JPH09287939A - Medium thickness detector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) An object of the present invention is to provide a medium thickness detecting device capable of detecting the thickness of a medium from a thin material to a thick material without causing a jam. A thickness of a medium 40 passing between an upper roller 23 and a lower roller 26 on a transport path is detected. The upper roller is supported by the arm 21 and is urged clockwise by the upper spring 24 and the ball plunger 31 so that a pressing force is obtained between the rollers. When a medium having a predetermined thickness G1 or less is passed, the pressing force by the upper spring is obtained, so that even a thin medium passes between the rollers without jamming, and when a medium having a thickness G1 or more passes, a ball plunger is used. Since the urging force of the roller becomes effective and the roller pressing force increases dramatically, it is possible to press the medium with a force that does not lose the swelling of thick media, and it is possible to convey from thin media to thick media without jamming, and It is possible to accurately measure the thickness of the.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium thickness detecting device, and more particularly to a medium thickness detecting device for detecting the thickness of a medium such as a sealed object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a large amount of sealed items of the same shape such as direct mails and bills have been transported from companies to customers as postal items. Generally, a bill is output by computer processing as a continuous form in which an address and necessary information are printed in a predetermined format for each customer. The invoice for each customer thus output as a continuous form is then cut into a predetermined size by the mail creation device, folded, and if necessary, enclosed items such as advertisements (postcards, booklets, etc.) After the addition, the process until the final encapsulation and sealing is automatically performed.

In the above apparatus, for example, in the case of supplying an enclosed article with a postcard sandwiched between it and a booklet,
There is a demand to detect missing postcards, missing pages and irregularities in booklets. By detecting a relatively large thickness change in this way, erroneous encapsulation is prevented in advance.

This type of medium thickness detecting device has a thickness detecting sensor arm urged by an upper spring, and a medium is interposed between an upper roller attached to the tip of this arm and a lower roller facing the upper roller. When is entered, the thickness detection sensor arm rotates about the fulcrum against the urging force of the upper spring, so the thickness of the medium is detected based on the amount of rotation.

[0005]

In such a medium thickness detecting apparatus, in order to detect the thickness of a medium having a relatively large thickness such as a booklet or a card, the thickness detecting sensor arm is provided with a relatively large spring. It is necessary to press the thickness detecting sensor arm with a force that is strong by an upper spring so as not to lose the swelling of the booklet or card (for example, 400 gf or more in the experiment).

However, when the urging force of the upper spring is increased to urge the thickness detecting sensor arm, in the case of a thin medium such as a bill (0.1 mm or less), the upper roller is lowered by the strong upper spring force. As a result of being pressed against the rollers, there is a problem that the medium is sandwiched between the rollers to cause a jam (in the experiment, a jam occurs at 100 gf or more).

The present invention solves such a problem, and provides a medium thickness detecting apparatus capable of detecting the thickness of a medium from a thin material to a thick material without causing a jam. It is an issue.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the medium thickness detecting device of the present invention urges the arm supporting one roller and the arm so as to obtain a pressing force between the rollers. First and second urging means, and means for detecting the thickness of the passing medium based on the displacement amount of the arm that moves against the urging force when the medium passes between the rollers,
It is characterized in that the pressing force is generated by the second urging means only when a medium having a predetermined thickness or more is passed.

Further, the medium thickness detecting device of the present invention comprises an arm for supporting one roller and first and second urging means for urging the arm so as to obtain a pressing force between the rollers.
And a means for detecting the thickness of the passing medium based on the amount of displacement of the arm that moves against the biasing force when the medium passes between the rollers.
The pressing force of the urging means is also characterized in that when the medium having a predetermined thickness or more is passed, the pressing force of the first and second urging means is generated.

In such a medium thickness detecting device, the thickness of the medium passing between the rollers is a predetermined value (about 0.1).
mm) or less, a pressing force by the first biasing means, for example, a relatively weak spring can be obtained, so that even a thin medium can pass between the rollers without jamming. On the other hand, when a medium with a greater thickness passes,
Since the pressing force by the second urging means becomes effective and the roller pressing force increases dramatically, it is possible to press the medium with a force that does not lose the bulge of the thick medium, and jam from thin medium to thick medium. It is possible to carry without the need and to accurately measure the thickness of the medium.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a case where the medium thickness detecting device of the present invention is used in a mail system will be described in detail as an example.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a cutter unit, which cuts a continuous form 2 or the like, which is a kind of enclosed material, with a cutter for cutting. The form discharged from the cutter unit 1 is conveyed to a folding unit 3 via a belt conveyor, folded there by a folding machine 3a, and temporarily pooled in a pool unit 3b. After that, the pooled forms are sent together with the enclosed items (cards, postcards, etc.) 5 supplied from the enclosed item supply unit 4 to the enclosing unit 8. The form 2 and the enclosed matter 5 sent to the sheet insertion portion 9 in the enclosing unit 8 are the envelope 1
Inserted in 0. The medium thickness detecting device 20 measures the thickness of the enclosed matter 5 by the enclosed matter supply unit 4.

In this medium thickness detecting device, it is detected whether or not a predetermined portion or a predetermined number of enclosed items are enclosed.
In such a mail system, the medium thickness detecting device 20
The thickness can be detected by the method described above after enclosing the enclosed product in an envelope and before or after gluing the flap.
When the erroneous inclusion of a predetermined enclosure is detected by the medium thickness detection, the mail work is to be performed again. When the enclosed item is a card, the enclosing unit 8 directly encloses it.

FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of the medium thickness detecting device 20. Medium thickness detection device 20
Has a thickness detection sensor arm 21 rotatable about a fulcrum 21a, and an upper roller 23 is rotatably supported by an upper bearing 22 attached to one end of the thickness detection sensor arm 21. Further, the thickness detection sensor arm 21 has an upper spring 24 having one end locked to the arm and the other end locked to the device.
By this, the lower roller 26 exposed to the notch of the transport path 25 is pressed by the clockwise force. The lower roller 26 has a lower bearing 27.
Is rotatably supported by a lower spring 28 and is urged counterclockwise by a lower spring 28.

Further, a magnet 29 is embedded in the other end of the thickness detecting sensor arm 21, and an arm 30 provided with a Hall element 30a at a position facing the magnet 29 is attached. The detection signal of this Hall element 30a is
It is output to the thickness detection circuit 32, and the thickness of the passing medium is detected based on the displacement amount of the arm. In addition, the upper roller 23
A ball plunger 31 including a ball 31a biased downward by a spring 31b is mounted above the end of the attached arm with a gap G1.

The pressing force Fa applied to the lower roller 26 of the upper roller 23 by the upper spring 24 and the ball plunger 31 is shown in FIG.
It has the characteristics shown in (B), and each spring constant is
The medium 40 on the transport path 25 has the upper roller 23 and the lower roller 26.
The thickness detection sensor arm 21 is sandwiched between
The pressing force F1 is generated by the urging force of the upper spring 24 until it is rotated counterclockwise up to 1, and when it is rotated beyond the gap G1, the spring 31 of the ball plunger 31 is rotated.
The characteristic is that the spring force of b is applied to obtain the pressing force of F2. In this case, the pressing force (F
min) is set to about 100 gf or less, and the pressing force by F2 is set to about 400 gf or more.

In the medium thickness detecting device having such a structure, for example, the folding medium 41a folded by a folding machine.
It is assumed that the medium 40, which is an enclosure of the card 2 (corresponding to the form 2 in FIG. 1) and the card (postcard or the like) 41b therein, is conveyed to the conveying path 25. The media other than the card 41b have a relatively small thickness, and even if they are sandwiched between the upper roller 23 and the lower roller 26, the thickness detection sensor arm 21 rotates counterclockwise until the gap G1 is closed and pushed. The pressure is shown in Figure 2.
It becomes F1 of (B). Since this F1 is set to 100 gf or less, no jam occurs at that time.

On the other hand, when the medium 40 is conveyed to the card 41b, the thickness detecting sensor arm 21 moves to the gap G
Rotating beyond 1, the pressing force dramatically increases like F2 due to the urging force of the spring force of the ball plunger. Since this pressing force is at least about 400 gf or more, it is possible to obtain a pressing force sufficient to overcome the bulge of the card, and the medium can be conveyed without problems.

FIG. 2C shows the signal characteristic obtained from the Hall element 30a as the medium 40 passes, and the medium 40 is detected by the detection circuit 32 based on the displacement amount V1 when the card 41b passes. Can be measured, and it becomes possible to detect whether there is a predetermined inclusion (card).

FIG. 3A shows a medium thickness detecting device according to another embodiment. In FIG.
The same members as those in (A) are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In this example, instead of the ball plunger of FIG. 2A, a leaf spring 34 having one end 34a fixed to the device and the other end abutting the thickness detection sensor arm 21 is used. The leaf spring 34 is attached to the side opposite to the upper spring 24 of the thickness detection sensor arm 21 and biases the thickness detection sensor arm in the clockwise direction.

The pressing force Fa obtained by the urging of the upper spring and the leaf spring 34 has its spring constant set so as to have the characteristics shown in FIG. 3 (B). That is, when the thickness G'1 of the passing medium is about 0.1 mm, the upper spring 2 is mainly used.
4, the pressing force F′1 is obtained, and when the thickness becomes thicker than that, the pressing force of the leaf spring 34 is applied to obtain the pressing force of F′2.

In the case of this embodiment as well, the same effect as that shown in FIG. 2A is obtained, and when the medium 40 is conveyed to the conveying path 25, the medium other than the leading card 41b becomes
The thickness detection sensor arm 21 has a relatively small thickness and mainly moves against the biasing force of the upper spring 24, and the pressing force is F′1 in FIG. 3B. Since this F'1 is set to 100 gf or less, no jam occurs at that time. Further, when the medium 40 is conveyed to the card 41b, the pressing force by the leaf spring 34 is applied, so that the pressing force increases dramatically like F'2, and at least about 40%.
Since it is 0 gf or more, the medium can be conveyed by hitting the bulge of the card portion.

In each of the above examples, when there is no pressing force by the ball plunger 31 or the leaf spring 34 and only the upper spring 24 is used, when a thick medium is conveyed,
As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2C, the thickness detection sensor arm is largely damped when the medium enters or when the medium thickness changes, and the medium thickness cannot be accurately measured. By providing the second urging means such as the spring 34, such damping can be absorbed, so that the thickness can be detected without error.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above, according to the present invention, the urging force of the roller or the pressing force of the roller is remarkably increased when a medium having a predetermined thickness or more is passed. It is possible to carry without the need and to accurately measure the thickness of the medium.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a mail system in which the present invention is used.

2A is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of the medium thickness detection device of FIG. 1, FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a roller pressing characteristic,
(C) is a diagram showing a signal of the detected medium thickness.

3A is a configuration diagram showing another configuration example of the medium thickness detection device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a roller pressing characteristic.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Thickness Detection Sensor Arm 23 Upper Roller 24 Upper Spring 25 Transport Path 26 Lower Roller 28 Lower Spring 29 Magnet 30a Hall Element 34 Leaf Spring 40 Medium

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A medium thickness detecting device for detecting the thickness of a medium passing between rollers on a medium conveying path, wherein an arm for supporting one roller and an arm for urging the arm so as to obtain a pressing force between the rollers. And a means for detecting the thickness of the passing medium based on the displacement amount of the arm that moves against the urging force when the medium passes between the rollers. The medium thickness detecting device, wherein the pressing force is generated by the second urging means only when the medium is passed. 2. A medium thickness detecting device for detecting the thickness of a medium passing between rollers on a medium conveying path, wherein an arm for supporting one roller and an arm for urging the arm so as to obtain a pressing force between the rollers. And a means for detecting the thickness of the passing medium based on the displacement amount of the arm that moves against the urging force when the medium passes between the rollers. A medium thickness characterized in that a pressing force by the first biasing means is mainly generated when the medium passes below, and a pressing force by the first and second biasing means is generated when the medium having a predetermined thickness or more is passed. Detection device.