JPH0212849B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic feeding device for sheet materials used in facsimile machines and the like.

Conventionally, the above-mentioned automatic feeding device for sheet material has a cylindrical roller that rotates in the direction of feeding the sheet material, i.e., original paper, to the reading section of a facsimile machine, and a coefficient of friction μ between the surface of this cylindrical roller and the original paper. A friction piece having a friction coefficient μ ₂ with the original paper smaller than ₁ and larger than ₃ with the original paper rotates in the same direction via the cylindrical roller and the sheet material, that is, the original paper is transferred to the reading unit. A cylindrical roller (hereinafter referred to as a reversing roller) that rotates in a direction away from
It was configured so that the sheets were separated one by one and fed to the reading section.

This friction material is placed close to or in contact with the cylindrical roller to ensure that the original sheets stacked on the original stacking table are fed to the part where the original sheets are separated and fed one by one (hereinafter referred to as the separating section). This is an important point in improving the operability and reliability of this type of equipment.

Conventionally, the document stacking table is tilted so that the document sheets stacked thereon reach the separation section by their own weight. However, in recent years, equipment has become smaller and
Ease of operation, especially ease of handling manuscript paper, is required.
In response to this, it has become necessary to make the document loading table horizontal. Therefore, a means (hereinafter referred to as a preliminary conveying means) for conveying the document paper to the separating section is required, but sufficient care must be taken in setting the conveying force of this preliminary conveying means. In other words, if the conveying force is too strong, it may cause so-called overlapping feeding, in which multiple sheets of document paper are simultaneously fed against the frictional force of the friction piece or reversing roller that locks document sheets other than those to be fed at the moment. Damage to the leading edge of the original paper that comes into contact with the friction piece or the reversing roller may occur. On the other hand, if the conveyance force of the preliminary conveyance means is too weak, the stacked documents will be overcome by the conveyance path resistance such as frictional force with the document stacking table and the guide plate, making it impossible to feed them to the separating section.

One way to deal with these problems is to use a non-cylindrical roller as a preliminary conveyance means to apply conveyance force intermittently to the document paper, but conveyance force also acts in this case. The moment always involved dangers similar to those above.

In addition, a sensor is installed on the downstream side of the conveyance path of the separation section to detect the document paper, and after only one sheet of document paper has protruded from the separation section, the pressure contact means of the preliminary conveyance roller is released, and the preliminary conveyance force is not applied to the document paper. There is also a known configuration, but in this case, a plunger, cam, motor, etc. are required to obtain the power to release the pressure contact of the sensor and preliminary conveyance, and a complicated configuration for control is also required. It becomes necessary.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and allows the preliminary conveying force to act strongly on the sheet material (manuscript paper) only when necessary, and release it when unnecessary, thereby allowing the sheet material to be conveyed one sheet at a time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic sheet material feeding device with a simple configuration that can reliably separate sheet materials.

Next, the present invention will be described by way of examples with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view for explaining the operation of the automatic feeder of the present invention. In the figure, a plurality of manuscript papers 1, which are sheet materials, are stacked on a horizontal manuscript stacking table 2. Following the table 2, a preliminary conveyance roller 3, which is a feeding rotary body, and a roller 4, which pinches and presses the original paper 1 being conveyed, are arranged above the preliminary conveyance roller 3. A preliminary conveyance force is obtained by the preliminary conveyance rollers 3 and rollers 4. A feeding roller 5 is disposed downstream of the preliminary conveyance roller 3, and a part of an arc-shaped friction piece 6, which is a friction material, is pressed against the feeding roller 5.
Here, the outer peripheral surface of the feeding roller 5 and the document paper 1
Let the friction coefficient between the friction piece 6 and the manuscript paper be μ ₁ , the friction coefficient between the friction piece 6 and the original paper be μ ₂ , and the friction coefficient between the manuscript papers as μ ₃ .
The materials and shapes of each are selected so as to satisfy the relationship μ ₁ > μ ₂ > μ ₃ . This feeding roller 5
The document sheets are separated one by one in a separation section 7 where a friction piece 6 is arranged, and then sent to a conveyance system A on the downstream side. This conveyance system A is formed of reading conveyance rollers 8 and 10 and pressure contact rollers 9 and 11 that are in pressure contact with each other. 12 are placed.
The document sheets separated one by one are passed through the reading section 12 by a conveyance system A at a predetermined conveyance speed. The image is formed on an image sensor 15 through a mirror 13 and a lens 14 arranged below the reading section 12, and is converted into an electrical signal. The sensor 16 is used to detect the leading and trailing edges of the original paper and determine the amount of transport to the reading section 12.

