JPH0647971A - Automatic feeding device and recording device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To improve the usability when the sheet material P is placed on the pressure plate 21, and to prevent the double feeding of the sheet material P and the occurrence of sheet feeding failure such as jam. [Structure] Separation claw 1 is provided with switching means 33 which takes two positions, a plain paper position for feeding a sheet material P such as plain paper and a thick paper position for feeding a thick sheet material P such as an envelope.
The operating position of 7 is switched. When the plain paper position is set, the separation claw 17 comes into contact with the tip corner portion of the sheet material P,
When the cardboard position is set, the separating claw 17 urges the pressure plate 21 at the side edge of the sheet material P at the time of feeding.
Further, when the paper is not fed in the cardboard position, the separation claw is greatly separated from and in contact with the sheet material P so that the separation claw 17 does not get in the way when the sheet material P is placed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention sequentially feeds sheet materials,
The present invention relates to an automatic feeding device for feeding, and is particularly suitable for use in an automatic feeding device equipped with a recording device and capable of manually feeding paper,
More specifically, the present invention relates to switching means for switching the operating position of the separating means for preventing the double feeding of the sheet material during feeding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus provided with an automatic feeding device such as a printer, a copying machine, a fax machine or the like drives a recording head based on image information so that dots are formed on a sheet material such as paper or a plastic thin plate. It is configured to form an image. Then, the recording device has an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type,
An electrophotographic type is known. In addition to plain paper, there are special paper materials such as postcards, envelopes, and other thick papers, and plastic thin plates, etc. as the sheet material used in the recording apparatus. A method of manually feeding sheets one by one or automatically and continuously by an automatic sheet feeder is known. When the sheet material is automatically and continuously fed one by one by this automatic feeding device, a claw separation method using a separation claw (separation means) for pressing the tip corner portion of the sheet material is widely used. There is. Note that the claw separation method uses the resistance of the separation claws to generate undulations in the sheet material at the tip corners of the sheet material, and
It is a method of separating the sheets one by one, and a high reliability is obtained with a relatively simple structure.

Further, when a thick sheet material such as an envelope or a postcard is used, it is difficult to separate the claws. Therefore, the separation claw is operated so as to be separated from the sheet material, and the separation is performed by the frictional force between the sheet material and the stacking means. Is being done. When stacking the sheet material, the stacking means is pushed down to increase the distance between the separating claw and the sheet material stacking surface of the stacking means, so that the separating claw does not interfere with the stacking. And
After stacking the sheet materials, the stacking means is returned to its original state, whereby the separation claws press down the corners of the leading edges of the sheet materials.

Further, when an image is formed on the sheet material by the recording head, if a force is applied to the sheet material, the feeding accuracy of the sheet material is affected, so that the feeding rotating body does not apply force to the sheet material. By performing an operation of separating the stacking unit and the feeding rotating body, the sheet feeding accuracy is secured.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned automatic feeding device has the following problems. (1) When the sheet material is thick such as postcards and envelopes, it takes time and effort to separate the sheet material and the separation claw, which causes inconvenience that the usability is poor. (2) Further, when stacking the sheet material on the stacking means, it is necessary to increase the distance between the sheet material mounting surface of the stacking means and the separation claw, which is troublesome. (3) Further, it is difficult to perform automatic paper feeding and manual paper feeding from one paper feeding opening. Therefore, if a paper feeding opening dedicated to manual paper feeding and a paper feeding opening dedicated to automatic paper feeding are provided. However, this causes a cost increase, and when the external dimensions of the device are regulated, there arises a problem that the size of usable sheet material is restricted. (4) Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the separating claw 17 has the sheet material P.
If it is provided on only one side of the tip corner portion of the sheet material P, the guide surface 20b is supported with the tip corner portion of the side of the sheet material P on which the separation claw 17 is not provided abutting, and the tip corner portion is supported by the sheet. The material P is deformed by its own weight. For this reason, even if the bias of the pressure plate 21 (loading means) that biases the sheet material to the separating claw 17 is released, the sheet material P moves following the pressure plate 21 because the sheet material is deformed. There are cases where it does not exist. In such a case, when the number of placed sheet materials P is small, the separating claw 17 does not properly contact the sheet material P, which causes a problem of double feeding of the sheet material P. Therefore, the amount of contact when the separation claw 17 comes into contact with the sheet material P is increased. In such a case, the sheet material P does not come off from the separation claw 17 or the separation claw at the time of separation. The resistance of 17 has become large, which has been a cause of paper feeding failure or jam.

Therefore, in the present invention, the sheet material P is attached to the pressure plate 21.
It is possible to save the trouble of releasing the urging force when placing it on the sheet, and to eliminate the operation of separating the sheet material P and the separation claw 17 when using the thick sheet material P, to improve the usability, and to perform the automatic sheet feeding and the manual sheet feeding. The difficulty in manually feeding the sheet material P from one possible sheet feeding port is eliminated, and even when the number of the sheet materials P is small, the sheet materials P are deformed and the like, and the sheet materials P are double-fed or jammed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic feeding device that does not cause paper feeding failure.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a stacking means (21) for stacking sheet materials (P) and a stacking means (21) for stacking the sheet material (P). The feeding rotating body (5) that abuts the upper sheet material (P) to feed the sheet material (P), and the feeding rotating body (5) that abuts the sheet material (P). Separation means (17) for preventing double feeding of the sheet material (P) when feeding the sheet material (P), and separating and feeding the sheet material (P) one by one. In the automatic feeding device, the separating means (17) is located on the top corner of the topmost sheet material (P), or is located at a position adjacent to the side edge of the sheet material (P). Switching means (33) for selecting whether to perform
When the thickness of the sheet material (P) is thin, the switching means (33) is switched to bring the separating means (17) into contact with the tip corner portion of the sheet material (P). The material (P) is separated and fed one by one, and the sheet material (P) is used.
When the thickness of the sheet is thick, the switching means (33) is arranged so that the separating means (17) is adjacent to the edge of the sheet material (P) side.
And the sheet material (P) is separated and fed by the frictional force between the sheet material (P) and the stacking means (21).

