JP4210183B2 - Paper width guide device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet width guide device that guides a side edge in a width direction of a sheet, such as a document or a recording sheet, which is placed on a tray and is fed from the tray.

  An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a scanner, or a facsimile has a tray on which paper such as a document or recording paper is placed. The paper placed on the tray is stored in the image forming apparatus according to a paper feed signal. Are fed one by one to the image forming processing unit, and an image is formed on each sheet.

  The tray is provided with a guide device for aligning the side edges of the loaded paper and guiding the side edges of the paper so that the paper is fed from the tray to the image forming processing unit in a correct posture. Since the paper is required to have various sizes such as B5, A4, or A3, for example, the guide device is a paper width guide device that can be adjusted to the paper width size.

[Patent Document 1] discloses a technology of a paper width guide device and an image processing device using the paper width guide device. This is because a rack-shaped engagement portion is provided on the surface side of the tray along the longitudinal direction of the groove formed in the tray, and an engagement operation portion is provided on a side guide that is slidable along the longitudinal direction of the groove. A meshing claw that is detachably engaged with the meshing part is provided in the operation part, and a pressing part that presses the tray from the back side in a direction in which the meshing claw and the meshing part mesh with each other is formed integrally with the side guide.
JP-A-11-79418

  By the way, in the above technique, even when the meshing portion is meshed with the meshing claw, even if an external force is applied in the direction in which the side guide opens (the direction in which the side guide is separated from the widthwise side end of the paper placed on the tray), It has a ratchet structure that regulates the displacement of the side guides. In this ratchet structure, ratchet teeth provided at a predetermined pitch and valley portions are formed between the ratchet teeth, and the meshing claws mesh with valley portions between the ratchet teeth.

  The pitch of the ratchet teeth usually requires about 0.5 to 0.7 mm for the convenience of manufacturing parts. If the tip of the meshing claw is at a position facing the ratchet teeth, the position of the meshing claw must be shifted. That is, the meshing position of the meshing claw is restricted based on the pitch of the ratchet teeth, and the position of the side guide can be locked only in pitch units.

  As a paper width guide device, one side edge of the paper is guided by a fixed side guide and the other side edge is a side guide that can be slidably adjusted according to the paper size. Then, there is a type in which the side guides on both sides can be slide-adjusted according to the width size of the paper.

  In the above-mentioned type of guide device, the meshing position is shifted by the ratchet tooth pitch unit, and in the later-described type of guide device, the side guides on both sides are usually connected by a rack and a pinion and move symmetrically. The meshing position is shifted in units of twice the size. In any of the guide devices, it is difficult to set the position of the side guide so as to just fit the side edge of the paper having different sizes.

The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to be able to arbitrarily set the position of the side guide while maintaining its position reliably while having a relatively simple configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper width guide device that provides a guide that fits the edges of the paper .

The paper width guide device according to the present invention is made to satisfy the above-described purpose, and is in contact with the side edge of the paper placed on the tray in the width direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction. A side guide that guides the fed paper and is slidably attached to the tray according to the size of the paper, a locking portion provided on the side guide, and a locking portion of the side guide attached to the tray. And an elastic body for positioning the side guide, wherein the locking portion is provided on the side guide so as to be rotatable via a rotation mechanism, and on the end of the lever. A locking claw portion that bites into the elastic body and positions the side guide together with the lever is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily set the position of the side guide, and to produce an effect such as making a guide that fits the both side edges of the sheet while maintaining the position.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall structure of a digital copying apparatus F, which is an image forming apparatus provided with the sheet width guide device S of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG.

  A document tray 101 for placing originals one by one is provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 100 that forms a housing, and a plurality of originals are placed in a batch so that sheets are fed one by one sequentially. An automatic document feeder 102 is provided, and a document can be placed by selecting either the document tray 101 or the automatic document feeder 102.

  An image reading unit (scanner) 103 that reads an image of a document fed from the document tray 101 or the automatic document feeder 102 and an image of the document read by the image reading unit 103 are directly below the document tray 101. An image forming unit 104 is provided.

  The image forming unit 104 feeds paper from the paper feeding cassettes 113 and 114 of the paper feeding device 112 and the tray 130 which is a manual paper feeding device. The tray 130 can be adjusted according to the size of the paper to be fed, and includes the paper width guide device S that guides both side edges of the paper during paper feeding.

Hereinafter, the sheet width guide device S will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, a sheet width guide device S is provided at the rear side end portion of the tray 130 in the width direction of the tray 130. On the surface plate 1 of the tray 130, support plates 3A and 3B for supporting the side guide 10 and the side guide 20 thereon are formed integrally with the surface plate 1, and the side guides 10 and 20 are provided on the support plates 3A and 3B. Guide groove portions 2a for guiding are respectively provided. The guide groove portion 2 a is a through-hole and is provided over the movable range of the side guides 10 and 20.

In FIG. 2, a first side guide 10 is fitted in a guide groove 2a provided in the first support plate 3A so as to be movable in the width direction, and a second in the guide groove 2a provided in the second support plate 3B. The side guide 20 is fitted so as to be movable in the width direction.
The first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20 have a predetermined length in a direction orthogonal to the width direction as a form on the support plates 3A and 3B, and are placed on the support plates 3A and 3B. The receiving part 5 and the sheet side end guide part 6 formed integrally from one side end of the receiving part 5 are formed in a substantially L shape.

  Only the first side guide 10 is provided with a lever 15 in parallel with the paper-side end guide portion 6, and no second side guide 20 is provided in parallel with the paper-side end guide portion 6. A positioning rubber sheet 7, which is an elastic body for positioning, is attached along the width direction of the support plate 3 </ b> A at a position where only the first support plate 3 </ b> A faces the lower portion of the lever 15. As a material for the positioning rubber sheet 7, for example, a CR rubber material having a hardness of 45 degrees to 60 degrees is used, and the surface has a fine grain shape and is formed in a substantially flat shape.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the basic structure of the paper width guide device S. As shown in FIG. The first side guide 10 provided with the lever 15 and the second side guide 20 without the lever sandwich the support plates 3A and 3B, and the rack 11 and the rack 12 are respectively attached by screws 300 to the lower side through the guide groove 2a. It has been. A pinion gear 13 is interposed between the rack 11 and the rack 12 and is in mesh with the rack 11 and the rack 12.

  Therefore, for example, when the first side guide 10 is operated to move to the right in FIG. 3, the pinion gear 13 that meshes with the rack teeth 11 a of the rack 11 integrated with the side guide 10 rotates in the clockwise direction. The rack teeth 12a integrated with the second side guide 20 are urged to move to the left in FIG. That is, the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20 move in the direction of approaching by the same amount.

  Conversely, when the first side guide 10 is moved in the left direction in FIG. 3, the pinion gear 13 rotates counterclockwise and the second side guide 20 is in the right direction. Move and urge in a direction away from 10. In this way, the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20 are moved closer to each other by the same amount by meshing with the same pinion gear 13, or separated from each other. The center position is the center position of the sheet width guide device S where the pinion gear 13 is provided.

  The sheet width guide device S can be operated by operating the first side guide 10 having the lever 15, and the second side guide 20 having no lever 15 is difficult to operate. It is comprised so that it may become. That is, as will be described later, since the positioning of the lever 15 is regulated by the positioning rubber sheet 7, the sheet width guide device S is operated after the positioning of the lever 15 is released.

4 is a partially sectional side view showing a schematic configuration of the first side guide 10 and the lever 15, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the first side guide 10 and the lever 15.
The lower end portion of the sheet side end guide portion 6 of the first side guide 10 and the lower end portion of the lever 15 are integrally connected via a rotation mechanism 30 schematically shown, and the upper end portion of the lever 15 becomes a free end. The first side guide 10 is supported rotatably. The rotation fulcrum P position of the lever 15 is indicated by a + mark with a black circle in the center in FIG. 4, and is set at the center position of the rotation mechanism 30.

  Further, a leaf spring (elastic member) 17 is interposed between the first side guide 10 and the lever 15. The leaf spring 17 is formed in a substantially U shape, and this one side piece is provided with a hole, and is fitted into a protrusion 15 a provided on the lever 15, so as to be closely fixed to the lever 15. The tip of the other side piece of the leaf spring 17 is in contact with a triangular protrusion 18 provided integrally with the first side guide 10. Accordingly, the leaf spring 17 elastically urges the lever 15 to rotate counterclockwise around the rotation fulcrum P in FIGS. 4 and 5.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the lower end portion of the lever 15 is engaged with the positioning rubber sheet 7 attached to the first support plate 3 </ b> A to restrict the positions of the lever 15 and the first side guide 10. A claw portion 31 is provided. The lever 15 and the locking claw portion 31 constitute a locking portion 35.

  In this embodiment, the biting into the positioning rubber sheet 7 refers to a state in which the rubber sheet 7 is bent by the locking claw portion 31. Therefore, if the positioning rubber sheet 7 and the locking claw portion 31 are separated, the rubber sheet 7 returns to the original state by its own elastic force. Thereby, when adjusting the position of the side guide 10 after the next time, it can position now in any position. However, if it is desired to fix the position, the locking claw portion 31 may be inserted into the positioning rubber sheet 7.

  At the lower end of the sheet side end guide portion 6 of the first side guide 10, a stopper portion 32 that protrudes toward the lever 15 is integrally projected. The lever 15 and the stopper portion 32 are designed to have a predetermined gap a in a state where the first side guide 10 is assembled to the tray 130 together with the lever 15.

  In other words, the elastic force of the leaf spring 17 is applied to the lever 15, and the lever 15 is urged to rotate counterclockwise about the rotation fulcrum P. Therefore, before the lever 15 is assembled to the support plate 3A. In the state, the stopper portion 32 of the first side guide 10 receives one end portion of the lever 15. The stopper part 32 restricts the rotation of the lever 15 and protects it. Then, by attaching the first side guide 10 to the first support plate 3A, the locking claw portion 31 of the lever 15 bites into the positioning rubber sheet 7, and the above-described gap a is maintained. Depending on the hardness of the rubber, the locking claw portion 31 may bite too much and damage the rubber, so that the amount of biting can be adjusted by the stopper.

  6A and 6B are schematic views for explaining the positional relationship between the locking claw portion 31 provided on the lever 15 and the rotation fulcrum P described above. When the paper is conveyed while guiding the side edges of the paper by the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20, the paper may be skewed. At this time, the side guide 10 and the side guide 20 A force F is applied to push outward. The lever 15 is urged by the leaf spring 17 and the locking claw portion 31 is held in pressure contact with the rubber sheet. However, the force F received by the side guide 10 is applied to the lever 15 via the rotation fulcrum P. Then, a counterclockwise rotational moment Ma acts on the lever 15 in the direction in which the locking claw portion 31 further bites into the rubber sheet 7.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (B), the lever 15 is inclined obliquely along the direction of the rotational moment Ma, and the locking claw portion 31 faces in a direction in which it can easily bite into the positioning rubber sheet 7. That is, when the first side guide 10 is subjected to a force that pushes it outward, the locking claw portion 31 of the lever 15 becomes a resistance against the positioning rubber sheet 7 and restricts the displacement of the first side guide 10. To do. As long as the first side guide 10 is not misaligned, the misalignment of the second side guide 20 that meshes with the pinion gear 13 is also restricted, and eventually the first and second side guides 10 and 20 are misaligned. It's hard to break

  7A and 7B are schematic diagrams for explaining the positional relationship between the locking claw portion 31A provided on the lever 15A and the rotation fulcrum P as a comparative example with respect to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7A, the only difference is that the direction of the locking claw 31A is formed in the opposite direction to the direction of the locking claw 31 shown in FIG. The location and other configurations are the same.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, when a force is applied to the sheet to contact the first side guide 10 and push it outward, the lever 15A is counterclockwise about the rotation fulcrum P. Rotational moment Ma acts. As shown in FIG. 7B, the lever 15A is inclined obliquely in the direction of the rotational moment Ma, but it is difficult to act as a brake against the positioning rubber sheet 7 because the locking claw 31A faces in the opposite direction.

  That is, when the first side guide 10 receives a force that pushes it outward, the latching claw portion 31A of the lever 15A is unlikely to become a resistance against the positioning rubber sheet 7, and therefore, it is difficult to perform reliable positioning. The position of the first side guide 10 is likely to be displaced, and accordingly, the position of the second side guide 20 that is engaged via the pinion gear 13 is likely to be displaced.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the mounting structure of the first side guide 10 to the first support plate 3A, and is a cross-sectional view seen from the front direction. As described above, the first support plate 3A is provided with a plurality of guide groove portions 2a for slidably supporting the first side guide 10, but in particular, one end of the first side guide 10 is provided. The part is inserted into a predetermined guide groove 2c, and a holding piece 10b that is bent in the horizontal direction and contacts the back surface of the front plate 1 is integrally provided.

  When the locking claw portion 31 of the lever 15 provided continuously with the first side guide 10 is locked to the positioning rubber sheet 7 which is an elastic body for positioning, a repulsive force is received and the first side guide 10 together with the lever 15 is received. Tends to rise from the first support plate 3A. If it is left as it is, not only the gap between the lower end of the first side guide 10 and the first support plate 3A is generated and the appearance is unsightly, but also the smooth sliding of the first side guide 10 is hindered.

  Therefore, as described above, one end portion of the first side guide 10 is inserted into the guide groove portion 2c provided in the first support plate 3A, and the holding piece portion 10b that is bent at the insertion end portion is integrated. To prevent the first side guide 10 from being lifted. Thereby, there is no gap between the lower end of the first side guide 10 and the first support plate 3A, the appearance can be maintained, and smooth sliding of the first side guide 10 is ensured.

  The sheet width guide apparatus S configured as described above is configured such that the sheet is again placed on the tray 130 illustrated in FIG. 1 and the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 10 of the sheet width guide apparatus S illustrated in FIG. A sheet is interposed between the side guide 20 and the side guide 20. If the distance between the side guides 10 and 20 and the width-direction dimension of the paper to be placed do not match, a finger is hooked on the paper side end guide portion 6 and the lever 15 upper end portion of the first side guide 10. Energize in directions close to each other.

  The lever 15 is urged to rotate clockwise about the rotation fulcrum P. The upper end of the lever 15 is close to the first side guide 10, while the locking claw 31 at the lower end is the first side. Tilt away from the guide 10. Accordingly, the locking claw portion 31 whose tip has bite into the positioning rubber sheet 7 is released from the rubber sheet 7 and the lock is released.

  While maintaining this state, the slide adjustment is performed in accordance with the width dimension of the paper on which the first side guide 10 is placed. From the configuration described above with reference to FIG. 3, the second side guide 20 is moved by the same amount at the same time to be adjusted to the width dimension of the paper. When the side guides 10 and 20 reach the both end positions in the width direction of the paper, the fingers are removed from the lever 15 and released. The elastic force of the leaf spring 17 is restored, and the lever 15 is urged to rotate clockwise.

  It is almost the same as described above with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, and the locking claw portion 31 of the lever 15 bites into the positioning rubber sheet 7, and the position of the lever 15 is determined. At the same time, the position of the first side guide 10 integrated with the lever 15 is fixed, and the pinion gear 13 that meshes with the rack 11 of the first side guide 10 and the rack 12 that meshes with the pinion gear 13 are attached. The position of the second side guide 20 is fixed. As a result, the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20 are reliably positioned.

  Thereafter, the sheet can be placed on the tray 130 by interposing the sheet between the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20. At this time, there is a gap between the side edge of the sheet and the first and second side guides 10 and 20, or the side edge of the sheet is placed on the first and second side guides 10 and 20, If the distance between the first and second side guides 10 and 20 does not match the width direction dimension of the paper, the lever 15 is unlocked again to adjust the position of each side guide 10 and 20. .

  As a feature of the present invention, since the locking claw portion 31 of the lever 15 bites into the positioning rubber sheet 7 to position the lever 15, the positions of the first and second side guides 10 and 20 can be arbitrarily set. Can be set. In the conventional ratchet structure, only the alignment of the ratchet tooth pitch can be performed at a minimum. However, the position can be arbitrarily adjusted here, and the first and second side guides 10 and 20 Positioning that is just-fitted to both edges is possible.

  Further, when the paper is transported in a state where the first and second side guides 10 and 20 are just fitted to the edge of the paper, the paper may act to push the side guides 10 and 20 apart due to skew. That is, as described above with reference to FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B), a rotational moment Ma about the rotation fulcrum P is generated in the lever 15, but the direction of the locking claw portion 31 is the positioning rubber sheet 7. Since it is set so as to be a resistance, the positions of the first and second side guides 10 and 20 together with the lever 15 are not displaced and the positions of each other are reliably held.

  The sheet width guide device S in this embodiment is configured to slide the first side guide 10 and the second side guide 20 in the opposite direction by the same amount as shown in FIG. Instead, a sheet width guide device in which one side guide is fixed and only the other side guide is slidable may be used. Naturally, the lever 15 is integrally connected to the slide side guide.

  Further, the lever 15 is configured as a separate body from the first side guide 10, but a locking claw portion is provided at the lower end portion of the side guide and the locking claw portion is constantly bited into the positioning rubber sheet 7. It may be a side guide integrally provided with a lever function that includes an urging force that allows the locking claw portion to be easily separated from the positioning rubber sheet 7 when necessary, such as during sliding.

Further, the first side guide 10 may have a configuration in which the lever 15, the rotation mechanism 30, and the leaf spring 17 are integrated. Although the lever 15 is provided at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the first side guide 10, the lever 15 may be provided at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the first side guide 10 . The locking claw portion 31 may be formed longer along the longitudinal direction of the positioning rubber sheet 7. Although a rubber sheet is used as the positioning elastic body 7, a thick block shape may be used.

  Further, although the above-described paper width guide device S is provided in the tray 130 which is a manual feeding device, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be provided in the above-described automatic document feeding device 102 or may be fed. You may provide in the paper feed cassettes 113 and 114 in the paper apparatus 112. FIG.

  Further, although the above-described paper width guide device S is used in the digital copying apparatus F, it may be an ordinary analog copying apparatus and can be applied to all image forming apparatuses such as a scanner or a facsimile.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The external view of the tray provided with the paper width guide apparatus based on the Example. The figure explaining the basic composition of the paper width guide device concerning the example. The figure which made the cross section the 1st side guide and a part of lever which concern on the Example. Sectional drawing of the 1st side guide and lever which concern on the Example. The figure explaining the relationship between the force which acts on a lever based on the Example, and the effect | action of a latching claw part. The figure explaining the relationship between the force which acts on a lever, and the effect | action of a latching claw part as a comparative example based on the Example. Sectional drawing seen from the front direction of the 1st side guide based on the Example.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 130 ... Tray, 10 ... (1st) side guide, 35 ... Locking part, 7 ... Positioning rubber sheet (elastic body), 10b ... Holding piece part, 30 ... Turning mechanism, 31 ... Locking claw part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Lever, P ... Rotation fulcrum, 17 ... Leaf spring, 32 ... Stopper part, 104 ... Image formation part.

Claims (4)

The paper placed on the tray is guided in contact with the side edge in the width direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction, and is slidably mounted on the tray according to the size of the paper. A side guide,
A locking portion provided in the side guide;
An elastic body attached to the tray, locking the locking portion of the side guide, and positioning the side guide ;
The locking portion includes a lever that is rotatably provided to the side guide via a rotation mechanism, and a locking claw that is provided at an end of the lever and that bites into the elastic body to position the side guide together with the lever. paper width guide apparatus comprising the parts. The rotation mechanism that rotatably supports the lever includes an elastic member that elastically biases one end of the lever in a direction in which the lever abuts the one end of the side guide.
The sheet width guide device according to claim 1 , wherein one end portion of the side guide includes a stopper portion that receives one end portion of the lever. The fulcrum of the rotation mechanism that supports the lever in a freely rotatable manner is such that the locking claw portion is attached to the elastic body while the lever is tilted by receiving a force in a direction in which the side guide is separated from the side edge of the paper. The paper width guide device according to claim 1 , wherein the paper width guide device is provided by selecting a position where resistance is provided. The locking claw portion is directed in a direction in which the side guide acts as a resistance against the elastic body in a state where the lever is inclined by receiving a force in a direction away from the side edge of the sheet. The sheet width guide apparatus according to claim 1 .

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