JPS6129296B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device. In general, sheets such as copy paper or original documents in a copying machine or facsimile are brought into contact with a sheet stopper disposed at the end of a sheet loading table in the sheet conveyance direction, with the leading edges of the sheet to be fed aligned.
This sheet is transported downstream of the transport path (in the sheet transport direction) by a sheet feeding means that feeds the sheet using rollers, belts, suction bellows, or a combination thereof, which operates in response to a sheet feeding command. The sheets are fed by a so-called automatic sheet feeding device that automatically feeds the sheets one after another.

However, if the sheets you want to feed are wrinkled sheets, curly sheets, sheets with folded edges, sheets that tend to stick to each other due to static electricity, adhesives, attached tape, etc., thick sheets, thin sheets, etc. In the case of sheets of irregular size or shape, or sheets with severe damage at the leading edge,
Sheet feeding by the above-mentioned automatic sheet feeding device becomes inappropriate.

A manual feeding mechanism is known as a means for feeding such sheets that are unsuitable for automatic feeding.

The manual feed mechanism in conventional sheet feeding devices is
A sheet loading table for manual feeding is provided separately from a sheet loading table for automatic feeding, and sheets manually fed from the sheet loading table for manual feeding are placed on the sheet loading table for automatic feeding. Either feed the sheet directly to the sheet conveyance roller installed in the sheet conveyance path of the sheet that is automatically fed from the sheet loading table, or use a dedicated manual feed sheet provided separately from the sheet conveyance roller mentioned above. The configuration was such that a manually fed sheet is merged into a conveying path for automatically fed sheets by a conveying roller. In this way, the conventional manual feeding mechanism is installed separately and independently from the automatic feeding device, so the sheet feeding conditions differ between automatic feeding and manual feeding. , the risk of sheet skew and jamming increases, and since a manual sheet loading table is added, the area around the sheet feeding section becomes densely packed, making maintenance difficult when jamming occurs. There was a drawback.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that can selectively perform automatic feeding and manual feeding on one sheet mounting table for automatic feeding.
The present invention will be explained below with reference to an illustrated embodiment. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a sheet feeding device in a facsimile machine.

This sheet feeding device is a pneumatic sheet feeding device that uses negative pressure to levitate and suction sheets placed on a sheet mounting table onto a vacuum plate, and then sends out the suctioned sheets using sheet feeding rollers. It is.

This apparatus is comprised of a sheet mounting table 2 on which a sheet 1 is placed, and a vacuum unit 3 for suctioning and feeding the sheet on this sheet placing table 2.

The sheet mounting table 2 is substantially horizontally clamped and fixed to a pair of side plates 30 and 31 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) that face each other on the main body of the apparatus. The vacuum unit 3 is disposed above and in front of the sheet mounting table 2 (on the left in FIG. 1).

At the bottom of the vacuum unit 3, there are another pair of side plates 40, 41 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) arranged approximately parallel to the above-mentioned side plates 30, 31, and fixed to the side plates 40, 41. A vacuum box 7 is formed surrounded by a center plate 5 (see FIG. 1), side plates 40, 41, and a vacuum plate 6 fixed to the center plate 5.

At the top of the vacuum unit 3, a fan motor 8 for creating a negative pressure in the vacuum box 7, a drive motor 9 for feeding sheets, and the like are provided. A drive gear 10 of the drive motor 9 drives a gear 12 of a sheet feeding roller 11, which serves as an automatic sheet feeding means for feeding the sheet, via a wheel train 13 (see FIG. 1).

A portion of the circumferential surface of the sheet feeding roller 11 is exposed above the sheet mounting table 2 through a sheet suction hole 6a formed in the vacuum plate 6.

The vacuum unit 3, which is constructed by combining the fan motor 8, sheet feeding roller 11, etc. described above, has a pair of side plates 30,
The pair of side plates 40 and 41 are rotatably supported by the support shaft 16 horizontally suspended on the support shaft 31, so that the front part of the sheet mounting table 2 is exposed (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1). ), it rotates around the support shaft 16.

The sheets 1 to be automatically fed are fed with the vacuum unit 3 rotated upward in FIG.
The sheet is placed on the sheet mounting table 2 with its leading end in contact with the sheet stopper 17. After the setting of the sheet 1 on the sheet mounting table 2 is completed, the vacuum unit 3 is closed again.

Automatic feeding of the sheet 1 is performed by turning on a feed switch SW ₁ installed in the main body of the feeding device.

When the feed switch 19 is turned "ON", the fan motor 8 and the drive motor 9 are respectively operated.

Inside the vacuum box 7 is the fan motor 8.
A negative pressure state is created by the operation of the vacuum box 7, and outside air around the seat 1 flows into the vacuum box 7 through the seat suction holes 6a and 6b. Sheet 1 is
It floats up with the inflow of outside air, and the uppermost sheet is attracted to the lower surface of the vacuum plate 6. With the sheet 1 adsorbed to the lower surface of the vacuum plate 6, the vacuum plate 6 and the sheet feeding roller 11 float, and the gear 12
The sheet feeding roller 11 meshes with the drive gear 14 and rotates via the wheel train 13, the drive gear 14, and the gear 12.

The sheet 1 is conveyed downstream (the left side in FIG. 1 is downstream) by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 11, and is conveyed through a sheet path 23 formed by a pair of sheet guide plates 21 and 22. The sheet passes through the sheet path 23 and is sent to a pair of scanner rollers 24 and 25 which are arranged to sandwich the sheet.

The operation of the fan motor 8 is stopped when the leading edge of the fed sheet 1 knocks down the actuator of the switch SW ₂ disposed upstream of the scanner rollers 24 and 25, and at the same time the scanner The knur rollers 24 and 25 rotate. In addition, the operation of the drive motor 9 is such that the tip of the sheet 1 is
It is stopped by knocking down the actuator of another switch SW ₃ disposed downstream of the scanner rollers 24 and 25.

The sheet whose automatic feeding by the above-mentioned sheet feeding device is cut off is continuously fed to the facsimile device by the rotation of the scanner rollers 24 and 25, and processing such as scanning and recording of the image or transmission is performed as appropriate. . In addition, the scanner roller 24,
The rotation of 25 is maintained until the rear end of the fed sheet passes the actuator of switch _SW3 .

In providing a manual sheet feeding function to a sheet feeding device having an automatic sheet feeding function as described above, the present invention provides a method for manually feeding sheets, like a conventional manual feeding mechanism. No need to install a new mounting table or sheet conveyance rollers, etc.
A feature of the automatic feeding device is that it can be used as is for manual feeding.

That is, an object of the present invention is to prevent the sheet stopper (see FIG. In the case of the feeding device shown in the figure, the structure is such that the sheet separation plate (including the sheet separation plate) can move forward and backward with respect to the sheet loading table, and the device has one sheet loading table and one sheet feeding means, and is capable of automatic sheet feeding. To provide a sheet feeding device that can selectively perform feeding and manual feeding.

Therefore, according to the sheet feeding device of the present invention, automatic feeding and manual feeding of sheets can be performed through a single loading table, so that the sheet feeding conditions are different from automatic feeding to manual feeding. Since this is exactly the same as in the case of feeding, the risk of sheet skew and jam occurrence increases, and the sheet feeding section becomes densely packed, unlike conventional technology that adds a manual feeding function. Therefore, any concern that maintenance may become difficult is completely eliminated.

Below, using the sheet feeding device mentioned above as an example,
The sheet feeding device of this invention will be explained.

The feature of the sheet feeding device of the present invention is that, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet feeding device passes from the lower part of the sheet loading table 2 upward through the opening 2a formed in the downstream part (the upper part in FIG. 2) of the sheet loading table 2. The sheet stopper 17, which is arranged to extend, is configured to be movable forward and backward with respect to the sheet mounting table 2.

The seat stopper 17 is fixed to the upper surface of the free end of a swinging rod 100 that serves as a seat stopper support member.

The base of the swinging rod 100 is connected to the shaft 1 by a U-shaped bracket 101 fixed to the lower surface of the sheet mounting table 2.
02, it is pivotally mounted so as to be swingable.

The swinging rod 100 has one end attached to the substrate 10 of the device main body.
The coil spring 1 is wound around the bent edge of the swinging rod 100, and the other end is wound around the bent part formed on the abdomen of the swinging rod 100.
04, centering on the axis 102,
In Figure 3, the right-handed rotation habit is given.

The rotation of the swinging rod 100 due to this habit is prevented by the upper surface of the abdomen coming into contact with the lower surface of the sheet mounting table 2. Also, this swinging rod 100
Due to the rotational behavior of the seat stopper 17,
It is placed in a position extending above the sheet mounting table through the opening 2a of the sheet mounting table 2 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

The position selection of advancing or retracting the sheet stopper 17 with respect to the sheet placing table 2 is performed by a sheet guide member disposed at one end of the sheet placing table 2 (the left end in FIGS. 2 and 3). 10
This is done by moving 5 up and down.

The sheet guide member 105 is a member that positions and guides the side edge of the sheet placed on the upper surface of the sheet mounting table 2.

The sheet guide member 105 is fixed to the upper surface of the free end of a pair of arm rods 106 and 107, which are arranged substantially parallel to the swing rod 100 and serve as a pair of sheet guide support members.

The base of each arm rod 106, 107 is connected to a U-shaped bracket 108 fixed to the lower surface of the sheet mounting table 2.
It is pivotally connected to the shaft 109 by a shaft 109 so as to be swingable.

Two stays 110 and 111 each having an L-shaped cross section are horizontally suspended over each of these arm rods 106 and 107 to prevent twisting and buckling, and a stay 110 and 111 having an L-shaped cross section is installed at the upstream end of one of the stays 110. The arm end of the extending arm 110a is engaged with a notch 100a bored in the abdomen of the swinging rod 100 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). The extending arm 110a and the notch 100
a constitutes a connection mechanism between the arm rods 106, 107 and the swinging rod 100. On the other hand, the sheet guide member 105 is provided with extensible coil springs 116 and 11.
The stretching force of 7 gives the sheet a tendency to protrude above the sheet mounting table 2. Each coil spring 11
The lower ends of the sheets 6 and 117 are wound around pins 112 and 113 implanted in the substrate 103, and the upper ends thereof are fitted into holes 114 and 115 bored in the sheet guide member 105. Due to this behavior, the seat guide member 105 rises, and as the seat guide member 105 rises, each arm rod 106, 107
However, the sheet guide member 105 is rotated to the right in FIG. be done.

At the center of the lower surface of the sheet guide member 105, each coil spring 11 is attached to the sheet guide member 105.
A locking rod 118 is fixed for locking in a depressed state against the stretching force of 6,117. A convex portion 118a is formed at the side end of this locking plate 118 (see FIG. 5), and this convex portion 118a is
It extends to the side of the sheet mounting table 2 (see FIG. 3).

A locking plate 119 is loosely attached to the inner side of the sheet mounting table 2 below the convex portion 118a by a stud 120 so as to be swingable. This locking plate 119 has one end attached to the convex piece 103 of the board 103.
A spring 121 is wound around the stud 120 with the other end engaged with the side edge of the locking plate 119.
Due to the elasticity of stud 1 in Fig. 6a,
It has a habit of rotating to the right around 20. The rotation of the locking plate 119 due to this habit is prevented by the side edge of the locking plate 119 coming into contact with the convex piece 103a.

Note that a convex piece 103 is provided at the center of the locking plate 119.
A locking portion 119a that is open on the side of a is formed. The locking rod 11 on the upper edge of this locking portion 119a
In FIG. 3, an inclined piece 119b inclined inward of the device is formed at a location corresponding to the vertical orbit of the convex portion 118a of No. 8 (see FIGS. 5 and 7).

The sheet guide member 10 automatically feeds the sheet 1.
5 protrudes from the side of the sheet mounting table 2. That is, in this state, the sheet stopper 17 is placed in a position protruding from the opening 2a of the sheet mounting table 2, and automatic sheet feeding becomes possible. (In the case of automatic feeding, if there is no sheet stopper, the leading edge of the sheet cannot be positioned, making it impossible to set the sheet accurately, causing multiple sheet feeding or skew, making automatic feeding impossible. ) Also, since the sheet guide member 105 is in the raised position during automatic feeding, this sheet guide member 10
With the actuator 122 facing the top of 5,
Interlock switch fixed to side plate 30
In Figure 8, the contact piece of SW ₄ is folded down on the N side,
Automatic feeding of sheets is also possible in terms of circuitry. That is, in FIG. 8, the interlock switch
When the feed switch SW ₁ is turned "ON" with the contact piece of SW ₄ folded to the N side, the fan motor 8 and the drive motor 9 are operated as described above, and the sheet 1 is automatically fed.

Manual feeding in the above device involves moving the sheet guide member 105 against the tension force of each coil spring 116, 117 as shown in FIG. 1 or 3.
Push down to release the convex portion 118a of the locking rod 118.
This is performed while the locking plate 119 is engaged with the locking portion 119a of the locking plate 119. That is, when the sheet guide member 105 is pushed down against its natural tendency, the convex portion 118a descends and comes into contact with the inclined portion 119c of the upper edge of the locking plate 119 (see FIG. 6a). Locking plate 1
19 is a convex portion 11 that abuts on this inclined portion 119c.
By further lowering 8a, stud 1
20 as the center, it rotates to the left as shown in FIG. 6b.

The sheet guide member 105 has a convex portion 118a that is
When the locking plate 119 passes through the opening of the locking portion 119a, the lowering reaches its limit, and the lowering stops at the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. When the sheet guide member 105 is completely lowered and you let go of it, the sheet guide member 10
5 is raised by the stretching force of each coil spring 116,117. While the sheet guide member 105 is rising, the convex portion 118a is locked to the upper edge of the locking portion 107a (see FIG. 6c), and the sheet guide member 1
05 is locked at the position shown by the dashed line in FIG. Sheet guide member 1
05 has its upper end protruding from the upper surface of the sheet mounting table 2 at its lower locking position, so that the side edges of manually fed sheets can be smoothly positioned and guided.

In addition, the seat stopper 17 moves each arm rod 106, 10 as the seat guide member 105 descends.
7 rotates to the left in FIG. 3 about the axis 109, and following the descent of the extending arm 110a of the stay 110, the swinging rod 100 rotates about the axis 101.
Similarly, by turning to the left in FIG. 3, it passes through the opening 2a of the sheet mounting table 2 and retreats below it (see FIG. 3).

In this way, when the sheet stopper 17 is retracted from the sheet placing table 2, a sheet for manual feeding is placed on the sheet placing table 2, and the sheet is manually fed downstream. , the tip of the sheet is
The sheet advances downstream without being stopped by the sheet stopper 17, and when its tip operates the actuator of the switch SW ₂ , the scanner rollers 24 and 25 rotate, and the manually fed sheet , is fed to the facsimile machine by this scanner roller. The apparatus set to the manual feeding state as described above is returned to the automatic feeding state by pushing down the sheet guide member 105 again. That is, when the sheet guide member 105, which is located at the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. Convex portion 118a of locking rod 118
is lowered within the locking part 119a, and the locking part 119a
(see Figure 6d).

While the convex portion 118a is descending, the locking plate 119
However, due to its habit, it returns to its initial position, and the inclined piece 119b corresponds to the upward trajectory of the convex portion 118a. In this state, when you release your hand from the sheet guide member 105, the convex portion 118a rises along the inclined piece 119b, over the locking plate 119, and the sheet guide member 105 protrudes to the side of the sheet mounting table 2. .

The seat stopper 17 is connected to the seat guide member 1
It rises following the rise of 05, passes through the opening 2a, and advances onto the sheet mounting table 2 again.

Also, as the sheet guide member 105 rises, the interlock switch _SW4 functions again.
Automatic sheet feeding becomes possible.

Note that during the above-mentioned manual feeding, the sheet guide member 105 is lowered, and thereby the contact piece of the interlock switch SW ₄ is moved to the position C in FIG.
Because he fell down, he accidentally turned off the feed switch.
The automatic sheet feeding device does not operate even when SW ₁ is pressed. Furthermore, when the vacuum unit 3 is rotated upward, the actuator of the interlock switch SW ₄ similarly separates from the sheet guide member 105, and the automatic feeding function is cut off. You can set the settings with peace of mind. Further, the sheet feeding device described above is an air-type sheet feeding device in a facsimile as an example of the present invention, but any type of sheet feeding means such as a belt or a suction bellow may be used. Further, the present invention can be applied to copying machines, printing machines, etc.
Applicable to various devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figures are a plan view of the above embodiment, Fig. 3 is a front view of the above embodiment, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the seat stopper in the above embodiment, and Fig. 5 is a locking rod in the above embodiment. A perspective view of the locking plate, FIG. 6 is a side view showing the operation mode of the locking plate, FIG. 7 is a front view of the locking plate, and FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of the main switch in the above embodiment. It is. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Sheet, 2... Sheet mounting table, 3... Vacuum unit, 11... Sheet automatic feeding means (sheet feeding roller), 17... Sheet stopper, 100... Sheet stopper support member ( Swinging rod), 105... Sheet guide member, 106, 1
07... Seat guide support member (arm rod), 110
a, 100a... Extending arm as a coupling mechanism, notch, 110, 111... Stay, 118... Locking rod, 119... Locking/disengaging means (locking plate), SW ₁ ... Feed switch, SW ₄ ... ...Interlock switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sheet loading table 2 for placing sheets, and an automatic sheet feeding means 1 for sequentially feeding the sheets placed on the sheet loading table toward the downstream of the conveyance path.
1, a sheet stopper 17 for positioning the sheets to be placed on the sheet loading table with their leading edges aligned, and a sheet stopper 17 that allows the sheet stopper to be moved in and out of the sheet loading table. Supporting seat stopper support member 1
00, a sheet guide member 105 that abuts the side edge of the sheet on the sheet placement table to position the side edge of the sheet and guide the sheet when the sheet is sent out from the sheet placement table; A sheet guide support member 10 that supports the sheet mounting table so as to be movable up and down.
6, 107, the sheet stopper support member 100 and the sheet guide support member for moving the sheet stopper in and out of the sheet placement table in conjunction with the vertical movement of the sheet guide support member with respect to the sheet placement table. Connection mechanism 100 with 106, 107
a, 110a, when manually feeding a sheet, the sheet guide member is pushed down and the sheet stopper is locked at a position where the sheet stopper is retracted from the sheet mounting table, and the sheet is automatically fed. A sheet feeding device comprising: a locking/disengaging means 119 provided on the sheet mounting table that releases the locking and projects the sheet stopper onto the sheet mounting table.