JP2691449B2 - Paper loading device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a plotter, a facsimile, a copying machine, etc., in which ejected recorded sheets are prevented from collapsing by a sheet stopper and the leading ends are aligned. The present invention relates to a sheet stacking device that stacks at a predetermined position.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one example of this type of sheet stacking apparatus, there is a sheet stacking apparatus used by being attached to the top of the image forming apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 9 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-41356). See the bulletin). The sheet stacking device 2 is composed of a first member 3 fixed to the top of the image forming apparatus 1 and a second member 4 mounted on the first member 3. Second member 4
Is composed of a mounting base 4a supported on the first member 3 and a stopper 4b provided upright on the mounting base 4a. The stopper 4b prevents the sheets 5 from collapsing and aligns their leading ends.

In this paper stacking device 2, the second member 4 is detachable from the first member 3 and its mounting direction is changed according to the size of the paper 5, or as shown in FIG. The member 4 can be swiveled around the fulcrum 6 with respect to the first member 3 and the position of the stopper portion 4b is changed in two steps, front and rear, so that the sheets 5 can be stacked at a predetermined position. In addition, as another example, as shown in FIG.
The member 3 is provided with a fixed stopper 3a so that the second member 4 can be laid down about a fulcrum 7 so that different sizes of paper can be accommodated depending on whether the second member 4 is erected or laid down. Was there.

However, the conventional sheet stacking device 2 has the following problems.

In the case where the second member 4 is detachable, when the paper size is changed, the second member 4 has to be removed and the mounting direction must be changed, which is troublesome.

When the second member 4 can be swung or turned down, the number of parts is increased and the cost is increased.

Since the stopper portion always protrudes upward, it is troublesome to remove the stopper portion from the image forming apparatus and separately package it during transportation, and the packaging cost is high.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, to facilitate the position adjustment of the paper stopper when changing the paper size, to easily handle the paper during transportation, and to reduce the cost. To provide a loading device.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a paper stopper having a stopper portion provided upright on a mounting base is detachably attached to the top of an image forming apparatus, and ejected recorded paper is used as the paper stopper. In a paper stacking device in which the ends are aligned and the ends are aligned and stacked at a predetermined position, the base of the paper stopper can be slidably and slidably housed on the top of the image forming apparatus in either state of front and back. It is characterized in that a stopper storage portion is provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, in which a window through which the inside of the stopper housing is visible is provided.
It is characterized in that different indications are provided on the front and back surfaces of the mounting base of the paper stopper that can be seen through this window.

According to such a sheet stacking device, the position of the stopper portion of the sheet stopper can be adjusted by sliding the sheet stopper with respect to the stopper accommodating portion provided in the image forming apparatus. If the mounting base of the paper stopper is turned upside down and inserted into the stopper housing portion, the paper stopper can be housed without protruding the stopper portion onto the image forming apparatus. In this case, the display that can be seen from the window provided at the top of the image forming apparatus is different from the case where the mounting base is inserted without turning the mounting base upside down.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a sheet stacking device according to the present invention.
At the top of the image forming apparatus 10, a stack portion 14 is formed by an upper plate 12 that is inclined upward from the paper discharge port 11 and a horizontal upper plate 13 that is continuous with the upper plate 12, and the upper plate 13 and the horizontal side below the upper plate 13. A stopper accommodating portion 16 is provided between the guide plate 15 and the guide plate 15. The stopper accommodating portion 16 has a stopper insertion opening 17 formed at the end of the stack portion 14, and the attachment base portion 18a of the paper stopper 18 can be inserted and removed slidably and slidably through the stopper insertion opening 17. ing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the paper stopper 18 is positioned in the stopper accommodating portion 16 in accordance with the paper size. Therefore, a pair of convex portions 19 and a concave portion 20 between the convex portions 19 are provided at, for example, two places on the upper surface of the guide plate 15. Is provided with the positioning portion 21 and the upper plate 13
Similarly, on the lower surface, there is provided a restriction portion 24 including a pair of convex portions 22 and a concave portion 23 therebetween.

The paper stopper 18 is made of plastic and has a mounting base 18a.
A hollow stopper portion 18b is erected integrally with the base end of the.
The stopper portion 18b prevents the recorded sheet 25 discharged from the sheet discharge port 11 of the image forming apparatus 10 from collapsing and aligns the leading ends thereof. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the paper stopper 18 is provided with recesses 26 reaching both ends on both sides of the mounting base 18a, and the center of the recess 26 has a U-shaped notch 27. The elastic hooks 28 are integrally provided, and elastic braking claws 29 are integrally provided on both side edges. These braking pawls 29 are brought into sliding contact with the inner surfaces of both sides of the stopper housing portion 16 to brake the paper stopper 18.

As shown in FIG. 7, the upper plate 13 of the stack portion 14 has a window 30.
Is provided. On the other hand, the mounting base 18 of the paper stopper 18
A paper size display 31 such as characters indicating the paper size is provided on the surface of a. The paper size display 31 shows the window 3 when the stopper portion 18b is in a normal state in which the stopper portion 18b projects from the stack portion 14.
You can start learning from 0. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a large number of reverse insertion display marks 32 such as X marks are provided on the back surface of the mounting base 18a in the sliding direction of the mounting base 18a. The top mark 32 can be seen from the window 30 when the mounting base 18a is inserted into the stopper housing 16 upside down.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2 or 3, by engaging the hook 28 of the paper stopper 18 with any one of the concave portions 22 of the two positioning portions 21, the paper stopper 18 is moved to a position corresponding to the paper size. Positioned and held, the paper size display 31 corresponding to the size is made to face the window 30. FIG. 2 shows the positioning state when the paper size is small, and FIG. 3 shows the positioning state when the paper size is large.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the image forming apparatus 10 is transported, the mounting base 18a is turned upside down and inserted into the stopper accommodating portion 16, and the hook 28 is engaged with the recess 23 of the regulating portion 24. At this time, the stopper portion 18b hangs along the outer side surface of the image forming apparatus 10, and the attachment base portion 18a is restricted from being unintentionally pulled out from the stopper housing portion 16.

In the illustrated example, the positioning portions 21 are provided at two places,
A large number of paper sizes can be accommodated by increasing the number of installations. Further, in order to indicate that the paper stopper 18 is inserted upside down, not only the mark as described above but also colored display in red or the like may be used.

Effects of the Invention According to the invention described in claim 1, the following effects are obtained.

It is easy to adjust the position of the paper stopper when changing the paper size.

By inserting the mounting base of the paper stopper into the stopper housing part provided in the image forming apparatus upside down, the paper stopper can be stored without protruding onto the image forming apparatus. Since there is no need to remove and separately package, there is no need for special consideration in packaging such as increasing the height of the cushioning material as in the conventional case, so the packaging cost is low.

According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the invention described in claim 1, by further observing the display through the window, it is possible to immediately confirm whether the mounting state of the paper stopper is the transportation state or the normal use state. The user can promptly recognize that something is wrong.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus and a sheet stacking apparatus according to the present invention provided in the image forming apparatus, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views of the sheet stacking apparatus showing a sheet stopper at different positions. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the state where the paper stopper is housed upside down, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the paper stopper.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the same, FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of the sheet stacking device in which the sheet stopper is normally set, and FIG.
The figure is a partial plan view of the state in which they are set upside down. FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a conventional example, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are partially cutaway views of different conventional examples. 10 …… Image forming device 11 …… Paper stacking device 16 …… Stopper storage part 18 …… Paper stopper 18a …… Mounting base part 18b …… Stopper part 30 …… Window 31 …… Paper size display 32 …… Reverse insertion mark

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Tomita 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mine Miho 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (56) Bibliography Sho 62-181558 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet stopper having a stopper portion provided upright on a mounting base is detachably attached to the top of an image forming apparatus, and ejected recorded sheets are prevented from collapsing by the sheet stopper so that the leading ends thereof are aligned to a predetermined position. In the paper stacking device that stacks on the top of the image forming apparatus, a stopper accommodating portion capable of accommodating the mounting base of the paper stopper slidably and slidably in either front or back state is provided at the top of the image forming apparatus. , Paper stacking device. 2. A window is provided through which the inside of the stopper housing can be seen,
The sheet stacking device according to claim 1, wherein different indications are provided on the front and back surfaces of the mounting base of the sheet stopper so that they can be seen through the window.