JP2023064934A - Sheet feeding device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent a back side regulating plate from falling down due to an impact when a paper feed cassette is attached to an apparatus main body and the inertial force of a sheet bundle.SOLUTION: In a cassette 1, a pin inserted into a slit of a fall prevention member 70 and an opening of a switching lever 63 is arranged on a wall portion 20A provided on the back side of a side regulating member 40 on the back side, and by changing the position of the switching lever 63, the fall prevention member 70 is switched to be fixed or released.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device for feeding sheets and an image forming apparatus.

A sheet feeding cassette of a sheet feeding device is provided with a pair of side regulating plates on the front side and the back side in the direction in which the sheet feeding cassette is pulled out in order to regulate the edges of the stacked sheets.

When the back side regulating plate is installed in the main body of the device, the back side of the side regulating plate is tilted due to the impact of the attachment or the inertial force of the stack of sheets hitting the back side regulating plate. There is If the side regulating plates fall down, the distance between the side regulating plates increases and the sheet edges cannot be regulated, causing skew and misalignment of the paper, and the desired printing accuracy cannot be achieved.

Therefore, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-100001, the following mechanism is provided to prevent the side regulating plate on the far side from collapsing. That is, the fall-regulating member is arranged on the side-regulating plate, and the fall-preventing member extends toward the inner side. Then, the screw is rotated using a belt and a pulley from an operation portion provided on the front side of the paper feed cassette. The fall prevention member is fastened with a screw, and the side regulating plate is fixed by the fastened fall prevention member on the far side. Even if there is no space in the fixing portion on the far side of the side regulating plate, the side regulating plate is configured to prevent the side regulating plate from collapsing on the far side.

JP 2017-061384 A

In a configuration in which the screw is rotated by the operating part via a belt, the tightening force of the screw may decrease due to the radial force generated in the screw due to the tension of the belt and the excessive torque applied to the screw when the operating part is strongly tightened. have a nature.

A sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention includes a cassette that can be pulled out in a first direction from a mounting position, on which sheets are stacked, and feeding means that feeds the sheets stacked on the cassette positioned at the mounting position. , wherein the cassette is provided so as to be movable with respect to the cassette main body and the cassette main body in the first direction and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and the sheets stacked in the cassette. a side regulating member for regulating the end portion in the second direction of the cassette body, a wall portion of the cassette body provided on the second direction side of the side regulating member, and a pin provided on the wall portion; an arm member provided in the side regulating member and provided with a slit into which the pin is inserted; and an operation lever provided with an opening into which the pin is inserted and which can be moved by being operated by an operator, The operation lever has a first position for restricting relative movement between the wall portion and the arm member for fixing the side restriction member, and a second position for allowing relative movement between the wall portion and the arm member. It is characterized by being able to move to a position and by being operated by an operator.

According to the present invention, it is possible to fix the rear side regulating member with a reliable fixing force.

1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a paper feed cassette; The figure which shows the structure of a side control plate. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of a side regulating plate and a lock mechanism provided in the paper feed cassette; The figure which shows a locked state and an unlocked state. The figure which shows the relationship between an exterior cover and a lock mechanism. The figure which shows the locking mechanism which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the locked state and unlocked state which concern on 2nd Embodiment.

A first embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a full-color laser beam printer as an example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 1, 201 is a full-color laser beam printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer), 201A is a main body of an image forming apparatus, and 201B is an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet. An image reading device 202 is installed substantially horizontally above the printer main body 201A. A discharge space S for discharging sheets is formed between the image reading device 202 and the printer main body 201A.

Reference numerals 230 and 231 denote a sheet feeding cassette 1, which is a sheet storing means for storing sheets P, and a sheet feeding device for feeding the sheets P from the sheet feeding cassette 1. 230 is an upper sheet feeding device, and 231 is a lower stage. It is a sheet feeding device. The upper sheet feeding device 230 and the lower sheet feeding device 231 are composed of a pickup roller 8 which is a sheet feeding means, and a feed roller 9 and a retard roller 10 for separating the sheet P fed from the pickup roller 8. and a separation unit. The configuration of the paper feed cassette 1 will be detailed later.

The image forming section 201B, which is an image forming means, is of a 4-drum full-color type, and uses a laser scanner 210 to form four-color toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). , four process cartridges 211 are provided. Here, each process cartridge 211 includes a photosensitive drum 212, a charger 213 as charging means, and a developing device 214 as developing means. The image forming section 201B also includes an intermediate transfer unit 201C arranged above the process cartridge 211 and a fixing section 220 . A toner cartridge 215 supplies toner to the developing device 214 .

The intermediate transfer unit 201C has an intermediate transfer belt 216 wound around a drive roller 216a and a tension roller 216b. A primary transfer roller 219 is provided inside the intermediate transfer belt 216 and contacts the intermediate transfer belt 216 at a position facing the photosensitive drum 212 . Here, the intermediate transfer belt 216 is rotated in the arrow direction by a drive roller 216a driven by a drive section (not shown).

Then, the primary transfer roller 219 sequentially multiple-transfers the negative-polarity toner images of each color on the photosensitive drum onto the intermediate transfer belt 216 . A secondary transfer roller 217 that transfers the color image formed on the intermediate transfer belt to the sheet P is provided at a position facing the drive roller 216a of the intermediate transfer unit 201C. Further, a fixing section 220 is arranged above the secondary transfer roller 217, and a first discharge roller pair 225a, a second discharge roller pair 225b and a double-sided reversing section 201D are arranged on the upper left part of the fixing section 220. . The double-sided reversing section 201D is provided with a pair of reversing rollers 222 that can be rotated forward and backward, a re-conveying passage R for re-conveying a sheet having an image formed on one side thereof to the image forming section 201B, and the like. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 260 denotes a control section (control means) for controlling image forming operations, sheet feeding operations, and the like.

Next, an image forming operation of the printer 201 will be described. First, when the image information of the document is read by the image reading device 202, the image information is subjected to image processing, converted into an electric signal, and transmitted to the laser scanner 210 of the image forming section 201B. In the image forming section 201B, the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 212, which are uniformly charged to predetermined polarities and potentials by the chargers 213, are sequentially exposed to laser light. As a result, electrostatic latent images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are sequentially formed on the photosensitive drums of the process cartridges 211, respectively.

After that, the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner of each color and visualized, and the toner image of each color on each photosensitive drum is sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 216 by the primary transfer bias applied to the primary transfer roller 219 . Transcribe together. Thereby, a toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 216 . In parallel with this toner image forming operation, the sheet P is sent out from the pickup roller 8 provided in the upper sheet feeding device 230 or the lower sheet feeding device 231 . The sent out sheet P is separated one by one by a separating portion composed of the feed roller 9 and the retard roller 10 and conveyed to the registration roller pair 240 , and skew is corrected by the registration roller pair 240 .

After the skew is corrected, the sheet P is conveyed to the secondary transfer portion by the registration roller pair 240. At the secondary transfer portion, the toner image is transferred to the sheet by the secondary transfer bias applied to the secondary transfer roller 217. are transferred onto P all at once. Next, the sheet P to which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing section 220, where the toner of each color is melted and mixed by heat and pressure in the fixing section 220, and fixed on the sheet P as a color image.

Thereafter, the sheet P on which the image has been fixed is discharged into the discharge space S by a first discharge roller pair 225a and a second discharge roller pair 225b provided downstream of the fixing section 220, and protrudes to the bottom surface of the discharge space S. loaded on the stacking unit 223 . Note that when images are formed on both sides of the sheet P, after the images are fixed, the sheet P is transported to the re-transport path R by the reversing roller pair 222 and transported again to the image forming section 201B.

Next, the configurations of the sheet feed cassette 1 and the side regulation plates 30 and 40 that regulate the sheet bundle will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the schematic configuration of the entire paper feed cassette. The paper feed cassette 1 is pulled out in a pull-out direction 501 as a first direction from a predetermined mounting position in the device main body of the sheet feeding devices 230 and 231 . The pulled-out paper feed cassette 1 is inserted in the insertion direction as the second direction opposite to the pull-out direction 501 and mounted at the mounting position. Sheets stacked in the paper feed cassette 1 positioned at the mounting position are fed in the feeding direction 502 by the pickup roller 8 described above with reference to FIG. Here, the insertion direction opposite to the pull-out direction 501 is the direction toward the inner side of the image forming apparatus. The pull-out direction 501 and the insertion direction opposite to the pull-out direction are directions along the sheet width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction 502 .

The paper feed cassette 1 includes a paper feed cassette housing 20 that is a cassette body. A lifter plate 2 that moves up and down is arranged inside the paper feed cassette housing of the paper feed cassette 1 . A plurality of sheets are placed in a bundle on the lifter plate 2. The paper feed cassette 1 has a pair of front and rear side regulating plates 30 for regulating the ends of the sheet bundle in the width direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. 40 is provided in the paper feed cassette housing 20 so as to be movable in the width direction. In the paper feed cassette 1, a trailing end regulation plate 80 for regulating the end of the sheet in the direction opposite to the feeding direction 502 is provided in the paper feeding cassette housing 20 so as to be movable in the feeding direction 502. .

Sheets are stacked on the lifter plate 2 . The positions of the sheets stacked on the lifter plate 2 are regulated by the front side regulating plate 30 , the rear side regulating plate 40 , and the rear end regulating plate 80 . That is, the regulation surface 40K (see FIG. 3) of the rear side regulation plate 40 contacts the end of the sheets stacked on the lifter plate 2 in the insertion direction (the direction opposite to the pull-out direction 501), thereby A regulation plate 40 regulates the position of the sheet. The side regulating plate 30 on the front side comes into contact with the edge of the sheet stacked on the lifter plate 2 in the pull-out direction 501 to regulate the position of the sheet. A trailing end regulating plate 80 is in contact with the upstream end of the sheets stacked on the lifter plate 2 in the feeding direction. As the lifter plate 2 is lifted, the uppermost sheet is brought into contact with the pickup roller 8, and the sheets are fed downstream one by one by the pickup roller 8 as feeding means.

A stopper 31 is provided on the front side regulating plate 30 , and when the user as an operator operates the stopper 31 , the front side regulating plate 30 can be fixed or released from the paper feed cassette 1 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the front side regulating plate 30 and the back side regulating plate 40 are provided with racks 30A and 40A, respectively. These racks 30A and 40A are connected by a connecting gear 50 attached to the paper feed cassette housing 20, and when the position of the front side regulating plate 30 is moved, the racks 30A and 40A and the connecting gear 50 move the racks 30A and 40A to the rear side. The side regulating plate 40 also moves.

When the front side regulating plate 30 is fixed to the paper feed cassette 1 by the stopper 31 , the position of the rear side regulating plate 40 is held by the connecting gear 50 .

As described above, it is possible to fix the position of the front side regulation plate 30 and the rear side regulation plate 40 in the paper feed cassette 1 by means of the stopper 31 . However, since the stopper 31 fixes the lower side portions of the side regulating plates 30 and 40, the side regulating plates 30 and 40 fall down when force is applied to the upper portions of the side regulating plates 30 and 40 in the seat width direction. Sometimes. In particular, when the paper feed cassette 1 is attached to the apparatus main body 201, the side regulation plates 30 and 40 fall due to the inertia force with which the sheet bundle collides with the side regulation plates 30 and 40, and the distance between the upper portions of the side regulation plates 30 and 40 increases. wider than the width. Since the sheet to be fed is the uppermost sheet, if the upper portions of the side regulating plates 30 and 40 are widened, the sheet may rotate when the sheet is fed, or the sheet may not move in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. It may deviate. As a result, desired printing accuracy may not be achieved.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a regulation mechanism is provided to prevent the side regulation plates 30 and 40 from falling down, so that the side regulation plates 30 and 40 can be regulated (guided) to the sheet without increasing the distance between the side regulation plates 30 and 40. and

