JPH11322117A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeder easy to assemble to a device main body and easy perform jam processing and maintenance work. SOLUTION: In a paper feeder from a pair of feed rollers 6, 7 in the downstream part of a paper feeding carrier device to a pair of resist rollers 8, 9 in the upstream part of a transfer device, component members 26, 27 of a paper feeding route over both of the pairs and the pair of the resist rollers 8, 9 are unitized into a paper feeding base 28, further a manual paper feeding means 10 is unitized into the paper feeding base 28 and this paper feeding unit U is assembled with a unit drawing means 29 to the outside of a device main body so as to be removable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electrostatographic copying machine,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device provided in an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a facsimile, and more specifically, to a sheet feeding device disposed from a pair of feed rollers downstream of a sheet feeding and conveying device to a pair of registration rollers upstream of a transfer device. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the above-mentioned components of a paper feed path extending over both roller pairs and a pair of registration rollers are individually assembled on a base of an image forming apparatus main body. As for the manual paper feeding means which can be used, the paper stock member, the constituent members of the paper feeding path, and the double feed prevention means are respectively assembled to the base of the apparatus main body.

[0003]

However, assembling the components of the paper feed path, the pair of registration rollers, and the paper feed means for manual feed paper individually to the base of the main body of the apparatus is difficult. In addition to the small space for assembling the members, it is extremely difficult and troublesome due to the relationship with other components, and maintenance such as clearing jams and replacing parts when a jam occurs in the paper feed path. It was difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a paper feeding apparatus which can be easily assembled to a main body of the apparatus, and can easily perform a jam clearing operation and a maintenance operation. The purpose is.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a member of a paper feed path extending from a pair of feed rollers to a pair of registration rollers and a pair of registration rollers are formed. It is characterized in that it is unitized into a paper supply base and this paper supply unit is assembled to the image forming apparatus main body.

[0006] In addition to the above, in the invention according to claim 2,
It is characterized in that a stock member for manual paper to the pair of registration rollers, a member for forming a paper feed path for manual paper, and a unit for preventing double feed of manual paper are unitized in a paper feed base, and further, The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the sheet feeding unit is detachably provided in a unit pulling-out means to the outside of the apparatus main body.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a full-color printer as an example of an image forming apparatus, in which a plurality of upper and lower (four in this embodiment) paper cassettes 1 are configured to be able to be pulled out of the apparatus, and paper is fed from the paper cassette 1. And a paper feeder 2 that merges and transports the sheets to be fed, is provided on the lower side of the apparatus main body 3, and an image forming unit 5 having an image forming drum 4 is disposed on the upper side of the apparatus main body 3. I have.

The paper feeder 2 is provided with a pair of feed rollers 6 and 7 so as to correspond to the paper feed cassettes 1 respectively. Paper feeder 11 provided with paper feed means 10 for manual paper over a pair of registration rollers 8 and 9 upstream of the transfer device of image forming unit 5
And a sheet feeding and conveying device 13 for conveying the sheet after image formation to the fixing device 12, and a sheet discharging tray 1 for conveying the sheet after fixing.
4 and a pair of paper discharge rollers 15 for discharging the paper to the paper 4.

The above-mentioned image forming unit 5 includes
Around the image forming drum 4 laid horizontally, the charging device 16
And the image reading information from the optical device 17,
An exposure device 18 for forming a latent image on the drum surface; a developing device 19 for storing cyan, yellow, magenta, and black toners separately to visualize the latent image formed on the drum surface; A transfer / separation unit 20 for transferring a toner image to a sheet and separating the sheet, a cleaning device 21, and a charge removing device 22 are arranged in that order.

The transfer / separation unit 20 comprises a transfer belt 23 for the toner image formed on the drum surface, a transfer / separation device 24 using rollers, and a cleaning device 25 for the transfer belt 23, and a developing device. Reference numeral 19 denotes a unit for sequentially developing cyan, yellow, magenta, and black toner images on the drum surface when the optical device 17 scans the document image four times. The toner images are sequentially superimposed on the transfer belt 23. As a result, a full-color toner image is formed on the belt surface, and the full-color toner image is transferred to the sheet fed to the transfer / separation device 24.

In the full-color printer having the above configuration, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the paper feed path of the paper feeder 2 is configured to be openable, while both rollers 6, 7, The components 26 and 27 of the sheet feeding path extending over the pairs 8 and 9 and the pair of registration rollers 8 and 9 are unitized on the sheet feeding base 28.
The paper feed unit U is also unitized to a paper feed base 28, and the paper feed unit U is detachably provided in a unit drawer means 29 to the outside of the apparatus main body. , And a paper jam occurring in the sheet feeding path and the transfer / separation device 24 is easily eliminated.

That is, a main body cover 30 for covering the paper feeding and conveying device 2 is provided so as to be openable and closable about a lower support shaft 31 with respect to the main body 3, and to lock the main body cover 30 in a closed state. A lock means 33 is provided, and
The outer feed roller 6 and the paper feed guide 34 of the feed rollers 6 and 7 and the paper feed guides 34 and 35 constituting the paper feeder 2 are provided on the cover 30 side, and the main body cover 30 in the unlocked state is provided. With the opening of the paper feeder 2
The paper feed path is opened.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the locking means 33 includes a pin a attached to the apparatus main body 3 and a hook b pivotally attached to the main body cover 30 and engaged with the pin a.
And a spring c for urging and locking the hook b to the pin a. A handle 32 for unlocking is connected to the hook b, and the tip of the hook b has a tapered surface S. Is formed.

Therefore, when the main body cover 30 is closed, the taper surface S comes into contact with the pin a with the closing operation, and the hook b rotates against the urging force of the spring c, and
After the tapered surface S passes through the pin a, the hook b is locked to the pin a, and the main body cover 30 is locked by a one-touch operation of closing the main body cover 30.

On the other hand, an accommodating portion 36 for the sheet feeding unit U and an opening 37 for drawing out the unit are formed on the upper side of the main body cover 30 with respect to the apparatus main body 3. , Rail members 38 and 39 are slidably connected to each other in the longitudinal direction, and a rail 41 having a notch d for inserting a roller is provided. The rollers 42 are provided so as to be slidable on the rails 41, and the other of the right and left sides of the sheet supply base 28 is screwed to the movable rail member 39 of the slide rails 40. , Paper feed unit U
Constitute a unit drawer 29 which is detachably provided.

Further, a hook f of the lock means 44, which is unlocked by the turning operation of the handle 43, is provided in the sheet feeding unit U, and a locking pin h for locking the hook f is provided.
Is provided on the apparatus main body 3 side, and the paper feed unit U can be pulled out of the apparatus main body 3 by pulling the handle 43 in the unlocked state by the handle 43 as it is.

When the paper feeding unit U is housed in the unit housing portion 36, a cover 45 for closing the opening 37 is provided on the paper feeding base 28, and the manual paper feeding means 10 is provided with the cover 45, a stock member 46 of manual paper foldable in a concave portion of the cover 45;
A sheet feeding path member 48a, 48b, 49a, 49b that is fed through the sheet insertion opening 47, and a pair of rollers 50, 51 for preventing multi-feeding of manual paper.
Consisting of

The lower roller 51 feeds and conveys the sheet following the rotation of the upper roller 50. When two sheets are conveyed, a torque limiter (not shown) sets the lower Is detected, the lower roller 51 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction to prevent double feeding of sheets.

According to the above configuration, after the main body cover 30 is opened to open the paper feed path of the paper feed / conveyance device 2, the paper feed unit U is pulled out of the unit housing portion 36 to the outside of the device. The paper jam occurring in the paper feed path can be easily handled.

Further, in addition to the components 26 and 27 of the paper feed path and the pair of registration rollers 8 and 9, the paper feed means 10 for manual paper containing prevention of double feed is unitized in a paper feed base 28, This paper feeding unit U is pulled out of
9, it is possible to assemble the paper feeding unit U in a wide working space separately from the apparatus main body 3, and in parallel with this, the paper Can be assembled,
The full-color printer itself as well as the paper feeding device 11 can be easily assembled with good workability. Further, by removing the paper feeding unit U from the unit drawer 29, maintenance work such as replacement of parts can be performed. Can also be easily performed.

[0021]

As described above, in the paper feeder according to the present invention, as described in the first aspect, the components of the paper feed path from the feed roller pair to the registration roller pair, and the registration roller pair Is unitized into a paper supply base, and this paper supply unit is assembled to the image forming apparatus main body, so that the paper supply unit can be assembled in a wide work space different from the assembly line of the apparatus main body. In addition, since other components can be assembled to the apparatus main body in parallel, the image forming apparatus itself as well as the sheet feeding apparatus can be easily assembled with good workability. be able to.

In addition to the above, according to the second aspect of the present invention,
Since the manual paper feeding means is also unitized as a paper feeding base, even a paper feeding device having a manual paper feeding function and having a configuration that is likely to be complicated can be used in a state in which workability is good. It can be easily assembled.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the sheet feeding unit is detachably provided on the unit pulling-out means to the outside of the apparatus main body, the sheet feeding unit can be removed from the unit accommodating portion of the apparatus main body. By pulling out the paper feeding unit, a jam clearance operation occurring in the paper feeding path can be easily performed, and by removing the paper feeding unit from the unit pull-out means, maintenance work such as replacement of parts can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional side view of a full-color printer as an example of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet feeding unit is pulled out with a main body cover opened.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet feeding device pulled out of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the sheet feeding device is detached from the unit drawer.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part of the sheet feeding device and the sheet feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Paper feed cassette, 2 ... Paper feed conveying device, 3 ... Image forming apparatus main body, 6, 7 ... Feed roller pair, 8, 9 ... Register roller pair, 26, 27 ... Component member of paper feed path, 28 ... Feeding Paper base, 29 unit pull-out means, 46 stock member for manual paper, 48a, 48b, 49a, 49b
... A sheet feeding path constituting member for manual paper, 52.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device that extends from a pair of feed rollers at a downstream portion of a sheet feeding / conveying device to a pair of registration rollers at an upstream portion of a transfer device. A sheet feeding unit, wherein the sheet feeding unit is unitized into a sheet feeding base, and the sheet feeding unit is assembled to an image forming apparatus main body. 2. The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a manual paper feeding unit is unitized on the paper feeding base. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding unit is detachably provided in a unit pulling-out unit outside the apparatus main body.