JPH0427140B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, and particularly to an improvement in a cut sheet feeding system.

[Background of the invention]

As described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-41361, the paper feeding system of a recording device using an electrophotographic printing process involves inserting a paper feeding cassette containing recording paper (cut sheet) into the main body of the device. It is configured to extract the recording paper from the leading end in the insertion direction and send it to the printing process mechanism. In a recording device that employs such a paper feeding system, if the main body of the device is made smaller, the paper feeding cassette cannot be housed in its entirety within the main body due to the relationship between the recording paper extraction position and the printing process position. The rear end of the paper cassette protrudes outside the main body of the apparatus. Therefore, even if the main body of the device is made smaller,
The drawback was that the effect of reducing the occupied floor space was small.

In response, a small-sized recording apparatus has been proposed in which the entire paper feed cassette is inserted into the apparatus main body, and the recording paper is extracted from the rear end in the insertion direction and sent to the printing process mechanism. However, in this recording device, there is a paper separation mechanism following the paper extraction mechanism, and if the paper feed cassette is removed while the paper separation mechanism is in the paper separation mechanism, the paper will be removed. There is a problem that the paper may be left behind in the separation mechanism or the paper feed cassette storage chamber.

This phenomenon will be specifically explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal side view of this recording device. In the center of the apparatus main body 1, there are a photosensitive drum 2, a charger 3 arranged around the photosensitive drum 2, an exposure device 4, a developer 5,
There is an electrophotographic printing process mechanism equipped with a cleaning device 6. The main body 1 of the apparatus is constructed such that the left side in FIG. 5 serves as an operating side, and a paper feed cassette 7 for cut sheets is removably inserted from this operating side along the bottom surface of the main body. This paper feed cassette 7 is inserted so that all of it is accommodated in the main body, and the recording paper 8 accommodated in this paper feed cassette 7 is extracted by a paper feed roller 9 from the rear end in the insertion direction of the cassette. The sheet is then reversed by the paper guides 10 and 11, and comes into contact with the registration rollers 12 and stopped. The registration rollers 12 are used to align the timing of the printing process and paper feeding, and the recording paper 8 conveyed by the rotation of the registration rollers 12
When the photosensitive drum 2 comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 2, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 2 is transferred by the action of a transfer electric field by the transfer device 13. The recording paper 8 to which the toner image has been transferred is
The toner image is heated and fixed as it passes through the fixing roller 14, is turned over again by paper guides 15 and 16, and is discharged by a discharge roller 17 onto a paper discharge tray 18 on the top surface of the main body.

This recording device has the following features: (a) The entire paper feed cassette 7 is housed in the device main body 1, and the paper ejection tray 18 is located inside the device main body 1.
Because it is located on the top surface of the paper, the floor space occupied by the device is small; (b) Recording paper is ejected using a face-down method with the print side facing downward, so page alignment is done automatically; and (c) Paper feeding Since the operation of attaching and detaching the cassette 7 and the removal of discharged paper can be performed from the same operation side, it has advantages such as good operability.

However, in this recording apparatus, as described above, there are cases where the recording paper is left behind inside the main body when the paper feed cassette 7 is taken out, and this phenomenon will be explained below.

Figures 6 to 9 are detailed views of the paper feed section, and the main body 1
Side plates 1b are attached to both sides of the base 1a. The paper feed roller 9 is fixed to a shaft 20, rotatably supported between the side plates 1b, and rotationally controlled by a drive mechanism (not shown). paper guide 10,
11 is attached to a guide base 21, and since this guide base 21 is rotatably attached to the side plate 1b by a shaft 22, in a free state, it is rotated clockwise by a spring 24 until it comes into contact with a stopper 23. (See Figure 7). A separation base 26 is attached to the guide base 21 by a screw 25.
is attached, and when the paper feed cassette 7 is inserted, the operating roller 27, which is pushed by the pressing rib 7a of the paper feed cassette 7 and rotates the separation base 26 and the guide base 21 counterclockwise, is moved by the pin 28. , is rotatably attached to the tip of the separation base 26. A separation belt 29 is further stretched on the separation base 26 with tension applied by a spring 30, and the separation belt 29 is in a state where the paper feed cassette 7 is inserted into the main body of the apparatus and positioned by the stopper 1c. At this time, it comes into contact with the paper feed roller 9 and constitutes a paper separation mechanism.

An upward force is applied to the rear end of the cassette base 7b on which the recording paper 8 is placed in the paper feed cassette 7 by a spring 7c.
When the recording paper 8 is inserted into the main body of the apparatus, the cassette base 7b is pushed up to press the rear end of the recording paper 8 against the paper feed roller 9. Guide rollers 7d are provided on both sides of the cassette base 7b, and when the paper feed cassette 7 is pulled out, the guide rollers 7d come into contact with roller guides 31 provided on the side plate 1b and push down the cassette base 7b.
It is latched by a latch mechanism (not shown). Note that this latch is released when the paper feed cassette is inserted.

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, when the paper feed roller 9 rotates with the paper feed cassette 7 inserted into the apparatus main body 1, the recording paper 8 is extracted and separated from the paper feed roller 9. It is sent between the belts 29. When two sheets of recording paper 8 are extracted, one of them is separated between them and sent to an electrophotographic printing process mechanism through paper guides 10 and 11.

As the paper feed cassette 7 is pulled out as shown in FIG. 7, the cassette base 7b is pushed down and the guide base 21 is further rotated clockwise, thereby removing the paper guides 10, 11 and the separation base 26. , separation belt 31 and actuating roller 27
is retracted outside the attachment/detachment path of the paper feed cassette 7.

By the way, two sheets of recording paper 8 are extracted during paper feeding immediately before taking out the paper feed cassette 7, and one of them is attached to the paper feed roller 9 and separation belt 2, as shown in FIG.
When paper cassette 7 is pulled out, as shown in FIG. I can't go back. Therefore, even after the paper feed cassette 7 is removed, the recording paper 8 remains in the paper separation mechanism in the main body 1 of the apparatus or in the paper feed cassette storage chamber.

On the other hand, in order to return the recording paper protruding from the paper cassette to the paper cassette when the paper cassette is taken out from the main body of the apparatus, the paper feeding device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-92839 is designed to A configuration is proposed in which a protruding release lever is provided and the protruding recording paper is returned to the paper feed cassette by manually operating the release lever.

However, this configuration requires a lever operation before taking out the paper feed cassette, which poses a problem in that the handling becomes difficult.

[Purpose of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to
To prevent recording paper from remaining in a paper separation mechanism or a paper cassette storage chamber when the paper cassette is taken out from an apparatus main body by a single operation of pulling out the paper cassette.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention has a paper feed cassette for cut sheets that can be inserted into and taken out from an apparatus main body, and a paper feed roller that extracts recording paper from the rear end of the paper feed cassette in the insertion direction. comprising a recording paper extracting mechanism and a separation member facing the paper feed roller,
In a recording apparatus equipped with a paper separation mechanism that sends one sheet of extracted recording paper to a printing process mechanism, the first separation base 35 is supported by the paper separation mechanism so as to be movable forward and backward.
a second separation base 37 having the separation member 41 and swingably attached to the first separation base; and a pressing rib of the paper feed cassette 7 provided on the second separation base. actuating rollers 46 and 47 that are brought into contact with the rollers 7a and swing the second separation base and move the first separation base forward and backward in response to the insertion and removal movements of the paper feed cassette; Rotatably installed on a separate base,
return claws 38 and 39 that push back the recording paper 8 remaining between the paper feed roller and the separation member into the paper feed cassette by rotating in conjunction with the swinging of the first separation base by the operating roller; The recording paper remaining in the paper separation mechanism when the paper feed cassette is taken out is pushed back into the paper feed cassette by a return pawl that rotates in conjunction with the movement of the paper feed cassette.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal side view of the paper separation mechanism and return mechanism;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view thereof.

A second separation base 37 is swingably attached to the inside of the first separation base 35 by a mounting pin 36, and a second separation base 37 is mounted above the first separation base 35 in a counterclockwise direction. A stopper 35a is provided for restricting the rotation. Return claw 3
8 and 39 are rotatably provided on both outer sides of the distal end portion of the first separation base 35 by means of pins 40. As shown in FIG. One end of the separation belt 41 is brought into contact with a bent portion 37a formed at the tip of the second separation base 37, and fixed by a fixing stud 42. The other end of this separation belt 41 is connected to the second separation base 3
The belt roller 43 is wound around the notch 37b formed in the hole 37b, and the locking hole 37c,
Tension is applied by a tension spring 44 stretched between 41a. A pin 45 provided at the tip of the second separation base 37 passes through elongated holes 38a and 39a formed in the return claws 38 and 39, and holds actuating rollers 46 and 47 on the outside thereof. A return spring 48 is wound around the pin 40 and has one end attached to the pin 36.
, and the other end engages with the pin 45, whereby a clockwise rotational force is applied to the second separation base 37 around the pin 36. Note that 49 to 55 are E rings.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the first separation base 35 is attached to the guide base 21 with screws 25. The spring force of the return spring 48 is set stronger than the spring force of the return spring 24, and the rotation angle of the guide base 21 in the counterclockwise direction is limited in order to control the posture of the separation belt 41 and the return claws 38, 39 during paper feeding. A stopper 56 is provided. In addition, illustration of the paper guides 10 and 11 is omitted in FIG.

In the above configuration, when feeding paper, the pressing rib 7a of the paper feed cassette 7 pushes the operating rollers 46, 47, so that the guide base 21 and the first separation base 35 are rotated counterclockwise until they come into contact with the stopper 56. Furthermore, the second separation base 37 is also rotated counterclockwise until it comes into contact with the stopper 35a. Therefore, the separation belt 41 is brought into contact with the paper feed roller 9, and the return claws 38 and 39 are rotated counterclockwise about the pin 40 to be in the state shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Therefore, the recording paper 8 extracted by the paper feed roller 9 passes between the paper feed roller 9 and the separation belt 41, and even if two sheets are extracted, they are separated into one sheet and sent to the electrophotographic printing process.

As shown in FIG. 4, the paper feed roller 9
When removing the paper feed cassette 7 while the recording paper 8 remains sandwiched between the paper feed cassette 7 and the separation belt 41, if the paper feed cassette 7 is pulled out as shown in FIG.
In order for the pressing rib 7a to retreat, the second separation base 37 is first rotated clockwise by the return spring 48. Therefore, the return claws 38 and 39 are pushed by the pin 45 passing through the elongated holes 38a and 39a, rotate clockwise about the pin 40, and push the recording paper 8 back into the paper feed cassette 7. Thereafter, when the paper feed cassette 7 is further pulled out, the first separation base 35 rotates clockwise and retreats, so that the recording paper 8 is no longer caught on the separation belt 41 and left behind.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention, when the paper cassette is removed, the recording paper remaining in the paper separation mechanism is pushed back into the paper cassette by a return claw that rotates in conjunction with the movement of the paper cassette. With just one operation, it is possible to prevent recording paper from remaining in the paper separation mechanism or the paper feed cassette storage chamber.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being an explanatory diagram of the operation of the return mechanism, Figure 2 being a vertical side view of the paper feed section, and Figure 3 being an exploded perspective view thereof. , FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the paper separation mechanism, FIG. 5 is a side view of the recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the paper feeding section thereof, and FIGS. 7 to 9. is an explanatory diagram of its operation. 1... Apparatus main body, 7... Paper feed cassette, 8... Recording paper, 9... Paper feed roller, 38, 39... Return claw, 41
...separation belt.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording paper extractor having a paper feed cassette for cut sheets that can be inserted into and taken out from the apparatus main body, and a paper feed roller that extracts the recording paper from the rear end of the paper feed cassette in the insertion direction. and a paper separation mechanism that has a separation member that contacts the paper feed roller and sends one of the extracted recording sheets to the printing process mechanism, wherein the paper separation mechanism moves forward and backward. first isolation base 35 supported
a second separation base 37 having the separation member 41 and swingably attached to the first separation base; and a pressing rib of the paper feed cassette 7 provided on the second separation base. actuating rollers 46 and 47 that are brought into contact with the rollers 7a and swing the second separation base and move the first separation base forward and backward in response to the insertion and removal movements of the paper feed cassette; Rotatably installed on a separate base,
return claws 38 and 39 that push back the recording paper 8 remaining between the paper feed roller and the separation member into the paper feed cassette by rotating in conjunction with the swinging of the first separation base by the operating roller; A recording device comprising: