JPH05733A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The sheet material stacked on the paper feed tray is separated to prevent defective feeding of the sheet material such as double feeding. [Structure] A sheet feeding tray on which a sheet material P is stacked is configured by two tray members 31a and 31b arranged side by side in the transport direction of the sheet material P, and independent lifting mechanisms 32a and 32 are provided.
It goes up and down individually by b. Also, the rear tray member 3
A pressing member 2 for sandwiching the latter half of the sheet material P with 1b
1 is disposed, and further, a separating member 52 that contacts the leading edge of the sheet material P is disposed. The front tray member 31a is lowered by h1 with respect to the rear tray member 31b. As a result, the front half of the sheet material P hangs down by its own weight, and a deviation occurs between the sheet materials P that are vertically adjacent to each other. Tray member 31a
The gap disappears when is raised. The operation of causing or eliminating this deviation is the separating operation for the sheet material P.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding apparatus of the type in which sheet materials stacked on a sheet feeding tray are fed one by one from the topmost sheet material. Prior to the above, the present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device in which a sheet material is separated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional sheet feeding device is shown in FIG. According to this, when the sheet material P stacked on the paper feed tray 31 having the elevating mechanism 32 is pushed up to a predetermined height in contact with the pickup roller 11, the pickup roller 11 is rotated in the K1 direction and is fed to the separating portion. . A sheet feeding roller 16 that normally rotates in the direction of arrow K2 and a retard roller 17 that is given a rotational force in the direction of arrow K3 through a torque limiter (not shown) are disposed in the separating portion, and the sheet material is thereby provided. When a plurality of sheets P are fed, only the uppermost sheet material P is separated and fed by the sheet feeding roller 16, and the other lower sheet material P is fed by the retard roller 17 in the feeding direction. It is pushed back in the opposite direction of (arrow A direction).

[0003]

However, generally, as the sheet material P, a high-quality paper having a basis weight of about 60 to 100 g per square meter is used, but for example, it is commercially available in the state of being packaged 500 sheets each. Since the naive paper is wrapped while being cut by a cutting device such as a rotary cutter in the manufacturing process of the paper, burrs may occur at the edges of the paper. The entanglement force due to the minute burrs has a great influence on the transportability of the sheet material P, and there is a risk that the burrs of the paper are caught by the burrs and that separation failure occurs at the time of feeding.

Even without burrs, the sheet materials P that have been stacked and stored for a long time have a shape that they are compressed vertically due to their own weight, and the sheet materials P adhere to each other due to the entanglement of fibers with each other. It is difficult to correctly separate the sheet material P having strong adhesion and strong adhesion.

Such entanglement force due to burrs and adhesion force due to stacking can be reduced by temporarily separating the sheet materials P before stacking them on the paper feed tray 31, but normally, the sheet materials are Since it is the user who replenishes P, it is not preferable to force the user to perform a complicated sorting work, and the leading end of the sheet material P may be damaged during the sorting operation, which may cause a paper jam later. There was also a risk of becoming.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a mechanism for separating the sheet material is added to the sheet feeding tray for stacking the sheet material.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that does not require a user or the like to handle paper and reliably prevents double feeding of sheet materials.

[0007]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. For example, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the present invention is supported by an elevating mechanism (32) so as to be vertically movable. A sheet feeding device (1) for stacking a plurality of sheet materials (P) on the formed sheet feeding tray (31) and sequentially separating and feeding the sheet material (P) from the uppermost sheet material (P). (31)
Is a plurality of tray members (31a, 3a) supported so as to be vertically movable by independent lifting mechanisms (32a, 32b).
1b), and the relative height positions of the tray members (31a, 31b) are changed to provide a height difference, thereby performing a separating operation for the sheet material (P).

In this case, the at least one tray member (3) is brought into contact with the uppermost sheet material (P) from above.
1a, 31b) and a pressing member (21) having a pressing position (B1) for sandwiching the sheet material (P) and a retracted position (B2) separated from the uppermost sheet material (P). Alternatively, the rotary roller (60) (which contacts the uppermost sheet material (P) from above and sandwiches the sheet material (P) with the at least one tray member (31a, 31b) ( (See FIG. 6).

Further, the tray members (31a, 31)
It is also possible to dispose a separating member (52) that comes into contact with the leading edge of the upper sheet material (P).

[0010]

Based on the above structure, each tray member (31a, 3a
1b) is an independent lifting mechanism (32a, 32b)
The sheet material (P) is loaded on these tray members (31a, 31b),
For example, one tray member (31a) is moved up and down with respect to the other tray member (31b) to change the relative height position of the two tray members (31b) to create a height difference. Then, when the tray member (31a) is lowered, the portion of the sheet material (P) that was supported by the tray member (31a) hangs down by its own weight, causing a gap between vertically adjacent sheet materials (P). Occurs. Then, the tray member (31
When a) is raised, the shift caused by the fall is eliminated, and the shift is reversed.

As described above, the operation of causing the sheet material (P) to be displaced and returning it is, so to speak, the sheet material (P).
The sheet material (P) is separated from the sheet material (P) by repeating this operation once or several times as necessary.
It is possible to significantly reduce the entanglement force and the adhesion force between the sheet materials (P) that cause the poor conveyance of the sheet material (P).

Further, the pressing member (21) and the rotating roller (6
0), at least one tray member (31a,
If a part of the sheet material (P) is sandwiched between the sheet material (P) and the sheet material (31b), the sheet material (P) does not uncontrollably lose its posture during the loosening operation of the sheet material (P). The tray member that does not sandwich (P) can be moved up and down largely, and correspondingly, the sheet material (P) can be sufficiently separated.

Further, when the separating member (52) is arranged (see FIG. 2), the leading edge of the sheet material (P) is separated well to promote the separating operation by the tray members (31a, 31b).

The reference numerals in parentheses above are for the purpose of comparing the drawings, and do not limit the structure of the present invention in any way.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS This embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet feeding device 1 includes a pickup roller 11 arranged above the laminated sheet materials P,
The pressing member 21, the sheet feed tray 31 disposed below the sheet material P, and the elevating mechanism 32 are main components.

A pair of left and right pickup rollers 11 are connected to each other by a pickup roller shaft 11b having a pulley 11a fixed to an intermediate portion. Both ends of the pickup roller shaft 11b are rotatably supported by arms 12, and the base ends of these arms 12 are swingably supported by a drive shaft 13 connected to a drive source (not shown). There is. A pulley 13a paired with the pulley 11a of the pickup roller shaft 11b is fixed to the drive shaft 13, and a transmission belt 13b is stretched between the both pulleys. Further, a solenoid 15 is arranged above one arm 12, and the tip of a plunger 15 a that expands and contracts by energizing the solenoid 15 is connected to this arm 12.

Therefore, the pickup roller 11 is moved up and down by the solenoid 15 or the like to drive the drive shaft 13 and the belt 13.
It is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow K1 by b or the like.

A paper feed roller shaft 16 is provided in front of the drive shaft 13.
a pair of paper feed rollers 16 fixed to a and each paper feed roller 1
6 and a pair of retard rollers 17 fixed to the retard roller shaft 17a while being pressed from below. The retard roller 17 is connected to a drive source via a torque limiter (not shown), and the paper feed roller 16 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow K2, while the retard roller 17 is driven in the direction of arrow K3 from the drive source. Torque is applied.

When the pickup roller 11 correctly feeds one sheet material P, the retard roller 17 rotates together with the sheet feeding roller 17 through the sheet material P and moves in the direction opposite to the arrow K3 direction. In contrast to the rotation, when two sheets of the sheet material P are fed, for example, the sheet material P is rotated in the direction of arrow K3 to push back the unnecessary lower sheet material P. In this case, the upper sheet material P is normally conveyed by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 17 in the direction of arrow K2.

The pressing member 21 presses the upper surface on the latter half side of the uppermost sheet material P. The pressing member 21 is a member obtained by bending a plate material as appropriate, and has a pressing surface 21a at the bottom.
And is swingably supported by a device body (not shown) via a shaft 21b in the left-right direction at the base end.
The pressing member 21 is pulled upward by the tension spring 22 connected to the tip end about the shaft 21b, and is pulled downward by the pair of cams 23. The cam shaft 25, to which these cams 23 are fixed, is connected to the drive motor 26. Therefore, the cam 23 has an outer peripheral surface which is in contact with the pressing member 21 from above by the drive motor 26 rotating by an appropriate angle. The height position of the cam surface 23a changes. As a result, the pressing member 21 swings in the vertical direction and presses the uppermost sheet material P (see FIG. 2).
And the retracted position B2 that is separated from the sheet material P.
(See FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed tray 31 has 2 trays.
The tray members 31a and 31b are composed of one sheet. The tray members 31a and 31b are formed in a rectangular plate shape and are arranged in the front-rear direction (feeding direction of the sheet material P) in the arrow A at an appropriate distance d. Tray members 31a, 3
1b is disposed slightly inward of the sheet material P so as not to protrude from the four circumferences of the sheet material P, and two sheets 1b together support almost the entire surface of the lowermost sheet material P from below.

The tray members 31a and 31b are supported so as to be able to move up and down by separate lifting mechanisms 32a and 32b. However, the specific structure of the elevating mechanisms 32a and 32b may be arbitrary. For example, a sprocket may be rotated to raise the chain, or a pantograph type with a combination of links may be used. Lifting mechanism 3 regardless of type
2a and 32b can move the tray members 31a and 31b individually up and down.

The tray members 31a and 31b are provided with the paper guide 5
Go up and down along 1. The paper guide 51 is the tray member 31.
It is a plate-like member that guides both side edges and the leading edge of the sheet material P stacked on a and 31b, and guides the sheet material P to the sheet feeding roller 16 or the like at the upper end of the paper guide 51 on the leading edge side. An inclined guide 51a is formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a separating member 52 is provided on the inner surface of the paper guide 51 on the leading edge side.

The separating member 52 is made of a flexible bristle material disposed over substantially the entire height of the paper guide 51. The bristle material abuts the leading edge of the sheet material P and is vertically adjacent to each other. It enters between the sheets P of sheets.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

The pressing member 21 is disposed above the rear tray member 31b, and the sheet material P is interposed between the pressing member 21 and the tray member 31b.
The latter half of shall be able to be sandwiched.

First, the elevating mechanisms 32a and 32b are operated to align the tray members 31a and 31b at the same height, and, for example, unwrapped 500 sheet materials P are stacked thereon.

The drive motor 26 is started and the cam 23 is rotated to lower the pressing member 21 to the pressing position B1.

Subsequently, the elevating mechanisms 32a and 32b are actuated again to raise the two tray members 31a and 31b at the same time, and the rear half of the sheet material P is placed between the rear tray member 31b and the pressing member 21. Stop at a predetermined height for pinching (Fig. 2).

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the elevating mechanism 32a lowers the front tray member 31a to create a height difference h1 between the tray members 31a and 31b. At this time, since the rear half of the sheet material P is firmly sandwiched between the rear tray member 31b and the pressing member 21, only the front half of the sheet material P hangs down by its own weight,
A deviation occurs between the two sheet materials P that are vertically and adjacently in close contact with each other. The separating operation of the sheet material P is performed by the separating member 52.
Are further effectively promoted by entering between the sheet materials P.

With respect to the rear tray member 31b which is maintained in the stopped state, as shown in FIG. 4, the front tray member 31a is then raised by h2. The deviation between the two sheet materials P is eliminated, and this also separates the sheet material P. After the sorting operation in which the front tray member 31a is lowered and raised as one unit is repeated once or a plurality of times as necessary, both tray members 31a and 31b are
Align the height of. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the cam 23 is rotated to pull up the pressing member 21 to the retracted position B2 which is separated from the uppermost sheet material P, thereby completing the paper feeding preparation.

In this state, the pickup roller 11 is set to K
When rotationally driven in one direction, the uppermost sheet material P is fed between the paper feed roller 16 and the retard roller 17 due to friction with this, and further, for example, the image forming unit on the downstream side via the feeding roller 19. Is transported to.

At this time, since the sheet material P is preliminarily handled to reduce the entanglement force due to burrs and the adhesion force due to stacking, two or more sheets are not fed to the sheet feeding roller 16 in a doubled manner. . In addition, even in the case of double feeding, the retard roller 17 prevents the double feeding easily by a pre-sorting operation.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a rotating roller 60 is used instead of the pressing member 21 which sandwiches the sheet material P between the tray member 31b on the rear side in the previous embodiment. .

The rotating roller 60 has half-moon rollers 61a, 61a at both ends of the pressing roller 61, and the compression spring 62 presses the uppermost sheet material P. Rotating roller 6
0 is connected to the drive motor 26 via a gear 63. As shown in FIG. 7, by synchronizing the rotation of the rotary roller 60 based on the drive motor 26 with the rotation of the pickup roller 11, the rotary roller 60 contributes to the feeding of the sheet material P. Regarding the separating operation for the sheet material P of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the member for sandwiching the latter half of the sheet material P between the rear tray member 31b is the pressing member 21 of the previous embodiment. Therefore, except that the rotating roller 60 of the present embodiment is used in place, the sorting operation mainly for lifting the tray member 31a on the front side is the same as that of the previous embodiment.

The height differences h1 and h2 between the front tray member 31a and the rear sheet member 31b in the sorting operation for the sheet material P are determined by the size, thickness, waist strength, and When setting to an appropriate value in consideration of the number of stacked sheets and the like, the pressing member 21 that presses the sheet material P from above, the rotating roller 60, and the like can be positively omitted.

Further, in the above-mentioned two embodiments, the paper feed tray 31 is composed of two tray members 31a and 31b, but it may be composed of any number of papers of three or more. Of course.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A paper feed tray for stacking sheet materials is composed of a plurality of tray members, and these tray members are individually lifted and lowered by an independent lifting mechanism so that there is a height difference between the tray members and the distance between adjacent sheet materials. Since it is possible to perform a so-called loosening operation that causes a deviation in the sheet or eliminates the deviation, it is possible to reduce the entanglement force and the adhesion force between the sheet materials. As a result, even if the user does not perform a complicated sorting work, the sheet material is automatically sorted in the sheet feeding device, and thus it is possible to prevent double feeding of the sheet material and perform smooth sheet feeding. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing the overall configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory perspective view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same operation.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional side view showing the operation of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Paper feeder 21 Pressing member 31 paper tray 31a, 31b tray member 32, 32a, 32b lifting mechanism 60 rotating rollers P sheet material B1 pressing position B2 separation position

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device for stacking a plurality of sheet materials on a sheet feeding tray supported so as to be able to move up and down through an elevating mechanism, and sequentially separating and feeding the uppermost sheet material, The paper tray is composed of a plurality of tray members that are supported so as to be able to move up and down by independent lifting mechanisms, and the relative height positions of the tray members are changed to create a height difference, thereby separating the sheet material. A paper feeding device characterized by: 2. A pressing position having a pressing position that abuts against the uppermost sheet material from above and sandwiches the sheet material with the at least one tray member, and a retracted position that is separated from the uppermost sheet material. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a member. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a rotating roller that abuts against the uppermost sheet material from above and sandwiches the sheet material between the uppermost sheet material and the at least one tray member. 4. A separating member that comes into contact with the leading edge of the sheet material on the tray member is provided.
The sheet feeding device according to claim 3.