JP3802289B2 - Form capture device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a form capturing device in a form reading device for optically reading characters or the like written on a form.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, a form reading apparatus takes a form one by one into the apparatus and conveys it, reads characters written on the form as an image by a CCD image sensor or the like provided on the conveyance path, and also reads the read characters. An image is detected for each character and cut out character recognition is performed. As such a form reading apparatus, a type of apparatus that performs character recognition by transmitting read image data to an external personal computer preinstalled with character recognition application software is also widespread.
[0003]
Further, such a form reading apparatus is generally provided with a form taking-in apparatus for separating and taking up the forms stacked inside the apparatus provided with an image sensor or the like one by one. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, this form take-in mechanism can take the form 52 into the apparatus while being in sliding contact with the upper surface of the form 52 loaded on the hopper table 51 by the take-in roller 53. The take-in roller 53 can separate the forms one by one while cooperating with a separator (not shown) that contacts the lower surface of the form.
[0004]
By the way, in order to shorten the scanning time of the surface of the form 52 by the image sensor, the form 52 to be taken into the inside of the apparatus takes into consideration the stand-by position of the image sensor inside the apparatus, and the taking-in direction A into the apparatus. The hopper tables 51 that are orthogonal to each other are stacked so as to be close to the left end in the width direction. Accordingly, the take-in roller 53 is disposed around the left end of the hopper table 51 in the width direction so that forms of various sizes from small to large can be taken into the apparatus.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, such a conventional form reading apparatus is of course because the take-in roller 53 is disposed around the end of the hopper table 51 in the width direction described above. The take-in roller 53 gives a drawing force to the end of the form. Therefore, in the conventional form reading apparatus, as shown in FIG. 8, when a large form 54 is taken into the apparatus, a large moment M with the center of gravity G at the center of the form 54 acting on the form 54 acts on the form 54. Therefore, the form is rotated and taken into the apparatus in an inclined state, and this causes a problem in that the image of the form 54 is read by an image sensor or the like disposed inside the apparatus.
[0006]
The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and the image of the form can be normally read inside the apparatus by taking the form into the apparatus with a good take-in posture regardless of the size. It is an object of the present invention to provide a form reading apparatus that can perform such a process.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a form capturing device according to the present invention is provided with a form placing portion on which a form is placed as described in claim 1, and the form placing portion is provided inside the apparatus. A form take-in device for taking in the form, comprising three take-in rollers for taking the form into the apparatus, separators provided to face each of the three take-in rollers, the take-in roller and the separator An elevating mechanism is provided for moving each between a contact position that contacts the form and a non-contact position that does not contact the form, and one or two rollers are selected from the three take-in rollers. In the state where the take-in roller not selected and the separator facing the take-in roller are respectively moved to the non-contact position, the form is put inside the apparatus by the selected one or two take-in rollers. And wherein the Komu Ri.
[0008]
The form processing apparatus according to the present invention freely selects take-in rollers or separators to be arranged at different positions on the form according to the size of the form to be taken into the apparatus, and contacts the form. be able to. Therefore, according to the form processing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to give the capture force or separation force to the best position on the form according to the size of the form to be captured. However, there is no fear that the form will rotate greatly when it is taken into the apparatus, so that the form image can be read correctly inside the apparatus regardless of the size of the form.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a form capturing apparatus including a form placing section on which a form is placed, and taking the form into the apparatus from the form placing section. A first take-in roller provided so as to be movable in the width direction of the form placement unit, and a second take-in roller provided so as to be movable in the width direction of the form placement unit And the first and second take-in rollers are arranged at positions equidistant from the center of gravity of the form, and the form is taken into the apparatus.
[0010]
The form reading device of the present invention can change the position of the take-in force applied to the form by the take-in roller according to the size of the form to be taken into the apparatus, so that the posture is almost straight to the inside of the apparatus. Thus, the form can be taken in, and the form image can be read correctly inside the apparatus, regardless of the size of the form, as in the form taking-in apparatus described in claim 1.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a form reading apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0013]
The form reading apparatus of the present embodiment reads characters recorded on the form as image data, transmits the read image data to an external personal computer (PC) in which application software for character recognition is installed in advance, This is to make character recognition.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 1, this form reading apparatus 1 includes a hopper table 2 on which a plurality of forms to be carried into the apparatus are loaded, and a form in contact with the upper surface of the form loaded on the hopper table 2. The front take-in roller group 3 and the rear take-in roller group 4 to be taken in the inside, and the take-in roller group 4 are in contact with the lower surface of the form to be taken into the apparatus, and cooperate with the take-in roller group 4 to form the form. A separator group 6 that is separated one by one, a plurality of upper conveyance rollers 7 and a lower conveyance roller 8 that are arranged to face each other and convey the form downstream, while sandwiching the form from both sides, and the form that has been conveyed A light source 14 for irradiating light on the surface, mirrors 10 and 11 and a lens 12 for guiding reflected light from the surface of the form to the CCD 13, on the other hand, a back contact sensor 15 for reading an image of the back side of the conveyed form, Platen low The print head 17 is provided opposite to the print head 17 for printing serial numbers and the like on the processed forms. The print head 17 finishes a predetermined print process and accommodates the forms that are sorted by the flapper 18 and are carried out of the apparatus. The stackers 19 and 20 are mainly configured.
[0015]
Here, a take-in mechanism portion for taking a form into the apparatus will be described.
[0016]
In FIG. 1, A indicates a form, and in FIG. 2, A, B, C, and D indicate forms of different sizes. As shown in FIG. 1, in order to shorten the scanning time of the surface of the form by the optical system mechanism including the CCD 13, the form A takes the standby position of the optical system mechanism inside the apparatus into consideration, and The hopper table 2 that is orthogonal to the take-in direction is loaded with the left end portion in the width direction being close. Therefore, the hopper table 2 is erected from the left end portion positioning fixed guide 22 erected from the form placement surface and the form mounting surface in the width direction of the hopper table 2. And a movable guide 23 that contacts the end face of the form and presses the other end face of the form against the fixed guide 22 for positioning the left end portion.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, the front intake roller group 3 includes three intake rollers 3a, 3b, and 3c. The take-in roller 3a is provided at the left end in the width direction of the hopper table 2 that is orthogonal to the take-in direction of taking the form A into the apparatus. The take-in roller 3 c is provided at a position on the right side of the center in the width direction of the hopper table 2. Further, the take-in roller 3b is provided at a position adjacent to the take-in roller 3a. The rear take-in roller group 4 includes three take-in rollers 4a, 4b, and 4c, and is provided on the downstream side in the take-in direction at positions corresponding to the take-in rollers 3a, 3b, and 3c, respectively. .
[0018]
The separator 6 is provided at a position facing the take-in rollers 4a, 4b, and 4c in the height direction. When two sheets are taken out from the hopper table 2, the separator 6 comes into contact with the lower form and prevents the lower form from being fed to the subsequent position by friction. The double feed prevention mechanism is configured to feed only the top form. Three separators 6 are provided so as to face each of the take-in rollers 4a, 4b, and 4c.
[0019]
The take-in rollers 3a, 3b, 3c, the take-in rollers 4a, 4b, 4c, and the separator 6 are provided with a lifting mechanism (not shown). By the operation of the lifting mechanism, the take-in rollers 3a, 3b, 3c, the take-in rollers 4a, 4b, 4c, and the separator 6 can be moved between a position that contacts the form and a non-contact position that does not contact the form. ing.
[0020]
Further, as described above, since the size of the form 21 is manually set by the user by the PC, the take-in rollers 3a, 3b, 3c, the take-in roller 4a, based on the size of the form 21 input by the control of the PC. Of 4b, 4c and separator 6, the one that does not contribute to the taking-in (paper feeding) of the form is moved to the non-contact position with the form by the lifting mechanism.
[0021]
In FIG. 2, four types of forms A, B, C, and D used in the form processing apparatus 1 are shown.
[0022]
Next, the operation of taking a form into the apparatus in the form processing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.
[0023]
In FIG. 2, when the form A is taken into the apparatus (feeded), take-in rollers 3b, 3c, 4b, and 4c are used. At this time, it is assumed that the take-in rollers 3a and 4a and the separator facing these take-in rollers are moved to a non-contact position with respect to the form by the elevating mechanism. Therefore, no force is applied to the form from the take-in roller and the separator.
[0024]
Further, when taking the form B into the apparatus (feeding), take-in rollers 3a, 3c, 4a and 4c are used. At this time, it is assumed that the take-in rollers 3b and 4b and the separator facing the take-in rollers are moved to a non-contact position with respect to the form by the lifting mechanism. Therefore, no force is applied to the form from the take-in roller and the separator.
[0025]
Further, when taking the form C into the apparatus (feeding), take-in rollers 3a, 3b, 4a and 4b are used. At this time, it is assumed that the take-in rollers 3c and 4c and the separator facing these take-in rollers are moved to a non-contact position with respect to the form by the lifting mechanism. Therefore, no force is applied to the form from the take-in roller and the separator.
[0026]
Further, when taking the form D into the apparatus (feeding), take-in rollers 3a and 4a are used. At this time, it is assumed that the take-in rollers 3b, 3c, 4b, and 4c and the separator facing these take-in rollers are moved to a non-contact position with respect to the form by the lifting mechanism. Therefore, no force is applied to the form from the take-in roller and the separator.
[0027]
In this way, depending on the size (horizontal width) of the form to be taken (feeded), the form can be tilted by selecting and using two take-up rollers as appropriate from the three take-up rollers. It is taken in with the correct posture without doing it.
[0028]
Here, the balance of various forces applied to the form A when taking in the form A will be considered. As shown in FIG. 3, when feeding paper using all the take-in rollers 3a, 3b, 3c and take-in rollers 4a, 4b, 4c, the form A has a form take-in force f1 and a separator as shown in FIG. A separation force f2 generated and a friction force f3 generated in the form A are generated. Since these forces are out of balance with respect to the center of gravity G of the form A, the form A is inclined because the moment force M is generated with the center of gravity G as a fulcrum.
[0029]
On the other hand, when the document A is captured (feeded) into the apparatus using the capture rollers 3b, 3c, 4b, and 4c, the balance of the force is balanced as shown in FIG. Since no moment force M is generated in A, the form A is taken into the apparatus in a correct posture without being inclined.
[0030]
Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the same effect can be obtained even when the four intake rollers, that is, the intake rollers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and the intake rollers 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d are used. It is done.
[0031]
Moreover, the member for taking the form into the apparatus was a roller, but the member for taking the endless belt etc. conveyed by the pulley so that the outer peripheral surface is in sliding contact with the upper surface of the form. You may apply as
[0032]
Furthermore, the form reading apparatus of the present embodiment reads characters recorded on the form as image data, transmits the read image data to an external personal computer, and performs character recognition. May be added to form a form reading apparatus. The present invention can also be applied to a facsimile, a copying machine or the like that takes in and conveys documents inside the apparatus.
[0033]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0034]
As shown in FIG. 6, the form take-in device of this embodiment is provided with front take-up rollers 3 a and 3 e and rear take-in rollers 4 a and 4 e so as to be movable in the width direction of the hopper table 2. It is characterized by. Although illustration is omitted, a separator group is provided at a position facing each of the front intake rollers 3a and 3e and the rear intake rollers 4a and 4b, and these also correspond to the movement of the intake rollers. It is configured to move. Although not shown, the front intake rollers 3a and 3e, the rear intake colas 4a and 4e, and all the separators are provided with lifting mechanisms.
[0035]
In this embodiment, when taking a form into the apparatus, the take-in rollers 3a (4a) and 3e (4e) are moved to a position that is equidistant from the center of gravity G of the form to be taken in. Since the positions at which the two take-in rollers 3a (4a) and 3e (4e) are arranged at the same distance from the center of gravity G of the form in this way, moment force M with the center of gravity G as a fulcrum is not generated in the form. Therefore, the form can be taken into the apparatus in a correct posture without being inclined.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when a form is taken into the apparatus, no moment force is generated in the form, so that the form can be taken into the apparatus (feeded) in a correct posture without being inclined. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a form reading apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a form take-in mechanism provided in the form reading apparatus in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a form taking-in state when a part of mechanism control by the form taking-in mechanism in FIG. 2 is deleted;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a form taking-in state by the form taking-in mechanism in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing another form take-in mechanism different from FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a form take-in mechanism provided in a form reading apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a form take-in mechanism provided in a conventional form reading apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state of taking in a large-sized form by the form taking-in mechanism in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Form reading device 2 ... Hopper table 3 ... Front taking roller group 4 ... Back taking roller group 6 ... Separator group 13 ... CCD
A, B, C, D …… Form 22 …… Fixed guide 23 …… Movable guides 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e …… Take-in roller

Claims (2)

A form take-in device that includes a form place on which a form is placed and takes the form into the apparatus from the form place,
Three take-in rollers for taking forms into the device,
A separator provided opposite to each of the three intake rollers;
An elevating mechanism for moving each of the take-in roller and the separator between a contact position that contacts the form and a non-contact position that does not contact the form;
In the state where one or two rollers are selected from the three intake rollers, and the intake roller not selected and the separator facing the intake roller are moved to the non-contact positions, respectively. A form take-in apparatus, wherein the form is taken into the apparatus by one or two take-in rollers. A form take-in device that includes a form place on which a form is placed and takes the form into the apparatus from the form place,
A first take-in roller provided so as to be movable in the width direction of the form placement unit;
A second take-in roller provided so as to be movable in the width direction of the form placement portion;
A form take-in apparatus, wherein the first take-in roller and the second take-in roller are arranged at positions equidistant from the center of gravity of the form, and the form is taken into the apparatus.

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