JP2017095258A - Paper feeding pad, paper feeding mechanism and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeding pad that can inhibit generation of noise emission.SOLUTION: The paper feeding pad 1 disposed while facing a paper feeding roll 2 includes a sheet-contact face constituted of a composite material including a silicone rubber material and glass beads dispersed in the silicone rubber material. In the paper feeding pad 1, a rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material is 35 to 55 and at least part of the glass bead is exposed to the sheet-contact face.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  One aspect of the present invention relates to a paper feed pad, a paper feed mechanism, and an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a paper feed mechanism of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile machine, there is known a paper feed roll and a paper feed pad disposed to face the paper feed roll. In the paper feeding mechanism, a plurality of papers are separated using friction between the paper feeding roll and the paper feeding pad and the paper conveyed between the paper feeding roll and the paper feeding pad, and the paper Are discharged one by one.

  As a sheet feeding pad used in such a sheet feeding mechanism, for example, a sheet feeding pad formed by adding spherical particles to a pad material has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

JP-A-8-245007

  In a conventional sheet feeding pad, there is a case where a phenomenon called “sounding” occurs, in which an abnormal noise is generated when a sheet is conveyed, and there is room for improvement.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a sheet feeding pad that can suppress the occurrence of noise and a sheet feeding mechanism and an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding pad. With the goal.

  The present inventors have found that the generation of noise can be suppressed by using a combination of a silicone rubber material having a specific hardness and glass beads, and have completed the present invention.

  One aspect of the present invention relates to a paper feed pad disposed to face a paper feed roll. The sheet feeding pad includes a paper contact surface made of a composite material including a silicone rubber material and glass beads dispersed in the silicone rubber material. The rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material is 35 to 55, and at least a part of the glass beads is exposed on the paper contact surface.

  According to the sheet feeding pad, it is possible to suppress the generation of sound. In the sheet feeding pad, since the rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material is 55 or less, slight vibrations in the sheet feeding mechanism are absorbed by the silicone rubber material, and abnormal noise is suppressed. Further, in the paper feeding pad, since at least a part of the glass beads is exposed on the paper contact surface, sufficient slidability with the paper is ensured while reducing the rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material. For this reason, in the above-mentioned paper feed pad, the occurrence of a double feed phenomenon in which a plurality of sheets are fed and an idle feed phenomenon in which no sheets are fed are sufficiently suppressed. In other words, the sheet feeding pad can achieve both sufficient sheet feeding performance and suppression of abnormal noise generation.

  In one embodiment, the glass beads may be surface treated with a silane coupling agent. In this case, it becomes difficult for the glass beads to fall off from the paper contact surface, and sufficient paper feeding performance is maintained for a long time.

  In one embodiment, the rubber hardness of the paper contact surface may be 40-60. Thereby, there is a tendency that the sheet feeding performance is further improved.

  In one embodiment, the average particle size of the glass beads may be 30-70 μm. In this case, the sliding property between the paper contact surface and the paper becomes better, and the paper feeding performance tends to be further improved.

  In one embodiment, the tan δ at 23 ° C. and 500 Hz of the composite material may be 0.1 to 0.15. In this case, the fine vibration of the sheet feeding pad is further suppressed, and the generation of abnormal noise is more significantly suppressed.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to a paper feed mechanism including the paper feed pad and a paper feed roll.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including the paper feeding mechanism.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a paper feed pad that can suppress the occurrence of noise and a paper feed mechanism and an image forming apparatus including the paper feed pad.

It is the schematic which shows one Embodiment of the paper feed mechanism which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the some aspect of the pad for paper feeding which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the some aspect of the paper feeding pad which concerns on embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings are partially exaggerated for easy understanding, and dimensional ratios and the like are not limited to those described in the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a paper feed mechanism according to the present invention. A sheet feeding mechanism 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a sheet feeding roll 2 and a sheet feeding pad 1 disposed to face the sheet feeding roll 2. The paper feed mechanism 10 further includes a paper feed table 3 and a feed roll 6. In the paper feed mechanism 10, the paper feed pad 1 is attached to the separation arm 5 and is in contact with the paper 4 in the feed direction. Are arranged to be inclined. Further, the sheet feeding pad 1 has a lower side in the vertical direction of the sheet feeding roll 2 such that the lower surface of the sheet 4 is in contact with the sheet contact surface of the sheet feeding pad 1 and the upper surface of the sheet 4 is in contact with the sheet feeding roll 2. Is arranged.

