JP2000177875A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively provide a paper feeder feeding a various kinds of sheets one by one. SOLUTION: The width of a guide part 64 formed in the upstream side of a holder 54 is set to more than the with of an envelope 39 so that, if the bending process of a flap 61 is incomplete, the end 63 of the envelope 39 is prevented from being caught by a shoot 43 because it 39 is in no contact with the shoot 43. The width of a separation member 56 is set shorter than the width of the envelope 39 so that the envelope can be fed without being caught its end 63 by the separation member, because the end 63 of the envelop 39 is prevented from sliding the separation member 56. The end face of the outside of a core roll is set to inside of the end face of the separation member 56 so that the separation member 56 can enlarge the pressing force of the separation member 56 pressurizing the core roll and pressurize the core roll positioned adjacent to the both ends of the sheet material, thereby exhibiting superior balance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG.
Above the resin loading table 80 on which (A) is loaded), a paper feed roll 82 that feeds the sheet material P that comes into contact is fixed to a rotating shaft 84. A core roll 86 is rotatably supported on both sides of the paper feed roll 82, and
When 0 jumps upward, the upper surface of the sheet material P is positioned.

On the other hand, a chute 85 projecting upward toward a feed roll (not shown) is formed at the leading end of the loading table 80 to guide the sheet material P to a paper feed roll 82 and to form a sheet on the surface. A plurality of sheet materials P are not fed by frictional force.

However, although there is no problem with the ordinary sheet material P, when thin paper such as tracing paper is fed, a plurality of sheets may be fed at one time.

For this reason, a separating member 88 having a higher coefficient of friction than the chute 85 is disposed at the center of the chute 85 to further separate the tracing paper to prevent double feeding.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-212637, a sheet material P having a strong stiffness
Guide member 9 on the upstream side of the separating member 88.
0 is provided so as to be guided to the separating member 88.

With such a configuration, it is possible to feed various types of sheet materials from thin paper such as tracing paper to thick paper such as envelopes and postcards.

However, in recent years, in shipping envelopes overseas, when the temperature and humidity are not sufficiently controlled, the envelope absorbs water, curls the leading end, and the folding process of the envelope flap is incomplete. Lots with peeled edge glue can now be seen.

However, as shown in FIG. 10, when the leading end 96 of the envelope 97 is curled downward with respect to the sheet feeding direction (the direction of arrow A), the stiffness of the curled portion is further increased, and the guide member is hardened. If you try to guide the envelope 97 at 90,
Both ends of the distal end portion 96 were caught on the surface of the chute 85, resulting in a paper feed failure. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, when the folding process of the flap portion 92 of the envelope 98 is incomplete, the stiffness of the portion where the folding process is incomplete is further increased, and the end portion 94 is attached to the separating member 88. Paper could not be caught and fed.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive sheet feeder capable of feeding various types of sheet materials one by one in view of the above facts.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in cooperation with a sheet feeding means for feeding a sheet material to be brought into contact,
A separating member for preventing a plurality of sheets from being fed is provided. The sheet member is guided to the separating member by the guide member, and the width of the guide member is equal to or larger than the width of the sheet member.

[0012] Therefore, since both ends of the sheet material do not protrude from the guide member, the leading end of the sheet material is curled downward with respect to the sheet feeding direction, or the folding process of the flap portion is incomplete. Thus, even when the end portion has peeled off, the sheet material can be reliably guided to the separating member.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the guide member is formed of a low friction member.

For this reason, for example, by changing the material of the guide member from resin to metal, the coefficient of friction is reduced, and the sheet material is less likely to be caught when guided to the separating member.
The guiding performance of the sheet material is improved, and the wear resistance is also improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the width of the separating member is shorter than the width of the sheet material.

[0016] Therefore, even if the folding process of the flap portion of the envelope is incomplete and the glue at the end is peeled off, the end of the envelope does not come into contact with the separating member, so that the envelope can be supplied without being caught by the separating member. Paper.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the rotating shaft includes:
The paper feed roll is fixed, and feeds the abutting sheet material. A pair of core rolls are rotatably supported on the rotating shaft. The outer end face of the core roll is set to be inside the end face of the separating roll.

[0018] For this reason, the entire width of the core roll comes into contact with the separating member, so that the pressing force of the separating member pressing the core roll can be increased, and the separating member presses the core rolls located near both ends of the sheet material. Therefore, the balance is good. Therefore, the performance of separating the sheet material to be fed from the other sheet material P is stable, and thin paper such as tracing paper is not double fed.

[0019]

1 and 2 show an image forming apparatus 10 provided with a manual sheet feeder 12 according to the present embodiment.
It is shown. The sheet material P fed from the sheet material feeding device 12 by the sheet feed roll 14 is nipped and conveyed by the feed roll 16. The sheet material P includes a photosensitive drum 18
Is transferred.

This toner image is formed by attaching toner to a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 18 by laser light scanned by the optical scanning device 15. The sheet material P to which the toner image has been transferred is heat-fixed by a fixing device 23 composed of a pressure roll 20 and a heating roll 22, and is discharged onto a tray from a sheet discharge port 26 by a discharge roll 24.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
8 is rotatably supported.

The left end of the rotating shaft 28 has
The driven gear 30 is fixed, and the toothless portion 30
A is formed. The driven gear 30 can be meshed with a drive gear 36 which is always rotated in the direction of arrow B by a motor (not shown). However, where the toothless portion 30A faces the drive gear 36, the drive gear 36 meshes with the drive gear 36. Is released, and the driven gear 30 becomes freely rotatable.

A locking pin 3 is provided on the side of the driven gear 30.
2, one end of a tension spring 34 for urging the driven gear 30 in the direction of arrow C is hooked. The driven gear 30 is pulled by the tension spring 34 so as to rotate in the direction of arrow A.

Further, the driven gear 30 is provided with a boss 38 integrally therewith.
8A is formed so as to protrude. This locking portion 38
A is located above a solenoid 40 located adjacent to the boss 38.

A movable plate 42 is provided on the top surface of the solenoid 40 so as to be vertically rotatable. On the boss side of the movable plate 42, a protruding portion 42A protrudes upward and can be engaged with the locking portion 38A.

Therefore, before the paper feed signal is output (when the solenoid 40 is OFF), the leading end 4 of the movable plate 42
2A is rotated upward, engages with an engagement portion 38A formed on the boss 38, and locks the driven gear 30.
At this time, the toothless portion 30A faces the driving gear 36, and the driving force of the driving gear 36 is not transmitted to the driven gear 30.

Next, when a paper feed signal is output (the solenoid 40 is in the ON state), the distal end portion 42A of the movable plate 42 rotates downward, and the engagement of the boss 38 with the locking portion 38A is released. Is done. As a result, the driven gear 30 rotates in the direction of arrow A due to the tensile stress applied to the tension spring 34 in the direction of arrow C, meshes with the driving gear 36, and the driving force is reduced.
And the rotation shaft 28 rotates in the A direction.

On the other hand, below the rotating shaft 28, a sheet material P
A loading table 44 made of plastic on which is mounted is disposed. One end of a pair of coil springs 46 is in contact with the back surface on the tip end side of the loading table 44, and the other end is in contact with the base 48. The coil spring 46 urges the back surface of the loading table 44 to press the leading end of the loading table 44 toward the rotating shaft 28.

Further, L-shaped flanges 44A protrude upward from both ends of the loading table 44, respectively.
Above the flange 44A, a substantially fan-shaped cam plate 50 is arranged.

The cam plate 50 is fixed to the rotating shaft 28. When the cam plate 50 is positioned below by the rotation of the rotating shaft 28, the cam plate 50 comes into contact with the flange 44A and pushes the loading table 44 downward.

In the center of the rotating shaft 28, a sheet material P
Is fixed.
Further, a pair of disk-shaped core rolls 52 are rotatably supported on both sides of the paper feed roll 14, and are also movable in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 28. The core roll 52 is slightly smaller in diameter than the paper feed roll 14 and
When 4 jumps upward, the upper surface of the sheet material P is positioned.

On the other hand, a chute 43 projecting upward toward the feed roll 16 (see FIG. 1) is provided at the leading end of the loading table 44.
And guides the fed sheet material P to the feed roll 16. A plurality of ribs 47 are formed on the surface of the chute 43 along the sheet feeding direction of the sheet material P. Therefore, the sheet material P does not adhere to the surface of the chute 43.

