JP2006016155A - Sheet conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet conveying device capable of sorting and conveying small size sheets in a plurality of lines, and excellent in the conveying property of large size sheets. <P>SOLUTION: When a sheet P is small, and a rear end passes conveying roller pairs 54 when a leading end reaches delivery roller pairs 58, the differential speed (or the differential nip pressure) is specified between governor roller pairs 56 and the delivery roller pairs 58, and both the conveying roller pairs 52, 54 are in a nipped condition. On the other hand, when the sheet P is large, and the rear end is still nipped by the conveying roller pairs 52, 54 even when the leading end reaches the delivery roller pairs 58, the nip of the conveying roller pairs 52, 54 is released when the leading end of the sheet P reaches the delivery roller pairs 58, the sheet P is held and conveyed only by the governor roller pairs 56 and the delivery roller pairs 58, and the differential speed or the differential nip pressure is specified between the governor roller pairs 56 and the delivery roller pairs 58. Wrinkles or inclination (skew) can be prevented thereby. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet conveying apparatus that distributes and conveys sheets into a plurality of rows.

  The printer processor is called a so-called minilab and is installed in a DPE store or the like. This printer processor has a structure in which a printer unit that prints and prints an image recorded on a negative film onto a photographic paper and a processor unit that develops the photographic paper that has been subjected to printing and exposure processing are integrated. Therefore, only by setting the long photographic paper roll to the printer processor, the long photographic paper drawn from the photographic paper roll can be conveyed and processed in the printer unit and the processor unit. Alternatively, there is a system in which the photographic paper is automatically cut and the cut photographic paper is conveyed and processed in a printer unit and a processor unit.

  In the printer section of this printer processor, the image on the negative film is enlarged to a selected fixed size and printed on photographic paper, and the long photographic paper on which the image is printed is conveyed to the processor section. Developed and finished as a photographic print.

  Alternatively, the photographic paper sheet on which the image is printed as described above is sequentially conveyed to the processor unit and developed to be finished as a photographic print. In this case, the photographic paper sheets are processed while being conveyed in a row in the normal conveying direction in the processor unit.

  However, in a printer processor capable of processing from a narrow photographic paper to a wide photographic paper, when a photographic paper sheet of a small size is transported for printing exposure processing and development processing, it is transported in a line in the transport direction. The efficiency of the printer processor is extremely low because the number of photographic paper sheets that can be processed is small.

  Therefore, when transporting a photographic paper sheet of a small size, it is necessary to pass the photographic paper through each processing liquid tank for a predetermined time particularly for development processing. There is also a printer processor that conveys photographic paper sheets side by side and improves the processing capability of the entire printer processor (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in a conveyance device that conveys a sheet with a conveyance roller pair, in order to prevent scratches, wrinkles, conveyance failure, and the like, a rotation speed difference is provided between an upstream roller and a downstream roller in the conveyance direction to rotate the downstream side. A configuration has been proposed in which the speed is increased or the nip pressure of the downstream roller pair is made stronger than that on the upstream side (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  However, in the above configuration, there is no problem when the sheet is conveyed by two pairs of upstream and downstream rollers. However, when the sheet length becomes long and the sheet is nipped by three or more pairs of conveying rollers, the rotational speed or It is difficult to make a difference in the nip pressure, and even if possible, the conveyance stability is impaired.

  Alternatively, as described above, when a photographic paper sheet is transported in a plurality of rows of two or more rows, a configuration in which the transport roller is divided at the center and can be driven independently on the left and right sides is also common. Since a peripheral speed difference caused by a difference in roller diameter is also added as a factor, it is difficult to make a difference in the rotation speed or nip pressure of the transport roller.

For the above reasons, when a sheet of a size that cannot be sorted is transported at the center in the width direction in a transport section that can transport photographic paper sheets arranged in two or more rows, the upstream side roller and the downstream side in the transport direction. Since it is not possible to adopt a configuration in which a rotation speed difference is provided between the rollers to speed up the downstream rotation or the nip pressure of the downstream roller pair is stronger than that of the upstream side, individual adjustments and extremely complicated It was necessary to avoid a transport failure using a simple mechanism.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-245037 (FIG. 2, pages 4-6) JP 2002-193472 A (FIG. 4, pages 3 to 5)

  In consideration of the above-described facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet conveying apparatus that can distribute small size sheets into a plurality of rows and is excellent in conveying large size sheets.

  The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1 is a sheet conveying apparatus that distributes and conveys a plurality of sheets from a photo printer to a processing apparatus in a plurality of rows, and the sheet conveying apparatus sandwiches and conveys the sheet. A pair of transport rollers, the first transport roller pair provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the transport roller pair can be controlled, and can be divided and driven independently in the vicinity of the center in the length direction; A length of the sheet in the conveyance direction is a second provided downstream of the first conveyance roller pair while being nipped and conveyed by a conveyance roller pair provided upstream of the first conveyance roller pair. In the case where the size is sandwiched between the pair of transport rollers, the transport roller pair provided upstream in the transport direction with respect to the first transport roller pair can be released from the nip.

  In the invention with the above configuration, when a large-size photographic printing paper is processed in a printer whose processing efficiency is improved by the sorting mechanism, the conveyance roller before the speed control unit is released from the nip so that the transportability at the speed control unit can be maintained. it can.

  The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 2 is characterized in that the first conveying roller pair is slower in conveying speed than the second conveying roller pair.

  In the invention having the above-described configuration, the second conveyance roller pair on the downstream side in the conveyance direction rotates faster than the first conveyance roller pair on the upstream side, thereby improving sheet conveyance performance.

  The sheet conveying apparatus according to a third aspect is characterized in that the first conveying roller pair has a nip pressure smaller than that of the second conveying roller pair.

  In the invention having the above-described configuration, the second conveyance roller pair on the downstream side in the conveyance direction nips with a higher pressure than the first conveyance roller pair on the upstream side, so that the sheet conveyance performance can be improved.

  Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to provide a sheet conveying apparatus that can convey small-size sheets by sorting them into a plurality of rows and that is excellent in conveying large-sized sheets.

  FIG. 1 shows a printer processor using a sheet conveying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer processor 10 includes an image input device 12, an image processing device 13, a printer 15, and a processor 16. Each unit constituting the printer processor 10 is connected to the control unit 17 via a wiring (not shown), and the operation of the entire printer processor 10 is controlled by the control unit 17.

  The image input device 12 generates image data by photoelectrically reading the projection light of an image recorded on a photographic film using an image sensor such as a CCD image sensor, or recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card. Image data is acquired by reading the image data.

  This image data is sent to the image processing device 13, and image processing such as color balance correction and density correction is performed. The image data that has been subjected to the image processing is sent to the printer 15 and used for image recording, which will be described later.

  The printer 15 performs image recording with recording light whose intensity is modulated based on image data while conveying the sheet P cut to a predetermined length. From the upstream side in the conveyance direction, the printer 15 A printing unit 22, a registration unit 24, an image recording unit 26, a sub-scanning receiving unit 28, a distribution unit 30, and a speed control unit 32 are provided. Each part is provided with a plurality of conveying roller pairs including a driving roller and a nip roller along the conveying path of the sheet P.

  In the supply unit 20, magazines 20a and 20b for storing a long photosensitive recording paper 34 attached in a roll shape are set. Each magazine 20 a, 20 b is provided with a pair of drawing rollers 21 a, 21 b for pulling out the photosensitive recording paper 34 and transporting it toward the back printing unit 22. In this embodiment, two magazines 20a and 20b are provided. However, the number of magazines may be one, or three or more.

  A cutter 36 for cutting the photosensitive recording paper 34 is provided at a position away from the outlets of the magazines 20a and 20b by a predetermined length. The cutter 36 is driven in response to a control signal from the control unit 17, and cuts the photosensitive recording paper 34 that has been sent out by a predetermined length according to the print size to form a sheet P. Examples of print sizes include L (89 × 127), panorama (89 × 254), 2L (127 × 178), 8 cuts (165 × 216), 6 cuts (203 × 254), 4 cuts (254 × 305). In this embodiment, for example, the print width in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction is 89, 95, 102, 117, 120, 127, 130, 152, 165, 178, 203, 210, 216, 254, This corresponds to a sheet P of 305 (unit: mm).

  The back print unit 22 includes a back print head 38 that records print information such as a photograph date, print date, frame number, and various IDs on the non-recording surface (surface opposite to the exposure surface) of the sheet P. As the back print head 38, a known print head such as a dot impact head, an ink jet head, or a thermal transfer print head can be used as long as it is resistant to a wet development process to be performed later.

  The image recording unit 26 includes an exposure unit 42, sub-scanning roller pairs 44 and 46, and a recording paper sensor 45 that detects the passage of the sheet P, and its operation is controlled by the control unit 17. The exposure unit 42 is connected to the image processing apparatus 13, and when the recording paper sensor 45 detects that the leading edge of the sheet P has passed, the red, green, and blue light beams LB that are intensity-modulated based on the image data. Is scanned in the main scanning direction (direction orthogonal to the conveying direction), and an image is recorded on the sheet P. The sub-scanning roller pairs 44 and 46 are arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction so as to sandwich the exposure position by the light beam LB, and the sheet P is moved at a predetermined speed in the sub-scanning direction (a direction parallel to the transport direction). Transport.

  The sorting unit 30 sorts the sheets P transported in a single row into two rows in the main scanning direction while transporting the sheet P at a predetermined first speed, that is, a transport speed in the printer.

  The speed adjusting unit 32 conveys the sheet P sent from the allocating unit 30 at a second speed corresponding to the processing speed of the processor 16 and sends the sheet P to the processor 16. The distribution unit 30 and the speed control unit 32 are provided with a sensor unit 48 and a sensor unit 50 for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet P, respectively. The sensor units 48 and 50 are, for example, optical sensors composed of a light emitting diode and a photodiode, and the output changes while the sheet P passes. Thereby, passage of the front end or the rear end of the sheet P can be detected.

  Generally, in the printer processor, the transport speed (second speed) of the processor 16 is slower than the transport speed (first speed) of the printer 15 (for example, 100 mm / second for the printer 15 and 42.5 mm / second for the processor 16). Therefore, when the sheet P is conveyed from the printer 15 to the processor 16, the sheet P needs to be decelerated and matched with the conveyance speed of the processor 16. For this purpose, a speed adjusting unit 32 is provided at the inlet of the processor 16, the sheet P conveyed from the printer 15 at the first speed is decelerated to the second speed, and conveyed to the processor 16, so that the speed of the printer 15 and the processor 16 is increased. Absorb the difference.

  The processor 16 includes a development processing unit 60, a drying processing unit 61, a returning unit 62, and a sorter 63. The development processing unit 60 includes a developing tank 70, a bleach-fixing tank 71, a first water washing tank 73, a second water washing tank 74, a third water washing tank 75, and a fourth water washing tank 76 in order from the upstream side in the transport direction. A water rinsing tank 72 is provided. A developing solution is stored in the developing tank 70, a bleach-fixing solution is stored in the bleach-fixing tank 71, and a predetermined amount of cleaning water is stored in the first washing tank 73 to the fourth washing tank 76. The developing tank 70, the bleach-fixing tank 71, and the first rinsing tank 73 to the fourth rinsing tank 76 receive the driving force of the conveyance racks and are conveyed through the processing tanks 70 to 72, thereby developing.・ Fixing and cleaning processes are performed.

  The sheet P that has passed through the drying processing unit 61 is sent toward the returning unit 62. In the returning unit 62, the sheets P conveyed in two rows are turned back to a single row. The sorter 63 collectively outputs a plurality of sheets P sent from the returning unit 62 for each print job.

  FIG. 2 shows a speed control unit that is a sheet conveying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the speed adjusting unit 32 conveys the sheet P conveyed from the distribution unit 30 at the conveyance speed (first speed) of the printer 15 while conveying the sheet P (second speed) of the processor 16. A plurality of roller pairs for decelerating. Conveying roller pairs 52 and 54 are provided from the upstream in the conveying direction, and are driven by a conveying speed regulating roller pair 56 (first speed) of the printer 15. The pair of conveying rollers 52 and 54 are divided into two from the center for conveying the sheets P distributed in two rows, and each is independently driven at a first speed, and the regulating roller provided downstream of the conveying direction in the sheet P Transport to pair 56. Although not shown, the conveyance roller pairs 52 and 54 are provided with a nip / release mechanism, and can arbitrarily switch the state where the sheet P is nipped.

  The sheet P sandwiched and conveyed by the speed adjusting roller pair 56 is decelerated by the speed adjusting roller pair 56 and further conveyed to a delivery roller pair 58 provided on the downstream side and driven at the second speed. The pair of delivery rollers 58 conveys the sheet P to the developing tank 70 of the processor 16.

  A sheet P smaller than a predetermined size is conveyed from the sorting unit 30 in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, that is, distributed in the front and back, and the front side or the back side of the pair of conveyance rollers 52 and 54 divided into two from the center. And then nipped by the speed control roller pair 56.

  A pair of delivery rollers 58 is provided downstream of the speed adjusting roller pair 56 in the transport direction, and the transport speed of the processor 16 (the transport speed (second speed) of the processor 16 is transferred to the developing tank 70 of the processor 16 at the transport speed (second speed) of the processor 16). (Second speed). Immediately before the leading edge of the sheet P sandwiched and conveyed by the speed adjusting roller pair 56 is nipped by the sending roller pair 58, the conveying speed of the speed adjusting roller pair 56 is decreased, and the speed of the sending roller pair 58, that is, the conveying speed of the processor 16 ( The speed difference between the printer 15 and the processor 16 can be absorbed by setting the speed substantially equal to the second speed.

  At this time, when the leading edge of the sheet P reaches the delivery roller pair 58, the rear end of the sheet P passes through the conveyance roller pair 54. Therefore, the speed difference between the conveyance roller pair 54 and the delivery roller pair 58 is a problem. It will not be.

  Further, at this time, in order to prevent the sheet P from being scratched, wrinkled, or poorly conveyed, a rotational speed difference is provided between the upstream speed adjusting roller pair 56 and the downstream delivery roller pair 58 to prevent downstream rotation. It is conceivable to increase the speed or to make the nip pressure of the downstream roller pair stronger than the upstream side. In this embodiment, for example, the conveying property of the sheet P is enhanced by setting the speed adjusting roller pair 56 to 42.3 mm / second and the sending roller pair 58 to 42.5 mm / second. However, in the present invention, in order to distribute and convey the sheet P in two directions, the conveying roller pair 52 and 54 and the speed adjusting roller pair 56 are divided into two parts, which can be driven independently, and the divided individual rollers. Since the peripheral speed difference due to the difference in diameter of the tire is also added as a factor, the control becomes complicated.

  On the other hand, when a sheet P larger than a predetermined size is conveyed, as shown in FIG. 2, the trailing end of the sheet P reaches the conveying roller pair 54 or 52 even though the leading end of the sheet P reaches the sending roller pair 58. Can be considered.

  In this case, if it is attempted to improve the transportability by the above method, it is necessary to make the transport roller pairs 54 and 52 slower than the speed control roller pair 56. However, a speed difference should be provided by three or more rows of roller pairs. If so, the transport system becomes slower (or the nip pressure becomes lower) as it goes to the upstream side in the transport direction, and the transportability may be deteriorated.

  Further, in the present invention, the conveying roller pair 52, 54 and the speed adjusting roller pair 56 are divided into two to convey the sheet P in two directions and are driven independently, so that the speed difference or nip pressure difference is reduced. It is even more difficult to provide.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, when the leading end of the sheet P reaches the sending roller pair 58 but the trailing end is hooked on the conveying roller pair 54 or 52, the conveying roller pair 54 (or 52) is nipped. To release.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the sheet P is small and the leading end of the sheet P reaches the delivery roller pair 58 and the trailing end passes through the conveyance roller pair 54, the conveyance performance is improved as described above. Therefore, a speed difference (or nip pressure difference) can be provided between the speed adjusting roller pair 56 and the feed roller pair 58. As a result, the sheet P is pulled by the delivery roller 58, so that the transportability between the speed control roller pair 56 and the delivery roller pair 58 is improved. At this time, the conveying roller pairs 52 and 54 are both nipped (ON).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, the sheet P is large, and even if the leading edge reaches the sending roller pair 58, the trailing edge does not pass through the conveying roller pair 54, but the conveying roller pair 54 (or 52). , It is difficult to provide a speed difference (or nip pressure difference) between the pair of conveying rollers 54 (52), the pair of speed-regulating rollers 56, and the pair of delivery rollers 58 in order to improve the conveying property as described above. .

  For this reason, it is difficult to improve the transportability of the sheet P on the upstream side of the feed roller pair 58. Therefore, when the leading edge of the sheet P reaches the delivery roller pair 58, the nip of the conveyance roller pair 54 (52) is released (OFF), and the sheet P is sandwiched and conveyed only by the speed control roller pair 56 and the delivery roller pair 58. By doing so, a speed difference (or nip pressure difference) can be provided between the speed control roller pair 56 and the feed roller pair 58.

  As a result, the sheet P is pulled by the delivery roller 58, so that the transportability of the sheet P between the speed adjusting roller pair 56 and the delivery roller pair 58 is improved, and the generation of wrinkles and the inclination (skew) of the sheet can be prevented.

  With the above-described configuration, the sheet can be conveyed by being distributed into a plurality of rows, and a sheet conveying apparatus that is excellent in conveying large-sized sheets can be obtained.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a printer processor including a sheet conveying apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the sheet conveying apparatus which concerns on the 1st form of this invention. It is a front view which shows the sheet conveying apparatus which concerns on the 1st form of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printer processor 15 Printer 16 Processor 32 Speed control part 52 Carrying roller pair 54 Carrying roller pair 56 Speed control roller pair 58 Sending roller pair

Claims (3)

A sheet conveying apparatus that distributes a plurality of sheets into a plurality of rows and conveys them from a photographic printer to a processing apparatus,
The sheet conveying device includes two conveying roller pairs for nipping and conveying the sheet,
The first transport roller pair provided on the upstream side in the transport direction among the transport roller pairs can be controlled, and can be divided and driven independently in the vicinity of the center in the length direction,
A length of the sheet in the conveyance direction is a second provided downstream of the first conveyance roller pair while being nipped and conveyed by a conveyance roller pair provided upstream of the first conveyance roller pair. In the case where the size is sandwiched between the pair of transport rollers, the pair of transport rollers provided on the upstream side of the first transport roller pair in the transport direction can release the nip.
The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first conveying roller pair has a conveying speed slower than that of the second conveying roller pair.
The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first conveying roller pair has a nip pressure smaller than that of the second conveying roller pair.

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