JPH0561176B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field This invention raises the top surface of the paper stack by pushing up a paper loading table that is vertically movably pivoted to the bottom of a container that stores a stack of paper sheets, using an arm fixed to a rotating shaft. The present invention relates to a vertical movement device for a paper table of a paper feeding device such as a copying machine, which feeds sheets one sheet at a time from the top in pressure contact with a paper feeding member.

Prior Art Paper feeding devices for transfer paper in electrophotographic copying machines, printers, facsimile machines, etc. are paper feeding devices that have a bottom plate that is pivoted on a fulcrum at the bottom of a container and on which a stack of sheets is placed. The cassette is inserted into a copying machine, etc., and the bottom plate is rotated upward by a push-up member provided on the copying machine, so that the top surface of the stack of sheets is pressed against the paper feed roller of the copying machine, etc. Paper feeding devices that feed paper one sheet at a time are widely used. However, in conventional paper feeding devices of this type, the bottom plate is generally pressurized by pressing a push-up member against the bottom plate using a tension spring, and when the cassette is attached or detached, the pressure is applied by a switching lever or by pressing the side of the cassette. It was necessary to temporarily separate the pressure member from the bottom plate by using a cam provided at the bottom plate against the force of the spring. For this reason, devices that use a switching lever to release the pressure force require force to operate the lever, which is not only time-consuming, but also can cause damage to the cassette or the main body of the copier, etc., if the user forgets to release the release button and attempts to attach or remove the cassette. can be,
Even with a cam installed on the side of the cassette, a considerable amount of operating force is required to attach and detach the cassette.
It had the disadvantage of poor operability.

Another drawback is that when the cassette is inserted into the main body of the copying machine and the push-up member flips up the bottom plate inside the cassette, the shock and noise are large.

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional paper feeding device having the above-mentioned configuration, the present inventor first developed a system using a driving source such as an electric motor to push up the bottom plate of the paper feeding cassette, and a fixed rotation arm for pushing up the bottom plate. Power is transmitted to the rotating shaft by meshing a first gear fixed to the rotating shaft with a second gear driven by the drive source, and the rotating shaft is a fulcrum of one of the rotating shafts. is pivotably supported as a fulcrum, and by swinging the rotating shaft, the meshing of the first gear and the second gear is engaged and disengaged, and by disengaging the meshing, the rotating shaft If the arm is released from the drive source and the bottom plate push-up arm and bottom plate are allowed to fall under their own weight, and the rotating shaft is swung and the gears are engaged, the driving force of the drive source is transmitted to the rotating shaft and the bottom plate is lifted up. proposed a paper feeding device in which the paper is pushed up to the paper feeding position and held at that position. The above-mentioned swing of the rotating shaft is performed in conjunction with the operation of attaching and detaching the cassette from the copying machine or opening and closing of the top cover of the cassette if it is possible to do so with the copying machine attached. Attaching/detaching the cassette to/from the cassette, opening/closing the top cover for replacing and replenishing paper, and loading paper can be done easily without requiring much operating force, and the noise caused when the push-up member flips up the cassette bottom plate is also eliminated. Now I can do it.

However, in this configuration, when the first gear and the second gear are disengaged, the push-up member and the cassette bottom plate fall due to their own weight, so there is a risk that screws, etc. may loosen due to the impact and noise may be generated.

Further, in the above configuration, when the rotation shaft swings within a substantially horizontal plane, the lower surface of the push-up arm moves while sliding on the member below it. Therefore, if a cushion member is provided to catch the falling push-up arm as a means of alleviating the impact when the push-up arm falls, depending on the installation position, the sliding action between the cushion member and the push-up arm may Due to frictional force,
There is a concern that the smooth operation of the rotation shaft, such as rocking, may be disturbed.

Purpose The present invention provides a means for alleviating this impact and noise, and also provides a paper mounting table (bottom plate) in which the cushion material serving as the means does not interfere with smooth operations such as rocking of the rotation axis of the bottom plate push-up member. ) The purpose is to provide a vertical movement device.