As shown in FIG. 4, a rectangular hole 49 is formed in the center of the chute 43. In this hole 49, a holder 54 can be arranged.
The holder 54 has a rectangular plate shape made of resin.
The size is such that it can be inserted into the hole 49.

At both ends of the holder 54, shaft portions 65 are provided. The shaft portion 65 is large enough to pass through a cutout portion 49A formed in the hole portion 49, passes through the cutout portion 49A, and is supported by a bearing (not shown).
Therefore, the holder 54 is rotatable about the shaft 65.

As shown in FIG. 3, one end of a coil spring 57 is in contact with the back surface of the holder 54, and the other end is supported by a pedestal 59 of the main body. For this reason, the holder 54 is rotated around the shaft 65 toward the paper feed roll 14 by the urging force of the coil spring 57, and a separating member 56 described below is brought into contact with the core roll 52 (see FIG. 2). I have.

Further, a guide portion 64 having a gentle curve is formed on the upstream side of the holder 54, and a thin SUS plate 71 is integrally attached to the guide portion 64 in conformity with the curved surface. Have been. For this reason, when the sheet material P is guided, there is little snagging, the guiding performance of the sheet material P is improved, and the wear resistance is also improved.

On the upper surface of the holder 54, a rectangular flat separating member 56 is adhered along the longitudinal direction. The upper surface of the separating member 56 is lower than the upper end of the SUS plate 71. For this reason, the sheet material P passing through the SUS plate 71 is always guided to the separating member 56.

The separating member 56 is made of foamed urethane, rubber, or the like, and has a higher surface friction coefficient than the friction coefficient between the sheet materials P. On the other hand, paper feed roll 1
The coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of No. 4 is larger than the coefficient of friction of the separating member 56.

For this reason, the back surface of the sheet material P is
6, the sheet material P is fed by the paper supply roll 14 because the frictional force with the paper supply roll 14 is larger even when the paper material P contacts the paper material 6. However, when a plurality of sheet materials P are fed, the sheet feeding roll 14 does not directly contact the sheet materials P other than the uppermost stage, so that
By the loosening member 56 having a higher surface friction coefficient than the friction coefficient between the sheet materials P, the leading end of the lower sheet material P is stopped, and the double feeding of the sheet material P is prevented.

Here, there are many types of sheet materials P, for example, Monarch envelope (width: 98.4 mm), Com
-10 envelope (width 104.8 mm), DL envelope (width 1
10 mm), postcards (width 100 mm), and Western-style No. 4 envelopes (width 105 mm). For this reason, the width of the guide portion 64 (the direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction) is set to 110 mm or more,
It is larger than the width of the envelope.

As described above, particularly in the case of a sheet material P having a strong stiffness such as an envelope, the width of the guide portion 64 is set to be equal to or larger than the width of the envelope.
Even if the leading end 41 of the envelope 37 curls downward with respect to the sheet feeding direction (the direction of arrow B), the leading end 41 does not come into contact with the left and right chutes 43, so that the envelope 37 is not caught by the chutes 43. Can be guided to the separating member 56.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, even when the folding process of the flap portion 61 is incomplete and the glue of the end portion 63 is peeled off, the end portion 63 of the envelope 39 does not contact the chute 43. Therefore, it does not get caught on the chute 43.

Here, it is not necessary that the width of the guide portion 64 be set to be equal to or larger than the width of the sheet material P for all the sheet materials P including thin paper such as tracing paper.

On the other hand, the width of the separating member 56 is set shorter than the width of the envelope 39, and is 88 mm here. Therefore, for example, when the Monarch envelope passes through the separating member 56, the width of the Monarch envelope becomes 9
8.4 mm, so the end 63 of the Monarch envelope
In this case, the separating member 56 does not slide.

As described above, the width of the separating member 56 is
Is smaller than the width, the end 63 of the envelope 39 does not slide on the separating member 56, so that the end 63 of the envelope 39 is fed without being caught by the separating member 56.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Is the distance L2 between the end faces outside the core roll 52.
It is slightly longer than the end face of the core roll 52 and is set to be inside the end face of the separating member 56.

For this reason, since the entire width of the core roll 52 abuts on the separating member 56, the separating member 56
Can be increased, and since the separating member 56 presses the core roll 52 located near both ends of the sheet material P, the balance is good. Therefore, the performance of separating the sheet material P to be fed from another sheet material P is stable, and thin paper such as tracing paper is not double fed.

