Patent Application
20240383702
The present disclosure relates to a medium conveying apparatus.
A medium conveying apparatus, such as a scanner, images a medium while conveying the medium by using a conveyance roller. When the surface of the conveyance roller is soiled in such a medium conveying apparatus, variation in the roller radius occurs between surface positions of the conveyance roller, and fluctuation in the medium conveyance speed occurs. Consequently, variation in intervals between imaging positions in a conveyed medium occurs, and expansion and contraction occur in the medium image included in a generated image.
A document conveying apparatus including a separation roller pair located on a document conveyance path and a registration roller pair located on a downstream side of the separation roller pair is disclosed (see PTL 1). In the document conveying apparatus, the registration roller pair is located to align with the separation roller pair in a width direction on the document conveyance path. A relative position of the registration roller pair and the separation roller pair is defined such that at a position aligned in the width direction of the document conveyance path, a tensile force acting on a document at a nip part of the registration roller pair acts in the opposite direction of a resistant reaction force acting on the document at a nip part of the separation roller pair.
It is preferred in a medium conveying apparatus that soiling of the surface of a conveyance roller be suppressed.
An object of a medium conveying apparatus according to an embodiment is to suppress soiling of the surface of a conveyance roller.
According to an embodiment, a medium conveying apparatus includes a feed roller to feed a medium, a separation roller located to face the feed roller, a first pressing part to press one of the feed roller and the separation roller to the other such that a first nip region is formed at a position where the feed roller and the separation roller are in contact with each other, a plurality of conveyance rollers located on a downstream side of the feed roller and the separation roller in a medium conveying direction and spaced in a direction perpendicular to the medium conveying direction to convey the medium, a plurality of facing rollers located to respectively face the plurality of conveyance rollers, and a second pressing part to press one plurality of rollers of the plurality of conveyance rollers and the plurality of facing rollers to the other plurality of rollers such that a plurality of second nip regions are formed at positions where the plurality of conveyance rollers and the plurality of facing rollers are respectively in contact with each other. The plurality of conveyance rollers and the plurality of facing rollers are located such that, in a width direction perpendicular to the medium conveying direction, a distance between inner edges of the plurality of second nip regions is greater than a distance between outer edges of the first nip region and less than a minimum width of a medium supported by the medium conveying apparatus.
The medium conveying apparatus according to the present embodiment enables suppression of soiling of the surface of a conveyance roller.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations, in particular, described in the claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory, and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
Hereinafter, a medium conveying apparatus according to an embodiment, will be described with reference to the drawings. However, it should be noted that the technical scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments, and extends to the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents.
The medium conveying apparatus 100 includes a lower housing 101, an upper housing 102, a loading tray 103, an ejection tray 104, an operation device 105, a display device 106, etc. In FIG. 1, an arrow A1 indicates a medium conveying direction, an arrow A2 indicates a width direction perpendicular to the medium conveying direction, and an arrow A3 indicates a high direction perpendicular to the medium conveying direction A1 and the width direction. Hereinafter, upstream refers to upstream in the medium conveying direction A1, and downstream refers to downstream in the medium conveying direction A1.
The upper housing 102 is located at a position covering the top surface of the medium conveying apparatus 100 and is engaged with the lower housing 101 to be rotatable by a hinge to be openable when, for example, a medium is stuck or cleaning of the inside of the medium conveying apparatus 100 is performed.
The loading tray 103 is engaged with the lower housing 101 and places a medium to be fed and conveyed. The ejection tray 104 is engaged with the upper housing 102 and places an ejected medium. The ejection tray 104 may be engaged with the lower housing 101.
The operation device 105 includes an input device such as a button, and an interface circuit acquiring a signal from the input device, accepts an input operation by a user, and outputs an operation signal based on the input operation by the user. The display device 106 includes a display including a liquid crystal, an organic electro-luminescence (EL), etc., and an interface circuit outputting image data to the display, and displays the image data on the display.
The conveyance path inside the medium conveying apparatus 100 includes a medium sensor 111, a feed roller 112, a separation roller 113, a plurality of first conveyance rollers 114, a plurality of first facing rollers 115, an imaging device 116, a plurality of second conveyance rollers 117, a plurality of second facing rollers 118, etc.
