JP2017061384A - Sheet feeding device, image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent falling of a side fence caused by impact and inertia of a sheet when taking out a sheet feeding tray.SOLUTION: By rotating an operation part 114 arranged on a closer side in pulling-out direction of a sheet feeding tray 5, a pulley 120 which is on an upper side of the sheet feeding tray 5, being on a deeper side in the pulling-out direction, is rotated along the same direction. The rotation of the pulley 120 makes a pulley 122a rotate in the same direction, for a shaft 123 to rotate. A screw part 123a, which the shaft 123 being a fixing member for fixing a falling regulation member 111a includes, engages with a threaded hole 5a provided at the sheet feeding tray 5, so that, the falling regulation member 111a is fastened to the sheet feeding tray 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device and an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding device.

  In the paper feeding device provided in the image forming apparatus, when the paper feeding tray is set, the side fence on the back side of the paper feeding tray may move or fall down due to impact or inertia of the stacked paper. In the case where the rear side fence regulates the width direction of the paper, the paper can freely move in the width direction when a movement or a fall occurs. As a result, the image quality may be affected. Specifically, there are phenomena such as deterioration of resist margin position, skew, parallelism, and the like. In order to prevent such a phenomenon from occurring, a technique using a fall-controlling member that prevents the side fence on the back side of the tray from falling is already known.

However, in order to prevent the front and rear side fences from collapsing, it is usually necessary to connect the side fence and the paper feed tray (or stays) with the regulating members and fix them with screws or the like.
In recent years, the demand for space saving and cost reduction of the machine size has increased, and the machine has become smaller and the dedicated space has become smaller. However, on the other hand, with respect to paper sizes that can be passed, large size support (SRA3, 13 ″ × 19 ″, etc.) is required. Therefore, the drawer space of the paper feed tray is reduced, and as a result, when loading the maximum width paper, the upper surface of the back side fence and the back side of the paper feed tray are hidden by an exterior cover or the like. There is. For example, a method using a slide rail is conceivable for pulling out the paper feed tray. However, a layout space for drawing out the paper feed tray is required, which leads to an increase in machine size. In addition, since the slide rail is expensive, it can be said that the mounting is severe even in response to a cost reduction request.

  Due to the above factors, when the fall-down restricting member is fixed with a screw or the like at the position of the maximum sheet width, the upper surface of the back side fence or the back side of the paper feed tray cannot be accessed. Therefore, in order to fasten the fall regulation member, it is necessary to once remove the paper feed tray from the machine. In addition, when the paper size is switched, it is necessary to remove the paper feed tray from the machine again, which impairs user convenience. Further, it is necessary to fix each of them, such as a back side fence and a front side fence. Conventional side fence collapse prevention is often mounted on a large number of thousands of paper feed trays as the upper limit of stacking. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for image quality, which supports a wide range of paper sizes including irregular shapes, and the short side of a tray (small stack) used in smaller machines with a maximum stacking capacity of 550 sheets. Even fences need a fall prevention mechanism.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism for preventing a side fence from falling by a swingable link member provided at a side end of the side fence for the purpose of preventing the side fence from falling. However, it cannot be applied to a short side fence such as a universal tray having a stacking upper limit of about 550 sheets that has been required in recent years.

  Even when a machine is required to save the machine space and reduce the cost, the present invention does not cause operations such as fixing operations at a plurality of locations when taking out the paper feed tray, and does not cause an impact or paper when the paper feed tray is set. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeding device that prevents the side fence from falling down due to the inertia of the machine and does not impair user convenience.

  The paper feeding device according to the present invention includes a pair of paper width regulating members for regulating the side edges of the paper inside a paper feeding tray that accommodates the paper or the paper bundle, and feeds the paper from the uppermost surface of the paper bundle. In the paper feeding device for paper, a regulation member for regulating the position and tilt of the pair of paper width regulation members, a fixing member for fixing the regulation member, and an operation unit for fixing the fixing member, The fixing member fixes the pair of paper width regulating members in conjunction with the movement of the operation unit.

  According to the present invention, without causing an operation such as taking out a paper feed tray, it is possible to prevent the rear side fence from collapsing due to an impact at the time of paper feed tray setting or the inertia of the paper and impair user convenience. Absent.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus including a sheet-like medium conveyance device. It is a perspective view which shows the paper feed tray which comprises the conventional back side fence collapse prevention regulating member. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a paper feed tray is pulled out in the configuration of FIG. 2. It is a perspective view of the paper feed tray which mounted the back side fence fall prevention mechanism concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of only the back side fence fall prevention mechanism which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the fastening part of a fall control member. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining components protruding from the outer shape of a paper feed tray according to a second embodiment, and is a perspective view of only a mechanism unit. FIG. 6 is a perspective view in which a paper feed tray on which Embodiment 2 is mounted is mounted on a machine. FIG. 9 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 8 according to a third embodiment. It is a perspective view of only the mechanism part of Embodiment 4. FIG. 10 is a side view of a fixing unit according to a fourth embodiment.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Even machines that require space saving and cost reduction of the machine size have fall-down regulating members. For example, when the tray is pulled out, the upper surface of the back side fence, which is the paper width regulating member, and the back side of the paper feed tray are hidden by an exterior cover, etc. A fall restricting member. In the present invention, an operation unit for fastening the operation unit is disposed on the upper surface of the paper feed tray (the front side is preferable in consideration of actual workability), and the operation unit is connected to the fastening unit by driving. It is characterized by transmission. As a result, the fall restricting member can be fastened without removing the paper feed tray and without fixing the plurality of places. Further, if the restricting member has a shape that can be adjusted steplessly with the above-described configuration, it can be used for a wide range of paper sizes and indeterminate shapes, and can be configured without depending on the height of the side fence.

  However, when the operation of storing the tray is interlocked, the impact of the storing operation is large, and when the fastening torque of the fixing member is excessive than the target, the fixing member and peripheral parts may be damaged. Further, even when not moving in conjunction with the tray storing operation, when moving in conjunction with the pair of fixing members on the front side and the back side, the tightening torque on the front side and the back side varies. Then, there is a concern that when one of the fences falls down, the paper is displaced and the target image quality cannot be obtained. Further, when the operating portion has a large diameter to improve operability, there is a concern that the fixing member and peripheral parts may be damaged depending on the user's operating method. In order to eliminate these problems, the present invention can provide a stable tightening torque even when interlocking with the tray storage by providing a torque limiter on the fixing member, and the front side and the back side have the same tightening torque. Is possible.

Such features of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus that is an object of the present invention, and illustrates an image forming apparatus including a sheet-like medium conveyance device (referred to as a paper feeding device) such as paper. . As shown in the figure, an intermediate transfer belt 16 is provided in the approximate center of the printer body 1, and yellow Y, cyan C, magenta M, and black K photoconductors 12 are provided on the upper running side of the intermediate transfer belt 16. . A primary transfer roller 14 and the like are disposed around each photoconductor 12 with a charger 11, a developing device 13, and an intermediate transfer belt 16 interposed therebetween.

  In this apparatus, when printing is started, the photoconductor 12 is driven to rotate counterclockwise in the figure, and at this time, the surface of the photoconductor 12 is charged to a predetermined polarity by the charger 11. Next, the charged surface is irradiated with laser light based on image information from the laser scanning unit 10 of each color, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 12. The electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 12 is visualized as a toner image by the developing device 13, and the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 16 by the primary transfer roller 14. The transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoconductor 12 after the toner image is transferred is removed by a photoconductor cleaner (not shown).

  At the time of color image formation, the above-described image forming operation is performed on all the photoconductors 12, and the yellow toner image, cyan toner image, magenta toner image and black toner image respectively formed on each photoconductor 12 thereby are intermediate transfer belts. 16 are successively transferred onto 16.

  On the other hand, the first to third paper feed trays 5 are provided at the lower part of the printer main body 1, and the user can use the first to third paper feed trays 5 to be used from the operation panel 3 or an input terminal such as a PC (not shown). select. As a result, the paper 20 made of transfer paper or resin film stored in the selected paper feed tray 5 is fed. Reference numeral 19 denotes a conveyance path through which the fed paper 20 passes. The fed paper 20 is sent out toward the registration roller 18 and is abutted against the registration roller 18 whose tip is stopped. Thus, after the paper 20 is aligned, the registration roller 18 sends the paper 20 toward the secondary transfer portion of the intermediate transfer belt 16 provided with the secondary transfer roller 15 at a timing matching the toner image. The transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 16 after the toner image transfer is removed by a belt cleaner (not shown).

  The paper 20 on which the unfixed toner image is transferred by the secondary transfer roller 15 is sent to the fixing unit 17, and after the unfixed toner image is fixed on the paper 20, the paper 20 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 4. Alternatively, the paper 20 on which the image is formed on the first surface is conveyed to the double-sided path by switching the conveyance path by the branching claw 40. The sheet 20 sent to the reversing roller 41 by the branching claw 40 is conveyed to the double-sided roller 42 by forward and reverse rotation of the reversing roller 41. At this time, the front and back with respect to the conveyance direction of the paper 20 are reversed from those at the time of forming the first surface image. Then, after the sheet is conveyed to the relay roller 43 and the registration roller 18, an image is also formed on the second surface by the same process as described above, and then discharged to the discharge tray 4.

  In addition, the user can optionally supply a paper feed bank (not shown) capable of feeding a large amount of paper to the printer main body 1 and a finisher (not shown) capable of stapling and folding instead of the paper discharge tray 4. Can also be connected.

2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining a conventional rear side fence collapse prevention mechanism for comparison.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a paper feed tray constituting a conventional rear side fence collapse prevention regulating member. A pair of side fences that regulate the side edges of the sheets (paper) to be used, which are stacked on the paper feed tray 5, are provided. Further, a side fence on the front side in the pulling direction of the paper feed tray 5 (front side fence 101) and a side fence on the back side in the pulling direction of the paper feeding tray 5 (side fence on the back) are provided. Then, the sheet is regulated by the end fence 103 that regulates the rear end portion in the sheet conveyance direction. The sheets regulated by the front side fence 101, the back side fence 102, and the end fence 103 are lifted to a sheet feeding roller (not shown) position by the bottom plate 106, and fed one by one from the top sheet. The paper feed tray is pulled out from the machine body by the handle 104, and the paper to be used is regulated by the side fence and end fence described above. However, when the paper is loaded on the machine body again, the loaded paper tends to be displaced due to an impact at the time of setting or the like, and a load is applied to the side fence, and the fall may occur depending on the magnitude of the impact.

  If the side fence is moved or falls, the sheet side end portion cannot be regulated, so that the sheet can move in the width direction when being fed. As an image to be printed, there is a possibility that an image quality abnormality such as a position in the image width direction does not appear, a skew image is printed, an image parallelism does not appear, and the like occurs. Since the paper is fed from the uppermost paper, it is desirable to regulate the upper surface side of the side fence. A configuration is known in which the rear side fence 102, the front side fence 101 and the paper feed tray 5 are respectively connected by the fall restriction member 111, as in the fall restriction member 111 of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the regulating member 111 is shown only on the back fence.

  The fall restricting member 111 is fastened to each side fence with a step screw 112. In this state, the fall restricting member 111 is freely rotatable with the step screw 112 as a fulcrum. In this state, the long hole vacated in the fall regulation member 111 is collapsed and the regulation member 111 is fastened by the fastening screw 113 and fixed. In a state where the fastening screws 113 are loosened, if the side fence is moved, the restriction member 111 can be moved by the amount corresponding to the long hole, and the side fence can be fixed at an arbitrary position.

  In FIG. 2, for example, each side fence side has a step screw 112 and the paper feed tray 5 side has a fastening screw 113. A configuration is also possible in which the 5 side is a step screw and the side fence side is a fastening screw. The fastening screw 113 is generally a knob screw that can be fastened without using a tool.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the paper feed tray 5 is pulled out. As described above, in recent machines, there is an increasing demand for space saving and cost reduction of the machine size, the machine is downsized and the exclusive space is reduced. However, on the other hand, with respect to paper sizes that can be passed, large size support (SRA3, 13 ″ × 19 ″, etc.) is required. Therefore, the drawer space of the paper feed tray 5 is reduced. As a result, when loading the maximum width paper, the upper surface of the back side fence 102 and the back side of the paper feed tray 5 are on the upper stage. 107, a cover relationship hidden by an exterior cover (not shown), or the like. For example, a method using a slide rail is conceivable for pulling out the paper feed tray 5, but a layout space for drawing out the paper feed tray 5 is necessary, leading to an increase in machine size. Also, since slide rails are expensive, mounting is difficult even for cost reduction requirements.

  If the paper feed tray is configured as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to regulate the fall of the paper feed tray. However, in the case of the positional relationship as shown in FIG. 3, the fastening screw 113 for the falling-down restricting member that fixes the side fence 102 in the back cannot be accessed. There is a problem that it is necessary to pull out 5.

<Embodiment 1>
4 to 6 are perspective views for explaining a side fence collapse prevention mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a paper feed tray mounted with a back side fence collapse prevention mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a back side fence collapse according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of only the prevention mechanism, and FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the operation unit 114 disposed on the front side in the pull-out direction of the paper feed tray 5 can be rotated, so that the shaft 115 coupled to the operation unit 114 and the paper feed tray coupled to the shaft 115 are provided. 5 lower pulley 116 rotates in the same direction. For connection between the operation unit 114 and the shaft 115 or the connection between the shaft 115 and the pulley 116, connection such as press-fitting or D cut can be used. The pulley 116 rotates the pulley 118 arranged in the same direction in the pulling-out direction of the paper feed tray 5 via the timing belt 117. The rotation of the pulley 118 rotates the shaft 119 connected to the pulley 118 and the pulley 120 on the upper side of the paper feed tray 5 connected to the shaft 119 and on the rear side in the pulling-out direction in the same direction.

  The pulley 120 rotates the pulley 122a in the same direction via the timing belt 121a. The pulley 122a is connected to the shaft 123, and the shaft 123 rotates as the pulley 122a rotates.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the shaft 123, which is a fixing member that fixes the fall-controlling member 111a, includes a screw portion 123a at the lower portion. The screw portion 123a meshes with a screw hole 5a provided in the paper feed tray 5, and thereby the fall regulation member 111a and the paper feed tray 5 are fastened. The screw portion 123a of the shaft 123 is illustrated so as to be directly meshed with the paper feed tray 5. However, it is also possible to adopt a method in which a hole is formed in the paper feed tray 5 as a fixing portion, a nut is disposed below the paper feed tray 5, and the fall restricting member 111a and the paper feed tray 5 are sandwiched and fastened. .

  The fall regulation member 111b side also has the same structure as the above-described fall regulation member 111a side. For this reason, the drive by the operation unit 114 is transmitted to the pulley 122b through the timing belt 121b, whereby the shaft 123 provided on the pulley 122b rotates, and the fall regulation member 111b and the paper feed tray 5 are fastened. That is, in conjunction with the movement of the operation unit 114, the positions of the back side fence 102 and the front side fence 101, which are a pair of paper width regulating members, are fixed.

  In the present embodiment, the screw fastening from the rotational drive has been described as an example, but a lever type or button type fastening method is also possible.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, the side fences 101 and 102 can be fixed in a space-saving manner, but the paper feed tray can be closed even if the user forgets the fixing operation. As a result, depending on the strength of the force applied when storing the paper feed tray 5, the stacked paper bundle may be displaced due to the impact, and the image quality required for the machine may not be satisfied. In order to solve this problem, the present embodiment includes a part protruding from the outer shape of the paper feed tray that moves in conjunction with the fixing operation of the siphofence. Then, if the paper feed tray is closed without performing the side fence fixing operation, the protruding parts are obstructed, and the user or the like can be notified of forgetting to fix the side fence.

7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining components that protrude from the outer shape of the paper feed tray according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of only the mechanism unit of the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a paper feed tray mounted with the present embodiment mounted on a machine.
In this embodiment, in addition to the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, a lever 118b is added to a stopper 118a that is movable in synchronization with the rotation of the pulley 120. The stopper 118a and the lever 118b may be configured as an integral part. The lever can be replaced as long as it has a shape protruding from the outer shape of the paper feed tray 5.

  The lever 118b is configured to project as shown in FIG. 8 when the side fence 102 is not in a fixed state (a known mechanism may be adopted as appropriate for the mechanism). Therefore, even if an attempt is made to store the paper feed tray 5, the configuration is such that it does not close by contacting a part 130 of the machine body. On the contrary, in the fixed state, the lever 118b does not protrude, so that the paper feed tray 5 can be stored. Considering the force applied by the movement of the paper feed tray 5, since the lever 118b is required to have high rigidity, the material is preferably metal, high rigidity resin, or the like.

  In addition, although the structure which protrudes in the horizontal direction and accommodates it by rotating operation was mentioned as an example and demonstrated, it is good also as a structure which protrudes in the upward direction or the downward direction in the figure, and moves up and down.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 9 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 8 according to the third embodiment. In the present embodiment, the stopper is stored (broken line) even if the paper feed tray 5 is stored with the lever 118b protruding (solid line state in the figure) (the mechanism for making such a configuration is well known). The mechanism may be adopted as appropriate). In this embodiment, storing the paper feed tray 5 has the same function as the operation of fixing the operation unit 114, and the side fence 102 is fixed. Therefore, even when the user forgets the side fence fixing operation at the operation unit 114, the side fence 102 can be reliably fixed by storing the paper feed tray 5. It should be noted that the lever 118b is preferably made of a resin having good slidability in order to be interlocked with the storing operation of the paper feed tray 5. Also in this embodiment, the lever 118b may be configured to move up and down by protruding upward or downward in the drawing.

<Embodiment 4>
10 and 11 are diagrams illustrating a fixing member provided with a torque limiter according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of only the mechanism part of the present embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a side view of the fixing part.
In the present embodiment, the operation unit 114 is rotated or the stopper 118a protruding from the tray moves to the position indicated by the broken line (the position to which the reference numeral 118a is attached) of the lever 118b in conjunction with the tray storing operation. In response to any of the operations, the timing belts 121a and 121b are moved through the coupled mechanism. As the timing belts 121a and 121b move, the pulleys 133a and 133b rotate. The pulleys 133a and 133b are provided with inclined grooves, and torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b having protrusions that are paired with the grooves are urged by the compression springs 135a and 135b. Are connected. The torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b are provided with concave grooves, and the torque limiter parts (2) 131a and 131b having convex protrusions that are paired with the grooves are connected. The torque limiter parts (2) 131a and 131b are connected to the shafts 134a and 134b by D cuts, spring pins, etc. (not shown). That is, when the pulleys 133a and 133b rotate, the shafts 134a and 134b are connected and rotated, so that the screw portions of the shafts 134a and 134b fasten the side fence collapse regulating members 111a and 111b.

  Here, when a load torque of a certain level or more is applied to the shafts 134a and 134b, the torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b slide at the inclined portions even if the pulleys 133a and 133b rotate. This moves in the direction of the torque limiter parts (2) 131a and 131b, and the drive connection between the pulleys 133a and b and the torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b is cut off. The load torque at which the drive connection is broken can be arbitrarily set according to the loads of the compression springs 135a and 135b and the inclination angles of the pulleys 133a and 133b and the torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b. Further, an inclination is set between the pulleys 133a and 133b and the torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b in the direction in which the screw is tightened. The direction of loosening the screws is set so that the pulleys 133a and 133b and the torque limiter parts (1) 132a and 132b are loaded vertically. Then, since the trouble that it becomes impossible to loosen the screw once tightened can be prevented, it is preferable.

  With the above configuration, even in the operation of the operation unit 114 and the operation interlocked with the tray storage, the fastening force of the side fence collapse regulating member can be set to an arbitrarily set value on both the front side and the back side. Regulate the fall of the fence. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the deviation of the stacked sheet bundle and satisfy the image position accuracy required by the machine. Further, since it is possible to prevent the torque from being applied more than necessary, it is possible to prevent the fixing member and peripheral parts from being damaged. The mechanical torque limiter using the urging force and inclination angle of the compression spring as described above has been described as an example. For example, a configuration (not shown) combining a one-way clutch and a magnetic torque limiter, for example. The configuration of the torque limiter itself is not limited.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and many variations are possible by those having ordinary knowledge in the art within the technical idea of the present invention.

1: Printer main body 3: Operation panel 4: Paper discharge tray 5: Paper feed tray 5a: Screw hole 10: Laser scanning unit 11: Charger 12: Photoconductor 13: Developer 14: Primary transfer roller 15: Secondary transfer Roller 16: Intermediate transfer belt 17: Fixing unit 18: Registration roller 20: Paper 40: Branch claw 41: Reversing roller 42: Double-sided roller 43: Relay roller 101: Front side fence 102: Back side fence 103: End fence 104 : Handle 106: Bottom plate 107: Paper feed tray cover 111, 111a, 111b: Restricting member 112: Step screw 113: Fastening screw 114: Operation part 115, 119, 123: Shaft 116, 118, 120: Pulley 118a: Stopper 118b: Lever 117, 121a, 121b: timing belt 122a, 1 22b: Pulley 123a: Screw part 133a, 133b: Pulley 132a, 132b: Torque limiter component (1)
135a, 135b: compression springs 131a, 131b: torque limiter parts (2)
134a, 134b: shafts 131-a, 131b: torque limiter parts (2)

JP 2013-056740 A

Claims (6)

In a paper feed device that includes a pair of paper width regulating members that regulate the side edges of the paper inside a paper feed tray that houses paper or a paper bundle, and feeds the paper from the top surface of the paper bundle.
A regulating member for regulating the position and tilting of the pair of paper width regulating members;
A fixing member for fixing the regulating member;
An operation unit for fixing the fixing member;
With
The fixing member fixes the pair of paper width regulating members in conjunction with the movement of the operation unit.
A paper feeder characterized by that. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1,
The operation unit can be rotated,
The operation unit is connected to the operation unit and each of the fixing members has a portion for fixing the regulating member according to the rotation of the operation unit.
A paper feeder characterized by that. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1 or 2,
Having a part protruding from the outer shape of the paper feed tray;
The parts move in conjunction with the fixing operation of the pair of paper width regulating members;
A paper feeder characterized by that. The sheet feeding device according to claim 3.
The protruding part can be stored so as not to protrude when it comes into contact with a device for storing the sheet feeding tray while protruding from the outer shape of the sheet feeding tray.
A paper feeder characterized by that. The sheet feeding device according to claim 3 or 4,
A torque limiter is provided on the fixing member of the paper width regulating member.
A paper feeder characterized by that. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet feeding device according to claim 1.