  In the paper feed mechanism 10, a plurality of papers 4 installed on the paper feed tray 3 are transported between the paper feed roll 2 and the paper feed pad 1. The conveyed paper 4 is sequentially fed out one by one due to friction between the paper feed roll 2 and the paper 4, friction between the paper 4, and friction between the paper 4 and the paper feed pad 1.

  The sheet feeding pad 1 has a paper contact surface made of a composite material including a silicone rubber material and glass beads dispersed in the silicone rubber material. The paper contact surface is provided in an area where the paper feed pad 1 is in contact with the paper 4. In the paper feed mechanism 10, the paper feed pad 1 is disposed so that the paper contact surface faces the paper feed roll 2. Further, in the paper feed mechanism 10, the paper contact surface is located on the upper surface of the paper feed pad 1 and is disposed so as to contact the lower surface of the paper 4.

  The silicone rubber material is a main material constituting the paper contact surface of the sheet feeding pad 1 and can also be referred to as a matrix for holding glass beads. The silicone rubber material is a material containing silicone rubber, and may be a material made of silicone rubber.

  The silicone rubber material may be a crosslinked product of a silicone rubber composition containing, for example, a silicone raw rubber. The silicone raw rubber may be a liquid type or a millable type. Examples of the silicone raw rubber include vinyl group-containing dimethyl silicone raw rubber, vinyl group-containing phenyl silicone raw rubber, vinyl group-containing fluorosilicone raw rubber, and modified products thereof, and a mixture thereof can also be used. A commercially available silicone rubber may be used.

  The silicone rubber composition contains, in addition to the raw silicone rubber, for example, a reinforcing silica filler, a crosslinking agent, a crosslinking aid, a physical property aid, a heat resistance improver, a reaction inhibitor, a curing accelerator for addition reaction, and the like. May be.

  Examples of the reinforcing silica filler include fumed silica and precipitated silica.

  Examples of the addition type crosslinking agent include organohydropolyene polysiloxane having two or more hydrogen atoms bonded to silicon atoms in one molecule.

  Examples of the organic peroxide crosslinking agent include benzoyl peroxide, bis-2,4-dichlorobenzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide, di-t-butyl peroxide, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis ( and organic peroxides such as t-butylperoxy) hexane.

  Examples of the physical property auxiliary agent include non-reinforcing silica. Non-reinforcing silica is used for adjusting the hardness and improving heat resistance of the silicone rubber material.

  Examples of the reaction inhibitor for addition reaction include methylvinylcyclotetrasiloxane, acetylene alcohols, siloxane-modified acetylene alcohol, and hydroperoxide.

  Examples of the curing accelerator for addition reaction include a platinum compound catalyst. Examples of platinum compound catalysts include platinum acids such as chloroplatinic acid and alcohol-modified chloroplatinic acid, platinum supported on a solid catalyst such as platinum black, alumina, silica, and carbon, platinum, olefin, and ethylene. , Alcohol, vinyl siloxane complexes, chloroplatinic acid and olefin, ethylene, alcohol, vinyl siloxane complexes, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material may be 35 to 55. When the rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material is 35 or more, the slidability with the paper 4 on the paper contact surface is good, and the paper feeding performance is good. Further, since the rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material is 55 or less, it is possible to absorb fine vibrations in the paper feeding mechanism 10 and suppress the generation of abnormal noise. From such a viewpoint, the rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material may be 40 or more, 45 or more, 54 or less, or 53 or less. The rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material indicates durometer hardness as measured with a durometer (type A) “ASKER” (trade name, manufactured by Kobunshi Keiki Co., Ltd.) in accordance with JIS K 6253. Specifically, it is measured by the method described in the examples.

  The rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material can be easily adjusted by, for example, a method of appropriately mixing silicone rubber materials having different rubber hardnesses.

  A part of the glass beads is exposed to the paper contact surface, and thus plays a role of improving the sliding property between the paper contact surface and the paper 4. Note that the glass beads do not have to be spherical and may have any shape that does not have a protrusion or the like that impedes slidability with the paper 4. The spherical shape is preferable from the viewpoint that it can be easily mixed in the silicone rubber material and can be uniformly dispersed, and from the viewpoint that the breakage caused by the pressure applied when kneaded into the silicone rubber material can be alleviated.

  As glass beads, hollow glass beads are preferred. The hollow glass beads are specifically various glass particles having a hollow, and can also be referred to as hollow glass particles.

  The glass forming the glass beads is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include soda lime glass, low alkali glass, borosilicate glass, quartz glass, and aluminosilicate glass. Among these, borosilicate glass and aluminosilicate glass are preferable from the viewpoint of excellent impact resistance and low thermal expansion. The glass forming the glass beads does not include silica such as reinforcing silica and non-reinforcing silica, silicone resin and silicone rubber contained in the silicone rubber material.

  The average particle size of the glass beads is preferably 30 to 70 μm, more preferably 40 to 60 μm, and still more preferably 45 to 55 μm. When the average particle size is within the above range, the glass beads exposed on the paper contact surface make it difficult for the paper 4 and the silicone rubber material to be in direct contact with each other, and the sliding property between the paper contact surface and the paper 4 is further improved. 4 has a tendency to further improve the transportability. Further, the glass beads are likely to be uniformly exposed on the paper contact surface, and the stability of the conveyance of the paper 4 tends to be further improved.

  In the present specification, the average particle size of the glass beads is a value measured with a sonic sieving type automatic particle size distribution analyzer “RPS-105M” (trade name) manufactured by Seishin Enterprise Co., Ltd.

  The surface of the glass beads may be surface-treated with a silane coupling agent. When the surface of the hollow glass beads is surface-treated in this manner, the adhesion to the silicone rubber material becomes strong, and the hollow glass beads exposed on the paper contact surface are difficult to drop off from the composite material. As a result, slipperiness is maintained over a long period of time. The ratio of the surface treatment with the silane coupling agent is not particularly limited, but the entire surface is preferably treated.

  Examples of the silane coupling agent include a (meth) acryl silane coupling agent containing a (meth) acryl group, an amino silane coupling agent containing an amino group, a mercapto silane coupling agent containing a mercapto group, and the like. .

  As a (meth) acryl silane coupling agent, the silane coupling agent containing a (meth) acryl alkyl group is mentioned, for example. Specifically, 3-acryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, 3-methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane, 3-methacryloxypropylmethyldiethoxysilane, 3-methacryloxypropylmethyldimethoxysilane , 3-methacryloxypropylethyldiethoxysilane, 3-acryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and the like.

  As an aminosilane coupling agent, the silane coupling agent containing an aminoalkyl group or an N substituted aminoalkyl group is mentioned, for example. Specifically, 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, 3-aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, 3-aminopropylethyldiethoxysilane, 3-aminopropyldimethylethoxysilane, 3-amino Propylmethyldiethoxysilane, N-2- (aminoethyl) -3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N-2- (aminoethyl) -3-aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, N-2- (aminoethyl)- 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, N, N-dimethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N, N-diethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N, N-dipropylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N, N-dibutylaminopropyltrimethoxy Silane, N-mono Tylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N, N-dioctylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N, N-dibutylaminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, N, N-dibutylaminopropyldimethylmonomethoxysilane, 3-triethoxysilyl-N- ( 1,3-dimethyl-butylidene) propylamine, N, N-dimethylaminophenyltrimethoxysilane, trimethoxysilyl-3-propylphenylamine, trimethoxysilyl-3-propylbenzylamine, trimethoxysilyl-3-propylpiperidine , Trimethoxysilyl-3-propylmorpholine, trimethoxysilyl-3-propylimidazole and the like.

  Examples of the mercaptosilane coupling agent include a silane coupling agent containing a mercaptoalkyl group. Specific examples include 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane.

  Such glass beads may be appropriately prepared or commercially available. Examples of commercially available products include “GB301S” (soda lime glass, spherical, average particle diameter of 50 μm, bulk specific gravity of 1.3 g / cc, surface-treated silane coupling, manufactured by Potters-Ballottini Co., Ltd. Agent: None), trade name “GB301SC” (soda lime glass, spherical, average particle size 50 μm, bulk specific gravity 1.3 g / cc, surface treatment silane coupling agent: (meth) acryl silane coupling agent), trade name “ GB731 "(soda lime glass, spherical, average particle size 32 μm, bulk specific gravity 1.0 g / cc, surface treatment silane coupling agent: none), trade name“ EGB731 ”(low alkali glass, spherical, average particle size 20 μm, bulk Specific gravity 1.0 g / cc, surface treatment silane coupling agent: none) and the like.

  The content of the glass beads in the composite material is 2 to 12 masses with respect to 100 parts by mass of the silicone rubber from the viewpoint of further suppressing the fine vibration of the sheet feeding pad 1 and more significantly suppressing the generation of abnormal noise. Part is preferable, 3 to 11 parts by mass is more preferable, and 4 to 7 parts by mass is still more preferable.

