JP2006036476A - Signal output device and sheet material handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems of a conventional configuration of a conventional signal output device for detecting and outputting information related to type, density, thickness, and irregularity of a sheet material such as a recording medium and a document wherein highly precise distinguishing is difficult, a sheet material thrashes about during conveyance by achievement of high conveyance speed and an angle on a surface of the sheet material for illumination light fluctuates, thereby causing a defect in precision, in a signal output device using an optical sensor and miniaturization of a signal output device using a pressure sensor is difficult. <P>SOLUTION: This signal output device is provided with an external force applying part for applying external force to the sheet material and a signal output part for outputting a signal due to external force of the external force applying part, and the external force applying part and the signal output part are integrally provided on only one side of a top surface side or an undersurface side of the sheet material. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a signal output device that detects and outputs information related to a sheet material such as a recording medium or a document, and a sheet material processing device that performs control based on an output from the signal output device.

  Specifically, the present invention relates to the detection of the type and characteristics of a sheet material such as a copying machine, a printer, a FAX, a scanner, or an automatic document feeder.

  Here, the sheet material is the above-described recording medium or original, and the recording medium is plain paper, glossy paper, coated paper, recycled paper, OHP, or the like.

  In a conventional example using an optical sensor, a recording medium identification device and identification method comprising a sensor element that applies light to a recording medium surface from a light source installed near the recording medium path and detects radiation intensity from the recording medium surface (See Patent Document 1).

  There is a conventional signal output device using a pressure sensor. This device is a signal output device including an external force application unit that applies an external force to a sheet material, and a signal output unit that outputs a signal due to the external force, and a signal is transmitted to a position facing the external force application unit via the sheet material. An output unit is provided. A signal output device that detects an external force applied to the sheet material and outputs information about the sheet material, and the information about the sheet material includes the type, density, thickness, unevenness, and the like of the sheet material .

This conventional signal output device is shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b). In this conventional example, the signal output unit is impacted by an external force application unit that applies an external force by the impact shaft 5 using the solenoid 1 as a drive source. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show views in which the impact shaft 5 is returned to the standby position by pushing down the lifter 19 and the solenoid core 2 which are fastened to the impact shaft base plate 18 by the return spring 4 after impact. On the other hand, a signal output unit that outputs a signal due to an external force includes an impact receiving plate 6 that receives an impact by the impact shaft 5, a piezoelectric element 8 that converts the impact into an output signal, an impact absorbing rubber 7 that absorbs the impact, and these The signal output frame 11 holds As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, the drive harness 10 of the solenoid 1 is wired on the external force application unit side, and the signal output harness 9 is wired on the signal output unit side. This means that the wiring is divided into two with the sheet material 16 in between (see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-301805 JP 2004-26486 A

  However, in recent image forming apparatuses, the speed is increased and the conveyance speed of the sheet, that is, the sheet material in the apparatus is increased, and the conveyance path is bent due to the demand for downsizing, and the conveyed sheet material is subjected to stress. It is transferred while. For this reason, the sheet material flutters during conveyance, and the angle fluctuates. As a result, the angle of the surface of the sheet material with respect to the irradiation light also fluctuates, so that it is difficult to identify various types of information with high accuracy using an optical sensor.

  Further, in a conventional signal output device using a pressure sensor, the actuator driving harness such as a solenoid and the signal output harness are divided into two parts with a sheet material interposed therebetween, which has become a bottleneck for miniaturization.

  The reason why the external force application unit and the signal output unit could not be integrated is as follows. In order to improve the accuracy of signal output, it is important to install a piezoelectric element near the impact point where the impact force is applied by the external force application unit. In addition, since it is a narrow gap conveyance path, the piezoelectric element and the signal output harness cannot be installed in the vicinity of the impact point of the external force application section which is a movable section. Moreover, if the piezoelectric element is installed outside the transport path away from the impact point, there is a drawback that the reliability of signal output is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of such a conventional configuration, and various information relating to sheet material with high accuracy in a high-speed conveyance system used in an image forming apparatus or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a signal output device that detects and outputs a signal, and a sheet material processing device that performs control based on an output from the signal output device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is configured as follows. That is,
An external force application unit that applies external force to the sheet material, a signal output unit that outputs a signal due to the external force of the external force application unit, and an external force application unit and signal output only on one side of the upper surface side or lower surface side of the sheet material The present invention relates to a signal output device characterized in that the unit is integrally provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the external force application unit and the signal output unit are integrally provided on one side of the sheet material, the external force application unit and the signal output unit can be integrated to enable downsizing. . In addition, since the wiring of the signal output unit is inserted into the external force application unit, not only miniaturization, but also contributes to miniaturization of a printer equipped with the signal output device according to the present invention and also improves the reliability of the output signal. Can be made.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below based on an embodiment with reference to the drawings.

  In the description of the configuration of the present embodiment, the same members as those in the conventional example of [Background Art] are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted because it is redundant.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of a signal output apparatus according to the present invention. 2 and 3 are operation diagrams of the signal output apparatus using the pressure sensor of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram in which the wiring of the signal output unit is wired inside the external force application unit by making the external force application unit have a hollow structure.

  What is illustrated in the embodiment is a signal output device including an external force application unit P that applies an external force to the sheet material 16 and a signal output unit Q that outputs a signal due to the external force of the external force application unit P. Thus, the external force application part P and the signal output part Q are integrally provided on one side of the sheet material 16. FIG. 1 shows a positional relationship between a sheet material conveying configuration of a printer main body (not shown) and a signal output device. The sheet material 16 is conveyed through the gap 25 of the conveyance unit 24 of the sheet material conveyance mechanism constituted by the conveyance upper guide 14 and the conveyance lower guide 15 of the printer main body. A hole 26 is opened at a position corresponding to the signal output device of the transport upper guide 14 and the transport lower guide 15, and an impact receiving plate 13 is provided. The impact receiving plate 13 corresponds to an impact shaft corresponding to the external force application unit P. 23 and the same axis. Since the function of the impact receiving plate 13 is to receive an impact from the impact shaft 23, the conveyance upper guide 14 itself may be provided with the function as long as rigidity is maintained against the impact. In this case, it is only necessary to make a hole 26 only in the lower conveyance guide 15, and therefore the impact receiving plate 13 can be omitted (not shown).

The details of the impact shaft 23 of the pressure application unit P of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. (A) is a side view, (b) is a perspective view, and (c) is an exploded structural view. An impact cap 20 is disposed at the tip of the impact shaft 23 of the present invention that impacts the impact receiving plate 13 via the sheet material 16. The function of the impact cap 20 is the protection of the piezoelectric element 21 used as the pressure sensor of the signal output unit Q and the stability of the output signal from the piezoelectric element 21, but it does not depend on the magnitude of the impact force and the material of the piezoelectric element 21. Also good. Next, the piezoelectric element 21 serving as a pressure sensor that is located on the same axis and converts an impact into an output has a donut shape and is connected to a signal output harness 12 (wiring) by soldering. The piezoelectric element 21 can be configured to include an inorganic material or an organic material having piezoelectric characteristics. For example, the piezoelectric element 21 may be an inorganic material or an organic piezoelectric material such as PTZ (zirconsan lead titanate), PLTZ, or BaTiO ₃ . Subsequently, the shock absorbing rubber 22 that absorbs the impact positioned also has a donut shape and passes through the signal output harness 12 as a wiring.

  Further, the impact shaft 23 of the present invention is constituted by a hollow shaft, and the signal output harness 12 is passed through the hollow hole 23a of the hollow shaft. With this configuration, the external force application unit P that applies external force and the signal output unit Q that outputs signals due to the external force can be integrated. In addition, since harnesses such as the drive harness 10 as wiring connected to the signal output harness 12 and the pressure application unit P are not wound around the external force application unit P that is a movable unit, it is necessary to perform harness processing. No. The signal output harness 12 can be disposed in the impact shaft 23 by a desired method.

  As an action, first, an external force is applied to the sheet material 16 from the external force application unit P. This external force application impacts the impact receiving plate 13 disposed via the sheet material 16, and when there is no impact receiving plate 13, the transport upper guide 14 is impacted. A detection signal that is transmitted to the piezoelectric element 21 coaxially with the cap 20 and reflects the information of the sheet material 16 is output as a voltage waveform, passes through the signal output harness 12, and has a voltage, frequency component, differential value, integral value, and attenuation. Can be extracted and output as feature quantities. Further, these feature values may be output as information for determining the type, model number, state change, printing state, double feed, etc. of the sheet material 16 by comparing with the table in which the signal of the sheet material 16 is recorded in advance. good.

  After the sheet material 16 is applied by the external force application unit P, it returns to its original position by the restoring force of the compressed spring 4 as shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is an operation diagram in which the impact receiving plate 13 attached to the printer side is impacted by the signal output apparatus of the present invention. As in the conventional example, an external force is applied by an external force applying unit P having a unit configuration on the impact shaft 23 including the signal output unit Q having the configuration shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the solenoid is used as the driving source. However, anything such as electromagnetic, heat, radiation, and mechanical can be used. FIG. 3 is a view in which the external force applying part P is returned to the standby position by pushing down the lifter 19 and the iron core 2 fastened to the impact shaft base plate 18 by the return spring 4 after impact. As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the drive harness 10 of the solenoid 1 is wired on the external force application unit side, and the signal output harness 12 is also wired on the external force application unit side. As a result, the structure in which the wiring has been divided into two parts with the sheet material 16 interposed therebetween can be eliminated, and a highly reliable signal output device can be realized.

1 is a schematic diagram of an actual apparatus for a signal output device according to an embodiment of the present invention FIG. 1A is a front view of an operation explanatory diagram (solenoid suction) of the signal output device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the signal output device shown in FIG. 1 (solenoid open), (a) is a front view, and (b) is a side view. The impact shaft structure detail drawing by which the signal output part and external force application part which concern on this invention were integrated is shown, (a) is a side view, (b) is a slope figure, (c) is an exploded slope figure. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (solenoid attraction | suction) of the signal output device of a prior art example, (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (solenoid opening | release) of the signal output device of a prior art example, (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view.

Explanation of symbols

1 Solenoid 2 Solenoid iron core 3 Frame 4 Return spring 10 Drive harness (wiring)
12 Signal output harness (suitable for wiring)
13 Impact receiving plate 14 Transport upper guide 15 Transport lower guide 16 Sheet material 18 Impact shaft base plate 19 Lifter 20 Impact cap 21 Piezoelectric element (corresponding to pressure sensor)
22 shock absorbing rubber 23 impact shaft 24 transport section 25 of sheet material transport mechanism gap 26 hole P external force application section Q signal output section

Claims (5)

  An external force application unit that applies an external force to the sheet material and a signal output unit that outputs a signal due to the external force of the external force application unit, and the external force application unit and the signal output unit are integrated on one side of the sheet material A signal output device provided in the above.   2. The signal output device according to claim 1, wherein the external force application unit has a hollow structure, and a wiring of the signal output unit provided integrally with the external force application unit is inserted into the external force application unit. .   2. The signal output device according to claim 1, wherein the external force application unit includes an impact cap at a tip, and a pressure sensor of the signal output unit is arranged following the impact cap.   2. The signal output device according to claim 1, wherein a pressure sensor of the signal output unit is directly disposed at a tip of the external force application unit.   A sheet material processing apparatus comprising the signal output device according to claim 1 provided in a conveyance unit of a sheet material conveyance mechanism to obtain information on a sheet material.

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