JPH03172235A - Paper form feeder device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a time loss by paper form supplementation without interrupting a copy condition by providing a slide plate which can be slided so that a contact place, for paper forms, to be supplemented, of paper feed means is closed, when normal paper form is used, and opened when the paper form to be supplemented is used. CONSTITUTION:When normal paper form 21 is fed by a paper feed roller 12, a slide plate 15 is inserted deep into the inside. When remaining paper forms 21 inside are decreased when the normal paper forms are fed by the paper feed roller 12, paper forms are supplemented even during copying. That is, the second cover 4 is opened, and paper forms 20 to be supplemented are inserted between a loading plate 14 and the slide plate 15. Since the slide plate 15 is inserted deep into the inside, the slide plate 15 is slided (drawn out) to a position where the paper forms 20 to be supplemented can be brought into contact with the paper feed roller 12. Then even when the normal paper forms 21 are exhausted, the paper 20 to be supplemental are brought into contact with the paper feed roller 12 fed because the slide plate 15 is drawn out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a paper feeding device used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a paper feeding device in an image forming apparatus that feeds paper to a photoconductor and a transfer unit has a manual feed tray for single-shot copying, and a paper feed cassette (multiple paper cassettes for continuous copying). There were decks for high-speed mass copying (capable of setting several dozen sheets).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, even though there are many copies to be made, if the user enters the copying state without knowing that the amount of paper remaining in the paper cassette is low, the paper will run out midway through. Then, the copying state must be canceled and the paper cassette must be replenished with paper. Then, the copy state must be set again, resulting in a time loss. Particularly in the case of high-speed mass copying, the time loss is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional image forming apparatus described above, and it is possible to replenish paper without interrupting the copying state even if the paper runs out during copying.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a paper feeding device without time loss.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a paper feeding device that is used in an image forming apparatus and feeds paper with a paper feeding means, and includes a mounting plate on which replenishment paper is placed, and the above-mentioned arrangement. a paper insertion member located above the plate and forming an insertion space for the replenishment paper, and formed so that the replenished paper can come into contact with the paper feeding means; and a paper insertion member located below the paper insertion member; It is located on the −E side of the replenished paper, and is slidable to open the contact area of the paper feeding means to the replenishment paper when using regular paper, and to open the contact location when using the replenishment paper. It is characterized by being equipped with a sliding plate.

[Effect] In the present invention, the slide plate is normally closed during copying.

When the paper is about to run out and the paper needs to be replenished, the paper is first replenished between the a placement plate and the paper insertion member.

Then open the slide plate. This enables the paper feeding means to supply the replenished paper, and the paper replenishment is completed. In this way, paper is replenished even while copying is in progress, eliminating time loss.

[Examples] The present invention will be described below with reference to drawings showing examples thereof.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus using a paper feeding device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a paper feeding device 2 is disposed on the right side (on the page) of an image forming apparatus l. The paper feeding device 2 is
As shown in FIG. 4, it has a first cover 3 that opens and closes in conjunction with the operation of a lifter (not shown), and a second cover 4 that serves as a door for replenishing paper during continuous copying. are doing. Here, the expression that the first cover 3 is interlocked with the lifter means that the lid does not operate when the cover 3 is open.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus using the paper feeding device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 2, there is a main charger 6 around the image carrier 5 that charges the image carrier 5, and a latent image formed by exposure to image light incident from the optical system!・Na's II (
A developing device 7 that performs I, a transfer device 8 that transfers the toner image onto paper
, a separator 9 for separating the transferred paper from the image carrier 5, and the like are provided. Further, on the upstream side of the transfer device 8 through which paper is fed, there is a manual feed tray lO1 paper feed cassettes 11, 11.
11, and paper feeding device 2 (deck) according to the present invention
is installed.

Next, a paper feeding device which is an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the paper feeding device.

In FIG. 3, above the paper feeding device 2, on the side in contact with the image forming device 1, there is provided a paper feeding roller 12 as a paper feeding means for feeding the paper 21 into the image forming device 1. .

Although two paper feed rollers 12 are installed in the drawing, two
The number is not limited to 1, but may be 3 or more. In another embodiment, the paper feed roller 12 may be located near the center of the paper 21, as shown by the two-dot chain line.

The placing plate 14 is for placing the replenishment paper 20, and is, for example, a single plate. Furthermore, the placing plate 14 is connected to a lifter (not shown), and is constantly lifted upward by the lifter, so that the paper 21 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 12 during normal use. There is.

Paper insertion member 13! & It is located above the placing plate 14 to form an insertion space for replenishing paper 20, and is formed so that the replenished paper 20 can come into contact with the paper feed roller 12. That is, the paper insertion member 13 is provided in a substantially U-shape, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and the supplementary paper 20 is inserted into the U-shape.

