JP2015067411A - Feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a feeding device capable of reducing idle feeding of a sheet on which a friction pad abuts.SOLUTION: A feeding device includes: a second feed roller 75 which feeds a recording sheet 12 in a feeding direction 87; a first support part 91 which supports the recording sheet 12 on a front surface 45; a second feed arm 76 which rotatably supports the second feed roller 75 on a tip thereof and can turn in a direction of an arrow 74; a first coil spring 95 which energizes the first support part 91 to the second feed roller 75 side; a friction pad 93 which faces the second feed roller 75 and supports the recording sheet 12 together with the front surface 45; a second support part 92 which supports the friction pad 93; and a second coil spring 96 which energizes the second support part 92 to the second feed roller 75 side. The second support part 92 is moved in a direction away from the second feed roller 75 in linkage with the movement of the first support part 91 in the direction away from the second feed roller 75, so that the friction pad 93 is separated from the second feed roller 75 than the front surface 45.

Description

  The present invention relates to a feeding device that feeds a sheet supported by a support portion.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a feeding device that has a support portion that supports a sheet and can feed the sheet from the support portion to a main body of an image recording apparatus or the like is known. In the feeding device, the support unit supports a plurality of stacked sheets, and the feeding roller comes into contact with the uppermost sheet supported by the support unit to feed the sheet in the feeding direction. There is something to send to.

  In the medium feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 as an example of the feeding device as described above, the sheet that is supported by being overlapped with the support portion and fed by the pickup roller is downstream in the feeding direction from the support portion. The separation portion provided on the side and inclined with respect to the sheet support surface of the support portion is brought into contact. Thereby, even if two or more sheets are double-fed, the double-fed sheets are separated by the separation unit, and only the uppermost sheet can be fed.

  On the other hand, as a problem of the feeding device, there is so-called idle feeding in which a sheet is not fed. In contrast, in the medium feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the angle between the sheet support surface and the separation unit can be increased by rotating the support unit. Thereby, the conveyance load with respect to the sheet | seat of a separation part can be made small. As a result, the occurrence of sheet empty feeding can be reduced.

JP 2011-190029 A

  By the way, in many of the feeding apparatuses as described above, a friction pad having a friction coefficient larger than that of the sheet support surface is disposed on the sheet support surface of the support portion. As a result, the lowermost sheet supported by the support portion is less likely to be fed, so that the possibility of being double-fed together with the sheets stacked above the sheet can be reduced.

  However, while the friction pad is useful for preventing double feeding, it causes empty feeding when the lowermost sheet is fed. The friction pad has an effect of making it difficult for the lowermost sheet to be fed when the sheet stacked above the lowermost sheet is fed, while the lowermost sheet itself is fed. However, there is a problem that the lowermost sheet becomes difficult to be fed.

  In the medium feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the support portion can be rotated, but when the support portion is rotated, the state in which the lowermost sheet is in contact with the friction pad is changed. I can't. In other words, the medium feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot prevent the occurrence of idle feeding due to the friction pad when feeding the lowermost sheet.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the possibility of air feeding caused by the friction pad of the sheet supported by the support portion in a state of being in contact with the friction pad. It is to provide means that can.

  (1) A feeding device according to the present invention includes a feeding roller that feeds a sheet in a feeding direction, and a first support that supports the sheet and is movable toward and away from the feeding roller. And the other end that supports the feeding roller rotatably at one end and is located upstream from the one end in the feeding direction and spaced from the first support. An arm portion that is rotatable about the portion, a first urging member that urges the first support portion toward the feeding roller, and a position that faces the feeding roller. A friction coefficient larger than that of the sheet support surface of the one support part, and a friction pad that supports the sheet together with the first support part, and a direction that supports the friction pad and approaches and separates from the feeding roller A second support portion movable to the feed roller side, and the second support portion on the feed roller side Comprising a second biasing member for biasing the. In conjunction with the movement of the first support portion in the direction away from the feeding roller against the urging force of the first urging member, the second support portion is urged by the second urging member. The friction pad is moved away from the feeding roller against the force to move the friction pad away from the feeding roller rather than the sheet support surface of the first support portion.

  According to this configuration, the sheet is supported by the sheet support surface of the first support portion and the friction pad. When the feeding roller rotates in this state, the sheet is normally fed in the feeding direction. However, when the conveying load on the sheet due to the frictional resistance of the friction pad is large, the sheet is not fed even if the feeding roller rotates.

  In this case, the rotational force that causes the feeding roller to feed the sheet in the feeding direction becomes a rotational force for the arm portion to press the feeding roller toward the first support portion. Accordingly, when the feeding roller is pressed against the first support portion, the first support portion moves in a direction away from the feeding roller against the biasing force by the first biasing member. Then, the second support part moves in a direction away from the feeding roller against the urging force of the second urging member. At this time, the friction pad is separated from the feeding roller more than the sheet support surface of the first support part by the movement of the second support part. Thereby, the friction pad supported by the second support part is separated from the sheet supported by the first support part. As a result, the conveyance load on the sheet supported by the first support portion can be reduced, and the sheet can be fed by the rotation of the feeding roller.

  (2) The portion of the second support portion where the friction pad is provided is provided on the opposite side of the feed roller with respect to the first support portion. The first support portion includes an exposed portion that exposes the friction pad to the feeding roller.

  According to this structure, since the 1st support part is provided with the exposed part, the position where a friction pad supports a sheet | seat can be determined flexibly irrespective of presence of a 1st support part.

  (3) The second support portion is provided downstream of the first support portion in the feeding direction, supports the sheet together with the friction pad and the first support portion, and the downstream end portion in the feeding direction. It moves by rotating around the axis. The feeding device according to the present invention further includes a guide portion that is provided on the downstream side in the feeding direction with respect to the second support portion, and that abuts and guides the sheet fed by the feeding roller. The guide portion is opposed to the arm portion in the feeding direction, and the downstream side in the feeding direction is separated from the sheet supporting surface of the second support portion with respect to the sheet supporting surface so as to be separated from the upstream side. It is inclined.

  According to this configuration, the friction pad can be separated from the sheet supported by the first support part by rotating the second support part, and the angle of the sheet support surface of the second support part with respect to the guide part Can be increased. And the conveyance load with respect to the sheet | seat of a guide part can be made small by enlarging the said angle. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the sheet is caused to idle due to the guide unit.

  (4) The first support portion is moved by rotating around the upstream end in the feeding direction.

  According to this configuration, the first support portion can be moved with a simple configuration.

  (5) The feeding direction downstream side of the first support part and the feeding direction upstream side of the second support part are arranged so as to overlap in a direction approaching and separating from the feeding roller. ing. The downstream side of the first support part in the feeding direction is located closer to the feeding roller side than the upstream side of the second support part in the feeding direction.

  According to this configuration, when the first support portion is pushed by the feeding roller and rotated, the second support portion is pushed by the first support portion and moves. That is, a configuration in which the second support portion moves in conjunction with the movement of the first support portion can be realized with a simple configuration.

  (6) A third biasing member that biases the arm portion toward the first support portion is further provided. The biasing force of the first biasing member and the biasing force of the second biasing member are larger than the biasing force of the third biasing member.

  According to this configuration, the urging force of the first urging member and the urging force of the second urging member are larger than the urging force of the third urging member. Therefore, even though the sheet is properly fed by the feeding roller, the first support portion and the second support portion are moved to the arm portion biased toward the first support portion by the third biasing member. The situation where it moves by being pushed can be avoided.

  (7) The apparatus may further include a drive source and a drive transmission mechanism that transmits a drive force from the drive source to the feeding roller.

  (8) The first support portion includes an auxiliary friction pad having a friction coefficient larger than that of the sheet support surface on at least a part of the sheet support surface of the first support portion.

  According to this configuration, since both the friction pad and the auxiliary friction pad are in contact with the sheet, the conveyance load on the sheet increases. As a result, when a plurality of sheets are supported on the first support portion in a stacked state, the sheet in contact with the friction pad and the auxiliary friction pad may be fed together with the stacked sheets. Can be lowered.

  (9) The auxiliary friction pad is provided at a position not facing the feeding roller in a direction approaching and separating from the feeding roller.

  According to this configuration, since the auxiliary friction pad does not face the feeding roller, when the friction pad is separated from the sheet supported by the first support portion by the movement of the second support portion, the auxiliary friction pad The conveyance load on the sheet is not so large. As a result, the possibility of the sheet being fed in the air can be reduced.

  (10) The feeding roller faces both the first support portion and the friction pad supported by the second support portion.

  According to this configuration, when the friction pad moves due to the movement of the second support portion, even if the feeding roller tries to move to the friction pad side, the movement is blocked by the first support portion. Thereby, the friction pad can be reliably separated from the feeding roller.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the possibility of air feeding caused by the friction pad of the sheet supported by the first support portion in contact with the friction pad.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunction machine 10 as an example of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the printer unit 11. FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the first support portion 91, the second support portion 92, the friction pad 93, and the auxiliary friction pad 94. FIG. 4 is a bottom view schematically showing the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92. FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AB-AB in FIG. 3. FIG. 6A shows a normal state, and FIG. 6B shows a second feed by the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 A state of rotating in a direction away from the roller 75 is shown. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing main parts of the second feeding tray 71 and the second feeding unit 72 in the modified example, and FIG. 7A shows a normal state, and FIG. 1 shows a state in which the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 are rotated in a direction away from the second feed roller 75. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing main parts of the second feeding tray 71 and the second feeding unit 72 in the modified example, and FIG. 8A shows a normal state, and FIG. 1 shows a state in which the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 are rotated in a direction away from the second feed roller 75.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. The embodiment described below is merely an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the embodiment of the present invention can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. In the following description, the vertical direction 7 is defined with reference to the state in which the multifunction machine 10 is installed (the state in FIG. 1), and the side on which the rotation cover 23 is provided is the back side (back side). A front-rear direction 8 is defined, and a left-right direction 9 is defined when the multifunction device 10 is viewed from the front side (front side) opposite to the back side.

[Overall structure of MFP 10]
As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction machine 10 is generally formed in a thin rectangular parallelepiped, and a printer unit 11 is provided in the lower part. The multifunction machine 10 has various functions such as a facsimile function and a print function. The multifunction machine 10 has a function of recording an image on one side of a recording paper 12 (see FIG. 2, an example of the sheet of the present invention) by an inkjet method as a printing function. The multifunction machine 10 may record images on both sides of the recording paper 12. The multifunction machine 10 may record an image on the recording paper 12 by a method other than the ink jet method, for example, an electrophotographic method.

[First feeding tray 20]
As shown in FIG. 2, a first feeding tray 20 is provided at the lower part of the printer unit 11. The first feed tray 20 can be attached to and removed from the printer unit 11 by moving in the front-rear direction 8. The first feeding tray 20 is a box-shaped member whose upper side is opened. The recording sheet 12 can be supported on the bottom plate 22 of the first feeding tray 20 in an overlaid state. A discharge tray 21 is supported on the front side and the upper side of the first feeding tray 20. On the upper surface of the discharge tray 21, the recording paper 12 on which an image is recorded by a recording unit 24 described later is discharged.

[First feeding unit 16]
As shown in FIG. 2, the first feeding unit 16 is provided above the bottom plate 22 of the first feeding tray 20. The first feeding unit 16 includes a first feeding roller 25, a first feeding arm 26, and a first drive transmission mechanism 27. The first feeding roller 25 is pivotally supported at the tip of the first feeding arm 26 so as to be rotatable. The first feeding arm 26 extends forward and obliquely upward from the tip portion. The first feeding arm 26 rotates in the direction of an arrow 29 around the first support shaft 28 provided at the base end. Accordingly, the first feeding roller 25 can be brought into contact with and separated from the recording sheet 12 supported by the bottom plate 22 of the first feeding tray 20 or the first feeding tray 20.

  The first feeding roller 25 is rotated by a driving force of a conveying motor (not shown) transmitted by a first drive transmission mechanism 27 in which a plurality of gears are engaged. Thereby, among the recording sheets 12 placed on the bottom plate 22 of the first feeding tray 20, the uppermost recording sheet 12 that is in contact with the first feeding roller 25 is conveyed through a guide member 30 described later. It is fed to the path 65. The first feeding roller 25 may be rotated by being applied with a driving force from a motor provided separately from the conveying motor.

  The guide member 30 is provided in the housing 14 of the printer unit 11. The guide member 30 may be attached to the housing 14 or may be integrally formed with the housing 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide member 30 is provided on the rear side of the first feeding tray 20. The guide member 30 may be provided on the first feeding tray 20.

  The guide member 30 has an inclined surface 32 that is inclined with respect to the upper surface 31 of the bottom plate 22 so that the rear side is higher than the front side. The inclined surface 32 is a front surface of the guide member 30. The inclined surface 32 comes into contact with the recording paper 12 fed backward by the first feeding unit 16 and guides the recording paper 12 along the inclined surface 32. At this time, even if a so-called double feed occurs in which a plurality of recording papers 12 are fed by the first feeding roller 25, the inclined surface 32 is formed of the multiple fed recording papers 12. The uppermost recording sheet 12 is separated from the other recording sheets 12 and sent to the curved portion 33 of the conveyance path 65 described later.

[Conveyance path 65]
As shown in FIG. 2, a conveyance path 65 extends from the rear end portion of the first feeding tray 20. The conveyance path 65 includes a curved portion 33 and a straight portion 34. The bending portion 33 is formed by an outer guide portion 18 and an inner guide portion 19 that are opposed to each other with a predetermined interval. The straight line portion 34 is formed by the recording portion 24 and the platen 42 facing each other at a predetermined interval at a position where the recording portion 24 is disposed. Further, the linear portion 34 on the rear side of the conveying roller pair 59 is formed by linear guide members 89 and 90. Each guide part 18, 19, 89, 90 is extended in the left-right direction 9 which is a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG.

  The recording paper 12 supported on the first feeding tray 20 is conveyed by the first feeding roller 25 so as to make a U-turn from the lower side to the upper side of the curved portion 33 and reaches the conveying roller pair 59. The recording paper 12 sandwiched between the conveying roller pair 59 is conveyed in the front-rear direction 8 with the straight line portion 34 directed toward the recording unit 24. An image is recorded by the recording unit 24 on the recording paper 12 that has arrived immediately below the recording unit 24. The recording paper 12 on which image recording has been performed is conveyed in the front-rear direction 8 by the discharge roller pair 44 in the front-rear direction 8 and discharged to the discharge tray 21. As described above, the recording paper 12 is conveyed along the conveyance direction 15 indicated by the one-dot chain line arrow in FIG.

[Recording unit 24]
As shown in FIG. 2, the recording unit 24 is provided above the linear part 34. A platen 42 is provided below the recording unit 24 and at a position facing the recording unit 24. The platen 42 is a member that supports the recording paper 12. The recording unit 24 includes a carriage 40 and a recording head 38 mounted on the carriage 40.

  The carriage 40 is supported so as to reciprocate in the left-right direction 9 by two guide rails (not shown) arranged at intervals in the front-rear direction 8. The carriage 40 reciprocates in the left-right direction 9 when a driving force is transmitted from a carriage driving motor (not shown). Ink is supplied to the recording head 38 from an ink cartridge (not shown). A nozzle 39 is formed on the lower surface of the recording head 38. When the carriage 40 moves in the left-right direction 9, the recording head 38 ejects ink droplets from the nozzles 39 toward the platen 42. As a result, an image is recorded on the recording paper 12 that is conveyed in the conveying direction 15 and supported by the platen 42.

[Conveying roller pair 59 and discharging roller pair 44]
As shown in FIG. 2, a conveyance roller pair 59 is arranged on the upstream side of the conveyance direction 65 with respect to the conveyance direction 15 from the recording unit 24. A discharge roller pair 44 is disposed downstream of the recording unit 24 in the conveyance path 65 in the conveyance direction 15. The conveyance roller pair 59 includes a conveyance roller 60 and a pinch roller 61 that are in contact with each other. The discharge roller pair 44 includes a discharge roller 62 and a spur 63 that are in contact with each other. The axes of the rollers 60, 61, 44 and the spur 63 extend in the left-right direction 9. The conveyance roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are rotated by a driving force transmitted from a conveyance motor (not shown). As a result, each of the roller pairs 59 and 44 transports the sandwiched recording paper 12 in the transport direction 15.

[Feeding device 70]
The multifunction machine 10 includes a feeding device 70. As shown in FIG. 2, the feeding device 70 includes a rotation cover 23, a second feeding tray 71, a second feeding unit 72, and a lower guide member 97. The second feeding tray 71 includes a first support 91, a second support 92, a friction pad 93, an auxiliary friction pad 94 (see FIG. 3), and a first coil spring 95 (first attachment of the present invention). An example of a biasing member) and a second coil spring 96 (an example of a second biasing member of the present invention). The second feeding portion 72 includes a second feeding roller 75 (an example of the feeding roller of the present invention), a second feeding arm 76 (an example of the arm portion of the present invention), and a third coil spring 77 (the present one). An example of the third urging member of the invention, a feeding motor 78 (an example of the drive source of the present invention), and a second drive transmission mechanism 79 (an example of the drive transmission mechanism of the present invention). .

