JPH0143178Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field This invention relates to a shredder for shredding documents, etc., and in particular a storage section for storing shredded paper sheets (hereinafter referred to as "shredded waste"). The present invention relates to a full paper detection device.

(b) Prior Art Figure 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a conventionally commonly used shredder. On the upper surface of the shredder main body 1 is an input port 2 into which paper sheets to be processed are input.
is formed, and two sets of cutter rollers 3 are installed inside this inlet 2 in a state that they partially overlap. The cutter roller 3 is made up of a plurality of disc-shaped rotary blades connected in the axial direction. At the bottom of the main body 1, a storage box (accommodation section) 4 is installed to store paper sheets (shredded waste) that have been shredded into strips or strips by the cutter roller 3. This storage box 4 is the main body 1
A door (not shown) provided on the side can be opened to remove and dispose of the stored shredded waste. A micro switch 5 is installed on the inner wall of the main body above the housing box 4 with its hinge lever 6 facing downward. The tip of the hinge lever 6 is located at the upper part of the storage box 4 or above the storage box 4.

In this shredder, the shredded waste shredded by the cutter roller 3 is deposited in the storage box 4, and when the height of the pile reaches the position of the hinge lever 6, the hinge lever 6 is pushed down by the paper sheets and the micro switch 5 is activated. opens and closes. A control unit (not shown) detects this opening/closing state and performs actions to cope with full paper, such as stopping the operation and generating an alarm. In such a shredder, since the hinge lever 6 protrudes above the storage box 4, it is easy to come into contact with the storage box 4 when taking it in or out, and there is a risk of damaging the hinge lever 6. For this reason, there was a problem that care was required when loading and unloading, resulting in poor workability. In addition, the hinge lever 6 prevents the shredded waste from falling evenly, and the hinge lever 6
This caused a delay in detecting full paper, and there was also a risk that shredded waste would overflow into the main body of the device. There was also the problem that the hinge lever 6 swung and malfunctioned due to mechanical vibrations. Furthermore, if the hinge lever 6 is above the storage box 4, it will not be possible to detect the shredded waste unless it exceeds the top of the storage box 4, so when the storage box 4 is pulled out, the shredded waste will not be inside. There was a problem with it being scattered.

In order to solve these problems, the present applicant proposed a paper shredder full paper detection device that can accurately detect full paper using an optical method in Utility Application No. 149904/1982.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structural diagram of a shredder to which the shredder full-sheet detection device is applied. The same parts in the structure as the shredder shown in FIG. 4 are given the same numbers and the explanation will be omitted. Katsutarora 3
A shielding plate 7 is provided between the storage box 4 and the storage box 4 to block light from the outside. The shielding plate 7 is provided with an opening 7a for dropping shredded paper sheets into the storage box 4. A light emitting section 8 and a light receiving section 9 are provided below the shielding plate 7. The light emitting section 8 and the light receiving section 9 constitute a photoelectric sensor, and both are installed toward the interior of the storage box 4 (downward). This prevents the light emitted from the light emitting section 8 from directly entering the light emitting section 9.
Light reflected from the upper end of the shredded waste stored in the storage box 4 enters the storage box 4.

In this device, as the amount of accumulated shredded debris increases, the reflective surface (the upper surface of the shredded debris) rises and approaches the light emitting section and the light receiving section, so that the amount of light received by the light receiving section increases.
The amount of light received by the light receiving unit when the storage box 4 is full of shredded waste is set as a reference value, and by comparing the actual amount of received light with this, it is possible to detect when the paper is full. .

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention This device has the advantage that it does not have mechanical parts, so it has fewer failures and does not interfere with deposition. However, minute paper dust and the like generated during shredding sometimes adhered to the light emitting section and the light receiving section due to static electricity. In this case, the amount of light received by the light receiving section will decrease, and even if the storage box is full, the light receiving section will not be able to receive a sufficient amount of light, and there is a risk that the storage box will overflow due to malfunction. It was hot.

This idea was developed in consideration of these problems, when paper dust etc. adhere to the surface of the photoelectric sensor and the light from the light emitting element is reflected internally instead of being irradiated to the outside.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a full sheet detection device for a shredder, which can detect an abnormality by receiving the light with a light receiving element.

