JPH03147639A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely prevent the double feed of paper under carrying out paper feed by a sucker system, by installing a paper separating member in contact with the edge part of an adsorbed paper in the equipment body, in the course of the paper moving from a taking-out position to a sending-out position. CONSTITUTION:In the turning process of an adsorbing arm 32, a color development paper 18 adsorbed by a sucker 31 is sent, having the left and right side edge parts at the top edge in contact with a brush 54 fixed on the equipment body. Accordingly, even if the separation action between the color development paper 18 in the uppermost layer which is adsorbed by the sucker 31 and the next color development paper 18 is not developed sufficiently, these sheets of paper are surely separated by the brush 54, and the lower color development paper 18 is returned into a paper cassette 16. Accordingly, two sheets of color development paper are surely prevented from being taken out in superposed state from the paper cassette 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a paper feeding device configured to feed out sheets of paper stored in a paper cassette by suctioning them one by one with a suction cup.

(Prior Art) For example, a copying machine is configured to include a copying mechanism and a paper feeding device that feeds paper to the copying mechanism within the main body of the machine. Generally, in this type of paper feeding device, the paper supplied to the copying mechanism is stored in a stacked state in a paper cassette that is removably attached to the main body of the device, and the paper in the paper cassette is stacked in order from the top. It is configured to take out one sheet at a time. Conventionally, mechanisms for taking out paper in order have mainly used a half-moon-shaped paper feed roller, but in recent years, special paper with a coloring agent coated on the surface has been used especially as copy paper. For devices that are incorporated into color copying machines and the like, devices that utilize suction cups have been developed in order to prevent stains on recorded images caused by scratches on the color forming agent layer on the paper surface. This is equipped with a rotating arm with a suction cup attached to the tip, and the rotating arm is rotated to place the suction cup on the paper.In this state, the pressure inside the suction cup is reduced to cause the paper to be attracted to the suction cup.After this, By rotating the rotating arm in the opposite direction, only the topmost sheet of paper in the paper cassette is taken up from the paper cassette and sent to the paper feeding mechanism.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the configuration described above in which paper is sucked by a suction cup and taken out from a paper cassette, there is a separation effect between the top layer of paper sucked by the suction cup and the paper below it. As a result, two overlapping sheets of paper may be attracted to the suction cup and removed from the paper cassette while still being overlapped, and this makes it easy for so-called double feeding of paper to occur, which is a problem. There is.

In order to deal with this problem, it is conceivable to provide a paper separation member such as a brush in the paper cassette at a portion where the leading edge of the paper to be taken out touches, and thereby separate two sheets of paper that have been attracted to each other. However, in this configuration in which the paper cassette is provided with a brush or the like, the brush or the like gets in the way when storing paper in the paper cassette, making it difficult to replenish the paper. Further, each time the paper is stored, the brush is rubbed against the stack of paper with a large force, which causes damage or misalignment, resulting in a problem in that the paper separation function is easily lost. Furthermore, if the brush is provided in such a position, the user will be likely to touch it carelessly, resulting in misalignment and damage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to feed paper using a suction cup method that does not damage the paper, reliably prevent double feeding of paper, and to easily store paper in a paper cassette. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device capable of preventing damage and displacement of a separation member.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The paper feeding device of the present invention includes a paper cassette that stores a large number of papers in a stack and is removably attached to the main body of the device, and a suction cup at the tip. a suction arm that is rotatably installed inside the device body; a suction mechanism that performs a suction operation to attract paper to the suction cup; and a drive mechanism that rotates the paper between a position and a delivery position that sends the paper to the paper feed mechanism side while the paper is sucked, and the drive mechanism rotates the paper while the paper is being sucked from the take-out position to the delivery position. The device is characterized in that a paper separating member that contacts the edge of the device is provided inside the main body of the device.

(Function) When the suction arm rotates and reaches the take-out position, the suction cup comes into contact with the top layer of paper in the paper cassette. In this state, the suction mechanism operates to attract the paper to the suction cup, and the suction arm rotates to the take-out position to send the paper to the paper feed mechanism. At this time, the paper sucked by the suction cup is moved so that its edge comes into contact with the paper separation member provided inside the main body of the device, so even if two sheets of paper are suctioned to the suction cup while overlapped, The lower paper is separated from the upper paper and remains in the paper cassette, and only the upper paper sucked by the suction cup is sent out to the paper feeding mechanism.

Since the paper separating member is provided inside the main body of the device, it does not get in the way of loading and unloading paper into the paper cassette, does not get rubbed by stacks of paper, and is not touched by users unnecessarily. Therefore, there is no risk of the paper separating member being damaged or misaligned.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, in which it is applied to a photosensitive pressure-sensitive copying machine capable of making full-color copies.

First, in FIG. 4, a movable document table glass 2 and a document table cover 3 are located on the top surface of the main body 1 of the copying machine.
is provided, and a desired original 4 is placed on the original platen glass 2.
is set face down.

A light source such as a halogen lamp 5 is disposed at the top of the main body 1 of the apparatus, and this emits light in a line toward the document table glass 2. Light emitted from the halogen lamp 5 is transmitted through the transparent document platen glass 2 and reflected by the document 4 placed thereon. Therefore, the document platen glass 2
By moving, exposure scanning of the original 4 is performed.

The light reflected from the original 4 passes through a filter 6 for adjusting the color tone of the copied image and enters a projection lens 7, and the light projected by this lens 7 passes through a pair of reflection mirrors 8.9.
The direction is changed by , and an image is formed on the microcapsule paper 11 positioned along the exposure stage 10 . The reflecting mirrors 8 and 9 are mounted on a mirror mounting plate, and the optical path length and focus are adjusted by finely adjusting the mirror mounting position.

On the other hand, the microcapsule paper 11 is housed in a removable cartridge lla in the device main body 1 while being wound around a cartridge 12, and one end of the microcapsule paper 11 is connected to a plurality of rollers 14a, 14b, 14c and a pressure phenomenon device. 13 and a separation mechanism 146 to reach the winding shaft 15. That is, the microcapsule paper 11 coming out from the lower part of the cartridge 1.1a is transferred to the feed roller 14a1 and the guide roller 14b.
After passing under the exposure table 10, the microcapsule paper 11 is supplied to a pressure developing device 13, and the microcapsule paper 11 that has passed through this pressure developing device 3 is passed through a feed roller 14C, a separation mechanism 14d, and a meandering adjustment roller 14e. After being guided to the winding shaft 15, it is wound up onto the winding shaft 15. Note that the unexposed microcapsule paper 11 after leaving the cartridge is maintained in an unexposed state by the light shielding cover. In addition, the conveyance speed of the microcapsule paper 11 is controlled to be constant and is made to match the moving speed of the document table glass 2, so that the microcapsule paper 11 has no original document when passing through the exposure table 10. Latent images of predetermined lines are sequentially formed.

Below the pressure developing device 13, a paper cassette 16 guided by a guide frame (not shown) is removably provided with respect to the main body 1 of the device. A paper feeding device 17 of the same type is incorporated. This is to take out the color developing paper (paper) 18 stacked in the paper cassette 16 one by one and send it to the paper feeding mechanism 19 side. Developing paper 18 taken out
is conveyed by the feed roller 19a and pinch roller 19b of the paper feed mechanism 19, and after its leading end is aligned by the color developing paper rollers 19C, 19d and the registration gate 19e, it is conveyed to the pressure developing device 13. Thus, the pressure developing device 13 contains the microcapsule paper 11 and the color developer paper 1.
The microcapsule surface of the microcapsule paper 11 on which the latent image has been formed and the developer-coated surface of the color developer paper 18 are brought into contact with each other on the inside and become an integral body. small diameter roller 13a and backup roller 1
3b and pressure is applied.

This pressure destroys the unexposed microcapsules and forms an image on the color developing paper 18.

After the microcapsule paper 11 and the color developer paper 18 that have come out of the pressure developing device 13 are separated by a separation mechanism 14d, the color development of the color developer paper 18 is promoted by the heat roller 20a of the heat fixing device 20 to form an image. After that, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 21 by the paper discharge roller. Note that the separated microcapsule paper 11 is wound onto the winding shaft 15 via the meandering adjustment roller 14e.

Next, the structure of the above-mentioned suction cup type paper feeding device 17 will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

The suction cup 3] is mounted on a rotatable suction arm 32 with a mounting plate 32a.
This suction arm 32 is installed so that its rotation shaft 34 can be raised and lowered relative to the main body side plate 35 (only the front side plate is shown in FIG. 2, but there is also a rear side plate). It is rotatably supported by the frame 36.

The rotation shaft 34, which is the center of rotation of the suction cup 31,
The suction cup 31 has its center on an extension line of the suction surface of the suction cup 31, and is located on the rear side with respect to the paper conveyance direction from the part where the suction cup 31 suctions the developing paper 18.

Further, a surface detection sensor 33 made of a microswitch or the like is attached to the suction arm 32 via a mounting plate 32b branched from the mounting plate 32a at a predetermined angle. Here, when the mounting plate 32b is located in a vertical state, the sensor 33 and the rotation shaft 34 are in a relationship such that they are located on substantially the same horizontal plane.

A motor 37 is attached to the frame 36, and the rotation of the motor 37 allows the suction arm 32 to rotate in the directions of arrows A and B via a gear 38a and a swing gear 38b. ing. With this, the suction arm 32 is moved to the ejection position i! where the suction cup 31 touches the uppermost layer of the developing paper 8 in the paper cassette 16! ′
(shown in FIG. 5(b)) and the feeding position (shown in FIG.
A drive mechanism 39 is configured to reciprocate and rotate between the two parts (shown in d). Further, the frame 36 is supported by a guide mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable up and down, and the main body side plate 35
It is possible to descend in the directions of arrows C and D using a step motor 40 attached to the drive source. As a mechanism for this purpose, a pinion 41.42 is rotatably supported on the main body side plate 35, a rack 43.44 is formed on the frame 36, and a gear mechanism 45.42 is provided for rotating the pinion 41.42. A belt transmission mechanism 46 is provided.

The suction cup 31 is connected to a suction mechanism 48 via a tube 47, so that when the suction cup 31 comes into contact with the color developing paper 18, a negative pressure is created in the space therebetween. The intake mechanism 48 includes a cylinder 49° and a piston 50. Gear 51.
52 and a step motor 53. Based on the rotation of the step motor 53, the piston 50 moves into the cylinder 4.
9 in the direction of arrow E to generate negative pressure.

Now, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a pair of support plates 53 are provided inside the device main body 1 so as to be located on both left and right sides of the tip of the paper cassette 16 installed here. It is fixed to the main body side plate 35. At the upper end of each support plate 53, brushes 54 corresponding to paper separation members are provided facing each other and located above the left and right sides of the leading end of the paper cassette 16. With this, when the suction arm 32 is rotated from the take-out position to the delivery position by the drive mechanism 39, the edge of the color developing paper 18 adsorbed by the suction cup 31 becomes a flexible fiber group constituting the brush 54. It is made to touch the tip of the

Next, the paper feeding operation of the paper feeding device 17 configured as described above will be explained with reference also to FIGS. 5(a) to 5(d).

Now, when the frame 36 is at a predetermined home position and the step motor 40 is driven based on a predetermined paper feed signal, the frame 36 descends in the direction of the arrow as described above, and the suction arm 32 integrated with the frame 36 descends in the direction indicated by the arrow. also falls at the same time. Note that during this descent, the arm 32 moves as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 (a).
), the mounting plate 32b is in a vertical position so that the sensor 33 can first detect the uppermost surface of the paper.

When the sensor 33 detects the paper count, the rotation of the step motor 40 is stopped, and the lowering of the frame 36 is stopped. Next, the rotation shaft 34 is rotated by driving the step motor 37, and the suction arm 32 is rotated in the direction of arrow B. Then, since the suction cup 31 and the rotating shaft 34 are located on the same plane, the suction cup 3
1 is in a state where it can be attracted to the top layer developing paper 18.

In this state, when the motor 53 in the intake mechanism 48 is driven to move the piston 50 in the direction of arrow E, the suction cup 3
Negative pressure is generated inside the paper 1, and the suction cup 31 sucks the top layer of color developing paper 18. In this suction state, next step motor 3
7 in the opposite direction to the above, the suction arm 32 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the direction of arrow A around the rotation shaft
The state is as shown in figure (c). Here, since the center of rotation is the rotation shaft 34 located on the rear side of the paper than the suction cup 31, the suction cup 31 rotates with rotation and movement, so the negative pressure suction by the suction cup 31 is relatively small. At the very least, the above-mentioned rotation can provide a separation effect using straining of the paper. In addition, in the process of such rotation of the suction arm 32, the color developing paper 18 suctioned by the suction cup 31 is sent while the left and right edges of its tip are in contact with the brush 54 fixed to the main body 1 of the device. Even if, by some chance, the separation effect between the uppermost layer of color developer paper 18 and the color developer paper 18 below it, which are attracted by the suction cup 31, is not sufficiently exerted, they will be reliably separated by the brush 54. The developer paper 18 is in the paper cassette】6
Go back inside. With this, it is possible to reliably prevent the two sheets of color developing paper] 8 from being taken out from the paper cassette 16 while being overlapped.

After the paper separation operation, rotate the pinch roller 19b in the direction of arrow G to sandwich the leading edge of the paper between the feed roller 19a and the pinch roller 19b indicated by the two-dot chain line, and then
By driving the motor 53 in the suction mechanism 48 in the opposite direction to the above and moving the piston 50 in the direction of arrow F, suction of the color developing paper 18 by the suction cup 31 is stopped, and the suction cup 31
Release the developer paper 18 from the.

Through the above series of operations, only one sheet of the color developing paper 18 is separated and fed to the paper feed mechanism 19, and from then on,
The paper is fed by the feed roller 19a and the pinch roller 19b until the leading edge of the paper hits the registration gate 19e (at the initial stage of paper feeding, the developing paper rollers 19c and 19d are open as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2). ), paper leading edge alignment, and slant correction force (are performed), and then, at a predetermined timing, the color developer paper rollers 19c and 19d close, the registration gate 19e opens, and the color developer paper 18 is conveyed.

After this paper feeding operation is completed, the step motor 37
As a result of this drive, the suction arm 32 rotates clockwise and returns to the state shown in FIG. 5(a) in preparation for the next copying operation.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the developing paper 18 is layered by the suction cup 31 and sent to the paper feeding mechanism 19,
Unlike the type that uses a half-moon-shaped rubber roller, the color forming agent on the surface of the color developing paper 18 can be prevented from being rubbed and easily attached, and a high quality image can be obtained. Furthermore, even if two sheets of developer paper 8 overlap and are suctioned when taking out the developer paper 18 from the paper cassette 16, the edge of the developer paper 18 comes into contact with the brush 54 during the rotation of the suction arm 32. In order to
The lower developer paper 18 is reliably separated from the upper developer paper 18. Therefore, the separated lower color developer paper 18 returns to the paper cassette 16, and the two sheets of color developer paper 18 are taken out from the paper cassette 16 and supplied to the paper feed mechanism 19 side while remaining overlapped. This can prevent double feeding from occurring. Furthermore, since the brush 54 is fixed not to the paper cassette 16 but to the device main body 1,
When replenishing an empty paper cassette 16 with a bundle of color developing paper 18, the brush 54 does not get in the way, making the paper replenishment work easy. In addition, the brush 5 is placed in the paper cassette 16.
4, the brush 54 will not be damaged or misaligned due to being rubbed during paper replenishment work, and will not be touched carelessly by the user. It is possible to prevent the paper separation function from being lost at an early stage, and thereby it is possible to reliably prevent double feeding of the color developing paper 18 for a long period of time (1).

In the above embodiment, the brush 5 is used as the paper separating member.
4 is provided, but the present invention is not limited to this. A friction pad made of a flexible material such as sponge is used as the paper separation member, and the developing paper 18 is attached to the surface of the device main body 1.
It may be fixed at a position where the edges of the two come into contact with each other. Further, a pair of claws are fixedly provided in the main body 1 of the device as a paper separating member, and the paper is taken out from the paper cassette 16 by these claws. A configuration may be adopted in which two corners of the front end of the color developing paper 18 are in contact with each other.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and the paper fed by the suction cup is not limited to developer paper coated with a coloring agent on the surface, but may be plain paper. Various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the paper feeding device of the present invention, double feeding of paper can be reliably prevented while feeding paper using a suction cup method, and moreover, it is easy to store paper in a paper cassette. Moreover, it has the excellent effect of preventing the paper separation member such as a brush from being damaged or misaligned, so that the paper separation function can be maintained for a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the paper feeder section, FIG. 2 is a side view of the paper feeder section partially shown in section, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the paper feeder section. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing the general structure of the copying machine, and FIGS. 5(a) to 5(d) are partial sectional views for explaining the operation. In the drawing, 1 is the main body of the device, 16 is a paper cassette, 17 is a paper feeder, 18 is paper, 19 is a paper feed mechanism, 31 is a suction cup,
32 is a suction arm, and 39 is a drive mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper cassette that stores a large number of papers in a stack and is removably attached to the main body of the device, a suction arm that has a suction cup at the tip and is rotatably installed inside the main body of the device, and a suction arm that performs suction operation. a suction mechanism that sucks the paper to the suction cup; a suction arm that moves the suction arm to a take-out position where the suction cup touches the top layer of paper in the paper cassette; and a suction mechanism that sends the paper while sucking it to a paper feeding mechanism. a drive mechanism that rotates the paper to and from the delivery position; and a paper separation member that is provided within the device body and contacts an edge of the adsorbed paper while the paper moves from the take-out position to the delivery position. A paper feeding device comprising: