JPH0729079Y2 - Paper feed mechanism of image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a sheet feeding mechanism of an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet feeding mechanism of an image forming apparatus for feeding a long sheet into a main body of the image forming apparatus. .

[Prior Art] In various image forming apparatuses such as a large-scale copying machine, a long original or a transfer paper having a length of, for example, 1 to 10 m is fed to an image reading unit or a transfer unit, respectively. Some are equipped with a paper feed mechanism.

In such a sheet feeding mechanism for feeding a long sheet, generally, a long sheet aligning unit is provided so as not to cause a skew when the long sheet is fed. As the means for aligning the long sheets, a side guide that comes into contact with the side edge of the long sheet to be inserted is provided on the table, or a claw so as to come into contact with the feeding front end surface of the long sheets. Some include a body.

Further, in the document guide device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-24157 or the large document feeder described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-17446, a long document is stored in a roll in a document storage chamber. In this way, the document is set at a predetermined position.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the side guide in the above-described conventional long sheet aligning means, the guide surface portion has to be extremely short with respect to the length of the long sheet due to the limitation of the table size. There is a problem that the paper alignment function does not work sufficiently, and paper skew often occurs. Even in the claw body that supports the leading end surface of the sheet, the claw width may not be sufficient, or the squareness between the edge edges of the sheet may not be good, so that skew may occur as in the above case. . If such a skew occurs, information will be lost. For example, the length 1 of the side guide or the claw body is 1/1 / the total length L of the paper.
If it is about 10m, 1m at the guide contact part
When a misalignment (skew) of m occurs, about 10 m for the entire paper
It will appear as a misalignment of m.

Furthermore, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-24157 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-17446.
The long document setting means described in the official gazette merely puts a long document in the document storage chamber, and supports it by supporting the long document in an appropriate roll state. It does not mean that the document is fed in a proper state. Therefore, even in the apparatuses described in these publications, the document alignment function does not sufficiently act, and document skew often occurs.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding mechanism capable of feeding a feeding sheet such as a document or a transfer sheet to a main body of an image forming apparatus while arranging it well with a simple structure. And

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a sheet feeding mechanism of an image forming apparatus for feeding a long sheet to an apparatus body. And a peripheral surface holding member for holding the paper in a roll shape, and an end surface support for abutting both end surface portions of the roll-shaped paper held by the peripheral surface holding member to support the roll-shaped paper in the roll axial direction. Tena,
The peripheral surface holder comprises a plurality of support plates abutting on a plurality of positions on the outer peripheral surface of the roll-shaped paper so as to maintain the roll axis of the roll-shaped paper at a substantially constant position, at least one of which is a support. The roll-shaped paper is provided so that it can be moved and adjusted in the radial direction of the roll-shaped paper according to the outer diameter of the roll-shaped paper.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the sheet feeding mechanism of the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, the end face support is formed in a curved shape at a portion in contact with both end face portions of the roll-shaped paper. It is equipped with a configuration.

Further, the invention described in claim 3 has a configuration in which the paper feed mechanism of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus.

[Operation] In the means described in claim 1 having such a configuration, the long sheet is held in a roll shape by the peripheral surface holding member, and both end surface portions of the rolled sheet are end surfaces. The sheet is supported by the support in the roll axial direction, whereby almost the entire length of the sheet is supported at a fixed position, and a stable supporting action is obtained. Further, since the supporting plate of the peripheral surface holding member is brought into contact with a plurality of positions on the outer peripheral surface of the roll-shaped paper, the roll shaft of the roll-shaped paper is maintained at a substantially constant position without causing a positional deviation. The roll paper is designed to rotate stably. Further, at least one of the support plates is moved and adjusted in the radial direction in accordance with the outer diameter of the roll-shaped paper to be supported, so that various papers having different outer diameter dimensions can be held. ing.

Further, in the means described in claim 2 having the above structure, in addition to the function of the means described in claim 1, the portion of the end face support that abuts both end surface portions of the roll-shaped paper is a curved surface. Since it is formed in a shape, both ends of the roll-shaped paper slide smoothly while the rotary feeding operation is performed.

Further, in the means described in claim 3 having the above configuration, in addition to the function of the means described in claim 1, the entire sheet feeding device is detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus. Since it is mounted so that it can be used, not only long sheets but also ordinary cut sheets can be used.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 3, a document feeding mechanism 1 according to the present invention
Is detachably attached to a document placing table 2a provided in an image reading section of a large-sized copying machine 2 as an image forming apparatus.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the document feeding mechanism 1 has a plate-shaped base 101 having a predetermined width. The rear side of the base 101, that is, the edge on the right side in FIG. 2 is arranged so as to be in a substantially parallel state near the tip edge of the document placing table 2a. From the back edge near the table 2a,
The holding plate 102 is provided so as to stand up. The holding plate 102 is formed of a thin plate member having substantially the same width dimension as the base 101.
It is erected so as to be slightly inward from the vertically upward direction, that is, slightly inclined to the left side in FIG. Further, the upper edge portion of the holding plate 102 is curled over the entire width so as to draw a semicircular shape toward the outside. At both ends of the holding plate 102 in the width direction, mounting brackets 103 for the document placing table 2a of the copying machine are provided. This mounting bracket 103 has a pair of fitting plates 103a, 103a that sandwich the original placing table 2a in the thickness direction.
A fixing screw 103b for tightening the document mounting table 2a is fixedly screwed onto the document placing table 2a. By loosening the fixing screw 103b, the entire document feeding mechanism 1 is set to the copier 2
When the original feeding mechanism 1 is removed, not only a long original but also a normal cut sheet can be used.

Further, an end stopper 105 is erected on the base 101 so as to face the holding plate 102. The end stopper 105 is provided at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the base 101, and is formed of a plate member having a width shorter than the width dimension of the base 101. The end stopper 105 is provided so as to be tilted slightly inward from the vertical direction, that is, tilted toward the right side in FIG. 2, and the upper end portion of the end stopper 105 is
The curl is formed so as to draw a semicircular shape toward the outside. As a result, the holding plate 102, the end stopper 105, and the base 101 constitute a peripheral surface holding member for the document. Particularly, as shown in FIG.
The long original 106 placed on the top is held in a roll between the holding plate 102 and the end stopper 105. At this time, the outer peripheral surface of the roll-shaped document 106 has a holding plate 102, an end stopper 105, and a base 101.
Of the tangential line portions a, b and c at the three points, and the respective supporting forces at the three tangent line portions a, b and c cause the roll axis of the roll-shaped original 106 to be displaced. Instead, the roll-shaped original 106 is stably rotated at a substantially constant position. The original 106 pulled out from the rolled state is once supported by the upper end curl portion of the holding plate 102 and then set on the original placing table 2a.

Further, the end stopper 105 is installed so as to be capable of reciprocating movement so as to advance and retreat with respect to the holding plate 102 in the depth direction. By adjusting the movement of the end stopper 105, as shown by the broken line in FIG. Various originals having different length dimensions, that is, outer diameter dimensions, can be held.

Further, side guides 107, 107 as end face support members that come into contact with both end face portions of the roll-shaped original 106 held by the peripheral face holder are provided at both widthwise end portions of the base 101, and groove portions 108, 108 provided in the base 101. It is installed so as to project upward from the. Each of these side guides 107 abuts on both end surfaces of the roll-shaped document 106, so that the roll-shaped document 106 is moved in the axial direction of the roll, that is, the base 1.
It is supported in the width direction of 01, and as shown in FIG. 4, is reciprocally moved symmetrically in the center of the roll axis. That is, each side guide
Rack gears 109 that extend from the base toward the center are provided at the bottom bases of the respective 107. Each rack gear 109 is arranged so as to be opposed to each other by being guided by a rack guide 111 in the central portion, and a pinion gear 112 is provided so as to mesh with both rack gears 109, 109 at the opposing portion at the same time. The pinion gear 112 is rotatably attached to a support shaft 114 provided so as to project from the bracket 113. As a result, when one side guide 107 is moved, the other side guide 107 is moved symmetrically around the center portion in synchronization with the movement.
With such side guides 107, 107, the roll-shaped original 1
Both end surface portions of 06 are supported at a fixed position with respect to the center, and the roll-shaped document 106 is stably rotated without displacement in the roll axis direction. Further, the original pulled out from the roll state is fed to the image forming apparatus with respect to the center reference, and it is possible to perform good alignment with various image forming apparatuses serving as the center reference.

Further, each of the side guides 107 is bent and formed so that the portions that come into contact with both end surface portions of the roll-shaped document 106 are curved. As a result, both end surfaces of the side guide 107 and the roll-shaped document 106 are slid properly, and the roll-shaped document 106 is continuously rotated while being continuously fed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the roll-shaped original 106 wound in a state in which the side surfaces are not arranged as shown in FIG. 5 is attached to the original feeding mechanism 1 as shown in FIGS. To do. Then, the long roll-shaped original 106 placed on the base 101 is retained by the holding plate 102 and the end stopper 105.
And the side guides 107 and 107 support both end surfaces of the roll-shaped original 106 at a fixed position with reference to the center. At this time, both end edges of the roll-shaped document 106 are in a state similar to that where the entire length of both end edges is supported by the side guides 107. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, both side portions of the roll-shaped document 106 are aligned so as to be aligned at fixed positions, and the roll-shaped document 106 is formed into a substantially perfect columnar shape. Therefore, the roll-shaped document 106 can be stably rotated without any axial deviation in the roll axis in both the axial direction and the axis-perpendicular direction. As described above, the long original stored in a roll form can be set in the apparatus as it is, which is convenient.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the lower end bases of the side guides 107, 107 as end face supports that abut against both end faces of the roll-shaped original 106 are slidably attached to the guide rod 200, respectively. , The wires 203 hung on the two pulleys 201 and 202 arranged in the outer regions of the side guides 107, 107 are arranged so as to cross each other at the central portion, and both ends thereof are respectively arranged on the side guides 107, 107. It is connected. As a result, when one side guide 107 is moved, the other side guide 107 is moved symmetrically around the center portion in conjunction with it. Then, both side surfaces of the roll-shaped original 106 are supported by the side guides 107, 107 at a fixed position with respect to the center,
The roll-shaped original 106 is stably rotated without any positional deviation in the roll axis direction.

Also, the side guide in the embodiment shown in FIG.
307 has a flat plate 3 on the portion that abuts the end surface of the roll-shaped original.
07a is provided, and the upper end portion of the flat plate 307a is bent and formed to curve outward. When the roll-shaped document is supported by the flat plate 307a in this way, the contact surface area of the end face of the roll-shaped document is increased, and a more stable supporting action can be obtained. Further, the rolled original can be easily set through the curved upper end of the flat plate 307a.

Although each of the above embodiments relates to the document feeder, the present invention can be applied to other sheets such as a transfer sheet in the same manner. Further, the side guides in each of the embodiments may be configured as one side reference instead of the center reference.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, the invention described in claim 1 has a peripheral surface holding body for holding a long sheet in a roll shape, and a roll shape held by the peripheral surface holding body. An end surface support member that abuts on both end surface portions of the paper to support the roll-shaped paper in the roll axial direction, and the peripheral surface support body rolls so as to maintain the roll shaft of the roll-shaped paper at a substantially constant position. Equipped with a plurality of support plates that come into contact with multiple points on the outer peripheral surface of the roll-shaped paper, at least one of which is installed so that it can be moved and adjusted in the radial direction of the roll-shaped paper according to the outer diameter of the supporting roll-shaped paper. Since the set roll-shaped paper is stably rotated without any axial runout in the roll shaft in both the axial direction and the axis-perpendicular direction, it is possible to feed the original or transfer paper. Simple structure for paper It is possible to feed it to the main body of the image forming apparatus while aligning it properly.

Further, the invention described in claim 2 has a structure in which a portion of the end face support which comes into contact with both end face portions of the roll-shaped paper is formed into a curved shape, and therefore, the invention described in claim 1 above is provided. In addition to the effect of the means, both ends of the roll-shaped paper slide smoothly while rotating, so that good paper feeding operation can be performed.

Further, in the invention described in claim 3, the entire paper feeding device is
Since the image forming apparatus has a structure that is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, in addition to the effect of the means described in claim 1, not only long sheets but also ordinary cut sheets are provided. Can also be used, which is convenient for use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are external perspective views and side explanatory views showing a paper feeding mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a copy of the paper feeding mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above. Fig. 4 is an external perspective view showing an example of mounting on a machine, Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a side guide interlocking mechanism, and Figs. 5 and 6 show a state before and after setting of roll paper. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing another example of the side guide interlocking mechanism, and FIG. 8 is an external perspective view showing another example of the side guide. 101 …… base, 102 …… holding plate, 105 …… end stopper, 106 …… roll original, 107 …… side guide.

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. In a paper feeding mechanism of an image forming apparatus for feeding a long sheet to an apparatus body, a peripheral surface holder for holding the long sheet in a roll shape, and a peripheral surface holder for holding the sheet. And an end surface support member for supporting the roll-shaped paper in the roll axial direction by contacting both end surface portions of the roll-shaped paper, and the peripheral surface holding member holds the roll shaft of the roll-shaped paper at a substantially constant position. A plurality of support plates are provided to abut on a plurality of positions on the outer peripheral surface of the roll-shaped paper so as to maintain, and at least one of them is arranged in the radial direction of the roll-shaped paper corresponding to the outer diameter of the roll-shaped paper to be supported. A sheet feeding device of an image forming apparatus, which is installed so as to be movable and adjustable. 2. A sheet feeding mechanism of an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end face support is formed in a curved shape at a portion contacting both end face portions of the roll-shaped paper. Paper feeding device of image forming apparatus. 3. The sheet feeding device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a main body is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus. .