JPH05132156A - Paper feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To guarantee smooth separation and feed of paper by protruding a protruded member which bends the paper on a support base from the top face of the support base based on paper detection of sensor in a device which separates and feed paper by cooperation of a feeding-in roller and a friction member. CONSTITUTION:A large number of document paper G are stacked and supported on a paper feed tray 4. When front tip of the paper G is detected by a sensor 17, a solenoid 20 is operated and a roller 21 is protruded from the top face of the paper feed tray 4 out of a recessed section 19. Consequently, the stacked sheet G on the paper feed tray 4 is pushed above and bent at its intermediate part. Front end of the stacked paper G in the upper section is deviated most to the retraction position, and its front end fringe is handled in such a way that it forms an oblique shape on the whole. In this condition, the front end of the paper G which forms the oblique shape of the paper G enters a space of gradually narrower end between a feeding-in roller 5 and a separation pad 7. The lowermost one of the paper G contacts the feeding-in roller 5 and other paper G contacts the separation pad 7 to separate and feed paper surely.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document sheet feeder for feeding document sheets one by one in a facsimile machine, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 7, in a manuscript paper feeding device in a facsimile machine, a support base 31 for stacking and supporting manuscript papers G is arranged on the upper surface of a device frame 32 in an inclined state. And the support 31
In the vicinity of the lower end of the document sheet, a take-up roller 33 for giving a take-up force to the original sheets G is provided, and a friction member 34 for giving a force against the take-up force to the laminated original sheets G is provided. .. Therefore, when the take-in roller 33 rotates, one of the original paper sheets G on the support base 31 that is in contact with the take-in roller 33 is taken up one by one to an original reading unit (not shown) in the apparatus. , The other original paper G is supported by the friction member 34 on the support 31
The top position is retained. In this way, the document sheets G on the support table 31 are separated and fed one by one.

[0003]

However, in the device constructed as described above, as shown in FIG.
When a large number of original paper sheets G are set on the sheet 1 with the front edges thereof aligned, the uppermost original paper sheet G is held by the friction member 34, so that the lowermost original paper sheet G is securely placed on the feeding roller 33. There is a possibility that the original sheet G may not be smoothly taken in because the original sheet G is not contacted. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, when the original paper sheets G other than the lowermost original paper sheet G are projected downward (to the front) and are in contact with the feeding roller 33, the projected original paper sheet G is The original document sheet G at the lowermost end is fed in, or the protruding original document sheet G and the original document sheet G at the lowermost layer are pulled in at the same time, so that the separation of the original document sheet G and the accompanying thereof are smooth. There is a possibility that it will not be done.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus capable of smoothly separating and feeding sheets.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a take-up roller and a friction member are provided in the vicinity of the front end of a support base for stacking and supporting sheets, and the take-up roller and the friction member are provided. In a sheet feeding device adapted to pick up sheets on a supporting table one by one by a cooperative action, a sensor for detecting the sheet on the supporting table, and a sensor for detecting the sheet on the supporting table to project from the upper surface of the supporting table. And a projecting member for bending the paper on the support base.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when a sheet is set on the support base, the sheet is detected by the sensor. Then, based on the sheet detection by the sensor, the projecting member projects from the upper surface of the supporting table, and the sheet on the supporting table is bent by the projecting, so that the front edge of the sheet is separated so as to form an oblique shape. Therefore, the lowermost sheet can be projected to the frontmost side, and the sheet can be surely separated from the lowestmost sheet of the most projecting sheet and can be fed in.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the paper feeding apparatus of the present invention is embodied as a document paper feeding apparatus in a facsimile machine will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an insertion port 2 for a document sheet G is formed on the upper surface of the apparatus frame 1, and a discharge port 3 for the document sheet G is formed at the front edge of the apparatus frame 1. The paper feed tray 4 as a support for stacking and supporting the original paper sheets G is arranged in an inclined state at a position corresponding to the insertion slot 2 on the upper part of the apparatus frame 1.

The take-in roller 5 is supported in the apparatus frame 1 near the lower end of the paper feed tray 4 so as to be positively rotatable. The take-in roller 5 is rotated by a drive motor 25 such as a pulse motor shown in FIG. The separation pad 7 as a friction member is fixed to the apparatus frame 1 via a support plate 6 so as to face the feeding roller 5. The separation pad 7 is constantly urged toward the feeding roller 5 by a spring means (not shown) so as to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the feeding roller 5.

