CN113387205B

CN113387205B - Medium supply device

Info

Publication number: CN113387205B
Application number: CN202110193668.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 增田直哉; 堀荣治
Original assignee: Riso Kagaku Corp
Current assignee: Riso Kagaku Corp
Priority date: 2020-03-12
Filing date: 2021-02-20
Publication date: 2023-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 2041-02-20
Also published as: CN113387205A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a medium supply device in which a floating medium is accurately supplied. The pair of side baffles (12, 12) which are one example of the restriction part of the medium supply device (1) are provided with: 1 pair of protruding parts (12 b ) as an example of the 1 st pair of restricting parts, which are arranged oppositely in a width direction (W) orthogonal to the conveying direction (D), and restrict the medium (M) loaded on the loading table (11) in the width direction (W); and 1 pair of restricting surfaces (12 a ) as an example of the 1 pair of 2 nd restricting portions, which are arranged so as to face each other in the width direction (W) at a spacing (S12) larger than a spacing (S11)) between the 1 pair of protruding portions (12 b ), and restrict the medium (M) that floats in the width direction (W). The 1 pair of protruding parts (12 b ) are configured to be capable of moving integrally with the 1 pair of limiting surfaces (12 a ).

Description

Medium supply device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a medium supply device.

Background

Conventionally, there is known an air-feeding method in which, after floating up the paper using floating air, the uppermost paper is separated into 1 sheet and fed. In a sheet feeding apparatus employing such an air-feed system, a medium feeding apparatus is proposed, which includes: 1 a pair of side guards that restrict the width of the sheet bundle; and 1 pair of adjustment plates disposed above the 1 pair of side guards independently of the side guards for restricting the width of the floating sheet, the interval between the 1 pair of adjustment plates in the width direction being narrower than the interval between the 1 pair of side guards in the width direction (for example, refer to patent document 1).

In addition, there has been proposed a medium supply device in which the height of the tip of a swing plate rotatably provided at a supply port is at the same position as or lower than the height of a sheet fed by a sheet bundle in a state where no air is blown out from the supply port, and in which the height of the tip of the swing plate is at approximately the same position as or higher than the conveying surface of an adsorption conveying portion in a state where air is blown out (for example, refer to patent document 2).

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2007-62961

Patent document 2: japanese patent laid-open No. 2009-120284

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In addition, the medium such as paper loaded on the loading table can freely move in the space sandwiched by the pair of side baffles 1 when floating. Therefore, if a large gap exists between the side wall plate 1 and the medium, there is a case where there is a problem such as an image position shift or a jam due to a shift in the suction position with respect to the conveying mechanism that sucks and conveys the uppermost medium.

On the other hand, when the 1-side barrier abuts against the medium, the floating behavior of the medium and the dropping behavior of the medium after the floating (medium other than the uppermost medium conveyed) may be hindered by friction between the medium and the 1-side barrier, for example, no conveyance may occur due to difficulty in floating the medium, or multiple conveyance may occur due to difficulty in dropping the floating medium. In addition, since the medium is easily deformed, there is a case where no conveyance of the medium occurs in particular.

Therefore, if the position of the floating medium in the width direction cannot be regulated at an appropriate interval, the medium cannot be accurately supplied.

As described above, in the sheet feeding apparatus including 1 pair of side fences and 1 pair of adjustment plates that are disposed above the 1 pair of side fences and restrict the width of the floating sheet, unlike the 1 pair of side fences, the 1 pair of adjustment plates cannot be positioned by abutting the sheet when the sheet is not floating. Therefore, the following complex settings are required: position information of 1 pair of side shutters is obtained, and positions of 1 pair of adjustment plates are set.

In this case, if the size of the sheet is detected in a normal manner in which the size of the actual sheet is measured by bringing the 1 pair of side guards into contact with the sheet, a gap between the 1 pair of adjustment plates is set by taking a margin equal to or greater than the size detection error amount, and a large gap is generated between the 1 pair of adjustment plates and the sheet. In addition, when the position of 1 pair of adjustment plates is set by using a value input to the panel with a predetermined shape and size, in order not to bring 1 pair of adjustment plates into contact with the sheet, a margin of a predetermined size (paper size tolerance +2mm specified by JIS is set for 1 pair of adjustment plates in the case of paper with a predetermined shape and size) is set for a margin of not less than a predetermined size of the sheet, and a large gap is generated between 1 pair of adjustment plates and the sheet. As described above, if a large gap is generated between the 1 pair of adjustment plates and the sheet, there are cases where problems such as image position shift and jam occur due to the shift of the suction position with respect to the conveying mechanism.

Further, patent document 2 also considers a medium supply device including: a loading table for loading a plurality of media; a conveying mechanism that conveys an uppermost medium among the plurality of media loaded on the loading table; a floating air blowing mechanism that floats at least an uppermost medium by blowing out air; and a suction mechanism that sucks air to cause the uppermost medium that has been floated by the air blown out by the floating air blowing mechanism to be adsorbed to the conveying mechanism.

In such a medium supply device, when the interval between a pair of side fences that restrict the position of the medium in the width direction is made small, the medium comes into contact with the side fences at the time of floating and at the time of dropping, thereby impeding the floating and dropping. Thus, for example, the uppermost medium does not normally float to generate no conveyance, or the 2 nd and following medium located in the lower portion of the uppermost medium does not normally drop to generate multiple conveyance. Thus, the medium cannot be reliably supplied.

In addition, when the interval between the pair of side guards is made large, the resistance to the floating and falling can be suppressed, but the medium is disturbed during the floating, and skew is likely to occur.

Further, since the shape of the medium at the time of floating varies depending on the kind of thickness or the like, it is difficult to set the interval between the pair of side guards to an appropriate interval.

When the air is blown out, the swing plate of the medium feeding device swings downward toward the sheet bundle to push down the 2 nd sheet and the following sheets that have fallen after the floating, thereby causing the position of the fallen sheets to be disturbed. Therefore, there is a concern that the paper cannot be reliably fed without conveyance or the like because the paper does not normally float when the fallen paper floats again.

The invention aims to provide a medium supply device capable of accurately supplying floating medium. Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a medium supply device capable of accurately supplying a floating medium with a simple setting. Another object of the present invention is to provide a medium feeding device capable of reliably feeding a medium while suppressing skew of the medium.

Solution for solving the problem

In 1 aspect, the medium supply device includes: a loading table for loading a plurality of media; a floating air blowing mechanism that blows air to float at least an uppermost medium of the plurality of media loaded on the loading table; a conveying mechanism that conveys the uppermost medium, which is floated by blowing out air by the floating air blowing mechanism, in a conveying direction; and a regulating portion including 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions that are arranged so as to face each other in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and regulate the medium loaded on the loading table in the width direction, and 1 pair of 2 nd regulating portions that are arranged so as to face each other in the width direction at a larger interval than an interval between the 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions and regulate the medium that is blown out by the floating air blowing mechanism and floats in the width direction, wherein the 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions are arranged so as to be movable integrally with the 1 pair of 2 nd regulating portions.

In another 1 aspect, the medium supply device includes: a loading table for loading a plurality of media; a conveying mechanism that conveys an uppermost medium among the plurality of media loaded on the loading table in a conveying direction; a floating air blowing mechanism that blows out air to float at least the uppermost medium; a suction mechanism that sucks air to cause the uppermost medium, which is floated by the air blown out by the floating air blowing mechanism, to be adsorbed to the conveying mechanism; a 1 st movable guide movable between a restricting position that restricts a position of the medium in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and a retracted position that is farther from the medium than the restricting position; and a control unit that controls the 1 st movable guide to move from the retracted position to the restricting position after the air blowing-out by the floating air blowing-out mechanism is started and before the uppermost medium is conveyed by the conveying mechanism, thereby restricting the position of the uppermost medium in the width direction.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

By adopting the technical scheme, the floating medium can be accurately supplied.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view showing a printing system including a medium supply device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a control structure of the medium supply device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a left side view showing the medium supply device (when supplying a medium) according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a left side view showing the medium supply device (when no medium is loaded) according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a side shield plate according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a control structure of the medium supply device according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 7 is a left side view showing the medium supply device (when no medium is loaded) according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 8 is a front view showing a printing system including the medium supply device according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 9 is a left side view showing a medium supply device (when no medium is supplied) according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 10 is a left side view showing a medium supply device (when supplying a medium) according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a control structure of the medium supply device according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 12A is a left side view (one of them) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in embodiment 3.

Fig. 12B is a left side view (second side view) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in embodiment 3.

Fig. 12C is a left side view (third) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in embodiment 3.

Fig. 12D is a left side view (fourth) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in embodiment 3.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in embodiment 3.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the restricting operation of the 2 nd movable guide in embodiment 3.

Fig. 15A is a left side view (first view) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in the modification of embodiment 3.

Fig. 15B is a left side view (second side view) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in the modification of embodiment 3.

Fig. 15C is a left side view (third) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in the modification of embodiment 3.

Fig. 15D is a left side view (fourth) for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in the modification of embodiment 3.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide in the modification of embodiment 3.

Description of the reference numerals

1. 2, 3, medium supply device; 11. a loading table; 12. side baffles; 12a, limiting surfaces; 12a-1, 12a-2, and an opening; 12b, ribs; 13. a height limiting plate; 20. a conveying mechanism; 21. a conveyor belt; 22. 23, a belt wheel; 30. a suction mechanism; 40. a floating air blowing mechanism; 50. a separation air blowing mechanism; 41. a main floating air blowing mechanism; 51. a main separation air blowing mechanism; 42. a side floating air blowing mechanism; 52. a side separation air blowing mechanism; 60. a1 st movable guide; 61. a width limiting portion; 62. a height limiting section; 70. a2 nd movable guide; 80. a floating state detection unit; 81. a control unit; 82. a storage unit; 83. an interface part; 84. a loading table lifting driving part; 85. a conveyance driving section; 91. a1 st restriction portion driving portion; 92. side baffles; 92a, limiting surfaces; 93. a movable protrusion; 100. a printing system; 101. a printing device; 102. side baffles; a1, sucking air; a2, floating air; a3, separating air; a21, main floating air; a31, main separation air; a4, side floating air; a5, separating air from the side; D. a conveying direction; FA. A floating region; m, medium; m1, uppermost medium; m2, medium 2; p11, limit position; p12, a retracted position; p21, limit position; p22, retracted position; p31, limit position; p32, retracted position; PA, loading area; r, a conveying path; s11, S12, S21-1, S22, interval; w, width direction.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a medium supply device according to embodiment 1, embodiment 2, and embodiment 3 of the present invention and a modification of embodiment 3 will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

Fig. 1 is a front view showing a printing system 100 including a medium supply device 1 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a control structure of the medium supply device 1 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a left side view showing the medium supply device 1 (when supplying the medium M) according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a left side view showing the medium supply device 1 (when the medium M is not loaded) according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the side shield 12.

Note that each of the front-back, up-down, and left-right directions shown in fig. 1, 3 to 5, and fig. 7 to 10, 12A to 12D, and 15A to 15D described later is merely an example of the case where the conveyance direction D of the medium M is the right direction, and for example, the front-back direction and the left-right direction are horizontal directions, and the up-down direction is the vertical direction.

The printing system 100 shown in fig. 1 includes a medium supply device 1 and a printing device 101.

The medium supply device 1 supplies the medium M to the printing section 110 of the printing device 101. The object to be fed by the medium feeding device 1 is not limited to the printing device 101, and may be other devices such as a conveying device and a post-processing device. The medium supply device 1 may be integrally provided with other devices such as the printing device 101. The medium M is, for example, paper (sheet-like paper), but may be another sheet-like medium such as a film. The plurality of medium supply devices 1 are arranged in a vertical or front-rear arrangement, for example, and the plurality of medium supply devices 1 may supply the medium M to another single device such as the printing device 101.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the medium supply device 1 includes a loading table 11, 1 pair of side shutters 12, a conveying mechanism 20, a suction mechanism 30, a main floating air blowout mechanism 41, a main separation air blowout mechanism 51, 1 pair of side floating air blowout mechanisms 42, 1 pair of side separation air blowout mechanisms 52, a control section 81, a storage section 82, an interface section 83, a loading table lifting drive section 84, and a conveying drive section 85.

A plurality of media M are loaded on the loading table 11 shown in fig. 1, 3, and 4. The loading table 11 is lifted and lowered by driving the loading table lifting driving section 84 shown in fig. 2. As an example, when the number of media M loaded on the loading table 11 is reduced, the control unit 81 controls the loading table lifting drive unit 84 to lift the loading table 11 based on the amount of reflected light of light irradiated by a floating state detection unit, not shown, at a predetermined loading surface height level.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are disposed so as to face each other in the width direction W (front-rear direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction D (right direction) of the medium M. Preferably, the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are arranged so as to be movable in the width direction W of the medium M by a driving member, for example, manual or not shown, on the loading table 11 according to the size and orientation of the medium M. In fig. 1, the upper portions of the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are not shown in order to illustrate the pulley 22 and the like.

Each of the side guards 12, 12 of the side guards 1 is provided with a convex portion 12b protruding from the restricting surface 12a on the medium M side toward the medium M side by, for example, about 0.5 mm. The protruding amount of the protruding portion 12b from the restricting surface 12a is arbitrary, and is preferably, for example, half or less of the JIS paper size tolerance value (1 mm for the protruding portion 12b on one side if the tolerance value is 2 mm). As shown in fig. 5, the protruding portion 12b is, for example, a rib extending in the up-down direction. The number of projections 12b is 3 at intervals in the conveying direction D. The 1 st pair of projections 12b, 12b of the side guards 12, 12 are one example of 1 st restriction portions that are arranged to face each other in the width direction W and restrict the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W.

As shown in fig. 4, the region between the pair of side guards 12 and 12 1 includes a loading region PA between the convex portions 12b and a floating region FA above the loading region PA. In the loading area PA, the medium M is not lifted, but is loaded on the loading table 11. In the floating area FA, the medium M floats. The portion above the protruding portion 12b of the restricting surface 12a is an example of a 1 st to 2 nd restricting portion that restricts the medium M that floats in the width direction W. The 1-pair side shutters 12 and 12 are examples of restriction portions having 1 pair of 1 st restriction portions (1 pair of projections 12b and 12 b) and 1 pair of 2 nd restriction portions (1 pair of restriction surfaces 12a and 12 a).

The spacing S12 in the width direction W between the restricting surfaces 12a, 12a of the pair of side shutters 12, 12 is larger than the spacing S11 in the width direction W between the protruding portions 12b, 12b of the pair of side shutters 12, 12 by 1.

When the side shield 12 is manually moved in the width direction W by a user, for example, the restricting surface 12a and the protruding portion 12b are integrally moved in the width direction W by integrally providing the restricting surface 12a and the protruding portion 12b to the side shield 12, that is, integrally providing the restricting surface 12a and the protruding portion 12b. In this way, in each side shield 12, the restricting surface 12a and the protruding portion 12b are arranged so as to be integrally movable.

In order to prevent the 2 nd and subsequent media M that fall after the uppermost media M1 is conveyed while floating from seizing, the upper end of the convex portion 12b is inclined so that the thickness in the width direction W becomes thinner toward the upper side.

Further, a recess may be provided in a region corresponding to the floating region FA in the restricting surface 12a of the side shield 12. In this case, the concave portion functions as an example of the 2 nd restricting portion restricting the medium M floating in the width direction W, and the portion of the restricting surface 12a where the concave portion is not provided functions as an example of the 1 st restricting portion restricting the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W. In this case, the convex portion 12b protruding from the restricting surface 12a can be omitted. The 1 st restriction portion and the 2 nd restriction portion may be provided independently as long as they can move integrally. For example, the 1 st restriction portion is provided to the side barrier 12, and the 2 nd restriction portion is provided to a member different from the side barrier 12.

The conveyor mechanism 20 shown in fig. 1 includes a conveyor belt 21 and a pair of right and left pulleys 22 and 23 on which the conveyor belt 21 is suspended. One of the pulleys 22, 23 is a driving pulley and the other is a driven pulley. The drive pulley rotates counterclockwise in fig. 1 by the drive of the conveyance drive unit 85 shown in fig. 2, and rotates the conveyance belt 21. As a result, the conveyance mechanism 20 conveys the uppermost medium M1, which is lifted by the main lift air blowout mechanism 41 and the side lift air blowout mechanism 42 blowing out the side lift air A4, in the conveyance direction D (right direction). The plurality of conveying mechanisms 20 may be arranged in a front-rear direction, for example. In this case, only 1 suction mechanism 30 described later may be provided, or each of the plurality of conveyance mechanisms 20 may be provided. In fig. 3 and 4, the conveyance mechanism 20 is not illustrated.

The conveyor belt 21 is an example of a conveying member that conveys the medium M. The conveyor belt 21 is provided with a plurality of through holes through which suction air A1 sucked by a suction mechanism 30 described later passes.

The conveying mechanism 20 may be provided with other conveying members such as conveying rollers, without the conveying belt 21. When the conveying mechanism 20 includes a conveying roller, the conveying driving unit 85 rotates the driving roller (conveying roller) without rotating the driving pulley.

When driven by a suction source (not shown) (e.g., a suction fan), the suction mechanism 30 sucks the suction air A1 through a plurality of through holes provided in the conveyor belt 21, and thereby sucks the uppermost medium M1, which is floating, out of the plurality of media M loaded on the loading table 11, onto the conveyor mechanism 20.

The main levitation air blowing mechanism 41 is disposed downstream of the plurality of media M mounted on the loading table 11 in the transport direction D, and the main levitation air blowing mechanism 41 blows out the main levitation air a21 to levitate at least the uppermost media M1 by driving an air supply source (for example, an air supply fan). Preferably, the main floating air blowing mechanism 41 blows the main floating air a21 obliquely upward so that, for example, about 10 media M including the uppermost medium M1 are lifted upward. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the main air-lift air a21 of the main air-lift blowing mechanism 41 has two outlets that are separated from each other in the front-rear direction. In fig. 1, the lower part of the main floating air blowing mechanism 41 is omitted, and in fig. 3 and 4, the parts other than the outlet of the main floating air blowing mechanism 41 are omitted.

The main separation air blowing mechanism 51 is disposed downstream of the plurality of media M mounted on the loading table 11 in the transport direction D, and the main separation air blowing mechanism 51 blows out main separation air a31 for separating the uppermost medium M1 from the 2 nd medium M2 by driving an air supply source (for example, an air supply fan). As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the outlets of the main separation air a31 of the main separation air blowing mechanism 51 are provided in two in front-rear separation at positions sandwiched by the two outlets of the main levitation air blowing mechanism 41. In fig. 1, the lower part of the main separation air blowing mechanism 51 is omitted, and in fig. 3 and 4, the other parts than the outlet of the main separation air blowing mechanism 51 are omitted.

The 1-side floating air blowing mechanisms 42 and 42 are disposed at positions outside the 1-side baffles 12 and 12 in the width direction W, and the 1-side floating air blowing mechanisms 42 and 42 blow out the side floating air A4 to float at least the uppermost medium M1 by driving an air supply source (for example, an air supply fan). As shown in fig. 5, the side floating air blowing mechanisms 42 of the side floating air blowing mechanisms 42, 42 of the side shield 12 blow out side floating air A4 from the lower portion of the opening 12a-1 provided continuously in the floating region FA and the loading region PA of the side shield 12. In this way, the side floating air blowing mechanisms 42, 42 of the side shield 12 (the opening 12a-1 of the restricting surface 12 a) blow out the side floating air A4 from the floating region FA. In other words, the air outlet (floating nozzle) of the side floating air blowing mechanism 42 is provided in the floating region FA of the side barrier 12. This makes it possible to easily float the medium M. In fig. 1, the outlet of the side floating air A4 is indicated by a broken line. In fig. 1, the lower part of the side floating air blowing mechanism 42 is not shown, and in fig. 3 and 4, the side floating air blowing mechanism 42 itself is not shown.

The main floating air blowing mechanisms 41 and 1 are one example of floating air blowing mechanisms that cause at least the uppermost medium M1 of the plurality of media M loaded on the loading table 11 to float by blowing air (main floating air a21 and side floating air A4) from the side floating air blowing mechanisms 42 and 42.

The 1-side separation air blowing mechanisms 52, 52 are disposed on the outer side in the width direction W than the 1-side baffles 12, and the 1-side separation air blowing mechanisms 52, 52 blow out side separation air A5 for separating the uppermost medium M1 from the 2 nd medium M2 under the drive of an air supply source (for example, an air supply fan). As shown in fig. 5, each side separated air blowing mechanism 52 of the 1-side separated air blowing mechanisms 52, 52 blows out side separated air A5 from the opening 12a-2 provided in the side barrier 12. The height limiting plate 13 for limiting the height of the uppermost medium M1 that floats is disposed so as to protrude from the opening 12a-2 toward the medium M side. In fig. 1, the outlet of the side separation air A5 is indicated by a broken line. In fig. 1, the lower part of the side separation air blowing mechanism 52 is omitted, and in fig. 3 and 4, the side separation air blowing mechanism 52 itself is omitted.

The main separation air blowing mechanisms 51 and 1-side separation air blowing mechanisms 52, 52 are one example of separation air blowing mechanisms that blow out separation air (main separation air a31 and side separation air A5) for separating the uppermost medium M1 and the 2 nd medium M2.

The control unit 81 shown in fig. 2 has a processor (e.g., CPU: central Processing Unit) functioning as an arithmetic processing device for controlling the operation of the entire medium supply device 1, and controls the operation of each part of the medium supply device 1. In the case where the medium supply apparatus 1 is integrally provided with another apparatus such as the printing apparatus 101, the control unit of the other apparatus such as the printing apparatus 101 may also be used as the control unit 81.

The storage unit 82 is, for example, a read-only semiconductor memory ROM (Read Only Memory) in which a predetermined control program is stored in advance, a random-access semiconductor memory RAM (Random Access Memory) serving as a working memory area when the processor executes various control programs as needed, or the like. Similarly, the storage unit 82 may also be used as a storage unit of another device such as the printing device 101.

The interface 83 transmits and receives various information to and from external devices such as the printing apparatus 101. For example, the interface 83 receives information such as a request to supply the medium M and a request to stop supply from the control unit of the printing apparatus 101, and the control unit 81 controls the operations of the respective units of the medium supply apparatus 1 based on the information.

The table lifting/lowering driving unit 84 includes a motor (an example of a driver) for lifting/lowering the table 11.

The conveyance driving unit 85 includes a motor (an example of a driver) that rotates a driving pulley that is one of the pulleys 22 and 23 of the conveyance mechanism 20.

Next, the printing apparatus 101 shown in fig. 1 will be described.

The printing apparatus 101 includes a printing section 110, a conveying section 120, a 1 st supply section 130, a 2 nd supply section 140, a 3 rd supply section 150, a conveying roller pair 161 to a conveying roller pair 165, and a registration roller pair 166. In fig. 1, a conveying path R continuing from the medium supply device 1, the 1 st supply unit 130, the 2 nd supply unit 140, and the 3 rd supply unit 150 to the printing unit 110 is shown as a thick solid line.

The printing unit 110 includes, for example, a linear inkjet head for each color used for printing, and is a device for printing ink. The printing method of the printing unit 110 may be a printing method other than the inkjet printing method.

The conveying section 120 is disposed opposite to the printing section 110. For example, the conveying unit 120 conveys the medium M by a conveyor belt while adsorbing the medium M.

The 1 st supply unit 130 includes a supply tray 131, a scraping roller 132, and a pickup roller 133, the 2 nd supply unit 140 includes a supply tray 141, a scraping roller 142, and a pickup roller 143, and the 3 rd supply unit 150 includes a supply tray 151, a scraping roller 152, and a pickup roller 153.

A plurality of media M are loaded on the supply trays 131, 141, 151.

The scraping roller 132 is a discharging roller that discharges and conveys the uppermost medium M among the plurality of media M loaded on the supply tray 131, the scraping roller 142 is a discharging roller that discharges and conveys the uppermost medium M among the plurality of media M loaded on the supply tray 141, and the scraping roller 152 is a discharging roller that discharges and conveys the uppermost medium M among the plurality of media M loaded on the supply tray 151.

The pickup roller 133 conveys the medium M discharged from the scraper roller 132 to the conveying path R, the pickup roller 143 conveys the medium M discharged from the scraper roller 142 to the conveying path R, and the pickup roller 153 conveys the medium M discharged from the scraper roller 152 to the conveying path R.

The conveying roller pairs 161 to 165 are disposed in the conveying path R at positions from the 1 st supply unit 130, the 2 nd supply unit 140, and the 3 rd supply unit 150 to the registration roller pair 166.

The medium M fed from the medium feeding device 1, the 1 st paper feeding unit 130, the 2 nd paper feeding unit 140, and the 3 rd paper feeding unit 150 is abutted against the registration roller pair 166. Thereby, skew of the medium M is corrected.

Next, the operation of feeding the medium M by the medium feeder 1 will be appropriately described by omitting the matters overlapping the description.

First, when the control unit 81 shown in fig. 2 receives information on a supply request from the printing apparatus 101, it controls the suction mechanism 30 to suck the suction air A1, and controls the main air-floating-air blowing mechanism 41, the main air-separating-air blowing mechanisms 51, the 1-opposite-side air-floating-air blowing mechanisms 42, and the 1-opposite-side air-separating-air blowing mechanisms 52, 52 to blow out various kinds of air (main air-floating a21, main air-separating a31, side air-floating A4, and side air-separating A5).

This changes from the state in which all of the medium M is loaded on the loading table 11 as shown in fig. 1 to the state in which a part of the medium M floats as shown in fig. 3. Then, the medium M floats in a floating region FA shown in fig. 4 in which the space S12 in the width direction W is larger than the loading region PA (space S11). In the case where the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are disposed so as to be manually movable as described above, for example, immediately after the medium M is loaded on the loading table 11, the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are moved to a position where they contact or come close to the peripheral edge of the medium M at the projections 12b and 12b, and thus the position of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W is restricted. In the case where the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are arranged so as to be movable by a driving member (not shown) as described above, the pair of side guards 12 and 12 are moved to a position where the protruding portions 12b and 12b come into contact with or come close to the peripheral edge of the medium M at a predetermined timing such as when the medium M starts to be supplied immediately after loading (when printing starts), with respect to the medium M loaded on the loading table 11, and the position in the width direction W of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 is restricted.

After that, when the uppermost medium M1 is sucked by the conveying mechanism 20, the control unit 81 temporarily stops the operation of the main floating air blowing mechanism 41 for blowing out the main floating air a21 and the operation of the 1-side floating air blowing mechanisms 42 and 42 for blowing out the side floating air A4 by closing the shutter, for example.

Then, after the conveyance mechanism 20 starts conveying the uppermost medium M1, for example, the control unit 81 opens the shutter to restart the operation of the main floating air blowing mechanism 41 to blow out the main floating air a21 and the operation of the 1-side floating air blowing mechanisms 42 and 42 to blow out the side floating air A4, thereby adsorbing the 2 nd medium M2 to the conveyance mechanism 20. Then, the conveying mechanism 20 starts conveying the 2 nd medium M2. Such feeding operation of the medium M is repeated until the control unit 81 receives the information of the stop feeding request.

In embodiment 1 described above, the medium supply device 1 includes the loading table 11, the main floating air blowing mechanism 41 and the side floating air blowing mechanism 42 as one example of the floating air blowing mechanism, the conveying mechanism 20, and the 1-pair side fences 12, 12 as one example of the restricting portion. A plurality of media M are loaded on the loading table 11. The main floating air blowing mechanism 41 and the side floating air blowing mechanism 42 float at least the uppermost medium M1 among the plurality of media M loaded on the loading table 11 by blowing out the main floating air a21 and the side floating air A4 as one example of the air. The conveyance mechanism 20 conveys the uppermost medium M1, which has been lifted by the main lift air blowing mechanism 41 blowing out the main lift air a21 and the side lift air blowing mechanism 42 blowing out the side lift air A4, in the conveyance direction D. The side guards 12 and 12 of the side guard 1 are provided with: 1 pair of protruding portions 12b, 12b as an example of the 1 st pair of restricting portions, which are disposed opposite to each other in a width direction W orthogonal to the conveying direction D and restrict the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W; and 1 pair of restricting surfaces 12a, 12a as an example of the 1 pair of 2 nd restricting portions, which are arranged opposite to each other in the width direction W at an interval S12 (> S11) larger than an interval (interval S11) between the 1 pair of projections 12b, and restrict the medium M that floats by the main air-float blowing mechanism 41 blowing out the main air-float a21 and the side air-float blowing mechanism 42 blowing out the side air-float A4 in the width direction W. One projection 12b of the 1 pair of projections 12b, 12b is configured to be movable integrally with one restriction surface 12a of the 1 pair of restriction surfaces 12a, and the other projection 12b of the 1 pair of projections 12b, 12b is configured to be movable integrally with the other restriction surface 12a of the 1 pair of restriction surfaces 12a, 12 a.

As described above, in embodiment 1, 1 pair of restricting surfaces 12a, 12a that restrict the medium M that is loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W and that restrict the medium M that floats in the width direction W are arranged to be integrally movable, wherein the 1 pair of protruding portions 12b, 12b and the space S12 in the width direction W are larger than the space (the space S11) between the 1 pair of protruding portions 12b, 12 b. Therefore, for example, by manually moving the side fence 12, the interval S12 between the 1 pair of restricting surfaces 12a, 12a can be set to an appropriate interval with respect to the medium M that floats up by a simple setting in which the interval S11 between the 1 pair of protruding portions 12b, 12b is set to an appropriate interval with respect to the medium M that is loaded on the loading table 11. This can suppress occurrence of image misalignment, jam, and the like due to free movement of the floating medium M in the width direction W, as compared with the case where the space S12 between the 1 pair of restriction surfaces 12a, 12a is excessively large. Further, compared to the case where the space S12 between the pair of restriction surfaces 12a, 12a is too small, it is possible to suppress occurrence of no conveyance or multiple conveyance of the medium M due to the interference of friction by the floating behavior of the medium M and the dropping behavior of the medium M at the 2 nd and subsequent stages, or occurrence of no conveyance of the medium M due to deformation of the medium M. Therefore, according to embodiment 1, the floating medium M can be accurately supplied with a simple setting.

In embodiment 1, an example of the restricting portion is a pair of side dams 12 and 12 arranged to face each other in the width direction W, a pair of restricting portions 12 restricting surfaces 12a and 12a of the side dams 12 and 12 on the medium M side in the width direction W restricting the medium M, and a pair of protruding portions 12b and 12b of the side dams 12 and 12 1 restricting surfaces 12a and 12a protruding toward the medium M side in the width direction W restricting the medium M loaded on the loading table 11.

