JPS6097139A - Automatic sheet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the double feed and shift of a sheet and permit the certain feed in separation by installing a pressing means for pressing a separating member onto a separating roller, in contact at plural position, onto the back surface of the separating member which is press-attached onto the separating roller for separating the sheets one by one. CONSTITUTION:The free edge part 9 of a separating member 8 is brought into contact with the peripheral surface 7 of the part projecting from the sheet loading base 1 of a separating roller 3. In this case, a pressing plate 23 is arranged onto the back surface of the free edge part 9 of the separating member 8. Three ridgelines which extend in the direction crossing at right angles to the direction of feeding a sheet S are arranged onto the pressing plate 23, and the top edge part 27 and the rear edge part 28 are brought into contact with the back surface of the free edge part 9, and the guide shaft 34 of a supporting member 31 is freely inserted into an elliptical hole 31 on a supporting piece 29. While, the pressing edge 37 of a pressing arm 36 is brought into contact with the back surface of the pressing plate 23, penetrating through the hole on a supporting member 14, and a pressing spring 41 is installed onto the other edge of the pressing arm 36 and pivotally supported onto the shaft 39 of the supporting member 14. Therefore, plural positions on the separating member 8 are pressed, and an expected purpose can be achieved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a sheet that separates and conveys so-called sheets, such as originals and recording paper in facsimile machines and copying machines, or paper in printing machines and packaging equipment, to a processing section thereof. Related to automatic feeding device.

(Prior Art) An automatic sheet feeding device automatically separates sheets stacked on a sheet mounting table one by one and feeds them toward a note processing section. One method for separating stacked sheets one by one is to press a separation member made of a high-friction material against a separation roller that rotates in the sheet feeding direction, making use of the difference in the coefficient of friction between the two. There is □. The circumferential surface of the separating roller and the separating member form a draft-like space, and the seven-piece bundle is inserted into this tree-like space from its tip.

When the separation roller rotates in the sheet feeding direction, the leading end of the sheet bundle is forced into the horizontal space. and,
Only the sheets that are in contact with the separation roller are sent in the feeding direction, and the other sheets are prevented from advancing by the friction of the separation member. By the way, when the friction between sheets is large, a so-called double feeding phenomenon is likely to occur, in which another sheet follows the sheet advanced by the separation roller and is sent to the processing section. Further, even if double feeding does not occur, there is a problem in that the sheet to be followed moves at a halfway point in the sheet path. In either case, the sheet that is to be stopped and placed moves, but as a means to prevent this, the separating member and the separating roller may be made of a material with a high coefficient of friction, or the two may be brought into surface contact. It is conceivable to increase the friction coefficient substantially by increasing the friction coefficient. However, in the former case, there is a problem that there is a limit to the selection of materials and the cost of the device increases. In the latter case, the contact area between the separating member and the separating roller becomes longer in the sheet feeding direction, so it can be expected that separation performance will be improved. It is difficult to ensure contact with the In other words, in order to bring the separation member into surface contact with the separation roller, it is necessary to apply pressure to the back surface of the separation member, but it is necessary to provide multiple pressure means, which complicates the configuration and requires pressure adjustment. The problem is that it is troublesome.

(Purpose) The present invention provides an automatic sheet feeder that has a simple structure, brings surface contact between a separating member and a separating roller, and reliably prevents not only double feeding but also movement of subsequent sheets, and which can reliably separate and feed sheets. The purpose is to provide a transmission device.

(Structure) The present invention is characterized in that the separation member is pressed at a plurality of locations in the sheet feeding direction to bring it into surface contact with the separation roller.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a sheet mounting table on which sheets are stacked and mounted. /-To the tip of the table,
Hole 2 is formed. A separation roller 3 made of rubber or a rubber-like material and having a high coefficient of friction faces the hole 2, and a part of its circumferential surface slightly protrudes from the sheet placement surface 4. The sheet mounting table 1 is provided with a slight inclination, and its tip is bent downward to form one side of the sheet passage 5. The separation roller 3 is supported by a support shaft 6, and is rotationally driven in the sheet feeding direction α by a driving means (not shown).

A free end 9 of the separating member 8 is brought into contact with the circumferential surface 7 of the protruding portion of the separating roller 3 . The separating member 8 is made of an elastic, high-friction material such as rubber or rubber-like material, and is formed into a plate shape, as shown in FIG. 2, and its width is equal to the axial length of the separating roller 3. Almost equal. A sliding plate 10 having a low coefficient of friction and a back pressure plate 11 having relatively strong spring properties are provided along the separating member 8. Separation member 8. Sliding plate 10. A base end portion of each back pressure plate 11 is fixed to a bracket 12. The separating member 8 forms a horizontal space 13 that gradually becomes narrower in the sheet feeding direction a between the separating member 8 and the peripheral surface 7 of the protruding portion of the separating roller 3. Bracket 1
2 is fixed to the cut and raised portion 15 of the support member 14. The support member 14 includes a pair of side plates 16 (
(only one side is shown).

The pair of side plates 16 are connected by a stay 17.

Further, this side plate 16 is rotatably attached to a side plate 18 (only one of which is shown) of the main body of the feeding device about a shaft 19. The side plate 16 is given a tendency to bring its leg portion 20 into contact with the sheet placement surface 4 by a biasing means (not shown). A portion of the support member 14 extends to face the sheet placement surface 4 and forms a stacking regulation plate 21 that limits the height of the sheets stacked on the sheet placement table 1. Further, the lower end portion 22 of the support member 14 extends along the bent downward portion of the sheet mounting table 1 and forms the other side of the sheet passage 5.

A suppression plate 23 is brought into contact with the back surface of the free end portion 9 of the separation member 8 . The suppression plate 23 is bent to have a dogleg shape in cross section, and in the illustrated example, has three ridge lines 24, 25 and 26 extending perpendicularly to the sheet feeding direction. The suppressing plate 23 has substantially the same width as the separating member 8, and is located along the ridge line 24. in the sheet feeding direction. , 26 and the rear end 28 are brought into contact with the back surface of the free end 9 of the separation member 8.

The suppression plate 23 has support pieces 2 formed on both sides of its tip.
9.30 The long holes 31- and 32 (see FIG. 2) are loosely fitted into the guide shaft 34 supported by a pair of cut-and-raised portions 33 (only one shown) of the support member 14. Therefore, the pressing plate 23
is supported so as to be swingable and movable in the radial direction of the separation roller 3.

A pressing end 37 of a pressing arm 36 is in contact with the back surface of the pressing plate 23 through a hole 35 in the support member 14 .

The pressurizing arm 36 is swingably supported by a shaft 39 supported by a pair of cut-and-raised portions 38 (only one is shown) of the support member 14 . One end of a pressure spring 41 is locked to one arm end 40 of the pressure arm 36 . The other end of the pressure spring is the adjustment screw 4.
It is locked by a locking member 43 that is screwed into 2. The adjustment screw 42 is rotatably attached to the stay 17, and when the adjustment screw 42 is rotated, the locking member 43 advances or retreats depending on the direction of rotation, thereby changing the pressure of the pressure spring 41. can. The pressure arm 36 is given a swinging habit in the direction of pressing the suppression plate 23 by the elasticity of the pressure spring.

Therefore, the free end 9 of the separation member 8 is brought into surface contact and pressure contact with the peripheral surface 7 of the protruding portion of the separation roller 3. Specifically, in the sheet feeding direction, the free end portion 9 is in pressure contact with two pressure points P2. It is pressed by Pl and brought into surface contact with the circumferential surface 7 of the protruding portion of the separation roller 3. And pressure arm 3
The pressing end 37 of the pressing plate 6 contacts the substantially central part of the back surface of the suppressing plate 23 at one point, and the pressing plate 23 is movably supported by the shaft 34, so that the tip end 27 of the suppressing plate
．． The pressure in the direction along the ridges i126 and 24 at the rear end portion 28 becomes uniform.

Pressure arm 36. The pressing spring 41 constitutes a pressing member, and these and the pressing plate 23 constitute a pressing means.

A stopper 45 is screwed onto the stay 17 at a position facing the back portion 44 of the pressurizing end 37 of the pressurizing arm 36 .

This stopper 45 restricts the clockwise swinging of the pressure arm 36 from -7 to 7 to prevent the free end 9 of the separation member from being separated by more than a predetermined amount from the circumferential surface 7 of the protrusion of the separation roller. It is something. The stopper 45 is fixed with a lock nut 46 after position adjustment.

Although it has already been explained that the separation ports 3 and 8 are made of high-friction materials, the difference in frictional force between them will be specifically explained. When the frictional force of the separating roller 3 is μm, that of the separating member 8 is μ2, and the frictional force between the sheets being fed is μ3, the separating roller 3 is adjusted so that the relationship μm>μ2>μ3 holds. The material of the separation member 8 and its surface roughness are selected. Therefore, when a plurality of sheets enter the pressure contact area between the separation roller 3 and the separation member 8, only the notebook that is in contact with the separation roller 3 that has the highest frictional force is fed as the roller rotates. The other sheets are prevented from advancing by the separation member 8 and friction between the sheets.

