JPH10181919A - Hand insertion paper feeder for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hand insertion paper feeder whereby positioning of a tip end of paper and regulation of a number of sheets of paper can be performed by a simple constitution. SOLUTION: In a hand insertion paper feeder for this image forming device, positioning of a tip end of paper P loaded in a hand insertion paper feed base 2 is performed by a butt member 11, when the paper is conveyed, the butt member 11 is made to take refuge from a paper conveying path, the paper P loaded in the hand insertion paper feed base 2 is fed by a paper feed roller 3. Here, in the case of the butt member 11 taking refuge from the paper conveying path, a paper supplement inhibiting means inhibiting addition to the hand insertion paper feed base 2 of supplemental paper, for instance, a swivel arm 8 with a tip end part into press contact by its own weight with the uppermost surface of the paper P loaded in the hand insertion paper feed base 2 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manual paper feeder used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a copying machine, copying is performed on special-size paper other than fixed-size paper, such as a postcard, which is stored in a paper feed tray.
A manual feeder is provided for copying on a special recording medium such as a P sheet.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a manual sheet feeder described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-195636.

[0004] This manual paper feeder is provided with a housing 51 of a copier.
A manual paper feed table 52 provided with a part thereof protruding from the side surface of the manual feed paper table; a number limiting plate 53 for limiting the number of sheets P placed on the manual paper feed table 52; A paper feed roller 54 that is arranged above the paper feed tip side and feeds out the paper P placed on the manual paper feed table 52, and is provided rotatably about a shaft 55 of the paper feed roller 54;
An abutting plate 56 for positioning the leading end of the sheet P is formed at one end, and an abutting member 58 having an engaging portion 57 formed at the other end. The holding member 61 has one end in contact with the locking portion 57 and the other end in contact with the wall surface 6 of the apparatus main body, and is disposed downstream of the butting plate 56. Belt 6
2, a transport roller 63 that is driven to rotate in conjunction with the feed roller 54, a separating roller 64 that is pressed against the transport roller 63 to separate sheets, and a sheet chute 6.
5 and a positioning roller 66. The feed roller 54 and the transport roller 63 are commonly attached to a support frame 68 that is rotatably provided around a shaft 67 of the transport roller 63.

In the manual paper feeder described above, in the standby state, the paper feed roller 54 is in the raised position as shown in FIG.
The abutment plate 56 is in a vertical position in contact with the holding member 61, and the abutment member 58 is prevented from rotating clockwise. Therefore, the paper P placed on the manual paper feed table 52
Is positioned by the abutment plate 56. Further, the height of the paper P placed on the manual paper feed table 52 is
3

When the paper is transported, as shown in FIG. 7B, the paper feed roller 54 descends to contact the upper surface of the paper P, and the engagement between the wall 60 of the apparatus main body and the locking portion 57 is performed. Then, the butting member 58 can be rotated clockwise. Next, the paper feed roller 54 rotates, and the paper is fed into the manual paper feed table 52.
The pressing plate 56 is pushed by the leading edge of the sheet, and the pressing member 58 rotates clockwise and retracts from the sheet conveying path, and the sheet passes below the butting plate 56 and is conveyed by the conveying roller. The sheet is sent to a nip position between the sheet 63 and the separating roll 64, and after the sheet is separated, is conveyed to a positioning roller 66 through a sheet chute 65.

[0007]

However, in the manual paper feeder described above, when an image is formed on more sheets than can be placed on the manual paper feed table 52, the manual paper feeder is required. When the amount of paper remaining on the table 52 becomes small, it is necessary to place a supplementary paper on the remaining paper.
As shown in (b), since the abutment plate 56 is at the raised position, if a bundle of replenished sheets is inserted on the manual sheet feeding table 52 at this time, it remains on the manual sheet feeding table 52. When the amount of the remaining paper is small, the bundle of the replenishment paper passes through the gap between the upper surface of the remaining paper and the lower end of the abutment plate 56, and the nip between the transport roller 63 and the separating roller 64 is formed. It reaches the position. For this reason, the paper is conveyed in a state where the leading ends of the paper are not aligned, and there is a problem that the paper is double-fed, an image forming position is shifted from a normal position, or a paper jam occurs. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a manual sheet feeder which can position the leading edge of a sheet and regulate the number of sheets with a simple configuration.

[0009]

According to the present invention, an abutting member is used to position the leading end of a sheet placed on a manual sheet feeding table, and the abutting member is retracted from a sheet transport path during sheet transport. In a manual paper feeder of an image forming apparatus that feeds out a paper placed on a manual paper feed tray by a paper feed roller, when the abutting member is retracted from the paper conveyance path, the replenishment paper is supplied by the manual feeder. A sheet replenishment prohibiting means for prohibiting addition to a paper board is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, the sheet replenishment prohibiting means includes:
A base end portion is rotatably supported, and a tip end portion is a swing arm which is pressed against the uppermost surface of the paper placed on the manual paper feed tray by its own weight.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a base end of the swing arm is rotatably supported by a part of the abutting member.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a base end of the swing arm is rotatably supported on a shaft of a paper feed roller.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that an elastic thin piece is attached to a base end of the swing arm.

Further, according to the present invention, the sheet replenishment prohibiting means may include:
A paper presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of paper on the manual paper feed tray, a replenishment paper sensor for detecting paper replenished in the manual paper feed tray, and the abutting member passing the paper Is in the state, and the paper presence sensor detects that the paper on the manual feed tray has run out, and the replenishment paper sensor detects that replenishment paper has been added. And means for stopping the conveyance of the sheet by the sheet feeding roller.

Further, according to the present invention, the sheet replenishment prohibiting means includes:
The abutting member is in a state of passing the sheet, and the sheet presence sensor detects that the sheet on the manual feed tray has run out, and the replenishment sheet sensor detects the replenishment sheet. When the addition is detected, a means for displaying a predetermined warning message on the operation panel is further provided.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a main part of a first embodiment of a manual sheet feeder according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an abutting member used in the manual sheet feeder shown in FIG.

The manual paper feeder according to the first embodiment includes a manual paper feed table 2 provided with a part protruding from a side surface of a housing 1 of a copying machine, and a feed tip side of the manual paper feed table 2. And a paper feed roller 3 that feeds out the paper P placed on the manual paper feed table 2, and is provided rotatably about a shaft 4 of the paper feed roller 3, and radially extends from the shaft 4. An abutment plate 5 projecting in different directions for positioning the leading end of the paper P, a locking portion 7 abutting on a wall surface 6 of the apparatus main body, and a base end portion of the swing arm 8 are connected via a shaft 9. Abutting member 11 having a swinging arm supporting portion 10 slidably mounted thereon, a transport roller 12 disposed downstream of the abutment plate 5 and driven to rotate, and a spring 13 Pad 1 that presses paper to separate paper If, pad 14 handling the abutment plate 5
And a paper guide plate 15 that feeds the paper fed from the manual paper feed table 2 into a nip portion between the transport roller 12 and the separating pad 14. The paper feed roller 3 can be moved vertically by a drive mechanism (not shown). Further, as shown in FIG. 1C, in the vicinity of the base end of the swing arm 8, the lower end position of the swing arm 8 is brought into contact with the vicinity of the shaft 9 of the locking portion 7,
A stopper 8a is provided for regulating the maximum amount of sheets that can be placed on the manual sheet feeding table 2 at the uppermost position.

In the manual paper feeder described above, in the standby state, the paper feed roller 3 is at the raised position as shown in FIG. The abutment plate 5 is in a vertical position in contact with the wall surface 6, and the clockwise rotation of the abutment member 11 is prevented. Therefore, the leading end of the paper P placed on the manual paper feed table 2 is positioned by the butting plate 5. The tip 8a of the swing arm 8 is in contact with the uppermost surface of the sheet P by its own weight.

When the paper is transported, as shown in FIG. 1B, the paper feed roller 3 descends to contact the upper surface of the paper P, and the engagement between the wall 6 of the apparatus main body and the locking portion 7 is established. Missed,
The butting member 11 can be rotated clockwise. Next, the paper feed roller 3 rotates, the paper P is sent out from the manual paper feed table 2, the abutment plate 5 is pushed by the leading end of the paper P, and the abutment member 11 rotates clockwise to transport the paper. The sheet retreats from the path, and the sheet passes under
The sheet is sent to the nip position between the sheet 2 and the separation pad 14, and the sheet is separated. Also at this time, the tip 8a of the swing arm 8 is in contact with the uppermost surface of the sheet P by its own weight. As a result, even if an attempt is made to add replenishment paper onto the paper P remaining in the manual paper feed tray 2, the leading end of the replenishment paper will be
And will not go any further. Further, even if force is applied to the replenished sheet, the sheet advances while being scooped up by the swing arm 8, stops against the sheet feeding roller 3. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the replenishment sheet from being supplied without being positioned by the abutment plate 5. Also, the tip 8a of the swing arm 8
Is lowered to a position corresponding to the position of the uppermost surface of the maximum amount of sheets of paper that can be placed on the manual feed tray 2, so that more sheets than the specified number of sheets are stacked on the manual feed tray 2. Can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 3, an elastic thin piece 16 made of, for example, a polyester film can be attached to the tip of the swing arm 8. In this case,
Since the replenishment sheet is more reliably scooped by the elastic flakes 16, it is possible to reliably prevent the replenishment sheet from being supplied without being positioned by the abutment plate 5.

Further, as shown in FIG.
May be rotatably mounted around the shaft 4 of the abutting member 11.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment of the manual paper feeder according to the present invention. The parts corresponding to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a basic block diagram showing a control system in a second embodiment.

In the second embodiment, an abutment member 11a, in which an abutment plate 5 and an engaging portion 7 are integrated, is rotatably attached to the shaft 4 of the paper feed roller 3. In addition,
To avoid complicating the drawing, the abutting member 11a
Is indicated by a broken line.

On the shaft 4 of the paper feed roller 3, a manual paper feed table 2
Sheet detection arm 1 for detecting the presence or absence of sheet P on the table
8 is rotatably mounted. Paper detection arm 1
8 is provided at one end thereof with a contact portion 18a which is in contact with the uppermost surface of the paper P on the manual paper feed table 2;
Is provided. A replenishment paper sensor 20 for detecting replenished paper is disposed above the manual paper feed table 2 slightly inside the housing 1.

The output of the paper presence sensor 19 and the output of the replenishment paper sensor 20 are controlled by the control circuit 2 as shown in FIG.
1 is supplied. The control circuit 21 controls the operations of a sheet conveyance control circuit 22 that controls the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 3 and the conveyance roller 12, and a roller elevation control circuit 23 that controls the elevation of the sheet feeding roller 3. Further, the control circuit 21 is connected to an operation panel 24 for inputting various instructions to the image forming apparatus and displaying an operation state of the image forming apparatus.

When an image formation is instructed from the operation panel 24, the sheet feeding roller 3 is lowered by the roller elevation control circuit 23 and the sheet feeding roller 3 is
Then, the rotation of the transport roller 12 is started, and the sheet P comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet P and is sent out from the manual sheet feeding table 2. Then, the paper passes below the abutment plate 5 and is sent to a nip position between the transport roller 12 and the separation pad 14,
The paper is sorted.

When the number of sheets on the manual sheet feeding table 2 decreases, the contact portion 18a descends, and the sheet detection arm 18 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. Then, it is detected that the paper on the manual paper feed table 2 has run out.

When the abutment plate 5 is in a state of passing the paper and it is detected that the paper on the manual paper feed table 2 has run out, the replenishment paper PA is added. When this is detected by the replenishment sheet sensor 20, the rotation of the sheet supply roller 3 and the conveyance roller 12 is stopped, and a warning message such as "Reset the sheet for manual feeding" is displayed on the operation panel 24. . Thus, it is possible to prevent the replenishment sheet from being supplied without being positioned by the abutment plate 5.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a replenishment sheet from being supplied without being positioned, thereby reducing the occurrence of double feeding.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part showing a first embodiment of a manual sheet feeder of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an abutting member used in the manual sheet feeding device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a modification of the swing arm.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another modification of the swing arm.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a main part of a second embodiment of the manual sheet feeder of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a basic block diagram illustrating a control system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration example of a conventional manual sheet feeder.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing, 2 ... Manual paper feed tray, 3 ... Paper feed roller, 4 ...
Shaft, 5: butting plate, 6: wall surface, 7: locking portion, 8: swing arm, 9: shaft, 10: swing arm support portion, 11: butting member, 12: transport roller, 13: spring , 14: release pad, 15: paper guide plate, 16: elastic thin piece, 17: swing arm, 18: paper detection arm, 19: paper presence sensor, 20: replenishment paper sensor

Claims (7)

[Claims] An abutting member for positioning the leading end of the paper placed on the manual paper feed tray, and retracting the abutting member from the paper transport path when transporting the paper; In the manual paper feeder of the image forming apparatus that feeds the fed paper by the paper feed roller, when the abutting member is retracted from the paper transport path, it is necessary to prevent the supplementary paper from being added to the manual paper feed table. A manual paper feeder for an image forming apparatus, comprising a paper replenishment prohibition unit for prohibiting the paper supply. 2. The sheet replenishment prohibiting means is a swing arm having a base end rotatably supported and a front end pressed against the uppermost surface of the paper placed on the manual paper feed tray by its own weight. The manual sheet feeding device of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The manual sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein a base end of the swing arm is rotatably supported by a part of the abutting member. 4. The manual paper feeder according to claim 2, wherein a base end of the swing arm is rotatably supported by a shaft of a paper feed roller. 5. The manual paper feeder according to claim 1, wherein an elastic thin piece is attached to a base end of the swing arm. 6. A sheet presence / absence sensor for detecting presence / absence of a sheet on the manual sheet feeding tray, and a sheet replenishing sheet for detecting a sheet refilled in the manual sheet feeding tray. A sensor and the abutting member are in a state of passing the sheet, and the absence of the sheet on the manual feed tray is detected by the sheet presence / absence sensor, and replenishment is performed by the replenishment sheet sensor. 2. A manual sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for stopping conveyance of the sheet by said sheet feeding roller when it is detected that said sheet has been added. apparatus. 7. The sheet replenishment prohibiting means detects that the abutment member allows the sheet to pass through, and that the sheet presence sensor detects that the sheet on the manual sheet feed tray has run out. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means for displaying a predetermined warning message on an operation panel when the replenishment paper sensor detects that replenishment paper has been added. A manual paper feeder for an image forming apparatus.