JPH01142489A - Driver for operating member - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To smoothly drive an actuation lever that is linked to a slider, by engaging the slider to an elastic member that is formed by a shape memory alloy and adjusting the amount of current supplied to the above shape memory alloy. CONSTITUTION: A slider 2 is provided slidably within an outer grinder body 1 and, for example, an actuation lever for driving an external actuation member is connected to the slider 2. A first spring 3 and a second spring 4 that are formed by a shape memory alloy are arranged within the above external frame body 1 so that they sandwich the slider 2. When a current controlled by a control pulse P is supplied from a power supply 7 to the springs 3 and 4, the springs 3 and 4 expand and contact to drive the slider 2, thus driving the slider 2 at a specific traveling speed and hence reducing the collision shock of, for example, the actuation lever that is linked to the slider 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a driving device for an actuating member used in place of a conventional electromagnetic solenoid.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, for example, in copying machines, switching the conveyance path,
An electromagnetic solenoid is used to control a spring clutch used in the registration roller section.

This electromagnetic solenoid consists of a coil part and a plunger made of a magnetic material. When activated, an electric current is supplied to the coil part to form an electromagnet, which attracts the plunger into the coil part. There is. Therefore, if the plunger is connected to an operating lever, etc.,
The actuation lever can be driven by the suction of the plunger.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, this electromagnetic solenoid has a structure in which the plunger is attracted by an electromagnet, so it is heavy, and in order to avoid a decrease in the attraction force due to the formation of a magnetic field loop, it is necessary to install a non-magnetic material to break off the magnetic field loop. There are problems such as an increase in the number of parts for the entire device due to the need for additional members.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned electromagnetic solenoid has the drawback that the attraction force depends on the electromagnet, and the attraction force, in other words, the operating speed of the plunger cannot be controlled.

Therefore, when such an electromagnetic solenoid is used, for example, in a copying machine, the shock caused by the operating member such as the operating lever colliding with the mating part during switching is large, and a collision noise is generated.
There were problems such as the need for a buffer member to eliminate this collision sound.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drive device for an actuating member that has a simple structure and can control the operating speed of the drive section.

[Means for solving problems]

The driving device for an actuating member according to the present invention includes a movable member slidably provided on an external frame, a drive section for driving an external actuating member on the movable member, and a support protruding into the external frame. an elastic member made of a shape memory alloy is provided in the outer frame to engage with a support portion of the moving member, and a predetermined current is applied to the elastic member made of the shape memory alloy. The movable member is moved by supplying the movable member.

[Effect]

In this invention, for example, elastic members are disposed above and below the support portion of the movable member, and at least one of the elastic members is formed of a shape memory alloy, and the shape memory alloy is caused to memorize the shape at a temperature higher than room temperature. , at room temperature when no current is supplied to the shape memory alloy, the movable member remains stationary at a predetermined position; on the other hand, when a current is supplied to the elastic member of the shape memory alloy to raise its temperature to a predetermined temperature, The moving member moves in a predetermined direction due to the shape recovery operation of the shape memory alloy, and an actuating member connected to a driving portion of the moving member is driven. At this time, by adjusting the amount of current supplied to the shape memory alloy, it becomes possible to adjust the moving speed of the moving member, thereby reducing the shock caused by a collision with the actuating lever, etc., and the collision noise.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1(a) shows a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a driving device for an actuating member according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) shows a cross-sectional plan view thereof. The cylindrical frame 1a is composed of a cylindrical frame 1a and lid parts lb and lc that cover the upper and lower surfaces of the cylindrical frame 1a, and a notch 1d is formed in a part of the cylindrical frame 1a for movement of a slider described later. . A slider (moving member) 2 made of a conductive material is slidably provided on the external frame 1, and the slider 2 slides on the outer periphery of the cylindrical frame 1a of the external frame 1. Sliding part 2a
and a drive part 2b formed to protrude outward from a part of the sliding part 2a engages with the notch 1d of the external frame l,
It has a support portion 2c formed to protrude into the external frame 1. An actuating lever or the like for driving an external actuating member (not shown) is connected to the driving portion 2b of the slider 2.

Further, a first spring 3 and a second spring 4 are mounted inside the external frame 1 so as to face each other so as to sandwich the support portion 2C of the slider 2. The first spring 3 has its upper end fixed to the upper lid part 1b of the external frame 1, and its lower end fixed to the upper surface of the support part 2C of the slider 2.
As shown in Figure (a), it acts to urge the slider 2 upward, that is, to pull it. Further, the second spring 4 is formed using a shape memory alloy, and is memorized in shape so that it is in the most degenerate state (see FIG. 2) when the temperature is higher than room temperature. The upper end thereof is the lower surface of the slider 2, and the lower end thereof is the lower cover portion 1c of the external frame 1.
is fixed.

Further, an electrode 5.6 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower lid IC of the external frame 1 and the sliding portion 2a of the slider 2, and the second
The spring 4 is configured to be supplied with current from a power source 7 via this electrode 5.6. Further, an NPN transistor 8 is connected in series between the electrode 5 and the ground, and by inputting a pulse P having a predetermined duty ratio to the base of the NPN transistor 8, the circuit is made conductive, and the duty ratio of the pulse P is By adjusting the ratio, the average current supplied to the second spring 4 is adjusted.

Next, the effect will be explained.

At room temperature, the second spring 4 made of shape memory alloy
does not show a state of shape recovery, so the biasing force of the first spring 3 is greater than the biasing force of the second spring 4 (therefore, the slider 2 is pulled upward as shown in FIG. 1(a)). In this state, if a pulse P with a predetermined duty ratio is continued to be input to the base of the NPN l-transistor 8, a current is supplied to the second spring 4, and the temperature of the second spring 4 decreases. rises and a shape recovery operation occurs.This causes the first
The biasing force of the second spring 4 made of shape memory alloy is greater than the biasing force of the spring 3, and therefore the slider 2 is in a state of sliding downward as shown in FIG.

At this time, by changing the duty ratio of the pulse P input to the base of the NPN transistor 8 and adjusting the average current supplied to the second spring 4, it is possible to change the temperature of the shape memory alloy and speed up the shape recovery operation. , that is, slider 2
You can control the movement speed of.

In this way, in this embodiment, since the moving speed of the slider 2 can be controlled, it can be used in various mechanisms as a drive device with less shock and less collision noise, and is very convenient in actual use. Become. Further, unlike conventional electromagnetic solenoids, this embodiment does not use a plunger, and the parts other than the slider can be made of resin or aluminum, so the device can be made lighter.

Next, an example in which the above drive device is applied to a copying machine will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the copying machine, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing details of the registration roller portion thereof. To briefly explain the copying machine shown in Fig. 3, the copying machine main body IO
A document holder 11 is provided on the top surface of the document holder 11 so as to be openable and closable, and a paper discharge tray 12 and a paper feed tray 13 are mounted on both left and right sides. Inside the main body, an optical system 14 is disposed in the upper part and a photoconductor drum 15 is disposed in the center.A main charging corona discharger 16 is arranged around the photoconductor drum 15.
．． Developing device 17. Transfer corona discharger 18, separation corona discharger 19. and a cleaning device 20 are provided. Also, at the bottom of the main body, there is a transport unit 21. Fixing device 22. and a discharge roller 23 are provided.

Upstream of the transfer section of the copying machine main body 1O, there is a registration roller 2 for conveying the paper to the transfer section at a predetermined timing.
4, and a drive device 30, which is an embodiment of the present invention, is provided at the registration roller 24 portion. To explain this in detail with reference to FIG. 4, the registration roller 2
4 is composed of an upper roller 24a and a lower roller 24b, and the lower roller 24b is driven by a chain 27 driven by the drive source of the apparatus via a paper feed clutch assembly 25 and a sprocket 26. It has become.

The paper feed clutch assembly 25 has a spring clutch therein, and includes the sprocket 26 and the lower roller 24b.
The ``contact'' of the driving force between.

However, in order to "disconnect" the driving force, the claws provided on the outer periphery of the paper feed clutch assembly 25 are fixed and the internal spring clutch is need to be controlled. The drive device 30 is used to fix or release this claw. The drive device 30 in this case is a modification of the drive portion 2b of the slider 2 of the drive device shown in FIG. 1, and has a locking portion 31 that engages with the claw portion. Therefore, if this locking portion 31 is slid in the front-rear direction in FIG. 4 by supplying current to the second spring formed of a shape memory alloy as described above, the paper feed clutch assembly 25 can be operated.

By using such a drive device in a copying machine, the shock during operation will be small (and the collision noise will be small), so
There is no need to specifically provide a cushioning material or the like in the collision part, and the configuration of the device can be simplified.

In addition, when used in copying machines, it is not limited to the registration rollers as mentioned above, but can also be used as a part of the switching lever of the conveyance path, and can also be used to open and close the lid of the operation section that is not normally used. The range of applications is very wide.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the drive device of the present invention can be used as a drive device for operating members of any device other than a copying machine.

Note that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 above, 1. Although only the second spring of the second springs is made of a shape memory alloy, the first spring or both springs may be made of a shape memory alloy, and the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case was explained in which two elastic members were provided inside the external frame, but if a bidirectional shape memory alloy is used, the same operation as in the above embodiment can be achieved with only one elastic member. It becomes possible to In other words, a shape memory alloy is used that biases the movable member in one direction at temperatures above a certain transformation point, which is higher than normal temperature, and biases the movable member in the opposite direction at temperatures below the transformation point. For example, only one elastic member is required.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the electrodes for supplying current to the first spring were provided on the external frame and the slider, but the position where the electrodes are provided is not limited to this, and the electrodes may be provided directly on the first spring. You can.

In this case, the slider can be made of a non-conductive material such as resin, and the weight can be further reduced. Further, although a coil spring is used as the elastic member housed within the outer frame, it is of course possible to use an elastic member having another shape.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the movable member is slidably provided on the outer frame, and the movable member is provided with a drive portion for driving the actuating member and a support portion protruding into the outer frame. an elastic member made of a shape memory alloy is provided in the outer frame to engage with a support portion of the moving member, and a predetermined current is supplied to the elastic member made of the shape memory alloy. Since the movable member is moved by the shape memory alloy, it is possible to adjust the moving speed of the movable member by adjusting the amount of current supplied to the shape memory alloy.
The impact of a collision on the actuating lever etc. is reduced, the structure is simple and the function can be almost the same as the conventional tT11 solenoid, and a lightweight drive device can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a driving device for an actuating member according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional plan view thereof, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining its operation, FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine in which the above drive device is used, and FIG. 4 is a partially detailed view thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... External frame, 2... Slider, 3... First spring, 4... Second spring formed using shape memory alloy, 7... Power supply, 8... Transistor . Patent applicant Yukio Ono, agent of Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd., patent attorney

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A movable member is slidably provided with respect to the external frame, and the movable member includes a drive part for driving an external operating member and a support part formed to protrude inside the external frame. an elastic member made of a shape memory alloy is provided in the outer frame to be engaged with a support portion of the moving member, and a predetermined current is supplied to the elastic member made of the shape memory alloy. A driving device for an actuating member, characterized in that the movable member is moved by: