JP2897764B2 - Media supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium supply device. For example, a large number of media having different thicknesses at opposite ends (for example, a media in which a stripe-shaped magnetic tape is pasted on a print recording medium such as paper) are stored in a large amount, and the topmost medium is always kept horizontal. Thus, the present invention relates to an automatic supply device capable of stably supplying.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when a magnetic tape 19 is pasted on a print recording medium such as paper 18 in the form of a stripe, the thickness is increased only at that portion. When a large amount of the medium 9 is stacked and stored in the stacker 20, the medium 9 is greatly inclined in the stored state. If the posture of the medium 9 is not correct, there is a problem that the feeding failure rate (error rate) by the supply roller 21 increases. As the prior art, (1) card feeding device (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-151401) (2) work stocker (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-345273) (3) single-sheet replenishing device (actually open 63-88629) (4) card loading table Structure (Japanese Utility Model 6-7300)
3) and so on.

Next, the operation will be described. (1) Card feeding device (JP-A-5-151401)
The medium is set horizontally and in a fixed position by holding the upper two cards in a card holder, and the upper card is transported using the lower card of the two cards as a guide. It is a method to do. (2) Work stocker (JP-A-6-345273)
Utilizes the tilt angle of the tilt guide tilted at a fixed angle, provides an angle variable mechanism that continuously changes the tilt angle of the table according to the rise of the table, and transports the uppermost medium in parallel. is there. (3) The cut-sheet replenishing device (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 63-88629) changes the diameter of the winding drums arranged on the left and right,
In this method, the inclination angle of the rising table is continuously changed, and the uppermost medium is conveyed in parallel. (4) Structure of card loading table (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-7300)
In 3), a card receiving plate for loading cards is disposed above a loading table which is disposed in the card storage section so as to be able to move up and down and is gradually raised as the number of loaded cards decreases. A method is characterized in that one end of the plate is pivotally supported on the loading table, and a supporting member which abuts the other end of the card receiving plate by lifting the other end thereof is provided at the bottom of the card storage section.

[0004]

In the prior art, for example, a card feeding device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-151401) is used.
Holds the two cards at the upper end in a card holder so that the medium is placed horizontally and in a fixed position and conveyed. Since the stacker needs to be moved up and down every time one sheet is conveyed and a new medium is supplied, the processing speed is reduced. Also, the last one cannot be transported. The work stocker (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-345273) is a system in which an angle variable mechanism using an inclination angle of an inclination guide is provided and a medium is conveyed in parallel, but it is necessary to set a rising amount according to the medium thickness. For this reason, it is necessary to set the rising amount each time the medium thickness is different. The cut-sheet replenishing device (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 63-88629) is a system in which the media are conveyed in parallel by changing the diameter of the take-up drums arranged on the left and right, but can handle only one type of media. And so on. Further, even in other systems, it has not been possible to reliably supply the medium stably while always keeping the topmost medium horizontal. In particular, in the conventional method, it is assumed that the ratio between the thick portion and the thin portion of the medium is constant, and when stacking different types of media having different ratios between the thick portion and the thin portion of the medium. Had the problem that the device had to be replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and it is not necessary to raise and lower the stacker every time one sheet is conveyed, and a medium supply that stably conveys the medium to the last sheet. The purpose is to provide the device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a medium supply device that can operate correctly even when stacking media having different ratios between the thick portion and the thin portion of the medium.

[0006]

A medium supply device according to the present invention stores a medium having a thick portion and a thin portion in an overlapping manner, and in the medium supply device for supplying a medium, the medium having a thick portion and a thin portion is provided at the end of the overlapped medium. Provided at a position for supplying the medium,
A first stacker for moving the stacked media, and a thin-walled side of the stacked media that is provided between the stacked media and the first stacker according to an inclination caused by the stacked media. And a second stacker.

[0007] The second stacker is characterized in that it is a rotating plate that is rotatably attached to the first stacker on the thick portion side of the stacked media.

[0008] A medium supply device according to the present invention, in which a medium having a thick portion and a thin portion is stacked and accommodated, and is provided on the thick portion side of the stacked medium in the medium supply device for supplying the medium. A first stacker for moving the thick portion side of the stacked medium in the direction in which the media are stacked, and a first stacker provided on the thin portion side of the stacked medium, and the medium being stacked on the thin portion side of the stacked medium. And a second stacker that is individually moved in a different direction from the first stacker.

[0009] The first and second stackers are characterized in that they are rotating plates that rotate in conformity with the inclination caused by the stacked media.

[0010] The medium storage device further includes a sensor for detecting the position of the medium in order to confirm whether the leading medium of the superimposed medium is set at the position for supplying the medium, and The second stacker controls the amount of movement of the superposed medium based on the position of the medium detected by the sensor.

The first stacker has a first drive unit, the second stacker has a second drive unit, and the sensor is provided on the thick portion side of the superposed medium. A first sensor, and a second sensor provided on the thin portion side, wherein the first driving unit moves the first stacker based on a detection result of the first sensor, and the second driving unit Is characterized in that the second stacker is moved according to the detection result of the second sensor.

A medium supply device according to the present invention stores media having a thick portion and a thin portion in a stacked manner, and is provided on the thick portion side of the stacked media in the medium supply device for supplying the medium. A first sensor having a first sensor and a second sensor provided on the thin portion side, and controlling movement of the superposed medium to the supply position on the thick portion side based on a detection result of the first sensor; It is characterized by having a drive unit and a second drive unit that controls the movement of the superposed medium to the supply position on the thin part side based on the detection result of the second sensor.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a front view of a medium supply device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the medium supply device shown in FIG. FIG.
In the front view of FIG. 2 and the sectional view of FIG. 2, a stacker 2 is mounted on a stacker 1 on which a medium is placed in order to absorb the inclination of the medium. One end of the stacker 2 is fixed to the stacker 1 via a hinge 14 so as to rotate freely, and the other end can operate freely. The stacker 2 is mounted so that the inclination angle can be freely changed by a shaft 5 driven by a motor 6. Stackers 1, 2
Can be moved up and down by the motor 3 and the shaft 4.

When the medium 9 is set in the apparatus, the stacker 1 is at the lowermost position, and the stacker 2 is inclined downward to the left with the right end being the uppermost position in FIG. When a large amount of media having different thicknesses at the end portions are stored on the stacker, the magnetic tape 19 is attached to the left end portion in the figure. Therefore, when the stacker 2 is not provided, the top surface of the medium is greatly inclined to the lower right. However, since the stacker 2 is inclined downward to the left, the uppermost surface is almost horizontal to left.

(1) When the medium is lifted up by driving the motor 3 in this state, first, the right sensor S2
Drives the motor 6 to detect the medium so that the sensor S2
The stacker 2 is lowered to the position where is turned off.

(2) On the other hand, since the motor 3 keeps rotating, when the uppermost surface of the medium reaches a predetermined position, the left sensor S1 detects the medium and stops the motor 3. Here, it is assumed that the sensor mounting position is set such that the medium on the uppermost surface is horizontal under the condition that the sensor S1 is ON and the sensor S2 is OFF. The lowering operation of the stacker 2 of (1) described above is continued until the left sensor S1 is turned on.

(3) The pickup roller 11 is constantly pressed downward by the spring 12, and is always in contact with the medium at a constant pressure. Then, one medium is transported in the supply direction by driving the motor 10. Each time one sheet is transported, the sensor S1 is turned off, and the medium is lifted by the rotation of the motor 3, and the medium is first lifted until the sensor S2 is turned on. When the sensor S2 is turned on, the motor 6 is driven to lower the stacker 2 to a position where the sensor S2 is turned off. On the other hand, since the motor 3 keeps rotating, when the uppermost surface of the medium becomes horizontal, the left sensor S1 detects the medium and stops the motor 3. The above (1), (2)
By repeating the operations of (3) and (3), the top top surface of the superimposed media always keeps horizontal.

When the last sheet is conveyed, the sensor S3 becomes O
N, it is determined that the entire medium has been transported, the motor 3 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the stacker 1 is lowered. At the same time as lowering the stacker 1, the motor 6 is driven to raise the right side of the stacker 2. When each of the shafts 4 and 5 moves to the position of the initial value (the position in FIG. 1), the respective motors are stopped. The motor 6 always operates in the downward direction when there is a medium, and operates in the upward direction when the medium ends, so that the motor 6 can operate with a motor having a small driving torque.

As described above, according to the present invention, one end is fixed to the stacker 1 so as to be rotatable, and the other end is free to absorb the tilt of the medium on the stacker 1 on which the medium is placed. Attach the stacker 2 that can be operated to
This is a medium supply device provided with an automatic paper feeding mechanism, characterized in that the inclination angle of the stacker 2 can be freely changed by a shaft 5 driven by a motor 6.

When a medium is set in the apparatus, the stacker 1 is located at the lowermost position, and the stacker 2 is inclined downward and leftward with the right end at the uppermost position.

Further, the stacker 1 is raised, and the sensor S2
Is turned on, the right end of the stacker 2 is lowered until the sensor S2 is turned off, the stacker 1 is raised to a predetermined position, and this operation is repeated until the sensor S1 is turned on.
The top surface of the medium is always horizontal.

When the last medium has been conveyed, the sensor S3 is turned on and it is determined that the entire medium has been conveyed. The motor 3 is rotated in the reverse direction to lower the stacker 1, and at the same time, the motor 6 is driven to operate the stacker. 2 is characterized in that the right side is raised to automatically return to the state when the medium is set.

The present invention relates to a card feeding device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
-151401). In the conventional apparatus, in order to hold the upper two sheets in the card holder, it is necessary to reciprocate up and down a distance of two to three sheets or more of the medium thickness. If the amount of left and right inclination is very large (for example,
The amount of inclination several times that of the medium) is 1
It is necessary to set the amount of movement for one time. This series of operations is performed every time one sheet is conveyed, and the amount of movement each time is extremely large.

In the operation of the present invention, the left end is up and the right end is down, and the operation is always in the same direction, not a reciprocating operation. Also, the amount of movement is equivalent to one medium, and it operates every time when a very thick medium is handled. However, in the case of a thin medium, there is a case where the medium can be conveyed without moving. That is, after one sheet is transported in FIG.
If is not turned off, it can be determined that the sheet is almost horizontal, and the second sheet may be conveyed without raising the stacker 1. Similarly, even if the stacker 1 is raised, if the right sensor is not turned on, it can be determined that the case is almost horizontal in this case, so that it is not necessary to lower the stacker 2.

Embodiment 2 In the first embodiment, the initial state of the stacker 2 is always set to a right-upward state, but the initial state may be parallel to the stacker 1. The operation in this case will be described. FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment.
3 is a front view of the medium supply device of FIG. In the front view of FIG. 3, when a medium is set in the apparatus, the stackers 1 and 2 are at the lowermost position, and both stackers are in a parallel state. When a large amount of media 9 having different thicknesses at the ends are stored on the stacker 2, the magnetic tape 1 is placed at the left end in the figure.
Since 9 is attached, the uppermost surface of the medium is greatly inclined to the lower right. In this state, when the motor 3 is driven to lift the medium upward, first, the left sensor S
The motor 3 is stopped when the medium 1 is turned on upon detecting the medium. Next, the motor 6 is driven to lift the right end of the stacker 2 to a position where the sensor S2 is turned on. When the top surface of the medium is horizontal, the right sensor S2 detects the medium and turns on.
And the motor 6 is stopped. Here, the mounting position of the sensor is set such that the medium on the uppermost layer is horizontal under the condition that the sensor S1 is ON and the sensor S2 is ON. The pickup roller 11 is provided with a spring 12
And is constantly pressed downward, and is constantly in contact with the medium at a constant pressure. Subsequent feeding of the medium is the same as in the first embodiment.

Embodiment 3 FIG. FIG. 4 shows the third embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the medium supply device shown in FIG. FIG.
5 and the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5, when a medium is set in the apparatus, the stackers L and R are at the lowermost position, and are normally in a horizontal state. The stacker L and the stacker R can be individually moved up and down. The stackers L and R are rotatably attached to the shafts 4 and 5 by hinges 15 and 16 respectively. When a large number of media having different thicknesses at the ends are stored in the stacker, the top surface of the medium 9 is greatly inclined to the lower right because the magnetic tape 19 is attached to the left end in FIG. If the medium is lifted upward in this state, the left sensor S1 detects the medium and stops the motor 3. When the motor 3 is stopped, the bottom surface of the medium rises to the right because the motor 6 continues to rotate. The stackers L and R have rotatable connections between the shafts 4 and 5 for transmitting the motor driving force, and are arranged along the inclination angle of the medium. Becomes When the uppermost surface of the medium is horizontal, the right sensor S2 detects the medium and stops the motor 6.

On the other hand, the pickup roller 11 is constantly pressed downward by the spring 12, and is always in contact with the medium at a constant pressure. Then, the medium is transported in the supply direction by driving the motor 10. Each time one sheet is conveyed, the sensor S1 and the sensor S2 are turned off, the medium is raised by the rotation of the motor 3 and the motor 6, and the medium is lifted until the sensor S1 and the sensor S2 are turned on.
When the sensors S1 and S2 are turned on, the motors 3 and 6 are stopped again. By repeating this operation, the top surface of the medium is always kept horizontal. When the last sheet is conveyed, the sensor S3 is turned on to detect that the medium has run out. Based on this detection, the motor 3 and the motor 6 are reversed, and the stackers L and R are lowered.

Embodiment 4 It is also possible to apply the stacker R used in the third embodiment to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG.
, A motor 6 is attached, and the motor 6 moves the shaft 5 up and down. The stacker R has a hinge 16
And is attached to the shaft 5 through the shaft. Stacker 1
Is provided with a recess for accommodating the stacker R. With such a configuration, the same effects as in the first to third embodiments can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the media are stacked in the vertical direction has been described. However, the media may be stacked in an oblique direction or in a horizontal direction.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. Since the stacker 2 absorbs the inclination of the medium and always conveys the medium on the surface in a horizontal state, the stacker 2 can convey the medium without being affected by the type of the medium (medium having a different thickness). There is no need to raise and lower the stacker each time one medium is transported, and the processing speed can be increased. The medium can be stably transported up to the last sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a medium.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a medium supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,2,20, L, R stacker, 3,6,10 motor, 4,5 shaft, 9 medium, 11 pickup roller, 12 spring, 14,15,16 hinge,
18 paper, 19 magnetic tape, 21 supply roller, S
1, S2, S3 sensors.

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A medium supply device for supplying and storing a medium having a thick portion and a thin portion while superposing the medium having a thick portion and a thin portion. A first stacker for moving the medium, a second stacker provided between the stacked medium and the first stacker, and pressing the thin-walled side of the stacked medium in accordance with an inclination caused by the stacked medium; And a stacker. 2. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the second stacker is a rotating plate that is rotatably attached to the first stacker on the side of the thick portion of the stacked media. Feeding device. 3. A medium supply device for supplying and storing a medium having a thick portion and a thin portion in a stacked manner, the medium supply device being provided on the thick portion side of the stacked medium, A first stacker for moving the medium side in the direction in which the media are stacked, and a first stacker provided on the thin-walled side of the stacked medium, and a first stacker for moving the thin-walled side of the stacked medium in the direction in which the media are stacked. And a second stacker that is individually moved. 4. The medium supply device according to claim 3, wherein the first and second stackers are rotation plates that rotate in accordance with the inclination generated by the stacked media. 5. The medium storage device further includes a sensor for detecting a position of a medium in order to confirm whether a leading medium of the superposed medium is set at a position for supplying the medium, and 4. The medium supply device according to claim 1, wherein the second stacker and the second stacker control a moving amount of the superposed medium based on a position of the medium detected by the sensor. 6. The first stacker has a first drive unit, the second stacker has a second drive unit, and the sensor is provided on the side of the thick portion of the superposed medium. Having a first sensor provided and a second sensor provided on the thin portion side,
The first drive unit moves the first stacker according to the detection result of the first sensor, and the second drive unit moves the second stacker according to the detection result of the second sensor. The medium supply device according to claim 5. 7. A medium supply device for supplying and storing a medium having a thick portion and a thin portion in a stacked manner, wherein the first sensor and the thin portion provided on the thick portion side of the superposed medium are provided. A second driving unit for controlling the movement of the superposed medium to the supply position on the thick part side based on the detection result of the first sensor; A second drive unit for controlling the movement of the superposed medium to the supply position on the thinner part side based on the detection result of the sensor.