JP2606862Y2 - Clutch mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clutch mechanism in which the meshing state between a clutch gear and a drive gear is stabilized.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The use of a gear clutch to turn on / off the transmission of driving force is already known. For example, in the clutch mechanism described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-122546, a clutch gear biased in a direction meshing with a drive gear is connected to a movable piece of a solenoid, and the movable piece is pulled in by switching on the solenoid. The transmission of the driving force is turned on / off by releasing the engagement between the gear and the driving gear, and pulling the clutch gear back in the direction of engagement with the driving gear when the switch is turned off.

[0003]

However, in the clutch mechanism having such a configuration, the moving direction of the clutch gear and the moving direction of the movable piece are the same, and the clutch gear is pulled back by a spring and meshes with the drive gear. Therefore, there is a problem that when the rotational load increases, the clutch gear slides back and forth against the spring force, and a tooth jump phenomenon occurs. In order to prevent the tooth skipping phenomenon, it is conceivable to increase the spring force to increase the urging force of the clutch gear against the drive gear. However, according to this method, since the spring force is increased, the retracting force of the movable piece that disengages the drive gear and the clutch gear must be increased correspondingly, which leads to an increase in the size of the solenoid. This would increase the size of the clutch mechanism.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a drive gear and a driven gear supported coaxially, an intermediate gear provided so as to be able to contact and separate from both the drive gear and the driven gear, and an intermediate gear. In a clutch mechanism having a drive member for performing a gear separating operation, a mediating gear is slidably supported in a direction intersecting a displacement direction of the drive member, and is urged to advance in a meshing direction with the drive gear and the driven gear. And a gear meshing with the driving gear and the driven gear, respectively, and the gear meshing with the driven gear and the driven gear are brought into contact with the gear tip meshing with the driving gear and the tip of the driving gear. sometimes,
It is characterized in that the tooth tips are configured so as not to contact each other. According to the present invention, in the clutch mechanism according to the first aspect, the gear meshing with the driven gear has the same pitch as the gear of the intermediate gear meshing with the driving gear, and the tip thereof is formed to be smaller in the radial direction . It is characterized by:

[0005]

The intermediate gear provided so as to be able to contact and separate from both the driving gear and the driven gear supported coaxially is slid in a direction intersecting with the displacement direction of the driving member which performs the operation of moving the intermediate gear. Since it is movably supported and urges forward in the direction of meshing with the driving gear and the driven gear, the intermediate gear that comes into contact with and separates from both the driving gear and the driven gear with the displacement of the driving member moves in the direction intersecting the displacement direction. Displaced. The intermediate gear has a gear that meshes with the driving gear and the driven gear, respectively, and when the gear meshing with the driven gear and the driven gear are in contact with each other, the gear meshing with the driving gear and the tip of the driving gear hit each other. To
Since the tooth tips are configured not to contact each other, when the intermediate gear contacts the drive gear and the driven gear, before the tooth tips of the gear meshing with the driven gear and the driven gear hit, Since the rotation of the drive gear is transmitted to the gear of the intermediate gear meshing therewith, the intermediate gear is rotated.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 denotes a clutch mechanism, which is applied to the card reader 1. First, the card reader 1 will be described. The card reader 1 includes a magnetic card C including a relatively thick hard card C1 such as a cash card shown in FIG. 8A and a soft card C2 represented by a transfer ticket shown in FIG.
The IC card C3 shown in FIG. 8C can be used for two purposes.

The card reader 1 has a linear card path 3 for taking in and conveying each card from the insertion slot 2, and shutters S1 and S for restricting the entry of each card into the card path 3.
2, the card of the retracting section 4 provided on the distal end side of the card passage 3, branch passage 5 for collecting or issuing the magnetic card C, the passage switching flap 6 (hereinafter, referred to as "flap 6") and a clutch mechanism 7 It has.

The card passage 3 is formed between the side plates 8 and 9 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and an inner wall 9a of the side plate 9 serves as a reference surface for card conveyance. In card passage 3,
Transport roller pairs 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are arranged.

A shutter S1 is disposed between the transport roller 10 and the insertion slot 2, and a shutter S2 is disposed between the transport roller 10 and the transport roller 11. The shutters S1 and S2 are rotatably supported about an axis O shown in FIG. 2, and are movable in and out of the card passage 3 by a solenoid (not shown).

For example, normally, when the shutter S2 is entering the card passage 3, the shutter S1 is placed in a retracted state from the passage, and what is inserted into the insertion slot 2 is a magnetic card C or an IC card. If it is C3, the shutter S2 is opened to allow the card to be taken in, and when the card is taken into the card passage, the shutter S1 is closed so that foreign matter or the card is not taken in continuously. .

Driving rollers 10a, 11a, 12a, 13a, and 14a, which are located below each conveying roller pair, are
Shafts 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15
E respectively. The driven rollers 10b, 11b, 12b, 13b, 14b located on the upper side are in contact with the driving rollers 10a, 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a, respectively.

The shafts 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15
Each of E has a pulley 16 fixed outside the side plate 8. A roller 17 rotatably supported is provided between each pulley 16. Each pulley 16 and roller 1
An endless belt 18 is alternately wound around 7.

A large-diameter drive pulley 19 is fixed to the shaft 15C, and a small-diameter drive pulley 21 fixed to a drive shaft 20a of a forward / reverse rotatable motor 20 as a drive source. A drive belt 22 is wound between the two. The shaft 15 </ b> E is disposed over the evacuation unit 4 and the card passage 3. A pulley 27, which is one component of a transport unit of the retraction unit 4 described later, is fixed to the shaft 15E, and a knob 57 with a knurl is fixed outside the pulley 27. Knob 57
Is to manually rotate the shaft 15E when the equipment breaks down.

Near the side plate 9 and on the axis of the shaft 15C, as shown in FIGS.
Are arranged facing each other. The magnetic head 23B is mounted on the support plate 2
4 and are arranged. The support plate 24 has two
4a is supported by the bottom plate 3A of the transport path 3, and is urged upward from below the bottom plate 3A by a spring (not shown) so that the magnetic head 23B faces the card path 3.

The opposing magnetic head 23A is supported on the upper plate of the card passage 3 (not shown) in the same configuration as the magnetic head 23B. The magnetic head 23 (A, B) is shown in FIG.
Magnetic stripe C of cards C1 and C2 shown in (a, b)
1a and C2a are contacted to read magnetic information recorded on the same stripe or to record magnetic information on the stripe. The magnetic head 23A corresponds to the magnetic stripe C1a, and the magnetic head 23B is opposed to the magnetic stripe C2a via the card path so as to correspond to the magnetic stripe C2a.

Here, the magnetic card C and the IC card C3 will be described. A hard card C1 shown in FIG. 8A has a magnetic stripe C1 on one side of a card body made of vinyl chloride.
a is provided. In this magnetic stripe C1a,
In the case of a cash card, personal information such as an account number, a name and a personal identification number is recorded as magnetic information, and the information is read by the magnetic head 23A, or
Magnetic information is recorded as needed.

The soft card C2 shown in FIG. 8 (b) is provided with a magnetic stripe C2a on the back side of a card body formed of cardboard, and this magnetic stripe C2a has a bank name, account number, Various types of information, such as the account holder and the transferor, are recorded as magnetic information, read by the magnetic head 23B, and rewritten as necessary. A part of the content of the magnetic information and the like are printed on a surface (not shown) of the soft card C2.

The IC card C3 is a card having electric recording means (not shown) therein, and reads (reproduces) information stored in the recording means and writes (records) information in the recording means. magnetic stripe C3a is provided with input and output unit C3b and magnetic <br/> air information for is recorded.

