JPH04354734A - Automatic paper feeding mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure separating and paper feeding. CONSTITUTION:A rotation angle 1, shaft-supporting a delivery roller 2 and a drive shaft 3, is provided, and an intermediate gear 10 is interposed between the transmitting gear 8 of the drive shaft 3 and the transmitted gear 9 of the delivery roller 2. A rotation load is provided on the intermediate gear 10 or the transmitted gear 9, and the top parts 6 located at equal distances from the roller rotation center are formed on the delivery roller 2. The delivery roller 2 for sending sheet located under an insertion guide plate 5 is ascended toward the insertion guide plate 5, and documents G placed between the insertion guide plate 5 and the delivery roller 2 are separated from their lower ends in order to be fed into a device.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeding mechanism used, for example, in a facsimile machine.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there have been the following automatic document feeding mechanisms for facsimile machines, for example. That is, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, this mechanism includes a feeding roller 50 and a feeding roller 5.
0, and a paper feed roller 51 provided at the innermost side of the apparatus.

These rollers 50 and 51 are connected to the insertion guide plate 5.
It is rotatably supported by a rotating angle 52 disposed below 6, and is rotationally connected by gears 53, 54, and 55. A document insertion opening H is formed between the insertion guide plate 56 and the feeding roller 50.

The peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 51 is an insertion guide plate 56.
It is in contact with a separation rubber plate 56a provided on the lower surface of the. Further, one end side of the support shaft 51a of the paper feed roller 51 extends from the rotation angle 52 and is connected to a drive source (not shown) provided on the apparatus main body side.

In this way, the support shaft 51 of the paper feed roller 51
a is connected to the main body of the apparatus, the rotation angle 52 is configured to rotate around the support shaft 51a, and a DC solenoid 57 is provided as means for rotation. The DC solenoid 57 is attached to the main body of the device, and the tip of its telescopic rod 57a is connected to the rotation angle 52. Therefore, when an operation signal is applied to this DC solenoid 57, the telescopic rod 57
a contracts to rotate the rotating angle 52 and lift the feeding roller 50.

[0006] In the figure, reference numeral 58 is a conveying roller that further feeds the document G fed into the apparatus by the paper feed roller 51 into the apparatus.

According to such an automatic paper feeding mechanism, a plurality of originals G set in the original insertion slot H are separated from the lower end side by the rotation of the feed roller 50 raised by the DC solenoid 57, and are separated into single sheets. Paper feed roller 51
Sent to the side. Then, the sheet is further fed into the interior of the apparatus by rotation of the sheet feeding roller 51.

[0008] Once all the documents G have been fed,
The DC solenoid 57 extends the telescopic rod 57a, lowers the rotation angle 52, and opens the document insertion slot H so that the next document can be inserted.

[0009]

By the way, in the automatic paper feeding mechanism, it is necessary to feed each document at a certain interval. Otherwise, the device would not be able to identify individual documents. Therefore, in the conventional automatic paper feeding mechanism, separation is carried out by methods such as: (1) separating the lowest document G by kicking out by the feed roller 50; and (2) separating the document by a separation rubber plate 56a provided above the paper feed roller 51. Paper was being fed, but not completely.

This is because the DC solenoid 57 is a component whose contraction amount is difficult to vary due to its structure, and the raised position of the feeding roller 50 is constant. however,
The raised position of the feeding roller 50 is naturally different between a large number of stacked originals G and a small number of stacked originals G. Therefore, in the conventional automatic paper feeding mechanism, variations occur in the interlayer pressing force exerted by the DC solenoid 57 between a large number of originals and a small number of originals, and the friction between the originals increases especially when many originals are stacked. As a result, the frictional force between the documents becomes larger than the kicking force of the feed roller 50, resulting in problems such as double feeding of documents.

Furthermore, the DC solenoid 57 is structurally sensitive to temperature, and its suction force fluctuates in response to temperature changes, particularly as the temperature increases. If the automatic paper feeding mechanism is constructed using the DC solenoid 57 having such characteristics, the feeding of the original G becomes unstable and it is difficult to reliably separate and feed the originals.

