JP2606904Y2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

In the present invention, a plurality of paper storage units are provided in a stack at the lower part of an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and sheets are selectively supplied from the respective storage units to the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for feeding paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the number of sheets processed by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer tends to increase dramatically. For this reason, a large-capacity sheet storage device is provided for sheets supplied to these image forming apparatuses.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-110039, a large-capacity paper storage device is conventionally held beside an image forming apparatus, and is arranged so as to protrude beside the image forming apparatus, so that an office space is provided. What was widely needed,
Due to a demand for saving office space, a large-capacity paper storage device has tended to be disposed below the image forming apparatus.

[0004]

However, even if a large-capacity paper storage device is provided below the image forming apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 3-186532 and 3-24934, A large-capacity storage unit for storing a large amount of sheets and continuously supplying a large amount of sheets as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-116067 is disposed below the image forming unit and at the lowest level. Is provided at the most distant place compared to the other storage units, the supply path to the image forming apparatus becomes long, and there are many opportunities for jams.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 3-186532, a plurality of large-capacity storage units are provided with a lifting and lowering unit on the downstream side of the feeding, but the downstream side paper is consumed. Then, it is necessary to move the sheet from the upstream storage section to the downstream side, and the structure is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-mentioned conventional paper feeding apparatus. (1) The frequency of paper supply is high, and the paper from a large-capacity storage section where jams often occur is provided. The paper feed path must be as short as possible and can be fed under certain paper feed conditions.

(2) When a plurality of large-capacity storage sections are provided, it is possible to solve the structural complexity of moving one of the large-capacity storage sections entirely to the other.

(3) By using one structure for a plurality of functions, the number of members to be arranged is reduced as much as possible, the structure is simplified, and the cost is reduced. With the goal.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the main body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is pulled out and inserted in a direction crossing the sheet feeding direction into a housing stacked on an upper portion thereof. In a paper feeder in which possible paper storage units are stacked and arranged in a plurality of stages and paper is selectively fed from the respective storage units to the image forming apparatus, the uppermost one of the plurality of storage units is stacked. The largest possible paper accumulation capacity, and a paper loading table on which the loaded paper is loaded and the paper is raised and lowered almost horizontally, and the loaded paper is fed out above the paper loading table, and can be retracted upward when the paper is drawn in and out. And a storage unit having an appropriate feeding means.

Further, a plurality of paper storage sections are provided in a housing in which the apparatus main bodies of image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers can be pulled in and out in a direction crossing the paper feeding direction in a housing stacked on top. In a paper feeder for selectively feeding paper from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus, a paper stacking capacity that can be stacked is the largest at the top of the plurality of storage units, and the stacked paper is A storage unit having a sheet mounting table for mounting and vertically moving the sheet up and down, and a feeding unit capable of retracting upward when the drawer is drawn out to face the sheet mounting table and feed out the stacked sheets in the feeding direction. Was arranged in multiple.

Further, a plurality of paper storage units which can be drawn in and out in a direction crossing the paper feeding direction are provided in a housing in which the apparatus main bodies of image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers are stacked on top. In a paper feeder for selectively feeding paper from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus, a paper stacking capacity that can be stacked is the largest at the top of the plurality of storage units, and the stacked paper is A storage unit having a sheet mounting table for mounting and vertically moving the sheet up and down, and a feeding unit capable of retracting upward when the drawer is drawn out to face the sheet mounting table and feed out the stacked sheets in the feeding direction. , And the storage unit includes a sheet mounting table on which at least the stacked sheets are mounted substantially horizontally, and elevating means for moving the sheet mounting table up and down horizontally in response to paper feeding. Downstream The paper sheet fed to the sheet placing table of the storage unit from the storage portion of the feeding direction upstream side and a guide means for guiding downstream.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Various embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment.

As shown in FIG.
A frame 11 which is movable by the image forming apparatus, and a copying apparatus F which is an image forming apparatus is mounted on the frame 11.

The copying apparatus F includes a lamp 2 and a plurality of mirrors for exposing an original placed on a platen 1 on the upper surface.
Fixing means for forming a latent image from a document image received on the photoreceptor 4 and for developing the same, and transferring means for transferring the latent image onto paper; 5 and is discharged to the discharge table 6, the details of which are well known and will not be described. Instead of the discharge table 6, a down tray for storing a large amount of processed paper, a sorter for storing the sheets in a divided manner, or the like may be combined.

As shown in the drawing, an entrance roller 7 for receiving a sheet, a guide 8 and a registration roller 9 are provided at a connection portion with the sheet feeding device 10.

In the lower part of the frame 11, a large-sized paper storage unit, for example, an A3 cassette 1 is provided.
3, a B4 cassette 14 and the like are provided. These are guided by guide rails 15 and 16, respectively, and are mounted so that they can be pulled out in front of the operator, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the drawing.

Each of the cassettes 13 and 14 has a well-known push-up means for pushing up the paper P therein.

On the other hand, feeding means 17 and 18 are provided inside the frame 11 to feed the sheet in contact with the uppermost sheet.

Further, a separating and feeding means 1 for separating and feeding the paper fed by the feeding means 17 and 18 into one sheet.
The paper guides 9 and 20 are provided, and paper guides 21 and 22 for guiding the paper are provided ahead of the paper guides 9 and 20.
2 joins a feed guide 23 which is a common feed path.

The large-capacity storage section 30 for storing a larger amount of paper than the cassettes 13 and 14 has a guide rail 31.
The hopper body 32 is guided by the hopper body 32 and has a removable paper mounting table 33 in the hopper body 32.

Further, inside the frame 11, a paper placing table 33 is provided.
The lifting means 34 for moving the mounting portion 33 up and down in combination with the mounting section 33 is provided. Then, the feeding means 35 which comes into contact with the uppermost sheet and feeds out the sheet, and the separating / feeding means 3 which separates and feeds the sheet fed by the feeding means 35 into one sheet.
6. A paper guide 37 for guiding the paper to the feed guide 23 is provided.

The feeding means 35 is retracted upward when the hopper 32 is inserted, but comes into contact with the uppermost sheet by a sheet feeding command, and a sheet pressing biasing means is provided. . The feeding means 35 is provided with means such as a paper level sensor and an empty sensor.

On the other hand, the raising / lowering means 34 is intermittently raised by a signal from the level sensor of the feeding means 35, and is controlled so that the level of the uppermost sheet is always within a certain range.

The feeding direction of the feeding means 17, 18, 35 is perpendicular to the mounting direction (perpendicular to the paper) of each of the storage sections 13, 14, 30 (rightward in the drawing). It is.

Next, the operation will be described.

The paper is stored in a paper storage unit corresponding to the size. In particular, the large-capacity storage unit 30 that stores a large amount of paper in a small size stores a large amount of paper of, for example, A4 size.

In response to a copy command from the copying apparatus F, a sheet of a preselected size is fed from the storage unit. In particular, the sheet from the large capacity storage unit 30 is relatively small in size and large. Supplied. However, according to the configuration of the present invention, even when the paper guide 37 and the feeding guide 23 which is a feeding path are combined as shown in the figure, the stroke to the entrance roller 7 of the copying apparatus F is extremely short, and the chance of occurrence of a jam is very small. Few. Further, since the feeding path is short, it is not necessary to provide an intermediate conveyance roller or the like in the middle of the sheet even though the sheet is a small size sheet.

On the other hand, although the feeding path for the large size is long, the frequency of use thereof is relatively low, and the chance of occurrence of a jam can be said to be relatively low. Further, although the paper feeding path is long, since the paper itself is long, an intermediate roller reaching the copying apparatus F is not required.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the drawing, the paper feeding device 40 of this embodiment is formed by arranging a plurality of, for example, two sets of the large-capacity storage sections 30 of the first embodiment in the sheet feeding direction. The reference numerals of the parts common to the device 10 are common. In addition,
Here, the one on the downstream side in the feeding direction is denoted by reference numeral 301, and the one on the upstream side is denoted by reference numeral 302.

Although both are basically the same, the paper from the storage section 302 is placed above the storage section 301 in the storage section 3.
A guide 41 for guiding to the separation feeding means 36 of No. 01 is provided.

