Feeding device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12030737-B2
Application number	US-202117173015-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2021
Priority date	Feb 17, 2020
Publication date	Jul 9, 2024
Grant date	Jul 9, 2024

Abstract

A feeding device to transport a recording medium includes a main body having a drive source, a tray that is rotatably attached to the main body and on which the recording medium is to be loaded, a handling mechanism provided on the tray, an operation arm portion attached to the main body, and an operation lever provided on the tray so as to face the operation arm portion. The handling mechanism handles the recording medium. The operation arm portion moves in one direction along a rotation axis of the tray by a driving force from the drive source. The operation arm portion moves in the one direction so that the operation arm portion abuts on the operation lever and transmits the driving force to the operation lever so that the operation lever is pushed. The driving force received by the pushed operation lever is transmitted to the handling mechanism.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A feeding device transport a recording medium, the feeding device comprising:
a main body having a drive source;
a tray that is attached to the main body and on which the recording medium is to be loaded;
a side guide unit provided on the tray and configured to move in a width direction of the recording medium to align positions of edge portions of the recording medium loaded on the tray;
an operation arm portion attached to the main body and configured to move in the width direction by rotational movement from a cam follower configured to receive a driving force from the drive source; and
an operation lever configured to rotate around a rotation shaft and move the side guide unit in case the driving force is transmitted,
wherein the operation arm portion transmits the driving force to the operation lever in case that the operation arm portion abuts on the operation lever, and
wherein the tray is configured to rotate around a tray rotation axis of the tray, and the operation arm portion and the operation lever abut on each other at a position of the tray rotation axis.

2. The feeding device according to claim 1 , wherein the tray is a paper feed tray on which the recording medium to be supplied to the main body is to be loaded.

3. The feeding device according to claim 2 , further comprising side guides provided on the tray without extending onto a base of the main body and configured to be driven so as to be separated from the edge portions of the recording medium when the driving force is transmitted from the drive source.

4. The feeding device according to claim 3 , wherein the side guides are part of the side guide unit and are provided corresponding to a pair of sides of the recording medium.

5. The feeding device according to claim 4 , further comprising a friction member capable of regulating an interval between the side guides according to a width of the recording medium.

6. The feeding device according to claim 1 , wherein the tray is a paper discharge tray on which the recording medium discharged from the main body is to be stacked.

7. The feeding device according to claim 6 , further comprising side guides provided on the tray without extending onto a base of the main body and configured to be driven toward the edge portions when the driving force is transmitted from the drive source.

8. The feeding device according to claim 7 , wherein each of a plurality of alignment guides is provided corresponding to a pair of sides of the recording medium.

9. The feeding device according to claim 8 , further comprising a friction member capable of regulating an interval between the plurality of alignment guides according to a width of the recording medium.

10. The feeding device according to claim 1 , further comprising a fixing unit configured to fix an angle of the tray with respect to the main body around the tray rotation axis at a predetermined angle.

11. The feeding device according to claim 10 , wherein the fixing unit is configured to fix the angle of the tray at any of a plurality of angles.

12. The feeding device according to claim 11 , wherein one of the plurality of angles of the tray is an angle for transporting the recording medium in a horizontal direction.

13. The feeding device according to claim 1 , wherein the operation arm portion is configured to abut on the operation lever even as the operation lever rotates due to a change in an opening angle of the tray with respect to the main body.

14. The feeding device according claim 1 , wherein the operation arm portion and the operation lever abut on each other at a location adjacent to a tray rotation axis of tray but not on the tray rotation axis.

15. The feeding device according claim 1 , further comprising side guides provided on the tray without extending onto a base of the main body,
wherein the feeding device is one of an ink jet recording apparatus, a copier, and a facsimile, and the side guides are separated from the recording medium during a recording operation such that a back tension applied to a transported recording medium is reduced and recording medium transport accuracy is increased.

16. The feeding device according claim 1 ,
wherein the tray is configured to rotate relative to the main body around a tray rotation axis of the tray between a position where the tray can be stored in the main body when not in use and positions at predetermined angles where the tray is configured to feed recording media to a recording region, and
wherein the operation arm portion and the operation lever abut on each other, even when the operation arm portion and the operation lever rotate relative to each other around the tray rotation axis such that the operation arm portion transmits the driving force to the operation lever regardless of an angle of the tray.

17. The feeding device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first paper feed roller configured to feed a first recording medium loaded on a first paper feed unit to a recording head; and
a second paper feed roller configured to feed a second recording medium loaded on a second paper feed unit to the recording head,
wherein (i) a base of the main body is provided with the second paper feed roller, (ii) the second paper feed roller, the base, and the tray are part of the second paper feed unit, and (iii) a thickness of the second recording medium relative to a thickness of the first recording medium is such that the first paper feed unit is configured to feed the first recording medium and is configured not to feed the second recording medium.

18. A feeding device to transport a recording medium, the feeding device comprising:
a main body having a drive source;
a tray that is attached to the main body and on which the recording medium is to be loaded;
a side guide unit provided on the tray and configured to move in a width direction of the recording medium to align positions of edge portions of the recording medium loaded on the tray;
an operation arm portion attached to the main body and configured to move in the width direction by rotational movement from a cam follower configured to receive a driving force from the drive source; and
an operation lever configured to rotate around a rotation shaft and move the side guide unit in case the driving force is transmitted,
wherein the operation arm portion transmits the driving force to the operation lever in case that the operation arm portion abuts on the operation lever, and
wherein the operation arm portion is formed at one end of the cam follower that is rotatable around an axis orthogonal to the width direction and the other end of the cam follower is configured to abut on a cam driven by the drive source.

19. The feeding device according to claim 18 , wherein the cam is configured to be driven by the drive source and rotate around an axis parallel to the width direction.

20. A printing apparatus comprising:
a printing unit configured to perform printing on a recording medium;
a main body having the printing unit, a base, and a drive source;
a tray that is rotatably attached to the base and on which the recording medium is to be loaded;
a side guide unit having side guides provided on the tray without extending onto the base and configured to move relative to each other in a width direction of the recording medium to align positions of edge portions of the recording medium loaded on the tray;
an operation arm portion attached to the main body and configured to move in the width direction by rotatio

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Takahara Hiroyuki

Classifications

• B65H3/0669

  Driving devices therefor · CPC title

• B65H2403/51

  Cam mechanisms · CPC title

• B65H2403/53

  Articulated mechanisms · CPC title

• B65H2403/411

  Double rack cooperating with one pinion, e.g. for performing symmetrical displacement relative to pinion · CPC title

• B65H2403/512

  involving radial plate cam · CPC title