JP2001247226A - Paper feeding device and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably feed paper even in the case of handling printing paper for high printing quality by constructing a small cleaning device to remove paper dust attached on a paper feeding roller. SOLUTION: The surface of a paper feeding roller 121 of D-shaped one revolution type is kept clean by removing paper dust by a brush 20 for cleaning while the paper feeding roller 121 revolves once even in the case when paper dust is attached on a corner part and a circular arc part of the paper feeding roller 12 by providing the brush 20 for cleaning the surface of the paper feeding roller 121 free to connect and disconnect on an inner surface of a cover 124 of the paper feeding roller 121.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
Rotary paper feed rollers feed stacked paper (plain paper, coated paper, OHP (overhead projector) sheets, glossy paper, glossy film, and other cut sheets) one by one from the top. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device suitable for a printer or the like and a printer including the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a single-turn type paper feed roller having a substantially D-shape in side view has been used to reduce the number of stacked paper sheets from the highest one by one.
As a sheet feeding device of a type that feeds out one sheet at a time, for example,
There is one disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,396,396.

FIG. 11 shows the configuration. That is, this paper feeder includes a paper feed roller 40 in which a shaft 40d is supported by a guide block 41, and a plurality of sheets P stacked on an internal stacking plate 42a. And a separation pad 43 mounted on a bracket 43a and positioned in the rotation orbit of the arc portion 40a of the paper feed roller 40.
And a spring 44 for urging the separation pad 43 in the direction of the paper feed roller shaft 40d along the guide 45. Reference numeral 46 denotes an idle roller rotatably mounted on the guide block 41, and reference numeral 47 denotes the guide block 4.
This is a movable idle roller in which a shaft 47a is movably attached to one long groove 41a. Movable idle roller 47
Is biased toward the separation pad 43 by the spring 48 and is in contact with the separation pad 43. The urging force F2 of the spring 48 is set smaller than the urging force F1 of the spring 44 of the separation pad 43 (that is, F1> F2).

[0004] During standby, as shown in FIG. 11, the linear portion 40b of the paper feed roller 40 is in a state of facing the paper P, and the paper feed roller 40 is not in contact with the paper P.
The urging force F2 of the spring 48 of the movable idle roller 47 is equal to the urging force F2 of the spring 44 of the separation pad 43.
Since it is set smaller than 1, the movable idle roller 47 is pushed up by the separation pad 43, and the shaft 47a is in contact with the upper end of the long groove 41a.

During the paper feeding operation, the paper feeding roller 40 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and its arc portion 40a comes into contact with the uppermost paper P1 of the paper P, so that the paper P1 faces the separation pad 43. Sent. At this time, the sheet P2 is fed together with the sheet P1 because the next sheet P2 is attracted to the sheet P1 by the action of static electricity or a frictional force acts between the sheet P1 and the sheet P2. May be used.

However, the sheet P2 is separated from the sheet P1 by the separation pad 43 as follows, and only the uppermost sheet P1 is fed. That is,
When the leading end of the sheet P2 hits the separation pad 43, the movement of the sheet P2 is hindered, and the sheet P2 can be temporarily separated from the sheet P1.

The friction force between the arc portion 40a of the paper feed roller 40 and the paper P1 is f1, and the paper P2 and the separation pad 4
Assuming that the frictional force between the sheet P3 and f3 is f2 and the frictional force between the sheet P1 and the sheet P2 is f3, the paper feed roller 40 and the separation pad 43 are configured such that a relationship of f1>f2> f3 holds. Therefore, when the paper P1 and the paper P2 are pressed together by the arc portion 40a of the paper feed roller and the separation pad 43 as the paper feed roller 40 rotates, the paper P2
The movement of the sheet P is inhibited by the frictional force with the separation pad 43, so that the sheet P2 is secondarily separated from the sheet P1 and only the sheet P1 is fed. The separation pad 43 is
Since the feed roller 40 is positioned in the rotation orbit of the arc portion 40a, the arc portion 4a rotates to rotate the arc portion 4a.
However, since the movable idler roller 47 is urged toward the separation pad 43 by the spring 48, even if the separation pad 43 is pressed down, it comes into contact with the separation pad 43. The separating operation is performed.

As described above, in the paper feeder shown in FIG. 11, if the paper feed roller 40 is a circular paper feed roller, the paper feed roller 40 is always in pressure contact with the separation pad. While the difficulty of ease is overcome by using a D-shaped paper feed roller in side view, the next paper gradually enters the press contact portion between the paper feed roller and the separation pad, and the paper can be separated. The difficulty of disappearing,
This is overcome by providing the idle roller 46 and the movable idle roller 47.

[0009]

However, although there is no problem with plain paper, the above paper feeding device is applied to a printer,
In the case of handling high-quality printing paper provided with a photoprint paper-based coating layer, the paper dust is generated as a surface portion near the corner 40c of the D-shaped paper feed roller 40, that is, as an adhesion area X in FIG. There is a problem that it adheres to the illustrated surface portion, and the D-type paper feed roller slips due to the adhered paper dust, the paper feeding force decreases, and non-feed occurs.

As a solution to this problem, for example, FIG.
It is conceivable to apply a known cleaning device as shown in FIG. The cleaning device shown in FIG. 12 cleans the cleaning roller 210 by bringing the surface of the paper feeding roller 201 rotated around the paper feeding roller shaft 202 into contact with the cleaning brush 210 having a concave shape. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 222 denotes a holder, reference numeral 224 denotes a guide shaft, and reference numeral 225 denotes a guide plate.

However, the configuration of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 12 requires a special space space, which increases the size of the cleaning device, and also requires the trouble of replacing the cleaning brush.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem, to construct a small cleaning device for removing paper dust attached to a paper feed roller, and to stably supply paper even when handling high-quality printing paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeder that enables paper and a printer including the paper feeder.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a single-rotation type paper feed roller having a substantially D shape in a side view on a surface of a sheet laminated on a hopper. In the sheet feeding device of the type in which the sheets are brought into contact with each other and the sheets are fed one by one from the uppermost sheet, a cleaning brush for cleaning the surface of the sheet feeding roller is detachably provided on the inner surface of the cover of the sheet feeding roller. It is characterized by.

According to this paper feeder, even when paper dust adheres to the corners or arcs of the D-type one-rotation type paper feed roller, the paper dust always adheres during one rotation of the paper feed roller. Since the cut portion once passes under the cleaning brush, the surface of the sheet feeding roller is kept clean. That is, the paper feed roller usually has a surface layer made of an elastic material such as rubber, and further has a number of shallow grooves running parallel to the paper feed roller axis on the surface layer. The paper dust that has entered is removed by the cleaning brush provided on the inner surface of the cover of the paper feeding roller during one rotation of the paper feeding roller.

Therefore, if there is no cleaning brush, D
The paper brush of the high-quality printing paper adheres to the vicinity of the corner portion (the attachment area X in FIG. 11) of the D-shaped paper feed roller, causing the D-type paper supply roller to slip. In the paper feeder provided in the above, since the surface properties of the paper feed roller can be maintained almost in the original state even after many years of use, the uppermost paper can be produced without causing the above-mentioned slip and without increasing the size. Is reliably fed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the first aspect, an insertion groove substantially parallel to an axial direction of the paper feed roller is formed on an inner surface of a cover of the paper feed roller. Locking means is provided for freely inserting and removing the substrate portion of the cleaning brush into and out of the insertion groove, and hooking the substrate portion of the cleaning brush to the cover of the paper feed roller at a predetermined insertion depth position. And

According to this feature, since the lock means is provided, it is possible to prevent the cleaning brush from coming off, and to hold the cleaning brush at a predetermined insertion depth position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the second aspect, the locking means is provided with an insertion groove provided on an inner surface of a cover of a paper feeding roller or a cleaning brush. It is characterized by comprising a flexible projection provided on one of the substrate portions and a concave portion provided on the other of the insertion groove or the substrate portion of the cleaning brush and into which the projection enters.

This includes two forms of the locking means. First, the locking means is provided by providing a flexible projection in an insertion groove provided on the inner surface of the cover of the sheet feeding roller and providing a recess in the substrate portion of the cleaning brush into which the projection is inserted. It is a form. Secondly, the locking means is formed by providing a concave portion into which the projection enters the insertion groove and providing a flexible projection on the substrate portion of the cleaning brush. In either case, the cleaning brush can be provided in a plug-in manner without taking up space on the inner surface side of the cover of the sheet feeding roller.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the second or third aspect, one of the insertion groove on the inner surface of the cover of the paper feed roller or the substrate portion of the cleaning brush is provided. The cleaning brush is provided with an elastic body that applies an urging force in a direction away from the bottom surface of the insertion groove.

According to this feature, the cleaning brush inserted into the insertion groove is separated from the bottom surface of the insertion groove by the elastic body interposed between the bottom surface of the insertion groove and the substrate portion of the cleaning brush. Since the biasing force in the direction is given, the loosening of the attachment of the cleaning brush can be prevented, and the substrate portion of the cleaning brush can always be pressed so as to be continuous with the inner surface of the cover of the sheet feeding roller.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the second, third or fourth aspect, a handle serving also as a positioning for insertion is provided at one end of the cleaning brush. It is characterized by the following. According to this feature, the handle makes it easy to insert the cleaning brush,
The insertion depth of the cleaning brush can be visually judged and adjusted.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 6 of the present invention, a sheet is fed from a sheet feeding device, a predetermined printing is executed on the sheet by a printing unit, and the sheet passing through the printing unit is discharged by a sheet discharging unit. In a printer configured to discharge paper to the outside, the paper feeding device is the one described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

According to the printer of the present invention, even if the corners (the feed action start corners) of the D-shaped paper feed roller are worn out, the vicinity of the corners of the D-shaped paper feed roller (FIG. 11) Even when the paper dust of the printing paper for high image quality adheres to the middle attachment area X) and the D-type paper feed roller easily slips, the top sheet moves relative to the next sheet, It is paid out reliably. If the paper starts to move even a little, then the frictional force between the uppermost paper to be fed and the next paper is changed from static to dynamic and becomes smaller, so that it follows the corner. The uppermost sheet is reliably fed by the arc portion, so that printing can be executed under a stable sheet feeding state.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiment. First, the overall configuration will be described based on a partially omitted side view (partially transparent) showing the printer shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the sheet feeding device SF is rotatably attached to a pair of sheet feeding roller units 120 and 120 'attached to a sheet feeding roller shaft 110 and a frame (not shown). Hopper 130.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 121 denotes a paper feed roller which is a component of the paper feed roller units 120 and 120 ', and has a substantially D-shape in side view having an arc portion 121a and a straight portion 121b. At least the arc portion 121a
And the surface of the linear portion 121b are formed of a high-friction material (for example, rubber), and a large number of fine grooves (not shown) are formed in the surface thereof in the axial direction. This paper feed roller 1
Reference numeral 21 is fixed to a paper feed roller shaft 110. The paper feed roller shaft 110 is driven by an electric motor serving as a driving means through a gear fixed to the shaft end of the paper feed roller shaft 110 for just one rotation during a paper feeding operation. It is designed to be driven to rotate.
A cover 124 is provided on the paper feed roller 121 with a known structure.

The hopper 130 is rotatably mounted on a frame (not shown) by a shaft 132. Reference numeral 137 denotes a paper feed tray, which is attached to the printer. These hopper 130 and paper feed tray 1
A plurality of sheets P are set in a stacked state on 37.
The set sheet P is supported and aligned by its leading end contacting the back surface (support surface) 152 of the separation pad holder 151 described later.

Reference numeral 140 denotes a frame (hereinafter, referred to as a sub-frame) of the sheet feeding roller unit 120. A hopper spring (compression spring) 133 is provided between the sub-frame 140 and the tip of the hopper 130.
Is always urged by the hopper spring 133 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 9, that is, in the direction in which the sheet P comes into contact with the sheet feeding roller 121. However, the rotation is restricted by the cam followers provided at both ends of the hopper 130 abutting on the hopper cam 135 (see FIG. 10) fixed to the paper feed roller shaft 110.

The separation pad 150 is fixed to the separation pad holder 151. The separation pad 150 is made of a material (for example, a material such as cork) whose friction coefficient with respect to the paper P is smaller than the friction coefficient of the paper feed roller 121. Each of the friction coefficients is made of a material having a friction coefficient larger than the friction coefficient between sheets. That is, the coefficient of friction between the paper feed roller 121 and the paper is μ1,
Assuming that the friction coefficient between the separation pad 150 and the paper is μ2 and the friction coefficient between the papers is μ3, μ1>μ2> μ3.

The separation pad holder 151 includes a pad support 153 (FIG. 10) to which the separation pad 150 is fixed.
It has the above-described support surface (rear surface) 152 at the leading end of the sheet and an arm 154 formed integrally therewith. The rear end of the arm 154 is rotatable by the shaft 155 to the sub-frame 140. Installed. The separation pad holder 15 is formed by a pad spring 156 provided between the lower surface of the pad support 153 and the subframe 140.
1 is a clockwise direction in FIG.
Is always urged in the direction in which it comes into contact with the paper feed roller 121.

Such a paper feeder SF is incorporated in a printer as shown in FIG. In FIG.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a pair of conveying rollers for conveying the paper, reference numeral 4 denotes a print head for printing on the paper, reference numerals 5 and 6 denote a pair of discharge rollers for discharging printed paper, and reference numerals 8a and 8b denote paper guides. The hopper 130 is inclined as shown, and a plurality of sheets P are set thereon in a stacked state.

Next, the operation of the above-described paper feeder will be described. During standby, the hopper cam 135
The hopper 130 has been pushed down. The paper feed roller 121 is in a state where the linear portion 121b faces the paper P, and the paper feed roller 121 is not in contact with the paper P. Although the separation pad holder 151 (that is, the separation pad 150) is urged clockwise in FIG. 9 by the pad spring 156, its rotation is regulated by abutting on a pin (not shown), and as shown in FIG. Stopped in position. Therefore, the urging force of the pad spring 156 does not act on the idle roller 160. At this time, the separation pad 150 is located in the rotation orbit of the circular arc portion 121a of the sheet feeding roller. The idle roller 160 separates the separation pad 15 by the urging force of the roller spring.
It is in contact with 0.

Next, the operation during paper feeding will be described. (I) In FIG. 9, the paper feed roller shaft 110 starts rotating clockwise. Therefore, the feed roller 121, the bush 142, and the hopper cam 135 also start rotating.

(Ii) As shown in FIG.
10 together with the feed roller 121 and the hopper cam 13
5 rotates by a predetermined angle, and the hopper cam 135 leaves the cam follower 134 of the hopper 130. Thereby, the hopper cam 135 and the cam follower 13 of the hopper 130
When the contact with the hopper 130 is released, the hopper 130 is momentarily pushed up by the hopper spring 133 (FIG. 9),
The sheet P is also pushed up, and the uppermost sheet P1 is pressed against the arc portion 121a of the sheet feeding roller 121. At this time, the paper feed roller 121, when viewed in the rotation direction,
A corner (feed action start corner) 121c at the beginning of the arc portion 121a from the end of 21b comes into contact with the uppermost sheet P1.

(Iii) Further, as the paper feed roller shaft 110 continues to rotate, the arc portion 121 of the paper feed roller 121
The sheet P1 is sent toward the separation pad 150 by rotating while contacting the uppermost sheet P1 with the sheet a. At this time, the sheet P2 is fed together with the sheet P1 because the next sheet P2 is attracted to the sheet P1 by the action of static electricity or a frictional force acts between the sheet P1 and the sheet P2. Paper P
2 can be separated from the sheet P1 temporarily, because its tip is abutted against the separation pad 150 to hinder its movement.

(Iv) Further, as the paper feed roller shaft 110 continues to rotate, the arc portion 121a of the paper feed roller 121
Presses the separation pad 150 via the uppermost sheet P1. Thereby, the separation pad 150 is pushed down,
The uppermost sheet P <b> 1 is pressed between the sheet feeding roller 121 and the arc portion 121 a by the urging force of the pad spring 156.
That is, the sheet P1 is fed by the sheet feeding roller 121 and the separation pad 1
It is sent in a state where it is clamped between 50 and 50. At this time, as described above, the next paper P2 may be likely to be sent together with the paper P1, but as described above, the friction coefficient between the paper feed roller 121 and the paper is μ1, and the separation pad 150 is Assuming that the friction coefficient between the paper P and the paper P is μ2 and the friction coefficient between the papers is μ3, μ1>μ2> μ3, so that both the paper P1 and the paper P2 When the paper P2 is sandwiched between the arc portion 121a and the separation pad 150, the movement of the paper P2 is hindered by the frictional force between the paper P2 and the separation pad 150, and the paper P2 is secondarily separated from the paper P1 and is separated from the paper P1. Only will be fed.

Further, at this time, the cam follower 166 of the idle roller holder 161 rides on the arc surface 123b of the cam 123 formed on the bush 142. As a result, the idle roller 160 moves upward and is separated from the separation pad 150. That is, the leading edge of the sheet P1 to be fed is
When passing between the zero and the idle roller 160, the idle roller 160 is already separated from the separation pad 150. Note that the leading end of the uppermost sheet P1 has not yet reached the contact portion T (see FIG. 10) between the idle roller 160 and the separation pad 150.

(V) As the paper feed roller shaft 110 continues to rotate, the paper P1 is further fed in a state where the paper P1 is nipped by the paper feed roller 121 and the separation pad 150. At this point, the cam follower 166 of the idle roller holder 161 is located near the end of the arc surface 123b of the cam 123.

(Vi) As the paper feed roller shaft 110 continues to rotate, the paper P1 is further fed in a state where the paper P1 is nipped by the paper feed roller 121 and the separation pad 150.

At this point, the cam follower 166
The idle roller 160 comes into contact with the separation pad 150 by sliding down the other inclined surface 123c of the cam 123. However, at this point, the arc portion 121a of the paper feed roller 121 still presses the separation pad 150 via the paper P1. In other words, the idle roller 160 contacts the separation pad 150 before the contact between the arc portion 121a of the sheet feeding roller 121 and the separation pad 150 via the sheet P1 is released. The hopper 130 is pushed down by the hopper cam 135.

(Vii) Further, the feed roller shaft 110 rotates (just rotates once), and the hopper 130
It is completely depressed at 35 and returns to the standby state (FIG. 9).
However, at this point, the sheet P1 is not completely removed from the sheet feeding device. Therefore, the sheet P1
The rear ends of the separation pad 150 and the idle roller 16
Until the sheet passes through the contact portion T with 0, the sheet is conveyed by the conveying rollers 2 and 3 shown in FIG. 9 in a state of receiving a load on the contact portion T (pulled backward). Become.

In this case, since the idle roller 160 nips the sheet P1 with the separation pad 150, the next sheet P2, which has already been separated from the sheet P1, tries to descend by its own weight, or Even if the sheet P1 is attracted to the sheet P1 by the action of static electricity or is fed together with the sheet P1 by a frictional force with the sheet P1, this is prevented.

(Viii) After the trailing end of the sheet P1 fed and conveyed as described above comes off the sheet feeding device, the sheet feeding operation is performed again as necessary. However, in a sheet feeding device using a D-type sheet feeding roller, the D
When viewed in the rotation direction of the sheet feed roller 121,
The paper on the hopper is first taken in and fed by the feeding action start corner 121c from the end of 1b to the beginning of the arc 121a, and the contact area with the paper is small. For this reason, the influence of the abrasion of the feed operation start corner portion 121c of the D-type paper feed roller 121 is large, and non-feeding occurs while the use is continued.

Although there is no problem with plain paper, when handling high-quality printing paper provided with a photo-printing paper-based coating layer, the paper dust is fed by the D-type feeding roller 121 at the corner where the feeding action starts. The surface portion near the portion 121c (FIG. 11)
There is a problem that the D-type paper feed roller 121 slips due to the paper dust adhered to the adhesion region X) shown in the drawing, and the paper feeding force is reduced.

Therefore, in the present invention, the one-rotation type paper feed roller 121 having a substantially D shape in side view is brought into contact with the surface of the paper P stacked on the hopper 130, and
In the sheet feeding device of the type in which the sheet is fed one by one from the sheet feeder, a cleaning brush 20 (FIGS. 1 and 6) for cleaning the surface of the sheet feeding roller is provided on the inner surface of a cover (hereinafter referred to as a sheet feeding roller cover) 124 of the sheet feeding roller 121. ) Is provided detachably.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an insertion groove 10 substantially parallel to the axial direction of the paper feed roller is formed on the inner surface of the paper feed roller cover 124, and the substrate portion 21 of the cleaning brush 20 is inserted into and removed from the insertion groove 10. Insert freely. In this embodiment, the insertion groove 10 is formed in a dovetail shape, and both sides of the substrate portion 21 of the cleaning brush 20 formed in a dovetail shape are slidably fitted therein.

In order to lock the cleaning brush 20 at a predetermined insertion depth position, a locking means is provided for hooking the substrate portion 21 of the cleaning brush 20 to the cover 124 of the feed roller.

In this embodiment, the locking means comprises a flexible projection 11 provided on the side of the paper feed roller cover 124 so as to protrude from the inner surface of the insertion groove 10;
The cleaning brush 20 is provided on the upper surface of the substrate portion 21 and includes a recess 22 into which the protrusion 11 enters.

As shown in FIG. 2, the protrusions 11 extend from the outside of the inner wall of the paper feed roller cover 124 to two portions in the longitudinal direction of the insertion groove 10 in a region corresponding to the bottom of the insertion groove 10. It is formed by a projection that is cut and raised inward, is curved in an arc shape convexly inward, and has flexibility as a whole. The arc-shaped bending direction of the projection 11 is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the insertion groove 10 and has a bottom surface 11a that is convex downward.

The recesses 22 correspond to the two projections,
It is formed at two places in the longitudinal direction. And each recess 22
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Is formed as a bottomed hole having an arcuate concave bottom surface 22a that is curved in the same direction as the curved surface. However, the recess 22
Can be formed as a complete through hole 23 as shown in FIG.

The bristles 24 of the cleaning brush 20 are
Are provided in a plurality of rows, here, three rows of 24a, 24b, 24c, and the fixing holes 25a, 25b, 25c, which are the flocking positions, are arranged in a staggered manner so that the positions are sequentially shifted in the longitudinal direction. Have been.

In the above configuration, when the cleaning brush 20 is inserted into the insertion groove 10 of the paper roller cover 124 to a predetermined insertion depth, the projection 11 is fitted into the concave portion 22 and locked at a predetermined position.

When the dirty cleaning brush 20 is to be taken out for replacement or the like, the cleaning brush 20 may simply be pulled out from the insertion groove 10. That is, the protrusion 11 and the recess 2
Since 2 is curved in an arc shape in the longitudinal direction of the insertion groove 10, the cleaning brush 20 can be taken out of the insertion groove 10 by applying a pulling force.

In order to facilitate the pull-out operation at the time of replacement, one end of the cleaning brush 20 is positioned at the time of insertion as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to provide a handle 26 which also serves to determine the end point of the insertion by pressing against the opposing surface of No. 4).

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the locking means is provided with a flexible projection 11 protruding from the inner surface of the insertion groove 10 on the side of the paper feed roller cover 124, and the cleaning brush 20 is provided. A concave portion 22 into which the protrusion 11 enters is provided on the upper surface side of the substrate portion 21 of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this mode.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the lock means, in which a flexible projection 27 is provided on the substrate portion 21 side of the cleaning brush 20, and the insertion groove of the paper feed roller cover 124 is provided. A recess 1 into which the protrusion 27 enters,
2 is provided.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, a projection 27 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate portion 21 of the cleaning brush 20 in the form of a cut and raised portion, and the bending direction is the longitudinal direction of the substrate portion 21, that is, the insertion direction. It is in the longitudinal direction of the groove 10. The magnitude of the curvature of the projection 27 is relatively large so that a part of the tip of the projection 27 enters the recess 12.

The bristles 24 are provided in two rows, one row on each side, as shown as 28a and 28b in FIG. 8, and the fixed portions 28A and 28B, which are the flocking positions,
One row A and the other row B are arranged in a staggered manner so as to be staggered when viewed in the longitudinal direction.

Further, on the upper surface of the substrate portion 21 of the cleaning brush 20, the upper surface of the substrate portion 21 is partially cut and raised on the front side and the rear side of the projection 27, respectively, as viewed in the insertion direction. A spring 29 protruding from the upper surface of the substrate unit 21 is formed. The action of the spring 29 allows the cleaning brush 2
0 is applied with a biasing force in a direction to move away from the bottom surface of the insertion groove 10. As a result, the cleaning brush 20 is stably positioned on the inner surface side of the insertion groove 10 of the feed roller cover 124 even though only one protrusion 27 is present at the center on the upper surface of the substrate portion 21 of the cleaning brush 20. Will be retained. The bending direction of the spring 29 is also the longitudinal direction of the insertion groove 10, that is, the direction that does not hinder the attachment / detachment of the cleaning brush 20.

The operation of the cleaning brush 20 in the embodiment of FIG. 6 is the same as that described in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and since the paper dust is removed by the cleaning brush 20, high-quality printing is performed. Even when handling paper, stable paper feeding can be performed without being affected by the adhesion of the paper dust.

In the above embodiment, the feed roller cover 12
4 is provided with an insertion groove 10 in which a cleaning brush 20 is provided.
Of the cleaning brush 20, the insertion groove 10 is provided on the substrate portion 21 side, and the dovetail portion provided on the inner surface side of the feed roller cover 124 is inserted into the insertion groove 10. It can also be.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, a one-rotation type paper feed roller having a substantially D shape in side view is brought into contact with the surface of the paper stacked on the hopper, and the paper is placed on the uppermost paper. Since a cleaning brush for cleaning the surface of the paper feed roller is detachably provided on the inner surface of the cover of the paper feed roller, the D-type single-rotation paper feed roller is provided. Even if paper dust adheres to the corners and arcs of
Since the paper dust always passes under the cleaning brush once during one rotation of the paper feed roller, the surface of the paper feed roller is kept clean. That is, the paper feed roller usually has a surface layer made of an elastic material such as rubber, and further has many shallow grooves running parallel to the paper feed roller axis on the surface layer. The entered paper dust is removed by the cleaning brush during one rotation of the paper feed roller.

Therefore, as in the case where there is no cleaning brush, the paper dust of the high-quality printing paper adheres to the vicinity of the corner of the D-type feed roller, and the D-type feed roller slips. Absent. Therefore, it is possible to maintain a high feeding ability of the high-quality printing paper of the paper feeding device, prevent non-feeding of the high-quality printing paper even after many years of use, and reliably feed the highest-order paper. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a projection of a lock unit in the sheet feeding device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a concave portion of a lock unit in the sheet feeding device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a modified example of the concave portion of the lock means of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an example in which a handle is provided on a cleaning brush.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of a sheet feeding device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a part of a substrate portion of a cleaning brush in the sheet feeding device of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a cleaning brush in the sheet feeding device of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of attachment of the paper feeding device of the present invention to a printer, and is a partially omitted side view partially seen through.

FIG. 10 is a diagram provided for describing the basic operation of the sheet feeding device in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional sheet feeding device.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 insertion groove 11 protrusion 11a bottom surface 12 concave portion 20 cleaning brush 21 substrate portion 22 concave portion 22a concave bottom surface 23 through hole 24 hair 24a, 24b, 24c hair 25a, 25b, 25c fixing hole 26 handle 27 projection 28a, 28b hair 28A, 28B Fixed part 29 Spring 121 Paper feed roller 121a Arc part 121b Linear part 121c Corner part 124 Cover (paper feed roller cover) X attachment area P paper SF paper feeder

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A one-turn type paper feed roller having a substantially D shape in side view,
In a paper feeder of a type in which the paper is brought into contact with the surface of the paper stacked on the hopper and the paper is fed one by one from the uppermost paper, the surface of the paper feed roller is cleaned on the inner surface of the cover of the paper feed roller. A paper feed device characterized in that a cleaning brush is detachably provided. 2. A paper feed roller according to claim 1, wherein an insertion groove substantially parallel to an axial direction of the paper feed roller is formed on an inner surface of a cover of the paper feed roller, and the substrate portion of the cleaning brush can be freely inserted and removed in the insertion groove. A paper feeding device, further comprising a locking means for hooking a substrate portion of the cleaning brush on a cover of a paper feeding roller at a predetermined insertion depth position. 3. The locking device according to claim 2, wherein
A flexible groove provided on one of the insertion groove or the substrate portion of the cleaning brush provided on the inner surface of the cover of the paper feed roller, and provided on the other of the insertion groove or the substrate portion of the cleaning brush, A sheet feeding device comprising: a recess into which the projection enters. 4. The cleaning brush according to claim 2, wherein one of the insertion groove on the inner surface of the cover of the sheet feeding roller and the substrate portion of the cleaning brush is arranged to move the cleaning brush away from the bottom surface of the insertion groove. A sheet feeding device provided with an elastic body for applying the urging force of the sheet feeding device. 5. A paper feeder according to claim 2, wherein a handle for positioning at the time of insertion is provided at one end of the cleaning brush. 6. A printer having a configuration in which a sheet is sent out from a sheet feeding device, a predetermined printing is executed on the sheet by a printing unit, and the sheet passing through the printing unit is discharged to the outside by a discharge unit. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is the one described in claim 1.