JPH1111711A - Sheet material conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet material conveying device that can separate sheet material positively from adsorptive means after conveying the sheet material into a specified position without damaging the sheet material. SOLUTION: After suction cups 164 are lowered to place sheet material S1 in a specified position on an insertion base 24, a supporting arm 178 is oscillated counterclockwise for the specified time to lower elevating rollers 182, so that part of the sheet material S1 is held between the elevating rollers 182 and a driving roller 188. Negative pressure in the suction cups 164 is dissolved to release adsorptive of the sheet material S1, and the suction cups 164 are moved up. The sheet material S1 held between the elevating rollers 182 and driving roller 188 is positively separated from the suction cups 164 without ascending as it is stuck to the suction cups 164, and the sheet material S1 is prevented from being damaged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet material such as a photographic light-sensitive material arranged at an initial position, which is sucked by a suction cup or the like and conveyed one by one to a predetermined position. The present invention relates to a sheet material conveying device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sheet conveying apparatus for conveying a sheet material such as a photographic photosensitive material, if a high pressure is applied to the surface of the sheet material or the surface is rubbed, the surface may be damaged. It is conveyed by suction.

FIG. 21 shows a feeding apparatus 300 for sucking and conveying a sheet material by a suction cup as described above (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-124253).

A photosensitive material 3 placed on a photosensitive material placing table 302
04 (sheet material), pad 306 (adsorption means)
Is lowered by the motor 308. After the solenoid valve 312 is opened and the photosensitive material 304 is sucked, the pad 306 is driven by the motor 308.
22 by the motor 310 and FIG.
It moves to the right, and the tip of the photosensitive material 304 is
4, the solenoid valve 312 is closed, and the pad 306 is closed.
Stop suction by.

[0005] In this supply device 300, before inserting the tip of the photosensitive material 304 between the transport rollers 314,
If the suction by the pad 306 is not stopped immediately after the tip of the photosensitive material 304 is inserted between the transport rollers 314, the photosensitive material 304 falls down. Since the light-sensitive material 304 is pulled between the pad 306 and the light-sensitive material 3,
04 is damaged or an excessive load is applied to the transport roller 314. For this reason, the leading end of the photosensitive material 304 is
It is desirable to stop the suction by the pad 306 at the same time as the insertion. However, if a sensor or the like for detecting that the front end of the photosensitive material 304 is inserted between the transport rollers 314 is provided, the number of components increases and the structure becomes complicated.

Further, the leading end of the photosensitive material 304 is
Even if the suction by the pad 306 is stopped at the same time as inserting the photosensitive material 304 into the pad 4, the photosensitive material 304 may remain attached to the pad 306, and if the photosensitive material 304 is transported by the transport roller 314 in this state. However, the photosensitive material 304 is pulled by a small distance.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above fact, the present invention conveys a sheet material to a predetermined position and, after the sheet material is conveyed to a predetermined position, can reliably separate the sheet material from the suction means and does not damage the sheet material. The task is to obtain

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a suction conveyance means for adsorbing a sheet material disposed at an initial position, conveying the sheet material to a conveyance position by a pair of rollers, and releasing the suction. Before the suction conveyance unit adsorbs and conveys the sheet material, the roller pair is separated from each other, and when the sheet material is conveyed to the conveyance position, the roller pair approaches to pinch the sheet material. It is characterized by the following.

The sheet material arranged at the initial position is sucked by the suction conveyance means and is conveyed to a conveyance position by a pair of rollers. The holding means separates the roller pair before the suction conveyance means sucks and conveys the sheet material, but when the sheet material is conveyed to the conveyance position, the roller pair approaches to pinch the sheet material. . Thereafter, the suction conveyance means releases the suction of the sheet material. At this time, since the roller pair is holding the sheet material by the holding means, the sheet material does not stay away from the roller pair even after the suction conveyance means releases the suction of the sheet material. Can be separated reliably. Further, the roller pair does not rub the surface of the sheet material, and does not damage the sheet material.
Then, by rotating the roller pair, the sheet material can be further conveyed to the next step.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the roller pair moves while the sheet material is being conveyed to a conveyance position by the suction conveyance means. It is characterized by having been evacuated from.

[0011] Therefore, the sheet material does not hit the roller pair while being conveyed by the suction conveyance means, and the roller pair does not interfere with the conveyance, so that the sheet material can be conveyed smoothly.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the oscillating body which is arranged along the trajectory of the sheet material and is pivotally supported so as to be pivotable is provided. A gap member that forms a gap through which only one sheet material can pass between the one end side of the moving body and the oscillating body, and a displacement member that is provided at the other end side of the oscillating body and detects displacement of the other end side of the oscillating body And a detecting member that performs the detection.

When a plurality of sheets are allowed to pass through the gap between one end of the rocking body and the gap member in a state where a plurality of sheets are overlapped, the gap is expanded to the overlapped sheet because only one sheet can pass through. Can be For this reason, the rocking body rotates,
It can be detected that the sheet material is polymerized.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the oscillating body is pivotally supported so as to be pivotable about a position displaced from the center to one end. I do.

Therefore, when the rocking body rotates, the other end of the rocking body moves more than the movement amount of the one end. Thereby, by the detecting member provided on the other end side of the rocking body,
When detecting the rotation of the oscillating body at a predetermined angle or more, the detection error is reduced and the detection accuracy is increased.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the sheet materials are accommodated in an accommodation member in a state where a plurality of the sheet materials are stacked. It has a housing member arrangement part which can be arranged at the initial position.

Therefore, if a plurality of sheet materials are previously laminated on the housing member, the plurality of sheet materials can be arranged at the initial position only by arranging the housing member in the housing member disposing portion.

Further, even if the sizes of the sheet materials are different, if the accommodating members are prepared according to the sizes of the respective sheet materials, it is possible to cope with sheet materials of various sizes.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a sheet conveying apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The state attached to is shown. FIG. 2 schematically shows the inside of the sheet material conveying device 10 (in FIG. 2, the entire image of the automatic developing machine 12 is not shown).

The automatic developing machine 12 has an insertion opening 14 through which a sheet material S, which is an exposed photographic material, is inserted. Then, the automatic developing machine 12
In the process, each process such as development, fixing, washing, and drying is performed to form an image (positive image) on the surface of the sheet material S.

The sheet conveying apparatus 10 has a box 16 having a substantially trapezoidal side surface and a gantry 18 for supporting the box 16. As shown in FIG. 2, the portion on the left side of the box 16 is the setting portion 2 where the sheet material S is arranged at the initial position.
It is set to 0. By opening the opening / closing lid 22 (see FIG. 1) provided on the box 16, the magazine 44 (see FIG. 3) containing the sheet material S can be set in the setting section 20.

The portion on the right side of the box 16 is
The sheet materials S arranged from the setting unit 20 are conveyed one by one in the direction of arrow A (hereinafter, simply referred to as “conveyance direction” refers to the conveyance direction of the sheet material S. When referring to the “downstream side”, the sheet material S
Upstream and downstream in the transport direction. ), Automatic processor 1
The insertion section 26 is sent to the second insertion table 24. As shown in FIG. 14B, the automatic developing machine 12 is provided with an insertion table 24 and a transport roller 28. The transport roller 28 always rotates during the operation of the automatic developing machine 12, and pinches and transports the sheet material S1 placed on the insertion table 24 with the transport roller 28 (see FIGS. 18B and 19B). .

The insertion section 26 is also provided with an opening / closing lid 30 (see FIG. 1).
The inside can be inspected and adjusted, and when an abnormality occurs, the cause of the abnormality can be removed. In a normal use state, the open / close lids 22 and 30 are closed, and the inside of the box 16 is a dark box.

An opening is formed substantially at the center of each of the open / close lids 22 and 30, and this opening is covered with a light-shielding cloth member. The cloth member is formed with a work hole 32 through which a worker can insert his / her hand and work inside the box body 16. Even when the open / close lids 22 and 30 are closed, work inside the box body 16 can be performed. it can.

On the outer surface of the box 16, a monitor screen 34 for displaying the inside of the box 16 is provided, and an operator operates the sheet conveying device 10 and a display panel for displaying the operating state of the sheet conveying device 10. An operation panel 36 for displaying an image on the display 38 is provided.

A drawer 40 for manual feed is provided below the insertion table 24 so as to be able to be pulled out toward the near side in FIG. When the drawer 40 is pulled out to accommodate the sheet material S and the drawer 40 is closed, the sheet material S is set at a position below the insertion table 24, so that an operator puts his hand through the working hole 32 of the opening / closing lid 30. And drawer 4
It is possible to manually place the sheet material S in 0 on the insertion table 24 (so-called “hand feed”).

As shown in FIG. 4, a magazine 44 is set on a support table 42 provided on the setting section 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the magazine 44 is formed in a substantially box shape according to the size of the sheet material S (accordingly, magazines of various sizes corresponding to various different sizes of sheet materials). Is prepared), and a plurality of sheet materials S are stacked and accommodated. An opening 48 for inserting the sheet material S is formed in the upper plate 46 of the magazine 44, and this opening 48 is opened and closed by a lid 50 (FIGS. 4 and 5).
reference).

The lid 50 has a long hole 52 whose longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the opening / closing direction of the cover 50 (the direction of arrow B and the opposite direction), and a lock inserted through the long hole 52. The upper part of the pin 54 protrudes upward from the lid 50. On the other hand, the lower part of the lock pin 54 is located below the lid 50 (inside the magazine 44), and a projection (not shown) projects from the lower end of the lock pin 54 toward the side wall 56 of the magazine 44. . The lock pin 54 is constantly urged toward the side wall 56 by a spring (not shown) attached to the lid 50. When the lid 50 is closed, the lock pin 54 is moved toward the side wall 56 by the urging force of the spring. The protrusion of the lock pin 54 engages with a lock hole 58 formed in the side wall 56 to lock the lid 50. When the lock pin 54 is moved away from the side wall 56 (in the direction of arrow C) against the urging force of the spring, the projection is separated from the lock hole 58 and unlocked, and the lid 50 can be opened.

On the inner surface of the front wall 60 of the magazine 44, the front wall 60 has a predetermined width and bulges into the magazine 44 in an arc shape.
Furthermore, a double feed prevention pad 6 having a nonwoven fabric adhered to its surface.
2 are formed. As shown in FIG. 6, when the uppermost sheet material S1 is sucked and lifted by the suction cup 164, the leading end (downstream end) of the sheet material S1 is rubbed by the double feed prevention pad 62. Here, there is a case where another sheet material S2 overlaps and is lifted below the uppermost sheet material S1, but in this case, the top sheet material S1 and the leading end of the sheet material S2 therebelow prevent double feed. Pat 62
Rubbed by As a result, the second and lower sheet materials fall downward, and only the uppermost sheet material S1 adsorbed by the suction cup 164 is lifted. The double feed prevention pad 62
The member constituting the surface of is not limited to a nonwoven fabric, and may be any member that can separate the second or lower sheet material S2 from the uppermost sheet material S1 by friction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the side walls 5 of the magazine 44
A bracket 68 is attached to a predetermined position that differs depending on the size of the magazine 44 on the side wall 64 opposed to 6, and a size pin 70 is attached to the bracket 68 with its longitudinal direction as the up-down direction and in the longitudinal direction. It is movably supported. When the size pin 70 is moved upward, the lower end does not protrude from the lower plate 72 of the magazine 44, but when the size pin 70 is moved downward, the lower end protrudes from the lower plate 72 of the magazine 44.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
A plurality of insertion holes 74 are formed in the support base 42. Below each insertion hole 74, a size sensor 7 is provided.
6 is attached to the support base 42 (only one size sensor 76 is shown in FIG. 4, the other is omitted, and not shown in FIG. 5). Further, the position of each insertion hole 74 corresponds to the position of the size pin 70 for each size of the magazine 44. That is, the magazine 44 in which the plurality of sheet materials S are stacked and accommodated is placed on the support 42, and the side wall 56 of the magazine 44 abuts against the back wall 42A of the support 42 and the front wall 60 abuts against a partition 66 described later. In the state
For a magazine 44 of a specific size, this magazine 4
4 size pins 70 and one insertion hole 74 correspond one-to-one. Here, when the size pin 70 is moved downward, the lower end of the size pin 70 pushes the size sensor 76 corresponding to the size of the magazine 44. This size sensor 76
From the control box 8 of the gantry 18 (see FIG. 1).
0 is sent to the control device 82 (see FIG. 20).

The control device 82 shown in FIG. 20 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM (not shown), and the like. The motor 82 is necessary and sufficient to convey the sheet S to a predetermined position according to the size of the sheet S. (Specifically, a door opening motor 90, a transport motor 136, and a lifting motor
0, the driving time of the swing motor 184) is controlled.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a support rail (not shown) is fixed to the inner wall 16A of the box 16 along the same direction as the sheet material S transport direction (the direction of arrow A). And can be moved along the support rail.
4 are supported. The open arm 84 is substantially L-shaped, and the short piece 84A is bent at a right angle from the tip (the end in the direction of arrow A) of the long piece 84B toward the near side in FIG. Inside the corner of the open arm 84, a square release block 86 is formed.

The magazine 44 is placed on the support base 42, and the side wall 56 of the magazine 44 is attached to the back wall 42 A of the support 42 and the front wall 6.
0 abuts against the partition 66, respectively.
Is pressed against the release block 86 and moves in the long hole 52 in a direction away from the side wall 56 against the urging force of a spring (not shown). As a result, a projection (not shown) at the lower end of the lock pin 54 separates from the lock hole 58, and the locked state of the lid 50 is released.

A rack 88 is formed on the bottom surface of the long piece 84B of the open arm 84. On the other hand, a door opening motor 90 is attached to the inner wall 16 </ b> A of the box 16, and a pinion 92 that rotates by receiving a driving force of the door opening motor 90 meshes with the rack 88. Further, as shown in FIG. 20, the driving of the door opening motor 90 is controlled by the control device 82. That is, when the magazine 44 is placed on the support base 42 and the size pin 70 is pressed downward with the side wall 56 of the magazine 44 abutting against the back wall 42A of the support body 42 and the front wall 60 abutting against the partition 66, respectively, the size is reduced. The size pin 70 enters the insertion hole 74 at a position corresponding to the pin 70, and pushes the size sensor 76 below the insertion hole 74. As shown in FIG. 20, a signal from the size sensor 76 allows the opening arm 84 to move by a sufficient and necessary distance to open the lid 50 in accordance with the size of the magazine 44. The drive time of 90 is controlled, and the opening arm 84 moves in the opening direction of the lid 50 (the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 3). This allows
The lock pin 54 is pushed by the short piece 84A of the opening arm 84, and the lid 50 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 2, the partition wall 6 is formed substantially in the center of the box 16 and separates the set portion 20 and the insertion portion 26.
A blower pipe 94 is attached to 6 so as to be located above and downstream of the magazine 44 set in the setting unit 20. A plurality of outlet holes 96 directed toward the upstream side are formed in the blower pipe 94 at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the blower pipe 94. Also, the blowing pipe 94
, Air is sent from a pump (not shown), and is blown out from a blow-out hole 96. Even if the sheet materials S sucked by the suction cups 164 overlap and the second or less sheet material S2 is not separated from the uppermost sheet material S1 by the double feed prevention pad 62,
As shown in FIG. 7, the air blown out from the blowing holes 96 separates the second or less sheet material S2 from the uppermost sheet material S1, thereby preventing the sheet material S from being double fed.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a support pin 100 is projected from a long support member 98 attached to the rear wall 16A of the box body 16.
At 00, a seesaw arm 102 is pivotally supported. The longitudinal direction of the seesaw arm 102 is the transport direction (arrow A).
Direction). As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the pivotal support position of the support pin 100 is a position deviated from the center in the longitudinal direction to one end side (downstream side).

At one end of the seesaw arm 102, approximately U
A letter-shaped support frame 104 is formed, and a double feed detection roller 106 is rotatably supported in the support frame 104 so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction.

As shown in FIG. 8, the double feed detecting roller 10
6, a gap forming plate 108 is fixed to the rear wall 16A of the box 16. And seesaw arm 1
The clockwise rotation moment in FIG. 8 due to the tensile force of the tension coil spring 110 bridged between the other end of the shaft 02 and the support member 98 and the pivotal support position of the seesaw arm 102 are shifted to one end. 8 when the counterclockwise rotation moment is balanced, the height at which only one sheet S in the middle of conveyance can pass between the lower end of the double feed detection roller 106 and the gap forming plate 108. Gap 1
12 are configured.

A leaf spring 116 is attached obliquely toward the downstream side on the lower surface of the sensor plate 114 projecting from the support member 98, and a contact sensor 118 is attached to the tip of the leaf spring 116. Gap 1
In the case where nothing has passed through the sheet material 12 or only one sheet material S1 has passed without overlapping, the contact sensor 118 is in contact with the seesaw arm 102 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, when the two sheet materials S1 and S2 (or three or more sheet materials S) try to pass through the gap 112 in an overlapping state, the tension coil spring 1
The seesaw arm 102 resists the pulling force of FIG.
The contact sensor 1 rotates counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow D).
18 moves away from the seesaw arm 102. In this manner, when the contact sensor 118 detects that two or more sheet materials S are about to be fed in an overlapped state, a signal from the contact sensor 118 is transmitted to the control device 82 as shown in FIG. Sent to

As shown in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12, a guide beam 120 having a substantially C-shaped cross section is formed on the rear wall 16A of the box body 16 with the opening 120A facing the opposite side of the rear wall 16A. And it is attached such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the transport direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 12).

A pair of guide rails 126 are fixed to the lower surface of the upper plate 122 of the guide beam 120 and to the upper surface of the lower plate 124. On these guide rails 126, supported arms 132 of the moving plate 130 are supported via slide bearings 128 so as to be slidable in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the guide beam 120.

As shown in FIG. 12, a drive gear 134 is supported at one end (upstream end) of the guide beam 120. Also, on the upper surface of the upper plate 122 of the guide beam 120, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a transfer motor 136 controlled by the control device 82 (see FIG. 20) is fixed, and the drive gear 134 is rotated by the transfer motor 136.

On the other hand, the other end (downstream end) of the guide beam 120
, A driven gear 138 is pivotally supported. Drive gear 13
Between the driven gear 138 and the driven gear 138.
40 are wound. A plurality of teeth are formed on the inner surface of the conveyor belt 140 so that the driving gear 134 and the driven gear 1
When the drive gear 134 rotates by receiving the driving force of the transport motor 136, the transport belt 140
Circulates between the driving gear 134 and the driven gear 138.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the moving plate 1
30 is formed with a holding concave portion 142, and the conveying belt 140 is formed in the holding concave portion 142.
(Part farther from the back wall 16A) is inserted and pinched. As shown in FIG.
When 40 circulates in the counterclockwise direction (arrow E direction), the movable plate 130 moves toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the sheet material S (arrow A direction). Conversely, when the transport belt 140 circulates clockwise (the direction opposite to the arrow E), the movable plate 130 moves toward the upstream side in the transport direction of the sheet material S (the direction opposite to the arrow A).

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
A pair of support plates 144 are attached to the surface on the upstream side of 0 (the left surface in FIG. 12) at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. Between the support plates 144, two support columns 146 are stretched and fixed in parallel. Two support columns 14
6 are inserted into two insertion holes formed in the lifting block 148, respectively, so that the lifting block 148 can be moved up and down along these support columns 146 without rattling.

On the downstream surface of the movable plate 130, an elevating motor 150 controlled by the control device 82 (see FIG. 20) is fixed. This lifting motor 150
Is penetrated through the movable plate 130, and a pinion 152 is attached to the end thereof. Elevating block 1
48, a long rack plate 154 is fixed with the vertical direction as the longitudinal direction.
The pinion 154 is engaged. Therefore, when the elevating motor 150 rotates, this rotation is converted into a vertical movement by the rack and the pinion 154, and the elevating block 148 moves up and down.

An elevating arm 156 having a substantially L-shaped end face is attached to the elevating block 148.
56 moves up and down integrally with the lifting block 148.

The bottom plate 156A of the lifting arm 156 has
A plurality of (four in the present embodiment) insertion holes 158 (see FIG. 12) are formed at predetermined intervals, and the support cylinder 160 is inserted into these insertion holes 158. A rectangular parallelepiped block 162 is fixed near the upper end of the support cylinder 160, and the block 162 hits the bottom plate 156A so that the support cylinder 160 does not fall out of the insertion hole 158.

A suction cup 164 made of an elastically deformable material such as rubber or soft resin is attached to the lower end of the support cylinder 160. The inside of the suction cup 164 communicates with the inside of the support cylinder 160.

Between the bottom plate 156A and the suction cup 164,
The compression coil spring 166 is wound around the support cylinder 160.
(See FIGS. 10, 11 and 13, not shown in FIGS. 14 to 19), and the upper end thereof is a bottom plate portion 156.
A, the lower end is in contact with the suction cup 164, respectively. When the suction cup 164 moves relatively upward with respect to the lifting arm 156, the compression coil spring 166 is compressed and deformed, and the relative positional deviation between the lifting arm 156 and the suction cup 164 in the vertical direction is absorbed. Then, the suction cup 164 is pushed downward by the elastic reaction force of the compression coil spring 166.

As shown in FIG. 13, one end of a suction hose 168 made of rubber or soft resin is connected to the upper end of the support cylinder 160 (the suction hose 168 is shown only in FIG. 13 and other drawings). In the illustration). Suction hose 168
Is connected to a pump 174 via a pressure sensor 170 and an electromagnetic valve 172. As shown in FIG. 20, the electromagnetic valve 172 is opened and closed by a control device 82.
The suction inside the suction cup 164 can be made a negative pressure, or the negative pressure can be eliminated.

As shown in FIG. 14, the inner wall 16 of the box 16
A, a pair of support pieces 17 is located below the guide beam 120 and at positions upstream and downstream in the transport direction of the sheet material S.
6 is attached. One end of a support arm 178 bent substantially at the center is pivotally supported by each support piece 176.

An elevating shaft 180 is hung on the other end side of the two support arms 178. Elevating shaft 1
A plurality of elevating rollers 182 made of rubber or soft resin are fixed to 80 at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction.

A rocking motor 184 controlled by the control device 82 (see FIG. 20) is attached to the inner wall 16A of the box 16 via an attachment (not shown). Then, as shown in FIGS. 14 to 19, when the swing motor 184 rotates, the support arm 178 swings, and the elevating roller 182 moves up and down.

Below the lifting roller 182, the back wall 16A
A fixed shaft 18 is attached to a shaft support plate (not shown) projecting from
6 is supported. A cylindrical drive roller 188 is fixed to the fixed shaft 186 along the axial direction. With the driving roller 188 and the elevating roller 182,
Construct a roller pair.

The position of the drive roller 188 is such that when the support arm 178 swings downward and the elevating roller 182 descends, it comes into contact with the elevating roller 182.
As shown in FIG. 14, a driving roller rotation motor 19 controlled by a control device 82 is provided on a shaft support plate (not shown).
The rotation of the drive roller rotation motor 190 is transmitted to the fixed shaft 186 to rotate the drive roller 188. Therefore, when the drive roller 188 rotates in a state where the lift roller 182 is in contact with the drive roller 188, the sheet material can be nipped and conveyed between the lift roller 182 and the drive roller 188.

Next, the process in which the sheet material S is conveyed by the sheet material conveying device 10 according to the present embodiment and the operation of the sheet material conveying device 10 will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, with the cover 50 of the magazine 44 opened, a plurality of sheet materials S are
4 housed. When the cover 50 of the magazine 44 is closed, the lock pin 54 moves in the elongated hole 52 toward the side wall 56 by the urging force of a spring (not shown), and the projection (not shown) engages with the lock hole 58 to cover the cover 50. Is locked. At this time, the size pin 70 is raised.

The above operation must be performed in a dark room in order to prevent the sheet material S from being exposed to light.
When the is closed, the light does not hit the sheet material S, so that all of the following operations can be performed in a bright place, and the workability is excellent.

Next, as shown in FIG.
4 is placed on the support table 42 of the setting section 20 and the magazine 44
When the side wall 56 abuts against the back wall 42A of the support base 42 and the front wall 60 abuts against the partition wall 66, the lock pin 54 is pressed against the release block 86 of the open arm 84, and is pressed against the urging force of the spring. 54 is moved away from the side wall 56 (direction of arrow C). As a result, the projection (not shown) is released from the lock hole 58 (see FIG. 3) and unlocked.

Here, when the size pin 70 is pushed downward,
The size pin 70 passes through the insertion hole 74 corresponding to the position of the size pin 70 and touches the size sensor 76. As shown in FIG. 20, a signal from the size sensor 76 is transmitted to the control device 82. The size of the magazine 44 is displayed on the display panel 38 of the operation panel 36.

At this time, the support arm 178 is located above (see FIG. 14A), and the elevating roller 182 is also raised.

Next, the opening / closing lid 22 is closed, and the operation panel 36 is closed.
Press the operation switch of. The transport motor 136 whose drive is controlled by the control device 82 rotates clockwise in FIG. 12 for a predetermined time, and the transport belt 140 moves in the clockwise direction in FIG. 12 (the direction opposite to the arrow E) via the drive gear 134. Due to the circulation, the moving plate 130 moves toward the upstream side.

The suction cup 164 moves to the upstream side together with the moving plate 130. When the suction cup 164 reaches above the sheet material S in the magazine 44, the control device 82 stops the rotation of the transport motor 136. Next, the control device 82 controls the elevating motor 1
Rotate 50 counterclockwise in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the lifting block 148 and the lifting arm 156 descend, so that the suction cup 164 also descends, and is pressed against the uppermost sheet material S1.

The driving time of the elevating motor 150 is
The amount of drop of the suction cup 164 is set to be such that even when only one sheet material S is present in the magazine 44, the suction cup 164 can be press-bonded to this sheet material S. Accordingly, when a plurality of sheet materials S are stacked in the magazine 44, the suction cup 164 has the uppermost sheet material S1 as compared with the case where one sheet material S is stacked.
The lifting block 148 and the lifting arm 156 are about to descend. However, in this case, since the compression coil spring 166 is compressed, even if the lifting block 148 and the lifting arm
4 is not excessively pressed against the uppermost sheet material S. Further, with such a simple configuration, the sheet material S can be used without changing the driving time of the elevating motor 150 in particular.
Can respond to changes in height.

Next, the controller 82 opens the solenoid valve 172 shown in FIG. Since the inside of the suction cup 164 becomes negative pressure by the pump 174, the sheet material S1 is sucked, and
Adsorb to.

The control device 82 rotates the lifting / lowering motor 150 clockwise in FIG.
4 is raised. Thereby, the uppermost sheet material S1 adsorbed on the suction cup 164 is lifted.

Here, as shown in FIG. 6, even if the uppermost sheet material S1 and the lower sheet material S2 are attached and lifted while the lowermost sheet material S2 is attached, the uppermost sheet material S1 and the lower sheet material S1 Since the leading end of S2 is rubbed by the double feed prevention pad 62 and the sheet material S2 falls downward, the double feed of the sheet material S is prevented. Further, even if the second sheet material S2 is not separated from the uppermost sheet material S1 by the double feed prevention pad 62, the second sheet material S2 is blown by the air blown out from the blowing holes 96. The sheet S1 is separated from the uppermost sheet material S1, thereby preventing double feeding.

When the control device 82 drives the elevating motor 150 for a predetermined time to elevate the suction cup 164 to a predetermined height, the control device 82 stops driving the elevating motor 150 and
36 is driven counterclockwise in FIG. Thereby, the conveyance belt 140 is also moved in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.
The moving plate 130 moves toward the downstream side. Since the suction cup 164 also moves toward the downstream side,
The sheet material S1 adsorbed by the suction cup 164 is conveyed downstream.

This sheet material S 1 passes through the gap 112. Since the height of the gap 112 is set so that only one sheet material S can pass, the double feed prevention pad 6 should be used.
In the case where the second sheet material S2 is fed without being separated by the air blown out from the blowout hole 96 and the blowing hole 96, the overlapped sheet materials S1 and S2 are separated by the gap 1
12, the double feed detection roller 106 is pushed upward. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 9, the seesaw arm 102 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 9 (direction of arrow D) against the tensile force of the extension coil spring 110,
The contact sensor 118 detects that two or more sheets S are being multi-fed. The control device 82 that has received this signal stops the rotation of the transport motor 136, so that the sheet materials S1 and S2 are not transported while overlapping. Further, the control device 82 displays the sheet material S on the display panel 38.
Indicates that they overlap.

If the sheet material S1 is not multi-fed, the control device 82 drives the transport motor 136 for a predetermined time, so that the sheet material S1 is transferred to the automatic developing machine 12 as shown in FIG. Is transported to a predetermined position on the insertion table 24. At this time, as shown in FIG. 14B, the elevating roller 182 is ascending and retreats from the movement trajectory of the sheet material S1, so that the elevating roller 182 does not interfere with the conveyance of the sheet material S1.

The controller 82 stops the rotation of the transport motor 136, rotates the elevating motor 150 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 10 (the direction of arrow F), and lowers the suction cup 164. The sheet material S1 adsorbed by the suction cup 164 also descends and is placed at a predetermined position on the insertion table 24 as shown in FIGS.

Next, as shown in FIG. 16B, the control device 82 rotates the swing motor 184 to swing the support arm 178 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. The roller 182 is lowered. Thereby, the sheet material S1 is placed between the lifting roller 182 and the driving roller 188.
Is partly pinched.

The control device 82 stops the rotation of the swing motor 184, and then closes the solenoid valve 172 to release the negative pressure in the suction cup 164, thereby releasing the suction of the sheet material S1. Further, the control device 82 rotates the lifting / lowering motor 150 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 11 (the direction of arrow G) to raise the suction cup 164 as shown in FIG. 17B. Here, since the sheet material S1 is sandwiched between the elevating roller 182 and the driving roller 188, the sheet material S does not rise while adhering to the suction cup 164.
4 is reliably separated.

Next, the control device 82 rotates the drive roller rotation motor 190 for a predetermined time. Elevating roller 182
The sheet material nipped between the sheet and the drive roller 188 is conveyed toward the automatic developing machine 12, and the sheet material S is nipped by the conveying roller 28 of the automatic developing machine 12.

Here, the control device 82 stops the rotation of the drive roller rotation motor 190. Further, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 18, the swinging motor 184 is rotated to move the support arm 178 in the clockwise direction in FIG.
Rotate to. As a result, the support arm 178 and the elevating roller 182 move up and retreat from the conveyance trajectory of the sheet material S, so that they do not become an obstacle when the next sheet material S is conveyed.

Next, the control device 82 operates the transport motor 1
36 is rotated clockwise in FIG. Conveyor belt 1
12 also circulates clockwise in FIG. 12 (the direction opposite to the arrow E), and the suction cup 164 moves toward the upstream side. Sucker 16
4 reaches above the sheet material S in the magazine 44, and thereafter,
The same operation is repeated, and the sheet material S is continuously transported to a predetermined position on the insertion table 24 in order.

When the sheet material S1 is separated from the suction cup 164 during the conveyance, the pressure sensor 170 shown in FIG. 13 detects a change in air pressure and sends a signal to the control device 82. The control device 82 displays on the display panel 38 that the sheet material S1 has separated from the suction cup 164, and stops driving of the elevating motor 150 and the transport motor 136 and the like thereafter.

When the suction cup 164 attempts to adsorb the bottom surface of the magazine 44 even though the sheet material S is not in the magazine 44, the pressure sensor 170 detects a change in air pressure and sends a signal to the control device 82. Control device 8
2 indicates on the display panel 38 that the sheet material S has disappeared in the magazine 44, and the motor for opening the door is reversed to move the opening arm 84 to the initial position (the position shown in FIG. 4).
Return to Then, the operator can replace the empty magazine 44 with the next magazine 44, and can continue to convey the sheet material S.

When the width of the sheet material S (the length in the direction along the conveyance direction) is equal to or less than half the width of the insertion table 24, a plurality of sheet materials S are simultaneously inserted into the insertion table 24. Can be placed. For example, when the width of the sheet material S is substantially half the width of the insertion table 24, FIGS.
First, the first sheet material S1 is inserted into the insertion table 2 as shown in FIG.
4, and then the second sheet material S <b> 2 is transported to approximately the center of the insertion table 24 in the width direction, as shown in FIG. Further, the third sheet material is conveyed to the vicinity of the downstream end of the insertion table 24 after the first sheet material S enters the automatic developing machine 12, and the fourth sheet material is The second sheet material S2 is an automatic developing machine 1
2 and then is transported to the approximate center of the insertion table 24 in the width direction. By repeating this operation, the space of the insertion table 24 can be used without waste, and the transport capacity (the number of transported sheets S per unit time) of the sheet transport apparatus 10 is also improved.

In the above description, the lifting roller 1
82 is attached to the swingable support arm 178 so as to move up and down. However, the configuration for moving the elevating roller 182 up and down is not limited to this. In short, the elevating roller 182 is moved so that the sheet material S being conveyed is moved. Any configuration can be used as long as it can be retracted from the movement trajectory. For example, box 1
A support plate having a long hole extending in the up-down direction may be protruded from the back wall 16A of the sixth member, and the shaft may be moved up and down in the long hole so that the lifting roller 182 attached to the shaft may be moved up and down. The driving roller 188 is also a lifting roller 182.
The sheet material S may be moved up and down (or moved) in the same manner as described above.

In the above description, the automatic developing machine 1
The sheet conveying apparatus 10 of the type that conveys the sheet S in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet S in the printer 2 has been described. The relationship with the conveying direction of the sheet material S by the material conveying device is not limited to this. For example, the conveying direction of the sheet material S in the automatic developing machine 12 may be the same as the conveying direction of the sheet material S by the sheet material conveying device.

[0084]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the roller pair is separated before the suction and conveyance means suctions and conveys the sheet material, and when the sheet material is conveyed to the conveyance position, the roller pair is moved closer to the sheet material. Is provided, the sheet material can be reliably separated from the roller pair, and the sheet material is not damaged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the roller pair is retracted from the locus of movement of the sheet material while the sheet material is being conveyed to the conveyance position by the suction conveyance device. The roller pair does not hit the roller pair while being transported by
It can be transported smoothly. According to the third aspect of the present invention, only one sheet material can pass between the rocking member arranged along the trajectory of the sheet material and pivotally supported and the rocking member at one end of the rocking member. A gap member forming a gap, and a detection member provided on the other end side of the rocking body and detecting a displacement of the other end side of the rocking body, so that the gap between one end side of the rocking body and the gap member, When the sheet material attempts to pass in a state where a plurality of sheets are superimposed, the oscillator rotates, and it is possible to detect that the sheet materials are superimposed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the rocking body is pivotally supported so as to be able to rock around a position displaced from the center to one end, the other end of the rocking body is smaller than the moving amount of the one end. Also move a lot. For this reason, the detection error is reduced, and the detection accuracy is increased.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since a plurality of sheet materials are accommodated in the accommodating member in a stacked state and the accommodating member is provided with the accommodating member arranging portion capable of arranging the accommodating member in the initial position, the accommodating member has a plurality of sheets. If the sheet members are stacked, a plurality of sheet members can be arranged at the initial position only by arranging the accommodation member in the accommodation member arrangement portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and an automatic developing machine to which the sheet conveying apparatus is attached.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a sheet material conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention, with a part cut away.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a magazine used for the sheet material conveying device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where a magazine is set in the sheet material conveying device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the suction cup descends from the state shown in FIG. 4 and is attracted to a sheet material.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a double feed prevention pad of the sheet material conveying device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a blower pipe of the sheet material conveying device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view schematically showing a double feed detection sensor of the sheet conveying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a state in which the double feed detection sensor of the sheet conveying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention has detected the double feed of the sheet material.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4;

11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship among a suction cup, a suction hose, a solenoid valve, and a pump of the sheet material conveying device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are a cross-sectional view and a side view, respectively, showing a main part in a state in which the sheet conveying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is conveying the first sheet. It is.

15 (A) is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 15 (B) is a side view showing a state where the suction cup has been lowered from the state shown in FIG. 14;

16 (A) is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 16 (B) is a side view showing a state where the elevating roller is lowered from the state shown in FIG.

17 (A) is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 17 (B) is a side view showing a state where the suction cup has risen from the state shown in FIG. 16;

18A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 18B is a side view showing a state in which the elevating roller has risen from the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 shows a state in which the sheet material conveying device is moved from the state shown in FIG.
(A) is a cross-sectional view and (B) is a side view showing a main part in a state in which the second sheet material is being conveyed.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a sheet conveying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a conventional sheet conveying apparatus.

FIG. 22 is a front view of a conventional sheet conveying apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 sheet material conveying device 42 support base (accommodating member arrangement portion) 44 magazine (accommodating member) 102 seesaw arm (oscillating body, superposition detection sensor) 106 double feed detection roller (gap member, superposition detection sensor) 118 contact sensor (detection member) 136 Conveying motor (suction conveyance means) 150 Lifting motor (suction conveyance means) 164 Suction cup (suction conveyance means) 174 Pump (suction conveyance means) 178 Support arm (holding means) 182 Elevating roller (roller pair) ) 184 Rocking motor (clamping means) 188 Drive roller (roller pair)

Claims (5)

[Claims] A suction means for sucking a sheet material disposed at an initial position, transferring the sheet material to a conveyance position by a pair of rollers and releasing the suction, and wherein the suction conveyance means sucks and conveys the sheet material. A sheet conveying device, comprising: a pair of rollers that separates the pair of rollers before the sheet is conveyed to a conveying position, and causes the pair of rollers to approach and pinch the sheet when the sheet is conveyed to the conveying position. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of rollers is retracted from a movement locus of the sheet material while the sheet material is being conveyed to a conveyance position by the suction conveyance unit. Sheet material transport device. 3. The sheet material is arranged between a rocking body that is arranged along the trajectory of the sheet material and that is pivotally supported so as to swing, and a rocking body at one end of the rocking body.
The gap member which comprises a gap which can pass only a sheet, and a detection member which is provided in the other end side of the above-mentioned rocking body, and detects the displacement of the other end side of the rocking body, It has: The sheet material conveying device according to claim 2. 4. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the oscillating body is pivotally supported about a position displaced from the center to one end side. 5. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sheet materials are housed in a housing member in a stacked state, and the housing member includes a housing member arrangement portion that can arrange the housing member at the initial position. Item 5. A sheet material feeding device according to any one of Items 4.