JPH07121773B2 - Recording sheet remaining number detector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a recording sheet supply apparatus used in, for example, an X-ray imaging apparatus, to determine the number of remaining sheets in a housing storing a large number of recording sheets. The present invention relates to a recording sheet remaining number detecting device for detecting.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, this main device has a lever 3 pivotally supported on a fulcrum 2 provided inside a housing 1 in which a large number of recording sheets S are stacked and stored. , This lever 3
Of the recording sheet S is pressed against the uppermost position of the recording sheet S by the spring 4, and the rotation amount of the lever 3 accompanying the reduction of the recording sheet S is converted into the movement amount of the remaining amount display lever 5 to display the remaining number of sheets. The system type is general.

Further, in accordance with the same principle, a potentiometer 6 is used as shown in FIG. 11 in place of the remaining amount display lever 5 shown in FIG. 10, the amount of rotation of the lever 3 is converted into an electric signal and displayed on a remote controller or the like. The method of doing is also known.

However, such a conventional method has the following drawbacks.

(1) Since the detection device must be installed in the housing 1 that stores the recording sheet S, the mechanism inside the housing 1 is complicated.

(2) When the recording sheet S is loaded into the housing 1, the lever 3 is an obstacle and is difficult to load.

(3) Since the lever 3 is in direct contact with the recording sheet S, the recording sheet S is easily scratched or indented.

In addition to this, there is also known a method in which a counter is provided and the number of remaining recording sheets is counted every time the recording sheets S are supplied, but the setting of the counter is reset each time the recording sheets S are refilled. There is a problem that it must be.

[Object of the Invention] It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording sheet remaining number detecting device capable of safely and reliably detecting the number of sheets remaining in a housing in a method of supplying recording sheets using a suction cup. It is in.

[Summary of the Invention] A recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to a first aspect of the invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is a sheet in which a recording sheet loaded in a housing is sucked by a suction cup and taken out one by one. In the feeding device, the presence or absence of a recording sheet is determined from the suction information by the suction cup, and an adsorption sensor is provided, and a drive unit that presses the suction cup against the sheet by a drive operation that does not depend on the output of the adsorption sensor, The number of remaining sheets for use is detected by combining the driving amount information of the driving means and the output of the suction sensor.

Further, a recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to a second aspect of the invention is a sheet feeding device in which a recording sheet loaded in a housing is sucked by a suction cup and taken out one by one. A suction sensor obtained from suction information by the suction cup, and a drive unit that presses the suction cup against the sheet by a driving operation of a predetermined stroke are provided, and the remaining number of recording sheets in the housing is the drive amount information of the drive unit. It is characterized in that the outputs of the adsorption sensors are detected in combination.

Embodiments of the Invention The present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in FIGS.

First, an outline of a sheet feeding apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, a housing 10 accommodates a plurality of recording sheets S. A suction force is applied to the suction cup 11 by the air hose 12, and the recording sheet S is suctioned while being pressed by the spring 13. The sucker support arm 14 gives the sucker 11 a linear motion and an arc motion, and the linear motion is a crank motion about the axes 15 and 16 2
A given stroke is given by the pair of rotating arms 17 and 18. The suction cup support arm 14 has a first elongated hole 19 that is horizontal when the suction cups 11 are in contact with the stacked recording sheets S at a right angle.
And the sliding surface 20 are provided, and the rollers 21 and 22 provided on the rotating arms 17 and 18 make rolling contact with the sliding surface 20 in the first elongated hole 19, respectively.

Further, the suction cup support arm 14 is provided with a second elongated hole 23 in a direction orthogonal to the first elongated hole 19, and the second elongated hole 23 is centered around the shaft 25 via the roller 24. An L-shaped lever 26 is rotatably connected. Further, a fixed stopper shaft 28 is arranged on the suction cup support arm 14 so as to face the guide plate 27. A tension spring 29 is stretched between the stopper shaft 28 and the sucker support arm 14, so that the sucker support arm 14 is always supported by the stopper shaft 28.
Is biased in the direction of. An elongated hole 30 is provided in the L-shaped lever 26, and a roller 33 of a disk 32 that rotates around a shaft 31 is fitted in the elongated hole 30. Reference numerals 34 and 35 denote a pair of supply rollers for supplying the recording sheet S.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the power transmission mechanism to each of these mechanisms, and the drive source is the electric motor 40. Rotational force is transmitted from the electric motor 40 to the shaft 43 through the gears 41 and 42, and the intermittent gear is fixed to the shaft 44 and the shaft 31 that rotate the rotating arms 17 on both sides and the disk 32 from the gear 44 fixed to the shaft 43. The rotational force is transmitted via 45 and 46. The gear 44 has, for example, 40 teeth, and the gears 45 and 46 have a shape in which a normal gear having 20 teeth is lacking one tooth for intermittent feeding, and each has 19 teeth. Positioning cams that rotate with gears 44, 45, and 46, respectively
47, 48 and 49 are connected, and shaft 15 to sprocket 5
Rotational force is transmitted to the shaft 16 that rotates the rotary arm 18 via 0, 51, and the chain 52. These power transmission systems are held by the frames 53, 53, and the suction cup support arms 14 etc. are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the frames 53, 53. A chopper 60 for a phase sensor, which will be described later, is attached to the shaft 16, and photoelectric detection means 61 is arranged around the chopper 60.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the recording sheet S is reduced and the suction cup support arm 14 is at the lowest position. The shafts 15 and 16 rotate in the directions of the arrows, but the rollers 21 and 22 are at the lowest position. is there. Since the first long hole 19 of the suction cup support arm 14 is fitted with the roller 21,
In the front part including the part of the long hole 19, the sucker support arm 14 is
It follows the crank motion of 21 all around the track of roller 21.

On the other hand, the rear part of the suction cup support arm 14, that is, the sliding surface 20 in contact with the roller 22, is subjected to a force such that it is pressed against the roller 22 by the tension spring 29, and the guide plate attached to the suction cup support arm 14. Until 27 contacts the stopper shaft 28, it rises following the rotational movement of the roller 22, but after the guide plate 27 contacts the stopper shaft 28, the roller 22 moves circularly while being separated from the suction cup support arm 14. Will continue. Since the rollers 21 and 22 move the cranks in the same phase by the shafts 15 and 16, respectively, from the lowest position of the suction cup support arm 14 shown in FIG. 3 to the position where the guide plate 27 and the stopper shaft 28 are in contact with each other. , Sucker 11
Makes a linear movement in the vertical direction perpendicular to the recording sheet S,
The angle with respect to the recording sheet S is kept constant.

In the above supply device, in order to detect the number of recording sheets S remaining in the housing 10, a phase sensor that detects the phase of the drive cycle of the suction cup support arm 14 that supports the suction cup 11;
An adsorption sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the recording sheet S in each phase by using the adsorption information of the suction cup 11 is provided. As the phase sensor, for example, a chopper 60 having a large number of slits 62 provided around it as shown in FIG. 4 is attached to the shaft 16 as shown in FIG.
If the rotation surface of the shaft 16 is detected by the
It is possible to detect the phase of the suction cup support arm 14 which is interlocked with 16.

On the other hand, as an adsorption sensor, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a suction valve connected to a suction cup 11 via an air hose 12
The upper portion of 70 is covered with a diaphragm 71 that fluctuates according to changes in suction pressure, and the middle of a leaf spring 73 supported by a cantilever on a substrate 72 is connected to the diaphragm 71. By providing an ON / OFF signal to the photoelectric detection means 75 by the light blocking plate 74 provided at the tip of the leaf spring 73, it is possible to detect the suction of the recording sheet S by the suction cup 11 each time. That is, when the suction cup 11 adsorbs the recording sheet S, the internal pressure of the suction valve 70 changes from atmospheric pressure to negative pressure.
71 is pulled inside the suction valve 70,
The photoelectric detector 74 is separated from the photoelectric detector 75, and the adsorption signal is output from the photoelectric detector 75.

A procedure for detecting the remaining number of recording sheets S using such a phase sensor and a suction sensor will be described below. First, the correspondence between the rotation angle of the shaft 16 that drives the suction cup support arm 14 and the height of the recording sheet layer is prepared in advance. When the start signal is input, the electric motor 40 is started, and the shafts 15 and 16 start rotating in the same phase via the gears 41 and 42 and the shaft 43. Therefore, the rotating arm 17,
The suction cup support arm 14 starts to move linearly by the crank movement of 18, so that the suction cup 11 starts to approach the recording sheet S from above, and the recording sheet S is adsorbed during the driving of the adsorption support arm 14. Then, as described above, the adsorption signal is emitted from the adsorption sensor. The suction support arm 14 continues to descend as it is due to the crank motion of the rotary arms 17 and 18. At the same time when the suction signal is output from the suction sensor, the phase of the suction cup support arm 14 is detected by the phase sensor as described above, and if the height of the recording sheet layer is calculated, one sheet of the recording sheet S is preliminarily obtained. Since the thickness is known, it is possible to detect the number of remaining recording sheets S remaining in the housing 10.

Further, if air is removed by a method such as making a hole at the suction cup suction position on the bottom surface of the housing 10 or sticking a sheet having an emboss on the bottom, it is possible to eliminate the case where no recording sheet S remains. Since the suction pressure remains the atmospheric pressure, the suction signal is not emitted, and it can be detected that the remaining number of sheets is zero. Note that FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram regarding the flow of air in the present embodiment, and the air is sucked by the pump 80.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the phase of the drive cycle of the suction cup support arm 14 that supports the suction cup 11 for sheet suction is detected by using the chopper 60 is exemplified.
Other than this, various means such as a rotation angle detecting means such as an encoder can be substituted.

Further, the suction information of the suction cup 11 used for detecting the presence or absence of the recording sheet S in each phase can be given by various means other than the suction sensor shown in the embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, contact terminals 9 are attached to the stopper 91 of the suction pipe 90 and the suction cup support arm 14, respectively.
2, 93 may be provided, a minute current may be passed through the lead wire 94, and an electric signal when both contact terminals 92, 93 contact or separate may be used. In this case, the contact terminals 92 and 93 are initially in contact with each other as shown in FIG. 7, but after the recording sheet S is adsorbed, the suction cup support arm 14 continues to move linearly, while the suction pipe Since 90 is stopped at the suctioned position as shown in FIG. 8, the contact terminals 92 and 93 are separated. Therefore, it can be regarded as an electric switch and a signal can be generated when it is adsorbed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, it is also possible to attach a micro switch 95 to the stopper 91 of the suction pipe 90 and turn off the switch when the stopper 91 separates from the suction cup support plate 14 to obtain the suction signal.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to the present invention has a relatively simple configuration of detecting based on the driving amount information of the driving unit and the output of the suction sensor,
The remaining number of recording sheets can be detected easily, safely, and more accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a sheet feeding device of an embodiment of a recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is its plan view, and FIG. Fig. 4 is a front view of the phase sensor, Fig. 5 is a side view of the adsorption sensor, Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the air flow, Figs. 7 and 8.
FIG. 9 is a side view of another embodiment of the adsorption sensor, and FIG.
FIG. 11 and FIG. 11 are explanatory views of a conventional example. Reference numeral 10 is a housing, 11 is a suction cup, 12 is an air hose, 13 is a suction cup support arm, 15, 16 are shafts, 17 and 18 are rotating arms, 60 is a chopper, 6
Reference numerals 1 and 75 are photoelectric detection means, 70 is a suction valve, 71 is a diaphragm, 73 is a leaf spring, and S is a recording sheet.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device in which a recording sheet loaded in a housing is sucked by a suction cup and taken out one by one, and a suction sensor for determining the presence or absence of the recording sheet from the suction information of the previous suction cup, and the suction sensor. A driving unit that presses the suction cup against the sheet by a driving operation that does not depend on the output of the sensor, and combines the remaining number of recording sheets in the housing, the driving amount information of the driving unit, and the output of the suction sensor. An apparatus for detecting the number of remaining sheets for recording, which is also detected. 2. A patent in which the suction sensor detects a change in suction pressure when a suction cup sucks a recording sheet, and gives an on / off signal relative to the movement of the suction disc indicating member. The recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to claim 1. 3. The driving means comprises a rotating shaft which is driven in a predetermined cycle, and the angle detecting means for detecting a rotation angle of the rotating shaft detects information on a driving amount of the driving means. A recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to the first section. 4. The recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to claim 2, wherein the suction sensor comprises a suction valve and a diaphragm position fluctuation sensor for detecting fluctuation of the suction valve. 5. A sheet feeding device in which a recording sheet loaded in a housing is sucked by a suction cup and taken out one by one, and a suction sensor for determining the presence or absence of the recording sheet from suction information by the suction cup, and a predetermined stroke. Driving means for pressing the suction cup against the sheet by the driving operation of the driving means, and detecting the remaining number of recording sheets in the housing by combining the driving amount information of the driving means and the output of the suction sensor. An apparatus for detecting the remaining number of recording sheets, characterized by: 6. A patent in which the suction sensor detects a change in suction pressure when a suction cup sucks a recording sheet, and gives an on / off signal relative to the movement of the suction cup support member. The recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to claim 5. 7. The driving means comprises a rotary shaft which is driven in a predetermined cycle, and the angle detection means for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary shaft detects information on the drive amount of the drive means. A recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to item 5. 8. A recording sheet remaining number detecting device according to claim 6, wherein said suction sensor comprises a suction valve and a diaphragm position fluctuation sensor for detecting fluctuation of the suction valve.