JP2010017996A - Paper feeder and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeder and a printer capable of automatically changing the width of a guide plate for regulating an interval between sheets of paper in accordance with the sheet size. <P>SOLUTION: The paper feeder has a configuration which can automatically regulate an interval between sheets of paper in accordance with the sheet size when printing a plurality of sheets of paper in parallel and without margins. As the result, the paper feeder can quicken printing speed and can optimize the quantity of ink to be used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device used when printing is performed on a sheet by reciprocating a print head in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction of an image forming apparatus such as an ink jet printer, a word processor, a facsimile, or a printing apparatus.

  Conventionally, in this type of image forming apparatus, when performing borderless printing, even when the paper is skewed and conveyed, printing is performed up to an area where the paper size is protruded in order to prevent margins from being generated on the paper edge. Things have been done.

In addition, in this type of image forming apparatus, for the purpose of improving the printing speed and shortening the printing time, there are a sheet feeding apparatus and a printing apparatus that can feed and print a plurality of sheets of paper in parallel. In Patent Document 1, a paper feeding device and a recording device that perform printing by feeding a plurality of paper sheets in parallel are disclosed. With respect to this recording apparatus, the paper feeding device includes a mounting table on which the paper is mounted and a plurality of guide plates that regulate side portions in the width direction of the paper, and the guide plates are arranged on the mounting table for each row. Multiple sheet guide orientation that allows multiple sheets to be fed in parallel when multiple sheets are placed side by side, and this sheet can be fed when one type of sheet is placed on the mounting table It is possible to switch to a single sheet guide posture.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-218387

  The amount of overprinting at the time of borderless printing should be determined in accordance with the degree of skew of the paper. The larger the paper size, the larger the skew, and the smaller the paper size, the smaller the skew. That is, if the paper size is large, it is necessary to increase the amount of protrusion during borderless printing, but if the paper size is small, the amount of protrusion may be small.

  The spacing between sheets when printing multiple sheets in parallel and borderless printing is regulated by the width of the guide plate that is sandwiched between the sheets. Considering that it depends on the size, it is desirable that the width of the guide plate is wide when the paper size is large, and the width of the guide plate is narrow when the paper size is small.

  However, in the conventional printing apparatus, the width of the guide plate that regulates the interval between the sheets is not made variable.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a sheet feeding device and a printing device that can automatically change the width of a guide plate that regulates the interval between sheets according to the sheet size.

  According to the present invention, when a plurality of sheets of paper are arranged in parallel and borderless printing is performed, the interval between the sheets according to the sheet size can be automatically defined. This makes it possible to prevent waste of ink to be used.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

<Structure of mechanism part>
First, the basic structure of the mechanism will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view from the front of a sheet feeding device used in the present invention. A reference side fixed guide plate 102 is fixed to one side end of the pressure plate 101, and a non-reference side fixed guide plate 111 is fixed to the other side end. The moving guide plate A103 and the moving guide plate B104 are mounted on the pressure plate 101 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction. The position of the sheet 105 is regulated by the reference side fixed guide plate 102 and the moving guide plate A103. The position of the sheet 106 is regulated by the movement guide plate A103 and the movement guide plate B104. The interval between the sheet 105 and the sheet 106 is defined by the width 109 of the moving guide plate A. The position of the moving guide plate A103 and the width 109 of the moving guide plate are defined by the guide groove A and the guide groove B. The position of the moving guide plate B104 is fixed by either the guide groove A or the guide groove B.

<Variable structure of width of moving guide plate A>
FIG. 2 is a front view showing details of the movement guide plate A103 in FIG. The reference side restricting plate 201 is fixed when the reference side restricting plate latch lever 203 is engaged with the guide groove A107. Similarly, the non-reference side restriction plate 202 is fixed by engaging with the non-reference side restriction plate latch lever 204 and the guide groove B108.

  When the user picks up the reference side restriction plate 201 and the non-reference side restriction plate 202 from the upper part of the front surface with a finger, the reference side restriction plate latch lever 203 and the non-reference side restriction plate latch lever 204 are guided groove A and guide groove B, respectively. It can be moved from side to side. After the movement, when the user releases his / her finger, the two latch levers engage with the respective guide grooves to fix the positions of the two restricting plates.

  FIG. 3 is a front view showing details of the guide groove A107 and the guide groove B108 in FIG. The movement guide plate position indications 301 and 302 indicate the size of the standard paper, and are used as marks when the user moves the movement guide plate A103 and the movement guide plate B104. As an example, the moving guide plate position display 301 has an L plate size, and the moving guide plate position display 302 has a larger 2L plate size. In FIG. 3, only two types of movement guide plate position indications are shown, but in actuality, they should be prepared for each size of the standard paper. Here, the guide groove B108 is characterized in that the groove pitch changes in the vicinity of the movement guide position display 302. In the case of FIG. 3, the groove pitch is switched widely near the movement guide position display 302. As a result, when the movement guide plate A103 is fixed near the movement guide position display 302, the position where the non-reference side restriction plate latch lever is engaged by the spring 206 is compared with the case where the movement guide plate A103 is fixed near the movement guide position display 301. Regulated in the non-reference direction, the width 109 of the moving guide plate A becomes wider. If the width 109 of the moving guide plate A is regulated to be equal to the amount corresponding to two protrusions for borderless printing according to the printing paper size, the time required for the print head to reciprocate can be shortened. The printing speed can be increased. In addition, since the amount of protrusion is set according to the paper, it is possible to prevent excessive protrusion printing and prevent waste of ink.

It is a top view from the front of the mechanism of the paper feeding apparatus applied by this invention. It is detail drawing of the movement guide plate A103 in FIG. FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a guide groove A107 and a guide groove B108 in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

101 Pressure plate 102 Reference side fixed guide plate 103 Moving guide plate A
104 Moving guide plate B
105 paper 106 paper 107 guide groove A
108 Guide groove B
109 Width of Moving Guide Plate A 110 Paper Feeding Direction 111 Non-Reference Side Fixed Guide Plate 201 Reference Side Restriction Plate 202 Non Reference Side Restriction Plate 203 Reference Side Restriction Plate Latch Lever 204 Non Reference Side Restriction Plate Latch Lever 205, 206 Spring 301, 302 Movement guide plate position display

Claims (5)

  A paper feeding device that feeds at least two or more printing sheets in parallel to an image forming apparatus capable of printing at least two or more printing sheets in parallel in the width direction of the image forming apparatus. The paper feeding device is characterized in that the interval is automatically changed according to the paper size.   The paper feeding device is a paper feeding device including a placing table on which paper is placed and a plurality of moving guide plates that regulate side portions in the width direction of the paper. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the width of the moving guide plate that defines the interval is automatically changed according to the position of the moving guide plate.   Of the moving guide plates, the moving guide plate that regulates the interval between sheets is composed of a reference side restricting plate that restricts the end of the sheet on the reference side and a non-reference side restricting plate that restricts the end of the sheet on the non-reference side. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is stopped by a reference-side regulating plate guide groove and a non-reference-side regulating plate guide groove provided on the mounting table.   2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein among the guide grooves, the guide groove for the non-reference side regulating plate has a groove arrangement interval that varies depending on a printing paper size.   An image forming apparatus comprising the paper feeding device according to claim 1.

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