This paper insertion member 13 has a short depth.

That is, when the replenishment paper 20 is inserted, the paper insertion member 13 is not present in the vicinity of its leading edge, and the upper paper feed roller 1
2 can be contacted.

In addition, as another embodiment, when the paper feed roller 12 is provided near the center of the paper 21, a perfect circular hole 22 may be provided in the paper insertion member 13 portion directly below the paper feed roller 12, as shown by the two-dot chain line. It can be handled by While the normal paper 21 is in use, the paper insertion member 13 supports the normal paper 21.

The slide plate +5 is below the paper insertion member 13, and
-C is positioned on the L side of the paper to be replenished.

This slide plate 15 has an L-shape, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, so that it can be easily slid. In addition, its towing distance is longer than that of the paper insertion member 13, and the loading plate 1
It is the same as or longer than 4. This slide plate 15 is supported by a guide 23 inside the side wall of the paper insertion member 13 and is slidable. When paper is normally used, the paper feed roller 12 and the paper 21 come into contact and the paper 21 bends downward due to the pressure of the paper feed roller 12, so to prevent this, the slide plate 15 is inserted all the way. When using replenishment paper, the paper feeding roller 12 and the replenishment paper 20 are in contact with each other, and the slide plate 15 is pulled out so that the paper is fed.

In another embodiment, when the paper feed roller 12 is provided near the center of the paper, an elliptical hole 24 is provided in the slide plate 15 corresponding to the circular hole 22 of the paper insertion member 13 described above. When using the replenishment paper 20, slide plate 1
5 to align the perfect circular hole 22 of the paper insertion member 13 and the oval hole 24 of the slide plate 15, and the paper feed roller 12 can feed the exposed supplementary paper 20 by matching the perfect circular hole 22 and the oval hole 24. It looks like this. Here, the reason why the contact point of the slide plate 15 with the paper feed roller 12 is an oval hole 24 instead of a perfect circular hole is because the perfect circular hole 24 of the paper insertion member 13
This is to make it easier to align the elliptical hole 24 of the slide plate 15.

Next, the operation of the paper feeding device according to the present invention will be explained.

When normal paper 21 is being fed by paper feed roller 12, slide plate 15 is inserted deeply. Then, suppose that normal paper is being fed by the paper feed roller 12, and that paper 21 is running low.
You can replenish paper even while copying. That is, open the second cover 4 and remove the mounting plate 14 and slide plate 15.
Insert the replenishment paper 20 between them. And slide plate 1
5 is % deeply inserted, so slideable plate 1
5 is slid (pulled out) at a 1σ position so that the replenishment paper 20 and paper feed roller 12 can come into contact with each other. Then, even if the regular paper 21 runs out, since the slide plate 15 is pulled out, the replenishment paper 20 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 12 and is fed, and copying continues.

Finally, the second cover 4 is closed to complete the paper replenishment. In addition, as another example, if the paper feed roller 12 is provided near the center of the paper 21, open the second cover 4,
Insert the replenishment paper 20 between the mounting plate 14 and the slide plate 15, slide the slide plate 15, and remove the paper inserting member 13.
Align the oval hole 24 of the slide plate 15 with the perfect circular hole 22 provided near the center of the slide plate 15. By doing so, even if the paper 21 in the paper insertion member 13L runs out, the replenishment paper 21
is exposed by matching the circular hole 22 of the paper insertion member 13 and the shuttle i-circular hole 24 of the slide plate 15, so the paper feed roller 12 feeds the replenishment paper 20. And copying continues. Finally, the second cover 4 is closed and the replenishment of paper is completed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, when replenishing paper, the slide plate is slid so that the paper feeding means and the replenishing paper come into contact with each other, thereby replenishing the paper without interrupting the copying state. It has the advantage of eliminating time loss.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus using a paper feeding device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a paper feeding apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of an embodiment of the paper feeding device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a portion of the paper feeding device of the embodiment. 2...Paper feeding device 12...Paper feeding roller (paper feeding means) 13...Paper insertion member 14...i placement plate 15...
slide board

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A paper feeding device used in an image forming apparatus and feeding paper by a paper feeding means, comprising: a mounting plate on which replenishment paper is placed; a paper insertion member that forms a paper insertion space and is formed so that the replenished paper can come into contact with the paper feeding means; and a paper insertion member that is located below the paper insertion member and above the replenished paper. and a slide plate that is slidable so as to close the contact area of the paper feeding means to the replenishment paper when using normal paper, and open the contact area when using replenishment paper. paper feeding device.