JPH06336344A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a length in a longitudinal direction of a paper feeder by applying a structure wherein a paper feed cassette can be inserted/removed without providing a handle in a front surface part. CONSTITUTION:In an equipment main unit 11, an engaging part 28 is provided in the side surface of a cassette inserting part 21, and a spring unit 29 for pressing forward a paper feed cassette 51 is provided in the rear part of the cassette inserting part 21. In the paper feed cassette 51, a latch 62 engaged with the engaging part 28 is provided. In a front face of the paper feed cassette 51, a push button 72 for actuating the latch 62 released is provided. Thus in a condition of inserting the paper feed cassette 51, almost a total unit thereof can be received into the cassette inserting part 21, to enable a length to shorten in the longitudinal direction of a paper feeder.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device in which a sheet feeding cassette for storing sheets is removably provided in a device body such as a facsimile, a page printer and a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet feeding device of this type is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 7, a cassette insertion portion 2 having a front surface opened (referred to as a left side surface when viewed from above in FIG. 6) is formed in the lower portion of the device body 1, and the cassette insertion portion 2 is provided with the paper feed cassette 3
Is detachably attached from the front.

The device body 1 is provided with a feeding roller 4 on the rear upper surface of the cassette insertion portion 2, and the rotation of the feeding roller 4 causes the sheets P in the paper feed cassette 3 to be taken into the device body 1 one by one. .

The paper feed cassette 3 has a plurality of paper sheets P inside.
A rectangular storage frame 5 for accumulating and storing paper is formed, and paper guides 6 for holding both side edges of the paper P on both sides in the storage frame 5 are formed.
A push-up plate 8 is attached to the bottom of the storage frame 5 so that the rear end side of the storage frame 5 is biased upward by the spring 7 to press the paper P against the feeding roller 4. Further, on the front surface of the storage frame 5, a handle portion 9 into which a finger opened downward can be inserted is formed.

Then, the paper feed cassette 3 containing the paper P
Is inserted into the cassette insertion portion 2 of the device body 1 from the front side and attached. In this mounted state, the handle portion 9 has the device body 1
It projects forward from the front of the. Further, in order to take out the paper feed cassette 3 for replenishing the paper P or the like, the paper feed cassette 3 is pulled forward from the cassette insertion portion 2 by holding the grip portion 9 projecting forward.

[0006]

In the conventional paper feeding device,
For convenience, it is necessary to provide a handle portion 9 on the front surface of the paper feed cassette 3 for take-out operation, and this handle portion 9 is located in front of the front surface of the device body 1 when the paper feed cassette 3 is attached to the device body 1. Need to be projected. Therefore, even if the size of the apparatus is reduced, the paper cassette 3
Since the handle portion 9 has to be projected, the handle portion 9 has a long length in the front-rear direction of the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and adopts a structure in which a paper feed cassette can be inserted and removed without providing a handle portion on the front surface, and the length of the apparatus in the front-rear direction can be made small. A paper feeding device is provided.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a device body having a cassette insertion portion, and a paper feed cassette that can be inserted into and removed from the cassette insertion portion of the device body and that is substantially entirely accommodated in the cassette insertion portion when inserted. The apparatus main body is provided with an engagement portion inside the cassette insertion portion, and a spring body for urging the paper feed cassette in a direction in which the paper feed cassette is ejected from the cassette insertion portion. A latch that engages and disengages with the engaging portion in a state of being inserted into the cassette inserting portion is rotatably provided, and a latch spring that biases this latch in the engaging direction with the engaging portion is provided, and the latch is pushed by a pushing operation. A push button for rotating the sheet feeding device in the releasing direction is provided on the front surface of the sheet feeding cassette.

[0009]

In the present invention, when the paper is set in the device body,
By inserting the paper feed cassette into the cassette insertion part,
The paper feed cassette presses the spring body to accumulate an urging force, the latch engages with the engagement portion, and the paper feed cassette is held in the cassette insertion portion. Then, in the inserted state of the paper feed cassette, substantially the entire paper feed cassette is accommodated in the cassette insertion portion, that is, the device body.

Further, when the paper feed cassette is taken out, the push button is pushed to rotate the latch in the releasing direction, and when the latch is disengaged from the engaging portion, the paper feed cassette is biased by the spring body. Is pushed forward from the cassette insertion part.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile machine to which the paper feeding device of the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In the figure, 11 is a main body of a facsimile machine, and the main body 11 of the machine has rubber feet 12 at four corners of its bottom surface.
An outer shell is formed by the lower case 13 attached with and the upper case 14 attached on the lower case 13.

On the upper surface of the upper case 14, a document insertion portion 15 for setting a transmission document is provided on the rear side, an operation panel 16 is provided on the front side, and a receiver 17 is placed on one side. The front of 14 is equipped with a document outlet for ejecting sent documents.
An opening 18 and a paper discharge port 19 are formed.

A cassette insertion portion 21 is formed on the lower surface of the central portion of the lower case 13, and the cassette insertion portion 21 is opened forward and downward by an upper wall portion 22, side wall portions 23 and a rear wall portion 24. Has been formed. A window hole 25 is formed near the rear portion of the upper wall portion 22, and the peripheral surface of the feeding roller 26 is disposed so as to project from the window hole 25 into the cassette insertion portion 21. Both side walls 23
Guide protrusion 27 along the front-rear direction except for a part of the front end.
1, and a columnar engagement portion 28 is provided at the front end of the guide projection 27, as shown in FIG. Rear wall
The front of 24 has a spring body consisting of a conical coil spring.
29 are attached. A sheet feeding port 30 is formed at a corner between the upper wall portion 22 and the rear wall portion 24.

A document passage 31 is formed in the apparatus body 11 from the document insertion portion 15 to the document discharge port 18. Along the document passage 31, a drawing roller 32 for drawing the documents one by one, inside the passage. Sets of transport rollers for transporting multiple originals
33, a reading unit 34, and a white roller 35 for pressing a document against the reading unit 34 are provided.

Further, a paper passage 36 is formed so as to make a U-turn from the paper feeding port 30 to the paper discharge port 19. Along the paper passage 36, the feeding roller 26 feeds the sheets one by one by the claw portion 82. A pull-in roller 37 for pulling the sheet P fed out to the outlet 30 into the passage, a developing / transferring section 38 and a fixing section 39 in the electrophotographic process are provided.

The developing and transferring section 38 applies a charge to the surface of the photosensitive drum 41 by the charger 40 and irradiates the surface of the photosensitive drum 41 with a laser beam from the optical system unit 42 to form an electrostatic latent image. Toner is adsorbed by the developing device 43 on the electrostatic latent image of 41, and the toner image adsorbed on the photosensitive drum 41 is transferred by the transfer device.
Transfer at 44 onto paper P. Then, the fixing unit 39 passes the sheet P coated with the toner between the heated rollers 45 and fixes the toner on the sheet P.

Next, 51 is a paper feed cassette. As shown in FIG. 2, this paper feed cassette 51 has a bottom surface 52, both side surfaces 53,
The front surface portion 54 and the rear surface portion 55 are formed in a rectangular frame shape for accommodating a plurality of sheets P in a stacked state.

Ribs 56 are formed so as to project outward from the upper edges of the side surface portions 53, and the ribs 56 are slidably mounted on the guide protrusions 27 (shown in FIG. 4) of the cassette insertion portion 21 to supply the ink. A paper cassette 51 is supported in the cassette insertion portion 21 so that it can be inserted and removed freely. In addition, the concave frame part is
57 is formed, and the groove portion 58 is formed in the concave frame portion 57.

An interlocking shaft 61 is rotatably fitted between the two concave frame parts 57 and penetrating both groove parts 58, and both ends of the interlocking shaft 61 are engaged with and disengaged from the engaging part 28 of the cassette insertion part 21. Latch 62 is attached. As shown in FIG. 3, the latch 62 is fixed to the end 61a of the interlocking shaft 61 having a substantially D-shaped cross section.
A fixing hole 64 having a substantially D-shaped cross section is fitted and fixed, and a latch piece portion 65 is formed to project from the fixing portion 63.
A claw portion 66 that is engaged with and disengaged from the engaging portion 28 is formed on the lower surface of the tip of the 65. The claw portion 66 has an inclined surface whose tip side is inclined in the tip direction.
66a, and the fixed portion 63 side is formed as a vertical surface 66b. One latch located on the right side of the paper cassette 51
An engaging piece portion 67 provided vertically from the fixing portion 63 is provided on the 62.
Is formed so as to project in a direction offset by approximately 90 ° from the latch piece portion 65 provided in the horizontal direction.

A latch spring 68, which is a torsion spring, is mounted at a side position of each latch 62 of the interlocking shaft 61, and one end of the latch spring 68 projects into the concave frame 57 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The other end is engaged with the pin 69 provided and the other end is engaged with the upper surface of the latch piece portion 65, and is biased by rotation so as to rotate in the engaging direction for engaging the latch 62 with the engaging portion 28. There is.

A window hole 71 is formed in the right side portion of the front surface portion 54 of the paper feed cassette 51, and a push button 72 is fitted in the window hole 71 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. This push button 72
A flange portion 73 that abuts on the edge portion of the window hole 71 and restricts forward movement is formed, and a pushing force that abuts the engaging piece portion 67 of the latch 62 through an opening (not shown) of the concave frame portion 57 on the rear surface. The shaft 74 is formed to project. A spring 75 is attached to the pushing shaft 74, and the rear end of the spring 75 is in contact with the front wall surface of the concave frame portion 57.

Then, the push button 72 is moved forward by the spring 75, the latch 62 is rotated in the engaging direction by the latch spring 68, and the engaging piece 67 of the latch 62 is brought to the end face of the push shaft 74 of the push button 72. In the abutting state, the latch piece portion 65 of the latch 62 is arranged substantially horizontally at the front position of the rib 56.

Further, paper guides 81 for holding both side edges of the paper P are attached to both sides of the paper feed cassette 51, and a claw protruding above the corner of the paper P is attached to the rear end of each paper guide 81. The portion 82 is bent and formed. Further, a push-up plate 83 that supports the bottom surface of the paper P is arranged at the bottom of the paper feed cassette 51, the front end side of this push-up plate 83 is swingably supported by a support piece 84, and the rear end side is a spring 85. The sheet P is urged upward to press the sheet P against the delivery roller 26.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

At the time of setting the paper P in the device main body 11, the paper P is stored on the push-up plate 83 of the paper feed cassette 51, and the rear side of the paper feed cassette 51 is from the front of the cassette insertion portion 21 of the device main body 11. insert. Paper cassette 51 to be inserted
The ribs 56 on both sides are placed on the guide protrusions 27 on both sides of the cassette insertion portion 21 and move rearward.

Then, the paper feed cassette 51 is a cassette insertion portion.
Before the storage position in 21 is reached, the rear surface of the paper feed cassette 51
55 abuts on the spring body 29 and elastically contracts the spring body 29.

Further, the inclined surface 66a of the claw portion 66 of the latch 62 abuts on the engaging portion 28, and the claw portion 66 is rotated while the latch 62 rotates upward against the bias of the latch spring 68. The vertical surface 66b of the claw portion 66 engages with the rear surface side of the engaging portion 28, over the 28. This latching operation is performed by interlocking the latches 62 on both sides via the interlocking shaft 61.

As described above, the latch 62 is engaged with the engaging portion 28, so that the paper feeding cassette 51 is held in the cassette inserting portion 21. And the paper feed cassette 51
In the inserted state, substantially the entire paper feed cassette 51 is housed in the cassette insertion portion 21, and the front surface portion 54 of the paper feed cassette 51 is substantially flush with the front surface of the device body 11.

Further, since the paper P in the paper feed cassette 51 is pushed up by the push-up plate 83, the paper P comes into pressure contact with the feeding roller 26 projecting into the cassette insertion portion 21.

Then, at the time of the receiving operation or the copying operation, the feeding roller 26 is rotationally driven, and the uppermost sheet P in the sheet feeding cassette 51 gets over the claw portion 82 of the sheet guide 81 and passes from the sheet feeding port 30 to the sheet passage. Rolled out to 36.

On the other hand, when the paper feed cassette 51 is taken out to replenish the paper P or the like, the push button 72 on the front surface of the paper feed cassette 51 is depressed to cause the push shaft 72 of the push button 72 to move the latch 62 to the latch 62. The engaging piece portion 67 pushes backward, and the latch 62 rotates in the releasing direction. When the claw portion 66 of the latch 62 is disengaged from the engaging portion 28, the elasticity of the contracted spring body 29 pushes the paper feed cassette 51 forward.

Then, holding the front end portion of the paper feed cassette 51 protruding from the apparatus body 11, the paper feed cassette 51 is pulled forward from the cassette insertion portion 21.

As described above, it is possible to adopt a structure in which the paper feed cassette 51 can be inserted and removed without providing a handle on the front surface.
Therefore, when the paper cassette 51 is inserted,
Substantially the entire 51 can be accommodated in the cassette insertion portion 21, and the length of the paper feeding device in the front-rear direction can be made small.

If the latch 62 is provided on at least one side of the paper feed cassette 51, the inserted state of the paper feed cassette 51 can be maintained.

[0036]

According to the present invention, by inserting the paper feed cassette into the cassette insertion portion, the paper feed cassette is held in the inserted state by the latch, and the push button on the front surface of the paper feed cassette is pushed. By doing so, the latch can be released, and the paper feed cassette can be pushed forward by the spring body to which the biasing force is applied when the cassette is inserted, that is, the paper feed cassette can be inserted and removed without providing a handle on the front surface. It is possible to adopt a structure that can be carried out. Therefore, when the paper feed cassette is inserted, almost the entire paper feed cassette can be housed in the cassette insertion portion, and the length of the paper feed device in the front-rear direction can be made small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a sheet feeding device of the present invention with a part of a facsimile device omitted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet feeding cassette according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a part of the device body of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a device body and a paper feed cassette according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view in which a part of a conventional paper feeding device is omitted.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional paper feed cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Device body 21 Cassette insertion part 28 Engagement part 29 Spring body 51 Paper cassette 62 Latch 68 Latch spring 72 Push button

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device main body having a cassette insertion part, and a paper feed cassette that can be inserted into and removed from the cassette insertion part of the device main body and substantially entirely accommodated in the cassette insertion part at the time of insertion. An engagement portion is provided inside the cassette insertion portion, and a spring body that urges the paper feed cassette in a direction of escaping from the cassette insertion portion is provided, and the paper feed cassette is in a state of being inserted into the cassette insertion portion. A push button for rotatably providing a latch for engaging and disengaging the engaging portion, a latch spring for urging the latch in the engaging direction to the engaging portion, and for rotating the latch in a releasing direction by a pushing operation. A sheet feeding device characterized in that the sheet feeding cassette is provided on the front surface of the sheet feeding cassette.