JP3416315B2 - Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus - 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 feeding apparatus for feeding a document or recording paper to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile or a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet feeding apparatus provided in an image forming apparatus is provided with an intermediate plate on which sheets are stacked so as to be movable up and down, and when the sheets are moved upward, the stacked sheets are pressed against a sheet feeding roller. There is a configuration in which the uppermost sheet is sent out by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller, and the intermediate plate is lowered after sending out one sheet.

An example of a conventional sheet feeding apparatus of this type will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. 13 is a sectional view of the sheet feeding device, and FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a drive system for moving the intermediate plate up and down.

Reference numeral 100 denotes an intermediate plate for stacking sheets, which is provided so as to be vertically swingable about a swing shaft 102 as a fulcrum, and is biased upward by a pressure spring 104. A cam 108 is provided on the shaft 106a that supports the sheet feeding roller 106, and when the sheet feeding roller 106 is stopped, the cam 108 abuts on a roller 110 provided on the intermediate plate 100. Depress 100 to maintain sheet stacking position for refilling sheets.

A chipped gear 112 is provided on the shaft 106 of the paper feed roller 106, and the chipped gear 112 can mesh with an idler gear 114 connected to a drive source (not shown). The rotation of the tooth-chipped gear 114 is regulated by a swingable rod 116, and when the rotation is regulated, the tooth-chipped portion 11 of the tooth-chipped gear 112 is restricted.
2a faces the idler gear 114 so that the drive is not transmitted.

Further, a releasing mechanism for releasing the restriction by the rod 116 is provided, and this releasing mechanism is provided with a release cam 118 for rocking the rod 116 by rotating to release the restriction of the rod 116. A chipped tooth gear 120 coaxially provided with the release cam 118 and capable of meshing with the idler gear 114;
Has a spring 122 for urging the spring in the rotating direction, and a solenoid 124 for restricting the position of the release cam 118 against the urging force of the spring 122.

On the other hand, a separating means for separating the sheets is provided on the downstream side of the intermediate plate 100, and the separating means is composed of a main pad 126 and a sub pad 128. The main pad 126 has a sheet feeding roller 106.
When the sheet is sent out, the sheet is pressed against the sheet feeding roller 106 to separate the sheets one by one, and the sheet is pressed into contact with and separated from the sheet feeding roller 106 according to the vertical movement of the intermediate plate 100. The sub pad 128 is the main pad 126.
When the sheet is separated from the sheet feeding roller 106, the sheet is projected into the path of the sheet and the leading ends of the second and subsequent sheets are stopped to prevent the sheet from being overlapped with the first sheet and fed.

According to this structure, when the solenoid 124 is attracted to release the regulation of the release cam 118, the spring 122 is released.
As a result, the tooth-missing gear 120 rotates and meshes with the idler gear 114. As a result, the release cam 118 rotates and the rod 1
When 16 is rocked to release the restriction of the cam 108, the cam 108 is rotated via the roller 110 by the urging force of the pressure spring 104 of the intermediate plate 100. As a result, the height of the intermediate plate 100 rises and the tooth-missing gear 112 moves to the idler gear 1
The driving force is transmitted to the shaft 106a of the sheet feeding roller 106 that meshes with the sheet feeding roller 14, and the sheet feeding roller 106 rotates to feed the uppermost sheet stacked on the intermediate plate 100. And
When the paper feed roller 106 makes one rotation, the intermediate plate 100 is lowered again by the cam 108, and the rotation of the cam 108 is regulated and maintained by the rod 116 at the lowered position.

The paper feed roller 106 rotates to rotate the main pad 1.
While the sheets are separated from the sheet 26 and sent one by one, the cam 108 starts to push down the middle plate 100 again, and at this time, the main pad 126 starts to separate from the sheet feeding roller 106. The subpad 128 projects during the pass of the seat. 2 with this subpad 128
It is possible to prevent the subsequent sheets from being sent out together with the separated sheets. As a result, the back tension applied to the fed sheet can be reduced, and the driving force for transporting the sheet can be set low, so that the apparatus can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

[0010]

However, the above-described conventional sheet feeding device has the following problems.

The sub-pad 128 is adapted to perform a projecting operation in association with the movement of the intermediate plate 100.
A predetermined amount of movement is required. However, if the number of sheets loaded is large, the amount of movement of the middle plate will decrease,
There is a problem that the movement amount of the sub pad 128, which is a double feed preventing member, cannot be secured. And the sub pad 12
If 8 could not be moved sufficiently, the sheet could not be retracted from the conveyance path, and the fed sheet may be caught and a sheet feeding failure may occur.

Therefore, in order to secure the amount of movement of the middle plate 100, if the sheets are swung greatly even in the maximum loaded state, a space for swinging is required, which leads to an increase in size of the apparatus and sheet alignment. In order to raise and lower the intermediate plate 100 without disturbing it, it is necessary to lower the raising / lowering speed, and the sheet feeding interval becomes long, which causes a problem of lowering the processing speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reliably operate the double feed preventing member even with a small movement amount of the intermediate plate.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a sheet feeding apparatus for separating sheets sent from an oscillating middle plate on which sheets are stacked by separating means and sending the sheets one by one, the separating means. Is a feeding rotary member that feeds a sheet, a friction separating unit that is provided so as to be capable of being pressed and separated from the feeding rotary member, and that separates the sheet between the pressing rotary member and the feeding rotary member. A multi-feed preventing member that restricts the progress of a sheet that is projected in the sheet conveying path and is multi-fed when the sheet is separated from the means, and the multi-feed preventing member swings on the intermediate plate by a predetermined amount. It is characterized in that it engages with an auxiliary member that is freely provided and performs a projecting operation according to the swing position of the auxiliary member.

According to the present invention, the auxiliary member is supported so that it can swing a predetermined amount on the sheet stacking side of the middle plate and cannot swing on the opposite side, and the double feed preventing member rotates. It is provided with a restricting portion that is freely supported and that projects into the transport path, and an engaging portion that engages with the auxiliary member, and the restricting portion rotates through the engaging portion due to the swinging of the auxiliary member. The feature is that the sheets to be double fed are regulated.

The present invention is characterized in that it has a cam for swinging the intermediate plate, and the auxiliary member is in contact with the cam and the swing is controlled by the cam.

[0017]

According to the above construction, since the double feed preventing member is moved by the auxiliary member which is swingable with respect to the intermediate plate by a predetermined amount, at least the amount of movement of the intermediate plate is surely set to the double feed preventing member. The double feed prevention operation can be performed.

A cam for raising and lowering the intermediate plate is brought into contact with the auxiliary member, and the intermediate plate is raised and lowered by the cam and the auxiliary member is swung, whereby the projection timing of the double feed preventing member can be set accurately. it can.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a sheet feeding device A according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 is an idler gear connected to a drive source (not shown) for transmitting the drive to the sheet feeding portion, 2 is an electromagnetic clutch to which the drive is transmitted from the idler gear 1, and 3 is an electromagnetic clutch 2. Paper feed shafts 4 to which driving is transmitted when is excited are paper feed rollers mounted on the paper feed shaft 3. With this configuration, when the electromagnetic clutch 2 is excited, the drive from the idler gear 1 is transmitted to the paper feeding shaft 3 via the electromagnetic clutch 2 and the paper feeding roller 4 rotates.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a step gear that is meshed with an idler gear to transmit the drive, and 6 is swingably provided on the same axis as the step gear 5 to support a swing gear 7 that meshes with the step gear 5. Is a rocking spring for biasing the rocking arm 6 downward, and 9 is a solenoid for pulling the rocking arm 6 upward through a solenoid link 10. With this configuration, when the solenoid 9 is attracted, the swing arm 5 swings upward against the biasing force of the swing spring 8. The electromagnetic clutch 2 and the solenoid 9 are controlled by a control device (not shown).

Reference numeral 11 denotes a cam gear rotatably provided on the paper feed shaft 3, and a first cam 11-1 provided on the cam gear 11 is held by an intermediate plate roller holder 13 provided on the intermediate plate 12. It abuts on the intermediate plate roller 14 and pushes down the intermediate plate 12. The configuration of the cam gear 11 will be described in detail later. The middle plate 12 is swingably supported by a middle plate arm right member 12 and a middle plate arm left member 16 on a frame (not shown) of the apparatus main body, and is biased upward by a pressure spring 12a.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a separation pad made of a high friction member, which is attached to a main pad arm 17 which is swingably supported by a frame (not shown) of the apparatus body. The main pad arm 17 is biased upward by a main pad spring 19 and has a protrusion 17-1 that comes into contact with the lower surface of the middle plate 12 when the middle plate 12 descends.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a double feed preventing pawl provided on a support shaft 20a rotatably supported on a frame (not shown) of the apparatus main body, and one end of the support shaft 20a abuts on the lower end of the intermediate plate roller holder 13. A lever portion 20-1 is provided. Further, the support shaft 20a is biased by a pawl spring 21 so as to rotate in the direction A in FIG. 1 in which the double feed preventing claw 20 is retracted from the double feed preventing position.

Reference numeral 22 denotes an urging arm rotatably supported by a frame (not shown). The urging arm 23 urges the urging spring 23 in the direction B in FIG.
It is in contact with 3. This urging arm 22 is connected to the third cam 11
-3, the rotation of the cam gear 11 is restricted by contacting the predetermined position.

Here, the structure of the cam gear 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The cam gear 11 includes a first cam 11-1 and a second cam
The cam 11-2, the third cam 11-3, and the gear 11-4 are integrally formed.

The first cam 11-1 is formed in a shape capable of abutting an intermediate plate roller 14 provided on the intermediate plate 12 to push down the intermediate plate 12. Therefore, the middle plate 12 can be moved up and down by the rotation of the first cam 11-1.

The second cam 11-2 is in sliding contact with a protruding stopper portion 6-1 formed at the end of the swing arm 6, and a first latch portion provided on the second cam 11-2. 11-
2a and the second latch part 11-2b are stopper parts 6-1.
By engaging with, the rotation of the cam gear 11 can be stopped at each position. In addition, looking in the clockwise direction,
From the first latch section 11-2a to the second latch section 11-2
The length toward b is from the second latch portion 11-2b to the first
Is set shorter than the length of the latch portion 11-2a. This is because the stopper portion 6-1 of the swing arm 6 is the first
From the second latch portion 11-2a of the second latch portion 11-2a
Although the intermediate plate 12 rises when it is engaged with b (described later), the rising speed of the intermediate plate 12 can be increased by shortening the length between the latch portions and, conversely, the stopper portion. The intermediate plate 12 descends when 6-1 disengages from the second latch portion 11-2b and engages with the first latch portion 11-2a. Board 1
The descending speed of 2 can be slowed down, whereby the ascending / descending speed of the intermediate plate 12 can be optimally selected.

The urging arm 22 is in sliding contact with the third cam 11-3, and the rotation of the cam gear 11 can be restricted by the urging arm 22. The gear 11-4 meshes with the swing gear 7 when the swing arm 6 swings downward, and the drive of the idler gear 1 is transmitted via the step gear 5.

The urging arm 22 has a flag portion 2
2-2 is provided, and the flag portion 22-2 shields the photo interrupter 25 provided on the substrate 24 from light in accordance with the swing position of the biasing arm 22.
Further, the third cam 11-3 is provided with a convex portion 11-3a for swinging the biasing arm 22, and the convex portion 11-3a is biased by the convex portion 11-3a at a position where the intermediate plate 12 is raised. The flag unit 22-2 can be removed from the photo interrupter 25 by rotating 22. This makes it possible to determine the vertical position of the intermediate plate 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gear 1 of the cam gear 11
A rib 11-1a protruding toward the second cam is provided on the side surface of 1-1.
Is formed, and the stopper portion 6-1 of the swing arm 6 can be engaged. This is because when the drive is transmitted from the idler gear 1 to the step gear 5 of the swing arm 6, a moment in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 is generated in the swing arm 6,
There is a risk that the swing arm 6 will rotate so much that the stopper portion 6-1 will not be able to engage with the latch portion, and this is provided to prevent this.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

First, when the idler gear 1 is rotated a predetermined number of times by the initializing operation, the stopper portion 6-1 of the swing arm 6 becomes the second cam 11-2 regardless of the state of the cam gear 11. Latch section 11-2a, 1
It engages with 1-2b and stops. At this time, the biasing arm 2
If the second flag unit 22-2 shields the photo interrupter 25 from light, the intermediate plate 12 is in the lowered position, so that the sheet can be fed. In addition, the flag unit 22-2 is the photo interrupter 2
If 5 is not shielded, it is determined that the stopper portion 6-1 is engaged with the second latch portion 11-2b. Therefore, the solenoid 9 is attracted and the stopper portion 6-1 is latched. The cam gear 11 is rotated to disengage from the portion 11-2b, and the stopper portion 6-1 is engaged with the next first latch portion 11-2a to stop the rotation. At this time, if the flag unit 22-2 shields the photo interrupter 25 from light, the intermediate plate 12 is in the lowered position, so that the sheet can be fed. If the flag unit 22-2 still does not shield the photo interrupter 25 from light, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, the operation of the apparatus is prohibited, and the abnormality occurrence is displayed.

In the state before the end of the initialization operation and the start of sheet feeding, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the intermediate plate 12 is pushed down by the first cam 11-1 of the cam gear 11 via the intermediate plate roller 14. Has been. At this time, since the swing arm 6 is lifted by the second cam 11-2 of the cam gear 11 to a position where the swing gear 7 and the gear 11-4 of the cam gear 11 do not mesh, the drive is not transmitted. The first cam 11-1 receives the force of the pressure spring 12a for urging the intermediate plate 12 upward through the intermediate plate roller 14 and is rotationally urged in the direction C in FIG. The stopper portion 6-1 of the arm 6 engages with the first latch portion 11-2a provided on the second cam 11-2, whereby rotation is restricted against the biasing force.

Further, the main pad arm 17 is pushed down by the back surface of the middle plate 12 being pushed down, the separation pad 18 is separated from the paper feed roller 4, and the separation pressure is released. The double feed prevention claw 20 is pushed down, and the lever portion 20-1 is pushed by the middle plate 12 and the claw spring 21 is pressed.
It has moved to the double feed prevention position against the urging force of.

Next, when the solenoid 9 is attracted to start feeding, the swing arm 6 is pulled up via the solenoid 9 link. As a result, the cam gear 11
Since the stopper portion 6-1 of the swing arm 6 is disengaged from the first latch portion 11-2a of the second cam 11-2, the cam gear 11 receives the force that the first cam 11-1 receives from the intermediate plate roller 14. To start rotation. Then, as shown in FIG.
The rotation of the cam gear 11 is stopped by the third cam 11-3 coming into contact with the arm portion 22-1 of the biasing arm 22 biased by the biasing spring 23. The urging force of the urging spring 23 is received by the first cam 11-1 from the intermediate plate roller 14, and the cam gear 11
It is set to be larger than the force that rotates.

In this way, the swing arm 6 causes the cam gear 1 to move.
The reason why 1 is temporarily stopped is to prevent the cam gear 11 from excessively rapidly rotating due to the force received from the intermediate plate roller 14. For example, if the rotation of the cam gear 11 is too fast and the suction of the solenoid 9 is released to lower the swing arm 6 and the rotation of the stopper portion 6-1 is stopped before the next latch portion passes by again, Although the middle plate 12 is lowered to cause a paper feeding failure, such a problem is caused by temporarily stopping the cam gear 11 and rotating the cam gear 11 by the rotation of the swing gear 7 as described below. Can be prevented.

In this state, when the suction of the solenoid 9 is released as shown in FIG. 6, the swing arm 6 descends, the swing gear 7 and the gear of the cam gear 11 mesh with each other, and the cam gear 11
Starts rotating. Due to the rotation of the cam gear 11, the intermediate plate 12 that has been pushed down by the first cam 11-1 rises due to the urging force of a pressure spring (not shown). When the intermediate plate 12 is lifted, the main pad arm 17 is rotated by the main pad spring 19 in the direction in which the separation pad 18 is pressed against the paper feed roller 4, and the double feed prevention claw 20 is also lifted by the intermediate plate 12 to move the lever portion 20. The restriction of -1 is released and the claw spring 21 rotates in the standby direction of the direction A in FIG.

Further, as the rotation of the cam gear 11 progresses, the convex portion 11-3a of the third cam 11-3 of the cam gear 11 is formed.
As a result, the arm portion 22-1 of the urging arm 22 is pushed, the urging arm 22 rotates, and the flag portion 22-2 rotates in the D direction to come out of the photo interrupter 25. And
When the cam gear 11 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 7, the swing cam 6 is lifted by the second cam 11-2 of the cam gear 11, the swing gear 7 is disengaged from the gear 11-4 of the cam gear 11, and the drive transmission is interrupted. To be done.

In the state shown in FIG. 7, the cam gear 11
The third cam 11-3 of the arm portion 22- of the biasing arm 22
1, the cam gear 11 rotates to the state shown in FIG. 8, and the stopper portion 6-1 of the swing arm 6 causes the second latch portion of the second cam 11-2 of the cam gear 11 to rotate. The rotation is stopped by contacting 11-2b.

When the cam gear 11 rotates to this position,
Since the protrusion of the main pad arm 17 is separated from the intermediate plate 12, the main pad arm 17 is completely lifted to bring the separation pad 18 into pressure contact with the paper feed roller 4 and generate a predetermined separation pressure. Further, since the double feed preventing claw 20 is also completely retracted, the sheet feeding operation can be started.

Here, when the electromagnetic clutch 2 is excited, the paper feed roller 4 rotates and the sheets stacked on the intermediate plate 12 are sent out and separated one by one with the separation pad 18.
The timing of exciting the electromagnetic clutch 2 is performed after the intermediate plate 12 is lifted for a predetermined time from the time when the solenoid 9 releases the suction.

The separated sheet is further fed by the sheet feeding roller 4 to the registration roller 26 (FIG.
Shown in FIG. 2), the registration roller 26 and the paper feed roller 4
The sheet feed roller 4 continues to feed the sheet until a loop is formed between the sheet and the sheet. The skew of the sheet is corrected by forming a loop, and in that state, the timing with the image forming unit is adjusted. When a loop is formed on the sheet, the electromagnetic clutch 2 is disengaged and the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 4 is stopped.

Then, the registration rollers 26 start rotating at the same timing as the image forming means to feed the sheet.
At this time, the electromagnetic clutch 2 is excited to rotate the sheet feeding roller 4 for a predetermined time to feed the sheet in the state where the loop is formed, so that the back tension applied to the sheet can be suppressed to be small.

Simultaneously with the excitation of the electromagnetic clutch 2, the solenoid 9 is attracted and the swing arm 6 is pulled up via the solenoid link 10. Since the stopper portion 6-1 is disengaged from the second latch portion 11-2b by the rotation of the swinging arm 6, the arm portion 22- of the biasing arm 22 is formed as shown in FIG.
The cam gear 11 urged by 1 starts rotating. The rotation of the cam gear 11 is stopped by being restricted by the arm portion 22-1 of the biasing arm 22, as shown in FIG. The reason why the cam gear 11 is temporarily stopped is the same as the stop when the intermediate plate is raised, and is to prevent the cam gear 11 from rotating too rapidly. Then, the swing arm 6 is lowered by releasing the suction of the solenoid 9, and the swing gear 7 is meshed with the gear 11-4 of the cam gear 11 and the drive is transmitted.

When the cam gear 11 rotates, as shown in FIG. 10, the first cam 11-1 of the cam gear 11 moves the middle plate roller 1
The middle plate 12 is pushed down via 4. The lowering of the middle plate 12 pushes down the main pad arm 17 on the back surface of the middle plate 12 to separate the separation pad 18 from the paper feed roller 4 and release the separation pressure. As a result, it is possible to prevent the back tension from being applied to the fed sheet.

Further, the double feed preventing claw 20 is used for the intermediate plate roller holder 1.
The lever portion 20-1 is pushed down by 3 to rotate and stand up to the double feed preventing position. At this time, since the sheet S has not passed through the paper feed roller 4 and is in the state as shown in FIG. 10, the double feed prevention claw 20 moves while rubbing the lower surface of the sheet S being fed out, and the sheet S is separated. After the separation pressure of the pad 18 is released, it is possible to regulate the movement of the second and subsequent sheets that are multi-fed and advanced. Further, since the double feed prevention claw 20 rotates from the downstream side to the upstream side, the second and subsequent sheets are pushed back to the position where they were stacked on the intermediate plate 12. As a result, the leading edge of the sheet is always aligned with the regular stacking position of the middle plate 12,
When the next sheet is fed, it is possible to prevent a separation defect due to a shift in the leading edge of the sheet and a conveyance defect due to a shift in sheet feeding timing.

After that, when the rotation of the cam gear 11 progresses and returns to near the position before the start of feeding, the second cam 11-2 again.
The first latch portion 11-2a lifts the swing arm 6 so that the swing gear 7 is disengaged from the gear of the cam gear 11 and the drive transmission is blocked. The cam gear 11 is rotated by the force received from the intermediate plate roller 14, and as shown in FIG. 2 again, the stopper portion 6-1 of the swing arm 6 causes the second cam 1 of the cam gear 11 to move.
The rotation is restricted by engaging with the first latch portion 11-2a of 1-2. This returns to the initial state.

The above is the operation when one sheet is sent out, and this operation is repeated when the paper is continuously fed.

Now, a structure for surely operating the double feed preventing pawl 20 will be described. This is because when the amount of sheets stacked on the middle plate is large, the movement amount of the middle plate is small, so that it is not possible to secure a sufficient movement amount of the double feed prevention claw 20, and thus it is possible to prevent double feed. This is to prevent it from disappearing.

This problem is solved by making the intermediate plate roller holder 13 swingably supported by the intermediate plate 12 so that it can rotate upward from the sheet supporting surface of the intermediate plate 12 and cannot rotate downward. is doing. The operation of this configuration will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the amount of sheets stacked on the intermediate plate 12 is large, when the cam gear 11 rotates to a position where the intermediate plate 12 can be raised, the sheet hits the feed roller 4. In order to regulate the rise of the middle plate 12 in contact with it, the middle plate 12
The self has hardly risen. However, since the middle plate roller holder 13 is swingably supported by the middle plate 12, only the middle plate roller holder 13 and the middle plate roller 14 can swing independently of the middle plate 12. Therefore, it is possible to allow the lever portion 20-1 of the double feed prevention pawl 20 to rotate by the pawl spring 21, so that a sufficient amount of movement of the double feed prevention pawl 20 can be secured. Thereby, the middle plate 12
The operation of the double feed prevention claw 20 can be reliably performed regardless of the amount of sheets stacked on the sheet.

Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a dedicated cam 50 for swinging the double feed prevention claw 20 is provided on the paper feed shaft 3. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

A support shaft 20a having a multi-feed preventing pawl 20 is rotatably provided on the frame of the apparatus main body, and a cam follower 51 is provided at one end of the support shaft 20a. The cam follower 51 is in sliding contact with the dedicated cam 50 by the spring 52, and the dedicated cam 50 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the sheet feeding shaft 3 to swing the double feed preventing pawl 20.

In this way, if the double feed preventing pawl 20 is swung by using the dedicated cam 50, the middle plate 12
Since the double feed preventing claw 20 can be swung regardless of the ascending / descending timing, the timing can be set in a wider range.

Next, an example of an image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet feeding apparatus A of the above embodiment will be schematically described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, a registration roller pair 26 is provided on the downstream side of the sheet feeding device A, and the registration roller pair 26 feeds the sheet at the timing of the image forming means. The image forming means includes a means for transferring an image onto a sheet, such as a drum cartridge 27 and a transfer roller 28, a scanner unit 29 for irradiating the drum of the drum cartridge 27 with a laser, and a fixing unit for fixing the image transferred on the sheet. 30 etc. are arranged.

The sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming means is conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 31 and 32, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 34 by the pair of discharge rollers 33.

[0059]

As described above in detail, since the double feed preventing member is moved by the auxiliary member which is swingable by a predetermined amount with respect to the middle plate, the sheet stacking amount is large and the middle plate is moved. Even when the amount is small, the double feed preventing member can be surely caused to perform the double feed preventing operation. As a result, it is possible to provide a device in which the separation and feeding of sheets are stable and reliable.

Further, since it is not necessary to move the intermediate plate largely, the apparatus can be downsized and the sheet can be fed out at high speed.

Further, a cam for moving up and down the intermediate plate is brought into contact with the auxiliary member, and the intermediate plate is moved up and down by the cam and the auxiliary member is swung to accurately set the projection timing of the double feed preventing member. Therefore, double feed can be prevented more reliably, and further simplification of the device can lead to size reduction and cost reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a sheet feeding device of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the sheet feeding device shown in FIG.

3 is a perspective view of a cam gear provided in the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing an operation of the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation of the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation of the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation of the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation of the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation of the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which a large number of sheets are stacked on an intermediate plate in the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the sheet feeding device of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a conventional sheet feeding device.

14 is a diagram showing a drive system for vertically moving an intermediate plate provided in the sheet feeding device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Paper feed roller (feeding rotary body) 11 cam gear 11-2 2nd cam (cam) 12 Middle plate 13 Middle plate roller holder (auxiliary member) 18 Separation Pad (Friction Separation Means) 20 Double feed prevention claw (double feed prevention member)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-56-65739 (JP, A) JP-A-59-217538 (JP, A) JP-A-3-272940 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 278889 (JP, A) Actual development 2-66533 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 3/52 B65H 1/08 B65H 3/56 G03G 15/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet feeding apparatus for separating sheets sent from an oscillating middle plate on which sheets are stacked by a separating means and feeding the sheets one by one, wherein the separating means feeds and rotates a sheet. A body, a friction separating means which is provided so as to be capable of press-contacting and separating from the feed rotating body, and separates the sheet between them when the press-contacting state, and a sheet when the feed rotating body and the friction separating means are separated from each other. A multi-feed preventing member that restricts the progress of a sheet that is projected and double-fed during the conveying path, and the multi-feed preventing member is an auxiliary member that is swingably provided on the intermediate plate by a predetermined amount. A sheet feeding apparatus, which is engaged with and performs a projecting operation according to a swing position of the auxiliary member. 2. The auxiliary member is supported so that it can swing a predetermined amount on the sheet stacking side of the middle plate and cannot swing on the opposite side, and the double feed preventing member is rotatable. The supporting member includes a restricting portion that is supported and protrudes into the transport path, and an engaging portion that engages with the auxiliary member. The restricting portion is rotated by the swinging motion of the auxiliary member through the engaging portion to perform double feeding. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet to be fed is regulated. 3. The seat according to claim 2, further comprising a cam for rocking the intermediate plate, wherein the auxiliary member abuts on the cam and the rocking is controlled by the cam. Feeding device. 4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet fed from the sheet feeding device. Image forming apparatus.