JPH0553394A - Fixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To securely fix an opening/closing cover with a small number of parts by providing a multiple number of protrusions which are engaged and disengaged to the opening cover and an original guide unit to a fixing click, and specifying the angle of its contact surface. CONSTITUTION:The protrusion A for fixing the opening and closing cover 12 and the protrusion B for fixing the original guide unit 9 are provided to the fixing click 13. The angle alpha, formed by the contact surface C of the protrusion A and the protrusion 18 of the opening and closing cover 12 and a line 19 in the opening and closing direction of the opening and closing cover 12, is formed to be smaller than the complementary angle of the friction angle at the contact surface C. Furthermore, the angle beta, formed by the contact surface D of the protrusion B and the original guide unit 9 and the perpendicular line 21 going through an attachment part 22 to the device box body of the fixing click 13, is formed to be greater than the complementary angle of the friction angle of the contact surface D. Because of this, while the opening and closing cover 12 can be opened and closed with little force, the original guide unit 9 is not easily released since no component force is generated deforming in the direction releasing the fixing in the fixing click 13 even when a great force is imparted from a bottom part of the original guide unit 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of fixing a cover of an automatic paper feeder or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 7 and 8 show an example of the basic structure of a conventional device of this type to which the present invention belongs, and FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the vicinity of a click for fixing the opening / closing cover.

The automatic paper feeder 1 is provided above the image reading device 2, and has a paper feed guide 3 for stacking a plurality of originals, a pre-conveying roller 4 for feeding the stacked originals to a separating section, and a paper feeder. It consists of paper roller 5 and retard roller 6,
A separation unit configured to separate the originals one by one and convey them to the conveyance roller 7, and a paper discharge roller 8 for discharging the originals.

A document guide unit 9 for guiding the document from the front transport roller 4 to the paper discharge roller 8 includes the transport roller 7 and the pinch roller 10 of the paper discharge roller 8 and is directed toward the transport roller 7 and the paper discharge roller 8 by a spring 20. Pinch roller 10
The unit is configured to be rotatable about the retard roller 6 as a fulcrum, and a latch 11 provided on the main body is fixed by meshing with the document guide unit 9. A jam release lever (not shown) connected to the latch 11 can release the latch 11 to release the fixing.

As shown in FIG. 9, the opening / closing cover 12 is fixed to the main body by a protrusion 18 provided on the opening / closing cover 12 being caught by a fixing click 13 provided on the main body. The opening / closing cover 12 can be opened / closed freely around a fulcrum 21 provided on the main body as the fixed click 13 elastically deforms and comes off.

When a signal to start reading is sent from the image reading device 2, the front conveying roller 4 rotates and the paper feed guide 3
The originals stacked on the paper are sent to the separation unit. The originals separated by the separating unit are sent to the reading position by the conveying roller 7, the information is sequentially read line by line by the image reading device 2, and then the original is passed through the paper discharge roller 8 to the outside of the main body. The paper is ejected.

When reading a non-conveyable original such as a book, the entire automatic paper feeder 1 is opened around the hinge 14 and the original is placed on the original glass 15 and the pressure plate 16 of the automatic paper feeder 1 is placed.
Alternatively, the document guide unit 9 is pressed to read.

If a jam or the like occurs when a deformed original such as curled paper is read, the opening / closing cover 12 is opened to enable jam processing between the separating section and the transport roller 7. When a jam occurs between the transport roller 7 and the paper discharge roller 8, the jam release lever is operated with the open / close cover 12 open to remove the latch 11 and open the document guide unit 9 to perform the jam processing. Was configured.

[0009]

However, in these conventional devices, the fixing device for the opening / closing cover (fixing click 13, protrusion 18) and the fixing device for the document guide unit (the latch 11 and its counterpart member and the latch 11). However, not only the cost of parts and assembly cost, but also the space inside the device is required. In particular, when scanning thick originals such as books as described above, lift the original platen of the automatic paper feeder, especially the automatic paper feeder, and use the bottom of the original guide unit to add the weight of the automatic paper feeder. Since a document such as a book is pressed to read an image, a large force is applied to the fixing device. Therefore, a stronger and more reliable fixing method is needed.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, the opening / closing cover is provided with a small number of parts and at a low cost by a simple method of further adding a protrusion for fixing the document guide unit to a fixing click provided on the opening / closing cover. It is possible to securely fix the document guide unit.

