JPH0395041A - Paper sheet separative feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To convey paper sheets successively keeping the minimum space between the paper sheets by providing a control circuit for outputting a control signal to a switching control means so as to switch a feed roller from the conveyance impossible mode to the conveyance possible mode at the time of detecting the non-existence of the paper sheets. CONSTITUTION:When at least one of paper sheet detecting sensors 141, 142 disposed along the passage of paper sheets 2 detects the non-existence of the paper sheet between a fed roller 3 and the sheet carry out part 31 of a separating part 101, a plunger 18 is operated by a command from a control circuit 32 to lower the paper feed roller 3, thus starting the conveyance of the paper sheets 2. Provided an N number of paper sheet detecting sensors are disposed at equal spaces apart, the space between the paper sheets discharged, with the maximum space between the paper sheets narrowed down to 1/N, successively from the separating part 101, and the dispersion of the spaces can be reduced to a minimum. The read speed in a read part for instance can be thereby increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a sheet paper separation and feeding device used in optical character readers and the like. Conventional technology> Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a conventional optical character reader.
The main components are a conveying section 100, a separating section 101, and a reading lamp 8. It is composed of a reading section 102 in which a reading lens 9 and a CCD sensor 7 are provided, a serial number printing section 103, a stacker section 104 in which a redirect stacker 12 and an accept stacker 13 are provided.

In addition to this configuration, each part 100.101 10
Between 2.103 and 103, there is a sheet paper path 1 for passing the sheet paper 2.
Conveyance guide roller pairs 6a, 6b, 6c, 6 with 05 in between
d, 6e, 6f, 6g, and 6h are arranged respectively. Further, a stacker switching blade 11 is provided in the sheet paper path 105 immediately after the guide roller pair 6f. Further, the conveying section 100 and the separating section 101 that control the sheet separation and supply device of this optical character reader are shown in FIG. 4 as a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3. Therefore, to further explain the configurations of the transport section 100 and the separation section 101 using FIG. 4, the transport section 100 includes:
A hopper 1 on which sheet paper 2 is stacked, and a paper feed roller 3 that conveys the sheet paper 2 on this hopper 1 to separation section lO1.
is provided.

On the other hand, in the separating section 101, a separating/conveying roller 4 and a separating belt 5 are disposed facing each other with a path 105 for the sheet paper 2 interposed therebetween. The separation/conveyance roller 4 is attached via a one-way clutch (not shown) to a pivot shaft 15 that is rotated together with the paper feed roller 3 by a separation/conveyance drive motor (not shown). On the other hand, separation belt 5
is stretched across the idlers 20, 21, and 22, and is normally disposed in an unmoving state facing the outer periphery of the separation/conveyance roller 4.

Further, in the separating section 101, there are light sources 14a arranged on both sides of the passage 105 of the sheet 2, and
The sheet paper detection sensor l4, which is connected to the photoelectric conversion element 14b that outputs a signal upon receiving light from the
The sheet paper detection sensor 14 is provided at a position approximately 5 to 20+u downstream to detect whether or not there is a sheet paper 2 between the separation/conveyance roller 4 and the separation belt 5. It has become.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, which is an explanatory diagram of the operation, this sheet paper separation and supply device separates the nth sheet paper 2n and
The transport guide roller pairs 6a to 6a are arranged so that a distance of a certain value or more is created between the n+1th sheet paper 2n+1 and the n+1th sheet paper 2n+1.
A difference is made between the circumferential speed υ1 of 6h, the circumferential speed υ2 of the separation/conveyance roller 4, and the circumferential speed υ3 of the paper feed roller 3. The difference between these circumferential speeds is that the elbow speed υ1 is the fastest, followed by the circumferential speed υ2,
Regarding the order of circumferential speed U3, circumferential speed U2 and circumferential speed υ3 are almost the same. In such an oval type optical character reader, the paper feed roller 3 is usually placed in the fourth position separated from the sheet paper 2.
