JPH01214525A - Feeder for image forming machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve workability and to reduce defective feeding by providing a guide member projectable/sinkable with respect to a rotary feeding body thereby simplifying the mountability of a sheet member. CONSTITUTION:The side face Sb of many sheet members is arranged manually, then the sheet members S are pushed in along the surface 25a and a guide plate 29 until the sheet member S contact with a guide board 26b. Since the end section 29e is pressed by the weight of a press member 28 and the sheet member S, an elastic body 31 contracts to push down the projecting end section 29e to a height same as that of a sheet feed roller 27 projecting slightly from the surface 25a so as to contact the lowermost section Sa of the sheet member directly with the sheet feed roller 27 thus bringing out waiting state. The sheet feed roller 27 rotates upon turning ON of a switch to lead the sheet member S, sheet by sheet, from the lowermost section Sa through a sheet feed section between feed rollers 14, 14. Since the sheet feed roller 27 is made of such mate rial as having high friction against the sheet member S, the sheet member S can be fed reliably sheet by sheet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (a) Industrial Application Field The invention of B relates to a feeding section of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser printer, and particularly relates to a feeding section for feeding thick sheets such as envelopes. Regarding the sending device.

(b) Conventional technology In an image forming apparatus, sheet materials of a predetermined size such as print paper, copy paper, printing paper, etc. are stacked and stored in a cassette, etc., and loaded into the main body of the apparatus, Some devices have automatic sheet material feeding means that automatically feeds one sheet at a time, and manual feeding means that manually feeds sheet materials of any size from a manual feeding port. Further, there is also known a sheet material automatic feeding means provided in the manual feeding port so that the sheet material can be used for both manual feeding and automatic feeding.

A laser printer as a typical example of an image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 11, along with a paper feeding device using the above-mentioned feeding means. 2 and around the drum 2, there is a charge @l! 3. Known image forming processes such as a laser scanner unit 1-4 as an image information writing device, a developing mold 5, a transfer charger 6, and a cleaner 7 are provided.

A removable sheet material feeding cassette 8 is provided at the top of the apparatus main body 1, and sheet materials S of a predetermined size are loaded and housed in the cassette 8. Sheet material S from cassette 8
The automatic feeding means is configured such that the fed sheet material S is guided between a pair of registration rollers 11, 11 through a sheet path 10 by an automatic feeding roller 9 that automatically feeds out one sheet at a time. ing.

On the other hand, in the manual feeding means composed of the manual feeding tray 12, the guide bar 13, and the manual feeding cola 1.4, 14, the sheet material S to be fed is
2 and the guide bar 13, along the upper surface of the tray 12, insert it between the manual feed rollers 14, 14, and based on the rotation of the rollers 14, 14, The sheet material S is guided through a sheet path 15 between a pair of registration rollers 11, 11.

The sheet material S guided between the registration roller pair 11, 1.1 through the sheet path 10 by the rotation of the feeding rollers 9 and 14 is the registration roller pair J].

11, the photosensitive drum 2 is synchronized with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 2, and is fed between the photosensitive drum 2 and the transfer charger 6 at a predetermined timing. By the transfer charger 6, the developed image developed on the photosensitive drum 2 by the developer N5 is transferred onto the sheet I/material S uniformly charged by the charger 3. The sheet material S to which the image has been transferred is then transferred to the sheet pass 16.
The sheet is guided from there to a fixing device 17, where it is fixed, and sent out into a sheet path 18.

Reference numeral 21 represents a first ejection tray for ejecting and collecting the sheet materials S that have passed through the sheet path 16, the fixing device 17, and the sheet path 18, and 22 represents a second ejection tray. The second discharge tray 22 can be opened and closed with respect to the apparatus main body 1 around a support shaft 23 . That is, when the second ejection tray 22 is closed, the sheet material S that has passed through the sheet path 18 passes between the ejection rollers 19 and 19, and is placed on the first ejection tray 21 with the image surface facing downward, so-called. It is ejected face down. In addition, the second output tray 22 is in an open state (when the closed state is set as an upright position, the second output tray is laid down horizontally as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 11 and 12). 22' are discharge rollers 19', 19 integrally provided on the second discharge tray 22.
', the paper is discharged onto the 1-ray 2' 2a in a so-called face-up state with the image surface facing upward. Note that 20 is a guide member.

Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 12 and FIGS. 13 to 15, a description will be given of a sheet material automatic feeding means that is an improved version of the manual feeding means.

A sheet material supply feeder 24 is placed on the feeding port A formed by the feeding l/Reiko 2 and the guide member 13, and the sheet material S is loaded and stored on the feeding feeder 24. It is. The supply feeder 24 has a bottom part 25 and a side part 26, and the side plate 26a guides the side surface sb of the sheet material S, which has been aligned in advance by hand H, so that the sheet material S
The sheet material S is accommodated in contact with the lowermost part Sa of the bottom surface 25 and the surface 25a of the bottom surface 25. Further, a guide plate 26b is provided below the side plate 26a and the bottom surface 25 so as to form an acute angle with the bottom surface 25, and the sheet material S is fed uniformly by a paper feed roller 27 provided below the bottom surface 25. The sheets are fed from the feeding port A to the feeding rollers 14, 14. In order to improve the paper feeding performance, the paper feeding roller 27 is provided so as to protrude beyond the extension line of the surface 25a of the bottom surface 25, and the paper feeding roller 27 is positioned so as to protrude beyond the extension line of the surface 25a of the bottom surface 25. 2
A pressing member 28 like a weight is placed for the purpose of maintaining contact between 7 and the lowest portion Sa of the sheet material S.

←→ Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the improvement plan in which the supply feeder 24 is provided at the paper feed port A described above and the manual feeding means is used as an automatic feeding means, the sheet materials S are loaded and stored in the supply feeder 24. When the side surfaces sb are aligned by hand H and a large number of aligned sheet materials S are placed on the surface 25a of the bottom surface 25, the paper feed roller 27 provided below the bottom surface 25 is placed on an extension of the surface 25a. Since it protrudes beyond the line, the frictional force of the paper feed roller 27 causes some of the sheet materials S on the lowest Sa side to
' is stored in a state where it is caught on the paper feed roller 27 (FIG. 15). For this reason, the sheet material S placed on the surface 25a slides down toward the guide plate 26b, and its -side surfaces are aligned by the guide plate 26b, but some of the remaining sheet materials S at the bottom Sa are S' has wrinkles,
This may cause jams or paper feeding failures.

(B) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems. In the feeding device of the image forming apparatus, which is composed of a feeding roller that feeds the forming device, when loading the sheet material, the feeding device is configured to feed the sheet material to avoid contact between the feeding rotary body and the sheet material to be loaded. With respect to the feeding rotating body, the roller protrudes from the rotating body so as to bring the feeding roller into contact with the loaded sheet materials when feeding the sheet material.
It is characterized by the provision of a guide member that can protrude and sink.

Further, a detection body for detecting the operation of the guide member is provided,
It may be configured to detect the presence or absence of sheet materials in the stacking storage section.

Furthermore, a feeding pressurizing member may be provided as a contact means between the seams 1 to the material and the feeding rotary body, and a notch may be provided in the feeding pressurizing member.

(E) Function Based on the above-described configuration, when storing sheet materials in the paper feeder, the sheet materials slide down along the guide member and are neatly stored and placed without coming into contact with the paper feed roller. and,
By placing the feeding pressure member on the stored sheet material, the guide member protruding above the feeding rotating body is lowered,
The lowest part of the sheet material is brought into direct contact with the feeding rotor.

When a sheet material is present between the feeding rotary body and the feeding pressure member, the guide member acts as a detection body that confirms and detects the presence or absence of the sheet material.

(F) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Note that the same parts as those described above will be described with the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 1 includes a sheet material supply feeder (hereinafter referred to as a stack storage section) 24 attached to a paper feed tray 12 and a guide bar 13, and a sheet material supply feeder (hereinafter referred to as a stack storage section) 24 attached to a paper feed tray 12 and a guide bar 13, and a sheet material supply feeder (hereinafter referred to as a stack storage section) 24, It is configured to feed the sheet material S one by one into the apparatus main body 1 through.

The loading storage section 24 has a bottom surface 25 and a guide plate 26b.
A paper feed roller 27 is supported by a shaft 27a below the bottom surface 25, so that the paper feed roller 27 slightly protrudes from the surface 25a. This paper feed roller 27 is a feed roller 14 loaded in the main body 1 of the apparatus.
, registration roller 11, photosensitive drum 2, discharge roller 19
One end of the guide plate 29 is fixed to the bottom surface 25 with a pin 30 on the left and right sides of the paper feed roller 27, and at the appropriate position of the guide plate 29, The guide member is biased by an elastic body 31 between the bottom surface 25 and the guide plate l-29 so that the end portion 29e protrudes slightly more than the paper feed roller 27 which protrudes somewhat from the surface 25a. (Fig. 2, Fig. 3).In addition, side plates 26 are provided on both sides of the bottom surface 25.
A may be provided and the negative side plate 26a may be formed to be slidable on the surface 25a, so that it can be adjusted according to the width of the sheet material S (FIG. 1). Furthermore, the bottom surface 2
The notch 34 at 5 is used for positioning when attaching to the paper feed tray 12.

Since this embodiment has the above-described configuration, the side surfaces sb of a large number of sheet materials S are aligned by hand, and the sheets I and I are aligned on the guide plate 26b along the surface 25a and the guide plate 29.
Push in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4 until the material S contacts (Fig. 4). In this case, the bottom surface 25 and the guide plate 29
Since a material with low frictional resistance is used for the sheet material S, it can be inserted until it sufficiently contacts the guide plate 26b, and the sheet material S that has contacted the guide plate 26b has a low frictional resistance on the guide plate 26b side. The suppressing member 2 is placed along the guide plate 26b.
8 in place. Then, pressure is applied to the end portion 29e by the weight of the suppressing member 28 and the sheet material S, so the elastic body 31 contracts, and the end portion 29e, which had been in a protruding state, is moved from the surface 29e.
Since the sheet material S is pushed down and settled to the same height as the paper feed roller 27 slightly protruding from the sheet material S,
and the paper feed roller 27 come into direct contact and enter a standby state (
Figure 5).

In this state, when a switch (not shown) is turned on, the paper feed roller 27 rotates, and the sheet material S at the bottom Sa is guided from the paper feed port A to the - sheet between the feed rollers 14, 14. The paper feed roller 27 is made of a rubber material that has a high frictional force against the sheet material S, so it reliably feeds the sheet material S one by one. Then, the sheet material S is fed by feeding rollers 14, 14 . , Sheetpass 15, Regis I
- It is sent between the photosensitive drum 2 and the transfer charging I#6 at a predetermined timing by the pair of rollers 11, 11. Also,
The photosensitive drum 2 rotates at a predetermined circumferential speed in the direction of arrow a in FIG. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to desired image information is formed on the surface. Next, the electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device 5, and a developed image to be transferred onto the sheet material S is formed on the photosensitive drum surface.

The sheet material S on which the image has been transferred continues to pass sheet pass 1.
6, the sheet is guided to a fixing device 17, where it is fixed, and then sent out into a sheet path 18, and further transferred to a first output tray 21 or a second output tray 22 by an output roller 19.
The desired image is transferred onto the sheet material S.

Thereafter, by the above-described operations, the loading is carried out in the loading storage section 24,
The images are transferred until the stored sheets 1 to S are used up,
Form an image.

=11- When the sheet material S picked and stored in the stacking storage section 24 runs out, the pressing member 28 is replaced by the paper feed roller 27, but by removing the pressing member 28, the guide plate 29 is moved by the restoring force of the elastic body 31. , it returns to its original position and the sheet material S
can be inserted into the loading storage section 24.

In addition, in this embodiment, the sheet material S was stored in the stacking storage section 24 in an almost vertical direction, but as shown in FIGS. The side plates 26a, 26a and the guide plate 36b are provided to form a substantially box shape, and the surface 2j is attached to the surface 25a of the bottom surface 25.
A paper feed roller 27 slightly protruding from the guide plate 27 is rotatably provided on a shaft 27a, and a guide plate 29 is supported by a pin 30 so that the end 29e protrudes higher than the protruding paper feed roller 27. A notch 34 is formed on the bottom surface 25 for positioning the sheet material S when it is attached to the main body 1, and the sheet material S is loaded in the loading storage section 24 in a substantially horizontal direction. It may also be configured to be placed.

With this configuration, each sheet material is reliably fed through the 35 paper passing ports.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, a sensor 32 is provided to detect when the end portion 29a of the guide plate 1/29 is at the position indicated by the broken line in the figure.
Notches 33, 33 are formed at positions facing the ends 29a, 29a of the sheets 9, 29, and when the sheet material S placed on the paper feed roller 27 and guide plate 29 runs out, the restoring force of the elastic body 31 is reduced. Then, when the end portions 29e of the guide plates 1 and 29 that are about to return to their original positions (solid line positions) are stored in these notches 33 and 33, and the sheet material S is no longer on the paper feed roller 27, , the end 29e of the guide plate 29 supported by the elastic body 31 is accommodated in the notch 33, and the movement of the guide plate 29 is sensed by the sensor 32 provided at the end 29a, thereby stopping the operation of the paper feeding device. , the image forming apparatus may be configured to notify that the sheets 1 to S have run out.

(G) Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, since a guide member is provided to avoid contact with the paper feed rotary body when stacking sheet materials, the paper feed with high frictional resistance is provided when replenishing sheets. It is possible to push the sheet into the rotating body without contacting it and insert it securely into the loading storage part, simplifying the loading of the sheet material and improving work efficiency, and also making it possible to easily insert the sheet into the loading container without making contact with the rotating body. By preventing defects such as crab wrinkles, feeding defects, jams, etc. can be significantly reduced.

Further, since the detection body for detecting the guide member is provided, it is possible to reliably check whether there is a sheet material in the sheet feeding section, although the structure is simple.

Further, since the feeding pressure member is provided with a spark, it is possible to prevent the guide member and the pressure member from coming into contact when the sheet material runs out in the sheet feeding section.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the entire image forming apparatus and paper feeding device, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the sheet feeding section in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view thereof, and Fig. 4 is the sheet material. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the state at the time of insertion, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing the state in which the suppressing member is placed on the inserted sheet material. FIG. 6 is a side view showing the suppression member placed on the sheet material in the second embodiment, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the loading storage section, and FIG. 8 is a third embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a side view showing the main parts of the paper feed device in the embodiment, and shows the relationship between the sheet material, the pressure member, the paper feed roller, and the guide plate when the pressure member is placed on the sheet 1 to material. It is a perspective view, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 9, showing the state when there is no sheet material. Further, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the entire image forming apparatus in the case of manual feeding of sheet material, FIG. FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of the sheet 1 and the feeding section, FIG. 14 is a side view showing a state in which sheet materials are loaded, and FIG. 15 is a side view showing a state in which sheet materials are loaded. 8... Sheet material, 24... Loading storage section, 27
... Feeding rotary body (paper feeding roller), 28, Pressure member
, 29. Guide plate, 32. Sensor,
33...notch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A loading storage section for loading sheet materials of a predetermined size;
In a feeding device of an image forming apparatus that includes a feeding roller that feeds the sheet material to the image forming apparatus, when the sheet material is loaded, contact between the feeding rotary body and the sheet material to be stacked is prevented. The roller protrudes from the feeding rotary body in such a way as to avoid such a problem, and is capable of protruding and sinking relative to the feeding rotary body so as to bring the feeding roller into contact with the loaded sheet material when the sheet material is fed. A feeding device for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a guide member is provided. 2. A feeding device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detection body for detecting the operation of the guide member, and configured to detect the presence or absence of sheet material in the stacking storage section. 3. As a contact means between the sheet material and the feeding rotary body,
A paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a feeding pressure member and a notch provided in the feeding pressure member.