JP4347203B2 - Recording medium storage device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium storage device and an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a recording medium storage device for storing a recording medium such as printing paper attached to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a means for positioning a recording medium guide for aligning the position of the stored recording medium is provided. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional recording medium storage device.

  In this case, as shown in the figure, as a means for positioning the recording medium guide 13, the recording medium guide positioning groove 12 provided on the bottom surface of the recording medium storage device 11 and the recording medium guide 13 are provided. The recording medium positioning projection 14 is used. Then, the recording medium guide 13 is positioned at a position corresponding to the size of each recording medium by fitting (engaging) the recording medium guide positioning groove 12 and the recording medium positioning projection 14.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic view of another conventional recording medium storage device.

  In another example, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium guide positioning protrusion 16 of the rack 15 formed on the recording medium guide 13 is used as a means for positioning the recording medium guide 13. Then, the recording medium guide positioning protrusion 16 is fitted into the recording medium guide positioning groove 12 provided on the side surface of the rib, thereby positioning the recording medium guide 13 at a position corresponding to the size of each recording medium.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic view of still another conventional recording medium storage device.

  In still another example, as shown in FIG. 4, the elastic shape portion 17 of the rack 15 formed on the recording medium guide 13 is used as a means for positioning the recording medium guide 13. The elastic-shaped portion 17 is pressed against the recording medium storage device 11, and the recording medium guide 13 is stopped and positioned by the frictional force generated at that portion.

In any of the above-described examples, the gear 18 engaged with the rack 15 is used as means for moving the recording medium guide 13 in the left-right direction in accordance with the dimensions of the recording medium.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-7260

  However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, since the recording medium storage device 11 is manufactured by resin molding, it is necessary to secure the thickness strength of the recording medium guide positioning groove 12. The arrangement dimension of the recording medium guide positioning grooves 12 provided on the bottom surface of the recording medium cannot be shortened. Therefore, the recording medium guide positioning grooves 12 are actually arranged at intervals of 1 to 2 [mm]. Since the positioning accuracy of the recording medium guide 13 depends on the arrangement size of the recording medium guide positioning grooves 12, the recording medium guide 13 can be positioned only at intervals of 1 to 2 [mm]. . For this reason, it was impossible to align the recording medium with the dimensional variation corrected at intervals of 1 [mm] or less.

  Further, when the frictional force generated by the pressing of the elastic shape portion 17 of the rack 15 formed on the recording medium guide 13 is used, a load sufficient to support the weight of the recording medium if the recording medium storage device 11 has a large number of recording media. In order to act, an excessive force is applied to the elastic shape portion 17, causing plastic deformation and a pressure that supports the weight of the recording medium cannot be obtained.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and restricts the rotation of a gear having a larger diameter than the gear engaged with the rack of the recording medium guide by the regulating member so that the positioning accuracy of the recording medium guide is high. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium storage device and an image forming apparatus in which positional deviation does not occur even when the number of recording medium storage is large.

To this end, the recording medium storage device of the present invention is a recording medium storage device for storing a recording medium, and includes first and second recording medium guides each formed with a rack, and the racks. A first gear that interlocks the first and second recording medium guides, a second gear that forms a two-stage gear with the first gear, and a second gear restriction that restricts rotation of the second gear. A member and a fixing means for a second gear restricting member that can contact and separate from the second gear restricting member, and the diameter of the second gear is larger than the diameter of the first gear.

  According to the present invention, the recording medium storage device restricts the rotation of the gear having a larger diameter than the gear engaged with the rack of the recording medium guide by the restricting member. For this reason, the positioning accuracy of the recording medium guide is high, and no positional deviation occurs even if the number of stored recording media is large.

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

  FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the paper cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 5, reference numeral 31 denotes a printer as an image forming apparatus in the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus in the present embodiment may be an apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine, but will be described here as a printer. The printer 31 forms a monochrome or color image on a recording medium 30 such as a printing paper, an envelope, or an OHP (Over Head Projector) sheet by an electrophotographic method. The printer 31 may form a color image. Here, a case where the printer 31 forms a monochrome image will be described. In this case, an image drum unit 53 serving as an image forming unit including an LED (Light Emitting Diode) head 55 and a photosensitive drum 54 is disposed on the conveyance path of the recording medium 30.

  The printer 31 includes a paper cassette 21 as a recording medium storage device that stores a large number of recording media 30. A paper feed roller 56 is disposed in contact with the surface of the recording medium 30 stored in the paper cassette 21.

  A fixing unit 57 that fixes the image on the recording medium 30 is disposed downstream of the image drum unit 53 in the transport path. The fixing unit 57 includes an upper fixing roller and a lower fixing roller therein. A paper discharge tray 58 is disposed on the downstream side of the fixing unit 57 in the transport path.

  In the present embodiment, the paper cassette 21 is detachably attached to the printer 31, and the recording medium 30 is accommodated therein. The paper cassette 21 has a function of supplying the printer 31 with the right and left positions of the recording medium 30 aligned correctly.

  In this case, the paper cassette 21 includes a tail guide 22 that aligns the position of the rear end of the recording medium 30 as shown in FIG. The tail guide 22 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow A along the tail guide guide groove 23 formed on the floor surface of the paper cassette 21 according to the size of the recording medium 30 to adjust the position. be able to. The paper cassette 21 includes a first recording medium guide 35 and a second recording medium guide 36 that align the left and right positions of the recording medium 30. The first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 correspond to the size of the recording medium 30, and the first recording medium guide guide groove 26 formed on the floor surface of the paper cassette 21 and The position can be adjusted by moving in the direction indicated by the arrow D along the second recording medium guide guide groove 27.

  Next, a mechanism for moving the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a recording medium guide mechanism of a paper cassette in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are combined with a rack 37 and a rack 38 which are integrally or separately formed, respectively. . At an intermediate position between the rack 37 and the rack 38, the rack 37 and the rack 38 are engaged, and the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are interlocked with the rack 37 and the rack 38 in the left-right direction. A first gear 39 is provided. The rack 37 and the rack 38 are formed with a tooth shape in a range where the first gear 39 is engaged with the rack 37 and the rack 38, and engage with a tooth shape disposed on the entire circumference of the first gear 39.

  A second gear 40 formed separately or integrally with the first gear 39 is disposed coaxially with the rotation shaft of the first gear 39. When the second gear 40 is formed separately from the first gear 39, the second gear 40 is coupled to the first gear 39 and is configured to rotate simultaneously with the first gear 39. A tooth mold is formed on the entire circumference of the second gear 40 in the same manner as the first gear 39. However, the gear diameter is larger than that of the first gear 39 and the tooth mold is formed on the circumference. It is configured as a two-stage gear having a reduced gear reduction ratio.

  Further, the tooth shape of the second gear 40 engages with the tip end portion of the second gear restricting member 41 formed integrally with or separately from the paper cassette 21. Note that the floor surface of the paper cassette 21 indicates the horizontal position of various medium dimensions, and the medium dimension position for use as a guide when positioning the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36. A mark 42 is displayed.

  Next, the operation of the paper cassette 21 configured as described above will be described.

  First, the operator stores the recording medium 30 in the paper cassette 21, and adjusts the positions of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 to the horizontal dimension of the recording medium 30. The first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are pushed and moved toward the first gear 39 side in the central direction. When the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 move toward the center, that is, toward the center, they are coupled to the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36. The rack 37 and the rack 38 thus moved also move toward the center of the paper cassette 21.

  The first gear 39 engaged with the rack 37 and the rack 38 starts to rotate in the moving direction of the rack 37 and the rack 38. As a result, the second gear 40 coupled or integrated with the first gear 39 also starts to rotate in the same direction as the first gear 39. When the second gear 40 rotates, the tip of the second gear restriction member 41 disposed in the paper cassette 21 and the tooth shape formed on the circumference of the second gear 40 are the second gear restriction member. By the elastic force 41, the fitting and the detachment, that is, the engagement and the disengagement are repeated.

  The first and second recording medium guides 35 and 36 are in contact with the recording medium 30 accommodated in the paper cassette 21 or the size of the recording medium 30 to be accommodated. When the medium dimension position mark 42 displayed on the screen 21 coincides with the positions of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36, the operator records the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 35. The operation of pushing the medium guide 36 is stopped. At this time, the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are located at a position where the tip of the second gear restricting member 41 is engaged with the tooth shape formed on the circumference of the second gear 40. Positioned.

  Further, when the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are moved in order to adjust the recording medium 30 having a small size to the recording medium 30 having a large size, the operator must first move the first recording medium guide 35. And the second recording medium guide 36 is pushed toward the side opposite to the first gear 39 side described above, and the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are operated in a direction in which the mutual distance increases. . In this case, the tooth shape formed on the tip of the second gear restricting member 41 disposed on the paper cassette 21 and the circumference of the second gear 40 is similar to the above-described operation. The engagement and disengagement, that is, the engagement and the disengagement are repeated by the elastic force. Then, at the stage where the operator stops the operation of pushing the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36, the tip is formed on the tip of the second gear restricting member 41 and the circumference of the second gear 40. At the position where the tooth mold is engaged, the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are positioned.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a gear that links the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 in the left-right direction is combined with the first gear 39 and a different gear called the second gear 40 to reduce the speed. A two-stage gear having a ratio is formed, and the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are positioned at the circumferential portion of the second gear 40. For this reason, the positioning interval defined in the circumferential portion of the second gear 40 becomes smaller in the portion of the first gear 39 according to the gear reduction ratio.

For example, when the diameter of the first gear 39 is 20 [mm], the diameter of the second gear 40 is 60 [mm], and the tooth width of the second gear 40 is 2 [mm], the portion of the first gear 39 The positioning interval at
(20 ÷ 60) × 2 = 0.67 [mm]
It becomes. Thereby, the positioning interval of the first gear 39 can be made smaller than before, and the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 can be positioned with high accuracy. For this reason, it is possible to prevent skew during feeding of the recording medium 30 due to the misalignment of the recording media 30.

  Further, it is a force necessary to hold the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36, and is a force necessary at the engaging portion between the second gear restriction member 41 and the second gear 40. This holding force F2 can be reduced according to the gear reduction ratio, rather than the holding force F1 required at the rack 37 and the engaging portion between the rack 38 and the first gear 39. Therefore, the stress on the second gear restricting member 41 generated by the holding force F2 can also be reduced according to the gear reduction ratio, so that the second gear restricting member 41 can be prevented from sag. Therefore, when the paper cassette 21 is inserted into the printer 31, it is possible to prevent the displacement of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 caused by the inertial force of the recording medium 30.

  Further, the reduction in the holding force can be transferred to an increase in holding force due to an increase in the storage amount of the recording medium 30, which contributes to an improvement in the storage amount of the recording medium 30 in the paper cassette 21. Since the reduction rate of the holding force is proportional to the gear reduction ratio, the reduction effect increases as the diameter of the second gear 40 increases.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, about what has the same structure as 1st Embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted by providing the same code | symbol. The description of the same operation and the same effect as those of the first embodiment is also omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a recording medium guide mechanism of a paper cassette in the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 8 in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a fixed piece acting portion 45 is disposed on the printer 31 side, and a fixed piece as a fixing means for the second gear restricting member 41 is disposed on the paper cassette 21 side. 46, a fixed piece reset spring 47, a fixed piece limiter 48, and a fixed piece moving groove 49 are provided. In addition, a second gear auxiliary restricting portion 50 as a second gear restricting means is disposed at the tip of the fixed piece 46.

  In this embodiment, a torsion coil spring is used as the fixed piece reset spring 47. However, as the fixed piece reset spring 47, a compression coil spring, a tension coil spring, a leaf spring, a resin molded product, and the like are also used. Any type of elastic body can be used as long as it can move the fixed piece 46. Since other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a first diagram showing the operation of the fixed piece in the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a second diagram showing the operation of the fixed piece in the second embodiment of the present invention. These are the 3rd figures which show operation | movement of the fixing piece in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  First, before the paper cassette 21 is inserted, the fixed piece reset spring 47 disposed in the paper cassette 21 is actuated, so that the fixed piece 46 comes into contact with and stops at the position of the fixed piece limiter 48.

Then, the operator inserts the paper cassette 21 into the printer 31. The fixed piece 46 is used until the insertion of the paper cassette 21 into the printer 31 is completed, that is, when the fixed piece 46 continues to be inserted, as shown in FIG. The movement starts toward the second gear restricting member 41 along the fixed piece moving groove 49 provided in the cassette 21. Then, at the position where the insertion of the paper cassette 21 into the printer 31 is completed, the fixed piece 46 comes into contact with the second gear restricting member 41 and stops. (Fig. 12)
In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, the second gear auxiliary restricting portion 50 disposed at the tip of the fixed piece 46 engages with the tooth shape of the second gear 40. Since the second gear restricting member 41 is fixed by the fixing piece 46, the state engaged with the second gear 40 is maintained. The contact between the fixed piece 46 and the second gear restricting member 41 is maintained until the operator performs an operation of removing the paper cassette 21 from the printer 31.

  When the paper cassette 21 is removed from the printer 31, the fixed piece 46 is separated from the second gear restricting member 41 by the urging force of the fixed piece reset spring 47 disposed in the paper cassette 21, and moves in the direction of the fixed piece limiter 48. The movement starts and stops at a position where the fixed piece 46 contacts the fixed piece limiter 48. At this time, the engagement between the second gear 40 and the second gear auxiliary restricting portion 50 is released, and the engagement of the second gear restricting member 41 by the operation of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36. Can be engaged and disengaged. Since other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the fixed piece 46 to be brought into contact with the second gear restriction member 41 is provided, so that the second gear restriction member 41 is inserted when the paper cassette 21 is inserted into the printer 31. Is forcibly fixed by the fixed piece 46, and the second gear auxiliary restricting portion 50 disposed at the tip of the fixed piece 46 assists the restriction of the second gear 40. For this reason, the strength of the restricted portion is increased by the two restrictions, and even when the paper cassette 21 has a large number of recording media 30 to be stored, it is generated by the inertial force of the recording medium 30 when the paper cassette 21 is inserted into the printer 31. The first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 can be prevented from being displaced, and the alignment of the recording medium 30 can be maintained.

  Further, the restriction of the second gear restricting member 41 by the fixed piece 46 and the restriction of the second gear 40 by the second gear auxiliary restricting portion 50 are performed by the fixed piece reset spring 47 when the paper cassette 21 is removed from the printer 31. Since it is automatically released by the action, it is possible to provide the paper cassette 21 with good operability without hindering the position resetting operation of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36. Can do.

  Furthermore, since the engagement force of the second gear restricting member 41 can be weakened, the sound caused by the load and contact / separation when the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are moved can be reduced. .

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, about the thing which has the same structure as 1st and 2nd embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted by providing the same code | symbol. Also, the description of the same operations and effects as those of the first and second embodiments is omitted.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing a recording medium guide mechanism of a paper cassette in the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 13 in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, when the insertion of the paper cassette 21 into the printer 31 is completed, the action portion 51 fixed to the printer 31 side has the second gear restricting member 41. It comes to contact directly with. Since the configuration of other points is the same as that of the second embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the present embodiment will be described. Note that the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the present embodiment is almost the same as the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the second embodiment, so only the different parts will be described.

  In this case, when the operator inserts the paper cassette 21 into the printer 31, the second gear restricting member 41 approaches the action portion 51 immediately before the insertion of the paper cassette 21 is completed, and when the insertion of the paper cassette 21 is completed, The two-gear restricting member 41 comes into contact with the action portion 51. Then, the contact of the second gear restricting member 41 with the action portion 51 is released by removing the paper cassette 21 from the printer 31.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the function of the fixing piece 46 (FIG. 8) other than increasing the strength of the restricting portion can be obtained only by the second gear restricting member 41 and the action portion 51. Therefore, members such as the fixed piece 46 and the fixed piece reset spring 47 can be reduced, and the space around the second gear restricting member 41 can be reduced. In particular, as compared with the second embodiment, the present invention is effective for the paper cassette 21 for storing the small recording medium 30 and the paper cassette 21 for storing the recording medium 30 at a medium level.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, about the thing which has the same structure as 1st-3rd embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted by providing the same code | symbol. Explanation of the same operations and effects as those of the first to third embodiments is also omitted.

  FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing a recording medium guide mechanism of a paper cassette according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, instead of the second gear 40 in the first embodiment, an intermittent second gear 52 is provided as shown in FIG. The circumference of the tooth shape of the intermittent second gear 52 is set to the same length as the movement amount of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36. Further, on the circumference of the intermittent second gear 52, tooth shapes are formed only in a portion corresponding to the size of the regular recording medium 30 defined to be able to be stored in the paper cassette 21 and several before and after the portion. . In addition, the circumference of the diameter dimension which does not engage with the 2nd gear control member 41 is formed in the range which does not correspond to the dimension of the regular recording medium 30 on the circumference of the said intermittent 2nd gear 52. As shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the present embodiment will be described. Note that the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the present embodiment is substantially the same as the operation of the paper cassette 21 in the first embodiment, so only the different parts will be described.

  In this case, the second gear restricting member 41 engages with the intermittent second gear 52 and positions the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 as in the first embodiment. It can be carried out. However, on the circumference of the intermittent second gear 52, tooth shapes are formed only on a portion corresponding to the size of the regular recording medium 30 defined as being capable of being stored in the paper cassette 21 and on the front and rear of the portion. Yes. Therefore, when the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are located in the dimension range of the recording medium 30 other than the fixed shape, the second gear restricting member 41 includes the intermittent second gear 52 and the tooth shape. Therefore, the urging force of the second gear restricting member 41 is not applied to the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, no biasing force is generated in the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 in portions other than the regular dimensions of the recording medium 30. Therefore, for example, when the dimension of the recording medium 30 is to be switched from A5 to A6, the operations of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 are performed smoothly during that time. Therefore, in addition to the improvement in positioning accuracy in the first embodiment, the operability of the first recording medium guide 35 and the second recording medium guide 36 can also be improved.

  In the first to fourth embodiments, the case where the image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic printer has been described. However, in the present invention, the image forming apparatus employs an electrophotographic system or other various printing systems. Any type of device may be used as long as it can be used to form an image on a recording medium. For example, it may be a copying machine, a facsimile, an MFP (Multi Function Printer), or the like. Further, the recording medium storage device in the present invention may be an automatic recording medium feeding device or a manual recording medium feeding device of an image forming apparatus, or a copying machine, a facsimile, an MFP, an image scanner having a document reading unit. It can also be used for a document medium feeding device of an image reading device such as an OCR.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the spirit of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a recording medium guide mechanism for a paper cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic of the conventional recording medium storage apparatus. It is the schematic of the other conventional recording medium storage apparatus. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of still another conventional recording medium storage device. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the paper cassette in the 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1 in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the recording medium guide mechanism of the paper cassette in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 8 in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a 1st figure which shows operation | movement of the fixing piece in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a 2nd figure which shows operation | movement of the fixing piece in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a 3rd figure which shows operation | movement of the fixing piece in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the recording medium guide mechanism of the paper cassette in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. 13 in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the recording medium guide mechanism of the paper cassette in the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

21 Paper cassette 30 Recording medium 31 Printer 35 First recording medium guide 36 Second recording medium guide 37, 38 Rack 39 First gear 40 Second gear 41 Second gear restricting member 46 Fixed piece 50 Second gear auxiliary restricting portion 52 Intermittent second gear

Claims (8)

(A) A recording medium storage device for storing a recording medium,
(B) first and second recording medium guides each formed with a rack;
(C) a first gear that engages with each of the racks and interlocks the first and second recording medium guides;
(D) a second gear that forms a two-stage gear with the first gear;
(E) a second gear restricting member that restricts rotation of the second gear;
(F) a fixing means for the second gear restriction member that can contact and separate from the second gear restriction member;
(G) The recording medium storage device, wherein the diameter of the second gear is larger than the diameter of the first gear. The recording medium storage device according to claim 1, wherein the first gear and the second gear are integrally formed. The recording medium storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a second gear restricting unit disposed on the fixing unit. The recording medium storage device according to claim 1, wherein the second gear is an intermittent second gear. The recording medium storage device according to claim 4, wherein a circumferential length of the second gear is the same as a moving amount of the first and second recording medium guides. An image forming apparatus comprising the recording medium storage device according to claim 1. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second gear restriction member is fixed to the second gear by the fixing unit when the recording medium storage device is inserted. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second gear restricting means restricts the second gear when the recording medium storage device is inserted.

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