JP2021109723A - Paper feeder and image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a paper feeder and an image formation device that minimize rubbing of an upper surface of paper by a paper feed roller in a paper feed cassette provided with a liftable movable tray.SOLUTION: A paper feed cassette 22 includes a rotating shaft 223, a movable tray 221, a rotating arm 224, an engaging member 225, a first spring 226, and a second spring 227. A paper feed roller 211 and an engaging block 212 are arranged on a cassette mounting part 21. When the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are engaged, and rotating the rotating arm 224 in a direction away from the movable tray 221, and the movable tray 221 is raised to a paper feed position by the first spring 226. When the paper feed cassette 22 is pulled out, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are in the disengaged state, and the rotating arm 224 rotated by the second spring 227 pushes the movable tray 221 down to the lowest position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a paper feed device including a paper feed cassette, and an image forming device including the paper feed device.

As a paper feed device provided in the image forming device, a paper feed device provided with a paper feed cassette is known. The paper cassette can be switched between a mounted state in which the paper cassette is mounted on the cassette mounting portion of the paper feeding device main body and a drawer state in which the paper cassette is pulled out from the cassette mounting portion. In the mounted state, paper can be fed from the paper feed cassette to the image forming apparatus main body, and in the drawn state, paper can be replenished or replaced.

In addition, the paper feed device is equipped with a movable tray that can be raised and lowered in the paper feed cassette so that the movable tray is raised in the mounted paper cassette and the movable tray is lowered in the drawer state paper cassette. be. In this configuration, the position of the paper feed roller in the paper feed device main body is fixed, and the movable tray is raised so that the paper bundle placed on the movable tray can be brought into contact with the paper feed roller.

As for the raising and lowering operation of the movable tray, there are those performed by using a motor and those performed mechanically in conjunction with the insertion / removal operation (mounting operation and withdrawal operation) of the paper feed cassette (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-176812

When the movable tray is raised and lowered by a motor, there is a problem of cost increase due to an increase in the number of parts. Further, when the movable tray is moved up and down mechanically, the paper is inserted and removed while the paper is pressed against the paper feed roller during the insertion and removal operation of the paper feed cassette, so that the paper feed roller rubs the upper surface of the paper. do.

In the paper feed device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a paper feed roller is provided on the paper feed cassette side in order to avoid rubbing the upper surface of the paper by the paper feed roller. However, in such a configuration, a transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force to the paper feed roller is required when the paper feed cassette is mounted, and the structure of the paper feed device main body and the paper feed cassette becomes complicated. ..

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a paper feed device and an image forming device that minimizes rubbing of the upper surface of paper by a paper feed roller in a paper feed cassette provided with a movable tray that can be raised and lowered. The purpose is to do.

In order to solve the above problems, the paper feed device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a paper feed cassette capable of switching between a mounted state and a drawer state by inserting and removing the paper feed device from the main body of the paper feed device. In the paper feed device, the paper feed cassette has a rotatable rotary shaft extending along the insertion / removal direction of the paper feed cassette and an upstream end portion in the paper feed direction rotatably supported by the rotary shaft. A movable tray capable of raising and lowering the downstream end portion by rotating around the rotating shaft, and an upstream end portion arranged on the upper surface side of the movable tray and in the paper feeding direction are on the rotating shaft. A first rotation arm that is pivotally supported and rotates integrally with the rotating shaft, and a first that is attached to the rear end of the paper feed cassette in the insertion / removal direction with respect to the rotating shaft and rotates integrally with the rotating shaft. The paper feeding device includes an engaging member, a first urging member that urges the movable tray in the ascending direction, and a second urging member that urges the rotating arm toward the movable tray. The main body has a fixed position in the main body of the paper feed device, and when the paper feed cassette is mounted, the main body is first engaged with a paper feed roller that feeds paper placed on the movable tray. It is characterized by including a first engaging member and a second engaging member that rotates the rotating arm in a direction away from the movable tray via the rotating shaft by engaging with the member. There is.

According to the above configuration, the rotating shaft, the movable tray, the rotating arm, the first engaging member, the second engaging member, the first urging member, and the second urging member provide an ascending / descending motion of the movable tray. An elevating mechanism is configured that is linked to the insertion / removal operation of the paper cassette. With this elevating mechanism, it is possible to minimize the friction between the paper feed roller and the paper top surface during the insertion / removal operation of the paper feed cassette.

Further, in the paper feeding device, when the paper feeding cassette is mounted, the first engaging member and the second engaging member are engaged with each other, and the rotating arm is rotated in a direction away from the movable tray. By moving, the movable tray can be configured to rise to the paper feed position by receiving the urging force of the first urging member.

Further, in the paper feeding device, when the paper feeding cassette is pulled out, the first engaging member and the second engaging member are in an disengaged state, and the rotating arm is a second urging member. By receiving the urging force and rotating toward the movable tray side, the movable tray can be pushed down and the movable tray can be lowered to the lowest position.

Further, in the paper feeding device, the first engaging member has a first inclined portion, the second engaging member has a second inclined portion, and the first engaging member and the second engaging member. The engaging member may be configured to engage the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion with each other in the engaged state.

According to the above configuration, when the first engaging member and the second engaging member change from the disengaged state to the engaged state, the state shifts smoothly while sliding the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion. can do.

Further, the paper feed device may be configured such that the rotating arm is separated from the movable tray when the paper feed cassette is mounted.

According to the above configuration, the movable tray does not receive any force from the rotating arm when the paper cassette is mounted, and an appropriate pressure contact force by the first urging member is applied between the paper and the paper feed roller. Because it works, a good paper feed operation can be performed by the paper feed roller.

Further, in the paper feeding device, the rotating arm may be configured to bring the tip end portion on the paper feeding roller side into contact with the movable tray and push down the movable tray when the paper feeding cassette is pulled out.

According to the above configuration, the rotating arm can efficiently transmit torque when pushing down the movable tray.

Further, the paper feed device includes a positioning protrusion provided on the cassette base of the paper feed cassette and a positioning hole provided on the second engaging member for fitting the positioning protrusion when the paper feed cassette is mounted. The paper cassette can be configured to have a positioning mechanism that reduces the misalignment between the first engaging member and the second engaging member when the paper cassette is mounted.

According to the above configuration, the positioning mechanism reduces the positional deviation between the first engaging member and the second engaging member, so that a desired amount of rotation can be generated in the rotating arm.

Further, in the paper feed device, the paper feed cassette stores postcard-sized paper, and a notch portion having a concave shape in a plan view on the back side of the movable tray in the cassette base of the paper feed cassette. Is provided, and the second engaging member may be located in the notch when the paper feed cassette is mounted.

According to the above configuration, since the first engaging member can be arranged close to the movable tray, it is possible to prevent the rotating shaft from becoming longer than necessary, and the rotational torque from the first engaging member to the rotating arm. Can be transmitted efficiently.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized by including the above-described paper feeding device.

The paper feed device and the image forming apparatus of the present invention raise the movable tray to the paper feed position immediately before the completion of mounting when the paper feed cassette is mounted, and move immediately after the start of the pull-out operation when the paper feed cassette is pulled out. It has an elevating mechanism that lowers the tray to the lowest position, and has the effect of minimizing the friction between the paper feed roller and the paper top surface during the insertion / removal operation of the paper feed cassette.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the image forming apparatus to which the paper feed apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 is applied. It is a perspective view which extracted and described the structure which concerns on the elevating mechanism of a movable tray, and the paper feed roller from the paper feed apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and shows the case where the paper feed cassette is attached. It is a perspective view which extracted and described the structure which concerns on the elevating mechanism of a movable tray, and the paper feed roller from the paper feed apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and shows the case where the paper feed cassette is in a drawer state. It is a top view of the elevating mechanism of a movable tray when a paper feed cassette is in a drawer state. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. It is a top view of the elevating mechanism of a movable tray when a paper feed cassette is attached. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A'-A'in FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of B'-B'of FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of C'-C'of FIG. It is a figure which shows the operation when the engaging member and the engaging block shift from the disengaged state to the engaging state, and is the enlarged schematic view which looked at the engaging member and the engaging block from above. It is a figure which shows the operation when the engaging member and the engaging block shift from the disengaged state to the engaging state, and is the enlarged schematic view which looked at the engaging member and the engaging block along the axial direction of the rotation axis. Is.

[Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 to which the paper feeding apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment is applied. The image forming apparatus 10 includes an image forming apparatus main body 11, a document base 12, a scanner unit 13, a paper ejection tray 14, and a paper feeding device 20.

The image forming apparatus main body 11 is a main body portion of the image forming apparatus 10. The platen 12 is a glass body installed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 11. The scanner unit 13 is provided below the platen 12, and reads an image of a document placed on the platen 12. An image forming portion is provided inside the image forming apparatus main body 11. The image data read by the scanner unit 13 is input to the image forming unit, and an image based on the image data is formed on the surface of the paper by the electrophotographic image forming method. The paper output tray 14 is installed at the center of the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body 11 (lower position of the scanner unit 13), and the paper on which the image is formed is discharged.

The paper feeding device 20 is provided below the paper ejection tray 14, and the image forming device main body 11 is placed on the paper feeding device 20 to form the image forming device 10. The paper feeding device 20 includes a cassette mounting unit 21 formed in the paper feeding device main body 200, and a paper feeding cassette 22 that can be inserted and removed from the cassette mounting unit 21. Normally, the paper feed device 20 is provided with a plurality of stages (four stages in FIG. 1) of cassette mounting portions 21, and the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted on each cassette mounting portion 21.

The paper cassette 22 can be switched between a mounted state and a drawn state by inserting and removing the paper cassette 22 into and from the paper feeding device main body 200. The mounting state is a state in which the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 21. The drawer state is a state in which the paper feed cassette 22 is pulled out from the cassette mounting portion 21. The paper cassette 22 shown in FIG. 1 is in the drawn state, and can be switched to the mounted state by pushing the cassette mounting portion 21 from the front side to the back side in the drawing. The direction in which the paper cassette 22 is moved from the mounted state to the drawer state is defined as the drawer direction D1, and the direction in which the paper cassette 22 is moved from the drawer state to the mounted state is defined as the mounting direction D2.

The paper feed device 20 shown in FIG. 1 includes a four-stage paper feed cassette 22, and can store paper of different sizes for each paper cassette 22. Further, the characteristic configuration of the present invention is not necessarily applied to all the paper feed cassettes 22, but is basically preferably applied to the paper feed cassettes 22 for storing small-sized paper. Here, it is assumed that postcard-sized paper is stored in the first-stage (top-level) paper feed cassette 22, and a case where the present invention is applied to the paper feed cassette 22 will be described as an example.

The paper feed device 20 according to the first embodiment has a movable tray 221 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) on which a bundle of paper is placed in the paper feed cassette 22. The movable tray 221 can move up and down in the paper feed cassette 22 to raise and lower the downstream end in the paper paper feed direction. The movable tray 221 is lowered to the lowest position when the paper cassette 22 is in the drawer state. On the other hand, when the paper cassette 22 is in the mounted state, the movable tray 221 is urged upward, and the upper surface of the paper bundle mounted on the movable tray 221 is placed on the paper feed roller 211 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). It rises to the contact feeding position. As a result, the paper feed cassette 22 in the mounted state can be fed by the paper feed roller 211. The paper feed roller 211 is attached to the main body of the paper feed device 20 in the cassette mounting unit 21. Further, the position of the paper feed roller 211 is fixed in the cassette mounting portion 21, and the paper feed roller 211 can only rotate at a fixed position.

A characteristic configuration of the present invention is an elevating mechanism that performs an elevating operation of the movable tray 221 in conjunction with an insertion / removal operation of the paper feed cassette 22. Hereinafter, the elevating mechanism of the movable tray 221 (hereinafter referred to as this mechanism) will be described in detail. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing the configuration related to this mechanism and the paper feed roller 211 extracted from the paper feed device 20. FIG. 2 shows the case where the paper cassette 22 is in the mounted state, and FIG. 3 shows the case where the paper cassette 22 is in the drawer state.

This mechanism includes a movable tray 221, a cassette base 222, a rotating shaft 223, a rotating arm 224, an engaging member 225, a first spring 226 (see FIGS. 5C and 7C), a second spring 227, and an engaging block 212. It is composed of.

In this mechanism, a movable tray 221, a cassette base 222, a rotating shaft 223, a rotating arm 224, an engaging member 225, a first spring 226, and a second spring 227 are provided on the paper feed cassette 22 side. That is, these members move with the insertion / removal operation of the paper cassette 22.

The cassette base 222 is a base member that constitutes the bottom plate of the paper cassette 22. Each member on the paper feed cassette 22 side in this mechanism is mounted on the cassette base 222.

The rotating shaft 223 is rotatably supported on the upper surface of the cassette base 222, and functions as a rotating shaft of the movable tray 221 and the rotating arm 224 and the engaging member 225. The movable tray 221 has an upstream end in the paper feeding direction pivotally supported by a rotating shaft 223, and can move the downstream end in the paper feeding direction up and down by rotating around the rotating shaft 223. .. The rotating arm 224 is arranged on the upper surface side of the movable tray 221 and has an upstream end portion in the paper feeding direction pivotally supported by the rotating shaft 223. Two rotating arms 224 are provided near both ends of the movable tray 221 in the paper width direction (outside the paper loading area of the movable tray 221). The engaging member 225 is attached to the rotating shaft 223 at the rear end of the paper feed cassette 22 in the insertion / removal direction. The movable tray 221 is rotatably attached to the rotating shaft 223, but the rotating arm 224 and the engaging member 225 are attached so as to rotate integrally with the rotating shaft 223.

The first spring 226 is a spring member for urging the movable tray 221 in the ascending direction. In the first embodiment, the first spring 226 is arranged as a compression spring between the cassette base 222 and the movable tray 221. The second spring 227 is a spring member for urging the rotating arm 224 in the downward direction (the direction in which the rotating arm 224 pushes down the movable tray 221) via the engaging member 225 and the rotating shaft 223. In the first embodiment, the second spring 227 is arranged as a tension spring between the cassette base 222 and the engaging member 225.

The urging force of the second spring 227 and the first spring 226 is set so that the torque generated by the second spring 227 in the rotating arm 224 is larger than the torque generated by the first spring 226 in the movable tray 221. Further, the types of springs of the first spring 226 and the second spring 227 are not limited to compression springs and tension springs, and other types of springs (for example, leaf springs and torsion springs) can also be used. Is.

The engaging block 212 is fixedly attached to the main body of the paper feeding device 20 in the cassette mounting portion 21. When the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted, the engagement block 212 engages with the engagement member 225 on the paper feed cassette 22 side, and rotates the rotation arm 224 via the engagement member 225 and the rotation shaft 223. Can be moved.

First, the operation of this mechanism during the mounting operation of the paper cassette 22 (drawing state → mounting state) will be described in detail below. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the mechanism when the paper cassette 22 is in the drawer state. 5A is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4, FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4, and FIG. 5C is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the mechanism when the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted. 7A is a cross-sectional view of A'-A'of FIG. 6, FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of B'-B'of FIG. 6, and FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view of C'-C'of FIG. However, in FIGS. 4 and 6, the cassette base 222 is not shown for the sake of simplification of the drawings.

When the paper cassette 22 is in the drawer state, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are separated from each other as shown in FIG. That is, the engaging block 212 and the engaging member 225 are in the disengaged state, and the engaging block 212 does not exert a force on the rotating shaft 223 via the engaging member 225. In this pulled-out state, the urging force of the second spring 227 acts on the rotating arm 224 via the engaging member 225 and the rotating shaft 223, pushing the rotating arm 224 in the downward direction (the rotating arm 224 pushes down the movable tray 221). Direction).

Further, as described above, the torque generated in the rotating arm 224 by the second spring 227 is set to be larger than the torque generated in the movable tray 221 by the first spring 226. Therefore, in the paper feed cassette 22 in the drawer state, the rotating arm 224 can push down the movable tray 221 against the urging force of the first spring 226, and the movable tray 221 is placed in the lowest position (the movable tray 221 of the movable tray 221). It can be lowered to a position where at least a part of the lower surface abuts on the cassette base 222 (see FIG. 5B). The tip of the rotating arm 224 on the paper feed roller 211 side is a contact portion with the movable tray 221. In the paper feed cassette 22 in the drawer state, the tip of the rotating arm 224 is the movable tray 221. The movable tray 221 is pushed down in contact with the movable tray 221. With this configuration, the rotating arm 224 can efficiently transmit torque when pushing down the movable tray.

When the movable tray 221 is lowered to the lowest position, as shown in FIG. 5C, the paper placing surface in the movable tray 221 becomes a horizontal plane (or an inclined surface such that the downstream end is slightly higher). Is preferable. This is because if the paper loading surface of the movable tray 221 is an inclined surface such that the downstream end is lowered, the paper may slip in the loaded paper bundle. Further, when the movable tray 221 is lowered to the lowest position, even if the maximum number of sheets that can be accommodated in the movable tray 221 is placed, between the upper surface of the paper bundle and the paper feed roller 211. Creates a height gap.

On the other hand, when the paper cassette 22 is in the mounted state, as shown in FIG. 6, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are in an engaged state in which they are engaged with each other. By this engagement, the engaging member 225 receives a force from the engaging block 212 and rotates from the position shown in the pulled-out state against the urging force of the second spring 227 (the position shown in FIG. 7A from the position shown in FIG. 5A). Rotate to).

When the engaging member 225 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 7A, the rotating arm 224 rotates in the ascending direction, and the rotating arm 224 separates from the movable tray 221 (see FIG. 7B). As a result, the movable tray 221 does not receive any force from the rotating arm 224, and is raised to the paper feed position by the urging force of the first spring 226 (see FIG. 7C). In this state, an appropriate pressure contact force by the first spring 226 acts between the paper and the paper feed roller 211, so that a good paper feed operation by the paper feed roller 211 is possible. If no paper is placed on the movable tray 221, the upper surface of the raised movable tray 221 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 211.

Subsequently, the operation when the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 shift from the disengaged state to the engaged state will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is an enlarged schematic view of the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 as viewed from above. FIG. 9 is an enlarged schematic view of the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 as viewed along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 223.

In the engaging member 225, a first inclined portion 225a is provided at an end portion on the back side. On the other hand, in the engaging block 212, a second inclined portion 212a is provided at the front end portion. The first inclined portion 225a and the second inclined portion 212a are formed as inclined surfaces that are substantially parallel to each other in the disengaged state and are inclined with respect to the insertion / removal direction of the paper feed cassette 22. Further, at least a part of the first inclined portion 225a and the second inclined portion 212a are overlapped with each other when viewed along the axial direction of the rotation shaft 223.

When the engaging member 225 is pushed toward the engaging block 212 along with the mounting operation of the paper feed cassette 22 from the disengaged state of the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212, the first inclined portion 225a and the second inclined portion 225a and the second inclined portion 212 are tilted. The portions 212a come into contact with each other to start engaging. When the engaging member 225 is further pushed toward the engaging block 212 from this engagement start state, the engaging member 225 rotates while rubbing the first inclined portion 225a against the second inclined portion 212a, and the paper feed cassette. When 22 is in the mounted state, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are in the engaged state. The operation when the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 shift from the engaged state to the disengaged state is the reverse of the above operation.

Here, the rotational operation of the engaging member 225 occurs from the engaging state to the engaging state. That is, the rotational operation of the engaging member 225 occurs only during the moving distance (engaging distance) from the engaging state to the engaging state of the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212. This engaging distance can be an extremely short distance (for example, about 2 to 3 mm) as compared with the distance for moving the paper feed cassette 22 between the drawer state and the mounted state (for example, several tens of cm). Therefore, in the insertion / removal operation of the paper cassette 22, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are in the disengaged state during most of the operation, and the paper cassette 22 is held in the lowest position. The paper cassette 22 can be inserted and removed.

In other words, during the mounting operation of the paper feed cassette 22, the movable tray 221 is raised by the engagement between the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 immediately before the mounting is completed. When the paper cassette 22 is pulled out, the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 are disengaged immediately after the start of the pulling out operation, and the movable tray 221 is immediately lowered to the lowest position by the urging force of the second spring. do. As a result, this mechanism can minimize the friction between the paper feed roller 211 and the paper top surface during the insertion / removal operation of the paper feed cassette 22.

[Embodiment 2]
In the present mechanism described in the first embodiment, the rotating arm 224 is rotated upward by engaging the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 in the mounted paper cassette 22. .. At this time, if a misalignment occurs between the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212, the rotating arm 224 may not rotate by a desired amount, and the movable tray 221 may not be able to rise to a predetermined position. be. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the misalignment between the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212.

In the mounted paper cassette 22, this mechanism has a positioning mechanism in order to reduce the misalignment between the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212. This positioning mechanism is composed of a positioning protrusion 222a provided on the cassette base 222 and a positioning hole 212b provided on the engaging block 212 (see FIG. 3).

The positioning protrusion 222a is provided on the back side of the cassette base 222 so as to extend in the insertion / removal direction of the paper feed cassette 22. When the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted, the positioning protrusion 222a is fitted into the positioning hole 212b of the engaging block 212, so that the misalignment between the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 can be reduced, and as a result, the misalignment between the engaging member 225 and the engaging block 212 can be reduced. A desired amount of rotation can be generated in the rotation arm 224. Further, the positioning mechanism can prevent the front end of the paper cassette 22 from being lowered by the weight of the paper cassette 22.

[Embodiment 3]
When the paper feed cassette 22 to which the present invention is applied stores postcard-sized paper, the back side of the movable tray 221 in the cassette base 222 is a space that is not necessary for storing the paper. Therefore, a notch portion having a concave shape in a plan view is provided on the back side of the movable tray 221 of the cassette base 222 to provide a block accommodating space SP1 (see FIG. 3), which is engaged when the paper feed cassette 22 is mounted. It is preferable that the combined block 212 is located in the block accommodating space SP1.

With this configuration, the engaging member 225 can be arranged close to the movable tray 221. As a result, it is possible to prevent the rotary shaft 223 from becoming longer than necessary, and to efficiently transmit the rotary torque from the engaging member 225 to the rotary arm 224.

Further, when the paper feed cassette 22 stores postcard-sized paper, the front side of the movable tray 221 in the cassette base 222 also becomes a space that is not necessary for storing the paper. This space on the front side can also be used as, for example, a spare storage space SP2 (see FIG. 3) for storing spare paper.

The embodiments disclosed this time are examples in all respects and do not serve as a basis for limited interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not construed solely by the above-described embodiments, but is defined based on the description of the claims. It also includes all changes within the meaning and scope of the claims.

10 Image forming device 20 Paper feeding device 200 Paper feeding device main body 21 Cassette mounting part 211 Paper feeding roller 212 Engagement block (second engaging member)
212a Second inclined portion 212b Positioning hole (positioning mechanism)
22 Paper cassette 221 Movable tray 222 Cassette base 222a Positioning protrusion (positioning mechanism)
223 Rotating shaft 224 Rotating arm 225 Engaging member (first engaging member)
225a 1st inclined part 226 1st spring (1st urging member)
227 Second spring (second urging member)
SP1 block storage space (notch)
SP2 spare storage space

Claims (9)

It is a paper feed device equipped with a paper feed cassette that can switch between the mounted state and the drawer state by inserting and removing it from the main body of the paper feed device.
The paper cassette is
A rotatable rotating shaft extending along the insertion / removal direction of the paper cassette and
A movable tray in which the upstream end in the paper feeding direction is rotatably supported by the rotating shaft and the downstream end can be raised and lowered by rotation around the rotating shaft.
A rotating arm arranged on the upper surface side of the movable tray, having an upstream end in the paper feeding direction pivotally supported by the rotating shaft, and rotating integrally with the rotating shaft.
A first engaging member that is attached to the rear end of the paper feed cassette in the insertion / removal direction with respect to the rotating shaft and rotates integrally with the rotating shaft.
A first urging member that urges the movable tray in the ascending direction,
It is provided with a second urging member that urges the rotating arm toward the movable tray side.
The paper feed device main body
A paper feed roller that has a fixed position in the main body of the paper feed device and feeds paper placed on the movable tray when the paper feed cassette is attached.
The first engaging member and the second engaging member that rotates the rotating arm in a direction away from the movable tray via the rotating shaft by engaging with the first engaging member are provided. A paper feed device characterized by being The paper feeding device according to claim 1.
When the paper cassette is mounted, the first engaging member and the second engaging member are engaged, and the rotating arm is rotated in a direction away from the movable tray to cause the first engaging member. A paper feeding device characterized in that the movable tray is raised to a paper feeding position by receiving the urging force of the urging member. The paper feeding device according to claim 1 or 2.
When the paper cassette is pulled out, the first engaging member and the second engaging member are in an disengaged state, and the rotating arm receives the urging force of the second urging member and the movable tray. A paper feeding device characterized in that the movable tray is pushed down by rotating to the side, and the movable tray is lowered to the lowest position. The paper feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The first engaging member has a first inclined portion and has a first inclined portion.
The second engaging member has a second inclined portion and has a second inclined portion.
The first engaging member and the second engaging member are a paper feeding device characterized in that the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion are engaged with each other in the engaged state. The paper feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
A paper feeding device characterized in that the rotating arm is separated from the movable tray when the paper cassette is mounted. The paper feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A paper feeding device characterized in that, when the paper feed cassette is pulled out, the rotating arm brings the tip end portion on the paper feed roller side into contact with the movable tray to push down the movable tray. The paper feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The paper cassette is composed of a positioning protrusion provided on the cassette base of the paper cassette and a positioning hole provided on the second engaging member and into which the positioning protrusion is fitted when the paper cassette is mounted. A paper feeding device characterized by having a positioning mechanism for reducing a positional deviation between the first engaging member and the second engaging member when the first engaging member and the second engaging member are mounted. The paper feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The paper cassette stores postcard-sized paper.
A notch having a concave shape in a plan view is provided on the back side of the movable tray on the cassette base of the paper cassette, and the second engaging member is cut when the paper cassette is mounted. A paper feeding device characterized in that it is located in a notch. An image forming apparatus comprising the paper feeding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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