JPH07300243A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve productivity and durability by reducing the breakage accident of a sensor or the like, and simplifying the structure of the whole device. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic reflector is provided on one of a pair of side guides 54 and an end guide 55, and an ultrasonic sensor 6 (or 7) transmitting ultrasonic waves with a prescribed frequency to the ultrasonic reflector and receiving the reflected waves is fitted at the prescribed position of a hopper frame 1. This paper feeding device is provided with a paper size calculating means calculating the paper size of a recording medium P based on the propagation delay time of the reflected ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic sensor 6 (or 7) and outputting the calculated paper size information to the outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device, and more particularly to a sheet feeding device provided with a guide for fixing a recording medium at a predetermined position according to its size.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional sheet feeding device is shown in FIGS.
In this type of paper feeding device, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-26949, an operation piece is added to a guide for determining the width of the recording medium, and the operation piece is used for each size of the recording medium. The size of the paper is detected by pressing the sensor installed at.

In this case, the conventional hopper frame 51 is formed in a flat shape, inside which a hopper 52 which is also formed in a flat shape and on which a recording medium P is loaded is detachably mounted.

Inside the hopper 52, a side guide 54 and an end guide 5 for fixing the recording medium P at a predetermined position.
5, the sensor arm 58 and the sensor 59 for detecting the positions of the side guide 54 and the end guide 55 are provided on the inner bottom surface of the hopper frame 51 described above.

Further, the side guide 54 and the end guide 55 are equipped with bosses 60 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) which are operation pieces for pushing the sensor arm 58.

The conventional paper feeding device is provided with a hopper 5
2, the recording medium P is stacked, and the side guide 54 and the end guide 55 are moved in the directions of arrows a and b in FIG. 5 to fix the recording medium P.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the hopper 52 is inserted into the hopper frame 51. The hopper 52 and the hopper frame 51
Side guide 54 and end guide 55
The boss 60 attached to the boss pushes the sensor arm 58 on the hopper frame 1.

When the sensor arm 58 is pushed, the sensor 59 is turned on, and the combination of the turned-on sensors 59 detects the size of the recording medium P and outputs it externally. There is.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the size of the recording medium P is detected,
Since the sensor 59 is configured to push the sensor 59 using the side guide 54 and the end guide 55, when an operator or the like who does not understand the structure inserts the hopper 52, the hopper 52 is The sensor arm 58 and the sensor 59 at the inner bottom of the hopper frame 51 are brought into contact with the sensor arm 58 and the sensor 59.
In some cases, the inconvenience of damaging the product may occur.

Further, in the case of detecting a plurality of recording media of one size with one hopper, a plurality of sensor arms and sensors are required, the structure becomes complicated, and the productivity is poor.

[0011]

It is an object of the present invention to improve the inconvenience of the conventional example, particularly to reduce the accidental damage of sensors and the like, and to simplify the structure of the entire apparatus, thereby improving the productivity and durability. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a hopper for loading and holding recording media, a hopper frame for removably accommodating the hopper, and a left and right end and a trailing end of the recording media installed in the hopper. A pair of side guides and end guides that regulate the stacking position are provided, and the pair of side guides and end guides are kept parallel to the contact surface with the recording medium in correspondence with the size of the recording medium. In the sheet feeding device configured to be movable in the width direction and the end direction, an ultrasonic reflecting plate is provided on one side guide of the pair of side guides.

Then, an ultrasonic sensor for transmitting an ultrasonic wave of a predetermined frequency to each ultrasonic reflecting plate and receiving the reflected wave is installed at a predetermined position of the hopper frame. Furthermore, a paper size calculating means for calculating the size of the paper of the recording medium based on the propagation time of the reflected ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic sensor and externally outputting the calculated paper size information is configured. Is taking. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0014]

[Operation] First, when the paper is set in the hopper and the entire apparatus is set to the operating state, immediately, the ultrasonic sensor operates to capture the ultrasonic reflection plate. The ultrasonic reflected wave captured by the ultrasonic sensor is sent to the paper size calculating means via the signal transmitting / receiving circuit. Then, as described above, the paper size calculating means calculates the propagation time of the ultrasonic reflected wave based on the sent information, and at the same time, the corresponding paper size information is taken out from the memory and the signal captured by the ultrasonic sensor. The paper size corresponding to is determined.
This paper size information is actually converted into a predetermined signal, displayed on the display unit, and simultaneously output to the outside.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a hopper 2 for loading and holding a recording medium P, and a state in which the hopper 2 is raised and provided with a predetermined space on the bottom surface side thereof are detachable. It is provided with a hopper frame 1 to be housed and accommodated therein, and a pair of side guides 54 and end guides 55 which are installed in the hopper 2 and individually regulate the stacking positions of the left and right ends and the end of the recording medium P. The arrow A indicates the feeding direction of the recording medium P.

The pair of side guides 54 and end guides 55 are stepped in the width direction and the end direction while maintaining the parallel state with the contact surface with the recording medium P corresponding to the size of the recording medium P. It is configured to be movable.

Reference numerals 54 ₁ ..., 54 ₂ ... Show concave grooves for the side guides 54, and reference numerals 55 ₁ , 55 ₁ ...
.. indicates a group of through holes for the end guide 55. The concave grooves 54 ₁ and 54 ₂ and the through hole group 55 ₁ are specified in correspondence with A4, A3, etc. and B5, B4, etc., which represent the size of the paper.

The one side guide 54 and the end guide 55 of the above-mentioned pair of side guides are equipped with ultrasonic reflection plates 4 and 5 (see FIG. 2). The ultrasonic wave reflection plates 4 and 5 are in a state of being provided in a protruding manner in the bottom inner space between the hopper frame 1 and the hopper 2 described above.

Corresponding to the ultrasonic wave reflecting plates 4 and 5, ultrasonic wave sensors 6 and 7 for transmitting ultrasonic waves of a predetermined frequency to the ultrasonic wave reflecting plates 4 and 5 and receiving the reflected waves, It is installed at a predetermined position of the hopper frame 1.

In FIG. 1, a second ultrasonic sensor 7 for end position detection is provided at a position on the left side of FIG. 1 corresponding to the ultrasonic reflecting plate 5 provided below the end guide 55. There is. Further, a first ultrasonic sensor 6 for side position detection is provided at an upper position in FIG. 1 corresponding to the ultrasonic reflecting plate 4 projecting below one side guide 54 (upper side in FIG. 1). Has been done.

Further, the paper size for calculating the paper size of the recording medium P based on the propagation time of the reflected ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 and outputting the calculated paper size information to the outside. The calculation means 10 is equipped on the hopper frame 1 (see FIG. 3). Further, in FIG. 3, reference numeral 8 indicates an oscillation circuit that oscillates a vibrator excitation signal of a predetermined frequency. The signal output from the oscillation circuit 8 is alternately applied to the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 described above via the signal transmission / reception circuit 9.

Further, the signal transmission / reception circuit 9 sends the reflected signals from the ultrasonic wave reflection plates 4 and 5 to the above-mentioned sheet size calculation means 10 after the transmission timing. Further, the paper size calculation means 10 is provided with a memory 11 having a paper size comparison map in which the paper size is written corresponding to the propagation time of reflected ultrasonic waves. Therefore, when the propagation time of the reflected ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 is calculated, the paper size B5, A4, ... Is immediately specified and displayed on the display unit 12 and a predetermined signal is displayed. Is to be output externally. Other configurations are the same as those of the conventional example described above.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, when a sheet is set in the hopper 2 and the entire apparatus is set to the operating state, the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are immediately activated to capture the ultrasonic reflection plates 4 and 5. The ultrasonic reflected waves captured by the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are sent to the paper size calculating means 10 via the signal transmitting / receiving circuit 9. Then, the paper size calculating means 10 calculates the propagation time of the ultrasonic reflected wave based on the information sent as described above, and at the same time, the corresponding paper size information is taken out from the memory 11 and the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 6 concerned. The paper size corresponding to the signal captured at 7 is determined. The paper size information is converted into a predetermined signal and then displayed on the display unit 12.
Is displayed at the same time and is output to the outside at the same time.

For this reason, in the above-described embodiment, the number of sheet detecting means corresponding to the type of the recording medium P is required in the above-mentioned conventional example, whereas two ultrasonic sensors 6, 7 are used.
And an oscillating circuit 8 for oscillating the sensor excitation signal thereof and a receiving signal analyzing means, it is possible to sufficiently cope with changes in a plurality of recording media P (regardless of how many kinds), and therefore, the entire device Since the structure can be simplified and the number of parts can be reduced, the cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced, and therefore the productivity can be expected to be sufficiently improved.

Furthermore, the side arm and the like conventionally provided in the center of the inside of the hopper frame 1 and the like are no longer required, so that the protrusion inside the hopper frame 1 is eliminated, and at this point also when the hopper 2 is taken in and out, There is no inconvenience of damaging a part of the hopper frame 1 because there is no protrusion to be in contact with, and therefore there is an advantage that the durability of the entire apparatus can be sufficiently improved.

Here, in the above embodiment, the case where the two ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are used is illustrated, but the direction of the feeding direction of the recording medium P to be used is specified (longitudinal or lateral). As a result, one of the two ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 may be in a resting state, and only one ultrasonic sensor 6 or 7 may determine the type of the recording medium P. In this case, the map in the memory 11 is set in advance in the ultrasonic sensor 1
The one formed for individual use is used.

[0029]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, since the members such as the sensor are provided around the inner side of the hopper frame, there is no protrusion that comes into contact with the hopper when the hopper is taken in and out. The inconvenience of damaging part of the hopper frame is completely eliminated, and therefore the durability of the entire device can be improved, and even if the number of types of recording media is increased, this can be handled sufficiently without increasing the number of sensors. It is possible to provide an excellent paper feeding device that is not possible in the past.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a signal processing system of paper information detected by an ultrasonic sensor equipped in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a hopper frame in a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a hopper in a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state in which a hopper frame is equipped with a hopper in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hopper Frame 2 Hopper 4,5 Reflector 6,7 Ultrasonic Sensor 10 Paper Size Calculator 11 Memory 54 Side Guide 55 End Guide P Recording Medium

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A hopper for stacking and holding recording media,
The hopper includes a hopper frame that detachably accommodates the hopper, and a pair of side guides and end guides that are provided in the hopper and that regulate the stacking positions of the left and right ends and the end of the recording medium. In the paper feeding device, wherein the end guide is configured to be movable in the width direction and the end direction while maintaining the parallel state with the contact surface with the recording medium corresponding to the size of the recording medium, An ultrasonic reflecting plate is provided on one of the pair of side guides, and an ultrasonic sensor for transmitting ultrasonic waves of a predetermined frequency to each ultrasonic reflecting plate and receiving the reflected wave is provided in the hopper frame. It is installed at a predetermined position of, and the size of the paper of the recording medium is calculated based on the propagation time of reflected ultrasonic waves received by this ultrasonic sensor. Sheet feeding apparatus, characterized in that, equipped with a paper size calculation means for externally outputting the paper size information. 2. A hopper for stacking and holding recording media,
The hopper includes a hopper frame that detachably accommodates the hopper, and a pair of side guides and end guides that are provided in the hopper and that regulate the stacking positions of the left and right ends and the end of the recording medium. In the paper feeding device, wherein the end guide is configured to be movable in the width direction and the end direction while maintaining the parallel state with the contact surface with the recording medium corresponding to the size of the recording medium, An ultrasonic sensor is provided on one of the pair of side guides and the end guide, and an ultrasonic sensor for transmitting ultrasonic waves of a predetermined frequency to each ultrasonic reflector and receiving the reflected wave. Is installed at a predetermined position of the hopper frame, and the size of the recording medium sheet is determined based on the propagation time of reflected ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic sensor. Sheet feeding apparatus, characterized in that, equipped with a paper size calculation means for externally outputting the calculated and paper size information that is the calculated. 3. The paper size calculating means further comprises a memory for storing a paper size comparison map specified in correspondence with the propagation time of the reflected ultrasonic waves. Paper feeder.