JPH11247880A - Torque limited, sheet feed device, and image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily change the transmitted torque value by pressing a drive side friction member to be integratedly rotated with a drive side rotating body against a driven side friction member to be integratedly rotated with a driven side rotating body to change the pressure. SOLUTION: When the driving current is supplied to an electromagnetic coil 49 by a driving means, a drive side rotating body 40 is attracted by a fixed core 48, the rotating body 40 presses a drive side friction plate 45 against a driven side friction plate 43, and is stopped where friction plates 43, 45 are abutted on each other. The rotating body 40 is not closely attached to the fixed core 48, but opposite to each other with a gap (g) left behind. The rotation from a rotating means is transmitted to a driven side rotating body 41 through the driven side friction plate 43. In a case of the torque of not less than the prescribed value, a slip is generated between the friction plates 43, 45, and not rotational force is transmitted. The magnitude of the force with which the friction plate 45 presses the friction plate 43, is determined by the magnitude of the current into the electromagnetic coil 49, and can be set by the driving means, and the transmitted torque value necessary for a torque limiter can be easily changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a torque limiter for transmitting a predetermined range of torque, a sheet feeding device using the same, and an image processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A torque limiter utilizing a frictional force is used in a sheet feeding device such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show examples of a sheet feeding apparatus. In the figure, a retard roller 100 is pressed against a feed roller 101 at a predetermined pressure, and a sheet bundle sent by a pickup roller (not shown) is sandwiched in a nip portion. The retard roller 100 has
A constant torque T is always applied in the direction of returning the seat 103 via the torque limiter 102. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, when two or more sheets are sandwiched between the feed roller 101 and the retard roller 100, the second and subsequent sheets are separated from the first sheet, and Is returned in the opposite direction.

However, when the feed roller 101 and the retard roller 100 are in direct contact with each other or when only one sheet is sandwiched between the feed roller 101 and the retard roller 100 as shown in FIG. Follow the direction of sending. Therefore, in order to reliably feed the sheets 103 one by one, the sheet conveying force generated by the reverse rotation torque T applied to the retard roller 100 by the torque limiter 102 is larger than the frictional force between the sheets, but the feed roller 101 Must be smaller than the sheet conveyance force. And the torque limiter
Torque T applied to retard roller 100 by 102
And the pressing force for pressing the retard roller 100 against the feed roller 101 depends on the type of sheet to be fed, environmental conditions,
Alternatively, the appropriate value slightly varies depending on the material of the rollers 100 and 101.

As the torque limiter 102, there is one utilizing frictional force. For example, the one shown in FIG. 9 is used. The torque limiter 102 shown in FIG.
Are two driving-side rotating bodies 10 that are relatively rotatable coaxially.
4 and a driven-side rotator 105, and a drive-side friction plate 106 is fixed or locked to the drive-side rotator 104.
5, a driven friction plate 107 is fixed. Then, the driving side friction plate 106 is compressed by the compression spring 108.
7 and the friction surface 10 of the drive-side friction plate 106.
This is a structure in which torque is transmitted between the two rotating bodies by a frictional force generated between the rotating body 6a and the friction surface of the driven-side friction plate 107.

The drive-side rotator 104 is connected to drive means (not shown) via a pin 110 provided on a shaft 109, and integrally rotates with a drive-side friction plate 106. Further, the driven-side rotating body 105 and the holding collar 111 of the retard roller 100 are connected, and rotate by the torque transmitted by the torque limiter 102.

[0007]

In the torque limiter 102, however, the friction plates 106 and 107 and the compression spring 108
Only the torque determined by the spring pressure can be obtained, and it is difficult to cope with the appropriate torque given to the retard roller 100 which changes depending on the type of sheet to be fed, the environmental conditions or the type of the material of the rollers 100 and 101.

