JPH09188422A - Sheet feeding device and image reading device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust the registration of a sheet loading member simply by moving a regulation means which regulates a position in the orthogonal direction to the direction of supply and feed of sheet on the loading member in the orthogonal direction to the direction of sheet supply and feed. SOLUTION: A pinion 22 is rotatably attached on a supporting plate 21, and a rack 23 which is integral with respective side guide members 20a, 20b is meshed symmetrically on the right and left. Consequently, both ends in the direction of width are regulated by the side guide members 20a, 20b due to central standard. Two long holes 24 in the direction of width of manuscript are provided on the support plate 21 and are attached on a rear surface of a sheet loading member 1 by a guide pin 25 in such a manner that they can move in the direction of width of manuscript. Moreover, there is a long screw hole 26 on the support plate 21 and can be fixed on a rear surface of the sheet member 1 by tightening a screw 27 from a manuscript loading side. Accordingly, the support plate 21 is moved in a scope of the long hole 24 and the screw 27 is tightened to compensate positions of the side guide members 20a, 20b in the direction of width of manuscript.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus that feeds a sheet in the width direction by guiding it by a regulating member, an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus using the sheet feeding apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Image reading apparatuses and image forming apparatuses are widely used today. These apparatuses place a plurality of sheets on a tray or the like, and separate and feed the sheets one by one by a sheet feeding device. Then, the image written on the sheet is read or the image is formed on the sheet.

In the sheet feeding apparatus used for such an apparatus, the sheet feeding direction is such that the sheet placed on the placing member such as a tray is fed by the feeding means without skewing. Generally, both ends of the sheet in a direction (sheet width direction) orthogonal to are guided by the regulating members.

Further, in the image reading apparatus or the image forming apparatus, in order to adjust the registration between the reading unit or the image forming unit and the sheet placing member in the sheet width direction, the sheet placing member itself is moved in the sheet feeding direction. On the other hand, there are those configured to be movable in the sheet width direction, and those configured to be able to move the positioning positions of the sheet feeding means and the reading means or the image forming means in the sheet width direction.

[0005]

However, in the former case, it is difficult to apply the above-mentioned conventional structure for adjusting the registration to the apparatus for vertically moving the sheet placing member, and in the latter case. In such a case, the sheet feeding device itself had to be moved, and the adjustment would be a large scale.

The present invention has solved the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to feed a sheet by which the sheet placing member can be raised and lowered and the registration of the sheet placing member can be easily adjusted. An apparatus, an image reading apparatus using the apparatus, and an image forming apparatus are provided.

[0007]

A typical structure according to the present invention for achieving the above object is to place a sheet in a sheet feeding apparatus which feeds by feeding the end portion in the width direction of the sheet. Mounting member, a lifting means for moving the mounting member up and down, a feeding means for feeding a sheet mounted on the mounting member, and a mounting member on the mounting member A width regulating means for regulating the position of the formed sheet in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction, and moving the width regulating means in the direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction with respect to the placing member. It is characterized by being configured as possible.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An image reading apparatus using a sheet feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is an explanatory view of the configuration of an image reading apparatus having a sheet feeding device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a lifting / lowering configuration of a sheet placing member, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a height detecting configuration of the sheet placing member, FIG. 4 and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of adjusting the registration of the sheet placing member.

Here, as the order of description, first, the overall structure of the sheet feeding device and the image reading device will be described, and then, the structure for adjusting the elevation and registration of the sheet mounting member will be described.

{Overall Configuration} This image reading apparatus A is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet feeding device B is attached to the upper portion, and the document fed from the sheet feeding device B is optically read by the image reading device A.

The sheet feeding device B feeds an original G, which is a plurality of sheets stacked on the sheet placing member 1, by a pickup roller 2 and a separation roller pair 3 which constitute a feeding means, one by one from the top. In addition to separate feeding, the feeding rollers 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d convey the image G to the image reading section 5, and the reading roller 5 presses the document G against the contact glass 5b by the pressing roller 5a. The document G, which has been read by the image reading section 5, is conveyed by the pair of feeding rollers 4e, 4f, 4g and discharged to the discharge section 6.

On the other hand, the image reading apparatus A is provided with a reading means for optically reading the information written on the original G conveyed to the reading section 5. This reading means is provided for the original G pressed against the contact glass 5b.
The reflected light emitted from the light source 7 is reflected by the first to third mirrors 8a,
It is configured to be reflected by 8b and 8c, guided to the photoelectric conversion element 10 via the lens 9, and converted into the electrical signal by the element 10 into the electrical signal and transmitted to another device such as an image forming device. There is.

{Structure of Sheet Placement Member} The placement member 1 on which the original G is placed moves up and down according to the thickness of the original G loaded by the elevating means, and the uppermost original G always has a constant height. It is configured to be delivered from. As shown in FIG. 2 (a side view of the mounting member 1 viewed from the separation roller pair 3 side), when the image reading operation is started, the drive motor 11 drives the drive gear 12 to rotate the drive gear 12 counterclockwise. Rotate around. Then, the fan-shaped gear 13a and the arm 13b integrally attached to the gear 13a rotate in the directions of the arrows around the shaft 13c by the drive transmission from the drive gear 12 and the idler gear 14. As a result, the support roller 13d rotatably attached to the arm 13b pushes up the mounting member 1. A lower limit sensor 16 is attached to a predetermined position of the frame 15, and the sensor 16 detects the mounting member 1 when the mounting member 1 is at the standby position. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), when the sheet placing member 1 is at the standby position, the lower limit sensor 16 is pushed by the placing member 1 to turn on, and the drive motor 11 drives to drive the lower limit sensor 16. As shown in (), when the sheet placing member 1 is raised and the document G can be fed, the lower limit sensor 16 is no longer pressed and the sensor 16 is turned off. The driving force from the drive motor 11 may be transmitted by, for example, a belt instead of being transmitted by the gear as described above.

An upper limit sensor 17 is provided at a predetermined position above the sheet placing member 1 for detecting that the placing member 1 has been raised to the document feeding position. This upper limit sensor
As shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 17 denotes a light-transmitting photo sensor including a light emitting element 17a and a light receiving element 17b, and a flag 17c for turning the sensor 17 on and off is attached to a predetermined position so as to be vertically movable.

When the sheet placing member 1 is located below, the sensor 17 is located at a position where the flag 17c is out of the optical path of the photo sensor as shown in FIG. 3 (a), and the sensor is OF.
F. On the other hand, when the sheet placing member 1 on which the originals G are stacked is raised, the flag 17c is pushed up on the upper surface of the original, and when the stacked uppermost original G reaches the feeding position, it is flagged.
17c moves up to a position where it blocks the optical path of the photo sensor, and the sensor turns on. By controlling the drive motor 11 to be stopped by the detection signal of the sensor 17, the rise of the sheet placing member 1 is stopped.

When the originals G are sequentially fed from the placing member 1, the height of the originals G placed in layers gradually decreases, and
Along with that, the flag 17c also goes down. When the sensor 17 is turned off, the drive motor 11 is driven again and the sensor 17 turns off.
The mounting member 1 is lifted up to N. This series of operations is repeated until the original G is exhausted. Then, when the document feeding operation is completed, the drive motor 11 is driven to lower the placing member 1 until the lower limit sensor 16 is turned on.

Further, when the sheet placing member 1 is moved up and down, the sheet placing member 1 is guided by guide means so as not to rattle. As shown in FIG. 4 (a state diagram in which the mounting member 1 is viewed from below), the guide means has two abutting rollers 18 rotatably supported on both sides of the mounting member 1, respectively. The two contact rollers 18 on one side are pressed against the frame 15 by the compression spring 18a. As a result, the sheet placing member 1 is positioned between the frames 15 without play in the direction orthogonal to the document feeding direction. Further, in the portion of the frame 15 on which the abutment roller 18 abuts, a guide portion 19 having a concave shape is provided over the range in which the sheet placing member 1 moves up and down, and the abutment roller 18 is fitted to the guide portion 19. ing. For this reason, the mounting member 1 is positioned between the frames 15 without play even in the document feeding direction. Therefore,
The sheet placing member 1 moves up and down with respect to the frame 15 in the entire horizontal direction with respect to the document placing surface without play.

Further, the sheet mounting member 1 has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, width regulating means for regulating the width direction of the document G to be placed (direction orthogonal to the document feeding direction) is provided. The width restricting means prevents the side guide members 20a and 20b, which are restricting members, from contacting both ends of the original G in the width direction and preventing the original G from being displaced in the width direction. It is attached so that it can slide in any direction. Further, the width regulating means as a whole is configured to be movable in the document width direction with respect to the sheet placing member 1.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a visible view of the sheet placing member 1), the width regulating means has a pinion 22 rotatably attached to a supporting plate 21 attached to the sheet placing member 1. A rack 23 integral with the side guide members 20a and 20b is engaged with the pinion 22 symmetrically. For this reason, when one of the two side guide members 20a and 20b is moved in the document width direction, the other side guide member is also moved symmetrically in conjunction. As a result, the document G placed on the sheet placing member 1 is regulated at the widthwise ends by the side guide members 20a and 20b by the so-called center reference.

The supporting member 21 itself is also attached to the sheet placing member 1 so as to be movable in the document width direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the support plate 21 is provided with two elongated holes 24 which are long in the document width direction, and a guide which is fitted into the elongated holes 24 is provided on the back surface of the sheet placing member 1. Pin 25 is provided. As a result, the support plate 21 is guided by the guide pins 25 and is movable in the document width direction with respect to the sheet placing member 1 within the range of the elongated holes 24.

Further, the supporting member 21 is provided with a screw elongated hole 26 for screwing, and the screw 27 is fastened to the elongated hole 26 from the front side of the sheet placing member 1 (original placing side). Thus, the support plate 21 can be fixed to the back surface of the sheet mounting member 1.

Therefore, when it is desired to correct the positions of the side guide members 20a and 20b with respect to the sheet placing member 1 in the document width direction, the screw 27 is loosened and the guide pin 25 guides the support plate 21 to a long position. The side guide members 20a and 20b move together with the pinion 22 and the rack 23 by moving the amount to be corrected within the range of the hole 24 and tightening the screw 27. Therefore, as a result, it is possible to easily adjust the registration for moving the position of the document G placed on the placing member 1 with respect to the image reading unit in the direction orthogonal to the document feeding direction.

[Second Embodiment] In the above-described first embodiment, an example in which the sheet feeding device B is used for the image reading device A is shown, but it is naturally possible to configure an image forming device using this. is there. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the document G fed by the sheet feeding device B described above may be read by the image reading device A, and an image may be formed by the image forming means based on the read information. It is possible.

When the image forming apparatus C according to this embodiment receives an image forming signal, the recording sheet S is conveyed from the cassette 28 by the pickup roller 29 and the conveying roller pair 30, and is read by the image reading apparatus A by the image forming means. An image is formed on the sheet S based on the information obtained. This image forming means uses an electrophotographic recording system in the present embodiment,
The surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 31 is charged by a primary charger 32, and a laser beam image corresponding to the read information is irradiated from the optical means 33 onto the photosensitive drum 31 to form a latent image.
The toner image formed by developing the latent image by the developing device 34 is transferred to the recording sheet S by the transfer charging device 35. Then, the recording sheet S on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 36 to fix the toner, and the sheet S is discharged to the discharge tray 37.

In the case of this image forming apparatus, a cassette
It is possible not only to supply the recording sheet S from 28, but also to manually feed the recording sheet S set on the sheet placing member 38. At this time, the sheet mounting member 38
It is desirable that the above-mentioned side guide members 20a and 20b be provided to guide both ends in the width direction of the sheet S that is manually fed. At this time, by constructing the side guide members 20a and 20b attached to the sheet placing member 38 in the same manner as in the above-described first embodiment, the recording sheet S to be fed and the image forming means are orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. It is possible to easily adjust the registration in the direction.

Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, an example of a so-called center reference in which one of the side guide members 20a and 20b as the width regulating means moves symmetrically when the other moves is described. The same can be applied to the so-called one-side reference in which the side guide member on one side in the width direction of the seat is fixed and only the side guide member on the other side is moved.

[0027]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the sheet width regulating means is moved in the direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction with respect to the placing member so that the sheet is placed on the apparatus main body. The registration of the member in the direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction can be easily adjusted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view of an image reading apparatus having a sheet feeding apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a lifting / lowering configuration of a sheet placing member.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a height detection configuration of a sheet placing member.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a lifting guide for a sheet placing member.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of registration adjustment.

FIG. 6 is a configuration explanatory view of an image forming apparatus having a sheet feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A ... Image reading device B ... Sheet feeding device 1 ... Sheet placing member 2 ... Pickup roller 3 ... Separation roller pair 4a to 4g ... Feeding roller pair 5 ... Image reading part 5a ... Pressing roller 5b ... Contact glass 6 ... Ejection Part 7 ... Light source 8a-8c ... Mirror 9 ... Lens 10 ... Photoelectric conversion element 11 ... Drive motor 12 ... Drive gear 13a ... Fan gear 13b ... Arm 13c ... Shaft 13d ... Support roller 14 ... Idler gear 15 ... Frame 16 ... Lower limit sensor 17 ... Upper limit sensor 17a ... Light emitting element 17b ... Light receiving element 17c ... Flag 18 ... Impact roller 18a ... Compression spring 19 ... Guide part 20a, 20b ... Side guide member 21 ... Support plate 22 ... Pinion 23 ... Rack 24 ... Slot 25 … Guide pin 26… Screw slot 27… Screw 28… Cassette 29… Pickup roller 30… Conveying roller pair 31… Photosensitive drum 32… Primary charger 33… Optical means 34… Developer 35… Transfer charger 36… Wear 37 ... discharge tray 38 ... sheet placing member

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding apparatus for feeding and feeding a sheet in a width direction thereof, comprising: a placing member for placing a sheet; an elevating means for raising and lowering the placing member; A feeding means for feeding a sheet placed on the placing member, and a width for regulating the position of the sheet placed on the placing member in the direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. A sheet feeding device comprising: a regulating means, wherein the width regulating means is configured to be movable with respect to the placing member in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. 2. The sheet feeding device has two regulating members for regulating the widthwise ends of the sheet by the width regulating means, and one regulating member is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising interlocking means for interlockingly and symmetrically moving the other regulating member when the sheet is moved. 3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the interlocking means is composed of a rack and a pinion. 4. An image reading device for feeding a sheet to read information written on the sheet, the sheet feeding device according to claim 1, and the sheet feeding device. An image reading apparatus comprising: a reading unit for reading information written on a sheet fed by the apparatus. 5. An image forming apparatus for feeding a sheet to form an image on the sheet, comprising: the sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1; and the sheet feeding apparatus. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming unit for forming an image on a fed sheet.