JP2624219B2 - Hopper cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hopper cassette in a paper feeding mechanism of a printer or the like, and more particularly, to a paper size detecting mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this kind of paper cassette has been used for detecting a paper size using conduction by a guide in a paper size setting method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-45374, for example. .

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional paper size detecting mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-45374.

In FIG. 5, a conventional paper cassette includes a fixed guide 101 for fixing one end of a sheet, a moving guide 102 that moves according to the sheet size, and a moving guide 1.
02, a conductive pattern 103 extending in the moving direction of the moving guide 102 and having a cut portion corresponding to the size of the paper, A resistor circuit 105 connected from each separated conductor via a different resistor
Discrimination circuit 1 that measures resistance and detects paper size
When a sheet is set in the cassette, the sheet size is detected by the sheet discrimination circuit 106 by measuring the resistance of the conductive pattern 103 and the conductive pattern 104.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional paper cassette, since the detection of the paper size is performed by instructing the two end faces of the paper,
In the case where the two end surfaces to be guided are non-standard-size paper having the same size as the standard-size paper, the non-standard-size paper is recognized as a standard-size paper, and a required print result cannot be obtained.

In addition, since the detection means is used for resistance measurement using conduction, the detection is easily affected by the paper dust of the paper, and it is difficult to reliably detect the paper size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art and to provide a reliable paper without being adversely affected by paper dust. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel hopper cassette capable of detecting a size and reducing the number of size detection sensors.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a hopper cassette according to the present invention is provided which is movable on three end faces of a sheet bundle and supports a sheet, and a guide provided on the sheet cassette. A slit array that is opened and closed in accordance with the paper size in conjunction with the paper size, a size detection sensor provided in the cassette frame that supports the paper cassette, and the number of which can be detected by the slit array, and output from the size detection sensor. And a size detection circuit that determines the paper size in accordance with the received signal. By supporting the paper bundle on the three end faces, it is possible to reliably detect the paper size, and the effect of paper dust is detected by detecting the slit row. It is characterized in that the paper size can be easily detected without receiving the same, and the number of size detection sensors is not reduced.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a hopper cassette according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are front (inner) views showing an embodiment of a paper cassette according to the present invention. ),
It is a rear view (b).

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 (a) and 2 (b),
Reference numeral 10 indicates a hopper cassette according to the present invention,
The hopper cassette 10 includes a cassette frame 1 and a paper cassette 2 which is detachably mounted on the cassette frame 1.

The paper cassette 2 is divided into upper and lower parts by a single inner plate (partition wall) 9, and the upper part (front side) thereof.
Are provided with two side guides 3 whose interval is enlarged or reduced according to the size of the paper 12 accommodated in the paper cassette 2 so as to be scalable. An elongated hole 11 is cut out substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction of the inner plate 9, and the end guide 4 is slidably mounted along the elongated hole 11 in the elongated hole 11.

At predetermined positions of the inner plate 9, slit rows 5 are formed in a row. In the present embodiment, the slit row 5 is constituted by seven slits.

As shown in FIG. 2 (b), a pinion 31 is rotatably supported on the back surface of the inner plate 9, and two side guides which are engaged with the pinion 31 and open / close freely. 3, two fixed racks 32 are formed. On one of the two racks, a plate S7 that moves on the slit row 5 in synchronization with the movement of the side guide and selectively opens and closes in accordance with the size of the paper on which the slit is set is fixed. ing.

On the back surface of the inner plate 9, there are provided stoppers 41 which are connected to the end guides 4 and restrict the longitudinal displacement of the elongated holes 11 of the end guides 4 on both sides. It is fixed to plates E6 arranged on both sides. The plate E on the left side of FIG.
Reference numeral 6 has a function of selectively opening and closing the slit row 5 according to the size of the sheet to be set.

The sheet bundle 12 is set in the sheet cassette 2,
When the side guide 3 supporting the sheet bundle applied to the two end faces of the sheet bundle is moved according to the size, the side guide 3
The plate S7, which moves in conjunction with the sheet, moves on the slit row 5 provided in the paper cassette 2, and a plurality of slits are selectively opened and closed according to the size of the set paper 12.

When the end guide 4 supporting the rear end face of the sheet bundle 12 is moved so as to support the sheet bundle, the plate E6 which moves in conjunction with the end guide 4 moves to Then, the slit is opened and closed.

The number of slits determined by the side guides 3 and the end guides 4 corresponds one-to-one to the type of paper that can be mounted on the hopper cassette 10, and the cassette frame 1
A size detection sensor 8 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later, is disposed at a position where the numerical aperture of the slit row 5 can be transmitted to the side.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the paper cassette 2 on which the paper 12 is set is inserted into the cassette frame 1, the slit rows 5 formed at the end of the inner plate 9 make the portion of the size detection sensor 8 a straight line. In order to move, a pulse signal is output from the size detection sensor 8 according to the number of output pulses according to the numerical aperture of the slits of the slit row 5, whereby a size detection circuit (not shown) identifies the size of the sheet,
Outputs the paper size signal.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the paper 12 is set in the paper cassette 2, the plate S7 of the side guide 3 and the plate E6 of the end guide 4 are set in accordance with the size of the paper to be set. After moving to a predetermined position, the slit row 5 is opened and closed. When the sheet cassette 2 on which the sheets are set is set on the cassette frame 1, as described above, the slit rows 5 selected to be opened and closed by the plates E6 and S7 are formed by the light emitting elements and the light receiving elements arranged on both sides thereof. A pulse signal of the number of slits opened according to the sheet size is output as a result. This pulse signal is converted into a paper size signal by a size detection circuit, and this size signal is displayed on, for example, a printer or the like, so that an operator of the printer or the like can be notified of the set paper size.

For a signal from which the pulse signal from the size detection sensor 8 cannot be recognized, a caution signal regarding the paper is output.

[0022]

As described above, according to the hopper cassette according to the present invention, the use of the slit array makes it possible to reliably detect the paper size without being affected by the paper dust, and at the same time, to detect the size. The effect of reducing the number of sensors can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a hopper cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is an inner view showing an inner surface (front surface) of the paper cassette according to the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a back view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a hopper cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional paper cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cassette frame 2 ... Paper cassette 3 ... Side guide 31 ... Pinion 32 ... Rack 4 ... End guide 41 ... Stopper 5 ... Slit row 6 ... Plate E7 ... Plate S8 ... Size detection sensor 9 ... Inner plate (partition wall) 10 ... hopper cassette 11 ... long hole 12 ... paper 101 ... fixed guide 102 ... moving guide 103 ... conductive pattern 104 ... conductive pattern 105 ... resistance circuit 106 ... paper discrimination circuit

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A paper feed mechanism having a drawer-structured paper cassette capable of loading a stack of sheets of different sizes, wherein the guide is movable and is applied to three end faces of the stack of sheets to support the sheets. A slit row provided on a paper cassette and opened and closed in accordance with a paper size in conjunction with the guide, and a size provided on a cassette frame supporting the paper cassette, the number of which can be detected by the slit row. A hopper cassette comprising: a detection sensor; and a size detection circuit that determines a sheet size according to a signal output from the size detection sensor. 2. The hopper cassette according to claim 1, wherein said guide comprises two side guides and one end guide. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the two side guides are arranged so as to be freely expandable and contractable by a pinion rotatably supported on a shaft and a rack formed on each side guide so as to mesh with the pinion. The hopper cassette according to claim 2, wherein 4. The hopper cassette according to claim 1, wherein the end guide moves by being guided by an elongated hole cut in an inner plate of the paper cassette. 5. A U-shaped plate formed on one of the two side guides for selectively opening and closing the slit row in accordance with the expansion and contraction movement of the side guide. Item 3. The hopper cassette according to Item 2. 6. The hopper cassette according to claim 2, wherein a plate for opening and closing a specific slit of the slit row is formed on the end guide.