JP2006225088A - Sheet position restricting mechanism and sheet accommodating device equipped therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet position restricting mechanism capable of giving an appropriate sense of clicking at the time of positioning a position restricting member for aligning paper sheets and of locking the position restricting member smoothly and certainly, and a sheet accommodating device equipped therewith. <P>SOLUTION: A rear end cursor 30 is equipped with a locking mechanism to engage a locking member 37 with a rack 36 in a predetermined position, and a moving rail 40 parallel with guide rails 31a and 31b is formed on the bottom surface of a cassette base 25 whereon the rear end cursor 30 slides, and engaging grooves 40a-40d are formed in the moving rail 40 in a predetermined positions. A flat spring member 41 installed on the reverse surface of the rear end cursor 30 receives a predetermined pressing force and slides on the moving rail 40 when the rear end cursor 30 is reciprocated along the guide rails 31a and 31b, and is engaged with the grooves 40a-40d in the engagement part 44. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper position regulating mechanism for regulating a paper storage position used in an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine or a laser printer, and more particularly to operability of a cursor for positioning paper in the paper storage apparatus. It is.

  The configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus is shown in FIG. In an image forming apparatus (for example, a printer) 1, when performing an image forming operation, a photosensitive drum 5 that rotates clockwise in the drawing is uniformly charged by a charging unit 4, and an exposure unit (laser scanning unit) based on document image data. Etc.) An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5 by the laser beam from 7, and a developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) is attached to the electrostatic latent image by the developing unit 8 to form a toner image.

  The toner is supplied to the developing unit 8 from the toner container 9. The image data is transmitted from a personal computer (not shown) or the like. Further, a static elimination device (not shown) for removing residual charges on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is provided on the downstream side of the cleaning device 18.

  The sheet is conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 10 via the sheet conveyance path 11 and the registration roller pair 12 toward the photosensitive drum 5 on which the toner image is formed as described above, and is transferred by the transfer roller 13 (image transfer unit). A toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred to a sheet. The sheet onto which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 5 and conveyed to a fixing unit 14 having a fixing roller pair 14a to fix the toner image. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 14 is conveyed to the upper part of the apparatus by the sheet conveying path 15 and is discharged from the discharge roller pair 16 to the discharge tray 17.

  Next, the configuration of the paper feed cassette will be described. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which the paper feed cassette 10 is pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus 1. In FIG. 10, a sheet stacking plate 28 is provided on the cassette base 25 so as to be movable up and down around the left and right fulcrums 32a and 32b. 29a and 29b are a pair of width alignment cursors for positioning in the width direction of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking plate 28, and reciprocate in the sheet width direction (arrow AA 'direction in the figure) along guide rails (not shown). It is provided to be movable. Reference numeral 30 denotes a rear end cursor for aligning the rear ends of the sheets. Here, since the sheet is sent out in the direction of arrow B toward the sheet conveyance path 11 (see FIG. 9), the rear end cursor 30 is parallel to the sheet conveyance direction along the guide rails 31a and 31b (in the direction of arrow BB 'in the figure). ) Is provided so as to be reciprocally movable.

  By moving the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b and the rear end cursor 30 in accordance with the size of the stacked paper, the paper is stored in a predetermined position in the paper feed cassette 10. Reference numeral 34 denotes a cassette cover whose front side (side seen from the direction of arrow C) is exposed to the outside and constitutes a part of the exterior surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 (see FIG. 9). A display member 35 that displays the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 10 is provided at the end of the cassette cover 34.

  In the conventional paper cassette as described above, the position to which the user has moved is to prevent inadvertent movement of the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b or the rear end cursor 30 due to impact or vibration when the paper cassette is attached or detached. It has a lock mechanism that locks it. For example, in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 11, a rack 36 having serrated rack teeth is provided in parallel with the guide rails 31a and 31b, and a lock member 37 attached to the rear end cursor 30 is provided in a predetermined manner. A paper feed cassette is disclosed that includes a locking mechanism that engages the rack 36 in position.

