U.S. patent application number 13/468581 was filed with the patent office on 2013-05-16 for pickup mechanism.
This patent application is currently assigned to FOXLINK IMAGE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is Yueh-Shing Lee, Shao-Yang Wu. Invention is credited to Yueh-Shing Lee, Shao-Yang Wu.
Application Number | 20130119601 13/468581 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46664919 |
Filed Date | 2013-05-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130119601 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wu; Shao-Yang ; et
al. |
May 16, 2013 |
PICKUP MECHANISM
Abstract
A pickup mechanism includes a main frame, a supporting element
mounted to the main frame, and a pickup module positioned in the
main frame and including a pickup arm, a transmitting element, a
separation element, a pickup element and a barrel element. The
separation element includes a separation shaft and a separation
roller. The pickup element includes a pickup shaft and a pickup
roller. The separation roller and the pickup roller are restricted
in the pickup arm. The transmitting element links the separation
shaft and the pickup shaft. The pickup arm is pivoted at the
separation shaft. The barrel element has a base portion pivotally
mounted around the pickup shaft, and a stopping block. When the
pickup module swings upward or downward, the barrel element is
driven to rotate along with the pickup shaft to make the stopping
block against the supporting element or apart from the supporting
element.
Inventors: |
Wu; Shao-Yang; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; Lee; Yueh-Shing; (New Taipei City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Wu; Shao-Yang
Lee; Yueh-Shing |
New Taipei City
New Taipei City |
|
TW
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
FOXLINK IMAGE TECHNOLOGY CO.,
LTD.
New Taipei City
TW
|
Family ID: |
46664919 |
Appl. No.: |
13/468581 |
Filed: |
May 10, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/117 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 3/0684 20130101;
B65H 2403/70 20130101; B65H 3/34 20130101; B65H 2801/06 20130101;
B65H 3/0669 20130101; B65H 2801/39 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/117 |
International
Class: |
B65H 3/06 20060101
B65H003/06; B65H 3/32 20060101 B65H003/32 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 14, 2011 |
CN |
201120456895.1 |
Claims
1. A pickup mechanism, comprising: a main frame; a supporting
element mounted to the main frame; and a pickup module positioned
in the main frame, and including a pickup arm, a transmitting
element, a separation element, a pickup element and a barrel
element, the separation element including a separation shaft and a
separation roller mounted around the separation shaft, the pickup
element including a pickup shaft and a pickup roller mounted around
the pickup shaft, the separation roller and the pickup roller being
restricted in the pickup arm, the transmitting element linking the
separation shaft and the pickup shaft, the pickup arm pivoted at
the separation shaft to swing the pickup module upward or downward
under a drive of a power source, the barrel element having a
barrel-shaped base portion pivotally mounted around the pickup
shaft of the pickup element, a side of the base portion extending
outward to form a stopping block, wherein when the pickup module
swings upward or downward under the drive of the power source, the
barrel element is also driven to rotate along with the pickup shaft
so as to make the stopping block against the supporting element or
apart from the supporting element.
2. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the barrel
element rotates along with the pickup shaft by a friction between
the barrel element and the pickup shaft, and the friction can be
provided by means of an elastic arm of the barrel element, an
elastic element or damping oil.
3. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein an inside of
the base portion of the barrel element defines the elastic arm, a
periphery of one end of the pickup shaft of the pickup element is
concaved inward to form a ring-shaped sliding groove, a free end of
the elastic arm protrudes inward to form a sliding block resisting
in the sliding groove by an elastic force of the elastic arm to
generate the friction.
4. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic
element, such as a spring, is disposed between the barrel element
and the pickup shaft to make the elastic element rub against the
base portion of the barrel element and the pickup shaft so as to
generate the friction between the barrel element and the pickup
shaft.
5. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the damping
oil is applied on the pickup shaft and an inside of the base
portion of the barrel element so as to generate the friction
between the barrel element and the pickup shaft.
6. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
stopper element which is set on the main frame and located between
the separation element and the pickup element, the stopper element
having a blocking portion for blocking papers entering an inside of
the pickup mechanism.
7. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
supporting element has a supporting portion, the stopping block can
be sustained by the supporting portion for supporting the pickup
module when the pickup arm is raised up.
8. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
separation roller and the pickup roller are made of a material with
a high friction coefficient, such as rubber.
9. The pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
transmitting element is a belt or a gear chain.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention generally relates to a pickup
mechanism, and more particularly to a pickup mechanism capable of
picking up papers steadily.
