JP3321504B2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A paper feeder using a corner claw separation system is described in US Pat.
By holding the stacked uppermost sheet with the weight of the corner claw, a corner claw inhibiting force is generated at the time of sheet feeding, and the sheet is separated and fed one by one with the corner claw inhibiting force.

However, in this paper feeder, when the paper is set in the paper feed tray, the paper must be set under the tapered portion of the corner claw, and it takes time and effort to set the paper. The ends may be damaged.

On the other hand, there is a paper feeder disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-47148. This paper feeder supports the corner claw from below when setting paper in the paper feed tray, and holds the bottom plate urged upward by a spring in a pressed state, so that the bottom plate is This prevents the corner claws from being pushed upward and the corner claws from swinging downward. As a result, the gap between the tapered portion of the corner claw and the bottom plate is greatly opened, so that the sheet can be easily set under the tapered portion of the corner claw.

[0005]

However, in the paper feeder disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-47148, there is a corner claw at the position where the paper is set, so that the paper is fed from directly above the paper feed tray. Can not be set. Therefore, there is a problem that the operability is poor and a setting error easily occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device which has good operability and can prevent a setting error.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A paper feed tray for stacking paper, a corner claw fulcrum shaft provided on an axis orthogonal to the paper feed and conveyance direction of the paper in the paper feed tray, and A corner claw that separates the sheets one by one by holding the front corner in the paper feeding direction by its own weight, an engaging portion formed on the corner claw, and an engaged portion formed on the paper feed tray And a sliding guide portion which guides the corner claw to a regular position above the sheet feeding tray and guides the corner claw to the outside of the sheet width below the sheet feeding tray.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a screw portion for adjusting the position of the fulcrum of the corner pawl is provided on the corner pawl fulcrum shaft in the paper feeder according to the first aspect.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the corner pawl fulcrum shaft in the paper feeder according to the first aspect is provided perpendicular to the bottom surface of the paper feed tray with play between the corner pawls.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a sheet is set on the sheet feeding tray, the sliding guide portion guides the corner pawl swinging downward of the sheet feeding tray to the outside of the sheet width, thereby forming the sheet. Since there is no corner claw at the position where is set, paper can be set from directly above the paper feed tray.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the angle of the corner claw can be adjusted by adjusting the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw with the screw portion, thereby changing the manner in which the corner claw is applied. Adjustment of corner claw blocking force can be adjusted according to paper type, paper thickness and paper size.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the fulcrum of the corner claw does not shift to the outside of the sheet width, the angle of the corner claw is kept constant, and the change in the amount of the corner claw is prevented. .

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The paper feeder 1 of the present embodiment is applied to a copying machine 2. That is, a sheet tray 3 of a front loading type is accommodated in the sheet tray 1 located at a lower portion in the copying machine 2. The paper feed tray 3 has a size corresponding to the size of the paper 4 to be fed. The paper feed tray 3 is provided with a bottom plate 6 supported at the rear and urged upward by a spring 5 in the paper feed / conveyance direction X at a predetermined angle. On the bottom plate 6, the paper 4 of a certain size is stacked. Around the paper 4, a rear end fence 7 is provided at the rear end of the paper 4.
Are provided, and a pair of side fences 8 are provided at both left and right ends. In addition, a corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 is supported on the paper feed tray 3 on each wall surface on an axis orthogonal to the paper feed conveyance direction X. A spring 10 is fitted to these corner claw fulcrum shafts 9, and a pair of corner claws 11 urged toward the paper 4 by the spring 10 are swingably supported. And the corner claw 11
The side fence 8 is arranged forward in the sheet feeding direction X. A tapered portion 12 is formed on the corner claw 11 in contact with the uppermost sheet 4 in front of the paper feeding and conveying direction X, and a guide protrusion 13 as an engaging portion is formed below the tapered portion 12. ing. A corner claw guide groove 14 into which the guide protrusion 13 is slidably fitted is formed in the paper feed tray 3. This corner claw guide groove 14
Is a vertical regular guide portion 15 formed above the paper 4 side, and a vertical regular shorter than the regular guide portion 15 formed below the wall surface side of the paper feed tray 3 in the left-right direction of the paper 4. An outer guide portion 16 and an oblique inclined guide portion 17 connecting the regular guide portion 15 and the outer guide portion 16
Are formed. The corner claw 1 is moved upward by the guide protrusion 13 and the corner claw guide groove 14 so as to be closer to the paper 4 and away from the paper 4 below.
The sliding guide portion 18 for guiding the corner claw 11 is provided with the guide protrusion 1.
3 and the corner claw guide groove 14.

In such a configuration, the corner claw 11
, The front in the sheet feeding and conveying direction X swings up and down with the corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 as a fulcrum. And the regular guide part 15
The corner of the paper 4 pushed up by the bottom plate 6 is formed into a tapered portion 12.
The corner claw 11 is held at a regular position so as to hold down. Further, the outer guide portion 16 has a sheet width L such that the tapered portion 12 is located outside the position where the sheets 4 are stacked.
The corner claws 11 are held outside the. Therefore, when feeding the paper, the tapered portion 12 is placed on the paper 4 to push the corner claw 11 upward, so that the guide projection 13 slides upward in the corner claw guide groove 14 to form the regular guide. The corner claw 11 is held at a regular position by the portion 15. Further, when the paper 4 is set in the paper feed tray 3, since there is no paper 4 under the tapered portion 12, the corner claw 11 descends by its own weight. At this time, the guide projection 13 slides downward in the corner claw guide groove 14, and the corner claw 11 is moved by the external guide portion 16 to the sheet width L.
Is held outside.

