JP3272857B2 - Image forming device manual feed guide - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manual feed guide used for manually feeding an original or a transfer material in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image forming apparatus in which a document to be copied is manually fed into a device along a paper feed table to obtain a desired copy image. In this case, a transfer material incorporated in the apparatus is appropriately selected according to the size of the document.

Further, when a copy image is obtained using a transfer material having a size other than the transfer material built in the apparatus, an image forming apparatus in which a transfer material of a desired size is manually fed into the apparatus along the upper surface of a paper feed table. Devices are known.

As shown in FIG. 4, the above-described image forming apparatus supplies an original or a transfer material (generally referred to as paper) at a predetermined position in the apparatus for accurate exposure or image printing. There must be. For this reason, a manual feed guide is provided so as to be movable along the width direction of the paper feeding table, and the manual feed guide is moved in the width direction A according to the size of the paper to perform positioning to a predetermined position. The paper is guided to the apparatus body by abutting the side edge of the paper against the guide wall of the manual feed guide.

[0005]

In the manual feed guide described above, for example, a guide shaft or a guide groove is provided at the front edge of the paper feed tray as a moving means for moving the paper in the width direction on the paper feed tray. Guides are movably connected to these for alignment.

[0006] In such a device, the assembly of the device constituting the means for moving the manual guide becomes complicated and expensive. In addition, there is an adverse effect that dust is clogged in the guide groove connected to the manual feed guide, and maintenance is not easy. Furthermore, when performing manual paper feeding without using the manual guide, the manual guide must be moved to and located at one of the left and right ends of the paper feeding table, which hinders the work of guiding the paper.

As a solution to these problems, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 58-144855 proposes a mechanism in which a magnet for holding a position is provided on a sliding leg of a document guide. Such a proposal has the advantage that the configuration is simpler than the above-mentioned prior art. However, a guide slot is formed in the upper panel of the paper feed table (shelf) for guiding the document guide, and the document is passed through this guide throttle. The slide legs of the guide are inserted into the paper feed tray, and are inserted into the paper feed tray, and the above-mentioned magnet is used to attract the slide in the paper feed tray. Thus, the configuration is still sufficiently simplified. Absent. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a manual guide for an image forming apparatus that can be moved by a simple configuration and operation and that can be reliably positioned. Also, no maintenance is required,
An object of the present invention is to provide a manual feed guide of an image forming apparatus that prevents damage to a paper feed table caused by movement of the manual feed guide.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a uniaxially extending guide wall which abuts a side edge of a sheet and guides the sheet along the side edge, and a lower end of the guide wall. A guide portion of the image forming apparatus provided so as to be movable in the width direction on the sheet feeding table, the guide wall and the support portion are integrally formed of a synthetic resin or a rubber material. In addition, a groove (15, 16) is provided along the guide wall at a boundary portion between the guide wall and the support portion, and a lower surface of the guide wall facing the surface of the sheet feeding table is provided with :
It has a groove (8) extending in the uniaxial direction, and a magnet for positioning and holding is provided in the groove (8). Further, the magnet provided in the groove (8) is provided so as not to contact the surface of the paper feed tray, and a member that does not damage the upper surface of the paper feed tray is provided on a part or all of the lower surface of the manual guide. The manual feed guide further includes an abutting portion that abuts on a front edge of the paper feed tray to determine the direction of the guide wall, and is freely detachable from the paper feed tray.

[0009]

In such a configuration, the operator moves the butting portion of the manual feed guide of the image forming apparatus while hitting the front edge of the paper feeding table in accordance with the size of the sheet, and moves the manual feeding guide on the paper feeding table. It is located at a predetermined position. Here, the manual feed guide is held on the paper feed table by the magnetic force of a magnet provided inside the guide wall. With the guide wall as a reference, a side edge of the sheet is brought into contact with a guide surface which is an edge of the guide wall to guide the sheet into the apparatus.

When the manual feed guide is not used, the manual feed guide held on the paper feed tray is removed, and the manual feed guide is held on a side plate such as a side surface of the image forming apparatus.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a view of a manual feed guide according to the present invention as viewed from above, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a cross section taken along line II in FIG. As shown in the drawing, a manual guide 1 has a guide wall 4 having a substantially rectangular cross section having guide surfaces 2 and 3 extending in an axial direction and abutting on a side edge of a sheet, and a substantially horizontal left and right direction from a lower end of the guide wall 4. And the magnets 7 fixed inside the grooves 8 in the guide wall 4.

The manual guide 1 is integrally formed from a relatively soft member having a low coefficient of friction, such as plastic or rubber, and has a guide wall 4 formed with a groove 8 having an open lower surface and extending in the uniaxial direction. The rod-shaped magnet 7 is fixed in the groove 8 at a position slightly depressed from the lower surface 9 by an adhesive or the like so as not to protrude from the lower surface 9 of the support portions 5 and 6. That is, the configuration is such that the magnet does not contact and damage the sheet feeding table 10 described later.

The manual feed guide 1 has guide surfaces 2 and 3.
And the supporting portions 5 and 6 have grooves 15 and 16. This is because when the guide plate is formed, the side edges of the paper run on the radius due to the radius (R) of the joint between the guide surfaces 2 and 3 and the support portions 5 and 6 and the paper cannot be guided straight. By providing the grooves 15 and 16, the side edges of the sheet can contact the guide surfaces 2 and 3 almost perpendicularly, and the sheet can be reliably guided straight. The grooves 15 and 16 are formed integrally with the other parts of the manual feed guide 1.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section taken along line II-II of FIG. The lower surface 9 of the manual feed guide 1 is formed so as to be in close contact with the surface of the paper feed table 10. A front edge of the manual feed guide 1 is curved downward to form an abutting portion 13 so that the front edge of the manual feed guide 1 has a rounded edge 12 on the front surface of the sheet feeding table 10 so as to closely fit the edge 12. ing. For this reason, the movement or positioning of the manual feed guide 1 in the width direction is ensured. The abutting portion 13 is formed substantially perpendicular to the guide surfaces 2 and 3 of the guide wall 4, so that the guide wall 4 of the manual feed guide 1 always faces in the vertical direction with respect to the paper insertion slot. As shown in FIG. 5, the shape of the edge 12 may be square, and the butting portion 13 may be fitted in accordance with this shape.

In such a configuration, the manual feed guide 1
Will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a manual feed guide is held on the paper feed table 10 of the image forming apparatus. The paper feed table 10 has a smooth and magnetic upper surface, and is provided with a plurality of reference lines 20 (for example, A0, A1, and A) for feeding paper of a predetermined size.
2) corresponding to the paper width such as 2). The operator places the manual feed guide 1 on its support 5,
6 so that the lower surface 9 and the paper feed table 10 are in close contact with each other,
The manual guide 1 is moved to the position of the desired reference line 20 by sliding in the direction of arrow A while pressing the butting portion 13 of the manual guide 1 against the edge 12 of the paper feed table 10 in accordance with the predetermined paper size. Let it. During this movement, the guide wall 4 can be used as a handle. The manual feed guide 1 that has moved to a desired position is held on the paper feed table 10 by the magnetic force of the magnet 7 provided in the groove 8 of the guide wall 4. Next, the sheet is placed on the sheet feeding table 10 and guided to the transport port while abutting the side edge of the sheet using one of the guide surfaces 2 and 3 of the held manual feed guide 1.

When the manual feed guide 1 is not used,
The manual feed guide 1 is removed from the paper feed table 10 and moved to a place where there is no hindrance in performing image formation, such as the side surface 25 or the upper portion 26 of the apparatus main body.

The magnet 7 is preferably a ferrite permanent magnet, a flexible magnet formed by mixing a magnet with a synthetic resin such as rubber, or the like. The shape of the magnet 7 may be, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped or a columnar magnet according to the shape of the groove 8 of the manual feed guide 1 to be formed. It is desirable that these magnets do not move when guiding the sheet when the manual feed guide 1 is stopped, but have a magnetic force that can be moved by the operator during the movement.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of FIG. 3, in which the front edge 12 of the paper feed tray 10 is square, and the manual feed guide 1 is positioned on the paper feed tray 10 in accordance with this shape. Show. Reference numeral 17 denotes a guide plate provided integrally or connected to the abutting portion 13 of the manual feed guide 1 and extending in the paper feed direction along the lower surface of the paper feed table 10. , So that the sheet feeding table 10 is sandwiched therebetween. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a member 30 such as felt, sponge, Teflon tape or the like may be provided on part or all of the lower surface 9 of the manual feed guide 1 by bonding with an adhesive or the like. In the above-described embodiment, the manual guide 1 having a configuration in which the paper is guided by any one of the right and left guide surfaces 2 and 3 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. Only one surface may be formed as a guide surface.

[0019]

The manual feed guide of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be manufactured with a simple configuration without modifying the paper feed tray, and a member that does not damage the paper feed tray is provided on the lower surface of the manual feed guide to be used. Therefore, the movement on the sheet feeding table is smooth, and the sheet can be reliably held on the sheet feeding table by the magnetic force. In addition, since the manual feed guide is detachable from the paper feed table by a magnet provided in the manual feed guide, when the manual feed guide is not necessary, the manual feed guide can be held at another place (side or upper part of the apparatus main body), which hinders the image forming operation. Nothing.

[0020]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a cross section taken along line II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section taken along line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the manual feed guide according to the present invention is arranged in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of FIG. 3 according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of FIG. 2 according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manual guide 2 Guide surface 3 Guide surface 4 Guide wall 5 Support part 6 Support part 7 Magnet 8 Groove 9 Lower surface 10 Paper feed table

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A guide wall extending in a uniaxial direction for abutting a side edge of the sheet and guiding the sheet along the side edge; and a support portion extending in a substantially horizontal direction from a lower end of the guide wall. In a manual guide of an image forming apparatus movably provided in a width direction on a paper board, the guide wall and the support portion are integrally formed of a synthetic resin or a rubber material, and a boundary portion between the guide wall and the support portion. Are provided with grooves (15, 16) along the guide wall, and the guide wall of the guide wall facing the surface of the paper feed table is provided .
A manual guide for an image forming apparatus , comprising a groove (8) extending in the uniaxial direction on a lower surface, and a magnet for positioning and holding is provided in the groove (8). 2. The manual feeding guide according to claim 1, wherein the magnet provided in the groove is provided so as not to contact the surface of the sheet feeding table. 3. The manual feeding guide according to claim 1, wherein a part of the lower surface of the manual feeding guide is provided with a member that does not damage the upper surface of the sheet feeding table. 4. The manual feed guide further includes a butting portion that abuts on a front edge of the paper feed tray to determine the direction of the guide wall,
The manual feeding guide according to claim 1, wherein the manual feeding guide is freely detachable from the paper feeding table.