JPH0558492A - Separation section regulating mechanism for paper feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a separation section regulating mechanism for a paper feed device, which is equipped with operating members capable of easily regulating a clearance between both of separation rollers. CONSTITUTION:In order to prevent the occurrence of multiple feed of papers, a separation section 13 is provided with paired separation upper and separation lower rollers 15 and 16. In this case, the separation lower roller 16 is composed of a cam, and an operating member 17 which regulates the corresponding angle of the separation lower roller 16 to the separation upper roller 15 to regulate a clearance between both the separation rollers 15 and 16, is provided for the side section of an image forming device main body 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a separating unit adjusting mechanism of a sheet feeding device, and more particularly, to adjusting a separating unit for adjusting a clearance between upper and lower separating rollers in a separating unit for preventing multiple feeding of sheets. It is related to the mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet feeding device provided in a main body of an image forming apparatus is provided with a separating section for preventing multiple feeding of sheets. A pair of upper and lower separating rollers are arranged in such a separating unit with a predetermined gap, and the lower separating lower roller is stopped or intermittently driven with respect to the upper separating upper roller which is driven to rotate in the sheet feeding direction. In many cases, a stopping friction is applied to the lower surface side of the paper.

Since the two separating rollers are usually formed of an elastic member such as a rubber body, they may be worn by repeated use. In such a case, fine adjustment of the clearance between the separating rollers is required. Sometimes. In such a case, by opening a part of the image forming apparatus main body and operating an adjusting screw or the like with a tool, the spindle of the separation lower roller is finely adjusted with respect to the separation upper roller, Alternatively, the gap between the two separation rollers is adjusted by replacing the worn separation rollers.

[0004]

By the way, particularly in so-called bypass paper feeding by manual paper feeding, since papers of various paper qualities are fed, in order to prevent multiple feeding more effectively, the above-mentioned separation It is desirable that the gap between the rollers be adjusted according to the quality of the paper.

However, the conventional paper feeding device does not include an operating member that allows the user to easily adjust the gap between the two separating rollers according to the quality of the paper. As a result, multiple feeds were sometimes used.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a separating portion adjusting mechanism for a sheet feeding device, which is provided with an operating member that allows a user to easily adjust the clearance between the separating rollers. There is.

[0007]

The present invention has means for solving the above-mentioned problems as follows. That is, in the first invention, a pair of separation rollers are provided in the separation unit for preventing the multi-feeding of the sheets, and one separation roller is made of a cam to adjust the gap between the separation rollers. The operation member for adjusting the corresponding angle of the other separation roller with respect to the one separation roller is provided on a side portion of the image forming apparatus main body.

A second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the operating member according to the first aspect of the invention is arranged on one side of the image forming apparatus main body covered by an openable / closable cover.

A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the operating member according to the first aspect of the invention is provided on one side where the manual sheet feeding section is arranged.

[0010]

According to the quality of the paper, the user operates the operation member provided on the side of the main body of the image forming apparatus,
By adjusting the corresponding angle of the separation upper roller to the separation upper roller, it is possible to easily adjust the gap between both separation rollers without using a tool or the like each time. For example, when the paper quality is thick, the gap between both separation rollers may be set large, and when the paper quality is thin, the gap may be set small.

Further, when the operation member is arranged on one side of the image forming apparatus main body covered by the openable / closable cover, the front cover can be opened to easily operate the operation member.

Further, if the operating member is arranged on one side where the manual paper feeding section is arranged, the operating member can be easily checked each time when manual paper feeding is performed.
If necessary, the operating member can be immediately operated, and multiple feeding can be prevented more effectively without forgetting the clearance adjustment.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A separating portion adjusting mechanism of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention will be described below in detail based on embodiments. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a sheet feeding device 2 provided in the image forming apparatus main body 1 for manual sheet feeding. In the figure, a bypass table 3 is fitted to the side of the apparatus main body 1 with a slight inclination. The sheets 4 are stacked and set. The leading edge of the set sheet 4 is placed on the guide portion 6a of the lower transport guide 6, and the upper surface thereof corresponds to the lower portion of the forward feed roller 9 (two-dot chain line). A sheet detection sensor 11 for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet 4 is arranged at the downstream end of the bypass table 3, and its contactor 11a is loosely biased toward the upper surface of the tip of the bypass table 3 to contact the contactor 11a. The presence of the paper 4 is confirmed by lifting the paper 11a by the paper 4, and the manual feed mode is determined based on the detection signal to receive the print button ON signal, and the drive system such as the forward feed roller 9 is operated. Further, the forward feed roller 9 is dropped from the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line to the position indicated by the solid line so as to make contact with the paper 4, and paper feeding is started.

The rotation of the front feed roller 9 first feeds the uppermost sheet to the separating section 13 to prevent the sheet 4 from being fed multiple times, and the intermediate guide rollers 33 and 34 are used to transfer the sheet 4 from the registration guide 36 to the registration roller 36. , 37, and is conveyed to a transfer mechanism (not shown), and thereafter the uppermost sheet 4 is similarly fed at a predetermined timing. A pair of left and right forward feed rollers 9 are provided (see FIG. 1) and are vertically moved by a solenoid 10.

The above-mentioned separating unit 13 includes a pair of upper and lower separating rollers.
15 and 16 are provided, and the upper separation roller 15 disposed on the upper side is rotationally driven in the sheet feeding direction (arrow 14), while the lower separation roller 16 disposed on the lower side is formed by an eccentric cam that can be rotationally adjusted. Then
The lower friction of the sheet 4 fed by the front feed roller 9 is applied to the lower surface, and the lower separation roller 16 is pivotally adjusted to adjust the clearance between the upper separation roller 15 and the upper separation roller 15. It is designed to prevent multiple feeds.

The separating lower roller 16 comprises a fixed pad,
As shown in FIG. 1, a bypass adjusting knob 17 as an operating member arranged in the vicinity of the bypass table 3 on the right side portion 1a of the apparatus body 1 moves the separating lower roller 16 (see FIG. 3) in the feeding direction (arrow). It is rotated in the opposite direction to 14) so that the gap between the separating rollers 15 and 16 can be adjusted according to the thickness of the sheet 4. That is, the support shaft 18 whose one end is fixed to the bypass adjustment knob 17 is rotatably supported by the support side plate 21a in the apparatus body 1 via the brackets 26a and 26b, and the other end of the support shaft 18 is attached to the other end. The bevel gear 22a is fixed, and the pivot shaft 23 of the bevel gear 22b that meshes with the bevel gear 22a.
Is rotatably supported by the support side plates 21a and 21b to be connected to the support shaft 20 of the separating lower roller 16, and a ratchet mechanism 25 is provided near the connecting portion 20a to prevent the separating lower roller 16 from being reversed. I have to.

As to the details of the separating section 13, as shown in FIG. 4, between the separating rollers 15 and 16, there are arranged conveying guides 5 and 6 consisting of a pair of upper and lower plate members for guiding the sheet 4. Then, each central portion is cut out into a substantially rectangular shape and the opening 5 is formed.
a and 6a are opened and the opening end portions on both sides thereof are bent to bend the pair of left and right support flanges 5b, 5b and 6a.
b and 6b are erected, and the middle portion of the support shaft 19 to which 5 sets of separation upper rollers 15, ... Are fixed between the upper support flanges 5b and 5b is placed between the lower support flanges 6b and 6b. The middle part of the support shaft 20 to which the separation lower roller 16, ... Of the set is fixed is rotatably supported, and the lower part of the separation upper roller 15, .. and the upper part of the separation lower roller 16, .. And so as to face each other so that the clearance can be adjusted.

Both ends of the upper support shaft 19 are supported by support side plates 21b and 24 arranged on both sides in the apparatus main body 1 via bearing members 31 and 31, and the support shafts are not shown. 19
The supporting shaft 19 receives a driving force from a driving source provided in the apparatus main body 1 via a chain that is stretched by a gear 12 fixed to one end of the separation upper roller 15 so that the separation upper roller 15 moves in the sheet feeding direction (see FIG. 1). (See arrow 14)
Is driven to rotate. On the other hand, both ends of the lower support shaft 20 are pivotally supported by the support side plates 21a and 24 via bearing members 32 and 31, and the connecting portion 20a at one end thereof is supported by the support side plate 21b via the bearing member 31. It is connected to a pivot 23 of a bevel gear 22b which is supported. A ratchet wheel 25a is fixed near the connecting portion 20a of the support shaft 20, and the base of the click 25b facing the ratchet wheel 25a is fixed to the support side plate 21a.
The rotation of 20 in the paper feed direction is prevented.

As described above, the bevel gear 22a (see FIG. 1) that meshes with the bevel gear 22b connected to the support shaft 20 is as described above.
Since it is connected via a support shaft 18 to a bypass adjustment knob 17 provided in the vicinity of the bypass table 3 that is fitted in the right side portion of the apparatus body 1, the bypass adjustment knob 17 is rotated counterclockwise. By doing so, the support shaft 20 is rotated in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction, and the separation upper roller 15 of the separation lower roller 16 is rotated.
Change the corresponding posture to
Can be adjusted according to the paper quality (see FIG. 3). In FIG. 3, the positions of the solid line, the one-dot chain line, and the two-dot chain line of the separation lower roller correspond to the OHP, plain paper, and second base paper. The bypass adjustment knob 17 displays the quality of paper such as plain paper, second base paper, and film on the outer frame 17a (see FIG. 5) surrounding the rotating knob body so that the clearance can be easily checked and adjusted. ing.

In the present embodiment, since the separating section adjusting mechanism of the sheet feeding device is constructed as described above, the bypass adjusting knob 17 provided in the vicinity of the bypass table 3 is provided immediately when the bypass sheet feeding is performed manually. Can be recognized, and the gap between the separating rollers 15 and 16 at that time can be surely confirmed before copying. Therefore, without forgetting to check the gap, if necessary, the gap can be immediately adjusted according to the quality of the paper 4 to be copied, and the multiple feeding of the paper 4 can be effectively prevented.

FIG. 6 shows a different embodiment, in which the bypass adjusting knob 17 is attached to the front side portion 1b covered by the front cover 8 provided on the front surface of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. It is connected to the support shaft 20 without using a meshing mechanism to have a simpler structure.

[0022]

According to the present invention, a pair of separation rollers are provided in the separation section for preventing multiple feeding of sheets, one separation roller is formed by a cam, and a gap between the separation rollers is adjusted. Since an operation member for adjusting the corresponding angle of the other separation roller with respect to the one separation roller is provided on the side portion of the image forming apparatus main body, it is possible to easily confirm the operation member when performing manual paper feeding. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the clearance between the two separating rollers without using a tool, and to effectively prevent the multiple feeding of the sheets.

For example, if the operating member is provided on one side of the image forming apparatus main body covered by the openable / closable cover, the operating member can be easily operated by opening the front cover.

Further, if the operating member is provided on one side where the manual paper feeding unit is arranged, the confirmation becomes easier, and the operating member can be immediately operated whenever necessary, so that multiple sheets can be stacked. Feeding can be prevented more effectively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of an embodiment of a separating part adjusting mechanism of a sheet feeding device of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a correspondence diagram of a separation upper roller and a separation lower roller.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a separation unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an essential part in a different embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Image forming apparatus main body, 1a ... Front side portion, 1b ... Right side portion,
2 ... Paper feeder, 4 ... Paper, 8 ... Front cover, 13 ... Separation section,
15 ... Separation upper roller, 16 ... Separation lower roller, 17 ... Operation member (bypass adjustment knob).

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of separation rollers are provided in a separation section for preventing multiple feeding of sheets, and one separation roller is made of a cam, and one of the separation rollers is provided to adjust a gap between the separation rollers. A separating section adjusting mechanism of a sheet feeding device, wherein an operating member for adjusting a corresponding angle of the other separating roller with respect to the separating roller is provided on a side portion of the image forming apparatus main body. 2. The separation unit adjusting mechanism of the sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the operation member is disposed on one side of the image forming apparatus main body covered by an openable / closable cover. .. 3. The separation unit adjusting mechanism of the sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the operation member is provided on one side where the manual sheet feeding unit is arranged.