JP3659073B2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus having a sheet feeding tray that can be opened and closed, such as a copying machine, a printer, and a fax machine, and more particularly to a technique for preventing damage to the sheet feeding apparatus during a closing operation.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In this type of conventional paper feeding apparatus, the support shaft of the push-up plate that presses the paper set on the paper feeding tray against the paper feeding roller is a copying machine, a printer, a fax machine or the like (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine or the like). In general, an elastic body that is provided on the main body side and that presses the push-up plate against the paper feed roller is disposed in the vicinity of the support shaft.
[0003]
In the paper feed tray having such a configuration, when the paper feed tray is closed, the paper feed tray can be opened and closed even when the push-up plate is raised. However, in recent years, there has been a demand for downsizing of the apparatus and an increase in the capacity of paper, and in manual paper feeding, there is a demand for about 150 to 250 sheets from the conventional 50 sheets.
[0004]
In order to meet such demands for large-capacity paper feeding, it is necessary to avoid the fulcrum of the push-up plate away from the paper feed roller, and the manual paper feed tray when it is not used to accommodate downsizing of the device Must be stored in the body. FIG. 5 shows such a sheet feeding device. In FIG. 5, a manual paper feed tray 21 is rotatably mounted on a main body 30 such as a copying machine by a support shaft 24, and a push-up plate 22 is rotatably mounted on the paper feed tray 21 by a fulcrum 23. At the same time, the paper feed roller 26 is pressed by a pressure spring 25 provided in the vicinity of the paper feed roller 26.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, if the manual feed tray 21 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D while the push-up plate 22 is raised, that is, in a pressurized state, and stored in the main body 30 side, The tip of the push-up plate 22 moves in the direction of the arrow E due to the rotation trajectory, bites inwardly on the main body 30 side, contacts parts mounted on the main body 30 side, and breaks the paper feed tray 21 or the main body 30 parts. There was a fear.
[0006]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, and when the paper feed tray is closed, the pressurizing means that presses the paper against the paper feed roller opens and closes the paper feed tray without contacting the components mounted on the main body side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that can do this.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a sheet feeding device having a sheet feeding tray that is pivotable around a support shaft and can be opened and closed and is disposed on the front end side of the sheet feeding tray. A paper roller, a pressure means for pressing the paper set on the paper feed tray against the paper feed roller, and a pressure for releasing the pressure contact by the pressure means in conjunction with the closing operation of the paper feed tray And release means.
[0008]
In the above configuration, the paper set in the paper feed tray is pressed against the paper feed roll by the pressurizing unit, and is fed one by one by the rotation of the paper feed roll. When storing the paper feed tray in the main body, if the paper feed tray is rotated in the closing direction, the pressure release means operates the pressure means by the tilting operation of the paper feed tray, Release pressure contact. By releasing the press contact, the tip of the pressurizing means does not bite into the main body side. This makes it possible to open and close the paper feed tray without the pressurizing means coming into contact with the main part when the paper feed tray is closed.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the first aspect, the pressure unit includes a push-up plate that presses the paper against the paper feed roller, and a pressure lever that presses the push-up plate. The pressure release means includes a pressure release lever provided integrally with the paper feed tray, and when the paper feed tray is closed, the pressure release lever contacts and tilts the pressure lever, and the pressure lever The pressure on the push-up plate is released. In this configuration, when the paper feed tray is rotated in the closing direction, the pressurization of the push-up plate by the pressure lever is released in conjunction therewith.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the first aspect, the pressure releasing means rotates in conjunction with the closing operation of the paper feeding tray and comes into contact with the push-up plate so that the push-up plate It has a lever that pushes down. In this configuration, when the paper feed tray is rotated in the closing direction, a lever that operates in conjunction with this pushes down the push-up plate and the pressure on the push-up plate is released.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the sheet feeding device according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the main part. The paper feeding device includes a manual paper feeding tray 1 mounted on a main body 20 of a copying machine or the like so that it can be opened and closed by a support shaft 3, and a paper set on the paper feeding tray 1 is placed on the main body 20 side. A sheet feeding roller 10 for separating and carrying the sheets one by one is provided in 20. The paper feed tray 1 includes a push-up plate 2 for pressing the paper set on the paper feed tray 1 against the paper feed roller 10. The push-up plate 2 can be rotated and moved to the paper feed tray 1 by a push-up plate rotating support shaft 11 on the rear end side in a reverse-shaped guide groove 12 formed on the side wall of the paper feed tray 1. The front end side of the front end side can be brought into contact with the paper feed roller 10. When the paper feed tray 1 is tilted in the direction of the arrow A for the opening operation, the push-up plate 2 is rotated and pushed down around the push-up plate rotation support shaft 11 and has a reverse letter-shaped guide groove. 12 is movable in the direction away from the main body 20, and can be stored in the paper feed tray 1. The paper feed tray 1 is positioned below the push-up plate 2 and pressurizing means 4 that pushes up the push-up plate 2, and is pressed below the pressurizing means 4 to press the push-up plate 2. Pressure release means 5 for releasing is provided.
The pressurizing means 4 is supported by the paper feed tray 1 and includes a pressurizing lever 7 for pushing up the push-up plate 2 and a pressurizing spring 9 for applying a biasing force to the pressurizing lever 7. Is fitted around the rotation support shaft 8 of the pressure lever 7, and the restoring force of the pressure spring 9 is transmitted to the pressure lever 7 to push up the push-up plate 2. The pressure lever 7 has a front end bent into a letter shape and a rear end bent into an L shape, and the apex of the bent part on the front end side contacts the lower surface of the push-up plate 2. The push-up plate 2 is pushed up.
[0013]
A spiral spring is used for the pressure spring 9 of the present embodiment. One end of the spiral spring is brought into contact with the fixing member 18 of the paper feed tray 1, and the other end is brought into contact with a pressure release lever 6, which will be described later. 19 is fixed.
[0014]
The pressure release means 5 has a pressure release lever 6 fixed in the vicinity of the support shaft 3 of the paper feed tray 1, and this pressure release lever 6 is used when the paper feed tray 1 is closed. The pressure on the push-up plate 2 by the pressure lever 7 is released by coming into contact with the L-shaped rear end.
[0015]
Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. With the paper feed tray 1 open, paper is set on the push-up plate 2 in the paper feed tray 1 and a paper feed operation is performed. When the paper feed tray 1 is stored in the main body 20, the paper feed tray 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow A. By this operation, the pressure release lever 6 comes into contact with the L-shaped rear end portion of the pressure lever 7 and resists the urging force of the pressure spring 9 so as to rotate around the pressure lever rotation support shaft 8. 7 is tilted in the direction of arrow B to release the pressure on the paper feed roller 10 by the tip 7b of the pressure lever 7. In the above operation, the push-up plate 2 is pushed down in conjunction with the tilting of the paper feed tray 1, so that the rotation trajectory of the push-up plate does not bite into the main body as in the prior art. Therefore, the paper feed tray 1 can be opened and closed without the push-up plate 2 coming into contact with the components mounted on the main body side. Also, by housing the paper feed tray 1 to the main body 20, Ru also realize downsizing of the apparatus.
[0016]
Contrary to the above, when the paper feed tray 1 is opened from the closed state, the pressure release lever 6 is moved after the L-shape of the pressure lever 7 by rotating the paper feed tray 1 in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction. The pressurizing lever 7 rotates away from the end portion 7 a by the restoring force of the pressurizing spring 9 to push up the push-up plate 2. As a result, the push-up plate 2 returns to the state of pressing the paper feed roller 10. The pressure spring 9 is shown as a tension spring in FIGS. 2 and 3 as performing the same function.
[0017]
Next, a paper feeder according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Similarly to the above, the sheet feeding device includes a manual sheet feeding tray 1 that is mounted on a main body (not shown) so as to be rotatable about the sheet feeding tray rotation fulcrum shaft 13 so that it can be opened and closed. A push-up plate 2 is attached to 1 so as to be rotatable.
[0018]
A gear 14 is fixed to one or both ends of the paper feed tray rotation fulcrum shaft 13, and a lever 16 having a gear portion 15 that meshes with the gear 14 is rotatably attached to the paper feed tray 1. . On the end surface in the width direction of the open end of the push-up plate 2, a protrusion 17 that protrudes when the lever 16 rotates is provided.
[0019]
In the above configuration, when the paper feed tray 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow A in order to close the paper feed tray 1, the paper feed tray rotation fulcrum shaft 13 is rotated integrally with the paper feed tray 1, and the gear 14 Rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the paper feed tray rotation fulcrum shaft 13. The lever 16 having the gear portion 15 meshing with the gear 14 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the gear 14, that is, in the direction of the arrow C, and the side wall 16 a of the lever 16 abuts against the protrusion 17, Press down. In this manner, the push-up plate 2 is pushed down in conjunction with the opening operation of the paper feed tray 1, so that the push-up plate 2 does not bite into the main body 20 and is prevented from being damaged. .
[0020]
The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment described above, and various modifications are possible. For example, the manual feed tray has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to manual feed. Also, any form can be adopted for the pressurizing means and the pressure releasing means.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the press on the paper feed roller of the push-up plate constituting the pressurizing means is released in conjunction with the closing operation of the paper feed tray, the rotation trajectory of the push-up plate is on the main body side. Therefore, the push-up plate does not come into contact with the main body side parts, and the paper feed tray and the main body parts are not damaged.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a sheet feeding device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of the sheet feeding device.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of main parts of a sheet feeding device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a conventional paper feeding device.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper feed tray 2 Push-up board 3 Support shaft 4 Pressure means 5 Pressure release means 6 Pressure release lever 7 Pressure lever 9 Pressure spring 10 Paper feed roller 14 Gear 15 Gear part 16 Lever 17 Protrusion 20 Main body

Claims (3)

In a paper feeding device having a paper feeding tray that is pivotable around a support shaft and can be opened and closed,
A paper feed roller disposed on the front end side of the paper feed tray;
Pressure means for pressing the paper set on the paper feed tray against the paper feed roller;
Pressure release means for releasing the pressure by the pressure means in conjunction with the closing operation of the paper feed tray;
A paper feeding device comprising: The pressurizing means includes a push-up plate that presses the paper against the paper feed roller, and a pressure lever that presses the push-up plate,
The pressure release means comprises a pressure release lever provided integrally with the paper feed tray,
2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein, when the sheet feeding tray is closed, the pressure release lever abuts and tilts the pressure lever to release the pressure plate from pressing the pressure plate. Paper device. 2. The pressure release means includes a lever that rotates in conjunction with the closing operation of the paper feed tray, abuts against the push-up plate, and pushes down the push-up plate. Paper feeder.

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