JP2001261167A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeding device capable of feeding high volume paper sheets and feeding two kinds of paper sheets if necessary without a useless space, which was not possible conventionally because a conventional high volume paper feeding device and a conventional thin cassette type paper feeding device supplied only one kind of sheet and had a useless space in a cassette and selection of the kinds of paper sheets ware limited. SOLUTION: A thin cassette type paper feeding device has a structure to house an A4 sized sheet and a letter sheet. A reference plate 9 is fixed, and a reference plate 10 and a paper guide 11 are detachable. The paper guide 11 can be adjusted to an end face of the sheet. A paper guide 12 cannot be detached but can be adjusted to the end face of the sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, a printing machine, an image reading apparatus such as a scanner, or a multifunction machine having these functions. It concerns the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and a printing machine, an image reading apparatus such as a scanner, and a multifunction machine having these functions, a paper cassette, a paper tray, and the like. A conventional paper feeder that feeds a sheet to a sheet supply unit in which a plurality of sheets are stacked will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example in which a single sheet is stored in a conventional sheet feeding device, and FIG. 8 is a diagram in which a single sheet is stored in the conventional sheet feeding device, and sheets on the sheet feeding side are stored. FIG. 9 is a view showing a paper path after the paper is completely used, FIG. 9 is a view showing a state in which A3 paper is set in the conventional paper feeder, and FIG.
4 is a diagram showing that there is a useless space to the right of the setting No. 4.

In FIG. 7, a single type of paper is stored in a large amount in a cassette, and the positional relationship between the paper A and the paper discharge system and the positional relationship between the paper B and the paper discharge system are set by reference plates 9 and 10, respectively. And the positional relationship is fixed. Further, the sheet A is transported to the separation roller 2 by the pickup roller 1. The sheet conveyed to the separation roller 2 is fed to the printing apparatus main body, and is transferred and fixed. The lifting plate 3 at the bottom of the paper A detects the remaining amount of the paper A every time the paper A is consumed, and raises the lifting plate 3 by a necessary distance by the signal. .

When the paper empty sensor 5 installed on the lift plate 3 detects that the paper A has completely disappeared,
The elevating plate 3 rises to a predetermined position of the upper paper guide 6 installed at the upper part, and forms a purpose of the paper B as shown in FIG. At the same time that the pickup roller 7 on the paper B contacts the paper B, the paper B is picked up,
Before the paper B reaches the pickup roller 1 of the paper A, the pickup roller 1 of the paper A is released, and the paper picked up by the pickup roller 7 of the paper B is separated by the separation roller 8. Therefore, a single type of paper is set for both the paper A and the paper B, the paper A is used first, and after the paper A has been used, only the same paper can be stored to consume the next paper B. Did not.

Further, in the multi sheet feeding apparatus, as shown in FIG. 9, the paper guide 11 is set to the end face of the A3 sheet to supply the A3 sheet, or as shown in FIG. 10, the paper guide 11 is set to the end face of the A4 sheet. A4 and set
Paper was supplied and used, but in each case, only the same paper could be stored in one cassette. Further, depending on the type of paper, there is a drawback that a useless space is created on the right side as shown in FIG.

[0007]

Conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a single paper feeder can feed a large amount of paper, but can store only the same type of paper.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. One sheet feeding device can feed a large amount of paper, and can supply two kinds of sheets to be fed as needed, and wastes space. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeder without any problem.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet feeding device for an image forming / reading device, wherein the sheet feeding device is capable of feeding a large-capacity sheet and two types of sheets. .

According to the present invention, a sheet feeding device capable of feeding a large amount of paper with one sheet feeding device, supplying two types of sheets to be fed as needed, and having no useless space is realized. it can.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 is a paper feeder for an image forming / reading apparatus, wherein a large-capacity paper feeder is provided.
A paper feeding device characterized in that it can feed various types of paper, so that a single paper feeding device can feed a large amount of paper and can supply two types of paper to be fed as needed. ,
A paper feeder with no wasted space can be realized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, one sheet feeder has two sheet paths.
As a result, A4, Lette
In the case of r paper or less, left and right different papers can be loaded.

The invention according to claim 3 is A4, Lette.
Up to two types of paper of size r or less can be loaded.
4. With respect to paper of Letter size or more, the reference plate and paper guide can be removed and accommodated, so that the reference plate and paper guide in one paper feeding device can be removed, and paper of A4 or Letter size or more can be loaded. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a reference plate for two pickup rollers and a movable paper guide for adjusting other sheet widths, whereby two sheet pickup mechanisms are provided in one sheet feeder. To have
And remove the reference plate and paper guide, A4, Lette
In the case of A4 or Letter paper or less in a large-capacity paper feeder, different right and left sheets can be loaded or the same left and right sheets can be supplied in large quantities.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are overall configuration diagrams of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a thin cassette type sheet feeding device of A4 size. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which paper is being fed, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which letter paper is being fed in a thin cassette type;
FIG. 3 also shows a thin cassette type, in which A3 sheets are being fed, FIG. 4 shows a large capacity sheet feeding in which sheets A4 or smaller are mounted on the left and right (A4 and Letter), and A4 is fed. FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which Letter paper is being fed, and FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which a reference plate and a paper guide are removed, another paper guide is aligned with A3, and A3 paper is fed. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to these drawings. The same components as those of the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, the thin cassette type paper feeder has a structure capable of storing A4 and Letter paper. In order to change to the specification of FIG. 3, the reference plate 9 is fixed,
The reference plate 10 and the paper guide 11 are detachable, and the paper guide 11 has a structure that can be fitted to the end face of the paper. The paper guide 12 has a structure that cannot be removed but can be adjusted to the end face of the paper.

With the above structure, the specification can be changed from FIG. 1 to FIG. The thin cassette type paper feeder shown in FIG. 1 includes an upper paper guide 6 and a lower paper guide 13 through which the paper picked up by the pickup rollers 1 and 7 for A4 and Letter passes.

Next, the operation of the thus-assembled thin cassette type sheet feeding device will be described.
A4 paper is fed to the main body in a conventional manner. Let
In the case of ter paper, the pickup roller 1 is completely retracted from the paper path portion constituted by the upper paper guide 6 and the lower paper guide 13, or the paper supplied from the Letter paper side is small in B5 size or the like. Sometimes, when the distance between the rollers of the paper path formed by the upper paper guide 6 and the lower paper guide 13 is insufficient, the pickup roller 1 abuts on the paper with an appropriate force for transporting the paper, Pickup roller 1 that can also help paper path
And The paper picked up by the pickup roller 7 is reliably separated by the separation roller 8 and fed to the main body through a paper path constituted by the upper paper guide 6 and the lower paper guide 13. When using A4 or larger paper, the paper can be set as shown in FIG. 3 by taking the reference plate 10 and the paper guide 11 in the cassette.

The center of the paper is adjusted by a paper guide having a structure synchronized left and right. In the case of A4 or larger paper, the paper is picked up by the pickup roller 1, the paper is completely separated by the separation roller 2, and fed to the main body. In addition, by feeding the same paper, for example, A4, on both sides with the above-described thin cassette type paper feeding device, there is an advantage that paper can be fed twice as much as the conventional thin cassette type paper feeding device. If two types of paper are used, or if the same paper is used, a large-capacity paper feed can be selected. The large-capacity cassette type paper feeder shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 can also select the type of paper or the amount of paper in one cassette, which is the same as the thin type.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, a space of A4 or less can save unnecessary space,
Both two types of paper and large-capacity paper feed can be selected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which a single sheet is stored in a conventional sheet feeding device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a paper path after a single sheet is stored in a conventional sheet feeding device and the sheet on the sheet feeding side is used up.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which A3 paper is set in a conventional paper feeding device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing that a conventional paper feeder is set to A4 and that a useless space exists on the right side thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pickup roller 2 Separation roller 3 Lifting plate 4 Paper remaining amount sensor 5 Paper empty sensor 6 Upper paper guide 7 Pickup roller 8 Separation roller 9 Reference plate 10 Reference plate 11 Paper guide 12 Paper guide 13 Lower paper guide

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B65H 3/68 B65H 3/68

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device for an image forming / reading device, wherein a large capacity sheet feeding and a sheet feeding of two types of sheets can be performed. 2. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein one paper feeding device has two paper paths. 3. A4, 2 sheets or less for Letter size or less.
3. The paper feeder according to claim 2, wherein the paper feeder is capable of mounting up to A4, Letter size or larger paper, and the reference plate and the paper guide are detached to accommodate the paper. 4. The paper feeder according to claim 3, further comprising a reference plate for two pickup rollers and a movable paper guide for adjusting another paper width.