The fall prevention mechanism 401 that regulates the fall of the side regulating plate 30 on the front side includes the first arm plate 32 and the second arm plate 33 , the first fixing screw 432 and the second fixing screw 433 . The first arm plate 32 and the second arm plate 33 are rotatably supported by the side regulating plate 30 on the front side. The first fixing screw 432 and the second fixing screw 433 fix the first arm plate 121 and the second arm plate 131 to the front wall portion 20B of the paper feed cassette housing 20, respectively. A slit into which the first fixing screw 432 is inserted is formed in the first arm plate 32 . When the side regulating plate 30 on the front side moves in the seat width direction, the first arm plate 32 rotates with respect to the side regulating plate 30 on the front side while being guided by the first fixing screw 432 . . A slit into which the second fixing screw 433 is inserted is formed in the second arm plate 33 . When the side regulating plate 30 on the front side moves in the seat width direction, the second arm plate 33 rotates with respect to the side regulating plate 30 on the front side while being guided by the second fixing screw 433 . .

2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 show a regulation mechanism 601 for preventing the rear side regulation plate 40 from falling.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fall prevention mechanism 401 includes a fall prevention member 70 for preventing the rear side regulating plate 40 from falling. One end of an anti-falling member 70 as an arm member is rotatably held above the side regulating plate 40 on the far side. The collapse prevention member 70 is provided with a groove 70A as a slit on the side opposite to the side supported by the side regulating plate 40 on the far side.

A lock pin 61, which will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. When the back side regulating plate 40 moves in the seat width direction, the fall prevention member 70 rotates with respect to the side regulating plate back 40 . When the back side regulating plate 40 moves in the seat width direction, the lock pin 61 guides the groove 70A of the collapse prevention member 70 rotating with respect to the back side regulating plate 40 .

The fall prevention mechanism 601 is provided with a lock mechanism 60 arranged on the upper portion of the wall portion 20</b>A on the back side of the paper feed cassette housing 20 . The lock mechanism 60 is for fixing (locking) the fall prevention member 70 to the paper feed cassette housing 20 . By fixing (locking) the fall prevention member 70 to the paper feed cassette housing 20 , the back side regulating plate 40 is regulated by the fall prevention member 70 . Since the fall prevention member 70 regulates the position of the upper portion of the rear side regulating plate 40 in the seat width direction, the rear side regulating plate 40 is prevented from falling.

4 and 5 are diagrams showing the details of the lock mechanism 60. FIG. The lock mechanism 60 is composed of a lock pin 61 , a lock base 62 and a switching lever 63 . In addition, as described above, the lock pin 61 is provided so as to engage with the groove portion 70A of the fall prevention member. FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing the configuration of the lock mechanism 60 and its surroundings with the switching lever 63 removed for explanation. FIG. 4(b) is a perspective view of the switching lever 63 as an operation lever as viewed obliquely from below. FIG. 4(c) is a perspective view of the switching lever 63 as viewed obliquely from above. 5A and 5C are perspective views of the lock mechanism 60. FIG. 5(b) and 5(d) are sectional views of the lock mechanism 60. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, the switching lever 63 is provided with a hole 63H as an opening. The lock pin 61 is inserted into the hole 63H of the switching lever 63 as shown in FIGS. 5(b) and 5(d). The switching lever 63 is rotatably supported around the lock pin 61 . Above the lock pin 61, there is a head portion 61A (see FIGS. 5(b) and 5(d)) having a larger diameter than the portion of the lock pin 61 inserted into the hole 63H of the switching lever 63. are placed. As shown in FIGS. 5B and 5D, the diameter of the head 61A is larger than the diameter of the hole 63H of the switching lever 63. As shown in FIGS. The switching lever 63 is provided between the head 61A and the lock base 62 in the direction along the axis of the switching lever 63 .

