JPS62201735A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discriminate paper sizes of many kinds by low-priced means by providing a regulating member with a size indicating belt fixed thereto at one end, which is capable of moving with the movement of the regulating member in the moving direction and reading size information by detecting means. CONSTITUTION:A size indicating belt 18 is fixed at one end to a regulating member 4, folded back toward the regulating member 4 through roller shafts 16, 17, and stretched without slackening by a spring 19, one end of which is fixed to a cassette body. A size indicating belt 20 is fixed at one end to a regulating member 10, folded back by the roller shafts, disposed parallel to the size indicating belt 18 and stretched without slackening by a spring 21. Ten 3-bit information patterns (P1-P10) are formed on the size indicating belt 18, and nine information patterns are formed on an information pattern Q of the indicating belt 20. Combined information is read through a window of a side plate of the cassette at a portion where the size indicating belts are parallel to each other by detecting means, and output to a control portion, whereby a copying machine is set in a copy mode corresponding to a paper size.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a regulating member is movably attached to a paper accommodating section, so that paper of different sizes can be accommodated, and the paper of the accommodated paper can be controlled. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-212332 proposes a copying machine capable of outputting size information to a control section of the main body of the copying machine.

This paper feeding device generally has a magnet attached to the lower end of the approximate intersection of two orthogonal regulating members movably disposed in the paper accommodating section, and a magnet of a standard size on the bottom surface of the paper accommodating section or When a paper of The system detects the signal from the magnetic sensor.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, this paper feeding device requires a corresponding number of magnetic sensors in order to discriminate between various paper sizes, so the problem is that it is expensive. It had

(Means for solving the problems) The present invention has been made to solve the problems mentioned above.
One end of a size display band on which paper size information is recorded is attached to the regulating member of the paper feeding device and arranged without slack, so that it can be moved in that direction as the regulating member moves, and the size information is read. , a detection means that can output the size signal to a control section of the image forming apparatus is provided.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which are one example.

FIG. 1 shows a paper feed cassette (1) in a paper feed device according to the present invention, (2) is a cassette body that stores paper, and inside this cassette body (2) there are two regulating members (
4), (IO) is provided.

The regulation member (4) includes a support part (5), a regulation plate (6),
It consists of a stopper (7) and a cassette body (
Slide groove (3) of the guide part (3) provided on the negative side of 2)
Attach the support part (5) to a) and follow the arrows (a) and (a
' ) direction. In addition, the regulation plate (6)
is the inner surface (X
) (hereinafter referred to as the base plane (X)).

The regulation member (10) includes a regulation plate (11) and a stopper (
12), and the frame is supported by a slide rail (9) that extends across the bottom of the cassette body (2) in the width direction (direction of arrow B), and along the slide rail (9), the rack is supported by arrows (b),
It is movable in the direction (b'). In addition, the regulation plate (1
1) is the inner surface (
Y) (hereinafter referred to as the reference plane (Y)).

In addition, at the bottom of the cassette body (2), there is one sheet of paper (one
3) is attached so that it can swing around the rear fulcrum (14). This paper unit (13) is located above the slide rail (9), and has a notch (8) formed therein so that the regulating member (10) can move.
When the paper feed cassette (1) is attached to the paper feed cassette (1), it is biased upward.

Furthermore, a window (15) is formed in the side plate (2a) where the guide portion (3) of the cassette body (2) is located.

The regulating members (4) and (10) are provided with size display bands (1B
), (20) is the installation.

The size display band (18) has one end fixed to the regulating member (4), extends from there in the direction of arrow (a), and is connected to the roller shaft (16).
), (17) are folded back toward the regulating member (4), and one end is attached to the other end of a spring (19) attached to the cassette body (2), so that the spring (19) is stretched without slack.

The portion of the size display band (18) between the roller shaft (17) and the spring (19) is along the side plate (2a) of the cassette body (2).

The size display band (20) has one end fixed to the regulating member (10), extends from there in the direction of the arrow (bo) along the bottom surface of the cassette body (2), and connects to the roller shaft (22) shown in FIG.
, (23) are disposed in parallel with the size display plate (18), and one end is attached to the other end of a spring (21) attached to the cassette body (2), so that it is stretched without slack.

Note that the size display bands (18) and (20) face the window (15) along the side plate (2a) of the cassette body (2) at the part where they are parallel.

By the way, the size display bands (18) and (20) have 3-bit information patterns (P) and (
Q) are each recorded.

Note that there is a hole in the area marked with ., and the frame marked with ○ is just a marking for ease of viewing; nothing is actually recorded there.

The information pattern (P) of the size display band (18) provided on the regulating member (4) that moves in the paper feeding direction is tog (PI, ~
, p, o) are formed, and the regulation plate (6) and the reference surface (X)
When the distance (Qa) (see Figure 5) is set to the value shown in the left column of Table 1, the corresponding information pattern (P) in the right column is 15).

In addition, nine information patterns (Q) are formed on the size display band (20) attached to the regulating member (lO) that moves in the width direction, and the distance between the regulating control (11) and the reference surface (Y) ( Q
b) (see Figure 5) is set to the value shown in the left column of Table 2, the corresponding information pattern (Q) is displayed in the window (
15).

Table-1 Table-2 Next, the information pattern detection means will be explained.

Inside the guide part (3) of the paper feed cassette (1), there is a fourth
As shown in the figure, a set of six light-emitting elements (22) is attached to a portion of the cassette body (2) facing the window (15) via size display bands (18) and (20). This light emitting element (22) has an electrode (26).

(27) is connected. and an electrode (26).

(27) is connected to a main body power source (not shown) when the paper feed cassette (1) is attached to the copying machine main body (30) as shown in FIG.

In addition, when the paper feed cassette (+) is installed in the copying machine main body (30) as shown in FIG. It is installation. This light receiving element (25) is a light emitting element (22).
), and are connected to a control unit of the copying machine (not shown), and the control unit determines the copy mode based on the paper size signal input from the light receiving element (25). .

The operation of the paper feed cassette (1) having the above configuration will be explained below.

First, as shown in FIG.
).

Next, the stopper (7) of the regulating member (4) is released and the regulating plate (6) is positioned to match the rear end of the sheet (S). Similarly, the stopper (12) of the regulating member (10) is released and the regulating plate (11) is positioned to match the side edge of the paper (S).

At this time, as the regulating members (4) and (10) move, the size display bands (18) and (20) move, respectively, and when they are stopped, the information pattern corresponding to the size of the paper (S) ( p), (Q) are located in the window (15).

That is, as shown in Table 3, the paper feed cassette (1)
A4 size (210+I1mx 297ma+) paper (S) is facing vertically (i.e. (la = 297mm,
(Condition of lb = 210mm.) If it is accommodated in
Paper feed direction information pattern (P,
:000) and the width direction information pattern (Q,;○O・) of the size display band (20) are displayed in the window (15).

Paper feed cassette (1) containing paper (S) in this way
) is attached to the copying machine main body (30), as shown in Fig. 4, the light emitted from the light emitting element (22) passes through the hole part of . The 6-bit detection pattern shown in the right column is detected, and the paper size corresponding to this detection pattern is detected.

The light receiving element (25) converts the detection pattern into an electrical signal and outputs it as a paper size signal to the control unit,
Set the copier to the copy mode corresponding to the paper size using the control unit.

Table-3 A3 vertical 297x42Q P,
Q, ○○○A4 vertical 210x297
P-Qs OO○○O・ A4 horizontal 297×210 P, Q
I OO・○00 A5 vertical 148x210 Pa
Q? ○○・O・・ A5 horizontal 210X 148 P lo
Q s ○・・OO・ A6 Vertical 105x 148 P = o
Q s ○...O... B4 Vertical 257x361 Pt
QI ・00B5 Vertical 182X257
Pa Qs ・○OOO・ ・O・ B5 Horizontal 257 x 1g2 P s
Q30o.

B6 Vertical 128x1g2 Pt
Qs ・○・OO・ OO・ LEGAL Vertical 216x356 P・
Q4 ・o.

LETTER Vertical 2+6X279 Ps
Q4 ・OO・OO LETTER horizontal 279x216 P, Q ○○O・○○ In the above embodiment, size information was recorded by making small holes in the size display bands (18) and (20), respectively. , but is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the size display bands (18), (2
While forming white and black patterns respectively on the copying machine main body (0), the light receiving element (25) is integrated with the light emitting element (22)
30), from the light emitting element (22) to the size display band (1
8), (20) receives the reflected light from the light receiving element (
25), the paper size detection pattern may be detected.

In addition, magnets are arranged on the size display bands (18), (20) to form an information pattern, while the cassette body (2)
A magnetic sensor may be provided to detect the paper size.

Furthermore, by providing protrusions on the size display plates (1B) and (20) to mechanically turn the switch on and off, or by providing an electrically insulating part and a non-insulating part to turn the switch on and off. The paper size may also be detected by

In the above embodiment, the information pattern is read on the side of the paper feed cassette (1), but the information pattern is not limited to this, and it may be read on the front or rear of the paper feed cassette (1). As shown in Figure 6 when the paper cassette (1) is viewed from the back side, a detection sensor for reading the information pattern is provided at the bottom of the cassette body (2), and the size information is read in each area surrounded by dotted lines. Good too. In this case, if the size display boards (18) and (20) are set at different heights, they will not interfere with each other.

Further, in the above embodiment, the size display plate (18).

(20), and the paper size is determined from a 6-bit detection pattern that is a combination of these. However, the number of bits is not limited to this, and the pattern (array), detection The size is not limited to the above embodiments.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, the size display band (tS).

Although one end of (20) is pulled by springs (19) and (21), the size display bands (18) and (20') may be formed of a rigid thin metal plate. It's okay. In this way, the spring (
19) and (21) become unnecessary.

In the above embodiment, the regulating members (
4) and (10), but are not limited to this.
It may also be provided in only one direction.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the paper feeding device according to the present invention is capable of accurately detecting the size of the stored paper even if the size of the paper is changed, and is highly reliable. Since it does not require a large number of expensive sensors, it can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a paper feed cassette in a paper feed device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the paper feed cassette, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of a size display band. Fourth
The figure is a plan view showing the arrangement of the detection means, Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the paper feed cassette installed, Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing another arrangement of the size display band, and Fig. 7 is the size display. It is a figure which shows the other Example of the information pattern of a band. 1...Paper cassette, 2...Cassette body, 3...
・Guide part, 4.10...Regulation member, 5.11...
・Regulation plate, 18.20...Size display band, 22...
Light emitting element, 25... Light receiving element, 30... Copying machine, P
, Q... information pattern. Patent applicant Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. Agent
Person Patent attorney Aoyama Ao and 2 others No. 31!1 No. 5121 Figure 4 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a paper feeding device in which a regulating member is movably provided in a paper accommodating section so that paper of different sizes can be accommodated, size information of the paper is recorded in the paper feeding device, and one end of the regulating member is movably provided in the paper feeding device. a size display band that is attached to the member without sag and is movable in that direction as the regulation plate moves; and a detection unit that reads the size information and outputs a size signal to a control unit of the image forming apparatus. A paper feeding device characterized by being provided with.