JPH0285524A - Clutch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a clutch from falling into a lock condition and to aim at miniaturizing the clutch by fitting a cylindrical resilient member between a drive member and one side of a driven member so as to be integrally drivable while it is rotatable relative to the other side of the driven member, and by allowing the cylindrical resilient member to make press-contact with the other side thereof. CONSTITUTION:When a solenoid 53 in an actuating means 5 is energized, a press contact roller 50 is partly pressed against a cylindrical resilient member 4 which are rotating integrally with a drive member 2 so that a frictional resistance occurs between a driven member 3 and the cylindrical resilient member 4, and accordingly, the driven member 3 rotates following up the cylindrical resilient member 4 so as to transmit a torque from the drive member 2 to the driven member 3. Meanwhile, when the solenoid 53 in the actuating means 5 is deenergized, the press contact roller 50 is moved away from the cylindrical resilient member 4 so that the cylindrical resilient member 4 returns to a position where it is separated from the outer periphery of the driven member 3 by a space (a), and accordingly, the coupling between the drive member 2 and the driven member 3 is released, thereby the torque of the drive member 2 is not transmitted to the driven member 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a clutch, and more particularly to a clutch that connects and disconnects the driving force of a drive system.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, spring clutches using metal coil springs, which are advantageous in terms of cost and have a relatively simple structure, have been well known as clutches that connect and disconnect the driving force of the drive system.
For example, in a drive device such as a copying machine, the spring clutch is used to drive and stop the rotation of a paper feed roller provided in a paper supply section, a registration roller provided in a paper transport section, etc. Many products are available (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-98223).

The configuration of the spring clutch installed in the above copying machine is as follows:
As shown in FIG. 6, a drive member (2') connected to the drive system of the copying machine is relatively rotatably attached to the rotating shaft (1'), and the same rotating shaft (1') A driven member (3') is attached to the drive member (2') such that it can rotate integrally with the drive member (2') with a certain gap (S) therebetween. Further, a coil spring (4') is attached across the driving member (2') and the driven member (3'), and one end of the coil spring (4') is attached to the driven member (3'). It is locked. Further, the other end of the coil spring (4') is engaged with an actuation member (5') that causes the coil spring (4') to expand and contract in the radial direction. (5') is loosely fitted so as to surround the coil spring (4').

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, in the above spring clutch, the driving part key (
2') and the adjacent gap (S) between the driven part Ll'(3')
) is large, the coil spring (4') repeatedly contracts and expands and enters the gap (S), and the coil spring (4') is fixed in a state wrapped around the rotating shaft (1'), resulting in a so-called lock. There was a risk that the situation would develop.

Therefore, in the Kune clutch, in order to prevent the coil spring (4') from entering the gap (S),
) as small as possible, for example, 0.1+0°f')
It is adjusted to about 5 mm. However, the above gap (S
), the coil spring (4') comes into contact with the edges of the end faces of the driving member (2') and the driven member (3'), causing the edges to wear and become sticky.
Furthermore, after long-term use, the coil spring (4') may become locked as described above due to the progress of wear. Moreover, it is difficult to maintain the gap (S), and it is very troublesome to adjust the gap (S).

Furthermore, if the coil spring (4') is not wound over a certain number of turns across the driving member (2') and the driven member (3'), the coil spring (4') may contract. Also, slippage occurs on the surface of the driving member (2'), making it impossible to tightly tighten the driving member (2') and connecting the driving member (2') and driven member (3'). I can't. Therefore, in the above spring clutch, the coil spring (4'
) had to be secured over a certain number of turns. Moreover,
The coil spring (4') needs to be attached to the clutch with a certain amount of room for expansion in the axial direction, so the axial length of the clutch tends to be large.
There was a problem in that the clutch could not be made smaller.

