JPH04116067A - Sheet feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve a function of the number of sheet feeding stages being two times as large as that of a sheet containing part by locating sheet containing parts, horizontally arranged in parallel, in juxtaposition with a direction converting means. CONSTITUTION:A function equivalent to four stages is provided by a height equivalent to a sheet containing part in one stage in way that tandem type sheet containing parts 400 and 500 are located in juxtaposition with a direction converting means 200. Namely, since sheets delivered from the sheet containing parts 400 or 500 of the two sheet containing parts 400 and 500 arranged in juxtaposition with each other in the height of one stage are caused to convert a direction by means of the direction converting means, even when the sheet containing parts 400 and 500 have the same size as each other, each of the sheet containing parts has a function equivalent to that of the longitudinally and laterally placed sheet containing parts in two stages, whereby the two sheet containing parts have a function equivalent to a function of four stages.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a printer, and particularly relates to a paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a printer. The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus that is provided with a direction changing means for changing the direction by 90 degrees.

[Conventional technology]

By converting the orientation of the paper fed from the paper feed unit to 90 degrees horizontally and sending it to the image forming unit, it is possible to change the orientation of the paper from the vertical type (stored in the paper feed unit with the longitudinal direction facing the conveyance direction) to the landscape type. By setting the paper to the paper feeding mode (the paper is stored in the paper feed section with the short hair side facing the paper transport direction) and vice versa, even if the same size paper is stored, it can be placed in two types: vertical and horizontal. The present applicant has already proposed a technique that eliminates the need for a dedicated paper feeding section by using only one.

On the other hand, a paper feeding device having a plurality of paper storage sections arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction (so-called tandem paper feeding device) has already been disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6186326.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Both of the above two conventional technologies improve the function of each groove of paper storage sections (paper feed stages; paper feed cassettes) arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction by more than two stages compared to the conventional technology, and also save space. Although the aim was to reduce costs, there were limits to each individual technology.

The present invention has been made based on this background, and combines a paper direction changing device and a tandem paper feed section to further enhance the function of the paper storage section for each groove, thereby further saving space. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that can reduce costs.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to provide a direction converting means for converting the direction of paper carried in to a horizontal direction of approximately 90 degrees and carrying it out, a plurality of paper storage units arranged in parallel in a substantially horizontal direction, and a plurality of paper storage units arranged side by side in a substantially horizontal direction; a feeding/separating means provided, a first conveyance path that leads the paper from the plurality of paper storage sections to the image forming section, and a second conveyance path that leads from at least one of the plurality of paper storage sections to the direction conversion means. This is achieved by a first means comprising:

Further, in the first means, the plurality of paper accommodating sections are capable of accommodating each of the maximum size papers that can be accommodated in the lateral direction with respect to the paper traveling direction, and the paper is moved in the direction as necessary. This is also achieved by second means leading to the conversion means.

Furthermore, the above object is also achieved by a third means, in which the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path are each made into a single conveyance path, and a common conveyance path from a plurality of the paper storage units. be done.

[Effect]

According to the first means, by providing a tandem paper storage section and a direction conversion means, the height equivalent to one stage of paper storage section can have the function of four stages. The paper sent out from each of the two paper storage units arranged in parallel heights is converted in direction by the converting means, so each paper storage unit has two paper storage units, even if they are the same size, Since it has the function of a two-stage paper storage section, both of them have the function of a four-stage paper storage section.

Further, according to the second means, since the paper is stored in each paper accommodating section in a horizontally-feeding state, the processing capacity of small-sized paper, which is usually frequently used, in the horizontally-feeding state does not decrease.

Furthermore, according to the third means, the conveyance path for guiding the paper from each paper storage section to the image forming section and the direction changing means is simplified.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a copying machine main body 1 is placed on a paper feeder main body 100. Reference numeral 11 indicates a stored stack of paper, 21 indicates a paper feed roller,
22 indicates a pair of separation rollers. The image is transferred to the paper fed by the paper feed roller 21 by the image transfer section 23, and the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 25 via the fixing device 24.

Inside the paper feeding device main body 100, another paper storage device and a paper feeding roller are provided, and a paper direction changing device 200 is also provided for appropriately deflecting the direction of the stored paper by 90 degrees.

When the paper is not deflected, for example, the paper fed by the paper feed roller 102 from the paper bundle 101 is sent to the image transfer section 23 via the vertical conveyance path 150 communicating with the main body. The same applies to other paper bundles.

Inside the paper feeding device main body 100, a tandem paper feeding section 300 is provided in which a plurality of paper storage sections are arranged side by side in a substantially horizontal direction, in other words, arranged in columns in the paper feeding direction.

The tandem paper feed unit 300 has a first
It is composed of a paper storage section 400 and a second paper storage section 5°O, and the length of the tandem paper feeding section 3°O is approximately the same as the paper feeding section of the other stages.

In each paper storage section, 401 and 501 are paper bundles, 40
2,502 is a paper feed roller, 403 is a conveyor belt, 404
422 is a fan that pulls the paper toward the surface of the conveyor belt 403;
．． 522 is a pair of separation rollers.

The case where paper is fed from the second paper storage section 500 will be described.

The paper fed by the paper feed roller 502 from the paper bundle 501 is separated by a pair of separation rollers 522, and then is sucked and transported by a transport helmet 403 stretched over the top of the first paper storage section 400. , and can be sent to the separation roller pair 422 of the first paper storage section 400. Thereby, the paper can be fed through the first conveyance path 150a via the conveyance roller group 153. Further, while the second paper storage section 500 is in use, the paper feed roller 402 of the first paper storage section 400 is retracted upward. As the conveyor belt 403, it is preferable to use a plurality of slightly wide flat healds with holes (see FIG. 10).

Next, a case where the paper is deflected by 90 degrees will be described (an example of horizontal-vertical deflection). A transport path switching claw 151 is provided downstream of the paper feed roller 402.
152 and a group of transport rollers 154 that rotate in forward and reverse directions are provided to send the fed paper to the direction changing device 200. In addition,
The switching pawls 151 and 152 are provided for each paper storage section that can be deflected by 90 degrees, and are normally placed in the solid line position, and when feeding into the direction changing device 200, are placed in the broken line position. Also, the rotation is controlled in the same direction as the conveyance direction. Although the direction changing device 200 may be installed in any part of the paper feeder main body 100, it is more compact to have the paper accommodating portion of the vertical conveyance path in the space on the opposite side, and it is easier to remove jammed paper in the event of a paper jam. This is convenient because it makes it easier. In the embodiment shown in FIG.
The paper is discharged from the direction and merges into the vertical conveyance path 150.

In FIG. 2, 150a is a first conveyance path that goes directly toward the copying machine main body 1 side, and 150b is a second conveyance path that goes toward the direction changing device 200.

The configuration of the direction changing device 200 is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6.

The paper fed in from the direction of arrow B is transported to the feed roller pair 2.
01, the paper is fed into a rotating conveyance path 250 (FIG. 1) formed by a guide table 202 and an upper guide plate 203. On the paper rotation conveyance path 250, a side fence 204 waits at a position predetermined for each paper size by a moving means, and a feed roller 20 for feeding the paper in the advancing direction.
5 and a shifting roller 206 that brings the rotated paper closer to the side fence 204, a stopper 209 that aligns the leading edge position of the paper before rotation, a rotating blade 210 that rotates the paper around its axis, and the like.

The side fence 204 is normally at the home position determined by the home sensor 208, but is driven by the stepping motor 207 and moved to a predetermined alignment position before paper is introduced. Central group 1! In the case of conveyance, the alignment position of the side fence 204 is a/2 from the conveyance center line (a
is the width dimension of the paper, b is the length dimension of the paper). That is, d
= a / 2° The side fence 204 extends in the conveyance direction and serves as an alignment surface when the paper is rotated, and also guides the rotated paper in the conveyance direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a guide section 204c is provided to regulate the direction perpendicular to the guide surface of the paper (the guide section 204c may be replaced by other means such as a flexible film, wire, plate spring, etc.) .

A rotating blade 210 is provided upstream of the side fence 204 and downstream of the feed roller 205, and its rotating shaft 210
c is provided approximately on the extension line of the reference plane of the side fence 204, and rotated in the direction of the arrow.

A plurality of presser blades 210b having appropriate frictional force and elasticity are attached to an arm 21Oa extending radially from a rotating shaft. When the presser blade 210b is in the notch 203a of the upper guide plate 203, it presses against the paper surface on the conveyance path, rotates the paper approximately 90 degrees around its rotation axis 210c, and pushes the front edge against the side fence 204. Match. After the collision, the presser blade 210b slides on the paper and is pulled out to the side of the conveyance path.

The circumferential speed of the presser blade 11210b is vA, and the feed roller 205
When the paper feeding speed of is represented by ■, it is desirable that vA :': r vB.

However, r: radius of rotation of the pressing blade, C: distance between the feed roller and the center of rotation.
03b is provided to pull up the presser blade 210b in contact with the conveyance path onto the side upper kite board 203. Presser blade 2
As the material of 10b, a rubber elastic body such as soft urethane rubber or soft foamed urethane rubber, or an elastic film with a suitable friction member attached or coated, etc. can be used.

The magnitude of the frictional force is set to such an extent that buckling or wrinkles do not occur on the side edges of the paper due to the blade member after the paper collides with the side fence 204.

The trailing edge of the incoming paper is passed to a feed roller 205 before passing through a pair of carry-in rollers 201 . Downstream of the feed roller 205, the presser blade rotation shaft 210C and an inverted stopper 209 are arranged in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction.
The leading edge of the incoming paper is first aligned and positioned. In order to allow the feed roller 205 to slip and rotate while the paper is in contact with a stopper or the like, it is preferable to include a torque limiter on the driving side or to make the driven side spherical.

After the leading edge is aligned, when the stopper 209 is released after a predetermined time interval, a rotational moment about the presser blade rotating shaft 210C acts on the paper, and the presser blade 210b comes into pressure contact with the paper, so that the paper is P l-P z −
Ps, and is further passed to a gathering roller 206, so that its longitudinal edge is aligned with the side fence 204. The shifting roller 206 should also have a spherical roller on the driven side as shown in the figure, and be inclined by θ with respect to the traveling direction (θ=5″ to 30″).
. The paper after rotation advances along the side fence 204,
The paper is discharged in the C direction by a pair of discharge rollers 211.

Note that since the rotary blade 210 is configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction integrally with the side fence portion, it can accommodate various paper sizes (see FIG. 6). The number of blades may be one to a plurality. Moreover, the shape of the blade can be modified in various ways.

Further, in this embodiment, the paper is rotated after being temporarily stopped by the stopper 209, but in some cases, the stopper 209 may be omitted and the paper may be rotated without being stopped.

In FIG. 5, while the paper is stopped at the stopper 209, the presser blade 210b is brought into pressure contact with the stopper 209, and the stopper 209 is immediately pressed.
It is more effective to rotate the paper with 09 open. In this case, a paper detection sensor 212 is provided on the conveyance path, and the presser blade 210b is intermittently rotated by a stepping motor or the like, and the rotational drive of the presser blade 210b is controlled in relation to the paper position (until the paper reaches the stopper 209). The presser blade 210b is retracted onto the upper guide plate 203, and after the paper reaches the stopper 209, the presser blade 21
0b is driven and pressed onto the paper, and at the same time the stopper 20
9 and rotate it 90").

The method of transporting the paper fed from the second paper storage section 500 according to this embodiment can also be achieved using various known means other than suction transport using the transport belt of the embodiment.

In addition, paper is normally stored in the tandem paper feed unit 300 by setting frequently used small-sized papers such as A4 and 85 paper horizontally, and then deflecting them by 90 degrees as necessary. is the most effective in terms of processing and processing power. The tandem type sheet feeding unit 300 of this embodiment has a function comparable to a conventional four-stage sheet feeding unit by providing a 90 degree rotation device.

That is, for example, if conventionally there were four stages: an A4 horizontal paper storage section, an A4 vertical paper storage section, a B5 horizontal paper storage section, and a B5 vertical paper storage section, the first paper storage section 400 in the tandem paper feed section 300 would be If the size of the second paper storage section 500 is 85 mm, it will have the functions of 4 conventional stages.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which a large-capacity tray 600 is used at the lower stage of the tandem-type paper feed section 300, and FIG. 9 shows an embodiment in which the large-capacity tray 600 is applied to the front stage of the tandem-type paper feed section 300.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, by providing the paper storage sections and the direction changing means that are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, the number of paper feed stages is twice as many as the number of paper storage sections. This makes it possible to save space and reduce costs.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 2, since the paper storage section is of a paper horizontal feeding type, there is no need to reduce the processing of small-sized horizontal feeding paper that is frequently used. This allows effective use of space without increasing the width of the machine.

Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path are each made into a single conveyance path, and a common conveyance path is provided from the plurality of paper storage units, thereby simplifying the apparatus. can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of the main parts of the paper feeding device, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the direction changing means, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 3 XXvA, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the upper guide plate of the direction changing means. , FIG. 6 is a side view of the same side, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line Y-Y in FIG. 5, and FIGS. 8 and 9.
The figure is a configuration diagram of a paper feeding device according to another embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conveyor belt. 150a... First conveyance path, 150b... Second conveyance path, 200... Direction changing device, 400... First paper storage section, 500... Second paper storage section, 422.522.
... Separation roller pair. iK1 figure figure 3 figure figure figure figure

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A direction converting means for converting the orientation of the paper carried in to approximately 90 degrees horizontally and carrying it out, a plurality of paper storage units arranged in parallel in the substantially horizontal direction, and a direction conversion unit provided on the same side of the paper storage unit. a first transport path that leads the paper from the plurality of paper storage units to the image forming unit; and a second transport path that leads from at least one of the plurality of paper storage units to the direction conversion unit. A paper feeding device characterized by comprising: (2) In the description of claim 1, each of the plurality of paper accommodating units is capable of accommodating the maximum size paper that can be accommodated in the lateral direction with respect to the paper traveling direction, and the paper is changed in the direction as necessary. A paper feeding device characterized by being guided to a means. (3) In the description of claim 1, the first conveyance path, the second
A paper feeding device characterized in that each of the transport paths is a single transport path, and is configured as a common transport path from the plurality of paper storage units.