(Operation and Effect) In FIG. 1, when a sheet bundle (not shown) is placed on the sheet mounting table 1, the leading end of the sheet bundle is inserted into the fall space 13. At this time, the separation roller 3 is stopped, and the leading edge of the lowest sheet of the sheet bundle is brought into contact with the protrusion 8 and the peripheral surface 7 of the separation roller 3.

Then, when the separating roller 3 rotates in the note feeding direction a, the '/-1- bundle is moved in the same direction.

At this time, if the loaded sheet bundle is a collection of sheets that are easy to separate, only the sheets that are in contact with the protrusion peripheral surface 7 of the separation roller 3 are fed, and the other sheets are sent to the separation member 8. Its progress is blocked by.

On the other hand, it is assumed that the stacked sheet bundle is a collection of sheets that are difficult to separate. Separation roller 3 is in sheet feeding direction a
When the sheet bundle S is rotated, the leading end of the sheet bundle S is thrust into the cylindrical space 13, as shown in FIG. The free end portion 9 of the separating member 8 is pressed against the separating roller 3 at two locations in the sheet feeding direction a. Therefore, the tip of the notebook bundle S that has entered the pressure contact portion between the separation member 8 and the separation roller 3 is first subjected to the frictional force by the separation member 8 at the pressure contact portion P1, which is the first barrier. Therefore, only the lowest sheet Sl that is in contact with the peripheral surface 7 of the protruding part of the separation roller 3 is sent out in the sorting and feeding direction a, and the remaining sheets including the next sheet S2 are sent to the separation member 8. Its progress is blocked by.

If the placed sheet bundle S is a collection of sheets that is difficult to separate, the leading edge of the sheet bundle breaks through the separation barrier by the pressure contact part P and moves toward the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction a. , and moves following the lowest sheet S1. However, the leading end of the sheet bundle is prevented from advancing by the pressure contact portion P2 as a second barrier.

As described above, by pressing the free end portion 9 of the separation member 8 at two places, the barrier of the separation reservoir becomes double,
Even sheets with poor separability can be reliably separated. In addition, at the moment when the rear end of the advancing lowest sheet Sl leaves the leading edge of the next sheet S2, which is stopped at the pressure contact between the protrusion peripheral surface 7 and the free end 9, the separating member 8 is free. Since the end portion 9 is immediately pressed against the circumferential surface 7 of the protruding portion, the leading edge of the next sheet S2 is prevented from moving in the sheet feeding direction a at the pressure contact portion]1
− can be done. Of course, this function of inhibiting the progress of the next sheet also works in the case of sheets with good separability.

Next, another example of the suppressing means will be explained based on FIG. 4.

The suppressing plate 23 is supported by a shaft 49 supported by the bent portion 48 of the bracket 47, and is provided to be swingable and movable in the radial direction of the separation roller 3. The bracket 47 has its base 5o fixed to a stay (not shown). The free end 51 of Buragano I-47 is bent into a U-shape. Mutually parallel bends 52.5 of the free end 51
3 have holes of different sizes 54. 55 are bored facing each other. The large diameter portion 57 of the pressure rod 56 is inserted into the hole 54.
The small diameter portions 58 are loosely engaged with the holes 55, respectively.

The pressure rod 56 has the large diameter portion 57. It consists of a small diameter portion 58, a marked groove 59 formed in the large diameter portion, and an adjustment head 60 formed at the end of the large diameter portion. A spring seat 61 is screwed into the marked groove 59 . The spring seat 61 is a torsion spring that has the habit of tightly wrapping around the marked line groove 59.

At least one end 62 of this spring seat 61 is formed in a length to engage with the free end 51 of the bracket.

-12~ A pressure spring 63 is wound around the pressure rod 56. The pressure spring 63 has one end engaged with the spring seat 61 and the other end engaged with the bent portion 52, so that the pressure spring 63 is attached to the small diameter portion 58 with respect to the pressure rod 56.
It gives them the habit of moving towards the. And the small diameter part 5
The pressurizing end 64 at the tip of 8 is brought into contact with the back surface of the press plate 23 . Therefore, the elasticity of the pressure spring 630 is the same as that of the pressure rod 5.
6 and the press plate 23 to the free end 9 of the separating member 8, which is brought into pressure contact with the peripheral surface 7 of the protrusion of the separating roller 3. Bracket 47. Pressure rod 56. Pressure spring 63
These and the pressing plate 23 constitute a pressing means. As best shown in FIG. 5, a stopper 65 is screwed onto the bent portion 52 of the bracket. This stop collar 65 is made of a headed screw, and the head 65 is made of a headed screw.
6 is positioned so as to cover a part of the adjustment head 60. The stopper 65 is screwed into the bent portion 52 near the hole 54 . The pressing force of the separation member 8 against the separation roller 3 is generated by rotating the pressure rod 56, the spring seat 61 moves in the axial direction, and the distance between the spring seat 59 and the bent portion 52 changes. It is adjusted by changing the set pressure of the pressure spring 63. At this time, since one end 62 of the spring seat 61 is engaged with the free end 51, the spring seat 61 moves in the longitudinal direction of the rod without rotating. After adjusting the pressure of the pressure spring 63, the stopper 65 is screwed forward to set the gap between the two heads 60 and 66 to a predetermined value, and then the position is fixed with a lock nut 67 (see FIG. 5).

Also in this embodiment, the suppressing plate 23 has its tip 27
Since the free end 9 of the separating member 8 is brought into contact with the free end 9 of the separating member 8 at two places on the rear end 28 and pressed against the circumferential surface 7 of the protruding part of the separating roller 3, the pressure contact portion between the separating member 8 and the separating roller 3 is is the sign P
Two separation barriers indicated by I and P2 are set, and the same effect as the suppression means shown in FIG. 1 is achieved.

Incidentally, the pressing force applied to the leading end 27 and rear end 28 of the suppressing plate 23 changes depending on the position of the pressing end 37 (64,) of the pressing member. As long as the pressing end 37 (64) is in contact with the center of the suppressing plate 23 at one point in the width direction of the sheet being fed, the leading end 27 in the width direction of the sheet
The respective compression forces of the rear end portion 28 and the rear end portion 28 are uniform. However, in the note feeding direction a, the respective pressures at the leading end 27 and rear end 28 of the suppressing plate 23 located on the downstream and upstream sides vary depending on the position of the pressing end 37 (64). . That is, the pressure contact portion pI between the separation member and the separation roller,
The pressure of the surface pressure contact portions PI and P2 changes depending on the relative distance between p2 and the contact portion between the suppressing plate 23 and the pressing end 37 (64). For example, the distance between the contact part of the pressure part 37 (64) and the press part 23 and the pressure contact part P1 is
2, the pressure at the surface pressure contact portion will be stronger at the pressure contact portion P1. The pressure of the pressure contact portions PI and P2 may be set higher depending on the characteristics of frequently used notebooks, or may be adjusted as appropriate depending on the characteristics of the sheet. As a method, the shaft 3 supporting the suppressing plate 23
4 (49) may be attached movably along the sheet feeding direction α, that is, the cut and raised portion 33 (48) may be movably attached to the support member 14 (bracket 47). Alternatively, the pressure member may be provided movably along the 7-tooth feeding direction.

Increasing the pressure of the pressure contact part P1 further improves the sheet separation effect, and increasing the pressure contact part P2 makes it easier for the leading end of the sheet bundle to enter the fall space 13. In the former case, it is effective for feeding sheets with strong rigidity, and in the latter case, it is effective for feeding sheets with relatively low rigidity or sheets whose tips are curved (curled) away from the separation roller circumferential surface. It is true.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same main part, Fig. 3 is an operational view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. The side sectional view and FIG. 5 are perspective views of the same essential parts. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Sheet mounting table, 3...Separation roller, 8 Separation member, 9...Free end, 13...Horizontal space, 23...Press plate, 36...Pressure arm, 41...Pressure Spring, 56... Pressure rod, 63... Pressure spring, Pl, P2, pressure contact part.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A sheet loading table for stacking sheets, a separation row 2 whose peripheral surface partially protrudes from the sheet loading surface at the tip of the sheet loading table and rotates in the sheet feeding direction, and a base. a separating member made of an elastic, high-friction member having a fixed end and a free end in surface contact with the circumferential surface of the separating roller, forming a horizontal space with the circumferential surface of the separating roller; An automatic sheet feeding apparatus characterized by comprising a suppressing means that contacts the back surface of the free end of the separating member at a plurality of locations in the note feeding direction to press the separating member against the separating roller. (2) The suppressing means is movable in the radial direction of the separating roller, and the suppressing plate is in contact with the back surface of the separating member at a plurality of points; The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a pressure member that presses the plate.