JPH04361924A - Automatic paper feeding device and recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent bias feeding and delivering of a recording sheet in a device where a paper feeding roller and a separation claw are provided on one side only against the recording sheet in order to attempt reduction of the number of parts and miniaturization of the device. CONSTITUTION:Recording sheets 24 loaded on a base 9 are delivered out by a paper feeding roller 1 provided on the other end of a paper feeding roller shaft 2 only one side of which is supported, and they are separated one by one by a piece of a separation claw 5. A pressure plate 4 provided on the base 9 is partly provided at a position corresponding to the sheet feeding roller 1, and accordingly, it is possible to reduce sliding resistance at the time of delivering the recording sheets 24 and to restrain occurrence of bias feeding and delivering.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeder that automatically feeds recording sheets one by one and a recording apparatus equipped with the automatic paper feeder.

0002

[Prior Art] Recording devices such as printers, copiers, and facsimile machines create dot patterns on recording sheets such as paper and plastic thin plates by driving an energy generator in a recording head based on transferred image information. It is configured to record images consisting of .

[0003] The above-mentioned recording apparatus can be classified into inkjet type, wire dot type, thermal type, electrophotographic type, etc. depending on the recording method. In addition to plain paper, the recording sheets used in the recording apparatus include thick paper such as postcards and envelopes, and special sheets such as thin plastic plates. In addition to manually inserting recording sheets one by one, recording sheets are fed automatically and continuously using an automatic paper feeder.

FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of a conventional recording apparatus B equipped with an automatic paper feeder A, and FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of the configuration of the automatic paper feeder A. As shown in the figure, the automatic paper feeder A generally includes left and right paper feed rollers (L) 101, a paper feed roller (R) 102, a paper feed roller shaft 106, a drive gear 107, etc. Drive unit, left and right side guides (L) 103, side guides (R) 104, pressure plate 10
5, etc., and includes a paper feed set section into which recording sheets are loaded. Then, the driving force of the recording sheet conveyance system of the recording apparatus is transmitted to the drive gear 107, and the sheet feeding roller (L)
By driving a paper feeding roller (R) 101, left and right separation claws (L) 109, separation claws (R) 110, etc. are configured to separate and feed recording sheets one by one.

[0005]

However, in the above conventional example, there are a paper feed roller (L) 101, a paper feed roller (R) 102, a separation claw (L) 109, and a separation claw (R) on the left and right sides.
Since recording sheet separating means such as 110 and the like are provided in pairs, there are the following drawbacks. (1) The configuration becomes complicated and the number of parts increases, resulting in an increase in device cost. (2) The size of the apparatus increases due to the space for the paper feed roller shaft 106 to pass through.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic paper feeder and a recording apparatus that can reduce the number of parts and downsize.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The automatic paper feeding device of the present invention includes a stacking means capable of stacking recording sheets, one rotary feeding body provided for feeding the recording sheets from the stacking means, and the Separating means for regulating only one end of the recording sheets stacked on the loading means and separating the recording sheets one by one when being fed by the rotary feeder;
The apparatus is characterized in that a pressure plate, which is provided on the loading means and urges the stacked recording sheets toward the rotary feeder, is partially provided in correspondence with the rotary feeder.

The rotary feeding means includes a paper feeding roller provided at the other end of a drive shaft supported only at one end, and the paper feeding roller is positioned closer to the separation means than the center line of the stacked recording sheets. It is preferable to place the pressure plate on the same side.

Further, the width of the pressure plate is preferably set to be larger than the length from the side edge of the recording sheet to the position of the paper feed roller, and smaller than the minimum width of the recording sheet that can be fed.

[0010] It is preferable that the recording sheet has a fixed support portion for supporting a portion of the recording sheet that is not supported by the pressure plate, and the support position of the fixed support portion is lower than the support position of the pressure plate.

The present invention also provides a recording apparatus having an automatic paper feeder configured as described above.

[0012] As the recording means of this recording apparatus, an inkjet system is suitable, which records an image by ejecting ink using pressure changes caused by growth and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling caused by thermal energy.

[0013]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, in a system in which the recording sheets loaded on the loading means are sent out by one rotary feeder and separated one by one by one separating means, the position corresponding to the rotary feeder is By partially providing a pressure plate,
The sliding resistance when feeding the recording sheet can be reduced, and the occurrence of skew can be suppressed.

Furthermore, if the support position of the fixed support portion for supporting the portion of the recording sheet that is not supported by the pressure plate is lower than the support position of the pressure plate, the occurrence of skew can be more effectively suppressed.

[0015] Therefore, recording sheets can be separated and fed with high precision using one rotary feeding body and one separating means.

[0016]

[Embodiment] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the automatic paper feeder includes a paper feed roller 1, a paper feed roller shaft 2, an auxiliary roller 3, a separation claw 5,
, a paper feed drive unit including a drive gear 6, etc., and a paper feed set unit including a pressure plate 4, a release lever 7, a movable side guide 8, a base 9, etc. First, the general structure and operation of these will be explained.

By releasing the release lever 7, the pressure plate spring 1
2 is pressed, the pressure plate 4 rotates around the pressure plate shaft 4b, and as shown in FIG.
The paper is separated from the paper feed roller 1 as shown by the broken line. In this state, the recording sheets 24 are aligned by abutting their leading ends against the upstream abutting portion of the lower guide portion 10. Furthermore, the recording sheet 24 is set by moving the movable side guide 8 so that the left end of the recording sheet 24 abuts against the fixed side guide portion 9b located on the left side in the traveling direction of the recording sheet 24. When the release lever 7 is returned in this state, the pressure plate 4 is returned by the pressure plate spring 12, acting to urge the recording sheet 24 against the paper feed roller 1, and the recording sheet 24 is set.

With the recording sheet 24 set, the transport roller 17 is driven by gears A14, B15, and C.
16, the power is transmitted to the paper feed roller 1 through four gears of the drive gear 6. The recording sheets 24 picked up by the paper feed roller 1 are separated one by one by the separation claws 5, pass between the upper guide 11 and the lower guide section 10, and are transferred to the rotating pair of pinch rollers 13 and transport rollers 17. Sent. A paper sensor 25 is provided in front of this pair of rollers to detect the leading edge of the recording sheet 24 and determine the printing position on the recording sheet 24. The recording sheet 24 sent by the pair of rollers 13 and 17 is transferred to the platen 1 of the recording apparatus B.
8, and the recording head 20 can perform recording based on predetermined image information. Recording head 2
0 is an inkjet recording head that is constructed integrally with an ink tank and is easily replaceable. The recording head 20 is equipped with an electrothermal transducer, and performs recording by ejecting ink from an ejection port by utilizing pressure changes caused by growth and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling caused by applied thermal energy.

The recording sheet 24 on which predetermined recording has been performed is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 19 by a spur 21 and a paper discharge roller 22 for assisting the discharge without staining the image on the recording sheet 24.

Note that the motor M (shown in FIG. 2) that drives the conveyance roller is controlled by a control device C provided in the recording device B.
The rotation is controlled by

Next, details of each main part of the automatic paper feeder will be described.

A fixed side guide section 9b, a lower guide section 10, and a movable side guide 8 are provided on the base 9, and the movable side guide 8 is moved to set the recording sheet 24 in a regulated position. Further, the base 9 allows the pressure plate 4 to be retracted to a position corresponding to the pressure plate 4, and has a pressure plate spring 12 at a position facing the paper feed roller 1.
A recess 9a is formed to provide a recess 9a. The pressure plate 4 is connected to the base 9 by pressure plate shafts 4b at the upper portions of both ends, and is rotatable about the pressure plate shafts 4b. Normally, the pressure plate 4 is urged against the paper feed roller 1 by the pressure plate spring 12 with the recording sheet 24 set. When replacing the recording sheet 24 or setting a new one, the release lever 7 is turned and the recording sheet 24 is retracted to the position shown by the broken line in FIG.

The position of the pressure plate 4 varies depending on the thickness of the recording sheet 24 when it is set, but the position of the movable side guide 8 and the base 9 where the portion of the recording sheet 24 other than the pressure plate 4 is set is
The level difference l3 (shown in FIG. 2) with the fixed part of
It is set in mm. Providing a step in this way reduces the load on the recording sheet 24, and also reduces the load on the paper feed roller 1.
The relationship between the recording sheet 24 and the recording sheet 24 is good, and it is possible to feed the paper smoothly and with less skew.

Furthermore, the width l4 of the pressure plate 4 (shown in FIG. 3) is
The length is set to a predetermined length that is larger than the paper feed roller end position l5 (shown in FIG. 3) and smaller than the minimum recording sheet size width.

Furthermore, a separation pad 23 made of a material with a relatively high friction coefficient, such as artificial leather, is provided at the position of the paper feed roller 1 on the pressure plate 4 to prevent double feeding when the number of sheets is small. are doing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the paper feed roller 1, the paper feed roller shaft 2, and the auxiliary roller 3 are integrally formed, are connected to a drive gear 6, and are conveyed by a gear group of gear A14, gear B15, and gear C16. Drive is transmitted from the roller 17. The paper feed roller 1 is provided with a paper feed roller rubber 1b around its periphery, and is configured in a D shape (or half moon shape). During one rotation of the paper feed roller 1, one of the top layers of the recording sheet 24 is separated by the separation claw 5, passes between the upper guide 11 and the lower guide section 10, and then passes through the rotating pinch roller 13 and the conveyance roller. It is sent to 17 roller pairs. At this time, the beginning of the recording sheet 24 is detected by the paper sensor 25 detecting the leading edge of the recording sheet 24. Further, the paper feed roller shaft 2 is connected to a drive gear 6 via a one-turn clutch (not shown), and after one rotation, it is stopped at a predetermined position, and the recording sheet 24 to be conveyed is moved as shown in FIG. 2, for example. Paper feed roller rubber 1
b and the set recording sheet 24. When paper is to be fed again, the conveying roller 17 is slightly reversed and switched to be rotatable by the clutch trigger of the one-rotation clutch.

The width of the paper feed roller 1 is about 20 mm, and the distance l1 (shown in FIG. 3) from the abutting part of the recording sheet 24 upstream of the lower guide section 10 to the center of the paper feed roller 1 is 20 to 30 mm. L2 up to the end of paper roller 1 is A4
In the case of a vertical recording sheet 24, the length is approximately 40 to 60 mm. In the arrangement of the paper feed roller 1, if l1 is too small or too large, the relationship between the lower guide 10 and the separation claw 5 will deteriorate, and problems such as claw marks, double feeding, and jams will likely occur. An appropriate position can be found between l1=5 and 50 mm.

In addition, l2 causes problems such as skew feeding due to paper feeding balance, so the paper feeding roller 1 is
It is desirable that it be closer to the center, but l2 = 20mm~
An appropriate position can be found between 1/2 of the maximum recording sheet width.

As described above, the paper feed roller 1 is located further away from the separating claw 5 than in the past, and problems such as claw marks, double feeding, and jamming are more likely to occur. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 4, the auxiliary roller 3, which has approximately the same diameter as the circular portion of the paper feed roller 1, is placed near the end of the recording sheet 24, for example, by l1 = 20 to 30 m.
By providing a width of 2 to 5 mm at the position of m, L6 = 20 mm, the occurrence of the above-mentioned problem is reduced. This is because when the end of the recording sheet 24 passes over the separation claw 5 and is separated, the end of the recording sheet 24 bulges out, and if this bulge is too large, skewing tends to occur. By pressing down, skewing is prevented.

The recording sheet 24 separated by the paper feed roller 1 etc. is first sent along the lower guide section 10, but as shown in FIG.
And as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to correct the skew when hitting or sliding against the lower guide portion 10. When the end of the recording sheet 24 on the paper feed roller 1 side comes out first as shown in FIG.
1 occurs. At this time, since the paper feed roller 1 is only on one side, a rotational force F2 acts around the paper feed roller 1, and the skew is corrected. In the case of reverse skew, the skew is corrected in the same way as shown in FIG. In this case, by intermittently and periodically varying the drive (paper feeding speed) of the paper feed roller 1 as shown in FIG. 7, the resistance force F1 acts impulsively, making it possible to more effectively remove the skew. In this case, for example, t1=t3=1 to 20
msec, t2=100~1000msec, v1=1
0~100mm/sec, v2=(1.5~3)×v1
It is set so that

The recording sheet 24 whose skew has been corrected passes between the upper guide 11 and the lower guide section 10 and is then moved to the pinch roller 13.
and is sent to the rotating pair of rollers 13 and 17 of the conveying roller 17. At this time, since the recording sheet 24 is held down only on one side by the paper feed roller 1, the path (path along which it is fed) of the recording sheet 24 is different between the end on the side of the paper feed roller 1 and the end on the opposite side, as shown in FIG. In contrast, the path P2 on the opposite side tends to appear earlier than the path P1 on the paper feed roller 1 side, causing skew feeding. For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, by changing the shapes of the upper guide 11 and the lower guide 10, the left and right paper paths P1,
Correcting the difference in P2.

As shown in FIG. 9, the lower guide 10 feeds the recording sheet 2 from the side 10a of the delayed paper feed roller 1 to the opposite side 10b.
It protrudes in the direction of the 4 pass plane. The protrusion is continuous, and the protrusion amount l7 is set to 1 to 5 mm at both ends, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, since the paper feed roller 1 side actively pushes the recording sheet 24 forward, it acts to offset the skew caused by the delay on the paper feed roller 1 side, as described above. In this way, it is possible to correct the difference between the left and right paper paths. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the upper guide 11 has a side 10b opposite to the paper feed roller 1 that comes out first protruding from the paper feed roller 1 side 10a in a direction that extends to the path surface of the recording sheet 24. The method of projecting is continuous, and the amount of projecting is l as shown in Figure 10 at both ends.
8=consisting of approximately 1 to 20 mm.

Therefore, since the side opposite to the paper feed roller 1 works to actively push the recording sheet 24 back, it works to offset the skew caused by the side opposite to the paper feed roller 1 coming out first as described above. . As described above, it is possible to correct the difference between the left and right paper paths.

According to the above configuration, one paper feed roller 1
The recording sheet 24 can be fed with high accuracy without causing skew or the like due to the separation claw 5 and the single separation claw 5. Therefore, the configuration is simpler than the conventional one, and the number of parts is also reduced. Furthermore, since the paper feed roller shaft 2 is supported only on one side and there is no shaft on the other side (on the side of the movable guide 8), other parts (for example, electronic boards, etc.) can be placed in that space.
You can also make effective use of space by installing the Furthermore, it is possible to effectively utilize the space in the portion of the base 9 where the pressure plate 4 is not located.

In this embodiment, the present invention was applied to an automatic paper feeder provided in an inkjet recording apparatus, but wire dot type, thermal type,
The present invention may also be applied to a paper feed device of an electrophotographic recording device (printer, copier, facsimile, etc.).

Further, the means for stacking the recording sheets may be other methods such as a cassette method or a deck method.

Further, in this embodiment, the automatic paper feeding device and the recording device are separate bodies, but they may be integrated.

(Second Embodiment) In the above embodiment, the pressure plate 4 was configured to be rotatable about the pressure plate shaft 4b, but it may also be moved in parallel as shown in FIG. this is,
The pressure plate 4 and the base 9 are connected by a parallel link 26 having the same shape. Here, if the mounting positions of the parallel links 26 are made to have the same length on the pressure plate 4 and the base 9, the lengths of these two sets of links will become the same, so the pressure plate 4 and the base 9 will move in parallel. Normally, the paper feed roller 1 is biased by a pressure plate spring 12 . When the release lever 7 is turned when replacing or setting the recording sheet 24, an unillustrated release mechanism causes the release mechanism shown in FIG.
The pressure plate 4 is configured to be lowered to the retracted position shown in 1.

With this configuration, it is possible to always maintain a constant angle regardless of the number of recording sheets 24.

The rest of the configuration is the same as the first embodiment.

(Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the pressure plate 4 is configured so that the pressure plate shafts 4b are provided on the left and right sides at the same position as the width of the pressure plate 4, but as shown in FIG. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a pressure plate shaft 4b is attached. In this case, a pressure plate shaft arm 27 extends from the pressure plate 4 to the side opposite to the paper feed roller 1, and a pressure plate shaft 4b is provided at the end of the arm 27. Since the left and right pressure plate shafts 4b can be attached to the base 9, the shape
The degree of freedom in design such as strength can be increased. Further, since the pressure plate shaft arm 27 is located near the pressure plate shaft 4b, the disadvantage of space effect can be reduced.

The other configurations are the same as the first embodiment.

[0044]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained in detail above, even if the paper feeding device uses one rotary feeding body and one separating means,
By making the pressure plate smaller, it is possible to reduce the sliding resistance of the recording sheet, prevent skewing, etc., and achieve highly accurate paper feeding, which simplifies the configuration and reduces the number of parts, reducing device costs. It is possible to reduce the size of the device and reduce the size and weight of the device.

Furthermore, since the pressure plate is provided partially, the space where the pressure plate is not provided can be effectively utilized.

Furthermore, a recording apparatus equipped with such an automatic paper feeder can also be reduced in cost and size.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic paper feeder according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a recording apparatus having the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the X arrow in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a paper feed roller of the automatic paper feed device shown in FIG. 1;

5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which skew is removed by a lower guide in the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which skew is removed by a lower guide in the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the paper feeding speed of the paper feeding roller and time in the automatic paper feeding device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of left and right paths in the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG. 1 when vertical guides are not corrected.

9 is a schematic diagram showing the shape of a lower guide in the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

10 is a schematic diagram showing the shape of a lower guide in the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a pressure plate provided in an automatic paper feeder according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front view of a pressure plate provided in an automatic paper feeder according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a conventional recording device.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a conventional automatic paper feeder.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Paper feed roller (paper feed rotor) 2 Paper feed roller shaft (drive shaft) 4 Pressure plate 5 Separation claw (separation means) 9 Base (loading means) 20 Recording head (recording means) 24 Record sheet

Claims (6)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A loading means capable of loading recording sheets;
One rotary feeding body provided for feeding recording sheets from the loading means, and feeding by the rotary feeding body by regulating only one end of the recording sheets stacked on the loading means. separating means for separating the recording sheets one by one; a pressure plate provided on the loading means for urging the stacked recording sheets toward the rotary feeding body; and a pressure plate corresponding to the rotating feeding body; An automatic paper feeder characterized in that it is partially provided. 2. The rotary feeding body is a paper feeding roller provided at the other end of a drive shaft supported at only one end, and the paper feeding roller is located at a position further than the center line of the stacked recording sheets. 2. The automatic paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the pressure plate is disposed on the same side as the paper feeding roller. 3. The automatic recording medium according to claim 2, wherein the width of the pressure plate is set to be larger than the length from the side edge of the recording sheet to the position of the paper feed roller, and smaller than the minimum width of the recording sheet that can be fed. Paper feed device. 4. The automatic recording sheet according to claim 1, further comprising a fixed support portion for supporting a portion of the recording sheet that is not supported by the pressure plate, and the support position of the fixed support portion is lower than the support position of the pressure plate. Paper feed device. [Claim 5] Loading means capable of loading recording sheets;
One rotary feeding body provided for feeding recording sheets from the loading means, and feeding by the rotary feeding body by regulating only one end of the recording sheets stacked on the loading means. a separating means for separating recording sheets one by one; and a recording means for recording an image on the recording sheets separated by the separating means; A recording apparatus characterized in that a pressure plate for biasing the rotary feed body is partially provided corresponding to the rotary feed body. 6. The recording according to claim 5, wherein the recording means is an inkjet method that records an image by ejecting ink using pressure changes caused by growth and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling caused by thermal energy. Device.