JPH0678133B2 - Sheet material feeder - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device for feeding a sheet material to an image forming apparatus.

(B) Conventional Technology Conventionally (see JP-A-58-11442 as an example), a sheet-shaped material feeding device is configured such that a friction rotating body 2 and a rubber 2 which are rotationally driven by a shaft 1 as shown in FIG. Or, it has a friction pad 3 made of a member having a high friction coefficient such as synthetic resin,
The friction pad 3 has a separating member 5 pivotally supported by a support shaft 5a.
Is fixed to one end of the separating member 5 and is pressed against the friction rotating body 2 at a predetermined pressure by a spring 6 stretched on the other end of the separating member 5. Further, a sheet-shaped material placing table 7 is arranged facing the friction rotating body 2, and the placing table 7 is biased by a spring 9 so that its free end faces the rotating body 2.
Further, the friction pad 10 is also fixed to the upper surface of the free end.

The uppermost sheet-like material 11 such as a large number of sheets of paper or the like stacked on the mounting table 7 is in contact with the friction rotating body 2, and the uppermost sheet-like material 11u is the arrow of the friction rotating body 2. When two or more sheet-shaped materials 11 are fed by the frictional force based on the rotation in the direction, the lower sheet-shaped material is separated by the pressure contact of the friction pad 3, and the sheet-shaped material is separated. Prevents double feeding of 11 or more sheets.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, conventionally, the sheet-shaped material was mounted by the cassette so that the center of the sheet-shaped material was located at the feeding center regardless of the difference in size. Along with the downsizing of copying machines and the diversification of sheet-shaped material dimensions, an apparatus for mounting a sheet-shaped material on the basis of one edge side thereof has been devised. In the case of this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary to arrange the friction rotating body 2 within the width region of the sheet material 11s having the minimum size. The arrangement of the friction rotating body 2 is located far from the center of its width with respect to the sheet material 11l having the maximum dimension. For example, as shown in FIG. If the difference between the maximum dimension and the minimum dimension is small even if the position of the rotator 2 is laterally displaced relative to 11s to prevent skew of the sheet-shaped material 11l with the maximum dimension, For example, the minimum dimension A5 (210 mm) and the minimum dimension A4 (297 mm) are possible, but it is not possible to deal with the difference in dimension more than that, and skewing of the sheet material occurs during feeding. I will end up.

(D) Means for Solving the Problem The present invention has an object of solving the above-mentioned problems, and a sheet-shaped material stacking unit capable of stacking sheet-shaped materials of different sizes, and a stacking unit for the sheet-shaped material stacking unit. A sheet-shaped material feeding device having a friction rotating body that feeds the sheet-shaped material that has been formed, and a separating member that presses the friction rotating body and separates the sheet-shaped material one by one between them. A position corresponding to the sheet material of the minimum size loaded on the sheet material loading means and a sheet material of a size larger than the sheet material of the minimum size, with a predetermined interval in the width direction of the sheet material. And a separating member corresponding to each friction rotator, and a sheet-like material size selecting unit operated according to the size of the sheet-like material stacked on the sheet-like material stacking unit. And a friction rotating body and a separating member located at a position corresponding to a sheet material having a size larger than the sheet material having the minimum size when the sheet material having the minimum size is loaded on the sheet material loading means. It is characterized in that it is provided with an interlocking switching means which is in a non-pressure contact state.

(E) Action Based on the above-mentioned means, in the case of feeding small-sized sheet material,
By operating the sheet-shaped material size selecting means such as moving the regulation plate or mounting the cassette, the separating member is pressed against only the friction rotating body corresponding to the small-sized sheet material, and the friction rotating body and the separating member cause the small-sized sheet to be pressed. Material is fed without causing skewing, and other separating members are held in non-pressure contact with the friction rotor to avoid wear of the friction rotor and friction pad, and large-sized sheet material In the case of feeding, the separating member is pressed into contact with a large number of friction rotating bodies corresponding to the large-sized sheet material by operating the sheet-shaped material size selecting means, and the large-sized sheet shape is formed by these friction rotating bodies and the separating members. Material is fed without skewing and double feeding.

(F) Example An example in which the present invention is applied to a sheet feeding device of a copying machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, an embodiment applied to a direct mounting type paper feeding device for directly mounting a paper on a paper mounting table will be described with reference to FIG.

The sheet feeding device F has two sheet feeding rollers 2a and 2b fixed to the drive shaft 1 at a predetermined interval. The outer peripheral surfaces of the rollers 2a and 2b are made of urethane rubber or the like. And a frictional rotating body. Further, a paper placing table 7 is swingably arranged by a pivot pin 13 at a position facing the rollers 2a and 2b, and a spring 9 is provided on a lower surface of a free end portion of the paper placing table 7. It is contracted and urges the free end portion toward the rollers 2a and 2b. Further, one edge side of the paper placing table 7 is bent in the rising direction to form a reference plate 15, and a notch 16 or a slit is formed parallel to the width direction of the placing table 7 and A regulation plate 17 is guided in the notch 16 or the slit so as to be movable in the width direction. On the other hand, the rollers 2a, 2b
A guide plate 19 is provided below the guide plate 19, and separating members 5a and 5b are provided below the guide plate 19 at positions corresponding to the rollers 2a and 2b, respectively. These separating members 5a, 5b are swingably supported by a pivot shaft 20, and a spring 6 is contracted on the lower surface of the tip portion so that the upper surface of the tip portion has an opening 19a formed in a guide plate 19. Through rollers 2a, 2b
It is urged to press against. Further, the separating members 5a, 5b
A friction pad 3 made of urethane rubber or the like having a high friction coefficient and abrasion resistance is fixed to a portion contacting with the rollers 2a and 2b of the sheet feeding roller 2b which is far from the reference plate 15 in the separating member. One end is a sloped surface at the tip of the separating member 5b.
The cam surface 21, which is 21a, is formed. And
A roller 23 that constitutes a control unit is connected to the restriction plate 17 via a bracket 22, and the roller 23 rides on the cam surface 21 of the separation member 5b according to the movement of the restriction plate 17 in the width direction,
The separating member 5b can be swung against the spring 6.

Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, the sheets 11 are stacked and placed on the placing table 7 with one side in the width direction thereof aligned with the reference plate 15, that is, with one edge side of the sheet placing table 7 as a reference. And paper
The regulation plate 17 is moved according to the dimension of 11, and thereby the paper 11 is sandwiched between the reference plate 15 and the regulation plate 17 to be positioned and regulated,
The uppermost one of the stacked sheets of paper 11 is pressed against the paper feed roller 2a (and 2b) by the spring 9. At this time, if the paper size is small, as shown in FIG.
There is paper only in the portion corresponding to 2a, and the regulating plate 17 is in a position close to the reference plate 15 so as to match the paper size,
The roller 23 rides on the cam surface 21 of the separating member 5b corresponding to the other paper feeding roller 2b. In this state, the friction pad 3 of the separating member 5a corresponding to the one sheet feeding roller 2a is in pressure contact with the roller 2a, but the separating member 5b corresponding to the other sheet feeding roller 2b is swung downward by the roller 23. The friction pad 3 of the separating member 5b is in the moved position, and thus the separating roller 5b
Is not in contact with. In this state, when the drive shaft 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by a motor (not shown), both paper feed rollers 2a, 2
Although b rotates, the actual paper feeding operation is performed only by the one paper feeding roller 2a that is in contact with the paper 11. That is, when the paper 11 is fed by abrasion with the paper feed roller 2a and two or more sheets are fed, the lower paper is separated by the pressure contact of the friction pad 3 and separated, and only the uppermost paper is fed. Be delivered.
At this time, since the paper feeding roller 2a is located in the substantial center of the small-sized paper, it is fed correctly without causing skewing,
The other sheet feeding roller 2b is rotating, but the separating member 5b
The friction pad 3 is not in pressure contact with the friction material, and abrasion of the paper feed roller 2b and the friction pad 3 due to direct sliding contact of the friction material is avoided. Then, when a large paper size is used, one side in the width direction of the paper is aligned with the reference plate 15, and the regulation plate 17 is moved in the arrow direction so as to be aligned with the other side. Then, the regulation plate 17
The roller 23 also moves integrally with the roller 2b, and the paper size is the other roller 2b.
When the size corresponding to the part is reached, the roller 23 becomes a separating member.
The separating member 5b is urged by the spring 6 so as to be disengaged from the cam surface 21 of 5b, so that the friction pad 3 comes into pressure contact with the sheet feeding roller 2b. When the drive shaft 1 is rotated in this state, the paper 11 comes into contact with both paper feed rollers 2a and 2b, is fed correctly without causing skew, and is further pressed against the respective paper feed rollers 2a and 2b. Due to the friction pads 3 of the members 5a and 5b, double feeding of two or more sheets is reliably prevented.

In the above embodiment, the friction pad 3 is always attached to the paper feed roller 2.
The friction pads 3 of the unnecessary roller portions were released from the pressure contact with a and 2b by the movement of the regulation plate 17, but the friction pad 3 was not always brought into pressure contact with the rollers 2a and 2b, and the regulation plate 17 was moved. The friction pad 3 of the required roller portion may be pressed against the above.

Next, an embodiment applied to a cassette type paper feeding device in which paper is loaded in a cassette will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The sheet feeding device F'according to the present embodiment also has two sheet feeding rollers 2a, 2b and two separating members 5a, 5b located at positions corresponding to the sheet feeding rollers, as shown in detail in FIG. have.
Further, a mounting table 7'is arranged so as to face the paper feed rollers 2a and 2b, and one edge side of the mounting table 7'is aligned by a reference plate 15 formed on one side thereof regardless of the size. Cassette C ... can be placed. Also, the separating members 5a and 5b are arms that are pivotally supported on the mounting table 7'by pivot pins 27, respectively.
A plate spring 30 is fixed to one end of the arm 29, and a pad holding table 32 is pivotally connected to the other end of the arm 29 by a pin 31. The friction pad 3 is fixed and held on the upper surface of the holding table 32, and the pad 3 is in light contact with or separated from the sheet feeding rollers 2a and 2b in the free state. The leaf spring 30 is bent and extends forward, and its tip 30a is bent in a chevron shape and protrudes from the lower portion of the mounting table 7'through the opening 7'a to the upper surface. On the other hand, as shown in detail in FIG. 5, a lever 34 is pivotally supported by a pin 33 at a position corresponding to the sheet feeding rollers 2a and 2b, and a lever 34 is swingably disposed at a lower portion of the mounting table 7 '. Further, the lever 34 is biased in the direction of the arrow by the spring 35, and the tip of the lever 34 is cut out 7'b of the mounting table 7 '.
It projects through its upper surface. Also, cassette C ...
Has an outer case 36 and a bottom plate 37 which is swingably connected to the outer case 36 at a rear end bottom portion a thereof. The bottom plate 37 is placed on the bottom plate 37 and accommodates a large number of papers 11. Outer case 36
A hole 36a is formed at a predetermined position on the bottom, and a projection plate 39 that constitutes a control unit is fixed to the bottom of the tip of the hole 36a. In addition, cassette C ... A4 size (297mm), A5 size (2
10 mm), B5 size (257 mm), B6 size (128 mm), and A6 size (105 mm) are prepared, and one of the paper feed roller 2a and the separating member has the B6 and A6 sizes as the first block Cs.
5A, and the A4, A5, and B5 dimensions are set and arranged so as to correspond to both the sheet feeding rollers 2a and 2b and the separating members 5a and 5b as the second block Cl.

Since the present embodiment has the above-described structure, when the cassette Cs of the first block is placed on the reference plate 15 and pushed forward, the lever 34 is resisted against the spring 35 by the protruding plate 39. Once retracted, and when the hole 36a of the outer case 36 reaches the tip of the lever 36, the lever 34 stands up through the hole 36a to position and mount the cassette Cs at a predetermined position, and the bottom plate 37 moves upward. The uppermost sheet of paper 11 is pushed up and comes into pressure contact with the roller 2a. At the same time, the projection plate 39 of the cassette Cs
Comes into contact with the tip chevron portion 30a of the leaf spring 30 of one of the separating members 5a, presses the leaf spring 30 downward, and pivots the arm 29 around the pin 27 in a clockwise direction to move the pad holding base 32. Energize upwards. As a result, the friction pad 3 of the one separating member 5a comes into pressure contact with the paper feeding roller 2a, and the one paper feeding roller 2a and the separating member 5a corresponding to the cassette Cs of the first block are activated. When the drive shaft 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in this state, the paper 11 stored in the cassette Cs is fed by the frictional force of one of the paper feed rollers 2a, and when two or more papers are fed, the lower paper is rubbed. The feeding of the pad 3 is regulated by the pressure contact of the pad 3, and the pad 3 is separated. At this time, the paper feed roller 2a is substantially at the center in the width direction with respect to the size of the first block, so that the skew feed of the paper does not occur and the other paper feed roller 2a also rotates. Since the cassette Cs is not in contact with the leaf spring 30, the friction pad 3 of the separating member 5b is not in pressure contact with the roller 2b, and wear of the paper feed roller 2b and the friction pad 3 is avoided. When the cassette Cl of the second block is used, after removing the cassette Cs of the first block, the reference surface 15
Insert the second block cassette Cl by pushing it in the direction of the arrow. Then, the paper 11 is brought into contact with both the paper feed rollers 2a and 2b by the lever 34, and at the same time, the projecting plate 39 comes into contact with the leaf springs 30 of both the separating members 5a and 5b and presses them downward, thereby causing the arm 29 to move.
The pad holding table 32 is urged upward via the. As a result, the friction pads 3 of the two separating members 5a and 5b are brought into pressure contact with the paper feeding rollers 2a and 2b, respectively, and the two paper feeding rollers 2a and 2b and the separating members 5a and 5b are activated. Therefore, when the drive shaft 1 is rotated in this state, the paper 11 is fed to both the paper feed rollers 2a and 2b.
When two or more sheets are fed without skewing, the friction pads 3 of the separating members 5a and 5b reliably separate the sheets.

In the above embodiment, the separation members 5a and 5b are always used as the paper feed roller 2.
Although not abutting against a and 2b, only the separating members required by mounting the corresponding cassette C were pressed, but on the contrary, the separating members 5a and 5b are always pressed against the sheet feeding rollers 2a and 2b to remove the cassette C. It may be configured to release unnecessary pressing of the separating member by mounting.

In addition, the present invention uses the paper feed roller 2 as in the above-described embodiment.
The number of a and 2b and the separating members 5a and 5b is not limited to two, and a large number such as three and four may be installed according to the type of paper size. Change the state
It is not limited to the movement of the regulation plate 17 and the mounting of the cassettes Cs and Cl described above, but may be performed by another paper size selection means such as a paper size selection operation button through an interlocking means such as a solenoid.

Further, although the above-described embodiment describes the paper feeding device in which the papers of different sizes are placed close to one side edge in the width direction regardless of the size, the present invention is not limited to this, and the center of the paper is set to the feeding center. It can also be applied to the central guide located. That is, when a large number of paper feed rollers and separation members are installed due to diversification of paper size, large size paper comes into contact with the paper feed roller and friction members at the center and both ends, but small size paper comes to the center. However, in the case of the small-sized sheet feeding, the regulating plate is moved (the regulating plates on both sides in the width direction are moved to the left and right) and the cassette is attached to contact the paper. You may comprise so that the friction member of the part which does not do may be removed from a paper feed roller.

(G) Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of friction rotators are installed at predetermined intervals, and a separating member is arranged corresponding to each friction rotator, and further, Since the predetermined separating member is selectively controlled to be pressed or not pressure-contacted to the friction rotating body in accordance with the sheet-shaped material size, in conjunction with the sheet-shaped material size selection means that is operated according to the sheet-shaped material size, Even in a sheet-shaped material supply device in which the sheet-shaped material is placed near one side edge in the width direction, the sheet-shaped material can be fed by the friction rotating body and the separating member adapted to each dimension,
Even if there is a large difference in sheet material size, it is possible to accurately and surely feed all the sheet material without causing skew and double feeding. Further, since the separating member is held in a non-press contact state with respect to the friction rotating body in the non-actuated state where the sheet material does not come into contact with each other, the friction contact between the friction rotating body and the friction member in the pressure state is performed. It is possible to prevent the friction rotor and the friction pad from being prematurely worn, further reduce the braking action due to the friction, reduce the load on the drive device and the transmission mechanism, and prolong the life of the entire device. Feeding can be smoothed. Further, the selection control of pressure contact or non-pressure contact of the separation member with respect to the friction rotating body is automatically performed according to the selection of the sheet material size by the sheet material size selection means such as movement of the regulation plate or mounting of the cassette. Therefore, no troublesome operation is required, and it is possible to eliminate troubles caused by forgetting operation and erroneous operation.

In the description of the present invention, non-pressure contact means a state in which the separating member is not in pressure contact with the friction rotating body. Therefore, not only the separating member is not in contact with the friction rotating body, but also the separating member. It also includes a state where is lightly contacting the friction rotating body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a prior art of a sheet-like material feeding apparatus, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing its problems, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a side sectional view thereof. 1 ... Drive shaft, 2a, 2b ... Friction rotor, 3 ... Friction pad, 5a, 5b ... Separation member, 6 ... Spring, 7, 7 '...
Mounting table, 9 ... Spring, 11 ... Sheet material (paper), 15 ... Reference plate, 17 ... Sheet material dimension selection means (regulating plate), 23 ... Control section (roller), 30 ... Leaf spring, 34 ... Lever, 39 ... Control part (projection plate), Cs, Cl ...
… Sheet material size selection means (cassette), F, F ′ ……
Sheet material feeder (paper feeder)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Ken Tanabe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yasumi Yoshida 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (72) Inventor Kazuo Matsui 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshikuni Toyama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. ( 72) Inventor Hiroshi Ogawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Katsumi Muneka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference Reference JP-A-56-132234 (JP, A) Actually developed S55-17010 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet-shaped material stacking unit capable of stacking sheet-shaped materials having different sizes, a friction rotator for feeding the sheet-shaped materials stacked on the sheet-shaped material stacking unit, and pressure contact with the friction rotator. In the sheet material supplying device having a separating member for separating the sheet materials one by one between them, the friction rotator is loaded on the sheet material loading means at a predetermined interval in the width direction of the sheet material. The sheet-shaped material of the smallest size and the position of the sheet-shaped material of a size larger than the sheet-shaped material of the smallest size. , A minimum size sheet material is loaded on the sheet material loading means in association with a sheet material size selection means operated according to the size of the sheet material loaded on the sheet material loading means. A sheet-like material, characterized in that it is provided with interlocking switching means for bringing the friction rotating body and the separating member in a position corresponding to a sheet-like material having a size larger than the minimum-sized sheet-like material into a non-pressure contact state. Material feeder. 2. The sheet-shaped material size selection means is a regulation plate movably provided to regulate the width direction of the sheet-shaped material loaded on the sheet-shaped material loading means.
The interlocking switching means separates from the friction rotating body located at a position corresponding to a sheet-shaped material having a size larger than the minimum-sized sheet-shaped material in accordance with the movement of the minimum-sized sheet-shaped material of the restriction plate to the restricted position. The sheet-like material feeding device according to claim (1), characterized in that the member is brought into a non-pressure contact state. 3. The sheet material size selecting means is a cassette that accommodates sheets of different sizes and is selectively mounted, and the interlocking switching means mounts a cassette that accommodates the sheet material of the minimum size. According to the above, the friction rotating body and the separating member at a position corresponding to the sheet-shaped material in the cassette that accommodates the sheet-shaped material having a size larger than the minimum-sized sheet-shaped material are brought into a non-pressure contact state. The sheet-like material feeding device according to claim (1).