JPH05262433A - Paper sheet feed cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the damage of a sheet material bundle and the damage of a side presser plate and a rear edge regulating plate by providing a means to let projections escape outward while bending the side presser plate and the rear edge regulating plate. CONSTITUTION:Inclined surfaces 41 and 42 and handles 43 are provided so as to let projections 33 and 35 to press a sheet material bundle from above escape from above. When the sheet material bundle is installed, in the first place, respective projection forming parts 29A and 29A of a rear edge regulating plate 29 are bent outward by means of the handles 43 and 43, and the projections 35 and 35 are let to be escaped outward, and the rear edge part of the sheet material bundle is installed. In succession, when the sheet material bundle continues to be pushed in, the edge part of the sheet material bundle comes into contact with the inclined surface 41 of a side presser plate 26, and the side presser plate 26 is bent outward, and the edge part of the sheet material bundle comes further into contact with the inclined surface 42, and the side presser plate 26 is bent, so that the projection 33 can be installed while letting it escape from an edge part position of the sheet material bundle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printers, and facsimiles have a paper feed cassette disposed in the lower portion of the main body of the image forming apparatus in order to save space.

FIG. 10 shows a conventional laser beam printer as a typical example.

In the upper part of the printer body (image forming apparatus body) 1, a laser scanner 2, a photosensitive drum 3, a printing process unit 7 including a primary charger 5 and a developing device 6, a transfer charger 9, and a fixing device 10. A conveyance roller pair 11, a paper discharge roller 12 and the like are installed, and a paper feed cassette 13, a paper feed roller (pickup roller) 15 and the like are installed under the same.

The sheet materials S stacked and stored in the paper feed cassette 13 are fed by a paper feed roller 15 rotating counterclockwise and separated by left and right separation claws 16 and 16 (one of which is not shown), It is guided by the sheet material guide 17 and sent to the nip portion of the pair of transport rollers 11.

Next, the sheet material S is sent between the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer charger 9 by the pair of conveying rollers 11.

The photosensitive drum 3 rotates counterclockwise and is uniformly charged by the primary charger 5. Then, an electrostatic latent image is sequentially formed on the outer peripheral surface by the laser light L from the laser scanner 2, and then the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 6 to form a toner image.

On the sheet material S sent between the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer charger 9, the toner images on the photosensitive drum 3 are sequentially transferred by the transfer charger 9.

The sheet material S to which the toner image is transferred in this manner is sent to the fixing device 10, where it is heated and pressed to fix the toner image on the sheet material S.

After that, the sheet material S is sent to the sheet discharge roller 12 by the pair of transport rollers 19, and then discharged onto the sheet material discharge tray 20 on the upper surface of the printer body 1 by the sheet discharge roller 12.

FIG. 11 shows the detailed construction of the paper feed cassette 13 installed in the printer body 1 of the printer of the present laser beam.

Inside the paper feed cassette body 21, left and right inner plates 22, 23, a middle plate 25, and left and right separation claws 16, 16 are provided.
And the front and rear side pressing plates 26, 27 and the rear end regulating plate 29.
And are installed.

The inner plates 22 and 23 are the paper feed cassette body 21.
This is for defining the position of the sheet materials S stacked and stored inside. An intermediate plate 25 for stacking the sheet material S is mounted between the inner plates 22 and 23 so as to be vertically rotatable about left and right support shafts 30 and 30 (one of which is not shown) as rotation centers.

The intermediate plate 25 is pushed up by a push-up spring 31 (see FIG. 10) arranged at the lower part, so that the sheet material S stacked on the intermediate plate 25 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 15 at a predetermined pressure. It has become.

The side pressing plates 26, 27 are for pressing the widthwise ends of the sheet materials S stacked on the intermediate plate 25 against the inner surface 23A of the inner plate 23, which is the side reference surface, with a predetermined pressure. The side pressing plates 26 and 27 are the inner plates 22.
Is attached via a pressure spring (leaf spring) 32.

The trailing edge regulating plate 29 is for regulating the trailing edge position of the sheet material S stacked on the intermediate plate 25.

The front side pressing plate 26 and the rear end regulating plate 29
Projections 33 and 35 for pressing the sheet material S from above are formed at the upper end of the sheet material S in order to prevent the sheet material S stacked on the intermediate plate 25 from rising and fluttering at the time of feeding.

As described above, since the sheet material S stacked on the intermediate plate 25 is pressed from above by the protrusions 33 and 35 of the side pressing plate 26 and the rear end regulating plate 29, the sheet feeding cassette 13 is set to The material S can be set in the printer body 1 through the insertion port 36 of the printer body 1 without being scratched.

[0019]

However, in order to press the sheet material S stacked on the middle plate 25 on the side pressing plate 26 and the rear end regulating plate 29 from above, like the above-mentioned conventional sheet feeding cassette 13. With the projections 33 and 35, when the sheet material bundle S is loaded in the paper feed cassette body 21,
The end portions of the sheet material bundle S may be caught by the projections 33 and 35 and may be damaged, or the side pressing plate 26 and the rear end regulation plate 29 may be damaged by the sheet material bundle S.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and when the sheet material bundle is loaded in the main body of the sheet feeding cassette, the sheet material is provided by the projections provided on the side pressing plate and the rear end regulating plate. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding cassette in which the bundle is not damaged and the side pressing plate and the rear end regulating plate are not damaged by the sheet material bundle.

[0021]

According to the present invention, a sheet feeding cassette main body (21) has a regulating plate (26, 27) for regulating an end side of a sheet material bundle (S) to be stacked and stored. Related to paper cassette.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides projections (33, 35) provided on the regulation plates (26, 27) for pressing the sheet material bundle (S) from above.
And a protrusion releasing means (41, 42, 43) for releasing the protrusions (33, 35) from above the sheet material bundle (S).
And are provided.

The restriction plates (26, 27) are side pressing plates (2) for restricting the width direction of the sheet bundle (S).
6, 27), and the side pressing plates (26, 27) are
The sheet material bundle (S) is regulated by pressing the sheet material bundle (S) against the side regulation surface (23A) arranged on one side of the end side in the width direction.

[0024]

According to the above construction, when the sheet material bundle (S) is loaded into the paper feed cassette body (21), the end portion of the sheet material bundle (S) is pressed against the receiving surfaces (41, 42). Then, the side pressing plate (26) bends outward.

As a result, the projections (33) of the side pressing plate (26) escape outward from the end position of the sheet material bundle (S) to be loaded and do not come into contact with the end portion of the sheet material bundle (S). .

Further, when the sheet material bundle (S) is loaded into the paper feed cassette body (21), if the rear end regulating plate (29) is bent outward by the handle (43), the rear end regulating plate ( Two
The protrusion (35) of 9) escapes from the end position of the sheet bundle (S).

As a result, the projection (35) of the trailing edge regulating plate (29) does not come into contact with the end of the sheet bundle (S).

The reference numerals in parentheses are for reference to the drawings, and do not limit the configuration in any way.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <Embodiment 1> FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of a paper feed cassette according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

In the present paper feed cassette, the same members as those of the above-mentioned conventional paper feed cassette are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of those which are structurally and functionally unchanged will be omitted.

In this paper feed cassette 40, the front side pressing plate 26 has the structure shown in FIG.
Has the structure shown in FIG.

That is, the front side pressing plate 26 is provided with an inclined surface (a pressing force receiving surface as a projection escaping means) 41 at an upper part on the rear side thereof and having an inclination angle α oriented in the left-right direction of the sheet feeding cassette body 21. have. Then, the inclined surface 41 is connected to the protrusion 33 via an inclined surface (a pressing force receiving surface serving as a protrusion releasing means) 42 that is inclined at an inclination angle β in the front-back direction of the paper feed cassette body 21.

The rear end regulating plate 29 has the left and right protrusions 35, 35.
Handles (projection releasing means) 43, 43 for bending the projection forming portions 29A, 29A forming the projections 35, 35 of the rear end regulating plate 29 are provided in the vicinity of. Each of the projection forming portions 29A, 29A is formed by providing longitudinal notches 45, 45 in a predetermined portion of the rear end regulating plate 29.

Paper feed cassette body 2 of the main paper feed cassette 40
In order to load the sheet material bundle S into 1
Is lowered from above the paper feed cassette body 21, and loading is started from the rear end side.

When the sheet material bundle S is loaded by this method,
First, the protrusion forming portions 29A, 29A of the rear end regulating plate 29 are bent outward by the grips 43, 43. By doing this, the projections 35, 35 escape outward, and the rear end side of the sheet material bundle S is loaded in this state.

Subsequently, when the sheet material bundle S is pushed in, the end portion of the sheet material bundle S contacts the inclined surface 41 of the side pressing plate 26 as shown in FIG. 3, and the side pressing plate 26 is moved outward. Then, the end portion of the sheet bundle S is brought into contact with the inclined surface 42 to bend the side pressing plate 26 outward, and the protrusion 33 is released from the end portion position of the sheet bundle as shown in FIG. Go away.

When the sheet material bundle S loaded in the paper feed cassette body 21 is taken out, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the projection forming portion 29A is bent outward by the handle 43. When the projection 35 is allowed to escape, the sheet material bundle S can be taken out without being caught by the projection 35. <Second Embodiment> FIG. 7 shows another configuration example of the side pressing plate 26 provided in the paper feed cassette 40 of the first embodiment.

The side pressing plate 26 of this embodiment further has an inclined surface (a pressing force receiving means as a projection releasing means) which is inclined at a front side end thereof at a predetermined inclination angle γ in the front-back direction of the sheet cassette body 21. Surface) 46 is formed.

In such a side pressing plate 26,
Even when the sheet material bundle S is loaded in the front-back direction of the sheet feeding cassette body 21, as shown in FIGS. The protrusion 33 can be bent outward so that the protrusion 33 can be released from the end position of the sheet bundle S.

In the above embodiment, the side pressing plate 26
Although the projection releasing means is provided on both the rear end regulating plate 29 and the rear end regulating plate 29, the side pressing plate 26 or the rear end regulating plate 29 is described.
The protrusion releasing means may be provided on only one of the above.

Further, in the above embodiment, the inner plate 23 for regulating the width direction of the sheet material bundle may be provided with a protrusion and a means for escaping the protrusion.

[0042]

As described above, in the paper feeding cassette of the present invention, the side pressing plate and the rear end regulating plate are bent to bend the side pressing plate and the rear end regulating plate to allow the protrusions to escape outward. Since the release means is provided, when the sheet material bundle is loaded into the paper feed cassette main body, the projections of the side pressing plate and the trailing edge regulating plate can be released to the outside of the end position of the sheet material bundle to be loaded. it can.

Therefore, the end portions of the sheet material bundle filled in the main body of the paper feed cassette are not damaged by the projections of the side pressing plate and the rear end regulating plate. Further, since the sheet material bundle is not forcibly loaded into the paper feed cassette body, the side pressing plate and the trailing edge regulating plate are not damaged by the sheet material bundle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a paper feed cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B show a front side pressing plate provided in the paper feeding cassette, wherein FIG. 2A is a side view, FIG. 2B is a plan view, FIG. 2C is a front view, and FIG. Rear view.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the action of a side pressing plate at the front part of the same,
(a) is a front view, (b) is a side view.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the action of the side pressure plate at the front part of the same.
(a) is a front view, (b) is a side view.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a trailing edge regulating plate provided in the paper feeding cassette.

FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the operation of the trailing edge regulating plate.

7A and 7B show a front side pressing plate of a sheet feeding cassette according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 7A is a side view, FIG. 7B is a plan view, and FIG. 7C is a front view. d) Rear view.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the action of the side presser plate at the front part,
(a) is a side view and (b) is a plan view.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of the action of the side presser plate of the front part,
(a) is a side view and (b) is a plan view.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional side view of a laser beam printer including a conventional paper feed cassette.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a conventional paper feed cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 Paper feed cassette body 23A Inner surface of inner plate (side regulation surface) 26 Front side pressure plate 27 Rear side pressure plate 29 Rear edge regulation plate 33, 35 Projection 41, 42, 46 Inclined surface (projection escape means Pressing force receiving surface) 43 Handle (projection escape means) S Sheet material bundle

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding cassette having a regulation plate for regulating an end side of a sheet material bundle to be stacked and stored in a sheet feeding cassette main body, which is provided on the regulation plate and presses the sheet material bundle from above. And a projection releasing means for releasing the projection from above the sheet bundle, the sheet cassette. 2. The regulation plate is a side pressing plate that regulates the width direction of the sheet material bundle, and the side pressing plate is a side arranged on one side of an end side of the sheet material bundle in the width direction. The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein the regulation is performed by pressing a bundle of sheet materials against the regulation surface. 3. The protrusion releasing means provided on the side pressing plate is such that when the sheet material bundle is loaded into the paper feed cassette main body, an end portion of the sheet material bundle is aligned with the protrusion of the side pressing plate. It has an inclined pressing force receiving surface that receives a pressing force from the sheet bundle before contacting, and the pressing force is applied to the pressing force receiving surface so that the side pressing plate bends to escape the protrusion. The paper feed cassette according to claim 2. 4. The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein the regulation plate is a rear end regulation plate that regulates a rear end side of the sheet material bundle in the sheet material feeding direction. 5. The projection releasing means provided on the rear end regulating plate has a handle provided on the rear end regulating plate, and the rear end regulating plate is bent by the handle to escape the protrusion. The paper feed cassette according to claim 4, wherein