GB2061231A - Copying paper cassette - Google Patents
Copying paper cassette Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2061231A GB2061231A GB8030294A GB8030294A GB2061231A GB 2061231 A GB2061231 A GB 2061231A GB 8030294 A GB8030294 A GB 8030294A GB 8030294 A GB8030294 A GB 8030294A GB 2061231 A GB2061231 A GB 2061231A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- cassette
- casing
- receiving plate
- cassette casing
- copying
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H1/00—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated
- B65H1/26—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated with auxiliary supports to facilitate introduction or renewal of the pile
- B65H1/266—Support fully or partially removable from the handling machine, e.g. cassette, drawer
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H1/00—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated
- B65H1/04—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H1/00—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated
- B65H1/08—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated with means for advancing the articles to present the articles to the separating device
- B65H1/12—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated with means for advancing the articles to present the articles to the separating device comprising spring
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
- G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
- G03G15/65—Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material
- G03G15/6502—Supplying of sheet copy material; Cassettes therefor
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2405/00—Parts for holding the handled material
- B65H2405/30—Other features of supports for sheets
- B65H2405/33—Compartmented support
- B65H2405/331—Juxtaposed compartments
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
- B65H2511/10—Size; Dimensions
- B65H2511/11—Length
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
- B65H2511/20—Location in space
- B65H2511/22—Distance
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Sheets, Magazines, And Separation Thereof (AREA)
Abstract
A stack of sheet-like copying papers is placed in a cassette casing (4) with at least the front end portion of the stack located on a receiving plate (36). The two side portions of the front end of the stack are urged against separator corner tabs (24a, 24b) by the resilient biasing action of springs (46a, 46b) which is transmitted to the stacked copying papers through the receiving plate (36). In order to facilitate loading of the stack into the cassette, plate (36) can be manually depressed at (50). The cassette also includes a manually operable member (52). By operating member (52), the receiving plate (36) can be moved downwardly as the cassette is loaded into a copying machine. Removable plates (74) co-operating with mounting devices (68) enable the paper size received by the cassette casing to be easily adjusted. <IMAGE>
Description
SPECIFICATION
Copying paper cassette
This invention relates to a copying paper cassette for a copying machine, and more specifically to a copying paper cassette which is adapted to be loaded in the copying machine so that a plurality of stacked sheet-like copying papers therein can be fed into the copying machine one by one.
In copying machines such as electrostatic copying machines, it is necessary to feed a copying paper (for example, a receptor sheet for receiving a latent or developed image formed on a photosensitive member corresponding to an original document, or a photosensitive sheet for forming thereon a latent or developed image corresponding to an original document) when copies of the documents are required.
Commercial copying machines now in widespread use include a cassette-receiving section for receiving a cassette containing a plurality of stacked sheet-like copying papers which are to be fed one by one to a given passageway when required.
Conventional known copying paper cassettes to be loaded in the cassette-receiving section of a copying machine, however, have the following defects or disadvantages.
Such known cassettes include a generally box-like casing, separator members at both side portions of a front end of the casing, a receiving plate located at least in a front portion of the casing, and a resilient means disposed between the receiving plate and the bottom wall of the casing for resiliently biasing the front end portion of the receiving plate upwardly away from said bottom wall. The stacked sheet-like copying papers are placed within the casing of the cassette with at least the front end portion of the stack located on the receiving plate. The two side portions of the front end of the stack are urged against the separator members by the resilient biasing action of the resilient means which is transmitted to the stacked papers through the receiving plate.The cassette-receiving section of the copying machine includes a paper feed roller which comes into engagement with the topmost copying paper in the paper stack within the casing when the cassette is loaded in position. By rotation of the paper feed roller, the stacked copying papers in the casing are removed one by one.
It is importantthatthe paperfeed roller should not be engaged by the copying papers in the casing when the copying paper cassette is removed from the cassette-receiving section for supply or exchange of copying papers or otherwise. If the feed roller comes into engagement with the copying papers during the loading or removing of the cassette, the roller restricts movement of the topmost paper in the paper stack so as to cause creasing or may be even to cause the topmost paper to drop out of the cassette.
In an attempt to prevent such problems, various contrivances are included in conventional copying machines. For example, as disclosed in Japanese
Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 18336/74, cam mechanisms which act cooperatively are provided in the cassette and the cassette-receiving section so that at the time of loading and removing the cassette, these cam mechanisms cause both the receiving plate, which is resiliently biased upwardly by the resilient means and the copying papers located thereon, to move downwardly in against the resilient biasing action of the resilient means, thereby positioning the copying papers within the cassette casing below their normal position and preventing the paper feed roller from contacting the copying papers.Alternatively, in the machine disclosed in
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 18337/ 74, in addition to providing cam mechanisms which act cooperatively in the cassette and the cassettereceiving section, the paper feed roller disposed in the cassette-receiving section is adapted for free vertical movement and biased resiliently to a lower operating position by the resilient means. Atthe time of loading and removing the cassette, the paper feed roller is moved upwardly in against the resilient biasing action of the resilient means by the action of the cam mechanisms, thereby preventing the feed roller from contacting the copying papers.
In order to employ the arrangements of these conventional copying machines, it is necessary to provide a relatively complex cam mechanism both in the casing of the cassette and in the cassettereceiving section of the copying machine. Hence, both of these sections become relatively complex and costly.
Secondly, in the known copying paper cassettes described above, a plurality of sheet-like copying papers in the stacked state must be placed in the cassette casing in such a way that at least the front end portion of the stack is positioned on the receiving plate located at least in the front end portion of the casing and the front end of the stack positioned beneath the separator members provided at the two side portions of the front end of the cassette casing. Before loading the stacked copying papers into the cassette casing, the two side portions of the front end of the receiving plate are biased upwardly to a position abutting or approaching the separator members by the resilient biasing action of the resilient means disposed between the front end portion of the receiving plate and the bottom wall of the cassette casing.In order therefore to place the stacked copying papers in the casing in the desired state described above, it is necessary to insert the front end of the stacked copying papers between the front end of the receiving plate and the separator means after the receiving plate has been moved downwardly against the resilient biasing action of the resilient means.
It is not easy, however, in the conventional paper cassette to perform simultaneously the operation of moving the receiving plate downwardly in against the resistance of the resilient biasing action of the resilient means and holding it here and the operation of inserting the front end of the stacked copying papers between the front end of the receiving plate and the separator members, and frequently, the front end of the stacked copying papers is damaged by being caught by the separator members.
Thirdly, it is often the practice to construct the copying paper cassette such that one of at least two sets of stacked copying papers which have different sizes according to the size of an original document to be copied can be selectively placed in the cassette casing. In such a case, it is important to be able to
determine easily the size of the copying papers in the casing from the outside of the copying paper cassette without the need to see the copying papers themselves. In particular, when the copying papers in the cassette are photosensitive papers having a
photosensitive layer on their surface, they should be shielded from light Hence, the cassette casing is
made of a non-transparent material, and in order to see the copying papers themselves, a part (for example a part or the whole of a cover) of the casing should be removed or opened.It is important therefore that the size of the copying papers within the cassette casing should be capable of being easily determined from the outside of the cassette.
Accordingly, in this type of conventional cassette,.
a contrivance is included so that the size of the copying papers in the cassette can be easily determined from the outside of the cassette by mechanically or electrically detecting the position of a restricting plate which is adapted to constrain the rear end of the copying papers by being fixed at one of a plurality of positions within the cassette casing according to the size of the copying papers in the cassette casing, and thereby displaying the size of the copying papers to the outside of the cassette.
However, the conventional arrangement employed in the cassette to enable the size of the copying papers in the cassette to be easily determined on its outside surface is relatively complex and expensive.
It is one object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive cassette for copying papers, in which a receiving plate resiliently biased upwardly within a cassette casing by a resilient means and a plurality of stacked sheet-like copying papers located thereon can be reliably moved downwardly, as required, against the resistance of the resilient biasing action of the biasing means by a very simple operation, and therefore, without the need to provide any additional element in a cassette-receiving section of a copying machine, and in which a paper feed roller provided in the cassette-receiving section of the copying machine can be reliably prevented from engagement with the copying papers in the cassette casing at the time of loading and removing the cassette in and from the cassette-receiving section of the copying machine.
A second object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive cassette for copying papers, in which an operation of downwardly moving a receiving plate, which is resiliently biased upwardly by a resilient means within a cassette casing, against the resistance of the resilient biasing action of the resilient means and of holding it there and an opertion of inserting the front end of a plurality of stacked sheet-like copying papers between the front end ofthe receiving plate and separator members provided at two side portions of the front end of a cassette casing can be simultaneously performed very easily and reliably so that the copying papers can be very easily placed in the cassette casing as
desired without damaging the front end of the
copying papers by being caught by the separator
members.
A third object of this invention is to provide a
simple and inexpensive cassette for copying papers,
which is constructed such that any one of at least two sets of stacked sheet-like copying papers having
different sizes can be selectively placed in a cassette
casing, and in which the size of the stacked papers can be easily determined from the outside of the
cassette.
According to one aspect of this invention, there is
provided a copying paper cassette comprising a
box-like cassette casing, separator members dis
posed respectively at side regions of a front end of the cassette casing, a receiving plate disposed at
least in the front portion of the cassette casing, a
resilient means disposed between a front end portion of the receiving plate and a bottom wall of the cassette casing to resiliently bias said front end portion of the receiving plate upwardly and away from said bottom wall, the cassette casing being adapted to receive a stack of sheet-like copying papers such that at least a front end portion of the stack is located on the receiving plate and such that the two side portions of the front end of the stack are urged against the separator members by the resilient biasing action of the resilient means which is transmitted to the stacked copying papers through the receiving plate, and a manually operable mem beiwhich has a gripping portion which is located exteriorly of the cassette casing and which, by holding the gripping portion and manually operating the manually operable member, enables the front end portion of the receiving plate to be moved downwardly against the resilient biasing action of said resilient means.
According to a second aspect of this invention, there is provided a copying paper cassette comprising a box-like cassette casing, separator members disposed respectively at side regions of a front end of the cassette casing, a receiving plate disposed at least in the front portion of the cassette casing, a resilient means disposed between a front end portion of the receiving plate and a bottom wall of the cassette casing to resiliently bias said front end portion of the receiving plate upwardly away from said bottom wall, the cassette casing being adapted to receive a stack of sheet-like copying papers such that at least a front end portion of the stack is located on the receiving plate and such that the two side portions of the front end of the stack are urged against the separator members by the resilient biasing action of the resilient means which is transmitted to the stacked copying papers through the receiving plate, and wherein a recess is formed in the front end wall of the cassette casing and a projection adapted for projection into the recess is provided at the front end of the receiving plate, such that, by depressing the projection manually, the front end portion of the receiving plate can be moved downwardly against the resilient biasing action ofthe resilient means.
