JP3058812B2 - Additional paper feed unit and automatic 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 an automatic paper feeder used for a printer or an original reading device of an information processing apparatus and an additional type which is attached to a paper feeder main body when a large amount of paper is automatically fed. It relates to a paper feed unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are two types of automatic paper feeders: a so-called top take-out type, in which sheets stacked on a paper feed table are fed one by one from above, and a so-called bottom take-out type, in which one sheet is taken out from below. There are things.

The upper take-out type is easy to design a paper separating mechanism and has a stable separating action. However, if the processed paper is discharged as it is, there is a drawback that the order of the papers is reversed. On the other hand, in the case of the unloading type, even if the processed paper is simply discharged, the problem that the arrangement order of the paper is reversed does not occur. In particular, in a document reading device (including a facsimile) such as an image scanner, as shown in FIG.
Is read from the lower side along the glass plate 18, so that it is convenient to use a lower take-out type automatic paper feeder.

[0004]

However, in the automatic paper feeder of the take-out type, the weight of the paper stacked on the paper feed tray acts on the paper to be fed. If the amount is large, a large sheet feeding resistance acts on the sheet to be fed, and double feed easily occurs due to an increase in friction between sheets. Further, since the sheet feeding resistance changes depending on the amount of stacked sheets, the separating action becomes unstable, and a sheet feeding error or double feed is likely to occur. For this reason, in the automatic take-out type sheet feeding device, the amount of sheets loaded on the sheet feed table is limited, and a large amount of sheets cannot be automatically fed.

Therefore, when it becomes necessary to process a large number of sheets in a batch that cannot be stacked on the sheet feeding table, the sheets are divided into small lots and the next lot is stacked on the sheet feeding table while confirming the end of processing of the previous lot. This is very complicated and requires a long waiting time and a long processing time. A batch automatic processing of a large amount of paper is possible by using the automatic take-up type automatic paper feeder. Providing a document reading device is costly and cannot meet the needs of the user. Even if such a device is provided, it is uneconomical to replace the device, for example, when a large amount of paper needs to be processed due to a change in business content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above situation, the present invention provides an original reading apparatus or the like having an automatic paper feeder of a take-out type. The task is to provide technical means.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an extension type paper feeding unit which abuts on a paper table which is urged upward, and an upper end of a front edge of the paper stacked on the paper table. A paper feed roller 32, a separation pad 33 pressed against a lower peripheral surface of the paper feed roller, reversing rollers 35 and 36 for reversing the paper fed from the paper feed roller 32, A rotation transmission mechanism 55 for drivingly connecting the rollers 35 and 36; a reversing sheet outlet 37 opening below the sheet table 29; and locking portions 38 and 43 for locking the unit frame 25 to the sheet feeding device main body. It is provided with.

The automatic paper feeder according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises a paper feeder main body 2 having a paper feed table 11 and an additional paper feed unit 3 having the above-described structure, which are separately provided. Is a paper feed roller 12, a drive device 21 for the paper feed roller, and a separation pad 1 pressed against an upper peripheral surface of the paper feed roller.
The additional type paper feed unit 3 is connected to the paper feed port 7 of the paper feeder body directly or through the paper feed port 37 of the paper feed unit.
1 is attached to the sheet feeding device main body 2 at a position where the sheet feeding device 1 faces each other.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic sheet feeding apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the separation pad 15 of the sheet feeding apparatus main body 2 is provided.
The press release mechanism 58, 78, 84 is provided, and the operation section of the press release mechanism extends to the side where the additional paper feed unit 3 is mounted, and the additional paper feed unit 3 is attached to the paper feeder main body 2. The member of the extension type paper feed unit 3 pushes the operation unit in the pressure release direction when the device is mounted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic sheet feeding apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the sheet feeding device main body 2 is provided with a driving gear 44 connected to the driving device 21 of the sheet feeding roller. The additional type paper feeding unit is provided on the mounting side and the driven gear 48 connected to the rotation transmitting mechanism 55 is provided on the mounting side. The gear 44 and the driven gear 48 are meshed and connected.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic sheet feeding apparatus, the extension type sheet feeding unit 3 includes a driving device 61 for the rotation transmitting mechanism 55 and a receiving port 65 for the driving electric signal.
Is the driving electric signal line 6 of the driving device 21 of the sheet feeding roller.
A drive electrical signal outlet 64 connected to the
The receiving port 65 is connected to the transfer port 64 when the additional type paper feeding unit 3 is mounted on the paper feeding apparatus main body 2.

Further, in the automatic sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention, a forward aligning roller 59 which can be rotated forward and reverse is provided downstream of the reversing rollers 35 and 36.
Is characterized in that the paper is rotated forward for a certain period of time during normal rotation, the paper is sent out, and then rotated forward.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the automatic sheet feeding apparatus, wherein the separation pad 15 on the main body side is retracted when the extension type sheet feeding unit is mounted.
6 and a light transmitting sensor 83 installed near the aligning roller 59 for detecting the thickness of the sheet passing therethrough, and a pressure for separating the separation pad 15 on the main body of the paper feeding device from the peripheral surface of the paper feeding roller 12. Release mechanisms 78 and 84 and the pressure release mechanisms 78 and 84 when the detection value of the sensor 83 is equal to or less than a certain value.
Operable to retract the device body side separation pad 15.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the additional type paper feeding unit 3 takes out the paper stacked on the paper table 29 in order from the top by rotating and driving the rotation transmission mechanism 55, and removes the taken out paper from the reversing roller 35, It is turned upside down at 36 and sent out to the outlet 37. Since the paper feed mechanism of the additional type paper feed unit of the automatic paper feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, is of a take-out type, the weight of the paper does not act on the paper to be taken out. Since the wedge shape at the leading end of the paper between the papers is formed smoothly, both paper supply errors and separation errors can be reduced, and even if a large amount of paper is loaded on the paper table 29, stable paper separation and supply can be performed. . Moreover, the reversing rollers 35, 3
Since the sheet is fed with the sheet side inverted by 6, even if the processed sheet is simply discharged, the arrangement order of the sheets 24 does not reverse.

When it is necessary to collectively process a large number of sheets in a document reading apparatus or the like provided with an automatic sheet feeding apparatus of a lower take-out type (sheet feeding apparatus main body 2 described in claim 2), an additional claim 1 is provided. A desired process can be performed by mounting the mold paper feeding unit to the paper feeding device and configuring the automatic paper feeding device of the second aspect. The feed port 37 of the additional paper feed unit may be structured so that the fed paper is guided by the paper feed tray 11 of the paper feeder main body and fed into the paper feed port 7 of the paper feeder main body. It is also possible to adopt a structure in which the paper board 7 is removed, the additional paper feed unit 3 is mounted, and the feed port 37 and the paper feed port 7 are directly opposed.

In the automatic paper feeder according to the present invention, when the additional paper feed unit is mounted,
Since the paper is separated on the paper feeding side, the separation pad on the paper feeding device main body side is unnecessary. According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the extension type paper feed unit is mounted, the separation pad 1 on the main body side is provided.
5 is released, so that the paper fed from the additional paper feed unit 3 can pass more smoothly through the paper feed roller 12 on the main body side, and the useless feed roller driving device 21 on the main body side is used. The load can be reduced. If the load on the drive device 21 on the main body side is reduced in this way, the paper feed roller 12 and the reversing rollers 35 and 36 of the additional paper feed unit can be driven by the extra driving force.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the extension type paper feed unit 3 is mounted on the main body side, the separation pad 1 on the main body side is provided.
5, the feed roller 32 and the reversing rollers 35, 36 of the extension type paper feed unit 3 can be driven by the main body driving device 21 in synchronization with the main body side,
The structure can be simplified without the need for a drive device and a control system for the additional paper feed unit 3.

Of course, it is also possible to incorporate a driving device 61 in the extension type paper feeding unit 3 to drive the paper feeding roller 32 and the reversing rollers 35 and 36. In this case, claim 5
By adopting the configuration described above, the drive of the additional paper feed unit can be synchronized with the drive of the main body, and the synchronous control system on the additional paper feed unit becomes unnecessary. The additional paper feed unit 3 of the automatic paper feeder according to claim 2 or 3 is an upper take-out type separation mechanism.
And the driving force of the unit-side paper feed roller 32 is also small, so that a small driving device may be used. Further, since the unit-side paper feed roller 32 and the reversing rollers 35 and 36 are drivingly connected, one drive What is necessary is just to provide a device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, an extension type paper feed unit 3 is provided.
The paper can be pre-aligned on the side. Further, according to the invention of claim 7, in the automatic sheet feeding device in which the separation pad 15 on the main body side is retracted when the additional type sheet feeding unit 3 is mounted, double feed of paper occurs on the side of the additional type sheet feeding unit. When this is detected by the light transmission sensor 83, the separation pad 12 on the main body side is pressed against the paper feed roller 12, and the paper is separated again on the main body side, thereby eliminating double feed. I have.

[0020]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of an automatic sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention. The automatic paper feeder 1 includes a paper feeder main body 2 of a lower take-out type and an additional paper feed unit 3 of an upper take-out type as separate bodies. The paper feeding device main body 2 in the figure
This is an automatic paper feed unit built in the image scanner. The paper feeding device main body 2 is mounted on one end (the left end in the figure) of a flat bed type reading section 5 having a top glass 4 and has a frame 6 protruding above the upper surface of the top glass 4.

A paper feed port 7 is provided on the side of the frame 6 on the top glass side, and a paper discharge port 8 is provided on the opposite side. A stacker 9 is mounted below the discharge port 8.
A detachable paper feed table 11 is mounted on the paper feed port 7, and a main body side feed roller 12 is provided in the frame 6 in parallel with the paper feed port 7. Above the paper feed roller 12, a pad base 13 is pivotally supported so as to be swingable about an axis 14, and a separation pad 15 fixed to the tip of the pad base is provided on the upper peripheral surface of the paper feed roller by a spring. 16 is applied. On the downstream side of the paper feed roller 12, there is provided a reading device 17 for reading paper separated one by one by the separation pad 15.

The reading device 17 includes a glass plate 18 provided on the same plane as the top glass, feed rollers 19 and 20 provided before and after the glass plate, and a feed motor provided above the glass plate 18. 21 and an image sensor 22 located below the glass plate. The image sensor 22 is used in common with that of the flatbed-type reading unit 5 by stopping a reading unit traveling along the lower surface of the top glass 4 below the automatic sheet feeding unit.

A timing belt 23 is wound between the drive shaft of the feed motor 21 and the upper conveying rollers 19 and 20. At the time of automatic reading, the feed motor 21 is driven while the sheet 24 is placed on the sheet feed table 11 with the sheet 24 facing downward. The two feed rollers 19 and 20 rotate synchronously to feed the paper 24 onto the glass plate 18, and the image sensor 22 reads information on the paper. The read sheet is sent out of the frame 6 from the sheet discharge port by the feed roller 20 on the downstream side, and is stacked on the stacker 9.

The top take-out type additional paper feed unit 3 is provided with a unit frame 25 having an inverted L-shaped side surface, and a unit-side feed unit 2 having a built-in top take-out type paper feed unit above the unit frame 25.
The lower part is a connecting part 27 connected to the automatic paper feeder 2 of the image scanner. Unit side paper feed section 2
6 is provided with a unit-side paper table 29 whose rear end is pivotally supported on a unit frame 25 by pins 28. The front end of the unit-side paper table 29 is urged upward by a coil spring 31, and a unit-side paper feed roller 32 is mounted above the front end of the unit-side paper table. The sheet 24 placed upward on the unit-side sheet table 29 has its front end pressed by the unit-side paper feed roller 32. On the peripheral surface of the unit-side paper feed roller 32, a unit-side separation pad 33 is provided with a winding spring 3 in front of a position where the front end of the sheet is in contact.
4 is applied. Two reversing rollers 35 and 36 are provided downstream of the unit-side paper feed roller 32. The paper 24 separated and fed by the unit-side paper feed roller 32 is turned upside down by the reversing rollers 35 and 36 and sent to the sending port 37 of the connection portion 27.

The height of the connecting portion 27 of the unit frame is
The lower surface of the unit-side paper feed unit 26 of the unit frame when the lower surface of the connection unit 27 is in contact with the upper surface of the flatbed-type reading unit 5 when the lower surface of the connection unit 27 is equal to the height of the automatic paper feed unit of the image scanner. Abuts on the upper surface of the automatic paper feeding unit 2, and the additional paper feeding unit 3 is mounted on the paper feeding device main body 2. An outlet 3
The height of the feed port 37 from the lower surface of the connection portion 27 is set to the flatbed type reading portion 5 of the paper feed port 7.
The outlet 37 and the paper feed port 7 are opposed to each other when the additional paper feed unit 3 is mounted.

On both sides of the outlet 37 of the unit frame, lock pieces 38 as shown in FIG.
A locking claw 41 is provided in a split groove 39 provided at the tip of the lock piece.
Is provided. On the other hand, the paper feed port 7 of the paper feeder body is
A connection pin 42 extends in the lateral direction wider than the feed port 37, and extends on both sides of the paper feed port 7 so as to face the lock piece 38. A circumferential groove 43 having the same width as the lock piece 38 is provided at an intermediate portion of the connection pin 42, and the diameter of the center of the circumferential groove is slightly smaller than the width of the split groove 49 of the lock piece. Therefore, the paper feed stand 11 on the main body of the paper feeder is removed, and the extension type paper feed unit 3 is removed.
Is placed on the flatbed-type reading section 5 of the image scanner, and is pushed toward the paper feeder main body.
2, the additional paper feed unit 3 is positioned in the three-dimensional direction and fixed to the paper feeder main body 2.

FIG. 4 shows a drive mechanism of the extension type paper feed unit 3. The paper feed roller 12 of the paper feeder main body is
It is rotationally driven by a feed motor 21 via a gear 45 fixed to the shaft of the feed roller 19, which rotates, two intermediate gears 46 and 47, and a drive gear 44 fixed to the shaft of the paper feed roller 12. Connection 27 of unit frame 25
Is provided with a driven gear 48 that meshes with the driving gear 44. The driven gear 48 meshes with a connecting gear 49 fixed to the lower roller shaft of the lower reversing roller 36.
The connecting gear 49 meshes with a gear 51 fixed to the upper roller shaft of the reversing roller 36. A pulley 52 is mounted on the upper roller shaft to which the gear 51 is fixed via a one-way clutch. This pulley 52, a pulley 53 attached to the lower roller shaft of the upper reversing roller 35 via a one-way clutch, and a large-diameter pulley 54 provided near the unit-side paper feed roller 32 include a timing belt 55. Are connected by A gear 56 integral with the large-diameter pulley 54 meshes with a gear 57 mounted on the shaft of the unit-side paper feed roller 32 via a one-way clutch.

When the reading operation is started when the sheet 24 is placed on the sheet table 29 with the sheet 24 facing upward, the feed motor 21 rotates and the driving force is applied to the gears 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 5.
1, transmitted to the unit-side paper feed roller 32 via the timing belt 55 and the gears 56 and 57, take out the sheets 24 on the sheet table 29 one by one from above, separate them by the unit-side separation pad 33, Send to 35.
The fed sheet is turned upside down by reversing rollers 35 and 36, and is fed from a feed port 37 to the sheet feed port 7 of the sheet feeder main body. The paper fed into the paper feed port 7 is
The sheet is fed to the reading device 17 and read in the same manner as the sheet sent from the printer.

This additional type paper feed unit 3 is excellent as a user option unit because it can be easily mounted on the paper feeder main body 2 and the reading position can be guaranteed. Further, since the paper is taken out from the upper side, stable paper feeding can be performed regardless of the amount of paper, so that the paper table 29 can have a large capacity. Furthermore, this additional type paper feed unit 3
Is to obtain the driving force from the paper feeding device main body side,
A drive part such as a motor is not required, and an inexpensive additional paper feed unit can be provided. Further, since the upper take-out is performed, the load applied to the unit-side paper feed roller 32 is small, and an excessive load is not applied to the feed motor 21 of the main body.
Further, the unit-side paper feed roller 32 and the reversing roller 35,
36 are connected by the timing belt 55, the paper feeding mechanism can be simplified.

The upper feeding type is more stable in the sheet feeding state than the lower feeding type, and double feed is less likely to occur. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a release claw 58 is provided at the connection portion 27 of the unit frame, and when the additional paper feed unit 3 is mounted on the paper feeder main body 2, the tip of the release claw 58 is separated from the separation pad of the main body. A pressing pressure release mechanism that pushes the pad base 13 to separate the separation pad 15 from the paper feed roller 12 can be provided. Thereby, the separation pad 1 on the main body side
5 can reduce the paper feeding load due to the rubbing,
There is no influence on the sub-scanning magnification. Further, load fluctuation when the paper 24 comes off the separation pad 15 is eliminated, so that occurrence of feed jitter and the like can be prevented.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an additional paper feed unit having a structure different from that of the additional paper feed unit of the above embodiment. The additional paper feed unit 3 includes a leading roller 59 in place of the reversing roller 36 on the downstream side, a drive motor 61 for applying a driving force to the timing belt 55, and a signal cable 62 for sending a drive electric signal thereto. . The leading roller 59 is connected to the timing belt 55,
It rotates synchronously with the unit-side paper feed roller 32, but in the opposite direction to the paper.

On the other hand, in order to supply the same signal to the drive motor 61 of the additional paper feed unit in the middle of a signal path 60 for sending a drive electric signal from the controller 63 of the image scanner to the feed motor 21 of the paper feeder body 2. Outlet (transit)
A plug (receiving port) 65 provided at the end of the signal cable 62 of the extension type paper feeding unit is connected to the outlet. After removing the paper feed stand 11 on the main body side and attaching the additional paper feed unit to the paper feeder main body 2, the plug 65 of the signal cable 62 is connected to the outlet 64, and the controller 63 built in the image scanner is used. The feed motor 21 on the main body side and the drive motor 61 on the additional paper feed unit side are linked.

The rotation transmission mechanism of the extension type paper feed unit 3 is as follows.
A pulley 66 attached to the shaft of the unit-side paper feed roller 32 via a one-way clutch, a pulley 67 provided near the reversing roller 35, and a pulley 68 fixed to the shaft of the pre-alignment roller 59 are connected by a timing belt 55. The pulley 67 has a gear 69 coaxial with the pulley 67, and the gear 69 meshes with a gear 70 mounted on the upper roller shaft of the reversing roller 35 via a one-way clutch. The timing belt 55 has two idle pulleys 7.
The drive pulley 71 of the drive motor 61 meshes with the drive pulley 71 between 2 and 73.

In the extension type paper feed unit of the second embodiment, the skew (skew) is corrected by rotating the unit side paper feed roller 32 in the normal direction and bringing the leading edge of the fed paper into contact with the front aligning roller. Then, by rotating the drive motor 61 in the reverse direction, the pre-alignment roller 59 is rotated in the sheet feeding direction and fed into the sheet feeding device main body 2. If the drive motor 61 is provided in the extension type paper feeding unit as described above, the paper can be fed independently until the paper is fed to the paper feeding device main body 2, so that the processing speed can be improved. In addition, front alignment roller 5
By rotating the sheet 9 in the reverse direction, the sheets can be pre-aligned, and skew can be prevented.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show the separation pad 1 on the main body side.
5 shows another pressing release mechanism. The pressing release mechanism shown in FIG.
And a swing gear 75 having a built-in torque limiter mounted on the support shaft 14. A stopper 76 for regulating the swing angle of the pad base is provided behind the separation pad. On the other hand, a gear 77 is fixed to the upper roller shaft of the reversing roller 36 below the additional paper feed unit, and a connecting gear 78 meshing with the gear 77 is provided. When the extension type paper feeding unit 3 is mounted on the paper feeding device main body 2, the connecting gear 78 meshes with the swing gear 79 on the main body side. Inverting roller 3 by drive motor 61
When the roller 6 is rotated, the rotational force is transmitted to the rocking gear 79 via the connecting gear 78, and the pad table 13 is rocked to the position of the stopper 76 and retracted from the paper feed roller 12.

The pressurizing release mechanism shown in FIG. 9 uses the front aligning roller 59 of the extension type sheet feeding unit to move the conveying motor 21 of the sheet feeding device main body 2.
And the unit-side paper feed roller 32 and the reversing roller 35
Are driven by the drive motor 61 of the additional paper feed unit. The front alignment roller 59 is driven via the gear 48 from the paper supply roller 12 on the main body side. On the other hand, a connection gear 78 is provided above the connection portion 27 of the unit frame, and the connection gear 78 and a drive shaft of a drive motor 61 of the additional paper feed unit are connected by a chain 81. When the extension type paper feed unit 3 is mounted on the paper feeder main body, the connecting gear 78 meshes with the swing gear 79 that swings the pad base 13 on the main body side. The connection structure between the oscillating gear 79 and the pad base 13 is the same as that shown in FIG. 8, but whether or not the separation pad 15 is retracted is determined by a light-transmitting sensor 83 provided upstream of the pre-alignment roller 59. Is determined by the output value of

After the paper fed by the extension type paper feed unit 3 passes through the unit-side paper feed roller 32 and the reversing roller 35 and is passed to the front alignment roller 59, the front alignment driven by the main body side is performed. The roller 59 feeds the sheet to the sheet feeding device main body 2, while the drive motor 61 on the additional type sheet feeding unit retracts the separation pad 15 on the main body side from the sheet feeding roller 12. When sheets are sent without being separated by the additional sheet feeding unit, the light of the sensor 83 is blocked by a plurality of sheets, and the detected light amount of the sensor 83 is lower than when one sheet is sent. I do. In this case, the drive of the drive motor 61 is released, the separation pad 15 on the main body side is pressed against the paper feed roller 12, and the main body side performs separation again.

FIG. 10 shows a light transmission type sensor 83 provided downstream of the reversing roller 36 on the downstream side, and a solenoid 84 operated by a detection signal from this sensor is provided at the connection portion 27 of the unit frame. Extension paper feed unit 3
The rod end of the solenoid 84 abuts on the pad base 13 on the main body side when the is mounted on the paper feeder main body 2, and the pad base 13
Is pivoted to separate the separation pad 15 from the paper feed roller 12. If double feed occurs on the additional paper feed unit side, the amount of light detected by the transmission sensor will be small.
When this is detected, the solenoid 84 is excited to retract the rod, and the separation pad on the main body is pressed against the paper feed roller to separate the paper. Thus, double feed can be completely prevented as in the case of FIG.

[0039]

As described above, the additional paper feed unit of the present invention can be easily mounted on the paper feeder main body of a document reading device such as an image scanner. Because the reversing roller is provided in the top take-out type additional paper feeding unit, the paper can be sent out to the paper feeding device main body in a reversed state. Also, the lower take-out type additional paper feed unit is provided with a conveyor belt for sending out lower-layer paper and a gate for limiting the amount of paper sent out.
The stability of the paper feeding operation can be improved.

The automatic paper feeder equipped with the extension type paper feed unit of the present invention can automatically process a large amount of paper at a time, and the paper feeder main body can be of a generally used structure, which is economical. It is. In addition, the order of the sheets discharged to the stacker can be the same as the order of the sheets stacked on the sheet table.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a paper feeding device main body and an upper-draw-out type additional paper feeding unit.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an additional paper feed unit mounted on the paper feeder main body.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lock mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a driving mechanism of the extension type sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the pressing release mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an additional paper feed unit built in the drive motor.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing an extension type paper supply unit mounted thereon.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the pressing release mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view of another pressing release mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a side view of still another pressing release mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a conventional apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Paper feeder unit 3 Expansion paper feed unit 11 Paper feed tray 12 Paper feed roller 15 Separation pad 25 Unit frame 29 Unit paper tray 32 Unit feed roller 33 Unit separation pad 35,36 Reverse roller 37 Feeding port 38 Lock piece 58 Release claw 78 Connecting gear 84 Solenoid

(56) References JP-A-3-56333 (JP, A) JP-A-57-51628 (JP, A) JP-A-62-157838 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/00-3/68

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet table (29) urged upward, a sheet feed roller (32) abutting on an upper end of a front edge of sheets stacked on the sheet table, and a lower periphery of the sheet feed roller. A separation pad (33) pressed against the surface, a reversing roller (35, 36) for reversing the sheet fed from the paper feed roller (32), and a paper feed roller (32)
And a rotation transmission mechanism (5) for drivingly connecting the reverse rollers (35, 36).
5), a reversing sheet feeding port (37) opening below the sheet table (29), and a locking portion (38, 43) for locking the unit frame (25) to the sheet feeding device main body. Is an additional paper feed unit. 2. A paper feeding device main body (2) having a paper feeding table (11).
And an additional paper feed unit (3) according to claim 1 as a separate body, wherein the paper feeder main body (2) comprises a paper feed roller (12) and a drive device (21) for the paper feed roller. A separation pad (15) pressed against the upper peripheral surface of the paper feed roller,
The paper feed unit (2) is located at a position where the feed port (37) and the paper feed port (7) of the paper feed unit face each other directly or via the paper feed table (11). Automatic paper feeder attached to). 3. The paper feeder main body (2) is provided with a pressure release mechanism (58, 78, 84) for the separation pad (15), and an operation section of the pressure release mechanism has an additional type paper feed unit ( 3) The extension type paper feed unit (3) extends to the mounting side, and when the additional type paper feed unit (3) is mounted on the paper feeder main body (2), the member of the additional type paper feed unit (3) pushes the operation unit in the pressure release direction. The automatic paper feeder according to claim 2, wherein the automatic paper feeder moves. 4. The paper feeder main body (2) includes a drive gear (44) connected to a drive device (21) of the paper feed roller on the side where the additional paper feed unit (3) is mounted. The unit is provided with a driven gear (48) connected to its rotation transmitting mechanism (55) on its mounting side, and when the extension type paper feeding unit (3) is mounted on the paper feeding device main body (2), the driving gear 4. The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein the (44) and the driven gear (48) are engaged with each other. 5. An additional paper feed unit (3) includes a drive device (61) for a rotation transmission mechanism (55) and a receiving port (65) for a drive electric signal thereof.
The paper feeder main body (2) is provided with a drive electric signal transfer port (64) connected to a drive electric signal line (60) of the drive device (21) of the paper feed roller, and is an extension type. 4. The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein the receiving port (65) is connected to the transfer port (64) when the sheet feeding unit (3) is mounted on the sheet feeding device body (2). 6. A forward aligning roller (59) that can be rotated forward and reverse is provided downstream of the reversing rollers (35, 36).
(59) wherein the paper feed roller (12) is rotated forward for a predetermined period of time during normal rotation to pre-align the paper that has been sent out, and then rotates forward. 5. The automatic paper feeder according to 5. 7. A light transmitting sensor (83) installed near the reversing roller (36) or the leading roller (59) for detecting the thickness of a sheet passing therethrough, and a separation pad ( 15) from the peripheral surface of the paper feed roller (12).
4) and control means for operating the pressing release mechanism (78, 84) when the detection value of the sensor (83) is equal to or less than a predetermined value to retract the device body side separation pad (15). The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 2, 3, 5, or 6, wherein