JP2534435B2 - Single-cut medium supply device and medium processing device using the same - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device for feeding a sheet which is a single-cut medium to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and an image forming apparatus using the same.
In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a plurality of paper cassettes that respectively store different types (sizes, paper qualities, etc.) of paper are mounted above and below the mounting portion of the image forming apparatus. A method of selectively feeding and recording is generally adopted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structural outline of an electrophotographic recording apparatus (image forming apparatus) in which a plurality of paper cassettes are mounted in a main body of the apparatus. In the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the sheet cassettes 101 and 102 are the apparatus main body 103.
Is mounted on the outside of. The paper fed out from the paper cassette 101 is conveyed through the paper conveyance path 104, and the paper fed out from the paper cassette 102 is conveyed in the paper conveyance path 10.
Transported through 5. In either case, the sheet is conveyed to the transfer position (a), and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 106 is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer device 107. After that, the paper follows the course of the arrow line, and the fixing device 108
The surface of the photosensitive drum 106, which has been discharged after the toner image is fixed by, is discharged and cleaned.

FIG. 6 shows a plurality of paper cassettes 111 and 11.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sheet feeding device having a sheet feeding device 2 and an image forming apparatus using the sheet feeding device. In the paper feeding device shown in FIG. 6, the paper cassettes 111 and 112 are vertically arranged below the image forming apparatus main body 113. The paper fed out from the paper cassette 111 is the paper transport path 11
The paper that has been conveyed through the No. 4 and is fed from the paper cassette 112 is conveyed through the paper conveyance path 115. In either case, the sheet is conveyed to the transfer position (B), where the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 116 is transferred to the transfer unit 117.
Is transferred to paper by. After that, the paper follows the course of the arrow line, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 118, and then the paper is ejected, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 116 that has completed the transfer is neutralized and cleaned.

[0004]

However, these conventional methods have the following drawbacks. That is, in the case of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
Since 1, 102 are projected from the apparatus main body 103, a large installation space is required.

Further, in the case of the paper feeding device and the image forming device shown in FIG. 6, a paper feeding mechanism 119 for feeding the paper fed from each of the paper cassettes 111 and 112 to the upper part of the device main body 113 is provided in the device main body 113. It is necessary to provide the paper cassettes 111 and 11 from the B side.
There is a design and layout restriction that the 2 cannot be attached and detached.

An image forming apparatus and a sheet feeding apparatus as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-49743.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a sheet feeding device and an image forming apparatus using the same which do not require a large installation space and can eliminate the restriction on the attaching / detaching direction of the sheet cassette. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1 and 2 denote a sheet cassette 1, and a sheet cassette 1 is provided with a sheet fed from another sheet cassette (corresponding to a medium supply unit) toward a sheet discharging portion 34 for the sheet fed from the sheet cassette 1. A paper transport mechanism 3 for guiding the paper is provided. The paper transport mechanism 3 is composed of a pair of guides.

Reference numeral 21 is a main body of the image forming apparatus which is a processing apparatus, and a photosensitive drum 24, a transfer unit 28 and a fixing unit 29 which are processing means are provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus. 43, 45, 46, 47 and 48 are feed rollers. These are added for reference.

The paper cassettes 1 and 2 are inserted below the apparatus main body 21 from the left side to the right side corresponding to the front surface of the apparatus in FIG. That is, the sheet cassettes 1 and 2 are used by being attached to the apparatus main body from the sheet feeding side. The paper cassette 2 corresponds to a medium supply unit for supplying a single-cut sheet of paper to the processing unit such as the transfer unit 28.

The sheet cassette 1 is provided with a sheet conveying path at the front position of the sheet cassette 1 which communicates with the sheet passage of the image forming apparatus and allows the sheet fed from the lower sheet cassette 2 to pass therethrough. The paper transport path is formed by the paper transport mechanism 3 including a pair of guide plates.

The cassette housing surface at the front position (sheet feeding side) of the sheet cassette 1 constitutes the outer wall of the sheet feeding device when the sheet cassette 1 is mounted.

[0013]

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet feeding mechanism 3 for guiding the sheet fed from the sheet cassette 2 to the discharge section 34 of the sheet cassette 1 is not provided on the apparatus main body side as in the conventional case. The paper cassette 1 is provided.

Therefore, the restriction on the attachment / detachment direction, which has been a problem in the past, is eliminated, and the cassettes 1 and 2 can be attached / detached from the A direction.

When the cut sheet medium fed from the sheet cassette 2 becomes a jam in the sheet conveying mechanism 3, the sheet cassettes 1 and 2 are simply pulled out in the feeding direction of the cut sheet medium. It is possible to perform the jam sheet removing operation.

Furthermore, since the cassette housing surface of the paper cassette 1 on the single-sheet medium feeding side constitutes the outer wall of the apparatus body, the apparatus body can be downsized.

The conveyance path of the sheet fed from each of the sheet cassettes 1 and 2 is as follows. The sheets fed from the sheet cassette 1 to the discharge section 34 are fed by the feed rollers 43, 45.
It is carried to the transfer position (c) by a carrying means such as. Also,
The sheet delivered from the sheet cassette 2 is guided by the sheet transport mechanism 3 and is transported to the discharge unit 34, and is transported to the transfer position (c) which is the image forming position in the image forming apparatus by following the same route as described above. It

The paper transport mechanism 3 is also provided in the paper cassette 2.
If the sheet cassettes 1 and 2 are provided, the same action and effect can be obtained even if the sheet cassettes 1 and 2 are mounted upside down.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of a single-cut medium supply device and a medium processing device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of an electrophotographic recording device to which the single-cut medium supply device and the medium processing device according to the present invention are applied. In the figure, 21 is a main body of the device. 22 and 23 are
It is a paper cassette that stores single-cut media.

In the main body 21 of the apparatus, there is a well-known electrophotographic type structural portion provided with a photosensitive drum 24, a front electric device 25, an exposing device 26, a developing device 27, a transferring device 28, a fixing device 29, a cleaner 30 and the like. It is provided.

The paper cassettes 22 and 23 are the main body 21 of the apparatus.
It is removably mounted on the upper and lower sides of the mounting portion 21a below. The paper cassette 22 has a bottom plate 3 that is biased by a spring 31.
2. A known paper cassette including the separation claw 33 and the like is provided with a paper transport mechanism 35 for guiding the paper delivered from the lower paper cassette 23 toward the discharge portion 34 at the front portion.

In the present embodiment, the sheet conveying mechanism 35 is constituted by a pair of guide plates 36a and 36b, and a roller 37 is provided at the exit portion thereof. In addition,
In this example, the paper cassette 23 has the same structure as the paper cassette 22 and is compatible.

Each of these paper cassettes 22 and 23 is pushed in the direction of the arrow from the paper feeding side (the left side of the drawing) as shown in the example of the paper cassette 22 in FIG.
Install in 1a. If the paper fed from the paper cassette 23 becomes a jam in the paper transport mechanism 35, the paper jam of the jammed paper is removed after the paper cassette 22 is pulled out from the mounting portion 21a similarly to the paper replenishing operation. Work to remove.

The mounting from this direction has not been possible in the conventional case where the sheet conveying mechanism is provided on the apparatus main body side, but is possible when the sheet conveying mechanism is provided on the sheet cassette side. is there.

In the cassette mounting completed state, as shown in FIG. 2, the guide plates 36a and 36b of each cassette constituting the paper transport mechanism 35 are located on the same line. Further, when the paper cassettes 22 and 23 are completely attached, the cassette housing surfaces 22 a and 22 b on the paper feeding side of the paper cassettes 22 and 23 form the outer wall of the apparatus main body 21.
As a result, the installation space is further saved.

Next, a recording procedure by the recording apparatus using the electrophotographic system will be described with supplementary structure.

When the paper cassette 22 is used, the pick roller 381 provided on the apparatus main body side corresponding to the paper cassette 22 is rotated once in the clockwise direction in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the drive system of the pick roller. 382 is a pick roller corresponding to the paper cassette 23, 52 is an operation surface of the apparatus, and 53 and 54 are openings for inserting the paper cassettes 22 and 23. A pulley 401 is loosely fitted to the shaft 391 of the pick roller 381, and a pulley 402 is loosely fitted to the shaft 392 of the pick roller 382. A belt 41 driven by a driving source is wound around the pulleys 401 and 402. There is.

When rotating the pick roller 381,
The clutch 421 is operated to cause the belt 41 to travel a predetermined amount. As a result, the rotation of the pulley 401 causes the rotation of the shaft 391.
And the pick roller 381 is rotated. In this case, the clutch 422 is not activated.

When the pick roller 381 rotates, the uppermost sheet of the sheets stored in the sheet cassette 22 passes over the separation claw 33 and is sent to the discharge section 34, and abuts on the roller 37 on the cassette side. The sheet is conveyed through the sheet passage 44 by the feed roller 43 on the apparatus main body side. After that, the sheet is continuously conveyed by the feed roller 45 and reaches the transfer position (C).

On the other hand, a toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 24 rotating counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by a well-known procedure (pre-charging, latent image formation, development), and this toner image is transferred to the transfer position. In (c), the image is transferred by the transfer device 28 to the sheet conveyed as described above in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 24. After that, the paper is further advanced, and the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 29, and the paper on which the fixing is completed is discharged by the feed rollers 46, 47 and 48 and discharged into the stacker 50 by the discharge roller 49.

When the paper cassette 23 is used, the clutch 4
The clutch 422 is operated without operating 21. As a result, the pick roller 382 rotates once and the paper is fed out. The fed-out sheet is conveyed by the feed roller 51 on the apparatus main body side, passes between the guide plates 36a and 36b of the sheet cassette 22, and reaches the discharge section 34. After that, recording is performed following the same process as described above.

In the above description, the two paper cassettes 22,
Although the example in which 23 is mounted vertically is used, the same paper cassette can be further mounted below the paper cassette 23 for use. In this case, the paper fed from the lower paper cassette passes through the space between the guide plates 36a and 36b of the paper cassette 23 and between the space between the guide plates 36a and 36b of the paper cassette 22 and is discharged to the discharge unit 34. .

Further, according to the present invention, the lower paper cassette 23
Instead of the above, the present invention can also be applied to the case where a single-cut medium storage unit for storing a plurality of sheets is provided.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of cassettes are mounted in the mounting portion at the bottom of the apparatus main body, so that the installation space can be saved. Further, since the paper transport mechanism for guiding the lower paper cassette to the paper ejection portion of the upper paper cassette is provided inside the paper cassette, not on the apparatus main body side, it is possible to eliminate the restriction on the cassette attachment / detachment direction. Can, equipment design,
It is possible to increase the degree of freedom of layout. Further, according to the present invention, since the paper feeding mechanism is provided on the paper feeding side of the paper cassette and the paper cassette is attached to and detached from the paper feeding side to the mounting portion, from the single-cut medium accommodating portion below the paper cassette. Even if the fed-out paper jams when it passes through the media transport mechanism of the paper cassette, you can remove the jammed paper just by performing the same operation as the paper supply operation of the paper cassette. Becomes In the case of this embodiment, the paper cassette can be attached / detached from the operation side of the apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of an electrophotographic recording apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of how to attach / detach a paper cassette of the recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the main structure of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of a conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the structure of another conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, 22, 23 ... Paper cassette 3, 35 ... Paper transport mechanism 21 ... Device body 34 ... Ejection section 36a, 36b ... Guide plate

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cassette for accommodating a single-cut sheet medium, and a mounting section for mounting the cassette so that the cassette can be pulled out in the same direction as the feeding direction of the single-cut sheet medium. A single-cut sheet medium feeding device configured to convey a single-cut sheet medium fed from a single-cut sheet medium processing device, wherein the cassette is a single-sided sheet medium supply device that is on the front side in the drawing-out direction of the cassette. A pair of guides that guide the processing device to enable the supply of the single-cut medium from the upstream side in the direction is provided integrally with the cassette, and at least a part of the outer wall of the device in the cassette mounted state is provided. A single-cut medium feeding device, characterized in that it is configured by the outer wall of the cassette. 2. A cassette for accommodating a single-cut medium, a mounting portion for mounting the cassette so that the cassette can be pulled out in the same direction as the feeding direction of the single-cut medium, and a cassette provided below the cassette to supply the single-cut medium. And a single-cut medium feeding unit for feeding the single-cut medium to the cassette, and the cassette is configured to feed the single-cut medium fed from the front side of the cassette in a direction opposite to the single-cut medium feeding unit when viewed from the cassette. And a pair of guides for guiding the single-cut sheet medium supplied from the single-cut sheet medium supply unit to the processing apparatus, on the front side in the drawing direction of the cassette. And a cassette, and at least a part of the outer wall of the apparatus in the cassette mounted state is constituted by the outer wall of the cassette. Charging device. 3. A processing unit for processing a single-cut medium, a cassette for storing the single-cut medium, a mounting section to which the cassette is mounted, and a single-cut medium stored in the cassette mounted to the mounting section. And a conveying means for guiding the single-cut medium fed by the feeding means to a processing position by the processing means, the cassette is provided on the feeding side of the single-cut medium, The feeding means is provided with a pair of guides for guiding a single-cut medium conveyed from the upstream side of the cassette with respect to the conveying direction of the conveying means to the conveying means, and from a position attached to the attachment portion. The cassette housing surface of the cassette on the single-sided medium feeding side is configured to be mounted so as to be drawn out in the feeding direction of the cassette. When attachment to wearing portion, at least a part constitutes a so be made configured, medium processing apparatus according to claim of the outer wall of the processing apparatus. 4. A processing unit for processing a single-cut medium, a cassette for storing the single-cut medium, a mounting section to which the cassette is mounted, and a single-cut medium stored in the cassette mounted to the mounting section. Feeding means for feeding out, a conveying means for guiding the single-cut medium fed out by the feeding means to a processing position by the processing means, and a single-cut medium provided to the processing means below the mounting portion. The cassette comprises a medium supply unit for supplying the medium, and the cassette has a pair of guides for guiding the cut medium conveyed from the medium supply unit to the conveyance unit, on the feeding side of the cut medium. It is configured to include a guide, and is configured to be mounted so that it can be pulled out in a feeding direction of the feeding means from a position attached to the mounting portion, and The medium processing device, wherein the cassette housing surface of the cassette is configured to form at least a part of an outer wall of the processing device when the cassette is mounted on the mounting portion.