Paper feeding device

Abstract: A paper feeding device (10) for feeding a document on the document tray first by a preliminary feed roller (103) and next by a feed roller (102). Said preli­ minary feed roller (103) is normally pushed in a direction so as to press down the document. There is provided a guide member (104) for turning the preliminary feed roller (103) so as to move the preliminary feed roller (103) in the opposite direction to the direction of pressing down the document following an operation of putting a document on the document tray.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper feeding device to feed each sheet of image forming paper or document to an image processing apparatus such as copying machines and facsimile units. Image processing apparatus such as copying machines and facsimile units are hitherto provided with a paper feeding device having a paper cassette and/or a stack bypass enabling to set a number of sheets of image forming paper, and/or a paper feeding device having an automatic document feeder enabling to set a number of sheets of documents. Such a paper feeding device containing a stack bypass or an automatic document feeder has a preliminary feed roller and a feed roller and the preliminary feed roller is moved in opposite direction to paper pressing direction by a solenoid, a lever, a cam and the like under the condition where transmission of the driving force of the both rollers is cut off so that a number of sheets of paper can be set easily and exactly at the specified position. At paper feeding operation, the preliminary feed roller is moved in paper pressing direction by a solenoid, a lever, a cam and the like and the both rollers are driven under this condition so that the paper is carried sheet by sheet. By the composition to move the preliminary feed roller in paper pressing direction simply by applying force and without using any solenoid, lever, cam, or the like, the papers could be set rather easily at the specified position provided that the number of sheets of paper is comparatively small because the tangential direction of the preliminary feed roller at the point where the upper sheet of paper comes in contact is close to horizontal direction and the preliminary feed roller can be upwardly moved against the applied force. When the number of sheets of paper is increased, however, the tangential direction of the preliminary feed roller at the point where the upper top of paper comes in contact rises sharply and the vertical component of a force to upwardly move the preliminary feed roller against the applied force is quickly reduced, making it difficult to set the papers at the specified position. If the number of sheets of paper is further increased and the upper surface of the papers goes up to the level approximately equal to the center axis of the preliminary feed roller, it becomes almost impossible to move the preliminary feed roller against the applied force and paper can hardly be set at the specified position. However, by employing the above-mentioned mechanism to move the preliminary feed roller with a solenoid, a lever, a cam, and the like paper setting can be made easily. In GB-A-1 016 700 a mechanism of this kind is described in which the preliminary feed roller is lifted off the paper by means connected to a slidable tray holding the paper whenever the tray is withdrawn from the copying machine. However, the mechanism required for this purpose is quite complicated, necessitating bearings for the motion of the tray and an intricate structure for transmitting rotatory motion to the preliminary feed roller. However, it is desirable to have the paper tray of a stack bypass fixed, not only for ease and economy of manufacturing, but also for compactness of the image forming apparatus, as no additional space for extracting the tray is required. An object of the invention is to make the whole paper feeding device simple by eliminating the complicated mechanism to move the preliminary feed roller and the means to control that mechanism so as to make the manufacturing cost lower. It is also another object of the invention to prevent skewed paper feeding by raising the preliminary feed roller equally at the right and left sides in longitudinal direction thereof when paper is inserted. These objects are achieved by the invention as defined by claim 1. Preferably, the above guide member has on an end thereof a pushing section hanging at least over an end portion on the driving side of the shaft of the preliminary roller, and on the other end of the guide member a receiving section lying at least below the opposite end portion of the shaft of the preliminary roller. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows the outline of the internal mechanism of a copying machine provided with a paper feeding device of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the paper feeding device 10 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a schematic longitudinal section showing the condition of setting a small number of sheets of paper; Fig. 4 is a schematic longitudinal section showing the condition of setting a large number of sheets of paper; Fig. 5 is an enlarged and schematic longitudinal section showing a document tray, feed roller, and preliminary feed roller; Fig. 6 is an enlarged and schematic longitudinal section showing the document tray and feed roller; Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the mechanism to transmit revolution to the preliminary feed roller. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Fig. 1 shows the outline of the internal mechanism of a copying machine incorporated with a paper feeding device of the present invention. Of the whole housing 1 of the copying machine, the part incorporating the optical system 2 comprising a lamp, reflecting mirrors, and a lens is made wider and the other part incorporating the copying section 3 and the paper conveying section 4 is made narrower. To be more specific, a contact glass 11 to set documents to be copied is provided at the specified position on the housing 1 of the copying machine. The optical system 2 is composed of a lamp 21 to scan and expose documents while moving at a specified speed, reflecting mirrors 22, 23, 24 to lead the reflected light from the documents to a lens 25 while moving after the lamp 21, and a reflecting mirror 26 to lead the light coming through the lens 25 to the copying section 3. The copying section 3 comprises a photoreceptor drum 31 which turns in one direction at every copying operation, corona dischargers 32, a developing device 33, a transferring corona discharger 34, a separating belt 35 and a cleaner 36 provided around the photoreceptor drum 31. The paper conveying section 4 has the first paper feeding device 5 to feed out paper P sheet by sheet from the paper feed cassette 12 set on lower position of the copying section 3, a resist roller 41 driven synchronously with transferring of the lamp 21, a delivery roller 42 to carry the paper P separated from the photoreceptor drum 31 by the separating belt 35, a heating and fusing device 43, and a discharge roller 44 to discharge the paper P onto a discharge tray 15. A preliminary feed roller 103 to carry the paper P to the resist roller 41 and the 2nd paper feeding device 10 primarily made of a feed roller 102 are also attached to a specific position of a document tray 101 at a specific position of the copying machine housing 1 to enable selection of paper feed from the paper feed cassette 12 and from the document tray 101. Fig. 2 to Fig. 6 show details of the composition of the 2nd paper feeding device 10, which is primarily made of a document tray 101, feed roller 102, preliminary feed roller 103 and a guide member 104. The preliminary feed roller 103 comprises a plurality of friction rollers attached with certain spacing each other to a specified positions of a shaft 107 to which rotary force is transmitted through an idle gear 115 and a driving gear 116. Both ends of the shaft 107 are interlocked with a long hole 108a made at a specified position of a side plate 108 to press the preliminary feed roller in paper pressing direction by its own weight. Rotary force to the shaft 107 is transmitted only when the paper P is sensed by a limit switch 100. The guide member 104 is held at a specified position at paper insertion inside of the side plate (108) so as to turn freely. Top edges at both ends of the guide member (104) are projected respectively toward the shaft (107) to form a pushing section (104a) stretching out to the upper part of the driving side of the shaft (107) and also a receiving section (104b) stretching out to the bottom at the opposite side to the driving side of the shaft (107) so that the preliminary feed roller (103) can be moved upward without being inclined. The guide member (104) is reinforced by a rib (104c) provided on the upper face of the guide member (104). The feed roller (102) is attached to the down-stream side of the preliminary feed roller (103) comprising a center roller (102a) to prevent double feeding of the paper (P) exactly being pressed by a friction pad (112) attached to a specific position to the top end side of the document tray (101) and an auxiliary rollers (102b) at both sides of the center roller (102a) and attached to a shaft (102c). Like the above-mentioned friction pad (58) the friction pad (112) is narrower than the center roller (102a) and the edge is made to a tapered face (112a) parallel to feeding direction of the paper (P). For ordinary paper (P), only the center roller (102a) is used for paper feeding. When papers of high friction factor such as thick paper, second original, or OHP paper, the carrying force of the auxiliary rollers (102b) is applied to obtain higher carrying force than the friction with the friction pad (112) so as to ensure exact paper feeding. To be more in detail, the friction pad (112) is pressed upward by the spring (112b) to maintain contact with the center roller (102a). Corresponding to the auxiliary rollers (102b), a dent (102d) is made on the document tray (101), into which the auxiliary rollers (102b) sit to the extent that do not come in contact with the dent (102d). Between the center roller (102a) and the auxiliary roller (102b), and the doucment tray (101), the paper (P) is carried being caught by the rollers (102a) (102b) and the document tray (101), as shown by the alternate one-dot chain line in Fig. 6 so as to transmit the carrying force exactly. Since the auxiliary roller (102b) is not in contact with the dent (102d), the carrying force is somewhat lower than in the case where the roller is in direct contact with the dent, and double feeding of the paper is prevented. The mechanism to transit the rotary force from the driving power source not shown to the shaft (102c) is composed of a clutch (113) connected to one end of the shaft (102c) and a drive gear (114) to transmit the rotary force from the driving power source (not shown) to the clutch (113), and the shaft (102c) is driven only when the rotary force is tramsmitted to the clutch (113). A bend control plate (105) having dents (105a) (105b) at both ends is supported in a manner that the dents (105a) (105b) are interlocked respectively with the shafts (107) (102c), and the lower face (105c) of the bend control plate (105) under the supported condition in this manner comes close to the upper-most papers (P) set on the document tray (101). Accordingly, the spacing between the upper-most paper (P) and the lower face (105c) of the bend control plate (105) is kept approximately constant with no regard to the quantity of the paper (P). This prevents the paper (P) from being bent upward too much between the feed roller (102) and the preliminary feed roller (103) when carrying force is applied by the preliminary feed rollers (103) only. Only one sheet of the bend control plate (105) may be held at a position close to the center roller (102a). It is also possible to support a plurality of sheets of the bend control plate (105) with certain spacing or to bend the bend control plate (105) in the middle so that the interlocking positions with the shafts (102c)(107) are offset each other. The mechanism to tranmit the rotary force from the driving power source (not illustrated) to the shaft (107) is composed of an idle gear (115) attached to the shaft (102c) through a bearing (115a) so as to turn freely, and a driving gear (116) fixed to one end of the shaft (107) and interlocked with the idle gear (115), and is turned to the same direction as that of the shaft (102c). The document tray (101) has a notch (117) approximately at the center and in perpendicular direction to paper feeding, and a projection (119) on a side control plate (118) is interlocked with the notch (117) and is fastened with a stop ring (120). Accordingly, the side control plate (118) can slide freely along the notch (117). By fitting a cut mark (118a) suitably to paper size indication, one end of the paper (P) can be controlled by a vertical part (118b) rising vertically from the side control plate (118). Paper of a desired size can be fed by fitting the side control plate (118) to the desired size indication. To feed paper of A6 size, for example, fit the cut mark (118a) to A6 position. For feeding A4 size paper, move the side control plate (118) to the position shown by the two-dot chain line to fit the cut mark (118a) to A4 position. The other end of the paper is controlled by a control part (121) rising vertically from the document tray (101). Since the reference for the 2nd paper feeding device (10) is at the side of the control part (121),i.e. one end reference, the paper (P) is first put in contact with the control part (121) then the side control plate (118) is slided to control the side of the paper (P). A foldable projection (101a) is provided on the document tray (101) and the projection (101a) can be rotated freely around the shaft (122) (122). For large size paper, therefore, the projection (101a) is opened to support the paper (P) on the rear end. For small size paper, the projection (101a) is folded and the side control plate (118) slides on the projection (101a). The document tray (101) is attached to the side plates (108)(108) so as to turn freely around the fulcrum point (123). The top end of the document tray (101) is inclined downward to the down-stream side of paper feed so that the paper (P) can be inserted easily. After passing nearly the bottom of the preliminary feed roller (103), however, the document tray (101) turns upward and the inclination is increased gradually toward the downstream side with the 1st crest (124), the root (125), and 2nd crest (126) that are following for better transfer of paper and reaching to the part where the feed roller (102) comes in contact with the friction pad (112). As Fig. 5 indicates, the inclination from A1 right under the preliminary feed roller (103) to the 1st crest (124) is an easy slope and the height isn't very high. While the inclination from the root (125) to the 2nd crest (126) is a sharp slope and it is so arranged that the top of the 2nd crest (126) comes onto the extension from Al right under the preliminary feed roller (103) to A2 point of the 1st crest (124). If the number of sheets of paper (P) from the 2nd paper feeding device (10) is small, the paper (P) is sent as the preliminary feed roller (103) rotates, as shown in Fig. 3. Even after passing through A2 point, the paper does not fall down into the root (125) because of the firmness and goes to the top of the 2nd crest (126) as shown by one-dot chain line then is supported by the 1st and the 2nd crests (124) (126) to come in contact with a specified position of the feed roller (102), and the transfer stops. If the 1st crest (124) is not provided, in this case, it may possible that the paper (P) falls into the root (125) and does not come in contact with the feed roller (102). While a large number of sheets of paper (P) is fed, the paper (P) follows transfer of the preliminary feed roller (103), as shown in Fig. 4 , and falls into the root (125) because of its own weight, where the lower-most paper stops. Upper layers of the paper are inclined toward the feed roller (102). When the upper-most layer comes in contact with the feed roller (102) at a position not so far upward from the position where the feed roller (102) touches the friction pad (112), the paper carrying stops. Smooth paper feeding is ensured because the paper turns to stand-by condition while coming in contact with approximaely the same position of the feed roller (102) with no regard to the stacked number of sheets of the paper (P). According to a test by the inventors of the present invention, for reference, feeding of the paper (P) was most smooth when the angle ϑ1 from the upstream side of paper feeding of the document tray (101) to A1 point almost right under the preliminary feed roller (103) in Fig. 5 was set at about 10°, the angle ϑ2 from A1 point to A2 point of the 1st crest (124) at about 10°, the angle ϑ3 from A2 point to the lower-most end of the root (125) at about 7°, and the angle ϑ4 from the lower-most end of the root (125) to the upper-most end of the 2nd crest (126) at 25°. The 2nd paper feeding device (10) operates as described below. First the side control plate (118) is slided along the notch (117) so that the cut mark (118a) fits a desired paper size indication marked on the document tray (101), then paper is set. To set paper of especially large size, the projection (101a) is opened by turning around the shafts (122)(122) to support the paper on the rear end. The paper touches the limit switch (100) before reaching the guide member (104), the main motor starts turning and the revolution is transmitted to the idle gear (115) and further to the driving gear (116) to turn the preliminary feed roller (103). Accordingly, the paper is put in contact with the preliminary feed roller (103) going through the paper feed channel formed between the paper guide (104d) of the guide member (104) and the document tray (101) and is carried smoothly to the specified position. At this time, the driving gear (116) is rotated to R2 arrow direction by the rotary force transmitted to the driving gear (116) and lifting force is applied, by which the end at the driving side of the shaft (107) of the preliminary feed roller (103) is pushed upward. However, the upward motion is constrained to some extent by the pressure (104a) of the guide member (104). While the guide member (104) is rotated around the shaft (104e) by the force acting upon the pressing section (104a). Accordingly, the receiving section (104b) at the other end of the shaft (104e) is lited. After all, the preliminary delivery roller (103) is moved upward approximately in horizontal condition, and the paper (F) can be set at the specified position easily. When the number of sheets is small, the paper can be placed at a position easily carried by the feed roller (102) while being put in contact with the 1st and the 2nd creasts (124) (126) of the document tray (101). If the number of sheets of paper to be set is larger, the lower layer of the paper comes in contact with the root (125) and is prevented from advancing further, and only the upper layer of the paper is carried. Toward the upper layer, the paper is inclined and the main motor stops when the upper-most layer is put in contact with the specified position for easy carrying by the feed roller (102). Accordingly, the preliminary feed roller (103) is also stopped. When the copying start button (not illustrated) is then pushed, the main motor starts turning, the driving gear (114) of the feed roller (102) turns in R3 arrow direction following the main motor, and the clutch (113) is engaged. Then the rotary force is transmitted to the center roller (102a) and the auxiliary roller (102b). Following the idle gear (115) turning in R1 direction, the driving gear (116) of the preliminary feed roller (103) turns in R2 direction to assists paper feeding from the document tray (101) into the copying machine. At this time, the center roller (102a) is in contact with the friction pad (112) which is pressed from the bottom by a spring to prevent double paper feeding. For carrying papers of high friction coefficient, carrying is assisted by the auxiliary roller (102b). When the paper (P) is fed further through the paper feed channel (45) composed of the upper and lower guide plates, and at a specified time after front end of the paper touches the limit switch (60), the clutch (113) is disengaged to cut off transmission of the rotary force of the driving gear (114) to the feed roller (102), and the feed roller (102) comes to a stop. During the operation, front end of the paper (P) meets the resistance by the resist roller (41), by which diagonal paper feeding is prevented and the timing with exposure is controlled. As soon as the feed roller (102) comes to a stop, the resist roller (41) starts turning to carry the paper (P) toward the transfer section T of the photoreceptor drum (31). Although the guide member (104) is composed of the presser (104a) at one end of the shaft (104e) and of the receiver (104b) at the other end, it is also possible to compose the guide member (104) with a presser and a receiver provided respectively at both ends of the shaft (104e). The upper-stream side of the 1st crest (124) can be of any shape provided that the top end of the document tray (101) is formed as described above, i.e. the shape with the 1st and 2nd crests (124) (126), and a root (125) in-between. A sharp slope from the top of the 1st crest (124) to the root (125) is also acceptable. In the above embodiment, the auxiliary roller (102b) to assist paper feeding is provided at both sides of the center roller (102a) which is in contact with the friction pad (112). The invention, however, is not limit thereto and the rollers to assist paper feeding may be located at any position if it is on the center roller (102a). It may also possible to provide a pair of side control plates (118) so as to be interlocked in reverse direction each other and so that papers of different sizes are set approximately along the center line of the document tray (101) and to provide the center roller (102a) and the friction pad (112) corresponding to the center line. In this case, the guide member (104) can be of the composition having a plurality of receiving sections (104b) and no pressing section (104a). Fig. 7 shows an embodiment to transmit rotary force to the shaft (107) of the preliminary feed roller (103) through a ladder chain (105) and a sprocket (106). The sprocket (106) is provided with an interlocking projection (109) and the shaft (107) is provided with a pin (110) which can be interlocked with the interlocking projection (109). Accordingly, the shaft (107) can be rotated only when the sprocket (106) rotates and the pin (110) is interlocked with the interlocking projection (109). When the sprocket (106) is in stop, the preliminary feed roller (103) can be turned freely by almost 360° to the same direction as the turning direction of the sprocket (106). In other words, the paper (P) can be set smoothly onto the document tray (101) because the preliminary feed roller (103) turns following insertion of the paper (P) even when the roller is not driven. Accordingly, the limit switch (100) to detect the paper (P) can be positioned between the preliminary feed roller (103) and the feed roller (102), then the paper (P) can be sent out toward the resist roller (41) by rotating the feed roller (102) after detecting the paper (P) by the limit switch (100). It is also possible to insert a one-way bearing instead of the interlocking projection (109) and the pin (110). In the above embodiment, the 2nd paper feeding device (10) is applied to the stack by-pass mechanism. Even by applying the 2nd paper feeding device (10) to the automatic document feeder, smooth setting and exact feeding of documents can be practiced in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

Claims: A paper feeding device for an image-forming machine, to feed a paper in a paper feeding direction into the image-forming machine from a paper tray (101) mounted on the image-forming machine, said paper feeding device comprising a preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107); first mounting means (108, 108a) rotatably mounting said preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) on the image-forming machine adjacent to the downstream end of the paper tray (101), with respect to the paper feeding direction, while permitting said preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) to freely move up and down with respect to the paper tray (101); a second feed roller unit (102); second mounting means rotatably mounting said second feed roller unit on the image-forming machine downstream of said preliminary feed roller unit, with respect to the paper feeding direction; drive means (115, 116) for rotating said preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) to feed the top sheet from a paper pile on said paper tray in the paper feeding direction towards said second feed roller unit (102); and a guide member (104) holding the axis of the preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) horizontally, independent of its upward and downward movement with respect to the paper tray; characterized in that said drive means (115, 116) are operatively connected to detecting means (100) detecting the presence of paper (P) on the paper tray, said drive means (115, 116) driving the preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) when the detecting means (100) detects that paper has been put on the paper tray, whereby upon placement of a pile of one or more papers on the paper tray, said preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) is moved up in a substantially horizontal position and rotated to feed the top sheet of the pile toward the image-forming machine and into contact with the second feed roller unit (102) regardless of the height of the paper pile. A paper feeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that said guide member (104) comprises a pushing section (104a) extending over a first end-portion of the preliminary feed roller unit (103, 107) and a receiving section (104b) extending beneath a second end-portion of the preliminary feed roller unit.

Inventors: ABE YUJI, KAJIWARA MANABU, KANO ATSUSHI, MIZUNO MASAYUKI, NAKAMURA KAZUO, SAKAUE KENJI, ABE, YUJI, KAJIWARA, MANABU, KANO, ATSUSHI, MIZUNO, MASAYUKI, NAKAMURA, KAZUO, SAKAUE, KENJI
Applicants: MITA INDUSTRIAL CO LTD, MITA INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: G03G15
IPC codes: B65H3, B65H1, G03G15