JPH03182431A - Connecting system for sheet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily position the connection side of a sheet feeder, adjust an adjuster, and prevent such a trouble as the swell on a floor face from affecting the sheet feeder by thrusting a positioning pin arranged on the connection side of the sheet feeder while it is mounted on a positioning member provided on an image forming device. CONSTITUTION:A positioning member 91 is fixed at the lower section of a main body 41, and a positioning pin 92 couplable with the positioning member 91 is fixed to a frame 3A. When a sheet feeder 2 is installed, the positioning pin 92 is coupled with the positioning member 91, and the sheet feeder 2 is positioned against the main body 41. When an adjuster 79 is operated, the height direction is adjusted until the sheet feeder 2 is made horizontal to the main body 41. The frame 5A of a lower unit 5 and the frame of an automatic double- sided device 50 are fixed with bolts 93 and nuts 95, thereby the sheet feeder 2 is positioned horizontally (in the right and left direction) and connected to a copying machine 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a connection system between an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a paper feeding device capable of feeding paper into the apparatus.

(0) Prior Art Conventionally, this type of paper feeding device has been connected to a main body of a copying machine as an image forming device, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 57-40955 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-127934. Even in the case of f&c, the casters supporting the paper feeding device remain in contact with the floor surface. In addition, with emphasis on ease of installation of the paper feeder, we have developed a method in which the paper feeder is placed on the positioning member from above, and a method that uses a positioning pin and a fitting hole to insert the positioning pin into the fitting hole. There is a way to position the paper feeder by inserting it.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the casters of the copying machine body are also in contact with the floor surface like the casters of the paper feeder, so depending on the undulations of the floor surface, Even if the paper feeding device is equipped with an adjuster, it is difficult to adjust the attitude of the paper feeding device with respect to the main body of the copying machine.

Furthermore, when positioning the paper feeder by simply placing it from above, there is a problem in that one side of the paper feeder is lifted up and installed in a twisted state. In addition, if you do not want the above twisting condition and try to achieve complete positioning by engaging the positioning pin with the fitting hole, you will have to insert the pin while aligning the heavy paper feeder. The disadvantage was that the paper feeding device was extremely difficult to install.

Therefore, in the present invention, when the paper feeding device is installed, the casters of the device are placed one distance from the floor surface to avoid the influence of the undulations of the floor surface, and to facilitate positioning and connection to the main body of the copying machine. The object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeding device connection system.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and as shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 24, for example, an image forming apparatus (1) is provided. position and connect to the - side of the paper (
In a paper feeder t(2) that can feed S) inside the image forming apparatus (1), casters (80) support and move the paper feeder (2), and the casters (80) are mounted on a floor surface. (
75>, and the adjuster (79) provided on the paper feed section W (2) at a position opposite to the image forming apparatus (1), and this adjuster ( 79), facing the direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction, and facing the paper feeding device (2) or the image forming device (1).
), the image forming apparatus (1) or the paper feeder (
2), and a fixing means (20) for fixing the paper feeding device (2) after the positioning to the image forming device (1). do.

(E) Effect Based on the above configuration, when the positioning pin or positioning member provided on the connection side of the paper feeding device is engaged with the positioning member or positioning pin provided on the image forming apparatus for positioning, the paper is fed at the time of this engagement. The positioning pin or positioning member on the device side is positioned while its downward movement is regulated, but its upward movement is free, so the weight of the connecting side of the paper feeding device is supported by the member on the other side. Ru. Also,
After positioning, the casters of the paper feeding device are separated from the floor by adjusting the adjuster on the opposite side, and the paper feeding device is connected to the image forming apparatus without being affected by the undulations of the floor.

Note that the above-mentioned symbols in parentheses are used to refer to the drawings and do not limit the configuration in any way.

(F) Example Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 23.

The paper feeding device of the present invention is a large-capacity front-loading deck that is installed next to a copying machine as an image forming device, and has upper and lower divided units.When a paper jam occurs, the paper bus is released. The upper unit is preferably configured to be slidable.

In FIG. 1, a paper feed section y12 of the present invention is connected to a main body 41 of a copy a1 serving as an image forming apparatus. This paper feeding device 2 has an upper unit 3 and a lower unit 5 which are divided into upper and lower parts. The upper unit 3 includes a manual paper feed section 42 that can load approximately 50 sheets of paper S, and a plurality of upper/middle decks 43, 45 that can load approximately 1000 sheets of paper S. Lower decks 6 each capable of loading approximately 3,000 zero sheets S are housed therein.

The above-mentioned copying machine 1 is originally used as a cassette paper feed type, and when the paper feeding device 2 of this embodiment is connected to this copying machine 1, the cassette paper feeding section unit in the copying machine 1 is A transport bus for the paper feeder 2 is formed by completely replacing the guide and roller pair. This transport bus will hereinafter be referred to as an interface unit. This interface unit has buses connected to the upper unit 3 and lower unit 5, respectively, as will be described later.

The details of the configuration of an embodiment of the paper feeding device are shown in FIGS. 1 to 2 below.
This will be further explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional side view of a paper feeder 2 of the present invention and a copying machine 1 connected thereto. A copying system including a copying machine 1 is disposed on the top of a copy illumination unit, and a copying system including a copying machine 1 is arranged at the top of a copy illumination unit and is used to copy originals 46.
A document processing device 47 that automatically feeds paper, a copy paper post-processing device 49 such as a sorter, an automatic duplexing device 50 that also serves as a mounting table of the copying machine 1 and is used to form images on both sides of the paper S, etc. It is equipped with

Inside the main body 41, there is an optical system 5 for scanning the document 46.
1, a photosensitive drum 52 on which a toner image is formed by exposure by the optical system 51 and a developing device, a transfer section 53 for transferring the toner image onto the paper S, a fixing device 55 for fixing the toner image, etc. .

The paper feeding device 2 is roughly divided into eight units. That is, the upper unit 3 and the lower unit 5 are divided in the vertical direction, the manual paper feed section 42 on the upper unit 3, the upper deck 43 and the lower deck 45 in the upper unit 3, and the paper is fed from both decks 43 and 45. The upper paper feeding unit 56 that feeds paper S and the lower deck 6 in the lower unit 5
and a lower paper feeding unit 7 that feeds the paper S from now on. Further, the paper feeding device 2 is connected to the copying machine 1.
The interface unit 9 is provided in place of the cassette paper feed section unit originally provided in the cassette paper feed unit.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the paper feeding device 2. As shown in FIG.

A cover 57 that covers the manual paper feed section 42 is provided on the top of the paper feed device 2. The cover 57 includes a transparent cover that prevents foreign objects such as gobs from entering the paper S in the manual paper feed section 42. 59 is provided so as to be openable and closable. A gap cover 63.65 is provided between the main body 41 of the copying machine 1 and the front covers 60, 61.62 of the decks 43, 45.6 of the paper feeder 2.
It is filled in by

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the paper feeder 2 shown in FIG. 2 viewed from above.

In the figure, the front door 66 of the copying machine 1 and the front cover 60, 61, 62 are on the same plane. When the front door 66 is opened or the deck 43.45° 6 is pulled forward, a gap d is required to prevent them from buffering each other, and the gap cover 63 is used to close this gap d.
．． It is 65.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the front cover 60.61.62
are provided with remaining amount display portions 67, 69, and 70 for displaying the remaining amount of paper S in each deck 43, 45.6, etc., and since the lower deck 6 is a 3000-sheet deck, the remaining amount display portion is The length of one window is longer than the other. In this embodiment, the decks 67, 69, and 70 are locked in the drawing direction electrically by a solenoid, as will be described later in FIG. 14.

Reference numeral 71 is a release switch for releasing the above-mentioned lock, and when this is pressed, a lifter (described later) of each deck 43, 45.6 is lowered and the lock is released, and each deck 43 is released.
, 45.6.

Furthermore, each front cover 60, 61, 62 has a handle 7.
2 and a paper size display section 73 are provided, respectively.

A plurality of casters 76 are fixed to the lower surface of the main body 41 and are in contact with a floor surface 75. Furthermore, a leg member 77 having an adjuster 79 at its free end and a plurality of casters 80 are provided on the lower surface of the paper feeder 2 . This caster 80
is lifted off the floor surface 75 when the paper feeding device 2 is installed, and the paper feeding device 2 is supported by casters 76 and casters 76.

Figure 4 shows the front cover 60°61.6 of the paper feeder 2.
2 and a gap cover 63, 65 are removed. FIG.

By slidably supporting a rail 81 fixed to the frame 3A of the upper unit 3 by a bearing 82 pivotally supported by the frame 5A of the lower unit 5, the upper unit 3 can freely slide in the direction of the arrow 83. . A lock pawl 85 is pivotally attached to the frame 3A by a shaft 86, and the upper unit 3 is locked or released by engaging and disengaging the lock pawl 85 with one of the bearings 82.

The rail guide 87 fixed to the frame 5A is provided only on the near side rail 81 of the two rails 81 on the near side/IJl side in the figure, and as shown in FIG. At times, the rail 81 is guided to move linearly. Figure 6 shows the fifth
FIG. 2 is a view of the device shown in the figure from the right side. In addition, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body 41 of the copying machine 1 and the manual paper feed section 4 are shown.
A member 89 which is open upwardly is connected to the main body 41 between the two parts.
The receiver member 89 is provided to prevent foreign objects such as clips from falling into the paper feed bus.

Next, a method of installing the paper feeding device 2 in the main body 41 of the copying machine 1 will be explained using FIGS. 4 and 6.

In FIG. 4, a positioning member 91 that forms a groove and has upper and lower arms is fixed to the lower part of the main body 41, and a positioning pin 92 that can be freely engaged with and detached from this positioning member 91.
is fixed to the frame 3A. When the paper feeding device 2 is installed, the positioning pin 92 is engaged with the positioning member 91 and the paper feeding bag is connected to the main body 41. l! 2 positioning is performed. The lower arm part of the positioning member 91 is slightly long and forms a guide part. When installing the paper feeder 2, first place the positioning pin 92 on the horizontally extending arm and push the lower unit 5 into the positioning member 91. When the lower unit 5 is in contact with the automatic duplexing device 50 serving as a loading table of the copying machine 1, the lower unit 5 is positioned only in the vertical direction.

Next, by operating the adjuster 79, the height direction is adjusted until the paper feeding device 2 is parallel to the main body 41.

After n, the frame 5A of the lower unit 5 and the automatic duplexing device 5
By fixing the paper feed bag 'I12 to the frame 0 with bolts 93 and nuts 95, the paper feed bag 'I12 is positioned laterally (left and right) and connected to the copying machine 1. Ultimately, the casters 80 of the paper feed bag W2 are lifted off the floor surface 75, so even if the floor surface 75 is somewhat undulating,
The paper feeding device 2 can be accurately connected to the copying machine 1.

Note that the positioning pins 92 are provided on the front side and the back side, respectively, and the vertical adjustment on the main body 41 side is performed as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-127934.
Since this method is not just a matter of placing the sheet, the sheet feeding device 2 of this embodiment is perfectly positioned. In addition, since the vertical positioning of the paper feeding device 2 is performed using the pin shape as a fulcrum, the paper feeding bag N2 itself can be rotated freely in response to the adjustment of the adjuster 79, and the paper feeding device 2 can be positioned horizontally without any unreasonable force being applied. The direction can be adjusted.

In FIG. 6, the horizontal positioning of the paper feeder 2 is as follows:
This is done by sandwiching the front portion 3a of the frame 3A between the positioning members 91. The positioning member 91a on the back side supports the back side of the lower unit 5, but this positioning member 91a is formed slightly wide so as not to firmly pinch the rear part 3b of the frame 3A.

FIG. 26 shows details of the positioning member 91.
The positioning member 91 has a channel shape when viewed from above, and has side plates 91b and 91c. Side plate 91b
Among the upper and lower arm parts formed in the upper and lower arms, the lower arm part 91d is formed to be longer than the upper arm part. This is so that when the positioning pin 92 is engaged with the positioning member 91, the pin 92 can be temporarily placed on the free end of the arm 91d as shown in FIG. 24(a). In this state, the positioning pin 92 is free to move upward, but its downward movement is restricted by the arm portion 91d. As a result, the paper feed device 2 is connected to the copying machine 1.
It can be properly positioned with respect to the main body 41, and the positioning work can be easily performed. Also, the side plate 9
The groove 91e formed on the side plate 1b precisely fits the positioning pin 92 to perform vertical positioning, but the groove formed on the other side plate 91c is formed larger than the diameter of the positioning pin 92. Therefore, precise fitting was not performed.

FIG. 24 shows the procedure for connecting the paper feeder 2 to the main body 41 of the copying machine 1. Connect the connecting side of the paper feeder 2 to (a
After lifting the positioning pin 92 as shown in Figure 1 and placing it on the positioning member 91, pushing it in as shown in Figure 1B, and adjusting the adjuster 79 as shown in Figure 1C, the paper feeder 2 is properly positioned with respect to the main body 41. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. d1, the paper feeding device 2 is connected to the copying machine 1 by fixing it with a fixing means 20 consisting of a bolt and a nut.

In the above embodiment, the positioning pin 91 is connected to the paper feeder 2.
Although we have explained an example in which the positioning pin 9 is
2 can also be arranged in the main body 41 of the copying machine 1 as shown in FIG. In this case, the positioning member 91 is provided in the paper feeding device 2, and the elongated arm portion 91d is placed on the upper side as shown. This allows the arm portion 91d to be temporarily placed on the positioning pin 91 when the positioning member 91 is engaged, making the engagement work easier.

Here, the general structure of the frame 3A of the upper unit 3 is as follows:
A perspective view of FIG. 21 (shown. In the figure, a window frame-shaped frame 3a and a frame 3b are fixed with a bottom stay 96, an upper stay 97, a corner stay, etc. of the frame to form a box shape. The frames 3a and 3b are
It has a welded structure, and the precision and rigidity of the entire sheet feeding device 2 are maintained by the frames 3a and 3b.

Next, the configuration of the unit of the paper feeding device 2 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Since the upper unit 3 and the lower unit 5 have been described above, their explanation will be omitted. The manual paper feed section 42 is screwed to the top of the frame 3A. The upper paper feed unit 56 is attached from the left side of the upper unit 3 so that it can be attached and detached when the upper unit 3 is slid in the direction of arrow 83 (see FIG. 4). That is, the upper sheet feeding unit 56 is slidably held by a pair of upper and lower stays 101 and 102, and the bases of the stays 101 and 102 are pivotally connected to the frame 3b by shafts 103, respectively. As described above, by forming the upper sheet feeding unit 56 into a hinge structure and attaching the frame 3b, the ease of assembling and servicing the upper sheet feeding unit 56 is improved.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lower sheet feeding unit 7 is attached to the frame 5A from above and secured with screws. In this case as well, the lower sheet feeding unit 7 is attached and detached by sliding the upper unit 3 back and forth (left and right in FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 4, the upper/middle deck 43.
45 is mounted inside the frame 3A via rails 105 and 106, and can be freely pulled out toward the front. The lower deck 6 is attached to the frame 5A via a plurality of rails 107 so as to be freely drawn out.

Next, the upper/middle deck 43.45 will be explained using FIGS. 7 and 8.

The upper/middle decks 43 and 45 are each made of the same parts, and the only difference is the mounting position of the front panels 60 and 61, so corresponding parts will be described with two types of reference numerals and with reference to the same figure.

The case 105 of the upper/middle deck 43.45 has a case bottom 10 that is open upward and has a channel shape (U-shape).
8, a right side plate 107 and a left side plate 109 are combined into a box shape. Inside the case 105, there is provided a lid plate 110 (111) on which sheets S are loaded. The case 10 is mounted on the side of the lifter plate 110 (111).
A sliding member 112 for sliding inside the housing 5 is provided. Also, on the side of the lifter plate 110 (111), there are four wire fixtures 113, 115°, 116, 11
7 is fixed to the case bottom 1, and extends to the outside through a slit 119 formed in the side wall of the case bottom 1, 06.

A wire shaft 120 is rotatably attached to the lower right side of the case 105, and the case 105 of the wire shaft 120
A sprocket 121 and a pulley 122 are fixed to one end (upper end in FIG. 7) of the sprocket extending from the sprocket, respectively.
Pulleys 122 and 123 are fixed to the other end, respectively. A lifter drive motor 125 is fixed to the back side plate of the case 105 via a bracket, and a sprocket 126 fixed to its output shaft is connected to the chain 1.
27 to the sprocket 121.

The pulley 122 has two wires 129 as described later.
, 130 are locked and wound. A pair of guide pulleys 131 and 132 are pivotally supported above the lateral roots on the front and back sides of the lifter 110 (111), respectively. One wire 129 let out from the pulley 122 is attached to the guide pulley 131.
, 132, and the other wire 130 is locked to the wire fixture 115 via a guide pulley.

This method of fixing the wires 129, 130 is as shown in FIG. The ends of the i30 are wound under the wire fixtures 113, 115 and then screwed on the opposite side, thereby maximizing the vertical stroke of the lifter 110 (111). Also,
As long as the slit 119 is extended, the lid 110 (111) can theoretically be moved up and down by the amount indicated by the reference numerals in FIG.

The pull-down wire 133, which is wound around the pulley 123 with one end locked, has the other end fixed to the center of the back side of the case bottom 106 via a ring-shaped guide bush 135. The wires 129, 130 and the pull-down wire 133 are wound in opposite directions around each pulley, and the lifter 110 (111) is moved up and down by the rotation of the wire shaft 120 in the forward and reverse directions. There is.

Note that similar wires 129, 130 and guide pulleys 131, 1, and 32 are also arranged on the back side plate of the case bottom 106, and the other ends of the wires 129, 130 are wound around the pulley 122 and engaged. It has been stopped.

In this way, by pulling up the lifter 1.10 (111) with the four wires 129, 130 and pulling down the central part with the two pull-down wires 133, the Since the stroke of the lifter 110 (111) in the vertical direction can be made larger than when the lifter is driven by a so-called figure-of-eight wire, more sheets can be stacked in the same space.

] The case bottom 106 is provided with a friction plate 136 for preventing double feeding of the final sheet and a paper-out detection sensor 137 for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet S on the case bottom 106. Paper S is inserted through the hole drilled in the case bottom 106.
A guide plate 139 that regulates the depth direction (width direction) extends and is adjusted within the range of arrow 141. Further, a guide plate 140 for regulating the rear end of the paper S extends from another hole drilled in the case bottom 106.
If the paper S is A3 or LDL (11
"X17"), it is moved to the arrow 143 and used.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 145 indicates a rail, and 146 indicates a rail guide roller. A lock roller 147, which will be described later in FIG. 14, is provided on the back side of the case bottom 106, and this lock roller 147 is for locking the upper/middle deck upper/middle deck 43 and 45 in the drawing direction. A cylindrical panel extension member 149 for fitting the front panel 60.81 to the main body 41 of the copying machine 1 is provided on the front side of the case bottom 106.

Note that a wire 15 is attached to the end 150 of the wire shaft 120.
1 is wound around the wire 151, and the end of this wire 151 is connected to the second wire 151.
It is linked to the drive section of the remaining amount display section 67.69 shown in the figure, and displays the remaining amount of paper S on the upper and lower sides of the lifter plate 119 (111), ie, the remaining amount of paper S on the remaining amount display section 67.69.

Next, the lower unit 5 will be explained using FIGS. 9 and 10. This lower unit 5 basically has a shape in which the upper/middle decks 43, 45 are elongated in the vertical direction, so a description of the corresponding parts will be omitted. The case 152 of the lower unit 5 has a case bottom 153 and a right side plate 1, similar to the upper/middle deck 110 (111).
55, a left side plate 156, and other members.

A wire shaft 159 is rotatably attached to the lower central part of the case bottom 153, and the pulleys 5 are attached to both ends of the wire shaft 159.
A pulley 160 for hoisting similar to 7 is fixed to each. 2 whose ends are respectively locked to the pulley 180
The main wires 161 and 162 are respectively locked to a pair of wire fixtures 165 fixed to the lower lifter 157 via a pair of guide pulleys 163 pivotally supported on the upper part of the case bottom 153. The rear side of the lower lifter 157 is supported in the same manner.

Further, a wire 167 is wound around a pulley 166 for winding down fixed to the middle part of the wire shaft 159, and the other end is locked to the lower stage litter 157. A guide member 166 for regulating the rear end of the sheet S3 is provided through the hole drilled through the lower lifter 157. Further, the remaining amount display section 70 shown in FIG. 2 is driven in conjunction with a wire (not shown) wound around the wire shaft 159. Note that the wire shaft 159 is rotatable in forward and reverse directions by a motor (not shown).

Next, the unique warp and back sensors of the lower deck 6 will be explained.

In the paper feeding device of this embodiment, from the top, the manual paper feeding section 42
．． Upper/middle deck loaded with 1000 sheets 43.45.300
The arrangement is such that the lower deck 6 is loaded with 0 sheets. Here, the reason why a 1000-sheet deck is not placed at the bottom position is that if a small-sheet deck is placed near the floor 75,
This is because the user has to squat down close to the floor surface 75 when loading the sheets S, which makes it less convenient to use.

However, even if you simply place a deck with the maximum capacity of 3,000 sheets on the bottom side, when you pull it out, you can install a handle away from the floor 75, so the bottom deck will have the maximum capacity. However, if the lower stage lifter 157 is lowered to the lowest stage each time to load paper, the user will still have to squat down close to the floor 75, so there is no benefit.

Therefore, in the paper feed section W, 2 of this embodiment, even when the lower deck 6 is pulled out to load the sheets S only on the lower deck 6, the upper surface of the sheet S3 on the lower lifter 157 remains constant. In this embodiment, the fixed amount of paper S is set to 60 mm downward from the paper feeding position. It is. this is,
This is because high-quality paper for copying machines is usually packed in a pack of 500 sheets and has a thickness of about 50 mm.

The advantages of the above configuration are that since there is always a paper loading surface at a position away from the floor surface 75, the paper S3 can be loaded without having to bend down close to the floor surface 75, and that after loading the paper S3, Even when the lower deck 6 is pushed in and the lower lifter 157 is lifted to raise the top surface of the paper S3 to the height at which paper can be fed, the height is always within 60+i+a, so paper can be fed quickly.

In this embodiment, the amount of movement is 176 or less than the conventional deck in which the lower lifter 157 is lowered to the lowest position, so the lowering time of the lower lifter 157 without paper is reduced, and the usability is improved. In addition, the lower lifter 15
Since the moving speed of 7 can be made slower than that of the conventional one, there is an advantage that the capacity of the lifting motor can also be made smaller.

The configuration of a so-called one-back sensor that functions as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

In FIG. 10, a vertically elongated sensor lever 170 is pivotally attached to a copper plate on the front side of the case bottom 153 by a shaft 171, and is biased toward the sheet 83 by a spring (not shown). A protrusion 172 provided at the free end of the sensor lever 170 extends to the lower lifter 157 side through a hole drilled in the side plate, and extends to the lower lifter 157 side when the paper S3 or the lower lifter 157 is 6 above the height hl. If there is, paper S3
Alternatively, it is pushed away by the lower lifter 157 and is in a retracted position (a position spaced w1 from the side plate). A sensor 173 consisting of a photointerrupter that is turned on and off by the protrusion 172 of the sensor lever 170 is fixed to the side plate. When the sheet S is located below the top surface and the protrusion 172 comes off the sheet S3 or the lower lifter 157, the sensor lever 170 moves toward the lower lifter 157 side (inside,
) to turn on the photo interrupter 173.

Due to this signal, when the lower deck 6 is pulled out to load paper, the height of the top surface of the paper S is always h.
The lifting motor can be controlled so that the height is 8. However, if you start lowering the lift motor immediately after replenishing paper S3, the operator will be alarmed, so even if you detect that the top surface of the paper has risen by one pack due to paper replenishment, the lift motor will not start lowering immediately. There is a time lag of about 1 to 3 seconds without driving the motor.

That is, after replenishing the sheets S and I, the sensor lever 170
It is not until the paper S3 continues to press the button for 1 to 3 seconds that the lifting motor rotates in the downward direction of the lower stage lifter 157, and continues to move downward until the signal from the sensor 173 is switched.

Thereafter, by repeating this, the height of the top surface of the sheet S3 can be maintained at about 100,000,000 until the lower stage lifter 157 is lowered to the lowest position. After the lower stage lifter 157 has been lowered to the lowest position, the elevating motor will not rotate. If paper is further replenished after this state is reached, the height will be higher than the top paper.

Further, the vertically elongated sensor lever 170 is provided at a position close to the rear end in the paper feeding direction of the paper size that can be fed by the lower deck 6. In the lower deck 6 of the paper feeder in this embodiment, B5 is the minimum size, so B5 is the minimum size.
It is provided at a position about 10 mm from the rear end of 5. This is because if the lower lifter 157 is lowered when there is a sheet S4 whose leading end is caught in separation rollers 215 and 221, which will be described later, the sheet will lean back or break as shown in FIG. At this time, for example, the sensor lever 170 is
5, the leaning paper S4 would be detected, and no matter how much the lower lifter 157 is lowered, the signal from the sensor 173 would not change, resulting in a malfunction.To prevent this malfunction, The sensor lever 170 should be attached as far toward the rear end as possible, but this is limited by the minimum size. For the above reasons, the position of the sensor lever 170 is almost determined.

Next, details of the above-mentioned pulley 122 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 11, 12, and 13.

In FIG. 12, a groove 179 formed around a boss 177 and two grooves 180 and 181 branching from this groove 179 are formed on the end face of a pulley body 176. The depth 4 of 180.181 is equal to the diameter of the dowel wire. The groove 180 is used when winding to the right, and the groove 181 is the opposite. The wires 129 and 130 are connected inside the pulley 122 and are composed of one wire,
It is divided into two by a perforated ball 182 crimped onto the wire.

The perforated ball 182 is fitted and fixed in a recess 183 provided in the middle of the groove 179 of the pulley main body 176. Then, by sandwiching the wires 129 and 130 between the flange 185 and the pulley body 176, and fixing the flange 185 with the screws 186, the wires 129 and 130 are
0 is fixed. The flange 185 is also formed with a notch 187 into which the perforated ball 182 is fitted. Wire 129 consisting of one wire as described above
, 130, the only difference between the tensile forces acting on the wires 129 and 130 is the perforated ball 18.
2, the wire can be fixed more stably than simply caulking the wire end. In addition, the wire 12
9 and 130 are not forced to bend, the wire 129
, 130 can be wound stably.

The flange 185 is formed with a protrusion 189 facing toward the main body 176, and when the wires 129, 130 are wound once, the previously wound wire 129° It functions to prevent overlapping winding on top of 130, and FIG. 13 shows the state in which overlapping is prevented. Note that the height of the protrusion 189 is about 1.5 times the diameter of the wire 129, 130.

FIG. 14 shows a lock unit for locking the upper/middle and lower decks 43, 45.5 in the drawing direction, and is provided corresponding to each deck.

In the figure, a bracket 190 on which a locking roller 147 (see FIG. 7) is pivotally supported is fixed to the back side plate of the case bottom 106 of each upper/middle deck 43°45. A support member 195 is attached to the frame 3A of the upper unit 3.
A lock pawl 191 is rotatably attached to this support member 194 by a shaft 192, and is rotated counterclockwise in the figure by the elasticity of a tension spring 193 whose one end is locked to the frame 3A. is energized by The claw portion 196 of the lock claw 191 is formed in an arc shape with the shaft 192 as the center, and when the upper/middle deck 43, 45 is pushed in and set, the claw portion 196 engages with the lock roller 147 to /Lock the middle deck 43.45 so that it cannot be pulled out.

A stopper 197 made of rubber is fixed to the support member 195 of the frame 3A, and the upper/middle deck 43.45
Acts as a stopper when pushed in. Support member 1
95 is fixed to the base of a leaf spring 199, and this leaf spring 199 is inserted into each upper/middle deck 43.
45 in the direction of pushing it back forward. As a result, the lock roller 147 and the claw portion 196 of the lock claw 191 are always in contact with each other, and the upper/middle deck 43, 45 is positioned in the drawing direction.

A solenoid 200 fixed to the frame 3A is connected to the rear end of the lock pawl 191 via a lever 201. When the solenoid 200 is turned on, the lock pawl 191 is rotated to the chain position, and the leaf spring 199 is
By displacing d4 in the direction and pushing back the upper/middle deck 43, 45 slightly in the pull-out direction, unlocking by the upper lock claw 91 is completed. Above solenoid 2
00 is detected by the deck pull-out sensor (as shown).
Detects that the middle deck 43.45 has been pushed back and turns O.
It is designed to be FF.

The lock unit 10 is constituted by the lock pawl 191, the lock roller 147, the solenoid 200, and the like. In addition, the lower deck 66, the upper/middle deck 43.
It is locked by a lock unit 10 similar to 45.

Further, the lock unit 10 described above also has a frame 3.
Although they are screwed to A and 5A, they can be adjusted in the direction in which the upper/middle decks 43 and 45.6 are pulled out, so that so-called lateral registration adjustment of the paper S can be performed. The stopper 197 and the leaf spring 199 are also connected to the shaft 1.
92, so the above distance 1
11d.

The distance d2 between the stopper 197 and the side plate of the case bottom 106 (153) is always kept constant. In addition, in this example, the above-mentioned d2 is set to 1 mm.

The lock unit 10 is also provided with a sensor switch (not shown), and the upper/middle deck 43, 45, 6
It is possible to detect whether it is pulled out or locked.

This electrically prevents the upper/middle decks 43, 45, 6 from being pulled out at the same time to prevent them from falling over, as will be described later. Wanawachi, upper/middle deck 4
If any one of the decks 3, 45, and 6 is pulled out, the other decks cannot be pulled out even if the switch 71 (see FIG. 2) is pressed.

Next, the lower sheet feeding unit 7 will be explained using FIGS. 15 to 18.

In Figures 15 and 16, the lower paper feed unit 11~
7 has a fixed side paper guide 206 and a movable side paper guide 207 forming a conveyance path 205 for the paper S3 which is moved from the lower deck 6. The fixed side paper guide 206 has a pair of frames 2 whose lower portions are connected by a connecting plate 209.
10,211. The movable side paper guide 207 has its base pivoted on a shaft 213 that is pivoted on the base 2]2.

A foot roller 215 is attached to the shaft 213 via a one-way clutch (not shown). The pickup arm 216 whose base is pivotally connected to the shaft 213 is connected to the shaft 21
7 is rotatably provided, and a pickup roller 219 is attached to this shaft 217 via a one-way clutch (not shown). Pulleys fixed to shafts 213 and 217 are connected by a belt 220.

The lower sheet feeding unit 7 has a dedicated motor (as shown), and the shaft 213 is driven via an electromagnetic clutch (not shown).

The retard roller 221 that is in contact with the foot roller 215 functions to push back the paper S by double feeding, and is fixed to a shaft 222 shown in FIG. 18 and supported via a bearing 224. It is rotatably attached to member 223.

The bearing 224 is slidable in the groove of the support member 223 and can move forward and backward relative to the feed roller 215. The grooves are as shown in FIG.
It is inclined by a predetermined angle (10'' in this embodiment) with respect to the line connecting the rollers 215 and 221. This means that when the retard roller 221 is driven, the foot roller 2
This is to increase the pressure between the roller 15 and the retard roller 221, thereby increasing the stability of paper feeding.

A roller 22 disposed downstream of the retard roller 221
5 is pivotally supported by frames 110 and 111 and directly driven by a motor. The idle roller 226 that is in pressure contact with this roller 225 is connected to the movable side paper guide 20.
The roller 22 is attached to the elongated hole 7 by the spring 227.
It is biased towards the 5 side.

A roller 229 is pivotally supported on the movable side paper guide 207, and a leaf spring 230 provided on the upper unit 3 moves the roller 229 toward the arrow P.
being pushed in the direction. When the paper S3 jams, by sliding the upper unit 3 in the direction of pulling it out, the movable paper guide 207 can be rotated to the chain line position in the direction of arrow 231, and the movable paper guide 207 is automatically released. This makes it easier to handle jams.

In FIGS. 15 and 18, a roller 235 is attached to one end of a three-arm pressurizing arm 233 that is pivotally supported by a shaft 232.
This roller 235 presses the shaft 222 by a tension spring 237 whose both ends are locked to a pressure arm 233 and a locking member 236, and the retard roller 221
is applied to the feed roller 215.

The release lever 240 is pivotally connected to the lower sheet feeding unit 7 by a shaft 241, and is biased in the direction of an arrow 243 by the elasticity of a tension spring 242 whose one end is locked to a fixing member (not shown). The release lever 240 has its lower end abutted against a pressing member 245 fixed to the left side plate 156 of the lower deck 6, and its rotation is restricted.

The tension spring 242 has a stronger elasticity than the tension spring 237, and when the lower deck 6 is slid in the direction of pulling it out, the release lever 240 rotates in the direction of arrow 243 to release the end 233a of the pressure arm 233. By pressing and rotating, the pressure of the rollers 235 can be released.

When the lower deck 6 is pulled out by configuring the release mechanism 11 using the above-mentioned pressure arm 233 release lever 240, etc., and making it possible to release the pressure on the retard roller 221,
The pressure on the retard roller 221 is automatically released, making it easier to clear the jam.

Although not shown here, the release lever 24
A release lever corresponding to 0 is provided separately, and this lever can release the pressure arm 233 by sliding the upper unit 3 in the drawing direction. This makes it easier to handle jams.

Further, the nip between the foot roller 215 and the retard roller 221 is located at the inner opening of the frame 3a, and when pulling out the lower deck 6, simply releasing the pressure on the retard roller 221 allows the paper S, can be pulled out without damaging it. In FIG. 16, the lower paper feed unit 7 is detachably attached to the lower unit 5 via its base 212. The foot roller 215 is a consumable item and must be replaced at certain intervals, so
It is necessary to improve its interchangeability.

An opening 246 is formed in the base 212 and can be opened and closed by rotating a cover 247. By opening the cover 247, the feed roller 215 can be replaced. . Since the retard roller 221 is located below the fixed paper guide 206, it cannot be replaced from above. After pulling out the cartridge, the cartridge can be installed and removed from the lower deck 6 side.

Note that since the pickup roller 219 has a durability of passing approximately 1 million sheets, only this roller 219 is replaced by removing the entire lower unit 5. FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of the pickup roller 219, foot roller 215, and retard roller 221 of the lower sheet feeding unit 7.

The copying machine 1 of this embodiment has the ability to copy 90 sheets per minute by fixed reading of originals in the normal mode in conjunction with the original processing device 47. get a set, so-called one to one
In this case, feed the original from the scan-only tray and
Skim copying is performed with the optical system 51 of the main body 41 fixed.

This eliminates the loss time during backscanning of the optical system 51, making it possible to increase the flash exposure and copying speeds, making it possible to increase from 90 sheets per minute to approximately 120 sheets per minute. However, in this case, although the paper feeding speed remains the same, the gap between the sheets being fed is considerably reduced, making the conditions for the paper feeding device considerably stricter.

Specifically, in the paper feeding device of this embodiment, 500 ■/sec
The aim is to achieve a paper spacing of 40+u+ or less at a paper feeding speed of about In this case, the paper interval is only 401500 = 0.08 seconds, and moving the pickup roller 219 up and down is due to the collision between the roller 219 and the paper S3.
Considering the occurrence of bounce of the pickup roller 219, etc., this becomes almost impossible.

However, with the retard roller method, the pickup roller 21
In order to solve the problem of 0 or more where paper 9 is kept under pressure on paper S, the double feed prevention ability is degraded and double feed of paper S3 is more likely to occur. In the embodiment, the pickup roller 219 of the lower unit 5 is configured to have a variable paper feeding pressure.

That is, in FIG. 17, the pickup roller 21
9 is swingably attached to the pickup arm 216. One end 251 of a swinging arm 250 pivotally supported by a shaft 249 is located on the back side of the end of the pickup arm 216, and this swinging arm 250 has one end attached to a tension spring 252 that is locked to a stationary member. Due to the elasticity of the arrow 253 direction, that is, the pickup arm 2
16 is biased in the direction of lifting it. Further, a solenoid 255 that acts in the opposite direction to the tension spring 252 is connected to the swing arm 250.

The upper end of the other end link 256 of the swinging arm 250 is pivotally connected, and the elongated hole 25 is bored at the lower end of the link 256.
7 is fitted with an end of a horizontal portion of an L-shaped abutment member 259 and connected thereto. The actuating member 259 supported by the shaft 260 is urged in the direction of the arrow 262 by the tension spring 261 . An abutting member 263 is fixed to the lower end of the arm portion of the actuating member 259 facing in the vertical direction.

When the solenoid 255 is OFF, the pickup arm 216 is lifted upward by the tension spring 252. In the conventional pickup roller, the strength of the tension spring 252 was set so that the pickup roller 219 could move away from the sheet S3 and hold it, but in this embodiment, the tension spring 252 is normally pressed against the sheet S3 with a force of about 120 g. The pick-up roller 219 is made strong enough to have a contact pressure of 50 g or less.

As a result, the bounce of the pickup roller 219 against the paper S3 is eliminated, and the pickup roller 21-
9 can be pressurized and released almost at the response speed of the solenoid 255. That is, when the solenoid 255 is ON, a pressing force of about 120 g is applied to the sheet S3, and when the solenoid 255 is OFF, a pressing force of 50 g or less is applied to the paper S3.

Further, the link 256, the operating member 259, etc. are connected to the pickup roller 21 when the lower deck 6 is pulled out.
When the lower deck 6 is set, the abutment member 263 of the actuating member 259 is pressed by the lower deck 6 and is at the solid line position against the elasticity of the tension spring 261. The link 256 is the elongated hole 25
It is in a free state within the range of 7.

Next, when the lower deck 6 is pulled out, the actuating member 259 is displaced to the position shown by the broken line due to the elasticity of the tension spring 261, so the link 256 is pulled downward and the swing arm 250 rotates in the direction of arrow 252. As a result, the pickup roller 219 is flipped up.

FIG. 18 shows the lower sheet feeding unit 7 viewed from the feeding direction.

In the same figure, the dormer vine 26 connected to the shaft 265
6, a torque transmission member 267 that functions as a universal joint is connected to the torque transmission member 2.
A shaft 222 on which a retard roller 221 is mounted is connected to the other end of the shaft 67 . The shaft 265 is attached to a support plate 270 via a bearing 269 with a one-way clutch. Driving force is transmitted to the shaft 265 via an electromagnetic clutch (not shown). Due to the action of the one-way clutch equipped bearing 269, the shaft 265 becomes free when the electromagnetic clutch is turned off, and the retard roller 2
21 rotates in the opposite direction to paper S.

double feeding is prevented.

As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the feed roller 2
Pulleys 271 and 272 are respectively fixed to the shaft 213 of No. 15 and the shaft 265 connected to the retard roller 221.
In this embodiment, pulleys 272 and 271 are set at a rotation ratio of approximately 1=2. This is because when the paper feeding speed increases, if the tangential speed of the retard roller 221 is made equal to the tangential speed of the feed roller 215, the maximum rotation speed of the torque limiter 266 becomes considerably large.
In order to prevent this, the above-mentioned Dorkuri Kuta 266 is
This is because excess torque is released as heat, so it is not preferable to rotate at high speed.

Next, returning to FIG. 15, the sensors will be explained.

In the figure, a sensor 275 is provided within the base 212 to maintain the height of the paper S at a predetermined paper feeding level. An operating piece 276 fixed to the free end of the pickup arm 216 detects the movement of the pickup arm 216 and controls the lifter motor of the lower deck 6.

A switch 277 fixed in the base 212 is used to prevent the lifter motor from running out of control when the microcomputer that controls the paper feeding device malfunctions, and is wired directly to the motor drive line of the lower deck 6. This is a so-called overrun switch.

Transmissive sensors 280, 281 and 282, 283 each consisting of a light emitting part and a light receiving part are arranged on the upstream and downstream sides of the nip between the foot roller 215 and the retard roller 221, respectively. 10111 upstream and 20mm downstream. The reason why the above sensor is a transmission type sensor is because a normal lever type sensor would have a too slow response speed on the return side of the sensor lever.

Sensors 280 and 281 are for paper feeding start position control. As shown in Figure 15, normally when loading paper,
There is a predetermined distance 11a between the leading edge of the paper and the nip between the rollers 215 and 221.

In this embodiment, the distance 1a is about 25 mm+ apart.

During paper feeding, the paper S3 is separated at the nip section, so the paper S3 is separated from the paper S3 at the starting position of paper feeding, that is, the paper S3 before paper feeding.
I don't know where the leading edge of No. 3 is within the distance a (25 ■■). This means that the paper feeding timing is at a maximum of 25
■Peng means to go crazy.

This tying misalignment is not a problem when feeding normal paper with a large paper spacing, but when aiming for a paper spacing of 40 mm, it becomes a fairly large misalignment. That is, 40±25m-215~
65g/m, which is a considerable error. The sensors 280 and 281 are provided to reduce this deviation as much as possible.

The specific operation of the present invention will be explained below.

At the moment when the trailing edge of the paper S previously fed from the lower deck 6 passes through the nip between the rollers 215 and 221, the sensors 280 and 281 detect the leading edge of the next paper S as shown in FIG.
It becomes clear whether it is within the range indicated by or even closer to the nip. If the position is closer to the nip than a, paper is fed at the normal timing.

If the next sheet S is in the range a, the pickup roller 219 is slightly rotated the moment it passes through the nip, the leading edge of the next sheet S is sent closer to the nip than the sensors 280, 281, and then feeds paper at the normal timing. This makes it possible to reduce variations in paper feeding timing more than in conventional paper feeding.

The sensors 282 and 283 are sensors for generating sheet feeding timing, and detect the trailing edge of the previous sheet S to generate a sheet feeding signal for the next sheet S. This sensor 282, 283
The closer the paper is to the nip, the smaller the paper spacing will be.
The distance is set to about 20 mm because it is difficult to get close to the nip because there are cases in which the paper is fed double by penetrating the nip to some extent and then returned by the retard roller 221. A normal lever-type paper detection sensor 285 is provided downstream of the sensors 282 and 283.

Next, the bristle paper feeding method will be explained using FIGS. 1, 15, and 23.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feeding device 2 loads the paper S at a position far from the registration rollers 13 of the main body 41. Normally, the copying speed of the copying machine 1 is the scanning speed of the optical system 51. determined by the ability of That is, on the downstream side of the registration rollers 13, the maximum copy speed is obtained when the paper S is sent out in synchronization with the scanning speed of the optical system 51.

However, a stack of originals with an unknown number of originals was sent to the original processing device 4.
7, it is impossible to know when the document will run out.In this case, if paper is fed from the paper feeder 2 side at narrow intervals to maximize the copy speed. , the next sheet S has already been fed by the time it is detected that the document has run out.

And about this paper S that has lost its place,
It is usually called flying vapor. This is likely to occur when paper is fed from a position far from the registration rollers 13, as in this embodiment, and is particularly likely to occur with sheets of paper size that are fed at narrow intervals.

In order to solve this problem, conventionally, the registration roller 13 and the paper S loading position are placed close together, or when the copy mode is not known in advance when it will end, the copying speed is sacrificed and the paper S is loaded once. I used a sequence in which I started feeding paper from the deck, checking that copying had not yet finished each time. In some cases, there has been a method in which the paper S, which has been fed twice, is returned to the deck by reversing the rollers.

In this embodiment, when paper is fed from the lower deck 6, one sheet of the flying vapor is always left between the lower deck 6 and the registration roller 13, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem. This paper feeding method will hereinafter be referred to as the bristle feeding method.

In the fixed paper feeding method, the paper S is always left in the paper bus, so if the paper S is left where the paper path is bent, the paper S will curl, resulting in poor transfer, jamming, or loading onto the sorter. Defects are more likely to occur.

In this embodiment, the paper bus inside the interface unit 9 is divided into two, and the paper bus from the lower deck 6 is made into a nearly straight shape with at least R100 or more, so that the paper S Prevents curling. Since it is difficult for the upper/middle decks 43 and 45 to directly form the paper bus, bristle paper feeding is not performed in this embodiment. Therefore, the copy speed is also slower than that of the lower deck 6. There is.

Another reason why paper feed is not performed on upper/middle decks 43 and 45 is that when the upper unit 3 is slid in the forward direction, the paper S that has been fed on paper S is separated without the paper bus. , it becomes unusable as is. In other words, the paper S is wasted.

On the other hand, in the lower deck bus, the sheets S are never separated.

In the paper feeder 2 of this embodiment, the paper sizes that can be fed by the lower deck 6 are A4, B5, and LTR (11'' x 8.
5"). Now, when performing bristle feeding, there are some things to be careful of. One of them is that the paper bus is almost straight as mentioned above, and the second (buri feeding) The trailing edge of the paper S is located downstream of the nip between the rollers 215 and 221.

This is because if you try to pull out the lower deck 6, and the trailing edge of the paper S that was partially fed remains inside the lower deck 6, it will get in the way when you take the lower deck 6 in and out.
This is because, in the worst case, there is a risk that the trailing edge of the paper may be damaged when the paper is fed erectly.

In this embodiment, the distance from the registration roller 13 to the leading edge of the paper on the lower deck 6 is set as follows.

For A4, B5, and LTR sizes, it is not possible to reduce the distance without slowing down the copy speed, so bristle feeding is performed. For B4 size, feed paper l
Since the 1ff interval is larger than the above three sizes, as mentioned above, check whether the original is finished or not, that is, feed the paper after receiving the paper feed signal from the main body 41, and then set the copy speed. It is possible to set the distance @b so that it does not fall.

In the embodiment, the distance is set as described above, and the paper feeding is not performed for B4 size. In Fig. 1, the position of the leading edge of the paper S when the paper is fed is shown with reference numeral 286.
The size at this time is A4.

Next, the upper paper feeding unit 56 will be explained using FIGS. 19 and 20.

FIG. 19 shows the lower paper feed unit 7 and the upper paper feed unit 5.
The feed roller 215, the drive belt 273 of the retard roller 221, and the small pulley 27, which are used in common with 6.
1 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between a large pulley 272 and the like.

Also in the upper paper feed unit 56, the lower paper feed unit 7
Similarly, the tangential speed of the retard roller 221 is 6 times slower than that of the foot roller 215.

FIG. 20 shows a vertical side view of the upper sheet feeding unit 56.

In this embodiment, the upper sheet feeding unit 56 does not perform pre-feeding for two reasons: the paper bus is not a straight line, and the sliding of the upper unit 3 makes the pre-fed sheet S unusable. Therefore, for smaller paper sizes, the copying speed may be slower than the maximum speed of the main body 41 of the copying machine 1.

In order to minimize this deterioration in copy speed, the upper paper feeding unit 56 performs variable speed paper feeding. Simply put, paper feeding is started after receiving a signal that there is still more original left, that is, a signal that copying has not yet been completed. The speed will become slower. At this time, the paper feeding speed> The process speed of the main body 41 is 500 am/min in this embodiment to minimize the deterioration of the copying speed by feeding the paper up to the registration roller 13 in a hurry.
A paper feeding speed of 760+ua/sec is given for a process speed of sec.

However, there is a problem that did not occur when the conventional process speed = paper feed speed. Firstly, since the paper feeding speed is fast, if the pickup roller 290 is suddenly driven by the electromagnetic clutch (as shown in the diagram), slips are likely to occur.Secondly, as explained in the lower paper feeding unit 7, the retard roller 221 Torque limiter 266 (first
(see Figure 8) will exceed the allowable rotation speed due to high-speed paper feeding. Thirdly, the paper feeding speed and the process speed of the main body 41 are different, so if the timing is not adjusted properly, the fed paper S will overlap the previous paper S. This could result in a collision with the rear end.

In order to solve the above three problems, this embodiment devises the sequence, but first, the upper paper feed unit 56
Let's start with the configuration.

In FIG. 20, reference numeral 291 indicates the upper sheet feeding unit 56.
A dedicated motor 292 is a clock plate fixed to the motor shaft 293 of the motor 291, which drives the rollers.
The rotation speed of the motor shaft 293 is detected. The rotation speed of the motor 291 is thereby controlled.

Further, rollers 295 and 296 are directly driven by a belt (not shown) on the motor shaft 293. However, a one-way clutch (path shown) is provided in the middle of the drive system so that the sheet S becomes free when it is pulled out in the transport direction. Roller 297 and roller 299 are idlers, and like roller 227 in FIG.
The rollers 295 and 296 are pressurized by 0. Up/
middle foot roller 215, retard roller 221,
The rollers 235, etc. are located in the lower paper feed unit 7 (see Figure 15).
Since this is the same as that explained in , the explanation thereof will be omitted.

However, the pickup roller 290 has a smaller diameter than the pickup roller 219 of the lower sheet feeding unit 7. This is because, as can be seen from Figure 1, the pickup roller 290 becomes a dead space that reduces the loading amount of paper S, and the upper/middle deck Detsuki 43.45 is 100
Since there are 0 sheets, even if the roller diameter is reduced and the durability is lowered, the balance can be maintained considering the frequency of use.

The belt 301 is attached to a shaft 302. The drive of the pickup roller 290 is transmitted to the pickup roller 290. -302 and 303 are each driven via an electromagnetic clutch between them and the motor 291. The shafts 305 and 306 of the retard roller 221 are
Lever-type sensors 307 and 309 are respectively disposed in the 0-paper path which is driven by a belt 273 similar to that shown in FIG. The stays 101 and 102 are for attaching the entire upper paper feeding unit 56 to the upper unit 3, as shown in FIG.

When clearing a jam, the guide 310 is opened to the chain line position,
Idlers 297 and 299 are now open. Further, when the guide 310 is set, it is fixed by being pressed against the main body 41 by the spring 312. The guides 312 and 313 are used to feed the paper S from the manual feed unit 42.
The receiver is a paper guide to take.

The notch 315 in the side plate reaches the nip of the rollers 215, 221, and is provided to prevent the paper S that has reached the nip portion from being damaged when the upper/middle deck 43, 45 is pulled out. Further, the pickup arm 316 is different from the one on the lower stage, and is raised until it separates from the paper St, St, as in the conventional case. The pickup arm 316 is raised when the solenoid (as shown) is turned on or when the upper/middle deck 43, 45 is pulled out.

With the above configuration, a characteristic sequence for solving the three problems mentioned above will be described.

Paper feeding speed of motor 291 is 750 yam/sec
When the electromagnetic clutch is connected, the speed of the motor 291 is set to O just before the clutch is connected to rotate the pickup roller 290 to prevent slippage when the pickup roller 290 is rotated. Next, after the clutch is released, the motor 291 is started up.

By doing this, the pickup roller 290
is accelerated by the start-up acceleration of the motor 291 itself, so a gentler acceleration is obtained than when the electromagnetic clutch is turned on, and slipping of the pickup roller 290 can be prevented.

Note that when rotating the pickup roller 290, the solenoid is turned off immediately before the pickup so that the pickup roller 290 comes into contact with the top surface of the paper.

Further, when stopping the paper S, the clutch can be turned OFF as in the conventional method to quickly stop the paper S. Furthermore, since high-speed clutching is eliminated, noise can also be reduced. Measures to prevent the rotational speed of the zero-order drake vine 266 from exceeding the allowable rotational speed will be described.

In this embodiment, the rollers 215 and 221 are φ32, and assuming a tangential speed of 760 am/sec, the rollers 215 and 221 have a diameter of 4
It becomes 54 rpm. Conventionally, the foot roller 215 and the retard roller 221 were in opposite directions and had the same tangential speed (but in that case, the drooping ivy 266 rotated at a maximum of 908 rpm, which was the sum of the rotation speeds of both rollers. In this embodiment, the retard roller 22
1, feed roller 2 as shown in Fig. 19.
By half of 15, the maximum rotation speed is 454+
454/2 = 681 rpm.

However, this still exceeds the maximum allowable rotation speed, so in the embodiment, the electromagnetic clutch is turned on and the shaft 302
, 305, 303, and 306 are being rotated by the motor 291, the maximum speed of 760 am/sec is given up and they are sent at the normal speed of 500 am/see. Then, the leading edge of the fed paper S is placed on the roller 29.
6,299 and the rollers 195, 297, the electromagnetic clutch is disengaged and the speed of the motor 291 is increased from 500 mm/sec to 760 am/sec.
I have given it to Sec. By doing this, it is possible to always keep the maximum rotational speed of the drooping ivy 266 at 454 rpm or less.

As a measure to prevent the paper S fed later from colliding with the paper S in front, it is necessary to communicate closely with the main body 41 and to eject the paper to the paper bus at the finer pitches possible so that the paper S is constantly fed. Since the only way to do this is to control the following paper S while capturing the movement of the preceding paper S, I will not discuss the study here.

As described above, the paper feeding device 2 of the embodiment includes two paper feeding buses. Therefore, a special paper feeding mode that is used only in the above-mentioned high-speed skimming mode will be explained. As mentioned above, the high-speed skimming mode is only available on the lower deck 6, but on the middle deck 45.
Paper can be alternately fed from the middle deck 45 and the lower deck 6 only when the paper S of the same size as the lower deck 6 is also loaded. By doing this, in this deck 45.6, the paper feeding interval becomes considerably large, so that more stable paper feeding can be performed.

FIG. 22 shows a vertical side view of the manual paper feed section 42. As shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 320 indicates a paper-out detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of stacked sheets S, and 321 indicates a paper stacking shutter. The paper loading shutter 321 is linked to a transparent cover 59 shown in FIG.
When opened to load paper S as shown in the figure,
The paper loading shutter 321 is located at the solid line position in FIG.
This prevents the operator from stacking sheets S beyond the paper stacking shutter 321. This is because if the paper S is brought into contact between the foot roller 322 and the retard roller 323 too far, that is, if the paper S is inserted too far into the feed roller, a paper feeding failure will occur. The paper stacking shutter 321 is rotatably mounted around a shaft 325 in the direction of the arrow, and when the cover 59 is closed, the paper stacking shutter 3
21 rotates to the chain line position and becomes ready for paper feeding.

The shutter of the conventional manual paper feeder is directly driven by a solenoid, and the solenoid is 100% energized.
However, as in this embodiment, a spring clutch, a cam, etc. were used to hold the shutter in two positions without energization. Cover 5 on manual paper feed section 42
9 and by interlocking the paper loading shutter 321 with this, it is possible to reduce costs and prevent foreign matter from entering the copying machine 1.

Note that the cover 59 is provided with an opening/closing sensor (not shown), so that paper cannot be fed unless the cover 59 is closed.

A feed roller 32 is attached to the frame of the manual paper feed section 42.
2 is pivotally supported, and a retard roller 323 in pressure contact with the retard roller 323 is driven by an unillustrated large dowel. The shaft of the foot roller 322 is slidable within the groove 326 and is driven by a universal joint (not shown). The groove 326 is slightly inclined so that the pressing force against the retard roller 323 increases when driving is applied as described in FIG. 15.

The pressure lever 329 pivoted by the shaft 327 is connected to the spring 3
The lever 329 is biased clockwise by the lever 30.
A pressure roller 331 pivotally supported by the feed roller 322 presses the shaft of the feed roller 322 . On the downstream side of the rollers 322, 323, there are paper feed guides 332, 3 that guide the paper S to be fed.
33 are provided.

a pickup arm 336 whose base is pivotally connected to a shaft 335;
A pickup roller 337 is pivotally supported at the free end of. A pulley 339 provided on the shaft 335 and a pulley 340 provided on the shaft of the pickup roller 337 are connected by a belt 341. Pick up roller 33
When a solenoid (not shown) is turned on, the paper 7 falls to the position indicated by the chain line under its own weight and comes into pressure contact with the paper S. Note that the manual paper feeding section 42 is driven by a dedicated motor (as shown) and does not have a clutch such as an electromagnetic clutch, so that the paper feeding operation is performed solely by controlling the rotation of the motor.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper cover 57 also serves as a paper loading tray for manual paper feeding, and as it goes to the right in FIG. 1, it rises in a large arc and reaches its maximum height at the edge of the cover 57. However, due to this, cover 59
The paper S is easier to handle than when it is flattened as indicated by the chain line 342.

FIG. 23 shows a detailed cross section of the interface unit 9.

The interface unit 9 connects the paper feeder 2 to the copying machine 1.
When it is attached to the main body 41 of the cassette, it is attached in place of the cassette stand, and a dedicated motor (not shown) drives the rollers 345 and 346 via an electromagnetic clutch. The idlers 347 and 349 are rollers 345
, 346, respectively. Paper detection sensors 352 and 353 are provided on the paper feed bus 350, and a paper detection sensor 355 is provided on the upper paper feed bus 351. Reference numerals 356, 357 are fixed guides, 359, 3
60 is a moving guide that can be released when clearing a jam. Both of the moving guides 359 and 360 are fixed by leaf springs 361 and 362 attached to the upper unit 3, with rollers 363 and 365 at the free ends being pressurized in the P direction.

By configuring the interface unit 9 in this way, when handling a jam, by sliding the upper unit 3 in the pulling direction, the guides 359 and 260 can be moved around the shafts 366 and 367 at the base of the paper feed buses 350 and 35.
1 is opened, making it easier to clear jams.

Incidentally, after the leading edge of the paper 286 (see FIG. 1) which has been supplied with a curvature is detected by the sensors 352 and 353, the paper 286 is stopped at a predetermined position after counting the clock. sensor 353
Although this is not necessarily necessary, there is a possibility that the microcomputer may forget the stop position due to the power being turned off, etc., or the position of the paper in the paper feed may change due to other human factors. Registration roller 13 of the main body 41 and 6 downstream from the stop position of the leading edge of the paper 286 that has been fed in a continuous manner
This is a sensor installed upstream of the

In this way, by using the two sensors 352 and 353 and pinching the leading edge of the paper 286 that has been fed with a blur, it is possible to control the paper 5286 that has been completely fed with a blur.

In this example, the number of sheets to be pre-fed was limited to one, but if the paper feed bus is very long, two or more sheets may be pre-fed. In FIG. 24, another deck 370 is attached to the lower unit 5. The paper feed bus 372 has an overwhelmingly long distance from the separating section 371 of the deck 370 to the registration rollers 13 of the main body 41.

When the paper feed bus 372 with a long distance IL is necessary,
The above path IL and the paper S are arranged so that the distance is approximately (length in the feeding direction of the paper S + paper feed interval during continuous copying) x integer.
It is also possible to selectively feed two or more sheets of paper 373, 375 by selecting the size.

Inside the paper feed bus 372, there is a paper detection sensor 377.37.
9, 380, and 381 are provided, and as explained in the previous embodiment, monitor the sheets 373, 375, etc. that have been randomly fed.

In this case, when the paper S is long in size, the same effect can be obtained by reducing the number of sheets that need to be fed at the same size as compared to the paper size paper.

(G) As described in detail, according to the present invention, the positioning pin (or positioning member) provided on the connection side of the paper feeder can be replaced with the positioning pin (or positioning member) provided on the image forming apparatus (copying machine). By pushing the paper feeding device onto the positioning pin), the connecting side of the paper feeding device can be easily positioned.Furthermore, by adjusting the adjuster, the casters are separated from the floor, which prevents problems such as waviness of the floor. can be prevented from affecting the paper feeding device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a copying machine and a paper feeding device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a front view of the paper feeding device, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same, and FIGS. The figure is also a longitudinal front view,
Fig. 6 is a right view of Fig. 4, Fig. 7 is a plan view of the upper/middle deck, Fig. 8 is a front view, Fig. 9 is a plan view of the lower deck, Fig. 10 is a front view, Figure 11, Figure 12,
Fig. 13 is a detailed view of the wire pulley, Fig. 14 is a plan view of the lock unit of the upper/middle/lower deck, Fig. 15 is a longitudinal side view of the lower paper feed unit, Fig. 16 is a perspective view, and Fig. 17 is a side view of the lower paper feed unit. The figure is also a perspective view of the Pizqua Tubrora section.
Fig. 18 is a plan view of the retard separation section, Fig. 19 is a side view of the same, Fig. 20 is a vertical sectional side view of the main paper feed unit,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the main paper feed unit, Figure 22 is a vertical side view of the manual paper feed unit, Figure 23 is a vertical side view of the interface unit, and Figure 24 is a diagram of the positioning of the paper feeder. 25 is a side view of a paper feeding device showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a positioning member. S, S r, S t, S z...Paper 1
... Copying machine (image forming device) 2 ... Paper feed device 3 ... Upper unit 5 ... Lower unit 6 ... Lower deck 7 ... Lower paper feed unit 9 ... Interface Unit, 10・
...Lock unit 11...Release mechanism, 13.
...Registration roller 20...fixing means, 41.
・Main body of the copying machine 42 ・Manual feed 1/M paper section
43...Upper deck 45...Interrupted deck
46... Original 47... Original processing device
52... Photosensitive drum 286... Freely fed paper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding device that is positioned and connected to one side of an image forming apparatus and capable of supplying paper into the image forming apparatus, comprising: casters that support and move the paper feeding device; , wherein the caster lifts the paper feeding device in a direction away from the floor surface, an adjuster provided on the paper feeding device at a position opposite to the image forming device, and an adjuster located at a position opposite to the adjuster. A positioning pin facing perpendicular to the paper feeding direction and disposed on either the paper feeding device or the image forming device, the image forming device being capable of vertically positioning and engaging with the positioning pin. Alternatively, a paper feeding device connection system comprising: a positioning member disposed on any one of the paper feeding devices; and a fixing means for fixing the positioned paper feeding device to an image forming apparatus. 2. A positioning pin or a positioning member disposed in the paper feeding device is positioned by restricting descent by a mating positioning member or a positioning pin when the positioning pin or positioning member is engaged, and is capable of rising freely. 1. The paper feeding device connection system according to 1.