JPS629493B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus or the like. For example, an image forming apparatus such as an electronic or electrostatic photocopier or a simple printing machine generally uses a paper cassette insertion method for feeding paper. This involves inserting and setting a paper cassette containing cut sheets of paper in advance into the cassette slot of the machine, and pulling the paper in the cassette into the machine one by one by the action of the machine's paper feeding means, into the image forming section. It feeds paper to
By preparing several paper cassettes each containing paper of different sizes and paper qualities, paper can be easily replaced with the machine by inserting and removing the cassettes. Alternatively, by providing a plurality of cassette insertion slots on the machine side and inserting cassettes into them, it is convenient because it allows the paper to be changed to the machine with a single operation of a selection button. However, the maximum paper capacity of the paper cassette is 250.
It is about 500 sheets, so for example
When copying a large number of sheets, such as 1000 or 2000 sheets, in a row, it is troublesome to have to replenish paper into the cassette many times during the process, and it is difficult to interrupt the copying each time. , the machine's high speed cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, some models such as high-end high-speed machines are equipped with a multi-sheet deck (or tray) mechanism that can store and feed a large amount of paper, such as 2000 sheets, at once, but this deck mechanism is It is a built-in feature of that model, and is a dedicated mechanism for that image forming apparatus. In view of the above, the present invention provides a method for inserting a cassette into a general paper cassette insertion type image forming apparatus that does not have a built-in multi-sheet deck mechanism without connecting a cable (signal line) to the image forming apparatus. A variety of paper cassettes can be inserted into the paper cassette, making it possible to make continuous copies of 1,000, 2,000, etc., without interruption, by simply physically inserting and connecting them in the same way as a cassette. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable large-capacity automatic paper feeder of a general-purpose unit type that can be used in combination with a wide variety of image forming apparatuses. A detailed explanation will be given below based on the illustrated embodiment of the apparatus. (1) Schematic configuration of the apparatus of this example and connection to the image forming apparatus (mainly in Figures 1 to 3) FIG. The paper feeding device A of this example is broadly divided into an elevating paper storage mechanism that can load and store a large amount of cut sheets, for example, about 2000 sheets at a time, and a paper feeding mechanism that feeds out the stacked sheets one by one from above. a large-capacity paper storage section 1 consisting of; a single sheet transport/standby section 2 that protrudes forward from the upper front of the storage section 1 and fits into the paper cassette insertion slot 101 on the side of the machine B; It consists of a control circuit section and. C is a pedestal on which the machine B is placed, and D is a pedestal for connecting and holding the paper feeder A to the machine B. As shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 2, this pedestal D consists of left and right vertical frame sides 110, 110 and upper and lower horizontal frame sides 11, which are connected to each other by welding, screwing, etc.
1,111, and rearward protruding horizontal lugs 112,1 formed on the left and right sides of the lower horizontal frame sides.
12, a pair of left and right horizontal rails 113, 113 connected to each other by screwing the tips thereof, a common pedestal 114 fixed to the lower surface of the rear end of both rails by welding, screwing, etc., and the base. Screw adjuster type floor contact seats 115, 115 provided on the left and right parts of the lower surface of the legs and the left and right vertical frame sides 110, 1 of the back frame
It consists of rear protruding pins 116, 116 for positioning the left and right positions of the paper feeder, respectively, provided approximately at the center of the sheet feeder. Each of the pair of left and right horizontal rails 113 is an upward channel rail with a substantially U-shaped cross section, and its length is longer than the longitudinal dimension of the bottom plate of the large-capacity paper storage section 1 of the paper feeder A. 117, 117 is a rail groove cover plate formed by bending approximately the front half of one of the left and right upward sides of the upward channel rail at a substantially right angle toward the other side;
Numerals 18 and 118 are protrusions formed approximately at the center of the bottom plate surface of each rail, and 119 and 119 are bent stopper pieces at the rear ends of the rails. The above-mentioned pedestal D has four outward facing lugs 120 formed at the upper and lower ends of the left and right vertical frame sides 110 of the vertical back frame, respectively, to stop the outer plate on the side of the cassette insertion opening of the machine B. Screws 121, 121, and the pedestal outer plate fixing screw 122 on that side,
122 to securely position and fix it to the machine B and the pedestal C by tightening it together with each outer plate. The floor contact seat 115 of the pedestal leg 114 is brought into contact with the floor by appropriately twisting and adjusting it before or after attaching the pedestal D to the machine B and the pedestal C. On the lower surface of the bottom plate of the large-capacity paper storage section 1 of the paper feeder A, there are four rotating rollers 1 near the four corners thereof that fit into the grooves of the left and right channel rails 113.
23 is arranged, and the right side 2 of the rollers
The channel rail 1 on the right is near the two rollers.
As shown in the third figure, downward approximately U-shaped positioning members 124, 124 (made of synthetic resin, for example) are disposed on the upward side of the rail groove cover plate 117 of No. 13 on which the rail groove cover plate 117 is not formed. To attach the paper feeder A to the machine B, insert the four rollers on the lower surface of the bottom plate of the paper feeder A into the grooves of the left and right pair of horizontal channel rails 113 of the pedestal D, which is firmly attached to the machine B and the pedestal C. 123, first fit the front left and right rollers, and also fit the downward U-shaped member 124 near the right roller to the upward side of the rail on that side to push the entire paper feeder A forward, and move the front left and right rollers on the way. The roller is moved over the protrusion 118 of the rail bottom plate and further pushed forward. Next, the rear left and right rollers are fitted into the left and right rail grooves, respectively, and the downward U-shaped member 124 near the right roller is fitted to the upward side of the rail on that side to further push the device A forward and move the device A further forward. The rollers on the left and right sides are also allowed to ride over the protrusion 118 of the rail. As the paper feeder A is pushed forward, the single sheet transport/standby section 2 that protrudes forward of the paper feeder A is connected to the cassette slot 101 of the machine B.
It enters inside the pedestal D through the upper horizontal frame side 111 of the vertical back frame. When the rear left and right rollers 123 climb over the protrusion 118 of the rail, the front plate of the large-capacity paper storage section 1 of the paper feeder A comes into contact with the upper horizontal frame side 111 of the vertical back frame of the pedestal D and is received. Further forward movement of device A is prevented. At this point, the rear protruding pin 1 for left and right positioning of the paper feeder on the pedestal side
16 is the corresponding pin entry hole 116a on the paper feeder A side
The single-sheet transport/standby section 2 of paper feeder A has fully entered the cassette slot 101 of this machine B to its proper position, and the sheet is fully inserted into the cassette slot 101. The two will be in a mated state. Furthermore, since the rear left and right rollers 123 have climbed over the protrusion 118 of the rail, the apparatus A is stopped by the protrusion 118 and is stably held at the final forward position. By mounting the sheet feeding device A on the base rail 113 and sliding it forward, the connection of the device A to the machine B is completed. To position paper feeder A with respect to machine B, first, pedestal D is attached to this machine B with high accuracy using the outer plate mounting screws 121, 121 on the machine B side, and the final forward position of device A is set vertically on pedestal D. Device A is brought into contact with the upper horizontal frame side 111 of the back frame, and positioning of device A in the left and right direction (direction perpendicular to the rail) is done by the left and right pins 116 and 11 on the pedestal D side.
6 and the pin entry hole 116a on the device A side,
Further, the engagement between the rail 113 and the downwardly directed U-shaped members 124, 124 on the device A side ensures high accuracy. Note that the pin 116 may be provided only at one location on either the left or right side. The height direction is determined by the attachment position of the pedestal D to the machine B using the screws 121, 121 and the rail surface. Thus, simply by mounting the sheet feeder A on the pedestal rail 113 and sufficiently sliding it forward, the device A can be inserted and connected to the main machine cassette insertion opening 101 with high precision and without any hindrance. Also, after connecting paper feeder A to the above machine, 4
Each of the two rollers 123 is the cover plate 1 of the rail 113.
17, the device A is prevented from floating from the rail. When disposing of a jam in the cassette slot 101 of this machine B, the paper feeder A connected to the machine B is removed by letting the rollers 123 on the rear left and right sides go over the rail protrusion 118. The slide is moved backward along the rail until it comes into contact with the stopper piece 119 at the rear end of the rail. Then, the single sheet transport/standby unit 2 of the apparatus A is removed from the cassette insertion opening 101 of the machine B, and jam processing can be easily performed. After processing the jam, if device A is pushed forward along the rail, device A will be connected to machine B again. The illustrated example of this machine B is a type that has two paper cassette insertion slots, upper and lower, 102 and 101.
In this example, the single-sheet transport/standby unit 2 of the paper feeder A is inserted into and connected to the lower cassette insertion slot 101. Upper cassette E
If necessary, you can leave the paper inserted in the machine by operating the paper selection button on the machine B side to switch the paper feed to the upper cassette and feed the paper in that cassette into the machine B for use. Instead of being hooked to the pedestal C with the screws 122 on the lower end side of the pedestal longitudinal frame, a hook may be formed and the hook may be hooked to the cross beam on the back side of the pedestal bottom plate. (2) Elevating paper storage table mechanism 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d (Figs. 4 to 6) are each made up of a combination of four plates: a bottom plate, a front plate, a right side plate, and a left side plate, and the rear and top surfaces are open. Horizontal and vertical chassis, 4, 4 (7th, 9th, 11th)
Figure) shows channel rails with a substantially U-shaped cross section that are vertically arranged facing each other on the inner front sides of the right side panel 3c and the left side panel 3d of the chassis, and 5 is a paper storage table, with paper storage trays placed on both sides of the front end thereof. Roller mounting plates 6, 6 are fixed in the vertical direction, and a pair of upper and lower rollers 7, 7 are pivoted on the outside of each plate 6. The left and right rollers, one pair each, are fitted and engaged in the grooves of the left and right vertical channel rails 4, 4. Therefore, the paper storage section 5 is connected to the rail 4,
It can move freely up and down along 4. Reference numeral 8 denotes a motor for driving up and down the paper storage table (hereinafter abbreviated as lifter motor), which is attached and held at the inner lower part of the chassis right side panel 3c.The rotation of the motor shaft is decelerated by a reduction gear box 9 (Fig. 10). The final shaft 10 of the gear box is used as a drive shaft to protrude from the inside to the outside of the chassis right side plate 3c,
A sprocket 11 is fixed to the projecting end. Reference numerals 12 and 13 (Figs. 6 and 8) denote two parallel rotating shafts that are disposed with bearings between the lower corners and the upper corners of the front sides of the left and right chassis side plates 3d and 3c, respectively. The rotating shafts 12 and 13 of the book have sprockets 14, 14, 15,
15 is fixed and arranged. Sprocket 1
5 and 15 may be free to rotate with respect to the shaft 13. The right end of the lower rotating shaft 12 is extended to protrude outside the chassis right side plate 3c, and a sprocket 17 is attached to the protruding shaft via a one-way clutch (spring clutch) 16. 18 is the sprocket 11 of the drive shaft 10
A chain 19, 19 is suspended between the sprocket 17 at the outwardly projecting end of the lower rotating shaft 12, and the chain 19, 19 is connected between the left sprockets 15, 14 of the two upper and lower parallel rotating shafts 13, 12, and between the right sprocket 1.
A pair of left and right vertical chains are suspended between 5 and 14 respectively, and this pair of left and right vertical chains 1
9 and 19 (FIGS. 6 and 8) are extended from the front ends of the left and right side plates of the paper storage stand 5, and are inserted into the front of the chassis through the left and right longitudinal slit holes 3e and 3e formed in the chassis front plate 3b. It is fastened and connected to the arm plate 5a exposed to the outside of the face plate 3b. When the lifter motor 8 is driven to rotate in the normal direction b (Fig. 4), its rotational force is transmitted to the lower rotating shaft 12 via the sprocket 11 → chain 18 → sprocket 17 → one-way clutch 16. The chains 19, 19 rotate in the direction of raising the platform 5, and the platform 5 moves to the rail 4,
It moves upward along 4. Conversely, when reversely driven a, the sprocket 17
The direction of rotation is the direction in which the one-way clutch 16 rotates idly, and although no active reversing force is applied to the shaft 12 due to the reverse rotation drive of the motor 8, it rotates left and right due to the self-gravity of the table 5 as the one-way clutch 16 rotates in the idling direction. longitudinal chains 19, 19,
The sprockets 15, 14, 15, 14 and the upper and lower rotating shafts 13, 12 rotate in the opposite direction, and the table 5 moves downward along the rails 4, 4. 20 (FIGS. 9 and 10) is a gear disc for motor brake fixed to the rear end of the rotating shaft of the lifter motor; 21 is always biased by a spring in the direction of engagement with the gear disc; and an electromagnetic suction device 22. This is a pawl plate that moves away from the gear cutting disk 20 when energized. Thus, the electromagnetic suction device 22 is energized from a moment before the start of energization to drive the lifter motor 8 in forward or reverse rotation to a moment a little after the energization is cut off.
During this time, the claw plate 21 is held in the escape position, allowing the motor 8 to rotate forward and backward. On the other hand, outside the above period, the motor shaft is prevented from idling by the engagement of the pawl plate 21 with the gear cutting disc 20. This prevents the table 5, which is in the lifting position midway between the vertical rails 4, 4, from sliding down by itself while rotating the rotating shaft of the motor 8 due to the gravity of the table and the paper P loaded thereon. 5 is held stably in the raised position. 23 (Figs. 7, 11, and 12) is a paper detection rocking lever that is approximately L-shaped in plan and is rotatably supported on a bearing inside the upper corner of the front side of the right side panel 3c of the chassis. The first downward facing
A protrusion 23a and a second protrusion 23b that also points downward but has a shorter protrusion length than the first protrusion 23a.
, a third upward protrusion 23c provided in the middle of the lever 23, and an upward protrusion 23d provided at the base of the lever. The first downward protrusion 23a comes into contact with the upper surface of the uppermost sheet of the stacked sheets P on the table 5. When the last sheet on the table 5 is fed and the first protrusion 23a falls into the through hole 5b on the side of the table 5, the second protrusion 23b hits the upper surface of the table 5 on the way, and the lever 23 moves further. It acts to prevent tilting and rotation. The third upward protrusion 23c is a paper upper surface excessively rising detection sensor S disposed on the inner surface of the upper side of the chassis front surface 3b.
It is facing 2. The fourth upward protrusion 23d is located on the optical path of a photoelectric sheet top surface level sensor S1 comprising a light source and a light receiving element disposed above the base of the lever 23 inside the chassis right side panel 3c. Therefore, the top surface position of the storage paper P loaded on the table 5 is within the predetermined top surface level range PH to PL (Fig. 12).
When the first downward protrusion 23a contacts the upper surface of the paper, the lever 23 is held in a substantially horizontal position within a certain tilt angle range α, and the fourth upward protrusion 23d directs the optical path of the photoelectric sensor S1. It's blocked. As a result, it is detected that the upper surface of the stacked paper P is within the predetermined position level range PH to PL. When the stacked sheets P on the table 5 are sequentially fed out one by one from the top by the operation of a paper feeding mechanism to be described later, the top surface position of the stacked sheets gradually lowers. Following this, the lever 23 sequentially tilts and rotates. When the top surface position of the paper reaches the lower limit level PL, lever 2
Sensor S that was blocked by the fourth protrusion 23d of No. 3
It is detected that the optical path No. 1 is completely opened and the position of the top surface of the stacked sheets has fallen to the lower limit level PL. Based on this signal, the aforementioned electromagnetic suction device 22 of the lifter motor 8 is energized via the control circuit, the pawl plate 21 escapes from the gear cutting disk 20 of the lifter motor 8, and then the lifter motor 8 is energized in the normal rotation b direction. As a result, the table 5 moves upward, and the entire stack of sheets P is lifted and moved. This lifting movement causes the upper surface of the stacked sheets P to rise. Accompanying this, the lever 23 in the inclined position rotates back and the optical path of the sensor S1 is interrupted. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the optical path cutoff signal, the lifter motor 8 is de-energized via the control circuit, and then the electromagnetic suction device 20 is de-energized. In this way, the number of sheets P loaded on the table 5 is, for example, 20 to 30.
Every time approximately one sheet is consumed, the above-mentioned upward movement of the table 5 is automatically executed intermittently, so that the upper surface position level of the stacked paper P is always at a predetermined tolerance level.
Maintained between PH and PL. As consumption of the stacked paper P progresses, the table 5 also repeats intermittent rises, and at some point the top surface of the table 5 itself falls within the stacked paper top surface level range PH to PL, and the last sheet of paper on the table 5 rises. When fed, the first downward protrusion 23a of the lever 23 falls into the through hole 5b formed in the base 5, and the second downward protrusion 2
The lever 23 is largely tilted and rotated αLL until the lever 3b hits and is received by the upper surface of the table 5, and the fourth downward protrusion 23d of the lever is in a position completely out of the optical path of the sensor S1. It is detected that there is no paper on the table 5 based on a signal from the sensor S1 at this time and a signal from a rising movement upper limit position sensor S3 of the table 5, which will be described later, which is issued before that. S3 and S4 (Fig. 8) are the chassis front plate 3b.
On the outer surface side of the vertical slit holes 3e, 3e
These are the upward movement upper limit position sensor (for example, a micro switch) and the downward movement lower limit position sensor (the same) of the platform 5, which are disposed at the upper and lower end positions of the right side slit hole 3e. The table 5 is moved upward intermittently and sequentially as described above, and when the top surface of the table 5 itself reaches the lower limit level PL of the paper top surface level range, the table 5
The protrusion 5c formed on the lifting chain locking connecting arm 5a acts on the upper limit position sensor S3 to detect that the platform 5 has reached the upper limit position, and the signal thereof is input to the control circuit. At this point, some paper P still remains on the table 5, and when all the remaining paper is fed, the sensor S1 based on the large inclination αLL of the lever 23 described above is activated.
A paper out signal is input to the control circuit. The lower limit position sensor S4 is turned on by the protrusion 5C when the lower limit position of the table 5 is made and the lower limit position is reached, and it is detected that the lower limit position of the table 5 has been reached.
The signal is input to the control circuit. The paper upper surface excessively rising detection sensor S2 will be described later. (3) Single-sheet paper feed mechanism 24 (Figs. 5 and 6) is a single-sheet paper feed motor (hereinafter abbreviated as paper feed motor) mounted and held at the inner lower part of the left side panel 3d of the chassis. The rotation of the shaft is reduced by a reduction gear box, and a final shaft 26 of the reduction gear box is used as a drive shaft to project from the inside to the outside of the chassis left side plate 3d, and a first timing pulley 27 is fixed to the projecting end. 28 (Figures 5 and 13) is the chassis left side plate 3d.
A pin shaft is installed on the upper part of the outer surface of the encoder, and a concentric and integral combination of the second timing pulley 29, first gear 30, and encoder gear cutting disc 31 is rotatably supported on this pin shaft. A timing belt 32 is suspended between the first timing pulley 27 and the second timing pulley 29. Therefore, when the paper feed motor 24 is rotationally driven, the pulley 29 and the first gear 3, which are integrated into three parts,
0. The gear cutting disk 31 is driven to rotate. 33 (Figs. 6, 7, 11, and 13) has both 3d and 3c on the top of the left and right chassis side plates 3d and 3c.
A paper feeding support shaft is provided with a freely rotatable bearing in between, and the left end of the support shaft is extended to connect to the chassis left side plate 3.
It is made to protrude outside of d, and this protruding shaft part has 1
A rotating clutch (spring clutch) 34 and a second gear 35 are installed. The second gear 35 meshes with the first gear 30 described above. In the one-turn clutch 34, the claw arm 37 of the first electromagnetic suction device 36 is normally engaged with the protrusion 3 of the outer ring.
4a is engaged and is in a clutch-off state, so even if the first gear 30 rotates, the second gear 35 merely rotates idly on the shaft 33, and the shaft 33 is not driven to rotate. When the first electromagnetic suction device 36 is momentarily energized and the outer ring is unlatched by the claw arm 37, the clutch is turned on and the second gear 35
The shaft 33 is coupled with the shaft 33, and the shaft 33 is rotationally driven. When the shaft 33 rotates approximately one turn and the protrusion 34a of the outer ring is once again engaged with the claw arm 37, the clutch is turned off, and the second gear 35 becomes free to rotate on the shaft 33, and the shaft 33 stops rotating. That is, the paper feed support shaft 33 is intermittently rotated one rotation each time the first electromagnetic device 36 is momentarily energized. 38, 38 (Figs. 6, 7, 9) are paper feed shafts 3
3, a pair of paper feed roller support arms having a substantially downward U-shaped cross section with a base portion rotatably supported and a tip end facing forward, restricting movement of the shaft 33 in the longitudinal direction; Paper feed roller shaft, which is rotatably supported by a bearing at the tip of the arm of 4.
0 is a paper feed roller attached to several places on the shaft via one-way clutches 41, 40a is a weight roller also fixed to the shaft 39, and 42
42b is a timing pulley fixed to the paper feed shaft 33 in the channel at the base of one of the paper feed roller support arms 38, 38, and 42b is the paper feed roller shaft 39 in the channel on the tip side of the same arm.
The timing pulley 42c fixed to the part is a timing belt suspended between the pulleys 42a and 42b. Reference numerals 45 and 45 designate single-sheet separating claws that contact the left and right corners of the leading edge side of the top surface of the uppermost sheet of the stacked sheets P lifted and supported by the table 5. The left and right separating claws 45, 45 are formed at the upper corners of the front sides of a fixed reference side plate 88 and a movable side plate 86, respectively, for regulating the side surfaces of stacked sheets, which will be described later. As the paper feed support shaft 33 is driven for one rotation, the rotation of the paper feed roller 40 through the pulley 42a → timing belt 42c → pulley 42b → paper feed roller shaft 39 → one-way clutch 41 is performed while the shaft 33 rotates once. is rotationally driven in the paper feeding direction, and a feeding force is applied to the topmost sheet of the stacked sheets P, so that only one sheet of paper passes over the separating claws 45, 45 and is sent forward. The weight roller 40a functions to keep the paper feed roller 40 in constant pressure contact with the upper surface of the stacked paper with an appropriate force. 46 (Figures 5 and 13) is the chassis left side plate 3d.
A third gear (idler) rotatably held by a pin shaft implanted on the outer surface of the first gear 30.
It is meshed with. 47 and 50 are a fourth gear and a clutch (spring clutch) attached to a shaft 49 that is rotatably supported by the chassis left side plate 3d and the auxiliary side plate 48 (Figs. 7 and 8); 51 is a clutch 50;
The outer ring has fine teeth formed on the outer circumferential surface. The fourth gear 47 is meshed with the third gear 46. Reference numeral 52 designates a second electromagnetic suction device that swings a claw arm 52a that is hooked onto and removed from the gear cutting outer ring 51. The pawl arm 52a is held by a spring in a state away from the toothed outer ring 51 of the clutch 50 when the second electromagnetic attraction device 52 is de-energized, and therefore, in this state, the clutch 50 is in the on state. , the fourth gear 47 is coupled to the shaft 49. On the other hand, when electricity is applied, the clutch 50 is held off by the toothed outer ring latching of the pawl arm 52a, and the fourth gear 47 is connected to the shaft 49.
It is maintained in a free-rotation state. 53 is a fifth gear fixed to the shaft 49;
4 is a sixth gear (idler) meshed with the fifth gear, and 55 is a conveyance roller shaft gear (seventh gear) meshed with the sixth gear. 56 (Figs. 6, 7, and 13) is a first conveying roller shaft, which is connected to the left and right side plates 3d, 3c of the chassis.
The bearing plates 3d' and 3c' are formed by extending and protruding the upper corners of the front side of It is fixedly provided at the left end of 56. Reference numeral 57 denotes first conveyance rollers attached to this shaft 56 via one-way clutches 58;
(FIGS. 6 and 14) is a driven presser roller that is brought into contact with the upper surface of each conveyance roller 57 with an appropriate pressing force. The shaft 60 of the driven presser roller is connected to a pair of left and right protrusions 63, 63 formed on the upper surface of the upper guide plate 61 of a pair of upper and lower paper guide plates 61, 62 disposed between the paper feed roller 40 and the transport roller 57.
A driven presser roller 59 is rotatably attached to this shaft 60. Each driven presser roller 59 is in constant contact with the upper surface of each lower conveyance roller 57 through a notch formed in the upper guide plate 61. Therefore, while the paper feed motor 24 is being rotated,
When the second electromagnetic attraction device 52 is de-energized, the clutch 50 is on, so the rotation of the first gear 30 accompanying the rotation of the motor 24 is from the third gear 46 → the fourth gear 47 → the clutch 50 → the shaft 49 → 5th gear 53
-> 6th gear 54 -> 7th gear 55 to be transmitted to the first conveying roller shaft 56, and the first conveying roller 5
7 is rotationally driven in the paper feeding direction. Further, as the roller 57 rotates, the driven presser roller 59
Also rotates as a result. On the other hand, when the second electromagnetic attraction device 52 is energized, the clutch 50 is off, so the fourth gear 47 is connected to the shaft 4.
9 and the shaft 49 is not rotationally driven. That is, the first conveyance roller 57 is not driven to rotate. (4) The single-sheet conveyance/standby section 2 65 is a flat member whose base is connected to the first conveyance roller shaft 56 and protrudes forward from the upper part of the chassis front plate 3b of the large-capacity paper storage section 1. It is a box-shaped transport unit base. The width and thickness of this flat box-shaped base almost match the width and thickness of the thin paper cassette for storing 250 sheets, and the length is longer than the depth of the cassette slot on the B side of the machine. It is slightly longer in size. The eccentric box-shaped base body is free to swing about the first conveying roller shaft 56 from a substantially horizontal position to a downward position of about 10 degrees (FIG. 4). Therefore, when the cassette slot on the machine B side to which paper feeder A is connected is for a thin paper cassette for accommodating 250 sheets, the cassette slot can be used to accommodate a single sheet of paper whose main body is the flat box-shaped base 65. Transport/standby section 2
When the cassette is inserted, it will fit into place. In addition, since the base body 65 has a degree of freedom in swinging around the shaft 56 as described above, it is possible to transport and transport a single sheet of paper.
Even if there is a slight deviation in the angle of approach when the standby section 2 approaches the cassette slot, the deviation will be corrected naturally as the paper advances, and eventually the single sheet conveyance/standby section 2 will be properly aligned with the cassette slot. Position of·
Fits smoothly in the correct position. 66 and 66 (Figures 4 and 5) indicate that the cassette slot 101 on the machine B side to which paper feeder A is connected is 500 mm.
When the paper is for a thick paper cassette for storing sheets (this is the case in this example), the flat box-shaped base 65 is designed to fit the thin single-sheet conveyance standby section 2 into the cassette insertion slot 101. Left and right side plates 65
These are removable downward inclined cam-shaped spacer plates that are attached to the outer surfaces of the parts a and 65b near the tips by screws, etc., respectively. That is, in this case, when the paper feeder A is pushed forward along the rails 113, 113 in order to connect it to the machine B, the left and right inclined cam-shaped spacer plates are attached to the left and right parts of the lower edge of the cassette insertion slot 101. The front slopes 66a, 66a of the two abut against each other (FIG. 15).
If you continue to push the paper feeder A even after the contact, the slopes 66a, 66a will open the cassette insertion slot 101.
The shaft 5 is attached to the flat box-shaped base 65 by sliding on the lower edge of the shaft 5.
An upward rotational force centered at 6 is applied. As a result, due to the lifting action of the inclined cam plate-shaped spacer plates 66, 66 as the sheet feeding device A is pushed, the base body 65 naturally changes its posture in a substantially horizontal direction, and the tip portion moves inward of the cassette insertion slot 101. It enters smoothly, and then the lower ends of the spacer plates 66, 66 are transferred to the bottom plate surface of the cassette insertion opening 101, and the base body 65 is lifted to a substantially horizontal position and enters. Therefore, the cassette insertion slot 101 on the B side of the machine is
500 even for a thin paper cassette that holds 250 sheets.
Even in the case of a thick paper cassette for storing sheets, the paper feeder A's single sheet conveyance/standby section 2 is ultimately transported and transported into the cassette insertion slot on the machine B side.
The upper surface of a second conveyance roller 68a (described later) on the side of the base 65 of the standby section 2 is in pressure contact with the lower surface of the free rotation auxiliary roller 103a of the paper feed roller 103, which is the paper feed means on the side of the machine B, and the front plate of the base 65 A cam plate 74 for specifying the paper size to be used, which will be described later, protrudes from the front side from
The machine B and paper feeder A are now properly connected (Fig. 1). Reference numeral 67 (FIGS. 6 and 7) is a second conveyance roller shaft disposed inside the front end side of the flat box-shaped base body 65, and is an axis parallel to the first conveyance roller shaft 56.
This shaft 67 is rotatably supported at both left and right ends by bearings 67a and 67a which are fitted into vertically elongated holes 65e (FIG. 16) formed in the left and right side plates 65a and 65b of the base body 65, respectively, so as to be able to slide up and down. The bearings 67a, 67a are normally lifted upward by a pair of left and right lifting spring plates 67b (FIG. 7) until the bearings 67a, 67a are received at the upper ends of the elongated holes 65e. 68a and 68b (FIGS. 7 and 14) are a plurality of second conveyor rollers attached to the second conveyor roller shaft 67.
It is a conveyance roller. 68a is attached to the shaft 67 via a one-way clutch 68c (FIG. 6), and 68b is a roller that is rotatably attached to the shaft 67 and has a slightly smaller diameter than the roller 68a. The upper surface of each of the second conveyance rollers 68a and 68b is exposed to the outside through a through hole formed in the front end side surface of the upper surface plate 65c of the base body 65. When paper feeder A is connected to this machine B, each of these rollers 68a, 68b is on the machine B side (first
The roller 68a is positioned corresponding to the lower surface of each paper feeding roller 103 (made of rubber) freely rotating roller 103a (for example, a roller made of acetal).
03a, the second conveying roller shaft 67
sinks a little against the lifting spring plate 67b, and due to the reaction force of the spring plate due to the sinking, both 68a and 10
3a is in a pressed contact state. Since the roller 68b has a slightly smaller diameter than the roller 68a, the freely rotating roller 10 of the corresponding paper feed roller 103
It faces the lower surface of 3a with a slight gap therebetween. 69 (FIGS. 7 and 17) is a timing pulley that is rotatably provided approximately in the middle of the second conveyance roller shaft 67, 69a is a left thrust stop of the pulley, 69b is a left thrust stop, and both thrust stops 69a, The interval 69b is made larger than the thickness dimension of the pulley 69. 69c is a washer loosely fitted to the shaft 67 on the right side of the pulley 69, and 69d is a coil spring compressed between the washer 69c and the left thrust stop 69b.
Therefore, the pulley 69 is always urged in the direction of the left thrust stop 69a via the washer 69c by the coil spring force, and is pressed into the state between the left thrust stop 69a and the washer 69c, thereby creating a pulley friction retention/slip mechanism. (friction clutch mechanism) is constructed. 70 (FIG. 7) is a timing pulley fixed to a substantially intermediate position of the first conveying roller shaft 56 in correspondence with the pulley 69, and 71 is this pulley 7.
0 and the second conveyance roller shaft 67. Then, when the first conveyance roller shaft 56 is rotationally driven, the pulley 70→belt 71→pulley 69
→Pulley friction holding force of the above friction clutch mechanism→
The rotational force is applied to the second conveying roller 68a through the path from the second conveying roller shaft 67 to the one-way clutch 68c.
The roller 68a is rotated in the paper feeding direction. However, if the rotational load force of the second conveyance roller 68a is greater than a certain set value, the first
Even if the second conveyance roller shaft 56 is driven to rotate, the pulley 69 on the second conveyance roller shaft 67 side resists the frictional force between the left thrust stop 69b and the washer 69c, causing a slip rotation and causing the second conveyance roller shaft 67 to rotate. The idling second conveyance roller 68a is not forced to rotate. The effect will be explained in a separate section. 73 (FIGS. 7 and 14) is a flat box-shaped base 65, on which the bases are supported by bearing pieces 65f, 65f formed at the bases of left and right side plates 65a, 65b by extending the side plates upward. It is a drainboard-shaped paper guide plate that can be freely raised and lowered with respect to the face plate 65c, and is kept tilted at all times. By folding down, the base top plate 6
5c and the guide plate 73, the first conveying roller 5
A paper conveyance gap path is formed from 7 to the second conveyance rollers 68a, 68b. 74 (FIGS. 7 and 18) is a row of cam plates for specifying the paper size to be used, which is disposed in the space on the front end side of the flat box-shaped base 65, and a size dial 75 (exposed on the outer surface of the right side plate 65b of the base 65). 16th
) by hand to match the scale of the size of the paper stacked and stored on the table 5 of the paper storage section 1 with the index 77 among the various size scales 76 (Fig. 16) displayed on the dial surface. The corresponding combination of cam protrusions protrudes forward from the front plate 65d from the through holes formed in the front plate 65d of the base body 65. This dial operation to specify the paper size to be used must be performed or confirmed before connecting paper feeder A to machine B. The base front plate 6 corresponds to the paper size specified by the dial.
The cam plate protrusion protruding forward from 5d selectively presses the switch in the paper size detection switch row 104 on the machine B side when the paper feeder A is connected to the machine B as described above. . As a result, the paper size conditions to be used are automatically set in the control circuit on the machine B side. 78a to 78k (Figures 7, 18, and 19) are mechanisms that apply or release a rotational load to the first conveying roller shaft 56 in conjunction with the switching operation of the size dial 75. This will be explained in a separate section. S5 and S6 (FIGS. 6 and 7) are the first and second conveyor rollers disposed at two positions, one near the first conveyance roller 57 and an approximately intermediate position between the first conveyance roller 57 and the second conveyance rollers 68a, 68b, respectively. A second paper sensor (for example, a micro switch) is supported by the base body 65 via a sliding support member or the like so that the position can be adjusted and positioned in the direction between the first and second conveying rollers as necessary. . (5) Control circuit and others Figure 20 is a block diagram of the main control circuit, Figure 21
The figure shows a control circuit for the lifter motor 8. These circuits are printed circuit boards 78, 79
(Figures 4 and 5), the chassis left and right side plates 3d,
It is attached and held on the outer surface of 3c. A transformer and the like are arranged on the chassis bottom plate 3a, but are omitted from the diagram. Reference numerals 80, 81, and 82 (Figs. 6, 7, and 8) are decorative plates that hide the outer surfaces of the front panel 3b, right panel 3c, and left panel 3d of the chassis, respectively, and are removable with screws or the like. 83 is an upper lid that closes the upper opening of the chassis, and the pivot 84 (4th to 6th
It can be opened and closed freely centering on (Fig.). Reference numeral 85 denotes a box-shaped opening/closing door disposed on the rear opening side of the chassis, which can be opened and closed freely around a hinge 85a (FIGS. 5 and 7) on the rear vertical side of the left side panel 3d of the chassis. This box-shaped door 85 is made of transparent or colored transparent synthetic resin.
Even when closed, the amount of paper on the internal table 5 can be visually confirmed. The MS (FIGS. 1, 8, and 9) and LED are a main switch and an indicator lamp disposed on the upper surface of the decorative panel 81 relative to the chassis right side panel 3c. S7 (FIGS. 1 and 4) is a joint switch that detects that the paper feeder A is connected to the machine B, and is fixedly arranged near the front side of the chassis right side panel 3c. When paper feeder A is connected to this machine B, the positioning hole 11 on the paper feeder A side
It is pressed by the tip of the positioning pin 116 on the side of the paper feeder pedestal D that is inserted into the paper feeder 6a, turns on and maintains that state, and the fact that the paper feeder A is connected to the machine B is input to the control circuit. Ru. S8 (FIGS. 1, 4, 7-9) is a door switch supported via a swing lever 89 near the rear side of the chassis right side panel 3c. When the door 85 is in the closed state, it is pushed by the protrusion 85b of the door 85 and held in the on state, and when the door 85 is opened, it is turned off, and the door closing signal or opening signal is inputted to the control circuit. However, this door switch S8 is activated only when the decorative plate 81 of the chassis right side panel 3c is attached and the top cover 83 is closed.
3a (the protrusions on the side of the decorative plate 81 are omitted in the figure) are positioned and held at a position where the protrusions 85b of the closed door 85 act. When the decorative panel 81 is removed or the top cover 83 is opened, the door 85
Even if the switch S8 is closed, the switch S8 is held in a position away from the door protrusion 85b (as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4) and is not turned on. 90 (Figs. 6 and 7) is a paper-out detection device installed inside the bottom plate of the set insertion slot 101 on the B side of the machine, inside the flat box-shaped base 65 of the single-sheet conveyance/standby section 2. This is a light source lamp arranged in correspondence with the light receiving element CdS (Figs. 1 and 15). When this lamp 90 is turned on, its light enters the light receiving element CdS through a through hole formed in the bottom plate of the base body 65 and a through hole formed in the bottom plate of the cassette insertion opening 101. Reference numeral 86 (FIGS. 7 to 9) is a movable side plate which is attached and supported via a bracket 87 to the inner surface of the chassis left side plate 3d so as to be freely repositionable. The position is changed according to the width size of the sheets to be loaded on the stand 5 and used, so that the distance between the chassis right side plate 3c and the fixed reference side plate 88 on the inner surface side is adjusted to the width size of the sheets to be used. Paper P is placed on the movable side plate 86 whose position has been adjusted as described above.
The sheets are stacked and stored on the table 5 between the fixed reference side plate 88 and the fixed reference side plate 88, with the front side of the stacked sheets abutting against the inner surface of the chassis front plate 3b. The stand 5 has a roughly two-part structure consisting of a front half plate 5d and a rear half plate 5e (Figs. 6 and 7).
e can be freely attached to and detached from the front half 5d. (6) Operation (sequence) Figure 22 is a flowchart of the overall operation of the device, Figure 23 is a flowchart mainly of the operation of the elevating paper storage platform mechanism, and Figure 24 is mainly a flowchart of feeding and transporting a single sheet of paper.・The operation flowchart of the standby mechanism, and FIG. 25 is a drive timing chart of the lifter motor 8. a Mount the paper feeder A on the rail 113 of the pedestal D attached to the machine B as described in (1) above, turn the paper size dial 75 to align the scale 76 of the paper size to be used with the index 77, and then Connect device A to machine B. This turns the joint switch S7 on. Also, for the control circuit of this machine B, the paper size condition used is cam plate 7 of the dial shaft.
Switch 1 on the B side of the machine selectively pressed in step 4
Input by 04. Next, turn on the main switch MS. The indicator lamp LED blinks and lights up. The paperless lamp 90 lights up and light enters the CdS on the B side of the machine. b When the door 85 is opened to store paper, the door switch S8 is turned off, and the signal energizes the electromagnetic suction device 22 of the lifter motor 8, thereby releasing the motor from the claw plate 21. After this release, the motor 8 is energized in the reverse direction. This causes the paper storage table 5 to move downward. When the protrusion 5c on the side of the table 5 comes into contact with the table lowering position detection sensor S4 due to the downward movement of the table 5, the sensor S4 is turned on. The power to the lifter motor 8 is cut off by this ON signal, and after a period of time (motor stop time) for the motor to come to a complete stop has elapsed, the power to the electromagnetic suction device 22 is cut off and the claw plate 21 engages the motor 8. The stand 5 is stopped and held at the lower limit position. If there is previously used paper stored on the stand 5 that is different in size from the one to be used this time, remove it, open the top lid 83 and move the movable side plate 86 to the paper to be used this time. Reset it to a position that corresponds to its size. Next, a large number of used sheets P, for example about 2000 sheets, are stacked and stored on the stand 5. c After storing the paper, first close the top lid 83 and then close the door 85. This turns on the door switch S8, and that signal energizes the electromagnetic suction device 22 of the lifter motor 8 to release the motor, and then energizes the motor 8 in the forward rotation direction, causing the platform 5 to rise. move. d Due to this upward movement of the platform 5, the upper surface of the stacked paper P eventually reaches the lower limit level PL of the paper upper surface level range PL to PH. At that point, the optical path of the sensor S1 is blocked by the fourth upward protrusion 23d of the lever 23. When a predetermined set timer time (the time when the top surface of the stacked paper P almost reaches the upper limit level PH due to the continued upward movement of the platform 5) has elapsed from the time of that signal, the power to the motor 8 is cut off, and then the motor stops. After a period of time has elapsed, the power to the electromagnetic suction device 22 is cut off, and the table 5 is stopped and held at its raised position. e Then, based on the fact that the first paper sensor S5 in the paper transport path does not detect the presence of paper at this point, the paper feeding program of the control circuit is started and rotational drive of the transport motor 24 is started. At the same time, the first electromagnetic device 36 is momentarily energized, the one-turn clutch 34 is turned on, and the paper feed shaft 33 is driven one rotation. At this time, while the first electromagnetic device 36 is energized, the second electromagnetic device 52 is also energized. This causes the paper feed roller 40 to move to the paper feed support shaft 33.
is rotated by one rotation. Furthermore, since the second paper sensor S6 does not detect the presence of paper, the power to the second electromagnetic suction device 52 is cut off. As a result, the clutch 50 is turned on, and the first and second conveying rollers 57, 68
A is also brought into a rotationally driven state through the above-mentioned rotational force transmission path. The rotation of the paper feed roller 40 feeds the topmost paper of the stacked papers P, and the paper passes over the tip separating claws 45, 45 and is sent out one by one. 57 and the driven presser roller 59, and is relayed to the conveyance/standby section 2 for one sheet of paper.
The base 6 passes through the paper conveyance gap passage between the base top plate 65c and the drainboard-shaped paper guide plate 73
It is conveyed toward the tip of No. 5. During this conveyance, the rotation of the paper feed roller 40 ends, but the fed-out sheet is continued to be conveyed by the rotation of the first conveyance roller 57 and the presser roller 59. Even after the active drive is cut off, the paper feed roller 40 idles on the shaft 39 via the one-way clutch 41 due to the moving force of the paper being continuously transported, thereby reducing the paper transport resistance. f The paper that enters the gap path between the base top plate 65c and the guide plate 73 first passes through the first paper sensor S.
5, the conveyance movement is then detected by the second paper sensor S6. Thereafter, the leading edge of the roller 68a is bitten between the rotating second conveying roller 68a and the freely rotating roller 103a of the paper feed roller 103 on the side of the machine B that is in contact with the second conveying roller 68a.
and the roller 103a, and the second conveyance roller 68b which is rotatable on the shaft 67, and the roller 103a on the side of the paper feed roller that faces it with a small gap therebetween, and passes smoothly without getting caught. When the base body 65 moves forward and reaches the reference line 0-0 (FIGS. 7 and 14) near the tip edge, the first conveyance roller 57 and the second conveyance roller 68a interlocked therewith stop at the timing when the conveyance movement stops. The conveyance is stopped by stopping the rotational drive of. The driving of the first and second conveyance rollers 57 and 68a is stopped when the first sheet sensor S5 detects the leading edge of the paper that has entered the paper conveyance gap path due to the rotation of the first conveyance roller 57 and the driven roller 59, and then The encoder gear cutting disc 31 and the photoelectric element 31a are rotated based on the detection signal at the time when the paper sensor S6 of No. 2 detects the detection signal.
(FIG. 13) starts counting the number of pulses, and when a preset number of pulses is counted, the second electromagnetic device 52 is energized and the pawl arm 52a engages with the outer ring 51 of the clutch 50. This is done by turning off the clutch 50. The above number of pulses depends on the paper transport speed, the distance from the second paper sensor S6 to the base line 0-0, and the first and second transport rollers 57, 68a.
Both rollers 57, 6 after the rotational drive of
It is calculated from the paper movement amount based on the inertial rotation of 8a, and is set in advance in the control circuit. The set number of pulses can be corrected later as necessary. Further, after it is detected that the leading edge of the paper has passed the second paper sensor S6 position, the paper-out lamp 90 is turned off, and the indicator lamp LED changes from blinking to continuous lighting. Then, the above-mentioned sheet whose conveyance is stopped with the leading edge aligned with the base line 0-0 position remains as it is until the paper feed roller 103 on the machine B side is rotated by the sequence program on the machine B side. stand by. The trailing edge of this waiting paper is located between the paper feed roller 40 and the first transport roller 57 when the paper size used is small, and when the paper size is large, it is located between the paper feed roller 40 and the rear edge of the paper. I haven't gotten over it. Therefore, in either case, when the above paper is waiting, the first and second
Both paper sensors S5 and S6 are held in the on state due to the presence of waiting paper. The paper feed roller 103 on the machine B side waits until the waiting paper passes a predetermined timer time (at least the refeeding time during continuous copying on the machine B side, for example, about 1 to 2 seconds).
If re-conveyance is not performed by the timer, the power supply to the conveyance motor 24 on the paper feeder A side is temporarily cut off to save power when the timer time elapses, and when the motor stops (approximately 2 seconds), the The power supply to the second electromagnetic device 52 is also cut off, and the paper feeding/transportation is stopped and stands by. g When the paper feed roller 103 on the machine B side is rotated based on the sequence program on the machine B side, the leading edge of the waiting paper moves to the second conveyance roller 6.
8a, 68b and the paper feeding roller 103, the paper is drawn from the paper feeding device A side to the machine B side by the rotational force of the paper feeding roller 103, and is fed into the machine B. At this time, the paper feed roller 40 on the paper feed device A side,
Although the first and second conveyance rollers 57, 68a are not actively driven to rotate, each of the rollers 40, 57, 68a is connected to a one-way clutch 4 on each support shaft 39, 56, 67.
1, 58, and 68C, all of them rotate idly as the waiting paper is transported by the paper feed roller 103 on the machine A side, reducing transport resistance. h As the above-mentioned standby paper is pulled toward the machine B side, the trailing edge of the paper is detected by the first paper sensor S.
When the transport motor 24 passes through the 5th position, the sensor S5 is turned off, and based on the signal, when the transport motor 24 is stopped, the motor is energized, and when the second electromagnetic device 52 is de-energized, the motor is energized. energizes the device 52 (thus holding clutch 50 off). Next, a current is momentarily applied to the first electromagnetic device 36 to turn on the one-rotation clutch 34, and the paper feed roller 40 is rotated by driving the paper feed support shaft 33 one rotation. The table 5 is rotated by this rotational drive of the paper feed roller 40.
The next sheet of paper from the top stack of sheets P is sent out, and its leading edge is received by the nip portion of the first conveyance roller 57, which is not rotating, and its driven roller 59, and the rotation of the paper feed roller 40 is completed. The first conveyance roller 57 and paper feed roller 4
Some loops of paper are formed between 0 and 0. When the trailing edge of the preceding paper then passes the second paper sensor S6 position, the sensor is turned off;
Based on the signal, the second electromagnetic device 52 is de-energized and the clutch 50 is turned on, thereby starting to drive the first and second conveyance rollers 57 and 68a. As a result, the next sheet of paper is introduced into the sheet conveyance gap path between the upper surface plate 65C of the base body 65 and the drainboard-shaped paper guide plate 73 so as to follow the previous sheet. The leading edge of the paper is connected to the second paper sensor S6
When passing the position, the switch S6 is turned off, and the encoder 31,
31a starts pulse counting, and after counting a predetermined number of pulses, the second electromagnetic device 52 is energized and the clutch 50 is turned off, so that the leading edge of the next sheet of paper coincides with the base line 0-0. In this state, the conveyance stops and becomes a standby state. The trailing edge of the preceding sheet has already been removed from between the two rollers before the leading edge of the next sheet enters between the second transport rollers 68a, 68b and the freely rotating roller 103a of the paper feed roller 103 on the machine B side. It's getting out. Note that the speed at which the preceding paper is drawn into the machine B by the paper feeding means 103 on the side of the machine B is relatively fast, and the trailing edge of the preceding paper is detected by the first paper sensor S5, and feeding is performed based on the signal. By the time the leading edge of the next sheet fed out by the rotation of the paper roller 40 reaches the first conveyance roller 57, the trailing edge of the preceding sheet has already been detected by the second sheet sensor S6.
In such a case, the next sheet of paper is continuously conveyed by the rotational drive of the first conveyance roller 57 without forming a loop. i The next paper in the standby state is introduced into the machine B by re-rotating the paper feed roller 103 on the machine B side. j From then on, each time the paper feed roller 103 on the B side of the machine is driven to rotate, the above g.
The cycle of introducing the h/i standby paper into the machine, transporting the next paper one by one, and waiting is automatically repeated. When, for example, about 20 to 30 of the stacked sheets P on the table 5 are consumed, the sheet top surface position level drops to the lower limit PL of the allowable range. Then, as described above, the lowering is detected by the level sensor S1, and the platform 5 is moved upward, and after a certain period of time has elapsed, the upward movement is stopped. At this time, the upper surface of the paper has almost reached the upper limit level PH. Even while this platform 5 is rising, the topmost paper of the stacked paper P is
The paper feed mechanism that feeds out each sheet operates to feed the paper to the standby section 2 every time the paper on standby in the standby section 2 is conveyed by the rotation of the paper feed roller 103 on the side of the machine B. Thereafter, each time the level drops to the allowable lower limit PL as the paper is sequentially consumed, the platform 5 is automatically and intermittently moved upward, and the upper surface position level of the stacked paper P is adjusted until the paper on the platform 5 is consumed. is always maintained at a predetermined tolerance level PH-PL until For example, the load is set on the table 5 in this way.
A large amount of paper P, such as 2000 sheets, can be continuously fed to the image forming apparatus B as long as the image forming apparatus B is in operation. Also, the preceding paper and the next paper in paper feeding device A can be processed even if the paper drawing speed by the paper feeding means 103 on the machine B side changes due to changes in magnification, or even if the same speed varies depending on the model. Since the sheets are always fed and conveyed at intervals, there is no problem of paper feeding errors caused by the leading edge of the next sheet catching up with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet. l When the stacked paper P on the table 5 is sequentially consumed and the table 5 is successively raised intermittently, and the top surface position of the table 5 itself exceeds the lower limit PL of the paper top surface position level, at that point the protrusion 5C on the table 5 side is This sensor is turned on when it comes into contact with the table upper limit position sensor S3, and its signal is input to the control circuit. Thereafter, when the remaining paper on the table 5 is fed and the last sheet is sent out from the table 5, the optical path of the sensor S1 is opened by the large tilt rotation αLL of the lever 23, and the signal is sent to the control circuit. is input to. Then, the last sheet sent out waits in the standby section 2, and is then introduced into the machine B side, so that the first sensor S5 or both of the first and second sensors S5 and S6 are turned off. The paperless lamp 90 is turned on, and the display lamp LED is turned on and off. When the paper out lamp 90 lights up, light enters the light receiving element CdS on the machine B side, and the paper out display/warning circuit on the machine B side is activated, indicating that there is no paper in the paper feeder A side. Be warned. Generally, in this machine B, the mechanism operation is automatically stopped when the display/warning circuit is activated. m Then open the door 8 of the paper feeder to replenish the paper.
When the platform 5 is opened, the platform 5 automatically descends to the lower limit level and stops as described in item b above.
A large number of sheets of paper are again stacked and stored on top. Then, by closing the door 85, the sequence of items c to h is executed again, making it possible to continuously feed a large number of sheets. (7) Abnormality During the intermittent and sequential upward movement of the platform 5 as the stacked paper P is sequentially consumed, paper jams and If the upward movement of the table 5 continues due to some other abnormal cause and the top surface of the paper rises too much, the third upward protrusion 23c is caused by excessive rotation of the lever 23.
contacts sensor S2, and it is detected that the top surface of the paper is rising too high. Based on the detection signal, the lifter motor 8 is switched to forward movement, and the table 5 is moved downward. When sensor S1 detects that the position of the top surface of the stacked paper is lowered due to this lowering and has fallen to the lower limit level PL of the paper top surface position level range, or sensor S3 detects that the top surface of table 5 is lowered by sensor S3.
When it is detected that the level has fallen below the detection level, the lifter motor 8 is rotated in the normal direction based on the signal, and the platform 5 is raised again for a certain period of time. The cause of the abnormality disappears naturally through this lowering and re-raising operation of the table 5, and the upper surface position of the stacked paper is within the normal upper limit level range PH to PL due to the action of the lever 23 and sensor S1. When it stops, the control circuit determines that the abnormality has disappeared. If the cause of the abnormality does not disappear naturally with one automatic lowering and re-raising operation of the table 5 and the paper top surface rises too much sensor S2 is activated, the above-mentioned lowering and re-raising operation of the table 5 is repeated several times, and If the above recovery does not occur within the number of times set in the control circuit, the control circuit determines that there is an abnormality in the device, and the operation of paper feeder A is stopped, and a warning buzzer built into the device is activated to notify the operator of the abnormality. It is now becoming known that That is, the paper top surface rises due to a malfunction of the paper top surface excessively rising sensor S2 due to paper flapping, and other causes that can be naturally removed by lowering and re-raising the table 5 once or several times within a certain range. In the case of overflow abnormality, the abnormality is removed by the above-mentioned automatic lowering/re-raising operation sequence control of the table 5 by the control circuit, and the normal paper feeding operation is automatically continued without activating the warning buzzer. Regarding the vertical movement of the platform 5, even after a certain timer period preset in the control circuit has elapsed since the upward or downward movement of the platform 5 has started, the paper top surface level sensor S1, the platform upper limit level sensor S3, or the platform descending When the lower limit level sensor S4 does not operate, the lifter motor abnormality check subroutine of the control circuit determines that there is an abnormality in the apparatus, and in this case as well, the operation of the sheet feeding apparatus A is stopped and a warning buzzer is activated. (8) Friction clutch mechanism (Figures 7 and 17) The aforementioned friction clutch mechanisms 69a to 69d interposed between the second conveyance roller shaft 67 and the timing pulley 69 that drives it eliminate the following troubles. I have intervened to do so. In other words, the paper feed roller 103 on the B side of the machine may come into direct contact with the second conveyance roller 68a without any paper in between and stop rotating when a paper jam occurs or due to an erroneous operation. There is. In this case, the second conveyance roller 68a is brought into contact with the paper feed roller 103, causing the second conveyance roller 68a to
It is pushed down further against the spring plate 67b than when it is in contact with the freely rotating roller 103a of 03, and is brought into contact with the lower surface of the paper feed roller 103 with a considerably strong pressing force due to the reaction force of the spring plate 67b. be. In such a state, if the second conveyance roller 68a is configured to be forcibly rotated against the strong pressing force against the paper feed roller 103, the rubber peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 103 will be scraped off. In this example device, the second conveyance roller shaft 67
As mentioned above, the friction clutch mechanisms 69a to 69
Since the second transport roller 68a is rotationally driven through the roller d, under the above situation, the pulley 68 slips and rotates due to the large rotational load on the second conveying roller 68a, and the roller 68a is not forced to rotate.
Therefore, the trouble of scraping the paper feed roller 103 does not occur. The friction clutch force of the friction clutch mechanism can be arbitrarily set by selecting or adjusting the tension force of the spring 69d. (9) Load mechanism (Figs. 7, 18, 19) The first transport roller shaft 5 is connected to the switching operation of the paper size indicating dial 75 mentioned above.
The mechanisms 78a to 78k for applying a rotational load to or releasing a rotational load on the rotational load 6 will be described in detail. First and second paper transport rollers 57, 68a
Regarding the paper transport load in the paper transport process due to the rotational drive of the Conditions are different. That is, the paper feed roller 40 is attached to the shaft 39 via a one-way clutch 41, and after the rotation of the paper feed roller is stopped, the first and second conveyance rollers 57, 57, which carry the portion of the paper that has not yet passed under the roller,
Although the conveyance resistance of the paper is made as small as possible by causing the shaft 39 to idle as the paper is moved by the paper feed roller 68a, it is not zero, and the paper pressing force and the idle rotation resistance of the paper feed roller 40 act as a conveyance load. Acts on paper. By the way, when transporting small size paper, the first
The trailing edge of the paper conveyed by the conveyance roller 57 slips out from under the paper feed roller 40 during the conveyance, and from that point on, the paper continues to be conveyed for a short time without the above-mentioned conveyance load by the paper feed roller 40.
Thereafter, the clutch 50 starts driving the first and second conveying rollers 57, 68a as the encoders 31, 31a count up a predetermined number of pulses.
-The conveyance stops due to the off-state stop. However, in the case of transporting large-sized paper, the trailing edge does not come out from under the paper feed roller 40, that is, the paper continues to be subjected to the transport load by the paper feed roller 40 until the transport stops. In other words, in the case of small size paper, the transport load when the transport is stopped is light, and in the case of large size paper, it is heavy.
For this reason, if the predetermined pulse count number set in the circuits of the encoders 31 and 31a is set to a number such that the leading edge of the paper stops when it coincides with the base line 0-0, for example, based on the conveyance of small-sized paper. Then, when a large size sheet is conveyed, the sheet stops before the leading edge of the sheet reaches the base line 0-0 due to the above-mentioned heavy conveyance load. Conversely, if the setting is based on the transport of large-sized paper, when transporting small-sized paper, the leading edge of the paper will slightly overrun the baseline 0-0 because the transport load is light when transport is stopped. The paper is then stopped. Then, when the paper stops before the leading edge reaches the base line 0-0 and is fed into the machine B by the paper feed roller 103 on the machine B side, the image forming process of the machine B starts. There will be some paper feeding delay relative to the progress. Conversely, the baseline 0-
If the leading edge overruns the zero and the paper is stopped, when it is introduced into machine B, an excessive paper loop will be formed before the timing roller on machine B side, causing jam trouble. It can also cause The load mechanism eliminates this inconvenience. In FIGS. 7, 18, and 19, 78a is a cam fixed to the shaft 75a of the paper size indication dial 75, and 78b is disposed on the back side of the upper plate of the base 65 so that it can slide freely in the front and rear directions using a pin 78c and a long hole 78d. This is the advance/retreat bar that was set up. The advancing/retracting rod 78b is always urged forward to move forward by a tension spring 78e, and its tip end surface is always pressed against the surface of the cam 78a. As the dial 75 is rotated, the large diameter portion of the cam 78a corresponds to the tip end surface of the retractable rod 78b, and the retractable rod 78b moves backward against the spring 78e. When the small diameter part responds, it moves forward. In this example, when the B4 size scale (large size paper) on the dial 75 is aligned with the index 77 (Fig. 16), the forward/backward movement lever 78b is kept in the forward position, and when the A4 size or B5 size scale (small size paper) is aligned, the forward/backward movement lever 78b is kept in the forward position. The rod 78b is kept in the retracted position. 78f is a coil spring wrapped cylinder that is fixed to the first conveying roller shaft 56 and has a flange 78g on the left end side; 78h is a coil spring wrapped cylinder that is loosely supported on the shaft 56 on the right side and has a flange 78i on the right end side. A coil spring wrapping cylinder 78j is a coil spring wound with an appropriate tightening force across both of the two spring wrapping cylinders 78f and 78h, and a coil spring 78k is a coil spring wrapped around the outer surface of the collar seat 78i of the right spring wrapping cylinder 78h. This is the formed locking pawl. When the advancing/retracting rod 78b is held in the forward position, the rear end of the rod moves away to a position where it does not interfere with the locking pawl 78k, and the rod is moved as the first conveying roller shaft 56 rotates. The left and right coiled spring winding cylinders 78f, 78h and the coiled spring 78j are all rotated together with the shaft 56. When the advancing/retracting rod 78b is held in the retracted position, the rear end of the rod engages with the above-mentioned locking pawl 78k.
At this time, when the first conveyance roller shaft 56 is rotationally driven, the right spring drum 78h is in a position where it interferes with the rear end of the advancing/retracting rod 78b and the locking pawl 78.
Rotation is prevented by the engagement with k, so that shaft 56 rotates while creating a frictional slip between its body 78h and coil spring 78j. That is, the frictional slip force acts on the shaft 56 as a rotational load. The predetermined pulse count number set in the circuits of the encoders 31 and 31a is set to a number such that the leading edge of the paper stops when it coincides with the base line 0-0, based on the conveyance of large-sized paper. If this is the case, when the dial 75 is set for B4 size paper, the rear end of the advancement/retraction rod 78b escapes from the right spring-wrapped cylinder 78h, and the first conveyance roller shaft 56 has the above-mentioned position. No rotational load is applied. Therefore, the leading edge of the paper is at the base line 0-
Matches 0 and stops. On the other hand, set dial 75 to A4, which is a small size paper.
When aligned with the plate or B5 plate, the right spring wrapping cylinder 78h is latched at the rear end of the advancing/retracting rod 78b, so that the above-mentioned rotational load is applied to the shaft 56. As a result, the rotational load acts as a conveyance load when conveyance is stopped for small-size paper, similar to the conveyance load that acts on the paper feed roller 40 when conveyance is stopped in the case of large-size paper, and suppresses overrunning of small-size paper. The small size paper also stops when its leading edge substantially coincides with the base line 0-0. As explained above, the first conveying roller shaft 56
By applying a load to the paper for small size paper and not applying that load for large size paper, it is possible to make the paper stop position 0-0 almost the same regardless of the size. The load can be set arbitrarily by appropriately adjusting the tightening force of the coil spring. As an electrical means, two pulse counts are set in the encoder circuit, one for transporting large size paper and one for transporting small size paper, and the switch k is set by rotating the cam 78a in conjunction with the size instruction operation of the dial 75.
(FIG. 20) may be turned on and off to switch the set pulse count number. (10) Others In the elevating paper storage platform mechanism described in item (2) above,
Since the sprocket 17 (Figs. 4 and 7) is attached to the shaft 12 via the one-way clutch 16,
When a service person or the like is inspecting or repairing the paper feeder A, the joint switch S7 is artificially turned on, or the door switch S8 is turned off by opening the door 85, and the table 5 moves downward. Even if the platform 5 is forcibly stopped due to a hand or other object being accidentally caught between the descending platform 5 and the chassis bottom plate 3a, the sprocket 17 will be rotated onto the shaft 12 by the reverse driving force of the motor 8 due to the presence of the one-way clutch 16. The table 5 is not forcibly lowered due to idling, thereby protecting hands and objects caught in the grip, and preventing overload from being applied to the motor 8. When the paper feeding device A is not in use, the conveyance section 2 protruding forward from the large-capacity paper storage section 1 can be largely rotated around the shaft 56 into a substantially hanging state and folded into the front panel of the storage section. By doing so, the overall size can be made compact and convenient for storage. (11) Main points of the present invention In summary, the present invention provides a paper storage section 1 for loading cut sheet paper.
a single-sheet transport standby section 2 that can be loaded into the paper feed section of the image forming apparatus; and a single-sheet transport standby section 2 that feeds the cut sheets stacked in the paper storage section 1 one by one to the single-sheet transport standby section 2. feeding means 40, 57, 59, and the feeding means 40, 5 by detecting the presence or absence of a cut sheet paper in the one sheet conveyance standby section 2;
7, 59, and a paper feeding means 1 in the paper feeding section of the image forming apparatus.
03; a conveyance means 68a that presses the cut sheet paper against the paper feed means 103; an elastic member 67b that presses the conveyance means 68a into contact with the paper feed means 103; The paper feeding device is characterized in that it is equipped with friction clutches 69a to 69d interposed between drive means 56 and 71. In other words, the paper feeder of the present invention is capable of inserting paper from the paper feeder into the cassette slot of the paper cassette slot of the paper cassette insertion type image forming apparatus, which does not have a built-in multi-sheet deck mechanism. When a cassette is inserted into the conveyance section, it is inserted in the same way and used in combination. Since there is a large-capacity paper storage section on the paper feeder side, the machine side can continuously print a large number of sheets, such as 1000 sheets or 2000 sheets. It becomes possible to execute copying etc. to the end without interruption. Then, when the paper waiting for one sheet is fed into the paper transport section of the paper feeding device fitted into the cassette slot of this machine by the operation of the paper feeding means on the machine side, it is fed into the large-capacity paper storage section. The next sheet of paper is automatically fed out and conveyed, and is immediately replenished into the paper transport section and then on standby, so there is no need for a signal line to exchange paper feed timing, etc. between this machine and the paper feeder. be. In other words, to connect the paper feeder to this machine, it is sufficient to simply physically fit the paper conveying section of the paper feeder into the cassette insertion slot of the machine in the same way as when inserting a cassette. Therefore, it can be widely used in combination with various paper cassette insertion type image forming apparatuses currently on hand. Also, the paper feeding means on the image forming apparatus B side (in this example apparatus, the paper feeding roller 103 and the freely rotating roller 103
a), the conveying means (second conveying roller 68a) on the paper feeder A side is connected to the elastic member 67b (seventh conveying roller 68a).
Since the sheets are pressed into contact as shown in FIG. 2, the paper can always be introduced smoothly from the feeding device A side to the image forming device B side. In addition, in this image forming apparatus, the conveyance roller on the paper conveyance mechanism side relative to the paper feeding means is rotationally driven via a friction clutch mechanism, so the above-mentioned
As described in item (8), even if the paper feeding means on the machine side is stopped in direct pressure contact with the conveyance roller without the intervention of paper, and the rotational driving force is acting on the conveyance roller. The conveyance roller is not forced to rotate due to the presence of a friction clutch mechanism, which has the effect of eliminating problems such as scraping (wear) of the paper feeding means on the machine side, and allows continuous copying of many sheets without interruption. It is effective and suitable as a general-purpose unit-type highly reliable large-capacity automatic paper feeder that enables the following.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the paper feeding device of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of the paper feeder connected to the image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is an exploded slope view of the pedestal, and FIG.
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the rail with rollers fitted, Figure 4
The figure is a right side view with the right side decorative panel removed, Figure 5 is a left side view with the left side decorative panel removed, Figure 6 is a vertical right side view, Figure 7 is a cross sectional plan view, and Figure 8 is a right side view with the left side decorative panel removed. is a longitudinal sectional front view taken along line 8-8 in Figure 7, and Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 9-8 in Figure 7.
10 is an enlarged plan view of the lifter motor portion, FIG. 11 is an enlarged plan view of the paper detection swing lever portion, FIG. 12 is a side view of the same, and FIG.
The figure is an enlarged side view of the gear train of the paper feed/conveyance mechanism section, Figure 14 is a plan view of the paper conveyance/standby section,
Figure 5 is a side view showing the state of the paper transport/standby section before connection, Figure 16 is an enlarged side view of the paper size designation dial, Figure 17 is an enlarged plan view of the friction clutch mechanism, and Figure 18 is the load Slope view of the mechanism part,
Fig. 19 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional plan view of the friction cylinder portion of the mechanism, Fig. 20 is a block diagram of the main control circuit, and Fig. 21 is a block diagram of the main control circuit.
Figure 22 shows the control circuit of the lifter motor, Figure 22 shows the overall flowchart of the operation of the device, Figure 23 shows the operation flowchart of the elevating paper storage mechanism, and Figure 24
The figure is an operation flowchart of the paper feeding, conveyance, and standby mechanism, and FIG. 25 is a drive timing chart of the lifter motor. A is a paper feeding device, 1 is a large-capacity paper storage section, 2 is a conveyance section, B is an image forming apparatus, C is a pedestal of this device, and D is a paper feeding device pedestal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Paper storage section 1 for loading cut sheet paper.
a single-sheet transport standby section 2 that can be loaded into the paper feed section of the image forming apparatus; and a single-sheet transport standby section 2 that feeds the cut sheets stacked in the paper storage section 1 one by one to the single-sheet transport standby section 2. the feeding means 40, 57, 59;
means S5, S6 for controlling 59; and paper feeding means 10 in the paper feeding section of the image forming apparatus.
3; a conveyance means 68a that presses the cut sheet paper against the paper feed means 103; an elastic member 67b that presses the conveyance means 68a into contact with the paper feed means 103; A sheet feeding device comprising: friction clutches 69a to 69d interposed between drive means 56 and 71. 2 The feeding means transports the cut sheets stacked in the paper storage section 1 one by one to the conveyance standby section 2.
A feeding device 40 that feeds out the cut sheet paper to the feed device 40, and a conveyance device 57, 59 that conveys the cut sheet paper fed out by the feeding device 40 to a standby position of the conveyance standby section 2 for one sheet of paper. The paper feeding device according to item 1. 3 Conveyance means 57, 5 of conveyance standby section 2 for one sheet of paper
9. The paper feeding device according to claim 2, wherein the driving means of the transport means 68a and the driving means of the transport means 68a are common.