In order to detect the leading and trailing edges of the document paper that is continuously fed by the sensor 16, the reading conveyance roller 8,
The power transmission system is configured such that the circumferential speed of the reading conveyance roller 8 is greater than the circumferential speed of the feeding roller 5.
The gap between the original paper bitten by the rollers 9 and the original paper fed next by the feeding roller 5 is widened. When the document paper coming out of the separating section 7 is bitten by the reading conveyance roller 8 and the rollers 9, the reading conveyance roller 8 is transferred to the feeding roller via the document paper due to the difference in circumferential speed between the reading conveyance roller 8 and the feeding roller 5. 5 will be driven. Therefore, the feeding roller 5 needs to have a transmission member so that the power from the power transmission system can be cut off.

FIG. 2 is a top (partially cross-sectional) view of the automatic sheet material feeding device of the present invention. A shaft 26 is arranged, and the preliminary conveyance roller 3 is rotatably fitted thereto. Fixed axis 2
A rotating shaft 17 is arranged parallel to the rotating shaft 1.
A feeding roller 5 and a gear 18 which is a driving rotary body are rotatably fitted to the shaft 7, and a collar 19 and a timing pulley 20 which are a second rotary body are each fixed to the rotating shaft 17 by a parallel pin or the like. ing. A spring clutch 21 is attached to the boss portion 18' of the gear 18, the collar 19, and the boss portion 5', which is the first rotating body of the feed roller 5, so as to cover the outer surfaces of these three members. The boss portion 5' rotates integrally with the feeding roller 5, that is, rotates synchronously. Timing pulley 2 fixed to rotating shaft 17
0 and the preliminary conveyance roller 3 are connected to each other so that power is transmitted via a belt 27, and the rotating shaft 17 and the collar 19 rotate integrally with the preliminary conveyance roller 3, that is, rotate synchronously. A gear 23 attached to the output shaft of the drive motor 22 meshes with the gear 18 and the gear 24 of the reading and conveying roller 8 to transmit power thereto, and rotational power is transmitted to the rollers 8 and 10 via a timing belt 25. We share each other.

In this apparatus, when a plurality of manuscript papers 1 are loaded on the manuscript loading table 2 and the drive motor 22 is started, the gear 18 is rotated counterclockwise as shown by the arrow shown in FIG. 1 due to rotation of the motor. Here, if the spring clutch 21, which is a transmission member, is wound in a right-handed thread direction, the spring clutch 21 will be tightened by the rotation of the gear 18, and the power will be transmitted from the boss portion 18' to the collar 19, and then via the boss portion 5'. and is transmitted to the feeding roller 5. Collar 19 is rotation axis 1
7, the power is transmitted to the preliminary conveyance roller 3 via the rotating shaft 17, the timing pulley 20, and the belt 27, and the document paper 1 is transferred to the separating section 7.
transported to. In the separating section 7, the feeding roller 5
Due to the above-mentioned cooperation of the friction piece 6 and the friction piece 6, only the lowest layer of original paper is fed in the direction of the reading conveyance roller 8, and the other original papers 1 remain in the separating section 7. When the document sheet fed out from the separating section 7 is bitten by the reading conveyance roller 8, one sheet of the document sheet is conveyed at the circumferential speed of the reading conveyance roller 8. At this time, as described above, the feeding roller 5 is driven by the reading conveyance roller 8 through the original paper and rotates at the peripheral speed of the reading conveyance roller 8. Since the rotational speed of the gear 18 is constant, when the original paper is bitten by the reading conveyance roller 8, the rotational speed of the feeding roller 5 becomes higher than that of the gear 18.
Therefore, even though the gear 18 is rotating counterclockwise, the spring clutch 21 is loosened by the boss portion 5' of the feed roller 5, and the rotational power of the gear 18 is no longer transmitted to the feed roller 5 and the collar 19. Also, the rotational power is no longer transmitted to the rotating shaft 17 and the preliminary conveyance roller 3. Therefore, no conveying force is applied to the document paper that is stationary.

Now, when the rear end of the document paper fed out from the feed roller 5 passes through the separating section 7 (FIG. 1), the power transmitted from the reading conveyance roller 8 to the feed roller 5 via the document paper is cut off. , the spring clutch 21 is tightened again, and power is transmitted from the gear 18 to the collar 19 and the feed roller 5. Accordingly, the preliminary conveyance roller 3 is also driven, and the remaining document sheets that are still stationary are reliably fed to the separating section 7. In this way, the above operation is repeated.

In the above embodiment, since a cylindrical roller is used as the preliminary conveyance roller 3, the rollers 4 are always kept in a pressed state. Therefore, while the lowermost layer of original paper separated and fed out in the separation section 7 is placed on the preliminary conveyance roller 3, the lowermost layer of original paper stacks on it is dragged by the lowermost layer of original paper. The effect of the present invention is exerted after the trailing edge of the lowermost document sheet passes through the preliminary conveyance roller 3. Therefore, when using a cylindrical roller as the preliminary conveyance roller 3, the distance between the preliminary conveyance roller 3 and the reading conveyance roller 8 is must be made as large as necessary. This means that the device becomes larger.

