JP3947910B2 - Paper support and paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a paper support that constitutes a part of an auto seed feeder in a recording apparatus such as a printer, and a paper feeding apparatus including the paper support.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When recording on sheet paper in a recording device such as a printer, a plurality of sheet papers are stacked in advance in a hopper, and the sheet paper is separated from the hopper one by one by rotation of the paper feed roller. The method of sending this to the side is taken.
[0003]
A connected part provided on the upper end side of the hopper so that the upper end (rear end) side of the normal hopper is not bent backward when a relatively long sheet such as A4 size or A3 size is set. Paper support is to be connected to. However, such a paper support is often made of a plastic material, and its surface is relatively smooth. Therefore, when the remaining number of cut sheets stacked on the hopper decreases, All cut sheets may be sent to the recording head side at once.
[0004]
Such a multiple paper feed phenomenon occurs when the friction coefficient between the paper feed roller and the cut paper, the friction coefficient between the cut paper and the paper support, and the friction coefficient between the cut papers are set in this order. Although it does not occur originally, some types of single-cut paper used in recent years do not always have such a friction coefficient relationship, which may cause a problem of multiple paper feeding.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide a paper support and a paper feeding device for reliably preventing multiple paper feeding when the number of paper sheets left in a hopper is reduced regardless of the type of paper. It is in.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the paper support according to claim 1 of the present invention is configured such that the recording materials are stacked and stacked, and the surface of the rotating roller is rubbed against the uppermost recording material of the stacked recording materials. A paper support that can be attached to a sheet feeding device having a mechanism for feeding the uppermost recording material by contact, and supports the upper end side of the stacked recording materials from below, the paper support Includes a friction member on at least a part of a contact surface with the stacked recording material, and the presence of the friction member causes a friction coefficient between the surface of the roller and the recording material, and the recording target. The friction coefficient between the material and the paper support and the friction coefficient between the recording materials are reduced in this order regardless of the type of the recording material, and the friction member is attached to the paper feeding device. For a recording material of all the sizes that are supposed to be fed, it is provided at a common position on the paper support that can come into contact with the recording material, and the paper support has a bent portion that bends backward. The friction member is provided across the bent portion, and the position of the friction member on the paper support is such that the paper support supports the recording material on the upstream side and the downstream side of the friction member. It is a position where the stacked recording materials are sent to the downstream side, and is separated from the roller on the upstream side in the paper feeding direction with respect to the position of the roller, and is provided at the same position in the width direction of the paper support. It is characterized by being.
[0007]
According to the present invention, due to the presence of the friction member, the friction coefficient between the recording material and the paper support is always larger than the friction coefficient between the recording materials regardless of the type of the recording material. Therefore, even when there is little remaining recording material stacked, when the rotating roller comes into contact with the recording material positioned at the top, the recording material positioned below the top recording material. Can be reliably prevented from being conveyed together. Further, since the friction coefficient between the surface of the roller and the recording material is larger than the friction coefficient between the recording material and the paper support, even when the remaining recording material is one sheet, This recording material can be reliably sent out.
According to the present invention, one friction member can effectively act on all types of recording materials corresponding to the paper feeding device.
Further, according to the present invention, the recording material is bent backward along the bent portion. At this time, the load of the paper support is applied most to the bent portion, so that the recording material can be surely connected to the friction member. A frictional force can be generated.
[0008]
The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the paper support described in claim 1, the friction member is made of a cork material.
According to the present invention, the friction coefficient between the surface of the roller and the recording material, the friction coefficient between the recording material and the paper support, and the friction coefficient between the recording materials are related to the type of the recording material. However, the relationship of decreasing in this order can be easily satisfied.
[0010]
The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in the paper support described in claim 1 or 2, the friction member is affixed on the paper support. According to the present invention, since it can be attached to an existing paper support later, the existing paper support can be used effectively.
[0011]
Further, in the invention according to claim 4 of the present application, in the paper support described in any one of claims 1 to 3, the friction member has the load of the recording material most applied to the paper support. It is provided in the location. According to the present invention, since the frictional force increases in proportion to the load applied thereto, the frictional force can be reliably generated between the recording material and the paper support.
[0013]
Further, the paper feeding device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is capable of stacking a paper feeding roller and a plurality of recording materials, the lower end side of the paper feeding device facing the paper feeding roller, A hopper capable of moving the lower end of the recording material toward and away from the paper feeding roller, and the surface of the rotating paper feeding roller is the uppermost recording material of the recording material stacked on the hopper. A paper feeding device configured to feed a recording material by frictional contact, and is mounted on a mounting portion on an upper end side of the hopper of the paper feeding device, and the stacked recording material is lowered. A paper support supported from the side is provided, and the paper support is the paper support according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
[0014]
According to the paper feeding device of the present invention, as in the first aspect of the invention, due to the presence of the friction member, the recording material and the recording material are more than the friction coefficient between the recording materials regardless of the type of the recording material. The friction coefficient between the paper support and the paper support is always larger, so even if there is little remaining recording material stacked, when the rotating roller contacts the recording material located at the top, the uppermost recording material It is possible to reliably prevent the recording material located on the lower side from being conveyed together.
[0015]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the fifth aspect, a friction member is provided on at least a part of a surface where the hopper comes into contact with the recording material. It is a feature.
According to the present invention, since the frictional force between the lowest recording material and the paper support or the hopper acts at two or more locations in the direction in which the recording material is fed, A stable recording material feeding operation is realized.
[0016]
Further, in the invention according to claim 7 of the present application, in the sheet feeding device according to claim 6, when the hopper is moved near the lower end of the hopper so as to approach the sheet feeding roller, The friction member is provided at a position corresponding to a position where the paper feed roller contacts the recording material.
According to the present invention, since the load applied to the recording material is larger than the other portion at the position where the paper feed roller contacts the recording material, a stronger frictional force can be generated between the friction members.
[0017]
A recording apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention includes the paper support according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus in which troubles such as jamming due to overlapping paper feeding that all the remaining recording materials are sent out when the number of stacked recording materials is small can be provided.
[0018]
A recording apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention includes the paper feeding apparatus according to any one of the fifth to seventh aspects. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus in which troubles such as jamming due to overlapping paper feeding that all the remaining recording materials are sent out when the number of stacked recording materials is small can be provided.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a recording apparatus 1 having a sheet feeding device 2 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the recording apparatus 1. FIG. 1 shows the recording apparatus with the main body cover removed. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the paper support according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a side view of the paper support, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the hopper.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 1, a recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a recording unit (printer main body) 3, a paper feeding device 2 provided at an upper rear portion of the recording unit 3, and a discharge formed in front of the recording unit 3. And a paper section 5.
[0021]
The paper feeding device 2 is provided with a hopper 11 for stacking a plurality of sheets P. A paper support 9 for supporting an upper portion of the sheet P is detachably attached to a connected portion on the upper end side of the hopper 11. It is connected to the. In addition, the paper support 9 may not be detachable but may be attached so as to be able to appear and collapse or to be folded. The hopper 11 is provided with an edge guide 10 for regulating the side edge of the paper P so as to be slidable in the width direction of the hopper.
[0022]
A paper feed roller 13 is provided at an opposed position above the lower end of the hopper 11. The hopper 11 is moved upward (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2) by a cam mechanism (not shown) to lift the vicinity of the front end of the paper P stacked on the hopper 11 to a position where it can contact the paper feed roller 13. do. The paper feed roller 13 is provided with a friction member in order to improve grip performance, and is composed of a flat portion 13a and an arc portion 13b. When the hopper 11 lifts the leading edge of the paper P, the paper feed roller 13 rotates clockwise in FIG. 2 so that the surface of the arc portion 13b is rubbed against the surface of the paper P positioned at the top. In contact with each other, several sheets of paper P are sent forward from the top to the top.
[0023]
When several sheets of paper P are sent out by the action of the paper feed roller 13, only the uppermost paper P is fed by the action of a separation pad (not shown) provided at a position facing the paper feed roller 13. The paper that is driven forward by the driving force of the paper roller 13 and left on the separation pad side is returned to the hopper 11 side by a return device (not shown).
[0024]
The fed paper P reaches the paper feed roller 17 where it is fed to the print head 19 located downstream of the paper feed roller 17 while receiving a precise paper feed operation in the printing process.
[0025]
The print head 19 is mounted on a carriage 21, and the carriage 21 can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction. A platen 23 is provided at a position facing the print head 19, and the platen 23 serves to support the paper P from below when printing on the paper P by the print head 19. The distance between the print head 19 and the platen 23 can be adjusted as appropriate according to the thickness of the paper P, so that the paper P can be printed on the platen 23 smoothly while performing high-quality printing. ing. The paper P printed by the print head 19 is sequentially discharged by a paper discharge roller 25 provided in the paper discharge unit 5.
[0026]
The recording apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied has a configuration as outlined above, and the characteristic configuration of the present invention will be specifically described below.
[0027]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a paper support 9 to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the paper support 9. As shown in FIG. 3, a friction member 27 is stuck on the upper surface of the paper support 9. The friction member 27 is for increasing the coefficient of friction between the paper P supported by the paper support 9 and the paper support 9. The presence of the friction member 27 can surely increase the friction coefficient between the paper P and the paper support 9 as compared with the friction coefficient between the papers P. Therefore, the paper P remaining on the paper support 9 can be obtained. When there are several sheets, it is possible to prevent the sheet feed roller 13 from holding and transporting these several sheets of paper P at a time.
[0028]
Further, in order to reliably convey the remaining one sheet P remaining on the paper support 9, the friction coefficient between the friction member 27 and the back surface of the sheet P is the same as the surface of the arc portion 13 b of the sheet feeding roller 13. It is set smaller than the coefficient of friction with the front surface of the paper P.
[0029]
An example of the friction member 27 that can set an appropriate friction coefficient with the paper P as described above can be a cork material. Of course, in addition to the cork material, various friction members can be selected as long as the appropriate friction coefficient is set as described above.
[0030]
Next, the position where the friction member 27 is provided will be described. Even when the size of the paper P changes, the friction member 27 preferably acts on all papers that are supposed to be fed in the paper feeding device. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the friction member 27 is in contact with the recording material at a common position on the paper support, that is, all the sheets are in contact with the paper support 9 for recording materials of all sizes. It is preferably provided on the printing start side (0 digit side, that is, the right side in FIG. 3) of the print head 19. Further, it is preferable that the friction member 27 is provided at a position where the most pressing force is applied between the paper support 9 and the paper P in contact with the paper support 9 when the paper feed roller 13 conveys the paper P downstream. That is, the position of the friction member 27 on the paper support 9 may be determined in accordance with the position of the paper feed roller 13.
[0031]
However, the position where the friction member 27 is provided is not limited to the above position. If the feed roller 13 can prevent the remaining several sheets of paper P from being conveyed at one time, the friction member 27 can be frictional. The position where the member 27 is provided is not limited. In addition, the size of the friction member 27 and the number of the friction members 27 can be appropriately set so as to avoid the multiple paper feeding phenomenon.
[0032]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the paper support 9 can be formed with a bent portion 29 bent backward in a “<” shape at a certain distance from the end portion of the hopper 11. In the present embodiment, the hopper 11 is bent backward by 10 degrees at 65 mm from the upper end. As a result, it is possible to prevent the collapse of the load due to the weight of the large sheet, and the leading end of the sheet above the bent portion 29 is warped, making it easy to maintain the angle of entry to the separation pad within an appropriate range. .
[0033]
When the bent portion 29 is formed on the paper support 9, the friction member 27 can be attached so as to straddle the bent portion 29. Since the load of the paper P is concentrated on the bent portion 29, by providing the friction member 27 at such a position, a frictional force is surely generated between the friction member 27 and the paper P, and the multiple paper feeding phenomenon described above. Can be efficiently avoided. In the present embodiment, when the bent portion 29 is formed on the paper support 9, the provision of the friction member 27 so as to straddle the bent portion 29 is not limited, and even if the bent portion 29 is formed. The friction member 27 may be provided at a position other than the bent portion 29.
[0034]
Further, the friction member 27 can be additionally provided in the hopper 11 in addition to the paper support 9. When the friction member 27 is provided in the hopper 11, as shown in FIG. 5, when the hopper 11 moves near the lower end of the edge guide 10 in the hopper 11 so as to approach the paper feed roller 13, Although it is preferable to provide the paper roller 13 at a position corresponding to the location where the paper roller 13 contacts the paper P, it may be provided at another location.
[0035]
Thus, by providing the friction member 27 on the hopper 11 in addition to the paper support 9, the frictional force between the paper support 9 or the hopper 11 increases at both the front end side and the center to the rear end side of the paper P. Therefore, the multiple paper feeding phenomenon can be prevented more reliably and a stable paper feeding operation can be realized.
[0036]
In all the drawings according to the above embodiment, the bent portion 29 is formed in the paper support 9, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the paper support 9 in which the bent portion is not formed.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, due to the presence of the friction member, the friction coefficient between the recording material and the paper support is always larger than the friction coefficient between the recording materials regardless of the type of the recording material. Therefore, even when there is little remaining recording material stacked, when the rotating roller comes into contact with the recording material located at the top, the recording material located below the top recording material. Can be reliably prevented from being conveyed together. In addition, since the friction coefficient between the roller surface and the recording material is larger than the friction coefficient between the recording material and the paper support, even when the remaining recording material is one sheet, This recording material can be reliably sent out.
[0038]
Further, if a friction member is provided on at least a part of the surface where the hopper comes into contact with the recording material, the friction force between the lowest recording material and the paper support or the hopper is 2 in the direction in which the recording material is sent out. Since the operation is performed at more than one place, in addition to the prevention of the duplicate paper feeding, a more stable recording material feeding operation is realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus including a paper feeding device to which a paper support according to the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the recording apparatus.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a paper support according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the paper support.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a hopper according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording device 2 Paper feeder 3 Printer main body 5 Paper discharge part 9 Paper support 10 Edge guide 11 Hopper 13 Paper feed roller 13a Flat part 13b Arc part 17 Paper feed roller 19 Print head 21 Carriage 23 Platen 25 Paper discharge roller 27 Friction member 29 Bent part P Paper

Claims (9)

A paper feed having a mechanism in which the recording materials are stacked and stacked, and the surface of the rotating roller is brought into frictional contact with the uppermost recording material of the stacked recording materials to feed the uppermost recording material. A paper support that can be attached to the apparatus and supports the upper end side of the stacked recording materials from below;
The paper support includes a friction member on at least a part of a contact surface with the stacked recording material, and due to the presence of the friction member, a friction coefficient between the surface of the roller and the recording material, The friction coefficient between the recording material and the paper support and the friction coefficient between the recording materials are reduced in this order regardless of the type of the recording material,
The friction member is provided at a common position on a paper support that can come into contact with the recording material, with respect to the recording material of all sizes assumed as a paper feeding target in the paper feeding device,
The paper support includes a bent portion that bends backward, and the friction member is provided across the bent portion,
The position of the friction member on the paper support is a position where the paper support can support the recording material on the upstream side and the downstream side of the friction member, and the stacked recording material is A paper support, wherein the paper support is provided so as to be separated from the roller on the upstream side in the paper feeding direction with respect to the position of the roller to be sent to the downstream side, and in accordance with the same position in the width direction of the paper support.   The paper support according to claim 1, wherein the friction member is made of a cork material.   The paper support according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the friction member is affixed on the paper support.   The paper support according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the friction member is provided at a place where a load of the recording material is most applied to the paper support. . A feed roller;
A plurality of recording materials can be stacked, and the lower end side is positioned to face the paper feed roller,
A hopper capable of moving the lower end of the stacked recording material toward and away from the paper feed roller,
A sheet feeding device configured to send out a recording material by frictional contact of a surface of the rotating sheet feeding roller with the uppermost recording material of the recording material stacked on the hopper,
A paper support that is mounted on a mounted portion that is an upper end side of the hopper of the paper feeding device and supports the stacked recording materials from below,
The paper support according to claim 1, wherein the paper support is the paper support according to claim 1.   6. The paper feeding device according to claim 5, wherein a friction member is provided on at least a part of a surface of the hopper that contacts the recording material.   7. The paper feeding device according to claim 6, wherein the paper feeding roller is in contact with a recording material when the hopper moves so as to approach the paper feeding roller near the lower end of the hopper. A paper feeding device characterized in that the friction member is provided at a corresponding position.   A recording apparatus comprising the paper support according to claim 1.   A recording apparatus comprising the paper feeding device according to claim 5.

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