JPH0412040Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeding device suitable for use in printers for various office equipment.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Generally, in printers for office equipment such as word processors, an automatic paper feeding device is used that stores a certain number of printed sheets in a cassette and feeds the printed sheets one by one from this cassette into the printer.

By the way, conventional automatic paper feeding devices had separate hopper rollers for supplying printed paper to the printer and stacker rollers for ejecting printed paper from the printer, so automatic There were problems in that the structure of the paper feeding device was complicated and large. Furthermore, since an electromagnetic clutch and a stepping motor were used for the electric power and operation timing of the hopper roller and stacker roller, there were problems such as setting and resetting preparations sometimes not being possible in one operation.

[Purpose of invention]

The purpose of this invention is to provide an automatic paper feeder that solves the above problems by using a single roller that serves as both a hopper roller and a stacker roller, and by rotating this roller from the printer's drive source via a cam. It is about providing.

[Structure of the idea]

In this invention, a main roller that serves as both a hopper roller and a stacker roller is mounted on a main shaft, and the main shaft is configured as a double shaft consisting of an inner shaft and an outer shaft, and the inner shaft is used for changing the position. The outer shaft functions as a rotational drive source for the main roller, the pinion gears attached near both ends of the inner shaft mesh with the rack gears, and a spring member biases the inner shaft in a certain direction. A cam that engages at a predetermined position on the inner shaft and rotates by the power transmitted from the drive unit of the printer is joined to the inner shaft, and the pressing force of the protrusion of the cam is applied to the inner shaft against the pulling force of the spring member. The automatic paper feeding device is characterized in that the cam is arranged so as to move the cam in the opposite direction.

[Example of idea]

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is an enlarged side view of the same, and reference numeral 1 indicates a cassette containing printing paper, and the lower end of this cassette 1 is placed on the top surface of the printer 2. In this way, the weight of waiting printing paper and cassettes is not applied to the automatic paper feeder but to the printer 2, so that the automatic paper feeder can be made smaller and lighter.

Next, 3 is a main roller that serves as both a hopper roller and a stacker roller, 4 is a main shaft configured as a double shaft, 4a is an inner shaft of the main shaft, 4b is an outer shaft of the main shaft, and 5 is both ends of the inner shaft. A nearby pinion gear 6 is a rack gear meshing with the pinion gear, and 7 is a spring member such as a tension spring engaged with the inner shaft.

Reference numeral 8 is a drive gear of the printer, 9 is a cam rotated by the drive gear 8, 9a is a convex portion of the cam, 9b is a flat portion of the cam, 10 is a platen roller, 11 is a dot head, and 12 is a set roller. This is a switching lever that switches between resets.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. First, the switching lever 12 is placed in the set position (in the direction of arrow A). This allows the cam 9 to come into contact with the main shaft 4,
When the convex portion 9a of the cam comes into contact with the main shaft 4, the main shaft, that is, the integral inner shaft 4a moves in the direction of arrow C against the pulling force of the spring member 7. At this time, since the pinion gear 5 and the rack gear 6 are provided near both ends of the inner shaft, the inner shaft can be smoothly translated in parallel while maintaining left and right balance. As the inner shaft moves, the main roller 3 comes into contact with the printed paper in the cassette 1 and functions as a hopper roller, feeding the printed paper into the printer 2 one by one. This printing paper passes through arrow E, platen roller 10, and arrow F.
, and are collected in the saucer 13 via the arrow G.

Here, before the printed paper reaches arrow G from arrow F, the contact between the convex part 9a of the cam and the main shaft 4 is released and the flat part 9b of the cam comes into contact with the main shaft 4. The pressing force of the cam that had been present is released, and the main shaft is moved in the direction of arrow D by the traction force of the spring member 7.

By moving this main axis, that is, the inner axis,
Since the main roller 3 waits at a position where it functions as a stacker roller, when the printing paper moves in the direction of arrow G from arrow F, it is forcibly fed by contact with the stacker roller.

After the main roller 3 discharges the printed paper to the tray 13, the convex portion 9a of the cam comes into contact with the main roller again and moves the main roller in the direction of arrow C to return to the position as a hopper roller.

In addition, if you want to stop paper feeding in the automatic paper feeder in the event of a paper jam, etc., move the switching lever 12 to the reset position (in the direction of arrow B) so that the protrusion 9a of the cam makes contact with the main roller. Since this is released, the main roller will always remain at the position of the stacker roller, and new printing paper will no longer be fed into the printer.

The outer shaft 4b of the main shaft always rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 in response to the rotational force transmitted from the drive gear 8, thereby driving the main roller.

[Effect of idea]

Therefore, the present invention integrates the hopper roller and stacker roller, making the entire device extremely simple, compact, and lightweight, and allows preparation for setting and resetting in one operation by operating the cam and switching lever. It has excellent effects such as being able to easily attach it to any type of printer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the same. 1... Cassette, 2... Printer, 3... Main roller, 4... Main shaft, 4a... Inner shaft, 4b... Outer shaft, 5... Pinion gear, 6... Rack gear, 7... Spring member, 8...
Drive gear, 9... cam, 9a... protrusion, 9b...
Flat part, 10... platen roller, 11... dot head, 12... switching lever, 13... saucer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A main roller that serves as both a hopper roller and a stacker roller is mounted on a main shaft, and the main shaft is configured as a double shaft consisting of an inner shaft and an outer shaft, and the inner shaft is used as a moving shaft for changing the position. The outer shaft functions as a rotation drive source for the main roller, the pinion gears attached near both ends of the inner shaft are engaged with the rack gears, and the spring member that biases the inner shaft in a certain direction is moved to a predetermined position on the inner shaft. A cam that engages in position and rotates with power transmitted from the printer's drive unit is joined to this inner shaft, and the pressing force of the protrusion of the cam opposes the traction force of the spring member and moves the inner shaft in the opposite direction. An automatic paper feeder characterized in that the cam is arranged to be moved.