Gap-control system for a paper-sheet transportation mechanism

摘要

We have developed a gap-control system that optimizes gaps between paper sheets while they are being transported between a pair of belts. The transportation mechanism handles paper sheets of various size, thickness, and texture. The variation often makes the gap width change over a long distance. Gap-width changes cause sheet jamming. The developed gap-control system estimates a gap target width by taking into account the gap-width change after the control. The transport velocity controller varies the sheet velocity in order to control the gap width. We have applied the gap-control system to a sheet transportation mechanism, and we found that it reduces the standard deviation of the gap width change by 1/3.