JP2006199385A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly guide the uppermost paper to be fed. <P>SOLUTION: The paper feeding device is provided with a paper feed roller for feeding a plurality of sheets of piled up paper S from the uppermost paper S1 one by one; a pressing up plate 92 having turning fulcrum 91 at a rear side in a feeding direction of the paper and urging the paper toward the paper feed roller; and a guide member abutted on a side edge of the paper S and guiding the paper S1 fed by pressing the side edge in a paper width direction. The guide member is constituted of a front guide 130 arranged at a front side relative to the feeding direction of the paper and an intermediate guide 140 arranged at a midway. The intermediate guide 140 is constituted of a guide for approximately uniformly pressing the side edge of the paper in a vertical direction and the front guide 130 constitute a guide surface 131 having an upper part abutted on the side edge of the paper and comprising an approximately vertical surface for guiding the paper. A lower part becomes an inclined surface 132 continued from the guide surface 131 to a lower part and gradually spaced from an edge part of the paper toward the lower part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, and a copying machine.

As a conventional paper feeder, there is a rotation fulcrum at the rear of the paper feeding direction, a push-up plate that urges a plurality of stacked sheets toward the sheet feeding roller, and a plurality of stacked sheets of paper. A guide member (side that regulates the position of the side of the paper) that guides the paper to be fed by pressing the side edge in the paper width direction by contacting the side edge substantially uniformly in the vertical direction. A device provided with an end position restricting member is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-6-329270

In the conventional paper feeding device described above, the guide member is configured to contact the side edges of a plurality of stacked sheets substantially uniformly in the vertical direction. , If the side edges of the paper are not aligned neatly and partially protrude outward, the protrusion pushes the guide member outward, resulting in the upper part of the stacked paper, in particular, There is a problem that it is impossible to properly guide the side edge of the uppermost sheet to be fed.
In the above-described conventional paper feeder, the guide member is provided only in the middle with respect to the paper feeding direction, and is the most important part for guiding the paper to be fed. There is a problem that the paper cannot be properly guided on the front side in the feeding direction.
As described above, when the sheet to be fed cannot be properly guided, the fed sheet is not fed to a desired position or is skewed.
The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to properly guide the uppermost sheet to be fed. Therefore, the fed sheet can be fed to a desired position and skewed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device that can suppress the above-described problem.

