JP5104634B2 - Paper cassette - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette that is provided in a main body of a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, or the like so as to be able to be pulled out and stores recording paper, and in particular, a guide member for positioning an end of the recording paper The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette that is slidable according to the paper size.

  Printers, copiers, facsimiles, and the like include an image forming apparatus that forms images such as characters and graphics on recording paper based on image data read from a document or image data received by facsimile, and recording supplied to the image forming apparatus A paper feed cassette for storing paper is provided in the apparatus main body so that it can be pulled out. An end guide for positioning the recording paper at a predetermined position by holding the rear end in the paper feeding direction of the recording paper to be stored is provided inside the paper feeding cassette (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The end guide is slidable in the paper feeding direction so as to be compatible with a plurality of paper sizes, and can be fixed at a specified position corresponding to the rear end of the standard size recording paper in the paper feeding direction. Thus, for example, when storing A4 size recording paper in the paper feed cassette, the user slides and fixes the end guide to the specified position of A4 size, and then aligns the recording paper so as to match the position of the end guide. By placing the recording paper, the recording paper can be stored while being positioned at a predetermined position inside the paper feeding cassette.

JP 2001-88948 A

  However, in the conventional paper feed cassette, there may be a so-called no-feed problem in which the recording paper is not fed out from the paper feed cassette at the start of the printing operation. More specifically, as described above, the slidable end guide can be fixed only at the specified position, but the user has accidentally moved the end guide to a position other than the specified position, that is, the end guide. There is a case where the printing operation is started without fixing the guide. In this case, the paper feed roller provided at the leading end side in the paper feed direction of the recording paper starts to rotate while being pressed against the recording paper. However, since the position of the end guide is not fixed, the recording paper and the end guide are displaced in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction due to the force received from the paper feeding roller. Even if the roller rotates, the recording paper is not fed out.

  Even if the user fixes the end guide at a specified position, the end guide may be damaged by an impact when placing a stack of recording paper inside the paper feed cassette or by an impact when closing the pulled paper feed cassette. There is a case where the fixation is released and the position moves to a position other than the specified position. Also in this case, as described above, the recording paper and the end guide are displaced due to the force received from the paper feeding roller, and when the paper feeding roller is separated from the recording paper, the feeding of the recording paper is stopped.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and prevents the end guide from being moved out of the specified position due to a human error, and the end guide fixed at the specified position is released by an impact or the like. So as to prevent a deviation from the specified position.

  In order to achieve the above object, a paper feed cassette according to the present invention includes a cassette main body for storing recording paper to be fed out by a paper feed roller and supplied to the image forming apparatus, and a recording paper end in the cassette main body. A guide groove extending in a direction orthogonal to the portion and having a wide guide fixing portion provided at a predetermined location, and an elastically deformable snap arm are provided on the side portion so as to open a gap of a predetermined width, and the snap arm is A positioning guide that is slidably installed inside the guide groove while being bent inward, and that is positioned in a state where the snap arm is extended outwardly by the guide fixing portion to position the end of the recording paper. And a deflection preventing piece having a thickness comparable to the width of the gap is provided so as to protrude, and the positioning is performed by inserting the deflection preventing piece into the gap from the side opposite to the recording paper placement side. By being attached to the guide, and a stopper which the snap arm is prevented from flexing inwardly, but with a.

  In the sheet feeding cassette according to the present invention, the stopper includes a slider piece that slides along the guide groove.

  In the sheet feeding cassette according to the present invention, the slider piece has a thickness approximately equal to the width of the gap, and is inserted into the gap when the stopper is attached to the positioning guide.

  In the sheet feeding cassette according to the present invention, the stopper includes an attachment piece having a claw portion that can be hooked on the snap arm.

  In the sheet feeding cassette according to the present invention, the guide groove is provided along a sheet feeding direction by the sheet feeding roller, and the positioning guide positions a rear end of the recording sheet in the sheet feeding direction.

  According to the paper feed cassette according to the present invention, when the stopper is attached to the positioning guide, the deflection preventing piece having a thickness approximately equal to the gap width is inserted into the gap between the snap arm and the positioning guide. The snap arm is not bent inward. Therefore, even if an impact when placing a stack of recording papers or an impact when closing the paper feed cassette is applied to the positioning guide via the cassette body, the snap arm does not bend inward, so the positioning guide Will not be released. As a result, the positioning guide and the recording paper are not misaligned even when force is applied from the paper feed roller during the printing operation, so that it is possible to prevent a problem from occurring during paper feeding. Further, since the stopper is attached to the positioning guide from the side opposite to the recording paper placement side, it does not get in the way when placing the recording paper or taking out the recording paper.

  Further, according to the paper feed cassette according to the present invention, since the slider piece of the stopper is in contact with the guide groove, even if an impact is applied to the positioning guide, a frictional force acts between the slider piece and the guide groove. , Positioning guide is difficult to shift.

  Further, according to the paper feed cassette according to the present invention, when the stopper is attached to the positioning guide, not only the deflection preventing piece but also the slider piece is inserted into the gap between the snap arm and the positioning guide. Inward bending can be more reliably prevented.

  Further, according to the paper feed cassette according to the present invention, the stopper can be easily attached to the positioning guide by hooking the claw portion onto the snap arm.

  Further, according to the paper feed cassette according to the present invention, even if a force is applied from the paper feed roller during the printing operation, the positioning guide and the recording paper are not displaced in the direction opposite to the paper feed direction. It is possible to prevent the problem of no feed caused by moving away from the terminal.

  First, the configuration of a paper feed cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The paper feed cassette according to this embodiment is mounted on the main body of a printer, copier, facsimile, or the like, and supplies four types of standard size recording papers A4, A5, B4, and B5 to the image forming apparatus. is there. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the paper feed cassette 1 according to the present embodiment, and the recording paper P is indicated by a dotted line. The paper feed cassette 1 includes a cassette body 2 formed by molding resin or the like into a box shape, a bottom plate 3 provided at the bottom of the cassette body 2, and a bottom plate 3 on the downstream side of the cassette body 2 in the paper feed direction. Is provided on the side of the end guide 5, an end guide (positioning guide) 5 slidably provided in the cassette body 2 along the paper feeding direction. A pair of left and right snap arms 6, a stopper 7 that can be attached to and detached from the end guide 5, and a pair of left and right side guides (positioning guides) 8 that are slidable along the pull-out direction inside the cassette body 2. , Are provided.

  The cassette body 2 is for storing the recording paper P. As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette body 2 is provided with a front cover 9 on the front side in the pull-out direction, and is provided with a pair of left and right legs 10 that protrudes in the back direction in the pull-out direction. When the paper feed cassette 1 is mounted on the main body of the apparatus such as a printer, each leg portion 10 is slid along a guide rail (not shown) provided on the main body side of the apparatus, thereby It is designed to be inserted inside the device body.

  A guide groove 12 for guiding the slide of the end guide 5 is formed on the inner bottom surface 11 of the cassette body 2 so as to extend in the paper feeding direction. Here, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view in which the periphery of the end guide 5 in FIG. 1 is enlarged. The guide groove 12 is provided with guide fixing portions 13 for fixing the end guide 5 at four locations along the paper feeding direction. The guide fixing portion 13 is formed by slightly denting the left and right side walls 14 of the guide groove 12 so that the groove width is wider than other portions. The four types of standard size recording paper P are cassettes. When the recording paper P is stored in the main body 2, the recording paper P is formed at a position where the rear end in the paper feeding direction of each size is located. Then, characters such as “A4” are displayed at positions facing each guide fixing portion 13 so that the user can identify which paper size the guide fixing portion 13 corresponds to.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right guide grooves 15 for guiding the slide of the left and right side guides 8 are formed on the inner bottom surface 11 of the cassette body 2 so as to extend in the pull-out direction. . Each guide groove 15 is provided with a guide fixing portion 16 for fixing the side guide 8 at four locations along the pull-out direction, and the position facing each guide fixing portion 16 represents the corresponding paper size. Characters are displayed. Further, a stopper accommodating portion 17 capable of accommodating the stopper 7 is provided at the bottom of the guide groove 15 on the near side in the pulling direction so as not to obstruct the movement of the side guide 8.

  The bottom plate 3 is for placing the recording paper P thereon. Although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 3 is provided so that the downstream end can swing up and down with the upstream end as a fulcrum in the paper feeding direction, and between the cassette body 2 and the bottom plate 3. It is urged upward by an interposed urging spring. As a result, when a stack of recording paper P is placed on the bottom plate 3 and the paper feed cassette 1 is closed, the bottom plate 3 swings upward, so that the top paper of the stack of recording paper P is fed. The state is pressed against the paper roller 4.

  The paper feed roller 4 is for feeding out the recording paper P stored in the cassette body 2 and supplying it to a transport path (not shown). The supply roller includes a roller shaft 18 made of metal or the like, and a roller body 19 made of resin or the like fixed at a predetermined interval along the roller shaft 18. The paper feed roller 4 configured as described above is rotatably supported at the end of the cassette body 2 on the downstream side in the paper feed direction, and the roller shaft 18 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). The According to the paper feed roller 4, the roller main body 19 pressed against the uppermost sheet of the recording sheet P feeds out several recording sheets from the top along with the rotation of the roller shaft 18, and a separation pad ( After the uppermost paper is separated in cooperation with (not shown), it is supplied to the conveyance path. Then, when the bottom plate 3 swings, the next uppermost sheet is pressed against the roller body 19. By repeating such an operation, the recording paper P is sequentially delivered from the cassette body 2. In this embodiment, the paper feed roller 4 is provided inside the paper feed cassette 1, but it may be provided on the apparatus main body (not shown).

  The end guide 5 is for positioning at a predetermined position of the cassette body 2 by holding the rear end of the recording paper P in the paper feeding direction. Here, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the end guide 5, the snap arm 6, and the stopper 7. The end guide 5 includes a slider member 20 that is fitted in the guide groove 12 and slides, a recording paper holding member 21 that holds the rear end of the recording paper P in the paper feeding direction, and a pressure spring 22 that presses the recording paper holding member 21. Are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slider member 20 has a substantially L shape in a side view, and is provided with a pair of left and right rotation support shafts 23 projecting sideways from the uppermost portion thereof. The rotation support shaft 23 is for supporting the recording paper holding member 21 so as to be rotatable, and has a substantially cylindrical shape.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the recording paper holding member 21 includes a flat recording paper receiving surface 24 that receives the rear end of the recording paper P in the paper feeding direction, and a left and right side on which the rotating support shaft 23 of the slider member 20 is fitted. And a pair of support shaft fitting grooves 25. In the recording paper holding member 21 configured as described above, the rotating support shafts 23 are fitted in the left and right support shaft fitting grooves 25 with the recording paper receiving surface 24 facing the paper feeding direction. Thus, the rotary support shafts 23 are attached to the slider member 20 so as to be rotatable about the support shafts 23.

  The pressing spring 22 is a so-called coil spring and is provided between the slider member 20 and the recording paper holding member 21 as shown in FIG. As a result, when no external force is applied, the recording paper holding member 21 stops at the reference position X where the pressing spring 22 does not expand or contract, that is, the position where the recording paper receiving surface 24 is slightly inclined from the vertical state.

