JPH0569958A - Paper feed cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To receive a cassette regardless of the volume of a paper sheet receiving quantity by providing a part to be held of which right and left both the sides are only held with the right and left cassette holding parts of a cassette receiving space, on a specified position. CONSTITUTION:A small capacity paper feed cassette 13 for 250 sheets is provided with a loading plate 15 for paper sheets, elastic push-up units 16 to push up the loading plate 15, paper sheet separation claws 17, regulating plates 18 for side end of paper sheets, and a regulating tool 19 for back end of paper sheets. Parts 20 to be held constituted of projections are respectively provided on right and left both sides of a paper sheet feed cassette main body 13A, the underside of the parts 20 are constituted into the loading faces 21 against cassette guide holding members, and stoppers 22 are provided on the underside of right and left both side parts. Namely, in the condition which the paper feed cassette 13 is mounted in a cassette receiving space, the parts 20 to be held are provided on the front end of a certain height position against a paper feed roller, and the stoppers 22 are provided on the bottom part spaced from the parts 20 by a prescribed distance.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette used in a copying machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a small-capacity type cassette that can store about 250 sheets or a large-capacity type cassette that can store about 500 sheets as a sheet cassette to be mounted in a sheet feeder of a copying machine. is there.

This is because, for relatively frequently used paper such as JIS standard B5 size and A4 size, it is less refilling work to store a large amount of paper in a large capacity paper cassette. , Because it is easy to use,
On the other hand, for B4 size paper, A3 size paper, etc., which are large in size and used infrequently, if a large amount of paper is stored in the paper feed cassette, the entire paper feed cassette becomes heavy and inconvenient. This is because there is a risk that the quality of the paper may change due to the influence of moisture, and it is rather convenient to store these papers in small-capacity paper feed cassettes little by little. In addition, since a bundle of paper is often in units of 500 sheets, a small-capacity paper feed cassette that can store about 250 sheets of paper and a large-capacity paper feed cassette that can store about 500 sheets of paper. Is currently used.

[0004]

On the other hand, commercially available copying machines include a single-cassette type having one cassette storage space and a multiple-cassette type having two or more cassette storage spaces. There is. Among them, the single-cassette type is configured so that only a small-capacity paper feeding cassette or a large-capacity paper feeding cassette is set in the cassette storage space for exclusive use. There are some that are configured so that a small-capacity paper feed cassette and a large-capacity paper feed cassette can be set individually, but in any case, the paper feed cassette is equipped with a cassette holding section that spans the entire bottom surface of the cassette storage space. Since the entire width of the bottom surface is held, it is impossible to set a large-capacity paper feed cassette in the cassette storage space dedicated to a small-capacity cassette and vice versa.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feed cassette that can be set in the cassette storage space regardless of the size of the paper storage, provided that the cassette storage space is large.

The sheet cassette according to the present invention, which has achieved the above object, is provided on both left and right sides of the sheet cassette main body and at a constant height position with respect to the sheet feed roller in the cassette storage space. It is characterized in that a held portion is provided in which only the left and right sides are held by the left and right cassette holding portions of the cassette storage space.

[0006]

That is, since the paper feed cassette is constructed so that only the left and right sides are held in the cassette storage space, therefore, if the cassette storage space is also made large, it is possible to supply paper at various heights with different paper storage amounts. A paper cassette can be set in the cassette storage space.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an essential part of a single-cassette type copying machine. In the main body 1 of the copying machine, a photosensitive drum 2, a developing mechanism 3, a transfer / separation mechanism 4, a cleaning mechanism 5, a feeding roller 6, a feeding roller 6 are provided. Various mechanisms such as a paper roller 7 and a cassette size detection mechanism 8 are internally provided, and a total of four foot portions 9 are provided at the bottom of the main body 1.
Is provided. Of these legs 9, two on the front side are fixed, and two on the rear side are vertically adjustable in height, and are used to install the main body 1 of the copying machine horizontally and prevent vibration. ..

Reference numeral A denotes a cassette storage space. In this cassette storage space A, adjacent corner portions of the bottom plate 1A and the right side plate 1B of the main body 1 are cut off, and the bottom plate material 10a is cut in the cutout portion on the side of the bottom plate 1A.
Is formed below the main body bottom plate 1A by mounting the box-shaped case 10, and by utilizing the space formed below the bottom of the main body 1 due to the presence of the foot portion, 50
A large-capacity paper feed cassette 12 for storing 0 or more sheets of paper 11 can be stored. This FIG. 1 shows that a small-capacity sheet cassette 13 for 250 sheets is set, and the sheet cassette 13 itself is
Only the left and right sides are held by the cassette holding portion 14 provided in the cassette storage space A.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a small-capacity sheet cassette 13 for 250 sheets and a large-capacity sheet cassette 12 for 500 sheets or more. Hereinafter, the same constituent members will be described. To explain with the same reference numerals, the sheet loading plate 15, the push-up ammunition 16 for pushing the loading plate 15 upward, the sheet separating claw 17, the sheet side edge regulating plate 18, the sheet rear edge, respectively. It has various mechanisms such as a restrictor 19. These mechanisms are the same as the conventional ones, and the sheet trailing edge restricting device 19 can be configured so that the position can be changed forward and backward depending on the size of the sheet 11.

The difference from the prior art is that the main body of the paper feed cassette
12A and 13A are provided with held portions 20 each of which is formed of a projection on the left and right sides thereof, and the lower surfaces of the held portions 20 are placed on a cassette guide holding member 24 (see FIG. 4) described later.
21 and that stoppers 22 are provided on the lower surfaces of both left and right sides. That is, in the case of a small-capacity sheet feeding cassette 13 for 250 sheets, near the bottom of the left and right side portions of the sheet feeding cassette main body 13A, that is, as shown in FIGS. With the paper feed cassette 13 installed in A, the paper feed roller 7
On the other hand, the held portion 20 is provided at the front end at a constant height position, and the stopper 22 is provided at the bottom portion separated from the held portion 20 by a predetermined distance.

In a large-capacity cassette 12 of 500 sheets or more, the held portion 20 of the paper feed cassette body 12A has the same height h as the height h of the small-capacity paper feed cassette 13.
In other words, it is provided at the same height position as the held portion 20 of the small-capacity paper feeding cassette 13 formed at a constant height position with respect to the paper feeding roller 7. On the other hand, a stepped portion 23 is formed on the lower surface of the held portion 20 of the large-capacity sheet feeding cassette 12 at the placement surface 21 and the held portion is held.
A stopper 22 is provided on the lower surface of the stepped portion 23 that is away from the predetermined distance by 20.

FIG. 4 shows the details of the cassette holding portions 14 on the main body 1 side. The cassette holding portions 14 are located at predetermined positions of the plate members 27 provided on the left and right sides of the cassette storage space A, that is, FIG. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the state where the paper feed cassettes 12 and 13 are mounted in the cassette storage space A, the cassettes 12 and 13 provided at a constant height position with respect to the paper feed roller 7 It is integrally formed at a constant height position with respect to the paper feed roller 7, which is equivalent to the held portion 20.

A main part of the cassette holding portion 14 is a substantially L-shaped cassette guide holding member 24, and a guide member 25 is provided above the cassette guide holding member 24 so as to face the cassette guide holding member 24. , Cassette guide holding member 24 and guide member
Leaf springs 26 projecting inward are provided below the location opposite to the interior of the cassette guide holding member 2
4, the cassette holding portion 14 including the guide member 25, the leaf spring 26, etc. is provided near the inner surface of the cassette storage space A. As described above, since the cassette holding portion 14 is provided near the inner surface of the cassette storage space A, and the paper feed cassettes 12 and 13 are held only by the left and right side portions thereof, the cassette storage space A
Paper cassette for small capacity if you make it large
Both the large-capacity paper feed cassette 12 and the large-capacity paper feed cassette 12 can be freely stored and held at the user's choice.

That is, in the small-capacity sheet feeding cassette 13, as shown in FIG. 5, the left and right held portions 20 are inserted between the cassette guide holding member 24 and the guide member 25 and slid inward. By pushing the rear end of the paper feed cassette 13 downward as shown by the chain double-dashed line, the held portion 20 deforms the leaf spring 26 and rides up, and the stopper
22 is brought into contact with the front end of the cassette guide holding member 24 to be stored and held.
Seen from the 13 side, it becomes as shown in FIG. A large-capacity paper feed cassette 12 can be stored and held by the same operation. In this case, as shown in FIG.
Since the paper feed cassette 12 itself is in contact with the cassette guide holding member 24 to prevent the insertion of the paper feed cassette 12, the state shown in FIG. 7 is obtained when the paper feed cassette 12 is stored and held. ..

As shown in the embodiment, when the cassette storage space A is formed so as to project below the bottom plate 1A of the main body 1, horizontal installation of the copying machine main body 1 and prevention of vibration, etc. Since the space formed by the foot portion 9 provided for that purpose, which has not been useful at all, is used for a part of the cassette storage space A, the copying machine can store and hold a large-capacity paper feed cassette 12 It does not increase the overall bulk and can be performed with a little modification to the conventional copying machine. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the copying machine is configured so that the legs 9, 9 are located on both sides of the sheet feeding cassette, and the sheet feeding cassette accommodating recess 29 is formed on the copying machine mounting table 28, or As shown in FIG. 9, when viewed from the front, the foot portion 9 of the paper feed cassette and the paper feed cassette are configured so as not to overlap with each other, and the foot portion 9 of the copying machine is placed on the copying machine mounting table.
If the copier is placed so as to be positioned near the end of 28, as described above, it is possible to store and hold a super large capacity paper cassette 30 without increasing the bulk of the copier as a whole. Is.

Further, in the embodiment, both paper feed cassettes 1
2 and 13 are provided with the held portions 20 each formed of a protrusion, and the lower surface thereof is configured as the mounting surface 21, but such a held portion 20 is not provided, and the small capacity shown in FIG. It is also possible to configure the bottom of the sheet feeding cassette 13 of FIG. 3 and the lower surface of the stepped portion 23 of the large capacity sheet feeding cassette 12 shown in FIG. .. Further, it is also possible to implement by providing grooves on the left and right side portions of both paper feed cassettes 12 and 13, and providing a protrusion fitted on the grooves on the main body 1 side. In short, any structure can be adopted as long as the structure holds the paper feed cassettes 12 and 13 only on the left and right sides, and various modifications can be made. Also, stopper 22
However, in addition to being provided on the bottoms of the sheet feeding cassettes 12 and 13 and the lower surface of the stepped portion 23, various modifications can be made such that they are provided so as to project to the side portions of the sheet feeding cassettes 12 and 13. The sheet feeding device according to the present invention can be applied not only to the single cassette type, but also to a sheet feeding device of a multi-cassette type copying machine.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the paper feed cassette is configured so that only the left and right sides are held in the cassette storage space, if the cassette storage space is also made large, paper cassettes of various heights with different paper storage capacity, that is, small capacity Not only the paper feed cassette of No. 1 but also a large-capacity paper feed cassette or a super large-capacity paper feed cassette having a larger capacity than that can be set in the cassette storage space. ,
Thus, it has become possible to adopt a paper feed form with a paper feed cassette having a size according to the frequency of use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of a main part of a copying machine.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a small capacity sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a large capacity sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view in which a main part of the paper feeding device is seen through and a cross section is shown.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a set state of a small-capacity sheet feeding cassette in a cassette storage space.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the copying machine showing a set state of a small capacity sheet cassette.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the copying machine showing a set state of a large-capacity sheet feeding cassette.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a set state of a super-high-capacity paper feed cassette with respect to a copying machine mounted on a copying machine mounting table.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a set state of another embodiment of the ultra large capacity sheet cassette for the copying machine mounted on the copying machine mounting table.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 ... Paper feed roller, 12A, 13A ... Paper feed cassette body, 14 ...
Cassette holding portion, 20 ... Held portion, 23 ... Recessed stepped portion, A ... Cassette storage space.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takehiko Okada 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (address change due to administrative division change) (72) Inventor Haruo Yamamoto Osaka City 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Address change due to administrative division change)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A left and right sides of a paper feed cassette main body and at a constant height position with respect to a paper feed roller in a cassette storage space,
A sheet feeding cassette, characterized in that it is provided with a held portion in which only the left and right sides are held by the left and right cassette holding portions of the cassette storage space. 2. The paper feeding cassette according to claim 1, wherein recessed step portions are formed at lower portions on both left and right sides of the paper feeding cassette body, and a lower surface of the step portion is a held portion.