JPH11246068A - Sheet feeding device, and image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain the top of a loaded sheet in the wedge form and prevent double feed of sheets, by providing a restraining part so that earlier separated and fed sheet side of a sheet with a restrained top projects in the sheet feed direction. SOLUTION: A restraining part 21b for restraining the top of a document D with an end of a body member 21a is formed in a stopper member 21, the other end is rotatably supported on a device body by a shaft. The restraining part 21b is provided so that earlier separated and fed document D side of the document D with a restrained top projects in the feed direction of the document D, and is formed so as to have acute angle on the document D side in relation to a load surface on which a document D in a lower document guide 2 is loaded. A shaft of the other end of the body member 21a is arranged at a position where the restraining part 21b separates from a sheet when the stopper member 21 moves to a restraining position and an escaping position through a motor, a spring clutch 25, and a cam member 23. Thus, prevention of double feed of the document D is allowed, and a stable feed performance is provided even when document D with large frictional force between sheets each other is fed.

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 a facsimile, a copying machine, a scanner or a printer, and more particularly to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets one by one to a predetermined image processing position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile, a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding a document as a sheet to a reading position, for example, as shown in FIG. The original is loaded on the stacking unit between the preliminary transport roller 103 that transports the original to the secondary transport roller 103 and the preliminary transport pressing piece 104 that presses the preliminary transport roller 103, and the separate transport rollers 105 and 106 that separate and transport the preliminary transported documents one by one. Stopper member 1 for regulating the leading edge of the document
21 are provided. In this case, the angle at which the stopper member 121 regulates the sheet with respect to the stacking surface of the stacked sheets is provided substantially at a right angle.

When starting the supply of the original, the stopper member 121 is retracted to release the restriction of the stacked originals, and the original is supplied one by one by the preliminary transport roller 103 and the separation transport rollers 105 and 106. The image of the supplied document is read by the reading unit at the reading position.

[0004]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, since the stopper member 121 for regulating the sheet is provided substantially at right angles to the sheet surface of the stacked sheets, the stopper member 121 is not provided. When the restriction of the retracted stacked originals is released and the original is supplied by the preliminary conveying roller 103 and the separation conveying rollers 105 and 106, the stopper member 12 provided substantially at right angles to the sheet surface of the stacking portion.
1, the leading edge of the document is regulated, and the document is transported as a bundle to the separation transport roller. Therefore, when a document having a large frictional force between stacked sheets is transported, a sheet transport failure such as a double feed occurs. Sometimes happened.

For this reason, in order to prevent sheet conveyance failure, the user has to set the originals in a wedge shape on a document table.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable sheet feeding apparatus capable of preventing defective sheet conveyance and obtaining stable sheet conveyance performance. And an image processing apparatus.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a loading means for loading a plurality of sheets, and a regulating state for regulating a leading end of the sheets loaded on the loading means. And a stopper device having a release state for releasing the regulation of the leading end of the sheet, wherein the stopper member of the stopper device is located at the regulation position, and the stopper member of the stopper member is In a regulating state in which the regulating portion contacts and regulates the leading edge of the sheet, the regulating portion is provided such that the side of the sheet whose front edge is separated and supplied first protrudes in the sheet conveying direction. I do.

Accordingly, the leading end of the stacked sheets can be restricted to a wedge shape, preventing double feeding of sheets and ensuring stable sheet conveying performance even when conveying sheets having a large frictional force between the sheets. Can be obtained.

In the release state, it is preferable that the stopper member of the stopper device is located at the retracted position and the restricting portion of the stopper member is separated from the sheet.

Thus, the sheet can be easily supplied.

The stopper device includes a stopper member, a cam member for switching the stopper member between a regulating position and a release position, a spring clutch provided between the cam member and a driving source, and a spring clutch. It is preferable to include an idling means for causing an idling state.

Thus, the leading end of the stacked sheets can be regulated in a wedge shape, preventing double feeding of sheets, and stably conveying sheets even when conveying a sheet having a large frictional force between the sheets. Performance can be obtained.

[0013] The stopper device is arranged between the pre-conveying means for pre-conveying the stacked sheets and the separating and conveying means for separating and conveying the pre-conveyed sheets one by one so as to regulate the leading end of the sheets. It is preferred that

Thus, it is possible to prevent double feeding of sheets to the separation / conveying means, and to obtain stable sheet conveying performance even when conveying a sheet having a large frictional force between the sheets.

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by including the above-mentioned sheet supply apparatus and image processing means for performing a predetermined process on the sheet supplied by the sheet supply apparatus.

Therefore, the leading end of the stacked sheets can be regulated in a wedge shape, preventing double feeding of sheets and ensuring stable sheet conveying performance even when conveying sheets having a large frictional force between the sheets. Thus, predetermined image processing can be performed.

Preferably, the image processing means is an image reading means for reading an image on a sheet or an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet.

Thus, predetermined image reading or image formation can be performed.

[0019]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The material, shape, relative arrangement, and the like are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them unless otherwise specified.

In this embodiment, a sheet feeding device applied to an image reading device as an image processing device will be described.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a structural view of a main part of the image reading apparatus, FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of a stopper device in the sheet feeding apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cam shaft, a cam member, and a spring clutch which constitute a stopper device.

1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an upper document guide;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a lower document guide as a placing means, which forms a document conveyance path in the document reading section 68. A document table 31 is provided at the most upstream side of the document conveyance path.

The document table 31 is provided with a slidable slider (not shown) in a width direction orthogonal to the direction of transport of the document D as a sheet. The document loaded on the document table 31 by the slider is provided. D can be aligned on both sides.

Reference numerals 3 and 4 denote a preliminary transport roller and a preliminary transport pressing piece as preliminary transport means. The preliminary transport roller 3 is
It is a roller having a partially cut-out shape such as a half-moon shape which feeds out the original D from the lower original guide 2 and conveys it to the downstream side. The preliminary transport pressing piece 4 rides on the original D and presses the original D against the preliminary transport roller 3.

Reference numerals 5 and 6 denote separation rollers as separation / conveyance means for separating the originals D fed by the preliminary conveyance roller 3 and the preliminary conveyance pressing piece 4 one by one.

Reference numerals 7 and 8 denote transport rollers for transporting the document D sent from the separation rollers 5 and 6 to a reading position on the downstream side. The separation roller 6 and the conveyance roller 8 are rotatably attached to a lever 9, and are urged by a spring 10 toward the separation roller 5 and the conveyance roller 7, respectively.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a contact type image sensor as image reading means for reading information on the document D conveyed to the reading position. The close contact type image sensor 11 irradiates light from the LED array as a light source to the image information surface of the document D, forms an image of the reflected light reflected from the image information surface on the sensor element by a Selfoc lens, and reads the image information. Things.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a document pressing portion, and a weight shaft 12
The original D is pressed against the close contact type image sensor 11 by the a and the original pressing plate 12b to bring the original D into close contact therewith.

Reference numerals 13 and 14 denote paper discharge rollers for carrying out the document D from which the image has been read onto the paper discharge tray 32.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 15 denotes a drive shaft, which is connected to a motor (preferably a pulse motor) as a drive source (not shown). Therefore, the driving force of the motor is transmitted from the driving shaft 15 to the spring clutch 16 via the gear train G1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the spring clutch 16
Is provided with a control ring 16a.
A regulating claw member 18 is engaged with the regulating portion 16b. When the regulating claw member 18 is operated by the solenoid 17, the preliminary carrying roller 3 makes one rotation in the carrying direction.

That is, since the preliminary transport roller 3 is controlled to rotate once by the above-mentioned mechanism, the vertical mechanism for contacting / separating the preliminary transport roller 3 from / to the document D, which is conventionally required, becomes unnecessary.

Therefore, the preliminary transport roller 3 always stops at the D-cut position shown in FIG. 1 after the preliminary transport (one rotation), so that the original D is not caught at the time of setting.

Between the separation roller 56 and the preliminary transport roller 3, there is a regulation state for regulating the leading edge of the document D set on the document table 31, and a release state for releasing the regulation at a desired timing. Is provided.

The stopper device 20 is movable to a restricting position (FIG. 3A) for regulating the leading edge of the document D and a retracting position (FIG. 3C) for releasing the regulation.
And a cam member 2 for switching the position of the stopper member 21
3, a spring clutch 25 provided between the cam member 23 and the motor, and a protruding portion 25a and an abutting portion 26 as idling means for putting the spring clutch 25 into an idling state.

The stopper member 21 is made of polyacetal (POM) having good slidability. In addition,
The material of the stopper member 21 is not limited to this.

The stopper member 21 has a regulating portion 21b for regulating the leading end of the document D at one end of a main body 21a, and the other end is rotatably supported by the apparatus main body by a shaft 22. The restricting section 21b controls the original D whose
Of the lower document guide 2 on which the document D is placed is formed at an acute angle with respect to the loading surface of the lower document guide 2 on which the document D is placed. Has become.

The shaft 22 is connected to the stopper member 2.
1 moves to the restricting position and the retreat position.
Are arranged away from the sheet.

The restricting portion 2 of the stopper member 21
Reference numeral 1b protrudes above the lower document guide 2 through a hole 2a provided in the lower document guide 2 so as to regulate the sheet and retreat away from the sheet. The cam member 23 is a gear train G
2. Drive shaft 1 via cam shaft 24 and spring clutch 25
5.

One end of the spring clutch 25 has a protrusion 2
When the cam shaft 24 rotates clockwise in FIG. 3, the cam shaft 24 abuts against an abutting portion 26 integrally formed on the apparatus main body side, and the spring clutch 25
To idle. That is, the transmission of the driving force from the motor to the cam member 23 is cut off.

A projection 25b is also provided at the other end of the spring clutch 25, and the projection 25b is engaged with an engagement portion 23a of the cam member 23. Therefore, the spring clutch 25 and the cam member 23 rotate integrally.

The motor for rotating the cam member 23 via the spring clutch 25 is a motor for rotating and driving each roller constituting the conveying means. As will be described later, the cam member 23 is rotated in one direction by a forward rotation of a motor that drives the roller to rotate in the sheet conveyance direction, and the cam member 23 is rotated in the other direction by a reverse rotation of the motor. ing.

Next, the operation of the original reading section 68 including the operation of the stopper device 20 will be described.

In FIG. 3A, the stopper member 21 is located at a restricting position where the restricting portion 21b protrudes above the guide surface from the hole 2a of the lower transport guide 2, and restricts the leading end of the document D on which the stopper device 20 is set. In a regulated state.

When the image reading of the document D is started, first, the motor is rotated in the forward direction (hereinafter referred to as forward rotation). Here, the forward rotation of the motor means a rotation direction in which each roller is rotated in the sheet conveyance direction. When the motor rotates forward in this manner, the cam member 23 rotates clockwise in FIG.
The stopper member 21 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, and the restricting portion 21b of the stopper member 21 descends (FIG. 3B).

Further, when the cam member 23 rotates clockwise in FIG. 3 and the projection 25a of the spring clutch 25 comes to a position where it abuts against the abutment 26 (FIG. 3).
(C), the stopper member 21 is at the lowermost position, which is the retracted position, and the stopper device 20 is in a released state where the document D can be supplied.

The motor shown in FIG. 3A is used as a reference until the state shown in FIG. 3C, that is, until the projecting portion 25a of the spring clutch 25 hits the abutting portion 26 and the stopper member 21 is completely lowered. A fixed amount of forward rotation is performed by pulse control. The amount of forward rotation of this motor varies depending on the shape of the cam member 23, but in this embodiment, pulse control is performed so that the motor rotates forward by about 110 °.

Next, when the motor is rotated forward to rotate the rollers constituting the transporting means, the spring clutch 25 enters an idle state, and this state is continued until the transport of the document D is completed (FIG. 3 (c)). )).

