JP3166837B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus using a planetary gear mechanism as a rotation transmission path switching mechanism for distributing the rotational motion of one drive motor to a plurality of functional units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos.
JP-A-230224 discloses a facsimile apparatus. It is also disclosed that a planetary gear mechanism can be used as a rotation transmission path switching mechanism for distributing the rotational motion of one drive motor to a paper feed roller on a printer side or a paper feed roller on a scanner side of a facsimile apparatus. 7-12588
No. 1 publication.

A general planetary gear mechanism is a mechanism in which a planetary gear meshes with a sun gear. When the sun gear rotates, the planetary gear rotates in the opposite direction to the sun gear while rotating in the rotation direction of the sun gear. Revolves in a direction appropriate for. Therefore, in order to configure a rotation transmission path switching mechanism using this planetary gear mechanism, a driven gear that forms the beginning of the rotation transmission path is provided on one or both sides of the planetary gear in the revolving direction, and the driving gear is provided. By switching the rotation direction of the sun gear in the forward or reverse direction by the motor, the planetary gear may be engaged with the driven gear or separated from the driven gear through the revolution of the planetary gear.

[0004]

However, in a planetary gear mechanism, an external gear is used as a sun gear, and a swing arm is attached to the center axis of the sun gear so as to be swingable, and a free end of the swing arm is provided at the free end of the swing arm. If the planetary gear is mounted via a support shaft and the load that prevents the planetary gear from rotating is too small, the planetary gear will rotate when the sun gear rotates, and its revolution will be smooth. As a result, the switching stability of the rotation transmission path cannot be obtained.

In order to solve this problem, a leaf spring is sandwiched between the free end of the swing arm and a predetermined position in the circumferential direction of the planetary gear, and the elasticity of the leaf spring causes a certain small load on the planetary gear. May be given. However, in such a case, the load of the leaf spring is applied to only one location in the circumferential direction of the planetary gear, and the planetary gear receives an eccentric load, thereby impairing the stability of rotation when the planetary gear meshes with the driven gear. May be Also, in order to prevent the displacement of the leaf spring sandwiched between the free end of the swing arm and the planetary gear, a fixed portion of the leaf spring must be provided on the swing arm side. Is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and problems. Even though a planetary gear mechanism is used as the rotation transmission path switching mechanism, the rotation transmission path can be stably switched by the revolution of the planetary gear. By improving the performance of the planetary gears and at the same time, by taking measures to make it more difficult for the eccentric load to be applied to the planetary gears, the rotation transmission that does not impair the rotation stability of the planetary gears meshing with the driven gear forming the beginning of the rotation transmission path An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus provided with a path switching mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus having a rotation transmission path switching mechanism that does not complicate the structure of the swing arm of the planetary gear mechanism.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus including a rotation transmission path switching mechanism for distributing the rotation of one drive motor to four functional units, and the rotation transmission path switching mechanism is provided with a rotation transmission path switching mechanism. A sun gear driven by the drive motor, a first swing arm and a second swing arm made of synthetic resin, which are swingably attached to a center axis of the sun gear, and a swing arm of each of these swing arms. A first planetary gear and a second planetary gear rotatably mounted on bearing holes provided at respective free ends via a support shaft and meshing with the sun gear, and are provided on both sides in the revolving direction of the first planetary gear. A pair of driven gears that form the respective start portions of the rotation transmission paths for the other two functional units and can mesh with the first planetary gear, and are disposed on both sides in the revolving direction of the second planetary gear. Each other different One of forming a respective initial part of the rotation transmission path to the functional unit and the facsimile apparatus comprising the said other pair of driven gears that can be meshing with the second planetary gears
Oite, the first fitting to the shaft corresponding to the planet gears engaged the coil spring is sandwiched between the free end and the first planetary gear of the first swing arm in a compressed state, the second
A coil spring fitted to a support shaft corresponding to the planetary gear is sandwiched in a compressed state between the free end of the second swing arm and the second planetary gear, and the first and second planetary gears .
On both sides of the fitting part of each support shaft corresponding to
A flange-shaped surface having a diameter larger than the fitting portion of the first swing arm is provided.
Of the support shaft fitted into this bearing hole
It can be inserted and removed in the radial direction with respect to the fitting part.
Guide holes smaller than the second swing arm
Fitting of the spindle fitted in the bearing hole to the bearing hole
Can be inserted and removed in the radial direction with respect to the diameter of the fitting part.
Small guide holes are continuously provided .

