JPH10310272A - Paper sheet separation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To deliver paper sheets by separating them at specified speed and with specified intervals by covering a surface making contact with a delivery belt of a chamber to be in a negative load state with a material a friction coefficient of which becomes low and reducing resistance force due to friction working on the delivery belt. SOLUTION: Resistance force due to friction working on a delivery belt 2 is reduced by covering a surface part of a member 3B on the side facing against the side of a belt of a chamber 3 to be in a negative pressure state with fluorine contained resin 3A a static friction coefficient of which with the delivery belt 2 is lower than 0.55. When a surface of the chamber 3 is covered with fluorine contained resin, it is possible to lower resistance force by about 8% in comparison with the case, for example, the surface of the chamber 3 is stainless steel (static friction coefficient with delivery belt is about 0.6). Consequently, it is possible to deliver paper sheets at specified speed and with specified intervals by reducing resistance force working on the delivery belt 2 even in a state where the paper sheets are adsorbed on the delivery belt 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating and feeding bundles of paper sheets one by one using a vacuum.
In particular, the present invention relates to a feeding device that prevents double feeding during feeding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-970 discloses an example of an apparatus for separating and feeding out sheets one by one using a vacuum.
There is a sheet feeding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 92-92. In this apparatus, a first and a second sheet suction unit are provided at a point that is convex downward, and a transport belt is stretched over the surface of the sheet suction unit. A plurality of suction holes are formed in the transport belt, and paper sheets are sucked into the sheet suction unit through the suction holes. When the sheet is sucked by the sheet suction unit, the sheet suction unit is suctioned by the transport belt because the sheet suction unit is in a negative pressure state, and is conveyed by this suction force.

As another example of an apparatus for separating and feeding out sheets one by one using a vacuum, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
There is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 321372/1995 for individually taking out shipment items. Also in this device, the suction mechanism is in a negative pressure state on the drawer mechanism side, and the paper sheets are sucked and fed out through the holes of the drawer belt that is stretched over the suction body surface.

[0004]

As in the above-mentioned conventional example, in an apparatus for separating and feeding out sheets one by one using a vacuum, the surface of the chamber in a negative pressure state is covered. And a belt for feeding out paper sheets having holes. In such an apparatus, when the sheets are attracted to the payout belt when the sheets are fed, the pressure in the chamber is greatly reduced because the holes formed in the belt are closed, and the suction force is reduced. It works not only on paper but also on belts. Therefore, the frictional force between the chamber surface and the belt increases, and the resistance acting on the belt increases.

When the resistance acting on the belt increases,
There has been a problem that slippage occurs between the belt and the pulley that drives the belt, which makes it impossible to drive the belt at a predetermined speed, and that a delay in starting the belt occurs. In addition, the load torque for driving the belt increases, and a large-capacity drive source is required.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a surface of a chamber which is in a negative pressure state and which comes into contact with a feeding belt is coated with a material having a low coefficient of friction with the feeding belt. The resistance caused by the friction acting on the belt is reduced.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, as one embodiment of the present invention,
An example of a letter separation device for separating and feeding out postal letters such as postcards and sealed letters will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a letter separating apparatus which is an embodiment of the sheet separating apparatus of the present invention.

The separating apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration in which a letter is sent out in a direction close to the direction of gravity.

A loading table 1 for loading a bundle of letters to be separated, a plurality of delivery belts 2 serving as a delivery means for delivering the first letter of the bundle of letters on the loading table 1; A chamber 3 having a negative pressure therein is provided so that the foremost part of the bundle of letters on the table 1 is sucked in the direction of the feeding belt 2 and the letters are sucked and fed by the feeding belt 2. I have.

Further, when the forefront letter of the bundled letter is adsorbed on the delivery belt 2 and is delivered, the letter means is a resistance means for preventing letters adjacent to the delivered letter from being taken out simultaneously. A separation roller 4; blowing nozzles 5A and 5B for blowing pressurized air to a letter near the forefront of the letter on the loading table 1; and a detection lever 6 for detecting that the foremost letter has been attracted to the feeding belt.
A and 6B are provided.

Further, as the first projection means for deforming the letter adsorbed on the feeding belt 2, the feeding belt 2
A projection lever 7 is provided which protrudes from the suction surface to the loading table 1 side and is provided corresponding to the tip corner portion of the letter to be fed out. The first projection means may be constituted by a roller.

A feed belt 8 is provided on the loading table 1 side to feed the bundled letters on the loading table 1 in the direction of the feeding belt 2, and a long hole provided in the frame 14 is provided on the frame 14 side. A fork 9 protruding from the portion 28 is mounted so as to protrude from the suction surface of the feeding belt 2 toward the loading table 1.

Further, a roller 10 as a second projection means provided corresponding to the rear end side corner of the letter to be fed out,
10A is provided. Note that the second projection means may be a lever.

Further, an upper guide 11 for supporting the front end of the letter at the rear end side, a detection lever sensor 12 comprising a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element for detecting the position of the detection lever 6A or 6B, And a letter position detection sensor 13 for detecting the leading end position of the letter.

The surface of the feeding belt 2 is coated with a material having a high coefficient of friction in order to feed a letter. Also,
The feeding belt 2 is provided with a plurality of holes 15 for applying a negative pressure of the chamber 3 to a letter.

As shown in FIG. 2, the feeding belt 2 is
A predetermined tension is applied to a pulley 16 for driving the roller and a roller 17 which rotates following the feeding belt. The drive pulley 16 is driven by a servo motor (not shown).

A hole similar to the hole of the feeding belt 2 is provided on the surface of the chamber 3 on the loading table side. Chamber 3
Is in a negative pressure state lower than the atmospheric pressure by a blower (not shown), and the letter on the loading table 1 is sucked in the direction of the feeding belt 2 by the negative pressure, and is attracted to the feeding belt. The higher the suction force and the coefficient of friction of the feeding belt 2 are, the greater the conveying force acting on the fed letter is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the separation roller 4 for exerting a resistance force on the fed paper sheets is disposed between the plurality of feeding belts 2. The separation roller 4 moves the chamber 3 from the position on the surface of the feeding belt 2.
It is arranged in a state of entering the side. With this arrangement, the leading end of the first letter is deformed into a waveform along the separation roller 4 and the feeding belt 2, but the second and subsequent letters are unlikely to be deformed. Is difficult to enter between the separation roller 4 and the feeding belt 2, so that double feeding of letters can be prevented.

The separation roller 4 has a high friction member on its outer periphery. Further, a support shaft 41 located at the rotation center of the separation roller 4, another shaft 42 having a center at a position different from the rotation center of the separation roller 4, and an arm 43 as a connecting means for connecting the shaft 42 and the support shaft 41. A rotation spring 44 is provided so that the separation roller returns to a predetermined position. In order to ensure the effect of applying a resistance force to the paper sheet, a plurality of separation rollers 4 are provided in the paper sheet conveyance direction.

The separating roller 4 is mounted so as to be pressed against the chamber 3 by a spring so as to be movable in accordance with the thickness of the letter to be fed.
Although the separation roller 4 and the chamber 3 may be in contact with each other, the position of the separation roller 4 may be determined using another stopper, and a gap may be provided between the separation roller 4 and the chamber 3.

Blowing nozzles 5A and 5B for blowing compressed air, which are provided in the vicinity of the frontmost portion of the bundle of letters, are provided at two positions, that is, at the end of a guide 18 adjacent to the frame 14 and the loading table 1. A chamber (not shown) is provided on the back side of the frame 14 and below the guide 18, and compressed air is supplied to the chamber from a blower (not shown) and blown out from a nozzle.

Nozzle 5A provided at the end of guide 18
Indicates the vicinity of the front of the bundle of letters on the loading table 1 and the frame 14
The nozzle 5B provided on the loading table 1 blows pressure air to the vicinity of the letter bundle on the loading table 1 and the letter adsorbed to the feeding belt 2. Spout nozzle 5 provided on frame 14
The height of B is between the uppermost hole of the chamber 3 and the lowermost part of the roller 10, and the position of the ejection nozzle provided on the guide 18 is closer to the front than the protruding roller 10A on the back side.

The detection lever 6A on the front side has a U-shape as shown in FIG. 2, and is attached to the shaft 19 so as to be rotatable. A spring 20 is mounted on a part of the detection lever, and the spring 20 is hung on a spring mounting shaft 21. A stopper 22 is provided near the end of the detection lever 6 opposite to the letter contact portion 6A, and prevents the rotation of the detection lever due to a spring force.

When the letter is not on the letter suction face A, the position of the stopper 22 is adjusted so that the letter contact portion of the detection lever 6 projects from the letter suction face A to the loading table 1 side. . When the letter is on the letter suction face A, the letter contact portion is pushed by the sucked letter and retracted from the letter suction face.

The detection lever 6B on the back side is also mounted on the shaft 19 so as to freely rotate. A spring 23 is also attached to a part of the back side detection lever 6B.
3 is hung on a spring mounting shaft 21. Further, a stopper 22 is also provided near the end of the back side detection lever 6B opposite to the letter-shaped contact portion to prevent rotation of the back side detection lever 6B due to a spring force.

In this embodiment, the projecting lever 7 attached to the mounting table 1 so as to protrude from the contact surface A where the letter contacts the feeding belt 2 is provided with the position of the tip corner of the attracted letter and the resistance means. The front side of the chamber 3 is attached so as to be able to cope with both the positions of the front end corners of the letter stopped immediately before the separation roller 4.

On the loading table 1, the letter conveying surface 8 A of the feed belt 8 is provided so as to be slightly higher than the surface of the loading table 1. The feed belt 8 is driven by a drive pulley 27 as shown in FIG. A driving force is transmitted to the driving pulley 27 from a servo motor (not shown).
The letter conveyance surface of the feed belt 8 is coated with a material having a high coefficient of friction so that letters can be conveyed.

The fork 9 is provided so as to protrude from a long hole 28 provided in the frame 14.
The fork 9 is attached to a chain (not shown) on the back side of the frame 14 and is driven by a servo motor (not shown).

The feed belt 8 and the fork 9 are driven synchronously. ON / OFF of the drive is determined by the operation of the detection lever 6. When there is no letter on the letter suction surface and the letter contact portion of the detection lever 6 comes out of the letter suction face A, the detection lever 6 does not block light emitted from the light emitting element of the detection lever sensor 12. At this time, the feed belt 8 and the fork 9 are driven to feed out the letter on the loading table 1 and feed in the direction of the belt 2. When the letter is sucked and sucked on the feeding belt 2, the detecting lever 6 is pushed by the sucking force. At this time, the detection lever 6 shields the detection lever sensor 12 from light, and the drive of the feed belt 8 and the fork 9 is stopped by this signal.

As shown in the figure, a roller 10 as a protruding means which protrudes from the contact surface A contacting the feeding belt 2 to the loading table 1 side and is attached to the rear end side corner of the attracted letter. It is attached so that it can correspond to the position.
The roller 10 is mounted for rotatable movement on a shaft 29 and the spring 31 is hung on a spring mounting shaft 32. A stopper 33 is provided near the lever 30 to prevent the lever 30 from rotating due to a spring force.

A guide 18 is provided on the chamber 3 side of the loading table 1, and a flexible elastic material for preventing a letter from excessively dropping between the separation roller 4 and the feeding belt 2 is provided at a tip end thereof. Is provided. The surface of the loading table 1 and the surface of the guide 18 and the auxiliary guide 34 are coated with a material having a low coefficient of friction so that the letter is smoothly fed.

Next, the separating operation of the letter will be described.

When the letter on the loading table is sent to the vicinity of the feed belt by a fork or a feed belt, the letter at the forefront is sucked by the suction force from the chamber and is adsorbed on the feed belt. At this time, the letter adsorbed on the feeding belt pushes the detection lever to shield the sensor provided near the detection lever from light. Then, the sensor detects this and stops the driving of the feed belt and the fork.

The delivery belt is already driven as described later when the letter is attracted, and when the letter is attracted to the delivery belt, the frictional force caused by the attraction acting between the letter and the delivery belt becomes the conveying force. And a letter is issued.

When the letter is fed, the leading end of the letter is detected by letter passage detection sensors provided at several places along the transport path. When the leading end of the fed letter is sandwiched between the biting rollers, all the letter passing detection sensors detect the passing of the letter, and the driving of the feeding belt is stopped based on this detection signal. Thereafter, the letter is conveyed in such a manner that the letter sandwiched between the feeding belt and the separation roller is pulled out by the conveying force of the biting roller and the downstream conveying path.

When the letter is conveyed, the trailing end of the letter passes through the detection switch. When the trailing end of the letter passes the detection switch section, the detection lever returns to the initial position, so that the sensor is not blocked, and the fork and the feed belt are driven again.

When the dispensed letter is further conveyed,
There is a gap between the trailing end of the dispensed letter and the leading end of the subsequent letter. When any one of the letter passing detection sensors provided at several places detects this, the feeding belt is driven again. Such a series of operations is repeated, and a letter is issued.

By the way, the paper sheet separating apparatus of the present invention separates and feeds the paper sheets by utilizing the suction and suction force by vacuum as described above. Therefore, the feeding belt 2 is stretched so as to cover the surface of the chamber 3 in which the inside is in a negative pressure state.

In this apparatus, when the letter is not adsorbed to the feeding belt 2, a plurality of holes 15 are formed in the feeding belt 2, so that the feeding belt is adsorbed to the chamber by the negative pressure of the chamber 3. Never. However, when the paper is fed, the paper is fed out of the belt 2.
When the paper is adsorbed on the chamber, the adsorbed paper sheets close the hole made in the belt, so the same state as when a belt without a hole is passed over the surface of the chamber under negative pressure And the pressure in the chamber 3 is greatly reduced. Then, the suction force due to the negative pressure acts not only on the paper sheets but also on the feeding belt 2. For this reason, the frictional force between the surface of the chamber 3 and the feeding belt 2 increases, and the resistance acting on the feeding belt 2 increases.

When the resistance acting on the feeding belt 2 becomes large, a slip occurs between the feeding belt 2 and the driving pulley 16 which drives the feeding belt 2, and the feeding belt 2
Can not be driven at a predetermined speed, or a start-up delay occurs when the feeding belt 2 is started. In addition, the load torque for driving the feeding belt 2 becomes large, and a problem arises in that a large-capacity motor must be selected as a driving source.

In order to solve such a problem, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the surface portion of the member 3B on the side facing the belt side of the chamber 3 to be in a negative pressure state is connected to the feeding belt 2 Was coated with a fluororesin 3A having a coefficient of static friction lower than 0.55 so that the resistance force caused by the friction acting on the feeding belt was reduced. When the chamber surface is coated with a fluororesin, for example, when the chamber surface is made of stainless steel (the coefficient of static friction with the feeding belt is about 0.
The resistance can be reduced by about 8% compared to 6).

As described above, the above-mentioned problem is solved by reducing the resistance force acting on the feeding belt 2 even when the sheets are attracted to the feeding belt 2, so that the sheets can be moved at a predetermined speed or speed. Can be paid out at intervals. As a result, the processing capacity of paper sheets can be improved.

In the above description, in order to solve the problem,
Although the example in which the surface of the chamber 3 is coated with a fluororesin having a low coefficient of friction with the feeding belt 2 has been described, the surface of the chamber 3 in the negative pressure state on the side facing the belt side is:
The constituent member 3B itself may be made of a material having a low friction coefficient with the feeding belt 2 such as a fluororesin, so that the resistance force caused by the friction acting on the feeding belt 2 may be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the low friction member is made of a fluororesin. However, the low friction member is made of polyacetal, nylon resin, polyethylene, such as a plating material such as a mixed material of nickel plating and a fluororesin. Such as a mixture of materials of the like,
Of course, it is not limited to the fluororesin.

[0046]

According to the present invention, paper sheets can be separated and fed at predetermined speeds and intervals. As a result, the processing capacity of paper sheets can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a letter separation apparatus as one embodiment of a paper sheet separation apparatus.

FIG. 2 is another explanatory view of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing positions of a feeding belt and a separation roller in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of a chamber in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Loading table, 2. Feeding belt, 3. Chamber, 4.
Separating rollers, 5A, 5B ... Blow-out nozzles, 6A, 6B
... Detection lever, 7 ... Protrusion lever, 8 ... Feed belt, 9 ...
Fork, 10 ... Protrusion roller, 12: Detection lever sensor, 13: Letter position detection sensor, 14: Frame.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Takayoshi Yamada 1 Ikegami, Haruoka-cho, Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside the Information Technology Division of Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] A stacking means for stacking bundles of paper sheets;
Feeding belt means for sequentially feeding out the paper sheets on the stacking means, feeding means for feeding the bundle of paper sheets on the stacking means in the direction of the feeding means, and paper sheets on the stacking means. In the sheet separating apparatus having a chamber in which the inside is at a negative pressure, the suction is performed in the direction of the feeding unit, and the sheet is sucked and fed by the feeding unit. A paper sheet separating apparatus, wherein the sliding surface is coated with a material having a coefficient of static friction with the feeding belt lower than 0.55. 2. A stacking means for stacking bundles of paper sheets,
Feeding belt means for sequentially feeding out the paper sheets on the stacking means, feeding means for feeding the bundle of paper sheets on the stacking means in the direction of the feeding means, and paper sheets on the stacking means. In the sheet separating apparatus having a chamber in which the inside is at a negative pressure, the suction is performed in the direction of the feeding unit, and the sheet is sucked and fed by the feeding unit. A sheet separating apparatus, wherein the sliding surface is made of a material having a coefficient of static friction with the feeding belt lower than 0.55.