JP6206647B2 - Sheet feeding device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus that supplies a sheet to a supply destination such as a printing apparatus or a conveyance apparatus.

  An apparatus that prints on a sheet such as a printing machine or a printer is provided with a sheet supply apparatus for supplying the sheet. Various developments have been made to stably supply the sheets one by one (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-63675 A

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a paper feed roller that feeds the top sheet of the laminated sheets one by one, an air exhaust port that feeds air from the side in the feed direction, and a space between the paper feed roller and the air exhaust port. A sheet levitation suppression member, and the sheet levitation suppression member is provided so as to be separated from the upper surface of the sheet not levitation.

  However, with the technique shown in Patent Document 1 above, it is difficult to finely adjust the position of the air exhaust port for levitating the sheet, and the problem that several upper sheets of the sheet are levitated cannot be solved.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet supply apparatus that can feed only one sheet with a simple structure.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention includes a sheet stacking unit in which sheets are stacked and placed, and a sheet feeding unit that winds and feeds the uppermost sheet among the sheets stacked in the sheet stacking unit. A sheet supply apparatus including a roller and a blower unit for levitating the stacked sheets, wherein the blower unit has a main body portion that is rotatable about a predetermined rotation axis, and the inner side of the main body portion. And a sheet pressing member extending in a predetermined direction from the side surface of the main body portion.

  According to the present invention, it has a cavity and a blow hole, is rotatable around a predetermined rotation axis, has a cavity inside the main body, has a blow hole on the side surface of the main body, and the main body. Since air is blown using a blower unit having a sheet pressing member that extends in a predetermined direction from the side surface of the part, the structure in which the direction of blown is directed toward the uppermost part of the sheet is simplified. This can be realized, and only the uppermost sheet can be fed.

  According to the present invention, the paper feed roller has a plurality of suction ports on a peripheral surface, and performs suction while sucking the uppermost sheet by performing suction from a chamber existing inside. Features.

  According to the present invention, the sheet feeding roller has a plurality of suction ports on the peripheral surface, and performs sheet feeding while sucking the uppermost sheet by performing suction from a chamber existing inside. Thus, it is possible to more efficiently feed only one uppermost sheet by efficiently using the suction force.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the blower unit, the main body portion is cylindrical, the sheet pressing member is a straight bar, and a central axis of the sheet pressing member intersects a side surface of the main body portion. The center of the blower hole is formed so as to coincide in the longitudinal direction of the main body.

  According to the present invention, the main body portion of the blower unit is cylindrical, the sheet pressing member is a straight bar, the center of the sheet pressing member intersects the side surface of the main body portion, and the center of the blower hole is Since it is formed so as to match in the longitudinal direction of the main body, the structure in which the air blowing direction is located at the top of the sheet can be realized more reliably, and only one sheet at the top is fed. Is possible.

  The present invention further includes a detection sensor for detecting the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit, wherein the sheet stacking unit is a lifting platform that can be moved up and down by a lifting mechanism, and the detection sensor detects a sheet. If not, a signal is transmitted to the lifting mechanism, and when the signal is received, the lifting mechanism raises the lifting platform to a predetermined position.

  According to the present invention, a detection sensor that detects a sheet stacked on a sheet stacking unit is provided, and the sheet stacking unit is a lifting platform that can be lifted and lowered by a lifting mechanism, and when the detection sensor does not detect a sheet, it is moved up and down. Since the mechanism raises the sheet stacking unit, the uppermost sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit can always be present at a position where the sheet can be fed by the sheet feeding roller.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to feed only one sheet with a simple structure.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a sheet supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an enlarged view of the ventilation unit shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a paper feed roller shown in FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the sheet supply apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
<1. Device configuration>
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a sheet feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a sheet stacking unit, 20 is a paper feed roller, 30 is a blower unit, 32 is a blower hole, 33 is a sheet pressing member, 40 is a blower tube, 50 is a detection sensor, and S is a sheet bundle to be fed. It is. In FIG. 1, there are three white arrows indicating the direction. An arrow pointing diagonally upward indicates a sheet feeding direction, an arrow pointing vertically is a sheet bundle ascending / descending direction, and an arrow indicating rotation is a rotation direction of the blower unit 30. Is shown.

  In FIG. 1, a sheet stacking unit 10 is a table that stacks sheets and mounts them as a sheet bundle S and moves up and down, and is realized by a lifting mechanism (not shown). As the lifting mechanism, various known mechanisms can be adopted as long as the sheet stacking unit 10 on which the sheet bundle S is placed can be lifted and lowered.

  The paper feed roller 20 is a roller that feeds one sheet positioned at the top of the sheet bundle S to a supply destination such as a printing machine, and rotates according to the rotation of the drive shaft 21. The blower unit 30 is a unit for blowing air on the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S, and includes a blower hole 32 and a sheet pressing member 33. The blower tube 40 is a tube that blows air to the blower unit 30.

  The detection sensor 50 is a sensor for detecting the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S, and is realized by various known sensors. In the present embodiment, a photoelectric sensor that has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, detects light by the light receiving unit, reflects the light emitted from the light emitting unit, and detects the reflected light by the light receiving unit is used. ing. The detection sensor 50 is electrically connected to the lifting mechanism of the sheet stacking unit 10, and when a signal indicating that the sheet bundle S is not detected is sent from the detection sensor 50 to the lifting mechanism of the sheet stacking unit 10, The lifting mechanism is driven so as to raise the sheet stacking unit 10 by a predetermined height.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the blower unit 30 shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, arrows directed in both the up and down directions indicate the moving direction of the sheet pressing member 33 accompanying the rotation of the blower unit 30. The blower unit 30 includes a blower hole 32 and a sheet pressing member 33 in the main body 31. The main body 31 has a hollow cylindrical shape. Since the main body 31 is cylindrical, it is composed of two circular planes and one curved surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the axis connecting the centers of the two circular planes is horizontal. is set up. One curved surface of the main body 31 is a side surface of the main body 31. A blower hole 32 that penetrates the side surface is formed in the main body 31.

  A sheet pressing member 33 is provided on the side surface of the main body 31. The sheet pressing member 33 is a rod-shaped member for pressing the upper end of the sheet bundle. The sheet pressing member 33 is formed so that the extending direction of the rod-shaped sheet pressing member 33 is directed toward the center of the cylindrical main body 31. The formation position of the sheet pressing member 33 in the main body 31 is a position that coincides with the center of the air blowing hole 32 in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical main body 31 (the horizontal direction in the example of FIG. 2). That is, the portion where the central axis of the sheet pressing member 33 intersects the side surface of the main body portion 31 coincides with the center of the air blowing hole 32 in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 31. As a result, the blowing direction by the blowing holes 32 and the extending direction of the sheet pressing member 33 are the same, and air is blown toward the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S pressed by the sheet pressing member 33. In the example of FIG. 2, the cylindrical main body 31 is installed so that the central axis thereof is in the horizontal direction, but can be installed with a slight inclination.

  Although omitted in FIG. 1, the main body portion 31 of the blower unit 30 is provided with a rotating shaft 34 having the circle center as an axis. One end of the rotating shaft 34 is fixed to one surface of two planes of the cylindrical main body 31, and the other end of the rotating shaft 34 is rotatably held by a shaft holding means (not shown). . Any shaft holding means may be used as long as it can hold the rotary shaft 34 rotatably. As the shaft holding means, for example, a member having a hole having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the rotating shaft 34 can be employed. By passing the rotating shaft 34 through the hole of this member, the rotating shaft 33 is held rotatably.

  A blower tube 40 is connected to a plane opposite to the plane on which the rotation shaft 34 of the main body 31 of the blower unit 30 is provided. Thereby, the air from the blower tube 40 can flow into the cavity of the main body 31 of the blower unit 30. Any material may be employed as the material of the air duct 40 as long as it is suitable for air blowing. Wind generated by wind generating means (not shown) such as a fan is blown to the blower unit 30 through the blower pipe 40.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the paper feed roller 20 shown in FIG. As the paper feed roller 20, various known rollers can be employed. In this embodiment, a mechanism that sucks a sheet from the peripheral surface of the roller is employed. A large number of suction ports 22 are formed on the peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 20 at predetermined intervals. In addition, a chamber is formed inside the paper feed roller 20, and an external object is attracted to the peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 20 by activating a suction force with respect to the chamber. The sheet feeding roller 20 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow in the figure while activating a suction force to the chamber and performing suction from the suction port 22. As a result, the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S can be wound while being sucked and fed to a transport destination such as a printing apparatus.

<2. Processing action>
Next, the processing operation of the sheet supply apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present embodiment. First, the operator places the sheet bundle S on the sheet stacking unit 10 with the sheet stacking unit 10 lowered (step S10). Next, the operator operates the lift button to raise the sheet stacking unit 10 (step S20). Specifically, when the operator presses a lift button (not shown), the lift mechanism described above is driven to raise the sheet stacking unit 10 on which the sheet bundle S is placed.

  The detection sensor 50 starts detection as the sheet stacking unit 10 starts to rise. Then, when the detection sensor 50 detects the sheet bundle S, the rising of the sheet stacking unit 10 is stopped (step S30). Specifically, the lifting mechanism receives a detection signal from the detection sensor 50, and the lifting mechanism stops the lifting of the sheet stacking unit 10. In this state, the detection sensor 50 detects the vicinity of the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S. The detection sensor 50 is installed so as to detect the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S when one uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S is present at a position where the sheet feeding roller 20 can feed paper.

  When the sheet stacking unit 10 stops at a predetermined position, the operator operates the operation button to rotate the paper feed roller 20 (step S40). Subsequently, the blower unit 30 blows air to the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S (step S50). Specifically, in accordance with the operation of the operation button, blowing from the blowing mechanism is started, and the wind sent through the blowing pipe 40 is blown out from the blowing hole 32 of the blowing unit 30. This blowing is performed at regular time intervals.

  Next, the sheet feeding roller 20 sucks the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S and feeds it to the supply destination while it is rolled up (step S60). Specifically, in step S50, the sheet feeding roller 20 sucks and winds up the uppermost sheet that is lifted by the air blown from the blower holes 32.

  On the other hand, the detection sensor 50 always irradiates the position where the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S should be present. Then, based on the amount of reflected light, it is determined whether or not the sheet bundle S exists at a predetermined position (step S70). When the detection sensor 50 detects the sheet bundle S, the sheet is present at a position where it can be lifted by blowing, so the process returns to step S50 and the blower unit 30 moves the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S. Blow to.

  On the other hand, when the detection sensor 50 does not detect the sheet bundle S, there is no sheet at a position where the sheet bundle S can be lifted by air blowing, so the uppermost part of the sheet bundle S is at a position where the sheet bundle S can be lifted by air blowing. The lift mechanism raises the sheet stacking unit 10 on which the sheet bundle S is placed (step S80). In step S60, when the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S is conveyed, the thickness of the sheet bundle S is reduced by that amount. When the predetermined number of sheets is reduced, the reflected light is greatly reduced, and the detection sensor 50 determines that there is no sheet bundle S at a predetermined position, and sends a signal to that effect to the lifting mechanism. Then, the lifting mechanism is driven.

  When the detection sensor 50 detects the sheet bundle S (step S70), the rising of the sheet stacking unit 10 is stopped, and the blower unit 30 blows air to the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle S (step S50). The processing from step S50 to step S80 is repeated until all the sheets in the sheet bundle S are supplied.

<3. Modified example>
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the sheet pressing member extending from the main body portion of the blower unit is a straight bar shape, but the sheet pressing member does not necessarily have to be a straight bar shape, and one end is connected to the main body portion. It is also possible to have a structure in which a thin wire-like metal is bent so that the entire bent metal becomes a rod shape.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the main-body part of the ventilation unit was made into the cylindrical shape, if the cavity for inflow and blowing-out of a wind exists, it does not necessarily need to be cylindrical.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the part which the center axis | shaft of a sheet | seat pressing member cross | intersects the side surface of a main-body part and the center of a ventilation hole corresponded in the elongate direction in the ventilation unit, As long as the direction can be guided to the top of the sheet, the position is not necessarily the same in the longitudinal direction, and may be a slightly shifted position.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the paper feed roller has a plurality of suction ports on the peripheral surface, and performs suction while sucking the uppermost sheet by performing suction from a chamber existing inside. However, it is also possible to employ a roller that does not have a suction port.

10: Sheet stacking unit (lifting platform)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Feed roller 21 ... Drive shaft 22 ... Suction port 30 ... Blower unit 31 ... Main-body part 32 ... Blower hole 33 ... Sheet pressing member 34 ... Rotating shaft 40 ... Air blow pipe 50 ... Detection sensor S ... Sheet bundle

Claims (3)

A sheet stacking unit on which the sheets are stacked and mounted; a sheet feeding roller that winds and feeds the uppermost sheet among the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit; and a blower unit that floats the stacked sheets Sheet feeding device,
The blower unit has a cylindrical main body , is rotatable around a predetermined rotation axis, has a cavity inside the main body, and has a blower hole on the side of the main body, have a sheet pressing member which is rod-shaped straight line extending in the direction from the side of a given said body portion,
A portion center axis of the sheet hold-down member intersects the side surface of the body portion, the center of the blower hole, the sheet feeding apparatus according to claim that you have been formed so as to coincide in the longitudinal direction of the body portion .   2. The sheet feeding roller has a plurality of suction ports on a peripheral surface, and performs sheet feeding while sucking the uppermost sheet by performing suction from a chamber existing inside. The sheet supply apparatus according to 1. A detection sensor for detecting a sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit;
The sheet stacking unit is a lifting platform that can be lifted and lowered by a lifting mechanism,
The detection sensor transmits a signal to the elevating mechanism when no sheet is detected, and the elevating mechanism raises the elevating platform to a predetermined position when receiving the signal. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet feeding apparatus is characterized.