JP2000313534A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate proper using and housing of a small capacity paper feeding tray and a large capacity paper feeding tray different in paper load capacity with a simple structure by attachably/detachably providing rails guiding and supporting bottom surfaces of the paper feeding trays on a device main body. SOLUTION: On a front part 2 of a device main body 1, an opening part 6 of a housing part 4 housing a paper feeding tray 3 is provided. The bottom surface 7 side of the housing part 4 is opened. On both of left and right side parts 8, 9 of the housing part 4, a pair of left and right rails 11 are made to oppose to each other and are attachably/detachably provided. By mounting the paper feeding tray 3 on the rails 11 and guiding and sliding the bottom surface by the paper feeding tray 3, the paper feeding tray 3 is put into/out in X direction and is supported. In the housing part 4, a standard small capacity paper feeding tray can be mounted when the rails 11 are mounted on the device main body 1. When the rails 11 are removed from the device main body 1, the housing part 4 is made to have occupancy space capable of housing also a large capacity paper feeding tray.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such an image forming apparatus has a paper feed tray which enters and leaves a housing section of the apparatus main body through an opening provided in a side wall of the apparatus main body. A rail is provided to guide and support the bottom surface.
By the way, recently, it is required to increase the amount of paper loaded in the paper feed tray.
The adoption of large-capacity sheets capable of stacking 500 sheets is increasing. On the other hand, a priority is given to space saving and miniaturization, and conversely, a standard small capacity type capable of stacking 250 sheets is often adopted. If one large-capacity paper feed tray and a small-capacity paper feed tray are alternately mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus, the small-capacity paper feed tray may be used. There is a problem that a rail that guides and supports the paper tray is in the way, and a large-capacity paper feed tray cannot be mounted.

[0003]

As means for solving such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-33
An image forming apparatus as disclosed in JP-A-8824 has been proposed. This image forming apparatus is provided with a paper feed unit of the main body of the apparatus and a bar that protrudes from a side frame of the paper feed tray and that can move up and down, and is provided on an inner surface of the bar and the paper feed unit. By guiding and supporting the side surface of the paper feed tray accommodated in the apparatus main body by the engagement mechanism with the guide rail, the small capacity paper feed tray and the large capacity paper It is one that can be used properly.

However, in such an apparatus, the supporting structure of the sheet feeding tray and the sheet feeding unit is complicated, and the sheet feeding tray is supported on its side surface. The load applied to the paper feed tray is larger than that supported by the bottom surface, so the paper feed tray is not only easily curved and deformed, but also the work of mounting the paper tray inside the main unit at the time of setting There is a problem that the property is poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional image forming apparatus, maintain the size of the apparatus as a whole, save space in an installation place, and reduce the paper load capacity with a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily accommodate different small-capacity paper feed trays and different large-capacity paper feed trays.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a paper feed tray which enters and leaves a storage section of the apparatus main body through an opening provided in a side wall of the apparatus main body.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rail for guiding and supporting a bottom surface of the sheet feeding tray is provided on an inner surface of a side portion of the apparatus main body. It is characterized by being carried out.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of rails are provided and have the same shape.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the rail holds a regulating member for suppressing bending deformation.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. Note that, in these embodiments, parts having overlapping configurations will be described using the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, in a first embodiment of the present invention, a paper feed tray 3
An opening 6 is provided in the housing portion 4 in which the bottom surface 7 of the housing portion 4 is opened.
9, a pair of left and right rails 11 are provided so as to be detachable,
The paper feed tray 3 is placed on the rail 11, and the bottom surface thereof is guided and slid by the paper feed tray 3 so as to be moved in and out in the X direction in FIG.

When the rail 11 is mounted on the apparatus main body 1, the housing section 4 can mount a standard small-capacity paper feed tray, and when the rail 11 is removed from the apparatus main body 1. Has an occupied space capable of accommodating a large-capacity paper feed tray, thereby reducing the size of the entire apparatus main body 1 and saving space in an installation place.

The rail 11 is, as shown in FIGS.
It has an L-shaped cross section having a mounting piece 12 attached to the apparatus main body 1 and a support piece 13 for slidably guiding and supporting the bottom surface 7 of the paper feed tray 3. Are provided with a pair of locking pieces 14 and 15 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction and have the same shape. Locking piece
Reference numerals 14 and 15 denote engagement and disengagement of locking holes 16 provided on both sides 8 and 9 of the accommodating portion 4 of the apparatus main body 1 so as to correspond thereto. It is removable.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in which a restricting member is provided on the bottom surface of the end of the support piece 13 of the rail 11 in the drawing direction.
18 differs from the first embodiment in that it is additionally provided and reinforced. With such a configuration, when the paper feed tray 3 loaded with a large number of papers is pulled out of the storage section 4 of the apparatus main body 1 when the paper feed tray 3 is replaced, the paper feed tray 3 is concentrated by its weight. Even if the load is applied to the end of the support piece 13 in the drawing direction and bent downward, the regulating member
The contact of the rail 18 with the floor surface and the bending of the rail 18 by a certain value or more can be suppressed, thereby preventing the rail 11 from being damaged.

In the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, when a small-capacity paper feed tray is used,
The rail 11 is attached to the apparatus main body 1 as shown in the figure,
The bottom surface of the paper feed tray 3 is pushed and held in the housing portion 4 while being slid on the rails 11 and 11.

Next, when using a large-capacity paper feed tray, the rail 11 is detached from the apparatus main body 1 to increase the capacity of the accommodation section 4 and the apparatus main body 1 is supported by an appropriate support member (not shown). The large-capacity paper feed tray 3 is mounted on the apparatus main body 1 by pushing the large-capacity paper supply tray 3 into the housing portion 4 through the enlarged opening 6 supported by the above. In this manner, the small capacity paper feed tray and the large capacity paper feed tray can be selectively used for the apparatus main body 1 by a simple operation.

[0016]

As described above, the present invention has a paper feed tray which enters and exits the housing section of the apparatus main body through an opening provided in the side wall of the apparatus main body, and supplies the sheet to the inner surface of the side of the apparatus main body. In the image forming apparatus provided with a rail that guides and supports the bottom surface of the paper tray, the invention according to claim 1 has a configuration in which the rail is detachably provided on the apparatus main body. In order to reduce the size of the entire main unit and save space in the installation area, even if the storage area is an occupied space that can accommodate a standard small-capacity paper tray, the rail can be easily removed. , It is possible to switch between using and storing large capacity paper trays.
There is an effect that the tray support structure is simple.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since a plurality of rails are provided and have the same shape, the rails can be used in common, so that the cost associated with rail replacement can be reduced. There is an effect that it can be achieved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the rail holds the restricting member for suppressing the bending deformation, when the paper feed tray is replaced, the paper feed tray loaded with a large number of sheets is accommodated in the apparatus main body. When pulling out from the section, even if the concentrated load is applied to the end of the support piece in the pull-out direction and bent downward due to the weight of the paper feed tray, the regulating member abuts on the floor surface and bends more than a certain value. Therefore, there is an effect that the rail can be prevented from being damaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state in which a paper feed tray according to a first embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 2 is an oblique view of a main part showing a state where the paper feed tray is detached and attached.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a state in which the rail is detached.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rail.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state in which a sheet feeding tray according to a second embodiment of the present invention is detached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Front part 3 Paper feed tray 4 Storage part 6 Opening part 7 Bottom surface 8 Side part 9 Side part 11 Rail 12 Mounting piece part 13 Support piece part 14 Lock piece 15 Lock piece 16 Lock port

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rail for guiding a sheet feeding tray to an inner surface of a side wall of an apparatus main body, the sheet feeding tray being provided in a side wall of the apparatus main body to enter and leave a storage section of the apparatus main body. In the image forming apparatus provided with the image forming apparatus, the rail is detachably provided on the apparatus main body. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of rails are provided and have the same shape. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rail holds a regulating member that suppresses bending deformation.