With this configuration, a constant load is applied to the planetary gear by the return force of the coil spring, so that when the sun gear rotates, the planetary gear does not revolve without rotating, and this does not occur. This is useful for improving the switching stability of the rotation transmission path due to the revolution of the planetary gear. In addition, since the coil spring is fitted to the support shaft supporting the planetary gear, the return force of the coil spring is uniformly applied to the entire circumference of the planetary gear, so that an unbalanced load is not easily applied to the planetary gear. . Therefore, the rotation stability of the planetary gear when the planetary gear meshes with the driven gear is improved. Further, since the coil spring is externally fitted to the support shaft supporting the planetary gear, the position of the coil spring is determined by the support shaft. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a special fixing portion to the swing arm in order to position the coil spring.

In a facsimile machine,
As a functional part that distributes the rotational motion of one drive motor,
There are a transmission section with a paper feed roller, a reception section and a copy section, and a recording paper cutting section with a cutter operating shaft.
One of the rather the rotational movement of the drive motor and desirable has to be distributed to the functional unit, according to the above arrangement, 4
The transmitter, receiver, copy unit, record
Sorted into paper cutting sections and one drive module for each functional section
It is possible to distribute the rotation of the data.

Further, elasticity specific to the synthetic resin is given to the free end of the swing arm where the bearing hole and the guide hole are provided. Therefore, by using the guide hole of the swing arm, the bearing shaft can be attached to the bearing hole of the swing arm simply by radially inserting the bearing hole into the fitting portion of the spindle on which the planetary gear is mounted. become able to. In addition, when the support shaft is attached to the bearing hole of the swing arm, the support shaft is reliably positioned in the axial direction by the flange-shaped surfaces on both sides of the support shaft.

[0012]

1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a planetary gear mechanism employed in a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 3 is a rotation transmission path switching mechanism. FIG.

The rotation transmission path switching mechanism shown in FIG. 3 is an example of a rotation transmission path switching mechanism employed in a facsimile apparatus having four functional units, a transmitting unit, a receiving unit, a copying unit, and a recording paper cutting unit. In the rotation transmission path switching mechanism shown in the figure, a drive gear 2 is fixed to a rotation shaft 1 of one drive motor M that can rotate forward and backward. Further, a planetary gear mechanism used in the rotation transmission path switching mechanism includes a sun gear 4 provided coaxially with a large-diameter main gear 3 meshed with the drive gear 2, and a center shaft 5 of the sun gear 4. A first swing arm 6 and a second swing arm 7 that are swingably mounted on the sun gear 4 and a free end of the first swing arm 6 that is rotatably mounted via a support shaft 8. A first planetary gear 9 meshing with the second planetary gear 11 rotatably attached to the free end of the second swing arm 7 via a support shaft 10 and meshing with the sun gear 4;
And is formed by.

In this planetary gear mechanism, meshing portions of the first planetary gear 9 and the second planetary gear 11 with the sun gear 4 are distributed on both sides of the center shaft 5.
Then, one side of the revolving direction A of the first planetary gear 9 (the positive direction A
1), a first driven gear 12 forming a start portion of a rotation transmission path leading to a paper feed roller (not shown) of a receiving unit is provided, and a recording paper cutting unit of the other side (reverse direction A2 side) is provided. A second driven gear 13 that forms a start of a rotation transmission path that leads to a cutter operating shaft (not shown) is provided. On the other hand, on one side of the second planetary gear 11 in the revolving direction B (the positive direction B1 side), a third driven gear 14 that forms a start portion of a rotation transmission path connected to a feed roller (not shown) of the transmission unit is provided. , On the other side (reverse direction B2 side), a paper feed roller (not shown) of the copy section
Driven gear 1 forming the beginning of a rotation transmission path leading to
5 are deployed.

In the above planetary gear mechanism, the driving motor M
When the rotation of the rotary shaft 1 in the positive direction is transmitted to the main gear 3 via the drive gear 2, the sun gear 4 rotates in the positive direction. Conversely, when the rotation of the rotation shaft 1 of the drive motor M in the opposite direction is transmitted to the main gear 3 via the drive gear 2, the sun gear 4 rotates in the opposite direction. Then, when the first planetary gear 9 revolves in the positive direction A1 by the rotation of the sun gear 4 in the positive direction and meshes with the first driven gear 12, the first planetary gear 9 starts to rotate at that position. Is transmitted from the first driven gear 12 to the paper feed roller of the receiving unit. Further, when the first planetary gear 9 revolves in the reverse direction A2 and meshes with the second driven gear 13 due to the rotation of the sun gear 4 in the reverse direction, the first planetary gear 9 rotates at that position and rotates. Is transmitted from the second driven gear 13 to the cutter operating shaft of the recording paper cutting section. On the other hand, the rotation of the sun gear 4 in the forward direction causes the second planetary gear 11 to move in the forward direction B1.
When the second planetary gear 11 revolves and meshes with the third driven gear 14, the second planetary gear 11 starts to rotate at that position, and the rotation is transmitted from the third driven gear 14 to the feed roller of the transmission unit. The rotation of the sun gear 4 in the reverse direction causes the second planetary gear 11 to rotate.
Revolves in the reverse direction B2 and meshes with the fourth driven gear 15, the second planetary gear 11 starts rotating at that position, and the rotation is transmitted from the fourth driven gear 15 to the feed roller of the copy section.

