JP2003300635A - Sheet material stacking tray and image forming device comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the alignment of a front face of a paper cassette to the other main body external cover without adjusting a position in the front depth direction, of the cassette front cover, with respect to the paper cassette of which the lateral registration is adjustable with a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: The cassette front cover is movable in the front depth direction and forwardly energized with respect to a paper cassette case. The paper cassette case is positioned to the main body by a first positioning means, and the cassette front cover is positioned to the main body by a second positioning means, when the paper cassette is inserted into an image forming device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

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 a copying machine or a printer, in particular, a sheet material loading tray is insertable into and removable from the apparatus main body, and at least one of the trays when the loading tray is stored in the main body. The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding / accommodating device having an exterior member whose one surface forms a part of the exterior of the main body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, there is an image forming apparatus as shown below.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine main body, and an original table 2 made of a transparent glass plate fixedly provided on the copying machine main body 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a document pressure plate, which presses and fixes the document O placed at a predetermined position on the document table 2 with the image surface facing downward. A lamp 4 for illuminating the original O is provided below the original table 2, and reflecting mirrors 5, 6, 7, 8 for guiding an optical image of the illuminated original O to the photosensitive drum 12.
An optical system including 9 and 10 and an imaging lens 11 is provided. The lamp 4 and the reflecting mirrors 5, 6 and 7 move in the direction of arrow a at a predetermined speed to scan the original O.

The image forming unit includes a photosensitive drum 12, a charging device 13 for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum, and light emitted from the optical system on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 charged by the charging device. A developing device 14 for developing the electrostatic latent image formed by the image to form a toner image to be transferred to the sheet S, and a developing device 14 for transferring the toner image developed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 to the sheet S. A transfer charger 19, a separation charger 20 for separating the sheet S on which the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 12, and a cleaner 26 for removing the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 12 after transferring the toner image. It has and.

When copying to the sheet S on the sheet feed tray 32, when a copy start button (not shown) is pressed, the sheet is fed out by the sheet feed rollers 37a, 37B, 37C, and securely pulled out from the sheet feed tray 32 by the pair of pull-out rollers 371. After being pulled out, the sheet is conveyed by a pair of conveying rollers 39 × 4, the skew feeding of the sheet S is corrected by the pair of registration rollers 81, and the sheet S is sent out at a predetermined timing toward the image forming portion, and the toner image is transferred to the sheet. . On the downstream side of the image forming unit, there are provided a transport unit 21 for transporting the sheet S on which the toner image is transferred, and a fixing device 22 for fixing the image on the sheet S transported by the transport unit as a permanent image. Has been. Further, a discharge roller pair 24 for discharging the sheet S having the image fixed by the fixing device from the copying machine main body 1 is provided, and a stacking tray 25 is provided outside the copying machine main body 1. Cage,
Receives the sheet S discharged by the discharge roller 24,
The copy is complete.

Next, the sheet material feeding / accommodating device (hereinafter referred to as a sheet feeding device) 37 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The sheet feeding device supplies the sheet material S to the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the sheet feeding device is a sheet material loading tray 3.
The uppermost sheet material S is fed one by one from 2T. A pickup roller 37A, a feed roller 37B that conveys the sheet material S fed from the sheet material stack tray by the pickup roller into the main body of the image forming apparatus (direction of arrow a in FIG. 6), and is arranged opposite to the feed roller 37A. When there are a plurality of sheet materials fed from the sheet material stack tray, the retard roller 37C for rotating in the opposite direction of the rotation direction of the feed roller 37B to separate into one sheet material, and the sheet feeding Roller (37A, 37B, 37C)
And a pull-out roller pair 371 disposed on the downstream side of. Further, a guide 321 is arranged in the sheet material passing region 372 between the pickup roller 37A and the feed roller 37B and the retard roller 37C, and between the feed roller 37B and the retard roller 37C and the conveyance roller pair 371, and a pull-out roller pair. Guides 373 and 374 are arranged between the guide roller 371 and a conveying roller (not shown) so that the sheet material S is guided and conveyed.

