JPH05330679A - Sheet feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean suction cups without troubling a user and without generating the deterioration, damage, defective feed, and the like of printing sheets by providing recessed parts, enabling the going-in/out of the suction cups, at the bottom face of an accommodating part, and disposing cleaning members in the recessed parts in such a way that the surface of the cleaning members is lower than the bottom face. CONSTITUTION:A sheet feeding device 14 is provided with a pair of suction cups 21a, 21b fitted to plates 41a, 41b provided at both side parts, vertical to the sheet feeding direction A, of a suction cup holding unit 22. The suction cup holding unit 22 not performing paper feeding action is placed in a sheet conveying position above a magazine 13. Recessed parts 50a, 50b of the size enabling the going-in/out of the suction cups are formed at the bottom face 55 of the magazine 13. Cleaning members 54a, 54b are disposed in the recessed parts 50a, 50b, and the surface of these cleaning members is disposed lower than the bottom face 55. With this constitution, the deterioration, damage, defective feed, and the like of sheets are not generated. The suction cups are cleaned when there is no sheet in the magazine.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device for taking out, holding and conveying a sheet by means of a suction cup.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for feeding a sheet to an image forming apparatus or the like, one of the uppermost sheets from a plurality of stacked sheets is picked up by a suction cup and fed to an image forming section. It is known that this was done. This sheet feeding device has many advantages such as being less likely to damage the sheet and suppressing the generation of paper dust.
However, even with this sheet feeding device, there is no paper dust generated from the sheet, and dust, dirt, stains, etc. are generated from positions other than the sheet feeding device of the image forming apparatus. If such paper dust or dust adheres to and accumulates on the suction cups of the sheet feeding device, the suction force of the suction cups may be reduced or suction may not be possible, resulting in a paper feed failure. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly clean the suction cup in order to prevent a paper feed failure.

Conventionally, therefore, the user has been instructed in advance that it is necessary to regularly clean the suction cup, and the user opens the device as needed and manually cleans the suction cup. This work is troublesome for the user. Moreover, when the image forming apparatus is a small printer or the like, or when the sheet is photosensitive and it is necessary to prevent light from entering the inside of the main body, the apparatus cannot be opened sufficiently large and cramped. You have to do cleaning work.
Therefore, the cleaning work is extremely difficult to perform, which is a particularly serious problem.

On the other hand, in order to eliminate the need for manual cleaning by the operator, a sheet which is coated with an adhesive cleaning material is sucked and picked up by a suction cup to clean the suction cup. It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-8136. However, if a highly sticky substance is used as the cleaning material, the suctioned sheet with the cleaning material may not separate from the suction cup, resulting in paper feeding failure.On the other hand, if a low-adhesive substance is used, the suction cup will be sufficiently cleaned. Not done. Further, in this apparatus, since the sheet with the cleaning material is loaded in the accommodating portion of the printing sheet, the sheet with the cleaning material comes into contact with the printing sheet to deteriorate and damage the printing sheet, and further cause a paper feed failure. Sometimes.

The present invention is a sheet feeding device for picking up a sheet by a suction cup and feeding the sheet, without causing any trouble to the user, and may cause deterioration, damage, feeding failure or the like of the print sheet. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that can clean a suction cup without using a sheet.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sheet feeding apparatus for sucking and picking up and feeding a sheet accommodated in an accommodating section by a suction cup moving up and down. It is characterized in that it is provided with a concave portion formed on the bottom surface and capable of moving in and out of the suction cup, and a cleaning member arranged in the concave portion so that the surface thereof is lower than the bottom surface of the accommodating portion.

[0007]

In the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention, the sheet is supported by the bottom surface of the accommodating portion without coming into contact with the cleaning member, while the suction cup is inserted into the recessed and retractable portion to be cleaned by the cleaning member.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the outline of a printer apparatus equipped with a sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The printer 10 includes a housing 11 formed so as to hermetically seal and shield the inside thereof, and mainly includes an electrical equipment box 12, a sheet feeding device 14 including a magazine 13, a sheet conveying unit 15, an optical unit 16, and a sub-scan. Unit 18 and receive magazine 1
9 are arranged as shown in the drawing.

The magazine 13 is provided so as to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body, and accommodates a plurality of photosensitive sheets 20 in a laminated state. The sheets 20 accommodated in the magazine 13 are picked up one by one by the vacuum type sheet feeding device 14, sent to the sheet conveying unit 15, and further sent to the sub-scanning unit 18. In the sub-scanning unit 18, the sheet 20 is image-exposed on the sub-scanning drum 36 by the laser beam emitted from the optical unit 16 while being conveyed in the rotation direction B, and then discharged into the receive magazine 19. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a host computer, which communicates image information to be printed to the printer device 10. In this configuration, the exposed sheet 20 is taken out together with the receive magazine 19 and subjected to development processing as needed. The sheet 20 may be discharged after the development in the printer device 10.

Next, the structure and operation of the sheet feeding device 14 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, arrow A indicates the sheet feeding direction. The sheet feeding device 14 is
It has a pair of suction cups 21a and 21b.
21b are plates 41a, 41 provided on both sides of the suction cup holding unit 22 in a direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction A.
It is attached to b. Also, the suction cups 21a, 21b
Is connected to a vacuum device (not shown) via a tube. The vacuum device includes vacuum suction cups 21a and 21a.
It is for sucking the sheet 20 when b comes into contact with the surface of the uppermost sheet 20.

On the other hand, the suction cup holding unit 22 includes a shaft 40.
It is connected to the arms 23a and 23b via a and 40b. Further, the arms 23a and 23b have shafts 24a and 2 respectively.
4b, a unit lifting motor (not shown) rotates the shafts 24a and 24b to vertically move the suction cup holding unit 22. In addition, the suction cup holding unit 22
An adjusting mechanism for changing the distance between the suction cups 21a and 21b in accordance with the sheet size is provided inside.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2C, the pulleys 44a,
The belt 45 is stretched over 44b, and the plates 41a and 41b are fixed to the belt 45. Then, by driving the pulleys 44a and 44b in forward and reverse rotations by a stepping motor (not shown), the plate 41 is passed through the belt 45.
The suction cups 21a and 21a
The position where b contacts the sheet 20 is changed according to the sheet size. Further, a sensor 52 that detects the presence or absence of the sheet 20 in the magazine 13 and controls the operation of the vacuum device is attached to the lower surface of the suction cup holding unit 22 at the same height as the suction cups 21a and 21b with respect to the sheet surface. Has been.

Normally, the suction cup holding unit 22 that does not perform the sheet feeding operation is located above the magazine 13 at the sheet conveying position.
When the paper feeding operation is started, at the sheet conveying position, first, the suction cup 2 is moved according to the size of the sheet to be printed as described above.
The position of contact with the sheet 20 is determined by changing the distance between 1a and 21b. Next, the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved downward and stopped when the suction cups 21a and 21b contact the uppermost sheet 20. In synchronization with this, the sensor 52 comes into contact with the seat 20 and is turned on, so that the vacuum device is activated accordingly, and the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved upward while sucking the sheet 20 by the suction cups 21a and 21b. Pick up the seat 20.

Next, the structure of the magazine 13 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, magazine 1
On the bottom surface 55 of 3, there are formed recesses 50a and 50b of such a size that the suction cups 21a and 21b can move in and out. Recess 5
0a and 50b are provided with cleaning members 54a and 54b, and each of these surfaces has a bottom surface 5 so that the bottom surface of the sheet 20 held by the bottom surface 55 does not come into contact with these surfaces.
It is placed lower than 5. As the cleaning member, various materials such as a sponge containing alcohol and an adhesive tape having an appropriate adhesive force can be applied. Further, at a position facing the sensor 52, a recess 53 having a size large enough to receive the operation terminal of the sensor 52 is formed. Incidentally, reference numeral 51 in the figure denotes a region where the suction cup moves by the above-mentioned adjusting mechanism, and in this embodiment, the suction cups 21a, 21a
b is provided in this area.

With the above structure, the suction cups 21a and 21b come into contact with the cleaning members 54a and 54b to clean the sheets when no sheets are stored in the magazine 13. The operation at this time will be described below.

