JP3032032B2 - Sheet material feeding device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus for separating and feeding sheet materials one by one from a sheet material stack, and more particularly, to a sheet material storage section which is mounted so as to be able to be taken in and out of a sheet material feeder. Related to the structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in a sheet feeding apparatus for office equipment provided with an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, and a facsimile, sheet materials such as transfer paper and photosensitive paper are received in a cassette or deck sheet receiving device. A large number of sheets are stacked and stored on the substrate, and are separated and fed one by one from the sheet material stack to the next process by feeding means such as a sheet feeding roller.

[0003] At this time, there is known an apparatus using a separation claw in order to prevent a so-called double feed in which several sheets are fed together. A separating claw is provided in the vicinity of the leading end of the sheet material stack in the sheet material feeding direction, and when the uppermost sheet material is fed, the separating claw is moved over while forming a slight bending loop at the leading end. In this way, the uppermost sheet material is separated from the next lower or lower sheet material so that only one sheet material is fed.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an example of a feeding device of a separating claw type. Reference numeral 100 denotes a sheet material loading table (medium plate) serving as a sheet material receiving substrate disposed in the sheet cassette,
Reference numeral 101 denotes a spring that lifts and biases the middle plate 100, P
Is a fixed size sheet material (cut sheet or paper) loaded on the middle plate 100; 102 is a paper feed roller; 103 is engaged with the upper surface of the left and right corners of the leading edge of the loaded sheet material P in the paper feeding direction. A pair of left and right separated claws.

[0005] The upper surface of the sheet material P near the leading edge is a spring 1
The lifting force (pressing force in the ascending direction) on the middle plate 100 due to 01 causes the lower surface of the paper feed roller 102 to be in contact with a predetermined pressing force. Alternatively, the paper feed roller 102 moves down for each feed signal and comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet material P with a predetermined pressing force.

The separating claw 103 is freely swingable up and down about the shaft 103a, and is engaged with the upper surface of the corner at the leading edge of the sheet material P by its own weight.

When the sheet feeding roller 102 is driven to rotate in the sheet feeding direction, a feeding force in the sheet feeding direction acts on the uppermost sheet P1 of the sheet P by frictional force. The topmost sheet material P1 that has been fed tends to move forward, but its left and right corners are received by the separation claws 103 and are prevented from moving forward. Therefore, with the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 102, the uppermost sheet material P <b> 1 is located at a portion near the separation claw 103 between the separation claw 103 and the sheet feeding roller 102 against the strength of the waist of the sheet material P. A bending loop E is formed.

When the size of the bending loop E exceeds a certain level, the right and left corners of the leading edge pressed by the separation claw 103 of the uppermost sheet material P1 due to a restoring force for returning the bending loop E to the original position. The part naturally comes off from the lower surface side of the separation claw 103 to the upper surface side and climbs over the separation claw 103. That is, the highest sheet material P among the stacked sheet materials P
Only the sheet No. 1 is released from the restraint of the separation claw 103 by the formation of the above-mentioned bending loop E, and only one sheet P from the next lower sheet is separated and fed.

[0009]

The consumption of the sheet material P has increased due to the recent diversification of information and the increase in the amount of information.
In order to reduce the complexity of replenishment, the number of sheets loaded in the sheet cassette tends to be increased, for example, from 250 sheets to 500 sheets.

However, in the above-described sheet material feeding apparatus, when the sheet materials P are stacked and stored in the middle plate 100 of the sheet cassette, the uppermost sheet material P1 is fed from the sheet cassette. When the sheet is separated and fed from the other sheet material P by the paper roller 102, the left and right corners of the leading end side do not come out of the separation claw 103 well, so that there is a possibility that the feeding may not be performed smoothly. .

That is, the smooth feeding of the uppermost sheet material P1 largely depends on the pressing force of the sheet feeding roller 102 on the uppermost sheet material P1, that is, the pressing force in the upward direction on the middle plate 100 which is the cause of the pressing force. Despite being done,
This pressing force depends exclusively on the characteristics of the spring 101.
Then, due to the delicate balance between the pressing force applied to the middle plate 100, the own weight of the sheet material P, and the weight of the middle plate 100,
Since the normal feeding is performed for the first time, the sheet material P is simply changed without changing the basic structure of the sheet feeding cassette.
Increasing the number of loaded sheets tends to cause frequent feeding abnormalities.

In view of the above, according to the present invention, the sheet material feeding can be smoothly performed even when the number of stacked sheets is increased by expanding the adjustment range of the pressing force of the middle plate. It is intended to provide a device.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a sheet material feeder having a sheet material feeding means for feeding a sheet material, and a sheet material feeder. In a sheet material feeding device including a sheet material storage portion which is mounted so as to be able to be taken in and out, the sheet material storage portion includes a middle plate on which a sheet material can be loaded and rotatable up and down, and a press plate for pushing up the middle plate. A plurality of pressure members that generate pressure, and a plurality of pressure levers that are connected to each of the pressure members and that push up the middle plate by a pressing force generated by the pressure members , The pressure lever is in front
Regardless of the amount of sheet material loaded on the plate,
A first pressure lever for applying pressure to the plate, and a
When the amount of loaded sheet material is larger than the predetermined amount
A pressing force is applied to the intermediate plate.
A second pressure lever that does not apply a pressing force to the plate .

In this case, while a cam surface is formed on the sheet material feeder, a pressurizing charge member connected to the pressurizing member is provided in the sheet material storage, and the sheet material storage is connected to the sheet material. When the pressurizing member is mounted on the material feeder, the pressurizing charge member may engage and move with the cam surface to operate the pressurizing member and raise the middle plate via the pressurizing lever. .

[0015] Further, the sheet material accommodating portion engages with the leading end in the feeding direction of the sheet material stacked on the middle plate.
A sheet separating member may be provided.

[0016]

According to the above construction, when the sheet material is stored and loaded on the vertically rotatable middle plate in the sheet material storage portion, the pressing force from the pressing member is applied to the middle plate in the ascending direction via the transmission member. Since the sheet material is provided, the sheet material is urged in the ascending direction.

When the sheet material on the middle plate is fed by the sheet material feeding means, the pressing force of the sheet material feeding means against the sheet material, that is, the magnitude of the above-mentioned pressing force greatly affects the sheet material.

However, a plurality of pressure levers are provided, and at least one of the pressure levers can switch between the transmission and non-transmission of the pressing force in accordance with a change in the amount of sheet material loaded on the middle plate. Pressure level on the middle plate.
The pressing force of the entire bar can be appropriately adjusted. By setting this pressing force in accordance with the number of stacked sheets, it is possible to relatively easily apply an appropriate pressing force to the sheets even when the number of stacked sheets changes. The pressing force between the sheet material and the sheet material feeding means can be made favorable, and the sheet material is normally fed.

Further, when a cam surface and a pressure charging member are provided in the sheet material feeder portion and the sheet material storage portion, respectively, the sheet material storage portion is mounted on the sheet material feeder portion, and the pressing force is applied to the cam surface. Only when the charging member engages and moves, the pressing force in the ascending direction is applied to the middle plate. Therefore, when the sheet material storage unit is removed from the sheet material feeder unit and the sheet material is supplied, the pressing force in the ascending direction is not applied to the middle plate, and the intermediate plate is located below the sheet material storage unit. Therefore, it is easy to replenish the sheet material.

[0020]

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an outline of a facsimile apparatus as an embodiment constructed according to the present invention will be described. The facsimile apparatus is a combination of a sheet feeding apparatus A and a facsimile B. A document mounting table 2 on which a plurality of documents S can be stacked is formed on an upper cover of the apparatus main body 1, and the document mounting table 2 is provided on one end side (the left side in FIG. 1) of the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1. An optical reading system 3 for reading image information of the document S conveyed from the printer is arranged, and a recording system 5 including a laser beam printer is arranged below the optical reading system 3. A telephone 26, an operation panel 27 and the like are arranged on the upper surface of the apparatus body 1.

