JPH06227678A - Paper size detection device and paper feed cassette device having the detection function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] By continuously detecting the paper size,
(EN) Provided are a paper size detection device capable of measuring non-standard size paper and freeing the paper size in a paper feed cassette, and a paper feed cassette device having the detection function. [Structure] When a sheet 2 is set in a sheet cassette 3 and the fences 4, 5 and 6 are slid along the sheet 2, the leaf spring bosses move as the fences 4, 5 and 6 move. The pressing point of the touch pad 8 due to moves.
The voltage changes due to the movement of the pressing point, and the paper size is determined from the detected voltage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper size detecting device in a copying machine, a printing machine, a facsimile machine and the like, and a paper feeding cassette device having the detecting function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A paper size detecting mechanism in a conventional copying machine, printing machine, facsimile apparatus, etc. is shown in FIGS.
Will be described with reference to. As seen in a copying machine or a printing machine, in an apparatus of a type in which a paper feed cassette storing paper is attached to the main body of the apparatus to supply paper, the paper feed cassette 3
When 0 is inserted into the apparatus body, the bit 31 provided on the apparatus body insertion side of the sheet feeding cassette 30 depresses a switch 32 provided at a position suitable for various sheet sizes on the apparatus side to change the sheet size. There are things that I tried to detect. This is because if an arbitrary bit 31 is set up in advance in accordance with the size of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 30, the boss formed on the bit 31 when the paper feed cassette 30 is inserted into the apparatus main body. However, the switch 32 provided at a position facing the switch 32 is pressed down, and the paper size is recognized by the detection signal generated by the operation of the switch 32.

Further, as seen in a facsimile machine or the like, in an apparatus of a type in which a sheet (original) is placed on an original tray provided in the main body of the apparatus and the sheet is supplied from the tray, the original tray 33 is provided. When the formed paper guide 34 is slid in a direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction to match the width of the paper, the boss 35 provided on the paper guide 34 is a switch provided at a position suitable for various paper sizes on the main body side. By pressing 36, the paper size is detected. Further, there is one that detects a paper size by using a photo sensor instead of the switch 36.

[0004]

However, in the former case, since the bit provided in the paper feed cassette has a switching structure, the bit of the paper feed cassette is set by the user every time a different size paper is used. However, if the switching operation is erroneous, the correct paper size cannot be detected. In addition, the switch that is turned on determines the preset paper size such as "letter", "legal", "A4", "B5", and supports non-standard size paper. Can not do it. Also in the latter case, similarly, since the sheet size is detected by the switch or the photo sensor, the sheet detection positions are discontinuous, and it is not possible to deal with non-standard size sheets. Furthermore, if the structure is such that the paper size is detected by the switch and the photosensor, a plurality of switches and photosensors are required depending on the type of the paper size, which is disadvantageous in cost and complicates the control mechanism.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-203032, a paper size can be detected only by placing a paper guide along the paper, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-102335 discloses. As described, there are some that determine the paper size by pressing the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber, but these also correspond to non-standard size paper because the paper detection position becomes discontinuous like the above. Can not do it. The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and by continuously detecting the paper size, it is possible to measure a non-standard size paper and free the paper size in a paper feed cassette. Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper feed cassette device having the detection function.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is a sheet storage section capable of storing a plurality of types of sheets having different sizes, and a conductive member attached to the sheet storage section. A paper regulating fence that regulates and positions the paper so that it can accommodate a plurality of types of paper of different sizes accommodated in the paper accommodating section; And a pressing portion that makes a physical contact, and the size of the sheet is detected based on electric signals from the conductive member and the pressing portion. The invention according to claim 2 is the paper size detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive member is a pressure-sensitive touch pad.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper feed cassette device which is attachable to and detachable from a paper feed device. A conductive member, and a paper regulating fence that regulates and positions the paper so as to be compatible with a plurality of types of paper having different sizes stored in the paper storage unit; A pressing unit that makes electrical contact with the conductive member is provided, and has a function of detecting the size of the sheet based on an electric signal from the conductive member and the pressing unit. In addition, claim 4
The invention according to claim 3 is the paper feed cassette device according to claim 3, wherein the pressing portion comes into contact with the conductive member when the paper feed cassette device main body is attached to the paper feed device. Furthermore, the invention of claim 5 is the paper feed cassette device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the conductive member is a pressure-sensitive touch pad.

[0008]

According to the above structure, the conductive member provided in the paper storage unit capable of storing a plurality of types of paper having different sizes, and the paper regulation fence for regulating and positioning the paper stored in the paper storage unit. The pressing portion provided so as to move together makes electrical contact, and the paper size can be detected based on the electric signals from the conductive member and the pressing portion.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the structure of a paper feed cassette device having a paper size detection function according to an embodiment of the present invention. The sheet feeding cassette device 1 shown here is of a type in which the sheets 2 are aligned and stored on the front side of the sheet feeding cassette 3 in the sheet feeding direction. Two side fences 4 and 5 and one end fence 6 which respectively regulate the width direction and the length direction of the paper 2.
Are slidably guided by a guide groove 7 formed in the bottom portion of the paper feed cassette 3. In the side fences 4 and 5, when one fence is slid in a direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction, the other fence is also interlocked with it and slid in opposite directions. A pressure-sensitive touch pad (hereinafter referred to as a touch pad) 8 which is a conductive member is provided on the back surface of the bottom of the paper feed cassette 3 in parallel with each guide groove 7 for guiding the right side fence 5 and the end fence 6. And are respectively arranged with a predetermined width.

As shown in FIG. 2, side fences 4, 5
The lower part of the end fence 6 and the lower part of the end fence 6 are bent at right angles to form a sliding piece 9, whereby the fence 4,
Reference numerals 5 and 6 are attached to the bottom of the paper feed cassette 3. Further, the sliding pieces 9 of the right side fence 5 and the end fence 6 are provided with a leaf spring 11 having a boss 10 for pressing the touch pad 8 from below protruding upward. As a result, the touch pad 8 is always pressed by the boss 10 at an arbitrary point, and the pressed point moves along with the movement of the fences 5, 6.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the touch pad 8 taken along the longitudinal direction. Touchpad 8 is plate 1
2, a pattern layer 13 disposed on the pattern layer 13, and a sheet top 14 that covers them. The pattern layer 13 is composed of three layers of a pattern a (conductive film) 15, a pattern b (insulating film) 16, and a pattern c (resistive film) 17, and presses the touch pad 8 from above the pattern (a) 15. By doing so, the pattern (a) 15 and the pattern (c) 17 are brought into contact with each other to be electrically connected.
Further, a double-sided tape 18 is provided on the sheet top 14 on the side opposite to the pattern layer 13 with the plate 12 interposed therebetween,
The touch pad 8 can be attached to the paper feed cassette 3. FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of the touch pad 8 having the above configuration. A voltage obtained by dividing the voltage of 5 V applied to the pattern (c) 17 is output to the output terminal according to the position of the pressing point, whereby the position of the pressing point can be detected.

The sheet feeding cassette device 1 configured as described above
In the above, when the paper 2 is set in the paper feed cassette 3 and the side fences 4, 5 and the end fence 6 are slid along the paper 2, the respective fences 4, 5
With the movement of 5 and 6, the pressing point between the boss 10 of the leaf spring 11 and the touch pad 8 moves. The voltage changes due to the movement of the pressing point, and the voltage extracted from the pressing point is input to a determination circuit (not shown). Since the paper size information corresponding to the detection voltage is input in advance to the paper feeding device 1, the paper size is determined from the detection voltage based on the information, and the paper size is displayed on a display device (not shown) or the like. indicate.