3a and 3b are partial side views showing another embodiment of the invention, which solves this problem.
In the figure, a non-cylindrical roller 2 is used as a feeding rotating body.
8 is used. The non-cylindrical roller 28 has a top portion 28a that protrudes from the top surface of the document stacking table 2 as shown in FIG. 3a, and a portion 28b that does not protrude from the top surface of the document stacking table 2 as shown in FIG. Determine the geometry. In the figure, non-cylindrical roller 2
Although 8 is shown with a square cross-section, it does not necessarily have to be this shape, and other polygonal cross-sections or other cross-sectional shapes may be used as necessary. The roller 4 is rotatably attached to the tip of the arm 29, the other end of the arm 29 is rotatable in a fixed position, and the middle part is pressed by a spring 29'. A stopper 30 is installed to maintain a gap g between the height of the roller 4 and the lowest surface of the roller 4.

In this device, when the non-cylindrical roller 28 is driven, the stacked document sheets are conveyed by its top 28a. When the lowest layer of document paper fed out from the separating section 7 is bitten by the reading conveyance roller 8 and the roller 9 and the power to drive the non-cylindrical roller 28 from the motor is cut off, the top portion 28a of the non-cylindrical roller 28 is The lower document paper is pulled and rotated one by one until it reaches the state shown in FIG. 3b. In this state, the stopper 30 maintains a gap g between the roller 4 and the top surface of the document loading table 2 at that height, so the non-cylindrical roller 28 is not rotated by the document paper and the power is cut off. Therefore, it stops in the state shown in FIG. 3b. That is, the preliminary conveyance function is completely stopped from the time when the leading edge of the document sheet is bitten by the reading conveyance roller 8 until the rear end of the document sheet passes through the separating section 7. Therefore, the non-cylindrical roller 2
8 can be placed close to the feeding roller 5, and the device can be made more compact.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which a needle one-way clutch is used as the transmission member in place of the spring clutch described above. In the figure, a gear 38, which is a driving rotating body that transmits power from a motor, is press-fitted into an outer ring 31a of a needle one-way clutch 31. The rotating shaft 17 and the boss portion 5' of the feeding roller 5 are fitted into the inner ring 31b, so that power from the gear 38 is transmitted via the needle 32. When the feed roller 5 rotates at a rotational speed greater than that of the gear 38, the boss portion of the feed roller 5 engages the needle 3 of the needle one-way clutch 31.
2 from an internal clutch pawl (not shown) to prevent rotational power from the gear from being transmitted to the feed roller 5 and rotating shaft 17. The other configurations are the same as the configuration shown in FIG.

In the above description, the case where the arc-shaped friction piece 6 is used has been described, but it is also possible to use a reversing roller or the like instead.

As explained above, according to the present invention, by disposing a transmission member in the system for transmitting power to the feeding rotary body, a state in which the lowermost sheet material is bitten by the reading conveyance roller, that is, When the remaining sheet material must remain at the separation point, the conveying force of the feeding rotor can be cut off.
A strong conveying force can be applied to the sheet material by the feeding rotary body only when necessary. In other words, when the transmission member is rotated by the sheet material conveyed by the conveyance means, that is, when the sheet material begins to be conveyed by the conveyance means, it does not transmit power to the feeding rotary body, thereby preventing overlapping feeding. can. Further, there is no need for complicated structures such as sensors and electromagnetic clutches, or other control means, and the drive of the feeding rotary body can be cut off at an appropriate timing.

In the above description, the automatic feeding mechanism of a document reading device was explained as an example, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be used as an automatic paper feeding device that feeds cut recording paper to a recording section. A similar effect can also be obtained with a mechanism in which the table on which sheet materials (original paper, etc.) are stacked is tilted.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory side view of one embodiment of the present invention applied to a facsimile machine, FIG. 2 is a top (partially sectional) view of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 a and b are other embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the transmission member of the present invention. 2... Original loading table, 3, 28... Preliminary conveyance roller, 5... Feeding roller, 6... Friction piece, 8, 10
...reading conveyance roller, 17... rotary shaft, 21,3
1...Transmission member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A feeding roller that feeds a sheet material; a friction material that faces the feeding roller and separates other sheet materials from the sheet material fed out by the feeding roller; a conveyance means disposed downstream of the feed roller by a distance shorter than the length of the sheet material in the conveyance direction, and feeding the sheet material at a faster speed than the feed roller; a feeding rotating body that feeds sheet material to the roller; a first rotating body that rotates synchronously with the feeding roller; a second rotating body that rotates synchronously with the feeding rotating body; a driving rotating body; and the drive. a transmission member that transmits the driving force of the rotary body to the first rotary body and the second rotary body; An automatic feeding device for sheet material, characterized in that the sheet material automatic feeding device is configured not to transmit driving force to the second rotary body when the second rotary body rotates at a faster speed than the driving rotary body. 2. The automatic sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding rotating body is a non-cylindrical roller.