JP3362827B2 - 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 feeding device which can be used in printers, copying machines, facsimiles and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device that separates and feeds sheets one by one using a separating claw.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional sheet feeding device using a separating claw is shown in FIGS. (A) is a partial plan view,
(B) is a side view (b-b view in FIG. (A)).

In FIG. 9, 1 is a hopper, 2 is a paper feed roller, and 3 is a separation claw.

On the upper surface 1b of the hopper 1, a plurality of sheets P
Are set in a laminated state. Normally, the hopper 1 can press the sheet P toward the sheet feeding roller 2 by the urging force F by an urging unit (not shown).

The paper feed roller 2 is in contact with the uppermost paper P1 of the plurality of papers P set on the hopper 1 to rotate and can feed the paper.

The separating claw 3 is located at the tip corner portion Pc of the paper P set on the hopper and gently presses the tip corner portion Pc from above.

During the paper feeding operation, the paper feeding roller 2 rotates,
The uppermost sheet P1 is fed in the direction of arrow a. Paper P1
When the feeding is started, the front edge Pa of the tip corner portion Pc comes into contact with the rear surface 3a of the separation claw 3, and the tip corner portion Pc is separated.
By being lightly pressed by, the bending Pb that rises upward is formed around the tip corner portion Pc as shown in FIG. When the deflection Pb increases and reaches the limit as the sheet P1 moves in the direction of the arrow a, as shown in FIG.
c is separated from the separating claw 3. As a result, the uppermost paper P1 is separated from the next paper P2, and the uppermost paper P1 is separated.
Only will be delivered.

[0008]

In the conventional sheet feeding device using the separating claw as described above, when a plurality of sheets are stacked on the hopper 1, as shown in FIG. However, there is a problem that the sheet (for example, the uppermost sheet P1) may enter above the separation claw 3. In particular,
When the leading edge of the paper is curled upward, the leading edge easily enters above the separation claw 3.

When the paper feeding operation is performed in such a state,
The above-described separation operation is not properly performed (the separation operation is performed on the next paper P2), and the top paper P1 is obtained.
At the same time, the second-order sheet P2 is also fed, that is, double feeding occurs.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and when setting a plurality of sheets of paper on a hopper in a stacked form, the tip corners of all the sheets are surely set below the separating claw. To provide a paper feeding device.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a paper feeding apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a paper feeding apparatus in which a plurality of paper sheets are set in a stacked state on the upper surface, and paper sheets set on the hopper. The paper fed by the paper feed roller, which comprises a paper feed roller that feeds the paper in contact with the uppermost paper, and a separation claw that abuts the tip corner of the paper fed by the paper feed roller. Bending is formed around the tip corner by contacting the tip corner of the to the separation claw, and only the topmost paper is moved to the next position by utilizing the rebound phenomenon of the bend when the tip corner comes off the separation claw. A sheet feeding device for feeding the sheet separately from the sheet, the guide member guiding the leading end of the sheet set on the hopper to a position below the separating claw when the apparatus is not feeding, and the sheet feeding device. During operation, ensure that the flexure formation is not hindered. And a retracting mechanism for retracting the guide member, the guide member is rotatably supported,
The retracting mechanism always directs the guide member to the retracted position.
Biasing member and the biasing member during non-feeding operation
The guide member guides the paper against the biasing force of
A holding member for holding the holding member at a position.
Is composed of a cam provided on the shaft of the paper feed roller.
It is characterized by being.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the first aspect, a free roller is provided at a tip end portion of the guide member.

[0013]

[0014]

According to the paper feeding device of the first aspect, during the paper feeding operation, the corners of the leading edge of the sheet fed by the paper feeding roller come into contact with the separation claws to form a bend around the leading edge. Only the topmost sheet is separated from the next-order sheet and fed due to the flipping phenomenon of the bending portion when the tip corner portion comes off the separating claw.

Since the sheet feeding device is provided with a guide member for guiding the leading end of the sheet set on the hopper to the lower side of the separation claw during the non-sheet feeding operation, the sheet set on the hopper is set. The tip corner portion of is surely set below the separation claw. Therefore, the above-described double feeding does not occur.

Moreover, during the paper feeding operation, the guide member is retracted by the retracting mechanism so as not to hinder the formation of the above-described bending of the sheet, so that the separating operation by the separating claw is surely performed. In addition, the guy
The door member is rotatably supported, and the retracting mechanism is
The guide member is always biased toward the retracted position.
The urging member and the urging force of the urging member are
To hold the guide member at the paper guide position.
And a holding member, which holds the paper feed roller.
Since it is composed of a cam provided on the shaft of the la,
The retracting mechanism can be simplified.

According to the sheet feeding device of the second aspect, in the sheet feeding device of the first aspect, since the free roller is provided at the tip end portion of the guide member, the sheet is set on the hopper. It can be done smoothly.