First, as in the case of the normal paper feeding operation, after the distance between the suction cups 21a and 21b is determined according to the size of the sheet to be printed, the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved downward. As described above, if there are sheets in the magazine 13, the downward movement of the suction cup holding unit 22 stops when the suction cups 21a and 21b come into contact with the sheets, but if there are no sheets in the magazine 13, the suction cups 21a , 21b is magazine 13
When it comes into contact with the bottom surface 55 of the suction cup holding unit 22, the downward movement of the suction cup holding unit 22 is stopped. At this time, the sensor 52 for detecting the sheet empty enters the concave portion 53 as shown in FIG. 4B, so that the sensor 52 is not turned on and the vacuum device is not operated. Then, the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved up to the sheet conveying position as it is. Next, using the adjustment mechanism, the gap between the suction cups 21a and 21b is changed to correspond to the recesses 50a and 50b, and then the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved to the suction cup 2 again.
1a and 21b are moved down to the position where they contact the cleaning members 54a and 54b. At this time as well, the sensor 52 enters the recess 53 and remains OFF, so the vacuum device is not activated. Then, the suction cups 21a and 21b are moved up to the sheet conveying position. In this way, the suction cups 21a and 21b are
The cleaning members 54a and 54b are contacted and separated to be cleaned.

Although the concave portion is provided in the area 51 in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the concave portion is provided so as to be displaced in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction A and cleaning is performed. Alternatively, the suction cups 21a and 21b may be moved in the sheet feeding direction A.

Next, a second embodiment of the cleaning member for the suction cups 21a and 21b will be described with reference to FIGS.

On the lower surface of the suction cup holding unit 22 of the second embodiment, two sensors 62, 63 are attached at the same height as the suction cups 21a, 21b with respect to the seat surface. The sensor 62 is for stopping the downward movement of the suction cup holding unit 22 when it is turned on, and the sensor 63 is O
The presence or absence of a sheet is detected by N and OFF to control the operation of the vacuum device. Since the other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, its explanation is omitted.

On the other hand, the bottom surface 66 of the magazine 13 is provided with a recess 60 corresponding to the area where the suction cups 21a and 21b can be moved by the adjusting mechanism described above. A cleaning member 64 is provided in the recess 60, and more specifically, the bottom surface 6
The sheet 20 held by 6 is held so that the surface thereof is lower than the bottom surface 66 so as not to contact the lower surface of the sheet 20. Further, on the bottom surface 66 of the magazine 13, a first recess 65 a is formed at a position facing the sensor 62 at the same height as the surface of the cleaning member 64, and a second recess 65 b is positioned at a position facing the sensor 63. It is formed deeper than the first recess 65a.

When the sheet 20 is present in the magazine 13, the suction cup holding unit 22 stops its downward movement when the sensor 62 is turned on along with the downward movement, as shown in FIG. , 21b are kept in contact with the sheet 20. At the same time, when the sensor 63 also comes into contact with the seat 20 and is turned on, the vacuum device is activated, and the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved up again while sucking the sheet 20 by the suction cups 21a and 21b.
To pick up. On the other hand, the sheet 2 in the magazine 13
When 0 does not exist, the suction cup holding unit 22 moves downward to feed the paper, and as shown in FIG. 7B, when the sensor 62 comes into contact with the bottom surface of the first concave portion 65a and is turned on, the downward movement is stopped. Then, the suction cups 21a and 21b are kept in contact with the cleaning member 64. At this time, the sensor 63 has the second concave portion 65.
The vacuum device is not activated because it does not contact b and remains off. Then, the suction cup holding unit 22 is moved upward again to separate the suction cups 21a and 21b from the cleaning member 64, whereby the cleaning operation is completed.

In this way, the cleaning member 64 is attached to the suction cups 21a,
By providing the entire position corresponding to the sheet contact position of 21b, suction cups 21a and 21a corresponding to various sheet sizes.
Even if the distance from b is changed, it is not necessary to move the suction cups 21a and 21b again before cleaning. In addition, 2 sensors
By providing one, cleaning can be performed at the same time as empty detection.

As shown in FIG. 8, the entire bottom surface 80 of the magazine 13 is formed in an uneven shape so that the convex surface 81 supports the sheet 20 and the cleaning member 8 is provided in the concave portion 82.
4 may be arranged.

In the above embodiment, the suction cup holding unit 22
Sucker 2 if there is no sheet in magazine 13 when
It has been described that 1 contacts the cleaning members 54 and 64 and is cleaned, and then the suction cup holding unit 22 moves upward. But,
In order to more reliably clean the suction cup 21, the suction cup holding unit 22 may be moved up and down a plurality of times so that the suction cup 21 repeatedly contacts the cleaning members 54 and 64. In this case, in the suction cup holding unit 22, the suction cup 21 has the cleaning member 5
It is only necessary to reciprocate between the position where the cleaning member 54 and the contacting member 64 are in contact with the position where the cleaning member 54 is separated from the cleaning member 64, and it is not necessary to move up to the sheet conveying position.

The suction cup 21 can be more surely cleaned by rubbing the suction cup 21 and the cleaning member against each other. FIG. 9 shows an example of a cleaning member therefor. That is, the cleaning members 53a and 53b in FIG. 3 have a substantially circular shape, while the cleaning members 74a and 74b in FIG. 9 extend in the direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction A. In this embodiment, the suction cup holding unit 22 moves downward to move the suction cups 21a, 2a.
The operation until 1b comes into contact with the cleaning members 74a and 74b is the same as in the above embodiment. In the present embodiment, the suction cups 21a and 21b are cleaning members 74a and 74b.
Abutting against the suction cups 21a, shown in FIG.
The adjusting mechanism for adjusting the interval of 21b is operated to reciprocate the suction cups 21a and 21b in the direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction A. As a result, the suction cups 21a and 21b are rubbed against the cleaning members 74a and 74b, so that they are more reliably cleaned. It is sufficient for the cleaning member to have a length corresponding to the range in which the suction cups 21a and 21b reciprocate, but the cleaning member is provided over the entire width of the magazine 13 like the cleaning member 64 in FIG. May be. Further, as described above with reference to FIG. 5, if the device has a mechanism for moving the suction cup 21 in the sheet feeding direction A, the suction cup 2 can be moved by the mechanism.
The suction cup 21 and the cleaning member may be rubbed by moving 1 in the sheet feeding direction A.

Although the example of sliding the suction cup 21 and the cleaning member by the movement of the suction cup 21 has been described above, the suction cup and the cleaning member may be rubbed by moving the cleaning member. Figure 10
An example of sliding the suction cup 21 and the cleaning member 84 by rotating the cleaning member 84 is shown. The cleaning member 84 is
It is a sponge containing alcohol similar to the above example, and has a recess 85 on the lower surface thereof. On the other hand, a hole is formed at the center of the bottom surface of the recess 86 into which the cleaning member 84 is fitted, and a shaft 88 for engaging with the recess 85 of the cleaning member 84 projects upward from the hole. A gear 89, whose drive is connected to a motor 91, is attached to the lower end of the shaft 88. The gear 89 is biased upward by a spring 90. Therefore, the cleaning member 84 is not
And the cleaning member 8 through the gear 89 and the shaft 88.
4 is biased upward. However, an eaves-shaped locking member 87 is formed at the upper end opening of the recess 86 to prevent the cleaning member 84 from protruding from the recess 86.

In this embodiment as well, the operation until the suction cup 21 moves downward and contacts the cleaning member 84 is the same as in the above embodiment. In this embodiment, the suction cup 21 is the cleaning member 84.
The driving of the motor 91 is started at the timing of contact with the contact point, for example, the timing at which the sensor 62 of FIG. 7 is turned on. When the motor 91 is driven, the shaft 88 rotates, and the cleaning member 84 rotates accordingly. At this time, the cleaning member 84 is pressed against the suction cup 21 by the spring 90, and rotates as it is. Therefore, the suction cup 21 is strongly rubbed against the cleaning member 84, so that the suction cup 21 is reliably cleaned.

The mechanism for cleaning the suction cup 21 with the cleaning member has been described above with reference to FIGS. However, when the cleaning work by the cleaning member is repeatedly performed, the cleaning member gradually becomes dirty. Therefore, the cleaning member needs to be replaced from time to time. However, when the magazine 13 is a disposable one, the cleaning member is discarded together with the magazine 13 before it is sufficiently soiled, so it is not necessary to replace only the cleaning member. However, when the magazine 13 is provided in the sheet feeding device, or when the magazine 13 is removable from the device and is a type in which only the content sheets are refilled and reused, the cleaning member is replaced. There is a need to.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show an example of a magazine in which the cleaning member can be easily replaced. In the figure, 100 is a support plate for supporting the sheet 20, and is a cardboard having the same shape as the bottom surface of the magazine 13. The support plate 100 is dropped on the bottom of the magazine 13 and supports the sheets 20 stacked on it. That is, the support plate 100 forms the bottom surface of the accommodation portion that accommodates the sheet. In addition, the support plate 100 is formed with a hole 101 having a size large enough to allow the suction cup 21 to enter, and the hole 101 has a lower opening closed with an adhesive tape 102. In this embodiment, the operation of cleaning the suction cup 21 is the same as in the first embodiment. That is, the suction cup 21 enters the hole 101, contacts the adhesive tape 102, and is cleaned. On the other hand, the sheet 20 supported by the support plate 100 does not contact the adhesive tape 102. According to this embodiment, in order to replace the adhesive tape 102 as the cleaning member, the support plate 100
Since it is only necessary to replace each unit, the replacement work is easy. To facilitate the replacement of the cleaning member, refer to FIG.
As shown in (c), the support plate 100 is placed in the packaging material 103 that wraps the sheet 20 for replenishing the magazine 13.
It is sufficient to enclose the replenishment sheet 20 in a supported state. In this way, when the magazine 13 is replenished with sheets, the cleaning member can be replaced simply by setting the one taken out from the packaging material 103 into the magazine 13 as it is, so that the user does not feel the trouble of replacing the cleaning member. .
Also in this embodiment, the cleaning member is not limited to the adhesive tape, and a sponge or the like may be attached to the support plate 100 with an adhesive.

Further, in this embodiment, since the lower surface of the magazine 13 is flat and there is no protrusion below, the magazine is loose when it is placed as a spare magazine on a table other than the device. Not stick. Further, since the top surface of the bottom of the magazine is flat, the cleaning member can be easily replaced even if the cleaning member is not attached to the support plate. That is,
In FIG. 12, the cleaning member 104 is only placed on the bottom surface of the magazine 13, and the support plate 100 is placed thereon. To replace the cleaning member 104 in this embodiment, first, the support plate 100 is taken out of the magazine 13. In this state, the cleaning member 104 is only placed on the bottom surface of the magazine 13, so that the user can
04 can be easily picked out. Then, a new cleaning member is placed on the bottom surface of the magazine 13, and the support plate 100 is dropped on the bottom of the magazine 13 to complete the replacement of the cleaning member.

[0030]

As described above, in the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention, since the cleaning member is formed so that the surface thereof is lower than the bottom surface of the accommodating portion, the cleaning member comes into contact with the lower surface of the stacked sheets. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cleaning member from damaging the sheet, deteriorating the sheet quality, and improperly feeding the sheet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printer device including a sheet feeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the bottom surface of the magazine.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a paper feeding operation and a cleaning operation of a suction cup.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another configuration of the bottom surface of the magazine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the configuration of the bottom surface of the magazine.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the feeding operation and cleaning operation of the suction cup.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another configuration of the bottom surface of the magazine.

FIG. 9 is a top view showing another embodiment of the cleaning member.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the accommodating portion.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the accommodating portion.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the accommodating portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Magazine 14 Sheet Feeding Device 21 Sucker 50, 60, 86, 101 Recess 54, 64, 74, 88, 102, 104 Cleaning Member 55, 66, 100 Magazine Bottom

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device for sucking a sheet accommodated in an accommodation part by a movable suction cup, taking out the sheet, and feeding the sheet, the recess being formed on a bottom surface of the accommodation part and allowing the suction cup to come in and out. A sheet feeding device, comprising: a cleaning member disposed in the recess so that its surface is lower than the bottom surface of the accommodating portion.