JP2001097571A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper feeder capable of holding a paper support member in an approximately constant position and stably feeding paper, without causing twisting, etc. of the load shaft of a push-up mechanism which raises and lowers the paper support member by preventing chipping, etc. of a gear which transmits a driving force between the drive shaft and the load shaft of the push-up mechanism, even if the paper feeder is designed to move in and out in the direction in which paper travels. SOLUTION: A drive means for raising a paper support member is attached to a paper feed cassette.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording type printer or copier, and more particularly, to pressing a stored paper against a paper feed roller. A driving unit for raising a paper support member disposed in the main body of the paper feeding device, and a driving force transmission mechanism and a release mechanism for transmitting a driving force from the driving unit. The present invention relates to a paper feeder provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording type printer or a copying machine, a sheet is fed from a sheet feeding cassette as a sheet feeding device to a transfer position of a photosensitive drum. It is configured to form an image by transferring and fixing the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum on a sheet of paper, conveyed, and the like.

As a technique for pressing the paper stored in the paper feed cassette against a paper feed roller to feed the paper, a lifter mechanism that raises / lowers a paper support member on which the paper is placed and holds the paper support member at a substantially constant position is known. Proposed.

[0004] As a technique relating to this lifter mechanism, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-319033. The sheet feeding apparatus according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-319033 has a lifter mechanism that lifts and lowers a sheet stacking plate provided in a sheet storage container to maintain a height of a sheet upper surface at a predetermined height. In a sheet feeding device that feeds an uppermost sheet held at a predetermined height by a lifter mechanism, a lifter for lifting and lowering the sheet is configured to be movable in a detachable direction of a sheet storage container with respect to the apparatus main body. It was done.

In order to prevent paper from remaining in the apparatus main body when the paper feed cassette is pulled out, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3699, a paper support member for mounting a large number of sheets is provided so as to be vertically movable inside the paper feed tray, and the paper support member is attached to and detached from the paper feed unit in accordance with the operation of attaching and detaching the paper feed tray. A mechanism for moving the paper up and down is provided, and an end of a shaft member for driving the paper supporting member is arranged so as to protrude from a side of the tray, and when the paper feeding tray is mounted on a paper feeding unit, In a device connected to a driving mechanism arranged in a paper feeding unit, a driving force transmission mechanism is arranged between a driving shaft arranged in the paper feeding unit and a shaft provided in a tray, and the driving force transmission mechanism is configured to A coupling provided on the shaft is provided so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and at a position where the coupling is pressed, a unit that does not transmit a driving force is configured.In a state where the shaft of the paper feed tray is connected to the driving shaft, The operation of pressing the shaft of the paper feed tray toward the drive shaft Those configured to release the transmission of the driving force between the.

[0006]

However, the prior art described above has the following problems. That is, as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-319033, in a paper feed cassette which is inserted / removed in the same direction as the axial direction of the drive shaft for driving the lifter mechanism, the size of the paper feed cassette can be printed. There is a problem that the maximum paper size is reached and the size of the apparatus main body becomes large. In order to solve this problem, to make the paper compact and to make it possible to print on paper having a long longitudinal direction, it is necessary to insert and remove the paper feed cassette in a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-95686 discloses a technique which makes it possible to insert and remove a paper feed cassette in a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft.
One disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 58480 has already been proposed. The bottom plate pushing-up mechanism of the paper feed cassette according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-58480 has a sector gear and a bottom plate pushing lever that are integrally connected and slidably mounted, and pushes the bottom plate when the cassette is inserted. A drive unit that has a push-up unit that performs a lifting operation, a motor that is fixedly installed, and a drive gear that meshes with a sector gear, and that transmits power of the motor to the drive gear via the worm unit and the gear unit when the cassette is inserted; The cassette side arm that swings in conjunction with
Equipped with a driving gear and swinging integrally with the cassette side arm by opening it at a predetermined angle, or having a gear side arm that escapes when the phase of the driving gear and the sector gear are out of phase, and drives the motor when inserting the cassette Means.

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-58480 discloses
In the case of the bottom plate lifting mechanism of the paper cassette according to the publication, a bottom plate lifting lever for lifting the bottom plate, a driving gear for driving the bottom plate, and the like are disposed on the back side where the paper cassette is pushed. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to remove the paper when a paper jam occurs in the paper feeding unit.

Therefore, it is most desirable that the paper feed cassette is constructed so as to be inserted and removed in the traveling direction of the paper.

Therefore, in order to satisfy the above conditions,
Means for transmitting a driving force to the push-up mechanism of the paper feed cassette when the push-up mechanism for raising and lowering the paper support member (bottom plate) of the paper feed cassette is arranged in the paper feed cassette and the paper feed cassette is mounted on the apparatus main body. It is conceivable to use a gear.

However, in this case, the drive shaft and the load shaft of the push-up mechanism for raising and lowering the paper support member of the paper feed cassette are separated between the apparatus main body side and the paper feed cassette side.
Due to the size of the load, it is difficult to keep the distance between the drive shaft and the load shaft constant, and the gears that transmit the driving force between the drive shaft and the load shaft have tooth skips, etc. There is a problem that the member cannot be held at a substantially constant position. Further, in the above case, since the driving force is input to the load shaft at one end on one side along the longitudinal direction of the load shaft, the load shaft receives a torsional stress in a cantilever shape. As a result, the paper feed cassette is twisted, and it becomes difficult to feed the paper horizontally, which causes a problem such as skew or jam.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to solve the problem even when the paper feeder is configured to be inserted and removed in the traveling direction of the paper. The gear that transmits the driving force between the drive shaft and the load shaft of the push-up mechanism that raises and lowers the paper supporting member of the paper feeding device does not have tooth jumps and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that can hold a sheet and that can stably feed a sheet without causing a twist or the like on a load shaft.

[0013]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet supporting member on which a large number of sheets are placed, which is vertically movable within a sheet cassette. In a paper feeder configured to raise the paper support member and press the paper support roller to feed the paper, a driving unit for raising the paper support member is mounted on the paper feed cassette. It is a paper feeding device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first aspect, the connection and disconnection of the driving means and the sheet supporting member are moved in the axial direction in conjunction with the removal of the sheet cassette. A sheet feeding device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the first aspect, when the driving means is driven after the paper feeding cassette is inserted into the paper feeding apparatus main body, the driving shaft of the driving means and the paper are automatically connected. A sheet feeding device, wherein a supporting member is connected.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first aspect, the drive means moves in the axial direction in conjunction with the removal of the paper feed cassette from the paper feeder main body, and the paper support member and the paper support member are moved. The paper feed device is characterized in that the connection is released.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first aspect, the sheet supporting member is held when the sheet feeding cassette is not mounted on the sheet feeding device main body, and the sheet supporting member is held at the time of insertion. A sheet feeding device provided with an opening mechanism.

[0018]

In the present invention, the drive shaft for raising the paper support member is mounted on the paper feed cassette, so that the drive shaft and the load shaft are basically directly connected to each other. In addition, since the drive can be transmitted without twisting the load shaft, a stable paper feed can be obtained. The connection and disconnection between the driving means and the paper support member are enabled by the movement of the driving means in the axial direction in conjunction with the removal of the sheet cassette.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 2 shows a laser printer as an image forming apparatus to which a sheet feeding device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a laser printer. Inside the printer main body 1, an image processing unit 2 for performing predetermined image processing on image information input from the outside, An image output unit 3 that outputs an image based on image information on which predetermined image processing has been performed by the image processing unit 2 is provided. The image processing unit 2 in the printer main body 1 reads image information sent from a host computer such as a personal computer (not shown), a communication line such as a telephone line or a LAN, or an image reading device (not shown). Image information or the like is input.

An ROS 4 (Rast 4) for performing image exposure based on image information subjected to predetermined image processing by the image processing unit 2 is provided to an image output unit 3 in the printer main body 1.
ROS 4 is disposed, and in this ROS 4, a laser beam L is output in accordance with image information.
Image exposure by B is performed.

In the ROS 4, as shown in FIG. 2, a laser beam LB is emitted from a semiconductor laser (not shown) according to gradation data of image information. Laser light LB emitted from the semiconductor laser is deflected and scanned by a rotating polygon mirror (not shown), and is scanned on a photosensitive drum 5 as an electrostatic latent image carrier via a reflecting mirror (not shown).

As the photosensitive drum 5 on which the laser beam LB is scanned and exposed by the ROS 4, for example, a photosensitive body using an organic photoconductive substance (OPC) is used.
The photosensitive drum 5 is driven to rotate at a predetermined speed in a direction indicated by an arrow by a driving unit (not shown). The surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is previously charged to a predetermined potential by a charging roll 6 serving as a charging unit, and is then scanned and exposed to laser light LB in accordance with image information to form an electrostatic latent image. . The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 5 is developed by a developing roll 8 as a developer carrier of a developing device 7 to become a toner image.

The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred onto a transfer sheet 10 as a transfer medium by a transfer roll 9 arranged so as to come into contact with the photosensitive drum 5, and the toner The transfer paper 10 on which the image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer paper 10 is transferred from a paper cassette 12 of a paper feeder 11 disposed at a lower portion of the printer main body 1.
Sheets are fed one by one by a nudger roll 13, a feed roll 14, and a retard roll 15. The transfer paper 10 fed from the paper cassette 12 is transported by the transport roll 1
The photosensitive drum 5 is transported to a transfer position below the photosensitive drum 5 by the resist roll 6 and the resist roll 17.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printer body 1 is provided with a manual feed tray 18 on the left side surface. The manual feed tray 18 is rotated counterclockwise to a substantially horizontal position and stopped. By doing so, it is possible to feed from the manual feed tray 18 via the feed roll 19 and the retard pad 20 having a large diameter, such as OHP sheets and postcards and other transfer media having different sizes.

The transfer paper 10 on which the toner image has been transferred from the photosensitive drum 5 is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 and then conveyed to the fixing device 21 as described above. The transfer paper 10 separated from the surface of the photoconductor drum 5 forms a toner image on the transfer paper 1 by heat and pressure by a heating roll 22 and a pressure roll 23 of a fixing device 21.
After the image is fixed on the upper side of the printer 1, the sheet is discharged by a discharge roller 25 via a switching lever 24 onto a discharge tray 26 provided at an upper portion of the printer main body 1, and the image forming process is completed.

When an image is printed on both sides of the transfer sheet 10, as shown in FIG.
The transfer direction of the transfer paper 10 is switched by a switching lever 24 provided at the outlet of the fixing device 21 without being discharged onto the fixing device 6, and is transferred to a double-sided transfer path 29 having a plurality of transfer rolls 28 by a double-sided roll 27. And transfer paper 1
It is configured to convey the photosensitive drum 5 to the transfer position again in a state where the front and back of 0 are reversed.

After the toner image transfer step is completed, the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is cleaned of residual toner and paper dust by a cleaning device 31 having a cleaner blade 30, as shown in FIG. , For the next image forming step.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a paper feeding cassette of a paper feeding device used in the laser printer, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a paper feeding device used in the laser printer.

In this embodiment, a paper supporting member on which a large number of papers are placed is provided so as to be movable up and down in the paper feeding cassette, and the paper supporting member is raised and pressed against the paper feeding roller to feed the paper. In a paper feeder configured to feed paper,
The drive means for raising the paper support member is configured to be mounted on the paper feed cassette.

In this embodiment, the connection and disconnection of the driving means and the sheet supporting member are performed by moving the driving means in the axial direction in conjunction with the removal of the sheet cassette. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feeding device 11
The laser printer body 1 is arranged in a state of being loaded on the upper part. As shown in FIG.
The paper feeder main body 32, side panels 33 and 34 disposed on both sides of the paper feeder main body 32, and a paper cassette 1 that is detachably mounted to the paper feeder main body 32.
2 and a paper feed unit 35 for feeding the transfer paper 10 from the paper cassette 12. In addition, these paper feeder main body 32, side panel 33,
The sheet feeding unit 34 and the sheet feeding unit 35 are integrally assembled with each other by screws.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the paper cassette 12 is formed in a flat rectangular box shape having an open upper surface, and the paper cassette 12 is provided in front of the paper cassette. A front panel 37 is provided which has a handle 36 for pulling out from the paper feeding device main body 32 and also serves as a front panel of the paper feeding device 11. Inside the paper cassette 12, a paper support member (bottom plate) 39 for mounting a large number of transfer papers 10 stored therein is provided.
It is provided to be tiltable. This paper support member 39
As shown in FIG. 1, the paper cassette 12 is tiltably attached to rotating shafts 40 protruding from both side surfaces on the rear side in the paper cassette 12. Also, inside the paper cassette 12, the paper support member 39 is located below the front end side of the paper support member 39.
A push-up lever 41 for pushing up the load shaft is disposed, and this push-up lever 41 is fixed to a rectangular section of the load shaft 42 by means such as a screw as shown in FIG. The load shaft 42 is rotatably supported by a bearing provided at the bottom of the paper cassette 12. Also,
A drive shaft 45 of a drive motor 44 as a drive unit is connected to one end of the load shaft 42 via a coupling unit 43.
Are connected.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a drive means for raising the paper support member (bottom plate) 39 of the paper cassette 12 is provided on the printer main body 1 or the paper feeder main body 32 side. Instead of being provided, it is configured to be mounted on the paper cassette 12.

As shown in FIG. 6, the paper cassette 12 is provided on one side 12a in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the paper cassette 12 is inserted and withdrawn.
Drive motor 4 for raising the second paper support member 39
4 is attached. The drive motor 44 is not fixedly attached to the side surface 12 a of the paper cassette 12, but is a drive shaft 45 of the drive motor 44.
The paper cassette 12 is mounted so as to be movable along the axial direction of the paper cassette 12 and urged toward the load shaft 42 of the paper cassette 12.
As shown in FIG. 7, a columnar support 4 for attaching a drive motor is provided on a side surface 12a of the paper cassette 12.
6 are protruded, and at the tip of the support 46,
A mounting plate 47 for slidably mounting the drive motor 44 is fixed by screws 48.
A support shaft 47a for slidably mounting the drive motor 44 toward the side surface 12a of the paper cassette 12 is integrally formed on the mounting plate 47 so as to protrude. A sheet metal A to which the drive motor 44 is fixed is slidably attached to a tip end of the support shaft 47a via a bearing member B made of synthetic resin. A coil spring 50 is externally mounted on the support shaft 47a, and urges the drive shaft 45 of the drive motor 44 toward the load shaft 42 of the paper cassette 12.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the coupling means for connecting the drive shaft 45 of the drive motor 44 and the load shaft 42 is provided so that the pin member 51 projects perpendicular to the load shaft 42. Have been. The drive motor 4
4, a coupling 52 is provided in a fixed state, and a pin engaging groove 53 for engaging with the pin member 51 of the load shaft 42 is formed in the coupling 52 in a cross shape. Has been established.

In a normal state, as shown in FIG. 8, the pin member 51 of the load shaft 42 and the pin engagement groove 5 of the coupling 52 provided on the drive shaft 45 of the drive motor 44 are used.
3 are engaged with each other so that the driving force of the driving motor 44 is transmitted from the driving shaft 45 to the load shaft 42 via the coupling means.

On the other hand, the paper cassette 12 is
9, the guide arm 54 projecting laterally from the drive motor 44 moves along the guide rail 55 provided on the paper feeder main body 32 side, as shown in FIGS. The guide arm 54 is a projection 55a of the guide rail 55.
When passing through, the drive motor 44 together with the guide arm 54,
As the paper cassette 12 moves outward in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the paper cassette 12 is pulled out, the coupling between the drive shaft 45 of the drive motor 44 and the load shaft 42 is disconnected, and the paper support member 39 is lowered by its own weight.

The drive motor 44 is provided with upper and lower guide arms 54 at different positions along the direction in which the paper cassette 12 is pulled out. , Can be moved outward in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the paper cassette 12 is pulled out.

A guide rail 55 for moving the two guide arms 54 of the drive motor 44 is, as shown in FIG.
Frame 35 of paper feed unit 35 on paper feeder body 32 side
The paper cassette 12 is provided at different positions on the inner surface in parallel with each other in the vertical direction and along the direction in which the paper cassette 12 is pulled out.

In the paper feeder according to this embodiment having the above configuration, even when the paper feeder is inserted and removed in the paper traveling direction as described below, the paper support member of the paper feeder can be used. The gear for transmitting the driving force between the drive shaft of the push-up mechanism and the load shaft that raises and lowers the drive force does not have tooth jumps, and the paper support member can be held at a substantially constant position. It is possible to feed the paper stably without causing any twist or the like on the load shaft.

That is, in the paper feeder according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the drive motor 44 for raising the paper support member 39 is configured to be mounted on the paper cassette 12, so that the drive The drive shaft 45 and the load shaft 42 of the motor 44 are basically directly connected and do not need to be connected via gears or the like.
Further, since the driving force can be transmitted without the load shaft 42 being twisted, the paper 10 can be sent out stably. Drive shaft 45 of drive motor 44 and paper support member 3
The connection and release with the load shaft 42 on the side of the sheet feeding cassette 1
The drive motor 44 can be moved in the axial direction in conjunction with the extraction of the sheet cassette 2, and the sheet feed cassette 1 can be moved while the sheet support member 39 is kept up.
When the paper feed cassette 12 is pulled out without pulling out the paper feed cassette 2, the paper support member 39 is securely lowered and can be held in that state, so that the specified number of papers 10 can be reliably replenished. Further, the paper 10 may be stored in the paper cassette 12 along the paper feeding direction.
The size of the paper can be reduced, and the removability of jammed paper can be improved.

Second Embodiment FIGS. 13 to 17 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the sheet supporting member is not attached to the sheet feeder main body when the sheet cassette is not mounted. It is configured to provide a mechanism for holding and opening the paper support member at the time of insertion.

That is, in the second embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 15 to FIG. 15, a cam member 70 for pressing the sheet supporting member 39 is provided on the near side of the sheet feeding cassette 12.
It is provided rotatably in a horizontal plane. This cam member 7
0 denotes a cam surface 7 provided on the paper feeding device main body 32 side when the paper feeding cassette 12 is pulled out from the paper feeding device main body 32.
The paper supporting member 39 is configured to be engaged with the sheet supporting member 39 in a depressed state so as to rotate by engaging with the sheet supporting member 1. The cam member 70 is engaged with the sheet cassette 1
The latch is set to be released when pulled out from the home position 2 by 30 mm.

In the example shown in FIG.
Are rotated not in a horizontal plane but in a vertical plane, and are engaged with the sheet support member 39 in a depressed state.

Further, in the example shown in FIG.
0 is not directly engaged with the paper support member 39, but the cam member 70 is relatively engaged with the push-up lever, so that the paper support member 39 is held in a depressed state as a result. Have been.

By doing so, the coupling between the drive shaft 45 of the drive motor 44 and the load shaft 42 is inadvertently meshed, and the paper support member 39 is reliably prevented from being raised halfway. be able to.

Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the paper feeding device is configured to be inserted and removed in the traveling direction of the paper, the drive of the push-up mechanism for raising and lowering the paper supporting member of the paper feeding device. Between the shaft and the load shaft, the gear for transmitting the driving force does not have tooth skipping, etc., so that the paper support member can be held at a substantially constant position, and further, the load shaft is twisted. Thus, it is possible to provide a paper feeding device capable of stably feeding paper without any problem.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a sheet feeding device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus to which the sheet feeding device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an elevating mechanism of a paper supporting member.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a coupling means.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a coupling means.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a coupling state of coupling means.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a coupling state of coupling means.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a main part of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram illustrating another embodiment of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the sheet feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: transfer paper, 11: paper feeder, 12: paper feed cassette, 13: nadger roll. 14: feed roll, 1
5: retard roll, 39: paper support member, 40: rotary shaft, 41: push-up lever, 42: load shaft, 43: coupling means, 44: drive motor (drive means), 45:
Drive shaft.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takaharu Abe 3-7-1, Fuuchi, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (72) Inventor Takashi Toda 3-7-1, Fuuchi, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Prefecture No. Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (72) Inventor Akihiro Ouchi 3-7-1, Fuwa, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office F-term (reference) 3F343 FA02 FB02 FB04 FC01 GA03 GB01 GC01 GD01 HA16 HB03 HD09 HD10 HD18 JA01 JD03 JD09 JD33 LA04 LA15 LC07 LC19 LC20 LC25 LD04 LD10

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A paper support member on which a large number of papers are placed is provided so as to be vertically movable in a paper feed cassette, and the paper support member is raised and pressed against a paper feed roller to feed paper. In the paper feeding device, a driving unit for raising the paper supporting member is mounted on the paper feeding cassette. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection and disconnection of the driving means and the sheet supporting member are performed by moving the driving means in the axial direction in conjunction with the removal of the sheet cassette. Paper feeder. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive shaft of the drive means and the paper support member are automatically connected when the drive means is driven after the paper feed cassette is inserted into the paper feed apparatus main body. Paper feeder. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive means moves in the axial direction in conjunction with the removal of the paper feed cassette from the paper feed apparatus main body, and releases the connection with the paper support member. Paper feeder. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for holding the sheet supporting member when the sheet feeding cassette is not mounted on the sheet feeding device main body and opening the sheet supporting member when inserting the sheet cassette. Paper feeder.