JPS59198226A - Paper feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide sure feeding of sheets of paper as well as ocular checking if there are any sheets loaded, by forming a means, to take out sheets by means of contact with the currently uppermost lying sheet, and a cover enclosing a paper feed table from a transparent material. CONSTITUTION:A vertically moving paper feed table is fitted with a means to take out the sheets P placed thereupon by means of contact with the currently uppermost lying sheet, and a cover 28 enclosing the range of the table motion for its vertical operation and at least part of this cover 28 is made from a transparent material 98. According to this arrangement, many sheets can be fed one after another surely, as well as check of the residual amount of sheets made easily by sight.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that can sequentially feed a large number of sheets one by one.

Normally, in image forming devices that form images on paper, such as electronic copying machines and electronic printers, the paper feeding section of the image forming device is used as a paper feeding means to easily replenish paper or change the size of paper. For example, a cassette-type paper feeding device in which a paper feeding box, such as a paper feeding cassette, can be freely inserted and removed has been adopted.

However, in an image forming apparatus that employs this kind of cassette-type paper feeding device, if a large number of copies need to be made in succession, the paper feeding cassette must be frequently refilled with paper, which is difficult to do. It has the problem of being troublesome.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a paper feeder that can sequentially feed a large number of sheets of paper one by one, and that also allows easy confirmation of the presence or absence of paper and the remaining amount. This is what we are trying to provide.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to an illustrated embodiment. FIGS. 1 to 3 show the entire image forming system device that employs the paper feeding device of the present invention, and this image forming system device 1
is an image forming device, which is a so-called double paper feed cassette type electronic copying device 2 equipped with two paper feed boxes, and when this electronic copying device 2 continuously requires a large number of sheets P, the storage capacity is small. It is composed of a feeder 4 as a paper feeding device that is attached to the electronic copying device 2 instead of a paper feeding cassette 3 that is a paper feeding box, and a common table 5 on which this feeder 4 and the electronic copying device 2 are placed. There is.

The electronic copying apparatus 2 has the following structure. Namely, a document resting section 7 is provided on the upper surface of the copying apparatus main body 6, and a copying mechanism housed in the copying apparatus main body 6 ( Print button 8, keys 9, etc. for operation, control, and status display (not shown)
, an operation panel 11 having a display section 10 and the like is arranged. Further, a paper ejection tray 13 as a paper ejection section for receiving the copied paper P' ejected from the paper ejection port 12 is protruded from the upper right side of the copying apparatus main body 6, and a first paper ejection tray 13 is provided in a lower part thereof. As shown in the figure, the paper feed cassette 14, which is a paper feed box, and the paper feed cassette 3 are installed in upper and lower two stages.

In addition, take-out rollers 217° 18 as take-out devices are arranged in the paper feed sections 15 and 16 of the copying machine main body 6 into which the tips of these paper feed cassettes 14 and 3 are inserted, respectively. is selectively operated to take out one sheet of paper P from the designated paper feed cassette 14 or 3. In this way, the paper feed section 15 or 1
As shown in FIG. 3, the sheets P fed from the feed rollers 6 and 6 are guided to the contact portions of the pair of feed rollers 21 and 21 via mutually opposing surfaces of the upper and lower guide plates 19 and 20, respectively. Next, the paper P is fed into the common paper transport path 22 as the feed roller pair 21.
The developer image is transferred by passing through a transfer section 25 formed between the roller and the transfer device 24, and then is fixed by passing through 36.26 pairs of fixing rollers. The copied paper P' is then discharged to the paper discharge tray 13 via a pair of paper discharge rollers 27, 27 arranged at the end of the paper transport path 22.

The feeder is roughly divided into a feeder main body section 28 that accommodates a large number of sheets of paper P at once and takes out the uppermost paper P one by one one by one, and a feeder main body section 28 that protrudes in the paper takeout direction. It consists of a paper guide section 29 provided therein. Then, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, pull out the lower paper feed cassette 3 and position it on the right side of the electronic copying device 2 so that the tip of the paper guide section 29 is located inside the paper feeding section 16 of the electronic copying device 2. It is designed to be connected at the bottom.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the placing stand 5 has an electronic copying device placing part 30 and a feeder placing part 31, and a cart 32 is attached to the lower surface side. 0 The electronic copying device mounting section 30 has the electronic copying device R2 on the top surface.
The table 33 has a table 33 on which it is placed, and the lower part of the table 33 is an supplies storage chamber 35 whose front surface is opened and closed by doors 34, 34, and is configured to store paper, developer, cleaning supplies, etc. It has become. In addition, the feeder placement section 31
consists of a horizontal support plate part 36 integrally projecting from the lower right side of the electronic copying device mounting part 30, and a positioning recess 37 into which the lower end part of the feeder main body 28 fits is formed on the upper surface of the horizontal support plate part 36. ing. An inclined surface 37a is formed on the right edge of the opening of the positioning recess 32 to facilitate mounting of the feeder 4. Further, the feeder mounting section 31 has a third
As shown in the figure, a height adjustment screw 38 whose tip protrudes into the positioning recess 37 and can adjust the height position of the feeder 4.
...is installed.

Next, the structure of the feeder 4 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, left and right frames 4θ, 41 are erected within the housing 39 by fixing their lower ends to a base frame 42 forming the bottom of the housing 39. Frame 40°4
A paper feed table 43 is arranged between the paper feed trays 1 and 1. This paper feed tray 43
A movable base 44 is supported to be vertically movable by means to be described later, and a spacer 4 is disposed on the upper surface side of the movable base 44.
Guide shafts 47, 47 whose upper and lower ends are fixed to the front end surfaces of the left and right frames 40, 41 via horizontal mounting pieces, respectively. are attached, and elevator arms 4B, 4B are attached to these guide shafts 47, 47 so as to be vertically movable. Both left and right ends of a movable base 44 of the paper feed table 43 are fixed to these elevator arms 4B, 4B, so that the paper feed table 43 can move up and down smoothly.

Further, the elevator arms 4B, 4B are located on the outer wall surface side of the left and right frames 40.41 and on the guide shaft 47.4.
Top tin rocket in line with 7 49. It is connected via joint links 52, 5.2 to endless elevator chains 51, 51, which are stretched through the lower sprocket 50, respectively. Furthermore, the lower right sprocket 50
(not shown) is fitted to the right end of the rotating shaft 53 that is horizontally suspended so as to pass through the left and right frames 40, 41, and the lower left sprocket 50 is attached to the elevator 7 boot fixed to the left end of the rotating shaft 53. Electromagnetic club for? It is fixed to the output side of the chain 54, and the rain sprocket 50°50 is adapted to rotate integrally. A gear 55 fixed to the input side of the electromagnetic clutch 540 meshes with a drive gear 57 to which the driving force of a reversible electric motor 56 is transmitted. Then, by rotating the reversible electric motor 56 in the forward or reverse direction, the elevator chain 5 is rotated.

51 in the forward direction (in the direction of the solid line arrow in FIG. 4) or in the reverse direction (in the direction of the broken line in FIG. 4).

Furthermore, this chain drive mechanism 58 has a lower limit detection mechanism 59.
and an upper limit detection mechanism 60, forming a paper feed tray operating mechanism 61 that moves the paper feed tray 43 so that the uppermost sheet P is always located within a certain paper feed range.

Also, paper guide plates 62, 63, and 64 are arranged to guide the front end and both side edges of the paper P along the movement path of the paper feed tray 43, and the paper storage section 65 is disposed on the upper surface side of the paper feed tray 43. It is not supposed to be configured.

A paper take-out mechanism 66 as a take-out means is arranged at the upper front part of the paper storage section 65, and the guide section 29 is formed in the paper feed direction of this paper take-out mechanism 66. .

On the left frame 40 side, there is a paper take-out mechanism 66 and a paper feed roller drive that operates a paper feed roller 67, which is disposed on the tip side of the guide section 29 and serves as a paper feed body that faces the take-out roller 18 of the paper feed section 16. A mechanism 68 is arranged so that after taking out the uppermost sheet P, the sheet is fed to the pair of feed rows 21.21. In other words, paper ejection FA
Sprockets 70 and 71 are respectively attached to the left end side of the drive shaft 69 of the ifl 166 and the left end side of the paper feed row 267, and these are interlocked with each other via an endless chain 72. An upper sprocket 23 is connected integrally with the upper sprocket 73, and this upper sprocket 73 is interlocked with a lower tin rocket 75 via an endless feed chain 24. Further, the lower sprocket 75 is fixed to the output side of an electromagnetic clutch 76 for paper feeding. Above electromagnetic clutch 7
A gear 77 fixed to the input side of the reversible electric motor 56 meshes with the drive gear 57 to which the driving force of the reversible electric motor 56 is transmitted. When the electromagnetic clutch 26 is turned on by the paper feed signal, the drive shaft 69 of the paper take-out mechanism 66 and the paper feed roller 62 are driven in accordance with the paper feed timing.

The paper feed roller 67 is set when the feeder 4 is securely connected to the electronic copying device 2, that is, when the feeder connection detection lever 78- disposed on the paper feed section 16 is in the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. In a state where the paper P is reliably pushed up by the inclined surface at the tip end of the paper guide section 29, it rolls into contact with the take-out row 218 of the paper feed section 16, and the paper P can be sandwiched between them and sent out.

The paper ejecting mechanism 66 includes a pair of paper feed roller units 7.
9.79 is provided. These paper feed roller units 79, 79 are constructed as shown in FIG. That is, an arm 80 is rotatably attached to the drive shaft 69, and a paper feed roller sea software 81 is rotatably mounted on the free end side of the arm 80, and can swing vertically about the central portion in the length direction as a fulcrum. installed on. At both ends of this paper feed roller shaft 81 are paper feed rows 282.82.
is fixed thereto, and a driven sprocket 83 is fitted in the central part in the length direction.On the other hand, a driving sprocket is connected to the midway part of the drive shaft 69 corresponding to the driven sprocket 83 via a one-way clutch 84. 85 is attached, and these two sprockets 83 and 85 are adapted to interlock with each other via an endless chain 86.
9.79, each arm 80 has a drive shaft 69
It is pivotable about a rotation center within a range until the end face of a positioning hole (not shown), which is a long hole (not shown), comes into contact with a shaft (not shown).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, a paper feed roller unit 7 is provided on the left end side of the drive shaft 69.
The upper limit detection switch 8 detects the vertical swing of the arm 80 of
An actuator 87 for transmitting data to 6 is attached. This actuator 87 is made of a bent wire, and is configured to be able to rotate around the drive shaft 69 by fitting an arcuate part formed in the middle onto the drive shaft 69, and one end of the actuator 87 has an arm. It engages with a long hole drilled in the upper limit detection switch 80, and the other end faces the actuator of the upper limit detection switch 86.

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 6, when the paper P in the paper storage section 65 decreases to a certain extent,
2 is lowered, the actuator of the upper limit detection switch 86 is pressed, and the
When the paper feed tray 43 is in the "on" state, the paper feed table 43 rises, and
As shown by the two-dot chain line, when the position of the uppermost paper P rises above a certain height, the upper limit detection switch 86 is turned off and the paper feed tray 43 stops, and the upper limit A detection mechanism 60 is configured.