It is switched and held in the direction of arrow B in the figure, and even if the feeding roller 3 is rotated together with the separating/conveying roller 4, the sheet paper 2 is not conveyed. On the other hand, when the paper feed roller 3 is switched in the direction of the arrow A shown in the figure and comes into contact with the sheet paper 2, this roller, which is rotating at a circumferential speed υ3, as shown in FIG. 5(a), The sheet paper 2 stacked on top is conveyed to the separating section 101 by the paper feed roller 3. Also,
When this conveyance is confirmed by the sheet paper detection sensor 14, the paper feed roller 3 is then returned to the position in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. At the same time, the sheet paper 2 that has been conveyed to the separation unit 101 is inserted with its leading end between the separation/conveyance roller 4 and the separation belt 5, and between the upper surface of the sheet paper 2 and the outer surface of the separation/conveyance roller 4. Due to the frictional force generated, the separation part 10
1, and the n-th sheet 2n is discharged from the opposite side toward the reading section 102 at a speed determined by the circumferential speed υ2 of the separation/conveyance roller 4. And separation section 1
If the distance between 01 and the conveyance guide roller pair 6a is narrow,
With the trailing end remaining in the separating section 101, the leading edge of the sheet paper 2n is caught by the pair of conveyance guide rollers 6a, and is strongly pulled toward the pair of conveyance guide rollers 6a. Then, since a one-way clutch is interposed between the pivot shaft 15 and the separation/conveyance roller 4, from the moment of engagement, the separation/conveyance roller 4 is moved at the circumferential speed υl of the pair of conveyance guide rollers 6a. It also rotates. In this way, the sheet paper 2n is transferred to the reading section 1.
When the sheet paper 2n is ejected to the 02 side and comes out of the separation unit 101, the force from the conveyance guide roller pair 6a side that was applied to the separation/conveyance roller 4 is removed, and the separation/conveyance roller 4 is moved again at the circumferential speed υ2. Start rotating. Therefore, by repeating such a conveying operation, the nth sheet paper 2n and ni are conveyed almost continuously without any gaps.
The distance from the first sheet of paper 2n+1 to be conveyed begins to gradually open from when the rear end of the sheet of paper 2n leaves the separation/conveyance roller 44. Note that the interval is 2n sheets of paper.
When the tip of +1 is caught in the pair of conveyance guide rollers 6a, the interval becomes maximum. Then, sheet paper 2 at that time
Distance between n and sheet paper 2n+1. &4 [Figure 5(b)
Reference] is the distance from the point where the separation/conveyance roller 4 and the separation belt 5 separate to the contact point of the conveyance guide roller 6a.
See Figure 5(a)], then N 4 =ffl+X[( υ , / υ
2) - 1 Ko ・ ・ ・ ■It is shown by the formula, and the distance in this case! 14 is the case when the sheet paper 2n and the sheet paper 2n+1 are not separated at the separation unit 101, that is, when the sheet paper interval is the minimum. On the other hand, when the trailing end of the sheet paper 2n comes out of the separating section 101 and the next sheet paper 2n+1 starts traveling by the paper feed roller 3, the sheet paper interval becomes maximum. Therefore, stacker 1
The distance between the exit and the sheet paper detection sensor 14 is J23.
[See Figure 5(a)], the maximum sheet spacing 1
4 is... l24=JtX[(υ1/υ2) 1]+f
, x ( υ1 / υ2 〉 ・ ・ ・■■. Then, a variation δ occurs in the sheet spacing, and the variation δ at this time is calculated from the above formula ■■, and the following formula δ=■−■= 13X (υ1/υ2)...■.On the other hand, when sheets 2.2n, 2n+1,... The information written on the sheet paper 2 is read by the lamp 8 and lens 9, and then photoelectrically converted by the CCD sensor 7 and converted into an electrical signal.Next,
The sheet paper 2 that has been read is moved to the guide roller pair 6c.
, 6d, and 6e to the serial number printing section 103, a serial number is attached thereto, and the sheet is conveyed to the stacker section 10 side. Also, in this serial number printing section 103, the sheet paper 2 with unreadable characters
Sheet paper 2 with no unreadable characters is discharged to the reject stacker 12 side, and sheet paper 2 with no unreadable characters is discharged to the accept stacker 13 side under switching control by the stacker switching blade 11. <Problems to be Solved by the Invention> As described above, in the sheet paper separation and supply device used in the conventional optical character reader, the sheet paper is separated between the sheet discharge section of the separation section 101 and the paper feed roller 3. Since only one paper detection sensor l4 is arranged, there is a large variation δ between the minimum and maximum distances 14 between the sheets of paper 2.