  According to such a configuration of the end guide 5, even when the bottom plate 3 swings, the bundle of recording paper P placed thereon can be held so as not to collapse. That is, when the number of recording sheets P is large, the bottom plate 3 swings so as to lower the end on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction against the urging force of the urging spring due to the weight, and the state is almost horizontal. It becomes. At this time, since the recording paper holding member 21 receives a large pressure from the recording paper P, the recording paper holding member 21 rotates clockwise from the reference position X shown in FIG. 3 to the position Y shown in FIG. 4 against the pressing force of the pressing spring 22. It moves and becomes almost vertical. As a result, the recording paper holding member 21 uniformly holds the rear end in the paper feeding direction of all the recording paper P in a state where the recording paper receiving surface 24 forms an angle of about 90 ° with respect to the bottom plate 3. . On the other hand, as the number of recording sheets P decreases, the bottom plate 3 swings so as to raise the end on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction by the biasing force of the biasing spring. At this time, since the pressure received from the recording paper P gradually decreases, the recording paper holding member 21 is rotated counterclockwise by the pressing force of the pressing spring 22. Thereby, even if the bottom plate 3 is swung, the recording paper receiving surface 24 of the recording paper holding member 21 is kept at an angle of about 90 ° with respect to the bottom plate 3 and the feeding direction of all the recording papers P is maintained. Since the trailing edge is held uniformly, the bundle of recording paper P does not collapse, and the uppermost paper remains pressed against the paper feed roller 4.

  The snap arm 6 is used to easily fix or release the end guide 5 with the guide fixing portion 13 of the guide groove 12. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the stopper 7 is removed from the positioning guide 5 and the snap arm 6. The snap arm 6 is a beam-shaped member made of resin or the like formed in a substantially L shape, and is disposed with a gap 26 having a predetermined width on the side of the slider member 20 constituting the end guide 5. The both end portions are bent and connected to the slider member 20, respectively. Here, the distance between the left and right snap arms 6 is slightly wider than the groove width of the guide groove 12. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, fitting protrusions 27 having a shape to be fitted to the guide fixing portion 13 of the guide groove 12 are provided on the lowermost portion of the outer surface of each snap arm 6 so as to protrude sideways. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the end guide 5 having the snap arms 6 provided on the left and right sides in this manner is formed in the guide groove in a state where the snap arms 6 are bent inwardly and the distance between the snap arms 6 is narrowed. 12, and slides along the guide groove 12 in a state where each fitting projection 27 is pressed against the left and right side walls 14 of the guide groove 12 by the elastic force of each snap arm 6. And, as shown in FIG. 7, since the end guide 5 reaches the guide fixing part 13 of the guide groove 12, the guide fixing part 13 is formed wider than the other parts as described above. Each snap arm 6 spreads outward by its own elastic force and returns to a shape without bending. At this time, the end guides 5 are fixed so as not to move by fitting the fitting protrusions 27 to the guide fixing portions 13 respectively. Further, when the left and right snap arms 6 are grasped and bent inward from the state in which the end guide 5 is fixed, the fitting protrusions 27 are detached from the guide fixing portions 13 to release the end guide 5 from being fixed. Therefore, the end guide 5 can be slid away from the guide fixing portion 13. In FIG. 6, the snap arm 6 in a state without bending is shown by a dotted line.

  The stopper 7 is for making it impossible to release the fixing of the end guide 5 at the guide fixing portion 13. 8 and 9 are views showing the configuration of the stopper 7. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view seen from the front side, and FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view seen from the back side. The stopper 7 is provided with a box-shaped stopper main body 28 having an open surface, a pair of left and right deflection preventing pieces 29 that protrude from the uppermost portion of the stopper main body 28, and a lowermost portion of the stopper main body 28. A pair of left and right slider pieces 30 and a pair of left and right attachment pieces 31 provided so as to protrude from the intermediate portion in the height direction of the stopper main body 28 are provided, and these are integrally molded with resin or the like.

  The bending prevention piece 29 is for preventing the snap arm 6 from bending inward. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the deflection preventing piece 29 has a thickness that is approximately the same as the width of the gap 26 between the snap arm 6 and the slider member 20 shown in FIG. The interval between the deflection preventing pieces 29 is formed substantially equal to the interval between the left and right gaps 26. As a result, the left and right deflection preventing pieces 29 can be simultaneously inserted into the left and right gaps 26. It should be noted that the thickness of the bending prevention piece 29 is approximately the same as the width of the gap 26, so long as the end guide 5 is not unlocked, it is formed slightly thinner than the width of the gap 26 and faces the snap arm 6 inwardly. This means that the bending may be allowed a little, or if the snap arm 6 has a room to spread outward while the end guide 5 is locked, it may be formed slightly thicker than the width of the gap 26. In the present embodiment, the protrusion length 29 is made as short as possible by protruding the deflection preventing piece 29 from the opening-side end portion 32 of the stopper main body 28. As a result, even if an external force acts on the deflection preventing piece 29 via the snap arm 6, the deflection preventing piece 29 is not easily bent inward due to the short protrusion length, so that the snap arm 6 is bent inward. It can be blocked more reliably.

