JP4108574B2 - Sheet-like body feeding device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a feeding device that feeds sheet-like objects such as envelopes, documents, and photographs one by one to an envelope opening device and an information reading device.

Examples of conventional feeding devices include those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 and the like. Each of the devices of Patent Documents 1 to 3 feeds stacked sheets or forms one by one from the top with a transport belt. In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the conveyor belt and the position regulation guide are coupled and moved together in order to set the conveyor belt at an appropriate position with respect to the paper sheet. In order to perform stable paper feeding, the apparatus of Patent Document 2 is provided with a fixed conveyance belt and a movable conveyance belt, and moves the conveyance belt to a position corresponding to the width of the form. In the apparatus of Patent Document 3, in order to perform stable paper feeding with a small amount of skew of a form, a plurality of transport belts are arranged in parallel and the corresponding transport belt is operated according to the width of the form.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-20056 JP 61-60536 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-186068

  However, since the distance between the conveyance belt and the position regulation guide remains constant in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the conveyance belt may not be at an appropriate position with respect to the paper sheet depending on the amount of movement of the position regulation guide. There was a problem that there was. In addition, the apparatuses of Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 require a plurality of conveyor belts, and also require a mechanism for driving the plurality of conveyor belts after detecting the width of the form. There was a problem of increasing complexity and size.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a feeding device that can set a conveyance belt to an appropriate position even when a position regulation guide is moved, and thereby can perform stable feeding.

  The present invention provides a sheet-like body feeding apparatus in which sheet-like bodies stacked on a feeding stand are placed one by one from the bottom on a conveying belt and sent to the next stage. A fixed guide that regulates the movement of the movable guide and the conveyor belt that is movable with respect to the fixed guide and that regulates the other side edge of the sheet-like body. And a transport belt moving mechanism that moves the same amount in the same moving direction.

Specifically, the following configuration can be adopted as the transport belt moving mechanism.
(1) A drive-side pinion rack mechanism that supports the drive roller of the conveyor belt, and a driven-side pinion rack mechanism that similarly supports the driven roller, and each pinion rack mechanism includes a fixed rack fixed to a fixed guide, A movable rack fixed to the movable guide and a pinion meshing with both racks are provided. The fixed rack and the movable rack are the same, and the pinion is rotatable on a support that rotatably supports the roller. It is supported.

(2) A support that supports the conveyor belt, the driving roller, and the driven roller, a spring that urges the support toward the fixed guide, and a pulley that is fixed to the support, and the pulley includes a movable guide. The belt is stretched so that the support moves as a moving pulley with the movement of.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, if the initial position of the conveyor belt is set at an intermediate position between the fixed guide and the movable guide, the conveyor belt is always fixed between the fixed guide and the movable guide even if the movable guide is moved. Can be positioned in the middle of Therefore, even when the movable guide is moved to restrict the large sheet-like body, the conveyance belt can be positioned at the center of the large sheet-like body, and stable conveyance can be performed.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an envelope opening facility 10 using the sheet-like material feeding device of the present invention. The facility 10 is configured by arranging a sheet-like body feeding device 2 on the inlet side and an envelope receiving device 3 on the outlet side of the envelope opening device 1. The feeding device 2 includes a feeding stand 21, a conveyor belt mechanism 22, a fixed guide 23, and a movable guide 24.

  FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to the II-II cross section of FIG. The envelope opening facility 10 places the envelopes 4 stacked on the feeding table 21 of the feeding device 2 one by one from the bottom on the conveying belt 221 of the conveying belt mechanism 22 and sends them to the envelope opening device 1. 1 is sandwiched between the transport rollers 11 and 12 and sent to the rotary blades 13 and 14, is sent to the second transport rollers 15 and 16 while being opened by cutting with the rotary blades 13 and 14, and is sandwiched between the second transport rollers 15 and 16 to receive the envelope The envelopes 4 are sent to the device 3 and received by the envelope receiving device 3 one after another. The fixed guide 23 of the feeding device 2 is provided to restrict one side edge of the envelope 4, and the movable guide 24 is provided to restrict the other side edge of the envelope 4.

  In the feeding device 2, the conveyor belt mechanism 22 is configured such that an endless annular conveyor belt 221 is stretched between a driving roller 222 and a driven roller 223 as shown in FIG. 2. The movable guide 24 is movable in the arrow direction (FIG. 1) with respect to the fixed guide 23 along a slide guide (not shown). Thereby, even when the large envelope 4 is loaded on the feeding table 21 and sent, one side edge of the envelope 4 is regulated by the fixed guide 23 by moving the movable guide 24, and the other side edge is movable. It can be regulated by the guide 24.

  3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 in a state where the movable guide 24 is moved, and FIG. 5 is a plan view in the state in FIG. In the feeding device 2, a conveyance belt moving mechanism 5 is provided that moves the conveyance belt 221 in the same movement direction by a half amount of the movement amount along with the movement of the movable guide 24.

  The transport belt moving mechanism 5 includes a drive side pinion rack mechanism 51 that supports the drive roller 222 of the transport belt mechanism 22, and a driven side pinion rack mechanism 52 that supports the driven roller 223. As shown in FIG. 3, the driven-side pinion rack mechanism 52 includes a fixed rack 521 fixed to the fixed guide 23, a movable rack 522 fixed to the movable guide 24, and a pinion 523 engaged with both racks 521 and 522. It is equipped with. The fixed rack 521 and the movable rack 522 are the same. The pinion 523 is rotatably supported by a support body 524 that rotatably supports the driven roller 223. FIG. 6 is a partial view taken along the arrow VI in FIG. 4 and shows the support 524. The support body 524 has a form in which an upper-opening U-shaped body 5241 and a lower-opening U-shaped body 5242 are connected in a state of intersecting at 90 degrees. The driven roller 223 is supported in the U-shaped body 5241 by the rotating shaft 2231, and the pinion 523 is supported in the U-shaped body 5242 by the rotating shaft 5231.

  The drive-side pinion rack mechanism 51 also has a fixed rack 511, a movable rack 512, a pinion 513, and the drive-side pinion rack mechanism 52, as shown in FIG. And a support body 514. However, the drive roller 222 is supported in the support body 514 by the drive shaft 25 that also passes through the support body 514 and reaches the fixed plate 26. The drive roller 222 is spline-fitted to the drive shaft 25. Note that both ends of the drive shaft 25 are rotatably supported by a fixed guide 23 and a fixed plate 26, and are rotated by a drive belt 28 interlocked with a motor 27. In addition, a slide guide shaft 29 is provided between the fixed guide 23 and the fixed plate 26, and the support body 514 can slide along the slide guide shaft 29 (FIG. 5).

  In the feeding device 2 configured as described above, when the movable guide 24 is moved, the transport belt moving mechanism 5 operates as follows. That is, when the movable guide 24 is moved by L1 from the position X1 shown in FIG. 3 to the position X2 shown in FIG. 4, in the driven side pinion rack mechanism 52, the pinion 523 at the position Y1 is fixed to the fixed rack 521 and the movable rack. Rotate and move relative to 522. That is, the pinion 523 moves by L2 from the initial position Y1 with respect to the fixed rack 521, and moves by L3 from the initial position with respect to the movable rack 522. The relationship between these movement amounts is L1 = L2 + L3, and L2 = L3. Therefore, when the movable guide 24 moves by L1, the pinion 523, that is, the transport belt 221 supported by the support body 524 moves by L2 that is half of L1. The drive side pinion rack mechanism 51 operates in the same manner as the driven side pinion rack mechanism 52.

  The feeding base 21 has a two-plate structure of a base plate 211 and a slide plate 212. The base plate 211 is divided at the position of the transport belt mechanism 22, and the slide plate 212 is a movable guide. 24 extends under the conveying belt 221 to the vicinity of the fixed guide 23. Therefore, even if the movable guide 24 moves and the base plate 211 is divided and separated, the slide plate 212 is exposed from below.

  As described above, in the feeding device 2 configured as described above, as the movable guide 24 moves, the supports 514 and 524 also move, that is, the transport belt mechanism 22 also moves. Is half the amount of movement of the movable guide 24. Therefore, in the feeding device 2, if the initial position of the conveyor belt mechanism 22 is set in the middle between the fixed guide 23 and the movable guide 24, the position of the conveyor belt mechanism 22 is maintained even if the movable guide 24 is moved. It is always between the fixed guide 23 and the movable guide 24. Therefore, even when the movable guide 24 is moved to restrict the large envelope 4, the conveyance belt 221 can be positioned in the center of the large envelope 4, and stable conveyance can be performed.

  Moreover, since it can be realized by a pinion rack mechanism, the apparatus configuration is not complicated or enlarged.

(Embodiment 2)
The feeding device 2 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the conveyor belt moving mechanism 5. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 of the first embodiment, FIG. 9 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 and FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. However, in FIG. 10, illustration of the base plate 211 and the slide plate 212 of the feeding base 21 is omitted. The transport belt moving mechanism 5 of this embodiment includes a support 53 that integrally supports the transport belt mechanism 22, a spring 54 that biases the support 53 toward the fixed guide 23, and a pulley 55 that is fixed to the support 53. And. The support body 53 is an elongated U-shaped body that opens upward, and the transport belt mechanism 22 is supported in the support body 53. A fixed plate 56 is located between the support 53 and the movable guide 24.

  One end 541 of the spring 54 is fixed to the center in the longitudinal direction of the support 53, and the other end 542 is fixed to the fixed guide 23. A belt 551 is hung on the pulley 55, and as shown in FIG. 10, one end 552 is fixed to the fixed plate 56, and the other end 553 passes through the fixed plate 56 and is fixed to the movable guide 24. ing.

  A slide guide shaft 57 is provided between the fixed guide 23 and the fixed plate 56, and the support body 53 can slide along the slide guide shaft 57. The drive roller 222 is supported in the support 53 by a drive shaft 25 that also penetrates the support 53 and reaches the fixed plate 56. The drive roller 222 is spline-fitted to the drive shaft 25. Note that both ends of the drive shaft 25 are rotatably supported by the fixed guide 23 and the fixed plate 56, and are rotated by a drive belt 28 interlocked with the motor 27.

  In the feeding device 2 configured as described above, when the movable guide 24 is moved, the transport belt moving mechanism 5 operates as follows. That is, when the movable guide 24 is moved by L1 from the position X1 shown in FIG. 9 to the position X2 shown in FIG. 9, the pulley 55 moves along the belt 551, and the support 53 at the position Y1 moves the slide guide shaft. Move along 57. At this time, since the pulley 55 operates as a moving pulley, the moving amount L2 of the support 53 is half of L1. Since the support 53 is biased toward the fixed guide 23 by the spring 54, the moving position of the movable guide 24 is fixed using a ratchet mechanism or the like in order to maintain the movable guide 24 at the moved position. Means (not shown) are provided. When the fixing means is released and the movable guide 24 is returned to the original position, the pulley 55 is stably operated as a moving pulley by the bias of the spring 54.

  Accordingly, also in the feeding device 2 configured as described above, the support 53 also moves with the movement of the movable guide 24, that is, the conveyance belt mechanism 22 also moves, and the amount of movement of the conveyance belt mechanism 22 depends on the movement of the movable guide 24. Half the amount of movement. Therefore, the same effect as the case of Embodiment 1 can be exhibited.

(Another embodiment)
In the first and second embodiments, the sheet-like body is an envelope, and the feeding device that sends the envelope to the envelope opening device is shown, but this is not a limitation. For example, the sheet-like body may be a document or a photograph, and the sheet-like body may be a feeding device that sends the sheet-like body to an information reading device that reads information such as characters and images.

  The feeding device of the present invention can stably feed sheet-like objects such as envelopes, documents, and photographs one by one to an envelope opening device or an information reading device, and can be realized with a simple configuration. Industrial utility value is great.

It is a perspective view which shows the envelope opening equipment using the sheet-like body feeding apparatus of this invention. It is a figure equivalent to the II-II cross section of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 in a state where the movable guide has moved. It is a top view of the state of FIG. It is a VI arrow partial view of FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

4 Envelope (sheet-like body)
5 Conveying belt moving mechanism 221 Conveying belt 23 Fixed guide 24 Movable guide

Claims (4)

In the sheet-like body feeding device (2) , the sheet-like bodies stacked on the feeding stand (21) are placed one by one from the bottom on the conveyor belt (221) and sent to the next stage.
A fixed guide (23) for regulating one side edge of the sheet-like body;
A movable guide (24) that is movable relative to the fixed guide and regulates the other side edge of the sheet-like body;
A conveyor belt mechanism (22) configured such that the conveyor belt is stretched between a driving roller (222) and a driven roller (223);
A conveyance belt moving mechanism (5) that moves the conveyance belt in the same movement direction by a half amount of the movement amount along with the movement of the movable guide ,
The transport belt moving mechanism moves the driving roller in the same moving direction by half the moving amount in accordance with the movement of the movable guide. The driving roller moving mechanism and the driven roller move in accordance with the movement of the movable guide. And a driven roller moving mechanism for moving in the same moving direction by half the moving amount, and the conveying belt is moved by moving the driving roller and the driven roller. A sheet-like body feeding device characterized by the above.   The drive roller moving mechanism
  A pinion rack mechanism (51), a fixed rack (511) fixed to the fixed guide (23), a movable rack (512) fixed to the movable guide (24), and a pinion (513) engaged with both racks And,
  The pinion can move integrally with the drive roller (222),
  A drive shaft (25) is connected to the drive roller,
  The driven roller moving mechanism
  The pinion rack mechanism (52) includes a fixed rack (521) fixed to the fixed guide, a movable rack (522) fixed to the movable guide, and a pinion (523) engaged with both racks. ,
  The sheet-like body feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the pinion is movable integrally with the driven roller.   In the sheet-like body feeding device (2), the sheet-like bodies stacked on the feeding stand (21) are placed one by one from the bottom on the conveyor belt (221) and sent to the next stage.
  A fixed guide (23) for regulating one side edge of the sheet-like body;
  A movable guide (24) that is movable relative to the fixed guide and regulates the other side edge of the sheet-like body;
  A conveyor belt mechanism (22) configured such that the conveyor belt is stretched between a driving roller (222) and a driven roller (223);
  A conveyance belt moving mechanism that moves the conveyance belt in the same movement direction by half the movement amount in accordance with the movement of the movable guide,
  The transport belt moving mechanism (5)
  A support body (53) that integrally supports the transport belt mechanism;
  A spring (54) for urging the support toward the fixed guide;
  A pulley (55) fixed to the support,
  A fixed plate (56) is disposed between the support and the movable guide,
  One end of the spring is fixed to the center in the longitudinal direction of the support, and the other end is fixed to the fixed guide.
  A belt (551) is hung on the pulley, and one end of the belt is fixed to the fixed plate, and the other end passes through the fixed plate and is fixed to the movable guide.
  A drive shaft (25) is connected to the drive roller,
  The transporting belt moving mechanism moves the pulley and the support along the belt when the movable guide is moved, and as a result, the transporting belt is moved. apparatus.   The feeding base (21) has a two-plate structure of a base plate (211) and a slide plate (212), and the base plate (211) is divided at the position of the transport belt mechanism (22). The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the slide plate (212) extends from the movable guide (24) under the conveying belt (221) to the vicinity of the fixed guide (23).

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