JP4035369B2 - Sheet material feeding apparatus and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a printing apparatus, a facsimile machine, a scanner, an image forming apparatus, an image reading apparatus, and the like. The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device and a recording device for separating and feeding materials or sheets one by one.
[0002]
[Prior art]
This type of sheet material feeding apparatus is provided with a double feed prevention mechanism for preventing two or more sheet materials from being simultaneously fed in order to separate and feed the sheet materials one by one at a predetermined position. Yes.
[0003]
Conventionally, as a sheet material feeding device provided with a double feed prevention mechanism, a retard roller method using a roller that is forcibly rotated in a direction opposite to the sheet material conveyance direction via a torque limiter, or a return lever is provided. There are known a return lever system in which a return lever is operated to transport a leading end of a sheet material to a predetermined position every time a predetermined number of sheets are conveyed, and a configuration in which both systems are combined.
[0004]
In the return lever system, for example, as in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-181904, the feeding roller is rotated in the forward direction of the sheet material conveying direction via the drive source of the sheet material feeding device. Then, the feeding operation is performed, and after the feeding roller is rotated once to complete the feeding operation, the driving source is rotated in the reverse direction to operate the return lever to return the leading end of the sheet material to a predetermined position.
[0005]
Further, as in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-167502 as a method in which the retard roller and the return lever are combined, the sheet material stacking means is fed during the feeding operation to feed the placed sheet material. When pressing in the direction to release the contact with the roller, it is linked to this, and substantially simultaneously when the retard roller that is forced to rotate in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the sheet material via the feeding roller and the torque limiter is separated, There is a configuration in which the return lever is operated to return the front end of the sheet material to a predetermined position.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional example, there are some restrictions for operating the mechanism for preventing the double feeding of the sheet material.
[0007]
In other words, in a sheet material feeding apparatus configured to use a retard roller, a torque limiter that maintains an appropriate release torque is used, and the roller must always be reversed during the feeding operation, which complicates the mechanism. This has led to an increase in the size and cost of the device. In addition, since the return lever operation is performed after a series of feeding operations is completed, it is necessary to provide a return lever operating time separately from the feeding operation, and there is a tendency that the operation time for preventing double feeding tends to be longer. It was.
[0008]
The object of the present invention is to reliably prevent double feeding of sheet materials with a simple configuration, which does not increase the size of the apparatus or significantly increase the cost, and further eliminates complicated control and prevents double feeding. Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet material feeding apparatus and a recording apparatus capable of shortening the operation time related to the above.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a sheet material feeding device of the present invention includes a sheet material stacking unit for stacking sheet materials,
The sheet material loaded on the sheet material loading unit In the sheet material conveyance path A feeding roller for feeding,
A separation roller that rotates following the feeding roller and separates the sheet material;
A separation roller holder that rotatably holds the separation roller, and moves the separation roller to a position in contact with the feeding roller and a position spaced from the feeding roller;
Entering the sheet material conveyance path A return means for returning a sheet material other than the sheet material separated by the separation roller toward the sheet material stacking unit;
With When the separation roller is separated from the feeding roller, the return means enters the sheet material conveyance path. The separation roller is moved from a position in contact with the feeding roller to a position separated from the feeding roller after the return means starts moving.
[0010]
In the sheet material feeding device, it is preferable that the separation roller includes a torque limiter. Further, the separation roller is used as the feeding roller. Energizing It is preferable to provide an urging means for doing so. Also, the feeding roller and the sheet material stacking Part It is preferable that the separation roller abuts on the feeding roller on the downstream side of the position where the abutment abuts.
[0011]
In the above sheet material feeding device, It is preferable that the separation roller holder is rotated to move the separation roller to a position where the separation roller comes into contact with the feeding roller and a position separated from the feeding roller. Of the separation roller holder rotation It is preferable that the center is on a substantially extended line in the traveling direction of the sheet material conveyed toward the outer peripheral surface of the separation roller by the feeding roller. In this case, when the separation roller comes into contact with the feeding roller, the separation roller holder rotation It is preferable that a straight line connecting the center and the central axis of the separating roller is substantially parallel to a tangent line of the feeding roller passing through a nip portion between the feeding roller and the separating roller.
[0012]
Further, in the sheet material feeding device, it is preferable that the feeding roller has a shape in which a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder is a flat surface. Sheet material loading Part Is preferably in contact with or separated from the feeding roller, and further the sheet material stacking Part It is preferable to load the sheet material at an angle of 30 ° to 90 ° with respect to the horizontal plane.
[0013]
In the invention as described above, the first sheet material from the stacking position where a bundle of a plurality of sheet materials is stacked is rotated by the rotation of the feed roller, and the torque does not have the driving source biased to the feed roller. By adopting a configuration that feeds through a separation roller with a limiter, it is possible to easily duplicate the system without increasing the size or cost of the device without using a complicated mechanism like the retard roller method. Can be prevented.
[0014]
Further, the operation of returning the subsequent sheet material to the stacking position of the plurality of sheet material bundles accompanying the feeding of the first sheet material is the driving operation of the returning means during the one-way one-turn feeding operation of the feeding roller. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the feeding operation time related to prevention of double feeding while not causing the complicated control of reversing the driving source of the feeding roller.
[0015]
Furthermore, the rotation center of the separation roller holder that holds the separation roller is located in the vicinity of the extension line of the sheet material track that hits the outer periphery of the separation roller, and a line connecting the rotation center and the rotation axis of the separation roller is By being arranged at a position parallel to the tangent line of the feed roller that passes through the nip between the feed roller and the separation roller, the sheet material can be stably stabilized with a stable separation pressure without causing the sheet material to be caught. Separation can be performed.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the sheet material feeding device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the sheet material feeding device of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic side sectional view showing an embodiment of the sheet material feeding device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the embodiment of the sheet material feeding device of the invention.
[0018]
1 to 4, a sheet material feeding device (also referred to as “auto sheet feeder (ASF)”) of the present embodiment conveys a sheet material (for example, a sheet) such as a recording material, a copying material, and a document. A feeding roller 11 as a single rotary feeding body, a feeding shaft 10 that supports and rotates the feeding roller 11, a separation roller 12 with a torque limiter 12a for separating the sheet material, and a multi-feed of the sheet material A return lever 13 for prevention, a return lever control cam 14 for driving the return lever 13, an ASF base 15 as a frame of the sheet material feeding device, and a pressure plate on which the sheet material is placed and pressed toward the feeding roller 11 side 16, a side guide 17 that positions a side portion of the sheet material in a direction that intersects the conveyance direction of the sheet material, and a feeding roller 18 that prevents the sheet material from contacting the feeding roller 11.
[0019]
First, this sheet material feeding device is designed on the assumption that it is used in an integrated manner with other devices such as printers, copiers, printing devices, facsimiles, scanners and other recording devices, image forming devices, and image reading devices. The sheet material feeder itself does not have a drive source. Therefore, the sheet material feeding device is a driven device that is driven by being transmitted from the recording device side (hereinafter abbreviated as a main body), for example. For example, a recording apparatus that includes the sheet material feeding device of the present invention and records recording information on a recording sheet includes an ink jet recording unit that performs recording by ejecting ink from a nozzle onto a sheet material. Is preferred.
[0020]
Next, the sheet material feeding apparatus according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into a sheet material stacking unit, a feeding / separating unit, and a multifeed preventing unit.
[0021]
[Sheet material loading section]
The sheet material stacking unit uses a sheet material conveyance reference portion 15a provided protruding from a part of the ASF base 15 as a positioning reference for the side portion of the sheet material in a direction intersecting the sheet material conveyance direction, It consists of a side guide 17 for regulating the sheet material side portion opposite to the sheet material conveyance reference portion 15a. In a so-called standby state where the operation state of the sheet material feeding apparatus is not being conveyed, the pressure plate 16 is fixed at a predetermined position in a direction away from the feeding roller 11, and in that case, the feeding roller 11 and the pressure plate 16 There is sufficient space between them to stack a plurality of sheet materials.
