JPS6160007B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in paper feeding devices used, for example, in copying machines.

Recently, paper feeding devices used in copying machines have been developed that are capable of both cassette feeding and manual paper feeding.

This type of paper feeder is equipped with a manual feed door, and can selectively feed paper from a cassette or manually by opening and closing the manual feed door.

By the way, this type of paper feeder equipped with a manual feed door is structured to close the manual feed door and return to the cassette paper feeding mode after manual paper feeding is completed.

However, with such a paper feed device that returns from manual paper feeding mode to cassette paper feeding mode by operating the manual feed door, it is easy to forget to close the manual feed door, and the paper feed mode may not return to cassette paper feeding mode. It is easy to cause malfunctions such as copying operations using cassette feeding.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically return from the manual paper feeding state to the cassette paper feeding state based on an external signal input. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that can simplify operation and prevent malfunctions due to forgetting to return.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a paper feeding device, which is composed of a paper feeding mechanism 2 and a cassette section 3. The paper feeding mechanism 2 and the cassette section 3 will be explained as follows.

As is well known, this is constructed by arranging a plurality of, for example, two paper feed rollers 3a, 3a made of rubber in parallel along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 4, and is installed as a component in the main body of the copying machine (not shown). This is what is being done.

On the other hand, the cassette section 3 is constructed as follows.

That is, numeral 5 in the figure is a paper feed cassette having an opening 5a on the upper side, and a bottom plate 6 is placed inside the paper feed cassette 5 on the bottom side. A large number of sheets of paper 7 are stacked on this bottom plate 6, and the inside of the paper feed cassette 5 is filled with the sheets of paper 7. Furthermore, a coil-shaped spring 8 is interposed on the back surface of the front side of the bottom plate 6, and the bottom plate 6 and the paper 7 are connected to each other.
The front side of ...... is always urged upward. Further, a cassette cover 9 is provided at the opening 5a of the paper feed cassette 5. The cassette cover 9 is formed into a rectangular shape so as to close the opening 5a except for the front part thereof, and its rear portions on both sides in the width direction are rotatably supported on the rear side walls of the paper feed cassette 5. has been done. As a result, the cassette cover 9 is positioned above the opening 5a of the paper feed cassette 5, and the paper 7 is placed in front of the opening.
Cassette paper feed section 10 with the front upper surface exposed
It consists of That is, the paper feed cassette 5 is
The upper surface of the paper 7... and the paper feed rollers 3a, 3
By attaching it to a predetermined location so as to make contact with the lower end of the sheet 7, the sheets 7 are fed one by one based on the rotation of the sheet feed rollers 3a, 3a. In other words, it is now possible to feed paper from a cassette. The structure for manual paper feeding is as follows. That is, in the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a manual feed guide placed on the upper surface of the cassette cover 9, and this manual feed guide 11 has collars 12, 12 and guide walls 13, 13 on both sides in the width direction. And this manual feed guide 1
The flange portions 12, 12 of the cassette cover 9 are engaged with guide pieces 14, 14 provided on both sides of the cassette cover 9 in the width direction, so that the manual feed guide 11 can be moved back and forth in the front and rear directions. Manual paper can be guided and fed along a paper guide surface 15, which is the upper surface of the manual paper guide 11. Further, on the front side of this paper guide surface 15, the paper feed roller 3a,
Driven rollers 16, 1 corresponding to the installation location of 3a
6 are rotatably provided, and each roller 1
The upper ends of 6 and 16 face the paper guide surface 15. That is, the paper feed cassette 5 is attached to a predetermined position, the manual feed guide 11 is moved forward, and the paper feed rollers 3a, 3a and the driven rollers 16,1 are moved forward.
6, the manually fed paper on the paper guide surface 15 is fed. In other words, manual paper feeding is now possible.

On the other hand, numeral 17 in the figure is a paper-free detection system, and to explain this detection system 17, numeral 18 in the figure is a detection switch provided on the main body of the copying machine (not shown). The actuator 19 is rotatably provided with an elastic actuator 19 along the
It constitutes a switch circuit that opens and closes in response to the rotational movement of the switch 9. The actuator 19 of this detection switch 18 faces below the rotating shaft 4.
Further, a rectangular detection port 20 is provided on the front paper guide surface 15 of the manual feed guide 11 in correspondence with the installation position of the detection switch 18. Furthermore, a rectangular through hole 21 is similarly provided on the front upper surface of the bottom plate 6. When feeding paper into the cassette, the actuator 19 moves the cassette paper feeding section 10.
The paper 7 is set in contact with the upper surface of the paper 7 and faces the through hole 21 through the paper 7, and due to the insertion relationship between the actuator 19 and the through hole 21, The structure is such that it can detect the presence of paper. Furthermore, during manual paper feeding, by setting the detection port 20 of the manual feed guide 11 to face the actuator 19 so that the actuator 19 is inserted into the detection port 20, the leading edge of the manual paper that passes over the detection port 20, The rear end is detected,
It has a structure that can detect the state of manual paper feeding.

A lock mechanism 23 is provided in the paper feeding device 1 configured as described above. This lock mechanism 23
To explain this, reference numeral 24 in the figure is an operating lever provided on the main body of the copying machine (not shown), and this operating lever 24 is shaped, for example, in an L-shape. The operating rod 24 is disposed on the widthwise side of the paper feed cassette 5 so as to be movable back and forth along the paper feed direction.
a is set at a position where it comes into contact with the front end surface of one of the guide walls 13 of the manual feed guide 11.
A coil spring 25 is attached to the base end of the operating rod 24, and is always biased along the sheet feeding direction, so that the bent end portion 24a is located on the rear side. The operating rod 24 also has projections 25a on the upper and lower parts of the longitudinal side for opening and closing the switch.
and a locking portion 26 are provided. On the other hand, reference numeral 27 in the figure denotes a locking body provided along a direction perpendicular to the operating rod 24. The locking body 27 is rotatably supported in the center, and one end is connected to the lower end of the operating rod 24. I am attending the club. When the operating rod 24 is retracted, the locking portion 26 is attached to one end of the locking body 27.
The manual feed guide 11 can be locked in the manual paper feeding state, that is, can be held and fixed at the bent end.

That is, a spring 28 is connected to the other end of the locking body 27, and this spring 28
A biasing force is applied to the locking body 27 in the locking direction, that is, in a clockwise direction, and based on this biasing force, the locking body 27 and the locking portion 26 can be locked. When this locking occurs, a mode detection switch 29 disposed at the rear of the operating rod 24 is set to be closed by a protrusion 25a for opening/closing the switch.
The configuration is such that the manual paper feeding mode can be detected based on the closing signal of the paper feeder. Further, a solenoid 30 is connected to one end of the locking body 27 as means for releasing the fixed operating rod 24 . Excitation of the solenoid 30 is started by inputting an external signal input, for example, a signal based on a copy start switch operation for feeding a cassette of a copier (not shown) to the solenoid 30. By moving the solenoid operating rod 30a downward, the locking body 27 is pushed down, the locking body 27 and the locking portion 26 are released from each other, and the operating rod 24 is returned to its original predetermined position. It has a structure. In other words, the manual feed guide 11 in the forward state is automatically moved backward.

Therefore, when feeding paper from a cassette using the paper feeding device 1 configured as described above, first the paper 7...
A paper feed cassette 5 containing stacked paper sheets is attached to a predetermined portion of the paper feed mechanism 2 as shown in FIG. At this time, the manual feed guide 11 is retracted, for example, to the rearmost side of the paper feed cassette 5.

Thereafter, by operating an operation unit (not shown) of the copying machine, the paper feed rollers 3a, 3a are driven via the rotating shaft 4, and the paper 7 in the paper feed cassette 5 is driven.
. . . are fed forward one sheet at a time from the upper layer.

During this cassette feeding, for example, if you want to manually feed paper 7 of different paper sizes, first move the manual feed guide 11, which is in the retracted state, forward to return to the manual paper feeding state. reach.

That is, as the manual guide 11 moves forward, the operating rod 24 is pushed against the elastic force of the coil spring 25 and moves forward together. When the protrusion 25a for switch opening/closing operation reaches the mode detection switch 29, the mode detection switch 29 is closed, and based on the output of this closing signal, the mode changes from the cassette paper feeding mode to the manual paper feeding mode. mode. Further, when the locking portion 26 reaches the rear stage of the locking body 27, it engages with the locking body 27 based on the elastic action of the spring 28, resulting in locking. This locking body 27 and the locking portion 2
6, the movement of the operating rod 24 is restricted, and as shown in FIG. 2, the operating rod 24 is locked and the manual feed guide 11 is held at a predetermined manual insertion position. In other words, a fixed manual paper feeding state is completed.

After this, the paper guide surface 15 of the manual feed guide 11
Manually feed the paper from behind along the paper feed roller 3.
By inserting the paper toward the paper feed rollers 3a, 3a, and the driven rollers 16, 16, the paper is manually fed.

After this manual paper feeding is completed, if paper is to be fed again from the cassette, the operation section of the copying machine (not shown) is operated as described above. Then, a signal based on the switch operation to start copying is sent to solenoid 30.
is input, the solenoid 30 is energized, and the holding state of the manual feed guide 11 is released.

That is, as the solenoid 30 is energized, the solenoid operating rod 30a operates downward and pushes down the end of the locking body 27 against the elasticity of the spring 28. As a result, the locking body 27 and the locking portion 26
The locked state, that is, the lock, is released.

After release, the operating rod 24 moves backward while pushing back the manual guide 11 due to the elastic force of the compression of the coil spring 25. Then, during this backward movement, the mode detection switch 29 is released and the manual paper feed mode automatically returns to the cassette paper feed mode, and when the actuating rod 24 is stopped, the manual feed guide 11 moves as shown in FIG. As shown, the predetermined cassette paper feeding state is automatically restored.

Thus, it is possible to automatically and reliably return from the manual paper feeding state to the cassette paper feeding state by normal copying operations.

Therefore, malfunctions caused by forgetting to return to the cassette feeding state can be reliably prevented. Moreover, the operation for manual paper feeding is extremely simple because it is only necessary to simply insert the manual paper feed guide 11, and the operability can be improved.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically and reliably return the manual paper feeding state to the cassette paper feeding state.

Therefore, malfunctions caused by forgetting to return to the cassette feeding state can be reliably prevented. Moreover, the manual paper feeding operation is extremely simple, and the operability can be improved.

Furthermore, if the external input signal to the lock mechanism is a signal based on the operation of a switch to start copying during cassette paper feeding, the return will be made only when cassette paper feeding starts, so that the manual paper feeding state will be reset. In this case, manual paper feeding can be performed continuously.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the state of the paper feeder when paper is fed from a cassette, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the state when paper is fed manually. 2... Paper feeding mechanism, 5... Paper feeding cassette, 11...
...Manual feed guide, 23...Lock mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A paper feed cassette 5 in which paper 7 is stored, a paper feed mechanism 2 that feeds the paper stored in this paper feed cassette, and a manual feed guide 11 that forms a manual paper feed state. When this manual feed guide manually feeds paper, the manual feed state is maintained, and when paper is fed from the above-mentioned paper cassette, the holding mode of the above-mentioned manual feed guide is released based on an external signal input, and paper is fed manually. A paper feeding device 1 characterized in that it is equipped with a lock mechanism 23 for automatically returning from a state to a cassette paper feeding state. 2. The paper feed device 1 according to claim 1, wherein the holding release mode in the lock mechanism 23 is performed by a signal based on a copy start switch operation for feeding paper from the cassette.