JPS6338192Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a medium separation mechanism for separating and sending out one by one a large number of sheets of media such as paper accumulated in a hopper.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a conventional media separation mechanism of this type. In the figure, 1 is a suction drum, which has a suction port 2 at a predetermined position, and a hopper that holds a large number of media 3 such as paper. It is located above one end of 4. The hopper 4 is removably set at the position shown, and in the set state is controlled by a detection sensor (not shown) so that one end of the uppermost medium 3 comes into contact with the surface of the suction drum 1.

5 is a brake rubber, which is provided near one end of the hopper 4 so that its tip comes into contact with the surface of the suction drum 1 with a predetermined pressure; and 6 is a reset lever disposed on the side of the brake rubber 5. in,
When feeding the medium, it stands by at a position away from the medium 3 as shown by the solid line, and when feeding is finished, it is moved by means not shown to a position where it presses the medium 3 as shown by the dashed line.

7 is a conveyance roller supported by arm 8;
The suction drum 1 is held in place by the spring 9.
is in contact with the surface of

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the positional relationship between the brake rubber 5 and the reset lever 6 mentioned above.

In this configuration, when the suction drum 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow a and its suction port 2 comes to a position where it comes into contact with the medium 3, the medium 3 is suctioned and held in the direction of the arrow b by the suction port 2, and the suction drum continues as it is. It is pulled out from the hopper 4 as the hopper rotates. At this time, the number of media 3 to be suctioned and held is not limited to one, but two or more media 3 may be suctioned and held multiple times.
When passing through the position, this brake rubber 5 separates the second and subsequent media 3 with a friction force greater than the friction force of the suction drum 1.

In this way, the medium 3 is separated one by one, sent out from the hopper 4, and conveyed by the conveyance roller 7.

When a predetermined number of media 3 have been conveyed, the rotation of the suction drum 1 is stopped, the reset lever 6 moves to the position indicated by the dashed line and holds down the media 3, and the operation ends. When the suction drum 1 stops rotating, the medium 3 held between the suction drum 1 and the brake rubber 5 is pushed back into the hopper 4 by the movement of the reset lever 6.

Having explained the conventional media separation mechanism above,
According to this, it is difficult to maintain the positional relationship between the brake rubber and the suction drum when the hopper is removed and refilled with media and then set again. If it becomes impossible to separate the media one by one, or conversely, the contact pressure becomes excessive, the reset lever is used to remove the media held between the suction drum and the brake against the frictional force with the brake rubber. There were drawbacks such as the leading edge of the medium being damaged by the reset lever when pushing it back into the hopper.

In addition, as another medium separation mechanism, instead of the brake rubber, there is one in which an endless separating belt supported by a plurality of rollers is pressed against a suction roller, but the medium is held by suction and held by the suction roller. When the medium enters the separation belt, there is a problem that the leading edge of the medium collides with the separating belt and is damaged, and especially if the medium is made of thin material, the leading edge of the medium may be damaged. It was hot.

The present invention has been made to solve these drawbacks, and in a media separation mechanism that uses a separation belt that is in pressure contact with a suction drum, the end of the separation belt on the hopper side has a small friction coefficient and a surface. The feature is that a curved guide member made of a smooth material is arranged, and its purpose is to guide the medium in one direction.
To ensure that the media are separated one by one and to be able to push the media held between the suction drum and the guide member back into the hopper without damaging the media after conveying a predetermined number of media. .

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a suction drum, 2 is a suction port, 3 is a medium, 4 is a hopper,
6 is a reset lever, 7 is a conveyance roller, 8 is an arm, and 9 is a spring, which are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Reference numeral 10 denotes an endless separation belt, and this separation belt 10 includes a roller 11 and a support frame 1 rotatably provided around an axis 12 of the roller 11.
It is supported by being wrapped around a small roller 14 attached to 3. And this separation belt 10
is arranged near one end of the hopper 4, and is pressed against the surface of the suction drum 1 with a predetermined pressure by a spring 15 that tensions the support frame 13.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a guide member, which is made of a material with a low coefficient of friction such as Delrin or Teflon and has a curved shape and has a smooth surface. This guide member 16 is connected to the separation belt 1
The support frame 13 is attached to the end of the support frame 13 so as to cover the end of the hopper side of the drum 1, and a part of the support frame 13 is in contact with the surface of the suction drum 1.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the positional relationship between the separation belt 10, the guide member 16, etc., and the reset lever 6, which are separated from the suction drum 1 from the position shown in FIG. The separation belt 10 side is rotated approximately 90 degrees clockwise around the point of contact with the separation belt 10 and is unfolded.

Next, to explain the operation of the above-mentioned configuration, in the state shown in FIG. The suction drum 1 is controlled so that the suction port 2 suctions and holds the medium 3 in the direction of arrow b. Therefore, the number of media 3 that is suctioned and held by the suction drum 1 during suction is not limited to one, but two or more sheets may be suctioned and held. Therefore, multiple feeding occurs in which two or more media 3 are conveyed at the same time. do.

The separation belt 10 prevents this multiple feeding and functions to separate the second and subsequent media 3. Normally, this separation belt 10 can separate the media 3 one by one even if it is stopped against the suction drum 1, but if the same part is always in pressure contact with the suction drum 1, wear will occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, consideration is given to reducing wear by moving the suction drum 1 by a small amount in a direction opposite to the rotational direction of the suction drum 1 via the roller 11, that is, in the direction of the arrow c, by a means (not shown) connected to the shaft 12. ing.
The movement of the separating belt 10 in the direction of the arrow c is also used when returning unnecessary media 3 to the hopper 4 after delivering a predetermined number of media 3.

Now, as described above, when the medium 3 suctioned and held by the suction drum 1 enters onto the separation belt 10,
In the conventional method, there was a problem that the leading end of the medium 3 was damaged or damaged, but in this embodiment, the medium 3 is guided by a curved guide member 16 that is in contact with the suction drum 1. 3 is smoothly guided onto the separation belt 10 without any damage or damage to the tip, and is further sent to the conveyance roller 7 while receiving the frictional force of the separation belt 10.

The frictional force of the separation belt 10 is set to be slightly smaller than the suction force by the suction port 2 of the suction drum 1, and therefore the first medium 3 is transferred to the suction drum by the separation belt 10. It will not be peeled off from 1.

When the medium 3 is separated one by one in this way and a predetermined number of sheets are sent out from the hopper 4, the suction drum 1
The rotation of the medium 3 is stopped, and the medium 3 held between the suction drum 1 and the separation belt 10 at this time is
By rotating the separating belt 10 in the direction of arrow c, it is fed backward, and its leading end is returned onto the guide member 16.
As described above, this guide member 16 is made of a material such as Delrin, Teflon, etc., which has a small coefficient of friction and a smooth surface, so that when the reset lever 6 returns from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the broken line,
When the leading end of the medium 3 on the guide member 16 is pushed by the reset lever 6, the medium 3 easily slides down and returns into the hopper 4. Therefore, even when returning the medium 3, the leading edge of the medium 3 will not be damaged.

As explained above, in the present invention, a curved guide member made of a material with a small coefficient of friction and a smooth surface is placed at the end of the separation belt on the hopper side and brought into contact with the suction drum. This has the effect of preventing the leading edge of the medium from being scratched or damaged when the medium is sent out and returned. Furthermore, by using the separating belt, it is possible to reliably separate and send out the media one by one, and since the guide member is integrated with the separating belt via the support frame, the guide member and the separating belt The positional relationship between the hopper and the hopper is always constant, and even if the hopper is attached or detached, the positional relationship will not be disturbed, so the effect is that the medium can be fed stably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a conventional media separation mechanism, Fig. 2 is a front view showing the positional relationship of its main components, Fig. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is its side view. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the positional relationship of main components. 1... Suction drum, 2... Suction port, 3... Medium, 4... Hopper, 6... Reset lever, 7...
Conveyance roller, 10...Separation belt, 11...Roller, 12...Shaft, 13...Support frame, 14
...Small roller, 15...Spring, 16...Guide member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A hopper that holds a large number of media such as paper, a suction drum that has a suction port that suctions and holds the media and is placed above one end of the hopper, and is in pressure contact with the suction drum and has a rotating direction of the suction drum. In a media separation mechanism that is equipped with a separation belt that moves in the opposite direction to separate the media so that the media are conveyed one by one, the media is formed into a curved shape from a material with a small coefficient of friction and a smooth surface. A medium separation mechanism characterized in that a guide member is disposed at an end of the separation belt on the hopper side.