JP2002362787A - Paper feeder and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To feed the paper without skewing when the long paper is fed from a manual paper feeder. SOLUTION: When the long paper long along the paper feeding direction is to be fed, extension side fences 12 are extended in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction, whereby a dimension for guiding the width direction of the paper is enlarged, and the long paper can be fed without being skewed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manual paper feeder and an image forming apparatus provided with the paper feeder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile or the like, which is provided with a manual paper feeder for manually feeding paper. For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-18664. Gazette, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-2423
No. 42, and the like.

The manual paper feeder described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 7-18664 opens the paper feed tray only when used, and otherwise stores the paper feed tray in the main body case of the image forming apparatus. The paper tray is divided into two parts, and side fences that guide both ends of the paper placed on the paper tray in the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper supply direction are also provided. It is provided in two parts. Further, since one of the divided side fences is located near the paper feeding position, it is possible to satisfactorily guide a paper having a short length in the paper feeding direction, and to skew even a small-sized paper. The paper can be fed smoothly without generating any paper.

A manual paper feeder described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-242342 discloses a manual paper feeder having a pair of first and second guides for guiding both ends of a paper placed on a paper feed table in a paper width direction orthogonal to a paper feed direction. One side fence is provided on the paper feeding table, and further, a second side fence is provided at the front end side of the first side fence in the paper feeding direction so as to be extendable in the paper feeding direction. . By extending the second side fence in the paper feeding direction, even small-sized paper having a short length in the paper feeding direction can be fed smoothly without causing skew. .

[0005]

The paper feeder provided in the image forming apparatus for manual paper feed has been downsized in conjunction with the downsizing of the image forming apparatus. The size that can be guided by the side fence tends to be gradually reduced.

For this reason, when feeding a long sheet having a large length in the direction along the sheet feeding direction from the sheet feeding device, guides at both ends in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the sheet. It becomes insufficient and skew is likely to occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device capable of feeding a long paper from a manual paper feeding device without causing skew in the paper. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet feeding device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeder capable of feeding a long sheet from a manual paper feeder without increasing the size of a paper feed table, and Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet feeding device.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet feeding device on which a sheet to be fed toward an image forming unit is placed, and a sheet feeding table provided on the sheet feeding plate. A pair of side fences for guiding both ends of the paper placed on the paper feed tray in a paper width direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction, and attached to the side fence, from the paper feed tray to the image forming unit. A pair of extension side fences slidably extendable in a direction opposite to a paper feeding direction of the paper to be fed, and paper feeding means for feeding the paper placed on the paper feeding table toward the image forming unit. .

Therefore, when a sheet is placed on the sheet feeding table and fed to the image forming section, both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction can be guided by the side fences. . Further, when feeding a long sheet having a large length dimension in the sheet feeding direction, it is possible to guide the sheet in the sheet width direction by extending the extension side fence in a direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction. The size is increased, and even long paper can be fed without causing skew. When paper other than long paper is fed, the size of the paper feeder can be reduced by returning the extended side fence to the side fence.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the first aspect, the extension side fence has a sheet width direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet placed on the sheet feeding table. A bottom support is provided to support the bottom of the end.

Therefore, when the extension side fence is extended to feed a long sheet, the bottom surface at the end of the sheet can be supported by the bottom support provided on the extension side fence. When feeding long paper, there is no need to provide an extension paper tray to extend the paper tray to support the bottom surface of the paper.This makes it possible to increase the size of the paper tray and reduce the number of parts related to the paper tray. An inexpensive structure can be achieved without increasing the number.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the first or second aspect, the pair of extended side fences is a sheet orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet placed on the sheet feeding table. They are connected by connecting stays extending in the width direction.

Therefore, the pair of extension side fences connected by the connection stays slide in conjunction with each other, and by sliding one of the extension side fences, the other extension side fence in conjunction with the other slides simultaneously. The operation of extending the pair of extended side fences and the operation of returning the extended extended side fence can be easily performed. In addition, the rear end side bottom surface of the long sheet placed on the sheet feeding table can be supported by the connecting stay,
Paper droop can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image on fed paper,
And a sheet feeding device according to any one of (3) to (3).

Therefore, in this image forming apparatus, the same functions and effects as those of the first to third aspects of the invention can be obtained.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the entire structure of a printer as an image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a sheet feeding device,
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a side fence and an extended side fence which constitute a part of the sheet feeding device, and FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state in which a long sheet is placed on a sheet feeding table of the sheet feeding device. , FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an attached state of a side fence and an extended side fence.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer includes an image forming unit 1 for forming an image on the fed paper, and a manual paper feeding device for feeding the paper toward the image forming unit 1. 2. A paper discharge tray 3 for discharging paper on which an image is formed is provided.

The image forming section 1 includes a photosensitive member 4 on which an image is formed on the surface, a charger 5 for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive member 4, and a digital writing means 6 for writing an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 4. A developing device 7 for forming a toner image by attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 4, a transfer device 8 for transferring the developed toner image onto paper, and removing residual toner on the photoconductor 4 Cleaning device 9 and the like.

The sheet feeding device 2 is provided on the sheet feeding table 10 on which sheets to be fed toward the image forming section 1 are placed, and is mounted on the sheet feeding table 10. A pair of side fences 11 that guide both ends in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the fed sheet, and are attached to the side fences 11 in a direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction from the sheet feeding table 10 to the image forming unit 1 The image forming apparatus includes a pair of extension side fences 12 slidably extended, a paper feed roller 13 serving as a paper feed unit that feeds the paper placed on the paper feed table 10 toward the image forming unit 1, and the like.

The side fence 11 is provided so as to be slidable in the sheet width direction (the direction of arrow a shown in FIG. 3) orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the sheets placed on the sheet feeding table 10. By sliding the sheet 11 in the sheet width direction, both ends in the sheet width direction of various sheets having different sheet widths can be guided by the side fences 11.

The side fence 11 is formed in a hollow pipe shape.
2 are fitted. The extended side fence 12 is slidable in the same direction as the sheet feeding direction (the direction of the arrow b shown in FIG. 3), and has an arbitrary sliding position due to a frictional force with the inner peripheral surface of the hollow hole 14 in contact. It can be stopped freely.

The extension side fence 12 has a substantially L-shaped cross section in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction. And a bottom support portion 12a that supports the bottom surface of the edge of the paper placed in the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction.

A connecting stay mounting portion 15 is fixed to a rear end (an end opposite to the sheet feeding direction) of the extension side fence 12. The connecting stay mounting portion 15 has round holes 16 formed therein. The holes 16 extend in the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction of the paper placed on the paper feed table 10. A round bar-shaped connecting stay 17 arranged in a protruding direction is slidably inserted.

In such a configuration, when the paper fed from the paper feeding device 2 is a small-sized paper having a short length in the paper feeding direction, the extension side fence 12 is not used.
Only the side fence 11 guides the end of the sheet in the sheet width direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 5C, the extended side fence 12 is
The side fence 11 is slid in the sheet width direction in accordance with the sheet width of the sheet.

As a result, the small-sized sheets placed on the sheet supply table 10 are supplied one by one to the image forming section 1 as the sheet supply roller 13 is driven to rotate. At the time of this paper feeding, both ends of the small-sized paper in the paper width direction are guided by the side fences 11.
Small-size paper is fed smoothly without skew.

Next, when the paper fed from the paper feeding device 2 is a long paper having a large length dimension in the paper feeding direction,
The extended side fence 12 is slid to the extended position as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5 (b). Further, the extension side fence 12 and the side fence 11 are slid in the sheet width direction in accordance with the sheet width of the sheet.

As a result, the long paper placed on the paper feed table 10 is fed one by one to the image forming section 1 as the paper feed roller 13 is driven to rotate. At the time of this paper feeding, both ends of the long paper in the paper width direction are guided by the side fence 11 and the extended side fence 12, so that even the long paper can be smoothly generated without causing skew. Paper is fed.

Further, at the time of this paper feeding, the bottom surfaces of both ends of the long sheet are supported by the bottom support portion 12a of the extended side fence 12, and the rear bottom surface of the long sheet is connected by the connecting stay 17. Since the sheet is supported, the sheet is stably supported without sagging.

The pair of extension side fences 12 are connected by a connection stay 17, and when the side fence 11 is slid in the sheet width direction, the extension side fence 12 also slides integrally. This extended side fence 12 and connecting stay 1
The connection stay 7 is provided by slidably inserting the connection stay 17 into an insertion hole 16 formed in the connection stay attachment portion 15 fixed to the extension side fence 12. Even if it does, the operation of sliding the side fence 11 in the paper width direction can be performed smoothly.

On the other hand, the operation of extending the pair of extension side fences 12 and returning the extended extension side fence 12 into the side fence 11 is performed because the pair of extension side fences 12 are connected by the connection stay 17. By operating one of the extension side fences 12, the other extension side fence 12 can be simultaneously operated, and the extension side fence 12 is extended, and
The operation of returning the extended side fence 12 that has been extended can be easily performed.

[0032]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a long sheet having a large length along the sheet feeding direction is fed, the extension side fence is moved in the sheet feeding direction. By extending the sheet in the reverse direction, it is possible to increase the dimension that can guide the sheet in the sheet width direction, and it is possible to feed long sheets without causing skew.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the first aspect, the extension side fence has a sheet width direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction of the sheet placed on the sheet feeding table. Since the bottom support portion that supports the bottom surface of the end portion is provided, when the extension side fence is extended to feed a long sheet, the bottom support portion provided on the extension side fence forms a sheet. The bottom of the edge of the paper can be supported, and when feeding long paper, there is no need to provide an extended paper feed to extend the paper feed to support the bottom of the paper. An inexpensive structure can be achieved without increasing the size or increasing the number of parts related to the paper feed table.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the paper feeder according to the first or second aspect, the pair of the extended side fences are orthogonal to the paper feeding direction of the paper placed on the paper feeding table. Because it is connected by the connecting stay that extends in the paper width direction, by sliding one extended side fence, the other extended side fence can be linked and slid at the same time. The extension operation and the operation of returning the extended extension side fence can be easily performed. Further, the bottom surface of the long sheet placed on the sheet feeding table at the rear end side can be supported by the connecting stay, so that the sheet can be prevented from sagging.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming section for forming an image on a fed sheet, and the sheet feeding apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects. Therefore, in this image forming apparatus, the same operation and effect as the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3 can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall structure of a printer that is an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a side fence and an extended side fence that constitute a part of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state in which a long sheet is placed on a sheet feeding table of the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an attached state of a side fence and an extended side fence, wherein FIG.
(B) is the state where the extension side fence is extended, (c)
Is a state in which the extended side fence is stored in the side fence.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming part 2 Paper feeder 10 Paper feed stand 11 Guide fence 12 Extension guide fence 12a Bottom support part 13 Paper feed means 17 Connecting stay

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H072 AB07 BA06 BA17 3F063 AA01 AD01 BC01 CA09 3F343 FA02 FB02 FB03 GA02 GB01 GC01 GD01 HB01 HE02 HE12 HE16 KB03 LA04 LA14 LC04 LC27

Claims (4)

[Claims] A sheet feeder on which a sheet to be fed toward an image forming unit is placed; and a sheet feed direction provided on the sheet feeder and the sheet placed on the sheet feeder. A pair of side fences that guide both ends in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet, and are attached to the side fences and slidably extend in a direction opposite to a sheet feeding direction from the sheet feeding table toward the image forming unit. A sheet feeding device, comprising: a pair of extended side fences; and sheet feeding means for feeding a sheet placed on the sheet feeding table toward the image forming unit. 2. A bottom support portion for supporting a bottom surface of an end of a sheet placed on the sheet tray in a sheet width direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction, in the extension side fence. Item 2. The paper feeding device according to Item 1. 3. The pair of extended side fences are connected by a connecting stay extending in a sheet width direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction of the sheets placed on the sheet feeding table. Paper feeder as described. 4. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a fed sheet; and the sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1.