JPH0829847B2 - Rotating plate support structure - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary cassette for freely performing vertical and horizontal feeding of a sheet, and more specifically, for lifting a sheet provided in the rotary cassette. The present invention relates to a support structure for a rotary plate that supports the rotary plate.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a copying machine is provided with a sheet feeding device that feeds a sheet into the copying machine body, and this sheet feeding device includes a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes for each size of the sheet. The conveyance of the paper from the paper feeding device is preferable because the time required for the conveyance is shorter than that of the vertical conveyance in which the conveyance direction is the long side direction of the sheet because the conveyance time is shorter in the conveyance direction in the shorter side direction of the paper. There are some copiers that can feed B4 and even A3 paper horizontally.

On the other hand, if even a large-sized sheet is laterally fed, the photosensitive drum, the conveying roller, the sheet conveying path, and the like in the copying machine become large, which leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus itself and an accompanying increase in cost. Therefore, in general, for example, a large size paper of B4 and A3 is fed vertically, and a small size paper of A4 or smaller is horizontally fed.

However, with such a configuration, in a copying machine having a reduction and enlargement function such as a variable magnification function, for example, for reduction copying, it is necessary to cut paper such as B5R and A4R for vertical feeding, while conveying speed is increased. If you consider,
B5 and A4 paper cassettes are required. Therefore, when various paper cassettes are provided as described above, it is necessary to increase the size of the paper feeding device or replace a plurality of paper cassettes according to the purpose, and increase the size and cost of the device. Or, the operation becomes complicated.

Therefore, as a means for avoiding such a problem, for example, as disclosed in JP-A-56-59245 and JP-A-56-59251, for example, B5 and B5R, and A4 and A
It has been previously proposed that the 4R paper cassette is used in common, and the horizontal and vertical paper feeds are supported by rotating the paper cassette.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, in order to send out the sheets stacked in the sheet cassette by the pickup roller, it is necessary to push up the uppermost sheet to a position where it can contact the pickup roller. As means for realizing this, there are, for example, those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-192836, in addition to those disclosed in the aforementioned publication. Such a support structure is one in which a rotary plate on which sheets are stacked is simply placed in a paper cassette, and each of the above-mentioned paper feed units of the rotary plate having a vertical feed paper feed unit and a horizontal feed paper feed unit is The fact that each non-sheet feeding portion side inevitably serves as a pivotal fulcrum when lifted is used, and the guide of the pivoting operation at this time is performed on the side wall of the paper cassette.

However, in such a structure, the displacement of the rotary plate (movement in the horizontal direction) tends to occur, and for example, when the displacement of the paper occurs in the feed direction, the displacement of the leading edge of the paper causes the displacement of the paper. If the sheets are not aligned, or if the sheet is misaligned in the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction, the center of the sheet may be misaligned, which may hinder the paper feeding operation.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the support structure of the rotary plate according to the present invention raises the rotary plate having two paper feed units, and each of the paper feed units is lifted with its non-paper feed side as a pivot. As described above, a universal joint that supports a rotating plate rotatably in at least two directions at one point of a corner portion between the non-feeding sides, and guides the rotating plate when lifting one of the feeding units. A guide means provided so as to serve as a rotation fulcrum portion of the rotary plate when the other sheet feeding portion is lifted, and the rotation fulcrum of the universal joint is located on an extension line of the rotation fulcrum. is there.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, when the one sheet feeding portion is lifted, the rotating plate is guided by the guide means, and as a result, the one sheet feeding portion is lifted. At this time, since the rotary plate is supported at one point by the universal joint, the positional shift (horizontal movement) of the rotary plate is prevented, and the positional shift of the paper is performed in the paper feeding operation performed after the rotary plate is lifted and rotated. It is possible to avoid sending out with.

