JPH0246498B2 - SHIITOHANSOHOHOOYOBISOCHI - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for conveying a rectangular sheet, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for contactless sheet conveyance.

It is common practice in the photographic industry to appropriately process raw rolls of paper, plastic film, etc. into rectangular sheets. Conventionally used methods for conveying these sheets include a belt conveying method in which a multi-stripe conveyor belt sandwiches the sheet from above and below and the sheet is conveyed as the conveyor belt moves, and a belt conveying method in which the sheet is conveyed as the conveyor belt moves. Instead of this, there is a suction belt conveyance system in which a suction box is provided on the lower belt side, suction holes are provided at appropriate pitches in the lower belt, and the sheet and the lower belt are conveyed integrally by suction force. If the sheet is an X-ray film coated with photosensitive emulsion on both sides, the former sheet conveyance method tends to cause slippage between the sheet sandwiched between the upper and lower belts and the upper and lower belts, resulting in In the latter method, because the belt is constantly in sliding contact with the suction box, static electricity tends to build up on the belt surface, which discharges onto the photographic film sheet that is being conveyed, causing static charges called static marks. Failure may occur. Furthermore, if the suction pressure of the suction box is inappropriate and too high, suction holes in the suction belt may be transferred to the film, which may cause film failures called hallmarks when developed. When trying to convey photographic film, especially X-ray film sheets, using the conventionally known sheet conveyance method,
In order to avoid various product defects, the current situation is to reduce production speed and continue operations under a careful quality assurance system.

These drawbacks of the conventional method are due to the contact conveyance with the sheet, and as a result, a non-contact conveyance of the sheet has been proposed. Non-contact transport using a support member that blows out air is used to transport glass dry plates for use. Non-contact conveyance using a support member that blows air is effective for conveying heavy objects and for conveying sheets that can be considered rigid bodies like glass as mentioned above, but it is effective for conveying weak photographic film. In particular, when the conveyance speed increases, the sheet flies up and becomes impossible to convey.

The present invention has been made to solve the drawbacks of such conventionally known methods, and its first purpose is to provide a sheet conveying method that does not cause malfunctions peculiar to sheets such as photographic film. and equipment.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a sheet conveying method and apparatus that can stably convey even a weak sheet at high speed.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, 1 is a rectangular sheet to be conveyed, 2 is a support member with a hollow box-like cross section provided along the conveyance path of the sheet 1, and 3 is the support member 2.
It communicates with the hollow part 4 of the support member 2 through a large number of air injection holes bored in the upper surface. The support member 2
The hollow portion 4 is connected to a pressure source (for example, a compressor, a blower, etc.), which is not shown. Reference numeral 5 designates an air nozzle having a hollow pipe-shaped cross section, for example, which is disposed along the sheet traveling direction on the opposite side of the support member 2 across the sheet 1, and one end of the air nozzle 5 is connected to a pressure source (not shown). There is. At the lower end of the pipe cross section of the air nozzle 5 is an air outlet 6 for ejecting compressed air toward the sheet 1.
Many holes have been drilled. As shown in FIG. 2, the air nozzles 5 are arranged on at least two sides of the side edges parallel to the sheet traveling direction. Note that the air ejection holes 3 of the support member 2 do not need to be provided in the entire width direction of the sheet 1 as shown in FIG. They may be drilled as one set. The air jet hole rows (for example, one set of three rows) of the support member 2 and the air nozzles 5 are arranged alternately with the sheet 1 in between. That is, it is desirable that the portion of the sheet 1 above which the air is ejected from the air nozzle 5 has a configuration in which no ejection hole array is provided below. 7 is a guide plate attached to one side end of the support member 2, and 8 is a conveyance mechanism attached to the other side end of the support member 2, which is in contact with the side edge of the sheet 1 as shown in FIG. It is comprised of a conveyor belt 9 for conveying the sheet 1, and a rotatably supported pulley 10 for transmitting power from a drive device (not shown) to the conveyor belt. Note that the support member 2 is placed on a horizontal surface as shown in FIG.
It is tilted by a small angle θ with respect to FL, and is installed so that the transport mechanism 8 side is lower than the guide plate 7 side. Further, the upper surface of the support member 2, the lower surface of the seat 1, one side surface of the pulley 10, etc., and the area surrounded by the guide plate 7 are kept at a certain level of static by the pressurized air from the air outlet 3. configured to maintain pressure.

The operation of the present invention configured as above will be explained.

Rectangular sheets 1 are fed onto the support member 2 one by one from a sheet feeding device (not shown). Pressurized air supplied from an unillustrated pressure source is ejected from the air ejection holes 3 of the support member 2 toward the sheet 1, so that the sheet 1 is supported without contact. Furthermore, the support member 2 has a small angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane FL.
Since the sheet 1 is tilted by 100 degrees, the sheet 1 moves toward the lower conveyance mechanism 8, and one end of the sheet 1 comes into contact with the conveyor belt 9. Regarding the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet 1, even for photographic film sheets that require careful handling, conveying the sheet while touching the side edges does not reduce the commercial value of the sheet in any way.

Pressurized air supplied from a pressure source (not shown) is ejected toward the sheet 1 from the air ejection holes 6 of the air nozzle 5 . The shape of the sheet 1 in the non-contact state differs depending on the arrangement of the air nozzle 5 and the air jet hole 3 of the support member 2, and when arranged as shown in FIG. 1, the sheet 1 is deformed into an arcuate shape. In this state, the pulley 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 by a drive device (not shown), and the sheet 1 is therefore advanced in the direction of arrow B by the conveyor belt 9. sheet 1
Because the material is transformed into an arcuate shape and transported without contact,
The sheet appears to be stiffer, so the sheet will not fly up even during high-speed conveyance.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, when the width of the sheet is wide, the number of air nozzles 5 may be increased to deform the sheet 1 into a wave shape and convey it as shown in FIG. It is. In the same figure, parts with the same numbers as in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts and names. Further, in this embodiment, the air jet holes 6 of the air nozzle 5 and the air jet holes 3 of the support member 2 are formed so as to blow air at right angles to the sheet 1, but the directions are not necessarily limited to the right angle direction. Alternatively, the holes may be formed at an angle in the sheet traveling direction. If the holes are formed in this manner, the compressed air that is ejected supports the sheet 1 without contacting it and at the same time generates a conveying force in the sheet advancing direction, which has the effect of downsizing the drive device for the pulley 10.

In the present invention, the term "sheet" refers to something that serves as a base, for example, one on which a structure such as a photographic emulsion layer is provided on one or both sides, or a sheet before such a structure is provided, or an intermediate product on which only a portion (for example, only one side) is provided. Any of these may be used, and it may also be a sheet-like material itself such as a plastic sheet itself instead of the base.

According to the present invention, since the sheet is supported and conveyed in a non-contact manner, it can be conveyed without causing troubles peculiar to sheets such as photographic film, and since the sheet is deformed into an arcuate or wavy shape and conveyed, it is easy to transport. Even weak sheets can be transported stably at high speeds, and it is especially suitable for directly transporting X-ray film, in which photosensitive emulsion layers are coated on both sides of the sheet.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
This figure is a plan view of the same as above, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a sheet, 2 is a support member, 5 is an air nozzle, and 8 is a conveyance mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rectangular sheet is supported in a non-contact floating state by compressed air ejected from one side, and the side surface is attached to at least two side edges parallel to the traveling direction of the sheet. A sheet conveyance method in which a rectangular sheet is held without contact and conveyed while being deformed into an arched or wavy shape by blowing out compressed air from the opposite side of the sheet. 2. A support member that supports the sheet without contact by ejecting compressed air, a plurality of air nozzles arranged on the opposite side of the support member across the sheet, and a plurality of air nozzles that contact side edges of the sheet to support the sheet without contact. the air nozzles are arranged alternately across the sheet, and at least the air nozzles are arranged on two sides of the side edges parallel to the sheet traveling direction. A configuration in which the sheet is deformed into an arcuate or wavy shape without contact, and the supporting member is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel, so that the sheet end is conveyed by contacting the sheet conveying mechanism. A sheet conveying device having: