EP0943566B1 - Improved refillable sheet feeding magazine for a telecopier - Google Patents

Description

The field of the invention is that of office machines (fax machines, printers, etc.) with a sheet loading system (US-A-5,195,734).

A fax machine, to use this example again, has a magazine feeder to hold a pack of sheets for printing and a sheet loading system generally comprising a plurality of load rollers and a feed and support mechanism against feeder sheet feeder rollers on the top of the sheet package, so that sheet can then be loaded in the fax machine, for printing, by rotating the rollers chargers.

To replenish, reload the feed store with sheets, it is frequent that an operator introduces new sheets into the store not still empty, placing them on top of the package of remaining leaves. A such a loading operation often leads to a "paper jam", caused by the simultaneous loading of multiple sheets by the loading.

Such a malfunction forces the operator to manipulate his machine to put it back in working order, which is not only derogatory but also dangerous, the operator risking, for lack of precautions, damage the machine.

The invention aims to overcome this drawback.

To this end, the invention relates to an office machine comprising a sheet feed store, to hold a packet of sheets, and a sheet loading system arranged to load the machine into the machine sheet located on top of the supply store sheet package, characterized by the fact that it includes reloading means for reload the not yet empty food store with sheets, by underside of the package of remaining leaves.

Thanks to this, there is no longer any risk of loading several sheets at once, in the measure where the operator places the new leaves under the sheet package remaining. The loading system loading the sheets, one by one, while taking the top sheet of the package, none of the sheets newly introduced into the store is not likely to be taken in addition by the loading.

Advantageously, the sheet reloading means include a leaf picking grip arm.

Thanks to this, to reload the food store not yet empty, without risk of "stuffing" the loading system, an operator first lift the bundle of remaining leaves using the gripping arm leaf picker, before placing new leaves in the store.

Preferably, the machine comprises means for driving in moving the leaf picker gripping arm between a position of rest and a recharging position from below.

Advantageously, the means for driving the displacement arm of gripping leaf pickers are pivotally mounted.

In a particular embodiment, a protective cover is provided. of the food store, mounted movable between a functional position and a loading position, and the leaf pickup arm is secured to the hood.

Thanks to this, when an operator opens the hood to place new leaves in the magazine not yet empty, it raises the package at the same time of sheets remaining from the magazine, without additional operation, and is thus forced to reload the magazine from below the sheet package remaining.

• la figure 1 représente une vue schématique de côté d'un système de chargement et d'un magasin d'alimentation en feuilles de la forme de réalisation particulière de la machine de bureau, avant rechargement;
• la figure 2 représente une vue du système de chargement et du magasin d'alimentation de la figure 1, en cours de rechargement et
• la figure 3 représente une vue du système de chargement et du magasin d'alimentation de la figure 1, après rechargement.

The invention will be better understood using the following description of a particular embodiment of the office machine of the invention, with reference to the attached drawing in which:

• Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a loading system and a sheet feed magazine of the particular embodiment of the office machine, before reloading;
• FIG. 2 represents a view of the loading system and of the supply magazine of FIG. 1, during recharging and
• Figure 3 shows a view of the loading system and the feed store of Figure 1, after reloading.

The office machine here is a fax machine. For the sake of clarity, only elements of the facsimile machine necessary for understanding the invention will now be described.

Fax machine has 1 sheet feeder 100 and a loading system 2.

The feed tray 1, intended to contain a packet of sheets for print, includes a bottom plate 3, slightly inclined with respect to vertical, and a lower edge 4, the package of sheets placed in the magazine 1 being intended to bear against the bottom plate 3 and, on one side, against the lower edge 4.

The loading system 2 comprises a loading axis 5 supporting a plurality of loading rollers 6, a shoe 7 for pushing up the leaf pack placed in tray 1, mounted on springs on the plate bottom 3, and a support pad 8 also mounted on springs, bearing against the load rollers 6. When a package of sheets 100 is placed in the tray 1, the sheet on top of the package is taken "sandwich" between the support pad 8 and the load rollers 6, under the thrust of the thrust shoe 7. The loading system 2 is thus arranged to load the sheet on top of the package into the fax machine, driving in rotation of the load rollers 6.

The machine further comprises a cover 9 for protecting the magazine supply 1, pivotally mounted about a pivot axis 12 between a functional position and a loading position. The cover 9 includes a plate 10, mounted on the pivot axis 12, and an upper edge 11. In the functional position (Figures 1 and 3), the cover 9 covers the part upper of magazine 1, plate 10 extending substantially parallel to the bottom plate 3 and, therefore, substantially parallel to the sheets 100 of the package in the magazine, and the top edge 11 of the cover 9 covering the corresponding upper edge of the sheet package 100.

