JPH0948537A - Sheet material feeder, and image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize the sheet material transfer performance of a sheet material feeder, and cut down the cost. SOLUTION: A sheet material is led to the first carry means 10 by the first carry path 9a, and this sheet material feeder is provided with the second carriage path 9b which has a rotator for rotating the sheet material carried by the first carry means 10 and leading it to the second carry path 11, and the carry speed of the second carriage means 11 is set higher than the first carriage speed. Moreover, the first carriage path 9a and the second carriage path 9b are constituted of the outside peripheries and the inside peripheries, and the interval between the outside periphery and the inside periphery of the second carriage path 9b is set larger than the interval between the outside periphery and the inside periphery of the first carry path 9a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device applied to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile or a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet material feeding device has been used in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile or a copying machine.
As shown in FIG. 5, the structure of the sheet material feeding device is such that after the sheet material S is transported in the sheet material transport path 52a, the sheet material transport path 52 having a turning portion by the transport roller pair 51.
It is transported into b.

While the leading edge of the sheet material S is in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the sheet material conveying path 52b, the sheet material S is conveyed to the conveying portion of the conveying roller pair 51 and the sheet feeding roller pair 53 having the same conveying speed.

Here, in order to prevent the leading edge of the sheet material S from coming into contact with the leading edge of the sheet material conveying path 52a and being bent, and paper jamming in the sheet material conveying path 52a does not occur, the interval of the sheet material conveying path 52a is set. It is set to be narrow (about twice the thickness of the sheet material S = about 2 mm). Further, the sheet material conveying path 52b is set so that the inner peripheral portion and the outer peripheral portion thereof are equidistantly spaced from each other and are also equal in distance to the sheet material conveying passage 52a.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional example, the inner peripheral portion and the outer peripheral portion of the sheet material conveying path are equidistant and the distance is small, so that the leading end of the sheet material is
While the sheet material is conveyed from the conveying roller pair to the conveying portion of the sheet feeding roller pair, the sheet material is hardly loosened and is conveyed while rubbing against the inner peripheral portion of the sheet material conveying path turning portion. Therefore, the paper feed roller pair has a load due to the conveyance roller pair,
The frictional load due to the sheet material is also received at the same time, and the conveyance performance of the sheet material becomes unstable.

Further, in order to reduce the load applied to the pair of paper feed rollers, the speed of conveyance of the sheet material by the pair of conveyance rollers is
If you set it faster than the feed speed of the paper feed roller pair, the amount of sheet material conveyed by the feed roller pair will be larger than the amount of paper conveyed by the paper feed roller pair, and as a result, the sheet material will not jam in the sheet material conveyance path. It could happen.

Further, as described above, since the conveying performance of the sheet material becomes unstable, the sheet feed roller pair cannot serve as a means for determining the conveying speed of the sheet material, and by providing another conveying speed determining means. , Was a factor of cost increase.

Further, when the above-described sheet material feeding device is used as the image reading device and the image reading portion is present in the vicinity of the downstream side of the paper feed roller pair, the sheet material conveyance performance by the paper feed roller pair is unstable. Therefore, the read image may expand or contract.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. An object of the present invention is to convey a sheet material in a sheet material conveying path having a turning portion. While the sheet material is loosened, the load of the first sheet feeding means on the second sheet feeding means and the frictional load of the sheet material are reduced, and the second sheet feeding means removes the loosening of the sheet material. By carrying the sheet material,
It is to reduce the risk of the sheet material jamming in the sheet material conveying path. Further, the second conveying means determines the conveying speed of the sheet material, so that the new sheet material conveying speed determining means becomes unnecessary and the cost is reduced. Further, by defining the amount of slack with respect to the maximum length of the sheet material, the distance between the inner peripheral portion and the outer peripheral portion of the sheet material conveying path is determined according to the relationship between the amount of slack and the conveying speed of the first and second conveying means. Is set so that the sheet material can always be loosened in the sheet material conveying path.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the frictional load between the sheet material and the inner peripheral surface of the sheet material conveying path turning portion.

An object of the present invention is to generate slack in a sheet material conveying path having a turning portion even if the shortest sheet material among the conveyed sheet materials.

An object of the invention as set forth in claim 4 is to close a first unit including a driving member of a first conveying means and a second unit including a driving member of a second conveying means through a support shaft, When constructing the outer periphery of the turning portion of the sheet material transport path, the coupling of the transmission system for driving the drive member of the first transport means and the drive member of the second transport means is simplified to one stage, and a stable transmission system is constructed. Is possible.

An object of the invention of claim 5 is to use the sheet material feeding device of claims 1 to 4 for conveying the sheet material fed from the sheet material separating and feeding section.