In this case, it is usual to prepare a number of torque limiters 102 having different set torques and use a torque limiter corresponding to each of them. However, different types of sheets are used depending on the destination of the machine body, and there are differences in the environment.Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a torque limiter with a different set torque for each destination, which makes assembly work very difficult. At the same time, it was a factor in increasing costs. Furthermore, if the service engineer wants to change the torque value of the torque limiter by changing the type of seat, etc.
The torque limiter had to be removed from the apparatus body and replaced, which was also inefficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide a torque limiter capable of easily changing a transmission torque value, a sheet feeding apparatus using the same, and an image forming apparatus. A forming apparatus is provided.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a typical configuration according to the present invention is a torque limiter for transmitting a predetermined range of torque from a driving-side rotating body to a driven-side rotating body via frictional force. In the above, the driving-side friction member rotating integrally with the driving-side rotation member and the driven-side friction member rotating integrally with the driven-side rotation member are configured to be able to be pressed against each other, and the pressure contact force between the friction members is changed. It is characterized by being configured to be possible.

In the above configuration, the transmission torque can be changed by changing the pressure contact force between the friction members.

Therefore, by using the torque limiter having the above structure in the sheet feeding device, it becomes possible to separate the sheets by transmitting appropriate torque to various sheets, and to feed the sheets without double feeding. Image processing can be performed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a torque limiter, a sheet feeding device, and an image processing device to which the present invention is applied will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] A torque limiter and the like according to a first embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the configuration of the torque limiter, FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view of the torque limiter exploded into parts, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the drive configuration of the electromagnetic solenoid. 4 is an overall schematic explanatory view of a copying machine as an example of an image processing apparatus, FIG. 5 is an overall schematic explanatory view of a sheet feeding apparatus, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a drive transmission configuration to a sheet feeding means. It is.

Here, as a sequence of the description, first, the overall configuration of the copying machine as the image processing apparatus will be described, and then the sheet feeding apparatus and the torque limiter will be described.

<< Overall Configuration of Image Processing Apparatus >> As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment has a feeding deck 2 in which a large number of sheets S are stacked and stored on one side of an image processing apparatus main body 1. And a plurality of feed cassettes 3 in which a predetermined amount of sheets S are stacked and stored in the lower portion of the image processing apparatus main body 1.
4 is provided.

The feed deck 2 serving as a feed unit for feeding the sheets S, and the sheet feeding devices 5, 6, 7 of the retard separation type are provided at the installation sites of the respective feed cassettes 3, 4. Is provided. The feeding device will be described later in detail.

When the sheets S in the feeding deck 2 and the feeding cassettes 3 and 4 are fed by the respective sheet feeding devices 5, 6 and 7, first, the sheets S are fed to the registration roller pair 8 which has stopped rotating. Then, the skew state is corrected here.

Next, based on the information optically read by the reading means 21, a registration roller pair which rotates at a timing with a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 9 constituting an image forming portion as a processing means. 8, the photosensitive drum 9
, And the toner image on the photosensitive drum 9 is transferred here.

Thereafter, the sheet S is sent to the fixing device 12 by the transport belt 11, and a fixing process for fixing the transferred toner image on the sheet surface is performed.

The image processing apparatus is provided with a duplex copying mode for performing duplex copying on the sheet S and a multiplex copying mode for performing multiple copying. In the normal copying mode (single-sided copying mode), the sheet S after the fixing process is performed. Is discharged onto a discharge tray 15 outside the apparatus by an inner discharge roller pair 13 and an outer discharge roller 14.

In the case of the double-sided copy mode and the multiple copy mode, the pair of inner discharge rollers 13 or the pair of switchback rollers 16 temporarily place the sheet on the intermediate tray 19 via the re-feeding path 17 and the double-sided conveying path 18. It is loaded and stored.

Then, the sheet S stored on the intermediate tray 19 is again conveyed to the registration roller pair 8 for image formation by the re-feeding device 20, and thereafter discharged out of the apparatus through the same process as for one-sided copying. You.

{Sheet Feeding Apparatus} Next, the sheet feeding apparatuses 5, 6, and 7 will be described. Here, the configuration of the feeding device 5 will be described as an example, but it goes without saying that the other feeding devices 6 and 7 may have the same configuration as needed.

The sheet feeder 5 sequentially separates and feeds the sheets one by one toward the above-mentioned image forming section. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of sheets S are stacked and stored. Roller 22 that feeds the uppermost sheet S one by one from the feeding deck 2, and a separation roller that conveys the sheet S fed from the feeding deck 2 by the pickup roller 22 into the image processing apparatus main body. Vs. 23,
A registration roller pair 8 for transporting the separated sheet S to the downstream side is provided.

The separation roller pair 23 is a feed roller 24, which is a rotating body that rotates in the direction in which the sheet is conveyed, and a rotating body that rotates in a direction in which the feed roller 24 comes into contact with the feed roller 24 at a predetermined pressure and returns the sheet. It comprises a retard roller 25.
The pickup roller 22, the feed roller 24 of the separation roller pair 23, and the retard roller 25 are connected to a driving source (
(Not shown). That is, the rotational power of the drive source is transmitted to the roller shaft 28 of the feed roller 24 via the drive belt 26 and the electromagnetic clutch 27.

The rotational power transmitted to the roller shaft 28 of the feed roller 24 is transmitted 1: 1 to the pickup roller shaft 32 of the pickup roller 22 via the pulley 29, the timing belt 30, and the pulley 31. Further, the rotational power from the roller shaft 28 is supplied to the pulley 33, the timing belt 34, and the pulley 35.
And transmitted to a relay shaft 36 of the retard roller 25 via a torque limiter 37 and a coupling 38 described later.

When a voltage is applied to the electromagnetic clutch 27, the rotational power of the drive source is transmitted to the roller shaft 28,
Reference numeral 24 rotates in the direction in which the sheet is conveyed (the direction of arrow A).
Further, the pickup roller 22 also rotates via the timing belt 30 in the direction for transporting the sheet (the direction of arrow C). The rotation of the roller shaft 28 is transmitted to the relay shaft 36 via the timing belt 34. Accordingly, the retard roller 25 rotates in a direction (arrow B direction) to return the sheet S in synchronization with the rotation of the feed roller 24. But retard roller 25
When the torque greater than the set value is applied because the rotational power is transmitted through the torque limiter 37, the retard roller 25
Is idle, and is driven to rotate by the feed roller 24.

The sheet fed by the pickup roller 22 to the nip portion of the separation roller pair 23 as described above
When there is only one sheet, the retard roller 25 becomes idle,
The sheet is conveyed downstream by rotating following the feed roller 24. When a plurality of sheets fed by the pickup roller 22 enter, the retard roller 25 rotates in the direction of arrow B, so that the sheets other than the uppermost layer are returned to the retard roller 25 and Only the upper layer is separated and transported downstream.

{Torque Limiter} Next, the structure of the torque limiter 37 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in the figure, the torque limiter 37 includes a driving-side rotator 40 and a driven-side rotator 41, and the driven-side rotator 41 is formed with a hole 41a for penetrating a shaft. A lid 42 having a bearing hole 42a formed in the center is attached to the driven-side rotator 41. And the driven side rotating body
A driven friction plate 43 as a disk-shaped driven friction member is provided in 41, and this is fixed to the driven rotating body 41 by means such as adhesion and is configured to rotate integrally. I have. The lid 42 is provided with protrusions 42b1 and 42b2, and cutouts 38a1 and 38a3 formed in the coupling 38.
By engaging with a2, the driven-side rotator 41, the coupling 38, and the retard roller 25 rotate integrally.

The drive-side rotating body 40 and the relay shaft 36 are
And the cut-out portion 40a. The drive-side rotating body 40 is movable in the axial direction of the relay shaft 36 while being integrally rotated with the drive mechanism described above. The drive-side rotator 40 has cylindrical portions 40b and 40c, protruding portions 40d1 and 40d2, and a cutout portion 40a. Further, the driving-side rotator 40 is made of a magnetic material.

A driving-side friction plate 45 as a driving-side friction member is fitted to the cylindrical portion 40c of the driving-side rotator 40 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The drive-side friction plate 45 has a notch 45a that engages with the protrusions 40d1 and 40d2 of the drive-side rotating body 40.
1 and 45a2 are formed, so that they rotate integrally with the driving-side rotator 40. Also, the driving side rotating body 40 is the driven side rotating body.
Drive-side rotating body 40 around the part protruding outside from 41
An electromagnetic solenoid having a movable iron core is constituted.