Then, when the feeding roller 5 is rotationally driven in a state in which a large number of original paper sheets G are stacked and supported on the paper feed tray 4, among the original paper sheets G on the paper feed tray 4, the take-up roller 5 is carried out. Retracting force is applied only to one sheet of original paper G that is in contact with
Is rolled in. At this time, the other original paper G is prevented from being taken into the apparatus frame 1 by the separation pad 7, and is held at the position on the paper feed tray 4. That is, as the take-up roller 5 rotates, the take-up roller 5 and the separation pad 7 cooperate with each other to separate the original sheets G on the paper feed tray 4 one by one and take them into the apparatus frame 1.

The pair of guide plates 8 are the retraction rollers 5
It is disposed on the downstream side of the above, and a transfer path for the fed original document sheet G is formed between both guide plates 8. Reading window 9
The original sheet G formed on one of the guide plates 8 and conveyed between the two guide plates 8 is irradiated with light from the light source 10 through the reading window 9. Then, the reflected light from the original paper G is guided to the image sensor 13 through the plurality of mirrors 11 and lenses 12 through the reading window 9, and the image on the original paper G is read.

A plurality of feed rollers 14, 15 and 16 are arranged on the downstream side of the guide plate 8 and by their rotation,
The original sheet G after the image is read is fed, and the original sheet G is discharged from the discharge port 3 to the outside.

The first sensor 17 is arranged near the lower end of the paper feed tray 4, and when the original paper G is placed on the paper feed tray 4, a paper detection signal is output from the first sensor 17. The second sensor 18 is arranged in the middle of the guide plate 8 and slightly upstream of the document reading position by the image sensor 13, and the front end of the document sheet G transported between both guide plates 8 is above the second sensor 18. When passing, the second sensor 18 outputs a sheet detection signal.

The recessed portion 19 is formed substantially in the middle of the paper feed tray 4, and a solenoid 20 is arranged on the lower surface side of the paper feed tray 4 at a position corresponding to the recessed portion 19. The armature of the solenoid 20 is inserted into the recess 19 from the lower surface of the paper feed tray 4, and a roller 21 as a protruding member is rotatably supported at the tip of the armature. Then, when the operation of the solenoid 20 is stopped, the roller 21 is housed in the recess 19 so as not to project from the upper surface of the paper feed tray 4, and the roller 21 projects from the upper surface of the paper feed tray 4 by the operation of the solenoid 20.

FIG. 2 shows the circuit configuration of the components related to the sheet feeding operation of the original sheet feeding apparatus. CPU
(Central processing unit) 22 is a ROM (Read Only Memory)
The operation of the entire device is controlled based on the program stored in 23. A RAM (random access memory) 24 temporarily stores data such as read image information.

The CPU 22 includes the first sensor 17
And the detection signal from the second sensor 18 is input. or,
An operation or stop signal is output from the CPU 22 to the drive motor 25 that rotates the take-in roller 5 and the solenoid 20 via the drivers 26 and 27. A timer 28 and a display unit 29 for displaying various information are connected to the CPU 22.

Then, the CPU 22 uses the first sensor 1
When a detection signal of the original sheet G is input from 7, the solenoid 20 is operated to cause the roller 21 to protrude from the inside of the recess 19 from the upper surface of the sheet feed tray 4, and the drive motor 25.
Is operated to rotate the take-in roller 5. At this time, the CPU 22 simultaneously activates the timer 28 to start counting.

Further, when the CPU 22 receives the front edge detection signal of the original sheet G from the second sensor 18, the CPU 22 rotates the drive motor 25 by a predetermined pulse and then the image sensor 1
3 is operated to perform the image reading operation. That is,
From the front edge detection position of the document sheet G by the second sensor 18,
The original sheet G is transported to the image reading position by the image sensor 13 so that the image is surely read from the front end of the original sheet G. Then, the CPU 22 causes the trailing edge of the document sheet G to pass over the second sensor 18 so that the sensor 18
When is turned off, the drive motor 25 is rotated by a predetermined number of pulses and then the operation of the image sensor 13 is stopped.
If the detection signal is not input from the second sensor within a predetermined time after the timer 28 starts counting, C
The PU 22 determines that the paper is jammed or the feeding is defective, stops the operation of the solenoid 20 and the drive motor 25, and causes the display unit 29 to display an error.

Next, the operation of the original sheet feeding device configured as described above will be described. By the way, when the paper is fed in the original paper feeding device, it is controlled by the CPU 22 as shown in FIG.
The operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is,
First, as shown in FIG. 3, a large number of original sheets G are stacked and supported on the sheet feed tray 4 with their front edges aligned.
At this time, the front end of the document sheet G on the sheet feed tray 4 is detected by the first sensor 17 (step S1), the solenoid 20 is operated, and the roller 21 is fed from the recess 19 as shown in FIG. It is projected from the upper surface of the tray 4 (step S2). As a result, the document sheets G stacked and supported on the sheet feed tray 4 are pushed up and bent at almost the middle portion thereof. Then, the front end of the stacked original sheets G is displaced to the retracted position as the upper original sheets G are arranged, and the front edges thereof are arranged so as to form an oblique shape as a whole, and the lowermost original sheets G are located at the lowermost position (front side). It will be in a protruding state. And
The original paper sheet G whose intermediate portion is pushed up and supported by the roller 21 is moved forward as a whole by its own weight, and the oblique front end of the original paper sheet G has a tapered shape between the feeding roller 5 and the separation pad 7. Enter the space. Therefore, the lowermost original sheet G surely contacts the feeding roller 5, and the front edge of the other original sheet G surely contacts the separation pad 7 so that the original sheet G is surely prevented from being fed.

When the first sensor 17 detects the front edge of the document sheet G in step S1, the drive motor 25 is actuated to rotate the take-in roller 5 (step S3). At this time, as described above, the lowermost original sheet G surely comes into contact with the take-in roller 5, and the other original sheets G surely come into contact with the separation pad 7 to surely prevent the take-up. Therefore, by the cooperative action of the feeding roller 5 and the separation pad 7, the document sheets G on the sheet feeding tray 4 can be reliably separated one by one and fed into the space between the guide plates 8. That is, unlike the above-mentioned conventional case, the lowermost original sheet does not surely come into contact with the feeding roller, and the original sheets other than the lowermost original sheet do not project forward and come into contact with the feeding roller. The original sheet G can be smoothly separated and fed.

When the first sensor 17 detects the front edge of the document sheet G in step S1, the timer 28 is activated (step S4). Then, as described above, when the document sheet G is fed between the guide plates 8 and the front end thereof is detected by the second sensor 18 (step S
5), after the drive motor 25 is rotated by a predetermined pulse,
The process proceeds to the next process such as image reading (step S
6). If the second sensor 18 does not detect the front edge of the original sheet G even after a lapse of a predetermined time after the timer 28 is activated (step S7), it is determined that the sheet jams or the feeding failure occurs, and the solenoid 20 and the drive are driven. Motor 2
The operation of 5 is stopped, and an error is displayed on the display unit 29 (steps S8 to S9).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but may be embodied as follows. (1) As shown in FIG. 6, the take-in roller 5 and the roller 2
1 and the feed assist roller 30 protruding from the upper surface of the paper feed tray 4. The feed assist roller 30 is rotated by the operation of the drive motor 25 similarly to the take-in roller 5, and by the rotation of the feed assist roller 30, the lowermost original sheet G can be reliably sent to the take-in roller 5 side, and the stacked state is obtained. It is possible to further smoothly separate and feed the original document sheet G.

(2) As the projecting member, instead of the roller 21, a protrusion having a semicircular arc-shaped cross section with a small friction coefficient at the tip is provided. (3) The solenoid 21 is continuously turned on and off to continuously move the roller 21 up and down. As a result, the original sheets G on the paper feed tray 4 are vibrated, and the original sheets G in the stacked state are easily separated.

(4) The present invention is embodied in a paper feeding device other than the original paper feeding device, for example, a printer.

[0025]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the excellent effect that the sheets can be smoothly separated and taken in can be exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an embodiment in which a sheet feeding device of the present invention is embodied as a document sheet feeding device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of components related to a sheet feeding operation of the original sheet feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which original sheets are set on a sheet feeding tray.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where a roller is projected.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the document sheet feeding device when the sheet is fed.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a conventional document sheet feeder.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a conventional set state of original sheets.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Paper tray as a support, 5 Retracting rollers,
7 separation pad as a friction member, 17 first sensor,
20 solenoid, 21 roller as a protruding member, G
Manuscript paper.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location // G03G 15/00 107 8530-2H

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A take-up roller and a friction member are provided in the vicinity of a front end of a support table for stacking and supporting sheets, and the sheets on the support table are taken up one by one by the cooperation of the take-up roller and the friction member. In the sheet feeding device described above, a sensor for detecting the sheet on the support table and a projecting member projecting from the upper surface of the support table for bending the sheet on the support table based on the sheet detection by the sensor are provided. Paper feeding device.