JPH04358632A - Card hopper device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep a contact force between cards and a pickup roller by providing a fixed pulley, a movable pulley, and a tensile spring which energizes the movable pulley and provided with the spring constant corresponding to the weight and the thickness of the cards loaded on a loading table. CONSTITUTION:A movable pulley 55c is arranged underside of a fixed pulley 55b, and the movable pulley 55c is supported by a supporting body 55e. A tensioning spring 55f with the spring constant which is determined so that the movement of a card loading table 52, the weight of the cards, and the thickness of the cards may approximately correspond thereto is fitted to this supporting body 55e. One end 55k of a wire 55j pulled out from a hole 51a of a flange 51a is fitted to a fitting hole of a slider 53b after the wire is wound two times around the movable pulley 55c and the fixed pulley 55b respectively. This arrangement allows the cards to be brought into contact with a pickup roller 54 at an approximately constant pressure even if the loading height of the cards, the weight of the cards and the moving distance of the card loading table 52 associated with the discharge of the cards may change.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card hopper device for storing relatively thick cards.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Automatic transfer machines installed in financial institutions use transfer cards on which predetermined information is displayed in order to simplify button operations. This transfer card is automatically issued by the card issuing device according to the request of the transferor. 6 and 7, an automatic transfer machine 1 includes an image reader 3 that optically reads image information on a magnetic card inserted through a card insertion slot 2, and a magnetic head 4 that reads magnetic records along a card transport path O. It is arranged as follows. After the transfer operation is performed, a menu will be displayed asking whether or not you wish to issue a transfer card. When you press the button indicating your wish, the card issuing device 5 will operate and issue a transfer card. do. The card issuing device 5 includes a card hopper device 5a that stores the card A before information is printed, a means (not shown) for feeding the card A from the hopper device onto the card transport path O to a standby position, and a card hopper device 5a that is placed in the standby position. The card Aa is sent out toward a printing mechanism 5b including a print head 5ba. The card hopper 5c of the card hopper device 5a is provided with a card placement table 5d on which cards A are placed in a stacked manner.This placement table 5d urges the stored cards A upward. Therefore, each time a card is issued, the height increases according to the thickness of one card.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The card A stored in the card hopper 5c is pressed from below by a pick-up roller (not shown) by a card mounting table 5d which is urged upward by a biasing means such as a bamboo shoot spring. . As the number of cards placed on the card placement table 5d decreases, the contact force between the cards and the pickup roller changes. There is a large difference in the contact force between the topmost card and the pickup roller when a large number of cards are stacked and when a small number of cards are stacked, resulting in unstable card feeding from the card hopper. There are challenges. Instead of the bamboo shoot spring, a mechanism in which the card mounting table 5d is slightly fed by a screw shaft may be considered, but it would be essential to detect the height of the card, and a structure that absorbs variations in the stacked height of cards caused by deformation of the cards is also considered. However, there is a problem that the device becomes bulky and the cost becomes high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a card hopper device that can keep the contact force between a card and a pickup roller substantially constant regardless of the number of cards loaded, and can maintain stable card storage and card feeding operation. It is provided by.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The card hopper device of the present invention includes a card hopper main body having a card ejection section at the upper end thereof, and a card hopper that is provided inside the card hopper so as to be movable up and down, and cards are stacked thereon. A card mounting table, a guide means for guiding the card mounting table in a vertically movable manner, a wire whose one end is locked to an immovable member and whose other end is locked to the card mounting table, and a wire around which the wire is wound. a fixed pulley and a movable pulley, and the movable pulley is biased to raise the card mounting base toward the card ejection section, and the movable pulley is biased to correspond to the weight and thickness of the card placed on the mounting base. The present invention is characterized by comprising a tension spring having a spring constant and a double stroke mechanism.

[0006]

[Function] When a card is placed on a stack of cards, the card mounting table rises by the thickness of the card. By extending the biasing tension spring by a length that is one-fold the length of the tension spring, the contact pressure between the card and the card ejecting section is changed to a small extent.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in detail below based on the illustrated embodiments.

In FIGS. 1 to 5, a card hopper device 5a (FIGS. 6 and 7) provided in a transfer card issuing device is shown in FIGS.
(see) will be explained using an example. The card hopper device 50 includes a card hopper main body 51 that stores a transfer card paper A (hereinafter simply referred to as a "card");
A card placement table 52 is provided inside the card hopper main body 51 so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and on which the cards A are stacked and placed.
, a guide means 53 including guide shafts 53 a, 53 a that guide the card mounting table 52 in a vertically movable manner, a pickup roller 54 forming a part of a card ejection section disposed at the upper part of the card hopper main body 51, and this Double stroke mechanism 5 that urges the card mounting table 52 upward toward the roller 54
It consists of 5. A pair of card feed rollers 56 is disposed on one side of the card hopper body 51 and constitutes a card ejection section that pinches the card A moved by the rollers 54 and sends it to a tray 57 provided adjacent to the hopper. It is set up.

[0009] The card hopper main body 51 has a side plate 51c.
, 51d, 51e, and 51f (see FIG. 3), and is formed in the shape of a box with an upward opening in which thick paper cards A are stacked and stored. The card mounting table 52 on which the card is directly placed forms the bottom of the card hopper main body 51, has a slightly wider area than the card A, and is parallel to the upper and lower flanges 51a and 51b of the card hopper main body 51. It is fixedly supported by sliders 53b, 53b which are fitted into fixed guide shafts 53a, 53a so as to be movable up and down.

A support plate 58 is disposed above the card hopper body 51, and a drive shaft 54a of the pickup roller 54 and a drive shaft 56b of the drive roller 56a of the card feed roller pair 56 are rotatably supported. has been done. Gears 54b are provided on the drive shafts 54a and 56b, respectively.
, 56c are fixed. A drive motor 60 is fixed to a bracket 59 fixed to the side plate 51c of the card hopper main body 51. Output gear 6 of drive motor 60
0a is a gear train 60b, 6 connected to the gears 54b, 56c.
It meshes with 0c and 60d.

The card feed roller pair 56 is attached to the side plate 5 that constitutes the card feed side portion of the card hopper body 51.
The drive roller 5 is disposed above the approximate center of the drive roller 5.
6a, and a driven roller 56d pressed against the upper peripheral surface of this roller.

In FIGS. 1, 3, and 5, the driven roller 5
6d is rotatably supported by a shaft 61a at the tip of a support arm 61 which is rotatably supported by a pivot 58a supported by a support plate 58. A torsion spring 61b is wound around the pivot shaft 58a and has one end engaged with a support arm 61 and the other end engaged with a pin 58b fixedly planted on the support plate, and presses the driven roller 56d against the drive roller 56a. It gives a habit of swinging direction.

Support arm 6 located below pivot 58a
The bottom surface 61c of 1 is connected to the top card Ab by the roller pair 56.
Guide towards the card Ab and the next card Ac
It is given the function of a fixed gate to separate the

As shown in FIG. 5, the card hopper body 5
A movable gate 62 is supported on the inner surface of the side plate 51d so as to be vertically movable. This movable gate 62 has a fixed gate (61c) whose upper end 62b is fixed by a spring 62a.
) is given a movement behavior in the direction of approaching. The movable gate 62 has an upper end 62b and a fixed gate (61c).
), their movement is regulated so as to form a gate interval that is larger than the thickness of one card A but smaller than the thickness of two cards.

In the illustrated example, the tray 57 is provided with upper and lower trays 57a and 57b separated from each other. Each tray is fixed to a block 57d screwed onto a screw shaft 57c. A gear 57e fixed to the lower end of the screw shaft 57c is selectively rotated by a drive motor (not shown), thereby causing one of the trays 57a and 57b to face the pair of card delivery rollers 56. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the lower tray 57b is placed in a standby position for receiving cards.

