JP5375565B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device for providing reduced size of the periphery of a paper cassette while providing the withdrawable paper cassette. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming device body includes a guide rail 35 for withdrawing and moving the paper cassette 34. The paper cassette 34 includes a side wall 23 that is a face on the side of the guide rail 35, a guided part 33 that is provided at an outer face of the side wall 23 and guided by the guide rail 35, and an end part regulating member 26 provided in the inner part and regulating the rear end position of the paper. The side wall 23 includes an overhang zone 23A that is positioned adjacent to the end part regulating member 26, and a step-shaped retreated zone 23B that is positioned in the range excepting the overhang zone 23A. The guided part 33 is provided at an outer face of the retreated zone 23B that is positioned deeper than the overhang zone 23A in the side wall 23. The end part regulating member 26 enters the overhang zone 23A when it is moved to the outermost position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms and discharges an image on a sheet. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which the paper cassette portion is made compact.

  Some image forming apparatuses include a paper cassette that can be pulled out. In an image forming apparatus provided with a paper cassette, the paper is stored in the paper cassette while the paper cassette is pulled out. Image formation is performed with the paper cassette pushed in. That is, an image is formed on the paper supplied from the paper cassette by the image forming unit and then discharged. As a known example of an image forming apparatus provided with such a paper cassette, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1.

  In general, a paper cassette of this type of image forming apparatus has a substantially rectangular box shape, and a paper carry-out mechanism is provided on one side thereof. Further, a sheet edge regulating mechanism is provided in the four-side frame of the sheet cassette in order to store the sheet bundle in an orderly manner. As the paper edge regulating mechanism, there are a direction parallel to the transport direction and a direction intersecting with it, that is, a width direction. The former is a mechanism that presses the rear end of the sheet bundle toward the side where the sheet carry-out mechanism is located. The latter is a mechanism for centering or unilaterally aligning the side edges of the sheet bundle in the width direction. These sheet edge regulating mechanisms are generally movable with respect to the sheet cassette. This is to cope with various paper sizes. Of course, the four-sided frame of the paper cassette must have a size that can include the arrangement when the vertical and horizontal paper edge regulating mechanisms are adjusted to the maximum paper size.

  Further, the main body of the image forming apparatus requires a guide mechanism for holding the paper cassette so that it can be pulled out. Of course, the guide mechanism is located outside the four sides of the paper cassette. The overall size of the image forming apparatus is set to include not only the image forming unit and the paper cassette but also the guide mechanism.

JP 2002- 211769 A

  In the field of image forming apparatuses, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for downsizing. However, in the case of an image forming apparatus provided with a paper cassette that can be pulled out, the mechanism around the paper cassette is quite complicated as described above. For this reason, it is difficult to make the paper cassette compact, and this may be a factor that determines the lower limit of the overall size of the apparatus. Thus, there is an urgent need to make the paper cassette compact.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional image forming apparatus described above. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which a paper cassette that can be pulled out is provided and the size around the paper cassette is reduced.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention, which has been made for the purpose of solving this problem, is an apparatus having an image forming unit and a drawable sheet cassette for storing a sheet for image formation in the image forming unit. That is, a guide rail that guides the drawer movement of the paper cassette is provided in a portion other than the paper cassette in the image forming apparatus. The paper cassette includes a side wall portion that defines a side surface facing the guide rail, and a side wall portion. Is provided on the outer surface of the guide, and is guided by the guide rail to be guided by the guide rail and inside the side wall, and is movable in the direction (crossing direction) intersecting the direction of pulling out (drawing direction). An edge regulating member that regulates the position of the edge of the paper to be stored in the cross direction, and the side wall includes the position where the edge regulating member is located in the pulling direction. Within the range, it is an overhanging section that protrudes outward, and among the areas other than the overhanging section, it is a retracting section that is recessed inward at least in the range in the pulling direction from the overhanging section. It has a stepped shape, and the guided part is provided on the outer surface of the retracting section on the side wall in the pulling direction behind the projecting section, and the end regulating member moves outward in the crossing direction. In this state, it is positioned by biting into the overhanging section of the side wall.

  Since the side wall portion has a stepped shape in this way, the end portion regulating member can be positioned by biting into the overhanging section. On the other hand, the guided portion guided by the guide rail can be provided only outside the pull-in section. As a result, the distance from the position where the end portion regulating member is moved to the outermost side to the outer surface of the image forming apparatus is cut off, and compactness in the lateral width direction (cross direction) of the apparatus is achieved.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the end regulating member is picked from the front and rear in the pulling direction during operation, and the overhanging section of the side wall is formed over a range wider than the dimension in the pulling direction of the end regulating member. Even when the end regulating member is moved to the outermost side in the cross direction, there is a gap between the stepped portion between the overhanging section and the retracting section in the side wall section and the end regulating member. It is good to do. Thus, by securing a gap between the stepped portion and the end portion regulating member, the end portion regulating member can be easily moved to the outermost side or moved from the outermost position.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is further preferable that the leading end of the guide rail in the pull-out direction has a shape in which the lower end protrudes forward from the upper end. By adopting such a shape, it is possible to achieve both the holding strength of the paper cassette by the guide rail and the operability of the end regulating member.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is also preferable that the sheet regulating surface of the end regulating member and the inner surface of the pull-in section are the same surface when the end regulating member is moved to the outermost side in the crossing direction. By doing so, the size of the image forming apparatus can be made compact without using the space of the paper cassette without waste and without sacrificing the maximum size of paper that can be stored.

  According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus that is provided with a paper cassette that can be pulled out and that has a reduced size around the paper cassette.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an overall schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a paper cassette is pulled out from the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the paper cassette removed from the image forming apparatus. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where a sheet trailing edge regulating member in the sheet cassette of FIG. 3 is moved most backward. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a shape of a left side wall 23 in the paper cassette of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the paper cassette of FIG. 3 and a guide rail of the image forming apparatus main body in a state in which the paper cassette is pulled out. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the paper cassette of FIG. 3 and a guide rail of the image forming apparatus main body in a state where the paper cassette is pushed in. FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a paper cassette of an image forming apparatus according to a reference example.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a paper feeding unit 12 at the lower part of the apparatus, an image forming part 11 at the middle of the apparatus, and a paper discharge unit 13 at the upper part of the apparatus. In other words, an image is formed on the paper supplied from the paper supply unit 12 by the image forming unit 11 and discharged to the outside by the paper discharge unit 13.

  Note that the image forming unit 11 in FIG. 1 is a so-called tandem type full color, but is not limited thereto. A 4-cycle full-color type or a monochrome type may be used. Ink instead of toner may be used as the color material. Further, in addition to the paper feeding unit 12, the image forming unit 11, and the paper discharge unit 13, a reading unit that reads an image of a document may be provided.

  The paper feed unit 12 of the image forming apparatus 10 includes a plurality of paper cassettes 34. Of course, the sheet cassette 34 is for storing sheets for image formation in the image forming unit 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the paper cassette 34 is provided so that it can be pulled forward from the main body of the image forming apparatus 10. When the paper cassette 34 is pulled out as shown in FIG. 2, the user can store the paper in the paper cassette 34. Of course, image formation is performed with the paper cassette 34 pushed into the main body of the image forming apparatus 10. As can be seen from FIG. 1, in the image forming apparatus 10, the sheet is taken out from the right end portion of the sheet cassette 34 when viewed from the front and sent to the image forming unit 11.

  The paper cassette 34 can be further removed from the state of FIG. 2 and completely removed from the image forming apparatus 10. The paper cassette 34 in this state is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the paper cassette 34 is a flat box having a substantially quadrangular shape and an open top surface. For this reason, the paper cassette 34 is formed by the bottom plate 21, the front panel 22, the left side wall 23, the right side wall 24, and the rear wall 25. Among these, the front panel 22, the left side wall 23, the right side wall 24, and the rear wall 25 each define four sides of the paper cassette 34. Furthermore, only the front panel 22 is visible from the outside even when the paper cassette 34 is completely pushed into the main body of the image forming apparatus 10. The left side wall 23 is located on the left side when the image forming apparatus 10 is viewed from the front. The right side wall 24 is located on the right side when the image forming apparatus 10 is viewed from the front.

  In FIG. 3, the arrow A is the drawing direction of the paper cassette 34, and the arrow B is the opposite pushing direction. An arrow C is a direction in which the paper stored in the paper cassette 34 moves when paper is supplied to the image forming unit 11, that is, a paper supply direction in the paper cassette 34. This direction is a direction that intersects with the drawing direction of the arrow A. In the paper cassette 34, a paper rear end regulating member 26, a paper right end regulating member 27, a paper left end regulating member 28, and a paper push-up plate 29 are provided. Of course, these are located in the area defined by the front panel 22, the left side wall 23, the right side wall 24, and the rear wall 25.

  The paper rear end regulating member 26 is a member that defines the rear end position of the stored paper bundle in the paper feeding direction C. Since the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 corresponds to the paper size, it can be moved in parallel with the paper feeding direction C by a user's manual operation. The moving operation is performed by the user holding the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 from the near side and the far side of the image forming apparatus 10 with his / her finger and sliding it left and right. The sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 in FIG. 3 is in a state of being positioned closest to the rear side in the movement range. That is, it is in a state where it is located quite close to the left side wall 23.

  FIG. 4 shows the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 in the state of being closest to the left side wall 23 and its periphery. As shown in FIG. 4, the bottom plate 21 is formed with a slot 30 that forms a movement path of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26. Further, a guide groove 31 for guiding the movement of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is provided therein. Several recesses 32 are formed on both sides of the slot 30. The sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 can be stopped at a location where the recess 32 is present. The recesses 32 are provided at a plurality of locations according to standard paper sizes. The sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 in FIG. 4 is located at a location of the recess 32 closest to the left side wall 23.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the sheet right end regulating member 27 is a member that regulates the position of the right end of the sheet bundle with respect to the sheet feeding direction C. The sheet left end regulating member 28 is a member that regulates the position of the left end of the sheet bundle in the sheet feeding direction C. The sheet right end regulating member 27 is located closer to the front panel 22, and the sheet left end regulating member 28 is located closer to the rear wall 25. Since both the paper right edge regulating member 27 and the paper left edge regulating member 28 correspond to the size of the paper, they can be moved in parallel with the pulling direction A by a user's manual operation. The paper push-up plate 29 is a member located under the paper bundle to be stored, and is provided near the right side wall 24, that is, near the paper feed position. The paper push-up plate 29 functions to push up the paper bundle from the bottom during paper feeding.

  Next, the left side wall 23 of the paper cassette 34 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the left side wall 23 of the sheet cassette 34 in the state where it is pushed into the image forming apparatus 10 and its periphery, and a portion where the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is located and a portion behind it are viewed from above. It is a situation. The sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 in FIG. 5 is also located closest to the left side wall 23 as in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the paper cassette 34 is viewed from above, the left side wall 23 has a shape refracted left and right in the drawing. That is, a portion of the left side wall 23 in the vicinity of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26, that is, a lower portion in FIG. 5, is arranged closer to the left side in FIG. This portion of the left side wall 23 is an overhanging section 23 </ b> A that protrudes outward. On the other hand, in the left side wall 23, the rear portion of the overhanging section 23A, that is, the upper portion in FIG. 5, is arranged to the right in FIG. This portion of the left side wall 23 is a lead-in section 23B that is located inwardly recessed. Between the overhanging section 23A and the drawing-in section 23B, a step portion 23C that connects both sections is formed.

  Although not shown in FIG. 5, a pull-in section 23B is also formed on the front side of the overhang section 23A (see FIG. 4). As is clear from FIG. 5, the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is partially cut into the overhanging section 23 </ b> A of the left side wall 23 when moved to the outermost side in the image forming apparatus 10. At this time, the regulation surface 26A of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 and the inner surface 23D of the pull-in section 23B of the left side wall 23 are the same surface.

  Further, a guided portion 33 is provided on the outer side of the retracting section 23 </ b> B of the left side wall 23. The guided portion 33 is a portion that is guided by a guide member on the main body side of the image forming apparatus 10 for the drawer movement (arrow A in FIG. 3) and the push-in movement (arrow B in FIG. 3) of the paper cassette 34. is there. For this reason, the guided portion 33 is formed in a long shape parallel to the pulling direction A, and has almost the same cross-sectional shape at any position with respect to the pulling direction A. However, most of the guided portion 33 in FIG. 5 is hidden by the guide rail 35 shown in FIG.

  The main body of the image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a guide rail 35 as shown in FIG. The guide rail 35 is a member that guides the drawing movement A and the pushing movement B of the paper cassette 34. For this reason, the guide rail 35 has a long, partially opened sheath-like shape parallel to the pulling direction A. The guide rail 35 is attached to the inner surface of the left side plate 14 (see FIG. 2) of the image forming apparatus 10. In the image forming apparatus 10, the guided portion 33 of the paper cassette 34 is slidably inserted with respect to the guide rail 35. The sliding movement is the drawer movement A and push-in movement B of the paper cassette 34.

  FIG. 6 shows the paper cassette 34 and the guide rail 35 when the paper cassette 34 is pulled out. In this state, the guided portion 33 is located in the guide rail 35 only at a part near the rear end thereof, and most of the guided portion 33 is outside the guide rail 35. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the paper cassette 34 is pushed in. The guided portion 33 in this state is in a state where most of the guided portion 33 is located in the guide rail 35. Further, in the state of FIG. 7, the tip end portion of the guide rail 35 partially covers the overhanging section 23 </ b> A of the left side wall 23.

  Further, the guide rail 35 itself is also provided so as to be movable along the pull-out direction A with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus 10. For this reason, as seen in FIG. 2, when the paper cassette 34 is pulled out, the guide rail 35 is also moved slightly forward so that the tip end portion can be seen from the outside. However, the moving distance of the guide rail 35 is smaller than the moving distance due to the drawer movement of the paper cassette 34. As a result, the drawer stroke of the paper cassette 34 is earned, and the holding strength in the pulled out state is ensured. On the other hand, the guide rail 35 may be completely fixed. The guide rail 35 and the guided portion 33 have the same configuration on the right side of the image forming apparatus 10, that is, on the outside of the right side wall 24 of the paper cassette 34.

  In the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the size in the left-right direction when viewed from the front is compact due to the above configuration of the paper cassette 34. This will be described below. In the paper cassette 34 of the image forming apparatus 10, the left side wall 23 has a refracting shape as described with reference to FIG. Then, the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 in the state where it is moved to the outermost side is partially cut into the overhanging section 23 </ b> A of the left side wall 23. The guided portion 33 guided by the pulling movement A is provided on the outer surface of only the rear drawing section 23B on the left side wall 23, and is not provided on the outer surface of the overhanging section 23A.

  For this reason, the distance D from the regulating surface 26A of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 to the outer surface 34A of the sheet cassette 34 in the state of being moved to the outermost side can be reduced by the level difference of the stepped portion 23C of the left side wall 23. It is. Accordingly, the distance F from the regulating surface 26A to the outer surface G of the left side plate 14 of the image forming apparatus 10 is also small. Since the position of the regulating surface 26A in the state where the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is moved to the outermost side is determined by the maximum size of the sheet to be stored in the sheet cassette 34, the distance D is small. The overall size can be reduced.

  This will be considered in comparison with a case where the side wall is straight. FIG. 8 shows a view corresponding to FIG. 5 in the image forming apparatus of the reference example. Also in the reference example of FIG. 8, the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is depicted in a state of being moved to the outermost side. Therefore, the position of the restricting surface 26A of the sheet trailing edge restricting member 26 in the left-right direction in the figure is the same in FIGS.

  In the reference example of FIG. 8, the sheet cassette 134 is provided with a straight left side wall 123. That is, the left wall 123 has neither an overhanging section nor a retracting section. For this reason, the inner surface 123A of the left side wall 123 is not flush with the regulating surface 26A of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26, but is located on the left side in FIG. The paper cassette 134 in FIG. 8 is wider in the left-right direction than the paper cassette 34 in FIG. 5 by the distance H between the inner surface 123A and the regulating surface 26A. The total thickness D of the left side wall 123 (23) and the guide rail 135 (35) is the same in FIG. 5 and FIG. The thickness E of the side plate 14 is also the same in FIGS. Therefore, the overall width of the image forming apparatus is also wider by the distance H in FIG. 8 than in FIG.

  In other words, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the left side wall 23 is formed in a refractive shape, so that the width in the left-right direction can be made compact by the distance H.

  Next, further features of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the overhanging section 23 </ b> A of the left side wall 23 is formed with a margin in the vertical direction in the drawing with respect to the dimension K in the vertical direction in the drawing of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26. That is, the overhanging section 23A is longer than the dimension K. For this reason, there is a gap L between the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 and the step portion 23C even when the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is positioned at the outermost position as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the gap L exists on both the front side and the rear side of the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 (both in the vertical direction in FIG. 5).

  Therefore, even when the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 is moved to the position shown in FIG. That is, since there is a gap L, the user's finger picking the left side wall 23 does not hit the stepped portion 23C. The same can be said when the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 is moved inward from the position of FIG. If there is no gap L, the user's operation for moving the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 is hindered. In this embodiment, such a fear is eliminated by providing a long overhanging section 23A. The size of the gap L should be 1 cm or more.

  The image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment has further features. As is apparent from FIGS. 6 and 7, the tip side 35A of the guide rail 35 is inclined such that the lower part protrudes forward rather than the upper part. For this reason, the tip 35B at the lower part of the guide rail 35 is in a position protruding forward in the pulling direction A from the tip 35C at the upper part. Further, in the state of FIG. 7, due to the tip shape of the guide rail 35, the vicinity of the tip 35 </ b> B at the lower part of the guide rail 35 also covers a part of the protruding section 23 </ b> A of the left side wall 23. For this reason, the vicinity of the lower front end 35 </ b> B is located partially overlapping with the paper rear end regulating member 26 inside the left side wall 23 when viewed from the side of the image forming apparatus 10. Even in this state, the upper tip 35C is not in contact with the stepped portion 23C of the left side wall 23.

  Further, in the state of FIG. 7, the rear end position 35D of the guide rail 35 and the rear end position 34D of the paper cassette 34 are at substantially the same position in the push-in direction B. That is, the distance from the rear end position 35D of the guide rail 35 to the upper front end 35C is approximately the same as or slightly shorter than the distance from the rear end position 34D of the paper cassette 34 to the stepped portion 23C. If the rear end position 35D of the guide rail 35 protrudes in the push-in direction B from the rear end position 34D of the paper cassette 34 in the state of FIG. 7, the dimension in the depth direction of the image forming apparatus 10 is increased by the amount of the protrusion. Must be bigger. In this embodiment, such a situation is prevented.

  The leading edge shape of the guide rail 35 has the following effects. First, the holding strength of the paper cassette 34 by the guide rail 35 is high. This is because the guided portion 33 of the paper cassette 34 is supported mainly by the guide rail 35 below the guide rail 35. Since the lower part of the guide rail 35 is longer than the lower end 35B protrudes, the holding strength is ensured. In particular, considering the ease of sheet storage operation in the pulled out state of FIG. 6, at least the amount of pulling out is required so that the sheet trailing edge regulating member 26 protrudes forward from the front surface of the image forming apparatus 10. Since the lower portion of the guide rail 35 is long as described above, the holding strength in the pulled-out state is sufficient.

  Nevertheless, the upper portion of the guide rail 35 is conversely shorter by the amount of protrusion of the lower tip 35B. For this reason, the guide rail 35 is not protruded rearward from the rear end of the paper cassette 34 in the pushed-in state in FIG. 7, and the contact between the upper front end 35C and the stepped portion 23C is avoided. As a result, the drawing-in section 23B on the rear side of the overhanging section 23A of the left side wall 23 does not have to be made too long. As a result, the length of the overhanging section 23A can be secured. As a result, the clearance L described in [0036] can be secured. In this way, the holding shape of the paper cassette 34 and the good operability of the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 are compatible with each other due to the leading end shape of the guide rail 35.

  As described above in detail, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the left side wall 23 of the paper cassette 34 has a refractive shape having an overhanging section 23A and a drawing section 23B. When the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 is moved most outward, the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 is positioned so as to bite into the overhanging section 23A. As a result, the width in the left-right direction of the image forming apparatus 10 is made compact without sacrificing the maximum size of the paper to be stored. Further, in this embodiment, the tip end shape of the guide rail 35 that supports the paper cassette 34 and guides the movement of the paper cassette 34 is inclined. As a result, the lower tip 35B protrudes from the upper tip 35C. By doing so, both the holding strength of the paper cassette 34 and the operability of the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 are achieved.

  In addition, this form is only a mere illustration and does not limit this invention at all. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus having a function of receiving a print job from a public line and forming an image. The present invention is also applicable to an image forming apparatus that takes out and feeds paper on the left side of the paper cassette as viewed from the front of the apparatus. In that case, the above-mentioned refractive side wall and the like are arranged on the right side of the paper cassette. Further, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus that takes out and feeds paper at the rear end side of the paper cassette. In such a case, the above-mentioned refractive side walls or the like can be employed for both the left and right side walls of the paper cassette.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the left side wall 23 of the paper cassette 34 is provided with a drawing section 23B on both the rear side and the front side of the overhanging section 23A. However, the retracting section 23B on the front side of the overhanging section 23A is not essential. That is, the entire range from the position in the vicinity of the paper trailing edge regulating member 26 to the front panel 22 in the left side wall 23 may be an overhanging section 23A.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Image forming part 23 Left side wall 23A Overhang | projection area 23B Pull-in area 23C Step part 23D Inner surface 26 Paper rear end regulating member 26A Restricted surface 33 Guided part 34 Paper cassette 35 Guide rail 35B Lower end 35A Front side 35C Upper end

Claims (4)

In an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit; and a paper cassette that can be pulled out to store paper used for image formation in the image forming unit.
The apparatus body is provided with a guide rail for guiding the movement of the paper cassette.
The paper cassette is
A side wall portion defining a side surface facing the guide rail;
A guided portion provided on an outer surface of the side wall portion and guided to be pulled out by the guide rail;
It is provided on the inner side of the side wall and is movable in a direction (hereinafter referred to as “crossing direction”) intersecting with the direction of the drawer movement (hereinafter referred to as “drawing direction”). An end regulating member for regulating the end position,
The side wall portion is an overhanging section that protrudes outward within a range including the position where the end regulating member in the pull-out direction is located, and at least the overhanging section in a range other than the overhanging section. It has a stepped shape that is a pull-in section that is recessed inward in the range on the far side in the pull-out direction,
The guided portion is provided on the outer surface of the pull-in section in the side wall portion on the back side in the pull-out direction from the overhang section,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end regulating member is positioned so as to bite into the overhanging section of the side wall when moved to the outermost side in the intersecting direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The end restricting member is picked from the front and rear in the pulling direction during operation,
The overhanging section of the side wall is formed over a range wider than the dimension in the pull-out direction of the end regulating member,
Even when the end regulating member is moved to the outermost side in the crossing direction, there is a gap between the stepped portion of the side wall portion between the projecting section and the retracting section and the end regulating member. An image forming apparatus, comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the leading end of the guide rail in the pull-out direction has a shape in which a lower end protrudes forward from an upper end. In the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet regulating surface of the end regulating member and the inner surface of the pull-in section are flush with each other when the end regulating member is moved to the outermost side in the intersecting direction.

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