JPH0122171B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine, and more particularly to an improvement in a paper feeding device in which a bottom plate in a recording paper cassette is flipped up by a flip-up member.

As is well known, recent electrophotographic copying machines and the like use a number of electronic elements such as microcomputers that operate at relatively low voltages.

By the way, when an electrophotographic copying machine is operated in an environment with low humidity, since both the recording paper cassette and the recording paper are made of electronic insulating material, they are charged with a considerable amount of static electricity due to friction caused by the paper feeding operation. Therefore, when the bottom plate of the recording paper cassette is flipped up by the flip-up member, this static electricity momentarily escapes to the machine body through the flip-up member, and the instantaneous current at the time of discharge causes the electronic elements to malfunction. There are cases.

In conventional paper feeding devices, the bottom plate of the recording paper cassette comes into impactful contact with the flip-up member that rises rapidly due to the force of a spring or the like, and thus a contact sound is generated between the flip-up members. Particularly, this contact sound becomes an unpleasant noise in a paper feeder in which the bottom plate of the recording paper cassette is thrown up every time the paper is fed.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve all at once the malfunction of electronic elements caused by electrostatic discharge as described above and the abnormal sound when the bottom plate starts to flip up. A recording paper cassette 2 containing a conductive bottom plate 5 that can be placed in
and a paper feed tray 3 to which the recording paper cassette 2 can be attached and which has a conductive flip-up member 5 for flipping up the bottom plate 5 of the recording paper cassette 2. It is proposed that the contact surface component between the flip-up member 5 and the roller 8 is made of a conductive resin material having elasticity and electrical resistance.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a paper feeder according to the present invention, and the body, designated as a whole by reference numeral 1, is provided with a paper feed tray 3 on which a recording paper cassette 2 can be mounted. The recording paper cassette 2 houses an electrically conductive bottom plate 4 on which a plurality of recording papers X can be stacked, and this bottom plate 4 is connected to a flip-up member 5, the details of which will be described later.
The paper is flipped up toward the paper feed unit 6. The paper feed unit 6 has an endless belt 6a that pulls out the recording paper X from the recording paper cassette 2, and the recording paper X transported by the endless belt 6a is separated by a peeling member 6b that is pressed against the surface of the endless belt 6a. They are taken out one by one.

The flip-up member 5 has its base pivoted on the support shaft 7 of the paper feed tray 3, and its tip portion is made of a circumferential surface made of a conductive resin material (for example, conductive rubber) that has elasticity and electrical resistance. The engaged roller 8 is supported. That is, this engagement roller 8
A shaft cylinder 8a rotatably fitted to the central shaft 5a of
and a conductive rubber layer 8 laminated on the outer surface of this shaft cylinder 8a.
It is composed of b. In the illustrated embodiment, the contact surface of the engagement roller 8 is made of a conductive rubber layer, but according to the present invention, the engagement roller is made of a metal roller, and the bottom plate 4 with which the engagement roller comes into contact is made of a metal roller. A conductive rubber sheet may be attached to a part of the board.

Since the embodiment described above has the above structure, the bottom plate 4 of the recording paper cassette 2 is attached to the flip-up member 5.
Even if the flip-up member 5 rises rapidly when it is flipped up, the impact force is alleviated by the deformation of the conductive rubber layer 8b of the engagement roller 8, and the generation of contact noise between the bottom plate 4 and the flip-up member 5 is prevented. be done. At the same time, the electrical charges in the recording paper cassette 2 are discharged to the machine body 1 through the bottom plate 4, engagement roller 8, and flip-up member 5, but the conductive rubber layer of the flip-up member 5 has electrical resistance. Therefore, this discharge phenomenon progresses gradually, and there is no risk of causing disturbance to electronic devices.

As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a paper feeding device that has a simple structure, reduces the contact noise of the flip-up member, and prevents malfunctions of electronic elements that cause electrostatic discharge in the recording paper cassette.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a paper feeding device according to the present invention. 2... Recording paper cassette, 3... Paper feed stand, 4...
Bottom plate, 5... flip-up member, 8... engagement roller,
8b...Conductive rubber layer (of the engagement roller).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A recording paper cassette containing a conductive bottom plate that can hold a plurality of sheets of recording paper in a stacked state; In a paper feeding device equipped with a paper feed table having a conductive flip-up member for flipping up, a contact surface component between the bottom plate and the flip-up member is formed by a roller made of a conductive resin material having elasticity and electrical resistance. A paper feeding device characterized by comprising: