JP3096785B2 - Paper feeder of image forming apparatus for transporting paper packs - 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 of an image forming apparatus for transporting a paper pack such as a copying machine and a facsimile, and more particularly to a paper feeder for feeding paper loaded in a main body together with the paper pack. About.

[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 paper feeder for an image forming apparatus for transporting a paper pack, which solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional apparatus and greatly simplifies the paper supply operation.

[0014]

The object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeder
Body and a paper pad provided on one side surface of the paper feeding device main body.
Paper insertion slot and the paper pack inserted from the paper pack insertion slot.
A transfer start timing detection mark provided at a predetermined position on the hook.
Detecting means for detecting a signal, and starting the conveyance by the detecting means.
When the timing detection code is detected or when the detection
Predetermined time from detection of transport start timing code detection by step
After the lapse of time, drive is started, and the paper
Paper pack transport means for transporting the paper pack to a predetermined position in the main body;
The packing sheet of the paper pack conveyed to the predetermined position is
A paper pack provided with a wrapping sheet removing means to be removed is transported.
In the paper feeding device of the image forming apparatus to be fed,
If the timing detection code is
For recording data related to paper stored in paper
Using both paper pack data code and paper data code
Recognition hand provided on the paper pack insertion / transportation path
This is achieved by a first means for recognizing the data code by stages .

The object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeder main body, a paper pack insertion opening provided on one side surface in the paper feeder main body,
First detecting means for detecting a transport start timing detection code provided at a predetermined position of the paper pack inserted from the paper pack insertion slot, and detecting the transport start timing detection code by the first detection means. Or a paper pack conveying means for starting driving after a lapse of a predetermined time from the detection of the conveyance start timing detection code by the first detecting means and conveying the paper pack to a predetermined position in the paper feeding device main body;
A wrapping sheet removing means for removing the wrapping sheet of the paper pack conveyed to the predetermined position; a second detecting means for detecting the trailing edge of the paper pack being removed; and a start of the conveyance of the paper pack by the paper pack conveying means. A measuring means for measuring the time until the trailing edge of the paper pack is detected by the second detecting means, and a recognizing means for recognizing the size of the inserted paper pack based on the measurement result by the measuring means. This is achieved by two means.

[0016]

In 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 paper pack is removed by the packaging sheet removing means. Automatically remove packaging sheet.

[0017]

In the first means, the transport start time
Is detected on the paper pack or paper
A paper pack that records data about the loaded paper
Data code or paper data code is also used.
By recognition means arranged on the paper pack insertion / transportation path
To recognize the data code.

The second means detects that the inserted paper pack has reached the transport start reference position by detecting means for detecting a transport start reference position mark attached to a predetermined position of the paper pack. In this case, the paper-pack transporting means is driven to start transporting the paper-pack, and the time from the start of transport of the paper-pack until the trailing edge of the paper-pack is detected by the detecting means is measured. Recognize the size of the paper pack.

[0020]

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 openings 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 the paper pack detecting mechanism. A bar code reader 40 is provided at a reference position on the right side of the 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 unit, 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 positioned 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 an 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 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, a structure is adopted in which a damper 57 is attached to the rotating portion of the planetary gear 53 to the arm 52 by a fixing screw 58 as shown in FIG. 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 conveying 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 side fence moving mechanism, and FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a state in which the side fence is folded down.

As shown in FIG. 16, the (side gear) of the side fence drive motor 70 is connected to the side fence 7 on the front 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 have internal threads that are screwed into the screw 15, the drive motor 14 can be rotated to move both. In FIG. 18, reference numeral 80 denotes a bearing.

FIG. 20 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the back fluence 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 back 20, the lower end of the back fence 10 and the bottom of the paper back space (paper mounting 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.

Returning to FIG. 19 again, 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 comprises 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).
4).

Here, the paper pack 20 will be described.

FIG. 22 is an exploded view of a paper packing sheet, FIG. 23 is a schematic view of a paper packing opening process, and FIG.
(A), (b) is an explanatory view of a bonding portion, and FIGS.
FIGS. 26 (c) and 26 (a) to 26 (c) are explanatory views of the packaging process. One packaging sheet 20A, 20B is composed of two sheet materials having different strengths, and the packaging sheet 20A having the greater 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, 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. 23 (a) and 23 (b), the adhesive portion at the reference position is first peeled off by pulling the tongue piece 21, and the strength is different 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 by the relationship between the magnet roller 90 and the back fluence 10.

That is, L1; the distance from the center of the magnet roller 90 to the back fluence 10, L2; the thickness of the back fluence 10, 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 a block diagram showing the overall control.
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 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 on 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 packing 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.

FIG. 35 and FIG. 36 are flowcharts of the pack transport control subroutine.

If 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 conveyance 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. That is, in order to prevent the pack from falling off due to its own weight, 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 detected by, for example, a reflective sensor 40 installed near the paper insertion port as shown in FIG. The transport start position may be marked on the paper pack 20 and determined by the reflection sensor 40. 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. Furthermore, by making the position of this marking a fixed distance from the rear end in the insertion direction regardless of the size under the above conditions,
When the operator always inserts the paper pack 20 to a certain position regardless of the paper size, the conveyance of the paper pack 20 is started, so that an operation error can be prevented.

Further, the insertion time is determined (S13), and if the insertion of the paper pack 20 is insufficient, that is, if 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 position where it can be transported, 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 the user is warned 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, the opening control of 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 the locking method, as shown in FIG.
11 can be realized. In FIG. 32, when releasing the lock of the sheet cassette 120, the solenoid 111 is turned on to retract the lock member 112, and the sheet cassette 120 can be 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.

When the paper size is not measured by the entrance sensor 40, the size can 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 rear 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 "during operation" 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 feed tray 6 (sheet feed cassette 120) is pulled out and sheets are added, for example, when the sheet feed cassette 120 is set, the sheet feed cassette 120 is locked again, and the backfence 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.

[0082]

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.

[0083]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a transport start timing detection code is provided at a predetermined position of the paper pack in order to detect that the inserted paper pack has reached the transport start reference position. The detection code is detected by detection means provided near the paper pack insertion opening of the apparatus main body, and the detection code is a paper data code recording data such as a paper size, the number of sheets, and a paper type, or a paper placement. It also serves as a paper pack data code that records the direction and whether or not it is a dedicated pack, and enables the detection means to recognize data on paper or a paper pack. The configuration can be simplified.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, the inserted paper pack is moved to the transport start reference position by the detecting means for detecting the transport start reference position mark attached to the predetermined position of the paper pack. When it is detected that the paper pack has been reached, the paper pack transporting means is driven to start transporting the paper pack, and the time from the start of the transport of the paper pack until the trailing edge of the paper pack is detected by the detecting means. By measuring the size of the paper pack, the configuration relating to the recognition of the paper pack size is simplified by recognizing the size of the paper pack, and the paper pack is transported before the paper pack is completely conveyed into the main body of the paper feeding device. It is possible to detect the size,
Paper replenishment can be significantly improved.

[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 explanatory diagram of a bonding 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 In Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Keisuke Hayashi, Inventor Ricoh Co., Ltd. 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo (56) References JP-A-3-106794 (JP, A) JP-A-1- 102544 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/00-3/68

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A paper feeder main body and one of the paper feeder main bodies.
A paper pack insertion opening provided on the side surface;
Provided at a predetermined position on the paper pack inserted from the entrance
Detecting means for detecting a transport start timing detection code;
The transport start timing detection code is detected by the detection means.
Or the transport start timing by the detection means
Driving starts after a predetermined time has elapsed since detection code detection, and
Transports the paper pack to a predetermined position in the paper feeder body.
Paper pack transport means, and the paper pack transported to the predetermined position.
Packaging sheet removing means for removing a packaging sheet of paper pack
Feeder of an image forming apparatus for transporting a paper pack provided with
When the transport start timing detection code is
Or data on paper stored in paper packs
Paper data code or paper data code
No., also placed on the paper pack insertion / transport route
A sheet feeder of an image forming apparatus for transporting a paper pack, wherein the data code is recognized by the recognized recognition means . 2. A paper feeder main body, and one of the paper feeder main bodies.
A paper pack insertion opening provided on the side surface;
Provided at a predetermined position on the paper pack inserted from the entrance
First detection means for detecting a transfer start timing detection code
And a transport start timing detection code by the first detection means.
Signal is detected, or transported by the first detection means
Drive after a predetermined time has passed since the start timing detection code was detected
And then place the paper pack in the paper feeder body.
Paper pack conveying means for conveying to a predetermined position;
Packaging for removing the transported packaging sheet of the paper pack
Sheet removing means for detecting the trailing edge of the paper pack
A second detecting means, and a sheet by the sheet pack conveying means.
From the start of the transport of the paper, the paper
Measuring means for measuring the time until detection of the trailing edge of the horsetail;
The paper sheet inserted based on the measurement result by the measuring means
A paper feeder of an image forming apparatus for transporting a paper pack, comprising a recognition unit for recognizing a paper size . 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein
A sheet feeder of an image forming apparatus for transporting a sheet pack, wherein the step and the second detecting means are shared .