JPH07223747A - Sheet feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely separate a plurality of loaded sheets one sheet by one sheet without utilizing frictional force and to feed them. CONSTITUTION:In order to load a plurality of sheets 9 on a tray 1 having a wall plane part 1a to arrange the tips of the sheets and to carry them, a feeding rotary body consisting of a carrying means composed of a carrying roller 5 and a pinch roller 6 and a paper feed roller 2 which is arranged above the tray 1 and has the surface 2a covered with adhesive material is provided. The feeding rotary body is reciprocated between the tray 1 and the carrying roller 5 by a moving means composed of paper feed roller arms 3, and the sheets 9 are thereby adhered to the paper feed roller 2 to separate from other sheets 9, and fed to he carrying roller 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet for separating and feeding one sheet from a plurality of sheet-shaped originals or sheet-shaped recording media stacked in a copying machine, a facsimile or a scanner. The present invention relates to a feeding device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a copying machine, a facsimile, a scanner, or the like, a plurality of sheet-shaped originals are stacked and sequentially fed so that the stacked originals are separated and fed one by one. It is generally configured to obtain. Further, the copying machine is configured so that one recording medium can be separated and fed from a plurality of stacked sheet-shaped recording media.

As a feeding device that sequentially separates a plurality of stacked sheets of originals or recording media (hereinafter referred to as sheets) one by one, a separation method by frictional force is the mainstream, and among them, the difference in frictional force is utilized. In many cases, the separation pad method, the reverse rotation roller method or the reverse rotation belt method using the difference in frictional force and the torque limiter is adopted.

[0004]

However, in the feeding device utilizing the above frictional force, dust is generated especially from the end face portion by rubbing the sheet, and the dust is generated in the roller portion of the conveying roller arranged in the vicinity. There is a problem that it adheres to the paper and causes a decrease in frictional force, the sheet cannot be fed normally, and dust contaminates the reading unit and deteriorates the image, and periodic maintenance is required to solve this problem. Derive the problem.

Further, when the sheet is separated, an abnormal noise may occur between the sheet, the separation pad and the separation roller. Also, as the usage time increases, the surface of the separation pad and separation roller wears due to friction, and the initial separation performance deteriorates.
Depending on the material of the pad and the separating roller, there is a problem that fine dust generated by abrasion contaminates the sheet. Further, when the sheet having the surface coated thereon is separated, the frictional force between the sheet and the separation pad or the separation roller becomes too strong, which may result in the failure of sheet feeding.

Further, when a document is fed at a precise speed and is scanned and read as in the case of a facsimile, the frictional force of the paper feeding unit causes the feeding speed of the document because the paper feeding unit and the reading unit are close to each other. May be adversely affected. To solve this problem, a strong drive system is required, which is uneconomical.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device capable of reliably separating and feeding a plurality of stacked sheets one by one without utilizing frictional force.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, a typical sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention has a tray for placing a plurality of sheets and a sheet placed on the tray. A sheet feeding unit that is arranged substantially vertically with respect to the sheet, a wall surface unit for aligning the leading ends of the sheet, a conveying unit for conveying the sheet, and a rotating member arranged above the tray and having a surface covered with an adhesive substance. The rotary body and the moving means for reciprocating the feeding rotary body between the tray and the transport means are configured.

[0009]

In the above sheet feeding apparatus, when the feeding rotating body having the rotating member whose surface is covered with the adhesive substance is moved to the tray side by the moving means, the rotating member is the uppermost portion of the sheet placed on the tray. Contact the sheet at. At this time,
The sheet adheres to the rotating member due to the adhesive substance that covers the surface of the rotating member, and the tip of the sheet comes into contact with the wall surface portion as the feeding rotating body moves to the conveying means side, causing buckling and separating from other sheets. To do. Then, when the feeding rotating body moves to the conveying means side, the sheet is supplied to the conveying means and fed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the sheet feeding device will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding device, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram when separating sheets.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of sheets 9 constituting a document or a recording medium are placed on a tray 1, and a wall surface portion 1a substantially perpendicular to the sheet 9 placed on one end is placed. ing.

Above the tray 1, a paper feed roller 2 serving as a feeding rotary member having a roller portion serving as a rotary member is arranged. The paper feed roller 2 is rotatably supported by a paper feed roller arm 3 that is configured to be rotatable around a support shaft 4 and that serves as a moving unit that reciprocates the paper feed roller 2 between the transport unit and the tray 1. Has been done.

That is, by rotating the paper feed roller arm 3 in accordance with the paper feed timing, the paper feed roller 2 can reciprocate between the position A, the position B, and the position C shown in FIG. It is configured. Here, the position A is the paper feed roller 2
Is a standby position where the sheet feeding roller 2 faces the transport roller 5 serving as a transport unit.
Position C is for sheet 9 with paper feed roller 2 placed on tray 1.
It is the position to contact.

When in the position C, the paper feed roller 2 adheres to the uppermost sheet 9a of the sheets 9 placed on the tray 1, and the paper feed roller arm 3 rotates to position B.
It has a function of separating the adhered sheet 9a from other sheets 9 along with the movement to.

Therefore, the entire surface 2a of the paper feed roller 2 is covered with the adhesive substance. As the adhesive substance, it is possible to use, for example, a substance that exhibits adhesiveness by adjusting the vulcanization degree of urethane rubber. The substance always exhibits adhesiveness at room temperature, and even if dust or the like adheres to the substance and the adhesiveness is deteriorated, it is possible to recover the original adhesiveness by wiping with water or alcohol. Have. Therefore, the paper feed roller 2 may be composed of a urethane rubber roller whose surface has been made adhesive by adjusting the degree of vulcanization.

The carrying roller 5 is arranged at a preset position in the main body of the apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile or a scanner. A pinch roller 6 is arranged so as to face the transport roller 5. The pinch roller 6 is a pinch roller arm 7 configured to be rotatable around a support shaft 8.
It is rotatably supported by.

The pinch roller arm 7 is a paper feed roller 2.
1 in synchronization with the movement timing from position C to position B in FIG.
The sheet 9 is rotated from the solid line position to the two-dot chain line position in FIG. It is conveyed to the recording formation position.

A peeling plate 10 is arranged near the conveying roller 5 and on the side where the paper feeding roller 2 is arranged. This peeling plate
10 contacts the sheet 9 separated by the paper feed roller 2,
It has a function of peeling the sheet 9 from the paper feed roller 2 when the paper feed roller 2 moves from the position B to the position A.

When the paper feed roller 2 is at the position A, a recovery roller 11 is arranged which presses the surface 2a of the roller 2 and presses it to recover the adhesiveness of the paper feed roller 2. This recovery roller 11
Has a sponge-like holding part that absorbs and holds moisture,
In addition, it is configured so that it can be rotated at regular intervals by a driving means (not shown). And the surface 2 of the paper feed roller 2
By rotating in pressure contact with a, the surface 2a of the paper feed roller 2
The paper powder, dust, and the like that adhere to the surface 2a are removed, and thereby the adhesiveness of the surface 2a is restored.

In the sheet feeding apparatus constructed as described above, at the start of the sheet feeding operation, the sheet feeding roller 2 stands by at the position A and is in pressure contact with the recovery roller 11, and the pinch roller 6 is at the solid line position. . Then, when reading or recording is started, the sheet feeding roller arm 3 is rotated to move the sheet feeding roller 2 to the position C, and the topmost sheet 9a of the sheets 9 placed on the tray 1 is adhered. To do.

Next, the paper feed roller arm 3 is rotated to move the paper feed roller 2 from the position C to the position B facing the transport roller 5. In this process, as shown in FIG. 2, the leading end of the sheet 9 a adhered to the paper feed roller 2 is the wall surface portion 1 of the tray 1.
The seat 9 pressed next to a causes buckling and is positioned next.
Be sure to separate from b. Then, the sheet 9 a moves in the direction of the conveyance roller 5 as the sheet feeding roller 2 moves to the position B.

In synchronism with the movement of the sheet feeding roller 2 from the position C to the position B, the pinch roller arm 7 is rotated to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line to bring the sheet 9 into pressure contact with the conveying roller 5, and the roller 5
The sheet 9 is conveyed by the rotation of. At the same time, the paper feed roller arm 3 is further rotated to move the paper feed roller 2 to the position A, and is brought into pressure contact with the recovery roller 11 to stand by.

By the series of operations as described above, it is possible to separate and feed the uppermost sheet 9a from the plurality of sheets 9 placed on the tray 1 from other sheets 9. Further, when the paper feed roller 2 is at the position A, the recovery roller 11 pressed against the surface 2a of the roller 2 rotates at regular intervals to remove paper dust, dust, etc. adhering to the surface 2a. It is possible to always keep the tackiness of the above in a constant state.

In the above embodiment, the paper feed roller 2 is not positively rotated in association with the paper feed operation. Therefore, the adhesion position of the sheet feeding roller 2 with respect to the sheet 9 may be substantially the same, and the adhesion performance may deteriorate. In order to avoid this problem, it is preferable to slightly rotate the paper feed roller 2 every time one sheet 9 is fed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the main part of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the figure, the paper feed roller 2 is supported by a support shaft 21 provided on the paper feed roller arm 3 via a one-way rotation clutch 22 so as to be rotatable only in the arrow Y direction. A gear 23 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 21. A sector gear 24 is fixed to a support shaft 4 that rotatably supports the paper feed roller arm 3, and the sector gear 24 and a gear 23 attached to the support shaft 21 mesh with each other.

Therefore, when the paper feed roller arm 3 is rotated to move the paper feed roller 2 to the position corresponding to the position C in FIG. 1, the paper is placed on the tray 1 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment. The uppermost sheet 9a of the plurality of sheets 9 is adhered. Then, when the paper feed roller 2 is moved to a position corresponding to the position B, the paper feed roller 2 rotates about the support shaft 21 in the arrow Y direction at the same time as the gear 23 and the sector gear 24 mesh with each other. Move in the direction.

As the paper feed roller 2 rotates in the arrow Y direction and moves in the arrow X direction as described above, the sheet 9a adhered to the roller 2 is pressed against the wall surface portion 1a of the tray 1 and buckles. Occurs and is reliably separated from the next sheet 9b. At this time, since the paper feed roller 2 rotates, the sheet 9a
Is more reliably separated.

Then, the sheet 9 adhered to the sheet feeding roller 2 is conveyed by the cooperation of the conveying roller 5 and the pinch roller 6 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and the sheet feeding roller 2 moves to the position A and stands by. .

When a signal to convey the next sheet 9b is generated and the sheet feeding roller 2 moves from the position A to the position C, the rotation of the support shaft 21 due to the engagement of the gear 23 and the sector gear 24 causes the sheet feeding. It is not transmitted to the roller 2. Therefore, the adhesive portion for the sheet 9a and the adhesive portion for the sheet 9b in the sheet feeding roller 2 are different, and the sheet 9 can be stably fed without deteriorating the adhesive performance of the adhesive substance. ..

[0030]

As described above, the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention can separate the placed sheets without applying a frictional force. Therefore, no dust is generated due to wear and no frictional noise is generated. Further, since the surface of the sheet is not rubbed, the sheet is not damaged, and even a sheet coated on the surface can be separated in a stable state.

Furthermore, since the load is small when separating and feeding the sheets, the sheets can be accurately conveyed and the drive system can be downsized. Therefore, it is economically advantageous.

Further, when the rotating body is rotated each time one sheet is fed, the contact portions between the rotating body and the sheet can be always set to different positions, and a plurality of placed sheets can be placed. It has a feature that the sheet can be stably separated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram when separating sheets.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a main part of a sheet feeding device according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-tray, 1a-wall surface, 2-paper feed roller, 2a-surface, 3-paper feed roller arm, 4,8,21-spindle, 5-transport roller, 6-pinch roller, 7-pinch roller arm , 9, 9a, 9b-sheet, 10-release plate, 11-recovery roller, 21-support shaft, 22-one-way rotation clutch, 23-gear,
24-sector gear

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tray for placing a plurality of sheets, a wall surface portion arranged substantially perpendicular to the sheets placed on the tray for aligning the leading ends of the sheets, and a sheet for conveying the sheets. Transporting means, a feeding rotating body having a rotating member disposed above the tray and having a surface covered with an adhesive substance, and a reciprocating moving body for rotating the feeding rotating body between the tray and the transporting means. A sheet feeding device comprising: a moving unit. 2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feeding rotator rotates by a predetermined angle each time the feeding rotator moves between the tray and the conveying means. 3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recovery unit that recovers the adhesiveness of the adhesive substance that covers the surface of the rotating member.