  In FIG. 11, guided portions 30a and 30b are provided at both lower ends in the width direction of the rear end cursor 30, and the guided portions 30a and 30b engage with the guide grooves 38 of the guide rails 31a and 31b. Thus, the rear end cursor 30 can reciprocate along the guide rails 31a and 31b. The lock member 37 is integrally formed with a lock lever 37 a that operates and releases the lock mechanism, and a locking portion 37 b that is provided with engagement teeth that engage with the rack 36, and rotates around a fulcrum 39. Supported as possible. The lock member 37 is urged clockwise by urging means (not shown). Normally, the locking portion 37b is engaged with the rack 36 to operate the lock mechanism. In FIG. 11, the rear end cursor 30 is in a state of storing A4 size paper.

  When changing the paper size from the state of FIG. 11, the user turns the lock lever 37a counterclockwise against the urging force to disengage the locking portion 37b from the rack 36 and release the lock. To do. In this state, the rear end cursor 30 is moved in the arrow B direction along the guide rails 31a and 31b to the predetermined scale position while holding the lock lever 37a. Finally, the lock lever 37a is released to engage the locking portion 37b and the rack 36, and the lock mechanism is operated so that the rear end cursor 30 does not move.

  According to the method of Patent Document 1, the rear end cursor 30 can be easily and reliably locked at an arbitrary position. However, the user can adjust the rear end according to a predetermined scale position marked on the bottom surface of the cassette base 25. The cursor 30 needs to be accurately locked, and the positioning operation is complicated. Further, since the lock mechanism is released and the rear end cursor 30 is positioned in a freely slidable state, it is difficult to quickly and accurately lock the rear end cursor 30 at a desired position.

Furthermore, in order to lock the rear end cursor 30 at an arbitrary position, the rack teeth of the rack 36 need to be chopped in small increments. In this case, the depth of the groove cannot be taken sufficiently, and the locking effect is obtained. However, it was sometimes insufficient. Here, the trailing edge cursor 30 for aligning the trailing edge of the sheet has been described as an example, but the situation is the same for the width aligning cursors 29a and 29b for aligning the sheet in the width direction.
JP 2001-206557 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a sheet position restriction mechanism that provides an appropriate click feeling when positioning a position restriction member and that allows the position restriction member to be locked smoothly and reliably, and a sheet storage including the same. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a position restricting member that is reciprocally movable along the bottom surface of a housing that accommodates paper, restricts the position of the paper that is stored in the housing, and the position restricting member. A leaf spring that slides on a movable rail on the bottom surface of the housing as the position restricting member reciprocates on the back surface of the position restricting member. A member is provided, and when the position restricting member is in a predetermined position, a part of the leaf spring member is engaged with an engaging groove crossing the movable rail.

  According to the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism configured as described above, the width of the portion of the leaf spring member that contacts the movable rail is larger than the width of the movable rail.

  According to the present invention, in the paper position restriction mechanism configured as described above, the position restriction member is a rear end cursor that aligns the rear end of the paper and restricts the storage position in the paper transport direction.

  According to the present invention, in the paper position restriction mechanism configured as described above, the position restriction member is a width alignment cursor that regulates a storage position in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction by aligning edges of the paper in the width direction. It is characterized by.

  The present invention is also a paper storage device including the paper position regulating mechanism having the above-described configuration.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the lock mechanism that locks the position restricting member at an arbitrary position and the leaf spring member that slides on the movable rail on the bottom surface of the housing as the position restricting member reciprocates are provided. Therefore, for example, when using a standard size paper, a suitable click feeling can be obtained at the time of positioning by engagement of the leaf spring member and the engagement groove, and the user must have the position regulating member in a predetermined position. Can be easily recognized. Further, by adding the effect of the leaf spring member to the engagement groove and the effect of the lock mechanism, a sufficient lock effect can be obtained.

  In addition, even when using irregular-size paper, the position regulating member can be reliably positioned according to the paper size by the lock mechanism, and the urging force of the leaf spring member always acts on the movable rail. For this reason, the locking effect of the position restricting member becomes stronger than in the case of only the locking mechanism.

  According to the second configuration of the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism of the first configuration, the width of the portion of the leaf spring member that contacts the movable rail is made larger than the width of the movable rail. Contact between the edge portion of the leaf spring member and the step portion of the movable rail and the engagement groove can be avoided, and the user can obtain an appropriate click feeling when positioning the position restricting member, and the position restricting member can be It can be operated smoothly.

  Further, according to the third configuration of the present invention, in the paper position regulation mechanism of the first or second configuration, the paper is regulated by using the rear end cursor that aligns the rear end of the paper as the position regulation member. It is stored smoothly and reliably at a predetermined position in the transport direction.

  According to the fourth configuration of the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism having the first or second configuration, the position regulating member uses a width alignment cursor that aligns the end portions in the width direction of the paper. The paper is smoothly and reliably stored at a predetermined position in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction.

  According to the fifth configuration of the present invention, the operability of the position regulating member is improved by mounting the paper position regulating mechanism having any one of the first to fourth configurations on the paper storage device. It becomes a good paper storage device.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view illustrating a configuration of a sheet storage device including a sheet position restriction mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Portions common to FIG. 10 of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, a movable rail 40 parallel to the guide rails 31a and 31b is formed on the bottom surface of the cassette base 25 on which the rear end cursor 30 slides, and an engagement groove 40a is formed at a predetermined position of the movable rail 40. , 40b, 40c, and 40d. Note that the engagement grooves 40a and 40b are not shown here.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the rear end cursor 30 used in the present embodiment is viewed from the back side. A leaf spring member 41 is provided on the rear surface of the rear end cursor 30 in parallel with the guided portions 30a and 30b. The leaf spring member 41 includes a sliding portion 41a bent in a V-shaped cross section and a flat plate-like fixing portion 41b, and is press-fitted and fixed to the rear end cursor 30 in boss holes 42a and 42b of the fixing portion 41b. . An engaging portion 44 that engages with the engaging grooves 40a to 40d (see FIG. 3) is formed at the bent portion of the sliding portion 41a.

  Since the front end 43 of the sliding portion 41a is not fixed to the rear end cursor 30, the sliding portion 41a can be deformed and restored by a pressing force from below. The leaf spring member 41 slides on the movable rail 40 (see FIG. 1) while the sliding portion 41a receives a predetermined pressing force when the rear end cursor 30 is reciprocated along the guide rails 31a and 31b. Fixed in position.

  FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the leaf spring member 41 is engaged with the engagement groove. Now, when the rear end cursor 30 is at a predetermined paper size position (for example, A4 size), the sliding portion 41a is engaged with the engaging groove 40a in the engaging portion 44 by elastic force as shown in FIG. As a result, the user is given a catching feeling (clicking feeling) to recognize that the rear end cursor 30 matches the predetermined cursor position. When the user further moves the rear end cursor 30, the sliding portion 41a is elastically deformed, and the engaging portion 44 rides on the movable rail 40 and slides to engage with the next engaging groove 40b. Further, the engaging portion 44 is formed in an arc shape in cross section so that engagement with the engaging grooves 40a to 40d and separation from the engaging grooves 40a to 40d are facilitated.

  When the rear end cursor 30 is at the standard size position, the lock mechanism that is operated by the rack 36 and the engaging portion 37b being engaged is further engaged by the engagement of the engaging portion 44 and the engaging grooves 40a to 40d. Since the lock effect is also added, a sufficient lock effect can be obtained. On the other hand, when the rear end cursor 30 is in the indeterminate size position, the sliding portion 41a of the leaf spring member 41 is elastically deformed and presses the movable rail 40, so that the engaging portion 44 and the engaging grooves 40a to 40d Although not as much as the locking effect due to the engagement, an improvement in the locking effect can be expected as compared with the case of the conventional locking mechanism alone.

  Further, the shape of the leaf spring member 41 is not limited to this embodiment. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), there are fixed portions 41b at both ends, and a V-shaped sliding therebetween. The thing of various shapes which the sliding part 41a elastically deforms, such as the shape which has the part 41a, can be used.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the leaf spring member 41 and the movable rail 40 in FIG. In the first embodiment, the width W1 of the leaf spring member 41 is set smaller than the width W2 of the movable rail portion 40. For this reason, when the rear end cursor 30 is aligned many times, the surface of the movable rail 40 and the stepped portions of the engaging grooves 40a to 40d are scraped by the edge E of the leaf spring member 41. There is a possibility that the movement of the rear end cursor 30 becomes worse.

  FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing a configuration of a paper storage device including a paper position restriction mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 shows a leaf spring member 41 of the paper position restriction mechanism in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a positional relationship with a movable rail 40. Portions common to FIGS. 1 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, the width W2 of the movable rail 40 is narrower than that of the first embodiment, so that the width W1 of the leaf spring member 41 provided on the back surface of the rear end cursor 30 is the width W2 of the movable rail 40. To be bigger than.

  With the configuration of the present embodiment, the edge portion E of the leaf spring member 41 does not come into contact with the movable rail 40. Therefore, when the rear end cursor 30 is reciprocated many times, the edge portion E is moved to the movable rail 40. There is no possibility that it will get caught on the surface or the steps of the engaging grooves 40a to 40d and the movement will be worse. Therefore, the user can obtain an appropriate click feeling when positioning the rear end cursor 30 and can operate the rear end cursor 30 smoothly.

  Although the width W2 of the movable rail 40 is narrowed here, the width W1 of the leaf spring member 41 may be made wider than in the prior art. Further, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a leaf spring member 41 in which only the periphery of the engaging portion 44 contacting the movable rail 40 is formed wide can be used.

  In addition, the rear end cursor 30 of the first and second embodiments includes a lock member 37 having a lock lever 37a and a locking portion 37b. Although it is configured to operate, such a locking mechanism is not provided, and the rear end cursor 30 is locked at a predetermined position only by engagement between the engagement portion 44 of the leaf spring member 41 and the engagement grooves 40a to 40d. It is good also as composition to do.

  Here, in order to prevent the rear end cursor 30 from moving due to vibration or impact when the paper is supplied to the paper feed cassette 10 or attached to or detached from the image forming apparatus main body, the rear end cursor 30 has a certain degree of strength. The cassette base 25 needs to be locked. However, if the engagement between the engagement portion 44 and the engagement grooves 40a to 40d is strengthened, the user cannot move the rear end cursor 30 smoothly.

  Further, in the case of using a non-standard size paper, it is necessary to lock the rear end cursor 30 at an arbitrary position in accordance with the paper size. However, when positioning is performed by engaging the engaging portion 44, the engaging portion 44 is used. The rear end cursor 30 can be locked only at a position where it engages with the engaging grooves 40a to 40d. Therefore, as in each of the above embodiments, a lock mechanism that can reliably lock the rear end cursor 30 at an arbitrary position is provided, and in addition to the engagement between the leaf spring member 41 and the engagement grooves 40a to 40d, the lock mechanism The rear end cursor 30 is preferably locked. The configuration of the lock mechanism is not limited to the above configuration, and a conventionally known lock mechanism that uses a spring member to press the engagement member against the rack from above can be used.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the trailing edge of the sheet is aligned and the storage position in the sheet conveyance direction is regulated has been described. However, the edge of the sheet in the width direction is aligned to convey the sheet. The same applies to a case where the present invention is applied to the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b (see FIG. 10) that regulate the storage position in the direction orthogonal to the direction.

  In the above-described embodiment, the paper storage device mounted on the image forming apparatus and used as a paper supply source has been described. However, the paper position restriction mechanism of the present invention is, for example, a manual feed mechanism used as a supply source of slip sheets. The present invention can also be applied to a width alignment cursor of A, or a width alignment cursor of an automatic document feeder (ADF).

  The present invention provides a position restricting member that reciprocates along the bottom surface of a housing that stores paper, restricts the position of the paper stored in the housing, and a lock that locks the position restricting member at an arbitrary position. A leaf spring member that slides on a movable rail on the bottom surface of the housing in accordance with the reciprocating movement of the position restricting member is provided on the back surface of the position restricting member. When in a predetermined position, a part of the leaf spring member is engaged with an engagement groove crossing the movable rail.

  As a result, when using standard-size paper, an appropriate click feeling can be obtained during positioning due to the engagement between the leaf spring member and the engagement groove, and it can be easily recognized that the position regulating member is in a predetermined position. A paper position regulating mechanism that can be used is provided simply and at low cost. Further, by adding the effect of the leaf spring member to the engagement groove and the effect of the lock mechanism, a sufficient lock effect can be obtained.

  Further, even when using a non-standard size paper, the user can reliably position the position regulating member at an arbitrary position according to the paper size. Furthermore, since the biasing force of the leaf spring member always acts on the movable rail, the locking effect of the position restricting member is improved compared to the case of using only the lock mechanism, and the position restricting is performed when paper is replenished or detached from the image forming apparatus main body. There is no need to worry about parts being displaced.

  In addition, since the width of the portion of the leaf spring member that contacts the movable rail is larger than the width of the movable rail, the edge portion of the leaf spring member, the movable rail, and the engagement groove when the position regulating member is reciprocated. It is possible to reliably avoid contact with the stepped portion, to obtain an appropriate click feeling when positioning the position restricting member, and to operate the position restricting member smoothly.

  Further, as the position regulating member, a rear end cursor for aligning the rear end of the paper or a width alignment cursor for aligning the end in the width direction of the paper is used, so that the paper is placed at a predetermined position in the transport direction or a direction perpendicular thereto. It can be stored smoothly and reliably, and the occurrence of paper feed defects and jams is effectively reduced.

  In addition, since the paper position regulation mechanism of the present invention is mounted on the paper storage device, a user-friendly paper storage device that can store paper smoothly and reliably at a predetermined position and has improved operability of the position control member is provided. Can be provided.

These are the fragmentary perspective views which show the structure of the rear-end cursor periphery of the paper storage apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. These are the perspective views which show the state which looked at the rear end cursor used for the paper storage apparatus of 1st Embodiment from the back side. These are side surface sectional drawings which show the state which the leaf | plate spring member engaged with the engagement groove | channel. These are figures which illustrate the other shape of the leaf | plate spring member used for 1st Embodiment. These are perspective views which show the positional relationship of the leaf | plate spring member in FIG. 1, and a movable rail. These are the fragmentary perspective views which show the structure of the rear end cursor periphery of the paper storage apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. These are perspective views which show the positional relationship of the leaf | plate spring member and movable rail of the paper storage apparatus in FIG. These are figures which illustrate the other shape of the leaf | plate spring member used for 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an overall configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus. These are perspective views which show the structure of the conventional paper feed cassette. These are enlarged views near the rear end cursor of a conventional paper feed cassette.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image forming apparatus 10 Paper feed cassette (paper storage device)
25 Cassette base (housing)
28 Paper loading plates 29a, 29b Width alignment cursor (position regulating member)
30 Rear end cursor (position regulating member)
31a, 31b Guide rail 34 Cassette cover (housing)
36 rack 37 lock member 40 movable rail 40a to 40d engagement groove 41 leaf spring member 41a sliding portion 41b fixing portion 44 engagement portion

Claims (5)

A position restricting member that is reciprocally movable along the bottom surface of the housing for storing the paper, restricts the position of the paper stored in the housing, and a lock mechanism for locking the position restricting member at an arbitrary position; In the paper position regulation mechanism with
A leaf spring member that slides on the movable rail on the bottom surface of the housing as the position restricting member reciprocates is provided on the back surface of the position restricting member, and when the position restricting member is at a predetermined position, A sheet position regulating mechanism, wherein a part of a leaf spring member is engaged with an engagement groove that crosses the movable rail.   The sheet position regulating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a width of a portion of the leaf spring member that contacts the movable rail is larger than a width of the movable rail.   3. The sheet position regulating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the position regulating member is a trailing edge cursor that aligns a trailing edge of the sheet and regulates a storage position in a sheet conveying direction.   3. The width adjusting cursor according to claim 1, wherein the position restricting member is a width alignment cursor that aligns end portions in the width direction of a sheet and restricts a storage position in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction. Paper position restriction mechanism.   A sheet storage device comprising the sheet position regulating mechanism according to claim 1.

Images