JPH05193784A - Paper sheet feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a paper sheet feeding device wherein a work to remove recording paper sheets is simply effected by a user or the removing work is automatically executed by displaying the position of a jammed recording paper sheet in a way of facing a feed paper sheet cassette. CONSTITUTION:A conveyance guide hole 4 is formed in a feed paper sheet cassette 1, which is separably mounted on a device body. A recording paper sheet 2 fed in a separated state from the paper sheet feeding cassette 1 is detected by a recording paper sheet detecting sensor 14 while it is separated and fed passing through the conveyance guide hole 4. A control part performs control of drive of each roller and detects the occurrence of a jam by means of a detecting signal from a recording paper sheet detecting sensor 14 and displays the occurrence of a jam by means of a jam display lamp 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer machine,
The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that supplies plain paper as recording paper to an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional paper feeding device, a plurality of removable paper feeding cassettes are mounted in order to automatically feed recording papers of a plurality of sizes, and recording papers of different sizes are separated from each paper feeding cassette. It is configured to be paper. The paper feed section of each paper feed cassette is independently connected to a transport path consisting of a guide plate, etc., and each transport path is equipped with a transport roller and a recording paper detection sensor for detecting a jam. ing. When a recording paper jam occurs in the transport path, the user opens the guide plate of the transport path,
The recording paper is removed and the device is restored.

[0003]

In the paper feeding device having the above-mentioned structure, the control unit detects the occurrence of a jam by the signal from the recording paper detecting sensor of each conveying path and displays the jam occurrence position to the user. Display with a lamp, etc. The user opens the guide plate or the like of the displayed conveyance path, removes the recording paper, and returns the apparatus to the normal condition. However, since each paper feed cassette has a transport path connected to it, the layout of the transport path inside the device is complicated, and because it is placed in a narrow space, workability is not good and it is not connected. When each conveying path is long, there is a problem that the position where the jam has occurred cannot be specifically displayed unless the number of recording paper detection sensors installed is increased.

It is an object of the present invention to display the position of a jammed recording paper in association with a paper feed cassette so that the user can easily remove the recording paper or the paper can be removed automatically. To provide a device.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a plurality of paper feed cassette parts for accommodating recording paper and a separate paper feed for separating and feeding the recording paper from the paper feed cassette parts. A sheet feeding device having a sheet feeding section for guiding the recording sheets separated and fed, and a feeding roller for feeding the recording sheets in the feeding path. A recording paper detection sensor for forming a recording paper jam in the conveyance path, a display unit for displaying the recording paper jam corresponding to each paper feed cassette unit, and a signal from the recording paper detection sensor A control unit for displaying a recording paper jam is provided on the display unit.

Further, when the recording paper detection sensor detects a recording paper jam in the conveyance paths of the plurality of paper feed cassette units, the control unit causes the recording paper jam to occur in the conveyance direction from among the conveyance paths in which the recording paper jam occurs. It is characterized in that the recording paper jam is displayed only on the display unit corresponding to the most downstream paper feed cassette unit.

Further, the recording paper detection sensor is arranged at a position for detecting the recording paper separately fed by the separation paper feeding unit, and the control unit is made to respond to a detection signal from the recording paper detection sensor. It is characterized in that it is configured so as to control the separating and feeding section.

Further, a one-way clutch for interrupting the transmission of the rotational force applied to the conveying roller during manual rotation is provided in the rotational force transmitting portion for transmitting the rotational force to the conveying roller.

Further, the conveying roller is configured so that it can be driven independently of the separating and feeding section for each conveying path of the sheet feeding cassette section, and the recording sheet is ejected to the ejection position. It is characterized in that the control section is configured to selectively drive the conveyance rollers of the conveyance path where the recording paper is jammed.

[0010]

According to the above-mentioned means, the conveyance path formed in the paper feed cassette portion, the recording paper detection sensor and the display portion, and the recording paper jam are displayed on the display portion in response to the signals from the recording paper detection sensor. The control unit allows the user to recognize which paper feed cassette unit the transport path in which the recording paper is jammed belongs to.

Further, the control unit causes the recording paper jam to be displayed only on the display unit of the paper feed cassette unit mounted on the most downstream side of the conveyance path in which the recording paper is jammed, so that the user does not have the jammed recording paper. It is possible to recognize which sheet feeding cassette section the leading end of is in the conveyance path.

Further, the control section controls the separation sheet feeding section in response to the signal from the recording sheet detection sensor, so that the recording sheet jam detection and the drive timing of the separation sheet feeding section are detected by the signal from the same sensor. Can be controlled.

Further, a one-way clutch for interrupting the transmission of the rotational force applied to the conveying roller is provided in the rotational force transmitting portion for transmitting the rotational force to the conveying roller, so that the conveying roller can be manually rotated independently. be able to.

Further, the control unit does not drive the separating / feeding unit, but selectively drives only the transport roller, thereby driving the transport roller in the transport path in which the recording paper is jammed to move the recording paper to the discharge position. Can be discharged.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the sheet feeding cassette 1 is mounted at all the mounting positions of the sheet feeding device.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a paper feed cassette which can be attached to and detached from the paper feed device main body, and four sets of the same are installed at the mounting positions vertically arranged on the device main body.

A paper feed cassette 1 for accommodating recording paper 2 inside
Is provided with a pressure plate 3 for urging the recording paper 2 upward, a slit-shaped conveyance guide hole 4 formed in the main body of the paper feed cassette 1, a separation roller 5, a pressure roller 6, a jam display lamp 7, and the like. There is.

With the paper feed cassette 1 installed, the pickup roller 11 is attached to the recording paper 2 by the separating roller 5.
Is a feed roller 12 and the pressure roller 6 is a transport roller.
13 contact each other. Further, a recording paper detection sensor 14 is arranged in the vicinity of the transport roller 13.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an essential part of this embodiment.

The recording paper 1 is pressed against the pickup roller 11 by the urging force of the pressure plate 3. When the pickup roller 11 rotates in the direction of arrow A, several recording papers 2 are separated into two-dot chain lines. It is extruded along the path L1 indicated by. The recording paper 2 includes a separation roller 5 and a feed roller 12
By this, only the uppermost recording paper 2 is further extruded along the path L1 and reaches the roller pair including the pressure roller 6 and the transport roller 13. Recording paper 1 reaching the roller pair
Is detected by the recording paper detection sensor 14 by contacting the recording paper detection rod 14a. At this time, the recording paper detection sensor
Reference numeral 14 outputs a detection signal to a control unit (not shown). The recording paper 2 held by the pressure roller 6 and the conveyance roller 13 is conveyed upward, passes through the conveyance guide hole 4 of the upper sheet feeding cassette 1, and is further conveyed upward by the pressure roller 6 and the conveyance roller 13. Alternatively, it is supplied to an image forming apparatus (not shown) by a pair of conveying rollers 16 after passing through the guide plate 15 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a roller drive mechanism and a controller according to this embodiment.

The roller drive mechanism is independently provided at each mounting position of the paper feed cassette 1, and each is controlled by the control unit 30.

Reference numeral 21 is a drive motor, and a pulley 21a is fixed to its rotation shaft. Further, 22 is a one-way type electromagnetic clutch, which transmits the rotation of the pulley 22b to the rotating shaft 22a when the exciting current is supplied.

The control section 30 supplies a drive current to the drive motor 21 and the electromagnetic clutch 22 in order to feed the recording paper 2 in a predetermined paper feed cassette 1 in response to a paper feed command from the image forming apparatus control section. Controls the excitation current supply period. Further, depending on the supply start timing of the recording paper 2 and the input timing of the detection signal from the recording paper detection sensor 14, the control unit 30
Determines the occurrence and position of a jam of the recording paper 2 in the transport guide hole 4. Control unit 30 that has determined that a jam has occurred
Stops the driving of each roller, outputs a jam detection signal to the jam display lamp 7 corresponding to the conveyance guide hole 4 in which the jam has occurred, and turns on the jam display lamp 7.
Further, the control unit 30 determines the attachment / detachment state of the sheet cassette 1 at the sheet cassette mounting position based on the sheet cassette detection signal output from the sheet cassette detection switch 17.

The drive motor 21 supplied with the drive current rotates the pulley 21a. The rotating force of the pulley 21a is the belt 21b.
Is transmitted to the pulley 22b via the belt 22c, and rotational force is transmitted to the pulley 13a by the belt 22c. Rotate to. At this time, when the exciting current is supplied to the electromagnetic clutch 22, the rotational force of the pulley 22b is transmitted to the rotating shaft 22a by the electromagnetic clutch 22 to rotate the feed roller 12. Further, the rotation of the rotary shaft 22a is transmitted to the pickup roller 11 via the belt 12a, and rotates the pickup roller 11. Here, the electromagnetic clutch 22 is of a one-way type, and has a structure in which, even when the pulley 22b is rotated in the direction of arrow A during non-excitation, its rotational force is not transmitted to the rotary shaft 22a. This prevents the recording sheet 2 from being conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 1 when the conveying roller 13 is rotated by the user's hand or the like during de-excitation.
The one-way clutch 13b is configured to transmit the rotational force of the pulley 13a to the transport roller 13, but not transmit the rotational force of the transport roller 13 to the pulley 13a when the transport roller is rotated by the user. ing.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the paper feed control of this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart thereof.

When a paper feed command is input to the control unit 30, the control unit
30 outputs the drive current to rotate the drive motor 21 (S
1). Then, the exciting current is output and the pickup roller 1
1 and the feed roller 12 are rotated (S2). When the recording paper 2 separated and fed by the pickup roller 11 and the feed roller 12 turns on the recording paper detection sensor 14 and outputs a recording paper detection signal (S3), the exciting current is turned off after t1 (seconds). (S4). At this time, the recording paper 2 is nipped by the pressure roller 6 and the conveyance roller 13 and is conveyed upward. The control unit 30 waits for t2 after the recording paper detection signal is input.
After (seconds), check the ON / OFF status of the recording paper detection signal (S
5) If it is off, it is judged that the transportation is completed normally.
(S6) If it is on, it is determined that a jam has occurred, the drive currents to all drive motors 21 are turned off (S7), and a jam detection signal is output to output a jam occurrence display lamp. 7 is turned on (S8). When the jammed recording paper 2 is removed (S9), paper feed is restarted by a paper feed command.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the control at the time of ejecting the jammed recording paper, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart thereof.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of control when a jam occurs in the second-stage paper feed cassette 1 from the top.

By the paper feed control shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
The conveyance of the recording paper 2 is started from the paper feed cassette 1 at the fourth stage from the top (S10). At this time, all the drive currents to the drive motors 21 are turned on, and the recording sheet 2 in the conveyance guide hole 4 is conveyed upward by the conveyance roller 13. Control unit 30
Monitors the occurrence of jam by the recording paper detection signal from the recording paper detection sensor 14 of each stage (S11). When no jam has occurred, the conveyance of the recording paper 2 is completed normally (S12).

If it is determined by the recording paper detection signal from the recording paper detection sensor 14 that a jam has occurred, the control section 30 selects the jam display lamp 7 to be turned on.
Turning on the recording paper detection sensor 14 corresponding to the first stage from the top,
It is judged to be off (S13), and if it is on, the jam indicator lamp is turned on in the first-stage sheet feeding cassette 1 and all the drive motors 21 are stopped (S14).
Judges whether the recording paper detection sensor 14 in the second row is on or off
(S15). The control unit 30 sequentially determines whether the recording paper detection sensors 14 in the second and third stages are on or off, performs the same control as the control for the on or off in the first stage, and is on. The uppermost one of the recording paper detection sensors 14 is determined, the jam display lamp 7 of the paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to the recording paper detection sensor 14 is turned on, and all the drive motors are driven.
21 is stopped (S15-S19).

The user removes the paper feed cassette 1 whose jam display lamp 7 is lit (S20). Here, it is assumed that the jam display lamp 7 in the second stage is on.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the recording paper discharge operation in a state where the second-stage paper feed cassette 1 is removed.

By removing the second-stage paper feed cassette 1, the leading end of the jam recording paper 2a projects into the mounting position. The control unit 30 turns off the sheet cassette detection signal of the sheet cassette detection switch 17 in the second stage (S2
1), s1 (seconds) later, the drive current to the drive motor 21 of the third and fourth stages is turned on (S22). In the state shown in FIG. 8, the jam recording paper 2a is moved to the second stage by turning on the drive current to the third and fourth stage drive motors 21 and rotating the third and fourth stage transport rollers 13. Is discharged to the mounting position of the sheet feeding cassette 1. After the recording paper detection signal in the 4th row turns off,
After s2 (seconds), the drive current to the drive motor 21 of the fourth step is turned off (S23, S24), and then the recording paper detection signal of the third step is turned off. Turn off the drive current (S2
5, S26). By the above operation, the jam recording paper 2a is automatically
The discharge to the mounting position is completed (S27).

Further, the jam recording paper 2a is controlled by the control unit 30.
Even if the paper is not automatically ejected, the user pulls the leading edge of the jam recording paper 2a protruding to the mounting position,
The conveyance roller 13 and the pressure roller 6 are rotated by the jam recording paper 2a. Since the rotation of the carry roller 13 is not transmitted to the pulley 13a by the one-way clutch 13b shown in FIG. 3, only the carry roller 13 and the pressure roller 6 rotate independently. At this time, the conveying rollers 13 and the pressure rollers 6 of all the stages holding the jam recording paper 2a rotate independently at the same time.

Since the one-way clutch 13b is provided, only the conveying roller 13 and the pressure roller 6 can be independently rotated, so that the jam recording paper 2a can be removed with a small force.

In the paper feeding apparatus having the above structure, when a jam occurs, the jam recording paper 2a can be easily discharged by removing the paper feeding cassette 1 in which the jam display lamp 7 is turned on. The jam recording paper 2a can be discharged automatically or by the user's hand. Further, by providing the transport guide hole 4 in the paper feed cassette 1, the configuration of the transport path for the recording paper 2 can be simplified, and the occurrence of a jam by the signal from the same recording paper detection sensor 14. By detecting and further controlling the drive of each roller, the number of sensors to be used can be reduced, so that the cost can be reduced.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, the transport path of the paper feed cassette section, the recording sheet detection sensor, the display section and the control section determines which transport path is full of recording paper. Since it can be identified whether the paper is in the paper feed cassette section, the user can easily remove the recording paper from the paper feed cassette section, and the control section can also remove the recording paper from the conveyance path where the recording paper is jammed. The position of the leading edge of the recording paper can be recognized by displaying the recording paper jam only on the display section of the downstream paper feeding cassette part, so the user can remove only the paper feed cassette showing the recording paper jam and remove the recording paper. It can be removed, and the control unit controls the separate paper feeding unit in response to the signal from the recording paper detection sensor, so that the signal from the same sensor can detect the recording paper jam and the separate paper feeding unit. Since the control can be performed, the number of sensors for detecting the recording paper can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.Furthermore, the one-way clutch is provided in the driving force transmission section for the conveying roller, so that the conveying roller can be independent. Since it can be rotated manually,
For example, the user can remove the recording paper by pulling one end of the jammed recording paper in the conveyance path, and the control unit selectively drives only the conveyance roller of the paper feed cassette unit where the recording paper is jammed. Since it is possible to eject the recording paper, it is possible to provide a paper feeding device that can automatically convey the recording paper in the conveyance path in the ejection direction by the control unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the main part of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a roller drive mechanism and a control unit according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the paper feed control of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a paper feed control of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing control at the time of discharging a jammed recording sheet according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing control at the time of discharging a jammed recording sheet according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a jammed recording sheet discharging operation according to the present exemplary embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Paper feed cassette, 2 ... Recording paper, 4 ... Conveyance guide hole, 5 ... Separation roller, 6 ... Pressure roller, 7 ... Jam display lamp, 12 ... Feed roller, 13 ... Conveying roller, 13b ... One-way clutch, 14 … Recording paper detection sensor, 21… Drive motor, 22… Electromagnetic clutch, 30
… Control unit.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of paper feed cassette units for accommodating recording papers, a separate paper feed unit for separating and feeding the recording papers from the paper feed cassette unit, and a conveyance for guiding the separated and fed recording papers. In a paper feeding device having a path and a carrying roller for carrying the recording paper in the carrying path, the feeding path is formed in the paper feeding cassette part, and moreover, a recording paper jam in the carrying path is detected. A recording paper detection sensor, a display unit for displaying a recording paper jam corresponding to each paper feed cassette unit, and a control unit for displaying a recording paper jam on the display unit according to a signal from the recording paper detection sensor are provided. A paper feeding device characterized by the above. 2. When the recording paper detection sensor detects a recording paper jam in the conveyance paths of the plurality of paper feed cassette units, the control unit detects the recording paper jam in the conveyance direction from among the conveyance paths in which the recording paper jam occurs. 2. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the recording paper jam is displayed only on a display portion corresponding to the most downstream paper feeding cassette portion. 3. The recording paper detection sensor is arranged at a position for detecting the recording paper separately fed by the separation paper feeding section, and is made to correspond to a detection signal from the recording paper detection sensor,
The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the separation sheet feeding unit. 4. The one-way clutch for interrupting the transmission of the rotational force applied to the conveying roller during manual rotation is provided in the rotational force transmitting portion for transmitting the rotational force to the conveying roller. The paper feeding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 5. The conveying roller is configured so that it can be driven independently of the separating and feeding section for each conveying path of the sheet feeding cassette section, and the recording sheet is ejected to a discharging position. 4. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to selectively drive the conveyance roller of the conveyance path where the recording paper is jammed.