JP3263604B2 - Paper alignment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of a paper aligning apparatus provided in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, a facsimile transceiver, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Sheet-shaped paper sheets used in an image forming apparatus are stacked on a paper table and sent out one by one by a forward feed roller, a paper feed roller or the like. Therefore, a paper stopper is provided at the front of the paper loading table to align the leading edge of paper so that troubles such as double feeding, no paper feeding, and skew feeding can be reduced, and paper feeding can be performed as appropriate as possible. I have.

For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-038283 describes an example of a sheet feeding device having such a sheet leading end positioning member. In this method, an intermediate portion of a sheet leading end positioning member is rotatably supported on a shaft of a sheet feeding roller, and the leading end of the sheet is aligned by a sheet leading end positioning member that swings back and forth according to the elevating operation of the sheet feeding roller. It is configured as follows.

[0004]

In the configuration in which the paper leading end positioning member is integrated with the feed roller that moves up and down as described above, the degree of freedom in designing the paper leading end positioning member and the feed roller is mutually restricted. There is a disadvantage that it is.

For example, the downward movement of the paper feed roller at the time of paper feed varies depending on the number (height) of the stacked paper. For this reason, the descending stroke of the sheet leading end positioning member attached to the shaft must be similarly changed, and accordingly, the length of the sheet leading end positioning member must be set in consideration of the change.

Further, since the sheet leading end positioning member is positioned by the upper end of the sheet leading end positioning member being hooked on the stopper, the change in the descending stroke of the sheet leading end positioning member described above is taken into consideration. The stop width must be set.

[0007] On the other hand, if a trouble occurs in any of the cases, the effect is exerted on both the pre-alignment mechanism and the sheet feeding mechanism, so that the processing is often troublesome. Further, in such a sheet sending position, it is desired that the presence or absence of a sheet on the sheet mounting table can be accurately detected. Furthermore, it is also desirable to be able to detect a misaligned state of paper in order to prevent troubles such as double feeding, no paper feeding, and oblique feeding.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper pre-alignment apparatus that can easily detect paper pre-alignment and the presence / absence of paper with a simple configuration.

[0009]

According to the present invention, means for solving the above-mentioned problems are constituted as follows. That is, a swingable paper stopper for bringing the paper on the paper platform into contact with the lower end to pre-align the paper, and the upper end of the paper stopper being hooked and unlocked so as to be in the hooked state. And a position detecting means for detecting the position of the paper stopper. When there is no more paper on the paper table, the paper stopper swings by its own weight. Then, the position state is detected by the position detecting means.

[0010]

When the sheet is supplied onto the sheet mounting table, the leading end of the sheet comes into contact with the lower end of the sheet stopper, and the sheet stopper is positioned by the hook member, whereby the sheets are aligned.

On the other hand, when the paper runs out, the paper stopper swings in the direction opposite to the hooking direction by its own weight, and the position state is detected by the position detecting means.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a paper pre-alignment apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a sheet aligning apparatus of an image forming apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a sheet mounting table, and a main body 1A that is slightly inclined in a feeding direction and is rotatable upward about a support shaft 1a. And a tip 1B provided substantially horizontally. Reference numeral 2 denotes a swingable paper stopper for pre-alignment of the paper, reference numeral 21 denotes a front alignment portion for abutting the leading end of the paper, reference numeral 22 denotes a support shaft thereof, reference numeral 23 denotes a hooked end, and reference numeral 24 denotes a paper stopper 2. A position detecting element 3 for detecting the position, which is integrally supported, is a position detecting means for detecting the element 24, for example, a photo interrupter (PI) switch or the like is used. Reference numeral 4 denotes a swingable locking member for positioning the paper stopper 2, 41 denotes its support shaft,
Reference numeral 2 denotes a hooking portion. The hooked end 23 of the paper stopper 2 is hooked clockwise on the hooking portion 42 so that the paper stopper 2 is positioned.

The support shaft 22 of the paper stopper 2, the support shaft 41 of the hook member 4, and the PI switch 3 are mounted on a swingable support block 5, and the support block 5 is additionally provided with a forward feed roller. 6 and a feed roller 7 interlocked therewith are rotatably supported by support shafts 61 and 71, respectively. The support block 5 swings around the support shaft 71 of the feed roller 7 so that the forward feed roller 6 moves up and down. When the paper is fed, the forward feed roller 6 comes down on the paper 8 stacked on the paper mounting table 1 by descending from the standby position shown in FIG. (See FIG. 4A). Reference numeral 13 denotes a double feed prevention roller,
14 is a lower guide plate, 14a is an opening opened to allow rotation of the paper stopper 2, and 15 is an upper guide plate.

Referring to the support block 5 and the like (see FIG. 2), the support shaft 71 of the paper feed roller 7 supporting the support block 5 is pivotally supported on the apparatus main body side and projects above the pivot support. A tension spring 9 is hung between the provided hook 51 and the apparatus main body side, and the support block 5 is
Of the operating piece 11, which is rotatably supported by a support shaft 10 fixed to the apparatus main body side, while being urged clockwise. A projection shaft 122 projecting from a piston 121 of the solenoid 12 attached to the apparatus main body side is loosely fitted in a guide groove 112 formed in a base portion thereof. Note that a pair of paper stoppers 2 are independently provided on both left and right sides of the support block 5.

With such a configuration, when the operating piece 11 is rotated counterclockwise by the contracting operation of the piston 121 of the solenoid 12, the swing end of the support block 5 is lowered, and the forward feed roller 6 is moved. The sheet 8 is placed in contact with the sheet 8, and the sheet feeding pressure is applied by its own weight and the tension of the tension spring 9. When the operation piece 11 rotates counterclockwise, the lower surface 113 near the rotation end slides on the protruding piece 43 protruding to one side of the latching member 4 and is mounted thereon. When the pressing member 42 is pressed down, the locking portion 42 of the locking member 4 is moved upward, and the locking state with respect to the paper stopper 2 is released. Note that reference numeral 131 in FIG. 2 is a return spring.

The operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described (see FIGS. 3 to 5). First, when there is no sheet 8 on the sheet mounting table 1 (empty state), the operation shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), the paper stopper 2 hangs down by its own weight, and its position is detected by the PI switch 3,
Paper 8 is supplied. Note that a contact-type limit switch may be used as the position detecting means.

When the leading end of the supplied paper 8 comes into contact with the leading end portion 21 of the paper stopper 2, the paper stopper 2 rotates clockwise, and the engaged end 23 of the paper stopper 2 engages with the engaging portion of the engaging member 4. It is hung on 42 and positioned. As a result, the leading edge of the sheet 8 is aligned (see FIG. 3B).

When the pre-alignment of the paper 8 is completed, the detected element 24 is disengaged from the PI switch 3, the solenoid 12 is excited by the detection signal, and the forward feed roller 6 is lowered onto the paper 8 and the hook member 4 is lifted to release the hooked state with respect to the paper stopper 2 [FIG.
(A)]. If the leading edge of the paper 8 is not aligned,
Since the hooked state of the paper stopper is not released, the irregular state can be confirmed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent double feeding, no paper feeding, oblique feeding, and the like.

Next, the feed roller 6 and the paper feed roller 7 are driven to rotate, and the paper feed is started (see FIG. 4B). When the sheet 8 is conveyed, the leading end of the sheet stopper 2 pushes the leading end aligning portion 21 of the sheet stopper 2 and the sheet stopper 2 is rotated to a position where the sheet stopper 2 does not hinder the conveyance (see FIG. 5A).

When all the sheets 8 on the sheet table 1 are conveyed, the sheet stopper 2 hangs down by its own weight, and its empty state is detected by the PI switch 3, and at this time, the solenoid 12 is demagnetized and the forward feed roller 6 Together with
The lower surface 113 of the operating piece 11 is separated from the projecting piece 43 of the hooking member 4, and the hooking portion 42 of the hooking member 4 is moved downward (FIG. 5B).
reference〕. When the paper stopper 2 hangs down, the inside of the hooked end 23 is tapered,
The hooked end 23 enters the inside of the hooking portion 42 of the hooking member, and is again in a positionable state.

As described above, according to the present apparatus, it is possible to pre-align the paper 8 by the paper stopper 2 and to detect an irregular state. In addition, an empty state can be detected. Since the paper stopper 2 is provided independently of the forward feed roller 6, the degree of freedom in mutual design is improved, and even if a trouble occurs in any of them, it can be processed independently. .

[0022]

As described above, according to the sheet aligning apparatus of the present invention, when the sheet on the sheet table runs out, the sheet stopper swings by its own weight, and the position of the sheet stopper is detected by the position detecting means. And an empty state is detected. Further, if the leading ends are not aligned even after the paper is supplied, the empty state is detected, so that the uneven state can be confirmed.

On the other hand, since the paper stopper and the locking member for positioning the paper stopper are provided independently of the forward feed roller, the freedom of design is improved without any mutual restriction on design. In addition, even if a trouble occurs in any of them, it can be dealt with independently, and the trouble can be easily handled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a main part of an embodiment of a sheet pre-alignment apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of a pre-alignment operation of the same sheet.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of the sheet feeding operation.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams of the sheet feeding operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Paper mount, 2 ... Paper stopper, 3 ... Position detecting means, 4 ... Hooking member, 8 ... Paper.

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 9/00 G03G 15/00 516

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A swingable paper stopper for bringing the paper on the paper mounting table into contact with the lower end to pre-align the paper;
A hooking member that is hooked to the upper end of the paper stopper so as to be freely detachable, and performs positioning of the paper stopper in the hooked state; andposition detecting means for detecting the position of the paper stopper. A sheet pre-alignment device, wherein when the sheet on the sheet table runs out, the sheet stopper swings by its own weight and its position is detected by the position detecting means.