JPH0480126A - Magazine for sheet supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

NEW MATERIAL:To precisely correct the posture of stacked sheets by providing ribs for regulating the positions of sheet side parts, on a side wall part opposing one side of the stacked sheets, at the leading and trailing ends in a sheet feed direction, and by forming the intermediate part between the ribs as a recess which does not regulate the position o he sheet side part. CONSTITUTION:When the leading end of a film 20 in a magazine 13 for a sheet feed device is compensated for its obliquely movement. The leading half of the film is led out from the magazine 13 while the remainder is still left in the magazine 13. If the magazine 13 is set on a position (line L') which is shifted from a reference center line L by an angle of theta, the film 20 is inevitably corrected to a position indicated by the solid line. Side ribs 73a, 73b are positioned at the front and rear ends of a side wall part along a feed direction A, and the intermediate part therebetween is formed as a recess 74. Accordingly, when the film 20 is compensated to the position shown by the solid line for obliquely movement or is positionally regulated, the trailing end of the film 20 is positioned in the recess 74, thereby it is possible to prevent any hindrance to the correction for the posture.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magazine for a sheet feeding device, and particularly to a magazine that stores a large number of sheets of photosensitive film, coated paper, etc. in a stacked state for feeding out one sheet at a time.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of copying machines and printers, various devices have been known that pick up and feed a large number of sheets stacked in a magazine one by one starting from the topmost sheet. By the way, the sheets fed out from the magazine should be adjusted at least to the processing position after feeding (for example, image exposure It is necessary to correct the posture in the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction (hereinafter referred to as the width direction) immediately before the feeding direction. In order to miniaturize the device, if the distance between the magazine and the image exposure position is set short, the front half of the sheet will be pulled out of the magazine, or in other words, the rear half of the sheet will remain in the magazine. The posture will be corrected in the width direction. However, when performing such skew correction or position regulation, a problem arises in that the rear end of the sheet comes into contact with the side wall of the magazine, and the posture cannot be sufficiently corrected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a magazine for a sheet feeding device that can accurately correct the posture of a sheet.

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the magazine for a sheet feeding device according to the present invention has a sheet side part positioned on a side wall part opposite to the side part of the stacked sheets. Ribs are provided at the leading end and the trailing end in the sheet feeding direction, and an intermediate portion between the ribs is a recess that does not restrict the position of the sheet side.

The sheets are fed one by one starting from the top one, and with the first half of the sheet fully pulled out of the magazine, skew correction or position regulation can be performed in the width direction.

At this time, the rear end of the sheet is located in the concave part between the ribs, so even if the rear part of the sheet swings in the width direction, the rear end of the sheet will not come into contact with the side wall of the magazine. The posture of the seat can be corrected accurately.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of a magazine for a sheet feeding device according to the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a printer device including a magazine according to the present invention. This printer device 10 includes an electrical box 12 inside a main body 11 whose interior is shaped like a dark box.
, film magazine 13, film feeding device 14, film transport section 15, optical unit 16, sub-scanning unit 1
8 and a receive magazine 19 are arranged as shown in the figure.

The magazine 13 is replaceably loaded directly above the electrical equipment box 12, and stores unexposed photosensitive film 20 stacked on top of each other.
(see figure), it is configured to automatically form an open section or shield it as necessary.

A vacuum-type film feeding device 14 is provided on the magazine 13 to feed the photosensitive films 20 that are completely stored therein one by one.

In this feeding device 14, a suction cup holding unit 22 having a vacuum suction cup 21 is attached to the tip of an arm 23, and the vacuum suction cup 21 is oscillated about a support shaft 24 as shown by the arrow while maintaining a horizontal position. The uppermost film 20 is moved to attract the uppermost film 20 and sent between a pair of transport rollers 25a and 25b which are installed at the entrance of the film transport section 15 so as to be able to approach and separate.

Conveyance roller pair 25a, 25b of film conveyance section 15
The upper roller 25a swings around a support shaft 28 so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the lower roller 25b, and in its open state, the leading edge of a piece of film 20 picked up by the vacuum suction cup 21 is inserted, and then pressure-welded. In this state, the gripped film 20 is sent onto a conveyance guide plate 29. The stopper 32 is installed so as to be able to swing around a support shaft 33, and a solenoid 34 (
(see FIG. 3) is in the off state, it is retracted from the conveyance section 15. When the solenoid 34 turns on, the stopper 3
2 enters the conveyance section 15, and the film 20 fed on the conveyance guide plate 29 comes into contact with this stopper 32, its position is regulated, and the film 20 is temporarily stopped. Further, a transport failure of the film 20 is detected by a combination of a film detection sensor SEI and a timer.

The sub-scanning unit 18 consists of rotatable upper nip rollers 35a and 35b covered with an elastic member and a sub-scanning drum 36 that is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.

The film 20 is moved on the sub-scanning drum 36 by opening the stopper 32, and at this time, the film 20 is image-exposed by a laser beam that is main-scanned in the axial direction of the sub-scanning drum 36 from the optical unit 16.

The film 20 thus exposed is discharged into the receive magazine 19. Then, the exposed film 20 housed in the receive magazine 19 is taken out of the printer 10 together with the receive magazine 19 with the receive magazine 19 in a light-shielded state, and is then subjected to development processing. Note that a developing device may be built in at the position of the receive magazine 19, and the exposed film 20 may be sequentially developed and discharged to the outside of the printer device 10.

On the other hand, a host device 1 is installed adjacent to the present printer device 10. Image information to be printed is communicated from the host device 1 to the printer device 10 one image at a time.

Here, the construction of the magazine 13, particularly the cover winding device, will be explained with reference to FIG.

Magazine 13 that accommodates photosensitive films 20 in a stacked state
The box is made of light-shielding plastic, and a flange-like flange 13a is provided on the top surface.

Adhesive tape is attached to this collar portion 13a.

A light-shielding sheet-like cover 41 is provided on the upper surface of the magazine 13 at the flange 13a so that it can be repeatedly peeled off or pasted with adhesive tape.

The magazine 13 is placed on a frame-shaped magazine mounting table 39 with a flange 1.
3a can be fully loaded into the main body 11 of the apparatus.

Note that the sheet-like cover 41 of the magazine 13 is attached to the flange 13a.
A cushion material is provided on the upper surface of the mounting section 39a of the magazine mounting table 39 on which the flange section 13a is mounted in order to securely attach the flange section 13a thereon. This magazine mounting table 39 is integrally fixed on two bases 40 and 40 provided at the front and rear. Further, the base 40, 40 can be pulled out diagonally downward to the right in FIG. 2 from inside the apparatus main body 11 by opening a door (not shown) of the magazine mounting section. Therefore, the loading of the magazine 13 into the device main body 11 is carried out using the base 40.
This is done by drawing 40.

The cover winding section is for winding up the cover 41 of the magazine 13, peeling it off, rewinding it, and pasting it. A winding motor (not shown) and gear mechanisms 43a and 43b are also installed.

The support frame 42 has a rack holding structure in which a pinion 47.47 provided on the support frame 42 is fully hooked onto a base 40.40 so that the winding shaft 17 moves horizontally on the flange 13a of the magazine 13. Rack 45a on plate 45.45.

45a.

When winding up the cover 41, the gear mechanism 43a is engaged with the gear mechanism 43a, and the winding shaft 1 is rotated by the winding motor.
7 rotates in the direction of arrow W. As a result of this rotation, the cover 41, whose tip end is previously locked to the winding shaft 17, is sequentially wound around the winding shaft 17, and the support frame 42 moves in the direction of the arrow on the rack 45a+45a. As a result, the cover 41 is peeled off from the flange 13a of the magazine 13, forming an opening necessary for taking out the film 20 housed inside.

On the other hand, when rewinding the cover 41, the cap 44 is engaged with the gear mechanism 43b to reversely rotate the winding motor. As a result, the pinion 47 is rotated in the direction of arrow rw, and the support frame 42 moves in the direction of arrow b'. At this time, the winding shaft 17 is in a free state, and the winding shaft 17
The cover 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow rw on the top a, and the cover 41 wound around its outer periphery is sequentially pasted onto the flange 13a. At this time, the cushion material 61 is placed on the upper surface of the placing portion 39a.
, the cover 41 of the magazine 13 and the flange 13a are brought into close contact with each other between the mounting portion 39a and the winding shaft 17, and reliable shielding is achieved.

Next, a side regulating plate 50 that regulates the position of the film feeding device 14, particularly the film 20 in the width direction with respect to the feeding direction A.
The structure and operation of 55 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The magazine 13 has a film 2 stacked therein.
It is set so that the tip of 0 is located at point B in FIG. The vacuum suction cups 21 are installed at three locations in the width direction, and are installed so as to be able to suction the top end of the film 20 at the top.

Further, a pair of left and right side regulating plates 50, 55 are installed adjacent to the left and right suction cups 21. This side regulating plate 50.
55 is a film handling claw 52.57 fixed horizontally to the guide block 51° 56. (7) Film 20 is attached to the tip.
A plastic film 59 having elasticity is attached to the rear side regulating plate 55 in a vertical direction so as to sandwich the
is pasted on the inside.

A frame 60 is installed below the conveyance guide plate 29 in the feeding direction A.
The guide block 51.
Reference numeral 56 indicates projecting pieces 60a and 60b on this frame 60.

It is attached to guide rods 61 and 62 provided at 60c and 60d so as to be slidable in the width direction of the film 20.

In addition, the timing belt 63 runs parallel to the guide rods 61 and 62 over the entire length of the frame 60 and is connected to the pulley 64a.

64b, and the guide block 51 is stretched over the belt 63b.
On the upper side, a guide block 56 is fixed to the underside of the belt 63. The pulse motor 6 is located at the back of the frame 60.
An ohm wheel 67 is fixed to a support shaft 68 together with a pulley 64a. Therefore, when the pulse motor 65 is rotated forward, the timing heald 63 rotates in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
57, moves inward together with the side regulating plates 50.55.

On the other hand, when the pulse motor 65 is reversed, the timing belt 63 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow C, and the guide plotter 5
1.56 moves outward together with the separating claws 52.57 and the side regulating plates 50.55.

The amount of movement of the side regulating plates 50 and 55 can be controlled by the number of drive pulses applied to the pulse motor 65. Therefore, a projecting piece 58 having a slit 58a is provided on the separating claw 57 so as to project toward the rear, and a photosensor SE2. SE3 is attached to frame 60. Photo sensor SE2 detects the tip of protrusion 58 when pulse motor 65 is being rotated in reverse. This detection signal turns off the reverse rotation of the pulse motor 65, and the side regulating plate 50.degree. 55 is set at the home position (indicated by the dotted line in FIGS. 3 and 4). The photo sensor SE3 is located in the slit 5 of the protruding piece 58.
8a, and this detection signal sets the side regulating plates 50, 55 to the regulating position (shown by solid lines in FIGS. 3 and 4).

When regulating the width of the film 20, the side regulating plate 50 can be set at a regulating position C (see FIG. 3) corresponding to one side of the film 20. On the other hand, another side regulation plate 55
is set about 3 mm outward from the other side of the film 20, and the plastic film 59 attached to the inside elastically presses the film 20, regulating the position of the film 20 in the width direction with respect to the side regulation plate 50. do. This is because there is a certain tolerance in the width dimension of the film 20, and this tolerance is absorbed to accurately regulate the feeding position of the film 20.

Here, to explain the outline of the film feeding operation, first,
The vacuum suction cup 21 descends and the film 2 in the magazine 13 is removed.
Adsorbs to the surface of 0. After that, the vacuum suction cup 21 rises,
The tip of the film 20 that has been completely absorbed is lifted. During this lifting, the left and right ends of the film 20 come into contact with the separating claws 52.57 from below, and the left and right ends of the film 20, so to speak, ride over the separating claws 52.57 in a slightly downwardly curved state. Even if a plurality of films 20 are lifted at the same time in close contact with the back surface of the uppermost film 20, the second and subsequent films 20 will be removed by the handling claw 52.5.
7, it peels off and falls into the magazine 13.

The leading edge of one film 2o that has been separated in this way is attached to the lower roller 25 with the upper roller 25a retracted upward.
b, and the suction by the vacuum suction cup 21 is released here. Thereafter, as the upper roller 25a descends, the leading end of the film 20 is held by the lower roller 25b and the upper roller 25a, and the film 20 is conveyed on the guide plate 29 toward the sub-scanning unit 18.

Thereafter, when the film 2o reaches the detection point of the film sensor SEI during a predetermined period of time and turns on the film sensor SEI, the upper roller 25a rises again.

The rotational drive of the lower roller 25b continues, and the film 20 receives a conveying force only from the lower roller 25b in a state where it is hardly restrained, and the leading end is regulated by the stopper 32, so that the skew can be corrected. At the same time, while the film 20 is being conveyed on the guide plate 29, the side regulating plates 50, 55, which had been retracted slightly outward from both sides of the film 20, move to the regulating position (the solid line position in Figs. 3 and 4). , regulates the feeding position of the film 20.

By the way, when the skew correction is performed with the leading end of the film 20 being regulated by the stopper 32, or the side regulating plate 5
When the position is regulated at 0.55, the first half of the film 20 is pulled out from the magazine 13 and the second half remains in the magazine 13, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. When the magazine 13 is completely set at a position (line L') shifted by an angle θ with respect to the reference center line L, the film 20 is inevitably corrected to the solid line position. A front rib 71, a rear rib 72, and side ribs 73a and 73b are formed on the inner wall of the magazine 13 in order to position the film 20 and to reinforce the strength of the side wall.

The side ribs 73a and 73b are located at the tip and rear ends of the side wall along the feeding direction A, and the intermediate portion thereof is located in the recess 74.
It is said that

Therefore, when the film 20 is corrected for skew or regulated in position to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, the rear end of the film 20 is located in the recess 74, and the posture correction is not hindered in any way.

Conventionally, the side wall portion of the magazine 13 protrudes to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line, but in this case, the rear end of the film 20 comes into contact with the side wall portion, resulting in insufficient posture correction processing.

9 and 10 show other embodiments of the magazine.

This magazine 13 is provided with a short side rib 73c in the recessed portion between the side ribs 73a and 73b, and a slope 73b' is formed in the rear side rib 73b. If a transport failure occurs, the film 20 is returned to the magazine 13 by reversing the transport roller pair 25a, 25b. The inclined surface 73b' guides the rear end of the film 20 when returning the film, making it easier for the film 20 to enter the magazine 13. Further, the side ribs 73c provided in the recessed portion 74 are for reinforcing the strength of the magazine 13, and since the height is set low, it does not interfere with skew correction and position regulation of the film 20.

Next, the operation of the printer device 10 configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 and 12.

FIG. 11 shows print processing, in which the host device 1
It is started by the print processing manager number communicated from. However, it is also possible to execute the process by turning on a print switch on the operation panel (not shown) of the printer device 10.

First, in step S1, as an initial operation, the optical unit 16 and the sub-scanning unit 18 are started up.

At the same time, various parameters are initialized. In step S2, the uppermost film 20 is taken out from the magazine 13. That is, the vacuum suction cup 21 is lowered to suck and lift the film 20, and the leading end of the film 20 is sandwiched between a pair of conveying rollers 25a and 25b. In step S3, the pair of conveying rollers 25a and 25b are driven in normal rotation to convey the film 20 to the stopper 32, and perform skew correction and position regulation in the width direction. This process will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

In step S4, the film 20 is transported on the sub-scanning drum 36 and irradiated with a modulated laser beam from the optical unit 16 to form an image on the film 20, and then the film 20 is stored in the receive magazine 19. In step S5, the processing for one film 20 is completed.

FIG. 12 shows a subroutine of the film transport process executed in step S3.

The process here starts with the leading end of the film 20 being sandwiched between the pair of transport rollers 25a and 25b. At this time, the side regulating plates 50, 55 are retracted outward by about 5 mm from the film regulating position (retreating is performed in step S2).

First, in step Stt, the solenoid 34 is turned on to move the stopper 32 into the conveyance path. Next, step 51
At step 2, the conveyance motor is turned on to rotate the lower conveyance roller 25b in the forward direction. At this point, the film 20 begins to be conveyed on the guide plate 29 in the direction of arrow A. At the same time, in step 513, a timer is turned on, and in step 514, it is determined whether or not the film sensor SEI has been turned on within a predetermined time set in the timer, that is, whether or not the film 20 is normally connected to the film sensor SEI.
It is determined whether or not it has been transported to the detection point I. If the film sensor SEI turns on within a predetermined time, it is determined that the film 20 is being fed normally, the timer is set in step 515, and the upper transport roller 25 is turned on in step 516.
Increase a. With this, the film 20 receives a conveying force in the direction of arrow A only from the lower conveying roller 25b with its leading end in contact with the stopper 32, and if it is skewed, it is corrected.

Next, in step 517, the pulse motor 65 is driven in normal rotation to move the side regulating plates 50, 55 inward from the retracted position. This movement is caused by the slit 58 of the protruding piece 58 shown in FIG.
is carried out until a is detected by the photosensor SE3,
The side regulating plates 50 and 55 move to the regulating position on both sides of the film. This restricts the position of the film 20 in the width direction. At this time, the rear end of the film 20 is located in the recess 74 in the magazine 13, and as described above, the skew correction and position regulation are sufficiently performed.

In order to perform the above processing reliably, the apparatus is placed on standby for 0.5 seconds in step 518. Next, in step 519, the upper transport roller 25a is lowered to re-grasp the film 20, and in step 520, the stopper 32 is retracted out of the transport path. At the same time, in step 521, the pulse motor 65
is reversed, and the side regulating plates 50.55 are retracted outward by about 5 mm. Thereafter, the film 20 is subjected to the image exposure process in step S4. At this time, the side regulating plate 50.
55 is retracted slightly outward, so there is no risk of banding occurring due to rubbing of the side of the film 20 during image exposure.

On the other hand, if the film sensor SEI is not turned on within the predetermined time in step 514, the film 20 is not being conveyed normally. At the same time, in step 525, the sub-scanning drum drive motor is also turned off. At this point, the film transport system stops. At the same time, since this case indicates a film transport failure before exposure, a transport failure flag for displaying this is set to rl in step 526, and the display panel of the printer device 10 indicates that the film transport before exposure is faulty. Indicates that the subroutine exists and ends this subroutine.

If the occurrence of film transport failure is detected here, another subroutine (not shown) is performed to transport the transport roller pair 25a,
25b is allowed to reverse, and the process of returning the film 20 into the magazine 13 is executed.

Note that the magazine according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist. Furthermore, various configurations and control forms can be adopted for the sheet feeding device.

In particular, the film 20 is available in various sizes, and a dedicated magazine 13 is used for each size.

Therefore, the side regulating plates 50, 55 and the separating claws 52, 57 are moved by the pulse mirror 5 to the regulating position and the retracted position corresponding to the film size. Regarding the size of the film 20, it is sufficient to provide means for automatically detecting the size of the film 20 when the magazine 13 is loaded into the main body 11. However, the operator may input the size on an operation panel (not shown).

As the means for picking up the film 20, means other than a vacuum suction cup can also be employed.

Further, the sheets stored in the magazine 13 may be not only photosensitive films but also copy paper, especially coated paper.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, ribs are provided on the side wall of the magazine to regulate the position of the sheet sides on the front end side and the rear end side in the sheet feeding direction. Since the middle part of the rib is a concave part that does not restrict the position of the side of the sheet, if the finil is corrected for skew or the position is adjusted when the front half of the sheet is pulled out of the magazine, there will be no remaining part in the magazine. The rear end of the film that is being held does not come into contact with the side wall of the magazine, and the posture of the film can be corrected accurately. Therefore, there is no need to be very careful about setting the magazine, and the fed film can be processed accurately (for example, image exposure processing).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printer device including a magazine for a sheet feeding device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the magazine in the cent state and the cover in the winding state, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of the feeding device. The plan view, FIG. 4, is a front view of the feeding device. Figure 5 is a plan view of the magazine, and Figure 6 is VI-VI of Figure 5.
FIG. FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining the film posture correction process, and FIG. 8 is a front view of FIG. 7. Fig. 9 is a plan view showing another example of the magazine, and Fig. 10 is a plan view showing another example of the magazine.
FIG. FIGS. 11 and 12 are flowcharts showing a part of the control procedure of the printer device. 13...Magazine, 14...Film feeding device, 2
0...Film, 21...Vacuum suction cup, 50.55
... Side regulation plate, 73a, 73b... Rib, 74
...concavity. Patent applicant Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A large number of sheets stacked in a magazine are fed one by one starting from the top sheet, and with approximately the front half of the sheet pulled out from the magazine, the sheets are spread across the width. In a sheet feeding device that regulates the sheet feeding direction, ribs are provided on the side wall opposite to the sides of the stacked sheets, and ribs are provided on the leading and trailing sides in the sheet feeding direction to restrict the position of the sheet sides. A magazine characterized in that the intermediate portion between the ribs is a concave portion that does not restrict the position of the sheet side portion.