[0022]
Since this sheet material feeding device is designed to be adapted to a sheet material of an arbitrary size that falls within a predetermined width range, a plurality of sheet materials are arranged along the sheet material conveyance reference portion 15a in the gap. After loading, the side guide 17 is moved in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 to match the width of the sheet material, whereby the sheet material bundle set in the sheet material stacking section intersects the sheet material conveyance direction. The movement to is restricted and stable conveyance becomes possible. The side guide 17 is slidably attached to the pressure plate 16 but can be fixed by engaging with a latch groove formed in the pressure plate 16 so as not to move carelessly. Therefore, when the side guide 17 is moved, the lever portion provided on the side guide 17 is operated to release the latch and move it.
[0023]
The placed sheet material descends downward due to gravity, but the leading end of the sheet material abuts against the sheet material leading end reference portion 15 b fixedly provided on the ASF base 15. The sheet material stacking angle on the ASF base 15 is preferably 30 ° to 90 ° with respect to the horizontal plane in order to realize stable feeding of the sheet material. In this embodiment, in order to reduce the load at the time of feeding the sheet material, the sheet material tip reference portion 15b has a rib shape.
[0024]
The pressure plate 16 has a center of rotation at the upper end and can be rotated. The operation is controlled by a spring and a cam, and is urged to rotate by a pressure plate spring 19 in the direction of the feed roller 11 and in a direction away from the feed roller 11 described above, a feed shaft gear 22 which will be described later. When the pressure plate 16 is pushed, the cam provided on the forcible is forcibly rotated. The sheet material feeding operation is performed by performing the urging / separating operation described above at a predetermined timing described later.
[0025]
[Feeding / separation section]
The aforementioned pressure plate operates at a predetermined timing, and the bundle of sheet materials placed on the sheet material stacking unit is pressed by the feeding roller 11. Since the feeding roller 11 is rotationally driven while being pressed, the uppermost sheet material of the sheet material bundle in contact with the feeding roller 11 is conveyed by the frictional force of the feeding roller 11. Thus, since the feeding roller 11 is conveyed by the frictional force, the friction coefficient of the sheet material such as EPDM (ethylene / propylene / diene copolymer) having a hardness of about 20 ° to 40 ° (A scale) is used as a material. It is preferable to use rubber having a higher coefficient of friction or urethane foam.
[0026]
Next, the driving mechanism of the feeding / separating unit will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0027]
The driving mechanism of the feeding / separating unit is fixed to the ASF input gear 20 that receives driving from the main body side gear, the ASF double gear 21 that engages with the ASF input gear 20 and transmits driving to the next stage, and the feeding shaft 10. The relative positions of the feed shaft gear 22 for driving transmission, the ASF control gear 23 for controlling the return roller 13 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a, and the return lever 13 and the return lever control cam 14 are urged in one direction. A return lever spring 24, a separation roller pressing spring 25 that presses the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a in the direction of the feeding roller 11, and a separation roller holder 26 that rotatably supports the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a. Is provided.
[0028]
The driving force transmitted from the gear on the main body side rotates the ASF input gear 20 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. The driving force is transmitted to the feed shaft gear 22 while being decelerated via the ASF double gear 21 to rotate the feed shaft gear 22 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Further, the driving force is transmitted to the ASF control gear 23. However, since the feed shaft gear 22 and the ASF control gear 23 are connected at a reduction ratio of 1: 1, they always rotate at a synchronized angular phase. A cam 23a is formed on one side of the ASF control gear 23, and the cam follower portion of the return lever control cam 14 urged by the return lever spring 24 always follows the cam 23a of the ASF control gear 23. The control cam 14 is driven and controlled in synchronization with the feed shaft 10.
[0029]
Further, a separation roller control cam 27 (to be described later) is driven by a cam (not shown) provided on the side surface of the ASF control gear 23 opposite to the cam 23a, and the position of the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is set to the feed shaft. Drive control is performed in synchronism with 10. That is, the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is rotatably held by the separation roller holder 26, but the separation roller holder 26 itself is also rotatably supported with a rotation center (not shown), By the action of the spring 25, the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is urged in the direction of the feeding roller 11. In order to release this urging at a predetermined timing, which will be described later, and to separate the separating roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a from the feeding roller 11, the driving is controlled by the separating roller control cam 27 described above.
[0030]
The above is the configuration of the drive mechanism of the feeding / separating unit. The configuration of the feeding / separating unit will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0031]
The uppermost sheet material of the stack of stacked sheet materials is conveyed by the feeding roller 11, but basically the frictional force between the feeding roller 11 and the uppermost sheet material is the highest. In many cases, the frictional force between the sheet material and the sheet material immediately below the sheet material is larger than that of the sheet material. However, for example, when there is a burr at the edge of the sheet material that can be formed when cutting the sheet material, when there is sticking between the sheet materials due to static electricity, or when using a sheet material with a very large surface friction coefficient In some cases, a plurality of sheet materials may be pulled out at a time by the feeding roller 11. At that time, in the present embodiment, only the uppermost sheet material is separated by the following method.
[0032]
The separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is pressed against the feeding roller 11 so that the feeding roller 11 and the sheet material are in contact with each other on the downstream side in the conveyance direction from the point where the sheet material first contacts. The separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a itself is rotatably held with respect to the separation roller holder 26, and is not actively driven to rotate.
[0033]
However, the fixed support shaft 12a1 of the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is fixed to the separation roller holder 26, and is made of metal or plastic between the fixed support shaft 12a1 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a. The coil spring 12a2 is housed, and initially the coil spring 12a2 fastens the fixed support shaft 12a1, but the coil is formed when the separation roller 12 rotates to a predetermined angle and the coil spring 12a2 becomes loose with respect to the fixed support shaft 12a1. The spring 12a2 and the fixed support shaft 12a1 are configured to slide relative to each other so as to maintain a predetermined torque necessary for rotating the separation roller 12 (see FIG. 9, in particular, this figure includes a torque limiter 12a). In sectional drawing showing the structure of the separation roller 12, the coil spring 12a2 is loosened with respect to the fixed support shaft 12a1. It shows the state.).
[0034]
Further, the separation roller 12 has a high friction coefficient such as EPDM (ethylene / propylene / diene copolymer) having a hardness of about 20 ° to 40 ° (A scale) so as to have the same friction coefficient as the feeding roller 11. It is composed of rubber, foamed urethane, etc.
[0035]
With such a configuration, when there is no sheet material between the feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a, the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is driven as the feeding roller 11 rotates. Rotate.
[0036]
Further, when one sheet material enters between the feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a, the frictional force between the feeding roller 11 and the sheet material is greater than the torque limiter. Since the separation roller 12 with 12a is larger than the friction force between the separation roller 12 driven with a predetermined torque by the action of the separation roller 12 and the sheet material, the sheet material is conveyed while the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is driven.
[0037]
However, when two sheet materials enter between the feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a, the frictional force between the feeding roller 11 and the sheet material on the feeding roller side. Is larger than the friction force between the sheet materials, and similarly, the friction force between the sheet material on the separation roller side and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a is larger than the friction force between the sheet materials, The force acting on the torque limiter of the separation roller 12 overcomes the frictional force between the sheet materials, causing slippage between the sheet materials. As a result, only the sheet material on the feeding roller 11 side is conveyed, and the sheet material on the separation roller 12 side is not conveyed.
[0038]
In the sheet material feeding device of the present embodiment, the separation roller 12 is moved in the transport direction from the point that the sheet material is pressed against the feeding roller 11 by the pressure plate 16 and the sheet material first contacts the feeding roller 11. It is pressed by the feeding roller 11 at a downstream position as viewed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10A, the leading edge of the uppermost sheet material that has started to be fed by the rotation of the feeding roller 11 in a state where the separation roller 12 is pressed against the feeding roller 11 is straight. When the process proceeds to step S4, the outer periphery of the separation roller 26 is hit. Then, the sheet material that hits the outer periphery of the separation roller 12 is rotated into the nip portion between the feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 as shown in FIG. Led.
[0039]
10A and 10B, the rotation center 26a of the separation roller holder 26 is located in the vicinity of the extension line L1 of the track at the tip of the sheet material facing the outer periphery of the separation roller 26. For this reason, even if the sheet material hits the outer periphery of the separation roller 12, the force applied to the separation roller 12 by this sheet material is not so much applied in the direction in which the separation roller holder 26 is rotated. The contact pressure of 12 is not greatly reduced. For this reason, the separation roller 12 is driven and rotated by the feeding roller 11 well until the sheet material enters the nip portion, and the sheet material is guided to the nip portion without being caught.
[0040]
Further, the rotation center 26a of the separation roller holder 26 is parallel to the tangent line of the feed roller 11 passing through the nip X between the feed roller 11 and the separation roller 12 as shown in FIG. Is disposed at a position on a line L2 passing through the rotation axis Y. Therefore, the rotational force in the direction in which the separation roller holder 26 is difficult to feed is not applied. For this reason, the separation roller 12 can be pressed against the feeding roller 11 with a stable pressing force even though the sheet traveling direction is different before and after the nip portion, and a stable separation pressure can be obtained.
[0041]
The above is the outline of the separation unit using the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a.
[0042]
[Double feed prevention section]
As described above, even if two sheet materials enter the nip between the feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12a in contact therewith, it is possible to separate them. After the number of sheets has entered, or two sheet materials have entered and only the sheet material on the feeding roller side has been transported, let's continue feeding the next sheet material while leaving the sheet material near the nip. In such a case, there is a possibility that so-called multi-feeding of sheet materials, in which a plurality of sheet materials are simultaneously conveyed, may occur. In order to prevent this, a double feed prevention unit is provided.
[0043]
The double feed prevention unit includes the return lever control cam 14 and the return lever 13 in the drive mechanism of the feeding / separating unit described above. The return lever control cam 14 is provided coaxially at one end of the return lever 13 to control the return lever. The return lever 13 can be rotated by rotating the cam 14 in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
[0044]
As described above, the return lever 13 operates in synchronization with the rotation of the ASF control gear 23 as described in the configuration of the drive mechanism of the feeding / separating unit. The basic operation will be described below. 5 to 8 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the return lever 13 when the sheet material is fed.
[0045]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the feeding roller 11 has a D shape (a shape obtained by cutting a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body into a plane) when viewed from the direction along the rotation axis. After the leading end of the fed sheet material is gripped on the main body side during one rotation, the cut surface 11a of the feeding roller 11 faces the separation roller 12 side with a torque limiter to create a gap, that is, The second half of the sheet material passes through the gap in a state where the roller surface of the feeding roller 11 does not contact the sheet material. At this time, since the entire sheet material conveyance path is bent in a dogleg shape, the sheet material P tends to be wound around the roller surface of the feeding roller 11 due to the rigidity of the sheet material. The feeding roller 11 having a large coefficient comes into contact with the sheet material, resulting in a large friction load (back tension) with respect to the conveying force of the conveying means (not shown) on the main body.
[0046]
In order to prevent this, in the vicinity of the feeding roller 11 of the feeding shaft 10, a feeding roller 18 having a low friction coefficient and being easily driven is provided. Thus, after the sheet material being fed is gripped on the main body side, an imaginary line in contact with the feeding roller 18 becomes the sheet material conveyance path X (thick line in FIG. 5).
[0047]
Further, the operation of the return lever 13 synchronized with one rotation of the feeding roller 11 will be described. FIG. 6 is a partial side view for explaining the drive timing of the return lever 13.
[0048]
FIG. 6A shows a state of waiting for feeding, and the state shown in FIG. When feeding starts from this state, the return lever control cam 14 is accompanied by the rotation of the ASF control gear 23 (in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 6A) synchronized with the rotation of the feeding shaft 10 of the feeding roller. The cam follower portion 14b of the ASF control gear 23 is disengaged from the cam 23a (FIG. 6B), and the return lever 13 provided integrally with the return lever control cam 14 is biased by the return lever spring 24 shown in FIG. Rotates in the sheet material conveyance direction (in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 6B), and retreats from the sheet material conveyance path X (FIG. 6C). At this time, the protrusion 14a of the return lever control cam 14 comes into contact with the flange portion 23b of the ASF control gear 23 and the return lever control cam 14 stops rotating, whereby the retracted position of the return lever 13 is determined. This state is shown in FIG.
[0049]
When the return lever 13 is completely retracted from the sheet material conveying path X, the fixing of the pressure plate 16 is released, the pressure plate 16 is urged toward the feeding roller 11 by the pressure plate spring 19, and the uppermost of the stacked sheet material bundles is loaded. The sheet material is pressed against the feeding roller 11. When the pressure contact is made, feeding of the sheet material is started.
[0050]
After that, when the sheet material is held or gripped on the main body side and co-conveyed with the feeding roller 11, the feeding operation enters the double feeding preventing operation, and the pressure plate 16 is pushed away from the feeding roller 11. . When the pressure plate 16 is separated, the pressure contact of the uppermost sheet material to the feeding roller 11 is released, so that the conveying force of the sheet material decreases. Immediately after this, the cut surface 11a of the feeding roller 11 starts to face the pressure plate portion. However, since the separation roller 12 and the feeding roller 11 are still in pressure contact, the conveyance is continued.
[0051]
Furthermore, when the feeding roller 11 continues to rotate and the ASF control gear 23 rotates a predetermined amount from the state of FIG. 6A as shown in FIG. 6D, the cam 23a of the ASF control gear 23 returns it. The cam follower portion 14b of the lever control cam 14 is rotated in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 6D, and the return lever 13 is rotated in the direction of arrow F in FIG.
[0052]
When the return lever 13 starts to rotate in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 6D, the separation roller control cam 27 is driven by a cam (not shown) provided on the surface opposite to the cam 23a of the ASF control gear 23. By the action of the separation roller control cam 27, the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter 12 a is separated from the feeding roller 11 side against the urging force of the separation roller pressing spring 25. For this reason, the pressure contact force of the separation roller 12 to the feeding roller 11 disappears, and the sheet material holding force on the sheet material feeding apparatus side is lost. However, the sheet material is held on the main body side.
[0053]
Then, at the timing when the sheet material holding force is lost, the leading end portion of the return lever 13 starts to enter the sheet material conveyance path X as will be described later, and one or more next-stage sheets that have entered the separation portion. The front end of the sheet material is held and returned to the predetermined sheet material front end reference 15b, and the standby state shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 7 is restored. Therefore, the return lever 13 can prevent the next plurality of sheet materials from being lowered due to the feeding of the uppermost sheet material.
[0054]
In addition, in FIG. 5, the locus | trajectory of the front-end | tip 13a of a return lever as mentioned above is shown using a whole block diagram. As shown in FIG. 5, as described above, when the feeding roller 11 and the separation roller 12 with the torque limiter are not in contact with each other, as shown in FIG. The sheet material feeding device is configured to enter the transport path of the uppermost sheet material remaining in the sheet material feeding apparatus.
[0055]
After the leading end of the sheet material fed as described above is gripped on the main body side and the feeding roller 11 is rotated once and stopped, the cut surface of the feeding roller 11 is placed on the separation roller 12 side with a torque limiter. Since 11a faces and forms a gap, the latter half of the sheet material passes through the gap during conveyance accompanying recording or the like on the main body side.
[0056]
In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the sheet material is separated and fed one by one from the uppermost sheet material stacked on the ASF base 15, but the present invention is the uppermost sheet material, Regardless of the lowest level, if it is a first-stage sheet material with respect to the feeding / separating unit, for example, a configuration in which separation and feeding are performed from the lowest level of the stacked sheet bundle can be applied.
[0057]
The sheet material feeding device of the present invention can be used by connecting to various devices such as a printer, a copying machine, a printing device, a facsimile, a recording device such as a scanner, an image forming device, and an image reading device. Further, what is fed by the sheet material feeding device of the present invention is not limited to a sheet-like sheet material, and even a sheet material such as an OHP sheet can be satisfactorily separated and fed. . The sheet material feeding apparatus according to the present invention is various in particular by a recording apparatus that performs recording while accurately conveying a sheet material, and in particular, by ejecting liquid (ink) from a nozzle to adhere to a recording material. By mounting an appropriate sheet material on an ink jet recording apparatus that can perform good recording as a recording material, it is possible to perform a favorable recording operation, and the present invention includes such a sheet material feeding apparatus. It also includes a recording device.
[0058]
As described above, according to this embodiment, the first-stage sheet material is urged by the rotation of the feed rotation body and the feed rotation body from the stacking position where a plurality of sheet material bundles are stacked. By using a structure that feeds through a rotating body with a torque limiter that does not have a drive source, the device can be made larger or more expensive without using a complicated mechanism like the retard roller system. Without this, double feeding can be easily prevented.
[0059]
In addition, by operating the return lever while feeding the sheet material by one-way one-rotation control of the feeding rotating body, complicated control is unnecessary and the feeding operation time for preventing double feeding can be reduced. It can be shortened.
[0060]
Furthermore, the rotation center of the separation roller holder that holds the separation roller is positioned in the vicinity of the extension line of the sheet material track that hits the outer periphery of the separation roller, and a line that connects the rotation center 26a and the rotation axis of the separation roller 12 Is disposed at a position parallel to the tangent to the feed roller 11 passing through the nip portion between the feed roller and the separation roller. For this reason, the sheet material can be stably separated at a stable separation pressure without causing the sheet material to be caught.
[0061]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention has the following effects.
[0062]
Unlike the conventional sheet separation method using a retard roller, there is no need for a mechanism for forcibly rotating the sheet material in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the sheet material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the double feed and to separate them reliably.
[0063]
In addition, if the return lever is driven while the sheet material is being fed by one-way and one-turn control of the feed rotating body, complicated control is unnecessary and the feeding operation time for preventing double feeding is shortened. Is possible.
[0064]
Furthermore, the rotation center of the separation roller holder that holds the separation roller is located in the vicinity of the extension line of the sheet material track that hits the outer periphery of the separation roller, and a line connecting the rotation center and the rotation axis of the separation roller is By being arranged at a position parallel to the tangent line of the feed roller that passes through the nip between the feed roller and the separation roller, the sheet material can be stably stabilized with a stable separation pressure without causing the sheet material to be caught. Separation can be performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an entire sheet material feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing an entire sheet material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing an entire sheet material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view illustrating the entire sheet material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional side view showing the operation of the sheet material feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a part of a schematic sectional side view showing the operation of the sheet material feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional side view showing the operation of the sheet material feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional side view showing the operation of the sheet material feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional side view illustrating a configuration of a torque limiter used in the sheet material feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional side view illustrating an enlarged feeding / separating unit of the sheet material feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Feeding shaft
11 Feeding roller
11a Cut surface
12 Separation roller
12a Torque limiter
13 Return lever
13a Return lever tip
14 Return lever control cam
14a protrusion
15 ASF base
15a Sheet material conveyance reference part
15b Sheet material tip reference part
16 pressure plate
17 Side guide
18 Feed roller
19 Pressure plate spring
20 ASF input gear
21 ASF double gear
22 Feed shaft gear
23 ASF control gear
24 Return lever spring
25 Separation roller pressure spring
26 Separation roller holder
27 Separation roller control cam
P sheet material

Claims (20)

A sheet material loading section for loading sheet materials;
A feeding roller that feeds the sheet material stacked on the sheet material stacking unit to a sheet material conveyance path ;
A separation roller that rotates following the feeding roller and separates the sheet material;
A separation roller holder that rotatably holds the separation roller, and moves the separation roller to a position in contact with the feeding roller and a position spaced from the feeding roller;
Return means for returning a sheet material other than the sheet material that has entered the sheet material conveyance path and separated by the separation roller toward the sheet material stacking unit;
And when the separating roller is separated from the feeding roller, the returning means starts to move so that the returning means enters the sheet material conveyance path, and then the separating roller is moved to the feeding roller. A sheet material feeding device, wherein the sheet material feeding device is moved from a contact position to a position separated from the feeding roller.   The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the separation roller includes a torque limiter.   The sheet material feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing unit that biases the separation roller to the feeding roller.   4. The sheet according to claim 1, wherein the separation roller is in contact with the feeding roller at a downstream side of a position where the feeding roller and the sheet material stacking portion are in contact with each other. 5. Material feeding device.   5. The separation roller holder according to claim 1, wherein the separation roller holder is rotated to move the separation roller to a position in contact with the feeding roller and a position separated from the feeding roller. The sheet material feeding device according to Item.   The sheet material according to claim 5, wherein the rotation center of the separation roller holder is on a substantially extended line in a traveling direction of the sheet material fed toward the outer peripheral surface of the separation roller by the feeding roller. Feeding device.   When the separation roller comes into contact with the feeding roller, a straight line connecting the rotation center of the separation roller holder and the central axis of the separation roller passes through the nip portion between the feeding roller and the separation roller. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 6, wherein the sheet material feeding device is substantially parallel to a tangent line of the feeding roller.   The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding roller has a shape in which a part of an outer peripheral surface of a cylinder is a flat surface.   The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material stacking unit is in contact with or separated from the feeding roller.   The sheet material feeding device according to claim 9, wherein the sheet material stacking unit stacks the sheet material at an angle of 30 ° to 90 ° with respect to a horizontal plane. In a recording apparatus for recording on a sheet material by a recording head,
A head mounting portion for mounting a recording head;
A sheet material loading section for loading sheet materials;
A feeding roller that feeds the sheet material stacked on the sheet material stacking unit to a sheet material conveyance path ;
A separation roller that rotates following the feeding roller and separates the sheet material;
A separation roller holder that rotatably holds the separation roller, and moves the separation roller to a position in contact with the feeding roller and a position spaced from the feeding roller;
Return means for returning a sheet material other than the sheet material that has entered the sheet material conveyance path and separated by the separation roller toward the sheet material stacking unit;
And when the separating roller is separated from the feeding roller, the returning means starts to move so that the returning means enters the sheet material conveyance path, and then the separating roller is moved to the feeding roller. A recording apparatus, wherein the recording apparatus is moved from a contact position to a position separated from the feeding roller.   The recording apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the separation roller includes a torque limiter.   The recording apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising an urging unit that urges the separation roller to the feeding roller.   14. The recording according to claim 11, wherein the separation roller is in contact with the feeding roller at a downstream side of a position where the feeding roller and the sheet material stacking portion are in contact with each other. apparatus.   15. The separation roller holder according to claim 11, wherein the separation roller holder is rotated to move the separation roller to a position in contact with the feeding roller and a position separated from the feeding roller. The recording device according to item.   The recording apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the rotation center of the separation roller holder is on a substantially extended line in a traveling direction of a sheet material fed toward the outer peripheral surface of the separation roller by the feeding roller. .   When the separation roller comes into contact with the feeding roller, a straight line connecting the rotation center of the separation roller holder and the central axis of the separation roller passes through the nip portion between the feeding roller and the separation roller. The recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the recording apparatus is substantially parallel to a tangent to the feeding roller.   The recording apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the feeding roller has a shape in which a part of an outer peripheral surface of a cylinder is a flat surface.   The recording apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the sheet material stacking unit is in contact with or separated from the feeding roller.   The recording apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the sheet material stacking unit stacks the sheet material at an angle of 30 ° to 90 ° with respect to a horizontal plane.

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