JPH10236681A - Sheet feeding device and image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To omit a holder part to press to the roller a sheet after separation or a middle plate to press a bundle of sheets to the feed roller upstream of a separation point which has been required according to the conventional arrangement to separate and feed one sheet from the bundle using a feed roller and separating members. SOLUTION: A sheet feeding device is composed of a sheet feeding means 1 to send out sheets and frictional separating means 20 and 21 to be in pressure contact with the feeding means, and sheets are separated and sent out one by one between the feeding means 1 and separating means 20 and 21. A guide means 25 is furnished to lead the sheet between the feeding means 1 and separating means 20, 21 and is extended to downstream in the sheet transporting direction about the pressure contacting position P of the feeding means 1 with the separating means 20 and 21, and the extension part is provided with a pressing part A for pressing each separated sheet to the feeding means 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as an ADF (automatic document feeder), a printer, an image scanner, etc. The present invention relates to a feeding device and an image processing device using the feeding device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a sectional structure of a conventional image processing apparatus 30. As shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes an intermediate plate supporting the sheet 5,
Reference numeral 31 denotes a sheet feeding port of the image processing apparatus, 32 denotes a sheet discharging port, and 33 denotes a sheet feeding device. The sheet feeding device has a separation pad 2 urged by a spring 34 and a sheet feeding roller 1. Reference numeral 37 denotes an image processing unit having an image reading unit 38 and a transport roller 39. The plurality of sheet materials S are set on the middle plate 4, sent to the sheet feeding port 31, and sent to the image processing unit 33 while being separated one by one by the sheet feeding roller 1 and the separation pad 2. The sheet material S1 subjected to the image processing by the image processing unit 37 is discharged from the sheet discharging box 32 to the outside of the apparatus.

Next, a sheet feeding device in the image processing apparatus will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
The sheet feeding device is constituted by the sheet feed roller 1, the separation substrate 2a, the separation pad 2 including a pad 2b having a relatively large friction coefficient such as rubber, the pressing member 3, the middle plate 4, and the like. However, the middle plate 4 may be omitted depending on the number of sheets fed and stacked. Reference numeral 5 denotes a bundle of paper sheets. FIG. 7A is a schematic side view of a conventional sheet feeding apparatus, and FIG. 7B is a schematic perspective view.

In a conventional sheet feeding apparatus, a bundle of sheets 5
Is pressed against the sheet feeding roller 1 by the middle plate 4, and several sheets on the sheet feeding roller side of the sheet bundle are guided to the separation point P by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 1. At the nip portion formed by the paper feed roller 1 and the separation pad 2, that is, at the separation point P, only one sheet is fed. Thereafter, the sheet separated by the pressing member 3 is pressed against the sheet feeding roller 1 and is stably conveyed.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the pressing member 3 and the middle plate 4 are required, so that the number of parts is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased. Must be movable, the structure of the main body becomes complicated, and miniaturization becomes difficult. Therefore, the conventional technique may be disadvantageous for a low-cost microminiature machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problems, reduces the number of parts and costs, and eliminates the need for timing operation of a middle plate. .

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a sheet feeding apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has a feeding means for feeding out a sheet, and a friction separating means which comes into pressure contact with the feeding means. And a sheet feeding device for separating and feeding sheets one by one between the feeding means and the friction separating means, wherein a sheet is guided between the feeding means and the friction separating means. A guide means is provided, and the guide means is extended to a downstream side in a sheet feeding direction from a press contact position between the feeding means and the friction separating means, and the extended portion is separated by the feeding means and the friction separating means. A pressing portion is provided for pressing the formed sheet against the feeding means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the guide means is provided such that a portion on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction from a press contact position between the feeding means and the friction separating means is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, The sheet is guided obliquely from above to between the feeding means and the friction separating means.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the guide means extends to the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction along the outer shape of the feed means so as not to contact the feed means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the friction separating means has a friction member which is in pressure contact with the feeding means, and a support member which supports the friction member, and a portion of the friction member which extends the guide means. An escape part for escaping is formed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the friction separating means has a friction member which is in pressure contact with the feeding means, and a support member which supports the friction member, and the guide means is configured to feed a sheet of the friction member. It is characterized by covering the upstream end in the feeding direction.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an urging means for urging the guide means with respect to the sheet feeding means at an upstream side in a sheet feeding direction from a pressure contact position between the sheet feeding means and the friction separating means. Means are provided.

According to a seventh aspect, the feeding means has a feeding roller, and the friction separating means has a friction member and a support member for supporting the friction member. A guide means is attached.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: any one of the above-described sheet feeding apparatuses; and image processing means for performing image processing on the sheet fed by the sheet feeding apparatus. .

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a sheet feeding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the sheet feeding apparatus, and FIG. Shows a cross-sectional view along line 1-1 in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a plan view and a side view of the friction separating means of this embodiment.

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a feeding roller as feeding means, 2 denotes a sheet separating member as friction separating means, and a substrate 20 as a support member and a friction member provided on the substrate 20. Member 21 as a guide member, and a guide member 25 as a guide means similarly mounted on the substrate 20
Having.

The sheet is separated and fed by the feed roller 1 and the sheet separating member 2 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, but in the present specification, the direction along the sheet feed direction of the arrow is referred to as the vertical direction for the following description. The direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction is referred to as a lateral direction or a width direction, the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction is referred to as a rear side, and the downstream side is referred to as a front side.

A point P in FIG. 1 indicates a separation point (a pressure contact position between the feeding roller 1 and the pad member 21), and a two-dot chain line P in FIG. 2 indicates a line passing through the separation point on the separation member and the guide member. (Nip line between the feed roller 1 and the pad member 21). The arrow in the figure indicates the direction in which the sheet is fed.

In FIG. 2, the guide member 25 has a horizontal portion 26 extending in the horizontal direction and a vertical portion 27 extending in the vertical direction from the horizontal portion 26, and the horizontal portion 26 is mounted on the rear portion of the substrate 20. In this embodiment, there is one vertical portion and the horizontal portion has a T-shape. Reference numeral 28 denotes a vertical wall portion of the guide member 25 fixed to the rear portion of the substrate 20. One vertical portion of the guide member 25 and the two pad members 21 are arranged side by side in the direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction, that is, in the horizontal direction. It's almost equal to 2. An escape portion is formed between the two pad members 21. The width of the separation pad 21 is equal to or more than a minimum width required for separation when the sheet is separated by the cooperation of the feeding roller 1 serving as the separation pad 21.

The guide member 25 shown in FIG.
The rear end portion is at a high position, and the guide portion G is formed to incline downward as it goes forward (downward in the figure). In the normal use state, the pad member 21 is used with the left side in FIG. 2 (B) facing upward. Therefore, in this specification, it is assumed that the pad member 21 is higher as the distance from the surface of the pad member 21 to the left in FIG. Good, the opposite is low.

The guide member 25 is curved or bent so as to incline upward beyond the lowermost point after inclining downward. The lowest point is formed in the vicinity of a separation point P described later, and when not in use, the lowest point is preferably lower than the surface of the pad member 21; In use, it may be moved to a position lower than the surface of the pad member 21 by the pressing force from the feeding roller during use. A pressing portion A is provided near the leading end of the guide member 25 to urge the sheet fed separately from the sheet feeding roller 1. The pressing portion A is bent, but need not be bent. As shown in FIG. 2, the lateral portion 26 of the guide member 25 slightly covers a part of the rear of the pad member 21. The guide member 25 is made of metal, resin, or the like, has elasticity, and is curved so as to urge the sheet toward the feeding roller 1.

In this way, when the sheet bundle 5 is set on the mounting plate of the image processing apparatus, the leading end of the sheet bundle 5 is guided by the guide area G of the guide member 25 of the separation pad 2 (see FIG. It can be guided to the separation point P by the inclination of 2) and the rotation of the feeding roller 1. Therefore, the conventional middle plate (indicated by reference numeral 4 in FIG. 7) can be omitted due to the region G of the guide member 25.

Further, by bending the guide member 25, the point A at the tip end shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is urged toward the feeding roller 1 side. (Indicated by reference numeral 3) can be omitted.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the fed sheet is separated into one sheet at the separation point P, and is conveyed while being pressed against the feed roller 1 by the action of the pressing portion A. Therefore, the conveyed sheet is held between the two points P and the pressing portion A, so that stable conveyance is realized.

(Second Embodiment) A schematic diagram of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
Shown in The side shape is the same as FIG.

In this embodiment, a single pad member 21 is used, the width thereof is reduced, and guide members 25 are provided on both sides thereof.
Is an example in which the two vertical portions 27 are arranged.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a substantially inverted U-shape, and the shape of the pressing portion A is provided in the same manner as in the previous embodiment so as to press the separated sheet against the feed roller 1.

By doing so, the pad member 21
Is simple and the structure is simple, but otherwise the first
Almost the same effects as those of the embodiment can be obtained.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the present embodiment. In this embodiment, a very light elastic biasing member (for example, a mylar) 7 such as a spring is disposed upstream of the guide member 25 in the first and second embodiments. The width of the urging member 7 is equal to that of the separation member 2.

According to the present embodiment, the bundle of sheets 5 stacked in the paper feed port is reliably pressed against the feed roller 1 by the action of the urging member 7. Therefore, a poor paper feed (No Pick) in thick paper or lower curl paper (curl paper on the side opposite to the paper feed roller), which is a concern in the first and second embodiments, is eliminated. Further, even when the separation pressure is increased in order to secure a double feeding margin during sheet feeding, the feeding roller 1 and the urging member
As a result, the sheets can be reliably sent to the separation point P, so that the margin for double feeding is also increased. In the conventional system and the first and second embodiments, there is a trade-off relationship between paper feeding failure (No Pick) and double feeding.

Further, by providing the spring member 7, the sheet bundle 5 set in the paper feed port is always subjected to the pressure toward the feed roller 1, so that the setability is improved and the sheet bundle 5 remains on the loading table at the time of separation. The posture of the seat is stable. Therefore, the skew of the pick of the feed roller 1 due to the deviation of the left and right timing of the pick is reduced. Furthermore, even after the separation, the urging member 7 holds the portion of the sheet on the upstream side from the separation point P until the trailing end of the sheet passes through the urging member 7, so that the conveyance is stable.

Further, since the urging member 7 is a light and small part such as a mylar, it is not necessary to move the urging member 7 at the sheet feeding timing unlike the conventional middle plate 4, so that the configuration is simplified.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment. This embodiment is a modification of the third embodiment.
In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the urging member 7 of the third embodiment is formed by cutting and raising 31 near the center in the width direction on the upstream side of the separation point P (not shown) of the guide member 25. By doing so, the same effect as that of the third embodiment can be obtained, and the number of parts can be reduced.

The paper feeder described in each of the above embodiments is provided in, for example, an image processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 and is used for feeding sheets.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The number of parts of the sheet feeding apparatus in the image processing apparatus can be reduced as compared with the conventional one, thereby realizing cost reduction of apparatus manufacturing and downsizing of the apparatus, and
It is possible to improve the sheet feeding performance and stabilize the sheet transportability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a friction separating unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a fourth embodiment of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a conventional image processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a conventional sheet feeding apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Feeding roller 2 ... Separation member 3 ... Holding member 5 ... Sheet 20 ... Substrate 21 ... Pad member 25 ... Guide member 30 ... Urging member 31 ... Cutting and raising urging member

Claims (8)

[Claims] A feed unit that feeds the sheet; and a friction separating unit that is in pressure contact with the feed unit. The sheet is separated one by one between the feed unit and the friction separating unit. In a sheet feeding device for feeding out, a guide means for guiding a sheet between the feeding means and the friction separating means is provided, and the guide means is located at a pressure contact position between the feeding means and the friction separating means. The sheet feeding device further extends further downstream in the sheet feeding direction, and a pressing portion for pressing the sheet separated by the feeding unit and the friction separating unit against the feeding unit is provided at the extended portion. Sheet feeding device. 2. The guide means is provided such that a portion on the upstream side in a sheet feeding direction from a press contact position between the feeding means and the friction separating means is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, and the sheet is inclined obliquely upward. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is guided between the feeding unit and the friction separating unit. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the guide unit extends along the outer shape of the sheet feeding unit to a downstream side in a sheet feeding direction so as not to contact the sheet feeding unit. Sheet feeding device. 4. The friction separating means has a friction member which is in pressure contact with the feeding means, and a support member which supports the friction member. The sheet feeding device according to claim 3, wherein a relief portion is formed. 5. The friction separating unit includes a friction member that is in pressure contact with the feeding unit, and a support member that supports the friction member, and the guide unit is an upstream side of the friction member in a sheet feeding direction. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the end portion is covered. 6. An urging means for urging a sheet to the sheet feeding means at an upstream side in a sheet feeding direction from a pressing position of the sheet feeding means and the frictional separating means in the guide means. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: 7. The feeding means has a feeding roller, the friction separating means has a friction member and a support member for supporting the friction member, and the guide means is attached to the support member. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is provided. 8. A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image processing unit configured to image-process a sheet fed by the sheet feeding apparatus. Image processing device.