  In the paper feeding pad 1, the glass beads only need to be blended so that a part thereof is exposed on the paper contact surface. For example, the glass beads may be uniformly dispersed throughout the sheet feeding pad 1 or may be unevenly distributed on the paper contact surface side of the sheet feeding pad 1. That is, for example, the sheet feeding pad 1 may be formed by molding a composite material including a silicone rubber material and glass beads, or may be formed by embedding glass beads on one surface of a molded body of silicone rubber material. . When the sheet feeding pad 1 is formed of a composite material, even if the paper contact surface is worn, the internal glass beads are sequentially exposed to the contact surface, so that sufficient paper feeding performance is maintained for a long period of time.

  The composite material may further contain components other than the silicone rubber material and the glass beads. The composite material may further contain a rubber component other than silicone rubber such as chloroprene rubber and acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber.

  The composite material constituting the paper contact surface of the sheet feeding pad 1 preferably has a tan δ at 23 ° C. and 500 Hz of 0.100 to 0.150, and more preferably 0.110 to 0.140. By forming the paper contact surface with such a composite material, the fine vibration of the sheet feeding pad 1 is further suppressed, and the generation of abnormal noise is more significantly suppressed.

  In the paper feeding pad 1, the rubber hardness of the paper contact surface made of the composite material is preferably 40-60, and more preferably 45-55. In such a sheet feeding pad 1, the sliding property with the sheet 4 on the sheet contact surface is further improved, and the sheet feeding performance tends to be further improved. The rubber hardness of the paper contact surface can be easily adjusted by adjusting the content of glass beads in the composite material constituting the paper contact surface. The rubber hardness of the paper contact surface is measured by the same method as that for the silicone rubber material.

  The shape and size of the sheet feeding pad 1 are not particularly limited, and may be appropriately changed according to the form of the sheet feeding mechanism 10. The sheet feeding pad 1 may be in the form of a sheet having a length × width of about 30 mm × 25 mm. The thickness of the sheet feeding pad 1 may be 4 to 10 mm, for example. The paper-feeding pad 1 may have the above-mentioned paper contact surface formed on a part of the surface facing the paper feed roll 2, and the above-mentioned paper contact surface is formed on the entire surface facing the paper feed roll 2. May be. The paper contact surface of the paper feeding pad 1 may be a flat surface or a surface on which streaky irregularities or the like are formed.

  The manufacturing method of the sheet feeding pad 1 is not particularly limited. For example, the sheet feeding pad 1 is subjected to a step of crosslinking a raw material mixture including a silicone rubber composition and glass beads to obtain a composite material including a silicone rubber material and glass beads dispersed in the silicone rubber material. It may be manufactured. The sheet feeding pad 1 may be formed by molding a raw material mixture, or may be formed by molding a composite material after crosslinking the raw material mixture. In addition, the sheet feeding pad 1 may be formed, for example, by forming a paper contact surface made of a composite material on a base. The substrate is not particularly limited, and may be made of, for example, a silicone rubber material or may be made of another resin material.

  The sheet feeding pad may be formed by any method such as press molding or cast molding using a mold having a cavity having a predetermined shape, and sheet molding corresponding to the thickness of the sheet feeding pad may be performed. A sheet may be formed by a mold for use, and this may be formed by punching with a punching die having a predetermined pad shape.

  The sheet feeding pad 1 may have an attaching means for attaching to the separating arm 5. The attachment means may be, for example, an attachment through hole, or may be an adhesive portion formed with a double-sided tape.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a plurality of aspects of the sheet feeding pad according to the embodiment. A sheet feeding pad 11 shown in FIG. 2A has a mounting through hole 12. A sheet feeding pad 21 shown in FIG. 2B has a mounting double-sided tape 22 on the surface opposite to the sheet feeding surface. The sheet feeding pad 31 shown in FIG. 3C does not have an attaching means, and is attached to the separating arm by an attaching means provided on the separating arm side.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a plurality of aspects of the sheet feeding pad according to the embodiment. In the sheet feeding pad 41 shown in FIG. 3A, the glass beads 43 are uniformly dispersed in the silicone rubber material 42, and a part of the glass beads 43 is exposed on both main surfaces of the sheet feeding pad 41. Yes. Both the main surfaces of the sheet feeding pad 41 can be used as a sheet feeding surface. The sheet feeding pad 51 shown in FIG. 3B has a structure in which glass beads 53 are embedded in both main surfaces of a sheet made of a silicone material 52, and a part of the glass beads 53 is supplied. Both main surfaces of the paper pad 51 are exposed. The sheet feeding pad 51 can use both main surfaces as a sheet feeding surface.

  The paper feed mechanism 10 according to the present embodiment can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, and a facsimile. According to the image forming apparatus provided with the paper feeding mechanism 10, it is possible to sufficiently suppress the occurrence of noise. Further, paper feed errors such as double feed and idle feed can be sufficiently suppressed.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention more concretely, this invention is not limited to an Example.

Example 1
A glass having an average particle diameter of 50 μm, which is a silicone rubber composition, blended with 100 parts by mass of TSE2570-5U (product name, manufactured by Momentive Performance Material Japan Co., Ltd.) and surface-treated with a silane coupling agent. A raw material mixture was prepared by adding 2.5 parts by mass of beads. The obtained raw material mixture was molded into the shape shown in (b) of FIG. 2 to obtain the paper feeding pad of Example 1. It was confirmed that a part of the glass beads was exposed on the surface of the paper-contacting pad.

[Hardness of paper contact surface]
The hardness of the paper contact surface made of the composite material in the paper feeding pad was determined by the following procedure. First, the composite material was cut into a sheet form from the sheet feeding pad by a cutter, and a test piece having a thickness of 6 mm was prepared by superposing three sheet-like composite materials. Next, according to JIS K 6253, the durometer (type A) “ASKER” (trade name, manufactured by Kobunshi Keiki Co., Ltd.) is pressed quickly and the indicated value is read within 3 seconds to determine the durometer hardness. It was measured. The measurement was carried out at arbitrary five locations on the test piece that were separated by 6 mm or more, and the median value thereof was taken as the rubber hardness. The rubber hardness of the paper contact surface was 51. The rubber hardness after the crosslinking of TSE2570-5U (rubber hardness of the rubber material) measured by the same method was 50.

[Tan δ of composite material]
The tan δ (tan δ of the composite material) at 23 ° C. and 500 Hz of the composite material constituting the paper contact surface of the sheet feeding pad was determined. The tan δ of the composite material is cut from the feed pad with a cutter to a width of 5 mm, a thickness of 0.7 mm, and a length of 15 mm, and used as a measurement sample. The measurement was performed by measuring the dynamic viscoelasticity measurement (sine wave) of the measurement sample. The tan δ of the composite material was 0.137.

(Examples 2 to 4, Comparative Example 1)
Except having changed the compounding quantity of the glass bead into the compounding quantity shown in Table 1, it carried out similarly to Example 1, and obtained the pad for Examples 2-4 and the comparative example 1, respectively. Further, in the same manner as in Example 1, the hardness of the paper contact surface and the tan δ of the composite material were measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Sound evaluation and transportability evaluation)
The paper feeding pads of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1 are set in a printer “HL-6180DW” manufactured by Brother Industries, Ltd., 1000 sheets of paper are passed through the printer, and evaluation of sound noise and transportability Was evaluated. Specifically, the squeal was evaluated based on the number of sounds generated when the paper was passed, and the transportability was evaluated based on the number of overlaps and feeds generated when the paper was passed. In the evaluation of squeal, the case where the number of sounds generated was less than 5 was evaluated as ◯ (good), and the case where the number of sounds generated was 5 or more was evaluated as x (defect). In the evaluation of the transportability, a case where the occurrence of overlap and curl feed was less than 5 was evaluated as “Good”, and a case where the occurrence of overlap and curl feed was 5 or more was evaluated as “Poor” (bad).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pad for paper feed, 2 ... Paper feed roll, 3 ... Paper feed stand, 4 ... Paper, 5 ... Separation arm, 6 ... Feed roll, 10 ... Paper feed mechanism, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51 ... Feeding pad, 12: mounting through hole, 22: mounting double-sided tape.

Claims (7)

A pad for feeding paper disposed opposite to the paper feed roll,
A paper contact surface composed of a composite material including a silicone rubber material and glass beads dispersed in the silicone rubber material;
The rubber hardness of the silicone rubber material is 35 to 55,
A paper feeding pad in which at least a part of the glass beads is exposed on the paper contact surface.   The sheet feeding pad according to claim 1, wherein the glass beads are surface-treated with a silane coupling agent.   The sheet feeding pad according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the paper contact surface has a rubber hardness of 40 to 60.   The sheet feeding pad according to claim 1, wherein the glass beads have an average particle diameter of 30 to 70 μm.   The sheet feeding pad according to claim 1, wherein tan δ at 23 ° C. and 500 Hz of the composite material is 0.1 to 0.15.   A paper feed mechanism comprising the paper feed pad according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and a paper feed roll.   An image forming apparatus comprising the paper feed mechanism according to claim 6.

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