JPH09323835A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve mountability of a paper feed cassette on an image forming device. SOLUTION: An image forming device proper 1 is provided with an auxiliary table 6 which is openable and closable and seen by the user from the outside when opened. And, the auxiliary table 6 is opened to open a cassette receiving part 11, a paper feed cassette is placed on the auxiliary table 6 and the paper feed cassette is pushed into along the guide of the auxiliary table 6 to mount the paper feed cassette in the cassette receiving part 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeding device applied to a facsimile machine, a copying machine, a printer, etc., which uses plain paper as recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique of this kind, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is a feeding device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.-23231. According to this apparatus, the positioning between the cassette housing portion of the image forming apparatus and the cassette is performed by the positioning member inside the image forming apparatus and the positioning member on the cassette side.

[0003]

In the apparatus described in the above publication, the pin provided in the cassette housing portion on the image forming apparatus side is engaged with the groove formed on the cassette side to position the paper feeding cassette. Is being done. But,
In such a configuration, since the pin is inside the image forming apparatus, it is difficult for the user to see the position of the pin because it cannot be seen. Also, the opening of the cassette compartment is hard to see. For this reason, smooth insertion cannot be performed unless the paper feed cassette is properly inserted into the cassette housing portion of the image forming apparatus, which causes a problem that workability relating to the attachment of the paper feed cassette is deteriorated.

The present invention solves these problems and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device with improved mountability of the sheet feeding cassette to the image forming apparatus.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a paper cassette containing paper is attached to a cassette housing portion provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus. A sheet feeding device for feeding the sheet of paper into the main body of the image forming apparatus, the auxiliary table extending from the main body of the image forming apparatus to the outside and guiding the paper feeding cassette to the cassette housing portion. It is characterized by being provided in the main body. With such a configuration, it is possible to mount the paper feed cassette in the cassette housing portion with the auxiliary table as a mark.

Further, the auxiliary table also functions as a manual tray for manual feeding. Furthermore, the auxiliary table also serves as a part of the exterior of the image forming apparatus main body. With such a configuration, it is possible to realize a multifunctional auxiliary table.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of an image forming apparatus equipped with an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and 1 shows the main body of the image forming apparatus. The main body 1 separates the originals one by one and conveys them to an image reading position, and discharges the sheets after the image is read, an image recording section 3 that reads the image of the original and records it on a sheet, and an image recording unit. It is composed of a paper feed section 4 for accommodating paper for use. Reference numeral 5 is a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper after image recording, 6 is an auxiliary table, 7 is an auxiliary table fulcrum that rotatably supports the auxiliary table 6, and 8 is an auxiliary table handle for opening and closing the auxiliary table 6. , 9
Is an auxiliary table stopper portion for restricting the rotation of the auxiliary table 6, and 10 is an operation panel for performing various operations relating to the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the auxiliary table is opened. Reference numeral 11 indicates a cassette housing portion, and the cassette housing portion 11 is opened by opening the auxiliary table 6 in the direction A in the drawing. Further, when the auxiliary table 6 is opened, the auxiliary table stopper portion 9 comes into contact with the lower edge portion of the exterior of the main body 1 forming the insertion opening of the cassette housing portion 11,
The auxiliary table 6 is kept open at a predetermined angle. Then, a paper feed cassette 16 (see FIG. 4), which will be described later, is mounted in the cassette housing portion 11 from outside the main body 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part of a paper feed mechanism for feeding paper into the main body, and 12 is a registration roller.
Reference numerals 13 and 14 denote pressure rollers that contact the registration roller 12, and reference numeral 15 denotes a registration sensor that detects a sheet that has passed through the registration roller 12. When the registration rollers 12 rotate clockwise in FIG. 3, the paper in the paper feed unit 4 is conveyed. Further, when the registration roller 12 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 3, the paper in the cassette storage unit 11 is conveyed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the operation of mounting the paper feed cassette in the cassette housing portion, FIG. 5 (a) is an enlarged view of portion B in FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 (b) is an enlarged view of portion C in FIG. Figure, Figure 6
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a paper feed cassette is installed in the cassette housing, 16 is a paper feed cassette, and 17 is a paper feed cassette 16.
Paper feed cassette rail portion formed on one side surface, 18 is a paper feed cassette rail portion formed on the other side surface of the paper feed cassette 16, and 19 is provided on the main body 1 and is a paper feed cassette rail portion.
A cassette storage rail that supports 17 and a cassette storage rail 20 that is provided in the main body 1 and that supports the paper feed cassette rail portion 18.

