JP2016033067A - Sheet guide unit and sheet feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet guide unit and a sheet feeding device which enable storage without causing a damage and the like to separation means of a loading member and sheet guide surfaces of side end restriction members even when the detachable loading member and side end restriction members are removed from a device body.SOLUTION: In a sheet guide unit 1, an additional loading member 5 removed from a loading member 3 has a holding recess 5b for holding the loading member 3, which is removed from a device body, and a pair of side restriction members 2, 2. The holding recess 5b holds these members so that a sheet separation member 4 and sheet guide surfaces 2b of the side restriction members 2, 2 are positioned inside an outer edge 5a of the additional loading member 5. This enables storage causing no damage to the sheet separation member 4 of the loading member 3 and the sheet guide surfaces 2b of the side restriction members 2, 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet guide unit and a sheet feeding apparatus including the sheet guide unit.

  An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer includes a sheet storage unit and a feeding unit such as a feeding roller that feeds a sheet stored in the sheet storage unit, and feeds the sheet stored in the sheet storage unit. Are provided with a configuration for feeding to the image forming unit. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of sheets having a large capacity sheet storage unit that can store thousands of sheets.

  In such an image forming apparatus, it is required to form an image at an accurate position with respect to the sheet, and in the sheet storage unit, it is necessary to store the sheet at an appropriate position using a sheet regulating plate or the like. If the sheet is stored in an appropriate position, the sheet can be sent out to the image forming unit while suppressing the deviation and the like, so that an image can be formed at an accurate position with respect to the sheet.

  In addition to the standard size cut sheets, the use of a wide variety of sheets is rapidly increasing, and the stacking position of the stacking section that stacks sheets can be adjusted according to the size of these sheets. It has been known. For example, in the case of a thick sheet such as an envelope or a postcard to be subjected to address printing or the like, there are a wide variety of sizes and types from narrower to wider than a standard sheet. For this reason, there is a limit in adjusting the stacking unit on which the sheets are stacked in accordance with the size of a thick sheet such as an envelope.

  As an example of a thick sheet, when an envelope having a bulge due to a bonded portion or an entrance flap is picked up one by one from the state of being stacked on a stacking unit and separated and conveyed, the following tends to occur. In other words, the pressing force due to the rotational friction of the pickup roller fluctuates due to bulging or the like, and it is easy to cause feeding failure such as feeding failure or double feeding that feeds a plurality of sheets at a time.

  In order to solve such a problem, a sheet feeding apparatus has been proposed in which a sheet guide unit dedicated to envelopes is detachably attached to an existing sheet feeding cassette to perform sheet feeding (patent) Reference 1). The sheet guide unit in Patent Document 1 suppresses fluctuations in pressing force due to swelling and flaps by pressing the middle plate on which the sheets are directly stacked toward a claw-like pressing member that holds the thick sheet's swelling and flaps. And avoid poor feeding.

  However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, when a large number of thick sheets S having envelope-like bulges and flaps can be stacked, Such a problem may occur. That is, when the thick sheet S is stacked on the middle plate 610 of the sheet guide unit G mounted on the sheet feeding cassette 96, the middle plate 610 is arranged so that the uppermost sheet S always hits the claw-shaped pressing member 214. The sheet S is urged in the direction of being pushed up by the push-up spring 209 from below. However, when stacking several hundred or more sheets S on the middle plate 610, it is necessary to increase the force required to push up by the push-up spring 209.

  If the push-up force of the push-up spring 209 is increased in this manner, when the remaining amount of stacked sheets is reduced in the feeding operation, the push force that pushes the uppermost sheet S against the press member 214 increases. To do. For this reason, there is a possibility that a load when the sheet S is fed out by the pickup roller 123 becomes large and a feeding failure occurs. That is, the sliding force generated when the sheet S is abutted against the pressing member 214 is increased, and this sliding force cancels the force for feeding the sheet S by the pickup roller 123, thereby causing a feeding failure. Can be considered.

  On the other hand, a sheet feeding apparatus is proposed that is not configured to mount the sheet guide unit on the sheet feeding cassette as described above, but can cope with the feeding of thick sheets such as envelopes in a large capacity paper deck ( Patent Document 2). The apparatus described in Patent Document 2 includes a large-capacity sheet storage, and a tray supported so as to be movable up and down is arranged in the storage so as to press the stacked sheets against the feeding roller. Yes. Further, a pair of side end regulating members that are movable in the width direction of the stacked sheets are disposed in the sheet storage case. And in the sheet storage, it is supported by each downstream end of these side end regulating members and can be rotated so as to regulate the end of a narrow sheet, for example, different from the standard sheet size such as standard cut paper A pair of side end regulating members is arranged. When regulating the side edge position of the standard size sheet, the pair of side edge regulating members are rotated to the retracted position away from the sheet to regulate the side edge position of the narrow size sheet. Rotates the pair of side end regulating members to a set position close to the sheet.

  However, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, when a narrow sheet is set, the side edge position of the sheet can be regulated by the side edge regulating member, but the guide function for the sheet side edge is insufficient. Was producing an area. If there is an area where the guide function is insufficient, it will not be possible to sufficiently regulate that the sheet is inclined by the separating means that separates the sheets one by one after feeding, and the frequency of skewing (skew) will increase. There is a possibility that problems such as difficulty in stably feeding the sheet may occur.

JP 9-315610 A JP 2006-327805 A

  By the way, the following can be considered as a configuration that can eliminate the possibility that a feeding failure may occur in the configuration of Patent Document 1 or the problem that it becomes difficult to stably feed the sheet in the configuration of Patent Document 2. It is done. In other words, a sheet guide unit consisting of a stacking member and a side edge regulating member, which is dedicated to narrow and thick sheets such as envelopes and divided for each function, is configured to be detachably attached to the main unit. It is possible to do.

  However, in such a configuration, it is necessary to store the sheet guide unit while feeding a standard sheet while feeding a sheet such as an envelope. If divided every time, problems may occur in the following points when not in use. That is, when the sheet guide unit is removed from the apparatus main body and left unattended, there is a possibility that the sheet guide surface of the side end regulating member rubs against a floor surface or a wall surface such as a shelf to cause scratches or dirt. When scratches and dirt occur in this way, the sheet feeding function during feeding is reduced.

  The present invention can be stored without causing scratches or dirt on the sheet guide surface of the stacking member separating means or the side end regulating member even when the detachable stacking member or side end regulating member is removed from the apparatus main body. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet guide unit and a sheet feeding apparatus.

  The present invention provides a sheet guide unit having separation means for separating sheets on a surface thereof, a stacking member for stacking sheets, and a removably attached upper side of the stacking member, which are different from the sheets stacked by the stacking member An additional stacking member capable of stacking sheets of a size, and a pair of side end regulating members that regulate side end positions of the stacking member or the sheets stacked on the additional stacking member, and are removed from the stacking member. The additional stacking member includes a holding unit that holds the stacking member removed from the apparatus main body and the pair of side end regulating members, and the holding unit includes the separating unit and the pair of side end regulating members. The sheet guide surface of the member is held so as to be located inside the outer edge of the additional stacking member.

  According to the present invention, even when the detachable stacking member and the side end regulating member are removed from the apparatus main body, the stacking member separating means and the sheet guiding surface of the side end regulating member can be stored without causing scratches or dirt. A sheet guide unit and a sheet feeding apparatus can be realized.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming apparatus including a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the principal part of the paper deck of the state which removed the cover. The perspective view which shows the principal part of the paper deck equipped with the detachable sheet guide unit. Sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the paper deck which mounted | wore with the sheet guide unit. The perspective view which shows the sheet | seat guide unit arrange | positioned imitating the state with which the paper deck was mounted | worn. The perspective view which shows the sheet | seat guide unit of the storage state which integrated each component. (A), (b) is a perspective view which shows the positioning state at the time of mounting | wearing the paper deck with the components of a sheet guide unit. Sectional drawing which shows the prior art example of the detachable sheet | seat guide unit.

  Hereinafter, a sheet feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a printer that is an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

[Image forming apparatus]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1000 denotes an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 1000 includes an image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter, referred to as an apparatus main body) 900, a scanner device 2000 disposed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 900, and a paper deck 3000 connected to the apparatus main body 900. Yes.

  A scanner device 2000 that reads a document includes a scanning optical system light source 201, a platen glass 202, an openable / closable document pressure plate 203, a lens 204, a light receiving element (photoelectric conversion) 205, an image processing unit 206, a memory unit 208, and the like. . The memory unit 208 stores the image processing signal processed by the image processing unit 206.

  The scanner device 2000 is configured to irradiate a document (not shown) placed on the platen glass 202 with light from the scanning optical system light source 201 when reading the document. The read original image is processed by the image processing unit 206, converted into an electrically encoded electric signal 207, and transmitted to a laser scanner (image forming means) 111 in the apparatus main body 900. The

  Note that the image information processed and encoded by the image processing unit 206 is temporarily stored in the memory unit 208 and transmitted to the laser scanner 111 as needed by a signal from a controller (control means) 120 described later. it can.

  The apparatus main body 900 also includes first to fourth sheet feeding devices 1001 to 1004 that feed the sheet S, and a sheet that transports the sheet S fed by the sheet feeding devices 1001 to 1004 to the image forming unit 901. A transfer device 902. The apparatus main body 900 includes a controller 120 as a control unit for controlling each unit of the image forming apparatus 1000.

  Here, each of the first to fourth sheet feeding devices 1001 to 1004 includes a sheet feeding cassette 10 that stores sheets S, a pickup roller 11, a separation roller pair 25 including a feed roller 22 and a retard roller 23. And. The sheets S stored in the sheet feeding cassette 10 are separated and fed one by one by a pickup roller 11 and a separating and conveying roller pair 25 that are rotated up and down at a predetermined timing.

  Further, a feed sensor 24 is disposed in the vicinity of the downstream side of the feed roller 22 and the retard roller 23 in the sheet feeding direction. The feeding sensor 24 detects the passage of the sheet S, and the detection signal is used as a controller. 120.

  The sheet conveyance device 902 includes a conveyance roller pair 15, a pre-registration roller pair 130, and a registration roller pair 110. The sheet S fed from the sheet feeding devices 1001 to 1004 is guided to the registration roller pair 110 after being passed through the sheet conveyance path 108 by the conveyance roller pair 15 and the pre-registration roller pair 130. Thereafter, the sheet S is sent to the image forming unit 901 by the registration roller pair 110 at a predetermined timing.

  The image forming unit 901 includes a photosensitive drum 112, a laser scanner 111, a developing device 114, a transfer charger 115, a separation charger 116, and the like. At the time of image formation, the laser beam from the laser scanner 111 is folded back by the mirror 113 and applied to the photosensitive drum 112 that rotates clockwise, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum. Further, the electrostatic latent image thus formed on the photosensitive drum is thereafter visualized as a toner image by the developing device 114.

  Thereafter, the toner image on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the sheet S by the transfer charger 115 in the transfer unit 112b. Further, the sheet S on which the toner image is transferred in this manner is electrostatically separated from the photosensitive drum 112 by the separation charger 116 and then conveyed to the fixing device 118 by the conveyance belt 117 to fix the toner image. Thereafter, the paper is discharged by a discharge roller 119.

  Further, a discharge sensor 122 is disposed in the conveyance path between the fixing device 118 and the discharge roller 119, and the controller 120 detects the passage of the discharged sheet S based on a detection signal of the discharge sensor 122. .

  In the present embodiment, the apparatus main body 900 and the scanner apparatus 2000 are configured separately, but the apparatus main body 900 and the scanner apparatus 2000 may be configured integrally. In addition, the apparatus main body 900 functions as a copying machine when a processing signal of the scanner apparatus 2000 is input to the laser scanner 111, and functions as a FAX when a FAX transmission signal is input. Furthermore, if a signal from a personal computer (PC) is input, it also functions as a printer.

  On the contrary, if the processing signal of the image processing unit 206 of the scanner device 2000 is transmitted to another FAX, it functions as a FAX. Further, if the scanner device 2000 is configured to be equipped with an automatic document feeder 250 as shown by a two-dot chain line instead of the pressure plate 203, it is possible to automatically read a document (not shown).

[Paper deck]
Next, the sheet guide unit 1 and the sheet feeding apparatus 30 to which the present invention is applied, which are used in the image forming apparatus 1000 of FIG. 1, will be described by taking a paper deck 3000 as a large capacity deck as an example. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the paper deck 3000 with the cover removed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper deck 3000 includes an apparatus main body 3000a, a large-capacity deck storage 62 accommodated in the apparatus main body 3000a, and a sheet feeding apparatus 30. The sheet feeding device 30 sends out the sheets S stacked and stored in the large-capacity deck storage 62 toward the image forming unit 901. A sheet guide unit 1 (see FIG. 6) is attached to the sheet feeding device 30.

  That is, the sheet feeding apparatus 30 includes a standard stacking member 61 that stacks standard sheets S, a pickup roller 51 that feeds the sheets S stacked on the standard stacking member 61, a feed roller 12, and a retard roller 13. The separation conveyance roller pair 31 is provided. The standard stacking member 61 is configured such that a standard sheet is stacked and the stacking member 3 (see FIG. 4) can be mounted. That is, the standard stacking member 61 is configured to be able to stack standard sheets (normal size sheets such as B5 and A4, not envelopes or postcards), and to be mounted with a stacking member 3 to be described later, by a drive mechanism (not shown). It is supported to be moved up and down. The stacking member 3 has a sheet separating member (separating means) 4 (see FIG. 4) for separating sheets on the surface, and is configured to stack sheets.

  The sheet feeding device 30 includes a sheet guide unit 1 (see FIGS. 4 to 6) described later, a standard stacking member 61, and a pair of standard side regulating members (standard side end regulating members) 80 and 80. . The standard side regulating members 80, 80 regulate the side end position in the width direction (arrow h direction in FIG. 2) perpendicular to the feeding direction (arrow b direction in FIG. 2) of the sheets S stacked on the standard stacking member 61. Both are configured to be movable in the width direction.

  These standard side regulating members 80 and 80 regulate the side end position in the sheet width direction intersecting with the feeding direction of the sheets stacked on the standard stacking member 61 and can attach a pair of side regulating members 2 and 2. A pair of standard side end regulating members are configured. That is, the standard side regulating members 80 and 80 are configured such that a pair of side regulating members 2 and 2 can be attached to the inner wall surface 80a facing the sheet S, respectively. The pair of side regulating members 2 and 2 constitutes a pair of side end regulating members that regulate the side end positions of the sheets stacked on the stacking member 3 or the additional stacking member 5.

  In the sheet feeding apparatus 30 configured as described above, when the sheet guide unit 1 is mounted, the side regulating members 2 and 2 are attached to the standard side regulating members 80 and 80, respectively, and the stacking member 3 is mounted on the standard stacking member 61. Thus, the seat guide unit 1 is easily mounted.

  In the present embodiment, the sheets S on the standard stacking member 61 (on the standard stacking member) and on the stacking member 3 (on the stacking member) are conveyed based on the center. Therefore, the movement of both of the pair of standard side regulating members 80, 80 is required. However, in the case of a configuration in which the pair of standard side regulating members 80, 80 is conveyed, the movement on the side corresponding to either of the pair of standard side regulating members 80, 80 may be used.

  In the present embodiment, the pickup roller 51 is configured to be capable of being pressed into contact with the uppermost sheet of the sheets S on the stacking member with an appropriate force. The sheets S on the standard stacking member 61 are separated and fed one by one by a pick-up roller 51 and a separation conveying roller pair 31 that rotate by moving up and down at a predetermined timing.

  A connection conveyance path 32 for sending the sheet S from the paper deck 3000 side to the pre-registration roller pair 130 on the apparatus main body 900 side is disposed at a connection portion of the paper deck 3000 with the apparatus main body 900.

  In the large-capacity deck storage 62, a pair of standard side regulating members 80, 80 arranged on both sides in a direction (width direction in the present embodiment) orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction (arrow b direction) are arranged. Yes. The pair of standard side regulating members 80, 80 are configured to be able to slide the sheet S on the standard stacking member 61 by sliding to all sheet size widths corresponding to the specifications. That is, the standard side regulating members 80 and 80 are supported so as to be movable in the width direction, and come into contact with both ends of the stacked sheets S to regulate both side positions of the sheets S. Note that reference numeral 86 in FIG. 2 denotes a front end regulating portion that regulates the front end of the sheet S on the standard stacking member 61.

  Further, a trailing edge regulating member 87 is disposed so as to regulate the trailing edge of the sheet S on the standard stacking member 61. The trailing edge regulating member 87 is supported so as to be movable in a direction parallel to the sheet feeding direction (arrow b direction) and regulates the trailing edge position of the sheet S. The rear end regulating member 87 is moved along a positioning slot 61a (see FIG. 7B) formed in the central portion of the standard stacking member 61.

  When the pickup roller 51 is driven by a driving unit (not shown) and rotates in the direction in which the sheet S is fed (direction of arrow a), the uppermost sheet S is sent out in the direction of arrow b. As a result, the sheet S comes into contact with the nip portion of the separation conveyance roller pair 31 adjacent to the exit side of the pickup roller 51.

  When double feeding occurs in the sheet S sent out by the pickup roller 51, the following occurs. That is, the retard roller 13 driven and rotated in the opposite direction to the feed roller 12 rotating in the same direction as the arrow a (the direction of the arrow c) is the same as the feed roller 12 because two or more sheets S are interposed in the nip portion. Rotate in the direction. Then, the retard roller 13 pushes back the second and subsequent sheets S in the nip portion in the direction of the standard stacking member 61, and the feed roller 12 feeds only the uppermost sheet S in the direction of arrow b.

  When the sheet S is fed from the paper deck 3000 having the above configuration, or when the sheet S is fed from any of the first to fourth sheet feeding apparatuses 1001 to 1004 described above, the leading edge of the sheet S is a pre-registration roller. It hits the nip part of the pair 130. The pre-registration roller pair 130 includes a pair of opposed rollers, and is disposed on the conveyance path of the sheet S so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow d in FIG. 2 by a driving unit (not shown). The sheet S that once hits the nip portion of the pre-registration roller pair 130 is conveyed into the apparatus main body 900 by the roller pair 130 that rotates in accordance with the feeding timing.

[Sheet guide unit]
Next, the sheet guide unit 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a perspective view showing the sheet feeding apparatus 30 with the sheet guide unit 1 mounted thereon, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the sheet feeding apparatus 30 with the sheet guide unit 1 mounted on the apparatus main body 3000a. FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the sheet guide unit 1 arranged in a state of being mounted on the paper deck 3000. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a storage configuration of the sheet guide unit 1, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing positioning when the sheet guide unit 1 is mounted on the paper deck 3000.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the sheet guide unit 1 includes a stacking member 3 capable of stacking thick sheets such as envelopes and postcards whose length in the width direction is shorter than a standard size standard sheet, and a stacking member 3. And an additional stacking member 5 for stacking sheets larger than the stacked sheets. Furthermore, the sheet guide unit 1 has a pair of side regulating members 2 and 2. A sheet separating member (separating means) 4 for separating and transporting the final sheet of the sheet bundle from the stacking member 3 is fixed to the upper portion of the stacking member 3.

  The additional stacking member 5 is detachably attached to the upper side of the stacking member 3 and is configured to be able to stack sheets having a size different from the sheets stacked on the stacking member 3. That is, the additional stacking member 5 is configured to be able to stack sheets of different sizes, such as larger than the sheets stacked on the stacking member 3. The pair of side regulating members 2 and 2 constitutes a pair of side end regulating members capable of regulating the side end positions of the sheets S stacked on the stacking member 3 or the additional stacking member 5.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the additional stacking member 5 can be held in a form in which the bottom portion 3 a of the stacking member 3 and the respective edge portions 2 a of the pair of side regulating members 2 and 2 are inserted. A box-shaped holding recess 5b is provided on the bottom rear surface. That is, the holding recess 5b of the additional stacking member 5 removed from the stacking member 3 constitutes a holding unit that holds the stacking member 3 detached from the apparatus main body 3000a and the pair of side regulating members 2 and 2. The holding recess 5 b holds the sheet separating member (separating means) 4 of the stacking member 3 and the sheet guide surfaces 2 b of the pair of side regulating members 2 and 2 so as to be located inside the outer edge 5 a of the additional stacking member 5.

  When the seat guide unit 1 is attached to the apparatus main body 3000a (that is, attached to the large-capacity deck storage 62) from the state shown in FIG. 2 where the seat guide unit 1 is not attached, the result is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the side regulating members 2 and 2 of the seat guide unit 1 are used by being detachably mounted on the respective seat side surfaces (inner wall surfaces 80 a) of the pair of standard side regulating members 80 and 80.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the side restricting members 2 and 2 (only one is shown for convenience) are the upper edge portions of standard side restricting members 80 and 80 (only one shown) disposed in the apparatus main body 3000a. It is mounted with reference to the positioning recesses 6 and 6 provided in the respective 80c. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7A, the engaging convex portions 2 d and 2 d are provided at the positions corresponding to the positioning concave portions 6 and 6 at the respective edge portions 2 a and 2 a of the side regulating members 2 and 2. (For convenience, the other engaging projection 2d is not shown).

  In other words, the sheet feeding device 30 includes engagement means for detachably mounting (engaging) the side regulating members 2, 2 to the inner wall surface 80 a facing the standard stacking member 61 of the standard side regulating members 80, 80. It has been. This engaging means has at least an engaging convex portion 2d as an engaging portion and a positioning concave portion 6 as an engaged portion. The engaging means may further include a magnetic body and a magnet 7 as a magnet. In the present embodiment, the engaging convex portion 2d is provided on the side regulating member 2 side and the positioning concave portion 6 is provided on the standard side regulating member 80 side, but this relationship may be reversed. In this embodiment, the magnetic body is provided on the standard side regulating member 80 side and the magnet 7 is provided on the side regulating member 2 side. However, this relationship may be reversed.

  Since the present embodiment has the above-described engaging means, the side restriction is applied to the standard side restriction members 80, 80 having magnetic bodies in a state where the engagement protrusions 2d, 2d are engaged with the positioning recesses 6, 6. The magnets 7 (see FIG. 5) are attracted with the facing surfaces 2c of the members 2 and 2 facing each other. As a result, the side regulating members 2 and 2 can be easily attached to the standard side regulating members 80 and 80, and even if the standard stacking member 61 continues to rise and comes into contact with the side regulating members 2 and 2, it will not be damaged. Can be removed relatively easily.

  Here, when the sheet guide unit 1 is attached to the apparatus main body 3000a, the stacking member 3 of the sheet guide unit 1 is provided with a convex portion 3b at the bottom thereof on the standard stacking member 61 as shown in FIG. It is mounted in a state of being inserted through the positioning long hole 61a.

  When the holding area of the sheet separating member 4 is insufficient for the stacked sheets S, an additional stacking member 5 can be installed on the sheet separating member 4 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a configuration example using the additional stacking member 5 will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the stacking member 3 is positioned using the positioning slot 61a and the side regulating member 2 is mounted using the engaging projection 2d, the positioning recess 6 and the magnet 7. The method and the mounting method are not limited to these.

  Next, storage while the sheet guide unit 1 is not installed in the apparatus main body 3000a will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, when the sheet guide unit 1 is mounted on the apparatus main body 3000a, the additional stacking member 5 is mounted on the stacking member 3 mounted on the standard stacking member 61 as shown in FIG.

  In this state, when the sheet guide unit 1 is removed from the apparatus main body 3000a for storage, as shown in FIG. 6, the sheet separation member 4 mounted on the stacking member 3 is placed on the floor surface of the storage place. Avoid contact. That is, the sheet separating member 4 is arranged so as to face upward.

  In the sheet guide unit 1, the stacking member 3, the additional stacking member 5, and the side regulating members 2 and 2 are as follows when not being detached from the apparatus main body 3000 a. That is, the bottom 3a and each edge 2a of the side regulating members 2 and 2 are inserted and held in a state where the additional stacking member 5 is positioned with the bottom rear surface facing upward. Further, the side regulating members 2 and 2 are integrated so that the sheet guide surface 2 b on the opposite side to the stacking member 3 is positioned inside the outer edge 5 a of the additional stacking member 5.

  That is, in the sheet guide unit 1 configured such that the respective parts can be integrated in this way, the sheet guide surface 2 b of the side regulating member 2 is retracted by the distance A from the outer edge 5 a of the additional stacking member 5. As described above, the sheet guide surfaces 2 b that are the contact surfaces of the side regulating members 2 and 2 with the sheet S are mounted so as to be inside the outer shape of the additional stacking member 5. Thereby, when installed in the storage location, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that the sheet guide surface 2b of the side regulating member 2 comes into contact with the wall surface of the storage location and gets scratched or dirty.

  As described above, by attaching the side regulating member 2, the stacking member 3, and the sheet separating member 4 to the additional stacking member 5, during storage that the sheet guide unit 1 is not installed on the paper deck 3000, The following effects can be achieved. That is, it is possible to prevent the sheet guide surface 2b, which is the contact surface between the sheet guide unit 1 and the sheet S, from being scratched or soiled due to the rubbing between the wall surface or floor surface of the storage location and the sheet guide unit 1, and during storage. It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of poor conveyance due to the generated contact surface scratches and dirt.

  In addition, by storing the side regulating member 2, the stacking member 3, and the sheet separating member 4 on the additional stacking member 5, the storage space can be greatly increased compared to the case where the sheet guide unit 1 is stored alone. Can be reduced. In this way, the sheet guide unit 1 can be prevented from being scratched or soiled during storage, can be stably conveyed, and the space required for storage can be reduced.

  That is, even when the sheet guide unit 1 configured so that a large number of sheets having bulges such as envelopes can be stacked and fed and detachable from the apparatus main body 3000a is divided for each function, the storage method of each member is improved. The sheet guide surface 2b can be protected from scratches and dirt.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sheet guide unit / 2 ... Side edge control member (side control member) / 2a ... One edge part of side control member / 2b ... Sheet guide surface / 2d, 6 ... Engagement means (engagement part (engagement convex part) ), Positioning recess (engaged portion)) / 3 ... stacking member / 3a ... bottom of stacking member / 5 ... additional stacking member / 5a ... outer edge of additional stacking member / 5b ... holding means (holding recess) / 30 ... sheet feeding device / 61 ... standard stacking member / 80 ... standard side end regulating member (standard side regulating member) / 80a ... inner wall surface / 3000a ... main body / b ... sheet feeding direction / S ... sheet

Claims (3)

A separation member for separating the sheets on the surface, and a stacking member for stacking the sheets;
An additional stacking member that is detachably attached to the upper side of the stacking member, and capable of stacking a sheet of a size different from the sheet stacked by the stacking member;
A pair of side end regulating members that regulate side end positions of sheets stacked on the stacking member or the additional stacking member,
The additional stacking member removed from the stacking member has holding means for holding the stacking member removed from the apparatus main body and the pair of side end regulating members,
The holding means holds the sheet guide surfaces of the separating means and the pair of side end regulating members so as to be positioned on the inner side of the outer edge of the additional stacking member;
A sheet guide unit characterized by that. A standard stacking member on which a standard sheet is stacked and the stacking member can be mounted;
A pair of standard side end regulating members to which the side end position in the sheet width direction intersecting the feeding direction of the sheets stacked on the standard stacking member can be attached, and the pair of side end regulating members can be attached;
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: the sheet guide unit according to claim 1. Engaging means for engaging the side end regulating member with the standard side end regulating member,
The engaging means includes
An engaging portion provided on one of the side end regulating member and the standard side end regulating member, and provided on the other of the side end regulating member and the standard side end regulating member so as to be engaged with the engaging portion. Having an engaged part,
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet feeding apparatus is a sheet feeding apparatus.

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