JP2006341971A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeder capable of separating paper from a loaded paper bundle without applying an excessive separating pressure thereto irrespective of the types of paper. <P>SOLUTION: A fixed paper feed plate 4 and a rotating paper feed plate 5 are installed aslant so that their downstream sides are lowered. A driven pulley 8 is disposed just above the downstream side end part of the rotating paper feed plate 5, and a drive pulley 9 is disposed at a position separated to the downstream side as viewed from the driven pulley 8. An annular paper feed belt 12 is suspended between the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley 9, and its length is longer than that when it is stretched across the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley 9. A feed roller 10 sends out the paper feed belt 12 in cooperation with the drive pulley 9. A separating plate 17 is energized toward the paper feed belt 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a friction sheet feeding type sheet feeding device that separates and removes sheets one by one from a stack of stacked sheets.

  2. Description of the Related Art In a sheet feeding device that separates and removes sheets one by one from a stack of stacked sheets, a friction sheet feeding method that separates a sheet from a sheet bundle by pressing a roller or a belt against the sheet is often used. . For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-87544) discloses a friction sheet feeding apparatus. In this conventional paper feeding device, a paper feeding roller that comes into contact with an end portion on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the paper stacked on the paper feeding plate and a separating pad that is biased toward the paper feeding roller are provided. ing. Then, by feeding the paper between the paper feed roller and the separation pad, the friction coefficient between the paper supply roller and the paper and the friction coefficient between the paper and the separation pad are larger than the friction coefficient between the papers. Is used to separate one sheet from the sheet bundle.

  However, this conventional paper feeder has the following problems. That is, in order to separate a sheet such as a coated sheet that is likely to be in close contact with each other, it is necessary to sufficiently increase the clamping pressure between the sheet feeding roller and the separating pad. In particular, in the paper feeding device described in Patent Document 1, since the paper feeding roller is in line contact with the paper, the clamping pressure between the paper feeding roller and the separating pad must be considerably increased. As a result, a mechanical load is applied to the paper feeding device, and the device must be constructed ruggedly. This increases the cost of the device, causes the paper pad to come into contact with the paper, A drive source with a large torque is required for driving, and power consumption increases.

  If the length in the paper conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as the contact length) on the contact surface between the paper feed roller and the separation pad is increased, the clamping pressure between the sheet supply roller and the separation pad (hereinafter also referred to as the separation pressure). Even with a relatively small, it is possible to separate papers such as coated papers that are easily adhered to each other. However, in order to increase the contact length in this conventional sheet feeding device, the column-shaped sheet feeding roller must be strongly pressed against the padding and crushed, which inevitably increases the sheeting pressure. Although it is possible to form the paper feed roller with a soft material such as sponge so that the paper feed roller is crushed by a relatively weak punching pressure, if the paper feed roller is made of a soft material, the durability of the paper feed roller will be Will drop significantly.

  Therefore, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-8244) discloses a paper feeding device in which a belt is suspended between two rollers and a friction member is biased toward the belt to increase the contact length. Is disclosed. In this sheet feeding device, the shape of the surface on the belt side of the friction member is a convex curved surface, and by pushing the belt from the upstream side using the roller on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction as the driving roller of the two rollers, The belt is deformed inward along the surface shape of the friction member. As a result, the sheet is interposed between the friction member and the belt, and is conveyed while being bent along the surface shape of the friction member. Patent Document 2 describes that a thin sheet can be separated without applying a strong sheeting pressure.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-87544 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-8244

  However, the conventional techniques described above have the following problems. As described above, in the paper feeding device described in Patent Document 2, the belt stretched between the two rollers is bent inward, and a curved friction member is pressed so as to follow the bent belt. Paper is passed between the belt and the friction member. For this reason, a thin and weak sheet that can be deformed along the surface shape of the friction member can pass between the belt and the friction member and can be separated from the sheet bundle. However, in this paper feeding device, there is little room for the gap between the belt and the friction member to widen, so that paper that has been subjected to folding processing such as bi-folding and quadruple folding, and paper that has a large thickness, etc. The paper cannot pass through the gap, and a paper jam occurs. In addition, the stiff paper cannot be deformed along the surface shape of the friction member, and jamming occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides a paper feeding device capable of separating paper from a stacked paper bundle without applying an excessive paper pressure regardless of the type of paper. Objective.

  A sheet feeding device according to the present invention is a sheet feeding device for separating and taking out sheets one by one from a stacked sheet bundle, and a sheet feeding plate on which the sheet bundle is placed, and a sheet conveyance path. A driven pulley disposed along the paper pulley, a drive pulley provided on the side of the sheet conveyance direction when viewed from the driven pulley, and suspended between the driven pulley and the drive pulley. A paper feed belt that is longer than the length of the paper feed belt and a position that sandwiches the conveyance path between the paper feed belt and is not in contact with either the driven pulley or the drive pulley of the paper feed belt A paper plate that is urged toward a portion and is in contact with the paper when the paper is positioned between the paper feed belt, a feed roller that sends the paper feed belt together with the drive pulley, Characterized in that it has.

  In the present invention, the length of the paper feeding belt is set longer than the length when the paper feeding belt is stretched between the driven pulley and the driving pulley, so that the paper feeding belt is loosened between the driven pulley and the driving pulley. Can be suspended. At this time, a driving force can be transmitted from the driving pulley to the paper feeding belt by jointly sending the paper feeding belt by the driving pulley and the feed roller. In addition, since the driving pulley is disposed on the side of the paper conveyance direction with respect to the driven pulley, when the driving force is applied to the driving pulley, the slack of the portion of the paper feeding belt that contacts the paper is eliminated. As a result, the sheet feeding belt can come into contact with the sheet in a planar shape, and the contact length can be increased. As a result, one sheet can be separated from the sheet bundle even if the urging force for urging the separating plate toward the sheet feeding belt is reduced. Further, since there is a margin in the length of the paper feed belt, the paper feed belt can be deformed according to the thickness and strength of the paper. Thereby, the paper can be reliably separated from the paper bundle regardless of the type of the paper.

  The driven pulley is disposed in a region including a region directly above the sheet feeding plate, and the sheet feeding belt is placed on the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle when the sheet bundle is placed on the sheet feeding plate. It is preferable to contact. Thus, the uppermost sheet can be separated from the sheet bundle without providing a means for feeding the sheet from the sheet bundle toward the sheet feeding belt and the separating plate.

  Further, it is preferable that the sheet feeding plate is inclined so that the end portion on the sheet conveying direction side is lower than the end portion on the opposite side. Thus, when a stack of sheets is placed on the sheet feeding plate, a plurality of sheets including the uppermost sheet slide down to the sheet conveying direction, and the end of the uppermost sheet on the sheet conveying direction side feeds. Contact the belt. As a result, a stable paper feed pressure can be applied to the paper.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that an end portion of the paper feeding plate on the paper conveyance direction side is urged toward the paper feeding belt. Thereby, the sheet feeding pressure can be further stabilized.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that a part of the separating plate is disposed on the opposite side of the sheet conveying direction from the edge of the sheet feeding plate on the sheet conveying direction side. Thereby, it is possible to further reduce the size of the sheet feeding device while ensuring the contact length.

  Furthermore, the paper feeding device according to the present invention has a sensor that detects when the paper is positioned at a detection position on the paper transport direction side of the paper feeding belt, and the drive pulley includes the paper It is preferable that the rotation is temporarily stopped when the sensor detects that the sensor has reached the detection position, and then the rotation is resumed. Thereby, it is possible to stabilize the paper feed timing.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the paper feeding device according to the present invention includes a holding member that rotatably holds the driven roller, the driving roller, and the feed roller and is detachable from the housing. This facilitates paper jam handling and maintenance.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a sheet feeding device that can separate sheets from a stacked sheet bundle without applying an excessive squeezing pressure and regardless of the type of sheets.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. The sheet feeding device according to the present embodiment is incorporated in, for example, a copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, and the like, and separates and removes the topmost sheet one by one from the stacked sheet bundle, and is an image reading apparatus provided in a subsequent stage Or it supplies to processing apparatuses, such as a printing apparatus.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with a housing 2, and the housing 2 is provided with a pair of side plates 2 a and 2 b. The side plates 2a and 2b are arranged in parallel to each other on both sides of the conveyance path of the sheet 101 (see FIG. 3). In FIG. 1, the side plate 2a is not shown for convenience.

  A fulcrum shaft 3 is attached to the surfaces of the side plates 2a and 2b facing each other. A fixed sheet feeding plate 4 is provided between the side plate 2a and the side plate 2b and is fixed to the side plates 2a and 2b. The fixed sheet feeding plate 4 is a sheet on which the sheets 101 are stacked, and is low on the sheet conveyance direction 100 side (hereinafter referred to as downstream side) and high on the opposite side of the conveyance direction 100 (hereinafter referred to as upstream side). It is arranged so as to be inclined. The downstream end of the fixed sheet feed plate 4 is connected to the fulcrum shaft 3, and the upstream end protrudes from the housing 2. The fixed sheet feeding plate 4 is provided between the side plate 2a and the side plate 2b over the entire length in the horizontal direction and perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction 100 (hereinafter referred to as the width direction).

  Further, a rotating sheet feeding plate 5 is provided on the downstream side of the fixed sheet feeding plate 4, and is pivotally supported by the fulcrum shaft 3. The rotary sheet feeding plate 5 is provided over the entire length in the width direction between the side plate 2a and the side plate 2b. The rotating sheet feeding plate 5 includes a main body portion 5a on which the paper 101 is placed and an extending portion 5b extending from the side portion of the main body portion 5a to the upstream side. It is pivotally supported by the fulcrum shaft 3, and the downstream end of the main body 5a is a free end. Further, the fixed sheet feeding plate 4 is located between the extending portions 5b. The height of the upstream end of the main body 5a is substantially the same as the height of the downstream end of the fixed sheet feed plate 4. The rotary sheet feed plate 5 has a higher upstream end and a downstream end. It is inclined at substantially the same inclination angle as that of the fixed sheet feeding plate 4 so that the portion becomes lower. Thus, a continuous paper feed plate is formed by the fixed paper feed plate 4 and the rotary paper feed plate 5. A rectangular cut 5c (see FIG. 4) is formed at the downstream end of the main body 5a.

  A roller holding member 7 is detachably attached to the side plate 2a by a thumbscrew 6. On the roller holding member 7, a driven pulley 8, a drive pulley 9, and a feed roller 10 are rotatably supported. The driven pulley 8, the drive pulley 9, and the feed roller 10 are disposed in the vicinity of the center between the center portion and the side plate 2a side end in the width direction of the sheet feeding device 1, and all of the rotation shafts extend in the width direction. ing. The driven pulley 8 is disposed immediately above the downstream end of the rotating sheet feeding plate 5 and is attached to the roller holding member 7 by a shaft 8a. The drive pulley 9 is disposed at a position separated from the downstream side when viewed from the driven pulley 8, and is connected to a drive shaft 11 a of a motor 11 provided outside the side plate 2 a. Is applied to rotate. Further, the feed roller 10 is disposed immediately below the drive pulley 9 and is attached to the roller holding member 7 by a shaft 10a.

  An annular paper feed belt 12 is suspended between the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley 9. That is, the inner surface of the paper feed belt 12 is in contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley 9. The paper feed belt 12 is made of, for example, silicon rubber having a rubber hardness of 30 degrees. The length of the paper feed belt 12 is longer than the length when the paper feed belt 12 is tensioned between the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley 9. For this reason, the sheet feeding belt 12 is slackened. Further, the feed roller 10 is urged toward the drive pulley 9, presses the paper feed belt 12 with the drive pulley 9, and sends the paper feed belt 12 together with the drive pulley. The roller holding member 7, the driven roller 8, the driving roller 9, the feed roller 10, the motor 11 and the paper feed belt 12 constitute a unit 13. Then, by removing the thumbscrew 6, the unit 13 can be removed from the side plate 2a.

  Further, a spring 15 is provided above the rotary sheet feeding plate 5. The lower end of the spring 15 is connected to a portion of the main body 5 a of the rotary sheet feeding plate 5 that is out of the conveyance path, and the upper end is connected to the housing 2. The spring 15 urges the downstream end of the rotating sheet feeding plate 5 upward, that is, toward the sheet feeding belt 12.

  Furthermore, a pair of support members 16 are erected from the bottom plate of the housing 2 in the region immediately below the rotary sheet feed plate 5, and a separating plate 17 is provided between the pair of support members 16. . The center portion of the striking plate 17 is pivotally supported by the support member 16, and a spring 18 is provided between the upstream end portion and the bottom plate of the housing 2. The spring 18 biases the upstream end portion of the facing plate 17 downward, and thereby the downstream end portion of the facing plate 17 is biased upward. The downstream end of the separating plate 17 is inserted into a notch 5 c formed in the main body 5 a of the rotating sheet feeding plate 5 in the region directly below the sheet feeding belt 12, and comes into contact with the sheet feeding belt 12. It is locked. As a result, the straw plate 17 is inclined so that its upstream side is low and its downstream side is high.

  The downstream end of the winding plate 17 is urged toward a portion of the paper feed belt 12 that is not in contact with either the driven pulley 8 or the drive pulley 9. Further, the downstream end of the facing plate 17 is curved so as to be convex upward. As a result, when the sheet 101 is not positioned between the sheeting plate 17 and the sheet feeding belt 12, the sheet separating plate 17 contacts the sheet feeding belt 12 in a planar shape, and the sheet separating plate 17 and the sheet feeding belt 12 are in contact with each other. When the sheet 101 is positioned between them, the sheet 101 is brought into contact with the sheet.

  Furthermore, a conveying plate 19 is provided below the driving pulley 9. A rectangular cut 19a (see FIG. 4) is formed at the upstream end of the transport plate 19, and the feed roller 10 is disposed in the cut 19a. The conveying plate 19 supports the paper that has passed between the separating plate 17 and the paper feeding belt 12.

  The downstream end of the transport plate 19 extends further downstream than the drive pulley 9, the feed roller 10, and the paper feed belt 12. And the opening part 19b is formed in this extension part. A pair of sensors 20 is provided in the region directly above and directly below the opening 19b. The sensor 20 detects when a sheet is positioned in a detection position between the sensors 20, that is, a region immediately above the opening 19b. The drive pulley 9 is temporarily stopped when the sensor 20 detects that the paper has reached the detection position, and then restarts.

  Furthermore, a pair of rollers 21 and 22 are provided on the downstream side of the sensor 20 with the sheet conveyance path interposed therebetween. That is, a roller 21 is provided above the conveyance path, and a roller 22 is provided below the conveyance path. The roller 21 is rotatably supported by a shaft 23 stretched in the width direction between the side plate 2a and the side plate 2b, and the roller 22 is a shaft stretched between the side plate 2a and the side plate 2b. 24 is rotatably supported by the shaft 24. When the sheet is not conveyed, the roller 21 and the roller 22 are in rolling contact with each other, and the sheet that has passed over the conveying plate 19 is interposed between the roller 21 and the roller 22. Yes.

  As described above, in the sheet feeding device 1, the fixed sheet feeding plate 4, the rotating sheet feeding plate 5, the rotation sheet feeding plate 5 and the sheet feeding belt 12, the separation plate 17 and the sheet feeding belt 12, A sheet conveyance path is configured between the feed roller 10 and the sheet feeding belt 12, on the conveyance plate 19, and between the roller 21 and the roller 22.

  Next, the operation of the sheet feeding device according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which paper is supplied to the paper feeding device, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the unit is removed from the paper feeding device. Hereinafter, a paper feeding method by the paper feeding device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. As shown in FIG. 1, in the initial state where the paper 101 is not supplied to the paper feeding device 1, the paper feeding belt 12 is slackened, and the separating plate 17 is in contact with the paper feeding belt 12.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, a bundle of sheets 101 is placed on the fixed sheet feeding plate 4. Since the fixed sheet feeding plate 4 is inclined and the downstream side thereof is lower than the upstream side, a plurality of sheets 101 including the uppermost sheet among the bundle of sheets 101 are arranged on the downstream side (conveying direction). 100 side) and the downstream end thereof is sandwiched between the rotary sheet feeding plate 5 and the sheet feeding roller 12. As a result, the paper feed belt 12 comes into contact with the downstream end of the uppermost paper 101.

  In this state, the motor 11 is driven. Thereby, the drive shaft 11a of the motor 11 rotates and the drive pulley 9 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure. Since the feed roller 10 is urged toward the drive pulley 9 and feeds the paper feed belt 12 together with the drive pulley 9, the rotation of the drive pulley 9 is transmitted to the paper feed belt 12, and the paper feed belt 12 rotates. Further, the driven pulley 8 and the feed roller 10 that are in contact with the paper feed belt 12 also rotate. At this time, a portion of the paper feed belt 12 positioned below the driving pulley 9 and the driven pulley 8 is pulled downstream by the rotation of the driving pulley 9 and the slack is eliminated.

  As the paper feed belt 12 rotates, the paper 101 held between the rotary paper feed plate 5 and the paper feed belt 12 moves downstream. At this time, the sheet feeding belt 12 contacts the uppermost sheet in a planar shape. Then, the lower surface of the lowermost sheet among the moved sheets 101 comes into contact with the scooping plate 17. At this time, the frictional force between the paper feeding belt 12 and the paper 101 is larger than the frictional force between the paper 101 and the paper board 17, and the frictional force between the paper 101 and the paper board 17 is between the papers 101. It is larger than the frictional force, and the sheet feeding belt 12 and the separating plate 17 are in contact with each other in the initial state, and sheets other than the uppermost sheet that is in close contact with the sheet feeding belt 12 are the sheet feeding belt 12 and the separating plate 17. Intrusions between and. As a result, only the uppermost sheet 101 moves downstream with the rotation of the sheet feeding belt 12 and passes between the sheet feeding belt 12 and the separating plate 17, while the sheets 101 other than the uppermost sheet 101. Are locked by the frictional force between them. As a result, only the uppermost sheet is separated from the bundle of sheets 101.

  In this way, the uppermost sheet 101 passes between the sheet feeding belt 12 and the separating plate 17. At this time, the paper feed belt 12 and the scooping plate 17 both come into contact with the paper 101 in a planar shape. Thereafter, the sheet 101 passes between the sheet feeding belt 12 and the feeding roller 10 on the conveying plate 19. When the leading edge of the paper 101 reaches the area directly above the opening 19b, the sensor 20 detects the paper 101 and stops driving the motor 11. As a result, the sheet 101 is stopped while being sandwiched between the sheet feeding belt 12 and the delivery roller 10. Thereafter, the motor 11 resumes driving at a predetermined timing, and the conveyance of the paper 101 is resumed. The sheet 101 is sandwiched between the rollers 21 and 22, passes between them, and is carried out of the housing 2. Thereby, the separation operation of one sheet is completed. Then, when the next sheet is continuously fed, the sheet feeding device 1 repeats the above-described operation.

  Further, when paper jam (jamming) handling and maintenance is performed, the thumbscrew 6 shown in FIG. 2 is removed, so that the unit 13 (see FIG. 2) is attached to the side plate 2a of the housing 2 as shown in FIG. Remove from. Thereby, jam processing and maintenance can be easily performed.

  Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, since the length of the paper feed belt 12 is longer than the length when the paper feed belt 12 is tensioned between the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley 9, the driven pulley is in a state in which the paper feed belt 12 is slackened. 8 and the drive pulley 9 can be suspended. Normally, when the paper feed belt is slack, the driving force of the drive pulley is not efficiently transmitted to the paper feed belt. However, in this embodiment, a feed roller 10 is provided between the drive pulley 9 and the feed roller 10. By pinching the paper feed belt 12, the driving force of the drive pulley 9 can be efficiently and reliably transmitted to the paper feed belt 12. Since the drive pulley 9 is disposed on the downstream side of the driven pulley 8, when a driving force is applied to the drive pulley 9, the portion of the paper feed belt 12 that contacts the paper, that is, the driven pulley 8 and the drive pulley. The slack of the part located below the pulley 9 is eliminated. As a result, the paper feed belt 12 can come into contact with the paper surface. That is, the contact length between the paper feeding belt 12 and the separating plate 17 can be increased.

  As a result, even when handling paper such as coated paper that is likely to be in close contact with each other, the urging force (the squeezing pressure) that urges the separating plate 17 toward the sheet feeding belt 12 is not excessively increased. One sheet can be separated. Further, even if the paper feeding belt 12 is not bent inward, the paper can be pressed by the elastic recovery force of the paper feeding belt 12 itself, so that a paper jam (jam) is generated even on a paper with low stiffness. Paper can be fed without any problems. Furthermore, since there is a margin in the length of the paper feeding belt 12, the paper feeding belt 12 can be deformed according to the thickness and strength of the paper, and the thick paper, the stiff paper, the two-fold or the four Even folded paper or the like can be reliably separated without causing a paper jam. As described above, the paper feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment can reliably separate and feed the paper regardless of the type of the paper.

  In addition, since the winding pressure can be reduced, it is not necessary to configure the sheet feeding device 1 to be excessively sturdy, and the configuration of the housing 2 and the like can be simplified. Thereby, cost reduction, weight reduction, and size reduction of a paper feeder can be achieved. In addition, since the driving force applied to the driving pulley 9 can be reduced, the power consumption can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

  Further, the paper feeding device described in Patent Document 2 requires a pick-up roller for feeding one sheet from the stacked sheet bundle toward the belt and the friction member. The length of the sheet feeding device in the transport direction becomes long. Also, when handling thin and difficult-to-separate paper, the pressure contact force (feed pressure) by which this pickup roller presses the paper must be increased. That is, problems such as a large-scale device configuration, traces of pickup rollers on the paper, and a need to increase the driving force occur.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the driven pulley 8 is disposed immediately above the downstream end of the rotating sheet feeding plate 5, and the sheet feeding belt is placed when the sheet bundle is placed on the sheet feeding plate. 12 is in contact with the downstream end of the uppermost sheet. This eliminates the need for means such as a pick-up roller for picking up the uppermost sheet from the sheet bundle. Thereby, the length in the conveyance direction of the separation unit composed of the rotating sheet feeding plate 5, the separating plate 17, the sheet feeding belt 12, and the like can be shortened, and the sheet feeding device 1 can be made compact. Even when the paper is positioned between the paper feeding belt 12 and the rotary paper feeding plate 5, the paper feeding belt 12 contacts the paper in a planar shape, so that the paper feeding pressure can be reduced. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the problems caused by increasing the paper feed pressure described above.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the fixed paper feed plate 4 and the rotary paper feed plate 5 are inclined so that the downstream end thereof is lower than the upstream end, so that the sheet is placed on the fixed paper feed plate 4. When the bundle is placed, a plurality of sheets including the uppermost sheet slide down to the downstream side, and the downstream end portion of the uppermost sheet contacts the sheet feeding belt 12. Then, when the paper feeding belt 12 rotates and the paper is conveyed downstream one by one, a new paper from the paper bundle moves between the paper feeding belt 12 and the rotary paper feeding plate 5. As a result, a substantially constant amount of paper is always positioned between the rotary paper feed plate 5 and the paper feed belt 12, and a stable paper feed pressure can be applied to the paper. Further, when the operator supplies the paper to the paper feeding device 1, it is only necessary to place a bundle of paper on the fixed paper feeding plate 4, and the paper can be easily supplied.

