JP5031648B2 - Manual feed tray and image forming apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a manual feed tray for manually feeding a sheet, which is supported on the side of an image forming apparatus main body so as to be freely opened and closed, and an image forming apparatus including the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is known in which an openable and closable manual feed tray having a swing center on a base end side is provided on a side surface of the image forming apparatus. This can swing between a storage position in an almost upright position and a paper feeding position whose base end side is inclined downward. At the paper feeding position, sheets are stacked on the upper sheet stacking surface and manually fed. Paper is fed.

  This manual feed tray is opened and closed by the user. Therefore, for example, if the user pulls out a little from the storage position in an almost upright position and releases his hand, the manual feed tray drops by its own weight and is suddenly opened to the paper feed position, and an unpleasant collision sound is generated. In addition to generating, it may cause damage due to the impact force.

  As a measure for preventing such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an example in which a buffer means for buffering an impact force is provided.

A leaf spring (elastic member) is disposed as a buffering means between the manual feed cover (cover member) and the paper stacking base (paper feed base) constituting the manual tray, and when the manual tray is opened by this leaf spring, The paper stacking base is elastically biased toward the manual feed cover. Accordingly, the impact force is reduced by making it difficult for the paper stacking base and the manual feed cover to move relative to each other.
JP 2007-106506 A

  However, according to the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a leaf spring is used as an elastic member in order to relieve an impact force caused by a drop when the manual feed tray is opened and closed to prevent an unpleasant impact sound and damage. For this reason, there are problems that the number of parts of the manual feed tray increases and the configuration becomes complicated.

  Therefore, the present invention includes a manual feed tray that has a small number of parts and has a simple configuration, and that prevents the manual feed tray from dropping when the manual feed tray is opened and closed, and prevents unpleasant impact sounds and damage. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus.

The invention according to claim 1 relates to a manual feed tray that is attached to a side portion of an image forming apparatus main body so as to be freely opened and closed. The manual feed tray according to this invention is
(1) A base end side located at the lower side is supported by the side portion of the image forming apparatus main body so as to be swingable, and a storage position in which the base end side is stored along the side portion in a substantially upright posture and the base end side are low and the tip end is low. An openable and closable cover member that takes a sheet feeding position that enables manual sheet feeding in a high inclined posture on the side;
(2) The cover member is disposed along the sheet stacking surface side, and a base end side located on the lower side is swingably connected to the side portion of the main body of the image forming apparatus to open and close the cover member. A paper feed base that moves relative to the cover member in conjunction with
(3) The cover member has a side wall on at least one end side in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction and an engagement convex portion protruding inward from the side wall,
(4) The paper feed table has a locking portion that can be engaged with and disengaged from the engaging convex portion,
The engagement convex portion and the locking portion are
(5) The cover members move relative to each other in accordance with the swinging movement of the cover member between the storage position and the paper feed position,
(6) The mutual engagement between the cover member and the paper feed table is prohibited at a predetermined position, and the cover member is disposed at an intermediate stop position between the storage position and the paper feed position. ,
(7) Further, the cover member disposed at the intermediate stop position is elastically deformed in accordance with a biasing of the user in the opening / closing direction and allows the cover member to move in the opening / closing direction from the intermediate stop position.
It is characterized by that.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the manual feed tray according to the first aspect, the side wall of the cover member has a guide portion that guides the operation on the front end side of the paper feed table.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the manual feed tray according to the first or second aspect, the intermediate stop position is in the vicinity of the storage position, and it is impossible to stack sheets on the paper feed table. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the manual feed tray according to any one of the first to third aspects, the engaging convex portion is formed integrally with the cover member and the side wall, and the locking portion is the paper feed. It is characterized by being formed integrally with the base.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the manual feed tray according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the side surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus has a recess in which the cover member is accommodated, and the cover member is It is characterized by being arranged at the storage position by an open / close lock mechanism using a push latch.

  The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that in the manual feed tray according to claim 5, the cover member has a handle portion that appears in a state of being arranged at the intermediate stop position.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a manual tray on which a manual sheet is stacked, and a manual sheet feeding unit that supplies a sheet on the manual tray to the image forming unit. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided. The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the manual feed tray is the manual feed tray according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the user opens the cover member in the storage position and releases the hand, the cover member stops at the intermediate stop position, so that the cover member feeds by its own weight. It can prevent falling to a position. Thereby, the unpleasant impact sound and damage to a cover member resulting from a fall of a cover member can be prevented. In addition, the above-described effects can be achieved with a simple configuration such as an engaging convex portion and a locking portion.

  According to the invention of claim 2, since the guide portion for guiding the operation of the front end side of the paper feed table is provided on the side wall of the cover member, the operation of the front end side of the paper feed table is controlled by this guide portion, Engagement / disengagement between the engaging convex portion and the engaging portion can be further ensured.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is no possibility that the user erroneously stacks sheets on the sheet feed table in a state where the cover member is disposed at the intermediate stop position.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the cover member can be prevented from falling without increasing the number of parts of the manual feed tray.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the user presses the vicinity of the push latch with a finger from the outside to the cover member in the storage position, that is, in the storage recess, so that the cover member is It can be opened and placed in an intermediate stop position. That is, since it is not necessary to provide a handle or the like at a position visible from the outside of the cover member, the cover member can be made excellent in cosmetics. In addition, when the push latch is used, when the user presses the vicinity of the push latch with a finger to release the cover member, the user's finger generally moves away from the cover member. If it is opened to the paper position, an impact sound is generated or the cover member is damaged. However, in the present invention, even when the user releases the cover member and then releases his / her finger, the cover member remains in the intermediate stop position. Can be prevented.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the cover member is arranged at the intermediate stop position, the handle portion appears. Therefore, the user places a hand on the handle portion to further open the cover member from the intermediate stop position. be able to.

  According to the invention of claim 7, the effect as the above-mentioned manual feed tray can be exhibited as an image forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each drawing, the member etc. which attached | subjected the same code | symbol are the same structures, The duplication description about these shall be abbreviate | omitted suitably. Moreover, in each drawing, members and the like that are not necessary for the description are omitted as appropriate.

<Embodiment 1>
The image forming apparatus 1 and the manual feed tray 3 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Here, FIGS. 1 to 11 will be briefly described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire image forming apparatus 1 in a state in which the cover member 51 of the manual feed tray 3 is disposed at the storage position M1, as viewed from the upper left obliquely upper side. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1 as viewed from the left side. FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed from diagonally upward on the left side, showing a state in which the cover member 51 is disposed at the storage position M1. FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed obliquely from the upper left on the front side, showing a state in which the cover member 51 is pulled out to the paper feed position M3. FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed from obliquely upward on the left side, showing a state where the cover member 51 is removed. In FIG. 1, FIG. 2, etc., the front, rear, left, right, top and bottom of the image forming apparatus 1 etc. are indicated by arrows in the drawings as appropriate. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed from diagonally upward on the front right side, showing a state in which the cover member 51 is disposed at the intermediate stop position M2. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed from obliquely upward on the front right side, showing a state in which the cover member 51 is disposed at the paper feed position M3. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the cover member 51 alone. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a single sheet feeding table 52. FIG. 8 is a vertical cross section viewed from the left side showing a state in which the cover member 51 is disposed at the intermediate stop position M2. FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the engagement relationship between the engagement convex portion 68 and the locking portion in a state where the cover member 51 is disposed at the intermediate stop position. FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-section viewed from the left side showing a state in which the cover member 51 is slightly opened from the intermediate stop position M2. FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating the engagement relationship between the engagement convex portion 68 and the locking portion 70 in a state where the cover member 51 is slightly opened from the intermediate stop position M2.

(Schematic configuration of image forming apparatus)
The outline of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, examples of the image forming apparatus 1 include a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and a complex machine thereof. In the following description, a case where the image forming apparatus 1 is a printer will be described as an example. The image forming apparatus 1 shown in these drawings is a four-color full-color image forming apparatus 1 adopting an electrophotographic system, an intermediate transfer system, and a tandem system.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a substantially box-shaped (cuboid) image forming apparatus main body 4 and a front cover 2 supported by the image forming apparatus main body 4 so as to be freely opened and closed (swingable). I have.

  In the image forming apparatus main body 4, the front side opening (sheet conveyance path) 21 and the refeed conveyance path 5 (see FIG. 2) are covered by the front cover (side part) 2, and the left side surface and the right side surface are combined. It is covered with a resin-made left exterior panel 6 and a right exterior panel (not shown) (see FIG. 2). A paper discharge tray 8 having a sheet stacking surface 7 is disposed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 4. The sheet stacking surface 7 is composed of an inclined surface 7a that is gently inclined so that the rear end side is positioned higher, and a flat surface 7b that follows the rear end of the inclined surface 7a. The sheet S discharged rearward from the figure is supported from below. The front cover 2 releases a lock mechanism (not shown) that fixes the front cover 2 to the image forming apparatus main body 4 when a paper jam occurs in the sheet conveyance path 21 and the refeed conveyance path 5. Then, the opening (sheet conveyance path) 21 and the refeeding conveyance path 5 of the image forming apparatus main body 4 can be opened to the outside, and the jammed sheet S is fed to the sheet conveyance path 21 and the refeeding sheet. It can be removed from the inside of the conveyance path 5 (see FIG. 2).

  An operation panel 10 is disposed on the upper end side of the front cover 2. A touch panel type liquid crystal display unit and various buttons are arranged on the operation panel 10, and an operator (for example, a user or a serviceman) stands on the front side (front side) of the image forming apparatus 1. The entire image forming apparatus 1 can be operated by the operation panel 10.

  The front cover 2 has a swingable manual feed tray 3 cover member 51 housed in a recess 11 on the front surface side (outer surface side). And the cover member 51 accommodated in the recessed part 11 of the front cover 2 passes through the intermediate | middle stop position M2 mentioned later from the accommodation position M1 shown to Fig.3 (a) to the paper feed position M3 shown in FIG.3 (b). And can be pulled out. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the support shaft 13 (see FIG. 6) of the base end portion 12 located on the lower end side of the cover member 51 is supported by the front cover 2 so as to be swingable.

  Next, the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a sheet storage unit 14, a substrate storage unit 15, an image forming unit 16, a toner supply unit 17, and a paper discharge tray 8 in order from the lower side to the upper side of the image forming apparatus body 4. Is provided. A sheet conveying unit 18 is provided between the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 4 and the front cover 2.

  A sheet feeding cassette 20 is disposed in the sheet storage unit 14. The paper feed cassette 20 is configured to send one sheet out of a plurality of sheets stacked therein to the sheet conveyance path 21.

  A substrate, electrical components, and the like (not shown) that control the entire image forming apparatus 1 are disposed in the substrate storage unit 15. An image forming unit 16 is disposed above the substrate storage unit 15.

  The image forming unit 16 includes an endless intermediate transfer belt 22 and four (four color) image forming stations aligned along the rotation direction (arrow R1 direction) of the intermediate transfer belt 22, that is, magenta ( Image forming stations 23, 24, 25, and 26 for forming toner images with toners of M, cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K) are provided. In the image forming unit 16, the toner images of the image forming stations 23 to 26 are primarily transferred onto the surface of the rotating intermediate transfer belt 22 and superimposed. The four-color toner images primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 22 are secondarily transferred to the sheet at the secondary transfer position 27.

  The toner replenishing unit 17 is provided with four toner containers that individually store toners of respective colors, that is, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black toner containers 30, 31, 32, and 33.

  In the present embodiment, the sheet conveying unit 18 is provided between the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 4 and the front cover 2, and a sheet conveying path 21 that guides a sheet from below to above, and the sheet conveying unit. It has a sheet conveyance path 5 that is disposed on the front side of the path 21 and guides the sheet from the upper side to the lower side, and further includes a manual feeding unit 34.

  In the sheet conveyance path 21, a fixing device 35 is disposed at a position downstream of the secondary transfer position 27 in the sheet conveyance direction, and the sheet S on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 35 is transferred onto the paper discharge tray 8. They are guided or guided to the sheet conveyance path 5 (sheet re-conveyance path for double-sided printing). Further, when performing duplex printing, the sheet conveying path 5 is configured such that the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveying path 21 is guided by the flapper 36 and the trailing edge of the sheet is held by the reversing roller 37, and then the sheet is reversed. The sheet 37 is conveyed from the upper side to the lower side, and the sheet is guided to the sheet conveying path 21. A manual feed roller (manual sheet feed unit) 39 is disposed immediately in front of the pair of conveyance rollers 38 in the sheet conveyance unit 18. The manual feed roller 39 feeds the sheet set on the upper surface of the manual feed tray 3 at the paper feed position M3 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 toward the conveyance roller pair 38 side.

(Structure of front cover and manual feed tray)
The front cover 2 has a bifurcated bearing portion 40 on the lower end side supported by a shaft 41 of the image forming apparatus body 4 so as to be swingable and detachable. It is possible to move between a closed position for covering and an open position for opening the sheet conveyance path 21 and the refeed conveyance path 5 to the outside in an inclined posture. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the front cover 2 has a recess 11 formed from the vicinity of the upper portion on the outer surface 42 side to the lower end side, and a cover member is formed in the recess 11. 51 is accommodated. A paper feed port 43 for feeding sheets stacked on the paper feed tray 52 is formed at the lower end side of the recess 11.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the front cover 2 is supported by the shaft 41 of the image forming apparatus body 4 on both sides of the recess 11 and on the lower end side of the recess 11. Legs 44 and 44 are formed, and bearing portions 40 and 40 are respectively formed on the pair of support legs 44 and 44, and the bearing portions 40 and 40 are fitted to the shaft 41 of the image forming apparatus main body 4. It is like that. The front cover 2 having such a structure has a substantially portal shape when viewed from the outer surface 42 side by the concave portion 11 for housing the cover member 51, the paper feed port 43, and the pair of support legs 44, 44. ing. A shaft hole 46 that fits into the support shaft 13 formed on one side surface of the manual feed tray 3 is formed in the right frame wall (tray support portion) 45 constituting the recess 11. A shaft hole that fits into the support shaft 13 formed on the other side surface of the manual feed tray 3 at a position facing the shaft hole 46 in the left frame wall (tray support portion) 47 constituting the recess 11. 46 is formed. These shaft holes 46 and 46 are formed so as to penetrate the frame walls 45 and 47, respectively.

  In the present embodiment, the manual feed tray 3 includes a cover member 51, a paper feed table 52, an extension guide 53, and a pair of link levers 54, as shown in FIG. Further, the cover member 51 includes a storage position M1 (see a solid line in FIGS. 1 and 2, see FIG. 3A), an intermediate stop position M2 (see FIGS. 4 and 8), and a paper feed position M3 (see FIG. 2). The two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 (see FIG. 3B and FIG. 5) is taken, and the posture is stably held at these positions.

  Here, the storage position M <b> 1 is a position in which a substantially upright posture is taken with respect to the front cover 2 and stored in a rectangular recess 11 formed in the front cover 2. The intermediate stop position M2 is a position slightly opened from the storage position M1, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, and in this embodiment, in particular, the open angle θ (a plane H perpendicular to the horizontal plane). The angle formed by the cover member 51 with respect to this is set small, and the angle is set such that the user cannot erroneously place the sheet on the cover member 51. The sheet feeding position M3 is a position where the opening angle θ is about 60 degrees, for example, and is a position for feeding a sheet placed on the sheet feeding table 52.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the cover member 51, which is a component of the manual feed tray 3, has a substantially rectangular bottom plate 55, and the left-right direction of the bottom plate 55 on the sheet stacking surface side (surface opposite to the outer surface 55 a). A left side wall (side wall) 56 projecting from the base end side (lower side in FIG. 6) to the front end side (upper side in FIG. 6) at both ends of the sheet (in the direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction) The right side wall (side wall) 57, the front end side wall 58 extending in the left-right direction on the front end side, and the above-described support shaft 13 projecting outwardly on the base end sides of the left side wall 56 and the right side wall 57 (however, In FIG. 6, only the support shaft 13 on the right side wall 57 side is shown.

  The right end side of the bottom plate 55 protrudes rightward from the right side wall 57 because the right side wall 57 described above is disposed slightly inside the right end edge 55b of the bottom plate 55. This protruding portion is used as a handle portion 60 to be put on when the user opens the cover member 51. A semispherical finger contact projection 66 is provided at the center of the outer surface 55a of the bottom plate 55 on the front end side as a finger slip stopper and an operating position mark. The finger contact protrusion 66 serves as a pressing portion that the user presses with a finger when opening the cover member 51 disposed at the storage position M1. A locking protrusion (not shown) is provided at a position corresponding to the finger contact protrusion 66 on the sheet stacking surface side of the bottom plate 55. As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, a locking projection holder 65 is disposed at a position corresponding to the finger contact projection 66 on the front cover 2 side. A push latch 67 is constituted by the locking projections and the locking tool holder 65. In the push latch 67, the locking protrusion is engaged with the locking protrusion holder 65 when the cover member 51 is disposed at the storage position M1. As a result, the cover member 51 is stably held at the storage position M1. When the cover member 51 is released from the storage position M1, when the user presses the finger protrusion 66 on the bottom 55 with a finger, the engagement of the locking protrusion with the locking protrusion holder 65 is released. The locking projection holder 65 is lightly urged in the opening direction to be released. At this time, the user releases his / her finger from the cover member 51. In the present invention, the opened cover member 51 is stopped at the intermediate stop position M2, as will be described later. Therefore, there is no possibility that the cover member 51 is fully opened suddenly.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the right side wall 57 has three guide grooves penetrating in the left-right direction, that is, a first guide groove 61, a second guide groove (guide portion) 62, and a third guide groove. 63 is formed. The first guide groove 61 extends from the proximal end side of the right side wall 57 toward the distal end side while curving downward in a convex shape. The first guide groove 61 guides a first protrusion 71 of a sheet feed table 52 described later shown in FIG. The second guide groove 62 is disposed on the distal end side of the right side wall 57 relative to the first guide groove 61, and extends from the proximal end side toward the distal end side while curving upward in a convex shape. The second guide groove 62 guides a second protrusion 72 of the sheet feed table 52 described later shown in FIG. The third guide groove 63 is formed below the above-described second guide groove 62 so as to substantially follow the proximal end portion of the second guide groove 62. The third guide groove 63 guides protrusions (not shown) protruding from the left and right sides of the extension guide 53 to restrict the movement of the extension guide 53. As shown in FIG. 3B, the left side wall 56 is also formed with three guide grooves similar to the first guide groove 61, the second guide groove 62, and the third guide groove 63 of the right side wall 57. ing.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, an engaging convex portion 68 projects from the inner surface 57 a of the right side wall 57 above the second guide groove 62. The engaging convex portion 68 is formed in a quadrangular frustum shape, and each ridge line is chamfered. The engaging convex portion 68 is engaged with and disengaged from a locking portion 70 on the side of the paper feed table 52 to be described later with the opening / closing operation of the cover member 51. This point will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the tip side wall 58 is formed so as to extend in the left-right direction along the tip edge of the bottom portion 55, and connects the tip of the left side wall 56 and the tip of the right side wall 57. is doing. The height dimension of the tip side wall 58 from the bottom plate 55 is set lower than that of the left side wall 56 and the right side wall 57.

  The support shaft 13 is formed so as to protrude outward on the base end side of the left side wall 56 and the right side wall 57, and as described above, the support shaft 13 is formed in the shaft hole 46 of the front cover 2 shown in FIG. It is rotatably engaged. Thereby, the entire cover member 51 is swingable with respect to the front cover 2.

  As for the cover member demonstrated above, the baseplate 55, the left side wall 56, the right side wall 57, the support shaft 13, and the engagement convex part 68 are integrally formed with the synthetic resin.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the paper feed base 52 includes a substantially rectangular base plate 73, a left side plate 74 and a right side plate 75 projecting from both left and right ends thereof, and a first projection projecting in the left-right direction. 1 protrusion 71 and 2nd protrusion 72 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the base plate 73 is formed in a substantially plate shape that is long in the left-right direction, and as shown in FIG. 5, is disposed so as to overlap the base end side of the cover member 51 described above. . As shown in FIG. 7, the upper surface of the base plate 73 is a sheet stacking surface 73a on which sheets are stacked during manual sheet feeding. On the sheet stacking surface 73a, two width adjusting member guide grooves 73b and 73c are formed respectively extending leftward and upward from a substantially central portion in the left-right direction. These width adjusting member guide grooves 73a and 73b guide the movement of the width adjusting members 76b and 76c shown in FIG. 5 in the left-right direction.

  At the upper part of the base end side (left side in FIG. 7) of the left side plate 74 and the right side plate 75, mounting portions 77 project from the respective sides. These attachment portions are swingably connected at the distal ends of a pair of link levers 54 shown in FIG. 5 (however, only the left link lever 54 is shown in FIG. 5). The base ends of the link levers 54 are slidably connected to the left frame wall 47 and the right frame wall 45 of the front cover 2 described above. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, on the rear end side of the upper end edge 75a of the right side plate 75, there is an engaging portion 70 that can be engaged with and disengaged from the engaging convex portion 68 of the right side wall 57 on the cover member 51 side. It is provided. A similar locking portion (not shown) is also provided on the rear end side of the upper end edge (not shown) of the left side plate 74. The engagement / disengagement operation of the engagement convex portion 68 and the locking portion 70 will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the first protrusion 71 protrudes in a cylindrical shape from the left end and the right end on the base end side of the base plate 73 described above (however, in FIG. 7, only the first protrusion 71 on the left side is provided). Is shown). These first protrusions 71 are inserted into first guide grooves 61 formed in the left side wall 56 and the right side wall 57 of the cover member 51 shown in FIGS. When the base 52 moves relative to the base 52, the base 52 moves along the first guide groove 61.

  The second protrusions 72 project from the left end and the right end of the tip of the base plate 73 in a columnar shape. These second protrusions 72 are inserted into the second guide grooves 62 formed in the left side wall 56 and the right side wall 57 of the cover member 51 shown in FIGS. When the base 52 moves relative to the base 52, the base 52 moves along the second guide groove 62.

  In the sheet feeding table 52 described above, the base plate 73, the left side plate 74, the right side plate 75, the mounting portion 77, the first projection 71, the second projection 72, and the locking portion 70 are integrally formed of synthetic resin. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the extension guide 53 is formed in a substantially plate shape and is disposed so as to overlap the front end side of the cover member 51. The extension guide 53 is configured to be able to move between a drawing position shown in the figure and an accommodation position (not shown) while being guided by the third guide groove 63 described above. That is, the extension guide 53 is placed at the pull-out position shown in the figure when the user puts a finger on the concave portion 53a at the front end side and pulls it in the arrow direction in a state where the cover member 51 is placed at the paper feed position M3. can do. Since the extension guide protrudes from the front end of the cover member 51 at this pull-out position, it supports the rear end of the large-sized sheet that protrudes from the front end of the cover member 51 during manual feeding, and the rear end hangs downward. Can be prevented. In the present embodiment, when the cover member 51 at the paper feed position M3 is closed toward the storage position M1, the cover member 51 and the paper feed base 52 are moved relative to each other. A gap (not shown) is formed between the leading end of the paper feed tray 52, and the extension guide 53 slides down due to its own weight, and its proximal end enters the gap and is disposed at the receiving position. As a result, the extension guide 53 does not automatically have a protruding portion from the cover member 51, and therefore there is no possibility that the protruding portion is pinched when the cover member 51 is disposed at the storage position M1.

  The cover member 51 and the paper feed tray 52 move relative to each other as the cover member 51 opens and closes. The cover member 51 performs a simple swinging operation with respect to the front cover 2 with respect to the support shaft 13 in the opening / closing operation. On the other hand, the paper feed tray 52 is connected to the front cover 2 via the link lever 54, and the first protrusion 71 and the second protrusion 72 are the first guide groove 61 and the second guide on the cover member 51 side, respectively. In a state of being guided (restricted) by the groove 62, a complicated relative movement is caused by a simple swinging motion of the cover member.

  By this relative movement, the above-described extension guide 53 can be automatically accommodated, and the cover member 51 can be stopped at the intermediate stop position M2 as described below.

  In FIG. 9, the engagement convex portion 68 projecting inward and the engaging portion 70 of the right side plate 75 of the paper feed base 52 are engaged with the inner surface 57 a of the right side wall 57 of the cover member 51. Indicates the state. In this state, the cover member 52 is disposed at the intermediate stop position M2 shown in FIGS.

  When the cover member 51 is disposed at the storage position M1 shown in FIG. 1, the engagement convex portion 68 on the cover member 15 side has two engagement protrusions 68 on the cover member 15 side in the drawing. It is arranged at a position indicated by a dotted line. In this state, that is, when the cover member 51 arranged at the storage position M1 starts to be opened toward the paper feed position M3, the second protrusion 72 on the paper feed base 52 side becomes the second projection on the cover member 51 side. It moves in the direction of the arrow along the guide groove 62. By this movement, the engaging convex portion 68 moves relative to the locking portion 70 from the position indicated by the two-dot chain line to the position indicated by the solid line, and is engaged with the locking portion 70. Due to the engagement between the engaging convex portion 68 on the cover member 51 side and the locking portion 70 on the paper feed table 52 side, the cover member 51 and the paper feed table 52 are prohibited from moving relative to each other and cannot move. . The position of the cover member 52 at this time is an intermediate stop position M2 shown in FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the cover member immediately after being opened is stopped at the intermediate stop position M2 where the opening angle θ is small. As described above, the intermediate stop position M2 is an opening angle that is small enough to prevent the user from stacking sheets on the sheet feeding table 52. That is, the sheet cannot be inserted inside the cover member 51 by being obstructed by the leading edges of the left wall portion 56 and the right wall portion 57 shown in FIG.

  At this intermediate stop position M2, a part of the handle portion 60 shown in FIG. 6 is exposed, so that the user places his / her hand on the handle portion 60 and further points the cover member 52 toward the paper feed position M3. Can be moved. That is, when the user further opens the cover member 51 at the intermediate stop position M2, the engagement convex portion 68 side or the locking portion 70 side is elastically deformed, and the engagement convex portion 68 is Get over the corner 70a. Thereby, the user can open the cover member 52 with an appropriate click feeling. The cover member 52 thus opened is arranged at the paper feeding position. In addition, the handle can be performed on the tip side wall 58 and the left side wall 56 around the bottom plate 55 other than the handle portion 60. The handle portion 60 refers to a portion where a finger is hung, and does not need to have a special shape.

  On the other hand, when the user closes the cover member 51 from the paper feed position M3 to the storage position M1, the engagement convex portion 68 continues to the corner portion 70a of the locking portion 70 in the vicinity of the intermediate stop position M2. It gets over the corner 70a while being guided by the inclined surface 70b. Therefore, unlike the case of opening, the user feels a light shock when the engaging convex portion 68 gets over the corner portion 70a without being stopped at the intermediate stop position M2, but the cover member 52 is accommodated relatively smoothly. It can be stored in the position M1.

  According to the present embodiment, even when the user releases the cover member 51 at the storage position M1 from the storage position M1 and releases his / her hand, the cover member 51 stops at the intermediate stop position M2. It is possible to prevent 51 from falling to the paper feed position M3 due to its own weight. Thereby, unpleasant impact sound and damage to the cover member 51 caused by the cover member 51 falling to the storage position M3 can be prevented. In addition, the above-described effects can be achieved with a simple configuration in which the engaging convex portion 68 integral with the cover member 51 and the engaging portion 70 integral with the paper feed base 52 are engaged and disengaged. Furthermore, there is no increase in the number of parts.

<Embodiment 2>
A manual feed tray 3A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 12 is a view from the left side showing the cover member 81 disposed at the intermediate stop position M2. FIG. 13 is a perspective view for explaining the positional relationship between the cover member 81 and the paper feed table 82. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the engaging convex portion 98 protruding inward from the right side wall 87 of the cover member 81. FIG. 15 is a perspective view for explaining the positional relationship between the engaging convex portion 98 and the locking portion 100 in a state where the cover member 81 is disposed at the intermediate stop position M2. The intermediate stop position M2 in the present embodiment is configured such that the opening angle is larger than the intermediate stop position M2 in the first embodiment described above.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the cover member 81 has a first guide groove 91, a second guide groove 92, a third guide groove 93, a right wall surface 87, an inner surface 87 a, and a engagement member that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment. It has a joint convex portion 98 and the like. On the other hand, the sheet feed table 82 includes a base plate 85, a left side plate 104, a right side plate 105, and a second protrusion 102 that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the shape of the latching | locking part 100 differs greatly from the above-mentioned Embodiment 1. FIG. The locking portion 100 has a relief groove 100a that is recessed inward.

  In the present embodiment, when the cover member 81 arranged at the storage position M1 (not shown) is opened, the engagement convex portion 68 on the cover member 81 side and the locking portion 10 on the paper feed table 82 side are shown in FIG. The cover member 81 is arranged at the intermediate stop position M2 shown in FIG. When the user tries to further open the cover member 81 in the state of being placed at the intermediate stop position M2, the engagement convex portion 98 side or the locking portion 100 side is elastically deformed, the engagement is released, and the engagement The convex portion 98 enters the escape groove 100a. As a result, the cover member 81 can be moved to the paper feed position M3 (not shown).

  The present invention can be applied not only to a manual feed tray of an image forming apparatus, but also to a general door that is opened and closed at a side portion of the apparatus main body.

1 to 11 are diagrams according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 1 illustrates the entire image forming apparatus 1 in a state in which the cover member 51 of the manual feed tray 3 is disposed at the storage position M1. It is the perspective view seen from diagonally upward. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1 as viewed from the left side. (A) is the perspective view seen from the front left diagonal upper direction which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the cover member 51 to the storage position M1 with respect to the front cover 2, (b) is a cover with respect to the front cover 2. FIG. 5C is a perspective view seen from the front left upper side showing a state in which the member 51 is pulled out to the paper feed position M3, and FIG. 5C is a front side left oblique showing the state in which the cover member 51 is removed from the front cover 2; It is a perspective view. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed from obliquely upward on the front right side showing a state in which a cover member 51 is disposed at an intermediate stop position M2. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front cover 2 as viewed from diagonally upward on the front right side, showing a state in which a cover member 51 is disposed at a paper feed position M3. It is a perspective view which shows the cover member 51 single-piece | unit. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a single sheet feeding table 52. It is the longitudinal section seen from the left side which shows the state where cover member 51 was arranged at middle stop position M2. It is a perspective view explaining the engagement relationship of the engagement convex part 68 and the latching | locking part of the state by which the cover member 51 is arrange | positioned in an intermediate | middle stop position. It is the longitudinal section seen from the left side which shows the state where cover member 51 was opened a little from middle stop position M2. It is a perspective view explaining the engagement relationship of the engagement convex part 68 and the latching | locking part 70 in the state in which the cover member 51 was opened a little from the intermediate stop position M2. 12 to 15 are diagrams according to the second embodiment, and among these, FIG. 12 is a diagram viewed from the left side for explaining a state in which the cover member 81 is disposed at the intermediate stop position M2. 6 is a perspective view for explaining a state in which the second protrusions 82 of the paper feed table 82 are guided along the second guide groove 92 of the left side wall 86 and the right side wall 87 of the cover member 81. FIG. It is a perspective view explaining the engagement convex part 98 projected inward from the inner surface 87a of the right side wall 87 of a cover member. It is a perspective view which controls the engagement relationship of the engagement convex part 98 and the latching | locking part 100 when a cover member is arrange | positioned in the intermediate | middle stop position M2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Front cover (side part), 3, 3A ... Manual feed tray, 4 ... Image forming apparatus main body, 11 ... Concave part, 39 ... Manual feed roller (Manual sheet feeding) Part), 51, 81 ... cover member, 52, 82 ... paper feed table, 56 ... left side wall (side wall), 57 ... right side wall (side wall), 60 ... handle part, 62 ... second guide Groove (guide part),
67... Push latch, 68 and 98... Engaging convex portion, 70 and 100... Locking portion, 73 a... Sheet stacking surface, M 1. position

Claims (7)

In the manual feed tray attached to the side of the image forming apparatus main body so as to be freely opened and closed,
The lower base end side is swingably supported by the side portion of the image forming apparatus main body, and the storage position stored along the side portion in an almost upright position and the base end side are low and the front end side is high inclined. An openable and closable cover member that takes a sheet feeding position that enables manual sheet feeding in a posture;
A base end side, which is disposed along the sheet stacking surface side of the cover member and is located on the lower side, is swingably connected to the side portion of the image forming apparatus main body, and interlocks with the opening / closing operation of the cover member. A paper feed base that moves relative to the cover member,
The cover member has a side wall on at least one end side in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction and an engaging convex portion protruding inward from the side wall,
The paper feed table has a latching part that can be engaged with and disengaged from the engaging convex part,
The engaging convex part and the engaging part move relative to each other in accordance with the swinging movement of the cover member between the storage position and the paper feeding position, and engage with each other at a predetermined position. The cover member is prohibited from relative movement between the paper feed table and the cover member is disposed at an intermediate stop position between the storage position and the paper feed position, and is disposed at the intermediate stop position. Further, the cover member is elastically deformed in accordance with the urging force of the user in the opening / closing direction to allow the cover member to move in the opening / closing direction from the intermediate stop position
A manual feed tray. The side wall of the cover member has a guide portion that guides the operation on the front end side of the paper feed table.
The manual feed tray according to claim 1. The intermediate stop position is in the vicinity of the storage position and is a position where it is impossible to stack sheets on the sheet feed table;
The manual feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the manual feed tray is provided. The engaging projection is formed integrally with the cover member and the side wall;
The locking portion is formed integrally with the paper feed table,
The manual feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the manual feed tray is provided. The side surface of the image forming apparatus main body has a recess in which the cover member is accommodated,
The cover member is disposed at the storage position by an open / close lock mechanism using a push latch.
The manual feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the manual feed tray is provided. The cover member has a handle portion that appears in a state of being arranged at the intermediate stop position.
The manual feed tray according to claim 5. In an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; a manual tray on which a manual sheet is stacked; and a manual sheet feeding unit that supplies a sheet on the manual tray to the image forming unit.
The manual feed tray is the manual feed tray according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
An image forming apparatus.

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