Furthermore, in a spring clutch, a coil spring (4')
When assembling the spring clutch, apply a semi-solid lubricant such as grease to the contact areas between the coil spring (4') and the drive member (2') and driven member (3') to prevent abnormal noises generated from the spring clutch. It was necessary to apply. However, the coil spring (4'), the driving member (2') and the driven member (3'
) The lubricant constriction occurs due to the frictional heat generated at the contact portion with the coil spring (4').
This causes problems such as abnormal noise due to the lubricant, making it necessary to replenish the lubricant frequently. It has been reported that in order to replenish lubricant to the spring clutch, it is necessary to disassemble the spring clutch, which takes time and effort for maintenance, and that the burden of labor for maintenance is extremely large.

This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has an object to prevent the clutch from becoming locked due to the elastic body entering between the driving member and the driven member, and to reduce the size of the clutch. It is an object of the present invention to provide a clutch that can reduce maintenance such as applying lubricant, and reliably prevent abnormal noise from occurring.

Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the clutch of the present invention includes a cylindrical elastic body made of rubber or plastic that is integrally rotatable on either one of the driving member and the driven member. The cylindrical elastic body is fitted and inserted into the other side so as to be relatively rotatable, and an actuating means that can press the cylindrical elastic body against the other side is provided.

According to the spring clutch configured as described above, the actuating means is pressed against a cylindrical elastic body made of rubber or plastic, and the cylindrical elastic body is brought into pressure contact with either the driving member or the driven member. This allows the driving member and the driven member to be connected.

In this way, since the driving member and the driven member are connected through the cylindrical elastic body made of rubber or plastic, the adjacent end surfaces and edges of the driving member and the driven member are not worn out. Regardless of the size of the gap between the end faces, the cylindrical elastic body can be prevented from entering the gap.

Further, unlike conventional coil springs, there is no need to ensure a certain number of turns or more, or to provide a margin in the axial direction of the clutch in consideration of the extension of the coil spring.

Furthermore, since the cylindrical elastic body is made of rubber or plastic, no abnormal noise is generated even when the actuating means is pressed into contact with the cylindrical elastic body, and the contact between the cylindrical elastic body and the driving member and the driven member is There is no need to apply lubricant such as grease to the surface.

<Example> Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of a copying machine that employs the clutch (K) of the present invention.
A contact glass (11) is provided for placing the original, and an optical part (A) for scanning and exposing the original is provided in the upper part of the interior of the copying machine, and the lower part of the optical part (A) is located almost inside the copying machine. In the center, there is a photoreceptor drum (12
) is provided with an image processing section (B) that visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the paper using a developing device (13) and then transfers the image to a sheet of paper.

Further, a paper transport section (D) for supplying paper to the image processing section (B) is provided on the rear end side (right side in FIG. 5) of the image processing section (B), and this paper transport section (1 )) is provided with a paper supply section (C) that feeds the paper sheets one by one manually or automatically. Further, on the front end side of the image processing section (B), there is a paper transport section (E) for transporting the paper after transfer to a fixing processing section (P) to be described later.
A fixing processing section (P) for fixing the transferred image transferred to the paper is provided at the front end side of the paper conveyance section (E). A paper tray (14) is provided on the outside of the left side of the copying machine, from which the paper that has passed through the fixing processing section (P) is discharged.

The clutch (K) of the present invention transfers the sheets stored in the paper feed cassette (9) of the paper supply section (C) or the sheets placed on the manual paper feed section (17) one by one to the paper transport section. (D
), the rotating shaft (1) of the paper feed roller (15),
It is attached to the rotating shaft (1) of a pair of registration rollers (1B) provided in a paper transport section (D) that supplies the fed paper to the image processing section (B) having a photosensitive drum (12). There is. As shown in FIG.
3), and is rotatably mounted via the clutch (K
) is located at one end of the rotating shaft (1) and projects outward (back side) from the side plate (74), and the IL ring (70
) to prevent it from coming off.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the clutch (K) includes a drive member (1) that is relatively rotatably attached to the rotation shaft (1) of the paper feed roller (15), and (
A driven member (3) is attached to the drive member (3) so as to be integrally rotatable with the drive member (3), and a driven member (3) is fitted and inserted into the drive member (2) so as to be integrally rotatable, and a predetermined gap (a> is provided in the driven member (3)). Mainly composed of a cylindrical elastic body (4) that is fitted and inserted so as to be relatively rotatable, and an actuating means (5) that can press the cylindrical elastic body (4) against the driven member (3). There is.

The drive member (2) has a gear (20) connected to a drive system (not shown) of the copying machine main body, and a hub portion (21) having a smaller outer diameter than the gear (20), Rotating axis (1)
It is attached to the bearing 00) via a bearing 00). Also,
The inner side of the hub portion (21) is a driven member (3) which will be described later.
) is formed into a recessed part (22) into which a part can be fitted.

The driven member (3) is locked in a predetermined position by a locking member (71) formed on the rotating shaft (1), and the driven member (3) is adjacent to the driving member (2). A convex portion (31) that can fit into the concave portion (22) is formed on the side.

The cylindrical elastic body (4) is made of rubber or plastic. For example, if it is made of rubber, one with a hardness of about 20° to 30" (J 15-A) has sufficient frictional force. is obtained and has excellent restorability and durability.The cylindrical elastic body (4) is
For example, a reinforcing member made of mesh-like wires, fibers, etc. may be embedded inside. Moreover, - of the cylindrical elastic body (4)
The blade side is fixed to the hub part (21) of the driving member (3), and the other side is fixed to the hub part (21) of the driven member (3) while maintaining a gap (a) to the extent that it does not contact the outer periphery of the driven member (3). ) is inserted while covering it.

As shown in FIG. 2, the actuating means (5) includes a rotatable pressure roller (50) and a pressure roller (50)
a movable plate (52) integrally formed with the roller support part (51); and a movable plate (52) that rotatably supports the movable plate (52). A support bin (52a) provided at the center of the movable plate (52) is connected at one end to the bottom j of the movable plate (52), and the movable plate (52) is moved by reciprocating linear motion with respect to the movable plate (52). A rotating solenoid (53) and this solenoid (5
3), and the movable plate (52
) and a guide plate (54) that supports the support bin (52a). And the above solenoid (53)
By energizing and deenergizing the movable plate (52
) rotates about the support bottle (52a) as a fulcrum, and the pressure roller (50) is brought into and out of pressure contact with the surface of the cylindrical elastic body (4).

The operation of the clutch (K) having the above configuration is as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when the solenoid (53) of the actuating means (5) is energized, the pressure roller (50) is rotated by the cylindrical elastic roller that rotates integrally with the drive member (2). The driven member (3) is partially pressed against the body (4).
Since frictional resistance is generated between the driven member (3) and the cylindrical elastic body (4), the driven member (3) rotates depending on the cylindrical elastic body (4),
The rotational driving force of the driving member ('2J) is transmitted to the driven member (3).On the other hand, the solenoid (53) of the actuating means (5)
When the pressure roller (50) is deenergized, the cylindrical elastic body (
The cylindrical elastic body (4) is spaced apart from the driven member (3).
), the connection between the driving member (2) and the driven member (3) is released, and the rotational driving force of the driving member (2) is applied to the driven member (3). ) is not transmitted.

Note that the pressure roller (50) is a cylindrical elastic body (4).
Since the roller itself rotates by being pressed against the cylindrical elastic body (4), almost no frictional force is generated between the pressure roller (50) and the cylindrical elastic body (4). Even if the cylindrical elastic body (50) is strongly pressed, the cylindrical elastic body (
4) Abrasion etc. can be prevented and durability can be improved.

According to the clutch (K) having the above configuration, the rotation of the driving member (2) is controlled by bringing the cylindrical elastic body (4) made of rubber or plastic into pressure contact with the driven member (3). ), so the above cylindrical elastic body (
4) prevents the adjacent end surfaces and edges of the driving member (2) and the driven member (3) from being worn out, and
Even if the gap between the end faces is wide, the cylindrical elastic body (4) can be prevented from entering the gap. Therefore, there is no need to adjust the gap (S), which is required with conventional spring clutches, and maintenance effort can be reduced.

In addition, by simply pressing the actuating means 6) partially against the cylindrical elastic body (4) from the outside, the driving member (3) can be connected to the driven member (3) by frictional resistance, which is different from the conventional coil spring. There is no need to ensure a certain number of windings or to provide a margin in the axial direction of the clutch in consideration of the extension of the coil spring.Therefore, the axial length of the clutch (K) can be significantly shortened. In particular, in FIG. 1, the convex portion (31) of the driven member (3) is fitted into the concave portion (22) of the driving member (ri). Clutch (K)
can be made smaller.

Furthermore, since the cylindrical elastic body (4) is made of rubber or plastic, abnormal noise will not be generated even if the actuating means (5) is pressed against the cylindrical elastic body (4). Furthermore, there is no need to apply a lubricant such as grease to the contact surface between the cylindrical elastic body (4) and the driving member (2) or the driven member (3). For this reason, due to lubricant depletion,
This saves you the trouble of disassembling the clutch each time for maintenance.

Note that the clutch (K) of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, as shown in FIG. 4, one of the cylindrical elastic bodies (4) may be fixed to the driven member (3). However, the other part may be fitted over the hub part (21) of the drive member 0, and the actuating means (5) may be provided so as to be able to be pressed into contact with the hub part (21>) of the drive member (2). In this case, normally the cylindrical elastic body (4) is stopped together with the driven member (3), but by pressing the actuating means (5) against the cylindrical elastic body (4) as in the above embodiment, , the driving member (2) and the driven member (3) are frictionally connected, and the rotational driving force of the driving member (2) can be reliably transmitted to the driven member (3).

In addition, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the actuating means (5)
is shown as being moved by a solenoid (53), but it can be implemented by applying known moving means such as a link or cam mechanism. Then, instead of the pressure roller (50), a lever that can be pressed against the cylindrical elastic body (4) is used,
It is also possible to implement this by joining a member with a small coefficient of friction to the tip of the lever that is the point of contact with the cylindrical elastic body (4). Furthermore, in FIG. 1, the drive member (2) has a concave portion (2
2) and a protrusion (31) is formed on the driven member (3), but it is also possible to form the opposing surfaces of both of them flat instead of making the bottom 6 FM construction. (See Figure 4). In addition, various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the invention.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the clutch of the present invention, instead of the coil spring of a conventional spring clutch, a cylindrical elastic body made of rubber or plastic is installed on one side of the driving member and the driven member. Since the driving member and the driven member are brought into pressure contact with each other and rotated together, the adjacent end faces of the driving member and the driven member are F! I
In addition, the cylindrical elastic body can be prevented from entering the gap and being locked, regardless of the size of the gap between the end faces. Moreover,
There is no need to adjust the gap, which is required with conventional spring clutches, and the troublesome work associated with maintenance can be reduced.

In addition, since the driving member and the driven member are connected simply by pressing the actuating means against the cylindrical elastic body, the structure of the clutch can be greatly simplified, and unlike conventional coil springs, it is possible to connect the driving member and the driven member. There is no need to ensure the number of turns of the coil spring or to consider the extension of the coil spring, and the axial length of the clutch can be significantly shortened, making it possible to downsize the clutch.

Furthermore, since the cylindrical elastic body is made of rubber or plastic, no abnormal noise is generated even when the actuating means is pressed into contact with the cylindrical elastic body, and the contact between the cylindrical elastic body and the driving member and the driven member is There is no need to apply lubricant such as grease to the surface, which was required in the past. Therefore, the unique effect of being able to provide a clutch that can significantly reduce maintenance effort is achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the clutch of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the actuating means, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the internal structure of a copying machine, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional clutch. (1)... Rotating shaft, (2... Drive member, (3)...
- Driven member, (4)... cylindrical elastic body, (5)...
Actuation means (K)...Clutch. Patent applicant: Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (and one other person) Figure 2 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drive member relatively rotatably attached to a rotating shaft;
In a clutch having a driven member rotatably attached to the rotating shaft, a cylindrical elastic body made of rubber or plastic is fitted into either one side of the driving member or the driven member so as to be rotatable together. A clutch, characterized in that the cylindrical elastic body is fitted into the other side so as to be relatively rotatable, and an actuating means capable of pressing the cylindrical elastic body is provided on the other side.