In order to achieve the above object, a paper feeding device of the present invention is a paper feeding device having a paper feeding roller for feeding a plurality of stacked sheets one by one from the topmost sheet,
A guide member that guides a sheet to be fed by abutting a side edge of the plurality of stacked sheets and pressing the side edge in a sheet width direction;
The upper portion of the guide member forms a guide surface that is a substantially vertical surface that abuts on the side edge of the paper and guides the paper, and the lower portion of the guide member continues downward from the guide surface and extends downward. The inclined surface is gradually separated from the edge portion.
According to such a configuration, even if the side edges of the sheets are not neatly aligned and partially protrude outward in the lower part of the stacked sheets, the lower part of the guide member is lowered from the guide surface. Since the inclined surface gradually separates from the edge of the sheet toward the sheet, the protruding member is less likely to cause the guide member to be pushed outward.
As a result, the guide surface of the upper part of the guide member comes into contact with the side edge of the uppermost sheet to be fed so that the sheet can be properly guided.
Therefore, the fed paper can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.
In order to achieve the above object, the paper feeding device according to the present invention includes a paper feed roller that feeds a plurality of stacked sheets one by one from the topmost sheet, and a rear side in the paper feeding direction. A push-up plate having a rotation fulcrum and urging the plurality of stacked sheets toward the paper feed roller; and a side edge of the plurality of stacked sheets, A guide member is provided for guiding the paper to be fed by pressing in the paper width direction.
The guide member includes a front guide disposed on the front side in the paper feeding direction and a middle guide disposed in the middle.
The middle guide is composed of a guide that presses the side edge of the sheet substantially evenly in the vertical direction thereof.
The front guide has a guide surface composed of a substantially vertical surface in which an upper portion thereof abuts a side edge of the paper and guides the paper, and a lower portion of the front guide extends downward from the guide surface. The guide has an inclined surface that is gradually separated from the edge of the guide.
When the push-up plate has a rotation fulcrum at the rear of the paper feeding direction and urges a plurality of stacked sheets toward the paper feed roller, the paper pushed up by this push-up plate is However, according to this paper feeding device, the middle edge of the paper is pressed substantially evenly in the vertical direction by the middle guide. The side edges are guided so as to be substantially aligned, and the front side of the sheet is guided by the front guide.
Even if the side edges of the sheets are not neatly aligned and partially protrude outward at the lower part of the stacked sheets, the lower edge of the front guide faces downward from the guide surface. Since the inclined surface is gradually separated from the portion, it is difficult for the front guide to be pushed outward by the protruding portion.
As a result, on the front side in the feeding direction, which is the most important part for guiding the fed paper, the guide surface of the upper part of the front guide comes into contact with the side edge of the uppermost paper to be fed. Can be properly guided.
Therefore, the fed paper can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.
When the paper feed cassette that stores sheets in a stacked state has a structure that is inserted into and removed from the paper feed device body in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction, the guide member is provided in the paper feed cassette.
If the paper feed cassette in which the paper is stored in a stacked state is configured to be inserted / removed in the direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction with respect to the paper feeder main body, the paper in the cassette is However, according to the present invention, such a misalignment is corrected by the above-described action, and the paper is placed in a desired position (a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction (paper width direction). ) And the skew can be suppressed.
The paper feed cassette is provided with a push-up plate that urges the plurality of stacked sheets toward the paper feed roller, and a lock member that locks the push-up operation of the push-up plate. When the paper supply cassette is inserted on the apparatus main body side, a release means for releasing the lock by the lock member is provided (particularly the paper supply cassette is inserted / removed in a direction perpendicular to the paper supply direction). The paper in the cassette is likely to shift in the width direction due to the impact of the unlocking operation (and the impact when the cassette is inserted). By correcting with the above-described action, the sheet can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.
If the push-up plate is configured to be pushed up by the conical coil spring, the conical coil spring has a lot of initial reaction, so that the paper tends to be displaced by the reaction. Thus, the sheet can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a paper feeding device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an internal structure of an example of an image forming apparatus using an embodiment of a paper feeding device according to the present invention.
This image forming apparatus is a color image forming apparatus capable of longitudinally feeding A4 size paper (including letter size) to form a full color image on both sides thereof. The image forming apparatus is accommodated in a case 11 and the case 11. , An image carrier unit 20, an exposure unit 30 as an exposure unit, a developing unit (developing device) 40 as a developing unit, an intermediate transfer unit 50, and a fixing unit (fixing unit) 60 as a fixing unit. I have.
The case 11 is provided with a frame (not shown) of the apparatus main body 10, and each unit is attached to the frame.

  The image carrier unit 20 includes a photoconductor 21 having a photosensitive layer on the outer peripheral surface, and a corona charger (scorotron charger) 22 as a charging unit that uniformly charges the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor 21. The outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor 21 uniformly charged by the corona charger 22 is selectively exposed with the laser light L from the exposure unit 30 to form an electrostatic latent image. The developer 40 is applied with a toner as a developer to form a visible image (toner image). This toner image is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 51 of the intermediate transfer body unit 50 by the primary transfer portion T1, and further to the second image. The secondary transfer unit T2 performs secondary transfer onto a sheet to be transferred.

In the case 11, a conveyance path 16 that conveys a sheet on which an image is formed on one side by the secondary transfer portion T <b> 2 toward a sheet discharge portion (discharge tray) 15 on the top surface of the case 11, and the conveyance path 16. A return path 17 is provided for switching back the sheet conveyed toward the sheet discharge unit 15 and returning it to the secondary transfer unit T2 so as to form an image on the other side.
Reference numeral 70 denotes a duplex unit configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body, and the return path 17 is completed by mounting the duplex unit 70.
A paper feeding device 100 is provided below the case 11, that is, below the image forming apparatus main body. The paper feeding device 100 is provided with a paper feeding cassette 18 for laminating and holding a plurality of sheets, and a paper feeding roller 19 for feeding the sheets one by one toward the secondary transfer portion T2. ing.

  Below the duplex unit 70, there is provided a multi-purpose tray 81 that forms a manual paper feed unit 80. A paper feed roller 82 that feeds the sheets set on the multi-purpose tray 81 one by one is provided in the main body of the apparatus. Is provided.

  The developing device 40 is a rotary developing device (rotary developing device), and a developing device cartridge (not shown) for each color in which yellow toner, cyan toner, magenta toner, and black toner are accommodated with respect to the rotating body main body 41. It is detachably attached. As the rotating body 41 rotates at 90 ° pitch in the direction of arrow R, the developing roller (not shown) provided in each developing device cartridge is selectively brought into contact with the photosensitive member 21, and the surface of the photosensitive member 21. Can be selectively developed.

The exposure unit 30 irradiates the laser 21 with the laser light L.
The intermediate transfer unit 50 includes a unit frame (not shown), a drive roller 54 rotatably supported by the frame, and the intermediate transfer belt 51 stretched around a plurality of driven rollers. The intermediate transfer belt 51 is circulated and driven in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. The primary transfer portion T1 is formed at the contact portion between the photosensitive member 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 51, and the secondary transfer portion T2 at the pressure contact portion between the driving roller and the secondary transfer roller 10b provided on the main body side. Is formed.
The secondary transfer roller 10b can be brought into contact with and separated from the drive roller 54 (and therefore with respect to the intermediate transfer belt 51), and when it comes into contact, a secondary transfer portion T2 is formed.
Accordingly, when forming a color image, a plurality of color toner images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 51 while the secondary transfer roller 10b is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 51, and then a color image is formed. The secondary transfer roller 10b contacts the intermediate transfer belt 51, and the sheet is supplied to the contact portion (secondary transfer portion T2), whereby a color image (toner image) is formed on the sheet from the intermediate transfer belt 51. Transfer (secondary transfer) is performed.
The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred passes through the fixing unit 60 to melt and fix the toner image, and is discharged toward the paper discharge tray 15.

Paper feeding to the image forming unit is selectively performed from one of the paper feeding device 100 and the manual paper feeding unit 80 described above.
Normally, plain paper or the like is normally set in the paper feed cassette 18, but various papers are set in the multi-purpose tray 81 as necessary. In other words, plain paper, cardboard, postcard, envelope, OHP sheet, and other recording materials (these recording materials are collectively referred to as paper) are appropriately set in the multi-purpose tray 81 as required by the user.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the paper feeding device 100 and shows a state in which the paper feeding cassette 18 is removed.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the paper feed cassette 18.
4A and 4B are views showing the paper feeding cassette 18 and the paper feeding device 100. FIG. 4A is a front sectional view of the paper feeding cassette 18 (a-a sectional view in FIG. 4B), and FIG. (C) is a front view of the paper feeding device 100 with the paper feeding cassette 18 removed, and (d) is a right sectional view with the paper feeding cassette 18 inserted into the paper feeding device 100 (FIG. (C). Dd) sectional view in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the paper feeding device 100 includes a cassette storage unit 101, an insertion / removal port 102 of the paper feed cassette 18 into the cassette storage unit 101, and the paper in the paper feed cassette 18. The sheet feeding roller 19 mentioned above is fed one by one, and a pair of conveying rollers 103 and 104 for conveying the sheet fed by the sheet feeding roller 19 into the image forming apparatus main body.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the paper feed cassette 18 includes a substantially box-shaped cassette main body 90 in which sheets S (see FIG. 7) to be fed are stored in a stacked state, and the cassette. A push-up plate 92 (see FIG. 5) that is rotatably mounted on a shaft 91 (a rotation fulcrum provided at the rear of the paper feeding direction) in the main body 90 and the cassette main body 90. The uppermost sheet is pushed up by the plate 92 and is fed by the sheet feeding roller 19 so as to be bent at both corners of the uppermost sheet by engaging with the leading edge corners (direction of arrow F in FIG. 2). Thus, a pair of separation claws 93 for separating the uppermost sheet from the next sheet, a rear end position regulating member 94 for regulating the rear end position of the stacked sheets, and both side edges of the stacked sheets Restricts the position of the paper and guides both edges of the paper being fed. A pair of side guide unit 95L, and a 95R. The separation claws 93 are provided in the side guide units 95L and 95R, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a conical coil spring 96 is provided between the push-up plate 92 and the cassette body, and the push-up plate 92 is pushed up by the conical coil spring 96. The paper cassette 18 is provided with a lock member 97 (see FIG. 4B) for locking the push-up operation of the push-up plate 18.
As shown in FIG. 5, a protrusion 92 a is provided at the tip of the push-up plate 92, and the lock member 97 is constituted by a lock lever that engages and disengages with the protrusion of the push-up plate 92.
The lock member 97 can be rotated around a fulcrum 97a shown in FIG. 4B, and when the lock member 97 is in the suspended position as shown in FIG. 4B, its lower part engages with the protruding piece 92a of the push-up plate 92. As a result, the push-up operation of the push-up plate 92 is locked.
As shown in FIG. 4D, when the paper feeding cassette 18 is inserted into the paper feeding device 100, the lock member 97 comes into contact with the convex portion 120 of the paper feeding device 100 and rotates. The lock on the plate 92 is released, and the push-up plate 92 is pushed up by the urging force of the conical coil spring 96.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the convex portion 120 constitutes a lock releasing means.

The paper feed cassette 18 is perpendicular to the paper feed direction F (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1 and the direction of the arrow X in FIGS. 2 and 3) with respect to the cassette housing portion 101 of the paper feeder 100. , Is inserted and removed.
As described above, when the paper feed cassette 18 is configured to be inserted / removed in the direction X perpendicular to the paper feed direction F with respect to the 100 paper feed device, the paper in the cassette is moved in the width direction (feed) due to impact at the time of insertion. It is easily disturbed in the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction.
Further, when the paper feed cassette 18 is mounted, the lock is released and the push-up plate 92 is pushed up, and is pushed up by the conical coil spring 96 having a strong initial reaction. In addition, it becomes more disturbing.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a guide member is provided that guides the fed paper by contacting the side edges of the stacked sheets and pressing the side edges in the paper width direction. .
This guide member is provided inside the right side guide unit 95R in the paper feeding direction F and also serves as a regulating member that regulates the side edge position of the paper S.

6 is a view of the side guide unit 95R as viewed from the inside, and FIG. 7 is a view showing a state in which the stacked sheets S are pushed up by the push-up plate 92.
8A and 8B are views showing the guide member, in which FIG. 8A is a front view of the front guide, FIG. 8B is a side view, FIG. 8C is a perspective view, and FIG. 8D is a perspective view of the middle guide.
As shown in these drawings, the guide member includes a front guide 130 disposed on the front side in the paper feeding direction F and a middle guide 140 disposed in the middle.

The front guide 130 has an upper portion 131 that forms a guide surface 131 that is a substantially vertical surface that abuts the side edge of the sheet S and guides the sheet, and a lower portion 132 that extends downward from the guide surface 131. This is a guide having an inclined surface 132 that gradually moves away from the edge of the sheet toward the sheet.
The front guide 130 is an integral product made of a thin plate spring made of stainless steel. The mounting hole 133 and the recess 134 provided at the lower end of the front guide 130 are connected to the back surface of the inner surface cover 95a of the side guide unit 95R (in FIG. It is attached to the side guide unit 95R by being fitted and fixed to protrusions 95b and 95c provided on the back side.
A slit 95d is provided in the inner surface cover 95a of the side guide unit 95R, and the lower end portion of the front guide 130 is inserted into the back side of the inner surface cover 95a through the slit 95d, and the hole 133 and the recess 134 are inserted into the protrusions. Fit to 95b and 95c and fix.
Therefore, the guide surface 131 and the inclined surface 132 of the front guide 130 are exposed on the inner surface side of the side guide unit 95R, define the side edge position of the paper, and guide the side edge of the paper.
Since the front guide 130 is made of a leaf spring, it has flexibility with respect to the fixed portion, and its own elastic force causes the side edge of the paper S to move in the paper width direction (the paper surface side in FIG. The position of the side edge of the sheet is defined by pressing toward the left side of FIG. 8B, and the side edge of the sheet is guided.

The middle guide 140 is a guide that presses the side edge of the sheet S substantially evenly in the vertical direction.
The middle guide 140 is an integral part made of a thin plate spring made of stainless steel, and has guide portions 143 and 143 provided on both sides via a mounting portion 141 that forms a central portion and upper and lower arm portions (connecting portions) 142 and 142. And have.
The mounting portion 141 is provided with mounting holes 144, 145, and these holes 144, 145 are provided on the back surface of the inner surface cover 95a of the side guide unit 95R (the back side of the paper surface in FIG. 6). It is attached to the side guide unit 95R by being fitted and fixed to 95f.
The inner surface cover 95a of the side guide unit 95R is provided with an opening 95g through which the arm portion 142 is passed, and the guide surface 143 is formed on the side surface of the inner surface cover 95a by passing the arm portion 142 through the opening 95g. It is exposed on the inner surface side of the guide unit 95R, defines the position of the side edge of the sheet in the middle of the sheet feeding direction, and guides the side edge of the sheet.
Since the middle guide 140 is made of a leaf spring, it has flexibility with respect to the fixed portion, and the elastic force of the middle guide 140 presses the side edge of the paper S in the paper width direction. Define the side edge position and guide the side edge of the paper.

  1 and 2, reference numeral 110 denotes an opening / closing cover provided in front of the paper feeding direction F in the paper feeding device 100, and a sheet is placed in the paper feeding path 16 a between the paper feeding device 100 and the image forming apparatus main body. When the paper is jammed, the jammed paper can be removed by opening the opening / closing cover 110 as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the sheet feeding device 100, the following effects can be obtained.
(A) The paper feeding device 100 is a paper feeding device having a paper feeding roller 19 that feeds a plurality of stacked paper sheets S one by one from the uppermost paper S1 (see FIG. 7). The guide member 130 includes a guide member 130 that contacts a side edge of a plurality of stacked sheets S and guides the sheet to be fed by pressing the side edge in the sheet width direction. The upper part constitutes a guide surface consisting of a substantially vertical surface that contacts the side edge of the paper S and guides the paper, and the lower part is continuous downward from the guide surface 131 and gradually downward from the edge of the paper. Since the inclined surfaces 132 are spaced apart from each other, the following effects are obtained.
That is, even if the side edges of the sheets are not neatly aligned and partially protrude outward (backward direction of the paper surface in FIG. 7) in the lower part S2 of the stacked sheets S (see FIG. 7), Since the lower portion of the guide member is an inclined surface 132 that is gradually separated from the edge of the sheet downward from the guide surface 131, a situation occurs in which the guide member 130 is pushed outward by the protruding portion. It becomes difficult.
As a result, the guide surface 131 on the upper part of the guide member abuts on the side edge of the uppermost sheet S1 to be fed and can properly guide the sheet S1.
Therefore, the fed paper S1 can be fed to a desired position (desired position in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction (paper width direction)) and skew can be suppressed.

(B) This paper feeding device 100 has a paper feed roller 19 that feeds a plurality of stacked paper sheets S one by one from the uppermost paper S1, and a rotation fulcrum behind the paper feeding direction. Then, a push-up plate 92 that urges the plurality of stacked sheets S toward the paper feed roller 19 and a side edge of the plurality of stacked sheets S are brought into contact with each other in the sheet width direction. A guide member for guiding the sheet S1 to be fed by pressing is provided. The guide member includes a front guide 130 disposed on the front side in the sheet feeding direction, and a middle guide 140 disposed in the middle. The middle guide 140 is configured by a guide that presses the side edge of the sheet substantially evenly in the vertical direction. The front guide 130 abuts the side edge of the sheet to guide the sheet. The guide surface 131 is formed of a substantially vertical surface, and the lower part is the front Contiguous from the guide surface 131 downward and, since the guide that is an inclined surface 132 which gradually away from the edge of the paper downward, the following operational effects are obtained.
That is, when the push-up plate 92 has a rotation fulcrum on the rear side in the sheet feeding direction and biases the plurality of stacked sheets S toward the sheet feeding roller 19, FIG. As shown, the paper S pushed up by the push-up plate 92 is inclined upward toward the paper feed roller 19, but according to the paper feed device 100, the middle of the paper S is in the middle guide 140. Therefore, the side edges are substantially uniformly pressed in the vertical direction so that the side edges are substantially aligned, and the front side of the sheet is guided by the front guide 130.
Even in the lower part S2 of the stacked sheets S, the lower side of the front guide 130 faces downward from the guide surface 131 even if the side edges of the sheets are not neatly aligned and partially protrude outward. Since the inclined surface 132 is gradually separated from the edge of the paper, the front guide 130 is less likely to be pushed outward by the protruding portion.
As a result, on the front side in the feeding direction, which is the most important part for guiding the paper to be fed, the guide surface 131 on the top of the front guide 130 contacts the side edge of the uppermost sheet S1 to be fed. It is possible to properly guide the sheet S1 in contact.
Accordingly, the fed paper S1 can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.

(C) When the sheet feeding cassette 18 in which the sheets S are stored in a stacked state is configured to be inserted / removed in the direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction with respect to the sheet feeding apparatus main body, the cassette 18 is removed by inserting / removing the sheet feeding cassette 18. However, according to the paper feeding device 100, such a misalignment is corrected by the above-described action, and the paper S1 is placed at a desired position. The sheet can be fed (desired position in the direction (paper width direction) orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction) and skew can be suppressed.

(D) The paper feed cassette 18 is provided with a push-up plate 92 that urges a plurality of stacked sheets S toward the paper feed roller 19 and a lock member 97 that locks the push-up operation of the push-up plate 92. In addition, a release means 120 for releasing the lock by the lock member 97 when the paper feed cassette 18 is inserted is provided on the side of the paper feed device main body (particularly, the paper feed cassette 18 is set in the paper feed direction). With the configuration in which the sheet S is inserted and removed in the orthogonal direction), the sheet S in the cassette 18 is easily displaced in the width direction due to the impact of the unlocking operation (and the impact when the cassette is inserted). For example, such a deviation can be corrected by the above-described action, and the sheet S1 can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.
(E) When the push-up plate 92 is configured to be pushed up by the conical coil spring 96, the conical coil spring 96 has a lot of initial reaction, so that the sheet is easily displaced by the reaction. The misalignment is corrected by the above-described action, so that the sheet can be fed to a desired position and skew can be suppressed.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

1 is a schematic front view showing an internal structure of an example of an image forming apparatus using an embodiment of a paper feeding device according to the present invention. The figure which shows the state which pulled out the paper feeding cassette in the perspective view of a paper feeding apparatus. The perspective view of a paper feed cassette. (A) is a front sectional view of the paper feeding cassette, (b) is a side view, (c) is a front view of the paper feeding device, and (d) is a right side sectional view of the paper feeding device with the paper feeding cassette inserted. The perspective view of a raising board. The figure which looked at the side guide unit from the inside. The figure which shows the state by which the laminated | stacked paper is pushed up with the raising board. (A) is a front view of a front guide, (b) is a side view, (c) is a perspective view, and (d) is a perspective view of a middle guide.

Explanation of symbols

  S: paper, S1: uppermost paper, 18: paper feed cassette, 19: paper feed roller, 91: rotation fulcrum, 92: push-up plate, 96: conical coil spring, 97: lock member, 120: release means, 130 : Front guide (guide member), 131: guide surface, 132: inclined surface, 140: middle guide (guide member).

Claims (5)

A paper feeding device having a paper feeding roller for feeding a plurality of stacked paper sheets one by one from the topmost paper,
A guide member that guides a sheet to be fed by abutting a side edge of the plurality of stacked sheets and pressing the side edge in a sheet width direction;
The upper portion of the guide member forms a guide surface that is a substantially vertical surface that abuts on the side edge of the paper and guides the paper, and the lower portion of the guide member continues downward from the guide surface and extends downward. A sheet feeding device having an inclined surface gradually separated from the edge of the sheet. A sheet feed roller that feeds a plurality of stacked sheets one by one from the topmost sheet; and a rotation fulcrum at the rear of the sheet feeding direction. A push-up plate that urges the paper toward the paper feed roller and a side edge of the plurality of stacked sheets are pressed against each other to guide the paper to be fed by pressing the side edge in the paper width direction. A guide member,
The guide member includes a front guide disposed on the front side in the paper feeding direction and a middle guide disposed in the middle.
The middle guide is composed of a guide that presses the side edge of the sheet substantially evenly in the vertical direction thereof.
The front guide has a guide surface composed of a substantially vertical surface in which an upper portion thereof abuts a side edge of the paper and guides the paper, and a lower portion of the front guide extends downward from the guide surface. A sheet feeding device, characterized by being a guide having an inclined surface that is gradually separated from an edge of the sheet.   A sheet feeding cassette that stores sheets in a stacked state is configured to be inserted and removed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction with respect to the sheet feeding device body, and the guide member is provided in the sheet feeding cassette. The paper feeding device according to claim 1 or 2.   The paper feed cassette is provided with a push-up plate that urges the plurality of stacked sheets toward the paper feed roller, and a lock member that locks the push-up operation of the push-up plate. 4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 3, wherein a release unit for releasing the lock by the lock member when the sheet feeding cassette is inserted is provided on the apparatus main body side.   5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2.3, wherein the push-up plate is pushed up by a conical coil spring.

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