12, and then automatically stops (step S12).

  When the third sensor 50-3 remains off in step S11, the same determination processing operation is repeated. In step S12, time measurement by the timer 88 of the control device 85 is started, and the passage time when the rear end of the front sheet P1 moves and passes through the third sensor 50-3 to the fifth sensor 50-5 is measured. (See FIG. 15).

  Next, in step S13, it is determined whether or not the second sensor 50-2 has been turned on based on the arrival position of the leading edge of the next sheet P2. When the leading edge of the next sheet P2 does not reach the second sensor 50-2 and the sensor 50-2 is turned off, the same determination processing operation is repeated. Omitted.) If the second sensor 50-2 is on, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14, it is determined whether the preceding sheet P1 has been conveyed and the fourth sensor 50-4 has been turned off. When the fourth sensor 50-4 is off, the process proceeds to step S15, and the second motor 33-2 starts. On the other hand, in step S14, when the fourth sensor 50-4 remains on, that is, when the rear end of the preceding sheet P1 is positioned on the fourth sensor 50-4, the sensor 50-4 is on. When the result is NO, the rotation of the first motor 33-1 is temporarily stopped so that the leading end of the next sheet P2 does not advance to the third sensor 50-3 (step S35). At this time, the third sensor 50-3 is off and the rear end of the previous sheet P1 has passed through the third sensor 50-3, but the fourth sensor 50-4 remains on and the rear end of the previous sheet P1. Is located on the fourth sensor 50-4, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 cannot be transported to the third sensor 50-3. That is, until the third sensor 50-3 and the fourth sensor 50-4 for two sheets during the sheet conveyance (between the rear end of the previous sheet P1 and the front end of the next sheet P2) are both turned off and become empty, The conveyance control is performed such that the sheet P2 stops on the intermediate conveyance path 18 between the second sensor 50-2 and the third sensor 50-3.

  Next, it is determined whether the preceding sheet P1 has advanced and the fourth sensor 50-4 has been turned off (step S36). When the fourth sensor 50-4 is off, the process proceeds to step S37, where both the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are started. Steps S13 to S15 and steps S35 to S37 described above are the basic patterns of the transport position check of the rear end of the previous sheet P1 and the front end of the next sheet P2. The following operation is essentially a repetition of such a basic pattern.

  Next, in FIG. 19B and step S16, it is determined whether or not the next sheet P2 has been conveyed and the third sensor 50-3 has been turned on. Here, when the next sheet P2 is conveyed and the third sensor 50-3 is turned on by the arrival of the leading end, the process proceeds to step S17 shown in FIG. 22, and the previous sheet P1 is conveyed and the fifth sensor 50-5 is turned off. It is determined whether it has been performed. In step S17, when the preceding sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the fifth sensor 50-5 and the fifth sensor 50-5 has been turned off, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S <b> 18, when the preceding sheet P <b> 1 advances and the trailing edge passes through the fifth sensor 50-5, on the basis of a signal relating to the time measured by the timer 88 of the control device 85, the CPU 86 determines that the predetermined time has been reached. If the time exceeds the time, the previous paper P1 is considered to be low speed, that is, the paper transport speed of the previous paper P1 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “previous paper transport speed”) is low (for example, 15,30 rpm less than 60 rpm), In order to prevent the leading edge of the next sheet P2 from catching up with and colliding with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1, both the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are temporarily stopped so that the next sheet P2 does not advance. Then, the paper transport speed by the paper feed roller 11, the separation roller 12, and the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 is set to be low (for example, corresponding to 15, 30 rpm less than 60 rpm). The rotation speeds of the sheet feeding motor 22 composed of a stepping motor and the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 are controlled (Steps S18 to S20).

Next, the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are activated to rotate the first and second transport rollers 32-1 and 32-2 at the low sheet transport speed switched in step S20. (Step S21). On the other hand, in step S17, since the previous sheet P1 is not conveyed and its rear end is located on the fifth sensor 50-5, when the sensor 50-5 is ON, the next sheet P2 does not advance. As described above, the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are temporarily stopped (step S38).
Next, the process proceeds to step S39, and from step S41 to step S41, a series of control processing operations from step S17 to step S19 are performed. Next, the process proceeds to step S42, where the paper transport speed by the paper feed roller 11, the separation roller 12, and the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 is low (for example, corresponding to 15, 30 rpm less than 60 rpm). The rotation speeds of the sheet feeding motor 22 and the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 are controlled to be switched.

Next, the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are started to rotate the first and second transport rollers 32-1 and 32-2 at the low sheet transport speed switched in step S42. Thus, the next sheet P2 is transported (step S43).
The above-described series of control processing operations from step S18 to step S21 represent a case where the leading edge of the next sheet P2 has not caught up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1, and the “speed measurement section” shown in FIG. Or the transfer pattern). Further, a series of control processing operations from step S38 to step S43 represent a case where the leading edge of the next sheet P2 catches up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1, and the “speed measurement section” shown in FIG. (Transport pattern).

  Next, the process proceeds to step S22 shown in FIG. 23, and it is determined whether or not the next sheet P2 is conveyed and the fourth sensor 50-4 is turned on. Here, when the next sheet P2 is conveyed and the fourth sensor 50-4 is turned on by the arrival of the leading end, the process proceeds to step S23, where the preceding sheet P1 is conveyed and the trailing end passes through the sixth sensor 50-6. It is determined whether or not the sensor 50-6 has been turned off. When the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the sixth sensor 50-6, the process proceeds to step S24, where the next sheet P2 has been conveyed and its leading edge has reached the fifth sensor 50-5, and the sensor 50- It is determined whether or not 5 is turned on.

  On the other hand, in step S23, when the preceding sheet P1 is not conveyed and the trailing end is on the sixth sensor 50-6, that is, when the sensor 50-6 remains on, the next sheet P2 advances. First, both the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are temporarily stopped (step S44). Next, proceeding to step S45, when the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the sixth sensor 50-6, that is, when the result is YES, the first and second conveyance rollers 32-1 and 32-2 are rotated so as to rotate. And the second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are started (step S46).

  Next, the process proceeds to step S25 in FIG. 24, and it is determined whether the preceding sheet P1 has been conveyed, the trailing edge has passed through the seventh sensor 50-7, and the sensor 50-7 has been turned off. When the preceding sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the seventh sensor 50-7, the process proceeds to step S26, where the first motor 33-1 is temporarily stopped. This is because the first motor 33-1 is stopped because the leading end of the next sheet P2 has already reached the second transport roller 32-2 and has passed over the same roller 32-2.

  On the other hand, in step S25, when the previous sheet P1 is not conveyed and the trailing end is on the seventh sensor 50-7, that is, when the sensor 50-7 remains on, the next sheet P2 advances. First, both the first and second motors 33-1 and 33-2 are temporarily stopped (step S47). Next, proceeding to step S48, if the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the seventh sensor 50-7, that is, YES, the second motor 33-2 is started so as to rotate only the second conveyance roller 32-2. (Step S49).

Next, the process proceeds to step S27, where it is determined whether or not the next sheet P2 is conveyed and the sixth sensor 50-6 is turned on. Here, when the next sheet P2 is conveyed and the sixth sensor 50-6 is turned on by the arrival of the leading end thereof, the process proceeds to step S28, where the preceding sheet P1 is conveyed and the trailing end passes through the eighth sensor 50-8. It is determined whether or not the sensor 50-8 has been turned off. When the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the eighth sensor 50-8, the process proceeds to step S29. When the seventh sensor 50-7 is turned on, the third conveyance roller 32-3 is rotated so as to rotate. The three motors 33-3 are activated (Step S29).
Although omitted in this flow, the seventh sensor 50-7 also performs the same branch control as the other sensors (for example, steps S27 to S28 and steps S50 to S52 in the sixth sensor). It is desirable to be performed.

  On the other hand, in step S28, when the eighth sensor 50-8 remains on, that is, when the previous sheet P1 is not conveyed and the rear end is on the eighth sensor 50-8, the next sheet P2 is The second motor 33-2 is temporarily stopped so as not to proceed (step S50). Next, in step S51, if the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the trailing edge has passed through the eighth sensor 50-8 and the sensor 50-8 has been turned off, ie, YES, the second and third conveyance rollers 32-2, 32 And the third and third motors 33-2 and 33-3 are activated to rotate -3 (step S52).

  Next, the process proceeds to step S30, where it is determined whether the next sheet P2 has been conveyed and the eighth sensor 50-8 has been turned on. Here, when the next sheet P2 is conveyed and the eighth sensor 50-8 is turned on by the arrival of the leading end, the process proceeds to step S31, and both the second and third motors 33-2 and 33-3 are stopped. .

  In this way, when the previous sheet P1 is conveyed to the printing section 102 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 and completely disappears from the intermediate conveyance section 4, the next sheet P2 instead of the previous sheet P1 is supplied to the main body feeder as shown in FIG. The sheet is stopped at the reset position until it is conveyed to the printing unit 102 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 by the rotation drive of the paper roller 111.

  The above-described series of control processing operations from step S11 to step S31 represent a case where the leading edge of the next sheet P2 has not caught up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1. The control processing operations of steps S35 to S37, steps S38 to S43, steps S44 to S46, steps S47 to S49, and steps S50 to S52 are such that the leading edge of the next sheet P2 catches up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1. Represents the case where

  Next, with reference to the chart of FIG. 15, the sheet conveyance transition states of FIGS. 26 and 27, and the timing chart of FIG. 28, a simplified example of sheet conveyance control executed under the control of the control device 85 will be described. For example, in the transport type 1, for example, a paper transport speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed that does not require the switching control of the paper transport speed, and a brief description of the case of the longitudinal size (DLY, A3Y shown in FIG. 15) I do.

  FIG. 28 shows the ON / OFF state of the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 in the case where the leading edge of the next sheet P2 does not catch up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1 in the sheet transport control operation described below. 4 shows an example of a timing chart related to off, paper feed motor 22, and first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 on (start) and off (stop).

  In the sheet transport control example of the transport type 1 as well, the motor speeds are set in advance as in the case of the transport type 3 described above, and regardless of the printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, the stencil printing apparatus The paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12 pick the uppermost paper on the large-volume paper feed table 10 at a paper conveyance speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed (120 sheets / min: 120 rpm in the embodiment) of the main body 100. The paper feed motor 22 separates and transports the paper P one by one, and the respective motors 33-1 so that the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 transport the paper P fed from the paper feed mechanism unit 3. 33-3 are controlled by commands from the control device 85.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the rear end position of the initial sheet of the transport type 1 having the longitudinal size is between the separation roller 12 and the first sensor 50-1, and the second sensor for taking the second sheet is off. It is when it became. The state of the sheet shown in FIG. 26 is such that one sheet of the top sheet P on the high-volume sheet feeding table 10 is separated and taken out, and is fed and conveyed to the intermediate conveyance path 18 after the end of the reset operation. P1 is shown. The reset stop state of the preceding sheet P1 indicates the transport type 1 in which the eighth sensor 50-8 to the first sensor 50-1 are on, and the transport control in the transport type 1 is performed.

  First, the state proceeds from the state where the previous sheet P1 occupies the reset position shown in FIG. 26 to the state shown in FIG. That is, when the paper feed motor 122 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 is activated, the main body paper feed roller 111 rotates at a constant rotational speed (as described above, the main body paper feed corresponding to the maximum printing speed 120 rpm (peripheral speed) of the print drum 115). The rotation is started clockwise at the peripheral speed of the roller 111, that is, the paper conveyance speed), so that the previous sheet P1 sandwiched between the main body feeding roller 111 and the third conveyance roller 32-3 is fed to the main body feeding roller. It is taken into the unit 104 and transported.

  When the front sheet P1 advances toward the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 in this way, the rear end of the front sheet P1 passes through the first sensor 50-1 and turns off the first sensor 50-1. Since the first sensor 50-1 as the second sheet take-in sensor is turned off, the sheet feeding motor 22 is started, and the sheet feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 start to rotate clockwise. The next sheet P2 is separated into one sheet, and the conveyance is started toward the intermediate conveyance path 18. By the rotation and conveyance of the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12, the next sheet P2 starts to be conveyed to the downstream side of the intermediate conveyance path 18, and the leading end thereof is detected by the first sensor 50-1.

  At this time, by activating the first motor 33-1 at the timing shown in FIG. 28, the leading end of the next sheet P2 rotates while being nipped by the first transport roller 32-1 and the first pressure roller 31-1. The sheet is conveyed until the second sensor 50-2 is turned on. The paper feed motor 22 is automatically stopped after being driven to transport the leading end of the next paper P2 to the first transport roller 32-1 via the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12.

  On the other hand, the front sheet P1 is further conveyed to the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction X, and as shown in FIG. 27B, the second sensor 50-2 is off and the rear end of the front sheet P1 is -2, but the third sensor 50-3 remains on and the rear end of the previous sheet P1 is on the same sensor 50-3, that is, the rear end of the previous sheet P1 When the leading edge is about to catch up, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 cannot be transported to the third sensor 50-3. If the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is transported to the third sensor 50-3, the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1 may come into contact with the leading edge of the next sheet P2, and the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1 The control for transporting the next sheet P2 by separating one sensor between the sheet transports so that the distinction between each sheet P1 and P2 cannot be distinguished because the boundary (boundary) between the sheet P1 and the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is lost. I do. That is, as shown in the drawing, the sheet P2 is conveyed while checking whether there is one off sensor between the leading edge of the next sheet P2 and the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1. Here, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is located at the position where the second sensor 50-2 is turned on, and the trailing end of the preceding sheet P1 is located at the position where the third sensor 50-3 is turned on. Since there are no sensors for OFF, when the first motor 33-1 is turned off, the next sheet P2 stops at the position shown in FIG. 27B.

  Thereafter, when the preceding sheet P1 is further conveyed to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction X, and the trailing end of the sheet P1 is removed from the third sensor 50-3 and the third sensor 50-3 is turned off, the sensor for turning off the sheet during sheet conveyance is provided. In this case, the first motor 33-1 is activated again at this time, so that the leading end of the next sheet P2 is transported until the third sensor 50-3 is turned on.

  At this time, it is determined whether the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the fourth sensor 50-4 has been turned off, and the rear end of the previous sheet P1 is on the fourth sensor 50-4 and the sensor 50-4 is When it remains on, that is, when the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is about to catch up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is transported to the fourth sensor 50-4 for the same reason as described above. Therefore, the control for transporting the next sheet P2 is performed by leaving one sensor between the sheet transports. That is, the sheet P is transported while checking whether there is one off sensor between the leading edge of the next sheet P2 and the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1. Here, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is located at the position where the third sensor 50-3 is turned on, and the trailing end of the preceding sheet P1 is located at the position where the fourth sensor 50-4 is turned on. Since there are no sensors that are off, the next sheet P2 stops at the position where the third sensor 50-3 is turned on by turning off the first motor 33-1.

  On the other hand, when the trailing end of the preceding sheet P1 passes through the fourth sensor 50-4 and turns off the sensor 50-4, the second motor 33-2 is started at a predetermined timing, and the off state during the sheet conveyance is stopped. Since one sensor is vacant, the first motor 33-1 is started again at this time, so that the next sheet P2 whose leading end has stopped on the third sensor 50-3 is connected to the first transport roller 32-1. At the same time as being rotated and transported while being pinched by the first pressure roller 31-1, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is rotated and transported while being pinched by the second transport roller 32-2 and the second pressure roller 31-2. The sheet is conveyed until the fourth sensor 50-4 is turned on.

  By repeating such operations sequentially, the preceding sheet P1 is further transported to the downstream side in the sheet transport direction X, and the rear end of the preceding sheet P1 passes through the eighth sensor 50-8, and the same sensor 50-8 If the control is performed in the same manner until the second motor 33-2 is turned off, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 stopped in a state where the sixth sensor 50-6 is turned on is restarted at a predetermined timing. The next sheet P2 is conveyed, and it is determined whether or not the seventh sensor 50-7 has been turned on by the arrival of the leading edge of the next sheet P2. If the seventh sensor 50-7 has been turned on, the third motor 33-3 is started to activate the eighth sensor Transport control is performed until 50-8 is turned on.

  In this way, when the previous sheet P1 is conveyed to the printing section 102 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 and completely disappears from the intermediate conveying section 4, the next sheet P2 instead of the previous sheet P1 is supplied to the main body feeder as shown in FIG. The sheet is stopped at the reset position until it is conveyed to the printing unit 102 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 by the rotation drive of the paper roller 111.

  Next, with reference to the chart of FIG. 15, the sheet conveyance transition states of FIGS. 29 and 30, and the timing chart of FIG. 31, a simplified example of sheet conveyance control executed under the control of the control device 85 will be described. For example, a brief description will be given of a case of a short type (B5T shown in FIG. 15), which is an example of a sheet conveyance speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed that does not require the switching control of the sheet conveyance speed in the conveyance type 5.

  FIG. 31 shows ON / OFF of the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 in the case where the leading edge of the next sheet P2 does not catch up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1 in the sheet transport control operation described below. 4 shows an example of a timing chart related to off, paper feed motor 22, and first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 on (start) and off (stop).

  In the paper transport control example of the transport type 5 as well, as in the transport types 3 and 1 described above, each motor speed is preset as a standard, and regardless of the printing speed on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, the stencil printing is performed. At the sheet transport speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed (120 sheets / min: 120 rpm in this embodiment) of the printing apparatus main body 100, the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12 move the uppermost sheet on the large-volume paper feed table 10 to the maximum. The paper feed motor 22 is operated to pick up and separate and convey the sheets P one by one, and the motors 33 are moved so that the conveyance rollers 32-1 to 32-3 convey the sheet P fed from the sheet feeding mechanism unit 3. -1 to 33-3 are respectively controlled by commands from the control device 85.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the position of the rear end of the initial sheet of the short-size transport type 5 is between the fourth sensor 50-4 and the fifth sensor 50-5, and the second sheet take-in sensor is the fifth sensor 50-. 5 is off. The state of the sheet shown in FIG. 29 is such that one sheet of the uppermost sheet P on the large-volume sheet feeding table 10 is separated and taken out, and is fed and conveyed to the intermediate conveying path 18 after the end of the reset operation. P1 is shown. The reset stop state of the preceding sheet P1 indicates the transport type 5 in which the eighth sensor 50-8 to the fifth sensor 50-5 are on, and the transport control in the transport type 5 is performed.

  First, the state proceeds from the state where the previous sheet P1 occupies the reset position shown in FIG. 29 to the state shown in FIG. That is, when the paper feed motor 122 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 is activated, the main body paper feed roller 111 rotates at a constant rotational speed (as described above, the main body paper feed corresponding to the maximum printing speed 120 rpm (peripheral speed) of the print drum 115). The rotation is started clockwise at the peripheral speed of the roller 111, that is, the paper conveyance speed), so that the previous sheet P1 sandwiched between the main body feeding roller 111 and the third conveyance roller 32-3 is fed to the main body feeding roller. It is taken into the unit 104 and transported.

When the front sheet P1 advances toward the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 in this way, the rear end of the front sheet P1 passes through the fifth sensor 50-5, and the fifth sensor 50-5 is turned off. Since the fifth sensor 50-5 as the second sheet take-in sensor has been turned off, the sheet feeding motor 22 and the first motor 33-1 are simultaneously started (rotational drive starts) to feed the sheet. When the roller 11 and the separation roller 12 start to rotate clockwise, the next sheet P2 is separated into one sheet and starts to be conveyed toward the intermediate conveyance path 18. At this time, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is detected by the first sensor 50-1. Further, when the first motor 33-1 is activated, the first transport roller 32-1 starts rotating counterclockwise, and the next sheet P2 is transferred to the first transport roller 32-1 and the first pressure roller. The paper is conveyed to the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction X while being rotated and conveyed while being pinched by 31-1.
Next, when the second motor 33-2 is started, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is rotated and transported while being nipped by the second transport roller 32-2 and the second pressure roller 31-2, and the fifth sensor P2 is rotated. It is transported until 50-5 is turned on. The paper feed motor 22 is automatically stopped after being driven to transport the leading end of the next paper P2 to the first transport roller 32-1 via the paper feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 30B, the sixth sensor 50-6 is off and the rear end of the preceding sheet P1 has passed through the sixth sensor 50-6, but the seventh sensor 50-7 is on. Since the trailing edge of the previous sheet P1 is on the seventh sensor 50-7 as it is, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 cannot be transported to the sixth sensor 50-6. That is, as shown in the figure, the sheet P is transported while checking whether there are two off sensors between the leading edge of the next sheet P2 and the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1. Here, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is located at a position where the fifth sensor 50-5 is turned on, and the trailing end of the preceding sheet P1 is located at a position where the seventh sensor 50-7 is turned on. Is turned off, the second motor 33-2 is turned off until both the sixth sensor 50-6 and the seventh sensor 50-7 are turned off and become empty, so that the next sheet P2 Stops at the position shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, when the preceding sheet P1 is further conveyed to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction X, and the trailing end of the sheet P1 is removed from the seventh sensor 50-7 and the seventh sensor 50-7 is turned off, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is moved to the position shown in FIG. Since the sixth sensor 50-6 and the seventh sensor 50-7 are kept off by stopping at the position shown in FIG. 30B, the second motor 33-2 is started again at this time. Accordingly, the next sheet P2 is rotated and transported while being nipped by the second transport roller 32-2 and the second pressure roller 31-2, and the leading end thereof is transported until the sixth sensor 50-6 is turned on.

  At this time, it is determined whether the previous sheet P1 has been conveyed and the eighth sensor 50-8 has been turned off. Here, when the trailing edge of the previous sheet P1 is on the eighth sensor 50-8 and the sensor 50-8 remains on, the leading edge of the next sheet P2 is moved to the seventh sensor 50-8 for the same reason as described above. Since the sheet cannot be conveyed to −7, the control for conveying the next sheet P2 is performed by leaving two sensors between the sheet conveyance. That is, the sheet P is transported while checking whether there are two off sensors between the leading edge of the next sheet P2 and the trailing edge of the preceding sheet P1. Here, the leading end of the next sheet P2 is located at a position where the sixth sensor 50-6 is turned on, and the trailing end of the preceding sheet P1 is located at a position where the eighth sensor 50-8 is turned on. Is turned off, the second motor 33-2 is turned off until both the eighth sensor 50-8 and the seventh sensor 50-7 are turned off and become empty, so that the next sheet P2 Stops at the position where the sixth sensor 50-6 is turned on.

  On the other hand, when the rear end of the front sheet P1 passes through the eighth sensor 50-8 and the sensor 50-8 is turned off, both the eighth sensor 50-8 and the seventh sensor 50-7 for two are turned off. When the second motor 33-2 is started again at a predetermined timing, the next sheet P2 is conveyed, and it is determined whether or not the seventh sensor 50-7 has been turned on by the arrival of the leading end thereof. When the third paper 33-2 is turned on, the next sheet P2 whose leading end is stopped on the sixth sensor 50-6 is controlled by turning on the eighth sensor 50-8. You.

  In this way, when the previous sheet P1 is conveyed to the printing unit 102 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 and completely disappears from the intermediate conveyance unit 4, the next sheet P2 instead of the previous sheet P1 is supplied to the main body feeder as shown in FIG. The sheet is stopped at the reset position until it is conveyed to the printing unit 102 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 by the rotation drive of the paper roller 111.

  For example, when the printing speed (the rotation speed of the printing drum 115) on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side is extremely low (less than 60 rpm as described above) by the specific paper conveyance control as described above, the first and second printing are performed. By changing the rotation speed of the motors 33-1 and 33-2 to about half (1600 pps) of the normal rotation speed (about 3800 pps), the sheet conveyance speed in the intermediate conveyance section 4 is reduced, and the next The conventional problem caused by the leading edge of the paper catching up is solved, thereby enabling highly accurate and stable paper conveyance.

According to the present embodiment, at the time of the offline connection, by the function of the control device 85 (CPU 86), at the time of initialization in which the conveyance of one sheet P onto each of the sensors 50-1 to 50-8 is completed, Based on the signals from the sensors 50-1 to 50-8, the paper length size is determined, and a transport type (paper transport pattern) that is a paper transport control method for each of the transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3. Are controlled so that the motors 33-1 to 33-3 are switched between the first to eighth sensors 50-1 to 50-8 (a plurality of paper detecting units). If it is determined only that the sheet is present, the next sheet P2 can be conveyed, so that the sheet can be conveyed regardless of the standard size or irregular size of the sheet length size, thereby providing a stable sheet suitable for the sheet length size. It can also be transported That.
In the reset state (initialized state), one sheet of paper is located at the eighth sensor 50-8 disposed at the most downstream side of the intermediate conveyance path 18, and the leading end of the sheet is Since the paper is set at a position where paper can be supplied by the (main body paper supply unit), the paper can be reliably taken in on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 (image forming apparatus main body) side.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 32, the operation of the entire apparatus in a case where the large-volume paper feed unit 1 occupies the connection position shown in FIG. 1 and is in the offline mode will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 32B, the power switch 80 on the large-volume sheet feeding and conveying unit 1 is turned on (on), and as shown in FIG. 32A, the power switch 136 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 is turned on. The power supply from each power source is independently performed, although the order of (ON) does not matter.

Next, the order of the operations of the large-volume paper feed unit 1 and the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 does not matter. By driving the elevating motor 28 of the platform elevating mechanism 25, the large-volume paper feed tray 10 is raised until it occupies the upper limit position (the uppermost sheet P on the large-volume paper feed tray 10 is the paper feed position) detected by the appropriate height sensor 26. I do. Next, the above-described reset operation is performed (see, for example, FIGS. 17, 26, and 29).
That is, for example, in FIGS. 17, 26, and 29, when the paper feeding motor 22 of the paper feeding mechanism unit 3 is turned on, the paper feeding roller 11 is rotated clockwise. The uppermost sheet P is sent out in the sheet transport direction X, is separated into one sheet by the cooperation of the separation roller 12 and the separation pad 13 which are further rotated clockwise, and is taken out from the large-volume sheet feeding unit 5. Next, when the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 are turned on, the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 are rotated counterclockwise, respectively, and are driven accordingly. By rotating the first and second pressure rollers 31-1 and 31-2 clockwise, the fed sheet P for initial setting is moved to the reset position on the downstream side in the sheet transport direction X. It is conveyed toward.

  At this time, since the size of the first sheet for the initial setting is unknown, the sheet is conveyed by the sheet conveyance control method of the conveyance type 1 (A3, DL: maximum sheet size) shown in FIG. Since the next sheet is not in the intermediate conveyance section 4, the next sheet advances without stopping, and all conveyance types perform the same movement. That is, since there is no previous sheet in the intermediate conveyance section 4 in any conveyance type, the next sheet does not catch up with the previous sheet and does not stop, and the next sheet is conveyed to the reset position by the same operation.

  Then, when it is detected from the eighth sensor 50-8 that the leading end of one sheet P for initial setting has occupied the reset position, the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-33 are detected. When -3 is turned off, the leading end of one sheet P for initial setting stops at a position substantially in front of the front plate 124 of the main body paper feeding unit 104 and occupies the reset position, and the reset operation ends. .

At this time, when the leading end of the sheet P passes through the eighth sensor 50-8, the sheet presence sensor solenoid 72-2 is turned off (returned) to indicate that there is a sheet. Therefore, when there is no sheet P in the intermediate conveyance path 18, the sheet presence sensor solenoid 72-2 is turned on.
Next, although the order is not specified, the solenoid 72-2 for the paper presence / absence sensor shown in FIG. 9 and the like remains off and the solenoid 72-1 for the paper length sensor remains off (provided that the intermediate conveyance path 18 The paper P is present and the paper length is long: the shutter 71-1 is shielded when the length is equal to or longer than the paper length A4, and the shutter 71-1 is opened when the length is less than the paper length A4). As a result, the sheet presence / absence sensor 127 and the sheet length sensor 128 of the main body paper feed stand 110 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 remain shielded by the shutters 71-2 and 71-1. As a result, it is assumed that sheets are stacked on the sheet presence / absence sensor 127 and the sheet length sensor 128 of the main body paper feed stand 110, and the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side (printing) is not activated until the sheet presence / absence sensor 127 is turned on. , Plate making, etc.).

  Although the flow is omitted in FIG. 32, when the large-volume paper feed unit 1 is moved downstream in the paper transport direction X to occupy the connection position shown in FIG. With the inclined member 51, the main body paper feed roller 111 swings up together with a paper feed arm (not shown) so as to smoothly occupy the paper feed position, whereby the paper feed filler (not shown) turns on the appropriate height sensor 126 shown in FIG. Also deceives that the main body feeding means is capable of feeding paper. On the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, because of the offline connection, the paper length and the paper width on the main body feeding table 110 of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 are manually set for paper size detection.

  On the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, a start signal generated by pressing a stencil making start key provided on an operation panel (not shown) is used as a trigger to trigger well-known operations, that is, a stencil discharging operation, a document image reading operation, Simultaneously with the completion of the plate making / plate feeding operation, plate printing or plate printing, also called test printing, is usually performed on only one sheet. At this time, one sheet P is conveyed from the intermediate conveyance unit 4 of the large-volume sheet conveyance unit 1 by the detailed sheet conveyance control as described above, and the leading end of the sheet P is further fed to the main body feeding unit 104 by the main body feeding unit 104. The paper is fed to the pair of registration rollers 114 at a paper conveyance speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed 120 rpm of the paper roller 111 and the main body separation roller 112, and temporarily comes into contact with the nip portion of the pair of registration rollers 114 in order to improve registration accuracy. The paper P is stopped, and a predetermined amount of bending is formed above the leading end of the paper P.

  On the other hand, the printing drum 115 starts to rotate slowly at a very low rotation speed (printing speed) clockwise indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1, for example, 16 to 30 rpm less than 60 rpm. A predetermined timing is set at the image position of the leading edge of the perforated heat-sensitive stencil master wound around the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum 115, and the registration roller pair 114 is rotated by the activation of a registration motor (not shown) composed of a stepping motor. The sheet P is sent out between the press roller 116 and the print drum 115 which are simultaneously displaced upward as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. When the sheet P is pressed against the above-prepared heat-sensitive stencil master, the prepress-formed heat-sensitive stencil master is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface by the adhesive force of the ink supplied from the inside of the printing drum 115, and the ink is applied to the sheet P. Is transferred to perform plate printing.

The sheet P on which the printing has been completed is discharged and stacked on the mass discharge table 129 of the discharge section 106 by a well-known discharge operation. Thereafter, when a print start key (not shown) provided on the operation panel is pressed, the steps of paper feed, print, and paper discharge are repeated by the set number of print sheets in the same process as the plate printing. Then, the stencil printing process is completed. The only difference between the plate printing and the normal regular printing operation is that the printing speed is extremely low as described above, and the printing is not counted as a regular printed matter.
When the large-volume paper feed unit 1 does not occupy the connection position shown in FIG. 1 and is in the non-connection position, the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side stacks paper on the main body paper feed base 110 and performs the above-described well-known operation. A plate discharging operation, a document image reading operation, a plate making / plate feeding operation, a paper feeding / printing / paper discharging operation are performed.

(Modification)
FIGS. 13 and 33 to 38 show modifications of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 32.
The modification shown in FIGS. 13 and 33 to 38 is different from the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 32 in that it is conveyed to the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 by rotating the main body paper feed roller 111. A point that a pulse encoder 150 having an encoder sensor 151 as a speed detecting means for detecting the transport speed of the paper P to be taken in is provided; and the control device 85 (CPU 86) outputs signals from the encoder sensor 151 and signals from the timer 88. On the basis of this, in addition to the above-described first function, the main difference lies in that it has a function of controlling the paper transport speed of each of the transport rollers 32-1, 32-3, and 32-3 in a stepless and real-time manner. The rest is the same.
In other words, based on the signal from the encoder sensor 151 and each signal from the timer 88, the control device 85 (CPU 86) performs stepless and real-time processing on each of the transport rollers 32-1 in addition to the first function. , 32-3, and 32-3, and has a function of controlling each of the motors 33-1, 33-3, and 33-3 so as to change the paper transport speed.

  A first gear 152 is integrally formed on one end surface of the third transport roller 32-3, and both ends of the shaft 32a3 are rotatably supported by the third bracket 60 via bearings. The third bracket 60 rotatably supports both ends of a shaft 153a to which a second gear 153 that always meshes with the first gear 152 is integrally fixed. One end of a shaft 153a of the second gear 153 extends leftward in the figure, and a coupling 154 is fixed to the end. A shaft of the pulse encoder 150 is fitted to the other end of the coupling 154 in the drawing, and is fastened by a screw (not shown).

The pulse encoder 150 includes an encoder disk having an unillustrated slit made of an incremental type photorotary encoder, and a transmission sensor (fixed to a frame near the encoder disk, which clamps the encoder disk at a predetermined interval). And an encoder sensor 151 composed of a photo interrupter.
When the third conveyance roller 32-3 pressed against the main body paper feed roller 111 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The power is transmitted to the shaft 153a via the second gear 153 meshing with the gear 152, and further transmitted from the coupling 154 to the encoder disk, and eventually the rotation of the encoder disk accompanying the rotation of the third transport roller 32-3. By detecting a predetermined number of pulses generated in cooperation with the encoder sensor 151 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “encoder 150”), the main body paper feeding section 104 (the main body paper feeding roller 111, the main body separation roller 112, and the like) is detected. , A registration roller pair 114), the paper conveyance speed of the paper P by the pressing rotation of the printing drum 115 and the press roller 116, that is, the stencil It can be read indirectly by co-rotation of the third conveying rollers 32-3 positioned printing speed of the printing apparatus main body 100 side (rotational speed of the printing drum 115) at the most downstream side of the intermediate conveyor 4.

  In the present embodiment, in consideration of the point that a one-way clutch is interposed in the shaft portion of the third transport roller 32-3, the convenience of assembly and maintenance, and the like, the arrangement and attachment of the pulse encoder 150 as described above are performed. However, from the viewpoint of reducing the number of parts and removing the backlash of gears and the like to more accurately detect the printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side, it is necessary to directly apply it to one end of the third transport roller 32-3. Needless to say, it may be attached in a proper manner.

Next, an example of the sheet conveyance control executed under the control of the control device 85 will be briefly described with reference to the sheet conveyance transition state of FIG. 34, the flowcharts of FIGS. 35 to 37, and the timing chart of FIG.
The flowchart in FIG. 35 is an example of a program related to an input interrupt of the encoder 150. The flow starts from step S55, and the encoder pulse count generated by the encoder 150 is incremented.

  The flowchart of FIG. 36 is an example of a program relating to the interruption of the timer 88 in the control device 85, and the flow starts from step S60. In step S60, it is determined whether or not the time measured by the timer 88 has exceeded the predetermined time set in advance. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the encoder pulse count is read out, then the encoder pulse count is cleared, and the paper on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side via the third transport roller 32-3 is counted from the encoder pulse count for the predetermined time. The transport speed is calculated, and a conversion process for converting the rotation speed of the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3 and the sheet feeding motor 22 (all of which are stepping motors) is performed (steps S61 to S61). S63).

Next, a process is performed in which the conversion result is set as the motor arrival speed of each of the motors 22 and 33-1 to 33-3. Finally, acceleration and deceleration are checked, and a speed change is instructed to each of the motors 22 and 33-1 to 33-3. (Step S64, Step S65). On the other hand, in step S60, if the time measured by the timer 88 has not passed the predetermined time, the process returns.
The flowchart of FIG. 37 is an example of a program relating to the motor interrupt of each of the motors 22 and 33-1 to 33-3, and the flow starts from step S70. In step S70, the presence or absence of the speed change instruction in step S65 of FIG. 36 is determined. If the answer is YES, the process proceeds to step S71, and it is determined whether or not the speed of each of the motors 22, 33-1 to 33-3 has reached the attained speed. When the speed of each of the motors 22 and 33-1 to 33-3 reaches the reaching speed, the rotation speed change instruction to each of the motors 22 and 33-1 to 33-3 is cleared.

  On the other hand, in step S70, when there is no speed change instruction, the process returns. In step S71, when there is the speed change instruction and the rotation speed of each of the motors 22 and 33-1 to 33-3 has not reached the arrival speed according to the change instruction, the process proceeds to step S73. It is determined whether the vehicle is accelerating. At the time of acceleration, the speed data is updated by acceleration (step S74). When the answer is NO, the speed data is updated by deceleration (step S75).

  The intermediate conveyance conditions according to the paper conveyance control of this modified example are the same as the examples shown in FIGS. FIG. 34 (a) shows a state in which one sheet of paper P1 after the reset operation is completed is rotated at a constant rotational speed similar to that described above by the activation of the paper feed motor 122 on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side. Is started at the peripheral speed (also the paper transport speed) of the main body paper feed roller 111 corresponding to the main paper feed roller 111, and the previous sheet P1 sandwiched between the main body paper feed roller 111 and the third transport roller 32-3 is rotated. The paper is taken into the paper supply unit 104 and is transported. At this time, since the third transport roller 32-3 receives an appropriate paper feed pressure from the main body paper feed roller 111, the front paper P1 and the high friction surface (rubber surface) of the outer peripheral surface of the third transport roller 32-3 are not used. As shown by a broken line in FIG. At this time, the load of the third motor 33-3 is negligibly small due to the function of the one-way clutch 61 built in the shaft of the third transport roller 32-3.

When the preceding sheet P1 advances toward the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 in this way, as described above, the encoder 150 (encoder sensor 151) causes the sheet P to be conveyed by the pressing rotation of the printing drum 115 and the press roller 116, that is, the stencil sheet. The printing speed (rotation speed of the printing drum 115) on the printing apparatus main body 100 side can be indirectly read by the rotation of the third conveyance roller 32-3 located at the most downstream side of the intermediate conveyance unit 4.
As described in the above flowcharts, and as also shown in the timing chart of FIG. 38, the paper transport speed of each of the transport rollers 32-1, 32-3, and 32-3 is steplessly and in real time. The rotation speed control for each of the motors 22, 33-1 to 33-3 is changed by the control device 85 (CPU 86) based on a signal from the encoder sensor 151 and the timer 88 relating to the number of encoder pulse counts for a certain time. It will be executed automatically.

  Incidentally, when the printing speed (rotation speed of the printing drum 115) of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 detected by the encoder 150 is extremely low (less than 60 rpm as described above), the first and second motors 33-1 are used. , 33-2 to about half (1600 pps) of the normal rotation speed, thereby lowering the paper conveyance speed in the intermediate conveyance unit 4 and causing the leading edge of the next sheet to catch up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet. The conventional problems can be solved, and thereby highly accurate and stable paper conveyance can be performed with a relatively simple configuration.

According to the above embodiment and the modified example, the following advantages are obtained.
(1) Regardless of the paper size or the printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100, the paper can be conveyed from the intermediate conveyance section 4 of the large-volume paper feeding and conveying unit 1 and connected to the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 so as to be communicable. Paper supply is possible even when there is no electrical connection (off-line connection), for example. Here, the reason why the sheet conveyance control is different between the case where the sheet length size is relatively long and the case where the sheet length size is relatively short as described above or as described collectively below is as follows.
That is, in the case of the short size, compared to the case of the long size, there is a time during which the sheet is conveyed by one conveyance roller, and since the pressing is less at the time of the stop, the sheet is conveyed slightly. Theoretically, by increasing the number of paper transporting means and paper detecting means than in the present embodiment, and by increasing the maximum speed at the time of transport to create a time margin, the long size paper can be shortened. It is also possible to perform the same sheet conveyance control as for a sheet of a size. In the present embodiment, sheet transport means and sheet detection set in consideration of the cost balance, that is, according to the sheet length size of the sheet to be conveyed from the large-volume sheet conveyance unit 1 to the stencil printing apparatus main body 100. A simple configuration is achieved by minimizing the number of arrangements of means, and control as in the present embodiment is employed by suppressing an increase in cost.

When the paper length size is long For the next paper, the conveyance control is started when the second sheet take-up sensor of the rear end of the previous paper is turned off. When the leading edge of the next sheet reaches the Nth sensor (the larger the number, the more the sensor is located on the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side), the N + 1th sensor is turned off due to the advance of the trailing edge of the preceding sheet. It is determined whether there is a sensor, and if the N + 1 sensor is off, it is determined that the sensor can reach the (N + 1) th sensor as it is. If the (N + 1) th sensor is on, the control is to stop and wait for the next sheet until the (N + 1) th sensor is turned off, so that the distance between sheets is always set regardless of the printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 side. The paper can be conveyed while securing. As a result, the next sheet to be supplied within a certain period of time is set at a position substantially opposite to the main body feeding roller 111 of the main body feeding table 110 attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printing machine. When the sheet reaches the third conveyance roller 32-3, the sheet can be conveyed under the same conditions as the sheet fed from the main body sheet feeding table 110.

When the paper length size is short For the next paper, the conveyance control is started when the second sheet take-up sensor of the rear end of the previous paper is turned off. When the leading edge of the next sheet reaches the Nth sensor, it is checked whether the (N + 2) th sensor is off according to the progress of the trailing edge of the preceding sheet. If the (N + 2) sensor is off, it reaches the (N + 1) th sensor as it is. Make a good decision. If the (N + 2) th sensor is on, the next sheet is always stopped and kept waiting until the (N + 2) th sensor turns off, so that the distance between sheets is always ensured regardless of the printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100. Thus, the paper can be conveyed. As a result, the next sheet to be supplied within a certain period of time is set at a position substantially opposite to the main body feeding roller 111 of the main body feeding table 110 attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printing machine. When the sheet reaches the third conveyance roller 32-3, the sheet can be conveyed under the same conditions as the sheet fed from the main body sheet feeding table 110.
When the sheet length size is short, the sheet is quickly removed from the intermediate conveyance unit 4 and can reach below the main body feeding roller 111, so that more time margin can be taken as compared with a sheet having a long sheet length. Thus, the number of off sensors for determining the sheet interval is two. Conversely, when the sheet length size is long, there is no time margin, so the number of OFF sensors for determining the sheet interval is one.

(2) The above control eliminates the need to read the printing speed of the stencil printing apparatus main body 100, so that it can be applied to machines already on the market, and can be used for printing including a stencil printing apparatus capable of mass printing without purchasing a new machine. It can be easily converted and transformed into a device.
(3) Since the third conveyance roller 32-3 is disposed below the main body feeding roller 111, the main body feeding roller 111 can be rotated by driving the third conveying roller 32-3. It is possible to prevent the front end of the sheet from being fitted into the projection 111 and being damaged. Also, unlike a fixed rubber pad (friction separating member), which is also called a separation pad, a roller can solve the problem of non-feeding of the paper. An accurate feed amount for determining the paper leading edge stop position can be secured.

(4) Since the transport roller interval + α is the minimum transport paper length size, by installing a plurality of transport rollers, it is possible to cope with shorter-sized paper.
(5) The sensor 50 (paper detection means) needs to determine ten types of paper length sizes that can be transported by the intermediate transport unit 4 in accordance with the paper size used in the stencil printing apparatus main body 100. In addition, since the minimum eight pieces are arranged, it is possible to simplify the configuration for detecting the paper length size and suppress an increase in cost. If this advantage does not need to be so desired, by arranging a greater number of sensors (paper detecting means), it is possible to detect between which sensors the rear end position of the paper has stopped. It is needless to say that the distance can be controlled by always opening the sheet, and that the larger the number is, the more the distance between sheets is secured.

(6) In order to secure the paper feed amount, the control is more simplified by using stepping motors capable of accurately feeding the paper movement distance for the first to third motors 33-1 to 33-3. Further, by comparing the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor and the time required to pass between the sensors, it is possible to determine how much the paper is slipping, so that more accurate paper feeding is possible.
(7) By incorporating the one-way clutch 61 in each shaft portion of the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3, the first to third transports can be performed with respect to the pulling force of the main body paper feed roller 111. The resistance of the rollers 32-1 to 32-3 can be reduced.

  (8) On the other hand, due to the inertia of the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3, there is a possibility that the stopping accuracy of the sheet is deviated. In order to improve this, when each motor stops, the idling of the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 can be stopped by a constant brake mechanism, and stable stopping accuracy of the sheet can be secured. When the stencil printing apparatus main body 100 supplies paper, the one-way clutch 61 described above is interposed on the shaft of the third transport roller 32-3 so as to minimize the load on the paper. For this reason, the first to third transport rollers 32-1 to 32-3 repeatedly repeat continuous rotation and halfway depending on the paper length size used on the image forming apparatus main body side such as a copying machine and a printing machine. Also, a stop state may be entered even in the slow-up or slow-down region of the stepping motor, and the stop position tends to vary due to a difference in inertial force. Also, the difference in the coefficient of friction due to the difference in the surface condition of the paper and the weighing (weight) also change the accuracy of the stop position of the paper due to the distance traveled by the paper and the accompanying inertia. As a result, the distance between the long sheets is short, and under the condition of the fast sheet conveyance speed corresponding to the maximum printing speed as in the present embodiment, the rear end of the previous sheet has passed through the N sensor, so that the leading end of the next sheet is N If the rear end of the previous sheet does not pass through the N + 1 sensor in the intermediate conveyance unit 4 that conveys the sheet by judging that it is possible to reach the sensor, the front end of the next sheet stops at the N sensor. However, even if the vehicle is stopped by the slow-up control or is forcibly stopped, since the one-way clutch 61 described above is used, the predetermined position is determined by the inertia of the main body paper feed roller 111 (or its shaft may be included). Can not stop. For this reason, in the worst case, the leading edge of the next sheet catches up on or abuts on the trailing edge of the previous sheet, causing scratches on the sheet or deformation of the sheet due to the abutment, causing a jam during transport. In the embodiment, a braking force by a leaf spring is applied to the third transport roller 32-3 to obtain a stable stop position by suppressing the influence of inertia, thereby improving the quality of paper transport.

In the above-described embodiment and the like, the above-described specific printing method is performed by using ten types of paper length sizes (minimum paper-passable size “B5T”) shown in FIGS. 11 and 15 which are usually used in the stencil printing apparatus 100. The first to third transport rollers 32-1 are used as the minimum necessary paper transport means in consideration of the fact that the paper transport control including the change of the paper transport speed can be performed, and that the complexity of the control can be avoided to reduce the cost. Although the configuration is such that three transport rollers are used, the present invention is not limited to this, and the following configuration may be used.
For example, if a total of four transport rollers are used as the paper transport means in addition to the above-described embodiment, the minimum paper-passable size can be extended to the “postcard size” (in this case, between the transport rollers). Is about 130 to 140 mm). If only two transport rollers are used, the A4 length (A4T: the shorter side of the A4 size in the direction viewed from the user) cannot be passed, making it somewhat impractical. In the embodiment, three pieces are preferable.

  In the above-described embodiments and the like, the description has been made in an off-line state in which the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit 1 and the stencil printing apparatus 100 have, for example, no electrical connection, that is, they are not communicably connected to each other, and do not exchange signals with each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that it may be in a so-called “on-line” state in which, for example, there is an electrical connection, that is, the terminals are communicably connected and exchange signals with each other. Even in the online state, it is natural that the same advantages as described above and the same effects as the above-described effects can be obtained.

  In the image forming apparatus to which the large-volume paper feed unit 1 is connected, the ink supply member disposed inside the printing drum 115 having the plate cylinder on the outer periphery as described above contacts the inner peripheral surface of the plate cylinder. By doing so, the present invention is not limited to the stencil printing apparatus 100 that supplies ink from the inside of the plate cylinder to the pre-pressed thermosensitive stencil master on the plate cylinder to perform printing, for example, a copying machine, a printing machine, a facsimile, and an ink jet printer. Needless to say, it can be connected to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a plotter, or the like and configured or used in the same manner as described above.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment and the above-described modified example, the stacking unit capable of stacking a large amount of sheets, the sheet feeding unit that extracts and feeds the sheets from the stacking unit one by one, and the sheet feeding unit that feeds the sheets. A large-volume feeding unit having an intermediate conveyance unit that includes a main paper feeding table of a paper feeding unit of the image forming apparatus main body or an intermediate conveyance unit that conveys the fed paper to a vicinity of a paper feeding port facing a main paper feeding unit of the paper feeding unit. In the paper transport method using the paper device, by detecting and recognizing the size of the paper transported in the intermediate transport unit and the transport speed of the paper, even when there is no electrical connection with the image forming apparatus main body side, It can be said that a paper conveying method has been used in which the rear end of the previous paper and the front end of the next paper can be sequentially conveyed without contacting the rear end of the previous paper and the front end of the next paper near the main body paper feeding means or the paper feeding port.
As described above, the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments and modifications including examples, but the configuration and operation of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications and the like. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various embodiments and examples can be configured according to the necessity and application within the scope of the present invention. is there.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a part of an entire apparatus configuration in which a large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit, a stencil printing apparatus, and a large-volume paper-discharge storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention are connected. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing a state in which a large-volume sheet feeding unit occupies a non-connection position. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a large-volume sheet feeding and conveying unit when viewed from the front. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a rear-view appearance of the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a main configuration around an intermediate transport unit and a state in which an upper guide unit including an upper guide plate is opened and closed in a state where the stencil printing apparatus and the large-volume paper feed transport unit are connected. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a main configuration around an upper guide plate with an upper cover removed. FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a main configuration around a lower guide plate in a state where an upper cover, an upper guide plate, and respective conveyance rollers are removed. It is a top view which shows the main structure around a housing | casing in the state which removed the upper cover, the upper guide plate, and the lower guide plate. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main configuration around an intermediate conveyance unit in a state where a stencil printing apparatus and a large-volume paper feed conveyance unit are connected. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a second pressure roller and a second transport roller are pressed against each other in an intermediate transport unit. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining sheet detection means (first to eighth sensors) in the intermediate conveyance unit, arrangement and dimensions of the sheet conveyance means, and various sheet length sizes. FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing an arrangement state of main control components on the side of a large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a main electrical control configuration of a large-volume sheet feeding and transporting unit. FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining the sheet conveyance control in the embodiment in principle. 5 is a table summarizing data and the like used for a paper transport control pattern in the embodiment. It is a flowchart concerning the conveyance control branch process called after the end of the reset operation in the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating a state of a short size sheet on the intermediate conveyance path after a reset operation in the embodiment is completed. FIG. 18 is a front view for explaining a sheet conveyance transition state of a previous sheet and a next sheet following FIG. 17 and control thereof. It is a front view explaining the sheet conveyance transition state of the previous sheet and the next sheet in another example of the above-mentioned embodiment, and its control. FIG. 20 is a front view continued from FIG. 19. It is a flow chart of paper conveyance control concerning conveyance type 3 of the above-mentioned embodiment. 22 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 21. 23 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 22. It is a flowchart following FIG. 23. 9 is a basic timing chart of sheet conveyance control according to conveyance type 3 of the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating a state of a long longitudinal size sheet on the intermediate conveyance path after the reset operation in the embodiment is completed. FIG. 27 is a front view for explaining a sheet conveyance transition state of a previous sheet and a next sheet following FIG. 26 and control thereof. 6 is a basic timing chart of sheet conveyance control according to the conveyance type 1 of the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating a state of the shortest short-sized paper on the intermediate conveyance path after the reset operation in the embodiment is completed. FIG. 30 is a front view for explaining a sheet conveyance transition state of a previous sheet and a next sheet following FIG. 29 and its control. 9 is a basic timing chart of sheet conveyance control according to conveyance type 5 of the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a main operation sequence when the stencil printing apparatus main body and the large-volume sheet feeding / conveying unit are in an offline mode. It is a top view around the pulse encoder arrangement which shows the modification of the said embodiment. FIG. 11 is a front view for explaining a sheet conveyance transition state between a previous sheet and a next sheet and the control thereof in the modification. 13 is a flowchart of an encoder input interrupt process according to the modification. 13 is a flowchart of a timer interrupt process according to the modification. It is a flow chart of the motor interruption processing concerning the above-mentioned modification. 9 is a schematic timing chart of a main part of sheet conveyance control according to the modification.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Large-volume paper feed unit 2 as an example of a paper transport device 2 Stacking unit 3 Paper feed mechanism unit 4 Intermediate transport unit 5 as an intermediate transport unit 5 Large-volume paper feed unit 7 as a large volume paper feeder 7 Housing 10 Paper feed roller 12 as paper feed means Separation roller 13 as a separate paper feed means Separation pad 18 as a separation member which constitutes a separate paper feed means Intermediate transport path 22 Paper feed motor 23 as a paper feed drive means Upper cover 26 Appropriate height sensors 30-1, 30-2, 30-3 as upper limit detecting means First to third sheet conveying means 31-1, 31-2 First and second pressure rollers 32-1, 32- 2, 32-3 First to third transport rollers 33-1, 33-2, 33-3 First to third motors 50-1 to 50-8 as driving means First to eighth as paper detecting means Sensor 61 Unidirectional rotational driving force CPU as a control device 86 controlling means as a leaf spring 85 the control means of the one-way clutch 62 braking force application means as reach means
88 Timer 100 as clocking means 100 Stencil printing apparatus 104 as an example of image forming apparatus Main body paper feeding section 110 Main body paper feeding table 111 Main body paper feeding roller 114 as main body paper feeding means Registration roller pair 115 Printing drum 122 Main body side feeding Paper feed motor 125 as paper drive means Paper feed port 130 Main body paper feed mechanism 151 Encoder sensor P as transport speed detecting means Paper X as an example of sheet-shaped recording medium Paper transport direction Y Paper width direction

