JPH0475935A - Sheet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely separate and feed many stacked and stored sheets one by one by providing a sucking means rotatably supporting a sucker centering on the axis faced to the horizontal direction and a driving means moving the sucking means vertically and longitudinally. CONSTITUTION:When a guide bar 29 is changed from a position (b) to a position (a) and a motor is reversely rotated to advance a sliding bed 13, a guide pin 27 is advanced in a branch guide groove 28b, a sucker 21 is lowered into contact with sheet films f and sucks the upper most sheet film F. When the motor is reversely rotated again to retreat the sliding bed 13, the sucker 21 is lifted. When the sliding bed 13 is further retreated, the end section of the sucked sheet film F is erected. The rear end of the sheet film F collides with the wall of a case, the sucker 21 and a hinge 24 are rotated so that the sucked sheet film F has the most natural shape, and the tip of the sheet film F is faced upward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device used, for example, in an image recording apparatus that records images on a sheet film.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of sheet feeding device has been widely used in image recording devices and other various devices, and various feeding methods and mechanisms are known. The figure shows an example of a conventional sheet feeding device, in which a suction cup S is arranged above the sheet films F stacked and stored in a case C in a magazine M, and this suction cup S sucks the sheet films F one by one. After lifting it up, it moves parallel to the rear direction of arrow A. As a result, the rear end of the sucked sheet film F comes into contact with the case C and curves as shown in the figure, and the top layer sucked by the suction cup S Only one sheet is separated and held, and the suction cup S is subsequently moved to convey it to the next process.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in such a conventional method, the sheet film F
During the separation operation, excessive force is applied to the suction cup S, which causes problems such as not being able to suction and hold the sheet film F (or dropping the sheet film, or leaving impressions on the sheet film. The second sheet film F that had been lifted up in close contact with the sheet film F could not return to its original position in the case C, and when an attempt was made to feed the next sheet film F, the sheet film was not placed in the specified position. There is also the problem that accurate adsorption cannot be achieved because there is no F.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that can easily and reliably take out one sheet at a time from a large number of stacked sheets using a relatively simple mechanism.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the sheet feeding device according to the present invention is a sheet feeding device that suction separates and feeds stacked sheets one by one, and has a suction cup. The device is characterized by comprising a suction means for rotatably supporting the suction means around an axis pointing in a substantially horizontal direction, and a drive means for moving the suction means in the vertical direction and the front-back direction.

[Operation] The sheet feeding device having the above-described configuration reliably separates the sheets one by one, which are attracted by the suction cup, with the tip end erected by the operation of the suction cup.

[Example] The present invention will be described in detail based on the example illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 11.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a sheet film supply device of an image recording apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows a plan view. Reference numeral 1 denotes a supply magazine in which a large number of sheet films F are stacked and stored, and a sheet supply mechanism 2 sucks and takes out the sheet films F one by one from the opening of the supply magazine 1, and a pair of conveying rollers 3 takes out the sheets. The sheet film F is sent to the next process such as an image recording section.

The sheet supply mechanism 2 is generally composed of a frame 11, a suction cup unit 12, and a slide table 13 that moves back and forth to control the position of the suction cup unit 12. The slide stand 13 has slide rails 14 on the frame 11 on both sides.
a and 14b, it is supported so as to be freely movable in parallel in the front-rear direction. A rack 15 is provided on the lower surface of the slide base 13, and the slide base 13 is driven in the front-rear direction by a motor 16 fixed to the frame 11 via a binion gear 17 that engages with the rack 15. In addition,
The position of the slide base 13 in the front-rear direction is detected by a detection mechanism (not shown). In the suction cup unit 12, the two suction cups 21 are connected to a hose 23 via a joint 22, and are sucked by a pump (not shown). Further, the pressure inside the hose 23 is detected by a pressure sensor, so that it can be determined whether or not the sheet film F has been adsorbed. The suction cups 21 are each attached to a support plate 25 via a hinge 24, and the support plate 25 is attached to the arms 26a, 26.
It is attached to the slide base 13 by b. The arms 26a and 26b are configured to form parallel links on both sides, and the support plate 25 always moves while maintaining parallelism. A guide pin 27 is protruded from the outside of the arm 26a,
This guide pin 27 forms a guide groove 2 in the frame 11.
8 to regulate the height of the support plate 25. The guide groove 28 is branched into two guide grooves 28a and 28b having different heights at the front, and the direction in which the guide pin 27 advances is determined by switching the positions of the guide bar 29 attached to the frame 11 between a and b. It looks like this.

As shown in Fig. 3 fa) (bl), one hinge plate 24a of the hinge 24 with the suction cup 21 attached is fixed to the support plate 25, and the suction cup 21 is fixed to the other hinge plate 24b. Hinge plate 24b fixed to
3(a) around the hinge shaft 24c facing in the horizontal direction.
It is possible to rotate approximately 90 degrees from the position shown in l to the position shown in fb), but since it is normally biased counterclockwise by gravity or a spring, the position where it hits the support plate 25, i.e. It is stably supported at the position shown in FIG. 3 (al). That is, in this embodiment, the support plate 25 is used as a stopper to prevent the suction cup 21 from rotating in the opposite direction to the sheet removal direction.

During sheet feeding, the suction cup 21 is initially in the position shown in FIG. 1, and in this state suction is started by the pump. Next, when the slide table 13 is moved backward by the motor 16, the suction cup 21 moves from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. Therefore, when the guide bar 29 is changed from the position b to the position a by driving a solenoid (not shown) and the motor 16 is reversed to advance the slide base 13, the guide bin 27 advances to the branch guide groove 28b, and the suction cup 21 passes through the position shown in FIG. 5 and descends until it comes into contact with the sheet film F as shown in FIG. 6, and attracts the uppermost sheet film F. When the suction cup 21 suctions the sheet film F, the pressure inside the hose 23 decreases, and when this pressure falls below a preset pressure, the pressure sensor outputs a signal.

This signal causes the motor 16 to rotate in the reverse direction again, and when the slide table 13 is moved backward, the suction cup 21 rises to the position shown in FIG. 7, and when the slide table 13 is further moved back, it becomes the state shown in FIG. The end of the adsorbed sheet film F is made to stand up. In other words, since the rear end of the sheet film F is in contact with the wall of the case 4, the suction cup 21 and the hinge 24 rotate so that the sucked sheet film F has the most natural shape. with it facing upward. Even if the second sheet film F is in close contact with the uppermost sheet film F that is sucked by the suction cup 21, the restoring force of the sheet film F to return to its original shape from this state will cause the second sheet film to The following sheet films F will be returned to their original positions within the supply magazine 1. Therefore, only the uppermost sheet film F is attracted to the suction cup 21.

Note that the stacking height of the sheet films F varies depending on whether the number of sheet films F in the supply magazine 1 is large or small. It is possible to change the deflection of the sheet film F to be the same. That is, when the number of sheet films F is small, the amount of retraction of the slide base 13 is increased to keep the deflection of the sheet film F constant. Further, a mechanism may be adopted in which the height at which the suction cup 21 is lifted is changed depending on the stacking height of the sheet film F.

In order to ensure that only one sheet film F is separated, two hinges 24 are attached as shown in FIG.
It is desirable to install the hinge shaft 24c so that it is inclined at an angle θ in a horizontal plane with respect to one side of the sheet film F that is perpendicular to the traveling direction of the sheet film F. As a result, the distance Xa to the center when the suction cup 21 is in the normal state shown by the two-dot chain line is different from the distance xb to the center when the suction cup 21 is in the upright state shown by the solid line.

For example, in Fig. 9, when β = 20 mm and θ = 10 degrees, the difference d in the distance to the center of the suction cup 21 is d = Xa - Xb = A - sin θ = 3.5 mm, as shown in Fig. 8. When the hinge plate 24b is in the upright state, the distance between the two suction cups 21 is approximately 7 mm smaller than in the suction state shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, it bends not only in the traveling direction B but also in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction. As a result, air easily enters between the sheet films F that are in close contact with each other, thereby further enhancing the separation effect.

After the uppermost sheet film F is separated in this manner, the guide bar 29 is returned from the position b to the position a, and the slide table 13 is advanced by the motor 16. When the support plate 25 moves forward, the tip of the attracted sheet film F also gradually returns to the horizontal state from the upright state. Further, the guide bin 27 advances to the branch guide groove 28b and the suction cup unit 1
When the sheet film F is moved forward and moved up to the position shown in FIG. Then, when the suction of the pump is stopped and the pair of transport rollers 3 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow, the sheet film F is transported to the next process such as the image recording section.

The large number of sheet films F stacked and stored in the supply magazine 1 are reliably separated one by one and sequentially supplied to the next process.

In addition, in the above-mentioned Example, although the case where two suction cups 21 were arranged parallel to one side of the sheet film F perpendicular to the traveling direction was shown, the number may be singular or two or more. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a sheet film supply device of an image recording device, but also to an image device of an image machine, a paper feed device of a printing press, etc.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the sheet feeding device according to the present invention can reliably separate and feed one sheet at a time from among a large number of sheets stacked and stored using a relatively simple mechanism. During the sheet film separation operation, no excessive force is applied to the suction cup, so there is no risk of dropping the suctioned sheet film or leaving impressions on the sheet film.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Sections 1 to 11 of the drawings show an embodiment of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a sheet film feeding device of an image recording device, and FIG. Plan view, Figures 3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams explaining the operation of the suction cup, Figures 4 to 8, and Figure 11 are diagrams explaining the operation order, Figure 9
10 is a plan view of an example of mounting a suction cup, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction cup, and FIG. 12 is a front view of a conventional example. 1 is a supply magazine, 2 is a sheet feeding mechanism, 3 is a pair of conveying rollers, 11 is a frame, 12 is a suction cup unit,
13 is a slide stand, 14a and 14b are slide rails,
16 is a motor, 21 is a suction cup, 23 is a hose, 24 is a hinge, 24a, 24b are hinge plates, 24c is a hinge shaft, 2
5 is a support plate, 26a and 26b are arms, 27 is a guide pin, 28 is a guide groove, 28a and 28b are branch guide grooves,
29 is a guide bar.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device that sucks and separates stacked sheets one by one and supplies them, comprising suction means that supports a suction cup rotatably about an axis pointing in a substantially horizontal direction; A sheet feeding device comprising: a drive means for moving the suction means in the vertical direction and the front-back direction. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the shaft is arranged in a horizontal plane and inclined with respect to one side of the sheet perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet travels. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the suction cups are arranged parallel to one side of the sheet perpendicular to the traveling direction of the sheet. 4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper that prevents the suction cup from rotating in a direction opposite to the sheet taking-out direction. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing parameters of the driving means depending on the stacking height of the sheets.