JP2002160834A - Paper feeding cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the projected area of a device body without projecting a handle part outward in installing it in a cassette storage part of an image formation device by constituting the handle part of the paper feeding cassette not projecting largely. SOLUTION: The handle part 10 largely projecting to the upper part of a front board member 6 for regulating the end of a paper sheet is provided on the front side in the attaching/detaching direction of a paper feeding cassette 1, a rib member 11 is provided inside the upper part of the handle part 10, and a swinging board 12 provided via a hinge 13 in an opening for inserting a finger in attaching/detaching the paper feeding cassette. The paper feeding cassette 1 is handled by pushing the swinging board 12 of the handle part 10 and putting the finger on the rib member and, when it is installed in the cassette storage part of the image formation device, the paper feeding cassette 1 can be placed flush with the front board of the device body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette which is mounted on a paper feed unit of an image forming apparatus and is used for feeding paper. ) Does not protrude from the apparatus main body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine, one or a plurality of paper feeding cassettes are mounted in order to feed paper to an image forming section having a function of making a copy. The paper feed unit is provided. As the paper feed cassette, a cassette of a type for storing sheets of a specific size and a universal type cassette or the like capable of storing sheets of an arbitrary size are used. The paper can be fed out so that the paper can be guided along a reference line provided in the paper transport path. Also,
In the paper feed cassette, the paper accommodating portion and the handle portion are separately formed, and both members are integrally formed by using a means such as a screw or a snap fit.

[0003]

The handle provided on the paper cassette is provided so as to protrude from a side surface of the apparatus main body so that the user can easily put his hand on the paper cassette when attaching and detaching the paper cassette. The property is set well. In addition, in order to set the appearance of the image forming apparatus well, there is a case where the mounting portion of the sheet feeding cassette is formed deep in the sheet feeding portion so that the handle portion does not protrude from the side. However, the size of the sheet accommodating portion of the sheet cassette is constant, and if a handle portion is provided in addition to the sheet accommodating portion, it is necessary to make the sheet cassette accommodating space of the sheet feeding portion large. . For this reason, even when the image forming apparatus main body is configured to be small, it is difficult to reduce the entire structure including the paper feeding unit due to the large size of the paper feeding cassette. Remains. Further, if the handle portion and the paper storage portion are configured as separate members, the handle portion is made detachable by a snap-fit mechanism or the like, and the handle portion is detached only when the paper cassette is attached or detached, it is possible to supply the paper. There is another problem that the number of components of the paper cassette increases and the manufacturing cost increases.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional paper cassette, and the paper cassette has good handleability without the handle portion protruding outward from the paper storage portion. It is intended to provide.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet feeding cassette which can be stored in a sheet feeding section provided at a lower portion of an image forming apparatus. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a front wall portion forming an outer wall of a device, a movable portion disposed to be continuous with an upper portion of the front wall portion and capable of swinging inward of the device, and an upper portion of the movable portion. And a handle portion for pulling out a cassette provided in the cassette. Further, since the cassette front wall is formed so as to be continuous with the front wall of the apparatus main body, the space where the handle projects can be reduced, and the number of parts of the handle portion can be reduced.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the handle portion is formed in a shape that allows easy storage of paper in the storage portion. Therefore, even if the handle portion is not provided as a separate member, there is no inconvenience in storing the paper, and the operability in attaching and detaching the paper feed cassette can be improved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of a sheet cassette according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. 1 and 2 show a side view and a front view of a paper feed cassette 1, and a paper storage unit 2 for storing paper P has a capacity of about 500 sheets similarly to a conventional paper feed cassette. The sheet P can be configured to have a size that can accommodate the sheet P. A front plate member 6 is provided on the front side of the paper feed cassette 1 when it is mounted on the image forming apparatus, so that the paper feed cassette can be handled by hand, similarly to the handle of a conventional paper feed cassette. Be composed. In the present embodiment, a handle portion 10 is provided so as to protrude above the front plate member 6, and the handle portion 10 is provided.
A rib member 11 protruding from the inner surface of the upper end portion, and a swing plate 12 that can swing through a hinge 13 are disposed on the upper surface.

The swing plate 12 disposed on the handle portion 10 includes:
When the paper feed cassette 1 is attached to and detached from the cassette accommodating portion of the image forming apparatus, the paper feed cassette 1 is formed to have a size in which an operator's finger can be inserted. Held in state. When the swinging plate 12 is opened and a finger is inserted, a finger is placed on the rib member 11 when the sheet cassette is mounted or pulled out when the swinging plate 12 is opened and a finger is inserted. It is configured in a size that can be handled. Although the size is slightly exaggerated in the drawing, the width and the protruding height of the rib member 11 may be any size and shape as long as the sheet cassette can be moved. It is possible to form.

In the front plate member 6 provided in the sheet cassette 1, the height obtained by adding the projection height of the hinge 13 to the thickness of the plate is:
Since the thickness D of the handle portion 10 is obtained, only the thickness of the front plate member 6 actually projects from the outer plate of the image forming apparatus. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the swinging plate 12 provided on the handle portion 10 can be configured to have a relatively narrow width as compared with the width of the sheet feeding cassette 1. As long as the swinging plate 12 can be inserted, the height of the opening in which the rocking plate 12 is arranged can be made as small as possible within a range where the sheet cassette can be operated. The rocking plate 12 may be formed of a transparent member or a simple structure of the hinge 13 so that, for example, the remaining amount of paper stored in the paper storage unit can be checked. Can be.

A front plate member 10 as the front plate portion is provided.
Can be formed as a plate member integral with the front plate member 6 of the cassette. When the paper feed cassette 1 is formed using a plastic material, it can be formed integrally with the frame of the paper storage section. it can. Further, it is possible to prevent a gap from being formed between the swing plate 12 and the opening of the front plate member 6 on which the swing plate 12 is swingably arranged. Further, the paper feed cassette 1 mounted in the paper feed cassette accommodating portion of the image forming apparatus can prevent a gap through which air flows inside and outside the image forming apparatus main body,
External moisture can be prevented from entering the apparatus main body and the sheets stored in the sheet cassette 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the paper feed cassette 1 includes a paper storage unit 2 and a bottom plate 3 and front and rear vertical plate members 5.
6 and a side plate (not shown), and a bottom plate 4 for supporting the leading end portion of the sheet on the sheet sending side.
It is swingably provided via a hinge. When the paper P is loaded into the paper cassette 1 having the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG.
Then, the other end is bent and accommodated in the sheet accommodating section 2. At this time, if the protruding height of the rib member 11 of the handle portion 10 is set so that the end portion of the sheet P does not contact the handle portion 10 of the sheet cassette 1, the mounting property of the sheet P does not deteriorate. Can be

The bottom plate 4 has its end on the paper feed side directed by a biasing means (not shown) toward a paper feed roller (shown in FIG. 4) provided in a paper feeder of the image forming apparatus. Performing the push-up operation can be configured similarly to the case of the conventional sheet cassette. Also,
The height H of the handle portion 10 of the sheet cassette 1 is larger than the height H1 of the sheet storage portion 2. However, when the sheet cassette 1 is actually mounted on the cassette mounting portion of the image forming apparatus, the sheet storage portion In addition to the thickness of 2, a slight upper margin is required, which is the same as that of the conventional sheet cassette. As will be described later, it is only necessary to provide a margin corresponding to the handle 10 of the sheet feeding cassette 1 on the front side of the cassette mounting portion of the image forming apparatus. It has little effect on the image forming unit and the like.

When the paper cassette 1 is mounted in the cassette housing 16 of the image forming apparatus 15, as shown in FIGS.
6 so that only the front plate member 6 is located on the front surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus 15. That is, in the conventional paper feed cassette, the handle 9 (shown by a virtual line) protrudes by the height D1 toward the opening side of the cassette housing portion 16. In contrast, in the present embodiment,
The projection is projected by a distance D obtained by adding the thickness of the front plate member and the hinge 13, or only the hinge 13 is projected.

When pulling out the sheet cassette 1 from the state in which the sheet cassette 1 is mounted in the cassette accommodating portion 16 of the image forming apparatus 15, a finger is inserted by pushing the rocking plate 12 from the outside, and the finger is inserted into the rib member 11. The paper cassette 1 is pulled out. For this purpose, the cassette accommodating portion 16 of the image forming apparatus 15 is provided with a front upper space 17 corresponding to the rib member 11 so that the inserted finger can be locked to the rib member 11, so that the paper cassette 1 It is possible to deal with the operation of the drawer.

When viewed from the front side of the image forming apparatus 15, as shown in FIG. 5, the handle portion 10 and the front plate member 6 are integrally arranged on the same surface as the front cover of the image forming apparatus 15. Therefore, it can be provided as a design that does not cause a sense of incongruity. In particular, since the handle portion 10 of the paper feed cassette 1 is not provided with a projecting member such as a conventional handle member, the area occupied by the image forming apparatus on the support table can be reduced. Further, the entire sheet cassette 1 is used as the image forming apparatus 1.
5 in the state of being mounted in the cassette housing portion 16 of FIG.
As shown in FIG.
By using the paper feed roller 18 at the end of the image forming apparatus, a space for feeding the paper can be arbitrarily formed without increasing the depth of the image forming apparatus.

In the example of the paper feed cassette,
The case where the direction in which the sheet cassette is mounted on the cassette mounting portion of the image forming apparatus and the direction in which paper is fed out are set to the same direction is described. On the other hand, the paper feed cassette of the present embodiment can be applied to an image forming apparatus that feeds paper in a direction perpendicular to the mounting direction of the paper feed cassette. When the sheet cassette having the above-described configuration is used, even if the entire sheet cassette is inserted into the cassette accommodating portion of the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus does not Does not need to have a very large flat area (projected area with respect to the desk), so that the size of the image forming apparatus main body can be reduced.

[0017]

Since the paper cassette of the present invention is constructed as described above, a front wall part forming the outer wall of the apparatus and a handle part for drawing out the cassette provided at the upper part of the movable part are provided. Since the cassette front wall is formed so as to be continuous with the front wall of the apparatus main body, the space where the handle protrudes can be reduced, and the number of parts of the handle portion can be reduced. Further, since the handle portion is formed in a shape that can easily store the paper in the storage portion, even if the handle portion is not provided as a separate member, there is no inconvenience in storing the paper, and when attaching and detaching the paper cassette. Operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a structure on a front side in a mounting direction of a sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a front surface of a sheet cassette.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which sheets are loaded in a sheet cassette.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a cassette accommodating portion of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a front surface of the image forming apparatus in a state where a sheet cassette is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 paper cassette, 2 paper storage section, 3 bottom plate, 4 bottom plate, 5 end plate, 6
Front plate member, 10 handle portion, 11 rib member, 1
2 rocking plate, 13 hinge, 15 image forming apparatus, 16 cassette housing section, 17 front upper space, 18 paper feed roller, 19 paper feed path.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed cassette that can be housed in a paper feed unit provided in a lower part of an image forming apparatus, wherein the front wall forms an outer wall of the apparatus, and is connected to an upper part of the front wall. A paper feed cassette, comprising: a movable portion arranged so as to be able to swing toward the inside of the apparatus; and a handle portion for pulling out a cassette provided above the movable portion. 2. The paper cassette according to claim 1, wherein the handle is formed in a shape that allows easy storage of paper in a storage unit.