JP6459551B2 - Sheet cassette, sheet member for sheet cassette, device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet feeding cassette, a sheet member for a sheet feeding cassette, and an apparatus.

  In an apparatus that continuously uses a plurality of media, such as an image forming apparatus, a sheet cassette (sheet feeding tray, sheet feeding device, etc.) that stacks and accommodates a large number of media and is detachably attached to the apparatus body. Is used).

  As a conventional sheet feeding cassette, there is known a structure in which upper and lower guide members are provided and a sheet bundle placement surface is inclined so as to be lowered on the sheet feeding side (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-255810

  By the way, if a step, protrusion, corner, etc. occurs on the bottom surface of the cassette body of the paper cassette, the media to be fed will be caught and jammed, so these media can be fed smoothly without being caught. The stepped portion, the protruding portion, and the corner portion are provided with an inclined paper guide portion that is inclined to be higher in the medium feeding direction.

  On the other hand, a sheet feeding cassette may be provided with a regulating member that regulates the stacking height of media so that a predetermined amount or more of media is not set. Since such a restricting member is formed in a lid shape with respect to the paper feed cassette, if it is provided on the side where the medium is sent out, it interferes with the medium when the medium is sent out, making it difficult to send out. For this reason, the regulating member is provided at the end portion on the opposite side to the side from which the medium is sent out.

  Thus, when the regulating member is provided on the side opposite to the medium feeding side of the paper feed cassette, when setting a bundle of media (medium bundle) in the paper feed cassette, the counter direction (medium The media bundle must be set from the side where the media is sent out. For this reason, the leading edge of the medium bundle is caught by the stepped portion, the protruding portion, and the corner portion of the bottom surface, and the setting property of the medium is deteriorated.

  In this case, in order to use different paper feeding cassettes depending on whether the restriction member is not provided or not provided when a dedicated paper feeding cassette that does not catch the medium even if the medium is set from the side from which the medium is sent is provided. As a result, extra work such as paper feed tray replacement increases, resulting in poor work efficiency.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to improve the versatility of the paper feed cassette and eliminate the trouble of preparing and replacing a plurality of paper feed trays.

In order to solve the above problems, a paper feed cassette according to the present invention is:
Having a cassette body for storing a medium to be supplied to the apparatus body;
The direction in which the cassette body is pulled out from the apparatus body is the same as the direction in which the medium is set in the cassette body.
The bottom surface of the cassette body has one or a plurality of inclined portions that are inclined so as to be higher in the direction of feeding the medium to the apparatus body.
A sheet member covering the inclined portion is placed on the bottom surface of the cassette body ,
A downstream side in the direction of feeding out the medium has a bottom plate arranged so as to be lifted;
The sheet member is placed on a downstream sheet member placed on a downstream region including the bottom plate, and on a region upstream of the bottom plate, of the bottom surface of the cassette body in the direction of feeding the medium. An upstream sheet member,
The downstream sheet member and the upstream sheet member are arranged with an overlap,
In the overlapping portion, the downstream sheet member is positioned on the upstream sheet member .

  According to the present invention, the versatility of the paper feed cassette is improved, and the trouble of preparing and replacing a plurality of paper feed trays can be eliminated.

It is an external appearance perspective explanatory view of an example of the device concerning the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of the state where the paper feed cassette was similarly pulled out. It is side surface explanatory drawing of an internal mechanism part similarly. FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view of the sheet feeding cassette in a state where the sheet member according to the first embodiment of the present invention is not provided. It is an expanded sectional explanatory view of the A section of FIG. It is a perspective explanatory view of a paper feed cassette in a state provided with a sheet member and a height regulating member. FIG. 7 is a perspective explanatory view of a state in which a part of FIG. 6 is also broken. FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of part B in FIG. 7. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a paper setting direction in the paper feeding cassette. FIG. 6 is a perspective explanatory view for explaining a paper setting in the paper feeding cassette. FIG. 5 is an explanatory plan view for explaining an exclusive size of the paper feed cassette. FIG. 5 is an explanatory plan view for explaining the size of the dedicated paper cassette. It is a plane explanatory view of the paper feed cassette concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is principal part expansion explanatory drawing of the C section of FIG. It is an expansion plane explanatory drawing used for description of the diagonally-shaped part of a sheet member.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. An example of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of the same apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view of a state where the paper cassette is pulled out, and FIG. 3 is a side explanatory view of the internal mechanism.

  This apparatus is a serial type image forming apparatus, and a paper feed cassette 2 that accommodates paper 10 as a medium is detachably mounted on the front side of the apparatus main body 1. A paper discharge tray 3 for receiving a medium on which an image is formed is mounted above the paper feed cassette 2. A guide member 4 is provided on the paper discharge tray 3.

  In this apparatus, the carriage 14 is moved in the medium conveyance direction (paper) by a rodless type guide mechanism using a guide member 13 made of a plate-like member arranged in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface (main scanning direction) in FIG. It is supported so as to be movable in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the (conveying direction).

  On the carriage 14, for example, a liquid discharge head 11 is mounted as image forming means for discharging droplets of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K).

  On the other hand, the paper 10 accommodated in the cassette body 102 of the paper feed cassette 2 mounted on the bottom side of the apparatus main body 1 is separated and sent out one by one by the paper feed roller 15.

  The paper 10 fed from the paper feed cassette 2 is sent between the transport roller 21 and the pressure roller 22 via the relay roller 16 and the transport guide plate 17. Then, the sheet is intermittently conveyed while being guided by the conveyance guide member 23 by the conveyance force of the conveyance roller 21 and the pressure roller 22.

  At this time, the liquid ejection head 11 is driven in accordance with the image signal while moving the carriage 14, thereby ejecting liquid onto the stopped paper 10 to record one line, and after the paper 10 is conveyed by a predetermined amount. Record the next line. The carriage 14 ends the recording operation upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal indicating that the trailing edge of the paper has reached the recording area.

  A paper discharge roller 24 and a spur 25 are arranged on the downstream side of the conveyance guide member 23, and the paper 10 on which the image is formed is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3.

  Next, the paper feed cassette 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is an explanatory perspective view of the sheet feeding cassette in a state where no sheet member is provided. 5 is an enlarged explanatory view of a section A, FIG. 6 is a perspective explanatory view of a sheet feeding cassette in a state including a sheet member and a height regulating member, and FIG. 7 is a perspective explanatory view of a state in which a part of FIG. FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of part B of FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the paper setting direction in the paper feeding cassette, and FIG. 10 is a perspective explanatory diagram for explaining the paper setting in the paper feeding cassette.

  The paper feed cassette 2 has a cassette body 102 that stores the paper 10.

  The cassette body 102 includes a side fence 104 that regulates the position of the paper 10 in the width direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction in FIG. 3) and an end fence 107 that regulates the rear end position of the paper 10. . The side fence 104 can be locked by a side fence lock unit 106.

  A bottom plate 108 is disposed on the bottom surface 102 a side of the cassette body 102. The bottom plate 108 is provided so that the front end side in the paper feeding direction can be lifted. When the sheet 10 is pressed against the sheet feeding roller 15 by the bottom plate 108, the sheet 10 can be sent out by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 15.

  Further, stepped portions, protrusions, corners and the like (which are collectively referred to as “stepped portions 200”) generated on the bottom side in the cassette main body 102 become higher in the medium feeding direction, for example, as shown in FIG. One or a plurality of inclined paper guide portions 201 that are inclined in this manner are provided. That is, when the medium is inserted from the left direction in FIG. 5 or the medium is sent out to the right direction, the medium moves upward along the inclined sheet guide portion 201 and moves onto the bottom plate 108. You won't get caught in 200.

  Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the paper 10 from being caught by the stepped portion 200 when the paper 10 is fed out and causing a jam.

  Here, in the paper feed cassette 2, the capacity limit of the paper 10 set in the cassette body 102 can be visually recognized by the paper upper limit decal 109.

  If the paper 10 is set beyond the paper upper limit decal 109, a large number of sheets may be fed when the paper 10 is fed and conveyed, resulting in an apparatus malfunction due to a jam or the like.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent a large amount of sheets from being set by mistake, the end portion of the cassette body 102 opposite to the medium feeding direction, that is, the cassette body 102 is pulled out from the apparatus body 1. A height regulating member 110 that regulates the stacking height of the paper 10 on the cassette body 102 is provided at the end.

  As described above, when the height regulating member 110 is provided at the end of the cassette body 102 opposite to the medium feeding direction, a part of the cassette body 102 is pulled out while the cassette body 102 is set on the apparatus body, and the cassette body 102 is In addition, the paper 10 cannot be set from the direction in which the cassette body 102 is pulled out.

  For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the cassette body 102 is completely pulled out from the apparatus body, and the sheet 10 is slid obliquely from the direction in which the sheet 10 is fed, and the bottom surface 102a of the cassette body 102 is raised. The sheet 10 must be inserted and set between the restriction member 110. That is, in the configuration in which such a height regulating member 110 is provided, the setting direction of the paper 10 and the drawing direction of the paper feed cassette 2 are the same.

  At this time, as described above, the bottom surface 102a of the cassette main body 102 is provided with the inclined sheet guide portion 201 that is inclined so as to be higher in the medium feeding direction, and therefore, a bundle of sheets 10 (sheet bundle 10A shown in FIG. 10). ), The leading edge of the sheet bundle 10A is caught on the surface of the stepped portion 200 opposite to the inclined sheet guide portion 201 (the surface on the bottom plate 108 side), and the sheet setting property is deteriorated.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, sheet members 111 and 112, which are sheet members for a sheet feeding cassette that covers the inclined sheet guide portion 201 and the like, are placed on the bottom surface 102a of the cassette body 102. . The sheet members 111 and 112 are fixed by being attached to the bottom surface 102a and the bottom plate 108 with their positions determined. Further, if at least the surface of the sheet members 111 and 112 is black, the white paper 10 can be easily distinguished.

  Here, the sheet member 111 is a downstream sheet member that is placed on the downstream side of the bottom surface 102a including the bottom plate 108 in the medium feeding direction. Similarly, the sheet member 112 is an upstream sheet member placed on an upstream region in the medium feeding direction from the bottom plate 108.

  And in the overlapping part of the sheet member 111 and the sheet member 112, the sheet member 111 is arrange | positioned above the sheet member 112, as shown in FIG.

  With this configuration, the sheet members 111 and 112 can cover all portions where the sheet bundle 10A is caught when the sheet bundle 10A is set in the cassette body 102 of the sheet feeding cassette 2. Further, since the sheet member 111 on the downstream side in the medium feeding direction is stacked on the upper side of the upstream sheet member 112, the sheet bundle 10A is not caught between the sheet members 111 and 112 when the sheet bundle 10A is inserted.

  Accordingly, the sheet bundle 10A can be set while sliding on the sheet members 111 and 112 from an oblique direction, and the sheet setting property is improved.

  Further, since the sheet members 111 and 112 are separated on the bottom plate 108 side and the upstream side thereof, it is possible to prevent the operation of the bottom plate 108 from being hindered by the rigidity of the sheet member, and it is possible to perform stable paper feeding. .

  When the height regulating member 110 is not attached to the paper feed cassette 2, the sheet bundle 10A can be set as it is from above the cassette body 102, so that the sheet members 111 and 112 are not necessary.

  Thereby, the same cassette body can be used regardless of the presence or absence of the height regulating member 110, the versatility of the paper feed cassette is improved, and the trouble of preparing and replacing a plurality of paper feed trays can be eliminated.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, an explanation will be given of the size-dedicated sheet feeding cassette using sheet members. FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are plan explanatory views of different examples of the paper feed cassette having a dedicated size provided for the description.

  The sheet member 111 provided in the cassette body 102 of the sheet feeding cassette 2 is set to a size corresponding to a desired sheet size, and one end in the width direction of the sheet member 111 is fixed according to the sheet feeding position of the sheet of the sheet size. Then, for example, one side fence 104a is moved and fixed to a position where it abuts against one end of the sheet member 111.

  For example, in the paper feed cassette 2 shown in FIG. 11, a sheet member 111 having a width W1 and a sheet member 112 corresponding thereto are used, and a dedicated cassette having a sheet size having a width W1 is used. In the paper feed cassette 2 shown in FIG. 12, a sheet member 111 having a width W2 (W2 <W1) and a sheet member 112 corresponding thereto are used, and a dedicated cassette having a sheet size having a width W2 is used.

  In this way, by using the sheet member, the paper feed cassette 2 can be a dedicated size paper feed cassette.

  In particular, small-size paper, special application-use paper, and the like tend to have a poor skew. By regulating the position of the side fence 104, the skew can be reduced and highly accurate paper feeding can be performed.

  In this case, since the left and right side fences 104a and 104b are connected, the positions of the left and right side fences 104a and 104b can be defined simply by abutting the one side fence 104a against the sheet member 111.

  Therefore, the size of the sheet member 111 does not need to be highly accurate, and can be adjusted only by the attaching position with respect to the bottom surface of the cassette main body 102. Therefore, the sheet member 111 can be changed to a device with high sheet feeding accuracy without a significant increase in cost.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is an explanatory plan view of a sheet feeding cassette for explaining the embodiment, and FIG. 14 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of part C of FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the one end side in the width direction of the upstream sheet member 112 is formed as an obliquely shaped portion 112a that spreads from the overlapping portion with the downstream sheet member 111 toward the upstream side in plan view. In this case, when the position on the side fence 104a side is defined by the sheet member 111, the side fence 104b side is formed in an oblique shape.

  That is, as described above, when the position of the side fence 104a is restricted by being abutted against one side of the sheet member 111, a gap is generated between the opposite side fence 104b. In this case, even if there is a slight gap between the side fence 104b and the sheet members 111 and 112, the paper 10 is set in the paper feed cassette 2 while being slid.

  In view of this, at the location where there is a possibility of being caught on the upstream side of the sheet member 112, the sheet member 112 is formed into an oblique shape portion 112 a so as to cover a portion that may be caught.

  As a result, the paper slides along the obliquely shaped portion 112a, so that the paper is not caught and the paper bundle can be easily set.

  Here, the overlapping portion of the sheet member 112 and the sheet member 111 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is an enlarged plan view for explaining the same.

  As shown by phantom lines in FIG. 15, when the upstream end corner of the sheet member 111 is disposed on the obliquely shaped portion 112 a of the sheet member 112 so as to overlap, the end of the sheet bundle 10 </ b> A is smoothly moved from the sheet member 111 to the sheet. It can be transferred onto the member 112.

  However, in relation to the positional relationship with the side fence 104b and the upstream end position of the bottom plate 108, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 15, the upstream end side of the obliquely shaped portion 112a of the sheet member 112 is inward in the width direction of the sheet member 111. It can also be set as a position configuration.

  The “apparatus” in the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus that performs recording by discharging a liquid, but may be an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Further, the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus, and includes a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys the sheets in the sheet feeding cassette to different positions.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Paper feed cassette 10 Paper 10A Paper bundle 11 Liquid discharge head 14 Carriage 102 Cassette main body 104 Side fence 107 End fence 108 Bottom plate 110 Restriction member 111, 112 Sheet member 200 Step part 201 Inclined paper guide part

Claims (5)

Having a cassette body for storing a medium to be supplied to the apparatus body;
The direction in which the cassette body is pulled out from the apparatus body is the same as the direction in which the medium is set in the cassette body.
The bottom surface of the cassette body has one or a plurality of inclined portions that are inclined so as to be higher in the direction of feeding the medium to the apparatus body.
A sheet member covering the inclined portion is placed on the bottom surface of the cassette body ,
A downstream side in the direction of feeding out the medium has a bottom plate arranged so as to be lifted;
The sheet member is placed on a downstream sheet member placed on a downstream region including the bottom plate, and on a region upstream of the bottom plate, of the bottom surface of the cassette body in the direction of feeding the medium. An upstream sheet member,
The downstream sheet member and the upstream sheet member are arranged with an overlap,
The sheet feeding cassette, wherein the downstream sheet member is positioned on the upstream sheet member in the overlapping portion . The sheet feeding cassette according to claim 1 , wherein the upstream sheet member has an obliquely shaped portion that spreads upstream in plan view. 3. A height regulating member for regulating a stacking height of the medium on the cassette body is provided at an end portion in a direction in which the cassette body is pulled out from the apparatus body. The listed paper cassette. Having a cassette body for storing a medium to be supplied to the apparatus body;
The direction in which the cassette body is pulled out from the apparatus body is the same as the direction in which the medium is set in the cassette body.
Wherein the bottom surface of the cassette body, possess one or more of the inclined portions inclined in a direction to feed said medium to said apparatus body,
A sheet member disposed on a bottom surface of the cassette body of a sheet feeding cassette having a bottom plate disposed so that the downstream side in the direction of feeding the medium can be lifted ;
In the direction to feed said medium from said cassette body, wherein the positions of the bottom surface of the cassette body, and the downstream-side sheet member including pre Symbol bottom plate placed placed in the region of the downstream location loaded from the bottom plate on the upstream side of the region It is composed of an upstream sheet member to be removed ,
The sheet for a sheet feeding cassette, wherein the downstream sheet member and the upstream sheet member are arranged such that a part of the downstream sheet member is positioned on the upstream sheet member. Element. An apparatus comprising the paper feed cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .

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