JPS59198234A - Image creation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply many sheets continuously by connecting a feeder with great capacity as substitute for a feeder box with minor capacity. CONSTITUTION:A reversible motor 56 drives a chain drive mechanism 58 for a paper feed table operating mechanism 61, and an electro-magnetic clutch 54 for elevator feed is actuated, to elevate a paper feed table 43 by running an elevator chain 51 in the regular direction. The uppermost sheet P pushes up a sensing lever 90 of a paper sensing mechanism 89 and rotates it, and then a paper sensing switch 93 is turned off to inform existence of any sheet of paper. When the paper feed table rises to heave a paper feed roller 82 of a paper feed roller unit 79, an upper limit sensing switch 86 of an upper limit sensing mechanism 60 is turned off to stop the above-mentioned reversible motor 56 as well as to disengage the electromagnetic clutch 54, and then the rising paper feed table 43 stops to provide stand-by condition with possibility of feeding the sheets.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an image forming apparatus that has a paper feed section into which a paper feed box can be inserted and removed, and that is housed in a paper feed box that is inserted into the paper feed section and that forms an image on paper. For example, in electronic copying devices, electronic printers, etc., a paper feed box, such as a paper feed cassette, can be inserted into and removed from the paper feed unit of the image forming device as a paper feed means to easily replenish paper or change the size of paper. A cassette-type paper feeding device is used.

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 purpose is to connect a feeder with a large capacity in place of a navy blue paper box with a small capacity when a large number of sheets of paper are required in succession. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can be operated as if it were feeding paper from a paper feeding box, so that it can be easily handled without changing the specifications of the image forming apparatus main body.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to an illustrated embodiment. FIGS. 1 to 3 show the entire image forming system apparatus. This image forming system apparatus 1 includes a so-called double paper feed cassette type electronic copying apparatus 2 which is an image forming apparatus and is equipped with two paper feed boxes, and this electronic Continuously print multiple sheets of paper P with copy unit N2
, a feeder 4 is attached to the electronic copying device 2 in place of the paper cassette 3, which is a paper feeding box with a small capacity, and a common stand on which the feeder 4 and the electronic copying device 2 are placed. It consists of 5.

The electronic copying apparatus 2 is constructed as follows. That is, a document placement section 7 is provided on the top surface of the copying device main body 6, and the front portion thereof is used to operate, control, and display the status of a copying mechanism (not shown) housed in the copying device main body 6. Print button 8, key 9 to show...
- An operation panel 11 including 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.

Further, take-out rows 217 and 18 as take-out devices are arranged in the paper feed sections 15 and 16 of the copying apparatus main body 6 into which the tips of these paper feed cassettes 14 and 3 are inserted, respectively.
These take-out rollers 17 and 18 operate according to the selected song to take out one sheet of paper P from the designated paper feed cassette 14 or 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the paper P fed from the introduction paper section 15 or 16 is guided to the contact portion of the pair of feed rollers 21 and y21 via the mutually opposing surfaces of the upper and lower guide plates 19 and 20, respectively. There are buttons that allow you to Next, the paper P is fed into the common paper transport path 22 as the two pairs of feed rows 21.
The developer image is transferred by passing through , and then the developer image is fixed by passing through 26.26 pairs of fixing rollers. The copied paper P' is then transferred to a pair of paper ejection rollers 21 disposed at the end of the paper transport path 22.
The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 13 via the paper discharge tray 27.

The feeder 4 is roughly divided into a feeder main body part 28 which accommodates a large number of sheets P at once and takes out the uppermost paper P one by one one by one, and a feeder main body part 28 which 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 the tip of the paper guide section 29 in the paper feed section 16 of the electronic copying device 2 on the right side of the electronic copying device 2. It is designed to connect to the bottom of the screen.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the front placement table 5 has an electronic copying device placement section 30 and a feeder placement section 31, and a cart 32 is attached to the lower surface side. It becomes. The electronic copying device mounting section 30 has the electronic copying device 2 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 side edge of the opening of the fixing recess 37 to facilitate mounting of the feeder 4. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the feeder fittings 31 include a height adjusting screw 3 whose tip protrudes into the positioning recess 37 and can adjust the height of the feeder 4.
8... 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 40 and 41 are erected within the housing 39 by fixing their lower ends to a pace frame 42 forming the bottom of the housing 39. 40.4
A paper feed table 43 is arranged between the paper feed trays 1 and 1. This paper feed tray 43
A movable pace 44 is supported vertically and movably by means to be described later, and a spacer 4 is disposed on the upper surface side of this movable base 44.
5, and an elevator tray 46 attached via...

Guide shafts 47.47 whose upper and lower ends are fixed via horizontal mounting pieces are attached to the front end surfaces of the left and right frames 40.41, and elevator arms 48.48 are attached to these guide shafts 47.47. It is installed so that it can move up and down. 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 arm 48.48 is located on the outer wall surface side of the left and right frames 40.41 and the guide shaft 47.4.
It is connected via joint links 52 and 52 to endless elevator chains 51 and 51, which are stretched along the upper sprocket 49 and the lower sprocket 50, respectively. Further, the lower right sprocket 50 (not shown) is fitted to the right end of a rotating shaft 53 that is horizontally suspended so as to pass through the left and right frames 40.41f, and the lower left sprocket 50 is fitted to the left end of the rotating shaft 53. It is fixed to the output side of the electromagnetic clutch 54 for elevator feed, and the artist's Sugerocket 50.50 rotates integrally. The electromagnetic clutch 54
The gear 55 that is placed on the input side meshes with a drive gear 57 to which the driving force of a reversible electric motor 56 is transmitted. By rotating the reversible/rotating motor 56 in the forward or reverse direction, the elevator chain 51.51
A chain drive machine s5 that causes the to run in the forward direction (in the direction of the solid line arrow in Figure 4) or in the reverse direction (in the direction of the dashed line arrow in Figure 4)
8.

Plus, this chain drive machine! 58 is the lower limit detector! #
t59 and the upper limit detection mechanism 60, and the paper feed table 4 is connected to the
A paper feed tray operating mechanism 6 for moving the paper feed tray 3 is configured.

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. is configured.

A paper ejecting mechanism 66 is arranged at the upper front part of the paper storage section 65, and the guide section 29 is formed in the paper feeding direction of the paper ejecting 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 929 and serves as a paper feed body that faces the take-out roller 18 of the pongee paper section 16. #b mechanism 68 is arranged, and after taking out the uppermost sheet P, the feed roller pair 21.2
Paper is fed to the 1st side. That is, sprockets 70 and '11 are provided on the left end side of the drive shaft 69 of the paper take-out mechanism 66 and on the left end side of the paper feed roller 67, respectively, and these sprockets are interlocked with each other via an endless chain 72. At the same time, an upper sprocket 73 is connected integrally with the sprocket 7°, and this upper sprocket 73 is connected to an endless feed chain 74.
The lower sprocket 75 moves through the lower sprocket 75. Further, the lower sprocket 75 is fixed to the output side of an electromagnetic clutch 76 for paper feeding. The gear 77 attached to the input side of the electromagnetic clutch 760 meshes with the drive gear 57 to which the driving force of the olJE reversing motor 56 is transmitted. When the electromagnetic clutch 76 is turned on in response to the paper feed signal, the drive shaft 69 and paper feed roller 67 of the paper take-out machine #I66 are driven in accordance with the paper feed timing.

Further, the paper feed roller 62 is in a state where the feeder 4 is securely connected to the electronic copying device 2, that is, the feeder connection detection lever 78 disposed on the paper feed section 16 is in the state shown by the double-dot ring line in FIG. The trap is such that when the paper P is reliably pushed up by the tip inclined surface of the paper guide section 29, it rolls into contact with the take-out roller 18 of the paper feed section 16, and the paper P is sandwiched between them and sent out.

The paper ejecting mechanism 66 includes a pair of paper feed roller units 7.
9. vy is provided. These paper feed roller units 79, 79 are constructed as shown in FIG. That is, an arm 8o is attached to the drive shaft 69 on a rotating white stone, and a paper feed roller shaft 8 is attached to the free end side of the arm 8o so as to be rotatable and swingable in the vertical direction with the central portion in the length direction as a fulcrum. It is installed in the At both ends of this paper feed roller shaft 8, there are paper feed rows 782, 8.
2 is firmly fixed thereto, and a driven sprocket 83 is fitted in the central portion in the length direction. On the other hand, a driving sprocket 85 is connected to a midway portion of the drive shaft 69 corresponding to the driven sprocket 83 via a one-way clutch 84.
are installed, and these two sprockets 83.85
are interlocked with each other via an endless chain 86.

Therefore, the paper feed roller unit 7 configured in this way
9.79, each arm 8o has a drive shaft 69
It is pivotable about a rotation center within a range until the end face of a positioning hole, which is an elongated hole (not shown), comes into contact with a stopper shaft (not shown).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, a paper feed loan unit 7 is provided on the left end side of the drive shaft 69.
The upper limit detection switch 8 detects the vertical movement of the arm 8o in
An actuator 87 for transmitting data to 6 is provided. 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.
x is lowered, the actuator of the upper limit detection switch 86 is pressed, and "
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 8B and 8B 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.
9 is provided. The paper presence/absence detection mechanism 89 has a configuration including a detection lever 90, a detection lever holding member 91, a switch operating lever 92, and a paper presence/absence detection switch 93. That is, the detection lever 90 is made by 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 portion 90m. 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 920 faces the actuator of the paper presence/absence detection switch 93. On the other hand, in the elevator tray 46 of the paper feed table 43, there is a detection part 90m (corresponding to fc) of the detection lever 9o.
4 is formed.

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 90m 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 tray 43 rises and the topmost paper P comes into contact with the detection portion 90m of the detection lever 90 and is pushed up, and the topmost paper P comes into contact with the paper feed roller 82... The switch actuating lever 92 is separated from the actuator of the paper presence/absence detection switch 93 and becomes in the "off" state, and a paper presence signal is obtained.

Further, an upper 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 pace 44 of the paper feed tray 4S, 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, making it easy to replenish the paper P into the paper storage section 65. It is now possible to do this. 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 Figures 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 tray 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. ing.

Next, the operation of the feeder 4 configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. First, when the cover 98 is closed, the actuator of the cover opening/closing detection switch 99 is pressed, and the chain drive mechanism 5 of the paper feed tray operating mechanism 6 enters the "in" state.
When the reversible electric motor 56 of No. 8 is driven, the electromagnetic clutch 54 for elevator feeding operates, and the elevator chain 51, 51 runs in the forward direction (in the direction of the solid line arrow in FIG. 4), causing the paper feed tray 43 to rise. do. Then, the detection lever 90 of the paper presence/absence detection mechanism 89 is pushed up and rotated by the uppermost paper P, and the paper presence/absence detection switch 93 is turned off.
, and the presence of paper is detected. Furthermore, the paper feed table 43
rises, and the paper feed roller unit 79° 79
82..., the upper limit detection switch 86 of the upper limit detection mechanism 60 is turned off, and the reversible motor 5
6 stops, the electromagnetic clutch 54 is disengaged, and the paper feed table 43 stops rising, entering a standby state in which paper can be fed.

Next, when the print button 8 is pressed with paper feeding from the feeder 4 designated on the operation panel 11 of the electronic copying device 2, the reversible electric motor 56 is driven and the electromagnetic clutch 76 for paper feeding is operated. Then, the drive shaft 69 of the paper take-out mechanism 66 is driven, and the paper feed roller unit 79.19 moves with this drive shaft 69.
(The DIIB paper roller roller 82 and the paper feed roller 67 of the paper guide section 29 are each driven clockwise in the state shown in FIG. ... is taken out and sent to the paper guide section 29. At this time, the paper P is moved between the paper feed roller 67 and the electronic copying apparatus by the lower guide plate 100 integrated with the paper guide frame 62 of the paper guide section 29. After being guided to the contact area with the take-out roller 218 disposed in the paper feed section 16 of No. 2, the image is transferred to the transfer section 25 side via these rollers 67.18 and the pair of feed rollers 21.21 shown in FIG. You will be guided.

As described above, 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 in the "U" state, the paper feed tray 43
rises again. Therefore, the intermittent raising of the paper feed table 43 is repeated so that the uppermost paper P is always located within a certain paper feed range.

Then, when all the paper P is fed, the paper presence/absence detection mechanism 89
The detection part 9o a ii of the detection lever 90 falls into the detection part drop-in hole 94 of the elevator tray 46 of the paper feed tray 43, and the paper presence/absence detection switch 93 turns on, and the display part 10 of the operation panel 11 shows that the paper An empty display is displayed.

In this way, when the display unit 10 shows the paper out display force==, one operator opens the force/<-98 and prints out the paper.
... 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 elevator chain 51
．． 51 travels in the direction of the broken line arrow in FIG. 4, and the paper feed tray 43 descends. Then, when the actuator of the lower limit position detection switch 9 is pushed by the operating piece 95 integrated with the paper feed table 43, the reversible motor 56 is stopped, the electromagnetic clutch 54 is disengaged, and the paper feed table 43 is at the ball lower limit. Stop at a position.

Thus, in this state, the paper P... is replenished onto the paper feed tray 43. After completing this paper replenishment operation, the above operation is automatically performed by closing the cup <-98.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, an image forming apparatus employing a double paper feed cassette type electronic copying apparatus has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use a single paper feed cassette. Also, other devices that use a paper feed box, such as an electronic printer, may be employed.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention.

As explained above, the present invention has a paper feeding section in which the introduction paper box can be inserted and removed, and the paper stored in the paper feeding box inserted into the paper feeding section is taken out by a take-out roller. In the apparatus for forming images on sheets of paper, the feeder has a feeder that can be inserted into the paper feed section in place of the paper feed box, and this feeder includes a feeder main body for taking out the stored paper, and a feeder main body for taking out the stored paper. a paper guide section, a part of which is inserted into the paper feed section in order to guide the paper taken out by the section to the paper feed section; The image forming apparatus is provided with a roller, and the paper taken out by the feeder body is pinched and conveyed by the take-out roller and the paper feed roller. Therefore, if you need a large number of sheets of paper in succession, connect a feeder with a large capacity to the paper feed section instead of a paper feed box with a small capacity, and the image forming apparatus will be able to store the paper as if it were coming from the paper feed box. It can be operated like a paper feeder, and when a feeder is not needed, an inexpensive paper feeder box with a small storage capacity can be attached as before, making it easy to handle this without changing the specifications of the image forming apparatus itself. obtain. Further, since the paper taken out by the feeder main body is held and conveyed by the take-out roller and the paper feed roller, the paper can be reliably delivered from the feeder to the apparatus main body. Furthermore, since the take-out roller of the main body of the apparatus is used even when feeding paper from the feeder, various effects such as timing of feeding the paper can be synchronized with when the paper feeding box is used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a front view of the entire image system, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the lower paper feed cassette removed and the feeder connected, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the image system. 4 is a vertical sectional side view of the main part of the feeder, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main parts, FIG. 6 is a side view of the upper limit detection mechanism, and FIG. 89 is a side view of the paper presence detection mechanism, 89 is a side view of the lower limit detection mechanism, and FIG. 9 is a side view of the cover opening/closing detection unit. P...Paper, 2...Image forming device (electronic copying device,
3...Paper feed box (paper feed cassette), 4...Feeder, 16...Paper feed section, 18...Takeout roller, 28...Feeder main body section, 29...Paper guide section, 67. ...Paper feed roller. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Hiko Rin Ushiki Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] The paper feed box has a paper feed unit which can be inserted and removed, the paper stored in the paper feed box inserted into the paper feed unit is taken out by a take-out roller, and an image is formed on the taken out paper, as described above. In place of the paper feed box, there is a feeder that can be inserted into the paper feed section, and this feeder includes a feeder body for taking out stored sheets, and a feeder body for taking out the sheets from the feeder. a paper guide section, a part of which is inserted into the paper feed section in order to guide the feeder to the feeder main body; An image forming apparatus characterized in that the paper taken out by the paper is conveyed while being held between the take-out roller and the paper feed roller.