In the loading position, the cover 9 is retracted, removed from the magazine 1 by so that sheets can be fed into tray 1.

A leaf-picking gripping arm 14, intended to pick up and raise the sheets of tray 1 to allow reloading of sheets of the tray 1 not yet empty from underneath the package of leaves remaining from the magazine 1, as will be explained below, is fixed to the cover 9, along an edge side of the plate 10, and extends from the side of the supply magazine 1. The arm 14, generally substantially perpendicular to the plate 10 of the cover 9, comprises a tongue 15 integral, substantially at right angles, with the part free end of the arm 14 opposite its end of connection with the cover 9. The tongue 15 is oriented towards the inside of the cover 9 and intended to come place it under the leaf pack in tray 1, like this will be explained later.

The leaf-picking gripping arm 14 is made of flexible material and slightly elastic, so it can easily twist and then come back in its original position.

Note that the arm 14, integral with the cover 9, can be driven in displacement, under the action of the pivoting of the cover 9, between a position of rest, corresponding to the functional position of the cover 9, and a position reloading, corresponding to the loading position of the cover 9.

After the structural description of the fax machine, an operation of reloading of sheets from feed store 1 not yet empty, performed by an operator, will now be described.

Fax status just before recharging (Figure 1)

Feeder 1, not yet empty, contains a packet of sheets remaining 100 extending in a rest position against the bottom plate 3 from food store 1 and slightly pushed up, otherwise said slightly detached from the bottom plate 3, in its lower part, by the thrust shoe 7. The cover 9 is folded down on the magazine 1, in position functional, and covers the top of the sheet package 100. The leaf-picking gripping arm 14 is, in the rest position, on the side of the leaf pack 100, very close to it, and the tongue 15 is slid between the underside of the sheet package 100 and the plate bottom 3 of magazine 1, in other words between the front of the bottom sheet from the sheet package 100 and the bottom plate 3.

Reloading in sheets (Figures 2 and 3)

To reload the magazine 1 with new sheets 101, the operator raises the cover 9, by pivoting it from its functional position to its position loading and simultaneously driving in circular translation the arm of gripping leaf picker 14 from its rest position to its position reloading from below.

Under the action of the pivoting drive of the cover 9, the arm of gripping leaf picker 14 picks up, picks up, the remaining sheets 100 of tray 1, taking them from below using tab 15, and raises from the bottom plate 3 to the reload position in which the remaining sheets 100, detached from the bottom plate 3 and in part resting against the cover 9, provide a space 13 between the sheet of the bottom of the package of remaining sheets 100 and the bottom plate 3.

The operator then introduces the package of new sheets 101 into the Tray 1, necessarily sliding it between the underside of the sheet package remaining 100 and the bottom plate 3, in other words in space 13.

Finally, after placing the new 101 sheets in tray 1, the operator folds the cover 9 into the functional position, by pivoting, driving the tongue 15 in the rest position.

The leaf-collecting arm 14 being flexible and slightly elastic, the tongue 15 slides between the underside of the new packet of sheets 102, containing the old sheets 100 and the new sheets 101, and the plate bottom 3, when the cover 9 is folded down.

It will be emphasized that the leaf-collecting arm 14 collects the leaves of the Tray 1 when new leaves are introduced. The function of leaf picker therefore only intervenes during reloading, when the arm gripper leaf picker 14 is driven from its rest position to its reload position, to pick up the remaining 100 sheets of store 1.

Claims (5)

1. Office machine comprising a magazine (1) for feeding sheets (100), which magazine is intended to contain a bundle of sheets (100), and a sheet loading system (5-8) designed to load the sheet situated on the top of the bundle of sheets (100) of the feed magazine (1) into the machine, the machine being characterized in that it comprises reload means (14) for reloading the not-yet-empty feed magazine (1) with sheets (101) from the bottom of the bundle of remaining sheets (100).
2. Machine according to Claim 1, in which the sheet reload means comprise a sheet picking arm (14).
3. Machine according to Claim 2, comprising means (9) for moving the sheet-picking arm (14) between a position of rest and a position of reloading from the bottom.
4. Machine according to Claim 3 in which the means (9) for driving the sheet-picking arm (14) are pivotably mounted.
5. Machine according to one of Claims 2 to 4, in which there is a cover (9) protecting the feed magazine (1), mounted so as to move between a functional position and a loading position, and the sheet picking arm (14) is integral with the cover (9).

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