In this way, the fences 5 and 6 that use the touch pad 8 as a sensor to regulate and position the paper 2
Since the touch pad 8 is pressed by the boss 10 disposed in the above, the paper size can be automatically detected only by placing the side fences 4, 5 and the end fence 6 along the paper 2. Further, by using the touch pad 8, the paper size can be continuously detected,
It also enables measurement of non-standard size paper and free paper size in the paper cassette. Moreover, since it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of switches and photosensors according to the paper size, the control mechanism is simplified and the cost is low.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in this embodiment, the side and the end fences 5, 6 are slid while the boss 10 of the leaf spring 11 keeps pressing the touch pad 8, but as another embodiment, the leaf spring 11 is used. Instead of the above, as shown in FIG. 5, a pressing member 21 having a boss 20 for pressing the touch pad 8 from below and a release lever 22 for releasing the pressing are integrally formed, and the fulcrum 2
The structure may be such that the pressing can be released by rotating around 3. The release lever 22 and the pressing member 21 are laid flat on the fences 5 and 6, and move together with the fences 5 and 6. In a normal state, the boss 2
As if the touch pad 8 is pressed at 0, it is urged in the arrow direction by the compression spring 24. When the fences 5 and 6 are moved, the release lever 22 is rotated in a direction opposite to the urging direction of the compression spring 24, whereby the pressing of the touch pad 8 by the boss 20 can be released.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a U-shaped latch plate 25 may be provided on the fences 5 and 6 to detect the paper size and the presence or absence of the paper 2. The touch pad 8 is provided on the surface of the bottom of the paper feed cassette 3, and a boss 26 that presses the touch pad 8 from above is formed on the surface of the latch plate 25 that faces the touch pad 8. As shown in (a) of FIG. 6, a tension spring 27 is provided on the fences 5 and 6 and the latch plate 25, and the tension force of the tension spring 27 causes the boss to move when the sheet 2 is not set. Two
The latch plate 25 is provided with a habit so that the touch pad 8 is not pressed down at 6. Then, FIG. 6B
As shown in, when the fences 5 and 6 are placed along the paper 2,
When the latch plate 25 comes into contact with the end of the sheet 2 and moves against the pulling force of the pulling spring 27, the touch pad 8 is pressed by the boss 26 and the sheet size is detected.
Further, since the touch pad 8 is pressed only when the paper 2 is set, the presence / absence of the paper 2 can be detected.

Further, in this embodiment, the boss which is the pressing portion is always in contact with the pressure-sensitive touch pad. However, the pressure-sensitive touch pad is not provided until the paper cassette is attached to the main body of the apparatus. You may make it the structure which contacts with.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the conductive member is pressed by the pressing portion provided on the paper regulating fence, it is possible to automatically move the paper regulating fence along the paper. It can detect the paper size. Further, since the conductive member is used as the sensor, it is possible to continuously detect the paper size, and it is possible to measure the non-standard size paper and free the paper size in the paper feed cassette.
Further, since it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of switches and photosensors according to the paper size, the control mechanism is simplified,
It is also cheap in terms of cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paper feed cassette device having a paper size detection function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the paper feeding cassette device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a touch pad according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of the touch pad according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a paper feeding cassette device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a paper feed cassette device according to another embodiment, in which (a) is a state in which no paper is set,
(B) shows a state in which the paper is set.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a sheet feeding cassette device having a sheet size detecting function according to a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a main part of a paper feed cassette device having a paper size detection function according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Paper feed cassette 4 Side fence 5 Side fence 6 End fence 8 Pressure sensitive touch pad 10 Boss 11 Leaf spring

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A paper storage unit capable of storing a plurality of types of paper of different sizes, a conductive member attached to the paper storage unit, and a plurality of types of paper of different sizes stored in the paper storage unit. In order to be able to do so, a sheet regulation fence that regulates and positions the sheet, and a pressing section that moves together with the sheet regulation fence and makes electrical contact with the conductive member, from the conductive member and the pressing section. A sheet size detecting device for detecting the size of the sheet based on the electric signal of. 2. The paper size detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive member is a pressure-sensitive touch pad. 3. A paper feed cassette device that is detachable from a paper feed device, and includes a paper storage unit capable of storing a plurality of types of paper of different sizes, and a conductive member attached to the paper storage unit. A paper regulating fence that regulates and positions the paper so as to accommodate a plurality of types of paper having different sizes accommodated in the paper accommodating section; And a pressing unit that makes physical contact, and has a function of detecting the size of the sheet based on an electric signal from the conductive member and the pressing unit. 4. The sheet feeding cassette device according to claim 3, wherein the pressing portion comes into contact with the conductive member when the sheet feeding cassette device main body is mounted on the sheet feeding device. . 5. The paper feed cassette device according to claim 3, wherein the conductive member is a pressure-sensitive touch pad.