JP2008120575A - Sheet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet feeder capable of preventing any mistaken delivery from a sheet basket to a conveying belt. <P>SOLUTION: The sheet feeder comprises at least a basket in which sheets 9, 10 to be fed are deposited and stored, and a pickup unit 13 which conveys the sheets from the basket, and delivers the sheets to a conveying belt 8 arranged adjacent to the basket. The pickup unit 13 comprises a height detection unit 14 having a roller 27 at its lower end to detect the height position of a top surface of the sheets in the baskets 11, 12, a suction pad 15 for sucking and holding the top sheet in the bucket based on the detection signal from the height detection unit, and a pressing member 16 for pressing the roller 27 against the conveying belt 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet supply apparatus for sequentially taking out and supplying the uppermost sheet from a bundle of stacked sheets such as paper and thin plates.

  Conventionally, as a sheet feeding apparatus of this type, for example, in a stacker bundler that bundles signatures and performs banding, for the purpose of protecting the signature bundle before banding a bundle of stacked signatures, A sheet supply device for supplying a sheet of paper (sheet) to the upper and lower surfaces of the bundle is provided. The sheet supply device adsorbs the sheet deposited and held on the sheet storage stocker by a suction cup from the sheet storage stocker. The suction cup that picks up the padding paper moves and passes to a transport belt consisting of a pair of endless belts arranged so as to sandwich and transport the top and bottom surfaces of the padding paper. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a paper feeding device that feeds the upper and lower surfaces of a bundle of signatures through a belt (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

In general, this kind of application paper supply device detects the uppermost surface height position of the application paper deposited on the application paper stocker by position detection means having a contact or the like, and always has the same height. Control is made to raise the backing paper stocker in accordance with the amount of reduction of the backing paper taken out from the backing paper stocker.
JP 2005-8357 A JP 2003-171056 A JP-A-7-309470

  In the conventional sheet supply apparatus, when the suction cup delivers the sheet to the conveyance belt, the sheet may not be sandwiched well by the conveyance belt, and a delivery mistake from the suction cup to the conveyance belt may occur. Further, the sheet supply device and the stacker bundler in which the sheet supply device is incorporated are required to be compact.

  The sheet supply apparatus according to the present invention includes at least one basket that accumulates and stores sheets to be supplied, and a pickup unit that carries out the sheets from the basket and delivers them to a conveyor belt disposed adjacent to the basket. The pickup unit includes a roller supported at the lower end so as to be movable up and down, and detects a top surface height position of a sheet in the basket, and a detection signal from the height detection unit. And a suction cup that sucks and holds the uppermost sheet in the bucket, and a pressing member that presses the roller against the conveyor belt.

  Further, it is preferable that the basket is of a two-stage type, and at least one basket is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the pickup unit further includes a non-contact drawing holder that draws and holds the sheet in a non-contact state by discharging air radially onto the sheet surface.

  According to the sheet supply device of the present invention, the height detection unit is configured such that the pressing member presses the roller supported by the height detection unit so as to move up and down against the conveyor belt disposed adjacent to the basket. Since the sheet is forcibly sandwiched between the roller and the conveyor belt, mistakes in sheet delivery from the pickup unit to the conveyor belt are prevented, and a separate device is not required to press the sheet against the conveyor belt. A stacker bundler in which the feeding device and the sheet feeding device are incorporated can be made compact.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the embodiment described below, an example of a sheet supply apparatus that is incorporated in a stacker bundler and supplies a sheet as a sheet to a signature bundle will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a stacker bundler. The stacker bundler 1 includes a conveyor 2 that conveys the signatures in a stacked state, and when the predetermined number of signatures are conveyed, the flow of the signatures is temporarily blocked to form a gap between the rows of the signatures. Cutting device 3, small bundle stacking unit 4 for stacking signatures ejected from conveyor 2 and creating small bundles of signatures, large bundle for stacking small bundles created by small bundle stacking unit 4 and creating large bundles A creating unit 5, a banding unit 6 for banding a large bundle, a sheet supply device 7 for supplying a sheet for application to the large bundle, and a sheet receiving unit 7 arranged adjacent to the sheet supply device 7 for receiving a sheet from the sheet supply unit 7 A conveyor belt 8 for supplying the large bundle. In the illustrated stacker bundler 1, constituent elements other than the sheet supply device 7 are known, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The conveying belt 8 conveys the sheet while sandwiching the sheet between overlapping portions of the endless belts 8a and 8b. The endless belt 8a includes a sheet receiving portion 8c that receives a sheet from the sheet supply device 7, and a conveyance path is formed by an overlapping portion of the endless belts 8a and 8b from a downstream position of the sheet receiving portion 8c.

  The sheet supply device 7 is arranged in two upper and lower stages, and each of the baskets 11 and 12 accommodates a bundle of two types of sheets 9 and 10. The sheet supply device 7 carries the sheets from the baskets 11 and 12 and is adjacent to the baskets 11 and 12. And a pickup unit 13 that is handed over to the conveyor belt 8.

  The pickup unit 13 includes a height detection unit 14 that detects the upper surface height position of the sheets in the baskets 11 and 12, and the uppermost sheet in the buckets 11 and 12 based on a detection signal from the height detection unit 14. Suction cups 15 and 15 for sucking and holding, and a pressing member 16 for pressing the height detection unit 14 against the conveyor belt 8 are provided.

  The pickup unit 13 is supported by a piston rod 17a of a fluid pressure cylinder 17 extending in the horizontal direction. The fluid pressure cylinder 17 is fixed to the bracket 18. The support plate 19 to which the bracket 18 is fixed extends in the vertical direction and is screwed to the ball screw 21. When the ball screw 21 is driven by the motor 20, the support plate 19 is driven up and down.

  The height detector 14 is supported via a first connecting member 22 fixed to the tip of the piston rod 17a, and a fluid pressure cylinder 23 fixed to the first connecting member 22 and upper and lower parts of the fluid pressure cylinder 23. A first horizontal bar 24 connected to a piston rod 23a protruding and retracting in a direction, a pair of support bars 25 and 25 supported by the first horizontal bar 24 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and lower ends of the support bars 25 and 25 The fixed second horizontal bar 26, rollers 27 and 27 rotatably attached to both ends of the second horizontal bar 26, and the first horizontal bar 24 are fixed to the support bar 25 and 25 via a bracket 28. Sensors 29 and 29 for detecting the upper end position of the. The rollers 27 and 27 are preferably covered with a rubber material such as urethane rubber on the roller surface in order to increase the frictional force with the paper surface.

  The suction cups 15, 15 are horizontally supported by the second connecting member 30a fixed to the tip of the piston rod 17a, the connecting rods 30b, 30b fixed to the second connecting member 30a, and the lower ends of the connecting rods 30b, 30b. It is supported via 3 horizontal bars 30c and is evacuated through the suction hose 31. The pair of left and right suction cups 15 and 15 and the rollers 27 and 27 of the height detection unit 14 are arranged in the vicinity.

  The pressing member 16 includes a fluid pressure cylinder 16a supported by the first horizontal bar 24, a pressing portion 16b fixed to the tip of the piston rod of the fluid pressure cylinder 16a and configured to press the second horizontal bar 26, have.

  Of the upper and lower baskets 11 and 12, the upper basket 11 slides horizontally along the rail 32 (FIG. 3) by a driving source (not shown). The upper basket 11 can move in the front-rear direction between a retracted position indicated by a solid line in FIGS. 1 and 2 and an advanced position indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. Note that at least one of the baskets 11 and 12 can be configured to be pulled out toward the front (a direction crossing the sheet conveying direction) for replenishment of sheets.

  In the baskets 11 and 12, air is blown to the front front ends of both sides of each of the baskets 11 and 12, and air is blown between the sheets to separate the plurality of sheet materials of the upper layer of the stacked bundle. Air spraying portions 33, 34, 35, and 36 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) are provided.

  The sheet supply apparatus 7 having the above configuration operates as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the rollers 27 and 27 of the height detection unit 14 are supported at positions lower than the suction cups 15 and 15 in a state where no force is applied from the outside (a state where the rollers 27 and 27 are not in contact with the sheet). Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the pickup unit 13 is lowered when the upper basket 11 is in the forward position, first, the rollers 27 and 27 come into contact with the upper surface sheet in the upper basket 11.

  As the pickup unit 13 is further lowered while maintaining the contact state, the upper end portions (not shown) of the support bars 25, 25 slidably supported by the first horizontal bar 24 are the sensors 29, 29 (FIG. 9). That is, the support rods 25 and 25 slide upward with respect to the first horizontal bar 24.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the suction cups 15, 15 approach the predetermined height position from the upper surface of the seat by the lowering of the pickup unit 13, sensors 29, 29 connected and fixed to the first horizontal bar 24 are supported. The upper ends of the bars 25, 25 are detected (see FIG. 7), the motor 20 is stopped, and the lowering of the pickup unit 13 is stopped. The reason why the suction cups 15 and 15 are not brought into contact with the upper surface of the sheet is that the suction cups 15 and 15 make it difficult to suck a plurality of sheets at a time.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 10, by operating the fluid pressure cylinder 23, the rollers 27, 27 are lifted via the first horizontal bar 24, the support rods 25, 25, and the second horizontal member 26, and the rollers 27, 27 Reaches a predetermined position slightly higher than the suction cups 15 and 15, the fluid pressure cylinder 23 is stopped and this state is maintained. The reason why the rollers 27 and 27 are held at a slightly higher position than the suction cups 15 and 15 is to prevent the rollers 27 and 27 from preventing the suction of the sheets by the suction cups 15 and 15.

  In the state shown in FIG. 10, before the suction of the sheets by the suction cups 15, 15 is started, air is sent from the front and the side between the sheets in the upper part of the sheet bundle by the air blowing units 33 to 36, and the uppermost layer The sheet is easily picked up by the suction cups 15 and 15. The air blowing units 33 to 36 perform the first air blowing for a predetermined time (for example, 0.2 seconds) according to the setting of the timer.

  The first air blowing by the air blowing units 33 to 36 is stopped by the setting of the timer, and after a predetermined time (for example, 0.2 seconds) has elapsed, suction of the suction cups 15 and 15 is started through a vacuum pump (not shown). At the same time, the air blowing units 33 to 36 perform the second air blowing for a predetermined time (for example, 0.2 seconds) according to the setting of the timer. Thus, by simultaneously starting the operation of the vacuum pump and the second air blowing, a plurality of sheets can be prevented from being adsorbed by the suction cups 15 and 15.

  After each of the suction cups 15 and 15 sucks only one sheet, the pickup unit 13 rises under the operation of the motor 20 as shown in FIG. 11, and stops rising at a predetermined height position. When the fluid pressure cylinder 17 is moved in the horizontal direction under the operation of the fluid pressure cylinder 17, the suckers 15 and 15 and the rollers 27 and 27 of the height detection unit 14 reach predetermined positions on the sheet receiving unit 8 c of the adjacent conveyance belt 8. The fluid pressure cylinder 17 stops and stops moving in the horizontal direction.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when the fluid pressure cylinder 23 is operated and the rollers 27 and 27 are lowered and lowered to a position below the suction cups 15 and 15, the rollers 27 and 27 become the sheet receiving portion of the conveying belt 8. A belt roller 8d is brought into contact with the endless belt 8a constituting the belt 8c. At this time, the endless belt 8a is stopped.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the motor 20 is operated, and the pickup unit 13 is moved downward until the sensors 29 and 29 detect the upper ends of the support bars 25 and 25. By detecting the upper end of 25, the motor 20 is stopped and the downward movement of the pickup unit 13 is stopped.

  Next, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 14, the fluid pressure cylinder 16a is operated to lower the pressing portion 16b of the pressing member 16, and the pressing portion 16b presses the second horizontal member 26 (see FIG. 6) from above. Thus, the sheet is firmly sandwiched between the rollers 27 and 27 and the conveying belt 8.

  Simultaneously with the operation of the fluid pressure cylinder 16 a, the suction of the suction cups 15, 15 is stopped, and then the conveying belt 8 that has been stopped is operated, and the sheet sandwiched between the rollers 27, 27 and the conveying belt 8. Is conveyed according to the conveyance path of the conveyance belt 8. In this way, the rollers 27 and 27 of the height detection unit 14 are used to press the sheet on the conveying belt 8, so that the sheet is firmly sandwiched and the conveying belt 8 is sucked from the suction cups 15 and 15. This makes it possible to prevent mistakes in the delivery of the sheet to the sheet and to reduce the size of the pickup unit.

  Thereafter, the conveyor belt 8 stops, and the pickup unit 13 rises under the operation of the motor 20, retreats under the operation of the fluid pressure cylinder 17, and returns to the original position.

  After supplying the sheets in the upper basket 11 in this way, the upper baskets are provided so that the suction cups 15 and 15 and the height detector 14 can access the lower basket 12 in order to supply the sheets in the lower basket 12. 11 moves to the retracted position. Thereafter, the sheet in the lower basket 12 is picked up and delivered to the conveyor belt 8 in the same step as that for carrying out the sheet from the upper basket 11.

  In the above embodiment, the support plate 19 that supports the fluid pressure cylinder 17 is moved up and down to move the pickup unit 13 up and down. However, the support plate 19 is not moved up and down, and the fluid pressure cylinder 17 is moved. It is also possible to move the suction cup and the height detection unit up and down by attaching a fluid pressure cylinder that is driven in the vertical direction to the piston rod 17a.

  Further, in the above embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the pickup unit 13 is moved horizontally by the fluid pressure cylinder 17 in order to deliver the sheet adsorbed by the suction cups 15, 15 from the upper and lower baskets to the conveying belt 8. However, the suction cups 15 and 15 are moved from the basket 11 to the sheet receiving portion 8c of the conveyor belt 8 by swinging the suction cup and the height detection portion instead of the fluid pressure cylinder. It can also be set as the structure to make.

  Further, instead of the configuration in which the pickup unit is moved up and down, the baskets 11 and 12 may be driven up and down, and the height position of the basket may be controlled based on the detection signal of the height detection unit.

  Further, the upper and lower two-stage baskets may be fixed so that both stages are fixed, and the pickup unit 13 picks up the sheet at a predetermined position of each basket. Further, a plurality of baskets may be provided on the disk at predetermined angular intervals, and the baskets may be repositioned by rotating the disks.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the pickup unit is provided with a non-contact drawing holder 40 in the vicinity of the suction cups 15 and 15 that draws and holds the sheet in a non-contact state by discharging air radially onto the sheet surface. Can do.

  The non-contact attracting / holding tool 40 includes a nozzle 41 as shown in an enlarged cross-sectional view in FIG. The nozzle 41 has a horizontal flow path 43 that extends horizontally from an air supply path 42 of compressed air that extends in the vertical direction, and a taper that directs the air blown from the horizontal flow path 43 slightly obliquely downward at a constant inclination angle. The surface 44, the taper surface 44, and the horizontal flat surface 45 which connects with a smooth curve and directs air in a horizontal direction are provided.

  The horizontal flow path 43 can be formed by a plurality of through holes communicating with the air supply path 42, but in the illustrated example, is formed by a slit communicating with the air supply path 42.

  It is preferable that the horizontal flow path 43 is directed in the peripheral direction excluding a predetermined range in front. This is to prevent the turbulent flow caused by the air blown from the horizontal flow path 43 colliding with the front peripheral walls of the baskets 11 and 12. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17, the slit forming the horizontal flow path 43 is formed so as to leave a predetermined range portion 46a on the front side of the shaft 46 where the air supply path 42 is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the non-contact attracting / holding tool 40 brings the space surrounded by the discharge ports into a decompressed state by bringing the air close to the sheet S and discharging air radially along the surface of the sheet S. The force that draws the sheet S to the nozzle by R and the force that separates the sheet S from the nozzle by the discharge air are balanced, and the apparatus can draw and hold the sheet S in a non-contact state.

  Since the non-contact attracting / holding tool 40 forms an air flow layer with the sheet S, the lower end surface of the non-contact attracting / holding tool 40 is disposed at a position higher than the lower end surfaces of the suction cups 15 and 15 by a predetermined distance. Is preferred. The predetermined distance is preferably such that the non-contact drawing holder 40 contacts the lower end surfaces of the suction cups 15 and 15 when the sheet is held in a non-contact manner, and can be, for example, 1 to 2 mm.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the non-contact attracting / holding tool 40 is fixed to the third horizontal bar 30 c and disposed in the vicinity of the suction cups 15 and 15, and after air is sent between the sheets by the air discharge units 33 to 36, Before the suction by the suction cups 15, 15, the sheet is pulled and held. In this way, the sheet is held in the non-contact state by the non-contact drawing holder 40 and is sucked by the suction cups 15 and 15. The non-contact attracting / holding tool 40 is not forced suction, and can exert an attractive force smaller than the suction force by the suction cups 15 and 15 on the sheet. Only the sheet can be reliably pulled and removed from the basket.

1 is a side view showing a stacker bundler in which an embodiment of a sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention is incorporated. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 1. It is the III-III front view of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a pickup unit of the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. It is a VV view top view of FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 4. It is a front view which shows the operation state of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a part of the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 2. It is a front view which shows the change aspect of the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. FIG. 13 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a non-contact drawing holder of the sheet supply apparatus of FIG. 12. It is the XIV-XIV sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stacker bundler 7 Sheet supply apparatus 8 Conveyor belt 11 Basket 12 Basket 13 Pickup unit 14 Height detection part 15 Suction cup 27 Roller 40 Non-contact drawing holder

Claims (3)

At least one basket for accumulating and containing sheets to be supplied;
A pickup unit that carries out a sheet from the basket and delivers it to a conveyor belt disposed adjacent to the basket;
The pickup unit is
A height detection unit that includes a roller supported in a vertically movable manner at the lower end, and detects the height position of the upper surface of the sheet in the basket;
A suction cup for sucking and holding the uppermost sheet in the bucket based on a detection signal from the height detection unit;
A pressing member that presses the roller against the conveyor belt;
A sheet supply apparatus comprising: The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the basket is of a two-stage type, and at least one of the baskets is configured to be movable in a horizontal direction. 2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pickup unit further includes a non-contact drawing holder for drawing and holding the sheet in a non-contact state by discharging air radially onto the sheet surface.

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