Claims (12)

A stacking unit capable of stacking a large number of sheets, a sheet feeding mechanism for taking out and feeding the sheets of the stacking sheet one by one, and A large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate transport section, comprising:
A plurality of the intermediate transport units are arranged at intervals from the upstream to the downstream of the intermediate transport path, and a paper transport unit that transports the paper fed from the paper feed mechanism unit; and an upstream of the intermediate transport path. And a sheet detecting means for detecting at least one of a leading end and a trailing end of a sheet to be conveyed, the sheet feeding means having a plurality of intermediate conveying sections. The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 1,
At the time of initialization in which the conveyance of one sheet onto the plurality of sheet detection means is completed, the sheet size is determined based on signals from the plurality of sheet detection means, and A large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport unit, comprising a control unit for performing control for changing a paper transport control system. The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 2,
The initialization state is set to a position where the paper is located in the paper transport unit disposed at the most downstream side of the intermediate transport path, and a leading end of the paper can be fed by the main body paper feed unit. A large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit, which is characterized in that: The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 1,
At least one driving unit disposed in the intermediate conveying unit and driving each of the sheet conveying units,
Control means for determining a paper size based on signals from the plurality of paper detection means and controlling the driving means so as to switch a paper conveyance control method of each of the paper conveyance means;
A large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance section, comprising: The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 4,
The high-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance section, wherein the driving means is a stepping motor. 4. The large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 2 or 3,
When the conveyance of the paper on the plurality of paper detection means starts in response to the start of paper supply by the main body paper supply means, a time measuring the time between the respective paper detection means when the trailing edge of the paper moves. Having means,
The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance section, wherein the control means controls a sheet conveyance speed of each of the sheet conveyance means in consideration of a signal from the timing means. 4. The large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 2 or 3,
Having a transport speed detecting means for detecting the paper transport speed of each of the paper transport means,
The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance section, wherein the control means controls the paper conveyance speed of each of the paper conveyance means steplessly and in real time in consideration of a signal from the conveyance speed detection means. The high-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance section according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate transport section, wherein at least three paper transport means are arranged.   9. The large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance section according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus has a printing drum for winding a perforated heat-sensitive stencil master, and the inside of the printing drum. A stencil printing apparatus that performs printing by supplying ink from the intermediate conveying unit to the heat-sensitive stencil master on the printing drum by pressing the paper fed from the intermediate conveying unit. Paper equipment. A stacking unit capable of stacking a large number of sheets, a sheet feeding mechanism for taking out and feeding the sheets of the stacking sheet one by one, and a sheet fed from the sheet feeding mechanism in the image forming apparatus main body. A sheet conveying method using a large-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveying unit, which includes a main sheet feeding table of the sheet feeding unit or an intermediate conveying unit that conveys the sheet to a vicinity of a sheet feeding port facing a main sheet feeding unit of the sheet feeding unit;
By detecting and recognizing the size of the paper conveyed by the intermediate conveyance section and the conveyance speed of the paper, the main body paper feeding means or the paper supply means can be provided even when there is no electrical connection with the image forming apparatus main body. A sheet conveying method characterized in that the sheet can be sequentially conveyed without bringing the trailing edge of the preceding sheet and the leading edge of the next sheet into contact with each other near the sheet opening. The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 3,
The plurality of paper detection units are set to a necessary and minimum number for determining the paper size that can be transported by the intermediate transport unit,
The arrangement number of the paper detecting means is represented by a natural number N which increases in this order from the upstream to the downstream of the intermediate conveyance path, and the plurality of papers follow the previous paper fed by the main body paper feeding means. If the upstream paper conveyed by the conveyance means is the next paper,
In the paper transport control method, when the paper size is relatively long, the leading edge of the next paper is detected by the Nth paper detection means when the trailing edge of the previous paper has passed through the Nth paper detection means. When the trailing edge of the preceding sheet has not passed through the (N + 1) th sheet detecting means so that the trailing edge of the preceding sheet is conveyed to the position indicated by the Nth sheet detecting means, Control each of the above-described paper transport means to stop,
When the paper size is relatively short, when the rear end of the previous paper has passed the N-th paper detection means, the leading end of the next paper is conveyed to the (N-1) -th paper detection means, When the trailing end of the preceding sheet has not passed through the (N + 1) th sheet detecting means, each of the sheet conveying means stops the leading end of the next sheet at a position detected by the (N-1) th sheet detecting means. A high-volume sheet feeding device with an intermediate conveyance section, wherein the method is a method of controlling means. The mass feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit according to claim 11,
When the paper size is relatively long, there is one paper detection unit that determines a paper interval to be held between the rear end of the previous paper and the front end of the next paper;
When the paper size is relatively short, the number of the paper detection means for determining the paper interval is two, and the large-volume paper feeder with an intermediate conveyance unit is provided.

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