Transport device

Abstract: A transport device consists of a drive roller (1) and a follower roller (3). The medium to be transported, for example, a card (25), is inserted between the two rollers (1, 3). The follower roller (3) is able to pivot on its mountings in order to bring the medium (25) to a predetermined orientation by applying a tractive force to the medium (25).

Description: This invention relates to a planar member transport device comprising:- a) a drive roller mounted for rotation about a predetermined axis, b) a follower roller having defined within it a second axis, which follower roller is arranged to be driven by the drive roller to rotate about the second axis, and c) a mount for the follower roller, which mount permits pivoting of the second axis within a plane which is parallel to the predetermined axis between first and second positions which are skewed in mutually opposite senses relative to the predetermined axis, the pivoting being about a point which is situated asymmetrically with respect to the follower roller so that when the follower roller is driven by the drive roller and a planar member is inserted between the drive roller and the follower roller the planar member will experience a force having a component in a direction parallel to the predetermined axis, this direction being the same regardless of the direction in which the follower roller is driven. Such devices are used in the transportation of planar members, for example a sheet of metal, part of a paper roll, cardboard tickets or plastic credit cards, to feed the members into a processing equipment. Such a processing equipment then typically performs suitable processing in the case of a metal sheet, either printing or reading a mark in a particular position in the case of a ticket, or magnetically reading or encoding a magnetic stripe in the case of a credit card. In any of these cases it is necessary for the planar member to be fed into the processing equipment with a predetermined orientation relative to the equipment. Where the planar member is fed into the transport device manually the planar member may be tilted in the plane parallel to the direction of travel of the planar member, this causing erroneous printing or encoding. In U.K. Patent Application G.B. 2083933 there is described a card transport device which includes a drive roller which is pivoted such that it produces both a driving force and a lateral alignment force. The lateral alignment force is then effective to force a card inserted into the device against the reference edge. Such a device suffers the disadvantage however that the drive motor for the drive roller must also be pivoted. GB-A-2171395 discloses a device of the general kind defined in the first paragraph. In this known device the follower roller is mounted on an arm which extends away therefrom along the second axis to a bearing provided in a support member. The arm and hence the second axis is therefore pivotable about the position of the bearing, the maximum angular excusion being determined by a pair of stops. CH-A-549838 discloses a document aligning device which includes a wheel which contacts the document and which has an axis of rotation which is tilted relative to the document and which is itself rotatable about an axis which is perpendicular to the document. According to the present invention a device of the kind defined in the first paragraph is characterized in that the mount locates the follower roller at both ends and in that said mount comprises bracket means, two lugs and two apertures, each lug being mounted in a respective one of the apertures, each aperture being defined within one of the follower roller or the bracket means and the associated lug being carried on the other of the follower roller or the bracket means, one of the apertures being greater in dimension in a direction parallel to said plane than its associated lug and the other aperture so as to permit transverse movement of the associated lug in the one aperture thereby enabling the pivoting of the second axis. By virtue of the lateral force thus produced on the planar member, it is possible to introduce the card to the system without requiring critical alignment with a reference edge. One particular card transport device in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a schematic overall view of the device; Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the device; and Figure 3 is a section along the line II-II in Figure 2 shown on an enlarged scale. Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2, the device includes a drive roller 1 and a pair of follower rollers 3. Each follower roller 3 is held in spring-loaded contact with the drive roller 1 by a respective sprung follower arm 5. The follower arm 5 is attached to a support 7, only part of which is shown in the figures. The drive roller 1 is capable of rotation in either direction about a fixed axis, and is driven by a suitable rotational means, for example a drive motor and belt system (not shown). Referring now also to Figure 3, each follower roller 3 comprises an inner race 6 and an outer race 8. The inner race 6 is designed to be non rotatable and is asymmetrically mounted via respective lugs 11, 13 in respective apertures 15, 17 in respective end brackets 19, 21 of the follower arm 5. The aperture 15 is extended in the horizontal direction such that the race 6 is effective to pivot about the lug 13 in the horizontal plane. This mounting arrangement allows the follower roller 3 to have a variable axis of rotation, the extremes of which are indicated by the lines 23, 24 and are dictated by the width of aperture 15 in which lug 11 is mounted. The inner race 6 is separated from the rotatable outer race 8 by means of a rolling element ball bearing 9, the outer race 8 being driven by the drive roller 1. During operation of the device, a planer member 25, for example, a ticket or a credit card, is inserted between the drive roller 1 and the pair of follower rollers 3. Because each follower roller 3 is spring-loaded against the drive roller 1, the card 25 is held between the drive roller and the two follower rollers and pulled through the device by the rotation of the drive roller 1. The movement of the card 25 causes rotation of the outer race 8 of the follower rollers 3. As the mounting arrangement employed within each follower roller 3 enables the axis of rotation of the follower rollers 3 to vary between the positions indicated by 23 and 24, the axis of rotation of roller 3 will be generally parallel to, but lie along a different direction to the axis of rotation of the drive roller 1. The sense of the inclination will be determined by the direction of rotation of drive roller 1. It will be seen that as a result of the translational movement of the lug within the aperture 15 the spring loaded arm 5 tends to twist so as to maintain true rolling contact of the follower roller 3 with either the drive roller 1 or the card 25. It will be appreciated that the tractive force applied to the card 25 thus has a component in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 3, i.e. parallel with the axis of rotation of the drive roller 1. Hence the card is forced into a predetermined orientation with respect to the transport device, thus enabling suitable processing, such as printing to be carried out. It will be seen that this transverse force will be in the same direction and equal in magnitude irrespective of the direction of rotation of drive roller 1, and hence the direction of rotation of follower roller 3. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any suitable material may be employed for construction of both the drive and follower rollers. It will further be appreciated that any suitable means may be employed for the bearing mechanism, a rolling element ball bearing being shown only as an example. It will also be appreciated that whilst it is particularly convenient for the follower roller to comprise a rotatable outer race, and a non-rotatable inner race, in some transports in accordance with the invention the follower roller may comprise a roller which is rotatably pivoted about its central axis. In such circumstances, however, it will be necessary to provide a suitable bearing means between the part of the follower roller which co-operates with the supporting bracket, and the bracket, the bearing means permitting the necessary translational movement to allow the variation of the direction of axis of rotation of the follower roller. A fluid bearing might be appropriate in such circumstances. It will also be apparent that during operation several such devices may be employed, for example, in sets of pairs situated side by side in order to allow the card inserted between the rollers to travel some distance inside a machine. It will also be appreciated that whilst two or more follower rollers driven by a single drive roller enable a relatively large planar member to be transported by a device incorporating relatively small follower rollers, a device in accordance with the invention may incorporate a single follower roller.

Claims: A planar member transport device comprising:- a) a drive roller (1) mounted for rotation about a predetermined axis, b) a follower roller (3) having defined within it a second axis, which follower roller (3) is arranged to be driven by the drive roller (1) to rotate about the second axis, and c) a mount (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) for the follower roller (3), which mount (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) permits pivoting of the second axis within a plane which is parallel to the predetermined axis between first and second positions (23, 24) which are skewed in mutually opposite senses relative to the predetermined axis, the pivoting being about a point which is situated asymmetrically with respect to the follower roller (3) so that when the follower roller (3) is driven by the drive roller (1) and a planar member (25) is inserted between the drive roller (1) and the follower roller (3) the planar member (25) will experience a force having a component in a direction parallel to the predetermined axis, this direction being the same regardless of the direction in which the follower roller (3) is driven, characterized in that the mount (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) locates the follower roller (3) at both ends and in that said mount comprises bracket means (19, 21), two lugs (11, 13) and two apertures (15, 17), each lug (11 or 13) being mounted in a respective one (15 or 17) of the apertures, each aperture (15 or 17) being defined within one of the follower roller (3) or the bracket means (19, 21) and the associated lug (11 or 13) being carried on the other of the follower roller (3) or the bracket means (19, 21), one of the apertures (15) being greater in dimension in a direction parallel to said plane than its associated lug (11) and the other aperture (17) so as to permit transverse movement of the associated lug (11) in the one aperture (15) thereby enabling the pivoting of the second axis. A transport device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the follower roller (3) has a periphery which is convex and arcuate in a plane containing the second axis of rotation and wherein the mount (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) is carried on a sprung follower arm (5) which urges the follower roller (3) against the drive roller (1) and is capable of undergoing torsion so as to maintain rolling contact of the follower roller (3) with the drive roller (1) or the planar member (25). A transport device as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the follower roller (3) comprises an outer race (8) which is arranged to be driven by the driver roller (1), and a pivoted inner race (6), the two races (8, 6) being separated by a bearing means (9). A transport device as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the bearing means (9) comprises a rolling element ball bearing. A transport device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the drive roller is arranged to drive a plurality of such follower rollers (3) provided with corresponding such mounts (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21).

Inventors: DYKES NORMAN ALAN, DYKES, NORMAN ALAN
Applicants: THORN TRANSIT SYSTEMS INT, THORN TRANSIT SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G06K13
IPC codes: B65H5