JPH0626985B2 - Automatic paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeder for automatically supplying a medium such as a cut sheet to a terminal device such as a printer.

(Prior Art) As a device for automatically supplying a medium to a terminal device such as a printer, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-218238. In the case of this type of apparatus, when feeding media of different sizes, separate hoppers are provided for the respective sizes of the media, and the media are stored in these hoppers for feeding.

A conventional automatic sheet feeder will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view showing a conventional automatic sheet feeder.

A hopper 3 accommodating and accumulating the media 2 is attached to the automatic paper feeder 1. A printer 4 is arranged above the automatic paper feeder 1. A paper feed roller 5 is arranged above the hopper 3, and a feed roller 6 is attached inside the apparatus. A spring 7 is attached to the lower portion of the medium 2. Next to the automatic paper feeder 1 and the printer 4, a hopper storage 9 is arranged for storing a dedicated hopper 8 for storing unused media of respective sizes.

Next, the operation will be described. The medium 2 accumulated and stored in the hopper 3 is pressed against the paper feed roller 6 by the spring 7. When the sheet feeding roller 5 is rotated in the direction of arrow G by a driving unit (not shown), the medium 2 is fed one by one from the top. The medium 2 that has started feeding is sent to the printer 4 via the feed roller 6.

When the printer 4 wants to print a medium having a different size from the medium 2 accumulated and stored in the hopper 3, the hopper 3 is pulled out from the automatic paper feeding device 1 and the hopper 8 in which the medium of a desired size is stored. Is pulled out from the hopper storage 9 and is attached to the automatic paper feeder 1 to feed paper to the printer 4.
The hopper 3 extracted from the automatic paper feeder 1 is stored in the hopper storage 9. The size of the medium newly loaded in the automatic paper feeder 1 is instructed to the printer 4 by an operator's operation.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the apparatus having the above configuration, a dedicated hopper must be provided for each medium having a different size. Further, since only one hopper can be attached to the automatic paper feeder, a separate storage space or storage space is required for a plurality of hoppers for storing unused media. Therefore, since the unused hopper has to be placed in the immediate vicinity of the automatic paper feeder, there is a problem that a large space is required to install the device.

In addition, a plurality of dedicated hoppers for accommodating media of different sizes are required, and if a hopper storage is provided on top of that, the number of constituent parts of the automatic paper feeder increases and the cost of the apparatus increases.

Further, since an instruction of the medium size to the printer or the like is given by an operator's operation, an instruction mistake is likely to occur. There is also a problem that the medium is wasted because printing has to be redone when an instruction error occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide an inexpensive automatic feeder having a small installation area and excellent operability.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to an automatic paper feeding device for feeding a plurality of types of media having different sizes in a single hopper for feeding. A plurality of types of media having different sizes are stacked on a flat bottom plate, and the other end is rotated around an axis provided at one end so that the stacked media is located above the other end. A medium stacking plate that is brought into contact with or separated from the hopping roller and a bottom plate portion of the medium stacking plate that is movably and lockably mounted, and positions the medium stacked on the medium stacking plate according to their respective sizes. A medium rear end face guide assembly, a detection lever rotatably attached to the bottom plate of the hopper, and the medium rear end face in a state where the other end of the medium stacking plate is separated from a hopping roller and is close to the bottom plate of the hopper. guide The medium and the detection lever are engaged with each other, the detection lever is rotated along with the movement of the guide assembly, and the medium rear end face guide assembly is arranged with the other end of the medium stacking plate separated from the bottom plate of the hopper. And the detection lever, the engagement means capable of being disengaged from each other, the releasable holding means for holding the detection lever in a position corresponding to the position where the medium rear end surface guide assembly is locked, and the detection lever A detection unit is provided at a position corresponding to each position held by the holding unit, and is provided with a detection unit that outputs an electrical signal by detecting the position of the tip of the detection lever. is there.

(Operation) In the present invention based on the above configuration, first, the hopper is pulled out of the apparatus from the main body of the automatic paper feeder, and then the medium stacking plate in the hopper is rotated in a predetermined direction and lowered. At this time, the holding means for holding the detection lever in position is released. Next, the medium is stored in the medium stacking plate, and the medium rear end face guide assembly is moved according to the size of the medium. The medium rear end face guide assembly is locked at a position corresponding to the size of the medium to position the medium. As the medium rear end face guide assembly moves, the detecting lever that engages with the medium rear end face guide assembly is rotated by the engaging means. At the rotated position, the detection lever is held in position by the engaging means and the holding means. The detection lever operates the detection means at the rotated position to detect the size of the medium.

(Embodiment) An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Elements common to the drawings are given the same reference numerals.

First, the configuration of the first embodiment of the automatic paper feeder according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a first embodiment of an automatic paper feeder according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing an automatic paper feeder and a printer according to the present invention, and FIG. Two
It is the side view seen from the arrow I direction of a figure.

In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the printer 4 is placed on the upper part of the automatic paper feeder 11. The automatic paper feeder 11 is composed of a hopper 12 and a frame 13. A hopping roller 14 and a medium discharge guide 15 are arranged above the hopper 12, and the hopping roller 14 is rotated by a motor (not shown) mounted in the frame 13 via a shaft 16. Further, the hopper 12 can be pulled out from the automatic paper feeder 11 in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG.

Next, the internal structure of the hopper 12 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. A medium loading plate 17 is provided in the hopper 12.
Is rotatably mounted about a point 18 as a fulcrum. In this embodiment, the left side of the medium stacking plate 17 in FIG. 2 is the front and the right side is the rear. Notches 19 are provided on both sides of the bottom plate portion of the medium stacking plate 17 having a flat bottom plate portion. The side plates 20a and 20b are the hopper 1
The medium stacking plate 17 is sandwiched between the second bottom plate 21 and the bottom plate 21, and the notch 19 of the medium stacking plate 17 is engaged with the medium so as to move in the opposite direction. Separation claws 22a and 22b are rotatably attached to the upper portion of the side plate 20 by screws 23, and guide blocks 24a and 24b are attached to the front ends thereof. Separation claw 2
2a and 22b are provided with slits 25a and 25b,
The slits 25a, 25b and the guide block 24a,
The protrusions 26a and 26b of 24b are engaged with each other.

A pair of flanges 27a and 27b are formed in front of the medium stacking plate 17, and oval holes 28a and 28b are provided in the pair of flanges 27a and 27b, respectively. A shaft 29 is slidably fitted in the oval holes 28a and 28b, and a reset arm 31 supported by a shaft 30 is attached to both ends of the shaft 29. The shaft 30 is supported by the hopper frame 32. A pair of coil springs 33a and 33b are provided on the lower front portion of the medium stacking plate 17 to push the medium stacking plate 17 upward.

Further, a cutout 34 is provided behind the medium stacking plate 17,
Further, a guide bracket 35 is attached so as to cover the notch 34 from below. The guide bracket 35 includes a pair of left and right slits 36a, 36b and 37.
a and 37b are provided respectively, and a guide rail 38 is formed substantially at the center. A slide block 39 is attached between the medium stacking plate 17 and the guide bracket 35, and a groove 40 provided at a substantially central portion of the slide block 39 is fitted to the guide rail 38 so as to be in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. It can be slid on. A leaf spring 41 is attached to a side surface of the slide block 39, and the leaf spring 41 is provided on both sides of the slide block 39 with a convex portion 42.
A and 42b are provided and a bias force is applied. A guide plate 43 having a surface perpendicular to the sliding direction is attached to the slide block 39, and the slide block 39, the leaf spring 41 and the guide plate 43 constitute a medium rear end face guide assembly 44.