[0003] 2. The Related Art
[0004] Referring to FIGS. 1-4, a pickup mechanism includes a main
frame 50, a pickup module 60, and at least one stopper element 70.
The main frame 50 has an upper cover 51 and an input tray 52. The
pickup module 60 positioned in the upper cover 51 of the main frame
50 includes a pickup arm 61, a separation element 63 and a pickup
element 64 of which both are restrained in the pickup arm 61. The
pickup arm 61 defines a first blocking block 611 and a second
blocking block 612. The stopper element 70 is set on the upper
cover 51 of the main frame 50 and located between the separation
element 63 and the pickup element 64. The stopper element 70 has a
blocking portion 72 located at a bottom thereof and a resisting
portion 74 located at a top thereof. The resisting portion 74 may
movably resist against the first blocking block 611 for supporting
the pickup module 60, and also may resist against the second
blocking block 612 for limiting a rotating angle of the stopper
element 70.
[0005] When papers are prepared to be put on the input tray 52, the
pickup element 64 together with the pickup arm 61 of the pickup
module 60 is raised up to a constant level and the resisting
portion 74 of the stopper element 70 resists against the first
blocking block 611 for supporting the pickup module 60 so as to
make sure the papers are put on the input tray 52 successfully to
reach the stopper element 70. When the papers are put on the input
tray 52 by user, a pushing force of the papers needs conquer a
friction between the resisting portion 74 and the first blocking
block 611 to push away the blocking portion 72 for allowing the
pickup element 64 to swing downward to pick up the papers. However,
when a single piece of paper is put on the input tray 52, the
single piece of paper has the poor pushing force to fail to push
away the blocking portion 72 that makes the pickup element 64 have
no way of picking up the single piece of paper. Furthermore, when a
larger external force than the friction acts on the pickup
mechanism, even if the external force just can conquer the friction
between the resisting portion 74 and the first blocking block 611,
the pickup element 64 of the pickup module 60 is apt to slip
downward to affect putting the papers on the input tray 52. As a
result, the pickup mechanism fails to pick up the papers
steadily.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a pickup
mechanism. The pickup mechanism includes a main frame, a supporting
element mounted to the main frame, and a pickup module positioned
in the main frame. The pickup module includes a pickup arm, a
transmitting element, a separation element, a pickup element and a
barrel element. The separation element includes a separation shaft
and a separation roller mounted around the separation shaft. The
pickup element includes a pickup shaft and a pickup roller mounted
around the pickup shaft. The separation roller and the pickup
roller are restricted in the pickup ann. The transmitting element
links the separation shaft and the pickup shaft. The pickup arm is
pivoted at the separation shaft to swing the pickup module upward
or downward under a drive of a power source. The barrel element has
a barrel-shaped base portion pivotally mounted around the pickup
shaft of the pickup element. A side of the base portion extends
outward to form a stopping block. When the pickup module swings
upward or downward under the drive of the power source, the barrel
element is also driven to rotate along with the pickup shaft so as
to make the stopping block against the supporting element or apart
from the supporting element.
[0007] As described above, when the pickup mechanism is in a status
of preparing to put papers on an input tray, the power source
drives the barrel element rotates upward along with the pickup
shaft to make the stopping block exceed the top of supporting
element. Therefore, the pickup module keeps being supported by the
supporting element even if the pickup mechanism is crashed or
shaken, for preventing the pickup module from swinging downward so
that the papers can be effectively put under the pickup roller.
Furthermore, when the pickup mechanism is in a status of picking up
the papers loaded on the input tray, the barrel element is driven
to rotate downward to make the stopping block of the barrel element
be located under the supporting element, the pickup roller can be
released freely to swing downward to pick up the papers loaded on
the input tray. In this way, when a stack of papers or a single
piece of paper is put on the input tray, it effectively prevents
the stack of papers or the single piece of paper from needing
conquer a force of the stopper element, accordingly, a drawback of
prior art that the single piece of paper fails to push away the
stopper element is also prevented. Therefore, it's convenient for
putting the papers on the input tray so as to make the pickup
mechanism pick up the papers steadily.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in
the art by reading the following description, with reference to the
attached drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pickup mechanism in prior
art;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a partially exploded view of the pickup mechanism
of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a partially side-sectional view of a status of
preparing for putting papers on an input tray of the pickup
mechanism of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 4 is another partially side-sectional view of a status
of a pickup module preparing for picking up the papers on the input
tray of the pickup mechanism of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a partially side-sectional view of a pickup
mechanism in accordance with the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pickup module of the
pickup mechanism of FIG. 5;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a partially exploded view of the pickup module, a
stopper element and a supporting element of the pickup mechanism of
FIG. 5;
[0016] FIG. 8 is a barrel element of the pickup module of the
pickup mechanism of FIG. 7;
[0017] FIG. 9 is a side view of a rising status of the pickup
module of the pickup mechanism of FIG. 5;
[0018] FIG. 10 is a side view of a status of preparing for putting
papers on an input tray of the pickup mechanism of FIG. 5;
[0019] FIG. 11 is a side view of a status of the pickup module
preparing for picking up the papers on the input tray of the pickup
mechanism of FIG. 5; and
[0020] FIG. 12 is a side view of a status of the pickup module
picking up the papers on the input tray of the pickup mechanism of
FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] With reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, a pickup
mechanism in accordance with the present invention is shown. The
pickup mechanism includes a main frame 10, a pickup module 20, two
stopper elements 30, at least a supporting element 40 and a paper
detecting device (not shown).