In the vicinity of the insertion slot 2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a magnetic head 26 as card detecting means faces the card path 3 from above and below. The magnetic head 26 detects the type of the card based on the presence / absence of a magnetic signal of the card. In this case, the magnetic head 26 is a trigger for controlling the activation of the motor 20, the driving of a solenoid described later, and the opening / closing operation of the shutters S1 and S2. Department.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the retreating portion 4 is formed on the extension of the card passage 3 and between the side plates 8 and 9, and forms a straight line with the card passage 3. The tip 4a of the retreat unit 4 is closed and serves as a stopper for the IC card C3. The tip 4a is a movable card conveying direction and discussed later in response to displacement of the distal end IC
The contact 56 descends and is pressed against the IC card C3.

In the retracting section 4, a transport roller pair 29 composed of a roller 29a fixed to the shaft 15F and a roller 29b rotatably supported above the roller 15F, and an input / output section C3b of the IC card C3 An IC contact 56 for recording and reproducing information by contacting the information is disposed.

A pulley 40 is rotatably supported on a shaft 15F located outside the side plate 8, and a drive belt 41 is wound around the pulley 27. A drive gear 42 that rotates integrally with the pulley 40, a shaft 15F,
A driven gear 43 that rotates integrally with F is provided. That is, the conveying means K of the retracting section 4 is constituted by the roller pair 29, the pulleys 27 and 40, the belt 41, and the gears 42, 43 and 44.

The IC contacts 56 are a plurality of contact pieces inclined downward and leftward with respect to the card insertion direction indicated by the arrow A.
When the sheet 3 is conveyed to the evacuation section 4, it comes into pressure contact with the input / output section C3b.

As shown in FIG. 1, supporting shafts 30 and 31 are supported on the side plates 8 located at both ends of the card passage 3 and the retracting section 4. A sprocket 32 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 30, and a sprocket 33 is fixed to the support shaft 31. A chain 34 is wound around the sprockets 32 and 33.
A projection claw 35 is fixed to a part of.

The projection claw 35 is usually located at a position retracted from the card passage 3 and the retracting section 4, and the cards C1, C
2 and 3 enter the transport path 3 and the evacuation section 4 when the card path 3 and the evacuation section 4 are clogged. That is, when the cards C1, C2, and C3 are jammed, the drive motor 20
Then, the support shaft 31 is driven by a drive motor (not shown), and the projection claw 35 enters the card passage 3 and the retreating section 4, and the jammed card is hooked and conveyed to the insertion section 2 forcibly.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a flap 6 is disposed between the pair of transport rollers 14 and the pair of rollers 29. The distal end 6a of the flap 6 is bifurcated, extends to the vicinity of the shaft 15E, and rotatably supports the base end 6b side to the side plate 9 with the shaft 36.

The flap 6 is connected to the evacuation section 4 indicated by a solid line in FIG.
And a retreat position from the refuge unit and an entry position to the retreat unit 4 indicated by a two-dot chain line. A crank-shaped connecting arm 37 is integrally fixed to the upper surface 6c substantially at the center of the flap 6. The connecting arm 37 has one end 37a located below the retreat portion 4 outside the side plate 9 and pulls the one end 37a downward by a tension spring 38 to urge the flap 6 downward. I have. The opposite end 37b facing the one end 37a is formed in an arc shape, and the roller 39 contacts the opposite end 37b.

The roller 39 is rotatably supported above a lever 46, which will be described later, and comes into contact with the opposite end 37b when the driving gear 42, the driven gear 43 and the clutch gear 44 constituting the clutch mechanism 7 are engaged. I have.

The branch passage 5 is formed from the vicinity of the roller pair 14 to the upper side of the retreat unit 4 in the figure to the upper left, and one end 5a of the branch passage 5 is provided with a transfer ticket issuing machine (not shown), a card collection unit, and the like. Is connected to The branch passage 5
When the flap 6 is at the solid line position, the communication with the card path 3 is cut off. When the flap 6 is at the two-dot chain line, the other end 5b communicates with the card path 3. At this time, the flap 6 constitutes a part of the bottom plate 5c of the branch passage 5.

In the branch passage 5, rollers 52a, 53a that rotate integrally with shafts 15H, 15G to which drive pulleys 50, 51 are fixed, respectively, and transport rollers 52 composed of rollers 52b, 53b driven by the rollers 52a, 53a. , 5
3 are provided.

