JP2004284818A - Sheet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet feeder that can eliminate a problem of a misalignment of a sheet due to contact between the top sheet of sheets stacked on a cassette and a pickup roller when the cassette is inserted into/detached from a machine body with a simple configuration and at low cost, without requiring large installation space. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet feeder includes a pickup roller support body for supporting a pickup roller on a machine body, swingably to a direction to come closer and go away for the upper surface of a sheet and a swing defining body, for defining a swing position of the support body. mounted on the body movably substantially together with the cassette in accordance with insertion/removal of the cassette. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper device installed in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimile machines, and printers are provided with a paper feeding device in which a cassette on which paper is loaded is detachably provided in a machine body. The paper loaded in the cassette is placed on a bottom plate biased upward, and at the cassette mounting position, a pick-up roller which is a delivery roller provided on the machine body that comes into contact with the upper surface from the uppermost paper Are sequentially fed to the paper feed destination by the frictional force.

  In a paper feeding device, particularly a paper feeding device arranged so that the cassette insertion / removal direction and the paper feeding direction are orthogonal to each other, when the cassette is inserted / removed for paper replenishment, the loaded paper is transferred to the pickup roller. If they are in contact with each other, or if they are in contact with each other, there is a problem that the uppermost sheet is displaced due to contact with the pickup roller, and the sheet is positioned and sent obliquely. Furthermore, problems such as paper breakage and paper drop from the cassette are likely to occur. Further, the contact between the pickup roller and the paper also disturbs the insertion and removal of the cassette.

  In order to solve this problem, there is provided means for the pickup roller to retract from the paper when inserting or removing the cassette, or means for raising and lowering the bottom plate of the cassette on which the paper is loaded by a lift motor. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP-A-9-124170 (FIG. 7)

  However, as described above, the conventional sheet feeding device including the retracting means or the lifting / lowering means has the following problems that are desired to be improved.

(1) Structure:
The structure of the sheet feeding device, such as a link mechanism, a gear mechanism, and a motor for the retracting means and the lifting / lowering means, is complicated. In addition, the cost of the sheet feeding device is increased, such as an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the number of assembly steps.

(2) Size:
A mechanism using a lift motor or the like takes a relatively large space for downsizing the paper feeder, and it is difficult to downsize the machine.

(2) Failure:
When the structure of the paper feeding device is complicated, there are many factors that cause malfunction and failure of the paper feeding device, such as an increase in the number of parts and a variation in accumulated manufacturing dimensions.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned facts, and its technical problem is that when the cassette on which the paper is loaded is inserted into and removed from the machine body, the uppermost sheet of the paper loaded on the cassette contacts the pickup roller. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that can eliminate the problem of paper misalignment caused by the above, has a simple structure, does not require a large installation space, and can be reduced in cost.

According to the present invention, the first embodiment of the paper feeding device that solves the above technical problem is inserted into and removed from the machine body.
A cassette provided freely, a pick-up roller that sequentially feeds the paper loaded in the cassette into contact with the top surface of the uppermost paper at the cassette mounting position, and the pick-up roller can swing in the contact / separation direction with respect to the top surface of the paper A pickup roller support that is supported on the machine body, and a swing regulation body that is attached to the machine body so as to move substantially integrally with the cassette in accordance with the insertion / removal of the cassette, and that defines the swing position of the pickup roller support. The pickup roller is swayed and positioned on the side contacting the upper surface of the sheet as the cassette approaches the loading position when the cassette is inserted, and as the cassette moves away from the loading position when the cassette is pulled out. Provided is a paper feeding device that is rocked and positioned on a side away from the upper surface of the paper. .

  In the first embodiment, a paper pressing roller provided rotatably about an axis perpendicular to the direction in which the rotation axis of the pickup roller extends, and the paper pressing roller in contact with the upper surface of the uppermost paper. A paper pressing roller support that is supported by the machine body so as to be swingable in a separating direction and whose swinging position is defined by the swing regulation member, and the paper pressing roller and the pickup roller are connected to the cassette. When in the loading position, the pickup roller is positioned on the side that contacts the upper surface of the sheet, and as the cassette moves away from the mounting position, the sheet pressing roller is positioned on the side that contacts the upper surface of the sheet.

