JP3376321B2 - Recording paper separation device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording paper separating apparatus, and more particularly, to a recording paper separating apparatus applied to a printing apparatus using various fixed-size or paper-quality recording paper. Related to the device. 2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, in a printing apparatus which transports recording paper one by one to a printing unit by rotatingly contacting a rotating transport roller on a bundle of recording paper stacked on a tray, a stacking operation is performed. Some paper trays have a slope formed at the downstream end of the tray in order to separate the conveyed recording papers. Further, in order to further improve the separating ability of the recording paper, there has been proposed a printing apparatus having, in addition to the inclined surface (main separating means), an auxiliary separating means for the recording paper which is fixed and always operated. [0004] The problems of the above-mentioned prior art will be described. [0005] The first problem is that, in a device having only the main separating means, when recording papers which stick to each other are used, there is a possibility that the recording papers are not sufficiently separated from each other. On the other hand, the second problem is that in a device having a main separation unit and an auxiliary separation unit which are both fixed and always operated, when recording paper which is easily peeled from each other is used,
This means that the operation of the auxiliary separating means imposes a load on the conveyance and may possibly cause a conveyance failure. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording paper separating apparatus capable of improving recording paper separating performance as required. [0008] A recording paper separating apparatus according to the present invention is conveyed from a stack of stacked recording papers.
A main separating unit for separating the recording papers, and an operating position in which the conveyed recording papers are selectively moved to an operable position where they can be separated according to a form of the recording paper to be used. an auxiliary separation means to be retracted from the main fraction
Between the separation means and the auxiliary separation means, upstream and downstream.
Having blocks with respective surfaces, upstream of said blocks
Of the recording paper conveyed in an overlapping manner.
The recording paper is a surface that can be slid and contacted,
A flow-side surface guides the auxiliary separating means to the operating position.
It is characterized by being a guide surface . According to this apparatus, the auxiliary separating means is selectively activated or deactivated in accordance with the form of the recording paper, in particular, the size and paper quality related to the separability. Therefore, when handling recording paper with high separation, it is possible to suppress the load on the conveyance due to the separation operation by disabling the auxiliary separation unit.
When handling low-separation recording paper, it is possible to improve the separation performance by operating the auxiliary separation means and ensure the conveyance of a predetermined number of recording papers. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. A recording paper separating apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a recording paper separating apparatus which has been conveyed from a bundle of recording papers 7 stacked on recording paper stacking means (1 in FIG. 1A). Main separating means (1a in FIG. 1A) for separating the two from each other;
Auxiliary separation means (FIG. 1) which is arranged downstream from the main separation means along the recording paper conveyance direction and is selectively moved to the operation position or retracted from the operation position depending on the type of recording paper to be used. (A) 4). In a preferred embodiment of the recording paper separating apparatus according to the present invention, the auxiliary separating means is attached to the movable means and the movable means is attached to the recording paper loading means, or the auxiliary separating means itself is operated manually or automatically. Configure as possible. A recording paper separating apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention has a sheet-like auxiliary separating means, and the sheet-like auxiliary separating means is put in and out between an operating position and a retracted position. . According to this embodiment, the auxiliary separating means can be made compact. In the recording paper separating apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the movable means to which the auxiliary separating means is attached is locked in order to releasably lock or lock the auxiliary separating means at its retracted position. For example, a fitting mechanism or a latch mechanism including a groove and a spring. In the recording paper separating apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary separating means is operated or retracted in accordance with the size and quality of the recording paper. For example, when handling a postcard, the auxiliary separating unit is retracted, and when handling a normal copy sheet, the auxiliary separating unit is moved to the operating position. In a preferred embodiment of the recording paper separating apparatus according to the present invention, the auxiliary separating means has a portion which intersects the recording paper transporting path at its operation position, and overlaps with an upstream surface of this portion. The recording papers are separated from each other by the end of the lower recording paper abutting on the transported recording papers. In a preferred embodiment of the recording paper separating apparatus according to the present invention, a block having surfaces on the upstream side and the downstream side is provided between the main separating means and the auxiliary separating means. The lower surface of the recording paper conveyed in an overlapped manner is slidable, and the downstream surface is a guide surface for guiding the auxiliary separating means to the operating position. The recording paper separating apparatus according to the present invention is suitably applied to a printing apparatus or a collecting / distributing or sorting apparatus. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in order to further clarify the preferred embodiment of the present invention described above. FIGS. 1A and 1B are side views of a main part of a recording paper separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1A shows the operation state of the auxiliary separating means for the recording paper, and FIG.
Indicates the retracted state of the auxiliary separating means. FIG.
1 is a perspective view of a recording paper separating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, this recording paper separating apparatus includes a tray 1 on which a bundle of recording papers 7 is placed and which is detachable from the apparatus. And a guide block 6 disposed downstream of the tray 1 and extending along the width direction of the tray 1.
A movable member 3 extending outside the guide block 6 and operable; and a sheet material (attached to an upstream end surface of a plate provided downstream of the movable member 3 and arranged downstream of the tray 1). A recording paper auxiliary separating means) 4 and a compression member are interposed between the downstream end face of the plate provided in the movable means 3 and the stationary part of the recording paper separating apparatus, and constantly urges the sheet material 4 toward the operating position. Coil springs (biasing means, pressurizing means) 5. Note that a printing unit (not shown) is arranged downstream of the recording paper separating apparatus. The guide block 6 has a substantially triangular roof portion and a floor plate portion. Upstream side (Tray 1
The roof surface (side) can be in sliding contact with the recording paper 7 being conveyed. On the other hand, the roof surface on the downstream side (the sheet material 4 side) is slidable with the upstream inclined surface at the leading end of the sheet material 4 and guides the movement of the sheet material 4. The lower surface of the plate provided upstream of the movable means 3 slides on the floor plate portion of the guide block 6, whereby the movement of the movable means 3 is guided. At the downstream end of the tray 1, there is formed an inclined surface 1a which extends obliquely upward and downstream. The inclined surface 1a functions as a main separation unit for the recording paper 7. When the recording papers 7a and 7b are conveyed while being overlapped with each other, the lower recording paper 7b abuts on the inclined surface 1a, thereby suppressing the conveyance of the lower recording paper 7b. On the other hand, the movable sheet material 4 functions as auxiliary separating means for the recording paper 7. The sheet material 4 is bent toward the upstream side in the conveying direction of the recording paper 7 at an intermediate portion thereof, and the leading end thereof is inclined and extends so as to intersect the recording paper conveyance locus at the sheet material 4 operating position. ing. The recording papers 7a and 7b conveyed in an overlapping manner on the upstream inclined surface of the front end portion.
Of the recording paper 7b, the recording papers 7a and 7b are separated from each other. Sheet material 4
Is an operating position or a retracted position (inactive position) by operating the movable means 3 according to the type of recording paper to be used.
Is positioned. When the operator manually operates the movable means 3,
The sheet member 4 can be positioned at the retracted position shown in FIG. 1B by releasably locking the movable means 3 to the casing of the apparatus or the floor plate portion of the guide block 6 by manual operation. . When this locking is released, the sheet material 4 is moved to the operating position shown in FIG. On the other hand, a control configuration of the movable means 3 when automatically determining the position of the sheet material 4 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration when the recording paper separating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is automated. Referring to FIG. 3, in the case of automation, the recording paper separating apparatus further includes a detecting means 8 for detecting the form of the recording paper 7, and whether or not to activate the sheet material 4 based on the detection result of the detecting means 8. Determining means 9 for determining whether or not the driving means 10 moves the movable means 3 based on the determination result of the determining means 9
And Next, FIG. 1A and FIG.
With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 2, the operation of the recording paper separating apparatus will be described for the case where the movable means is manually operated. The operation when the movable means is automatically operated is basically the same as the operation when the manual operation is performed, so that it will be apparent from the following description of the manual operation. When using the recording paper 7 having low separability, the operator releases the locked state of the movable means 3 in advance and moves the sheet material 4 to the operating position shown in FIG. Let it.
On the other hand, when using the recording paper 7 having high separability, the operator pushes the movable means 3 and locks it at a predetermined position, and positions the sheet material 4 at the retracted position shown in FIG. First, the operation of the apparatus when the recording paper 7 having low separability is used will be described with reference to FIG. The transport roller 2 rotates in a predetermined direction and comes into sliding contact with the bundle of the recording sheets 7, so that the recording sheet 7 is pushed out toward the inclined surface 1a. When the recording papers 7a and 7b overlap and are pushed out, the leading end of the overlapping lower recording paper 7b abuts against the inclined surface 1a, thereby separating the overlapping recording papers 7a and 7b. However, if the recording papers 7a and 7b still overlap after passing through the inclined surface 1a, the leading end of the lower recording paper 7b hits the upstream inclined surface of the sheet material 4, and
Thereby, the overlapping recording papers 7a, 7
b are separated from each other, and only the top recording paper 7a is conveyed to the downstream printing unit. Next, with reference to FIG. 1B, the operation of the apparatus when using the recording paper 7 with high separability will be described. The transport roller 2 rotates in a predetermined direction and comes into sliding contact with the bundle of the recording paper 7, and the recording paper 7 is pushed out toward the inclined surface 1 a. When the recording papers 7a and 7b overlap and are pushed out, the leading end of the overlapping lower recording paper 7b abuts on the inclined surface 1a, and as a result, the overlapping recording papers 7a and 7b are pushed out.
7b are separated from each other. Here, since the sheet material 4 is retracted, the separated recording paper 7a is conveyed to the downstream printing section without slidingly contacting the sheet material 4. Therefore, high-speed conveyance of the recording paper 7 is possible. The effects of the recording paper separating apparatus according to the present invention will be described. The first effect is that the separability can be improved when a recording paper having a low separability is handled, and the transport load caused by the separating operation is reduced when a recording paper having a high separability such as a postcard is handled. That is what you can do. The reason is that the auxiliary separating means for the recording paper selectively operates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A and 1B are side views of a main part of a recording paper separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. (B) shows the retracted state of the auxiliary separating means. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a recording paper separating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration for automating a recording paper separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 Tray (recording paper stacking means) 1a Slant surface at the downstream end of tray (main separating means) 2 Transport roller (transporting means) 3 Movable means 4 Sheet material (auxiliary separating means) 5 Coil spring (biasing) Means, pressurizing means) 6 Guide block 7 Recording paper 7a Top recording paper 7b Lower recording paper

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] Conveyed from a stack of stacked recording papers
The main separation means for separating the separated recording papers from each other, and are conveyed in an overlapping manner according to the form of the recording paper to be used.
Is moved selectively to an operating position where the recording papers can be separated from each other.
Auxiliary separating means which is moved or retracted from the operating position
And a block having a surface on each of an upstream side and a downstream side between the main separation unit and the auxiliary separation unit, and the upstream surface of the block is one of the recording papers conveyed in an overlapping manner. A recording paper separating device, wherein the lower recording paper is a surface on which the recording paper can slide, and a downstream surface of the block is a guide surface for guiding the auxiliary separating means to the operating position. .