JPH0790927B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a laser beam printer, and more specifically, to a sheet storage position where a large number of sheets are stored inside the machine ( The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a copier) to which a cassette is attached detachably.

(B) Conventional technology As the copying machine becomes smaller and smaller, a cassette for storing sheets is housed in the machine body, and the cassette is attached / detached in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, that is, from the machine rear side to the front side. A front-loading type copying machine that can be used has been put to practical use.

Further, the present applicant has devised an auto-loading type copying machine that automatically moves the cassette to improve the operability (unpublished). The copying machine 1a, as shown in FIG. It has a cassette 3 which is detachably mounted in the machine body 2.
Can be pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. Further, the copying machine 1a is provided with an attaching / detaching device 5 for automatically attaching / detaching the cassette 3 in the machine body 2, and a paper feed roller 6 for feeding a sheet from the cassette 3 is provided in the vicinity of the device 5. There is. Further, in the machine body 2, a photosensitive drum 7 carrying a toner image is arranged.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the attachment / detachment device 5 includes frame bodies 9 and 10, and in the frame body 9, a pulse motor 11 capable of rotating in both forward and reverse directions is arranged. Then, the motor 11
A gear 12 is fixed to a shaft 11a of the gear 12, and the gear 12 is a gear fixed to a shaft 13 rotatably supported by a frame body 9.
It meshes with 15. A sprocket 16 is fixed to one end of the shaft 13, and a chain 20 is stretched between the sprocket 16 and a sprocket 19 fixed to a shaft 17 rotatably supported by the frame 9. ing. Further, a light shielding plate 21 is arranged on the chain 20, and the light shielding plate 21 is
Turn on the sensors 22 and 23 arranged in proximity to the chain 20,
It is supposed to turn off. And the rail portion 9 of the frame body 9
A guide roller 25 and a cassette detection sensor 26 are provided at a, and a guide roller 25 is provided at the rail portion 10a of the frame body 10. Further, the shaft 11a of the motor 11 is a frame 10
The gear 27 is fixed to the tip of the shaft 11a. Further, the gear 27 meshes with a gear 30 fixed to a shaft 29 rotatably supported by the frame body 10.
A sprocket 31 is fixed to one end of the. And
A shaft 32 is rotatably supported by the frame body 10, a sprocket 33 is fixed to the shaft 32, and a chain 35 is stretched between the sprocket 33 and the sprocket 31. A pin 36 is provided on each of the chain 35 and the chain 20, and the pin 36 is a chain.
It is designed to move integrally with the chains 20,35 by the rotation of 20,35. Furthermore, on both sides on the back side of the cassette 3,
An L-shaped groove 37 in side view is formed so as to engage with the pin 36.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the power of the copying machine 1a is turned on, the control unit (not shown) causes the cassette detection sensor 26 to operate.
Is determined to be ON (S1), and if the sensor 26 is determined to be ON, it is determined whether the sensor 23 is ON (S2). Then, when the control unit determines that the sensor 23 is ON, a copy start key (not shown)
When it is determined that the key is turned on, a paper feed motor (not shown) is turned on (S4).
Further, the sheet feeding roller 6 starts to rotate by driving the motor, and the sheet S is fed from the cassette 3. Then, on the sheet S, an image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 is copied, the image is fixed by a fixing device (not shown), and the sheet S is ejected to the outside of the machine body 2. Then, when the desired number of sheets S are fed by the same operation, the control unit determines whether or not the sheet feeding is completed (S5). When it is determined that the sheet feeding is completed, the sheet feeding motor is turned off. Then, the paper feeding operation is finished (S6).
Furthermore, the control unit turns on the cassette eject key (not shown).
If it is determined that the key is not turned on (S7), it waits until the copy start key is turned on. Further, when it is determined in S2 that the sensor 23 is not turned on, the control unit activates the pulse motor 11 in the normal direction, that is, in the direction of moving the cassette 3 to the rear side (S8). The drive of the motor 11 is transmitted to the sprocket 16 via the gears 12 and 15, and is transmitted to the sprocket 31 via the roller 11a and the gears 27 and 30. Then, the rotation of the sprocket 16 starts the rotation of the chain 20 and the rotation of the sprocket 31 starts the rotation of the chain 35, and the pin 36 abuts / engages with the one surface 37a of the groove 37. The rotation of moves the cassette 3 to the rear side.
Then, the control unit determines whether or not the sensor 23 is turned on (S9), and when it is determined that the sensor 23 is turned on, turns off the pulse motor 11 (S10). As a result, the cassette 3 is moved to a predetermined position in the machine body 2 by the attachment / detachment device 5. Then, the control unit performs the operations after S3. If it is determined in S9 that the sensor 23 is not turned on, the control unit determines whether the cassette eject key is turned on (S1
1) If it is determined that the key is not turned on, the operation after S9 is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the key is ON, the control unit activates the pulse motor 11 in the reverse direction, that is, in the direction of moving the cassette 3 to the front side (S12). The drive of the motor 11 is transmitted to the sprockets 16 and 31 in the same manner as described above, and the chains 20 and 35 are transmitted by these sprockets 16 and 31.
Rotate counterclockwise (see FIG. 4). This allows
The pin 36 contacts the one surface 37b of the groove 37 to move the cassette 3 to the front side. Then, the control unit determines whether or not the sensor 22 is turned on (S13), and when it is determined that the sensor 22 is turned on, turns off the pulse motor 11 (S14). Then, the control unit determines whether the cassette detection sensor 26 is ON (S15), and when it is determined that the sensor 26 is not ON,
The operation after S1 is performed. If it is determined in S7 that the cassette eject key is ON, S12
Performs the following operations.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, in the above-mentioned copying machine, when the cassette 3 is taken out by the attaching / detaching device 5, the cassette detection sensor 26 remains ON, and the operator pulls the cassette 3 toward the front side. If the cassette 3 is separated from the cassette detection sensor 26 and the sensor 26 is not turned off once, the cassette 3 cannot be mounted by the attachment / detachment device 5, which is troublesome.

Therefore, according to the present invention, after the sheet storage device is moved to the outside of the machine by the first movement means, the second movement means separates the sheet storage device from the detection means, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem. It is intended to provide.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a seat storage device (S) in which a seat (S) is stored in the machine body (2) and is detachably mounted ( 3), and first moving means for moving the sheet storage device between an insertion position for inserting the sheet storage device into the machine body and a sheet feeding position for feeding the stored sheets. (5), a detection means (41) for detecting the insertion of the sheet storage device into the insertion position, a control means for controlling the operation of the first moving means based on the detection of the detection means, For removing the sheet storage device, for moving the sheet storage device from the sheet feeding position to the insertion position by the first moving means and then moving the sheet storage device to a position separated from the detection means. Second move A stage (39), in the image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a.

(E) Operation Based on the above configuration, the sheet storage device (3) is attached to the machine body (2).
When mounted on the seat, the detection means (41) causes the sheet storage device (3)
Is detected, based on the signal from the detection means (26),
The first moving means (5) is driven to move the sheet storage device (3) to the sheet feeding position. Further, when the sheet storage device (3) is taken out, after the first moving means (5) moves the sheet storage device (3) to the insertion position, the second moving means (39) is moved by the sheet storage device (3). Detection means (4
Move from 1) to a position away from you.

The reference numerals in parentheses above are shown for reference and do not limit the configuration in any way.

(F) Example Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The same parts as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the copying machine has a body frame 2a.
Has an arm 39 rotatably supported by a spring, and a spring whose one end is locked to the frame 2a at the middle of the arm 39.
40 is connected so that the arm 39 normally holds the upright state. Further, a cassette detection sensor 41 is arranged near the base end of the arm 39, and the sensor 41 is turned on / off by a part 39a of the arm 39. Further, a rotatable roller 42 is arranged at the tip of the arm 39.

Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, the cassette 3
When the cassette 3 is mounted on the machine body 2, the pin 36 is located at a position facing the opening 37c of the groove 37, and when the cassette 3 is inserted along the rail portions 9a and 10a, the pin 36 is inserted into the groove 37 (first (See FIG. 1 (a)). Then, when the cassette 3 is further inserted,
The cassette 3 causes the arm 39 to rotate counterclockwise against the spring 40 (see FIG. 1B). When the roller 42 at the tip of the arm 39 comes into contact with the bottom of the cassette 3, the arm 39 is rotated. A part 39a of the cassette intercepts between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the cassette detection sensor 41. Then, the pulse motor 11 is normally rotated by the signal from the sensor 41, and the rotation of the motor 11 is caused by the rotation of the chains 20, 35.
Be transmitted to. Further, by the clockwise rotation of the chains 20 and 35, the pin 36 contacts the one surface 37a of the groove 37 and moves the cassette 3 to the rear side (see FIG. 1 (c)). Thereafter, by the same operation as described above, the cassette 3 is moved and positioned at the sheet feeding position for feeding the sheet.

Further, when the cassette 3 is taken out, when a take-out button (not shown) is turned on, the pulse motor 11 is reversely driven by the ON signal from the button to rotate the sprockets 16 and 31 counterclockwise. As a result, the pin 36 contacts the one surface 37b of the groove 37 and moves the cassette 3 to the front side (see FIG. 2 (a)). Then, when the cassette is moved to the insertion position for insertion into the machine body, the cassette detection sensor 41 is turned off, and the pulse motor 11 is turned off by the OFF signal from the sensor 41 to end the movement of the cassette 3 (second). See FIG. (B)). Then, the cassette 3 is further pushed toward the front side by the arm 39 which is rotated by the urging force of the spring 40 accumulated when the cassette is moved to the sheet feeding position, whereby the part 39a of the arm 39 is pushed. Is separated from the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion of the cassette detection sensor 41, and the sensor 41 is turned on (see FIG. 2 (c)). Then, the ON signal of the sensor 41 puts the cassette 3 into a standby state for insertion.

It should be noted that in the above embodiment, the arm is used as the detection means.
The description has been given using the cassette detection sensor 41 which is turned on / off by a part 39a of 39, but not limited to this, as shown in FIG. 3, a cassette detection sensor 41 'which is turned on / off by the cassette 3 itself is used. Good.

(G) Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the sheet storage device has the first moving means and the second moving means, and when the sheet storage device is taken out, the sheet storage device is moved by the first moving means. After moving to the insertion position, the second moving means is configured to move the sheet storage device to a position away from the detection means. Therefore, the sheet storage device is automatically separated from the detection means, and the sheet storage device is opened. It is possible to save the labor of separating from the detection means.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 (a), (b) and (c) are side sectional views showing a second moving means according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (a), (b),
(C) is a side sectional view showing the operation of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams showing examples of proposals made by the applicant. 1a ... Image forming device, 2 ... Machine, 3 ... Sheet storage device, 5 ... First moving means, 11 ... Driving means, 26, 41, 4
1 '... detection means, 39 ... second moving means, S ... sheet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet storage device in which a sheet is stored and detachably mounted in a body, an insertion position for inserting the sheet storage device into the body, and a sheet for feeding the stored sheet. First moving means for moving the sheet storage device to and from the sheet feeding position; detection means for detecting insertion of the sheet storage device into the insertion position; and Control means for controlling the operation of the first moving means; and, when taking out the sheet storage device, after moving the sheet storage device from the sheet feeding position to the insertion position by the first moving means, An image forming apparatus comprising: a second moving unit that moves the storage device to a position separated from the detection unit.