JPH09136735A - Sheet delivery device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To deliver sheets, different in thickness and size and stacked with the tips as they are uneven, sheet by sheet without changing the order. SOLUTION: A delivery belt 19 is disposed toward a sheet conveying passage 40 from the delivery direction middle point of the front end of a hopper part (a), and sheets (p) at the hopper part (a) are delivered by the delivery belt 19 to the sheet conveying passage 40 through a sheet delivery passage 21. A gate part 24 with a gate plate 22 and a gate roller 23, for instance, opposedly disposed with the sheet delivery passage 21 placed in between is provided directly downstream of a sheet delivery port 7, and a gate clearance is so adjusted as to limit the sheets (p) to double overlap but not to enter in tripple overlap. A sheet separating belt 27 rotated at the slower speed than the delivery belt 19 so as to separate the sheets (p) delivered in double and to deliver the sheets (p) sheet by sheet is disposed downstream of the gate part 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device that separates and feeds sheets one by one from a sheet stacking unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technique for separating and feeding the stacked sheets one by one, a gate roller is arranged so as to face the feeding roller, and the gate roller is stopped or reversely rotated with respect to the feeding roller, and the distance between the both rollers is increased. The gate gap is adjusted so that the size of one sheet can be passed through. Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-87542, there is also known one in which a sheet is fed out by a belt and a gate roller is arranged so as to face a roller supporting portion of the belt.

[0003]

In the conventional sheet feeding device in which the sheets are separated and fed one by one by the gate roller method as described above, it is necessary to adjust the gate gap according to the thickness of the sheet. However, it could not be used in a state where sheets having different thicknesses were mixed. However, the thickness of the sheets to be processed may not be the same, for example, the reading and printing of foreign checks and bills, and the sorting processing of foreign bills in which bills of multiple countries are mixed. Even in such cases, sheets of different thickness are mixed. There is a demand to set it in the hopper (sheet stacking unit) in the state where it is kept to be able to separate and feed it one by one. Also, in the case of the gate roller method, in order to feed out the sheets accumulated in the hopper so that the order does not change, it is usually necessary to set the sheets with the leading ends of the sheets aligned, but it is necessary to read and print foreign checks, bills, etc. When the size of the sheets to be processed is different, such as the sorting process of foreign banknotes in which national banknotes are mixed, it is easy to operate by aligning the tips of sheets of different sizes in the hopper. bad. Therefore,
There is a demand that the order in which the sheets are fed out does not change even if the leading edges of the sheets are stacked without being aligned.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to add sheets one by one without changing the order from a state in which sheets having different thicknesses and sizes are mixed and accumulated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device that can feed a sheet and that does not require the ends to be aligned to set a sheet to be processed in the sheet stacking unit.

[0005]

The above object of the present invention is to convey a sheet by rotating it in one direction from a sheet delivery port on one side of the sheet stacking direction to a sheet delivery passage through a sheet delivery passage. The feeding belt means is arranged from one end in the stacking direction to the entrance of the sheet conveying passage, and the sheets are allowed to be fed in the overlapping state from the sheet feeding outlet, and the overlapping sheets are simultaneously fed within a predetermined number of sheets. The sheet separating means is arranged near the sheet outlet so as to limit the sheet separation, and the sheet separating belt is configured to rotate at a slower speed than the feeding belt means downstream of the sending sheet amount limiting means in the sheet feeding direction. This can be achieved by providing the means facing the feeding belt means. According to the sheet feeding device configured as described above, the sheets stacked in the sheet stacking unit are fed to the sheet feeding passage from the one end side in the stacking direction by the feeding belt means, and at that time, the sheets are fed in the overlapping state by the feeding sheet amount limiting means. The amount that can be used is limited within a predetermined number. Then, by sandwiching a predetermined number of sheets or less simultaneously fed out between the feeding belt means and the sheet separating means rotating at a slower speed than the feeding belt means, the sheet abutting on the sheet separating means is The delivery speed becomes slower, the sheet that comes into contact with the delivery belt unit is separated and delivered first to the sheet conveying path, and then the other sheet is delivered. At that time, by setting the rotation speeds of the feeding belt of the feeding belt means and the sheet separating belt of the sheet separating means to a predetermined relationship,
The sheets are delivered one by one without overlapping.

[0006] Here, it is preferable that the feeding belt means is arranged in a direction substantially orthogonal to the sheet stacking direction toward a sheet conveying path from a position substantially midway in the sheet stacking direction at one end in the stacking direction of the sheet stacking portion. This makes it possible to reliably deliver the sheets from the sheet stacking unit.

Further, an auxiliary feeding belt means is provided in parallel with the feeding belt means from a substantially intermediate position in the sheet feeding direction at one end in the sheet feeding direction of the sheet stacking portion to a predetermined position upstream of the feeding sheet amount limiting means in the feeding direction. , And by doing so, the delivery of the sheet is more reliable.

