Media dispenser

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6520375
  • Patent Number
    6,520,375
  • Date Filed
    Monday, October 29, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 18, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A media dispenser capable of simplifying structure and reducing cost by driving a whole system using a driving means and treating various kinds of media by installing various kinds of media selectively thus to broaden the usefulness, comprising a base plate in which a media cassette in which media are stored and a rejected box are loaded, a media pickup part installed at the lower side of the base plate for discharging the media stored in the media cassette by separating sheet by sheet, a media feeding part for feeding the media discharged through the media pickup part, a media discharging part for discharging the fed media through the media feeding part to outside, a driving means installed at one side of the base plate for generating driving force, a power transmitting means for transmitting the driving force generated at the driving means to the media pickup part, media feeding part and media discharging part, a clutch means installed at one side of the media pickup part for controlling the driving force transmitted to the media pickup part from the power transmitting part and a media rejection means for separating and collecting abnormal media among media fed to the media feeding part.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a dispenser and particularly, to a media dispenser capable of driving a whole system and using various kinds of media.




2. Description of the Background Art




A conventional media dispenser comprises a media cassette in which media are stored, a feeding module


204


to which the media stored in the media cassette


202


, a sensing unit


206


sensing whether two sheets of media are fed together by sensing the thickness of the media fed through the feeding module


204


, a delivery module


208


for transmitting the media passed through the thickness sensing unit


206


to a user and a reject box


210


for collecting media when two sheets of media are fed together in the thickness sensing unit


206


.




In the media cassette


202


, a media separating part


212


for separating media into each sheet to transmit the stored media into the feeding module


204


respectively.




Here, the media separating part


212


is connected to the first driving motor


214


installed at one side of the feeding module


204


and is operated by receiving a driving force of the first driving motor


214


.




The feeding module


204


feeds the media transmitted from the media cassette


202


to the thickness sensing unit


206


and is composed of a plurality of pulleys


216


, belts


218


and a plurality of rollers


220


.




If the thickness sensing unit


206


senses the thickness of the media fed through the feeding module


204


and if two sheets of media are fed together, it feeds media to the reject box.




The delivery module


208


has a discharging part


222


to supply the media passed through the thickness sensing unit


206


to the user and it collects the media in case two sheets of inferior media are fed together and feeds the media to the reject box


210


via a specific process. Such delivery module


208


comprises a plurality of pulleys


226


, belts


224


and a plurality of rollers


228


.




The pulleys and belts of the feeding module


204


and delivery module


208


are driven by the second driving motor


230


installed at one side of the delivery module


208


. Namely, the second driving motor


230


is connected with a driving pulley


232


and the driving pulley


232


is connected to the driven pulley


236


and belt


234


. The driven pulley


236


is connected to each pulley by the belt and transmits the driving force.




In the conventional media dispenser, the media stored in the media cassette


202


are separated to sheet by sheet by the media separating part


212


and transmitted to the feeding module


204


if the first driving motor


214


is driven. If the second driving motor


230


is driven the feeding module


204


and the delivery module


208


are driven. Then the media transmitted to the feeding module


204


are fed to the thickness sensing unit


206


by the plurality of pulleys and belts and transmitted to the delivery module


208


after the thickness sensing unit


206


senses whether two sheets of media are passed together.




The media fed to the delivery module


208


are fed to the discharging part


222


which is capable of providing the media to the user by the plurality of rollers and belts and inferior media or media in case two or more sheets of media are transmitted are collected to the reject box


210


.




However, the conventional media dispenser requires the first driving motor for driving the media separating part to separate the media from the media cassette and the second driving motor for driving the feeding module and the delivery module. Namely, there is a problem due to using a plurality of motors of relatively high cost.




Also, since the conventional media dispenser can load only one media cassette, predetermined kinds of media can be loaded and since different kinds of media can not be treated, usefulness is reduced and there is a disadvantage that an additional media dispenser is needed to treat different kinds of media.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a media dispenser capable of reducing cost and simplifying structure by driving a whole system using a driving means.




Another object is to provide a media dispenser capable of treating various kinds of media by installing various kinds of media selectively thus to broaden the usefulness.




To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a media dispenser comprising a base plate in which a media cassette in which media are stored and a rejected box are loaded, a media pickup part installed at the lower side of the base plate for discharging the media stored in the media cassette by separating sheet by sheet, a media feeding part for feeding the media discharged through the media pickup part, a media discharging part for discharging the fed media through the media feeding part to outside, a driving means installed at one side of the base plate for generating driving force, a power transmitting means for transmitting the driving force generated at the driving means to the media pickup part, media feeding part and media discharging part, a clutch means installed at one side of the media pickup part for controlling the driving force transmitted to the media pickup part from the power transmitting part and a media rejection means for separating and collecting abnormal media among media fed to the media feeding part.




The dispenser in accordance with the present invention further includes a plurality of sub media cassette units installed at one side of the base plate for loading driving force from the driving means, storing the media different from those stored in the media cassette and discharging them through the media discharging part.




The base plate has an interior loading space for loading the media cassette at the front side, another interior loading space for loading a reject box for loading inferior media at the upper side of the above interior loading space and a door at the front side of the two interior loading spaces.




A locking system for preventing an arbitrary external access is installed at the door.




A cushion member abutted on the front surface of the media cassette for buffering impact or vibration generated when the media are discharged from the media cassette is installed on the inner side surface of the door.




The driving means is a driving motor installed at one side of the base plate for generating rotational force.




The power transmitting means comprises a driven pulley connected by a driving pulley and driving belt, which are installed in a driving motor, a lower connection pulley connected by the driven pulley and timing belt, for driving the media pickup part and media feeding part and an eject pulley wound by the driven pulley and timing belt, for driving the media feeding part and media discharging part.




The media pickup part comprises a pickup roller positioned at the lower side of the base plate, for discharging the media stored in the media cassette in the lower direction by friction, a feeding roller and separating roller positioned at the lower side of the pickup roller, for feeding the media discharged by the pickup roller by separating the media sheet by sheet and a guide member for guiding the media fed through the feeding roller and separating roller to the upper direction.




The pickup roller separates and discharges the media using friction of the media and accordingly is formed to receive power from the feeding roller due to having a rubber part at a certain part of the circumferential surface.




The separating roller rotates in the same direction as the feeding roller and is connected to the feeding roller and a connection belt.




The guide member is formed to have a certain curvature at the lower side of the feeding roller and the separating roller and a connection guide for guiding the media passed through the guide member to the media feeding part at the end portion of the guide member.




The connection guide has one side surface abutted to the guide member, slopping upward and another surface for guiding the media fed from the sub media cassette unit formed upright.




The clutch means is positioned on the identical shaft as the feeding roller of the media pickup part and connected with the lower connection pulley to connect or disconnect driving force transmitted from the feeding roller based on the on/off of power supply.




The media feeding part comprises a first feeding belt wound between a first feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the lower connection pulley and a second feeding roller, rotating by receiving rotational force from the lower connection pulley and a second feeding belt positioned under the condition of being abutted to the first feeding belt and wound between a third feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the eject pulley and a fourth feeding roller positioned at the lower side of the base plate, rotating by receiving rotational force from the lower eject pulley.




The media discharging part comprises a first discharging roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the eject pulley and rotates, a second discharging roller which is positioned having certain intervals to the rear side of the first discharging roller and a discharging belt wound between the first discharging roller and the second discharging roller.




The media rejection means comprises a reject box loaded at the front side of the base plate, for storing inferior media and a diverter installed on the media feeding route, for collecting the inferior media in the reject box.




The sub media cassette unit comprises a case installed at the lower side of the base plate, for loading a sub media cassette, an upper connection pulley connected to the lower connection pulley which is installed at the base plate by a connection belt, for receiving power, a sub lower connection pulley which is connected to the upper connection pulley by a timing belt, a sub media pickup part connected with the sub lower connection pulley, for transmitting the media stored in the sub media cassette by receiving rotational force and a sub media feeding part for transmitting the media transmitted from the sub media pickup part to the media feeding part by guiding the media to the upper direction.




The sub media feeding part comprises a sub first feeding belt wound between a sub first feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the upper connection pulley and a sub second feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the sub lower connection pulley and a sub second feeding belt positioned under the condition of being abutted to the first feeding belt and wound between a third feeding roller connected with the connection pulley and a fourth feeding roller, thus to rotate.




The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.




In the drawings:





FIG. 1

is a block diagram of a conventional media dispenser;





FIG. 2

is a block diagram of a media dispenser in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a side view showing a power transmitting system of the media dispenser in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a block diagram of a media feeding channel of the media dispenser in accordance with the present invention; and





FIG. 5

is a perspective view showing a media pickup part of the media dispenser in accordance with the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.





FIG. 2

is a block diagram of a media dispenser in accordance with the present invention.




The media dispenser in accordance with the present invention comprises a base plate


6


in which a media cassette


2


in which media are stored and a rejected box


4


for collecting inferior media are loaded, a media pickup part


8


installed at the lower side of the base plate


6


for discharging the media stored in the media cassette


2


by separating the media sheet by sheet, a media feeding part


10


for feeding the media discharged through the media pickup part, a media discharging part


12


for discharging the fed media through the media feeding part


12


to outside, a driving means installed at one side of the base plate for generating driving force, a power transmitting means for transmitting the driving force generated at the driving means to the media pickup part, media feeding part and media discharging part, a clutch means installed at one side of the media pickup part for controlling the driving force transmitted to the media pickup part from the power transmitting part and a media rejection means for separating and collecting abnormal media among media fed to the media feeding part.




In case a user extends the cassette to use another kinds of media, a sub media cassette unit


14


is additionally installed at the lower side of the base plate


6


.




The base plate


6


has a interior loading space for loading the media cassette


2


at the front side, another interior loading space for loading a reject box


4


for loading inferior media at the upper side of the above interior loading space and a door


16


installed at the front side of the two interior loading spaces.




A locking system


18


is installed in the door


16


to prevent an arbitrary external access to the media cassette


2


and the reject box


4


. On the inner surface of the door


16


, a cushion member


20


abutted on the front surface of the media cassette


2


for buffering impact is installed.




Namely, the media cassette


2


and reject box


4


are loaded at the front side of the base plate


6


, the door


16


is installed on the front surface movably and the door


16


having the locking system


18


can prevent an arbitrary external access to the media cassette


2


and the reject box


4


.




The cushion member


20


abutted on the inner side surface of the door buffers impacts generated when the media are discharged from the media cassette


2


.




A power board


22


for using the power supplied from outside in overall components of the media dispenser directly is installed at the lower side of the position where the media cassette of the base plate


6


is loaded.




It is desirable that the driving means is a driving motor


24


installed at one side of the base plate


6


for generating rotational force. A driving pulley


26


is installed in the driving motor.




As shown in

FIG. 2

, the above power transmitting means transmits power generated in the driving motor


24


to each part. A driving pulley


26


of the driving motor is connected to a driven pulley


30


by a driving belt


28


and power transmitted to the driven pulley. A timing belt


32


is wound on the driven pulley


30


, a lower connection pulley


34


is wound at the lower end of the timing belt


32


and a eject pulley


36


is wound at the upper end of the timing belt


32


.




A plurality of tension pulleys


38


and


40


for maintaining tension of the timing belt


32


are installed at one side of the timing belt


32


.




The above lower connection pulley


34


transmits the rotational force generated by the rotation of the timing belt


32


to the media pickup part


8


and also to the sub media in case the sub media cassette unit


14


is added to the base plate


6


to use another media.




The lower connection pulley


34


connected to the media feeding part transmits the rotational force to the media feeding part.





FIG. 4

is a block diagram of a media feeding channel of the media dispenser in accordance with the present invention and

FIG. 5

is a perspective view showing a media pickup part of the media dispenser in accordance with the present invention.




The media pickup part


8


for discharging the media cassette by separating sheet by sheet, comprises a pickup roller


42


positioned at the rear side of the media cassette


2


, for discharging the media stored in the media cassette


2


to the lower direction by friction, a feeding roller


44


and separating roller


46


positioned at the lower side of the pickup roller


42


, for feeding the media discharged by the pickup roller


42


by separating the media sheet by sheet and a guide member


48


for guiding the media fed through the feeding roller


44


and separating roller


46


to the upper direction.




The pickup roller


42


is positioned at the rear side of the media cassette


2


rotatably and a rubber part


50


is formed on a certain part of the circumferential surface. Accordingly, the rubber part


50


rubs with the media, discharges the media by separating and receives power in gear with the feeding roller


44


.




Namely, a driving gear


60


and a driven gear


58


are installed on the rotation shafts


54


and


56


of the feeding roller and the pickup roller and an idle gear


52


is in gear between the driving gear


60


and driven gear


58


thus to transmit the rotational force of the feeding roller


44


to the pickup roller


42


.




The feeding roller


44


and the separation roller


46


rotate in the identical direction under the condition of being abutted to each other to transmit the media discharged by the pickup roller


42


therebetween by separating the media sheet by sheet and are connected to the connection belt


62


thus to rotate in the identical direction.




Here, a clutch means


64


for controlling power which is transmitted from the above lower connection pulley


34


to the feeding roller


44


is installed in the feeding roller


44


. Namely, the clutch means


64


is installed on the identical shaft as the feeding roller


44


and connected in gear with the lower connection pulley


34


by a clutch gear


66


, to transmit or intercept power transmitted from the lower connection pulley


34


to the feeding roller


44


.




The above clutch means


64


is used the solenoid method to transmit power in case power supply is approved and intercept power in case power supply is intercepted. On the contrary, the solenoid method to intercept power in case power supply is approved and transmit power in case power supply is intercepted.




The clutch means


64


installed between the lower connection pulley


34


at the driving side and the feeding roller


44


at the driven side can be applied to every method for controlling power.




The guide member


48


for guiding the media passed through the feeding roller


44


and the separation roller


46


upwardly is installed having a certain curvature at the lower side of the feeding roller


44


and the separation roller


46


. A connection guide


68


is installed at one side of the guide member


48


.




The connection guide


68


guides the media fed from the guide member


48


to the upper direction and has one portion connected with the guide member


48


slope upwardly and another portion connected with the sub media cassette unit


14


form upright to guide the media fed from the sub media cassette unit


14


.




Such media pickup part


8


transmits the rotational force of the lower connection pulley


34


to the feeding roller


44


when the clutch means


64


is on. Then the separation roller


46


wound on the feeding roller


44


and the separation roller


46


rotates and the pickup roller


42


in gear with the feeding roller


44


rotates together. Then, as the pickup roller


42


rotates, the rubber part


50


of the pickup roller


42


discharges the media downwardly by being rubbed with the media. The media discharged by the pickup roller


42


are separated passing through between the feeding roller


44


and the separation roller


46


and the separated media move upwardly along the guide member


48


and are guided to the media feeding part


10


.




When the clutch means is turned off, power transmitted from the lower connection pulley


34


to the feeding roller


44


is intercept, thus to stop the media pickup operation.




According to on/off of the clutch means, the media pickup part


8


performs pickup/pickup halting operation repeatedly.




The media feeding part


10


for guiding the media discharged through the media pickup part


8


to the media discharging part


12


, comprises a first feeding belt


74


wound between a first feeding roller


70


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the lower connection pulley


34


and a second feeding roller


72


positioned at the upper side and a second feeding belt


76


positioned under the condition of being abutted to the first feeding belt


74


, which is rotated to feed the media.




The first feeding belt


74


is wound between the first feeding roller


70


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the above lower connection pulley


34


and the second feeding roller


72


, rotating by receiving rotational force from the above lower connection pulley


34


and a plurality of guide rollers


78


and


80


for guiding the media are installed at one side of the first feeding belt


74


rotatably.




The second feeding belt


76


positioned under the condition of being abutted to the outer surface of the first feeding belt


74


rotates in the same direction of the first feeding belt


74


and is wound between the third feeding roller


82


which is positioned at the lower side of the base plate


6


rotatably and the fourth feeding roller


84


positioned at the upper front end of the base plate


6


.




A plurality of guide rollers


86


and


88


for guiding the second feeding belt


76


are positioned at one side.




Here, the fourth feeding roller


84


is positioned on the identical shaft as a gear


90


in gear with the lower connection pulley on which the timing belt


32


is wound and receives the rotational force thus to drive the above second feeding belt


76


.




In the above media feeding part


10


, when the driving motor


24


is driven, the timing belt


32


rotates and accordingly, the lower connection pulley


34


and the eject pulley


36


rotate. Then, the first feeding roller


70


positioned on the identical shaft as the lower connection pulley


34


rotates and has the first feeding belt rotate. The fourth feeding roller


84


in gear with the eject pulley


36


rotates and has the second feeding belt


76


rotate.




Then, the media discharged through the above media pickup part


8


pass through between the first feeding belt


74


and the second feeding belt


76


and are guided to the media discharging part


12


.




The media discharging part


12


discharges the media fed from the media feeding part


10


to the user and the media discharging part


12


comprises the first discharging roller


98


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the eject pulley


36


and rotates and the second discharging roller


100


connected to the first discharging roller


98


by the discharging belt


102


. The discharging belt


102


under the condition of being abutted to the upper side of the second feeding belt


76


is rotated in the same direction and discharges the media to outside.




The media rejection means senses and collects the media in case inferior data are generated while the data are fed through the media feeding part


10


or in case two sheets of media are fed together and the media rejection means comprises the reject box


4


loaded at the front side of the base plate, for storing inferior media and the diverter


104


installed between the first feeding belt


74


and the discharging


102


, for collecting the inferior media in the reject box


4


.




The media dispenser in accordance with the present invention, comprises a feed sensor


92


installed at one side of the media feeding part


10


, for sensing passing of the media thus to turn off the clutch means


64


and counting the media, a thickness sensor


94


for sensing the thickness of the media, an eject sensor


106


for sensing the media ejected to the media discharging part


12


transmitting signals which turn on the clutch means, a reject sensor


108


installed in the reject box


4


, for counting collected inferior media and a slit sensor


96


for sensing the number of the rotation of the driving motor


24


and the length of the media together with the feed sensor


92


, thus to control the operation of the media dispenser.




The sub media cassette unit


14


is positioned at the lower side of the base plate


6


to collect and supply media with different size from the media cassette


2


loaded in the base plate


6


.




The sub media cassette unit


14


comprises a case


112


installed at the lower side of the base plate, for loading a sub media cassette


110


, an upper connection pulley


116


connected to the connection belt


114


of the lower connection pulley


34


which is installed at the base plate


6


, for receiving power, a sub lower connection pulley


120


which is connected to the upper connection pulley


116


by a timing belt


118


, a sub media pickup part


122


connected with the sub lower connection pulley


120


, for transmitting the media stored in the sub media cassette


110


by receiving rotational force and a sub media feeding part


124


for transmitting the media transmitted from the sub media pickup part


122


to the media feeding part


10


by guiding the media to the upper direction.




The case


112


is formed in a structure that the upper side of the case can be positioned at the lower side of the base plate


6


and an interior space for loading the sub media cassette


110


is formed at the front side of the case


112


. A door


126


for protecting the sub media cassette


110


is positioned on the front surface of the sub media cassette


110


.




The power transmission process of the sub media cassette unit


14


will be described as follows. The upper connection pulley


116


positioned at the upper side of the lower connection pulley


34


and the case


112


, which are positioned at the lower side of the base plate


6


is wound by the connection belt


114


thus to transmit the rotational force. The upper connection pulley


116


is connected to the sub lower connection pulley


120


and the timing belt


118


, which are positioned at the lower side f the case


112


and rotate together.




Since the sub media pickup part


122


is formed in an identical structure as the media pickup part described above and operated in the same way, the description is omitted.




The sub media feeding part


124


feeds the media fed through the sub media pickup part


122


to the upper direction and the sub media feeding part


124


includes a sub first feeding roller


128


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the upper connection pulley


116


, a second feeding roller


130


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the sub lower connection pulley


120


, a sub first feeding belt


132


wound between a sub first feeding roller


128


and a second feeding roller


130


and a sub second feeding belt


134


positioned under the condition of being abutted to the first feeding belt


132


.




The sub second feeding belt


134


is wound between the sub third feeding roller


136


and the sub fourth feeding roller


138


and the sub third feeding roller


136


is in gear with the upper connection pulley


116


and receives the rotational force.




Such sub media cassette unit


14


can be used attached with many units according to the need of the user. Namely, if another additional sub media cassette units are positioned on the lower surface of the sub media cassette unit


14


, three sheets of media cassette can be used.




Operation of the media dispenser in accordance with the present invention with the above composition will be described as follows.




Firstly, a case of using a single media will be described.




If the driving motor


24


is operated, the driven pulley


30


connected to the driving motor


24


and the driving belt


28


rotates and the eject pulley


36


and the lower connection pulley


34


which are connected to the driven pulley


30


and the timing belt


32


rotate respectively.




The rotational force of the lower connection pulley


34


is transmitted to the first feeding belt and selectively transmitted to the media pickup part


8


through the clutch means


64


. The rotational force of the eject pulley


36


is transmitted to the media discharging part


12


and the second feeding belt


76


.




If the clutch means


64


is turned on and the power of the lower connection pulley


34


is transmitted to the media pickup part


8


, the feeding roller


44


rotates, the separation roller


46


connected with the feeding roller


44


by the connection belt


62


rotates and the pickup roller


42


in gear with the feeding roller


44


rotates.




If the pickup roller


42


rotates, the media stored in the media cassette


2


rubs with the rubber part


50


of the pickup roller, are fed to the lower direction, are separated sheet by sheet passing through between the feeding roller


44


and the separation roller


46


and are guided to the upper direction by the guide member


48


and the connection guide


68


.




The media are fed to the media discharging part


12


by the rotation of the first feeding belt


74


and the second feeding belt


76


.




Here, the first feeding belt


74


is wound between the first feeding roller


70


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the above lower connection pulley


34


and the second feeding roller


72


positioned at the upper side of the base plate


6


and rotates by receiving rotational force from the above lower connection pulley


34


.




The second feeding belt


76


wound between the third feeding roller


82


which is in gear with the eject pulley


36


and the fourth feeding roller


84


positioned at the lower side of the base plate


6


, receives the rotational force.




The feed sensor


92


installed at one side of the media feeding part


10


senses passing of the media thus to turn off the clutch means


64


and counts the media, if the media are fed due to the rotation of the first and second feeding belt.




At this time, if the clutch means is turned off, the driving forced transmitted to the media pickup part


8


is blocked and accordingly, media feeding operation of the media cassette


2


is interrupted.




The media passed through the feed sensor


92


pass through the thickness sensor


94


. The thickness sensor senses the thickness of the media and check whether the media is composed of a sheet.




The slit sensor


96


senses the number of the rotation of the driving motor


24


by sensing the rotation speed of the first feeding belt


74


and senses the length of the media according to electric signals allowed from the feed sensor


92


.




The media fed from the media feeding part


10


are discharged by the media discharging part


12


. Namely, the discharging belt


102


which is wound between the first discharging roller


98


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the eject pulley


36


and rotates and the second discharging roller


100


, rotates and the discharging belt


102


and the second feeding belt


76


rotate under the condition that the upper parts of the discharging belt


102


and the second feeding belt


76


are abutted to each other, thus to discharge the media therebetween.




The eject sensor


106


positioned in the media discharging part


12


senses the media discharged to the media discharging part


12


and transmits a signal to turn on the clutch means


64


.




Then the media pickup part


8


is driven again and performs media feeding operation.




The media are fed from the media pick part at a certain interval according to the on/off of the above clutch means


64


.




The diverter


104


collects the media to the reject box


4


in case inferior media are fed or a plurality of media are fed simultaneously in discharging media.




Namely, if it is judged that the media are fed under the condition that many sheets of media are piled up according to the signal approved from the slit sensor


96


and the feed sensor


92


, power supply is allowed to the solenoid and the diverter


104


converts the feeding process of the media to the reject box


4


rotating, thus to collect the media.




At this time, the reject sensor


108


positioned at one side of the reject box


4


counts the inferior media by sensing the inflow of the inferior media to the reject box


4


and interrupts the operation of the diverter


104


.




Second, the process of discharging of the media stored in the sub media cassette


110


of the sub media cassette unit will be described as follows.




In case the user is willing to discharge the media stored in the sub media cassette selectively, the media feeding in the media pickup part


8


is intercepted by turning off the clutch means positioned in the median pickup part


8


and turn on/off the sub clutch means


140


positioned in the sub media pickup part


122


.




Namely, if the sub clutch means


140


is turned on, the media stored in the sub media cassette


110


are fed to the upper direction by the sub media pickup part


122


. Since the operation of the sub media pickup part


122


is performed identically as the media pickup part


8


as described above, the description is omitted.




The media fed by the sub media pickup part


122


in the sub media cassette


110


are moved to the upper direction by the rotation of the sub first feeding belt


132


and the sub second feeding belt


134


, are guided to the media feeding part


10


and are discharged through the media discharging part


12


.




The sub first feeding belt


132


is wound between a sub first feeding roller


128


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the upper connection pulley


116


connected to the lower connecting pulley


34


by the connection belt


114


and a second feeding roller


130


which is positioned on the identical shaft as the sub lower connection pulley


120






The sub second feeding belt


134


in gear with the upper connection pulley


116


is wound between the sub third feeding roller


136


and the sub fourth feeding roller


138


and rotates.




As described above, the media cassette in accordance with the present invention with the above composition and operation, which is capable of simplifying structure and reducing cost by positioning a driving motor in the base plate, driving the media feeding part and media discharging part by the driving force transmitting means and selectively driving the media pickup part by the clutch means so that a whole system is driven with a driving motor.




Also, by installing the a plurality of sub media in which media with different sizes are loaded at the lower side of the base plate, the user can discharge media with a preferable size and accordingly, one media dispenser can treat various kinds of media thus to broaden the usefulness.




As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A media dispenser, comprising:a base plate in which a media cassette in which media are stored and a rejected box are loaded; a media pickup part installed at the lower side of the base plate for discharging the media stored in the media cassette by separating sheet by sheet; a media feeding part for feeding the media discharged through the media pickup part; a media discharging part for discharging the fed media through the media feeding part to outside; a driving means installed at one side of the base plate for generating driving force; a power transmitting means for transmitting the driving force generated at the driving means to the media pickup part, media feeding part and media discharging part; a clutch means installed at one side of the media pickup part for controlling the driving force transmitted to the media pickup part from the power transmitting part; and a media rejection means for separating and collecting abnormal media among media fed to the media feeding part.
  • 2. The dispenser of claim 1, further comprising:a plurality of sub media cassette units installed at one side of the base plate for receiving driving force from the driving means, storing the media different from those stored in the media cassette and discharging them through the media discharging part.
  • 3. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the base plate has an interior loading space for loading the media cassette at the front side, another interior loading space for loading a reject box for loading inferior media at the upper side of the above interior loading space and a door at the front side of the two interior loading spaces.
  • 4. The dispenser of claim 3, having a locking system for preventing an arbitrary external access in the door.
  • 5. The dispenser of claim 3, wherein a cushion member abutted on the front surface of the media cassette for buffering impact or viabration gernerated when the media are discharged from the media cassette on the inner side surface of the door is installed.
  • 6. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the driving means is a driving motor installed at one side of the base plate for generating rotational force.
  • 7. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the power transmitting means comprises:a driven pulley connected by a driving pulley and driving belt, which are installed in a driving motor; a lower connection pulley connected by the driven pulley and timing belt, for driving the media pickup part and media feeding part; and an eject pulley wound by the driven pulley and timing belt, for driving the media feeding part and media discharging part.
  • 8. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the media pickup part comprises:a pickup roller positioned at the lower side of the base plate, for discharging the media stored in the media cassette in the lower direction by friction; a feeding roller and separating roller positioned at the lower side of the pickup roller, for feeding the media discharged by the pickup roller by separating the media sheet by sheet; and a guide member for guiding the media fed through the feeding roller and separating roller to the upper direction.
  • 9. The dispenser of claim 8, wherein the pickup roller separates and discharges the media using friction of the media and accordingly is formed to receive power from the feeding roller due to having a rubber part at a certain part of the circumferential surface.
  • 10. The dispenser of claim 8, wherein the separating roller rotates in the same direction as the feeding roller and is connected to the feeding roller and a connection belt.
  • 11. The dispenser of claim 8, wherein the guide member is formed to have a certain curvature at the lower side of the feeding roller and the separating roller and a connection guide for guiding the media passed through the guide member to the media feeding part at the end portion of the guide member.
  • 12. The dispenser of claim 11, wherein the connection guide has one side surface abutted to the guide member, slopping upward and another surface for guiding the media fed from a sub media cassette unit formed upright.
  • 13. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the clutch means is positioned on the identical shaft as the feeding roller of the media pickup part and connected with the lower connection pulley to connect or disconnect driving force transmitted from the feeding roller based on the on/off of power supply.
  • 14. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the media feeding part comprises:a first feeding belt wound between a first feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the lower connection pulley and a second feeding roller, rotating by receiving rotational force from the lower connection pulley; and a second feeding belt positioned under the condition of being abutted to the first feeding belt and wound between a third feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the eject pulley and a fourth feeding roller positioned at the lower side of the base plate, rotating by receiving rotational force from the lower eject pulley.
  • 15. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the media discharging part comprises:a first discharging roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the eject pulley and rotates; a second discharging roller which is positioned having certain intervals to the rear side of the first discharging roller; and a discharging belt wound between the first discharging roller and the second discharging roller.
  • 16. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the media rejection means comprises:a reject box loaded at the front side of the base plate, for storing inferior media; and a diverter installed on the media feeding route, for collecting the inferior media in the reject box.
  • 17. The dispenser of claim 2, wherein the sub media cassette unit comprises:a case installed at the lower side of the base plate, for loading a sub media cassette; an upper connection pulley connected to the lower connection pulley which is installed at the base plate by a connection belt, for receiving power; a sub lower connection pulley which is connected to the upper connection pulley by a timing belt; a sub media pickup part connected with the sub lower connection pulley, for transmitting the media stored in the sub media cassette by receiving rotational force; and a sub media feeding part for transmitting the media transmitted from the sub media pickup part to the media feeding part by guiding the media to the upper direction.
  • 18. The dispenser of claim 17, wherein the sub media feeding part comprises:a sub first feeding belt wound between a sub first feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the upper connection pulley and a sub second feeding roller which is positioned on the identical shaft as the sub lower connection pulley; and a sub second feeding belt positioned under the condition of being abutted to the sub first feeding belt and wound between a sub third feeding roller connected with the connection pulley and the fourth feeding roller, thus to rotate.
Priority Claims (2)
Number Date Country Kind
00-64722 Nov 2000 KR
00-64723 Nov 2000 KR
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number Name Date Kind
5848789 Ochi et al. Dec 1998 A
6040923 Takashimizu et al. Mar 2000 A