JP2687116B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatographic copying machine or a printer, and more particularly, to a large size sheet capable of accommodating a maximum size sheet to be fed. The paper cassette loading part is formed between the front and rear side plates in the main body of the device, and the narrow paper feed cassette loading parts that can accommodate paper of the maximum size and different paper storage capacity Further, the present invention relates to an improved technique of an image forming apparatus formed between the front and rear side plates with a predetermined interval.

[Conventional technology]

In the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, conventionally, the loading portion of the narrow paper feed cassette has been constructed as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a narrow size paper feed cassette
A cassette support member 39 is provided between the front and rear side plates 37, 38 arranged so as to correspond to the respective loading units 33, 34 of 31, 32 and to form the loading unit 36 for the large-sized sheet feeding cassette 35. A guide support member 40 of the same size and shape made of synthetic resin for guiding and supporting both sides of the small-capacity paper feed cassette 31 in the width direction is provided on the cassette support member 39 of the small-capacity paper feed cassette loading unit 33. On a cassette support member 39 of the large-capacity paper feed cassette loading section 34 which is erected upright, a tall and uniform composite of the same shape for guiding and supporting intermediate portions on both sides in the width direction of the large-capacity paper feed cassette 32. The guide support member 41 made of resin was provided.

The small-capacity paper feed cassette 31 and the large-capacity paper feed cassette 32 contain sheets a of the same size, but the sheets a of different sizes may be targeted for feeding.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional loading unit structure for narrow-width paper feed cassettes 31 and 32, the width of the small-capacity paper feed cassette 31 and the large-capacity paper feed cassette 32 are different from each other in the width direction. In order to guide and support the parts, two types of synthetic resin guide support members 40 and 41 having different heights are required, and two expensive metal molds are required. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the guide support members 40 and 41 is high. There was a drawback that it became high.

Further, the taller guide supporting member 41 becomes more unstable in the standing posture as the height becomes higher, and in addition, it can stably support the large-capacity sheet feeding cassette 32 which has a large sheet storage capacity and is heavy. In doing so, it is necessary to provide the guide support member 41 with the reinforcing member 42 for preventing the fall, which also leads to an increase in manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been devised in view of such actual circumstances, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of significantly reducing the manufacturing cost by an extremely simple and rational improvement technique. It is an object.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides, in the image forming apparatus described at the beginning, in forming a loading portion of the narrow-size sheet feeding cassette, in correspondence with each loading portion, between front and rear side plates. A cassette support member is provided, and on the cassette support member of the small-capacity paper feed cassette loading section, guide support members made of synthetic resin of the same size and shape that guide and support both sides in the width direction of the small-capacity paper feed cassette are set up. On the other hand, on the cassette support member of the large-capacity paper feed cassette loading section,
A synthetic resin guide support member of the same size and shape as the above-mentioned guide support member is provided through a spacer formed by bending a metal plate, and the guide support member provides intermediate portions on both sides in the width direction of the large-capacity sheet feeding cassette. It is characterized in that it is configured to guide and support.

[Action]

According to the above characteristic structure, the same guide support member as the guide support member for the small-sized small-capacity sheet feeding cassette is used, and the guide support member is placed on the highly rigid spacer in which the metal plate is bent. By mounting it, a loading unit for a narrow-width large-capacity paper feeding cassette is configured.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of an electrostatic photocopier, which is an example of an image forming apparatus. A photoconductor 3 is horizontally mounted on an apparatus main body 2 having an exposure apparatus 1 of an optical system moving type at the upper part. around,
The charging device 4, the developing device 5, the transfer device 6, the paper separating device 7, and the cleaning device 8 are arranged, and a large-size paper feeding cassette 9 capable of accommodating the maximum size paper a to be fed is provided on the front side of the device. Loading section for loading freely
10 is provided on the lower side of the apparatus main body 2, and the loading section
The fixing device 11 is arranged above the loading device 10 and
First, the paper a fed from the first paper is fed to the transfer unit 6.
A paper feed path 12 and a second paper feed path 13 for feeding the transfer-separated paper a to the fixing section 11 are provided, and further, the paper a after fixation is ejected to a paper ejection tray 14. A roller pair 15 is provided.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and 4, two narrow sizes (the number of which does not matter) capable of accommodating a paper a which is narrower than the maximum size and having different paper accommodating amounts from each other. The loading sections 18 and 19 of the sheet feeding cassettes 16 and 17 are provided on the side opposite to the sheet ejection tray 14 at intervals in the vertical direction, and the manual feeding section 20 is provided on the loading sections 18 and 19. In addition, the manual paper feed section 20 or the narrow size paper feed cassette 16,1
A third paper feed path 21 for merging and feeding the paper a fed from 7 into the first paper feed path 12 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the loading portion 10 of the large-sized paper feeding cassette 9 is formed between the front and rear side plates 22 and 23 in the main body 2 of the apparatus, and the narrow-sized paper feeding cassettes 16 and 17 are formed. The loading portions 18 and 19 are also formed between the front and rear side plates 22 and 23. More specifically, the loading sections 18 and 19 of the narrow size sheet feeding cassettes 16 and 17 are configured as follows.

That is, the front and rear side plates 22, 19 are made to correspond to the loading sections 18, 19, respectively.
A cassette support member 24 formed by bending a metal plate is provided over the space 23, and the width direction of the small-capacity paper feed cassette 16 is placed on the cassette support member 24 of the small-capacity paper feed cassette loading unit 18 therein. As shown in FIG. 5, on the cassette support member 24 of the large-capacity paper feed cassette loading unit 19, while the guide support members 25 of the same size and the same shape and made of synthetic resin for guiding and supporting both sides are fixed with screws. , A metal plate is formed by bending, and spacers 26 having high rigidity are fixed with screws at predetermined intervals, and a guide support member 25 made of a synthetic resin and having the same size and shape as the guide support member 25 is provided on the spacer 26. A screw is fixed to the upper part of the above, and the guide supporting member 25 guides and supports the intermediate portions on both sides in the width direction of the large-capacity sheet feeding cassette 17.

According to the above configuration, the four guide supporting members 25 having exactly the same size and shape are used to configure the loading units 18 and 19 of the two narrow-size sheet feeding cassettes 16 and 17 having different sheet storage amounts, Moreover, in the loading section 19 of the large-capacity paper feed cassette 17, since the guide support member 25 is provided on the spacer 26 having high rigidity, it is not necessary to provide a reinforcing member as in the conventional case, and a large amount of paper can be stored. The large-capacity paper feed cassette 17, which is a heavy load, can be stably supported.

As shown in FIG. 5, the guide supporting member 25 has a pin member c engaged with a positioning hole b formed in the spacer 26 and notches d and d for screwing. The lower plate 25a is provided with a vertical plate portion 25b which is continuously connected to the lower plate 25a, and the upper end portion of the vertical plate portion 25b is provided with an upper plate 25c which also prevents the front end portion of the cassette from being lifted up. A reinforcing plate portion 25d for preventing the plate portion 25b from collapsing is provided continuously, and a stopper member f is formed on the vertical plate portion 25b against the contact portion e on one side in the width direction of the sheet feeding cassettes 16 and 17, Paper cassettes 16,17 for loading sections 18,19
Is configured to determine the insertion position of the.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the same guide support member as the guide support member for the narrow size small-capacity sheet feeding cassette is used, and the guide support member has the metal plate bent. It is characterized in that it is mounted on a spacer having a high rigidity to form a loading portion for a narrow-capacity large-capacity paper feeding cassette, and thus the guide supporting member is made to have the completely same structure. By making the guide shared, it is possible to greatly reduce the manufacturing cost of the guide support member, and the spacer is structurally high in rigidity, so The paper cassette can be stably supported without the need for a reinforcing member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a loading portion of a narrow size sheet feeding cassette, FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional side view of an electrostatic photocopier of an example of an image forming apparatus, and FIG. 3 is loading a narrow size sheet feeding cassette. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the same, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a guide support member and a spacer, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a narrow-width paper feed cassette loading unit of a conventional example. 2 ... Device body, 9 ... Large size paper cassette, 10 ...
Large-size paper cassette loading unit, 16,17 ... Narrow-size paper cassette loading unit, 18,19 ... Narrow-size paper cassette loading unit, 22,23 ... Front and rear side plates, 24 ... Cassette support member , 2
5: Guide support member, 26: Spacer, a: Paper.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A large-size paper feed cassette loading portion capable of holding a maximum size paper sheet to be fed is formed between front and rear side plates in a main body of the apparatus, and is capable of holding a paper sheet of a maximum size or less and mutually. An image forming apparatus in which a plurality of narrow-width sheet feeding cassettes having different sheet storage amounts are formed between the front and rear side plates at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and constitutes the narrow-width sheet feeding cassette loading portion. In addition, a cassette supporting member is provided between the front and rear side plates corresponding to each of the loading sections, and both sides in the width direction of the small capacity sheet feeding cassette are guided on the cassette supporting member of the small capacity sheet feeding cassette loading section. The guide supporting members made of synthetic resin of the same size and the same shape for supporting each other are erected, and on the cassette supporting member of the large-capacity sheet feeding cassette loading unit, a spacer formed by bending a metal plate is used. Guidance support A synthetic resin guide support member of the same size and shape as the material is provided, and the guide support member is configured to guide and support intermediate portions on both sides in the width direction of the large-capacity sheet feeding cassette. apparatus.