The object of the invention as defined in claim 6 is to provide the separating / feeding part according to the invention as claimed in claim 5, a separating rotary member, an elastic flat plate-like blocking member, and the blocking member for the separating rotary member. And a pressing member that presses the sheet to the second conveying unit, the load of the separating and feeding unit to the second conveying unit, the load of the first conveying unit, and the friction load of the sheet material are reduced, and the sheet member of the second conveying unit is reduced. Is to be carried well.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a high quality image reading device in which a read image does not expand or contract.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a first sheet material is conveyed downstream.
Conveying means, a first conveying path for guiding the sheet material to the first conveying means, and conveying the sheet material conveyed by the first conveying means further downstream, conveying the sheet material from the first conveying means A sheet material feeding device comprising: a second conveying means having a high speed; and a second conveying path having a turning portion that rotates the sheet material conveyed by the first conveying means and guides the sheet material to the second conveying means. The first transport path and the second transport path are composed of an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral portion, and the distance between the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion of the second transport path is the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion of the first transport path. It is characterized in that it is larger than the space formed by the parts.

The inner peripheral portion of the turning portion has an inner peripheral surface that is in sliding contact with one surface of the sheet material, and the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion has an outer peripheral surface that is in sliding contact with the other surface of the sheet material. The outer peripheral surface may be provided outside the virtual curved surface parallel to the inner peripheral surface.

Here, the virtual curved surface parallel to the inner peripheral surface means a curved surface parallel to the inner peripheral surface assumed on the outer peripheral side of the turning portion,
The outer peripheral portion is provided outside the virtual curved surface passing through the portion of the outer peripheral surface closest to the inner peripheral surface.

The sheet material is conveyed by the first conveying means into the second conveying path having the turning portion. Then, since the leading end of the sheet material is conveyed to the second conveying means while being in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral portion of the turning portion, slack occurs in the sheet material. At this time, the conveying speed of the sheet material by the second conveying means is set to be higher than the conveying speed by the first conveying means. Therefore, the slack of the sheet material generated in the turning portion is gradually removed by the second conveying means.

It is desirable that the length of the outer peripheral surface of the sheet material conveying path turning portion from the first conveying means to the second conveying means is shorter than the shortest sheet material among the conveyed sheet materials.

A first unit in which the drive member of the first transport means is incorporated, a second unit in which the drive member of the second transport means is incorporated, a driven member of the first transport means and the first unit. 2nd third in which the driven member of the transport means is incorporated
The unit of and is installed on the same support shaft to be openable and closable,
When the first, second, and third units are closed, the first and second units configure the outer peripheral portion of the turning portion, and the third unit configures the inner peripheral portion of the turning portion. You may do it.

The sheet material feeding device may have a separating and feeding section for separating the sheet materials placed on the sheet material placing section one by one and feeding them to the first conveying path. .

The separating / feeding unit may include a separating rotating body, a flat plate-like blocking member having elasticity, and a pressure contact member for bringing the blocking member into pressure contact with the separating rotating body.

An image reading device includes the sheet material feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and the reading means reads the image of the sheet material conveyed from the second conveying means of the sheet material feeding device. You may

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2, the sheet material feeding apparatus of this embodiment is applied to a facsimile apparatus 1 as an image forming apparatus. On the front side of the facsimile apparatus 1, an operation section 2 for a user to operate, a sheet material mounting table 3 as a sheet material mounting section for mounting a plurality of sheet materials S, and a mounted sheet material. A side regulating plate 4 is provided which slides according to the width of S and guides when the sheet material S is fed.

Further, the operation section 2 is provided with a display section 2a for displaying an abnormality of the apparatus, a start button 2b for the user to instruct the start of feeding the sheet material S, and the like.

Further, an original reading device as an image reading device having a sheet material feeding device 5 is arranged above the facsimile device 1. The sheet material feeding device 5 includes an upper unit 6 serving as a first unit, a lower unit 7 serving as a second unit, and an intermediate unit 8 serving as a third unit. The upper unit 6 and the intermediate unit 8 are both configured to be openable and closable with the support shaft 7a of the lower unit 7 as a fulcrum.

The upper unit 6 is replaced by the lower unit 7
The sheet material conveying path 9 is formed by engaging the sheet material conveying path 9 with an engaging portion (not shown).

Further, the sheet material S that has been separated and conveyed as described later is a sheet material up to the conveying roller pair 10 that generates a conveying force for the sheet material S by the conveying roller 10a and the conveying roller roller 10b that presses the conveying roller 10a. Transport path 9
After being conveyed in a, the paper feed roller 11a and the paper feed roller 1
The sheet material S is pressed by the paper feed roller roller 11b that presses 1a.
The sheet material is conveyed in the sheet material conveying path 9b having a turning portion up to the pair of sheet feeding rollers 11 that generate the conveying force of. Here, the conveying roller pair 10, the conveying roller 10a, and the conveying roller roller 10
b constitutes a first conveying means, a driving member, and a driven member, respectively. Further, the paper feed roller pair 11, the paper feed roller 11a,
The sheet feeding roller roller 11b constitutes a second conveying unit, a driving member, and a driven member, respectively.

Next, the operation of the sheet material S in the sheet material conveying path 9 will be described with reference to the operation explanatory diagram of FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the sheet material S separated and conveyed by the separating and feeding unit is conveyed by the conveying roller pair 10.
Is carried into the second carrying path 9b.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the leading edge of the sheet material S is conveyed to the conveying portion of the pair of sheet feeding rollers 11 while slidingly contacting the outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral portion of the second conveying path 9b. .

Here, the interval of the second conveying path 9b having the turning portion is set to the first conveying path 9a upstream of the conveying roller pair 10.
Since the distance is set to be larger than the interval, the sheet material S is loosened while the leading edge of the sheet material S is transported to the transport portion of the paper feed roller pair 11. Further, since the conveyance speed V 11 of the sheet material S by the pair of paper feed rollers ₁₁ is set to be higher than the conveyance speed V ₁₀ by the pair of conveyance rollers 10, as shown in (c) of FIG. Sheet material S
The slack mentioned above is gradually removed while being conveyed by the pair of paper feed rollers 11.

After that, as shown in FIG. 3D, the sheet material S is conveyed while rubbing against the inner peripheral surface of the inner peripheral portion of the second conveying path 9b.

Here, by defining the slack amount with respect to the maximum length of the sheet material S, the slack amount and the conveying roller pair 10 are set.
The distance between the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the second transport path 9b can be set according to the relationship between the transport speed V _{10 due} to the sheet feeding roller pair 11 and the transport speed V 11 due to the pair of sheet feeding rollers _11, and A slack is always generated in the transport path 9b.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the sheet material feeding device 5 of the present invention. The sheet material S is provided at the entrance of the sheet material conveying path 9.
A sheet material presence / absence detection sensor 12 for detecting the presence / absence of the sheet material is provided. When a plurality of sheet materials S set on the sheet material mounting table 3 are provided downstream of the sheet material presence / absence detection sensor 12, a separation roller 13 as a separation rotating body for separating the sheet materials S one by one is disposed. .

Further, on the downstream side of the separation roller 13, the above-mentioned pair of conveying rollers 10, the pair of sheet feeding rollers 11, and the reading section 14 as a reading means for reading the image information of the sheet material S to be conveyed, A pair of discharge rollers 15 for discharging the sheet material S to the outside of the apparatus are sequentially arranged, and the front end and the rear end of the separately conveyed sheet material S are detected in the vicinity of the pair of paper feed rollers 11. A cue sensor 16 is provided.

Here, the conveying speed V ₁₀ of the sheet material S by the conveying roller pair ₁₀ is the conveying speed V ₁₀ by the separating roller 13.
_Since it is set to be faster than ₁₃ , when the sheet material S is conveyed to the conveyance roller pair 10, the separation roller 1
3 rotates together with the conveying roller pair 10.

Below the separating roller 13, a lifter 17 is provided.
Separation pad holders 18 are sequentially arranged. Lifter 1
Reference numeral 7 has a base portion pivotally supported by the intermediate unit 7, and is biased to the separation roller 13 by a compression spring 19. In the standby state, the lifter 17 is urged downward by a cam (not shown) (two-dot chain line in the figure), and when the tip of the sheet material S is set so as to contact the slope of the separation pad holder 18, the presence or absence of the sheet material is detected. The detection sensor 12 detects the presence of the sheet material. Then, the operation unit 2
When the upper start button 2b is pressed, the biasing of the lifter 17 by the above-mentioned cam is released, and the conveyance of the sheet material S is started. Then, when the conveyance of the sheet material S is completed, the lifter 17 returns to the standby state.

The base of the separation pad holder 18 is pivotally supported by the intermediate unit 7, and the elastic flat plate-shaped separation pad (blocking member) 18a formed integrally with the separation pad holder 18 is a compression spring ( The sheet material S is pressed against the separating roller 13 by a pressing member 20 and the separating force of the separating roller 13 and the blocking force of the separating pad 18a cause the sheet material S to be conveyed to be separated.

A sheet material retainer 21 made of a flexible material is arranged above the reading section 14 so that the sheet material S is brought into close contact with the reading section 14.