  In the first embodiment, the pickup roller support and the paper pressing roller support are elastically biased in a direction away from the upper surface of the paper, and the pickup roller provided on the swing regulation member. A guide surface extending in the cassette insertion / removal direction is provided, which is in contact with the support and the paper pressing roller support and defines the swinging position of the pickup roller and the paper pressing roller. There is provided a defining member urging means which is abutted in the disengagement direction and elastically urges the cassette in a direction opposite to the insertion direction between the swing defining member and the machine body.

  In the first embodiment, the pickup roller is further provided so as to be movable in the direction of the rotation axis.

  According to the present invention, as a second embodiment of a paper feeding device that solves the above technical problem, a cassette that is detachably provided in a machine main body, and the paper stacked in the cassette is placed at the uppermost paper in the cassette mounting position. Provided with a pick-up roller provided on a machine body that abuts on the upper surface of the machine and sequentially feeds it, and the pick-up roller is mounted so as to be movable in the direction of its rotation axis. Is done. In the second embodiment, there is provided roller urging means for elastically urging the pickup roller in the direction of the rotation axis.

  In the first embodiment, the pickup roller is provided on the upper surface of the uppermost sheet of the cassette so as to be swingable in the contact / separation direction, and the cassette is moved closer to the mounting position when the cassette is inserted by the swing regulation member interlocked with the insertion / removal of the cassette. The sheet is swung in the direction of contact with the sheet. When the cassette is pulled out, it is swung away from the sheet as the cassette is moved away from the loading position, so that a problem such as sheet misalignment by the pickup roller does not occur when the cassette is inserted or removed. Therefore, the structure can be simplified, the installation space can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

  In addition, the paper pressing roller that can rotate in the cassette insertion / removal direction is positioned on the side that comes into contact with the paper surface before the pickup roller when inserting / removing the cassette into / from the loading position. Avoid getting up.

  Further, the pickup roller support body and the paper pressing roller support body are elastically biased in a direction away from the upper surface of the paper, and are positioned by the guide surface of the swing regulation body that is in contact with the pickup roller support body and the paper pressing roller support body. Further, the swing regulation body is elastically urged against and brought into contact with the cassette in the cassette insertion / removal direction so as to move substantially integrally with the cassette.

  Furthermore, the pickup roller can be moved together with the sheet when the cassette is inserted and removed, so that problems such as paper misalignment due to the pickup roller do not occur more reliably.

  In the second embodiment, the pickup roller is movable in the cassette insertion / removal direction so that problems such as paper misalignment due to the pickup roller do not occur with a simple structure. Further, the pickup roller is urged and positioned in the axial direction by a force smaller than the frictional resistance between the paper and the pickup roller by an elastic body such as a spring so that the pickup roller can move together with the paper and returns to the original position when the paper leaves. Like that.

  As described above, according to the paper feeding device configured in accordance with the present invention, when the cassette on which the paper is loaded is inserted into and removed from the machine body, the paper by the contact between the uppermost paper loaded on the cassette and the pickup roller. Provided is a paper feeding device that can eliminate the problem of misalignment, has a simple structure, does not require a large installation space, and can reduce costs.

  Hereinafter, a paper feeding device configured according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  A paper feeding apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment will be described. First, the outline will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 which is a partially enlarged view thereof. A sheet feeding device generally indicated by numeral 2 includes a cassette 4 that is detachably provided in a machine body (not shown) in a direction indicated by an arrow X, and sheets stacked on the cassette 4 (not shown). A pickup roller 6 that abuts the upper surface of the uppermost sheet at the cassette mounting position (the position shown in the figure) and sequentially feeds it in a direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction X. A bracket 10 which is a pickup roller support that is swingably supported around an extending axis 8 and a cassette 4 is attached to the main body of the bracket 6 so as to move substantially integrally with the cassette 4 when the cassette 4 is inserted and removed. And an arm 12 that is a swing defining member that defines the swing position.

  The paper feeding device 2 further supports a paper pressing roller 14 provided to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the direction in which the axis 8 extends, and a paper pressing roller 14 to be swingable about the axis 8 to support the arm 12. Is provided with a bracket 16 which is a paper pressing roller support body in which the swing position is defined.

  In the insertion / removal direction X, the cassette 4 is inserted from the diagonally lower right in FIG. 1 to the diagonally upper left in FIG. 1 and pulled out in the reverse direction indicated by the arrow X2. The bracket 16 of the paper pressing roller 14 is provided adjacent to the bracket 10 of the pickup roller 6 and on the front side in the cassette insertion direction X1.

  The cassette 4 may be provided in a known paper feeding device. That is, the cassette 4 is formed in a flat rectangular shape with the upper side opened, and a handle 4b for insertion / removal operation is provided on the front wall 4a on the front side in the insertion direction X1, and the left wall 4c and the right wall 4d is provided with a rail 4e for removably attaching to the machine main body, and a bottom plate 4g on which paper is loaded is picked up on the bottom wall portion 4f with one end thereof centered on an axis extending in the cassette insertion / removal direction X. It is attached to the roller 6 side so as to be swingable up and down. The bottom plate 4g is biased by a compression spring (not shown) upward in the swing direction.

  A pair of cursors 4h provided on both sides orthogonal to the swinging direction of the bottom plate 4g are provided from the bottom wall 4f and are freely adjustable in the width direction that defines the width direction position of the sheets stacked on the bottom plate 4g. 4j are provided. A claw 4k projecting toward the bottom plate 4g is provided at the upper end of the cursor 4h, 4j on the rocking tip side of the bottom plate 4g, and the uppermost portion of the paper loaded on the bottom plate 4g and biased upward by the claw 4k. The paper position is defined. Therefore, the leading edge of the stacked paper is raised only to a predetermined height, and the paper upper limit position is defined.

  The pickup roller 6 and the bracket 10 that supports it will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 together with FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the bracket 10 is disposed with the pickup roller 6 positioned above the bottom plate tip side of the paper P loaded on the bottom plate 4 g of the cassette 4. The bracket 10 is rotatably attached to an attachment shaft 18a of a feed roller 18 for paper conveyance that defines the axis 8 and is attached to the machine body. The bracket 10 includes a pair of support arm plates 10a and 10b extending in a radial direction from the axis 8 positioned on both sides across the feed roller 18 in the direction of the axis 8, and a connecting plate integrally connecting the support arm plates 10a and 10b. 10c. A pickup roller 6 is rotatably supported around an axis 11 parallel to the axis 8 on the front end side of one support arm plate 10a away from the axis 8. The pickup roller 6 is a well-known one used in a paper feeding device.

  The bracket 10 also has a swing defining portion 10d formed in a channel shape having a convex cross section, which can be slidably contacted with a guide surface 20 extending in the direction of the axis 8 formed on the arm 12 from the axis 8 to the distal end in the radial direction. (The guide surface 20 will be described later). Further, the bracket 10 is elastically urged upward by a tension coil spring 22 as a support urging means, that is, in a direction away from the paper P loaded in the cassette 4. Therefore, the swing defining portion 10d is in elastic contact with the guide surface 20.

  The pickup roller 6 is attached to the bracket 10 so as to be movable in the direction of the axis 11 between the pair of support arm plates 10a and 10b.

  2, 3, and 4, the bracket 16 that supports the paper pressing roller 14 is formed in a form similar to the bracket 10 that supports the pickup roller 6, and is parallel to the bracket 10. It is attached to the attachment shaft 18 a of the feed roller 18. That is, the bracket 16 includes a pair of support arm plates 16a and 16b extending in the radial direction from the axis 8, and a pair of connecting plates 16c attached to the support arm plates 16a and 16b so as to be integrally connected to each other in the radial direction. , 16d, and the paper pressing roller 14 is supported by each of the connecting plates 16c, 16d and is attached to be rotatable about an axis 17 orthogonal to the direction in which the axis 8 extends.

  The paper pressing roller 14 only needs to be able to contact and roll on the upper surface of the paper P. For example, it can be formed of an appropriate material such as plastic, rubber, or metal. The paper pressing roller 14 has a circular cross section on one side of the peripheral edge of the annular rolling surface so that the paper P can easily come into contact with the upper surface of the paper P against the inclination of the bracket 16 and the inclination of the paper P due to the inclination of the bottom plate 4g. It is formed in an arc shape.

  Similarly to the bracket 10, the bracket 16 also includes a swing defining portion 16 e formed in a channel shape with a convex cross section that can slide on the guide surface 20 of the arm 12 from the axis 8 to the distal end portion in the radial direction. Yes. Further, the bracket 16 is elastically urged upward by a tension coil spring 23 as a support urging means, that is, in a direction away from the paper P loaded in the cassette 4. Therefore, the swing defining portion 16e is elastically brought into contact with the guide surface 20.

  The arm 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 and FIG. 5, mainly with reference to FIGS. The arm 12 extends in the insertion / removal direction X of the cassette 4 (left and right direction in FIGS. 4 and 5) with a length shorter than the width of the front wall portion 4a and the rear wall portion 4m of the cassette 4, and is a strip-shaped top plate portion. 12a, a projecting portion 12b that extends toward the cassette 4 at the end of the longitudinal direction of the cassette 4 in the longitudinal direction of the top plate portion 12a and extends toward the cassette 4 so as to come into contact with the outside of the rear wall portion 4m, and the top plate The guide surface 20 formed in the lower surface of the part 12a is provided.

  The arm 12 has a top plate portion 12a attached to the machine main body so as to be freely slidable in the cassette insertion / removal direction X. Between the bracket 12c provided on the top plate portion 12a and the machine main body, a prescribed body biasing means is provided. A tension coil spring 26 is attached. Thus, the arm 12 is elastically biased in the cassette drawing direction X2 (leftward in FIGS. 4 and 5). Therefore, since the projecting portion 12 b of the arm 12 can come into contact with the outside of the rear wall portion 4 m of the cassette 4, the arm 12 moves substantially integrally with the cassette 4 in conjunction with the insertion and removal of the cassette 4.

  The guide surface 20 extends in the longitudinal direction of the arm 20, and is a flat first inclined surface 20a that is substantially the same as the lower surface of the top plate 12a from the protruding portion 12b side, and a smooth flat slope on the first guide surface 20a. The third guide surface 20c is positioned between the first guide surface 20a and the third guide surface 20c at a distance from the projecting arc-shaped third guide surface 20c connected by the second guide surface 20b. Is provided with a fifth guide surface 20e connected by a fourth guide surface 20d which is a flat slope. As will be described later, the guide surfaces 20a to 20e are arranged so that the arm 12 is in contact with the pickup roller 6 and the paper pressing roller 14 mounted so as to be swingable and the upper surface of the paper P of the cassette 4. It is defined in relation to the insertion / removal position of the interlocked cassette 4.

  With reference to FIG.6 and FIG.7, arrangement | positioning of the 1st guide surface 20a-the 5th guide surface 20e of the guide surface 20 is demonstrated.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the arm 12 interlocked with the cassette when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the cassette insertion / removal direction X, and the pickup roller 6 and the paper pressing roller 14 swingably attached to the machine body. FIG. (S1) indicates a cassette insertion start position or a drawing end position, (S4) indicates a mounting position where the cassette is inserted into a predetermined position of the machine body, and (S2) and (S3) indicate positions in the process. Yes. 7 shows the four positions (S1) to (S4) shown in FIG. 6 in the cassette insertion / removal direction X, respectively, and the cassette bottom plate 4g and the stacked paper P, the pickup roller 6 and the paper pressing roller 14 It is explanatory drawing which showed the relationship.

  At the cassette insertion start position or the drawing end position at the position (S1), the swing defining portion 10d of the bracket 10 of the pickup roller 6 and the swing defining portion 16e of the bracket 16 of the paper pressing roller 14 are respectively the first of the arms 12. The pickup roller 6 and the paper pressing roller 14 are positioned in contact with the guide surface 20a, and are positioned farthest from the upper limit position PP of the paper P. The upper limit position PP of the paper P is defined by the claws 4k of the pair of cursors 4h and 4j of the cassette 4 shown in FIG.

  At the position (S2), the swing regulating portion 16e of the paper pressing roller 14 is positioned on the second guide surface 20b, and the swing defining portion 10d of the pickup roller 6 is positioned on the first guide surface 20a. The paper pressing roller 14 is positioned on the side in contact with the upper limit position PP of the paper P before the pickup roller 6.

At the position (S3), the swing regulating portion 16e of the paper pressing roller 14 is positioned at the tip of the protruding arc-shaped third guide surface 20c, and the swing regulating portion 10d of the pickup roller 6 is positioned at the second guide surface 20b. . The paper pressing roller 14 is positioned at a position in contact with the upper limit position PP of the paper P, and the pickup roller 6 is positioned at a position separated from the upper limit position PP.

At the cassette mounting position at the position (S4), the swing regulating portion 16e of the paper pressing roller 14 is positioned on the fifth guide surface 20e, and the swing regulating portion 10d of the pickup roller 6 is positioned on the third guide surface 20c having a protruding arc shape. Positioned at the tip. The pickup roller 6 is positioned at a position where the pickup roller 6 contacts the upper limit position PP of the paper P, and the paper pressing roller 14 is positioned at a position separated from the upper limit position PP.

  That is, in the cassette insertion / removal direction X, as the cassette approaches the loading position (S4), the pickup roller 6 is swung to the side in contact with the paper P, and the paper pressing roller 14 and the pickup roller 6 are further separated. When the cassette is in the loading position (S4), the pickup roller 6 is positioned on the side that contacts the upper surface of the sheet, and as the cassette moves away from the mounting position (S4), the sheet pressing roller 14 is positioned on the side that contacts the sheet upper limit position PP. Positioned.

  Accordingly, when the cassette 4 is inserted into and removed from the main body, the paper pressing roller 14 is placed on the paper upper surface PP before the pickup roller 6 as the cassette 4 moves away from the mounting position until the cassette 4 reaches the mounting position (S4). Since the paper pressing roller 14 that rotates in the cassette insertion / removal direction X contacts the upper surface of the paper P when the cassette is inserted / removed, the paper P is prevented from being jammed.

  As described above, the paper feeding device 2 has a simple structure that does not use a conventional link mechanism, gear mechanism, motor, and the like, and can be reduced in cost and installation space. In particular, it is not necessary to install an expensive lift motor that controls the raising and lowering of the bottom plate 4g of the cassette 4.

  4 is a detailed perspective view of the bracket 10 for supporting the pickup roller 6 that is pivotally mounted about the axis 8 on the mounting shaft 18a shown in FIG. As described above, in the direction of the axis 8, one end portion is provided with a swing regulating portion 10 d slidably contacting the guide surface 20 of the arm 12, the center portion is provided with the pickup roller 6, and the other end portion is bracketed as shown in FIG. The force F1 of the tension coil spring 22 (FIG. 2) that urges 10 upward is applied, and the force F2 from the bottom plate 4g (FIG. 3) of the cassette 4 that urges upward is applied to the pickup roller 6. Works. Therefore, since the urging forces F1 and F2 are received by the swing regulating portion 10d at one end of the bracket 10, an unbalanced load that tries to deform the bracket 10 acts on the bracket 10.

  FIG. 8 shows the bracket 10 in which this unbalanced load does not act. In other words, a convex channel-like sliding contact portion 10e having a similar shape to the swing defining portion 10d is separated from the connecting plate 10c provided with the swing defining portion 10d of the bracket 10 in the direction of the axis 8 from the swing defining portion 10d. The sliding contact portion 10e is slidably contacted with a guide surface 20 provided on the other end side, close to the acting side of F1 between the acting directions of the forces F1 and F2, and to which the swing regulating portion 10d of the arm 12 is slidably contacted. A guide unit 13 is provided.

  The guide part 13 is formed by forming substantially the same arc shape as the protruding arc-shaped guide surface 20c of the guide surface 20 on the flat plate material, and on the end side where the tension coil spring 26 in the width direction of the guide surface 20 is attached. The swing regulating portion 10d that slides on the guide surface 20 and the swing regulating portion 16e of the bracket 16 on the sliding contact portion 10e side at an interval in the direction of the axis 8 of the swing defining portion 10d and the sliding contact portion 10e in the longitudinal direction of It is provided at a position where it does not interfere.

  Therefore, the force F1 for urging the bracket 10 upward and the force F2 for urging the pickup roller 6 upward are supported at two places, the swing defining portion 10d and the sliding contact portion 10e, and the bracket 10 is deformed. Uneven load to be prevented is prevented.

  As another configuration for preventing the uneven load, for example, the guide surface 20 extending in the longitudinal direction of the arm 12 is used for the bracket 16 (paper pressing roller 14) having the same guide surface (20a to 20e) and the bracket 10 (pickup roller). 6) A guide surface for the bracket 16 is separately provided in parallel, and the guide for swinging 16e of the bracket 16 is guided by one guide surface, and the guide for swinging 10d of the bracket 10 is guided by the other guide surface. The position of the swing defining portion 10d of the bracket 10 that is in sliding contact with the guide surface is set to a position where the resultant force between the urging forces F1 and F2 acts, and the relative position of the two guide surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the arm 12 is set to 1. You may provide so that it may not change with the timing (FIG. 6) by which the bracket 16 and the bracket 10 are rock | fluctuated by the one guide surface 20. FIG.

  Next, a second embodiment of the paper feeding device configured according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and FIGS.

  Referring to FIG. 9, a paper feeding device generally designated by reference numeral 32 is a cassette having a bottom plate 34 on which paper P is stacked, which is provided in the machine body so as to be detachable in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 9. 36 and a pick-up roller 38 provided in the machine main body for sequentially feeding the stacked sheets P in contact with the upper surface of the uppermost sheet at the cassette mounting position.

  One end of the bottom plate 34 is attached to the bottom wall 36a of the cassette 36 around a rotating shaft 40 extending in the cassette insertion / removal direction, and the other end of the bottom plate 34 is attached to the pickup roller 38 so as to freely swing up and down. ing. The back surface of the bottom plate 34 is freely contacted and supported by the tip of an operating plate 44 that is mounted on the bottom wall 36a of the cassette 36 so as to freely swing up and down around the rotation shaft 42. The bottom plate 34 is lifted upward by rotating the rotary shaft 42 by a lift motor 46 provided in the machine body.

  Referring to FIG. 10 together with FIG. 9, the rotating shaft 42 is mechanically interrupted by the lift motor 46 in accordance with the insertion / removal of the cassette 36 to / from the machine body. That is, when the cassette 36 is inserted in the direction indicated by the arrow X1 in FIG. 10A and is in the mounting position, the rotary shaft 42 enters the coupling 46a of the lift motor 46 by entering the length L and is connected. When the lift motor 46 is rotationally driven in this state, the bottom plate 34 is lifted upward by the operation plate 44 and the upper surface of the paper P is brought into contact with the pickup roller 38.

  When the cassette 36 at the mounting position is pulled out from the machine body in the direction indicated by the arrow X2 in FIG. 10B, the rotary shaft 42 moves together with the cassette 36, and is separated from the coupling 46a of the lift motor 46 when moved by a predetermined amount L. . In this state, the bottom plate 34, which has lost the force supported by the operation plate 44, is lowered together with the paper P by its own weight, and the upper surface of the paper P is separated from the pickup roller 38.

  The description will be continued with reference to FIG. 11 together with FIGS. The pick-up roller 38 is attached to the machine body so as to be rotatable about an axis 49 extending in the insertion / removal direction X of the cassette 36 between a pair of support arm plates 48a and 48b. The pickup roller 38 is also mounted so as to be movable in the direction of the axis 49 between the support arm plates 48a and 48b, and is compressed as a roller urging means attached between the support arm plate 48a located on the cassette drawer side. The coil spring 50 is elastically biased and held in the direction of the other support arm plate 48b. When the pickup roller 38 is moved in the direction of the axis 49 while the pickup roller 38 is in contact with the upper surface of the paper P, the pickup roller 38 compresses the spring 50 by the friction force and the supporting arm of the axis 49 is supported. The size is set so as to be freely movable in the direction of the plate 48a.

  The relationship between the insertion / removal of the cassette 36 into / from the machine body and the pickup roller 38 provided in the machine body in the sheet feeding device 32 configured as described above will be described.

(1) Insert cassette:
The cassette 36 is in a state where the bottom plate 34 in which the rotary shaft 42 of the operation plate 44 and the lift motor 46 are disconnected in FIG. 10B is lowered and the paper P is loaded, that is, the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Thus, it is inserted in the back side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. When the cassette 36 is inserted into the mounting position, the rotating shaft 42 of the operating plate 34 is connected to the coupling 46a as shown in FIG.

(2) When the lift motor 46 is driven to rotate in this state, the bottom plate 34 is lifted upward as shown by a solid line in FIG. 8, and the top end of the uppermost sheet of the sheet P comes into contact with the pickup roller 38. Then, the paper P is sequentially sent to the left in FIG. 9 by rotating the pickup roller 38 and fed to the machine body.

(3) Cassette drawer:
When the cassette 36 at the loading position on which the paper P indicated by the solid line in FIG. 9 is pulled out, that is, when the cassette 36 is pulled out to the near side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 9, the cassette 36 is pulled out by the dimension L shown in FIG. The paper P and the pickup roller 38 are in contact with each other as indicated by the solid line in FIG. 9 until the compression coil spring 50 is compressed by the frictional force of the paper P and the pickup roller 38 as the cassette 36 is pulled out. Then, the pickup roller 38 also moves together with the paper P in the cassette 36.

(4) Then, when the cassette 36 is pulled out by the dimension L in which the rotating shaft 42 of the operation plate 44 is separated from the coupling 46a of the lift motor 46, the bottom plate 34 is lowered without the support of the operation plate 44, and the pickup roller 38 The contact of the paper P is released. The pickup roller 38 that has moved by compressing the spring 50 is pushed back to the original position (position shown in FIG. 11) by this spring force.

  Accordingly, when the cassette 36 is pulled out, the pickup roller 38 moves together with the paper P as the cassette 36 moves away from the loading position, and when the predetermined dimension L is pulled out, there is no contact between the paper P and the pickup roller 38, thus preventing paper jamming. Is done.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes or modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention, for example, as described below. Is.

(1) Paper holding roller:
In the paper feeding device 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the paper pressing roller 14 is provided together with the pickup roller 6. However, the degree of deviation of the paper due to the frictional force in the cassette insertion / removal direction of the paper P and the pickup roller 6 is allowable. In such a case, the paper pressing roller 14 may not be provided.

(2) Swing regulation body:
In the paper feeding device 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the bracket 12 as the pickup roller support and the bracket 16 as the paper pressing roller support as the support urging means are provided on the arm 12 as the swing regulating body. The springs 22 and 23 are elastically biased and brought into contact with the guide surface 20. For example, a guide groove extending in the cassette insertion / removal direction is provided in the swing regulation member without elastic contact. You may make it guide by engaging a pick-up roller support body and a paper pressing roller support body in a guide groove.

(3) Swing biasing means:
In the paper feeder 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the bracket 10 as the pickup roller support and the bracket 16 as the paper pressing roller support are swung by the tension coil springs 22 and 23 as the support urging means. Although it is biased in the direction, a torsion spring may be attached to the rotating shaft 18a as the support biasing means instead of the tension coil spring.

(4) Lift motor:
In the paper feeding device 32 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the lift motor 46 is used. However, the degree of deviation of the paper due to the frictional force in the cassette insertion / removal direction of the paper P and the pickup roller 38 is allowed. In some cases, instead of the lift motor 46, the bottom plate 34 may be urged upward by a compression spring as in the paper feeder 2.

1 is a perspective view showing a sheet feeding device according to a first embodiment configured according to the present invention when viewed obliquely from above. FIG. The elements on larger scale of FIG. The side view seen in the A arrow direction of FIG. The fragmentary perspective view seen from the B arrow direction of FIG. 3 from the downward direction. The front view which reduced and illustrated the relationship between the rocking | fluctuation regulation body in a cassette mounting position, a pick-up roller, and a paper pressing roller seeing in the C arrow direction of FIG. The explanatory view showing the relation between the pick-up roller and the paper pressing roller and the swing regulation body in the cassette insertion / removal for each insertion / removal process when viewed from the front which is the direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction. Explanatory drawing which looked at each of the explanatory drawing of FIG. 6 toward the insertion / removal direction. The perspective view which showed the bracket and arm which support the pick-up roller in FIG. 4 with the other form. The side view which showed the paper feeder of Example 2 comprised according to this invention. The figure which showed the relationship between the lift motor which raises / lowers the bottom plate of a cassette, and a rotating shaft seeing in the DD arrow direction of FIG. 9 in (a) connection state and (b) separation state. FIG. 11 is a front view of a pickup roller mounting portion as viewed in the direction of arrows EE in FIG. 10.

Explanation of symbols

2: Paper feeder 4: Cassette 6: Pickup roller 10: Bracket (Pickup roller support)
12: Arm (swing regulating body)
14: Paper pressing roller 16: Bracket (paper pressing roller support)
20: Guide surface 22: Extension coil spring (support biasing means)
23: Tensile coil spring (support biasing means)
26: Extension coil spring (regulator biasing means)
32: Paper feeding device 36: Cassette 38: Pickup roller 50: Compression coil spring (roller urging means)
X: Cassette insertion / removal direction X1: Cassette insertion direction X2: Cassette withdrawal direction P: Paper

Claims (7)

A cassette that is detachably provided in the machine body, a pickup roller that abuts the paper loaded in the cassette in contact with the top surface of the uppermost sheet at the cassette mounting position, and a pickup roller that contacts and separates from the top surface of the sheet. Pickup roller support that is supported by the machine body so as to be swingable in the direction, and is attached to the machine body so that it can move substantially integrally with the cassette according to the insertion / removal of the cassette, and defines the swing position of the pickup roller support A swing regulating body that
When the cassette is inserted, the pick-up roller is swung to the side in contact with the upper surface of the sheet as the cassette approaches the mounting position when the cassette is inserted, and from the upper surface of the sheet as the cassette moves away from the mounting position when the cassette is pulled out. A sheet feeding device characterized in that the sheet feeding device is swung and positioned on a side to be separated. A paper pressing roller provided to be rotatable about an axis orthogonal to the direction in which the rotation axis of the pickup roller extends, and the paper pressing roller can swing in the contact / separation direction with respect to the upper surface of the uppermost sheet. A paper pressing roller support that is supported by the machine body and whose swing position is defined by the swing regulation member,
The paper pressing roller and the pickup roller are positioned on the side where the pickup roller contacts the upper surface of the paper when the cassette is in the mounting position;
The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the paper pressing roller is positioned on the side in contact with the upper surface of the paper as the cassette moves away from the loading position. A support biasing means for elastically biasing the pickup roller support and the paper pressing roller support in a direction away from the upper surface of the paper;
A guide surface extending in the cassette insertion / removal direction is provided in contact with the pickup roller support body and the paper pressing roller support body provided on the swing regulation body, and defines the swing position of the pickup roller and paper pressing roller. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2.   The swing regulation body and the cassette are brought into contact with each other in the cassette insertion / removal direction, and a regulation body biasing means for resiliently biasing the cassette in a direction opposite to the insertion direction is provided between the swing regulation body and the machine body. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the paper feeding device is provided.   The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pickup roller is provided so as to be freely movable in a direction of a rotation axis thereof. A cassette provided detachably in the machine main body, and a pickup roller provided in the machine main body for sequentially feeding the paper loaded in the cassette in contact with the upper surface of the uppermost paper at the cassette mounting position,
A sheet feeding device, wherein the pickup roller is mounted so as to be freely movable in the direction of its rotation axis.   The sheet feeding device according to claim 6, further comprising roller urging means that elastically urges the pickup roller in a direction of a rotation axis thereof.

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