Configuration The present invention will be described in detail below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sheet of paper (hereinafter referred to as paper) is placed at the bottom of the cassette container 1.
A bottom plate 2 on which P is placed is rotatably attached by inserting an engaging portion 3 formed by bending the rear end into a slit 1-5 provided on the bottom surface of the container 1. On the other hand, a friction pad 4 is attached to a recessed portion in the center of the front end (left end in the figure) of the bottom plate 2. There is a shaft 50 in the cassette insertion part of the main body to which the cassette is attached (hereinafter referred to as the copying machine) of a copying machine, etc.
A lifter 51 that rotates together with the lifter 51 is provided, and when the shaft 50 rotates counterclockwise, the arms 51a and 5 provided on both sides of the lifter 51
1b rotates through escape holes 1-4 provided in the bottom and front wall of the cassette container 1, pushes up the bottom plate 2, and the upper surface of the paper bundle P placed thereon hits the paper feed roller 100. Pressure contact. The paper feed roller 100 rotates in the direction of the arrow in response to the paper feed signal to feed out the paper. The paper feed roller 100 is pivotally supported at the tip of a lever 110 that is pivotally supported on a shaft O, and is prevented from descending below a certain level by a stopper 100b provided on the lever 110. On the axis O, there is a roller 200 that rotates in synchronization with the paper feed roller 100 in the same direction.
The separation roller pair 200 is constituted by a roller 200b, which is rotatable only in the direction of pushing the paper back toward the cassette. Lever 1
10 is provided with a protrusion 110a, and a sensor _S1 is provided which is activated by the protrusion 110a when the paper feed roller 100 is pushed up to a height suitable for predetermined paper feeding.

A cover 5 is provided on the upper surface of the container except for a part of the front part. A hinge pin 6 is implanted in a hinge member 7 provided on both sides of the front end of the container, and a hole 1 provided in the side wall of the container is attached.
-3 is pivotally connected to the container 1 by fitting into the container 1;
It can be opened and closed by holding the rear end and flipping it up in the direction of the arrow. The cover 5 can be held in its open position and closed position by a click stop mechanism (not shown). A roller 8 is provided on the side surface of the end of the hinge member 7, and the roller 8 is engaged with a guide pin implanted inside the side plate of the container 1 through an elongated hole, making it slidable in the front-rear direction within a range. The slider 9 is engaged with the rear end of the slider 9, which is biased rearward by the slider 9. A cam 11 that is formed by bending a leaf spring and is elastically displaced is attached to the front end of the slider 9.

Near the front ends of both sides of the container 1, protrusions 1-1 extending in the front-back direction are provided, and a recess 1-2 is provided at the lower edge.
These are connected to the groove 30-1 of the guide block 30 fixed to the cassette mounting part of the copying machine, and the guide pin 3.
0-2, the cassette is set in place. Cassette 1 from the copier
To remove the cassette, lift the rear end of the cassette and remove it from the recess 1.
-2 is removed from the guide pin 30-2 of the guide block by pulling it out, so that the protrusion 1-1 moves along the upper surface of the groove 30-1 of the block 30.
When the cassette is attached or removed, the lifter 51 is lowered as will be described later, so it can be removed without any trouble.

One end of the shaft 50 to which the lifter 51 is fixed is a shaft fulcrum 50-1 on one side plate of the copying machine (not shown).
The other end 50' passes through an elongated hole 75 provided in the other side plate in the above-mentioned swinging direction, and is swingable within that range. It can rotate freely around its own axis. A sector gear 52 is fixed to the end 50' of the shaft 50 passing through the elongated hole 75, as shown in FIG. Drive motor 8 is installed on the side plate of the copying machine.
1. A worm 82 attached to the shaft, a worm gear 83 that meshes with this, a gear 84 that rotates together with this, a gear 85 that meshes with this, which rotates together with this and can mesh with the sector gear 52. A drive unit 80 comprising a gear 86 is attached.

Lifter 51 attachment part of shaft 50 and sector gear 5
2 is held between both legs of a bifurcated rocking lever 60 which is pivotally supported by a shaft 62. The lever 6 is attached to an arm extending parallel to the shaft 50 from the side of the lever 60.
0 clockwise around the shaft 62
4 is attached, and the tip of the arm protrudes to the right in FIG. 2, and a roller 61 is attached to the tip. A cam 11 attached to the front end of the slider 9 of the inserted cassette 1 is attached to this roller 61.
When the upper surface is engaged, the cassette cover 5 is closed, and the slider 9 is in the advanced position, the roller 61 is pushed up by the cam 11, and the lever 60 is rotated by a certain angle counterclockwise against the spring 64. and lever 60
One end 50' of the shaft 50 held between the two limbs of the
The sector gear 52 and the gear 86 of the drive unit 80 are brought into mesh with each other. A plate spring tongue piece 63 is attached to the front edge of the lever 60 in the opposite direction to the arm so as to face a micro switch 70 fixed to the copying machine. When the lever 60 is rotated counterclockwise as described above, the tongue piece 63 operates the micro switch 70 to start the motor 81 before the sector gear 52 engages with the gear 86. Further, when the lever 60 is rotated and the sector gear 52 and the gear 86 are engaged, the tongue piece 63 is deformed by its elasticity, and the tongue piece itself and the switch 70 are prevented from being damaged.

A cushion material 20 is provided at a position other than the notch 1-4 at the bottom front end of the container 1, and a lifter 5
A cushion member 55 is fixedly provided to the machine frame directly under the lifter arm 51a of the shaft 50 of No. 1 near the swing fulcrum 50-1.

Since this device is constructed as described above, when the cover 5 is opened and paper is placed on the bottom plate of the cassette 1, and the cover 5 is closed, the slider 9 is pushed at its rear end by the roller 8 and resists the spring 10. When the cassette 1 is inserted into the copying machine with the protrusion 1-1 slightly protruding from the notch 1-6 of the container and along the groove 30-1 of the guide block 30, the spring cam attached to the tip of the cassette 1 is inserted into the copying machine. 11 pushes up the roller 61 and rotates the lever 60 counterclockwise against the spring 64. Then, the tongue piece 63 first operates the micro switch 70 and the motor 81 starts rotating. As the lever 60 rotates, the shaft 50 holding both limbs moves to the fulcrum 50 together with the lifter 51.
−1, sector gear 52 and gear 86
begin to mesh together. At this time, the motor 81 is already in a rotating state, so even if the tooth tips of the sector gear 52 and the gear 86 touch each other, they will immediately become engaged, and at that point the lifter 51 will start rotating together with the shaft 50, and the bottom plate Raise 2. The top surface of the paper P placed on the bottom plate 2 hits the paper feed roller 100,
When it is further pushed up and reaches a certain height, the protruding piece 110a of the lever 110 activates the sensor _S1 and stops the motor 81. Even when the motor 81 stops, the worm 82 and the worm gear 83 hold the bottom plate in that position. When the height of the stack of sheets decreases due to repeated copying, the protruding piece 110a of the lever 110 comes off the sensor _S1 , and the motor 81 rotates again in response to the signal, raising the paper feed roller 100 to a predetermined position. By repeating this, the upper surface of the paper and the paper feed roller 100 are always maintained within a predetermined range, and the paper feed pressure is always kept unchanged because it is determined by the weight of the paper feed roller 100 and the lever.

When paper continues to be fed and there is no more paper on the bottom plate 2, it is detected by a detection means (not shown), and the motor 81 is stopped and the end of paper is displayed.

