JP3186136B2 - Paper cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet cassette for storing sheets used in facsimile machines, printers, copiers and the like, and provided with a separation claw for separating and conveying the stored sheets one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a plan view of a conventional paper feed cassette, wherein 1 is a box-shaped cassette body, 2 is an end fence installed at the rear of the cassette body 1, and 3 is a cassette body 1.
A pair of side fences 4 installed on both sides of the inside of the cassette 4 has one end 4a supported by each side fence 3 as described later, and engages with a corner of the paper 5 stacked in the cassette body 1. This is a separation claw having a portion 4b at the other end.

FIG. 4 shows a side fence 3 and a separation claw 4 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a related configuration, wherein one end 4 a of a separation claw 4 is rotatably supported by a pin 6 on a vertical wall 3 a of a side fence 3 having an L-shape in side view. A guide hole 4c is formed at the center of the separation claw 4, and a positioning protrusion 7 having a T-shape in plan view provided on a part of the vertical wall 3a is inserted into the guide hole 4c.

The lateral movement of the separation claw 4 is restricted between the projecting portion 7a at the tip of the projecting portion 7 and the side wall of the side fence 3, and as shown in the enlarged plan view of FIG. The contact area between the separation claw 4 and the sheet 5 is made constant by increasing the dimensional accuracy of the distance A between the side fence 3 and the side wall.

As shown in the explanatory view of FIG. 6, the separation claw 4 receives a corner of the paper 5 conveyed in a predetermined direction by the paper feed roller 8 during paper feeding and forcibly buckles the paper 5. To separate the sheets 5 one by one.

[0006]

In the above prior art,
Since the contact area between the claw portion 4b of the separation claw 4 and the paper 5 is constant and the separation claw 4 can only rotate up and down around the pin 6, the force for buckling is increased for thick or thin paper. When set according to any of the above, the buckling force differs depending on the thickness of the paper, and depending on the type of paper, non-feed or double feed may occur, or both ends of the paper may be deformed, causing so-called ear breakage. This causes transfer failure and paper jam.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper feed cassette in which the force for buckling a paper sheet at a separation claw can be changed according to the thickness of the paper sheet so that good paper feeding can be performed.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a paper feed cassette provided with a separation claw for receiving paper conveyed by a paper feed roller and separating and conveying the paper one by one. One end extending from the separation claw is installed so as to be able to reciprocate in a paper feeding direction in a side fence, and a spring is provided at the one end to bias the separation claw in a direction opposite to the paper feeding direction. Is characterized in that the separation claw can move by receiving a buckling force of the separation claw and a biasing force of a spring.

[0009]

By the above means, the separation claw moves in the transport direction depending on the degree of buckling of the sheet, so that the buckling force at the time of sheet feeding can be made constant regardless of the thickness of the sheet.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Members corresponding to those described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a related structure between a side fence and a separating claw of FIG. 1. The separating claw 20 has a horizontally long hole 21 at one end 20a. The pin 2 formed and slidably inserted into the horizontally long hole 21
2 supports a vertical wall 3a of the side fence 3 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction and to be movable in the paper transport direction (arrow B), and a triangular claw portion 24 is provided above the vertical portion 23 of the other end 20b. Are formed. Further, one end of a coil spring 25 for pulling the separation claw 20 into the cassette body 1 is locked to one end 20a of the separation claw 20.

Therefore, when the paper 5 is forcibly buckled by the claw portion 24 of the separation claw 20 during paper feeding, the separation claw 20 moves in the paper transport direction B depending on the degree of buckling, so that a thin paper and a thick paper are thickened. Because the amount of movement of the separation claw 20 changes due to the difference in buckling force with the paper, and the buckling force can be adjusted, the buckling force when passing through the separation claw 20 from thin paper to thick paper is kept at an appropriate value. , And good paper feeding is performed.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By moving the separation claw in the transport direction depending on the degree of buckling of the sheet, the separation claw can be automatically adjusted to an appropriate buckling force according to the thickness of the sheet, so that good sheet feeding can be performed. A paper cassette can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a related configuration between a side fence and a separation claw in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a conventional sheet cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a related configuration between a side fence and a separation claw in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a separated state.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... cassette main body, 3 ... side fence, 5 ... paper, 22 ... pin, 20 ... separation claw, 24 ... claw part,
21: horizontally long hole, 25: coil spring.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/00-3/68

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet feeding cassette provided with a separation claw for receiving and transporting sheets conveyed by a sheet feeding roller to separate and convey the sheets one by one.
It is installed so that it can reciprocate in the paper feeding direction
At one end, a spur that urges the separation claw in the direction
With a ring, paper buckles at the separation claw when feeding paper
The separation claw is moved by the buckling force and the biasing force of the spring.
A paper cassette characterized in that it can be moved .