Here, the configuration of the electromagnetic solenoid will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic plate 46 is attached to the open end.
A fixed iron core 48 is provided in a yoke 47 in which is mounted an electromagnetic coil wound around a coil bobbin 49a.
49 are provided. Reference numeral 50 denotes a fixing member 50 for fixing the electromagnetic solenoid to the apparatus main body.

In the electromagnetic solenoid, a magnetic path is formed by the yoke 47 and the magnetic plate 46, and a driving current is supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49 from a driving means 51 as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the torque limiter 37 having the above configuration will be described. When a driving current is supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49 by the driving means 51, the magnetic flux generated by the driving is rotated by the driving-side rotating body 40, which is a movable iron core → the gap g → the fixed iron core 48 →
It flows through a magnetic path that passes through the yoke 47 → the magnetic plate 46 → the drive-side rotator 40. As a result, an attractive force is generated between the fixed core 48 and the driving rotor 40 which is a movable core, and the driving rotor 40
Is sucked toward the fixed iron core 48. The force due to the suction acts in the direction in which the driving-side rotating body 40 presses the driving-side friction plate 45 against the driven-side friction plate 43, and stops at the position where the two friction plates 43 and 46 abut. At this time, the driving-side rotating body 40 and the fixed iron core 48 face each other without leaving a gap g without being in close contact.
In this state, the driving-side rotator 40 is held. In this way, the rotation from the rotation driving means is transmitted to the driven-side friction plate 43,
It is transmitted to the retard roller 25 via the driven-side rotator 41, the lid 42, and the coupling 38. If the torque is more than a certain value, a slip occurs between the friction plates 43 and 46, and the torque is not transmitted to the retard roller 43.

The magnitude of the force by which the driving-side friction plate 45 is pressed against the driven-side friction plate 43 is determined by the magnitude of the current supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49. Therefore, the magnitude of the transmitted torque is also determined by the magnitude of the current supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49. Since the magnitude of the current supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49 can be set by the driving means 51, the transmission torque value required for the torque limiter 37 can be easily changed.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the driving means 51 for changing the transmission torque value. In the figure, reference numeral 51a denotes a control unit which is connected to respective base terminals of two transistors Tr1 and Tr2 and controls on / off of the transistors Tr1 and Tr2. Collector terminal of transistor Tr2 and power supply V
Are connected in series, and the emitter terminal is grounded via an electromagnetic coil 49. The collector terminal of the transistor Tr1 is connected to the resistor R2, and the collector terminal is connected between the emitter terminal of the transistor Tr2 and the electromagnetic coil 49. Control unit
51a turns on the transistor Tr1 and the transistor T
When r2 is turned off, a current I1 flows from the power supply V to the electromagnetic coil 49 via the resistor R1 and the transistor Tr1. on the other hand,
When the transistor Tr1 is turned off and the transistor Tr2 is turned on, the resistor R1, the resistor R2, the transistor T
A current I2 flows through the electromagnetic coil 49 via r2.

Therefore, if the magnitudes of the currents I1 and I2 are made different, it is possible to obtain a corresponding transmission torque.

As described above, the torque value of the torque limiter 37 can be easily changed by the current value supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49, so that it is not necessary to replace the torque limiter as in the conventional case, There is no need to prepare a limiter, which saves time and costs.

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described embodiment,
Although the case where the current value supplied to the electromagnetic coil 49 is two kinds has been described, it is easy to configure the driving means 51 that can set the current value to three or more kinds.

In the above-described embodiment, the driving-side rotating body is used.
An example is shown in which the movable core is 40, but this is the driven side rotating body.
A similar effect can be obtained even if the movable iron core 41 is used, and the pressure contact force between the driven friction plate 43 and the driving friction plate 45 is changed by sucking the driven rotating body 41.

In the above-described embodiment, the driven-side rotating body
Although the drive-side rotator 40 is arranged in the drive body 41, the driven-side rotator may be arranged in the drive-side rotator.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the torque limiter is used in the sheet feeding device has been described, but this torque limiter is also suitably used in a device other than the sheet feeding device for changing and transmitting the rotational torque. be able to.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the sheet feeding device feeds the recording sheet of the copying machine has been described.
This sheet feeding apparatus can also be suitably used for an image reading apparatus or the like that separates and feeds a plurality of set originals one by one and reads the written information of the originals. Therefore, the image processing apparatus may be not only an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer but also an image reading apparatus such as a scanner.

