JP3095094B2 - Paper feeder for shredder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder for a shredder for separating a bundle of paper stacked on a tray section by a separation / conveyance section and conveying the bundle to a slot of a shredder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when shredding confidential documents with a shredder, a bundle of paper bound with a stapler or the like is separated by hand so that the thickness of the bundle of shredded paper is less than the thickness of the bundle. To Shredda.

[0003] In addition, when automatically feeding paper to a shredder by a paper feeder, a stapler must be removed and separated beforehand in order to stack a paper bundle on a tray portion. Had been inconvenient.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to supply a paper bundle to a shredder in the case of a stapled bundle of papers by simply loading them on a tray without removing stapler needles or the like in advance. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to automatically separate a binding portion at times.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a paper feeder for a shredder which separates a bundle of paper stacked on a tray portion by a separation and transport portion and transports the bundle to a slot of a shredder. It is characterized in that a binding part separating means for separating the binding part with the conveyance is provided.

As the binding section separating means, for example, a separating claw provided in a concave portion of the tray section, a separating hole provided in the tray section, or a separating claw provided so as to be able to come and go in the tray section can be considered.

[0007]

When a bundle of sheets stacked on the tray has a binding portion bound by a stapler or the like, the binding portion is caught by the binding portion separating means and is automatically separated as the bundle of paper is conveyed.

[0008]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a paper feeder 10 according to the present invention
Is separate from the shredder 11, and is used by being detachably set on the upper surface of the shredder 11. The sheet feeding device 10 automatically feeds a sheet bundle 13 stacked on a tray section 12 to an insertion port 11 a provided on an upper surface of the shredder 11.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the paper feeding device 10.
The tray section 12 is inclined (for example, 30 degrees), and the conveyor belt 14 is stretched between the driving pulley 15 and the driven pulley 16 along the inclination. The conveyor belt 14
Is circulated by the drive pulley 15 transmitting the rotation from the paper feed motor 17 via the transmission belt 18,
The sheet bundle 13 loaded on the tray unit 12 is sequentially conveyed from the lower side.

On the tray section 12, a pair of left and right opposed side guide members 19 are interlocked left and right so that the interval can be manually adjusted in order to regulate the stacking position of the sheet bundle 13 and guide its conveyance. It is mounted movably,
The interval is detected electrically. FIG. 3 shows a mechanism for interlocking these side guide members 19 and a mechanism for detecting the interval therebetween. The two side guide members 19 are formed of a wire 22 whose sliding base 20 is stretched between pulleys 21 on both sides.
Are connected to each other via the, and can be approached or separated at the same time. A slider 24 of a slide resistor 23 is connected to the slide base 20 of one side guide member 19, and when the distance between the two side guide members 19 is adjusted, the resistance value of the slide resistor 23 is adjusted according to the distance. And the distance between both side guide members 19 is detected as an electric quantity.

In FIG. 3, for example, if one of the pulleys 21 is connected to a motor, the distance between both side guide members 19 can be automatically adjusted. In this case, the size of the paper bundle 13 is input from the operation unit, or the size of the
Can be set automatically.

On the upper side of the tray section 12, as shown in FIG.
Is mounted. The pressing mechanism 25 includes guide slits 2 on left and right side plates (not shown).
6, a worm 30, a worm wheel 31 and a transmission belt 32, which transmit the rotation of the pressing motor 28 to a pressing drive shaft 29, and a pressing drive shaft 29. And a driven pulley 33 fixed to a position separated from the driving pulley 33. The belt 35 is connected to the pressure plate assembly 27. At the initial stage, the pressure plate assembly 27 is retracted to the top dead center so that the sheet bundle 13 can be stacked on the tray portion 12 at the lower side. That it is located at the top dead center is detected by a top dead center sensor (omitted in FIG. 2).

The pressure plate assembly 27 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
The lower presser plate 27b is formed in a vertically movable manner within a predetermined range, and a plurality of springs 36 for urging them in a direction away from each other are provided by the lower presser plate 27b. An actuated pressure detection microswitch 37 is arranged. The operation of the pressurizing motor 28 is controlled by turning on / off the microswitch 37. The strength when the spring 36 is attached is, for example, about 3 kg.

When the pressure plate assembly 27 presses the sheet bundle 13 at a predetermined pressure as shown in FIG.
Is pressed up against the spring 36, the pressure detection micro switch 37 is turned on, the pressure motor 28 is turned off, and the lowering of the pressure plate assembly 27 stops.
Even if the pressurizing motor 28 is turned off, the actuator is further rotated by inertia within a range of overtravel since the microswitch 37 rotates by inertia for a while.

When the sheet bundle 13 decreases, the lower plate 27b is pressed down by the spring 36, and the actuator of the micro switch 37 returns to a position beyond the release position, whereby the micro switch 37 is turned off. Then, the pressurizing motor 28 is turned on, and the pressurizing plate assembly 27 is lowered until the microswitch 37 is turned on again. Therefore, the pressure plate assembly 27 always pushes the sheet bundle 13 within a certain pressure range, thereby preventing the sheet conveyance force from being reduced and the sheet not being fed.

The bundle of paper 13 pressed against the conveyor belt 14 by the pressure plate assembly 27 is separated according to the size of the gap 39 formed by the conveyor belt 14 and the gap plate 38 as shown in FIG. Is done.

The gap plate 38 is interlocked with the side guide members 19, that is, in accordance with the resistance value of the slide resistor 23, in order to make the size of the gap 39 correspond to the distance between the two side guide members 19. It is automatically moved up and down by the gap adjusting mechanism 40 shown in FIG. The gap adjusting mechanism 40 includes a gap control motor (stepping motor) 42 having a gear 41, a gear 43 meshing with the gear 41, and a drive shaft (horizontal axis) 4 having two worms 44.
5, a worm wheel 46 meshing with each worm 44 and two driven shafts (longitudinal axis) 47 having external threads, and upper and lower bearings 48 for respectively supporting these driven shafts 47 on a frame (not shown) of the sheet feeding device 10. .49, gap plate 38
And two nuts 51 fixed to these brackets and screwed to male threads of both driven shafts 47 respectively.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the paper feeder 10. The paper feeder 10 is entirely controlled by a microcomputer. The CPU 52 of the microcomputer includes a dip switch 53 for setting the type of the shredder 11 to be used (especially the output of the cutter motor) and the power supply frequency, in addition to the amount of electricity according to the distance between the two side guide members 19 from the slide resistor 23. Is determined, and the power supply voltage detected by the power supply voltage detection circuit 54 is determined, and the driver circuit 55 that drives the gap control motor 42 is controlled. That is, the distance between the two side guide members 19 to be adjusted to the size of the paper bundle 13, the model of the shredder 11 to be used, the power supply frequency, and the power supply voltage are comprehensively determined, and the gap 39 is adjusted so that the gap 39 has an optimum size. The plate 38 is moved up and down.

In FIG. 2, the paper bundle 13a that has passed through the gap 39 set as described above is forcibly transported between the transport roller 56 and the driven roller 57, and is forcibly transported along the transport guide 58. Is fed into the insertion port 11a, and is guided by the inclined insertion guide 59 of the insertion port 11a, sent to the cutter 60, and shredded. Transport roller 5
The distance between the cutter 6 and the cutter 60 is, for example, 200 mm. If the small-size sheet bundle is free after exiting the transport roller 56, it may stop at a position where it does not reach the cutter 60. In particular, in recent shredders, the inclination of the input guide 59 of the input port 11a has been moderated due to safety considerations.
We cannot expect the bundle of paper to fall under its own weight.

Therefore, the paper feeder 10 is provided with an input port 11a.
Auxiliary transport roller 61 that assists transport in the area facing inside
A movable guide member 62 for pressing the sheet bundle against the auxiliary transport roller 61; and an auxiliary guide plate 63 extending from the movable guide member 62. Without the movable guide member 62, when the number of the paper bundles 13a is small, the paper bundles 13a fall into a loose state when they hit the cutter 60 and stop for a short time as shown in FIG. Then, the force by which the auxiliary transport roller 61 pushes the sheet bundle 13a toward the cutter 60 does not work effectively, and as shown in FIG.
a is wound and jams. However, if the auxiliary guide plate 63 is provided, the conveyance path after the leading end of the conveyance guide 58, that is, the conveyance path after the auxiliary conveyance roller 61 can be made as narrow and linear as possible, and as shown in FIG. In addition, the pushing force by the auxiliary transport roller 61 can be effectively applied. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary guide plate 63 forms an appropriate gap 11b with which one of the input guides 59 can be manually inserted.

The gap 39 and the auxiliary transport roller 61
When the paper bundle is jammed between and, the jam is detected by the jam detection sensor 64 shown in FIG. The presence / absence of the sheet bundle 13 on the tray section 12 is detected by a paper presence / absence sensor 65, and the retreat of the pressure plate assembly 27 to the top dead center is detected by the top dead center sensor 66. Further, the paper feeder 10 is electrically connected to the shredder 11 by a connector 67, and the current detection sensor 68 can detect that the shredder 11 has stopped due to an overload.

When a sheet bundle having a thickness equal to or greater than the maximum shredding capacity is loaded, the cutter motor (not shown)
The cutter motor is automatically stopped by detecting that an overload is applied to the cutter motor. The stop of the cutter motor is detected by the current detection sensor 68 on the side of the sheet feeding device 10, and the sheet feeding by the sheet feeding device 10 stops. Then shredder 11
On the side, the cutter 60 is rotated in the reverse direction to remove the paper bundle stuck in the cutter 60. When this rotates in reverse,
The sheet bundle that has not been shredded is pushed back to the insertion port 11a side. When the rear end of the pushed back bundle of paper remains in the paper feeding device 10 as shown in FIG. 12 and is fixed by the paper feeding device 10, the paper bundle that cannot be shredded has its own waist strength. Therefore, the leading end of the bundle of sheets is released from the meshing portion of the two cutters 60 by the reverse rotation of the cutter 60, and then is repelled to the outside with the rotation of the cutter 60.

After such a reverse operation, the shredder 1
1 stands by and stops in a shredding enabled state. Here, even if the shredder 11 is operated again, the leading end of the sheet bundle is not shredded because it is disengaged from the meshing portion of the cutters 60. on the other hand,
Since a new sheet bundle is conveyed from the sheet feeding device 10 to the insertion port 11a, a jam occurs, and the sheet feeding device 10 also stops.

In order to avoid such a problem, the movable guide member 62 and the auxiliary guide plate 6 extended therefrom are provided.
As shown in FIG. 13, No. 3 is automatically opened by the force of the returning paper bundle. In other words, the movable guide member 62 is attached to the frame 10a of the sheet feeding device 10 so as to be able to move in parallel by four parallel links 69 on the left and right sides, and retracts (opens) above the insertion port 11a while maintaining the same posture.
I can do it. The movable guide member 62 is maintained by the tension of a spring (not shown) in both the closed state shown in FIG. 12 and the open state shown in FIG.

The movable guide member 62 is designed so as not to open unless a force sufficient to return a bundle of paper having a thickness greater than the maximum shredding capacity without shredding is applied. The reason is that when the bundle of paper abuts against the blade of the cutter 60 and stops for a short time, the bundle of paper having a thickness less than the maximum shredding capacity may push the movable guide member 62, and in such a case, the movable bundle is movable. This is to prevent the guide member 62 from being opened.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show another example of the movable guide member. In this case, the movable guide member 62a is separated and independent from the sheet feeding device 10, and is made adjustable so as to have a width corresponding to the width of the insertion port 11a. . This movable guide member 62a
Has an inclined surface 62b coinciding with the guide surface of one input guide 59, and is slidable along the input guide 59. Further, the movable guide member 62a is provided with a magnet 71 that is attracted to a transport guide 70 hinged above the auxiliary transport roller 61, and the movable guide member 62a is closed as shown in FIG. Held in state. By properly selecting the magnetic force of the magnet 71, the movable guide members 62a
Are designed not to open as shown in FIG.

When the paper feeder 10 feeds a bundle of paper having a thickness within the shredding capacity of the shredder 11,
A case in which a bundle of paper having a shredding capacity equal to or greater than the shredding capacity of the shredder 11 is usually input when a separate bundle of paper is manually fed during automatic paper supply from the paper supply device 10.

If the movable guide member 62 or 62a is separated into, for example, two right and left portions so that the overall width can be adjusted in the left-right direction, the width of the inlet 11a may be different depending on the type of the shredder 11 and the like. Can be easily handled.

By the way, if there is paper stapled with a stapler or the like in the bundle of paper stacked on the tray section 12, the paper conveyed by the conveyance belt 14 and the paper not conveyed among the stapled papers. And the binding portion 13b may be jammed by being caught in the cap or the like. Therefore, the tray unit 12 is provided with a binding unit separating unit that automatically separates the paper conveyed from the bound portion of the paper with the conveyance by the conveyance belt 14.

That is, as shown in FIG. 16, a concave portion 12a is provided at the rear end of the tray portion 12, and the concave portion 12a is provided.
A plurality of fixed separation claws 72 are provided on the bottom surface of the. When the binding paper is present in the paper bundle 13, the lower paper 13c of the binding portion 13b is transported by the transport belt 14, while the upper paper 13d
, The upper and lower papers 13d and 13c enter the recess 12a so as to be entangled, and the warped portion is separated from the separation claw 72.
Caught on In this state, when further transported by the transport belt 14, the upper and lower papers 13d and 13c are
Separated from The reason why the plurality of separation claws 72 are provided before and after is to ensure separation and to cope with a difference in the length of a bundle of paper stacked on the tray unit 12. good.

When the number of paper bundles on the tray 12 decreases, the curled portion of the paper 13d on the side where the binding paper remains (upper side) cannot be pressed down by the weight of the paper stacked thereon, and the separation claw 72 May not be caught. Therefore, in such a case, as shown in FIG. 17, the binding portion 13 near the pressing position by the pressing plate assembly 27 is used.
A separation hole 12b is provided at an intermediate portion of the tray section 12 for hooking and separating.

As another method of separation, as shown in FIG. 18, a movable separation claw 73 is attached to the middle portion of the tray section 12 so as to be able to protrude and retract, and when the number of paper bundles decreases, the separation claw 7 is removed.
3 may be made to protrude from the upper surface of the tray portion 12 by the action of a spring (not shown), and the binding portion 13b may be hooked on this to separate it. In this case, the separation claw 73 can be turned up and down around a fulcrum 74, for example.

[0033]

According to the present invention, even if a bundle of paper to be shredded includes a bundle of paper stapled with a stapler or the like, the bundle of paper is simply stacked on the tray unit and bound when fed to the shredder. Since the parts can be automatically separated, it is not necessary to remove a stapler needle or the like in advance, and the workability of discarding confidential documents is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a use state in which a sheet feeding device according to an example of the present invention is set on a shredder.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an internal structure of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mechanism for interlocking both side guide members and a mechanism for detecting an interval therebetween in the paper feeding apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the pressure plate assembly.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the inside in a cross section of the same.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the same pressurized state.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a gap adjusting mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the paper feeding device.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the internal structure showing that the paper bundle is in a crushed state when there is no auxiliary guide plate.

FIG. 10 is a similar view showing that the paper bundle is further wound than the state of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the internal structure showing that the auxiliary guide plate prevents the situation shown in FIGS. 9 and 10;

FIG. 12 is a side view of the internal structure showing a state where the leading end of the paper bundle has been flipped out from between the cutters.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the movable guide member is opened,
FIG. 4 is a side view of the internal structure showing that the following is prevented.

FIG. 14 is a side view of an internal structure showing an example using a movable guide member different from that of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a similar side view showing a state where the movable guide member is retracted.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a state in which the bound paper is separated by a separation claw fixedly provided in the recess of the tray portion.

FIG. 17 is a side view illustrating a state in which binding paper is separated by a separation hole provided in an intermediate portion of the tray unit.

FIG. 18 is a side view illustrating a state in which binding paper is separated by a movable separation claw provided at an intermediate portion of the tray unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Paper feeder 11 Shredder 11a Slot 12 Tray part 12a Depression 12b Separation hole 13 Paper bundle 14 Conveyor belt 39 Gap 60 Cutter 72 Separation claw 73 Movable separation claw

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B02C 18/00-18/44

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A paper feeder for a shredder for separating a sheet bundle stacked on a tray portion by a separation / conveyance portion and conveying the sheet bundle to an input port of a shredder. A paper feeder for a shredder, wherein a binding part separating means for separating is provided. 2. The paper feeder for a shredder according to claim 1, wherein said binding portion separating means is a separation claw provided in a recess of said tray portion. 3. The paper feeder for a shredder according to claim 1, wherein said binding portion separating means is a separation hole provided in said tray portion. 4. The paper feeder for a shredder according to claim 1, wherein said binding part separating means is a movable separation claw provided so as to be able to protrude and retract from said tray part.