The delivery sheet amount limiting means has, for example, a reversing roller which rotates in the direction opposite to the sheet delivery direction and a gate gap corresponding to a sheet thickness of less than a predetermined number of sheets, for example, three thin sheets with respect to the reversing roller. And a gate member facing each other. In that case, the reverse rotation roller and the gate member are arranged so as to be offset from the feeding belt in the sheet feeding width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. Also,
The gate member is formed of a leaf spring material, and is arranged such that a spring force acts in the direction of expanding the gate gap, and an adjusting screw is arranged so as to abut against the gate member in a direction of suppressing the expansion of the gate gap. Is good.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a sheet feeding portion of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a top view of a sheet width shifting portion, and FIG. 4 is a side view thereof. Yes, FIG. 5 is a top view of the sheet stack portion, and FIG. 6 is a rear view of the same. Further, FIG. 7 shows the entire structure of this checking device.
In FIG. 7, a is a hopper section, b is a sheet feeding section, and c is a sheet feeding section.
Is a sheet width aligning unit, d is an optical character reading (OCR) unit,
Reference numeral e is a printing portion, and f is a sheet stack portion.

First, the hopper portion a and the feeding portion b will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hopper section (sheet stacking section) a has a pressing surface 1a for pressing the stacking sheet from the rear and a mounting surface 1b for mounting the stacking sheet on the upper surface. A spring 4 is provided between the base plate 2 and the support pin 3
, A movable pedestal 6 capable of holding the sheets p in an upright stacking state and pressing and holding the sheets p toward the front fixed wall 5 by the spring biasing force of the springs 4, and the left and right side plates 6A that regulate both end edges of the stacked sheets. , 6B and the front fixed wall 5,
A sheet delivery port 7 is provided at one side of the front end of the hopper portion a and at the front end of the right side plate 6B in a direction substantially orthogonal to the sheet stacking direction.

The sheet feeding portion b is located outside the upper portion of the front fixing wall 5 of the hopper portion a in parallel with the front fixing wall 5, and is located at a position substantially midway between the feeding direction of the front end of the hopper portion a and a sheet described later. A set of six rollers 11, 12, 13, 1 arranged in a line in a direction substantially orthogonal to the sheet stacking direction toward the transport passage.
4, 15 and 16 are arranged and wound around these rollers 11 to 16, a feed roller 17 arranged at a turning position of an entrance of a sheet conveying passage 40 described later, and a conveying timing roller 18 at an upstream portion of the sheet conveying passage 40. Feeding belt 19 in a hanging state
Is stretched.

The set of rollers 11 to 16 on which the feeding belt 19 is stretched are the roller 11 at the end portion of the hopper portion a on the substantially intermediate point side and the roller 13 located in the hopper portion a in the vicinity of the sheet outlet 7. And a roller 16 at the end portion on the sheet delivery passage 21 side, which will be described later, are timing rollers having a tooth surface on the outer surface, and the other rollers 12, 14, 15 are round rollers.

The feeding belt 19 is driven by the rotation of the above-mentioned timing roller 18 for conveyance, and within a range where it abuts against the six rollers 11 to 16, the fixed wall 5 and the slits of the outer guide plate 20 on the fixed wall 5 extend from the hopper. It is rotationally driven in the feeding direction in a state of protruding in a substantially central region in the width direction (vertical direction) in the portion a and in the sheet delivery passage 21. The feeding belt 19 comes into contact with the sheet surface of the frontmost sheet p accumulated in the hopper portion a and rotates in one direction to feed the sheet p from the sheet delivery port 7, and the sheet delivery passage 21.
The sheet is fed to the sheet conveying path 40 via the.

A gate plate (gate member) 22 is arranged on the outer side of the sheet feeding passage 7 of the hopper portion a, with the sheet feeding passage 21 interposed therebetween, and the gate plate (gate member) 22 is rotated on the inner side in a direction opposite to the feeding direction. A gate roller (reverse rotation roller) 23 is arranged, and the gate plate 22 and the gate roller 23 face each other to form a gate portion (delivery sheet amount limiting means) 24. The gate portion 24 is provided in the sheet delivery passage 21.
The number of sheets p fed to the sheet is limited to two sheets, and the gate gap is adjusted so that three sheets do not enter.

The sheet delivery passage 21 is provided with the outer guide plate 2 described above.
0 and an inner guide plate 25 arranged in parallel to face 0
And a bottom member 26 that regulates the bottom surface of the sheet delivery passage 21 to the mounting surface 1b of the movable pedestal 6 of the hopper portion a so as to be flush with or slightly lower than the mounting surface 1b. It is formed over the passage area up to the entrance of the sheet conveying passage 40 (the position near the tension roller 37 described later).

In the sheet delivery passage 21, the delivery belt 19 is provided at a position downstream of the gate portion 24 in the delivery direction.
A sheet separation belt 27 is provided for separating the two sheets p fed by stacking them by rotating at a slower speed and feeding them one by one. The sheet separating belt 27 is wound around a pair of timing rollers 28 and 29 arranged inside the inner guide plate 25 in parallel with the inner guide plate 25.
It is stretched at a height facing the feeding belt 19, and is driven to rotate in the feeding direction while protruding from the slit of the inner guide plate 25 to a substantially central region in the width direction (vertical direction) in the feeding passage 21 and contacting the feeding belt 19. To be done. In addition, the pair of timing rollers 28 and 29 are located at an intermediate position between the third roller 14 for the feeding belt 19 and the second roller 15 counted from the end portion on the inlet side of the sheet conveying passage 40, and the second roller. It is arranged at an intermediate position between the roller 15 and the roller 16 at the end. When the timing roller 28 on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction is driven and rotated, the sheet separating belt 27 sandwiches the sheet p fed by stacking two sheets between the feeding belt 19 and the feeding belt 19 as described above. 1
The sheet p, which rotates at a speed slower than 9, contacts the sheet separation belt 27 and delays the sheet p, which separates the sheet p that contacts the delivery belt 19 due to the speed difference, and delivers the sheet p to the sheet conveyance path 40 first. Then, after one of the sheets p is first fed out in this manner, the remaining sheet p comes into contact with the feeding belt 19 and is continuously fed out. that time,
By setting the rotation speeds of both belts 19 and 27 in a predetermined relationship, it is possible to feed out the sheets p one by one without overlapping.

At the sheet feeding portion b, the feeding belt 1 is also provided.
An auxiliary feeding belt 30 is provided in parallel with 9. The auxiliary feeding belt 30 assists the feeding belt 19 in feeding the sheet p, and therefore, the front end of the hopper portion a is located at a position parallel to the front fixing wall 5 outside the lower portion of the front fixing wall 5 of the hopper portion a. Is provided in the position immediately before the sheet delivery port 7 from the substantially midpoint position of the feeding direction of the sheet feeding device, and is coaxial with the three rollers 11, 12, 13 for the feeding belt 19 located at the front end of the hopper portion a. Auxiliary feeding belt 30
It is stretched around three rollers 31, 32, 33 provided for use in a wound state. These auxiliary feeding belts 30
The three rollers 31 to 33 stretched are the rollers 3 at both ends.
1, 33 are timing rollers, and the middle roller 32 is a round roller. Then, the auxiliary feeding belt 30 also projects from the slit of the front fixed wall 5 into the hopper portion a, contacts the paper surface of the sheet p, and is rotationally driven in the feeding direction.

In FIG. 2, 34 is a guide rail,
Reference numeral 35 is a roller. The guide rail 34 is fixed on the base plate 2, and the rollers 35 are supported by the left and right roller shafts 36 that hang from the lower surface of the movable pedestal 6 of the hopper portion a with the guide rail 34 interposed therebetween. The movable pedestal 6 is moved by the spring biasing force of the spring 4, and at that time, the left and right rollers 35
Roll along the guide rail 34.

Further, in FIGS. 1 and 2, 37 is a tension roller, and 38 is a conveying pressing roller.
The detailed structure of the feeding belt 19 and the sheet separating belt 27 in the sheet feeding portion a, the detailed structure of the timing pulley, and the detailed structure of the gate portion 24 will be described later.

Next, the sheet width shifting portion c will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sheet width aligning portion c projects into the sheet conveying passage 40 from both sides in the sheet thickness direction, that is, in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, and can sandwich and convey the sheet p. As described above, a pair of ring belts (timing belts) 42 are arranged, and the pair of ring belts 42 are supported so as to be freely deformable in the sheet thickness direction and the sheet conveyance direction while being inclined toward the bottom surface 41 of the sheet conveyance path 40. Is provided, and the sheet p is moved obliquely downward toward the bottom surface 41 of the sheet conveyance path 40, which is the reference surface, by the appropriate forcing force due to the elastic force and the flexibility of the ring belt 42. By carrying out while carrying out, the width adjustment (side edge alignment) is performed.

The sheet conveying passage 40 is formed by extending the sheet delivering passage 21 of the sheet feeding portion b backward by 90 degrees and is also composed of an outer guide 20, an inner guide 25 and a bottom member 26. ing. As a means for supporting the ring belts 42, a timing pulley (drive belt) is provided inside each ring belt 42 in a posture in which the ring belt 42 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the bottom surface (reference surface) 41 of the sheet conveyance path 40 and is inclined forward in the conveyance direction. (For rotating body) 43 is arranged to press the ring belt 42 toward the timing pulleys 43, and to make a portion of the ring belt 42 other than the pressed portion project into the sheet conveying passage 40 in a freely deformable state. As described above, a pair of bearing rollers (rotating members for nipping) 44 are arranged at positions before and after the timing pulleys 43 in the conveying direction in the same tilted posture as the timing pulleys 43. The ring belt 42 has a toothed surface on the inner surface, and the toothed surface meshes with the toothed surface of the timing pulley 43 and is rotated by driving and rotating the timing pulley 43.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 45 denotes a bracket which holds the support shafts of the timing pulley 43 and the bearing roller 44. Further, 46 is a conveying timing roller, and 47 is a conveying pressing roller. The carrying timing roller 46 and the carrying pressing roller 47 are
In the direction of the sheet conveying path 40 between the conveying timing roller 18 on the upstream side and the conveying means composed of the conveying pressing roller 38, which constitutes the conveying means on the downstream side of the region where the pair of ring belts 42 project. The length (the length in the sheet conveying direction) is set to be larger than the length (longitudinal direction dimension) of the maximum length sheet in the conveying direction so that the ring belt 42 can smoothly displace the sheet p in a state where both ends are free and can move the width. Set. Further, the length between the contact portion between the ring belts 42 and 42 and the contact portion between the transport timing roller 18 and the transport pressing roller 38, and also the ring belts 42 and 42.
The length between the contact portion of the sheet and the contact portion of the transport timing roller 46 and the transport pressing roller 47 is set to be smaller than the transport direction length (longitudinal dimension) of the minimum length sheet.

The detailed structure of the ring belt 42 and its supporting mechanism and the operation of the width shifting portion c will be described later.

Next, the sheet stack section (sheet stacking apparatus) f will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sheet stack portion f has a stacker having a pedestal 54 which is movable in the front-rear direction via a guide rail 53 by a roller 52 fixed to a drive shaft 51 of a motor 50. A (sheet accumulating and storing unit) 55 is provided. The front edge of the pedestal 54 is a sheet p.
A movable receiving plate 57 for accumulating and holding the sheets p is configured between the sheet and the fixed wall 56 provided at the position where the sheet is fed. In addition, from the front edge of the pedestal 54 to the rear side (lower side on the plane of FIG. 5)
The horizontal plane extending to the upper side constitutes an accumulated sheet placing plate 57A on which the lower edge of the accumulated sheet is placed in a standing posture. The sheet p is fed from the sheet feeding port 58 on the rear side of the sheet stack portion f.

The sheet feeding port 58 is located at the downstream end of the sheet feeding passage 40, and the sheet feeding passage 40 which has been routed in the front-rear direction has a circular arc shape at the position of the sheet feeding port 58.
Change direction to 0 degree inward and put urethane blades 5 at the turning position.
An impeller 60 for feeding is provided. The impeller 60 presses the sheet against the outer guide plate 20 and feeds the sheet from the sheet feeding port 58 when the moving urethane blade 59 comes into contact with the outer guide plate 20 of the sheet conveying path 40.

The fixed wall 56 extends linearly in the width direction of the sheet stack portion f from the end position on the side of the sheet stack portion f on the side opposite to the sheet feeding port 58 to a position slightly beyond the widthwise center of the pedestal 54. ing. Further, the sheet feeding port 58 is located rearward (downward in FIG. 5) from the fixed wall 56, and the inner guide plate 25 of the sheet conveying passage 40 is extended from the sheet feeding port 58. A guide plate 61 is provided in parallel with the fixed wall 56 and extends to a position slightly in front of the widthwise one-third of the pedestal 54. A guide wall 62 extends from the inner end of the guide plate 61 to the inner end of the fixed wall 56 so as to guide the fed sheet p obliquely forward. The guide plate 61, the guide wall 62 and the fixed wall 56 are structurally integrated.

A stopper 64 is provided on the wall portion 63 at the end of the sheet stack portion f where one end of the fixed wall 56 is located so that the leading edge of the sheet abuts when the sheet p is pulled along the fixed wall 56. ing. When the sheet p fed by the impeller 60 is pulled along the fixed wall 56 by the pull-in means described later, the leading edge of the sheet p contacts the stopper-64, and then the succeeding sheet p is pulled in and the movable receiving plate 57 is drawn. When is moved backward, it disengages from the stopper 64, the bending of the tip extends, and the particles are accumulated in a form leaving a minute gap with the front wall 63. The movable receiving plate 57 presses the pulled-in sheet p against a ring belt 65, which will be described later, protruding from the fixed wall 56 to maintain the stacking state, and also pulls in the sheet p in conjunction with a pull-in amount detection switch, which will be described later. It moves in the direction away from the fixed wall 56 according to the amount. The stacker 55 includes a movable receiving plate 57 formed on the receiving table 54.
And stacking sheet placement plate 57A, guide plate 61, guide wall 6
2, fixed wall 56, wall portion 63, stopper 64, wall portion 63
Of the wall portion 63A (which is integrally formed with the outer guide plate 20) facing each other.

The retracting means is from the fixed wall 56 to the stacker 55.
The ring belt 65 projects inward and is driven in the retracting direction, and is provided in two stages in the front and rear in the seat retracting direction. Among them, the front ring belts 65 are arranged in parallel vertically (in the seat width direction). Further, one ring belt 65 at the rear stage is arranged at a position aligned with the ring belt 65 at the lower side of the front stage. Those ring belts 65
Is supported from outside the stacker 55 so as to be freely deformable. The supporting means pushes the ring belt 65 toward the timing pulley 66 and a portion other than the pressed portion of the ring belt 65 and a timing pulley (rotating body for driving) 66 arranged inside the ring belt 65. A pair of bearing rollers (rotating bodies for nipping) arranged at positions before and after the timing pulley 65 so as to project into the stacker 55 in a freely deformable state.
And 67. Further, in the pair of bearing rollers 67, the bearing roller 67 on the upstream side in the retracting direction is far from the fixed wall 56 so that the ring belt 65 is freely deformed with respect to the retracted sheet p and easily escapes to the upstream side in the retracting direction. The bearing roller 67 on the downstream side is arranged in a near-inclined manner.

The guide wall 62 guides the sheet p fed from the sheet feeding port 58 in a direction intersecting the sheet surface of the sheet p which is fed earlier and is held in the stacker 55, and is fed earlier. In order not to collide with the rear end of the sheet p, the fixed wall 5 is moved from the position in front of the rear edge in the drawing direction.
6 and therefore, from the kicking position of the impeller 60 of the sheet feeding port 58 (downstream end of the feeding means) to the retracted position of the upstream ring belt 65 (upstream of the retracting means). The distance to the edge (L ₁ in FIG. 16 described later) is set to a dimension smaller than the length of the minimum length sheet. In addition, the seat p is always in a stable posture and the stopper 6
4, the distance from the retracted position of the upstream ring belt 65, which is the upstream end of the retracting means, to the stopper 64 (L ₂ in FIG. 16 described later) is the minimum length of the sheet. It is set to a smaller size.

A pair of timing pulleys 66 for driving the front and rear ring belts 65 are connected to the impeller 60 via a belt 68, and are rotationally driven together with the impeller 60. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 69 is a drive side pulley on which the belt 68 is stretched, and 70 is each driven side pulley.

Reference numeral 71 in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 is a pull-in amount detection switch. Further, 72 is a switch lever, and 73 is its swing fulcrum. Switch lever 72
Projects from the slit 74 of the fixed wall 56 into the stacker 55.

The pull-in amount detection switch 71 is provided in the vicinity of the front side ring belt 65, contacts the surface of the pulled-in sheet p, and switches the switch lever 72 according to the pull-in amount of the sheet p.
Turns on when is swung by a predetermined amount. Then, when the pull-in amount detection switch 71 is turned on, the motor 50 is activated and the pedestal 54 is moved forward (upper side in the plane of FIG. 5) by a certain amount. Further, in FIG. 5, reference numeral 75 denotes a stop position detection switch that detects the maximum movement position of the receiving table 54, detects the full state of the stacking amount of the sheets stored in the stacker 55, and issues a stop signal. When the stop position detection switch 75 detects that the pedestal 54 has moved to the maximum movement position corresponding to the full state of the sheet accumulation amount, the check device stops all operations.

In FIG. 7, reference numerals 76, 77 and 78 denote conveying roller means. Sheets p having different sizes and thicknesses are mixed, and the sheets are put into a hopper portion a on the front side of the checking device (the lower side on the paper in FIG. 7 is the front side, the upper side is the rear side) in a bundle without the leading edge being aligned. Then, the sheet is fed to the sheet conveying passage 40 provided toward the back of the checking device through the sheet feeding part b along the front surface of the checking device. Then, the sheet p delivered to the sheet conveying path 40 is width-adjusted by the sheet width-adjusting portion c and read by the OCR portion d, and a check or the like is printed with a predetermined item by the print portion e, and the conveying roller means 76, 77, The direction of the sheet is changed toward the front side of the checking device by 78, and the sheet is sent to the sheet stack portion f to be stacked and stored.

FIG. 8 is a drive system diagram (a) of the sheet feeding portion b and the sheet width shifting portion c and a side view of the sheet width shifting portion drive system. Sheet feeding portion b and sheet width shifting portion c
One motor 80 is provided for driving the. The drive shaft 81 of the motor 80 and the shaft of the transport timing roller 18 at the entrance of the sheet transport passage 40 form the belt 82.
Further, a reduction pulley 84 is transmission-coupled to the shaft of the transport timing roller 18 via a belt 83, and the shaft of the gate roller 23 is transmission-coupled to the reduction pulley 84 via a belt 85. A drive system is configured by gears so that the rotation is reversely accelerated and transmitted from the shaft of the gate roller 23 to the shaft of the timing roller 28 that drives the separation belt 27. The shaft of the above-mentioned timing roller 18 for conveyance is transmission-coupled to the shaft 43s of the timing pulley 43 of the width-shifting portion c via a round belt 86. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 87 denotes a guide roller that is provided between the shaft of the conveying timing roller 18 and the inclined shaft 43s of the timing pulley 43 to guide the round belt 86 in a bending manner. Although only one is shown in FIG. 8,
The other timing pulley 43 of the sheet width shifting portion c is also drivingly connected to the conveying timing roller 18 by a similar mechanism. In addition, the timing roller 1 for conveyance
A conveying timing roller 46 on the downstream side of the sheet width shifting portion c is transmission-coupled to the sheet 8 by a belt 88.

Feeding belt 19 and auxiliary feeding belt 30
Peripheral speed of (v ₁₎ is the same as the peripheral speed of the transfer timing roller 18 constituting the upstream-side transport means in the sheet width shifting portion c (v _1). Further, the peripheral speed of the timing pulley 43 for driving the ring belt 42 is also the timing roller 18
And the moving speed of the ring belt 42 is also the same as the peripheral speed of the timing roller 18. The sheet separating belt 27 has a surface facing the feeding belt 19 running in the feeding direction, and its peripheral speed (v ₂ ) is equal to that of the feeding belt 1.
It is smaller than the peripheral speed (v ₁ ) of 9 and their peripheral speed ratio is, for example, v ₁ : v ₂ = 9: 1. The gate roller 23 rotates in the direction opposite to the feeding direction, and its peripheral speed (v ₃ ) is the separation belt 2
It is smaller than the peripheral speed (v ₂ ) of 7. Also, the sheet width shifting portion c
The peripheral speed (v ₄ ) of the downstream side conveying means (conveyance timing roller 46) is higher than the peripheral speed (v ₁ ) of the upstream side conveying means (conveyance timing roller 18). Further, the peripheral speed (v ₅ ) of the conveying roller means 76, 77, 78 in the middle of the sheet conveying path 40 is higher than the peripheral speed (v ₄ ) of the downstream side conveying means of the sheet width shifting portion c, and the impeller 60 has The peripheral speed (v ₆ ) (the peripheral speed of the contact portion of the urethane blade 59 of the impeller 60 with the outer guide plate 20) is further increased. Also, the ring belt 6
The peripheral speed of the five-drive timing pulley 66 is also the same as the peripheral speed (v ₆ ) of the impeller 60, and the moving speed of the ring belt 65 is also the same as this peripheral speed (v ₆ ). An example of the peripheral speed ratio of each of these parts is shown below. _{v 1: v 2: v 3} : v 4: v 5: v 6 = 9: 1: 0.5: 12
~ 13:18:20

The detailed structure of the gate portion 24 is as shown in FIG. 9. The gate plate 22 is formed of a leaf spring material, and the base end portion thereof is attached to the outer surface portion of the fixed wall 5 on the front surface of the hopper portion a. , The tip portion projects from the slit 90 at the end portion of the fixed wall 5 into the sheet delivery port 7 and extends along the inner side of the outer guide plate 20 on the side of the sheet feeding portion b to form the gate gap (G).
Is set so that the spring force acts in the direction of expanding. An adjusting screw 92 is provided so as to come into contact with the tip end portion of the gate plate 22 through the screw hole 91 of the outer guide plate 20 in a direction in which the expansion of the gate gap (G) is suppressed.
Further, a spring 93 for preventing loosening is mounted between the adjusting screw 92 and the outer guide plate 20. The gate gap (G) is adjusted to about 0.18 mm when, for example, a sheet having a thickness of 0.07 mm to 0.15 mm is mixed and fed out. As a result, the gate gap (G) is a gap that allows the maximum thickness sheet to pass one sheet and allows the minimum thickness sheet to pass two sheets.

Therefore, in the gate section 24, the sheets p are overlapped and the amount of sheets to be simultaneously fed is limited to two sheets. Then, the sheets p sent out by stacking two sheets are sent by being sandwiched between the delivery belt 19 and the separation belt 27 as shown in FIG. 10, and separated by the speed difference between the delivery belt 19 and the sheet separation belt 27 during the feeding. Then, as described above, the sheets are delivered one by one. Sheet p is 2 like this
Since it is sandwiched between the book belts 19 and 27, the sheet p
The change in the thickness of the is absorbed and reliable feeding is possible. Further, even if the leading edge of the sheet p in the hopper portion a is not uniform, it is possible to feed the sheets one by one by setting the speed difference between the feeding belt 19 and the sheet separating belt 27 appropriately.

The roller 16 at the end of the sheet feeding passage 21 which is one of the timing rollers of the sheet feeding portion b is shown in FIG.
1, the roller shaft 16a and the upper and lower collar portions 16b
And a knurled portion 16c that meshes with the belt 19. The other timing rollers of the feeding section b have the same structure.

FIG. 12 is a side view (a) and a top view (b) showing the detailed structure of the ring belt 42 of the sheet width shifting portion c and its supporting mechanism. The timing pulley 43 is composed of upper and lower collar portions 43 a and a knurled portion 43 b that meshes with the ring belt 42. Bearing roller 44
Is a round roller. In FIG. 12B, one (upper side) of the flange portion 43a of the timing pulley 43 is omitted.

FIG. 13 is a side view (a) and a top view (b) showing another example of the ring belt 42 of the sheet width shifting portion c and its supporting mechanism. In this example, the timing pulley 43 does not have a flange portion, and the bearing roller 44 is formed with upper and lower flange portions 44a that regulate the up and down of the ring belt 42 and a round roller portion 44b between them. The support mechanism of the ring belt 42 may have the structure shown in FIG. FIG. 14 shows still another example of the support mechanism. In this example, two timing pulleys 43 are arranged side by side, and a timing belt 94 having tooth surfaces on the inner surface and the outer surface is stretched, and the tooth surface on the outer surface of the timing belt 94 is attached to the tooth surface on the inner surface of the ring belt 42. Are biting together. The structure of the bearing roller 44 is the same as that of FIG. The detailed structure of the ring belt 65 of the sheet stack portion f and its supporting structure is exactly the same as that of FIG. 12, and corresponds to those in which 42 in FIG. 12 is replaced with 65 and 44 is replaced with 67. The same applies to FIGS. 13 and 14 of other examples.

Next, the operation of each section will be described.

FIGS. 15A and 15B show the operation of the sheet width shifting portion c. When the lower edge of the sheet p fed out to the sheet conveying path 40 is in contact with the bottom surface 41 from the beginning in parallel, the sheet p is fed by the feeding belt 19 hung on the timing roller 18 of the upstream side conveying means, and in that posture. Ring belt 4 for skew conveying means
It is gripped in 3, 43 and sent to the downstream side as shown in FIG.
Move from the position p _{1 to} the position p ₂ . Then, it is conveyed backward by the timing roller 46 of the downstream side conveying means. At this time, the ring belt 43 slightly deforms in the sheet feeding direction, and is driven while following the sheet p feeding direction.

In FIG. 15 (a), a long sheet p having a large length and width in the conveying direction is fed out from the bottom surface 41 in a state of being floated upward (position p ₃ ). Is indicated by p ₃ to p ₅ . In this case, the bottom surface 4
The front end of the sheet p in a state of being floated from 1 is the ring belt 4
When the sheets are gripped by 3, 43 and directed in the inclination direction following the ring belts 43, 43, and then contact the bottom surface 41, the ring belts 43, 43 deform the posture to some extent and move the trailing edge of the sheet p along the bottom surface 41. (P ₄ position).
During this operation, the strength of the waist of the sheet contacting the bottom surface 41 exceeds the holding force of the ring belt 43 in the conveying direction, and therefore the ring belt 43 slightly deforms to follow the sheet conveying direction. Then, when the lower edge of the sheet p becomes parallel to the bottom surface 41, the sheet p is nipped and conveyed by the ring belts 43 and 43 in that posture (position of p ₅ ) and sent to the timing roller 46. The conveyance operation is the same even if the length of the sheet p is large, and the sheet p is fed out by the feeding belt 19 that is wound around the conveyance timing roller 18 on the upstream side.
Since the both ends are free as shown by p ₅ between the downstream side timing roller 46 and the downstream side timing roller 46, the sheet is smoothly conveyed.

Further, as shown by p ₆ in FIG. 15B, when the sheet p having a small dimension in both the length and width in the transport direction is fed away from the bottom surface 41 of the sheet transport path 40, Similar to p ₃ to p ₅ in FIG. 15A described above, the sheet p is first inclined forward as indicated by p ₇ by receiving the conveying force obliquely downward by the ring belts 43, 43 of the skew conveying means. Further, when the conveying force is further applied obliquely downward, the lower edge of the front end portion abuts on the bottom surface 41 as shown by p ₈ , and further advances to a state in which the width is completely aligned as shown by p ₉ . When the front end of the sheet p is nipped by the ring belts 43, 43, the rear end of the sheet p is fed by the feeding belt 19 and the pressing roller 38.
The sheet p in the skewed state is pinched by the ring belts 43, 43 from that stage to the width to the bottom surface 41.

FIG. 16 shows the operation of the sheet stack section f. In the sheet stack portion f, the sheet p fed by the impeller 60 is guided obliquely forward along the guide wall 62 as indicated by p _A and p _B. Then, at the position indicated by p _C , the leading end of the sheet p is the ring belt 6 on the front side of the retracting means.
When the sheet P is pulled in by 5 and the rear end is disengaged, the sheet p takes a posture along the movable receiving plate 57 as indicated by p _D. At this time, the sheet p is, for example, at the position of SA at the front end and at the position of SB at the rear end. Then, the sheet p is pulled in by the ring belt 65 on the front stage side and further pulled by the ring belt 65 on the rear stage side, so that the leading end abuts on the stopper 64 and bends slightly outward as shown by p _D '. Stop at. In this state, the leading end position of the sheet p is SA ′ and the trailing end position thereof is SB ′, for example.

When the sheet p is pulled in in this way and the sheet thickness reaches a predetermined amount, the switch lever 72 is pushed, the pull-in amount switch 71 is turned on, and the pedestal 54 is moved forward by a certain amount to move the movable receiving plate. As the sheet 47 advances, the leading edge of the sheet p comes off the stopper 64, and p _D ″
As shown in (3), it moves to the stacking position which directly faces the wall portion 63 on the side of the stack portion f. At this time, the leading end of the sheet is distorted, and a minute gap is formed between the sheet and the wall 63 on the side of the stack portion f. Even in the case of the minimum length sheet, when the leading end abuts on the stopper 64, the trailing end is positioned to the left of the trailing end of the guiding wall 62 (for example, the sheet p.
The position of the trailing edge SB ′), the leading edge of the sheet fed along the guide wall 62 comes into contact with the sheet surface of the already fed sheet, and the leading edge of the sheet to be fed has already been fed. There is no possibility that the sheet will hit the trailing edge of the stacked sheet and cannot be stacked.

Next, another example of the feeding belt means is shown in FIG.
A description will be given based on (a) and (b).

In this example, the auxiliary feeding belt means is not provided, and the feeding belt is divided into the first feeding belt 19a and the second feeding belt 19b, which are connected in the sheet feeding direction. The end of the first feeding belt 19a is wound around the roller 13 near the sheet outlet 7, and the start end of the second feeding belt 19b is wound around the coaxial roller 14 above the roller 13. First and second feeding belts 19a, 1
9b is a part of these coaxial rollers 13 and 14 that are partially overlapped in the sheet feeding direction, and the peripheral speeds of both belts 13 and 14 are the same. The starting end of the first feeding belt 19a is at the same position as the starting end of the feeding belt 19 of the previous example, and the end of the second feeding belt 19b is at the same position as the end of the feeding belt 19 of the previous example.

In this example, the outer surface of the second feeding belt 19b faces the gate roller (reverse rotation roller) 23,
A tension roller 94 is provided on the inner surface side of the second feeding belt so as to face the gate roller 23. Then, a gate gap (G) is formed between the outer surface of the gate roller 23 and the outer surface of the second feeding belt 19b. The adjustment of the gate gap (G) is performed by moving the gate roller 23 forward or backward with respect to the second feeding belt 19b or by moving the tension roller 94 forward or backward with respect to the gate roller 23.
The size of the gate gap (G) is the same as in the previous example.

Further, in this example, the sheet separating belt 27 is provided downstream of the position of the gate roller 23 (provided that the gate roller 23 and the belt starting end side pulley 28 are in a positional relationship where they do not intersect with each other when viewed from above). The feeding belt means may have one feeding belt (first example) or plural feeding belts (second example).

The sending sheet amount limiting means may be composed of a reverse roller and a gate member, or may be composed of a reverse roller and an outer surface of the feeding belt.

Further, the above example is an example of feeding the sheet in the upright state, but the feeding belt comes to the lower surface of the accumulation sheet and the sheet pressing surface comes to the upper surface, or the feeding belt comes to the upper surface of the accumulation sheet. In some cases, the sheet pressing surface comes to the sheet lower surface, and the present invention is not limited to the above example.

Further, although the above example is an example of a foreign check, a bill, or a bill as a sheet, the sheet is not limited to this.

[0058]

According to the present invention, it is possible to feed out the sheets one by one without changing the order from the state where the sheets having different thicknesses and sizes are mixed and accumulated, and the sheets to be processed are accumulated. A sheet feeding device having high operability can be obtained without the need for aligning the leading ends of the sheet to set the sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a sheet width shifting portion.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a sheet width shifting portion.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the sheet stack portion.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the sheet stack unit.

FIG. 7 is an overall top view of the check device.

FIG. 8 is a drive system diagram of the sheet feeding unit and the sheet width shifting unit (a) and a side view of the sheet width shifting unit drive system (b).

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view showing a detailed structure of a gate portion in the sheet feeding portion.

FIG. 10 is a top view of portions of a feeding belt and a separation belt in a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the timing pulley portion of the sheet feeding portion.

FIG. 12 is a side view (a) and a top view (b) showing a detailed structure of a ring belt and its support mechanism in a seat width shifting portion.

FIG. 13 is a side view (a) and a top view (b) showing another example of the ring belt and its support mechanism in the sheet width shifting portion.

FIG. 14 is a top view showing still another example of the ring belt and its support mechanism in the sheet width shifting portion.

FIG. 15 is an operation diagram (a) and (b) of the sheet width aligning unit.

FIG. 16 is an operation diagram of a sheet stack unit.

FIG. 17 is a top view (a) and a front view (b) showing an outline of another example of the feeding belt means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Front fixed wall 6 Movable cradle 7 Sheet delivery port 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Roller 18 Conveying timing roller 19 Feeding belt 19a First feeding belt 19b Second feeding belt 20 Outer guide plate 21 Sheet feeding passage 22 Gate Plate 23 Gate Roller 24 Gate Part (Sending Sheet Amount Limiting Means) 25 Inner Guide Plate 27 Sheet Separation Belt 30 Auxiliary Feeding Belt 40 Sheet Conveying Path 92 Adjusting Screw 94 Tension Roller a Hopper Part (Sheet Stacking Part) b Sheet Feeding Part p sheet

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device that separates and feeds sheets one by one from a sheet stacking unit, and is stretched in the sheet sending direction from one end of the sheet stacking direction in the stacking direction to an inlet of a sheet conveying passage. The feeding belt comprises a plurality of feeding belts or a plurality of feeding belts stretched in a connecting state in the sheet feeding direction, and the one feeding belt or the plurality of feeding belts rotates in one direction to stack the sheets. A feeding belt unit that feeds from a sheet delivery port on one side in the direction to a sheet delivery passage through a sheet delivery passage, and is provided near the sheet delivery port of the sheet stacking unit and allows the sheets to be delivered in an overlapping state. And a delivery sheet amount limiting means for limiting the number of sheets that are simultaneously delivered to overlap with each other within a predetermined number, and the delivery sheet amount limiting means A sheet which is provided on the downstream side of the sheet feeding direction in the direction opposite to the feeding belt means, and which sandwiches the sheet fed to the sheet feeding passage between the feeding belt means and rotates at a lower speed than the feeding belt means. A sheet separating means including a sheet separating belt that separates one of the sheets in the overlapping state from the other and feeds the sheets that come into contact with the feeding belt means one by one into the sheet conveying path. Sheet feeding device. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding belt means is directed from the substantially midpoint position of the sheet feeding direction at one end of the sheet stacking portion in the stacking direction toward the sheet conveying path and is substantially orthogonal to the sheet stacking direction. A sheet feeding device, which is arranged in a direction. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein the sheet feeding unit extends from a substantially intermediate position in the sheet feeding direction at one end of the sheet stacking portion in the stacking direction to a predetermined position upstream of the sheet feeding amount limiting device in the sheet feeding direction. A sheet feeding device, wherein auxiliary feeding belt means is arranged in parallel with the belt means. 4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a reverse rotation roller for rotating the delivery sheet amount limiting means in a direction opposite to a sheet delivery direction, and a gate gap corresponding to the reverse rotation roller and a sheet thickness of less than a predetermined number of sheets. And a gate member opposed to each other at a predetermined distance, and the reverse rotation roller and the gate member are arranged so as to be displaced with respect to the feeding belt means in a sheet feeding width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. apparatus. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the gate member is formed of a leaf spring material, and the gate member is arranged in a state in which a spring force acts in a direction of expanding the gate gap, and A sheet feeding device, wherein an adjusting screw is arranged so as to come into contact with a gate member in a direction in which expansion of the gate gap is suppressed.