JPH01285534A - Sheet storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent pressing force of a sheet from being insufficient to a feed roller by restricting the sheet from its loading amount in accordance with a width of the sheet when a lift means lifts an intermediate plate, in the case of a sheet storage device for a copying machine or the like. CONSTITUTION:A sheet storage device 1 is provided with an intermediate plate 3 loading many sheets further liftable supported and movable width-restricting plates 7, 9 restricting movement of the sheet in its width direction. Further the device 1 provides lift means 7a, 9a lifting the intermediate plate 3 being associated with the width-restricting means 7, 9. Accordingly, the sheet is loaded on the intermediate plate 3, and the width-restricting means 7, 9 are moved, restricting movement of the sheet to its width direction. Here the lift means 7a, 9a lift the intermediate plate 3 being associated with the width-restricting plates 7, 9, restricting a loaded amount of the sheet loaded on the intermediate plate 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application The present invention relates to a sheet storage device used in image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and laser beam printers. The present invention relates to a sheet storage device (hereinafter referred to as a cassette) including a plate.

(B) Prior Art Conventionally, cassettes equipped with a middle plate have been known.As shown in FIG. It has an intermediate plate 3 which is T-shaped in plan view and is supported by. At positions sandwiching the middle plate 3, width regulating plates 7, 9 are fixed to a pair of racks 6 that mesh with the pinion gear 5, and regulate the movement of the sheet in the width direction.
These width regulating plates 7 and 9 are movable in the direction of arrow A. Further, the tip end 7b of one of the width regulating plates 7 is bent approximately horizontally to regulate the amount of sheets loaded on the middle plate 3, and furthermore, the lower part of the width regulating plate 7 is bent approximately horizontally. A not-shown protrusion is provided, and the protrusion engages with a groove 10 carved in the main body 2 in correspondence with a wide range of sheet sizes.

The other width regulating plate 9 has a pressing plate 11 and a plate spring 12.
The pressing plate 11 is supported via a radiation regulating plate? It is designed to press and bias. Further, behind the middle plate 3, a *ta* control plate 13 is supported so as to be slidable in the direction of arrow B with respect to the main body, and a protrusion (not shown) is provided at the lower part of the cough rear end regulating plate 13. Further, the protrusion is adapted to engage with a guide 15 carved in the main body 2 in accordance with each sheet size.

On the other hand, a paper feeding device 16 disposed in the main body of the image forming apparatus that feeds sheets S from the cassette 1' is fixed to a rotatable shaft 17, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. It has an occluded paper feed roller 19 and an auxiliary cam 20, and an auxiliary four-roller 21 is supported on the shaft 17 so as to freely rotate. Upper and lower guides 22 and 23 are disposed downstream of the paper feed roller 19, and a separation pad 25 is disposed at the upstream end of the lower guide 23. Further, the lower guide 23 is urged to rotate counterclockwise by a spring 26 9, so that the separation pad 25 is pressed against the paper feed roller 19. Further, a pair of registration rollers 27 is disposed downstream of the upper and lower guides 22 and 23. The paper feed device 16 has a lift device 29 below the paper feed roller 19, and the lift device 29 includes a lifter 30 that pushes up the middle plate 3, and a shaft 31 that supports the lifter 30. and a spring 32 that biases the lifter to rotate.
It is made up of.

When feeding the sheet S from the cassette 1', the operator first places the sheet S on the middle plate 3 of the cassette 1'.
The width regulating plates 7 and 9 and the rear end regulating plate 13 are moved to positions corresponding to the size of the sheet S. This results in
The sheet S is restricted from moving in the width direction and backward direction.

Then, when the cassette 1' is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, a lid 30 is inserted through an opening (not shown) provided at the bottom of the cassette 1'.
The intermediate plate 3 is pushed up by the urging force of 2. As a result, the sheets S stacked on the intermediate plate 3 are pressed against the paper feed roller 19 or the auxiliary a-roller 21.

Furthermore, when a start key (not shown) is pressed in this state, the paper feed roller 19 starts rotating, and the sheets S stored in the cassette 1' are separated one by one by the roller 19 and the separation pad 25. Only the topmost sheet S is fed. Then, the sheet S is guided by the upper and lower guides 22 and 23 to a pair of registration rollers 27, and synchronously conveyed downstream by the pair of rollers 27 that start rotating at a predetermined timing.

→ Problem to be Solved by the Invention By the way, in the above-mentioned cassette 1', the pressing force of the sheets S stacked on the middle plate 3 on the paper feed roller 19 is determined by the spring 3.
By selecting 2, it is made to fall within a predetermined range. For this reason, when a large number of special sheets such as envelopes that have a large air layer and a large pressure loss in the air layer are loaded, the pressing force of the special sheet to the paper feed roller 19 is insufficient and the special sheet is not fed. There was something I couldn't do.

Therefore, the present invention limits the amount of sheets loaded onto the intermediate plate,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a seat storage device that solves the above-mentioned problems.

- Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and as shown in FIGS. a middle plate (3), and a movable width regulating plate (7, 9) that regulates the movement of the sheets in the width direction according to the width of the sheets stacked on the middle plate (3). In the sheet storage device (1), a lifting means (7a, 9a) for lifting and lowering the middle plate (3) in conjunction with the width regulating plate (7, 9) is provided, and the lifting means (7)
a, 9m) moves up and down the middle plate (3) to regulate the sheet loading amount according to the width of the sheets.

(e) Operation Based on the above-mentioned configuration, the middle plate (3) of the seat storage device (1)
A sheet is placed thereon, and the width regulating plates (7, 9) are moved to restrict movement of the sheet in the width direction.

At this time, the elevating means (7m, 9m)
9), the intermediate plate (3) is raised and lowered to regulate the amount of sheets loaded on the intermediate plate (3).

(To) Real I! ! DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Note that the same parts as those described above are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette 1 includes a middle plate 3
The rear end is rotatably supported by a support shaft 35 provided on a flange 33 erected on the cassette body 2 . Further, the corner portion 3a of the middle plate 3 constitutes a bent portion 3b bent in a U-shape, and the bent portion 3b of the width regulating plates 7, 9
Cam surfaces 7a and 9a are provided at positions opposite to.

This embodiment has the above configuration, so when envelopes are fed from the cassette 1, an appropriate amount of envelopes are placed on the middle plate 3 of the cassette 1, and the width regulating plate 7°9 and rear end regulating plate 7. Board 13
to restrict movement of the envelope in the width direction and rear direction. At this time, the bent portions 3b and 3b of the intermediate plate 3 rise along the opposing cam surfaces 7a and 9a, respectively, and thereby the intermediate plate 3 also rises (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the amount of envelopes that can be accommodated from the middle plate 3 to the tip 7b of the width regulating plate 7 is reduced compared to the case where the middle plate 3 does not rise. Then, when the cassette 1 is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, the lid 30 is inserted through an opening (not shown) provided at the bottom of the cassette 1, and the lifter 30 is moved by the biasing force of the spring 32 to the middle plate 3.
push up. As a result, the envelopes stacked on the middle plate 3 are pressed against the paper feed roller 19 or the auxiliary roller 21. Furthermore, when a start key (not shown) is pressed in this state, the paper feed roller 19 starts rotating, and the roller 19 and the separation pad 25 separate the envelopes stored in the cassette 1 one by one, and the envelopes are separated into the topmost one. Envelopes will only be fed. Then, the envelope is guided by the upper and lower guides 22 and 23 to a pair of registration rollers 27, and synchronously conveyed downstream by the pair of rollers 27 that start rotating at a predetermined timing.

In addition, when feeding a sheet of normal size (for example, A3 to B5), the sheet is placed on the intermediate plate 3, and the width regulating plate 7,
9 and rear end regulating plate 13 to move the sheet in the width direction and rear direction #! ! At this time, the bent part 3b,
3b and the inclined surfaces 7m and 9a are spaced apart from each other to ensure sufficient loading capacity. Then, the sheet is fed by the same operation as described above.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the cam surface was provided on the width regulating plate 7.9, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. , and the bottom surfaces of the constricted portions 3c, 3c may constitute cam surfaces.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the bending portion 3b is used as a lifting means.
, 3b and the cam surfaces 7m and 9m, but the invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG.
3.33 and is supported rotatably by a shaft 37 which is biased downward by a spring 36.36, and the tip portion of the rear end regulating plate 13 may be used as a cam surface 13a. In this case, by pushing up the shaft 37 using the cam surface 13m, the rear end of the middle plate 3 is pushed up, and the distance between the middle plate 3 and the tip 7b of the width regulating plate 7 is narrowed to regulate the loading amount. .

Further, in the above embodiment, the tip 7a of the width regulating plate 7 is bent approximately horizontally, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 5, the tip of the suppressing plate 11 may be bent to press the sheet. You may also do so.

Alternatively, a sticker or engraving indicating the full load position may be provided.

(G) As described in detail, according to the present invention, the elevating means is configured to raise and lower the intermediate plate to regulate the sheet loading amount according to the width of the sheets, so that the It is possible to prevent the pressing force of the sheet from being insufficient and to reliably feed even special sheets such as envelopes which have a large pressure loss.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a seat storage device according to the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the operation of the present invention. Furthermore, FIGS. 3 to 5 are perspective views showing other embodiments of the present invention. 6 to 8 are diagrams showing conventional examples. 1.1'... Seat storage device, 3... Middle plate,
7.9...Width regulation plate, 3c, 7m, 9m, 13a
...Lifting means. Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An intermediate plate loaded with a large number of sheets and supported so as to be able to rise and fall, and a movement that restricts the movement of the sheets in the width direction according to the width of the sheets stacked on the intermediate plate. A seat storage device comprising a freely adjustable width regulating plate, further comprising: an elevating means for elevating and lowering the middle plate in conjunction with the width regulating plate, and the elevating means elevating and lowering the middle plate; A seat storage device configured to regulate the seat loading amount according to the width of the seat.