The planetary gear mechanism includes a first stopper mechanism 21 for positioning the first planetary gear 9 at a neutral position that does not mesh with any of the first and second driven gears 12 and 13, and a second stopper mechanism 21. A second stopper mechanism 22 for positioning the first planetary gear 9 meshed with the driven gear 13 at the position,
A third stopper mechanism 23 for positioning the second planetary gear 11 so as not to mesh with the fourth driven gear 15, a fourth stopper mechanism 24 for regulating the relative positional relationship between the first planetary gear 9 and the second planetary gear 11, Is attached. The first stopper mechanism 21 is a combination of a U-shaped engaging portion 33 of a lever 32 that is swingably attached to the shaft 31 and a projecting portion 34 provided integrally with the first swing arm 6. The second stopper mechanism 22 is formed by a combination of a tip portion 35 of the lever 32 and an engaging portion 36 formed on the projecting portion 34. The third stopper mechanism 23 includes a protrusion 37 provided integrally with the lever 32 and an engagement piece 38 provided on the second swing arm 7.
Combination with The fourth stopper mechanism 24 is formed by a combination of an engaging portion 39 and an engaged portion 40 provided at respective base portions of the first swing arm 6 and the second swing arm 7. The positions of the lever 32 and the protrusion 37 are controlled by a tension coil spring 41 and a solenoid 42.
The operations of the first to third stopper mechanisms 21 to 23 are controlled by the state of the solenoid 42 when operating an operation key provided on the front panel of the facsimile machine. In addition, the first to fourth stopper mechanisms 21 to
Since the detailed configuration and operation of 24 deviate from the scope of the object of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second swing arm 7 has a cylindrical portion 51 at its base which is slidably and rotatably fitted on the center shaft 5 of the sun gear 4. And a bearing hole 52 at its free end.
Is provided with a guide hole 53. Therefore, the bearing hole 52 is connected to the second swing arm 7 through the guide hole 53.
Open toward the tip of On the other hand, the support shaft 10 is formed integrally with the second planetary gear 11, has a small-diameter fitting portion 54 at an intermediate portion in the axial direction, and has a fitting portion 54 on both sides of the fitting portion 54. A flange-shaped surface 55 larger in diameter than the joint 54,
56 are provided. Here, the width dimension a of the guide hole 53 is slightly smaller than the diameter dimension d of the fitting part 54. Therefore, if the second swing arm 7 is formed of a synthetic resin and its free end is provided with elasticity peculiar to the synthetic resin, the bearing hole 52 is formed using the guide hole 53.
The support shaft 10 can be attached to the bearing hole 52 of the second swing arm 7 only by inserting the support shaft 10 into the fitting portion 54 of the support shaft 10 in the radial direction. The shaft 10 is reliably positioned in the axial direction by the flange-shaped surfaces 55 and 56 on both sides thereof. Also, the support shaft 10
When the bearing hole 52 is removed from the support shaft 10, the bearing hole 52 may be pulled out radially outward from the fitting portion 54 of the support shaft 10 using the guide hole 53.

Similarly, the first swing arm 6 has a cylindrical portion at its base which is slidably and rotatably fitted to the center shaft 5 of the sun gear 4 and a bearing hole at its free end. Part 6
The bearing hole 62 is provided with a guide hole 63 (see FIG. 1). Although not shown, the support shaft 8 is formed integrally with the first planetary gear 9,
A small diameter fitting portion is provided at an intermediate portion in the axial direction, and flange-shaped surfaces having a larger diameter than the fitting portion are provided on both sides of the fitting portion. The width of the guide hole 63 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the fitting portion. Accordingly, if the first swing arm 6 is formed of synthetic resin and its elastic end is given a unique elasticity to its free end, the bearing hole 62 of the support shaft 8 is formed using the guide hole 63. The support shaft 8 can be attached to the bearing hole 62 of the first swing arm 6 only by inserting the support shaft 8 in the fitting portion in the radial direction. The flange-shaped surface ensures reliable positioning in the axial direction.

1 and 2, reference numeral 71 denotes a coil spring. The coil spring 71 is fitted to the support shaft 10 of the second planetary gear 11 and is positioned at that position, and is located between the free end of the second swing arm 7 and the second planetary gear 11 in a compressed state. Is sandwiched between. Although not shown, a coil spring is similarly fitted on the support shaft 8 of the first planetary gear 9 and positioned at that position on the first planetary gear 9 side, and the first swinging motion is performed in a compressed state. It is sandwiched between the free end of the arm 6 and the first planetary gear 9.

Therefore, a constant load is applied to the second planetary gear 11 by the return force of the coil spring 71, and when the sun gear 4 rotates, the second planetary gear 1
The situation in which 1 does not revolve but rotates on its own does not occur. Therefore, the switching stability of the rotation transmission path due to the revolution of the second planetary gear 11 is improved. Also, the coil spring 71
Is fitted to the support shaft 10 supporting the second planetary gear 11, the return force of the coil spring 71 is uniformly applied to the entire circumference of the second planetary gear 11, and the second planetary gear 11 This makes it difficult for the eccentric load to be applied to the second planetary gear 11, and the rotation stability of the second planetary gear 11 when the second planetary gear 11 meshes with the third driven gear 14 and the fourth planetary gear 15 is also improved. A similar effect is exerted by the coil spring on the first planetary gear 9 side. When both ends 72 and 73 of the coil spring 71 are bent inward in the axial direction as shown in FIG.
Since there is no risk of being caught on the first or second swing arm 7,
There is no danger that the ends 72 and 73 will be caught and the rotation stability of the second planetary gear 11 will be impaired. The same applies to the coil spring on the first planetary gear 9 side.

In the embodiment described above, the first and second swing arms 6 and 7 are attached to the center shaft 5 of the sun gear 4, and the first and second planetary gears are respectively attached to the swing arms 6 and 7. Although the case where 9 and 11 are attached has been described, the present invention also includes a case where only one swing arm is used and one or two planetary gears are attached to the swing arm.

[0022]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the switching stability of the rotation transmission path by the rotation transmission path switching mechanism employing the planetary gear mechanism is improved, and at the same time, the driven gear forming the start of the rotation transmission path. The rotation stability of the planetary gear meshing with is improved. Another advantage is that the structure of the swing arm of the planetary gear mechanism is simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a planetary gear mechanism employed in a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a rotation transmission path switching mechanism.

[Description of Signs] 4 Sun gear 5 Center shaft 6 First swing arm 7 Second swing arm 8,10 Support shaft 9 First planetary gear 11 Second planetary gear 12,13,14,15 Follower gear 53 Guide hole 54 Fitting part 55, 56 Flange surface 62, 52 Bearing hole 71 Coil spring A, B Revolution direction M Drive motor a Width of guide hole d Diameter of fitting part

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-223353 (JP, A) JP-A-5-294525 (JP, A) JP-A-63-155862 (JP, A) JP-A-5-170346 (JP) JP-A-5-193807 (JP, A) JP-A-6-24602 (JP, A) JP-A-7-125881 (JP, A) JP-A-7-230224 (JP, A) 10-35964 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/00 108

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotation transmission path switching mechanism for distributing the rotational motion of one drive motor to four functional units, the rotation transmission path switching mechanism comprising a sun gear driven by the drive motor, and a sun gear A first swing arm and a second swing arm made of a synthetic resin, which are swingably attached to the center axis of the swing arm, and a support shaft provided in a bearing hole provided at a free end of each of these swing arms. A first planetary gear and a second planetary gear that are rotatably mounted via the sun gear and mesh with the sun gear; and a rotation transmission path that is provided on both sides in the revolving direction of the first planetary gear and is provided for two different functional units. A pair of driven gears that form a start portion and can mesh with the first planetary gear; and a rotation transmission path that is provided on both sides in the revolving direction of the second planetary gear and is connected to the other two functional units. Only form the beginning of Facsimile apparatus comprising: a pair of driven gears that can mesh with the second planetary gear.
Te, the first fitting to the shaft corresponding to the planet gears engaged the coil spring is sandwiched between the free end and the first planetary gear of the first swing arm in a compressed state, the second planetary gear together it is fitted a coil spring corresponding spindle is sandwiched between the free end and the second planetary gears of the second swing arm in a compressed state, the first and second planetary gears Fitting of each support shaft corresponding to each
A flange-shaped surface with a diameter larger than the fitting portion is provided on both sides of the portion,
The first swing arm is fitted into the bearing hole,
Can be inserted and removed in the radial direction
A guide hole smaller than the diameter of the joint is continuously provided,
The bearing arm of the swing arm is fitted into this bearing hole.
Can be inserted and removed in the radial direction with respect to the fitting part of the support shaft.
A facsimile apparatus characterized in that guide holes smaller than the diameter dimension of the facsimile are continuously provided .