JPH09290933A - Paper feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the operation by a user by improving the setting property of paper sheets in a tandem tray capable of storing a large volume of paper sheets, and to prevent the defective carriage by the mistaken setting. SOLUTION: A tandem tray 3 is split into two parts inside, and a first tray 4 and a second tray 5 are horizontally and continuously arranged, and a locking mechanism to the first tray 4 is provided on a rear device part side of the second tray 5. The locking mechanism connects/disconnects the first tray 4 to/from the second tray 5 by attaching/detaching a lock lever 13 to/from a projection 15 provided on a member 4a on the rear device side of the first tray 4. When no paper sheets are present in the first or second tray 4, 5, a solenoid 11 is turned off and the trays 4, 5 are connected to each other so as to be integratedly drawn out, while only the second tray 5 is drawn otherwise.

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 having a tray in which two large-capacity sheet accommodating portions are horizontally arranged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, copying machines have been reduced in size. However, since the number of sheets of paper cannot be reduced, various measures have been taken. For example, a large-capacity tray called a tandem tray has been proposed in which, when storing small-sized sheets, two sheet storage units are horizontally arranged to store twice the number of sheets. (JP-A-6-144600
Reference). Some tandem trays are of a large capacity type, for example, the number of sheets loaded in each of the two sheet storage units is 1500 (three packs because one sheet is usually 500 sheets per pack).

However, since the size of the copying machine main body is made as small as possible by miniaturization as described above, the horizontal gap between the two accommodating portions of the large-capacity tandem tray is small, which makes it difficult to set sheets. The problem has arisen. Further, in the tandem tray, the paper is fed from one of the paper accommodating parts, and when one is empty, the paper is transferred from the other paper accommodating part. There was such a problem.

In view of such conventional problems, the present invention makes it easy to set the paper on the tandem tray so that the user can easily operate the paper, and it is possible to prevent the conveyance failure due to the setting error. The purpose is to

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, one of the sheet feeding devices of the present invention is as follows.
A first sheet accommodating portion for accommodating a large amount of sheets that can be fed sheet by sheet, a raising means for raising a sheet stacking member of the first sheet accommodating portion, and a horizontal and parallel arrangement with respect to the first sheet accommodating portion. A second sheet accommodating portion arranged, a transfer means for collectively conveying the sheets of the second sheet accommodating portion to the first sheet accommodating portion, the first sheet accommodating portion and the second sheet accommodating portion In the paper feeding device, which has a lockable means that can be connected, the sheet stacking member of the first sheet storage section descends by its own weight when the first sheet storage section is pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction. When there is paper in the first paper storage section,
It is characterized in that the connection between the first sheet storage section and the second sheet storage section is released and the second sheet storage section can be pulled out independently.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided means for detecting the remaining amount level of the paper in the first paper accommodating portion, and the locking means is for the paper accommodated in the first paper accommodating portion. It is characterized in that it has means for releasing the connection between the first sheet accommodating section and the second sheet accommodating section when the remaining amount reaches a certain level.

The third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the position of the means for detecting the remaining amount level of the sheet is variable.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the setting of the remaining amount level of the paper for releasing the connection by the lock means can be changed from the outside.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine using an embodiment of the sheet feeding device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the embodiment of the sheet feeding device according to the present invention shown in FIG. The copying machine shown in FIG. 1 comprises an image forming unit 1 at the upper part, ordinary paper feed trays 2 and 2 at the lower part, and a tandem tray 3 capable of accommodating a large amount of paper between them. There is.

The tandem tray 3 has a first tray 4 and a second tray 5 arranged horizontally and in parallel so as to divide the inside into two, and both trays 4 and 5 each have a large amount of paper 6 (for example, 1 tray).
It can accommodate 500 sheets and a height of about 150 mm.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a mechanism for vertically moving a bottom plate 7 on which sheets 6 are stacked is provided on the rear side of the first tray 4 in the apparatus. This mechanism comprises a drive shaft 8 for moving the bottom plate 7 up and down, and a motor 10 having an output shaft provided with a coupling 9 that can be engaged with and disengaged from the drive shaft 8.
The motor 10 is supported by the rear plate of the apparatus main body, and when the first tray 4 is set on the apparatus main body, the drive shaft 8 fits into the coupling 9 and the motor 10 rotates to move the bottom plate 7 to an appropriate paper feeding position. It is designed to raise.

FIG. 5A shows a first tray 4 and a second tray 5.
It is a perspective view showing a lock mechanism of. This mechanism is provided on the device rear side of the second tray 5 and comprises a solenoid 11, a link 12, a lock lever 13 and a spring 14, and a protrusion 15 and a lock lever provided on a member 4a of the first tray 4 on the device rear side. 13 is engaged and disengaged so that the first tray 4 and the second tray 5 can be connected or disconnected.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5B and 2, on the side portion of the second tray 5, the stacked sheets 6 are placed on the first tray 4.
A transfer fence 16 is provided for transfer to. The transfer fence 16 moves the paper 6 stored in the second tray 5 to the first tray 4 when the paper stored in the first tray 4 is used up. In addition, 3a in FIG. 5B is a front cover of the tandem tray 3, which is attached to the second tray 5 so as to cover the front side of both the first tray 4 and the second tray 5.

Further, the side plate 17 of the first tray 4 is shown in FIG.
A near-end detection sensor 18 for detecting the amount of stored sheets is provided as shown in FIG. The side plate 17 is provided with a plurality of screw holes 19 ...
If desired, 8 can be appropriately stopped at any position to change the paper amount detection state of the near end detection sensor 18.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described. First, when the paper 6 is exhausted in both the first and second trays 4 and 5, the solenoid 11 is turned off, and the lock lever 13 is hooked on the protrusion 15 of the member 4a by the urging force of the spring 14, and the first tray 4 and the second tray 5 To connect. When the front cover 3a of the tandem tray 3 is pulled in this state, the first and second trays 4 and 5 are integrally pulled out, and the paper 6 can be supplied to both trays 4 and 5. Then, when the first tray 4 is set in the apparatus main body, the drive shaft 8 fits into the coupling 9, and the motor 10 raises the bottom plate 7 to an appropriate paper feeding position. In other cases, the solenoid 11 is on and the first
The tray 4 and the second tray 5 are not connected, and only the second tray 5 can be pulled out.

When the sheets 6 stored in the first tray 4 are exhausted, the bottom plate 7 is lowered by the motor 10. After that, the paper 6 stored in the second tray 5 is transferred to the first tray 4 by the transfer fence 16 and is again moved to an appropriate paper feeding position by the motor 10.

By the way, when there is a sheet 6 in the first tray 4,
The distance l between the sheet bundles on the first tray 4 and the second tray 5 is narrow, and when the first tray 4 is full, the height of the sheet bundle is, for example, about 150 mm (1500 sheets).
When the paper 6 is set on the paper, it is difficult for the operator's hand to reach the bottom, and the paper 6 may be improperly set. In order to prevent this, when there is paper in the first tray 4, the solenoid 11 is turned on and the lock lever 13 is released.
Then, even if the front cover 3a is pulled, only the second tray 5 comes out, so that the paper 6 is easily replenished. The solenoid 11
If the duty of is a problem, the lock may be connected by the motor.

When the number of sheets 6 accommodated in the first tray 4 is small, for example, when the near-end detection sensor 10 detects that the sheets are about to run out (near-end), the solenoid 11 is turned off and the lock lever 1 is turned off.
Connect with 3. When the front cover 3a is pulled in this state, the first tray 4 and the second tray 5 come out integrally. When the first tray 4 is pulled out, the drive shaft 8 becomes the coupling 1
2, the bottom plate 7 is lowered by its own weight, the paper 6 is added to the first tray 4, and the paper 6 of the first tray 4 is added.
Since the height of the sheet is low, the replenishment property of the sheet 6 to the second tray 5 is good, and the setting error does not occur.

Depending on the user, the remaining number of sheets for which the paper 6 is desired to be added to the first tray 4 differs. So side plate 1
By changing the position where the near-end detection sensor 18 is attached to 7, the first tray 4 when the front cover 3a is pulled
And the manner in which the second tray 5 is pulled out is changed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a structure for changing the manner of pulling out the first tray 4 and the second tray 5 from the outside. In this structure, the encoder 20 is attached to the drive shaft 8, and the rotation of the encoder 20 is detected by the sensor 21 to detect the position of the bottom plate 7 in the height direction. 4 and second tray 5
By entering the remaining number of sheets that determines how to exit,
The user himself can change how to pull out the first and second trays according to the size and preference of the paper 6.

[0021]

As described above, in the paper feeding device according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the lock means has the paper in the first paper accommodating portion, the first paper accommodating portion and the second paper accommodating portion are provided. Since the second sheet storage section can be independently pulled out by disconnecting the second sheet storage section, the sheets in the first storage section can be replenished in the second storage section without disturbing the sheets, and the setting failure does not occur. There is an effect.

As described above, the sheet feeding device according to the second aspect detects the remaining amount level of the sheet in the first sheet container,
Since the locking means releases the connection between the first sheet storage section and the second sheet storage section when the remaining amount of sheets stored in the first sheet storage section reaches a certain level, the common effect described above can be obtained. In addition, when the number of sheets in the first storage section is small, the first and second storage sections can be integrally pulled out, the sheets in the first storage section can be replenished without disturbing the first storage section, and the first storage section can be replenished.
The effect is that it can be added to the storage section.

As described above, in the paper feeding device according to the third aspect of the invention, the position of the means for detecting the remaining amount level of the paper is variable. Therefore, in addition to the common effects described above, the first and second accommodating parts are provided. There is an effect that the remaining number of sheets, which is a reference for the mode of extracting the sheet from the apparatus main body, can be changed according to the user's request.

As described above, in the paper feeding device according to the fourth aspect, since the setting of the remaining amount level of the paper for releasing the connection by the lock means can be changed from the outside, it is possible to change the setting from the operation unit of the main body of the device. Since it is possible to input the remaining number of sheets as a reference for how to extract the first and second storage units, there is an effect that the user can easily change the number.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine using an embodiment of a sheet feeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the sheet feeding device according to the present invention shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for vertically moving a bottom plate of the first tray of the apparatus of FIG.

4 is a side view showing a near-end detection sensor provided on a side plate of a first tray of the apparatus of FIG. 1 and a structure for changing its position.

5 is a perspective view (A) showing a connecting mechanism between the first tray and the second tray of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and a perspective view (B) of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with the second tray removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a structural example for externally changing the manner in which the first tray and the second tray are pulled out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Forming Section 2 Paper Tray 3 Tandem Tray 4 First Tray 5 Second Tray 6 Paper 7 Bottom Plate 8 Drive Shaft 9 Coupling 10 Motor 11 Solenoid 12 Link 13 Lock Lever 14 Spring 15 Protrusion 16 Transfer Fence 17 First Tray Side plate 18 Near-end detection sensor 19 Screw hole 20 Encoder 21 Sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first sheet accommodating portion for accommodating a large amount of sheets capable of being fed one by one, a raising means for raising a sheet stacking member of the first sheet accommodating portion, and the first sheet accommodating portion. A second sheet storage section arranged horizontally and in parallel with each other;
The first paper accommodating unit includes a transfer unit that collectively transfers the paper in the paper accommodating unit to the first paper accommodating unit, and a locking unit that can connect the first paper accommodating unit and the second paper accommodating unit. In the paper feeding device, the sheet stacking member is lowered by its own weight when the first paper accommodating portion is pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction. Is a paper feeding device, wherein the first paper accommodating portion and the second paper accommodating portion are released from each other so that the second paper accommodating portion can be pulled out independently. 2. A means for detecting a remaining amount level of a sheet in the first sheet accommodating portion, wherein the lock means is provided when the remaining amount of the sheet accommodated in the first sheet accommodating portion reaches a constant level. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising means for releasing the connection between the first sheet storage section and the second sheet storage section. 3. The paper feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the position of the means for detecting the remaining amount level of the paper is variable. 4. The paper feeding device according to claim 2, wherein the setting of the remaining amount level of the paper for releasing the connection by the lock means can be changed from the outside.