[Rotating cover 23]
As shown in FIG. 1, the rotation cover 23 constitutes the rear surface of the multifunction device 10 together with the housing 14 of the multifunction device 10. The rotation cover 23 is disposed at the center of the rear surface of the multifunction machine 10 in the left-right direction 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation cover 23 is supported by the casing 14 or a frame (not shown) of the printer unit 11 so as to be rotatable about the shaft 81 in the directions of arrows 80 and 82. The rotation cover 23 has a standing posture (posture shown in FIG. 1) standing up with respect to the back surface of the multifunction device 10 and a tilting posture (posture shown in FIG. 2) tilted with respect to the rear surface of the multifunction device 10. Rotate between. The rotating cover 23 includes a rear cover plate 88 disposed on the rear side of the second feed tray 71 and a pair of side plates (not shown) protruding forward from the left and right ends of the rear cover plate 88. ing. The rear cover plate 88 covers the rear side of the second feeding tray 71, and the pair of side plates covers the right side and the left side of the second feeding tray 71.

[First support portion 91]
As shown in FIG. 2, the first support portion 91 is disposed in front of the rear cover plate 88 of the rotation cover 23. 2-5, the 1st support part 91 is a substantially plate-shaped member. The recording paper 12 can be supported on the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 in an overlaid state. Of the stacked recording sheets 12, the recording sheet 12 on the second feeding roller 75 side comes into contact with the second feeding roller 75. The recording paper 12 is fed in the feeding direction 87 as the second feeding roller 75 rotates.

  The protrusions 46 projecting along the left-right direction 9 from the left and right ends of the upstream end portion of the first support portion 91 in the feeding direction 87 are inserted into holes (not shown) provided in the pair of side plates of the rotation cover 23. . Thus, the first support portion 91 is supported by the rotation cover 23 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows 54 and 55 (see FIG. 6) relative to the rotation cover 23 with the protrusion 46 as an axis. Yes. That is, the first support portion 91 is movable in the directions of arrows 54 and 55 that are directions toward and away from the second feeding roller 75. Further, the first support portion 91 rotates integrally with the rotation cover 23 when the rotation cover 23 rotates in the directions of arrows 80 and 82.

  3-5, the 1st support part 91 is equipped with the recessed part 47 (an example of the exposed part of this invention) dented from the feed direction 87 downstream end to the upstream. The recess 47 is provided in the center portion of the first support portion 91 in the left-right direction 9. A friction pad 93 supported by the second support portion 92 is disposed in the recess 47. Accordingly, when the first support portion 91 is viewed from the second feed roller 75 side, that is, in the state shown in FIG. 3, the friction pad 93 is exposed. In other words, the recess 47 exposes the friction pad 93 to the second feeding roller 75.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a recess (not shown) is provided on the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91. A rectangular parallelepiped auxiliary friction pad 94 is embedded in the recess. The shape of the auxiliary friction pad 94 is arbitrary. For example, the auxiliary friction pad 94 may be shaped to be provided over the entire front surface 45. That is, the first support portion 91 includes the auxiliary friction pad 94 on at least a part of the front surface 45. One auxiliary friction pad 94 is disposed on each of the right and left sides of the recess 47. The auxiliary friction pad 94 is disposed at the same position as the friction pad 93 in the feeding direction 87. The auxiliary friction pad 94 is made of a material having a friction coefficient larger than that of the front surface 45 (an example of the sheet support surface of the first support portion of the present invention) of the first support portion 91 made of resin or the like, for example, cork. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, a first coil spring 95 is disposed between the first support portion 91 and the rear cover plate 88 of the rotation cover 23. One end of the first coil spring 95 is attached to the rear surface 48 of the first support portion 91. The other end of the first coil spring 95 is attached to the rear cover plate 88.

  The left and right ends of the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 (on the right and left sides of the recording paper 12 supported by the first support portion 91) are closer to the second feed roller 75 side than the first support portion 91. A first stopper (not shown) that contacts is provided. In a state where the first support portion 91 is in contact with the first stopper, the first coil spring 95 is in a contracted state from the natural length. Accordingly, the first coil spring 95 biases the first support portion 91 toward the second feed roller 75 side. However, the first support portion 91 is restricted by the first stopper from rotating toward the second feed roller 75 from the position shown in FIG.

[Second support portion 92]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the second support portion 92 is disposed in front of the rear cover plate 88 of the rotation cover 23 and downstream of the first support portion 91 in the feeding direction 87. ing. The second support portion 92 is a generally plate-shaped member. A front surface 49 (an example of a sheet support surface of the second support portion of the present invention) of the main body portion 51 described later in the second support portion 92 can be supported in a state where the recording sheets 12 are stacked. That is, the front surface 49 supports the recording paper 12 together with the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91. In the present embodiment, the front surfaces 45 and 49 are located on the same plane, but there may be a level difference between the front surfaces 45 and 49 that does not hinder the support and feeding of the recording paper 12.

  The protrusions 50 that protrude along the left-right direction 9 from the left and right ends of the downstream end portion in the feeding direction 87 of the second support portion 92 are inserted into holes (not shown) provided in the pair of side plates of the rotation cover 23. . Thus, the second support portion 92 is supported by the rotation cover 23 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows 56 and 57 (see FIG. 6) relative to the rotation cover 23 with the protrusion 50 as an axis. Yes. That is, the second support portion 92 can move in the directions of arrows 56 and 57, which are directions toward and away from the second feeding roller 75, by rotating in the directions of arrows 80 and 82. Further, the second support portion 92 rotates integrally with the rotation cover 23 when the rotation cover 23 rotates in the directions of arrows 80 and 82.

