JPH0688677B2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for converting copy paper used for copy paper, for example, in the vertical and horizontal directions and feeding the paper one by one.

BACKGROUND ART Generally, in a copying machine, when copying using the same size copy paper, for example, when making a normal size copy using Japanese Industrial Standard B5 size copy paper, the copy paper should be mounted sideways in the paper feed direction. So-called horizontal feed, Japanese Industrial Standard B4
When performing variable-magnification copying of a document of size B5, it is necessary to mount the copy paper vertically in the paper feeding direction and perform so-called vertical feed. Therefore, two types of paper feed cassettes have been conventionally prepared for copy paper of the same size, which is uneconomical. In addition, it has to be converted into a dedicated paper feed cassette depending on whether it is the same-size copy or the variable-size copy, and the work is troublesome.

Therefore, it has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-59251 that the paper feed cassette can be rotated by 90 degrees so that the same size copy paper can be fed in both vertical and horizontal directions. However, simply rotating the paper feed cassette fixes the paper feed position and the structure for pushing up the copy paper loading plate is also fixed. The distance between the position of and the tip of the cassette is different, which causes a paper jam or a problem in feeding one sheet.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to position and feed the copy paper such that the leading end of the copy paper always has a constant interval when the copy paper is vertically or horizontally changed. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeding device capable of paper.

The present invention includes a base, a paper feed cassette that is mounted on the base and stores copy paper of the same size, and a paper feed cassette in which the copy paper in the paper feed cassette is placed vertically with respect to the paper feed direction. Alternatively, when the paper feed cassette is rotationally driven by the rotation driving means from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction with respect to the paper feeding direction, the base is fed. The leading end of the copy paper in the paper feed cassette and the paper feed roller are moved forward in the paper direction so as to form a constant gap, and the paper feed cassette is rotationally driven from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction by the rotation driving means. In this case, the pedestal includes a moving unit that moves the base in a direction opposite to the paper feeding direction so that the leading end of the copy paper in the paper feeding cassette and the paper feeding roller form the predetermined distance. It is a paper feeding device.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paper feeding device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention at the time of copying at the same size. The paper feeding device 1 includes a base 2 and
The base 2 includes a paper feed cassette 3 that is removable. The copy paper 4 stored in the paper feed cassette 3 is fed along the paper feed direction A by the paper feed roller 5. The paper feed roller 5 is fixedly attached to the copying machine main body (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the base 2 when the paper feed cassette 3 in FIG. 1 is removed, and FIG. 3 is a section line of FIG.
It is the sectional view seen from III-III. A center hole 8 is formed in a generally rectangular base 2. The axis of the center hole 8 coincides with the axis of rotation of the sheet feeding cassette 3 when it is mounted on the base 2. Two brackets 6a and 6b are provided in the lower part of the base 2, and a substantially L-shaped arm 7 is pivotally supported by the brackets 6a and 6b. A central projection 9 is formed on one end of the arm 7, and the central projection 9 can be retracted from the central hole 8. This protrusion 9
Is biased by a torsion spring 10 attached to the arm 7 so as to project upward from the center hole 8 in FIG. An inclined surface 9a is formed at the upper end of the central projection 9 so as to incline in a direction away from an imaginary plane including the front surface 2a of the base 2 when the cassette is mounted. The paper feed cassette 3 can be smoothly moved on the base 2. A handle 11 is provided at the other end of the L-shaped arm 7, and by pushing the handle 11 downward, the central projection 9 resists the spring force of the torsion spring 10 from the center hole 8. Immerse yourself.

An operation hole 12 is provided downstream of the central hole 8 in the sheet feeding direction A. An arcuate guide 13 is erected on the upper surface of the base 2 downstream of the operation hole 12 in the sheet feeding direction A. The center of curvature of this guide 13 coincides with the center of the center hole 8. Therefore, when the paper feed cassette 3 is mounted, the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed cassette 3 is in contact with the entire inner peripheral surface of the guide 13.

Referring to FIG. 3, an electromagnetic solenoid 15 fixed to a copying machine main body (not shown) is arranged below the base 2. The electromagnetic solenoid 15 is generally associated with "ku".
A character-shaped lifting arm 16 is provided. The push-up arm 16 can be angularly displaced around the axis of the horizontal pin 17 which is perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction A. One end of the push-up arm 16 is pin-connected to the plunger 18 of the electromagnetic solenoid 15, and the other end is provided with a roller 19. This lifting arm 16 has pin 17
When the roller 19 is angularly displaced in the direction of the arrow B around the axis of, the roller 19 can project from the operation hole 12 to above the base 2.

When the paper feed cassette 3 is not attached to the base 2,
The plunger 18 is spring-biased in the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction A by the spring force of the coil spring 20. In other words, the roller 19 is urged in the direction in which it is retracted from the operation hole 12.
When the electromagnetic solenoid 15 is excited, the plunger 18 retracts against the spring force of the coil spring 20, so that the lifting arm 16 is angularly displaced from the state shown by the phantom line to the state shown by the solid line. As a result, the roller 19 projects upward from the operation hole 12 and pushes up the loading plate 21 on which the copy paper 4 is loaded.

A paper feed roller 5 for feeding the copy paper 4 is provided above the base 2, and the paper feed roller 5 is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the paper feed direction A for copying. It is driven to rotate when it should be fed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the paper feed cassette 3, and FIG. 5 is a developed view of the paper feed cassette 3. The paper cassette 3 that can be attached to and detached from the base 2 includes a circular cassette body 23 and a cassette body.
And a circular gear 24 integrally formed in the lower part of 23. In the cassette body 23, a copy paper storage space 25 for storing the copy paper 4 of Japanese Industrial Standard B5 size, for example, is formed. The board 21 is arranged at the bottom of the storage space 25. At three corners of the storage space 25, when the copy paper 4 is fed in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, the stop claws 26 for restraining the uppermost surface of the copy paper 4 to prevent the multi-sheet feed. , 27,
28 are provided respectively. The vertical part 26 of this stop claw 26
In a, horizontal direction as shown in Fig. 6 (left and right direction in Fig. 6)
A guide protrusion 29 extending to the. This guide protrusion 29
6 is inserted through a vertically extending elongated hole 30 formed in the cassette body 23 in FIG. 6, and a retaining piece 31 is integrally formed at the end of the guide protrusion 29. Therefore, the stopper claw 26 can be displaced in the vertical direction in FIG. Still other restraining claws 27,2
8 also has a similar configuration.

Referring to FIG. 5, on the outer peripheral surface of the cassette body 23, two permanent magnet pieces x1 and x2 are provided at different positions in the height direction. The interval q between the permanent magnet pieces x1 and x2 is selected to be 1/4 of the total circumferential length p of the cassette body 23. In other words,
The permanent magnet pieces x1 and x2 are arranged 90 degrees apart in FIG. The permanent magnet piece x1 corresponds to the long side l1 of the storage space 25, and the permanent magnet piece x2 corresponds to the short side l2.
Lead switches y1 and y2 for detecting the permanent magnet pieces x1 and x2 on the inner peripheral surface of the guide 13 respectively correspond to the height positions of the permanent magnet pieces x1 and x2 as shown in FIG. It is provided at each position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the sheet feeding device 1 at the time of variable magnification copying. Referring also to FIG. 1, a permanent magnet piece z is provided on the side portion of the base 2, and lead switches Z1 and Z2 for detecting the permanent magnet piece z are provided on the machine body side, respectively. There is. The distance between the reed switch z1 and the reed switch z2 corresponds to the distance by which the paper feed cassette 3 is moved so that the leading edge of the copy paper is located below the paper feed roller 5 during the lateral passage. The base 2 is provided with a gear 31 meshing with the gear 24, and the gear 31 is driven by a motor M1.
When the motor M1 is energized, the cassette body 23 is rotationally driven. A rack 32 is formed on the side wall 2b of the base 2, and a gear 33 meshing with the rack 32 is driven by a motor M2. When the motor M2 is energized, the base 2 is displaced along the sheet feeding direction A. In this way, the motors M1, M2
By energizing, it becomes possible to position the cassette main body 23 at an optimum position at the time of equal-magnification or variable-magnification copying.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the control mechanism of the sheet feeding device 1. The outputs from the read switches y1, y2, z1, z2 are given to the central processing unit 34. Also, the normal size button 35 and, for example, B4
The output from the reduction button 36 operated to reduce the size from the B5 size is given to the central processing unit 34. In the central processing unit 34, in response to these outputs, the motors M1, M2
And controlling the on / off of the electromagnetic solenoid 15.

Normally, when the paper feed cassette 3 is mounted, the paper feed cassette 3 rotates so as to be at the same size position and stops at a predetermined position. When the reduction button 36 is pressed, the paper feed cassette 3 rotates. It is configured to be in the reduced position. More specifically, when mounting the paper feed cassette 3, the tip of the cassette body 23 is guided by the guide 13 while sliding the paper feed cassette 3 along the paper feed direction A on the upper surface of the base 2. Insert until it hits. When the tip of the cassette body 23 is in contact with the guide 13, the recess formed in the bottom surface of the cassette body 23
37 fits snugly into the central protrusion 9. In such a state, the central processing unit 34 operates, the motor M1 is energized, and the sheet feeding cassette 3 is rotated. If the permanent magnet piece x1 is detected by the lead switch y1 during the rotational driving of the paper feed cassette 3, the motor M1 is stopped, so that the paper feed cassette 3 detects the permanent magnet piece x1 by the lead switch y1. Stop at the right position. Although the base 2 is displaced along the sheet feeding direction A by the motor M2, the sheet feeding cassette 3
At the time of mounting, the permanent magnet piece z is in a state of being detected by the reed switch z1 as shown in the first illustration and stopped. In such a state, if the print button is pressed, the same size copying is performed.

When the B4 original is reduced to B5 using B5 size copy paper, the reduction button 36 is pressed, and the motor M1 is energized by the reduction button 36, so that the paper feeding cassette 3 is in the arrow F direction (see FIG. 1). (See reference). If the permanent magnet piece x2 is detected by the reed switch y2 while the cassette 3 is rotating, the motor
M1 stops, and the cassette 3 stops at the position where the permanent magnet piece x2 faces the lead switch y2. At the same time as the motor M2
The base 2 is moved in the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction A until the permanent magnet piece z is detected by the lead switch z2 and the state shown in FIG. 7 is reached. In this way, the cassette 3 is rotated in the paper feeding direction corresponding to the same magnification and the magnification change, and the base 2 can be moved and adjusted forward and backward in the paper feed direction A corresponding to the same magnification and the magnification change. It is possible to dispose the stop claws 26, 27, 28 in the vicinity of the sheet feeding roller 5 which is fixed to (not shown). Therefore, paper jam can be prevented, and one-sheet feeding can be reliably performed.

In the state shown in FIG. 7, when the paper feed roller 5 is rotated and reduction copying is performed and then the same size copying is performed again, the same size button 35
When is pressed, the motor M1 rotates in the opposite direction to that described above, whereby the cassette 3 is rotationally driven until the permanent magnet piece x1 is detected by the reed switch y1. At the same time, the motor M2 is also energized, the base 2 returns to the position where the permanent magnet piece z is detected by the lead switch z1, and the sheet feeding cassette 3 returns to the state shown in FIG.

When the copying is completed, the handle 11 is pulled down against the spring force of the torsion spring 10 so that the central projection 9 is moved from the central hole 8 to the base 2
It will immerse itself underneath and will allow the cassette to be removed by hand.

In the state shown in FIG. 7, that is, at the time of reduction, when the copying is completed, the handle 11 may be similarly pushed down and taken out. At this time, when the permanent magnet piece x2 is no longer detected by the reed switch y2, the motor M2 is urged again in the opposite direction to move the base 2 in the sheet feeding direction A. When the permanent magnet piece z is detected by the lead switch z1 during movement, the motor
M2 is deenergized, the base 2 stops at that position, and returns to the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the paper feed cassette according to the present invention. This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment, and corresponding parts bear the same reference numerals. A square frame 41 is fixed on the gear 24 of the paper feed cassette 40, and the mounting plate 21 is provided in the frame 41. Also a permanent magnet piece x
1x2 is a bracket 4 that is erected on the periphery of the gear 24.
It is fixed to 2,43 respectively. Such a sheet feeding cassette 40 can be made lighter than the sheet feeding cassette 3 of the above-described embodiment, and therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption for rotationally driving the sheet feeding cassette 40. .

FIG. 10 is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of the base according to the present invention. This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment, and corresponding parts bear the same reference numerals. Three rollers 51 are arranged on the upper surface of the base 50 at intervals of 120 degrees in the circumferential direction. The rollers 51 are coil springs 52.
Is spring biased by. By mounting the paper feed cassette 3 on the base 50 having such a configuration, it is also possible to carry out variable-magnification or equal-magnification copying. In this embodiment, since the center positions of the cassettes 3 and 40 are determined by the three rollers 51, the central protrusion 9, the central hole 8 and the L-shaped arm 7 provided on the base 2 are not necessary. Become. In this embodiment, it may be pulled out by hand when attaching or detaching.

Although the sheet feeder of the copying machine has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this and can be widely applied to other sheet feeders of the recording apparatus.

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotation driving means rotates the paper feeding cassette in either the vertical or horizontal direction, and the moving means moves the base in the front-back direction along the paper feeding direction. Since the copying paper is moved to the vertical or horizontal direction, the leading end on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction can be arranged so as to form a constant distance with respect to the paper feeding roller. As a result, an operator who makes a copy can smoothly and accurately align the leading ends of the copy papers and feed the copy papers without the trouble of positioning the copy papers. Particularly, even if the direction of the copy paper is changed frequently, the tip end of the copy paper is always arranged at a predetermined position, so that the copy paper is manually positioned as described in connection with the prior art. Compared with the configuration, the convenience can be significantly improved, and a remarkable effect can be achieved when a large number of copies are made while frequently changing the direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet feeding device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention at the time of copying at the same size, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a base 2, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the sheet feeding cassette 3 according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a developed view of the sheet feeding cassette 3, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the paper feeding device 1 at the time of variable magnification copying, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism of the paper feeding device 1, and FIG. 9 is another embodiment of the paper feeding cassette according to the present invention. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of an example, and Fig. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the base according to the present invention. 1 ... Paper feeding device, 2,50 ... Base, 3,40 ... Paper feeding cassette, 5 ... Paper feeding roller, 13 ... Guide, 15 ... Electromagnetic solenoid, 21 ... Loading plate, 23 ...... Cassette body, 24 …… Gear, 25 …… Copy paper storage space, 26,27,28 …… Stop claw, 31,3
3 ... Gear, 32 ... Rack, x1, x2, z ... Permanent magnet piece, y
1, y2, z1, z2 …… Reed switch, A …… Paper feed direction

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base, a paper feed cassette mounted on the base, and storing copy paper of the same size, and a paper feed cassette, wherein the copy paper in the paper feed cassette is in the paper feed direction. A means for rotationally driving so as to form either a vertical direction or a horizontal direction; and, when the paper feeding cassette is rotationally driven by the rotational driving means from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction with respect to the paper feeding direction, The leading end of the copy paper in the paper feed cassette and the paper feed roller are moved forward in the paper feed direction so that the paper feed roller is at a constant interval, and the paper feed cassette is driven to rotate from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction by the rotation driving means. And a moving means for moving the base back in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction so that the leading end of the copy paper in the paper feeding cassette and the paper feeding roller form the predetermined distance. Paper feeding device.