The two large-capacity storage units 301 and 302 have the same functions as the storage unit 30 of the first embodiment, and have their own sheet mounting tables 331 and 332 and lifting / lowering means (not shown). However, the lifting / lowering means of the paper feeding device 40 is disposed on the inner side of the frame 11 (rear side on the paper).

The other storage sections 13, 14 and the like are exactly the same as in the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, two storage portions 301 and 302 are provided.
Are arranged in tandem, so that the paper storage capacity of a frequently used size is further increased.
Numeral 302 includes a feeding unit 35 and a separating / feeding unit 36 individually, and a guide 41 for guiding the sheet fed from the storage unit 302 to the separating / feeding unit 36 of the storage unit 301 is provided. There is no need for a complicated structure such as lateral movement, and the configuration is extremely simple.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The paper feeder 50 of this embodiment has essentially the same configuration as the paper feeder 40 of the second embodiment, but the guide 41 of the second embodiment is omitted, and the downstream large capacity is replaced. The sheet mounting table 331 of the storage section 301 is also used as a sheet guide plate for the paper of the upstream storage section 302.
The sheet loading table 331 is raised as shown in the figure by the empty signal of 1 and is positioned at the guide position.

With such a configuration, the sheet mounting table 331 also functions as a guide for guiding the sheet from the storage section 302 to the separation feeding means 36 of the storage section 301. Omitted, paper table 33
One achieves two functions, saving parts.

<Modifications> The present invention is not limited to the above three embodiments.
For example, the following modifications can be made. (1) In the third embodiment, the sheet fed from the storage unit 302 is moved along the lifting / lowering placement unit 331 into the storage unit 301.
When the sheet is conveyed to the separation / feeding means 36, the feeding means 35 is moved down onto the paper table 331 and driven,
The feeding means 35 can be used as a transport means. (2) In both the sheet feeding device 40 of the second embodiment and the sheet feeding device 50 of the third embodiment, since the separation feeding means 36 is provided in the storage portion 301 on the downstream side, the separation of the upstream storage portion 302 is performed. The feeding means 3 is omitted and the feeding means 3 of the storage section 302 is omitted.
5 is supplied to the separation / feeding means 36 of the storage section 301 via the guide 41 or the sheet mounting table 331, and is finally separated into one sheet by the separation / feeding means 36 so that the copying machine You may make it feed to F. As a result, further saving of members can be achieved.

[0040]

According to the paper feeder of the present invention, a copying machine,
In a paper feeding device in which a plurality of paper storage units are stacked and arranged at a lower portion of an apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, and paper is selectively fed from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus, the plurality of storage units are provided. By placing a storage section at the top of the stacking section, which has the largest stacking capacity for stackable paper and moves up and down the stacking paper almost horizontally, the frequency of paper supply is high and jams are likely to occur. In the capacity storage unit, the paper feeding path to the image forming apparatus is significantly shortened as compared with other storage units, and paper feeding can always be performed under constant conditions regardless of the amount of loaded paper, thereby reducing jams.

Further, a plurality of paper storage sections are stacked and arranged at the lower part of the apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.
In the paper feeder for selectively feeding paper from each storage section to the image forming apparatus, the topmost of the plurality of storage sections has the largest stackable paper stacking capacity, and the stacked paper is almost completely stacked. Since a plurality of storage units that move up and down horizontally are arranged before and after in the paper feeding direction, the capacity can be further increased by providing a plurality of large-capacity storage units.

Further, a plurality of paper storage units are stacked below the main body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and paper is selectively fed from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus. In the apparatus, at the top of the plurality of storage sections, a plurality of storage sections having the largest stackable paper stacking capacity and for raising and lowering the stacked sheets substantially horizontally are arranged in the front and rear direction of the paper feeding direction. The unit comprises at least a sheet mounting table for mounting the stacked sheets substantially horizontally, and elevating means for moving the sheet mounting table up and down horizontally in response to paper feeding. Since the table is a guide means for guiding the sheet supplied from the storage section on the upstream side in the feeding direction to the downstream, the sheet table can be used for two functions, the number of disposing members is reduced, the structure is simplified, and the cost is reduced. It also leads to reduction. Then, when the paper loading table of the large-capacity storage section on the downstream side in the feeding direction is at the uppermost position, when the paper supplied to the lifting / lowering loading section is transported by the feeding means, a special transporting means is provided. Even without the provision, the sheet can be reliably conveyed on the sheet mounting table by the feeding means. Furthermore, there is no need to provide a paper feeder having a simple structure without any structural complexity such as laterally moving the paper in the upstream storage section to the downstream storage section.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view of a first embodiment of a paper feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a second embodiment of the paper feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a structural explanatory view of a third embodiment of the paper feeding device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 F Image Forming Apparatus 10 Paper Feeding Device (First Embodiment) 11 Frame 23 Feeding Path 30 Large Capacity Storage Unit 33 Paper Loading Table 34 Elevating Unit 35 Feeding Out Unit 36 Separating Feeding Unit 37 Paper Guide (Sending Path) 40 Paper Feeding Device (Second Embodiment) 301 Downstream Large Capacity Storage Unit 302 Upstream Large Capacity Storage Unit 41 Guide 50 Paper Feeding Device (Third Embodiment) 331 Paper Loading Table (Third Embodiment)

Claims (6)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is fed into a housing on which the main body of the image forming apparatus is stacked.
A sheet storage unit that can be pulled out and inserted in a direction crossing the direction in a stack, and a paper supply device that selectively feeds paper from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus; The stacking capacity of the stackable paper is the largest at the top of the stack, and the stacking paper is
A paper platform for moving paper up and down substantially horizontally, and
When the paper is fed out while facing upward,
A paper feeding device, comprising a storage section having a feeding means capable of retracting upward . 2. An image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine or a printer, is fed into a housing on which the apparatus main body is stacked.
A sheet storage unit that can be pulled out and inserted in a direction crossing the direction in a stack, and a paper supply device that selectively feeds paper from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus; The stacking capacity of the stackable paper is the largest at the top of the stack, and the stacking paper is
A paper platform for moving paper up and down substantially horizontally, and
At the time of draw-in, facing upward and paying out stacked paper
Is a paper feeder, wherein a plurality of storage sections having a feeding means capable of retracting upward are arranged in front and rear of the paper feed direction. Wherein the sheet stacking capacity is largest, moreover housing part for substantially horizontal lifting the stacked paper sheets, said feeding
Control the paper feed position of the stack paper within a certain range
Level sensor and the paper loading table
Lifting means for moving down, said lifting means being provided by
The paper is loaded according to the signal from the level sensor
The loading table is intermittently raised to control the paper feed position
Sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the formed by your. 4. An image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine or a printer, is fed into a housing on which the apparatus main body is stacked.
A sheet storage unit that can be drawn in and out in a direction that intersects the paper stack in a plurality of stages, and a paper supply device that selectively feeds paper from each storage unit to the image forming apparatus; The stackable paper stacking capacity that can be stacked is the largest at the top of the stack, and the stacked sheets are placed and
A paper platform that rises and falls horizontally and a pair of paper
When pulling out and loading the conveyed paper, pull it upwards
A plurality of storage units having retractable feeding means are arranged in the front-back direction in the paper feeding direction, and the storage unit has a paper mounting table on which the stacked paper is placed at least substantially horizontally, and a paper mounting table according to the paper supply. Lifting means moving up and down horizontally, and the sheet mounting table of the storage section on the downstream side in the feeding direction is a guide means for guiding the sheet supplied from the storage section on the upstream side in the feeding direction to the downstream. Paper feeder. 5. A sheet feeding device provided in a storage section on a downstream side in the feeding direction feeds a sheet supplied to a sheet mounting table from a storage section on an upstream side in the feeding direction to a downstream side. 4. The paper feeder according to 4. 6. The storage section, which has the largest stackable paper stacking capacity, and in which the stacked sheets are moved up and down substantially horizontally, is provided in a storage direction for storing the largest size sheet among the plurality of storage sections. 6. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the width of the paper feeding device is less than half the width.