Furthermore, the DC solenoid 57 has the disadvantage that it generates an impact sound during suction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic paper feeding mechanism that can ensure separate paper feeding.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has constructed an automatic paper feeding mechanism from the following components. That is, the paper feeding roller disposed below the insertion guide plate is raised toward the insertion guide plate, and the sheets disposed between the insertion guide plate and the dispensing roller are sequentially separated from their lower ends, and the paper is removed from the apparatus. The automatic paper feeding mechanism is equipped with a rotation angle, which pivotally supports the feeding roller and a drive shaft that drives the feeding roller, and a transmission gear provided on the drive shaft. An intermediate gear is interposed between the feeding roller and a driven gear provided on a support shaft, and the intermediate gear or the driven gear has a rotational load, and the feeding roller has a top portion. , the top of which is located equidistant from the center of rotation of the roller.

[0015]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the intermediate gear or the driven gear is equipped with a rotational load, and the rotational driving force transmitted from the drive shaft to the intermediate gear or the driven gear rotates around the drive shaft. Generates a moment and rotates the rotation angle. As a result, the feed roller rotates and rises until it comes into contact with the paper insertion guide plate. Therefore, the paper placed on the feed roller is sandwiched between the insertion guide plate and the feed roller, and is fed into the apparatus by rotation by the feed roller.

The feeding roller is raised by a rotational load provided on an intermediate gear or a driven gear, and the raised position of the feeding roller varies depending on the thickness and weight of the paper. Therefore, no more force than necessary is applied to the paper in the thickness direction.

Further, the feeding roller is provided with a top portion, and this top portion increases the force for kicking out the paper so that it can be kicked out reliably.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in detail below based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are side views thereof.

The mechanism of this embodiment includes a rotation angle 1, a feed roller 2, a drive shaft 3, and a paper feed roller 4. The rotation angle 1 is arranged below the insertion guide plate 5. The feed roller 2 and the drive shaft 3 are disposed perpendicular to the document insertion direction, and the drive shaft 3 is disposed further inside than the feed roller 2. The drive shaft 3 and the support shaft 2a of the feeding roller 2 are pivotally supported by the rotation angle 1.

A pressing spring plate 5a is attached to the insertion guide plate 5 below its insertion end. The pressing spring plate 5a is arranged above the feeding roller. A document insertion opening H is formed between the pressing spring plate 5a and the feeding roller 2.

The roller body of the feeding roller 2 is D-shaped when viewed in the axial direction, and has two tops 6 on its circumferential surface. The paper feed roller 4 passes through the drive shaft 3, is disposed coaxially with the drive shaft 3, and is connected to the drive shaft 3 by a structure described later. Further, the peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 4 is slightly in contact with a separation rubber plate 5b attached to the lower surface of the insertion guide plate 5. Furthermore, a conveyance roller 7 is provided at the back side of the apparatus from the paper feed roller 4 as a means for conveying the document G within the apparatus.

The drive shaft 3 is provided with a transmission gear 8 on one end thereof, and the feed roller 2 is provided with a transmitted gear 9 on its support shaft 2a, and between these gears 8 and 9 is an intermediate gear 1.
0 is inserted. This intermediate gear 10 is constituted by a torque limit gear having a load in the forward rotation direction, and is attached to the rotary roller 1 with a stepped screw 10a.

The other end of the drive shaft 3 is connected to a drive source 11 (consisting of an electric motor) provided on the extending device main body side from the rotation angle 1. This drive source 11 is configured to be rotatable in forward and reverse directions. By connecting the drive shaft 3 to the main body of the apparatus in this manner, the rotation angle 1 is configured to rotate around the drive shaft 3 as the center of rotation. It should be noted that a stopper (not shown) is provided on the main body of the apparatus at a position in contact with the rotation angle 1 so that the rotation angle 1 does not rotate downward beyond the position shown in FIG. 2(b).

The drive shaft 3 consists of a main drive shaft 3A connected to a drive source 11 and a sub drive shaft 3B provided with a transmission gear 8. Both shafts 3A and 3B are arranged coaxially butt against each other, and a spring connecting portion 12 is interposed therebetween. As shown in FIG. 5, the spring connecting portion 12 consists of a coil spring body 13 and first, second, and third sleeves 14, 15, and 16.

The coil spring body 13 is composed of a resin spring, and has a main drive shaft 3A and a sub drive shaft 3B.
is placed between. Since the coil spring body 13 is composed of a resin coil spring, there is no need for oil supply, and the generation of abnormal noise during expansion and contraction is suppressed to a minimum.

The first sleeve 14 is rotatably connected to the abutting end of the main drive shaft 3A, and is fitted into one end of the coil spring body 13. An engagement protrusion 17 that rotationally engages with the coil spring body 13 is provided on the circumferential surface of the first sleeve 14 .

The second sleeve 15 is rotatably connected to the abutting end of the auxiliary drive shaft 3B, and is fitted into the center of the coil spring body 13.

The third sleeve 16 is connected to the paper feed roller 4 described above.
It is integrally formed inside the roller. That is, the paper feed roller 4 is formed with a through hole 18 through which the sub-drive shaft 3B passes, and a cavity 1 is formed inside the feed roller 4 along the axial direction.
9 is formed. The inner end 19a of the cavity 19 is bulged outward in the shape of a sleeve, and this sleeve-like bulge forms the third sleeve 16. Since the third sleeve 16 is thus housed within the paper feed roller 4, it is made smaller in the axial direction. The third sleeve 16 is fitted inside the other end of the coil spring body 13. As a result, the paper feed roller 4 passes through the drive shaft 3 and is coaxially disposed and connected to the drive shaft 3.

This mechanism is constructed such that the roller surface peripheral speed of the conveyance roller 7 is faster than the roller surface peripheral speed of the paper feed roller 4. In other words, the configuration is such that paper feeding by the transport roller 7 is faster than paper feeding by the paper feed roller 4. Specifically, the conveying roller 7 and the drive shaft 3 are rotationally driven by the same drive source 11, and the conveying roller 7 is rotated by changing the gear ratio setting of the gear interposed between the driving source 11 The circumferential speed of the paper feed roller 4 is made faster than that of the paper feed roller 4.

Further, the intermediate gear 10 is given a certain amount of rotational play with respect to its center of rotation. That is, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 6, an engagement hole 20 is provided on the intermediate gear 10 side, and an engagement convex portion 21 is provided on the rotation center, that is, the rotation angle 1 side.
are formed respectively. The engagement hole 20 is comprised of opposing parallel ends 22, 22 arranged in parallel and opposing circumferential ends 23, 23 arranged orthogonally to the opposing parallel ends 22. On the other hand, the engaging protrusion 21 is composed of opposing circumferential surfaces 24, 24 having the same radius as the opposing circumferential end 23, and opposing parallel surfaces 25, 25 disposed slightly closer to the opposing parallel end 22. Therefore, by fitting the engagement hole 20 and the engagement protrusion 21 together, the intermediate gear 10 is attached to the rotation center side, that is, the rotation angle 1, with a predetermined rotational play.

In the figure, reference numeral 26 indicates a device housing disposed below the insertion guide plate 5. The original G is guided by the upper surface of the device housing 26 and the insertion guide plate 5. Further, an opening is formed in the upper surface of the device housing 26, through which the feed roller 2 and the paper feed roller 4 are inserted.

Next, the original G is fed by the automatic paper feeding mechanism configured as described above.
The feeding operation will be explained. First, a plurality of stacked documents G are set in the document insertion opening H. Then, the document G is sensed by a sensor (not shown), and the drive source 11 is driven to rotate in the normal direction. This forward rotation drive is transmitted to the main drive shaft 3A, and further transmitted to the sub drive shaft 3B and the paper feed roller 4 via the spring connection portion 12.

This rotational transmission is performed as follows. That is, when the main drive shaft 3A rotates in the normal rotation direction (left rotation direction in FIG. 2), the first sleeve 14 also tries to rotate in the normal rotation direction, and the first sleeve 14
5 and 16, the coil spring body 13 is twisted in the torsional direction. Therefore, the coil spring main body 13 is tightened and the first sleeve 14 and the second and third sleeves are tightened.
The sleeves 15 and 16 are rotationally connected together. As a result, the rotational drive of the main drive shaft 3A is transmitted to the sub drive shaft 3B and the paper feed roller 4, and the sub drive shaft 3B and the paper feed roller 4 rotate in the normal rotation direction (left rotation direction in FIG. 2).

