JPH03186527A - Large quantity paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent transport troubles such as deflection of resist rollers and skew by installing a connecting mechanism which connects a paper feeding tray and a fence at a position where the paper feeding tray is lowered to a home position and releases the connection state at the position where the paper feeding tray is raised from the home position. CONSTITUTION:When a paper feeding tray 10 is lowered to a home position, the paper feeding tray 10 and a fence 17 are connected together by a connecting mechanism 20. When the paper feeding tray 10 is slided in the horizontal direction from this state and shifted outside a case body 2, also the fence 17 shifts integrally outside the case body 2. Accordingly, when paper forms are heaped on the paper feeding tray 10, the edge parts of the paper forms heaped on the paper feeding tray 10 are adjusted by the contact of the edge part of the paper form with the fence 17. Further, when the paper feeding tray on which a large quantity of paper form is heaped is slided in the horizontal direction and returned into the case body 2, the destruction of the heap of the paper form is prevented by a fence 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a large-volume paper feeding device equipped with a paper feeding tray on which a large amount of paper can be placed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, a large-volume paper feeder equipped with a paper feed tray that can hold a large amount of paper has been provided with an elevating mechanism that raises and lowers the paper feed tray depending on the amount of paper remaining. A general structure of such a lifting mechanism is shown in FIG. First, a paper feed tray (not shown) is fixed to a tray pedestal 1, and the tray pedestal 1 is fitted along a groove 3 formed in a side plate 2a that is a part of a housing 2 surrounding the paper feed tray. It is installed so that it can be raised and lowered freely.

Next, a drive motor 4 is provided, a worm gear 6 is directly connected to a motor shaft 5 of the drive motor 4, and a worm wheel 7 is meshed with the worm gear 6. A wire 9 connected to the tray base l is wound around a pulley 8 that rotates integrally with the worm wheel 7.

Here, the drive motor 4 rotates the worm gear 6 forward (
When the tray base 1 is rotated (clockwise), the worm wheel 7 and the pulley 8 rotate together, the wire 9 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the tray base 1 rises along the groove 3 together with the paper feed tray.

On the other hand, when the drive motor 4 is reversely rotated, the tray pedestal 1 descends along the groove 3 together with the paper feed tray.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Paper is replenished by stacking the paper on a paper feed tray, but the paper feed tray is a housing 2 that surrounds the paper feed tray.
Because the paper is located inside, it takes time to replenish paper.

Note that when replenishing paper, if the paper feed tray is structured to slide horizontally and move out of the housing 2, it will be easier to replenish the paper, but if the paper is loaded on the paper feed tray, It is difficult to align the front and sides of a large amount of paper. If sheets with uneven front and side surfaces are stacked on the paper feed tray, this may cause paper feeding failures such as registration misalignment and skew.

Means for Solving the Problems In a large-volume paper feeder having a paper feed tray that can be raised and lowered within a housing and that is movable out of the housing by sliding horizontally from a lowered position to a home position, a corner of the paper feed tray is provided. A fence is provided in the housing that faces the paper feed tray and is slidable in the same direction as the sliding direction of the paper feed tray, and connects the paper feed tray and the fence at a position where the paper feed tray is lowered to a home position. Additionally, a coupling mechanism is provided that releases the coupling state between the paper feed tray and the fence at a position where the paper feed tray is raised from a home position.

Further, in a large-volume paper feed device having a paper feed tray that can be moved up and down within a housing and that can be slid horizontally from a lowered position to a home position and moved out of the housing, A double-structured fence consisting of an outer fence and an inner fence that is slidable in the same direction as the sliding direction of the paper feed tray is provided in the housing, and the paper feed tray is closed at the position where the paper feed tray is lowered to the home position. and the fence, and a coupling mechanism that connects the paper feed tray and the fence and releases the coupling state between the paper feed tray and the fence at a position where the paper feed tray is raised from a home position, and the inner fence is integrated with the paper feed tray. A lifting mechanism was installed to raise and lower the vehicle within a set range.

Operation When the paper feed tray is lowered to the home position, the paper feed tray and the fence are connected by the coupling mechanism. From this state, when the paper feed tray is slid horizontally and moved out of the case, the fence is also moved out of the case as one piece. Move to. Therefore, by bringing the edges of the sheets into contact with the fence when stacking the sheets on the paper feed tray, the edges of the sheets stacked on the paper feed tray are aligned. Furthermore, when a paper feed tray loaded with a large amount of paper is horizontally slid and returned into the housing, the fence prevents the stacked paper from shifting.

In addition, the fence has a double structure of an outer fence and an inner fence, and the inner fence is raised and lowered integrally with the paper feed tray using a lifting mechanism within a set range. Loading surface is prevented from slipping.

Embodiment An embodiment of the invention set forth in claim 1 will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4. Note that the same parts as those explained in FIG. 7 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation will be omitted. First, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a mechanism for raising and lowering the paper feed tray 10 and a mechanism for horizontally sliding the paper feed tray 10 that has been lowered to the home position. Side plate 2
A pair of fixed rails 11 are fixed in parallel to the tray pedestal 1, which is movable up and down along a groove 3 formed in a. The fixed rail 11 is provided on the lower surface of the paper feed tray 10.
A movable rail 12 is fixed to be slidably fitted to. Further, a locking leaf spring 13 is fixed to the lower surface of the paper feed tray 10, and a locking leaf spring 13 is formed with a retaining portion 14 that engages with a portion of the tray base 1. 14 is engaged with the tray pedestal 1, positioning of the paper feed tray 10 in the sliding direction with respect to the tray pedestal 1 is performed. Further, on the upper surface of the bottom plate 15, which is a part of the housing 2, an engaging portion 14 is provided which contacts the locking plate spring 13 when the paper feed tray 10 is lowered to the home position (lowest value). A convex portion 16 that releases the engagement state between the tray base 1 and the tray base 1 is fixed.

Note that when the opening/closing door (not shown) of the housing 2 is open, the power to the drive motor 4 is cut off, and when the opening/closing door is closed, the drive motor 4 is enabled to be energized. A safety mechanism (not shown) is provided.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, inside the housing 2 are a pair of fences 17 having a rectangular cross section facing the rear corner of the paper feed tray 10, and these fences. A fence stand 18 for holding the fence 17 is provided. A pinion 19 is attached to the lower surface of the fence stand 18, and a pair of rack teeth 20 that mesh with the pinion 19 are provided, and the fence 7 is fixed to these rack teeth 20.

A pair of positioning pins 22 protruding forward in the horizontal direction T' are fixed to the root 21, which is a part of the housing 2, and pin holes 23 into which these positioning pins 22 are engaged are formed in the fence stand 18. has been done.

A pair of positioning pins 24 protruding downward are fixed to the lower surface of the paper feed tray 10, and a pin hole 25 is engaged with the positioning pins 24 when the paper feed tray 10 is lowered to the home position. is the fence stand 18
is formed.

These positioning pins 24 and pin holes 25 connect the paper feed tray 10 and the fence 17 at the position where the paper feed tray 1o has descended to the home position, and also connect the paper feed tray 10 to the position where the paper feed tray 10 has risen from the home position. A coupling mechanism 26 is configured to release the coupling state between the paper feed tray 10 and the fence 17. The lower surface of the fence stand 18 is in line contact with a guide member 27 fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate 15.

In the configuration shown in 2, when the paper feed tray 10 is lowered into the tray base (together with the tray base) and reaches the home position, the convex portion 16 abuts against the locking plate spring 13 and the engaging portion 14
The engagement state between the tray pedestal L and the tray pedestal L is released, and the paper feed tray 1
0 can be slid freely along the fixed rail 11. Furthermore, when the paper feed tray] 0 is lowered to the home position, the positioning pin 24 engages with the pin hole 25, and the paper feed tray 10, fence stand 18, and fence 17 are connected. Then, after lowering the paper feed tray 10 to the home position, if you pull the paper feed tray 10 toward you along the fixed rail 11, it will click! The tray 18 and the fence 17 also slide together, and the paper feed tray 10 and the fence 17 move outside the housing 2.

Therefore, when replenishing paper, since the paper feed tray 10 is moved outside the housing 2, the paper can be easily stacked onto the paper feed tray 10. Furthermore, since the fence 17 moves integrally with the paper feed tray 10 and is positioned opposite the corner of the paper feed tray 10, the edge of the paper can be brought into contact with the fence 7 when stacking paper. As a result, the edges of the sheets stacked on the paper feed tray 10 are aligned. moreover,
When the paper feed tray 10 loaded with paper is returned to the housing 2, the fence 17 also moves together to hold the loaded paper. The fence 17 prevents the load from collapsing.

Note that when the paper feed tray 10 is returned to the housing 2, the positioning bin 22 is engaged with the bin hole 23 of the fence stand 18, and upward movement of the fence stand 18 is restricted. Therefore, when the paper feed tray 10 is raised, the upward movement of the fence stand 18 and the fence 17 is restricted, and the positioning bin 24 is restricted from moving upward.
passes through the bottle hole 25 and connects to the paper feed tray 10 and the fence 17.
The connection state with is canceled.

Furthermore, the pair of fences 17 includes a pinion 19 and a rack tooth 2.
The fence 17 has a structure in which the fence 17 moves by the same amount in the directions toward and away from each other by meshing with the fence 17, and the position of the fence 17 can be adjusted according to the size of the sheets loaded on the paper feed tray 10.

Next, an embodiment of the invention according to claim 2 will be described based on FIGS. 5 and 6. Incidentally, the same parts as those explained in FIGS. 1 to 4 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. A pair of fences 28 provided opposite to each other at the corners of the paper feed tray 10 have a double structure of an outer fence 29 formed of a thick plate and an inner fence 30 formed of a thin plate. The outer fence 29 has upper and lower sides.
A pair of elongated holes 31 and 32 are formed in the vertical direction,
Bins 33 and 34 fixed to the inner fence 30 are slidably fitted into these elongated holes 31 and 32.

A spring 36 is stretched between the lower bin 34 and a protrusion 35 fixed to the outer fence 29 to bias the inner fence 30 upward. These elongated holes 31 and 32, the bins 33 and 34, and the spring 36 constitute a lifting mechanism 37 that lifts and lowers the inner fence 30 integrally with the paper feed tray 10 within a set range. Note that a bottom portion 38 is formed at the lower end of the inner fence 30, with which the lower surface of the corner of the paper feed tray 10 comes into contact.

In such a configuration, when the paper feed tray 10 is lowered to the home position and then moved to the outside of the housing 2 to replenish paper, the fence 28 is moved integrally with the paper feed tray 10 into the housing. Move it outside the body 2 and insert it into the paper tray 1.
Since it is located opposite to the corner portion of the paper feed tray 10, by bringing the edges of the paper into contact with the fence 17 when stacking the paper, the edges of the paper stacked on the paper feed tray 10 can be aligned.

Furthermore, when the paper feed tray 10 loaded with paper is returned to the housing 2, the fence 17 also moves integrally to hold the loaded paper. The fence 28 prevents sheets from collapsing.

Furthermore, as the paper feed tray 10 rises, the inner fence 3
0 rises integrally, and the upper edge of the inner fence 30 is maintained in a state in alignment with the upper edge surface of the stacked sheets. Therefore, the inner fence 30 prevents the sheets from collapsing when the paper feed tray 10 is raised. Note that the maximum raised position of the inner fence 30 is that the bins 33 and 34 are in the elongated hole 31,
This position is in contact with the upper edge of the inner fence 32, and is restricted to a range where the upper edge of the inner fence 30 does not become above the upper edge surface of the sheets even when the stacked sheets are fed and reduced.

Furthermore, although the inner fence 30 is formed of a thin plate, the load that acts on the inner fence 30 when the paper feed tray 10 moves up and down is smaller than the load that acts on the fence 28 when paper is loaded, so a thin plate member is sufficient. Strength is ensured.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a fence that faces the corner of the paper feed tray and is slidable in the same direction as the horizontal sliding direction of the paper feed tray, so that the paper feed tray is lowered to the home position. By providing a connection mechanism that connects the paper feed tray and the fence at the position and releases the connection state when the paper feed tray is raised from the home position, the paper feed tray can be moved horizontally after being lowered to the home position. When you slide the paper into the paper feed tray, you can slide the fence as well and move it out of the housing. Therefore, when loading paper into the paper feed tray, the edge of the paper can be brought into contact with the fence. The edges of the paper can be aligned, and the fence can also prevent the stack of paper from collapsing when the paper feed tray is returned to the housing, thus preventing the occurrence of transport defects such as registration misalignment and skew. In addition, the fence has a double structure of an outer fence and an inner fence, and the inner fence is raised and lowered integrally with the paper feed tray within a set range using a lifting mechanism, so that the It is possible to prevent stacking of sheets from collapsing with the inner fence, and it is possible to more reliably prevent the occurrence of conveyance defects such as registration shift and skew.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the invention as claimed in claim 1, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the paper feed tray and the fence, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the paper feed tray and the fence. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the mechanism for raising and lowering the paper feed tray, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the mechanism for horizontally sliding the paper feed tray, and FIG. 5 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of a fence in an embodiment of the invention as claimed in claim 2, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a lifting mechanism for a paper feed tray in a conventional example. 2... Housing, 10... Paper feed tray, 17... Fence, 26... Connection mechanism, 28... Fence, 29
...Outer fence, 30...Inner fence, 37.
... Lifting mechanism Applicant: Ricoh Co., Ltd. 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a mass paper feed device having a paper feed tray that can be raised and lowered within a housing and that is movable outside the housing by sliding horizontally from a lowered position to a home position, A fence facing a corner portion and slidable in the same direction as the sliding direction of the paper feed tray is provided in the housing, and the paper feed tray and the fence are connected at a position where the paper feed tray is lowered to a home position. The large-volume paper feeding device is further provided with a coupling mechanism that releases the coupling state between the paper feeding tray and the fence at a position where the paper feeding tray is raised from a home position. 2. In a mass paper feed device having a paper feed tray that can be raised and lowered within a housing and that is movable horizontally from a lowered position to a home position and moved out of the housing, A double-structured fence consisting of an outer fence and an inner fence that is slidable in the same direction as the sliding direction of the paper feed tray is provided in the housing, and the paper feed tray is closed at the position where the paper feed tray is lowered to the home position. and the fence, and a coupling mechanism that connects the paper feed tray and the fence and releases the coupling state between the paper feed tray and the fence at a position where the paper feed tray is raised from a home position, and the inner fence is integrated with the paper feed tray. A large-volume paper feeding device characterized by being provided with an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the paper within a set range.