JP3912477B2 - Paper support, paper feeder, recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a sheet feeding device that feeds a recording material to be recorded on a recording material one by one to a recording unit that records the recording material to be deposited in an inclined state one by one. The present invention relates to a paper support that supports a recording material from the back. The present invention also relates to a paper feeding device and a recording device provided with the paper support.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a recording apparatus typified by a printer, a facsimile, etc., a plurality of printing sheets (hereinafter simply referred to as “sheets”) as recording materials are deposited in an inclined state on the rear side of the apparatus, and the front of the apparatus is fed by a sheet feeding device. A configuration is widely used in which paper is fed to a recording unit located on the side, and the recorded paper is discharged from the front of the apparatus.
[0003]
More specifically, the configuration of this type of conventional paper feeding device feeds one sheet at a time to a recording unit for recording the topmost sheet of paper to be deposited in an inclined state on a recording material. The upper surface of the lowermost sheet in the inclined state is pressed against the sheet feeding roller so that the upper surface on the front side of the uppermost sheet is pressed against the sheet feeding roller. A hopper that supports the front-side rear surface of the inclined sheet, a tip support surface that is disposed in the vicinity of the paper feed roller, supports the tip of the inclined sheet, and aligns the leading edge, and the tip support surface A separation pad that is disposed on the downstream side of the sheet feeding direction and separates the uppermost stacked sheet from the subsequent sheets by sandwiching the sheet with the sheet feeding roller. Have. And, on the rear side of the paper feeding device, a paper support that supports the inclined sheet from the back is provided, and the sheet to be deposited in the inclined state is supported on the back by the hopper and the paper support. As a result, the paper is deposited in a constant inclination state.
[0004]
By the way, various sizes of paper are used in the recording apparatus, and various types of paper such as an OHP sheet, a postcard with high rigidity, and a plain paper with low rigidity exist. Here, when the paper is slippery (for example, an OHP sheet or the like), in the paper feeding device that accumulates the paper described above in an inclined state, the paper tends to slide down due to its own weight, causing a so-called avalanche phenomenon. As a result, there are cases where a plurality of sheets of paper enter the pinching portion between the paper feed roller and the hopper, and the paper is double fed. Also, if the same avalanche phenomenon occurs when the stiffness of the paper is low and it is weak, the paper may curl or bend at the leading edge of the paper, resulting in normal paper feeding operation. There was also a problem of not. Therefore, as a conventional technique for solving this type of problem, a paper feeding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-155231 is known.
[0005]
In this paper feeding device, the paper support surface of the paper support is formed in a substantially horizontal state, and the horizontal portion supports the rear side of the paper so that most of the weight of the paper is supported by the paper support portion. In other words, the above-described avalanche phenomenon is prevented by laying the paper support on the paper support and further applying a paper load to the paper support so as not to concentrate the weight of the paper on the leading edge of the paper.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional technique, in order to achieve the technical problem of preventing the avalanche phenomenon due to the weight of the paper stacked obliquely, it is disclosed that the paper support has a substantially horizontal structure, The following technical issues are not taken into consideration at all, and there is no description suggesting them. The technical problem will be described below.
[0007]
In the paper support shape according to the prior art that disperses the load of the paper and bears a part of it, the hopper immediately becomes a substantially horizontal paper support surface following the paper support surface that supports the back side of the front side of the paper. The paper support is shaped like this. However, as described above, there are various different sizes and materials of paper. Accordingly, when the paper support surface on which the hopper supports the back side of the front side of the paper is short with respect to the length direction (feeding direction) of the paper and the paper has high rigidity, for example, postcard paper is used. In the case of stacking, if the hopper is small with respect to the size of the postcard paper, the postcard paper set in the paper feeding device is stacked in an extremely tilted state on the rear side. As a result, the paper with low rigidity and large size and the paper with high rigidity and small size have different entry angles with respect to the tip support surface at the front end of the paper, and the uppermost paper is fed with the hopper pressed. In this case, the angle of entry of the leading edge of the sheet into the separation pad that separates the uppermost sheet from the subsequent sheets also differs between the two sheets. Here, each component is provided so that the angle of entry of the leading edge of the sheet into the separation pad is the most appropriate value depending on the friction coefficient of the separation pad, the number and size of the separation pads. Accordingly, if the angle of entry into the separation pad varies depending on the type of paper, there is a risk that separation by the separation pad will be uncertain.
[0008]
Further, since the above-mentioned postcard paper is generally thick, if a plurality of postcard papers to be stacked are extremely tilted backward as described above, the leading edge of the paper becomes uneven and the hopper is pressed in this state. When the state and the pressure release state are repeated, the uneven state is further deteriorated due to the frictional holding force between the sheets. As described above, when the leading ends of the sheets are uneven, there is a possibility that separation by the separation pad is uncertain as described above. This is especially true when using photo quality paper, which has been used frequently in recent years, to achieve photographic image quality, because the friction coefficient between papers is larger than that between ordinary papers. Become. The above is the technical subject which is not considered in the prior art.
[0009]
As another similar prior art, a paper feeding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-095362 has been proposed. A technical problem with this prior art is that when there is a deformation such as a curl at the front end of the paper, the front end of the paper becomes uneven and separation by the separation pad becomes uncertain. Therefore, in this prior art, the relationship between the paper support surface of the hopper and the paper support surface of the paper support is such that the forcing force to bring the paper into contact with the front end support surface of the paper in a downward state without the front end of the paper being warped. It is going to reach. More specifically, for example, by making the shape of the paper support surface of the paper support into a curved shape such that the top is convex, a curved state in which the top is convex is generated on the paper, so that the leading edge of the paper is directed. The vector is in a downward state.
[0010]
However, in this prior art, when the leading edge of the sheet is curled, the leading edge of the sheet becomes uneven, and the separation by the separation pad is uncertain, which is a technical problem, and in order to solve the technical problem In addition, a curved state is generated in the paper, that is, the technical problem is solved by utilizing the bending of the paper. Therefore, no consideration is given to the difference in the angle of entry into the separation pad due to the relationship between the type of paper (paper size, paper rigidity) and the paper support surface of the hopper, and there is no suggestion for it.
[0011]
Accordingly, the subject of the present invention is to supply a postcard with high rigidity and other plain paper with low rigidity in an appropriate state with the same paper support in consideration of the paper size and the rigidity of the paper. The purpose of this is to allow normal paper feeding operation to be performed on the paper device.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the paper support according to claim 1 of the present application is one sheet to a recording unit for recording the uppermost one of the recording materials to be deposited in an inclined state on the recording material. The upper surface of the front side of the uppermost one is pressed by pressing the front side rear surface of the lowermost one of the inclined recording material toward the paper feeding roller. A hopper that is in pressure contact with the paper roller and supports the front side rear surface of the recording material in the inclined state, and is disposed in the vicinity of the paper feed roller, supports the leading end of the recording material in the inclined state, and aligns the leading ends. The leading end support surface is disposed downstream of the leading end support surface in the feeding direction of the recording material, and the recording material is sandwiched between the feeding roller and the uppermost layer of the recorded recording material. And a separation pad that separates the recording material from the subsequent recording material. In the paper feeding device, the paper support for supporting the recording material in the inclined state from the back, and when the recording material larger than the postcard size and having a low rigidity is deposited in the inclined state, the recording material An inclined state in which the leading end is securely brought into contact with the leading end support surface and the recording material rear side is further laid down to reduce the abutting force when the leading end of the recording material comes into contact with the leading end support surface; The non-recording of the recording material having a load distribution supporting surface that is substantially postcard-sized and having a high rigidity in the post-press release state, wherein the recording material has a posture that is larger than the postcard size and low in rigidity. It is formed so as to be substantially the same as the posture in the section from the leading end of the material to the position corresponding to the rear end of the recording material of the substantially postcard size.
[0013]
According to the invention of claim 1 of the present application, both the recording material having a substantially postcard size and high rigidity and the recording material having a rigidity larger than the postcard size and low rigidity are both used with the same paper support. Accumulation on the sheet feeding device in an appropriate state enables normal sheet feeding operation to be performed. The function and effect of the first aspect of the present invention will be described below.
[0014]
First, when depositing a recording material that is larger than the postcard size and has low rigidity, for example, A4 plain paper, for example, the front end of the paper is securely in contact with the front end support surface, and the front end of the paper is in contact with the front end support surface. Since it has a load distribution support surface that is inclined so as to relax the contact force and further lay the back side of the paper, this ensures that the front end of the paper comes into contact with the front end support surface, so that the front ends of the paper are aligned and separated. Uncertainty of separation by the pad can be prevented. Further, since the paper load is not concentrated on the front end of the paper but is distributed on the paper support side, the avalanche phenomenon described above is prevented, and uncertain separation by the separation pad and deformation of the front end of the paper are prevented. That is, for example, A4 plain paper having low rigidity can be deposited in an optimal state, and a normal feeding operation can be performed.
[0015]
On the other hand, the paper support surface of the paper support is a postcard-sized recording material having high rigidity, for example, a postcard paper in a state where the hopper is released in the pressed release state, the posture in the A4 plain paper or the like, It is formed so that it can be made substantially the same as the posture of the part corresponding to the postcard size. In other words, postcard paper with a short paper length and high rigidity, the entire paper is rearward even when the paper support surface of the hopper that supports the back of the paper is short relative to the paper length direction (feed direction). And can take substantially the same posture as the above-described low-rigidity A4 plain paper or the like in which normal paper feeding operation is performed, and this may cause a difference in the entry angle to the separation pad. No. Therefore, there is no possibility that separation will be uncertain due to a difference in the angle of entry to the separation pad, and similarly, there is no possibility that separation will be uncertain due to unevenness of the leading edge of the paper.
[0016]
Note that the “substantially the same posture” here refers to a portion of the recording material that is larger than the postcard size and has a low rigidity, because the bending is caused by the load distribution support surface. Therefore, the posture of a sheet of very low rigidity (for example, extremely thin A4 plain paper) that bends well is better approximated. Further, “low rigidity” means that the rigidity is low enough to be supported by the load distribution support surface of the paper support by bending itself. Further, the “substantially postcard size” means a postcard size (about 148 × 100 mm) itself or a size approximate to the size, for example, A6 size (about 148 × 105 mm, which is a generally known paper size). ), Photo paper size (about 148 x 113 mm), etc.
[0017]
The paper support according to claim 2 of the present application is characterized in that, in claim 1, the load distribution support surface is formed by a curved surface that is convex upward.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the load distribution support surface is formed by the curved surface that is convex upward, the recording material is not excessively deformed and the recording material is long. Even in the state of being deposited for a period of time, deformation distortion can be minimized.
[0018]
The paper support according to claim 3 of the present application is configured to be detachable from the paper feeding device according to claim 1 or 2.
According to the invention described in claim 3 of the present application, since it is configured to be removable from the paper feeding device, convenience in carrying is good.
[0019]
The paper support according to claim 4 of the present invention is characterized in that the paper support according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is integrally formed by resin molding.
According to the invention described in claim 4 of the present application, since the whole is integrally formed by resin molding, the cost can be reduced.
[0020]
A paper feeding device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes the paper support according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the present invention can be obtained in the paper feeding device.
[0021]
A paper support according to a sixth aspect of the present invention includes the paper support according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.
According to the invention described in claim 6 of the present application, the recording apparatus can obtain the same effects as those of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4 described above.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
First, an outline of an ink jet printer as an “inkjet recording apparatus” according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an ink jet printer 100 according to the present embodiment.
[0023]
An ink jet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer”) 100 includes a paper feeding device 1 that accumulates a plurality of printing sheets (sheet paper, hereinafter referred to as “paper P”) as “recording materials”. Provided on the back of the printer 100 main body. The paper feeder 1 includes paper supports 2 and 2a that support the paper P to be deposited from the back, a movable edge guide 3, a fixed edge guide 4, a paper feed roller 5, a hopper 6, and a separation pad (not shown in FIG. 1). 7 is roughly composed. The paper feed roller 5, the hopper 6, and the separation pad 7 will be described in detail later.
[0024]
The sheets P are set so as to be inserted from the rear side of the printer 100, and a plurality of sheets are stacked on the sheet feeding device 1 in an inclined state. At this time, the movable-side edge guide 3 is slid on the paper support 2a according to the size of the paper P and fixed at an appropriate position, thereby guiding the side edge of the paper P. Thereby, the paper P is fed in an appropriate posture without being skewed. The paper P is fed from the rear side of the apparatus to the recording unit 8 located in the middle of the main body by the paper feeding device 1 and the printed paper P is discharged from the opening 9 on the front surface of the main body. It has become.
[0025]
The printer 100 is configured by a plurality of resin members on the outside, and a main body cover 10 that covers the entire apparatus, an upper cover 11 that covers a window provided in the center of the main body cover 10 to perform maintenance inside the apparatus, and an apparatus The main body of the apparatus is covered with front covers 12a and 12b that constitute an operation unit such as a power button located at the front of the main body. On the back surface of the main body cover 10, a paper support 2a for receiving the paper P to be deposited in the above-described inclined state is provided by integral molding with the main body cover 10, and the back surface of the main body cover 10 is attached and detached as an independent member. A possible paper support 2 is attached. This mounting structure will be described in detail later. A paper discharge stacker 13 that receives the discharged paper P is attached to the front covers 12a and 12b. These are all formed of a resin material, and are configured to be easily removable as needed except for the front covers 12a and 12b.
[0026]
Next, the configuration of the paper support 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the paper support 2.
The paper support 2 is integrally formed as a whole by resin molding, and L-shaped latching portions 14a, 14b, and 14c for attaching to the main body cover 10 are formed in the lower part thereof. The L-shaped latching portions 14a, 14b, and 14c are respectively engaged with the latching grooves 16a, 16b, and 16c shown in FIG. It is possible to install. Conversely, it can be removed with a single touch.
[0027]
The upper part is a paper support surface that supports the paper P, and has a curved shape that warps toward the rear of the printer 100 when attached to the printer 100 main body. When the rigidity of the sheet P is low, the sheet P bends along the curved shape and is inclined such that the sheet trailing end side lies down with respect to the sheet leading end side. It is possible to prevent the “avalanche phenomenon” in which the printed paper slides down. Therefore, the curved surface 15 serves as a “load distribution support surface”.
[0028]
Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7, the configuration of the sheet feeding device 1 and the operational effects of the paper supports 2 and 2a will be described. Here, FIGS. 4 to 7 are schematic diagrams schematically showing each component of the paper feeding device 1, and are side views of the feeding direction of the paper P. FIG. 4 shows the hopper 6 releasing the press. the manner in which a state, a state 5 in which the hopper 6 is in the pressed state, FIG. 6 is large-sized paper than postcard size in the pressing release state of the hopper 6 (e.g., A4 paper) how the P _L is set FIG 7 shows how the postcard paper P _S is set in the pressing release state similarly hopper 6.
[0029]
In FIG. 4, the paper feed roller 5 for feeding the uppermost paper P deposited in an inclined state has a substantially D shape in side view. A separation pad 7 for separating the uppermost sheet P from the next and subsequent sheets P is installed in the separation pad unit 17 below the sheet feed roller 5. In the present embodiment, the separation pad unit 17 is configured to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 17a, and in a standby state, the separation pad unit 17 is biased clockwise by a biasing member (not shown) in FIG. Is in a standing position. When the paper P is fed, the paper feed roller 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the flat surface 5a pushes down the separation pad unit 17 in the direction of the arrow in the figure, as shown in FIG. Then, the paper feed roller 5 and the separation pad 7 are brought into a pressure contact state. The hopper 6 is configured so as to be able to proceed in a substantially unchanged posture toward the paper feed roller 6 by an urging member (not shown), and when feeding the paper P, presses the front-side rear surface of the lowest one of the stacked paper P. Then, the upper surface on the front side of the uppermost one of the stacked sheets P is brought into pressure contact with the sheet feeding roller 5. As described above, the uppermost one of the stacked sheets P is separated from the subsequent sheets P and fed one by one.
[0030]
Paper supports 2 a and 2 are arranged on the top of the hopper 6. As described above, the paper support 2 is configured to be removable from the main body cover 10 (see FIG. 1), and the paper support 2a is formed by integral molding with the main body cover 10. The paper support surface on which the paper support 2a supports the back surface of the paper P is a flat surface. In the paper support 2, the paper support 2 is convex upward as described above when the paper support 2 is attached to the main body cover 10. It has a curved shape like this. The paper supports 2 and 2a are configured as separate members in the present embodiment, but may be configured as the same member.
[0031]
The paper support surface on which the hopper 6 supports the paper P and the paper support surface on which the paper support 2a supports the paper P are configured to be substantially the same when the hopper 6 is in a standby state. In the present embodiment, the curved surface 15 of the paper support 2 is disposed at a position slightly retracted from the inclined surface F including the two paper support surfaces when the paper support 2 is attached to the main body cover 10. A paper support 2 and a main body cover 10 are formed.
[0032]
Next, the effects of the paper supports 2a and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, deposited paper P _L is the order from the sheet front side to the paper rear side, the hopper 6, a paper support 2a, its rear by sheet support 2 is supported. Since the paper P _L is plain paper with low rigidity, the paper P 2 is deformed along the curved surface 15 of the paper support 2, that is, has a slope such that the rear side of the paper further lies, so that the load on the paper P _L is curved. The surface 15 is shared and supported. Accordingly therefore, the contact force at the time the leading edge of the sheet P _L comes into contact with the leading end supporting surface 18 is alleviated, thereby preventing avalanche of so-called sheet. Since the paper P _L is deformed along the curved surface 15 in this way, a slight bending portion 19 may be formed due to a slight rigidity of the paper P _L. Furthermore, since the curved surface 15 is disposed in a state spaced by a predetermined distance from the hopper 6, as in the case of curved surfaces 15 are located directly above the hopper 6, the paper leading end tip due to the rigidity of the sheet P _L The angle of entry into the support surface 18 becomes shallow, and the problem that the leading edge of the paper does not contact the leading edge support surface 18 is prevented.
[0033]
On the other hand, high postcard paper P _S of rigidity, as shown in FIG. 7, when it is deposited in the sheet feeding apparatus 1, because there can be as illustrated most deformed, the sheet front side in this order toward the sheet rear side The hopper 6 and the paper support 2a are supported. That is, the presence and the paper support 2a, by paper support 2 does not protrude from the inclined surface F, the paper P _S is substantially the same position as the portion corresponding to postcard size in low rigidity sheet P _L shown in FIG. 6 Can be taken. Accordingly therefore, high sheet P _S rigidity is, in the pressing release state of the hopper 6, without the whole sheet as shown in phantom from falling rearward side in FIG. 7, a state where the rigidity is stably deposited low It can take almost the same posture as the paper P _L that can be maintained, so that there is no difference in the entry angle to the separation pad 7. Therefore, there is no fear that separation by rush angle difference to the separation pad 7 is uncertain, Similarly, the misalignment of the sheet P _S tip, there is no risk of separation is uncertain.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the paper support has a rigid postcard-sized recording material, for example, a postcard paper, in a state where the hopper is released from the pressed state. Since it is formed so as to be approximately the same as the posture corresponding to a postcard size such as low A4 plain paper, it is substantially a postcard size and a recording material having high rigidity, and larger than the postcard size. In addition, both the recording material with low rigidity and the recording material having the low rigidity can be deposited on the paper feeding device in an appropriate state by the same paper support, so that a normal paper feeding operation can be performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an ink jet printer according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a paper support according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the ink jet printer according to the present invention as viewed from the rear side.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating each component of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating each component of the paper feeding device according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating each component of the sheet feeding device according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating each component of the sheet feeding device according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper feeder 2, 2a Paper support 5 Paper feed roller 6 Hopper 7 Separation pad 15 Curved surface 18 Tip support surface P Paper P _S Postcard paper P _L A4 Plain paper

Claims (6)

A paper feed roller that feeds one sheet at a time to a recording unit that records the uppermost one of the recording materials to be deposited in an inclined state on the recording material;
The inclined state in which the front upper surface of the lowermost recording material in the inclined state is pressed against the paper feeding roller by pressing the front rear surface of the lowermost material toward the paper feeding roller. A hopper that supports the back side of the front side of the recording material;
A tip support surface that is disposed in the vicinity of the paper feed roller, supports the tip of the inclined recording material, and aligns the tip;
Arranged on the downstream side in the feeding direction of the recording material from the leading end support surface, and sandwiching the recording material with the paper feed roller, the highest one of the deposited recording materials is A separation pad for separating from the recording material of
A paper support for supporting the inclined recording material from the back,
When a plurality of recording materials larger than a postcard size and low in rigidity are deposited in an inclined state, the leading edge of the recording material is securely brought into contact with the leading edge support surface, and the leading edge of the recording material is supported by the leading edge. A load distribution support surface that is inclined so as to further lie on the back side of the recording material, to relieve the contact force when contacting the surface,
In the release state of the hopper, the posture of the recording material having a substantially postcard size and high rigidity is larger than the postcard size and the recording material having a low rigidity from the front end of the non-recording material to the substantially postcard size. It is formed to be substantially the same as the posture in the section reaching the position corresponding to the recording material rear end,
Paper support characterized by that. 2. The paper support according to claim 1, wherein the load distribution support surface is formed by a curved surface that protrudes upward. 3. The paper support according to claim 1, wherein the paper support is configured to be removable from the paper feeding device. The paper support according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the whole is integrally formed by resin molding. A paper feeding device comprising the paper support according to claim 1. A recording apparatus comprising the paper support according to claim 1.

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