Further, when the other sheet feeding section is lifted, the rotary plate is supported at one point by the universal joint, and the other sheet feeding section is raised by using the guide means and the universal joint as the pivotal fulcrum section. This prevents displacement of the rotating plate,
In the paper feeding operation performed after the rotary plate is lifted and rotated, it is possible to prevent the paper from being fed out due to the positional deviation.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as an ADF) 3 is installed on a platen glass 2 of the copying machine 1. The ADF 3 conveys an original document (not shown) placed on the original placing table 3a to a predetermined position on the original platen glass 2 which is predetermined according to the size and the feeding direction (horizontal feeding or vertical feeding). , AD after copying is finished
In addition to the function of ejecting to the outside of F3, for example, when performing double-sided copying, the original is inverted and the original glass 2 is again placed.
The document is conveyed to the specified position above, and the original is ADF3
It also has a function that can be discharged to the outside. It should be noted that switches 4 and 5 for determining the size of the original placed on the original placing table 3a are provided on the original placing table 3a.

Below the platen glass 2, reflection mirrors 6a ...
An optical system 6 composed of 6b is provided. This optical system 6
In addition to the basic function of guiding the reflected light reflected by the original to the photosensitive drum 7, the variable magnification function is also provided, and it is possible to perform not only equal-magnification copying but also enlargement and reduction copying. .

Around the photosensitive drum 7, a cleaner 8, a charge eliminating charger 9, a charging charger 10, a developing means 11 having toner for color copying, and a developing means having black toner.
12 is provided, and by these means, a series of operations of removal of residual toner on the photoconductor drum 7 → neutralization → charging → exposure (performed by the optical system 6) → development is performed. It has become.

Below the photoconductor drum 7, a transfer charger 13 and a peeling charger 14 are provided, and when a copy sheet (not shown) passes between the photoconductor drum 7 and the transfer charger 13, the transfer charger 13 causes The toner image formed on the photoconductor drum 7 is transferred to the copy paper. Further, the peeling charger 14 separates the copy sheet from the photoconductor drum 7, and the separated copy sheet is transported to the fixing device 18 by the transport belt 17. The fixing device 18 is for fixing the toner transferred to the copy sheet by heating or pressing.

The copy paper that has passed through the fixing device 18 is basically discharged to the outside of the copying machine 1, that is, through the sorter 19 to the cradle 19a ..., For example, when double-sided copying or composite copying is performed, It is configured to be guided to the double-sided synthesis unit 21 through the paper return path 20. When performing double-sided copying, the sheet is reversely placed on the intermediate tray 21c via the first transport path 21a in the double-sided synthesis unit 21, and then the delivery roller 21d.
Is sent to the paper feed path 22 at the same time, while the second conveyance path 21b in the double-sided composite unit 21 is used for composite copying.
After the trailing edge of the copy sheet is detected in the second transport path 21b, the trailing edge of the copy sheet is sent out with the trailing edge of the copy sheet as the leading edge in the traveling direction. After being reversely placed on the sheet, the sheet is fed to the sheet feeding path 22 by the feeding roller 21d.

The above-mentioned paper supply path 22 is a path for guiding copy paper to the above-mentioned photoconductor drum 7, and at the end portion thereof, a paper top for timing the rotation of the photoconductor drum 7 and the delivery of copy paper. A roller 15 is provided. Further, a plurality of paper supply means are connected to the paper supply path 22 so that copy paper is appropriately supplied from each of these means. Specifically, in order from the lower side of the copying machine 1, the first fixed cassette 25 and the first rotary cassette unit.
26, a second rotary cassette unit 27, the above-mentioned double-sided synthesis unit 21, a second fixed cassette 28, a third fixed cassette 29, and a manual feeding section 30 are provided. The first fixed cassette 25, the second fixed cassette 28, and the third fixed cassette 29 are detachably attached to the copying machine 1, and the first rotary cassette unit 26 and the second rotary cassette unit 27 are provided. Is provided so that it can be pulled out together with the base plate 31 with respect to the copying machine 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the above-mentioned first and second rotary cassette units 26 and 27, a pedestal 31a is fixed on a pedestal plate 31 which is a housing portion thereof, and the pedestal 31a is erected on the pedestal 31a. One end side of an arm 32 is pivotally supported by the provided support shaft 31b, so that the arm 32 is supported rotatably in a horizontal direction. A support shaft 32a is provided upright on the other end of the arm 32, and the rotary cassette 35 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 32a. The rotary cassette 35 has a two-plate structure of a paper feed base 33 and a rotary plate 34 arranged on the paper feed base 33. When the rotary cassette 35 is rotated 90 °, copy sheets stacked on the rotary plate 34 are stored. The feed can be freely switched between vertical feed and horizontal feed. It should be noted that the pivotal position of the rotary cassette 35 by the support shaft 32a is set so that the feed center of the copy sheet passes on the support shaft 32a at each of the above-described vertical feed position and horizontal feed position.

The vertical feed unit and the horizontal feed unit of the paper feed base 33 have wall portions 33a for preventing misalignment of copy sheets.
・ 33b is bent. These walls 33a and 33
Notches 33c are formed at substantially the center of b, and each notch 33c is formed by extending a predetermined length toward the center of the bottom plate of the paper feed base 33 and extending toward the center. The lift plate 40 disposed below the rotary plate 34 is
It is designed so that it can come into contact with the back surface of the bottom plate. Lift board
The specific configuration of 40 will be described later.

Further, on the paper feed base 33, wall portions 33e and 33f are arranged so as to face the above wall portions 33a and 33b, respectively. These wall portions 33e and 33f are notches 34a formed in the rotary plate 34.
・ It is provided through 34b, and the lifting operation of the vertical feeding paper feeding unit and the horizontal feeding paper feeding unit on the rotary plate 34 is performed by the wall unit 33e.
-It is constructed so that it will not be interfered by 33f. In addition, inclined portions 34f and 34g that are inclined downward with respect to the main body of the rotary plate 34 are formed in the vertical feed paper feed unit and the horizontal feed paper feed unit of the rotary plate 34, respectively.

In the corner portion of the rotary plate 34 between the non-paper feed side of the vertical feed paper feed unit and the non-paper feed side of the horizontal feed paper feed unit, it extends outward from the upper end of the wall portion 34d of the rotary plate 34. Support piece 3
4c is formed in a bent state, and a support structure 36 for supporting the rotary plate 34 at one point is configured in the support piece portion 34c. In this support structure 36, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cylindrical support member 36a is erected on the paper feed base 33, and a female joint is provided at the upper end of the cylindrical support member 36a. 36b is fixed. A hemispherical recess is formed in the upper part of the female joint 36b, and a male joint 36c having a hemispherical protrusion is engaged with this recess. The female joint 36b and the male joint 36c constitute a universal joint that rotatably supports the rotary plate 34 in at least two directions. An engaging portion is formed on the upper portion of the male joint 36c, and the supporting piece portion 34c is formed on the engaging portion.
The rotary plate 34 and the support structure 36 are connected by being engaged with each other. A washer 36d and a coil spring 36 on the male joint 36c.
e and a washer 36f are arranged. Then, a bolt 36g is provided penetrating through the washer 36f, the coil spring 36e, the washer 36d, the male joint 36c, and the female joint 36b, and the bolt 36g is a screw formed on the cylindrical support member 36a. It is screwed into the hole. Above coil spring 36e
The male joint 36c and the female joint 36b are kept in contact with each other, and the hole through which the bolt 36g penetrates in the male joint 36c is formed in a substantially conical shape so that the joint of the male joint 36c is jointed. The mechanical movement is performed without being interfered by the bolt 36g.

The non-paper feeding side of the rotating cassette 35, and the support structure described above.
A guide means 37 is provided at a position a little distance from the vertical feed delivery side from 36. The guide means 37 guides the rotary plate 34 when the vertical feeding / feeding unit of the rotary plate 34 is lifted, and the rotation fulcrum of the rotary plate 34 when the horizontal feeding / feeding unit of the rotary plate 34 is lifted. It is a part. In this guide means 37, the rotary plate
At a predetermined position of the wall portion 34d of 34, a pair of holding pieces 34e, 34e facing each other are formed in a bent state by dividing the wall portion 34d, and a guide rod 37a is fixed between the holding pieces 34e, 34e. It is provided in the state. On the other hand, on the paper feed base 33,
A holding member 37b having a U-shaped cross section is erected in such a manner that a pair of opposing standing surfaces of the holding member 37e are opposed to each other of the pair of holding pieces 34e, 34e. Elongated guide hole
The guide rod 37a is provided in the 37c and 37c in a penetrating state. The rotation center of the guide rod 37a when it is located at the lower end of the elongated guide holes 37c and 37c is adapted to coincide with the rotation center of the universal joint. That is, the guide rod
The universal joint is located on the axis of 37a.

The paper feed section of the rotary cassette unit 26 (27)
A drive means 42 is provided to drive the rotary cassette 35 by 90 ° and to rotate the lift plate 40 for lifting the paper on the rotary plate 34 with a single drive motor 41. In the drive means 42, a gear 41a is fixed to the output shaft of the drive motor 41, and the driving force of the drive motor 41 is changed by the gear group 43 meshed with the gear 41a. It is adapted to be transmitted to the clutch 45.

The first clutch 44 is for interrupting the transmission of the driving force for the 90 ° rotation of the rotary cassette 35.
It is arranged at the side of the paper feed unit at 35. A pulley 46 is fixedly attached to the output shaft 44a of the first clutch 44, while a pulley 47 is arranged on the other side of the sheet feeding portion in the rotary cassette 35, and between these pulleys 46 and 47. An endless belt 48 is spanned. A moving block 50 as a moving member is fixed to a predetermined portion of a portion of the belt 48 that passes under the pulleys 46 and 47, and the moving block 50 reciprocates as the belt 48 moves. ing. A guide shaft 51, which extends horizontally between the pulleys 46 and 47 in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction, is inserted through a through hole formed in the substantially central portion of the moving block 50. The moving block 50 is linearly guided by 51. Moving block 50
A support shaft 50a is formed on the upper part of the support shaft 50a.
A holding member 52 is rotatably supported on the. Holding member
A substantially L-shaped angle portion 52a is formed at 52, and the angle portion 52a is attached to a corner portion of the paper feed base 33 between the vertical feed paper feed portion and the horizontal feed paper feed portion. Position detecting switches 100 and 101 (shown in FIG. 7) are arranged near the one end side and the other end side of the guide shaft 51, respectively. The position detecting switch 100 is fixed to the angle portion 52a. The position detection switch 101 is operated by the operating pieces 50b of the moving block 50 by being pushed by the provided switch operating pieces 52b.

On the other hand, the second clutch 45 is for interrupting the transmission of the driving force for the sheet lifting operation in the rotary plate 34, and the output of the second clutch 45 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 54 via the gear group 53. It is like this. That is, the output of the second clutch 45 is transmitted from each gear in the gear group 53 to the worm gear 53a, and further passes through the wheel gear 53b meshed with the worm gear 53a, so that the output shaft of the second clutch 45 is crossed. It is adapted to be transmitted to the rotating shaft 54 provided in a shape.

On the other end side of the rotary shaft 54, a joint portion 55a forming one side of the first coupling 55 is fixed, while on the tip end portion of the rotary shaft 56 rotatably supported on the main body side of the copying machine 1, 1
The joint portion 55b forming the other side of the coupling 55 is fixed. And, in the gear 56b fixed to the rotating shaft 56,
A gear 57a fixed to the rotating shaft 57 is meshed.
The rotary shaft 57 is parallel to the above rotary shaft 56 and
Similarly to, it is rotatably supported on the main body of the copying machine 1.
A joint portion 58b forming one side of the second coupling 58 is fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 57. The joint portion 58a forming the other side of the second coupling 58 is fixed to one end side of the lift-up shaft 60 provided in parallel with the rotary shaft 54. The joints 55a and 55b in the first coupling 55
The engagement / disengagement of the rotary cassette unit 26 and the engagement / disengagement of the joint portions 58a and 58b in the two-coupling 58, etc.
It is designed to be carried out by pushing in and pulling out from the copying machine 1 main body of (27).

A lift plate 40 is fixed to the central portion of the wrist-up shaft 60, and the lift plate 40 is rotated by the rotation of the lift-up shaft 60.
40 rotates to lift the sheet feeding portion of the rotary plate 34. Further, the other end side of the lift-up shaft 60 is merely rotatably supported, and no member is connected to this end portion.
When the lift plate 40 is separated from the joint portion 58b, it is completely free, and the lift plate 40 in the lifted state is naturally rotated downward by its own weight.

As shown in FIG. 5, a support base 63 is fixedly installed on the main body of the copying machine 1 at a position above the paper feed section of the rotary cassette 35, and copy paper is placed on the support base 63. A paper feed mechanism 62 for delivering the paper to the supply path 22 is provided. The support base 63 has a cutout portion 63a for allowing a part of the intake roller 65 and the paper feed roller 66 of the paper feed mechanism 62 to protrude from below the support base 63, and a part of the paper return plate 81. A notch 63b for projecting from the lower side of the base 63 and a notch 63c for allowing a part of the pressure contact release lever 76 to protrude from the lower side of the support base 63 are formed.

In the paper feeding mechanism 62, while the intake roller 65 is provided above the paper feeding portion of the rotary cassette 35,
The paper feed roller 66 is arranged in parallel with the take-in roller 65 and at a predetermined distance in the feeding direction of the copy paper. These two rollers 65 and 66 are endless belts that are bridged at one end side thereof. It is designed to rotate in the same direction at 67. A support shaft 65a for rotatably supporting the intake roller 65,
A pair of roller arms 68 are sandwiched between the rotation shaft 66a that transmits the rotation force to the paper feed roller 66 so as to sandwich both rollers 65 and 66.
68 are laterally installed, and the roller arms 68, 68 rotate about the rotary shaft 66a as a fulcrum, and thus the take-in roller 6
By raising and lowering 5, the contact roller 65 is brought into contact with and released from the copy sheet.

Protrusions 68a and 68a are formed at the ends of the roller arms 68 and 68 on the side of the paper feed roller 66.
The roller arms 68, 68 are rotated upward by pressing the 68a, 68a downward by the sheet feeding operation angle 70. The sheet feeding operation angle 70 is fixed to one end side of the sheet feeding operation shaft 71, and is rotated with the rotation of the sheet feeding operation shaft 71.

A solenoid connecting plate 72 is fixed to the other end of the sheet feeding operation shaft 71. The operation shaft 73a of the sheet feeding solenoid 73 is connected to the elongated hole formed at the tip of the solenoid connecting plate 72, and the forward / backward movement of the operation shaft 73a is performed by the solenoid connecting plate 72, whereby the sheet feeding operation is performed. It is adapted to be converted into a rotational movement on the shaft 71.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the paper feed roller
A mounting plate 75 is arranged below the 66, and a reverse roller 74 is mounted on the mounting plate 75 for returning the copy paper by feeding in the same direction as the rotation direction of the paper feed roller 66. There is. The mounting plate 75 is provided so as to be rotatable in the up-and-down direction, and by this rotation, the reverse rotation roller 74 is moved toward and away from the paper feed roller 66. Rotating shaft 74 for transmitting rotational force to reverse rotation roller 74
a is disposed below the rotary shaft 66a of the paper feed roller 66 and in parallel with the rotary shaft 66a, and the action piece of the pressure contact release lever 76 having a substantially L shape is provided between the rotary shaft 66a and the rotary shaft 74a. 76a
Is interposed. The pressure contact release lever 76 is provided so as to be rotatable around a shaft 76c in the vertical direction, and is rotated downward to press the reverse rotation roller 74 and separate it from the paper feed roller 66. Has become.

The connecting piece 76b of the press-contact releasing lever 76 is connected to one end side 77a of the press-contact releasing connecting member 77, and the press-contact releasing connecting member 77 rotates horizontally about a shaft 77c (shown in FIG. 5). By doing so, the press contact release lever 76 is rotated. The other end side 77b of the press contact release connecting member 77 is connected to a pin of the operating shaft 80a of the paper return solenoid 80, and the press contact releasing connecting member 77 is rotated by driving the operating shaft 80a forward and backward. It has become.

Further, a paper return plate 81 for returning the copy paper to the rotary cassette 35 side is connected to the operation shaft 80a of the paper return solenoid 80. The paper return plate 81 is provided between the intake roller 65 and the paper feed roller 66 so as to be vertically rotatable around a shaft 81a provided above the pin position of the operating shaft 80a as a fulcrum. When the operating shaft 80a is retracted, the copy sheet (not shown) is rotated in the direction of returning it to the rotary cassette 35 side.

A paper detection switch 82 and a paper non-existence detection switch 83 are provided on both sides of the feeding roller 65 on the support base 63, and the operation pieces 82a of the switches 82 and 83 are arranged.
-83a faces below the support base 63 through the notch 63a of the support base 63. The operating pieces 82a and 83a of the switches 82 and 83 are pushed and operated by the sheet feeding portion of the rotary plate 34 in the lifted state. It should be noted that each of the vertical feed paper feed unit and the horizontal feed paper feed unit of the rotary plate 34 has an operating piece 83a of the paper non-use detection switch 83.
The notch part (not shown) is formed corresponding to
When there is no copy paper on the sheet 34, the operating piece 83a passes through the above-mentioned cutout portion so that it does not turn on and only the paper detection switch 82 turns on, while when copy paper is loaded, the detection switch 82a is detected by this copy paper. Both 83 are turned on.

The operation when the rotary cassette 35 shifts from the horizontal feed state to the vertical feed state will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 (a) to (d).

As shown in (a) of the figure, in the horizontal feed position, the horizontal feed paper feed unit of the rotary cassette 35 is located on the paper feed unit side of the rotary cassette unit 26 (27). The moving block 50 and the holding member 52 that constitute the means are located at one end of the guide shaft 51.

When the driving force of the drive motor 41 is transmitted to the pulley 46 via the first clutch 44, the pulley 46 rotates to rotate the belt 46.
Moves around, and the moving block 50 fixed to the belt 48 is guided by the guide shaft 51 and moves to the other end side, as shown in FIG.

Rotation cassette by linear movement of the moving block 50
35 rotates in the A direction. Here, since the rotary cassette 35 and the moving block 50 are connected and the moving block 50 moves linearly, the center of rotation of the rotary cassette 35 moves, but such movement pivotally supports the rotary cassette 35. The arm 32 is secured by rotating in the D direction with the support shaft 31b as a fulcrum. The arm
The rotation of 32 in the D direction is performed until the angle formed by the line X connecting the shaft 50a of the moving block 50 and the shaft 32a and the guide shaft 51 becomes 90 °.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the angle between the line X and the guide shaft 51 exceeds 90 °, the rotation direction of the rotary cassette 35 remains A, but the arm 32 is rotated.
Will rotate in the C direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 3D, when the moving block 50 reaches the end of the guide shaft 51, the position detecting switch 101 is operated by the operating piece 50b of the moving block 50. The control unit of the copying machine 1 detects the operation of the position detection switch 101, and the control unit cuts off the transmission of the driving force by the first clutch 44, whereby the movement of the moving block 50 is stopped. In such a state,
The vertical feed unit of the rotary cassette 35 is oriented toward the paper feed side of the rotary cassette unit 26 (27).

On the other hand, the transition from the vertical feed state to the horizontal feed state in the rotary cassette 35 can be performed by rotating the drive motor 41 in the reverse direction and performing the operation reverse to the above operation. Here, at the same time when the rotary cassette 35 takes the lateral feed state, the switch actuation piece 52b of the holding member 52 actuates the position detection switch 100. And this position detection switch 100
Is detected by the control unit of the copying machine 1, and this control unit
By stopping the transmission of the driving force by the clutch 44, the movement of the moving block 50 is stopped.

Next, the operation of lifting the paper feed unit of the rotary plate 34 will be described. Due to the operation of the second clutch 45, the driving force of the drive motor 41 is changed to the gear group 53 → the rotary shaft 54 → the first coupling 55.
It is transmitted to the rotary shaft 56, the rotary shaft 57, the second coupling 58, and the lift-up shaft 60. The rotation of the lift-up shaft 60 causes the lift plate 40 to rotate. When the lift plate 40 is rotated upward, the lift plate 40 contacts the bottom surface of the rotary plate 34 through the notch 33c of the paper feed base 33, and lifts the paper feed unit of the rotary plate 34.

Here, by the support structure 36 having a universal joint composed of the female joint 36b and the male joint 36c, the rotating plate 34
Is prevented from being displaced (horizontal movement), and it is possible to prevent the sheet from being fed out in the paper feeding operation that is performed after the rotary plate is lifted and rotated.

In this embodiment, the hemispherical concave portion of the female joint 36b is engaged with the hemispherical convex portion of the male joint 36c, so that the universal joint is pivoted by an articulating motion. Further, for example, a ball joint or the like can be used as the universal joint.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, the support structure of the rotating plate according to the present invention is
A rotary plate having one paper feed unit and at least two directions at one point of a corner portion between the non-paper feed sides so that each of the above-mentioned paper feed units is lifted with each non-paper feed side as a pivot. A universal joint that rotatably supports the rotating plate, guides the rotating plate when one of the sheet feeding units is lifted, and serves as a rotating fulcrum of the rotating plate when lifting the other sheet feeding unit,
Further, the guide means is provided so that the rotation fulcrum of the universal joint is located on the extension line of the rotation fulcrum.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the positional displacement of the rotary plate, and it is possible to prevent the paper from being fed out with the positional displacement of the paper in the paper feeding operation performed after the rotary plate is lifted and rotated.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view showing a support structure for a rotating plate. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the support structure for the rotary plate. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a schematic internal mechanism of the copying machine. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a drive mechanism of the rotary cassette unit. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the paper feed mechanism. FIG. 6A is a side view of the paper feed mechanism, and FIG. 6B is a side view showing a state in which the paper return plate and the like are operated in FIG. 6A. 7A to 7D are plan views showing the rotating operation of the rotating cassette. 26/27 is a rotary cassette unit, 32 is an arm, 33 is a paper feed base, 34 is a rotary plate, 35 is a rotary cassette, 36 is a support structure, 36b is a female joint (universal joint), 36c is a male joint (universal joint). , 37 is a guide means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotary plate having two paper feed units, and a corner plate located between the non-paper feed sides so that each of the paper feed units is lifted with each non-paper feed side as a pivot. A universal joint that rotatably supports a rotary plate in at least two directions at one point, guides the rotary plate when one of the paper feeding units is lifted, and rotates a fulcrum of the rotary plate when the other paper feeding unit is lifted. And a guide means provided so that the rotation fulcrum of the universal joint is located on the extension line of the rotation fulcrum.