A belt 54 driven by a drive motor (not shown) is hung on the drive pulleys 50 and 51. The drive motor not shown is a magnetic head 2 shown in FIG.
6 is driven when a magnetic card is detected, when the flap 6 is switched, or when a soft card C2 (transfer ticket) is issued. In this embodiment, the IC card C
3 is inserted first, and the magnetic card C is inserted later. Each inserted card is returned to the insertion slot 2 and ejected.

Now, description will be made on the clutch mechanism 7. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the clutch mechanism 7 includes a driving gear 42 and a driven gear 43 supported on the shaft 15F, and a clutch gear 4 serving as an intermediate gear that comes into contact with and separates from the driving gear 42 and the driven gear 43.
4. It mainly comprises a slider 46 and a solenoid 45 as drive members for performing the operation of moving the clutch gear 44 toward and away from the clutch gear 44, and these are arranged below the retreat unit 4 and the card passage 3.

The clutch gear 44 includes gears 44A and 44B that mesh with the driven and driven gears 43 and 42, respectively, and is supported by an elongated hole 8c provided in the side plate 8 and extending in the direction of arrow c (vertical direction). The shafts 47 are rotatably supported on the shafts 47, respectively. A coil spring 58 is inserted into the elongated hole 8c, and urges the shaft 47 toward the slider 46. The directions of arrows a and b and the direction of arrow c are directions that intersect.

As shown in FIG. 6, the tip 44a of the gear 44A is slightly smaller than the tip 44b of the tooth 44B, and the pitch and the size of the circular portion 44c are the same as those of the gear 44B. It has been.

The slider 46 is formed by sheet metal working, and as shown in FIG.
b, bearing portions 46c, 46d, 46e, 46f are formed respectively, and are arranged in a direction crossing the card passage 3 and the retreating portion 4.

As shown in FIG. 7, the slider side plate 46a and the bearing portion 46c are formed with an inclined surface 28B that comes into contact with the shaft 47, and the guide portion 28 is formed in combination with the flat surface 28A formed on the side plate 46a. ing. Slider 46
Are located in the notches 8b, 9b of the side plates 8, 9,
The movable piece 45a is connected to the solenoid 45 via a pin 48, and is slid in the direction of arrow a by the operation of the solenoid 45.

When the shaft 47 is in contact with the flat surface 28A, the clutch gear 44 causes the gears 42, 4 to move.
3 and the roller 39 and the opposing end 37b are in contact with each other, and the clutch gear 44 and the gears 42 and 43 are indicated by the two-dot chain line where the shaft 47 is in contact with the inclined surface 28B. The solenoid 45 is set to the retracted position where the contact with the 37b is released.

The side plates 46a and the bearings 46e and the side plates 46b and the bearings 46d are provided with pins 59 and 60 indicated by a chain line in FIG.
Are supported respectively. The pins 59 and 60 are engaged with rectangular holes provided on the side plate of the card reader (not shown) in the moving direction (the directions of arrows a and b) of the slider 46 to guide the movement of the slider 46.

The other end of a tension coil spring 49, one end of which is fixed to a non-moving portion (not shown), is locked at both ends of the slider 46 on the return side, and biases the slider 46 toward the initial position. And the solenoid 45
(See FIGS. 3 and 4). That is,
The clutch gear 44 is slidably supported in a direction intersecting the direction of displacement of the slider 46 and has a coil spring 5.
The shaft 47 urged toward the slider 46 in FIG. 8 is supported by the guide portion 28 provided on the slider 46 from the urging side, so that the shaft 47 is urged to advance in the meshing direction with the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 43. .

When the solenoid 45 is energized, the movable piece 45a
Is pulled into the main body, and is energized according to information such as whether a predetermined card is located in the evacuation section 4 and whether the magnetic head 26 shown in FIGS. Works. In the present embodiment, it is set so that the solenoid 45 operates when the IC card C3 is located in the retreat unit 4.

