JPH01275333A - Paper feed table - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily move guides according to the width of a sheet by providing slide shafts in such a manner as to pass through slide holes formed on a support table on the lower surface of guides. CONSTITUTION:Two slide shafts 4 are provided on the lower surface of a guide 2 in such a manner as to pass through a slide hole 3. Coiled springs 14 are respectively disposed between a slide collar 13 and a washer 6 and between a slide collar and an arm 8. Spring force of the coiled springs 14 produces moderate frictional force between a sliding felt 12 on the lower surface of the guide 2 and a support table 1 and between the support table 1 and a flange portion 13a of the elide collar 13, which is previously determined in such a manner that slide force required for moving the guide 2 amounts to a desired value. The guide 2 is manually moved along the slide hole 3 in order to adjust the guide 2 to the position corresponding to the width of a sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed tray for feeding sheets such as original documents and recording paper in facsimiles, copying machines, and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a document feed tray or a recording paper feed tray in a facsimile copying machine or the like has been provided with a means for changing the guide for guiding the side edge of a sheet such as a document or recording paper in accordance with the width of the sheet. are widely used. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing one example, in which 1 is a support base on which a plurality of sheets are placed, 2 is a pair of guides held on the support base 1, and 3 is a slide formed on the support base. It's a hole.

On the bottom surface of each guide 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,
Two slide shafts 4 passing through the slide holes 3 are provided, and each slide shaft 4 has a slide collar 5 having a flange portion 5a having a diameter larger than the width of the slide hole 3 and a washer 6.
and is attached by screws 7, arms 8 and screws 9. Furthermore, the left and right arms 8, 8 are connected to an arm 11 rotatably held around a support shaft 10 at the center. With this configuration, the left and right guides 2.2 can be moved in conjunction with each other to move along the slide hole 3, and positioning can be performed in accordance with the width of various sheets. Note that 12 in FIG. 4 is a sliding felt placed on the lower surface of the guide 2.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the paper feed tray having the conventional structure described above, the guide position easily moves due to vibrations or external forces when sheets are fed, and the sheet on the support tray is easily moved. There is a problem in that the state of the paper becomes unstable, which may cause problems on the sheet running surface, such as skewing or jamming of the fed sheets.

The above problem occurs for the following reasons. That is, in the mechanism shown in FIG. 4, when the slide collar 5 is fixed to the slide shaft 4 with the screws 7.9, there is normally a slight clearance between the lower surface of the support base 1 and the seventh rank portion 5a of the slide collar 5. As a result, the guide 2 moves lightly, causing the above-mentioned problem.

To prevent this, the dimensions of each component are determined so that when the slide collar 5 is fixed to the slide shaft 4, the 7279 portion 5a is pressed against the lower surface of the support base 1 with a predetermined contact force, and the guide is moved. It may be possible to increase the necessary sliding force to the extent possible, but in this case, slight errors in the dimensional accuracy of each component will cause large fluctuations in the contact force between the flange portion 5a of the slide collar 5 and the support base 1. Therefore, an extremely large force is required to move the guide 2, or the guide is too loose, causing the guide to move carelessly, making it impossible to produce a stable product.

Furthermore, as methods for positioning the guide according to the sheet width and then fixing it in that position, there are currently known methods such as tightening screws or fixing methods using uneven parts of resin molded products. There were problems such as poor performance and limitations on component materials.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to easily move the guide according to the sheet width, and it is possible to move the guide without worrying about the material of the parts, dimensional accuracy, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feed tray that can easily adjust the sliding force to a desired value.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides the following on the lower surface of the guide:
A slide shaft is provided so as to pass through a slide hole formed in the support base, and a slide collar that can come into contact with the lower surface of the support base is movably held on the slide shaft, and the guide and the slide collar are connected by springs to the support base. It is configured to be pressed against the upper and lower surfaces.

Operation The present invention has the above-described structure, so that the spring presses the guide and the slide collar against the upper and lower surfaces of the support base, and therefore,
The guide and slide collar contact the support base with a contact pressure determined by the spring force of the spring, giving frictional resistance to the guide. Since the spring force of this spring does not change much with some dimensional accuracy errors, the spring force remains constant even if the processing accuracy of each part varies to some extent. Therefore, a constant frictional resistance can always be applied to the guide, and the sliding force required to move the guide can be easily kept constant. By setting this sliding force to a value that prevents the guide from easily moving due to vibration or external force, the guide can be prevented from moving during paper feeding, and stable sheet feeding can be achieved.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the paper feed tray according to the embodiment of the present invention, the same parts as those in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The appearance of the paper feed table according to the embodiment of the present invention is similar to that of the conventional example shown in FIG.
and a pair of guides 2 for guiding the side edges of the sheet, and the support base 1 is formed with a slide hole in a direction intersecting the feeding direction of the sheet.

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.
Two slide shafts 4 are provided on the lower surface of the guide 2 so as to pass through the slide holes 3. This slide shaft 4
The flange portion 13a has a diameter larger than the width of the slide hole 3.
A slide collar 13 consisting of a small diameter portion 13b located in the slide hole 3 is movably held, and 2
A washer 6 or an arm 8 is attached to each end of the book slide shaft 4 by a screw 7.9. Furthermore, coil springs 14 are provided between the slide collar 13, washer 6, and arm 8, respectively. Furthermore, a slide fer H2 having a constant friction coefficient is arranged between the support base l and the guide 2. Here, the coil spring 14 is compressed when assembled in the state shown in FIG. 4, the slide felt 12 on the lower surface of the guide 2 is pressed against the upper surface of the support base 1. The spring force of the coil spring 4 generates an appropriate frictional force between the slide felt 12 on the lower surface of the guide 2 and the support base 1, and between the support base 1 and the flange portion 13a of the slide collar 13, and The sliding force required to move 2 is predetermined to a desired value. Here, the desired sliding force is a value such that when the guide 2 is moved by hand, it moves relatively lightly, but after the hand is released, the guide 2 does not move due to vibration or other external force. . The arm 8 attached to the lower end of one of the slide shafts 4 is connected to the central arm 11, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, so that the left and right guides 2 are interlocked.

In the paper feed tray configured as described above, in order to adjust the guide 2 to a position corresponding to the width of the sheet to be fed, the guide 2 may be manually moved along the slide hole 3. At this time, the slide felt 12 on the lower surface of the guide 2 and the flange portion 13a of the slide collar 13 sandwich the support base 1 with contact pressure determined by the spring force of the coil spring 14, and the guide 2
However, as mentioned above, this frictional resistance, that is, the sliding force is not very strong, so the guide can be easily moved.

In addition, after adjusting the guide, this frictional resistance fixes the guide 2 to the support base 1, so even if vibration occurs during paper feeding or if the guide is carelessly touched, the guide will not move. Sheets can be fed stably. Here, the sliding force for moving the guide 2 is the coil spring 1
4, the desired sliding force can be easily obtained by appropriately designing the coil spring 14. In addition, the spring force of the coil spring 14 is
Even if there is only a slight change in the length of the coil spring, it will hardly change, so the slide shaft 4, slide collar 13,
A constant spring force can be obtained even if the machining precision of the washer 6 and the like is somewhat rough. In other words, there is no need to increase the machining precision of each component, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a slide shaft on the lower surface of the guide so as to pass through the slide hole formed in the support base, and allows the slide collar to be movably held on the slide shaft. In addition, since the guide and the slide collar are configured to be pressed against the upper and lower surfaces of the support base by the spring, the slide collar and the guide are pressed against the support base with a contact pressure determined by the spring force of the spring, thereby reducing frictional resistance against movement of the guide. This makes it possible to apply the desired sliding force to the guide without increasing the processing precision of each part, preventing the guide from moving during sheet feeding, and ensuring stable sheet feeding. It has the effect of being able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a paper feed tray according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a schematic perspective view showing a general paper feed tray, FIG. 3 is a bottom view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV--■ in FIG. 3. 1...Support stand, 2...Guide, 3...Slide hole, 4...Slide shaft, 6...Washer, 7...
Screw, 8... Arm, 9... Screw, 10... Support shaft, 11... Arm, 12... Slide felt,
13... Slide collar, 13a... Flange part,
13b... Small diameter portion, 14... Coil spring. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person Figure 3 of 2! Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] A support base on which a sheet to be fed is placed, and a guide disposed on the support base to guide the side edge of the sheet, and the support base slides in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction of the sheet. a slide shaft having a hole and through which the guide passes through the slide groove; a slide collar movably held on the slide shaft and capable of contacting the lower surface of the support base; and the guide and the slide collar respectively connected to the support base. A paper feed stand characterized by having a spring that presses against the upper and lower surfaces of the paper feed stand.