JPH0678130B2 - Sheet separation feeding device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sheet separating / feeding device for feeding sheets one by one from a stack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When ejecting sheets from a stack, there is a tendency for two or more sheets to be ejected as a bunch of sheets due to the friction between the sheets and the binding effect of the sheet edges that occurs when the sheets are cut. To solve this problem, it is well known to feed sheets through a nip formed of a stationary surface of a pair of cooperating movable surfaces. The sheet is advanced from the stack into the nip, but with the cooperating surfaces, the first sheet in contact with the moving surface is advanced through the nip by driving the moving surface. The other sheets advanced into the nip area are delayed by the stationary surface, which has a relatively large coefficient of friction as the first sheet passes through the nip. The sheet conveying means is generally located downstream of the nip and is operative to contact and drive the sheet prior to its trailing edge exiting the nip. The sheet conveying means is combined with the sheet detecting means for stopping the driving of the movable surface before the trailing edge of the sheet exits the nip, and the sheets are fed continuously without a gap without stream feeding. We try to deliver at controlled intervals. However, the next sheet to proceed is because it has its leading edge somewhere between the front edge of the stack and the delay nip,
There is a limit to the precision of control that can be provided in sheet feeding. For this reason, it has been proposed to advance the leading edge of each sheet to a standby station slightly downstream of the delay nip, and feed it from there, which is adopted in the Zerox 9200. In this way, if the sheets are always sent out from the same position, the distance between the sheets can be controlled more precisely. However, in the case of this method, since each sheet has to be advanced to the standby station, a separate feeding device (as described above, it is stopped to prevent stream feeding) in order to advance each sheet to the standby station. Must be activated.

In most cases, the leading edge of the next sheet was found to be within the nip when the trailing edge of the sheet exited the nip.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention The problem to be solved by the present invention, that is, an object of the present invention is to make use of the above-mentioned features and to properly prevent stream feeding with a simple structure while properly transferring sheets such as a transfer station. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet separating / feeding device that feeds to a processing station.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a sheet separating / feeding device for advancing sheets one by one from a stack to a transfer station at predetermined time intervals. A sheet separator for separating a number of sheets fed from the stack, an aligning station for aligning the sheets upstream of the transfer station, and a means for feeding the sheets from the sheet separator to the processing station. The sheet separating / feeding apparatus having the following features is improved. In the present invention, the sheet separator comprises a movable surface, a stationary surface, and means for driving the movable surface, both surfaces being separated by a sheet fed from the top of the stack by the sheet advancing means. A first sheet cooperating to form a container nip and contacting the movable surface is advanced through the separator nip by drive of the movable surface while other sheets in the nip region are stationary. Delayed by a surface, the aligning station comprises aligning means having an operating position for aligning the sheets fed from the separator by the feeding means, the aligning means feeding the sheets to the transfer station. Configured to move from the operating position to be fed and to return to the operating position as soon as the sheet leaves the alignment station, The sheet feeding means is arranged to detect the sheet as it is being advanced to the aligning station and is operative to generate a signal to move the aligning means from the operative position after a predetermined time interval. Further, a sheet detecting means that operates so as to stop the driving of the movable surface before the trailing edge of the sheet leaves the separator nip, a means for restarting the driving of the movable surface after a predetermined time, and the nip. In order to detect the absence of a sheet, and for activating the sheet advancing means to advance the sheet from the stack to the nip and stop the leading edge of the sheet at the nip. To do.

According to such a sheet separating / feeding apparatus, the sheet is fed to the transfer station at predetermined time intervals, the driving of the sheet separator is stopped when the sheet is fed to the processing station, and after a predetermined time, The drive is restarted, the sheet is fed at a controlled time interval, and the sheet separator is used as a sheet waiting place. That is, the sheet advancing means and the detecting means cooperate to cause the sheet to stand by in the separator nip when the drive of the separator is stopped, and otherwise feed the sheet from the stack to the nip. This waiting location allows for precise control of the sheet-to-sheet gap at the processing station with a simple structure and no special space required. In other words, the separator nip is utilized as a waiting place used to control the time interval between consecutive sheets fed from the stack and also prevents stream feeding. Especially in the aligning station, not only is the sheet sent to the transfer station in a reliable alignment relationship, but it is also possible to feed the sheet at the same and accurate speed all the time. And it is fed at high speed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring initially to FIG. 1, a xerographic copier incorporating the present invention is shown. The copier has a photoreceptor drum 1 mounted for rotation (clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1), the photoconductive imaging surface of the drum having a series of xerographic or charging stations. 2, the image forming station 3, the developing station 4, the transfer station 5, and the cleaning station 6 are sequentially conveyed.

The charging station 2 includes a corotron that charges the photoconductor with a uniform electrostatic charge. In the image forming station 3, a document to be copied is placed on the platen 13 and is scanned by the movable optical scanning device, so that a light image is generated so as to flow on the drum 3. The light image selectively discharges the electrostatic charge on the photoreceptor in the form of an image so that an electrostatic latent image of the object is recorded on the drum surface. In the developing station 4, the electrostatic latent image is brought into contact with the toner particles so that the toner particles adhere to the charged areas of the photosensitive member and are developed into a visible form. The transfer station 5 is provided with a transfer corotron 7 for generating an electric field for assisting the transfer of toner particles, and the developed image is transferred to a copy sheet fed in synchronization with the image on the drum surface. Is transcribed. The copy sheet is then separated from drum 1,
The separating AC corotron 8 assists the separation by the generated electric field. The copy sheet bearing the developed image is then fixed by the conveyor belt device 9 to the fixing station.
Transported to 10.

After transfer of the developed image from the drum, there are usually some toner particles left on the drum which are removed by a cleaning station 6. After cleaning, the electrostatic charge remaining on the drum is removed by the static-removing AC corotron 11. At this point, the photosensitive drum is ready to be recharged by the charging corotron 2 as the first step in the next copy cycle.

The optical image on the image forming station 3 is formed by the optical device 12. A document (not shown) to be copied is placed on the platen 13 and illuminated by a lamp 14 mounted on the scanning carriage. The scanning carriage also supports a mirror 16. The mirror 16 is a full speed scanning mirror of a full speed half speed scanning device. The full-speed scanning mirror 16 reflects the image of the band of the document to be copied onto the half-speed scanning mirror 17. The image passes through lens 18 and is redirected by fixed mirror 19 and focused onto drum 1. During operation, the full-speed scanning mirror 16 and lamp 14 are moved across the copier at a constant speed, while the half-speed scanning mirror 17 is simultaneously moved in the same direction at half that speed. Is at the position indicated by the broken line on the left side of FIG. The above movement of both mirrors maintains a constant optical path length in order to focus the image on the drum sharply through the scan.

At the developing station 4, the magnetic brush developing device 20 develops the electrostatic latent image. The toner is replenished from the hopper 21 into the developing device housing 23 by the rotary form roll replenishing device 22. The housing 23 contains a two-component mixed developer composed of magnetically attractable particles and toner, and is applied to the drum 1 by a two-roller magnetic brush developing device 24 to develop an image.

The developed image is transferred from the drum to the copy sheet (not shown) fed from the drum by the sheet conveying device 25 so as to come into contact with the drum in the transfer station 5. Copy sheets have two sheet trays, the upper main tray 26
And in the lower auxiliary tray 27. When requested,
The uppermost sheet in either one of the trays contacts the common fixed-position sheet separating / feeding device 28 and is fed. The sheet fed by the sheet feeding device 28 has a bent guide portion 29.
Aligned around the alignment nut 30. After registration, the sheet is delivered into contact with a drum synchronized with the image for receiving the image at transfer station 5.

The copy sheet on which the transferred image is placed is conveyed to the heated roll fixing device 10 by the vacuum conveyance belt 9. The image is affixed to the copy sheet by heat and pressure as it passes through the nip between the two rolls of the fuser. The completed copy is sent along the output guide portion 31 by the roll of the fixing device, through the output nipple roll 31a, and into the catch tray 32 which is appropriately shifted and stacked.

After the developed image is transferred from the drum to the copy sheet, the surface of the drum is cleaned by the cleaning station 6.
In the cleaning station, the housing 33 forms an enclosed space with the drum 1, in which the doctor blade 34
Is attached. The doctor blade 34 scrubs residual toner particles from the drum, and the scrubbed particles fall to the bottom of the housing, where they are removed with an auger.

As shown in FIG. 2, the components of the copier are supported by the frame 36 and are projected through the side cover.
All but the tray 32 are surrounded by a cover 37 with a front access door 38. Copier 36a
Mounted on top of. The platen 13 is covered with a hinged cover 39 that can be raised to access the platen. The cover 39 is a semi-automatic document handling device in which documents manually inserted from one side are fed onto the platen to be copied and then sent out of the platen of the copying machine, or the documents placed in a stack form one by one. An automatic recirculating document handler can be incorporated that is fed onto the platen to be copied and then returned to the stack after copying. The copier may also include a sorter or finishing device arranged to receive a copy from the output nipple 31a.

As mentioned previously, the sheets S can be fed from either the main tray 26 or the auxiliary tray 27. The auxiliary tray is larger than the main tray from which a wide range of sizes and types of sheets can be fed. Both trays are actually arranged under the photoconductor drum 1 and under the copying machine.

Next, the sheet tray will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Both trays are mounted above the tray carrier 40 to feed the sheets to the right as viewed in FIG. The upper tray is the main tray as shown by the broken line in Fig. 2.
26, and the lower tray is the auxiliary tray 27.

The tray carriage 40 is wholly supported by a vertical ball slide 41, only the moving parts of which are shown in FIG. 3, the cooperating fixed parts being attached to the rear frame of the copier. By ball slide 41,
As will be described in more detail below (see FIG. 4), the tray carriage 40 can move vertically up and down.

The tray carrier 40 comprises a vertical back plate 42, a left side plate 43, and a right side plate 44. The left side plate 43 supports a box-shaped container 45 for accommodating electric components including an electric motor along the upper portion of the tray / carriage 40. Below the container 45, an upper left slide rail 46 and a lower left slide rail 47, which both extend from the front to the rear of the left side plate 43, are attached. An inner right slide rail 48 and an outer right slide rail 49, both of which extend rearward from the front of the right side plate 44 and are at the same height as the lower left side slide rail 47, are supported by the right side plate 44.

The main tray 26 is composed of a main tray / sub frame 50 and a main sheet supporting tray 51, and the main sheet supporting tray 51 is provided with a ball slide 52 at the front of the tray for main tray / sub.
It is mounted so that it can slide left and right on the frame 50, and the rear portion of the sheet supporting tray 51 slides on a nylon stud (not shown) of the sub frame 50. The sub-frame 50 supports, on its left edge downward extension, a left slide 53 which mates with the upper left rail 46 of the tray carriage 40, and on its support plate 55 an outer right rail 49.
It supports a right slide 54 which is combined with. Rail 49 for right slide 54 is rail 48 as previously described.
At the same height as, the rail 48 supports a right slide 72 for the lower tray 27, as will be described next. The support plate 55 is a main tray sub-frame on the extension piece 57 so that sheets can be fed from the lower tray 27 to the right.
Spaced below the 50 bottom plates 56.

The main sheet support tray 51 feeds sheets to the right and has a vertical front wall 58 and a left side wall 59. Seat slide 61
Aligned against the front wall 58 by a movable corner piece 60 slidably mounted on the left and right. Slide 61
It is itself mounted on a slide (not shown) so that it can slide back and forth. The left side wall 59 is formed with an elongated hooking member 62 having a vertical outer portion extending from a substantially central portion of the side wall 59 to a rear end thereof. The vertical outer portion of the hooking member 62 is for hooking on the notch 63 of the rack 64 slidably mounted in the container 45 left and right. The rack 64 meshes with a pinion driven by a motor 65. When the main tray 26 is in the "home" position in the tray carrier 40, i.e. the main tray
When the slide 40 is slid to the rear of the carriage 40 as far as it can go, the motor 65 drives the sheet support tray 51 left and right on the bottom plate 56 because the vertical outer portion of the hooking member 62 is caught in the notch 63. be able to. When feeding from the lower tray 27, the right side of the bottom plate 56 is cut off as seen in FIG. 2 so that the upper tray 26 can be raised above the feeding device 28.

A groove 74 is provided along the vertical right side of the container 45 to prevent the tray 51 from being moved to the right except when the main sheet support tray 51 is in the "home" position. The groove 74 extends from the front of the container 45 to about the midpoint between the front and rear of the container 45 and ends just before the rack 64. The vertical portion of the hooking member 62 and the groove 74 are used when the main sheet supporting tray 51 is pulled out,
When they are inserted again, they engage with each other and slide. When the main tray 26 is completely returned, the hook member
The 62 passes completely through the groove 74 and only engages with the notch 63 in the rack 64.

The auxiliary tray 27 includes a vertical front plate 67 and a slidable corner piece.
Between 68 is a plateform 66 for supporting the seat. The seat is moved to the front plate 67 by moving the corner piece 68 that can slide left and right on the slide 69.
Be matched against. The slide 69 itself is arranged on a slide (not shown) so that it can slide back and forth.
The left slide 70 is supported by a side plate 71 that extends downward on the left edge of the plate worm 66. Right slide 72
Is attached to the inside of the right edge of the plate worm 66 and is supported by a downwardly extending plate 73. Left slide 70
Is combined with the lower left rail 47 of the tray / carriage 40 and the right slide 72 is the inner left rail of the carriage 40.
Combined with 48.

Next, the mechanism for moving the tray up and down will be described with reference to FIG. Vertical slide 41 is the rear frame of the copier
It is combined with a rail 80 fixed by an angle member 81 with respect to 82. A capstan 83 attached to the rear panel 42 of the carriage 40 is driven by a motor (not shown) in front of the rear panel 42 and two pulleys 84,85. One end of the rope 86 is fixed to the fixing point 87 of the copying machine vertically above the highest point that can be reached by the pulley 84. The other end of the rope 86 is wound around the capstan 83 around the pulley 84 and is fixed to the copier frame around the pulley 85 in the same manner as the one end. When the electric current is sent to the motor and the capstan 83 is rotated, the rope is capped by the capstan 83.
The carriage 40 moves up or down as it is wrapped around or unwound.

Copy sheets can be fed from either, depending on the operator's choice. When feeding sheets from the main tray 26, the main sheet supporting tray 51 is moved to the right on the main tray sub-frame 50 by the motor 65, and then the upper right side of the sheet stack in the main sheet supporting tray 51. The tray carrier 40 is lifted so that the edge is in the feeding position with respect to the sheet feeding device 28. When feeding sheets from the auxiliary tray 27, the main tray 51 is
The sheets in the auxiliary tray are moved to the left on the frame 50.
Make sure that the tray's top right edge is at the feeding position.
The carriage 40 can be lifted. Switch main tray 26
To return to, the tray carrier 40 is lowered, the main tray is moved to the right again, and the tray carrier 40 is lifted again.

When either tray needs to be refilled, the tray in question can be easily pulled out on the slide in front of the copier. This can only be done after the main tray 51 has been moved all the way to the left and both trays have been lowered from the feed position. When the operator opens the front door to load the sheets, the copier interlock (switch) 88 is removed and a signal is sent by the copier logic to a motor that raises and lowers the tray carriage 40. Energization of the motor unwinds the ropes 86 and allows both trays to descend under gravity until the tray carrier 40 activates the lower limit switch. This limit
When the switch is activated, a signal is sent to the motor 65 to fully move the main sheet support tray 51 to the left. When both trays are stopped, the operator can pull out one of them. The operator then loads the sheet against the front right corner of the requested tray and the inner corner piece 60 or 68 to keep the sheet in place.
Firmly fix. At the front right corner of each tray is a sheet alignment corner strip that is moved out of the way when the tray is inserted into the copier.

When the front door of the copier is closed, the interlock 88 is re-engaged and, depending on the sheet tray selection, the desired tray is moved to the feed position. When the copier is in standby mode, it is set to always feed sheets from the main tray. This is done by a timeout device that resets the copier to main tray mode if a copy is not made within 90 seconds of completing the previous job.

A tray interlock device to prevent the operator from pulling the tray out of the copier unless it is in the correct position (as described above), or when both trays are in the correct position. (Not shown).

As best shown in FIG. 5, the sheet conveying device 25 for the photosensitive drum includes a sheet separating / feeding device 28 having feeding rolls 90 and 91.
90 and 91 drive the sheet along the reversing guide portion 29, and pass the feeding nip rolls 94 and 95 arranged almost in the middle of the feeding rolls 90 and 91 and the aligning nip 30 to reach the true position of the feeding device 28. It feeds into the alignment knives 30 consisting of the nap rolls 113, 114 arranged above. The operation of the transport device 25 is initiated by the copier's logic circuitry and controlled by the input micro-switch 96 located on the nip rolls 94, 95. Other control of the sheet feeding is performed by using the standby station sensor 97 arranged in the sheet feeding device 28 as described below.

Since the photosensitive drums are arranged right above the sheet trays 26 and 27, it is necessary to reverse the moving direction of the sheets while moving to the photosensitive drums. This is tray 2
This is performed by a sheet reversing guide portion 29 for rotating the sheet separated from the sheets 6 and 27 by 180 °, and as a result, the sheet is turned upside down and passes through the photosensitive drum from right to left. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, the reversing guide 29 consists only of an outwardly curved guide surface and a pair of drive rolls spaced apart for carrying sheets along the guide surface. There is. In the case of the embodiment shown, the guide surface is made from a piece of sheet metal bent in a semi-cylindrical shape with a radius of curvature of 40-60 mm (preferably 56 mm). The drive arrangement shown includes an input drive nip (feed rolls 90, 91 at the exit of the sheet feeder 28), an output drive nip (alignment nip rolls 113, 114), and only one intermediate drive nip. (Conveyor rolls 94, 95). Due to the intermediate driving nips 94 and 95, the distance between the driving nips does not become larger than the dimension of the smallest sheet to be conveyed in the moving direction. In the case of the sheet reversal structure as described above, since the conveyed sheet is completely supported by the sharply curved outer guide surface 29, no guide surface is required inside.

As clearly shown in FIG. 2, the sheet conveying device 25 for the photosensitive drum can be approached from the front by opening the door 38. To facilitate the removal of stuck or jammed sheets from this transport, the paper path is
The entire length from the feeder 28 to the knives 30 is accessible from the front edge of the carrier. this is,
All the components of the carrier are separated from the rear frame of the copier in a cantilever fashion, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
This is accomplished by mounting from behind the paper path to the inside of the paper path. As shown, all of the components inside the paper path, namely belt 102 of feeder 28,
Sending roll 101, feeding roll 91, and intermediate feeding roll 9
5, and the drive roll 114 of the alignment nip 30, the guide surface 30a
Is supported by a frame 200 having only its rear end fixed to the rear frame of the copying machine. In addition to having no inner guide surface, this structure is very easy to access the paper path.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet is conveyed along the guide surface with the sheet protruding from the guide surface 29 forward.
Removal of stuck or jammed sheets from the sheet transport apparatus has become even easier. This is tray 2
This is achieved by placing the front side edges of the seats in 6, 27 forward of the front edge of the guide surface 29 by an amount equal to the required protrusion. The amount of protrusion is preferably about 20 mm. In the illustrated embodiment, the sheets are aligned in the sheet tray against the respective registration edges 58, 67 in front of the trays 26, 27, so that the amount of protrusion is for all sheets regardless of sheet size. On the other hand, they are essentially the same.

The sheet separating / feeding device 28 is a belt-and-roll type friction retarding upper sheet feeding device and will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. From the stack 100 that has been moved to the feed position by positioning the selected sheet tray 26 or 27 as described above,
The sheet S is fed. The uppermost sheet of the stack is in contact with the delivery roll 101, and the rotation of the delivery roll 101 advances the uppermost sheet toward the nip formed between the feeding belt 102 and the delay roll 103. The above feeding belt
The delay roll 103 and the delay roll 103 form a separator, and a nip is formed at a contact portion between them.

Sheet feeding from the sheet tray by the delivery roll 101 is accomplished by exerting a stack vertical force (eg, 1.5 newtons) between the delivery roll and the sheet stack. This force is obtained by the weight of the delivery roll and its associated components acting under gravity. The delivery roll 101 is mounted on a rotating shaft 104 which is rotatably mounted on a weighted suspension arm 105. The suspension arm 105 is attached so as to be capable of angular movement about a fixed shaft 106 which is arranged at a distance from the rotation shaft 104.

The feeding belt 102 includes a drive pulley 107 and an idler pulley 108.
It is an endless belt that has been hung over. Belt 102
Has its lower running portion bent upward by the delay roll 103 pressed against the belt.

The drive pulley 107 is fixed to a shaft 106 that is driven via the feeding clutch of the drive device of the copying machine. Delivery roll 1
The rotating shaft 104 of 01 is driven from the shaft 106 by a toothed belt 110.

When sheets are fed from stack 100, sheet tray 26 or 27 will rise about 1 mm for every 10 sheets of 80 gsm. This is detected by the micro-switch 190 (FIG. 7) actuated by the suspension arm 105 of the delivery roll to determine the relative position of the sheet stack with respect to the feeder 28.

At the beginning of the copy cycle, the copier logic circuitry asks the copier if there are sheets in the paper path. If there are no sheets (as in FIG. 5), the logic circuit signals the feed clutch to start the feeder and the delivery roll 101 causes the top sheet of the stack 100 to feed belt 102. Drive into the nip between the delay rolls 103. The feed belt 102 is made of a soft rubber material with a high friction surface and pulls the sheet out of the stack as it rotates. Several sheets may be sent to the nip together due to friction between sheets and static electricity.

If several sheets approach the nip together, the friction between the retard roll 103 and their bottom sheet is greater than the friction between the two sheets. Further, the friction between the uppermost sheets S1 of the feeding belt 102 is larger than the friction between the two sheets. Therefore, the group of sheets sent to the nip is in a state of being displaced from the periphery of the curved surface of the delay roll to the nip, and the lower one of the two sheets from the top.
S2 is held by the delay roll 103, but the uppermost sheet is fed by the feeding belt 102. of course,
To cause this, the friction between the feed belt 102 and the sheet must be greater than the friction between the sheet and the retard roll 103. As a result, the feeding belt 102 feeds the uppermost sheet S1 from the stack, but feeds the next sheet S2.
Are then retained in the nip for delivery (as in FIG. 9).

In front of the delay roll 103, a retractable baffle or shield 111 extends to guide the sheet to the nip and the delay roll is excessive due to the sheet being delivered from the top of the stack by the delivery roll 101. It has the dual function of preventing abrasion.

The input micros, which are arranged almost in the middle around the guide surface 29,
The feed clutch remains energized (ie, the feed mechanism continues to operate) until switch 96 detects a sheet. When the leading edge reaches the switch 96, the sheet is controlled by the transport rolls 94 and 95. The transport rolls 94, 95 drive the sheet until the leading edge of the sheet enters the alignment knives 30 at the exit of the outer guide surface 29.

The surface speed of the feeding belt 102 at the interface with the delay roll 103 is about 20% faster than the processing speed of the copying machine, but the sheet speed is reduced to the processing speed due to friction loss between the belt, the paper and the delay roll. It is almost equal. Friction loss is the weight of paper,
Of course, it is not constant because it tends to change with size and surface finish.

As shown in FIG. 10, the delay roll 103 and the shielding plate 111 are
Supported on the mounting block 112, the mounting block 112 is arranged so that the delay roll 103 can be held against the underside of the belt 102. As explained below,
A block 112 is pivotally mounted about an axis 112a for retracting the retard roll 103 from the belt 102.

The guide surface 29 has a shaped portion 29 near the alignment nip 30.
have a. This is to cause some downward buckling of the aligned sheets, as described below.

In order to give a constant speed to the sheet leaving the feeder 28,
The sheet is sent out from the feeding device by the transport niprols 90, 91. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the transport nip rolls 90, 91 are supported by a pair of drive rolls 91 mounted on shafts 106 on both sides of a drive pulley 107 and one end of a leaf spring 99. It consists of a pair of working pressure rolls 90, and a leaf spring 99 presses the rolls 90 against the rolls 91. The other end of the leaf spring 99 is fixed to a block 112 supporting the delay roll 103. Since the diameter of the drive feeding roll 91 is larger than the diameter of the driving pulley 107, the feeding roll 9
1 drives the sheet faster than the feed belt 102. The feeding belt drive pulley 107 has a built-in one-way clutch so that the feeding belt 102 does not hinder the conveyance.

The sheet exiting the feeding device 28 is advanced to the alignment nip 30 by the transport rolls 94 and 95. The purpose of aligning the sheets at zip 30 is to allow each sheet to be provided to the photoreceptor drum in synchronism with the developed image on the photoreceptor drum. Alignment is also used to correct sheet skew. FIG. 11 is a perspective view and FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view of the matching device. In the figure, two or three alignment fingers 115 are shown on either side of the alignment pinch roll 113. The pinch roll 113 can move into and out of contact with the synergistic drive roll 114 (FIG. 5) and the finger 115
Is movable between its working position in which its tip 116 projects through the slot 115a of the outer guide surface 29 into the paper path and the retracted position raised outside the paper path. Pinch roll
The 113 and the finger 115 operate as follows. Before the sheet reaches the nip 30, the rolls 113 and 114 are brought out of contact and the finger 115 is moved to the working position. The sheet driven by the transport rolls 94 and 95 has a guide surface 29.
Bending downward at the shaping portion 29a of the guide surface 30a on the opposite side
(Fig. 5) The leading edge of the sheet is guided by the guide surface 30a, enters the alignment nip, and hits the tip 116 of the finger 115. The guide surfaces 29a and 30a jointly form a buckling-inducing space.Because of this buckling-inducing space, the seat is brought into contact with the finger 115 and excessively driven to tilt the seat without stopping the seat. Can be corrected. Therefore, the seat is in a smooth buckling state as shown in FIG. In order to feed the sheet to the photoreceptor drum 1, the pinch roll 113 contacts the drive roll following the retracting action of the alignment fingers 115. Thereafter, the drive roll 114 is rotated to feed the sheet in synchronization with the developed image on the photosensitive drum.

Alignment finger 115 is operated by alignment solenoid 117 via a series of linkages. When the solenoid 117 is energized, it rotates clockwise (see FIGS. 11, 12, and 13) around a fixed-axis pivot pin 119 mounted on a pair of supports 120, 140 for the guide surface 29. The arm with the crank rotates. On the upper end of the arm 118, there is an operation pin 121 that moves along the slot 122 of the link 123.
Move 23 counterclockwise around the shaft edge of rod 124.
As a result, the tip of the alignment finger 115 passes through the slot 115a of the outer guide surface 29 and projects downward into the paper path. First
As shown in FIG. 12, the link 125 is fixed to the rod 124 and has a pin 126 at its end remote from the rod 124. The pin 126 is fixed to the link 125, but pivotally mounted to the alignment finger 115. The end of the rod 124 that passes through the link 125 is placed in a slot formed at the end of the finger 115 far from the tip 116. As shown in FIG. 12, the upper portion 127 of the finger 115 near the rod 124 is relatively thin and springy.
The finger 115 is made of a suitable plastic material such as nylon. When the alignment fingers 115 are lowered onto the sheet, the fingers 116 pivot about the pin 126 against the spring action of the upper portion 127 so that their tips 116 gently push the sheet.

When the alignment fingers 115 are lowered, the alignment pinch rolls 113 are lifted. As described above, when the solenoid 117 is excited, the operation pin 121 moves upward in an arc shape. This movement causes the link 1 on the other side of the support 120 to
The right edge of 28 is lifted and moved to the right. The left end of link 128 is pivotally attached to the upper end of lever 129 which is pivotally attached to rod 124. Therefore, the lever 129 makes each movement in the clockwise direction. The lower end of the lever 129 is fixed to a generally rectangular elastic support bracket 130, which supports the rotating shaft 131 of the alignment pinch roll 113 at its upper edge.
When the lever 129 moves clockwise, the roll 113 moves to the guide surface 29.
Matching Drive Roll Synergizing Through Slot 113a
It is lifted away from 114 (Fig. 5). Roll 113
Is pressed against the roll 114 by the spring 132 (No. 11
Figure). In the first part of the movement caused by the excitation of the solenoid 117, various rings are arranged so that the alignment fingers 115 move down before the roll 113 is lifted. On the other hand, when the solenoid is de-energized,
Roll 113 is lowered before alignment finger 115 is lifted.

Alignment solenoid 117 is energized by the signal generated by sensor switch 96 which is actuated by the seat moving about outer guide 29. The action of the alignment solenoid during excitation is to push the alignment finger 115 into the paper path and to open the nip 30 between the alignment pinch roll 113 and the drive roll 114. The spring 133 returns the solenoid 117 to the de-energized position to close the nip and reset the alignment mechanism to retract the finger.

The sheet is driven by the transport rolls 94, 95 into the aligned position, i.e. with its leading edge abutting the alignment finger, and the buckling inducing spaces 29a, 30a cause a small buckling of the sheet. Then, when the solenoid 117 is de-energized by a regulated signal from the copier logic circuit, the spring 1
33 returns solenoid 117 to its original position. When the solenoid is de-energized, the pinch roll 113 is closed over the sheet, and then the alignment fingers 115 are lifted out of the paper path so that the sheet exits the photoreceptor drum as soon as the drive roll 114 rotates. To be done.

The sheet is conveyed by the photosensitive drum, and then the pre-fixing conveyance device 9
Then, the solenoid 117 is re-energized, and the pinch roller 11 is moved for the second sheet.
3 is lifted and alignment finger is lowered. However, the lowered alignment finger is then occluded by the sheet that is also passing through the alignment knives and placed lightly on the moving sheet. When the trailing edge of the sheet exits the nip 30, the fingers fall into the gap between that sheet and the next sheet to align the next sheet. By this process, the clearance between sheets can be minimized, so that the efficiency of making copy sheets can be improved. In the case of a sheet handled in this way, the rolls 113 and 114 cannot be separated until the leading edge of the sheet is received by the next conveyance device, so the rolls 113 and 114 and the next drive device (vacuum) It can be seen that the sheets must be longer than the distance between the transport devices 9).

A slightly modified version of the finger 115 with spring load
Shown in Figs. As best shown in FIG. 15, a finger made of a plastic molding 133 having a tip 116 is mounted for rotation about an axis 124. A blade 134 rigidly attached to the shaft 124 rests against the underside of the shoulder 135 of the forming finger 133 and is pressed against the shoulder 135 by a light spring 136 seated in the portion facing the shoulder 134. When the fingers are lowered to contact the sheet, the forming fingers 133 rotate about axis 124 against the spring action. When the trailing edge of the sheet passes the finger, the forming finger is pushed by the spring 136 so that its tip falls behind the sheet.

As described above, the aligning device 30 can keep the intersheet clearance to a minimum. In order to take advantage of this feature, the feeder 28 must be able to feed sheets closely. This is achieved by the standby station, which is constituted by the delay nip 102, 103 and the characteristic station sensor 97. As is usual with this type of feeder, the feeder must be stopped before the trailing edge of the sheet being fed exits the delay nip to avoid stream feeding. With this unique feeder, the leading edge of the next sheet to be fed is usually waiting in the delay nip, but sometimes (about 10% of the time) the leading edge of the next sheet is stacking. Somewhere between Nipps.
In order to maximize the throughput of sheets, it is important to keep the gaps between sheets uniform, and in order to achieve this,
The standby sensor 97 detects that there is no sheet in the delay nip and reactivates the sheet feeder until the leading edge of the next sheet enters the nip. As a result, during the cycle, the leading edges of all sheets (except the first sheet) are fed from the same point (delay nip), and the clearance between the sheets is kept uniform. By placing a standby station in the delay nip, it is necessary to activate the feeder to advance the next sheet to the standby station only when there are no sheets waiting in the delay nip.

Next, the operation of the sheet conveying device 25 that sequentially feeds the sheets from one tray 26 or 27 will be described. The selected tray is positioned relative to feeder 28 in the manner previously described. The operator selects the requested number of copies and signals the start of copying by pressing the "Start Copy" button on the copier or by starting the automatic document handler.

Sheets can be fed at two different speeds depending on the processing speed of the copier. Therefore, the copier can operate at different copying speeds depending on how the original is copied. In particular, an automatic document handler is provided and the optical device is in a stationary mode (the document handler feeds and exposes the originals one by one through the optical device) or a moving mode (a document is exposed). When the optical device is operated across a stationary original document and exposing the original document multiple times), the former mode provides a higher copying speed.

In the sequence, the first sheet is received by the feed rolls 90, 91 which pass through the delay nip and move slightly faster than the belt 102. Trigger an input microswitch that stops the feeder 28 when the leading edge of the sheet enters the intermediate transport nip rolls 94, 95. At the same time, the microprocessor of the copying machine told the standby station sensor 97
Ask if it is possible to detect the presence of the sheet. If it can't be detected at this time, one would expect it to be either a transparency (the edge cannot be detected and therefore cannot be controlled in the same way as an opaque copy) or a sensor failure. Thus, the microprocessor sets a smaller copy speed.

The sheet is then fed upward by the transport rolls 94, 95 and driven against the alignment fingers 115 for a time sufficient to cause a small buckling and correct the sheet tilt.
The intermediate rolls 94, 95 are then pulled apart and the solenoid is released, causing the non-rotating alignment nip rolls 113, 114 to
Close and lift the finger 115 out of the paper path. Next, the alignment nip roll is moved by a micro switch (not shown) of an optical device of the copying machine (moving optical mode) or a document handling device (static optical mode), and drives the sheet to the photosensitive drum 1. Contact. After the sheet is driven, the timed rest period starts, and when the vacuum transfer device 9 receives and receives the sheet, the solenoid is de-energized.
The alignment pinch roll 113 is pulled away from the drive roll 114 and the finger 115 is lowered onto the sheet so that when the trailing edge of the sheet leaves the alignment nip, the leading edge 116 of the finger 115 falls into the paper path behind the sheet and The sheets are ready to be aligned.

The input microswitch 96 detects the trailing edge of the opaque sheet, and the timer detects the time from the start of the alignment nip roll to the trailing edge detection by the microswitch 96. This makes it possible to determine the length of the sheet and set the copying speed for the succeeding sheet. A4 and below is 40 copies per minute, and larger sheets are 35 copies per minute. Since the standby station that operates as follows is set, it is possible to feed sheets of A4 size or smaller at a higher speed. That is, when the trailing edge of the sheet leaves the delay nip, the wait sensor 97 detects whether the next sheet is already in the delay nip and, if necessary, activates the delivery roll / feeder 28. The next sheet is advanced to the standby station (delay nip), where the feeding device is stopped again. The required sheet movement amount depends on the position of the next sheet. The seat position is determined by the force dragged by the preceding seat, somewhere between the stack and just before the nap. According to this method, the position of the leading edge of the seat is accurately controlled,
The clearance between sheets is too narrow and the input micro switch 96 cannot detect the clearance, or the matching finger cannot fall into the clearance. Can be maintained.

In order to reliably drive the sheet through the conveyance path, the feeding device 28 (the belt 102, the roll 103, and the feeding roll 90,
91), conveying rolls 94 and 95, and aligning rolls 113 and 114, respectively, grip the sheet tightly. A mechanism is provided for automatically separating the drive nip when the trays 26, 27 are lowered to the loading position to facilitate removal of jammed or stuck sheets from the transport. The lowering of the tray occurs when the access door is opened, as described above. It is also possible to directly lower the tray if a jam is detected, but it is preferable that the operator be visually informed of the jam, i.e. the stuck state of the sheet, so that the operator opens the access door. Can cause the tray to descend, thus causing the nip to be pulled apart, i.e. actuating the separating mechanism.

FIG. 11 and FIGS. 16 to 18 show the nip separating mechanism. The mechanism operates by a protrusion 141 on the tray carrier. Opening the front access door lowers the tray carriage, which pulls the rope 142 attached to the ridge 141 downward. As a result, the capstan 143, to which the ends of the ropes 142 (hanging around the pulleys 166 and 167) are connected, rotates counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 16 and 17. Shaft 1 with capstan 143 installed
44 supports the cam member 145 at the other end. The cam member 145 has a cam surface 146 at its upper end and carries out a counterclockwise angular movement by means of a shaft 144. Cam surface 1 of cam member 145
46 hits the underside of a mounting block 112 supporting the delay roll 103 and the feed roll 90. A block 112, shown in simplified diagrammatic form in FIG. 16, is pivotally mounted about a pivot pin 112. The shape imparted to the cam surface 146 causes the friction retarding roll 103 to move downwards out of contact with the belt 102 when the member 145 moves counterclockwise, and at the same time the feeding roll 90 is separated from the feeding roll 91. The upward movement of the spring 99 (FIG. 10) is blocked by the shoulder 147 of the block 112 when the block 112 is lowered. The operation pin 148 is provided on the lever portion at the lower end of the cam member 145.
Is attached. This pin is moved counterclockwise by the rotation of the shaft 144 and the arcuate surface 1 in contact with the pin 148.
Displace arm 149 with 50 to the right. The arm 149 extends upward and branches to form a Y-shaped yoke member.
151 are mounted on a shaft 152 extending between the supports 120, 140 such that their upper ends are pivotable. When the arm 149 moves to the right, the upper end of the arm 151 is moved downward and the central part of the arm 151 is moved away from the outer guide surface 29. Pinch roll 94 of transport roll pair 94.95 is slot 15 of arm 151
It is mounted on a shaft 154 which is loosely held by 4a. Axis 1
54 is spring loaded on the roll by a pair of leaf springs 155 connected to a bracket 156 fixed to the supports 120,140. When the arm 151 moves away from the outer guide surface 29, the shaft 154 also moves away, so that the nip between the transport rolls 94 and 95 is separated.

The flared 153 connecting the upper ends of the arms 151 abuts the rear end of a pivotally mounted support 120 for the alignment pinch roll 113, so that when the flared 153 is pushed down, the support is lowered. 130 rotates clockwise to lift the pinch roll 113 and pull it away from the alignment drive roll 114. A slot 128a is provided on the lever 128 so that the above can be done without affecting the alignment mechanism (FIG. 13).

As previously explained, there is usually one or more sheets that have been partially advanced from the stack to the delay nip, but when the tray in use is lowered, one or more sheets will be delayed. It may be left in the nip. Returning such sheets back to the tray is usually desirable, but is essential if the trays are replaced to feed different sheets. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 17, 19 and 20, a device is provided for forcibly returning such a sheet to the tray when the tray is lowered. The seat return device
It comprises a pair of push fingers or push arms 163 pivotally mounted on pins 164 carried by the carrier frame. The lower end of the finger 163 is connected by a shaft 162, and the shaft 162 supports an arcuate operation arm 160 having a vertical slot 161 on which an operation pin 148 is fitted. When the operating pin 148 moves to the right (and each drive nip opens) during the lowering of the tray carriage, the operating pin 148 contacts the end of the slot 161 and causes the finger 163 to rotate counterclockwise about the axis 164. As a result of the rotation, their tips come out through the slots 165 (Fig. 19) in the guide surface 29, hitting the leading edge of the sheet partially advanced from the tray and pushing it back into the tray.

The purpose of the slot 161 of the operating arm 160 is to provide a finger until the delay nip 102, 103 is separated by the movement of the cam member 145.
This is to prevent 163 from touching the sheet. Due to the rotation of the cam member 145, the nip separating operation is completed when the pin 148 hits the end of the slot 161, and further rotation of the cam member is not actually related to the nip.

In its final position, where the nip is completely separated and the finger 163 is fully extended, the cam member is placed horizontally as shown in FIG. As it fits in (Fig. 16), it is possible to prevent re-contact of the nip by the early maturing.

When the tray-carriage is raised again, the rope 142 causes axis 1
44 rotates clockwise. As a result, the cam member 145 also rotates clockwise, so that the delay roll block 112 is lifted and the delay nip (102, 103) and the feed nip (9
0, 91) contact again. Then, the yoke member 149 is returned by the spring 132 connected to the alignment pinch / roll support portion 130, and the transport nips (94, 95) are again in contact with each other, and similarly, the alignment nips (113, 114) are again in contact with each other.

I have considered separating and recontacting the alignment nip roll 113, but when the tray is lowered, the alignment nip roll 113
The roll 113 can already be pulled apart. In that case, the movement of the yoke member 149 will result in the alignment pinch roll 113
It will be understood, of course, that it does not affect. Following the tray lift, the alignment pinch rolls 113 are always pulled apart and the alignment fingers 1 are fed before feeding the first sheet.
15 is inserted in the paper path. This can be done while the tray is lowered.

From the above explanation, the tray 26 or 27 to which the sheets are fed is
Recall that the ascent of the stack depends on the height of the stack in the tray. Therefore, the amount by which the tray / carriage is raised and lowered is different. Therefore, the degree of rotation of the shaft 144 varies. The cam member 145 is rotatable on the shaft 144 and actuates the cam members in opposite directions to ensure rotation of the shaft 144 by a constant arc angle both in raising and lowering the tray carriage. It is adapted to be driven through a pair of spiral spring clutches 157 and 158. The clutch 157 first engages when the tray is lowered to provide the cam member with a counterclockwise rotation of about 90 °, and
The tongue on the spring strikes the stop and disconnects the spring so that further rotation of 144 does not affect the cam member. A first clutch 158 located opposite the clutch 157 on the other side of the cam member connects the cam member 145 and the shaft 144 only while the cam member makes a defined clockwise rotation of about 90 °. To work.

As explained previously, the drive for the nip separation mechanism is
According to the rope 142 wound around the capstan 143. As shown in FIG. 21, the capstan 143 has a structure capable of adjusting the rope tension. That is, the capstan 143 consists of two parts 171, 172, one of which (1
71) is fixed to rotate with the shaft 144 and the other one (172) is rotatable on the shaft 144. The two parts are urged together by a spring 173 and each mating surface is provided with pawl teeth to prevent the rotatable part 172 from unwinding. Loosening of the rope can be eliminated by rotating the two parts relative to each other and engaging the pawl teeth with each other. By pulling the portion 172 against the spring 173 to separate the two portions, the rope can be unwound and loosened for maintenance of the nipple separating mechanism. To facilitate handling of the capstan, the parts 171, 172 are provided with handles 171a, 172a. The parts 171, 172 are
It is shown slightly separated in FIG.

Each time the tray carrier 40 is lowered, i.e., the front access door is opened or the trays are replaced, to reduce the chance of flat wear of the delay roll 103 during continuous operation of the feeder. On, delay roll 10
3 is rotated a slight angle. For this purpose, the delay roll 103 comprises a pawl wheel 160 on which a pawl 161 mounted on a leaf spring 99 supporting the feed roll 90 is hooked.
It is attached to the shaft so that it can only rotate counterclockwise by (Fig. 10). As previously mentioned, when the delay roll assembly is pulled down, the spring 99 lifts up and strikes the stop 147. In this movement, claw 1
61 rotates the ratchet wheel 160 counterclockwise by about 15 °.
When the delay roll assembly is lifted again, the spring 99 is pushed down as the roll 90 hits the roll 91, the pawl 161 jumps over at least one pawl tooth, and when the delay roll assembly is lowered again, the next index is taken. Ready to do.

The sheet sent to the photosensitive drum by the alignment nip rolls 113 and 114 receives an image at the transfer station, and then separated from the photosensitive drum, and its front edge is received and received by the pre-fixing vacuum conveyance device 9. It Like the guide surface 29, the vacuum transport device 9 allows the sheet to be carried along the transport device while protruding from the front edge in order to facilitate the removal of jammed or stuck sheets. There is. The transport device 9 comprises five endless belts arranged so as to circulate around rollers mounted on both sides of the vacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber has a set of ports on its upper surface between the belt running parts. When a vacuum is applied through these ports, the copy sheet is held on the belt. As the leading edge of the copy sheet moves along this transport device 9, the effect of the vacuum diminishes, so that the sheet can freely enter the fixing device. This is achieved by placing the vacuum port near the input end of the carrier 9.

This transport device 9 sucks ozone from the drum area,
It is also used to drain to an ozone filter installed below the main tray assembly. The vacuum is obtained by a blower installed behind the vacuum chamber. The air blown from this blower is guided to the ozone filter.

The sheet passes from the vacuum conveyance device through the fixing device 10 and between the pair of output guide surfaces 31. These guide surfaces are also adapted to allow the sheets to extend beyond the front edge to facilitate removal of jammed or stuck sheets. The output guide surface 31 guides the sheet from the fixing device to the output station (eg, the catch tray 32) of the copying machine by means of a corrugated feed roll. The guide surface 31 is not enclosed in order to reduce the possibility that the sheet will be clogged due to condensation.
Supports count switch and passive static eliminator. The copy count switch monitors the number of copies entering the output station for counting the number of processes.

Although specific embodiments have been described above, it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the specific details referred to without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

Although the apparatus described above has two sheet trays, it can likewise have three or more sheet trays. In those cases, all trays except the bottom tray are of the type described as the main tray, i.e., a sub-frame and a tray mounted so that it can move laterally across the sub-frame. It must be in the form that it has. Furthermore, the bottom tray (of several trays) does not necessarily have to be of the type described as an auxiliary tray. The bottom tray can also be of the same type as the main tray with the tray slidably mounted on the sub-frame.

Although the drive nip having one drive roll arranged along the sheet conveying device has been described here, one or more nip composed of a pair of synergistic idler rolls may be installed. Please understand that.

In the illustrated copying machine, the conveying device 25 is provided with parts on one side thereof apart from the rear frame in order to improve accessibility to the paper passage, but other sections of the paper passage should be configured in this way. The entire path can be so configured to eliminate any obstructions that cross the front of the paper path.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention uses the above-described configuration, particularly the sheet separator including the movable surface, the stationary surface, and the driving means for the movable surface as the standby position for the sheet, so that the configuration is extremely simple.
Sheets called stream feeding are prevented from being fed in succession, and moreover, sheets are fed to the transfer station without wasting time while accurately controlling the interval between the sheets. If the sheet is fed in succession so that the sheet is fed to the copying machine without interruption, the transfer position of the toner image on the sheet is not proper, which is not allowed. Further, according to the present invention, the registration of the sheet to the transfer station is performed at high speed and at the same and accurate time intervals, and the delay of the sheet feeding is prevented. Therefore, according to the present invention, the stream feeding is prevented by a simple structure, and the sheet is fed at a high speed and surely aligned with the transfer station while accurately controlling the interval between the sheets, so that the sheet most suitable for the copying machine is provided. , Which enables high-speed copying at a low price.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a schematic side view showing functional elements of an electrophotographic copying machine incorporating the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the copying machine with a front access door opened, as seen from the front, FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a sheet tray structure, FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a vertical mechanism of the sheet tray, and FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a device for transporting a sheet, FIG. 6 is a schematic side view similar to FIG. 5 showing a mounting method of the sheet transport device, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a mounting structure, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a delay roll / sheet feeding device that feeds sheets from a tray, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the sheet feeding device, and FIG. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the assembly, and FIG. 11 shows a mechanism for aligning sheets at the output end of the conveyance device and a jamming mechanism. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for separating the driving nip of the conveying device for facilitating the removal of the sheet, as seen from the rear of the sheet reversing conveying device; FIG. 12 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 11 showing the alignment mechanism. FIG. 13 is a partial cutaway view showing the components of the alignment mechanism and their operation, FIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views and cross-sectional views showing the details of the alignment mechanism, and FIG. FIG. 17 is a partial side view of the nip separating mechanism, FIG. 18 is another partial view of the nip separating mechanism, and FIG. 19 is a nip separating mechanism. Another detail of the mechanism and a perspective view showing the mechanism for re-stacking sheets in the sheet tray, FIG. 20 is a side view of the re-stacking mechanism, and FIG. 21 is another detail of the nip separating mechanism. It is a perspective view. 1 ... Photosensitive drum, 2 ... Charging station (charging corotron), 3 ... Image forming station, 4 ... Development station, 5 ... Transfer station, 6 ... Cleaning station, 7 ... Transfer corotron, 8 ... AC corotron for peeling, 9 ... Conveyor belt device, 10 ... Fixing station, 11 ... AC corotron for static elimination, 12 ... Optical device, 13 ... Platen, 14 ... Lamp, 16 ... Mirror, 17
...... Scanning mirror, 18 …… Lens, 19 …… Fixed mirror,
20 …… Developer for magnetic brush, 21 …… Hopper, 22 ……
Toner replenishing device, 23 ... Developing device housing, 24 ... Magnetic brush developing roller, 25 ... Sheet conveying device, 26 ... Main tray, 27 ... Auxiliary tray, 28 ... Sheet feeding device, 29
...... Guide part (face), 30 …… Aligning knives, 30a …… Guide surface, 31 …… Output guide surface, 29a …… Shaping part, 31a …… Output nip roll, 32 …… Catch tray, 33… … Housing, 34… Doctor plate, 36… Frame, 36
a …… Caster, 37 …… Cover, 38 …… Front access ・
Door, 39 …… Hinged cover, 40 …… Tray / Carriage, 41 …… Hall slide, 42 …… Rear plate, 43 …… Left plate, 44 …… Right plate, 45 …… Container, 46 …… Top Left slide rail, 47 ... Lower left slide rail, 48 ...
… Inside right slide rail, 49 …… Outside right slide rail, 50 …… Sub frame, 51 …… Seat support tray, 52 …… Ball slide, 53 …… Left slide,
54 …… right slide, 55 …… support plate, 56 …… bottom plate, 57…
… Extension piece, 58 …… Upright front wall, 59 …… Left side wall, 60 …… Movable corner piece, 61 …… Slide, 62 …… Hooking member, 63…
… Notches, 64… Rack, 65… Motor, 66… Platform, 67… Front plate, 68… Corner piece, 69… Slide, 70… Left slide, 71… Side plate, 72 …… Right slide, 73 …… plate, 74 …… groove, 80 …… rail, 81 ……
Angle member, 82 ... Rear frame, 83 ... Capstan, 84, 85 ... Pulley, 86 ... Cable, 87 ... Fixed point, 88 ...
… Interlock, 90, 91 …… Feed roll,
94, 95 …… Conveying nip roll, 96 …… Input micro ・
Switch, 97 ... Standby station sensor, 99 ... Spring, 100 ... Sheet stack, 101 ... Sending roll, 10
2 …… Feed belt, 103 …… Delay roll, 104 …… Rotary axis, 105 …… Weighted suspension arm, 106 …… Fixed axis, 107 ……
Drive pulley, 108 …… idler pulley, 110 …… toothed belt, 111 …… retractable baffle (shield), 112…
… Installation block, 112a …… Axis, 113 …… Alignment pinch
Roll, 113a ... Slot, 114 ... Drive roll, 115 ...
... finger, 115a ... slot, 116 ... tip, 117 ...
Alignment solenoid, 118 ...... arm, 119 ...... potato pin, 120 ...... support part, 121 ...... operation pin, 122 ...... slot, 123 ...... link, 124 ...... rod, 125 ...... link, 1
26 …… Pin, 127 …… Upper part, 128 …… Link, 128a ……
Slot, 129 …… Lever, 130 …… Support bracket, 13
1 ... Rotary axis, 132 ... Spring, 133 ... Spring, plastic molding, 134 ... Blade, 135 ... Shoulder, 136 ... Spring, 140 ... Supporting part, 141 ... Projection, 142 ... Rope , 143 ……
Capstan, 144 …… Shaft, 145 …… Cam member, 146 ……
Cam surface, 147 …… Shoulder, stop, 148 …… Operating pin, 14
9 …… arm, yoke member, 150 …… arc surface, 150a …… notch, 151 …… arm, 152 …… axis, 153 …… sideways, 154 ……
Axle, 154a ... Slot, 155 ... Spring, 156 ... Bracket, 157, 158 ... Wound spring clutch, 160 ... Arc-shaped operating arm, ratchet wheel, 161 ... Slot, pawl, 162 ... Axis, 163
…… Finger (arm), 164 …… Pin, 165 …… Slot, 166,167 …… Pulley, 171,172 …… Capstan 14
3rd part, 171a, 172a ....... Handle, 173 ... Spring, 190
...... Micro switch, 200 ...... frame.

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-51-140798 (JP, A) JP-A-55-156143 (JP, A) Actual development S-54-144681 (JP, U) Actual public S-55-47781 (JP , Y2)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet separating / feeding device for advancing sheets one by one from a stack (100) to a transfer station (5) at predetermined time intervals, and means (101) for advancing the sheet from the top of the stack. A sheet separator (102, 103) for separating a large number of sheets fed from the sheet, an aligning station (30) for aligning the sheet upstream of the transfer station, and a sheet feeder from the sheet separator to the processing station. A sheet separating / feeding device comprising: a movable surface (102) and a stationary surface (1
03) and means for driving movable surfaces, said both surfaces cooperating to form a separator nip through which sheets fed from the top of the stack by said sheet advancing means are fed, said The first sheet (S1: Fig. 9) in contact with the movable surface is advanced through the separator nip by the drive of the movable surface, while the other sheets in the nip area are delayed by the stationary surface. The aligning station comprises an aligning means (115) having an operating position for aligning the sheets fed from the separator by the feeding means, such that the sheets are fed to the transfer station. Is configured to move back from the operating position and return to the operating position as soon as the sheet leaves the aligning station. Is arranged to detect the sheet as it is advanced to a position and is operable to generate a signal that causes the aligning means to move from the operative position after a predetermined time interval, further separating the trailing edge of the sheet. Sheet detection means (96) operative to stop the drive of the movable surface before exiting the container nip
Means for resuming drive of the movable surface after a predetermined time, arranged to detect the absence of a sheet in the nip and advancing the sheet from the stack to the nip so that the leading edge of the sheet is at the nip. A sheet separating / feeding device comprising a means (97) for operating the sheet advancing means so as to stop the sheet advancing means. 2. The feeding means for feeding a sheet from a separator is arranged to engage the sheet before the trailing edge of the sheet exits the separator nip and drive the sheet to the alignment station. The sheet separating / feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operating sheet conveying means (94, 95). 3. The sheet advancing means comprises contact rolls for engaging the top of the stack and means for rotating the contact rolls to advance the sheet into the separator nip. The sheet separating / feeding device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The sheet separating / feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the movable surface is a surface of a belt or a roll. 5. The movable surface of the separator is the surface of a belt spanning a pair of rollers (107,108), the surface engaging the stationary surface in the middle of the roller pair. 3. The feeding means for feeding a sheet from the separator is a means (90, 91) arranged adjacent to one of the roller pairs.
The sheet separating / feeding device according to any one of items 1 to 3.