The operation of the cart reader 1 and the clutch mechanism 7 configured as described above will be described. First, the IC card C3 is inserted into the insertion slot 2, and when the magnetic signal of the stripe C3a is detected by the magnetic head 26, the shutter S2 is opened and the drive motor 20 is started to drive the drive shaft 20a. Then, since the pulley 21 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the pulley 19 via the belt 22, and the shaft 15C is driven to rotate.

When the shaft 15C is driven to rotate, the belt 1
8, the shafts 15A to 15E, to which the pulleys 16 are fixed, respectively, rotate at the same time, and the conveying roller pairs 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 in the card path 3 are driven, and the IC card C3 is taken in. The card is conveyed through the card passage 3. After the card C3 has passed over the magnetic head 26, the card path 3
The shutter S1 is closed. Therefore, continuous insertion of the card and insertion of foreign matter into the card path 3 are restricted.

When the shaft 15E rotates, the integral pulley 27 also rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the pulley 40 via the belt 41, and the integral drive gear 42 rotates. Solenoid 4
5 is in a non-operating state, the clutch gear 44 meshes with both the gears 42 and 43 by the spring force of the tension coil spring 49, and the rotation of the gear 42 causes the teeth 44B to 44A of the clutch gear 44 to rotate. The driving force is transmitted to the driven gear 43 via the driving gear 43. Therefore, the shaft 15F rotates, and the transport roller pair 29 in the retreat unit 4 is driven.

At this time, the shaft 4 supporting the clutch gear 44
7 is supported by an elongated hole 8c separate from the slider 46, and is urged by a spring 58 in a direction (arrow c) intersecting (arrows a and b) in the direction of movement of the slider 46 so that the lever is flat. 28A.

Therefore, the driving and driven gears 42, 43
Even if the load increases due to the rotation of the clutch gear 44 and the clutch gear 44, the operation of the shaft 47 to escape in the directions of the arrows a and c is prevented by the slider 46 and the elongated hole 8c. Escape in the direction of arrow a and the direction of arrow c.
Engagement with 2, 43 is firmly held.

Further, since the solenoid 45 is not operated, the roller 39 moves the connecting arm 37 at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.
Is pushed up against the spring force of the spring 38,
The flap 6 is held at the solid line position. Therefore, the conveyed IC card C3 is linearly conveyed into the retreat unit 4 without being hindered by the flap 6, and the card tip abuts on the tip 4a and is pushed.

When a sensor (not shown) detects that the IC card C3 is located in the evacuation section 4, the solenoid 45 operates to retract the movable piece 45a, and the slider 46 moves in the direction of arrow a as shown in FIG. It is slid. Then
The shaft 47, which is in contact with the plane 28A in synchronization with the operation of the slider 46, is guided along the inclined surface 28B, and is directed in the direction of arrow c (downward) by the spring force of the spring 58, as shown by the two-dot chain line. And the clutch gear 44
And the driving and driven gears 42 and 43 are disengaged from each other, and the driving to the roller pair 29 is cut off.

As the slider 46 slides, the roller 39 shown in FIG. 4 also moves from the solid line position to the two-dot chain line position to release the contact with the opposing end 37b. The card 36 is rotated downward about the shaft 36 to switch to the entry position shown by the two-dot chain line, and the card passage 3 and the branch passage 5 communicate with each other.

[0049] In a state where the IC card C3 is positioned in the saving unit 4, the magnetic head 26 of insertion slot 2 is then inserted soft car
When the drive C2 is detected, a drive motor (not shown) is started to drive the belt 54 to drive the pair of rollers 52, 53 in the collection path 6.
To rotate. In other words, the soft mosquito <br/> over de inserted into the card passage 3 C2, the magnetic head 2 is conveyed in the card passage 3
After the card processing is performed in one of 3A and 23B, the card is introduced into the branch passage 5 and conveyed.