The first aspect of the present invention has a plurality of structures which can be opened and closed with respect to the device housing, and a fixing member which is made of an elastic body and fixes the structure to the device housing. In a device for fixing a structure by joining a protrusion provided on the structure and a protrusion provided on the structure or the structure, a plurality of fixing protrusions are provided on the fixing member, and a plurality of structures are simultaneously formed. It is a fixing device characterized by being configured to fix.

In the second aspect of the present invention, the angle between the contact surface between the plurality of fixing projections provided on the fixing member and the structure corresponding to each projection and the releasing direction of the structure is different. The fixing device according to the first invention is characterized in that.

In the third aspect of the present invention, the overlap amount of the contact surface between the plurality of fixing projections provided on the fixing member and the structures corresponding to the respective projections is different when the fixing of any structure is released. The fixing device according to the first aspect of the invention is characterized in that the fixing of the structure is also released.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when one structure is fixed, a part of the structure is brought into contact with another structure and the other structure is simultaneously fixed by guiding it to a fixing member. The fixing device according to the first invention is characterized in that it is configured.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are schematic views of the vicinity of a fixed click according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The basic configuration and basic operation of the automatic paper feeding device 1 and the image reading device 2 are the same as those of the conventional example, and the description will not be repeated. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the fixing click 13 is provided with a protrusion A for fixing the opening / closing cover 12 and a protrusion B for fixing the document guide unit 9. An angle α between a contact surface C between the projection A and the projection 18 of the opening / closing cover 12 and a line 19 in the opening / closing direction of the opening / closing cover 12 is smaller than a complementary angle of a friction angle on the contact surface C. Further, the projection B and the document guide unit 9
The angle β formed by the contact surface D of the contact surface D and the perpendicular 21 passing through the mounting portion 22 of the automatic paper feeder 1 of the fixing click 13 to the apparatus housing is larger than the complementary angle of the friction angle of the contact surface D, for example, 90 degrees. is there. The vertical line 21 coincides with the opening / closing direction of the document guide unit 9.

When a jam or the like occurs When the opening / closing cover 12 is lifted in the same manner as in the conventional embodiment, the jam processing between the separating portion and the conveying roller 7 causes the protrusion 18 of the opening / closing cover 12 to deform the fixing click 13. Opening allows you to remove jammed documents. When a jam occurs between the transport roller 7 and the paper discharge roller 8, the fixing click 13 is opened by the finger instead of the release lever and elastically deformed as shown in FIG. The fixation of the document guide unit 9 can be released, and jam processing can be performed.

Further, in this embodiment, an angle β (hereinafter referred to as a contact angle) between the contact surface between the document guide unit 9 and the fixed click 13 and the releasing direction of the document guide unit 9 is referred to as the contact angle between the open / close cover 12 and the fixed click 13. The contact angle is set to be larger than the contact angle α so that the contact is made at a right angle (or a substantially right angle).

Therefore, the open / close cover 12 can be opened and closed with a light force, while the document guide unit 9 is fixed even when a large force is applied from the lower portion of the document guide unit 9 when a document such as a thick book is read. The click 13 does not generate a component force that deforms in the fixing releasing direction and is not easily released.

[0019]

[Other Embodiments] FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic views showing the vicinity of a fixed click according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The basic configuration and basic operation of the automatic paper feeding device 1 and the image reading device 2 are the first
It is similar to the embodiment of. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the fixed click 13 shown in FIG. 3 and the overlap amount t of the protrusion A of the opening / closing cover 12 are set by opening the opening / closing cover 12 as shown in FIG. It is set so that when the projection A comes off the opening / closing cover 12, the fixing click 13 is elastically deformed as much as the projection B for fixing the document guide unit 9 also comes off. For this reason, when the opening / closing cover 12 is opened by jam processing or the like, the document guide unit 9 is automatically lifted by the reaction force of the pressure contact force of the pinch roller 10 and the fixation of the document guide unit 9 is also released.

On the other hand, when the jam processing is completed and the opening / closing cover 12 is closed, the E portion of the opening / closing cover 12 shown in FIG.
Hold down the document guide unit 9 and click to fix 13
It is configured to close automatically in order to lead to.

Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to consciously open and close the document guide unit 9, and it is possible to provide a more user-friendly device with better operability. Of course, it is also possible to adjust the overlap amount t so that the document guide unit 9 is not automatically released.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, one projection B is provided on the original guide unit 9 and the front cover 1 parallel to the paper surface of FIGS.
7 and fix the open / close cover 12 and a total of 3
As shown in FIG. 6, the projection A for fixing the fixing click 13,
It is also possible to fix the structures such as the plurality of covers 12 and 17 and the document guide unit 9 to one fixing click 13 by a means such as B and F having three stages.

In the present embodiment, the method of fixing the opening / closing cover and the document guide unit of the automatic sheet feeding device for the image reading apparatus has been described for the sake of simplicity, but it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to this. Yes.

[0024]

As described above, (1) In addition to a fixing member, such as a fixing click, which is conventionally used only for fixing one structural body, for example, an opening / closing cover or the like to the apparatus housing, a document guide unit or the like. By adding a protrusion for fixing another structure, it can be used for fixing a plurality of structures, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. (2) Fixing even if a large external force is applied in normal use, by providing multiple protrusions for fixing the structure independently on the fixing member and changing the contact angle of each to change it as necessary. It is also possible to configure so that the fixing can be released with a small force at the time of jam processing and the like without being released. (3) Furthermore, if necessary, by setting the amount of overlap between the structure such as the open / close cover and the fixing member, other structures such as the document guide unit can be automatically fixed by opening the open / close cover. It is also possible to configure so that the device is released, the operability is further improved during the jam processing, and a device convenient for the user can be provided. (4) When one structure is fixed, a part of the structure is brought into contact with the other structure and is guided at the same time by being guided to a fixing member so that each structure is positioned at a fixed position. The operation becomes unnecessary, and the operation of fixing the structure becomes extremely easy to handle.

In particular, as described in the section of other embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the number of structures to be fixed to the fixed click or the kind of structures, and the same as described above under various conditions. It can be effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a fixed click in a normal state according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a fixed click during jam processing according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a fixed click in a normal state according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a fixed click during jam processing according to a second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a normal fixed click according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view in the vicinity of a normal-time fixed click according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a conventional device to which the present invention belongs in a normal state.

FIG. 8 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional device to which the present invention is applied during jam processing.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view in the vicinity of a fixed click of a conventional device to which the present invention belongs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Automatic Paper Feeding Device 2 Image Reading Device 3 Paper Feeding Guide 4 Front Conveying Roller 5 Paper Feeding Guide 6 Retard Roller 7 Conveying Roller 8 Paper Ejecting Roller 9 Document Guide Unit 10 Pinch Roller 11 Fixed Hinge 12 Open / Close Cover 13 Fixed Click 14 Hinge 15 Original glass 16 Pressure plate 17 Front cover A, B, F protrusion

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of structures that can be opened and closed with respect to the device housing, and a fixing member that fixes the structure made of an elastic body to the device housing, and a protrusion provided on the fixing member. In a device for fixing a structure by joining with the structure or a protrusion provided on the structure, a plurality of fixing protrusions is provided on the fixing member, and the plurality of structures are fixed at the same time. Fixing device characterized by. 2. The angle between a contact surface between a plurality of fixing protrusions provided on the fixing member and a structure corresponding to each protrusion and a releasing direction of the structure is different from each other. The fixing device according to 1. 3. The overlap amount of the contact surface between a plurality of fixing projections provided on the fixing member and the structures corresponding to the respective projections is released when the fixing of any structure is released. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing device is configured to: 4. When one structure is fixed, a part of the structure is brought into contact with the structure and the other structure is guided to a fixing member so that they are simultaneously fixed. The fixing device according to item 1.