JPH03192032A - Sheet material feeder and its sheet material cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a sheet material supply device used in, for example, copying machines, laser beam printers, etc., and a paper cassette most suitable for this device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, there are many known sheet material supply devices of this type that are capable of supplying transfer paper as sheet materials of different types. In such conventional devices, one type of transfer paper cut to a predetermined size is loaded into one cassette serving as a paper stock section.
In order to supply many types of transfer paper, a plurality of cassettes of each type have to be set in the main body of the apparatus.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such conventional technology, in order to supply two or more types of transfer paper as described above, two or more types of cassettes must be simultaneously installed in the supply device. Since the device is required to be installed in two or more layers, or installed side by side, there are problems such as the overall height of the device increases, and the width and depth of the device increases.

In addition, several types of cassettes must be prepared at all times, and storage space for cassettes other than those attached to the main body is required, making management complicated.

Furthermore, in addition to the above-mentioned drawbacks, there are other problems such as the provision of a plurality of cassette insertion slots in the main body of the apparatus and the production of a plurality of cassettes, which increases the cost.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a plurality of sheet material feeding means in parallel in the front and back in the feeding direction, so that the sheet material can be stocked. To provide a sheet material feeding device that can supply different types of transfer paper from one cassette as a part, and which aims to downsize the device body, reduce costs, and reduce the number of sheet material cassettes used, and the device of the present invention. Our goal is to provide optimal sheet material cassettes.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sheet material supply device that includes a plurality of types of sheet material stock sections and is capable of supplying different types of sheet materials. The present invention is characterized in that feeding means for feeding out the sheet materials stacked on the sheet material stock section are arranged in parallel in the feeding direction.

Further, the feeding means can be configured as a pair of feeding rollers having rotational driving means.

Further, there is provided a sheet material cassette set in a sheet material supply device capable of supplying different types of sheet materials, the sheet material cassette having two
It has a paper stock section that can load different types of transfer paper,
It is desirable to apply a cassette to the above-mentioned sheet material supply device, in which each of the sheet material stock sections is provided with a movable stand for pressing the stacked sheet materials against the supply means.

(Function) Thus, it becomes possible to stock a plurality of types of sheet materials in one cassette, and it is possible to supply a plurality of types of sheet materials from this one cassette.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on the illustrated example. 1st
The figure shows a case where a sheet material supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a paper supply device of a laser beam printer. In the same figure, 101 is a paper cassette as a sheet material stocking section, and the paper size is A3 and A4.
It is loaded with cut paper. The detailed structure of this cassette will be described later.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 102 denotes a paper feed roller as a feeding means for paper A (A4 size) as a sheet material, and an electromagnetic clutch 1021 connects/disconnects the rotation of a main motor (not shown). Only one sheet of paper A is sent out until the end. 103 is a transport roller, one of which is a freely rotatable roller, and the other is connected/disconnected from rotation of a main motor by an electromagnetic clutch 1031, and feeds the paper A to registration rollers 107.

This registration roller 107 has an electromagnetic clutch 107 on one side.
1, the rotation of the main motor is connected/disconnected, and the paper is fed to a predetermined printing start position.

On the other hand, numeral 104 is a paper feeding roller serving as a feeding means for paper B (A3 size), and its rotation is connected/disconnected by an electromagnetic clutch 1041 to feed paper B to the registration roller 107 mentioned above. Further, reference numerals 105 and 106 are pressure rollers that push up the paper movable table in the cassette 101 to the respective paper feed rollers.

Now, to explain the positional relationship between the paper feed rollers 102 and 104, as shown in FIG. have. Further, in the figure, the height positions of both rollers are approximately the same, but the height positions of both rollers do not need to be the same as long as they are at a position where the paper in the cassette can be fed.

In this embodiment, a paper feeding roller is used as the feeding means, but it is also possible to suck up and feed the paper using other known means such as a vacuum type.

A brief explanation of the other parts shown in Figure 1 is 1.
A developing drum 08 transfers toner (not shown) onto the photosensitive drum 120. A roller 109 feeds the paper during printing. 110 is the photosensitive drum 12 on paper A-H.
This is a transfer corona for electrostatically transferring toner on 0.

A cleaner blade 111 removes excess toner on the photosensitive drum 120 after transfer. A primary corona 112 performs primary charging on the photosensitive drum 120.

Reference numeral 113 is a mirror for applying laser light to the photosensitive drum. 114 is a polygon mirror for scanning the laser beam line-by-line. 115 is paper A@ which has been transferred.
This is a feeder that feeds B to the fixing device 116. 116 is a fixing device for thermally fixing the sheets A and B after electrostatic transfer.

Reference numeral 117 denotes a paper discharge tray for storing sheets A-B on which printing has been completed. 118 is a controller that controls the entire system. 119 is a connector for interfacing with a host.

Next, a cassette applied to the transfer paper supply device of the present invention will be explained based on FIG. 2 showing an outline of the appearance. In FIG. 2, (a) is a plan view of the cassette.

(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in (a), and (C) is a view seen from direction C in (a). Note that in FIGS. (b) and (C), the pressure rollers 105°, 106.
The position of 1061 is shown by a dotted line.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, paper A is A4 size.

It is shown that paper B has two A3 size stock portions. Half of the paper B is placed on the paper tray 502 and the other half is placed on the bottom of the cassette case 507.

Reference numeral 501 denotes a paper tray A on which sheets A are loaded, and 502 is a paper tray B on which sheets B are loaded, one of which is movable in the vertical direction. (b) As shown in the figure, the paper tray A is divided into halves in the vertical direction of the cassette case, and the pressing rollers 106/1081 push the legs on both sides of the paper tray 501 through the windows on both sides of the bottom of the cassette. It is supposed to be raised. Paper table B is placed on the bottom half of the cassette case and is pushed up by a pressing roller 105.

Note that 503150415051506 are paper A
This is a separation piece for taking out only one sheet of ΦB when feeding.

Next, based on the block diagram shown in FIG. 3, an outline of the supply control of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

In the figure, 201 is a CPU with a built-in program;
202 is a video I/F that interfaces image signals and control signals with the host.

Reference numeral 203 denotes an I/O controller that performs the aforementioned electromagnetic clutch control and input from a sensor that detects the presence or absence of sheets A to H in the cassette.

A DC controller 204 controls the main motor 205, the high voltage unit Φ laser unit, the scanner unit 206, and the like. A main motor 205 drives the entire printer.

206 is a high-pressure unit that controls each transfer corona, each drum's bias, etc., a laser unit that converts a print signal into a laser beam, a system that controls a polygon motor,
It has a Yana unit, etc. 207 is video i/
208 is a main bus under the control of the CPU 201;

With the control system described above, the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can smoothly supply transfer paper.

In a laser beam printer to which the transfer material supply device having the above-mentioned configuration is applied, the following operations are performed to ensure a smooth supply of paper. This will be explained according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Note that FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an overview of the overall control, and FIG. 5 is a control flowchart for sheet feeding and registration operations.

First, to explain based on FIG. 4, the video I/F 202
When it receives a paper size instruction and a paper feeding command through the I/F with the host, it performs paper feeding and registration operations, and sends the paper to the printing start position to complete the printing preparation. In response to a print command and a video signal, a printing operation is performed under the control of the DC controller 204. After printing is completed, the paper is fixed and ejected, and the process ends.

Next, a description will be given based on FIG. 715. As mentioned above, the host specifies paper size A3 or A4.

In the case of A3, the presence or absence of paper B is checked, and if there is no paper, the host is notified that there is no paper, and the process ends. If paper B is present, the paper feed electromagnetic clutch 1041 is activated for a certain period of time, the paper feed roller is rotated once, and paper B is moved to the registration roller. 107, then turn on the resist electromagnetic clutch 1071 for a certain period of time, rotate the resist roller 107, and feed paper B to the printing start position.
Also, in the case of A4, check to see if there is paper A, and if there is no paper, notify the host from video 1 i/f that there is no paper and end the process.
If there is, turn on the paper feed electromagnetic clutch 1021 for one moment, turn the paper feed roller 102 once, and transfer paper A to the conveyance roller 103.
The conveyance electromagnetic clutch 1031 is held at O for a certain period of time.
The NL transport roller 103 is rotated and paper A collides with the registration roller.Next, the registration electromagnetic clutch 1071 is turned on for a certain period of time, the registration roller is rotated, and paper A is sent to the printing start position.Printing/fixing and paper ejection are then performed. finish.

In the above embodiments, a case has been described in which the transfer material supply device according to the present invention is applied to a laser beam printer, but the present invention can be similarly applied to any device in which transfer materials are loaded and fed into a cassette.

For example, it can be applied to inkjet type, thermal type printers and copiers, as well as cassette paper-fed facsimile machines.

Regarding the cassette, in the above embodiment, the case of A4/A3 was explained, but other two types of combinations include A3/A4R, A4/A4R, B4/2 B5, B5/B5R, Letter/Legal, etc. Conceivable. Also, different combinations of A4/A40MP as transfer materials
etc. are also possible.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where two types of transfer paper (sheets) are supplied has been described, but it is also possible to supply three types. In this case, the third feeding means may be further arranged in parallel in the feeding direction, and the cassettes may also be configured in three stages as in the case shown in FIG.

Note that it is also possible to attach a mark indicating the mounting paper to the cassette so that it can be detected by the main body.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention has the above configuration and operation, and has two or more paper feeding paths by arranging a plurality of sheet material feeding means in parallel in the feeding direction, and also has two or more sheet material feeding paths. By being able to supply different types of sheet materials from one cassette serving as a material stock section, it is possible to downsize the apparatus body, reduce costs, and reduce the number of sheet material cassettes used.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a case where a sheet material supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a laser beam printer, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a cassette suitable for the present invention, where (a) is a plan view. Figure, (b) is a bb cross-sectional view in figure (a), (c
) is a view seen from direction C in figure (a), Figure 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the supply control of the embodiment apparatus, Figure 84 is a flowchart showing an outline of overall control, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing paper feeding and registration. It is a control flowchart of operation|movement. Explanation of symbols 101...Stock section (paper cassette) 102.10
4... Feeding means (feeding roller) 501, 502...
Movable stand A, B...transfer paper (sheet material)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a sheet material supply device that is equipped with multiple types of sheet material stock sections and is capable of supplying different types of sheet materials, the feeding means for feeding out the sheet materials loaded on the paper stock section is configured to A sheet material supply device characterized in that the sheet material supply device is arranged in parallel in the front and back directions. (2) The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding means is a pair of feeding rollers having rotational driving means. (3) A sheet material cassette that is set in a sheet material supply device capable of supplying different types of sheet materials, the sheet material cassette having a sheet material stock portion capable of loading two types of sheet materials, and having a sheet material stock section capable of loading two types of sheet materials, A sheet material cassette characterized in that each of the sections is provided with a movable stand for pressing the loaded sheet material against a supply means.