JPH0228424A - Multi-sheet feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the proper feed of a transfer material to an image formation device at all times any providing a pair of right and left guide plates for restricting the width and position of the transfer material and a guide roller for pressing the leading corners of the transfer material to the aforesaid guide plates. CONSTITUTION:Transfer materials are stacked on a placement seat 50 and a pair of guide plates 55 is moved symmetrically with a handle 63, depending upon the sizes of the transfer materials, thereby restricting the position of the transfer materials. Then, when a control circuit is turned on, the placement seat 50 moves up on the turn of a sector gear shaft 18 due to the detected signal of a transfer material detecting part material 100. When the uppermost transfer material comes to press a guide roller 82 fitted to the leading front of the guide plates 55 and reaches the predetermined position, a photoelectric switch is turned off on the turn of an actuator 71, thereby stopping the placement seat 50. Thereafter, an oscillation fixture 32 is turned left on a feed signal and a feed roller 37 comes in contact with the uppermost transfer material. The materials are fed out one by one on the turn of the roller 37 and supplied to an image formation device while the stacked feed thereof is being prevented with the rotation of a takeup roller and the reverse rotation of a pressing roller 13. According to the aforesaid construction, the transfer materials can be fed smoothly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement in a paper feeding mechanism in a multi-sheet feeding device that accommodates a large amount of transfer material and is attached to an image forming apparatus.

[Background of the invention]

A multi-sheet feeder uses a built-in feed roller to press the stacked transfer materials and feed them sequentially from the top layer to the transfer material conveyance path of the image forming device. Since it is provided at a fixed position corresponding to the transfer material conveyance path, it is necessary that the top layer of the transfer material is always kept at a constant height even as paper feeding progresses.

In order to keep the top layer of transfer material constant, a mechanism is used that gradually raises the loading table on which the transfer material is loaded as paper feed progresses. There are two types of methods: a method in which the paper is raised by parallel movement, and a method in which the mounting table is tilted so that the paper feeding direction is higher and the mounting table is rotated and raised so that the angle of inclination increases as the amount of stacked paper is reduced. be.

However, the former method has a complicated mechanism because it moves the loading table up and down while maintaining balance, whereas the latter method has a relatively simple structure and high precision, so recently many multi-sheet feeders are using the latter method. A method of rotating the mounting table, such as Utility Model No. 58-3
The method disclosed in No. 0634, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-46941, etc. is adopted.

[The problem that the invention attempts to solve]

The transfer material on the mounting table is carried out and fed by the frictional force of the feed roller that presses the central part of the front end, but if the front corner is raised due to warping, it may be bent when being carried into the conveyance guide member. This may interfere with transportation and cause a jam.

As a result of solving this problem and improving the present invention, the front end of the transfer material on the mounting table is straightened into a flat shape, and a large number of sheets can be fed to the main body of the apparatus in a normal state. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Failure to solve the problem]

The above object is to provide a multi-sheet feeder that feeds transfer materials stacked on a tiltable mounting table attached to an image forming apparatus main body one by one, starting from the topmost layer of transfer material, to the apparatus main body. A multi-sheet feeder characterized in that a pair of left and right guide plates are provided to regulate the width and position, and a rotatable guide roller is attached to the guide plates to press the front corner of the transfer material in the feeding direction. achieved by the device.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, the multi-sheet feeder A of this embodiment is attached to the bottom of the image forming apparatus B using the space provided on the pedestal C, and can be freely switched together with the general paper feed cassette D. 1 to 5 show the main parts of the transfer material conveying function.

Figures 1 and 2 show the states of the drive system and transport system when the transfer material transport function is stopped, and Figures 4 and 5 show the states of the drive system and transport system when the transport function is operating. Further, FIG. 3 shows a part of the plane of FIG. 2.

Each member constituting the drive system is disposed on the outside of the main body of the multi-sheet feeder A (hereinafter simply referred to as the sheet feeder A), and when attached to the image forming apparatus B, the driving system receives the power inside the forming apparatus B. The drive is controlled by connecting to the system.

On the other hand, the conveyance system is disposed within the main body of the paper feeder A, and is transported into the image forming apparatus B by transporting the stored transfer materials one by one, starting from the uppermost layer, by the action of each member of the drive system to which they are connected. The paper is fed into the transfer material conveyance path.

In FIGS. 1 and 4, ■ is a gear pivoted on the side board forming the main body of the paper feeder A, and 2 is a gear passing through the side board and sandwiching the center line XX of the main body as shown in FIG. 3 is a windmill fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 2, and 4 is connected to the windmill 3 via a friction member. - With the gear set out, the gear 4 meshes with the gear l.

5 is a support shaft rotatably attached to the side board, 6A and 6B are cam plates with protrusions of respective shapes on the peripheral surface,
Reference numeral 6C denotes a cam plate having a fan-shaped notch on its peripheral surface, and these cam plates 6A, 6B, and 6C are integrated into a cam block 6 with a predetermined angular phase and fixed to the end of the support shaft 5.

A gear 7 is integrated with the cam block 6 via a friction member, and the gear 7 meshes with the gear 4.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a utility gear that meshes with the gear 4; 9, a rotating shaft mounted between the front and rear side boards; 10, a gear fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 9; It meshes with gear 8A.

11 is a claw 11A that engages with the wind turbine 3 and the cam plate 6A.
A locking member comprising a claw 11B that engages with a protrusion of 12
A locking member is provided with a claw 12A that engages with the wind turbine 3 and a contour that abuts against the protrusion of the cam plate 6B, and is rotatably attached to a common support shaft 13 and has respective torsion springs 14.
and 15 in the clockwise direction.

S is a solenoid that is energized according to the control timing of the drive system, and P is a plunger of the solenoid S that connects the locking member 11 via the relay member 16.

Reference numeral 17 denotes an elevating lever incorporating a swinging metal fitting for attaching a feed roller, which will be described later, and the elevating lever I7 has a contour that abuts against the cam plate 6C.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a rotating shaft mounted between the front and rear side boards, 19 a sector gear fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 18, 20 and 21 stepped gears, and the stepped gear 20 meshes with the sector gear 19. The gear 2OA and the secondary gear 21 are integrally formed with a small gear 21A that meshes with the stepped gear 20, respectively.

M is a motor that is energized according to the amount of transfer material accommodated, W is a worm attached to the shaft of the motor M, W-H is an ohmic gear paired with the ohm W, and 22 is the worm gear. The gear 22 is an integral gear and meshes with the stepped gear 21.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 5, 31 is a gear fixed to the rotating shaft 2 on the outer surface of the support fitting 2A, and 32 is a rotatable bracket with the rotating shaft 2 as a pivot. 33 is a rotating shaft rotatably supported at the tip of the swinging fitting 32; 34 is a rotating shaft 3;
3 is a gear fixed to the end protruding from the swinging metal fitting 32; 35 is an intermediate gear meshing with the gear 34 and the gear 31; 36 is a sorting roller attached to the rotating shaft 2; 37 is the This is a delivery roller attached to the rotating shaft 33.

The swinging metal fitting 32 is integrated with its ring portion 32A overlapped with the horizontal bent portion 17A of the lifting lever 17, and the swinging metal fitting 32 is rotated by vertical movement of the lifting lever 17. to move the feed roller 37 in the vertical direction.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a pressure roller unit provided on the axis of the rotation shaft 9 corresponding to the foregoing roller 36, and 39 a gear fixed to the rotation shaft 9 on the outer side of the pressure roller unit 38. Therefore, the gear 39 rotates integrally with the gear 20.

40 is an intermediate gear that meshes with the gear 39, 41 is a gear that meshes with the intermediate gear 40, 42 is a rotating shaft that supports the gear 41, and 43 is a pressure roller attached to the rotating shaft 42, and the pressure roller unit 38 is brought into pressure contact with the sorting roller 36 by the action of a tension spring 44 that rotates counterclockwise to form a pair of double-feed prevention rollers.

On the other hand, reference numeral 50 is a mounting table on which a transfer material is loaded, and is rotated counterclockwise from a horizontal position indicated by a dashed line with a bent portion at its left end as a fulcrum.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a swing lever fixed to the rotating shaft 18, and therefore the swing lever 51 rotates together with the sector gear 19.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a push-up roller pivotally attached to the tip of the swing lever 51, and the push-up roller 52 is rotated by the rotation of the sector gear 19.
The mounting table 50 is rotated and held at an angle shown by the solid line, for example.

A guide member 54 regulates the rear end position of the transfer material loaded on the mounting table 50. The guide member 54 is stopped by a click stop at a position corresponding to each standard size, and the size of the transfer material is determined by an electric signal as an image. Displayed on the operation section of the forming device.

Reference numeral 55 indicates a pair of opposing guide plates for regulating the width of the transfer material loaded on the mounting table 50, 56 indicates a pair of slide plates locally provided with a rack 56A, and 57 operates the guide plate 55. An operation plate 58 provided for the purpose of the present invention has the slide plate 56 in close contact with the lower surface of the operation plate 57 and the guide plate 55 provided with a slight interval on the lower surface of the slide plate 56.
59 is a connecting pin for fixing the slide plate 56 together.
It is a guide pin attached to the tip of the

60 is a frame member installed and fixed at the top between the front and rear side boards, 60A and 60B are long holes provided in the frame member 60, and the neck of the connecting pin 58 is slidably engaged in the elongated hole 60A. The guide pin 59 is slidably fitted into the elongated portion 60B.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a presser plate 62 which is installed in a bridge shape on the upper part of the frame member 60 to prevent the slide plate 56 from floating.
is a gear pivoted on the lower surface of the holding plate 61, and the gear 62 meshes with the racks 56A of the pair of slide plates 56 described above, so that movement of one of the slide plates 56 causes the other slide plate 56 to move in the opposite direction. operate symmetrically.

63 is a handle attached to the operation plate 57; 64 is a clamp lever 164 incorporated in the handle 63; a support shaft to which the clamp lever 64 is rotatably attached; 66 is a support shaft between the handle 63 and the clamp lever 64; The tension spring 66 urges the clamp lever 64 counterclockwise, and the friction member 64A attached to the end face of the clamp lever 64 is pressed against the bent portion of the frame member 60, and the friction force causes the clamp lever 64 to be pressed counterclockwise. The handle 63, that is, the guide plate 55 is stopped and fixed at the illustrated position.

70 is a photoelectric switch which is a detection member for detecting the height of the transfer material provided to control the position of the uppermost transfer material loaded on the mounting table 50; 71 is a photoelectric switch for the photoelectric switch 70; The attached actuator 72 is a support shaft serving as the center of rotation of the actuator 71, and 73 is a regulating member having one end fixed to the frame member 60 and limiting the swing range of the actuator 71. That is, the actuator 71 has a vertically long rectangular hole opened in the rising portion 73A at the tip of the regulating member 73, and the tip of the actuator 71 is inserted therethrough so that the actuator 71 attempts to rotate counterclockwise by its own weight.
In this case, the optical beam of the photoelectric switch 70 is not cut off, so the photoelectric switch 70 is OF
It is in state F. However, when the position of the top layer transfer material reaches a specified height, the detection portion 71A of the actuator 71 is pushed up and the actuator 71 rotates clockwise, blocking the light beam of the photoelectric switch 70 and Turn on the photoelectric switch 70. During this period, the actuator 71 is rotated within the range of engagement with the square hole provided in the rising portion 73A of the regulating member 73.

80 is a pair of transfer material pressing levers provided on the inner surface of each of the guide plates 55; 81 is a support shaft to which the pressing lever 80 is rotatably mounted; 82 is a guide pivoted to the tip of the pressing lever 80; The pressing lever 80 is a roller, and the pressing lever 80 is inserted into the round hole 5 of the guide plate 55 through which the protrusion 80A on the side surface is inserted.
Within the range of engagement with 5A, the guide roller 82 is brought into pressure contact with the front corner of the uppermost layer transfer material located at a prescribed height by its own weight.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a transfer material detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a transfer material on the mounting table 50 using reflected light, and is attached to the lower surface of the mounting table 50 via a bracket.

The function and operation of feeding the transfer material by the paper feeding device A of the present invention will be explained below.

When the paper feeding device A is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, it is engaged through two hook members Al and A2 provided in pairs on the top surface, and then fixed by means such as screws. The gear 1 meshes with the drive gear on the image forming apparatus side to connect the power system, and also supplies power to the solenoid s1 motor M, the photoelectric switch 70, and the transfer material detection member via a connector or the like. The control system circuit by 00 is connected.

When the loading table 50 has finished feeding all the loaded transfer materials, the motor M is reversely rotated by a predetermined number of rotations in response to an undetectable signal from the transfer material detection member 100, and the sector gear 19 is rotated clockwise. The rotating mounting table 50 is maintained in a horizontal position.

With the control system circuit turned off, the cover A3 is opened in the direction of the half-hour hand, and the transfer material is loaded on the mounting table 50, and the guide member 54 and the pair of guide plates 55 are moved according to the size of the transfer material.
to adjust the rear end and width. The guide plate 55 is moved by grasping the clamp lever 64 with the handle 63 to release the pressure contact of the friction member 64A against the frame member 60, and the guide plate 55 is moved between the pair of slide plates 56 and the gear. 62 moves symmetrically with respect to the center line XX of the main body to regulate the position of the transfer material.

When the control system circuit is turned on in such a state, the motor M rotates forward in response to a transfer material detection signal from the transfer material detection member 100, and the sector gear 19 rotates counterclockwise to raise the mounting table 50. let

When the top surface of the transfer material on the mounting table 50 reaches a specified height, the photoelectric switch 70 is turned off by counterclockwise rotation of the actuator 71, and the forward rotation of the motor M is stopped by this signal. be done.

In this state, at least one of the uppermost layers of the transfer material is pressed by the pair of guide rollers 82, and is placed in a feeding position facing the transfer material conveyance path toward the image forming apparatus. It will be destroyed.

The photoelectric spin chia 0 is turned ON again in response to the decrease in the height of the top layer due to feeding of the transfer material, and the motor M starts to rotate forward, and the same control as in the case described above is carried out to move the top layer of the transfer material. The upper layer is always kept at a constant height.

When clockwise rotation is transmitted to the gear 1 by power transmission from the image forming apparatus, the gear 4 rotates counterclockwise and the gear 7 rotates clockwise, but as shown in FIG. 3 is locked by the pawl 11A of the locking member 11 and the pawl 12A of the locking member 12, so that it slips and is kept in a stopped state.As for the cam block 6, the cam plate 6A is locked by the locking member 12A. Since it is locked by the number 11 claws 11B, it slips and remains in a stopped state.

Therefore, the rotating shaft 2 in FIG. 2 does not rotate, and as a result, the sorting roller 36 and the delivery roller 37 also remain stationary, and the delivery roller 37 is kept in a spaced position above without pressing against the top surface of the transfer material. It's still there.

On the other hand, due to the counterclockwise rotation of the gear 4, the rotation shaft 9 is also rotated counterclockwise, and the pressure roller 43 shown in FIG. 2 is further rotated in the direction of the half-hour hand.

The solenoid S is turned on by the signal to start feeding the transfer material.
When the locking member 11 is rotated counterclockwise due to the suction of the plunger P, the claw 11A is released from the claw 3 and the claw 11B is also released from the cam plate 6A. begins to rotate clockwise together with gear 7.

As the cam block 6 rotates, the cam plate 6C rotates and the swinging metal fitting 32, which is integrated with the lifting lever 17, is rotated counterclockwise by its own weight via the lifting lever 17 that comes into contact with it. The feed roller 37 is brought into pressure contact with the uppermost surface of the transfer material.

Next, the protrusion of the cam plate 6B pushes up the locking member 12 and rotates counterclockwise, so that the claw 12 against the claw strap 3
The engagement of A is released, and the pawl 3 begins to rotate counterclockwise together with the gear 4.

Therefore, when one sheet of the top layer of transfer material is carried out from the mounting table 50, and two or more sheets are fed at the same time, only one sheet of the top layer is carried by the foregoing roller 36, and the transfer material of the lower layer is carried out. Feeding is blocked by the conveying force of the pressure roller 43 in the opposite direction.

In order to convey the transfer material in a well-balanced manner using a large frictional force, the feed roller 37 is limited in length so as to locally press only the central portion of the transfer material as shown in FIG. In paper feed management A, the guide rollers 82 provided on the left and right guide plates 55 that regulate the width of the transfer material can press down the left and right corners regardless of the size of the transfer material, so the front edge of the transfer material is The transfer material is always kept flat and is prevented from bending at the corners, which tends to occur during transportation, so that the transfer material can be smoothly fed without damage or jamming.

The pressing force of the guide roller 82 is light due to its own weight, and since it can also be rotated in a driven manner, it provides almost no resistance to the conveyance of the transfer material.

After the cam block 6 continues to rotate clockwise and the surface edge of the conveyed transfer material reaches the sorting roller 36, the lifting lever 17 is raised again by the rotation of the cam plate 6C, and the sending roller 37 is retracted upward, and conveyance by the rotation of the sorting roller 36 is continued.

After the front end of the conveyed transfer material reaches the paper feed roller on the main body side of the image forming apparatus, the solenoid S is turned off, and the locking member 11 is rotated clockwise by the biasing force of the torsion spring 14, and the pawl is closed. 3 to stop the rotation of the foregoing roller 36 and the feed roller 37.

The cam block further continues to rotate clockwise until the protrusion of the cam plate 6A engages with the pawl 11A of the locking member 11 and stops. Further, until the cam block 6 stops, the locking member 12 is also released from the pushing up action by the protrusion of the cam plate 6B, and is rotated clockwise by the bias of the torsion spring 15 to move the pawl 12A to the pawl. 3 and again engage the first
The state shown in the figure and FIG. 2 is established.

The height of the top layer of the transfer material, which has decreased due to continued feeding, is restored by the operation of the motor M, which is rotated in the forward direction by the ON signal of the photoelectric switch 70. That is, when the height of the top layer of the transfer material decreases, the actuator 7
1 rotates counterclockwise following its own weight, the photoelectric switch 70 is turned on, and in response to the signal, power for forward rotation is supplied to the motor M via the control system.

When the uppermost layer of the transfer material rises due to the operation of the motor M, the actuator 71 detects a specified height, and similarly to the above, the photoelectric switcher 0 is turned OFF, and depending on the signal, the motor M is rotated in the forward direction or stopped. be done.

As is clear from the above description, the paper feeding device A of this embodiment is configured to be able to control the height of the top layer of the transfer material loaded on the mounting table 50 to always maintain it at a specified position, so that it comes into pressure contact with the transfer material. It is possible to release the pressure contact of the feed roller 37 after carrying out the transfer material, and as a result, an imbalance in the conveying force that occurs when the rotation of the sorting roller 36 and the feed roller 37 work together on the transfer material can be avoided. This makes it possible to feed the transfer material without damaging or deforming it.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention provides a detection member that constantly detects the top layer of the stacked and housed transfer materials, thereby automatically positioning the transfer materials sequentially and accurately at the delivery position with respect to the image forming apparatus, and furthermore, each roller of the conveyance system The present invention provides a multi-sheet feeding device that can smoothly and effortlessly feed transfer materials to an image forming apparatus by controlling the respective timings of pressure contact and rotation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 4 are side views showing the drive system of the multi-sheet feeding device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 5 are sectional views showing the conveyance system of the device, and FIG. 3 is the same as that shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a main part, and FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing an example of how the apparatus is attached to an image forming apparatus.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a multi-sheet feeding device that feeds transfer materials loaded on a tiltable mounting table attached to an image forming apparatus main body one by one, starting from the top layer of transfer material, the width and position of the transfer materials are determined. A multi-sheet feeding device characterized in that a pair of left and right regulating guide plates is provided, and a rotatable guide roller that presses a front corner of the transfer material in the feeding direction is attached to the guide plate.