The outer end face of the core roll 52 is desirably flush with the end face of the separating member 56. Thereby, in a state where the separation distance of the core roll 52 is maximized,
Since the entire width of the core roll 52 abuts the separating member 56,
The pressing force with which the separating member 56 presses the core roll 52 is maximized.

Next, the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus according to this embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the solenoid 40 is
In the state of F, the cam plate 50 is in contact with the flange 44A of the loading table 44 and presses the loading table 44 downward.

Next, when a feed signal is output, the solenoid 40 is turned on, the rotating shaft 28 rotates, the cam plate 50 is separated from the flange 44A of the loading table 44, and the loading table 44 is moved downward. Is released.

For this reason, the loading table 44 rotates upward,
The sheet material (not shown) contacts the core roll 52, and the core roll 52 positions the upper surface of the sheet material.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Of the sheet material P comes into contact with the sheet material P, and the sheet feeding roll 14 starts feeding the sheet material P. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, even if the distal end portion 41 of the envelope 37 is curled downward, the envelope 37 does not catch on the side end of the guide member 54, so that the envelope 37 is Handling member 56
Guide to

Then, the paper feed roll 14 is placed on the uppermost envelope 3.
Only the sheet 7 is fed, and the rest is separated by the separating member 56 to prevent the trailing movement (see FIG. 3).

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, even when the folding process of the flap portion 61 of the envelope 39 is incomplete and the glue of the end portion 63 of the envelope 39 is peeled off, the end portion 63 slides the separating member 56. Since the envelope 39 does not move, the envelope 39 is fed without being caught by the separating member 56.

Here, the guide portion 6 of the holder 54 is used.
4. A SUS plate 71 is adhered to the guide part 64, and the guide part 64 and the SU
Although the S plate 71 has been integrated, the SUS plate 60 and the holder 62 may be separated as shown in FIG.

In this case, the SUS plate 60 has a thickness capable of being elastically deformed, and when the sheet material P fed by the paper feed roll 14 abuts, the sheet material P is elastically deformed and guides the sheet material P to the holder 62.

[0058]

According to the present invention, since both ends of the sheet material do not protrude from the guide member, the sheet material may be curled downward with respect to the sheet feeding direction. Even when the folding process of the flap portion is incomplete and the glue at the end is peeled off, the sheet material can be reliably guided to the separating member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus using a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a sheet feeding device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view illustrating a sheet feeding device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an envelope whose leading end is curled downward is being fed by the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which an envelope whose leading end is not completely bent is fed by the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a state in which an envelope whose leading end is not completely bent is fed by the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic front view showing an arrangement of a separating member and a core roll of the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing a modified example of the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional sheet feeding device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing a conventional sheet feeding device.

FIG. 11A is a schematic side view showing a state in which an envelope with an incompletely bent end portion is fed by a conventional sheet feeding device, and FIG. 11B is a side view showing an incompletely bent end portion. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a complete envelope.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an envelope with an incompletely bent end portion is being fed by a conventional sheet feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Paper supply roll (paper supply means) 52 Core roll (paper supply means) 54 Holder (guide member) 56 Separation member 60 SUS plate (guide member) 62 Holder (guide member) 64 Guide part (guide member) 71 SUS plate (guide) Element)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masato Minagawa 3-7-1, Fuuchi, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (72) Inventor Tomohiro Takano 3-7-1, Fuuchi, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama No. F-term in Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (reference) 3F343 FA02 FB02 FC03 GA03 GB01 GC01 GD01 JA02 JA16 JA17 JD08 KA03 KA13 KA15

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding means for feeding a contacting sheet material, a separating member for preventing a plurality of sheet materials from being fed in cooperation with the sheet feeding means, A sheet feeding device having a guide member for guiding to the separating member, wherein the width of the guide member is equal to or larger than the width of the sheet material. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is formed of a low friction member. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a width of the separating member is shorter than a width of the sheet material guided by the guide member. 4. A paper feed roll, which is fixed to a rotating shaft and feeds the abutting sheet material, is rotatably supported by the rotating shaft, and is outside the end surface of the separating member. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a pair of core rolls set such that an end face of the core roll faces inside.