In addition, when the height position of the top paper P decreases due to paper feeding,
When the height of the uppermost paper P rises due to the rise of the paper feed tray 43, the paper feed rollers 82... and a separation mechanism for preventing double-sheet taking presses both corners of the paper P in the take-out direction. Since the claws 88, 88 are placed on the paper P by their own weight, this vertical movement can be sufficiently covered and the removal of the paper P will not be adversely affected.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, a paper presence/absence detection mechanism 8 is located near the left paper feed roller unit 79.
g is provided. This paper presence/absence detection mechanism 89 is connected to a detection lever 90. Detection lever holding member 91. The configuration includes a switch actuation lever 929 and a paper presence/absence detection switch 93. That is, the detection lever 90 is made by first bending the right end of a rigid wire at a right angle, and then further bending this tip into a substantially square shape to form a detection part 90a, and this detection part 90a is formed by bending the right end of a rigid wire at a right angle. The midway portion is held by a detection lever holding member 91 in a state where it can swing.

A switch actuation lever 92 is attached to the left end of the detection lever 90, and the free end side of this switch actuation lever 92 faces the actuator of the paper presence/absence detection switch 93. On the other hand, in the elevator tray 46 of the paper feed tray 43, a detecting part drop hole 94 is formed corresponding to the detecting part 90a of the detecting lever 90.

However, if the paper feed tray 43 is located below or the paper
When all of the detection levers 90 are taken out, the detection portion 90a of the detection lever 90 is at the lower limit position as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The actuator of the paper presence/absence detection switch 93 is pressed by the switch actuation lever 92 to be in the "on" state, and a paper out signal is obtained.

Further, the paper feed table 43 rises, and the uppermost paper P comes into contact with the detection part 90a of the detection lever 90 and is pushed up, and the uppermost paper P comes into contact with the paper feed roller 82... From the actuator of the presence detection switch 93 to the switch actuation lever 9
2 is separated, the state becomes "off", and a paper presence signal is obtained.

Further, a lower limit detection mechanism 59 for detecting the lower limit position of the paper feed tray 43 is provided with an operating piece 9 protruding from the lower left end rear portion of the movable base 44 of the paper feed tray 43, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8.
5, and a lower limit detection switch 96 whose actuator faces the movement path of the actuating piece 95.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, an opening window 97 is formed from the front surface of the housing 39 of the feeder 4 to the front left side surface, so that it is possible to replenish the paper P into the paper storage section 65. It is now easy to do. This opening window 97 is closed by a cover 98 made of a translucent member that allows the inside to be seen through, and can be opened as necessary. The opening and closing of the cover 98 is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.
As shown in the figure and FIG. 9, it is detected by a cover open/close detection switch 99, and
When it is detected that the paper feed table 43 is opened, the paper feed tray 43 is lowered to the position where paper can be supplied, that is, the lower limit position, and when the cover 98 is closed, the paper feed tray 43 is raised to the position where paper can be fed. There is.

Next, the operation of the feeder 4 configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG.
In this state, the reversible motor 56 of the chain drive mechanism 58 of the paper feed table operating mechanism 61 is driven, and the electromagnetic switch 54 for elevator feed is operated, and the elevator chain 51.51 is moved in the forward direction (as shown in FIG. 4). solid line arrow direction)
The paper feed table 43 rises. When the detection lever 90 of the paper presence/absence detection mechanism 89 is pushed up and rotated by the uppermost paper P, the paper presence/absence detection switch 93 is turned off, thereby detecting the presence of paper. Furthermore, paper feed tray 4
3 rises and pushes up the paper feed rollers 82 of the paper feed roller units 79, 79, the upper limit detection switch 86 of the upper limit detection mechanism 60 is turned off, and the reversible motor 56 stops. At the same time, the electromagnetic clutch 54 is disengaged,
The paper feed table 43 stops rising and enters a standby state where paper can be fed.Next, when paper feed from the feeder 4 is specified on the operation panel 11 of the electronic copying device 2, press the print button 8. As the reversible electric motor 56 is driven, the electromagnetic clutch 76 for paper feeding operates. And paper takeout machine #
The drive shaft 69 of s66 is driven, and the paper feed row 2 unit 79.7 is interlocked with this drive shaft 69.
9 and the paper feed roller 67 of the formatting guide section 29 are each driven clockwise in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, the uppermost sheet P in the sheet storage section 65 is taken out and sent to the sheet guide section 29 as the sheet feed rows 282 . . . rotate. At this time, the paper P is moved between the paper feed roller 67 and the electronic copying device 2 by the lower guide plate 200 integrated with the paper guide frame 62 of the paper guide section 29.
After being guided to the contact point with the take-out roller 18 arranged in the paper feed section 16, the image is transferred to the transfer section 2 via these rollers 67.18 and the pair of feed rollers 21.21 shown in FIG.
You will be led to the 5th side.

In this way, as the sheets P are taken out one after another, the paper feed rollers 82 are lowered, and when the upper limit detection switch 86 of the upper limit detection mechanism 60 is turned on, the paper feed tray 43
rises again. As a result, the paper feed tray 43 is repeatedly raised intermittently so that the uppermost paper P is always located within a certain paper feeding range.And when all the paper P is fed, the paper presence/absence detection mechanism 89
The detection portion 90a of the detection lever 90 falls into the detection portion drop-in hole 94 of the elevator tray 46 of the paper feed tray 43, and the paper presence/absence detection switch 93 is turned on, and the operation panel 1 is turned on.
A paper out display (empty display) is displayed on the display unit 10 of No. 1.

In this way, when the paper out display is displayed on the display unit 10, the operator opens the cover 98 and...
will be replenished. First, when the cover 98 is opened, the cover opening/closing detection switch 99 is turned off, and the reversible motor 56 of the chain drive mechanism 58 of the paper feed tray operating mechanism 61 rotates in the reverse direction, and the electromagnetic clutch 54 for elevator feeding is turned off. Enter the elevator chain 51.51
travels in the direction of the broken line arrow in FIG. 4, and the paper feed tray 43 descends. Then, the actuator of the lower limit position detection switch 96 is pushed by the operating piece 95 integrated with the paper feed table 43, so that the reversible motor 56 is stopped, the electromagnetic clutch 54 is disengaged, and the paper feed table 43 is at the lower limit position. Stop.

Thus, in this state, the paper P... is replenished onto the paper feed tray 43. Then, by closing the cover 98 after completing this paper replenishment operation, the above operation will be automatically performed.

Further, the presence or absence of the paper P on the paper feed tray 43 and the remaining amount can be easily visually confirmed from the outside through the cover 98 made of a member whose interior can be seen through.

As explained above, the present invention includes a paper feed tray that can place paper and move up and down, and a take-out unit that contacts the topmost sheet of paper placed on the paper feed tray to take out the paper. The paper feeding device has a cover that covers a range in which the paper feeding tray moves up and down, and at least a part of the cover is formed of a member whose interior can be seen through. Therefore, a large number of sheets can be sequentially fed one by one, and the presence or absence of sheets and the remaining amount can be easily visually confirmed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an example of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a front view of the entire image system device that employs the paper tying device of the present invention.
The second figure is a perspective view of the paper feeder of the present invention with the lower paper feed cassette removed and the paper feeder of the present invention is connected, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main parts, FIG. 6 is a side view of the upper limit detection mechanism, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the paper presence/absence detection mechanism.
FIG. 8 is a side view of the lower limit detection mechanism section, and FIG. 9 is a side view of the cover opening/closing detection section. P... Paper, 4... Paper feeding device (feeder), 43.
... Paper feed stand, 66... Removal means (paper ejection mechanism)
98...Cover. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7/P 88-f Prosecution Tego Nose Chopsticks r Figure 9

Claims (1)

[Claims] A paper feed tray that can place paper and move up and down, a take-out means that contacts the topmost sheet of paper placed on the paper feed tray to take out the paper, and a range in which the paper feed tray moves up and down. 1. A paper feeding device comprising: a cover for covering the paper; at least a portion of the cover is formed of a member through which the inside thereof can be seen.