According to a third aspect of this invention, there is provided a copying paper cassette comprising a box-like cassette casing, at least two mounting means formed within the cassette casing at spaced intervals in the front-rear direction, and a restricting plate adapted to be detachably mounted to any one of the mounting means according to the size of copying papers to be placed in the stacked state in said casing and so as to restrict the rear end of the stacked copying papers, and wherein slots are formed in the cassette casing at positions corresponding to the mounting means, the restricting plate having an indicator projection capable of projecting out of the cassette casing through one said slot, and marks indicating the sizes of the copying papers are being provided on the outside surface of the cassette casing at positions corresponding to the mounting means.
The invention is described further hereinafter, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of one embodiment of the copying paper cassette constructed in accordance with this invention with a cover removed from the casing;
Figure 2 is a partial perspective view, partly broken away, of a receiving plate and a manually operable member which are in the cassette shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a sectional view of the cassette shown in Figure 1 with the omission of the cover;
Figure 4 is a sectional view for illustrating the operation of placing a stack of copying papers in the copying paper cassette shown in Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a sectional view for illustrating the operation of mounting and removing the cassette shown in Figure 1 to and from a cassette-receiving section of a copying machine;;
Figure 6 is a sectional view showing that cassette shown in Figure 1 mounted in the cassette-receiving section of the copying machine as required; and
Figure 7 is a sectional view showing a modified embodiment of the copying paper cassette constructed in accordance with this invention.
Referring to Figure 1, the copying paper cassette constructed in accordance with this invention and shown generally at 2 includes a box-like casing formed of a main body 4 and a cover 6. The main body 4 of the casing is defined by a front end wall 8, a rear end wall 10, side walls 12a and 12b and a bottom wall 14, and its upper end is entirely open.
The bottom wall 14 has formed at its front end portion a step portion 16, the depth of the main body 4 of the casing being larger beyond the step portion 16. The cover 6 to be removably fitted on the top of the main body 4 has a main portion 18 for covering the top of the main body 4 leaving only its front end portion uncovered and a movable portion 22 mounted pivotally on a pair of securing members 20 formed on the top surface of the main portion 18 integrally therewith. The movable portion 22 is held at an open position shown by the solid line in Figure 1 when the cassette 2 is loaded in a copying machine in the manner to be described hereinbelow, but is broughtto a closed position shown by the two-dot chain line in Figure 1 when the cassette 2 is detached from the copying machine and stored.This enables the movable portion 22 to coverthe front end portion of the top of the main body 4 which is not covered by the main portion 18.
Now, referring to Figures 1 and 2, separator members 24a and 24b are provided at the two side portions of the front end of the main body 4. These separator members 24a and 24b may be of any desired configuration so long as they perform the desired action to be described hereinbelow. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown clearly in Figure 2, members 28a and 28b are pivotably mounted by pins 26a and 26b at the inside front end portions of the two side walls 1 2a and 1 2b of the main body 4, and the separator members 24a and 24b are defined by a nearly triangular portion formed integrally at the front end top portions of these members 28a and 28b.The members 28a and 28b can pivot freely between a position at which the bottom edges of downwardly extending portions 30a and 30b, formed respectively at the front ends of the members 28a and 28b, come into abutment with the top surface of the bottom wall 14 of the main body 4 and a position at which the front edges of downwardly extending portions 32a and 32b formed respectively at the rear ends of the members 28a and 28b come into abutment with stop blocks 34a and 34b formed on the bottom wall 14 of the main body 4. Accordingly, the separator members 24a and 24b can be freely moved up and down over some distance according to the pivotal movement of the members 28a and 28b.
Referring to Figure 3 in conjunction with Figures 1 and 2, a receiving plate 36 is disposed within the main body 4 of the casing. The receiving plate 36 may extend over the entire length of the main body 4 from its front end to rear end. In the illustrated embodiment, however, it extends from the front end of the main body 4 to a position somewhat ahead of an intermediate point of the main body 4 in the longitudinal direction.The rear end of the receiving plate 36 which is thus situated at the position somewhat ahead of the intermediate point of the main body 4 in the longitudinal direction is connected to the main body 4, so that it can pivot in the directions of arrows 42 and 44, by inserting a pair of projections 40a and 40b formed at spaced intervals in the widthwise direction at the rear end of the receiving plate 36 into a pair of slits 38 (one of which is shown in Figure 1) formed at spaced intervals in the widthwise direction in the bottom wall 14 of the main body 4 of the casing.
Between the front end portion of the receiving plate 36 and the bottom wall 14 of the main body 4 of the casing is disposed a resilient means for resiliently biasing the front end of the receiving plate 36 upwardly in the direction of arrow 42. The resilient means may be of any desired configuration so long as it can perform the desired action. In the illustrated embodiment, the resilient means is made up of a pair of compression coil springs 46a and 46b spaced in the widthwise direction between the front end portion of the receiving plate 36 and the bottom wall 14 (more specifically, a portion ahead of the step portion 16 of the bottom wall 14) of the main body 4.
As most clearly illustrated in Figure 1, a recess 48 is formed in the front end wall 8 of the main body 4, and a projection 50, adapted to project into therecess 48, is provided at the front end of the receiving plate 36. Preferably, as shown in Figure 1, the recess 48 and the projection 50 are disposed centrally in the widthwise direction in the front end wall 8 and the front end of the receiving plate 36, respectively.It is important that, in order to allow the projection 50 located in the recess 48 to move vertically over a predetermined range, the recess 48 should have an equal or somewhat larger width to or than the width of the projection 50, and extend to a predetermined depth from the top edge of the front end wall 8 (for example, to a depth which is substantially equal to or slightly smaller than the depth of the main body 4 at a portion rearward of the step portion 16 of the bottom wall 14).In the cassette 2, including the recess 48 and the projection 50, the operation of simply depressing the projection 50 by a finger causes the receiving plate 36 to pivot in the direction of arrow 44 against the resistance of the resilient bias of the springs 46a and 46b and moves the front end portion of the receiving plate 36 downwardly when a plurality of sheet-like copying papers in the stacked state are placed in the main body 4 of the casing.
The cassette 2 has a manually operable member shown generally at 52. Referring to Figures 1 to 3, especially Figure 2, a pair of securing blocks 54a and 54b (Figures 2 and 3) are formed at two opposite side portions of the under surface of the bottom wall 14 of the main body4 (more specifically, at two opposite side portions, which are somewhat rearward of the step portion 16, of the under surface of the bottom wall 14). A shaft 56 is mounted between the blocks 54a and 54b. The manually operable member 52 has a pair of levers 58a and 58b mounted pivotably on the opposite end portions of the shaft 56. The front end portions of the levers 58a and 58b respectively extend into the main body 4 of the casing through a pair of openings 60 (one of which is shown in Figure 2) formed in the bottom wall 14 of the main body 4.The front ends of the levers 58a and 58b are engaged with a pair of engaging members 62a and 62b (Figures 2 and 3) formed on the under surface of the receiving plate 36. The rear end portions of the levers 58a and 58b, which are located exteriorly of the main body 4 of the casing, form a gripping portion adapted to be gripped by hand when operating the manually operable member 52, as described hereinbelow. Preferably, the rear end portions of the levers 58a and 58b, which form the gripping portion, are connected to each other into a unitary structure by a cross member 63 extending between them, whereby the levers 58a and 58b can be pivoted about the shaft 56 as an integral unit.
When, in the copying paper cassette 2 having the manually operable member 52, both side portions of the cassette casing (the main body 4 and the cover 6 placed thereon) are held by the hands and the fingers are put over the gripping portion of the manually operable member 52 to turn the manually operable member 52 in the direction of arrow 64, the pivotable movement of the manually operable member 52 in the direction of arrow 64 is transmitted to the receiving plate 36. Thus, the receiving plate 63 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 44 against the resistance of the resilient biasing action of the springs 46a and 46b, and the front end portion of the receiving plate 36 moves downwardly.When the fingers are withdrawn from the gripping portion of the manually operable member 52, the receiving plate 36 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 42 by the resilient biasing action of the springs 46a and 46b, and incidentally, the manually operable member 52 is also pivoted in the direction of arrow 66.
The illustrated cassette 2 is constructed such that any one of a plurality (two in the drawing) of sets of stacked sheet-like copying papers which have different sizes-according to the size of an original document to be copied can be selectively placed in the cassette casing. This feature is described mainly with reference to Figure 1. In the illustrated cassette 2, a plurality (two in the illustrated embodiment) of mounting members 68 and 70 are provided at spaced intervals in the longitudinal direction of the main body 4 of the casing to mount a restricting plate 74 thereto. The distance from the front end of the main body 4 to each of the mounting members 68 and 70 in the longitudinal direction corresponds to the length of copying papers of a selected size placed in the main body 4 of the casing.In the illustrated embodiment, the distance from the front end of the main body 4 of the casing to the mounting member 68 corresponds to the length of a copying paper having a size of B5 according to JIS (Japanese
Industrial Standards), and the distance from the front end of the main body 4to the mounting member 70 corresponds to the length of a copying paper having a size of B4 according toJIS. Each of the mounting members 68 and 70 may be of any desired configuration so long as it permits mounting of the restricting plate as required. In the illustrated embodiment, each mounting member is constructed of a pair of support posts 72 (Figure 1 only shows support posts 72 disposed on the inside surface of the side wall 12b) spaced a predetermined distance from each other on the inside surfaces of the side walls 12a and 12b of the main body 4.The restricting plate 74 is selectively mounted detachably to either one of the mounting members 68 and 70 according to the size of copying papers placed in the main body 4. -In the illustrated embodiment, when the copying papers to be placed in the main body 4 of the casing have a size of B5 according to JIS, the restricting plate 74 is mounted by the mounting members 68 as shown in Figure 1. When the copying papers have a size of B4 according to JIS, the restricting plate 74 is mounted by the mounting members 70. The restricting plate 74 may be a plate-like member which extends laterally and whereby its two side portions can be inserted between the pairs of support posts 72 provided on the inside surface of each of the side walls 12a and 12b. The plate 74 restricts the rear end of a stack of sheet-like copying papers placed in the main body 4 of the cassette casing to prevent rearward movement of the copying papers within the main body 4 of the casing (see Figures 4 to 6).
Means are provided on the outside surface of the cassette casing for easily determining the position at which the restricting plate 74 is mounted, corres ponding to the size of copying papers placed in the cassette casing. Referring to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, slots 76 and 78 are formed in the upper edge portion of the side wall 12a of the main body 4 at positions corresponding to the mounting portions 68 and 70. In addition, an indicator projection 80 projecting in the transverse direction and extending somewhat downwardly is formed in the top portion of one side end of the restricting plate 74. To the outside surface of the side wall 12a of the main body 4 are applied marks 82 and 84 displaying the sizes of copying papers such as "B5" and "B4" at positions corresponding to the mounting portions 68 and 70.
The indicator projection 80 formed in the restricting plate 74 projects through the slot 76 when the restricting plate 74 has been mounted on the mounting members 68 as shown in Figure 1, and projects through the slot 78 when the restricting plate 74 has been mounted on the mounting members 70. As can be easily appreciated from Figure 1, even after the cover 6 has been put over the main body 4 of the casing, the lower end of the indicator projection 80 is located beneath the side portion of the cover 6 without being wholly covered by it.
Accordingly, even when the cover 6 is put over the main body 4, the lower end of the projection 80 can be easily seen at the outside surface of the side wall 12a of the main body 4. For this reason, even when the main body 4 and the cover 6 of the casing are made of a non-transparent material so as to keep the copying papers in the cassette 2 from external light, the position at which the restricting plate 74 is mounted, and therefore the size of the copying papers in the cassette casing, can be very easily ascertained by observing the indicator projection 80 and the mark 82 or 84 at the outside surface of the cassette casing (in the illustrated embodiment, the outside surface of the side wall 12a) without the need to remove the cover 6 from the main body 4.
In the illustrated embodiment, the means for displaying the size of the copying papers (i.e., the slots 76 and 78, the indicator projection 80 and the marks 82 and 84) are provided only in relation to the side wall 1 2a of the main body 4 of the casing. If desired, it is possible to provide the means for displaying the size of the copying papers also with respect to the side wall 12b and thus enable the size of the copying papers to be determined from either side of the cassette 2.Alternatively, instead of, or in addition to, providing the means for displaying the sizes of the copying papers in relation to the side walls 12a and/or 12b of the main body 4 ofthe casing, it is possible to provide means for displaying the size of the copying papers in relation to the top surface of the cover 6 by forming a slot in the top surface of the cover 6, attaching a mark to the top surface of the cover 6 at a point in the proximity of the slot, and forming on the upper edge of the restricting plate 74 an indicator projection which projects upwardly through the aforesaid slot.
Now, referring to Figures 4 to 6 in conjunction with
Figures 1 to 3, the operation of the copying paper cassette 2 is described below.
When placing a plurality of sheet-like copying papers in the stacked state in the cassette casing, the first action is to remove the cover 6 from the main body 4 of the cassette casing. The restricting plate 74 is then mounted in one of the pairs of mounting members 68 and 70 according to the size of the copying papers to be placed in the casing. For example, if the copying paper to be placed in the cassette casing has a size of B5 according to JIS, the restricting plate 74 is mounted in the mounting members 68 as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3. Then, as shown in Figure 4, the projection 50 of the receiving plate 36 is depressed by a finger of one hand to pivot the receiving plate 36 in the direction of arrow 44 against the resistance of the resilient biasing action of the springs 46a and 46b and move the front end of the receiving plate 36 downwardly to a predetermined position.In the meantime, the stacked copying papers 86 are held by the other hand, and the front end portion of the copying papers is placed on the receiving plate 36 and moved forward. The front end of the stacked copying papers 86 is then inserted between the receiving plate 36 and the separator members 24a and 24b to maintain the conditiion shown in Figure 4. The depressing force exerted on the projection 50 of the receiving plate 36 is then released, whereupon the receiving plate 36 and the front end portion of the stacked copying papers 86 placed on it are lifted in the direction of arrow 42 by the resilient biasing action of the springs 46a and 46b. Thus, the two side portions of the front end of the topmost paper in the stacked copying papers 86 are resiliently urged against the separator members 24a and 24b.Next, the cover 6 is placed over the main body 4 of the cassette casing to complete the loading operation.
It will be readily appreciated therefore that the stacked copying papers 86 can be placed as required in the main body 4 of the cassette casing, without any likelihood of damaging the front end of the copying papers 86 by the separator members 24a and 24b, by the very easy operation of positioning the stacked copying papers 86 in the main body 4 with one hand while depressing the projection 50 of the receiving plate 36 with a finger of the other hand.
Furthermore, even after the cover 6 has been placed over the main body 4 of the casing, the size of the copying papers in the cassette casing can be very easily perceived by observing the indicator projection 80 and the mark 82 or 84 (Figure 1) at the outside surface of the side wall 1 2a of the casing.
Prior to describing the operation of mounting the cassette 2 on the cassette-receiving section of a copying machine, one example of the construction of the cassette-receiving section which may be of a known type will be described with reference to
Figures 5 and 6. The cassette-receiving section is shown generally at 88. It includes an opening 92 formed in one side wall 90 of the housing of the copying machine. A guide wall 94 for guiding the bottom wall 14 of the front end portion of the main body 4 of the cassette 2, which is inserted through the opening 92, extends from the lower end edge of the opening 92 toward the inside of the housing.On the guide wall 94 is provided a stop wall 96 which abuts the front end wall 8 of the cassette 2 upon insertion of the cassette 2 into a predetermined
position through the opening 92, thereby obstruct
ing further insertion of the cassette 2 (Figure 6). At a
position which is between the side wall 90 of the
housing and the stop wall 96 and is positioned
upwardly of the guide wall 94 by a predetermined
distance, a paper feed roller 100 is mounted on a
rotating shaft 98 extending in a direction parallel to the sheet surface in Figures 5 and 6.
