JPH04280740A - Sheet material feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely feed sheet materials from a sheet feed cassette by properly adjusting the pressing force when many sheet materials are stacked on the sheet feed cassette. CONSTITUTION:A feed roller 37 is arranged on a sheet material feeder 30, and cam grooves 45b are formed toward the inside on both the right and left sides. A sheet feed cassette 50 has a middle plate 56 stacked with sheet materials P and rotated centering a rear side section 56a. The tare weight of a lever 69 coupled with the tips of the sheet material P is set to 20g+ or -6g. When the cassette 50 is fitted to the feeder 30, a pressing shaft 61 is coupled with the cam groove sections 45b and moved, and the pressing levers 59, 60 are rotated centering on support shafts 59a, 60a via tension coil springs 63, 65. Horizontal arms 59b, 60b are lifted, and the tip section of the middle plate 56 is pressed in the lifting direction. The shorter horizontal arm 60b is separated from the middle plate 56 earlier as the middle plate 56 is lifted, thus no further pressing force is transferred. The adjusting range of the pressing force by the pressing levers 59, 60 can be made large.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device that separates and feeds sheet materials one by one from a sheet material stack, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet material storage section that is attached to a sheet material feeder section so as to be removable. Regarding the structure of

0002

[Prior Art] Generally, in sheet material feeding devices of office equipment equipped with image forming devices such as copying machines, printing machines, and facsimile machines, sheet materials such as transfer paper and photosensitive paper are fed to sheet material receiving devices in cassettes or decks. A large number of sheets are stacked and stored on a substrate, and are separated and fed one by one from this sheet material stack to the next process by a feeding means such as a paper feeding roller.

[0003] At this time, in order to prevent so-called multi-feeding in which several sheet materials are fed together, a separation claw is known. A separation claw is provided near the tip of the sheet material stack in the sheet material feeding direction, and when the uppermost sheet material is fed, it moves over the separation claw while creating a slight deflection loop at the tip. By doing so, the uppermost sheet material is separated from the next lower sheet materials below it, so that only one sheet material is fed.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a main part of an example of a separating claw type feeding device. 100 is a sheet material loading table (middle plate) as a sheet material receiving board arranged in the paper feed cassette;
101 is a spring that lifts and biases this middle plate 100, P
102 is a paper feed roller; 103 is engaged with the upper surface of the left and right corners of the leading edge of the stacked sheet material P in the paper feeding direction; A pair of left and right separation claws.

[0005] The upper surface of the sheet material P near the tip side has a spring 1
The lifting force (pressure force in the upward direction) applied to the intermediate plate 100 by the intermediate plate 100 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the paper feed roller 102 with a predetermined pressing force. Alternatively, the paper feed roller 102 moves downward for each feed signal and contacts the upper surface of the sheet material P with a predetermined pressing force.

[0006] The separation claw 103 is freely swingable up and down about a shaft 103a, and is engaged with the upper surface of the corner of the leading edge of the sheet material P by riding on its own weight.

[0007] When the paper feed roller 102 is rotationally driven in the sheet material feeding direction, a feeding force in the paper feeding direction is applied to the uppermost sheet material P1 of the sheet materials P by frictional force. The uppermost sheet material P1 that has been fed tries to move forward, but the left and right corners of its leading edge are caught by the separation claws 103, preventing it from moving forward. For this reason, as the paper feed roller 102 rotates, the uppermost sheet material P1 is moved against the stiffness of the sheet material P at a portion between the separation claw 103 and the paper feed roller 102 near the separation claw 103. A deflection loop E is formed.

When the size of this deflection loop E exceeds a certain level, the restoring force that tries to return the deflection loop E to its original state causes the right and left corners of the leading edge of the uppermost sheet material P1 held down by the separation claws 103 to The part naturally comes off from the lower surface side of the separation claw 103 to the upper surface side and climbs over the separation claw 103. That is, the highest sheet material P among the stacked sheet materials P
Only one of the sheet materials P is released from the restraint of the separating claw 103 by the formation of the above-mentioned deflection loop E, and only one sheet is separated and fed from the next and subsequent sheet materials P.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, due to the recent diversification of information, increase in the amount of information, etc., the amount of sheet material P consumed has increased.
In order to solve the trouble of replenishing paper sheets, there is a tendency for the number of sheets that can be loaded in a paper feed cassette to be increased, for example from 250 sheets to 500 sheets.

However, in the above-mentioned sheet material feeding device, when the sheet material P is increased and stored on the middle plate 100 of the paper feeding cassette, the uppermost sheet material P1 is fed from the paper feeding cassette. When the sheet material P is separated from other sheet materials P by the paper roller 102 and fed, the left and right corners of the leading edge may not come out of the separation claws 103 properly, and there is a risk that feeding may not be carried out smoothly. .

That is, the smooth feeding of the uppermost sheet material P1 is greatly affected by the pressing force of the paper feed roller 102 against the uppermost sheet material P1, that is, the upward pressing force against the intermediate plate 100, which is the cause of the pressing force. However, this pressing force depends exclusively on the characteristics of the spring 101. Then, due to the delicate balance between this pressing force on the middle plate 100, the own weight of the sheet material P, and the weight of the middle plate 100,
Since normal feeding is performed for the first time, it is possible to simply feed the sheet material P without changing the basic structure of the paper feed cassette.
If the number of sheets loaded is increased, feeding abnormalities tend to occur frequently.

In view of this, the present invention provides a sheet material feeding method that allows smooth feeding of sheet materials even when the number of sheets to be loaded is increased by expanding the adjustment range of the pressing force of the intermediate plate. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. For example, as shown with reference to FIG. 13, a sheet material feeder portion ( 30) and a sheet material storage section (50) that is removably attached to the sheet material feeder section (30),
The sheet material (P) stored in the sheet material storage part (50) is
) are sequentially fed by the sheet material feeding means (37). It engages the rotatable middle plate (56) and the tip of the sheet material (P) loaded on the middle plate (56) in the feeding direction, and its own weight is 20g±6g.
a single sheet material separation member (69), and a plurality of pressure members (63, 65) that apply upward pressing force to the intermediate plate (56) via a plurality of transmission members (59, 60). and a transmission member (60) in which the plurality of transmission members (59, 60) can switch whether or not to transmit the pressing force in response to a change in the sheet material loading amount of the intermediate plate (56). It is characterized by including at least one.

In this case, a low friction resin material such as a tetrafluoride resin may be coated on the contact surface of the sheet material single separation member (69) with the sheet material (P).

[0015]

[Operation] Based on the above configuration, the sheet material storage section (50)
When the sheet material (P) is stored and loaded on the vertically movable middle plate (56), the pressure members (63, 6
Since the pressing force from 5) is applied in the upward direction via the transmission member (69, 70), the sheet material (P) is urged in the upward direction.

By the way, the sheet material (P
) is fed by the sheet material feeding means (37), the sheet material feeding means (37) for the sheet material (P) is fed by the sheet material feeding means (37).
), that is, the magnitude of the above-mentioned pressing force has a large influence.

However, a plurality of transmission members (69, 70) are provided, and at least one of them changes the pressing force in response to changes in the sheet material loading amount of the intermediate plate (56). Since the presence or absence of transmission can be switched, the pressing force of the entire transmission member (69, 70) against the middle plate (56) can be adjusted as appropriate. By setting this pressing force in accordance with the number of sheets loaded (P), an appropriate pressing force can be relatively easily applied to the sheet material (P) even when the number of sheets loaded changes. As a result, the pressing force between the sheet material (P) and the sheet material feeding means (37) can be made suitable, and the sheet material (P) is normally fed.

Furthermore, when the weight of the sheet material single separation member (69) is 20g±6g, the separation and feeding of the sheet material (P) can be stably performed regardless of the sheet material loading amount. . However, the dead weight at this time does not refer to the weight of the single sheet material separating member (69) as a single unit, but refers to the weight when it is disposed at a predetermined position.

Furthermore, the sheet material feeder section (30) and the sheet material storage section (50) each have cam surfaces (45a, 4
5b) and the pressurizing force charging member (61),
Sheet material storage section (50) in sheet material feeder section (30)
A pressing force in the upward direction is applied to the intermediate plate (56) only after the pressing force charging member (61) engages and moves to the cam surface (45a, 45b). Therefore, when removing the sheet material storage section (50) from the sheet material feeder section (30) and replenishing the sheet material (P), no upward pressure is applied to the intermediate plate (56), and , since it is located below the sheet material storage section (50), the sheet material (
P) is easy to replenish.

In addition, the sheet material separation member (69) coated with a low-friction resin material allows the sheet material (P) to come off smoothly.

[0021] The reference numerals in parentheses are for illustration purposes only, and do not limit the structure of the present invention in any way.

[0022]

[Embodiment] First, an outline of an entire facsimile machine as an embodiment constructed according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The facsimile machine is a combination of a sheet material feeding device A and a facsimile B. The top cover of the apparatus main body 1 is formed with a document mounting table 2 on which a plurality of original documents S can be stacked. An optical reading system 3 for reading image information of a document S conveyed therein is disposed, and a recording system 5 consisting of a laser beam printer is disposed below the optical reading system 3. Further, a telephone 26, an operation panel 27, etc. are arranged on the top surface of the device main body 1.

The optical reading system 3 includes a preliminary conveyance roller 6b in pressure contact with a preliminary conveyance pressing piece 6a and a separation roller 6 in pressure contact with a separation pressing piece 6c for the originals S stacked on the document placing table 2.
The sheets are separated one by one by d, and then the contact sensor (contact type sensor) 7 is moved by the main conveyance roller 6f, etc., which is in pressure contact with the paper feed roller 6e.
The document S is conveyed to the contact sensor 7 by the pressing means 9.
After reading the image information of the document S while being pressed into close contact with the document S, the document S is discharged onto the document discharge tray 10 by a discharge roller 6h that is in pressure contact with a discharge roller 6g.

The contact sensor 7 has L as a light source.
Light is irradiated from the ED 7a onto the image information surface of the document S, and the reflected light reflected from the image information surface is imaged onto the photoelectric conversion element 7c by the short focus imaging lens 7b to read the image information. It is constructed so that information is transmitted to the recording section of another machine in the facsimile mode, and to its own recording system 5 in the copy mode.

[0025] The original table 2 is provided with a slider 2a that is slidable in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the original S (width direction of the original S). Both sides of the original document S can be aligned.

The recording system 5 also operates a laser beam oscillator 11a based on the image signal of the contact sensor 7.
emits a modulated signal, and irradiates the modulated beam with scanning light onto the photoreceptor drum 12a of the image forming section 12 using the polygon mirror 11b to form image information on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 12a. The image information is transferred and fixed onto a sheet material (recording sheet) P fed from A to the image forming section 12, and then the sheet is ejected.

The photosensitive drum 12a is a primary charger 12.
b, the developing roller 12c, and the cleaning roller 12d, and are integrated into the recording cartridge 12e.
It is configured to be detachable from the device main body 1. The surface of the photosensitive drum 12a is uniformly charged by the primary charger 12b, and when the surface is irradiated with scanning light from the polygon mirror 11b, a latent image is formed, and the latent image is supplied from the developing roller 12c. It is visualized using toner.

Photosensitive drum 12a of the image forming section 12
A transfer charger 12f is arranged in the peripheral area, and a fixing roller 12g and a discharge roller 12h are arranged in the sheet material conveyance path downstream of the photosensitive drum 12a, and the transfer charger 12f charges the sheet material. After transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 12a to the sheet material P fed from the feeding device A, the toner image is fixed to the sheet material P by the fixing roller 12g, and then the toner image is transferred to the sheet material P by the paper ejection roller 12h. Accordingly, the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 15 that is detachably provided on one side of the apparatus main body 1 (on the left side in FIG. 1 or 2).

Further, a stacking tray 16 for manually feeding sheet material P is provided on one end surface of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and by tilting the stacking tray 16 to a nearly horizontal state, the manual feeding port 16a can be opened. When the sheet material P is opened and loaded on the stacking tray 16 and inserted into the manual feed port 16a,
The sheet material P is moved by the pressure contact member 16b to the conveying rollers 13a,
The transfer charger 12 is pressed against the larger diameter roller 13b, and separated one by one by the roller 13b.
f and the photosensitive drum 12a.

An opening/closing lid 17 is provided on one end side of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and the loading tray 16 is provided on the opening/closing lid 17, and the paper ejection tray 15 is detachably attached to the opening/closing lid 17. It is being Also, by opening the opening/closing lid 17, the recording cartridge 12e can be inserted into the apparatus main body 1.
It can be pulled out outside and replaced.

Furthermore, the opening/closing lid 17 is arranged to work in conjunction with a drum exposure prevention shutter 12i provided on the recording cartridge 12e, so that when the opening/closing lid 17 is opened, the shutter 12i closes and the opening/closing lid 17 is closed. The shutter 12i is sometimes opened.

Although not shown, the operating button of the release lever for unlocking the opening/closing lid 17 is disposed in a recess provided in the front surface of the opening/closing lid 17, and the recess is connected to the paper output tray 15.
The opening/closing lid 17 cannot be unlocked using the operation button unless the paper ejection tray 15 is removed from the opening/closing lid 17. For this reason, the paper ejection tray 15 becomes an obstacle and the opening/closing lid 1
The recording cartridge 12 is opened when the cartridge 7 is not fully opened.
It is possible to prevent a situation where the recording cartridge 12e is damaged by replacing the recording cartridge 12e. Further, the opening/closing lid 17 is half-opened, and in conjunction with this, the drum exposure prevention shutter 12i is also half-opened, making it possible to prevent situations such as exposure of the photosensitive drum 12a and deterioration of image quality.

The sheet material feeding device A includes a paper feeding cassette 5 that is attached to the bottom of the device main body 1 so as to be able to be pulled out from one end.
0, the sheet material P is separated one by one by the occluded circular sheet material feeding roller 37, and the separated sheet material P is transferred to the toner formed on the photoreceptor drum 12a by the sheet material feeding roller 40 as a registration roller. The paper feeding timing is set so that the leading edge of the image and the leading edge of the sheet material P coincide with each other, and the paper is fed between the transfer charger 12f and the photosensitive drum 12a through a pair of transport rollers 13a and 13c. It is what it is.

The number of sheets that can be loaded in the paper feed cassette 50 is approximately 250 sheets in a copying machine, etc., whereas in a facsimile machine, the power is always on, the operator is often not near the machine, and communication with overseas is difficult. Because there is night reception,
Alternatively, the number of loaded sheet materials P needs to be about 500 so that reception can be performed even during a long vacation. Furthermore, the sheet material feeding device A is required to have high paper feeding performance.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the sheet material feeder 30 of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the feeder drive section, FIG. 5 is a front view, and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view.

In the figure, 31 is the top plate of the feeder 30, 31L and 31R are hollow pedestals that are long in the front and rear direction and are attached to the left and right sides of the top plate 31 in parallel to each other, and 32 is provided on the bottom surface of the pedestal. It has rubber feet. When the feeder 30 is placed on the installation stand C, a paper cassette storage space 33 (FIG. 5) is formed by the lower surface of the feeder top plate 31, the upper surface of the installation stand C, and the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R. .

Reference numeral 35 denotes a positioning boss provided on the feeder top plate 31, which is fitted into a receiving hole on the bottom of the facsimile B to position and place the facsimile B on the feeder 30. Facsimile B
are in combination with each other.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a sheet material feeding roller shaft rotatably supported by a bearing between the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R, and 37 indicates four sheet material feeding rollers integrally attached to the shaft at predetermined intervals. A sheet material feeding roller is used as a means. The sheet material feeding roller 37 of this example is a cut-off roller (D-shaped cut roller) in the side or cross section. Normally, the omitted circular side 37a is held in a rotationally stopped state with a downward rotational angle attitude (FIGS. 1 and 6). Reference numeral 39 designates a sheet material conveyance roller shaft rotatably supported by bearings between the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R, and 40 represents a sheet material conveyance roller integrally attached to the shaft.

The sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 and the conveying roller shaft 39 are substantially parallel to each other, and the conveying roller shaft 39 is located at the tip side of the feeder top plate 31, and the feeding roller shaft 36 is located at the tip side of the feeder top plate 31. The feed roller 3 is located upstream in the sheet material feeding direction than the feed roller 3 attached to the feed roller shaft 36.
7 has an occluded circular side 37a and an opposite circular arc side 37b partially exposed on the upper surface side of the upper surface plate 31 through a through hole 41 formed in the surface of the feeder upper surface plate 31.

G1 to G5 are gear trains, G1 is an input gear that is loosely fitted to the right side of the sheet material conveying roller shaft 39 and transmits the driving force from the apparatus main body 1 side, G2 is an idle gear, and G3 is an idle gear. A clutch gear G4, which is loosely fitted to the right end of the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 and controlled to engage and disengage from the shaft 36 by a one-turn spring clutch 42, shares a shaft with G2 and is loosely fitted to the shaft. Spring clutch 4
2 is a clutch gear that is controlled to engage and disengage from the idle gear G2, and G5 is a conveyance roller shaft gear that is located on the left side of the input gear G1 and is integrally attached to the sheet material conveyance roller shaft 39 (
Figure 3).

When the cassette drive on the apparatus main body 1 side is energized, the input gear G1 rotates clockwise, and in conjunction with this, the gears G2 and G3 rotate. Idle gear G2
, clutch gear G4 rotates counterclockwise, clutch gear G
3 and the conveyance roller shaft gear G5 rotate clockwise. When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a of the spring clutch 42 is energized, the clutch gear G3 is disengaged from the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 due to the clutch being turned off, and rotates idly on the shaft 36. Therefore, in this state, no rotational force is transmitted to the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, and the feeding roller 37 is kept in a rotationally stopped state. When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a is temporarily energized, the spring clutch 42 is turned on, and the clutch gear G3 is integrated with the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, and the shaft 36 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction. The material feeding roller 37 is rotated clockwise in FIGS. 1 and 6. The sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, that is, the sheet material feeding roller 37 rotates once (3
60 degrees), the clutch is turned off and the rotation of the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, that is, the sheet material feeding roller 37 is stopped.

When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42c of the spring clutch 42 is de-energized, the clutch gear G4 is disconnected from the idle gear G2 due to the clutch being de-energized, and is in a stopped state. Therefore, in this state, no rotational force is transmitted to the conveyance roller shaft gear G5, and the sheet material conveyance roller 40 is kept in a rotationally stopped state. When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42c is energized, the spring clutch 42 is turned on, the clutch gear G4 is interlocked with the idle gear G2, and the conveyance roller shaft gear G5 is rotated clockwise. Therefore, the sheet material conveying roller 40
is rotated clockwise.

42b and 42d are lead wires for energizing the electromagnetic solenoid plungers 42a and 42c, respectively, and when the facsimile machine B is properly set on the sheet material feeding device A, the wires are connected to the sheet material feeding device A side. An electrical coupling member provided relative to the facsimile B side (
(not shown) are coupled to the control circuit (not shown) on the facsimile B side to electromagnetic solenoid plungers 42a, 42c.
are connected via the lead wires 42b and 42d. Alternatively, after facsimile B is properly placed and set on sheet material feeding device A, plugs (not shown) provided at the terminals of the lead wires 42b and 42d are inserted into sockets (not shown) on facsimile B side. This causes the electromagnetic solenoid plungers 42a, 42c to communicate with the control circuit on the facsimile B side.

43, 43 (FIGS. 5 and 6) are the left and right pedestals 3
Paper feed cassette loading/unloading guide grooves 45a, 45a, 45b, symmetrically provided along the length on each inner surface of 1L, 31R,
Similarly, cam grooves 45b are symmetrically provided on the tip sides of the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the paper feed cassette 50, FIG. 8 is a front view, FIG. 9 is a rear view, FIG. 10 is a left side view, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view.

In the paper feed cassette 50, reference numeral 51 denotes a cassette body case 51a, 51 having a square planar cassette body with an open top surface;
b, 51c, 51d, 51e, and 51f are the front wall, left side wall, right side wall, rear wall, bottom plate, and sheet material tip abutment wall of the case, respectively, in this order. 52 is the main case 5
A handle portion provided on the outside of the front wall 51a of No. 1 has left and right projecting protrusions 52a, 52b, and 53 is a sheet material guide plate provided inside the front wall 51a with an upward tilt angle, 55L.
, 55R are elongated flanges extending outward along the upper lengths of the left and right side walls 51b, 51c of the main body case, and include the main body case 51 (51a to 51f), the handle portion 52, the guide plate 53, Left and right elongated flanges 55L, 55
R is an all-in-one resin molded product. In addition, in particular, the right side wall 51c and the sheet material end abutment wall 51f that come into contact with the sheet material P are baked and coated with a low friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin in order to minimize the sliding resistance with the sheet material P. Alternatively, the performance can be made extremely stable by pasting a sheet material or by molding the main body case 51 with tetrafluoride resin.

Reference numeral 56 denotes an intermediate plate housed within the main body case 51, and the front end side thereof is freely swingable up and down with the rear side portion 56a as a rotational fulcrum. Reference numeral 57 denotes a rear end regulating plate connected to the middle plate 56 within the main body case 51, and its position is displaced as the front end side of the middle plate 56 swings up and down. The sheet material P is stacked on this intermediate plate 56 and housed in the main body case 51.

59 and 60 (FIGS. 7 and 11) are the middle plates 5
This is an L-shaped pressurizing lever that swings the lever 6 up and down, and is used as a transmission member. There are two lengths of the horizontal arms 59b and 60b of the L-shaped pressure levers 59 and 60. Compared to the lengths of the pressure levers 59 at both ends of the main body case 51, the length of the pressure lever 60 in the center is It is set short. The pressure levers 59 and 60 are freely rotatable around support shafts 59a and 60a provided in front of the front end side of the middle plate 56, and one horizontal arm 59b and 60b is attached to the front end side of the middle plate 56. The levers 59 and 60 are located on the lower surface side, and the levers 59 and 60 are connected to the support shafts 59a and 60a.
When rotated counterclockwise around the horizontal arms 59b, 60
b rotates in the rising direction, and the middle plate 56 moves to the rear side 56a.
is lifted upward onto the pivot point and rotated. The tips of the pressure levers 59 and 60 are made of a low-friction resin material such as oil-impregnated plastic and tetrafluoride resin in order to minimize the sliding resistance with the middle plate 56.
60 of pressure force is transmitted to the middle plate 56 without waste.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a pressure shaft as a pressure charging member provided in front of the levers 59 and 60, and the pressure shaft 61 has both left and right ends 61L and 61R connected to the left and right side walls 51b of the main body case 51, The left and right ends 61L and 61R (FIGS. 9 and 10) are inserted into the diagonal vertical grooves 62 provided symmetrically on the surface of the left and right side walls 51b.
, 51c. 63, 65 are this pressure shaft 61 and the vertical arms 59c, 60 of the levers 59, 60.
This is a tension coil spring as a pressure member that connects c. When the paper feed cassette 50 is removed from the sheet material feeder 30 (FIG. 11), the pressure lever 5
9 and 60 are rotated clockwise around the support shafts 59a and 60a by the weight of the intermediate plate 56 and the sheet material P loaded thereon, so that the horizontal arms 59b and 60b fall into a substantially horizontal position. As a result, the middle plate 56 also falls onto the bottom plate 51e inside the main body case 51. In this state, the pressure shaft 61 is connected to the vertical arms 59c, 60c of the pressure levers 59, 60.
As a result, both left and right ends 61L, 61R receive a tensile force through the coil springs 63, 65, and are held in a raised position to the starting point on the upper end side of the diagonally vertical slot 62 into which they are fitted.

Reference numerals 66 and 66 denote a pair of left and right separation claws, and support shafts 67 and 67 are provided at both left and right ends inside the main body case 51, respectively.
The levers 69, 69 are provided at the tips of levers 69, 69, which are provided to freely swing vertically around the levers 69, 69 as sheet material separating members. The pair of left and right separating claws 66, 66 correspond to the left and right corners on the leading edge side of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the sheet materials P stacked and stored on the middle plate 56 in the cassette main body case 51, respectively. Reference numerals 70 and 70 designate lever extensions in which the tips of the levers 69 and 69 are extended further forward than the positions of the separation claws 66 and 66. This lever extension 70, 70
is located above the pressure shaft 61, and the paper feed cassette 50 is removed from the sheet material feeder 30 in FIG.
In state 1, as described above, the pressure shaft 6 is pulled up and held at the starting position on the upper end side of the oblique vertical slot 62.
1, the levers 69, 69 are held in a substantially horizontal resting position, and are prevented from rotating downward.

Reference numeral 71 denotes a roller serving as a sheet material conveying member disposed on the upper side of the sheet material guide plate 53 that rises forward, and is free to rotate about a shaft 76. This sheet material conveyance roller 71 is a driven roller that forms a pair with the sheet material conveyance roller 40 as a drive roller provided on the sheet material feeder 30 side, and as shown in FIG. When the sheet material is inserted into the feeder 30, it comes into contact with the sheet material conveying roller 40 on the feeder 30 side. The roller 71 receives a force in the direction of the roller 40 by a biasing member (not shown), and is pressed into contact with the roller 40 with a predetermined pressure.

72 (FIG. 7) is a side regulating plate for the loaded sheet material P provided inside the left side wall 51b of the cassette main body case 51, and the lower surface is connected to the bottom plate 51 of the cassette main body case 51.
e, and its upper surface is inserted into the insertion portion of the left side wall 51b of the main body case 51, and is positioned so as to keep the size of the sheet material loading space stable regardless of the number of sheet materials loaded. Reference numeral 73 denotes a biasing spring that appropriately presses the side regulating plate 72 against the side surface of the stacked sheet material P.

The pressing force of the biasing spring 73 on the sheet material P is (
110±30) g, and if the pressing force is weaker than this range, the positioning of the side regulating plate 72 will not be possible, and problems such as skewing of the sheet material P during feeding will occur, and if the pressing force is strong, the When the plate 56 swings, it becomes a load and proper paper feeding pressure cannot be obtained, resulting in paper feeding failure. Further, even if the paper feeding does not become defective, the end surface of the sheet material P may be bent due to the pressing force and scratches may occur.

The sheet materials P are loaded and stored in the paper feed cassette 50 by removing the cassette 50 from the feeder 30 and opening the upper surface of the main body case 51, as will be described later. When the cassette 50 is removed from the feeder 30 in the state shown in FIG. 11, it is at the lowest rotational position where the middle plate 56 inside the cassette main case 51 falls onto the bottom plate 51e inside the main case 51, as described above. Further, the separation claws 66, 66 are received by the extensions 70, 70 of the levers 69, 69 provided thereon resting on the pressure shaft 61 which is pulled up and held at the starting position on the upper end side of the diagonal vertical slot 62. Since the levers 69, 69 are held in a substantially horizontal rest position and are prevented from rotating downwards, they are held at an upper position near the top opening in the main body case 51. Therefore, the distance between the front end side of the middle plate 56 and the separating claws 66, 66 is maintained large, and the operation of loading and storing the sheet materials P into the cassette main body case 51 can be performed easily and quickly. Note that in the case of the conventional cassette shown in FIG.
The tip side of the sheet material P on top of the sheet material P is pushed up to the top and is stable. Therefore, the sheet material P is loaded and replenished into the main body case (not shown) while pushing down against the spring 101 that lifts and biases the middle plate 100, and while dodging the leading edge of the supplied sheet material P from the separation claw 103. However, there was a drawback that the operability of replenishing the sheet material P into the cassette was poor. The cassette 50 of this example has been improved in this respect as described above.

In addition to the paper feed cassette 50 described in this example (maximum loading capacity of 500 sheets), the paper feed cassette 50 for the feeder 30 may be a cassette with a maximum loading capacity of, for example, 200 sheets or less, or 250 sheets, etc. can be attached to the feeder 30 without any modification. Normally, the paper feed cassette 50 for the device has a maximum sheet material size of 6 types such as B4, A4, B5 vertical, B5 horizontal, A5 horizontal, etc., and the loading capacity of the sheet material P is Regardless of the user's frequency of use,
Both were 250 sheets and 200 sheets. Since the feeder 30 of the present invention can be equipped with a plurality of types of cassettes with different maximum loading capacities, the large-capacity paper feed cassette 50 is used for the frequently used sheet material P, and the small-capacity paper cassette 50 is used for the frequently used sheet material P. Improvements have been made so that a large capacity paper feed cassette 50 is sufficient.

The paper feed cassette 50 is attached to the feeder 30 through the paper feed cassette storage space 33 (see Fig. 5) for feeder 3
0, with the rear wall 51d side of the cassette 50 first, and the outwardly projecting elongated flanges 55L, 55R on the left and right sides of the cassette 50, respectively, on the feeder left and right pedestals 31L,
It is fitted into and engaged with the longitudinal direction guide grooves 43, 43 provided along the longitudinal direction on the inner surface of 31R, and is pushed in (in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 1).

When the paper feed cassette 50 is fully pushed in, the left and right protrusions 5 of the handle portion 52 on the front side of the cassette 50
The back side of 2a, 52a is the guide groove 4 on the feeder 30 side.
3 and 43 (FIGS. 3 and 6), further pushing movement of the cassette 50 is prevented, and the cassette 50 is placed in the normal pushing position with respect to the feeder 30. Also, when loading a cassette with a maximum load capacity different from the paper cassette 50, from the front of the feeder 30 to the storage space 33 (FIG. 5) of the paper cassette 50, first place the rear wall 51d of the cassette 50. and outwardly projecting elongated flanges 55L on the left and right sides of the cassette 50,
55R to the left and right pedestals 31L and 3 of the feeder 30, respectively.
Anteroposterior guide groove 4 provided longitudinally on the inner surface of 1R
3, 43 and push it in (in the direction of arrow X in Figure 1).
As a result, it can be installed in the normal push-in position using the same operation method as the paper feed cassette 50. In this installed state, the front surface of the cassette 50 is almost the same as the left side surface of the facsimile B as shown in FIG. 1, and there is no protrusion from the left side surface of the facsimile B, and there is no unsightly design. Furthermore, even if a cassette with a different maximum load capacity from the paper feed cassette 50 is installed, a gap is created in the cassette storage space 33, but there is no unsightly design.

The insertable distance L1 (FIG. 1) of the cassette 50 into the feeder 30 is made larger than the cassette mounting direction dimension L2 of the feeder 30, and the cassette 50' whose length in the front and back direction is larger than L2 can also be inserted and mounted. In this case, the cassette 50'
When the cassette 50' is properly attached to the feeder 30, the insertion end side of the cassette 50' protrudes from the rear side of the feeder 30 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Although a protrusion L4 is formed on the right side of B, the appearance is good.

The sheet material feeding roller 37 disposed on the top plate 31 side of the feeder 30 is a hollow circular roller (
It is a D-shaped cut roller), and is normally in a stopped state with the omitted circular side 37a in a downward rotation angle posture, and when the cassette 50 is pushed into the feeder 30 as described above and is moved, the rear wall of the cassette main case 51 The upper side of the sheet material feeding roller 37 passes under the downwardly facing occluded side 37a of the sheet material feeding roller 37 and does not interfere with the roller 37.

Furthermore, until just before the cassette 50 is sufficiently pushed into the feeder 30 and is properly mounted, the middle plate 56 is not subjected to the lifting rotational force by the pressure lever 59, and the cassette body case 51 bottom plate 51e
It is held in a collapsed position as shown in Figure 11,
The stacked sheet material P on the intermediate plate 56 is also housed in the cassette main body case 51 in a horizontal position. Therefore feeder 30
In the process of pushing the cassette 50 inside, the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stored and stacked sheet materials P in the cassette main body case 51 is sufficiently spaced downward from the downward oval side 37a of the sheet material feeding roller 37. There is no interference between the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked sheet materials P on the cassette 50 side and the feeding roller 37 on the feeder 30 side.

In other words, the feeding roller 37 on the feeder 30 side
By making the roller into a notched circular roller and keeping it in a rotational state with the notched circular side 37a facing downward at all times, the lower surface of the feeder top plate 31, the upper surface of the installation stand C, and the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R are The height of the paper feed cassette storage space 33 formed on the inner surface can be increased, and the sheet material loading and storage capacity of the cassette 50 can be increased accordingly.

[0062] Immediately before the cassette 50 is sufficiently pushed into the feeder 30 and properly mounted, both left and right ends 61L of the pressure shaft 61 protruding outward from the left and right side walls 51b and 51c are attached to the cassette 50. , 61R engage with cam grooves 45a, 45a, 45b, 45b provided on the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 31L, 31R of the feeder 30, respectively,
Due to the subsequent pushing movement force of the cassette 50, both left and right ends 61L, 61R of the pressurizing shaft 61 are pushed into the cam grooves 45a, 45a, 4.
5b and 45b, the pressurizing shaft 61 moves downward from the starting point on the upper end side to the ending point on the lower end side along the oblique vertical slot 62 with which it is engaged. Along with this downward movement of the pressure shaft 61, the pressure levers 59, 60 are rotated counterclockwise around the support shafts 59a, 60a via the tension coil springs 63, 65, and the horizontal arms of the levers 59, 60 are 59b and 60b rotate in the rising direction, and the arm 59b
, 60b, the middle plate 56 on which the sheet material P is loaded is lifted up at its front end side using the rear side portion 56a as a fulcrum, and is rotated to a tilted posture.

Then, when the cassette 50 is fully pushed and moved and the cassette installation is completed, the pressurizing shaft 61 reaches the lower end point of the diagonally vertical slot 62 with which it is engaged, and the left and right ends 61L, 61R thereof are reached. is the cam groove 45a, 4
Lower ends 45c, 45c, 45 of 5a, 45b, 45b
It is held and detented at d and 45d (FIG. 6).

On the other hand, the levers 69, 69 have their extensions 70
, 70 moves downward along the slot 62 as described above, and at the initial stage of its descent, it rotates downward in the counterclockwise direction around the support shafts 67, 67. The separating claws 66, 66 are received at the corners of the front side of the stacked sheet material P, which is raised by the lift and rotation of the front side of the intermediate plate 56 as the pressure shaft 61 descends, Subsequent downward rotation is prevented, and the pressurizing shaft 61 is separated from the lever extensions 70, 70 by the continued downward movement. The separation claws 66, 66 have lever extensions 70, 70 connected to the pressure shaft 6.
1 and the edges are cut, the tip rests on the corner of the leading edge of the stacked sheet material P under its own weight, and functions as a separation claw for one sheet material (FIG. 12).

Sheet material conveyance roller 71 on the cassette 50 side
In the state in which the cassette 50 is completely attached to the feeder 30, the sheet material conveying roller 4 on the feeder 30 side
0 (FIG. 1, FIG. 13).

The sheet material feeding device A in FIG.
The figure shows the postures and positions of each of the above-mentioned members at the time when the cassette 50 is completely installed.

In this state, when the mode for using the sheet material feeding device A is selected in the console section of the facsimile B as the main device, and the image formation start signal is input to the control circuit of the facsimile B, the Gear trains G1 to G3 are in a rotating state. The sheet material feed roller 37 and the sheet material transport roller 40 are kept non-rotating by keeping the spring clutch 42 and the spring clutch interlocked with the gear G2 in a clutch-off state. Thereafter, the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a on the feeder 30 side is temporarily energized from the control circuit on the facsimile B side based on the sheet material feeding start signal, so that the one-turn spring clutch 42 is turned on, and the sheet material The feeding roller 37 is driven one rotation clockwise in FIG. The arc side 3 of this feeding roller 37
7b acts on the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked storage sheet materials P on the intermediate plate 56, causing the uppermost sheet material P1 to move in the direction of the arrow Y, which is the opposite direction to the mounting direction arrow X of the cassette 50 with respect to the feeder 30. When the feeding force is applied, the uppermost sheet material P1
is separated into one cassette 50 by the separation claws 66, 66.
is fed out toward the front wall 51a.

The leading edge of the sheet material P that has been fed out is guided by the forward upward guide plate 53 and moved to the pair of sheet material feeding rollers 4.
The facsimile B is introduced from below into the nip portion of No. 0 and 71 and is temporarily stopped.
facsimile B from the feed sheet material receiving port 75 on the bottom plate of
be sent inside. The sheet material P fed into the facsimile B passes through the guide plate 75a, is held in the nip portion of the conveyance rollers 13a and 13c on the facsimile B side, and is fed to the image forming unit 12. The image forming operation on the facsimile B side is similar to the sheet material feeding mode from the stacking tray (multi-feed tray) 16 described above.

In this way, each time the sheet material feeding roller 37 on the feeder 30 side is driven once, the loaded stored sheet material P in the cassette 50 mounted on the feeder 30 is fed to the single-sheet facsimile B side. Then, image formation on the fed sheet material P is performed sequentially.

As the consumption of the stacked storage sheet material P in the cassette 50 decreases, the pressure levers 59 and 60 pull the pressure levers 59 and 60 and the charging force of the coil springs 63 and 65 causes the middle plate 56 to sequentially rotate counterclockwise. As a result, it is lifted and rotated in sequence. However, the pressure levers 59 at two locations on both ends of the cassette main body case 51 are rotated counterclockwise around the support shaft 59a.
When the middle plate 56 is lifted upward using the rear side portion 56a as a rotational fulcrum and rotated, the conventional paper feed cassette 50 with a capacity of 250 sheets
Then, the paper feed pressure is 300g to 400g for the 1st to 250th sheet.
g) However, when the paper feeding pressure was measured in the paper feeding cassette 50 with a capacity of 500 sheets, the paper feeding pressure was as shown in Fig. 14. If a sheet material P such as thick paper or thin paper is used, problems such as poor paper feeding, skew feeding, double feeding, etc. occur because of paper pressure distribution, making it impossible to obtain stable paper feeding pressure.

Therefore, in order to obtain stable paper feeding pressure, in the present invention, the pressure levers 59 and 60 are mounted on the cassette body case 51.
In addition to the two pressure levers 59 and 60 at both ends, one additional pressure lever was added in the center, for a total of three pressure levers 59 and 60 (Figures 7 and 11).
. The pressure levers 59 at both ends of the cassette body case 51 are set in the same way as the conventional 250-sheet paper feed cassette 50, that is, they apply pressure to the stacked sheets from the first to the 300th sheet (after the 300th sheet). However, the pressurizing force does not become 0g, and the pressurizing force at two locations on both ends attenuates to less than 300g).
When we created a structure in which the pressure attenuated from the paper feed pressure of 300 g was supplemented by the pressurizing force at two places on both ends from the first sheet, the paper feed pressure distribution was a two-peak distribution as shown in Figure 15, but the paper feed pressure was 300 g.
A configuration was created that maintains the paper feeding pressure at a constant level of 00g to 500g.

Furthermore, as the consumption of the stacked storage sheet material P in the paper feed cassette 50 decreases, the middle plate 56 is moved by the pressure lever 59,
60 is sequentially lifted and rotated counterclockwise by the charging force of the tension coil springs 63 and 65, the dimension of L3 in Fig. 22(a) changes (the sheet material decreases). The longer the length, the longer the dimension of L3 (Figure 2
2(b) )). If the sheet loading platform is one that moves horizontally, such as a large-capacity paper deck, the dimension L3 will not change regardless of how much sheet material P is loaded, but in the case of a cassette-type one, the dimension L3 should be adjusted in consideration of the attachment and detachment of the cassette 50, etc. Since it is made as thin as possible and it is impossible to store a mechanism for horizontally moving the sheet loading platform in that space, the sheet loading platform is usually called a middle plate 56 and rotates up and down with the rear side 56a as a rotational fulcrum. A device that can be rotated in different directions is used. Cassette 5 with a loading capacity of sheet material P of 250 sheets or less than the conventional one
When set to 0, the amount of change in L3 is not affected by paper feeding performance, but 50
When 0 sheet materials P are loaded, 250 sheets cassette 5
Since the rotation angle is twice as large as 0, the dimensional change in L3 greatly affects the paper feeding performance. That is, when the number of stacked sheet materials P decreases, the sheet materials P slide down and the amount of engagement of the pair of left and right separation claws 66 that are engaged with the upper surfaces of the left and right corners of the leading edge in the paper feeding direction decreases. As the feed roller 37 rotates, the separation claw 66 and the feed roller 37 separate the uppermost sheet material P1.
A bending loop E (Fig. 23) is formed in the part near the separation claw 66 between the sheet material P against the stiffness of the sheet material P, but the separation claw 66 is not sufficiently constrained to the sheet material P. As a result, the deflection loop E cannot be formed properly, resulting in poor separation.

Therefore, as the middle plate 56 rotates, the position of the rear end regulating plate 57 connected to the middle plate 56 is horizontally swung as shown in FIG. By making the shape the same as the locus of the rotation arc, the dimension of L3 is made constant regardless of the amount of loaded sheet material P, so that the restraint of the separating claw 66 on the sheet material P is always kept constant. It looks like this. In addition, as another method of keeping the dimension of L3 constant, as shown in FIG.
A rotation fulcrum for the rear end regulating plate 57 is provided at the rear end of the rear end regulating plate 57 so that the rear end regulating plate 57 can swing, and the other end of the rear end regulating plate 57 is connected to the rear end of the middle plate 56. When the middle plate 56 swings up and down about the rear side portion 56a, the rear side regulating plate 57 connected to the middle plate 56 also swings about the pivot point at the rear end of the cassette main case 51. Regardless of the amount of loaded sheet material P, the included angle α between the middle plate 56 and the rear end regulating plate 57 can always be kept almost constant at 90 degrees ± 10 degrees,
The restraint of the separation claws 66 on the sheet material P can be kept constant.

Further, as a method for keeping the dimension L3 constant, although not shown, the rotation angle of the rear side portion 56a of the middle plate 56 is oscillated up and down on the rotational fulcrum, and the separation claw 66 is fixed in the loaded sheet feeding direction. Regarding the relationship with the rotation angle of engagement with the tip and swinging up and down around the support shaft 67, in the case of the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50, the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 is small, so the separation claw 6
The rotation angle of 6 and the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 was 1:1, but 5
When using the 00-sheet cassette 50, the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 is large, so by increasing the rotation angle of the separation claw 66, L
By setting the rotation angle so as to keep the dimensions of 3 constant, the restraint of the separating claw 66 on the sheet material P can be kept constant.

Further, the angle θ of the tip of the middle plate 56 is bent downward by 5 degrees to 7 degrees as shown in FIG. this is,
This is to ensure that the sheet material P is always fed at a constant position relative to the guide plate 53 of the main body case 51 when feeding the sheet material P from the first sheet to the 500th sheet. Feeding position is from 1st sheet to 50th sheet
When the sheet material P varies between the 0th sheets, the sheet material P is transferred to the roller 71 as a sheet material conveying member disposed on the upper side of the guide plate 53, and the sheet material conveying roller as a driving roller provided on the opposite side of the feeder 30. This is because the sheet material P cannot be guided to the nip with 40, resulting in paper feeding failure.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 18(a) and 18(b), the sheet material P is fed by displacing the tip angle of the middle plate 56 according to the amount of sheet material P loaded in the cassette main body case 51. The sheet material can always be fed at a constant position relative to the sheet material guide plate 53. As a method, the middle plate 56 is divided into two as shown in Fig. 19(a), and the middle plate 56 is
The main body side is made of 0.8 to 1.2 mm cold rolled steel plate (
SPCC-SD), the middle plate tip 56b is made of a spring stainless steel strip (SUS27CS1, SUS27CS3, etc.). Or, as shown in Fig. 19(b), the middle plate tip 5
6b is made of the same 0.8 to 1.2 mm cold rolled steel plate (SPCC-SD) as the main body of the middle plate 56, and the main body of the middle plate 56 and the front end portion 56b of the middle plate are connected by a shaft 56c. Tip part 5
6b is in a rotatable state and pressurized by a spring member 56d so that it can return to its original position (when there is no sheet material). Alternatively, although not shown, there is a method in which the entire intermediate plate 56 is molded, and the joint between the intermediate plate 56 and the intermediate plate tip 56b is made extremely thin and used as a hinge to utilize the elastic force of the resin. According to experiments, the load applied to the middle plate tip 56b when sheet materials P are loaded in the cassette main case 51 is 100 g for 100 sheets.
The weight was around 200g for 200 sheets, 300g for 300 sheets, 400g for 400 sheets, and 500g for 500 sheets. By appropriately setting the plate thickness of the spring material, the pressing force of the spring member 56d, and the wall thickness of the hinge portion with respect to this value, the paper feed cassette 50
With respect to the sheet material guide plate 53, it is possible to always feed the sheet material at a constant position regardless of the amount loaded.

Furthermore, the shape of the sheet material end abutment wall 51f is not structured like the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50, but has the same shape as the locus of the rotational arc of the middle plate 56 (FIG. 16). , Figure 17). In the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50, the loading height of the sheet material P is 25 mm for standard paper (paper with a basis weight of 64 g/m2), and the rear side 56a, which is the rotational fulcrum at the rear end of the middle plate, is usually half the maximum loading capacity. , that is 25/
It is set to 2 mm. This is to minimize the dimensional change of L3, which was explained in connection with the rear end regulating plate 57, regardless of the loading amount.
The rotation angle of the paper feed cassette 50 and the wall 51f of the sheet material P end abutment do not affect the feeding. However, the above content is 50%
When designing for a 0-sheet cassette 50, the loading height of sheet material P is 5 for standard paper (basis weight 64g/m2 paper).
0mm, and the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 is twice that of 250 sheets.When designing the sheet material storage space in the cassette body case 51, the JIS standard for the sheet material P is length ±
Since it is 1mm, for example, in the case of an A4 cassette, it is 297m.
If you try to minimize the dimensional change in L3 because m+1mm=298mm is the nominal dimension, the vicinity of 250 sheets of sheet material P will interfere with the sheet material end abutment wall 51f of the cassette main body case 51, resulting in machining. Pressure lever 5
9 rotates counterclockwise around the support shaft 59a, and the middle plate 56
This prevents the paper from being lifted upward using the rear side portion 56a as a rotational fulcrum, and proper paper feeding pressure is not produced (the middle plate 56 does not rise to the proper position), resulting in paper feeding failure. Therefore, in the present invention, the shape of the rotation arc of the middle plate 56 and the sheet material tip abutment wall 51f in the cassette main body case 51 are made almost the same, so that the sheet material P when the middle plate 56 rotates.
and the sheet material end abutment wall 5 of the cassette main body case 51
The interference of 1f is eliminated, the dimensional change of L3 is also minimized, and appropriate paper feeding pressure can be ensured.

[0078] As a result, the stacked sheet material P on the intermediate plate 56
The height level of the leading edge side of the uppermost sheet material P1 is always maintained at a constant level.

Furthermore, in order to minimize the influence on paper feeding pressure, the feeding roller 37 in the current machine is a cut-out circular roller (D-shaped cut roller), and the cut-out side 37a is always in a downward rotating angle position. It is held in a rotationally stopped state (Figs. 1 and 6). In this state, the intermediate plate 56 is located above the feeding position, and is lowered to the normal position when the feeding roller 37 rotates and the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked sheet materials P is separated and fed. . When the sheet material P is fed, the intermediate plate 56 repeatedly moves up and down, so that the sheet material P and the sheet material leading end abutment wall 51f in the cassette 50 come into delicate contact. Also, 500
It is difficult for the operator to set 200 or 25 sheets of sheet material P into the cassette body case 51 at one time.
Since the sheet material is divided into 0 sheets and loaded, there is slight variation in the leading edge of the sheet material when it is loaded. Further, the variation when cutting the sheet material into a standard shape is ±1 mm according to the JIS standard, and the leading edge of the sheet material P has slight variations. In the 500-sheet cassette 50, the pressing mechanism for the sheet material P is arranged in a minimum space, and the pressing force needs to be more accurate than in the 250-sheet cassette 50, so it is better to have as little sliding resistance to the pressing force as possible.

In the present invention, even if the leading edge of the sheet material P slightly varies and the leading edge of the sheet material P interferes with the sheet material leading end abutting wall 51f of the cassette main case 51, the paper feeding pressure is avoided. When molding the cassette body case 51 with resin, the sheet material end abutment wall 51f is mirror finished (finished with #2000 sandpaper), or the sheet material end abutment wall 51f is made of low friction material such as tetrafluoride resin. Sliding resistance between the sheet material P and the sheet material end abutting wall 51f is minimized by baking and coating a resin material, pasting a sheet material, or molding the cassette main body case 51 with a tetrafluoride resin material. . Furthermore, since the right side wall 51c of the cassette main body case 51 is similar to the sheet material end abutment wall 51f (
The right side wall 51c is the reference surface when feeding the sheet material, so the sheet material comes into direct contact with it), the cassette body case 51 is finished with a mirror finish (finished with #2000 sandpaper) during resin molding, or is made of polyfluoride. Baking a low-friction resin material such as resin or pasting a sheet material. Alternatively, the sliding resistance between the sheet material P and the right side wall 51c of the cassette body case 51 is minimized by molding the cassette body case 51 from a polytetrafluoride resin material, thereby eliminating the influence on paper feeding pressure.

20 and 21 show a stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 provided inside the left side wall 51b of the cassette main body case 51 described above. Conventionally, the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 of the 250-sheet cassette 50 has a height of about 30 mm to 35 mm for regulating the sheet material P, and currently, even if it is fixed to the bottom plate 51e of the main body case 51 with component precision, the paper feeding is difficult. There was little effect on performance. However, when the loading capacity of the sheet material P reaches 500 sheets, the sheet material P
The height of the stacked sheet material side regulation plate 72 that regulates the
mm to 70 mm, and it is not possible to make the upper and lower surfaces of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 the same size using the same conventional method (the upper surface side is either open or closed relative to the lower surface). Become).

[0082] In addition, since the sheet material P is fed from the topmost position regardless of the amount of sheet material P loaded at the time of feeding,
In the conventional mounting method, paper feeding performance (
skew, etc.).

Therefore, in the present invention, the mounting of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 does not depend on the accuracy of the parts, but as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the lower surface is inserted into the bottom plate 51e of the cassette main case 51 and fixed with tightening screws. The top is the cassette main case 5
By providing an insertion portion 51g on the left side wall 51b of the stacked sheet material side wall 51b, and inserting and fixing the hooking claw 51h, the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 is positioned so as to maintain the dimensions of the upper surface and lower surface stably.

Further, the biasing spring 73 attached to the stacked sheet material side regulation plate 72 and which presses the side surface of the stacked sheet material moderately is not affected by the mounting accuracy of the stacked sheet material side regulation plate 72, and is not affected by the mounting accuracy of the stacked sheet material side regulation plate 72, It satisfies the standard value of pressing force (110±30) g, and there is no bending or scratching due to skewing of the sheet material P during feeding as described above, or excessive pushing of the end surface of the sheet material P, and the paper feeding performance is good. It gets much better.

Furthermore, the sheet material contact surface 73 of the biasing spring 73
The sliding resistance with the sheet material P can be reduced by coating a with a low-friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin, pasting a sheet material, or by molding the biasing spring 73 itself with a tetrafluoride resin material. can be reduced.

Further, a pair of left and right separation claws 66 that engage with the tips of the cassette main body case 51 in the stacked sheet feeding direction are provided at both left and right ends inside the main body case 51, respectively, so as to be able to swing up and down about a support shaft 67. It is provided at the tip of the lever 69. The pair of left and right separation claws 66 rest on the top surface of the left and right corners on the leading edge side of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the sheet material P stacked and stored on the middle plate 56 in the cassette main body case 51, respectively. The purpose is that when the feeding roller 37 is rotationally driven in the sheet material feeding direction, the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked sheet materials P tries to move forward.
The right and left corners of the tip are received by separation claws 66 to prevent forward movement. Therefore, the feeding roller 37
As the uppermost sheet material P1 rotates, a bending loop E is formed in the portion between the separation claw 66 and the feeding roller 37 near the separation claw 66 against the stiffness of the sheet material (
(See Figure 23).

When the size of this deflection loop E exceeds a certain level, the left and right corners of the leading edge of the uppermost sheet material P1, which are held down by the separation claws 66, separate due to the restoring force that attempts to return the deflection to its original state. It naturally comes off from the lower surface side of the claw 66 to the upper surface side, climbs over the separating claw 66, and is separated and fed. However, recently environmental destruction has been in the spotlight, and the sheet material P used in offices has become a conventional high-quality paper (with a basis weight of 60
~90g/m2) instead of 100% recycled paper (newspaper, copy paper, etc.) or 50-70% recycled paper on high-quality paper
Recycled paper, etc. with a mixed degree is being used. Compared to conventional high-quality paper, recycled paper is thick but has no stiffness, thin paper but has stiffness, or has a rough surface, and has a higher coefficient of friction between the sheets than conventional paper, making it unreliable and prone to poor paper feeding and heavy weight. To avoid this, in the present invention, the load of the separating claw 66 is set to 20 g± while the sheet material P is placed on the upper surface of the sheet material P loaded and stored on the middle plate 56 in the cassette main body case 51. 6g (If the load is heavier than this, when feeding thin paper or a sheet material P with no stiffness, it will be difficult to remove it from the separation claw 66, resulting in paper feeding failure. Also, if the load is lighter than this, thick paper or a sheet material P with no stiffness will be fed. When a certain sheet material P is fed, it comes off quickly from the separation claw 66, resulting in poor timing, double feeding, etc.). Recycled paper can also be fed without problems in this load range. Furthermore, in order to further stabilize the paper feeding performance, it is also effective to bake and coat the sheet material contact surface of the separating claw 66 with a low-friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin, which improves the sheet material's removal.

By implementing the above-mentioned contents, even if sheet materials P such as thick paper and thin recycled paper are used, phenomena such as paper feeding failure and double feeding will not occur, and the type of sheet material P that can be fed can be determined. There is no need to limit or limit the usage environment of the device, and stable feeding performance can always be maintained.

To take out the cassette 50 from the feeder 30, hook your finger on the handle 52 on the front side of the cassette and pull it in the direction opposite to the cassette mounting direction X as indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. Remove it from inside 30.

At the beginning of the extraction movement process of the cassette 50, both the left and right ends 61L of the pressure shaft 61 on the cassette 50 side, 6
1R is disengaged, the pressure shaft 61 becomes free, and as a result, the pressure levers 59, 60 are no longer rotated counterclockwise, and the levers 59, 60 move against the middle plate 56 and its top. The middle plate 56 is rotated clockwise by the weight of the stacked sheet material P, and the middle plate 56 returns to the state where it collapses onto the bottom plate 51e of the cassette main body case 51 as shown in FIG. Further, the pressurizing shaft 61 also returns to the state where it is pulled up to the starting position on the upper end side of the oblique vertical slot 62 with which it is engaged. lever 69,
The extension portions 70, 70 of the pressurizing shaft 69 are received by the pressurizing shaft 61 which has returned to the starting position on the upper end side of the slot 62, and are held in a horizontal position at rest. With the diversification of information, the frequency of use of sheet material P has increased, and the conventional cassette 5
A cassette 50 with a larger number of sheets than 0 is desired by the market,
Although this eliminates the trouble of replenishing the sheet material P, there is a drawback that the operability is inferior to the conventional paper feeding cassette 50 when the cassette 50 is attached to and removed from the apparatus main body 1 due to the increased number of loaded sheet materials. . Conventional paper feed cassette 50 (250 sheets) and paper feed cassette 50 (50 sheets) of the present invention.
0 sheet), the standard sheet material (64 g/
square meter) 4.5g per sheet 250 sheets: 4.5g/sheet x 250 sheets = 1.13kg5
00 sheets: 4.5 g/sheet x 500 sheets = 2.25 kg, and the weight of the paper feed cassette (sheet material P + weight of cassette 50) is: 250 sheets: 2.2 kg 500 sheets: 3. It will be 8 kg. In addition, the pressing force to maintain paper feeding performance is 2
50-sheet cassette: 1.5 kgf to 2.0 kgf, 500-sheet cassette: 5.0 kgf to 6.0 kgf, and when the 250-sheet cassette 50 and the 500-sheet cassette 50 are attached to the same feeder 30 and the attachment/detachment force is measured, 250 Cassette: 3.0kgf~3.5kgf500
Sheet cassette: 6.5 kgf to 7.0 kgf, which is twice as much force for attaching and detaching as the conventional paper cassette 50. Therefore, in the present invention, the reasons for increasing the attachment/detachment force are as follows: 1. Load of paper cassette 50 when 500 sheets are loaded 2. 3. Sliding force of the left and right elongated flanges 55L, 55R of the main body case 51 and the cassette guide grooves 43, 43 of the feeder section when the paper feed cassette 50 is attached to the sheet material feeder 30. The pressure shaft 61 protruding outward from the left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the paper feed cassette 50 connects to the left and right pedestals 31 of the sheet material feeder 30.
Cam grooves 45a, 45a, 45 provided inside L, 31R
b, 45b descend from the upper end start point to the lower end end point (the pressure shaft 61 slides through the diagonal vertical grooves 62 symmetrically provided on the left and right side walls 51b, 51c of the main body case 51). We focused on the three items above.

Regarding item 1, the paper feed cassette 5 of the present invention
In order to maintain the paper feeding performance of 0, the weight of the sheet material P is 2
．． Since 25kg is a physical weight, the current situation is 2,3
As a result of experiments to determine how to reduce the sliding force when attaching and removing the paper feed cassette 50, we found that the paper feed cassette guide grooves 43, 43 of the sheet material feeder 30 protrude outward along the length of the paper feed cassette 50. The elongated flange portions 55L, 55 provided
R, by reducing the sliding force of the diagonal vertical slots 62 provided symmetrically on the left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the paper feed cassette 50, the force for attaching and detaching the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50 can be made comparable to that of the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50. It turned out theoretically. Therefore, by actually giving the above part a mirror finish (finished with #2000 sandpaper) during resin molding, the attachment and detachment force was reduced to 4.
It decreases to 5kgf to 5.0kgf.

Furthermore, it is possible to bake a low-friction resin material such as a polyfluoride resin or apply a sheet material, or to mold the bases 31L and 31R of the paper feed cassette 50 and the sheet material feeder 30 from a polyfluoride resin material. As a result, the attachment/detachment force was 3.5 kgf to 4.0 kgf, which was the same as the conventional 250-sheet cassette. In addition to the above-mentioned low friction member, as a method of reducing the sliding force, rollers are arranged in the paper feed cassette guide grooves 43, 43 of the sheet material feeder 30, and the paper feed cassette 50 is slid on the rollers. A rolling bearing is inserted into the pressure shaft 61 that slides in the diagonal vertical grooves 62 provided symmetrically in the left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the paper feed cassette 50, and the diagonal vertical grooves 62 of the paper feed cassette 50 are installed. There is also a method of reducing the sliding force. As described above, the sheet material feeding device A of this embodiment can be easily installed and used in combination with the main device B such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine even if the user purchases it as an option as necessary. It is configured to be detachable. Furthermore, the sheet material feeding roller 37 of the feeder 30 is changed to a hollow circular roller.
Achieving a long slide of the paper feed cassette 50 with respect to 0,
The entire sheet material feeding device A is housed in the lower part of the device main body 1. Since the feeding direction of the stacked sheet materials P in the cassette 50 installed in the feeder 30 to the main body 1 of the apparatus is the opposite direction to the installation direction of the cassette 50 with respect to the feeder 30, the cassette 50 is also used for jamming of the sheet materials P. This can be easily done by attaching and detaching from the left side of the apparatus main body 1, and there is no inconvenience for the operator to go behind the apparatus main body 1 to work.

Although the sheet material feeding device A consisting of the feeder 30 and the cassette 50 is located at the bottom of the device main body 1 using a long stroke, the jam removal of the sheet material P and all the operability of the device are difficult. The reason why it was possible to do this on the left side is because the sheet material in the cassette is fed in the opposite direction to the mounting direction of the cassette 50 to the feeder 30, despite the long device stroke of the cassette 50.

Furthermore, since the sheet material feeding device A consisting of the feeder 30 and the cassette 50 is all located at the bottom of the device main body 1, the height dimension of the sheet material P loaded and stored in the cassette 50 is slightly changed. This is sufficient, and the device main body 1 is not affected at all. In other words, it is easy to adapt to the design and has extensibility in response to changes in specifications.

Sheet material P in the cassette 50 as in the past
When inserting and mounting the cassette 50 in the feed-out conveyance direction, the shock of inserting and mounting the cassette 50 may cause the leading end of the storage sheet material P to jump out from the leading end of the cassette 50 due to inertia, or if the cassette 50 is of the separation claw type. In the case of the cassette 50 shown in FIG. When the cassette 50 is inserted and mounted in a direction opposite to the conveying direction, the above-mentioned inertial force is in the opposite direction, so that the above-mentioned trouble does not occur.

Note that the sheet material conveying roller 71 on the cassette 50 side may also be a driving roller like the roller 40 on the feeder 30 side.

[0097]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
By making it possible to adjust the pressure force that urges the intermediate plate on which sheet materials are loaded in the upward direction over a wide range, sheet materials can be reliably fed from the sheet material storage section regardless of the number of sheets loaded. can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a facsimile machine that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a facsimile machine that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the drive portion of the sheet material feeder.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the sheet material feeder.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 10 is a left side view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the operation inside the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which a paper feed cassette is attached to a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing the relationship between sheet material loading amount and paper feeding pressure.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing the relationship between sheet material loading amount and paper feeding pressure.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the movement of the rear end regulating plate.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the movement of the rear end regulating plate 56.

FIGS. 18(a) and 18(b) are diagrams showing changes in the tip angle of the middle plate.

FIGS. 19(a) and 19(b) are perspective views of the tip of the middle plate with variable tip angle.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view and a perspective view of the paper feed cassette showing how to attach the side regulating plate.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the paper feed cassette showing how to attach the side regulation plate.

FIGS. 22(a) and 22(b) are diagrams showing changes in the length of L3.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating how sheet materials are separated one by one.

FIG. 24 is a perspective explanatory view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Device body 30
Sheet material feeder section (sheet material feeder) 37 Sheet material feeding means (sheet material feeding roller) 45a, 45b Cam surface (cam groove portion) 50
Sheet material storage section (sheet material cassette) 5
6 Middle plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material feeder section having a sheet material feeding means and a sheet material storage section that is removably attached to the sheet material feeder section, and a sheet material storage section that processes the sheet material. In the sheet material feeding device, in which the sheet materials stored in the material storage section are sequentially fed by the sheet material feeding means, the sheet material storage section is configured to have a vertically movable interior while loading the sheet materials. It engages the plate and the tip of the sheet material loaded on the intermediate plate in the feeding direction, and its own weight is 20g±6
g, and a plurality of pressure members that apply a pressing force in an upward direction to the intermediate plate via a plurality of transmission members, and the plurality of transmission members A sheet material feeding device comprising at least one transmission member capable of switching between transmission and non-transmission of the pressing force in response to a change in the amount of sheet material loaded. 2. A cam surface is formed in the sheet material feeder section, and a pressure charging member connected to the pressure member is disposed in the sheet material storage section, and the sheet material storage section is connected to the sheet material feeder. When the pressurizing force charging member is attached to the cam surface, the pressurizing force charging member engages with the cam surface, operates the pressurizing member, and raises the intermediate plate via the transmitting member. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1. 3. The sheet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the contact surface with the sheet material of the sheet material separation member is coated with a low friction resin material such as a tetrafluoride resin. Material feeding device.