U.S. patent application number 16/806177 was filed with the patent office on 2021-09-02 for offset document pick-up device.
The applicant listed for this patent is Foxlink Image Technology Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Yung Kai Chen, Wei Pin Hsieh, Kuan Cheng Huang.
Application Number | 20210269266 16/806177 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004717732 |
Filed Date | 2021-09-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210269266 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsieh; Wei Pin ; et
al. |
September 2, 2021 |
OFFSET DOCUMENT PICK-UP DEVICE
Abstract
A flexural document pick-up device includes: a feeding path
comprised of a upper wall and a lower wall; a input tray arranged
upstream to the feeding path; a paper feeding unit arranged
partially in the feeding path; a separation roller disposed on the
opposite side of the paper feeding unit; a blocking arm disposed
upstream to the paper feeding unit; a securing groove arranged on
the upper wall; and a guiding unit with the following portions
disposed sequentially from downstream to upstream of the feeding
direction: a securing section which is secured to the securing
groove, a flexure section which is extended from the securing
section to the feeding path, a guiding section which is connected
to the flexure section and essentially parallel to the feeding
path, a lifting section which is connected to the guiding section
and a vertex which is arranged on the end of the lifting
section.
Inventors: |
Hsieh; Wei Pin; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; Huang; Kuan Cheng; (New Taipei City,
TW) ; Chen; Yung Kai; (New Taipei City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Foxlink Image Technology Co., Ltd. |
New Taipei City |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000004717732 |
Appl. No.: |
16/806177 |
Filed: |
March 2, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 3/54 20130101; B65H
3/0607 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65H 3/54 20060101
B65H003/54; B65H 3/06 20060101 B65H003/06 |
Claims
1. A flexural document pick-up device includes: a feeding path
comprised of an upper wall and a lower wall; an input tray arranged
at the upstream of the feeding path; a paper feeding unit arranged
partially in the feeding path; a separation roller disposed on the
opposite side of the paper feeding unit to be contacted with the
paper feeding unit; a blocking arm disposed between the input tray
and the paper feeding unit and configured to be switchable move
between a blocking position for blocking the paper and a feeding
position for passing the paper through the feeding path; a securing
groove arranged on the upper wall; and a guiding unit with the
following portions disposed sequentially from downstream to
upstream of the feeding direction: a securing section which is
secured to the securing groove, a flexure section which is extended
from the securing section to the feeding path, a guiding section
which is connected to the flexure section and essentially parallel
to the feeding path, a lifting section which is connected to the
guiding section and a vertex which is arranged on the end of the
lifting section; wherein the guiding section is movably arranged is
a seam space formed with the paper feeding unit and the separation
roller, the radius of a virtual circle formed by the separation
roller and the lifting section is greater than the wheel diameter
of the separation roller, and the vertical distance between the
lower wall and the guiding section is greater than the vertical
distance between the lower wall and the separation roller.
2. The flexural document pick-up device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the junction point of the guiding section and the lifting
section is arranged upstream to contact point of the separation
roller and the paper.
3. The flexural document pick-up device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the lifting section is arranged downstream to the blocking
arm in the paper feed direction.
4. The flexural document pick-up device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the angle between the guiding section and the feeding path
is smaller than the angle between the lifting section and the
feeding path when viewed from an axial direction of the separation
roller.
5. The flexural document pick-up device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the blocking arm is arranged upstream to the vertex.
6. The flexural document pick-up device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the vertical distance between the paper to be fed and the
vertex is greater than the vertical distance between the paper to
be fed and the bottom of the blocking arm.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to a document pick-up device,
in particular to a flexural document pick-up device which is able
to avoid paper damage caused by paper warpage.
2. The Related Art
[0002] Referring to FIG. 1, the pick-up unit is placed at the
entrance of the automatic document feeder for separating the
stacked paper and feeding the paper one by one. In order to avoid
overlapping the paper, the pick-up unit includes a feeding path, a
document pick-up device 20', a separation device 30', and a
blocking device 40' disposed between the document pick-up device
20' and the separation device 30'. Wherein, the blocking device 40'
is arranged in the feeding path to stop paper from entering the
feeding path, the document pick-up device 20' contacts the paper
stack to feed the paper into the feeding path, and the separation
device 30' provides friction to the fed paper for stopping the
overlapped paper.