To mount the cassette 2 on the cassette-receiving section 88, the movable portion 22 of the cover 6
placed over the main body 4 of the casing is brought to the open position shown in Figures 5 and 6. The two side portions of the cassette 2 are held by the
hands, and the front end portion of the cassette 2 is
inserted through the opening 92 with the bottom
wall 14 ofthe main body 4 positioned on the guide
wall 94 (Figure 5). The cassette 2 is moved in the
direction of arrow 102 (Figure 5) until the front end wall 8 of the main body 4 abuts the stop wall 96
(Figure 6).In mounting the cassette 2 in the cassette
receiving section 88, it is important that a finger of at
least one of the hands holding the two side portions
of the cassette 2 should be put on at least one of the
pair of gripping portions of the manually operable
member 52 (i.e., the rear end portions of a pair of
levers 58a and 58b which are located below the main
body 4) to pivot the manually operable member 52 in the direction of arrow 64, bringing it to the angular
position shown in Figure 5 and holding it there.
When the manually operable member 52 is pivoted
in the direction of arrow 64 to the angular position shown in Figure 5, the receiving plate 36 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 44 against the resistance of the
resilient biasing action of the springs 46a and 46b and asumes the state shown in FigureS. As a result, the receiving plate 36 and the stacked copying
papers 86 placed on its are brought to a lower level than normal (in which the two side portions of the front end of the topmost copying paper in the paper stack 86 are urged against the separator members 24a and 24b).Accordingly, in mounting the copying
paper cassette 2 on the cassette-receiving section 88 through the opening 92, the paper feed roller 100 can be prevented from contacting the topmost copying paper in the stacked copying papers 86 in the cassette 2, and therefore, any hampering or creasing of the topmost copying paper by the feed roller 100 is avoided.
Afterthe cassette 2 has been moved to the position shown in Figure 6, the hands can be removed from the copying paper cassette 2. Upon withdrawal of the hands from the cassette 2, the receiving plate 36 and the front end portion of the stacked copying papers 86 placed on it are pivoted in the direction shown by arrow 42 by the resilient biasing action of the springs 46a and 46b as shown in Figure 6. Thus, both side portions of the topmost copying paper in the paper stack 86 are urged resiliently against the separator members 24a and 24b, and a predetermined site of its front end portion is resiliently urged against the paper feed roller 100.
At the same time, in response to the pivotal movement of the receiving plate 36 in the direction of arrow 42, the manually operable member 52 is also turned in the direction of arrow 66 and returned to the angular position shown in Figure 6. The opera
tion of mounting the cassette 2 on the cassette
receiving section 88 is thereby completed.
Once the cassette 2 has been mounted in the
cassette-receiving section 88 as shown in Figure 6,
the stacked copying papers 86 in the cassette 2 can
be successively fed to a required passage within the
housing, beginning with the topmost paper, by
rotating the feed roller 100 in the direction of
arrow 104.
On the other hand, when the cassette 2 is to be
removed from the cassette-receiving section 88 for
exchanging the copying papers 86 by those of a different size or for other purposes, the two side
portions of the cassette 2 are held by the hands in the same way as during the mounting operation, and a finger of at least one of the hands holding the two side portions of the cassette 2 is placed on at least one of the pair of gripping portions of the manually operable member 52. By means of this finger, the
manually operable member 52 is turned in the direction of arrow 64 to bring it to the angular position shown in Figure 5 and hold it there. The cassette 2 is then moved in the direction of arrow
106 to detach it from the cassette-receiving section 88.When, prior to moving the cassette 2 in the direction of arrow 106, the manually operable member 52 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 64 and held in the angular position shown in Figure 5, the receiving plate 36 and the stacked copying papers 86 placed on it are pivoted in the direction shown by arrow 44, whereby the topmost copying paper in the paper stack is displaced downwardly from contact with the paper feed roller 100. Accordingly, in moving the cassette 2 in the direction of arrow 106, the paper feed roller 100 can be completely prevented from hampering movement of the topmost copying paper in the paper stack, and therefore the topmost paper does not drop from the cassette 2 nor get wrinkled.
Figure 7 shows another embodiment of a cassette 2 constructed in accordance with this invention. In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, at least one of the projections 40a and 40b formed in the rear end of the receiving plate 36 is extended so that the extended portion forms a manually operable member 52'. This differs from the embodiment shown in
Figures 1 to 6 in which the manually operable member is formed by a separate member from the receiving plate 36. In other words, the manually operable member 52' is formed integrally with the projecting pieces 40a and 40b of the receiving plate 36. The other elements of the embodiment shown in
Figure 7 are the same as those in the embodiment of
Figures 1 to 6, and therefore, a description of these other elements is omitted in this specification. It will be readily appreciated however that the embodiment shown in Figure 7, in which the manually operable member 52' is formed integrally with the receiving plate 36, brings about the same advantages as in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 6.
While the present invention has been described hereinabove with reference to the specific embodiments of the cassette shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, but various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
For example, in the specific embodiment shown in
Figures 1 to 6, the manually operable member 52 has a pair of levers 58a and 58b and a cross member 63 connecting the rear end portions of these levers to each other. If desired, it is possible to omit the cross member 63, or both the cross members 63 and either one of the levers 58a and 58b.
In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 6 or in
Figure 7, a part (or whole) of the manually operable member 52 or 52' (i.e., the gripping portion formed of the rear end portions of the levers 58a and 58b) is disposed below the two side portions of the bottom wall 14 of the main body 4 of the cassette casing.
Instead of this construction, it may be provided at another suitable position, for example at a position adjacent the outside of at least one of the side walls 12a and 1 2b of the main body 4 of the cassette casing.
Claims (17)
1. A copying paper cassette comprising a boxlike cassette casing, separator members disposed respectively at side regions of a front end of the cassette casing, a receiving plate disposed at least in the front portion of the cassette casing, a resilient means disposed between a front end portion of the receiving plate and a bottom wall of the cassette casing to resiliently bias said front end portion of the receiving plate upwardly away from said bottom wall, the cassette casing being adapted to receive a stack of sheet-like copying papers such that at least a front end portion of the stack is located on the receiving plate and such that the two side portions of the front end of the stack are urged against the separator members by the resilient biasing action of the resilient means which is transmitted to the stacked copying papers through the receiving plate, and a manually operable member which has a gripping portion which is located exteriorly of the cassette casing and which, by holding the gripping portion and manually operating the manually operable member, enables the front end portion of the receiving plate to be moved downwardly against the resilient biasing action of said resilient means,
2. A cassette as claimed in claim 1 wherein the receiving plate is pivotable about its rear end which is connected to the bottom wall of the cassette casing.
3. A cassette as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the manually operable member has at least one said gripping portion which is located adjacent at least one of two side portions of the under surface of the bottom wall of the cassette casing.
4. A cassette as claimed in claim 3 wherein the manually operable member has a pair of said gripping portions located respectively adjacent to said two side portions of the under surface of the bottom wall of the cassette casing.
5. A cassette as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the manually operable member includes at
least one lever pivotably mounted to the under
surface of the bottom wall of the cassette casing, one
end of the lever extending to the inside of the
cassette casing through an opening formed in the
bottom wall of the cassette casing and being con
nected to the under surface of the receiving plate,
and the other end of the lever forming said gripping
portion.
6. A cassette as claimed in claim 5 wherein the
manually operable member has a pair of said levers
mounted respectively to the two side portions of the
under surface of the bottom wall of the cassette
casing, the rear end portions of the levers being
connected to each other to form the gripping
portion.
7. A cassette as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4
wherein the manually operable member is formed
integrally with the receiving plate.
8. A cassette as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7
wherein a recess is formed in the front end wall of
the cassette casing and a projection, adapted for
projection into the recess is formed in the front end
of the receiving place, such that, by depressing the
projection manually, the front end portion of the
receiving plate can be moved downwardly against
the resilient biasing action of the resilient means.
9. A cassette as claimed in claim 8 wherein the
recess is formed centrally in the front end wall in the
widthwise direction, and the projection is disposed
centrally in the front end of the receiving plate in the
widthwise direction.
10. A cassette as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9
further including at least two mounting means
formed at spaced intervals in the front-rear direction
in the cassette casing and a restricting plate for
constraining the rear end of the stacked copying
papers and adapted to be detachably mounted to
any one of said mounting means according to the
size of the stacked copying papers in the cassette
casing, and wherein slots are formed in the cassette
casing at positions corresponding to the mounting positions, the restricting plate having at least one
indicator projection capable of projecting out of the
cassette casing through one said slot, and wherein a
respective mark displaying the size of the copying
papers is provided on the outside surface of the
cassette casing at positions corresponding to each of
the mounting positions.
11. A cassette as claimed in claim 10 wherein the
slot is formed in one side wall of the cassette casing,
the indicator projection is formed at one side of the
restricting plate and projects in the transverse
direction, and the mark is provided on the outside
surface of said one side wall of the cassette casing.
12. A copying paper cassette comprising a box
like cassette casing, separator members disposed
respectively at side regions of a front end of the
cassette casing, a receiving plate disposed at least in the front portion of the cassette casing, a resilient
means disposed between a front end portion of the
receiving plate and a bottom wall of the cassette
casing to resiliently bias said front end portiion of
the receiving plate upwardly away from said bottom
wall, the cassette casing being adapted to receive a
stack of sheet-like copying papers such that at least a front end portion of the stack is located on the receiving plate and such that the two side portions of the front end of the stack are urged against the separator members by the resilient biasing action of the resilient means which is transmitted to the stacked copying papers through the receiving plate, and wherein a recess is formed in the front end wall of the cassette casing and a projection adapted for projection into the recess is provided at the front end of the receiving plate, such that, by depressing the projection manually, the front end portion of the receiving plate can be moved downwardly against the resilient biasing action of the resilient means.
13. A cassette as claimed in claim.12 wherein the recess is formed centrally in the front end wall of the cassette casing in the widthwise direction, and the projection is disposed centrally in the front end of the receiving plate in the widthwise direction.
14. A copying paper cassette comprising a boxlike cassette casing, at least two mounting means formed within the cassette casing at spaced intervals in the front-rear direction, and a restricting plate adapted to be detachably mounted to any one of said mounting means according to the size of the copying papers to be plsaced in the stacked state in said casing and so as to restrict the rear end of the stacked copying papers, and wherein slots are formed in the cassette casing at positions corresponding to the mounting means, the restricting plate having an indicator projection capable of projecting out of the cassette casing through one said slot, and marks indicating the sizes of the copying papers are being provided on the outside surface of the cassette casing at positions corresponding to the mounting means.
15. A cassette as claimed in claim 14 wherein the slots are formed in one side wall of the cassette casing and the indicator projection is formed in one side of the restricting plate and projects in the transverse direction, said marks being provided on the outside surface of said one side wall of the cassette casing.
16. A copying paper cassette substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.
17. A copying paper cassette substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP14459679U JPS5660945U (en) | 1979-10-17 | 1979-10-17 | |
| JP14607679U JPS5664045U (en) | 1979-10-20 | 1979-10-20 |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB2061231A true GB2061231A (en) | 1981-05-13 |
| GB2061231B GB2061231B (en) | 1983-09-01 |
Family
ID=26475964
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8030294A Expired GB2061231B (en) | 1979-10-17 | 1980-09-19 | Copying paper cassette |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2061231B (en) |
Cited By (13)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0121908A2 (en) * | 1983-04-12 | 1984-10-17 | Mita Industrial Co. Ltd. | A paper supply system of copying machine and a paper supply cassette |
| EP0296820A2 (en) * | 1987-06-26 | 1988-12-28 | Xerox Corporation | Sheet feed apparatus |
| US4799591A (en) * | 1985-09-12 | 1989-01-24 | Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. | Sheet film package and method and device for loading sheet film |
| US4821967A (en) * | 1986-10-03 | 1989-04-18 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Paper shredder paper feeding system |
| US4872660A (en) * | 1985-02-12 | 1989-10-10 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet feed device for recording apparatus |
| US5009410A (en) * | 1986-10-03 | 1991-04-23 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Paper feeding system for a shredder |
| EP0498561A2 (en) * | 1991-02-08 | 1992-08-12 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Paper feed cassette |
| US5152622A (en) * | 1989-12-14 | 1992-10-06 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Printer with improved anti-skew mechanisms |
| EP0531816A1 (en) * | 1991-08-28 | 1993-03-17 | Mita Industrial Co. Ltd. | A sheet feeder |
| US5269506A (en) * | 1992-09-29 | 1993-12-14 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Paper pick-up system for printers |
| GB2274275A (en) * | 1993-01-16 | 1994-07-20 | Rodger Neil Keegan | Print tray adaptor |
| EP0709322A1 (en) * | 1994-10-28 | 1996-05-01 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | A sheet loading tray for a sheet processing apparatus |
| US5573234A (en) * | 1994-11-23 | 1996-11-12 | Xerox Corporation | Dual mode sheet feeder |
-
1980
- 1980-09-19 GB GB8030294A patent/GB2061231B/en not_active Expired
Cited By (20)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0121908A2 (en) * | 1983-04-12 | 1984-10-17 | Mita Industrial Co. Ltd. | A paper supply system of copying machine and a paper supply cassette |
| EP0121908A3 (en) * | 1983-04-12 | 1985-12-18 | Mita Industrial Co. Ltd. | A paper supply system of copying machine and a paper supply cassette |
| US4872660A (en) * | 1985-02-12 | 1989-10-10 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet feed device for recording apparatus |
| US4799591A (en) * | 1985-09-12 | 1989-01-24 | Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. | Sheet film package and method and device for loading sheet film |
| US4821967A (en) * | 1986-10-03 | 1989-04-18 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Paper shredder paper feeding system |
| US5009410A (en) * | 1986-10-03 | 1991-04-23 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Paper feeding system for a shredder |
| EP0296820A2 (en) * | 1987-06-26 | 1988-12-28 | Xerox Corporation | Sheet feed apparatus |
| US4900005A (en) * | 1987-06-26 | 1990-02-13 | Xerox Corporation | Sheet feed apparatus |
| EP0296820A3 (en) * | 1987-06-26 | 1990-07-25 | Xerox Corporation | Sheet feed apparatus |
| US5152622A (en) * | 1989-12-14 | 1992-10-06 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Printer with improved anti-skew mechanisms |
| EP0498561A2 (en) * | 1991-02-08 | 1992-08-12 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Paper feed cassette |
| EP0498561A3 (en) * | 1991-02-08 | 1993-06-16 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Paper feed cassette |
| EP0531816A1 (en) * | 1991-08-28 | 1993-03-17 | Mita Industrial Co. Ltd. | A sheet feeder |
| US5269506A (en) * | 1992-09-29 | 1993-12-14 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Paper pick-up system for printers |
| GB2274275A (en) * | 1993-01-16 | 1994-07-20 | Rodger Neil Keegan | Print tray adaptor |
| GB2274275B (en) * | 1993-01-16 | 1995-11-22 | Rodger Neil Keegan | Print tray adaptor |
| EP0709322A1 (en) * | 1994-10-28 | 1996-05-01 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | A sheet loading tray for a sheet processing apparatus |
| FR2726223A1 (en) * | 1994-10-28 | 1996-05-03 | Canon Kk | SHEET LOADING CASSETTE COMPRISING A LIFTING PLATE AND A LID HAVING A PUSH AREA FOR LOWERING THE LIFTING PLATE |
| US5752696A (en) * | 1994-10-28 | 1998-05-19 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Tray for loading sheets in a sheet-processing apparatus having an elastic force maintaining a lid in an open position |
| US5573234A (en) * | 1994-11-23 | 1996-11-12 | Xerox Corporation | Dual mode sheet feeder |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2061231B (en) | 1983-09-01 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |