JP2002167056A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeding device capable of easily setting paper and preventing the damage of paper. SOLUTION: In this paper feeding device 1 constituted such that it is provided with 8 paper loading part 2 provided with a bottom plate 5 for loading paper and a side fence 7 arranged in a recessed part 5b formed at a side fringe of the bottom plate 5 and regulating a side fringe of paper for the direction of paper feeding and the side fence 7 is provided with a bottom face member 17 opposing to a lower face of paper when regulating the side fringe of paper to set paper in the paper loading part 2, a height of an opposing face 17a of the bottom face member 17 can be changed to a first position where it exceeds a paper loading face 5a of the bottom plate 5 and a second position where it is below the paper loading face 5a of the bottom plate 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 9, a sheet feeding device used in an image forming apparatus has a bottom plate 101 on which a sheet is stacked on a sheet feeding tray 100 and a side fence (a side fence) for regulating a side edge of the sheet. Regulating member) 103, and the bottom member 105 of the side fence 103 is connected to the sheet stacking surface 1 of the bottom plate 101.
01a and the lower surface of the sheet (for example, JP-A-6-227680).

In such a paper feeder, a member for guiding the upper surface of the paper is provided on the side fence 103 to control the curl of the paper, or a claw for separating the paper or a paper feeder for feeding the paper. Paper roller etc. on bottom plate 10
1, it is difficult to set a sheet from directly above the bottom plate 101, and as shown in FIG.
1 place the paper on the side and then set the paper (arrow D
The paper is set by sliding on

[0004]

When the paper is slid and set as described above, the bottom member 105 of the side fence 103 and the bottom plate 101 are arranged as close as possible, and the bottom member 105 and the bottom plate 101 are at the same height. Although it is desirable that the bottom plate 101 side is lower, the bottom plate 101 moves up and down in accordance with the amount of paper.
A certain gap H is opened between the side fence 103 and the side fence 103. Also, a bottom plate 1 is provided below the bottom plate 101.
01 is provided, it is difficult to lower the height of the bottom plate 101, and the bottom plate 10
The height of the paper stacking surface 101a is equal to the side fence 103.
Often, it is higher than the bottom member 105 of FIG.

On the other hand, with the recent diversification of paper sizes,
In many cases, a sheet having a small width is set in the paper feed tray 101. In this case, the bottom member 10 of the side fence 103 is set.
5 can be sunk under the bottom plate 101 or the width of the bottom plate can be reduced so that the side fence 10
The moving distance of No. 3 is increased, and it corresponds to a sheet with a small width. As described above, when the width dimension of the bottom plate 101 is reduced, the drawing bending 101b is often arranged on the outer periphery of the bottom plate 101 to secure the strength.
Is formed, it is necessary to make the bottom member 105 of the side fence 103 enter the lower part of the squeeze bend 101.
Is further reduced, and the step T becomes larger.

For this reason, when the paper is slid during the paper setting, as shown in FIG. 9, the paper edge is caught by the step T between the bottom member 105 of the side fence 103 and the paper loading surface 5a of the bottom plate 5, There is a problem that the sheet setting property is significantly impaired, and the sheet is damaged such as the end of the sheet is broken (paper edge).

[0007] On the other hand, it is possible to prevent the paper from being caught by bending the edge of the bottom plate 101 to provide an inclined surface, but bending the bottom plate 101 reduces the strength of the bottom plate 101. Therefore, there is a possibility that the bottom plate cannot bear the weight of the sheet and the sheet can not be transported sufficiently. In particular, when the step T between the side fence 103 and the bottom member 105 is large, the bottom plate 101
It is often the case that providing only a slope on the side is insufficient for paper jamming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device that can easily set sheets and prevent the sheets from being damaged.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a regulating member which is disposed in a bottom plate on which a sheet is loaded and a concave portion formed on a side edge of the bottom plate and regulates the side edge of the sheet in the sheet feeding direction. A sheet stacking means provided with the sheet member, wherein the regulating member includes a bottom member facing the lower surface of the sheet when regulating the side edge of the sheet, and in a sheet feeding device for setting the sheet to the sheet stacking means, The height of the surface can be changed to a first position where the height is equal to or higher than the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate, and a second position where the height is lower than the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the sheet is set on the sheet stacking means, the height of the facing surface of the bottom member is changed from the second position to the first position, and the sheet is set from the side of the bottom plate. Slide. The sheet slides on the opposite surface of the bottom member of the regulating member, and then slides on the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate and is set at a predetermined position.

When the paper is set on the paper stacking means,
By changing the height of the opposing surface of the bottom member to a first position that is higher than the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate, the end of the sheet sliding on the opposing surface of the bottom member and the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate. Since the portion is hardly caught on the bottom plate, it is easy to set the paper. Further, it is possible to prevent the paper from being damaged such as the paper being bent due to the edge of the paper being hooked on the bottom plate, and the skew of the paper, thereby improving the reliability of transporting the paper.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, when the height of the facing surface of the bottom member is at the second position, the bottom member can enter the lower side of the bottom plate. It is characterized by.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first aspect is provided.
In addition to the same operation and effect as the invention described in (1), since the bottom member enters the lower side of the bottom plate, the movement distance of the regulating member can be increased, so that the regulating member can regulate the side edge of the small-sized paper. That is, it is possible to secure a large correspondence between paper sizes, and it is possible to improve the reliability and performance of paper feeding. Further, since it is not necessary to cut out a part of the bottom plate in order to increase the moving distance of the regulating member, the strength of the bottom plate can be maintained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the first or second aspect.
In the invention described in (1), a swinging part is connected to the bottom side member of the regulating member in the paper setting direction so as to be able to swing up and down, and a guide part for placing the swinging part on the paper stacking means is moved by the regulating member. When the regulating member moves, the swinging portion swings up and down along the guide portion so that the height of the opposing surface on the distal end side of the bottom member becomes the first position.
Alternatively, the second position is provided.

[0015] According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first aspect is provided.
Or the same effect as the invention described in 2 above, and a simple configuration in which a swinging portion is connected to the bottom member and a guide portion is provided in the sheet stacking means, and is used to move the bottom member up and down. Since there is no need to separately provide a driving unit, cost can be reduced.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a sheet feeding apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The paper feeding device 1 is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a multifunction peripheral thereof, and includes a paper loading unit (paper loading unit) 2 on which paper is set. Is a paper feed tray 3 for storing paper,
It has a bottom plate 5 on which sheets are loaded, and side fences 7 for regulating the side edges of the sheets.

The paper feeder 1 is provided with a paper feed roller for feeding paper in the paper feed tray 3 in the direction of arrow C, a separating member for preventing double feeding of paper, and the like. In the embodiment, these illustrations and descriptions are omitted.

The paper feed tray 3 is provided detachably with respect to the paper feed device 1. The paper feed tray 3 has a bottom plate 5
Are provided so as to be movable up and down, and side fences 7 and 7 are provided so as to be movable in the direction of arrow B. Further, the paper feed direction (arrow C direction)
An end fence 11 that regulates the trailing edge of the sheet is attached.

The bottom plate 5 can be moved up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown), and the paper loaded on the bottom plate 5 comes into pressure contact with the paper feed roller by raising the bottom plate 5, and is fed by the rotation of the paper feed roller. It has become so. In the present embodiment, recesses 5b, 5b are formed in the bottom plate 5, and side fences 7, 7 are arranged in the recesses 5b, 5b.
The moving distance of the side fences 7, 7 is made large so that small sided paper can be handled.

The side fences 7, 7 are provided on the paper feed tray 3 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow B. After the sheets are stacked on the bottom plate 5, the side fences 7, 7 are directed toward the side edges of the sheets, respectively. By moving the side fences 7 and 7 against the side edges of the sheet, the side edges of the sheet are regulated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the side fence 7 has a bottom member 17 supported by a link member 15 with respect to the base 13, and the side fences 7, 7 regulate side edges of the sheet. At this time, the bottom member 17 facing the lower surface of the sheet can be turned upside down with respect to the base 13.

The link member 15 is provided so as to be rotatable about a rotation fulcrum 19. Two of the four link members 15 are attached to side edges of the base 13, and the other two are connected to the base. 13 is attached to a hole 13 a formed in the hole 13. These link members 15 are turned upside down by turning around the turning fulcrum 19, and the operator can arbitrarily set the bottom member 11
Up and down states can be selected.

In the state where the link member 15 is raised, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the bottom member 17 is located above the base 13, and in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The facing surface 17a of the bottom member 17 is the paper loading surface 5a of the bottom plate 5.
Higher than the first position. In the present embodiment, when the link member 15 exceeds the inverted state,
The link member 15 attached to the hole 13a is
By contact with the sheet 3a, even if a force is applied from the direction of the arrow A (FIG.), Which is the sheet setting direction, or from above, the bottom member 11 is prevented from lowering to the state shown in FIG. 2B.

In the state where the link member 15 is folded down, FIG.
As shown in (b), the link member 15 attached to the hole 13a is housed in the hole 13a formed in the base 13, and the bottom member 17 is substantially flush with the base 13. When the link 13 falls down, as shown in FIG. 3B, the facing surface 17a of the bottom member 17 of the side fence 7 is formed.
Is located at the second position lower than the sheet stacking surface 5a of the bottom plate 5, and in the present embodiment, the surface 17a of the bottom member 17 facing the sheet is lower than the lower surface of the bottom plate 5.

Since the opposed surface 17a of the bottom member 17 of the side fence 7 is located at the second position lower than the lower surface of the bottom plate 5, the bottom member 17 is moved below the recess 5b of the bottom plate 5 by the movement of the side fence 7. It is possible to get into it. As shown in FIG. 4B, the bottom member 17 enters the lower side of the bottom plate 5, so that the fence surface 7a of the side fence 7 can be moved to the vicinity of the bottom plate 5,
While maintaining the strength of the bottom plate 5, the side edges of the small-sized paper can be regulated, and the moving distance of the side fence 7 can be increased.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described based on the above configuration. When the paper is set in the paper feed tray 3 of the paper stacking unit 2, the link member 15 is raised to move the bottom member 17 from the second position to the first position, and then is directed from the side of the bottom plate 5 toward the end fence 11 ( (See arrow A in FIG. 1) Slide the paper. Paper is side fence 7,
7 slides on the opposing surfaces 7 a, 7 a and the sheet loading surface 5 a of the bottom plate 5, and then strikes the end fence 11. By moving the side fences 7 and 7 in the direction of arrow B to regulate both side edges of the sheet, the sheet is fed to the sheet feeding tray 3.
Set to.

By setting the bottom member 17 to the first position, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 4A, the plane 17a of the bottom member 17 becomes higher than the paper loading surface 5a of the bottom plate 5, Since the end of the sheet sliding in the direction of arrow A is less likely to be caught on the bottom plate 5, damage to the sheet such as folding of the sheet can be prevented, and the sheet is placed on the sheet loading surface 5 a of the bottom plate 5 and the flat surface 17 a of the bottom member 17. It can slide smoothly and paper can be set easily.

Next, another embodiment will be described. In the description, the same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The bottom member 17 of the side fence 7 is divided into a support portion 23 and a swing portion 25 disposed on the leading end side of the bottom member 17 in the sheet setting direction (the direction of arrow A), and the swing portion 25 is a fixed portion. 23 is connected to be able to swing up and down. Also,
A guide rib (guide portion) 27 for guiding the swing of the swing portion 25 is provided on the bottom surface 3a of the paper feed tray 3, and the swing portion 25 rides on the guide rib 27 by its own weight.

The height of the guide rib 27 is changed along the direction of movement of the side fence 7 (in the direction of arrow B).
a, has a tall high portion 27b outside thereof, and the low portion 27a and the high portion 27b are smoothly connected. When the swinging portion 25 rides on the high portion 27b of the guide rib 27, as shown in FIG.
When the swinging portion 25 is on the lower portion 27a of the guide rib 27 when the leading end of the swinging portion 25 is at the first position higher than the bottom plate 5, as shown in FIG.
Is located at the second position where the bottom surface member 17 can enter the lower side of the bottom plate 5.

That is, when the side fence 7 is located at a position distant from the side edge of the bottom plate 5 to guide the large-sized paper, as shown in FIG.
Since the swinging portion 25 is supported (lifted) by 7b, the tip of the swinging portion 25 is at a position higher than the sheet stacking surface 5a of the bottom plate 5. That is, the opposing surface 17a of the bottom member 17 is at the first position, and the paper inserted from the direction of arrow A is prevented from being caught on the bottom plate 5.

On the other hand, when the side fence 7 is located at a position near the center of the paper feed tray 3, since the swinging portion 25 is supported by the lower portion 27 a of the guide rib 27, the swinging portion 25 is The position is lower than the loading surface 5a.
That is, the facing surface 17a of the bottom member 17 is at the second position,
As shown in FIG. 7B, the bottom member 17 enters the lower side of the bottom plate 5, so that the fence surface 7 of the side fence 7 is formed.
a can be moved to the vicinity of the side edge of the concave portion 5 b of the bottom plate 5.

Since the swinging portion 25 is mounted on the guide rib 27 by its own weight, the swinging portion 25 can be moved up and down only by moving the side fence 7, and large-sized paper that is liable to be caught by paper can be removed. When used, simply by moving the side fence 7 in the direction away from the bottom plate 5, as shown in FIG. 7A, the swinging part 25 rides on the high part 27 b of the guide rib 27, and The facing surface 17a automatically comes to the first position. When a small-sized sheet is used, the swinging portion 25 rides on the lower portion 27a of the guide rib 27 as shown in FIG. The opposing surface 17a of the member 17 automatically comes to the second position.

As described above, only by moving the side fence 7 in accordance with the sheet size, the opposing surface 1 of the bottom member 17 can be moved.
Since the height of 7a can be adjusted, it is easy to adjust the height between the facing surface 17a of the bottom member 17 and the paper loading surface 5a of the bottom plate 5. In addition, the swinging portion 25 of the bottom member 17 swings up and down along the guide rib 27, and there is no need to separately provide a driving mechanism for moving the swinging portion 25 up and down. Yes, cost can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the bottom member 1
Although the position where 7 is higher than the bottom plate 5 is set as the first position, the position where the plane 17a of the bottom member 17 and the paper loading surface 5a of the bottom plate 5 are substantially flush may be set as the first position. In this case, The same operation and effect can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, a pair of side fences 7 and 7 are provided, and the paper passing reference is the paper center (center reference). However, a single side fence is provided on one side of the paper. It may be.

[0037]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the sheet is set on the sheet stacking means, the height of the facing surface of the bottom member is set to the first position which is higher than the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate. By making the change, the end of the paper sliding on the opposing surface of the bottom member and the paper loading surface of the bottom plate is less likely to be caught on the bottom plate, so that the paper can be easily set. Further, it is possible to prevent the paper from being damaged such as the paper being broken due to the edge of the paper being hooked on the bottom plate and the skew of the paper, thereby improving the reliability of transporting the paper.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the invention is obtained, and the movement distance of the regulating member can be increased by the bottom member entering the lower side of the bottom plate. The side edge of the small-sized sheet can be regulated by the member, and the correspondence of the sheet size can be largely ensured, and the reliability and performance of sheet feeding can be improved. Further, since it is not necessary to cut out a part of the bottom plate in order to increase the moving distance of the regulating member, the strength of the bottom plate can be maintained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first or second aspect of the present invention can be obtained, and at the same time, the swinging portion is connected to the bottom member and the guide portion is provided on the sheet stacking means. Since there is no need to separately provide a drive unit for moving the bottom member up and down, the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet feeding apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating a side fence, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a facing surface of a bottom member is at a first position, and FIG. It is a figure showing a state.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the vicinity of a side fence;
(A) is a figure which shows the response which the bottom member was raised,
(B) is a figure which shows the state in which the bottom member fell down.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the vicinity of a side fence;
(A) is a figure which shows the state in which the opposing surface of the bottom member is in the 1st position, (b) is a figure which shows the state in which the bottom member entered into the lower side of the bottom plate.

5A and 5B are perspective views illustrating a side fence according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a swinging portion of a bottom member rides on a high portion of a guide rib, and FIG. It is a figure showing the state where the rocking part of the side fence rides on the lower part of the guide rib.

6A and 6B are cross-sectional views illustrating the vicinity of a side fence according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a bottom portion of the side fence is at a first position, and FIG. It is a figure showing the state where the bottom face part is in the 2nd position.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views illustrating the vicinity of a side fence according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a facing surface of a bottom member is at a first position, and FIG. It is a figure showing the state where it went under the bottom plate.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a conventional side fence.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which an end of a sheet set in a conventional sheet feed tray is bent.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper feeder 2 Paper loading part (paper loading means) 5 Bottom plate 5a Paper loading surface 5b Concave part 7 Side fence (restriction member) 17 Bottom member 17a Opposing surface 25 Swing part 27 Guide rib (guide part)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet stacking means comprising: a bottom plate for stacking sheets; and a regulating member disposed in a recess formed in a side edge of the bottom plate and regulating a side edge of the sheet in the sheet feeding direction. A sheet feeding device that includes a bottom member that faces the lower surface of the sheet when the side edge of the sheet is regulated, and that sets the sheet to the sheet stacking means; the height of the opposite surface of the bottom member is greater than or equal to the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate; A sheet feeding device characterized in that it can be changed to a first position where the height is higher and a second position where the height is lower than the sheet stacking surface of the bottom plate. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein when the height of the facing surface of the bottom member is at the second position, the bottom member can enter under the bottom plate. 3. A swinging portion is connected to the bottom end member of the regulating member in the paper setting direction so as to be vertically swingable, and a guide portion on which the swinging portion is mounted is provided on the paper stacking means in the moving direction of the regulating member. The height of the opposing surface on the tip end side of the bottom member is changed to the first or the height by the swinging portion swinging up and down along the guide portion when the regulating member moves. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is located at a second position.