[0018]

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial plan view (view of arrow I in FIG. 2) showing an essential part of an embodiment of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a right side view of the essential part. .

In these figures, 10 is a hopper and 20
Is a feed roller, 30 is a separating claw, 40 is a guide means, and 50
Is an evacuation mechanism.

The hopper 10 has a bottom plate 11 for supporting the paper P.
And an edge guide 12 that stands on the bottom plate 11 and guides the side edge Ps of the paper P. Hopper 10
Is constantly urged by the compression spring 13 in the direction of the paper feed roller 20 (direction of arrow a in FIG. 2), but is integrated with the shaft (paper feed roller shaft) 21 of the paper feed roller 20 during the non-paper feed operation. The cam (not shown) formed on the
It is pushed down in the direction. FIG. 2 shows the depressed state.

The paper feeding roller 20 is composed of a straight portion 20a and a circular arc portion 20b, is a D-shaped roller having a rubber layer on its surface, and is fixed to a paper feeding roller shaft 21. The paper feed roller shaft 21 is rotationally driven at the time of paper feeding by a drive mechanism (not shown).

As shown mainly in FIG. 2, the separating claw 30 has a front end (lower end) P of the paper P set in the hopper 10.
It has a support plate 31 for supporting a, an arm portion 32, and a cylindrical shaft 33, which are integrally formed. The separation claw 30 is rotatably attached by mounting a cylindrical shaft 33 on a shaft of a side frame (not shown). Between the arm portion 32 and the frame,
A tension spring 34 is provided, and the spring force of the separation claw 30 always urges the separation claw 30 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. The protrusion 34 provided on the paper feed roller shaft 21
The rotation of the claw cam 22 that is integrally formed with the claw cam 22 is restricted. Also, this separation claw 3
0 can be retracted to a position (not shown) by rotating clockwise around the cylindrical shaft 33, and can be locked by a locking means (not shown) at this retracted position. In this case, the front end of the cardboard or the like is applied to a separation wall (not shown) so that the cardboard or the like can be separated and fed one by one.

FIG. 3 is a right side view mainly showing the guide means 40, and FIG. 4 is a rear view of the guide means 40 (a view on arrow IV in FIG. 3).

As shown in these figures, the guide means 40
Includes a guide member 41, a support member 42 that rotatably supports the guide member 41, and a free roller 43 rotatably attached to the tip of the guide member 41.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing details of the guide member 41 and the free roller 43. FIG. 5A is a plan view, FIG. 5B is a left side view when FIG. It is a rear view of only the guide member 41. Further, FIG. 6 shows the support member 4
2 is a diagram showing details of FIG. 2, (a) is a front view, (b) is a right side view, (c) is a rear view, (d) is a plan view when FIG. (B) is a front view, (e) ) Is a bottom view when FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the guide member 41 is formed in a side view substantially "H" shape, and its lower surface 41a.
Is the guide surface of the paper. Ribs 41b are formed on the guide surface 41a. Reference numeral 41c is a shaft, and the shaft 41c is fitted in the bearing portion 42a (see FIG. 6) of the support member 42, whereby the guide member 41 is rotatably attached to the support member 42. . Four
Reference numeral 1d is an abutting piece that comes into contact with or separates from the guide member cam 23 of the retracting mechanism described later.

As shown in FIG. 6, the support member 42 includes a plate-shaped base portion 42b, bearing portions 42a and 42a formed on the lower surface of the base portion 42b, and left and right portions formed on the upper surface of the base portion 42b. It has the hook portions 42c, 42c and the central hook portion 42d, and as described above, the guide member 41 is rotatably attached to the bearing portions 42a, 42a.

As shown in FIG. 4, a torsion coil spring 51 is provided between the guide member 41 and the support member 42 as a biasing member which constitutes a part of a retracting mechanism described later. The torsion coil spring 51 has a coil portion 51c.
Is attached to the mounting shaft 41d (see FIG. 5) of the guide member 41, and the one end 51a is the locking portion 4 of the guide member 41.
The other end 51b is locked to the locking portion 42e of the support member 42 at 1e.

Guide means 4 assembled as described above
As shown in FIG. 3, 0 is attached to the frame 60 by mounting the support member 42 on the frame 60 using the hook portions 42c, 42c, 42d thereof.

In the mounted state, the shaft 41c of the guide member 41 is parallel to the paper feed roller shaft 21. The torsion coil spring 51 urges the guide member 41 in the clockwise direction (position shown by an imaginary line) in FIG. 3, but the contact piece 41d causes the guide member cam 23 of the retracting mechanism described later.
The rotation thereof is restricted by the contact with.

In this embodiment, the retracting mechanism 50 is composed of the aforementioned torsion coil spring 51 and the guide member cam 23 formed integrally with the paper feed roller shaft 21, as shown in FIGS. Has been done. Cam for guide member 2
3 rotates together with the paper feed roller shaft 21, and the guide member 4
The guide member 41 is restricted from rotating by coming into contact with or separating from the first contact piece 41d.

The paper feeding device as described above operates as follows. FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram.

<Non-Feeding Operation> As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 7A, when the feeding operation is not performed, the hopper 10 has a cam (not shown) formed integrally with the feeding roller shaft 21. 2 is pushed down in the direction of arrow b in FIG.

The linear portion 20a of the paper feed roller 20 is
It is in a state of facing the bottom plate 11 of the hopper.

The separating claw 30 is shown in FIG. 2 because the projecting piece 34 provided on the upper part of the arm part 32 thereof is in contact with the claw cam 22 formed integrally with the paper feed roller shaft 21. As shown in FIG.

In the guide member 41, the contact piece 41d is
By abutting on the guide member cam 23 formed integrally with the paper feed roller shaft 21, it is held in the depressed state, that is, the paper guide position, as shown in FIG. In such a state, the guide surface 41a of the guide member 41 is located closer to the hopper 10 side than the lower surface 30a of the separation claw 30, and the part 43a of the peripheral surface of the free roller 43 is further positioned than the guide surface 41a. It is located on the hopper 10 side.

During such a non-feeding operation, as described above, the hopper 10 is pushed down in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 2, and the separation claw 30 is retracted upward. By simply inserting the paper P on the bottom plate 11 of the hopper, the paper can be set easily.

Then, the guide member 41 is at the sheet guiding position, and the guide surface 41a thereof is on the lower surface 30 of the separating claw 30.
Since it is located closer to the hopper 10 than a, the leading edge of the sheet to be inserted is reliably set below the separating claw 30. In addition, a part 4 of the peripheral surface of the free roller 43
Since 3a is located closer to the hopper 10 side than the guide surface 41a, the paper insertion work can be performed extremely smoothly.

<During Feeding Operation> (i) When the feeding operation is started with the sheets set as described above, first, the feeding roller shaft 21 and the feeding roller are driven by a driving mechanism (not shown). 20 rotates clockwise in FIGS. 2 and 7.

(Ii) When the paper feed roller shaft 21 is rotated as shown in FIG. 7B, the pawl cam 22 is disengaged from the projection 34 of the arm portion 32, and the arm 32 is actuated by the tension spring 34 to make a half-clock. Rotate in the direction. Further, the regulation of the paper feed roller shaft 21 by the cam (not shown) on the hopper 10 is released,
The bottom plate 11 of the hopper 10 is pushed up in the direction of arrow a by the action of the compression spring 13.

As a result, the leading edge of the sheet is lightly sandwiched by the bottom plate 11 of the hopper and the separating claw 30.

Further, the guide member cam 23 is disengaged from the contact piece 41d of the guide member 41, and the guide member 41 is rotated clockwise by the action of the torsion coil spring 51 and retracted (see FIG. 7C).

(Iii) As shown in FIG. 7C, the paper feed roller shaft 21 and the paper feed roller 20 are further rotated, and the circular arc portion 20b of the paper feed roller 20 starts contact with the uppermost paper P1. As a result, the feeding of the paper P1 in the arrow Y direction is started. When the feeding of the sheet P1 is started, the front edge Pa of the tip corner portion Pc contacts the support plate 31 of the separation claw 30, and the tip corner portion Pc (see FIG. 1) is lightly pressed by the separation claw 30. As a result, a bend that rises upward is formed around the tip corner portion Pc. At this time, since the guide member 41 is in the retracted state as shown in FIG. 7C, the formation of bending of the sheet is not hindered. When the sheet P1 moves in the direction of the arrow Y and the deflection becomes large and reaches the limit, the tip corner Pc is detached from the separation claw 30 so that the sheet P1 can be repelled, and the uppermost sheet P1 is moved to the next sheet P2 ( (See FIG. 2), only the uppermost sheet P1 is fed in the arrow Y direction.

(Iv) After that, the paper feed roller shaft 21 and the paper feed roller 20 are rotated by one full rotation, as shown in FIGS.
Return to the state shown in.

That is, after the state shown in FIG. 7C, the hopper 10 is pushed down by a cam (not shown) formed integrally with the paper feed roller shaft 21 in the process of further rotation of the paper feed roller shaft 21. In this state, the separation claw 30 is retracted upward due to the protrusion 34 provided on the upper part of the arm portion 32 contacting the claw cam 22.
The guide member 41 returns to the sheet guide position when the contact piece 41d contacts the guide member cam 23 and is pushed down.

According to the paper feeding device as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(A) Since the guide member 41 for guiding the leading end Pa of the paper P set on the hopper 10 to the lower side of the separation claw 30 during the non-paper feeding operation is provided, the paper set on the hopper 10 is The tip corner portion Pc is reliably set below the separation claw 30.

Therefore, double feeding caused by inserting the leading edge corner portion Pc of the sheet above the separating claw 30 is prevented.

In addition, during the paper feeding operation, the guide member 41
Is retracted by the retracting mechanism 50 so as not to hinder the formation of the above-described bending of the sheet, so that the separating operation by the separating claw 30 is surely performed.

(B) Since the free roller 43 is provided at the tip of the guide member 41, it is possible to smoothly set the paper on the hopper 10.

(C) The guide member 41 is rotatably supported, and the retreating mechanism 50 includes the urging member 51 that constantly urges the guide member 41 toward the retreat position and the non-feeding operation. A holding member that holds the guide member 41 at the sheet guide position against the urging force of the urging member 51 is provided by the cam 23 provided on the paper feed roller shaft 21. Since it is configured, the retracting mechanism can be obtained with a simple structure. That is, for example,
As shown in FIG. 8, the structure is provided with a solenoid 70 and
The tip of the solenoid 71 is connected to the guide member 41, and the solenoid 7
The guide member 41 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Position it at the paper guide position as shown in (a), or
In order to evacuate as shown in FIG.
A detector 80 for detecting the trailing edge of the paper is provided to start feeding.
At that time, the guide member 41 is retracted as shown in FIG.
When the trailing edge of the sheet P1 is detected, it is shown in FIG.
So that the guide member 41 is returned to the guide position.
However, compared to such a retracting mechanism,
The retracting mechanism of the present embodiment simplifies the structure. In addition,
In FIG. 8, reference numeral 81 is a lever that contacts the paper and rotates.
Yes, and contact the sheet P1 to be fed as shown in FIG.
When turned like this, the detector 80 turns on and the trailing edge of the paper passes.
And then rotate as shown in FIG.
It turns off.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be appropriately made within the scope of the present invention.

[0055]

[0056]

[0057]

According to the sheet feeding device of the first aspect, the leading edge corners of the sheets set on the hopper are reliably set below the separation claws, and the double feeding does not occur.

Moreover, during the paper feeding operation, the separating operation by the separating claw is surely performed. Furthermore, simplification of the evacuation mechanism
Can be achieved.

According to the paper feeding apparatus of the second aspect, it is possible to smoothly set the paper on the hopper.

[0060]

[0061]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial plan view showing a main part of an embodiment of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention (viewed from the arrow I in FIG. 2).

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the same main part.

3 is a right side view mainly showing the guide means 40. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the guide means 40 (a view on arrow IV in FIG. 3).

5A and 5B are diagrams showing details of a guide member 41 and a free roller 43, FIG. 5A is a plan view, FIG. 5B is a left side view when FIG. 5A is a front view, and FIG. Rear view of 41 only.

6A and 6B are diagrams showing details of a support member 42, where FIG. 6A is a front view, FIG. 6B is a right side view, FIG. 6C is a rear view, and FIG. Fig. (A) is a plan view of Fig.
FIG.

7 (a), (b) and (c) are operation explanatory views.

8A and 8B are diagrams showing a comparative example.

9A and 9B are explanatory views of a conventional technique.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

P paper 10 hoppers 20 paper feed rollers 21 Paper feed roller shaft 30 separate nails 41 Guide member 43 Free Roller 50 Retraction mechanism 51 biasing member 23 Holding member (cam)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-138225 (JP, A) JP-A-61-101330 (JP, A) JP-A-7-17642 (JP, A) 97744 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 60-159738 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/00-3/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hopper on which a plurality of sheets of paper are set in a stacked state on the upper surface, and a paper feed roller which comes into contact with the uppermost paper of the papers set on the hopper to feed the paper. A separation claw that comes into contact with the tip corner of the paper fed by the paper feed roller is provided, and a bend is formed around the tip corner by abutting the tip corner of the paper fed by the paper feed roller with the separation pawl. However, it is a paper feeding device that separates and feeds only the top paper from the next paper by using the rebound phenomenon of the bending part when the tip corner part comes off the separation claw, A guide member that guides the leading end of the paper set on the hopper below the separation claw during operation, and a retracting mechanism that retracts the guide member during the paper feeding operation of the apparatus so as not to hinder the formation of the flexure. wherein the guide member is rotated friendly It is supported in the retracted
The mechanism always urges the guide member toward the retracted position.
Biasing member and the biasing member
Keep the guide member in the paper guide position against the force.
And a holding member for holding the holding member.
It consists of a cam on the shaft of the paper feed roller.
A paper feeding device characterized by the following. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a free roller is provided at a tip portion of the guide member.