As described above, when the paper 4 is set in the paper feed tray 3, since the tapered portion 12 is located outside the paper width L, the paper 4 can be set from directly above the paper feed tray 3. it can. As a result, a sheet feeding device that has good operability when setting the sheet 4 and can prevent a setting error can be obtained.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. The same parts as those described in the above embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted (hereinafter, the same applies to other embodiments). The paper feed tray 3 is provided with a support 19 that supports the corner claws 11. The support 19 has a hole 2
0 is formed. The corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 is inserted into this hole 20. The corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 is formed by screwing a screw 22 serving as a screw portion to a corner claw fulcrum shaft main body 21.

In such a configuration, the screw 22 is screwed into the corner claw fulcrum shaft main body 21 deeper or shallower, so that the corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 is screwed.
Can be adjusted, and the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw 11 can be adjusted. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw 11 is shifted toward the paper 4 side, and
1 can be supported in parallel with the sheet feeding direction X. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw 11 may be moved away from the sheet 4 and the corner claw 11 may be inclined toward the sheet 4 with respect to the sheet feeding and conveying direction X.

As described above, by adjusting the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw 11 and inclining the corner claw 11 with respect to the sheet feeding direction X, the taper angle between the tapered portion 12 and the sheet 4 is adjusted. Thus, the manner in which the tapered portion 12 is applied can be changed. Therefore, the corner claw blocking force can be adjusted according to the line type, paper thickness, and paper size of the paper 4, and the paper feeding performance for various types of paper is stabilized.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. A corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 is supported on the bottom surface of the paper feed tray 3 perpendicular to the bottom surface. A spring 10 is fitted on the corner claw fulcrum shaft 9, and a corner claw 11 urged upward by the spring 10 is held with play.

According to such a configuration, the corner claw 11
Has a fulcrum above the corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 and is swingably supported downward by its own weight. Therefore, when the paper 4 is set in the paper feed tray 3, the guide projection 13 slides downward in the corner claw guide groove 14, and the tapered portion 12 is located outside the paper width L. This allows
Paper can be set from directly above the paper feed tray 3. In addition, since the corner claw fulcrum shaft 9 is provided vertically to the bottom surface of the paper feed tray 3, after the paper 4 is set, the rear end of the corner claw 11 in the paper feeding / conveying direction X due to an impact or the like may be shifted in the left-right direction. Absent. Therefore, the corner claws 11 are kept constant in the sheet feeding direction X, the change of the hooking amount due to an impact or the like is prevented, and the sheet feeding performance at the time of sheet feeding is stabilized.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a sheet is set in the sheet feeding tray, the sliding guide portion guides the corner pawl swinging downward of the sheet feeding tray to the outside of the sheet width. Since there is no corner claw at the position where the paper is set, the paper can be set from just above the paper feed tray. A paper device can be obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the angle of the corner claw is adjusted by adjusting the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw with the screw portion, and the angle of the corner claw is adjusted. Since it is possible to change the way of application, it is possible to adjust the corner claw stopping force according to the paper type, paper thickness and paper size of the paper, and to stabilize the paper feeding performance for various types of paper. it can.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, by providing a corner claw fulcrum shaft perpendicular to the bottom surface of the sheet feeding tray, the fulcrum of the corner claw can be adjusted to the width of the sheet. Since there is no deviation to the outside, the angle of the corner claw can be kept constant, the change in the amount of corner claw can be prevented, and the paper feeding performance during paper feeding can be stabilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a part of a sheet feeding tray according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a copying machine provided with the paper feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing a sheet feeding tray.

FIG. 4 is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of a sheet feeding tray according to an embodiment of the invention described in claim 2;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another state of the paper feed tray.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a part of a sheet feed tray according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 paper feed tray 4 paper 9 corner claw fulcrum shaft 11 corner claw 13 engaging portion 14 engaged portion 18 sliding guide portion 22 screw portion

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A paper feed tray on which paper is stacked, a corner claw fulcrum shaft provided on an axis perpendicular to the paper feed and conveyance direction of the paper in the paper feed tray, and a swingable swinging movement on the corner claw fulcrum shaft. A corner claw that is supported on the paper and separates the paper sheet by sheet by pressing a forward corner in the paper feeding direction of the paper by its own weight; an engaging portion formed on the corner claw; and a corner claw formed on the paper feed tray. A sliding guide portion formed by the engaged portion and guiding the corner claw to a regular position above the paper feeding tray and guiding the corner claw to the outside of the sheet width below the paper feeding tray. Paper feeder. 2. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a screw portion for adjusting the position of the fulcrum of the corner claw is provided on the corner claw fulcrum shaft. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the corner claw fulcrum shaft is provided perpendicular to the bottom surface of the sheet feeding tray with play provided between the corner claw and the corner claw.