JPS61217446A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transmit paper feed enable/disable information to an image formation apparatus without additionally providing a special device by disposing transmitting means for transmitting paper feed enable/disable information from a main body of the apparatus corresponding to optical detection means installed at a paper feed portion of the main body of the image formation apparatus. CONSTITUTION:A covering plate 60 mounted at the forward end portion of a turning lever 59 of a transport portion 50 is adapted to cover a small window 56 if there is a sheet according to a detection signal of a level sensor 45 of a paper feeder main body 40, and open same if there is no paper so that the existence/absence of a sheet is detected by a reflection type optical sensor 31, whereby processing for no-paper state on a copying machine body side is neither added nor changed, and no-paper information from the main body 40 can be correctly transmitted as an optical signal to the sensor 31 of the copying machine main body not through a signal line. That is, when the main body of the copying machine is in the paper feed disable state, such as a paper feed door 40a of the main body 40 is open, a jam occurs in the main body 40, or power is not supplied to the main body 40, paper feed enable/disable information can be transmitted by opening the small window 56.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a paper feeder that enables large-capacity paper feeding by inserting a conveyance unit into a paper feeding unit of an image forming apparatus main body into which a paper feed cassette is attached and removed. Regarding paper devices.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In recent years, in this type of image forming apparatus, in place of the conventional detector with a set of detection levers, a reflective type that is non-contact type and capable of stable detection with less influence of external light has been adopted for the paper feed section. Detection means that includes an optical sensor and is capable of detecting the presence or absence of paper in a paper feed cassette is being developed.

However, instead of the paper feed cassette, a transport section of a large-capacity paper feed device that stores a large amount of paper is inserted into the paper feed section of such an image forming apparatus to enable large-capacity paper feeding. In case of K, the structure of the paper feed cassette and the conveyance part of the paper feeder main body is different, so a paper out detection means installed in the paper feed part of the image forming apparatus detects the paper out state in the paper feeder main body. Therefore, it was necessary to detect the absence of paper in the main body of the paper feeder and transmit the detection signal to the main body of the image forming apparatus via a cable (signal line). 0 With this rounding, for example, when changing the paper size in the image forming apparatus main body or in the event of a paper jam in the paper feeding unit, the cable connecting the two apparatus main bodies will not get in the way when the paper feeding apparatus main body is attached or removed. Not only was it a nuisance, but there was a risk that it would cause an erroneous operation.

In addition, in order to solve this problem, the conveyance section of the paper feeder main body has been improved with a mechanism similar to the paper feed cassette to correspond to the paper out detection means in the paper feed section of the image forming apparatus main body. However, this type of device can only detect the presence or absence of paper in the paper feeder itself, and can detect abnormalities such as paper jams that occur on the paper feeder itself. There is a problem in that it is not possible to transmit the paper feed availability status, such as the failure of power input or power supply input, to the main body of the image forming apparatus.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and utilizes an optical paper out detection means provided in the paper feed section of the image forming apparatus main body to detect the presence or absence of paper on the image forming apparatus main body side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that can easily transmit paper feeding status such as jam or insufficient power input.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides a large-capacity transport unit that is removably inserted into the paper feed unit of the main body of an image forming apparatus in which an optical detection means for detecting the presence or absence of paper is installed. In a paper feeding device that is capable of feeding paper, the conveyance unit includes a transmission unit that communicates whether or not paper can be fed from the apparatus main body in correspondence with an optical detection unit installed in the paper feeding unit of the image forming apparatus main body. This configuration has the following configuration.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to an illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a paper feeding device of the present invention inserted into a paper feeding section of an image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional front view thereof.

In the figure, 1 is a copying device as an image forming device, 2 also serves as a mounting table on which the copying device 1 is placed, and paper P as an image recording medium discharged from the discharge section of the copying device 1 is stored as needed. This is a direction changing and conveying device that guides the receiving sheet P to the copying apparatus I again in the same state or in a reversed state in order to form multiple or double-sided images on the sheet P. Further, reference numeral 3 denotes an automatic document feeder which is attached to the top surface of the copying apparatus l and automatically supplies the document A.

The copying apparatus 1 is constructed as shown in FIG.

In other words, 4 in the figure is the main body of the copying machine, and on the top surface of the main body 4 of the copying machine, there is a document stacking section on which the document A to be fed by the automatic document feeder 3 is placed. A storage glass 5 is provided, and an operation panel 6 is provided at the front edge of the top surface.

In addition, paper feed cassettes 2 and 8 are inserted into the upper and lower three stages of the paper feed section formed on the right side of the copying apparatus main body 4, and a large amount of paper P, which will be described later, is stored in the lower stage. The cassette cover 10 of the upper paper feed cassette 7 is equipped with a manual paper feed tray 11 for manually feeding paper P as appropriate. It becomes.

A drum-shaped photoreceptor I2 is arranged approximately at the center of the main body 4 of the copying apparatus. A charging device 1 is provided around the photoreceptor 12.
3. Exposure optical device 14. A two-color color developing device 15, a transfer device 16, a peeling device 17, a cleaning device 18, and an afterimage erasing device 19 are arranged in this order.

Also, in the lower part of the copying apparatus main body 4, paper 21 is supplied from a paper feed section 20 into which a paper feed cassette 7.8 or a conveyance section of a large-capacity paper feed apparatus main body described later is inserted.
The paper P1 manually fed from the paper P1 and the paper P guided from the direction changing conveyance device 2 are transferred to the photoreceptor 12 and the transfer device 16.
A paper conveyance path 23 is formed on the left side of the copying apparatus main body 4 and leads to the discharge section 22 via the image transfer section 21 between the two.

Further, a pair of aligning rollers 24 is arranged on the upstream side of the image transfer section 2I of the paper transport path 23, and a fixing device 25 and a pair of paper ejection rollers 26 are arranged on the downstream side.

Therefore, the original A placed on the original placing glass 5
The original image is scanned by the exposure optical device 14 and is imaged on a photoreceptor 12 serving as an exposed portion which is rotated in advance.

Then, the photoreceptor I is uniformly charged by the charging device 13.
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the document A is formed on the document A.

The electrostatic latent image formed in this manner is developed by facing the developing device I5, and then fed into the image transfer section 2I facing the transfer device 16, and the developer image is aligned. The image is transferred onto the paper P fed through the roller pair 24. Next, the sheet P on which the image has been transferred is peeled off from the photoreceptor I2 by the peeling device 17, and then guided through the conveyance path 23 to the fixing device 25 where the image is fixed. It is discharged to the discharge section through.

On the other hand, the surface of the photoreceptor 12 after the developer image has been transferred to the paper P faces a cleaning device 18 to clean residual developer (toner) remaining on the photoreceptor 12, and then an afterimage erasing device 19, the potential on the photoreceptor 12 is lowered below a certain level to enable the next copying operation.

Further, in the paper feed section 20 of the copying apparatus main body 4, take-out rollers 27 are arranged corresponding to the paper feed cassette 7.8 and the paper take-out port side of the conveyance section of the large-capacity paper feed apparatus main body, which will be described later. A pair of aligning rollers 28 for separating two or more sheets of paper are provided in the paper take-out direction of each of these take-out rollers 27, and a pair of aligning rollers 28 are provided in the paper take-out direction of each of these take-out rollers 27.
．． 8 and a position corresponding to the vicinity of the bottom surface of the paper outlet of the conveyance section of the main body of the paper feeder, which will be described later, is a paper-out detection means 30 connected to a control section (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the paper out detection means 30 includes a reflective optical sensor 3 attached to the paper feed section 20 of the copying apparatus main body 4, and a pair of light emitting sensors. Element 3
2 and a light-receiving element 33, as shown in FIG. By reflecting the reflected light and receiving the reflected light with the light-receiving element 33, "paper presence" is detected.On the other hand, if there is no paper P in the paper feed cassette, as shown in FIG. 3(b), The paper feeding device according to the present invention detects the presence or absence of paper P by utilizing the fact that the light emitted from the light receiving element 32 is transmitted and does not enter the light receiving element 33. Paper-out detection means 30 installed in the paper feed section 20 of the apparatus main body 4
The paper feed availability status can be transmitted to a control section (not shown) on the copying apparatus main body 4 side using this.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the paper feeding device main body 4θ according to the present invention places a large amount of paper P on an elevator tray 43 that can be raised and lowered via an elevator belt 42 using a motor 41 as a drive source. The operation is as follows: First, when the paper feed door 40a of the main body 40 of the apparatus is closed with the power turned on, the motor 4I drives the elevator L/I 43.
moves up to the paper feeding position, the uppermost paper P pushes up the detector of the level sensor 44 a little, and the level sensor 45 detects this pushing up operation and turns off the motor 4I. After this motor 41 is turned off, the elevator tray 4
3 is lifted by 2 to 3 meters due to inertia, and 10 to 20 sheets of paper P are copied on the elevator tray 43 at the same time via the paper feed roller 46 and separation claw 47 (an increase of 2 to 3 meters due to inertia). When the sheet is fed by the take-out roller 27 of the paper feed section 20 of the copying apparatus main body 4 through the conveyance section (which will be described later),
The detector of the level sensor 44 falls, and the level sensor 45 detects this and turns the motor 41 ON again.
and raise the elevator tray 43 for 2 to 3 days. When this state is repeated many times and the paper P on the elevator tray 43 runs out, the detector of the level sensor 44 falls into a hole (not shown) formed in the elevator tray 43, and this is detected by the level sensor 45. motor 41
is turned on, and the elevator tray 43 is lowered by its reverse rotation. This elevator tray 43 can be stopped when a &)m switch (not shown) is pressed.

On the other hand, the conveying section 50 of the paper feeding device main body 40 inserted into the lower loading slot of the paper feeding section 20 of the copying device main body 4 has approximately the same shape as the paper ejection port of the paper feeding cassette 7.8. death,
The insertion case 51 is provided with a suppressing plate 52 that presses against the take-out roller 27 of the copying machine main body 4, and as shown in FIG. When the system standby switch 53 is turned OFF due to the operation of By rotating the paper roller 46, the uppermost sheet P on the elevator tray 43 is fed to the next standby position. Then, when this paper P is fed, the standby switch 5
3 is turned on, the feed motor 55 is turned off and stopped, and the pressure solenoid 54 is also turned off and the press plate 52 presses the paper P against the take-out roller 27, thereby maintaining the standby state. When the copier presses the button in this state, the ejection port 227 of the main body 4 of the copying apparatus rotates and feeds the paper P in the standby position to the pair of aligning rollers 28. At this time, when the rear end of the paper P passes the standby switch 53, the switch 53 is turned OFF'L, the feed motor 55 is turned ON, and the next paper P is fed into the standby position. .

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
A small window 56 is opened, and this small window 56 is positioned corresponding to the reflective optical sensor 31 constituting the paper-out detection means 30 installed in the paper feed section 20 of the copying apparatus main body 4, and the renoid 57 It can be opened and closed by a shielding plate 60 formed at the tip of a rotating lever 59 that rotates against the biasing force of a spring 58 when driven by the lever 59.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7(a)K, the shielding plate 60 shields the small window 56 when there is paper according to the signal detected by the level sensor 45 of the paper feeder main body 40; As shown in FIG. 7(b), when there is no paper, the small window 56 is opened and the reflective optical sensor 3
11K- This is designed to detect the presence or absence of paper, so that the processing when there is no paper on the main body 4 of the copying machine is carried out by the detection means as shown in Fig. 3 (a) (b) K. No additional changes are required, and the paper-out information from the paper feeder main body 40 is transmitted correctly to the reflective optical sensor 31 on the copying machine main body 4 side as an optical signal without going through a conventional cable (signal line). In addition, by using these mechanisms, for example, when the paper feed door 40a of the paper feeder main body 40 is open, or when paper jam t#)( The small window 56 is opened when the paper feeder main body 40 is unable to feed paper to the copying machine main body 4 side, such as when a paper jam occurs or when the paper feeder main body 40 is not powered on. The trap is configured so that it is possible to convey whether or not paper can be fed by operating the printer so that the paper feed is possible or not.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and in particular, the copying apparatus may be used in place of the shielding plate 60 as shown in FIG. A light emitting element 70 such as a light emitting diode (LED) is provided in correspondence with the reflective optical upper sensor 31Vc of the main body 4, and as shown in FIG.
) As shown in (b), the light emitting element 70 is activated by the signal detected by the level sensor 45 of the paper feeder main body 40.
The 6th or 1st
As shown in Figure 0, the copying machine main body 4 side and the paper feeding device main body 4 side
If a pair of light-emitting elements 81 and light-receiving elements 82 are respectively disposed in the 0@ to enable bidirectional information transmission, the operation of the paper feeder main body 40 can be more precisely controlled on the copying machine main body 4 side. Check the status of the paper feeder main body 40 in the copying machine main body 4.
It is possible to accurately grasp the information on the side, display an appropriate display, and to connect not only mechanically but also electrically without using a cable (signal line) between the two.

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

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a large-capacity paper feeding unit is provided by detachably inserting the transport unit of a large-capacity paper feeding device that stores a large amount of paper into the paper feeding unit of an image forming apparatus. A means for controlling the generation of a signal from a reflection type optical sensor is provided in the conveyance section of the paper feeder in correspondence with the paper out detection means installed in the paper feeder, and the feeder of the paper feeder Since the structure is configured to transmit whether paper is available or not, there is no need to add any new special equipment to the image forming apparatus, and a cable (signal line) can be used between the image forming apparatus and the paper feeding apparatus. This has the effect that information on whether or not the paper feeding device can feed paper can be transmitted to the image forming apparatus without any trouble.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming x knitting apparatus employing the paper feeding device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional front view, and Fig. 3 (,) (b) is a paper feeding section of the image forming apparatus. The fourth tooth is a schematic longitudinal sectional front view of the paper feeding device, FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the paper standby position of the conveyance section, and FIG. 6 is the signal of the conveyance section. A schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of the generation control means, FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are schematic explanatory views similarly showing the operation of detecting the presence or absence of paper, and FIG. 8 shows another signal generation according to the present invention. A schematic explanatory diagram showing the control means, FIG. 9(,)(b) is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the signal generation control operation, and FIG. 10 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing another signal generation control means according to the present invention. It is a diagram. 4... Image forming apparatus main body, 20... Paper feeding section, 30...
. . . paper out detection means, 31 . . . reflective optical sensor, 40 . . . paper feeder main body, 50 .
...Small window, 60...Shielding plate, P...Paper, L...
light. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 (8) Figure 3 (1) Figure 4 Figure 7! lO

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In a paper feeding device capable of feeding a large amount of paper, the paper feeding device is equipped with a conveying section that is removably inserted into the paper feeding section of the main body of an image forming apparatus in which an optical detection means for detecting the presence or absence of paper is installed. A paper feeding device characterized in that a conveyance section is provided with a transmission means for communicating whether or not paper can be fed from the image forming apparatus main body in correspondence with an optical detection means installed in a paper feeding section of the image forming apparatus main body. (2) The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein a reflective optical detection element is used as the optical detection means. (3) The conveyance unit is provided with a mechanism that changes the light reflectance of the detection portion of the reflective optical detection element depending on whether or not paper can be fed from the apparatus main body side. 1
3. The paper feeding device according to any one of item 1 and item 2. (4) Claim 1, characterized in that the transport section is provided with a light-emitting element that irradiates the light-receiving portion of the reflective optical detection element with light depending on whether paper is fed from the apparatus main body side. Or the paper feeding device according to any one of item 2.