JP2986608B2 - Paper guide mechanism of paper feed / discharge device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper guide mechanism used for a paper supply / discharge device of various portable information devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, a paper guide mechanism used in a conventional paper supply / discharge device of various portable information devices or the like has a guide plate 1 in a closed posture S1 as shown in FIG.
, It also functions as a lid of the paper supply / discharge device. In use, as shown in FIG. 7, the open position S2 is turned around the horizontal axis 3 and is inclined to be used for paper feeding / discharging work (conventional example 1).

When the guide plate 1 is used as a lid in the closed position S1, it is desirable to divide the paper feeding / discharging device main body 2 and the lid (guide plate 1) into two parts for design reasons. In order to efficiently feed and discharge paper by taking the guide plate 1 as long as possible, as shown in FIG.
Is preferably formed from the center to the end. However, in this case, the horizontal axis 3 is disposed at the rearmost end of the paper feeding / discharging device main body 2. If the guide plate 1 is set to the open posture S2 in this state, as shown in FIG. The paper feed / discharge device main body 2 is separated from the paper feed / discharge port 4, and a step 5 is generated.

[0004] As a method of eliminating this step, FIGS.
A guide groove 6 for guiding the horizontal shaft 3 horizontally is provided in a part of the paper feeding / discharging device main body 2 as shown in FIG. No. 4 is matched with a predetermined guide position X1 (conventional example 2).

In FIGS. 8 to 11, reference numeral 9 denotes a paper supply / discharge roller.

[0006]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Conventional Example 2 of FIGS.
In the case of, the pivoting step of opening the guide plate 1 from the closed position S1 to the open position S2, and moving the horizontal axis 3 of the guide plate 1 to a predetermined guide position X
Although two steps of a horizontal movement step of sliding to 1 are required, a simpler method has been desired for the user.

In order to omit the horizontal movement step, as shown in FIG. 11, the horizontal axis 3 is provided not at the end but near the center of the guide plate 1, and the fulcrum of rotation is fixed to the guide position X1 in advance. A method is also conceivable (Proposal Example 1).

However, according to this method, the height dimension of the guide plate 1 becomes small, and the efficiency of paper supply / discharge becomes poor. In addition, the rear end of the guide plate 1 must be rotated in the paper feeding / discharging device main body 2, and a useless space is required for the rotation, which goes against the demand for downsizing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper guide mechanism of a paper supply / discharge device capable of automatically moving a guide plate, which also functions as a lid, to a guide position at the same time.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a guide plate 2 for feeding and discharging paper, as shown in FIGS.
The paper feed mechanism of the paper supply / discharge device which also functions as a cover by rotating the guide plate 21 about the horizontal axis 22 and covering the paper supply / discharge device main body 11 from the closed position S1 of the guide plate 21 The horizontal axis 22 is automatically moved in accordance with the turning operation to the open posture S2.
Moving means 23 for dynamically moving to the guide position X1 is provided. The moving means 23 includes a rolling element 32 fixed to the horizontal shaft 22 and a guide section for guiding the rolling element 32 to the guide position X1. It is composed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rolling element 32 of the first aspect is a pinion, and the guide portion of the first aspect is configured such that the horizontal axis 22 of the guide plate 21 is horizontally aligned .
A guide groove 31 for equally guiding the left and right, and the pinion 32
Rack 33 arranged on one side of the guide groove 31 so as to mesh with
It is composed of

[0012]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, in the closed position S1, the horizontal shaft 22 having the pinion 32 is disposed at the rear end of the paper feeding / discharging device main body 11.

Here, the guide plate 21 is rotated to open the posture S.
Assuming that 2, the pinion 32 fixed to the horizontal shaft 22 meshes with the rack 33 while rotating, and simultaneously moves forward. The horizontal shaft 22 is guided forward in the guide groove 31, and automatically moves to the guide position X1.

[0014]

1 is a side view of a paper guide mechanism of a paper feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a view showing a state in which a guide plate is in a closed position, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sheet feeding device when the guide plate is in a closed position, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway rear view of the sheet feeding device when the guide plate is in a closed position.

As shown in the figure, the paper guide mechanism of the paper feeder of this embodiment is used in printer units of various portable information devices such as a desktop personal computer and a word processor.
It is applied to a paper feeding device that performs manual paper feeding. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the printer unit has a paper feeding device main body 11 as a rectangular cover made of synthetic resin.
1 houses a roller 12 for feeding paper, a printing unit 13 for printing the paper wound around the roller 12, and the like. An opening 14 is formed in the vicinity of the rear end of the sheet feeding device main body 11 for exchanging the printing unit 13 or performing a jam process or the like. Immediately above the roller 12 in the opening 14 is a paper feed port 15 for feeding paper to the roller 12.

Here, the distance L from the rear end portion X0 of the paper feeding device main body 11 to the paper feeding port 15 is determined by structural problems such as the strength of the paper feeding device main body 11 and the rear portion of the paper feeding device main body 11. It is determined in consideration of the capacity of the power cord storage unit (not shown).

The paper guide mechanism of the paper feeder according to the present embodiment includes a guide plate 21 for guiding the paper to the paper feed port 15,
A moving means 23 is provided for horizontally moving the horizontal shaft 22 to the guide position X1 in accordance with the rotation of the guide plate 21 from the closed position S1 to the open position S2.

When the guide plate 21 is stored,
(A), the sheet feeding guide plate 21 with respect to the sheet feeding port 15 is set to the closed posture S1, and the opening 14 of the sheet feeding device main body 11 is opened.
1B, and when used, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), is turned around the horizontal shaft 22 so as to be in the inclined open position S2 and used for the paper feeding operation to the paper feeding port 15. Things. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the guide plate 21 is made of the same synthetic resin as the paper feeder main body 11 for design reasons. Formed over the part. Arms 25 are formed at both left and right ends of the rear end of the guide plate 21, and the horizontal axis 2 serving as a center point of rotation is provided at the front end of the arm 25.
2 are protruding. These are integrally formed by a molding die. The guide plate 21 is moved from the closed position S1 to the open position S.
The rotation angle θ up to 2 is, for example, 100 ° to 140 °.

The moving means 23 comprises a guide groove 31 for guiding the horizontal shaft 22 horizontally, a pinion 32 as a rolling element fixed to the horizontal shaft 22, and a rack 33 meshing with the pinion 32. You.

The guide groove 31 is provided in the sheet feeding device main body 11.
Is formed horizontally from the rear end portion X0 to the guide position X1 near the paper feed port 15. The width of the guide groove 31 is
Is slightly larger than the diameter of the horizontal shaft 22 and smaller than the diameter of the pinion 32 so as not to sway.

The pinion 32 is fixed to the horizontal shaft 22.

The rack 33 is disposed above the guide groove 31 of the sheet feeding device main body 11 so as to move forward when the pinion 32 rotates toward the open position S2.

The pinion 32 is rotated by the rotation angle of the guide plate 21 and moves by meshing with the rack 33. The moving distance L is determined by the position at which the horizontal axis 22 has no step with the paper feed port 15. Set to move to. That is, since the distance from the rear end portion X0 of the paper feeding device main body 11 to the paper feeding port 15 is a predetermined specific value, the moving distance L is given as a specific value.
Since the movement distance L as this eigenvalue is equal to the arc dimension of the rotation angle θ of the pinion 32, the rotation angle from the closed position S1 to the open position S2 of the guide plate 21 is θ, and the radius of the pinion 32 is r. Then, the following equation (1) is established.

L = 2πr × (θ / 360 °) ∴ r = L × 360 ° / (2π × θ) (1) From the equation (1), by setting the diameter of the pinion 32, the guide plate 21 is formed. It can be moved to a predetermined guide position X1.

The means for maintaining the guide plate 21 in the open position S2 at the guide position X1 includes a rear stopper disposed on the rear side of the sheet feeding device main body 11 so as to prevent the guide plate 21 from falling backward, or a lateral stop. A side stopper that prevents the shaft 22 from moving forward beyond the guide position X1 or a recess into which the pinion 32 or the horizontal shaft 22 is fitted may be appropriately provided in consideration of the design surface and the like.

In the above configuration, when the guide plate 21 is in the closed posture S1, the horizontal shaft 22 having the pinion 32 is disposed at the rear end of the main body 11 of the paper feeding device.

Next, when feeding paper for printing, the guide plate 21 is rotated upward with the front end thereof. Then, the pinion 32 fixed to the horizontal shaft 22 rotates clockwise. However, since the pinion 32 is engaged with the upper rack 33, the pinion 32 moves forward simultaneously with the above rotation. Then, the horizontal shaft 22 is guided forward in the guide groove 31.

When the guide plate 21 is rotated by a predetermined angle θ, the horizontal axis 22 is set at a predetermined guide position X as shown in equation (1).
1 and the positions of the guide plate 21 and the paper feed port 15 match. Then, the sheet feeding operation may be performed while maintaining the open posture S2 of the guide plate 21 at the guide position by the rear stopper or the side stopper (not shown).

When the guide plate 21 is changed from the open position S2 to the closed position S1, the front end of the guide plate 21 is pushed downward, and the horizontal shaft 22 is rotated counterclockwise.
2 engages with the rack 33, and the horizontal axis 22
Automatically moves backward.

As described above, the user only needs to open and close the guide plate 21 as the lid, and the guide plate 21
Since the positions of 5 are automatically matched, the user feels as though only the turning process of the guide plate 21 is necessary in the preparation stage at the time of use, and the convenience is improved.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above-described embodiment within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the paper feeding device of the printer unit has been described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to other devices such as a facsimile paper discharging device.

The rolling element 32 of the moving means 23 is provided in
A pin pinion as shown in FIG. 5 or a roller or the like may be used in place of the pinion, and the rack 33 may be a pin rack or the like as shown in FIG.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, these moving means 23 are exposed on the side surface of the paper feeding device main body 11, but they are arranged inside the paper feeding device main body 11, and the It is good also as a structure which cannot be seen from.

[0035]

As is clear from the above description, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, since the pinion is fixed to the horizontal axis of the guide plate and the rack is provided in the main body of the sheet feeding / discharging device, the guide plate is provided. open at the same time, it is possible to horizontally move the pinion to the rack-and-pinion until along connexion predetermined guide position. Then, the guide plate can be automatically matched with the guide position of the sheet feeding / discharging device main body, and there is an excellent effect when convenience is increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are side views of a paper guide mechanism of a paper feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A illustrates a state in which a guide plate is in a closed position, and FIG. Figure showing the connected state

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sheet feeding device when the guide plate is in a closed position;

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway rear view of the sheet feeding device when the guide plate is in a closed position.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part showing another embodiment of the pinion and rack of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part showing another embodiment of the pinion and rack of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portable information device in which a guide plate of a sheet feeding device is in a closed position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portable information device in which a guide plate of a sheet feeding device is in an open position.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a sheet feeding device in Conventional Example 1.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state after rotation of the sheet feeding device in Conventional Example 2.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state after the horizontal movement of the sheet feeding device in Conventional Example 2.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a sheet feeding device in Proposal Example 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Paper feeder main body 21 Guide plate 22 Horizontal axis 23 Moving means 31 Guide groove 32 Pinion 33 Rack S1 Closed position S2 Opened position X1 Guide position

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 11/00 B65H 31/00 B65H 5/36 B65H 5/38 B65H 29/52 B41J 13/00-13 / 32

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A sheet guide mechanism for a sheet feeding / discharging device which includes a sheet feeding / discharging guide plate, and which rotates around a horizontal axis to cover the sheet feeding / discharging device main body, thereby functioning as a lid. Moving means for automatically moving the horizontal axis to the guide position in accordance with the turning operation of the guide plate from the closed position to the open position is provided, and the moving means includes a rolling element fixed to the horizontal axis,
A sheet guide mechanism for the sheet supply / discharge device, comprising: a guide portion for guiding the rolling element to a guide position. 2. The rolling element according to claim 1, wherein the rolling element is a pinion, and the guide portion engages with a guide groove that guides the horizontal axis of the guide plate horizontally and equally to the left and right , and the pinion. And a rack arranged on one side of the guide groove.