JPH056284Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for various printers, copying machines, etc.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, paper feeding devices in various printers, copying machines, etc. have been used to feed thin paper (referring to thin sheet paper) such as general-purpose printing paper and copy paper. . In a general paper feeding device, a paper holder that holds thin sheets of paper in a stacked manner engages with the top surface of the left and right corners of the front end of the paper in the paper feeding direction, and is driven by the rotation of the feed roller. A separation claw is provided that separates the paper by actively bending the corner portion of the paper when sending out (feeding) thin paper, ensuring that thin paper is fed one by one. It is becoming more and more paper-based.

[Problems that the invention aims to solve] Even if you want to feed thick paper such as postcards in order to print or copy on it with a conventional paper feeding device, it is difficult to feed thick paper such as postcards due to its rigidity. Therefore, it is structurally difficult to feed the paper. In other words, even if you set thick paper in the paper holder of a conventional paper feeder and try to feed the paper, the front corner of the thick paper engaged with the separation claw of the paper holder will bend. Since this hardly occurs, it is difficult to feed such thick paper after all.

In addition, in recent years, a paper feeder dedicated to feeding thick paper has been proposed, but this is used in full replacement with a paper feeder for thin paper, which results in high production costs. Additionally, there is a problem in that complicated work is required to replace the paper feeding device.

Therefore, the present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to use thin paper such as printing paper and copy paper, as well as postcards (official postcards and private postcards) and similar papers. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeding device that can feed thick paper.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems, the paper feeding device of the present invention is attached to the frame of the main body of various printers, copiers, etc. so as to be swingable in the horizontal direction, and is capable of storing sheets in a stacked manner. and a paper holder equipped with a separating claw for separating paper; a thick paper holder that is removably set in the paper holder and that accommodates paper in a stacked manner and realizes a friction-type paper feeding mechanism; A roller that feeds out the stacked paper in the thick paper holder and a position that faces the feed roller across the stacked paper, and is opposite to the surface of the stacked paper that faces the feed roller. A pressing means is provided on a side surface for urging the stacked sheets of paper in the paper holder or the thick paper holder toward the feed roller.

[Function] According to the above means, in the case of thin paper, the paper holder holds the thin paper in a stacked manner, and the paper is pressed against the feed roller by the pressing means, so that the front left and right corners of the paper are pressed. A separation claw is engaged with the corner. By rotating the feed roller in this state, the uppermost thin sheet of paper is separated by the separating claw and fed.

In the case of thick paper, a removable thick paper holder is set in the paper holder. In this holder, thick sheets of paper are held in a stacked manner in a state where engagement with the thin sheet separation claw is avoided, and the sheets are pressed against the feed roller by the pressing means. By rotating the feed roller in this state, the uppermost thick paper is fed.

[Example] An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, for an overview of a printer equipped with a paper feeding device, we will start with the ninth section, which shows a perspective view of the entire printer.
Figure 10, which shows the main parts of the printer in cross-sectional view.
This will be explained with reference to the figure.

A pair of left and right paper holders 2 and 3 and a paper holder 4 located between both holders 2 and 3 are arranged in an inclined manner at the rear of the top surface of the printer main body 1. In the paper holders 2 to 4, thin sheets of paper (cut sheets) P before printing are placed so as to lean against each other in a stacked manner. Also, the printer body 1
A pair of left and right stackers 5 and 6 are arranged in an inclined manner at the front of the vehicle.

In the printer described above, the uppermost thin paper P on the paper holders 2 to 4 is passed through the paper feed port 9 to the platen 1 by the rotation of the feed roller 8.
0 and the nip roller 11, and is sent to the printing position by the rotation of the nip roller 11 and guide rollers 12, 13 as the platen 10 rotates, and is printed by the print head 14, and then transferred to the platen 10. The paper is discharged from the discharge port 7 by rotation with the paper bail 15 and rotation of the discharge roller 16,
They are held in a stacked manner on stackers 5 and 6. In addition,
This flow of paper is shown in FIG. 10 by dash-dotted line arrows.

However, the paper holders 2 to 4 are the tenth paper holders.
In addition to the drawings, as shown in a perspective view in FIG. It is supported so that it can slide in the direction. Note that the support frame 18 is fastened between the left and right side frames 19 of the printer main body 1 with screws 19a. Two feed rollers 8 are slidably disposed on a shaft 8a that is positively rotatably installed between the side frames 19.

A front plate part 20 is formed at the lower end of the left and right paper holders 2 and 3 to contact the front end (lower end) of the thin paper P in the feeding direction, and the outer edge of the front plate part 20 contacts the left and right side edges of the paper P. Side plate part 21 that guides
is formed. A semicircular recess 24 is formed at the upper edge of the lower end of the side plate 21 . This concave portion 24 is relatively rotatably engaged with the outer boss portion 8b of the feed roller 8, and as the paper holders 2 and 3 slide in the left-right direction, the feed roller 8 is moved along the shaft 8a. and slide it. Also, the side plate part 2
An opening hole 22 is formed at the lower end of the housing 1 . A long pressing member 23 is fitted into the opening hole 22 .

The pressing member 23 is urged upward in the plane of the paper by a suitable elastic means disposed on the printer main body 1 side, and presses the front end of the thin paper P toward the delivery roller 8. Note that this pressing member 2
3 and the elastic means constitute the pressing means in the present invention.

Pressing pieces 25 are protruded from opposing surfaces of the side plate portions 21 of the paper holders 2 and 3, respectively, so as to contact the upper surfaces of the left and right edges of the thin paper P.

Further, a triangular piece-shaped separation claw 26 is formed adjacent to the opening hole 22 at the corner formed by the front plate part 20 and the side plate part 21 of the paper holders 2 and 3. The separation claw 26 engages with the upper surface of the left and right corners of the front end of the thin paper P in the paper feeding direction, and separates the thin paper P.
Paper separation is achieved by actively bending the corner portions of the paper P when the paper P is fed.

Note that the above-described printer is used by being connected to a computer, word processor, etc.

However, the paper holder 2 of the above printer
4, even if you set thick paper such as a postcard instead of thin paper P and try to feed the same paper, the front edge corner of the thick paper that the separation claws 26 of paper holders 2 and 3 engaged with Since there is almost no bending at the corners like the thin paper P, it is difficult to feed the thick paper.

Therefore, in the printer described above, the thick paper holder 27 realizes a friction type paper feeding mechanism and makes it possible to feed thick paper such as postcards.
1, which shows a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the printer in which the holder 27 is installed, FIG. 2, which shows the printer in a perspective view, and FIG. 3, which shows the paper holder of the printer in a plan view. The thick paper holder will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4, which is a perspective view.

The thick paper holder 27 has a front plate 28 that comes into contact with the front end of the thick paper PC in the feeding direction, and a front plate 28 that contacts the front end of the thick paper PC in the feeding direction.
It has left and right side plates 29 that guide the left and right side edges of the
It is formed into a rectangular frame shape by a connecting plate 30 that is parallel to the front plate 28.

The front end portions of the front plate 28 and the side plate 29 are formed at a lower height than the rear part of the side plate 29, and can be inserted between the paper holders 2 to 4 and the shaft 8a of the feed roller 8. . Note that when the holder is inserted, the front plate 28 is connected to the front plate part 20 of the paper holders 2 and 3.
is brought into contact with.

Furthermore, semicircular recesses 31 are formed at the upper edges of the front ends of both side plates 29, respectively. This recess 31
are the respective outer boss portions 8b of the left and right feed rollers 8.
are relatively rotatably engaged with each other.

A notch groove 32 is formed on the lower side of the front end of both side plates 29. This notch groove 32 allows the pressing member 23 to move in a pressing manner.

A paper sorting section 33 protrudes from the upper end of the center portion of the front plate 28. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper edge of this paper sorting section 33 is a curved surface 34 having a circular cross section.

The thick paper holder 27 described above is installed on the paper holders 2 to 4 in the following manner. First, the paper holders 2 to 4 are slid so that the distance between the left and right presser pieces 25 almost matches the width of the thick paper holder 27. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, when the paper holders 2 to 4 are brought into contact with each other, the distance between the presser pieces 25 almost matches the width of the thick paper holder 27. Then, so that the front plate 28 is brought into contact with the front plate part 20 of the paper holders 2 and 3,
The front end of the holder is inserted between the width 8a of the feed roller 8 and the paper holders 2-4.

Therefore, the feed roller 8 is located at the front end within the frame of the holder 27, and the feed roller 8 is located at the front end within the frame of the thick paper holder 27.
is removably installed on the paper holders 2 to 4 inside the separating claw 26 by the left and right positioning action of the left and right holding pieces 25.

Thick sheets PC are set in a stacked manner within the frame of the thick sheet holder 27, and the sheets PC are pressed toward the feed roller 8 by the pressing member 23.

In this state, by rotating the feed roller 8, the uppermost thick paper PC is sent forward. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the thick paper PC is sent out while going over the curved surface 34 of the paper sorting section 33 of the front plate 28, and is separated from the next thick paper PC to ensure that it is one sheet. thick paper PC is fed. Note that this thick paper PC is then sent out along the flow shown by the one-dot chain arrow in FIG.

Also, contrary to when installing the thick paper holder 27,
If it is removed from above the paper holders 2 to 4, the thin paper P can be fed again.

Note that instead of the curved surface 34 of the paper handling section 33 of the front plate 28 in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, it may be formed with an inclined surface 35 that slopes upward in the feeding direction. Further, the front plate 28 can be inclined and used as a substitute for the inclined surface 35.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a horizontal member 36 is installed at the bottom of both side plates 29 of the thick paper holder 27, and the lower end of the guide plate 37 is slid in the horizontal direction on the horizontal member 36. By being able to engage with each other, the guide plate 37 can be adjusted to correspond to thick paper PC of various sizes, and the side edge of the paper PC can be guided by the guide plate 37 and one of the side plates 29.

[Effect of the invention] In other words, according to the invention, in the case of thin paper,
By holding the paper on the paper holder, the paper can be separated by a separating claw, and paper feeding suitable for thin paper can be performed. Further, in the case of thick paper, by setting a removable thick paper holder in the paper holder, the paper is not separated by the separating claw, so that paper feeding suitable for the thick paper can be performed.

In addition, by installing a holder for thick paper on the paper holder and making it possible to feed thick paper, production costs are reduced and unlike conventional paper feeders that require a dedicated paper feeder. The holder can be easily attached and detached.

Further, since the pressing means is common for both thin paper and thick paper and presses the paper against the feed roller side, there is no need to provide a dedicated pressing means for thick paper, thereby reducing costs. For example, the automatic paper feeder disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-263530 has a complicated structure because it has a separate pressing means for thick paper in addition to a pressing means for thin paper. This increases the number of parts and therefore increases costs, but the present invention solves these problems.

The above-mentioned effect is useful as a thick paper holder for compact type devices such as general household printers and copying machines, which have been increasing in recent years.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the main parts of a printer equipped with a thick paper holder, Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the printer, and Fig. 3 shows the paper holder. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the thick paper holder, Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the paper sorting section of the holder, Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing another example of the paper sorting section, and Fig. 7 is a holder with a guide plate. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the thick paper holder and a cross-sectional view of the guide plate mounting portion of the holder. Fig. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the printer to which the embodiment is applied, Fig. 10 is an explanatory sectional view of the main parts of the printer, and Fig. 11 is an exploded view showing the paper holder of the printer together with the support frame and pressing member. FIG. 2 to 4...Paper holder, 8...Feed roller, 23...Press member, 26...Separation claw, 27...
...Thick paper holder, 28...Front plate, 29...Side plate, P...Thin paper, PC...Thick paper.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A paper holder that is attached to the frame of the main body of various printers, copiers, etc. so as to be able to swing laterally, stores sheets in a stack, and is equipped with a separation claw for separating the sheets. a thick paper holder which is removably set in the paper holder and which accommodates sheets in a stack and realizes a friction type paper feeding mechanism; and a feed roller which sends out the stacked papers in the paper holder or the thick paper holder. and the paper holder or the thick paper holder, which is provided at a position facing the feed roller across the stacked paper, and is inserted into the paper holder or the thick paper holder from the surface opposite to the surface of the stack of paper that faces the feed roller. A paper feeding device comprising a pressing means for pressing the stacked paper sheets toward the feed roller. (2) The paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the operating position of the pressing means in the thick paper holder is bottomless.