On the other hand, when the predetermined processing is completed, the drive motor and the motor 20 (not shown) are driven in the reverse direction to rotate the respective conveying roller pairs in the reverse direction. And is returned to the insertion slot 2. When the magnetic card C is returned, power is supplied to the solenoid 45, and the slider 46 is slid in the direction of the arrow b together with the shaft 47 by the spring 49. By this operation, the roller 39 pushes up the connecting plate 37 to rotate the flap 6 to the solid line position, and the clutch gear 44 meshes with the driving gear 42 and the driven gear 43 to rotate in reverse so that the rotation of the motor 20 reverses. Is transmitted to the inner roller pair 29. Therefore, the evacuation unit 4
The IC card C <b> 3, which has been evacuated once, is sent out from the evacuation unit 4 and returns to the insertion slot 2 through the card path 3.

The gear 44A meshing with the driven gear 43 is formed slightly smaller than the gear 44B meshing with the driving gear 42, so that the clutch gear 44
3, the drive gear 42 and the gear 44B
Of the gear 44A and the tooth of the driven gear 43 come into contact with each other earlier, so that the rotation of the drive gear 42
B, transmitted to the driven gear 43 via the gear 44A. For this reason, idle rotation of the clutch gear 44 is prevented, power can be transmitted reliably, and the meshing state between the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 43 and the clutch gear 44 can be further stabilized.

[0052]

According to the present invention, the intermediate gear that is brought into contact with and separated from both the driving and driven gears with the displacement of the driving member is displaced in a direction that intersects with the displacement direction of the driving member, and the driving gear and the intermediate gear Even if an overload occurs during rotation transmission due to meshing with the driven gear, since the intermediate gear is restricted from moving in the direction of displacement of the drive gear, tooth skipping can be prevented,
It is possible to stabilize the meshing state between the driving gear and the driven gear and the intermediate gear. Further, since the meshing state between the driving gear and the driven gear and the intermediate gear is stabilized without increasing the spring force, it is not necessary to increase the size of the solenoid, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the clutch mechanism. Furthermore, since the gear of the intermediate gear meshing with the driven gear is formed slightly smaller in the radial direction than the gear of the intermediate gear meshing with the driving gear, the intermediate gear meshes with both the driving gear and the driven gear. Before the tooth tips of the meshing gear and the driven gear contact each other, the rotation of the driving gear is transmitted to the gear of the intermediate gear meshing with this, so that the intermediate gear is rotated, and the idle rotation of the intermediate gear is reduced. It is possible to prevent the power from being reliably transmitted, and to further stabilize the meshing state between the driving gear and the driven gear and the intermediate gear.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a card reader in which a clutch mechanism of the present invention is employed.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view of the configuration of the card reader shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the clutch mechanism showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the clutch mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a lever serving as a driving member.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view showing the configuration of the intermediate gear.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of a clutch mechanism.

8A is a plan view of a hard card used in a card reader, FIG. 8B is a bottom view of a soft card, and FIG. 8C is a plan view of an IC card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 7 clutch mechanism 15F shaft 42 drive gear 43 driven gear 44 intermediate gear (clutch gear) 44A gear meshing with drive gear 44B gear meshing with driven gear 45 solenoid (drive member) 46 slider (drive member) a, b of drive member Displacement direction c Intersecting direction

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A drive gear and a driven gear supported coaxially, an intermediate gear provided so as to be able to contact and separate from both the drive gear and the driven gear, and a drive for performing an operation of connecting and disconnecting the intermediate gear. In the clutch mechanism having a member, the intermediate gear is slidably supported in a direction intersecting with the displacement direction of the drive member, and is urged to advance in a meshing direction with the drive gear and the driven gear. Having a gear meshing with the driving gear and the driven gear, respectively, the gear meshing with the driven gear and the driven gear, when the tooth tips of the gear meshing with the driving gear and the driving gear hit each other, A clutch mechanism characterized in that the tooth tips do not contact each other. 2. The clutch mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the gear meshing with the driven gear has the same pitch as the gear meshing with the drive gear, and has a smaller tip in the radial direction. A clutch mechanism characterized by being formed short.