For example, the switching means (33) biases the separating means (17) toward the stacking means (21), and the rotation and lateral movement of the separating means (17). And a regulating means (31b) for controlling the movement of the separating means (31b), the regulating means (31b) urges the separating means (17) toward the stacking means (21) at the time of paper feeding. When the paper is not used, the regulating means (31b) supports the separating means (17) and controls the movement of the separating means (17) by the urging force of the urging member (32).

Further, the separating means (17) is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the sheet material (P) to be fed.
Rotating part (17b) having a rotating shaft that makes 7) rotatable.
And a contact member (33b) which is provided at the rear end of the separating means (17) and moves the separating means (17).

Further, the rotating portion (17b) is formed of a through hole having a tapered shape in which the hole diameter changes, and one of both end hole portions of the through hole is a circular small hole diameter portion (17c). The other one is an elliptical large hole diameter portion (17d), and the elliptical large hole diameter portion (17d) has a minor diameter equal to the diameter of the small hole diameter portion (17c), and the contact member ( 33b) when a force is applied to the small hole diameter portion (17
The large-diameter portion (17d) swings with respect to the rotation shaft with c) as the swing center, and the separating means (17) is slanted with respect to the rotation shaft.

Further, the stacking means (21) is a stacking means (21) urging member (32) for urging the stacking means (21) toward the feed rotating body (5), and the stacking means. (2
A release member (21c) which is provided at the side edge of 1) and controls the urging force of the loading means (21) urging member (32).
And.

Further, the switching means (33) comes into contact with the releasing member (21c) to release the urging force of the urging member (32) of the stacking means (21), thereby releasing the contact releasing member (21c).
And the switching means (33) includes the separating means (1).
7) is located on the top corner of the topmost sheet material (P), and the contact release member (21c) is separated from and in contact with the release member (21c) to feed the stacking means (21). When biased in the direction of the rotating body (5), the regulating means (31b) comes into contact with and separates from the contact member (33b) of the separating means (17), thereby separating the separating means (1).
7) is positioned perpendicular to the rotating shaft, and the separating means (17) is rotatable about the rotating shaft to activate the urging force of the urging means. 17) is brought into contact with the end side corner portion of the uppermost sheet material (P).

Further, the switching means (33) comes into contact with the releasing member (21c) to release the urging force of the urging member (32) of the stacking means (21) so as to release the contact releasing member (21c).
And the switching means (33) includes the separating means (1).
7) is located on the top corner of the topmost sheet material (P), and the contact release member (21c) is separated from and in contact with the release member (21c) to feed the stacking means (21). When biased in the direction of the rotating body (5), the regulating means (31b) comes into contact with the abutting member (33b) of the separating means (17), thereby separating the separating means (1).
7) is slanted with respect to the rotation axis, and the separating means (1
7) increases the area facing the sheet material (P) and suppresses the urging force of the urging means to separate the separating means (1).
7) is brought into contact with and separated from the sheet material (P).

Further, the switching means (33) comes into contact with the releasing member (21c) to release the urging force of the urging member (32) of the stacking means (21), thereby releasing the contact releasing member (21c).
And the switching means (33) includes the separating means (1).
7) is located at the side edge of the sheet material (P), and
The contact release member (21c) is the release member (21c).
When the loading means (21) is urged toward and away from the feeding rotating body (5) by contacting and separating with the regulating means (31).
b) is the contact member (33b) of the separating member
The separating means (17) is positioned perpendicularly to the rotation axis by contacting and separating with the separating means (17).
Is made rotatable with respect to the rotating shaft, and the urging force of the urging means is activated to urge the separating means (17) toward the loading means (21).

A first locking member for restricting the movement of the separating means (17) in the width direction of the sheet material (P) when the separating means (17) contacts the stacking means (21). The stacking means (21) has.

Further, a movement restricting plate is provided on the separating means (17) so that the separating means (17) will not be twisted.

[0017]

Based on the above structure, the separating means (17) is located on the top corner of the uppermost sheet material (P) or is located at a position adjacent to the side edge of the sheet material (P). A switching means (33) for selecting whether to move the separating means (17) above the top corner of the sheet material (P) at the uppermost position, and the switching means (33). When the contact release member (21c) separates from and comes into contact with the release member (21c) and urges the stacking means (21) toward the feeding rotating body (5), the regulating means (31b) causes By separating and contacting with the contact member (33b) of the separating means (17), the separating means (17) is positioned perpendicular to the rotation axis and the separating means (17) is rotated. By activating the urging force of the urging means by making it rotatable about the axis, It is brought into contact with separating means (17) to the tip end angle portions of the sheet material of the uppermost (P).

Further, the switching means (33) comes into contact with the releasing member (21c) to release the urging force of the urging member (32) of the stacking means (21), thereby releasing the contact releasing member (21c).
And the switching means (33) includes the separating means (1).
7) is located on the top corner of the topmost sheet material (P), and the contact release member (21c) is separated from and in contact with the release member (21c) to feed the stacking means (21). When biased in the direction of the rotating body (5), the regulating means (31b) comes into contact with the abutting member (33b) of the separating means (17), thereby separating the separating means (1).
7) is slanted with respect to the rotation axis, and the separating means (1
7) increases the area facing the sheet material (P) and suppresses the urging force of the urging means to separate the separating means (1).
7) is brought into contact with or separated from the sheet material (P).

Further, the switching means (33) comes into contact with the release member (21c) to release the urging force of the urging member (32) of the stacking means (21).
c), the switching means (33) positions the separating means (17) at the side edge of the sheet material (P), and the contact release member (21c) is the release member. (21
When the stacking means (21) is urged toward the feeding rotating body (5) by separating from and contacting the c), the regulating means (31)
b) is the contact member (33b) of the separating member
The separating means (17) is positioned perpendicularly to the rotation axis by contacting and separating with the separating means (17).
Is made rotatable with respect to the rotating shaft, and the urging force of the urging means is activated to urge the separating means (17) toward the stacking means (21).

The above-mentioned reference numerals in parentheses are for the purpose of contrasting with the drawings, but do not limit the structure of the present invention.

[0021]

【Example】

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The recording apparatus 1 having an automatic paper feeding function includes a paper feeding unit 11, a paper feeding unit 12, a paper ejection unit 13, a carriage unit 15, and a cleaning unit 16. Therefore, these will be described in order by dividing them into items. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the recording apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the configuration.

(A) Paper Feeding Section A front view of the paper feeding section 11 is shown in FIG. 3, and its side views are shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. The sheet feeding unit 11 includes a pressure plate 21 (stacking unit) on which the sheet material P is placed and a feeding rotating body 5 that feeds the sheet material P.
And have. A movable side guide 19 is movably provided on the pressure plate 12 to regulate a mounting position of the sheet material P. The base 2 is provided on the back side of the pressure plate 12.
0 is provided, and the base 20 is provided with an operation lever 33 (switching means) having a release cam 31 (contact release member) and a release cam 35, as shown in FIGS. . Further, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
In the downward direction (for example, downward in FIG. 5), the tip portion 23
Separation claw 17 having is provided. The separating claw 17 is provided with a rotating portion 17b having a rotating shaft so that the separating claw 17 can be rotated, and the claw spring 32 (biasing member) serves as the rotating portion 17b and the tip of the separating claw 17. It is provided between the pressure plate 21 and the pressure plate 21. Further, pressure plate shafts 21b are provided on both upper ends of the pressure plate 21,
The pressure plate 21 is connected to the base 20 by the pressure plate shaft 21b and is rotatable about the pressure plate shaft 21b.
The pressure plate 21 is urged toward the feeding rotating body 5 by a pressure plate spring 72 (loading means urging member). further,
A separating pad 73 made of a material having a large friction coefficient, such as an artificial leather, is provided at a portion of the pressure plate 21 facing the feeding rotating body 5 to prevent double feeding of the sheet materials P when the number of the sheet materials P is small. It is provided.

Both ends of the feeding rotary member 5 are held by the base 20 so that the feeding rotary member 5 can rotate and the driving force of the conveying roller 36 is transmitted by the driving gears 25 to 30. The feeding rotating body 5 is an integrally molded product made of plastic or the like, which includes the shaft portion 5b and the roller portion 5c, and the feeding surface for feeding and conveying the sheet material P is provided on the peripheral surface of the roller portion 5c. A rotating rubber 67 is provided. Further, the roller portion 5c is formed in a D shape (or a half-moon shape), and the outside of each of the roller portions 5c is 0.5 from the radius of the feeding rotary body rubber 67 attached to the feeding rotary body 5. ~
A roller roller (not shown) having a radius smaller than 3 mm is provided. By the roller roller, the sheet material P touches the roller rubber 67 of the feeding rotating body 5 except when the sheet is being fed, so that the image is prevented from being stained and the sheet material P is not displaced. Further, two roller portions 5c are provided, and the paper reference PKO
They are fixed at positions of about 40 mm and about 170 mm, respectively. As a result, when the sheet material P is A4 size, 2
The sheet material P is conveyed by one roller portion 5c, and when the sheet material P has a small size such as a postcard, it is conveyed by one roller on the paper reference PKO side. The feeding rotating body 5 is provided with a sensor plate 69 having a radius smaller than the diameter of the feeding rotating body rubber 67 attached to the feeding rotating body 5. The sensor plate 69 is provided with a partial cutout, and the pressure plate 21 is released so as to release the contact between the feeding rotating body 5 and the release cam 31 and the feeding rotating body 5 and the sheet material P (see FIG. 2), that is, only when in the standby state, the roller sensor 72 formed of a photo interrupter provided on the electric substrate 70 can receive light. Therefore, by detecting the state of the sensor plate 69, it is possible to detect the angular position of the feeding rotating body 5 and the angular position of the release cam 31 that is interlocked with the feeding rotating body 5 in the same phase, and to detect the sheet material. It is possible to control the timing of control in the P sheet feeding sequence. Further, the paper feeding unit 11 having the above-described configuration is attached to the main body of the recording apparatus 1 at an angle of 30 ° to 60 °.

In the above structure, the release cam 31 pushes down the push-down portion 21c (release member) of the pressure plate 21 in the standby state (see FIG. 5). As a result, the contact between the sheet material P placed on the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 5 is released. Then, in this standby state, when the driving force of the conveying roller 36 is transmitted to the feeding rotating body 5 and the release cam 31 by the gears 25 to 30, the release cam 31 is released.
Is separated from the push-down portion 21c of the pressure plate 21,
6 rises to the position shown in FIG. 6 (raises to the left in FIG. 6), and the separation claw 17 provided at the lower portion of the pressure plate 12 comes into contact with the surface of the sheet material P accordingly. Also,
At the same time, the feeding rotating body 5 and the sheet material P come into contact with each other, and the sheet material P is picked up and fed as the feeding rotating body 5 rotates. Then, the sheet material P is separated one by one by the separation claw 17 and sent to the paper feeding unit 12. Further, the feeding rotating body 5 and the release cam 31 rotate (one rotation) until the sheet material P is fed to the sheet feeding unit 12, and the contact state between the sheet material P and the feeding rotating body 5 is released again, and the standby state is obtained. Then, the driving force from the paper feeding roller 5 is cut off.

Further, as described above, since the pressure plate 21 is provided with the variable side cover 19, the variable side cover 19 regulates the side end portion (left side in FIG. 3) of the sheet material P, and The other end (right side in FIG. 3) is regulated by the paper reference PKO. This makes it possible to regulate the placement position even if the sheet materials P have different sizes.

(B) Paper Feeding Section The paper feeding section 12 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) has a carrying roller 36 for carrying the sheet material P and a PE sensor 42.
A pinch roller 37 having a pinch roller guide 39 that follows the transport roller 36 is provided in contact with the transport roller 36. The pinch roller guide 39 is urged by the pinch roller spring 40 to press the pinch roller 37 against the conveying roller 36, thereby generating a conveying force for the sheet material P. Further, an upper guide 45 and a platen 46 for guiding the sheet material P are arranged at the entrance 7 (see FIG. 2) of the sheet feeding unit 12 to which the sheet material P is conveyed. A PE sensor lever 41 is arranged above the upper guide 45. Further, a recording head 49 that forms an image based on image information is provided behind the conveyance roller 36 (on the left side in FIG. 2).
Is provided.

In the above structure, the sheet material P sent to the paper feeding section 12 is fed to the platen 46 and the pinch roller guide 39.
Also, it is guided by the upper guide 45 and is sent to a roller pair of the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 37. At this time, the PE sensor lever 41 detects the leading edge of the conveyed sheet material P, and thereby obtains the printing position of the sheet material P. The sheet material P is the LF motor 47 (see FIG. 1).
As a result, the roller pair 36, 37 is rotated to be conveyed on the platen 46.

As the recording head 49, an easily replaceable ink jet recording head having an electric exchanger (not shown) integrally formed with the ink tank is used. The recording head 49 is capable of applying heat to the ink by an electric exchanger. The heat causes the ink to cause film boiling, and the pressure change caused by the growth or contraction of bubbles due to the film boiling causes ink to be ejected from the ejection port (not shown) of the recording head 49 to form an image on the sheet material P. It

(C) Carriage Unit The carriage unit 15 (see FIG. 1) has a carriage 50 to which the recording head 49 is attached. The carriage 50 holds a guide shaft 51 for reciprocating scanning in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the sheet material P and a guide 52 for holding a rear end of the carriage 50 to maintain a gap between the recording head 49 and the sheet material P. Supported by. The guide shaft 51 and the guide 52 are attached to the housing 3. Further, the carriage 50 is driven via a timing belt 55 by a carriage motor 53 arranged on the lower side (lower left in FIG. 1) of the housing 3. The timing belt 55 is supported by an idle pulley 56 that stretches the timing belt 55. The carriage 50 also includes a flexible board 57 for transmitting a head drive signal from the electric board 70 to the recording head 49.

In the above structure, when an image is formed on the sheet material P, the roller pairs 36 and 37 convey the sheet material P to the row position for image formation (position in the conveying direction of the sheet material P) and the carriage motor 53 causes the sheet material P to move. The carriage 50 is moved to a column position for image formation (a position perpendicular to the sheet material P conveyance direction), and the recording head 49 is opposed to the image formation position. After that, the recording head 49 discharges ink toward the sheet material P in response to a signal from the electric substrate 70, and an image is formed.

(D) Paper Discharging Section (Mainly Refer to FIG. 2) The paper discharging section 13 is provided with the transmission roller 60 in contact with the conveying roller 36. Further, the transmission roller 60 contacts the paper discharge roller 59, and the paper discharge roller 59 has a spur 61.
Are provided in contact with each other, and the paper discharge roller 59 and the spur 61 form a roller pair. Further, a sheet discharge tray 62 (see FIG. 1) is provided in the sheet discharge direction of the sheet discharge roller 59. The discharge roller 59 has
The driving force of the transport roller 36 is transmitted by the transmission roller 60. Further, the spur 61 is provided with a paper discharge roller 59.
It is possible to follow and rotate.

With the above configuration, the sheet material P on which an image is formed by the carriage portion 15 is sandwiched and conveyed by the nip portion between the paper discharge roller 59 and the spur 61, and is conveyed to the paper discharge tray 6.
It is discharged to 2.

(E) Cleaning Section The cleaning section 16 (see FIG. 16) is a recording head 49.
And a drive switching arm 66 for switching the drive force from the cap 65 for suppressing the drying of the recording head 49 and the conveyance roller 36 to the sheet feeding unit 11 and the pump 63. When the cleaning is not performed, the drive switching arm 66 is at the position shown in FIG. 1, and the planetary gear (not shown) that rotates around the axis of the transport roller 36 is fixed at a predetermined position. Further, when the drive switching arm 66 is moved in the direction of arrow A by moving the carriage 50, the planet gears move in accordance with the forward and reverse rotations of the transport roller 36, and when the transport roller 36 is forwardly rotated, the paper feed is performed. When the driving force is transmitted to the section and the conveying roller 36 is rotating in the reverse direction, the pump 6
The driving force is transmitted to 3.

The above structure will be described in more detail (mainly with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 to 6). It has been described above that when the drive switching arm 66 of the leaning portion 16 is moved by the carriage 50 in the direction of arrow A and the transport roller 36 is rotated in the normal direction, the planet gears move. As a result, the planetary gear meshes with the input gear 25 and is connected to the feeding rotary body 5 via the idler gears 26 and 27.
The driving force is transmitted to the feeding rotating body 5 to rotate. Also,
The driving force of the feeding rotary body gear 28 is transmitted to the release cam 31 via the clutch gear 29 and the idler gear 30. At this time, the feeding rotary member 5 and the release cam 31 are configured so that the phases of each rotation match, and in the standby state as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the half-moon portion (the fan angle is approximately The feeding rotary body 5 having a rotation angle of 120 ° faces the sheet material P without abutting on the sheet material P, and the feeding rotary body 5 is 200 g to 50 g at the time of sheet feeding.
The sheet material P is brought into contact with the contact force of 0 g. In addition, the release cam 31 pushes down the push-down portion 21c to push down the pressure plate 2
Put 1 in the standby state. At this time, the pressure plate cam 76 attached to the base 20 pushes down the cam 21c provided on the pressure plate 21. The cam 21c pushes down the pressure plate cam 7b. Since the pressure plate cam 76 is rotatable about the center 76b, even if the push-down portion 21c is lowered,
The pressure plate 21 does not tilt with respect to the base 20 and is always maintained in a substantially parallel state.

A clutch spring 77 is provided inside the clutch gear 29 (see FIG. 3), and the direction of arrow B (see FIG. 5) corresponds to the direction in which the clutch spring 77 is tightened. The clutch spring 77 does not rotate in the reverse direction. As a result, when performing registration or the like, the feeding rotating body 5 abuts on the sheet material P and does not rotate, so that good registration can be performed.

Further, as described above, the separating claw 17 has the rotating portion 1
It is possible to rotate around 7b, and it is possible to urge the sheet material P or the pressure plate 21 with a force of 20 g to 100 g by the claw spring 32. The separating claw 17 separates the sheet material P when the sheet material P such as plain paper is fed, and is provided only on the paper reference PKO side as shown in FIG. The shape is such that the corners are covered with a triangle (see, for example, FIG. 7). The sheet materials P can be separated one by one by receiving resistance in the triangular portion. Further, a pawl slide spring 35 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) is provided on the rotating portion 17b of the separation pawl 17, and the rotating portion 1b is provided.
The separation claw 17 is urged so as to push the separation claw 17 out of the 7b (for example, on the right side in FIG. 8). Further, the release cam 31 is provided with a pawl cam 31b (restricting means) that rotates the separation pawl 17 (for example, in the front-back direction with respect to the paper surface in FIG. 8) except when the pressure plate 21 is in the standby state.

The operation lever 33 has two positions, a plain paper feed position and a thick paper feed position.
It is possible to take one position (see FIG. 4), and each position is arranged at an angular interval of about 20 ° to 50 °. Therefore, the operations of and will be described below.

When the plain paper feed position operation lever 33 is moved to the position of the plain paper feed position (in FIG. 8, the operation lever is pushed toward the back side of the paper to change the state of FIG. 8 to the state of FIG. 7). The cam 33b (contact member) that is interlocked with the operation lever 33 rotates to push the separation claw 17 in the axial direction (direction C in FIG. 7). Thereby, the tip portion 2 of the separation claw 17
3 is brought into contact with the tip corner portion of the sheet material P. Then, in this state, when the pressure plate 21 is pushed down to the standby state, the separation claw 17 is rotated by the claw cam 31b, and the tip end portion 23 of the separation claw 17 moves upward (toward the front side in FIG. 7).
Therefore, the separation claw 17 comes into contact with and separates from the sheet material P.
Thus, in the standby state, the sheet material P may simply be placed on the sheet material stacking means, and the operation of releasing the contact between the separation claw 17 and the sheet material P is not necessary.

In the standby state described above, when the feeding rotary member 5 rotates to start feeding, the driving force is transmitted to the release cam 31 to start the rotation and the contact between the release cam 31 and the pushing-up portion 21 is started. It is released and the standby state is released. As a result, the sheet material P comes into contact with the feeding rotating body 5. At this time, the claw cam 31b that has lifted the separation claw 17 upward also rotates together, so that the separation claw 17 contacts the sheet material P and the sheet materials P can be separated and fed one by one. .

By setting the thick paper feed position operation lever 33 to the position of the thick paper feed position, the cam 33b rotates to separate / separate the separation claw 17 from the sheet material P, and at the same time, the separation claw 17 is moved by the claw slide spring 35. , Is pushed out in the direction of coming out of the shaft (transition from the state of FIG. 7 to the state of FIG. 8). In this position,
Since the separation claw 17 is in a position where the claw cam 31b of the release cam 31 does not work, the separation claw 17 is operated by the claw spring 32.
Is urged against the pressure plate 21 (see FIG. 6). The separation claw 1
A convex portion 21d (first locking member) (see FIGS. 2, 4, and 6) is provided above the portion of the pressure plate 21 with which 7 abuts, and when a thick sheet material P is placed, The separation claw 17 is configured so as not to enter the inside (the width direction of the sheet material P, for example, the back side of the paper surface in FIG. 2). Therefore,
When feeding the thick sheet material P, the separation claw 17 is not biased by the sheet material P and is in contact with the lower guide portion 20b of the base 20. Further, since the separating claw 17 is not used at the time of paper feeding, the separating pad 73 provided below the pressure plate 21.
Using the resistance between the sheet material P and the sheet material P, the sheets are separated and fed one by one.

When manually feeding one sheet at a time,
It is performed at the cardboard feed position. In the state of the thick paper feed position, the sheet material P for manual feeding is as it is.
May be inserted up to the roller pair of the pinch roller 37 and the conveying roller 36. As a result, the sheet material P crosses the PE sensor lever 41, and the PE sensor 42 is turned on.
become. After this, after a predetermined time of 1 to 2 seconds, the operation of aligning the leading end lengths of the sheet materials P is started, and the state of waiting for a print signal is entered.

At the plain paper feed position where plain paper is set, the sheet material P will be caught by the separating claw 17 if the sheet is manually fed as it is. By eliminating the clogging, there is an advantage in use and design such that the manual feed sheet material can be easily fed and there is no need to provide a paper feed port dedicated to the manual feed sheet.

In addition, with respect to the pressure plate 21 in the standby state, the tip of the sheet material P may advance to the lower guide portion 20b. In this state, the operation lever 3
When 3 is switched from the plain paper feed position to the thick paper feed position to urge the separation claw 17 against the pressure plate 21, the corner of the sheet material P is lost by the urging force of the separation claw 17 and deformation occurs. This is particularly remarkable when the number of sheet materials P is small. In such a state, when the amount of the separation claw 17 applied to the sheet material P is an amount (3 to 5 [mm]) assuming a large number of sheet materials, the separation claw 17 comes off the sheet material P. As a result, the separation claw 17 does not function and a feeding failure such as double feeding occurs. In view of this, in the present embodiment, the tip end of the separation claw 17 is made swingable by making the rotating shaft of the separation claw 17 into a tapered shape, and the base 2
0 guide portions 20c and 20d (movement restriction members) (FIG. 9,
(See FIG. 11) is provided so that the amount applied to the sheet material P is 8 to 1
It is designed to be 0 [mm]. This prevents the separation claw 17 from coming off the sheet material P.
This tapered shape is a reference round hole 17c (small hole diameter portion)
And a taper hole connecting the elongated hole 17d (large hole diameter portion) (see FIG. 11). By the elongated hole 17d, the swinging direction is regulated, and it is possible to prevent double feeding or the like at the time of separation.

The gear group (excluding the feeding rotary member shaft 79), the separating pawl 17, the operating lever 31 and the like are the base 20.
It is provided on a shaft installed on the right side plate of and is configured to be rotatable around the shaft center. <Second Embodiment> A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the recording apparatus having the automatic paper feeding function in the first embodiment is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and only different points will be described.

When the operation lever 33 selects the plain paper feed position in the above-described first embodiment, the cam 33b provided on the operation lever 33 pushes the separating pawl 17 in the axial direction while rotating the release cam. 31 moves to a position where the claw cam 31b acts. Then, when the pressure plate 21 is in the standby state, the separation claw 17 moves the claw cam 3
It is configured to be moved upward by 1b.

However, as shown in FIG. 12, the movable range of the separation claw 17 is restricted by the stopper 33c (movable range restricting means) provided on the operation lever 33. Operating lever 33
Is in the plain paper feed position (the state of the operation lever 33 'in FIG. 12), the stopper 33c moves the separation claw 17
The tip portion 2 of the separating claw 17 is separated from the end portion of the
3 moves in the direction of the pressure plate 21 depending on the urging force of the claw spring 32, but at the thick paper feed position (the state of the operating lever 33 ″ in FIG. 12), the stopper 33c causes the separation claw 1 to move.
The position of the end of 7 is regulated, and the tip 23 of the separating claw 17 is largely separated from and in contact with the pressure plate 21 (in FIG. 12, the separating claw in this state is represented by 17 '). As a result, the operation lever 33 and the separation claw 17 are interlocked with each other, and the thick sheet material P
Even when the paper is fed, the separating claw 17 does not get in the way.

Therefore, the second embodiment has an advantage over the first embodiment described above in that the claw cam 31b of the release cam 31, the claw slide spring 35, etc. are not required. <Third Embodiment> A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the recording apparatus having the automatic paper feeding function in the first embodiment is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and only different points will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, when the operation lever selects the thick paper feed position, the separation claw 17
Is urged by the pressure plate 21, and the convex portion 21d is located above the separation claw 17.
Is provided, when a thick sheet material P is placed,
The separation claw 17 is configured not to enter the sheet material P direction.

However, as shown in FIG. 13, when a thick sheet material P is placed by providing recesses 21e (second locking members) at the corners of the pressure plate 21 and letting the separation claws 17 escape there. The separating claw 17 may be configured so as not to enter the direction of the sheet material P. In this case, the sheet material P
There is an advantage that the load capacity can be increased. <Fourth Embodiment> A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the recording apparatus having the automatic paper feeding function in the first embodiment is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and only different points will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, the cam 33b provided on the operating lever 33 moves the separating claw 17 to a position where it does not interact with the claw cam 31b of the release cam 31, but FIGS. As shown, a pawl cam 31c (separation means moving member) movable only in the axial direction of the release cam 31 may be provided, and the pawl cam 31c may be moved to act on the separation pawl 17. The details will be described below.

The pawl cam 31c is movable only in the axial direction of the release cam 31, and is configured to be urged against the inner wall of the operation lever 33 by a spring 31d (moving urging member).
At this time, the cam phases of the release cam 31 and the claw cam 31c are set to predetermined positions, and the separation claw 17 and the pressure plate 2 are arranged.
It is configured so that the release timing and the like of 1 match. 14 and 15 show the state of the thick paper feed position. Since the pawl cam 31c is biased to the outside (right side in FIG. 14) by the spring 31d, the pawl cam 31c does not act on the separating pawl 17. 16 and 17 show the state of the plain paper feed position, in which the disc of the pawl cam 31c is pushed by the cam 33b of the operation lever 33 to the inside (FIG. 16).
At the left side). As a result, the claw cam 31c
Acts on the separating claw 17.

In this configuration, the release lever 33
The switching position of is reversed from that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 4).
In, the plain paper position and the cardboard position are reversed). The action of the pawl cam 31c on the separating pawl 17 and other aspects are exactly the same as in the first embodiment. <Fifth Embodiment> A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the recording apparatus having the automatic paper feeding function in the first embodiment is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and only different points will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, the operating lever indicating the paper feeding position has two positions.
As shown in FIG. 18, three positions may be adopted. In this case, the first release cam 31d that pushes down only the pressure plate 21 and the second release cam that pushes down the pressure plate 21 and the pawl 17
The release cam 31 is divided into the release cam 31c and the release cam 31c, and each of them acts independently.

The second release cam 31c is provided coaxially with the first release cam 31d. The operation lever 33 and the second release cam 31c are independent of the first release cam 31d and are independent of each other so that the user can set the sheet material P. Also,
The operation lever 33 and the second release cam 31c are connected by a gear.

Further, the operating lever 33 has three positions of a feed position, a thick paper setting position and a plain paper setting position, and each position is provided at an angular position interval of about 20 ° to 50 °. Corresponding to the three positions of this operating lever 33,
The mutual gear ratios are set so that the release cam 35 rotates by about 90 °.

In the feed position of, the second
The release cam 31c does not work on the push-down portion 21c of the pressure plate 21 and the push-down portion 17c of the separation claw 17. It is in this position during normal paper feeding.

In the thick paper setting position of No. 2, the second release cam 31c pushes down the pressing plate 21c of the pressure plate 21.
By pushing down only the separation claw 17, the separation claw 17 is lowered along the pressure plate 21, and a thick paper setting without the separation claw 17 on the sheet material P can be performed. Manual feeding is also performed at this position.

At the plain paper setting position of
The second release cam 31c pushes down the pressing plate 21 of the pressure plate 21.
Since both c and the push-down part 17c of the separating claw 17 are pushed down, the separating claw 17 is raised with respect to the pressure plate 21,
It is possible to perform plain paper setting in which the separation claw 17 is applied to the sheet material P. Further, although the tension coil spring is used as the claw spring 32, a compression coil spring may be used.

In the case of the above construction, the separating claw 17 is always biased to the sheet material P at the feeding position of, so that the separating claw 17 is more easily detached than the separating claw 17. Therefore, there is an advantage that the effect of increasing the amount of engagement of the separation claw 17 when the pressure plate 21 is released can be fully utilized. <Sixth Embodiment> A sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and only different points will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, the separating claw 17 is used.
The movement of was regulated by the guides 20c and 20d,
As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the claw spring 32 may be obliquely applied to apply a force F in the direction of the arrow to contact the guide 20d. In this case, there is an advantage that the rattle can be moved stably without backlash.

[0061]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) When a sheet material such as plain paper is placed on the pressure plate, it may be placed as it is when the operation lever is in the plain paper feed position, and when the operation lever is in the thick paper feed position. All you have to do is move to the plain paper feed position and place the sheet material.

When a thick sheet material is placed on the pressure plate, it may be set as it is when the operation lever is in the thick paper feed position, and when it is in the plain paper feed position, the operation lever is moved to the thick paper feed position. All you have to do is place the sheet material. As a result, it is not necessary to raise the guide plate.

Therefore, even in the automatic paper feeder using the claw separation method, it is only necessary to switch the operation lever to properly use, for example, plain paper or envelopes, and the sheet material is caught on the separation claw as in the conventional case. It became easy and the operation became very simple.

(2) When manually feeding the sheet materials one by one, when the operation lever is in the thick paper position, it may be inserted as it is, and in the plain paper feed position, the thick paper feed position may be inserted. It is now possible to perform manual paper feeding with a simple operation.

(3) Even in the one-sided reference printing method in which one side of the sheet material is used as a reference, a guide is not required when setting thick paper, and therefore printing can be performed with the same reference as plain paper.

(4) In the standby state, it is possible to increase the amount of contact when the separating claw comes into contact with the sheet material, and the separating claw does not come off from the sheet material even if the number of stacked sheet materials is small. . In addition, since the separation claw has a smaller amount of load than during standby during paper feeding, stable and good separation can be performed, and the reliability of the apparatus is improved.

(5) The taper hole is formed by connecting a round hole and a long hole, and by controlling the swinging of the separation claw, it is possible to prevent the double feeding of the sheet material and the like, and the reliability of the apparatus is improved. did.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus including a feeding device applied to the description of Examples 1 to 6 of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a recording device including a feeding device applied to the description of Examples 1 to 6 of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a sheet feeding unit in the feeding device applied to the description of Examples 1 to 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial front view of the separating means of the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a partial view of the separating means of the feeding device applied to the description of the first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side view and (b) is a front view.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a side view of a switching unit in the feeding device applied to the description of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a side view of a switching unit in the feeding device applied to the description of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a partial side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a side view of a switching unit in the feeding device applied to the description of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a partial side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a side view of the switching means in the feeding device applied to the description of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a partial front view of the separating means in the feeding device applied to the description of the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a side view of a switching unit in the feeding device applied to the description of the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a side view of a recording apparatus provided with a feeding device that is applied to explain problems of the conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Feeding Rotating Body 17 Separation Claw (Separation Means) 17b Rotating Part 17c Round Hole (Small Hole Diameter Part) 17d Oval Hole (Large Hole Diameter Part) 20c, 20d Guide (Movement Restricting Member) 21 Pressure Plate (Loading Means) 21c Pushing Part (Release member) 21d Convex portion (first locking member) 21e Recessed portion (second locking member) 31 Release cam (contact releasing member) 31b Claw cam (regulating means) 31c Claw cam (separating means moving member) 31d Spring (moving urging member) 32 Claw spring (urging member) 33 Operation lever (switching means) 33b Cam (contact member) 33c Stopper (movable range regulating means) 72 Pressure plate spring (loading means urging member) P seat Material

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Kinoshita 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Hideaki Kawakami 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. Incorporated (72) Inventor Ryuji Nojima 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masahiro Taniguro 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Satoshi Satagawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Soichi Hiramatsu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Junichi Asano 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A stacking means for stacking sheet materials, a feeding rotary member for contacting the uppermost sheet material stacked on the stacking means for feeding the sheet material, and abutting for the sheet material. And a separating means for preventing double feeding of the sheet material when the feeding rotator feeds the sheet material, and automatically feeding the sheet material one by one. In the apparatus, there is a switching means for selecting whether to position the separating means on the top edge corner of the sheet material or at a position adjacent to the side edge of the sheet material, the sheet When the material is thin, the switching means is switched to separate and feed the sheet materials one by one to bring the separating means into contact with the corners of the leading edge of the sheet material, and the thickness of the sheet material is large. In some cases, the cutting means is arranged so that the separating means is adjacent to the edge on the sheet material side. Separating said sheet material means Te switching by the frictional force between the loading means and the sheet-
An automatic feeding device characterized by being fed. 2. The switching means includes an urging member for urging the separating means in the direction of the stacking means, and a regulating means for controlling rotation and lateral movement of the separating means. At the time of paper, the regulation means urges the separation means toward the stacking means, and when the paper is not fed, the regulation means supports the separation means and the separation means by the urging force of the urging member. The automatic feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the movement of the automatic feeding device is controlled. 3. A rotating portion having a rotating shaft for allowing the separating means to rotate in a direction perpendicular to the sheet material surface to be fed, and a rear end portion of the separating means. 3. The automatic feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising: an abutting member that is provided to move the separating means. 4. The rotating portion is formed of a through hole having a tapered shape in which the hole diameter is changed, and one of both end hole portions of the through hole is a circular small hole diameter portion and the other is an oval shape. In addition to the large hole diameter part, the oval large hole diameter part has a short diameter equal to the diameter of the small hole diameter part, and when a force is applied to the contact member, the small hole diameter part is shaken. The automatic feeding device according to claim 3, wherein the large-diameter portion swings with respect to the rotation shaft as a center of movement, and the separating means is slanted with respect to the rotation shaft. 5. The stacking means is provided on a stacking means urging member for urging the stacking means in the direction of the feeding rotator, and at a side edge portion of the stacking means, the stacking means urging means. An automatic feeding device according to claim 4, further comprising a release member that controls the biasing force of the member. 6. The switching means has an abutment release member that comes into contact with the release member to release the urging force of the stacking means urging member, and the switching means places the separating means in the uppermost position. When the contact release member is positioned on the corner of the leading edge of the sheet material and the contact release member is in contact with the release member to urge the stacking unit toward the feed rotating body, the restricting unit By separating and contacting the abutting member of the separating means, the separating means is positioned perpendicular to the rotating shaft, and the separating means is rotatable with respect to the rotating shaft. The automatic feeding device according to claim 5, wherein the separating means is brought into contact with the end side corner portion of the uppermost sheet material by activating a biasing force. 7. The switching means has an abutment release member that comes into contact with the release member to release the urging force of the stacking means urging member, and the switching means places the separating means in the uppermost position. When the contact release member is positioned on the corner of the leading edge of the sheet material and the contact release member is in contact with the release member to urge the stacking unit toward the feed rotating body, the restricting unit By abutting against the abutting member of the separating means, the separating means is skewed with respect to the rotating shaft to increase a region where the separating means faces the sheet material, and the biasing means The automatic feeding device according to claim 5, wherein the separating means is brought into contact with and separated from the sheet material by controlling a biasing force. 8. The switching means includes an abutment release member that comes into contact with the release member to release the biasing force of the stacking means biasing member, and the switching means causes the separating means to move the sheet material. When the contact release member is moved toward and away from the release member to urge the stacking means toward the feed rotary body, the regulating means separates By separating and contacting the abutting member of the member, the separating means is positioned perpendicular to the rotating shaft, and the separating means is rotatable with respect to the rotating shaft so that the urging means is urged. The automatic feeding device according to claim 5, wherein the separating means is biased toward the stacking means by activating a force. 9. The stacking means includes a first locking member that restricts a movement of the separating means in the sheet material width direction when the separating means comes into contact with the stacking means. The automatic feeding device described. 10. A stacking means for stacking sheet materials, a feeding rotary member for contacting the uppermost sheet material stacked on the stacking means for feeding the sheet material, and abutting for the sheet material. And a separating means for preventing double feeding of the sheet material when the feeding rotator feeds the sheet material, and automatically feeding the sheet material one by one. In the device, the separation means has a switching means for selecting whether to abut on the top corner portion of the sheet material, or to be located at a portion facing the sheet material, and the thickness of the sheet material is When the sheet material is thin, the separating means is brought into contact with the tip corner portion of the sheet material to separate and feed the sheet materials one by one, and when the sheet material is thick,
An automatic feeding, characterized in that the separating means is located at a facing portion largely separated from and in contact with the sheet material, and the sheet material is separated and fed by a frictional force between the sheet material and the stacking means. apparatus. 11. The switching means includes a biasing member for biasing the separating means, and a regulating means for controlling the rotation and lateral movement of the separating means, and the regulating means at the time of paper feeding. However, when the separating means is biased toward the stacking means and the sheet is not fed, the regulating means supports the separating means and controls the movement of the separating means by the biasing force of the biasing member. The automatic feeding device according to claim 10, wherein: 12. The separating means includes a rotating portion having a rotating shaft that allows the separating means to rotate in a direction perpendicular to the sheet material surface to be fed, and a rear end portion of the separating means. The automatic feeding device according to claim 11, further comprising: an abutting member that is provided to move the separating means. 13. The switching means has a movable range restricting means for restricting a movable range of the abutting member of the restricting means, and the switching means sets the separating means to the uppermost sheet material tip angle. When abutting against a portion, the movable range regulating means separates from and comes into contact with the abutting member, and the separating means becomes rotatable, thereby activating the urging force of the urging member to separate the separating means. Abutting the top edge of the sheet material,
When the switching means positions the separating means at a position facing the sheet material, the regulating means contacts the contact member to suppress the urging force of the urging member to separate the separating means. 13. The automatic feeding device according to claim 12, wherein the sheet material is placed in contact with or separated from the sheet material. 14. The stacking means has a second locking member for restricting movement of the separating means in the width direction of the sheet material when the separating means is located at a portion facing the sheet material. The automatic feeding device according to claim 1 or 10. 15. A separating means moving member for contacting the separating means in synchronism with the switching means to move the separating means parallel to the rotation axis direction, and a movement of the separating means moving member. 15. The automatic feeding device according to claim 14, further comprising a moving urging member that urges the separating means moving member in a direction opposite to the direction. 16. The automatic feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separating means is provided with a movement restricting member so that the separating means is not twisted. 17. The automatic feeding device according to claim 1 or 10, and a recording means for recording on a sheet material fed by the automatic feeding device according to recording information. Recording device.