JPH06247570A - Paper feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve stability of sheet set and operability at sheet supply. CONSTITUTION:This paper feed device is provided with sheet receiving parts put side by side in the vertical direction, supporting members supporting the sheet receiving parts capably of being drawn out from a paper feed device main body, sheet loading trays 246 which load recording sheets received in the sheet receiving parts and are formed into corrugated sections, and moving pulleys which retreat the sheet loading trays from recording sheet loading territories of the sheet receiving parts and return them. The contact part 332A with the sheet loading tray 246 of a side fence 331 which contacts with the bundle of sheets from the perpedicular direction to the sheet feed direction of the sheet receiving part and arranges them in order, is formed into a comblike shape engaging with the corrugated sectional shape of the sheet loading tray 246.

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 for feeding a plurality of types of recording sheets to the main body of an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the type of sheet accommodating portion such as a sheet feeding cassette or sheet feeding tray currently used in the market is different from the type in which the size of recording sheets set in advance is limited. A plurality of sizes can be divided into two types that can be accommodated as needed. Among these, a type capable of appropriately accommodating a plurality of different sizes is a side fence and an end fence, in other words, a positioning member in the recording sheet width direction and a positioning member in the feeding direction are provided in the sheet accommodating portion, The fence was manually adjusted by the operator according to the seat size.

As described above, various types of sheet feeding devices have been proposed and used in the past. Particularly, for replenishing recording sheets, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimiles, printers, and printing apparatuses are generally used. Therefore, the operability of the recording sheet replenishing position with respect to the sheet feeding means has become a problem. That is, in general, conventional paper feeding means,
In other words, the sheet feeding device is often provided in the lower part of the image forming apparatus main body in the system, and in the case where the recording sheets of different sizes are stored in the respective sheet storage stages, At the time of replenishment, the lower the sheet storage stage, the more the user has to bend over as described above when replenishing the recording sheets, and he is forced to take a very difficult posture. As a technique for avoiding this, for example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-29873 is known.

This prior art relates to a large-capacity sheet feeding device that stores a large number of single-sized recording sheets and supplies them to the image forming apparatus main body, and a plurality of storage chambers for storing the recording sheets are provided. Therefore, the operator can replenish the recording sheets to the uppermost storage chamber. In this structure, the recording sheets are placed between the recording sheet storage chambers,
Two movable guides that can be swung in the left-right direction are provided, and the movable guides are appropriately swung according to the remaining amount of recording sheets in the lowermost storage chamber in which the paper feed unit is provided and other storage chambers. The recording sheets are sequentially dropped from the upper storage chamber to the lower storage chamber by their own weight, and the recording sheets are fed from the lowermost storage chamber to an image forming apparatus, in this case, a facsimile.

[0005]

By the way, as described above, in the case where the operator manually operates the fence to adjust the sheet size, if the size of the sheet to be accommodated is different, the sheet is already in the predetermined position in the sheet accommodating portion. The installed fence must be moved and adjusted to the seat size. Therefore, the operator has to perform two operations of adjusting the fence and replenishing the seat, which is cumbersome to operate and is time-consuming, resulting in a decrease in productivity.

Further, the movement of the recording sheet in this prior art is caused by the swing of the movable guide. Generally, when the memory sheet is set, the set state of the recording sheet is made stable. In addition, a means for aligning the sheets in the sheet container is required. However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, such a sheet aligning means is not provided, and the set state of the recording sheets in the sheet accommodating portion becomes very unstable.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior art as described above, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus which saves the operator's manual adjustment of the positioning member and is excellent in operability. To provide. A second object is to provide a sheet feeding device that can exhibit stable sheet setting property in the recording sheet storage stage.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, the first means is that a plurality of recording sheet accommodating stages arranged in parallel in the vertical direction and the recording sheet accommodating stages can be pulled out from the main body of the sheet feeding device. Supporting means for supporting the recording sheet on the recording sheet storage stage, the recording sheet mounting means formed in a corrugated cross section on which the recording sheets stored in the recording sheet storage stage are mounted, and the recording sheet mounting means for mounting the recording sheet storage unit on the recording sheet storage stage. The contact portion between the drive means for retracting and returning from the area and the recording sheet placing means is formed in a comb-teeth shape that engages with the corrugated cross-sectional shape, and the recording sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet storage stage It is configured to include an aligning unit that aligns the recording sheets by abutting the recording sheets in a substantially orthogonal direction.

In this case, it is preferable to further include a retracting means for retracting the aligning means to the outside of the recording sheet placing area while keeping the engaged state before the recording sheet placing means is moved by the driving means.

A plurality of aligning means are provided, and at least one of the aligning means is automatically or manually moved to a position set for each sheet size accommodated in advance. It is desirable to be prepared.

The second means is a plurality of recording sheet storage stages arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, and a support means for supporting the recording sheet storage stages so that they can be pulled out from the sheet feeding device main body.
Recording sheet placing means for placing the recording sheets accommodated in the recording sheet accommodating stage, and driving means for retracting the recording sheet placing means from the recording sheet placing area of the recording sheet accommodating stage and for returning the recording sheet placing area, Aligning means for contacting the recording sheets in a direction substantially orthogonal to the recording sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet storage stage and aligning the recording sheets, and loading the drawn-out recording sheet storage stage into the sheet feeding device main body, and then the aligning means. And a separating means for separating the sheet above the sheet mounting surface.

Further, the third means contacts the recording sheet accommodating means for accommodating the recording sheet and the recording sheet in a direction substantially orthogonal to the recording sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet accommodated in the recording sheet accommodating means. It is configured to include an aligning unit that aligns the recording sheets, and a supporting unit that supports the aligning unit in a recording sheet accommodating unit portion located in a direction substantially orthogonal to the recording sheet feeding direction.

[0013]

According to the first means, when the recording sheet accommodating stages arranged in the vertical direction are pulled out to replenish the recording sheet, the comb-teeth portion which engages with the recording sheet placing means formed in the corrugated section is formed. The sheet aligning means has the sheet bundle aligned with the sheet bundle in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction in a state of being engaged with the groove portion constituted by the cross-sectional shape. Further, when the sheet bundle is moved from one recording sheet accommodation stage to another recording sheet accommodation stage, the recording sheet placing means is retracted from the recording sheet placement area by the driving means, and the recording sheet accommodation stage immediately below is moved. The sheet bundle is moved to the position where the comb-shaped portion is moved in the state of being engaged with the portion formed in the corrugated cross section of the recording sheet stacking means by the configuration of the aligning means. The operation is stable.

In this operation, the aligning means is moved by the retracting means to the outside of the recording sheet placing area before the movement of the recording sheet placing means. As a result, the aligning means does not interfere with the movement of the sheet bundle. Further, at least one of the aligning means is moved to the position preset for each sheet size by the moving means, so that the operator can save the trouble of changing the setting for each sheet size.

In the second means, the sheet bundle is set in the drawn-out recording sheet accommodating stage and loaded in the main body of the sheet feeding device, and when the sheet bundle is completed, the aligning means interferes with the sheet movement. , Move upwards. This avoids interference between the sheet bundle and the aligning means.

In the third means, the aligning means is supported by the portion of the recording sheet accommodating stage which is orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction, so that the aligning means approaches and separates the sheet bundle from the direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. Can be performed easily and accurately.

[0017]

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

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

In FIG. 1, this system comprises 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 above it. 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 the 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, and is charged to a uniform potential by the charging charger 8. Image information is converted into a latent image by the irradiation of the laser light in the image writing unit 6, and the developing device is developed. It is visualized by 9. Then, the image visualized by the toner is transferred to the transfer charger 1.
0 is transferred onto the sheet. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 7 is cleaned by the cleaning device 11, and the surface of the photoconductor 7 and the static elimination lamp 12 are uniformly discharged.
Each of these steps forms one cycle of image formation.

The sheet is fed from the sheet feeding device 1 to the registration roller 20 and is fed to the transfer portion at a predetermined timing. Alternatively, the sheets may be fed from the so-called manual feed tray 19. After the transfer, the sheet passes through the transport device 13, is fixed by the fixing device 14, and is discharged to the paper discharge unit 15. Note that these image forming processes are known electrophotographic processes.

Inside the sheet feeding device 1, a sheet storage portion 270 having nine storage stages is arranged, and only the uppermost stage thereof can be pulled out in the front direction of the apparatus. 2 to
The sheet accommodating units 270b to 270 of the ninth stage have exactly the same configuration, and fulfill the function of a normally used sheet feeding cassette. In addition, hereinafter, when there is a need among the respective units related to the number of stages such as the sheet stacking tray 246, the subscript a corresponds to the uppermost stage, the subscript b corresponds to the second stage, ... The number corresponding to the 9th stage is given an alphabet such as the subscript i to clearly indicate the specific number of stages. Further, the sheet storage portion 270 is integrally covered with the front cover, and is not structured to be detached from the sheet feeding device 1. The sheet storage units 270a to 270 of the respective stages include a sheet stack tray 246 and an end fence 350, respectively.

Since the paper feed cassette is not used and the cassette does not need to be attached or detached as a matter of course, the number of paper feed stages more than double that of the paper feed cassette type is available in the space of a normal paper feed device. Can be secured. In the embodiment, about 250 sheets are assumed for each stage,
It is not particularly limited. In addition, since a maximum of eight types of sheet sizes can be supported, the user hardly feels the hassle of not having a desired size. However, in most cases, the normally used size is limited, and it is also possible to set a plurality of frequently used sizes in a plurality of stages.

The first sheet stack tray 246 is a tray for replenishing sheets when a sheet end occurs in the sheet storage portion 270, and usually no sheets are set. The sheet replenishment 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 the sheet is fed from each tray by moving up and down from the first to ninth stages. On the right side of the paper feeding unit 406, the conveyor belt 4
19 is stretched over the entire area 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. The conveyor belt 419 is charged by the charging charger 420 inside the conveyor belt 419, electrostatically adsorbs the sheet fed by the sheet feeding unit 406, and conveys the sheet upward by its rotation,
Sheets are separated by a conveyance guide plate 55 portion provided in an intermediate portion between the image forming apparatus 2 and the sheet feeding device 1. The separated sheet is guided by the pair of transport guide plates 55, and is fed to the registration roller 20 by the pair of transport rollers 56.

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 is electrostatically adsorbed by the conveyor belt 419, the charge is grounded by the charge eliminating roller 418 to facilitate separation. In addition, the static elimination roller 418
Instead of this, a static eliminator charger may be separately provided. The sheet feeding unit 406 and the conveyor belt 419 are integrally formed to handle the sheet jam and maintenance at the time of the sheet feeding device 1.
It is possible to open and close to the right with the back side as the fulcrum. When the sheet feeding unit opening / closing unit 17 is opened to the right, the sheet storage unit 270 is opened from the right side and the sheet feeding unit 406 is opened from the left side, so that the hands can be taken in and out, and jam processing and the like can be performed. it can.

When the sheet end occurs, the sheet moves between the trays by being held by the sheet feeding unit 406 (described later), but at that time, the sheet stacking tray 246 does not hinder the movement of the sheet. , A mechanism for retreating to the left side is provided. This sheet stacking tray 246 is
The sheet is bendable 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 and has a vertically long space that can accommodate one sheet stacking tray 246. That is, the plurality of sheet stacking trays 246 are not accommodated in the tray accommodating section 60 at the same time.

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 composed of 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 pressure holding plate 468 is made to face the sheet storage unit 270 (any of a to i) to be moved in a lowered state. When the end fence 350 pushes out the sheet bundle onto the pressure holding plate 468 until its tip abuts and then raises the pressure holding plate 468, the sheet bundle can be nipped with the calling roller 436 at a predetermined pressure. In this state, the sheet storage section 2
The sheet stacking trays 246 of 70 (a to i) are retracted to the tray accommodating section 60 side, and the sheet feeding unit 406 is lowered to a position facing the storage stage immediately below. 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 calling 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 portion 270 (any one of a to i) can be simply provided by supplying the sheet to the uppermost sheet storage portion 270a. The seat will be replenished.

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, the structure related to the sheet tray, that is, the sheet storage section 270 and the sheet stacking tray 246 will be described.

The first storage section 270a of the tray having a plurality of stages in the sheet feeding device 1 provided below the image forming apparatus 2 is
Drawer tray 100 that can be pulled out from the main body in a drawer shape
It is integrated with.

An outline of the drawer tray 100 is shown in the perspective view of the main part of FIG.

The drawer tray 100 feeds a sheet to a structure composed of a pair of supporting members 271 parallel to the sheet feeding direction and two supporting members 273 and 274 in the sheet width direction. A sheet stacking tray 246 that is freely movable in a direction parallel to the direction, and a driving unit 24 thereof.
2 (FIG. 32) are provided. In addition, the support member 271
Also doubles as a front cover. Inside the support member 271, a sheet end face reference wall 261a that serves as a reference when setting a sheet in parallel with the support member 271 is provided.

Each of the support members 271 is a tray guide 20 which is a channel-shaped guide rail for smoothly moving the sheet stacking tray 246a when the sheet stacking tray 246a moves.
9, 210 (FIG. 34) are provided. Of these, the tray guide 209 is a front lateral guide, and the tray guide 210 is a rear lateral guide.

The support member 274 is used for the drawer tray 100.
3 is a front view of FIG. 3 so as not to hinder the movement of the sheet feeding unit 406 so that the sheet feeding unit 406 side of the sheet bundle 99 set in FIG. As shown in FIG.
6 is out of the range of the moving space, and even when the sheet feeding unit 406 comes to the sheet feeding position of the uppermost sheet storage portion 270a, the supporting member 274 and the sheet feeding unit 406 are disposed.
They are placed at a height that prevents them from touching each other. By disposing the support member 274 at such a position, when the drawer tray 100 is drawn out, the drawer tray 10
The upper surface of the sheet bundle 0 has a full opening, and as shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, a spatial margin can be provided in the front and rear with respect to the sheet feeding direction of the sheet bundle 99 to be set.
It will be possible to perform the set with both hands without difficulty.

Further, the drawer tray 1 of the support member 274
00 inside the side fence 30 as shown in FIG.
A guide groove 276 for zero movement is provided. FIG. 5 shows the support member 274 as viewed from the inside of the drawer tray 100.

The support member 273 is used for the drawer tray 100.
As shown in Figure 6 when viewed from the inside, it has a side plate shape,
A groove 277, which is larger than the cross section of the sheet stacking tray 246, which allows the sheet stacking tray 246 to pass when it moves, and a guide groove 275 which guides the movement of the side fence 300 are provided. The guide groove 275 is provided inside the drawer tray 100.

Pull-out rails 278 and 279 for pulling out the pull-out tray 100 from the main body are provided on the upper outside of the pull-out tray 100 of the support members 273 and 274 (FIG. 2), and these are provided on the main body side. It is fitted in a drawer rail guide (not shown), and can be freely taken in and out from the paper feeding device 1 under the drawer OPEN condition.

Next, the operation of the drawer tray 100 configured as described above will be described.

As shown in the plan view of the main part of FIG. 42, a filler 282 is provided on the lower portion of the support member 273 outside the drawer tray 100, and in combination with the tray position detection sensor 631 provided in the main body, Opening / closing of the drawer tray 100 is detected. When the filler 282 cuts the sensor 631, the drawer tray 100
Is in the CLOSE state and is not turned off, the control unit 600 (FIG. 58 described later) determines that it is in the OPEN state.

The main body control unit 600 includes a LOCK condition for the drawer tray 100, which will be described in detail later, and a LOC.
When the K release condition is set in advance and the LOCK condition is met, as can be seen from the perspective view showing the entire image forming apparatus in FIG. 41, the OPEN / CASE provided beside the drawer tray of the main body Key 283
Even if is pressed, the LOCK mechanism of the drawer tray 100 is not released and the drawer tray 100 cannot be pulled out.
Key 2 if the close condition is met
When 83 is pressed, the LOCK mechanism is released and the drawer tray 100 can be pulled out.

The LOCK mechanism of the drawer tray 100 is
As shown in the schematic configuration diagram of FIG. 7, the tip of the lock pawl 285 engages with the lock groove 284 provided in the upper portion of the support member 271 to perform locking. When the lock is released, the solenoid (not shown) connected to the end of the pawl 285 on the side away from the lock groove 284 is turned on to remove the tip of the pawl 285 from the lock groove 284.

The above-described sheet stacking tray 246 has a tray shape that is movable in the sheet feeding direction, and has a so-called bellows-like shape in which irregularities are repeated in a direction parallel to the sheet feeding direction. , FIG. 11, FIG. 11 and FIG.
As shown in the front view of the main part of FIG. At that time, as shown in the front view of the main part of FIG. 8, when the groove width x ₁ has a certain size, it bends to the upper side (opening side of the groove) as shown in FIG. 10, but as shown in FIG. When x ₂ is brought close to 0 as much as possible, it hardly bends upward as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG. 12, it is bent downward (the protruding side of the groove).

FIG. 13 is a top view of the sheet stacking tray 246. In the figure, the unevenness formed on the upper surface of the tray has a different pitch between the portion on which the sheet is placed and the portion where the driving means is engaged. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 13, showing a cross section of a portion on which a sheet is placed, and FIG. 19 is a partial detailed view thereof. In addition, FIG.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 20, showing a cross section of a portion where the drive means engages with each other, and FIG. 20 is a partial detailed view thereof. Also,
As shown in FIG. 18, which is a side view of the sheet stacking tray 246, the portion where the driving means meshes is one step lower than the portion on which the sheet is placed, so that the sheet can be set easily. Further, FIG. 16 shows C- of FIG.
FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along line C, and FIG. 17 shows a part of each sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 13.

The sheet stacking tray 246 is constructed by, for example, pressing a sheet metal to have the above structure. As shown in FIG. 13, a rectangular cutout portion 255 is provided at the leading end of the sheet stacking tray 246 on the side of the sheet feeding unit, and serves as a hold area at the leading edge of the sheet bundle 99 when the sheets are moved. A pressure driven lever 461 attached to the paper unit 406 and a pressure holding plate 468.
Can directly enter the lower side of the sheet bundle 99. Further, when the sheet feeding unit 406 moves to move the sheet, if there is no sheet on the sheet stacking tray 246 stopped at the sheet feeding position 253, the tray 246 does not have to move backward to the standby position 252. , Notch 255
The pressure driven lever 461 of the paper feeding unit 406 can be passed through.

A tray 246 is provided around the cutout portion 255.
The strength of the member itself is increased as compared with the other parts.
That is, as can be seen from FIG. 14, the periphery of the relevant portion has a smaller depth of unevenness as compared with the other portions, and with such a structure, the strength is increased as compared with a simple flat plate shape. Will be available. With such a configuration, the tray 246 cantilevers the paper feeding position 253.
In addition, even when a large number of sheets are placed on the tray 246 at the standby position 252, the leading end of the tray 246 is prevented from bending, and the movement operation of the tray 246 and the sheet feeding operation are stabilized. Is done.

FIG. 26 is a sectional view of the sheet feeding device 1 viewed from the side of the sheet feeding unit 406. 27 is a detailed view of the front side of the main body of one of the trays of the plurality of stages, and FIG. 28 is the back side thereof. As shown in each of the drawings, the convex portion 26 is provided at the tip of the sheet stacking tray 246 on the side of the sheet feeding unit 406.
7 is provided, and the protrusions 2 are provided on the fall prevention portions 268 and 269 provided on the tray guides 209 and 210, respectively.
67 is fitted to prevent the tray 246 from falling off when a large force acts on the tray 246.

As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the surface of the sheet stacking tray 246 on the sheet stacking side has elasticity with a low friction coefficient of μ = 1 or less so as not to interfere with the sheet feeding operation and the sheet moving operation. A seat 250 is provided. By providing such a sheet, it is possible to eliminate the unevenness of the surface of the sheet stacking tray 246 on which the sheet is placed. That is, the side fence 33 for aligning sheets
0 or the sheet stack tray 246 of the end fence 350
It is not necessary to make the shape of the surface in contact with the shape corresponding to the unevenness of the sheet stacking tray 246. As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the elastic sheet 250 is fixed by fixing the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction with rivets 251. Note that FIG. 23 is a top view showing a state in which the elastic sheet 250 is attached to the sheet stacking tray 246. When providing the elastic sheet 250,
As shown in FIG. 24, they are arranged so as to be slightly slackened, and
As shown in FIG. 5, when the sheet stack tray 246 is moved and the rear end is bent, the sheet stack tray 246 is just stuck.

The sheet stacking trays 246 having a plurality of stages in the sheet feeding device 1 all have the same configuration as described above, and the sheet storage portions 270 provided with the plurality of stages.
Also has the same structure as the inside of the drawer tray 100 that can be drawn out. Further, all the sheet stacking trays 246 in each stage are provided with a pair of tray guides 209 and 210 provided on the front and rear covers of the main body of the sheet feeding device 1.
It is guided by and is movable in the direction parallel to the paper feeding direction.

As a configuration of the sheet stacking tray 246 other than the above-mentioned embodiment, a sheet mounting portion of the sheet stacking tray 246 as shown in FIG. 29 is pressed on a sheet metal so that the sheet is fed in the sheet feeding direction. 30, the core metal 258 is covered with a soft member 259 having a low friction coefficient formed on the core metal 258, and the core metal 258 is integrally formed. With a soft member 259 having a rib, and as shown in FIG. 31, ribs 260 are provided on each convex portion of the embodiment of FIG.
The upper side may be one that is not bent.

The sheet stacking tray 2 configured as described above
The operation of 46 is movable in the sheet feeding direction. Multiple sheet stack trays 2 provided in the sheet feeding device 1
The sheet feeding unit 46 is guided by tray guides 209 and 210 that are provided in parallel with the sheet feeding direction in common with each stage, and as shown in FIG.
A home position for the movement is provided at a position away from the position, and this position is set to the standby position 25 of the sheet stacking tray 246.
2, the stop position of the sheet stacking tray 246a corresponding to one of the LOCK release conditions of the drawer tray 100 in which the sheet stacking tray 246a of the first storage portion 270a corresponding to the sheet supply port is stored, and the sheet supply tray 246a for receiving the sheet supply. The position is the standby position 252.

When the sheet feeding device 1 performs the sheet feeding operation, the sheet stacking tray 246 of the storing section 270 storing the sheets of the selected sheet size is fed by l ₁ as shown in FIG. The sheet advances to the sheet feeding position 253 on the side of the paper unit 406, and the sheet feeding operation is started. When the sheet feeding operation other than at the paper end is completed, or when another sheet size is selected, the sheet stacking tray 246 returns to the standby position 252.
To prepare for the movement of the sheet feeding unit 406. The distance l ₁ from the standby position 252 to the sheet feeding position 253 is set to the sheet stack tray 246 when the sheet feeding unit 406 moves.
Is set to a distance that does not interfere with.

In addition, when the sheet is moved, FIG.
As shown in (c) and (d), the sheet stacking tray 246 retracts with respect to the sheet feeding unit 406, and the entire surface on which the sheet is placed opens, so the lower side of the sheet becomes free and the sheet You will be able to move. The opening amounts l ₂ and l ₃ of the tray 246 are controlled so as to change depending on the size of the placed sheets. It should be noted that the sheet movement and its control and the sheet stack tray 246 at that time
The details of the movement will be described later.

The rear end of the sheet stacking tray 246 is forcibly bent downward by a guide, and the retracted sheet stacking tray 246 hangs down in the machine. 64-29873
A space saving can be achieved by the sheet storage part partition plate opening system as proposed in. When the retracted sheet stacking tray 246 is hung down in the machine,
The sheet stacking tray 246 in each stage has guides 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, 2 as shown in FIG.
10e, 210f, 210g, 210h, 210i, 2
12 is configured to be stored in a tray space common to each stage on the downstream side of the sheet feeding device 1 in the sheet feeding direction, and space saving is achieved. Further, when the upper several sheets of the sheet stacking tray 246 are retracted, the rear end portion of the sheet stacking tray 246 does not reach the bottom surface of the sheet feeding device 1, but the sheet stacking trays 246 below the interruption reach the bottom surface. The tray guide 214 is provided below the tray guides 209i and 210i of the lowermost tray (246i in this embodiment) to extend the storage space below the lowermost tray. In addition to the above embodiment, the retracted sheet stacking tray 246 may be wound up and stored at the rear end of the sheet stacking tray 246.

The sheet stacking tray 246 is driven and moved by using a drive unit described later. At this time, movement control is performed with the standby position 252 described above as the home position. The tray standby position detection sensor 632 and the tray paper feed position detection sensor 63 of each sheet stacking tray 246.
The tray position sensor consisting of 4 is provided outside the maximum sheet width l ₄ as shown in FIG. Therefore, even if it hinders the movement of the sheet or the sheet falls off, it is not destroyed.

The sheet stacking tray 246, as well as the trays of each stage, is located on the downstream side of the sheet stacking tray 246 downstream of the sheet feeding direction, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. The drive unit 22 shown in FIGS. 37 and 38, which can freely move up and down in the paper feeding device 1, by pulleys 242 provided at both ends of a shaft (not shown) located at
2 through one drive motor 22 provided in the main body
The output of 0 is transmitted to one of the two pulleys 242 attached to the sheet stacking tray 246 in each stage, which is located on the rear side of the main body. The unevenness on the surface of the sheet stacking tray 246 has different pitches in the portion where the sheet is placed and the portion where the drive means is meshed as described above, and the pulley 24 is provided in the portion where the pitch is fine.
The two are arranged so as to mesh with each other. Note that reference numeral 243
Is a sheet stacking tray 246 to which a pulley 242 is attached.
Is the axis of movement.

Drive unit 22 that can move up and down freely
2 uses the drive motor 220 as a drive source, and switches the clutch in the drive unit to move to the position of the pulley 242 provided on the sheet feeding tray 246 at each stage and to move the sheet stacking tray 246. Both functions for transmitting drive are switched.

As shown in FIG. 37, the output of the drive motor 220 provided near the base 201 on the back side of the paper feeding device 1 is provided from the motor output gear 266 near the top plate 207 of the paper feeding device 1. The input gear 2 of the drive unit 222 through the drive belt 221 between the idler gears 257.
26. Drive unit 2 to which drive is transmitted
The reference numeral 22 moves between the base 201 and the top plate 207, which restrict the operation only in the vertical direction, along the guides 219 provided in front of and behind the drive unit 222. Note that this movement is performed via a roller 224 provided between the drive unit 222 and the guide, as shown in FIG.

The arrangement of gears and clutches inside the drive unit 222 is shown in the schematic block diagram of FIG.

In the figure, the input gear 226 to which the drive has been transmitted includes an ascending input gear 227 attached to an ascending shaft 228, an ascending electromagnetic clutch 229, and a gear 23.
0, the ascending gear 231 is rotated to move the rack 218.
The drive unit 222 is raised while meshing with. At that time, the descending electromagnetic clutch 234 is ON. When the drive unit 222 reaches the position of the pulley 242 of the sheet stacking tray 246 to be moved, the ascending electromagnetic clutch 229 is turned off and the drive is not transmitted to the gear 230, so the rotation of the ascending gear 231 is stopped. Further, since the ascending gear 231 is provided with the one-way clutch 232 and the descending electromagnetic clutch 234 is still in the ON state, the descending shaft 233 is not in the free state, and the ascending gear 231 is not connected to the drive unit 222. Since the rotation direction is restricted only to the ascending direction, the ascending of the drive unit 222 is stopped. Drive unit 222
Is moving, the moving electromagnetic clutch 23
7 is OFF, and the driving force is not transmitted to the drive unit for moving the tray 246.

When the moving operation of the drive unit 222 is completed, the moving electromagnetic clutch 237 is turned on and the input gear 226 is turned on.
Is transmitted to the gear 238 via the moving input gear 235. Then, the driving force is transmitted from the gear 238 to the movement output gear 239, and the driving force is transmitted to the movement gear 241 provided on the main body side by the number of steps with respect to the sheet stacking tray 246, whereby the movement shaft 243 rotates. Then, the moving pulley 242 provided below the sheet stacking tray 246 rotates to move the sheet stacking tray 246.

A moving shaft 243 on the drive unit 222 side,
The moving shafts 243 on the sheet stacking tray 246 side each include a coupling member (not shown), and the drive unit 222
When the sheet reaches the position of the sheet stacking tray 246 to be moved as desired, the coupling is performed and the driving force can be transmitted. In addition, the coupling is released by the drive unit 2
This is automatically performed by moving 22 itself in either the up or down direction.

FIG. 39 is a front view of the main part of the drive portion of the sheet stacking tray 246 as seen from the front side of the main body, and FIG. 40 is a top view thereof.

The moving operation of the tray 246 is performed in the standby position 25.
2 to the sheet feeding position 253 and the opening position 254
From the paper feeding position 252 to the paper feeding position 253 are in the same direction.
To the standby position 252 and the paper feeding position 25
The movement operation from 3 to the opening position 254 (FIG. 32) is in the same direction.

The above-mentioned moving operation directions are opposite directions,
The switching of this direction is performed by switching between forward rotation and reverse rotation in the drive motor 220 and switching the rotation direction of the output gear 266.

The control of the movement of the sheet stacking tray 246 will be described in detail later in the section of control. The structure is such that the encoder 244 provided coaxially with the gear 239 rotates by the rotation of the gear 239, and the rotation thereof. Control is performed by counting the amount with the tray drive position detection sensor 635.

Further, a filler 247 is provided below the sheet stacking tray 246 as shown in FIG.
The tray standby position detection sensor 632 and the tray paper feed position detection sensor 634 detect the respective positions and control is performed.

When the moving operation of the sheet stacking tray 246 of a certain sheet storage portion 270 is completed, the drive unit 222 is
Is the sheet stacking tray 2 of the other sheet storage unit 270.
In order to execute the moving operation of 46, the moving electromagnetic clutch 237 which has transmitted the drive to the drive section is turned off, and the drive force is transmitted to the drive section again for the movement of the drive unit 222 itself. As a result, the drive unit 222 moves.

As for the case of ascending, as described above, the descending is executed by turning off the descending electromagnetic clutch 234 to make the descending shaft 233 free, and unlocking the one-way clutch 232 with respect to the ascending gear 231. At this time, the drive motor 220 is operated by the drive unit 22.
2 rotates in the opposite direction to the case of rising, and causes the output gear 266 to rotate in the opposite direction to the case of rising.

Next, another embodiment of the sheet stacking tray 246 will be described. FIG. 43 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment, FIG. 44 is a perspective view of a main portion showing the uppermost sheet storage portion, and FIG. 45 particularly shows a sheet stacking tray portion of the uppermost sheet storage portion. It is a front view. In these figures, the uppermost sheet storage portion 270a of the sheet storage portions 270 having a plurality of stages is provided so as to be drawn out from the sheet feeding device 1 '.

The uppermost sheet accommodating portion 270a has a structure for the sheet accommodating portion 270a, in which sheets are placed, the sheet accommodating tray 246 is movable in the sheet feeding direction, and the sheet accommodating tray 246 is movably supported. The support pipe 750 and the support pipe 750, which are integrally formed, and receive the driving force from a drive source (not shown) installed in the main body of the sheet feeding device 1 ′, and move the sheet stack tray 246 to the support pipe 750.
A side fence 331 that can be retracted from the sheet stacking tray 246 by aligning the moving pulley 751 to be moved up and the side end surface of the sheet placed on the sheet stacking tray 246.
And an end fence 350 having a rear end surface of the sheet and retractable from the sheet stacking tray 246.

The structure of the sheet storage portion 270a is shown in FIG.
As can be seen from the perspective view of FIG. 1, since it is integrally formed of a hollow cylindrical member, it is extremely strong in terms of strength.
That is, the support pipe 750 extends in a state parallel to the sheet feeding direction, and guides and supports both end surfaces of the sheet stacking tray 246. The first pipe portion 750A and the second pipe portion 7
50B and a third pipe portion 750C and a fourth pipe portion 75 which extend in a state parallel to a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction and are continuous with the first and second pipe portions 750A and 750B.
0D and the first and second pipe parts 750A, 7
A guide rail portion 752 that smoothly moves the sheet stacking tray 246 is formed on the sheet 50B, and the third pipe portion 750C located in the sheet feeding direction has a predetermined height that does not hinder the movement of the sheet between the sheet storage portions. By the way, the sheet stacking tray 246 has a rising portion 750E that stands up to the surface of the sheet stacking tray 246 and extends in the sheet feeding direction by a predetermined length so as not to disturb the sheet setting by the operator. Therefore, in the support pipe 750, since the sheet stacking surface area 753 and the sheet feeding area 754 are in the entire opening state, when the sheet moves to the lower sheet storage portion 270, the smooth movement of the sheet can be realized. Also, the third pipe portion 750C
The sheet feeding unit stands by in the space formed by both the rising portions 750E.

Here, the movement of the sheet related to the tray structure
Let me briefly touch on the set operation.

The sheet storage portion 270a is pulled out from the sheet feeding device main body 1'by an operator, and the operator
The sheet is inserted onto the sheet stacking tray 246 from the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction, and the side fence 33
1. The respective sheet end surfaces are abutted against the end fence 350 and set on the sheet stack tray 246. After the setting is completed, the operator can pull out the sheet storage unit 27
0a is loaded into the main body 1'of the paper feeder. After the loading is completed, the sheet stacking tray 246 temporarily moves in the sheet feeding direction, and the sheets set on the sheet stacking tray 246 also move in the sheet feeding direction. Sheet stacking tray 246
Moves until the leading edge of the sheet feeding direction comes into contact with a vertically movable sheet feeding unit 406 (not shown), and stops after the contact. Next, the sheet feeding unit 406 clamps a predetermined portion of the leading edge of the sheet, and after the clamping, the sheet stack tray 246.
Is retracted in the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction. Furthermore,
The sheet feeding unit 406 descends toward the lower sheet storage portion while holding the leading edge of the sheet. At this time, since the sheet placing surface area 753 and the sheet feeding area 754 are in the state of being fully opened, there is no obstacle to the movement of the sheet, and the sheet can be smoothly moved to the lower sheet storage portion 270b.

The structure for aligning the sheets is as follows.

When the drawer tray 100 is closed after the sheets are set, the set sheet bundle 99 is urged by the impact of the drawer tray 100 which is provided below the image forming apparatus 2 and which can be opened and closed. In order to prevent the pieces from falling apart, a side fence 300 as shown in the perspective view of the main part of FIG. 47 is provided. The side fence 300 is parallel to the sheet feeding direction, is integrally molded with the shaft 301, and is parallel to the pull-out direction of the pull-out tray 100 (staying member) 274 (see FIG. 4).
9) and guide grooves 275 (FIG. 48) and 276 (FIG. 49) provided on the side plate 273, respectively, and can be set manually. Stay 274 of drawer tray 100
Racks 307 and 309 are provided on the upper side of the guide grooves 275 and 276, respectively, and the pinions 306 and 308 attached to the shaft 301 respectively. The racks 307 and 309 mesh with each other and are movable. 48 is a perspective view of relevant parts when the drawer tray 100 is viewed from the rear side in the drawing direction, and FIG. 49 is a perspective view of relevant parts when the tray 100 is viewed from the entire side in the drawing direction.

The sheet bundle 99 is set by setting the side fence 300 from the sheet area to be set with the sheet end face reference wall 261a provided inside the front side plate (supporting member) 271 of the drawer tray 100 in parallel therewith as a set reference. This is performed by once excluding the sheet bundle 99, setting the sheet bundle 99 on the sheet stacking tray 246, and then moving the side fence 300 to a position where it collides with the sheet bundle 99. The set side fence 300 is locked so that the one-way clutch 304 attached to the gear 305 regulates rotation only in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 48, so that the side fence 300 projects from the gear 305 and the guide groove 275 to the inside of the drawer tray 100. When the pinion 306 is engaged, the side fence 300 cannot move in the direction of arrow c in FIG. 48, and is locked with respect to the direction d of the force that acts when closing the drawer tray 100.

Side fence 300 for seat setting
When moving the side fence 300 to the front side of the main body, hold the handle portion 310 to move the side fence 30.
It operates by just pulling 0 toward the front side, but when moving it to the back side of the main body, the one-way clutch 30 is formed in a crank shape at the tip through a groove 302 provided in the shaft 301.
4 and the knob 305 to which the gear 305 is attached,
48. By moving in the direction of arrow a, the pinion 30
6 and the gear 305 connected to the knob 303 are disengaged, and the side fence 300 is moved while pressing the knob 303 in the direction of arrow a.

The side fence 300 rotates the gear 305 in the arrow b direction in the unlocked state after the drawer tray 100 is loaded in the main body of the sheet feeding device 1 and the arrow c direction in accordance with the rotation of the gear 305. When the sheet bundle 99 is rotated, the sheet bundle 99 is retracted to a position above the sheet bundle 99 and away from the sheet bundle 99. As a result, once the sheet bundle 99
The unnecessary interference between the sheet bundle 99 and the side fence 300 after the paper alignment is performed is eliminated.

The elastic sheet 250 is stuck on the surface of the sheet stacking tray 246, so that the surface is flat, but if the lower end face of the side fence 300 is a simple flat surface, a minute gap is formed between the two. Therefore, when the side fence 300 absorbs the force of the sheet bundle 99 to move due to the impact of closing the drawer tray 100, several sheets may slip through the minute gap. Therefore, below the side fence 300, the pawl 313 as shown in the side view of the main part of FIG.
Is provided. The pawl 313 is swingable with respect to the support shaft 312, and in the free state, tries to rotate in the arrow L direction in FIG. 50 by the weight of the weight portion.

However, when the sheet stacking tray 246 is advanced as shown in the side view of the main part of FIG.
From the taper-shaped portion 314 at the end in the longitudinal direction of the sheet stacking tray 246, the tip of the pawl 313 becomes parallel to the sheet stacking tray 246, and is moved from the upper sheet storage portion. Sheet bundle 99
Will be placed on it. When the sheet stacking tray 246 retreats, the weight portion of the pawl 313 loses its support, so the sheet stacking tray 246 rotates in the direction of L in the drawing.
It stands still at the side of the side fence 300.

Next, another embodiment of the side fence will be described.

A side fence according to another embodiment is
As shown in the perspective view of the main part of FIG. 52, the front view of the main part of FIG. 53, and the plan view of the main part of FIG. 54, the corrugated sheet stacking tray 246 is installed on both sides of the sheet storage part 270. It is supported by a guide groove 276 formed in a rail-shaped member, guided along the groove, and moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The side fence 331 that aligns the end faces of the sheets in the sheet feeding direction is the uppermost sheet storage unit 27 of the plurality of sheet storage units 270 that can be drawn out from the sheet feeding device body 1.
It is installed only in 0a.

The side fence 331 includes a fence portion 332 that abuts on the sheet-side end surface and aligns the sheet-side end surface, a support bar 333 that is fixed to a surface of the fence portion 332 on the opposite side of the sheet abutting surface, and extends in the sheet width direction, and Support bar 3
It is composed of a drive motor unit 334 that moves 33 in the seat width direction. The contact portion 332A with the tray surface of the fence portion 332 is formed in a comb-teeth shape that engages with and contacts the corrugated tray surface, and guides the movement when the fence portion moves and the sheet enters the tray corrugated concave portion. Even if you do, you can be sure to align. Support bar 3
A rack 333A that engages with the gear 334A of the drive motor unit 334 is formed on the end portion side of the fence unit 33 that faces the fence end portion.
32. The drive motor unit 334 transmits the rotation of the drive motor unit 334 to the fence unit 332.
A, and is fixed to the guide rail 276 via the base 335. In other words, the side fence 331 is integrally attached to the sheet storage unit 270, and when the sheet storage unit 270 is pulled out with respect to the sheet feeding device body 1, the side fence 331 is also pulled out at the same time. Further, the guide rail 276 is provided with a retracting cutout portion 336 so that the fence portion 332 can be retracted to the outside of the tray area.
When 32 is retracted out of the tray area, it can move smoothly through the notch 336.

The operation of the side fence 331 according to another embodiment based on the above configuration will be described below.

When any one of the plurality of sheet storage portions 270 is in the paper end state, the sheet size signal indicating the paper end is output to the control portion 60 shown in FIG.
0 is input to the drive motor unit 334 from the control unit 600.
To the fence part 332 judged from the sheet size signal
The number of pulses corresponding to the amount of movement of the drive motor is output, and the drive motor unit 334 rotates a predetermined number of times. The fence part 332 moves via the support bar 333 by the rotation of the drive motor part 334, and stands by at a predetermined position. Sheet storage section 27 at the top
The sheet 0a is pulled out from the sheet feeding device main body 1 to replenish the sheet, and the sheet is set in the sheet storage portion 270a in accordance with the side fence 331 already located at a predetermined position. After the setting is completed, the sheet storage unit 270a is loaded into the sheet feeding device, and after the loading is completed, the drive motor unit 334 rotates in the reverse direction, and the fence unit 332 passes through the cutout portion 336 and retreats to the outside of the sheet stacking tray 246 region. To do.

The amount of movement of the fence section 332 will be further described.

Image forming apparatus 2 in which sheet feeding apparatus 1 is installed
Has a digital function equipped with a full memory capable of rotating the read image information. With respect to the vertical (T) set of A4 and B5 originals, since the horizontal (Y) conversion can be performed by the rotation processing, the main sheet sizes accommodated in the sheet feeding device 1 are set to A4Y, B5Y, A3T, and B4T. The length in the sheet width direction is 297 mm (A4Y, A3
T) and 257 mm (B5Y, B4T).
Further, the sheets are set on the basis of the front end surface of the apparatus, and therefore, the fence portion 332 is moved to the retracted position outside the area of the sheet stacking tray 246 and 257 mm from the front end surface of the apparatus.
Between the first set position of No. 2 and the second set position of 297 mm from the front end surface of the apparatus.

Next, the mechanism and operation related to the end fence will be continuously described.

The end fence 350 is installed at the sheet end of each sheet storage portion 270, as shown in the schematic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus system in FIG. That is, the end fence 350 in this embodiment is. The sheet trailing end 99c of each stage of the sheet feeding device 1 of the different size multi-stage sheet feeding system, which is provided below the image forming apparatus 2 and includes a sheet stacking tray 246 for vertically stacking a plurality of sheets
As shown in FIG. 55, the end fences 350a to 350i of all stages are optimal positions of the end fence 350 adapted to the size of the stacked sheets of each stage as shown in FIG. And the retracted position are automatically moved to each end fence 350 until the next signal comes.
Is provided with an automatic control unit including a detection unit for holding the optimum position, a driving unit, and a holding unit. Furthermore, the end fence 350 for the uppermost drawer tray 100a
Only a, end fence 350a adapted to the stacked sheets
In addition to the automatic control by changing the mechanism for holding the optimum position, the position of the end fence 350a can be manually changed arbitrarily.

The end fence mechanism section is located between the sheet storage section 270 of the sheet feeding apparatus 1 and the sheet feeding apparatus front cover 16 and faces the front side as shown in the schematic configuration diagram of the end fence 350 in FIG. Drive shaft 364 is held vertically to the left of the center of the drive shaft 3
One drive motor 359 capable of forward and reverse rotation is fixed to the bottom of 64 via a motor mounting bracket 360 fixed to the paper feeding device skeleton 200, and between the drive motor 359 and the drive shaft 364. An eccentricity absorption coupling 361 is provided, and both are connected with the eccentricity absorption coupling 361 interposed therebetween.

Next, control of the side fence configured as described above will be described.

First, the control of the side fence when the drawer tray is pulled out (hereinafter referred to as "Open") and when the drawer tray is pushed and set (hereinafter referred to as "Close") will be described.

Control of locking of the side fence 331, especially operation of the drawer tray 100 (first-stage sheet storage section)
The control at the time of n / Close will be described.

FIG. 56 is a flow chart showing the control procedure at the time of sheet replenishment. It should be noted that although it is represented as S0 in the flowchart, in order to correspond to the figure, the corresponding figure number is shown in parentheses after S representing a step, such as S (56) 0 step in the description in the text. Hereinafter, the same notation is used in the description of the flowchart.

In this procedure, it is assumed that the drawer tray 100 is in the Close state and the side fence 331 is locked at step S (56) 0. S
(56) In one step, the CPU 6 checks whether or not the operator inputs a drawer tray Open request to a member such as an auto load key provided on the front surface of the drawer tray 100 or the key input unit 612 of the operation unit 610.
It is determined by 01, and if there is no Open request, the state is kept as it is, and if there is an Open request, S (56) 2
It proceeds to the step and it is detected whether or not the drawer tray 100 is locked. Then, in step S (56) 3, it is determined whether or not the drawer tray 100 is currently locked, and if it is locked, the lock condition is released and the process returns to step S (56) 2 to be locked. If the condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S (56) 4 to unlock the drawer tray 100 by the lock mechanism. And S
(56) In step 5, the CPU 601 determines whether the tray opening amount detection sensor 631 detects whether the drawer tray 100 is pulled out by the operator.

In this judgment, when the drawer tray 100 is not drawn out, the drawer tray 100 is unlocked as it is, and conversely, when it is judged that the drawer tray 100 is drawn out, step S (56) is 6 steps. The side fence 331 is unlocked and manually moved. Then, the sheet supply by the operator is completed,
When the drawer tray 100 is set in the paper feeding device 1 again, the operator operates the member such as the auto-close key provided on the front surface of the drawer tray 100 or the key input unit 612 of the operation unit 610 in step S (56) 7. CP whether or not the drawer tray Close request is input from
Judge by U601. With this judgment, the drawer tray C
When the lose request is not input, the operator's work has not been completed, so the side fence 331 remains in the unlocked state, and conversely, the drawer tray Cl
When the ose request is input, the work by the operator is completed, so the side fence 33 is selected in step S (56) 8 steps.
Lock 1 again. Then, in step S (56) 9, the operator sets the drawer tray 100 again to the sheet feeding device 1
The tray opening amount detection sensor 63
1, and the CPU 601 determines. In this judgment, when the drawer tray 100 is not set,
The side fence 331 is kept locked as it is, and conversely, when it is determined that the drawer tray 100 is set, the drawer tray 100 is locked again in step S (56). In step S (56) 11, the CPU 601 controls the side fence drive unit 626 to retract the side fence 331 from the sheet stacking tray 246 in preparation for the movement of the sheet stacking tray 246.

In this way, when the drawer tray 100 is open, the side fence 331 is unlocked, and when it is Close, it is locked so that the drawer tray 100 is open.
Since it is possible to improve the setting property of the sheet at the time and prevent the sheet from being separated due to an impact at the time of Close, it is possible to improve the reliability. In addition, the drawer tray 100
After being set in the sheet feeding device 1, the sheet stacking tray 246 is prevented from moving by retracting from the side fence 331.

Next, the control of the side fence and the end fence will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Side fence 33 of the first-stage seat storage section
0, the movement control of the end fence 350a, especially the control at the seat end will be described.

In step S (57) 0, the i-th stage (i
When a sheet end occurs in the sheet storage portion of ≧ 2), S
(57) In the first step, the sheet storage portion 2 of the first stage
The presence or absence of the sheet 70a is detected by the sheet remaining amount data stored in the nonvolatile RAM 605. And S (5
7) In step 2, the CPU 601 determines whether or not there is a sheet in the first-stage seat storage portion 270a. When it is determined that there is a sheet, the side fence 330,
Since neither the end fence 350a can move nor the end fence 350a, the control ends without being subject to this control. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no sheet, the sheet size at the sheet end in step S (57) is detected from the sheet size data stored in the nonvolatile RAM 605 (SI
ZE), S (57) In step 4 (S), the CPU 601 controls the end fence drive unit 622 and the side fence drive unit 626, and automatically moves the side fence 300 and the end fence 350a according to the SIZE and sets them to the operator. Notify the sheet size to be used.

In this way, when a seat end occurs, it is detected whether or not there is a seat in the first-stage seat storage portion 270a, and if there is no seat, the side fence is preliminarily adjusted to the size of the seat end seat. Three
00, the position of the end fence 350a is automatically moved, so that the operator can be informed of the size of the sheet to be set, so that mistakes in sheet setting can be reduced and operability can be improved.

Next, the relationship between the control modes of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment will be described. The basic configuration of the system will be described below.

58 and 59 are block diagrams of a control system of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. These two figures constitute one control system.

In FIG. 58, the control section (controller 6
Reference numeral 00) is a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as "CPU") 601, which constitutes a microcomputer for controlling the main body of the copying machine, a timer 602, an RO for storing fixed data such as program data for operating the CPU 601.
Volatile RAM 60 that temporarily stores temporary data such as M603, set flags for various modes, set number of sheets, and binding margin size, and loses data when the power is turned off
4. Non-volatile RAM 605 that stores process setting data, logging data such as the number of jams, the number of serviceman calls, the number of sheets passed, and the size data of each sheet storage unit, and the data is not lost even when the power is turned off, CPU
The I / O 606 controls the interface between the I / O unit 601 and the operation unit 610, the copy process unit 613, the paper feed control unit 620, and the sensor unit 630. The I / O 606 controls the copy sequence based on a control program stored in the ROM 603.

Further, the CPU 601 has an operation unit 610 for detecting various displays and various input information from the operator via the I / O 606, a copy process unit 613 for performing image formation such as charging / developing, a paper feed control unit 620, and various types. It is connected to a sensor unit 630 connected to various sensor groups for detecting copy information, machine status information, and the like.

The operation section 610 is a display section 611 such as a CRT display or LCD for displaying various messages to the operator, and a key input section 612 for detecting various input information (print key, mode key, etc.) from the operator.
Thus, the control output from the copying process unit 613 is sent to each unit 614 that executes the copying process including the above-described charging charger 8 and the developing device 9 and controls them.

Further, as shown in FIG. 59, the paper feed controller 62
0 is a paper feed unit drive unit 621 that drives a paper feed unit moving motor that moves the paper feed unit up and down, an end fence drive unit 622 that drives an end fence drive motor that moves an end fence, and a separation unit in the paper feed unit.
A sheet feeding / conveying drive unit 623 that drives a roller related to conveyance and a sheet feeding / conveying drive motor that drives electrostatic conveyance failure;
A tray drive unit 624 that drives a tray drive motor that covers the movement of the tray, and a pressure lever drive unit 625 that drives a pressure lever drive motor that raises the pressure lever at the time of feeding and shifting the sheet to the lower stage. , An end fence drive unit 626 that drives an end fence drive motor that moves the side fence. Further, the outputs of various sensor groups of the sensor unit 630 are output to the I / O 6
The CPU 601 detects this via 06 and executes the copy sequence based on the control program stored in the ROM 603. At that time, with respect to paper feed control such as paper feed and paper end, various signals such as a paper feed operation signal and a paper end processing signal are sent from the CPU 601 to the I / O 606.
It is sent to the paper feed control unit 612 via the. Paper feed controller 6
Based on these signals, 12 sends a drive signal to each drive unit (not shown) and controls it to perform processing such as paper feeding and paper end.

Further, the sensor section 630 detects the presence / absence of the sheet at the sheet feeding stage, and the sheet end detecting sensor 48.
1. A sheet remaining amount detection sensor 482 that detects the remaining amount of the sheet in the stage being fed in several stages, and a sheet feeding unit position detection sensor that detects the number of the fed sheet by counting from the home position 492, a sheet leading edge detection sensor 483 that checks whether the sheet is fed correctly when feeding the sheet, a sheet upper limit detection sensor 480 that detects the upper limit of the sheet bundle of the tray, and an end fence that detects the position of the end fence A position detection sensor 357, a sheet detection sensor 394 that detects the presence or absence of a sheet when the drawer tray is taken in and out, a tray opening amount detection sensor 631 that detects the open amount when the drawer tray is pulled out in combination with an encoder, and a home position of the tray. Tray standby position detection sensor 632 that detects, human body that detects the presence of an operator Knowledge sensor 633, the tray sheet feed position detecting sensor 634 for detecting the feed position of the tray, and is configured from the tray driving unit position detecting sensor 635 and the like.

In the above system, a series of CPs
The determination operation of U601 may be stored in the ROM 603 and / or the non-volatile RAM 605 in advance. This also applies to each control operation described later.

The sheet size detection is performed by the first-stage sheet storage section 270a. The lateral size of the sheet is detected by the end fence 350. First, in this detection, first, the end fence 350 is moved to the home position, and at this time, the filler 354 on the lower side of the rack (not shown) keeps cutting the end fence position detection sensor 357 (not shown) during movement to turn off the sensor. The lateral size of the set sheet is calculated from the number of sheets, and the sheet size is detected by the CPU 601.

[0112]

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,
The comb-shaped portion moves in a state of engaging with the portion formed in the corrugated cross section of the recording sheet placing means, so that the operation of the aligning means is stable and a reliable sheet aligning operation can be performed. Therefore, stable seat setting can be demonstrated.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the aligning means moves the comb tooth-shaped portion of the aligning means to the outside of the sheet placing area in a state of being engaged with the corrugated portion of the sheet placing means. Therefore, the aligning means does not get in the way when the sheets are moved, and a stable seat setting property can be exhibited.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the aligning means is automatically moved to the position corresponding to the preset sheet size and the sheet is replenished, the sheet size different from the automatically set sheet size is set. When it is desired to replenish a sheet of a size, the position of the aligning means can be manually changed and replenished, and the aligning operation can be executed, which eliminates the troublesome operation and improves the operability. .

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, after the sheet aligning operation is performed, the sheet is separated upward from the sheet mounting surface, so that it does not hinder the movement of the sheet and exhibits a stable sheet setting property. it can. It should be noted that since the evacuation is performed so as to escape upward, there is no need to provide a moving space in particular, and there is no fear of increasing the size.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the aligning means is supported without interfering with the sheet placing means and the sheet placed on the sheet placing means, so that stable sheet setting property and performance are exhibited. it can.

[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 perspective view showing an outline of a drawer tray in the paper feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the sheet feeding device showing an installation position of a drawer tray.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which a drawer tray is pulled out.

FIG. 5 is a front view of one support member as viewed from the inside of the drawer tray.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the other support member as viewed from the inside of the drawer tray.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a lock mechanism of the drawer tray.

FIG. 8 is a front view of relevant parts showing the structure of a sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a main portion showing another structure of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 10 is a front view of relevant parts showing a bent state of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 11 is a main part front view showing a bent state of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 12 is a main part front view showing a bent state of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a sheet stacking tray.

14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

15 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

16 is a diagram showing a part of a section taken along line CC of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a part of a cross section taken along line DD of FIG. 13.

FIG. 18 is a side view of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

20 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 21 is a main part front view showing a state in which an elastic sheet is attached to the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 22 is a front view of relevant parts showing a state in which an elastic sheet is attached to a sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a state in which an elastic sheet is attached to the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 24 is a front view showing a state in which the sheet stacking tray to which the elastic sheet is attached is extended.

FIG. 25 is a front view showing a state where the sheet stacking tray to which the elastic sheet is attached is bent.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a cross-sectional structure of the paper feeding device as viewed from the side where the paper feeding unit is installed.

27 is a diagram showing a mounting structure on the front surface side of the sheet stacking tray in FIG. 26.

28 is a diagram showing a mounting structure on the back side of the sheet stacking tray in FIG. 26.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an essential part showing another embodiment of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view of a main part showing still another embodiment of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of a main portion showing still another embodiment of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 32 is an operation explanatory view showing the operation of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting position of a tray position sensor that detects the position of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 34 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a movable position of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of a main part showing a part of the drive mechanism of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 36 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the arrangement of gears and clutches inside the drive unit in the drive mechanism of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 37 is a side view showing the outline of the drive mechanism of the drive unit.

38 is a plan view of FIG. 37. FIG.

FIG. 39 is a side view showing the outline of the drive portion of the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 40 is a plan view of FIG. 39.

FIG. 41 is a perspective view showing the entire image forming apparatus system showing a state where the drawer tray is pulled out.

42 is a plan view of the drawer tray that has been pulled out. FIG.

FIG. 43 is a perspective view showing an entire image forming apparatus system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 44 is a perspective view of relevant parts showing a state where the drawer tray of the paper feeding device according to the other embodiment is pulled out.

FIG. 45 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a structure of a drawer tray of a paper feeding device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 46 is a perspective view showing a structure of a sheet storage portion of a paper feeding device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 47 is a main-portion perspective view showing a state where the drawer tray is pulled out from the paper feeding device.

FIG. 48 is a perspective view of relevant parts showing a state where the drawer tray is pulled out from the paper feeding device.

FIG. 49 is a perspective view of relevant parts showing a state where the drawer tray is pulled out from the paper feeding device.

FIG. 50 is a front view of relevant parts showing the relationship between the claws of the side fence and the sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 51 is a front view of relevant parts showing the operation of the claws of the side fence when the sheet stacking tray has entered.

FIG. 52 is a perspective view showing a structure of a side fence according to another embodiment.

53 is a front view of the main parts of FIG. 52. FIG.

54 is a plan view of FIG. 52. FIG.

FIG. 55 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanism section of an end fence.

FIG. 56 is a flowchart showing a control procedure at the time of sheet supply.

FIG. 57 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for moving the side fence and the end fence.

FIG. 58 is a block diagram showing a part of a basic system of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, which is integrated with FIG. 59 to form one system.

FIG. 59 is a block diagram showing another part of the basic system of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, which is integrated with FIG. 58 to construct one system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper Feeding Device 2 Image Forming Device 3 Automatic Document Feeding Device 99 Sheet Bundle 222 Drive Unit 242 Pulley 246 Sheet Stacking Tray 270 Sheet Storage Section 271, 272, 273 Supporting Member 300, 331 Side Fence 301 Shaft 302 Groove 303 Knob 304 One-Way Clutch 305 Gear 306, 308 Pinion 307, 309 Rack 332 Fence part 332A Contact part 336 Evacuation notch part 600 Control part (controller) 624 Tray drive part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Ki ▲ Saki ▼ Osamu Nakamagome 1-3-6, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Masanori Nagayama 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 6 In Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumio Kurizumi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroyuki Taniyama 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Shares Company Ricoh

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of recording sheet storage stages arranged in parallel in a vertical direction, a support means for supporting the recording sheet storage stages so that the recording sheet storage stages can be pulled out from a sheet feeding device main body, and a recording sheet stored in the recording sheet storage stage. The recording sheet placing means formed in a corrugated cross section on which the recording sheet is placed, the driving means for retracting the recording sheet placing means from the recording sheet placing area of the recording sheet storage stage, and the returning means, and the recording sheet placing means. The contact portion with the placing means is formed in a comb-teeth shape that engages with the above-mentioned shape of the recording sheet placing means, and contacts the recording sheet from a direction substantially orthogonal to the recording sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet accommodating stage so as to contact the recording sheet. A sheet feeding device including an aligning unit that aligns the sheets. 2. A retracting means for retracting the aligning means while holding the engaged state outside the recording sheet mounting area before the recording sheet mounting means is moved by the driving means. The paper feeder described. 3. A moving means provided with a plurality of the aligning means, and moving at least one of the plurality of aligning means to a preset position for each sheet size to be accommodated automatically or manually. Claim 1 which further comprises
The paper feeder described. 4. A plurality of recording sheet storage stages arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, a support means for supporting the recording sheet storage stages so that the recording sheet storage stages can be pulled out from the sheet feeding device main body, and a recording sheet stored in the recording sheet storage stage. And a driving means for retracting the recording sheet mounting means from the recording sheet mounting area of the recording sheet storage stage and for returning the recording sheet mounting means to the recording sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet storage stage. Aligning means for aligning the recording sheets by contacting the recording sheets in a direction substantially orthogonal to the recording sheet, and the drawn-out recording sheet storage stage are loaded in the main body of the sheet feeding device, and then the aligning means is separated upward from the sheet mounting surface. A sheet feeding device including: 5. A recording sheet accommodating means for accommodating a recording sheet, and an aligning means for abutting the recording sheet in a direction substantially orthogonal to a recording sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet accommodated in the recording sheet accommodating means to align the recording sheets. And a supporting means for supporting the aligning means on the recording sheet accommodating means portion located in a direction substantially orthogonal to the recording sheet feeding direction.