JPH10273246A - Automatic paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid complication of metal die structure due to mounting structure of a separation claw, and reduce the number of parts in an automatic paper feeder provided with the separation claw. SOLUTION: A separation claw 50 is installed in the end part of a roller holder 40 holding a paper feeding roller 30. The roller holder 40 is supported between side plates 11 on both sides in a base member 10. In the side plates 11, installation of a boss part for installing the separation claw 50 can be dispensed with. Use of any other part as a boss part is also not required.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeder used for a printer or the like to selectively feed a first sheet out of a plurality of stacked sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic sheet feeding apparatus of this type generally uses a separation claw for holding a corner of a plurality of sheets held on an inclined holding plate on a downstream side in a sheet feeding direction. Paper is selectively sent out. FIGS. 5 and 6 show a configuration of a conventional automatic sheet feeding apparatus using a separation claw.

A holding plate (not shown) is provided between the side plates 2 on both sides of the base member 1 at an angle, and a paper feed roller 3 is provided on the sheet holding surface side of the holding plate. The holding plate is supported rotatably with the upstream side (upper side) in the sheet feeding direction as a fulcrum, and is urged toward the sheet holding surface by a knock-up spring (not shown). The paper feed roller 3 is held by a shaft-like roller holder 4 rotatably bridged between the side plates 2 on both sides. The roller holder 4 is fixed in the axial direction by a retaining member 5 screwed to the outer surface of the side plate 2.

On the other hand, outside the side plate 2, a lever type separation claw 6 and a rotary operation lever 8 for operating the holding plate are provided. The separation claw 6 has a base end attached to a boss 7 integrally projecting from the outer surface of the side plate 2, and is biased by a spring in a direction in which a front end approaches the paper holding surface of the holding plate. . By this biasing, the separation claw 6 can elastically hold the corners on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction of the plurality of sheets held on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate at the leading ends thereof.

An operation lever 8 pivotally supported on the outside of the side plate 2 together with the separation claw 6 forms a gap between the holding plate and the paper feed roller 3 when setting a sheet on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate. By operating the lever, the holding plate is retracted in a direction away from the feed roller 3 while holding the separation claw 5 at the original position. And this operation lever 6
As shown in FIG. 7, the separation claw 5 comes into contact with the separation claw 5 from the outside, and also serves as a retaining member for the separation claw 5.

[0006]

However, in this type of automatic sheet feeding apparatus, severe price competition has recently occurred, and it is an important technical problem to reduce the manufacturing cost. From this viewpoint, when the conventional automatic paper feeder is viewed, there are the following problems.

The separation claw 6 is supported by a boss 7 integrally protruding from the outer surface of the side plate 2. In the case of forming, a mold requires a slide roller. For this reason, the mold structure becomes complicated and the cost increases.

In a conventional automatic sheet feeder, as shown in FIG. 8, a rear cover 9 is mounted on the base member 1. However, to reduce costs, the base member 1 and the rear cover 9 are integrated. Is considered effective. But,
When the base member 1 and the rear cover 9 are integrated, the boss 7 cannot be formed because the slide roller cannot be used for the molding die. For this reason, the boss 7 must be attached as a separate component, which causes a problem of cost increase.

In addition to these, a retaining member 5 screwed to the outer surface of the side plate 2 is used to prevent the roller holder 4 supporting the paper feed roller 3 from coming off, but this also increases the cost. Cause. Also, at the time of assembly, the separating claw 6
Need to be installed, but an increase in man-hours due to this also leads to an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and eliminates a boss portion for attaching a separation claw from a base member, thereby avoiding complication of a mold structure and, furthermore, eliminating another component. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic sheet feeding device capable of attaching the separation claw without using the same.

Another object of the present invention is to omit a retaining member for a roller holder that supports a paper feed roller,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic sheet feeder that is easy to assemble.

[0012]

An automatic sheet feeder according to the present invention is provided between side plates on both sides of a base member and holds a plurality of stacked sheets of paper. A paper feed roller, which is provided on the paper surface side and presses against the first of a plurality of papers held on the paper holding surface of the holding plate, and conveys the paper downstream in the paper feeding direction; In order to hold, an axial roller holder supported between the side plates on both sides of the base member, and attached to the end of the roller holder,
A lever-type separation claw that holds, at its tip, a corner on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction of a plurality of sheets held on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate.

In the automatic sheet feeder according to the present invention, since the separation claw is attached to the end of the roller holder that holds the paper supply roller, the boss for attaching the separation claw can be eliminated from the base member. Therefore, slide rollers required for forming the boss portion are eliminated from the mold, and the mold structure is simplified. Further, even when the base member and the rear cover are integrated, the separation claw can be attached without using a separate component.

It is preferable that the base member is configured to be integrated with the cover of the automatic paper feeder.

The roller holder has an end fitted to a cut formed in a side plate of the base member, and is fixed in the axial direction by a large-diameter portion integrally formed at a tip end of the fitted portion. It is preferable that the configuration is such that: With this configuration, the retaining member of the roller holder is omitted, and the number of parts is reduced. In addition, the roller holder and the separation claw can be assembled in advance, and the assembly eliminates the need to attach the separation claw during assembly, thereby simplifying the operation.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an automatic paper feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the automatic paper feeder, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the mounting portion.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic paper feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a base member 10 integrated with a rear cover, and side plates 1 on both sides of the base member 10.
1, a paper feed roller 30 positioned between the side plates 11 on the paper holding surface side of the support plate 20, and a shaft-shaped roller holder for supporting the paper feed roller 30. 40, a lever-type separation claw 50 and an operation lever 60 provided outside the side plate 11.

The holding plate 20 is inclined at a predetermined angle, is rotatably supported with the upstream side (upper side) in the sheet feeding direction as a fulcrum, and has a knocking-up spring (not shown) on the side of the sheet holding surface (sheet feeding roller). 30 side). As a result, when no paper is set on the paper holding surface of the holding plate 20, the paper holding surface of the holding plate 20 elastically contacts the paper feed roller 30. When a sheet is set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20, the first sheet comes into contact with the sheet feeding roller 30, and in this state, the sheet feeding roller 30 is driven to rotate in the sheet feeding direction. The second sheet is fed in the sheet feeding direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shaft-like roller holder 40 for holding the paper feed roller 30 is
It has a double structure in which a shaft 42 is passed through a sleeve 41 that holds a zero. The outer sleeve 41 has a peripheral groove-shaped small-diameter portion 43 at an end thereof, and a large-diameter portion 44 for preventing the outer sleeve 41 from falling off at the front end thereof. And, as shown in FIG.
Notch 12 provided in side plate 11 of base member 10
The sleeve 41 is rotatably supported between the side plates 11 on both sides and fixed in the axial direction by fitting the small-diameter portion 43 to the sleeve 41. The paper feed roller 30 rotates in the paper feed direction when the sleeve 41 is rotationally driven via a power transmission mechanism (not shown).

On the other hand, the shaft 42 is rotatably inserted into the sleeve 41, and is prevented from coming off by a large diameter portion 45 integrally formed at an end thereof. This large diameter part 4
5 is located outside the side plate 11 of the base member 10,
The separation claw 50 is attached to this.

The separation claw 50 has a round hole 51 in the center,
The large-diameter portion 45 of the shaft 42 is press-fitted into this, so that the shaft 42 is attached to the end of the roller holder 40. A claw portion 52 is provided on one end side (distal end side) with the mounting portion interposed therebetween, and an arm portion 53 which engages with the operation lever 60 is provided on the other end side (base end side). The claw 52 is provided on the holding plate 20.
And the claw portion 52 is opposed to a corner portion on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction.
The separation claw 50 is biased in a direction in which the separation claw approaches the holding plate 20. The urging mechanism includes an operation lever 6 described later.
0 is used.

The operation lever 60 is located on the upstream side (upper side) of the separation claw 50 in the sheet feeding direction, and operates the holding plate 20 and the separation claw 50 on one end side (end side) with respect to the center of rotation thereof. And a manually operated arm 64 at the other end. And the operating lever 60
2, the rotational force in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2, that is, the protrusions 61, 62 and 63 at the distal ends are separated from the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20, and the arm 64 is
Is applied in a direction approaching the sheet holding surface of the sheet.

When the operation lever 60 is forcibly rotated in the counterclockwise direction against the rotational force of the lever spring 65, the projection 61 of the operation lever 60 comes into contact with the side surface of the holding plate 20. The portion 21 is pressed against the holding surface of the holding plate 20 to retract the holding plate 20 toward the holding surface.

On the other hand, the convex portion 62 is attached to the arm portion 53 of the separation claw 50 in a state where no external force is applied to the operation lever 60.
A counterclockwise rotational force is applied to the separation claw 50. As a result, the separation claw 50 is urged in a direction in which the claw portion 52 at the tip thereof approaches the paper holding surface of the holding plate 20. When the operation lever 60 is forcibly rotated in the counterclockwise direction against the rotational force of the lever spring 65, the projection 63 comes into contact with the arm 53 of the separation claw 50,
The claw part 52 forcibly rotates the separation claw 50 in a direction away from the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20.

The pivot portion of the operation lever 60 is rotatably mounted on a support member 66 with a shaft screwed to the base member 10.

Next, a method of using the automatic sheet feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When no operation force is applied to the operation lever 60 and no sheet is set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20, the convex portion 61 of the operation lever 60 separates from the contact portion 21 of the holding plate 20. Therefore, the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20 elastically contacts the surface of the sheet feeding roller 30. The projection 62 of the operation lever 60 elastically abuts the arm 53 of the separation claw 50 from the holding plate 20 side, so that the separation claw 50
Claw portion 52 elastically abuts a corner portion of the holding plate 20 on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction. As a result, the claw portion 52 is urged in a direction approaching the paper holding surface of the holding plate 20 even though the separation claw 50 does not include the spring for urging.

When a sheet is set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20, the arm 64 of the operation lever 60 is moved from the opposite side of the holding plate 20 to the sheet holding surface against the rotational force of the lever spring 65. Rotate to the side. As a result of this rotation operation, the contact portion 21 of the holding plate 20 is
0, and is retracted in a direction away from the paper feed roller 30 against the urging force of the knock-up spring. Thereby, a sufficient gap for setting the paper is formed between the holding plate 20 and the paper feed roller 30. The protrusion 61 is fitted into the recess 22 of the contact portion 21 to fix the operation lever 60 at the operation position.

At the same time as the holding plate 20 is retracted, the projection 63 of the operation lever 60 hits the arm 53 of the separation claw 50,
The arm 53 is moved toward the holding plate 20. This allows
The separation claw 50 rotates clockwise, and its claw portion 52 moves in a direction away from the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20. That is, with the operation of the operation lever 60, the holding plate 20 and the claw portion 52 move in opposite directions. For this reason, the claw portion 52 does not follow the holding plate 20 that moves away, but instead moves positively in a direction away from the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20. Therefore,
Even when a large number of sheets are set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20, the sheet is smoothly set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20 without interfering with the claw 52.

After the paper is set, the operation lever 60
To its original position. This initial position return operation is smoothly performed by the rotational force of the lever spring 65.
With this return operation, the holding plate 20 is released from the restraint by the operation lever 60. As a result, the first sheet of paper set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20 elastically presses against the sheet feeding roller 30. Further, the separation claw 50 is again urged by the operation lever 60 in the counterclockwise direction (the direction in which the claw portion 52 approaches the paper holding surface of the holding plate 20),
The claw portion 52 elastically abuts a corner on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction. In this state, the sheet set on the sheet holding surface is sequentially sent out from the first sheet by rotating the sheet feeding roller 30 in the sheet feeding direction.

When all the sheets set on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20 have been consumed, the sheet holding surface of the holding plate 20 directly contacts the surface of the sheet feeding roller 30. The claw 52 abuts on the downstream corner of the holding plate 20 in the sheet feeding direction.

The configuration and use of the automatic sheet feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention are as described above. This automatic paper feeder has the following advantages over a conventional automatic paper feeder.

Roller holder 4 for holding paper feed roller 30
The separation claw 50 is attached to the end of the shaft 42. Therefore, the side plate 11 of the base member 10 does not require a boss for supporting the separation claw 50. Therefore, the mold structure for molding the base member 10 is simplified, and the cost is reduced.

Since the base member 10 has a structure integrated with the rear cover, it is difficult to provide a slide roller in a molding die thereof, and it is difficult to form a boss on the side plate 11. Since the separation claw 50 is attached using the shaft 42, there is no need to attach the boss as a separate component. Therefore, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

The shaft 42 that supports the separation claw 50 is rotatably inserted into the sleeve 41 that directly supports the paper feed roller 30. Therefore, the separation claw 50 can independently rotate without being affected by the rotation of the paper feed roller 30.

The roller holder 40 has a small-diameter portion 43 fitted into the cut portion 12 provided on the side plate 11 of the base member 10, and a large-diameter portion 44 integrally formed on the distal end side of the small-diameter portion 43. This is a configuration that is positioned in the axial direction.
With this configuration, a retaining member for the roller holder 40 is not required, and the number of components is reduced.

In connection with this configuration, in assembling, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, even if the separation claw 50 is attached to the roller holder 40 in advance,
0 can be attached to the base member 10, and the assembly work is simplified by forming the assembly in which the separation claw 50 and the roller holder 40 are combined in advance.

In addition, the operating lever 60 cooperates with the lever-type separation claw 50, and the rotational force applied to the operation lever 60 is transmitted to the separation claw 50 to urge it. The need for a spring is eliminated. Further, the operation of the operation lever 60 causes the separation claw 50 to retreat and move in synchronization with the holding plate 20 and enables the paper to be set smoothly. Therefore, a spring for urging the separation claw 50 is omitted. Nevertheless, the function equivalent to the conventional one is maintained.

[0039]

As described above, in the case of the automatic paper feeder according to the present invention, since the separation claw is attached to the end of the roller holder that holds the paper feed roller, the separation claw is attached from the side plate of the base member. The boss is eliminated. Therefore, the slide rollers are eliminated from the mold for molding the base member, and the mold structure is simplified. Also, when the rear cover is integrated with the base member, it becomes difficult to provide a slide roller in a mold for molding the base member, and it becomes difficult to form a boss on the side plate. Also, since the separation claw is supported without using a separate part, the number of parts is reduced. As a result, the manufacturing cost is lower than that of the conventional automatic paper feeder.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an automatic sheet feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the automatic paper feeder.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a mounting portion of a shaft and a separation claw in the automatic paper feeder.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the attachment portion.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a conventional automatic sheet feeder.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a conventional automatic sheet feeder.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view for explaining a relationship between a base member and a rear cover of a conventional automatic sheet feeding apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 base member 11 side plate 20 holding plate 30 paper feed roller 40 roller holder 41 sleeve 42 shaft 44 large diameter portion 50 separation claw 60 operation lever

Claims (3)

[Claims] A holding plate provided between the side plates on both sides of the base member for holding a plurality of stacked sheets; a holding plate provided on the sheet holding surface side of the holding plate; A sheet feed roller that presses against the first sheet of the plurality of sheets held and conveys the sheet to the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction, and is supported between both side plates of the base member to hold the sheet feed roller. Shaft-shaped roller holder, and a lever system that is attached to the end of the roller holder and holds the corners on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction of a plurality of sheets held on the sheet holding surface of the holding plate at the leading end. An automatic paper feeder comprising: a separation claw; 2. The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the base member is integrated with a cover of the automatic sheet feeding device. 3. The roller holder has an end fitted into a cut formed in a side plate of a base member, and is fixed in an axial direction by a large-diameter portion integrally formed at a distal end side of the fitted portion. The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic sheet feeding device is configured to perform the following.