[0003] However, the paper may be damaged due to the warpage of the
paper during the separation process, the conditions that cause the
warpage of the paper are shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4.
[0004] In FIG. 2, the upper paper is free to fall when the lower
paper is fed into the feeding path, and thus causing a slight
warpage of the leading edge of the upper paper.
[0005] In FIG. 3, the separation device 30' rotates in the
direction of feeding the paper back to the input tray for enhancing
the effect of the separating the overlapped paper, so the leading
end of the paper that contacts with the separation device 30' is
easy warped by the involvement of the separation roller.
[0006] In FIG. 4, the separation device 30' is made of an elastic
material to improve the feeding force applied to the paper, so the
separation roller will deform under the pulling of the paper during
the feeding process and rebound after the paper leaves. However,
the rebound of the separation roller also causes warpage of
following paper.
[0007] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a flexural document
pick-up device which is able to guide paper and avoid paper damage
caused by paper warpage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The objective of the present invention is to provide a
pick-up device, particular to a pick-up device which is able to
avoid paper damage caused by paper warpage.
[0009] To achieve said objective, the flexural document pick-up
device includes: a feeding path comprised of a upper wall and a
lower wall; a input tray arranged at the upstream of the feeding
path; a paper feeding unit arranged partially in the feeding path;
a separation roller disposed on the opposite side of the paper
feeding unit to be contacted with the paper feeding unit; a
blocking arm disposed between the input tray and the paper feeding
unit and configured to be switchable move between a blocking
position for blocking the paper and a feeding position for passing
the paper through the feeding path; a securing groove arranged on
the upper wall; and a guiding unit with the following portions
disposed sequentially from downstream to upstream of the paper feed
direction: a securing section which is secured to the securing
groove, a flexure section which is extended from the securing
section to the feeding path, a guiding section which is connected
to the flexure section and essentially parallel to the feeding
path, a lifting section which is connected to the guiding section
and a vertex which is arranged on the end of the lifting section;
wherein the guiding section is movably arranged is a seam space
formed with the paper feeding unit and the separation roller, the
radius of a virtual circle formed by the separation roller and the
lifting section is greater than the wheel diameter of the
separation roller, and the vertical distance between the lower wall
and the guiding section is greater than the vertical distance
between the lower wall fed and the separation roller.
[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the junction point of the guiding
section and the lifting section is arranged upstream to contact
point of the separation roller and the paper.
[0011] In a preferred embodiment, the lifting section is arranged
downstream to the blocking arm in the paper feed direction.
[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the angle between the guiding
section and the feeding path is smaller than the angle between the
lifting section and the feeding path when viewed from an axial
direction of the separation roller.
[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the blocking arm is arranged
upstream to the vertex.
[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the vertical distance between the
paper to be fed and the vertex is greater than the vertical
distance between the paper to be fed and the bottom of the blocking
arm.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] 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:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a side view of a conventional document pick-up
unit;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the warpage caused by
the falling of the paper in the conventional document pick-up
unit;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the warpage caused by
the reversal of the separation roller in the conventional document
pick-up unit;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the warpage caused by
the rebound of the separation roller in the conventional document
pick-up unit;
[0020] FIG. 5A is a side view of the document pick-up device of the
present invention;
[0021] FIG. 5B is a side view of lifted blocking arm in the present
creation;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a side view of the guiding unit;
[0023] FIG. 7 is a side view of the guiding unit and the blocking
arm;
[0024] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the guiding unit;
[0025] FIG. 9A is a side view of the guiding unit and the
separation roller in the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 9B is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 9A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0027] In order to explain in detail, the technical content,
structural features, objectives and effects of the present
invention, the following is a detailed description with reference
to the drawings.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, a flexural document pick-up
device 10 of the present invention is disposed between a input tray
11 and a feeding path 12 for feeding the paper stacked in the input
tray 11 into the feeding path 12, and the feeding path 12 is
comprised of an upper wall 12a, a lower wall 12b and a securing
groove 13 arranged on the upper wall 12a. The flexural document
pick-up device 10 includes the following components which are
disposed from upstream to downstream of the feeding path 12: a
blocking arm 40, a guiding unit 50 secured in the securing groove
13, a paper feeding unit 20 partially arranged in the feeding path
12 and a separation roller 30 disposed on the opposite sides of the
paper feeding unit 20 for being contacted with the paper feeding
unit 20. For convenience of explanation, the terms "upstream" and
"downstream" as used hereinafter refers to the direction in which
the paper is fed from and the direction in which the paper is fed
toward.
[0029] The blocking arm 40 is disposed to be movable in a direction
perpendicular to the feeding path 12 for switching between a
blocking position for blocking the paper and a feeding position for
feeding the paper through the feeding path 12. The guiding unit 50
is movably connected in the feeding path 12, thereby guiding the
paper to smoothly contact with the paper feeding unit 20.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, the guiding unit 50 comprises
a securing section 51, a flexure section 52, a guiding section 53,
a lifting section 54 and a vertex 55 which are disposed
sequentially from downstream to upstream of the feeding direction.
The securing section 51 secured in the securing groove 13. The
flexure section 52 is extended from the securing section 51 to the
feeding path 12. The guiding section 53 is connected to the flexure
section 52 and essentially paralleled to the feeding path 12, the
guiding section 53 is arranged between the seam space 21 formed by
the paper feeding unit 20 and the separation roller 30. The lifting
section 54 is connected to the guiding section 53, and the vertex
55 is arranged at the end of the lifting section 54. Wherein, the
securing section 51 will bend while the lifting section 54 contacts
with the paper to be fed to guide the paper passing through the
paper feeding unit 20 smoothly.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 8, the securing groove 13 includes a
clamping section 13a extended toward the feeding path 12 and a
fixing hole 13b which is arranged at the end of the clamping
section 13a and perpendicular to the clamping section 13a. The
guiding unit 50 is bent with a single metal wire and formed into a
bilateral symmetry shape. The securing section 51 includes two
symmetrical clamping rod 51a and two fixing rod 51b which is
arranged at the end of the clamping rod 51a. By clamping the
clamping rod 51a in the clamping section 13a and securing the
fixing rod 51b in the fixing hole 13b, the guiding unit 50 is
secured on the feeding path 12.
[0032] Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, the guiding unit
50 is disposed in a seam space 21 formed by the paper feeding unit
20 and the separation roller 30, and the guiding section 53 forms a
slight angle .theta. 1 with the feeding path 12 for guiding the
paper to contact with the paper feeding unit 20, and a junction
point (A) (the point where the curvature changes the most) is
formed at the turning area between the guiding section 53 and the
lifting section 54. In order to ensure the paper to contact with
the paper feeding unit 20 smoothly, the contact point E of the
separation roller 30 and the paper is disposed downstream to the
junction point A, and the vertical distance D1 from the paper to be
fed to the guiding section 53 is greater than the vertical distance
D2 from the paper to be fed to the separation roller 30.
[0033] The lifting section 54 is disposed downstream to the
blocking arm 40 in the paper feeding direction, the radius (DS1) of
the virtual circle which is co-axis with the separation roller 30
and passes through the lifting section 54 is larger than the radius
(DS) of the separation roller 30, and the lifting section 54 forms
an angle .theta. 2 with the feeding path 12. The angle .theta. 2 is
greater than the angle .theta. 1, so when the paper to be fed
passes through the blocking arm 40 and comes in contact with the
lifting section 54, more normal force is applied to the lifting
section 54, thereby generates a force that pushes the guiding unit
50 away from the feeding path 12.
[0034] Referring FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the vertex 55 is substantially
coincided with the blocking arm 40 during the feeding process, the
contact point (C) of the paper to be fed and the blocking arm 40 is
arranged upstream to the vertex 55. Furthermore, the distance
between the vertex 55 and the paper is greater than the distance
between the bottom end of the blocking arm 40 and the paper.
Therefore, it prevents the paper to be fed from contacting with the
separation roller 30 too early during the feeding process, and a
gap which may cause the paper to be fed doesn't contact with the
lifting section 54 and the guiding section 53 in sequence during
the feeding process appeared between the guiding unit 50 and the
blocking arm 40.
* * * * *