JPH021049B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field of invention] The present invention relates to a paper feeding mechanism for forms.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In document transport mechanisms such as OCR and copying machines, one of the important functions is to prevent multiple sheets of documents from being fed. FIG. 4 shows a conventional paper feeding mechanism. 1 is a ledger,
2 is a feed roller that sends out the form 1; 3 is a pick roller that sends the form sent from feed roller 2 to the conveyance system; 4 is a reverse roller that prevents the feeding of multiple forms; 5 is an arm that supports the reverse roller; 6 is a spring One end is attached to arm 5, and the other end is fixed. 7 is a multiple sheet feed detection mechanism provided on the conveyance path. Next, this operation will be explained. The feed roller 2 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow a while the form 1 is appropriately pressed.
Then, the feed roller 2 feeds one sheet of paper to the pick crawler 3 which is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow b. The pick crawler 3 sends the single form to the subsequent conveyance system. On the other hand, the reverse roller 4 is
It is rotated in the direction of arrow c while being pressed by an arm 5 and a spring 6 to prevent the feeding of multiple forms. In the event that multiple sheet feeding cannot be prevented, the multiple sheet feeding detection mechanism 7, which detects the amount of transmitted light, detects the multiple sheet feeding, stops the sheet feeding operation, and alerts the operator with a buzzer or other warning. Encourage the user to remove multiple forms. Therefore, although the conventional paper feeding mechanism can prevent multiple sheets from being sent to the conveyance system, it requires operator intervention every time the multiple sheet feeding detection device 7 detects multiple sheet feeding. However, the disadvantage was that the paper feeding operation could not be restored. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, a device has recently been devised to recover the multi-sheet feeding state without operator intervention. To explain the configuration of this device, numeral 1 is a feed roller that sends the form to a separation mechanism composed of a separation roller 2 and a separation belt 3.
4 is a form detection mechanism provided at a predetermined position on the conveyance path; 5 is a paper feed table; and 6 is a motor that moves the paper feed table 5 up and down. According to this, when a plurality of documents are formed by the feed roller, the plurality of documents are stopped by the separation mechanism formed by the separation roller 2 and the separation belt 3. Then, the form detection section 4 detects that the form does not pass. Thereafter, the paper feed table 5 is lowered by the motor 6, and the plurality of forms stuck in the separation mechanism are separated by their own weight. Thereafter, the paper feed tray 5 is raised by the motor 6 to resume paper feeding. Although this conventional device can automatically restore the state of feeding multiple sheets, it takes time to recover, and there are also problems in that the sheets cannot be separated accurately because separation is performed only by the weight of the sheets themselves.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention provides a paper feeding mechanism that automatically recovers the multi-sheet feeding state without human intervention even if multiple sheets are fed, and automatically adjusts the conveying section so that the next feeding will not feed multiple sheets. The purpose is to provide.

[Summary of the invention]

The paper feeding mechanism of the present invention has a paper feeding table for stacking forms, a conveying means for feeding out the forms loaded on the paper feeding table one by one, and further, a plurality of forms are fed by this conveying means. A plurality of forms feed detection means is provided on the conveyance path to detect when the sheets are stacked. The paper feed mechanism of the present invention includes means for driving the conveyance means to return the plurality of sheets of forms on the conveyance path onto the paper feed tray when the detection means detects the feeding of multiple sheets. to restore the multi-sheet feeding state, and to appropriately adjust the pressure exerted by the transport means on the forms so that the forms are transported one by one after the plural sheets of forms are returned onto the paper feed tray by the transport means. pressure adjustment means to ensure that one sheet is fed the next time.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a paper feeding mechanism of an optical character reader (OCR) will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. 1 is a paper feed tray;
Forms 2 are stacked on this paper feed tray 1. An actuator 3 is attached to the bottom of the paper feed tray 1, and a form guide 4 is attached to the top of the paper feed tray 1. A feed roller 5 is provided above the form 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the feed roller 5 is in contact with a bearing 6, and the bearing 6 is in contact with the shaft 7 of the feed roller 5. A pick roller 8 is provided in the paper feeding direction of the feed roller 5. This pick roller 8 is attached to a shaft 9, and the shaft 9 is attached to a motor 10. The pit crawler 8 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 10. A motor control unit 11 is connected to the motor 10 to control the direction in which the motor rotates. Further, the pick roller 8 and the feed roller 5 are provided with grooves into which a belt can be placed, and a belt 12 is placed thereon. The rotation of the pick roller 8 is transmitted to the feed roller 5 by this belt 12. And Pits Crawler 8
An arm 13 is provided on the shaft 9 via a bearing 6. This arm 13 is attached to the shaft 7 of the feed roller 5. A ring 14 is attached to the outside of the shaft 7 and shaft 9 to prevent the bearing 6 from coming off. Further, a spring 15 is attached to the other end of the arm 13, and an actuator 16 is attached to this spring 15. The rotation of the motor 10 is transmitted to the shaft 9 and rotates the pick crawler 8, but the rotation is not transmitted to the arm 13 due to the action of the bearing 13. The rotation of the pick roller 8 is transmitted to the feed roller 5 by the belt 12, and the feed roller 5 rotates, but the rotation of the feed roller 5 is not transmitted to the shaft 7 due to the action of the bearing 6. By operating the actuator 16, the feed roller 5 can move up and down using the shaft 9 of the pick roller 8 as a fulcrum. A reverse roller 17 is provided below the pick roller 8, facing the pick roller 8, and making contact with the form with appropriate pressure to prevent the feeding of multiple forms. Axis 1 of this reverse roller 17
A one-way clutch 19 is attached to the roller 8 so that the reverse roller 17 can only rotate in one direction. Further, a belt 20 is wrapped around the reverse roller 17, and this belt 20 is attached to a roller 21 which is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown).