Therefore, with the stopper member 21 retracted to the retracted position and the cam member 23 stopped at the predetermined position, the solenoid 17 is actuated by control means (not shown), so 3, the document D placed on the document placing table 31 is transported to the separation unit.

Then, the conveyed document D is supplied to the reverse rotation roller 6.
The image sensor 1 is separated and fed one by one by a separation roller 5 pressed against the transfer roller 8, and further, is contacted by a transfer roller 7 pressed against a transfer roller 8 pressed by a pressing spring 10.
It is transported to 1.

At the reading position, the original D is
The weight pressing shaft 12a and the document pressing plate 1 in the document pressing portion 12
While being in close contact with the contact image sensor 11 by 2b,
The image information is read. The original D from which the image has been read is a discharge roller 1 pressed by a pressing spring (not shown).
The document discharge tray 3 is driven by the discharge roller 13 pressed against the document discharge tray 3.
It is discharged to 2.

During this time, the document D is guided by the upper document guide 1 and the lower document guide 2. The image information of the document D read by the contact image sensor 11 is sent to the above-described image forming unit or another device, and is recorded and formed on a recording sheet based on the information.

When the discharge of the last document D by the paper discharge rollers 13 and 14 is detected by a detecting means (not shown), the motor is rotated reversely (FIG. 3D), and the cam member 23 is moved to the position shown in FIG. It is reversed until it returns to the state shown in a).
The amount of reverse rotation of this motor is the same as the amount of forward rotation described above, and is about 110 ° in this embodiment.

At this time, the cam member 23 and the spring clutch 2
5 rotates in the idling direction, but since the idling load is set to be larger than the load for raising the stopper member 21, the spring clutch does not idle when the motor rotates in the reverse direction. Therefore, the stopper member 21 is not shown in FIG.
It moves to the regulation position as shown in FIG.

The paper discharge roller is not rotated reversely by a mechanical timer mechanism (not shown) even if the motor rotates reversely by a certain amount, so that the original D discharged by the paper discharge roller is returned into the apparatus. Never.

In the normal operation state, the stopper member 21 and the cam member 23 and the like operate accurately in the flow shown in FIGS. 3A to 3D. In some cases, the position of the stopper member 21 or the cam member 23 is unknown. That is, FIG.
As shown in (b) and (d), the position of the cam member 23 may be unknown, and in such a case, the cam member 23 is initialized.

For example, the initialization from the state shown in FIG. 3B will be described.
Is rotated forward by a fixed amount (about 110 ° in this embodiment) from the state shown in FIG. Then, the cam member 23 is brought into a state shown in FIG. From this position, the cam member 23 is displaced by a fixed amount (about 1 in this embodiment).
When the cam member 23 rotates in the reverse direction, the position of the cam member 23 is initialized, and a state (initial state) as shown in FIG.

As described above, the stopper member 21 is provided at one end of the main body 21a to regulate the leading end of the document D.
1b is formed, and the other end is rotatably supported on the apparatus main body by a shaft 22.

The regulating section 21b controls the original D whose top is regulated.
Of the lower original guide 2 is provided at an acute angle with respect to the loading surface of the lower original guide 2 on which the original D is placed. Further, the shaft 22 is disposed at a position where the restricting portion 21b is separated from the sheet when the stopper member 21 moves to the restricting position and the retracted position.

With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the documents D from being fed in a bundle to the separation rollers 5 and 6, and even when a document having a large frictional force between the sheets is conveyed. Stable sheet conveyance performance can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the rotation amount of the cam member 23 is set to about 110 °. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Any number of angles may be used as long as the stopper member 21 can accurately move to the restriction position and the retreat position.

Although the stopper member 21 is configured to move down, the present invention is not limited to this. The same effect can be obtained even if the document D is moved up as long as the document D can be regulated in a wedge shape. be able to.

Although the sheet supply device for supplying a document to the image reading means has been exemplified as the image processing apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a recording sheet is provided in an image forming section provided with the image forming means. The same effect can be obtained even if the present invention is applied to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets.

[0064]

According to the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention, the stopper member of the stopper device is located at the regulating position, and the regulating portion of the stopper member abuts on the leading end of the sheet to regulate the sheet.
By providing a regulating portion such that the side of the sheet separated and supplied first protrudes in the sheet conveying direction among the sheets of which the leading end is regulated, the leading end of the stacked sheets can be regulated in a wedge shape. By preventing double feeding, stable sheet conveyance performance can be obtained even when conveying a sheet having a large frictional force between the sheets.

In the released state, the sheet can be easily supplied by the stopper member of the stopper device being located at the retracted position and the restricting portion of the stopper member being separated from the sheet.

The stopper device includes a stopper member, a cam member for switching the stopper member between the restricting position and the release position, a spring clutch provided between the cam member and the driving source, and an idler for causing the spring clutch to idle. Means, the leading edge of the stacked sheets can be regulated in a wedge shape, preventing double feeding of sheets and stabilizing even when conveying sheets with large frictional force between sheets. The improved sheet conveying performance can be obtained.

The stopper device is disposed between the pre-conveying means for pre-conveying the stacked sheets and the separating and conveying means for separating and conveying the pre-conveyed sheets one by one so as to regulate the leading edge of the sheets. By doing so, it is possible to prevent double feeding of sheets to the separation / conveying means, and to obtain stable sheet conveying performance even when conveying a sheet having a large frictional force between the sheets.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention includes the above-described sheet supply device and image processing means for performing a predetermined process on the sheet supplied by the sheet supply device, so that the leading end of the stacked sheets is wedge-shaped. It is possible to regulate the shape of the sheet, prevent double feeding of sheets, and obtain a stable sheet conveying performance and perform predetermined image processing even when conveying a sheet having a large frictional force between the sheets.

The image processing means is an image reading means for reading an image on a sheet or an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet, so that predetermined image reading or image formation can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram showing the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view showing the stopper device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a cam shaft, a cam member, and a spring clutch of the stopper device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an image reading apparatus according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper document guide 2 Lower document guide 2a hole 3 Preliminary conveyance roller 4 Preliminary conveyance pressing piece 5, 6 Separation roller 7, 8 Conveyance roller 9 Lever 10 Spring 11 Contact image sensor 12 Document pressing part 12a Weight axis 12b Document pressing plate 13, 14 Discharge roller 15 Drive shaft 20 Stopper device 21 Stopper member 21a Body portion 21b Restriction portion 22 Shaft 23 Cam member 23a Engagement portion 24 Cam shaft 25 Spring clutch 25a, 25b Projection portion 26 Abutment portion 31 Document mounting table 32 Document ejection tray 68 Document reading section

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A stopper device having a stacking means for stacking a plurality of sheets, a restriction state for regulating the leading edge of the sheets stacked on the loading means, and a release state for releasing the regulation of the sheet edge. A sheet supply device for supplying a sheet in a released state, wherein a stopper member of the stopper device is located at a regulating position,
In a regulating state in which the regulating portion of the stopper member abuts on the leading edge of the sheet to regulate, the regulating portion is provided such that, of the sheet whose leading edge is regulated, the side of the sheet separated and supplied first projects in the sheet conveying direction. A sheet feeding device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the release state, a stopper member of the stopper device is located at a retracted position, and a restricting portion of the stopper member is separated from a sheet. 3. The stopper device includes: the stopper member; a cam member for switching the stopper member between a regulating position and a release position; a spring clutch provided between the cam member and a driving source; The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising: an idler configured to idle the clutch. 4. The stopper device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper device regulates the leading edge of the sheet between a preliminary transport unit that performs preliminary transport of the stacked sheets and a separation transport unit that separates and transports the preliminary transported sheet one by one. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein 5. The sheet supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein predetermined processing is performed on a sheet supplied to the image processing apparatus by the sheet supply apparatus. An image processing apparatus comprising image processing means. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image processing unit is an image reading unit that reads an image on a sheet or an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet.