JPH09301563A - Paper sheet feeding mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet feeding mechanism capable of reliably taking out stacked postal cards one by one. SOLUTION: When a paper sheet (a postal card) A1 positioned in the lowermost position of the paper sheets (postal cards) A is drawn out by a feed roller 4 and a retaining roller 5 after it is fed from a discharging slit 520 and a separating claw clearance 11 to the outside by a conveying part 31 of a pickup roller 3 by only the distance corresponding to the conveying part 31, a free rotating part 32 of the pickup roller 3 is brought in contact with the next paper sheet (postal card) A, and the conveying part 31 is brought in contact with the next paper sheet (postal card) A to feed it out after the before fed paper sheet (postal card) A1 is completely fed out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding mechanism capable of reliably taking out stacked sheets one by one in a counter device for counting the number of sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a paper-like material (hereinafter, simply referred to as a paper sheet) formed of paper, plastic, or the like and cut to a predetermined size, the stacked paper sheets are taken out one by one and taken out. A sheet counter device for counting the number of sheets is known. The counter device includes a cassette for storing paper sheets whose number is counted, a mechanism for taking out the paper sheets one by one from the stacked paper sheets in the cassette, a mechanism for counting the number of taken-out paper sheets, and a counting mechanism. It is provided with a display mechanism for displaying the number of printed sheets and a stocker for storing the sheets taken out one by one. In the counting mechanism, both or one of the function of counting the number of sheets stored in the cassette and the function of having a number input device and taking out the number of sheets input in advance to the stocker are provided. It has a function.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional sheet feeding mechanism, the sheet is taken out one by one by a pair of feed rollers and the like, but when taking out the sheets from the stacked sheets in the cassette. In addition, it is difficult to take out one sheet at a time, and sometimes two or more sheets are taken out at the same time, and there is a possibility that accurate counting may not be possible.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding mechanism capable of reliably taking out stacked sheets one by one.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the sheet feeding mechanism of the present invention is a sheet feeding device for taking out one by one from a plurality of sheets stacked in a sheet cassette. A pickup roller that comes into contact with the lowest paper sheet, a discharge slit formed at the bottom feeding direction end of the paper sheet cassette, and a discharge slit are provided, and a separation claw gap is formed between the lower end and the bottom portion of the paper sheet cassette. With the separation claw and the feed roller provided outside the paper cassette and in front of the separation claw gap, the pickup roller is
When the lowermost paper sheet stacked in the paper sheet cassette is sent out from the discharge slit, the paper sheet is
The separation claw is surely passed through the separation claw gap without coming into contact with the lower end of the separation claw, and the second claw sheet is prevented from being sent out together with the cleaved sheet. At the lower end of the separation claw, the horizontal part and the inner end of the paper cassette of the horizontal part are formed continuously, and the rising slope facing inward and the outer end of the paper cassette of the horizontal part. Since it is formed continuously and has an escape slope portion that rises outward, the paper sheet comes into contact with the slope portion of the separation claw and is guided downward. Is set appropriately, it is possible to prevent horizontal movement of two or more sheets and reliably feed the sheets one by one. Since approximately 1/4 of the entire circumference of the pickup roller is made of rubber and the rest is made of plastic, it is possible to reliably send out the sheets one by one.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 8, a paper sheet counter device to which the present invention is applied will be described. A paper sheet counter device 50 that counts the number of paper sheets formed of paper, plastic or the like and cut into a predetermined size. And a main body 51 and a paper sheet cassette that is provided on the upper part of the main body 51 and holds a large number of paper sheets A
52, a paper sheet discharge port 53 opened on one side of the main body 51, a paper sheet stocker 54 for receiving a paper sheet A discharged one by one from the paper sheet discharge port 53, the input number and the currently counted number of sheets And the like, an operation key 56 for inputting the number of sheets to be counted, a power switch 57, and a weight 58 of an appropriate weight for pressing the sheet A in the sheet cassette 52. ing.

In FIG. 1, the main body of the paper sheet counter device 50.
The single-wafer feeding mechanism to which the present invention is applied, which is disposed inside the 51, will be described. Paper cassette that holds many paper sheets A
The reference numeral 52 includes a front plate 521, a rear plate 522, a pair of side plates that connect the front plate 521 and the rear plate 522, which are omitted in FIG. 1, and a bottom plate 523, and the lower end of the front plate 521. A discharge slit 520 is formed between the front plate 521 and the bottom plate 523, and the separation claw 1 having a predetermined width is arranged along the inner surface of the front plate 521.

The bottom plate 523 is provided with the opening 2 and the bottom plate 523
The pickup roller 3 is disposed below the pickup roller 3, and the upper end of the pickup roller 3 is inserted into the opening 2. The upper end of the pickup roller 3 slightly protrudes above the bottom plate 523, and it is suitable that the protrusion amount is 0.3 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less. If the warp of the sheet A is large, the protrusion amount is large (for example, If A is a postcard, 1.5 mm is suitable), and if the warp of sheet A is weak, it is better to reduce the amount of protrusion.

In front of the discharge slit 520 of the paper sheet cassette 52, a feed roller 4 and a pressing roller 5 are arranged above and below the pickup roller 3 and the feed roller 4.
The pick-up roller 3 and the feed roller 4 are rotated in the discharge direction of the sheet A, that is, the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1, by the transmission rollers 30 and 40 coaxially provided to the motor and the belt 7 wound around the drive roller of the motor 6. , The sheet A is sent to the left (arrow F). A sensor 8 for detecting the passage of the sheet A is supported on one end of a support frame 81 outside the feed roller 4 and the pressing roller 5 in the sending direction, and the other end of the support frame 81 is fixed to a front plate 521 of the sheet cassette 52. The paper sheets A that have been sent out are counted.

The pickup roller 3 is formed with a radius R, about 1/4 of the entire circumference thereof is formed of rubber to form a conveying portion 31, and the remaining about 3/4 is formed of plastic to form an idle portion. 32 is formed, and the entire circumference (2πR) of the pickup roller 3 is formed to be equal to the length L of the sheet A in the feeding direction (2πR = L). 6 (a),
In (b), the idling portion 32 is formed of plastic into a substantially disc shape, and the groove 322 is formed on the entire circumference of the circumferential surface.
A notch 321 is formed in a part of the wall on both sides of 1 (1/4 of the entire circumference). In FIG. 6C, the conveying portion 31 is made of rubber and has an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the idle portion 32.
An enlarged portion formed in 311 and having an outer diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the idling portion 32 is formed in a part (1/4 of the entire circumference) of the annular portion 311 as the conveying portion 31, and the groove of the idling portion 32 is formed. It is fitted to 322, and the conveying part 31 is aligned with the notch 321 of the idling part 32. When the mounting position of the pickup roller 3 is closer to the discharge slit 520 than the center of the sheet A in the sheet feeding direction, the entire circumference (2πR) of the pickup roller 3 is an integer of the sheet L sheet feeding direction length L. It may be equal to 1 / n (n is a natural number other than 1, n = 2, 3, ...) (2πR = L / n).

With this configuration, the transporting portion 31 of the pickup roller 3 corresponds to the transporting portion 31 from the discharge slit 520 to the outside of the paper sheet A1 located at the lowest position of the paper sheets A stacked in the paper sheet cassette 52. After being fed out by a distance (shorter than the length of the paper sheet), when it is pulled out by the feed roller 4 and the pressing roller 5, the idling portion 32 of the pickup roller 3 comes into contact with the lower surface of the paper sheet A1 to be fed and slides, After the delivered paper sheet A1 is completely delivered, the transport portion 31 comes into contact with the next paper sheet A and delivers it. Until the previously delivered paper sheet A1 is completely delivered, the next paper sheet A1 is delivered. It is possible to reliably send out one by one without sending A.

With reference to FIGS. 2-5, the discharge slit 520
The separation claw 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the separation claw 1 has a relatively large plate thickness w (for example,
w = 5mm) A plate is used, and at the lower end, a horizontal part at the center
11, and the welcome slope 12 that is formed continuously at the inner end of the paper sheet cassette 52 of the horizontal portion 11 and that rises inward.
The horizontal portion 11 is provided with an escape slope portion 13 which is formed continuously at the outer end portion of the paper sheet cassette 52 and which rises outward, and as shown in FIG. Horizontal part at the bottom
11 and the bottom plate 523 of the paper sheet cassette 52 between the separation claw gap 10
Are formed with a gap t. Here, 14 is a bolt hole, and 15 is a long hole for position adjustment.

When the paper sheet A is relatively small (for example, postcard size or A6 size), the width W of the separating claw 1 is formed to be approximately twice the plate thickness w (W = 2w, for example W = 10 mm). The front plate 52 near one end of the discharge slit 520 as shown in FIG.
It is attached to 1 so that it can move up and down. Further, the pickup roller 3 has a minimum width dimension of the paper sheet A whose width is at least counted (for example, a postcard size or A6 size).
It is formed smaller (for example, the width W of the separation claw 1 is 2
5), as shown in FIG. 5, they are arranged so as to coincide with the rectangular opening 524 formed in the bottom plate 523 in the paper sheet cassette 52 behind the separating claw 1.

When the size of the counted sheet A becomes larger than the minimum sheet A (for example, a postcard size or A6 size),
A plurality of separation claws 1 are arranged and a plurality of pickup rollers 3 are arranged coaxially and are arranged corresponding to the width of the paper sheet A to be sent out, and are perpendicular to the feeding direction of the paper sheet A. At least a pair of separation claws 1 are arranged at both end positions in the width direction, and the pickup rollers 3 are also arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the separation claws 1. At this time, it is preferable to provide a plurality of feed rollers 4 corresponding to the pickup rollers 3. The size of the sheet A becomes too large (for example, A4
In case of larger size), the separating claw 1, the pickup roller 3 and the feed roller 4 may be arranged at the center position in the width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the sheet A. Further, the separating claw 1, the pickup roller 3, and the feed roller 4 are lengthened in the width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the paper sheet A, and the paper sheet A is fed.
The peripheral wall of the paper sheet cassette 52 may be moved and adjusted in accordance with the outer dimensions of the sheet.

The angle of attack α, which is the angle of inclination of the approaching slope portion 12 with respect to the horizontal plane, is preferably α = 45 ° to 75 ° (particularly, α = 55 ° ± 1 ° for postcards). The clearance angle β, which is the inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane, is suitably β ≧ 30 °. The length s of the horizontal portion 11 is 25 with respect to the plate thickness w.
% To 35% (for example, when w = 5 mm, s = 1.25 mm to 1.75 mm)
Is suitable, and preferably 30% of the plate thickness w (for example, w = 5
When mm, s = 1.5 mm). Further, the separation claw gap 10, which is a gap formed between the horizontal portion 11 at the lower end of the separation claw 1 and the bottom plate 523 of the paper sheet cassette 52, has a gap t of one sheet A (0.2 mm) to 1.5 sheets. (T = 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm), it is optimal to set the gap t to t = 0.25 mm, which is a value of a little more than one sheet A.

With the above-described structure, when the conveying portion 31 of the pickup roller 3 sends out the lowermost paper sheet A1 of the paper sheets A stacked in the paper sheet cassette 52 from the discharge slit 520 to the outside, A1 does not come into contact with the lower end of the separation claw 1 and is reliably passed through the separation claw gap 10 to be sent out, so that the second sheet A is prevented from being sent out together with the sheet A1. be able to. Also, paper sheet A
Is guided downward by contacting the approaching slope portion 12 of the separating claw 1, but since the attacking angle α is appropriately set, the horizontal direction is applied to the second or more sheets. Can be reliably sent out one by one by preventing the movement.

When the length s of the horizontal portion 11 becomes excessively large and exceeds 35% of the plate thickness w (w = 5 mm, s = 1.75 mm), the paper sheet A to be fed is turned over to cause a paper jam. To do. On the contrary, the length s of the horizontal portion 11 is 25% of the plate thickness w (w = 5 mm,
If s = 1.25 mm), that is, if it is too small, the strength of the lower end of the separating claw 1 is reduced, and two sheets A are fed out, which causes a paper jam. Further, if the angle of attack α of the approaching slope portion 12 becomes too large (α> 75 °), the length of the approaching slope portion 12 becomes too large, and the function of guiding the sheet A downwardly decreases, thereby causing a paper jam. It may occur. Furthermore, if the angle of attack α of the approaching slope portion 12 becomes too small (α <45 °), the function of guiding the paper sheet A downward becomes too large, and the second paper sheet is sent out at the same time as the first sheet. , It may cause a paper jam.

[0018]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. In a paper sheet feeding device for taking out a plurality of paper sheets one by one from a stack of paper sheets in a paper sheet cassette, a pickup roller that comes into contact with the lowest paper sheet and a discharge formed at a bottom feeding direction end of the paper sheet cassette. A slit, a separation claw provided in the discharge slit and forming a separation claw gap between the lower end and the bottom of the paper sheet cassette, and a feed roller provided outside the paper sheet cassette and in front of the separation claw gap. By this, when the pickup roller sends out the lowermost paper sheet stacked in the paper sheet cassette from the discharge slit, the paper sheet is separated without contacting the lower end of the separation claw. Since it is surely passed through the claw gap and sent out, it is possible to prevent the second sheet from being sent out together with the sheet. At the lower end of the separation claw, the horizontal part and the inner end of the paper cassette of the horizontal part are formed continuously, and the rising slope facing inward and the outer end of the paper cassette of the horizontal part. Since it is formed continuously and has an escape slope portion that rises outward, the paper sheet comes into contact with the slope portion of the separation claw and is guided downward. Is set appropriately, it is possible to prevent horizontal movement of two or more sheets and reliably feed the sheets one by one. Since approximately 1/4 of the entire circumference of the pickup roller is made of rubber and the rest is made of plastic, it is possible to reliably send out the sheets one by one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the separation claw of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the separation claw of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a paper sheet counter device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a pickup roller of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a paper sheet counter device to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 separation claw, 2 opening, 3 pickup roller, 4
Feed roller 5 Hold roller, 6 motor, 8 sensor, 52 paper sheet cassette, A paper sheet

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper sheet feeding device for taking out one by one from paper sheets in a state where a large number of paper sheets are stacked in a paper sheet cassette,
A pickup roller that comes into contact with the lowest paper sheet, and a discharge slit formed at the bottom feeding direction end of the paper sheet cassette,
It is characterized in that it is provided with a separation claw provided in the discharge slit and forming a separation claw gap between the lower end and the bottom of the paper sheet cassette, and a feed roller provided outside the paper sheet cassette and in front of the separation claw gap. Sheet feeding mechanism. 2. A horizontal portion, a welcome slope portion which is formed continuously at an inner end portion of the paper sheet cassette of the horizontal portion at the lower end of the separating claw, and rises inward, and a paper sheet cassette of the horizontal portion. The single-wafer feeding mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising an escape slope portion that is formed continuously on the outer end portion and that rises outward. 3. The single-wafer feeding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein approximately 1/4 of the entire circumference of the pickup roller is made of rubber and the rest is made of plastic.