JP4748485B2 - Recording paper stacker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording paper stacker mounted on an image forming apparatus or an image reading apparatus, and more particularly to a recording paper stacker having an auxiliary tray (also referred to as an extension tray).

  In a printer or a facsimile apparatus, a recording sheet on which image recording or printing has been performed is stacked on a recording sheet stacker, and in an image reading apparatus such as a scanner, a recording sheet on which image reading has been completed is stacked on a recording sheet stacker. In such a recording paper stacker, in order to reduce the size of the apparatus, the recording paper holding surface is generally inclined to the recording paper discharge port side, and the recording paper is sequentially stacked thereon. Further, various recording paper stackers having a rotating or sliding auxiliary tray have been proposed so as to be compatible with recording paper of a large size such as A3 size or B4 size.

  For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-144045, an auxiliary tray is rotatably connected to an end portion of a main tray, and the effective area is switched according to the copy size by rotating and storing or opening the auxiliary tray. A tray is disclosed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-112847 discloses a general sliding structure that prevents an ejected sheet from falling by providing an extension tray that can be pulled out from a fixed tray.

JP 58-1444045 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-112847

  However, the auxiliary tray of the recording paper stacker described above cannot provide sufficient strength for stacking a large amount of recording paper. For example, the paper discharge tray described in Patent Document 1 has a structure in which the load of the auxiliary tray is supported by the rotation connecting portion when the auxiliary tray is rotated and widened. Therefore, even if reinforcing ribs are provided on the auxiliary tray, a sufficient supporting force cannot be obtained, and the auxiliary tray easily swings and the stability of the stacked recording paper becomes insufficient. Further, even in the paper discharge tray device described in Patent Document 2, when the extension tray is pulled out from the fixed tray, the extension tray is supported by the portion remaining on the fixed tray, so that a sufficient supporting force cannot be obtained. For this reason, the extension tray easily swings, and even if an end fence is provided, the stability of the stacked recording sheets becomes insufficient. For example, since the number of recording sheets to be copied is usually larger than the number of originals, it is extremely important to stably load a large number of recording sheets.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording paper stacker that can give a sufficient supporting force to a movable tray for expanding a stacking surface and enables stable recording paper stacking.

A recording paper stacker according to the present invention is a recording paper stacker for stacking recording paper discharged from a discharge port, a stacker body having a stacking surface, a movable tray connected to the stacker body in a telescopic manner, the loading surface and the opposite side projecting member which is fixed to the surface of the projecting member and the abutting possess abutment means for supporting the stacker body and movable tray, wherein the stacker body, the movable tray and the The opposite end is rotatable .

  Sufficient support force can be applied to the movable tray, and stable recording paper can be stacked.

  FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a recording paper stacker according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of an auxiliary tray of the recording paper stacker, and FIG. 3 is a view of the auxiliary tray of FIG. FIG. The configuration of the recording paper stacker according to this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording paper stacker main body 1 is inclined to the recording paper discharge port side (left side of the drawing), and the discharged recording paper is aligned on the inclined surface by contacting the front wall 10. Load it up. The recording paper stacker main body 1 can be rotated in the direction of the arrow 102 with a fulcrum 101 contacting the front wall 10 as a rotation axis. The fulcrum 101 of the recording paper stack main body 1 may be a hinge connection with the main body, or may be an engagement that can rotate in the direction of the arrow 102.

  An auxiliary tray 11 is slidably housed in the direction of arrow 103 on the back side of the recording paper stacker body 1, and the auxiliary tray 11 can be exposed from below the recording paper stacker body 1 by pulling up the auxiliary tray knob 12. it can.

  2 and 3, an auxiliary tray rib 13 is formed in a convex shape at a predetermined position in the direction of the arrow 103 on the back side of the auxiliary tray 11, and is further slidably connected to the recording paper stacker body 1 at the lower part. A slide engagement portion 14 is provided. The auxiliary tray rib 13 is composed of a plurality of convex plates extending in the direction of the arrow 103, and is fixed perpendicularly to the back surface of the auxiliary tray rib 13. When the auxiliary tray rib 13 is pulled up in the direction of the arrow 103, as will be described later, the auxiliary tray rib 13 comes into contact with the convex contact support portion 15 disposed behind the recording paper stacker body 1 and rides on the contact support portion 15. Locked on its edge. Therefore, it is desirable that the convex shape of the auxiliary tray rib 13 is a convex shape having the illustrated inclination so that the auxiliary tray 11 can be easily pulled up. The auxiliary tray rib 13 stably locks the auxiliary tray 11 on the contact support portion 15 and has a function of reinforcing the auxiliary tray 11.

  4A to 4C are side cross-sectional views for explaining the operation of the recording paper stacker according to this embodiment. First, when the auxiliary tray 11 is lifted in the direction of the arrow 103 while holding the auxiliary tray knob 12, the front inclined portion of the auxiliary tray rib 13 provided on the back side of the auxiliary tray 11 is applied as shown in FIG. It contacts the side surface portion 15 a of the contact support portion 15.

  Further, when the auxiliary tray 11 is pulled up in the direction of the arrow 103, as shown in FIG. 4B, the auxiliary tray rib 13 tries to get over the side surface of the abutting support portion 15, and the recording paper stacker main body 1 is supported at the fulcrum 101. Rotate in the direction of the arrow 102a around the center and lift up, and the rear inclined portion of the auxiliary tray rib 13 slides into the top portion 15b of the contact support portion 15.

  As shown in FIG. 4C, when the inclined portion at the rear of the auxiliary tray rib 13 comes into contact with the top 15 b of the contact support portion 15, the recording paper stacker body 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow 102 b around the fulcrum 101. Then, the auxiliary tray rib 13 is engaged with the top portion 15b of the contact support portion 15 to stably support the auxiliary tray 11 and the recording paper stacker body 1 together. As can be understood from the engaged state of FIG. 4C, the auxiliary tray rib 13 is locked with a sufficient force between the rear inclined portion of the auxiliary tray rib 13 and the top portion 15b of the contact support portion 15, and It is desirable that they are formed at an inclination angle that coincides with each other.

  FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the recording paper stacker showing a state in which the auxiliary tray is extended and the recording paper is stacked as shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, even when the auxiliary tray 11 is extended and a large amount of recording paper 20 is stacked thereon, the auxiliary tray 11 and the auxiliary tray rib 13 contact the contact support portion 15 in the recording paper stacker body 1. Therefore, recording paper can be stacked very stably. In particular, since the auxiliary tray 11 is locked in a state in which the rear inclined portion of the auxiliary tray rib 13 extending in the direction of the arrow 103 is placed on the top 15b of the contact support portion 15, the auxiliary tray 11 floats in the air. Compared with the existing structure, a much larger support force can be obtained, and therefore the stability of recording paper stacking can be greatly improved.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of an image recording apparatus to which the recording paper stacker shown in FIG. 1 is applied. For the sake of simplicity, members having the same functions as those of the recording stacker shown in FIG. That is, the recording paper discharge unit 30 is disposed in front of the recording paper stacker main body 1, and the discharged recording paper is stacked on the recording paper stacker main body 1. As described above, the recording paper stacker main body 1 is rotatable in the direction of the arrow 102, and the auxiliary tray 11 having the auxiliary tray rib 13 on the back side is slidably stored in the direction of the arrow 103. FIG. 6 shows a state where the auxiliary tray 11 is pulled up.

  In the image recording apparatus of FIG. 6, the cover of the automatic document feeder (ADF) is used as the contact support portion 15 shown in FIG. Therefore, the auxiliary tray 11 is stably locked with the auxiliary tray rib 13 placed on the top of the ADF cover 15. This image recording apparatus has a configuration in which a recording paper stacker body 1 and an ADF cover 15, a recording paper discharge unit 30, a document setting table 41, and a document stacker 42 are arranged on the upper surface of the apparatus. As described above, in the configuration in which the recording paper stacker body 1, the document setting table 41, and the ADF are disposed adjacent to each other, the auxiliary tray is arranged so as not to interfere with the operation of the rear ADF when a large recording paper is discharged. It is indispensable to stably hold the recording paper loaded using the No. 11. The recording paper stacker main body 1 according to the present invention is locked with the auxiliary tray rib 13 placed on the top of the ADF cover 15, so that the auxiliary tray 11 can be stably supported as shown in FIG. It is suitable for the image recording apparatus having the configuration.

  As described above, the recording paper stacker according to the first aspect of the present invention is a recording paper stacker for stacking recording paper discharged from the discharge port, and has a stacker main body having a stacking surface, and a stacker main body that is extendable and retractable. A movable tray connected to the movable tray; a protrusion member fixed to a surface opposite to the loading surface of the movable tray; and a contact support means that contacts the protrusion member and supports the stacker body and the movable tray. Characterize. Since the movable tray, also called an auxiliary tray or extension tray, is supported by the abutting support means by the projection member, a sufficient supporting force can be given to the movable tray, and stable recording paper can be stacked.

  Further, the protruding member is preferably a plurality of ribs having inclined surfaces extending in the expansion / contraction direction, and the inclined surface behind the ribs engages with the top of the contact support means in a state where the movable tray is extended. Is desirable.

  The present invention can be applied not only to a printer or a facsimile machine but also to a recording paper stacker of a scanner, and is generally applicable to a recording paper stacker having an auxiliary tray or an extension tray.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a recording paper stacker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of an auxiliary tray of the recording paper stacker shown in FIG. 1. It is the perspective view which looked at the auxiliary tray of FIG. 2 from the auxiliary tray rib side. (A)-(C) are side surface sectional drawings for demonstrating operation | movement of the recording paper stacker by a present Example. FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the recording paper stacker showing a state in which the auxiliary tray is extended and recording paper is stacked as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an image recording apparatus to which the recording paper stacker illustrated in FIG. 1 is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording paper stacker main body 10 Front wall 11 Auxiliary tray 12 Auxiliary tray picking part 13 Auxiliary tray rib 14 Slide engagement part 15 Contact support part (ADF cover)
20 Recording paper 30 Recording paper discharge unit 101 Support point 102 Rotation direction arrow 103 Draw direction

Claims (3)

A recording paper stacker for stacking recording paper discharged from the discharge port,
A stacker body having a loading surface;
A movable tray connected to the stacker body in a telescopic manner;
A projecting member fixed to a surface opposite to the loading surface of the movable tray;
Abutting support means for supporting the stacker body and the movable tray in contact with the protruding member of the movable tray;
I have a,
An end of the stacker body opposite to the movable tray is freely rotatable .   The recording paper stacker according to claim 1, wherein the protruding member includes a plurality of ribs having inclined surfaces extending in the expansion and contraction direction.   3. The recording paper stacker according to claim 1, wherein, in a state where the movable tray is extended, an inclined surface on the rear side of the rib is engaged with the top of the contact support means.

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