Thus, by a simple configuration in which the protruding portion 12b is provided on the restricting surface 12a, the difference in the interval S11 between 1 pair of protruding portions 12b, 12b and the interval S12 between 1 pair of restricting surfaces 12a, 12a can be kept constant. Therefore, as described above, the space S12 between the 1 pair of regulating surfaces 12a, 12a can be set to an appropriate space with respect to the medium M that floats, with a simple setting of setting the space S11 between the 1 pair of projections 12b, 12b to an appropriate space with respect to the medium M that is loaded on the loading table 11. Thus, the floating medium M can be accurately supplied with a simple configuration and a simple setting.

< embodiment 2 >

In contrast to the medium supply device 1 of embodiment 1 described above, in the medium supply device 2 of embodiment 2, 1 pair of side shutters 92 and 92 are arranged instead of 1 pair of side shutters 12 and 12, and 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91 and 1 pair of movable protruding portions 93 and 93 are arranged. In other respects, the medium supply device 2 of embodiment 2 can be the same as the medium supply device 1 of embodiment 1, and therefore, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a control structure of the medium supply device 2. Fig. 7 is a left side view showing the medium supply device 2 (when the medium M is not loaded).

The medium supply device 2 includes a 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91 shown in fig. 6, and 1 pair of side shutters 92, 92 and 1 pair of movable protruding portions 93, 93 shown in fig. 7. The medium supply device 2 includes the loading table 11 (see fig. 7), the conveying mechanism 20 (see fig. 6, hereinafter), the suction mechanism 30, the main floating air blowout mechanism 41, the main separation air blowout mechanism 51, the 1-side floating air blowout mechanisms 42, the 1-side separation air blowout mechanisms 52, the control unit 81, the storage unit 82, the interface unit 83, the loading table lifting drive unit 84, and the conveying drive unit 85.

The 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91 shown in fig. 6 has a motor (an example of an actuator) that moves the 1 pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 shown in fig. 7 in the width direction W. The 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91 moves the 1 pair of movable protruding portions 93, 93 by control of the control portion 81 based on medium information or the like described later, and for example, can move the 1 pair of movable protruding portions 93, 93 in accordance with an operation of a user in an input portion of the medium supply device 1 (or the printing device 101). The 1 st restricting portion driving portion 91 may be a single driving portion, or may be a total of two driving portions, that is, a driving portion that drives one movable protrusion 93 and a driving portion that drives the other movable protrusion 93.

The pair of side guards 92 and 92 shown in fig. 7 are disposed so as to face each other in the width direction W (front-rear direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction D (see fig. 1) of the medium M. Preferably, the pair of side guards 92 and 92 are arranged so as to be movable in the width direction W of the medium M by a driving member, for example, manual or not shown, on the loading table 11 according to the size and orientation of the medium M.

Preferably, each of the side guards 92, 92 of the 1 pair of side guards 92, 92 is provided with a recess or opening capable of accommodating a movable protrusion 93 protruding toward the medium M side than the restricting surface 92a on the medium M side. Alternatively, the movable protrusion 93 may be disposed between the medium M and the restricting surface 92 a.

By connecting the movable protruding portion 93 to the side panel 92 so as to be slidable in the width direction W along the side panel 92, for example, the movable protruding portion 93 is arranged so as to be adjustable in position relative to the side panel 92 and movable integrally with the side panel 92. By disposing the side fence 92 and the movable protrusion 93 so as to be integrally movable, for example, when the user manually moves the side fence 92 in the width direction W, the restricting surface 92a and the movable protrusion 93 integrally move in the width direction W. In addition, in the case where the movable protrusion 93 is arranged so that the position relative to the side fence 92 can be adjusted manually, the 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91 can be omitted.

The movable protruding portion 93 extends in the up-down direction in the loading area PA, for example, similarly to the protruding portion 12b shown in fig. 5. The movable protruding portions 93 may be arranged in plural at intervals in the conveying direction D. The 1 st pair of protruding portions 93, 93 are one example of 1 st pair of restricting portions that are arranged to face each other in the width direction W and restrict the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W.

The region between the side shields 92, 92 of the side 1 includes a loading region PA between the movable protrusions 93, 93 and a floating region FA above the loading region PA. In the loading area PA, the medium M is not lifted, but is loaded on the loading table 11. In the floating area FA, the medium M floats. The portion above the movable protrusion 93 in the restricting surface 92a is an example of a 1 st to 2 nd restricting portion for restricting the medium M floating in the width direction W. The restricting portion in embodiment 2 includes 1 pair of restricting surfaces 92a, 92a (side flaps 92, 92) and 1 pair of movable protruding portions 93.

In order to prevent the 2 nd and subsequent media M that fall after the uppermost media M1 is conveyed while floating from seizing, the upper end of the movable protrusion 93 is inclined so that the thickness in the width direction W becomes thinner toward the upper side.

Since the movable protrusion 93 is arranged to be movable in the width direction W by the 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91, for the space S21 in the width direction W between 1 pair of movable protrusions 93, for example, when 1 pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 moves away from each other to the position of 1 pair of movable protrusions 93-1, 93-1 shown by the broken line, the space S21 becomes larger (becomes the space S21-1). However, since 1 pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 moves in the width direction W within a range protruding to the medium M side than the restricting surface 92a, even if the movable protrusions 93, 93 move in the width direction W, the space S22 in the width direction W between the restricting surfaces 92a, 92a is larger than the spaces S21, S21-1 in the width direction W between the movable protrusions 93, 93.

In this way, the restriction surfaces 92a, 92a of the pair of side shutters 92, 92 1 and the pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 are arranged so that the difference in the interval between the restriction surfaces 92a, 92a and the intervals S21, S21-1 between the movable protrusions 93, 93 can be adjusted.

Preferably, the control unit 81 shown in fig. 6 adjusts the above-described gap difference by moving the 1 st pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 in the width direction W under the drive control of the 1 st restriction portion driving unit 91 based on at least one of the medium information of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 and the environment information of the medium feeding device 1, and relatively moving the 1 st pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 and the 1 st pair of restriction surfaces 92a, 92 a.

Here, the medium information is, for example, information such as the size of the medium M, the orientation of the medium M, the type of the medium M, and the like. Preferably, the control unit 81 obtains the medium information based on, for example, a print job of the printing apparatus 101, a detection result of a sensor (not shown) for detecting the size and orientation of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11, an operation corresponding to the type of the medium M performed by a user at an operation unit (e.g., lever) provided in the medium supply apparatus 1, and the like. The size of the medium M is, for example, A3 (297X 420 mm), A4 (210X 297 mm), or the like. The direction of the medium M is a longitudinal direction in which the longitudinal direction of the medium M is parallel to the conveying direction D or a transverse direction in which the longitudinal direction of the medium M is orthogonal to the conveying direction D. The types of the medium M may be classified into plain paper, thick paper, thin paper, and the like according to the thickness (weight per unit area) of the medium M, according to the material of the medium M, according to the orientation (longitudinal texture or transverse texture) of the texture of the medium M, and the like.

The environmental information is humidity, temperature, air flow, and the like of the environment in which the medium supply device 1 is provided. Preferably, the control unit 81 obtains the environmental information based on, for example, a detection result of a sensor, not shown, provided in the medium supply device 1.

For example, the longer the medium M in the width direction W, the thinner the medium M, or the higher the temperature and humidity of the environment of the medium supply device 1, the weaker the toughness of the medium M, and the easier the medium M to float is to be deformed with respect to the horizontal direction, so that the control unit 81 preferably controls the 1 st restriction portion driving unit 91 so as to separate the 1 st pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 from each other in order to relatively reduce the above-described gap difference. Thus, for example, when the user manually moves the side fence 92 and the movable protrusion 93 to a position where the movable protrusion 93 is brought into contact with the medium M, the medium M that is easily deformed in the floating region FA can be restricted by the relatively narrow interval S22.

On the other hand, for example, as the medium M is shorter in the width direction W, as the medium M is thicker, or as the environment of the medium supply device 1 is lower in temperature and lower in humidity, the toughness of the medium M is stronger, and the medium M that floats is less likely to be deformed with respect to the horizontal direction, so that the control unit 81 preferably controls the 1 st restriction portion driving unit 91 so that the 1 st pair of movable protrusions 93, 93 are brought closer to each other in order to relatively increase the above-described gap difference. Thus, for example, when the user manually moves the side shield 92 and the movable protrusion 93 to a position where the movable protrusion 93 is brought into contact with the medium M, the medium M that is not easily deformed in the floating region FA can be restricted by the relatively large interval S22.

The 1 st restriction portion driving portion 91 is an example of a restriction portion driving portion. The restricting portion driving portion may be a 2 nd restricting portion driving portion that moves the restricting surface 92a (side shutter 92) relative to the movable protruding portion 93 as long as the movable protruding portion 93 (1 st restricting portion) and the restricting surface 92a (2 nd restricting portion) are moved relatively. Alternatively, both the 1 st restricting portion driving portion 91 and the 2 nd restricting portion driving portion for moving the restricting surface 92a (side shutter 92) may be arranged. Further, the 2 nd regulating portion driving portion reduces the space S22 between the 1 pair of regulating surfaces 92a, 92a after the uppermost medium M1 is lifted and before being sucked to the conveying mechanism 20, so that the lifted uppermost medium M1 can be sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 at a more appropriate position.

In embodiment 2 described above, the same effects as those of embodiment 1 described above can be obtained, that is, since the 1 pair of restriction surfaces 92a and 92a for restricting the medium M to be floated in the width direction W and the 1 pair of movable protrusions 93 and 93 for restricting the medium M to be loaded on the loading table 11 in the width direction W are arranged to be integrally movable, the medium M to be floated can be accurately supplied with a simple setting as described above.

In embodiment 2, the movable protrusions 93 and 93 as an example of the 1 st pair of restriction portions and the restriction surfaces 92a and 92 as an example of the 1 st pair of restriction portions are arranged such that, for example, the 1 st pair of movable protrusions 93 and 93 are moved in the width direction W with respect to the 1 st pair of restriction surfaces 92a and 92a (side guards 92 and 92) by the 1 st restriction portion driving unit 91 or manually, whereby the difference in the interval S21 in the width direction W between the 1 st pair of movable protrusions 93 and 93, the interval S21-1, and the interval S22 in the width direction W between the 1 st pair of restriction surfaces 92a and 92a can be adjusted.

Thereby, the restriction position in the width direction W in the floating region FA based on the restriction surface 92a can be adjusted with respect to the restriction position in the width direction W in the loading region PA based on 1 pair of movable protrusions 93, 93. Therefore, for example, the restriction position in the width direction W in the floating area FA can be arbitrarily adjusted by expanding or slightly expanding the restriction position in the width direction W in the loading area PA more than the restriction position in the width direction W according to the medium M. Thus, the floating medium M can be supplied more accurately.

In embodiment 2, the control unit 81 adjusts the gap difference by relatively moving the 1 pair of movable protrusions 93 and the 1 pair of restriction surfaces 92a and 92a based on at least one of the medium information of the medium M and the environment information of the medium supply device 1.

Thus, for example, the medium M having weak toughness and being easily deformed at the time of floating can be easily restricted by relatively slightly expanding the space S22 in the width direction W of the floating area FA than the space S21-1 in the width direction W of the loading area PA based on the size of the medium M, the thickness of the medium M, and the temperature and humidity of the environment in which the medium supply device 1 is provided. On the other hand, the medium M having high toughness and being less likely to be deformed at the time of floating can be easily restricted by expanding the space S22 in the width direction W of the floating area FA relatively more than the space S21 in the width direction W of the loading area PA. Thus, the floating medium M can be supplied more accurately.

Embodiment 3

Next, a medium supply device according to embodiment 3 of the present invention and a modification thereof will be described with reference to fig. 8 to 16. Here, the same configuration and the like as those of embodiment 1 and embodiment 2 are appropriately omitted from the description.

Fig. 8 is a front view showing a printing system 100 including a medium supply device 3 according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 9 is a left side view showing the medium supply device 3 (when the medium M is not supplied) according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 10 is a left side view showing the medium supply device 3 (when supplying the medium M) according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a control structure of medium supply device 3 according to embodiment 3.

As shown in fig. 8, the medium supply device 3 includes a loading table 11, a pair of side shutters 102, a conveying mechanism 20, a suction mechanism 30, a floating air blowing mechanism 40, a separation air blowing mechanism 50, for example, 4 1 st movable guides 60, for example, 4 2 nd movable guides 70, and a floating state detecting section 80.

As shown in fig. 11, the medium supply device 1 includes a control unit 81, a storage unit 82, an interface unit 83, a table lifting drive unit 84, and a transport drive unit 85.

The pair of side guards 102 and 102 shown by two-dot chain lines (virtual lines) in fig. 9 and 10 are disposed so as to face each other in the width direction W (front-rear direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction D of the medium M, and regulate the position of the medium M in the width direction W. Preferably, the pair of side shutters 102 and 102 are arranged to be movable in the width direction W of the medium M on the loading table 11 according to the size of the medium M. In fig. 8, the upper portions of the pair of side shields 102, 102 are not shown in order to illustrate the pulley 22 and the like. In fig. 9 and 10, a pair of side guards 102 and 102 are indicated by two-dot chain lines in order to illustrate the 1 st movable guide 60 and the 2 nd movable guide 70.

The floating air blowing mechanism 40 is disposed downstream of the plurality of media M mounted on the loading table 11 in the conveying direction D, and blows out the floating air A2 to cause at least the uppermost medium M1 to float. Preferably, the floating air blowing mechanism 40 blows the floating air A2 obliquely upward to float up, for example, about 10 media M including the uppermost medium M1. Further, the floating air blowing mechanism 40 is preferably disposed at two positions facing each other across the medium M in the width direction W of the medium M orthogonal to the conveying direction D.

The separation air blowing mechanism 50 is disposed downstream of the plurality of media M mounted on the mounting table 11 in the conveying direction D, and blows out the separation air A3 for separating the uppermost medium M1 from the 2 nd medium M2. Further, the separation air blowing mechanism 50 is preferably disposed at two positions facing each other across the medium M in the width direction W of the medium M orthogonal to the conveying direction D.

For example, among the 4 1 st movable guides 60, a pair of 1 st movable guides 60 facing each other in the width direction W of the medium M are disposed at the downstream end portion and the upstream end portion in the conveying direction D of the medium M. The number of 1 st movable guides 60 may be 1 or more, and 1 pair of 1 st movable guides 60 facing each other in the width direction W is preferably arranged, and more preferably two or more pairs of 1 st movable guides 60 facing each other in the width direction W are arranged. The 1 st movable guides 60 are movable between a restricting position P11 (see fig. 10) for restricting the position of the medium M in the width direction W and a retracted position P12 (see fig. 9) farther from the medium M than the restricting position P11 in the width direction W, for example.

The 1 st movable guide 60 includes a width restricting portion 61 that restricts the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W, and restricts the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W. In addition, it is preferable that the 1 st movable guide 60 includes a height restricting portion 62 that restricts the height of the uppermost medium M1. The 1 st movable guide 60 is in the shape of a letter L facing downward in a front view by a width restriction portion 61 and a height restriction portion 62.

As shown in fig. 10, when the 1 st movable guide 60 is at the restricting position P11, the width restricting portion 61 restricts the position in the width direction of the uppermost medium M1 before being sucked by the conveying mechanism 20 (an example before being conveyed by the conveying mechanism 20).

Preferably, the height restricting portion 62 restricts the height of the uppermost medium M1 before being sucked by the conveying mechanism 20 at both the timing when the 1 st movable guide 60 is at the restricting position P11 and the timing when it is at the retracted position P12.

As shown by broken lines (hatching) in fig. 8, for example, the 4 2 nd movable guides 70 are preferably disposed in each of two concave portions provided on the medium M side surfaces of the pair of side dams 102, 102. However, the 2 nd movable guide 70 may be disposed at a position separated from the pair of side guards 102 and 102 in the left-right direction, for example.

The 2 nd movable guide 70 is disposed below the 1 st movable guide 60. Here, if the center (intermediate position between the upper end and the lower end) of the 2 nd movable guide 70 in the height direction is located below the center (intermediate position between the upper end and the lower end) of the 1 st movable guide 60 in the height direction, it can be said that the 2 nd movable guide 70 is arranged below the 1 st movable guide 60. The number of the 2 nd movable guides 70 may be 1 or more, and 1 pair of the 2 nd movable guides 70 opposed in the width direction W is preferably arranged, and more preferably two or more pairs of the 2 nd movable guides 70 opposed in the width direction W are arranged.

The 2 nd movable guide 70 is movable between a restricting position P21 (see fig. 9) for restricting the position of the medium M in the width direction W and a retracted position P22 (see fig. 10) which is farther from the medium M than the restricting position P21. Preferably, the interval between the pair of 2 nd movable guides 70 when located at the retracted position P22 is larger than the length (width) of the medium M in the width direction W and is larger than or equal to the interval between the pair of side shutters 102, 102 in the width direction W. The 2 nd movable guide 70 moves to the restricting position P21 as shown in fig. 9 when the medium M is not supplied, and moves to the retracted position P22 as shown in fig. 10 when the medium M is supplied, as will be described later in detail.

In the present embodiment, the 1 st movable guide 60 and the 2 nd movable guide 70 are arranged independently of the side fence 102, but the side fence 102 may function as the 1 st movable guide 60 or the 2 nd movable guide 70.

In the present embodiment, the 1 st movable guide 60 is disposed above the 2 nd movable guide 70, but for example, the 1 st movable guide 60 may be disposed further downward so as to restrict the medium M placed at the lowest position of the loading table 11, and the positions and sizes of the 1 st movable guide 60 and the 2 nd movable guide 70 are not particularly limited. In addition, the 2 nd movable guide 70 may be omitted.

The floating state detecting unit 80 detects a floating state of the uppermost medium M1 (for example, symmetry of height positions of both ends in the width direction W of the medium M, etc.). For example, the floating state detecting section 80 may detect the floating state by photographing the uppermost medium M1 that is floating, or may irradiate detection light toward the medium M that is floating and detect the floating state of the medium M from the light amount of the reflected light thereof. The floating state detecting unit 80 may be a touch sensor such as a capacitance sensor provided in the height restricting portion 62 of the pair of 1 st movable guides 60 facing each other in the width direction W. In this case, a deviation between the time when the uppermost medium M1 is detected by the contact sensor provided to one height restricting portion 62 and the time when the uppermost medium M1 is detected by the touch sensor provided to the other height restricting portion 62 can be detected as the floating state of the uppermost medium M1.

The floating state detecting unit 80 may detect the height of the loading surface of the uppermost medium M1 by detecting the presence or absence of the medium M based on, for example, reflected light of the horizontally irradiated detection light. When the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 is reduced, the control unit 81 described later preferably controls the table lifting drive unit 84 so as to raise the loading table 11 based on the floating state or the loading surface height detected by the floating state detection unit 80.

Next, the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide 60 will be described with reference to fig. 12A to 12D and fig. 13.

Fig. 12A to 12D are left side views for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide 60.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide 60.

In fig. 12A to 12D, the conveyance mechanism 20 and the like are not illustrated, and only the suction mechanism 30, the pair of 1 st movable guides 60, and the plurality of media M are illustrated.

When the control unit 81 shown in fig. 11 receives a request for feeding the medium M from the printing apparatus 101, the process shown in fig. 13 is started.

First, the control unit 81 obtains at least one of medium information of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 and environment information of the medium supply device 3 (step S11).

Next, the control unit 81 controls the floating air blowing mechanism 40 to blow out the floating air A2 (step S12). As a result, as shown in fig. 12A, the plurality of media M including the uppermost medium M1 float. The shape of the medium M at the time of floating varies depending on the type of thickness or the like, and floats so that the center in the width direction W is located above both ends, for example. In the stage of thus starting blowing out the floating air A2, the 1 st movable guide 60 is located at the retracted position P12. When receiving a request for supplying the medium M, the control unit 81 controls the separation air blowing mechanism 50 to blow out the separation air A3, and controls the suction mechanism 30 to suck the suction air A1.

Here, for example, when the medium M is thick paper or has a relatively large size, the mass of the medium M is large, and therefore, the air volume of the air (for example, the blowing amount of the floating air A2 and the separation air A3, and the sucking amount of the suction air A1) is large, and when the medium M is thin paper or has a relatively small size, the mass of the medium M is small, and therefore, the air volume of the air is small. In addition, for example, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high temperature and wet, the mass of the medium M is large, and therefore, the air volume of the air is preferably large.

Next, as shown in fig. 12B, the control unit 81 repeatedly determines whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is lifted and abuts on the height restricting portion 62 of the 1 st movable guide 60 at the retracted position P12, thereby restricting the height (step S13). Both ends of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W are respectively abutted against the height restricting portions 62, whereby the shape of the uppermost medium M1 tends to be horizontal.

Whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the height restricting portion 62 can be determined based on, for example, the time elapsed since the start of blowing out the floating air A2 by the floating air blowing mechanism 40. The time at which the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the height restricting portion 62, for example, the time at which the medium M having a larger mass is slower or the like, varies depending on the medium information and the environment information. Therefore, the control unit 81 may determine whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the restricting portion 62 and the height thereof is restricted, based on the time elapsed since the start of blowing out the floating air A2, which is determined based on at least one of the medium information and the environment information. The time when the uppermost medium M1 contacts the height restricting portion 62 also varies according to the air volume of the floating air A2.

Whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the height limiting portion 62 may be determined based on the detection result of a touch sensor such as a capacitance sensor provided in the height limiting portions 62 and 62 as described above.

When the uppermost medium M1 is limited in height by abutting on the height limiting portion 62 of the 1 st movable guide 60 at the retracted position P12 (step S13: yes), the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 60 to the limiting position P11 as shown in fig. 12C (step S14).

Here, the control unit 81 may determine the restriction position P11 based on at least one of the medium information and the environment information. For example, since the thinner the medium M is, the more easily the medium M is lifted up with respect to the horizontal direction, the control unit 81 preferably determines the restriction position P11 so that the interval between the pair of 1 st movable guides 60 facing each other in the width direction W is small. Alternatively, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high-temperature and humid, the mass of the medium M increases, and thus the floating medium M is less likely to change with respect to the horizontal direction. Therefore, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high-temperature and humid, the control unit 81 preferably determines the restriction position P11 so that the interval between the pair of 1 st movable guides 60 is large.

Further, it is preferable that the control unit 81 controls the 1 st movable guides 60 of the pair disposed on both sides of the medium M in the width direction W of the medium M to move to the restricting position P11 at different timings based on the floating state of the uppermost medium M1 detected by the floating state detecting unit 80 as described above. For example, when the height of the medium M is high at one end side and low at the other end side in the width direction W, the 1 st movable guide 60 on the side where the height of the medium M is high is preferably moved to the restricting position P11 first, and the 1 st movable guide 60 on the side where the height of the medium M is low is preferably moved to the restricting position P11 later.

Next, the control unit 81 determines whether or not the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 is a sheet (step S15).

When the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 is not a sheet (no in step S15), the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20, as shown in fig. 12D (step S16). Further, in order to prevent the height restricting portion 62 from contacting the uppermost medium M1, the retracted position P12 is preferably a position away from the medium M in the width direction W than the retracted position P12 before moving to the restricting position P11. Preferably, when the height restricting portion 62 is moved to the retracted position P12 distant from the medium M in the width direction W than the retracted position P12 before being moved to the restricting position P11 in this manner, the height restricting portion 62 is moved to the retracted position P12 in contact with the medium M as shown in fig. 12B after the floating air blowing mechanism 40 stops blowing the floating air A2.

Further, whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is attracted to the conveying mechanism 20 can be determined based on, for example, the elapsed time from the start of the movement of the 1 st movable guide 60 from the restricting position P11 to the retracted position P12. This time varies depending on, for example, medium information, environment information, the air volume of the floating air A2, and the like.

Whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20 may be determined based on, for example, a detection result of a sensor, not shown, disposed in the vicinity of the conveying mechanism 20 or the suction mechanism 30, for example, for emitting detection light downward.

When the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 is a thin paper (yes in step S15), the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 after the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 as shown in fig. 12D (step S17). Further, the control unit 81 preferably moves the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is conveyed by the conveying mechanism 20.

In this way, the control unit 81 preferably determines whether to move the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 or to move the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 after the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20, based on at least one of the medium information such as a sheet and the environmental information.

For example, in the case where the medium M is thin paper, the floating medium M is liable to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, the height of the uppermost medium M1 can be regulated by the height regulating portion 62 even in a state where the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the medium M is a thin paper (yes in step S15), the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 after the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 (step S17).

However, for example, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high-temperature and high-humidity, the medium M floating as described above is not likely to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, the medium M may be regarded as not being thin although it is thin, and the control unit 81 may perform a process of moving the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20 (step S16). Further, the control unit 81 may move the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20 (step S16) based on the environment information alone, for example, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high temperature and high humidity, and may move the 1 st movable guide 60 to the retracted position P12 after the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20 (step S17) when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is not high temperature and high humidity, instead of based on the medium information.

After the 1 st movable guide 60 moves to the retracted position P12 (steps S16 and S17), the control unit 81 determines whether or not a request for stopping the supply of the medium M is received from the printing apparatus 101 or whether or not the supply of the medium M is completed based on the print job (step S18).

When the supply of the medium M is not completed (step S18: no), the control unit 81 repeats the processing from the processing of controlling the floating air blowing mechanism 40 to blow out the floating air A2 (step S12). The reason why the process of controlling the floating air blowing mechanism 40 to blow out the floating air A2 is performed again (step S12) is that the control unit 81 stops blowing out the floating air A2 by the floating air blowing mechanism 40 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the uppermost medium M1 was adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20, so that the medium M2 and thereafter falls.

On the other hand, when the supply of the medium M is completed (yes in step S18), the control unit 81 ends the process shown in fig. 13.

Here, as described above, the shape of the floating medium M at the time of floating varies according to the medium information, the environment information, the air volume of the floating air A2, and the like. Therefore, for example, it is preferable that the 1 st movable guide 60 is disposed so that the position in the height direction can be adjusted, so that the 1 st movable guide 60 and the conveying mechanism 20 are relatively moved so that the interval in the height direction is variable.

Thereby, the interval in the height direction between the 1 st movable guide 60 and the conveying mechanism 20 can be adjusted based on the medium information, the environment information, the air volume of the floating air A2, and the like. For example, when the medium M is thin paper, the floating medium M is liable to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, it is preferable to make the interval between the 1 st movable guide 60 and the conveying mechanism 20 in the height direction large, and when the medium M is thick paper, the floating medium M is not liable to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, it is preferable to make the interval between the 1 st movable guide 60 and the conveying mechanism 20 in the height direction small. In addition, in the case of adjusting the height of the conveying mechanism 20, it is preferable that a guide for matching the height of the uppermost medium M1 conveyed by the conveying mechanism 20 with the height of the conveying path R is disposed at a position downstream of the conveying mechanism 20 in the conveying direction D.

Next, the restricting operation of the 2 nd movable guide 70 will be described with reference to fig. 14, fig. 9 and fig. 10.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the restricting operation of the 2 nd movable guide 70.

The processing shown in fig. 14 is started when the control unit 81 shown in fig. 11 receives a request for feeding the medium M from the printing apparatus 101 and when the control unit receives a request for stopping feeding from the printing apparatus 101, for example.

First, the control unit 81 determines whether or not the medium feeding operation is in progress (when the process shown in fig. 14 is started upon receiving a request for feeding the medium M) (step S21).

When the medium supplying operation is in progress (yes in step S21), the control unit 81 obtains at least one of medium information of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 and environment information of the medium supplying apparatus 3 (step S22). Further, the obtaining process of this step S22 is not necessarily performed separately from the obtaining process of at least one of the medium information and the environment information in step S11 shown in fig. 13, but can be set to a common process.

Thereafter, the control unit 81 determines whether or not the restriction operation condition for moving the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the restriction position P21 shown in fig. 9 is satisfied (step S23). As an example, the limiting operation condition is that the medium M is a thin paper. This is because the thinner the medium M is, the more easily the medium M is lifted up to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, it is desirable to make the interval between the pair of 2 nd movable guides 70, 70 facing each other in the width direction W smaller. Further, for example, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high temperature and high humidity based on the environment information, the floating medium M is not likely to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, it is preferable that the control unit 81 moves the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the retracted position P22 shown in fig. 10 so that the interval between the pair of 2 nd movable guides 70, 70 is large as described later. In this way, the control unit 81 preferably determines whether to move the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the restricting position P21 when the medium M is supplied, based on at least one of the medium information such as tissue paper and the environment information such as high temperature and high humidity.

When the operation limiting condition is not satisfied (step S23: no), the control unit 81 moves the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the retracted position P22 shown in fig. 10 (step S24), and ends the process shown in fig. 14.

Here, the control unit 81 may determine the retraction position P22 based on at least one of the medium information and the environment information. For example, since the thinner the medium M is, the more easily the medium M is lifted up with respect to the horizontal direction, the retraction position P22 is preferably determined so that the interval between the pair of 2 nd movable guides 70, 70 facing each other in the width direction W is small. In addition, when the retracted position P22 is determined so that the interval between the pair of 2 nd movable guides 70, 70 facing each other in the width direction W is small, the 2 nd movable guide 70 at the retracted position P22 is preferably positioned closer to the medium M than the side shutter 102. The reason for this is that when the 2 nd movable guide 70 is located at a position farther from the medium M than the side flapper 102, the restriction of the medium M is not the 2 nd movable guide 70, but the side flapper 102. Further, for example, when the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high temperature and high humidity based on the environment information, the floating medium M is not likely to change with respect to the horizontal direction, and therefore, it is preferable that the control unit 81 determines the retraction position P22 so that the interval between the pair of 2 nd movable guides 70, 70 is large.

When the process shown in fig. 14 is started upon receiving the request for stopping the supply of the medium M, that is, when the medium is not being supplied (step S21: no) and the above-described restriction operation condition is satisfied (step S23: yes), the control unit 81 moves the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the restriction position P21 shown in fig. 9 (step S25), and ends the process shown in fig. 14.

In the present embodiment described above, the medium supply device 3 includes the loading table 11, the conveying mechanism 20, the floating air blowing mechanism 40, the suction mechanism 30, the 1 st movable guide 60, and the control unit 81. A plurality of media M are loaded on the loading table 11. The conveying mechanism 20 conveys the uppermost medium M1 among the plurality of media M loaded on the loading table 11 in the conveying direction D. The floating air blowing mechanism 40 floats at least the uppermost medium M1 by blowing out the floating air A2. The suction mechanism 30 sucks the suction air A1, and thereby causes the uppermost medium M1, which is lifted up by the lifting air blowing mechanism 40 blowing out the lifting air A2, to be adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20. The 1 st movable guide 60 is movable between a restricting position P11 for restricting a position of the medium M in the width direction W orthogonal to the conveying direction D and a retracted position P12 farther from the medium M than the restricting position P11. After the air-lift blowing mechanism 40 starts blowing out the air-lift A2 and before the uppermost medium M1 is conveyed by the conveying mechanism 20, the control unit 81 controls the 1 st movable guide 60 to move from the retracted position P12 to the restricting position P11, thereby restricting the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W.

