JPS6124285B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper feeding device using a sheet storage cassette in an electrophotographic copying machine or the like.

In an electrophotographic copying machine, a large number of copy sheets are stored in a cassette, and the sheets are loaded into the paper feeding mechanism of the copying machine main body. By working together with corner separators provided at both corners on the leading edge side, the sheets are successively separated from the top and fed to the transfer section of the copying machine.
In such a paper feeding device, one corner separator is provided at each of the above-mentioned corners of the sheet,
One paper feed roller is provided near both corners of the paper feed roller. For such a paper feeding device, only one corner separator is provided at one of both corners of the sheet, and only one paper feeding roller is provided near the one corner. Separate paper feeding devices have been proposed.

In a one-side separation type paper feeding device, the sheet feeding action due to the frictional force between the paper feeding roller rotating in the paper feeding direction and the sheet is biased toward one side edge of the sheet parallel to the paper feeding direction. Since the uppermost sheet to be fed is subjected to rotational moment about this center of gravity, there is a problem in that it is skew-fed. In order to prevent this problem, in the above-mentioned one-side separation type paper feeding device, a skew prevention roller is provided behind the paper feeding roller, and the roller feeds the sheet while pressing the top surface of the sheet using its own weight. This action cancels out the rotational moment. The anti-skew roller gradually descends toward the bottom of the cassette and penetrates deeper into the cassette as the number of sheets gradually decreases.

On the other hand, in such a paper feeding device, in order to maintain the paper feeding level at a constant level, the bottom plate installed in the cassette and on which the sheets are placed gradually rises. As the lifting means, a bottom plate lifting member is used which enters into the cassette through a cutout hole bored in the bottom of the cassette and receives the bottom plate. The more specific function of this bottom plate lifting member will be described in detail in the present invention, but in any case, this bottom plate lifting member enters into the cassette together with the aforementioned skew prevention roller. In such a paper feeding device, when the cassette is pulled out from or loaded into the main body of the copying machine, the bottom plate lifting member and the skew prevention roller become obstacles, and it becomes necessary to remove both from the cassette.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and when attempting to pull out a cassette, by operating one operating lever, the bottom plate raising member and the skew prevention member are simultaneously retracted out of the cassette, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device using a sheet storage cassette that is easy to operate, and after loading the cassette, the above-mentioned operating lever is operated again to move the above-mentioned members into the operating position inside the cassette. do.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electrophotographic copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and a sheet storage cassette 2 is detachably attached to a copying machine main body 1 so that sheets can be loaded and the like. FIG. 2 shows the paper feeding device of the present invention provided within the main body of the copying machine. In the figure, the main paper feed roller 3 is connected to both immovable substrates 4 and 5.
The shaft 6 is rotatably supported by a shaft 6, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow by a drive system including a chain 7 and a sprocket 8. As shown in FIG. 7, the roller 3 is located near one of the two leading edge corners of the sheet stored in the cassette.
The uppermost sheet contacts the roller 3 from below.

A skew prevention roller 10 as a skew prevention member is arranged on the rear side of the main paper feed roller 3.
This roller 10 is rotatably mounted on a free end of a swing lever 11 whose base end is pivotally connected to a shaft 6. The sliding rod 13 is slidable on the base 4a of the immovable board 4 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cassette 2 is pulled out by means of a guide slot 13a and a riveted shaft 14. Pin 11 implanted in swing lever 11
a rides on the lower upper edge 13c of the rising cam portion 13b formed on the sliding rod 13.

The operating lever 15 is pivotally attached to the upper part of the frame 16 that supports the cassette 2 by a stepped pin 17, and the lever 15 and the sliding rod 13 are also connected by a stepped pin 18. It is worn. One end of the operating lever 15 and one end of each of the connecting members 19 are connected by a stepped pin 21, and one end of a compressible spring 22 is connected between the pin 21 and a stationary pin (not shown). and the other end are respectively locked.

The operating lever 15 is given the tendency to rotate in the direction of arrow A around the stepped pin 17 by the elasticity of the spring 22, and the rotation due to this behavior causes the side edge 15a of the lever 15 to This is prevented by contacting a step portion 4b provided on the immovable substrate 4. At the bottom of the cassette 2 is a shaft 2 rotatably supported by a stationary board 23 and a cassette support 24.
6 is disposed, and the base end of an operating arm 27 is screwed to this shaft 26. A pin 27a is fixed to the end of the arm 27, and this pin 27a is fitted into a long hole 19a formed in the connecting member 19.
Further, the base of a bottom plate raising member 28 is screwed to the shaft 26, and the tip 28a of the member 28 is
It enters into the cassette through a rectangular window hole 2a bored in the bottom of the cassette.

A tension spring 29 is hung between the pin 27a of the operating arm 27 and the frame 26, and the tension elasticity of the spring 29 causes the shaft 26 to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. This rotation is prevented by the bottom plate raising member 28 coming into contact with the bottom of the cassette 2. Inside the cassette 2 is a bottom plate 3 on which sheets are placed.
1 is provided, which is adapted to perform raising and lowering movements. That is, in FIG. 4, the base end of the bottom plate 31 is rotatably supported by a pin shaft 32 implanted in the side of the cassette 2 or an immovable support member, so that when there are no sheets in the cassette, is pushed by the tip 28a of the bottom plate raising member 28, and the bottom plate 31 maintains the position shown in the figure.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the sheet storage cassette 2 and its main body are loaded and stored in the copying machine main body 1, and in this state, the cassette 2 is locked so that it cannot be pulled out. That is, in FIG. 2, an operating knob 15b formed at one end of the operating lever 15 protrudes outside the device so as to be operable from the outside. The inner edge 15e of the hanging piece 15c of the knob 15b comes into contact with the front surface of the cassette 2 and locks it so that it cannot be pulled out.
In other words, the inner edge 15e constitutes a stopper for locking the cassette in the loading position.

In FIGS. 2 and 4, it is assumed that all the sheets in the cassette 2 have been fed and the cassette is empty. All movable elements maintain their positions in the figure. In such a situation, in order to pull out the cassette 2 in the direction of arrow B in order to store a new sheet in the cassette 2, the operating knob 15b of the lever 15 is manually pushed down slightly. Then, the side edge 15a of the lever 15 comes off the step 4b of the immovable base plate 4, and the lever 15 is moved around the stepped pin 17 by the spring 2.
The side edge 15a rotates in the direction of the arrow A by the elasticity of the base plate 2, and then the side edge 15a abuts against the stopper portion 4c of the base plate 4 as shown in FIG. The operating lever 15 is attached to the stepped pin 17 so that the portion on the operating knob 15b side can move up and down slightly.

When the operating lever 15 rotates until it touches the stopper portion 4c, the sliding rod 13 is pulled in the direction of the arrow via the pin 18, and slides from the initial position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5. Due to this operation, the pin 11a of the swinging lever 11, which was resting on the lower upper edge 13c of the rod 13, is pushed up by the inclined edge 13d, so that the lever 11 moves clockwise around the shaft 6. The pin 11a rotates and stops rotating when the pin 11a rides on the upper edge 13e of the upper stage as shown in FIG. As a result, the skew prevention roller 10
enters the cassette and then retreats to the outside of the cassette. Note that a more specific function of the skew prevention roller will be described in detail later.

On the other hand, when the operating lever 15 in FIG. 2 is rotated until it touches the stopper portion 4c, the connecting member 1
9 moves to the right from the position shown in FIG. 4 via the stepped pin 21 to reach the position shown in FIG. During this operation, the end edge 19 of the elongated hole 19a of the member 19
b hits the pin 27a and pushes it away, causing the operating arm 27 to rotate clockwise against the elasticity of the spring 29 to the position shown in FIG. Then, the shaft 26 rotates clockwise, the bottom plate rising member 28 also turns in the same direction, and the tip 28a of the rising member 28, which had received the bottom plate 31,
It is evacuated from inside the cassette to the outside of the cassette as shown in FIG. At this time, the bottom plate 31 rotates clockwise around the pin shaft 32 and maintains the position shown in FIG. 5.

To summarize the above points, when the operating lever 15 in FIG. 2 rotates around the pin 17 to the position shown in FIG. As a result, the cassette is released from the locked state, and the skew prevention roller 10 is released as shown in FIG.
and the bottom plate raising member 28 are respectively retracted to the outside of the cassette, and the cassette becomes ready to be pulled out. In this state, hold the handle 2b of the cassette 2 and pull it out in the direction of arrow B, take it out of the apparatus, and then store and load a large number of sheets into the cassette 2 shown in FIG. In this case, the sheet is placed on the bottom plate 31 and on the rear side of the top surface of the bottom of the cassette 2.

After the sheets are stored in the cassette, the cassette is inserted and loaded into the main body of the copying machine along the frame 16 and cassette support 24 in FIG. In this state, the operation knob 15b in FIG.
Push the side edge 1 of the operating lever 15 in the direction of the arrow.
5a, as shown in FIG.
b. In addition, at this time, the operation knob 15
After pressing b, raise it slightly and attach it to the side edge 15a.
is engaged with the stepped portion 4b.

Pushing the operating knob 15c in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
The connecting member 19 in FIG. 5 is rotated around the pin 17 in FIG. 2 in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction against the elastic force of It will be pulled back to the initial position shown in . By this operation, the elongated hole 19
The end edge 19b of a is retracted to the left, so that the operating arm 27 shown in FIG. 5 is rotated counterclockwise by the elasticity of the spring 29.

Then, the bottom plate rising member 28 also rotates in the same direction,
As shown in FIG. 6, the tip 28a of the member 28 enters into the cassette through the window hole 2a of the cassette, and pushes up the bottom plate 31. Then, the leading end side of the upper surface of the sheet S is brought into pressure contact with the main paper feed roller 3. This contact force is substantially determined by the tensioning elasticity of the spring 29. Note that the degree of inclination of the bottom plate 31 in FIG. 6 changes depending on the number of sheets, and the position of the pin 27a of the operating arm 27 also changes accordingly.
It changes within the range of the elongated hole 19a of the connecting member 19.

On the other hand, the operation knob 15b in FIG.
When pushed in the direction of the arrow against the elastic force (see FIG. 2), the sliding rod 13 slides in the direction of the arrow via the pin 18 and reaches the initial position shown in FIGS. 5 to 4. Then, the pin 11a of the sliding lever 11 falls from the upper edge 13e of the sliding rod 13 to the inclined edge 13d, and the lever 11 begins to rotate around the shaft 6 in a counterclockwise direction. When the lever 11 turns a predetermined angle, the skew prevention roller 10 comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet as shown in FIG.
d moves away from pin 11a and reaches the initial position. Finally, the pin 11a is separated from the lower upper edge 13c.

In the above-mentioned situation, sheets can be fed. After that, when the device is put into operation mode, the sprocket 8 rotates in the direction of the arrow via the chain 7 (see Figure 2), and the paper feed roller 3 in Figure 6 also rotates in the direction of the arrow together with the shaft 6. . Then, the leading edge of the uppermost sheet is separated by the cooperative action of the roller 3 and the corner separator 33, and only one sheet is fed in the feeding direction.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 7, this paper feeding device is of a one-sided separation type and is composed of one corner separator 33 and one main paper feeding roller 3. Due to these structural characteristics, when separating and feeding sheets, a rotational moment M is applied to the sheet in the direction of the arrow with respect to the center of gravity G, as shown in the figure.
As a result, the sheet is skew-fed and cannot be fed in a direction parallel to the feeding direction.
In order to prevent such problems, the skew prevention roller 10 is provided. This roller 10
As the sheet is fed, it rotates due to the frictional force between it and the sheet, and presses the top surface of the sheet with its own weight, canceling out the rotational moment M and achieving the parallel sheet feeding function. It is something to do.

With this configuration, there is no need for a pair of main paper feed rollers distributed on both sides, as seen in conventional general paper feed devices, and one corner separator can also be used. . Therefore, the configuration is simplified and it is possible to feed sheets of any size.

In FIG. 6, as the sheets are fed one by one, the number of sheets gradually decreases, and along with this, the bottom plate 31 gradually rises due to the pushing up action of the rising member 28. death,
Further, the pin 27a of the operating arm 27 also moves toward the green 19b at one end of the elongated hole 19a. When all the sheets have been fed, the operating arm 27, bottom plate lifting member 28, bottom plate 31, swing lever 11, etc.
The position is shown in Figure 4. It should be noted that a plurality of the above-mentioned paper feeding devices may be provided independently in the vertical direction to provide a multi-stage cassette system.

By the way, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the cassette 2 can be attached and detached from the front side of the apparatus, but in addition, the cassette can be attached and detached from the side side of the copying machine main body 1. It is also possible to have a configuration like this. However, if the cassette is attached and detached from the front side of the apparatus, it is easy to attach and detach the cassette, and since the operating knob 15b is also arranged on the front side of the apparatus, operability is good. Furthermore, the cassette does not protrude from the main body of the copying machine and is stored within the main body of the copying machine, so that the total volume of the cassette can be further reduced.

Furthermore, by supporting the cassette with bearings, rollers, etc., the operation of attaching and detaching the cassette becomes smooth, and even with this support method, the cassette itself is locked by the operating lever 15, so that it cannot be moved. There is no risk of disturbing the positional relationship between the main paper feed roller 3 and the sheet. Furthermore, the cassette cannot be attached or detached without operating the operating lever 15, so there is no risk of operating errors. For example, if the cassette has been pulled out and the operating lever 15 is in the state shown in FIG. I can't. If the cassette is not configured like this and you force the cassette in,
This may also cause damage to the swing lever 11.

In addition, by operating one operating lever 15, the skew prevention roller 10 and the bottom plate raising member 28 are simultaneously moved into and out of the cassette, so a method is adopted in which both are operated separately. The number of parts can be reduced and the operation is extremely simple.

According to the present invention, the structure is such that the skew prevention member and the bottom plate raising member can be moved into and out of the cassette at the same time by operating one operating lever. In addition to being simplified, the preparatory operations for attaching and detaching the cassette are extremely easy. Further, by providing the operating lever itself with a cassette locking and unlocking function, operational errors can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of an example of an electrophotographic copying machine to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a paper feeding device using a sheet storage cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is the same paper feeding device as above. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the locking mechanism showing the state in which the cassette is unlocked; FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing the initial state of the paper feeding device;
FIG. 5 is a front sectional view showing a state in which the bottom plate raising member and the skew prevention roller are retracted to the outside of the cassette in the paper feeding device, and FIG. 6 is a front sectional view showing the state in which the paper feeding device has completed the paper feeding configuration. 7 are diagrams for explaining the function of the skew prevention roller. 2... Sheet storage cassette, 3... Main paper feed roller, 10... Skew prevention member (skew prevention roller), 11... Rocking lever, 11a... Pin,
13... Sliding rod, 13b... Cam part, 15... Operating lever, 15e... Stopper part, 28... Bottom plate raising member, 29... Bottom plate upward biasing spring, 31...
…Bottom plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sheet storage cassette 2 that stores a large number of sheets and is configured to be freely drawn out and inserted into the main body of the apparatus, and a topmost sheet is placed in the sheet storage cassette in the paper feeding direction. A skew prevention member 10 that contacts the sheet and prevents the sheet from being skewed when the sheet is being fed, and that moves downward toward the bottom of the cassette as the number of sheets decreases; a bottom plate 31 which is placed in the cassette so as to be able to rise and fall; and a bottom plate raising member 28 which is able to move in and out of the cassette and lifts the bottom plate to keep the paper feeding level constant. When the sheet storage cassette 2 loaded in the main body of the apparatus is pulled out, the skew prevention member 10 and the bottom plate raising member 28 are moved out of the cassette at the same time, and when the cassette is loaded, both of the above members are removed. A sheet feeding device using a sheet storage cassette, characterized in that it is equipped with an operating lever 15 that is manually operated to move the sheet into an operating position within the cassette. 2. The operating lever 15 is provided with a stopper portion 15e for locking the sheet storage cassette 2 in the loading position, and when the cassette is pulled out, the operating lever 15 is operated to retract the stopper portion 15e from the cassette drawer path. A paper feeding device using the sheet storage cassette according to claim 1.