JP2008081217A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeding device provided with a guide not deformed at all or hardly deformed even when a large force is applied due to inertia of a loaded paper by travel of the paper feeding device. <P>SOLUTION: In this paper feeding device 1 provided with a movable mechanism coming into contact with or leaving an image forming device 2 freely, a paper storage part 5, and an elevating plate 10 for loading a paper in the paper storage part 5, a part abutted on paper sheets on the guides 4a, 4b provided by passing through the elevating plate 10 and abutting on the paper P to regulate a position of the paper P in the direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the paper feeding device 1 and regulate a position of the paper P loaded in the paper storage part 5 has a structure constituted by mutually combining a first guide member 42a and a second guide member 42b being U-shaped members when viewed in a cross section in the horizontal direction while the paper feeding device 1 is provided with the guides. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that supplies paper to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a paper feeding device is used to supply paper to an image forming apparatus. In general, a sheet feeding device is provided in an image forming apparatus, and sheets stacked in the sheet feeding device are separated one by one from the top using a pickup roller or the like, and the sheets are supplied to the image forming apparatus. For example, there are a large-capacity paper feeding device externally attached to the image forming apparatus and a paper feeding cassette provided in the image forming apparatus main body.

  In these paper feeding apparatuses, a plate-shaped guide is usually provided in a paper storage unit in the paper feeding apparatus. This guide regulates the paper loaded in the paper feeding device at a predetermined position so that the paper is picked up reliably, and the paper loaded in the device may swing or collapse in the device. prevent. In addition, although there are papers with a fixed paper size to be stored, a configuration in which the support position of the guide can be changed so that papers of various sizes such as A4, A3, B4, and B5 can be stored. There are also paper feeders.

  Specifically, the paper feeding device generally has a paper storage portion having an upper surface opened, and paper is inserted and placed in the paper feeding device from the upper surface direction when paper is replenished. The sheets are usually stacked horizontally in the sheet feeding device. Therefore, the guide is provided in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface of the paper feeding device, and one surface of the guide comes into contact with the end of the stacked paper. In this way, the position of the sheet is regulated by bringing the one surface of the guide into contact with the sheet.

As an example of such a sheet feeding device, an invention described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-260688 discloses a mass feeding and conveying apparatus that includes a tray unit that stacks a large amount of sheets and can be pulled out of the main body case, and a separation sheet feeding unit that feeds the sheets of the tray unit to the image forming apparatus. The main body case is provided with a guide rail, a back fence which is rotatable so as to rotate in a predetermined direction and is opposed to the rear end in the paper feeding direction, and a sliding contact body which is in sliding contact with the guide rail on the back fence; And a paper feeding device provided with an opening mechanism that moves the back fence to a position where the back fence is opened to the rear end side in the paper feeding direction in conjunction with the drawer operation of the tray unit (see claim 1, FIG. 1). .
Patent No. 2931086

  Here, a paper feeding device that can store a large amount of paper and is externally attached to the image forming apparatus can be moved from the installed state and can be moved to and away from the image forming apparatus. Exists. That is, the paper feeding device can be separated from the image forming device in consideration of the ease of paper jamming (jam) processing. In addition, as described in Patent Document 1, there is also a paper feeding device in which a tray unit (that is, a paper storage unit) can be pulled out of the paper feeding device for paper supply.

  In such a paper feeding device that can move the paper feeding device main body or can move the paper storage unit by pulling out the paper storage unit, the paper feeding device main body performs a moving operation. Since a large amount of paper is heavy, when the moving operation is stopped, a large force is applied to the guide inside the device due to the inertia of the loaded paper, and the guide may be bent. is there.

  More specifically, a large force is applied to the guide that regulates the position of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction. As a result, the guide that regulates the position of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction may be bent. If a greater force is applied to the guide than the elastic force of the material of the guide, the guide will not return to its original shape while being bent (plastic deformation). Further, when the moving operation is repeated many times, the guide is further bent.

  Such bending of the guide also causes a problem that the position of the stacked paper is not reliably regulated. That is, the picked-up paper is not accurately picked up, or a paper jam is likely to occur. Finally, the guide may need to be replaced.

  Furthermore, since the guide regulates the position over the entire height of a large amount of sheets, the guides in these sheet feeding apparatuses are generally formed long in the vertical direction. Therefore, it can be said that the guide of the paper feeding device on which a large amount of paper is stacked is configured to be easily bent.

  Here, looking at the invention described in Patent Document 1, the invention described in Patent Document 1 shows that when the tray unit is pulled out, the paper that has been placed on the separation roller provided in the paper feeding device is replenished. In order to avoid a paper feeding trouble caused by dropping into the tray unit with the lowering of the tray and returning to the original stacking state (Patent Document 1: Page 2, Problem column to be solved by the invention) The inertia of the loaded paper is not considered at all. Accordingly, there is almost no description of the side fence that regulates the position of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the pulling direction of the tray unit, and the invention described in Patent Document 1 cannot cope with the above problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and in a paper feeding device having a moving mechanism, even if a large force is applied due to the inertia of the stacked paper accompanying the movement of the paper feeding device, the deformation is caused. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device provided with a guide that is not or can be extremely prevented from being deformed.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an invention according to claim 1 is provided in an image forming apparatus, and includes a paper storage portion that stores paper, a moving mechanism that can move the paper storage portion, and a paper storage portion. In a paper feeding device that can be moved up and down and is equipped with a lifting plate for stacking paper, and supplies the paper to the image forming apparatus, the paper feeding device regulates the position of the paper loaded in the paper storage unit. In order to do so, it includes one or a plurality of guides that penetrate the elevating plate and come into contact with the sheet, and the position of the sheet is regulated by the moving mechanism in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet feeding device moves. The portion of the guide that comes into contact with the sheet has a structure in which U-shaped members are combined with each other in a horizontal cross section in a state where the guide is provided in the paper feeding device. It was.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the first aspect, the U-shaped members are combined by riveting.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the first or second aspect, the paper storage unit is composed of a bottom plate and a plurality of side plates provided perpendicular to the bottom plate. The bottom plate is provided with a plurality of slits, and the upper edge of the side plate is provided with a plurality of engaging portions, and the lower end of the guide is inserted into the slit. An engagement member provided with a plurality of holes for engaging with the engagement portion is fixed to an upper end of the guide, and the guide includes the insertion portion for the insertion portion. It was decided to be positioned by inserting into the slit and engaging the hole with the engaging portion.

  The invention according to claim 4 is provided in the image forming apparatus, and is capable of moving up and down in the paper storage portion, a paper storage portion for storing paper, a moving mechanism capable of moving the paper storage portion, and the like. In the sheet feeding device that includes a lifting plate for stacking sheets and supplies the sheets to the image forming apparatus, the sheet feeding unit controls the position of the sheets stacked in the sheet storage unit. One or a plurality of guides that penetrate the plate and come into contact with the sheet are provided, and the guide for regulating the position of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet feeding device moves by the moving mechanism. The portion that contacts the paper has a pipe-like structure in a horizontal section in a state where the guide is provided in the paper feeding device.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeding device according to the fourth aspect, the paper storage portion includes a bottom plate and a plurality of side plates provided perpendicular to the bottom plate. The upper surface is open, the bottom plate is provided with a plurality of slits, the upper edge of the side plate is provided with a plurality of engaging portions, and the lower end of the guide is inserted into the slit. An engagement member provided with a plurality of holes for engaging with the engagement portion is fixed to the upper end of the guide, and the guide inserts the insertion portion into the slit. It was decided to be positioned by inserting the hole into the engaging portion and engaging the hole with the engaging portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the guide has a structure in which U-shaped members are combined with each other in the horizontal cross section in order to restrict the position of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet container moves. It is lightweight and has high strength in structure. Then, even if a large force due to the inertia of the sheets loaded in large quantities is received, the force can be endured, and the guide is not deformed or even if it is deformed, the deformation amount is extremely suppressed. Accordingly, pickup errors and paper jams caused by guide deformation and bending are eliminated. Furthermore, it is not necessary to replace the guide, and a long-life sheet feeding device can be provided.

  Further, if it is only necessary to increase the strength of the guide, it is considered that the thickness of one guide may be increased. However, in this case, the manufacturing cost of the guide is increased. In addition, since the weight of the guide increases, the burden of the work of mounting the guide on the paper feeder increases. However, according to the invention described in claim 1, there is no such disadvantage.

  According to the invention of claim 2, since the U-shaped members are combined by riveting, the work for combining and joining is easy, and rivets can be easily procured at low cost. A strong guide can be easily obtained. Moreover, even if it is combined, the surface of the guide can be almost free of protrusions, which is highly convenient in using the guide.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the strong guide is accurately positioned, the position of the stacked sheets is reliably regulated. Also, the positioning can be easily changed corresponding to each size of paper.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the guide has a pipe-like structure in the horizontal cross section for restricting the position of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet container moves. A sheet feeding device having a guide having the same effect as that of the invention described in item 1 is provided.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, as in the invention described in claim 3, since the strong guide is accurately positioned, the position of the stacked sheets is reliably regulated. Also, the positioning can be easily changed corresponding to each size of paper.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The paper feeding device 1 described in the present embodiment is a paper feeding device 1 that is externally attached to the image forming device 2, and describes a large capacity paper feeding device 1 that can store paper P in units of several thousand sheets. . However, each element such as configuration and arrangement described in this embodiment does not limit the scope of the invention and is merely an illustrative example.

  First, the outline of the paper feeding device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view when the image forming apparatus 2 is provided with the paper feeding device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state in which the paper feeding device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is moved away from the image forming device 2. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet feeding device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the upper left direction. FIG. 4 is a perspective view seen from the left front for explaining the internal structure of the sheet feeding device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a sheet feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment is provided on a side surface of an image forming apparatus 2 (copier). Although details of the structure will be described later, the paper feeding device 1 in the present embodiment can store about 4,000 sheets of paper P. The sheets P stacked in the sheet feeder 1 are sent out one by one toward the image forming apparatus 2, and the image forming apparatus 2 forms an image using the sheets P.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper feeding device 1 in the present embodiment is provided with a slide rail 1 a and a caster 1 b as a moving mechanism at the lower part of the device, and moves in the direction indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 1. The image forming apparatus 2 can be contacted and separated. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the paper feeding device 1 is moved. When a jam (paper jam) occurs during the conveyance of the paper P from the paper feeding device 1 to the image forming device 2, the slide rail 1a causes the paper feeding device 1 to move from the image forming device 2 as shown in FIG. If they are separated, the jam processing can be easily performed. In the present embodiment, the sheet storage unit 5 moves as the sheet feeding device 1 moves (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  A lid 1 c is provided on the upper surface of the paper feeding device 1. A fulcrum is provided near the left end of the lid 1c in FIG. 1 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1, and the lid 1c can be opened and closed. In addition, the cover part 1c of the open state is shown with a broken line in FIG. When the lid 1c of the paper feeding device 1 is opened, the upper surface of the paper feeding device 1 is opened, and the user can replenish the paper P to the paper feeding device 1 from the upper surface direction. it can.

  Next, an outline of the structure of the sheet feeding device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3, for convenience of explanation, the lid 1c is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet feeding device 1 according to this embodiment includes two lines for regulating the position in the direction parallel to the sheet conveyance direction (illustrated by arrows), in other words, the width direction of the sheet P. Width regulation guides 3a and 3b, guides 4a and 4b for regulating the rear end of the sheet P in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction, and a sheet container 5 accommodated in the housing 1d of the sheet feeder 1. (See FIG. 4), a lifting plate 10 for placing the paper P, a pickup unit 11 for feeding the stacked paper P one by one toward the image forming apparatus 2, and for checking the stacking condition of the paper P Sensors 12, 13 and a decorative plate 14 are provided.

  The width restricting guides 3a and 3b are formed by bending a plate-like member, and have a substantially L-shaped cross section in the vertical direction, and restrict the position of the sheet P in a direction parallel to the sheet conveying direction. The details will be described later.

  The guides 4a and 4b are for restricting the position of the trailing edge of the paper P in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction. When the paper feeding device 1 is moved, the inertia of the stacked paper P is used. (In FIG. 3, the movable direction of the sheet feeding device 1 is indicated by a white arrow in FIG. 3). As a structure, the guides 4a and 4b are obtained by joining two members, that is, an engaging member 41 for fixing to the paper feeding device 1 and a guide member 42 for contacting the rear end of the paper P to regulate the position. However, details will be described later.

  The elevating plate 10 is configured to be movable up and down, and is driven by a motor, a wire, a take-up pulley, etc. (not shown) that can rotate forward and backward. One end of the wire is fixed to the take-up pulley and the other end is fixed to the elevating plate 10, and the elevating plate 10 is raised (lowered) as the take-up pulley is driven by the motor to take up the wire. Is the opposite). Further, the paper P is stacked on the lifting plate 10 (the stacking position of the paper P is shown by a broken line in FIG. 2), and as the paper P decreases, the lifting plate 10 rises little by little. The uppermost sheet P among the sheets P that have been applied is always in contact with the pickup unit 11. In FIG. 2, the elevating plate 10 is in the most elevated state.

  In the present embodiment, the elevating plate 10 is provided with four through holes 15 for penetrating the width regulating guides 3a and 3b and six through holes 16 for penetrating the guides 4a and 4b. With this configuration, the width regulation guides 3 a and 3 b and the guides 4 a and 4 b can regulate the position of the sheets P stacked from the lower part to the upper part of the sheet feeding device 1. Further, since a plurality of through holes 15 and 16 are provided, the fixing positions of the width regulation guides 3a and 3b and the guides 4a and 4b can be replaced. Thereby, for example, sheets P of various sizes such as A4, A3, B5, and B4 can be stacked in the sheet feeding device 1.

  The pickup unit 11 has a built-in pickup roller therein, and picks up the sheet P located at the top of the sheets P stacked on the lifting plate 10 one by one and sends it out to the image forming apparatus 2. Further, the sheet feeding timing is controlled by a control signal transmitted from the image forming apparatus 2 to the sheet feeding apparatus 1.

  In the present embodiment, for example, two sensors for confirming the stacking state of the sheets P can be provided. Of the two sensors 12 and 13 provided on the right side of the pickup unit 11 in the left-right direction in FIG. 3, the right sensor 12 is for detecting a paper out. The sensor 12 that detects the out of paper is an optical sensor, and emits light toward the bottom surface of the paper feeding device 1. In the position below the sensor 12, the elevating plate 10 is penetrated, and when the paper P is exhausted, the emitted light reaches the bottom surface of the paper feeding device 1, and the light is blocked by the paper P in the paper stacking state. It changes with the light receiving state when It is detected that the sheet P has run out due to this change.

  On the other hand, of the two sensors 12 and 13 provided on the right side of the pickup unit 11 in the left-right direction in FIG. 2, the left sensor 13 detects the upper limit for detecting the uppermost position of the stacked paper P. This is to prevent the lifting plate 10 from rising too much. Further, due to the presence of the sensor 13, the elevation of the elevating plate 10 is controlled so that the topmost of the stacked paper P is in contact with the pickup unit 11. That is, the rotation of the motor is controlled by a signal from the sensor 13.

  Here, the operation of the paper feeding device 1 when paper is replenished will be described. As described above, the paper feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment can accommodate about 4,000 sheets of paper P, depending on the thickness of the paper P. In general, a copy sheet is a single package with 500 sheets as one reference. Accordingly, the sheet feeder 1 according to the present embodiment can accommodate eight packets.

  Since 4,000 sheets of paper P cannot be replenished at a time, for example, the paper P is replenished in units of 500 sheets. Therefore, the paper feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment lowers the lifting plate 10 by a certain amount as the paper P is supplied. Although not shown, a sensor for determining an appropriate lowering amount of the lifting plate 10 is separately provided. By the detection of this sensor, the rotation of the motor is controlled so that the elevating plate 10 and the uppermost surface of the already loaded paper P are at a height that is easy to replenish. Then, it is possible to repeat the replenishment of the paper P until the lifting plate 10 reaches the lowest level allowed.

  When the user closes the lid 1c of the paper feeding device 1, the lift plate 10 is raised according to the required amount. Specifically, the elevating plate 10 is raised until the uppermost sheet P stacked on the pickup unit 11 comes into contact. At that time, the above-described sensor 13 for detecting the upper limit is used to determine an appropriate amount of increase. That is, the rotation of the motor is controlled by a signal from the sensor 13.

  Note that the decorative plate 14 is provided so as to cover an engaging portion 51 of a sheet storage portion 5 to be described later (see FIG. 4), and the width regulation guides 3a and 3b and the guide 4a according to the change in the size of the sheet to be stored. It can be removed in consideration of replacement of 4b.

  Next, the structure of the inside of the paper feeding device 1 and the paper storage unit 5 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, among the members for regulating the position of the four sheets of paper P provided in total (see FIG. 3), one each of the width regulating guide 3 b and the guide 4 b and one side plate. 52 (described later) is omitted, and the internal structure only on the back side of the front view is illustrated, but the configuration on the front side of the front view is also described in the same manner.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the paper feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment, a paper container 5 is disposed in a housing 1 d.

  The sheet storage unit 5 is provided in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction at the bottom of the bottom plate 53, the side plate 52 provided in parallel with the sheet conveyance direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. It is comprised from the front wall board 55 etc. which were made. The side plate 52 and the front wall plate 55 are erected vertically with respect to the bottom plate 53. The sheet conveyance direction is indicated by an arrow in FIG.

  The bottom plate 53 is provided with a plurality of slits 56a and 56b for inserting insertion portions 31 and 43 (see FIGS. 5 to 7) provided at the lower ends of the width regulation guides 3a and 3b and the guides 4a and 4b. ing. The slits 56a and 56b are provided in accordance with each size of the paper P. Specifically, there are two types of slits 56a for inserting the width regulating guides 3a and 3b in a direction parallel to the paper transport direction and a slit 56b for inserting the guides 4a and 4b in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction. A plurality of slits 56a and 56b are provided. By inserting the insertion part 31 of the width regulation guides 3a and 3b into the slit 56a and the insertion part 43 of the guides 4a and 4b into the slit 56b, the lower end parts of the width regulation guides 3a and 3b and the guides 4a and 4b are supported. Is done.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the engagement for engaging with the hole 32 provided at the upper ends of the width regulating guides 3a and 3b and the engaging member 41 of the guides 4a and 4b over the upper edge of the side plate 52. A part 51 is provided. The engaging portion 51 and the hole portion 32 of the width regulating guides 3a and 3b and the hole portion 44 of the engaging member 41 of the guides 4a and 4b are combined. As the engaging means, for example, the engaging portion 51 may be fitted into the holes 32 and 44 as a protrusion, or may be engaged by screwing. Thereby, the upper end part of the width control guides 3a and 3b and the guides 4a and 4b is supported.

  The stacked paper P is discharged from the vicinity of the upper end of the front wall plate 55 toward the image forming apparatus 2. Therefore, the height of the front wall plate 55 is slightly lower than the height of the side wall plate 52. The sheet P is conveyed from the difference portion. That is, it becomes the paper discharge port 54.

  Further, the above-described elevating plate 10 is disposed in the paper storage unit 5. In FIG. 4, the illustration of the through holes 15 and 16 provided in the elevating plate 10 is omitted except for the through holes 15 and 16 used. The position of the paper P stacked on the elevating plate 10 is reliably regulated by the above-described configuration, that is, the width regulation guides 3a and 3b, the guides 4a and 4b, and the front wall plate 55 of the paper storage unit 5. Specifically, the position of the paper P of each size is regulated so that the interval between the width regulation guides 3a and 3b, that is, the center of the paper P in the width direction is in contact with the pickup unit 11.

  Next, the configuration of the width regulation guides 3a and 3b will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the width regulating guide 3a according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the guide 3a (AA ′ cross section in FIG. 5A). . The sheet feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment includes two width regulation guides 3a and 3b. The difference between the two is the bending direction, and the basic configuration is the same. The description of the guide 3b is omitted, but the width regulation guide 3b can be similarly described.

  The width regulation guide 3a is for regulating the position of the paper P stacked in the paper storage unit 5 in a direction parallel to the paper conveyance direction. The width regulation guide 3a is formed by bending a plate-like member. For example, it is made of sheet metal. The width regulation guide 3a has a substantially L-shaped cross section in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 5A, the width regulation guide 3a has an inclination 35 on the upper end portion 34 of the contact surface 33 that contacts the paper P. It is formed to have. The angle of the inclination 35 can be set as appropriate.

  By having this inclination 35, for example, compared to the case where the upper end portion 34 of the contact surface 33 is formed at a right angle as in the prior art, the hand holding the paper P to be supplied is inclined to the inclination 35 when paper is supplied. In other words, it is possible to secure a space for adding a hand when paper is replenished, and paper replenishment work for the paper feeding device 1 is facilitated. In addition, even when the user hits the upper end portion 34 of the contact surface 33 during the paper supply, the user is less likely to be injured.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the width regulation guide 3a includes two sheets along the insertion direction of the paper P over the contact surface 33 of the paper P, the inclination 35, and the upper end of the width regulation guide 3a. The protrusion 36 is provided. Compared with the case where the upper end portion of the contact surface 33 is formed at a right angle, when the paper P to be supplied is placed on the inclined portion 35 when paper is supplied, the friction between the width regulation guide 3a and the paper P is increased. . However, if one or a plurality of protrusions 36 are provided, such frictional resistance can be greatly reduced.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the side end portion 37 of the guide 3a is bent in such a direction as not to contact the paper P. In FIG. 5B, the side end portion 37 of the guide 3a is bent from the vicinity of the slope 35 to the lower end of the guide 3a. With this configuration, even if the user strikes the side end portion 37 of the width regulation guide 3a, it is less likely to be injured and the safety is improved as compared with the case where the user does not fold it. Further, when the width regulation guide 3a is gripped, for example, by changing the fixing position of the width regulation guide 3a, the width regulation guide 3a is easily held. Furthermore, since the sheet P is bent in such a direction that it does not come into contact with the sheet P, the position regulation of the sheet P is not hindered.

  On the other hand, a hole 32 is provided near the upper end of the width regulation guide 3a. The hole 32 is for engaging with an engaging portion 51 provided on the upper edge of the side plate 52 of the sheet accommodating portion 5, and is stopped by, for example, a screw, a screw, etc. The upper end is supported. On the other hand, the insertion part 31 is provided in the lower end part of the width control guide 3a. This insertion portion 31 is inserted into an appropriate slit 56 a of a plurality of slits 56 a provided on the bottom plate 53 of the paper storage portion 5. With these configurations, the width regulation guide 3a is supported and positioning is performed reliably. The positioning of the width regulation guide 3a can be easily changed by changing the engagement position in the engagement portion 51 and the slit 56a to be inserted in accordance with the paper size, and can correspond to the paper P of each size. (See FIG. 4).

  Next, the configuration of the guides 4a and 4b will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the guide 4a according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7: is a perspective view which shows the state with which the guide 4a which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention is combined. (B) is sectional drawing for demonstrating the state with which the guide 4a which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention was combined. The paper feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment includes two guides 4a and 4b. The difference between the two is the direction in which the engaging member 41 and the guide member 42 are attached, and the basic configuration. Since the description of the guide 4b is omitted, the guide 4b can be similarly described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the guide 4 a is roughly composed of two members: an engaging member 41 and a guide member 42. The engaging member 41 is for engaging with the engaging portion 51 provided on the upper edge of the side plate 52 of the paper accommodating portion 5, and is provided with a plurality of hole portions 44. By changing the position of the hole 44 that engages with the engaging portion 51, it is possible to change the fixing position of the guide 4 a in the paper storage portion 5. Thereby, it is possible to deal with various sizes of paper P with only one guide 4a without separately preparing the guide 4a.

  The guide member 42 is a combination of two members. Specifically, two members whose horizontal cross sections are U-shaped are combined (see FIG. 7B). Thereby, the strength of the guide 4a is ensured. Here, of the two U-shaped members, the right member in FIG. 6 is the first guide member 42a, and the left member is the second guide member 42b. An insertion portion 43 is provided at the lower end of the second guide member 42b. By inserting the insertion portion 43 into a slit 56b provided in the bottom plate 53 of the paper storage portion 5, the lower end of the guide 4a is Supported.

  The first guide member 42a, the second guide member 42b, and the engaging member 41 can be joined by rivets 45, screws, screws, welding, or the like. In addition, in FIG. 6, the aspect which joins each member with the some rivet 45 is shown as an example.

  FIG. 7A shows a state in which all of the engaging member 41, the first guide member 42a, and the second guide member 42b are joined, that is, the guide 4a. FIG. 7B is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the sheet contact portion of the guide 4a. As is clear from FIG. 7B, the first guide member 42a and the second guide member 42b are formed in a U-shaped cross section.

  Here, when the side surfaces of the first guide member 42a and the second guide member 42b are viewed, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the width of the one side surface 42aa of the first guide member 42a is the other. The width of one side surface of the first guide member 42a is wider than the width of the side surface of the second guide member 42a. In this way, the side surface PS of the paper P stacked on the protruding portion can be brought into contact by configuring the one side surface 42aa of the first guide member 42a to protrude, so that the rear end of the paper P is surely secured. The position is restricted. In FIG. 7B, a part of the paper P to be placed is illustrated by a broken line.

  As described above, the guide 4a according to the present embodiment is configured by combining a U-shaped member, that is, the first guide member 42a and the second guide member 42b, similarly in the guide 4b. The strength is high.

  Here, the guides 4a and 4b regulate the position of the stacked paper P at the rear end in the paper transport direction in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the paper feeding device 1 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). . As described above, about 4,000 sheets can be stacked on the sheet feeding device 1. To give an indication of the weight of the loaded paper P, although it depends on the density and size of the loaded paper, when 4,000 sheets of A3 size paper are loaded, the weight is about 40 kg.

  When the paper feeding device 1 is moved, for example, for jam processing, the paper feeding device 1 is not movable anywhere. In this embodiment, the moving range is fixed by the slide rail 1a. When the movement of the paper feeding device 1 stops due to the determined movement range, the stacked paper P continues to try to move due to inertia. Then, the guides 4a and 4b are subjected to position restriction in a direction perpendicular to the stacked paper P, and thus receive the force due to the inertia of the stacked paper P.

  When the number of sheets P to be stacked is small, the force received is small, so that the guide is not bent and deformed. However, in the paper feeding device 1 that can stack paper P in units of thousands like the paper feeding device 1 in the present embodiment, the force received by the guides 4a and 4b is large. If no countermeasures are taken, it is considered that the plastic deformation causes bending.

  In general, the more sheets P are stacked, the longer the guide is formed in the vertical direction in the installed state of the sheet feeder 1. If it is formed longer, it will be easier to bend. Here, for example, it is conceivable to provide a member for pressing the guide intermediate portion to supplement the strength. However, the sheet feeding device 1 according to the present embodiment includes the lifting plate 10 and hinders the lifting and lowering of the lifting plate 10, so that such a member cannot be provided.

  However, since the guides 4a and 4b in the present embodiment are joined by combining U-shaped members facing each other, even when a large force is applied, the first guide member 42a and the second guide member 42b are displaced. Regulated to each other. Therefore, even if a large force is applied to the guides 4a and 4b by the stacked paper P, the guides 4a and 4b are not deformed or the amount of deformation is extremely small. In other words, the structure of the guides 4a and 4b is a structure that is not easily deformed.

  In order to demonstrate this, the inventors of the present invention performed a simulation. The results are shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a simulation result when an impact is applied to the guide 4a according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 shows a simulation result when an impact is applied to a guide G made of a single plate-like member having a U-shaped cross section at a portion for guiding paper.

  In the simulation, the applied impact was 100N. Further, the impact is applied to the entire surface in contact with the stacked paper P.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the maximum deformation amount of the guide 4a according to the first embodiment of the present invention is 0.577 mm. The distribution of the deformation of the guide 4a is shown in FIG. 8 with this 0.577 mm equally divided into nine, with one distribution segment set at an interval of about 0.064 mm.

  The amount of deformation at the point M1 indicated by the arrow in FIG. 8 was the largest, 0.577 mm. As a tendency of the distribution of the deformation amount, the deformation amount decreases radially concentrically around the point M1. Therefore, the entire surface of the guide 4a in contact with the sheet is not deformed equally, but the amount of deformation on the side surface 42aa is smaller than that on the other side surface.

  On the other hand, the guide G shown in FIG. 9 has a U-shaped horizontal cross section when installed in the paper feeding device 1. That is, it can be said that the engaging member 41 is formed by only one of the first guide member 42a and the second guide member 42b. Since the guide G is formed in a U shape so as to have a side surface, the guide G is more resistant to deformation than a guide formed in a flat plate shape only on the surface with which the sheet contacts.

  However, the maximum deformation amount of the guide G shown in FIG. 9 was 2.910 mm. FIG. 9 shows the distribution of deformation of the guide 4a with the 2.910 mm divided into nine equal parts, with one distribution segment set at an interval of about 0.33 mm.

  The amount of deformation at the point M2 indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9 is the largest and is 2.910 mm. As a tendency of the distribution of the deformation amount, the deformation amount decreases in a band shape around the point M2. Therefore, the surface of the guide G that contacts the paper is equally deformed when viewed in the horizontal direction.

  As is clear from the simulation results, the guide 4a is 2.910 mm while the guide 4a is 0.577 mm in terms of the maximum deformation, and the guide 4a according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The number of the guide 4a is obviously smaller, and the guide 4a is less about 80%. Incidentally, it is understood that 42aa which is one side surface of the guide 4a has an effect of preventing the deformation of the guide 4a because the deformation amount is small.

  In this way, the paper storage unit 5 that is provided in the image forming apparatus 2 and that stores the paper P, the moving mechanism (the slide rail 1a and the caster 1b) that can move the paper storage unit 5, and the paper In the sheet feeding device 1 that includes a lifting plate 10 that can be moved up and down in the housing unit 5 and that stacks sheets, and that feeds the paper P to the image forming apparatus 2, the sheet feeding device 1 includes the sheet housing unit 5. In order to regulate the position of the paper P loaded therein, a plurality of guides 4a and 4b that pass through the lifting plate 10 and come into contact with the paper P are provided, and the paper feeding device 1 is moved by the moving mechanism. The portion of the guides 4a and 4b for regulating the position of the paper P in the direction perpendicular to the direction is a U-shaped member in a horizontal section when the guide is provided in the paper feeding device. Is If the first guide member 42a and the second guide member 42b so as to have a structure obtained by combining with each other, the guide 4a, 4b comes to have a structural high strength while still allowing light. Then, even if a large force due to the inertia of the paper loaded in a large amount is received, the force can be endured, and the guides 4a and 4b are not deformed or even if deformed, the deformation amount is extremely suppressed. . Accordingly, pick-up errors and paper jams caused by the deformation and bending of the guides 4a and 4b are eliminated. Further, it is not necessary to replace the guides 4a and 4b, and the long-life sheet feeding device 1 can be provided.

  Further, if the guides 4a and 4b are only made to have high strength, it is considered that the thickness of one guide may be increased. However, in this case, the manufacturing cost of the guide itself is increased. In addition, since the guide weight increases, the burden of the work to be mounted on the paper feeding device 1 becomes large. However, according to the invention described in claim 1, there is no such disadvantage.

  If the U-shaped members are combined with the rivet 45, the joining operation is easy and the rivet can be easily procured at a low cost. Therefore, a highly productive and strong guide is easily obtained. be able to. Moreover, even if it is combined, the surface of the guide can be almost free of protrusions, which is highly convenient in using the guide.

  The sheet storage unit 5 includes a bottom plate 53 and a plurality of side plates 52 provided perpendicular to the bottom plate 53, and has an open top surface. The bottom plate 53 has a plurality of slits. 56b is provided with a plurality of engaging portions 51 at the upper edge of the side plate 52, and at the lower ends of the guides 4a and 4b, an insertion portion 43 for inserting into the slit 56b is provided at the guides 4a and 4b. An engaging member 41 provided with a plurality of holes 44 for engaging with the engaging portion 51 is fixed to the upper end of the guide 4a, 4b, and the guides 4a and 4b insert the insertion portion 43 into the slit 56b, In addition, if the holes 44 are positioned by engaging with the engaging portions 51, the strong guides 4a and 4b are accurately positioned, so that the position regulation of the stacked sheets P is ensured. Made. Further, the positioning of the guides 4a and 4b can be easily changed corresponding to each size of paper P.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 10A is a perspective view for explaining a guide 46 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10B is a view of the guide 46 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a portion that comes into contact with paper P.

  The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the guide 46 has a pipe-like structure in the portion in contact with the stacked sheets in the horizontal section in the state where the guide 46 is provided. And has the biggest difference. Accordingly, the other basic configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, and therefore, description and description of the drawings common to the above are omitted. That is, the points other than the difference in the cross-sectional structure may be the same as in the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, the guide 46 is composed of two members. That is, the engaging member 41 and the guide member 46a. The guide member 46a abuts on the stacked paper P and regulates the position of the rear end of the paper P in the paper transport direction.

  As shown in FIG. 10B, in this embodiment, the horizontal cross section of the portion in contact with the paper P in the state provided in the paper feeding device 1, in other words, the cross section of the guide member 46a is a pipe. It has a shape-like structure. That is, the guide member 46a has a rectangular tube shape. The displacement of the guide 46 having such a cross-sectional structure is restricted by the side surfaces 46b and 46b, like the guides 4a and 4b. Therefore, it has a structure strong against deformation as in the first embodiment. In addition, in order to make it strong with respect to a deformation | transformation, it can become strong with respect to a deformation | transformation, so that the depth D in 46b in the side surface is deepened.

  In appearance, the guide 46 has no rivet 45 on the side surface (see FIG. 7). This is because the guide member 46a is not a combination of two members. A rivet is used to join the engaging member 41 and the guide member 46a. Further, like 42aa (see FIG. 7), the side surface of the guide 46 is not provided with a protruding portion. These points are different from the guides 4a and 4b. This is due to the difference in the cross-sectional structure.

  In this way, in order to regulate the position of the paper P stacked in the paper storage unit 5, the paper supply device includes one or a plurality of guides 46 that pass through the lifting plate 10 and abut against the paper P. The portion of the guide 46 that abuts the sheet P in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet 1 moves is in contact with the sheet P in a pipe-like cross section in the horizontal direction when the guide 46 is provided in the sheet feeding device 1. If it has a structure, even if it receives a large force due to the inertia of the paper P as in the first embodiment, it can withstand that force. Therefore, the guide 46 is not deformed, or even if it is deformed, the deformation amount can be extremely suppressed.

  Further, if the guide 46 only has a high strength, it is considered that the thickness of one guide 46 may be increased. However, in this case, the manufacturing cost of the guide itself increases. In addition, since the guide weight increases, the burden of the work to be mounted on the paper feeding device 1 becomes large. The guide 46 shown in the second embodiment has no such disadvantage.

  The sheet storage unit 5 includes a bottom plate 53 and a plurality of side plates 52 provided perpendicular to the bottom plate 53, and has an open top surface. The bottom plate 53 has a plurality of slits. 56b is provided with a plurality of engaging portions 51 at the upper edge of the side plate 52. At the lower end of the guide 46, an insertion portion 43 for insertion into the slit 56b is provided at the upper end of the guide 46. The engaging member 41 provided with a plurality of hole portions 44 for engaging with the engaging portion 51 is fixed, the guide 46 inserts the insertion portion 43 into the slit 56b, and the hole portion 44 is inserted into the slit portion 56b. If positioning is performed by engaging with the engaging portion 51, the strong guide 46 is accurately positioned, so that the position of the stacked paper P is reliably regulated. Further, the positioning of the guide 46 can be easily changed corresponding to each size of paper P.

  Next, a reference example will be described based on FIG. FIG. 11A is a perspective view for explaining a guide according to a reference example of the present invention, and FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view of a portion in contact with a sheet in the guide according to the reference example of the present invention. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 11B, the guide 47 shown in this reference example is in a state where it is in contact with the loaded paper P and the paper in the state of being provided in the paper feeding device 1, that is, in the horizontal direction of the guide member 47a. The difference is that the cross section has a Z-shaped structure, and the guide member 47a of the paper P is formed of a single plate-like member. However, since the other basic configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, the description and description of the drawings are omitted for the configuration common to the above.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, in the guide 47 shown in this reference example, the guide member 47a having a Z-shaped structure in cross section and the engaging member 41 also shown in the first embodiment are joined. It is a thing.

  Further, since the cross section is Z-shaped, the guide 47 can be brought into contact with the side surface PS of the stacked paper P so that the position of the rear end of the paper P can be reliably regulated. Further, it has a structure having a certain strength against deformation.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although the slide rail 1a and the caster 1b are shown as the moving mechanism, other configurations may be used as long as they function as the moving mechanism. Further, in the embodiment, the configuration in which the sheet storage unit 5 is also moved by moving the sheet feeding device 1 is shown in the embodiment, but one side surface of the housing 1d of the sheet feeding device can be opened and the sheet storage unit 5 is pulled out. The present invention can also be applied to a paper feeding device that is moved in this manner.

  The present invention can be used in a paper feeding device that supplies paper to an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front view when the paper feeding device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is provided in the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a front view of a state where the paper feeding device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is moved away from the image forming apparatus. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet feeder 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the upper left side. It is the perspective view seen from the left front for demonstrating the internal structure of the paper feeder which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a perspective view of the width control guide which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (B) is sectional drawing of the width control guide which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the guide which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a perspective view which shows the state with which each member of the guide which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention was combined. (B) is sectional drawing for demonstrating the state with which the guide which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention was combined. It is a figure which shows the simulation result at the time of applying an impact with respect to the guide which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a simulation result when an impact is applied to a guide made of a single plate-like member having a U-shaped cross section at a portion for guiding paper. (A) is a perspective view for demonstrating the guide which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (b) is a cross section of the part contact | abutted with a paper in the guide which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. (A) is a perspective view for demonstrating the guide which concerns on the reference example of this invention, (b) is sectional drawing of the part contact | abutted with a sheet | seat in the guide which concerns on the reference example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Paper feeder 1a Slide rail (moving mechanism)
1b Castor (movement mechanism)
2 Image forming apparatuses 4a and 4b Guide 5 Paper storage 10 Lift plate 41 Engaging member 41
42a First guide member 42b Second guide member 43 Insertion portion 44 Hole portion 51 Engagement portion 52 Side plate 53 Bottom plate 56b Slit

Claims (5)

A sheet storage unit that is provided in the image forming apparatus and that stores sheets, a moving mechanism that can move the sheet storage unit, and a lifting plate that can be moved up and down in the sheet storage unit and stacks sheets. In a paper feeding device that supplies paper to the image forming apparatus,
In order to regulate the position of the paper loaded in the paper storage unit, the paper is provided with one or a plurality of guides that penetrate the lifting plate and come into contact with the paper.
The portion of the guide that abuts the sheet for regulating the position of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet feeding device moves by the moving mechanism is a horizontal direction in a state where the guide is provided in the sheet feeding device. A sheet feeding device having a structure in which U-shaped members are combined with each other in the cross section.   The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the U-shaped members are combined by riveting. The sheet storage portion includes a bottom plate and a plurality of side plates provided perpendicular to the bottom plate, and an upper surface is open. A plurality of slits are formed in the bottom plate. A plurality of engaging portions are provided on the upper edge,
An insertion member for inserting into the slit is fixed to the lower end of the guide, and an engagement member provided with a plurality of holes for engaging with the engagement portion is fixed to the upper end of the guide. And
3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the guide is positioned by inserting the insertion portion into the slit and engaging the hole portion with the engagement portion. A sheet storage unit that is provided in the image forming apparatus and that stores sheets, a moving mechanism that can move the sheet storage unit, and a lifting plate that can be moved up and down in the sheet storage unit and stacks sheets. In a paper feeding device that supplies paper to the image forming apparatus,
In order to regulate the position of the paper loaded in the paper storage unit, the paper is provided with one or a plurality of guides that penetrate the lifting plate and come into contact with the paper.
The portion of the guide that abuts the sheet for regulating the position of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet feeding device moves by the moving mechanism is a horizontal direction in a state where the guide is provided in the sheet feeding device. A sheet feeding device having a pipe-like structure in the cross section. The sheet storage portion includes a bottom plate and a plurality of side plates provided perpendicular to the bottom plate, and an upper surface is open. A plurality of slits are formed in the bottom plate. A plurality of engaging portions are provided on the upper edge,
An insertion member for inserting into the slit is fixed to the lower end of the guide, and an engagement member provided with a plurality of holes for engaging with the engagement portion is fixed to the upper end of the guide. And
5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the guide is positioned by inserting the insertion portion into the slit and engaging the hole portion with an engagement portion.