JPH06191666A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a paper feeding unit moving type paper feeding device which is excellent in operability such as disposing jamming of, and is simple in maintenance. CONSTITUTION:The device is equipped with a paper feeding device 2, a recording sheet housing section arranged in muti-stages, a feeding unit main body 431 which separates recording sheets 99 housed in the aforesaid housing section so as to forward them, guide rails 403 and 404 which movably support the feeding unit main body 431 with respect to the recording sheet housing section, and with a carrying belt 419 which carries the recording sheets separated and forwarded from the feeding unit main body 431 so as to allow them to be carried to the image forming section side of an image forming means. Moreover, the device is equipped with a front cover 16 and a right outer facing 405 which protects accessories within the automatic feeder main body 2 and recording sheets housed in, so that the recording sheets 99 housed in are fed to the specified place of an image forming means provided for the device. And the feeding unit main body 431, the guide rails 4O3 and 404, the carrying belt 419 and the like are provided within the right outer facing 405 capable of opened/closed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

2. Description of the Related Art Many types of paper feeders are known. For example, the sheet feeding unit separates and feeds the recording sheets one by one from the sheet feeding cassette that stores the recording sheets,
When changing the size of the recording sheet, it is configured to replace the paper feed cassette, the paper feed trays are arranged in multiple stages, and the paper feed means attached to each tray is instructed to feed paper. What is configured to feed separately from the tray, and the paper feed trays are arranged side by side in multiple stages,
For example, one sheet feeding unit moves between the sheet feeding trays and separates from the sheet feeding tray position of the designated sheet feeding stage to feed the sheet. Of these, the paper feeding means is 1
In the one configured to feed the recording sheet from the multi-stage paper feed tray, the paper feed unit is required to have excellent maintainability because it moves between the paper feed trays in a complicated manner.

As a related technique, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-2
31324 is known.

[0003]

By the way, in the case of the conventional type in which the paper feeding means is moved, when the operator removes the jammed recording sheet to make it usable,
For example, it is necessary to open the exterior cover of the sheet feeding device with the back side as the center of rotation and insert a hand near the sheet conveying belt, the sheet conveying roller, and the sheet feeding unit provided in the apparatus to remove the sheet. In addition, when performing periodic maintenance by a service person, it is necessary to remove parts such as the sheet conveying belt, the sheet conveying roller, and the sheet feeding unit as necessary to perform maintenance work.

Therefore, in this type of paper feeding apparatus, the operability and the workability during maintenance are extremely poor.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet feeding unit movable type sheet feeding unit which is excellent in operability such as jam handling and easy in maintenance work. It is in.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the first means is to separate and feed recording sheet storage stages arranged in multiple stages and recording sheets stored in the recording sheet storage stages. Paper feeding means, supporting means for movably supporting the paper feeding means with respect to the recording sheet storage stage, and the recording sheets separated and fed from the paper feeding means are conveyed to the image forming unit side of the image forming apparatus. An image in which the contained recording sheets are attached, which includes a conveying unit and an exterior part that is attached to the main body of the sheet feeding device so as to be openable and closable and that protects the devices inside the main body of the sheet feeding device and the contained recording sheets In a paper feeding device that feeds a predetermined portion of a forming device, the paper feeding means, the supporting means, and the carrying means are attached inside an exterior portion.

The second means is, in a sheet feeding device of the same premise, provided with a movable butting portion with which the leading end of the recording sheet feeding direction comes into contact with the sheet feeding means.
In this case, it is desirable that the movable butting portion is set so as to be rotatable or detachable with respect to the sheet feeding means main body.

[0008]

According to the first means, the sheet feeding means, the supporting means, and the conveying means installed as the movable portion are directly attached to the inside of the exterior portion of the sheet feeding device. As a result, when the exterior portion is released, the paper feeding means, the support means, and the transport means also come to the front side with the mechanism portion located on the back side as the exterior portion is released. Therefore, even if a paper jam occurs, jam recovery can be performed without inserting a hand in the back. In addition, since the work-difficult part during maintenance is exposed on the front surface, the workability is also improved.

Further, by providing the paper feed means with the abutting portion, the leading ends of the sheets are aligned to improve the paper feeding accuracy. However, since the abutting portion is movable,
When an unexpected situation such as a jam occurs, the abutting portion is attached or detached, or is rotated and moved to facilitate maintenance such as jam recovery and roller replacement.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram showing the whole of an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, a system of the entire image forming apparatus according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, this system is composed of a sheet feeding device 1 and an image forming device 2. The sheet feeding device 1 is arranged in the lower half of the entire apparatus, and the image forming device 2 is arranged in the upper part thereof. There is. An automatic document feeder 3 is provided above the image forming apparatus 2. A contact glass 4 is installed at the upper end of the image forming apparatus, which is the lower surface of the automatic document feeder 3, and the original set on the automatic document feeder 3 is automatically placed on the contact glass 4 when a copy signal is input. Be delivered.

The original fed on the contact glass 4 is read by an image reading section 5 provided in the image forming apparatus 2 and converted into a digital signal. The image writing unit 6 irradiates the photoconductor 7 with laser light based on the digital signal. The photoconductor 7 rotates clockwise when a copy signal is input, is charged to a uniform potential by the charging charger 8, and the image information is converted into a latent image by the laser light in the image writing unit 6, and the developing device 9 Is visualized by. Next, the image visualized by the toner is transferred onto the sheet 99 by the transfer charger 10, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 7 is cleaned by the cleaning device 11, and the charge eliminating lamp 12 is used.
Eliminates electricity evenly. Each of these steps forms one cycle of image formation.

The sheet 99 is fed from the sheet feeding device 1 to the registration roller 20 section and is fed to the transfer section at a predetermined timing. Alternatively, the sheet 99 can be fed from the so-called manual feed tray 19. After the transfer of the sheet 99, the sheet 99 is fixed by the fixing device 14 via the conveying device 13, and the sheet discharging unit 1
It is discharged to 5. Note that these image forming processes are known electrophotographic processes.

Inside the sheet feeding device 1, a sheet storage section 270 having nine storage stages is arranged, and only the uppermost sheet storage section 270a can be pulled out in the front direction of the apparatus. . 2nd to 9th stage sheet storage portion 270b
Each of i to i has the same structure and functions as a normally used sheet feeding cassette (hereinafter, the portion related to the uppermost stage is a, the portion related to the second stage is b, ... Is added to the order of descending alphabets such as i to distinguish the number of steps). This portion is integrally covered with the front cover, and is not structured to be detached from the sheet feeding device 1. The sheet storage portions 270a to 270i of each stage include a sheet stack tray 246 and an end fence 350, respectively.

With such a simple structure, since the paper feeding cassette is not used and it is not necessary to remove the cassette or the like, it is possible to feed paper more than twice the paper feeding cassette type in the space of a normal paper feeding device. The number of steps can be secured. In the embodiment, about 250 sheets per stage are assumed, but the number of sheets accommodated per stage is merely a design matter,
This number is not particularly limited. Also, up to 8
Since it is possible to handle different sheet sizes, the user hardly feels the hassle of not having a desired size. However, if the normally used size is often limited, it is also possible to set a plurality of frequently used sizes in a plurality of stages.

The sheet stacking tray 246 in the first stage is a sheet replenishing tray when a sheet end occurs in the sheet storage portion 270, and usually no sheets are set. The sheet replenishing tray 246 is located at an intermediate height of the entire machine, and all the sheet replenishment is set here, so that the user can work without bending over.

On the right side of the sheet storage section 270, only one sheet feeding unit 406 is provided, and by moving it up and down from the 1st to 9th stages, the sheets in each tray are fed. Conventionally, since each tray normally has a paper feed mechanism, the larger the number of trays, the more the paper feed mechanism associated therewith is required, resulting in an increase in cost and an increase in space. However, by using one sheet feeding mechanism in this way, an extra mechanism is not required, and these problems are greatly improved.

On the right side of the paper feeding unit 406, a conveyor belt 419 is stretched over the entire length in the vertical direction from the bottom to the top of the feeding device 1 so as to correspond to the sheets fed from the first to ninth trays. Has been done. By the charging charger 420 inside the conveyor belt 419, the conveyor belt 419
Is electrostatically charged, electrostatically attracts the sheet 99 fed by the sheet feeding unit 406, and conveys the sheet 99 upward by its own rotation, and a conveyance guide plate provided in an intermediate portion between the image forming apparatus 2 and the sheet feeding apparatus 1. At 55 copies, the sheet 99 is separated from the conveyor belt 419. The separated sheet 99 is guided by the pair of transport guide plates 55, and the pair of transport rollers 56.
Thus, it is fed to the registration roller 20 units.

Below the conveyor belt 419 is a drive roller 41.
7, and the upper part thereof is supported by the discharging roller 418. Since the sheet 99 is electrostatically adsorbed on the conveyor belt 419, the charge removing roller 418 drops the electric charge to the ground to facilitate separation. In addition, the static elimination roller 4
Instead of 18, a static eliminator charger may be provided separately.

In order to deal with sheet jams and maintenance, the sheet feeding unit 406 and the conveying belt 419 are integrated and attached to the right exterior 405 (FIG. 15) which can be opened and closed to the right from the sheet feeding device 1 with the back side as a fulcrum. Has been. When the sheet feeding unit opening / closing unit 17 is open to the right, the sheet storage unit 270 is open from the right side, and the sheet feeding unit 406 is open from the left side, so that the hands can be taken in and out, and jam processing and the like can be performed.

When the sheet end occurs, the sheet 99 is held by the sheet feeding unit 406 to move between the trays (described later). At that time, the sheet stacking tray 246,
A mechanism for retracting to the left side is provided so as not to hinder the movement of the seat. This sheet stacking tray 246
Can be bent in the sheet feeding direction, and when the sheet stacking tray 246 is retracted, the sheet stacking tray 246 is gradually folded and stored in the tray storage portion 60 from the left end.

The tray accommodating portion 60 is provided at the left end of the sheet feeding device 1, has a vertically long space for accommodating one sheet stacking tray 246, and has a plurality of sheet stacking trays 246.
Are not simultaneously stored in the tray storage section 60. As described above, the sheet stacking tray 246 can be opened / closed in a space-saving manner, which contributes to downsizing of the apparatus and multi-tiering of the trays.

Here, the outline of the structure for moving the sheet between the trays will be described.

The sheet moving means for moving the sheet bundle placed on one tray to another tray is constituted by a sheet feeding means, that is, a paper feeding unit 406. The sheet feeding unit 406 is provided with a pressure holding plate 468 and a calling roller 436, and the sheet storage unit 27 to be moved is moved.
0 (any one of a to i) is made to face the pressure holding plate 468 in a lowered state, and the end fence 350 pushes out the sheet bundle until the tip hits the pressure holding plate 468,
Next, when the pressure holding plate 468 is raised, the pressure holding plate 468 can be held with the calling roller 436 at a predetermined pressure. In this state, the sheet stack tray 246 of the sheet storage section 270 (a to i) is retracted to the tray storage section 60 side, and the sheet feeding unit 406 is lowered to a position facing the storage stage immediately below. On the other hand, the sheet stacking tray 246 of the storage stage is advanced to the sheet feeding unit 406 side, the sheet bundle is placed on the sheet stacking tray 246, and the clamping force between the pressure holding plate 468 and the call roller 436 is released. Then, the sheet stack tray 246 is retracted to the sheet feeding position. By repeating this, even when the lowermost sheet storage portion 270i becomes empty, the empty sheet storage portions 270 (a to 270a) are simply supplied to the uppermost sheet storage portion 270a.
i)) will be replenished with the sheet.

Further, with the above configuration, the device is devised so that the installation space is minimized. That is, on the left side of the apparatus, the paper discharge unit 15 is almost invisible from the image forming apparatus 2, and the paper feeding apparatus 1 also has the left cover 21.
It is completely covered with and has very little space on the left side. Further, on the right side of the device, it is sufficient to have a space for opening and closing a little during jam processing. The user can perform all operations including the seat setting on the front side of the device,
There is also an advantage that the installation location is not so restricted. Also,
Since the image forming apparatus 2 is assumed to have an optical system as a digital system, the transfer sheet can be set in a horizontal direction, for example, by providing a function such as vertical / horizontal conversion of an image.
In the present embodiment, the sheet size is B4 or more in the vertical feed and A4 or less in the horizontal feed so that the number of types of the sheet size set in the tray does not increase too much, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Next, a mechanism relating to sheet feeding and its control will be described.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the sheet feeding unit 406 is arranged so as to be movable in the vertical direction of the sheet feeding apparatus 1 installed below the image forming apparatus 2. Regardless of the number, one sheet can supply all sheets and move sheets.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 2, the paper feeding unit 406 includes a calling roller portion 435 and a pair of separating roller portions 4.
50, the pressure lever portion 453, and the pair of conveyance guide portions 4
86, the sheet leading edge aligning section 472, each sheet detecting section, and a driving section 484 that drives each roller (FIG. 14).
It is basically composed of and.

The calling roller unit 435 is shown in FIGS.
And the calling roller 436 and the roller 43 as shown in FIG.
Bracket 437 for holding 6 and this bracket 43
7 and an auxiliary bracket 439 that supports the bracket 7, and the bracket 437 is swingably supported about a rotation center 497. The rollers 436 are provided on the sheet stack tray 246.
The uppermost sheet 98 is pressed against the uppermost sheet 98 at a predetermined pressure by their own weight and the elastic force of a tension spring (not shown) (see FIG. 4).
(C)) Then, the uppermost sheet 98 on the sheet stacking tray 246 and the sheets in the vicinity of the uppermost sheet 98 are the drive sources as shown in FIG. The rotation from the drive motor 407 is transmitted to the drive unit 484 in the paper feeding unit 406 via the drive belt 409, and the calling roller 43 is supplied via the paper feeding clutch 485.
6 is rotated and conveyed. Thereafter, the feeding roller unit 435 is retracted to the upper side 445 by a sheet feeding solenoid (not shown) via a lever, and is separated from the sheet 99 (see FIG. 4).
(D)). The rotation of the drive motor 407 is transmitted to the drive roller 417 via the drive gear 496 and the idler 495. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 446 is a fixed solenoid, reference numeral 447 is an arm, and reference numeral 448 is a lever.

The pair of separating roller units 450 separates the sheet sent by the calling roller 436 from only the uppermost sheet 98 from the other lower sheets, and drives the drive unit 484.
The driving force input from the above through the paper feed clutch is transmitted to convey the sheet to the next conveying means and thereafter. Then, after that, in order to stop the sheet before the pair of separation roller units 450, as shown in FIG. 16, a sheet feeding feed roller 451 is provided on the upper side and a sheet separation roller is provided on the lower side. 452 are arranged and driven.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure lever portion 453 has two types of levers 457 and 461 which are separately held at two fulcrums 458 and 462, respectively, and two types of levers 457 and 457.
The sheet stack tray 246 includes a pressure holding plate 468 held by separate fulcrums 459 and 463, and a dedicated drive motor 470 (FIG. 7) for driving them.
The upper sheet 99 is fed by the paper feeding unit 406 to the image forming apparatus 2
The sheet stack tray 246 is supported from below when the sheet is supplied to the sheet stack tray 246 (FIG. 4C). Separately from this, the sheets 99 on the sheet stacking tray 246 are placed in the subsequent sheet storage section 2
It operates when moving to the sheet stack tray 246 of 70.

The sheet leading edge aligning portion 472 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
Arm 473 for aligning, solenoid 476 for operating the arm 473, and joint 474 for connecting them.
And always move the arm to a position where it does not hinder sheet conveyance,
It is composed of a tension spring 475 for retracting. As a result, the feeding roller unit 435 and the pair of separation roller units 450 complete the supply of the sheets 99 to the image forming apparatus 2, and before returning the sheet stack tray 246 from the sheet feeding position (not shown) to the standby position, the solenoid 47 is provided.
Arm 473 through joint 474 by the movement of 6
Is rotated about the fulcrum from the retracted position 477 to the same position as the sheet front end reference wall or to the protruding position 478 slightly protruding to the sheet storage unit 270 side, and is projected from the stacking position to the front of the pair of separation roller units 450. Sheet 99
Return to the original stacking position and align the leading edges of the sheets. In addition,
In FIG. 8, reference numeral 487 is an upper guide plate and reference numeral 488 is a lower guide plate.

Each of the sheet-related detecting portions detects the sheet height 92 on the sheet stacking tray 246 and calls the roller portion 43.
Sheet upper limit detection sensor 480 (FIG. 4) that detects with 0
A sheet end detection sensor 481 (FIG. 13) that detects the presence or absence of the sheet 99 on the sheet stacking tray 246, and a sheet remaining amount detection that detects the remaining amount of the sheet 99 on the sheet stacking tray 246 together with the pressure lever portion 453. Sensor 482
(FIG. 7), when the sheet 99 is conveyed from the sheet stack tray 246 toward the image forming apparatus 2 by the calling roller section 435 and the pair of separation roller sections 450, it is detected whether or not the sheet 99 is conveyed within a predetermined time. The sheet front end detection sensor (not shown). The seat end detection sensor 481 detects the seat end by detecting the position of the other end of the actuator 498 that is rotated by abutting one end on the seat 99.

The paper feeding unit 406 moves as follows.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the sheet feeding unit 406 is provided with a cable 415 for connecting the sheet feeding unit 406 to the sheet feeding unit 99 and a cable 415 for connecting the sheet feeding unit 406 to the sheet feeding unit. After being driven, the sheet stack tray 246 at that stage moves from the standby position to the paper feeding position, and then the calling roller 436 in the paper feeding unit 406 is moved to the calling roller 436 and the bracket 437 holding the calling roller 436. The lower limit position 444 is set by the own weight of the auxiliary bracket 439 and the elastic force of the tension spring described above, and the sheet feeding unit 406 is moved downward (FIG. 4A). Eventually, the calling roller 436 hits the uppermost sheet 98 on the sheet stacking tray 246, but the sheet feeding unit 406 continues to descend (FIG. 4B).
The position of the calling roller 436 at the lower limit position 444 with respect to the sheet feeding unit 406 starts moving toward the upper limit position 445, and eventually the filler 438 of the bracket 437 supporting the calling roller 436 cuts off the sheet upper limit detection sensor 480. The paper feeding unit 406 stops and the paper can be fed (FIG. 4C).

When a large number of sheets 99 on the sheet stacking tray 246 are fed one by one by the sheet feeding unit 406, the sheet height (stack height) 92 on the sheet stacking tray 246 is proportional to the number of fed sheets. Will decrease. In response to this, the position of the calling roller 436 with respect to the sheet feeding unit 406 is lowered, and the filler 438 of the bracket 437 holding the calling roller 436, which has cut the sheet upper limit detection sensor 480, cannot be cut off. Then, the moving motor 410 for moving the sheet feeding unit 406 is rotated, and the height position of the sheet feeding unit 406 is lowered and stopped until the filler 438 of the bracket 437 holding the calling roller 436 turns off the sheet upper limit detection sensor 480 again. .

By repeating the above operation, the positional relationship between the uppermost sheet 98 on the sheet stacking tray 246 and the sheet feeding unit 406 is maintained within a certain range in which sheets can be fed.

The structure of the pressure lever section is as follows.

The rotation centers 458 and 462 of both the pressure levers of the pressure lever portion 453 are in the pressure lever operable range 4
By providing on the parallel line of the intermediate position 455 of 54,
When the pressure levers 457 and 461 are rotated by a certain amount, the vertical movement amount error of the action points 459 and 462 is minimized (FIG. 6B). Both pressure levers 457, 461 are
It is composed of two types of levers 457 and 461 having the same shortest distances from the rotation centers 458 and 462 to the action points 459 and 463. The rotation centers 458 and 462 of the two pressure levers are
The fan-shaped gears 460 and 465 each having the same module and the same reference pitch circle diameter on the same arc as the center are arranged one by one. On the pressure drive lever 457 side, the fan-shaped drive gear 460 is closer to the lever drive center 458 than the lever drive center 458. To the outside of the line connecting the point of action 459 and the point of action 459, the fan-shaped driven gear 465 on the side of the pressure driven lever 461 is located inside the line connecting the lever center 462 and the point of action 463 from the center of the pressure driven lever 462. It is fixed (Fig. 6).

Between the front and rear two pressure levers 457 and 461, both fan-shaped gears 460 and 465 mesh with each other, and the rotation center 4 of the pressure drive lever 457 and the pressure driven lever 461 is engaged.
58 and 462 and the action points 459 and 463 so that the line connecting them is parallel to each other, the intermediate gear 466 is provided on both fan-shaped gears 4.
When not engaged with 60, 465, they are attached one by one so that they can rotate freely, and rotational drive is applied to the pressure drive lever shaft 456 (FIG. 5), and via the fan-shaped gear 460 on the pressure drive lever 457 side. The sector gear 465 on the side of the pressure driven lever 461 is rotated via the intermediate gear 466 so that the pressure driven lever 461 is rotated at the same angle and the same speed as the pressure drive lever 457. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 46
Reference numeral 9 is a double feed prevention plate. In addition, the pressure drive lever shaft 456
As shown in FIG. 7, a worm wheel 467 is mounted on the shaft, and the rotation of the dedicated drive motor 470 is transmitted from the worm 464 to the worm wheel 467, and the rotation is transmitted from the worm wheel 467.

Action points 459 and 463 of the two pressure levers
A pressure holding plate 468 is rotatably attached at the same center distance as the center distance between the rotation centers of the two pressure levers. Therefore, two pressure levers 457, 461
Even if is rotated, the pressure holding plate 468 moves in parallel while maintaining the initial angle. The pressure levers 457 and 461 are driven by the dedicated drive motor 470 as shown in FIG. 7 as described above, and the pressure holding plate 468 moves the paper feeding unit 406 by the same amount as the paper feeding unit 406 has moved. It rotates so as to move in the direction opposite to the direction in which the pressure lever 457,
The pressure holding plate 468 attached to the tip of 461 is raised.

The sheet feeding unit 406 is configured to feed the sheets 99 one by one from the sheet storage section 270 in the sheet feeding apparatus 1 in the different size multi-stage sheet feeding system as described above.
Feeding unit 4
It is necessary that the 06 can be moved smoothly in the vertical direction and that it can be moved accurately from another place to a predetermined position. Therefore, a guided member 433 composed of a low friction member is provided in front of and behind the paper feeding unit.
434 is attached from the paper feed unit main body 431 via the arm 432 (FIG. 18), and the guide rails 403 and 404 are fitted back and forth to the main body skeleton 401 so that the front and rear guided members 433 and 434 are fitted with a small gap. (FIG. 19) so that the paper feeding unit 406 can smoothly move within the regulated range (FIG. 15). Further, a moving motor 410 for accurately moving the paper feeding unit 406 in the vertical direction is attached to the main body skeleton 401 via a motor mounting bracket 413, and the moving motor 410 and the paper feeding unit 406 are connected by two cables 415 in front and rear. Connect and move (Figs. 10 and 11).

Between the paper feeding unit 406 in the paper feeding device 1 and the right exterior 405, an intermediate feeding means for feeding the sheet 99 fed from the paper feeding unit 406 into the image forming apparatus 2 is provided. Has been. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the intermediate conveying means includes three electrostatic conveying belts 419 having a wide width, a driving roller 417 provided below, a discharging roller 418 provided above, and a charging charger 4.
A vertical transport unit 416 including a drive motor 407 that is fixed to the main body skeleton 401 that holds the sheet feeding unit 406 and that drives the sheet feeding unit 406. Reference numeral 16 is a front cover.

The main body skeleton 401 is a structure 40 having four sides.
A right exterior 405 is fixedly formed on the sheet feeding device 2, and is attached by hinges 421 at two positions above and below the paper feeding device 1 so as to be openable and closable. Further, on the front side of the right exterior 405, a handle 422, a hook (not shown) attached to the handle, and a lock portion (not shown) for locking the hook are provided. A sheet feeding unit opening / closing section 400 is formed by these.

The paper feed unit opening / closing section 400 is always locked by a pulling spring (not shown) via a lever (not shown) to lock the hook attached to the handle 422 so that it cannot be opened or closed from the outside. But,
(1) When a malfunction occurs due to some cause while moving a sheet in the sheet storage section to another sheet storage section,
(2) While the sheet is being fed from the sheet feeding device to the image forming apparatus,
If a paper feed conveyance error occurs due to some reason, (3)
When an operation failure occurs due to some cause in the image forming apparatus or the automatic document feeder, a solenoid (not shown) directly connected to the lever operates to unlock the hook and open the sheet feeding unit opening / closing unit 400. To do. And
The paper feeding unit 406 is prevented from being opened except when the above-mentioned three problems occur to prevent the user or the like from inducing a malfunction. Further, when the above-mentioned three problems occur, the sheet 99 is generally present in the conveyance path, so that the sheet 99 must be removed. Then, the user pulls the handle 422 of the sheet feeding unit opening / closing unit 400,
The opening / closing section 400 of the sheet feeding unit can be opened in one step, the subsequent processing can be performed quickly, and the original copy operation can be immediately returned to. Further, since it is possible to replace consumable parts of the paper feed unit 406 and the vertical conveyance unit 416 by a service person or the like in the same manner, it is possible to shorten the time which is a standard of the labor cost borne by the company or the user, and the cost is reduced. Contribute to reduction.

In the different size multi-stage paper feeding system, when the sheets 99 in the arbitrarily selected sheet storage unit 270 are fed to the image forming apparatus 2 one by one by the paper feeding unit 406, the sheet storage unit 270 Since the sheet stacking tray 246 remains fixed in the vertical direction, the sheet feeding unit 406
Changes the vertical position according to the remaining amount of sheets on the tray. Separately, the sheet storage portion 270 is provided with sheet regulation walls on the front and rear ends of the sheet in the sheet feeding direction, and on four sides in total on both sides parallel to the sheet feeding direction so that the sheets on the tray are accommodated within a predetermined range. There is. However, in this embodiment, since the sheet storage portion 270 is not provided with the sheet leading end reference wall, the sheet leading end reference wall 49 is provided on the sheet feeding unit 431 side.
3 are provided (FIG. 8, FIG. 16, FIG. 17). The sheet leading end reference wall 493 is provided on the sheet storage section 270 side of the separation roller section 450 and on the lower separation roller 452 side of the separation roller section 450. However, in the paper feeding unit 406, the calling rotor 436 and the feed roller 45 that cannot maintain their original shapes due to wear and deterioration over time.
1 and the separation roller 452, and it is desired that the rollers can be easily replaced with new rollers in a short time when the quality cannot be satisfied due to wear or deterioration. However, by providing the sheet leading end reference wall 493 in the sheet feeding unit 406, the circumference of the separation roller is blocked, so that when the quality cannot be satisfied due to wear or deterioration, the sheet cannot be easily replaced. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, a fulcrum 48 is provided at the bottom of the sheet front end reference wall 493.
9, the fulcrum 489 is rotatably supported by the sheet feeding unit main body 431, and the sheet leading end reference wall 493 is made of a magnetic material to correspond to the upper portion of the sheet leading end reference wall 493. A magnet 490 is provided on the. In this case, the relationship between the sheet leading end reference wall 493 and the magnet 490 is such that when the sheet leading end reference wall 493 is in close contact with the magnet 490, the sheet 99 stored in the sheet storing portion 270 is regulated and the sheet leading end reference wall 493.
When the magnet is removed from the attraction of the magnet 490, the magnet is tilted to the side opposite to the separation roller. Note that the rotation support structure between the sheet leading end reference wall 493 and the sheet feeding unit main body 431 is designed as the sheet leading end reference wall 493 is rotatably supported with respect to the sheet feeding unit main body 431. Various changes are possible.

With this structure, when the separation roller 452 is replaced, the sheet leading end reference wall 493 is provided.
Of the sheet leading end reference wall 49
By separating 3 from the magnet and rotating it around the fulcrum 489, the separation roller 450 is exposed so that replacement work can be performed easily.

In the case where it is not rotatably constituted as described above, as shown in FIG. 17, the sheet front end reference wall 493 is attached to the sheet feeding unit main body 431 by the screw 491 and can be easily removed when the separation roller 450 is replaced. You may leave it like this.

Next, the movement operation of the sheet feeding unit will be described.

Since one sheet feeding unit 406 covers all the sheet storage portions 270a to 270a in the sheet feeding device 1, it is necessary to detect the position when moving up and down. Therefore, the sheet feeding unit opening / closing unit 400 is provided with one filler 494 for each stage, and the sheet feeding unit 406 is provided with a sheet feeding unit position detection sensor 492 so that the sensor 492 from the lowermost stage which is the home position is provided. Filler 49
The position of the paper feeding unit 406 is recognized based on the number obtained by cutting 4 (FIG. 10).

Further, regarding the positional relationship between the sheet storage portion 270 and the sheet feeding unit 406 when the sheet feeding unit position detection sensor 492 cuts off the filler 494, the calling roller 436 is set to the lower limit position 444 (FIG. 4A). ), And the feeding roller 436 does not touch the uppermost sheet 98 so as to maintain a certain constant height common to all the sheets.
A filler 494 for the sheet feeding unit position detection sensor 492 is provided (FIG. 10).

At the bottom of the home position, another filler 49 is placed just before the filler 494 at the regular position.
4 is attached and the paper feed unit position detection sensor 492 is turned off earlier than the regular sensor on time,
It informs that the place where the next filler 494 is cut is the home position. A timing chart for this detection is shown in FIG.

The remaining amount of sheets in each sheet storage section 270 is
When raising the pressure holding plate 468 of the pressure lever portion 453 by the same amount as the amount of movement of the sheet feeding unit 406 from the standby position of that stage until the sheet upper limit detection sensor 480 of the calling roller portion 435 is turned on, The amount of rotation of the pressure drive lever shaft 456 is detected by the sheet remaining amount detection sensor 482 using the encoder 471 provided in the drive unit (FIG. 7). Regarding the mode in which the pressure lever portion 453 of the paper feeding unit 406 is not used at the time of paper feeding,
The movement amount of the sheet feeding unit 406 lowered from the standby position of the stage until the sheet upper limit detection sensor 480 of the calling roller unit 435 is turned on is calculated by the sheet feeding unit moving motor 41.
It is detected from 0 through the gear train using the encoder 412 mounted on the drive shaft 413 (FIG. 11).

[0055]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

That is, according to the invention of claim 1,
Since the paper feeding means, the supporting means, and the conveying means are attached inside the exterior part, if the exterior part is released, it is not necessary to insert a hand in the jam processing, and these means are also placed on the front side for maintenance. Since it is exposed, workability is greatly improved. As a result, it is possible to provide a sheet feeding device that is easy to jam and has excellent operability and workability during maintenance.

According to the second, third and fourth aspects of the present invention, the abutting portion is movable and can be removed or rotated. Therefore, maintenance represented by jam treatment and replacement of internal parts such as separation rollers is performed. At this time, the abutting portion can be rotated or removed for processing, and operability and workability during maintenance can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an entire system of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a paper feeding unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a calling roller unit of a paper feeding unit and a related mechanism thereof.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of holding a sheet bundle of a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a pressure holding plate of the paper feeding unit and its related mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view showing the operation of the pressure lever.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a main part of a drive mechanism of a pressure lever.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a main part of a sheet leading edge aligning mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a main part of a sheet leading edge aligning mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a paper feeding / conveying unit.

FIG. 11 is a main part enlarged perspective view showing a main part of a sheet feeding / conveying part.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing a detection timing of a sheet feeding unit position detection sensor.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanism near a seat end detection sensor mounting position.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a main part of a drive mechanism of a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a main part showing a configuration of a sheet feeding / conveying unit.

FIG. 16 is a front view of relevant parts showing the configurations of a sheet leading end reference wall and a separation roller portion.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of relevant parts showing the configurations of a sheet leading end reference wall and a separation roller portion.

FIG. 18 is a side view showing the outline of the support mechanism of the paper feeding unit.

FIG. 19 is a front view showing the outline of the support mechanism of the paper feeding unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 sheet feeding device 16 front cover 246 sheet stacking tray 270 sheet storing section 350 end fence 400 sheet feeding unit opening / closing section 403, 404 guide rail 405 right exterior 406 sheet feeding unit 407 drive motor 409 drive belt 417 drive roller 419 transport belt 431 supply Paper unit main body 432 Arm 457 Pressure drive lever 460 Fan-type drive gear 461 Pressure driven lever 465 Fan-shaped intermediate gear 466 Intermediate gear 472 Seat leading edge alignment part 473 Arm 475 Pulling spring 476 Solenoid 484 Drive part 489 Support point 490 Magnet 491 Sheet 493 screw Tip reference wall

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Masato Obata, 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock company Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Shigeki Sawa, 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock In Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Fumio Kurizumi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Taniyama 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Ricoh

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording sheet storage stage arranged in multiple stages,
Paper feeding means for separating and feeding the recording sheets accommodated in the recording sheet accommodating stage, supporting means for movably supporting the sheet feeding means with respect to the recording sheet accommodating stage, and separating and feeding from the sheet feeding means. Conveying means for conveying the formed recording sheet to the image forming unit side of the image forming apparatus, and openably and closably attached to the paper feeding apparatus main body, and protects the devices inside the paper feeding apparatus main body and the contained recording sheets. A sheet feeding device that includes an exterior part and that feeds the accommodated recording sheets to a predetermined portion of an attached image forming apparatus, the sheet feeding means, the supporting means,
A sheet feeding device, characterized in that the conveying means is attached inside the exterior part. 2. A recording sheet accommodating stage arranged in multiple stages,
Paper feeding means for separating and feeding the recording sheets accommodated in the recording sheet accommodating stage, supporting means for movably supporting the sheet feeding means with respect to the recording sheet accommodating stage, and separating and feeding from the sheet feeding means. Conveying means for conveying the formed recording sheet to the image forming unit side of the image forming apparatus, and openably and closably attached to the paper feeding apparatus main body, and protects the devices inside the paper feeding apparatus main body and the contained recording sheets. A sheet feeding device for feeding a stored recording sheet to a predetermined portion of an attached image forming apparatus, the movable abutting portion having a leading end portion in the recording sheet feeding direction abutting the sheet feeding means. A paper feeding device characterized by being provided with. 3. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the abutting portion is rotatably supported by the paper feeding means main body. 4. The abutting portion is detachably attached to the sheet feeding means main body.
The paper feeder described. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device which accommodates a plurality of types of recording sheets and supplies the recording sheets to the image forming apparatus.