Sheet conveying apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10584004-B2
Application number	US-201816033380-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2018
Priority date	Jul 13, 2017
Publication date	Mar 10, 2020
Grant date	Mar 10, 2020

Abstract

A sheet conveying apparatus, including: a sheet storage portion; a roller to convey sheets by rotating about a rotation axis; an arm rotatably supporting the roller and pivotable about an arm pivot axis; a presser plate pivotable about a presser-plate pivot axis; and a pivot mechanism to pivot the presser plate such that a contact angle, which is an angle defined upstream in a sheet conveyance direction by the arm and an uppermost one of the sheets contacting the roller, is less than a maximum angle in a time period from a sheet maximally loaded state to a sheet minimally loaded state, the maximum angle being an angle defined upstream in the conveyance direction by: only one sheet assumed to be placed on the presser plate which is the presser plate in the maximally loaded state; and the arm the roller of which contacts the one sheet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising:
a storage portion for storing a stack of a plurality of sheets;
a roller rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion and configured to convey the plurality of sheets in a conveyance direction by rotating about the rotation axis while being held in contact with a surface of an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion;
an arm rotatably supporting the roller, the arm being pivotable about an arm pivot axis parallel to the rotation axis with the roller located downstream of the arm pivot axis in the conveyance direction;
a presser plate pivotable about a presser-plate pivot axis parallel to the rotation axis and configured to press the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion toward the roller, the presser-plate pivot axis being located downstream, in the conveyance direction, of the rotation axis of the roller in a maximally loaded state in which a maximal amount of the plurality of sheets are loaded on the storage portion; and
a pivot mechanism configured to pivot the presser plate about the presser-plate pivot axis,
wherein the pivot mechanism is configured to pivot the presser plate such that a contact angle, which is an angle defined upstream in the conveyance direction by the arm and an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets that is held in contact with the roller, is less than a maximum angle in a time period from the maximally loaded state to a minimally loaded state in which a minimal amount of the plurality of sheets are loaded on the storage portion, the maximum angle being an angle defined upstream in the conveyance direction by: only one sheet assumed to be placed on the presser plate which is the presser plate in the maximally loaded state; and the arm the roller of which contacts the one sheet, and
wherein a separation wall is formed integrally with a portion of the presser plate located downstream of the roller in the conveyance direction, the separation wall being configured such that, when the plurality of sheets are conveyed by rotation of the roller, the separation wall comes into contact with one of the plurality of sheets that is farthest from the roller and gives a resistance to the one of the plurality of sheets, so as to separate the plurality of sheets.

2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pivot mechanism is configured such that the contact angle in the time period from the maximally loaded state to the minimally loaded state is not less than a minimum angle which is the contact angle when the storage portion is in the maximally loaded state.

3. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the presser-plate pivot axis is disposed at a height level equal to or higher than a height level of an upper end of the separation wall, and
wherein the pivot mechanism includes a push-up member configured to push up at least a portion of one surface of the presser plate opposite to another surface thereof facing the roller, the portion being located upstream in the conveyance direction of the rotation axis of the roller in the minimally loaded state, so as to support the presser plate.

4. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the presser plate includes a support surface on which the plurality of sheets are placed, and
wherein the push-up member is configured to push up the presser plate such that an upstream end of the presser plate in the conveyance direction is located at a height level higher than a downstream end thereof in the conveyance direction.

5. A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising:
a storage portion for storing a stack of a plurality of sheets;
a roller rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion and configured to convey the plurality of sheets in a conveyance direction by rotating about the rotation axis while being held in contact with a surface of an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion;
an arm rotatably supporting the roller, the arm being pivotable about an arm pivot axis parallel to the rotation axis with the roller located downstream of the arm pivot axis in the conveyance direction;
a presser plate pivotable about a presser-plate pivot axis parallel to the rotation axis and configured to press the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion toward the roller, the presser-plate pivot axis being located downstream, in the conveyance direction, of the rotation axis of the roller in a maximally loaded state in which a maximal amount of the plurality of sheets are loaded on the storage portion; and
a pivot mechanism configured to pivot the presser plate about the presser-plate pivot axis,
wherein the pivot mechanism is configured to pivot the presser plate such that a contact angle, which is an angle defined upstream in the conveyance direction by the arm and an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets that is held in contact with the roller, is less than a maximum angle in a time period from the maximally loaded state to a minimally loaded state in which a minimal amount of the plurality of sheets are loaded on the storage portion, the maximum angle being an angle defined upstream in the conveyance direction by: only one sheet assumed to be placed on the presser plate which is the presser plate in the maximally loaded state; and the arm the roller of which contacts the one sheet, and
wherein the sheet conveying apparatus further comprises:
a sheet detecting mechanism configured to detect a decrease of the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion; and
a first pivotal-movement controller configured to control the pivot mechanism such that the presser plate gets closer to the roller in response to detection of the decrease of the plurality of sheets by the sheet detecting mechanism.

6. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the sheet detecting mechanism is configured to detect the decrease of the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion on an upstream side in the conveyance direction of an intersection point of: the presser plate in a state in which an angle, which is defined upstream in the conveyance direction by the arm and the presser plate when the roller contacts the presser plate in an empty state in which no sheets are stored in the storage portion, is the same as the contact angle in the maximally loaded state; and a virtual line that indicates a height level of an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets that is held in contact with the roller in the maximally loaded state.

7. A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising:
a storage portion for storing a stack of a plurality of sheets;
a roller rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion and configured to convey the plurality of sheets in a conveyance direction by rotating about the rotation axis while being held in contact with a surface of an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion;
an arm rotatably supporting the roller, the arm being pivotable about an arm pivot axis parallel to the rotation axis with the roller located downstream of the arm pivot axis in the conveyance direction;
a presser plate pivotable about a presser-plate pivot axis parallel to the rotation axis and configured to press the plurality of sheets stored in the storage portion toward the roller, the presser-plate pivot axis being located downstream, in the conveyance direction, of the rotation axis of the roller in a maximally loaded state in which a maximal amount of the plurality of sheets are loaded on the storage portion; and
a pivot mechanism configured to pivot the

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Okumura Masayuki

Classifications

• B65H3/0607

  cooperating with means for automatically separating the pile from roller or rotary separator after a separation step · CPC title

• B65H2511/30

  Numbers, e.g. of windings or rotations · CPC title

• B65H1/14 Primary

  comprising positively-acting mechanical devices {(B65H1/025 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B65H2511/515

  Absence · CPC title

• B65H3/0669

  Driving devices therefor · CPC title