JPH09194043A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cope with a situation in such a state that the occurrence of waste is reduced when the damage, such as chipping, occurs to the contact surface of a paper sheet and a paper sheet guiding function is rendered non-ensured. SOLUTION: In a paper feeding device having a guide fence 12 to regulate the position of the side edges of paper sheets loaded on a paper loading part 11, by removably mounting a paper contact member 13, having a paper contact surface 13a protruded from the guide fence 12 toward the loaded paper side, on the guide fence 12, even when a paper guide function is damaged due to the occurrence of chipping of the paper contact surface 13a with the lapse of time occasioned by repetition of paper feed conveyance operation, at a current point of time, only the paper contact member 13 is removed from the guide fence 12 for replacement and the guide fence 12 itself is reutilized.

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 used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in this type of paper feeding device,
As shown in FIG. 5, the stacked sheets 1 stacked in the sheet stacking unit
The left and right guide fences 2 that regulate the positions of the side edges of the sheet are formed of sheet metal or a mold. 3 is a back fence. Here, the guide fence 2 is integrally formed with a rib-shaped projection on the stacking sheet 1 side in order to reduce the resistance applied to the stacking sheet 1 at the time of feeding and to increase the sheet guide function. The contact portion 4 is used. Also,
For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-33710 describes that a member corresponding to a sheet contact portion is fixed to a guide fence.

[0003]

However, as shown in FIG. 6, the paper contact surface 4a of the paper contact portion 4 is gradually scraped (as shown in FIG. 6 by the repeated feeding and feeding of the paper 1). As a result, the paper guiding function of the paper contact portion 4 is impaired over time. When the paper guide function is impaired in this way, each guide fence 2 must be replaced, which is very wasteful.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a sheet feeding device provided with a guide fence that regulates the position of the side edge of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit, the sheet is placed closer to the stacked sheet than the guide fence. A paper contact member having a protruding paper contact surface was detachably attached to the guide fence. Therefore, even if the paper abutting surface is abraded over time and the paper guiding function is impaired due to repeated feeding and conveying operations, only the paper abutting member is removed from the guide fence and replaced at that time. The guide fence itself is reusable and can be used continuously.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the sheet contact member of the sheet feeding device according to the first aspect is formed of a wear resistant material. Therefore, the paper contact member is less likely to be scraped, and the replacement cycle of the paper contact member is lengthened with a minimum increase in cost.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first or second aspect is provided.
The sheet contacting member of the sheet feeding device described above is detachable from the guide fence so as to have a plurality of sheet contacting surfaces and allow any one sheet contacting surface to project toward the stacked sheets. Therefore, even if the used paper contact surface is scraped and the paper guide function is impaired, it is only necessary to reattach the paper contact member to a state where another unused paper contact surface is used. Can be dealt with, and the life of the paper contact member can be extended without increasing the cost.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an elastic support portion is provided on the guide fence of the sheet feeding device according to the first, second or third aspect, for biasing the sheet contact member mounted on the guide fence toward the stacked sheets. Equipped with. Therefore, since the sheet contact member is urged toward the stacked sheets by the elastic supporting portion with an appropriate pressing force, the accuracy of the sheet guide function is increased, and the sheet contact surface is scraped as in the case of pressing more than necessary. Does not occur.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
A description will be given based on FIG. In the present embodiment, for example, from the paper stacking unit 11 installed in the paper feed cassette to a substantially L
Two concave grooves 12a are formed vertically on the guide fence 12 which is vertically installed and regulates the position of the side edge of the stacked sheets (not shown).
Two sheet abutting members 13 are detachably attached to 2a in the vertical direction. Here, the paper contact member 13
Has a substantially trapezoidal horizontal cross-section, and has the groove 12a.
Has a size corresponding to the sheet contact member 13 and is formed to be shallow, so that the trapezoidal top portion of the sheet contact member 13 protrudes toward the stacked sheets from the guide fence 12. The surface 13a is formed. The concave groove 12a is formed to a position lower than the surface of the sheet stacking unit 11. Further, the guide fence 12 and the paper contact member 13 are provided with concave and convex fitting portions 12b and 13b for lightly locking the paper contact member 13 so that the paper contact member 13 does not come out or come off the concave groove 12a. (See FIG. 2). Further, the paper contact member 1
On the top side of 3, there is formed a handle 13c which is longer than the plate thickness of the guide fence 12 and which is gripped at the time of attachment / detachment. Such a paper contact member 13 is formed of a material having excellent wear resistance.

In such a structure, the sheet stacking section 11
The side edges of the sheets stacked above are fed and conveyed while being guided by the sheet contact surface 13a of the sheet contact member 13. Here, the paper contact member 13 is formed of a material having excellent wear resistance and is not easily scraped even when the paper is fed and conveyed, but in the long term, the paper contact surface 13a is not scraped. When the paper guide function is impaired due to the occurrence, the paper contact member 13 may be extracted from the groove 12a and a new paper contact member 13 may be replaced and mounted. That is, since the guide fence 12 itself can be reused, continue to use it as it is,
Since only the damaged sheet contact member 13 needs to be replaced,
It can be dealt with with little waste.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted (the same applies to the following embodiments). In the present embodiment, the sheet contact member 14 having a plurality of, for example, four sheet contact surfaces 14a is used. Here, four sheet contact surfaces 14
The a is formed in a symmetrical shape so as to be located at a symmetrical position with respect to the mounting direction of the paper contact member 14. On the guide fence 12 side, a concave groove 12c having a shape corresponding to the horizontal sectional shape of the paper contact member 14 is formed shallowly. As a result, one sheet contact surface 14a is set to project more toward the stacked sheets than the guide fence 12 surface. Here, the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the paper contact member 14 is symmetrical with respect to the mounting direction, and which paper contact surface 14a is mounted so as to project is freely determined.

According to this structure, even if the used paper contact surface 14a is scraped 15 and the paper guide function is impaired, another unused paper contact surface 1 is used.
This can be dealt with simply by reattaching the sheet contact member 14 to the state in which 4a is used. Therefore, the life of the sheet contact member 14 can be extended without increasing the cost.
In the present embodiment, since there are four sheet contact surfaces 14a, the life is four times as long as when there is only one sheet contact surface.

A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, a groove 12d for inserting and removing the paper contact member 16 in the vertical direction is formed in a part of the guide fence 12, and the paper contact member 16 installed in the recess groove 12d. An elastic supporting portion 12e that contacts the back side of the sheet and urges the sheet contact surface 16a toward the stacked sheet 17 is integrally formed in the concave groove 12d. Therefore, the guide fence 12 is made of resin, for example, and the elastic support portion 12e is set to have a weak biasing force due to the elasticity of the resin. At the upper end of the elastic support portion 12e, a guide surface 12f is formed to be bent so as to guide the sheet contact member 16 so that the sheet contact member 16 can be mounted smoothly. Further, projections 12g and 16b are formed on the recessed groove 12d and the sheet contact member 16 to prevent the protrusion 12g and 16b from coming off in the biasing direction.

According to this structure, the sheet contact member 16 mounted in the concave groove 12d is urged by the elastic support portion 12e toward the stacked sheet 17 side with an appropriate pressing force so that the sheet contact surface 16a is formed. Since it contacts the side edge of the stacked sheets 17, the accuracy of the sheet guide function by the sheet contact surface 16a is improved.
At this time, the pressing force by the elastic support portion 12e is an appropriate force using resin elasticity or the like, and is not too strong, which increases resistance at the time of sheet feeding and conveyance and increases abrasion of the sheet contact surface 16a. There is no such inconvenience.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device provided with the guide fence for regulating the position of the side edge of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking portion, the sheet is projected from the guide fence toward the stacked sheets. Since the paper contact member having the paper contact surface is detachably attached to the guide fence, the paper contact function is deteriorated due to abrasion of the paper contact surface over time due to repeated feeding and conveying operations. Even if
At that point, only the paper contact member needs to be removed from the guide fence and replaced, and the guide fence itself can be reused, can be continuously used, and can be dealt with without waste.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the sheet contact member of the sheet feeding device according to the first aspect is formed of a wear-resistant material. Up, the replacement cycle of the paper contact member can be lengthened.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the sheet abutting member of the sheet feeding device according to the first or the second aspect has a plurality of sheet abutting surfaces and any one sheet abutting surface is stacked. Since it is detachable from the guide fence so that it projects toward the paper side, even if the paper guide surface used is damaged and the paper guide function is impaired, other unused paper This can be dealt with only by reattaching the sheet contact member to the state where the contact surface is used, and the life of the sheet contact member can be extended without any special cost increase.

According to the invention of claim 4, claim 1,
By providing the guide fence of the sheet feeding device described in 2 or 3 with an elastic support portion that urges the sheet contact member mounted on the guide fence toward the stacked sheets, the sheet contact member is appropriately supported by the elastic support portion. Since the pressing force is applied to the stacked sheets of paper, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the sheet guide function without causing the disadvantage that the abrasion of the sheet contact surface is promoted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a portion viewed from an arrow B in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Paper Loading Section 12 Guide Fence 12e Elastic Support Section 13 Paper Contact Member 13a Paper Contact Surface 14 Paper Contact Member 14a Paper Contact Surface 16 Paper Contact Member 16a Paper Contact Surface 17 Paper

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device provided with a guide fence that regulates the positions of the side edges of sheets stacked on a sheet stacking unit.
A sheet feeding device, wherein a sheet contact member having a sheet contact surface protruding from the guide fence toward the stacked sheets is detachably attached to the guide fence. 2. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the paper contact member is made of a wear resistant material. 3. The paper contact member has a plurality of paper contact surfaces and is attachable / detachable to / from the guide fence so that any one of the paper contact surfaces is projected toward the stacked paper. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the guide fence has an elastic support portion for urging a sheet contact member mounted on the guide fence toward the stacked sheets. .