The forward rotational drive transmitted to the sub-drive shaft 3B is further transmitted to the intermediate gear 10 via the transmission gear 8. The intermediate gear 10 has a rotational load in the forward rotation direction (right rotation direction in FIG. Generates a rotational moment around the rotation center.

Due to this rotational moment, the rotation angle 1 rotates around the drive shaft 3 (rotation to the left in the figure),
The feeding roller 2 is lifted to bring the document G into contact with the pressing spring plate 5a. The feed roller 2 that pushed up the document G is simultaneously rotating in the left rotation direction in the drawing, and the lowermost document G is separated from the document bundle by the rotation of the feed roller 2 and kicked out toward the paper feed roller 4 side.

The document G kicked out by the feed roller 2 is caught between the paper feed roller 4 and the separating rubber plate 5b, and further rotated by the paper feed roller 4 to be transferred to the conveyance roller 7.
get caught up in The conveyance roller 7 and the paper feed roller 4 are arranged close to each other, and the document G is conveyed by the paper feed roller 4 and the conveyance roller 7 at the same time. however,
As described above, the conveyance speed by the conveyance roller 7 is set faster than the conveyance speed by the paper feed roller 4. Therefore, the document G is conveyed at the conveyance speed of the conveyance roller 7, and the paper feed roller 4 is driven by the conveyance speed of the conveyance roller 7 due to friction with the document G.

The fact that the paper feed roller 4 follows the transport speed of the transport roller 7 means that the paper feed roller 4 rotates in the forward direction faster than the drive shaft 3. Due to this high-speed following, the third sleeve 16 idles in the normal rotation direction and twists the coil spring body 13 in the counter-twisting direction. The coil spring body 13 twisted in the counter-twisting direction is untwisted and the connection between the main drive shaft 3A and the sub drive shaft 3B is released. Then, the rotational drive is no longer transmitted to the sub-drive shaft 3B, and the feeding roller 2 stops rotating. Further, at this time, the rotational moment due to the rotational load of the intermediate gear 10 disappears, and the rotation angle 1 rotates in the clockwise direction due to its own weight, and the feeding roller 2 descends. That is, when the document G is caught in the conveyance roller section 7, the feeding roller 2 stops rotating and descends to interrupt feeding of the document.

When the document conveyance by the conveyance roller 7 progresses and the document passes the paper feed roller 4, the high-speed following of the paper feed roller 4 ends. When the high-speed following is completed, the coil spring body 13 is no longer twisted in the counter-twisting direction by the third sleeve 16, and connects the main drive shaft 3A and the sub-drive shaft 3B again. Then, the rotation angle 1 rotates again to raise the feeding roller, and the feeding roller 2 starts rotating, and the feeding of the document is restarted.

At the time when document feeding is resumed, the previously fed documents G have passed through the paper feed roller 4 and have reached the innermost part of the apparatus, and the documents G are fed in at predetermined intervals.

By the way, according to the above-described operation, when all the documents G have been fed, the rotation angle 1 stops at the raised position, which prevents the insertion of the next document. This is because, as the conveyance of the document G progresses and the final document G passes the paper feed roller 4, the connection of the spring connection portion 12 is resumed and the feeding roller 2 rises. In this state, even if a feed end sensor (not shown) detects the end of feeding the document and, based on this, the transmission of driving force to the main drive shaft 3A is stopped, the rotational moment by the intermediate gear 10 does not disappear, and the feed roller 2 is stopped in the raised position.

Therefore, when the feeding end sensor detects that feeding of the document has ended, the drive source 11
is driven in reverse rotation by a certain amount. Then, the first sleeve 14 connected to the main drive shaft 3A idles in the reverse direction and twists the coil spring body 13 in the counter-twisting direction, thereby loosening the coil spring body 13 and connecting it to the main drive shaft 3A and the sub-drive shaft. Disconnect from 3B. Then, the sub drive shaft 3
B becomes free, the rotational moment by the intermediate gear 10 disappears, the rotation angle 1 rotates due to its own weight, the feed roller 2 descends, and the document insertion slot H opens.

Note that the lowering of the feed roller 2 after feeding the final document must be performed reliably in order to insert the next document. Therefore, the first sleeve is provided with the engagement protrusion 17 as described above. This engagement protrusion 17 is adapted to engage with the end portion of the coil spring body 13 when the first sleeve 14 idles due to reverse drive of the drive source 11. Therefore, the coil spring body 13 can be loosened reliably.

