JPH0752118Y2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an air-feeding type paper feeding device such as a copying machine,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device including a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes.

[Problems to be solved by conventional techniques and devices]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a photosensitive paper feeding device in an electrophotographic method is a paper feeding roller method including a cassette for loading the photosensitive paper, a paper feeding roller for driving the photosensitive paper, and a paper feeding roller for driving to an exposure unit. It was

In recent years, due to a request to easily select the size of the photosensitive paper and feed the paper, as shown in FIG. 7, the parts upstream of the paper feed rollers 31 and 32 are fed in large, medium, and small sizes according to the size of the photosensitive paper. cassette
By configuring each 41, 42, 43 independently, and by feeding the feeding paper to the feeding rollers 31, 32 by each feeding roller 51, 52, 53, it is possible to avoid the trouble of selecting the photosensitive paper. The operability was improved.

On the other hand, in the paper feed device of the paper feed roller type, since the photosensitive paper is sent out by the frictional force between the paper feed roller and the photosensitive paper, scratches, wrinkles, indentations, etc. on the photosensitive surface easily occur, and It wasn't enough for the point that each one was dealt with reliably.

To solve this problem, an air feeding method was devised. According to this method, when the photosensitive paper is guided to the paper feed roller, an air suction means is used instead of the paper feed roller that feeds by frictional force, and the photosensitive paper is sucked by the suction cup.
By constructing a paper feed cam that incorporates a separating operation for separating the photosensitive paper sheets one by one in the drive operation of the suction cup, the above-mentioned problems of the paper feed roller system are solved. There is.

On the other hand, in the conventional air feeding method, we improved the scratches, dents, wrinkles, and loosening that tend to occur in the roller feeding method.However, when feeding different sizes of photosensitive paper, replace the photosensitive paper. There is a drawback in the operability that it must be done.

In order to solve this problem, the roller paper feed method is adopted.Independent paper feed rollers are configured for each paper feed cassette, so that it is possible to feed multiple paper feed cassettes. Although it is easy to arrange a cup,
If this is done, the number of components will increase, and at the same time, adjustments associated with sheet feeding will be required for each sheet feeding cassette, which has not been realized.

In view of the above points, the present invention solves the problems of the conventional roller feeding method and the air feeding method by using the air feeding method, and only one set of suction cups can be used to feed multiple feeding cassettes. It is intended to realize feeding of photosensitive paper.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problem is solved by providing a plurality of paper feed trays arranged in the vertical direction and movable back and forth in a substantially horizontal paper feed direction for selective use, and above the plurality of paper feed trays. A pair of air adsorbers for feeding the feed sheets stacked on the selected paper feed table to the paper feed roller, and a supporting means for swingably supporting the one set of air adsorbers. And a swinging mechanism that swings the one set of air suction members between the sheet feeding table and the sheet feeding roller, and the supporting means includes a fulcrum shaft rotatably supported by a side plate. An arm attached to the fulcrum shaft and a support shaft rotatably supported on a tip portion of the arm, the one set of air adsorbers is attached to the support shaft, and the swinging mechanism includes: A first cam follower provided on a first lever attached to a fulcrum shaft, and a first cam follower that cooperates with the first cam follower. A first cam which rotates counter, first
Second cam follower provided on a second lever attached to the support shaft, and a second cam follower provided with a second lever attached to the support shaft. A second cam mechanism that includes a second cam that rotates the support shaft in cooperation with the second cam follower, and a spring that urges the second cam follower in a direction to bring the second cam follower into contact with the second cam mechanism. In the state where the first cam is in contact with the first cam follower, the one set of the air adsorbers is arranged from the position above the feeding sheet stacked on the uppermost sheet feeding base to the lowermost stage. It can be moved downward to a position where it can contact the sheets loaded on the paper feed tray, and conversely it can be returned upward, and a predetermined position above each paper feed tray during the upward movement. Performing a paper picking operation by a short vertical movement in And it has a cam shape capable of,
When the lowermost paper feed tray is selected, the first cam (16) is kept in contact with the first cam follower, and the one set of air suction members is the lowermost paper feed tray. When the paper feed table of the other set is sucked, and one of the paper feed trays other than the lowermost one is selected, the one set of the air adsorbers comes into contact with the feed paper of the paper feed tray selected in the downward movement process. Then, the first cam follower is separated from the first cam while adsorbing the fed sheet, the downward movement of the pair of air adsorbers is blocked, and the rotation of the first cam advances to cause At the position of the first cam corresponding to the upward movement of the pair of air suction members, the first cam follower re-contacts with the first cam, and
The pair of air adsorbers are adapted to move upward, and the second cam cooperates with the first cam so that the support shaft and the above-mentioned support shaft and According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper feeding device having a cam shape that rotates a set of air suction elements toward the paper feeding roller.

[Action]

In the present invention having the above-described configuration, when feeding, the paper feed trays other than the paper feed trays to be fed are retracted rearward in the paper feed direction, and the selected paper feed tray is located in the front, Is transported from this position to the paper feed roller by the air suction element. The air suction element is oscillated by the action of the cam, and is prevented from moving downward when it comes in contact with one of the sheets stacked on the upper feed tray. It is possible to perform a paper separating operation by a short vertical movement at a predetermined position of the sheet feeding table and a predetermined position of the upper sheet feeding table. For example, when the upper paper feed tray is selected, the air suction element comes into contact with the feed paper loaded on the upper paper feed tray to adsorb the paper feed and perform the paper separating operation. Carries the post-feed paper to the paper feed roller. The cam continues to rotate even after the air suction element comes into contact with the paper feed on the upper feed tray and stops, but the movement of the air suction element following the cam toward the lower feed tray is absorbed by the swing mechanism. It When the lower paper feed tray is selected, the air suction element contacts the paper feed loaded on the lower paper feed tray and adsorbs the paper feed, and the lower paper feed tray After the paper is separated at the predetermined position, the fed paper is conveyed to the paper feed roller. In the latter case, the air suction element performs the paper-sorting operation at the position of the lower-side paper feed tray and then performs the paper-sorting operation at the position of the upper-stage paper feed tray again. Absent.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a paper feeding device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are side views of the same.
The drawing shows the reference positions of the pair of suction cups 23, FIG. 3 shows the suction point of the photosensitive paper 2 of the lower paper feeding cassette 3, and FIG. 4 shows the suction point of the photosensitive paper 2 of the upper paper feeding cassette 1. Show. FIG. 5 shows the shape of the paper feed cam 16, and FIG. 6 shows its cam diagram.

In these figures, 1 and 3 are an upper paper feed cassette and a lower paper feed cassette in which the photosensitive papers 2 are stacked. Each of the paper feed cassettes 1 and 3 has a bottom plate 4 and a pair of left and right side plates 5a and 5a.
b, it is constituted by a paper guide 7 which regulates the rear end of the photosensitive paper 2 and presses it against the front end, that is, the front wall 6 of the paper feed cassette. The pair of side plates 5a, 5b can be moved and fixed symmetrically in the width direction of the photosensitive paper 2, has an elasticity on the inner surface of the front end, and is located above the maximum stacking height of the photosensitive paper 2. Separation claws 8 are respectively arranged and opposed to each other, and the tip ends thereof extend above the photosensitive paper 2.
For the upper sheet feeding cassette 1, the lower sheet feeding cassette 3
A rail base 9 fixed to the upper side of the pair of left and right sides is arranged, and the upper sheet feeding cassette 1 is movable in the arrow direction. Side plates 10 and 11 are erected so as to face each other on both sides of the upper sheet feeding cassette 1 and the lower sheet feeding cassette 3, and a fulcrum shaft 12 is rotatably supported between front end portions of these side plates 10 and 11. Has been done. At one end of the fulcrum shaft 12, the roller 13
The lever 14 is fixed, and the lever 14 is urged to rotate in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 by the tension coil spring 15, which causes the roller 13 to move the roller 13 to the cam surface 16 of the paper feeding cam 16.
Pressed against a. The paper feed cam 16 is fixed to a shaft 17 provided on the side plate 10, and is configured to be rotated in the arrow direction in FIG. 1 by transmitting power from a motor (not shown) during a paper feed operation. In this case, the paper feed cam surface 16a is composed of a curved portion a having a constant curvature and a meandering portion b having a complicated shape as shown in FIG.
When 16 rotates once, the cam diagram shown in FIG. 6 is drawn, and the roller 13 operates in accordance with the cam diagram. In FIG. 6, symbols A to F correspond to the positions of the roller 13, and the lever 14 makes a pendulum motion. The symbols C and D correspond to the sorting operation of the photosensitive paper 2 of the lower sheet feeding cassette 3, and the symbols E and F correspond to the sorting operation of the photosensitive sheet 2 of the upper sheet feeding cassette 1.
One end of a pair of left and right arms 19 and 20 is fixed to the inside of the side plates 10 and 11 on the end side of the fulcrum shaft 12, and these arms 1
A support shaft 22 is rotatably supported between the tip portions of 9,20. In the portion between the pair of arms 19 and 20 of the support shaft 22,
A plurality of suction cups 23 for suction-holding the tip of the uppermost photosensitive paper 2 are vertically provided via slidable blocks 24. Further, the block 24 of each suction cup 23,
It is connected to a pump (not shown) via an air relay block 25. A roller is provided on the end of the support shaft 22 on the side plate 11 side.
An oscillating cam lever 27 having 26 is fixed, and the cam lever 27 is urged to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by a tension coil spring 28 so that the roller 26 is arranged on the inner surface of the side plate 11. It is constantly in pressure contact with the cam surface 30 of the provided guide cam 29. The guide cam 29 includes two metal plates 29a and 29a.
In the cam surface 30, the upper half portion is gently curved toward the rear end side of the photosensitive paper 2, and the lower half portion is formed substantially vertically.
Incidentally, reference numerals 31 and 32 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 are sheet feeding rollers.

Next, the operation of supplying the photosensitive paper 2 from the upper sheet feeding cassette 1 and the lower sheet feeding cassette 3 in such a configuration will be described.

The suction cup 23 is held above the tip of the photosensitive paper 2 at a predetermined height as shown in FIG. At this time, the roller 13 is located at the portion A where the displacement of the paper feed cam 16 is the largest (see FIGS. 5 and 6).
(Fig.) Is pressed.

In this state, the upper paper feed cassette 1 and the lower paper feed cassette 3 are selected.
Is the movement in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
The position is detected by a sensor (not shown). Therefore, in FIG. 3, it can be seen that the lower paper feed cassette 3 is selected. Now, the state shown in FIG. 3, that is, the case where the photosensitive papers 2 stacked in the lower paper feed cassette 3 are fed will be described.

In this state, when the paper feeding operation is started, the paper feeding cam 16 starts to rotate clockwise in FIG. 1, so that the lever 14 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 by the force of the spring 15 along the cam surface 16a. . At that time, the suction cup 23 is already in the suction state because the air pump (not shown) is operating. The suction cup 23 descends when the fulcrum shaft 12, the arms 19 and 20, and the lever 14 rotate integrally, and the roller 13 is located closest to the shaft 17 of the paper feeding cam surface 16a (B) (FIG. 5). Is reached, the photosensitive paper 2 in the lower paper feed cassette 3 is adsorbed and held by contacting the uppermost tip of the photosensitive paper 2 loaded in the lower paper feed cassette 3. (FIG. 3) Here, the support shaft 22 is rotatable with respect to the arms 19 and 20, but since the cam lever 27 rises along the cam surface 30 of the guide cam 29, it rotates counterclockwise in FIG. When the suction cup 23 is moved, the suction cup 23 moves slightly backward. The roller 13 has a cam surface
When moving along 16a, the suction cup 23 sucks the uppermost tip of the photosensitive paper 2 in the lower paper feed cassette 3 in FIG.
Two pieces of paper (C and D portions in FIG. 6 cam diagram) are used to perform a two-time swing-off operation (sorting operation) in the vicinity of the sorting claws 8 attached to the side surface of the lower sheet feeding cassette 3 above the photosensitive paper 2. The photosensitive paper below the eyes can be surely dropped. Then, when the second shake-off operation for the photosensitive paper 2 in the lower paper feed cassette 3 is finished, the suction cup 23 moves to the upper paper feed cassette 1 above.
Then, the second swing-off operation is performed twice in the vicinity of the separation claw 8 of the upper sheet feeding cassette 1. At this time, since the upper-stage paper feeding cassette 1 is in the position shown in FIG. 3, the suction cup 23 performs an operation unrelated to the loosening while sucking one sheet of the photosensitive paper 2 which has already been loosened. This means that the paper feed cam surface 16a of the paper feed cam 16 according to FIG.
It is indicated by the movement of E and F. After that, the roller 13 moves from the paper feed cam surfaces E and F to the position A along the paper feed cam surface 16a. The movement is transmitted to the suction cup 23 along the cam surface 30 of the guide cam 29. That is, the suction cup 23 moves to the position of the paper feed rollers 31 and 32. Suction cup 2
After the leading edge of the photosensitive paper 2 sucked by 3 enters between the paper feed rollers 31 and 32, the paper feed rollers 31 and 32 start rotating,
A series of sheet feeding operations are performed at the same time when the suction of an air pump (not shown) is stopped. Further, the paper feed cam 16 returns to the position of A in FIG. 5 and stops, that is, the suction cup.
Reference numeral 23 denotes the position shown in FIG. 2, which waits for the next sheet feeding operation command.
The above is the operation of feeding the photosensitive paper 2 when the lower paper feed cassette 3 is selected. Incidentally, 33 in FIGS. 2 to 4 is a charging section.

Next, the feeding of the photosensitive paper 2 when the upper feed cassette 1 is selected will be described.

For feeding the photosensitive paper 2 in the upper paper feed cassette 1, the upper paper feed cassette 1 is moved in the arrow direction so that the state shown in FIG. Before the paper feed operation command, the paper feed cam 16 is in the state of A in FIG. 5 and the suction cup 23 is in the state of FIG. When the paper feeding operation is started, as in the case of the photosensitive paper 2 of the lower paper feeding cassette 3 described above, the suction cup 23 begins to descend and enters the state shown in FIG. The uppermost photosensitive paper 2 of the paper feed cassette 1 is adsorbed and held. The relationship between the paper feed cam 16 and the roller 13 at this time is that the position of the roller 13 from the center of the shaft 17 is the separating operation for the lower paper feed cassette 3.
Since the position is farther than DC (Fig. 5), the paper feed cam surface 16a of the paper feed cam 16 and the roller 13 do not come into contact with each other, and the suction holding state of the suction cup 23 indicates that the paper feed cam 16 is It is held until it rotates and comes into contact with the roller 13. Therefore, the fifth
The shake-off operation for separating the photosensitive paper 2 in the lower paper feed cassette 3 corresponding to C and D in FIGS. 6 and 6 is not performed. When the cam surface 16a and the roller 13 come into contact pressure contact with each other until the rotation of the paper feed cam 16 progresses, the suction cup 23 starts to rise upward, and moves slightly rearward along the cam surface 30 of the guide cam 29, while moving to the upper stage. In the vicinity of the separation claw 8 for the paper feed cassette 1,
The swing-off operation of E and F shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is performed twice. After that, as in the paper feeding operation described above, the photosensitive paper 2 sucked by the suction cup 23 is fed to the paper feeding rollers 31, 32.
The paper is fed with the tip inserted between. Then the feeding cam
16 is stationary at the position of A in FIG. 5, that is, the suction cup 23 has the next sheet feeding operation command at the position of FIG. The above is the operation of feeding the photosensitive paper 2 when the upper paper feed cassette 1 is selected.

Although the above embodiment has described only two types of paper feeding cassettes, the present invention is not limited to this, and if the feeding cam 16 is provided with a swinging operation according to the number of paper feeding cassettes, the number of paper feeding cassettes is reduced. Of course, there may be two or more types.

[Effect of device]

Since the present invention has the above-described structure and operation, it is possible to feed desired paper feed from a plurality of paper feed trays by using only one set of air suction elements. Without causing scratches, indentations, wrinkles, etc.
A paper feeding device that is easy to handle can be obtained with a simple configuration.

Further, in a large copying machine or the like, the troublesomeness of setting the photosensitive paper in the paper feed cassette each time the photosensitive paper size is changed is eliminated, and the workability thereof is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are side views of the same embodiment. FIG. 2 is a drawing before starting feeding, and FIG. 3 is a drawing from a lower feeding cassette. No. 4 at the start of paper feeding
The drawings respectively show the start of paper feeding from the upper paper feeding cassette, FIG. 5 is a front view showing the shape of the paper feeding cam in the above embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a cam diagram corresponding to the movement of the same cam.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a paper feeding device of a conventional paper feeding roller system. 1 ... Upper sheet cassette, 2 ... Sensitized paper, 3 ... Lower sheet cassette, 9 ... Rail base, 12 ... Support shaft, 13 ... Roller, 14 ... Lever, 16 ... Feed cam , 19,20 ... arms, 2
2 …… Support shaft, 23 …… Suction cup, 27 …… Cam lever, 2
9 …… Guide cam, 30 …… Cam surface, 31,32 …… Feeding roller.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Goi 1-41 Kugayama 1-41, Suginami-ku, Tokyo Iwasaki Tsushinki Co., Ltd. (56) References JP 62-249840 (JP, A) 57-164746 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 61-5838 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 55-20329 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of paper feed trays (1, 3) which are vertically arranged and are movable back and forth in a substantially horizontal paper feed direction for selective use, and above the plurality of paper feed trays. A pair of air suction elements (23) for feeding the feed sheets stacked on the selected sheet feeding table to the sheet feeding rollers (31, 32), and the one pair of air suction elements (23 ) For swingably supporting the sheet feeding device (12, 19, 20, 22), and the pair of air suction members (23) for the sheet feeding table (1, 3) and the sheet feeding rollers (31, 32). ) And a swinging mechanism (14, 16, 27, 28, 29) for swinging between the supporting means and the fulcrum shaft (12) rotatably supported by the side plate (10, 11). , Arms attached to the fulcrum shaft (19,2
0) and a support shaft (2
2), the pair of air adsorbents (23) is attached to the support shaft (22), and the swing mechanism is attached to the fulcrum shaft (12). A first cam follower (13), a first cam (16) that rotates in one direction in cooperation with the first cam follower (13), and the first cam follower (13). A first cam mechanism including a spring (15) for urging the first cam (16) in a contacting direction and a second lever (27) attached to the support shaft (22). Cam follower (26), a second cam (29) that rotates the support shaft in cooperation with the second cam follower (26), and the second cam (29).
Second cam mechanism including a spring (28) for urging the cam follower (26) of the second cam (29) into contact with the second cam (29), and the first cam (16) includes the first cam (16). In a state of being in contact with the first cam follower (13), the one set of air adsorbers is fed from the position above the feeding paper loaded on the uppermost paper feed tray to the paper feeding tray loaded on the lowermost paper feed tray. It can be moved downward to a position where it can contact the paper feed, and vice versa, and can be returned upward, and in the middle of the upward movement, a paper separating operation by a short vertical movement at a predetermined position above each paper feed tray. When the lowermost paper feed tray is selected, the first cam (16) maintains the state of being in contact with the first cam follower (13). The one set of air adsorbers adsorbs the fed paper on the lowermost paper feed tray, and If a paper feed tray other than the lowermost one is selected, when one set of the air suction members comes into contact with the feed paper of the selected paper feed tray in the process of downward movement, the paper feed tray is selected. While adsorbing, the first cam follower (13)
Downward movement of the pair of air adsorbers is prevented from moving away from the cams (16), and rotation of the first cam (16) advances to correspond to upward movement of the pair of air adsorbers. At the position of the first cam (16), the first cam follower (13) re-contacts with the first cam (16) to move the pair of air adsorbers upward. The second cam (29) cooperates with the first cam (16) to move the support shaft (22) and the one set of air suckers from the middle of the upward movement of the one set of air suckers. A paper feeding device having a cam shape that rotates toward a paper feeding roller (31, 32).