JP2005060095A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeding device capable of easily and correctly setting the optimum handling pressure in accordance with type of paper. <P>SOLUTION: This paper feeding device is provided with a paper feeding roller 4 rotated and driven in one direction, a friction plate 10 arranged below the paper feeding roller, a swing base 9 loading the friction plate, a cam 13 arranged below the swing base, an operation shaft 21 capable of rotating forward and reversely to move the cam 13 in the direction of its length, and an operation force setting means for rotating the operation shaft 21 at fixed torque to bring the paper feeding roller 4 into contact with the friction plate 10 by predetermined pressure. The operation force setting means is composed of a lever 29 provided rotatably in an outer peripheral part of the operation shaft 21 and an elastic member 30 connecting the lever 29 with a section of the operation shaft 21 so that the operation shaft 21 is rotated and operated based on contact pressure of the friction plate 10 and the paper feeding roller 4 to adjust handling pressure of paper sheet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that feeds out stacked sheets one by one, and in particular, to optimally set an optimum firing pressure without error according to the thickness and properties of various sheets so that various sheets can be fed out one by one. The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that can be used.

  In general, various collating machines have been used as a means for collating various types of paper such as leaflets that are folded into newspapers. Many of them have paper feed trays for stacking papers by type, and a paper feeder is provided on the downstream side. Such a sheet feeding device has a sheet feeding roller that is rotationally driven in one direction and a rubber-like friction plate disposed below the sheet feeding roller, and a sheet is fed out one by one through the sheet feeding roller and the friction plate. is there.

  In particular, this type of paper feeding device is provided with pressure adjusting means that can change the contact force of the paper feeding roller to the paper (paper firing pressure) depending on the thickness and properties (surface roughness) of the paper. The pressure adjusting means has a series of motion systems that operate by rotating an operation shaft, and the friction plate moves up and down by the operation of the system. According to such a pressure adjusting means, the friction plate moves up and down in accordance with the operation amount of the dial (operation knob) fixed to one end of the operation shaft. Since the adjustment is made, the sheet passed between the sheet feeding roller and the friction plate can be fed out one by one with an optimum sheeting pressure.

  However, when the paper feed roller and the friction plate are worn, it is very difficult to set the firing pressure. In other words, the setting of the page pressure is based on the thickness and properties of the paper, and the dial mark is adjusted to the specified scale. The dial function will be lost. As a result, even if the dial is operated to set the optimum value, the contact force of the paper feed roller with respect to the paper does not become as set, causing a paper feeding failure.

  In particular, when the setting pressure is excessive, not only the wear of the paper feed roller and friction plate is accelerated, but the excessive pressure causes wrinkles on the paper or the paper with wrinkles is fed into the paper feed path. There is a problem of clogging up.

  Accordingly, two link arms that reciprocate linearly by rotating the operation shaft are connected by a coil spring, and a paper feed that can avoid applying an excessive winding pressure to the paper feed roller by the elastic force of the coil spring. An apparatus has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-4-371425

  However, the paper feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured so that the operating force applied to the operating shaft to restrict the upper limit of the winding pressure is transmitted from one link arm to the other link arm via the coil spring. Therefore, depending on the type of paper, it is impossible to feed out due to insufficient pressure. The effect of avoiding will be lost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily set an optimum sheeting pressure according to the type of paper without error.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a paper feed roller that is rotationally driven in one direction, a friction plate disposed below the paper feed roller, a rocking table on which the friction plate is placed, and the rocking table. According to the amount of displacement of the slide member due to the rotation operation of the operation shaft. In the paper feeding device in which the swinging pressure of the paper fed out between the paper feeding roller and the friction plate can be adjusted by swinging the rocking table up and down, the paper feeding roller and the friction plate are in a predetermined range. An operation force setting means for rotating the operation shaft with a constant torque so as to contact with pressure is provided, and the operation shaft is rotated based on the contact pressure between the friction plate and the paper feed roller by the operation force setting means. Adjusting the paper pressure And it features.

  According to the paper feeding device of the present invention, it is provided with the operating force setting means for rotating the operating shaft with a constant torque so that the paper feeding roller and the friction plate come into contact with each other with a predetermined pressure. Rotating the operation shaft with reference to the contact pressure between the paper and the feed roller, and adjusting the paper-rolling pressure, it is possible to adjust the paper according to the thickness and properties of the paper even when the friction plate and paper feed roller are worn. The pressure can be set without error and various sheets can be fed out one by one.

  Hereinafter, a paper feeding device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a collator equipped with such a sheet feeding device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a collator main body. In this collator main body, paper feed trays 2 for stacking sheets P by type are arranged in a multi-stage shape. The paper feed tray 2 can swing up and down with one end as a fulcrum, and its inclination can be switched stepwise depending on the type of paper, and a paper feed device 3 is provided on each downstream side.

  The sheet feeding device 3 includes a sheet feeding roller 4 that is driven to rotate in one direction by a motor (not shown), a driven roller 5 that rotates in conjunction with the sheet feeding roller, and a winding table disposed below the sheet feeding roller. 6 and the like, and the sheets stacked on the sheet feed tray 2 through the sheet feed roller 4 and the paper tray 6 can be fed out one by one from the top.

  As is apparent from FIG. 2, the paper feed roller 4 is located on the paper tray 6 on the downstream side of the driven roller 5 in the sheet feeding direction and on the downstream end of the paper feed tray 2. In between, the timing belt 7 is wound. Further, the paper feed roller 4 and the driven roller 5 are connected by a carrier arm (not shown) so that the driven roller 5 is pressed against the paper P on the paper feed tray 2 while being rotated in the same direction when the paper feed roller 4 is rotated. It has become.

  On the other hand, the straw base 6 includes a bracket 8 fixed to the collator main body 1, a swing base 9 supported at one end by the bracket and capable of swinging up and down, and a replacement part mounted on the swing base. And a detachable friction plate 10 and a sliding plate 11 covering the upper surface of one side of the friction plate.

  Then, one end of the paper arranged in the paper feed tray 2 falls on the sliding plate 11 of the webbing base, and this passes through between the paper feed roller 4 and the friction plate 10 to a pair of rollers 12A and 12B. It is supposed to be handed over. The outer peripheral portion of the paper feed roller 4 and the friction plate 10 are formed of a member having a large frictional resistance such as rubber, and the friction force of the paper feed roller 4 and the friction plate 10 with respect to the paper is set larger than the friction force between the papers. Therefore, only the uppermost sheet that contacts the sheet feeding roller 4 is allowed to pass between the sheet feeding roller 4 and the friction plate 10, and the sheet positioned below the friction plate remains until the uppermost sheet is fed out. 10 prevents feeding.

  Therefore, the phenomenon that two sheets are fed out simultaneously (this is called double feeding) can be prevented, but in order to prevent double feeding, the gap or contact pressure between the paper feed roller 4 and the friction plate 10 is increased or decreased depending on the type of the paper. It becomes necessary to do. For this reason, the paper feeding device is provided with pressure adjusting means that allows the friction plate 10 to move up and down to adjust the contact force (sheeting pressure) of the paper feeding roller 4 with respect to the paper.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 13 denotes a cam (sliding member) constituting pressure adjusting means, and this cam 13 is provided below the swing table 9 so as to be movable in the horizontal direction. On the other hand, a cylindrical holder 15 is formed on the lower surface of the oscillating base 9 to hold the steel ball 14 so that the steel ball 14 can roll. The steel ball 14 (contact) provided inside the holder 15 is attached to the cam 13 as a cam follower. It comes in contact.

  As apparent from FIG. 3, the upper surface of the cam 13 is a cam contour surface 13A inclined with respect to the moving direction, and a steel ball 14 as a contact is in contact with the cam contour surface 13A. A rack 18 is connected to the cam 13 via two link arms 16 and 17, and a pinion 19 is engaged with a tooth portion 18A of the rack.

  In FIG. 4, 20 is a transmission shaft having a pinion 19 fixed at one end, 21 is an operation shaft parallel to the transmission shaft, and pulleys 22 and 23 are fixed to each end of the transmission shaft 20 and the operation shaft 21, respectively. The timing belt 24 is wound around. Therefore, when the operating shaft 21 is rotated, the transmission shaft 20 rotates in the same direction, and the rotational motion is converted into the reciprocating linear motion of the rack 18, which is transmitted to the cam 13 via the link arms 16 and 17.

  For this reason, the cam 13 moves in the length direction, and the rocking | fluctuation base 9 with the steel ball 14 which contacts this moves up and down. As a result, the friction plate 10 placed on the swing base 9 moves up and down, and comes into contact with the paper feed roller 4 or is separated from the paper feed roller 4 so that the gap between them is adjusted.

  The transmission shaft 20 is urged toward the rack 18 by a spring 25 so that the rack 18 and the pinion 19 do not accidentally come off, but the transmission shaft 20 is separated from the rack 18 against the elasticity of the spring 25. When pressed, the operating shaft 21 and the transmission shaft 20 are idled so that power transmission to the cam 13 can be interrupted. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the link arm 17 is formed with two connection holes 17A and 17B, and the total length of the link arms 16 and 17 can be changed by connecting the link arm 16 using either of them. It is like that.

  Next, as is apparent from FIG. 6, one end of the operation shaft 21 protrudes outward from the front panel 1A of the collator main body, and an operation knob 26 for rotating the operation shaft is attached to one end thereof. . As shown in FIG. 7, the operation knob 26 is provided with a mark 26A, and the front panel is provided with a scale plate 27 with a scale for aligning the mark 26A of the operation knob.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a collar 28 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the operation shaft 21. Reference numeral 29 denotes a lever rotatably provided on the outer peripheral portion of the operation shaft 21, and 30 denotes an elastic member (a torsion coil spring in this example) interposed between the lever 29 and the collar 28 on the outer peripheral portion of the operation shaft 21. The lever 29 and the elastic member 30 constitute an operation force setting means for rotating the operation shaft 21 with a constant torque.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the lever 29 includes a sleeve 29A loosely fitted on the outer periphery of the operation shaft 21, and an L-shaped lever main body 29B fixed to one end thereof. Is exposed on the front panel 1A. On the other hand, the elastic member 30 has a predetermined elastic coefficient, one end of which is locked to the pin-shaped first locking portion 31 protruding from the sleeve 29A, and the other end of the elastic member 30 is the operating shaft. 21 is locked to the outer peripheral portion 21 (the pin-shaped second locking portion 32 protruding from the collar 28). Therefore, when the lever 29 is rotated around the operation shaft 21, the operation shaft 21 is also rotated in the same direction via the elastic member 30.

  The lever 29 is rotated in the direction of pulling one end of the elastic member 30. At this time, the rotational force of the operating shaft 21 rotated through the elastic member 30 is transmitted to the cam 13 through the rack 18, and the transmission force is transmitted. It acts in the direction of pushing up the rocking table 9.

  Accordingly, when the friction plate 10 on the swing base 9 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 4 and the contact pressure is balanced with the elastic force of the elastic member 30, the operation shaft 21 is stationary and an excessive operation force on the lever 29 is obtained. Is absorbed by the elastic member 30. That is, when the contact pressure between the friction plate 10 and the paper feed roller 4 is balanced with the elastic force of the elastic member 30, the operation shaft 21 does not rotate even if the lever 29 is operated. The lever 29 is returned to the no-load position by the restoration of the elastic member 30 while the paper feed roller 4 is kept at a predetermined contact pressure.

  Therefore, according to the operation force setting means as described above, even when the friction plate 10 and the paper feed roller 4 are worn, the contact pressure between the friction plate 10 and the paper feed roller 4 determined by the operation of the lever 29 is used as a reference. Thereafter, the operation knob 26 is grasped and the operation shaft 21 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions, so that the winding pressure that is changed depending on the type of paper can be set appropriately.

  However, if an operation force that exceeds the elastic limit of the elastic member 30 is continuously applied to the lever 29 after the operation shaft 21 is stationary, the operation shaft 21 starts to rotate again and the reference is shifted. While the front panel 1A is provided with a stopper (not shown) for limiting the operation amount of the lever 29, it is desirable that the operator stops the operation of the lever 29 when the operation shaft 21 is stationary.

  Here, when using such a paper feeding device, an optimum sheeting pressure is set according to the type of paper. As wear of the friction plate 10 and the paper feeding roller 4 progresses, the mark 26A of the operation knob 26 is set to a predetermined value. Even if the scale is adjusted, there is a difference between the set value and the measured value. For example, when the mark 26A of the operation knob is set to the “+1” scale, the gap between the friction plate 10 and the paper feed roller 4 should be 0.1 mm or the like, but a larger gap is actually formed. The paper is not fed out or several sheets are fed out simultaneously.

  Therefore, when setting the firing pressure, the lever 29 is first operated to rotate it clockwise in FIG. Then, the operating shaft 21 is rotated with a constant torque via the elastic member 30 as described above, and the rotational force is converted into the linear motion of the cam 13. As a result, the swing base 9 swings upward, and the friction plate 10 placed thereon contacts the paper feed roller 4 with a predetermined pressure.

  When the paper feed roller 4 and the friction plate 10 come into contact with each other at a predetermined pressure, the operation shaft 21 stops, and when the lever 29 is released, the paper feed roller 4 and the friction plate 10 remain in contact with each other at a predetermined pressure, and the elastic member 30. While the lever 29 is returned to the no-load position by the restoration, the operation shaft 21 is kept stationary, and the mark 26A of the operation knob attached to one end thereof indicates a predetermined scale.

  Therefore, using the indicated value, that is, the contact pressure between the friction plate 10 and the paper feed roller 4 determined by the operation of the lever 29, the operation knob 21 is picked up while looking at the scale plate 27 and the operation shaft 21 is directly rotated. By doing so, it is possible to set an optimum sheeting pressure that is preliminarily defined by the thickness and properties of the sheet without error. For example, when the indicated value of the operation knob 26 is “+5” after the operation of the lever 29, the operation shaft 21 is rotated to feed out the sheet whose optimum firing pressure is “+2” from the reference. It is only necessary to set the mark 26A of the operation knob to the scale of “+7”.

  After the operation of the lever 29, the transmission shaft 20 is pushed down against the elasticity of the spring 25 shown in FIG. 4, thereby separating the rack 18 and the pinion 19 and rotating the operation shaft 21 in this state to rotate the operation knob. It is preferable that the mark 26A is aligned with a scale of “0”, and thereby the contact pressure between the friction plate 10 and the paper feed roller 4 due to the operation of the lever 29 is set to the zero point, and an effect of preventing an erroneous setting of the optimum firing pressure is prevented. Goes up.

  As described above, the case where the paper feeding device according to the present invention is installed in the collating machine has been described as an example, but it goes without saying that the paper feeding device can also be applied to a copying machine, a facsimile, and other devices. The sheet feeding device is not limited to the above configuration, and the transmission shaft 20 may be omitted, and the pinion 19 may be provided at one end of the operation shaft 21. Further, while the cam 13 is fixed to the lower surface of the swing base 9, a slide member that is moved by the rotation of the operation shaft 21 may be brought into contact with the cam 13 as a plate-shaped driving node including a steel ball 14 or the like. .

  Incidentally, in the above example, the lever 29 is manually operated, but this can also be automatically operated using an electromagnetic solenoid or the like. Further, as an operation force setting means for rotating the operation shaft 21 with a constant torque, a hemispherical recess 33 is formed on the inner surface of the sleeve 29A constituting the lever as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the operation shaft 21 may be provided with a hole 34, and the sphere 36 may be biased toward the recess 33 by an elastic member 35 (compression spring) accommodated in the hole 34. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 37 denotes a stopper ring for restricting the movement of the sleeve 29A in the axial direction.

  In addition, a friction clutch that idles around the operation shaft 21 when a certain torque or more is applied to the operation shaft 21 can be used as the operation force setting means.

Schematic side view of a collating machine provided with a paper feeder according to the present invention Schematic side view of a paper feeder according to the present invention Schematic front view showing the mechanism for swinging the swing base The perspective view which fractured | ruptured and showed the paper feeder concerning this invention partially Top view showing link arm connection form Side view showing the mechanism for swinging the swing base Front view of the operation knob that rotates the operation shaft Partial sectional view showing a configuration example of the operating force setting means Partial sectional view showing a modified example of the operating force setting means

Explanation of symbols

2 Feeding tray 3 Feeding device 4 Feeding roller 6 Rolling base 9 Swing base 10 Friction plate 13 Cam (sliding member)
21 Operation shaft 26 Operation knob 29 Lever 29A Sleeve 29B Lever body 30 Elastic member

Claims (2)

  A paper feed roller that is rotationally driven in one direction, a friction plate disposed below the paper feed roller, a rocking table on which the friction plate is placed, a slide member disposed below the rocking table, An operating shaft capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions to move the slide member in the length direction thereof, and the swinging table swings up and down according to the amount of displacement of the slide member due to the rotation operation of the operating shaft. Thus, in the sheet feeding device in which the sheeting pressure of the paper fed out between the sheet feeding roller and the friction plate can be adjusted, the operation shaft is fixed so that the sheet feeding roller and the friction plate come into contact with each other with a predetermined pressure. Operating force setting means for rotating at a torque of the same, and the operation shaft is rotated on the basis of the contact pressure between the friction plate and the paper feed roller by the operating force setting means, so that the paper turning pressure can be adjusted. A paper feeder characterized by. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the operating force setting means includes a lever that is rotatably provided on an outer peripheral portion of the operation shaft, and an elastic member that connects the lever and the portion of the operation shaft.

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