JPH11322087A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the lowering of the energizing force of an energizing means due to non-use thereof by providing a recessed part for opening the energizing force of an energizing means in a guide member provided with a pair of side guides for regulating the paper sheets in the cross direction and a slider energizing means integrated with the pair of side guides, and specifying the recessed part forming position. SOLUTION: A pair of side guides 2 for regulating the paper sheets in the cross direction are provided freely to be moved in the cross direction of the paper sheets, and a pair of long holes are formed on the paper sheets loading platform 1 so as to guide the movement of the side guides 2. A slider 6 integrated with the side guide 2 is fitted in each long hole, and a pinion gear 7 is engaged with a rack gear part 4 of the pair of sliders 6. The slider 6 is energized by an energizing means 8 in a direction for engaging the rack gear part 4 with the pinion gear 7, and a guide member 9, in which the energizing means 8 is slid, is formed with a recessed part 18 at a position for releasing the energizing force by the energizing means 8 at the maximum distance position or the minimum distance position of the pair of side guides 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a copying machine,
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a paper feeder such as a copying machine, a pair of side guides substantially parallel to a paper conveying direction are arranged to face each other in a paper width direction, and a position of the paper on a paper loading table is determined according to the paper width. For adjustment, these side guides are moved in the paper width direction. By the way, in such a sheet feeding device, it is necessary to reliably position the side guide at a predetermined position corresponding to the sheet width.

[0003] A paper feeder for coping with such a problem is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-234432, and is integrated with a side guide as shown in FIG. And a pair of sliders 31 having a rack gear portion 30 facing each other in the paper transport direction, and interposed between the rack gear portions 30 of the slider 31 and meshed with each other, and the slider 31
Gears 32 that allow the gears to slide in opposite directions
And a urging means 33 for urging the slider 31 in a direction in which the rack gear portion 30 of the pinion gear 32 meshes, and a guide member 34 provided on the paper stacking table and on which the urging means 33 slides. A concave portion 35 for releasing the urging force of the urging means 33 of the slider 31 on the sliding surface of the member 34 with the urging means 33
Is provided at a position corresponding to the paper width of the paper.

By the way, in such a paper feeder, when the paper width is 210 mm in the A4R feed, which is exactly the rated size, the gap between the side guide and the paper end becomes zero, and the paper feed operation without oblique feed is performed. It is possible, but if the paper width of the paper is slightly different from the rated size due to variations in paper cutting, for example, for A4R size paper with a width of 209 mm and smaller than the rated size, the gap between the side guide and the paper edge Occurs, causing skew feed, and paper width
For paper that is 211 mm larger than the rated size, the paper is forced into the side guides and bends, and the bending of the paper is crushed by the transport rollers during paper feeding, causing wrinkles. This causes a problem that the side guide cannot be appropriately adapted to the variation in the sheet width of the sheet.

[0005]

In addition to the above, another one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-56224 has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 10, it is integrated with a side guide. And a pair of sliders 41 having a rack gear portion 40 facing each other in the paper transport direction, and a pinion gear interposed between the rack gear portions 40 of the slider 41 and meshing with each other, and enabling the slider 41 to slide in opposite directions. And a biasing means 43 provided at one end of the slider 41 and formed of an elastic piece for biasing the slider 41 in a direction in which the rack gear portion 40 of the pinion gear 42 meshes.

However, in this paper feeder, the urging means 43 is always elastically pressed against the guide surface of the side fence even when it is not in use, so that the thin portion thereof is under stress. Is maintained, which promotes the deterioration of the thin-walled portion and easily causes sag, and the urging force is reduced, thereby causing slant feeding of the side guide due to rattling.

[0007] In these conventional paper feeders,
A slider including a biasing means consisting of an elastic piece is usually molded integrally with a resin component of a resin material such as polyacetal or polystyrene for the purpose of cost reduction. For example, when the transported paper feeder is stored in a container and shipped by sea, etc., or transported in a commercial vehicle during the summer, the atmosphere inside the container or the vehicle may reach a high temperature of 60 ° C or more along the distribution route. It may be. When the stressed resin component is left in a high-temperature atmosphere, the resin component is deformed and hardened, and the urging force becomes zero. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional paper feeder, and to dispose an urging means for positioning the side guide at a predetermined position corresponding to the width of the paper. When left in a high temperature atmosphere,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device capable of preventing the urging force from being reduced.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sheet loading table on which sheets are loaded, and a pair of side guides for regulating the width of the sheets on the sheet loading table. A pair of long holes provided on the paper stacking table for guiding the side guides in the paper width direction, and sliding in the paper width direction integrally with the side guides across the long holes; and A pair of sliders having rack gear portions on opposing surfaces, a pinion gear interposed between the rack gear portions of the slider and meshing with each other, and the rack gear portion meshing with the pinion gear; An urging means for urging the slider in a direction in which the slider is urged, and a guide member provided on the paper stacking table and on which the urging means of the slider slides. In the sheet feeding device provided with a concave portion for releasing the urging force of the slider urging means, the concave portion of the guide member may be configured such that the side guides have a maximum width in the sheet width direction. The slider is provided at a position where the urging force of the urging means of the slider is released when the slider reaches the separated position or the minimum separated position.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the slider and the biasing means are formed by integrally molded resin parts.

[0011] The invention described in claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the invention described in (1), the position at which the urging force applied to the slider by the urging means is substantially released is set at a position deviating from the width of the sheet that can be fed on the sheet stacking table.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. This paper feeder includes a paper loading table 1 on which paper is loaded, and a paper loading table on the paper loading table 1. A pair of side guides 2 for regulating the paper width direction, a pair of long holes 3 provided on the paper loading table 1 for guiding the side guides 2 in the paper width direction, and a side guide 2 sandwiching the long holes 3 A pair of sliders 6 integrally sliding in the paper width direction and having rack gear portions 4 on opposing surfaces
And a pinion gear 7 interposed between the rack gear portions 4 of the slider 6 and meshing with each other, and sliding the slider 6 in directions opposite to each other, and a slider 6 in a direction in which the rack gear portion 4 meshes with the pinion gear 7. Urging means 8 for urging, a guide member 9 provided on the paper loading table 1 and on which the urging means 8 of the slider 6 slides, and a slider 6 attached to a sliding surface of the urging means 8 of the guide member 9. A concave portion 11 for releasing the urging force of the urging means 8, and the concave portion 11 of the guide member 9 is provided with the slider 6 when the side guides 2 reach the maximum separation position and the minimum separation position in the sheet width direction. It is provided at a position where the urging force by the urging means 8 is released.

The paper loading table 1 is composed of an upper surface plate 12 and a lower surface plate 13. The long hole 3 is provided on the upper surface plate 12, and the mounting member 14 provided below the side guide 2 is provided with a long hole. 3 and extends downward. The slider 6 is attached to the attachment member 14 so as to move in the paper width direction along the back surface of the upper plate 12. In FIG. 2, the slider 6 and the mounting member 14 are illustrated as being provided on the surface of the lower plate 13 for ease of illustration.

A pinion gear 7 meshing with the rack gear portion 4 is rotatably provided on the surface of the lower plate 13. When one of the sliders 6 is moved, the rack gear portion 4 causes the pinion gear 7 to rotate and mesh with the pinion gear 7. The movement of the rack gear portion 4 of the other slider 6 causes the other slider 6 to move in the opposite direction. A guide ridge 16 for guiding the moving slider 6 is formed on the surface of the lower plate 13.

The biasing means 8 is made of a resin component molded integrally with the slider 6, and is formed on the side surface of the slider 6 opposite to the rack gear portion 4 at an interval in the moving direction thereof so as to be elastically deformable. It has a pair of thin portions, and a projection 17 is formed at the tip of each of the thin portions.

The guide member 9 is provided with concave portions 18 with which the projections 17 at the tip of the urging means 8 of the slider 6 can be engaged, respectively, and the projections 17 fall into these concave portions 18 to engage. It has become. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the position of the concave portion 18 is such that the both side guides 2 are maximally opened outward in the paper width direction, for example, the maximum paper width of the rated size of the paper P1 of A3 size ( 297 mm) A position (307 mm) A wider than W1, and a position where both side guides 2 are closed to the minimum inward in the paper width direction, as shown in FIGS. Position narrower than the minimum paper width (100mm) W2
m) Set to B. These set positions are such that the paper that can be fed by the paper loading table 1 corresponds to the vicinity of the maximum or minimum sliding position of the slider 6 where the side guides have reached the maximum separation position or the minimum separation position in the width direction of the paper. The position is outside the width.

As described above, the projection 17 of the urging means 8 is
By dropping and engaging with the concave portion 18 of the guide member 9, the urging force of the urging means 8 on the slider 6 is substantially released, and the urging means 8 returns to a natural state, and the elastically deformable urging means 8 Will not be loaded. In such a state, even if the slider 6 and the urging means 8 are integrally formed of a resin material such as polyacetal or polystyrene as in the conventional case, thermal deformation occurs due to exposure to a high temperature. Therefore, the biasing force does not decrease.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show that the paper width W3 is intermediate between W1 and W2 and the projection 17 is located at an intermediate position of the concave portion 18.
This shows a case where the slider does not fall into engagement. In this case, the projection 17 of the urging means 8 is elastically pressed against the guide member 9 and slides. The side guide 2 is positioned and held at an arbitrary position by urging the rack gear portion 4 in the direction of meshing with the pinion gear 7 and utilizing the frictional force generated between them by the urging force.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the recess 18 enables the urging force of the urging means 8 to be substantially released.
However, the side guides 2 are provided at two positions: a maximum open position facing the outside in the paper width direction and a minimum close position facing the inside in the paper width direction, but either one may be provided. Others
It goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0020]

As described above, the present invention is directed to a paper loading table, a side guide for regulating the width direction of the paper on the paper loading table, and a paper loading table for guiding the side guide in the paper width direction. A slider that slides in the paper width direction integrally with the side guide with the long hole provided above and sandwiches the long hole and that has a rack gear portion on the opposing surface, and is interposed between the slider's rack gear portion and meshes A pinion gear that slides the slider in directions opposite to each other, a biasing means that biases the slider in a direction in which the rack gear portion meshes with the pinion gear, and a biasing means of the slider provided on the paper loading table slides. 2. A sheet feeding device, comprising: a guide member having a concave portion for releasing the urging force of the slider urging means on a sliding surface of the guide member with the urging means. In the invention, the concave portion of the guide member is provided at a position where the urging force of the urging means of the slider is released when the side guides reach the maximum separation position or the minimum separation position in the width direction of the sheet. Therefore, the stop position of the side guide can be stably set to an arbitrary position, and when the urging unit is not in use, the side guide is stopped at the release position of the urging force of the urging unit when not in use. Thus, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent a decrease in the urging force in a state of being left in a high temperature atmosphere.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the slider and the urging means are formed of integrally molded resin parts, there is no need to add another part for stopping the side fence. Thus, there is an effect that cost can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position at which the urging force of the urging means to the slider is substantially released is set at a position deviating from the width of the sheet that can be fed on the sheet stacking table.
There is an effect that the positioning operation of the side guide at an arbitrary stop position for all paper sizes is not hindered.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paper loading table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of the lower plate by removing the upper plate from the lower plate.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view of the above-mentioned both side guides in a state where the both side guides are opened to the maximum.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion surrounded by a line 4 in the same.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the above-mentioned both side guides in a state of being closed to a minimum.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a portion surrounded by a line 6 in the same.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state where both side guides are in an intermediate position in FIGS.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of a portion surrounded by a line 8 in the same.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of an example of a conventional sheet feeding device of the same type as the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of another example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 paper loading table 2 side guide 3 long hole 4 rack gear section 6 slider 7 pinion gear 8 biasing means 9 guide member 11 recess 12 upper plate 13 lower plate 14 mounting member 17 protrusion 18 recess

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet loading table on which sheets are loaded, a pair of side guides for regulating the sheet width direction of the sheets on the sheet loading table, and the sheet loading table for guiding the side guides in the sheet width direction. A pair of long holes provided above, a pair of sliders sliding in the paper width direction integrally with the side guide with the long holes interposed therebetween, and having a rack gear portion on the opposing surface, and a rack gear portion of the slider A pinion gear that is interposed and meshes and slides the slider in directions opposite to each other, and biasing means that biases the slider in a direction in which the rack gear portion meshes with the pinion gear;
A guide member provided on the paper loading table and on which a slider urging means slides, and a concave portion for releasing the urging force of the slider urging means is provided on a sliding surface of the guide member with the urging means. In the sheet feeding device, the concave portion of the guide member is located at a position where the side fences release the urging force by the urging means of the slider when the side fences reach the maximum separation position or the minimum separation position in the width direction of the paper. A sheet feeding device, which is provided. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the slider and the urging means are formed by integrally molded resin parts. 3. The position where the urging force of the urging means is substantially released,
The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the paper feeding device is set at a position deviating from a width of a sheet that can be fed on the sheet loading table.