[0022] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, the main
frame 10 has an upper cover 11 located at a top thereof and an
input tray 12 located at a bottom thereof. The pickup module 20
positioned in the upper cover 11 of the main frame 10 includes a
pickup arm 21, a transmitting element 22, a pickup element 24, a
separation element 23, a barrel element 25 and a pushing element
26. The pickup element 24 is used for contacting and pulling out
papers loaded on the input tray 12, and then transmitting the
papers to the separation element 23. The pickup element 24 includes
a pickup shaft 241 and a pickup roller 242 mounted around the
pickup shaft 241. The separation element 23 can interact with a
retard element (not shown) for separating one piece of paper from
the pickup element 24 at one time, and pulling the one piece of
paper into a downstream position of an inside of an Automatic
Document Feeder (ADF) in which the pickup mechanism is used. The
separation element 23 includes a separation shaft 231 and a
separation roller 232 mounted around the separation shaft 231. The
separation roller 232 and the pickup roller 242 are restricted in
the pickup arm 21. The transmitting element 22 is a belt or a gear
chain. The transmitting element 22 links the separation shaft 231
and the pickup shaft 241. The separation roller 232 and the pickup
roller 242 are made of a material with a high friction coefficient,
such as rubber. In addition, the separation roller 232 may be
replaced by a separation belt and the pickup roller 242 may be
replaced by a pickup belt.
[0023] One end of the separation shaft 231 is pivoted to the upper
cover 11, and the other end of the separation shaft 231 is
connected with a power source (not shown) to drive the pickup
module 20. The pickup arm 21 is pivoted at the separation shaft 231
to swing the pickup module 20 clockwise upward or anticlockwise
downward under a drive of the power source. In this embodiment, the
power source includes a motor (not shown) and a plurality of gears
(not shown). A motive power generated by the motor is transmitted
by the gears to the separation shaft 231 to drive the separation
roller 232 to rotate. Then the motive power is transmitted to the
pickup shaft 241 by the separation shaft 231 on account of the
separation shaft 231 connecting with the pickup shaft 241 by the
transmitting element 22.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, one side of the
pickup arm 21 has a blocking piece 27 disposed to one end of the
pickup element 24 and a blocking block 29 disposed between the
separation element 23 and the pickup element 24. A periphery of one
end of the pickup shaft 241 of the pickup element 24 is concaved
inward to form a ring-shaped sliding groove 28. The barrel element
25 has a barrel-shaped base portion 254. A side of the base portion
254 extends outward to form a stopping block 251. A portion of an
inside of the base portion 254 opposite to the stopping block 251
defines an arc-shaped groove 255. A middle of one inner side of the
groove 255 extends towards the other inner side of the groove 255
to define an elastic arm 252 of which a free end protrudes inward
to form a sliding block 253. The base portion 254 is pivotally
mounted around the one end of the pickup shaft 241 of the pickup
element 24. The barrel element 25 rotates along with the pickup
shaft 241 by a friction between the base portion 254 of the barrel
element 25 and the pickup shaft 241. The friction between the
barrel element 25 and the pickup shaft 241 can be provided by means
of the elastic arm 252 of the barrel element 25, an elastic element
(not shown) or damping oil (not shown). The sliding block 253
resists in the sliding groove 28 by an elastic force of the elastic
arm 252 to generate the friction. The elastic element, such as a
spring, is disposed between the barrel element 25 and the pickup
shaft 241 to make the elastic element rub against the base portion
254 of the barrel element 25 and the pickup shaft 241 so as to
generate the friction between the barrel element 25 and the pickup
shaft 241. The damping oil is applied on the pickup shaft 241 and
the inside of the base portion 254 of the barrel element 25 so as
to generate the friction between the barrel element 25 and the
pickup shaft 241.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the pushing element 26 has
an arc-shaped locating portion 261 and a pushing portion 262
extending outward from a free end of the locating portion 261. The
locating portion 261 is pivoted around the pickup shaft 241 and
located between the pickup roller 242 of the pickup element 24 and
the barrel element 25. The blocking piece 27 projects into a gap of
the locating portion 261. The locating portion 261 pivots the
pickup shaft 241 to rotate to make two opposite ends of the
locating portion 261 resist against the blocking piece 27
alternately so as to limit a rotation angle of the locating portion
261 of the pushing element 26.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, each stopper element
30 which is set on the main frame 10 has a pivoting portion 31, a
blocking portion 32 extending downward from a bottom of the
pivoting portion 31, and a resisting portion 33 protruding upward
from a top of the pivoting portion 31. The pivoting portion 31 is
pivoted to the upper cover 11 of the main frame 10, and is located
between separation element 23 and the pickup element 24 to make the
stopper element 30 pivotally mounted to the main frame 10.
Meanwhile, the stopper element 30 is located between the separation
element 23 and the pickup element 24. When the stopper element 30
is hung down freely, the blocking portion 32 of the stopper element
30 blocks a leading edge of the input tray 12 for blocking the
papers entering an inside of the pickup mechanism. The pushing
portion 262 is brought along by the locating portion 261 of the
pushing element 26 to rotate around the pickup shaft 241 so as to
movably resist against the resisting portion 33.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the
supporting element 40 mounted to the main frame 10 has a fastening
pillar 42 mounted to the upper cover 11 of the main frame 10 and
adjacent to the barrel element 25, and a supporting portion 41
connecting with a bottom of the fastening pillar 42. A top of the
supporting portion 41 defines an indentation portion 411. The
stopping block 251 can be sustained by the indentation portion 411
of the supporting portion 41 for supporting the pickup module 20
when the pickup arm 21 is raised up. The barrel element 25 is
capable of rotating clockwise upward along with the pickup shaft
241 to make the stopping block 251 against the indentation portion
411 of the supporting portion 41 for supporting the pickup module
20 so as to keep the pickup mechanism at a status of preparing for
putting the papers on the input tray 12. The barrel element 25 is
capable of rotating anticlockwise downward along with the pickup
shaft 241 to make the stopping block 251 apart from the supporting
portion 41 for releasing the pickup module 20 freely so as to make
the pickup module 20 becoming a status of beginning picking up the
papers on the input tray 12.
[0028] The paper detecting device is pivoted to the upper cover 11
of the main frame 10 for detecting whether there is any paper on
the input tray 12.
[0029] Referring to FIGS. 5-12, the working process of the pickup
mechanism is described as following. When the pickup mechanism
completes a round of feeding action, before next round that the
papers put on the input tray 12, there is no paper on the input
tray 12. The paper detecting device detects there is no paper
loaded on the input tray 12. At this moment, the pickup element 24
together with the pickup arm 21 pivots the separation shaft 231 to
swing clockwise upward under the drive of the power source, the
stopping block 251 of the barrel element 25 against a top side of
the supporting portion 41. So when the pickup module 20 bears a
suddenly external force or the pickup module 20 is shaken, the
supporting portion 41 can resist against a bottom of the stopping
block 251 and prop up the stopping block 251. The barrel element 25
is also driven to rotate clockwise upward along with the pickup
shaft 241 until the stopping block 251 touches a side of the
supporting portion 41 to stop rotating, the pickup element 24
together with the pickup arm 21 goes on rising until the stopping
block 251 exceeds the top of the supporting portion 41 and passes
across the top of the supporting portion 41, at this moment, the
barrel element 25 continues rotating clockwise upward until the
stopping block 251 is against the indentation portion 411 of the
supporting portion 41. In that case, the pickup module 20 is raised
up to a constant level, and the pickup module 20 keeps being
supported by the supporting portion 41 even if the pickup mechanism
is crashed or shaken, for preventing the pickup module 20 from
swinging downward. And the pickup mechanism is in a status of
preparing to put the papers on the input tray 12 so that the papers
can be effectively put under the pickup roller 242 to make the
pickup mechanism pick up the papers steadily.
[0030] Referring to FIGS. 5-12 again, after the papers are put on
the input tray 12, a signal is sent to the pickup mechanism by
pressing button, computer or other ways to make the pickup
mechanism be in a status of picking up the papers loaded on the
input tray 12, the power source drives the pickup module 20
together with the pickup arm 21 pivoting the separation shaft 231
to swing anticlockwise downward to bring along the pickup element
24 of the pickup module 20 swing anticlockwise downward, the barrel
element 25 is also driven to rotate anticlockwise downward along
with the pickup shaft 241 so as to make the stopping block 251 of
the barrel element 25 apart from the supporting portion 41. When
the barrel element 25 is driven to rotate anticlockwise downward to
make the stopping block 251 of the barrel element 25 be located
under the supporting portion 41, the pickup roller 242 can be
released freely to swing downward to pick up the papers loaded on
the input tray 12. Meanwhile, the pickup shaft 241 of the pickup
element 24 drives the pushing portion 262 of the pushing element 26
to apart from the resisting portion 33 of the stopper element 30.
The blocking block 29 presses a top side of the stopper element 30
for making the blocking portion 32 rotate with the stopper element
30, so that the stopper element 30 can be pushed away by the papers
from the leading edge of the input tray 12 easily. In this way,
when a stack of papers or a single piece of paper is put on the
input tray 12, it effectively prevents the stack of papers or the
single piece of paper from needing conquer a force of the stopper
element 30, accordingly, a drawback of prior art that the single
piece of paper fails to push away the stopper element 30 is also
prevented. Therefore, it's convenient for putting the papers on the
input tray 12 so as to make pickup element 24 of the pickup
mechanism pick up the papers steadily. When the pickup roller 242
contacts the papers, the power source drives the pickup roller 242
to roll on the papers so as to pull out the papers from the input
tray 12, and then the one piece of paper is pulled into the
downstream position of the inside of ADF by the separation roller
232 of the separation element 23.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10,
after all the papers are fully pulled into and passes through the
pickup mechanism, and there is no paper on the input tray 12, the
paper detecting device detects there is no paper on the input tray
12. Again, the pickup element 24 together with the pickup arm 21
pivots the separation shaft 231 to swing clockwise upward under the
drive of the power source. The barrel element 25 is also driven to
rotate clockwise upward along with the pickup shaft 241 until the
stopping block 251 touches the side of the supporting portion 41 to
stop rotating, the pickup element 24 together with the pickup arm
21 goes on rising until the stopping block 251 exceeds the top of
the supporting portion 41 and passes across the top of the
supporting portion 41, at this moment, the barrel element 25
continues rotating clockwise upward until the stopping block 251 is
against the indentation portion 411 of the supporting portion 41.
In that case, the pickup module 20 is raised up to the constant
level, the pickup mechanism returns to the status of preparing to
put the papers on the input tray 12 so as to facilitate putting the
papers on the input tray 12 in the next round.
[0032] Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, when the pickup
module 20 is raised up to the constant level, the stopping block
251 is sustained by the indentation portion 411 of the supporting
portion 41 for supporting the pickup module 20 so as to block the
barrel element 25 from rotating clockwise upward because a blocking
force between the supporting portion 41 and the stopping block 251
of the barrel element 25 is larger than the friction between the
barrel element 25 and the pickup shaft 241.
[0033] As described above, when the pickup mechanism is in the
status of preparing to put the papers on the input tray 12, the
power source drives the barrel element 25 rotates clockwise upward
along with the pickup shaft 241 to make the stopping block 251
exceed the top of the supporting portion 41 of supporting element
40. Therefore, the pickup module 20 keeps being supported by the
supporting element 40 even if the pickup mechanism is crashed or
shaken, for preventing the pickup module 20 from swinging downward
so that the papers can be effectively put under the pickup roller
242. Furthermore, when the pickup mechanism is in the status of
picking up the papers loaded on the input tray 12, the barrel
element 25 is driven to rotate anticlockwise downward to make the
stopping block 251 of the barrel element 25 be located under the
supporting portion 41, the pickup roller 242 can be released freely
to swing downward to pick up the papers loaded on the input tray
12. In this way, when a stack of papers or a single piece of paper
is put on the input tray 12, it effectively prevents the stack of
papers or the single piece of paper from needing conquer a force of
the stopper element 30, accordingly, the drawback of prior art that
the single piece of paper fails to push away the stopper element 30
is also prevented. Therefore, it's convenient for putting the
papers on the input tray 12 so as to make the pickup mechanism pick
up the papers steadily.
* * * * *