JPH11139598A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feed section used for upper and lower paper feeding cassettes in common, delivering and feeding paper sheets from the upper and lower paper feeding cassettes, and functioning as the common paper feed section for the upper and lower paper feeding cassettes. SOLUTION: A paper feed section used for upper and lower paper feeding cassettes 11, 12 in common and delivering and feeding paper sheets 31, 32 from the upper and lower paper feeding cassettes 11, 12 is provided between the upper and lower paper feeding cassettes 11, 12 provided in two vertical stages. The paper feed section is provided with a paper feed selecting mechanism 7 constituted of a separating means separating one of the paper sheets 31, 32 in the upper and lower paper feeding cassettes 11, 12. The separating means is provided with a rotary arm 23 vertically rotated with the paper feeding roller 21 serving as a fulcrum as the paper feeding roller 21 is driven forward and reversionally and a pressing roller 22 provided at the tip of the rotary arm 23 and pressed to the paper sheets stacked in the paper feeding cassette on the paper non-feeding side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder for feeding out and feeding accumulated paper in an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile machine and a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine, a paper feeding device for feeding out and feeding the stacked paper is, for example, a multi-stage paper feeding cassette in a vertical direction. Some were provided and configured. In such a plurality of paper feed cassettes, a paper feed unit is provided for each paper feed cassette. That is, one paper feed unit is provided for one paper feed cassette.

[0003]

However, by arranging a plurality of paper feed cassettes, each provided with a paper feed unit, to form a paper feeder, the size of the apparatus becomes larger as a whole. However, there has been a problem that the structure becomes complicated and the cost of the apparatus increases.

[0004]

The present invention uses the following means in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the paper feeding apparatus. That is, between the upper paper cassette and the lower paper cassette provided in the upper and lower two stages, there is provided a paper feed unit shared by the upper and lower paper cassettes for feeding out and feeding paper from the upper and lower paper cassettes.

[0005] Further, in the sheet feeding section,
One feed roller capable of normal and reverse rotation, and interlocking with the normal and reverse rotation of the sheet feed roller, either one of the paper accumulated in the upper paper cassette and the paper accumulated in the lower paper cassette,
There is provided a paper feed selection mechanism including a separating means for separating the paper feed roller from the paper feed roller.

The separating means is provided at a tip of the rotating member for vertically rotating around the paper feeding roller as the paper feeding roller is driven to rotate forward and reverse, and provided at the tip of the vertical feeding device. And a pressing member that is pressed against a sheet stacked in the sheet cassette on the non-sheet feeding side of the sheet cassette.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a facsimile apparatus having a sheet feeding device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a state of feeding sheets in an upper sheet feeding cassette in the sheet feeding device, and FIG. Is a side sectional view showing a state in which the paper in the lower paper feed cassette is fed, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a paper feed selection mechanism.

The paper feeder of the present invention will be described. First, FIG. 1 shows an example in which the paper feeder of the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine, and an automatic document feeder 2 is formed above a main body 1 of the facsimile machine. Then, the document placed on the document placing tray 4 is automatically fed to the automatic document feeder 2 for reading. Further, below the main body 1, there is provided a paper feeding device 6 configured by providing an upper paper feeding cassette 11 and a lower paper feeding cassette 12 in two upper and lower stages. In the upper sheet cassette 11 and the lower sheet cassette 12, for example, sheets having different sheet sizes are stacked and stored. Then, the sheet is fed out from one of the upper sheet cassette 11 and the lower sheet cassette 12 and fed to the recording section. After recording on the sheet, the recorded sheet is discharged from the discharge port 5. Thus, the sheet is deposited on the discharge tray 3.

Next, the sheet feeding device 6 will be described. FIG.
In the paper feeding device 6, the upper paper feeding cassette 11 and the lower paper feeding cassette 12 are mainly arranged in two rows vertically. The upper paper feed cassette 11 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having an open upper surface, and has a cassette lid 1 configured to be rotatable around one of the front, rear, left and right sides on the open upper surface portion.
3 is attached. The lower paper cassette 12 is
The upper paper feed cassette 11 is disposed in such a manner that the upper paper feed cassette 11 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having an open upper surface, and the bottom surface of the upper paper feed cassette 11 is positioned on the upper surface of the opened lower paper feed cassette 12. I have.

A plurality of sheets 31 are stacked in the upper sheet cassette 11, and a flapper 14 is attached to the lower surface of the cassette lid 13 so as to be vertically rotatable. The flapper 14 is formed of, for example, a plate-like member, and the side of the flapper 14 opposite to the sheet feeding port 20 side is the cassette lid 13.
The flapper 14 is configured to be rotatable up and down. In addition, the flapper 14
Urging means 18 such as a spring between the
, So that the sheet feeding port 20 side of the flapper 14 is urged downward. Then, the flapper 14 comes into contact with the upper surface of the paper 31 accumulated in the upper paper feed cassette 11, and the side of the paper 31 at the paper feed port 20 is urged downward.

On the other hand, on the bottom surface in the lower sheet cassette 12,
The flapper 15 is rotatably mounted. The flapper 15 is formed of, for example, a plate-like member, and the opposite side of the flapper 15 from the sheet outlet 20 is attached to the bottom surface in the lower sheet cassette 12, and the sheet outlet 20 side of the flapper 15 is It is configured to be rotatable. A biasing means 19 such as a spring is interposed between the flapper 15 and the bottom surface of the lower paper feed cassette 12, so that the paper feeding port 20 side of the flapper 15 is biased upward. A plurality of sheets 32 are deposited on the upper surface of the flapper 15. The paper 32 accumulated on the upper surface of the flapper 15 is urged upward by the urging means 19.

The upper paper cassette 11 and the lower paper cassette 12 have a common paper feed unit, that is, a common paper feed roller 21.
And a paper guide 16, a transport roller 17, and the like, and a portion corresponding to an entrance thereof is cut out at a side of the paper feeding outlet 20 on the bottom surface of the upper paper feeding cassette 11. The inside of the cassette 11 and the inside of the lower sheet cassette 12 communicate with each other. The notch includes a paper feed roller 21 for feeding out the paper 31 and 32 in the upper and lower paper feed cassettes 11 and 12, and a rotating arm 23 which is a rotating member that rotates vertically about the paper feed roller 21. The paper feed selection mechanism 7 is provided which includes a separation means including a pressing roller 22, which is a pressing member provided at the tip of the rotating arm 23. The pressing member is a pressing roller 22.
In addition, a pad-shaped member other than a roller may be used.
Further, a means for separating and feeding out the sheets 31 one by one, for example, a separation claw 36 is provided on the lower surface of the end of the sheet 31 in the sheet feeding direction. Also, a separation claw 37 is provided. The separation claw 36 is urged upward by a spring 38. One of the papers 31 and 32 in the upper and lower paper cassettes 11 and 12 is selected by the paper feed roller 21, the rotating arm 23, the pressing roller 22, the separation claws 36 and 37, and one by one. It is configured to be separated and fed out from the upper and lower paper feed cassettes 11 and 12.

That is, as shown in FIG.
When the roller 1 rotates to the left, the pressing roller 22 rotates downward and abuts on the upper surface of the sheet 32 in the lower sheet cassette 12, and the sheet 32 is pressed against the urging force of the urging unit 19. It is constituted so that it may be pushed down downward. In this case, the upper surface of the sheet 32 in the lower sheet cassette 12 does not come into contact with the sheet feed roller 21, and the sheet 3 in the upper sheet cassette 11
The lower surface of 1 is in contact with the paper feed roller 21. As a result, the lower surface of the sheet 31 abutting on the sheet feeding roller 21, that is, the lowermost sheet of the sheet 31 is separated one by one by the separation claw 36 as the sheet feeding roller 21 rotates, The paper guide 16 is passed through the paper feeding port 20
To the transport roller 17 from the paper guide 16.
To the recording unit.

Conversely, as shown in FIG.
When the roller 1 is rotating to the right, the pressing roller 22 rotates upward and contacts the lower surface of the paper 31 in the upper paper cassette 11, and the paper 31 is pressed against the urging force of the urging means 18. It is configured to push up against. In this case, the lower surface of the sheet 31 in the upper sheet cassette 11 does not abut against the sheet feeding roller 21, and the sheet 3 in the lower sheet cassette 12
The upper surface of 2 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 21. As a result, the upper surface of the paper 32 abutting on the paper feed roller 21, that is, the uppermost paper of the paper 32 is separated one by one by the separation claw 37 with the rotation of the paper feed roller 21, The paper guide 16 is passed through the paper feeding port 20
To the transport roller 17 from the paper guide 16.
To the recording unit. As described above, the pressing roller 22 presses against the paper accumulated in the non-paper-supply-side paper cassette, so that only the paper accumulated in the paper-supply-side paper cassette is fed out by the paper-supply roller 21. Make up.

Further, at the left end of the paper feeding device 6 in FIG. 2, a paper feeding port 20 is opened from the lower part of the upper paper feeding cassette 11 to the upper part of the lower paper feeding cassette 12, and the paper feeding port 20 in FIG. A paper guide 16 is provided on the left, and a transport roller 17 is further provided on the left. The sheets 31 and 32 fed out from the upper and lower sheet cassettes 11 and 12 are fed to the sheet guide 16 through the sheet feeding port 20, and the sheets 31.3 are fed by the sheet guide 16.
2 is guided to the transport roller 17 and the transport roller 17
, The papers 31 and 32 are transported to the recording unit via the transport path. As described above, each of the sheets 31.3 stored in the upper paper cassette 11 and the lower paper cassette 12
Reference numeral 2 indicates that one of the sheets is selectively fed by the sheet feed selection mechanism 7 and is conveyed to the recording section by the sheet guide 16 and the conveyance roller 17 which are common sheet feeding sections.

Next, the configuration of the paper feed selection mechanism 7 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a paper feed selection mechanism 7 disposed in a cutout on the bottom surface of the upper paper feed cassette 11. The feed roller 21 is fixed to a feed roller shaft 25, and the feed roller 21 and the feed roller shaft 25 are configured to be integrally rotatable. The paper feed roller shaft 25 includes
One end of the rotating arm 23 is rotatably fitted, and the pressing roller 22 is rotatably attached to the other end of the rotating arm 23. The pressing roller 22 includes
It is arranged in parallel with the feed roller shaft 25. further,
A driving gear 26 is fixed to one end of the sheet feeding roller shaft 25, and a driving force from a forward / reverse rotatable electric motor or the like, which is a driving source, is input to the driving gear 26 to feed the sheet. The roller shaft 25 is configured to rotate.

Further, a gear 27 that rotates integrally with the paper feed roller shaft 25 is fixed to the paper feed roller shaft 25, and the gear 27 extends with a gear 28 attached to the rotating arm 23. ing. The gear 28 is rotatably attached to the rotating arm 23, and biases the gear 28 by interposing a spring 29 between the gear 28 and the rotating arm 23. And when the gear 27 rotates,
The gear 28 is configured not to rotate with respect to the rotating arm 23 due to the frictional force of the biasing force of the spring 29, and the rotating arm 23 rotates with the rotation of the gear 27. That is, when the paper feed roller shaft 25 rotates to the left in FIG. 2, the rotation arm 23 rotates downward, and when the paper supply roller shaft 25 rotates to the right, the rotation arm 23 rotates upward. Become.

A rotating arm 23 that rotates up and down around the paper feed roller 21 in accordance with the forward / reverse rotation of the paper feed roller 21 by the drive source, Of the paper feed cassettes 11 and 12,
The separation means is constituted by the pressing roller 22 and the like which are pressed against the paper stacked in the paper feeding cassette on the non-paper feeding side. Then, in accordance with the forward / reverse rotation of the paper feed roller 21, one of the paper 31 deposited in the upper paper feed cassette 11 and the paper 32 deposited in the lower paper feed cassette 12 is removed by the separating means. The paper feed roller 12 is separated from the paper feed roller 12.

An electromagnetic clutch 24 is disposed between the gear 27 of the paper feed roller shaft 25 and the paper feed roller 21 to transmit the drive rotation input from the drive gear 26 to the paper feed roller 21. Is configured to be connectable and disconnectable.

The paper feed selection mechanism 7 constructed as described above is disposed at the entrance of the common paper feed section between the upper paper feed cassette 11 and the lower paper feed cassette 12 as described above. The sheets 31 and 32 in the sheets 11 and 12 are fed out and fed by one sheet feed selection mechanism 7. The pressing roller 22 of the paper feed selection mechanism 7 does not push up the paper 31 nor push down the paper 32 when the paper is not fed out from either the upper paper feed cassette 11 or the lower paper feed cassette 12. It is in a state. That is, paper 3
Both the sheet 1 and the sheet 32 are in contact with the sheet feeding roller 21.

When the paper 31 in the upper paper cassette 11 is fed out from this state, the drive gear 26 is driven to rotate by an electric motor or the like, and the paper feed roller shaft 25 is rotated leftward in FIG. . In this case, the electromagnetic clutch 24 is turned off,
Is not rotating. Then, with the rotation of the feed roller shaft 25, the pressing roller 22 rotates downward as described above. The pressing roller 22 rotated downward contacts the upper surface of the sheet 32 in the lower sheet cassette 12 and pushes down the sheet 32 against the urging force of the urging means 19. When the pressing roller 22 pushes down the paper 32, the urging force of the urging means 19 becomes larger than the frictional force of the spring 29 interposed between the gear 28 and the rotating arm 23, The gear 28 rotates with respect to the rotation arm 23. Thus, the pressing roller 22 stops in a state where the paper 32 is pressed down. In this state, paper 3
2 is not in contact with the paper feed roller 21, and the lower surface of the paper 31 is in contact with the paper feed roller 21. That is, the paper 31 and the paper 32 are
Are separated so that only the sheet 31 can be fed out.

The rotating arm 23 pushes down the sheet 32,
When the paper 32 stops contacting the paper feed roller 21, the electromagnetic clutch 24 is turned on, and the paper feed roller shaft 25 and the paper feed roller 21 rotate integrally. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower surface of the sheet 31 in contact with the sheet feeding roller 21, that is, the lowermost sheet of the sheet 31 is fed to the sheet feeding port 20 side by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 21, The sheet is conveyed to the recording section by the conveyance roller 17 via the paper guide 16.

When the paper 32 in the lower paper cassette 12 is fed, the drive gear 26 is rotated by an electric motor or the like, and the paper feed roller shaft 25 is rotated rightward in FIG. In this case, the electromagnetic clutch 24 is off, and the paper feed roller 21 is not rotating. Then, as the paper feed roller shaft 25 rotates, the pressing roller 22 rotates upward as described above.
The pressing roller 22 rotated upward is connected to the upper sheet cassette 11.
Abuts against the lower surface of the paper 31 in the inside, and presses the paper 31 with the urging means 1
Push up against the biasing force of 8. When the pressing roller 22 pushes up the paper 31, the urging force of the urging means 18 becomes larger than the frictional force of the spring 29 interposed between the gear 28 and the rotating arm 23,
The gear 28 rotates with respect to the rotation arm 23. Thus, the pressing roller 22 stops in a state where the paper 31 is pushed up. In this state, the paper 31 is not in contact with the paper feed roller 21, and the upper surface of the paper 32 is in contact with the paper feed roller 21. That is, the paper 31 and the paper 32 are separated by the pressing roller 22 constituting the separating means, and only the paper 32 can be fed out.

The rotating arm 23 pushes up the paper 31,
When the paper 31 stops contacting the paper feed roller 21, the electromagnetic clutch 24 is turned on, and the paper feed roller shaft 25 and the paper feed roller 21 rotate integrally. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper surface of the sheet 32 in contact with the feed roller 21, that is, the uppermost sheet of the sheet 32 is fed to the sheet feed port 20 side by the rotation of the feed roller 21, The sheet is conveyed to the recording section by the conveyance roller 17 via the paper guide 16.

When replenishing the lower paper cassette 12 with paper, the lower paper cassette 12 is pulled out from the paper feeding device 6 in a horizontal direction, and paper is supplied from above the lower paper cassette 12. It is composed. When replenishing paper to the upper paper cassette 11, the upper paper cassette 11
The upper sheet cassette 1 is rotated by rotating the cassette lid 13 upward.
The upper surface of the upper paper feed cassette 11 is opened to supply paper from above. In this case, the cassette lid 13 may be configured to rotate upward after the upper paper cassette 11 is pulled out from the paper feeding device 6 in the horizontal direction, or may be moved upward together with the main body 1 arranged above the paper feeding device 6. It can be configured to rotate.

As described above, the common paper feed mechanism such as the paper feed selection mechanism 7, the paper guide 16, the transport roller 17, and the like are supplied to the upper paper feed cassette 11 and the lower paper And the sheet feed mechanism 7 disposed at the entrance of the sheet feed section selectively feeds one of the sheet 31 in the upper sheet cassette 11 and the sheet 32 in the lower sheet cassette 12. It is possible to feed paper, and by using a common paper feed unit including the paper feed selection mechanism 7, such a paper feed unit is provided for each paper feed cassette as in the related art. The structure of the sheet feeding device 6 is simplified as compared with the case of FIG. In addition, since a single sheet conveyance path from the sheet feeding device 6 to the recording unit can be provided, the entire apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus and a copying machine can be configured in a small size with a simple structure.

In the paper feed section, one paper feed roller 21 capable of normal and reverse rotation, and in conjunction with the normal and reverse rotation of the paper feed roller 21, the paper 31 deposited in the upper paper feed cassette 11 and the lower paper feed By providing a paper feed selection mechanism 7 including a separation unit that separates one of the papers 32 accumulated in the cassette 12 from the paper feed roller 21, a common paper feed between the upper and lower paper feed cassettes 11 and 12 is provided. The structure of the paper feed selection mechanism 7 provided in the section can be made simple and compact.

Further, the separating means includes: a rotating arm 23 that rotates vertically with the sheet feeding roller 21 as a fulcrum as the sheet feeding roller 21 is driven forward and reverse by the driving source.
A push roller 22 provided at the tip of the rotating arm 23 and pressed against paper stacked in the non-paper feed side paper cassette among the upper and lower paper feed cassettes 11 and 12; Therefore, the sheets 31 and 32 in the upper and lower sheet cassettes can be reliably separated with a simple configuration, and only the sheets in the sheet cassette on the sheet supply side can be fed out.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained by employing the above-described configuration in the paper feeding apparatus. First, between the upper and lower paper cassettes provided in the upper and lower stages, paper is fed from the upper and lower paper cassettes and fed, and the upper and lower paper cassettes are shared. Since the paper unit was provided, the paper in the two paper cassettes could be fed out and fed by one paper feeding unit. That is, the sheet feeding unit could function as a common sheet feeding unit for the upper and lower sheet cassettes. As a result, the sheet feeding device can be downsized, the structure of the sheet feeding device can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the paper transport path from the paper feeder to the recording unit can be made one, the entire apparatus such as a facsimile machine and a copying machine can be made compact with a simple structure.

Further, as set forth in claim 2, the paper feeding section includes:
One feed roller capable of normal and reverse rotation, and interlocking with the normal and reverse rotation of the sheet feed roller, either one of the paper accumulated in the upper paper cassette and the paper accumulated in the lower paper cassette,
Since a paper feed selection mechanism including separation means for separating the paper feed roller from the paper feed roller is provided, the structure of the paper feed selection mechanism disposed at the entrance of the common paper feed unit of the upper and lower paper feed cassettes is simple and compact. We were able to.

Further, as in claim 3, the separating means comprises:
A rotating member that rotates up and down with the paper feeding roller as a fulcrum in accordance with the forward and reverse rotation drive of the paper feeding roller; A press-contact member that presses against the paper stacked in the paper feed cassette, so that the paper in the upper and lower paper feed cassettes can be reliably separated with a simple configuration, and the paper feed cassette on the paper feed side is provided. Only the paper in the inside can be fed out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a facsimile apparatus having a sheet feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a sheet in an upper sheet cassette in the sheet feeding device is fed.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a sheet in a lower sheet cassette in the sheet feeding device is fed.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a paper feed selection mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 6 paper feeder 7 paper feed selection mechanism 11 upper paper feed cassette 12 lower paper feed cassette 21 paper feed roller 22 pushing roller 23 rotating arm 27/28 gear 31/32 paper

Claims (3)

[Claims] An upper and lower paper cassette is provided between an upper paper cassette and a lower paper cassette provided in two upper and lower stages. A sheet feeding device, comprising: 2. A sheet feeding unit, comprising: a sheet feeding roller capable of rotating forward and backward; a sheet stacked in an upper sheet feeding cassette; 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet feeding selection mechanism including a separating unit that separates one of the sheets stacked on the sheet feeding roller from the sheet feeding roller. 3. The rotating device according to claim 1, wherein the separating unit is provided at a tip of the rotating member to rotate up and down around the sheet feeding roller in accordance with forward and reverse rotation of the sheet feeding roller. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, further comprising: a pressing member pressed against a sheet stacked in the sheet feeding cassette on the non-sheet feeding side among the sheet cassettes.