The convex portions 42a and 42b of the leaf spring 41 are the guide bracket 3
5 is configured so that it can be fitted into the slits 36a, 36b and 37a, 37b, and the medium rear end face guide assembly 44 is biased by the leaf spring 41 in a state in which the convex portions 42a, 42b are fitted in the slits 36a, 36b and 37a, 37b. However, the medium rear end face guide assembly 44 can be manually moved. In addition, the leaf spring 41
The protrusions 42a, 42b of the guide bracket 35 are fitted into the slits 36a, 36b and 37a, 37b of the guide bracket 35 such that the distance between the guide plate 43 and the tip of the medium stacking plate 17 is a fixed length such as A4, B5. It is set to the position.

The slide block 39 is provided with an oval hole 45 whose longitudinal direction is a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction. Further, a detection lever 46 is provided as a fulcrum 47 on the bottom plate 21 of the hopper 12.
It is attached so as to be rotatable around. Detection lever 46
A pilot pin 48 that can be fitted into the oval hole 45 of the slide block 39 is attached to one end of the, and a flat surface portion 49 is attached to the other end. Here, according to FIG. 4, the detection lever 4
6 will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a detection lever according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

A flat wall 50 is formed on the detection lever 46. The sub-lever 51 is fixed to the detection lever 46, and both the sub-lever 51 and the detection lever 46 are supported by the fulcrum 47.
It is designed to be attached to the second bottom plate 21. The flat wall 50 is attached to the slit 52 provided on the sub lever 51.
When the detection lever 46 rotates, the sub lever 5
1 is also configured to rotate. The sub-lever 51 is formed of an elastic member that can be vertically distorted, and has a horizontal portion 53 in the center.
have.

In FIG. 1, the detection lever 46 and the sub-lever 51
A holding plate 54 is attached to the bottom plate 21 of the hopper 12 so as to straddle the hopper 12. The holding plate 54 is formed with recesses 55 and 56 as many as the number of slits 36a and 36b and 37a and 37b of the guide bracket 35, and the width thereof is slightly longer than the width of the horizontal portion 53 of the sub-lever 51.
The height of the pilot pin 48 of the detection lever 46 and the holding plate 5
The mounting height of the recesses 55 and 56 of the sub-portion 4 from the bottom plate 21 is such that the horizontal portion of the sub-lever 51 before the pilot pin 48 comes out of the oval hole 45 of the slide block 39 when the medium stacking plate 17 rotates in the arrow C direction. 53 is the recess 5 of the holding plate 54
The positional relationship is set so as to engage with 5, 56.

A plurality of micro switches 57 and 58 are arranged at positions contacting the flat surface portion 49 of the detection lever 46. The micro switches 57 and 58 are attached to the frame 13 side shown in FIG.
The same number as 6 is provided. The slits 36a, 36b and 37a, 37b, the recesses 55, 56, and the microswitches 57, 58 are arranged in a straight line. These oval holes 45, detection levers 46, sub-lever 5
1, the holding plate 54 and the microswitches 57 and 58 constitute a medium size detection mechanism 59.

Next, the operation will be further described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the operation of the medium size detection mechanism of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line HH of FIG.

To set the medium 2, the hopper 12 is pulled out from the device 11 in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. The medium loading plate 17
When the medium 2 is not loaded on the separation claws 22a, 2a
2b is rotated about the screw 23 in the direction of arrow D by natural fall, and the upper ends of the slits 25a, 25b are hooked by the protrusions 26a, 26b of the guide blocks 24a, 24b. The hopping roller 14 does not get in the way when pulling out. Next, the shaft 30 is rotated in the arrow E direction by a lever (not shown). The medium stacking plate 17 rotates in the direction of arrow E through the reset arm 31, the shaft 29, and the flanges 27a and 27b and descends.

As the medium stacking plate 17 descends, the pilot pin 48 of the detection lever 46 fits into the oval hole 45 of the slide block 39. At the same time, the sub-lever 51 attached to the detection lever 46 is urged downward as shown by the solid line in FIG. At this time, the horizontal portion 53 of the sub-lever 51 has the holding plate 54.
It is released from the concave portion 56.

A case in which a small-sized medium is stored and fed in the pulled-out hopper 12 will be described. First, the medium rear end face guide assembly 44 is manually moved in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. The convex portions 42a, 42b of the leaf spring 41 are released from the slits 37a, 37b of the guide bracket 35, slide on the side surfaces of the guide bracket 35, and are fitted into the slits 36a, 36b corresponding to the length of the medium 2. The medium rear end face guide assembly 44 is locked at this position. Further, with the movement of the medium rear end surface guide assembly 44, the detection lever 46 also rotates from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 around the fulcrum 47 to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line. Here, the medium 2 is set on the medium stacking plate 17. Medium loading plate 1
Since the distance between the tip of 7 and the guide plate 43 is the same as the length of the medium 2 in one direction, the medium is positioned without shifting. In this state, the hopper 12 is pushed back into the device 11. At this time, the flat surface portion 4 attached to the detection lever 46
9 contacts a corresponding micro switch 58 mounted in the frame 13 to operate the micro switch 58. Thus, the size of the medium 2 set is detected and the size of the medium 2 is notified to the printer 4.

After returning the hopper 12 into the apparatus 11, the shaft 30 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow E by a lever (not shown). Then, the medium loading plate 17 is rotated about the fulcrum 18 in the arrow C direction by the urging force of the pair of coil springs 33a and 33b attached to the lower front portion of the medium loading plate 17. The media stacking plate 17 presses the hopping roller 14 at the top of the stacked media 2. At this time, the separation claws 22a, 22b
Is pushed up by the medium 2 and the guide blocks 24a, 2a
4b is hooked on the protrusions 26a and 26b, respectively. As a result, the medium 2 can be fed, and the hopping roller 14
Is rotated in a predetermined direction, the mediums 2 are fed to the printer 4 one by one from the top through the medium feeding path 15.

As the number of the media 2 in the hopper 12 decreases as the paper feeding continues, the medium loading plate 17 moves toward the coil spring 33.
It is gradually pushed upward by a and 33b. When the medium stacking plate 17 is pushed up, the sub-lever 51 attached to the detection lever 46 enters the state shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6, and the horizontal portion 53 engages with the recess 55 of the holding plate 54. When the medium stacking plate 17 is further pushed up, the pilot pin 48 attached to the detection lever 46 comes out from the oval hole 45 of the slide block 39. Sub lever 5
The position of the detection lever 46 is held by engaging the horizontal portion 53 of No. 1 with the concave portion 55 of the holding portion 54. Therefore, when the medium stacking plate 17 descends again, the pilot pin 4
8 and the oval hole 45 of the slide block 39 can be fitted.

A second embodiment of the medium size detection mechanism according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the detection lever according to the present invention.

The detection lever 61 is formed of an elastic member and has a fulcrum 47.
In the above, it is rotatably attached to the bottom plate 21 of the hopper 12, the pilot pin 48 is attached to one end, and the flat surface portion 49 is attached to the other end. Further, the detection lever 61 is formed with a convex portion 62 that protrudes toward the bottom plate 21 side of the hopper 12. The bottom plate 21 of the hopper 12 is provided with openings 63 and 64 on the same arc as the projection 62 centered on the fulcrum 47. The positions of the openings 63 and 64 are set to the convex portions 42a and 4a of the leaf spring 41 of the medium rear end face guide assembly 44.
2b are slits 36a and 36b of the guide bracket 35
And the detection lever 61 when fitted into 37a and 37b.
The convex portion 62 is set to fit into the openings 63 and 64.

In the medium size detecting mechanism as described above, when the medium 2 is set in the hopper 12, first, when the medium stacking plate 17 is lowered, the small companion hole 45 of the slide block 39 and the pilot pin 48 of the detection lever 61 are fitted. When the slide block 39 is moved according to the type of the medium 2, the detection lever 61 also rotates around the fulcrum 47 accordingly. When the set medium 2 is moved to the standard length, the protrusion 62 of the detection lever 61 fits into the opening 63 or 64. Since the detection lever 61 is formed by an elastic member that is vertically distorted, a biasing force acts in the direction of the bottom plate of the hopper 12,
In this state, the detection lever 61 is held.

Even if the detection lever is constructed in this way, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the sub-lever and the holding plate are not required as compared with the first embodiment, so that the structure is further simplified. There is also the effect of becoming.

A third embodiment of the medium size detecting mechanism according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the detection lever according to the present invention.

The detection lever 71 is formed of a magnetic material, and is attached to the bottom plate 21 of the hopper 12 so as to be rotatable around a fulcrum 47.
The bottom plate 21 of the hopper 12 has a plurality of magnets 72,
73 is arranged at a predetermined position. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the second embodiment, and therefore their explanations are omitted.

It goes without saying that the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be obtained even with the above configuration. The second
There is also an effect that the structure is further simplified as compared with the embodiment.

The detection lever holding means according to the present invention may be manually rotated by adjusting the detection lever in addition to the above-described embodiment, but may be held so as not to easily move due to vibration of the device. . This further simplifies the structure of the holding means.

(Effect of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a single hopper can store and feed a plurality of types of media, and it is not necessary to provide a hopper for each type of media. Therefore, there is an effect that the installation space of the device is small and an inexpensive device can be provided.

Further, since the medium rear end face guide assembly can be moved with respect to the medium stacking plate and can be locked, positioning can be performed corresponding to the size of each type of medium, and stable medium feeding can be performed. .

Further, since the size of the medium set in the hopper is configured such that the medium rear end face guide assembly attached to the medium stacking plate formed on the flat surface and the detection lever are engaged or disengaged, the size of the set medium is set. Can be automatically detected, eliminating operator error.
Therefore, there is an effect that the medium is not wasted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a first embodiment of an automatic paper feeder according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing an automatic paper feeder and a printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 arrow I
FIG. 4 is a side view seen from the direction, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the detection lever of the first embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a partial cutaway showing the first embodiment of the medium size detection mechanism according to the present invention. Plan view,
6 is a sectional view taken along line HH in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the detection lever according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a third embodiment of the detection lever according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view showing a conventional automatic sheet feeder. 17: Medium loading plate, 39: Slide block, 44
...... Media rear end face guide assembly, 45 …… Oval hole,
46 ... Detection lever, 48 ... Pilot pin, 51 ...
... Sub lever, 54 ... Holding plate, 57, 58 ... Micro switch.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Katsumasa Takahata 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-60-242139 (JP, A) JP-A 59-39629 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic paper feeder for feeding a plurality of types of media having different sizes in a single hopper for feeding, and a bottom plate having a plurality of types of media of different sizes formed on a flat surface. A medium stacking plate that stacks the medium on the other end and rotates the other end around a shaft provided at one end to bring the stacked medium into contact with or away from a hopping roller located above the other end; A medium rear end face guide assembly that is movably and lockably attached to the bottom plate portion of the plate and positions the medium loaded on the medium loading plate according to each size, and is rotatably attached to the bottom plate of the hopper. And the detection lever and the other end of the medium stacking plate are separated from the hopping roller and are close to the bottom plate of the hopper, the medium rear end face guide assembly and the detection lever are engaged with each other to guide the guide assembly. The detection lever is rotated with the movement of the assembly, and the engagement between the medium rear end face guide assembly and the detection lever can be released with the other end of the medium stacking plate separated from the bottom plate of the hopper. Engaging means, releasable holding means for holding the detection lever in a position corresponding to the position where the medium rear end surface guide assembly is locked, and respective positions where the detection lever is held by the holding means An automatic sheet feeding device, characterized in that a detection unit is provided at a position where the detection lever is provided, and a detection unit that outputs an electric signal by detecting the position of the tip of the detection lever.