JPH0558467A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a low cost and to facilitate the assembling operation by making the parts compact, by holding an auxiliary table rotatable on a loading board with hinges, forming two hinges into the same part having two pivoting parts, and setting the fitting of the pivoting parts of the hinge in a fitting looser than the pivoting of the auxiliary table. CONSTITUTION:An auxiliary table 5 is held to a loading board 2 making rotatable the part between a folding housing position to an opening position with hinges 4. The first and the second holes are formed at the pivoting positions of the hinges 4. And the first and the second pins are provided at both end of the loading board 2 and the auxiliary table 5 respectively as the pivoting parts fitting to the hinges 4. The diameter of the second pin provided to the auxiliary table 5 is selected to be a little playable fitting to the first hole. When the auxiliary table 5 is pushed up to open from the folding housing condition, the hinge 4 rotates in the second hole, and by pushing the auxiliary table further, it is changed to an open condition.

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 such as a document feeding device for a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., in which an auxiliary table is provided on a sheet mounting table.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an original feeding device provided in a printer, a copying machine or the like is provided with an auxiliary table for assisting the length of a large sheet. As the auxiliary table, there is a simple wire-like table or a resin plate that can be pulled out from the paper table. The auxiliary table is not limited to the pull-out type with respect to the paper placing table, and there is also a type of storing the auxiliary table by rotating when not in use.

In the drawer type auxiliary table, if the central portion is not pulled out, it will stop halfway. In some cases, it could not be pulled out completely, and there was the problem of poor operability.

In the case of the rotary storage type, there is a problem that a large space is taken because the area does not decrease so much even if it is stored.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and provides a paper feeding apparatus having an auxiliary table which can be surely stored and expanded, and whose storage and expansion operation is simple. The task is to do.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, which has a mounting table for mounting a sheet and an auxiliary table provided on the mounting table for adjusting the length of the mounting table. In the sheet feeding device mounted on the apparatus, the auxiliary table is rotatably supported on the mounting table by a hinge, and two hinges supporting both sides of the auxiliary table are the same part having two pivot points. The formation and the fitting of the hinge to the pivot point are solved by a paper feeding device characterized in that the pivot portion of the mounting table is set to be looser than the pivot portion of the auxiliary table.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the auxiliary table is rotatably formed on the mounting table by the hinge having the same shape, and the hinges are pivotally attached to the auxiliary table at two pivot points, respectively. It is possible to store them in a state that they are exactly stacked on top of each other, and a paper feeding device with good assembling and operability is obtained. Since the auxiliary table side is tighter than the mounting table side in the fitted state of the hinged part of the hinge, it is possible to reliably move between the retracted position and the expanded position simply by moving the end of the auxiliary table. It was

By providing a holding plate on the side guides of the mounting table, the stored guide table can be fixed to the mounting table, and the auxiliary table naturally expands even when the sheet feeding device is carried by itself. Is prevented and the transportability is improved.

In the case where the paper feeding device is attached to and detached from the image forming device by pivotal movement, one of the electric connectors is fixed in position, for example, the image forming device side, and the other is attached in the attaching and detaching direction, for example, by the elastic portion on the paper feeding device side. By supporting the connector so that it can escape a little, it is possible to avoid the interference at the time of contact of the connector due to the turning motion.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 4, a sheet feeding device 1 is pivotally mounted on a sheet feeding device main body frame 3 having a mounting table 2 on which a sheet such as a document or a recording sheet is mounted, and a hinge 4 on the mounting table 2. And an auxiliary table 5.

A side guide 6 for aligning the width of a sheet such as an original document or a recording sheet placed on the mounting table 2 is movably provided in a direction intersecting the sheet feeding direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4). ing.

The auxiliary table 5 is supported on the mounting table 2 by a hinge 4 so as to be pivotable between an expanded position shown by a solid line in FIG. 2 and a folded storage position shown by a chain double-dashed line.

As shown in FIG. 5, the hinge 4 has two holes, a first hole 7 and a second hole 8, formed at pivot points. Although the two holes 7 and 8 may be through holes, they are formed as blind holes in the drawing, and radial notches 9 and 10 are formed at one position respectively.

The mounting table 2 serves as a pivotal portion fitted to the hinge 4.
6, the first pin 11 is provided, and the auxiliary table 5 is provided with the second pin 12 as shown in FIG. The first pin 11 and the second pin 12 are provided at both ends of the mounting table 2 and the auxiliary table 5, respectively, and the two auxiliary hinges 4 of the figure support the auxiliary table 5 on both sides of the mounting table 2 so as to be vertically rotatable. ..

The first pin 11 has a width a from a pin portion having a diameter d _{1.
It is} assumed that the parallel chamfered portion 11a is formed to be _1, and the second pin 12 is formed to have the parallel chamfered portion 12a from the pin portion having the diameter d ₂ to the width a _2. it can. On the other hand, the first hole 7 of the hinge 4 has a diameter D ₁ and a cut 9
Has a width of b ₁ , the second hole 8 has a diameter of D ₂ , and the width of the notch 10 is b.
_Set to ₂ .

Most simply, the diameters d ₁ , d ₂ , D ₁ , D
₂ has the same size, the widths a ₁ and a ₂ are slightly larger than the widths b ₁ and b ₂ , and the first and second pins 1 and 2 are formed in the first and second holes 7 and 8.
It is preferable that the holes 1 and 12 are set to be press-fitted when they are fitted in the radial direction of each hole.

In assembling, as shown in FIG. 8, first, the first hole 7 of the hinge 4 is cut 9 in the first pin 11 of the mounting table 2.
Then, the second pin 12 of the auxiliary table 5 is press-fitted into the second hole 8 of the hinge 4 at the notch 10. Of course, conversely, the hinge 4 can be attached to the auxiliary table 5 first.

When the auxiliary table 5 is folded or unfolded, the hinge 4 is first moved by the relative rotation in the first hole 7 and the relative rotation in the second hole 8 depending on the state of the force applied to the auxiliary table 5 at that time. There is also a possibility that the operation may become unstable due to later or later.

Therefore, the second pin 1 provided on the auxiliary table 5
The diameter of 2 is selected so as to be slightly press-fitted to the second hole 8, and the diameter of the first pin 11 of the mounting table 2 is selected to be slightly play-fitted to the first hole 7. In this case, when the auxiliary table 5 is pushed up from the expanded state (FIG. 9A) as shown in FIG. 9, the hinge 4 moves to the auxiliary table 5 as shown in FIG. 9B.
By turning around the first hole 7 in an integrated state with and further pressing the auxiliary table 5, the folding storage state shown in FIG. 9C is obtained.

When the auxiliary table 5 is pushed up and expanded to move from the folded and stored state, the hinge 4 rotates in the second hole 7 to change to the state shown in FIG. 9D, and further pushing the auxiliary table 5 causes the expansion shown in FIG. 9A. Change to open state.

In this case, the same movement course can always be taken after folding and during unfolding, and the movement is stable.

On the contrary to the above, it is also possible to press fit the first pin 11 and loosely fit the second pin 12.

Two hinges 4 on both sides of the auxiliary table 5
Although they are separate, they can be connected to each other by a connecting member.

By using a homogenous hinge 4 having holes 7, 8 with cuts, the pins 11, 12 are cut 9,
The simple operation of fitting the auxiliary table 5 into the holes 7 and 8 through 10 facilitates the incorporation of the auxiliary table 5 into the mounting table 2, that is, the sheet feeding device main body 3. Cut pins 11 and 12 9, 1
By forming the auxiliary table 5 in such a size as to be press-fitted with respect to 0, it is possible to prevent the auxiliary table 5 after being assembled from easily coming out from the mounting table 2.

Since the two hinges 4 supporting both sides of the auxiliary table 5 have the same shape, the cost of parts can be reduced.

Depending on the size of the auxiliary table, it is possible to use two or more hinges.

This hinge is easy to assemble, has no directivity at the time of assembly, and is easy to operate.

The paper feeding device 1 is carried while the auxiliary table 5 is folded and stored as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, and is attached to the main body 55 of an image forming apparatus such as a printer. However, if the auxiliary table 5 is simply folded and stored, there is a risk that the auxiliary table 5 may suddenly open during transportation. This problem is solved by using the side guide 6. That is, the pressing plate 13 protruding inward, that is, toward the sheet is fixed to the upper end of the side guide 6 or integrally formed. The holding plate 13 is an auxiliary table 5 that is folded and accommodated.
The position and the size are selected so that both side end portions of the are sandwiched between the mounting table 2.

If the side guide 6 is moved to the outside, the auxiliary table 5 can be freely folded and stored and expanded, and if the side guide 6 is moved to the inside in the folded and stored state, the auxiliary table 5 is mounted by the pressing plate 13. It is sandwiched between the stand 2 and the expansion movement.

The auxiliary table 5 can be formed so that sheets of small size can be stacked and fed even when folded and stored. The side guide 6 moves inward, and the holding plate 1
It is also possible to set so as to form a gap required for sheet feeding between the auxiliary table 3 and the auxiliary table 5 which engages with the auxiliary table 5.

Since it is sufficient for the pressing plate 13 to prevent the auxiliary table from expanding and spreading during transportation or when it is turned upside down, it is not necessary to directly contact and press the auxiliary table 5 in the normal folded and stored state. Even if there is a considerable gap between 5 and the holding plate 13, no inconvenience occurs.

With this configuration, there is no concern that the auxiliary table will be opened and damaged when the paper feeding device is carried or transported, and the side guide can also be used as a pressing member without using a special pressing member, resulting in a cost reduction. It is easy to use and easy to operate.

To mount the paper feeding device 1 on the main body 55 of the image forming apparatus, the pivot pin 15 provided on the main body 55 is fitted into the pivot hole 15 provided on the main body 3 of the paper feeding device as shown in FIG. It can be done by Just like the first pin 11, the pivot pin 14 forms a chamfered surface 16 parallel to the pin of circular cross section, and the pivot hole 15 has a notch 17 like the hole 7 of the hinge 4.

At the time of mounting, as shown in FIG. 11, the main body 3 of the paper feeding device is tilted so that the chamfered surface 16 of the pivot pin 14 and the surface of the notch 17 of the pivot hole 15 are parallel to each other. Wearing pin 1
4 is fitted into the pivot hole 15 through the notch 17. Next, the paper feeding device main body 3 is rotated relative to the image forming device main body 12, and the paper is fed in a state where the chamfered surface 16 of the pivot pin 14 and the notch 17 of the pivot hole 15 do not match as shown in FIG. The apparatus body 3 is supported by the image forming apparatus body 55.

As a result, the paper feeding device main body 3 can be attached to the image forming device main body 55 very easily. By moving the paper feeding device main body 3 in the opposite direction, it is possible to easily remove it from the image forming device main body 55.

It is also possible to dispose the pivot pin 14 and the pivot hole 15 in the opposite manner to the above, and to provide the pivot pin 14 on the sheet feeding device main body 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the sheet feeding device 1 is provided with a sheet feeding roller 18 and a conveying roller 19. A driven roller 19a is pressed against the transport roller 19.

The mounting table 2 is provided with a base plate 21 that can move up and down around the fulcrum 20, and a sheet is placed on the base plate 21. The base plate 21 is pushed up by the spring 22, and the paper is pressed by the paper feed roller 18.

When the paper feed roller 18 is driven, the paper is fed by the friction of the paper feed roller 18, and the friction pad 1
The action of 8a prevents the feeding of the second and subsequent sheets,
Only one separated sheet is sent out. The sheet sent out by the sheet feeding roller 18 is conveyed by the conveying roller 19 and is fed to the document reading position or the image forming position by the image forming apparatus.

Drive motor 2 supported by sheet feeding device body 3
The pinion 24 is fixed to the output shaft of 3, the first idler 25 is engaged with the pinion 24, the third idler 27 is engaged with the second idler 26 fixed coaxially with the first idler 25, and the third idler 27 is coaxial with the third idler 27. When fixed, the fourth idler 28 meshes with the paper feed gear 29. The paper feed gear 29 is connected to a paper feed shaft 34 via an electromagnetic clutch 30, the paper feed roller 18 is fixed to the paper feed shaft 34, a drive pulley 31 is fixed to the paper feed gear 29, and the drive pulley 31 is The driven pulley 33 fixed to the conveying roller 19 is wound and transmitted by the timing belt 32.

When the electromagnetic clutch 30 is energized under the drive of the drive motor 23, the paper feed roller 6 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. Be transported. When the electromagnetic clutch 30 is deenergized, the paper feed roller 18 stops, but the drive motor 23 is being driven, so the pair of transport rollers 19 continues to rotate.

In the electromagnetic clutch 30, the sheets separated and fed by the sheet feeding roller 18 are the conveying roller 19 and the driven roller 19.
The urging time is set so that the paper feed roller 18 is rotated until it is nipped by a. Alternatively, the electromagnetic clutch 3 is detected by a sensor or the like when it is nipped by the conveyance roller 19.
Deactivate 0.

Since members such as the drive motor 23 that need to be electrically connected to a power source and an electric control device are provided in the paper feeding device main body 3, it is necessary to electrically connect them to the image forming device main body 55. There are commonly used connectors for this purpose.

When the sheet feeding device 1 is mounted, the state shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 13 showing the arrow diagram, the first connector 34 provided in the image forming apparatus main body 14 and the second connector 35 provided in the paper feeding apparatus main body 3 are engaged with each other to thereby feed the paper feeding apparatus. 1 and the image forming apparatus main body are electrically connected.

In general, the connectors have a structure in which they are connected to each other by a linear motion so as to approach each other. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the paper feeding device 1 is rotated to be fixed at a predetermined position of the main body of the image forming apparatus. In the construction, the two connectors will come closer to each other due to the circular arc motion about the center of rotation 14 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when one ends of both connectors 34 and 35 come into contact with each other, the other ends do not come into contact with each other as shown in FIG. become.

In order to linearly move the two connectors toward and away from each other, the sheet feeding device 1 is moved linearly with respect to the image forming apparatus main body 55 to be attached and detached, and the sheet feeding device is fixed with screws or other means. There is a problem in workability such as using members. There is also a method of separating the movement of the connector from the movement of the paper feeding device by using a cable, but the attachment / detachment operation of the connector is necessary in addition to the attachment / detachment movement of the paper feeding device 1, and sometimes the attachment / detachment of the connector is forgotten. If you try to operate the device, it may not work or the connector you forgot to disconnect may be pulled and damaged.

In order to solve these problems, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 17, a bracket 37 is used to fix one connector, for example, the second connector 35 provided in the paper feeding device 1 to the paper feeding device main body 3 with one screw 36.

The bracket 37 has a hole 3 into which the screw 36 is inserted.
The second connector 35 is fixed to the bracket 37 by screws 39. At that time, the leaf spring 4 is provided at the end farther from the center of rotation shown in FIG.
0 is fixed. The leaf spring 40 extends substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the sheet feeding device body 3, and the stationary hole 4 provided in the sheet feeding device body 3
1 is engaged with one end, and one end of the leaf spring 40 is connected to the sheet feeding device main body 3
It is configured not to move relative to.

When the paper feeding device main body 3 is attached, the second connector 35 moves together with the paper feeding device main body 3 by the pivotal movement around the rotation center 22 of FIG. 14, and the first connector fixed to the image forming device main body 55. Approach 34. As shown in FIG. 15, after one end of the second connector 35 comes into contact with the first connector 34, the deflection of the leaf spring 40 prevents the second connector 35 from directly transmitting the movement of the sheet feeding device body 3 and is buffered. Since the movement is transmitted in the state, the second connector 35 slides and swivels with respect to the first connector 34 by the combination with the rotation around the hole 38 to correct the posture, and thus the second connector 35 is properly moved. Opposite and finally connected.

The same effect can be obtained by fixing the leaf spring 40 to the bracket 37 on the side fixed by the screw 37 by spot welding.

With the above construction, even in a paper feeding device which is mounted while moving in an arc, it is possible to connect the connector 34 without causing excessive force, and moreover, simply by moving the paper feeding device main body 3, the connector 34 is automatically operated. Since the connector can be connected, operability is improved.

Since no cable is used, there is no risk of damage due to forgetting to disconnect the connector, and the structure is simple, and an inexpensive device can be obtained.

In contrast to the example of FIGS. 16 and 17, one end of two guide rods 43 is fixed to the sheet feeding device main body 3 via a rubber damper 42 as shown in FIG. Then, the second damper 35 is fixed to the other end of the guide rod 43 via the rubber damper 44, the slip ring 45 is used to prevent the second damper 35 from coming off, and the spring 46 is stretched between the sheet feeding device main body 3 and the second damper 35. The structure can be modified.

In addition to the example shown in FIG. 2, the feeding roller system of the sheet feeding device has a calling roller 48 for feeding the paper 47 on the mounting table 2 for feeding, as shown in FIG. The first gear 49 to be connected and the second gear 51 to be driven and connected via the idler 50 are provided with the paper feed roller 18 to be driven and connected via the one-way clutch 52. It is possible to use a configuration in which the sheet is separated and fed by the action of the pad 18a, and the sheet is conveyed to the registration roller 53 in the main body of the image forming apparatus by the conveying roller 19 and the driven roller 19a. Generally, the paper feed roller system shown in FIG. 19 is often used.

In this case, if the leading ends of the sheets are not aligned to some extent, some of the sheets may not reach the registration roller 53, or conversely, the registration roller 53 and the conveying roller 19 may not reach.
It may cause a jam between them and a jam.

Since the variation of the feeding quimming at the leading end of the sheet by the sheet feeding roller 18 is larger than the variation of the sheet 47 sent to the conveying roller 19 due to clogging, it is preferable to eliminate the variation at the sheet feeding roller 18. For this reason, after passing through the transport roller 19, it is possible to
The sensor 54 is provided at the position of the place.

When the sensor 54 detects the leading edge of the paper 47 sent by the carry roller 19, the drive control of the carry roller 19 is performed so that the paper 47 is sent by the distance between the sensor 54 and the registration roller 53. To do.

The simple construction of providing the sensor solves the problems that the paper does not reach the registration rollers or bends, and stable paper feeding becomes possible.
The paper can be fed even if there is some misalignment in the leading edge of the paper above.

[0060]

According to the present invention, the auxiliary table can be surely folded and stored and expanded by using a simple hinge having the same shape, and the cost can be reduced and the assembling operation can be facilitated by downsizing the parts. Became possible. The operability was improved because there was no direction to attach the hinge.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the auxiliary table folded and stored by the side guide from unnecessarily expanding and expanding, and it is possible to prevent the auxiliary table from expanding and being damaged during transportation. Moreover, without using a special member, the side guide can also serve as the expansion preventing member, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the connector can be surely connected to the main body of the image cable device without causing an unreasonable force due to the interference, even though the paper feeding device is moved in a circular arc to be attached to and detached from the main body of the image cable device. became.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing a drive system of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hinge.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a pivotally attached portion with respect to a hinge of the mounting table.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of a pivotally attached portion with respect to a hinge of the auxiliary table.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a connecting operation of a mounting table and an auxiliary table by a hinge.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the movement of the auxiliary table, in which A is in an expanded state,
FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a state in the middle of folding and storing, C is a state of folding and storing, and D is a state in the middle of expanding.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a detached state of a mounting portion of the sheet feeding device with respect to the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state before the pivotal attachment portion of the sheet feeding device is attached to the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a state where the mounting operation is performed from the state of FIG. 11 and the sheet feeding device is set at a predetermined position.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of connectors when the paper feeding device is attached, and is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a relative relationship of connectors when a paper feeding device is attached.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state where both connectors have started to abut from the state of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a support structure for a connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view with respect to FIG.

FIG. 18 is a view showing another side of the connector support structure.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a transport roller system of the paper feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper Feeding Device 2 Loading Table 3 Paper Feeding Device Main Body 4 Hinge 5 Auxiliary Table 6 Side Guide 7 1st Hole (Pivot Point) 8 2nd Hole (Pivot Point) 11 1st Pin (Pivot Point) 12 2nd Pin (pivotally attached part) 13 Holding plate 34 First connector 35 Second connector 40 Leaf spring (elastic member)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A loading table for loading sheets, and an auxiliary table provided on the loading table for adjusting the length of the loading table,
In a paper feeding device mounted on an image forming apparatus, the auxiliary table is rotatably supported on a mounting table by a hinge, and two hinges supporting both sides of the auxiliary table have two pivot points. A sheet feeding device, characterized in that it is formed as a part, and the fitting of the hinge to the pivot point is set so that the pivot portion of the mounting table is looser than the pivot portion of the auxiliary table. 2. A holding plate projecting inward is provided at an upper end of a side guide that is movably mounted in a direction intersecting with a sheet feeding direction and that aligns side edges of the sheet, and the auxiliary table is mounted on the table. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing plate is also used as a member for fixing the auxiliary table to the mounting table by folding the side guide inward on the mounting table. 3. A sheet feeding device main body having a mounting table according to claim 1, wherein an image is formed by a shaft portion and a hole portion capable of relative rotation between a position capable of being removed in the radial direction and a position not capable of being removed in the radial direction. One of the connectors which are detachably formed on the apparatus and which are respectively supported by the sheet feeding apparatus main body and the image forming apparatus and which are detached from each other is fixed in position, and the other is supported through an elastic member. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein contact interference between the connectors at the time of attachment / detachment due to the turning movement is prevented.