JPH05319585A - Paper feeding tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent failure in a side fence even when the side fence is erroneously operated by a user. CONSTITUTION:Side fences 2, 3 interlocking in an approaching direction and in a separating direction by a wire wound around a pulley several times, are abutted on both ends of a sheet loaded on a loading board, while an end fence is abutted on the rear end, and the positron of the paper sheet is thus regulated by a paper feeding tray. In this tray, regulating means 25, 27, 27a, 27b for regulating the length of an extension spring 10 energized in the extension direction, at the time of extension, in the range of elastic deformation, and at a specified length, are provided on one side of each of the side fences 2, 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feed tray applied to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet feed tray characterized by a side fence mechanism for aligning both side edges of sheets placed on a stacking table. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a paper feed tray provided with side fences, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view thereof.

In the figure, 1 is a stacking platform on which the paper P is placed, 2 and 3 regulate both side edges of the paper P, and a pair of back and front side fences 2a and 3a are at the upper ends of the paper P.
A grip 4 provided parallel to the side end of the lock lever 4 is a lock lever for locking the movement of the side fence 2 on the back side.
Further, 5 is a front fence that regulates the front end of the paper P,
Reference numeral 6 is an end fence that regulates the rear end of the paper P.

Further, in FIG. 5, 7 is a wire for moving the side fences 2 and 3 in the approaching direction and the separating direction, and 8 is a rear pulley (also on the front side) on which the wire 7 is wound many times. (There is a pulley), 10 is a tension spring for imparting a predetermined tension to the wire 7,
Reference numerals 11 and 12 are guide shafts for guiding the movement of the side fences 2 and 3. Further, 13, 14, 15 are width-direction size detection sensors for detecting the size of the paper in the width direction from the positions of the side fences 2, 3, and 16 and 17 are end fences 6.
Is a length-direction size detection sensor that detects the length-direction size of the paper from the position.

The operation will be briefly described below.
The paper P is stacked on the stacking table 1, the grip 2a is held while the lock lever 4 is released, and the side side fence 2 on the back side is
The sheet P is moved to the front side until it abuts against the end surface of the sheet P. By this operation, the side fence 3 on the front side also moves to the back side until it abuts on the other end surface of the paper P. As a result, both side edges of the paper P are regulated, and the paper feeding performance of the paper based on the center is secured. Similarly, the end fence 6 is also moved so that the front end of the paper P is brought into contact with the front fence 5. Regarding the one-touch movement of the side fence, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 53-148639 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-4.
It has been known for a long time in Japanese Patent No. 8539.

[0006]

By the way, one side fence has a locking mechanism (lock lever), and the side fence cannot be moved by hand unless the lock is released. Also, the other side fence can be moved by applying a force more than the tension of the wire, but if the amount of movement increases, the wire will come off the pulley, the spring for tension setting will fully extend,
The side fence stops working normally.

After the sheets are stacked, the above problem occurs when the side fence on the opposite side is moved without releasing the lock in an attempt to abut the side fence on the sheets. Since the paper tray is directly touched, there is a problem that such a trouble is caused by an inexperienced user.

The present invention has been made based on such a background, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feed tray capable of preventing a failure of the side fence even if the user performs a wrong side fence operation. To aim.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above-mentioned object is to abut both side edges of a sheet placed on a stacking table with side fences which are interlocked with each other in the approaching direction and the separating direction by a wire which is wound around a pulley many times. At the same time, in the paper feed tray that regulates the position of the paper by abutting the end fence on the rear end, the extension length of the tension spring that is hung on both ends of the wire and urges in the tension direction is within the elastic deformation range. The first means provided on one of the side fences has a regulating means for regulating the length by a predetermined length.

Further, the above-mentioned object is to make both side edges of the sheets placed on the stacking table abut the side fences which are interlocked in the approaching direction and the separating direction with the wires which are wound around the pulley a large number of times, and at the rear end. In a paper feed tray that abuts an end fence to regulate the position of a sheet, a wire tension imparting means provided on the side fence side facing the side fence fixed by a lock member is provided with a predetermined wire tension imparting state. This is achieved by the second means provided with a fixing means for fixing at.

[0011]

In the first means, the length of the tension spring when stretched is regulated within the elastic deformation range and the predetermined length by the regulation means, whereby the wire is disengaged from the pulley and the tension spring is stretched. Failures such as cutting are prevented in advance.

In the second means, the wire tension applying means is fixed in a state in which the wire tension applying means provided on the side fence side opposite to the locked side applies a predetermined tension to the wire. I did it. As a result, when the side fence on the wire tension imparting means side is moved while the other side fence is in the locked state, the movement is completely stopped (in the direction in which both side fences approach and away from each other). In order to move it, we have fixed each side fence to the wire as is well known). Therefore, similarly to the above, the failure of the side fence mechanism is prevented in advance.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that parts that are the same as or can be regarded as the same as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

1 and 2 relate to the first embodiment, FIG. 1 is a plan view of a side fence mechanism portion, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main portion of the side fence mechanism portion.

Both side fences 2 and 3 are composed of substrates 2b and 3b, respectively, and three upright plates 2c and 3c which are provided perpendicularly to the substrates 2b and 3b and regulate the side edges of the paper P (FIG. 2). reference).

The rear side fence 2 and the front side fence 3 are positioned by two balls caulked by the wire 7. That is, the balls 22 are fixed in the holes 21 formed in the substrate 2b of the rear side fence 2 so that the balls 22 do not come in and out (the fixing mechanism is not shown). From this state, the wire 7 is hung on the front pulley 9, and the ball 24 is inserted into the hole 23 of the substrate 3b of the front side fence 3 and fixed so as not to come off. Further, the wire 7 is hung on the back pulley 8. Terminals 25 and 26 are crimped at both ends of the wire 7, and a tension spring 10 is hooked at both ends of the terminals 25 and 26 to apply a predetermined tension to the wire 7. The terminals 25 and 26 and the tension spring 10 are installed in a dug portion (accommodating recess) 27 formed in the substrate 2b of the side fence 2 on the far side.

On the side wall 27a on the back side of the dug portion 27,
A groove 27b is formed for fitting the wire 7 and sliding a little. The groove 27b is formed to be narrower than the terminal 25 having a width larger than the diameter of the wire 7, and will be described later. Even if the terminal 25 is pulled to the right side (back side) in FIG. 1 and slightly moved in the dug portion 27, the side wall 27a prevents the movement.

Normally, the rear side fence 2 is locked by the shaft 11 by the lock lever 4 (see FIG. 4) and does not move. In this state, move the front side fence 3 to the front side (arrow a
Direction), both terminals 25 and 26 of the wire 7 are pulled to the back side together with the tension spring 10 via the back side pulley 8, but the terminal 25 immediately hits the side wall 27a of the dug portion 27 and is further extended. The front side fence 3 cannot be moved to the front side. Therefore, the slack of the wire 7 is regulated, the wire 7 can be prevented from coming off the front pulley 9, and the extension spring 10 can be prevented from fully extending.

Since the side fences 2 and 3 of the embodiment are made of aluminum die cast, the dug portion 27 can be easily formed. Also, with respect to the side fence made of sheet metal, the same effect can be obtained by installing a member that restricts the extension of the tension spring 10.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the side fence mechanism portion of the paper feed tray according to the second embodiment. In this example,
The wire 7 has a loop shape, and the balls 22 and 24 are crimped. Further, as in the first embodiment, the side fence 2 on the back side is used as a reference, and the lock lever 4 is used.
(See FIG. 4) The position is fixed on the fixed side.

The front pulley 9 is a tighter bracket 31.
It is installed in. The tighter bracket 31 is biased forward about a shaft 34 by a compression spring 33 elastically contacted between the tighter bracket 31 and the fixed plate 32 to give the wire 7 a predetermined tension. After the tension is set, the tightener bracket 31 is fixed so as not to move by the screw 35 that is locked in the circular arc groove formed in the tighter bracket 31.

When the wire 7 has a loop shape, the wire length from the ball 22 on the rear side to the ball 24 on the front side through the pulley 8 on the rear side is equal to both side fences 2.
When the tension imparting mechanism is on the side side fence 2 on the back side, which is the reference side, because the positional relationship between the side fences 3 and 3 is determined, the positional relationship between the side fences 2 and 3 is not accurate, and thus the side fence 3 on the front side Is equipped with a tensioning mechanism.

After adjusting the tension, by fixing the tightener bracket 31 with the screw 35, even if the front side fence 3 is moved by hand, the side fence 3
Since the position of is determined by the ball 24, it does not move.
Therefore, the slack of the wire 7 does not occur, and the wire detachment can be prevented.

[0024]

According to the inventions of claims 1 and 2,
By the restriction means provided on the side fence fixed by the lock member, the extension length of the tension spring is regulated within the elastic deformation range and at a predetermined length, so that the wire is detached from the pulley and the tension spring It is possible to prevent failures such as full extension.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the restricting means is composed of the side wall of the accommodating recess and the terminal that abuts against the side wall and is locked, thereby requiring a special mechanism for that purpose. Therefore, the structure can be simplified.

According to the invention of claim 4, the wire tension imparting means is provided with the wire tension imparting means provided on the side fence side opposite to the locked side, and the wire tension imparting means applies the wire tension to the wire. Since it is fixed, the side fence on the opposite side to the side fence in the locked state is also fixed, which prevents the occurrence of problems such as disconnection of the wire from the pulley and extension of the tension spring. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a side fence mechanism of a paper feed tray according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a side fence mechanism of the paper feed tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a side fence mechanism of a paper feed tray according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a general paper feed tray.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a general paper feed tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Loading platform 2,3 Side fence 6 End fence 7 Wire 10 Tensile spring 25,26 Terminal 27 Engraved part (accommodating recess) 27a Side wall 27b Groove 31 Taitoner bracket 33 Compression spring 35 Screw

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. At both side edges of a sheet placed on a stacking table,
While striking the side fence that interlocks in the approaching direction and the separating direction with the wire that has been wound around the pulley many times,
In the paper feed tray that regulates the position of the paper by abutting the end fence on the rear end, it is hung on both ends of the wire,
A sheet feeding tray, characterized in that one of the side fences is provided with a regulating means for regulating the length of the tension spring urged in the tension direction when the tension spring is extended within a range of elastic deformation. 2. The paper feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the regulating means is provided on the side fence fixed by a locking member. 3. The side fence according to claim 2, wherein a pair of terminals, which are attached to both ends of the wire and are wider than a diameter of the wire, and the tension spring locked between the terminals are housed in the side fence. An accommodation recess is provided, and the regulating means is constituted by one of the terminals and an inner surface of a side wall of the accommodation recess having a groove wider than the diameter of the wire and narrower than the diameter of the terminal. Paper tray. 4. The paper on each side of the stacking table,
The side fence that works in the approaching direction and the separating direction is struck by the wire that is wound around the pulley many times,
In a paper feed tray for abutting an end fence at the rear end to regulate the position of a sheet, a wire tension imparting means provided on the side fence side facing the side fence fixed by a lock member is provided with a predetermined wire tension. A sheet feeding tray, characterized in that it is provided with a fixing means for fixing the sheet in a state of being attached.