The optical reading system 3 includes a preliminary transport roller 6b that presses the original S stacked on the original mounting table 2 with the preliminary transport pressing piece 6a and a separation roller 6 that presses the separation pressing piece 6c.
d, and the contact sensor (contact type sensor) 7 is separated by a main transport roller 6f or the like pressed against the paper feed roller 6e.
The original S is conveyed to the contact sensor 7 by the pressing means 9.
After reading the image information of the original S while pressing and bringing the original into close contact, the original S is discharged to the original discharge tray 10 by the discharge rollers 6h pressed against the discharge rollers 6g.

The contact sensor 7 has a light source L
The ED 7a irradiates the image information surface of the document S with light, and the reflected light reflected on the image information surface is imaged on the photoelectric conversion element 7c by the short focus imaging lens 7b to read the image information. In the facsimile mode, the information is transmitted to the recording unit of another machine, and in the copy mode, it is transmitted to its own recording system 5.

The document table 2 is provided with a slider 2a slidable in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the document S is conveyed (the width direction of the document S), and is mounted on the document table 2 by the slider 2a. Both sides of the original S can be aligned.

The recording system 5 is provided with a laser beam oscillator 11a based on an image signal of the contact sensor 7.
A modulation signal is emitted from the image forming apparatus, and the modulated beam is irradiated by a polygon mirror 11b on a photosensitive drum 12a of an image forming unit 12 with scanning light to form image information on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12a. The image information is transferred and fixed to a sheet material (recording sheet) P fed from A to the image forming unit 12 and then discharged.

The photosensitive drum 12a includes a primary charger 12
b, the developing roller 12c, and the cleaning roller 12d, and are integrally incorporated in the recording cartridge 12e.
It is configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body 1. The surface of the photoreceptor drum 12a is uniformly charged by the primary charger 12b. When the surface is irradiated with scanning light from the polygon mirror 11b, a latent image is formed, and the latent image is supplied from the developing roller 12c. The image is visualized by the toner.

The photosensitive drum 12a of the image forming section 12
A transfer charger 12f is disposed in a peripheral portion, and a fixing roller 12g and a paper discharge roller 12h are disposed in a sheet material conveyance path downstream of the photosensitive drum 12a. After the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12a is transferred onto the sheet material P fed from the feeding device A, the toner image is fixed on the sheet material P by the fixing roller 12g, and the sheet is discharged from the sheet discharging roller 12h. As a result, the sheet is discharged to a sheet discharge tray 15 which is detachably provided on one side surface (the left side in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) of the apparatus main body 1.

A loading tray 16 for manual sheet material P is provided on one end surface of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. When the sheet material P is opened on the loading tray 16 and inserted into the manual feed slot 16a,
The sheet material P is transported by the pressing member 16b to the transport rollers 13a,
13b, is pressed against the roller 13b having the larger diameter, is separated one by one by the roller 13b, and is then separated by the transfer roller pair 13a, 13c.
It is conveyed between 2f and the photosensitive drum 12a.

An opening / closing lid 17 is provided at one end of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. The loading tray 16 is provided on the opening / closing lid 17, and the paper discharge tray 15 is detachably mounted. Have been. Further, by opening the opening / closing lid 17, the recording cartridge 12e is moved to the main assembly 1 of the apparatus.
It can be pulled out and replaced.

The opening / closing lid 17 is interlocked with a drum exposure prevention shutter 12i provided on the recording cartridge 12e. When the opening / closing lid 17 is opened, the shutter 12i closes, and the opening / closing lid 17 is closed. Sometimes, the shutter 12i is opened.

Although not shown, the operation button of the release lever for releasing the lock of the opening / closing cover 17 is disposed in a recess provided on the front surface of the opening / closing cover 17.
The cover is closed by a protective cover provided integrally with the opening / closing cover 17 so that the lock of the opening / closing cover 17 cannot be released by the operation button unless the discharge tray 15 is removed from the opening / closing cover 17. For this reason, the discharge tray 15 is in the way,
When the recording cartridge 12 is not fully opened and
By exchanging e, it is possible to prevent a situation where the recording cartridge 12e is damaged. Further, the opening / closing lid 17 is half-opened, and in conjunction with this, the drum exposure prevention shutter 12i is also half-opened, thereby preventing a situation in which the photosensitive drum 12a is exposed to light and the image quality is deteriorated.

The sheet feeding apparatus A includes a sheet feeding cassette 5 mounted on the bottom of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be able to be pulled out from one end.
0, the sheet material P is separated one by one by a partially circular sheet material feeding roller 37, and the separated sheet material P is formed on the photosensitive drum 12a by a sheet material conveying roller 40 as a registration roller. The sheet feeding timing is set so that the leading edge of the image coincides with the leading edge of the sheet material P, and the sheet is fed between the transfer charger 12f and the photosensitive drum 12a through the pair of conveying rollers 13a and 13c. It becomes.

While the number of sheets loaded in the paper cassette 50 is about 250 in a copying machine or the like, the power is always on in a facsimile apparatus and the operator is often not near the apparatus. Because there is night reception,
Alternatively, the number of stacked sheets P is required to be about 500 so that reception can be performed even during a long vacation. Further, sheet feeding performance required for the sheet material feeding device A is required to be high performance.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the sheet material feeder 30 of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a feeder driving section, FIG. 5 is a front view, and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view.

In the drawing, 31 is an upper surface plate of the feeder 30, 31L and 31R are hollow pedestals which are attached to the left and right sides of the upper surface plate 31 in parallel with each other and are long in the front-rear direction.
Is a rubber foot provided on the lower surface of the pedestal. When the feeder 30 is placed on the mounting table C, the lower surface of the feeder upper plate 31
A paper cassette storage space 33 (FIG. 5) is formed on the upper surface of the installation table C and on the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R.

Numeral 35 denotes a positioning boss provided on the feeder upper plate 31. The positioning boss is fitted and engaged with a receiving hole on the lower surface of the facsimile B, and the facsimile B is positioned and mounted on the feeder 30 so that the sheet feeding device A Facsimile B
Are combined with each other.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a sheet-feeding roller shaft rotatably supported between the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R, and 37 denotes four sheet-feeding rollers integrally mounted on the shaft at predetermined intervals. It is a sheet material feeding roller as a means.
The sheet feeding roller 37 of this embodiment is a roller (D-shaped cut roller) that is partially circular in side or cross section. Normally, the missing circle side 37a is held in a rotation stopped state with a downward rotation angle posture (FIGS. 1 and 6). Reference numeral 39 denotes a sheet material conveying roller shaft rotatably supported between the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R, and reference numeral 40 denotes a sheet material conveying roller integrally attached to the shaft.

The sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 and the conveying roller shaft 39 are substantially parallel to each other, and the conveying roller shaft 39 is located at the leading edge of the upper plate 31 of the feeder. Feed roller 3 attached to the feed roller shaft 36 and located upstream of the sheet material feeding direction.
7 is partially exposed on the upper surface side of the upper surface plate 31 from a through hole 41 formed in the surface of the upper surface plate 31 of the feeder upper surface plate 31 on the arcuate side 37b opposite to the missing circular side 37a.

G1 to G5 are gear trains, G1 is an input gear that is loosely fitted to the right side of the sheet material conveying roller shaft 39 and transmits driving force from the apparatus main body 1, G2 is an idle gear, and G3 is A clutch gear G4, which is loosely fitted to the right end of the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 and is controlled to be disengaged from the shaft 36 by a one-rotation spring clutch 42, has a shaft shared with G2 and is loosely fitted to the shaft. Spring clutch 4
The clutch gear G5, which is controlled to be disengaged from the idle gear G2 by 2, is a conveyance roller shaft gear located on the left side of the input gear G1 and integrally attached to the sheet material conveyance roller shaft 39 (FIG. 3).

The input gear G1 is rotated clockwise by the power-on / off operation of the cassette drive of the apparatus body 1, and the gears G2 and G3 are rotated in conjunction therewith. Idle gear G
2. The clutch gear G4 rotates counterclockwise, and the clutch gear G3 and the conveying roller shaft gear G5 rotate clockwise. The clutch gear G3 is energized to the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a of the spring clutch 42.
For turning off, the engagement with the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 is broken, and the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36 rotates idly on the shaft 36. Therefore, in this state, no rotational force is transmitted to the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, and the feeding roller 37 is kept in a rotation stopped state. When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a is temporarily energized, the spring clutch 42 is engaged and the clutch gear G3
Is integrated with the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, and the shaft 36 is driven to rotate clockwise, so that the sheet material feeding roller 37
Is driven to rotate clockwise in FIGS. 1 and 6. When the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, that is, the sheet material feeding roller 37 rotates one rotation (360 degrees), the clutch is disengaged, and the rotation of the sheet material feeding roller shaft 36, that is, the sheet material feeding roller 37 is stopped.

When the clutch gear G4 is energized and turned off to the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42c of the spring clutch 42, the clutch gear G4 is disconnected from the idle gear G2 due to the clutch being turned off and is stopped. Accordingly, in this state, the rotational force is not transmitted to the transport roller shaft gear G5, and the sheet material transport roller 40 is kept in the rotation stopped state. When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42c is energized, the spring clutch 42 is clutch-on, the clutch gear G4 is interlocked with the idle gear G2, and the transport roller shaft gear G5 is driven to rotate clockwise. Therefore, the sheet material conveying roller 40
Is driven to rotate clockwise.

Reference numerals 42b and 42d denote energizing lead wires for the electromagnetic solenoid plungers 42a and 42c, respectively. When the facsimile B is properly placed and set on the sheet material feeding device A, it is connected to the sheet material feeding device A side. An electric coupling member (not shown) provided relatively to the facsimile B side is coupled to an electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a, 42 for a control circuit (not shown) on the facsimile B side.
c is communicated via the lead wires 42b and 42d. Alternatively, after the facsimile B is properly placed and set on the sheet feeding device A, a plug (not shown) provided at the end of the lead wires 42b and 42d is inserted into a socket (not shown) on the facsimile B side. This causes the electromagnetic solenoid plungers 42a and 42c to communicate with the control circuit on the facsimile B side.

Reference numerals 43, 43 (FIGS. 5 and 6) denote left and right pedestals 3.
Paper feed cassette insertion / reception guide grooves 45a, 45a, 45b, symmetrically provided on the inner surfaces of 1L, 31R along the longitudinal direction.
Reference numeral 45b denotes a cam groove symmetrically provided on the distal end side of each inner surface of the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the sheet cassette 50, FIG. 8 is a front view, FIG. 9 is a rear view, FIG. 10 is a left side view, and FIG.

In the paper feed cassette 50, reference numeral 51 denotes a cassette main body case having a flat rectangular shape with an open upper surface;
Reference numerals b, 51c, 51d, 51e, and 51f denote a front wall, a left wall, a right wall, a rear wall, a bottom plate, and a sheet material front end wall of the case, respectively, in this order. Reference numeral 52 denotes a handle provided on the outside of the front wall 51a of the main body case 51 and has left and right overhanging projections 52a and 52b. Reference numeral 53 denotes a sheet material guide plate provided on the inside of the front wall 51a at a front-up tilt angle.
Reference numerals L and 55R denote elongated flanges extending outward along the upper side lengths of the left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the main body case. The main body case 51 (51a to 51f), the handle 52, and the guide plate 53 are provided. , Left and right elongated flange 55L, 5
5R is an all-in-one resin molded product. In particular, the right side wall 51c, which comes into contact with the sheet material P, and the sheet material abutment wall 51f are coated with a low friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin in order to minimize the sliding resistance with the sheet material P. Alternatively, the performance is extremely stabilized by attaching a sheet material or molding the main body case 51 with tetrafluoride resin.

Reference numeral 56 denotes an intermediate plate housed in the main body case 51, and the tip side is freely swingable up and down with the rear side 56a as a pivot point. Reference numeral 57 denotes a rear end regulating plate connected to the middle plate 56 in the main body case 51, and its position is displaced as the tip side of the middle plate 56 swings up and down. The sheet material P is stacked on the middle plate 56 and stored in the main body case 51.

A reference numeral 59 shown in FIGS.
An L-shaped first pressure lever that swings up and down;
Is also an L-shaped second pressurizing mechanism for vertically swinging the middle plate 56.
Lever, each used as a transmission member. L
There are two types of lengths of the horizontal arms 59b and 60b of the U-shaped pressure levers 59 and 60, and the length of the center pressure lever 60 is shorter than that of the pressure levers 59 at both ends of the main body case 51. Is set. The pressure levers 59 and 60 are freely rotatable around support shafts 59 a and 60 a provided in front of the front end side of the middle plate 56, and one of the horizontal arms 59 b and 60 b is located on the front end side of the middle plate 56. Lever 5
When the members 9 and 60 are rotated counterclockwise about the support shafts 59a and 60a, the horizontal arms 59b and 60b are rotated in the rising direction, and the intermediate plate 56 is moved upward with the rear side portion 56a as a rotation fulcrum. To be swung up and down. The distal ends of the pressure levers 59 and 60 are made of a low-friction resin material such as oil-impregnated plastic or tetrafluoride resin in order to minimize the sliding resistance with the middle plate 56. Is transmitted to the middle plate 56 without waste.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a pressurizing shaft as a pressurizing charge member provided on the front side of the levers 59 and 60. The pressurizing shaft 61 has its left and right ends 61L and 61R connected to the right and left side walls 51b and 51b of the main body case 51. The left and right end portions 61L and 61R (FIGS. 9 and 10) are fitted into oblique vertical slots 62 provided symmetrically on the surface of the left and right side walls 51c.
b, 51c are exposed outside. 63 and 65 are the pressing shaft 61 and the vertical arms 59c and 6 of the levers 59 and 60, respectively.
0c is a tension coil spring as a pressurizing member for connecting to a tension coil spring. When the paper cassette 50 is removed from the sheet material feeder 30 (FIG. 11), the pressure levers 59 and 60 are driven by the weight of the middle plate 56 and the sheet material P stacked thereon to support the shafts 59a and 59a. The horizontal arms 59b and 60b assume a substantially horizontal falling posture by receiving a clockwise rotation force about the center 60a, and the middle plate 56 also falls down on the bottom plate 51e in the main body case 51. In this state, the pressing shaft 61 is connected to the vertical arms 59c, 60 of the pressing levers 59, 60.
c, it receives the pulling force via the coil springs 63, 65 and is held in a position in which the left and right ends 61L, 61R are pulled up to the upper end side starting point of the oblique vertical slot 62 in which the left and right ends 61L, 61R are fitted and engaged.

Reference numerals 66, 66 denote a pair of left and right separating claws, which are provided at both left and right ends in the main body case 51, respectively.
Are provided at the distal ends of levers 69, 69 as a sheet material separating member which is freely swingable up and down around the center. The pair of left and right separation claws 66 correspond to the left and right corners of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the sheet material P stacked and stored on the middle plate 56 in the cassette body case 51, respectively. Reference numerals 70, 70 denote lever extension portions provided with the distal ends of the levers 69, 69 extending further forward than the positions of the separation claws 66, 66. This lever extension 70, 70
1 is located above the pressure shaft 61, and the paper feed cassette 50 is pulled out of the sheet material feeder 30 in FIG.
In the state of No. 1, the pressurizing shaft 6 pulled up and held at the start point on the upper end side of the oblique vertical slot 62 as described above.
1, the levers 69, 69 are held in a substantially horizontal resting position, and their rotation downward is prevented.

Reference numeral 71 denotes a roller (roller) serving as a sheet material conveying member disposed on the upper side of the above-described forwardly rising sheet material guide plate 53, and is free to rotate about a shaft 76. The sheet conveying roller 71 is a driven roller that forms a pair with the sheet conveying roller 40 serving as a driving roller provided on the sheet material feeder 30 side. Is in contact with the sheet material conveying roller 40 on the feeder 30 side. The roller 71 receives a force in the direction of the roller 40 by an urging member (not shown), and comes into pressure contact with the roller 40 with a predetermined pressure.

Numeral 72 (FIG. 7) is a side regulating plate for the stacked sheet material P provided inside the left side wall 51b of the cassette main body case 51, and the lower surface thereof is the bottom plate 51 of the cassette main body case 51.
e, and the upper surface is inserted into the insertion portion of the left side wall 51b of the main body case 51, and is positioned so as to stably maintain the dimension of the sheet material loading space regardless of the number of sheets loaded. Reference numeral 73 denotes an urging spring that appropriately presses the side regulating plate 72 against the side surface of the stacked sheet material P.

The pressing force of the urging spring 73 on the sheet material P is (110 ± 30) g. If the pressing force is weaker than this range, the side regulating plate 72 cannot be positioned, and the sheet material at the time of feeding is If P has a problem such as skew, and if the pressing force is strong, a load is applied when the middle plate 56 swings, and an appropriate sheet feeding pressure cannot be obtained, resulting in a sheet feeding failure. Further, even when the sheet feeding failure does not occur, the end surface of the sheet material P is broken by the pressing force, and scratches or the like occur.

The sheet material P is loaded and stored in the sheet feeding cassette 50 by removing the cassette 50 from the feeder 30 and opening it from the upper surface of the main body case 51 as described later. In the state shown in FIG. 11 in which the cassette 50 is removed from the feeder 30, as described above, the middle plate 56 in the cassette main body case 51 is at the lowest rotation position where it falls down on the bottom plate 51 e in the main body case 51. Further, the separation claws 66, 66 are received by the extension portions 70, 70 of the levers 69, 69 provided with the separation claws 66, riding on the pressurizing shaft 61 which is pulled up and held at the starting position on the upper end side of the oblique vertical slot 62. Since the levers 69 and 69 are held in a substantially horizontal resting position and are prevented from rotating downward, the levers 69 and 69 are held above the upper surface opening in the main body case 51. Accordingly, the distance between the tip side of the middle plate 56 and the separation claws 66, 66 is kept large, and the operation of stacking and storing the sheet materials P in the cassette body case 51 can be performed easily and quickly. In the case of the conventional cassette shown in FIG. 24, the separation claw 103 is a front end side of the sheet material loading table (middle plate) 100 constantly urged upward by a spring 101 or the middle plate 10.
It is stable in a state where it is pushed up to the uppermost position on the leading edge side of the sheet material P on the zero. Therefore, the stacking and replenishment of the sheet material P into the main body case (not shown) is performed while pushing down the middle plate 100 against the spring 101 which is urged and lifting, and fogging the leading edge of the replenishment sheet material P from the separation claw 103. However, there is a disadvantage that the operability of replenishing the sheet material P into the cassette is poor. As described above, the cassette 50 of the present embodiment is improved in this respect.

The sheet cassette 50 for the feeder 30 may be a cassette having a maximum stacking amount of 200 sheets or less or 250 sheets, for example, in addition to the sheet cassette 50 (maximum stacking amount of 500 sheets) described in this embodiment. Can also be attached to the feeder 30 without any modification.
This means that the maximum sheet material size of the sheet cassette 50 for the apparatus is usually six types such as B4, A4, B5 vertical, B5 horizontal, and A5 horizontal at B4, and the loading amount of the sheet P is Regardless of the frequency of use by the user, the number was 250 or 200 in each case. Since a plurality of types of cassettes having different maximum loading amounts can be mounted on the feeder 30 of the present invention, a sheet material P that is frequently used uses a large-capacity sheet feeding cassette 50, and a sheet material P that is not frequently used is small. An improvement has been made so that a paper feed cassette 50 having a capacity is sufficient.

The paper feed cassette 50 is mounted on the feeder 30 when the paper feed cassette storage space 33 (see FIG. 3) is formed by the lower surface of the upper plate 31 of the feeder 30, the upper surface of the mounting table C, and the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R. 5) Feeder 3
0, the rear wall 51d side of the cassette 50 comes first, and the left and right outwardly projecting elongated flanges 55L and 55R of the cassette 50 are connected to the feeder left and right pedestals 31 respectively.
L, 31R are fitted and engaged with longitudinal guide grooves 43, 43 provided along the longitudinal direction on the inner surface of L, 31R, and are pushed in (arrow X in FIG. 1).
direction).

When the sheet cassette 50 is sufficiently pushed in, the left and right protrusions 5 of the handle 52 on the front side of the cassette 50 are
The back side of 2a, 52a is the guide groove 4 on the feeder 30 side.
The cassette 50 is prevented from being pushed further by abutting against the distal end portions 43a, 43a of FIGS. 3 and 43 (FIGS. 3 and 6). Also, when a cassette having a different maximum load capacity from the paper cassette 50 is installed, the rear wall 51d of the cassette 50 is placed first from the front of the feeder 30 with respect to the storage space 33 (FIG. 5) of the paper cassette 50. And an outwardly extending narrow flange 55L on the left and right sides of the cassette 50,
55R are respectively attached to the left and right pedestals 31L, 3 of the feeder 30.
Front and rear direction guide grooves 4 provided along the length on the inner surface of 1R
3 and 43 are inserted and engaged (FIG. 1 arrow X direction).
This allows the paper cassette 50 to be mounted at the normal pushing position by the same operation method. In this mounted state, the front surface of the cassette 50 is almost the same as the left side surface of the facsimile B as shown in FIG. 1, and there is no protrusion from the left side surface of the facsimile B, and there is no unsightly design. Even if a cassette having a different maximum load capacity from the paper feed cassette 50 is mounted, only a gap is formed in the cassette storage space 33 and there is no unsightly design.

The insertable distance L1 (FIG. 1) of the cassette 50 with respect to the feeder 30 is larger than the dimension L2 of the feeder 30 in the cassette mounting direction, and the cassette 50 'having a length in the front-rear direction larger than L2 is also inserted and mounted. In this case, the cassette 50 'can be used.
When the cassette is properly mounted on the feeder 30, the insertion end side of the cassette 50 ′ projects from the rear side of the feeder 30 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Although a protrusion L4 on the right side of B is produced, the appearance is good.

The sheet feed roller 37 disposed on the upper plate 31 side of the feeder 30 is a cutout roller (D-shaped cut roller) as described above, and the cutout side 37a is always in a downward rotation angle posture. When the cassette 50 is pushed into the feeder 30 in the rotation stopped state and moved as described above, the upper side of the rear wall 51d of the cassette main body case 51 passes below the downward facing circular side 37a of the sheet material feeding roller 37. And does not interfere with the roller 37.

Until immediately before the cassette 50 is sufficiently pushed into the feeder 30 to be properly mounted, the middle plate 56 is not subjected to the lifting power by the pressure lever 59 and the cassette body case 51 Bottom plate 51e
As shown in FIG. 11, it is held in the collapsed position,
The stacked sheet material P on the middle plate 56 is also accommodated in the cassette body case 51 in a horizontal posture. Therefore feeder 30
In the process of pushing the cassette 50 inward, the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stored stacked sheet materials P in the cassette main body case 51 is sufficiently spaced downward from the downwardly open side 37a of the sheet material feeding roller 37. Therefore, there is no interference between the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked sheet materials P on the cassette 50 side and the feed roller 37 on the feeder 30 side.

That is, the feed roller 37 on the feeder 30 side
Is a partially circular roller, and the partially circular side 37a is always kept at a rotation angle posture in which the rotation is stopped in the rotation angle posture, so that the lower surface of the feeder upper plate 31, the upper surface of the installation table C, and the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R are formed. The height of the sheet cassette storage space 33 formed on the inner surface can be increased, and the sheet material storage capacity of the cassette 50 can be increased accordingly.

Immediately before the cassette 50 is sufficiently pushed into the feeder 30 and is mounted properly, the left and right ends 61L of the pressing shaft 61 projecting outward from the left and right side walls 51b and 51c into the cassette 50. , 61R engage with cam grooves 45a, 45a, 45b, 45b provided on the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 31L, 31R of the feeder 30, respectively.
The left and right end portions 61L, 61R of the pressure shaft 61 are moved by the cam grooves 45a, 45a, 4
The pressing shaft 61 receives downward pressing force by 5b and 45b, and the pressing shaft 61 moves down from the upper end start point to the lower end end point along the oblique vertical slot 62 with which the pressing shaft 61 is engaged. With the downward movement of the pressure shaft 61, the pressure levers 59, 60 are rotated counterclockwise around the support shafts 59a, 60a via the tension coil springs 63, 65, and the horizontal arms of the levers 59, 60 are moved. The arms 59b and 60b rotate in the rising direction to
b, 60b, the middle plate 56 on which the sheet material P is stacked
With the rear side 56a as a fulcrum, the front side is lifted, and the front side is rotated to the upwardly inclined position.

When the cassette 50 has been sufficiently pushed in and moved, the press shaft 61 reaches the lower end end of the oblique vertical slot 62 with which the pressure shaft 61 is engaged, and the left and right ends 61L, 61R. Are cam grooves 45a, 4
Lower terminals 45c, 45c, 45 of 5a, 45b, 45b
Hold at d and 45d (FIG. 6) and detent is stopped.

On the other hand, the levers 69, 69
As described above, the pressure shaft 61 that receives 0, 70 moves down along the slot 62 as described above, and at the initial stage of the lowering, rotates down counterclockwise around the support shafts 67, 67. However, the separation claws 66, 66 are received at the corners on the leading edge side of the stacked sheet material P, which rises in reverse by the upward rotation of the leading edge side of the middle plate 56 accompanying the lowering of the pressure shaft 61. Thereafter, the lowering rotation is prevented, and the pressing shaft 61 is cut off from the lever extension portions 70, 70 by the subsequent lowering movement.
The separation claws 66, 66 have lever extension portions 70,
When the edge is cut off, the stacking sheet material P is put on the leading edge side corner of the stacking sheet material P by its own weight, and becomes a state functioning as a separation claw for one sheet material (FIG. 12).

The sheet conveying roller 71 on the cassette 50 side
When the cassette 50 is completely mounted on the feeder 30, the sheet conveying rollers 4 on the feeder 30 side
0 (FIGS. 1 and 13).

The sheet feeding apparatus A shown in FIG.
3 shows the posture and position of each member at the time when the cassette 50 is completely mounted.

In this state, when the mode in which the sheet feeding apparatus A is used is selected in the console unit on the facsimile B side as the main unit, and an image formation start signal is input to the control circuit of the facsimile B, the mode is changed accordingly. The gear trains G1 to G3 enter a rotating state. The sheet material feeding roller 37 and the sheet material conveying roller 40 are kept in a non-rotating state because the spring clutch 42 and the spring clutch that is interlocked with the gear G2 are kept in a clutch-off state. Thereafter, the control circuit on the facsimile B side temporarily supplies power to the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42a on the feeder 30 side based on the sheet material feeding start signal, so that the one-turn spring clutch 42 is clutch-on, and the sheet material is turned on. The feed roller 37 is driven one rotation clockwise in FIG. The arc side 3 of the feed roller 37
7b acts on the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked storage sheet materials P on the middle plate 56, and moves the uppermost sheet material P1 in the arrow Y direction opposite to the arrow X in the mounting direction of the cassette 50 with respect to the feeder 30. A feeding force is applied, and the uppermost sheet material P1
Are separated by the separation claws 66, 66 so that the cassette 50
In the direction of the front wall 51a.

The leading edge of the fed-out sheet material P is guided by a forwardly rising guide plate 53 so that the sheet material feeding roller pair 4
After being introduced into the nip portion 0, 71 from below and gripped and temporarily stopped, the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 42c is energized to be conveyed upward, so that the facsimile B
Facsimile B from the feeding sheet material receiving port 75 of the bottom plate
It is fed into. The sheet material P fed into the facsimile B passes through the guide plate 75a, is held in the nip portion of the transport rollers 13a and 13c on the facsimile B side, and is fed to the image forming unit 12. The image forming operation on the facsimile B side is the same as in the case of the sheet feeding mode from the stacking tray (multi-feed tray) 16 described above.

Thus, every time the sheet feeding roller 37 of the feeder 30 is driven by one rotation, the loaded storage sheet P in the cassette 50 mounted on the feeder 30 is fed to the facsimile B side by one sheet. Then, image formation on the fed sheet material P is sequentially performed.

Here, a specific example of the present invention will be described. As the consumption of the sheet material P loaded in the cassette 50 decreases, the pressurizing levers 59 and 60 are attached to the middle plate 56 by the tension coil spring 6.
By sequentially rotating in the counterclockwise direction with the charging force of 3,65, the robot is sequentially lifted and rotated. However, the pressure levers 59 at both ends of the cassette body case 51 are
When the intermediate plate 56 is rotated counterclockwise around the center 9a, and the intermediate plate 56 is lifted up and pivoted about the rear side portion 56a as a rotation fulcrum,
They are stacked in the sheet feeding cassette 50 of a conventional 250 sheets capacity
Between 1 and 250 sheets (300 g to 400 g)
was the g), as measured the feed pressure in the sheet feeding cassette 50 of the 500 sheets capacity, becomes as shown in FIG. 14, the loading
300g when one sheet material is used , 250 sheets
When the sheet pressure is 730 g, and when 500 sheets are 300 g, the paper feed pressure distribution at the center of the mountain is high, and a stable paper feed pressure cannot be obtained. If a sheet material such as thick paper or thin paper is used, poor paper feed, skew, double feed, etc. Phenomenon occurred.

Therefore, in order to obtain a stable paper feed pressure, in the present invention, the pressure levers 59 and 60 are
In addition to the two places at both ends of the above, a total of three pressurizing levers 59 and 60 are set by adding one place at the center (FIGS. 7 and 1).
1). Pressure levers 59 at both ends of cassette body case 51
Is the same setting as the conventional 250 sheet cassette 50,
That is one from up to 300 sheets pressurized (300 th or even pressure of the sheet material being stacked is not necessarily become 0 g, the pressure across two locations, sheet feeding pressure 300g
The pressure is reduced from 300 sheets by the central pressure lever 60, and a pressure lower than the sheet feeding pressure of 300 g is assisted by the pressure lever 59 at two places at both ends. As described above, the distribution of the paper feed pressure is a two-peak distribution, but the paper feed pressure can be maintained at a constant level of 300 g to 500 g. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
At the time of the above sheets (500 sheets), water of the pressure lever 59
The middle plate 56 is pushed up by the flat arm 59b and the horizontal arm 60b of the pressure lever 60. When the number of sheets is 1 to 300, the horizontal arm 60b of the pressure lever 60 is
22 is shorter than the horizontal arm 59b .
(B), the not horizontal arms 60b of the pressing lever 60 is pushed up the intermediate plate 56, the horizontal arm 5 of the pressing lever 59
By pushing up only with 9b , a stable sheet feeding pressure can be obtained. The horizontal arm 60 of the pressure lever 60
As a method for preventing b from pushing up the middle plate 56,
General methods can be used. For example, a pressure lever
Stopper (not shown) in the rising path of the horizontal arm 60b of the
Shown), the pressure lever 60 is raised by a predetermined amount.
Then, it engages with this stopper and moves to the position shown in FIG.
Stop and connect to the pressure lever 60
The natural length of the tension coil spring 65
b can be set to stop at the position shown.
No.

Next, the separation property by the separation claw 66 is improved.
The configuration for performing this will be described. As the consumption of the stacked storage sheet material P in the sheet cassette 50 decreases, the pressure levers 59 and 60 of the middle plate 56 are sequentially rotated counterclockwise by the charging force of the tension coil springs 63 and 65. When the sheet material is sequentially lifted and rotated, the dimension of L3 in FIG. 22A changes (the dimension of L3 increases as the sheet material decreases (FIG. 22B)). If the sheet loading table moves horizontally like a large-capacity paper deck, the dimension of L3 does not change irrespective of the degree of loading of the sheet material P. Since the sheet loading table is made as thin as possible and it is impossible to store a mechanism for horizontally moving the sheet loading table in the space, the sheet loading table is usually called an intermediate plate 56, and the rear side portion 56a is vertically moved around a rotation fulcrum. What is rotated and oscillated in the direction is used. A cassette 50 having a stacking amount of the sheet material P of 250 sheets or less in the related art.
In this case, the change amount of L3 is 500
When the sheet material P is stacked, the 250-sheet cassette 50
Since the rotation angle is twice as large, the dimensional change of L3 greatly affects the sheet feeding performance. That is, when the number of stacked sheets of the sheet material P decreases, the sheet material P slides down, and the amount of engagement of the pair of left and right separation claws 66 engaged with the upper surfaces of the left and right corners of the leading edge in the sheet feeding direction decreases. With the rotation of the feeding roller 37, the uppermost sheet material P1 has a deflection loop E (see FIG. 7) at a portion near the separation claw 66 between the separation claw 66 and the feeding roller 37 against the strength of the stiffness of the sheet material P. 23) can be done,
Since the separation claw 66 is not sufficiently restrained by the sheet material P, the bending loop E cannot be performed well, resulting in poor separation.

Therefore, as the middle plate 56 rotates, the position of the rear end regulating plate 57 connected to the middle plate 56 is swung horizontally as shown in FIG. 16, and the shape of the rear end regulating plate 57 is changed to the middle plate 56. By keeping the shape of L3 constant irrespective of the load amount of the sheet material P by making it the same shape as the locus of the turning arc of, the constraint of the separation claw 66 to the sheet material P is always kept constant. It has become. As another method for keeping the dimension of L3 constant, as shown in FIG.
A rotation fulcrum of the rear end regulating plate 57 is provided at the rear end of the first plate 1 so that the rear end regulating plate 57 can swing, and the other end of the rear end regulating plate 57 is connected to the rear end of the middle plate 56. When the middle plate 56 swings vertically about the rear side portion 56a, the rear side regulating plate 57 connected to the middle plate 56 also swings about the rotation support point at the rear end of the cassette body case 51. Irrespective of the stacking amount of the sheet material P, the included angle α formed by the middle plate 56 and the rear end regulating plate 57 can always be substantially constant at 90 ° ± 10 °,
The constraint of the separation claw 66 on the sheet material P can be kept constant.

Further, although not shown, a method of keeping the dimension of L3 constant is not shown, but the rotation angle of the vertical rotation about the rotation fulcrum of the rear side portion 56a of the middle plate 56 and the separation claw 66 Regarding the relationship with the rotation angle at which it engages with the leading end and swings up and down about the support shaft 67, in the case of the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50, since the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 is small, the separation claw 6
The rotation angle of 6 and the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 were 1: 1.
Since the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 is large in the case of the 00-sheet cassette 50, the rotation angle of the separation claw 66 is made larger by increasing the rotation angle of the separation claw 66.
By setting the rotation angle so as to keep the dimension 3 constant, the constraint of the separation claw 66 on the sheet material P can be kept constant.

The angle θ of the tip of the middle plate 56 is bent downward by 5 to 7 degrees as shown in FIG. this is,
The sheet material P to one 500 sheets to be stacked on the intermediate plate 56
This is because the sheet P is always fed to the guide plate 53 of the main body case 51 at a fixed position regardless of the number of stacked sheets . Loading position is loaded
When the sheet material P varies according to the number of sheets, the sheet material P is provided on the upper side of the guide plate 53 as a roller 71 serving as a sheet material conveying member, and the sheet material conveying roller 40 provided as a drive roller provided on the paired feeder 30 side. This is because the sheet material P cannot be guided to the nip, and a paper feed failure occurs.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 18 (a) and 18 (b), the sheet material P is fed by displacing the tip angle of the middle plate 56 in accordance with the amount of sheet material P loaded in the cassette main body case 51. At this time, the sheet can be always fed to the sheet guide plate 53 at a fixed position. As a method, the middle plate 56 is divided into two as shown in FIG.
The main body side is made of a cold-rolled steel plate (SPCC-SD) of 0.8 to 1.2 mm as usual, and the middle plate tip 56b is made of a stainless steel strip for spring (SUS27CS1, SUS27CS3, etc.). Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 19 (b), the tip end portion 56b of the middle plate is formed of the same cold-rolled steel plate (SPCC-SD) of 0.8 to 1.2 mm as the body of the middle plate 56, and the middle plate 56 and the middle plate are formed. The leading end portion 56b is connected to the leading end portion 56b by a shaft 56c so that the middle plate leading end portion 56b is rotatable, and pressurized by a spring member 56d so as to be able to return to the original position (when there is no sheet material). Alternatively, although not shown, a method is used in which the entire middle plate 56 is formed by molding, and the joining portion between the middle plate 56 and the middle plate distal end portion 56b is made extremely thin to form a hinge and use the elastic force of the resin. According to the experiment, when the sheet material P is loaded on the cassette main body case 51, the load applied to the front end portion 56b of the middle plate is 100.
g, 200 sheets 200g, 300 sheets 300g, 400
The weight was about 400 g per sheet and about 500 g per 500 sheets. By appropriately setting the plate thickness of the spring material, the pressing force of the spring member 56d, and the thickness of the hinge portion with respect to this value, the load on the sheet material guide plate 53 of the paper feed cassette 50 can be controlled regardless of the load amount. And can always be fed at a fixed position.

Also, the shape of the sheet material abutting wall 51f is not the same as that of the conventional cassette 50 such as 250 sheets, but has the same shape as the locus of the rotation arc of the middle plate 56 (FIG. 16). , FIG. 17). In the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50, the stacking height of the sheet material P is 25 mm for standard paper (basis weight 64 g / square meter paper), and the rear side portion 56a serving as a rotation fulcrum at the rear end of the middle plate is usually half the maximum stacking amount. That is, 25 /
It is 2 mm. This is to minimize the dimensional change of L3 described above for the rear end regulating plate 57 irrespective of the amount of load.
Of the sheet P of the sheet cassette 50 does not affect the feeding. However, the above content
When the design is applied to the zero-sheet cassette 50, the stacking height of the sheet material P is 5 for standard paper (weight of 64 g / m 2).
0 mm, and the rotation angle of the middle plate 56 is twice the rotation angle of 250 sheets. When designing the sheet material storage space in the cassette body case 51, the JIS standard of the sheet material P is length ±
1 mm, for example, 297 m for an A4 cassette
If the dimension change of L3 is to be minimized in order to design m + 1 mm = 298 mm as the nominal size, the vicinity of 250 sheets of the sheet material P will interfere with the sheet material abutting wall 51f of the cassette body case 51, and the additional Pressure lever 5
9 rotates counterclockwise about the support shaft 59a,
However, this prevents the paper from being lifted upward with the rear side portion 56a as a rotation fulcrum, resulting in insufficient paper supply pressure (the middle plate 56 does not rise to the normal position), resulting in paper supply failure. Accordingly, in the present invention, the trajectory of the rotation arc of the middle plate 56 and the shape of the sheet material front end contact wall 51f in the cassette body case 51 are made substantially the same, so that the sheet material P when the middle plate 56 rotates is made.
And the sheet material abutment wall 5 of the cassette body case 51
The interference of 1f is eliminated, and the dimensional change of L3 is suppressed to the minimum, so that an appropriate sheet feeding pressure can be secured.

Thus, the stacked sheet material P on the middle plate 56
Of the top sheet P1 is always maintained at a constant level.

In order to minimize the influence on the paper feed pressure, the current machine is configured such that the feed roller 37 is a partially circular roller (D-shaped cut roller), and the partially circular side 37a always has a downward rotation angle posture. The rotation is stopped (FIGS. 1 and 6). In this state, the middle plate 56 is located above the position where the sheet is fed, and the feed roller 37 rotates to lower the uppermost sheet material P1 of the stacked sheet materials P to a normal position when the sheet material P1 is separated and fed. . During the feeding of the sheet material P, since the plate 56 repeats the vertical rotation, the sheet material P and the sheet material front end abutting wall 51f in the cassette 50 slightly contact each other. Also, 500
It is difficult for the operator to set one sheet material P in the cassette body case 51 at a time, and 200 sheets or 25 sheets are required.
Since the sheets are divided into zero and stacked, the leading end when the sheet material is stacked has a slight variation. Further, the variation at the time of the standard cut of the sheet material is ± 1 mm according to the JIS standard, and the front end portion of the sheet material P slightly varies. In the 500-sheet cassette 50, the pressurizing mechanism for the sheet material P is arranged in a minimum space, and the pressing force requires more precision than the 250-sheet cassette 50. Therefore, it is preferable that the sliding resistance against the pressing force be as small as possible.

According to the present invention, even if the leading end of the sheet material P slightly varies and the leading end of the sheet material P interferes with the sheet material abutting wall 51f of the cassette body case 51, the influence on the sheet feeding pressure is avoided. When molding the cassette body case 51 with resin, the front end wall 51f of the sheet material is mirror-finished (finished with # 2000 sandpaper), or low friction such as tetrafluoride resin is applied to the front wall 51f of the sheet material. The sliding resistance between the sheet material P and the sheet material abutting wall 51f is minimized by baking coating of a resin material, pasting a sheet material, or molding the cassette body case 51 with a tetrafluoride resin material. . The same can be said for the right side wall 51c of the cassette body case 51 as the sheet material front end abutting wall 51f (the sheet material directly touches the right side wall 51c because the right side wall 51c is a reference surface when the sheet material is fed). 51 is mirror-finished during resin molding (finished with # 2000 sandpaper), or a low friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin is baked, or a sheet material is attached.
Alternatively, the cassette body case 51 is formed of a tetrafluoride resin material to minimize the sliding resistance between the sheet material P and the right side wall 51c of the cassette body case 51, thereby eliminating the influence on the sheet feeding pressure.

FIGS. 20 and 21 show a stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 provided inside the left side wall 51b of the cassette main body case 51 described above. Conventionally, the stacking sheet material side regulating plate 72 of the 250-sheet cassette 50 has a height of a fence for regulating the sheet material P of about 30 mm to 35 mm. There was little effect on performance. However, when the stacking amount of the sheet material P reaches 500 sheets, the sheet material P
Of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 for regulating the
mm to 70 mm, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 cannot be made to have the same size by the same method as the conventional method (either the upper surface side is opened or closed with respect to the lower surface). Become).

Further, since the sheet P is fed from the uppermost position regardless of the amount of the sheet P at the time of feeding,
In the conventional mounting method, since the sheet is fed from the worst part of the dimensional accuracy (the upper surface of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72), the sheet feeding performance (skew, etc.) is affected.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the mounting of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72 does not depend on the precision of the parts, and the lower surface is inserted into the bottom plate 51e of the cassette body case 51 and fixed with a tightening screw as shown in FIGS. The top is the cassette body case 5
By providing an insertion portion 51g on the left side wall 51b of the first and inserting and fixing the hooking claw 51h, the positioning is performed so as to stably maintain the dimensions of the upper surface and the lower surface of the stacked sheet material side regulating plate 72.

Further, the biasing spring 73 attached to the stacking sheet material side regulating plate 72 and appropriately pressing the side surface of the stacking sheet material is not affected by the mounting accuracy of the stacking sheet material side regulating plate 72. Satisfies the standard value of the pressing force (110 ± 30) g of the sheet material P, and the sheet material P is not skewed at the time of feeding, and the sheet material P is not broken due to excessive pressing of the end face, and the sheet feeding performance is not increased. It will be much better.

Further, the sheet material contact surface 73 of the biasing spring 73
a, the sliding resistance with the sheet material P is reduced by baking coating of a low friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin or sticking a sheet material, or by molding the biasing spring 73 itself with tetrafluoride resin material. Can be reduced.

Further, a pair of left and right separation claws 66 engaged with the leading end of the cassette body case 51 in the stacking sheet feeding direction are provided at both left and right ends in the body case 51 so as to be vertically swingable about a support shaft 67 respectively. The lever 69 is provided at the tip of the lever 69. The pair of left and right separation claws 66 are engaged by their own weights on the upper surfaces of the left and right corners of the uppermost sheet material P1 of the sheet material P stacked and stored on the middle plate 56 in the cassette body case 51. The purpose is that when the feeding roller 37 is driven to rotate in the sheet feeding direction, the uppermost sheet P1 of the stacked sheet P attempts to move forward.
The left and right corners of the tip are received by the separation claws 66 and are prevented from moving forward. Therefore, the feed roller 37
With this rotation, a bending loop E is formed in the uppermost sheet material P1 at a portion near the separation claw 66 between the separation claw 66 and the feeding roller 37 against the strength of the waist of the sheet material (FIG. 23). reference).

When the size of the bending loop E exceeds a certain level, the left and right corners of the top edge of the sheet material P1 pressed by the separation claws 66 are separated by a restoring force for returning the bending. The claw 66 naturally comes off from the lower surface side to the upper surface side, and gets over the separation claw 66 and is separated and fed. However, environmental destruction has recently been highlighted, and sheet materials P used in offices are made of conventional high-quality paper (with a basis weight of 60).
100% recycled paper (newspaper, copy paper, etc.) or 50-70% recycled paper
Recycled paper mixed to a certain extent is being used. Recycled paper is thicker than conventional high-quality paper, but has less rigidity, thin paper has more rigidity, or its surface is bulky, and its friction coefficient between papers is higher than that of conventional paper. According to the present invention, the middle plate 56 in the cassette main body case 51 is increased in order to increase the risk of feeding.
The load of the separation claw 66 is set to 20 g ± 6 g in a state in which the separation claw 66 is put on the upper surface of the sheet material P stacked and stored by its own weight. If the load is lighter than the separation claw 66 and the thick paper or the stiff sheet material P is fed, the separation claw 66 is quickly pulled out, the timing is poor, and the double feed is performed. become). In this load region, recycled paper can be fed without any problem. Also, in order to further stabilize the sheet feeding performance, baking and coating a low friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin on the sheet contacting surface of the separation claw 66 is effective because the sheet material is easily removed.

By implementing the above-mentioned contents, even if a sheet material P such as thick paper or thin paper recycled paper is used, the kind of sheet material P which can be fed without occurrence of phenomena such as defective paper feeding and double feeding is determined. There is no need to limit or limit the use environment of the device, and stable feeding performance can always be maintained.

The cassette 50 can be taken out of the feeder 30 by hooking a finger on the handle 52 on the front side of the cassette and pulling the cassette 50 in the direction opposite to the cassette mounting direction X as shown by arrow Y in FIG. Remove from inside 30.

In the initial stage of the withdrawal movement process of the cassette 50, the right and left ends 61L, 61L of the pressure shaft 61 on the cassette 50 side with respect to the cam grooves 45a, 45a, 45b, 45b on the inner surface side of the left and right pedestals 31L, 31R of the feeder 30. 6
1R is disengaged, and the pressing shaft 61 becomes free, so that there is no rotational biasing force of the pressing levers 59, 60 in the counterclockwise direction. 11 and returns to the state where the middle plate 56 has fallen into the bottom plate 51e of the cassette body case 51 as shown in FIG. Also, the pressure shaft 61 is returned to the state where it is pulled up and held at the start position of the upper end side of the oblique vertical slot 62 with which the pressure shaft 61 is engaged. Lever 69,
69 is received on the pressurizing shaft 61 whose extension portions 70, 70 have returned to the starting point position on the upper end side of the slot 62, and are held at the ease position in a horizontal posture. With the diversification of information, the frequency of use of the sheet material P increases, and the conventional cassette 5
A cassette 50 having a larger number of sheets than 0 is desired from the market,
Thus, the trouble of replenishing the sheet material P has been eliminated, but there is a disadvantage that the operability when attaching and detaching the cassette 50 from the apparatus main body 1 due to an increase in the number of stacked sheet materials is lower than that of the conventional sheet cassette 50. . The conventional paper feed cassette 50 (250 sheets) and the paper feed cassette 50 (50
0 sheets), the sheet material standard paper (basis weight 64g /
4.5 g per sheet 250 sheets: 4.5 g / sheet × 250 sheets = 1.13 kg 500 sheets: 4.5 g / sheet × 500 sheets = 2.25 kg, and the weight of the sheet cassette ( Sheet material P + cassette 5
0 weight) is 2.2 kg for 250 sheets and 3.8 kg for 500 sheets. Further, the pressing force for maintaining the sheet feeding performance is as follows: 250 sheet cassette: 1.5 kgf to 2.0 kgf 500 sheet cassette: 5.0 kgf to 6.0 kgf, and 250 sheet cassettes 50 in the same feeder 30.
When the detachable force is measured with the 500 cassettes 50 mounted, the 250-sheet cassette: 3.0 kgf to 3.5 kgf The 500-sheet cassette: 6.5 kgf to 7.0 kgf, which is twice as large as the conventional paper cassette 50 It becomes weak. Therefore, in the present invention, the causes for increasing the attachment / detachment force are as follows. 1. Load when 500 sheets are loaded in the sheet cassette 50 Left and right elongated flanges 55L, 55R of the main body case 51 when the paper feed cassette 50 is mounted on the sheet material feeder 30.
2. Sliding force between the cassette guide grooves 43 and 43 in the feeder section. Pressing shafts 61 projecting outward from left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the sheet cassette 50 have cam grooves 45a provided inside the left and right pedestals 31L and 31R of the sheet material feeder 30, respectively.
45a, 45b, 45b from the upper end start point to the lower end end point (the left and right side walls 51 of the main body case 51).
Loads in which the pressing shaft 61 slides in the oblique vertical slots 62 provided symmetrically on the surfaces b and 51c).

Item 1 is the sheet cassette 5 of the present invention.
0 to maintain the sheet feeding performance of 0, and 2.25 kg of the sheet material P is a physical weight.
As a result of an experiment on how the sliding force at the time of attachment / detachment of the sheet cassette 50 can be reduced, the sheet cassette guide grooves 43 of the sheet material feeder 30 and the sheet cassette 50 are stretched outward along the length thereof. Elongated flange portions 55L, 5 provided and provided
5R, by reducing the sliding force of the oblique vertical slots 62 provided symmetrically on the left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the sheet cassette 50, the detachment force of the conventional 250-sheet cassette 50 becomes substantially the same. It turned out theoretically. Therefore,
Actually, the above part is mirror-finished during resin molding (# 2000
The finishing force is reduced to 4.5 kgf to 5.0 kgf.

Further, a low-friction resin material such as tetrafluoride resin is baked or coated with a sheet material, or the pedestals 31L and 31R of the sheet cassette 50 and the sheet material feeder 30 are formed of a tetrafluororesin material. As a result, the attachment / detachment force was 3.5 kgf to 4.0 kgf, and the same attachment / detachment force as that of the conventional 250 sheet material cassette could be achieved. In addition to the low friction member, as a method of reducing the sliding force, rollers are arranged in the sheet feeding cassette guide grooves 43 of the sheet material feeder 30, and the sheet feeding cassette 50 is slid on the rollers. A rolling bearing is inserted into a pressure shaft 61 which slides in oblique vertical slots 62 provided symmetrically on the left and right side walls 51b and 51c of the sheet cassette 50, respectively. There is also a method of reducing the sliding force between the two. As described above, the sheet feeding apparatus A according to the present embodiment can be easily installed and used in combination with a main apparatus B such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine, even if the user optionally purchases the apparatus. It is configured to be removable. Further, the sheet material feeding roller 37 of the feeder 30 is formed as a cut-out circular roller.
To realize a long slide of the paper feed cassette 50 with respect to
The sheet material feeding device A is entirely stored in the lower portion of the device main body 1.
Since the feeding direction of the stacked sheet material P in the cassette 50 mounted in the feeder 30 to the apparatus main body 1 is opposite to the mounting direction of the cassette 50 to the feeder 30, the cassette 50 is also used for the jam processing of the sheet material P. This operation can be easily performed by performing the attachment / detachment operation on the left side of the apparatus main body 1, and there is no inconvenience for the operator to work behind the apparatus main body 1 while working around.

Although the sheet material feeding device A including the feeder 30 and the cassette 50 is all located at the lower portion of the apparatus main body 1 using a long stroke, the sheet material P can be jammed and all operability can be reduced. The reason why the sheet can be formed on the left side is to feed the sheet material in the cassette in a direction opposite to the mounting direction of the cassette 50 with respect to the feeder 30 irrespective of the long apparatus stroke of the cassette 50.

Further, since the sheet feeding device A including the feeder 30 and the cassette 50 is all located at the lower part of the apparatus main body 1, the height dimension of the sheet P loaded and stored in the cassette 50 is slightly changed. Only has no effect on the apparatus body 1. That is, it is easy to deal with the design, and has expandability to change specifications.

The sheet material P in the cassette 50 as in the related art
When the cassette 50 is inserted and mounted in the feeding and conveying direction of the cassette 50, the leading end of the storage sheet material P may be protruded outward from the leading end side of the cassette 50 by an inertial force due to the insertion and mounting shock of the cassette 50, or the separation claw type. In the case of the cassette 50, there is a case where a strong force is applied to the separation claw 66 or the separation claw 66 is deformed, or the movement of the separation claw 66 is deteriorated. When the cassette 50 is inserted and mounted in the opposite direction to the transport direction, the above-described inertia force is in the opposite direction, so that the above-described trouble does not occur.

The sheet conveying roller 71 on the cassette 50 side may be a driving roller similarly to the roller 40 on the feeder 30 side.

[0096]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By enabling a large adjustment range of the pressing force to urge the middle plate on which the sheet material is loaded in the ascending direction, the feeding of the sheet material from the sheet material storage section is ensured regardless of the number of loaded sheet materials. Can be done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a driving unit of the sheet material feeder.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 10 is a left side view of the paper feed cassette.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the operation inside the sheet cassette.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet feeding cassette is mounted on a sheet material feeder.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing a relationship between a sheet material stacking amount and a sheet feeding pressure.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing a relationship between a sheet material stacking amount and a sheet feeding pressure.

FIG. 16 is a view showing the movement of a rear end regulating plate.

FIG. 17 is a view showing the movement of a rear end regulating plate 56;

FIGS. 18 (a) and (b) are diagrams showing changes in the tip angle of the middle plate.

19 (a) and (b) are perspective views of the tip of a middle plate with a variable tip angle.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view and a perspective view of a sheet cassette showing a method of attaching a side regulating plate.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a sheet cassette showing a method of attaching a side regulating plate.

22 (a) and (b) are diagrams showing a change in the length of L3.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a state where sheet materials are separated one by one.

FIG. 24 is a perspective explanatory view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 30 Sheet material feeder part (sheet material feeder) 37 Sheet material feeding means (sheet material feeding roller) 45a, 45b Cam surface (cam groove part) 50 Sheet material storage part (sheet material cassette) 56 Middle plate 59, 60 pressure lever (transmission member) 61 pressure charging member (pressure shaft) 63, 65 pressure member (tensile coil spring) 69 one sheet material separating member (lever) A sheet material feeding device P sheet material P1 Upper sheet material

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/00-3/68

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: a sheet feeding section having sheet feeding means for feeding a sheet; and a sheet storage section mounted so as to be able to be taken in and out of the sheet feeding section. A material storage unit, an intermediate plate on which a sheet material is loaded and which can be turned up and down; a plurality of pressing members for generating a pressing force for pushing up the intermediate plate; and each of the pressing members, And a plurality of pressure levers for pushing up the middle plate by the pressing force generated by the pressing member, wherein the plurality of pressure levers are mounted on the middle plate.
A first method for applying a pressing force to the intermediate plate regardless of the amount
Pressure lever and amount of sheet material loaded on the middle plate
Is greater than the predetermined amount, pressurizing the middle plate
When less than the fixed amount, apply no pressure to the middle plate.
And a pressing lever . 2. A pressurizing charge member connected to the pressurizing member is disposed in the sheet material storage section while a cam surface is formed in the sheet material feeder section, and the sheet material storage section is provided in the sheet material feeder. Wherein the pressurizing member is engaged with the cam surface to actuate the pressurizing member when the pressurizing member is mounted on the portion, and the intermediate plate is raised via the pressurizing lever. Item 2. The sheet material feeding device according to Item 1. 3. The sheet material storage section includes a sheet material separating member that engages with a leading end in a feeding direction of a sheet material stacked on the middle plate. The sheet material feeding device according to the above.