JP2519877B2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

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 for separately feeding sheets of paper, plastics, etc., which have been pre-clamped and stored, toward a main body of various processing apparatuses such as printers, printing machines, copiers, etc. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a method of feeding stacked sheets of paper, plastics, etc., one by one from the topmost sheet, the topmost sheet on a stacker is engaged with the sheet feeding rotary member (hereinafter referred to as a sheet feeding roller). At the same time as
For a relatively thick paper such as postcards and the like, one that separates and feeds one sheet of paper prepared downstream of the paper feed is used as a simple paper feed mechanism.

[0003]

However, in this type of separation method, if the direction in which the stacked sheets are fed out is not constant, the posture of the leading edge of the sheet reaching the sheet feeding gap provided on the downstream side of the sheet feeding roller and The stacker is moved up and down with the leading ends parallel to each other because the position is misaligned and a paper feed failure occurs, so that the next sheet is advanced as the sheet is fed.

In this case, if the paper is curled or the paper is strong, the paper feed roller is not reliably engaged, and even if the paper feed roller is rotated, the paper often slips and is not reliably fed out.

In particular, after printing on a comparatively thick paper such as a postcard by the printing device, when the sheets are stacked on the stacker of the paper feeding device and sequentially separated and supplied for printing on the back side thereof, the paper is already curled. However, if a large amount of paper is loaded, it slips between the paper feed roller and causes non-feeding.To solve this problem, the engagement with the paper feed roller is strengthened and the paper is rotated with a large force. There is a risk of causing a so-called double feed in which several sheets are fed at the same time when the number becomes small.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device which can prevent non-feeding and double feeding and can obtain stable and reliable separate feeding.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention supports a sheet feeding roller which is driven by a driving means and which feeds out a sheet which comes into contact with a peripheral surface, and a sheet which is fed out by the sheet feeding roller. , The length in the paper feed direction is shorter than the length in the paper feed direction of the supported paper, and the leading edge is located forward of the contact point between the paper feed roller and the paper in the paper feed direction.
As the number of sheets decreases, the leading edge is supported on the rear side in the sheet feeding direction so as to move to the contact side of the sheet feeding roller, and is supported by the sheet placing table that presses the sheet against the sheet feeding roller and the sheet placing table. A first supporting surface that locks the leading edge of the sheet and a sheet feed that guides the leading edge of the sheet locked on the first supporting surface in the sheet feeding direction as the sheet loading table rotates to the sheet feeding roller. A second supporting surface inclined in a direction, and locks the leading edge of the sheet accommodated in the sheet tray at a position in the front of the sheet feeding direction with respect to the contact point between the sheet feeding roller and the sheet and feeds the sheet. A paper feed gap is formed between the paper roller and a leading end locking member that cooperates with the paper feed roller to separate the paper fed into the gap by the paper feed roller into one sheet. I am using it as a solution.

[0008]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, FIG.
When the paper tray is pushed down and the paper is released as shown in (a), the paper tray rotates around the rear side in the paper feed direction. The leading edge of the set sheet moves in a direction away from the leading edge locking member, and a gap α is created between the leading edge of the sheet and the leading edge locking member. For this reason,
Even if the leading edge of the sheet is strongly pressed against the first supporting surface of the leading end locking member when the sheet is set, the pressure contact force is reduced and the friction resistance is reduced, so that the leading edge of the sheet moves along the first supporting surface. In addition, when the paper is fed out, the inclined second end locking member before the paper is separated between the paper feed roller and the front end locking member as shown in FIG. Since the support surface is preliminarily separated, it is easier to separate and non-feed and double feed can be prevented.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show a sheet feeding device of the present invention. The one shown in the figure is a case in which a paper feeding device B is detachably attached to a processing device (printing machine) A composed of a printer, and paper is separately fed to the paper feeding port of the printing machine A one by one.

The printer is an ordinary thermal transfer printer, and the platen 1 for backing up the paper in the printing section P is used.
A printing element 2; a carriage 3 which mounts the printing element 2 and moves stepwise at character intervals; and a platen 1.
The platen paper feed mechanism 4 for stepwise feeding the paper at the position of the line and the drive motor M of this paper feed mechanism, and the paper is printed by the print element 2 according to the print signal output from the computer or the input key. Print on top,
The carriage 3 is moved stepwise according to the character spacing to execute the next printing. When the printing of one line is completed, the paper feeding mechanism 4 is operated to feed the sheet stepwise to the next line.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 is a casing in which a platen 1 is fixedly supported on an internal frame 6.

The platen 1 is composed of a shaft-shaped stem material positioned in the width direction of the paper, and the surface facing the paper is formed of an elastic material such as rubber.

A U-shaped paper path 7 is formed around the platen 1, and paper is taken in from a paper feed port 7a at one end of the platen 1 for printing at the platen 1 site and then from a paper ejection port 7b at the other end. It is designed to be discharged.

A sheet feeding mechanism for feeding the sheet to the platen 1 portion of the sheet path 7 and at the same time stepwise feeding the sheet to the platen 1 portion is prepared as follows.

Since the platen 1 shown in the figure has a structure not having a paper feeding function, a paper feed roller 8 is rotatably supported by a frame 6 adjacent to the platen 1 and adjacent to the platen 1, and this paper is The feed roller 8 has one end connected to the drive motor M by a gear transmission mechanism 9 and the other end provided with a knob 10 for manual rotation shown in FIG.

A paper guide 11 is arranged opposite to the paper feed roller 8 with the paper path 7 interposed therebetween, and pinch rollers 12 and 13 are also arranged. This pinch roller 1
Two rows 2 and 13 are arranged near the paper feed port 7a and near the platen 1, and the leaf spring holder 14 is used to constantly feed the paper feed roller 8
It is fixed to the frame 6 with screws 15 so as to be pressed against the side.

The carriage 3 is movable left and right in the paper width direction, and its rear end 3a is a guide rail 16 of the frame 6.
The tip ends 3b are fitted to the shafts 17 attached to the frame 6, respectively. Although not shown, as usual, the platen 1 is fixed to endless wires laid on the left and right pulleys, and at the same time, a stepping motor is connected to one of the pulleys. Therefore, a print element 2 composed of a thermal head is swingably attached to a carriage 3 by a shaft 19 so as to come into contact with the platen 1 when printing and separate when not printing, and is connected to a print control circuit by a flexible wiring. There is.

Further, a ribbon tape is mounted on the carriage 3, and the tape is wound up in response to the movement of the carriage 3 in the printing direction. Illustration 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes a paper sensor arranged in the paper feed path 7, which detects the trailing edge of the paper during printing, determines the last line of printing and stops the printing operation, and at the same time rotates the paper feed roller 8 by a predetermined amount to move the paper. It is discharged from the discharge port 7b.

In the printer shown in the figure, the paper feed mechanism 4 is constituted by the paper feed roller 8 arranged in the vicinity of the fixed platen, but the platen itself is constituted by a rotatable roller-like member without using this, and the pinch is used. After pressing the roller, a drive motor may be connected to the roller platen to feed the paper by rotating the platen.

Therefore, the sheet feeding device B of the present invention automatically feeds the sheet from the sheet discharge port 7b to the frame 6 of the printing machine A together with the sheet discharging device for guiding and storing the sheet to the sheet discharging stacker 23. Is configured as. The paper feeding / discharging unit B is provided with a paper feeding stacker 22 and a paper discharging stacker 23 in the apparatus frame 21 at a position continuous with the paper feeding port 7a and the paper discharging port 7b of the printing machine A, and the frame 6 of the printing machine A is provided. It is designed to be detachably attached to.

Therefore, the paper discharge device is the paper discharge port 7b of the printer A.
The paper discharge roller 25 arranged in the vicinity and the paper discharge roller 2
5 is composed of an openable / closable discharge guide 26 that guides the sheet to the discharge stacker 23, and a discharge stacker 23. In particular, the discharge stacker 23 has a sheet rear end receiving portion 23a,
The back side receiving portion 23b and a manual insertion slit 27 for inserting a sheet through the gap between the both receiving portions are shown.

The manual feed slit 27 is connected to a path 28 prepared so that the manual feed paper can be supplied to the pressure contact between the paper feed roller 8 and the pinch roller 12 of the paper feed port 7a of the printer A. Then, the discharge roller 25 and the discharge guide 26
Between the paper discharge port 7b of the printer A and the paper output stacker 23.
A sheet discharge path 29 leading to the sheet discharge roller 2
Reference numeral 5 is adapted to discharge the sheet at the same speed as the sheet conveying speed of the platen sheet feeding mechanism 4 described above.

Next, the sheet feeding device B will be described. The sheet feeding device B includes a sheet feeding stacker 22, a sheet feeding roller 30 that engages with the uppermost sheet of the sheets stacked and stored in the sheet feeding stacker 22, and the sheet feeding roller 30. The sheet feeding roller 30 is configured by a sheet feeding path 31 that guides the sheet fed by the sheet feeding roller 30 to the pressure contact point between the sheet feeding roller 8 and the pinch roller 12.

These are attached to the machine frame 21 as shown in FIGS.

The device frame 21 includes a pair of left and right side plates 32,
The left and right side plates 32 and 33 are composed of a rotary shaft 30a of the paper feed roller 30, a rotary shaft 35 of the paper discharge roller 25, and transmission gears 36 and 37 thereof. , 38, 39, 40, chucking members 41, 42 for the printing machine A, and the paper feed stacker 22 is installed on the bottom plate 34 at the same time as the bottom plate 3 is installed.
The leading end 34a of the No. 4 constitutes a paper feed path 31 for guiding the paper fed by the paper feed roller 30 to the paper feed port 7a.

A rotary shaft 30a attached to the left and right side plates 32 and 33 is equipped with a paper feed roller 30, and a gear 36, similar to the rotary shaft of the paper discharge roller 25 described above.
38, 39 and 40 are connected to the drive motor M on the printing machine A side, and the paper feed roller 30, the platen paper feed roller 8,
The three discharge rollers 25 are integrally rotated at the same timing.

That is, the drive motor M built in the printing machine A
Power is transmitted from the output shaft 41 to the rotary shaft 8a of the platen paper feed roller 8 by gear transmission. The gear 36 on the side of the sheet feeding device meshes with the gear 42 in the gear transmission system, the rotation shaft 35 of the paper discharge roller 25 is driven by the gear 36 to the gear 37, and the gear 36 also feeds the gears 38, 39, 40. Paper roller 3
The rotating shaft 30a of 0 rotates.

The paper feed rollers 30 are separated by 2 in the width direction.
Composed of one or more rollers. The illustrated one is composed of three pieces, which is for allowing various papers having different paper thicknesses and paper widths to be described later to be fed by exchanging the paper feed stacker 22. 3 sheets
The positional relationship between the paper width and the rollers is selected so that a sheet having a small width such as a postcard is fed by two rollers.

A space 43 for mounting the paper feed stacker 22 is prepared between the paper feed roller 30 and the bottom plate 34, and the bottom plate 34 of the space 43 rises from the rear end toward the leading end in the paper feed direction. A leaf spring guide 44 that faces directly below the sheet feeding roller 30 is attached.

The leaf spring guide 44 has a spring action for urging the sheet feeding stacker 22 mounted in the mounting space 43 toward the sheet feeding roller 30, and at the same time, the space 4
It is composed of an inclined plate-shaped member so as to also serve as a guide when the stacker is inserted into the stacker 3.

According to the present invention, the paper feed stacker 22 is composed of two or more paper feed cassettes that respectively accommodate papers of different width sizes and other types.

The first cassette body 22A is provided on both left and right sides of the paper storage frame 45 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
6b is attached, and the second cassette body 22B has a paper feed gap for preventing the passage of two sheets of paper between the paper feed roller 30 and the leading end of the paper storage frame 47 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Is provided and is attached to the mounting space 43 of the machine frame 21.

The first cassette body 22A has a paper storage frame 45.
Left and right side plates 45a, 45b and a bottom plate 45 formed by resin
The left and right side plates 45a and 45b are supported by the pin 49 at the rear end portion of the arm lever 50 having the separation claws 46a and 46b at the tips thereof, and the separation claws 46a and 46b swing up and down. It is installed so that

In the first cassette body 22A, an idle roller 52 is provided at a portion of the bottom plate facing the paper feed roller 30.
a and 52b are embedded to reduce the load when the paper feed roller 30 rotates when the paper on the cassette body 22A runs out. Along with this, the first cassette body 22A has a projection 53 hanging down from the bottom, and this projection 53 is adapted to coincide with a guide groove 54 formed in the bottom plate 34 of the machine frame 21 of the apparatus, and the cassette body 22A.
When inserting and setting the guide into the mounting space 43, the guide groove 54
The left and right directions are positioned with. In addition, the first cassette body 22A and the apparatus machine frame 21 are retained in the state shown in FIG. 1 by engaging the engagement protrusion 55 formed on one side thereof with the engagement hole 56 formed on the other side. Has become. That is, in the state shown in FIG. 1, the rear end portion of the first cassette body 22A is coupled by the latching projection 55 and the latching hole 56, and the tip portion becomes swingable around this coupling portion, and the leaf spring guide described above. At 44, the paper is fed to the paper feed roller 30 side.

Next, in the second cassette body 22B, the paper storage frame 47 is composed of a molded body of left and right side plates 47a and 47b and a bottom plate 47c, and the paper mounting table 57 is vertically movable inside the storage frame 47. It is arranged. That is, the rear end portion of the paper tray 57 is supported by the bottom plate 47c of the storage frame 47 by the pin 58, and the front end portion is supported so as to be vertically movable around the pin 58,
A spring 59 arranged between the storage frame 47 and the bottom plate 47c.
Therefore, the paper table 57 is biased toward the paper feed roller 30.

As shown in FIG. 6, the paper tray 57 has a length in the paper feed direction shorter than the length of the supported paper in the paper feed direction.

The second cassette body 22B shown in the drawing has a slide side plate 60 on one of the left and right side plates 47a, 47b of the storage frame 47 whose width direction can be adjusted so that cards such as postcards can be stored in a horizontal position or a vertical position. It is installed as.

That is, the width dimensions of the left and right side plates 47a, 47b are set in accordance with the size in the lateral posture, and the slide side plate 60 has the bent piece 61 for the guide groove 62 of the bottom plate 47c.
The slide side plate 60 is moved to the right side in FIG. 4 to hold the paper in the vertical position. Like the first cassette body 22A, the second cassette body 22B is formed with a protrusion 53 hanging from the bottom plate 47c thereof, so that the second cassette body 22B can be fitted into the guide groove 54 of the apparatus frame 21 and mounted. At the same time, a hooking protrusion 55 is provided.

A positioning piece having a U-shaped groove 63 extending from the left and right side plates 47a and 47b of the second cassette body 22B is fitted to the rotary shaft 30a of the paper feed roller 30 to form the paper feed roller 30. Positional relationship with the cassette body 22B,
In particular, the paper feed gap between the paper feed roller 30 and the leading end locking member 48a is kept constant.

The leading end locking member 48a is formed integrally with the storage frame 47, and the first supporting surface 48c for locking the leading end of the sheet supported by the sheet loading table 57 and the sheet loading table 57. A second supporting surface 48d inclined in the sheet feeding direction for guiding the leading edge of the sheet locked in the first supporting surface 48c in the sheet feeding direction with the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 30; A paper feed gap that prevents the passage of two sheets of paper between the uppermost sheet of paper 57 and the uppermost sheet of paper 57 so that one of the uppermost sheets of paper can be fed out in cooperation with the paper feed roller 30. To form.

The present invention relates to the second cassette body 22B, and it is not always necessary to form the cassette body as shown in the drawing, but the paper feed stacker 22 is constructed from the cassette body 22B shown in the drawing, for example. That is, the paper storage frame 47, and the leading end locking members 48a and 48b that form a paper feed gap formed between the paper feed roller 30 and the paper feed roller 30 to prevent the passage of two sheets of paper, and the paper storage The frame 47 includes a sheet mount 57 that supports the rear end in the paper feed direction and supports the front end on the paper feed roller 30 side so as to be vertically movable.

Then, the front end 57a of the paper table 57 is
Maximum paper stacking state In the state shown in FIG.
0 and the contact point Y between the sheet and the front in the sheet feeding direction, and as the sheet is gradually reduced to the state shown in FIG. 6A, the leading edge 57a of the sheet tray gradually moves to the contact point Y side between the sheet feeding roller and the sheet. Therefore, the distance between the leading edge 57a of the paper table 57 and the bearing point (pin 58 shown in the figure) is set.

[0044]

[Effect] Since the present invention is configured as described above, FIG.
When the paper tray is pushed down and the paper is released as shown in (a), the paper tray rotates around the rear side in the paper feed direction. The leading edge of the set sheet moves in a direction away from the leading edge locking member, and a gap α is created between the leading edge of the sheet and the leading edge locking member. For this reason,
Even if the leading edge of the sheet is strongly pressed against the first supporting surface of the leading end locking member when the sheet is set, the pressure contact force is reduced and the friction resistance is reduced, so that the leading edge of the sheet moves along the first supporting surface. In addition, when the paper is fed out, the inclined second end locking member before the paper is separated between the paper feed roller and the front end locking member as shown in FIG. Since the support surface is preliminarily separated, it is easier to separate and non-feed and double feed can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a sheet feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the relevant part.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a second cassette body 22B.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a drive system.

6A and 6B are enlarged views of the paper tray, in which FIG. 6A shows the case where the amount of stacked sheets is small, and FIG. 6B shows the case where the amount of stacked sheets is large.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an effect of the present invention. (A) shows a state in which the paper is inserted, (B) shows a state in which the paper is lifted up together with the paper stand, and (C) shows a state in which the paper is fed out by the paper feed roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Platen 2 Printing Element 3 Carriage 4 Platen Paper Feed Mechanism 5 Casing 6 Frame 7 Paper Path 7a Paper Feed Port 7b Paper Exit 8 Paper Feed Roller 9 Gear Transmission Mechanism 10 Knob 11 Paper Guide 12, 13 Pinch Roller 14 Leaf Spring Holder 15 Screw 16 Guide rails 17, 19 Axis 20 Paper sensor 21 Machine frame 22 Cassette body 22A First cassette body 22B Second cassette body 23 Paper ejection stacker 23a Paper trailing edge receiving portion 23b Rear receiving portion 25 Paper ejection roller 26 Paper ejection Guide 27 Manual feed slit 28,31 Paper feed path 29 Paper discharge path 30 Paper feed roller 30a, 35 Rotation shaft 32,33 Side plate 34,45c, 47c Bottom plate 34a Bottom plate tip 36,37,38,39,40 Transmission gear 41,42 Chucking member 43 Stacker mounting space 4 Leaf spring guide 45, 47 Paper storage frame 45a, 45b, 47a, 47b Left right side plate 46a, 46b Separation claws 48a, 48b Paper tip locking member 48c First support surface 48d Second support surface 49 Pin 50 Arm lever 52a, 52b Idle roller 53 Projection 54, 62 Guide groove 55 Locking projection 56 Locking opening 57 Paper loading platform 57a Paper loading platform tip 58 Pin 59 Spring 60 Sliding side plate 61 Bending piece 63 U-shaped groove A Processor (printer) B Paper feeding device M Drive motor P Printing part α Gap

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Amano 1-7 Yukiya Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (56) References: 57-169740 (JP, U) 61-110651 (JP, U) Actual opening 50-135199 (JP, U) Actual opening 57-25837 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A paper feed rotator which is driven by a drive means and which feeds out a paper contacting the peripheral surface, and a paper feed which supports the paper fed out by the paper feed rotator and whose length in the paper feed direction is supported. The length is shorter than the length in the paper direction, and the leading edge is located in front of the contact point between the paper feed rotator and the paper in the paper feed direction, and the leading edge moves to the contact side of the paper feed rotator as the paper decreases. As described above, the rear side in the sheet feeding direction is supported, and the sheet mounting table that presses the sheet against the sheet feeding rotating body, the first supporting surface that locks the leading end of the sheet supported by the sheet mounting table, and the sheet mounting table And a second support surface inclined in the paper feed direction for guiding the front end of the paper locked in the first support surface in the paper feed direction in accordance with the rotation of the paper feed rotator. The leading edge of the paper stored in the paper is locked at a position forward of the contact point between the paper feed rotator and the paper in the paper feed direction, and A paper feed gap is formed between the paper feed rotator, and a leading end locking member that separates the paper fed into the gap by the paper feed rotator into one sheet in cooperation with the paper feed rotator. A paper feeding device characterized by being provided.