JP2005132570A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeder less constrained by installation attitude though small in size and simplified in structure and capable of securely feeding a paper sheet even if the tips of multiple paper sheets are slightly not orderly arranged. <P>SOLUTION: This paper feeder M comprises a paper insert part 11 storably holding a check S, a paper feed roller 20 comprising an outer peripheral surface having a circular arc part 23 and a chord part 24 and drivingly rotated, a pressing member 30 elastically energizing the check S against the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 20, a pressing member control mechanism 37 displacing the pressing member 30 to a position apart from the paper feed roller 20 when the chord part 24 faces the pressing member 30, a friction separating pad 40 rotatable so that the contact angle thereof with the tip of the check S can be changed and having a rotating tip elastically energized in the direction of the paper sheet rear end, a pad control mechanism 47A displacing the friction separating pad 40 to a position where the tip of the check S can be positioned when the chord part 24 faces the pressing member 30, and a pad rotation restricting mechanism 47B restricting the rotation of the friction separating pad 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that supplies a plurality of sheets one by one to a processing unit in a data reading device, a printer device, or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a paper feeding device, a roller-type paper feeding device used for a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, or the like is generally known.
In this type of roller-type paper feeding device, a cylindrical paper feeding roller is arranged at the front end in the paper feeding direction, and the vicinity of the front end of the paper is often drawn by the paper feeding roller and sent out.

  This is because the paper feeding operation is more stable when the paper is fed while being held near the leading edge of the paper, regardless of the stiffness (rigidity) of the paper. Further, in the case of a paper feeding device of a type in which a friction separation pad that separates paper one by one using friction when the leading edge of the paper slides is arranged on the downstream side of the paper feeding roller, the friction separation pad and the paper feeding This is because it is advantageous to increase the separability of a plurality of sheets by arranging the rollers close to each other.

  However, when the paper feed roller is arranged at the leading edge in the paper feeding direction, if the paper leading edge is not aligned, there may be a paper that does not reach the position in contact with the paper feeding roller. The paper roller may not be able to feed out without pulling the leading edge of the paper.

Therefore, a normal paper feeding device usually takes measures for aligning the leading edge of the paper, and the countermeasures are roughly divided as follows.
One is a method often found in laser printers, copiers, and the like, in which paper is placed horizontally in a paper feed cassette, and the paper is reliably positioned vertically and horizontally (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The other is a method often found in inkjet printers, etc., in which the paper orientation is set downward (vertically placed), and the tip of the paper is dropped to the lower pad using gravity (for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-8-277044 JP-A-62-153033

However, in the case of a system in which the paper is placed horizontally and the paper is surely positioned vertically and horizontally, a paper feed cassette is required, so it is difficult to reduce the size of the paper feed device.
Also, when the paper orientation is set downward and the tip of the paper is dropped to the lower pad using gravity, the paper feeder can be reduced in size, but the paper must be fed only when the paper is set in the up / down direction. Because it is not possible, there are restrictions on the installation posture.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even if the configuration is small and simple, there are few restrictions on the installation posture, and even when the leading edges of a plurality of sheets are somewhat uneven, the sheets can be reliably supplied. It is to provide a paper feeding device capable of paper.

  The above object of the present invention is to provide a sheet insertion portion that accommodates and holds a plurality of sheets of paper, a paper feed roller that has an outer peripheral surface formed in a fan shape having an arc portion and a string portion, and is driven to rotate, and the sheet insertion portion. A pressing member that is disposed at a position opposite to the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller and that elastically biases the paper toward the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller, and a chord portion of the paper feed roller is the paper insertion portion A pressing member control mechanism for displacing the pressing member to a position away from the paper feed roller when facing the pressing member across the sheet, and disposed downstream of the pressing member in the paper insertion portion, A friction separation pad that is rotatable so that the contact angle with respect to the leading edge of the paper can be changed and whose rotating leading edge is elastically biased toward the rear edge of the paper, and a chord portion of the paper feeding roller is inserted into the paper The pressing member across the part When facing each other, a pad control mechanism for displacing the frictional separation pad to a position where the leading edge of the paper can be positioned, and the frictional separation pad displaced to a position where the leading edge of the paper can be positioned are locked and rotated. This is achieved by a sheet feeding device comprising a pad rotation restricting mechanism for restricting.

The outer peripheral surface of the arc portion is an arc surface concentric with the rotation center axis of the paper feed roller, and the outer peripheral surface of the chord portion is a curved surface or a substantially flat surface recessed inward from the arc surface.
According to the sheet feeding device configured as described above, in a standby state where the chord portion of the sheet feeding roller faces the pressing member with the sheet insertion portion interposed therebetween, the pressing member is positioned away from the sheet feeding roller by the pressing member control mechanism. It is displaced. Then, while the paper feeding roller is rotated and the arc portion of the paper feeding roller is in a paper feeding state facing the pressing member, the pressing member elastically applies the paper toward the outer peripheral surface of the paper feeding roller. To force.

  Therefore, the feed roller in the standby state in which the string portion is opposed to the pressing member is rotated by a predetermined amount, and the pressing member that has been displaced to the position away from the feeding roller by the pressing member control mechanism is regulated. When released, the pressing member elastically biases the paper stored and held in the paper insertion portion toward the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller.

Then, the sheet first comes into contact with the starting end of the arc portion on the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller (the portion where the outer peripheral surface of the rotated paper feed roller is switched from the chord portion to the arc portion).
That is, the position at which the paper feed roller starts to contact the paper (the position at which the paper feed roller pulls in the paper) can be set to a position on the rear end side of the paper from the position at which the cylindrical paper feed roller contacts.
As a result, even when the paper is uneven and the front end is located on the rear end side, the paper can be reliably pulled in and sent out by the paper supply roller. In other words, it is possible to stably feed the paper even if the leading edges are not evenly aligned.

  Further, in the standby state where the chord portion is opposed to the pressing member, the pressing member is displaced to a position away from the paper feed roller by the pressing member control mechanism, and the chord portion is located inside the arc portion. Since it is retracted, the paper feed roller does not jump out of the paper insertion portion, and a sufficient paper insertion space can be ensured between the paper feed roller and the pressing member, and the paper can be easily set in the paper insertion portion. .

Further, in a standby state where the chord portion of the paper feed roller faces the pressing member across the paper insertion portion, the friction separation pad is displaced to a position where the front end of the paper can be positioned and locked and rotated. Be regulated.
Therefore, the friction separation pad can position the leading edge of the paper, and the paper set in the paper insertion portion, for example, enters the downstream paper conveyance path inadvertently or is set past a predetermined position. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of 2-sheet feeding or the like.

The friction separating pad can change the contact angle with respect to the leading edge of the paper while the paper feeding roller is rotated and the arc portion of the paper feeding roller is in a paper feeding state facing the pressing member. In addition, the rotating front end is elastically biased toward the rear end of the sheet.
Therefore, when the plurality of sheets are sequentially fed out by rotating the sheet feeding roller, the friction separation pad automatically adjusts the contact angle according to the balance between the strength of the sheet and the elastic biasing force, and separates the sheets.・ Supply smoothly. The separated sheets are fed one by one while being sandwiched between the arc portion of the sheet feeding roller and the friction separation pad.

Preferably, the pad rotation restricting mechanism is arranged such that the friction separation pad can position the front end of the paper when the rotary front end of the friction separation pad is in contact with the paper being fed. Prevents turning.
In this case, after the arc portion of the paper feed roller passes through the friction separation pad, the rotating tip of the friction separation pad is in contact with the paper being fed (that is, the arc portion of the paper feed roller passes). In the state where the trailing edge of the sheet is still on the friction separation pad even after the sheet is removed, the friction separation pad can be prevented from rotating to a position where the leading edge of the sheet can be positioned.
Therefore, unnecessary pressing force by the frictional separation pad can be prevented from acting on the paper, and a stable paper feeding operation can be performed until the end.

  Preferably, the pad rotation restricting mechanism includes a cam member having a cam surface and rotating integrally with the paper feed roller, and a cam follower provided on the friction separation pad so as to contact the cam surface.

  More preferably, the cam surface is in a position where the leading end of the paper can be positioned by contacting the cam follower when a string portion of the paper feed roller faces the pressing member with the paper insertion portion interposed therebetween. When the first cam surface that locks the frictional separation pad and the rotation leading end of the frictional separation pad are in contact with the paper that is being fed, the cam follower contacts the cam follower, thereby rotating the paper feed roller. A second cam that prevents the frictional separation pad from rotating to a position where the leading edge of the sheet can be positioned while causing a rotation delay in the cam member provided to be able to delay the rotation by a predetermined amount with respect to the driving direction. A surface.

  As described above, when the friction separation pad is driven by the cam surface provided on the disk cam that rotates integrally with the paper feed roller and the cam follower provided on the friction separation pad, the pad rotation restriction is performed. The structure of the mechanism can be simplified.

  According to the paper feeding device of the present invention, the position at which the paper feeding roller starts to contact the paper can be set to a position on the rear end side of the paper with respect to the position at which the cylindrical paper feeding roller contacts. Even if the paper is not aligned and the leading edge is located on the rear edge side, the paper can be reliably pulled in and fed out by the paper feed roller, and even if the leading edge is not evenly aligned, the paper can be stably fed. It becomes possible.

  Further, in a standby state where the chord portion of the paper feed roller faces the pressing member across the paper insertion portion, the friction separation pad is displaced to a position where the front end of the paper can be positioned and locked and rotated. Therefore, the friction separation pad can position the leading edge of the paper, and the paper set in the paper insertion portion may for example enter the downstream paper conveyance path inadvertently or pass a predetermined position. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of two-sheet feeding or the like due to the setting.

Hereinafter, a paper feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a paper feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the main part, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the paper feeding device shown in FIG. 4 to 8 are explanatory views showing the positional relationship of the main components shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feeding device M of the present embodiment sets a check (paper) S in a standing position on the paper holder 10 with the front end (right end in the figure) facing in the horizontal direction (arrow Y1 direction). It is sent out in the horizontal direction (arrow Y1 direction) with this posture. A paper holder 10 attached to a frame (not shown) includes a pair of side walls 12A and 12B that form a paper insertion portion 11 into which a plurality of checks S can be inserted and set in a bundle, and a bottom wall on which the lower ends of the checks S are placed. 12C.

The paper feeding device M includes a paper feeding roller 20, a pressing member 30, and a friction separation pad 40 as main components for sequentially feeding the checks S set on the paper holder 10 one by one.
The paper feed roller 20 is disposed on the side of the one side wall 12 </ b> A of the paper holder 10, and the pressing member 30 is disposed on the side of the other side wall 12 </ b> B across the paper insertion portion 11. The friction separation pad 40 is disposed downstream of the pressing member 30 in the sheet feeding direction (arrow Y1 direction) of the check S.

  The paper feed roller 20 is fixed to a roller shaft 21 rotatably supported by a frame (not shown), and is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow Y2 by a motor (drive means) (not shown). The check S is fed to the downstream paper transport path. The roller shaft 21 is arranged in a direction (vertical direction in the illustrated example) perpendicular to the paper feeding direction in order to rotate the paper feeding roller 20 in the paper feeding direction.

The paper feed roller 20 is formed in a fan shape having an outer circumferential surface having an arc portion 23 and a chord portion 24. The outer peripheral surface of the arc portion 23 is an arc surface positioned on a virtual cylindrical surface (not shown) concentric with the rotation center axis O of the paper feed roller 20, and the outer peripheral surface of the chord portion 24 is from the virtual cylindrical surface. It is a gentle curved surface withdrawn inside.
Further, the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 20 is lined with a high friction member such as rubber. As shown in FIG. 3, in the paper feed roller 20, the rotating arc portion 23 can protrude into the space inside the paper insertion portion 11 through the opening 13 formed in one side wall 12 </ b> A of the paper holder 10. It is provided as follows.

  A pressing member (also called a hopper) 30 is disposed at a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 20 with the paper insertion portion 11 interposed therebetween, and is directed toward the paper feed roller 20 by a torsion coil spring (elastic biasing member) 31. As a result, the check S is elastically biased toward the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 20.

  This pressing member 30 is disposed substantially parallel to the side wall 12B in an opening (not shown) provided on the other side wall 12B of the paper holder 10, and is located on the upstream side (left end side in the drawing) in the paper feeding direction. Since the base end portion 32 is supported by a support shaft 33 fixed to the frame, the free end side can swing around the support shaft 33 parallel to the rotation center axis O of the paper feed roller 20.

  The portion of the pressing member 30 that contacts the check S protrudes more toward the paper feed roller 20 than the other portions, and is a pressing surface 34 provided with a high friction material such as a cork sheet. The upper side and the base end portion 32 side of the pressing surface 34 are configured with inclined surfaces that do not hinder the check S when the check S is dropped into the paper insertion portion 11.

The friction separating pad 40 is a plurality of sheets set in a state where the leading end of the check S fed out while being sandwiched between the paper feeding roller 20 and the pressing member 30 is in sliding contact with the pad surface 41 so as to be overlapped in the paper inserting portion 11. The checks S are separated one by one.
The friction separating pad 40 is supported so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 42 disposed in the vicinity of the free end of the pressing member 30, and the front end of the rotation is directed toward the rear end of the check S by a torsion coil spring 43. It is elastically biased.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the friction separation pad 40 has a position where the tip of the check S can be positioned (for example, the check S, for example) when there is no interfering object (the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20) in the middle. Can be freely rotated and displaced up to a contact angle of about 60 degrees). The rotational displacement of the friction separation pad 40 in the rear end direction of the sheet is restricted by the cam follower 48A coming into contact with a pad drive cam 27A described later.

  Further, the sheet feeding device M of the present embodiment includes a pressing member control mechanism 37 and a pad control mechanism 47A for displacing the pressing member 30 and the friction separation pad 40 according to the rotation position of the sheet feeding roller 20, and the check S. And a pad rotation restricting mechanism 47B for restricting the rotation by locking the friction separating pad 40 displaced to a position where the tip can be positioned.

  The pressing member control mechanism 37 is attached to a roller shaft (rotating shaft) 21 of the paper feed roller 20, thereby allowing a pressing member driving cam (cam surface) 26 of a disk cam 25 that rotates integrally with the paper feeding roller 20. The cam follower 38 is provided on the pressing member 30 side so as to be in sliding contact with the pressing member driving cam 26.

  The pad control mechanism 47A is attached to the roller shaft 21 of the paper feed roller 20, so that the pad drive cam (cam surface) 27A of the disc cam 25 that rotates with the paper feed roller 20 and the pad drive mechanism 20A. The cam follower 48A is attached to a member (an L-shaped lever 48 described later) on the friction separation pad 40 side so as to be in sliding contact with the cam 27A.

  The pad rotation restricting mechanism 47B is attached to the roller shaft 21 of the paper feed roller 20, so that the pad lock cam 27B, which is a cam member that normally rotates integrally with the paper feed roller 20, and the pad lock cam. The cam follower 48B is attached to a member (an L-shaped lever 48 described later) on the friction separation pad 40 side so as to abut the cam 27B.

The L-shaped lever 48 provided with the cam follower 48A and the cam follower 48B, as shown in FIG. It is supposed to be.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, at the lower end of the roller shaft 21 of the paper feed roller 20, a transmission gear for transmitting the rotation of a motor (not shown) to the paper feed roller 20 and the disk cam 25 via the roller shaft 21. 28 is attached.

The pad lock cam 27B is a substantially sector-shaped cam member having a first cam surface 27c and a second cam surface 27d on the outer periphery, and rotates between the transmission gear 28 and the disk cam 25 by a predetermined angle range. The roller shaft 21 is mounted so that it can move.
That is, by inserting the engaging pin 27p projecting from the lower surface of the pad lock cam 27B into the arc groove 28m of a predetermined length formed on the upper surface of the transmission gear 28, the pad lock cam 27B is The roller shaft 21 is rotatable about a predetermined angle range with respect to the transmission gear 28.

Further, the pad lock cam 27B has both ends in the direction of the arrow Y2 with respect to the transmission gear 28 by a tension coil spring 29 that is hooked by the hook portion 27b of the pad lock cam 27B and the hook portion 28a of the transmission gear 28. The engagement pin 27p is in contact with the front end in the rotation direction of the arc groove 28m.
As described above, the disk cam 25 having the pressing member driving cam 26 for driving the cam follower 38 of the pressing member 30 and the pad driving cam 27A for driving the cam follower 48A of the L-shaped lever 48 is attached to the roller shaft 21. Accordingly, the pressing member 30 and the friction separation pad 40 are driven in conjunction with the rotation of the paper feed roller 20.

  In this case, the cam profile of the pressing member driving cam 26 constituting the pressing member control mechanism 37 regulates the position of the pressing member 30 relative to the paper feed roller 20 against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 31. As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, in a standby state in which the string portion 24 of the paper feeding roller 20 faces the pressing member 30 substantially in parallel with the paper insertion portion 11 interposed therebetween, the pressing member 30 is It is displaced to a position away from the roller 20.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the starting end of the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 (the portion where the outer peripheral surface of the rotated paper feed roller 20 is switched from the chord portion 24 to the arc portion 23) 23 </ b> A is the pressing member 30. While the arc portion 23 is in a position facing the pressing member 30 from the time when it approaches, the restriction to displace the pressing member 30 to a position away from the paper feed roller 20 is released, so that the torsion coil spring 31 is attached. The pressing member 30 is set to be elastically biased toward the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 by the force.

  Further, the cam profile of the pad driving cam 27A constituting the pad control mechanism 47A is such that the string portion 24 and the pressing member 30 from the position where the substantially middle portion of the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 faces the frictional separation pad 40. The friction separating pad 40 is set to be held at a predetermined inclination angle (an angle at which the tip of the check S can be positioned) against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 43 until the position is substantially parallel. .

  Further, the cam profile of the pad lock cam 27B constituting the pad rotation restricting mechanism 47B is as follows. As shown in FIGS. In the standby state facing substantially parallel to 30, the first cam surface 27c comes into contact with the cam follower 48B, thereby locking the frictional separation pad 40 that has been displaced to a position where the front end of the check S can be positioned and moving toward the front end of the sheet. As shown in FIG. 8, when the rotational tip of the frictional separation pad 40 is in contact with the check S being fed, the second cam surface 27d is brought into contact with the cam follower 48B. The friction separating pad is caused to cause a rotation delay in the pad lock cam 27B provided so as to be able to delay the rotation by a predetermined amount with respect to the rotation driving direction of the paper feed roller 20 by the contact. 0 is set to prevent the rotation of the tip of the check S into positionable position.

Next, the operation of the paper feeding device M according to this embodiment will be described.
When a plurality of checks S are fed by the feeding device M of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The paper holder 10 is set in the direction (right direction in the figure).

  At this stage, the maximum radius cam portion 26 a of the pressing member driving cam 26 abuts against the cam follower 38 of the pressing member 30, so that the pressing member 30 resists the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 31. It is held in a standby position away from Further, since the string portion 24 of the paper feed roller 20 is located at a position facing the pressing member 30 substantially in parallel, the substantial width H of the paper insertion portion 11 is kept in the maximum open state. The check S can be easily inserted.

Further, the friction separating pad 40 is held at a position where the tip of the check S can be positioned (a state where the sheet conveyance path downstream from the sheet inserting portion 11 is blocked) by the cam follower 48A coming into contact with the pad driving cam 27A. ing.
Therefore, when the check S is set on the paper insertion portion 11 in the standby state where the string portion 24 of the paper feed roller 20 faces the pressing member 30, the friction separation pad 40 positions the tip of the check S. can do. That is, the check S set in the paper insertion unit 11 does not inadvertently enter the downstream paper conveyance path, and the occurrence of two-sheet feeding or the like can be prevented.

Here, if the frictional separation pad 40 is only restricted by the spring force of the torsion coil spring 43, when the frictional separation pad 40 is strongly pressed by the tip of the check S, the spring force of the torsion coil spring 43 is reduced. There is a risk that the friction separation pad 40 will rotate in the direction of the leading edge of the paper.
If this happens, the leading edge of the check S may not be properly positioned. However, in the paper feeding device M of this embodiment, the frictional separation pad 40 that is displaced to a position where the leading edge of the check S can be positioned is locked. Since the pad rotation restricting mechanism 47B for restricting the rotational displacement in the paper front end direction is provided, the position of the front end of the check S can be aligned with certainty.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, in a standby state in which the string portion 24 of the paper feed roller 20 faces the pressing member 30 with the paper insertion portion 11 interposed therebetween, the pad lock regulating mechanism 47B is configured. The first cam surface 27c of the cam 27B stands by at a position where it can contact the cam follower 48B.

Therefore, even if the friction separating pad 40 is pushed by the check S and tries to rotate in the paper leading end direction, the cam follower 48B comes into contact with the first cam surface 27c of the pad locking cam 27B, so that the friction separating pad 40 The above rotation is restricted.
Therefore, by restricting the rotation of the friction separation pad 40 in the front end direction of the paper, it is possible to reliably prevent the check S from being set at a position where the front end of the check S has gone too far.

In this state, when rotation of a motor (not shown) is transmitted to the paper feed roller 20 via the transmission gear 28, the paper feed roller 20 rotates in the direction of the arrow Y2, and as shown in FIG. The starting end 23A of 23 gradually approaches the pressing member 30 side.
At this stage, the cam follower 38 of the pressing member 30 falls into the recess 26b of the pressing member driving cam 26, so that the restriction to the standby position is released, and the pressing member 30 removes the check S from the outer peripheral surface of the paper feeding roller 20. Elastically biased toward

  At this time, on the paper feed roller 20 side, the starting end 23A of the arc portion 23 is close to the pressing member 30 on the front side (left side in FIG. 6) of the rotation center axis O of the paper feed roller 20 in the feeding direction. Therefore, the check S first comes into contact with the starting end 23A of the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 at a position in front of the rotation center axis O in the feeding direction. This position is on the front side in the feed direction by a dimension K that is about ½ of the radius of the paper feed roller 20 relative to the rotation center axis O of the paper feed roller 20, so that the leading end of the check S is the rotation center axis O. Even if the distance K is shifted to the near side, the tip end of the check S can be reliably captured by the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20.

When the rotation of the paper feeding roller 20 further proceeds from this state, the pressing member 30 is pushed back to the standby position side by the rotation of the arc portion 23, and as shown in FIG. The uppermost check S is fed out in the paper feeding direction (arrow Y1 direction) while being sandwiched.
In the previous stage, as shown in FIG. 6, the friction separating pad 40 is gradually pushed back against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 43 by the action of the pad driving cam 27 </ b> A, and the leading edge of the check S is Tilted to a predetermined contact angle.

  Therefore, it waits for the check S to come at a predetermined inclination angle, and in the next stage, the pad surface 41 of the frictional separation pad 40 receives the tip of the check S at a predetermined contact angle, the strength of the check S and the torsion coil spring 43. The uppermost check S and the lower check S are separated while automatically adjusting the contact angle according to the balance with the urging force.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 is pressed against the friction separation pad 40 via the check S, the friction separation pad 40 holds the check S between the arc portion 23 and Become.
Accordingly, only one check S sent out from the paper insertion portion 11 by the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 is separated while the tip is slidably in contact with the pad surface 41, and the paper feeding device M is accompanied with the rotation of the arc portion 23. The paper is smoothly fed out (for example, downstream paper transport path).

In the latter half of the feeding of the single check S due to the rotation of the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20, the action of the pressing member driving cam 26 in accordance with the timing at which the end 23B of the arc portion 23 passes through the position facing the pressing member 30. Thus, the pressing member 30 is pushed back to the standby position.
After that, the arc portion 23 facing the friction separation pad 40 passes through the friction separation pad 40, and the friction separation pad 40 reaches a position corresponding to the chord portion 24, so that the friction separation pad 40 swings. The interference object disappears in the range, and the torsion coil spring 43 is urged to rotate toward the rear end of the sheet. Then, the cam follower 48A comes into contact with the pad driving cam 27A, and the friction separation pad 40 is held at a position where the tip of the check S can be positioned.

Therefore, when the leading edge of the check S waiting in the paper insertion portion 11 has jumped out to a position where it hits the frictional separation pad 40, it is pushed back by the frictional separation pad 40, thereby aligning the leading edge of the check S. It is done. At this time, since the pressing member 30 is displaced to a position away from the paper feed roller 20, the check S can move relatively freely, and the leading edge of the check S is aligned with the friction separation pad 40 without difficulty.
That is, each time the paper feed roller 20 rotates once and the string portion 24 of the paper feed roller 20 faces the pressing member 30, the friction separation pad 40 swings to a position where the tip of the check S can be positioned, and the check S It has the effect | action which arranges the front-end | tip of.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 8, even after the arc portion 23 of the paper feed roller 20 passes, the rear end of the check S is still on the friction separation pad 40. That is, the rotation tip of the frictional separation pad 40 comes into contact with the check S being fed, and the frictional separation pad 40 that is prevented from rotating can be positioned at the tip of the original check S shown in FIG. Can not be displaced.

  The cam follower 48B comes into contact with the second cam surface 27d of the pad lock cam 27B rotating in the direction of the arrow Y2 along with the transmission gear 28. Then, since the pad lock cam 27B is provided so as to be delayed by a predetermined amount with respect to the rotational driving direction of the paper feed roller 20, the pad lock cam 27B pressed against the cam follower 48B by the second cam surface 27d. The cam 27 </ b> B can cause a rotation delay against the spring force of the tension coil spring 29.

  In this state, the friction separation pad 40 is not pivotally displaced to a position where the tip of the check S can be positioned, and the cam follower 48B is not in contact with the first cam surface 27c of the pad lock cam 27B. The frictional separation pad 40 is not restricted from rotational displacement in the paper leading end direction.

  When the trailing edge of the check S completely passes through the frictional separation pad 40, the frictional separation pad 40 is free of interference in the swing range, and is rotated toward the trailing edge of the sheet by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 43. Then, the cam follower 48B is disengaged from the second cam surface 27d, and the pad lock cam 27B returns to the initial state in which the engagement pin 27p contacts the front end in the rotational direction of the arc groove 28m by the spring force of the tension coil spring 29.

If the trailing edge of the check S has already passed through the friction separating pad 40 at the stage where the pad locking cam 27B contacts the cam follower 48B, the friction separating pad 40 can freely rotate in the direction toward the trailing edge of the sheet. The cam follower 48B does not abut on the second cam surface 27d, and can be displaced to a position where it can abut on the first cam surface 27c.
That is, in the sheet feeding device M according to the present embodiment, when the rotating tip of the friction separation pad 40 is in contact with the check S being fed, an unnecessary pressing force by the friction separation pad 40 is applied to the check S. It is possible to prevent the operation, and a stable paper feeding operation is possible until the end.

As described above, according to the paper feeding device M of the present embodiment, the check S whose front end is in front of the paper feeding portion 11 in the paper insertion unit 11 is reliably pulled in by the single paper feeding roller 20. Will be able to send out. That is, the check S can be stably fed even if the leading edges are not evenly aligned.
Therefore, the mechanism can be simplified and downsized as compared with the case of using a plurality of rollers. Further, since the tips of the checks S are not aligned using gravity, it is easy to cope with standing the checks S with the tips of the checks S oriented horizontally, and the installation posture is not particularly selected. In addition, it can be mounted on various devices such as a printer and a data reading device.

FIG. 9 is a plan layout view of the data reading device P when the paper feeding device M of the above embodiment is incorporated.
In this data reading device P, the paper feeding device M of the above-described embodiment is disposed at the entrance portion of the first transport path 101 laid out in a U shape, and the paper feed roller 102 is disposed at an appropriate position in the middle of the first transport path 101. , 103, 104 are disposed, and a discharge roller 105 is disposed at the exit portion. In addition, reading processing units (scanners) 110 and 120 are arranged on the intermediate straight line portion 101A of the U-shaped first conveyance path 101. Further, on the extended line of the intermediate straight line portion 101A, a straight conveyance path 112A that constitutes a straight second conveyance path 112 by using the intermediate straight line portion 101A is connected.

  In this data reading device P, when the check S is sent out from the feeding device M, the check S moves along the U-shaped transport path 101 in an upright position, and the reading processing unit (scanner) 110, At 120, the data recorded on the check S is read. When reading a rigid card such as a license or ID card, the reading processing units 110 and 120 can read the data on the card by moving the card using the second transport path 112. it can.

  As shown in this example, when a plurality of checks S are set in a standing posture and the checks S are sent out in the horizontal direction in the posture, the tip position of the checks S often varies. According to the sheet feeding device M of the embodiment, the check S can be reliably sent out. Therefore, although it is a simple mechanism, the reliability of paper feed can be ensured without selecting the installation posture.

The configurations of the paper insertion portion, the paper feed roller, the pressing member, the pressing member control mechanism, the friction separation pad, the pad control mechanism, the pad rotation restricting mechanism, and the like in the paper feeding device of the present invention are limited to the configurations of the above embodiments. Of course, various forms can be adopted based on the gist of the present invention.
For example, the pressing member 30 in the above embodiment is configured such that the free end side can swing around a support shaft 33 parallel to the rotation center axis O of the paper feed roller 20. The pressing surface can be configured to advance and retract in parallel.

1 is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the main components shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows the whole structure of the paper feeder shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which takes out and shows the positional relationship of the main components shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing explaining the effect | action of the main components shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing explaining the next operation | movement stage of the main components shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing explaining the next operation | movement stage of the main components shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing explaining the effect | action in the next operation | movement stage of the main components shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows roughly the planar layout of the data reading apparatus carrying the paper feeder shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Paper insertion part 20 Paper feed roller 23 Arc part 24 Chord part 26 Press member drive cam (cam surface)
27A Pad drive cam (cam surface)
27B Padlock cam (cam member)
30 Pressing member 37 Pressing member control mechanism 38, 48A, 48B Cam follower 40 Friction separation pad 47A Pad control mechanism 47B Pad rotation restricting mechanism M Paper feeding device S Check (paper)

Claims (4)

A paper insertion section for accommodating and holding a plurality of sheets;
A paper feed roller that is formed in a fan shape with an outer peripheral surface having an arc portion and a chord portion and is driven to rotate;
A pressing member that is disposed at a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller across the paper insertion portion and elastically biases the paper toward the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed roller;
A pressing member control mechanism for displacing the pressing member to a position away from the paper feeding roller when a string portion of the paper feeding roller faces the pressing member across the paper insertion portion;
It is disposed downstream of the pressing member in the paper insertion portion, and is rotatable so that the contact angle with respect to the front end of the paper can be changed, and the rotational front end is elastically biased toward the rear end of the paper. Friction separating pad,
A pad control mechanism for displacing the frictional separation pad to a position where the leading edge of the paper can be positioned when the string portion of the paper feed roller faces the pressing member with the paper insertion portion interposed therebetween;
A pad rotation restricting mechanism for restricting the rotation by locking the friction separating pad displaced to a position where the leading edge of the paper can be positioned;
A paper feeding device comprising:   The pad rotation restricting mechanism rotates the friction separation pad to a position where the front end of the paper can be positioned when the rotation front end of the friction separation pad is in contact with the paper being fed. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is blocked.   The pad rotation restricting mechanism includes a cam member provided with a cam surface and rotating integrally with the paper feed roller, and a cam follower provided on the friction separation pad so as to contact the cam surface. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1 or 2. The cam surface is
When the string portion of the paper feed roller faces the pressing member across the paper insertion portion, the friction separating pad is locked to a position where the leading edge of the paper can be positioned by contacting the cam follower. The cam surface,
When the leading end of the frictional separation pad is in contact with the paper that is being fed, the frictional separation pad comes into contact with the cam follower so as to be delayed by a predetermined amount with respect to the rotational driving direction of the paper feed roller. A second cam surface that prevents the friction separating pad from rotating to a position where the leading edge of the paper can be positioned while causing a rotation delay in the cam member;
The sheet feeding device according to claim 3, further comprising: