JPH02178131A - Automatic paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To install a separate unit easily in a specified position as well as to shorten a span of assembling time by inserting a support shaft of the separate unit into a groove of a unit holding part, and hitching an elastic member on a hooked part installed in a rocking member of the separate unit. CONSTITUTION:A support shaft 20 in a separate unit 17 is inserted into a groove of a unit holding part. Next, a resilient member 24 is hitched, free of detachment, on a hooked part 19E installed in a rocking member 19 of the separate unit 17, giving turning effort, centering on the support shaft 20, to this rocking member 19, and the separate unit 17 is installed in a specified position. With this constitution, a separating piece 18 consisting of a high friction member in the separate unit 17 is pressed to a paper feed roller 12, thus automatic paper feeding takes place jointly with this separating piece 18 and the paper feed roller 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is applied to an automatic feeder used in facsimiles, copying machines, etc., which separates a plurality of originals stacked on a document table one by one and feeds them into the apparatus. Regarding paper devices.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of automatic paper feeder has a sponge paper feeder installed at the end of a document table 2 on which a plurality of documents L (LA, LB, etc.) are loaded, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A roller 3 was arranged, and a rubber separation piece 4 was brought into contact with the paper feed roller 3. This separation piece 4 is attached to a support stand 6 rotatably provided on a shaft 5, and by pulling one end of this support stand 6 in the direction of arrow A with a coil spring 7, the paper feed roller
is under pressure.

With this configuration, when the paper feed roller 3 rotates in the direction of arrow B, only the bottom layer paper 1a is fed by the separation piece 4. That is, even if the paper feed roller 3 rotates and the originals 1a and 1b are drawn in, the frictional force between the paper feeder roller 3 and the original 18, the frictional force between the original 1a and the original lb, and the frictional force between the original 1b and the separation piece 4 By appropriately setting the relationship between the frictional force and the frictional force using a known method, the originals 1a and 1b are separated, and the originals 1a and 1b are fed sequentially starting from the lowest original 1a.

Note that, in order to press the separation piece 4 against the paper feed roller 3, there is also known a configuration in which the back surface of the support base is pressed by a compression spring (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-203039).

In addition, place the support stand that supported the separation piece at one point approximately in the center of the width direction.
There is also known a structure in which the separation piece is supported at a point so that the separation piece contacts the paper feed roller 3 with uniform pressure (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 82251/1983).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, all of the conventional methods require troublesome work to attach the separating piece and the supporting stand that supports it to a predetermined position relative to the paper feed roller, and to connect the spring to the supporting stand. However, there was a problem that it took time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic paper feeder that is easy to assemble.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a separation piece made of a high-friction member that is pressed into contact with the paper feed roller, a swinging member that holds the separation piece, and a swinging member that holds the separation piece. A support shaft that is attached and is substantially parallel to the separation piece is pre-assembled and integrated to form a separation unit. A unit holding portion is provided with a groove for removably latching the unit holding portion so that the supporting shaft thereof is substantially parallel to the paper feed roller, and further provided on the swinging member of the separation unit. The device is configured to be removably latched at one point to the latching portion and provided with an elastic member that applies rotational force about the support shaft to the swinging member.

According to the above-described structure, the present invention allows the separation unit to be placed in a predetermined position by simply inserting the support shaft of the separation unit into the groove of the unit holding part and hooking the resilient member to the hook of the swinging member of the separation unit. It can be attached to. Also,
In the installed separation unit, the swinging member and the separation piece attached to it can swing around the support shaft, and the spring force of the elastic member presses the separation piece against the paper feed roller to feed the paper. Automatic paper feeding can be performed in cooperation with the rollers.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail as shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic paper feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 11 is a document table on which a plurality of documents are stacked, 12 is a paper feed roller made of sponge rubber or the like provided at the lower end of the document table 11, 13 is a paper feed roller shaft, and I4 is a support. A frame 15 is a document guide provided opposite the lower end of the document table IJ. The document guide 15 is cut out at a position corresponding to the paper feed roller 12 in the center, and the separation unit 1 is inserted into the cutout.
7 is installed.

This separation unit 17 includes a separation piece 18 made of a high friction member that is pressed against the paper feed roller 12, a swinging member 19 that holds this separation piece 18, and a swinging member 19 that is attached to this swinging member 19 and is attached to the separation piece 18. and substantially parallel support axes.

More specifically, the separation piece 18 is held with its upper end engaged with the claw portion 19A of the swinging member 19.
A leaf spring 21 is arranged on the back side of the separation piece 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the leaf spring 21 has a mounting part 21A for fixing it to the swinging member 19, and a flat part 21B in the center.
, a lower end suppressing part 2IC for pushing the lower end of the separating piece 18, and a center suppressing part 21D for pushing the center part of the separating piece 18. As can be clearly seen from FIG. 2, the central suppressing portion 21D has a portion 21E that protrudes rearward from the flat portion 21B, and is configured to be pushed by the back portion 19B of the swinging member 19. Here, the swinging member 1
9 rotates around the support axis in the direction of arrow C, the back portion 19B of the swinging member 19 presses a point on the portion 21E of the leaf spring 21, thereby causing the lower end suppressing portion 21C to press against the lower end of the separating piece 18. The shape and dimensions of the leaf spring 21 are determined so that the separation piece 18 is pressed against the paper feed roller 12 at the separation point P, and at the same time, the central pressing portion 2LD presses the central part of the separation piece 18 against the paper feed roller 12 at the paper feed point Q. ing.

The swinging member 19 has an engagement piece 19C provided at right angles to the center of the back surface of the back portion 19B, and this engagement piece 19C has a bearing 19D that supports the support shaft 4 so as to be in approximately point contact with the engagement piece 19C.
and a retaining portion 19 that engages at one point with a resilient member 24, which will be described later.
E is formed. The support shaft hole has a groove 20A that engages with the bearing 19D and a groove 20B near one end.

In FIG. 1, a support shaft hole is provided on the upper surface of the document guide 16 so that the support shaft hole is removably hung at two points on the support shaft, and the support shaft is approximately parallel to the paper feed roller 12. A unit holding member is formed with a groove 23A for stopping the unit. Here, the groove portion 20B of the support shaft hole fits into the groove of one of the unit holding devices, and restricts movement of the support shaft hole in the axial direction. U is removably hooked at one point to a hook 19E provided on the swinging member 19 of the separation unit 17, and is attached to the swinging member 19 in the direction of arrow C (second direction) around the support shaft hole.
This is a resilient member that applies rotational force (see figure). In this embodiment, a substantially U-shaped wire rod is used as a separate elastic member, and one end of this elastic member U is connected to one of the plurality of grooves formed in the adjustment hole 5 formed in the support frame 14. is inserted into.

The spring force that the resilient member U applies to the swinging member 19 can be adjusted by changing the groove of the adjustment hole 5 into which one end of the resilient member U is inserted.

The operation of the automatic paper feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described below.

When assembling the device, insert the support shaft hole of the separation unit 17, which has been assembled into a unit in advance, into the groove 2 of the unit holder.
3A from above and fitting the support shaft hole into the bottom of the groove, the resilient member U is hooked onto the hook portion 19E of the swinging member 19 of the separation unit F. As a result, the support shaft hole is stably supported at two points, and the separation unit 17 is mounted in a predetermined position.

When the separation unit 17 is mounted in a predetermined position, the swinging member 19 can swing around the support shaft hole, and is given a rotational force in the direction of arrow C by the spring force of a resilient member. As a result, the back portion 19B of the swinging member 19 pushes the rearwardly protruding portion 21E of the leaf spring 21, and the lower end suppressing portion 21C presses the lower end of the separation piece 18 against the paper feed roller 12 at the separation point P, and at the same time suppresses the center The part 21D is the separation piece 1
8 is pressed against the paper feed roller 12 at the paper feed point Q. Further, since the swinging member 19 is supported at one point with respect to the support shaft hole by the central bearing 19D, it can move freely, and the separation piece 18 can be moved in the width direction relative to the paper feed roller 12. Contact with even pressure.

Paper feeding operation is performed as follows. That is, the paper feed roller 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and draws the lowest document on the document table 11 between the paper feed roller 12 and the separating piece 18 . At this time, multiple documents may be pulled in at the same time. However, in that case, the relationship between the frictional force between the paper feed roller 12 and the original, the frictional force between the originals, and the frictional force between the original and the separation piece is appropriately set using a known method, so that it is possible to The originals except for the one original in the lower layer are prevented from moving by the separation piece 18, and only the one original in the lowermost layer is sent downstream by the paper feed roller 12. In this way, the plurality of originals on the original table 11 are separated one by one and fed.

During this paper feeding, it is necessary that the separating piece 18 is in pressure contact with the paper feeding roller 12 even at the paper feeding point Q in order to properly feed the document. By the way, since the separating piece 18 is usually made of rubber, the rubber tends to become tacky due to aging during use, and the contact pressure between the separating piece 18 and the paper feed roller 12 tends to decrease. However, in this embodiment, this paper feeding point Q
is pressed by the central pressing portion 21D of the leaf spring 21, so
Even if the rubber changes over time, the necessary contact pressure is always maintained, allowing for good paper feeding over a long period of time.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention comprises a separation piece made of a high friction member that is pressed against the paper feed roller, a swinging member that holds the separation piece, and a swinging member that is attached to the swinging member. A support shaft substantially parallel to the separation piece is assembled in advance and integrated to form a separation unit.Meanwhile, the support shaft of the separation unit is attached to the support shaft of the separation unit in the vicinity of the paper feed roller.
A unit holding portion is provided with a groove for removably latching the unit holding portion so that the supporting shaft thereof is substantially parallel to the paper feed roller, and further provided on the swinging member of the separation unit. The support shaft of the separation unit can be fixed at one point in a removable manner, and the swing member is provided with a resilient member that applies rotational force about the support shaft. The separation unit can be installed in a predetermined position by simply inserting it into the groove of the unit holding part and hooking the resilient member to the hook of the swinging member of the separation unit, which greatly simplifies the assembly work of the device. At the same time,
This has the effect that the time required for assembly can be shortened and the manufacturing cost of the device can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic paper feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the ■-■ arrow in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a leaf spring used in the above embodiment. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional automatic paper feeding device, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG. 4 as viewed in the direction of the arrow . 11...Thick plate stand, 12...Paper feed roller, 13...
Paper feed roller shaft, 14... Support frame, 15... Document guide, 17... Separation unit, 18... Separation piece, 19
... Swinging member, addition... Support shaft, 21... Leaf spring,
n... Unit holding part, Jun... Resilient member. Figure 2 No.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A paper feed roller provided at the lower end of a document table on which a plurality of documents are stacked, a separation piece made of a high-friction member that is pressed against the paper feed roller, a swinging member that holds this separation piece, and a swinging member that holds this separation piece. a separation unit that is attached to a moving member and has a support shaft that is substantially parallel to the separation piece; The unit holding part is provided with a groove for removably engaging the unit so as to be approximately parallel to the unit, and the unit is removably engaged at one point to a engaging part provided on the swinging member of the separation unit. An automatic paper feeder comprising a resilient member that applies rotational force about the support shaft to the swinging member.