JP3060144B2 - Neutral position holding device for swing lever - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rocking lever supported so as to be swingable about a shaft from a neutral position, and more particularly, to a neutral position of a rocking lever which holds the rocking lever at a neutral position. Related to a holding device.

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a sheet material detecting device for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet material or the passage of a sheet material is provided in a conveyance path through which a sheet material such as a bill is conveyed. FIG. 4 is a conceptual sectional view of a main part showing the sheet material detecting device 1 described above. This sheet material detecting device 1 is a detecting device arranged in a bill validating device for storing bills regarded as genuine and authenticity of bills, and the sheet material detecting device 1 is provided immediately after a bill insertion slot. It is arranged on the bill transport path 2. The sheet material detecting device 1 includes a sensor unit 3 including a light emitting and a light receiving element which are arranged opposite to each other at a predetermined interval.
And a swing lever 5 which is swingably supported about a shaft 4 from a neutral position shown in the figure, and which partially shields or transmits light between the light emitting and light receiving elements. Needless to say, the end of the shaft 4 is supported by a part of a member constituting the bill validator. The swing lever 5 has a tip 5a protruding into the bill transport path 2 and abutting on a bill transported in the bill transport path 2 to swing left and right about the shaft 4 from the illustrated neutral position. It is. The swing lever 5 is at the neutral position shown in FIG.
Shields the light-emitting and light-receiving elements (not shown) provided in the sensor unit 3 so that the light emitted from the light-emitting element does not reach the light-receiving element. A state in which A does not exist is detected. When the bill A passes through the bill transport path 2 and the bill A comes into contact with the swinging lever 5 at the neutral position, the rear end 5b of the swinging lever 5 moves from the neutral position to a predetermined position around the shaft 4. When the banknote A conveyed from the right side of the figure contacts the swing lever 5 as shown in FIG.
When the bill A conveyed clockwise about the shaft 4 and from the left in the figure comes into contact with the swing lever 5, the swing lever 5 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 4, so that the sensor unit The shielding between the unillustrated light emitting and light receiving elements provided in 3 is released, whereby the light emitted from the light emitting element reaches the light receiving element, and the presence of the bill A is detected. On the other hand, when the swing lever 5 is in the standby state, the neutral position is ensured by the rear end 5b of the swing lever 5 in order to reliably shield the light-emitting and light-receiving elements (not shown) provided on the sensor unit 3 from each other. Position must be maintained accurately. Therefore, conventionally, in order to maintain the neutral position of the swing lever 5 in the standby state, a neutral position holding device 6 including a pair of coil springs disposed to face each other has been used. The neutral position holding device 6 includes a pair of coil springs 7 and 8 supported at one end at a rear end 5b of the swing lever 5 and at the other end at opposite positions. The neutral position is maintained by the balance of the urging forces in the opposite directions by the pair of coil springs 7 and 8 facing each other. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 9 denotes a printed wiring board that supports the sensor unit 3, and reference numeral 2a denotes the swing lever 5.
Is a hole for projecting the lower end of the bill into the bill transport path 2.

According to the conventional neutral position holding device 6 described above, the rocking lever 5 is balanced by a pair of coil springs 7 and 8 that oppose each other and apply a biasing force in opposite directions. Is held at the neutral position, so that the biasing forces (in other words, the spring constants) of the pair of coil springs 7 and 8 need to be accurately matched in order to accurately maintain the swing lever 5 at the neutral position. . However, it is extremely difficult to accurately match the biasing forces of the pair of coil springs 7 and 8 in manufacturing the coil springs. Normally, the biasing forces of the coil springs 7 and 8 used have a variation of about ± 10%. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to accurately maintain the swing lever 5 at the neutral position in the standby state. Further, according to the conventional neutral position holding device 6, since two coil springs are required, there is a problem that the number of parts is large and the structure is complicated. Therefore, as a neutral position holding device that solves such difficulties, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-7191 has been proposed.
As in the neutral position holding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.
A projection is formed on the swing lever, and instead of the two coil springs, an inner diameter portion is inserted into a shaft for rotatably supporting the swing lever, and positioning is performed in a state where the projection is sandwiched between both ends. There has been proposed a neutral position holding device in which a single torsion coil spring is provided. In the neutral position holding device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-71914, as shown in FIG. 1, a swing lever neutral position holding means is formed on a shaft for rotatably supporting the swing lever and a swing lever. And a guide pin for positioning and supporting the torsion coil spring in a state where the protrusion is sandwiched between both ends of the torsion coil spring. The projection and the guide pin of the swing lever are arranged in a straight line on the center line in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever. According to the swing lever neutral position holding device including the neutral position holding means, when the swing lever is in the neutral position, the one end of one torsion coil spring presses and clamps a projection formed on the swing lever to swing. Since the neutral position of the moving lever is maintained, there is no difference in the biasing force of the spring for maintaining the neutral position, and the neutral position of the swing lever is accurately held, and therefore, the fluctuation of the neutral position is reduced as much as possible. And the number of coil springs is reduced by one, so that the number of parts is reduced, and the structure of the neutral position holding device can be simplified. However, in the conventional neutral position holding device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-71914, as described above,
Since the guide pin and the projection of the swing lever constituting the neutral position holding means are arranged linearly on the longitudinal center line of the swing lever 5, the swing between the guide pin and the projection is made. A certain distance must be secured in the longitudinal direction of the lever, so that the neutral position holding means becomes longer in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever, and there is a possibility that the entire neutral position holding device becomes large. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the circumstances described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a small swing lever neutral position holding device having a simple structure and capable of accurately maintaining the neutral position of the swing lever.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a swing lever rotatably supported on a shaft from a neutral position is held at the neutral position. In the neutral position holding device for a lever, two guide protrusions disposed at symmetrical positions at the same distance from a longitudinal center line of the swing lever, and the two guide protrusions formed on the swing lever. A projection disposed between and on a longitudinal center line of the swing lever;
When the inner diameter portion is inserted into the shaft, both ends are provided with one torsion coil spring which holds the projection, and the both ends are positioned and supported by the corresponding guide projections.

According to the above-described neutral position holding device of the swing lever, the protrusion of the swing lever is pressed and sandwiched between both ends of one torsion coil spring at the neutral position of the swing lever. There is no difference in the pressing force when pressing and holding the projections between them, so that the neutral position of the swing lever is accurately maintained, the fluctuation of the neutral position is reduced as much as possible, and the swing lever neutral position holding means is provided. Make up 2
The two guide protrusions are disposed at symmetrical positions at the same distance from the longitudinal center line of the swing lever, and the protrusions of the swing lever constituting the swing lever neutral position holding means are the two guide protrusions. And on the center line of the swing lever in the longitudinal direction, it is necessary to secure a constant interval along the longitudinal direction of the swing lever between each guide protrusion and the protrusion of the swing lever. Therefore, since the swing lever neutral position holding means can be shortened in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever, the height of the neutral position holding device can be reduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the neutral position holding device according to the present invention will be described below in detail. FIG. 1 is a conceptual sectional view of a main part of a sheet material detecting device 11 equipped with a neutral position holding device 10 according to the present invention. This sheet material detection device 11 is also a detection device disposed in a bill identification device that stores the authenticity of bills and bills regarded as genuine coins as in the past, and the sheet material detection device 12 also has a bill insertion port. It is arranged on the bill conveyance path 2 immediately after. The sheet material detecting device 11 includes a sensor unit 3 including light-emitting and light-receiving elements disposed at predetermined intervals facing each other, and is swingable about a shaft 4 from a neutral position, which is a bill standby position shown in the drawing. And a swing lever 12 supported by the swing lever 12.
The swing lever 12 also has its tip 1 as in the conventional case.
2a protrudes into the bill transport path 2, comes into contact with the bill transported in the bill transport path 2, and swings right and left about the shaft 4 from its neutral position as indicated by the arrow. On the other hand, the swing lever neutral position holding means of the neutral position holding device 10 for maintaining the neutral position of the swing lever 12 described above is symmetrical with the shaft 4 at the same distance from the center line of the swing lever 12 in the longitudinal direction. Two guide protrusions 13a, 13b disposed
And two guide projections 13 formed on the swing lever 12.
a, 13b, and a projection 12b disposed on the center line in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever 12, and both ends 14, 15 sandwich the projection 12b when the inner diameter portion is fitted on the shaft 4, and Guide projections 13 corresponding to both end portions 14 and 15 respectively
and a single torsion coil spring 16 that is positioned and supported by the a and 13b. Of these, the guide projections 13a and 13b are projections provided on the guide 13 that constitutes the upper surface of the bill transport path 2, and the projections 12b
Is a crescent-shaped projection formed on the swing lever 12 located below the shaft 4 so as to be parallel to the shaft 4. Neutral position holding device 10 comprising the above-described neutral position holding means
According to the above, in the bill standby state at the neutral position shown in FIG. 1, both ends 14 of one torsion coil spring 16,
15 between the two ends of the projection 12b of the swing lever 12 to press and pinch it, thereby holding the neutral position. Therefore, when holding the neutral position, the pressing force of the screw coil spring 16 pressing and pinching both ends of the projection 12b. Therefore, the neutral position of the swing lever 12 is accurately maintained, and the neutral position of the swing lever 12 does not fluctuate due to the variation in the spring constant of the torsion coil spring. According to the sheet material detecting device 11 equipped with the neutral position holding device 10 described above, when the bill A conveyed from the left in the figure comes into contact with the swing lever 12 as shown in FIG. It rotates counterclockwise around the shaft 4 against the pressing force applied by the end portion 14 of the recoil spring 16,
As a result, the rear end 12c of the swing lever 12 is
The shield between the light-emitting and light-receiving elements (not shown) disposed in the printer is released to detect the presence of the bill A. When the passage of the bill A is completed, the swing lever 12 returns to the standby state shown in FIG. 1, that is, the neutral position, by the pressing force of the end portion 14 of the torsion coil spring 16. As shown in FIG. 3, when the bill A conveyed from the right in the figure comes into contact with the swing lever 12, the swing lever 12
6 rotates clockwise around the shaft 4 against the pressing force applied by the end portion 15, whereby the unshielded light-emitting and light-receiving elements (not shown) disposed on the sensor section 3 are released. The presence of the bill A is detected. When the passage of the bill A is completed,
By the pressing force of the end 15 of the torsion coil spring 16, the swing lever 12 returns to the standby state shown in FIG. 1, that is, the neutral position. Further, in the neutral position holding device 10, as shown in FIG. 1, the guide projections 13a and 13b of the swing lever neutral position holding means are symmetrical at the same distance from the longitudinal center line of the swing lever 12, respectively. And the projection 12b of the neutral position holding means is arranged between the guide projections 13a and 13b and on the center line of the swing lever 12 in the longitudinal direction.
It is not necessary to secure a fixed interval between the a, 13b and the projection 12b along the longitudinal direction of the swing lever 12, and therefore, the swing lever neutral position holding means is shortened in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever 27. Accordingly, the height of the neutral position holding device 10 can be reduced. In the above embodiment, the case where the neutral position holding device 10 of the present invention is applied to the swing lever 12 of the sheet material detecting device 11 has been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, It may be applied to any device as long as it uses a swinging lever that holds.

As described above, according to the neutral position holding device of the present invention, when the swing lever is in the neutral position, the protrusion formed on the swing lever is pressed and sandwiched between both ends of the single torsion coil spring. Since the swing lever is maintained at the neutral position, there is no difference in the biasing force of the spring for maintaining the neutral position, so that the neutral position of the swing lever is accurately maintained, and a plurality of coils are conventionally used. It is possible to reduce the fluctuation of the neutral position as much as possible compared to one that uses a spring to maintain the neutral position,
Compared to the conventional neutral position holding device, the number of coil springs is reduced by one, so the number of parts is reduced, the structure is simplified, the adjustment is easy, and the manufacturing is easy, so the neutral position The holding device can be provided at low cost, and furthermore, the guide projections constituting the neutral position holding means are arranged at symmetrical positions at the same distance from the center line in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever, respectively. Are arranged between the guide projections and on the center line of the swing lever in the longitudinal direction, so that a certain interval is secured between each guide projection and the protrusion along the longitudinal direction of the swing lever. Therefore, the neutral position holding means can be shortened in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever, so that the height of the neutral position holding device can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual sectional view of a sheet material detecting device to which a neutral position holding device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of a sheet material detecting device showing an operation of the neutral position holding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual sectional view of a sheet material detecting device showing an operation of the neutral position holding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of a sheet material detection device to which a conventional neutral position holding device is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 ... Shaft 10 ... Neutral position holding device 12 ... Swing lever 12b ... Projection 13a, 13b ... Guide projection 14, 15 ... End 16 ... Torsion coil spring

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A neutral position holding device for holding a rocking lever rotatably supported about an axis from a neutral position at said neutral position, wherein said rocking lever has a neutral position in a longitudinal direction of said rocking lever. Two guide protrusions disposed at symmetrical positions at the same distance from the center line; and formed on the swing lever, between the two guide protrusions and arranged on a center line in the longitudinal direction of the swing lever. And a single torsion coil spring whose both ends sandwich the projection when the inner diameter portion is inserted into the shaft, and whose both ends are positioned and supported by the corresponding guide projections. A swing lever neutral position holding device, comprising: