JP4403125B2 - Conveying roller mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

  In particular, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer, and an image reading apparatus such as a scanner, and attachment of a conveyance roller for conveying a sheet of a recording medium toward the image forming unit or the image reading unit. Concerning structure.

  In general, an image forming apparatus or an image reading apparatus is provided with a transport path for picking up stacked sheets one by one and transporting them to an image forming unit or a scanning unit, and a pair of transport rollers disposed at the important points of the transport path. The sheet is fed from the upstream side to the downstream side while passing the sheet between them. The conveying roller pair is composed of a driving roller and a driven roller facing each other in the normal conveying path. The driving roller is rotated by receiving the rotational power from the driving source, and the sheet is fed by the rotational frictional force of both rollers. .

  FIG. 6 shows an image reading apparatus shown as an example of the arrangement of such conveyance roller pairs.

  As an example, the illustrated image reading apparatus 21 includes an image image recorded on a bill / check brought from a customer to a financial institution such as a bank, and magnetic recording information such as characters (MICR characters) printed with magnetic ink. A magnetic ink character reading device is shown. A sheet S to be read such as a check or bill having image images printed on both sides and printed with magnetic ink characters is loaded and stacked on the hopper 1 of the image reading device 21 by the operation of an apparatus handler such as an operator inside the bank. . A control unit 4 that controls the entire apparatus communicates with a host apparatus such as a host computer connected via an I / F (interface) cable. In response to the operation command output from the control unit 4, the feeding rollers 3 and 5 are rotated to take out the sheets S from the hopper 1, separated one by one by the separation roller 6, and sent out toward the U-turn shaped conveyance path R. It is. The magnetization direction of the magnetic ink characters printed on the sheet S is adjusted by the magnet 7 disposed in the sheet conveyance path R.

  The sheet S that has passed between the pair of conveying rollers 8 a and 8 b is detected by the sheet end detection sensor 9, and when the magnetic head 10 is reached, magnetic ink print characters are read. The pressing roller 11 is a member for bringing the sheet S into close contact with the magnetic head 10. The sheet S that has passed through the magnetic head 10 is conveyed by the upstream conveying roller pair 12a, 12b and the downstream conveying roller pair 13a, 13b, and passes through the registry sensor 14 in order to measure the timing of image reading. After passing the sensor, image information on both sides of the sheet S is read as an image by the image reading sensor 15 in the next step. Description of the subsequent members and operations is unnecessary and will be omitted.

  As described above, in the sheet conveyance path R, several pairs of conveyance rollers 8a and 8b, 12a and 12b, and 13a and 13b are arranged at necessary places. Hereinafter, a pair of conveying roller pairs 8a and 8b will be described as a driving roller 8a and a driven roller 8b.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing a conventional example proposed for the mounting structure of the driven roller 8b (see Patent Document 1). The driven roller 8b is assembled in the following procedure. Referring to FIG. 8, a leaf spring 23 is prepared for pressing the driven roller 8b against the driving roller 8a, and the driven roller 8b is rotatably supported and assembled. The base end portion of the leaf spring 23 is coupled and fixed to a sheet guide member 24 that forms a part of the sheet conveyance path with a set screw 25. Therefore, the plate spring 23 can be bent by elastic deformation as if it were a cantilever beam with the set screw 25 at the base end as a fulcrum. On the other hand, the sheet guide member 24 is provided with a roller viewing hole 24a, and a driven roller 8b at the tip of the leaf spring is incorporated in accordance with the roller viewing hole 24a. The outer peripheral portion of the driven roller 8b passes through the roller viewing hole 24a, faces the sheet passing path of the sheet conveyance path, and is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the opposed driving roller 8b by utilizing the spring force of the plate spring 24. During operation, the sheet S is drawn between the driving roller 8a and the driven roller 8b, passed through, and sent downstream.

JP 2000-247482 A

  Incidentally, the conventional driven roller mounting structure shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has the following problems.

  One is that a fastener such as a set screw 25 is used to fix the base end portion of the leaf spring 23, so that the cost of the fastener and the number of assembling steps increase and the manufacturing cost increases. In addition, since the operator is forced to work with both hands on the assembly line, there is a disadvantage in terms of production efficiency.

  Another problem is that it is troublesome to assemble so that the outer peripheral portion of the driven roller 8b does not contact the sheet guide member 24 through the roller peep hole 24a. It is an essential condition that the driven roller 8b does not contact the sheet guide member 24 during assembly or during operation.

  That is, when the outer peripheral portion of the driven roller 8b is caught in the roller peep hole 24a, the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller 8b is damaged and the subsequent sheet passing is affected. Further, in the structure of FIG. 8, when the strength of the leaf spring 23 is strong, it is difficult to work to incorporate the driven roller 8b into the roller peek hole 24a. When the leaf spring 23 is forcibly bent, the leaf spring 23 is advanced. The required spring performance of 23 may be lost. A two-dot chain line in FIG. 8 shows a state in which the leaf spring 23 is elastically deformed and bent. Further, when the leaf spring 23 is bent and incorporated, the hand may slip and cause the driven roller 8b to collide with the sheet guide member 24 and the like, and the surface of the driven roller may be damaged. Such a problem can be solved by providing a sufficiently large roller peeping hole 24a. However, if the roller peeping hole 24a becomes excessive, a new problem occurs in which the sheet S being conveyed is caught by the edge of the roller peeping hole 24a. To do. Accordingly, the size of the roller peep hole 24a is required to be the minimum necessary.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveyance roller mounting structure in which the assembling property of the conveyance rollers arranged at the main points of the sheet conveyance path in the image forming apparatus or the image reading apparatus is improved.

  In order to achieve the above object, a typical conveying roller mounting structure according to the present invention is a pair of conveying rollers that are provided in a main portion of a sheet conveying path and that sandwiches and conveys a sheet being conveyed. And a roller support having elasticity that holds the driven roller rotatably supported at the distal end portion in the longitudinal direction and is fixed to the sheet conveyance path at a position where the proximal end portion in the longitudinal direction faces the driving roller. A fixing member for fixing the base end portion of the roller support member when urging the driven roller in a direction in which the driven roller is pressed against the drive roller by the elastic force of the roller support member. Is provided at a predetermined position in the sheet conveying path, and the base end of the roller support member is fitted from the front end of the fixing member, so that the base end portion extends around the rising axis of the fixing member. To be secured are positioned to pivot to a certain position in the direction, the fixing member is characterized in that which is being formed into a predetermined shape.

  The transport roller mounting structure of the present invention has the following effects.

  (1) When the base end portion of the roller support member holding the driven roller at the front end portion is fixed and attached to a predetermined position of the sheet conveyance path, the base of the roller support member is fixed to the fixed member raised in advance at the predetermined position. Fit the ends. The fitting operation at this time can be easily performed by one-hand operation of the operator. During the fitting, the roller support member is automatically and forcibly turned to a specific position in a specific direction depending on the outer shape or cross-sectional shape of the fixing member. The roller support member is positioned and fixed at the turning end position, and the positioning and fixing can be performed by almost one touch operation. Therefore, as in the prior art, it is possible to improve the assemblability when the driven roller is mounted by a two-hand operation by an operator using a stopper such as a screw.

  (2) Further, when the roller support member is fitted to the fixed member, the roller support member is restricted to turn in a specific direction, so that the driven roller does not come into contact with the sheet conveyance path due to a collision during assembly. Thus, the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller is not damaged.

  (3) Furthermore, when a leaf spring is used as the roller support member, for example, it is not necessary to force the leaf spring to be flexed in order to incorporate the driven roller as in the prior art. This can prevent the spring function from being impaired.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a transport roller mounting structure according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an image reading apparatus 100 to which the conveyance roller mounting structure of this embodiment is applied. The image reading apparatus 100 can simultaneously read both double-sided image images such as bills and checks brought into the bank or other financial institutions and magnetic ink printed characters. A CCD (Charge Coupled Device), a contact image sensor (CIS), or the like is used for the image image reading unit. By processing the read image information into digital signal data, the computer can easily manage and operate the information. It has become. It has a drive motor (not shown) that drives the transport roller group, and includes a controller unit (not shown) that controls the entire apparatus including these components and communicates with a host device such as a host computer. In order to read the MICR characters printed on the sheet S and the image images on both sides, the image reading apparatus 100 reads the sheet S in the direction of the character string of the MICR characters, and is connected by an interface cable (not shown). The read MICR character data and double-sided image data are transmitted to the computer.

  A reading start signal is transmitted from the host device while sheets S such as checks are stacked on the hopper 31. If the sheet S is recognized by the stack detection sensor 35 mounted on the hopper 31, the sheet S is pressed against the sheet feed roller 32 by the sheet feed pressing roller 33. Further, the leading edge of the sheet S is pressed so as to be guided to the feed roller 37 by the pressing plate 34, and the sheet feeding roller 32 rotates to feed the sheet S and feed it into the apparatus. The sheet S thus fed is conveyed by the feed roller 37 to the sheet conveying path 36 in the apparatus.

  At this time, when there are a plurality of sheets S fed by the sheet feeding roller 32, the sheets S are separated and conveyed by the separation roller 38 disposed facing the feed roller 37. A double feed detection sensor 40 is disposed in a section between the conveyance roller pair 39 and the conveyance roller pair 41, and not only one sheet S but also two or more sheets are simultaneously fed into the sheet conveyance path 36 by the separation roller 38. If it is sent, the double feed detection sensor 40 detects the double feed and stops the operation. The sheets S conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 39 and the conveyance roller pair 41 are aligned in the magnetization direction of the MICR characters printed by a pair of permanent magnets 42 disposed on both sides of the sheet conveyance path 36.

  After that, the sheet S is conveyed to the position of the endorser 43 by the conveying roller pair 39 and the conveying roller pair 41, and the date recorded on the sheet S, the name of the financial institution in which the sheet S was brought in, the branch name, etc. are endorsed. Printed. The sheet S on which the endorser 43 has been printed on the end printing is conveyed to the position of the magnetic head 44 by the conveying roller pair 39 and the conveying roller pair 41. Here, the magnetic head pressing roller 45 presses the printed portion of the sheet S so that the MICR characters are in close contact with the magnetic head 44, and the MICR characters are read. The sheet S on which the MICR characters are read by the magnetic head 44 is conveyed to the conveyance roller pair 46 by the conveyance roller pair 41, and the sheet S that has passed through the conveyance roller pair 46 passes through the registry sensor 47 and is then guided to the image reading sensor 48. It is burned.

  The image reading sensor 48 includes an LED, which is a light emitting element of three colors, a condenser lens, and a light receiving element, and can read the image images on both sides of the sheet S in both color and black and white. A controller unit (not shown) reads image data from the image reading sensor 48 in accordance with a signal from the registry sensor 47. After the image reading by the image reading sensor 48, the sheet S is discharged to the discharge tray 50 by the discharge roller pair 49. When all of the sheets S stacked on the hopper 31 are fed, the stack detection sensor 35 detects that the sheets S are lost, and the image reading apparatus 100 stops operating.

  Here, the conveying roller pairs 39, 41, and 46 arranged at the main points of the sheet conveying path 36 are composed of driving rollers 39a, 41a, and 46 and driven rollers 39b, 41b, and 46b that face each other. Yes. Typically, the mounting structure of the passive roller 39b will be described below in the conveyance roller pair of the driving roller 39a and the driven roller 39b.

  The driven roller 39b is rotatably supported on a tip bracket portion 55b of a leaf spring (roller support member) 55 shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, a spring holder (fixing member) 52 for fixing the base end portion of the leaf spring 55 is provided on the sheet guide member 51 constituting a part of the sheet conveying path 36. It is provided with a shaft shape. The shaft-shaped spring holder 52 has a square cross-section 52a from the cross-sectional shape, and has a square cross-section 52c having a cross-section obtained by twisting the square cross-section 52a around the axis. Further, the spring holder 52 has a torsion part 52b which is a region where the torsion around the axis of the square cross-section part 52c is continuously connected to the square cross-section part 52a.

  In the leaf spring 55, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a rectangular hole 55a is provided through the base end portion. The square hole 55a at the base end of the leaf spring is engaged with the outer shape of the square cross section 52a provided in the vicinity of the tip of the rising spring holder 52, and from the square cross section 52a to the boundary of the torsion part 52b. insert. The angle of the square cross section 52a at the time of insertion is such that neither the driven roller 39b nor the leaf spring 55 interferes with and contacts the sheet guide member 51.

  When the leaf spring 55 is further inserted into the spring holder 52, the leaf spring 55 is forcibly swung around the axis of the rectangular hole 55a following the angle of the torsion part 52b. At this time, the turning direction of the leaf spring 55 is a specific direction, and the leaf spring 55 turns until it is positioned at a specific position. The reason why the assembly direction of the leaf spring 55 is regulated in this way is that the spring holder 52 is formed with an outer shape or a cross-sectional shape twisted around its rising axis.

  On the other hand, a roller viewing hole 54 is provided in the sheet guide member 51, and the driven roller 39 b at the tip of the leaf spring 55 is aligned with the roller viewing hole 54. As a result, the outer peripheral portion of the driven roller 39b projects through the roller viewing hole 54 to the sheet conveying surface 53 and is viewed. Thereafter, the square hole 55a of the leaf spring 55 is pushed in according to the cross-sectional angle until reaching the square cross-section 52c at the lower rear end of the spring holder 52. Attach the exterior cover at the final assembly stage.

  As shown in the assembly completion diagram of FIG. 4, the leaf spring 55 is prevented from being detached from the spring holder 52 by engaging the base end portion of the leaf spring 55 with the retaining portion 56 provided inside the exterior cover. To prevent.

  As is clear from the above, the base end portion of the leaf spring 55 holding the driven roller 39b at the front end portion is dropped without using a stopper such as a set screw (see reference numeral 25 in FIG. 8) as in the prior art. The system can be fixed with almost one touch. That is, the rectangular hole 55a provided at the base end portion of the leaf spring 55 is simply fitted into the spring holder 52 that is vertically provided on the seat guide member 51 side and dropped. During the dropping, the change in the cross-sectional shape of the spring holder acts, so that the driven roller 39b can be smoothly and accurately incorporated into the roller peeping hole 54 without any interference. Even if the leaf spring 55 is lifted during assembly, the leaf spring 55 is pushed in while being turned by attaching the exterior cover, so that assembly is easy.

  Further, according to this embodiment, since the leaf spring 55 is forcibly bent and the driven roller 39b is incorporated as in the conventional case, it is not necessary to make the peep hole 54 larger than necessary. Therefore, it is possible to provide a minimum size. If the peep hole 54 is minimized, the concern that the sheet S being conveyed is caught by the edge of the peep hole 54 and enters the paper and causes a paper jam (jam) is also eliminated. This does not cause a conveyance failure of the sheet S in the sheet conveyance path of the image forming apparatus or the image reading apparatus, and as a result, can lead to an improvement in the total productivity of the apparatus.

  In the transport roller mounting structure according to this embodiment, the mounting structure of the driven roller 39b has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Other embodiments, applications and modifications, and combinations thereof are possible within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, the above-described spring holder 52 has been described as having an axial shape and having a cross-sectional shape of “a square cross-section that changes by twisting”, but this is only one preferred example, and FIG. As shown in (b), the same effect can be obtained even with a hexagonal cross section. Although not shown, a part of the cylinder may be cut out to form a so-called “D-cut” shape so that the base end portion of the leaf spring 55 does not rotate together.

The figure which shows the image forming apparatus as an example to which the driven roller mounting structure of this embodiment is applied. FIGS. 4A to 4C are a front view, a plan view, and a perspective view showing a spring holder that is a leaf spring fixing member provided upright on a sheet guide member that forms part of the sheet conveyance path. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the aspect which incorporates a leaf | plate spring and a driven roller in a sheet | seat guide member. The assembly perspective view which shows the completion state of an assembly of a leaf | plate spring and a driven roller. The same figure (a), (b) is a perspective view which shows other two embodiment of a spring holder. 1 is an overall view of an image reading apparatus showing an arrangement example of a conveyance roller mounting structure. The figure described in the gazette which shows the prior art example of a driven roller attachment structure. The figure which shows typically the leaf | plate spring bending state in the prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

36 Sheet conveying path 39a Drive roller (conveying roller pair)
39b Follower roller (conveying roller pair)
51 Sheet guide member (sheet conveyance path)
52 Spring holder (fixing member)
52a, 52c square cross section (twisted outer surface, twisted cross section)
52b Torsion part (twisted outer surface, twisted section)
54 peephole 55 leaf spring (roller support member)
55a Square hole at the front end of the spring 55b Driven roller support bracket 56 at the base end of the spring 56 Retaining prevention part S sheet 100 Image reading device

Claims (5)

A pair of conveying rollers by a driving roller and a driven roller that are provided at a key point of the sheet conveying path and sandwich the sheet being conveyed and pass the sheet;
An elastic roller support member that rotatably supports the driven roller at a longitudinal tip portion and is fixed to the sheet conveyance path at a position where the proximal end portion of the longitudinal direction faces the driving roller; ,
A conveying roller mounting structure configured to urge the driven roller in a direction in pressure contact with the driving roller by the elastic force of the roller support member,
A fixing member for fixing the base end portion of the roller support member is provided at a predetermined position in the sheet conveying path, and the base end portion of the roller support member is fitted from the front end of the fixing member. The fixing member is formed in a predetermined shape so that the base end portion is pivoted to a specific position in a specific direction around a rising axis of the fixing member and is fixed by positioning. Roller mounting structure.   The fixing member is formed into a shape having an outer surface and a cross-section twisted around a rising axis, and the roller support member is identified with almost one touch by fitting the proximal end portion of the roller support member to the twisted outer surface. The transport roller mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the driven roller is positioned and fixed at a position, and at the same time, the driven roller is positioned at a predetermined position facing the driving roller.   When the cross-sectional shape of the fixing member is a square shape, in order to regulate the roller support member so that it can be positioned by turning it to a specific position in a specific direction via a base end portion, a square hole fitted into the square shape 3 is provided at the base end of the roller support member.   The conveyance roller mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a retaining means for preventing the roller support member from being detached from the fixing member.   When the pressure roller is in pressure contact with the driving roller in a state where the outer peripheral portion of the roller support member is looked into the peep hole opened at a predetermined position of the sheet conveyance path, the peep hole is provided with a minimum necessary size. The conveyance roller mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that:

Images