JP2001122460A - Sheet feeding device and image forming device provided with same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify the structure of a sheet feeding device by actuating selectively a sheet feeding means and a moving means to move sheet stacking means using one driving source. SOLUTION: The sheet feeding device 600 is equipped with a plurality of sheet stacking means 1a, 1b, 1c on which sheets are stacked, a sheet feeding means 61 to send out the sheets stacked, a moving means 62 to move those stacking means selectively to the position where the sheet feed can be made by the sheet feeding means, and a driving force transmission changeover means to transmit the driving force of one driving source selectively to the sheet feeding means and moving means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has a plurality of sheet stacking means on which sheets are stacked, and includes a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets of the selected sheet stacking means, and the sheet feeding apparatus. For example, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer such as an ink jet printer and a laser printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, and a composite device thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of trays (sheet stacking means)
The sheet feeding apparatus having the above-described configuration has a sheet feeding unit for feeding a sheet for each tray. In some cases, a driving source is provided for each sheet supply unit.

Further, as an example of a sheet feeding apparatus provided with a plurality of trays, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 6-115737. This sheet feeding apparatus feeds a sheet by rotating a plurality of trays arranged on the same plane in a horizontal direction integrally with a sheet feeding hand throw. The cost is reduced by eliminating the need for a special sheet conveyance path.

[0004]

However, in the conventional sheet feeding apparatus, a plurality of trays arranged on the same plane are rotated in the horizontal direction integrally with the sheet feeding means to feed the sheet. For this purpose, a driving source is required for each of the sheet feeding means and the mechanism for rotating and moving the tray, which tends to increase the cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding apparatus for operating a sheet feeding means and a moving means for moving a sheet stacking means by one driving source, and an image forming apparatus provided with this apparatus. I have.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet feeding apparatus comprising: a plurality of sheet stacking means on which sheets are stacked; a sheet feeding means for feeding out the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means; and the plurality of sheets. Moving means for selectively moving the stacking means to a position where the sheet can be supplied by the sheet supplying means; and driving force for selectively transmitting the driving force of one drive source to the sheet supplying means and the moving means. Transmission switching means.

[0007] The driving source of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention includes:
The sheet supply unit and the moving unit are provided on a main substrate, the sheet supply unit and the moving unit are provided on an intermediate substrate provided separately from the main substrate, and the plurality of sheet stacking units are rotatable on the intermediate substrate. The driving force transmission switching means is provided on a ring-shaped rotating plate supported and rotated by the moving means, and is provided between the main substrate and the intermediate substrate.

[0008] The sheet supply means of the sheet supply device of the present invention protrudes from a hole of the ring-shaped rotating plate.

In the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention, the sheet feeding means includes a pickup roller for feeding out the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means, and a contact between the pickup roller and the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means. Contacting / separating means for separating the sheet stacking means, the contacting / separating means holding the pickup roller at a position separated from the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means while the sheet stacking means is moving. .

In the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention, the driving force transmission switching means has a swingable rocking body provided with a rotating body for transmitting the rotating force of the driving source, and the rotation direction of the driving source. With the switching, the swinging body swings, and the contact of the rotating body is switched from one of the sheet supply means and the moving means to the other, and the rotational force is transmitted to the other means. I have.

[0011] The plurality of sheet stacking means of the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention are arranged on the rotating plate such that the direction in which the sheet is fed is radial.

The rotating plate, the intermediate substrate, and the main substrate of the sheet supply device of the present invention have a sheet discharge hole through which the sheet sent from the sheet stacking means passes.

[0013] The image forming apparatus of the present invention may include any one of the above.
And an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet supplied from the sheet supply device.

(Operation) The sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention is arranged such that the sheet feeding means is separated from the sheet stacking means.
The rotational force of the driving source is transmitted to the moving unit by the driving force transmission switching unit, the plurality of sheet stacking units are moved, and the selected sheet stacking unit is moved to a position where the sheet supply unit can supply sheets.

Thereafter, the driving force transmission switching means selects the sheet supply means apart from the moving means and transmits the rotational force of the driving source to the sheet supply means.

Then, the sheet supply means sends out the sheet from the sheet stacking means.

After that, when the supply of the sheet from the sheet loading means is completed, the driving force transmission switching means selects the moving means apart from the sheet supply means and supplies the sheet from the other sheet loading means. Transmits the torque of the drive source. The moving means moves the new sheet stacking means to a position where sheets can be supplied.

As described above, the sheet feeding device of the present invention
The driving force transmission switching means selects one of the sheet feeding means and the moving means, and transmits the rotational force of one driving source to the selected sheet feeding means or the moving means, and simultaneously transmits the torque to both. Without such, when the sheet supply means is supplying a sheet, the sheet stacking means is not moved, or the sheet supply means is not operated while the sheet stacking means is moving. The stacking means and the sheet supply means do not interfere with each other.

Moreover, these operations are performed by one driving source.

[0020]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

The sheet feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention
For example, as shown in FIG. 10, it is provided on a main body 101 of a copying machine 100 which is an image forming apparatus.

(Copying Machine) The copying machine 100 includes a copying machine body 1
Light from a light source 103 is emitted to a document placed on a document table 102 provided on an upper portion of the document table 01. The reflected light from the original corresponding to the density of the original is imaged by the light receiving element 108 through mirrors 104, 105, 106 and the lens 107, photoelectrically converted, and image-processed by the image processing unit 109.
The laser light is modulated by a laser modulator 110 and irradiated onto a photosensitive drum 111.

The photosensitive drum 111 is charged in advance by a primary charger 112. When the photosensitive drum 111 is irradiated with a laser beam, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer peripheral surface.
The electrostatic latent image is developed by 3 to form a toner image.
Primary charger 112, developing unit 113, photosensitive drum 111
And the like constitute the image forming means 114.

On the other hand, a sheet fed from a sheet feeding device 60 described later is sent to a pair of registration rollers 120, where the skew state is corrected.

The sheet is rotated by a registration roller 120 which is rotated in synchronization with a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 111, and the photosensitive drum 111 and the transfer charger 11 are rotated.
2 and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred.

Thereafter, the sheet S is conveyed to a fixing device (a pair of fixing ports) 123 by a conveyor belt 122, and is subjected to a fixing process for fixing the transferred toner image on the sheet surface.

The copying machine 100 has a duplex copying mode for performing duplex copying on the sheet S and a multiplex copying mode for performing multiple copying. In the normal copying mode, the sheet S after the fixing process is an inner sheet discharging roller. The sheet is discharged onto a sheet discharge tray 125 outside the apparatus by the pair 124.

In the case of the double-sided copying mode and the multiple copying mode, the sheet is guided again by a sheet reversing path (not shown) and fed again to the photosensitive drum 111, and an image is formed on the opposite side, or An image is formed on the same surface.

(Sheet Feeding Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a plan view of the sheet feeding apparatus 60.

FIG. 2 shows a sheet supply unit 61 which is a sheet supply unit for taking out the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking trays 1a, 1b and 1c which are the sheet stacking units of FIG. FIG. 11 is a plan view of a tray selection rotating unit 62 which is a moving unit for selectively rotating a sheet to a position at which sheets can be supplied by 61.

FIG. 3 is a view of FIG. 2 as viewed from the direction of arrow 3-3, in which some parts such as bevel gears 24a and 24b described later are omitted.

The sheet stacking trays 1a, 1b, 1c are mounted on the ring-shaped rotating plate 2 at intervals of about 120 degrees and radially in the sheet discharging direction. The sheet supply unit 61 is provided through the hole 2a of the ring-shaped rotating plate 2.
And the contact / separation portion 64 are protruded to reduce the size of the sheet feeding device 60.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet stacking tray 1a
The compression spring 7 that pushes up the sheet stacking plate 72 is provided in the tray portion 71 of FIG. Other sheet loading tray 1
Similarly, b and 1c are provided with a sheet stacking plate and a compression spring.

In FIG. 1, the sheet discharge ports 4a, 4b,
Reference numeral 4c is provided in front of the sheet stacking trays 1a, 1b, 1c so that the sheets picked up by the sheet supply unit 61 fall.

FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of the arrows 5-5 in FIG. 2. In order to make the drawing easier to see, the rotating plate 2, the ring-shaped guide member 5 and the ring-shaped gear 6 are shown in cross section. It is shown and some parts are omitted.

The ring-shaped gear 6 is fixed to the lower surface of the rotating plate 2, the rotational force is transmitted by the gear 3, and the ring-shaped gear 6 is guided by the ring-shaped guide member 5 attached to the intermediate plate 8 as an intermediate substrate to rotate. Then, the selected sheet loading tray 1a, 1
The sheets b and 1c are rotated to a position where the sheet supply unit 61 can supply the sheet, so that the sheet can be supplied.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the middle plate 8 in FIG.

On the middle plate 8, three rollers 37a, 37b, 37c are arranged at intervals of 120 degrees. Each time 3
7a, 37b, 37c are roller holders 35a, 35b,
Shafts 36a, 36b, 36 rotatably supported by 35c
c, and supports the rotating plate 2 so that it can rotate.

Accordingly, the rotating plate 2 is supported by the middle plate 8 so as to be horizontally rotatable by the three rollers 37, and receives a rotational driving force from the gear 3 to rotate the ring-shaped guide member 5 and the ring-shaped gear 6. Is rotated with respect to the intermediate plate 8 by the guide of

The middle plate 8 is provided with a foot portion 54.
The board 9 which is a main board is attached to the foot portion 54. The four feet 54 are attached to the middle plate 8 as shown in FIG. 3, but the front feet 54 are omitted in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow 7-7 in FIG. 5, and is a transmission switching as driving force transmission switching means for switching between driving of the sheet supply unit 61 and driving of the tray selection rotating unit 62. It is a top view of part 63.

The motor 43, which is a driving source attached to the substrate 9, can rotate forward and backward, and can control the number of rotations and the rotation speed. A motor gear 44 is attached to the motor 43. The motor gear 44 is
It meshes with a gear 45 that rotates about a shaft 48 attached to the substrate 9. The gear 45 meshes with the gear 46. The gear 46 as a rotating body is rotatably provided on a shaft 49 fixed to a long plate 47 as an oscillating body. Long plate 4
There is a suitable friction between the motor gear 4 and the gear 4.
Due to the difference in the rotation direction of 4, the gear 46 swings the long plate 47 left and right like a pendulum, selectively meshes with the gears 50 and 52, and transmits the rotation of the motor 43 to the gears 50 and 52. It has become.

First, when the motor gear 44 rotates counterclockwise (CCW), the gear 46 moves in the direction of arrow I in FIG. 7 and transmits the rotation of the motor 43 to the gear 50.

The gear 50 and the gear 3 shown in FIG. 5 are fixed to a common shaft 51 and rotate integrally. The rotated gear 3 includes a ring-shaped gear 6 fixed to the lower surface of the rotating plate 2.
The rotating plate 2 is rotated with the ring-shaped guide member 5 attached to the middle plate 8 as a guide, and the three sheet stacking trays 1a, 1b, 1c of FIG. Selectively move to the place.

Next, the motor gear 44 is set to CW (clockwise).
The gear 46 is moved in the direction of arrow II in FIG. 7 to transmit the rotation to the gear 52.

The gear 52 and the bevel gear 24b shown in FIG.
Are fixed to a common shaft 25, and the bevel gear 24b rotates.

The torque transmitted to the bevel gear 24 b shown in FIG. 2 is transmitted to the bevel gear 24 a fixed to the shaft 22. A gear 26 and a gear 23 are fixed to the shaft 22, and the gears 26 and 23 rotate integrally with the bevel gear 24a. The shaft 22 is provided with a side plate 40 vertically mounted on the middle plate 8.
And is supported by the side plate 39 to rotate.

FIG. 8 is a view as seen from the direction of arrow C in FIG. In addition, in order to make the figure easy to see, the rotary plate 2, the ring-shaped guide member 5, and the ring-shaped gear 6 are cross-sectional views taken along arrow 5-5.

The rotational force of the gear 23 is transmitted to a gear 20 rotating about a shaft 21 fixed on a side plate 39, and the gear 1 rotating about a shaft 18 also fixed on the side plate 39.
9

The torque of the gear 19 is transmitted to the gear 17 fixed to the shaft 16 and transmitted to the pulley 12b (see FIG. 2) fixed to the shaft 16. Axis 16
Is rotatably supported by the side plate 40 and the side plate 39.

The rotational force of the pulley 12b is transmitted to the pulley 12a fixed to the shaft 11 by the belt 13, and
Is transmitted to the pickup roller 10 made of rubber and fixed to the roller.

As described above, FIG. 3 and FIG.
FIG.

The torque transmitted to the gear 26 is applied to the side plate 40.
It is transmitted to a gear 28 rotating about a shaft 27 fixed above and to a gear 29 fixed to a shaft 41.

When the number of rotations of the motor 43 is controlled, as shown in FIG. 3, the difference between the radii at each position on the cam surface of the cam 38 in the course of being rotated by a certain angle in the direction of arrow G as shown in FIG. As a result, the shaft 15 attached to the roller arm 14 is pushed down, and the pickup roller 10 is pressed against the sheet P.

