JPH0537952Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a device for conveying sheet materials such as copy paper and scanned manuscripts, and in particular, in copying machines, electronic files, facsimile machines, printing machines, etc. This relates to a device that grips parts and conveys them one by one.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY Conventionally, in copying machines, printing machines, etc., various devices have been provided that grip and convey the leading edge of a sheet material, but in order to grip the sheet material uniformly over the entire surface without distortion, it is difficult to It is necessary to grip the entire width of the sheet material with a gripping plate having a length spanning the entire length, or to grip both sides of the sheet material with tension applied thereto. However, when gripping the entire length with a single gripping plate, it is difficult to maintain a uniform gripping force over the entire width of the sheet material, and the weight of the device increases, which does not meet the demand for weight reduction. In addition, when tension is applied to both sides in the width direction, the device becomes complicated and large.

For the above-mentioned reasons, at present, as shown in FIG. 7, the grip main body 2 is generally attached to the shaft 1 that is moved in the E direction in the figure by a driving means, and the sheet material is gripped at two locations, one at both ends and the other in the middle. A device provided with claws 3A to 3D is used. The above-mentioned gripping claws 3A to 3D each consist of a pair of upper and lower claws that sandwich the sheet material 4 from the upper and lower sides, and each pair of upper and lower claws is configured so that the tips thereof open at a constant angle in the direction of arrow A with the shaft 1 as a fulcrum. In addition, an elastic friction member 5 is fixed to the opposing surface of each claw.

In the process before the gripping process of the sheet material 4 by the gripping device, when holding the sheet material by a suction device or the like and positioning the sheet material 4 at the gripping position of the gripping device, as shown in FIG. When the tip of the sheet material 4 is located at the center of each of the gripping claws 3A to 3D, the sheet material 4 can be gripped without distortion or loosening in the entire width direction, as shown in FIG. I can do it. However, if the sheet material 4 is misaligned with the center of any of the gripping claws 3A to 3D as shown in FIG. 8 due to environmental changes or differences in inertia due to mass variations, as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the grip will be held in a partially relaxed state. As shown in Figure 10,
The length of the sheet material 4 that exists between one gripping claw 3A and the adjacent gripping claw 3B separated by a distance S from the gripping claw 3A is as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure. If it is located in the center of the claws 3A, 3B, the straight line distance connecting the points x1 and x2,
Equal to the above distance S.

However, as shown by the solid line in the figure, the gripping claws 3
When the sheet material 4 is shifted downward from the center in the part B, the length of the sheet material 4 located between the gripping claws 3A and 3B is the distance along the path connecting point x1 and point x2, This distance is the gripping claws 3A, 3
It is longer than the distance S between B. Therefore, if the gripping claws 3A, 3B are closed in this state, the sheet material 4 existing between the gripping claws 3A, 3B will become slack, as shown in FIG. In actual use, this is the case in most cases, and if the sheet material is conveyed to the next process in this state, unnecessary stiffness will be created in the sheet material, and the sheet material will slip away from the gripping claws. There were some problems with it, such as it falling easily. In order to prevent such problems, it is necessary to reliably arrange the sheet material at the center of the gripping claws.

Purpose of the invention The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems by forcibly adjusting the position of the central part of the gripping claw of the sheet material conveying device and the sheet material held at the gripping position by the previous process without causing any misalignment. This makes it possible to reliably grip the sheet material without causing any slack or distortion.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sheet material conveying device including a sheet material gripping section that grips a sheet material, and a moving section that moves the sheet material gripping section, wherein the sheet material gripping section is , gripping claws each having a pair of upper and lower opposed claws that open and close with one end as a fulcrum and the other end opening and closing are arranged at intervals in the width direction of the sheet material, and the lower claws protrude laterally at the tips of the lower claws. The holding member is arranged to face the flexible mechanism holding the sheet material in a pre-gripping step and press the sheet material between the flexible mechanism and the gripping claw. There is provided a sheet material conveying device characterized in that the upper and lower pawls are closed to grip and convey the sheet material while the center portions of the upper and lower pawls constituting the sheet material are aligned with the position of the sheet material. Further, in the present invention, the central part of the sheet material gripping section is located above the sheet material held by the flexible mechanism in the previous step by the thickness of the sheet. The present invention provides a material conveying device.

Embodiments Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the sheet material conveying device shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical main body 12 of a sheet gripping section is rotatably fitted onto a shaft 11 that is reciprocated in the direction of arrow E in the figure by a driving means (not shown) of a moving section. It matches. The grip main body 12 is set to be slightly longer than the full width of the sheet material 10, and protruding grip claws 13 and 14 are provided near both ends thereof for gripping both ends of the sheet material 10 in the width direction. Grip claws 1 at regular intervals
5 and 16 are installed protrudingly. Each of the above gripping claws 13 to 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a pair of upper and lower opposed claws 13a and 13 that grip the sheet material 10 from both the upper and lower sides, respectively.
b, 14a and 14b, 15a and 15b, 16a and 16b, and these claws are 13a and 13b~
16a and 16b are each attached to the shaft 11 as a fulcrum so that their tips are opened at a constant angle in the direction of arrow A. Furthermore, elastic friction members 17 are fixed to the opposing inner surfaces of the distal ends of each of the claws 13a to 16b. Furthermore, the lower claw 1 of each gripping claw 13 to 16
3b, 14b, 15b, 16b, there are abutment members 18A, 18B, 18C, which protrude in the illustrated lateral direction.
18D is installed. Applicable members 18A-1
8D is the sheet material 10 in the process before the gripping process.
is held and a part of the paper feeding device positioned at the gripping portion by the gripping claws 13 to 16 is pressed through the sheet material 10.

First, a case will be described in which a sheet material feeder equipped with an air suction type flexible mechanism is used as the paper feeder in the pre-process.

In FIG. 2, an air suction type sheet material feeding device 20 has a plurality of air cylinders 21 on the bottom surface via a flexible duct 22 having excellent flexibility and durability at the bottom of an air cylinder 21 which is equipped with a negative pressure chamber inside. Sheet material adsorption section 23 having an air suction port (not shown)
are connected. The sheet material suction portion 23 is provided with a pair of left and right protrusions 24 and 25 that protrude toward the gripping claw side of the sheet material conveying device.

The sheet material feeding device 20 is moved up and down in the direction of arrow Y by a driving means (not shown) as shown in FIG. It is made to stop at a certain position. At the paper feeding position, the side end surfaces of the gripping claws 13 and 15 are the left and right end surfaces 24a of one convex portion 24,
24b, and the contact members 18A and 18C provided on the gripping claws 13 and 15 are placed on the protrusion 24b.
A part of the bottom surface 24c is pressed through the sheet material 10 adsorbed to the bottom surface 24c. On the other hand, gripping claws 14 and 16 are arranged on both left and right end surfaces 25a and 25b of the other convex portion 25.
The corresponding goods 18A and 18D press a part of the bottom surface 25c via the sheet material 10 adsorbed to the bottom surface 25c. At that time, each central portion P of the gripping claws 13 to 16
is always from the center P' of the sheet material 10, as shown in FIG. ) By setting the contact members 18A to 18D to be located above the ridge, the contact members 18A to 18D always engage with the bottom surfaces of the convex portions 24 and 25 that attract the sheet material 10. Therefore, when the paper stops at the paper feeding position, the flexible duct 22 causes the vertical difference between the center P' of the sheet material 10 set to the above-mentioned dimension Δl and the center P of the gripping claws 13 to 16, as shown in FIG. is absorbed, and the center portion P' of the sheet material 10 and the center portions P of the gripping claws 13 to 16 are brought into alignment. At that time, for example, the center of the upper and lower gripping claws in a closed state is aligned with the center of the thickness of the sheet material, and the upper surface positions of the lower gripping claws and the contact members 18A to 18D are aligned with the bottom surface of the sheet material. If the height is set, the sheet material 10
If the bottom surface of the sheet material 10 is shifted upward, the abutment member cannot touch the bottom surface of the sheet material 10.
On the other hand, hold the center part of the upper and lower gripping claws on the sheet material 1.
If the holding member is positioned above the center of the sheet material by a thickness dimension Δl (L) of 0, the abutment member made at the same height as the lower gripping claw will surely engage with the bottom surface of the sheet material. Since the sheet material 10 engaged with the abutment member is suctioned and held by a flexible mechanism that can move up and down, the sheet material 10 is pushed up by Δl without any difficulty.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, if slack X1 and X2 have occurred in the width direction of the sheet material 10, first, as shown in FIG.
18B, 18C, and 18D are the portions 10 that pushed up the sheet material 10 and came into contact with the contact member as described above.
The sheet material 10 of a is brought into contact with the bottom surfaces of the convex portions 24 and 25. Since the bottom surfaces of the convex portions 24 and 25 have an adhesion force to the sheet material 10, as shown in FIG. The portion 10b is attracted along the bottom surface of the convex portion.
At this time, the upper and lower gripping claws provided on the sides of the abutting member are not yet closed and the sheet material 10 can move (slip) in the width direction, so the slack in the up and down direction is reduced in the left and right width directions as shown in The sheet material 10 is held in close contact with the bottom surface of the convex portion. As a result of similar actions occurring between adjacent abutment members, the sheet material 10 as a whole is held at the same horizontal position in close contact with the bottom surface of the convex portion. In this state, as shown in , the sheet material 10 is gripped by the upper and lower gripping claws.

Furthermore, since the abutment member is pressed against the bottom surface of the convex portion via the sheet material 10, the position of the central portion P' of the sheet material 10 is forcibly set at the center position between the abutment member and the bottom surface of the convex portion. Ru. Therefore, the center P' of the sheet material 10 always coincides with the center P between the lower gripping claw that is at the same height as the abutment member and the upper gripping claw that abuts the upper surface of the sheet material 10.

If the gripping claws 13 to 16 are closed in this state, the sheet material 10 can be reliably gripped by these gripping claws 13 to 16. Therefore, according to the sheet material conveying device of this embodiment, there is no slack caused by the misalignment of the center portions of the sheet material and the gripping claws as shown in FIG. In the state shown, the sheet material 10 can be transported to the next step without loosening or distortion across the entire widthwise direction. Also,
At this time, the lower claws 13b to 16 of the gripping claws 13 to 16
Abutment member 18A that projects laterally from 16b
18B is pressed against the lower surface of the convex portion 24 of the sheet material supplying device 20 through the sheet material 10, so when the gripping claws 13 to 16 are closed, the gripping claws 13 to 16
The gripping claws 13 to 16 can be reliably closed without interfering with the protrusions 24 and 25 that are sucking the sheet material 10.

Next, as a process before the gripping process by the sheet material conveying device, the case where the sheet material 10 is positioned in the gripping section by the paper feeding device 30 using rollers will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. .

In the figure, reference numeral 31 denotes conveyance rollers for conveying the sheet material 10, and four of them are attached at predetermined intervals to a drive shaft 32 rotated by a drive device (not shown), and in the direction of arrow F in the figure. be rotated. 33
34 is an upper sheet material guide plate, and 34 is a lower sheet material guide plate. Holes 33a are bored in the upper sheet material guide plate 33 at predetermined intervals in the width direction. The sheet material 10 advancing between the upper and lower sheet material guide plates 33 and 34 is conveyed toward the sheet material conveying device by rotation of the conveying roller 31. As shown in the figure, the lower sheet material guide plate 34 extends to a position below the gripping claws 13 to 16 of the sheet material conveying device, but the upper sheet material guide plate 33 is spaced apart from the gripping claws 13 to 16 by a predetermined distance. A flexible guide plate 35 is disposed continuously to the terminal end of the upper sheet material guide plate 33 and facing the lower sheet material guide plate 34. The flexible guide 35 is configured to be vertically movable within a certain range by means not shown. Further, when the sheet material 10 is transferred to the gripping claws 13 to 16 side by the roller 31, it is always stopped at a fixed position by a detection means (not shown), that is, at a position where it is gripped by the sheet material conveying device. ing.

Even when combined with the above-mentioned roller type paper feeding device, in the sheet material conveying device, as shown in FIG.
Since the gripping claws 13 to 16 are placed above the center P' by the thickness dimension Δl of the sheet material (Δl>variation dimension taking into account differences in inertia due to environmental changes and machine mass variations), the gripping claws 13 to 16 are always Lower claw 13b-1
The contact members 18A to 18D attached to the flexible guide 35 engage with the lower surface of the flexible guide 35. Therefore, when the roller 31 moves between the flexible guide 35 and the lower sheet material guide plate 34 and stops at the gripping position shown in FIG. The guide 35 rises by the above-mentioned dimension Δl.
Therefore, the sheet material 10 is attached to the flexible guide 3.
5 and the contact members 18A to 18D, the center P of the gripping claws 13 to 16 and the center P' of the sheet material 10 coincide with each other, and at this position, the gripping claws 13 to 16 be grasped. that time,
As in the embodiment described above, before closing the upper and lower gripping claws 13 to 16 and gripping the sheet material 10, the abutment member 18
The sheet material 10 brought into contact with the flexible guide 35 by A to 18D is
Along the bottom surface, the portions that were loosened or distorted in the vertical direction are absorbed by sliding in the left and right width directions, resulting in the state shown in Figure 4 above, where slack and distortion occur throughout the width direction. It is grasped without any problem.

As described above, in the case of combining either the air suction type or the roller paper feeding type pre-process and paper feeding device, the contact members 18A to 18D of the sheet material conveying device according to the present invention can be used with the paper feeding device of the pre-process. The gripping claw 13 is engaged with the portion holding the sheet material, and in the engaged state, the gripping claw 13 is moved by a flexible elevating mechanism.
The gripping claws 13 - which grip the sheet material at intervals in the width direction because the difference Δl in the dimensions between the center part of the sheet material 16 and the center part of the sheet material 10 are absorbed and the two centers coincide with each other. 16 can be held uniformly, and the sheet material 10 can be gripped without distortion or the like across the entire width direction.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, according to the sheet material conveying device according to the present invention, a part of the sheet material gripping section is provided with a vertical movement that holds the sheet material to be gripped in the pre-gripping process. Since the movable flexible mechanism is provided with an abutment member that presses through the sheet member, it is possible to grip the sheet material in a state in which the center portion of the grip portion and the center portion of the sheet material are aligned.
Therefore, when the sheet material is gripped by the gripping parts arranged at intervals in the width direction, the sheet material can be reliably held without loosening or distortion across the entire width direction, improving reliability. I can do it. In addition, since it has an extremely simple structure that only requires a support member to be provided on the gripping portion, it has various advantages such as being able to be provided at low cost without increasing costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet material conveying device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an air suction holding device used as a pre-process device, and Fig. 3 shows the operating state of Fig. 2. 2 is a side view, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the gripping state by this device, FIG. 5 is a perspective view when a roller feeding device is used in the previous process, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of FIG. 5. Fig. 5 is a side view showing the state, Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the conventional example, Fig. 8,
is a drawing showing the positional relationship between the gripping part and the sheet material,
Fig. 9 is a drawing showing a state in which a sheet material is gripped by a conventional device, Fig. 10 is a drawing showing the principle of loosening of a sheet material in a conventional device, and Fig. 11~ are drawings showing the operation of the present invention. It is an explanatory diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Sheet material, 11... Shaft, 12... Gripping part main body, 13, 14, 15, 16... Gripping claw, 1
7...Elastic friction member, 18A, 18B, 18C,
18D...Abutment member, 20...Air suction paper feeder, 23...Flexible duct, 24, 25
... Convex portion, 30 ... Roller type paper feeding device, 31 ...
Roller, 33... Upper sheet material guide plate, 34...
...Lower sheet material guide plate, 35...Flexible guide plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) In a sheet material conveying device comprising a sheet material gripping portion that grips a sheet material and a moving portion that moves the sheet material gripping portion, the sheet material gripping portion is located on one end side. gripping claws each having a pair of upper and lower opposing claws that open and close with the other end thereof as a fulcrum, are arranged at intervals in the width direction of the sheet material, and a contact member that protrudes laterally from the tip of the lower claw; , and in a process prior to gripping the corresponding member, the sheet material is opposed to a flexible mechanism that holds the sheet material so as to be movable up and down, and the sheet material is sandwiched between and pressed by the flexible mechanism, and the gripping member is A sheet material conveying device characterized in that the upper and lower pawls are closed to grip and convey the sheet material with the center portions of the upper and lower pawls constituting the pawls aligned with the position of the sheet material. (2) In the sheet material conveying device according to claim 1 of the utility model registration, the central part of the sheet material gripping section is
A sheet material conveying device characterized in that the sheet material conveying device is positioned above the sheet material held by the flexible mechanism in the preceding step by the thickness of the sheet.