JPH06107366A - Sheet sorting mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sheet sorting mechanism with less noise, easy to regulate and capable of attaining normal sheet stacking. CONSTITUTION:A gate 9 selects sheets carried by a carrying belt 14 by rotation. The selected sheets are discharged to each stacker 15, 16 from a discharge hole between a sheet feed roller 2 and two pinch rollers 4, 5 through either one of the upper part and lower part of the gate 9. The gate 9 and the sheet feed roller 2 are interlocked to each other, and the switching of the gate 9 and the switching of the rotating direction of the sheet feed roller 2 can be performed by the control of the rotating direction of one stacker motor 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a bar code reader, O.
The present invention relates to a sheet sorting mechanism of a sheet discharging unit in CR and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a bar code reader, an OCR or the like having a sheet sorting mechanism and a stacker device, switching of gates in the sheet sorting mechanism has been performed by operating a plunger magnet, a rotary solenoid or the like. Further, the sheet conveyance to the stacker after classifying the sheets uses only the inertial force of the sheets.

[0003]

In the conventional method in which the gate switching of the sheet sorting mechanism is performed by the plunger magnet or the rotary solenoid, the noise generated during the operation is large and it is difficult to adjust the gate position. Further, since the sheet is conveyed to the stacker after the sheet is classified, only the inertial force of the sheet is used, so that there is a drawback that the stacking is disturbed or the sheet cannot be stacked in the normal order depending on the sheet length and the reading speed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet sorting mechanism that reduces noise, facilitates gate position adjustment, and imparts a sheet conveying force after sheet sorting to enable normal sheet stacking. Especially.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured between a sheet feed roller rotatable in forward and reverse directions and the sheet feed roller depending on the rotation direction of the sheet feed roller. One of the two discharge ports is separated from each other so as to discharge the sheet in the forward direction, and the two pinch rollers are in pressure contact with the sheet feeding roller, and the sheet feeding path is connected to the sheet sorting mechanism. The sheet is arranged in front of the sheet feeding roller in the sheet feeding direction, has a flat plate shape, and rotates between two sheet sorting positions about an axis parallel to the axis of the sheet feeding roller. The front end crosses the sheet supply path in the vertical direction with respect to the sheet surface, and at each sheet selection position, both side surfaces from the front end to the rear end extend to the extension surface. A sheet conveying surface including any one of the mouths can be configured, and the sheet feeding roller is included in an extension surface of the sheet conveying surface of the discharge port when the sheet selecting surface is arranged at one of the sheet selecting positions. Means for interlocking with the sheet feed roller so that the sheet discharge port ejects the sheet in the forward direction, and drive means for rotating the sheet feed roller in the forward and reverse directions and for rotating the gate means in the forward and reverse directions. And a sheet sorting mechanism was constructed.

[0006]

Since the present invention has the above-described structure, the following operational effects are obtained.

In the sheet sorting mechanism according to the present invention,
The sheets sent toward the sheet sorting mechanism through the sheet supply path are sorted by the gate means and discharged in the forward direction by the sheet feeding roller and the pinch roller. The gate means rotates between two sheet selection positions about an axis parallel to the axis of the sheet feeding row and the like, and the front end of the gate means traverses the sheet feeding path in the vertical direction with respect to the sheet surface. The sheet abuts on either side of the gate means depending on which sheet sorting position the gate means is in, and the route is selected. At each sheet selection position, the gate means forms a sheet conveying surface on both side surfaces from the front end to the rear end, and the sheet advances on this sheet conveying surface. Further, the extended surface of the sheet conveying surface includes a discharge port formed between the sheet feeding roller and the pinch roller, and discharges the selected sheet. Two pinch rollers are spaced apart from each other and are pressed against the sheet feeding roller to form two discharge ports, and each discharge port is an extension surface of each of the two sheet conveying surfaces that can be configured by the rotation of the gate means. Since the sheet is positioned so as to be included in the sheet, it is discharged from a different discharge port for each sorted sheet.

The sheet feeding roller and the gate means are rotated in the forward and reverse directions in cooperation with one driving means. When the sheet feed roller is rotating in a certain direction, one of the ejection ports can eject the sheet in the forward direction, but the other ejection port cannot rotate the sheet because the rotation is reversed. Therefore, depending on the sheet selection position of the gate means, the gate means and the sheet feed roller are interlocked so that the sheet feed roller rotates in a direction in which the sheet fed on the sheet conveying surface can be discharged.

Therefore, according to the sheet selection mechanism of the present invention, the gate switching operation for classifying the sheets and the sheet feeding behind the gate means can be performed by one driving means, and the rotation direction of the driving means is controlled. The gate can be switched. Therefore, there is no operating noise as when a plunger magnet is used. Further, once the sheet selection position of the gate means is set, there is almost no need for adjustment, and the sheets are forcibly fed even after passing through the gate, so that stacking disturbance can be prevented and normal stacking can be performed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a sheet sorting mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing a peripheral mechanism of a bar code reader including the sheet sorting mechanism shown in FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet sorting mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a view taken along line AA of FIG.

In each drawing, the stacker motor 1 can be rotated in forward and reverse directions by a control device (not shown), and a sheet feed roller 2 and a motor gear 3 are fixed to its drive shaft. An R pinch roller 4 and an A pinch roller 5 are pressed against the sheet feeding roller 2 with a vertical space therebetween. A gear 6 meshes with the motor gear 3 to transmit power. As shown in FIG. 4, the gear 6, the hollow shaft 8, the friction ring 11, and the spring 12 are sequentially rotatably fitted to the fixed shaft 7 fixed to the frame 22, and have common axes. The inner diameters of the gear 6 and the hollow shaft 8 are substantially the same as the outer diameter of the fixed shaft 7. The friction ring 11 is fixed to the hollow shaft 8 and is rotatably urged in the direction toward the frame 22 by the spring 12 via the hollow shaft 8. Since the side surface of the friction ring 11 is pressed against the side surface of the gear 6 by the spring 12, the hollow shaft 8 rotates together with the gear 6, but when a load that prevents the hollow shaft 8 from rotating acts, the friction ring 11 and the gear 6 are separated from each other. The gap between them is slipped so that the gear 6 can rotate idly.

The gate 9 is fixed to the hollow shaft 8 and rotates together with the hollow shaft 8. The gate 9 has a flat plate shape, is located in front of the sheet feeding roller 2 in the sheet conveying direction, and has a slight unevenness due to the conveying belt 14, but becomes gradually thinner in the sheet feeding direction. The front portion has a tapered shape as viewed in FIG. 1, and a notch for the sheet feeding roller 2 is provided, and a rear portion having a U-shape in FIG. The front portion of the gate 9 is hollow with left and right side surfaces opened, and the hollow shaft 8 is inserted and fixed. A stopper 10 fixed to one end of the reject stacker 15 is arranged inside the rear portion of the U-shape. The stopper 10 has a plate-like shape and has cushioning materials attached to both sides thereof. When the upper and lower surfaces of the inside of the U-shape of the gate 9 come into contact with each other, the rotation of the gate 9 is stopped and the gear 6 and the friction ring 11 are connected. Slide between them to position the gate 9 in one of two constant sorting positions shown in solid and phantom lines.

The front end of the taper of the gate 9 can traverse the supply path of the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt 14 in the direction perpendicular to the sheet by the rotation of the gate 9. The sheet conveyed through the sheet supply path hits either the upper or lower side surface of the gate 9 depending on the sorting position of the gate 9, and the sheet guides 13 provided on the upper and lower side surfaces of the gate 9 and above and below the gate 9, respectively. , And a guide plate portion extending from the upper end of the accept stacker 16 is conveyed. The sheet to be conveyed has a discharge port formed by the sheet feed roller 2, the R pinch roller 4, and the A pinch roller 5, respectively, on the extended surfaces of the upper and lower side surfaces of the gate 9, so that the sheet is discharged to the discharge port. When the sheet feed roller 2 reaches and is rotated, the sheet is forcibly discharged to the reject stacker 15 or the accept stacker 16 by rotating the sheet feed roller 2.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control device of this embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the sheet classification control of this embodiment.

When the operator operates the operation section 25 to give a start (reading) instruction, an operation instruction is given to the control section 6 inside the bar code reader. As a result, the feed motor 17 and the pick roller clutch 23 operate, and the reading operation of the sheet 20 flown by the pick roller 19 from the hopper 21 is started (S1).

The reading operation is performed through the control unit while determining whether the reading sensor 18 and the multi-feed sensor 24 are normal reading or erroneous reading, and whether multi-feeding (two or more sheets are fed at the same time) or one sheet is fed (S2). . The sheet 20 reaches the sheet sorting mechanism by a path shown by an arrow in FIG. In the case of normal reading and single-sheet feeding, the stacker motor 1 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1, that is, rotates left in FIG. 1 (S3a). In this case, the gate 9 is rotated clockwise through the motor gear 3, the gear 6, the friction ring 11, and the hollow shaft by the force of the spring 12 as viewed in FIG. The inner surface contacts the upper surface of the stopper 10 and stops. This stop position is the accept position of the selection positions of the gate 9. When the rotation of the gate 9 is suppressed by the stopper 10, the friction ring 11 and the gear 6 are in a slipping state. On the other hand, the sheet feed roller 2 and the A pinch roller 5 that is in pressure contact with the sheet feed roller 2 are in the sheet discharge direction, that is, the sheet feed roller 2 is rotating counterclockwise and the A pinch roller 5 is rotating clockwise. The normally read sheet 20 sent by the conveyor belt 14 is guided to the gate 9, passes below the gate 9, and is forcibly sent to the accept stacker 16 by the sheet feeding roller 2 and the A pinch roller 5 (S4).
a).

In case of erroneous reading or double feeding, the control unit 2
The stacker motor 1 is rotated to the right at a timing when the sheet 20 comes in front of the gate 9 via 6 (S3r). The gate 9 rotates to the left, and the lower inner surface of the U-shaped portion at the rear portion thereof contacts the lower surface of the stopper 10 and stops at the reject position. The sent sheet 20 is guided above the gate 9. At this time, since the sheet feeding roller 2 and the R pinch roller 4 are rotating in the sheet discharging direction,
The sheet is discharged from the discharge port to the reject stacker 15 (S4r).

As described above, in the sheet sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, the switching of the gate, which has conventionally utilized the plunger magnet or the rotary solenoid, is achieved by selecting the forward or reverse rotation of the stacker motor 1. Noise can be reduced. Moreover, since the stop position of the gate 9 is determined by the stopper 10, the position of the gate 9 can be easily adjusted. Further, since the sheet feeding roller 2 and the two pinch rollers 4 and 5 are arranged behind the gate 9 to forcibly feed the sheet, it is possible to prevent the stacking disorder of the sheet.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a sheet sorting mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a component device of a bar code reader to which the sheet sorting mechanism shown in FIG. 1 is applied.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line AA of FIG. 1.

5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control device of the barcode reader shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining a classification control procedure of the sheet classification mechanism shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Stacker Motor 2 Sheet Feed Roller 3 Motor Gear 4 R Pinch Roller 5 A Pinch Roller 6 Gear 7 Fixed Shaft 8 Hollow Shaft 9 Gate 10 Stopper 11 Friction Ring 12 Spring 14 Conveyor Belt 15 Reject Stacker 16 Accept Stacker 22 Frame

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feed roller rotatable in forward and reverse directions, and one of two discharge ports formed between the sheet feed roller depending on the rotation direction of the sheet feed roller, feeds the sheet. Two pinch rollers, which are pressed against the sheet feeding roller so as to be separated from each other so as to be discharged in the forward direction, and a direction in which the sheet is fed from the sheet feeding path toward the sheet sorting mechanism. It is arranged in the front and has a flat plate shape, and is rotated between two sheet selection positions around an axis parallel to the axis of the sheet feeding roller so that its front end traverses the sheet supply path in the direction perpendicular to the sheet surface, At each sheet selection position, both side surfaces from the front edge to the rear edge form a sheet conveying surface including one of the discharge ports on an extension surface thereof. When one of the sheet selection positions is disposed, the sheet feed roller is configured to discharge the sheet in the forward direction by the one of the discharge ports included in the extension surface of the sheet conveying surface. A sheet sorting mechanism comprising: gate means that works in conjunction with a sheet feed roller; and drive means that rotates the sheet feed roller in forward and reverse directions and that drives the gate means in forward and reverse directions.