JPH07309456A - Paper feeding tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain a skew at tray setting time of a transfer paper bundle of the maximum paper sheet size by arranging a paper sheet movement regulating member in a position separated from guide fences so as to regulate a movement of a transfer paper of the maximum paper sheet size in the tray setting direction when it is set in a copying machine. CONSTITUTION:Guide fences 3a and 3b movable according to the paper sheet size are provided, and a paper feeding tray 1 is provided to supply transfer papers 6 set between these guide fences 3a and 3b to the copying machine side. A fixed rib 7 to regulate a movement of the transfer papers 6 of the maximum paper sheet size in the direction (tray setting direction Y) orthogonal to the guide fences 3a and 3b, is arranged downstream on the paper feeding directional X separated from the guide fences 3a and 3b of a tray side plate 8 of a paper feeding tray 1. Thereby, a skew can be effectively restrained at paper sheet setting time of a bundle of the transfer papers 6 whose load capacity is increased in the maximum paper sheet size and inertia force becomes large.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed tray for feeding transfer paper to a copying machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional paper feed tray will be described with reference to FIG. A pair of guide fences 3 a and 3 b are provided along the paper feeding direction X on the upstream side of the tray bottom surface 2 of the paper feeding tray 1. This guide fence 3a, 3b
Is movable in a tray set direction Y orthogonal to the paper feed direction X by a rack and pinion moving mechanism 4. A sheet positioning plate 5 is provided on the downstream side of the tray bottom surface 2.

At the time of setting the paper, after inserting a bundle of transfer paper 6 (a bundle of transfer papers) between the guide fences 3a and 3b, the guide fences 3a and 3b are moved inward according to the paper size to transfer the transfer paper 6. Insert from both sides. After the paper setting operation is completed in this manner, the paper feed tray 1 is set in a copying machine (not shown) and the transfer paper 6 is moved along the paper feeding direction X of the copying machine. You can take action.

[0004]

The paper feed tray 1 described above is provided.
In recent years, it has been installed in a generally used front-loading type copying machine. However, it is preferable from the standpoint of work efficiency that the number of sheets loaded at one time is as large as possible. However, when a large number of transfer papers 6 are stacked at once, the transfer paper bundle is violent due to the inertial force when the tray is set, and compared to the paper feed upstream side that is being pressed by the guide fences 3a and 3b, the paper feed downstream side is weaker Is increased in the tray setting direction Y, which causes skew. In this case, in particular, as the sheet size of the transfer sheet 6 is larger and the number of stacked sheets is larger, the inertial force of the transfer sheet bundle is larger and the skew cannot be suppressed. When skew occurs during tray setting in this way, the transfer paper 6 is fed in the paper feed direction X.
Paper is caught in the paper and the paper feeding performance deteriorates. Further, the problem that such skew occurs is not limited to the paper feed tray 1 of the type in which the paper feed direction X and the tray set direction Y are orthogonal to each other, and the paper feed direction X and the tray set direction Y are the same direction. The same can be said for the type of paper feed tray.

[0005]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a guide fence which is movable according to the size of a sheet, and a transfer sheet set between the guide fences is fed to a copying machine. In the tray, a paper movement restricting member that restricts the movement of the transfer paper having the maximum paper size in the tray setting direction when being set in the copying machine is provided at a position apart from the guide fence.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the paper movement restricting member is provided with a paper guide surface inclined along the paper feed direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the paper movement restricting member is provided with a paper guide surface inclined along a direction opposite to the paper feeding direction.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the leading end of the sheet movement restricting member and the transfer sheet set on the bottom surface of the tray are separated by a minute distance.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the friction coefficient of all or a part of the area on the bottom surface of the tray that is not sandwiched by the guide fence is calculated from the friction coefficient of the area sandwiched by the guide fence. Was also set large.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the sheet movement restricting member is provided with a sheet guide surface inclined along the tray set direction.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the transfer paper of the maximum paper size set along the guide fence is restricted in its movement in the tray setting direction by contacting one side of the transfer paper with the paper movement restricting member. . As a result, it becomes possible to suppress the skew at the time of tray setting of the transfer sheet bundle having the maximum sheet size, the stacking amount, and the large inertial force. Also, in consideration of the backlash of the guide fence that can be freely moved, by installing the paper movement regulating member at a position on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction away from the guide fence where the transfer paper retainer is loose, the inertial force is increased. It is possible to enhance the effect of suppressing the skew of the transfer sheet bundle.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the transfer sheet moves smoothly along the sheet guide surface formed in the same direction as the sheet feeding direction when the sheet is fed. This allows
Particularly in a paper feed tray in which the paper feed direction and the tray set direction are different, it is possible to reduce the friction at the tip of the paper movement restricting member when moving the transfer paper in the paper feed direction to eliminate the paper catching. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the transfer sheet moves in the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction, it smoothly moves along the sheet guide surface formed in the same direction as the opposite direction. As a result, in a paper feed tray having a paper return mechanism, it is possible to reduce the friction at the leading end of the paper movement restricting member when returning the paper and eliminate the paper catch.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the front end of the paper movement restricting member and the transfer paper set on the bottom of the tray are separated from each other by a very small distance, so that the paper movement of the transfer paper bundle when the tray is set. It is possible to reduce the collision with the restriction member.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the coefficient of friction of the area on the bottom of the tray that is not caught by the guide fence is set to be larger than the coefficient of friction of the area that is sandwiched by another guide fence. It is possible to further increase the frictional force between the transfer sheet and the bottom surface of the tray and further reduce the inertial movement of the transfer sheet bundle.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the paper is set, the transfer paper can be smoothly set by being guided by the paper guide surface formed in the same direction as the paper setting direction.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The description of the same parts as those of the conventional example (see FIG. 6) is omitted, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. First, as shown in FIG. 1, guide fences 3a and 3b that are movable according to the paper size are provided, and the transfer paper 6 set between the guide fences 3a and 3b is fed to the copying machine (not shown) side. In the paper feed tray 1 for paper, a fixed rib 7 as a paper movement restricting member is provided at a position downstream of the guide fences 3a, 3b of the tray side plate 8 in the paper feed direction X. The fixing rib 7 restricts the movement of the transfer paper 6 having the maximum paper size in a direction (here, the tray setting direction Y) orthogonal to the guide fences 3a and 3b.

In such a structure, after the transfer paper bundle in which the transfer paper 6 is bundled is set between the guide fences 3a and 3b, the paper feed tray 1 is moved in the tray setting direction Y, and the copying machine (not shown). ) Is set. At this time, since the downstream side of one side of the transfer paper 6 contacts the fixed rib 7, the movement of the transfer paper 6 in the tray setting direction Y orthogonal to the guide fences 3a and 3b is restricted. As a result, it is possible to suppress the skew at the time of setting the sheet of the transfer sheet bundle having a large load and a large inertial force, especially in the maximum sheet size. In addition, the guide fences 3a and 3b which are movable
In consideration of the backlash, the fixing rib 7 is provided at a position distant from the guide fences 3a and 3b where the transfer paper retainer is loose, so that the skew suppressing effect of the transfer paper stack having a large inertial force is further enhanced. You can Therefore, from the above, it is possible to provide the paper feed tray 1 which has no paper catch and has excellent paper feed performance.

Hereinafter, modified examples of the paper feed tray 1 having the above-mentioned fixed rib 7 will be sequentially described. First, as a first modification, as shown in FIG. 2, a paper guide surface 7a inclined along the paper feeding direction X is formed at the tip of the fixed rib 7. By forming such a paper guide surface 7a, the transfer paper 6 moves smoothly along the paper guide surface in the same direction as the paper feeding direction X during paper feeding. This is
In particular, in the configuration of the paper feed tray 1 such as the present embodiment in which the paper feed direction X and the tray set direction Y are different from each other, the tip end portion of the fixed rib 7 when the transfer paper 6 is moved in the paper feed direction X. It is possible to reduce the friction at and to prevent the paper from being caught. This makes it possible to further improve the paper feeding performance when the transfer paper 6 is fed.

Next, as a second modification, as shown in FIG. 3, a paper guide surface 7b inclined along the direction X'opposite to the paper feeding direction X is formed at the tip of the fixed rib 7. By forming such a paper guide surface 7b, the transfer paper 6 smoothly moves along the paper guide surface 7b formed in the same direction as the opposite direction when moving in the direction X'opposite to the paper feeding direction X. Move on. As a result, in the paper feed tray 1 having a paper return mechanism (not shown),
When the paper is returned, the friction at the tip of the fixed rib 7 can be reduced to eliminate the paper catch. Further, in this case, since the fixed rib 7 can be arranged at the rear end of the transfer paper 6, the skew at the time of tray setting can be further suppressed.

Next, as a third modification, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance between the tip of the fixed rib 7 and the transfer paper 6 set on the tray bottom 2 is set to be a minute distance Δy. The fixing rib 7 was formed. By thus separating the fixed rib 7 and the transfer paper 6 by the minute gap Δy, it is possible to reduce the collision of the transfer paper bundle with the fixed rib 7 when the tray is set. As a result, it is possible to prevent the skew in the opposite direction due to the bound of the transfer sheet bundle.

Next, as a fourth modified example, as shown in FIG. 4, the friction coefficient of the area A which is not caught by the guide fences 3a and 3b on the bottom surface 2 of the tray is set to the other guide fences 3a and 3b.
The friction coefficient is set to be larger than the friction coefficient of the region B sandwiched by 3b. Here, by setting the friction coefficient of the central portion a in the area A larger than that of the other areas, the frictional force in the area A between the set transfer paper 6 and the tray bottom surface 2 can be further increased. it can. This allows
Since the inertial movement of the transfer sheet bundle during the tray setting can be reduced, the skew suppressing effect can be enhanced.

Next, as a fifth modification, as shown in FIG. 5, the fixed rib 7 is provided with a paper guide surface 7c inclined along the paper setting direction Z. As a result, the transfer paper 6
When the sheet is set from the sheet setting direction Z, the transfer sheet 6 can be guided to the sheet guide surface 7c in the same direction as the sheet setting direction Z and smoothly stored on the tray bottom surface 2. The settability can be improved.

[0024]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper feed tray which comprises a guide fence movable according to a paper size, and which feeds the transfer paper set between the guide fences to the copying machine side. Since a paper movement restricting member that restricts the movement of the transfer paper of the maximum paper size in the copier in the tray setting direction is set at a position separated from the guide fence, the inertia force becomes large at the maximum paper size. It is possible to effectively suppress the skew of the transfer sheet bundle when the sheet is set, and thus it is possible to provide a sheet feeding tray having excellent sheet feeding performance.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, since the paper movement restricting member is formed with a paper guide surface inclined along the paper feed direction, the transfer paper is in the same direction as the paper feed direction. The sheet can be smoothly moved along the sheet guide surface of the sheet, thereby eliminating the catch at the time of feeding the transfer sheet and further improving the sheet feeding performance.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the sheet movement restricting member is provided with a sheet guide surface inclined along the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction. In this case, it is possible to eliminate the paper catch when returning the paper. Further, as a result, the paper movement restricting member can be arranged at the rear end of the transfer paper, so that the skew at the time of setting the paper can be further suppressed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the leading end of the sheet movement restricting member and the transfer sheet set on the bottom of the tray are separated from each other by a very small distance. It is possible to reduce the collision of the transfer sheet bundle with the sheet movement restricting member at the time and prevent the skew in the opposite direction due to the bound of the transfer sheet bundle.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the friction coefficient of all or a part of the area on the bottom surface of the tray which is not sandwiched by the guide fence is calculated from the friction coefficient of the area sandwiched by the guide fence. Is also set to a large value, it is possible to reduce the inertial movement of the transfer sheet bundle at the time of setting the tray, thereby enhancing the skew suppressing effect.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the paper movement restricting member is formed with a paper guide surface inclined along the tray setting direction. The transfer paper formed in the same direction as the setting direction can be guided by the paper guide surface and stored smoothly, and thus the setting property of the transfer paper can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a paper feed tray that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing first and third modifications.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a second modified example.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a fourth modified example.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a fifth modified example as seen from the X direction in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a configuration of a conventional paper feed tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper feed tray 2 Bottom of tray 3a, 3b Guide fence 6 Transfer paper 7 Paper movement regulating member 7a, 7b, 7c Paper guide surface A, B area X Paper feed direction X 'Opposite direction Y Tray set direction Δy Minute gap

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed tray that is provided with a guide fence that can be moved according to the size of a paper and feeds the transfer paper set between the guide fences to the copier side. A paper feed tray characterized in that a paper movement restricting member for restricting movement of transfer paper of a paper size in a tray setting direction is provided at a position separated from the guide fence. 2. The paper feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the paper movement restricting member is provided with a paper guide surface inclined along the paper feed direction. 3. The paper feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the paper movement restricting member has a paper guide surface inclined along a direction opposite to the paper feed direction. 4. The paper feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the leading end of the paper movement restricting member and the transfer paper set on the bottom surface of the tray are separated from each other by a minute distance. 5. The friction coefficient of the whole or a part of the area which is not caught by the guide fence on the bottom surface of the tray is set to be larger than the friction coefficient of the area sandwiched by the guide fence. Paper tray. 6. The paper feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the paper movement restricting member has a paper guide surface inclined along the paper setting direction.