JPH07206169A - Automatic paper feeder and recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide an automatic paper feeding device capable of surely preventing the misaligned state of stacked recording sheets with a simple configuration. [Structure] An elastic portion 52e and a convex portion 52f having a tapered surface 52g are provided on a side guide 52 that regulates a side end portion of the recording sheet S. The tapered surface 52g has an inclined surface in the direction of protruding toward the recording sheet S side as it goes upward, and has a function of pressing the recording sheet from above. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a misaligned state with time even when used in a bad environment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeder for supplying recording sheets to recording devices such as printers, copiers and facsimiles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in recording devices such as printers, copiers and facsimiles, in addition to plain paper, thick paper such as postcards and envelopes and special sheets such as plastic thin plates are used as recording sheets. The supply of these recording sheets is performed by manually inserting them one by one, or automatically and continuously by an automatic paper feeder.

An example of this type of automatic paper feeder will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is a front view of the automatic sheet feeding device 100. It includes a pressure plate 101 for stacking and supporting recording sheets, and a pressure plate 1.
01 side guides 102, 103 for regulating the positions of both side edges of the recording sheet to guide the sheet at the time of feeding, and the pressure plate 1.
A feeding roller 104 having a half-moon-shaped cross section for feeding the recording sheet on 01, and a separation claw 105 for engaging the one tip corner of the stacked and supported recording sheets to separate the fed recording sheets one by one. It is provided.

The pressure plate 101 is formed by a pressure spring (not shown).
The supporting recording sheet is urged in a direction of being pressed against the feeding roller 104, and the recording sheet is not brought into contact with the feeding roller 104 when the chord portion of the feeding roller 104 faces the recording sheet. A roller 106 for doing so is provided coaxially with the feeding roller 104. Further, of the left and right side guides 102 and 103, one side guide 102 provided on the separation claw 105 side is fixedly provided, and the other side guide 103 on the opposite side moves in the width direction of the recording sheet. It is freely provided and can accommodate various size sheets having different width dimensions.

With this configuration, when the feeding roller 104 rotates based on the paper feed signal, the feeding roller 104 comes into contact with the uppermost surface of the recording sheet stacked on the pressure plate 101 and the recording sheet is fed out by frictional force. The separation claws 105 separate the sheets one by one and supply the recording sheets to a recording device (not shown). At this time, the left and right side guides 102, 1
The left and right edges of the recording sheet are regulated by 03 to prevent the occurrence of oblique feeding (skew).

[0006]

In the conventional automatic sheet feeder described above, the recording sheet is placed on the pressure plate in a windy place or a place where temperature and humidity change drastically in the surrounding environment. Even if the loaded recording sheets are set with certainty, they may become misaligned over time. Then, due to this misaligned state, there is a possibility that the normal separation and feeding operation of the recording sheet may be hindered.

Therefore, as a countermeasure against this, it is conceivable to provide a holding member for holding the uppermost surface of the recording sheet on the side guide to keep the recording sheets aligned. This is effective only when the recording sheets are stacked, and when the stacking amount is small, the gap between the upper surface of the recording sheets and the pressing member becomes large, and the effect of preventing the disorder of the stacked state of the recording sheets is lost. I will end up.

If this pressing member is provided,
Recording sheets that exceed the maximum loading capacity may be forcibly stacked between the pressure plate and the pressing member, and the pressing member causes resistance to the feeding of the recording sheets, which may cause defective feeding of the recording sheets. There is also a problem in that the image quality is deteriorated or the feeding accuracy is adversely affected and the image quality is deteriorated.

Further, when the pressing member is provided, there is a problem that it interferes with the replenishment of the recording sheet to the pressure plate and deteriorates the operability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to reliably prevent a time-aligned misalignment of stacked recording sheets in an automatic paper feeder with a simple structure. And

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a stacking means capable of stacking a plurality of recording sheets, a feeding means for feeding out the recording sheets stacked on the stacking means, and a feeding means for feeding the recording sheets. In an automatic paper feeder having a separating means for separating the recording sheets one by one, at least one of the side end portions parallel to the feeding direction of the recording sheets stacked on the stacking means is first fed. It is characterized in that an area supporting a recording sheet is restricted by a tapered surface projecting toward the recording sheet.

The present invention is characterized in that the tapered surface is provided on a side guide for guiding the side end portion of the recording sheets stacked on the stacking means.

The present invention is characterized in that the tapered surface is pressed against the side end portion of the recording sheet by elastic means.

The present invention is characterized in that the elastic means is a plate-shaped portion integrally formed with the side guide, and the tapered surface is formed on a convex portion formed on the plate-shaped portion. .

According to the present invention, the elastic means is a spring, and the tapered member movably attached to the side guide and having the tapered surface is urged toward the side end of the recording sheet by the spring. Characterize.

According to the present invention, the side guide includes a fixed side guide and a movable side guide, the separating means is a separation claw and is provided on the fixed side guide side, and the tapered surface is arranged on the movable side guide. It is characterized by being done.

[0017]

According to the above structure, since the end portion of the recording sheet is pressed by the tapered surface, the recording sheet can be always pressed from above regardless of the stacking amount of the recording sheet.
Further, by providing the tapered surface on the side guide, the recording sheet can be pressed from above only by aligning the side guide with the side end portion of the recording sheet.

Further, by urging the taper surface toward the side edge of the recording sheet by the elastic member, a gap is formed between the taper surface and the side edge of the recording sheet even when the stacking amount of the sheets is reduced. It is possible to prevent the reduction of the pressing effect due to the tapered surface without occurring. When the elastic member and the tapered surface are formed integrally with the side guide, the number of parts does not increase. If the elastic member is provided separately, the elastic force can be easily set, and the force for urging the side end portion of the recording sheet can be optimally set.

In the case where the separation claw is provided on one side, the recording sheet in the area for supporting the recording sheet fed earlier by the tapered surface is urged toward the separation claw side, so that the separation claw and the leading edge angle of the recording sheet. It is possible to prevent disengagement from the engaging portion and reduce the separation failure due to the separation claw.

[0020]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described. First, the configuration of the recording apparatus 1 equipped with the automatic sheet feeder 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The recording device 1 includes a recording unit 3 that records an image corresponding to image information on a supplied recording sheet S.
And an automatic sheet feeder 5 capable of automatically and continuously supplying the recording sheet S to the recording section 3.

In the recording section 3, a carriage 7 reciprocally movable along guide shafts 9 and 10 arranged in the width direction of the recording sheet S supplied, and an ink jet recording head 6 mounted on this carriage 7. The inkjet recording head 6 uses the thermal energy generated by the electrothermal converter to convert ink from an ejection port (not shown) to image information by the growth of bubbles caused by heating over film boiling. The recording sheet S is ejected onto the recording sheet S on the platen to perform recording. The carriage 7 is driven by a belt 11 wound around a drive pulley 13 and a driven pulley 15, and the drive pulley 13 is attached to an output shaft of a motor 12 which is a drive source.

A conveying roller 19 is provided on the upstream side of the ink jet recording head 6, and the conveying roller 19 is provided.
The upper part of the platen 17 projects from the platen 17, and the pinch roller 20 that rotates following the projecting part is in pressure contact. Then, the recording sheet S is intermittently conveyed to the inkjet recording head 6 side by the conveying roller 19 and the pinch roller 20.

A discharge roller pair consisting of a discharge roller 22 and a spur 23 which is driven by the discharge roller 22 is provided on the downstream side of the ink jet recording head 6, and the recording sheet S on which recording is completed is machined by this discharge roller pair. Discharge to the outside.
The spurs 23 are provided so as not to make point contact with the recording surface side of the recording sheet S after recording so that excess ink is not transferred to the recording sheet S.

Next, the automatic paper feeder 5 for supplying the recording sheet S to the recording unit 3 will be described. The automatic paper feeder 5 is provided on the rear side of the main body 2 of the recording unit 3,
Although the automatic paper feeder 5 of this embodiment is provided integrally with the recording unit 3, it may be detachably provided in the recording unit 3.

On the rear side of the recording section 3, a stacking base 26 for accommodating the recording sheets S and a guide slope 27 for aligning the leading ends of the recording sheets S are fixedly provided. A pressure plate 29 is disposed in the loading table 26, and the base of the pressure plate 29 is the support shaft 2.
It is rotatably supported by 9a. Feeding roller 39
Is formed in a half-moon shape in a cross section including an arc portion 50 and a chord portion 51, and is fixed to a drive shaft 35 to which drive is transmitted from a drive source (not shown). Further, a roller 40 is rotatable on the drive shaft 35 for preventing the recording sheet S from coming into contact with the feeding roller 39 when the chord portion 51 of the feeding roller 39 faces the recording sheet S. Is attached to. Generally, the feeding roller 39 is made of a high friction member such as a rubber member, and the roller 40 is made of a low friction member such as plastic.

A pressure spring 36 is arranged below the pressure plate 29 to urge the recording sheets S stacked on the pressure plate 29 toward the feeding roller 39. Further, a separating claw 30 for separating the sheets one by one is arranged corresponding to one corner portion of the leading edge of the recording sheets S stacked on the pressure plate 29.

Next, the stacking portion of the recording sheets S, which is the main part of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pressure plate 29 is provided with a pair of side guides 52 and 55 for restricting the position of the side end portions of the recording sheet S parallel to the feeding direction, and the separation claw 30 side. The side guide 55 is fixed as a reference for feeding the recording sheet S, and the side guide 52 on the opposite side is provided so as to be movable and adjustable depending on the size of the recording sheet S. In this embodiment, the separation claw 30 is arranged only on the fixed side guide 55 side for cost reduction, but the movable side guide 52 may be provided with the separation claw.

As shown in FIG. 2, a side guide 52, which is movably provided, supports a bottom surface 52a for supporting the lower surface of the stacked recording sheets S and side end portions parallel to the feeding direction of the recording sheets S. It is composed of a side plate part 52b that regulates and a hook part 52c that fits into the pressure plate 29 and performs a sliding function, and each part is integrally formed of a member such as plastic.

The side plate portion 52b is provided with a knob portion 52d for gripping by the operator in order to adjust the position of the side guide 52, and operability is taken into consideration. Further, on the front side of the side plate portion 52b, a plate-shaped elastic portion 52e having a wall thickness of about 2 mm is provided.
Is integrally formed, and the thinness of the thickness allows the recording sheet S to be biased toward the side guide 52 on the feeding reference side by giving an elastic effect.

The elastic portion 52e is provided with a convex portion 52f, which is a feature of the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 2A, it is tapered upstream and downstream with respect to the feeding direction of the recording sheet S. It has a surface to suppress the resistance applied to the recording sheet S.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the cross-sectional shape of the convex portion 52f has a tapered surface 52g having an inclination so as to project toward the recording sheet S side as it goes upward in the thickness direction of the stacked recording sheets S. Then, it acts so as to press the stacked recording sheets S. In the present embodiment, the protrusion amount of the tapered surface 52g is set such that the protrusion amount from the side plate portion 52b is L = 0 to 0.5 mm, and the difference between the lowest portion and the highest portion is 0.5 to 1 mm. .

As described above, due to the elastic force of the elastic portion 52e and the protrusion of the taper surface 52g, the uppermost recording sheet S of the stacked recording sheets S is always pressed by the taper surface 52g. It is possible to reliably prevent the misaligned state of the above. Also,
If the elastic portion 52e is brought into pressure contact with the recording sheet S by using the elastic force of the elastic portion 52e, the recording sheet S may be slightly different in size due to the cutting of the recording sheet S.
Side guide 52 and recording sheet S
It is possible to prevent the effect of pressing the recording sheet S on the taper surface 52g from being weakened without a gap being formed between them.

The operation of the recording apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described.

When a paper feed signal is output from the control means (not shown) for recording, the feed roller 39 rotates and comes into contact with the uppermost recording sheet of the recording sheets stacked on the pressure plate 29 to cause frictional force. Is sent to the downstream side. The second recording sheet and the subsequent recording sheets that are in contact with the uppermost recording sheet are subjected to the action of being fed out by the frictional force of each other. Feeding is restricted and only the topmost recording sheet is sent out.

The separated recording sheet S has a guide slope 27.
Then, the upper guide member 41 fixed to the support member 16 feeds it into the recording unit 3. The recording sheet S inserted into the recording unit 3 is conveyed to the printing unit of the inkjet recording head 6 by the conveying roller 19 and the pinch roller 20, and an image corresponding to the image information is recorded. During recording of an image, in order to prevent the load on the automatic sheet feeding device 5 side from affecting the transport performance of the transport roller 19 and the pinch roller 20, the recording sheet S
After separating the sheet, the recording sheet S separated by the feeding roller 39
In order to prevent frictional force from being applied to the recording sheet S, the string portion 51 is stopped with the recording sheet S facing the recording sheet S.
The resistance is reduced by rotating the motor following.

The recording sheet S for which recording has been completed is ejected out of the apparatus by the ejection roller 22 and the spur 23.

Next, another embodiment of the side guide 52 will be described. In the structure shown in FIG. 3, instead of the convex portion 52f having the tapered surface 52g on the elastic portion 52e shown in the first embodiment, a taper member 52i having the tapered surface 52g is provided separately, and the tapered member 52i is provided. The spring 52h urges the recording sheet S side (direction of arrow A). According to this structure, by controlling the elastic force of the spring 52h, the pressure contact force of the taper member 52i to the recording sheet S can be easily set to be constant.

FIG. 4 shows the convex portion 5 of the first embodiment.
Instead of 2f, the elastic portion 52e has a twisted structure that protrudes toward the recording sheet S side as it goes upward in the thickness direction of the recording sheet S.

FIG. 5 shows the convex portion 5 of the first embodiment.
2f is provided on the side plate portion 52b which is hardly elastically deformed. That is, the tapered surface 52g is brought into contact with the side end portion of the recording sheet S without elastically biasing the convex portion 52f toward the recording sheet S.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the movable side guide 5 shown in FIG.
The taper member 53 having a taper surface and the spring 54 for urging the taper member 53 are provided, which have the same structure as those provided in FIG. As a result, the recording sheet S is pressed from both sides in the width direction, and it is possible to more reliably prevent the misaligned state with time.

In this embodiment, the one-sided standard automatic paper feeder 5 in which only one side of the side guide 52 is movable has been described. However, it is a central standard automatic paper feeder in which both the left and right side guides are movable. The present invention may be applied. In this case, at least one of the side guides has the convex portion 52f.
A pressing member such as the above may be provided. Further, in the present embodiment, one side guide 52 is movable so as to accommodate sheets of a plurality of sizes, but it is a dedicated type that accommodates only one type of sheet, and the side guides are fixed. The present invention may be applied to a thing. Also in this case, at least one of the side guides has the convex portion 52f.
A pressing member such as the above may be provided.

[0042]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, at least one of the side edges of the recording sheets stacked on the stacking means and parallel to the feeding direction supports the recording sheet to be fed first. The more the area is closed, the more the taper surface is projected so that the recording sheets stacked on the stacking unit can be pressed from above, so that the recording sheets can be stacked even under bad environmental conditions. The stacked state of the recording sheets can be kept good regardless of the amount. As a result, it is possible to prevent defective feeding and deterioration of printing accuracy.

Further, by providing the tapered surface on the side guide, the recording sheet can be pressed from above by merely aligning the side guide with the side end portion of the recording sheet, so that operability is not deteriorated.

Further, by urging the taper surface toward the side edge of the recording sheet by the elastic member, a gap is formed between the taper surface and the side edge of the recording sheet even when the stacking amount of the sheets is reduced. It is possible to prevent the reduction of the pressing effect due to the tapered surface without causing the occurrence, and it is possible to more reliably maintain the good stacking state of the recording sheets.

When the elastic member and the tapered surface are formed integrally with the side guide, the number of parts does not increase, and therefore the apparatus cost does not increase.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of an automatic paper feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a side guide provided in the automatic paper feeder shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the side guide.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the side guide.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the side guide.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an automatic sheet feeder showing the configuration of another embodiment of the side guide.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus equipped with the automatic paper feeder of the present invention.

8 is a vertical sectional view of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional automatic sheet feeder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Recording Device 3 Recording Unit 5 Automatic Paper Feeding Device 6 Inkjet Recording Head 29 Pressure Plate (Loading Means) 30 Separation Claw (Separation Means) 39 Feeding Rollers (Feeding Means) 52 Side Guides 52e, 52h Elastic Means (Elastic Parts, Springs) ) 52f, 52i convex portion 52g tapered surface

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Karama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Haruyuki Yanagi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Kinoshita 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tan Atming 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koichi Tanno 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuo Suzuki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A stacking unit capable of stacking a plurality of recording sheets, a feeding unit for feeding the recording sheets stacked on the stacking unit, and a recording sheet fed by the feeding unit are separated one by one. In an automatic paper feeding device having a separating means, at least one of the side ends of the recording sheets stacked on the stacking means in parallel with the feeding direction is closer to the area supporting the recording sheet to be fed first. An automatic paper feeder characterized in that it is regulated by a tapered surface protruding toward the recording sheet. 2. The automatic paper feeder according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surface is provided on a side guide that guides the side end portion of the recording sheets stacked on the stacking unit. 3. The automatic paper feeder according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surface is pressed against the side end portion of the recording sheet by elastic means. 4. The elastic means is a plate-shaped portion formed integrally with the side guide, and the tapered surface is formed on a convex portion formed on the plate-shaped portion. 3. The automatic sheet feeder according to item 3. 5. The elastic means is a spring, and biases a taper member, which has the tapered surface and is movably attached to the side guide, toward the side end of the recording sheet by the spring. The automatic paper feeder according to claim 3. 6. The side guide has a fixed side guide and a movable side guide, the separating means is a separation claw and is provided on the fixed side guide side, and the tapered surface is arranged on the movable side guide. The automatic paper feeding device according to claim 2, wherein 7. A recording apparatus, comprising: the automatic paper feeding device according to claim 1; and a recording unit for recording an image on a recording sheet supplied by the automatic paper feeding device. . 8. The recording system of the recording unit is an ink jet system that utilizes thermal energy generated by an electrothermal converter to perform recording by ejecting ink from an ejection port due to growth of bubbles caused by heating beyond film boiling. The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording apparatus is provided.