(d) Means for solving the problem This invention is installed in a shredder that has a shredding section for shredding input paper sheets and a storage section for accumulating and storing the shredded paper sheets. A photoelectric sensor that integrally includes a light-emitting part containing a light-emitting element and a light-receiving part containing a light-receiving element is provided from an upper end of the housing part toward the housing part, and when the light-receiving element receives light. In a shredder full sheet detection device that outputs a message indicating that the storage compartment is full when the amount of light exceeds a certain value, the light emitted from the light emitting element is directly directed to the light receiving element in a partition wall that divides the light emitting part and the light receiving part. A feature is that an opening is provided at a position where no light enters.

(e) Operation The shredder full paper detection device of this invention operates as follows.

A photoelectric sensor including a light emitting part and a light receiving part is installed facing the housing part, and the light emitting part irradiates light into the housing part. This light is reflected on the upper surface of the shredded waste deposited and accommodated in the storage section, and the light receiving section receives the reflected light of this light. The amount of light received becomes stronger as the pile height of the shredded debris increases (the closer the reflecting surface is). Determine whether the amount of received light is equal to or greater than a certain value (the intensity of reflected light when the upper end of the shredded waste is at the upper end of the storage part),
When the value exceeds a certain value, a message indicating that the paper is full is output.

Minute paper dust is generated during shredding, but when this paper dust adheres to the surface of the light-emitting part and light-receiving part (especially the light-emitting part) of the photoelectric sensor, the light emitted by the light-emitting element is emitted outside (the upper end of the shredded waste). The light is not irradiated to the light but is reflected inside, and a portion of the light enters the light receiving section through the opening. This light is reflected again within the light receiving section and enters the light receiving element. As a result, the light-receiving element receives as much or more light as when the paper is full, and can output a message indicating that the paper is full or that the sensor is abnormal.

(f) Embodiment An embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. The structure of the shredder to which this embodiment is applied is similar to the shredder shown in FIG. 5, so a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a photoelectric sensor used in a shredder full-sheet detection device according to an embodiment of this invention. This photoelectric sensor 22 has a light emitting section 8 and a light receiving section 9 integrated into one, and a visible light cut filter 12 is installed in front of the photoelectric sensor 22 . The visible light cut filter 12 is a filter that transmits infrared light and is curved into a lens shape to prevent light from diffusing.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the internal structure of the photoelectric sensor 22. As shown in FIG. Inside the light emitting section 8 and the light receiving section 9, a light emitting diode 11 as a light emitting element and a photodiode 14 as a light receiving element are built in, respectively, and the visible light cut filter 12 is provided in front of these. Furthermore, a slit-shaped opening 13a is provided near the front surface of the partition wall 13 that separates the light emitting section 8 and the light receiving section 9.

When the photoelectric sensor 22 is operating normally without paper dust adhering to its surface, almost no light from the light emitting diode 11 passes through the opening 13a, and the small amount of light that does pass is directly transmitted to the outside via the visible light cut filter 12. It passes through. On the other hand, when paper dust adheres to the surface of the photoelectric sensor 22 and the light from the light emitting diode 11 is not properly irradiated to the outside, the light from the light emitting diode 11 is reflected within the light emitting section 8, and a part of it passes through the opening 13a. and enters into the light receiving section 9. This light is reflected again within the light receiving section 9 and is transmitted to the photodiode 1.
Light enters 4. The amount of light at this time is about the same as or more than when full paper is detected during normal operation of the photoelectric sensor.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of the full paper detection device. The light emitting section 8 has a light emitting diode 11 that emits light including infrared light, and the visible light cut filter 12 cuts out light with a wavelength shorter than the infrared light. An oscillator 10 is connected to the light emitting diode 11, which supplies an oscillating current of a specific frequency. This oscillator 10 supplies an oscillating current of 3.3kHz to the light emitting diode 11. As a result, the light emitting section 8 irradiates the inside of the storage box 4 with infrared rays whose amplitude is modulated at 3.3 kHz.

On the other hand, the light receiving section 9 has a photodiode 14. The photodiode 14 is an element sensitive to infrared rays and visible light, but since the visible light is cut off by the visible light cut filter 12, it detects only the amount of infrared light. A resistor 15 is connected in series to the photodiode 14, and a reverse voltage of +V is applied to both ends thereof. The current value of the photodiode 14 changes depending on the amount of light received by the photodiode 14, and the voltage generated across the resistor 15 changes. This voltage is supplied to a filter 16, and the voltage (output) filtered by the filter 16 is input to an amplifier 17. This filter 16 is connected to the oscillator 10.
This is a band pulse filter that filters only the components of the oscillation frequency (3.3kHz). Thereby, only the component of the light emitted by the light emitting diode 11 out of the light received by the photodiode 14 can be extracted. The 3.3kHz component amplified by the amplifier 17 is rectified by the rectifier 18 and converted into a voltage value corresponding to its amplitude. This voltage is input to the compared terminal of the comparator 19. The voltage +V is applied to the comparison terminal of the comparator 19.
A reference voltage set by the reference voltage setting resistors 20 and 21 is input. Comparator 19 is rectifier 1
When the voltage input from 8 becomes equal to or higher than the reference voltage, it outputs "H" and prompts the following operating section (not shown) to operate. It is possible to connect a drive stop circuit for the cutter roller 3, an alarm sounding circuit, etc. as a subsequent operating section.

Here, the voltage across the resistor 15 is determined by a photocurrent that is proportional to the amount of light received by the photodiode 14 (although it is not a proportional relationship in a mathematical sense, it is a monotonically increasing function). That is,
When the photocurrent increases, the voltage across both ends increases, and when the photocurrent decreases, the voltage across both ends decreases. Of this voltage change, only the 3.3 kHz component (light from the light emitting diode 11) is filtered by the filter 16 and supplied to the amplifier 17. Further, the amplitude of the filtered 3.3 kHz component (that is, the voltage value rectified by the rectifier 18) is proportional to the amount of light received by the photodiode 14. The reference voltage is set to a voltage value output by the rectifier 18 when the storage box 4 is full. Thereby, when the storage box 4 is full of shredded waste, the cutter roller drive stop circuit, alarm sounding circuit, etc. can be operated. In addition, paper dust or the like may adhere to the surface of the photoelectric sensor 22, causing the light emitting diode 11
When the light is no longer irradiated to the outside, the opening 13
It has been experimentally confirmed that the amount of light that enters the photodiode 14 through a is generally larger than the amount of light when the storage box 4 is full of sheets. Therefore, in this circuit, when the photoelectric sensor 22 becomes abnormal due to adhesion of paper dust, etc., the same operation as when full paper is detected is performed. When full paper is detected, the effect is the same as when the photoelectric sensor is abnormal because the function of the shredder is stopped and the staff waits for maintenance. Further, by providing a circuit similar to the comparator 19 and the reference voltage setting resistors 20 and 21 in parallel, and setting the reference voltage to the voltage that occurs when the photoelectric sensor is abnormal,
Sensor abnormality can be detected separately from a full paper state. In this case, the size and position of the opening 13a may be adjusted so that the detection voltage when the sensor is abnormal is sufficiently higher than the full paper detection reference voltage value.

In addition, in this example, by modulating the detection light, it is easy to distinguish between external light and the detection light, and by using infrared rays as the detection light, the reflectance depending on the color of the shredded waste can be improved. This further improves detection accuracy.

(g) Effects of the invention According to this invention, by providing an opening in the partition wall that divides the light emitting part and the light receiving part, when paper dust, etc. adheres and light is reflected inside, the light is detected. It is possible to cause the photoelectric sensor to output an error message or a full page detection signal. This makes it possible to stop the operation of the shredder when paper dust, etc. adheres to the photoelectric sensor, and even if the shredded waste reaches the upper end of the storage section, the amount of light received does not reach a predetermined value and full paper is not detected. It is possible to eliminate malfunctions such as, overflow of the storage section, and damage to the cutter roller.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an external view of a photoelectric sensor used in a shredder full-sheet detection device, which is an embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the internal structure of the photoelectric sensor, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the full sheet detection device of the shredder, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic structural diagrams of the conventional shredder. . 8... Light emitting section, 9... Light receiving section, 11... Light emitting diode, 12... Visible light cut filter, 13
...Partition wall, 13a...Opening, 14...Photodiode.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A device installed in a shredder having a shredding section for shredding input paper sheets and a storage section for accumulating and storing the shredded paper sheets, A photoelectric sensor that integrally includes a light emitting part containing a light emitting element and a light receiving part containing a light receiving element is provided from the upper end of the housing part toward the housing part, and the amount of light received by the light receiving element exceeds a certain value. In the shredder full-sheet detection device that outputs a message indicating that the storage compartment is full when the storage area is full, an opening is provided in the partition wall that divides the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part at a position where the light emitted from the light-emitting element does not directly enter the light-receiving element. A full sheet detection device for a shredder, characterized by having a section.