The switching lever 63 is provided with a protrusion 63B that contacts the lock base 62 when the fall prevention member 70 is fixed, and a fastening surface 63A that contacts the head 61A of the lock pin 61 .

The lock base 62 is provided with a fastening surface 62</b>B as a contact surface with which the protrusion 63</b>B of the switching lever 63 comes into contact when the fall prevention member 70 is fixed. Further, the lock base 62 is provided with a retracting portion 62A for retracting the switching lever projecting portion 63B so as not to come into contact when the fall prevention member 70 is not fixed.

When the switching lever 63 is in the fixing position (the position shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B) for fixing the fall prevention member 70, the protrusion 63B of the switching lever 63 engages the fastening surface 62B of the lock base 62. , and the fastening surface 63A of the switching lever 63 contacts the head 61A of the lock pin 61 . At this time, the relationship between the fixed height 63H of the switching lever 63 and the fixed height 60H satisfies Equation (1).

63H>60H Formula 1
The switching lever 63 is sandwiched between the head portion 61 A of the lock pin 61 and the lock base 62 by satisfying the relationship of Expression 1 . Then, the lock base 62 presses the anti-falling member 70 against the inner wall portion 20A of the paper feed cassette housing 20, and a force for fixing the anti-falling member 70 to the paper feed cassette 1 is generated. In other words, the protrusion 63B of the switching lever 63 presses the fall prevention member 70 against the upper portion of the wall 20A via the lock base 62 in the direction along the axis of rotation of the switching lever 63 when it rotates. The fall prevention member 70 is fixed to the paper feed cassette housing 20 by friction between the fall prevention member 70 and the wall portion 20A. The fixed height 63H of the switching lever 63 is the distance in the direction along the axis of the switching lever 63 from the fastening surface 63A of the switching lever 63 to the lower end (tip) of the projection 63B of the switching lever 63. The fixed height 60H is the distance in the direction along the axis of the switching lever 63 between the head 61A of the lock pin 61 and the lock base 62 .

When the switching lever 63 is at the release position (the position shown in FIGS. 5(c) and 5(d)), the projection 63B of the switching lever 63 is located at the retracted portion 62A of the lock base 62. As shown in FIG. When the switching lever 63 is at the release position, the protrusion 63B of the switching lever 63 does not come into contact with the fastening surface 62B of the lock base 62. can move freely.

The switching lever 63 is moved from the unlocked position to the locked position by being operated by the user. When the switching lever 63 is positioned at the lock position, the back side regulating plate 40 is fixed to the paper feed cassette main body 20 through the collapse prevention member 70 . That is, when the switching lever 63 is positioned at the lock position as the first position, the locking mechanism 60 including the switching lever 63 restricts (locks) the relative movement between the wall portion 20A and the collapse prevention member 70 . When the user wants to unlock the fall prevention seat 70, the user operates the switching lever 63 to move it from the lock position to the release position. When the switching lever 63 is positioned at the release position, the restriction (lock) by the lock mechanism 60 on the rear side restriction plate 40 is released. In other words, when the switching lever 63 is positioned at the release position as the second position, the switching lever 63 allows relative movement between the wall portion 20A and the collapse prevention member 70 .

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the rear side regulating plate 40 is positioned at the farthest position in the movable range of the paper feed cassette housing 20 and the paper feed cassette 1 is pulled out in the pull-out direction. The switching lever 63 has an operation portion 63C, which is an end portion thereof, located on the pull-out direction side (first direction side) with respect to the regulation surface 40K of the side regulation plate 40 on the far side. When the switching lever 63 is operated, the paper feed cassette is pulled out from the apparatus main body 201 as shown in FIG. A wall portion 20A on the inner side of the paper feed cassette housing 20 is hidden by an exterior cover 300 of the image forming apparatus and is not exposed. However, the operating portion 63C, which is a part of the switching lever 63, is located on the pull-out side of the cover 300 (in front of the image forming apparatus) so that the outer cover 300 does not interfere with fixing/releasing the side regulating plate 40 on the far side. side) so that the user can operate the switching lever 63 . In this manner, the operation portion 63C of the switching lever 63 is configured to be positioned in front of the exterior cover 300 located above even when the rear side regulating plate 40 is positioned as far as possible. there is

2. Description of the Related Art A recent image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet feeding device is required to be space-saving. Therefore, when the paper feed cassette 1 is pulled out, the space between the rear side regulation plate and the upper exterior cover is small, and the space for directly screwing the fixing portion for preventing the rear side regulation plate from falling cannot be secured. Sometimes. Even in such a case, since the operation portion 63</b>C, which is the end portion of the switching lever 63 , is positioned in front of the exterior cover 300 in this embodiment, the operation lever 300 can be easily operated without relying on the exterior cover 300 . can be operated.

Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, the switching lever 63 is rotatably held by the lock pin 61 . In the first embodiment, the switching lever 63 is rotated to select fixing or releasing of the fall prevention member 70 . In the second embodiment, the switching lever is linearly moved in the front-rear direction to select between fixation and release.

7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining the second embodiment. FIG. 7A is a perspective view showing the lock mechanism 600 of the second embodiment with the switching lever 63 removed. FIG. 7(b) is a perspective view of the switching lever 63 as seen obliquely from below. 8A and 8C are perspective views of the lock mechanism 600. FIG. 8B and 8D are cross-sectional views of the lock mechanism 600. FIG. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the configuration for fixing the fall prevention member 70 including the switching lever, and the other points are the same as the first embodiment, so the description is omitted. .

A guide pin 65 fixed to the paper feed cassette housing 20 is provided behind the lock pin 61 . The switching lever 63 is provided with a slit-shaped groove (opening) 63E into which the lock pin 61 and the guide pin 65 are inserted.

The switching lever 63 is provided with a fastening surface 63A that contacts the head portion 61A of the lock pin 61 and a second fastening surface 63D that contacts the lock base 62 when the fall prevention member 70 is fixed. The switching lever 63 has two levels of thickness in the longitudinal direction, and there is a second portion surface 63F that is thinner than the portion (first portion) of the second fastening surface 63D.

The lock base 62 is provided with a fastening surface 62B as a contact surface that contacts the second fastening surface 63D of the switching lever 63 when the fall prevention member 70 is fixed.

When the switching lever 63 is in the fixed position shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), the fastening surface 63A of the switching lever 63 is in contact with the head 61A of the lock pin 61 and the second fastening surface of the switching lever 63. 63D contacts the fastening surface 62B of the lock base 62 . At this time, the relationship between the fixed height (thickness of the first portion) 63H of the switching lever 63 and the fixed height 60H of the lock mechanism 600 shown in FIG. Fulfill. Therefore, the switching lever 63 is sandwiched between the head portion 61A of the lock pin 61 and the lock base 62. As shown in FIG. Then, the anti-falling member 70 is pressed against the inner wall portion 20A of the paper feed cassette housing via the lock base 62, and a force for fixing the anti-falling member 70 to the paper feed cassette 1 is generated.

When the switching lever 63 is at the release position shown in FIGS. 8(c) and 8(d), the surface 63F of the thin second portion of the switching lever contacts the lock base fastening portion 62B, and the switching lever 63 is fastened. The head 61A of the lock pin 61 does not contact the surface 63A. Therefore, the fall-preventing member 70 can move freely with respect to the paper feed cassette 1 .

As described above, by operating the switching lever 63, the side regulating plate inner part 40 can be fixed to the paper feed cassette 1 through the collapse prevention member 70, as in the first embodiment.

In any of the above-described embodiments, by interposing the lock base 62 between the switching lever 63 and the fall prevention member 70, the fall prevention member 70 is stably pressed downward. However, a configuration in which the switching lever 63 and the fall prevention member 70 are brought into direct contact with each other without interposing the lock base 62 may be employed.

Moreover, although the mode in which the switching lever 63 is positioned above the collapse prevention member 70 is illustrated, the switching lever 63 may be positioned below the collapse prevention member 70 . In this case, the fall prevention member 70 is pressed upward toward the head portion 61A of the lock pin 61 by the switching lever 63 .

Moreover, the form which rotatably attaches the fall prevention member 70 to the side control member 40 of the back|inner side was illustrated. However, the fall prevention member 70 may be fixedly attached to the side regulating member 40 on the far side. In this case, for example, the collapse prevention member is arranged so as to extend from the side regulating member 40 on the back side to the back side along the seat width direction.

1 paper feed cassette 8 pickup roller 20 paper feed cassette housing 20A wall portion 40 rear side regulation plate rear 60 lock mechanism 61 lock pin 61A head 62 lock base 63 switching lever (operation lever)

Claims (11)

a cassette that can be pulled out in the first direction from the mounting position and on which sheets are stacked;
a sheet feeding device that feeds sheets stacked in the cassette positioned at the mounting position,
The cassette is
the cassette body,
a side regulating device provided to be movable with respect to the cassette body in the first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction, and regulating the ends of the sheets stacked in the cassette in the second direction; a member;
a wall portion of the cassette body provided on the second direction side of the side regulating member;
a pin provided on the wall;
an arm member provided in the side regulating member and having a slit into which the pin is inserted;
an operation lever that has an opening into which the pin is inserted and that can be moved by being operated by an operator;
The operation lever has a first position for restricting relative movement between the wall portion and the arm member for fixing the side restriction member, and a second position for allowing relative movement between the wall portion and the arm member. A sheet feeding device characterized in that it can be moved to a position and by being operated by an operator. The pin has a head on the top,
The arm member and the operating lever are arranged between the head and the wall,
When the operation lever is at the first position, the arm member is fixed to the wall portion of the cassette body by pressing the arm member against the head portion or the wall portion by the operation lever,
2. A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when said operating lever is at said second position, pressing of said arm member by said operating lever against said head portion or said wall portion is released. The operating lever has a surface and a protrusion that contact the head of the pin,
A lock base having a contact surface that contacts the protrusion of the operating lever,
The distance from the tip of the protrusion of the operating lever to the surface of the operating lever that contacts the pin head is longer than the distance from the pin head to the contact surface of the lock base. ,
When the operating lever is positioned at the first position, it contacts the contact surfaces of the projection and the lock base;
3. A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said protrusion does not contact the contact surface of said lock base when said operating lever is positioned at said second position. 4. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the lock base has a retracting portion for retracting the protrusion of the operating lever when the operating lever is positioned at the second position. 5. A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said operating lever rotates between said first position and said second position about said pin. The operating lever includes a first portion and a second portion thinner than the first portion,
the operating lever is in contact with the head of the pin;
a lock base having a contact surface that contacts the second portion;
the distance from the head of the pin to the contact surface of the lock base is shorter than the thickness of the first portion and longer than the thickness of the second portion;
when the operating lever is positioned at the first position, the first portion is in contact with the contact surfaces of the head portion of the pin and the lock base;
2. When the operating lever is positioned at the second position, the first portion is retracted from the head portion of the pin, and the second portion is in contact with the pin or the contact surface. The sheet feeding device described in . 7. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the operating lever is linearly moved between the first position and the second position. 8. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arm member is rotatably provided on the side regulating member. The sheet feeding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a portion of the operation lever operated by the user can be positioned closer to the first direction than the wall portion. 10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a portion of said operating lever that is operated by a user can be positioned on the first direction side of a regulating surface of said side regulating member that contacts the seat. sheet feeder. a sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 10;
and image forming means for forming an image on the sheet fed by the sheet feeding device.

Images