occurs. For this reason, the reading processing speed in the reading unit 102 is at its maximum when the interval g4 between the sheets of paper 2 is at its minimum, so it must be set in accordance with the speed at this minimum. Therefore, there was a problem in that the overall reading processing speed had to be reduced. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a sheet paper separation and feeding device that can sequentially convey sheets of paper while maintaining minimum intervals. Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the sheet paper separation and supply device according to the present invention includes at least a sheet paper separating section along the sheet paper path between the sheet carrying out section of the separating section and the paper feeding roller. Install two or more sheet paper detection sensors. Further, when at least one of the sheet paper detection sensors detects that there is no sheet paper, the paper feed roller is switched from a second mode in which sheet paper cannot be conveyed to a first mode in which sheet paper can be conveyed via a switching control means. It is equipped with a control circuit that outputs a control signal to switch the mode. According to this structure, when at least one of the sheet paper detection sensors arranged along the sheet paper path detects that there is no sheet paper between the sheet conveyance section and the supply roller of the separating section, the paper feed is stopped. The paper rollers begin transporting the sheet paper in the hopper. Therefore, if N sheet paper detection sensors (N is an integer greater than 1) are arranged at equal intervals, the maximum interval between sheets is narrowed to 1/N and the paper sheets are sequentially discharged from the separating section. It is possible to minimize the spacing between sheets of paper and the variation in spacing. This makes it possible to improve performance in other parts, such as increasing the reading processing speed of the reading unit 102, for example. Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic elliptical diagram of a sheet paper separation and supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this device can be applied in place of the conveyance section 100 and separation section 101 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is something. Therefore, in FIG. 1, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 3 and 4 indicate the same components as in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, the conveyance section 100 is provided with a paper feed roller 3, and the separation section 101 is provided with a sheet paper detection sensor consisting of a separation/conveyance roller 4, a separation belt 5, a light source 14a, and a photoelectric conversion element 14b. There is. The separation/conveyance roller 4 is attached to a drive shaft 25 rotated by a separation/conveyance drive motor 24, so that it rotates together with the drive shaft 25. on the other hand,
A paper feed roller 3 rotated by the driving force of a separation/conveyance drive motor 24 is attached to one end of the arm 27 via a rotating shaft 28. Note that the other end side of this arm 27 is
The arm 27 is rotatably attached to the drive shaft 25, and the rotary shaft 28 is operatively connected to the drive shaft 25 via a belt (not shown) passing through the arm 27. And the drive shaft 25
When the paper rotates, this rotation passes through the belt to the paper feed roller 3.
The separation/conveyance roller 4 and paper feed roller 3 are rotated as a unit. Furthermore, arm 27
An actuating member 18a of a plunger 18 for controlling the paper feed roller is attached to one end of the holder. This paper feeding roller control runger 18 is fixed to the main body of the apparatus (not shown), and normally pulls the operating member 18a upward. This lifting also causes the arm 27 to rotate upward, raising the paper feed roller 3 to a position above and away from the sheet paper 2 in the hopper 1. Then, when the paper feed roller control plunger 18 is energized, the actuating member 18a is pushed downward and taken out, and the arm 27 also rotates downward to feed the paper. The roller 3 is pressed onto the sheet paper 2. Next, the separation belt 5 is formed in an endless shape and is stretched around the outside of the idler 16, 29, 30. In addition, the separation belt 5 and the idler 16.29
．． A frictional force is provided between the idlers 15, 29, and 30 to prevent them from slipping, and each idler 15, 29, and 30 is also normally attached so as not to rotate. Furthermore, in this embodiment, two sheet paper detection sensors each consisting of a light source 14a and a photoelectric conversion element 14b are provided. Among these, one sheet paper detection sensor 141 is
Approximately 15~
The other sheet detection sensor 14 is provided at a position approximately 20 am back upstream, and the other sheet detection sensor 14 is provided at a position approximately half the distance g3 from the part where the sheet detection sensor 141 is provided to the supply roller 3. There is. In this sheet paper separation and supply device, the control circuit 3z controls the supply of electricity to the separation/conveyance driving motor 24 and the plunger 18 for controlling the sheet feeding roller. This control circuit 32 includes sheet paper detection sensors 14+. Signals are input from 142 photoelectric conversion elements 14b. Further, this control circuit 32 is mainly composed of a microprocessor, and is programmed in advance to perform processing according to the flow shown in FIG. 2, for example.

The operation of the sheet paper separation and supply apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will now be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 starts when the power is turned on, proceeds to step sT1, energizes and starts the separation/conveyance drive motor 24, and then proceeds to step ST1.
Proceed to 2. In this step ST2, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to convey the sheet paper 2, and if there is no instruction, the separation/conveyance drive motor 24 remains driven and stands by.
Conversely, if there is an instruction to transport, the process advances to step ST3. Then, in step ST3, the separating section? It is determined whether or not the sheet paper 2 exists between the sheet discharge section 31 and the paper feed roller 3 of 01 based on the signals from the sheet paper detection sensors 14+ and 14■, and if it exists, the process does not proceed to step ST4. Waiting for the sheet paper 2 to be discharged from the separation section 101 by the separation/conveyance roller 4 which is rotated by the separation/conveyance drive motor 24. Then, sheet paper detection sensor 1
If it is determined that there is no sheet paper based on the signal from 4), the process advances to step ST4, and the plunger 18 for controlling the paper feed roller is energized. Then, the actuating member 18a is pushed down together with the arm 27, and the paper feed roller 3 is pressed onto the sheet paper 2 in the hopper 1. Then, the sheet paper 2 is conveyed to the separation section 101 side by the rotation of the paper feed roller 3. Further, from step ST4, the process advances to step ST5. In this step ST5, based on the signals from the sheet paper detection sensors 141 and 142, it is determined whether the sheet paper 2 has been conveyed to the separating section 101 and further discharged. In this case, the determination is whether either sheet paper detection sensor 141 or 14.2 detects that sheet paper is present. If so, it is determined that the sheet is being ejected and the conveyance continues, and if the sheet paper detection sensor 142 detects that there is no sheet paper, the process advances to step ST6 and the power supply to the plunger 18 for controlling the paper feed roller is cut off. Then, the actuating member 18a is pulled upward together with the arm 27. As a result, the paper feed roller 3 separates from the sheet paper 2 in the hopper 1, and no new sheet paper 2 is conveyed from the hopper 1.
Next, the process advances to step ST7. In this step ST7, it is determined based on the input operation signal whether or not the sheet paper 2 is to be further fed continuously. If the process is to be canceled, the process proceeds to step ST8, where the power to the separation/conveyance drive motor 24 is cut off, and the process ends as it is, waiting until the next instruction is given. On the other hand, if it is determined to continue feeding the sheet paper 2, the process returns to step ST3, and if the sheet paper detection sensor 142 detects that there is no sheet paper, the same operation as before is repeated via step ST4. This operation is repeated until a stop signal is obtained in step ST7. ? Therefore, in this sheet paper separation and supply device, the separating section 1
When at least one of the sheet paper detection sensors 14+ and 14■ arranged along the sheet paper path 105 of the sheet paper 2 between the sheet discharge section 31 of 01 and the paper feed roller 3 detects that there is no sheet paper, the paper feed roller Since the conveyance of sheet No. 3 starts, in this embodiment, the maximum interval between sheets of paper 2 can be narrowed to one-half compared to the conventional method in which only one sheet paper detection sensor 14 is provided. That is, if N sheet paper detection sensors 14 (N is an integer larger than 1) are arranged at equal intervals, the sheet paper 2
By narrowing the maximum interval between sheets 2 to 1/N, it is possible to minimize the interval between sheets 2 that are sequentially discharged from the separating section and the variation in the interval. As a result, when this device is used in, for example, an optical character reader, it is possible to increase the reading processing speed and improve performance in other areas. Although the above embodiment describes the case where the present invention is applied to an optical character reader, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be used as a widely used means for separating and supplying sheet paper. <Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the sheet paper separation and supply device according to the present invention, at least two or more rollers are arranged along the sheet paper path between the sheet delivery section of the separation section and the supply roller. When at least one of the sheet paper detection sensors detects that there is no sheet paper, the paper feeding roller starts transporting the sheet paper within the hopper, thereby reducing the intervals between the sheets that are sequentially discharged from the separation unit and the variation in the interval. can do. As a result, for example, the reading processing speed in the reading section can be increased, the reading speed can be stabilized, and the performance in other parts can also be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet paper separation and feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a program for executing the same device, and Fig. 3 is a conventional optical character A schematic configuration diagram of the reader; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the sheet separation and feeding device in the reader shown in Figure 3; Figures 5(a) and (b) are diagrams of the same device shown in Figure 4. These are state diagrams shown at different times to explain the separation operation. 2...Sheet paper, 4...Separation/conveyance roller 5...
Separation belt, 14+, 142... Sheet paper detection sensor, 14
a... Light source, 14b... Photoelectric conversion element, 31...
Sheet discharge section, 32...control circuit, 100...conveyance section, 101...separation section, 105...sheet paper path.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A sheet paper separation and supply device that separates and supplies sheet paper stacked in a hopper one by one, comprising: a paper feed roller that conveys the sheet paper in the hopper; A switching control means capable of switching between a first mode in which paper can be conveyed and a second mode in which paper cannot be conveyed, and a separation/conveyance roller and a separation belt that are respectively disposed opposite to each other across the sheet paper path. a separation section that separates and discharges the sheet paper conveyed by the paper feed roller one by one using the separation/conveyance roller and a separation belt; a sheet discharge section of the separation section and the paper feed roller; at least two sheet paper detection sensors disposed along the sheet paper path between them; and when at least one of the sheet paper detection sensors detects that there is no sheet paper, the switching control means switches the supply roller to the A sheet paper separation and supply device comprising: a control circuit that outputs a control signal for switching from the second mode to the first mode.