Next, the operations of the pickup roller 37A and the lifter 32L will be described. The pickup roller 37A is normally located at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 6, and feeds the sheet S, that is, feeds the sheet S in the direction of arrow a. After that, before the trailing end of the sheet material S being fed passes the pickup roller, the solenoid 378 causes the hook portion 3 of the lever 374 to move.
74F is moved to a position indicated by a chain double-dashed line in the figure to retract the pickup roller from the sheet material. 32P of the lifter 32L is supported by the sheet material loading tray 32T, and the shaft 3
The right side of 32L around the 2P is moved up and down by a driving means (not shown). The lifter feeds a certain number of sheet materials, and when the uppermost surface of the sheet material falls below a certain position, it is detected by a sheet material detection sensor (not shown), and a lifter r drive motor (not shown) is operated to raise the lifter by a certain amount. Let As a result, the pickup roller always holds the uppermost surface of the sheet material S within the area where the sheet material S can be fed. Further, when the stacking tray is pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus for the purpose of replenishing the sheet material, the pickup roller 37
A, the lifter drive system (not shown) remains in the main body of the image forming apparatus, and interferes with the removal operation of the stacking tray. In this case, the pickup roller 37A and the lifter 32L are both released (indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure).

[0008]

First, a conventional means for positioning the sheet material stacking tray with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus will be described. 7 is a top view of the sheet material stacking tray 32T and the peripheral portion of the sheet feeding device, FIG. 8 is a right side view from the direction of arrow X in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a detailed view of part A of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, on the front side of the stacking tray 32T, a shaft 32 bearing a part of the stacking tray is provided.
S, a handle 32H and two hooks 32F are integrally and rotatably fixed to the shaft. The hook portion 101 of the hook is provided on the image forming apparatus main body side (two-dot chain line portion in the figure).
A compression spring 10S, which is fixed to the body rear side plate 10PR and biases the stacking tray in the body front direction, is installed. With the above configuration, the user of the image forming apparatus releases the stack tray from the image forming apparatus by rotating the handle 10H to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 9, that is, the sheet material S on the stack tray is in the non-feed position. Moved as much as possible. At the same time, the retracting operation of the pickup roller 37A and the lifter 32L described in the conventional example of FIG. 5 is performed by a mechanism (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the lamp 4, the reflecting mirrors 5, 6, 7 and the photosensitive drum 1 are used.
2 in the front-back direction, the paper feeding device 37, and the photosensitive drum 1.
The same positional relationship of 2 is a worst case due to not only the positioning method and accuracy but also the twist of the main body due to the installation location of the image forming apparatus.
There is a possibility of a shift of about 8 mm. Therefore, the sheet material stacking tray 37T is configured to be adjustable in the front-back direction with respect to the image forming apparatus main body so that the image on the photosensitive drum is transferred to substantially the center of the fed sheet material. As shown in FIG. 9, the hooking portion 101 installed in the image forming apparatus rotates the adjusting screw 102 so that the front plate 10PF of the main body and the hooking portion, specifically, the hole 101H provided in the hooking portion (FIG. 7). ) The distance between positions is adjustable (arrow c in FIG. 9). The position adjustment amount is about 4 to 8 mm at worst, like the relative displacement amount of the optical system, the photosensitive drum, and the sheet feeding device described above. Therefore, in the stacking tray outer cover 32C fixed at a fixed position with respect to the stacking tray, a gap occurs between the front surface of the outer cover 10C of the image forming apparatus main body and the front-back direction, and the product of the apparatus is significantly dropped. In order to deal with this, there is a device that adopts the following configuration.

As shown in FIG. 9, the loading tray exterior cover 3
2C is provided with oblong holes 32CM on both left and right sides, and the exterior cover 32C can be fixed to the stacking tray so that the exterior surface 32Cf of the stacking tray matches the exterior surface 10Cf of the image forming apparatus. The adjustment of the stacking tray and the outer cover described above is performed not only when assembling the image forming apparatus,
Twisting of the main body occurs or changes due to the installation location of the main body.It may be performed after moving the image forming device or after replacing the photosensitive drum that changes the positional accuracy of the photosensitive drum, which is a troublesome work for the assembly worker or service person. Has become. Therefore, in order to make it possible to omit the position adjustment of the outer cover of the stacking tray, a sheet material stacking tray having the configuration described below has also been adopted. Although not shown, the frame corresponding to the stacking tray and its exterior cover are fixed to a fixed position relatively, and the exterior cover and the frame are also housed in a fixed position with respect to the image forming apparatus. The frame further has a tray for directly stacking the sheet material, and the tray is installed so that the position of the tray can be adjusted with respect to the frame. With the above configuration, the tray outer cover is not moved together even if the position of the sheet material is adjusted in the front-back direction, so that the position adjustment of the outer cover is not necessary.
However, this structure was expensive.

In addition to the loading tray exterior cover, the exterior cover, especially a large exterior cover, is often made of ABS or the like, and is deformed such as warped or twisted. Even if the amount of deformation is small compared to the size of the component, if the gap between the adjacent exterior covers is small (usually about 2 to 5 mm), the appearance is conspicuous and the device is dropped. For this reason, some large-sized covers have position adjusting means for keeping the gap constant, when the adjacent sides are long. Even with this configuration, it was a troublesome work to assemble.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to omit the position adjustment of the outer cover of the sheet material loading tray by an inexpensive means.

[0014]

A stacking tray for stacking a plurality of sheets, a feeding means on the upper part of the tray, and an image forming means for forming an image on the sheets supplied by the feeding means are provided. The tray has position adjusting means in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction with respect to the image forming means, and is insertable / removable with respect to the main body of the apparatus. When the stacking tray is stored in the main body, at least one surface of the tray is provided. In a sheet material accommodating / feeding device having an exterior member that forms a part of the exterior of the main body, the exterior member is movable with respect to the stack tray, and when the exterior member and the stack tray are stored in the main body of the image forming apparatus, the stack tray is the main body. First positioning means for positioning to
It is characterized by having a second positioning means for positioning the exterior member.

The exterior member is movable with respect to the stacking tray in the stacking tray inserting / removing direction and has a biasing means for biasing in the removing direction.

The exterior member is movable with respect to the stacking tray in a direction vertical (vertical) to the stacking tray inserting / removing direction or in a rotation direction around an arbitrary line in the tray inserting / extracting direction within the exterior surface. Is characterized in that it has a projecting portion of an amount that is substantially in contact with an adjacent exterior member, and has a biasing means that is biased in the pull-out direction of the stacking tray.

It is characterized in that the projecting portion of the stacking tray exterior member, which is in contact with an adjacent exterior member, is a separate member which is replaceable with respect to the stacking tray exterior member.

A sheet material accommodating and feeding device having means for releasing the sheet material stacking tray from a first position where sheet feeding means can feed sheet material to a second position where sheet feeding is disabled. At the time of inserting the sheet material loading tray and the exterior member into the main body of the image forming apparatus,
Positioning means and the second positioning means are positioned at the same time, and when the sheet material stack tray and the exterior member are pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus, the releasing means releases the first positioning means and the second positioning means at the same time. It is characterized by being done.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [First Embodiment] The first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a top view of the sheet material accommodating apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the relationship between a stacking tray and an outer cover of the stacking tray, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing the operating state of the stacking tray. It is a figure. The basic configuration and operation of the copying machine that employs the sheet material accommodating device 32 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG.

First, the relationship between the sheet material stacking tray and the stacking tray exterior cover will be described with reference to FIGS. The tray exterior cover 32C is basically the sheet material loading tray 3
The tray is supported on the entire surface of 2T and becomes a part of the main body exterior cover when the tray is inserted into the main body 1 of the image forming apparatus. The arm 32A is sandwiched between the tray exterior cover 32C and the stacking tray.
Are formed (Fig. 1). The arm has a groove portion 32AM, the pin 37 is fitted in the groove portion, and the tray exterior cover is supported so as to be movable with respect to the stacking tray in the tray insertion / removal direction. Further, the tray outer cover is urged by the compression spring 32SC in the direction of pulling out from the stacking tray.
The stacking tray handle 32H bears a shaft 32S on the stacking tray side as in the conventional example so that it does not move together with the exterior cover during operation (FIG. 2).

The operation of inserting the sheet material loading tray into the main body of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

(I) The sheet material stacking tray 32T and the tray exterior cover 32C are in a state of being pulled out from the image forming apparatus 1 with the bottom of the tray placed on the tray rail installed in the main body. On the image forming apparatus side 1, a first hook 105 for positioning and fixing the stacking tray is rotatable around 105P, and a position (angle) shown by a spring 105S.
It is installed in a state in which it is biased counterclockwise. A second hook 106 for positioning and fixing the tray exterior cover 32C is rotatable about 106P and is installed in a state in which it is biased counterclockwise by a spring 106S at the position (angle) shown. Here, the second hook is the boss 10.
By engaging 6B with the arm 105A of the first hook, the counterclockwise rotation of the second hook is restricted to the rotation angle of the first hook.

(Ii) The sheet material stacking tray 32T is inserted up to the regular position, and the tray exterior cover 32C is slightly on the front side from the regular position. At this time, the first hook 105 is in a position where it is engaged with the hole 32TH of the sheet material stacking tray unless the second hook is restricted. As described above, when the tray exterior cover 32C is not inserted to the regular position, the first hook is not engaged with the stack tray hole portion 32TH, so that the user can prevent the exterior cover 32C from being inserted.

(Iii) After inserting the sheet material stacking tray 32T to the proper position, the tray outer cover is further pushed against the force of the compression spring 32SC so that the sheet material stacking tray and the tray outer cover 32C are both the first and the second. The two hooks are engaged with the holes 32TH and 32CH, respectively, so that the two hooks are reliably positioned and fixed to the image forming apparatus. Conversely, when pulling out the sheet material loading tray 32T from the image forming apparatus 1, the handle 32H is rotated clockwise in the case of FIG. 3 to push down the boss portion 106B of the second hook and rotate the first hook clockwise. The second hook moves in the same direction in synchronization with this movement. Here, the pickup roller position and the lifter position described in the conventional example and shown in the drawing are retracted to a position where they do not interfere when the stacking tray is pulled out from the main body as in the conventional example. In this way, the first and second hooks are disengaged from the holes of the stacking tray and the tray outer cover, and the stacking tray pushing spring 10S shown in FIG. It will be in a slightly extruded state.

After this state, the user pulls the stacking tray by himself and stacks the sheet bundle S.

Here, in the conventional example, the main body of the stacking tray 32T, which causes the tray outer cover surface to shift in the front-back direction with respect to the outer surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus, will be described in detail with respect to a position adjusting means for a photosensitive drum (not shown). . Figure 3
The first hook shown in FIG. 9 is installed on the position adjusting plate 101 in FIG. 9 showing the conventional example, and the position adjusting screw 1 is installed in the same manner as the conventional example.
The first hook position can be adjusted by rotating 02.

With the above construction, the tray outer cover remains positioned with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus even if the sheet stacking tray is moved and adjusted in the front-back direction to transfer the image to the approximate center of the sheet material. It is not necessary to adjust the position of the tray exterior cover.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the configuration and operation of the second embodiment. The top view of the second embodiment is shown in FIG.
1. The sheet material stacking tray and the tray exterior cover in the second embodiment are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment, and the positioning, fixing configuration, and operation in the front-back direction are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment. Therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

The second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be described focusing on the configuration and operation different from those of the first embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment, the tray exterior cover 32C has arm portions 32A on both sides so as to sandwich the sheet material stacking tray 32T. A groove 32AM is formed in the arm 32A, and the pin 3
The tray exterior cover 32C is a loading tray 32T by 2P.
In contrast, it is installed so that it can move in the front-back direction. The difference from the first embodiment is at least one pin 32P and the groove portion 3.
2AM is installed so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and in the present embodiment, the tray exterior cover 32 is attached to the stacking tray 32T.
C is urged upward by a tension spring 32SV.
Further, a spherical separate member 32B having a protruding amount of about 2 to 4 mm is installed on the tray exterior cover. Next, the operation of inserting the sheet material loading tray of the present embodiment into the image forming apparatus main body will be described with reference to FIG.

(I) In the state where the sheet material stacking tray 32T and the tray outer cover 32C are pulled from the image forming apparatus main body, the tray outer cover 32C is urged upward with respect to the sheet material stacking tray 32T to be in the normal position. From 1 to 2m
It has moved about m.

(Ii) When the loading tray and the tray outer cover are inserted into the main body of the image forming apparatus, the spherical member 32B installed on the tray outer cover hits the bottom surface 10CB of the main body outer cover 10C adjacent above the tray outer cover, and the tray The height h of the spherical member 32B is guaranteed by the distance between the upper surface 32CU of the exterior cover and the bottom surface 10CB of the main body exterior cover.

Here, the positioning means and operation of the sheet material stacking tray and the tray exterior cover in the front-back direction with respect to the image forming apparatus are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. In addition, in the second embodiment, the protruding member is provided on the upper surface of the tray outer cover and biases the tray outer cover upward, but the protruding member is provided on the lower surface and the tray outer cover is biased downward. Is also good. Further, projecting members may be provided on both upper and lower surfaces of the tray exterior cover so that the tray outer cover is urged or not urged to one of the upper and lower sides. Furthermore, a protruding member may be provided on the exterior cover side of the image forming apparatus main body.

As described above, a separate member protruding from the tray exterior cover is installed on the adjacent exterior cover surface, and the cover is urged toward the adjacent cover surface, whereby the tray exterior cover and the adjacent cover are urged. The gap can be guaranteed to be constant. When inserting / removing the main body of the image forming apparatus such as the outer cover of the tray, if the protruding member is a separate member that is replaceable with respect to the outer cover, even if the protruding member is scraped by the inserting / removing operation, only the protruding member needs to be replaced. . In addition, the dimensional accuracy of the outer cover is poor by providing a protrusion-separating member on the relatively large outer cover itself made of a material such as an ABS resin such as a tray outer cover or a cover adjacent to the large cover. Even when the outer cover is deformed, the gap between the outer cover and the adjacent outer cover can be made constant.

[0035]

As described above, 1. The stacking tray includes a stacking tray on which a plurality of sheets are stacked, a feeding unit above the tray, and an image forming unit that forms an image on the sheet supplied by the feeding unit. An exterior that has position adjusting means in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, is insertable into and removable from the apparatus main body, and forms a part of the main body exterior on at least one surface of the tray when the stacking tray is stored in the main body. In a sheet material accommodating / feeding device having a member, a first positioning unit capable of moving an exterior member with respect to a stacking tray and positioning the stacking tray on the main body when the exterior member and the stacking tray are stored in the main body of the image forming apparatus. Since the second positioning means for positioning the exterior member is provided, even when the position of the stacking tray is moved, the position of the exterior member of the tray is not adjusted and the image forming apparatus It is possible to prevent the quality deterioration on the watch.

2. The exterior member is movable in the stacking tray inserting / removing direction with respect to the stacking tray, and the biasing means for urging the stacking tray is provided to eliminate the need for position adjustment of the tray exterior cover in the front-back direction with a simple configuration. be able to.

3. The exterior member is movable with respect to the stacking tray in a vertical (upper and lower) direction with respect to the stacking tray inserting / removing direction or in a rotation direction around an arbitrary line in the stacking inserting / removing direction within the exterior surface. By disposing a protruding member that is substantially in contact with an adjacent exterior member and having an urging means that urges the stacking tray in the pulling direction, the tray exterior cover is not only adjacent to the front-back direction with respect to the image forming apparatus main body but also adjacent to it. It is possible to install with high accuracy without adjusting the position of the gap with the outer cover.

4. Since the protruding portion provided in the stacking tray exterior member and having an amount substantially in contact with the adjacent exterior member is a separate member that can be replaced with respect to the stacking tray exterior member, even if the projecting member is scraped by repeated insertion / extraction operations of the sheet material stacking tray, the projecting member Therefore, the guarantee of the gap amount between the tray exterior member and the adjacent exterior member can be reproduced at low cost.

5. From the first position where the sheet material stacking tray can feed the sheet material by the sheet feeding means,
In a sheet material accommodating and feeding device having means for releasing the sheet material to a second position where the sheet cannot be fed, when the sheet material stacking tray and the exterior member are inserted into the image forming apparatus main body, The second positioning means is positioned at the same time, and when the sheet material loading tray and the exterior member are pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body, the releasing means releases the first positioning means and the second positioning means at the same time. It is possible to prevent the user from positioning and fixing the tray outer cover again after positioning and fixing the sheet material loading tray to the image forming apparatus main body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a sheet material accommodation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the relationship between the sheet material loading tray and the loading tray exterior cover according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an operating state of the sheet material stacking tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the relationship between the sheet material stacking tray and the stacking tray outer cover and the operating state of the sheet material stacking tray according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus including a conventional sheet material feeding / accommodating device.

FIG. 6 is a conventional sheet material feeding / accommodating device.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a conventional sheet material stacking tray and a peripheral portion of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 8 is a right side view of a conventional sheet material stacking tray and a peripheral portion of a sheet feeding device.

9 is a detailed view of a portion A of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

32 sheet material accommodation device 37 Paper feeder 32T sheet material loading tray 32C tray exterior cover 105 First hook 106 Second hook 32SC tray outer cover energizing spring 32A Stacking tray release handle 32B tray exterior cover protruding member S sheet material (bundle)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A stacking tray for stacking a plurality of sheets,
The stacking tray has a feeding unit and an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet supplied by the feeding unit, and the stacking tray has a position adjusting unit in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction with respect to the image forming unit. And a sheet material accommodating and feeding apparatus that has an exterior member that is insertable and removable with respect to the apparatus body and that forms a part of the exterior of the body on at least one surface of the tray when the stacking tray is housed in the body. The exterior member is movable with respect to the stacking tray, and first positioning means for positioning the stacking tray on the main body when the exterior member and the stacking tray are housed in the main body of the image forming apparatus, and second positioning for positioning the exterior member. An image forming apparatus comprising means. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exterior member is movable in the stacking tray inserting / removing direction with respect to the stacking tray, and has a biasing means for biasing the stacking tray in the removing direction. 3. The stacking member is movable relative to the stacking tray in a direction vertical (vertical) with respect to the stacking tray inserting / removing direction, or in a rotation direction around an arbitrary line in the stacking / unloading direction within the package surface. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray exterior has a protrusion having an amount that is substantially in contact with an adjacent exterior member, and has an urging means that urges the stacking tray in the removal direction. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the protruding portion, which is provided in the stacking tray exterior member and is approximately in contact with an adjacent exterior member, is a separate member that is replaceable with respect to the stacking tray exterior member. apparatus. 5. A sheet material accommodating / feeding device having means for releasing the sheet material stacking tray from a first position at which the sheet material can be fed by the sheet feeding means to a second position at which the sheet material cannot be fed. In the feeding device, when the sheet material loading tray and the exterior member are inserted into the main body of the image forming apparatus, the first positioning unit and the second positioning unit are simultaneously positioned, and the sheet material loading tray and the exterior member are imaged. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first positioning unit and the second positioning unit are released at the same time by the releasing unit when the device is removed from the main body of the forming apparatus. 6. A first positioning means for positioning the stacking tray by engaging or disengaging operation of a second positioning means for positioning the exterior member when the stacking tray is inserted into or removed from the main body of the image forming apparatus. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first positioning means engages or disengages in synchronization with the engagement or disengagement of the second positioning means.