When the roller arm 14 is not used to supply the sheet as shown in FIG. 3, the spring arm 34 protruding from the roller arm 14 and the tension plate provided on the middle plate 8 as shown in FIG. The pickup roller 10 is separated from the sheet P by being pulled by the spring 33.

Further, the cam 38 is operated at a time other than when the sheet is supplied.
It is in the position shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to reverse the cam 38 once rotated in the direction of the arrow G to a position shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a mechanism diagram of the spring pulley 30 rotatably attached to the side plate 40 as viewed in the direction of arrow D in FIG.

The cam 38 and the spring pulley 30 share a common shaft 41.
And rotate together. The position of the cam 38 when the sheet is not supplied is determined by being pulled by a tension spring 31 which is stretched on a spring hook 32 protruding from the pulley 30 and a spring hook 42 protruding from the side plate 40.

As described above, the rotating pick-up roller 10 is pushed down by the cam 38 to a position where it comes into contact with the sheet P. The force for feeding the sheet is generated by the force of the pickup roller 10 pressing the sheet P, the force of the compression spring 7 of the sheet stacking tray 1a (1b, 1c) to push the sheet P back, and the friction of the rubber pickup roller 10. The sheet is sent out from the tray 71 as the pickup roller 10 rotates.

The sheets P separated one by one by the separating means 57 are supplied to the sheet discharge port 4 provided in the
The image forming apparatus main body 10 passes through a sheet outlet 55 provided in the intermediate plate 8 and a sheet outlet 53 provided in the substrate 9.
1 is sent to the image forming unit 114. The sheet discharge ports 55 and 53 are each formed one.

In the above description of the sheet feeder 60, the sheet feeder 61 serving as the sheet feeder includes the bevel gears 24b and 24a, the shaft 22, and the gears 23, 20, 19, 1
7, shaft 16, pulley 12b, belt 13, pulley 12
a, a shaft 11, pickup rollers 10, 10, a roller arm 14, a contact / separation section 64, and the like.

The contact / separation section 64 serving as the contact / separation means is provided with the bevel gear 2
4b, 24a, shaft 22, gears 26, 28, 29, cam 3
8. It is composed of tension springs 31, 33 and the like.

The tray selecting / rotating section 62 serving as a moving means includes:
It is composed of a gear 50, a shaft 51, a gear 3, a gear 6, a guide member 5, and the like.

The transmission switching section 63 as the driving force transmission switching means includes gears 44 and 45, a shaft 48, a long plate 47 as a rocking body, a shaft 49, a gear 46 and the like.

As described above, in the sheet feeding device 60, the pickup roller 10 is configured such that the pickup rollers 10
1c), the transmission switching unit 63 transmits the torque of the motor 43 to the tray selection rotation unit 62, rotates the rotary plate 2, and feeds the selected sheet stacking tray 1a (1b, 1c). The unit 61 moves the sheet to a position where the sheet can be discharged.

Thereafter, the transmission switching unit 63 selects the sheet supply unit 61 apart from the tray selection rotation unit 62 and
The rotational force of the motor 43 is transmitted to the sheet supply unit 61.

Then, the pickup roller 10 is pressed against the sheets stacked on the selected sheet stacking tray by the contacting / separating section 64. Then, the pickup roller sends out the sheet from the sheet stacking tray.

After the desired number of sheets have been supplied from the sheet stacking tray, the transmission switching unit 63 sets the sheet feeding unit 61 to supply sheets from another sheet stacking tray.
, And selects the tray selection rotation unit 62, and transmits the torque of the motor 43 to the tray selection rotation unit 62.

Since the rotational force of the motor 43 is not transmitted to the sheet supply unit 61, the roller arms 14 are moved in the direction away from the sheet stacking tray by the action of the tension springs 31 and 32 to separate the pickup roller from the sheet. .

As described above, the sheet feeding device 60 of the present invention
The transmission switching unit 63 selects one of the sheet supply unit 61 and the tray selection rotation unit 62, and applies the rotation force of one motor 43 to the selected sheet supply unit 61 or tray selection rotation unit 62. Since the sheet is not transmitted and transmitted to both at the same time, the sheet stacking tray may be moved during sheet feeding, or the pickup roller may be moved closer to the sheet stacking tray while the sheet stacking tray is moving. Therefore, interference between the pickup roller and the sheet stacking tray can be prevented, and damage can be prevented.

Since these operations are performed by one motor 43, the structure of the sheet feeding device 60 can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[0072]

According to the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention, the transfer switching means selects the moving means for moving the sheet stacking means to a position where the sheet can be supplied and the sheet feeding means for feeding out the sheet from the sheet stacking means. Since one of them is linked to one drive source, simultaneous operation of the moving means and the sheet supply means can be prevented, and damage due to interference between both can be prevented. Can be reliably supplied. Also,
Since it is operated by one drive source, the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is provided with the above-mentioned sheet feeding device capable of reliably feeding a sheet, so that an image can be reliably formed on a sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sheet supply unit and a sheet moving unit of the sheet supply device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 in FIG. 2, and mainly illustrates a sheet supply unit with some parts such as gears omitted;

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view seen from the direction of arrow 5-5 in FIG. 2, showing a cross section of a rotating plate, a guide member, and a gear, with some parts omitted.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a middle plate in FIG. 5, mainly showing support for a rotating plate.

FIG. 7 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 7-7 in FIG. 5, and is a plan view of a transmission switching unit.

FIG. 8 is a view of a gear train for driving the pickup roller as viewed from the direction of arrow C in FIG. 2, and a rotary plate, a guide member, and a gear 6 are cross-sectional views taken along arrow 5-5.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a mechanism for returning the cam to a predetermined position, as viewed in the direction of arrow D in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of an image forming apparatus including the sheet supply device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

P sheet 1a, 1b, 1c Sheet loading tray (sheet loading means) 2 Rotating plate 2a Hole 3, 17, 19, 22, 26, 28, 29, 46, 50
Gears 4a, 4b, 4c, 53, 55 Sheet discharge port 5 Ring-shaped guide member 6 Ring-shaped gear 8 Middle plate (intermediate substrate) 9 Substrate (main substrate) 10 Pickup rollers 11, 16, 22, 48, 49, 51 shaft 12a, 12b pulley 13 belt 14 roller arm 24a, 24b bevel gear 31 tension spring 33 tension spring 37a, 37b, 37c roller 38 cam 43 motor (drive source) 44 motor gear 47 long plate (oscillator) 57 separating means 60 Sheet feeding device 61 Sheet feeding unit (sheet feeding unit) 62 Tray selection rotating unit (moving unit) 63 Transmission switching unit (driving force transmission switching unit) 64 Contact / separation unit (contact / separation unit) 100 Copy machine (image forming apparatus) 101 Copier main body 111 Photosensitive drum 114 Image forming means 125 Sheet discharge tray

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sheet stacking units on which sheets are stacked, a sheet supply unit for sending out the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit, and a supply of the sheets by the plurality of sheet stacking units by the sheet supply unit And a driving force transmission switching means for selectively transmitting the driving force of one driving source to the sheet supply means and the moving means. Sheet feeding device. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the driving source is provided on a main substrate, the sheet supply unit and the moving unit are provided on an intermediate substrate provided separately from the main substrate, Means are provided on a ring-shaped rotating plate rotatably supported on the intermediate substrate and rotated by the moving means, and the driving force transmission switching means is disposed between the main substrate and the intermediate substrate. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein
A sheet feeding device according to claim 1. 3. The sheet supply means protrudes from a hole of the ring-shaped rotating plate.
A sheet feeding device according to claim 1. 4. A pickup roller for feeding out the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means, and a contact / separation means for bringing the pickup rollers into and out of contact with the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means. Wherein the contact / separation means holds the pickup roller at a position separated from the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means while the sheet stacking means is moving. Or the sheet feeding device according to 3. 5. The driving force transmission switching means includes a swingable rocking body provided with a rotating body for transmitting a rotating force of the driving source, and in accordance with switching of a rotation direction of the driving source, 3. The oscillating body oscillates, and the contact of the rotator is switched from one of the sheet supply unit and the moving unit to the other, and a rotational force is transmitted to the other unit. A sheet feeding device according to claim 1. 6. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sheet stacking means are arranged on the rotating plate such that a direction in which the sheet is fed is radial. 7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotating plate, the intermediate substrate and the main substrate have a sheet discharge hole through which the sheet sent from the sheet stacking means passes.
A sheet feeding device according to claim 1. 8. An image forming apparatus, comprising: the sheet supply device according to claim 1; and an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet supplied from the sheet supply device. .