3-5, the 2nd support part 92 is the 1st support part 91 with respect to the main body part 51 provided in the feed direction 87 downstream, and the feed direction 87 upstream end of the main body part 51. The first extending portion 52 extending from the central portion 9 in the left-right direction 9 to the upstream side in the feeding direction 87, and the first extending portion 52 at the upstream end portion in the feeding direction 87 of the main body 51 from the right side and the left side. And a second extending portion 53 extending upstream in the feeding direction 87. That is, the first extending portion 52 and the second extending portion 53 constitute a portion on the downstream side in the feeding direction 87 of the second support portion 92. The main body 51, the first extending portion 52, and the second extending portion 53 are integrally formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the first extending portion 52 and the second extending portion 53 extend to the upstream side in the feeding direction 87 on the rear side of the main body portion 51, and the first support portion It is located behind 91 (on the opposite side of the second feed roller 75 with respect to the first support portion 91). 2-5, the 1st extension part 52 and the protrusion front-end | tip of the 2nd extension part 53 are the feed direction 87 from the downstream end of the feed direction 87 of the 1st support part 91 so that FIG. Is also located upstream. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the first extending portion 52 is in the same position as the concave portion 47 of the first support portion 91 in the left-right direction 9.

  As described above, the downstream side in the feeding direction 87 of the first support portion 91 and the upstream side in the feeding direction 87 of the second support portion 92 are arrows 54 that are directions toward and away from the second feeding roller 75. Are arranged so as to overlap in the direction of ~ 57. Further, the downstream side of the first support portion 91 in the feeding direction 87 is located closer to the second feeding roller 75 side than the upstream side of the second support portion 92 in the feeding direction 87.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a concave portion (not shown) is provided at a position facing the concave portion 47 of the first support portion 91 on the front surface 58 of the first extending portion 52. A rectangular parallelepiped friction pad 93 is embedded in the recess. That is, the second support portion 92 supports the friction pad 93. The shape of the friction pad 93 is arbitrary. The friction pad 93 is made of a material having a larger friction coefficient than the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 made of resin or the like and the auxiliary friction pad 94 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the friction pad 93 protrudes from the first extending portion 52 through the recess 47 to the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 or slightly to the second feed roller 75 side from the front surface 45. ing. Accordingly, as described above, the friction pad 93 is exposed when the first support portion 91 is viewed from the second feeding roller 75 side. As a result, the friction pad 93 supports the recording paper 12 together with the front surface 49 of the main body 51 and the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a second coil spring 96 is disposed between the second support portion 92 and the rear cover plate 88 of the rotation cover 23. One end of the second coil spring 96 is attached to the rear surface 64 of the second support portion 92. The other end of the second coil spring 96 is attached to the rear cover plate 88.

  The left and right ends of the front surface 49 of the second support portion 92 (on the right and left sides of the recording paper 12 supported by the second support portion 92) are closer to the second feed roller 75 side than the second support portion 92. A second stopper (not shown) that contacts is provided. In a state where the second support portion 92 is in contact with the second stopper, the second coil spring 96 is in a contracted state from the natural length. Accordingly, the second coil spring 96 biases the second support portion 92 toward the second feeding roller 75 side. However, the second support portion 92 is restricted by the second stopper from rotating toward the second feed roller 75 from the position shown in FIG.

[Second feeding unit 72]
As shown in FIG. 2, the second feeding roller 75 is disposed in front of the second feeding tray 71. The shaft of the second feed roller 75 extends in the left-right direction 9. As shown in FIG. 3, the two second feeding rollers 75 are provided at intervals in the left-right direction 9, but the number of the second feeding rollers 75 is not limited to two.

  The inner portion of the second feeding roller 75 in the left-right direction 9 faces the friction pad 93 in the directions of arrows 54 to 57. Further, the outer side portion of the second feed roller 75 in the left-right direction 9 faces the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 in the directions of arrows 54 to 57. That is, the second feeding roller 75 is opposed to both the first support portion 91 and the friction pad 93. On the other hand, the second feed roller 75 does not face the auxiliary friction pad 94 in the directions of arrows 54 to 57. The second feed roller 75 is rotatably supported at the tip end portion of the second feed arm 76 (an example of one end portion of the present invention).

  The second feeding arm 76 extends in the direction away from the first support portion 91 toward the upstream side in the feeding direction 87 from the distal end portion. The second feed arm 76 has a second support shaft provided at the base end portion with the other end upstream of the feed direction 87 upstream from the tip end portion as a base end portion (an example of the other end portion of the present invention). It pivots in the direction of arrow 67 about 66. As a result, the second feed roller 75 can be brought into contact with and separated from the recording paper 12 supported by the first support portion 91, the second support portion 92, and the friction pad 93. The second support shaft 66 is rotatably supported by a frame (not shown) of the printer unit 11, but its position does not change.

  A third coil spring 77 is disposed on the front side of the second feeding arm 76. One end of the third coil spring 77 is attached to the front side of the second feeding arm 76. The other end of the third coil spring 77 is attached to the frame 85 of the printer unit 11. The third coil spring 77 is in a state of being contracted from the natural length in a state where the second feeding roller 75 is in contact with the friction pad 93 and the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91. As a result, the third coil spring 77 biases the second feeding arm 76 toward the first support portion 91. As a result, the second feeding roller 75 is brought into pressure contact with the recording paper 12 supported by the friction pad 93 and the front surface 45 or the friction pad 93 and the front surfaces 45 and 49. When the recording paper 12 is not present, the second feeding roller 75 is in pressure contact with the friction pad 93 and the front surfaces 45 and 49.

