Sheet media supply and use device

Abstract

To provide a sheet-like medium supply device that can lifts / lowers a long loading portion while maintaining the entire balance, as compared with a case in which lifting / lowering means does not attach a linear material to an extended part in the long loading portion, when a loading portion of sheet-like media vertically lifted / lowered by the lifting / lowering means is changed to the long loading portion that is extended to a carrying direction upstream side of the sheet-like media than before the change and can load long sheet-like media.SOLUTION: A supply device is equipped with a housing, a loading portion that is disposed in the housing so as to vertically move, and on which sheet-like media are loaded, lifting / lowering means that hangs and vertically lifts / lowers the loading portion with a linear material, and carrying means that carries the sheet-line media loaded on the loading portion. The loading portion can be changed to a long loading portion capable of loading long sheet-like media. The lifting / lowering means attaches the linear material to both a part corresponding to the loading portion before the change and an extended part in the long loading portion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet media supply and usage device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a feeding device capable of feeding long sheet media such as long paper that is longer than standard size paper such as A4 size or A3 size has been known, for example, as described in Patent Document 1 below.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a paper feeder equipped with a long paper option having an extension bottom plate as an extension plate that extends the upstream side of the tray bottom plate as a loading plate on which paper is loaded in the paper transport direction to load long paper. It is disclosed that the long paper option is equipped with an extension bottom plate, a long paper stand fixed to a housing, and an opening and closing cover. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6384275 (Claim 1, paragraph 0010, paragraph 0022, Figures 3-7, etc.) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-like material supplying device and a sheet-like material usage device that, when the sheet-like material loading section, which is raised and lowered by a lifting means, is changed to a long loading section that is extended upstream in the discharge direction of the sheet-like material from before the change and can load long sheet-like media, can raise and lower the long loading section while maintaining its overall balance, compared to when the lifting means does not attach a linear material to the extended part of the long loading section. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The sheet medium supply device of the present invention (1) comprises: A housing and a loading section disposed within the housing so as to be movable up and down, on which sheet-like media is loaded; a lifting means for lifting the loading section up and down by suspending the loading section by a linear member; a conveying means for conveying the sheet medium loaded on the loading section; Equipped with The stacking section has an end portion corresponding to the upstream side in the conveying direction of the sheet-like medium extended toward the upstream side from before the change. , the length at the time of discharge is longer than 488 mm It can be changed to a long-length stacking section that can stack long sheet-like media, The long-length stacking section is composed of a dedicated stacking section disposed inside the housing and an additional stacking section additionally provided at an end portion on the upstream side of the dedicated stacking section in the carrying-out direction. , the additional loading section is disposed in a state in which at least an upstream end of the extended portion in the discharge direction protrudes outward from a side portion of the housing, The lifting means is The wire is placed at four locations, two on each side of the left and right ends of the dedicated loading unit in a direction intersecting with the discharge direction, and one on each side of the left and right ends of the additional loading unit in a direction intersecting with the discharge direction. Installed It is something .

[0007] The sheet medium supply device of the present invention (2) is A housing and a loading section disposed within the housing so as to be movable up and down, on which sheet-like media is loaded; a lifting means for lifting the loading section up and down by suspending the loading section by a linear member; a conveying means for conveying the sheet medium loaded on the loading section; Equipped with the stacking section is changeable to a long stacking section in which an end portion corresponding to the upstream side in the discharge direction of the sheet-like medium is extended toward the upstream side from before the change, and which is capable of stacking long sheet-like media whose length at the time of discharge is longer than 488 mm; The long load section is A replacement loading section is configured to be installed in place of a dedicated loading section disposed inside the housing. , the replacement stacking section is disposed in a state in which at least an end portion of the extended portion on an upstream side in the carrying-out direction protrudes outward from a side portion of the housing, The lifting means attaches the linear material to two locations, one each of the left and right ends of a portion of the replacement loading section that corresponds to the dedicated loading section in a direction intersecting with the carrying-out direction, and one each of the left and right ends of a portion of the replacement loading section that extends beyond the dedicated loading section in a direction intersecting with the carrying-out direction, and one each of the left and right ends of the portion of the replacement loading section that extends beyond the dedicated loading section in a direction intersecting with the carrying-out direction. .

[0008] The sheet medium supplying device of the present invention (3) is the supplying device of the above invention (1), The lifting means is configured to attach the wire to two locations, one on each of the left and right ends of the dedicated loading section in a direction intersecting with the carrying-out direction, and one on each of the left and right ends of the additional loading section in a direction intersecting with the carrying-out direction, for a total of two locations. .

[0009] The sheet medium supplying device of the present invention (4) is the supplying device of any one of the above inventions (1) to (3), wherein the lifting means is The wire is attached to the portion corresponding to the load portion before the change and the wire is attached to the extended portion. .

[0010] The sheet medium supplying device of the present invention (5) is the supplying device of any one of the above inventions (1) to (3), wherein the lifting means is The wire is attached to the portion corresponding to the loading portion before the change. The wire is wound and unwound by a first winding means, and the wire is attached to the extended portion. .

[0011] The sheet-like medium of this invention (6) use The device is a sheet medium supply device that conveys and supplies the loaded sheet medium; a processing device that processes the sheet medium supplied from the supply device; Equipped with The sheet-like medium supply device is configured to include any one of the sheet-like medium supply devices according to the above inventions (1) to (5). . Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the sheet-like medium supply device of the above-mentioned invention (1), the sheet-like medium stacking section Length when unloaded is greater than 488mm Capable of loading long sheet media It consists of a dedicated loading section and an additional loading section. When changing to a long loader, the lifting means Two additional loading sections are extended and one end is positioned so that it protrudes outward from the side of the case. Compared to when no wire is attached, The long load section, which is made up of a dedicated load section and an additional load section, can be raised and lowered in a stable state while maintaining its overall balance.

[0018] The above invention (2) Sheet media supply device According to When the above-mentioned sheet media loading section is changed to a replacement loading section capable of loading long sheet media whose length at the time of discharge is longer than 488 mm and is attached in place of the dedicated loading section, the lifting means can mount the replacement loading section with a simpler configuration than when the wire is not attached to at least two points on the extended part of the replacement loading section, namely, the part that protrudes outward from the side of the housing. It can be raised and lowered while maintaining its overall balance.

[0019] The above invention ( 3 ) According to the lifting means, Compared to the case where the wires are not attached to the two additional loading sections, this is a simpler configuration consisting of a dedicated loading section and an additional loading section. The long load section can be raised and lowered while maintaining its overall balance.

[0020] The above invention ( 4 ) According to the lifting means, The present invention is simpler than the case where there is no winding means for winding and unwinding both the wire attached to the portion corresponding to the load portion before the change and the wire attached to the portion extended from before the change. To enable a long load section to be raised and lowered while maintaining its overall balance with a simple configuration.

[0021] The above invention ( 5 ) according to Compared to a case where the lifting means does not have a first winding means for winding and unwinding the wire attached to the portion corresponding to the loading section before the change, and a second winding means for winding and unwinding the wire attached to the portion extended from before the change, The long load section can be lifted and lowered in a stable state while maintaining its overall balance.

[0022] The above invention ( 6 ) Apparatus for using sheet media According to Compared with a case where the sheet-like medium supplying device is not configured to include any one of the supplying devices according to the above inventions (1) to (5), the sheet-like medium can be easily fed even if it is long.The long load section is kept in balance. After lifting, the material is steadily supplied to the processing equipment. It is possible. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing an apparatus for using a sheet medium according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a side view showing a sheet medium supplying device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which an additional device is attached to the supply device of FIG. 2. FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an opening / closing member and an opening / closing section of the supplying device in FIG. 3 are opened. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a side view showing a portion of the interior of the supply device of FIG. 3. [Figure 6] 4 is a perspective view showing a long-length stacking unit in the supply device and the adding device in FIG. 3; FIG. [Figure 7] 6 is a side view showing a part including an elevation means inside the supply device of FIG. 5. FIG. [Figure 8] 4 is a side view mainly showing a long-length stacking unit and a lifting means in the supply device of FIG. 3. [Figure 9] 4 is a schematic plan view showing a long-length stacking unit and a lifting means in the supply device of FIG. 3. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a loading section and a lifting means in the supply device of FIG. 3 before modification. [Figure 11] 1A is a schematic plan view showing the loading section before modification, and FIG. 1B is a schematic plan view showing the long loading section after modification. [Figure 12] FIG. 4(A) is a schematic side view showing the operation of the supply device in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4(B) is a schematic side view showing a state during an operation different from that in FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a side view mainly showing a long stacking unit and a lifting means in a supply device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 14] 4 is a schematic plan view showing a long-length stacking section in the supplying device of FIG. 3. [Figure 15]13A is a side view mainly showing a long-length stacking unit and a lifting means in a supplying device according to a modified example of the second embodiment, and FIG. 13B is a schematic plan view showing the long-length stacking unit in the supplying device of FIG. [Figure 16] FIG. 13(A) is a side view mainly showing a long-length stacking unit and a lifting means in a supplying device according to embodiment 3, and (B) is a schematic plan view showing the long-length stacking unit in the supplying device of (A). [Figure 17] FIG. 11 is a side view mainly showing a long stacking unit and a lifting means in a supply device according to embodiment 4. [Figure 18] 18(A) is a schematic plan view showing the loading section before modification in FIG. 17, and (B) is a schematic plan view showing the long loading section after modification in FIG. [Figure 19] 13A is a schematic plan view showing a loading section before modification in a modified example, and FIG. 13B is a schematic plan view showing a long loading section as a modified example. [Figure 20] 13 is a side view mainly showing a long stacking unit and a lifting means in a supply device of a modified example. FIG. [Figure 21] FIG. 4 is a side view mainly showing a long stacking unit and a lifting means in a supply device of a comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0029] Embodiment 1 Fig. 1 shows a sheet-medium using device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 shows a sheet-medium supplying device 1 according to the first embodiment. In the following description, the direction indicated by the arrow X in the drawings is the width direction of the device, the direction indicated by the arrow Y is the height direction of the device, and the direction indicated by the arrow Z is the depth direction of the device perpendicular to the width and height directions. The circle at the intersection of the arrows X and Z in the drawings indicates that the depth direction of the device (arrow Z) faces downward perpendicular to the drawing.

[0030] <Devices using sheet media> As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet media usage device 100 includes a sheet media supply device 1 that carries out and supplies stacked sheet media 9, and a processing device 120 that processes the sheet media 9 supplied from the supply device 1. The sheet medium 9 is a medium in a sheet form that can be stored and discharged by the supply device 1 and transported and processed by the processing device 120. Reference numeral 200 shown in Fig. 1 denotes an installation surface where the image forming system 100A and the like are installed.

[0031] The sheet-like medium using device 100 in the first embodiment employs an image forming device 120A that forms an image on a sheet-like medium 9 as a processing device 120, and is configured as an image forming system 100A in combination with a supply device 1 in connection therewith. In the first embodiment, the sheet medium 9 is a recording medium on which an image can be formed, such as paper, coated paper, film, foil, or sheet-like cloth cut to a predetermined size.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming device 120A, which is an example of a processing device 120, is configured to include an image forming unit 123A that forms an image on a sheet-like medium 9 as an example of a processing unit 123, a transport path Rt that transports the sheet-like medium 9 within the housing 121, and the like, inside a housing 121 having a required external shape.

[0033] The image forming unit 123A is a part configured by an image forming method such as an electrophotographic method or an ink recording method, but is not particularly limited in terms of its image forming method, arrangement, number, etc. Rt1 shown by a dashed line in Fig. 1 is an introduction conveyance path that conveys the sheet medium 9 supplied from the supply device 1 to the image forming unit 123A, and is configured by conveyance rolls 125, a conveyance guide, etc. Rt2 shown by a dashed line is an ejection conveyance path that conveys the sheet medium 9 that has passed through the image forming unit 123A to an unillustrated storage unit or post-processing unit, and is configured by unillustrated conveyance rolls, a conveyance guide, etc.

[0034] In this image forming system 100A, when sheet-like medium 9 is supplied from a supply device 1 to an image forming device 120A, which is an example of a processing device 120, an image is formed on the supplied sheet-like medium 9 in the image forming device 120A, which is an example of processing. 1, the image forming apparatus 120A may have an internal sheet medium supply unit 160 arranged inside the housing 121 to store the sheet medium 9 and supply it to the image forming unit 123A. When the internal supply unit 160 is arranged, a second introduction conveying path Rt3 is provided between the internal supply unit 160 and the image forming unit 123A. Even when the image forming apparatus 120A has the internal supply unit 160 arranged, it is possible to use the sheet medium supply unit 1 in combination with an external supply unit.

[0035] <Sheet media supply device> As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the sheet medium supplying device 1 has a housing 10 which serves as a main body for accommodating and supplying a sheet medium 9. Furthermore, this supply device 1 is configured so that an add-on device 6 that enables long sheet media 9B to be stacked and stored on a side portion 10S of the housing 10 can be attached later. Here, the long sheet medium 9B refers to a medium having a length longer than the normal sheet medium 9A having a normal length (the length along the discharge direction D or the feed length described below) that can be loaded and stored inside the housing 10. The normal length refers to a length that can be handled inside the housing 10 (specifically, loaded on the loading section 20A described below), and is, for example, a length of 488 mm or less.

[0036] <Main body of the supply device> The housing 10 is composed of a support frame that forms a required framework, exterior panels that form the exterior appearance, etc. Broadly speaking, as shown in Figures 1 to 4, the housing 10 has a structure that includes an upper portion 11, two upper and lower (upper and lower) supply units 12 and 13 that exist below the upper portion 11, and an unloading unit 14 that exists at one end of the upper portion 11 and the supply units 12 and 13.

[0037] An opening / closing member 15 for opening and closing the loading space S1 in the upper supply section 12 is provided on the upper surface of the upper section 11 of the housing 10 on the side opposite to the unloading section 14. The opening / closing member 15 is structured to be opened and closed by swinging it up and down via a hinge disposed at the end on the side where the discharge section 14 is located. The opening / closing member 15 is also provided with a handle 15a at the end on the opposite side to the discharge section 14 for releasing the locked state in the closed state (FIG. 3). As a result, when the opening / closing member 15 is held by gripping the handle 15a and lifted upward, a latch mechanism (not shown) is released and the opening / closing member 15 is placed in an open state (FIG. 4). Reference numeral 15b in FIG. 4 denotes a damper that assists the opening operation of the opening / closing member 15 and maintains the open state.

[0038] 3 and other figures, the opening / closing member 15 is provided surrounded by the front wall 11A, the rear wall 11B, and the top surface 11C between the front wall 11A and the rear wall 11B that constitute the upper portion 11. A notch 11E is formed in the front wall 11A at a portion that overlaps with the closed opening / closing member 15, so as to open the loading space S1 to the outside as much as possible. Furthermore, the opening / closing member 15 is provided with a manual feed section 16 on which normal sheet-like media 9A for manual feeding is placed and fed.

[0039] As shown in Figures 2, 5, 7, 8, etc., both the upper supply section 12 and the lower supply section 13 in the housing 10 are equipped with containers 17A, 17B such as trays, loading sections 20A, 20B for loading normal sheet-like media 9A (Figure 1), a lifting means 30 for raising and lowering the loading sections 20A, 20B up and down inside the containers 17A, 17B, and discharge means 40A, 40B for discharging the normal sheet-like media 9A loaded on the loading sections 20A, 20B, respectively, in the direction indicated by arrow D (discharging direction D) toward the discharge section 14.

[0040] The containers 17A and 17B are attached to the front side of the housing 10 (upstream side in the device depth direction Z) so as to be removable. The containers 17A and 17B are composed of a main body 170 (FIG. 10) having a box-like shape with open sides, a front wall 172 provided on the side surface on the front side of the main body 170, a leading end wall 173 that guides the vertical movement of the end portions on the downstream side in the conveying direction D of the stacking units 20A and 20B and aligns and positions the leading ends on the downstream side in the conveying direction D of the normal sheet-like media 9A loaded on the stacking units 20A and 20B, and a moving device such as a slide rail and a latch mechanism (not shown) provided between the left and right side portions in the pull-out direction of the main body 170 and the inner wall portion of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 10, a notched recess 173b is formed in the center of the upper end of the tip wall 173, which makes it possible to check the presence of normal sheet media 9A loaded on the loading sections 20A and 20B.

[0041] Containers 17A and 17B have handle openings 175 at the top of front wall 172, and a handle (not shown) is provided inside handle opening 175 for unlocking containers 17A and 17B stored in housing 10. As a result, containers 17A and 17B are pulled out to the outside of housing 10 by pulling them towards the front of housing 10 while gripping handle opening 175 and the handle, making it possible to load normal sheet media 9A on loading sections 20A and 20B. Incidentally, in the supply device 1, when the additional device 6 is attached, the handle opening 17 in the front wall portion 172 of the upper supply section 12 is blocked, making it impossible to pull out the container 17A.

[0042] The stacking units 20A and 20B are configured as plate-like members with a stacking surface 21 formed on the upper portion for stacking normal sheet media 9A, and are disposed within the containers 17A and 17B so as to be vertically movable.

[0043] 9, 10, 11(A), etc., stacking section 20A is provided with four hanging sections 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d that protrude outward at the left and right ends of stacking section 20A. Hanging sections 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d are provided at four locations in total, two on each side of left and right ends in left and right directions L and R that intersect with the discharge direction D in which normal sheet media 9A in stacking section 20A is discharged by discharge means 40A. In the first embodiment, the right direction R corresponds to the near side (front side) of the device, and the left direction L corresponds to the far side (rear side) of the device.

[0044] 7, 8, 10, etc., the loading section 20A is attached in a state in which the hanging sections 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d are fitted into four guide holes 174 provided in the front and back sidewalls of the main body 170 of the container 17A from the inside of the container 17A. The guide holes 174 are provided, for example, as penetrating rectangular openings that extend linearly a required length in the up-down direction (directions toward the downstream and upstream sides of the height direction Y of the device) indicated by the dashed double arrow (FIG. 10).

[0045] As a result, loading section 20A can move up and down within main body 170 of container 17A with hanging sections 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d guided along guide holes 174. In addition, loading section 20A can move only by the vertical length of guide hole 174.

[0046] The above-mentioned configuration for the vertical movement of the loading section 20A is also adopted for the loading section 20B in a substantially similar manner. The guide hole 174 may be a guide groove having a linearly extending groove shape instead of a through-hole shape.

[0047] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 2, 4, 6, etc., the loading sections 20A, 20B are equipped with left and right side walls 25L, 25R that contact the left and right ends of the normal sheet-like media 9A loaded on the loading surface 21 and guide the left and right ends along the discharge direction D, and a rear end wall 26 that aligns and positions the rear end of the normal sheet-like media 9A that is upstream of the discharge direction D.

[0048] The side walls 25L, 25R have contact surfaces 251 (FIG. 5) that come into contact with the left and right side edges of normal sheet-like media 9A, and are entirely provided at the bottom of the main body 170 of the containers 17A, 17B so as to be movable in the left and right directions L, R. This allows the side walls 25L, 25R to be adjusted to move to positions that correspond to the left and right side edges of the sheet-like media 9A. The rear end wall 26 has a contact surface that comes into contact with the rear end of a normal sheet medium 9A, and the entire wall is provided so as to be movable relative to a slide groove provided in the fixed surface portion 21A of the loading surface 21 along the discharge direction D. This allows the rear end wall 26 to be adjusted to move to a position that matches the position of the rear end of the sheet medium 9A. When the additional device 6 is attached, the rear end wall 26 is stored in a required location (for example, the raised portion 78 described below).

[0049] In accordance with the moving structure of the side walls 25L, 25R, the loading sections 20A, 20B have the loading surface 21 with the following two types of surface configuration. That is, the loading surface 21 is composed of a fixed surface portion fixedly disposed in a central position in the left-right directions L, R in a form extending along the discharge direction D, and a plurality of sliding surface portions provided on both the left and right sides of the fixed surface portion so as to slide in the left-right directions L, R in accordance with the movement of the side walls 25L, 25R. The surface configuration of the loading surface 21 in the loading sections 20A, 20B is also adopted in the loading surface 72 of the dedicated loading section 71 of the long loading section 70A described later (FIGS. 6 and 9).

[0050] Furthermore, the side walls 25L, 25R are provided on the contact surfaces 251 with a plurality of air outlets 50 for discharging air to be blown against the left and right side edges of the normal sheet media 9A loaded on the stackers 20A, 20B. In the supply units 12, 13, air is discharged and blown from the air outlets 50, so that air is blown against an upper portion of the normal sheet media 9A loaded on the stackers 20A, 20B, causing the upper portions of the sheet media 9A to be separated from each other vertically.

[0051] Furthermore, the side walls 25L, 25R are provided on their contact surfaces 251 with a plurality of limiting means 55 that contact the upper surface of the left and right side edges of the normal sheet media 9A loaded on the loading sections 20A, 20B to limit the height to a required level. In the supply sections 12, 13, the left and right side edges of the normal sheet media 9A that is floated as described above by the air discharged from the air exhaust port 50 are pressed down from above to stop the normal sheet media 9A at a required height.

[0052] The lifting means 30 is configured as a device that lifts and lowers the loading sections 20A and 20B up and down inside the containers 17A and 17B by suspending them with wires 31, which are an example of a linear material.

[0053] To explain this lifting means 30 using the loading section 20A as a representative example, as shown in Figures 7 to 10, etc., it has four wires 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d whose ends are distributed and connected to hanging sections 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d provided at four locations on the loading section 20A.

[0054] The lifting means 30 also includes hanging pulleys 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d that are rotatably attached to the upper portion of the upper end of each guide hole 174 in the housing 17A and around which the wires 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d are wound, a left-side winding pulley 34L that winds up the wires 31a, 31b arranged on the left side, a right-side winding pulley 34R that winds up the wires 31c, 31d arranged on the right side, and auxiliary pulleys 33a, 33b that wind the wires 31a, 31b between the hanging pulleys 32a, 32b and the left-side winding pulley 33L so as to pull them along the required path.

[0055] 9 and 10, the lifting means 30 connects the left winding pulley 34L and the right winding pulley 34R with a rotating shaft 35, and the end of the rotating shaft 35 on the left winding pulley 34L side is connected to (the drive shaft of) a drive device 37 composed of a motor, a gear mechanism, etc., via a detachable coupling mechanism 36. In this lifting means 30, the left winding pulley 34L, the right winding pulley 34R, and the drive device 37 constitute a winding means 38 that winds up and pays out the wires 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d.

[0056] 8 and 12, the lifting means 30 in the supply unit 12 is provided with a position sensor 39 that detects the position of the top of the normal sheet medium 9A loaded on the loading unit 20A. The position sensor 39 is disposed in a state capable of detecting the position of the top of the normal sheet medium 9A visible from the cutout portion 173b in the tip wall 173 of the container 17A, for example. In the lifting means 30, when the driving device 37 drives to wind up the wires 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, the stacking units 20A and 20B move upward, but the driving of the driving device 37 is controlled to stop when detection information is obtained from the position sensor 39. As a result, the upward movement of the stacking unit 20A by the lifting means 30 is stopped at a position where the top of the normal sheet media 9A reaches a required height.

[0057] The lifting means 30 provided in the loading section 20A is also provided in the loading section 20B in the supply section 13 at the lower stage.

[0058] The discharge means 40A, 40B include a suction unit 41 that suctions and carries the topmost sheet-state medium 9A among the normal sheet-state media 9A stacked on the stackers 20A, 20B, respectively, a transport unit 45 that transports the sheet-state medium 9A sucked by the suction unit 41, and a guide member (not shown) that constitutes a first discharge path Rh1 (described later). The discharge means 40A, 40B may have a configuration other than that described above, and may be configured to, for example, discharge the second-highest or lower sheet-state medium 9A among the stacked sheet-state media 9A.

[0059] Moreover, the ejection means 40A, 40B are provided in a state where they are fixed to the housing 10, independent of the containers 17A, 17B. As a result, the ejection means 40A, 40B remain at fixed positions inside the housing 10 without moving even when the containers 17A, 17B are pulled out to the outside of the housing 10.

[0060] The suction unit 41 is disposed in a state facing each of the loading surfaces 21 of the loading units 20A, 20B at an upper position that is inside the leading end wall 173 at the downstream end of the containers 17A, 17B in the unloading direction D. The suction unit 41 is also provided so as to move back and forth at a required timing along the unloading direction D at a position upstream of the conveying unit 45 in the unloading direction D. This allows the suction unit 41 to move toward the conveying unit 45 during unloading and to move away from the conveying unit 45. The suction unit 41 is also connected to an air-suction type suction device (not shown) disposed at the rear side of the housing 10.

[0061] The conveying section 45 is disposed on the outer side downstream of the tip wall 173 of the containers 17A, 17B in the conveying direction D and downstream of the suction section 41 in the conveying direction D. The conveying section 45 is configured with, for example, a pair of conveying rolls, a guide member, etc. (not shown).

[0062] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the discharge section 14 in the housing 10 is equipped with a first discharge path Rh1 for discharging to the outside normal sheet medium 9A discharged from the upper supply section 12 by discharge means 40A, a second discharge path Rh2 for discharging to the outside normal sheet medium 9A discharged from the lower supply section 13 by discharge means 40B, and a third discharge path Rh3 for discharging to the outside manually inserted sheet medium 9 discharged from the manual insertion supply section 16. The first discharge path Rh1, the second discharge path Rh2 and the third discharge path Rh3 are discharge transport paths that are arranged to merge along the way to reach the discharge roll 142 of the discharge outlet 18 provided on the other side 10B of the housing 10, and all of them are composed of a pair of transport rolls shown by dashed lines, a transport guide member not shown, etc.

[0063] In a supply device 1 not having an additional device 6 attached, when normal sheet media 9A is loaded onto the loading section 20A of the upper supply section 12 and the loading section 20B of the lower supply section 13, the containers 17A and 17B are pulled out to the front side of the housing 10, respectively, before the loading operation is performed.

[0064] At this time, when the containers 17A and 17B are pulled out, the coupling mechanism 36 is pulled away, and the connection between the rotary shaft 35 and the drive unit 37 in the lifting means 30 is released. As a result, the loading units 20A and 20B are moved downward by their own weight to their respective lowest positions. The lowest positions of the loading units 20A and the like are, for example, positions when the hanging units 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d contact the lowest ends of the guide holes 174, respectively. After the normal loading operation of sheet media 9A is completed, containers 17A and 17B are pushed into and stored inside housing 10. This reconnects coupling mechanism 36, connecting rotation shaft 35 and drive device 37 in lifting means 30.

[0065] <Normal sheet media supply operation> In the sheet-form medium supply device 1, if the additional device 6 is not attached later, normal sheet-form media 9A and the like are supplied as follows.

[0066] That is, in the supply device 1, taking the upper supply section 12 as an example, inside the container 17A, the loading section 20A is moved upward by the simultaneous winding action of wires 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d by the lifting means 30A until the top of the normal sheet media 9A loaded on the loading section 20A reaches the required height. Next, in the stacker 20A, air is discharged from the multiple air exhaust ports 50 in the left and right side walls 25L, 25R, respectively, and the uppermost normal sheet media 9A is floated and separated by the inflow of air. In the container 17A, the leading end portion of the floated uppermost sheet media 9A in the discharge direction D is attracted to the suction force of the suction unit 41 of the discharge means 40A.

[0067] Next, in the supply device 1, the suction section 41 of the discharge means 40A moves to carry the downstream leading end of the adsorbed sheet-like medium 9A in the discharge direction D to a transfer position where it can be handed over to the conveying section 45, and then hands it over to the discharge section 45 (introducing it between a pair of rolls). Next, the discharge unit 45 of the discharge means 40A uses the conveying force to discharge the delivered sheet medium 9A from the stacker 20A and the container 17A and sends it to the first discharge path Rh1. When the suction unit 41 has completed the conveying of the sheet medium 9A to the conveying unit 45, the suction force is temporarily stopped and the suction unit 41 moves back to the original suction position away from the conveying unit 45.

[0068] As a result, normal sheet media 9A is discharged from the upper supply section 12 via the first discharge path Rh1 through the discharge outlet 18, and then supplied to the image forming device 120A (first introduction conveying path Rt1), which is an example of a supply destination. In the supply device 1, in a manner similar to the above-mentioned supply operation in the upper supply section 12, normal sheet-like media 9A loaded in the stacking section 20B is discharged from the discharge outlet 18 via the second discharge path Rh2 from the lower supply section 13 and then supplied to the destination.

[0069] <Additional equipment for supplying equipment> As shown in Figure 4 etc., the additional device 6 is retrofitted when the loading section 20A of the upper supply section 12 in the housing 10 of the supply device 1 is changed to a long loading section 70 in which the end 70c corresponding to the upstream side of the discharge direction D is extended further upstream than before the change, making it possible to load long sheet-like media 9B.

[0070] As shown in Figures 5, 7, 11(B), etc., the additional device 6 in embodiment 1 can be modified as a long-length loading section 70 to a long-length loading section 70A having a configuration in which at least the upstream end 70c in the discharge direction D of a loading portion 70b extended from a pre-modified loading section 70a arranged inside the housing 10 is arranged in a state in which it protrudes outward from the side 10S of the housing 10. For this reason, the additional device 6 is attached to the upper part of the side part 10S of the housing 10 of the supplying device 1 in a state where it protrudes outward from the housing 10. The additional device 6 also includes a main body part 61 attached to the side part 10S of the housing 10 in a protruding manner, and an opening / closing part 62 serving as a cover provided on the upper side of the main body part 61. This additional device 6 is attached, for example, after removing a part of the exterior material (panel) on the side part 10S of the housing 10.

[0071] The main body 61 is a part having a shape having a space for arranging a part of the long loader 70A (mainly the extended part 70b), and is composed of a support frame, an exterior material, etc. A part of the support frame is fixed to a support frame, etc., on the inside of the side part 10S of the housing 10 by screwing. 4, 6, etc., the opening / closing unit 62 is attached so as to swing up and down around a hinge (not shown) provided on the rear side of the main body 61 in the device depth direction Z as a fulcrum to open toward the rear of the device. By opening the opening / closing unit 62, the loading space S2 (FIG. 4) in the extended portion 70b (additional loading unit 73 described later) of the long stacking unit 70A is opened, making it possible to load long sheet media 9B on the long stacking unit 70A.

[0072] 5 to 9 and 11(B), the long load section 70A in the first embodiment is composed of a dedicated load section 71 arranged inside the housing 10, and an additional load section 73 additionally provided at the upstream end of the dedicated load section 71 in the unloading direction D. In this case, the dedicated load section 71 corresponds to the load section 70a before the change, and the additional load section 73 corresponds to the extended load section 70b.

[0073] In addition, the dedicated loading section 71 in this long loading section 70A is formed as a loading section provided above the raised section 78 that raises the loading surface 21 when the loading section 20A in the upper supply section 12 is in the lowest position. The reason for adopting the raising portion 78 here is to reduce the amount (mass) of long sheet media 9B loaded on the long loading portion 70A compared to when the raising portion 78 is not present (for example, when an additional loading portion 73 is connected to form a long loading portion 70A so that the loading surface is at the same height as the loading portion 20A), thereby reducing the load on the lifting means 30.

[0074] The raised portion 78 is configured as a structure disposed on the loading surface 21 of the loading portion 20A. In addition, the raised portion 78 has a dedicated loading portion 71 formed on its upper portion, the loading surface 72 for loading the downstream portion of the long sheet medium 9B in the discharge direction D. Such a raised portion 78, excluding the dedicated loading portion 71, is formed as a structure having, for example, a downstream end wall 78A extending in the device depth direction Z downstream of the discharge direction D, an upstream end wall 78B extending in the device depth direction Z upstream of the discharge direction D, and an intermediate body 78C located between the downstream end wall 78A and the upstream end wall 78B and extending in the discharge direction D to support the dedicated loading portion 71.

[0075] The additional stacking section 73 is disposed with its upstream end 73b projecting outward from the side 10S of the housing 10, and is disposed across from the inside of the housing 10 (the upstream end of the dedicated stacking section 71) to the inside of the main body 61 of the additional device 6. The additional stacking section 73 is also a stacking section having a stacking surface 74 that mainly stacks the upstream portion (rear end) of the long sheet medium 9B in the discharge direction D.

[0076] 5, 7, 9, etc., the dedicated loading section 71 in the long-length loading section 70A exists in a state in which the left and right side walls 25L, 25R of the upper supply section 12 protrude upward at the left and right ends in the left and right directions L, R intersecting with the discharge direction D. In this case, the air exhaust port 50 and the limiting means 55 in the left and right side walls 25L, 25R exist above the loading surface 72 of the dedicated loading section 71 (FIGS. 5 and 7).

[0077] In addition, in response to the left and right side walls 25L, 25R of the dedicated loading section 71 being structured so as to be movable in the left and right directions L, R as described above, as shown in Figures 6 and 9, the loading surface 72 thereof has two types of surface configurations (fixed type and sliding type) that are almost similar to the loading surface 21 in the loading section 20A described above. In other words, the loading surface 72 is composed of a fixed surface portion 72A fixedly arranged in a central position in the left-right directions L, R in a form extending along the unloading direction D, and a plurality of sliding surface portions 72B arranged on both the left and right sides of the fixed surface portion 72A so as to slide in the left-right directions L, R in accordance with the movement of the left and right side walls 25L.

[0078] As shown in Figures 4 to 7, 9, etc., the additional loading section 73 in the long loading section 70A has left and right side walls 63L, 63R that contact the left and right side ends of the rear end portion of the long sheet-like medium 9B loaded on its loading surface 74 and guide the left and right side ends along the discharge direction D, and a rear end wall 64 that aligns and positions the rear end of the long sheet-like medium 9B that is upstream of the discharge direction D.

[0079] The side walls 63L, 63R have contact surfaces 631 (FIG. 5) that respectively come into contact with the left and right side ends of the long sheet medium 9B, and are entirely provided so as to be movable in the left and right directions L, R at the bottom of the main body 61 of the adding device 6. The side walls 63L, 63R are adjusted in position to match the left and right side ends of the long sheet medium 9B by this movement.

[0080] In accordance with the structure in which the left and right side walls 63L, 63R of the additional loading section 73 are movable in the left and right directions L, R, as shown in Figures 6 and 9, the loading surface 74 thereof has two types of surface configurations (fixed type and sliding type) similar to the loading surface 72 in the dedicated loading section 71 described above. That is, as shown in Figure 9 etc., the loading surface 74 is composed of a fixed surface portion 74A fixedly arranged in a central position in the left-right directions L, R in a form extending along the unloading direction D, a plurality of slide surface portions 74B arranged on the left side of the fixed surface portion 74A to slide in the left-right directions L, R in accordance with the movement of the left side wall 63L, and a right-side fixed surface portion 74C having a slide groove 74m (Figure 9) on its upper surface for sliding the right side wall 63R in the left-right directions L, R.

[0081] The rear end wall 64 has a contact surface 641 (FIG. 7) that comes into contact with the rear end of the long sheet medium 9B, and the entire wall is held by magnetic force or the like and movably mounted against a slide surface provided along the discharge direction D on the fixed surface portion 74A of the loading surface 74. The rear end wall 64 is adjusted in position to match the position of the rear end of the long sheet medium 9B by this movement.

[0082] 5 and 7, the left side wall 63L is provided with a plurality of air outlets 65 on its contact surface 631 for discharging air to be blown against the left and right ends of the rear end of the long sheet medium 9B loaded on the additional stacking unit 73. Similarly to the limiting means 55 on the left side wall 25L, the left side wall 63L is provided with a plurality of limiting means 67 on its contact surface 631 for contacting the upper surfaces of the left and right ends of the rear end of the long sheet medium 9B loaded on the additional stacking unit 73 to limit the height to a required level.

[0083] On the other hand, the right side wall 63R is configured of a plate-like member along the unloading direction D. The air exhaust port 65 and the restricting means 67 are not provided on this right side wall 63R.

[0084] When it is necessary to supply long sheet media 9B, the additional device 6 is attached to the side portion 10S of the housing 10. Incidentally, since the additional device 6 is an optional item, it is also possible to attach it at the time of shipment from the factory when an order is received before shipment from the factory.

[0085] When the additional device 6 is attached, the long loader 70A is also attached. In this case, the dedicated loader 71 in the long loader 70A is attached by placing and fixing the dedicated loader 71 on the load surface 21 of the loader 20A in the container 17A in the upper supply unit 12 of the housing 10 via a raising unit 78. The long loader 70A is assembled by connecting and integrating the additional loader 73 to the upstream end of the dedicated loader 71 in the discharge direction D with a fastener (not shown).

[0086] <Supplier with additional equipment> In the supply device 1 to which the additional device 6 is attached, long sheet media 9B can be loaded on a long stacking section 70A composed of a dedicated stacking section 71 and an additional stacking section 73, as shown in FIG. In embodiment 1, the long stacking section 70A is configured as a stacking section capable of stacking, for example, a long sheet-like medium 9B whose length along the discharge direction D (length at the time of discharge) is longer than 488 mm and less than 864 mm.

[0087] Furthermore, even in the supply device 1 equipped with the additional device 6, when a supply operation of long sheet media 9B is performed, the long stacking section 70A is moved upward by the lifting means 30, in the same manner as when the supply operation of normal sheet media 9A described above is performed.

[0088] However, if a comparative supply device 1X is used as the supply device 1 in this case, as illustrated in Figure 21, which has a lifting means 30X in which the hanging wires 31 are attached only to four points of the dedicated loading section 71, which is the loading section before the change, even though the mass increases due to the additional loading section 73 to which the long loading section 70A is extended and the portion of the long sheet media 9B loaded on that additional loading section 73, the lifting means 30X only attaches the wires 31 to the dedicated loading section 71, resulting in an unbalanced suspension state of the lifting means 30X relative to the entire long loading section 70A. For this reason, in the supply device 1X of the comparative example, the upward movement of the long stacking portion 70A by the lifting means 30X is unstable, and in the worst case, a part of the lifting means 30X is likely to be damaged or malfunction. Also, the additional stacking portion 73 is deformed and bent downward due to the mass of the portion of the long sheet media 9B it loads, causing the loading posture of the long sheet media 9B loaded on the additional stacking portion 73 to tilt downward, resulting in problems such as poor delivery.

[0089] Therefore, as shown in Figures 7 to 9, the sheet media supply device 1 adopts a configuration in which wires 31 are attached to both a dedicated loading section 71, which is the part corresponding to the pre-modified loading section 70a in the long loading section 70A, and an additional loading section 73 corresponding to the extended loading section 70b, in the lifting means 30.

[0090] In the lifting means 30 of embodiment 1, the wire 31 is attached to the dedicated loading section 71 at the above-mentioned four locations in total, while it is also attached to two locations, one on each of the left and right ends of the additional loading section 73 in the direction intersecting with the unloading direction D, i.e., one location each in the unloading direction D of each of those ends.

[0091] The additional loading section 73 has two hanging sections 68a, 68b protruding outward, one at each of the left and right ends, as shown in Figures 8, 9, 11(B), etc., in accordance with the total number of attachment points of the wire 31 of the lifting means 30. 8, the additional loading section 73 is attached by fitting its hanging sections 68a, 68b into two guide sections 69 provided on the front and back sidewall sections of the main body section 61 of the additional device 6 from the inside of the main body section 61. The guide sections 69 are formed as elongated guide holes or groove-shaped guide grooves that extend linearly in the vertical direction by a required length, similar to the guide holes 174 provided in the upper supply section 12 of the housing 10. As a result, the additional loading section 73 is provided so as to move up and down within the main body 61 of the adding device 6 with the hanging sections 68a, 68b being guided along the guide sections 69.

[0092] As shown in Figures 7 to 9, the lifting means 30 includes two wires 31e, 31f whose ends are respectively distributed and connected to hanging portions 68a, 68b provided at two locations on the additional loading section 73, and hanging pulleys 32e, 32f rotatably attached to the upper portion of the upper end of each guide section 69 in the main body section 61 and around which each wire 31e, 31f is hung. The hanging portions 68a, 68b and the hanging pulleys 32e, 32f are provided in the additional device 6 in advance.

[0093] 7, 9, etc., the wire 31e disposed on the left side is wound around the hook pulley 32e, the hook pulley 32b, the auxiliary pulley 33b, the auxiliary pulley 33a, and the hook pulley 32a in this order, and then wound around the left winding pulley 34L. The wire 31f disposed on the right side is wound around the hook pulley 32f, the hook pulley 32d, and the hook pulley 32c in this order, and then wound around the right winding pulley 34R, as shown in FIGS. 8, 9, etc. The wires 31 e and 31 f are provided as accessories of the additional device 6 .

[0094] When the additional device 6 employing such lifting means 30 is attached to the side portion 10S of the housing 10, the following assembly work is carried out on the additional portion of the lifting means 30. That is, the additional portion of the lifting means 30 at this time is assembled by attaching the wires 31e, 31f to the hanging portions 68a, 68b of the additional loading portion 73 and wrapping them around the hanging pulleys 32e, 32f, etc., and winding them around the take-up pulleys 34L, 34RL.

[0095] In the supply device 1 to which the additional device 6 is attached, when loading a long sheet medium 9B onto the long-length loading section 70A, the loading operation is performed after opening the opening / closing member 15 on the upper portion 11 of the housing 10 and the opening / closing section 62 on the additional device 6, as shown in FIG.

[0096] When the loading operation of this long sheet-like medium 9B is performed, the connection between the rotating shaft 35 and the drive unit 37 in the lifting means 30 is temporarily released, and the long loading section 70A moves downward under its own weight to the lowest position of the loading section 20A supporting the raised section 78 of the dedicated loading section 71. After the long sheet media 9B has been loaded, the opening / closing member 15 and the opening / closing section 62 are closed (FIG. 3). At this time, the rotation shaft 35 and the drive device 37 of the lifting means 30 are connected to each other.

[0097] <Long sheet media supply operation> In the sheet-like medium supplying device 1, when the add-on device 6 is later installed, the long sheet-like medium 9B is supplied as follows.

[0098] In the supply device 1 to which the add-on device 6 is attached, as shown in FIG. 12(A), when long sheet media 9B are loaded on the long stacking section 70A and the supply operation begins, the long stacking section 70A is moved upward.

[0099] That is, at this time, the long-length stacking section 70A is lifted up within the storage body 17A of the housing 10 and within the main body section 61 of the additional device 6 by simultaneously winding up the wires 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d, 31e, and 31f of the lifting means 30A, and is moved upward until the upper portion of the long-length sheet-like media 9B stacked on the long-length stacking section 70A reaches the required height (until detection information from the position sensor 39 is obtained). In addition, as shown in FIG. 12(B), the long-length stacking section 70A is moved upward by the required amount each time the quantity of long-length sheet media 9B stacked on the long-length stacking section 70A decreases due to supply.

[0100] Next, in the long stacking section 70A, air is discharged from the air outlets 50 in the left and right side walls 25L, 25R in the housing 10 and the air outlet 65 in the left side wall 63L in the additional device 6, and the top long sheet medium 9B is floated and separated by the inflow of air. Also, in the container 17A in the housing 10, the tip side portion of the levitated topmost sheet medium 9B in the discharge direction D is attracted to it by the suction force of the suction section 41 of the discharge means 40A.

[0101] Next, in the supply device 1 to which the additional device 6 is attached, the suction section 41 of the discharge means 40A moves to carry the downstream tip of the adsorbed long sheet medium 9B in the discharge direction D to a transfer position where it can be handed over to the conveying section 45, and then the discharge section 45 uses its conveying force to eject the handed over long sheet medium 9B from the long stacking section 70A and the container 17A and send it to the first discharge path Rh1.

[0102] As a result, the long sheet medium 9B is discharged from the supply device 1 to which the additional device 6 is attached via the first discharge path Rh1 through the discharge outlet 18, and then supplied to the image forming device 120A (first introduction conveying path Rt1), which is an example of a supply destination.

[0103] In the supply device 1 to which the additional device 6 is attached, the long load section 70A moves upward by lifting the dedicated load section 71 by winding up the wires 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d of the lifting means 30, and by lifting the additional load section 73 by winding up the wires 31e and 31f of the lifting means 30. In other words, the long load section 70A moves upward by the lifting action of the wires 31 of the lifting means 30, with the dedicated load section 71 and the additional load section 73 both.

[0104] Therefore, according to this supply device 1, even if the loading section 20A for loading normal sheet-like media 9A is changed to a long loading section 70A capable of loading long sheet-like media 9B, the long loading section 70A can be raised and lowered, especially moved upward, smoothly while maintaining its overall balance, compared to a case in which the lifting means 30 does not have wires 31 attached to both the dedicated loading section 71, which is the part of the long loading section 70A that corresponds to the loading section 20A before the change, and the additional loading section 73, which is the extended part.

[0105] As a result, in this supplying device 1, the lifting means 30 stably moves the long stacking section 70A upward, making it difficult for parts of the lifting means 30 to be damaged or malfunction. Also, in this supplying device 1, the additional stacking section 73 will not be deformed and bend downward due to the mass of the portion of the long sheet media 9B it loads, and there is no risk of the loading posture of the long sheet media 9B loaded on the additional stacking section 73 being tilted downward, which could lead to poor delivery.

[0106] In image forming system 100A, which is an example of a sheet-medium using device 100, even long sheet-medium 9B can be stably supplied to image forming device 120A, which is an example of processing device 120, by raising and lowering long-length stacking section 70A in supply device 1 while maintaining its overall balance, compared to a case in which sheet-medium supply device 1 is not configured to include a supply device having the above-mentioned configuration.

[0107] Furthermore, in this supply device 1, the long-length loading section 70A moves up and down in a stable state while maintaining overall balance, compared to a case in which the lifting means 30 is not configured to attach the wire 31 to a total of four locations on the dedicated loading section 71, which is also the loading section before the modification in the long-length loading section 70A, and to a total of two locations on the additional loading section 73, which is an extended portion from before the modification.

[0108] Furthermore, in this supply device 1, the lifting means 30 can raise and lower the long loading section 70A while maintaining its overall balance with a simple configuration compared to a case in which the lifting means 30 does not have a winding means 38 that winds up and pays out both the wires 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d attached to the dedicated loading section 71, which is the part that constitutes the same loading range in the long loading section 70A as the loading section 20A before the modification, and the wires 31e, 31f attached to the additional loading section 73, which is the part that is extended further than before the modification.

[0109] Embodiment 2 FIG. 13 shows a sheet medium supplying device 1B according to the second embodiment. This sheet media supplying device 1B has the same configuration as the supplying device 1 of embodiment 1, except that instead of the lifting means 30, a lifting means 30B is used in which the wire 31 is attached to two locations: a dedicated loading section 71, which is the part of the long loading section 70A that corresponds to the loading section 20A before the modification, and an additional loading section 73, which is an extended part of the long loading section 70A.

[0110] As shown in Figures 13 and 14, in the lifting means 30B of embodiment 2, the wires 31a, 31c are attached to the left and right ends of the dedicated loading section 71 in a direction intersecting with the unloading direction D, i.e., two locations on each side of each end in the unloading direction D, while the wires 31g, 31h are attached to the left and right ends of the additional loading section 73 in a direction intersecting with the unloading direction D, i.e., two locations on each side of each end in the unloading direction D.

[0111] The hanging parts 22a and 22c provided on the dedicated loading part 71 are used as the two parts in total of the dedicated loading part 71. Also, the hanging parts 68a and 68c provided on the additional loading part 73 are used as the two parts in total of the additional loading part 73.

[0112] Wires 31a, 31c are attached to suspending parts 22a, 22c of dedicated loading section 71 as they were to suspending parts 22a, 22c of loading section 20A before modification. As shown in Fig. 14, wires 31b, 31d attached to suspending parts 22b, 22d of loading section 20A before modification are removed, and new wires 31g, 31h are attached to suspending parts 68a, 68c of additional loading section 73 after being hung around pulleys 32e, 32f (Fig. 9) and the like.

[0113] For the wires 31g and 31h, longer wires 31b and 31d that were attached to the hanging parts 22b and 22d of the loading section 20A before the change may be used, and after being removed from the hanging parts 22b and 22d of the loading section 20A, they may be unwound and attached in an extended state to the hanging parts 22b and 22d of the additional loading section 73.

[0114] In this sheet media supply device 1B, the number of wires 31 used in the lifting means 30B is reduced compared to a configuration in which the lifting means 30B is not configured to attach the wires 31 to two locations, namely, the dedicated loading section 71, which is also the loading section before the modification in the long loading section 70A, and the additional loading section 73, which is an extended section from before the modification. With this simpler configuration, the long loading section 70A, which is composed of the dedicated loading section 71 and the additional loading section 73, is raised and lowered while maintaining balance.

[0115] In addition, in the above-mentioned supply device 1B, as shown in FIG. 15, the wires 31g, 31h attached to the hanging portions 68a, 68c of the additional loading section 73 may be hung around the hanging pulleys 32b, 32d in the upper supply section 12 and then attached to the hanging portions 68a, 68c without being hung around the hanging pulleys 32e, 32f (FIG. 9) in the additional device 6. In this case, it is possible to omit providing the hanging pulleys 32e and 32f to the adding device 6. Even in this case, it is preferable to provide the adding device 6 with a guide portion 69 in order to ensure stable vertical movement of the additional loading portion 73.

[0116] Embodiment 3 FIG. 16 shows a sheet medium supplying device 1C according to the third embodiment. This sheet media supplying device 1C has the same configuration as supplying device 1B of embodiment 2, except that it uses lifting means 30C which differs in that lifting means 30B is configured to change the positions of a total of two locations where wires 31 of dedicated loading section 71 in long loading section 70A are attached.

[0117] As shown in Figure 16, the lifting means 30C in embodiment 3 has wires 31g, 31h attached to the same two locations, i.e., hanging parts 68a, 68b, of the additional loading part 73 as the lifting means 30B in embodiment 2, while the two locations, i.e., wires 31j, 31k, are attached to the dedicated loading part 71, and are attached to newly provided hanging parts 22e, 22f instead of the previous hanging parts 22a, 22c.

[0118] The new hanging portions 22e, 22f are provided at well-balanced positions in the longitudinal direction along the discharge direction D of the long loading portion 70A, and in embodiment 3, are provided at positions that are approximately the same positional relationship as the positions inward from the ends 70c of the hanging portions 68a, 68b of the additional loading portion 73.

[0119] Specifically, the new hanging portions 22e, 22f are provided at a position the same distance inward from the downstream end portion 70b of the long-length loading portion 70A in the discharge direction D as the hanging portions 68a, 68b of the additional loading portion 73 are provided at a position the same distance inward from the upstream end portion 70c of the long-length loading portion 70A in the discharge direction D. The new hanging portions 22e and 22f are provided in advance on the dedicated loading portion 71, but are not limited to this and may be provided when changing to the long loading portion 70A.

[0120] In addition, in accordance with the provision of new hanging parts 22e, 22f, new hanging pulleys 31j, 31k for hanging wires 31j, 31k attached to the hanging parts 22e, 22f are provided in the housing 17A in the lifting means 30C. The new hanging pulleys 31j, 31k are provided at positions approximately vertically above the hanging parts 22e, 22f. Furthermore, as the wires 31j, 31k in the lifting means 30C, the wires 31a, 31c attached to the original hanging parts 22a, 22c of the dedicated loading part 71 are used as they are, or new wires are used.

[0121] When changing the previous loading section 20A into the long loading section 70A, the lifting means 30C can be changed by removing the wires 31a, 31c attached to the hanging sections 22a, 22c of the dedicated loading section 71 and then attaching them to the new hanging sections 22e, 22f. Also, in this lifting means 30C, as in the case of lifting means 30B, after removing the wires 31b, 31d attached to the hanging parts 22b, 22d of the dedicated loading section 71, new wires 31g, 31h are attached to the hanging parts 68a, 68b of the additional loading section 73.

[0122] In this sheet-like medium supplying device 1C, the four wires 31a, 31c, 31g, and 31h of the lifting means 30C can be attached to the hanging parts 22b, 22d, 68a, and 68b, which are positions that are better dimensionally balanced in the length direction of the long stacking section 70A than in the case of the lifting means 30B. As a result, this supplying device 1C can lift and lower the long stacking section 70A in a more stable manner while maintaining its overall balance.

[0123] Embodiment 4 FIG. 17 shows a sheet medium supplying device 1D according to the fourth embodiment. This sheet media supply device 1D has a configuration similar to that of the supply device 1A of embodiment 1, except that it is modified in that it uses a long-length loading section 70B that is arranged as a long-length loading section 70 with the extended loading portion 70b also housed inside the housing 10 without attaching an additional device 6.

[0124] 17 and 18, the long load section 70A in the supply device 1D is composed of a dedicated load section 71 arranged inside the housing 10, and an additional load section 75 additionally provided at the upstream end of the dedicated load section 71 in the discharge direction D. In this case, the dedicated load section 71 corresponds to the load section 70a before the change, and the additional load section 75 corresponds to the extended load section 70b.

[0125] The dedicated loading unit 71 is a loading unit having the same configuration as the dedicated loading unit 71 in the embodiment 1. That is, the dedicated loading unit 71 is configured as a loading unit provided on the upper part of the raising unit 78 placed on the loading unit 20A in the container 17A in the upper supply unit 12. Further, the dedicated loading section 71 has a loading surface 72 having the same configuration as the dedicated loading section 71 in the first embodiment.

[0126] The additional stacking section 75 is a stacking section disposed in a gap space between the upstream end of the dedicated stacking section 71 and the side section 10S of the housing 10, and has a stacking surface 76 for stacking the upstream end of the long sheet media 9B in the discharge direction D. The additional stacking section 75 is connected to and integrated with the upstream end of the dedicated stacking section 71 by a fastener or the like (not shown). The additional loading section 75 is provided with hanging sections 22e, 22f at one each of the left and right ends.

[0127] As shown in Figures 17 and 18(B), the lifting means 30D in this supply device 1D has wires 31 attached to both a dedicated loading section 71, which is the part corresponding to the pre-modified loading section 70a in the long loading section 70B, and an additional loading section 75 corresponding to the extended loading section 70b. Specifically, in the lifting means 30D, wires 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d are attached to hanging parts 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d provided at four positions on the dedicated loading section 71, while wires 32g, 32h are attached to hanging parts 68c, 68d provided at two positions, one on each of the left and right ends of the additional loading section 75.

[0128] In embodiment 4, the additional loading section 75 does not have the guide sections (68a, 68b) of embodiment 1 that guide the vertical movement of the hanging sections 22e, 22f, nor the left and right side walls (63L, 63R), air exhaust port (65), or restriction means (67). As a result, in the supply device 1D, it is not necessary to provide these components and the additional device 6, so that the configuration is simplified and an increase in the installation space is suppressed.

[0129] However, if any of these are necessary, they may be provided in the supply device 1D as well. Incidentally, when the left and right side walls (63L, 63R) are provided, for example, the loading surface 76 of the additional loading section 75 may have the same surface configuration as the loading surface 74 of the additional loading section 73 in the first embodiment.

[0130] The supplying device 1D equipped with this long stacking section 70B can load long sheet media 9B on the long stacking section 70B, the long sheet media having a length that can be accommodated inside the housing 10. Furthermore, in the supplying device 1D, the operation of loading the long sheet media 9B onto the long stacking section 70B is performed with the opening / closing member 15 on the top 11 of the housing 10 open (see FIG. 4).

[0131] In this supply device 1D, even if the stacking section 20A for the normal sheet media 9A is changed to a long stacking section 70B capable of stacking long sheet media 9B, it is possible for the lifting means 30D to raise and lower the long stacking section 70B while maintaining overall balance, compared to a case in which the wire 31 is not attached to the additional stacking section 75 in the long stacking section 70B.

[0132] Variations. In the supplying devices 1, 1B, 1C, and 1D according to the first to fourth embodiments, a replacement stacking section 70E illustrated in FIG. 19 may be used in place of the long stacking sections 70A and 70B.

[0133] The replacement loading section 70E is configured as a long loading section that is attached in place of the dedicated loading section (loading section 20A) disposed inside the housing 10. The replacement loading section 70E also has a loading section 70a corresponding to the loading section 20A before the change and a loading section 70b that is longer than the loading section before the change, as shown in Fig. 19(B). As for the dedicated loading section 71, the loading section 70a corresponding to the loading section 20A before the change is configured to have the above-mentioned raised section 78, but it may be configured not to have the raised section 78. Moreover, the replacement loading section 70E has a continuous loading surface 77. Strictly speaking, when the left and right side walls 25L, 25R, 63L, and 63R are provided, this loading surface 77 adopts a surface configuration having the slide surfaces 72B and 74B.

[0134] When applying this replacement loading section 70E, the lifting means 30 may be configured so that the wire 31 is attached to the four positions in the loading section 70a before the change and to the two positions in the loading section 70b that has been extended from before the change, or the wire 31 may be attached to the two positions in the loading section 70a before the change and to the two positions in the loading section 70b that has been extended from before the change. Incidentally, the replacement loading section 70E illustrated in Figure 19(B) has wires 31a, 31c attached to hanging parts 22a, 22c provided at two positions on loading section 70a which corresponds to loading section 20A before the change, while wires 31e, 31f are attached to hanging parts 68e, 68f provided at two positions on loading section 70b which is extended further than before the change.

[0135] In a supply device 1 etc. to which this replacement loading section 70E is applied, even if the loading section 20A for the above-mentioned normal sheet media 9A is changed to a replacement loading section 70E capable of loading long sheet media 9B, the long loading section 70 consisting of the replacement loading section 70E can be raised and lowered while maintaining its overall balance with a simpler configuration compared to a case in which it is not attached to a total of two points of the extended loading portion 70b of the replacement loading section 70E. In the lifting means 30, etc., a linear material such as a belt can be used instead of the wire 31. Furthermore, when the container 17 is not provided, the lifting means 30 may be disposed at a required portion of the housing 10.

[0136] In addition, in the first to fourth embodiments, a configuration example is shown in which the long-length loading section 70 has the unmodified loading portion 70a configured as a dedicated loading section 71 via a raised portion 78 above the loading section 20A that loads normal sheet-like media 9A. However, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the unmodified loading portion 70a does not include the raised portion 78, and for example, the loading section 20A is directly used as the dedicated loading section 71. This configuration is effective, for example, for a feeder type that can carry a relatively small amount of long sheet media 9B, since the increase in weight load due to the loading of long sheet media 9B is not insignificant.

[0137] In addition, in the first to fourth embodiments, the winding means 38 (a device consisting of winding pulleys 34L, 34R, a rotating shaft 35, a driving device 37, etc.) for the wire 31 in the lifting means 30, 30B, 30C, 30D may be configured to have a first winding means 38A and a second winding means 38B, as exemplified in Fig. 20. The supplying device shown in Fig. 20 is taken as a representative of the supplying device 1 according to the first embodiment.

[0138] The first winding means 38A is a winding means for winding and unwinding the wires 31a, 32b, 32c, 31d, etc., attached to the loading portion 70a corresponding to the loading portion before the change in the extended loading portions 70A, 70B, etc., and the dedicated loading portion 71. The second winding means 38B is a winding means for winding and unwinding the wires 31e, 32f, 32g, 31h, etc., attached to the extended loading portion 70b in the extended loading portions 70, 70B, etc., and the additional loading portions 73, 75.

[0139] The second winding means 38B illustrated in FIG. 20 is configured such that the winding pulley 36R, the hanging pulley 32m, etc., and a drive device (not shown) are arranged inside the housing 10, but may also be configured to be arranged inside the main body 61 of the additional device 6. In addition, the first winding means 38A and the second winding means 38B are controlled to operate in synchronization with each other so that the dedicated loading section 71 and the additional loading section 73 that constitute the long-length loading section 70 move up and down simultaneously as a single unit.

[0140] In a supply device 1 etc. equipped with a lifting means 30 etc. having the first winding means 38A and the second winding means 38B, the long-length loading section 70 can be raised and lowered in a stable state while maintaining its overall balance, compared to a case in which the lifting means 30 etc. is not configured to have the first winding means 38A and the second winding means 38B.

[0141] Furthermore, in the first embodiment and the like, the image forming system 100A in which the processing device 120 is the image forming device 120A has been exemplified as the sheet-like medium-using device 100, but the present invention is not limited to this. The sheet-like medium-using device 100 may be any device that has a processing device 120 that performs the required processing of normal sheet-like medium 9A or long sheet-like medium 9B supplied from the supply device 1.

[0142] Examples of the device 100 used include a printing system in which the processing device 120 is a printing device that applies ink to ordinary sheet-like media 9A, etc., a coating system in which the processing device 120 is a coating device that applies liquid paint to ordinary sheet-like media 9A, etc., and a drying system in which the processing device 120 is a drying device that dries ordinary sheet-like media 9A, etc. When the processing device 120 has a sheet medium supply device disposed therein, the supply device may be configured to include the supply device 1 on which the long stacking unit 70 is disposed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0143] 1, 1B, 1C, 1D...Sheet media supply device 9...Sheet media 9B...Long sheet media 10…Housing 10S…Side 20...Loading section (an example of the loading section before the change) 30, 30B, 30C, 30D...Lifting means 35...Wire (an example of a wire material) 38... Winding means 38A...First winding means 38B...Second winding means 40...Export means 70…Long load section 70c...End portion corresponding to the upstream side in the discharge direction 70A, 70B...Long load section (an example of a long load section consisting of a dedicated load section and an additional load section) 70E…Long load section (an example of a replacement load section) 71… Dedicated loading area 73…Additional Cargo Section 100...Device for using sheet-like media 100A...Image forming system (an example of a device using sheet media) 120... Processing device 120A: Image forming device (an example of a processing device) D…Export direction

Claims

1. A housing and a loading section disposed within the housing so as to be movable up and down, on which sheet-like media is loaded; a lifting means for lifting the loading section up and down by suspending the loading section by a linear member; a conveying means for conveying the sheet medium loaded on the loading section; Equipped with the stacking section is changeable to a long stacking section in which an end portion corresponding to the upstream side in the discharge direction of the sheet-like medium is extended upstream from before the change, and which is capable of stacking a long sheet-like medium having a length longer than 488 mm when discharged; the long-length stacking section is composed of a dedicated stacking section disposed inside the housing and an additional stacking section additionally provided at an end portion on an upstream side of the dedicated stacking section in the discharge direction, the additional loading section is disposed in a state in which at least an upstream end of the extended portion in the discharge direction protrudes outward from a side portion of the housing, The lifting means is a sheet media supply device in which the linear material is attached to a total of four locations, two on each side of the left and right ends of the dedicated loading section in a direction intersecting with the discharge direction, and two locations, one on each side of the left and right ends of the additional loading section in a direction intersecting with the discharge direction.

2. A housing, a loading section disposed within the housing so as to be movable up and down, on which sheet-like media is loaded; a lifting means for lifting the loading section up and down by suspending the loading section by a linear member; a conveying means for conveying the sheet medium loaded on the loading section; Equipped with the stacking section is changeable to a long stacking section in which an end portion corresponding to the upstream side in the discharge direction of the sheet-like medium is extended upstream from before the change, and which is capable of stacking a long sheet-like medium having a length longer than 488 mm when discharged; the long load section is configured as a replacement load section that is attached in place of a dedicated load section disposed inside the housing, the replacement stacking section is disposed in a state in which at least an end portion of the extended portion on an upstream side in the carrying-out direction protrudes outward from a side portion of the housing, The lifting means is a sheet media supply device in which the linear material is attached to two locations, one on each side of the left and right ends of the part of the replacement loading section that corresponds to the dedicated loading section in the direction intersecting the discharge direction, and one on each side of the left and right ends of the part of the replacement loading section that extends beyond the dedicated loading section in the direction intersecting the discharge direction, for a total of two locations.

3. A sheet media supply device as described in claim 1, wherein the lifting means attaches the linear material to a total of two locations, one at each of the left and right ends of the dedicated loading section in a direction intersecting with the discharge direction, and one at each of the left and right ends of the additional loading section in a direction intersecting with the discharge direction, for a total of two locations.

4. A sheet media supplying device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lifting means has a winding means for winding up and unwinding both the linear material attached to the portion corresponding to the loading section before the change and the linear material attached to the extended portion.

5. A sheet media supplying device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lifting means has a first winding means for winding and unwinding a linear material attached to the portion corresponding to the loading section before the change, and a second winding means for winding and unwinding a linear material attached to the extended portion.

6. A sheet media supply device that carries out and supplies the loaded sheet media; a processing device that processes the sheet medium supplied from the supply device; Equipped with The sheet medium supply device according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet medium supply device includes a sheet medium supply device.

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