When the cover 5 of the cassette 1 is opened, the roller 8 moves backward, the slider 9 is pulled backward by the spring 10, the roller 61 comes off the horizontal part of the cam 11 and descends, and the lever 60 is rotated clockwise by the spring 64. First, the sector gear and the gear 86 are disengaged, and the lifter 51, together with the shaft 50, falls to the bottom of the cassette 1 due to its own weight. At this time, the lifter 51 is received by the cushion material 55, so that the impact and noise are alleviated. At the same time, the cassette bottom plate 2 also falls and is caught by the cushion material 20, thereby alleviating the impact and noise. Then, the tongue piece 63 is removed from the micro switch 70. As a result, even if the motor 81 is rotating (if the cover is opened with paper on the bottom plate 2), the power to the motor 81 is cut off and the motor 81 stops. As a result, paper can be easily replenished from under the cover 5, which is wide open at the rear, onto the bottom plate 2, which is separated from the paper feed roller 100 by a large distance.

In order to replace the cassette, the tip of the slider 9 can be removed by tilting the cassette 1 so that the recess 1-2 is disengaged from the pin 30-2 of the guide block 30 before pulling the cassette out of the copying machine. Since the cam 11 and the roller 61 of the lever 60 are disengaged, the lifter 51 is lowered and there is no problem with the removal and insertion of the cassette.

When the sector gear 52 and the gear 86 are not engaged, the lifter 51 is supported by the cushion material 55 and is waiting at the lowest position as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the cassette is installed or the cassette cover is closed, the lever 60 rotates, and the shaft 50 moves to the fulcrum 5.
When swinging about 0-1, the lower surface of the arm 51a of the lifter 51 slides on the upper surface of the cushion material 55.

The cushion material 20 only needs to catch the bottom plate falling from above, but the cushion material 55 not only receives the drop of the lifter 51 but also receives the sliding movement, so the mounting position and shape are determined so that the sliding movement is smooth. , it is necessary to consider the material.

In this embodiment, by providing the cushion material near the swinging fulcrum 50-1 of the shaft 50, it is possible to reduce the distance that the lower surface of the lifter and the surface of the cushion material 55 swing while being in contact with each other. Care has been taken to reduce the moment due to sliding resistance during swinging, so that the force required to rotate the lever 60 is small. Further, the cushion material 55 has a hemispherical tip to reduce the sliding area. As for the material of the cushion material, for example, it is easy to make it integrally with synthetic rubber with a rubber hardness of about 40 to 70 degrees, but the sliding surface of the tip is covered with a sheet with a low coefficient of friction, and the lower part is covered with a foam material, etc. It is also effective to use a multi-layered cushion structure. In addition, it is also possible to use a spring, an air damper, etc. in combination.

In another embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a friction pad 5 is provided at the bottom of the paper feed cassette 500.
03 at the tip thereof, and a bottom plate 501 on which the paper bundle P is placed is rotatably attached by a retaining member 502. A cushion material 505 is attached to the bottom upper surface of the lower container near the front end of the bottom plate 501.

At the front end of this cassette 500 is an actuating piece 504 formed by bending a plate spring so that its cross section forms a J-shape.
is installed. This actuating piece 504 is adapted to directly push the shaft 600 by pushing a roller 602 attached to one end of the shaft 600 that fixes the bottom plate push-up member 601 when the cassette 500 is inserted. Furthermore, axis 6
A sector gear 603 is integrally fixed to 00, and meshes with a drive gear 700 driven by a motor (not shown). The shaft 600 has a shaft fulcrum 50 at one end (the end on the far right side in FIG. 4).
2, the roller 602, the sector gear 6
The end portion where 03 is provided is pivotally supported by a bearing 607 that moves along an elongated hole 650 provided in a side plate of the main body (not shown). The bearing 607 is a compression coil spring 6
05, it is pushed to the right in the figure. axis 6
An angle 604 is fixed near the shaft end 502, which is the center of swing of the 00, and a cushion material 610 is fixed directly below the angle 604. When the cassette 500 is not installed, the shaft 600 is pushed by the spring 605 and comes into contact with the right end of the elongated hole 650, and the sector gear 6
03 and the drive gear 700 are out of mesh,
The shaft 600 is held at a position where the lower surface of the angle 604 is supported by the upper surface of the cushion material 610 due to the clockwise rotation moment due to the weight of the lifter 601.

When the cassette 500 is installed, the actuating piece 504 pushes the roller 602, the shaft 600 swings about the shaft fulcrum 502 at one end, and the sector gear 603
meshes with gear 700. In this state, when the gear 700 is rotated clockwise by a drive source (not shown),
Lifter 601 pushes up bottom plate 501.

When the cassette 500 is pulled out, the bearing 607 is moved to the right by the spring 605 along the long hole 650 of the side plate, the gear 700 and the sector gear 603 are disengaged, and the lifter 601 rotates and falls due to its own weight. At this time, the angle 604 is the cushion material 61.
0, it is buffered and noise is also prevented. Since the angle 604 and the friction material 610 are provided near the swing center 502 of the shaft 600, the distance that the bottom surface of the angle 604 swings while contacting the surface of the friction material 610 can be reduced, and the shaft Swing center 5 of frictional force during swing of 600
The moment around 02 becomes smaller.

Effects As described above, according to the present invention, when the bottom plate for placing paper in the paper storage container is lowered, the impact caused by the fall of the push-up member is buffered, and the loosening of screws and noise caused by this can be prevented. rise of the bottom plate,
The risk of disturbing the smooth operation of the members associated with lowering is also eliminated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2
The figure is an exploded perspective view, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing another embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view thereof. 1,500...cassette (sheet storage container),
2,501...Bottom plate (paper mounting stand), 50,600
...Rotation shaft, 50-1,502 ... Swinging fulcrum of rotation shaft, 51,601 ... Lifter (bottom plate push-up arm), 52,603 ... Sector gear (first gear), 55,610 ... ...Cushion material, 60,6
05... Rotating shaft swinging means, 81... Drive source, 8
6,700...Second gear, 100...Paper feeding member,
P... Sheaf of paper.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A paper feed cassette that is removably attached to a predetermined mounting position on the main body of the device and has a top cover that can be opened and closed on the top surface, and a sheet of paper that is inserted into the paper feed cassette so as to be vertically movable. It has a paper mounting table for placing a paper stack, and a push-up arm that pushes up the paper stack and holds the paper stack at that position until the top surface of the stack of sheets placed thereon reaches a predetermined paper feeding position. , a paper loading table vertical movement device for a paper feeding device such as a copying machine, wherein the push-up arm is fixed and can swing freely in a substantially horizontal plane with one end as a fulcrum at one point of the device body, and its own axis a rotation shaft rotatably supported on the device body; a first gear fixed to an end of the rotation shaft opposite to the supporting point; and a first gear supported at a fixed position on the device body; It is driven by a drive source and has a second gear that can be engaged with and disengaged from the first gear, and is capable of attaching and detaching the paper feed cassette to a predetermined mounting position in the main body of the device, or when the paper feed cassette is attached to the main body of the device. In conjunction with the operation of opening and closing the top cover of the paper feed cassette, the rotation shaft swings around its fulcrum in a substantially horizontal plane, and when the paper feed cassette is installed or the top cover is closed, the first gear and the first gear At the same time, the second gear is rotated by the drive source, and the rotation shaft is rotated together with the push-up arm around its axis, and the push-up arm moves the paper feed cassette. Raise the paper loading table until the top of the paper stack placed on it is at the paper feeding position, and remove the paper feeding cassette from the predetermined installation position of the main body of the device, or open the top cover of the paper feeding cassette. an interlocking mechanism that releases the engagement between the first gear and the second gear and causes the push-up arm and the paper mounting table to fall onto a lower member by their own weight; Or, when the rotation shaft that is linked to the opening and closing of the paper feed cassette top cover swings in a substantially horizontal plane, the push-up arm fixed to the rotation shaft slides on a lower member thereof, The cushion member that receives the push-up arm that falls when the gear and the second gear are disengaged is located near the swing fulcrum of the rotation shaft, and has a relatively large contact area with the lower surface of the push-up arm. A vertical movement device for a paper mounting table, characterized in that it is installed so that it becomes smaller.