  The spring constant of the third coil spring 77 is smaller than the spring constant of the first coil spring 95 and the second coil spring 96. That is, the urging force of the first coil spring 95 toward the second feeding roller 75 and the urging force of the second coil spring 96 toward the second feeding roller 75 are the first support of the third coil spring 77. It is larger than the urging force to the part 91 side. Even when the magnitude relationship of the urging forces is the above-described relationship, the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 have the first stopper and the second stopper, which are higher than the first stopper and the second stopper. 2 The movement to the feeding roller side 75 is prevented.

  The printer unit 11 is provided with a feeding motor 78 that applies a driving force to the second feeding roller 75. The driving force of the feeding motor 78 is transmitted to the second feeding roller 75 by a second drive transmission mechanism 79 in which a plurality of gears are engaged. Thus, the second feeding roller 75 rotates and feeds the recording paper 12 supported by the friction pad 93 and the front surfaces 45 and 49 in the feeding direction 87.

  The arrangement position of the feeding motor 78 is not limited to the position shown in FIG. Further, the number of gears of the second drive transmission mechanism 79 is not limited to eight as shown in FIG. Further, the second drive transmission mechanism 79 may be configured by other than a gear. For example, the second drive transmission mechanism 79 is spanned between the belt spanned between the shaft of the feeding motor 78 and the second support shaft 66, and between the second support shaft 66 and the shaft 83. You may be comprised with a belt.

[Lower guide member 97]
The lower guide member 97 is provided downstream of the second support portion 92 in the feeding direction 87. The lower guide member 97 is provided at a position facing the second feeding roller 75 in the feeding direction 87. An upper surface 68 of the lower guide member 97 (an example of the guide portion of the present invention) is a plane extending in the front-rear direction 8 and the left-right direction 9. That is, the upper surface 68 is inclined with respect to the front surface 49 so that the downstream side in the feeding direction 87 is further away from the front surface 49 than the upstream side.

  The leading end 87 of the recording paper 12 supported by the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 and the front surface 49 of the second support portion 92 is in a state where the recording paper 12 is in contact with the upper surface 68 of the lower guide member 97. Thus, it comes into contact with the upper surface 68. When conveyance of the recording paper 12 is started by the second feeding roller 75, the upper surface 68 guides the recording paper 12 that has come into contact along the upper surface 68 in the conveyance direction 15. A separation member (not shown) is provided on the upper surface 68 of the lower guide member 97. Therefore, even when a so-called double feed occurs in which a plurality of recording papers 12 are fed by the second feed roller 75, the upper surface 68 is the second of the multiple fed recording papers 12. The recording sheet 12 in contact with the feeding roller 75 is separated from the other recording sheets 12 and guided in the transport direction 15. Further, an upper guide member 98 that guides the recording paper 12 guided by the lower guide member 97 from the space between the curved portion 33 and the straight portion 34 toward the straight portion 34 is provided. The recording paper 12 is guided in the direction of the arrow 99 in FIG. 2 by the lower guide member 97 and the upper guide member 98 and enters the linear portion 34.

  The lower guide member 97 is fixed to the rotation cover 23, and the upper guide member 98 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the printer unit 11. The lower guide member 97 may be fixed to the frame of the printer unit 11, and the upper guide member 98 may be fixed to the rotating cover 23.

[Operation of Second Feeding Tray 71 and Second Feeding Unit 72]
Hereinafter, operations of the second feeding tray 71 and the second feeding unit 72 in a state where only one recording sheet 12 is supported on the second feeding tray 71 will be described. When the feeding motor 78 is driven, the second feeding roller 75 rotates in the direction of the arrow 69 as shown in FIG. As a result, the recording paper 12 is normally fed in the feeding direction 87.

  However, when the friction force by the friction pad 93, the auxiliary friction pad 94, and the front surfaces 45 and 49 is larger than the force by which the second feeding roller 75 feeds the recording paper 12 in the feeding direction 87, the recording paper 12 is Not transported. At this time, the force that the second feeding roller 75 tries to rotate in the direction of the arrow 69 is converted into a force that the second feeding arm 76 rotates in the direction of the arrow 74. As a result, the second feeding roller 75 is pressed against the recording paper 12. That is, the second feed roller 75 presses the friction pad 93 and the first support portion 91 through the recording paper 12.

  When the force with which the second feed roller 75 pushes the first support portion 91 is greater than the urging force of the first coil spring 95, the first support portion 91 pushed by the second feed roller 75 causes the first coil spring to move. Against the urging force of 95, the projection 46 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 55 around the center. As a result, the portion of the first support portion 91 on the downstream side in the feeding direction 87 abuts on and presses the second extending portion 53 of the second support portion 92. When the force by which the first support portion 91 pushes the second support portion 92 is greater than the urging force of the second coil spring 96, the second support portion 92 pushed by the first support portion 91 is caused by the second coil spring 96. Against the biasing force, it rotates in the direction of the arrow 57 around the protrusion 50.

  At this time, the portion of the second support portion 92 where the friction pad 93 is disposed rotates more than the first support portion 91. That is, the friction pad 93 is farther away from the second feeding roller 75 than the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 by the rotation of the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, only the friction pad 93 out of the front surface 45 and the friction pad 93 is rotated by the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92. Separate from 75.

  As described above, in conjunction with the movement of the first support portion 91 in the direction away from the second feed roller 75 against the urging force of the first coil spring 95, the second support portion 92 is moved to the second coil spring. The friction pad 93 moves away from the second feed roller 75 rather than the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91.

  Even in the state of FIG. 6B, the front surfaces 45 and 49 and the auxiliary friction pad 94 are in contact with the recording paper 12. As a result, the resistance when the second feeding roller 75 feeds the recording paper 12 in the feeding direction 87 is only the frictional force generated by the auxiliary friction pad 94 and the front surfaces 45 and 49. Furthermore, the angle formed by the lower guide member 97 and the front surface 49 of the second support portion 92 increases as the second support portion 92 rotates. As a result, the conveyance resistance applied to the recording paper 12 by the lower guide member 97 is reduced. As a result, when the frictional force is smaller than the force by which the second feeding roller 75 feeds the recording paper 12 in the feeding direction 87, the recording paper 12 is fed in the feeding direction 87 by the second feeding roller 75. Is done.

  After that, when the rotation of the second feeding roller 75 is stopped, the force for rotating the second feeding arm 76 in the direction of the arrow 74 is only the urging force of the third coil spring 77. Therefore, the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 are rotated in the directions of the arrows 54 and 56 by the urging forces of the first coil spring 95 and the second coil spring 96, respectively. As a result, the state returns to the state of FIG.

[Effect of the embodiment]
According to the present embodiment, the recording paper 12 is supported by the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91 and the friction pad 93. When the second feeding roller 75 rotates in this state, the recording paper 12 is normally fed in the feeding direction 87. However, when the conveyance load to the recording paper 12 due to the frictional resistance of the friction pad 93 is large, the recording paper 12 is not fed even if the second feeding roller 75 rotates.

  In this case, the rotational force for the second feeding roller 75 to feed the recording paper 12 in the feeding direction 87 is that the second feeding arm 76 presses the second feeding roller 75 against the first support portion 91 side. It becomes the rotational power for. Accordingly, when the second feeding roller 75 is pressed against the first support portion 91, the first support portion 91 moves away from the second feeding roller 75 against the urging force of the first coil spring 95. Moving. Then, the second support portion 92 moves in a direction away from the second feeding roller 75 against the urging force of the second coil spring 96. At this time, due to the movement of the second support portion 92, the friction pad 93 is separated from the second feed roller 75 more than the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91. As a result, the friction pad 93 supported by the second support portion 92 is separated from the recording paper 12 supported by the first support portion 91. As a result, the conveyance load on the recording paper 12 supported by the first support portion 91 can be reduced, and the recording paper 12 can be fed by the rotation of the second feeding roller 75.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the first support portion 91 includes the concave portion 47, the position at which the friction pad 93 supports the recording paper 12 is determined flexibly regardless of the presence of the first support portion 91. be able to.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the second support portion 92 is rotatable, by rotating the second support portion 92, the recording paper 12 having the friction pad 93 supported by the first support portion 91 is used. In addition, the angle of the second support portion 92 with respect to the upper surface 68 of the lower guide member 97 of the front surface 49 can be increased. Then, by increasing the angle, the transport load on the recording paper 12 on the upper surface 68 can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility of the idling of the recording paper 12 caused by the upper surface 68.

  Moreover, according to this embodiment, since the 1st support part 91 is comprised so that rotation is possible, the 1st support part 91 can be moved with a simple structure.

  According to the present embodiment, when the first support portion 91 is pushed by the second feed roller 75 and rotated, the second support portion 92 is pushed by the first support portion 91 and moves. That is, the configuration in which the second support portion 92 moves in conjunction with the movement of the first support portion 91 can be realized with a simple configuration.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the urging force of the first coil spring 95 and the urging force of the second coil spring 96 are larger than the urging force of the third coil spring 77. Therefore, although the recording paper 12 is appropriately fed by the second feeding roller 75, the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 are moved to the first support portion 91 side by the third coil spring 77. By being pushed by the second feeding arm 76 biased to the position, it is possible to avoid a situation where the second feeding arm 76 moves.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since both the friction pad 93 and the auxiliary friction pad 94 are in contact with the recording paper 12, the conveyance load on the recording paper 12 becomes large. As a result, when the plurality of recording sheets 12 are supported on the first support portion 91 in a stacked state, the recording sheets 12 on which the recording sheets 12 that are in contact with the friction pads 93 and the auxiliary friction pads 94 are stacked. At the same time, the possibility of double feeding can be reduced.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the auxiliary friction pad 94 does not face the second feeding roller 75, the recording paper in which the friction pad 93 is supported by the first support portion 91 by the movement of the second support portion 92. When separated from 12, the transport load on the recording paper 12 by the auxiliary friction pad 94 does not become so large. As a result, the possibility of idling the recording paper 12 can be reduced.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the friction pad 93 is moved by the movement of the second support portion 92, even if the second feeding roller 75 tries to move toward the friction pad 93, the movement is not performed. Blocked by 91. Thereby, the friction pad 93 can be reliably separated from the second feeding roller 75.

[Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, the first support portion 91 is moved by turning, but the first support portion 91 may be moved by other than turning. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the first support portion 91 may move along the front-rear direction 8. 7A corresponds to the state of FIG. 6A of the above-described embodiment, and FIG. 7B corresponds to FIG. 6B of the above-described embodiment. In FIG. 7B, the second support portion 92 is rotated by being pushed by the moving first support portion 91.

  In the above-described embodiment, the second support portion 92 is moved by turning. However, like the first support portion 91, the second support portion 92 may be moved by other than turning.

  Further, the feeding device 70 may not include the third coil spring 96. In this case, the second feeding arm 76 is pressed against the friction pad 93 and the first support portion 91 by its own weight.

  In the above-described embodiment, the second feeding roller 75 is opposed to both the first support portion 91 and the friction pad 93, but may be opposed to only the friction pad 93.

  Further, the arrangement position of the friction pad 93 can be arbitrarily set on the condition that at least a part of the friction pad 93 faces the second feeding roller 75.

  Further, the auxiliary friction pad 94 may be provided at a position facing the second feeding roller 75. That is, the second feeding roller 75 may face both the friction pad 93 and the auxiliary friction pad 94.

  Further, the feeding device 70 may not include the auxiliary friction pad 94. In this case, when the friction pad 93 is separated from the second feeding roller 75, the resistance when the second feeding roller 75 feeds the recording paper 12 in the feeding direction 87 is the frictional force generated by the front surfaces 45 and 49. It becomes.

  Further, the second support portion 92 may not support the recording paper 12. That is, the recording paper 12 may be supported only by the first support portion 91 and the friction pad 93. Such a configuration can be realized, for example, by disposing all of the second support portions 92 behind the first support portions 91 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 are connected by a connecting portion 84. 8A corresponds to the state of FIG. 6A of the above-described embodiment, and FIG. 8B corresponds to FIG. 6B of the above-described embodiment. In FIG. 8B, the second support portion 92 is rotated by the movement of the connecting portion 84 due to the movement of the first support portion 91. Moreover, in FIG. 8, the opening 86 is provided instead of the recessed part 47 in the above-mentioned embodiment as an exposed part of this invention.

  Further, the position and shape of the exposed portion of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the exposed portion of the present invention may be circular or triangular, or may be the opening 86 as described above. In addition, the position where the exposed portion of the present invention is provided may not be the downstream end portion in the feeding direction 87 or the central portion in the left-right direction 9.

  Moreover, the 1st support part 91 does not need to be provided with the exposed part of this invention. In this case, for example, the friction pad 93 is provided on the downstream side in the feeding direction 87 from the first support portion 91.

  Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the feed direction 87 downstream side of the 1st support part 91 and the feed direction 87 upstream side of the 2nd support part 92 were arrange | positioned so that it might overlap in the direction of the arrows 54-57. However, it is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the 1st support part 91 and the 2nd support part 92 do not need to overlap. In this case, the first support portion 91 and the second support portion 92 are connected by a link mechanism or the like, so that the second support portion 92 can move in conjunction with the movement of the first support portion 91. Further, for example, a portion of the second support portion 92 other than the upstream side in the feeding direction 87 may be overlapped with the first support portion 91 in the directions of arrows 54 to 57. An example of such a configuration is shown in FIG.

  Further, the first feeding tray 20 may have the same configuration as the second feeding tray 71 and may function in the same manner as the second feeding tray 71. Further, the first feeding unit 16 may have the same configuration as the second feeding unit 72 and may function in the same manner as the second feeding unit 72. Further, the guide member 30 may function in the same manner as the lower guide member 97.

  In any of the above-described modifications, it goes without saying that the position, size and operation of each member are determined so as to satisfy the following conditions. The above condition is that when the second support portion 92 moves in conjunction with the movement of the first support portion 91, the friction pad 93 supported by the second support portion 92 is more than the front surface 45 of the first support portion 91. The second feed roller 75 is far away from the second feed roller 75.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... MFP 12 ... Recording paper 70 ... Feed device 75 ... Second feed roller 76 ... Second feed arm 87 ... Feed direction 91 ... First Support part 92 ... second support part 93 ... friction pad 95 ... first coil spring 96 ... second coil spring

Claims (10)

A feeding roller for feeding the sheet in the feeding direction;
A first support that supports the sheet and is movable in a direction toward and away from the feeding roller;
The one end portion rotatably supports the feeding roller, and the other end portion that is located upstream of the one end portion in the feeding direction and spaced from the first support portion is a shaft. A pivotable arm section,
A first biasing member that biases the first support portion toward the feeding roller;
A friction pad that is provided at a position facing the feeding roller, has a friction coefficient larger than that of the sheet support surface of the first support portion, and supports the sheet together with the first support portion;
A second support that supports the friction pad and is movable toward and away from the feed roller;
A second urging member that urges the second support portion toward the feeding roller,
In conjunction with the movement of the first support portion in the direction away from the feeding roller against the urging force of the first urging member, the second support portion is urged by the second urging member. A feeding device that moves in a direction away from the feeding roller against a force and moves the friction pad away from the feeding roller rather than the sheet support surface of the first support portion. The portion of the second support portion where the friction pad is provided is provided on the opposite side of the feed roller with respect to the first support portion.
The feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the first support portion includes an exposing portion that exposes the friction pad to the feeding roller. The second support portion is provided on the downstream side in the feeding direction from the first support portion, supports the sheet together with the friction pad and the first support portion, and uses the downstream end portion in the feeding direction as an axis. It moves by rotating,
A guide portion that is provided downstream of the second support portion in the feeding direction, and further guides the sheet in contact with the sheet fed by the feeding roller;
The guide portion is opposed to the arm portion in the feeding direction, and the downstream side in the feeding direction is separated from the sheet supporting surface of the second support portion with respect to the sheet supporting surface so as to be separated from the upstream side. The feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding device is inclined.   4. The feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the first support portion moves by rotating around the upstream end portion in the feeding direction as an axis. 5. The downstream side in the feeding direction of the first support part and the upstream side in the feeding direction of the second support part are arranged so as to overlap with each other in a direction approaching and separating from the feeding roller,
The feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the downstream side in the feeding direction of the first support part is located closer to the feeding roller than the upstream side in the feeding direction of the second support part. A third urging member that urges the arm portion toward the first support portion;
The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an urging force of the first urging member and an urging force of the second urging member are larger than an urging force of the third urging member. A driving source;
The feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive transmission mechanism that transmits a driving force from the driving source to the feeding roller.   The feeding according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first support part includes an auxiliary friction pad having a friction coefficient larger than that of the sheet support surface on at least a part of the sheet support surface of the first support part. apparatus.   The feeding device according to claim 8, wherein the auxiliary friction pad is provided at a position not facing the feeding roller in a direction approaching and separating from the feeding roller.   The feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding roller faces both the first support portion and the friction pad supported by the second support portion.

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