When the paper feed cassette 16 is mounted in the cassette housing 11, the paper feed cassette 16 is first placed on the auxiliary table 6 as shown in FIG. At this time, the paper feed cassette rail portions 17 and 18 are positioned at positions that can be engaged with the cassette storage rails 19 and 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, the cassette storage rail 19 is connected to the paper feed cassette rail portion 17
6 and then, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), after confirming that the paper feed cassette rail portion 18 is placed on the cassette storage rail 20, it is pushed into the cassette storage portion 11 as it is. The paper feed cassette 16 is mounted from outside the main body 1 as shown in FIG.

Further, from the cassette storage section 11 to the paper feed cassette
When removing 16, pull out the paper cassette 16 as it is. When the auxiliary table 6 is closed after the paper feed cassette 16 is pulled out, the cassette storage section 11 moves to the auxiliary table 6
The auxiliary table 6 becomes a part of the exterior of the main body 1 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the auxiliary table 6
Can also be used as a tray for manual paper feeding. In this case, a means for detecting the open / closed state of the auxiliary table 6 is provided, and when the auxiliary table 6 is open, the sheet is manually fed and the pressure roller 14 and the registration roller 12 are used.
Switch the setting so that it passes between and.
Further, a means for detecting whether or not the paper feed cassette 16 is installed is provided, and when the paper feed cassette 16 is installed, the paper of the paper feed unit 4 is used or the paper feed cassette 16 The operation unit 10 is used to select whether to use paper.

With this configuration, the auxiliary table is used when the paper feed cassette 16 is mounted in the cassette storage section 11.
When the auxiliary table 10 is opened, the auxiliary table 10 extends to the outside of the main body 1, so that the auxiliary table 10 can be extended by the user.
Can be easily seen, and as a result, the position of the cassette storage section 11 can be easily seen. Therefore, the mountability of the paper feed cassette 16 to the image forming apparatus is improved, and the workability for attaching and detaching the paper feed cassette 16 can be improved. Further, since the auxiliary table 10 can have both the function of the manual feed tray and the function of the exterior portion of the main body 1, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0016]

According to the present invention constructed as described above, the auxiliary table extends outside the main body of the image forming apparatus when the paper feed cassette is mounted in the cassette housing portion. The auxiliary table can be easily seen by the user, and the position of the cassette storage section can be easily seen. Therefore, the mountability of the paper feed cassette to the image forming apparatus is improved, and the workability for attaching and detaching the paper feed cassette can be improved. Further, since the auxiliary table can have both the function of the manual feed tray and the function of the exterior portion of the image forming apparatus main body, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an image forming apparatus including an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which an auxiliary table is opened.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a paper feed unit for feeding paper into a main body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an operation of mounting a paper feed cassette in a cassette housing portion.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a paper feed cassette is mounted in a cassette storage portion.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where the auxiliary table is used as a manual feed tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body, 2 ... Original document transport section, 3 ... Image recording section, 4
... Paper feeding section, 5 ... Paper discharging section, 6 ... Auxiliary table, 7 ...
Auxiliary table fulcrum part, 8 ... Auxiliary table handle part, 9
… Auxiliary table stopper, 10… Operation panel, 11…
Cassette storage unit, 12 ... Registration roller, 13,14 ... Pressure roller, 15 ... Registration sensor, 16 ... Paper feed cassette,
17, 18 ... Paper feed cassette rail section, 19, 20 ... Cassette storage rail.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding device in which a paper feeding cassette containing paper is mounted in a cassette housing provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus, and paper in the paper feeding cassette is fed into the main body of the image forming apparatus. In the sheet feeding device, the image forming apparatus main body is provided with an auxiliary table which extends from the image forming apparatus main body to the outside and guides the sheet feeding cassette to the cassette housing portion. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary table also serves as a tray for manual feeding during manual feeding. 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary table also serves as a part of an exterior of the image forming apparatus main body.