In this way, after the start of blowing out the floating air A2 and before the uppermost medium M1 is conveyed by the conveying mechanism 20, the 1 st movable guide 60 moves from the retracted position P12 to the restricting position P11 that restricts the position of the medium M in the width direction W. Thus, at least when the blowing of the floating air A2 is started, the 1 st movable guide 60 is positioned at the retracted position P12, and thus the 1 st movable guide 60 can be prevented from obstructing the floating of the uppermost medium M1. Therefore, the uppermost medium M1 is prevented from being abnormally lifted and from being conveyed. Further, the 1 st movable guide 60 moves to the restricting position P11 before the uppermost medium M1 is conveyed by the conveying mechanism 20, and restricts the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W, whereby the uppermost medium M1 can be suppressed from being disturbed and being easily skewed when floating. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the medium M can be reliably supplied while preventing skew of the medium M.

In the present embodiment, the 1 st movable guide 60 includes a width regulating portion 61 for regulating the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W and a height regulating portion 62 for regulating the height of the uppermost medium M1, and the height of the uppermost medium M1 before being sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 is regulated by the height regulating portion 62.

Therefore, the 1 st movable guide 60 restricts both the position and the height of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W, and thereby can further suppress the uppermost medium M1 from being disturbed and being easily skewed when floating.

In the present embodiment, after the uppermost medium M1 floats and comes into contact with the height restricting portion 62 of the 1 st movable guide 60 at the retracted position P12 to thereby restrict the height, the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 60 from the retracted position P12 to the restricting position P11.

Therefore, the 1 st movable guide 60 can restrict the position in the width direction W of the uppermost medium M1 in a state where the height is restricted by the height restricting portion 62. This can more reliably restrict the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W, and therefore, the occurrence of skew can be further suppressed.

In the present embodiment, the 1 st movable guide 60 and the conveying mechanism are relatively moved so that the interval in the height direction is variable.

Therefore, for example, by adjusting the interval between the 1 st movable guide 60 and the conveying mechanism 20 in the height direction in accordance with the shape of the medium M when floating, which is changed in accordance with the medium information, the environment information, the air volume of the floating air A2, and the like, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of skew due to the disturbance of the uppermost medium M1 when floating.

In the present embodiment, the medium supply device 3 further includes a 2 nd movable guide 70, and the 2 nd movable guide 70 is disposed below the 1 st movable guide 60 and is movable between a restricting position P21 for restricting a position of the medium M in a width direction W orthogonal to the conveying direction D and a retracted position P22 away from the medium M than the restricting position P21. The control unit 81 controls the 2 nd movable guide 70 so as to move the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the restricting position P21 when the medium M is not supplied, and to move the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the retracted position P22 when the medium M is supplied.

Thus, when the medium M is supplied, the 2 nd movable guide 70 is positioned at the retracted position P22, and thus, the 2 nd movable guide 70 can be prevented from obstructing the floating and falling of the uppermost medium M1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the uppermost medium M1 from not being normally lifted up to cause no conveyance or the 2 nd medium M2 from being normally dropped to cause multiple conveyance. Thus, the medium M can be supplied more reliably. Further, the 2 nd movable guide 70 restricts the position of the medium M in the width direction W at the restricting position P21 when the medium M is not supplied, and thereby, the uppermost medium M1 can be further suppressed from being disturbed and being easily skewed when the medium M is floated later.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 81 determines at least one of the retracted position P22 of the 2 nd movable guide 70 and whether to move the 2 nd movable guide 70 to the restricting position P21 when the medium M is supplied, based on at least one of the medium information of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 and the environment information of the medium supply device 3.

For example, the thinner the medium M (an example of medium information), the more easily the medium M floats up to change with respect to the horizontal direction. For example, the higher the temperature and the humidity of the environment of the medium supply device 3 (an example of environment information), the less likely the medium M to float is changed with respect to the horizontal direction. In this way, even when the medium M is supplied, for example, the 2 nd movable guide 70 is brought close to the medium M in accordance with the change in the shape of the medium M when floating, depending on the medium information and the environment information, and therefore, the medium M can be further prevented from moving in a disturbed manner and being easily skewed. In addition, by determining the retracted position P22 by, for example, bringing the retracted position P22 closer to the medium M or the like in accordance with the change in the shape of the medium M when it is lifted up, the medium M can be further prevented from being disturbed and being easily skewed.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 81 determines at least one of the restricting position P11 of the 1 st movable guide 60 after the 1 st movable guide 60 is moved from the retracted position P12 to the restricting position P11 and the 1 st movable guide 60 is moved to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 or the 1 st movable guide 60 is moved to the retracted position P12 after the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20, based on at least one of the medium information of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 and the environment information of the medium supply device 3.

Thus, for example, when the medium M is thin paper, the environment of the medium supply device 3 is not high-temperature and high-humidity, and the medium M that floats is liable to change with respect to the horizontal direction, so that the 1 st movable guide 60 is moved to the retracted position P12 after the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20, and the position and the height in the width direction W can be regulated by the 1 st movable guide 60 even in a state where the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20. In addition, for example, when the medium M is not a thin paper, and the environment of the medium supply device 3 is high temperature and wet, the floating medium M is less likely to change with respect to the horizontal direction than the thin paper, and therefore, the 1 st movable guide 60 is moved to the retracted position P12 before the uppermost medium M1 is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20, whereby the 1 st movable guide 60 can be prevented from obstructing the adsorption of the uppermost medium M1 to the conveying mechanism 20. As described above, by determining the restricting position P11 by, for example, bringing the restricting position P11 closer to the medium M or the like in accordance with the change in the shape of the medium M when floating, depending on the medium information and the environment information, it is possible to further suppress the medium M from moving in a disturbed manner and being liable to be skewed.

In the present embodiment, the medium supply device 3 further includes a floating state detecting unit 80 that detects a floating state of the uppermost medium M1. At least one pair of 1 st movable guides 60 is disposed on both sides in the width direction W of the medium M, and the control unit 81 moves the pair of 1 st movable guides 60 to the restricting position P11 at different times in accordance with the floating state detected by the floating state detecting unit 80.

Thus, for example, when the height of the medium M is high at one end side and low at the other end side in the width direction W, the 1 st movable guide 60 on the side where the height of the medium M is high is moved to the restricting position P11 first, and the 1 st movable guide 60 on the side where the height of the medium M is low is moved to the restricting position P11 thereafter, whereby the position in the width direction W of the uppermost medium M1 can be restricted more reliably. Therefore, the occurrence of skew can be further suppressed.

Next, the 1 st movable guide 260 in the modification will be described with reference to fig. 15A to 15D and fig. 16.

Fig. 15A to 15D are left side views for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide 260.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the restricting operation of the 1 st movable guide 260.

In fig. 15A to 15D, the conveyance mechanism 20 and the like are not illustrated, and only the suction mechanism 30, the pair of 1 st movable guides 260, and the plurality of media M are illustrated.

The 1 st movable guide 260 may be the same as the 1 st movable guide 60 described above, except that it does not have the height restricting portion 62. Therefore, a detailed description of the 1 st movable guide 260 is omitted.

For example, the 4 1 st movable guides 260 are movable to a restricting position P31 (see fig. 15C) for restricting the position of the medium M in the width direction W and a retracted position P32 (see fig. 15A, 15B, and 15D) which is apart from the medium M in the width direction W than the restricting position P31, respectively

When the control unit 81 shown in fig. 11 receives a request for feeding the medium M from the printing apparatus 101, the process shown in fig. 16 is started.

First, the control unit 81 obtains at least one of medium information of the medium M loaded on the loading table 11 and environment information of the medium supply device 3 (step S31).

Next, the control unit 81 controls the floating air blowing mechanism 40 to blow out the floating air A2 (step S32). As a result, as shown in fig. 15A, the plurality of media M including the uppermost medium M1 float. In the stage of thus starting blowing out the floating air A2, the 1 st movable guide 260 is located at the retracted position P32. Further, as described above, when receiving a request for supplying the medium M, the control unit 81 controls the separation air blowout mechanism 50 to blow out the separation air A3, and controls the suction mechanism 30 to suck the suction air A1.

Next, as shown in fig. 15B, the control unit 81 repeatedly determines whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is lifted and brought into contact with the conveying mechanism 20 (step S33).

Whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the conveying mechanism 20 can be determined based on, for example, the time elapsed since the start of the blowing of the floating air A2 by the floating air blowing mechanism 40. In addition, the timing at which the uppermost medium M1 contacts the conveying mechanism 20 changes depending on the medium information and the environment information, for example, as in the case of the timing at which the uppermost medium M contacts the height restricting portion 62, for example, as the timing of the medium M having a larger mass becomes slower. Therefore, the control unit 81 may determine whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the conveying mechanism 20 and the height thereof is limited, based on the time elapsed since the start of blowing out the floating air A2, which is determined based on at least one of the medium information and the environment information. As described above, whether or not the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the conveying mechanism 20 may be determined based on the detection result of a contact sensor such as a capacitance sensor.

When the uppermost medium M1 is in contact with the conveying mechanism 20 (yes in step S33), the control unit 81 controls the suction mechanism 30 to stop suction of the suction air A1 (step S34). For example, the suction mechanism 30 shields the suction air A1 with a shutter, not shown, to stop the suction of the suction air A1.

After the suction of the suction air A1 is stopped, the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 260 to the restricting position P31 as shown in fig. 15C (step S35).

After the 1 st movable guide 260 reaches the limit position P31, the control unit 81 controls the suction mechanism 30 to restart suction of the suction air A1 (step S36).

Next, for example, after the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20, the control unit 81 moves the 1 st movable guide 260 to the retracted position P32 (step S37). In addition, as in the processing of steps S15 to S17 shown in fig. 13, the control unit 81 may determine whether to move the 1 st movable guide 260 to the retracted position P32 after the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20 or to move the 1 st movable guide 260 to the retracted position P32 before the uppermost medium M1 is sucked to the conveying mechanism 20, depending on whether or not the medium M is a sheet.

Next, the control unit 81 determines whether a request for stopping the supply of the medium M is received from the printing apparatus 101 or whether the supply of the medium M is completed according to the print job (step S38).

When the supply of the medium M is not completed (no in step S38), the control unit 81 repeats the processing from the processing of controlling the floating air blowing mechanism 40 to blow out the floating air A2 (step S32). The reason why the process of controlling the floating air blowing mechanism 40 to blow out the floating air A2 is performed again (step S32) is that the control unit 81 stops blowing out the floating air A2 by the floating air blowing mechanism 40 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the uppermost medium M1 was adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20, so that the medium M2 and thereafter falls.

On the other hand, when the supply of the medium M is completed (yes in step S38), the control unit 81 ends the process shown in fig. 16.

With the present modification described above, the same effects, that is, effects of reliably feeding the medium M and the like while preventing skew of the medium M can be obtained for the same matters as those of the above-described embodiments.

In the present modification, after the uppermost medium M1 comes into contact with the conveying mechanism 20, the suction of the suction air A1 by the suction mechanism 30 is stopped, and after the suction of the suction air A1 is stopped, the 1 st movable guide 260 moves to the restricting position P31. Therefore, the 1 st movable guide 260 can restrict the position in the width direction W of the uppermost medium M1 in a state where the height is restricted by the conveying mechanism 20. Further, by stopping the suction of the suction air A1 by the suction mechanism 30, it is possible to suppress restriction of the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W by the 1 st movable guide 260 due to the state in which the uppermost medium M1 remains adsorbed to the conveying mechanism 20. This can more reliably restrict the position of the uppermost medium M1 in the width direction W, and therefore, the occurrence of skew can be further suppressed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and constituent elements may be modified and embodied in the implementation stage without departing from the gist thereof. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriate combinations of a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, all the constituent elements shown in the embodiments may be appropriately combined. It is needless to say that various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The following claims are appended to the original application of the present application.

[ solution 1]

A medium supply apparatus, comprising: a loading table for loading a plurality of media; a floating air blowing mechanism that blows air to float at least an uppermost medium of the plurality of media loaded on the loading table; a conveying mechanism that conveys the uppermost medium, which is floated by blowing out air by the floating air blowing mechanism, in a conveying direction; and a regulating portion including 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions that are arranged so as to face each other in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and regulate the medium loaded on the loading table in the width direction, and 1 pair of 2 nd regulating portions that are arranged so as to face each other in the width direction at a larger interval than an interval between the 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions and regulate the medium that is blown out by the floating air blowing mechanism and floats in the width direction, wherein the 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions are arranged so as to be movable integrally with the 1 pair of 2 nd regulating portions.

[ solution 2]

The medium supply device according to claim 1, wherein the restricting portion is a pair of 1-side shutters disposed opposite to each other in the width direction, the pair of 1-th restricting portions are provided on restricting surfaces of the pair of 1-side shutters on the medium side, and the pair of 1-th restricting portions are provided on the restricting surfaces of the pair of 1-side shutters and protrude further toward the medium side than the pair of 2-th restricting portions.

[ solution 3]

The medium supply device according to claim 1, wherein the 1 st pair of restriction portions and the 1 st pair of restriction portions are configured to be able to adjust a difference in interval between the interval in the width direction between the 1 st pair of restriction portions and the interval in the width direction between the 1 st pair of restriction portions.

[ solution 4]

The medium supply device according to claim 3, further comprising a control section that adjusts the gap difference by relatively moving the 1 st-to-1 st restriction portion and the 1 nd-to-2 nd restriction portion according to at least one of medium information of the medium and environment information of the medium supply device.

A medium supply device according to claim 5, characterized by comprising: a loading table for loading a plurality of media; a conveying mechanism that conveys an uppermost medium among the plurality of media loaded on the loading table in a conveying direction; a floating air blowing mechanism that blows out air to float at least the uppermost medium; a suction mechanism that sucks air to cause the uppermost medium, which is floated by the air blown out by the floating air blowing mechanism, to be adsorbed to the conveying mechanism; a 1 st movable guide movable between a restricting position that restricts a position of the medium in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and a retracted position that is farther from the medium than the restricting position; and a control unit that controls the 1 st movable guide to move from the retracted position to the restricting position after the air blowing-out by the floating air blowing-out mechanism is started and before the uppermost medium is conveyed by the conveying mechanism, thereby restricting the position of the uppermost medium in the width direction.

Technical means as defined in claim 5, wherein the 1 st movable guide includes a width restricting portion that restricts a position of the uppermost medium in the width direction and a height restricting portion that restricts a height of the uppermost medium, the height restricting portion restricting a height of the uppermost medium before the uppermost medium is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism.

The medium supply device according to claim 6 is characterized in that, after the uppermost medium floats and is restricted in height by abutting on the height restricting portion of the 1 st movable guide at the retracted position, the control section moves the 1 st movable guide from the retracted position to the restricting position.

A medium supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising a 2 nd movable guide which is disposed below the 1 st movable guide and is movable between a restricting position for restricting a position of the medium in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and a retracted position away from the medium than the restricting position, wherein the control unit controls the 2 nd movable guide so that the 2 nd movable guide is moved to the restricting position when the medium is not supplied, and the 2 nd movable guide is moved to the retracted position when the medium is supplied.

The medium supply device according to claim 8 is characterized in that the control unit determines at least one of the retracted position of the 2 nd movable guide and whether to move the 2 nd movable guide to the restricting position when the medium is supplied, based on at least one of medium information of the medium loaded on the loading table and environment information of the medium supply device.

The medium supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the control unit determines at least one of the restricting position of the 1 st movable guide and whether to move the 1 st movable guide to the retracted position before the uppermost medium is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism or to move the 1 st movable guide to the retracted position after the 1 st movable guide is moved from the retracted position to the restricting position, based on at least one of medium information of the medium loaded on the loading table and environment information of the medium supply device.

A medium supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 10, characterized in that the medium supply device includes a floating state detection unit that detects a floating state of the uppermost medium, the 1 st movable guide is provided with at least one pair on both sides in the width direction of the medium, and the control unit moves the pair of 1 st movable guides to the restricting position at different timings, respectively, in accordance with the floating state detected by the floating state detection unit.

Claims

1. A medium supply device is characterized in that,

the medium supply device includes:

a loading table for loading a plurality of media;

a floating air blowing mechanism that blows air to float at least an uppermost medium of the plurality of media loaded on the loading table;

a conveying mechanism that conveys the uppermost medium, which is floated by blowing out air by the floating air blowing mechanism, in a conveying direction; and

a regulating portion having 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions and 1 pair of 2 nd regulating portions, the 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions being disposed opposite to each other in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and regulating the medium loaded on the loading table in the width direction, the 1 pair of 2 nd regulating portions being disposed opposite to each other in the width direction at a larger interval than an interval between the 1 pair of 1 st regulating portions and regulating the medium floated by blowing out air by the floating air blowing mechanism in the width direction,

The 1 st pair of restricting portions 1 are configured to be movable integrally with the 1 st pair of restricting portions 2,

the 1 st restriction portion is a rib provided to the restriction portion.

2. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

the restriction portions are 1 pair of side guards oppositely arranged in the width direction,

the 1 st pair of 2 nd restriction portions are restriction surfaces of the 1 st pair of side dams on the medium side,

the 1 st pair of restricting portions are the ribs provided on the restricting surfaces of the 1 st pair of side dams and protrude toward the medium side than the 2 nd restricting portions.

3. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

the 1 st pair of restriction portions and the 1 st pair of restriction portions are configured to be able to adjust a gap difference between a gap in the width direction between the 1 st pair of restriction portions and a gap in the width direction between the 1 st pair of restriction portions 2 nd pair of restriction portions.

4. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein,

the medium supply device further includes a control section that adjusts the gap difference by relatively moving the 1 st-to-1 st restriction portion and the 1 nd-to-2 nd restriction portion according to at least one of medium information of the medium and environment information of the medium supply device.

5. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

the medium supply device includes:

a suction mechanism that sucks air to cause the uppermost medium, which is floated by the air blown out by the floating air blowing mechanism, to be adsorbed to the conveying mechanism;

a 1 st movable guide movable between a restricting position that restricts a position of the medium in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and a retracted position that is farther from the medium than the restricting position; and

and a control unit that controls the 1 st movable guide to move from the retracted position to the restricting position after the air blowing-out by the floating air blowing-out mechanism is started and before the uppermost medium is conveyed by the conveying mechanism, thereby restricting the position of the uppermost medium in the width direction.

6. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein,

the 1 st movable guide includes a width restricting portion that restricts a position of the uppermost medium in the width direction and a height restricting portion that restricts a height of the uppermost medium, the height restricting portion restricting a height before the uppermost medium is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism.

7. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 6, wherein,

the control unit moves the 1 st movable guide from the retracted position to the restricting position after the uppermost medium floats and abuts on the height restricting portion of the 1 st movable guide at the retracted position to be restricted in height.

8. The medium supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein,

the medium supply device further includes a 2 nd movable guide disposed below the 1 st movable guide and movable between a restricting position for restricting a position of the medium in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and a retracted position away from the medium than the restricting position,

the control unit controls the 2 nd movable guide to move the 2 nd movable guide to the restricting position when the medium is not supplied, and to move the 2 nd movable guide to the retracted position when the medium is supplied.

9. A medium supplying apparatus according to claim 8, wherein,

the control unit determines at least one of the retracted position of the 2 nd movable guide and whether to move the 2 nd movable guide to the restricting position when the medium is supplied, based on at least one of medium information of the medium loaded on the loading table and environment information of the medium supply device.

10. The medium supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein,

the control unit determines at least one of the restricting position of the 1 st movable guide and whether to move the 1 st movable guide to the retracted position before the uppermost medium is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism or to move the 1 st movable guide to the retracted position after the uppermost medium is adsorbed to the conveying mechanism, based on at least one of medium information of the medium loaded on the loading table and environment information of the medium supply device.

11. The medium supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein,

the medium supply device includes a floating state detection unit that detects a floating state of the uppermost medium, at least one pair of 1 st movable guides is disposed on both sides in the width direction of the medium, and the control unit moves the pair of 1 st movable guides to the restricting position at different timings, respectively, in accordance with the floating state detected by the floating state detection unit.