U.S. patent application number 11/652087 was filed with the patent office on 2008-01-31 for driving roller assembly for paper feeding apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to LITE-ON SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Chun-Liang Liu, Jen-Chieh Liu.
Application Number | 20080023903 11/652087 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38643490 |
Filed Date | 2008-01-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080023903 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Liu; Jen-Chieh ; et
al. |
January 31, 2008 |
Driving roller assembly for paper feeding apparatus
Abstract
A driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus is
provided for driving a driving roller to move a piece of paper. The
assembly includes a transmitting sleeve, a one-way coupling sleeve,
and a driven block. The transmitting sleeve is provided for moving
the one-way coupling sleeve to be engaged with the driven block,
and driving the one-way coupling sleeve to rotate. The one-way
coupling sleeve is coupled to the driven block for rotating the
driven block in one rotational direction only, and thereby driving
the driving roller to rotate. When the rotational speed of the
driving roller is higher than that of the transmitting sleeve, or
the transmitting sleeve stops rotating, the driving roller is
rotated by other external force without interfering with the
transmitting sleeve.
Inventors: |
Liu; Jen-Chieh; (Taipei
County, TW) ; Liu; Chun-Liang; (Taipei County,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Assignee: |
LITE-ON SEMICONDUCTOR
CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
38643490 |
Appl. No.: |
11/652087 |
Filed: |
January 11, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/10.13 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 5/06 20130101; B65H
2801/39 20130101; B65H 2403/72 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/10.13 |
International
Class: |
B65H 5/00 20060101
B65H005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 26, 2006 |
TW |
095213169 |
Claims
1. A driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus, for
driving a driving roller conveying a piece of paper, wherein a
shaft is disposed at a rotational axis of the driving roller, the
driving roller assembly comprising: a transmitting sleeve, slid
over the shaft, and having a canted edge formed at one end thereof,
wherein the canted edge has an inclined angle with respect to the
rotational axis of the driving roller, and one end of the canted
edge extending towards outside of the transmitting sleeve along the
rotational axis is formed into a first stopper; a one-way coupling
sleeve, slid over the shaft, and having a first one-way coupling
end and an actuating end, wherein the actuating end is slidably
contacted with the canted edge to move the one-way coupling sleeve
along the rotational axis, and the actuating end is provided for
being engaged with the first stopper, such that the transmitting
sleeve drives the one-way coupling sleeve to rotate; and a driven
block, fixed to the shaft, and having a second one-way coupling end
corresponding to the first one-way coupling end of the one-way
coupling sleeve, wherein the first one-way coupling end is coupled
to the second one-way coupling end in one rotational direction
only, and the shaft is driven to rotate by coupling the one-way
coupling sleeve to the driven block.
2. The driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus as
claimed in claim 1, wherein the first one-way coupling end one-way
coupling sleeve is coupled to the second one-way coupling end of
the driven block in a first rotational direction, and it is
separated from the second one-way coupling end in a second
rotational direction opposite to the first rotational
direction.
3. The driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus as
claimed in claim 2, wherein when the transmitting sleeve rotates in
the first rotational direction, the transmitting sleeve presses
against the canted edge of the actuating end to move one-way
coupling sleeve towards the driven block, and thereby the first
one-way coupling end is coupled to the second one-way coupling
end.
4. The driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus as
claimed in claim 1, wherein an end of the canted edge towards
inside of the transmitting sleeve along the rotational axis is
formed into a second stopper.
5. The driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus as
claimed in claim 4, wherein a notch is formed between the first
stopper and the second stopper, and the canted edge is located
within the notch.
6. The driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus as
claimed in claim 1, wherein a slide block is protruded from the
actuating end, and the slide block is slidably contacted with the
canted edge, to presses against the first stopper.
7. The driving roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus as
claimed in claim 1, wherein the other end, away from the canted
edge, of the transmitting sleeve is connected to a driving device,
and driven by the driving device.
8. A paper feeding apparatus, comprising: a first driving roller,
for conveying a piece of paper, wherein a shaft is disposed at a
rotational axis of the first driving roller; a transmitting sleeve,
slid over the shaft, and having a canted edge formed at one end
thereof, wherein the canted edge has an inclined angle with respect
to the rotational axis of the driving roller, and one end of the
canted edge extending towards outside of the transmitting sleeve
along the rotational axis is formed into a first stopper; a one-way
coupling sleeve, slid over the shaft, and having a first one-way
coupling end and an actuating end, wherein the actuating end is
slidably contacted with the canted edge and drives the one-way
coupling sleeve to move along the rotational axis, and the
actuating end is provided for being engaged with the first stopper,
such that the transmitting sleeve drives the one-way coupling
sleeve to rotate; a driven block, fixed to the shaft, and having a
second one-way coupling end corresponding to the first one-way
coupling end of the one-way coupling sleeve, wherein the first
one-way coupling end is coupled to the second one-way coupling end
in one rotational direction only, and the shaft is driven to rotate
by coupling the one-way coupling sleeve to the driven block; and a
second driving roller, disposed with a rotational axis parallel to
that of the first driving roller, for receiving the piece of paper
conveyed by the first driving roller and then conveying the piece
of paper, such that the piece of paper is continuously
conveyed.
9. The paper feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 8, further
comprising a trigger element for detecting the arrival of a front
edge of the piece of paper to be received by the second driving
roller.
10. The paper feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 8, further
comprising a first driving element and a second driving element,
wherein the first driving element is provided for driving the
transmitting sleeve to rotate, and the second driving element is
provided for driving the second driving roller to rotate.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This non-provisional application claims priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn.119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 095213169 filed in
Taiwan, R.O.C. on Jul. 26, 2006, the entire contents of which are
hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a paper feeding apparatus
for a printer or a scanner, and more particularly, to a driving
roller assembly for a paper feeding apparatus that has a simple
mechanism and is used to prevent paper jams from occurring.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] Currently, the paper feeding rate of an automatic document
feeding apparatus has been well enhanced. If a second piece of
paper has to be taken and scanned/printed after the first piece of
paper has been completely scanned/ printed, the interval between
the two pieces of paper is excessively large, and thus, the paper
feeding rate and scanning/printing rate cannot be effectively
improved. Therefore, the cooperation of the rotational speed of the
paper-grabbing roller set with that of the rotational speed of the
paper-feeding roller set has become an important issue. Generally,
the rotational speed of the driving roller in the paper-grabbing
roller set is lower than that of the driving roller in the
paper-feeding roller set, such that the paper feeding rate of the
paper-grabbing roller set is lower than that of the paper feeding
rate, and thus there is a predetermined interval between two pieces
of paper due to the difference of the paper feeding rate. However,
the higher paper feeding rate and the lower paper feeding rate lead
to an interference between the paper-grabbing roller set and the
paper-feeding roller set, i.e., when the front edge of a piece of
paper reaches the paper-feeding roller set, the middle and rear
sections of the paper are still under the control of the
paper-grabbing roller set. Thus, the two roller sets are interfered
with each other due to the rotational speed difference, and
relative sliding occurs between the paper and the driving roller of
the paper-grabbing roller set, and thereby resulting in crumpling
or even tearing of the paper. Therefore, it has become an important
technical subject to prevent the paper from being damaged by the
interference between the paper-grabbing roller set and the
paper-feeding roller set due to the paper feeding rate
difference.
[0006] In the conventional art, the driving roller of the
paper-grabbing roller set is generally shaped as a cylinder or a
semi-cylinder. When the driving roller with a shape of the
semi-cylinder grabs paper, the outer periphery of the semicircular
part of the driving roller is in contact with a piece of paper for
grabbing the piece of paper. After the piece of paper has been
grabbed, the piece of paper is conveyed by the paper-feeding
roller. The driving roller of the paper-grabbing roller set stops
with the non-semicircular part facing the paper, thus, when the
paper-feeding roller set receives and conveys the paper, the
driving roller of the paper-grabbing roller set is not in contact
with the paper. However, in such design, since only a half of the
periphery of the driving roller is used to be in contact with
paper, the distance for the driving roller of the paper-grabbing
roller set conveying papers is limited, thus, in order to enlarge
the distance, the size of the driving roller must be increased, or
the distance between the paper-grabbing roller set and the
paper-feeding roller set must be reduced to make them be joined
together, which also causes a limitation in the design.
[0007] Moreover, as for the driving roller of the paper-grabbing
roller set with a shape of a cylinder, a one-way clutch bearing or
a spring is required to connect the driving roller with its driving
device, such as a motor, so as to prevent the interference between
the paper-grabbing roller set and the paper-feeding roller set when
taking paper. That is, when the piece of paper conveyed by
paper-grabbing roller set reach the paper-feeding roller set, the
driving roller of the paper-grabbing roller set is set in an idle
state to prevent the interference between the paper-grabbing roller
set and the paper-feeding roller set. However, this design has the
defects of being complicated, and difficult for assembling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The paper-grabbing roller sets in the conventional art in
order to prevent the interference between the paper-grabbing roller
set and the paper-feeding roller set have disadvantages, such as
complicated structures, being difficult for assembling, and having
too many limitations in the design. In view of the above problems,
an object of the present invention is to provide a driving roller
assembly for a paper feeding apparatus, which is simple in
structure, easy for being manufactured and assembled, and thereby
achieving the effect that the paper-grabbing roller set doesn't
interfere with the paper-feeding roller set.
[0009] In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present
invention provides a driving roller assembly for a paper feeding
apparatus, which drives a driving roller with a shaft to rotate.
The driving roller assembly includes a transmitting sleeve, a
one-way coupling sleeve, and a driven block.
[0010] The transmitting sleeve is slid over the shaft and has a
notch being disposed on one end, wherein a canted edge is formed in
the notch and has an inclined angle with respect to a rotational
axis of the driving roller.
[0011] The one-way coupling sleeve is slid over the shaft, and is
adjacent to the transmitting sleeve. The one-way coupling sleeve
has a first one-way coupling end and an actuating end. The
actuating end is inserted into the notch and is slidably contacted
with the canted edge, so as to move the one-way coupling sleeve
along the rotational axis of the shaft; and the actuating end moves
back and forth within the notch along the tangential direction of
the shaft. Then, as the actuating end is engaged with one side of
the notch, the transmitting sleeve drives the one-way coupling
sleeve to rotate.
[0012] The driven block is fixed to the shaft, and has a second
one-way coupling end corresponding to the first one-way coupling
end of the one-way coupling sleeve. The first one-way coupling end
is coupled to the second one-way coupling end in one rotational
direction only, that is, the first one-way coupling end is coupled
to the second one-way coupling end in a first rotational direction,
and it is released there-from in a second rotational direction
opposite to the first rotational direction.
[0013] When the transmitting sleeve rotates along the first
rotational direction, the transmitting sleeve presses against the
canted edge to move the one-way coupling sleeve towards the driven
block, such that the first one-way coupling end is coupled to the
second one-way coupling end. Meanwhile, the actuating end of the
one-way coupling sleeve presses against one side of the notch, such
that the one-way coupling sleeve, is driven to rotate in the first
rotational direction, and thereby, the driven block and the shaft
are driven to rotate in the first rotational direction. When the
transmitting sleeve stops rotating, but the shaft still rotates in
the first rotational direction, or when the rotational speed of the
shaft in the first rotational direction is higher than that of the
transmitting sleeve, that is, the transmitting sleeve rotates along
the second rotational direction relative to the shaft and the
driven block. At this time, the coupling between the first one-way
coupling end and the second one-way coupling end is released. Thus,
the shaft rotates separately, without interfering with the
transmitting sleeve and the one-way coupling sleeve.
[0014] The advantage of the present invention lies in that, the
present invention is applicable to a paper-grabbing roller set of a
paper feeding apparatus to prevent the interference between the
paper-grabbing roller set and the paper-feeding roller set.
Compared with the structure of the paper-grabbing roller in the
conventional art, the structure of the present is simpler and is
easy to be manufactured and assembled.
[0015] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
However, it should be understood that the detailed description and
specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the
invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various
changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from
this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The present invention will become more fully understood from
the detailed description given herein below for illustration only,
which thus is not limitative of the present invention, and
wherein:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment of the present
invention.
[0019] FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged schematic views of parts of the
embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a top view of the embodiment of the present
invention in another aspect.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The driving roller assembly provided by the present
invention is applied in a paper feeding apparatus, which can be but
not limited to printers, paper-feeding scanners, or multifunctional
printers.
[0022] FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively a perspective view and a top
view of an embodiment of the present invention. A first driving
roller 210 and a second driving roller 220 are disposed in the
paper feeding apparatus with a rotational axis parallel to that of
each other. The first driving roller 210 is a part of a
paper-grabbing roller set of the paper feeding apparatus, and the
second driving roller 220 is a part of a driven roller set of the
paper feeding apparatus. The first driving roller 210 is provided
for grabbing a piece of paper 700 from a paper- tray (not shown),
and conveying the piece of paper 700 to the second driving roller
220. The second driving roller 220 is provides for receiving the
piece of paper 700 conveyed by the first driving roller and then
conveying the piece of paper, such that the piece of paper is
continuously conveyed in a paper track of the paper feeding
apparatus. Generally, the rotational speed of the second driving
roller 220 is higher than that of the first driving roller 210,
such that a fixed interval is formed between the two pieces of
paper due to the rotational speed difference. When the front edge
of the paper 700 reaches the second driving roller 220, the driving
power output for the first driving roller 210 is stopped.
[0023] The driving roller assembly of the present invention is
provided for driving the first driving roller 210 rotating about a
rotational axis X. A shaft is disposed at the rotational axis X of
the first driving roller 210, so as to fix the first driving roller
210 to a predetermined position corresponding to an inlet of the
paper track of the paper feeding apparatus. The driving roller
assembly includes a transmitting sleeve 400, a one-way coupling
sleeve 500, and a driven block 600. The details are described as
follows.
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the transmitting sleeve 400 is
slid over the shaft 300, and has a canted edge 410 formed at one
end thereof and a driven part 430 opposite the canted edge 400
formed at the other end of the transmitting sleeve 400. The canted
edge 410 has an inclined angle with respect to the rotational axis
X. One end of the canted edge 410 extending towards outside of the
transmitting sleeve 400 along the rotational axis X is formed into
a first stopper 421, and the other end of the canted edge 410
extending towards inside of the transmitting sleeve 400 along the
rotational axis X is formed into a second stopper 422. A notch 420
is formed between the first stopper 421 and the second stopper 422,
and the canted edge 410 is just located within the notch 420. The
driven part 430 can be a gear for connecting to a first driving
device 920 (e.g., a motor), such that the transmitting sleeve 400
is driven by the first driving device 920.
[0025] The one-way coupling sleeve 500 is slid over the shaft 300,
and has a first one-way coupling end 510 and an actuating end 520.
A slide block 521 is protruded from the actuating end 520, which is
slidably contacted with the canted edge 421 and to presses against
the first stopper 421. When the transmitting sleeve 400 rotates
along a first rotational direction, the actuating end 520 slides
relative to the canted edge 410, and moves the one-way coupling
sleeve 500 to away from the transmitting sleeve 400 along the
rotational axis X, and the first stopper 421 presses against the
slide block 521 of the actuating end 520, such that the actuating
end 520 is engaged with the first stopper 421 and then the
transmitting sleeve 400 drives the one-way coupling sleeve 500 to
rotate. When the transmitting sleeve 400 rotates along a second
rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction,
the one-way coupling sleeve 500 is released and not rotated.
[0026] The driven block 600 is fixed to the shaft 300, and has a
second one-way Coupling end 620 corresponding to the first one-way
coupling end 510 of the one-way coupling sleeve 500. The first
one-way coupling end 510 is coupled to the second one-way coupling
end 620 in one rotational direction only, such that the one-way
coupling sleeve 500 is coupled to the driven block 600 to drive the
shaft 300 to rotate in one rotational direction only. Specifically
in the embodiment of the present invention, the first one-way
coupling end 510 is coupled to the second one-way coupling end 620
in the first rotational direction, and it is released from the
second one-way coupling end 620 in the second rotational direction
opposite to the first rotational direction. Therefore, when the
one-way coupling sleeve 500 rotates in the first rotational
direction, it drives the driven block 600; and when the one-way
coupling sleeve 500 rotates in the second rotational direction, it
doesn't move together with the driven block 600. When the one-way
coupling sleeve 500 rotates in the first rotational direction
together with the transmitting sleeve 400, the one-way coupling
sleeve 500 is moved away from the transmitting sleeve 400, such
that the first one-way coupling end 510 presses against the second
one-way coupling end 620, and the first one-way coupling end 510
and the second one-way coupling end 620 are coupled with each other
in the first rotating direction, as shown in FIG. 4.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, FIG. 5 shows the cooperation
of the first driving roller 210 and the second driving roller 220.
The first driving device 920 is connected to the driven part 430,
and further drives the transmitting sleeve 400 to rotate, and moves
the one-way coupling sleeve 500 to be coupled to the driven block
600, and thereby driving the first driving roller 210 to rotate. At
meanwhile, the piece of paper 700 is conveyed by the first driving
roller 210 towards the second driving roller 220. A trigger element
800 is disposed in advance of the second driving roller 220 for
detecting the arrival of the front edge of the piece of paper 700
to be received by the second driving roller. Once the front edge of
the paper 700 is detected by the trigger element 800, a second
driving device 940 immediately outputs power to drive the second
driving roller 220 to rotate. At the same time, the first driving
device 920 is stopped driving the transmitting sleeve 400. In the
paper feeding apparatus, the paper feeding rate of the second
driving roller 220 must be higher than that of the first driving
roller 200, or when the second driving roller 220 is contacted with
the paper 700, the first driving device 920 must be stopped. The
first driving roller 210 is driven by the piece of paper 700 and
rotates at a speed higher than the speed of the transmitting sleeve
400, thus, the driven block 600 rotates in the second rotational
direction relative to the one-way coupling sleeve 500 and the
transmitting sleeve 400. Thus, the driven block 600 is not coupled
to the one-way coupling sleeve 500, such that the rotation of the
driven block 600 doesn't interfere with the first driving device
920, the transmitting sleeve 400, and the one-way coupling sleeve
500. Accordingly, the paper 700 is conveyed into the paper feeding
apparatus through the second driving device 940 and the second
driving roller 220 at a speed higher than the paper feeding rate of
the first driving roller 200. The predetermined interval between
two pieces of paper can be maintained due to the different speeds
for the first driving roller 210 and the second driving roller 220
to convey the piece of paper 700.
[0028] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that
the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be
regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,
and all such modifications as would be obvious-to one skilled in
the art are intended to be included within the scope of the
following claims.
* * * * *