  The slider piece 30 is for contacting the bottom of the guide groove 12 to slide the stopper 7. The slider piece 30 also has a thickness similar to the width of the gap 26 shown in FIG. The left and right slider pieces 30 are formed so that the distance between them is substantially equal to the distance between the left and right gaps 26 and is located directly below the left and right deflection preventing pieces 29. Accordingly, the left and right slider pieces 30 can be simultaneously inserted into the left and right gaps 26, and in addition to the role of sliding the stopper 7, the role of preventing the snap arm 6 from bending inward is also achieved. It is like that. Incidentally, the thickness of the slider piece 30 being approximately the same as the width of the gap 26 may be formed slightly thinner or slightly thicker than the width of the gap 26, similarly to the bending prevention piece 29. Means.

  The attachment piece 31 is for attaching the stopper 7 to the slider member 20. The attachment piece 31 is formed to be thin and long in comparison with the bending prevention piece 29 and the slider piece 30, and is easily formed to be bent, and an outward hook-like claw portion 33 is provided at the tip portion thereof. ing. The distance between the left and right mounting pieces 31 gradually increases from the base side toward the distal end side, and is slightly wider than the distance between the left and right gaps 26 shown in FIG.

  The pair of left and right side guides 8 are for positioning at predetermined positions of the cassette body 2 by holding the left and right ends of the recording paper P in the paper feeding direction. As shown in FIG. 1, each side guide 8 includes a slider member 34 that is fitted into the guide groove 15 and slides, and a recording paper holding member 35 that holds the end of the recording paper P in the paper feeding direction. is there. The side guides 8 configured in this way are not shown in detail in the drawing, but their positions can be fixed at the guide fixing portions provided in the guide grooves 12.

  Next, the method of using the stopper 7 according to the present invention and the function and effect will be described. The stopper 7 cannot be attached to the end guide 5 in a position other than the guide fixing portion 13 of the guide groove 12, but is attached to the end guide 5 fixed in the guide fixing portion 13. It is possible. That is, when the end guide 5 is located at a position other than the guide fixing portion 13, as described above, the slider member 20 constituting the end guide 5 bends the left and right snap arms 6 inward to It is installed inside the guide groove 12 with the interval narrowed. At this time, the gap 26 between the snap arm 6 and the slider member 20 shown in FIG. 6 is narrow, and the stopper 7, the slider piece 30, and the attachment piece 31 of the stopper 7 cannot be inserted. 7 cannot be attached to the slider member 20. Accordingly, when the end guide 5 that should be fixed by the guide fixing portion 13 is in a position other than the guide fixing portion 13 due to a user's operation error, it cannot be attached even if the stopper 7 is attached to the end guide 5. . As a result, the user can recognize that the end guide 5 is not at the position of the guide fixing portion 13.

  On the other hand, when the end guide 5 is fixed by the guide fixing portion 13, the slider member 20 is in a state in which the left and right snap arms 6 extend outward as described above and do not bend. At this time, the widths of the left and right gaps 26 shown in FIG. 7 are widened so that the deflection preventing piece 29, the slider piece 30 and the mounting piece 31 of the stopper 7 can be inserted. In this case, the user takes out the stopper 7 from the stopper 7 housing portion, and installs the stopper 7 at a position downstream of the end guide 5 in the guide groove 12 in the paper feeding direction as shown in FIG. Next, the user grips the left and right attachment pieces 31 constituting the stopper 7 from the outside and bends them inward, thereby reducing the distance between the left and right attachment pieces 31. Then, the user slides the stopper 7 along the guide groove 12 in the sheet feeding direction with the attachment pieces 31 being bent, and inserts the attachment pieces 31 into the left and right gaps 26, respectively. At this time, the deflection preventing piece 29 and the slider piece 30 constituting the stopper 7 are also inserted into the left and right gaps 26, respectively. Thereafter, the user inserts the attachment piece 31 further deeply into the gap 26, and releases the hand from the attachment piece 31 with the claw portion 33 at the tip of the attachment piece 31 penetrating the gap 26. Then, the left and right attachment pieces 31 are spread outward by their own elastic force, and the claw portions 33 are respectively hooked on the inner edge portions of the snap arms 6. In this way, the stopper 7 can be attached to the end guide 5.

  As described above, when the stopper 7 is attached to the end guide 5, the deflection preventing piece 29 having a thickness similar to the width of the gap 26 is inserted into the gap 26 between the snap arm 6 and the slider member 20. The snap arm 6 is not bent inward. Therefore, an impact when placing a bundle of recording paper P on the bottom plate 3 or an impact when closing the paper feed cassette 1 pulled out from the apparatus main body is applied to the end guide 5 via the cassette main body 2. However, since the inward bending of the snap arm 6 does not occur, the fitting protrusion 27 does not come off from the guide fixing portion 13 and the end guide 5 is not released from being fixed. As a result, the end guide 5 and the recording paper P are not displaced in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction even when receiving a force from the paper feeding roller 4 during the printing operation, so that the recording paper P is separated from the paper feeding roller 4. The problem of no feed caused by this can be prevented in advance. In addition, the stopper 7 not only inserts the deflection preventing piece 29 into the upper portion of the gap 26 but also inserts the slider piece 30 into the lower portion of the gap 26, so that the snap arm 6 is more reliably inwardly bent. Can be prevented. Further, since the slider piece 30 is in contact with the bottom portion of the guide groove 12, the stopper 7 has a frictional force between the slider piece 30 and the bottom portion of the guide groove 12 even if the impact described above is applied to the end guide 5. Therefore, the end guide 5 is hardly displaced in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction. Further, since the stopper 7 is attached to the downstream side of the end guide 5 in the paper feeding direction, the stopper 7 does not interfere when the recording paper P is placed on the upstream side of the end guide 5 in the paper feeding direction or when the recording paper P is taken out. .

  Further, when the end guide 5 is slid due to a change in the paper size of the recording paper P stored in the paper feed cassette 1, it is necessary to remove the stopper 7 from the end guide 5 in order to release the end guide 5. is there. In this case, although details are not shown in the figure, the user holds the left and right attachment pieces 31 from the outside and bends them inward to release the hooks of the claw portions 33 on the snap arm 6. 31 is pulled out from the gap 26. As a result, the deflection preventing piece 29 and the slider piece 30 are also pulled out from the gap 26, and the stopper 7 can be removed from the end guide 5. When the stopper 7 is removed from the end guide 5, the snap arm 6 of the end guide 5 is allowed to bend inward. Therefore, the left and right snap arms 6 are bent inward, and the fitting protrusion 27 is moved. If the end guide 5 is released by being removed from the guide fixing portion 13, the end guide 5 can be slid along the guide groove 12. The removed stopper 7 may be stored in a stopper storage portion 17 provided at the bottom of the guide groove 15 as shown in FIG.

  It should be noted that the material, shape, number, etc. of the bending prevention pieces 29 can be appropriately changed within a range in which the snap arms 6 can be prevented from being bent inward by being inserted into the gap 26. . Further, in the present embodiment, the attachment piece 31 is configured to hook the claw portion 33 provided at the distal end to the snap arm 6, but may be configured to hook the claw portion 33 to the slider member 20. Moreover, it may replace with the nail | claw part 33, and the structure which provides a convex part in the other known fixing means, for example, the attachment piece 31, and provides a recessed part in the snap arm 6, may be sufficient. Further, in this embodiment, the stopper 7 is configured by projecting from the stopper body 28 and providing the bending prevention piece 29, the attachment piece 31, and the slider piece 30, but the stopper body 28, the attachment piece 31 and the slider piece 30 are indispensable. It is not a configuration requirement. That is, it is sufficient for the stopper 7 according to the present invention to include at least the deflection preventing piece 29, and for example, the stopper 7 can be configured by only the deflection preventing piece 29. In this case, the means for attaching the stopper 7 without the attachment piece 31 to the end guide 5 is not shown in detail in the figure. For example, the snap arm 6 or the slider member 20 extends from the downstream end in the paper feeding direction to the paper feeding direction. If the concave groove extending is provided and the convex portion is provided so as to protrude from the bending prevention piece 29, the stopper 7 can be attached to the end guide 5 by sliding the convex portion into the concave groove.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the stopper 7 is attached to the end guide 5 has been described as an example. However, when the side guide 8 includes the snap arm 6 similarly to the end guide 5, the stopper 7 is attached to the side guide 8. Is also possible. If the stopper 7 is attached to the side guide 8 in this way, the side guide 8 is not released even if an impact or the like is applied. Therefore, even if the recording paper P receives a force from the paper feed roller 4 during the printing operation, the side guide 8 and the recording paper P are not displaced in the direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction, and a paper jam or the like occurs. Can be prevented in advance. Furthermore, since the recording paper P is not displaced in the direction opposite to the paper feeding direction during the printing operation, the problem of no feed can be prevented more reliably.

  The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette provided with a positioning guide that is slidably positioned to position the end of the recording paper and an elastically deformable snap arm that is provided with a predetermined gap at a side of the positioning guide. Applicable.

1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a paper feed cassette 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The partial expansion perspective view which expanded the periphery of the end guide 5. FIG. The schematic side view which shows the structure of the end guide 5, the snap arm 6, and the stopper 7. FIG. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the effect of the end guide 5. FIG. The schematic perspective view which shows the state which removed the stopper 7 from the positioning guide 5 and the snap arm 6. FIG. The figure which shows the AA cross section in FIG. The figure which shows the BB cross section in FIG. The schematic perspective view which looked at the stopper 7 from the front side. The schematic perspective view which looked at the stopper 7 from the back side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper feed cassette 2 Cassette main body 4 Paper feed roller 5 End guide (positioning guide)
6 Snap arm 7 Stopper 12 Guide groove 13 Guide fixing portion 26 Clearance 29 Deflection prevention piece 30 Slider piece 31 Mounting piece 33 Claw part P Recording paper

Claims (5)

A cassette main body for storing recording paper to be fed by the paper feed roller and supplied to the image forming apparatus;
A guide groove extending in a direction perpendicular to the end of the recording paper inside the cassette body, and having a wide guide fixing portion at a predetermined position;
An elastically deformable snap arm is provided at a side so as to open a gap of a predetermined width, and the snap arm is slidably installed inside the guide groove in a state of being bent inward, and the guide A positioning guide for positioning the recording paper end by being fixed in a state where the snap arm is spread outward at the fixing portion;
A deflection preventing piece having a thickness approximately the same as the width of the gap is provided so as to protrude, and is attached to the positioning guide from the opposite side to the recording paper placing side so as to insert the deflection preventing piece into the gap. A stopper that prevents the snap arm from bending inwardly;
A paper feed cassette characterized by comprising:   The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein the stopper includes a slider piece that slides along the guide groove.   The sheet feeding cassette according to claim 2, wherein the slider piece has a thickness approximately equal to the width of the gap, and is inserted into the gap when the stopper is attached to the positioning guide.   The paper feed cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the stopper includes an attachment piece having a claw portion that can be hooked on the snap arm.   5. The guide groove according to claim 1, wherein the guide groove is provided along a paper feeding direction by the paper feeding roller, and the positioning guide positions a rear end of the recording paper in a paper feeding direction. Paper cassette.

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