Sheet conveyance apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11999583-B2
Application number	US-202017766974-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2020
Priority date	Oct 8, 2019
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

An endless conveyer belt is stretched between drive and idle rollers. A carriage is arranged so as to reciprocate along the endless conveyer belt. A suction box is arranged between upper and lower belt portions of the endless conveyer belt and fixed to the carriage. A stopper plate is fixed to the carriage and extends across a conveyer surface and upward from the conveyer surface. A conveyance roller pair is arranged at the upstream end of the conveyer surface. A region of the conveyer surface from a stopper plate to the upstream end u forms a sheet accumulation area. A cover sheet covers a region upstream of the suction box in the sheet accumulation area. The cover sheet is subjected to tension in the longitudinal direction by a winding-type constant force plate spring and continually tensed spaced apart from the endless conveyer belt.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A sheet conveyance apparatus comprising:
a drive roller and an idle roller extending both horizontally and parallel to each other;
at least one endless conveyer belt stretched between the drive roller and the idle roller;
a first drive mechanism configured to rotate the drive roller;
a carriage arranged so as to reciprocate in a longitudinal direction of the endless conveyer belt above the at least one endless conveyer belt;
at least one slide guide extending in the longitudinal direction of the endless conveyer belt, the carriage being slidably attached to the at least one slide guide;
a second drive mechanism being configured to slide the carriage;
a suction box arranged so as to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction of the endless conveyer belt between upper and lower belt portions of the at least one endless conveyer belt; and
an intake source configured to generate a negative pressure inside the suction box, wherein the suction box is attached to the carriage and has at least one intake hole in a surface facing the upper belt portion, wherein a plurality of airflow holes are provided in the longitudinal direction of the at least one endless conveyer belt at positions of the at least one endless conveyer belt that pass by the at least one intake hole during rotation of the at least one endless conveyer belt, and
the sheet conveyance apparatus further comprising:
at least one conveyance roller pair extending above an upstream end of a conveyer surface of the at least one endless conveyer belt and across the conveyer surface and configured to take in a sheet and feed out the sheet onto the conveyer surface; and
a stopper plate attached to the carriage and extending across the conveyer surface and upward from the conveyer surface, wherein
a lower end of the stopper plate faces the suction box and is arranged with a predetermined spacing from the conveyer surface, and a region in the conveyer surface from the stopper plate to the upstream end of the conveyer surface forms a sheet accumulation area, and wherein
sheets fed out from the at least one conveyance roller pair are sequentially accumulated in the sheet accumulation area when each front end of the sheets collides with the stopper plate, and the lowermost sheet of accumulated sheets is separated one by one from remaining sheets by the suction box and conveyed toward a downstream end of the conveyer surface through the spacing between the conveyer surface and the stopper plate by the at least one endless conveyer belt.

2. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a mechanism to prevent contact between the accumulated lowermost sheet and the conveyer surface of the at least one endless conveyer belt in a region upstream of the upstream end of the suction box in the sheet accumulation area.

3. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 2 , the mechanism to prevent contact has a cover sheet that covers a region upstream of the suction box in the sheet accumulation area, wherein
the cover sheet has a width corresponding to a width of the sheet accumulation area and a length equal to or larger than a length from the upstream end of the suction box to an upstream end of the sheet accumulation area when a length of the sheet accumulation area is the largest, and
one end of the cover sheet is fixed to the upstream end of the suction box and extends across the sheet accumulation area, and wherein
the mechanism to prevent contact further has a tensioner attached to the other end of the cover sheet and configured to continually apply tension in a longitudinal direction of the cover sheet, and
the cover sheet is tensed in a state where a portion of the cover sheet covering the at least one endless conveyer belt is continually spaced apart from the at least one endless conveyer belt.

4. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one endless conveyer belt includes a plurality of endless conveyer belts spaced apart from each other in the width direction, wherein
the drive roller has
a horizontal rotary shaft, and
a plurality of first roller elements axially spaced apart from each other and attached to the rotary shaft integrally with and rotatably about the rotary shaft, wherein
the idle roller has
a plurality of second roller elements arranged so as to be rotatable about a parallel shaft parallel to the rotary shaft of the drive roller and face the plurality of first roller elements, respectively, and
each of the plurality of endless conveyer belts is stretched between the first and second roller elements paired with each other, and the rotary shaft of the drive roller is rotated by the first drive mechanism, wherein
the mechanism to prevent contact further has, between the first roller elements adjacent to each other or the second roller elements adjacent to each other of a roller that is one of the drive roller and the idle roller which is located at the upstream end of the conveyer surface and outside the outermost one of the first or second roller elements, a plurality of third roller elements each provided coaxially with the first or second roller elements and rotatably independently of the rotary shaft or rotatably about the parallel shaft, and each of the third roller elements has a larger diameter than each of the first or second roller elements of interest, and wherein
the tensioner includes at least one winding-type constant force plate spring arranged at a fixed position under the at least one endless conveyer belt, and
the other end of the cover sheet extends to the at least one winding-type constant force plate spring via a part of circumferential surfaces of the third roller elements and is attached to an end of the at least one winding-type constant force plate spring.

5. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
the at least one endless conveyer belt includes a plurality of endless conveyer belts spaced apart from each other in the width direction, wherein
the drive roller has
a horizontal rotary shaft, and
a plurality of first roller elements axially spaced apart from each other and attached to the rotary shaft integrally with and rotatably about the rotary shaft, wherein
the idle roller has a plurality of second roller elements arranged so as to be rotatable about a parallel shaft parallel to the rotary shaft of the drive roller and face the plurality of first roller elements, respectively, and
each of the plurality of endless conveyer belts is stretched between the first and second roller elements paired with each other, and the rotary shaft of the drive roller is rotated by the first drive mechanism, wherein
the mechanism to prevent contact further has, between the first roller elements adjacent to each other or the second roller elements adjacent to each other of a roller that is one of the drive roller and the idle roller which is located at the upstream end of the conveyer surface and outside the outermost one of the first or second roller elements, a plurality of third roller elements each provided coaxially with the first or second roller elements and rotatably independently of the rotary shaft or rotatably about the parallel shaft, and each of the third roller elements has a larger diameter than each of the first or second roller elements of interest, wherein
the tensioner has a cover sheet winding roller arranged under and parallel to a roller that is one of the drive roller and the idle roller which has the third roller elements, and
the other end of the cover sheet extends to the cover sheet winding roller via a part of circumferential surfaces of the third roller elements and is fixed to a circumferential surface of the cover sheet winding roller, and wherein
the tensioner further has

Assignees

• Horizon Int Inc

Inventors

• Aoki Eiji
• Yachi Tomonori
• NAMBU Hiromasa

Classifications

• B65H3/126 Primary

  separating from the bottom of pile · CPC title

• B65H3/124

  Suction bands or belts · CPC title

• B65H5/224

  by suction belts (B65H11/005 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65H31/02 Primary

  with stationary end support against which pile accumulates · CPC title

• B65H2301/44735

  suction belt · CPC title