Each of the numbers of the feed roller 112, and/or the separation roller 113 is not limited to one and may be more than one. In that case, a plurality of feed rollers 113, and/or separation rollers 113 are respectively spaced in the width direction A2 perpendicular to the medium conveying direction.
The top surface of the lower housing 101 forms a lower guide 101a of the conveyance path of a medium, and the bottom surface of the upper housing 102 forms an upper guide 102a of the conveyance path of a medium.
The medium sensor 111 is located on the upstream side of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113. The medium sensor 111 includes a contact detection sensor and detects whether a medium is placed on the loading tray 103. The medium sensor 111 generates and outputs a medium signal the signal value of which varies between a state in which a medium is placed on the loading tray 103 and a state in which a medium is not placed. The medium sensor 111 is not limited to a contact detection sensor and any other sensor that can detect the presence of a medium, such as a light detection sensor, may be used as the medium sensor 111.
The feed roller 112 is provided in the lower housing 101, sequentially feeds media placed on the loading tray 103 from the lower side. The feed roller 112 is formed of rubber, resin, or metal. The separation roller 113 is a so-called brake roller or retard roller, is provided in the upper housing 102, is located to face the feed roller 112. The separation roller 113 is provided to be rotatable in a direction opposite to the medium feeding direction or stoppable. The separation roller 113 is formed of rubber, resin, or metal. The feed roller 112 may be provided in the upper housing 102, and the separation roller 113 may be provided in the lower housing 101.
The first conveyance roller 114 is an example of a conveyance roller, and the first facing roller 115 is an example of a facing roller. The first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115 are located on the downstream side of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 in the medium conveying direction A1. The plurality of first facing rollers 115 are located to respectively face the plurality of first conveyance rollers 114. The first conveyance roller 114 is provided in the upper housing 102, and convey a medium fed by the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 to the imaging device 116. The first conveyance roller 114 is formed of rubber, resin, or metal. The first facing roller 115 is provided on the lower side of the first conveyance roller 114 in the lower housing 101, and is driven to rotate by the first conveyance roller 114. The first facing roller 115 is formed of rubber, resin, or metal. The first conveyance roller 114 may be provided in the lower housing 101, and the first facing roller 115 may be provided in the upper housing 102.
The imaging device 116 is an example of an imaging module, is located on the downstream side of the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115 in the medium conveying direction A1, and images a medium conveyed by the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115. The imaging device 116 includes a first imaging device 116a and a second imaging device 116b that are located to face each other with the medium conveyance path in between.
The first imaging device 116a includes a line sensor based on a unity-magnification optical system type contact image sensor (CIS) including complementary metal oxide semiconductor- (CMOS-) based imaging elements linearly arranged in a main scanning direction. The first imaging device 116a further includes lenses each forming an image on an imaging element, and an A/D converter amplifying and analog-digital (A/D) converting an electric signal output from the imaging element. The first imaging device 116a generates an input image by imaging the front side of a conveyed medium in accordance with control from a processing circuit to be described later and outputs the generated image.
Similarly, the second imaging device 116b includes a line sensor based on a unity-magnification optical system type CIS including CMOS-based imaging elements linearly arranged in the main scanning direction. The second imaging device 116b further includes lenses each forming an image on an imaging element, and an A/D converter amplifying and analog-digital (A/D) converting an electric signal output from the imaging element. The second imaging device 116b generates an input image by imaging the back side of a conveyed medium in accordance with control from the processing circuit to be described later and outputs the generated image.
Only one of the first imaging device 116a and the second imaging device 116b may be located and only one side of a medium may be read in the medium conveying apparatus 100. Further, a line sensor based on a unity-magnification optical system type CIS including charge coupled device- (CCD-) based imaging elements may be used in place of the line sensor based on a unity-magnification optical system type CIS including CMOS-based imaging elements. Further, a reduction optical system type line sensor including CMOS-based or CCD-based imaging elements may be used.
The second conveyance roller 117 is an example of the conveyance roller, and the second facing roller 118 is an example of the facing roller. The second conveyance roller 117 and the second facing roller 118 are located on the downstream side of the imaging device 116, i.e., on the downstream side of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 in the medium conveying direction A1. The plurality of second facing rollers 118 are located to respectively face the plurality of second conveyance rollers 117. The second conveyance roller 117 is provided in the upper housing 102, conveys a medium conveyed by the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115 further to the downstream side, and eject it on the ejection tray 104. The second conveyance roller 117 is formed of rubber, resin, or metal. The second facing roller 118 is provided on the lower side of the second conveyance roller 117 in the lower housing 101, and is driven to rotate by the second conveyance roller 117. The second facing roller 118 is formed of rubber, resin, or metal. The second conveyance roller 117 may be provided in the lower housing 101, and the second facing roller 118 may be provided in the upper housing 102.
A medium placed on the loading tray 103 is conveyed between the lower guide 101a and the upper guide 102a toward the medium conveying direction A1 by the feed roller 112 rotating in a direction of an arrow A4, i.e., the medium feeding direction. The separation roller 113 stops or rotates in a direction of an arrow A5, i.e., a direction opposite to the medium feeding direction. When a plurality of media are placed on the loading tray 103, only a medium in contact with the feed roller 112 out of the medium placed on the loading tray 103 is separated by working of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113. Consequently, conveyance of a medium other than the separated medium is restricted (prevention of multi feed).
A medium is fed between the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115 while being guided by the lower guide 101a and the upper guide 102a. The medium is fed between the first imaging device 116a and the second imaging device 116b by the first conveyance roller 114 rotating in directions of an arrow A6. The medium read by the imaging device 116 is ejected into the ejection tray 104 by the second conveyance roller 117 rotating in directions of an arrow A7.
As illustrated in
The first pressing member 113a is an example of a first pressing part. One end of the first pressing member 113a is provided in the upper housing 102 and the other end is provided on a shaft being the rotation axis of the separation roller 113. The first pressing member 113a presses the separation roller 113 to the feed roller 112 side. The first pressing member 113a includes an elastic member, such as a helical torsion coil spring, and generates a pressing force W1 pressing the separation roller 113 to the feed roller 112 side. A first nip region is formed by the first pressing member 113a at a position where the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 are in contact with each other. For example, the first pressing member 113a may include another type of spring member, such as a flat spring, or a rubber member. Further, the first pressing member 113a may be provided to press the feed roller 112 to the separation roller 113 side. Thus, the first pressing member 113a presses one of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 to the other such that the first nip region is formed at the position where the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 are in contact with each other.
The second pressing member 115a is an example of a second pressing part. One end of the second pressing member 115a is provided in the lower housing 101 and the other end is provided on a shaft being the rotation axis of each first facing roller 115. The second pressing member 115a presses each first facing roller 115 to each first conveyance roller 114 side. The second pressing member 115a includes an elastic member, such as a helical torsion coil spring, and generates a pressing force W2 pressing each first facing roller 115 to each first conveyance roller 114 side. A plurality of second nip regions are formed by the second pressing member 115a at positions where the plurality of first conveyance rollers 114 and the plurality of first facing rollers 115 are in contact with each other. For example, the second pressing member 115a may include another type of spring member, such as a flat spring, or a rubber member. Further, the second pressing member 115a may be provided to press each first conveyance roller 114 to each first facing roller 115 side. Thus, the second pressing member 115a presses one plurality of rollers of the plurality of first conveyance rollers 114 and the plurality of first facing rollers 115 to the other plurality of rollers such that a plurality of second nip regions are formed at the positions where the plurality of first conveyance rollers 114 and the plurality of first facing rollers 115 are in contact with each other.
The third pressing member 118a is an example of a second pressing part. One end of the third pressing member 118a is provided in the lower housing 101 and the other end is provided on a shaft being the rotation axis of each second facing roller 118. The third pressing member 118a presses each second facing roller 118 to each second conveyance roller 117 side. The third pressing member 118a includes an elastic member, such as a helical torsion coil spring, and generates a pressing force W3 pressing each second facing roller 118 to each second conveyance roller 117 side. A plurality of second nip regions are formed by the third pressing member 118a at positions where the plurality of second conveyance rollers 117 and the plurality of second facing rollers 118 are in contact with each other. For example, the third pressing member 118a may include another type of spring member, such as a flat spring, or a rubber member. Further, the third pressing member 118a may be provided to press each second conveyance roller 117 to each second facing roller 118 side. Thus, the third pressing member 118a presses one plurality of rollers of the plurality of second conveyance rollers 117 and the plurality of second facing rollers 118 to the other plurality of rollers such that a plurality of second nip regions are formed at the positions where the plurality of second conveyance rollers 117 and the plurality of second facing rollers 118 are in contact with each other.
In the example illustrated in
In
The plurality of first conveyance rollers 114 and the plurality of first facing rollers 115 are located such that the distance L1 between the inner edges of a plurality of second nip regions N2 is greater than the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions N1 in the width direction A2 perpendicular to the medium conveying direction. The plurality of first conveyance rollers 114 and the plurality of first facing rollers 115 are located such that the distance L1 between the inner edges of a plurality of second nip regions N2 is less than the minimum width L3 of a medium supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100 in the width direction A2 perpendicular to the medium conveying direction.
The plurality of second conveyance rollers 117 and the plurality of second facing rollers 118 are located such that the distance L1 between the inner edges of a plurality of second nip regions N2 is greater than the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions in the width direction A2 perpendicular to the medium conveying direction. The plurality of second conveyance rollers 117 and the plurality of second facing rollers 118 are located such that the distance L1 between the inner edges of a plurality of second nip regions N2 is less than the minimum width L3 of a medium supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100 in the width direction A2 perpendicular to the medium conveying direction.
Since the distance L1 between the inner edges of second nip regions N2 is less than the minimum width L3 of a medium M1 supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100, the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115 can reliably convey the medium M1 with the minimum width supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100. Further, the second conveyance roller 117 and the second facing roller 118 can also reliably convey the medium M1 with the minimum width supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100.
The difference L5 between the minimum width L3 of a medium M1 supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100 and the distance L1 between the inner edges of second nip regions N2 is preferably set to 2 mm or greater. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can more reliably convey the medium M1 with the minimum width supported by the medium conveying apparatus 100.
As described above, a plurality of media placed on the loading tray 103 are separated by the feed roller 112 rotating in the medium feeding direction and the separation roller 113 stopping or rotating in a direction opposite to the medium feeding direction. In other words, the separation roller 113 separates a medium by slipping the surface of the separation roller 113 on the surface of the medium. Further, a slip also occurs between the surface of the feed roller 112 and the surface of the medium by the separation roller 113 stopping or rotating in the direction opposite to the medium feeding direction.
For example, a medium fed by the medium conveying apparatus 100, such as a scanner, usually has information printed by a printer, etc., or written by a user with a pen, pencil, etc. Therefore, for example, there are ink or pencil dust (graphite) adhered on the surface of the medium. The ink or the graphite on the surface of the medium may come off of the surface of the medium and adhere to the surface of the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 due to occurrence of a slip between the surfaces of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 and the surface of the medium.
When ink or graphite is adhered to the surface of the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113, the ink or the graphite adhered to the surface of the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 may subsequently adhere to another position of the surface of the medium or the surface of a subsequently fed medium. Assuming that the first nip region N1 and the second nip region N2 overlap when viewed from the medium conveying direction A1, the ink or the graphite adhered to the surface of the medium via the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 may adhere to the first conveyance roller 114 or the first facing roller 115. Further, the ink or the graphite adhered to the surface of the medium via the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 may adhere to the second conveyance roller 117 or the second facing roller 118 as well.
When ink or pencil dust accumulates on the surface of the first conveyance roller 114, the first facing roller 115, the second conveyance roller 117, or the second facing roller 118, variation in the roller radius of the roller occurs, and fluctuation in the medium conveyance speed occurs. Consequently, variation in intervals between positions imaged by the imaging device 116 in a conveyed medium occurs, and expansion and contraction occur in the medium image included in an input image.
In the medium conveying apparatus 100, the distance L1 between the inner edges of second nip regions N2 is set to be greater than the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions. Therefore, ink or graphite adhered to the surface of a medium via the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 does not adhere to the first conveyance roller 114 or the first facing roller 115. Further, the ink or the graphite adhered to the surface of the medium via the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 does not adhere to the second conveyance roller 117 or the second facing roller 118 either. Accordingly, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress occurrence of fluctuation in the medium conveyance speed due to soiling of the first conveyance roller 114, the first facing roller 115, the second conveyance roller 117, or the second facing roller 118. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress occurrence of variation in intervals between positions imaged by the imaging device 116 in a conveyed medium and can suppress occurrence of expansion and contraction of the medium image included in an input image.
The difference L4 between the distance L1 between the inner edges of a plurality of second nip regions N2 and the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions is preferably set to 2 mm or greater. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can more reliably suppress ink or graphite adhered to the surface of a medium via the feed roller 112 or the separation roller 113 from adhering to the first conveyance roller 114, the first facing roller 115, the second conveyance roller 117, or the second facing roller 118.
Further, it is preferable that the difference L4 between the distance L1 between the inner edges of a plurality of second nip regions N2 and the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions N1 is 30 mm or less. In other words, it is preferable that the plurality of second conveyance rollers 117 and the plurality of second facing rollers 118 are located such that the difference L4 in the width direction A2 perpendicular to the medium conveying direction is 30 mm or less.
When the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115, or the second conveyance roller 117 and the second facing roller 118 are located at positions distant from the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 in the width direction A2, a force along the width direction A2 is applied to a conveyed medium. When the force along the width direction A2 is applied to the conveyed medium, a wrinkle may occur in the medium. As a result of performing an experiment of conveying media in various types and sizes, it was found that the possibility of occurrence of a wrinkle in a medium is particularly high when the difference L4 between the distance L1 between the inner edges of second nip regions N2 and the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions N1 is 30 mm or greater. The medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress occurrence of a wrinkle in a conveyed medium by setting the difference L4 to 30 mm or less.
In the example illustrated in
The hardness of the first conveyance roller 114 may be greater than the hardness of the first facing roller 115 and, in addition, the width of the first conveyance roller 114 may be greater than the width of the first facing roller 115. In other words, the width of a roller with a greater hardness out of the first conveyance roller 114 and the first facing roller 115 is greater than the width of a roller with a less hardness. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress appearance of a vertical stripe on a conveyed medium.
Similarly, the hardness of the second conveyance roller 117 is less than the hardness of the second facing roller 118 and the width of the second conveyance roller 117 is less than the width of the second facing roller 118. Further, the hardness of the second conveyance roller 117 may be greater than the hardness of the second facing roller 118 and, in addition, the width of the second conveyance roller 117 may be greater than the width of the second facing roller 118. In other words, the width of a roller with a greater hardness out of the second conveyance roller 117 and the second facing roller 118 is greater than the width of a roller with a less hardness. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress appearance of a vertical stripe on a conveyed medium.
The hardness of the feed roller 112 is greater than the hardness of the separation roller 113 and the width of the feed roller 112 is greater than the width of the separation roller 113. Further, the hardness of the feed roller 112 may be less than the hardness of the separation roller 113 and, in addition, the width of the feed roller 112 may be less than the width of the separation roller 113. In other words, the width of a roller with a greater hardness out of the feed roller 112 and the separation roller 113 is greater than the width of a roller with a less hardness. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress appearance of a vertical stripe on a conveyed medium.
In addition to the configuration described above, the medium conveying apparatus 100 further includes a motor 131, an interface device 132, a storage device 140, a processing circuit 150, etc.
The motor 131 includes one or a plurality of motors and conveys a medium by rotating the feed roller 112, the separation roller 113, the first conveyance roller 114, and/or the second conveyance roller 115 in accordance with a control signal from the processing circuit 150. The first facing roller 115 and/or the second facing roller 118 may be provided to rotate according to a driving force of the motor 131 instead of being driven to rotate by the first conveyance roller 114 or the second conveyance roller 117.
For example, the interface device 132 includes an interface circuit conforming to a serial bus such as USB and transmits and receives an input image and various types of information by being electrically connected to an information processing apparatus (such as a personal computer or a mobile information terminal). A communication device including an antenna transmitting and receiving wireless signals and a wireless communication interface circuit for transmitting and receiving signals through a wireless communication line in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol may be used in place of the interface device 132. For example, the predetermined communication protocol is a wireless local area network (LAN). The communication device may include a wired communication interface circuit for transmitting and receiving signals through a wired communication line in accordance with a communication protocol such as a wired LAN.
The storage device 140 includes a memory device such as a random-access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM), a fixed disk device such as a hard disk, a portable storage device such as a flexible disk or an optical disk, etc. Further, a computer program, a database, a table, etc., that are used for various types of processing in the medium conveying apparatus 100 are stored in the storage device 140. The computer programs may be installed on the storage device 140 from a computer-readable, non-transitory portable storage medium by using a well-known set-up program, etc. The portable storage medium is, for example, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or a digital versatile disc read-only memory (DVD-ROM).
The processing circuit 150) operates in accordance with a program stored in advance in the storage device 140. For example, the processing circuit is a central processing unit (CPU). A digital signal processor (DSP), a large scale integration (LSI), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) may be used as the processing circuit 150.
The processing circuit 150 is connected to the operation device 105, the display device 106, the medium sensor 111, the imaging device 116, the motor 131, the interface device 132, the storage device 140, etc., and controls the components. The processing circuit 150 performs drive control of the motor 131, imaging control of the imaging device 116, etc., based on the medium signal received from the medium sensor 111. The processing circuit 150 acquires an input image from the imaging device 116, and transmits the acquired image to the information processing apparatus through the interface device 132.
As illustrated in
The operation example of the medium reading process in the medium conveying apparatus 100 will be described below referring to the flowchart illustrated in
First, the control module 151 waits until an instruction to read a medium is input by a user via the operation device 105 or the information processing apparatus and an operation signal providing an instruction to read a medium is received from the operation device 105 or the interface device 132 (step S101).
Next, the control module 151 acquires the medium signal from the medium sensor 111 and determines whether a medium is placed on the loading tray 103, based on the acquired first medium signal (step S102). When a medium is not placed on the loading tray 103, the control module 151 ends the series of steps.
On the other hand, when a medium is placed on the loading tray 103, the control module 151 rotates the feed roller 112, the separation roller 113, the first conveyance roller 114, and/or the second conveyance roller 117 by driving the motor 131 (step S103). Consequently, the control module 151 causes each roller to convey a medium.
Next, the control module 151 acquires an input image from the imaging device 116 by causing the imaging device 116 to image the medium and outputs the acquired input image by transmitting the image to the information processing apparatus through the interface device 132 (step S104).
Next, the control module 151 determines whether a medium remains in the loading tray 103, based on the medium signal received from the medium sensor 113 (step S105). When a medium remains in the loading tray 103, the control module 151 returns the processing to step S104 and repeats the processing in step S104 and S105.
On the other hand, when a medium does not remain in the loading tray 103, the control module 151 controls the motor 131 to stop the feed roller 112, the separation roller 113, the first conveyance roller 114, and/or the second conveyance roller 117 (step S106). Then, the control module 151 ends the series of steps.
As described in detail above, the medium conveying apparatus 100 locates each conveyance roller such that the second nip region N2 of each conveyance roller does not overlap the first nip region N1 of the feed roller 112 in the width direction A2 but comes into contact with a medium with the minimum width supported by the device. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress soiling of the surface of a conveyance roller while reliably conveying a medium.
Furthermore, in the medium conveying apparatus 100, the difference in the width direction A2 between the distance L1 between the inner edges of the second nip regions N2 of conveyance rollers and the distance L2 between the outer edges of one or more first nip regions of the feed roller 112 is set to 30 mm or less. Consequently, the medium conveying apparatus 100 can suppress both soiling of a conveyance roller and occurrence of a wrinkle simultaneously.
The control circuit 251 is an example of a control module and has a function similar to that of the control module 151. The control circuit 251 receives the operation signal from the operation device 105 or the interface device 132 and the medium signal from the medium sensor 111. The control circuit 251 controls the motor 131, based on the received information.
The image acquisition circuit 252 is an example of an image acquisition module and has a function similar to that of the image acquisition module 152. The image acquisition circuit 252 acquires the input image from the imaging device 116 and outputs the acquired image to the interface device 132.
As described in detail above, the medium conveying apparatus can suppress soiling of the surface of a conveyance roller when the processing circuit 250 is used as well.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2021/042470 | 11/18/2021 | WO |
