Paper sheet conveyance apparatus and image forming apparatus

Abstract

There is described a paper sheet conveyance apparatus, which makes it possible to surely separate the overlapping paper sheets from each other irrespective of a kind of paper. The apparatus includes: a thickness detecting section to detect a thickness of a paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path; a first suction device to adsorb the conveyance paper sheet currently passing through the first suction device; a second suction device to adsorb the overlap paper sheet currently passing through the second suction device; an overlapping conveyance path that is branched from the conveyance path; and a control section that activates the first suction device and the second suction device so as to separate the conveyance paper sheet from the overlap paper sheet, and to introduce the conveyance paper sheet and the overlap paper sheet into the conveyance path and the overlapping conveyance path, respectively.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary, not limiting, and wherein like elements are numbered alike in several Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example of a rough configuration of a paper sheet conveyance apparatus embodied in the present invention;

FIG. 2( a) and FIG. 2(b) show explanatory schematic diagrams for explaining a separating operation of overlapping paper sheets, when a thickness detecting sensor detects an overlapping conveyance at a portion being apart from a leading edge of a paper sheet by a distance smaller than 20 mm;

FIG. 3( a) and FIG. 3(b) show explanatory schematic diagrams for explaining a separating operation of overlapping paper sheets, when a thickness detecting sensor detects an overlapping conveyance at a portion being apart from a leading edge of a paper sheet by a distance equal to or greater than 20 mm;

FIG. 4( a), FIG. 4(b) and FIG. 4(c) show flowcharts of processing procedures of a first suction device and a second suction device, both of which are controlled by a control section embodied in the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a subroutine flowchart for commencing an operation of a first suction device in which an amount of wind flow is controlled on the basis of a basis weight of a paper sheet;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a paper sheet conveyance configuration in which an overlap paper sheet, separated from a conveyance paper sheet, is conveyed into a reuse conveyance path through an overlapping conveyance path; and

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a rough configuration of a conventional separating conveyance apparatus.

Claims

1. A paper sheet conveyance apparatus for conveying a paper sheet, picked up from a paper sheet feeding section, through a conveyance path, comprising: a thickness detecting section to detect a thickness of either a single paper sheet or overlapping paper sheets, which includes a conveyance paper sheet and an overlap paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path;a first suction device, disposed at a first position within the conveyance path, to adsorb the conveyance paper sheet currently passing through the first suction device;a second suction device, disposed at a second position substantially opposing to the first position within the conveyance path, to adsorb the overlap paper sheet currently passing through the second suction device;an overlapping conveyance path that is branched from the conveyance path; anda control section to conduct controlling operations in such a manner that, when the overlapping paper sheets are conveyed into the conveyance path from the paper sheet feeding section, the first suction device and the second suction device are activated to separate the conveyance paper sheet from the overlap paper sheet, so as to introduce the conveyance paper sheet and the overlap paper sheet into the conveyance path and the overlapping conveyance path, respectively.

2. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the first suction device and the second suction device includes a plurality of fans.

3. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control section activates the second suction device, when an overlapping conveyance of the overlapping paper sheets is detected, based on the thickness detected by the thickness detecting section.

4. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control section sets a wind flow amount of the second suction device at a value 1.2 to 2 times that of the first suction device.

5. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control section controls a wind flow amount of the first suction device, based on the thickness of the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path.

6. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 5, wherein the control section sets a first wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value in a range of 0.3-0.9 m3/minute, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a thickness of which is smaller than 0.15 mm and equal to or greater than 0.08 mm.

7. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control section sets a second wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value 1.5 to 2 times the first wind flow amount, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a thickness of which is equal to or greater than 0.15 mm; andwherein the control section sets a third wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value 0.6 to 0.8 times the first wind flow amount, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a thickness of which is smaller than 0.08 mm.

8. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control section controls a wind flow amount of the first suction device, based on a basis weight of the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path.

9. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control section sets a first wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value in a range of 0.3-0.9 m3/minute, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a basis weight of which is in a range of 60-105 gram.

10. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control section sets a second wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value 0.6 to 0.8 times the first wind flow amount, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a basis weight of which is equal to or smaller than 59 gram; andwherein the control section sets a third wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value 1.5 to 1.8 times the first wind flow amount, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a basis weight of which is in a range of 106-210 gram; andwherein the control section sets a fourth wind flow amount of the first suction device at a value 1.9 to 2.0 times the first wind flow amount, when conveying the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, a basis weight of which is equal to or greater than 211 gram.

11. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control section conducts controlling operations in such a manner that the second suction device is activated, at a time when the conveyance paper sheet closes all over the first suction device, and a leading edge of the overlap paper sheet passes through a center of the second suction device.

12. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a stacking box to stack the overlap paper sheet in it;wherein the control section conducts controlling operations in such a manner that the overlap paper sheet is stacked onto the stacking box.

13. The paper sheet conveyance apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a reuse conveyance path to convey the overlap paper sheet, separated from the conveyance paper sheet, so as to reuse the overlap paper sheet.

14. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming section to form an image onto a paper sheet; anda paper sheet conveyance section to convey the paper sheet, picked up from a paper sheet feeding section, to the image forming section through a conveyance path;wherein the paper sheet conveyance section includes: a thickness detecting section to detect a thickness of either a single paper sheet or overlapping paper sheets, which includes a conveyance paper sheet and an overlap paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path;a first suction device, disposed at a first position within the conveyance path, to adsorb the conveyance paper sheet currently passing through the first suction device;a second suction device, disposed at a second position substantially opposing to the first position within the conveyance path, to adsorb the overlap paper sheet currently passing through the second suction device;an overlapping conveyance path that is branched from the conveyance path; anda control section to conduct controlling operations in such a manner that, when the overlapping paper sheets are conveyed into the conveyance path from the paper sheet feeding section, the first suction device and the second suction device are activated to separate the conveyance paper sheet from the overlap paper sheet, so as to introduce the conveyance paper sheet and the overlap paper sheet into the conveyance path and the overlapping conveyance path, respectively.

15. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the first suction device and the second suction device includes a plurality of fans.

16. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control section activates the second suction device, when an overlapping conveyance of the overlapping paper sheets is detected, based on the thickness detected by the thickness detecting section.

17. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control section sets a wind flow amount of the second suction device at a value 1.2 to 2 times that of the first suction device.

18. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control section controls a wind flow amount of the first suction device, based on the thickness of the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path.

19. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control section controls a wind flow amount of the first suction device, based on a basis weight of the single paper sheet or the conveyance paper sheet, currently conveyed in the conveyance path.

20. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control section conducts controlling operations in such a manner that the second suction device is activated, at a time when the conveyance paper sheet covers all over the first suction device, and a leading edge of the overlap paper sheet passes through a center of the second suction device.