JP2723883B2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and the like.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device of an image forming apparatus in which sheet storage units are arranged in a horizontal direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of sheet feeders configured to accommodate a large number of sheets in a small space and to perform image formation are known. As such a sheet feeding device, for example, by changing the direction of the sheet fed from the sheet feeding unit to 90 degrees horizontally and sending it to the image forming unit,
From the vertical type (the paper feed unit accommodates the paper with the longitudinal direction of the paper in the transport direction) to the horizontal type (the paper supply unit accommodates the paper with the short side in the transport direction), In the reverse transport state, even for paper of the same size, the technology that required two dedicated paper feed units, vertical and horizontal, can be reduced to one. There is a sheet feeding device having a plurality of sheet storage units (a so-called tandem type sheet feeding device). An example of the latter is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-61-8632.
No. 6 is known.

[0003]

In each of the above two prior arts, the function per sheet storage unit (sheet supply cassette; paper supply cassette) arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction is equivalent to that of the conventional two stages. In addition to the above, space saving and cost reduction are achieved.

However, among the above-mentioned known techniques, in a so-called tandem type paper feeding device in which paper feeding cassettes are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction, the paper is fed out from the side opposite to the paper discharging direction, and the paper is reversed and transferred to a transfer section. Since the paper was supplied, a conveyance means including a paper feed roller and a conveyance roller is arranged along the reversing path, and accordingly, a large number of rollers are required, and the rollers are set, and the paper is reversed and conveyed. Space was needed. For this reason, there is a limit to downsizing the dimension in the thickness direction, and a large number of components are required, and no consideration has been given to simplification of the mechanism in this portion.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for deflecting a sheet from a sheet cassette arranged in a horizontal direction in a vertical direction and feeding the sheet into a vertical conveyance path. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that can be simplified and can be reduced in cost.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeder capable of promoting a reduction in the thickness of the sheet and reducing the thickness.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first means is to provide a multi-stage paper feed unit which is vertically arranged in parallel and a vertical transport common to each stage of the multi-stage paper feed unit. A first and a second sheet accommodating section arranged in parallel in a substantially horizontal direction, and means for feeding out a sheet from each sheet accommodating section to the vertical transport path. A sheet feeding unit provided with a sheet feeding unit, wherein the sheet feeding unit includes a second sheet feeding unit that is far from the vertical conveyance path.
Conveying means for feeding a sheet to the vertical transport path from the paper storage section of the first paper storage section near the vertical transport path to the vertical transport path; And a guide means for guiding a sheet from the first sheet storage section to the vertical transport path, and the guide means is shared when the sheets are transferred from the first and second sheet storage sections. It is characterized by having

Further, the second means is such that the conveying member in the first means comprises a conveying belt provided with a suction means,
When the sheet is fed from the second sheet storage unit by the feeding unit, the unit that feeds out the sheet from the first sheet storage unit is retracted from the sheet feeding path from the second sheet storage unit. It is characterized by having.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the entire configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. A copying machine main body 1 is mounted on a paper feeding device main body 100. Reference numeral 11 denotes a stored sheet bundle, 21 denotes a paper feed roller, and 22 denotes a separation roller pair. The paper fed from the paper feed roller 21 is image-transferred by the image transfer unit 23, and is discharged onto a discharge tray 25 via a fixing device 24.

A separate paper storage device and a paper supply roller are provided in the paper supply device main body 100, and a paper direction changing device 20 for deflecting the direction of the stored paper appropriately by 90 degrees.
0 is provided.

When the sheet is not deflected, for example, the sheet fed from the sheet bundle 101 by the sheet feeding roller 102 passes through the vertical transfer path 150 communicating with the main body, and is transferred to the image transfer unit 2.
It is sent to 3. The same applies to other sheet bundles.

A plurality of paper storage units are arranged in the paper feeding device main body 100 so as to be arranged in a substantially horizontal direction, in other words, a tandem type in which the longitudinal direction of the paper is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the paper feeding direction. A paper feed unit 300 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tandem type paper feeding section 300 includes a first sheet storing section 400 and a second sheet storing section 500. It is roughly matched to the paper feed section of the column.

In each of the sheet storage units, 401 and 501 are sheet bundles, 402 and 502 are sheet feeding rollers, 403 is a conveying belt, 404 is a fan for sucking sheets onto the conveying belt 403, and 422 and 522 are separation roller pairs. is there.

The case where paper is fed from the second paper storage section 500 will be described.

A sheet fed from a sheet bundle 501 by a sheet feed roller 502 is separated by a pair of separation rollers 522 and then is attracted by a transport belt 403 stretched over the first sheet storage unit 400. , And can be fed to the separation roller pair 422 of the first paper storage unit 400 in this transport state. Thus, paper can be fed through the first conveyance path 150a via the conveyance roller group 153. In addition, while the second sheet storage section 500 is being used, the sheet feeding roller 402 of the first sheet storage section 400 is retracted upward. Conveyor belt 40
3 is preferably a plurality of slightly wide perforated flat belts (see FIG. 10).

Next, a case where the sheet is deflected by 90 ° will be described (an example of horizontal to vertical deflection). Downstream of the paper feed roller 402, transport path switching claws 151 and 152 and a forward / reverse transport roller group 154 are provided, and the fed paper is fed to the direction changing device 20.
Send to 0. The switching claws 151 and 152 are 90
Degrees are provided for each deflectable sheet storage unit, and are normally set at a solid line position, and are set to a broken line position when the sheet is fed into the direction changing device 200. The rotation is controlled. The direction changing device 200 may be provided at any part in the main body 100 of the paper feeding device. However, it is compact to provide the direction changing device 200 in the space on the side opposite to the paper storage portion of the vertical conveyance path. This is convenient because it becomes easy. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the sheet is turned once downward and turned
0, and after rotation, the paper is discharged from the C direction and
To join.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 150a denotes a first transport path directly leading to the copying machine main body 1, and reference numeral 150b denotes a second transport path leading to the direction changing device 200.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show the configuration of the direction changing device 200. FIG.

The sheet fed in the direction of arrow B is fed by a pair of carry-in rollers 201 into a sheet rotating / conveying path 250 (FIG. 1) formed by a guide table 202 and an upper guide plate 203. On the sheet rotation conveyance path 250, a side fence 204 which stands by at a position predetermined for each sheet size by a moving unit, a feed roller 205 for feeding the sheet in the traveling direction, and a side fence 20 for rotating the sheet.
4, a stopper 209 for aligning the leading edge position of the sheet before rotation, a rotating blade 210 for rotating the sheet around its axis, and the like are provided.

The side fence 204 is normally at the home position determined by the home sensor 208, but is driven by the stepping motor 207 before the paper is carried in, and moves to a predetermined alignment position. In the case of the center reference conveyance, the alignment position of the side fence 204 is a / 2 from the conveyance center line.
(A is the short dimension of the paper, b is the long dimension of the paper).
That is, d = a / 2.

The side fence 204 extends in the transport direction to serve as an alignment surface when the paper rotates, and guides the rotated paper in the transport direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a guide portion 204c for regulating the paper guide surface in the vertical direction is provided (the guide portion 204c may be replaced by another means, a flexible film, a wire, a leaf spring, or the like).

A rotary blade 210 is provided upstream of the side fence 204 and downstream of the feed roller 205, and its rotary shaft 210c is provided substantially on the extension of the reference surface of the side fence 204, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow. A plurality of holding blades 210b having appropriate frictional force and elasticity are mounted on the arm 210a extending radially from the rotation axis. The holding blade 210b is provided at the cut portion 203 of the upper guide plate 203.
When the sheet is in the area a, the sheet surface in the conveyance path is brought into contact with the sheet to rotate the sheet about 90 degrees about the rotation shaft 210c so that the leading edge abuts against the side fence 204. After the abutment, the holding blade 210b slides on the sheet and is pulled out to the side of the conveyance path.

The circumferential speed V _A of the pressing blade 210b, when the paper feed speed of the feed roller 205 and V _B, it is desirable to mow the relationship _{V A = (1 / c)} rV B.

Here, r is the rotation radius of the holding blade, c is the distance between the feed roller and the center of rotation. The blade lifting portion 2 is located near the cut portion of the upper guide plate 203.
The holding blades 210b provided with the reference numeral 03b are lifted up on the upper side guide plate 203. Holding feather 2
As the material of 10b, a rubber elastic body such as a soft urethane rubber or a soft urethane foam, a material obtained by attaching an appropriate friction member on an elastic film, or a material obtained by coating the elastic film can be used. The magnitude of the frictional force is such that the wing member does not cause buckling or wrinkling on the side edge of the sheet after the sheet has abutted the side fence 204.

The trailing edge of the sheet is passed to a feed roller 205 before passing through a pair of carry-in rollers 201. Downstream of the feed roller 205, the holding blade rotating shaft portion 210c and the invertible stopper 209 are provided side by side in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, so that the leading edge of the incoming paper is first aligned and positioned. A torque limiter may be provided on the drive side, or the driven side may be formed into a sphere so that the feed roller 205 can slip and rotate while the sheet is in contact with a stopper or the like.

After the leading edge is aligned, the stopper 209 passes for a predetermined time.
Is released, a rotational moment acts on the paper centering on the presser blade rotation shaft 210c, and the presser blade 210b presses against the paper together, so that the paper becomes P ₁ →
It rotates from P _{2 to} P _3, and is further passed to the shifting roller 206 so that its longitudinal edge is aligned with the side fence 204. As shown in the figure, the shift roller 206 also has a spherical roller on the driven side, and may be inclined by θ with respect to the traveling direction (θ = 5 ° to 30 °).
°). The rotated paper advances along the side fence 204 and is discharged in the direction C by the discharge roller pair 211.

The rotary blades 210 are integrally formed with the side fences so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, so that the rotary blades 210 can correspond to various paper sizes (see FIG. 6). The number of blades may be one or more. Further, the shape of the blade can be variously modified.

In this embodiment, the sheet is temporarily stopped by the stopper 209, and then the sheet is rotated.
In some cases, the stopper 209 may be omitted and the rotation may be performed without stopping.

In FIG. 5, when the sheet is stopped by the stopper 209, the pressing blade 210b is pressed against the sheet, and the stopper 209 is immediately opened to rotate the sheet, which is more effective. In this case, a paper detection sensor 212 is provided in the transport path, and the presser blade 210b is intermittently rotated by a stepping motor or the like, and the presser blade 210b is rotationally controlled in relation to the paper position (when the paper is the stopper 20).
9 until the holding blade 210b is moved to the upper guide plate 20.
3 and the sheet reaches the stopper 209, and then the pressing blade 210b is driven to press the sheet against the sheet, and at the same time, the stopper 209 is opened and rotated by 90 °).

The method of transporting the paper fed from the second paper storage section 500 according to the present embodiment can be achieved by using various known means other than the suction transport by the transport belt of the embodiment.

Also, in order to store the paper in the tandem type paper supply unit 300, small-sized paper such as A4 or B5, which is frequently used, is usually set in a transverse direction, and the paper is deflected by 90 ° as necessary. Is most effective in terms of usage and processing power. The tandem-type sheet feeding unit 300 of this embodiment has a function comparable to that of the conventional four-stage sheet feeding by providing a 90-degree rotation device.

That is, for example, in the related art,
Assuming that there are four vertical paper storage units, a B5 horizontal paper conveyance unit, and a B5 vertical paper storage unit, in the tandem type paper supply unit 300, the first paper storage unit 400 is replaced with the A4 horizontal and second paper storage units
If 0 is B5 width, it has the function of the conventional four stages.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the lower part of the tandem type paper feed unit 300 is a large capacity tray 600, and FIG.
An embodiment in which the large-capacity tray 600 is applied to a stage preceding the 00 is shown.

[0036]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the second paper storage unit far from the vertical transport path passes vertically over the first paper storage unit near the vertical transport path. A transport unit extending in a substantially horizontal direction for feeding the paper to the transport path; a guide unit for guiding the paper from the transport unit to the vertical transport path; and a guide for guiding the paper from the first paper storage unit to the vertical transport path. Since the means and the means are shared, it is possible to fulfill the function of a paper feed stage twice as many as the number of paper storage units,
The mechanism is simplified, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the transporting member is a transporting belt provided with suction means, and the paper is fed from the second paper storage section by the feeding means,
Since the means for feeding out the sheet from the first sheet storage unit is retracted from the sheet feeding path from the second sheet storage unit, the second
When the paper is fed from the paper storage section, the means for feeding the paper can be reliably fed without any obstacle. Further, since the means for feeding out the sheet retreats from the sheet feeding path from the second sheet storage section, it is possible to arrange the transport belt at a position close to the second sheet storage section. The sheet feeding means is configured to be thin, and the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main part of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of a direction changing unit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an upper guide plate of the direction changing means.

FIG. 6 is a side view of an upper guide plate of the direction changing means.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line YY in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a sheet feeding device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a sheet feeding device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a transport belt.

[Explanation of symbols]

 150a First transport path 150b Second transport path 151, 152 Transport path switching claw 200 Direction changing device 400 First paper storage section 401 Paper bundle 402 Paper feed roller 403 Transport belt 404 Fan 422 Separation roller pair 500 Second paper storage section 501 Paper bundle 502 Feed roller 522 Separation roller pair

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A multi-stage paper feed unit vertically arranged in a row,
The multi-stage paper feed unit has a common vertical conveyance path for each stage,
The paper supply unit includes a first and a second at least two paper storage units arranged in parallel in a substantially horizontal direction, and a unit that feeds a sheet from each paper storage unit to the vertical transport path. In the sheet feeding device provided with a feeding unit, the sheet feeding unit is configured to vertically move from a second sheet storage unit far from the vertical conveyance path to a first sheet storage unit close to the vertical conveyance path. A conveyance means extending in a substantially horizontal direction for feeding the paper to the conveyance path, and a guide for guiding the paper from the conveyance means to the vertical conveyance path and guiding the paper from the first paper storage unit to the vertical conveyance path. Means, the first
A sheet feeding device, wherein the guide unit is shared when the sheet is conveyed from the second sheet storage unit. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the conveying member comprises a conveying belt provided with a suction unit, and when the sheet is fed from the second sheet storing unit by the feeding unit, the sheet is transferred from the first sheet storing unit. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding unit is retracted from a sheet feeding path from the second sheet storage unit to the vertical conveyance path.