Each tray 57a, 57b is provided with a stopper 57aa, 57ba, respectively, for abutting the front edge Aaa of the card Aa delivered thereto. Also,
Each stopper is provided with sensors 57ab and 57bb for detecting the card sent out. When this sensor detects a card, the direction of rotation of the drive motor 60 is reversed.

In FIG. 1, on one side edge of the tray 57,
A card pushing lever 64 is provided for moving the card Aa fed into the tray toward the printing means 63 (corresponding to 5b in FIG. 6).

The structure of the double stroke mechanism 55 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. A fixed pulley 55 is attached to the upper part of the side plate 51e of the card hopper main body 51 by a support shaft 55a.
b is rotatably supported. A movable pulley 55c is arranged below the fixed pulley 55b. This movable pulley 55c is rotatably supported by a support body 55e by a support shaft 55d. One end 55fa of a tension spring 55f is locked to this support body 55e. tension spring 5
The other end 55fb of 5f is locked to the flange 1b. The spring constant of the tension spring 55f is set so that the amount of movement of the card mounting table 52, the weight of the card, and the thickness of the card substantially match. Fixed pulley 55b and movable pulley 5
5c is a pulley with a double groove structure, as shown in FIG. 3 as a representative of the movable pulley 55c, and these pulleys include:
One end 55h of the hopper side plate 51e is a stationary member.
After being pulled through the flange 51a, a wire 55j secured by a screw 55i is wound around the wire 55j. The wire 55j pulled out from the hole 51aa of the flange 51a is
After being wrapped twice around the movable pulley 55c and fixed pulley 55b, the other end 55k is connected to the locking hole 53ba of one slider 53b that is integrated with the card platform 52.
It is locked to.

That is, the card mounting table 52 is suspended from the wire 55j on the principle of a movable pulley, and is given the tendency to move upward by the elasticity of the tension spring 55f. In this case, since the wire 55j is wound around each pulley twice, the card mounting table 52 moves by an amount four times the amount of movement of the movable pulley 55c, which is a movable pulley. In other words, when the card mounting table 52 moves by the height of one card, the movable pulley 55c moves by a length equal to one-fourth of the card thickness.

This means that even if the stacking height and weight of cards and the amount of movement of the card mounting table 52 change as the cards are ejected, the change in the biasing force exerted by the tension spring 55f on the card mounting table is small. The card is placed under the pick-up roller 54 with approximately constant pressure regardless of the loading height.
It will be brought into contact with. In addition, the movable pulley 55c
The fact that is moved with a stroke of 1/4 of the stroke of the card mounting table 52 means that the spring constant of the tension spring 55f that biases the movable pulley 55c can be set relatively roughly; Since the durability of the card is extended, the contact force of the card against the pickup roller can be stably maintained over a long period of time.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the card placement table 52 has a protrusion 52a formed on its card placement surface. This convex shape 52a is formed on the mounting table located between the pickup roller 54 and the fixed gate 61c, and lifts up the side of the mounted card in the feeding direction. As shown in Figure 6, the placed card A
is inclined by the convex shape 52a, and its tip is brought into contact with the fixed gate 61c. Therefore, even if the placed card is curved downward, its forward end Ad will not be hindered from advancing by the forward end portion 62b of the movable gate 62.

The configuration of the card remaining amount detecting means 65 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. A helical gear 65a having a large lead angle is rotatably disposed between the flanges 51a and 51b of the card hopper body 51. The lower end of the gear 65a is connected to a movable shaft of a variable resistor 65c fixed to the hopper side plate via a bracket 65b. A rack 645 fixed to the upper end 53bb of the slider 53b integrated with the card mounting table 52 meshes with the helical gear 65a. When the card mounting table 52 rises as the card is ejected, the rack 6 rises together with it.
The helical gear 65a meshing with the variable resistor 65d rotates to change the electrical resistance of the variable resistor 65c. variable resistor 65
The resistance value c is input to a control circuit (not shown) and processed as an electrical signal for detecting the remaining amount of cards in the card hopper. It is sufficient to detect that the number of cards remaining in the card hopper is low.
There is no particular need to strictly detect the number of remaining sheets. In other words, it is enough to display this and replenish new cards when a certain level of remaining capacity is reached.

To store the card A in the card hopper main body 51, as shown in FIG. 4, the card mounting table 52 is pushed down against the tension spring 55f, and the card is stacked on top of it. do. When the pressing force to the mounting table is released, the stacked cards A are pushed upward by the card mounting table 52, which is biased upward by the elasticity of the tension spring 55f, and the uppermost card Ab is brought into contact with the lower circumferential surface of the pinch roller 54. be brought into contact with FIG. 4 shows a state in which the maximum amount of cards is stacked and the card mounting table 52 is lowered to the lowest part of the card hopper main body 51. At this time, since one end 55k of the wire 55j is pulled down, the movable pulley 55c is moved to the uppermost position, and the tension spring 55f is stretched to the maximum, thereby biasing the card upward.

When the pick-up roller 54 and the card feed-out roller pair 56 are rotationally driven in response to a card issue signal, the uppermost card Ab that is in contact with the pick-up roller 54 is sent toward the roller pair 56. A pair of card delivery rollers 56 which gripped this card sends it out onto a tray 57.

When the card A is sent out from the card hopper main body 51, the card mounting table 52 is moved by the tension spring 55.
As the movable pulley 55c moves downward due to the biasing force f, it rises by the thickness of one card. At this time, the movable pulley 55c descends by a height corresponding to one-fourth of the thickness of the card A, thereby slightly reducing the card lifting force exerted by the tension spring 55f.

[0026] As the card A is ejected, the card mounting table 52
When the variable resistor 65c rises, the helical gear 65a engaged with the rack 65 provided on its guide means rotates, changing the resistance value of the variable resistor 65c. As more cards are issued and the electrical signal of the resistor changes to the point where the card needs to be replenished, a lamp or the like will indicate that there are few cards remaining.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which there is only one card A in the card hopper. Normally, the card remaining amount detecting means operates to replenish the card, so such a situation does not occur, but when the card and the pickup roller 5
This is shown to explain the contact force with 4. When the card mounting table 52 rises to the highest level, the tension spring 5
5f is the most compressed, and the movable pulley 55c is lowered to the lowest position. In this case, since the movable pulley 55c moves only a quarter of the distance traveled by the card mounting table 52, the change in the tensile force of the tension spring 55f is small. That is, even if the stacking height of the cards A stored in the card hopper main body 52 changes greatly, the force pressing the cards against the pinch roller 54 does not change greatly. Therefore, the card feeding action by the pinch roller 54 is
Regardless of the amount of cards, they are almost integrated, and a stable card feeding action is maintained.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the double stroke mechanism that operates on the principle of a movable pulley biases the card mounting table, the force is maintained at a substantially constant level with respect to the cards regardless of the stacking height. A stable card feeding action can be maintained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a card hopper device showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the card hopper device showing a state in which the card mounting table is raised.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same as above.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the card hopper device showing a state in which the card mounting table is lowered.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the relative positions of a card hopper device and a tray that receives cards sent out from the device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a different example of the card mounting table.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an automatic transfer machine equipped with a card hopper device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same as above.

[Explanation of symbols]

50... Card hopper device 51...Card hopper body 51a, 51b...flange 52...Card mounting stand 53...Guiding means 54...Pickup roller 55...Double stroke mechanism 55a...Fixed pulley 55c...Movable pulley 55j...wire 55f... tension spring A...Card

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A card hopper main body having a card ejection section at its upper end; a card mounting table provided inside the card hopper so as to be movable up and down and on which cards are stacked; and a card mounting table that can be moved up and down. a wire whose one end is locked to the immovable member and the other end to the card mounting base, a fixed pulley and a movable pulley around which the wire is wound, and the card mounting base. a double stroke mechanism comprising a tension spring that urges the movable pulley to raise the card toward the card ejection section and has a spring constant corresponding to the weight and thickness of the card placed on the mounting table; A card hopper device comprising: