JPH11100132A - Automatic paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic paper feeding device which can correspond to various kinds of paper and can prevent the occurrence of improper paper feeding. SOLUTION: A pair of paper feeding rollers 24 which come in pressure- contact for the center in the direction of width of paper at a symmetrical position in the interlocking relationship with the slide operation of a side fence 26 are provided, a pressing roller 41 which presses a central part in the direction of width of paper is provided in a central part between a pair of paper feeding rollers 24, and a separation slope 43 opposing to the pressing roller 41 is provided in the vicinity of an end part on downstream side in the direction of paper feeding of paper. Paper is fed by a pair of paper feeding rollers 24 so as to prevent paper from moving obliquely, and floating up of the central part in the direction of width of paper is suppressed by the pressing roller 41 to knock the end part on downstream side in the direction of paper feeding of paper which is fed against the separation slope 43 securely so as to separate the uppermost paper. Since paper is separated at one section of the center in the direction of width irrespective of its size, even the paper having no uniform stiffness does not move obliquely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic sheet feeder for separating and feeding stacked sheets one by one or one set at a time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic paper feeder is a device for automatically feeding paper into a main body of a device such as a printer for printing on paper.
2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional automatic sheet feeding apparatus, there is an apparatus that separates the top sheet by abutting the leading end of the sheet against a separation slope when feeding out stacked sheets in the sheet feeding direction.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an automatic sheet feeder having a separation slope. The automatic paper feeder 1 has a paper feed roller 3 for feeding out the paper 2, and an ascending plate 5 which presses a plurality of stacked papers 2 by a spring 4 to press the uppermost paper 2 a against the paper feed roller 3. The separation slope 6 is disposed downstream of the sheet 2 in the sheet feeding direction. A drive shaft 7 for transmitting a driving force of a motor (not shown) to the paper feed roller 3 is
Of the shaft.

In the automatic paper feeder 1 having such a structure, when the driving force of the motor is transmitted to the drive shaft 7 as the torque in the paper feed direction, the paper feed roller 3 is rotated in the paper feed direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 6). ), And the paper 2 pressed against the paper feed roller 3 is fed out in the paper feed direction. The leading edge of the fed sheet 2 hits the separation slope 6, and the top sheet 2 a is separated and sent out of the automatic sheet feeder 1.

[0005] Some automatic paper feeders are designed so as not to be skewed when the uppermost paper is fed out.
There is one described in Japanese Patent No. 127323. In this automatic paper feeder (not shown), a pair of paper feed rollers is fitted on a drive shaft that is supported by the length of the paper in the width direction, and is arranged symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction of the paper. Have been. The paper feed roller moves along the drive shaft with the movement of the side fence, and corresponds to paper of various sizes. Therefore, the paper feed roller applies torque to two places symmetrical with respect to the center in the width direction of the uppermost sheet, so that the paper is fed out compared to the paper feed roller provided at one place in the center in the width direction of the paper. Paper is difficult to skew.

An automatic sheet feeder provided with a pair of sheet feed rollers, such as the automatic sheet feeder described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-127323, having a separation slope, is shown in the plan view of FIG. Thus, the separation slope 6 is
It is attached to the downstream side in the paper feeding direction so that the front end corner of the paper is abutted.

[0007]

There are various types of paper 2 fed by the automatic paper feeder 1, for example, a form in which several sheets of different sizes are glued together with their sides aligned. Is sometimes treated.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the form is set in an automatic paper feeder having a pair of paper feed rollers. The form 9 has a non-uniform thickness as a whole, and as a result, the stiffness as a whole differs from part to part. The glued end portion 10 has a large thickness as a whole and has a high stiffness, and the thickness as a whole decreases toward the other end portion 11 and the stiffness decreases.

Such a form 9 includes a pair of paper feed rollers 3
May be skewed at the time of separation, even if it is not skewed when fed out. Since the separation of the form 9 uses the stiffness of the form 9, if the stiffness of the end 10 and the end 11 abutted against the pair of separation slopes 6 as shown in FIG.
Can be skewed when separated.

Further, there is an automatic paper feeder disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-39136, which attempts to cope with different stiffness for each type of paper by changing the angle of a separation slope. There is an inconvenience that some papers cannot be coped with simply by changing the angle of the separation slope and cannot be separated well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic sheet feeding apparatus which can handle various kinds of sheets and can prevent a sheet feeding failure such as skew, double feed, misfeed, jam and the like.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic sheet feeder according to the present invention, wherein the side fence is provided so as to be slidable along the width direction of the paper and regulates the width direction of the paper. A pair of paper feed rollers that move to positions that are line-symmetric with respect to the center in the width direction of the paper in contact with the sliding operation of A separation slope that is arranged near the downstream end in the paper direction and that the downstream end in the paper supply direction of the paper that is fed in the paper supply direction by rotating the paper supply roller in the paper supply direction is abutted; And a pressing roller disposed on the upstream side of the separation slope in the sheet feeding direction and pressing a central portion of the sheet in the width direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the automatic sheet feeding apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the separation slope moves in parallel with the width direction of the sheet in conjunction with the sliding operation of the side fence, and the pressing roller feeds the sheet. It is provided coaxially with the paper roller and is urged by an urging member to be located at a central portion between the pair of paper feed rollers.

Therefore, when the side fence is aligned with the side edge of the sheet, the separation slope and the pressing roller move toward the center in the width direction of the sheet with the sliding operation of the side fence.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic sheet feeder according to the first or second aspect, the separation slope is displaceable in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface of the sheet.

Therefore, the height of the separation slope can be set according to the stiffness of the sheet.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the automatic sheet feeding apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the skewed sheet is corrected to be skewed parallel to the sheet feeding direction. The paper abutting portion against which the leading edge of the paper abuts is formed to extend from both ends of the separation slope.

Therefore, even if the sheet fed by the sheet feed roller is skewed, the sheet abuts against the sheet abutting portion and is corrected for skew before being separated on the separation slope.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of an automatic sheet feeder according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is an example of an automatic paper feeder attached to a printer that prints on a sheet such as a form in which one end of a plurality of sheets is glued.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing a schematic structure of an automatic paper feeder of the present embodiment and a printer using the automatic paper feeder.

The automatic paper feeder 20 is used by being attached to a printer 21. The automatic paper feeder 20 has the paper 2
2 is provided. Lift plate 2
3 is urged upward by urging means such as a spring (not shown) to press the uppermost sheet 22a of the sheet 22 against the sheet feed roller 24. The paper feed roller 24 is located upstream of the paper feed passage 25 in the printer 21 and immediately before the paper feed passage 25 starts.

The automatic paper feeder 20 has a side fence 26 for regulating the width direction of the paper 22 and an end fence 27 for holding the upstream end of the paper 22 in the paper supply direction. Side fence 26 and end fence 27
Is slidable according to the size of the paper 22.

Further, the automatic sheet feeding device 20 includes a lift plate 23
And a sheet separating member 28 arranged downstream of the sheet feeding direction. The sheet separating member 28 is located at the center in the width direction regardless of the size of the sheet 22 in conjunction with the sliding operation of the side fence 26. More specifically, a rack 29 connected to the side fence 26 and a rack 30 connected to the sheet separating member 28 are connected by a plurality of gears 31 to form a rack and pinion structure. The automatic paper feeder 20 is based on one side edge of the sheet 22 and the side fence 26 is in contact with the other side edge of the sheet. The reduction ratio of the gear 31 is set such that the sheet separating member 28 slides by の of the slide length of the side fence 26.

The height of the sheet separating member 28 can be adjusted by turning a lever (not shown), so that the sheet separating member 28 can cope with sheets 22 having various stiffness.

A pair of inserter rollers 32 are provided downstream of the paper feed roller 24 of the printer 21 in the paper feed direction with the paper feed path 25 interposed therebetween, and further downstream are the transport roller 33 and the catch roller 33. 34 and the printing unit 3
5 are sequentially provided. The printing unit 35 is the print head 3
6 and a platen 37. In the present embodiment, a wire dot head is used as a print head so that the document can be copied and printed.

The inserter roller 32 rotates upon transmission of the driving force of the motor 38. The rotation shaft of the inserter roller 32 and the drive shaft 39 on which the paper feed roller 24 is fitted are connected by a belt 40, and the paper feed roller 24 is also connected to the motor 3.
8 by the driving force of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feed rollers 24 are disposed so as to be in pressure contact with two places which are line-symmetric with respect to the center in the width direction of the paper 22 to be placed. The sheet feeding roller 24 on the side fence 26 side of the two sheet feeding rollers 24
When the side fence 26 slides, it moves on the drive shaft 39 together with the side fence 26 and is always located at a constant distance from the side fence 26.

Further, between these paper feed rollers 24,
A pressing roller 41 is provided. Press roller 41
Is always located at the center between the two paper feed rollers 24 by a spring 42 which is a biasing member provided between each paper feed roller 24 and presses the center of the paper 22 in the width direction. The provision of the pressing roller 41 prevents the central portion that is not pressed by the sheet feeding roller 24 from rising even if the sheet 22 is different in thickness from part to part and is not uniform over the entire surface. When the paper 22 is fed out by the paper feed roller 24, the paper 22
Can be reliably butted against the sheet separating member 28.

At the upper end of the sheet separating member 28, a separating slope 4
3 are provided. When the sheet 22 is skewed and fed out, a sheet abutting section 44 is formed so that the leading end of the sheet 22 is abutted to correct the skew, and extends from both ends of the separation slope 43. I have. The longer the sheet abutting portion 44 is, the more the effect of correcting the skew is increased. However, the length of the sheet 22 of the smallest size among the sheets 22 scheduled to be handled by the automatic sheet feeder 20 at the longest is about the length in the width direction. It is.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an interlocking mechanism of the side fence 26 and the sheet separating member 28. A connecting portion 46 is provided upright on the lower surface of the slide plate 45 on which the side fence 26 and the end fence 27 are formed. Also,
The transmission member 47 in which the rack 29 is formed is movable along a support shaft 48 provided in parallel with the width direction of the paper 22 to be placed and in the axial direction, and has a connection groove 49. With the connecting portion 46 inserted into the connecting groove 49, the transmission member 47 moves along the support shaft 48 as the slide plate 45 slides.

A moving shaft 50 whose axial direction is the width direction of the paper 22 is fitted to the paper separating member 28. As shown in FIG. 4, both ends of the moving shaft 50 protrude through a long hole 52 formed in a side wall 51 of the automatic sheet feeding device 20.
A fixed shaft 53 that is parallel to the width direction of the paper 22 is fitted to the side wall 51. The fixed shaft 53 passes through a long hole 54 formed in the sheet separating member 28. here,
The long hole 52 and the long hole 54 are located on a straight line, and the longitudinal direction thereof is substantially orthogonal to the paper surface of the paper 22.

The portion of the moving shaft 50 protruding from the side wall 51 is a U-shaped member 56 provided at one end of the adjusting lever 55.
Is engaged. The adjustment lever 55 is substantially L-shaped, and has a bent portion rotatably attached to the support shaft 48. In the vicinity of the other end of the adjustment lever 55 opposite to the U-shaped member 56, a turning-side engaging portion 57 is provided, and the side wall 51 is fixed to the turning-side engaging portion 57. Side engaging part 5
8 are provided (see FIG. 5).

In such a configuration, in order to feed the paper 22 to the printer 21, first, the motor 38 is driven, and the paper feed roller 24 is driven via the belt 40 and the drive shaft 39.
Is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. Then
The top paper 22a is fed out in the paper feeding direction.

At this time, the sheet 22 under the top sheet 22a may move in the sheet feeding direction together with the top sheet 22a. The sheet 22 including the topmost sheet 22a moved in the sheet feeding direction is
3, the uppermost sheet 22a alone is separated and sent out of the automatic sheet feeder 20.

In the present embodiment, since the sheet abutting portion 44 is provided, even if the sheet 22 is skewed when fed out in the paper feeding direction, the leading end of the sheet 22 is kept at the sheet abutting portion 44.
And skew correction is performed. Further, since the center portion in the width direction of the sheet 22 is pressed by the pressing roller 41 located at the center portion between the pair of sheet feeding rollers 24, the center portion in the width direction of the sheet 22 does not rise, and Is reliably butted against the sheet separating member 28.

In the present embodiment, the separation slope 43 is abutted against one point in the center of the sheet 22 in the width direction, so that the sheet 22 has a stiffness as a whole like the form 9 shown in FIG. Even if they are not the same, they will not be skewed at the time of separation.

In the automatic sheet feeding apparatus 20 of the present embodiment, the position of the sheet separating member 28 is set to "high" shown by a solid line in FIG. ), And three stages of “low” shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4B. By doing so, it is possible to deal with various types of paper.

[0038]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of paper feed rollers arranged at positions symmetrical with respect to the center in the width direction of the sheet in conjunction with the sliding operation of the side fence, and the center in the width direction of the sheet. And a separation slope disposed near the downstream end in the paper feeding direction and against which the downstream end of the paper in the paper feeding direction is abutted, and a pressing roller for pressing the central portion in the width direction of the paper. Is applied to the paper in two directions symmetrical with respect to the center in the width direction, so that the paper can be prevented from being skewed and fed out. The separation slope is abutted against the paper, preventing the paper from skewing at the time of separation even if the paper is uneven, and the pressing roller lifts the paper in the center in the width direction. Can prevent The leading end of the sheet can be shed securely against the separating slope.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the separation slope is provided movably in conjunction with the sliding operation of the side fence, and the pressing roller is provided coaxially with the sheet feeding roller and is urged by an urging member to be supplied. Since it is located at the center between the paper rollers, if the side fence is aligned with the side edge of the paper, the separation slope and the holding roller move to the center in the width direction of the paper as the side fence slides. The trouble of positioning each member every time the size is changed can be saved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the separation slope can be displaced in a direction orthogonal to the sheet surface of the sheet, the height of the separation slope is set according to the sheet strength to reduce the stiffness of various types of sheets. Since various types of paper can be automatically fed, various types of paper can be automatically fed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the sheet abutting portion against which the leading end of the sheet abuts extends from both ends of the separation slope to correct the sheet fed skewed and skewed in parallel with the sheet feeding direction. Because the paper is fed out, even if the paper fed by the paper feed roller is skewed, the paper is skew-corrected by hitting the paper abutting part and then separated by the separation slope. Paper feeding defects such as skew and double feeding can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing an embodiment of an automatic sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a feed roller and a separation slope interlocked with a sliding operation of a side fence.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an interlocking mechanism between a side fence and a separation slope.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a separation slope adjusted by an adjustment lever.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4 (a), showing a state where the movable side engaging portion and the fixed side engaging portion are engaged.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional front view schematically showing an example of a conventional automatic sheet feeding apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a conventional separation slope.

FIG. 8A is a plan view schematically showing a state where a form is placed, and FIG. 8B is a longitudinal side view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 Automatic paper feeder 22 Paper 22a Top-level paper 23 Elevating plate 24 Paper feed roller 26 Side fence 41 Holding roller 42 Biasing member 43 Separation slope 44 Paper abutment

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A side fence slidably provided along a width direction of a sheet to regulate the width direction of the sheet, and a line with respect to a center in the width direction of the sheet in conjunction with a sliding operation of the side fence. A pair of paper feed rollers that respectively move to symmetrical positions and contact the topmost paper of the paper; and a paper feed roller that is disposed at the center in the width direction of the paper and near the downstream end in the paper feed direction. A separation slope that the downstream end of the paper fed in the paper feeding direction is abutted by being rotated in the paper feeding direction by being rotated in the paper feeding direction. An automatic sheet feeding device comprising: a pressing roller for pressing a central portion in a width direction. 2. The separating slope moves in parallel with the width direction of the sheet in conjunction with the sliding operation of the side fence, and the pressing roller is provided coaxially with the sheet feeding roller and is urged by an urging member to urge the pair of the pair of the slopes. 2. The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic sheet feeding device is located at a central portion between the sheet feeding rollers. 3. The automatic sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separation slope is displaceable in a direction orthogonal to a sheet surface of the sheet. 4. A sheet abutting portion against which the leading end of the sheet abuts extends from both ends of the separation slope to correct the sheet fed skewed and skewed in parallel with the sheet feeding direction. 4. The automatic sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic sheet feeding device is used.