JP2005280938A - Method and device for carrying sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and device for carrying sheets capable of preventing meandering of sheets when the sheets such as paper sheets and films are inserted in equipment. <P>SOLUTION: An edge of a sheet S is inserted between rollers 40 while the pair of carrying rollers 40 are stopped with circumferential surfaces of cylinders thereof brought into line contact with each other, the edge of the sheet S is butted to a part in a vicinity of a contact of the circumferential surfaces of the rollers 40, and the sheet S is carried by rotating the rollers in the carrying direction after a predetermined time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport method and a transport apparatus that can insert and transport a sheet material such as paper and film into equipment such as a recording apparatus and a developing apparatus while preventing skewing.

  For example, when a sheet material such as paper or film is manually inserted into a device such as a recording device or a developing device and various processing is performed in the device, the sheet material must be inserted into the device in an appropriate posture. Don't be. For example, when inserting the sheet material, if the leading edge of the sheet material is inserted obliquely into the gap between the pair of conveying rollers, the sheet material is sent into the device in an oblique posture. It is because it may become clogged.

  Therefore, conventionally, an insertion guide that is disposed in front of the pair of conveyance rollers is provided with an insertion guide that restricts the left and right ends of the sheet material in parallel with the conveyance direction, and the left and right ends of the sheet material are regulated by the insertion guide. The sheet material can be inserted into the gap between the pair of conveying rollers in an appropriate posture (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-116105

  However, in the conventional apparatus, the structure is complicated by the provision of the insertion guide, and the user needs to adjust the position of the insertion guide according to the size of the sheet material. When inserted, the skew may occur and ruin the sheet material. Further, the sheet material may not be inserted sufficiently in parallel simply by restricting the left and right ends with the insertion guide.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet material conveying method and a conveying apparatus that can insert a sheet material into an apparatus while preventing skew feeding without using an insertion guide. .

The above object is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) In a state where the pair of rollers for conveyance with which the cylindrical peripheral surface is in line contact is stopped, the leading end of the sheet material is inserted between the pair of rollers, and the leading end of the sheet material is placed between the peripheral surfaces of both rollers. The sheet material is conveyed by causing the sheet material to be conveyed by rotating the pair of rollers in the conveying direction after a predetermined time.

(2) With the pair of conveying rollers in line contact with the cylindrical circumferential surface rotated in the direction opposite to the conveying direction, the leading edge of the sheet material is inserted between the pair of rollers, A sheet material conveying method, wherein the sheet material is conveyed by abutting in the vicinity of a contact point between peripheral surfaces of the rollers and rotating the pair of rollers in a conveying direction after a predetermined time.

(3) A pair of rollers for conveying the cylindrical peripheral surface in line contact, an insertion detecting means for detecting insertion of a sheet material between the pair of rollers, and a sheet in response to an output signal of the insertion detecting means Roller rotation control means for stopping rotation of the pair of rollers when a material is inserted and rotating the pair of rollers in a conveying direction after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the insertion of the sheet material Material transport device.

(4) A pair of conveying rollers in linear contact with the cylindrical peripheral surface, an insertion detecting means for detecting insertion of a sheet material between the pair of rollers, and a sheet in response to an output signal of the insertion detecting means A roller rotation control unit that rotates the pair of rollers in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction when inserting the material, and rotates the pair of rollers in the conveyance direction after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the insertion of the sheet material. A sheet material conveying apparatus.

  According to the invention of the above (1), when the sheet material is inserted, the front end of the sheet material is brought into contact with the vicinity of the contact point between the peripheral surfaces of both rollers while the roller is stopped. The leading edge of the sheet material can be positioned in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. Since the sheet material feeding is started by rotating the roller only after the leading edge of the sheet material is brought into contact with the vicinity of the contact point between the peripheral surfaces of the rollers that have stopped rotating and stopped reliably. Sheet material can be conveyed while preventing.

  As described above, since it is possible to obtain the effect of preventing the skew when the sheet material is inserted only by controlling the rotation of the roller, the insertion guide can be omitted, and even when the insertion guide is provided, the auxiliary guide is not provided. It can be used as a function for preventing skew. In addition, at the stage where the leading edge of the sheet material is abutted in the vicinity of the contact point between the peripheral surfaces of the rollers, for example, the rotation of the roller can be started by operating a button, but in the present invention, the stage where the leading edge of the sheet material is abutted Since the rotation of the roller is automatically started when a certain period of time elapses, the sheet material can be inserted and conveyed in one action.

  Further, according to the invention of (3) above, when the sheet material is inserted between the rollers, the rollers automatically stop rotating, and after a certain period of time, the rollers automatically rotate in the conveying direction. Even if it does not carry out, the conveyance method of the invention of said (1) can be performed easily.

  According to the invention of the above (2), when the sheet material is inserted, the front end of the sheet material is abutted to the vicinity of the contact between the peripheral surfaces of both rollers in a state where the roller is rotated in the direction opposite to the conveying direction. The leading edge of the sheet material can be positioned in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction by the rollers that actually carry the material without sandwiching the material between the rollers. And, since the leading edge of the sheet material is in contact with the vicinity of the contact between the peripheral surfaces of the rollers that rotate in the reverse direction and securely stopped, the roller is rotated in the conveying direction and the feeding of the sheet material is started. The sheet material can be conveyed while preventing skewing.

  As described above, since it is possible to obtain the effect of preventing the skew when the sheet material is inserted only by controlling the rotation of the roller, the insertion guide can be omitted, and even when the insertion guide is provided, the auxiliary guide is not provided. It can be used as a function for preventing skew. Note that at the stage where the leading edge of the sheet material is abutted against the vicinity of the contact between the peripheral surfaces of the rollers, the rotation direction of the roller can be returned to the normal direction by, for example, a button operation. Since the roller rotation direction is automatically returned to the positive direction when a predetermined time has elapsed from the contact stage, the sheet material can be inserted and conveyed in one action.

  Further, according to the invention of (4) above, when the sheet material is inserted between the rollers, the roller automatically rotates in the direction opposite to the conveying direction, and then the roller automatically rotates in the conveying direction after a certain period of time. Even if no special operation is performed, the transport method of the invention of (2) can be easily executed.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the transport apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), this conveying apparatus has a pair of upper and lower insertion rollers 40 for conveying the cylindrical peripheral surface in line contact with an insertion portion of a sheet material S into an apparatus (not shown). doing. A symbol Y in FIGS. 1C and 1D indicates a line contact portion between the rollers 40. These insertion rollers 40 may be set so as to be driven to rotate synchronously, or only one of them is driven, and the other is in direct contact with the other roller and indirect contact through the sheet material S. May be set so as to be driven to rotate.

  In addition, the conveying device includes an insertion detection unit 42 such as an optical type or a mechanical type that detects the insertion of the sheet material S between the pair of insertion rollers 40 in the insertion portion of the sheet material S. The signal from the insertion detection unit 42 is input to a roller rotation control unit 45 that controls the rotation of the insertion roller 40. Then, in response to the output signal of the insertion detection means 42, the roller rotation control means 45 stops the rotation of the pair of insertion rollers 40 when the sheet material S is inserted, and detects the insertion of the sheet material S. A control function is provided to rotate the pair of insertion rollers 40 in the transport direction after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Next, a sheet material conveying method using the conveying device will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1A, when the leading end of the sheet material S is inserted between the insertion rollers 40 of the above-described conveying device, if the insertion roller 40 has been rotated in advance, the rotation is stopped and waits. Further, when the insertion roller 40 has not been rotated from the beginning, the rotation is not started at that time, and the motor is stopped while stopped.

  In this state, the leading edge of the sheet material S is inserted between the insertion rollers 40, and the leading edge of the sheet material S is abutted against the vicinity of the contact between the peripheral surfaces of both rollers 40. Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, even when the sheet material S is inserted between the insertion rollers 40 with the tip slightly inclined, the line contact portion of the roller 40 in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. Since the restriction by the (contact portion) Y works, the leading edge of the sheet material S is positioned in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction as shown in (d).

  And, as shown in FIG. 1B, the insertion roller 40 is transported only when the leading edge of the sheet material S is brought into contact with the vicinity of the contact point of the rotation of the insertion roller 40 that has stopped rotating and is reliably positioned. The feeding of the sheet material S is started by rotating in the direction. Accordingly, the sheet material S can be conveyed while preventing skew feeding. Note that if the time from the insertion of the sheet material S to the start of rotation of the insertion roller 40 in the conveyance direction is too long, the conveyance will become sluggish, and if it is too short, the positioning of the leading edge of the sheet material S will not be in time. It is necessary to set appropriately considering this.

  As described above, according to the present conveying apparatus and method, since the effect of preventing the skew feeding when the sheet material S is inserted can be obtained only by the rotation control of the insertion roller 40, the conventional insertion guide can be omitted. However, even if an insertion guide is provided, it can be used as an auxiliary skew prevention function. In the present conveying apparatus and method, the rotation of the insertion roller 40 is automatically started when a predetermined time has elapsed from the stage where the leading edge of the sheet material S is abutted. Can be transported.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the transport apparatus according to the second embodiment.
The difference between the conveyance device of the second embodiment and the conveyance device of the first embodiment is that the roller rotation control means 45B responds to the output signal of the insertion detection means 42 when a sheet material S is inserted. The insertion roller 40 is first rotated in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction, and then has a control function for rotating the insertion roller 40 in the conveyance direction after a predetermined time has elapsed. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Next, a sheet material conveying method using the conveying apparatus will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2A, when the leading end of the sheet material S is inserted between the insertion rollers 40, at this point, the insertion roller 40 rotates in the direction opposite to the conveying direction (insertion direction). That is, the insertion roller 40 rotates in the direction in which the sheet material S is pushed back.

  In this state, the front end of the sheet material S is forcibly inserted between the insertion rollers 40, and the front end of the sheet material S is abutted against the vicinity of the contact point between the peripheral surfaces of both rollers 40. Then, even when the sheet material S is inserted between the insertion rollers 40 with the tip slightly inclined, the restriction by the line contact portion (contact portion) of the roller 40 in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction works. The leading edge of the sheet material S is positioned in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction.

  And, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the insertion roller 40 is transported only when the leading end of the sheet material S is brought into contact with the vicinity of the contact point of the reversely rotating insertion roller 40 and is reliably positioned. The feeding of the sheet material S is started by rotating in the direction. Accordingly, the sheet material S can be conveyed while preventing skew feeding. Note that if the time from the insertion of the sheet material S to the start of rotation of the insertion roller 40 in the conveyance direction is too long, the conveyance will become sluggish, and if it is too short, the positioning of the leading edge of the sheet material S will not be in time. It is necessary to set appropriately considering this.

  As described above, according to the present conveying apparatus and method, since the effect of preventing the skew feeding when the sheet material S is inserted can be obtained only by the rotation control of the insertion roller 40, the conventional insertion guide can be omitted. However, even if an insertion guide is provided, it can be used as an auxiliary skew prevention function. In the present conveying apparatus and method, the insertion roller 40 automatically rotates in the conveying direction and starts feeding when a certain time has elapsed from the stage where the leading edge of the sheet material S is abutted. The sheet material S can be inserted and conveyed.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heat development apparatus incorporating the above-described transport device. The photothermographic material A (corresponding to the sheet material S) to be developed by the heat developing apparatus 100 is formed with photosensitive silver halide, non-photosensitive organic silver salt, reduced on at least one surface of the support. It is a film in which an image forming layer containing an agent and a binder is formed. This photothermographic material (hereinafter referred to as “photosensitive material”) A is brought into the photothermographic apparatus 100 in a state where a latent image is formed by laser exposure at another location and is accommodated in the cassette 1.

  For this reason, the heat developing apparatus 100 is provided with a loading unit (insertion base) 2 for detachably loading the cassette 1 containing the photosensitive material A. The loading unit 2 is loaded in the vicinity of the loading unit 2. A take-out mechanism 3 such as a suction cup for taking out the sensitive material A from the cassette 1 is provided.

  Inside the apparatus main body 100A of the thermal development apparatus 100, a transport mechanism B is provided that feeds and moves the photosensitive material A taken out by the take-out mechanism 3 in a predetermined direction along a predetermined transport path Ba. In addition, a thermal development section C and a slow cooling section D are provided in order from the upstream side along the transport path Ba. The thermal development part C is a part where the photosensitive material A is subjected to heat treatment and thermal development (latent image is visualized), and the slow cooling part D is a part where the photosensitive material A heated for thermal development is gradually cooled. .

  The transport mechanism B of the photosensitive material A is of a roller type, an insertion roller 40 disposed at the upstream end closest to the take-out mechanism 3, a number of pressing rollers 5 incorporated in the heat development unit C, A large number of cooling rollers 6 incorporated in the slow cooling part D, discharge rollers 7 and 8 for discharging the photosensitive material A coming out of the slow cooling part D to the tray 9 on the upper part of the apparatus main body 100A, and these rollers 40 , 5-8, and a drive mechanism (not shown). In addition, a conveyance device centered on the insertion roller 40 described above is incorporated in the upstream portion of the conveyance mechanism B, and an insertion detection means 42 is disposed in the vicinity of the insertion roller 40.

  The above-described heat developing portion C is entirely covered with the casing 21 and an insertion portion 22 for the photosensitive material A is provided at the upstream end thereof. Further, an insertion guide 23 is provided between the insertion portion 22 and the insertion roller 40 for smoothly introducing the photosensitive material A into the heat development portion C.

  Further, in the casing 21 of the thermal development section C, three blocks of development units 25 are arranged in an arc shape. The developing unit 25 includes a heating plate 26 whose one surface (a surface facing the photosensitive material A) is an arc-shaped heating surface 26a, and a plurality of pressing rollers 5 that sandwich the photosensitive material A together with the heating surface 26a. It is configured. In this case, the pressing roller 5 also serves as a component of the transport mechanism B.

  The heating plate 26 is heated by a heater (not shown), and the control temperature can be changed for each block as necessary. In addition, the heat distribution can be adjusted in each block.

  In this way, by configuring the thermal development section C, the photosensitive material A inserted from the insertion section 22 of the development unit 25 is heated while being transported at a predetermined transport speed, and is discharged from the thermal development section C. In the meantime, heat development is performed by receiving the amount of heat necessary for development.

  When the photosensitive material A is thermally developed in the thermal development apparatus 100, the photosensitive material A is transported along the transport path Ba, and a latent image is formed by applying heat to the photosensitive material A in the thermal development section C while transporting. Visualize. The heat-sensitive photosensitive material A moves from the heat developing portion C to the slow cooling portion D, where it is gradually cooled, and then discharged to the tray 9 by the discharge rollers 7 and 8.

  During this series of operations, when the photosensitive material A is taken out from the cassette 1 and the tip of the photosensitive material A is inserted between the insertion rollers 40, the leading edge of the photosensitive material A is positioned by the rotation control of the insertion roller 40 described above. Is called. That is, when the photosensitive material A is inserted between the insertion rollers 40, the insertion roller 40 is stopped or rotated in reverse, so that the front end of the photosensitive material A is positioned in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. It is sent out toward the heat development section C. For this reason, a skew prevention effect is obtained.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the photosensitive material A is accommodated and taken out one by one in the cassette 1 has been described. However, a plurality of photosensitive materials A on which latent images are formed are collectively accommodated in a magazine and heated. You may make it supply to the image development part B.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of a roller when a sheet material is inserted between insertion rollers, and (b) is a time after a certain time has elapsed since the insertion of the sheet material. Explanatory drawing of operation | movement of a roller, (c) is a top view which shows the case where a sheet | seat material is inserted in the diagonal attitude | position with respect to the line contact part of insertion rollers, (d) is a sheet | seat material after the state of (c) was corrected It is a top view which shows the state which positioned the front-end | tip in the direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of a roller when a sheet material is inserted between insertion rollers, and (b) is a roller at a time after a certain time has elapsed since the insertion of the sheet material. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the heat development apparatus to which the conveying apparatus of this invention was applied.

Explanation of symbols

S Sheet material 40 Insertion roller 42 Insertion detection means 45, 45B Roller rotation control means A Photothermographic material (corresponding to sheet material S)

Claims (4)

  With the pair of conveying rollers in line contact with the cylindrical circumferential surface stopped rotating, the leading edge of the sheet material is inserted between the pair of rollers, and the leading edge of the sheet material is in the vicinity of the contact between the circumferential surfaces of both rollers. The sheet material is conveyed by rotating the pair of rollers in the conveyance direction after a predetermined time.   With the pair of conveying rollers in line contact with the cylindrical peripheral surface rotated in the direction opposite to the conveying direction, the leading edge of the sheet material is inserted between the pair of rollers, and the leading edge of the sheet material is placed around the circumference of both rollers. A sheet material conveying method, wherein the sheet material is conveyed by rotating the pair of rollers in a conveying direction after abutting near a contact point between the surfaces and after a predetermined time. A pair of rollers for conveying the cylindrical peripheral surface in line contact;
An insertion detecting means for detecting insertion of a sheet material between the pair of rollers;
Roller rotation that stops rotation of the pair of rollers when a sheet material is inserted in response to an output signal of the insertion detection means, and rotates the pair of rollers in the conveying direction after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the insertion of the sheet material. Control means;
A sheet material conveying apparatus comprising: A pair of rollers for conveying the cylindrical peripheral surface in line contact;
An insertion detecting means for detecting insertion of a sheet material between the pair of rollers;
In response to the output signal of the insertion detecting means, the pair of rollers is rotated in the direction opposite to the conveying direction when the sheet material is inserted, and the pair of rollers is moved in the conveying direction after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the insertion of the sheet material. Roller rotation control means for rotating
A sheet material conveying apparatus comprising:

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