JPH07333007A - Device for detecting edge of transferred medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable judgment whether a transferred medium reaches a specified position on a transfer base or not without being affected by the reflection factor of the top surface of the transferred medium, the form of the transferred medium and the like. CONSTITUTION:A reflection member 16 is built by burying a member having a nature of retroreflection into an area containing a detection position 2b of an outer circumferential surface 2a of a rotary drum 2. A light source 10 and an optical sensor 11 are arranged in proximity so that light emitted from the light source 10 and retro reflected with a reflection member 16 is directed to the light sensor 11. When a tip part 4a of a sensing material 4 to be conveyed does not reach the detection position 2b, the light from the light source 10 is retro reflection by the reflection member 16 to be detected with the optical sensor 11. When the tip part 4a of the sensing material 4 reaches the detection position 2b, the reflection member 16 is covered with the sensing material 4 and light from the light source 10 falls on the top surface of the sensing material 4 to be reflected in a direction differing from the incident direction thereof.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier medium end detecting device for detecting whether or not an end of a carrier medium carried on a carrier base has reached a predetermined position on the carrier base. . For example, when such a transport medium edge detecting device is used for an output scanner, when the photosensitive material which is the transport medium is wound around the rotary drum, the photosensitive material is positioned at a predetermined position in order to position the tip of the sensitive material at a predetermined position. It is suitable for detecting whether or not the tip portion of has reached the above position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a main part of a general output scanner including a conventional conveying medium edge detecting device. In FIG. 12, the rotary shaft of the drive motor 1 is directly connected to the rotary shaft of the rotary drum 2, and the rotary drum 2 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 1. Further, the sheet-shaped photosensitive material 4 is wound in a sheet roll shape, and its tip portion 4a is sandwiched by rollers 5a and 5b. The rollers 5a and 5b are arranged such that their respective rotation axes are parallel to the rotation axis of the rotary drum 2.
The feed motor 3 is directly connected to the rotation shaft of the roller 5, and the roller 5a is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow B by the feed motor 3 together with the roller 5b. Further, a presser 6 is attached to the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2 so as to be rotatable in the arrow A direction.

On the other hand, the conveying medium edge detecting device is provided with a light source 10.
And condenser lenses 12 and 13, and an optical sensor 11. Here, the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 are arranged such that the light emitted from the light source 10 and reflected by the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the rotary drum 2 is incident on the optical sensor 11.

The rotary drum 2 and the rollers 5a and 5b
Rotation shaft, winding shaft of photosensitive material 4, drive motor 1
The feed motor 3, the light source 10, the condenser lenses 12 and 13, and the optical sensor 11 are each supported by a support member (not shown) in the scanner.

Now, referring to FIG. 12, the operation of fixing the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 to a predetermined position of the rotary drum 2 by the presser 6 in order to wind the photosensitive material 4 around the rotary drum 2 will be described.

The rotary drum 2 is stopped in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, first, when the feed motor 3 starts to rotate, the rollers 5a and 5b respectively rotate in the arrow B direction, and the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 is conveyed in the arrow C direction.

At this time, light is emitted from the light source 10 in the conveying medium edge detecting device, is condensed by the condenser lens 12, and is then irradiated to the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. After that, the light reflected there is condensed by the condenser lens 13, enters the optical sensor 11, and is detected by the optical sensor 11.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of the conveying medium end portion detecting device in FIG. Note that FIG.
In FIG. 3, only the essential parts are shown for the sake of clarity.

The leading end portion 4a of the conveyed photosensitive material 4 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), when the detection position 2b is not yet reached, the light emitted from the light source 10 is reflected at the detection position 2b as described above. However, when the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b, as shown in FIG.
The light emitted from the light source 10 is covered by
The light is reflected on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4. Therefore, since the reflectance of the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 is lower than the reflectance of the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2 in the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 11, the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 is located at the detection position 2b. It will decrease the moment it arrives. Therefore, by detecting whether or not the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 11 becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold value, it is detected whether or not the tip portion 4a of the sensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b. be able to.

When it is detected that the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b, after waiting for a predetermined time until the tip 4a reaches the position of the presser 6 shown in FIG. Rotates in the direction of arrow A and holds the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 between itself and the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. As a result, the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 is fixed at a predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. Then the rotating drum 2
Is driven to rotate by the drive motor 1,
The photosensitive material 4 is wrapped around the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of another conventional conveying medium end portion detecting device. Note that, also in FIG. 14, only main parts are shown for the sake of easy understanding.

In the conveying medium edge detecting device shown in FIG.
On the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2, a black portion 15 is provided in a region including the detection position 2b. The black part 15 is
It is configured by embedding a member (for example, a black member) that hardly reflects the light from the light source 10 in the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the rotary drum 2.

Therefore, since the reflectance of the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 is higher than that of the black portion 15, the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 11 in the case of this transport medium edge detecting device. Will increase at the moment when the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b. Therefore, the optical sensor 1
By detecting whether or not the amount of light detected by 1 has become larger than a predetermined threshold value, it is possible to detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b.

[0014]

However, the above-mentioned conventional conveying medium edge detecting device has the following problems.

That is, in the conveying medium edge detecting device as shown in FIG. 13, when the reflectance of the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 is as high as the reflectance of the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotating drum 2, the sensitivity is high. The amount of decrease in the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 11 when the tip 4a of the material 4 reaches the detection position 2b is small. On the contrary, in the transport medium edge detecting device as shown in FIG. 14, the reflectance of the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 is equal to the reflectance of the black portion 15 provided on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotating drum 2. When it is extremely low, the amount of increase in the amount of detected light when reaching the detection position 2b is small. Therefore, in either case, it is extremely difficult to set the threshold value for comparing the detected light amounts, and even if the threshold value is set to a certain threshold value, there is a problem that the detection omission may occur. .

There is no problem if the tip 4a of the sensitive material 4 to be conveyed is flat, but if the tip 4a of the sensitive material 4 is wavy for some reason, for example, There are the following problems. That is, even if the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b and is irradiated with the light from the light source 10, the incident angle of light is different as compared with the case where the tip 4a is flat. Therefore, the light reflected by the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 does not go to the optical sensor 11. As a result, the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 11 is reduced, and in this case also erroneous detection occurs.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned conveying medium edge detecting device, as shown in FIG. 13 or 14, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 10 and the optical axis of the light incident on the optical sensor 11 are shown. Since the angle formed by and is wide, the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 are arranged at positions separated from each other. Therefore, there has been a problem that it becomes extremely difficult to adjust the positions of the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to prevent the carrier medium from being transferred onto the carrier base without being affected by the reflectivity of the upper surface of the carrier medium to be conveyed and the form of the carrier medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transport medium edge portion detection device capable of accurately detecting whether or not a predetermined position has been reached, and moreover, it is possible to easily adjust the positions of components such as a light source and an optical sensor.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, in the invention according to claim 1, the end of the carrier medium conveyed on the carrier base is the carrier. In a transport medium end portion detection device for detecting whether or not a predetermined position on the base is reached, a light source for irradiating light to the predetermined position on the transport base and a predetermined position on the transport base are provided. A reflecting member that is disposed and that reflects the light emitted from the light source substantially in the direction in which the light source is located, and an optical sensor that detects the light emitted from the light source and reflected by the reflecting member. In addition, the light source is arranged such that the incident angle of the light emitted from the light source with respect to the incident surface of the reflecting member is an angle other than 0 degree, and the light sensor reflects the light reflected by the reflecting member. Detected Depending on whether the end portion of the transport medium is adapted to detect whether the host vehicle has reached the predetermined position on the transport base.

In this invention, the light emitted from the light source enters the optical sensor when reflected by the reflecting member,
Although it is detected by the optical sensor, if the carrier medium is located at a position that covers the reflective member and is reflected on the upper surface of the carrier medium, it will be reflected in a different direction than when it is reflected by the reflective member. It is not incident and is not detected by the optical sensor. Therefore, rather than detecting the amount of light by the optical sensor, by monitoring whether the light is detected by the optical sensor, it is possible to detect whether the end of the transport medium has reached a predetermined position. Therefore, not only when using a carrier medium having a relatively high reflectance on its upper surface but also when using a carrier medium having a relatively low reflectance, whether the end of the carrier medium has reached a predetermined position or not. Can be accurately detected.

Further, even when the end of the conveyed medium is wavy, for example, when the light emitted from the light source is reflected by the upper surface of the conveyed medium, it is reflected by the reflecting member. Since it is reflected in a different direction, it does not enter the optical sensor and is not detected by the optical sensor. Therefore,
Also in this case, it is possible to accurately detect whether or not the end portion of the transport medium has reached the predetermined position by monitoring whether or not the light is detected by the optical sensor.

Therefore, accurately, without being affected by the reflectance of the upper surface of the conveyed medium or the form of the conveyed medium,
It is possible to detect whether the end portion of the transport medium has reached a predetermined position.

Further, since the reflecting member reflects the light emitted from the light source substantially in the direction in which the light source is located, the light sensor for detecting the light reflected by the reflecting member is the light source. Can be placed close to
Therefore, it is easy to adjust the positions of the components such as the light source and the optical sensor.

The reflecting member may be made of a member having a retroreflective property. The invention described in claim 3 corresponds to such a case.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, a transport medium end portion detecting device for detecting whether or not an end portion of the transport medium transported on the transport base has reached a predetermined position on the transport base. In, a light source for irradiating light to the predetermined position on the transport base, a reflecting surface arranged at the predetermined position on the transport base for reflecting light emitted from the light source, and irradiating from the light source And a light sensor for detecting light reflected by the reflecting surface, and the incident angle of light emitted from the light source on the reflecting surface is located at a position where the carrier medium covers the reflecting surface. In this case, the light emitted from the light source is arranged at an angle different from the angle of incidence on the upper surface of the carrier medium, and the optical sensor detects the light reflected by the reflecting surface. Depending on how you did End of the transport medium is adapted to detect whether the host vehicle has reached the predetermined position on the transport base.

In the above invention, the light emitted from the light source is incident on the optical sensor when reflected by the reflecting surface and detected by the optical sensor. When reflected on the upper surface of the medium, it is reflected in a different direction than when reflected on the reflective surface,
It does not enter the optical sensor and is not detected by the optical sensor. Therefore, in the case of such an invention as well, whether or not the end portion of the transport medium has reached the predetermined position is obtained by monitoring whether or not the light is detected by the optical sensor, instead of detecting the amount of light by the optical sensor. It is detecting whether or not.

When the reflecting surface is arranged so as to reflect the light emitted from the light source substantially toward the direction in which the light source is located, an optical sensor for detecting the light reflected by the reflecting surface. Can be arranged close to the light source, so that the position adjustment of components such as the light source and the optical sensor can be easily performed.

The reflecting surface can be provided on the inner surface of the recess provided at the predetermined position on the transport base. The invention described in claim 6 corresponds to such a case.

In the invention according to claim 1 or 4, the sound source for radiating a sound wave having directivity is used instead of the light source, and a sound sensor for detecting a sound wave is used instead of the optical sensor. Instead of, the sound wave having directivity may be used to detect whether or not the end portion of the transport medium has reached the predetermined position on the transport base. The invention described in claim 2 or 5 corresponds to such a case.

[0030]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As an embodiment of the present invention, a case in which the conveying medium edge detecting device of the present invention is applied to an output scanner will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an output scanner including a conveying medium edge detecting device as a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 12 except for the conveying medium end portion detecting device, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the conveying medium edge detecting device is composed of the light source 10
In addition to the condensing lenses 12 and 13, the optical sensor 11, and the reflecting member 16. Here, the reflecting member 16 is a member having a retroreflective property, which will be described later.
It is configured by embedding in the area including the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. Note that the retroreflection means a phenomenon of reflection in which radiation is reflected back in the incident direction over a wide range in the incident direction.

The light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 are arranged close to each other so that the light emitted from the light source 10 and retroreflected by the reflecting member 16 enters the optical sensor 11. At this time, the light source 10 is arranged so that the incident angle of the light emitted from the light source 10 and incident on the reflecting member 16 does not become 0 degree. Further, since the light source 10 also irradiates the photosensitive material 4, the light source 10 emits a light beam having a wavelength that the photosensitive material 4 does not sensitize.

Next, referring to FIG. 1, the operation of fixing the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 to the predetermined position of the rotary drum 2 by the presser 6 in order to wind the photosensitive material 4 around the rotary drum 2 will be described.

First, the rotary drum 2 is driven by the drive motor 1.
Is rotated to position the rotating drum 2 in a phase in which the reflecting member 16 is positioned on the path of the light emitted from the light source 10. Next, when the feed motor 3 starts to rotate,
The rollers 5a and 5b respectively rotate in the arrow B direction, and the leading end portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 is conveyed in the arrow C direction.

At this time, light is emitted from the light source 10 in the conveying medium edge detecting device, is condensed by the condenser lens 12, and is then irradiated on the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. . As described above, since the reflection member 16 having the property of retroreflection is provided at the detection position 2b, the light incident on the reflection member 16 is reflected in the same direction as the incident direction (that is, (Retro-reflected), and then the light is collected by the condenser lens 13 and the optical sensor 1
The light is incident on the optical sensor 1 and is detected by the optical sensor 11.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of the conveying medium end portion detecting device in FIG. Note that, in FIG. 2, only the main parts are shown for the sake of easy understanding of the description.
Further, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section of the reflecting member 16 portion of FIG. 2 along the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material 4.

When the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 conveyed by the rollers 5a and 5b has not yet reached the detection position 2b, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 3 (a),
As described above, the light emitted from the light source 10 is retroreflected by the reflecting member 16 provided on the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the rotating drum 2 and is incident on the optical sensor 11, and the optical sensor 11
Will be detected by. However, when the front end portion 4a of the conveyed sensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b as shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B, the reflecting member 16 is covered with the sensitive material 4. Therefore, the light emitted from the light source 10 is incident on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4. The light source 10
Since the incident angle when the light emitted from is incident on the reflecting member 16 is set to an angle other than 0 degree, it is set on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 conveyed on the reflecting member 16 substantially in parallel therewith. The incident light is reflected at an angle different from the angle when reflected from the reflecting member 16.

Therefore, the light emitted from the light source 10, retroreflected by the reflecting member 16 and incident on the optical sensor 11 is sensitized at the moment when the tip 4a of the sensitizer 4 reaches the detection position 2b. By being reflected by the upper surface of 4, the light sensor 11 does not enter the light sensor 11 and is not detected by the light sensor 11. Therefore, instead of detecting the amount of light by the optical sensor 11, by monitoring whether or not the light is detected by the optical sensor 11,
It is possible to detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the has reached the detection position 2b.

When it is detected that the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b, after waiting for a predetermined time until the tip 4a reaches the position of the presser foot 6 shown in FIG.
The presser foot 6 rotates in the direction of arrow A to rotate the outer peripheral surface 2 of the rotary drum 2.
The tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 is sandwiched between a and a. As a result, the front end portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 is moved to the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2.
Fixed in place. Thereafter, the rotary drum 2 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 1, so that the photosensitive material 4 is wound around the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the rotary drum 2.

As described above, the reason why the light source 10 is arranged so that the incident angle of the light emitted from the light source 10 and incident on the reflecting member 16 is not 0 degree is that the incident angle is 0 degree. If the light source 10 is arranged as described above, the reflection direction at the time of being retroreflected by the reflection member 16 and the reflection direction at the time of being reflected on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 are likely to coincide with each other. is there. That is, when the incident angle with respect to the reflecting member 16 is substantially 0 degree and the sensitive material 4 is substantially parallel to the reflecting member 16, the reflection angle when reflected on the upper surface of the sensitive material 4 is also substantially 0 degree. In any case, the reflected light enters the optical sensor 11 and is detected by the optical sensor 11.

Now, the reflecting member 16 having the property of retroreflection.
Specifically, the following members can be considered.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a specific example of the reflecting member 16 in FIG. The reflection member 16 shown in FIG. 4 includes a large number of spherical beads 20 densely arranged in a plane, a plastic film 23 arranged above them, and a reflection film 21 arranged below the beads 20. , A spacer 22 that fills a gap between the plastic film 23, the reflective film 21, and the beads 20. Here, each of the plastic film 23, the beads 20, and the spacer 22 has translucency. Although there is an adhesive layer and a liner under the reflective film 21,
It is omitted in the figure.

In FIG. 4, as indicated by solid or broken arrows, the light incident on the reflecting member 16 is transmitted through the plastic film 23, then refracted by the incident surface of the beads 20, and transmitted through the beads 20. After that, the light is refracted by the emission surface of the beads 20 and reflected by the reflection surface 21 a of the reflection film 21. The reflected light is refracted again on the incident surface of the bead 20, passes through the inside of the bead 20, is refracted on the emitting surface of the bead 20, passes through the plastic film 23, and is emitted.

At this time, the beads 20 act as a spherical lens. Further, the light source 20 is positioned with respect to the reflecting member 16 so that the light having an angle such that it is focused by the reflection film 21 after passing through the beads 20 is incident on the beads 20 again.

Accordingly, the respective lights (solid line arrow and broken line arrow) incident on the spherical lens (that is, the beads 20) substantially parallel to each other are caused by the lens action of the spherical lens.
It converges on a focal point 21b on the reflecting surface 21a (focal plane) and is reflected at the focal point 21b. Then the focus 21
The respective lights (solid line arrow and broken line arrow) reflected at b are emitted again in substantially parallel to each other by the lens action by passing through the spherical lens again. Moreover, at this time, these emitted lights are also parallel to the incident lights. Therefore, the emitted light is emitted in the same direction as the incident light.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining another concrete example of the reflecting member 16 in FIG. The reflecting member 16 shown in FIG. 5 uses a corner cube prism as shown in FIG. That is, the corner cube prism has the shape of a tetrahedron defined by one vertex of a cube and three adjacent vertices, and is used to reflect light in that direction regardless of the incident direction. . In addition,
Incident light and reflected light enter and leave the surface of an equilateral triangle.

That is, in the reflecting member 16 shown in FIG. 5, in plan view, a plurality of corner cube prisms as described above are arranged as shown in FIG. 5 (b). Also,
When viewed in cross section, as shown in FIG. 5C, the corner cube prism 30 is formed on the ceiling film 32 with the air layer 31 interposed therebetween, and the transparent plastic film 33 is formed on the corner cube prism 30. ing. An adhesive layer and a liner are present below the sealing film 32, but they are omitted in the figure.

Since the reflecting member 16 shown in FIG. 5 causes retroreflection for light having a wider incident angle than the reflecting member 16 shown in FIG. 4, when the reflecting member 16 shown in FIG. 5 is used. In this case, the degree of freedom of the installation position of the light source 10 is greater.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the light retroreflected by the reflecting member 16 and incident on the optical sensor 11 is detected at the detection position 2 at the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4.
The fact that the light is reflected from the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 and changes its reflection direction from the moment the light reaches the point b is not incident on the optical sensor 11 is used. Whether or not the tip 4a of the sensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b by monitoring whether or not the light is detected by the optical sensor 11 instead of detecting the amount of light by the optical sensor 11. Is being detected. Therefore, as the sensitive material 4, not only when a sensitive material having a relatively high reflectance on its upper surface is used, but also when a sensitive material having a relatively low reflectance is used,
It is possible to accurately detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the has reached the detection position 2b. That is, for example, even when a sensitive material having a reflectance of 0% on the upper surface is used, all the light emitted from the light source 10 is emitted from the sensitive material 4 from the moment the tip portion 4a of the sensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b. Since the light is absorbed on the upper surface, no light is incident on the optical sensor 11, and thus the optical sensor 1
This is because light is no longer detected due to 1.

Even when the tip 4a of the conveyed photosensitive material 4 is wavy, for example, the light emitted from the light source 10 is the moment when the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b. Since the light is reflected by the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 and the reflection direction changes, the light is not incident on the optical sensor 11 and the light is not detected by the optical sensor 11. The tip 4a
Depending on how the waves are struck, the reflection direction may not change even when reflected on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4, and light may enter the optical sensor 11, but in such a case, it is extremely rare. Almost no problem.

Therefore, whether the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b accurately without being influenced by the reflectance of the upper surface of the conveyed photosensitive material 4 or the form of the photosensitive material 4. Can be detected.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the light emitted from the light source 10 is retroreflected by the reflecting member 16, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 10 and the reflecting member 1 are reflected.
The angle formed by the optical axis of the light retroreflected by 6 becomes narrower,
The optical sensor 11 that detects the retroreflected light is arranged near the light source 10. Therefore, the light source 1
In addition to adjusting the positions of 0 and the optical sensor 11, since retroreflection is used, it is almost unnecessary to adjust the incident angle of light with respect to the reflecting member 16.

In the present embodiment, the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 are arranged close to each other in the lateral direction, but since the reflecting member 16 is retroreflected, the reflecting member 1
The optical axis of the incident light with respect to 6 and the optical axis of the reflected light can be made to coincide with each other. In that case, as shown in FIG. 6, the coincident optical axis is located at the center of each of the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11. The light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 may be arranged so as to pass through.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing another arrangement example of the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 of FIG. FIG. 6 shows the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 as seen from the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 are arranged so that the optical axis 50 where the incident light and the reflected light coincide with each other passes through the center of the light source 10 and the center of the optical sensor 11.

Next, a carrying medium edge detecting device as a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In the above-described first embodiment, whether or not the leading end portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b is detected by using light, but in this embodiment, the light is detected. Instead of, the sound wave having directivity is used for detection. Note that, as the sound wave having directivity, for example, an ultrasonic wave (that is, a sound wave having a frequency above the audible range) can be considered.

Next, the configuration of this embodiment will be described.
In the transport medium edge detecting device according to the present embodiment, a sound source is used instead of the light source 10 shown in FIG. 1, a sound sensor is used instead of the optical sensor 11, and the reflecting member 16 has the property of retroreflection of sound waves. A member to be described later is used. The condenser lenses 12 and 13 are omitted.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
Ultrasonic waves are emitted from the sound source and applied to the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. Since the detection member 2b is provided with the reflection member 16 having the property of retroreflection for sound waves, the ultrasonic waves incident on the reflection member 16 are reflected in the same direction as the incident direction (that is, the retroreflection). Then, it is incident on the sound sensor and detected by the sound sensor.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the light is merely replaced with the sound wave having the directivity, and the leading end portion 4 of the photosensitive material 4 to be conveyed is used.
The operation before and after a reaches the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2 can be easily inferred from the operation in the above-described first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

Next, a specific example of the reflecting member 16 having the property of retroreflection of sound waves will be described.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a specific example of the reflecting member 16 having the property of retroreflection of sound waves. The reflecting member 16 shown in FIG. 7 is composed of a reflector 35 whose upper surface is embossed so as to have a function similar to that of arranging a plurality of corner cube prisms.

In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment described above can be obtained, and in addition, it is possible to detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b.
Since a sound wave having directivity is used instead of light, the conveyed photosensitive material 4 is not exposed to light used for detection. Further, in the case of transporting another transport medium instead of the photosensitive material 4, even if the transport medium is a transparent member that transmits light, if it is a sound wave, it can be sufficiently reflected. It is possible to accurately detect whether or not the leading end of the medium has reached the detection position.

Next, a conveying medium edge portion detecting device as a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a main part of an output scanner including a conveying medium end portion detecting device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the configuration other than the conveying medium edge portion detection device is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 12, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. On the other hand, the transport medium end portion detection device includes a light source 10, condenser lenses 12 and 13, an optical sensor 11, and a reflecting portion 40.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view schematically showing a cross section of the reflecting portion 40 of FIG. 8 along the transport direction of the photosensitive material 4. The reflecting portion 40 is the outer peripheral surface 2 of the rotary drum 2 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, a recess 41 is provided in a region including the detection position 2b of a, and a part of the inner surface of the recess 41 is used as a reflecting surface 42. Therefore, the reflecting surface 42 is inclined with respect to the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2 at a predetermined angle. Moreover, the reflecting surface 42 is arranged so as to reflect the light incident from the light source 10 in a direction substantially the same as the incident direction.

The light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 are shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the light emitted from the light source 10 and reflected by the reflection surface 42 of the reflection portion 40 is arranged in close proximity so as to enter the optical sensor 11.

Next, referring to FIG. 8, an operation of fixing the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 to a predetermined position of the rotary drum 2 by the presser 6 in order to wind the photosensitive material 4 around the rotary drum 2 will be described. It should be noted that description of portions that perform the same operations as in the above-described first embodiment will be omitted.

Light is emitted from the light source 10, condensed by the condenser lens 12, and then irradiated onto the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. As described above, since the reflecting portion 40 having the reflecting surface 42 is provided at the detection position 2b and the reflecting surface 42 is inclined as described above, it is incident on the reflecting surface 42 of the reflecting portion 40. The light is reflected in a direction substantially the same as the incident direction, is then condensed by the condenser lens 13, enters the optical sensor 11, and is detected by the optical sensor 11.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of the conveying medium end portion detecting device in FIG. Note that FIG.
For the sake of clarity, only the main parts are shown. Further, FIG. 11 shows the photosensitive material 4 in the reflecting portion 40 of FIG.
It is sectional drawing which showed roughly the cross section along the conveyance direction of.

As shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 11 (a), the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 conveyed by the rollers 5a, 5b is still at the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. When the light has not arrived, as described above, the light emitted from the light source 10 is reflected by the reflection surface 42 of the reflection section 40 and is incident on the optical sensor 11, and the optical sensor 1
1 will be detected. However, as shown in FIGS. 10 (b) and 11 (b), the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b, and then the reflection portion 40.
The light emitted from the light source 10 is incident on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4, and is reflected by the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 according to the law of reflection of light. In this case, the incident angle of the light emitted from the light source 10 and incident on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 is
Since it becomes larger than the incident angle when the light is incident on the reflection surface 42 of the reflection section 40, the reflection direction of the light reflected on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 is the The direction is different from the reflection direction.

Therefore, the light is emitted from the light source 10 and the reflecting portion 4
The light reflected by the reflective surface 42 of 0 and incident on the optical sensor 11 is reflected on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 at the moment when the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b. It will not be incident on the optical sensor 11 and will not be detected by the optical sensor 11. Therefore, the optical sensor 1
Instead of detecting the amount of light by 1, the optical sensor 1
By monitoring whether or not the light is detected by 1, it is possible to detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the light reflected by the reflecting surface 42 of the reflecting portion 40 and incident on the optical sensor 11 reaches the detection position 2b at the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4. Since the light is reflected from the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 from the moment it arrives and the reflection direction changes, the light is not incident on the optical sensor 11.
Instead of detecting the amount of light by 1, the optical sensor 1
By monitoring whether or not light is detected by 1, it is detected whether or not the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b. Therefore, as the sensitive material 4, not only when a sensitive material having a relatively high reflectance on its upper surface is used, but also when a sensitive material having a relatively low reflectance is used,
It is possible to accurately detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the has reached the detection position 2b.

Even when the leading end 4a of the conveyed sensitive material 4 is, for example, wavy, the light emitted from the light source 10 is the moment when the leading end 4a of the sensitive material 4 reaches the detection position 2b. Since the light is reflected by the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 and the reflection direction changes, the light is not incident on the optical sensor 11 and the light is not detected by the optical sensor 11. The tip 4a
Depending on how the waves are struck, the reflection direction may not change even when reflected on the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4, and light may enter the optical sensor 11, but in such a case, it is extremely rare. Almost no problem.

Therefore, whether or not the tip 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b accurately is not affected by the reflectance of the upper surface of the photosensitive material 4 being conveyed, the form of the photosensitive material 4, and the like. Can be detected.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the light incident from the light source 10 is reflected by the reflecting surface 42 of the reflecting portion 40 in a direction substantially the same as the incident direction, the reflected light is reflected. The optical sensor 11 for detecting is arranged near the light source 10. Therefore, it is almost unnecessary to adjust the positions of the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11.

Next, a conveying medium edge portion detecting device as a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11.

In the above-described third embodiment, whether or not the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b is detected by using light, but in the present embodiment, it is described above. Similar to the second embodiment, the detection is performed using a sound wave having directivity instead of light. As the sound wave having directivity, for example, an ultrasonic wave can be considered.

Now, the configuration of this embodiment will be described.
In the transport medium edge portion detection device according to the present embodiment, a sound source is used instead of the light source 10 shown in FIG. 8 and a sound sensor is used instead of the optical sensor 11. The condenser lenses 12 and 13 are omitted.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
Ultrasonic waves are emitted from the sound source and applied to the detection position 2b on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the rotary drum 2. Since the reflecting portion 40 having the reflecting surface 42 is provided at the detection position 2b and the reflecting surface 42 is inclined as described above, the ultrasonic wave incident on the reflecting surface 42 of the reflecting portion 40 is It is reflected in a direction substantially the same as the incident direction, is then incident on the sound sensor, and is detected by the sound sensor.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the light is merely replaced by the sound wave having the directivity, and the leading end portion 4 of the conveyed photosensitive material 4 is used.
The operation before and after a reaches the detection position 2b can be easily inferred from the operation in the above-described seventh embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the same effect as in the above-described seventh embodiment can be obtained, and in addition, it is possible to detect whether or not the tip portion 4a of the photosensitive material 4 has reached the detection position 2b.
Since a sound wave having directivity is used instead of light, the conveyed photosensitive material 4 is not exposed to light used for detection. Further, in the case of transporting another transport medium instead of the photosensitive material 4, even if the transport medium is a transparent member that transmits light, if it is a sound wave, it can be sufficiently reflected. It is possible to accurately detect whether or not the leading end of the medium has reached the detection position.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the conveying medium end portion detecting device of the present invention is applied to the output scanner has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.
It can also be applied to other devices than the scanner. Therefore, the conveyance medium itself to be conveyed is not limited to the photosensitive material, and can be used for originals and printing paper.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, it is detected whether or not the leading end of the conveyed photosensitive material (that is, the carrying medium) reaches a predetermined position. However, the carrying medium having the trailing end is detected. If it is, it is naturally possible to detect whether or not the rear end portion has reached a predetermined position.

[0085]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to accurately detect whether or not the transport medium has reached a predetermined position on the transport base without being affected by the reflectance of the top surface of the transport medium to be transported, the form of the transport medium, and the like. Further, it is possible to easily adjust the positions of the components such as the light source, the optical sensor, the sound source and the sound sensor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an output scanner including a conveyed medium edge portion detection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the conveyed-medium edge-portion detection device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section of the reflecting member 16 portion of FIG. 2 along the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material 4.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing a specific example of a reflecting member 16 in FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining another specific example of the reflecting member 16 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing another arrangement example of the light source 10 and the optical sensor 11 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a reflection member 1 having the property of retroreflection for sound waves.
6 is a sectional view showing a specific example of No. 6 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a main part of an output scanner including a conveyed medium end portion detection device as a third embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section of the light-sensitive material 4 in the reflecting portion 40 portion of FIG. 8 along the transport direction.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the conveyed-medium edge-portion detection device in FIG.

11 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section along the transport direction of the photosensitive material 4 in the reflecting portion 40 portion of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a main part of a general output scanner including a conventional conveying medium edge detecting device.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the conveyed medium edge portion detection device in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of another conventional conveyed-medium end-portion detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Driving motor 2 ... Rotating drum 2a ... Outer peripheral surface 2b ... Detection position 3 ... Feeding motor 4 ... Sensitive material 4a ... Tip parts 5a, 5b ... Roller 6 ... Presser 10 ... Light source 11 ... Optical sensor 12, 13 ... Condensing lens 15 ... Black part 16 ... Reflecting member 20 ... Bead 21 ... Reflecting film 21a ... Reflecting surface 22 ... Spacer 23 ... Plastic film 30 ... Corner cube prism 31 ... Air layer 32 ... Sealing film 33 ... Plastic film 35 ... Reflector 40 ... Reflector Part 42 ... Reflective surface

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G01V 8/12

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A transport medium end portion detection device for detecting whether or not an end portion of a transport medium transported on a transport base has reached a predetermined position on the transport base, A light source that emits light to the predetermined position; a reflecting member that is arranged at the predetermined position on the transport base and that reflects light emitted from the light source substantially toward the direction in which the light source is located; An optical sensor for detecting light emitted from a light source and reflected by the reflecting member, wherein the light source has an incident angle of 0 ° with respect to the incident surface of the reflecting member of the light emitted from the light source. Is arranged so that the angle is other than degrees, and the end of the transport medium is located at the predetermined position on the transport base depending on whether the optical sensor detects the light reflected by the reflecting member. Check whether it has arrived Conveying medium position detecting device is characterized in that so as to. 2. A transport medium end portion detection device for detecting whether or not an end portion of a transport medium transported on the transport base has reached a predetermined position on the transport base, A sound source that emits a directional sound wave to the predetermined position, and a reflection that is disposed at the predetermined position on the transport base and that reflects the sound wave emitted from the sound source substantially in the direction in which the sound source is located. And a sound sensor that detects a sound wave emitted from the sound source and reflected by the reflection member, wherein the sound source is an incident surface of the reflection member of the sound wave emitted from the sound source. Is arranged such that the incident angle with respect to is equal to an angle other than 0 degree, and the end of the transport medium is on the transport base depending on whether the sound sensor detects a sound wave reflected by the reflecting member. The predetermined Conveying medium position detecting device is characterized in that in order to detect whether the host vehicle has reached the location. 3. The conveying medium edge detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting member is made of a member having a retroreflective property. 4. A transport medium edge detecting device for detecting whether or not an end of a transport medium transported on the transport base has reached a predetermined position on the transport base, A light source that emits light to the predetermined position, a reflecting surface that is arranged at the predetermined position on the transport base and that reflects the light that is emitted from the light source, and a reflection surface that is emitted from the light source and reflected by the reflection surface And a reflection surface, when the incident angle of light emitted from the light source is located at a position where the carrier medium covers the reflection surface, Whether the light emitted from the light source is arranged at an angle different from the angle of incidence on the upper surface of the transport medium, and whether the optical sensor detects the light reflected by the reflecting surface Accordingly, the edge of the carrier medium Serial conveying medium position detecting device is characterized in that in order to detect whether the host vehicle has reached the predetermined position on the transport base. 5. A conveyance medium end portion detection device for detecting whether or not an end portion of a conveyance medium conveyed on the conveyance base has reached a predetermined position on the conveyance base, A sound source that emits a directional sound wave to the predetermined position, a reflection surface that is disposed at the predetermined position on the transport base and that reflects the sound wave emitted from the sound source, and the reflection surface that is emitted from the sound source. A sound sensor for detecting a sound wave reflected by a surface, and the reflection surface is located at a position where an incident angle of the sound wave emitted from the sound source is such that the carrier medium covers the reflection surface. In this case, the sound wave emitted from the sound source is arranged at an angle different from the angle of incidence on the upper surface of the carrier medium, and the sound sensor detects the sound wave reflected by the reflection surface. Depending on what you did , Transport medium position detecting device and an end portion of the transport medium is adapted to detect whether the host vehicle has reached the predetermined position on the transport base. 6. The conveying medium end portion detecting device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the reflecting surface is provided on an inner surface of a recess provided at the predetermined position on the conveying base. And a conveying medium edge detecting device.