Furthermore, in order to smoothly lower the feed roller 2 at the end of feeding the final document, the intermediate gear 10 is provided with a play of a predetermined angle in the rotational direction, as described above. This is because the torque limit gear that constitutes the intermediate gear 10 is designed not to rotate in the reverse direction, and the rotation angle 1 will not rotate until the connection of the spring connection part 12 is completely released due to reverse rotation. Therefore, the feeding roller 2 cannot be said to descend smoothly.

However, the intermediate gear 10 has a rotational play, and before the rotation angle 1 is lowered by disconnecting the spring connection portion 12, the intermediate gear 10 moves along with the main drive shaft 3A by the amount of rotational play. It will rotate in the opposite direction. In other words, the rotation angle 1 is the spring connection part 1.
Until the connection of 2 is released, it will rotate downward by the amount of rotational play. Therefore, the feeding roller 2 is smoothly lowered.

By the way, the amount of documents G fed into the facsimile machine is not constant, and the thickness thereof also varies. Therefore, it is desirable that the raising position of the feeding roller 2 can also be varied. According to the mechanism of the present invention, the feed roller 2 is lifted by a rotational load provided on the intermediate gear 10, and its raised position varies depending on the thickness and weight of the document G. Therefore, the feeding roller can be raised with a constant force regardless of the thickness of the document G. Therefore, double feeding of documents due to increased friction between the documents G does not occur.

Furthermore, the roller of the feeding roller 2 has a D-shape when viewed from the axis and is provided with two top portions 6. Since the force for kicking out the original G is increased by this top portion 6, separate feeding can be performed reliably.

Further, in this embodiment, the feeding roller 2 is D-shaped, but the roller 2 is not limited to this, and may have a star-shaped shape when viewed from the axis, as shown in FIG. 8, for example. In this case, since a large number of top portions 6 are formed in the circumferential direction, the number of times the document is kicked out increases, making it easier to separate and feed the document. Further, although not shown, the same effect can be obtained even if the feeding roller 2 is formed of a polygonal roller.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, the feeding roller is raised via the rotational load provided on the intermediate gear or the driven gear. It is now possible to change the weight according to the weight, which prevents the friction between the sheets from increasing more than necessary when feeding the sheets. Furthermore, since the feeding roller is provided with a top, it is now possible to increase the force with which the feeding roller kicks out the paper. Therefore, the paper kicking out by the feeding roller is stable,
Separate paper feeding can now be performed reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the spring connection part.

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional side view showing an exploded view of the spring connection portion.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state in which the intermediate gear is attached.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing how the intermediate gear is attached.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view from the back side showing the attachment state of the feeding roller.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the state in which the feeding roller is attached.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing another embodiment of the feeding roller.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the configuration of a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing the operation of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Rotating angle 2 Feeding roller 3 Drive shaft 3A Main drive shaft 3B Sub-drive shaft 4 Paper feed roller 5 Insertion guide plate 6 Top portion 7 Conveyance roller portion 8 Transmission gear 9 Driven gear 10 Intermediate gear 12 Spring connection portion 13 Coil spring body 14
First sleeve 15 Second sleeve 16 Third sleeve 17 Engagement protrusion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A feed roller (2) for paper feeding arranged below the insertion guide plate (5) is raised toward the insertion guide plate (5), and the insertion guide plate (5) and the feed roller (2) are moved upwardly toward the insertion guide plate (5). ) is an automatic paper feeding mechanism that sequentially separates sheets of paper (G) placed between them from the bottom edge and feeds them into the apparatus, and is equipped with a rotating angle (1), and this rotating angle (1) The feeding roller (2) and a drive shaft (3) that drives the feeding roller (2) are supported by a transmission gear (8) provided on the driving shaft (3) and a support for the feeding roller (2). An intermediate gear (10) is interposed between the driven gear (9) provided on the shaft and the intermediate gear (10).
0) or the driven gear (9) has a rotational load, and the feed roller (2) has a top portion (6), and the top portion (6) is arranged at an equal distance from the center of rotation of the roller. Automatic paper feeding mechanism.