The cams for urging / releasing the separating roller 13, the conveying roller pair 10, the paper feeding roller pair 11, the paper discharging roller pair 15 and the lifter 17 described above have a transmission system such as a gear train (not shown). It is connected via a drive motor (not shown).

[0044]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, while the sheet material is conveyed in the sheet material conveying path having the turning portion, the slack is generated in the sheet material, and the second
By reducing the load on the conveying means by the first conveying means and the frictional load by the sheet material, and by conveying the sheet material while removing the slack of the sheet material by the second conveying means, the sheet material becomes a sheet material. It is possible to reduce the risk of jamming in the transport path. Further, since the second conveying means determines the conveying speed of the sheet material, a new sheet material conveying speed determining means can be eliminated. Further, by defining the amount of slack with respect to the maximum length of the sheet material, the distance between the inner peripheral portion and the outer peripheral portion of the sheet material conveying path is determined according to the relationship between the amount of slack and the conveying speed of the first and second conveying means. Can be set so that the sheet material is always loosened in the sheet material conveying path.

According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to reduce the frictional load between the sheet material and the inner peripheral surface of the sheet material conveying path turning portion.

According to the third aspect of the invention, even the shortest sheet material among the conveyed sheet materials can cause slack in the sheet material conveyance path having the turning portion.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the first unit including the driving member of the first conveying means and the second unit including the driving member of the second conveying means are closed via the support shaft, When constructing the outer periphery of the turning portion of the sheet material transport path, the coupling of the transmission system for driving the drive member of the first transport means and the drive member of the second transport means is simplified to one stage, and a stable transmission system is constructed. Is possible.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the sheet material feeding device according to the first to fourth aspects can be used to convey the sheet material fed from the sheet material separating and feeding section.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the separating / feeding unit according to the fifth aspect of the present invention includes a separating rotary member, an elastic flat plate-like blocking member, and the blocking member as the separating rotary member. The sheet member can be more reliably separated by being constituted by the pressure contact member that is pressed against.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide a high-quality image reading device in which the read image does not expand or contract.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view illustrating an operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view illustrating an internal configuration according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S sheet material 1 facsimile device 5 sheet material feeding device 6 upper unit (first unit) 7 lower unit (second unit) 7a support shaft 8 intermediate unit (third unit) 9 sheet material conveying path 9a first Transport path 9b Second transport path 10 Transport roller pair (first transport means) 10a Transport roller (driving member of first transport means) 10b Transport roller roller (following member of first transport means) 11 Paper feed roller pair (second transport) 11a Paper feed roller (driving member for second transporting means) 11b Paper feed roller roller (following member for second transporting means) 13 Separation roller 18a Separation pad (blocking member) 20 Compression spring (pressing member)

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A first transport means for transporting a sheet material downstream, a first transport path for guiding the sheet material to the first transport means, and the sheet material transported by the first transport means further downstream. A second transporting unit that transports the sheet material at a faster transporting speed than the first transporting unit, and a turning unit that rolls the sheet material transported by the first transporting unit and guides it to the second transporting unit. In a sheet material feeding device having a transport path, the first transport path and the second transport path are composed of an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral portion, and the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion of the second transport path are formed. A sheet material feeding device, wherein a gap is larger than a gap between an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral portion of the first conveying path. 2. The inner peripheral portion of the rolling portion has an inner peripheral surface that is in sliding contact with one surface of the sheet material, and the outer peripheral portion of the rolling portion has an outer peripheral surface that is in sliding contact with the other surface of the sheet material. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral surface is provided further outside than an imaginary curved surface parallel to the inner peripheral surface. 3. The length of the outer peripheral surface of the sheet material conveying path turning portion from the first conveying means to the second conveying means is shorter than the shortest length of the conveyed sheet materials. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 2. 4. A first unit in which a drive member of the first transport means is incorporated, a second unit in which a drive member of the second transport means is incorporated, and a driven member of the first transport means. A third unit, in which a driven member of the second transport means is incorporated, is openably and closably provided on the same support shaft, and when the first, second, and third units are closed, the first unit is provided. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the second unit constitutes an outer peripheral portion of the turning portion and the third unit constitutes an inner peripheral portion of the turning portion. 5. A separating / feeding unit that separates the sheet materials placed on the sheet material placing section one by one and feeds the sheet material to the first transport path. Sheet material feeding device. 6. The separating / feeding unit comprises a separating rotary member, an elastic flat plate-like blocking member, and a pressure contact member for pressing the blocking member against the separating rotary member. The sheet material feeding device according to item 5. 7. An image reading apparatus comprising the sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a reading means for reading an image of the sheet material conveyed from the second conveying means of the sheet material feeding device.