[0045]

The present invention is constructed as described above.
By changing the pressure contact force between the driving-side friction member and the driven-side friction member, the transmission torque can be easily changed. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of torque limiters having different torque values, and cost can be reduced.

Further, by using the torque limiter having the above-described structure in a sheet feeding device, it becomes possible to separate sheets by transmitting appropriate torque to various sheets, and to feed sheets without double feeding. Image processing can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view of a configuration of a torque limiter.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view in which a torque limiter is disassembled into parts.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a drive configuration of an electromagnetic solenoid.

FIG. 4 is an overall schematic diagram illustrating a copying machine as an example of an image processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an overall schematic diagram of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a drive transmission configuration to a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a plurality of sheets are separated and fed by a feed roller and a retard roller.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which one sheet is fed by a feed roller and a retard roller.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a configuration of a torque limiter according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S: Sheet 1: Image processing apparatus main body 2: Feeding deck 3, 4, Feeding cassette 5, 6, 7 ... Sheet feeding device 8: Registration roller pair 9: Photoconductor drum 10: Transfer charger 11: Conveying belt 12 ... fixing device 13 ... inner discharge roller pair 14 ... outer discharge roller 15 ... discharge tray 16 ... switchback roller pair 17 ... re-feed path 18 ... double-sided conveyance path 19 ... intermediate tray 20 ... re-feed device 21 ... reading means 22 ... pickup roller 23 ... separation roller pair 24 ... feed roller 25 ... retard roller 26 ... drive belt 27 ... electromagnetic clutch 28 ... roller shaft 29 ... pulley 30 ... timing belt 31 ... pulley 32 ... pickup roller shaft 33 ... pulley 34 ... timing Belt 35… Pulley 36… Relay shaft 37… Torque limiter 38… Coupling 38a1, 38a2… Notch 39… Roller shaft 40… Drive-side rotating body 40a… Notch 40b, 40 ... Cylindrical parts 40d1, 40d2 ... Protrusion 41 ... Follower rotating body 41a ... Hole 42 ... Lid 42a ... Bearing holes 42b1, 42b2 ... Protrusion 43 ... Follower friction plate 44 ... Pin 45 ... Drive friction plate 45a1, 45a2 … Notch 46… Magnetic plate 47… Yoke 48… Fixed iron core 49… Electromagnetic coil 49a… Coil bobbin 50… Fixing member 51… Drive means 51a… Control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G03G 15/00 510 F16D 27/10 321Z

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A torque limiter for transmitting a predetermined range of torque from a driving-side rotating body to a driven-side rotating body via a frictional force, wherein a driving-side friction member rotating integrally with the driving-side rotating body and a driven-side rotating member. A torque limiter characterized in that the body and a driven-side friction member that rotates integrally can be pressed against each other, and the pressure contact force between the friction members can be changed. 2. The torque limiter according to claim 1, wherein the pressing force is changed by controlling the driving of an electromagnetic solenoid. 3. The electromagnetic solenoid according to claim 1, wherein one of the driving-side rotating body and the driven-side rotating body is a movable core, and a fixed core that sucks the movable core through a gap and a movable core that sucks the movable core. An attraction force of the movable iron core is changed by changing a driving current supplied to the electromagnetic coil, comprising an electromagnetic coil excited by a driving current and a yoke for guiding a magnetic flux generated by the electromagnetic coil to a predetermined magnetic path. 3. The torque limiter according to claim 2, wherein the torque limiter is configured to be able to be used. 4. The torque limiter according to claim 1, wherein the driving-side rotating body and the driven-side rotating body are rotatable around substantially the same central axis. 5. A sheet feeding apparatus for separating and feeding sheets one by one, comprising: a feeding rotator that rotates in a sheet feeding direction; and a direction in which the sheet is pressed against the feeding rotator and the sheet is returned. And a retard rotating body that rotates to transmit the rotational force to the retard rotating body via the torque limiter according to any one of claims 1 to 4. apparatus. 6. An image processing apparatus for performing image processing by feeding a sheet, wherein the image processing unit performs image processing on the sheet fed by the sheet feeding apparatus. An image processing apparatus, comprising: