JP2022075711A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device capable of preventing a sheet from being rotated due to an impact when sheet storage means is inserted.

SOLUTION: A side end position in a width direction of a sheet of a predetermined size stored in a sheet feed cassette 60, is regulated by a depth-side side regulating member 80 and a front-side side regulating member 81 provided on an upstream side of a depth-side side regulating plate 61 and a front-side side regulating plate 62 in a sheet feeding direction. Then, when a sheet of a small size S3 having a shorter width in the width direction than the sheet of the predetermined size is stored in the sheet feed cassette 60, an auxiliary side regulating member 82 is attached to the depth-side regulating member 80 and the front-side regulating member 81, thereby regulating the side end position in the width direction of sheet of the small size S3.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a configuration for regulating a side end position in a width direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction of a sheet stored in a sheet storage portion.

Today, in image forming devices such as copiers, printers, and facsimiles, those in which a sheet stored in a sheet storage means is fed to an image forming unit to form an image are widely used. As such a seat storage means, there is one in which a plate-shaped seat loading means for loading a sheet is provided so as to be able to move up and down.

Then, when the seats are replenished, the seat loading means is lowered, and when the seats are fed, the seat loading means is raised and the upper surface of the loaded seats is moved to a position where the seats can be fed by the upper pickup roller. Let me. Further, the seat storage means is provided in the main body of the device so that it can be pulled out, and when the seat is stored, the seat is set on the seat loading means from above after the seat storage means is pulled out.

The seat storage means includes a rear end regulating means that regulates the position of the upstream end (hereinafter referred to as the rear end) of the seat loaded on the seat loading means in the seat feeding direction so that seats of different sizes can be stored. It is provided so that it can be moved along the seat feeding direction. Further, the seat accommodating means is provided with side end restricting means for restricting the side end position in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction (hereinafter referred to as a width direction) so as to be movable in the width direction. Then, the side edge of the seat is regulated by the side edge regulating means, and the rear edge of the seat is regulated by the rear end regulating means, so that the position of the seat is regulated to a predetermined position (see Patent Document 1). ..

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a paper cassette 50, which is a sheet storage means provided with such a regulating means. The paper cassette 50 can selectively accommodate an A3 size sheet S1 and an 11 × 17 inch size sheet S2. The paper cassette 50 includes a pair of side end restricting plates 51 and 52 that can be moved in the width direction to regulate the positions of the sheets S1 and S2 of two sizes to be accommodated in the width direction, and the rear ends of the sheets S1 and S2. It is provided with a rear end regulating plate 63 that can be moved in the seat feeding direction.

Here, when the paper cassette 50 is inserted into the image forming apparatus main body in a fully loaded state, for example, an impact is applied to the paper cassette 50, and the impact causes the side end regulating plates 51 and 52 to bend, and the sheet S1 is accompanied by this impact. , S2 may rotate with the side end control plates 51 and 52 as fulcrums. Therefore, the paper cassette 50 corresponds to the rear end side of the side end of the A3 size sheet S1 and the 11 × 17 inch size sheet S2 in order to prevent the sheets S1 and S2 from rotating due to the impact at the time of insertion. Ribs 53 and 54 for preventing seat rotation are provided at the positions, respectively.

Japanese Patent No. 3359174

By the way, in the conventional seat storage means, the ribs 53 and 54 for preventing the seat rotation are the side ends of the seat S1 having the maximum seat width or the seat S2 having the maximum seat length among the seats that can be accommodated as described above. It is located at the position corresponding to the rear end side. Therefore, when a sheet having a size smaller than these sheets S1 and S2 is stored in the paper cassette 50, the sheet hits the ribs 53 and 54 when an impact is applied to the paper cassette 50 at the time of insertion. Will rotate up to. Alternatively, even after the collision, the rotatable ribs 53 and 54 rotate while rotating. As a result, the sheet is displaced inside the paper cassette 50, and the image on the sheet is displaced by the amount of the displacement, or the sheet is skewed and the image is formed diagonally on the sheet.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a current situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing rotation of a sheet due to an impact when the sheet storage means is inserted. ..

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY In the image forming apparatus, the present invention comprises a sheet storing means that is detachably provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus and stores a sheet, a sheet feeding means that feeds a sheet stored in the sheet storing means, and the sheet. In order to regulate the side end position in the width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the sheet stored in the storage means, a pair of side end regulating means provided facing the sheet storage means and the pair of sides. A pair of upstream side edge regulating means for regulating the side edge position in the width direction of a sheet of a predetermined size stored in the sheet storing means, which is provided upstream of the edge regulating means in the sheet feeding direction, and the sheet storage. When a small-sized sheet having a length shorter in the width direction than the predetermined size sheet is stored in the means, the side end position in the width direction of the small-sized sheet attached to the pair of upstream side end regulating means is set. It is characterized by having an auxiliary side end regulating means for regulating.

When storing a sheet whose length in the width direction is shorter than that of a sheet of a predetermined size as in the present invention, an auxiliary side end regulating means is attached to the upstream end regulating means to regulate the position of the side edge of the sheet. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the seat from rotating due to an impact when the seat storage means is inserted.

The figure which shows the schematic structure of the full-color laser beam printer which is an example of the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the structure of the mounting part of the full-color laser beam printer and the paper feed cassette detachably mounted on the mounting part. The figure explaining the structure of the front side regulation member provided in the said paper cassette. The figure explaining the operation which attaches the auxiliary side regulation member to the front side regulation member. The figure which shows the state when the sheet of a different size is stored in the said paper cassette. The figure which shows the structure of the conventional paper cassette.

Hereinafter, an example of the sheet feeding device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a full-color laser beam printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a full-color laser beam printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer), 1A is a printer main body which is an image forming apparatus main body, 1B is an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet, and 20 is a fixing portion. Reference numeral 2 denotes an image reading device which is an upper device installed substantially horizontally above the printer main body 1A, and an ejection space P is formed between the image reading device 2 and the printer main body 1A. Reference numeral 30 is a sheet feeding device provided in the lower part of the printer main body 1A, and reference numeral 15 is a toner cartridge.

The image information read by the image reader 2 or the image information input from an external device such as a personal computer (not shown) is image-processed, then converted into an electric signal and transmitted to the laser scanner 10 of the image forming unit 1B. .. Then, the image forming unit 1B scans the surface of the photoconductor drum 12 of each process cartridge 11 with the laser light corresponding to the image information of the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black component colors emitted from the laser scanner 10. As a result, the surface of the photoconductor drum 12 whose surface is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity and potential is sequentially exposed by the charger 13, and yellow, magenta, and cyan are respectively on the photoconductor drum of each process cartridge 11. And black electrostatic latent images are sequentially formed.

After that, the developer 14 develops and visualizes this electrostatic latent image with yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners. Then, by the primary transfer bias applied to the primary transfer roller 19, each color toner image on each photoconductor drum is sequentially superposed on the intermediate transfer belt 16 and transferred. As a result, a toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 16.

On the other hand, the sheet S sent out from the sheet feeding device 30 passes through the registration roller pair 40 and is sent to the secondary transfer unit composed of the drive roller 16a and the secondary transfer roller 17. In the secondary transfer unit, the toner images formed by the image forming unit 1B are collectively transferred onto the sheet S. Next, the sheet S to which the toner image is transferred in this way is conveyed to the fixing portion 20, and is fixed to the sheet S as a color image by receiving heat and pressure in the fixing portion 20.

After that, the sheet S on which the image is fixed is discharged to the discharge space P by the paper discharge rollers pairs 25a and 25b, and is loaded on the loading portion 23 protruding from the bottom surface of the discharge space P. When forming an image on both sides of the sheet S, after the image is fixed, the sheet S is conveyed to the retransport passage R by a forward / reverse reversible roller pair 22 provided in the double-sided reversing portion 1D. After that, it is conveyed to the image forming unit 1B again.

Here, the paper cassette 60, which is a sheet storage means, is detachably mounted on the mounting portion 1E shown in FIG. 2 formed in the lower part of the printer main body 1A. As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feed cassette 60 has a back side regulating plate 61 that regulates the position of one of the depth directions (width directions) orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the sheet S, that is, the downstream side in the depth direction. Is provided so that it can be moved in the depth direction. Further, the paper cassette 60 is provided so as to face the back side regulating plate 61, and the front side regulating plate 62 that regulates the position of the sheet S on the upstream side in the depth direction is provided so as to be movable in the depth direction. There is. The back side regulation plate 61 and the front side regulation plate 62 constituting the pair of side end regulation means 61A use an interlocking mechanism (not shown) to determine the side end positions of the seat on the upstream side in the depth direction and the downstream side in the depth direction. Move in tandem to regulate.

Further, the paper cassette 60 is provided with a rear end restricting plate 63 that regulates the position of the rear end, which is the upstream end of the sheet S in the sheet feeding direction, so as to be movable along the sheet feeding direction. Further, the paper cassette 60 is provided with a middle plate (not shown) on which the sheets are loaded, and the sheets loaded on the middle plate are the back side regulation plate 61, the front side regulation plate 62, and the front side regulation plate 62. The position is restricted by the rear end control plate 63.

A swing arm 64 having a swing pin 65 at the tip thereof is swingably supported on the back side wall 60a of the cassette main body 60A of the paper feed cassette 60 with the shaft 64a as a fulcrum. Further, a pull-in unit 66, which is a pull-in means for pulling the paper feed cassette 60 into the mounting portion 1E, is arranged on the inner wall surface on the back side of the mounting portion 1E. The pull-in unit 66 includes a pull-in unit base 69 and a pull-in arm 68 provided with a pull-in hook 67 at the tip thereof and rotatably supported on the pull-in unit base 69 around a fulcrum 70.

The pull-in hook 67 of the pull-in arm 68 is formed with a recess 91 for engaging the swing pin 65 of the swing arm 64. Further, an arm pin 71 is provided between the pull-in hook 67 of the pull-in arm 68 and the fulcrum 70, and the arm pin 71 has a tension spring 73 whose one end is locked to the base pin 72 provided on the pull-in unit base 69. The other end of the is locked. Then, the pulling spring 73 urges the pulling arm 68 to rotate around the fulcrum 70.

When the paper cassette 60 is pulled out, while the recess 91 locks the swing pin 65, the pull-in arm 68 opposes the pull spring 73 and moves from the position shown in FIG. 2 centering on the fulcrum 70 in the pull-out direction. Rotate counterclockwise. After that, when the paper cassette 60 is further pulled out, the pull-in arm 68 rotates to the standby position where the locking of the swing pin 65 by the recess 91 is released. If the pull-in arm 68 rotates by a predetermined amount before turning to the standby position, a force that rotates counterclockwise is applied to the pull-in arm 68 by the pull spring 73. Due to this force, the pull-in arm 68 moves to the standby position and then comes into contact with a stopper (not shown) and stops.

When in the standby position, the pull-in arm 68 is in a position where the swing pin 65 of the swing arm 64 enters the recess 91 of the pull-in hook 67 when the paper cassette 60 is mounted on the printer main body 1A. Therefore, when the paper cassette 60 is inserted into the mounting portion 1E, the swing pin 65 enters the recess 91 of the pull-in hook 67. After that, when the paper cassette 60 is further pushed in, the pull-in arm 68 is pushed to the back side via the swing pin 65 and the pull-in hook 67.

As a result, the pull-in arm 68 rotates clockwise around the fulcrum 70 while resisting the pull spring 73, and then when it rotates to a predetermined position, the pull-in arm 68 is subjected to the urging force of the pull spring 73. This causes it to rotate clockwise. Then, in the process of rotating the pull-in arm 68 clockwise in this way, the recess 91 of the pull-in hook 67 engages with the swing pin 65. As a result, when the pull-in arm 68 rotates from the pull spring 73, the paper feed cassette 60 is mounted while receiving the urging force in the depth direction by the pull spring 73 via the pull-in arm 68.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the paper cassette 60 is attached to one end (right end) orthogonal to the depth direction upstream of the depth direction of the cassette body 60A, the paper cassette 60 is positioned in the depth direction. A positioning unit 74 for performing is provided. Then, when the paper cassette 60 is mounted, the positioning unit 74 positions the paper cassette 60 in the depth direction. Further, after the paper cassette 60 is mounted, the middle plate rotatably provided in the cassette main body 60A in the vertical direction is lifted, and the sheet S on the middle plate comes into contact with the pickup roller 75.

By the way, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the back side regulating member 80 is located on the upstream side of the back side wall 60a in the sheet feeding direction, and the back side regulating member 80 is located upstream of the front side wall 60b of the cassette body 60A in the sheet feeding direction. A front side regulating member 81 is provided on the side. The distance between the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 81 constituting the pair of upstream end regulating means 80A in the width direction is set to the maximum sheet width that can be accommodated in the paper cassette 60. Is set to.

In the present embodiment, since the maximum sheet size is LGL, the distance between the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 81 in the width direction is set to the LGL width, and FIG. 2 shows an LGL size sheet. It shows the state when S1 is housed. Then, the position of the sheet S1 in the paper feed cassette 60 is displaced by the back side regulation plate 61, the front side regulation plate 62, the rear end regulation plate 63, the back side regulation member 80, and the front side regulation member 81. Is being prevented.

Here, the front side regulating member 81 is positioned on the side surface in the width direction of a predetermined size sheet (LGL size sheet) having the maximum sheet width among the sheets that can be accommodated in the paper feed cassette 60 as shown in FIG. It has a regulatory unit (regulatory surface) 81a that regulates. Since the back side regulating member 80 also has the same configuration, only the front side regulating member 81 will be described below.

Further, the front side regulating member 81 is provided with a mounting space 81c for selectively mounting the auxiliary side regulating member 82, which is an auxiliary side end regulating means, from the upper opening. Here, the auxiliary side restricting member 82 regulates the position in the width direction of a small-sized sheet smaller than the sheet having the maximum sheet width that can be accommodated in the paper feed cassette 60, and regulates the position in the width direction of the small-sized sheet. It is provided with a convex portion 82a that comes into contact with the surface.

Further, when the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is mounted on the central portion of the regulating portion 81a of the front side regulating member 81 in the seat feeding direction, the convex portion 82a is vertically projected from the front side regulating member 81 toward the seat. A slit groove 81b, which is an opening extending in the direction, is formed. As a result, when the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is inserted through the opening at the upper part of the mounting space of the front side regulating member 81 as shown in FIG. 4A, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is inserted as shown in FIG. 4B. The convex portion 82a of 82 projects from the front side regulating member 81 to the inside of the cassette body. On the back side of the regulating portion 81a, a slide groove (not shown) extending in the vertical direction for guiding the mounting of the auxiliary side regulating member 82 to the mounting space 81c from above is formed.

Then, in the present embodiment, when the small-sized sheet is accommodated in the paper feed cassette 60, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is attached to the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 81. This makes it possible to regulate the position of the side edge of the small-sized sheet stored in the paper cassette 60.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the auxiliary member accommodating portion 83 is adjacent to the front side wall 60b of the cassette body 60A at a position that does not interfere with the loading of the sheet in the vicinity of the front side regulating member 81. It is provided. When the auxiliary side restricting member 82 is not used, that is, when the sheet having the maximum sheet width is accommodated in the paper feed cassette 60, the auxiliary side restricting member 82 is accommodated in the auxiliary member accommodating portion 83. This makes it possible to prevent the auxiliary side regulating member 82 from being lost.

Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B described later, the regulation width by the auxiliary side regulation member 82 attached to the back side regulation member 80 and the front side regulation member 81 is set to the LGL width (LGL width). The A4 width (210 mm) is set to be smaller than 215.9 mm). When storing a sheet having a size smaller than this, for example, when the regulation width is desired to be B5 width (182 mm), an auxiliary side regulation member whose protrusion amount from the slit groove 81b is set to B5 width is prepared.

Further, in the present embodiment, the positions of the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 81 in the sheet feeding direction can be regulated at the side edges of the LTR (215.9 mm) and A4 (210 mm) size sheets. Is set to. Note that FIG. 5A shows a state in which the LTR size sheet S2 is housed in the paper cassette 60. As a result, when the LTR size sheet S2 is stored, the vicinity of the rear end of the sheet S2 abuts against the regulation surface of the regulation portion 80a of the back side regulation member 80 and the regulation portion 81a of the front side regulation member 81, and the width of the sheet S2. The position of the direction is regulated.

Further, FIG. 5B shows a state in which the A4 size sheet S3 is housed in the paper feed cassette 60. When the A4 size sheet S3 is stored in this way, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is attached to the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 81, respectively, as described above. As a result, when the A4 size sheet S3 is stored, the vicinity of the rear end of the sheet S3 abuts on the convex portion 82a which is the restricting surface of the auxiliary side regulating member 82, and the position of the sheet S3 in the width direction is restricted. When the LGL, which is the maximum seat size in the present embodiment, is stored, the seat width of the LGL is the same as the seat width of the LTR. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is removed. Accommodates the seat.

As described above, when storing a sheet having a length shorter in the depth direction (width direction) than a sheet of a predetermined size, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is used as the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 81. It is attached to the seat to regulate the position of the side edge of the seat. This makes it possible to prevent the sheet from rotating due to an impact when the paper cassette 60 is inserted. As a result, the sheet can be supplied to the image forming unit 1B in a state where skewing and positional deviation are suppressed, and image deviation with respect to the sheet can be suppressed.

In this embodiment, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is configured to slide and attach / detach in the seat loading direction. Therefore, even if the user touches the auxiliary side regulating member 82 or inserts the paper feed cassette 60 with a strong force when the seat is stored, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 is still the back side regulating member 80 and the front side regulating member 80. It does not easily come off from 81. As a result, the auxiliary side regulating member 82 can reliably regulate the position of the seat in the width direction.

1 ... Full-color laser beam printer, 1A ... Printer body, 1B ... Image forming part, 1E ... Mounting part, 60 ... Paper cassette, 60A ... Cassette body, 60a ... Back side wall of cassette body, 60b ... Front side of cassette body Side wall, 61 ... back side regulation plate, 61A ... side end regulation means, 62 ... front side regulation plate, 63 ... rear end regulation plate, 80 ... back side regulation member, 80A ... upstream side end regulation means, 81 ... Front side restricting member, 81a ... Restricting part, 81b ... Slit groove, 81c ... Mounting space, 82 ... Auxiliary side regulating member, 82a ... Convex part, 83 ... Auxiliary member accommodating part, S, S1, S2, S3 ... Sheet

One aspect of the present invention is a sheet storage means that stores a sheet in an image forming apparatus and can be pulled out from a mounting position mounted on the image forming apparatus main body in a pull-out direction, and the seat storage mounted at the mounting position. A sheet feeding means that feeds a sheet stored in the means in a sheet feeding direction orthogonal to the pulling direction, an image forming unit that forms an image on the sheet fed by the sheet feeding means, and the above. A side end regulating means provided in the seat storage means, which can move in the seat width direction parallel to the pull-out direction, and regulates the side end position of the sheet stored in the seat storage means in the seat width direction, and the above-mentioned side end regulating means. An upstream end regulating means provided in the seat storage means, which is movable in the seat feeding direction and regulates the position of the upstream end of the sheet stored in the seat storing means in the sheet feeding direction, and the seat storage. Auxiliary regulating means that are detachably attached to the means and regulate the side end position of the sheet stored in the seat storing means in the seat width direction upstream of the side end regulating means in the seat feeding direction. A state in which the seat storage means is urged toward the side opposite to the pull-out direction to pull the seat storage means into the mounting position, and the auxiliary regulating means is attached to the seat storage means. The upstream end regulating means is movable in the seat feeding direction with respect to the auxiliary regulating means, and the side end regulating means is movable in the seat width direction with respect to the auxiliary regulating means. It is something to do.
Further, another aspect of the present invention is a sheet storage means that stores a sheet in the image forming apparatus and can be pulled out from the mounting position mounted on the image forming apparatus main body in the pulling direction, and is mounted at the mounting position. Image formation that forms an image on the sheet feeding means that feeds the sheet stored in the sheet storing means in the sheet feeding direction orthogonal to the pulling direction and the sheet fed by the sheet feeding means. Side edge regulation provided in the seat storage means and movable in the seat width direction parallel to the pull-out direction, and regulates the side end position of the seat stored in the seat storage means in the seat width direction. Means and upstream end regulating means provided in the seat storing means, which are movable in the sheet feeding direction and regulate the position of the upstream end of the sheet stored in the seat storing means in the sheet feeding direction. Auxiliary to be detachably attached to the seat storage means and to regulate the position of the side end of the sheet stored in the seat storage means in the seat width direction upstream of the side end regulating means in the seat feeding direction. The auxiliary regulating means includes a regulating means and a pulling means for urging the seat storing means toward the side opposite to the pulling direction to pull the seat storing means into the mounting position, and the auxiliary regulating means regulates the upstream end. It is characterized in that it can be attached to and detached from the seat accommodating means provided with the means and the side end regulating means.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the seat from rotating due to an impact when the seat storage means is inserted.

Claims (1)

A sheet storage means that is detachably provided on the main body of the image forming device to store the sheet,
A sheet feeding means for feeding a sheet stored in the seat storing means, and a sheet feeding means.
A pair of side edge restricting means provided facing the sheet accommodating means in order to regulate the side edge position in the width direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the sheet stored in the sheet accommodating means.
A pair of upstream side edge regulating means provided upstream of the pair of side edge regulating means in the sheet feeding direction and for regulating the side edge position of a predetermined size sheet stored in the sheet storing means in the width direction. ,
When a small-sized sheet having a length shorter in the width direction than the predetermined size sheet is stored in the sheet storage means, the side in the width direction of the small-sized sheet attached to the pair of upstream end regulating means. An image forming apparatus provided with an auxiliary side edge regulating means for regulating the edge position.

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