  Further, the rotating sheet feeding plate 5 is provided so as to be rotatable about its upstream end, and is urged toward the sheet feeding belt 12 by a spring 15. Thereby, the sheet feeding pressure can be further stabilized.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the separating plate 17 is disposed immediately below the rotating sheet feeding plate 5, and the portion other than the downstream end of the separating plate 17 is the downstream edge of the rotating sheet feeding plate 5. It is located on the upstream side. Thereby, the length of the separation unit can be shortened while ensuring the contact length between the paper feed belt 12 and the rotary paper feed plate 5 and the contact length between the paper feed belt 12 and the separating plate 17. As a result, the paper feeding device 1 can be further reduced in size.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the sensor 20 is provided on the downstream side of the separation unit. When the leading edge of the paper reaches the detection position of the sensor 20, the conveyance of the paper is temporarily stopped at a predetermined timing. We are restarting. As a result, even when the separation timing of the paper is shifted due to the slippage of the paper in the separation unit, the paper is temporarily stopped at a predetermined position and then restarted at the predetermined timing, so that the paper feed timing is Can be stabilized.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the sheeting pressure and the sheet feeding pressure can be set small, so that it is not necessary to configure the sheet feeding device 1 to be excessively sturdy. Therefore, using the roller holding member 7, the driven roller 8, the drive roller 9, the feed roller 10, the motor 11, and the paper feed belt 12 are made into one unit 13 that can be attached to and detached from the side plate 2 a of the housing 2. Can be configured. This facilitates jam handling and maintenance.

  In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the paper feed belt contacts the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle and the uppermost sheet is separated from the sheet bundle. The lowest sheet may be separated from the sheet bundle by contacting the sheet.

It is a side view which shows the paper feeder which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows this paper feeder. FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating a state where a sheet is supplied to the sheet feeding device. It is a top view which shows the state which removed the unit from this paper feeder.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1; Paper feed apparatus 2; Housing | casing 2a, 2b; Side plate 3; Support shaft 4; Fixed paper feed plate 5; Rotating paper feed plate 5a; Main body part 5b; Extension part 5c; Member 8; Driven pulley 8a; Shaft 9; Drive pulley 10; Feed roller 10a; Shaft 11; Motor 11a; Drive shaft 12; Paper feed belt 13; Unit 15; Spring 16; Support member 17; Conveying plate 19a; Notch 19b; Opening 20; Sensors 21, 22; Rollers 23 and 24; Shaft 100; Conveying direction 101; Paper

Claims (7)

In a paper feeding device that separates and takes out the paper one by one from the stacked paper bundle, a paper feeding plate on which the paper bundle is placed, a driven pulley disposed along the paper transport path, Longer than the length of the driving pulley provided on the side of the sheet conveying direction when viewed from the driven pulley, and the suspension between the driven pulley and the driving pulley and the tension between the driven pulley and the driving pulley. The feed belt is urged toward the portion of the feed belt that is not in contact with either the driven pulley or the drive pulley, and is disposed at a position sandwiching the conveyance path between the feed belt and the feed belt. And a paper roller that is in surface contact with the paper when the paper is positioned between the paper belt and a feed roller that feeds the paper feed belt together with the drive pulley. Paper equipment. The driven pulley is disposed in a region including a region directly above the sheet feeding plate, and the sheet feeding belt contacts the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle when the sheet bundle is placed on the sheet feeding plate. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein the sheet feeding plate is inclined so that an end portion on a sheet conveyance direction side is lower than an end portion on the opposite side. 4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein an end portion of the sheet feeding plate on the sheet conveyance direction side is urged toward the sheet feeding belt. 5. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of the separating plate is disposed on an opposite side of the sheet conveying direction to an edge of the sheet feeding plate on the sheet conveying direction side. Paper feeder. A sensor that detects when the paper is positioned at a detection position on the paper transport direction side of the paper feed belt, and the drive pulley detects that the paper has reached the detection position; 6. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device temporarily stops rotation when detected and then restarts rotation. The paper feed according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a holding member that rotatably holds the driven roller, the driving roller, and the feed roller and is detachable from the housing. apparatus.

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