JPH03172247A - Sheet supplier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent chattering noise from being generated, when the final sheet is delivered from a sheet supplier, by arranging a slip stop means in a position where no direct contact with a supply roller is provided. CONSTITUTION:When a sheet R2 above the final sheet P3 is delivered by a supply roller 11, the final sheet P3 is pressed to the point end edge of a non-slip pad 14a, pasted in a position where direct contact with the supply roller 11 is not provided, by a step difference and stiffness of the sheet P3. Accordingly, friction force is generated between the final sheet P3 and the point end edge of the non-slip pad 14a, and the final sheet P3 is prevented from being delivered following delivery of the sheet P2 above the final sheet P3. As a result, chattering noise is not generated at all by preventing the final sheet P3 from being directly strongly nipped by the supply roller 11 and the non-slip pad 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an improvement in a sheet feeding device installed in an image forming apparatus or the like.

For example, image forming devices such as copying machines and printers generally require a sheet on which an image is formed (transfer paper, photosensitive paper, thermal paper, etc.), but there is a As an example of a sheet feeding device, six sheet feeding cassettes that are removable from the main body of the device are known.

The sheet supply cassette can store a plurality of sheets, and when installed in an image forming apparatus, the sheets are fed out one by one by a supply roller provided in the main body of the apparatus. In order to feed the sheet by the supply roller, it is necessary to press the leading end of the sheet against the supply roller to apply supply pressure to the sheet. When the supply pressure is applied, a frictional force is generated between the supply roller and the sheet. By rotating the supply roller in this state, the sheet can be fed out.

Therefore, in order to apply supply pressure to the sheet, the sheet (It
The feeding cassette is usually equipped with a mounting plate 1, as shown in FIG. The front part of the board 1 is vertically movable around the rear end thereof, and is urged upward by a spring 2. Since the sheets stored in the cassette case 3 are placed on the mounting plate 1, the leading edge of the sheet is pushed upward by the mounting plate 1 and is pressed against the sheet supply roller 4.

A non-slip pad 5 having a large coefficient of friction is attached to the upper surface of the front part of the board 1. The non-slip pad 5 is attached at a position where it contacts the supply roller 4 when the sheet runs out. Non-slip pad 5
This is to maintain the frictional force between the seats and the board 1 when there are few remaining seats on the board 1, and to prevent the remaining seats from being fed out all at once. .

Let me explain in more detail. Suppose that the board 1 is not equipped with the non-slip pad 5.

In this case, compared to the frictional force between the sheets, the final sheet
: The frictional force between the seat and the board 1 is smaller. Therefore, when there are few sheets remaining, for example, when the remaining number of sheets is 5.6, the sheets with a large frictional force will not slip, and the last sheet L1 with a small frictional force and the board 1 will not slip. A situation often occurs where the gap between the two sheets slips and five or six sheets are fed out at once.

Therefore, in order to prevent several sheets from being fed out at once when there are only a few sheets left, a non-slip pad is an essential member.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the conventional sheet supply cassette having the above-mentioned non-slip pad has the disadvantage that a chattering sound is generated when the last sheet is fed out, resulting in poor quality.

Chattering noise is mainly caused by friction between the non-slip pad and the seat. Therefore, if the non-slip pad 5 is removed, the chatter noise will no longer occur, but
In this case, when there are few remaining sheets in the sheet supply cassette, there is a risk that the remaining several sheets may be fed out at once, as described above.

Therefore, it is not possible to remove the thin slip pad, and it is desirable to leave the non-φ slip pad in place to prevent the occurrence of chattering noise.

This invention was made against the background as mentioned above.
To provide a sheet feeding device capable of feeding out sheets one by one up to the last sheet even when there are few remaining sheets without fear of generating chattering noise.

<Means for Solving the Problems> To summarize, the present invention solves the problem of chatter when the last sheet is fed out by devising the attachment position and shape of the anti-slip means attached to the upper surface of the front part of the board. This prevents the last sheet from being fed out together with the other sheets until it becomes the last sheet, and allows multiple sheets to be fed out into one sheet even when there are few sheets left on the board. This is a sheet feeding device that is designed so that it will not be fed out at the same time.

That is, the present invention provides a sheet feeding device capable of storing a plurality of sheets, and capable of feeding out the sheet by a feeding roller provided in the device when mounted on a predetermined device, the sheet feeding device being capable of storing a plurality of sheets. a seat storage section, a loading means for placing a seat arranged in the sheet storage section, the loading means is capable of moving up and down at least a front portion in the sheet feeding direction; urging means for urging the mounting means upward so that the mounting means is pressed against the supply roller; a non-slip means disposed on the upper surface of the front portion of the mounting means in the sheet feeding direction; and the non-slip means. is characterized in that it is disposed at a position that does not come into direct contact with the supply roller.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the sheet feeding device, an edge portion of the anti-slip means is located near a nip position of the feeding roller when the feeding roller feeds out the sheet.

Furthermore, the present invention provides, in the sheet feeding device,
The position where the supply roller nips the sheet when there are few sheets left on the loading means and the slip 1
! - A step is formed between the end edge portion of the stopper means and the end edge portion of the stopper means.

Further, in the sheet feeding device according to the present invention, the anti-slip means includes a sheet-like member having an arbitrary planar shape and a predetermined thickness.

Furthermore, the present invention provides, in the sheet feeding device,
The anti-slip means extends in a direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction,
It is characterized by being arranged symmetrically.

Further, in the sheet feeding device, the symmetrically arranged anti-slip means has a planar shape such that:
It is characterized by having a bilaterally symmetrical shape.

Since the anti-slip means is affixed at a position that does not come into direct contact with the paper feed roller, even when the last sheet on the loading board is reached, the sheet does not touch the paper feed roller and the anti-slip means. So, it is not nipped directly and strongly.

Therefore, no chattering noise occurs when the last sheet is fed out.

In addition, the anti-slip means prevents the last sheet on the board from being easily fed out, so even if there are few sheets left on the board, multiple sheets can be fed out at once. It won't happen.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a sheet supply cassette 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the position of the supply roller 11 when installed in an image forming apparatus is indicated by a dashed-dotted line. It is expressed as.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a mounting plate 13 is provided in the sheet storage section 12 of the sheet supply cassette 10. As shown in FIG. The board 13 is a plate-like member on which the seat stored in the seat storage section 12 is placed. A support shaft 15 is provided at the rear end (left side in the figure) of the board 13, and the board 13 is swingable about the support shaft 15. When the sheet supply cassette 10 is installed in the image forming apparatus, the front part of the mounting plate 13 is urged upward, and the upper surface of the front part of the mounting plate 13 is pressed against the supply roller 11.
is pressed against the circumferential surface of the

A pair of depressions 13a, 13 are provided on the upper surface of the front part of the board 13.
A pair of non-slip pads 14a, 14b are attached to the depressions 13a, 13b.

The non-slip pads 14a and 14b are arranged at symmetrical positions with respect to the center line in the width direction of the supply cassette 10, and have a symmetrical shape. Each of the non-slip pads 14a, 14b is a member having an abbreviated planar shape, and is made of a member having a large coefficient of friction, such as a rubber plate.

The feature of this embodiment is that the non-slip pads 14a, 1
4b is attached at a position that does not come into direct contact with the supply roller 11, as shown in FIG. In other words, the non-slip pads 14a and 14b are pasted to avoid the portions 11 (feed roller 11 comes into direct contact with).

In addition, in this embodiment, the non-slip pad 14a,
14b is attached to the depressions 13a and 13b, but no depression is formed on the front surface of the mounting plate 1.
A non-slip pad may be attached to the upper surface of the front part of 3.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the state of the sheets, the supply roller 11, and the non-slip pad 14 when there are few sheets left on the board 13. The presence of the non-slip pad 14 makes it possible to prevent multiple sheets (PI, P2. Prevents P3 from being rolled out at the same time. In this case, sheets P1°P2. There is a small step between the nip position of P3 and the tip edge of the non-slip pad 14 located near it, but this step can also be used when there are only a few sheets left. ) serves to prevent P3 from being unwound together with the sheet P2 above it.

In other words, the supply roller 11 feeds the last sheet)
When the sheet P2 above P3 is fed out, the final sheet P3 [I is pressed against the tip edge of the non-◆ slip pad 14 due to the above-mentioned step and the strength of the 0° bending of the sheet P3. Therefore, the last sheet P13
Frictional force is generated between the sheet P3 and the leading edge of the non-slip pad 14, and the final sheet P3 is not fed out along with the feeding of the sheet P2 above it.

As in this embodiment, if the non-slip pad 14 is provided at a position that does not directly contact the supply roller 11, when the last sheet P is fed out, the last sheet P3
is not directly and strongly nipped between the supply roller 11 and the non-slip pad 14, and the strong nip does not cause the conventional chatter noise. On the other hand, the non-slip pad 14 is not directly pressed against the supply roller 11, but the last sheet P3 is in sufficient contact with the upper surface of the non-slip pad]4, and in particular, the last sheet P3 is strongly pressed near the leading edge of the non-slip pad 14, so the non-slip pad 14 performs its original function of not letting out the final sheet P3 together with the remaining sheets P1 and P2. do. Therefore, when there are few remaining sheets in the sheet supply cassette 10, the remaining sheets are not fed out all at once.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are plan views showing other examples of non-slip pads. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the non-slip pads 14a and 14b can have any shape as long as they do not come into direct contact with the supply roller 11. That is, the non-slip pad 14a.

14b may have a shape that is attached to the front side and the side side of the supply roller with respect to the sheet feeding direction A1 (Fig. 4A), and the shape that is attached to the rear side, the front side, and the side side of the supply roller with respect to the sheet feeding direction. It may also be shaped so that it can be pasted on (Fig. 4B).

Of course, although not shown, the non-slip pad may have any shape (for example, rectangular, circular, etc.) so that it can be attached only to the rear side or the front side of the supply roller. Further, the number of non-slip pads does not necessarily have to be a pair of left and right pads, and there may be only one non-slip pad or a plurality of non-slip pads.

In short, it is sufficient that the non-slip pad is attached at a position that does not come into direct contact with the supply roller.

The above description has been made by taking a sheet supply cassette as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to sheet supply cassettes. For example, the present invention is not limited to sheet supply cassettes. It can also be applied to devices.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding device 20 according to another embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the sheet supply device 20 is equipped with a sheet storage container 22. As shown in FIG. The container 22 includes a rail 25a connected to a front side (right side in the figure) and a rear side (left side in the figure);
25b so that it can be pulled out perpendicularly to the drawing. There is a board 23 inside the seat storage container 22.
is provided. The board 23 is a plate-like member on which a seat is placed. The board 23 is connected to a lowering device (not shown), and the board 23 is raised and lowered up and down in a state of one foot of water by the drive of, for example, a motor included in the lifting and lowering device.

Note that the configuration of the sheet feeding device 20 to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may have other configurations.

A feature of the sheet feeding device 20 according to this embodiment is that the non-slip pad 24 affixed to the front surface of the board 23 is arranged at a position where it does not come into direct contact with the feeding roller 21. be.

More specifically, the sheet feeding device 20 can be attached to, for example, a copying machine, and in the attached state, the feeding roller 21 of the copying machine is engaged at a position indicated by a chain line. Then, due to the rotation of the supply roller 21,
The sheets placed on the loading plate 23 are fed out one by one in the direction of arrow A3 and taken into the copying machine.

In the sheet feeding device 20 according to this embodiment, the mounting plate 2
An auxiliary surface 23b that is one step lower than the main surface 23a of the main surface 23a is formed on the front side, and a non-slip pad 24 is adhered to the auxiliary surface 23b. More specifically, a non-slip pad 24 is attached on the auxiliary surface 23b along the step side between the main surface 23a and the auxiliary surface 23b.

The surface of the non-slip pad 24 is the required surface 2.
The height is set equal to 3a.

Instead of such a configuration, the surface of the board 23 is made flush,
The non-slip pad 24 may be attached so that it protrudes from the surface by the thickness thereof.

For example, when the sheet feeding device according to the present invention is configured as a sheet feeding cassette, the sheet feeding cassette may be traded and sold alone, or it may be attached as an accessory to a specific device. It may be provided.

The same applies to a sheet feeding device having a board that can be raised and lowered.

In addition, it is not limited to sheet feeding devices for image forming apparatuses.
It can be widely used in sheet feeding devices used when sheets need to be fed continuously or intermittently.

<Effects of the Invention> Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to provide an apparatus that does not generate chattering noise when the last sheet is fed out from the sheet feeding device.

Further, even when there are several sheets in the supply device, it is possible to prevent the several sheets from being fed out at once.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet supply cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 2. FIGS. 4A and 4B are plan views showing other shapes of the non-slip pad. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding device 20 according to another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a conventional sheet supply cassette. In the figure, 10... Sheet supply cassette, 11°2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Supply roller, 12... Sheet storage part, 13° 23... Riding board, 14a, 14b, 24... Non-
Slip pad, 20... Sheet supply device, 22...
- Indicates a seat storage container. -299- Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device capable of storing a plurality of sheets, and capable of feeding the sheet by a feeding roller provided in the device when the sheet is mounted on a predetermined device, the sheet feeding device storing the sheets. a seat storage section for loading the sheet; a loading means for loading the sheet arranged in the seat storage section; the loading means is capable of moving up and down at least a front portion in the sheet feeding direction; at least when feeding the sheet; , urging means for urging the mounting means upward so that the sheet is pressed against the supply roller; and anti-slip means disposed on the upper surface of the front part of the mounting means in the sheet feeding direction; A sheet feeding device characterized in that the stop means is disposed at a position that does not come into direct contact with the feeding roller. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein an edge portion of the anti-slip means is located near a nip position of the feeding roller when the feeding roller feeds out the sheet. Device. 3. In the sheet feeding device according to claim 2, when there are few sheets left on the loading means, between the position where the feeding roller nips the sheet and the edge of the anti-slip means. A sheet feeding device characterized by having a step. 4. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the anti-slip means includes a sheet-like member having an arbitrary planar shape and a predetermined thickness. sheet feeding device. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the anti-slip means are arranged symmetrically in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction. 6. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the symmetrically arranged anti-slip means has a symmetrical planar shape.