It is rotated in the x direction. An arm 22 is attached to the shaft 18, and a spring 23 is attached to the other end of the arm 22. An actuator 24 is attached to the other end of the spring 23, and the operation of the actuator 24 causes the shaft 25 of the roller 21 to
The reverse roller 17 can move up and down using the fulcrum as a fulcrum. Furthermore, a light emitting diode 26 and a phototransistor 27 are provided at predetermined positions on the conveyance path, and these are connected to a multiple sheet feed detection device 28. This is a device that shines light onto paper and determines the number of sheets of paper based on the amount of light transmitted. This multiple sheet feed detection device 28 sends the detection signal A to the control section 29.
send to This control section 29 receives, in addition to the detection signal A, a feed signal B from the main body that instructs to start feeding. This feed signal B is output from the main body every time scanning of a document is completed. The control unit 29 also controls the actuator 24 to control the reverse roller 17.
A reverse roller pressure adjustment signal C is sent to the actuator 3 to adjust the pressure of the form, and a paper feed tray adjustment signal D is sent to the actuator 16 to adjust the height of the sheet feed tray.
Then, a feed roller pressure adjustment signal E for adjusting the contact pressure between the feed roller 5 and the form and a rotation direction control signal F for controlling the rotation direction of the feed roller 5 and the pick roller 8 are sent to the motor control section.

Next, the operation of this paper feeding device will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3, when the feed signal B instructing to start feeding the form is issued from the main body side to the control unit 29, the control unit 29 sends a feed roller pressure adjustment signal of normal level to instruct the pressure in the normal form conveyance state. E, send the reverse roller pressure adjustment signal C at Normal level to the actuators 16 and 24; As a result, the feed roller applies pressure to the document to carry out normal document conveyance, and the reverse roller 17 is set to perform normal multi-sheet feeding prevention. Then, the control section 29 sends a rotation direction control signal F instructing the feed to the motor control section 11 to start conveyance. Upon receiving this signal F, the motor 10 begins to rotate in the conveying direction, and the pick roller 8 and feed roller 5 rotate in the y direction. Through these operations, even if one or more forms would normally be fed, the reverse roller 17 prevents the feeding of more than one form, and only one form is sent to the conveyance path. However, depending on the pressure exerted on the form by each roller or the state of the form, a plurality of forms may be sent to the conveyance path. Then,
The multiple sheet feed detection device 28 detects that the amount of light transmitted is less than the amount of light transmitted through one sheet, and sends an error level detection signal A indicating an error to the control section 29. Upon receiving this signal A, the control section 2
9 sends a stop level rotation direction control signal F to the motor control unit 11 to instruct the feed roller 5 and the pick roller 8 to stop rotating. The motor control section 11 receives the signal F and stops the motor 10. As a result, the feed roller 5 and the pick roller 8 stop. After that, in order to return a plurality of sheets, the control unit 29 sends a zero-level feed roller pressure adjustment signal E, which instructs the actuators 16 and 24 to eliminate the pressure of the feed roller 5 and the pressure of the reverse roller 17 applied to the sheets, which is also at zero level. The reverse roller pressure adjustment signal C is sent. In addition, in order to make it easier to return multiple sheets of documents onto the paper feed tray 1, the control unit 29 sends a low-level paper feed tray adjustment signal D that instructs the actuator 3 to lower the paper feed tray 1.
send. As a result, the distance between the feed roller 5 and the form 2 on the paper feed tray 1 is increased, making it easier to return a plurality of forms. Then, the control section 29 sends a rotation direction instruction signal F at the Reverse level that instructs the motor control section 11 to rotate the motor 10 in the reverse direction in order to return a plurality of forms. From this, the motor 10 starts to rotate in reverse, the feed roller 5 and the pick roller 8 rotate in the z direction, and the plurality of sheets on the conveyance path are returned. Here, the reverse roller 17 is rotating in the x direction, but due to the action of the one-way clutch 19, the reverse roller 17 is rotating in the z direction.
Even if the pick crawler 8 rotates in the x direction at a slower speed than the speed of the pick crawler 8 that rotates in the x direction, it cannot prevent the plural sheets from returning, and rotates in accordance with the speed at which the plural sheets return. When the multi-sheet form is returned, the multi-sheet feed detection device 28 detects that the multi-sheet form has been returned,
A zero level detection signal A indicating that there is no form is sent to the control section 29. Upon receiving this detection signal A, the control section 29 outputs a rotation direction control signal F at Stop level that instructs the motor control section 11 to stop the rotation of the feed roller 5 and pick crawler 8 after a certain period of time.
send. Here, how far to return the multi-sheet form can be arbitrarily determined based on the rotational speed of the pick crawler 8 and the timing from when the multi-sheet feed detection device 29 stops detecting the multi-sheet form until the pick crawler 8 is stopped. Can be done. When the plural sheets of documents have returned to an arbitrary position, the control section 29 sends a rotation direction control signal F at Stop level to the motor control section 11 to instruct the motor control section 11 to stop the rotation in order to stop the rotation of the pick roller 8 and the feed roller 5. When the rotation stops, the control unit 29 increases the pressure applied to the form by the feed roller 5 from the normal state in order to correct the feeding of multiple sheets, and also increases the pressure applied to the form from the reverse roller 17 to prevent the feeding of multiple sheets from the normal state. The actuators 16 and 24 send a feed roller pressure adjustment signal E at a high level and a reverse roller pressure adjustment signal C at a high level to instruct the actuators 16 and 24 to raise the pressure.
send to As a result, the pressure of the feed roller 5 and the pressure of the reverse roller 17 are increased from the normal state, and one sheet can be fed more reliably. The control unit 29 also instructs the paper feed tray 1 to be set higher than its normal height so that it is easier to feed one sheet.
Sends a high level paper feed tray adjustment signal D to the actuator 3. Thereafter, the control section 29 sends a rotation direction control signal F at the feed level to the motor control section 11 so that the feed roller 5 and the pick roller 8 rotate in the y direction. When one sheet is fed in this manner, the multiple sheet feed detection device 28 outputs a detection signal A of OK level, and it is detected that one sheet is fed. When one sheet feed is detected, the control unit 29 controls the feed roller 5.
The feed roller pressure adjustment signal E and the reverse roller pressure adjustment signal C are returned to the normal level so as to return the pressure of the reverse roller 17 to the normal state pressure, and are sent to the actuators 16 and 24.
In addition, the control unit 29 sets the paper feed tray adjustment signal D to Normal so that the height of the paper feed tray 1 is returned to the height in the normal conveyance state.
level and send to actuator 3. As a result, the pressure of the feed roller 5, the pressure of the reverse roller 17, and the height of the paper feed tray 1 return to the pressure and height in the normal conveyance state. Then, the next conveyance is performed at the same pressure and height as in the normal conveyance state. If multiple sheet feeding cannot be corrected during the first recovery operation, increase the level of each pressure adjustment signal step by step until one sheet feed is achieved.
However, the same action is performed a predetermined number of times.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, even if a plurality of forms are fed, it is possible to return the plurality of forms automatically and without jamming, and after that, the contact pressure between the conveyance means and the form and the paper feed tray can be adjusted. Paper feeding conditions such as height are changed to ensure single-sheet feeding, and then paper feeding is performed again, making it easier for workers to recover from multiple-sheet feeding compared to conventional paper feeding devices. The probability of having to perform work is further reduced, and processing can be performed quickly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of the paper feeding mechanism of the embodiment seen from the side, Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of the feed roller and pick roller seen from above, Figure 3 is a timing chart of the paper feeding operation, Figures 4 and 4 are FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional paper feeding mechanism. 1... Paper feed table, 2... Form, 4... Form guide, 3, 16, 24... Actuator, 5...
Feed roller, 8...Pitsu crawler, 11...
Motor control unit, 17...Reverse roller, 14,
21...Arm, 26...Multi-sheet feed detection device,
27...Control unit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A form loading means for loading forms, a height adjustment means for adjusting the height of the top surface of the form loaded on the form loading means, and a means for applying a predetermined pressure to the upper surface of the form. a conveyance means that holds and contacts the form and conveys the form to the conveyance path or conveys the form reversely to the form stacking means side; a detection means provided on the conveyance path to detect feeding of a plurality of sheets; and a pressure that adjusts the pressure of the conveyance means and the pressure of the prevention means. adjusting means, during normal conveyance, the height of the uppermost surface of the form is set to the normal position by the height adjusting means, and the pressure of the conveying means and the pressure of the preventing means are adjusted to the pressure The adjustment means sets a normal pressure and sends the form to the conveyance path, and when the plural sheet feeding is detected by the detection means, the height of the uppermost surface of the form is adjusted to the height. the height of the uppermost surface of the form is set to a lower position than the normal position by the adjusting means, and the plurality of forms are reversely conveyed by the conveying means, and after this reverse conveyance, the height of the uppermost surface of the form is set to The pressure of the conveying means and the pressure of the preventing means are set to a higher pressure than the normal pressure by the pressure adjusting means, and the form is returned to a higher position than the normal position. A paper feeding mechanism that prevents feeding of multiple sheets of the form by feeding the paper into the conveyance path.