JP3046125B2 - Paper feeder with size detection of image forming apparatus - 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 with size detection for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, and more particularly to a paper feeder for feeding paper loaded in a main body together with a paper pack.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a paper feeder of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, which is widely used in general, paper supply is entirely performed manually.

Normally, the paper supply operation is performed by: 1. Pull out cassette (tray) from paper feeder. 2. Remove the upper cover of the cassette. 3. Open the paper pack packaging. 4. Lifting the paper holding member (corner claw) in the cassette 5. Align the paper removed from the pack. 6. Loading paper into cassette 7. Place the paper holding member on the mounted paper. It consists of each process such as mounting a cassette (tray) on the paper feeder.

However, such a paper feeding apparatus requires a large number of paper supply operation steps as described above, and the operation is extremely troublesome and time-consuming especially for a user who uses a large amount of paper. It was a thing.

For this reason, a paper feeder has been proposed in which a predetermined number of sheets packed together are directly loaded into a paper feeder main body and opened and fed by a mechanism inside the paper feeder.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-203534 discloses a multi-stage stack of sheet bundles stacked and wrapped in a predetermined number of sheets on a wrapping sheet, and moving the wrapping sheet by a cutter while moving forward by one stage. The left and right sides are cut, the upper surface and the lower surface of the cut packaging sheet are sucked and opened, and the opened sheet bundle is nipped and placed on a carrier, and then the sheet bundle is transported. There has been proposed a method and an apparatus for unpacking and stacking packaging sheets which are conveyed to a mounting position and stacked by moving the table.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-97145 discloses that a packaging material for a paper is formed in a box shape from a strong material such as cardboard or resin, and a portion to which a feeding roller, a separation claw, and the like hit. A technique has been proposed in which the box-shaped member is detached from the box-shaped member and then attached to a sheet feeding position of the image forming apparatus main body to use the box-shaped member as a cassette for sheet feeding.

[0008]

However, in the former of the above prior art, the packaging sheet is cut with a cutter and the upper and lower surfaces of the cut packaging sheet are suctioned and opened. According to this, even the wrapped paper may be cut by the cutter. This is a fatal defect for paper used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine. In addition, since the suction mechanism is used for opening the packaging sheet, the size of the apparatus is increased, and there is a problem in terms of noise.

In the above-described apparatus, the opened sheet bundle is sandwiched and placed on the carrier, and then the sheet bundle is transported to the loading position by the movement of the carrier to be stacked. Nipping and transporting the opened sheet bundle disturbs the stacking state of the sheet bundle, and in some cases, the sheet bundle may be separated.

In the latter case, since the paper packaging material (box-shaped member) is used as a cassette for feeding paper, it must be made of a strong material such as cardboard or resin.
The above-mentioned materials are generally expensive, and have the drawback that they are expensive and are not versatile as a paper storage member used in a copying apparatus or the like which only stores several hundred sheets.

The box-shaped member has a perforation for cutting off a tip portion. However, when the paper is stored for a long period of time, the paper is exposed to the outside air through the perforation and absorbs moisture. May have a negative effect.

In addition, a part of the box-like member necessarily protrudes outside the apparatus from the viewpoint of ease of attachment / detachment to / from the apparatus main body. This is contrary to the recent demand for space saving in copying apparatuses and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeder with size detection of an image forming apparatus which can solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional apparatus and can greatly simplify the sheet supply operation.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeder main body provided with paper feed means, a paper pack insertion opening provided on one side of the paper feeder main body, and a paper pack insertion opening. Paper pack transporting means for transporting the inserted paper pack to a predetermined position in the main body of the paper feeding device, wrapping sheet removing means for removing the wrapping sheet of the paper pack transported to the predetermined position, and detecting the size of the paper pack A comparing means for comparing the size of the paper pack detected by the detecting means with the size of the paper finally fed by the paper feeding means; If it is detected that the size of the inserted paper pack is not the same as the size of the last fed paper, the paper pack is returned to the paper pack insertion port side, while the inserted paper pack size is not changed. Finally pay If paper size is met, is achieved by a first means and a control means for controlling the paper the packed conveying means to convey the paper the packed in the paper feed position.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a paper stacking portion capable of receiving a plurality of sizes of paper packs when no paper is stacked, and a pulling portion of the paper pack placed on the paper stacking portion. Sheet removing means for removing the packaging sheet from the paper by means of
Paper feeding means for separating and feeding sheets one by one; paper absence detecting means for detecting that there is no paper in the paper stacking section; and size detecting means for detecting the paper size of the paper pack placed in the paper stacking section When the absence of sheets in the sheet stacking section is detected and the sheet stacking section receives a new sheet pack, the sheet size of the sheet pack and the size of the sheet finally separated and fed by the sheet feeding means are determined. And a display means for displaying whether or not the sheet removing means may be operated when the sizes are different as a result of the comparison by the comparing means. Is done.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the paper pack inserted by the user is automatically mounted on the paper feeding position in the paper feeding device main body by the paper pack transporting means, and then wrapped by the packaging sheet removing means. Automatically remove sheets.

In the first means, specifically, a detecting means for detecting the size of the paper pack inserted into the apparatus is provided, and the paper pack size detected by this detecting means is stored before. If the paper size is different from the paper size, the user is notified of the fact, and after confirmation by the user, the paper is conveyed into the apparatus or, if the paper is of an undesired size, discharged out of the apparatus.

According to the second means, the apparatus automatically conveys the paper packs one by one to the paper feeding means only by the user storing the paper packs in the storage section, and wraps the conveyed paper pack packaging sheets. Remove and feed. Also, the wrapping sheet removal operation is performed unconditionally only when the paper pack is the same size as the last paper size fed, and a warning message is displayed in other cases.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a copier body A having a well-known configuration and a fully automatic paper feeder B according to the present invention.

In the paper feeder B, 1 is a trash box for storing a pack of paper, 2 is a pack opening device for opening the paper pack, 3 is an entrance guide plate, 4 is a drive roller driving motor to be described later, and 5 is a drive motor. 4 is a drive shaft, 6 is a tray for loading paper, 7 is a plurality of side fences corresponding to the paper size in order to regulate the side edges of the paper on the tray 6, and 8 is a transport of the paper in the width direction. Reference numeral 9 denotes a paper feed roller for feeding the paper toward the copying machine main body, and reference numeral 10 denotes a back fence for regulating the rear end of the paper.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet feeding device, and sheet insertion ports 11, 12, and 13 are provided on the front side (front side of the copying machine) for A5, A4, and A3, respectively.
The paper pack 20 shown in FIG.
3 is set to the reference position, and the tongue piece 21 is set to the left side, and is inserted into the corresponding portion of the paper insertion slots 11, 12, 13. At this time, the doors 31, 32, and 33 of the respective paper insertion ports shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 are designed to guide the paper pack 20. For example, A4 size paper pack 2
0 is inserted into the paper insertion slot 12, the insertion slot 1 for A3
Since the third door 33 is not opened, the paper pack 20 can be guided so as not to shift in the lateral direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the door (the door 31 is exemplified) is automatically returned to the original position after the paper pack 20 is inserted by the spring 34.

In this embodiment, the paper insertion slots for A5, A4, and A3 are provided. However, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a slide-type guide piece 36 is provided in a slide groove 35 of a door (shown by a door 31), and the guide piece 36 is moved right and left in accordance with the sheet size. The end may be guided. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 14a denotes a pack opening device drive motor, 14b denotes a back fluence drive motor, and 15 denotes a screw (male screw) attached to the motor shaft.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of a paper pack detecting mechanism. A bar code reader 40 is provided at a reference position on the right side of a paper insertion slot (showing the paper insertion slot 11). By reading a bar code 41 provided on one side surface of the paper 20, the entry of the paper pack 20 is detected.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the transport roller section, and FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing the state of the entry of the paper pack and the rotation of the transport roller.

The transport roller 8 is usually located above the paper insertion slot so as not to hinder the entry of the paper pack 20. In the figure, 51 is a drive gear that rotates integrally with the drive shaft 5, 52 is an arm that rotates around the drive shaft 5,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a planetary gear which is attached to the tip of the arm 52 and meshes with the drive gear 51. Reference numeral 54 denotes a driven roller formed of a low friction member provided for smoothly transporting the paper pack 20. Instead of a roller, a plate-like, for example, Teflon sheet may be used.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the drive gear 51 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the conveying roller 8 provided coaxially with the planetary gear 53 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction together with the arm 52, and moves upward (indicated by a broken line). ) Position and the paper pack 20
When the drive gear 51 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the transport roller 8 is also rotated in the clockwise direction and falls on the upper surface of the paper pack 20. Then, the rotation of the drive gear 51 causes the transport roller 8 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction and transport the paper pack in the direction of the arrow.

FIG. 13 is a structural view showing one example of a pseudo load member of the transport roller 8, FIG. 14 is a structural view showing another example thereof, and FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pseudo load member shown in FIG.

When a pseudo load is applied by a frictional force,
As shown in FIG. 13, a friction member 55 such as cork or felt is urged against the planetary gear 53 by a coil spring 56 to generate a frictional force on the side surface of the planetary gear 53 to apply a load.

When a dummy load is created by using a damper, as shown in FIG. 14, a configuration is adopted in which a damper 57 is attached to the arm 52 by a fixing screw 58 at a rotating portion of the planetary gear 53. As the damper 57, for example, a hydraulic damper, a powder torque limiter, or the like is used.

FIG. 15 shows the structure of the hydraulic damper. 6 in the figure
Reference numeral 0 denotes a rotating shaft directly connected to the planetary rollers, and an impeller is formed at an end thereof. Reference numeral 61 denotes a seal member for preventing leakage of liquid, and reference numeral 62 denotes a cover, in which a viscous oil 63 is filled.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the transport roller 8 comes into contact with the paper pack 20, the pseudo load member starts to slide. As a result, the transport roller 8 which has been rotating together with the drive gear 51 starts to rotate, and the paper pack 20 is further transported into the mechanism. At this time, if a pack other than the exclusive pack is identified by a bar code label or the like of the paper pack 20, the pack is discharged by reversing the transport roller 8 when a pack other than the exclusive pack is inserted. can do.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a moving mechanism of the side fence, and FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a state in which the side fence has fallen.

As shown in FIG. 16, a side fence driving motor 70 (a gear portion thereof) is provided with a side fence 7 on the near side.
When the fence drive motor 70 is rotated by the engagement of the rack 71a and the rack 72 of the back side fence 7b, the side fences 7a and 7b move in a direction toward and away from each other.

When the paper pack 20 enters the main body, as shown in FIG. 17, the front side fence 7a
Is pushed by the paper pack 20 and falls backward, thereby facilitating the entry of the paper. By the way, the side fence 7 and the back fence 10 move to the retreat position (maximum size) when the absence of paper is detected by the paper presence / absence sensor. The transport roller 8 is located on the back side of the side fence 7, while the side fence 7a is retractable and can be restored by a spring, so that the final end of the paper pack 20 exceeds the side fence 7a. Then, the side fence 7a rises to the original position. After the side fence 7a gets up,
The side fence 7 is moved by the side fence drive motor 70 to the center which is the reference position for transporting the paper pack 20.

After the positioning by the side fence 7 is completed, the back and forth positioning is performed by the back fence 10. In this case, since the paper size is known when the side fence is moved, the movement amount of the back fence 10 is determined based on this data.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the back fence moving mechanism, and FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the back fence and the vicinity of the back opening device.

Since the back fence 10 and the pack opening device 2 are cut with internal threads to be screwed into the screw 15, both can be moved by rotating the drive motor 14. In FIG. 18, reference numeral 80 denotes a bearing.

FIG. 20 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the back fence and the bottom surface of the paper pack storage unit, and FIG. 21 is the same front view.

Since the back fence 10 also serves as a paper press when opening the paper pack 20, the lower end of the back fence 10 and the bottom surface of the paper pack storage section (paper placement surface) 8
1, a gap 83 is provided so that the tongue 21 of the paper pack 20 can pass through. Further, from the gap 83,
The opened sheet is a packaging sheet 20A of the sheet pack 20,
A barrier 82 is provided below the back fluence 10 using a flexible material such as mylar so as not to come out together with 20B.

Referring back to FIG. 19, the tongue piece 21 protrudes to the rear of the back fence 10 when the back fence 10 is stopped. At the same time as the back fence 10 moves, the pack opening device 2 moves and stops with the rubber-coated magnet roller 90 placed on the tongue piece 21. Reference numeral 91 denotes a drive shaft for driving the magnet roller 90;
92 is a drive motor and 93 is a worm gear.

The pack opening device 2 mainly includes a magnet roller 90 and a drive shaft 91, and is set so that it can be easily engaged when driven in the pack opening direction. Accordingly, when the required torque at the time of opening the pack is increased, the pressing force of the magnet roller 90 on the tongue piece 21 is also increased, and as a result, the conveying force is increased. The magnet roller 90 may have a structure divided into a plurality. The roller section is provided with an entrance guide plate 3 and a tongue piece 21.
The tongue piece 2
When the roller 1 comes into contact with the magnet roller 90, the roller is lifted, so that the tongue piece 21 can easily enter (FIG. 3).
1).

Here, the paper pack 20 will be described.

FIG. 22 is an exploded view of a packing sheet of a paper pack, FIG. 23 is a schematic view of an opening process of the paper pack, and FIG.
(A), (b) is an explanatory view of a bonding portion, and FIGS.
(C) and FIGS. 26 (a) to (c) are explanatory diagrams of the packaging process. One packaging sheet 20A, 20B is made of two sheet materials having different strengths, and the packaging sheet 20A having the larger strength is used. The parts are the respective plate portions 20a, 20b, 20c, 20
d, 20e, 20f, 20g, and 20h, and a tongue piece 21 integral with the packaging sheet 20A. The tongue piece 21 is reinforced with a mylar or the like so as not to bend.

At the time of packaging, as shown in FIG. 25 (a), it is wound clockwise with reference to the upper left corner, and as shown in FIG.
See (a). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 25 (c), winding is performed in the opposite direction (counterclockwise). When the tongue piece 21 reaches the reference diagonal position, the winding ends, and bonding is performed as shown in FIG. 24 (b). Finally, as shown in FIGS. 26 (a), (b) and (c), the side faces are folded inward and bonded.

At the time of opening, as shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B, the adhesive portion at the reference position is first peeled off by pulling the tongue piece 21, and the strength is changed by further pulling. The two packaging sheets 20A and 20B are cut and opened at the boundary positions. 3 and FIG.
(D) shows the situation.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram for calculating the length of the tongue piece. The length of the tongue piece 21 is determined from the relationship between the magnet roller 90 and the back fluence 10.

That is, L1 is the distance from the center of the magnet roller 90 to the back fence 10, L2 is the thickness of the back fence 10, L3 is the length of the tongue piece 21, L3
According to the condition of .gtoreq.L1 + L2, when the back fluence 10 hits the rear end of the paper pack 20, the tongue 21 is under the magnet roller 90, whereby the tongue 21 can be securely pulled.

FIG. 28 is an overall control block diagram in which a program for performing various controls according to the present invention is stored in the ROM 100 and RA.
The process is executed by M101 and CPU102. CPU10
2 obtains information from a sensor group 104 composed of S1 and S2 via a bus 103 and controls a motor group 105 composed of M1 and M2. The sensors include a paper presence / absence detection sensor and a paper pack detection sensor. Examples of the motor include a transport motor for the paper pack 20 and a motor for moving the pack opening device. Reference numeral 106 denotes an I / O port, 107 denotes a motor current detection circuit, and 108 denotes a motor drive circuit.

The locking mechanism of the door will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 29 and 30 are a perspective view and a front view showing one example, and FIG. 31 is a front view showing another example.

Only when the paper end detecting filler 110 shown in FIG. 31 is lowered and the paper end is detected,
The solenoid 111 is turned on to retract the door lock member 112, and the door (represented by the door 31) can be opened and closed (examples in FIGS. 29 and 30). In the example of FIG. 31, the door lock filler 113 is opened and closed in the same manner.

This is also true for the paper cassette. That is, as shown in FIG. 32, the door lock member 112 at the tip of the solenoid 111 is configured to be able to protrude and retract from the side wall of the paper cassette 120, and only when the paper cassette 120 is at the paper end, the paper cassette 120 is closed. Can be taken out.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of the overall control (paper pack automatic opening control).
It is determined whether there is a sheet inside (S1). If there is, the doors 31 to 33 are locked so that the sheet pack 20 cannot enter. Alternatively, even if the paper pack 20 is inserted, the conveyance control is not performed.

When there is no more paper in the paper cassette 120, first, a preparation operation is started in preparation for insertion of the paper pack 20. That is, the back fence 10 and the side fence 7
Is moved to the retreat position, and the bottom plate 6 is lowered. During this time, the locked state of the doors 31 to 33 is still maintained so that the paper pack 20 cannot be inserted.

Here, the retracted position of the back fence 10 is outside the paper cassette 120 (or the tray 6) draw-out portion, and the retracted position of the side fence 7 is outside the maximum paper size.

When the preparation for insertion is completed, the locks of the doors 31 to 33 are released, and the inserted paper pack 20 is conveyed into the tray 6 or the paper supply cassette 120 to detect the paper size. ). If there is no transport error (NO in S4), a pack opening control subroutine (S5) is executed, and further a paper set subroutine (S6) is executed.

Here, the packing opening operation will be further described.

FIG. 31 shows the positional relationship between the magnet roller 90 and the drive shaft 91 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9A, the drive shaft 91 is connected to the magnet roller 9.
The distance L between the bottom of the paper pack storage unit (paper mounting surface) 81 and the lower end of the drive shaft 91 is smaller than the diameter 2r of the magnet roller 90 and larger than the radius r. In other words, the lower end of the drive shaft 91 is located between 2r and r (that is, r ≦ L <2r). As shown in FIG. 2B, when the tongue piece 21 comes below the magnet roller 90, the magnet roller 90 pulls the tongue piece 21 without rotating the magnet roller 90. At this time,
The back fluence 10 is fixed at a position where the paper pack 20 is set, and serves to stop the paper when the magnet roller 90 is rotated to pull the paper in the direction a as shown in FIG. I do. The pack is opened by pulling the pack with the paper stopped (see FIG. 3).

The pack opening device 2 moves while opening the paper and reaches the trash box 1. The sheet mounting surface 81 facing the magnet roller 90 is formed of a low friction member such as a Teflon sheet.

Next, the transport control of the paper pack 20 will be described.

FIGS. 35 and 36 are flow charts of the pack transport control subroutine.

When the paper pack 20 is inserted (YES in S11), it is determined whether or not the paper pack 20 has been inserted to the pack transport start (reference) position (S12). A specific example of the “transport start reference position” is a position where half or more of the pack is inserted. In other words, in order to prevent the pack from falling off due to stiffness, it is necessary to start the transfer to the transfer rollers 8 after the half or more of the pack has been inserted by the operator. However, this does not apply if some kind of dropout prevention measure (such as provision of a holding means) is adopted. The insertion of the paper pack 20 is shown in FIG.
The detection is performed by the reflection type sensor 40 installed in the vicinity of the paper insertion slot as shown in FIG. For the transport start position,
, And the reflection type sensor 40 is used to make a determination. This marking can also be used as a size detection mark described later. The position of the marking for judging the transport start position is a position where the paper pack 20 reaches the transport roller 8 and the transport can be reliably performed by the transport roller 8. Further, by setting the position of the marking at a fixed distance from the rear end in the insertion direction regardless of the size under the above-described conditions, the conveyance of the paper pack 20 is started when the operator always inserts the paper to a fixed position regardless of the paper size. Operation mistakes can be prevented.

Further, the insertion time is determined (S13), and when the insertion of the paper pack 20 is insufficient, that is, when a transport error occurs (S14), the operator is prompted to reset. This can be determined by detecting the insertion time from the leading edge of the paper pack to the marking or detecting the opening time of the door members 31 to 33.

If the marking cannot be detected or does not follow the predetermined pattern, it is possible to determine that it is not a dedicated pack or that the paper pack 20 is inserted in the wrong direction. Instructs reinsertion without starting transport.

When the paper pack 20 reaches the transportable position, a message to that effect is displayed or a buzzer is signaled to urge the operator to release his hand (S14). Thereafter, the transport roller 8 is rotated to start transport (S16). At this time, an operation error can be prevented by delaying the start of conveyance by a time sufficient for the operator to release his / her hand (S15). Further, at this time, the paper size is detected. For example, a barcode 41 (FIG. 10) is printed on the paper pack 20 according to the paper size.
And then reading it with a reflective sensor 40 or the like installed at the paper pack insertion slot, counting the time from the marking of the paper feedable position until the rear end of the paper pack 20 passes through the reflective sensor 40. And a method of determining the size in combination with the detection of the paper size (paper width) at the doors 31 to 33 described above.

When the paper size is detected, if the paper size is the same as the paper size used so far, the control is continued as it is. If the paper size is different, the conveyance is stopped and a warning is issued to detect an erroneous operation. it can. If the operator notices a mistake at this stage, the transport roller 8 is reversed by a switch operation or the like, and the paper pack 20 is returned to the original position.

When the paper pack 20 is conveyed inside the side fence 7, the front side fence 7a rises. This rising is detected by the sensor, and the driving of the transport roller 8 is stopped (S17). At this time, the transport roller 8
If the rise of the side fence 7 cannot be detected even after the predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined that the paper pack 20 has not been normally conveyed, and the driving of the conveyance roller 8 is stopped to display a conveyance error. Subsequent conveyance of the paper pack 20 is performed by moving both side fences 7a and 7b inward (S18), and the paper pack 20 is set at the center. At this time, the amount of movement of the side fence 7 is determined according to the size detected in advance and stopped (S19). If the size has not been determined at this time, the movement is stopped by detecting a motor current described later, or a sensor is installed at the rear side fence 7b, and the movement is detected by detecting the contact of the paper pack 20. Stop. further,
By arranging a plurality of these sensors in the paper feeding direction, it is possible to reliably correct the side pack 7 even if the paper pack 20 is conveyed by skew. Thereafter, the transfer is confirmed (S20). If the transfer is not performed, a transfer error is displayed after a predetermined time has elapsed (S21).

Next, control for opening the paper pack 20 will be described.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart of the pack opening control subroutine.

At the start of the pack opening control, the paper feed tray 6 (or paper feed cassette 120) is locked (S31). This is to prevent the paper pack 20 from being pulled out during the unsealing operation, thereby preventing the unsealing operation. As for the locking method, as shown in FIG.
11 can be realized. In FIG. 29, when unlocking the paper cassette 120, the solenoid 111 is turned on to retract the locking member 112, and the paper cassette 120 can be attached and detached. At the time of locking, the locking member 112 protrudes toward the paper cassette 120 by turning off the solenoid 111, so that the paper cassette 120 is locked. Then, the back fluence drive motor 1
4b and the pack opening device drive motor 14a are rotated forward (S32) to approach the paper pack 20. Then, it is stopped at a position corresponding to the size (S33). At this time, the tongue 21 of the paper pack 20 is held in the pack opening device 2.

Next, only the pack opening device drive motor 14a is reversed (S34), and the tongue piece 21 is retracted while being held.
It stops just before the trash can 1 (S35). Further, the rotation of the magnet roller 90 is started (S36), and the sheet pack 20 is opened. At this time, for example, when the paper pack 20 is not the exclusive pack but the tongue piece 21 is missing, the insertion direction of the paper pack 20 is reversed, the tongue piece 21 is missing, and the case where the tongue piece 21 is not pinched is detected. I do.

In the above situation, since the motor current of the pack opening device drive motor 14a increases due to the friction between the magnet roller 90 and the paper placing surface 81, an error can be determined by detecting the motor current. . in this case,
The pack opening device 2 is pressed against the paper pack 20 again to repeat the opening operation. If the error still occurs after a plurality of repetitions, the unsealing operation is stopped and an error is displayed (NO in S37, YES in S38, S39).

When the opening of the paper pack 20 is completed (S3
(YES at 7) The rotation of the magnet roller 90 is stopped.
The pack opening device 2 stops at the rear as it is. The means for detecting the completion of opening the paper pack can be realized, for example, by detecting a motor current for transmitting drive to the magnet roller 90. The magnet roller 90 is rotating at a low torque while the opened paper pack 20 is being conveyed, and the current value is small. Conversely, when all the paper packs 20 are pulled out, the motor current increases due to the friction between the magnet roller 90 and the paper mounting surface 81. Therefore, the completion of opening the paper pack is detected from the difference between the current values.

If the paper size is not measured by the entrance sensor 40, the size can also be measured by the side fence 7 and the back fence 10. For example, when the side fence 7 is moved and reaches the end of the paper pack 20, the side fence 7 cannot be moved any more, and the current of the motor 70 for transmitting the drive to the side fence 7 increases. Therefore, the size can be measured by counting the time from the start of movement of the side fence 7 to the rise in current.

Further, the end of the paper pack 20 can be detected not only by detecting the current but also by installing a sensor at the back side fence 7b. In addition, the amount of movement of the side fence 7 can be measured not only by counting time but also by setting an encoder on the side fence drive motor 70 and counting the number of rotations. The backfence 10 can be used for size detection by performing the same control.

Side fence 7 and back fence 1
When the size is measured at 0, the control is continued as it is when the paper size is the same as the paper size used so far, as in the case where the size is measured by the entrance sensor 40. The operator can select whether to execute the operation or to re-insert the paper pack 20, thereby preventing the paper pack 20 from being opened due to an operation error.

As described above, a message such as "operating" is displayed while the packing is being opened, so that the operator can grasp the situation.
Also, the end of the operation is notified by a display of "operation end" or a buzzer. During the unsealing operation, each mode can be set, such as selection of the sheet cassette 120, setting of the number of copies, use of a sorter, etc., and after the unsealing operation, the copying operation is automatically performed.

When the opened paper is added while the paper remains in the paper feed tray 6 (paper feed cassette 120), the bottom plate is lowered by pressing an operation switch or the like, and the back fluence 10 is moved backward. I do. Until the back fence 10 completely moves rearward, for example, the paper cassette 120 is locked so that it cannot be pulled out. After the evacuation of the backfence 10 is completed, the lock is released.

After the sheet feeding tray 6 (sheet feeding cassette 120) is pulled out and sheets are added, for example, when the sheet feeding cassette 120 is set, the sheet feeding cassette 120 is locked again, and the back fluence 10 is moved forward. It moves and stops when it hits the paper. Thereafter, the bottom plate is raised, and the paper feed preparation is completed.

[0081]

As described above, according to the present invention, after the paper pack inserted by the user is automatically mounted on the paper feeding position in the paper feeding device main body by the paper pack conveying means, the packaging sheet is removed. Since the wrapping sheet of the paper pack is automatically removed by the means, the paper supply operation can be greatly simplified.

According to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, a detecting means for detecting the size of the paper pack inserted into the apparatus main body is provided, and the paper pack size detected by the detecting means is previously detected. If the paper size is different from the accommodated paper size, this is notified, and after confirmation by the user, the paper is conveyed into the device or discharged out of the device if the paper pack has an undesired size. It is possible to prevent replenishment of paper packs of an undesired size, and it is possible to remarkably improve paper replenishment.

According to the invention, the apparatus automatically conveys the paper packs one by one to the paper feeding means only by the user storing the paper packs in the storage section, and Since the wrapping sheet is removed and fed, complicated work related to the paper supply operation is omitted, and operability is improved. In addition, the wrapping sheet is removed unconditionally only when the paper size is the same as the last paper size, and a warning message is displayed in other cases. Recovery becomes easier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a paper pack and an opening process thereof.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a door of a paper insertion slot.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a door of a paper insertion slot.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a paper insertion door.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where a paper pack is inserted into a paper insertion slot.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of the door.

FIG. 9 is a top view showing another example of the door.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a paper pack detection mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a transport roller unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a paper pack entering and rotation of a conveyance roller.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a pseudo load member of a transport roller.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram illustrating another example of the pseudo load member of the transport roller.

FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pseudo load member shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a moving mechanism of a side fence.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a state in which the side fence is folded down.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a back fluence moving mechanism.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a back fence and a packing opening device.

FIG. 20 is a side view showing a positional relationship between the back fluence and the bottom surface of the paper pack storage unit.

FIG. 21 is a front view showing the positional relationship between the back fence and the bottom surface of the paper pack storage unit.

FIG. 22 is a development view of a packaging sheet for a paper pack.

FIG. 23 is a schematic view of the process of opening the paper pack.

FIG. 24 is an explanation of an adhesive portion.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram of a process of packing a paper pack.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of a packing process of a paper pack.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of tongue piece length calculation.

FIG. 28 is an overall control block diagram.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view showing an example of a door locking mechanism.

FIG. 30 is a front view showing an example of a door locking mechanism.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view showing another example of the locking mechanism of the door.

FIG. 32 is a perspective view showing a locking mechanism of the sheet cassette.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of overall control.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a magnet roller and a drive shaft in the pack opening device.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart of a pack transport control subroutine.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart of a pack transport control subroutine.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart of a pack opening control subroutine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dust box 2 Pack opening device 4 Drive motor 6 Tray 7 Side fence 8 Conveyance roller 9 Paper feed roller 10 Back fence 11,12,13 Paper insertion opening 14a Pack opening device drive motor 14b Back fence drive motor 20 Paper pack 20A, 20B Packaging sheet DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Tongue piece 31, 32, 33 Door 36 Guide piece 51 Drive gear 53 Planetary gear 54 Follower roller 70 Side fence drive motor 81 Storing section bottom surface (sheet mounting surface) 82 Barrier 83 Gap 90 Magnet roller 100 ROM 101 RAM 102 CPU 103 Bus 104 Sensor group 105 Motor group 110 Paper end filler 111 Solenoid 112 Door lock member 113 Door lock filler 120 Paper feed cassette

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Kagami 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaru Shiina 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Keisuke Hayashi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/00- 3/68

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A paper feeder main body having a paper feeder, a paper pack insertion port provided on one side of the paper feeder main body, and a paper pack inserted from the paper pack insertion port. Paper pack transporting means for transporting the paper pack to a predetermined position in the apparatus body, packaging sheet removing means for removing the packaging sheet of the paper pack transported to the predetermined position, detecting means for detecting the size of the paper pack, and detecting means Comparing means for comparing the size of the paper pack detected by the paper feeding means with the size of the paper finally fed by the paper feeding means; If it is detected that the size of the paper fed to the paper is not the same, the paper pack is returned to the paper pack insertion port side,
On the other hand, when the size of the inserted paper pack matches the size of the finally fed paper, a control means for controlling the paper pack conveying means to convey the paper pack to the paper feeding position is provided. A sheet feeder with size detection for an image forming apparatus. 2. An image according to claim 1, further comprising an informing means for informing whether or not the inserted paper pack size matches the last fed paper size. Paper feeder with size detection of the forming device. 3. An image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: input means for selectively inputting whether or not to drive said paper pack transport means when the notification by said notification means is given. Paper feeder with size detection. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a size identification code is provided on the paper pack, and the size of the paper pack is detected near the paper pack insertion opening. Paper feeder. 5. The paper feeder with size detection of an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the size of the paper pack is detected during the transportation by the paper pack transport means. 6. When a sheet is not stacked, a sheet stacking section capable of receiving a plurality of sizes of sheet packs and a projecting portion of the sheet pack mounted on the sheet stacking section are pulled from the sheet. Sheet removing means for removing the packaging sheet;
Paper feeding means for separating and feeding the paper from which the packaging sheet has been removed one by one; paper absence detecting means for detecting that there is no paper in the paper loading section; and the paper loaded in the paper loading section Size detecting means for detecting the paper size of the paper, and when the paper loading section receives a new paper pack by detecting that there is no paper in the paper loading section, the paper size of the paper pack and the paper feeding means determine the last. Comparing means for comparing the size of the paper fed separately to the sheet, and displaying means for confirming whether or not the sheet removing means may be operated when the size is different as a result of the comparison by the comparing means. And a sheet feeder with size detection for the image forming apparatus.