JPH10120202A - Drawer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To positively prevent the fall of a tray and further improve tray attaching/detaching operability. SOLUTION: A protruding part 7 with a groove part 17 is formed at the rear part of each of guides 6 formed on both sides of a tray 3, and a stopper shaft 16 is planted on the front side of a side face 13 of a guide rail 10 of U-shape cross section supporting each guide 6. At the time of pulling out the tray 3, the tray 3 is therefore prevented from falling off the guide rail 10 by contact between the stopper shaft 16 and the protruding part 7. The guide 6 is lifted parallelly from a guide support 11 of the guide rail 10, and the position of the groove 17 of the protruding part 7 and the position of the stopper shaft 16 are made coincide with each other to attach and detach the tray 3 to and from the guide rail 10. Since the stopper shaft 16 is formed as a separate member, mechanical strength can be heightened even though marking a diameter small. The lift quantity of the guide 6 from the guide support 11 can therefore be reduced at the time of attaching/detaching the tray 3 so as to improve attaching/detaching operability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drawer which supports a tray such as a paper feed tray of an image forming apparatus or a drawer of a desk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this kind of drawer, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 4-120964, a drawer in which a paper feed tray is supported so as to be able to be pulled out to an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus is disclosed. is there. It is necessary to prevent such a paper feed tray from dropping out of the apparatus main body when the paper tray is pulled out from the apparatus main body when replacing or replenishing sheets. For this,
Guide rails are provided on the main body of the apparatus so that both sides of the paper feed tray can be pulled out, and stoppers are provided on the front side of the guide rails, and contact members that contact these stoppers are provided at the rear ends of both sides of the paper feed tray. When the paper feed tray is attached or pulled out carelessly, the paper feed tray is prevented from dropping from the apparatus main body by abutting the contact member of the paper feed tray against the stopper of the guide rail.

[0003] Further, at the time of maintenance, there is a type in which the protrusion of the paper feed tray and the stopper of the guide rail are removed with a tool so that the paper feed tray can be pulled out from the apparatus main body to the end. In this case, the operation of attaching and detaching the paper feed tray is very troublesome.

[0004] In order to solve this problem, there is a device which gives priority to the operability of removing the paper feed tray by pulling out the paper feed tray while tilting it.
If careless operation is performed, there is a risk that the paper feed tray may fall off the apparatus main body and fall on the feet of the operator, or the paper feed tray may be damaged.

In order to solve the above problems, the present applicant has filed an application for a paper feed tray drawing device described below. Hereinafter, the configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 6 shows an entire configuration of a copying machine 1 as an image forming apparatus.
A plurality of paper feed trays 3 are housed in the apparatus main body 2 of the copying machine 1 so as to be freely drawn out. These paper trays 3
Has a paper storage unit 4 for storing a large number of papers in a stacked state.
, A concave handle 5 arranged on the front surface, and an elongated guide 6 protruding outward from both side surfaces. Protrusions 7 projecting outward are formed near the rear ends of these guides 6 on the rear side. On the upper surface of the guide 6, a stepped concave portion 8, which is disposed on the near side and the far side with the protrusion 7 therebetween,
9 are formed. Therefore, the upper surface of the projection 7 is set at the same height as the upper surface of the guide 6 except the stepped recesses 8 and 9, but also protrudes upward from the stepped recesses 8 and 9. .

As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of left and right guide rails 1 for supporting the paper feed tray 3 so as to be freely drawn out.
0 is provided. These guide rails 10 are fixed to the apparatus main body 2, and include a guide support 11 that supports the bottom surface of the guide 6, a guide presser 12 that faces the upper surface of the guide 6, and a side surface that faces the outer surface of the guide 6. 13
And is formed in a U-shaped cross-sectional shape whose inside is open. The guide presser 12 has a notch 14 formed at a predetermined length from the vicinity of the end on the near side toward the back side, and the stopper 1 is formed on the side surface 13.
5 is formed in a cut and raised state.

Here, FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the guide 6 and the guide rail 10 as viewed from above, and FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the guide 6 and the guide rail 10 as viewed from the side. A guide 6 other than the upper surface of the protrusion 7 and the stepped recesses 8 and 9
Are opposed to the guide retainer 12 at a predetermined interval, but the upper surfaces of the stepped recesses 8 and 9 are opposed to the guide retainer 12 at a relatively large interval.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, the stopper 15 is disposed below an intermediate portion of the notch 14. Here, assuming that the length of the cutout 14 is A, the length of the protrusion 7 is B, and the length of the stopper 15 is C in the direction along the drawing direction of the paper feed tray 3, A is equal to or more than 2B + C. It is set to a slightly larger size. The vertical position of the stopper 15 is, as shown in FIG. 9A, in a state where substantially the entire bottom surface of the guide 6 is supported by the guide support 11, and the guide 6 is The projection 7 projecting outward contacts the stopper 15, and only the entire bottom surface of the guide 6 is lifted from the guide support until the projection 7 projects from the notch 14, as shown in FIG. Projection 7 in the space above stopper 15
(Movement in the direction along the pull-out direction of the paper feed tray 3).

Next, the operation of pulling out the paper feed tray 3 will be described. When the paper feed tray 3 is stored in the apparatus main body 2, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 9A, substantially the entire bottom surface of the guide 6 of the paper feed tray 3 is supported by the guide support 11, The protrusion 7 is located farther rearward than the stopper 15. In this state, even if the guide 6 is floated in parallel with the guide support 11, the guide presser 1
2 restricts the amount of upward movement, so that even if the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out in this state,
Contact 5

When the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out to the near side, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9B and FIG. 9B, since the protrusion 7 comes into contact with the stopper 15, the length of the paper feed tray 3 drawn out is limited. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9C, even if the user attempts to pull out the paper feed tray 3 while inadvertently tilting it upward, the front end edge of the guide presser 12 presses the guide 6 so that the paper feed tray 3 is pressed. (The inclination of the guide 6) is restricted. That is, although the protrusion 7 is restricted from moving upward despite reaching below the notch 14, the stopper 15
Will not come off above.

In the state where the protrusion 7 is in contact with the stopper 15, as shown in FIG. 9D, when the user tries to pull out the paper feed tray 3 while inadvertently tilting it downward, the bottom of the guide 6 is supported. The sheet feed tray 3 is inclined in a direction in which the protrusion 7 projects above the notch 14 with the front edge of the guide support 11 as a fulcrum, but the inclination is after the stepped recess 9 extending rearward from the protrusion 7. Since the protrusion 7 is suppressed by the contact between the edge and the guide presser 12, the protrusion 7 does not come off above the stopper 15.

Further, even if the sheet feeding tray 3 is tilted in the left-right direction, at least one of the protrusions 7 contacts the stopper 15. As described above, when the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out while being tilted in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, the guide rail 10
It is possible to reliably prevent the paper feed tray 3 from falling off.

When removing the paper feed tray 3 from the guide rail 10, as shown in FIGS. 8 (b) and 9 (b),
After the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out until the protrusion 7 comes into contact with the stopper 15, the paper feed tray 3 is lifted so that the guide 6 floats in parallel from the guide support 11. In this state, since the protrusion 7 has reached below the notch 14, the sheet feed tray 3 can be lifted until the protrusion 7 protrudes above the notch 14, as shown in FIG. This is made possible by the fact that the stepped recesses 8, 9 of the guide 6 are
This is because the sheet tray 3 is opposed to the sheet tray 3 at a relatively wide interval, and the upward movement of the sheet feed tray 3 is limited. In this state, since the lower surface of the projection 7 is displaced upward from the upper edge of the stopper 15, the paper feed tray 3 is pulled toward the front while maintaining this state, and as shown in FIG. Can be displaced to the front side of the stopper 15. In this state, the paper feed tray 3 is further pulled out while the lower surface of the guide 6 is supported by the guide support 11, so that the paper feed tray 3
Can be easily removed from the guide rail 10. In addition, the guide rail 10
The paper feed tray 3 can be set in the printer.

[0014]

The drawer shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 can reliably prevent the paper feed tray 3 from falling off. Further, the operability of removing the paper feed tray 3 can be improved. However, when a large amount of paper is stored in the paper feed tray 3, the inertia of the paper feed tray 3 when pulled out is large, and the projection 7 collides vigorously with the stopper 15. Therefore, in order to increase the mechanical strength of the stopper 15, it is necessary to increase the size of the stopper 15. Accordingly, when the paper feed tray 3 is attached to and detached from the guide rail 10, the guide 6 of the paper feed tray 3 has to be kept fairly floating with respect to the guide support 11 of the guide rail 10. This means that when a large amount of paper is stored in the paper feed tray 3, the workability deteriorates because the weight increases.

The present invention reliably prevents the tray from falling off,
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a drawer capable of further improving the operability of removing a tray as compared with the related art.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tray having guides projecting from both outer side surfaces formed from a near side to a far side, and a guide support for supporting a bottom surface of the guide, A guide rail having a U-shaped cross section is provided, which has a guide retainer opposed to the upper surface of the guide at a predetermined interval and supports the tray so that the tray can be pulled out, and an end portion on a front side of a side surface of the guide rail. A stopper shaft protruding inward is implanted in the vicinity of the guide, and a protruding portion that protrudes outward near the rear end on the back side of the guide and contacts the stopper shaft when the tray is pulled out is formed. A groove is formed in the projection so as to avoid contact with the stopper shaft in a state where the guide is floated substantially parallel to the guide support. Therefore, if the tray is pulled out while the guide is supported by the guide support of the guide rail, the length of pulling out the tray is limited by the contact between the stopper shaft and the projection. When the guide is floated in parallel from the guide support of the guide rail, the position of the groove formed in the protrusion matches the position of the stopper shaft, so that the tray can be pulled out and mounted from the guide rail without using tools. Become. Furthermore, since the stopper shaft is formed as a separate part and implanted in the guide rail, it is possible to increase the mechanical strength even if the diameter is reduced.

Here, the near side and the far side indicate positions corresponding to the pulling-out direction of the paper feed tray.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a screw screwed to a side surface of the guide rail is used as the stopper shaft. Therefore, a commercially available screw can be used, and the work of attaching to a guide rail is also facilitated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a widening portion that expands in a vertical direction is formed at an opening on the far side of the groove formed in the projection. Therefore, when the tray pulled out from the guide rail is to be mounted on the guide rail again, the groove of the protrusion engages with the stopper shaft from the opening on the back side, but the position of the groove and the stopper shaft is increased by the enlarged portion. Alignment becomes easy.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a guide slope gradually extending upward from an upper surface of the groove to an inner side opening of the groove formed in the protrusion. Was formed. Therefore, when the tray pulled out from the guide rail is mounted on the guide rail again, the groove of the projection is engaged with the stopper shaft from the opening on the back side, but the alignment of the groove and the stopper shaft is performed by the guide slope. Becomes easier.

[0021]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
A description will be given based on FIG. In this embodiment and the other embodiments following this, the same portions as those described in FIGS. 6 to 9 will be described using the same reference numerals.

On both sides of the paper feed tray 3 as a tray,
Guides 6 protruding from both outer surfaces are formed from the near side to the far side. Protrusions 7 projecting outward are formed near the rear ends of these guides 6 on the rear side. Also,
Stepped recesses 8 and 9 are formed on the upper surface of the guide 6 on the front side and the back side with the protrusion 7 therebetween. Therefore, the upper surface of the projection 7 is set at the same height as the upper surface of the guide 6 except the stepped recesses 8 and 9, but the stepped recesses 8 and 9 are provided.
Is also projected upward.

A pair of left and right guide rails 10 that support the paper feed tray 3 so that they can be pulled out are provided with a guide support 11 that supports the bottom surface of the guide 6, a guide presser 12 that faces the upper surface of the guide 6, and It is formed to have a U-shaped cross-section having an inner side and an open side having a side surface 13 facing the outer side surface. The guide presser 12 has a notch 14 formed at a predetermined length from the vicinity of an end on the near side toward the back, and a notch 14 formed on the side surface 13 to protrude inward. A shaft 16 is implanted. The guide 6 is attached to the guide support 1 by the protrusion 7.
A groove 17 positioned so as to avoid abutment with the stopper shaft 16 in a state of being floated substantially parallel to 1 is formed.

In such a configuration, when the paper feed tray 3 is stored in the apparatus main body 2, substantially the entire bottom surface of the guide 6 of the paper feed tray 3 is supported by the guide support 11, and the projection 7 is It is located at the far back. In this state, even if the guide 6 is floated in parallel with the guide support 11, the amount of upward movement is limited by the guide presser 12, so that even if the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out in this state, the protrusion 7 contacts the stopper shaft 16.

When the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out to the near side, FIG.
As shown in (a), the protrusion 7 comes into contact with the stopper shaft 16, so that the draw-out length of the paper feed tray 3 is limited. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2B, even if the user tries to pull out the paper feed tray 3 while inadvertently tilting it upward, the front end edge of the guide presser 12 presses the guide 6 so that the paper feed tray 3 can be pulled out. (The inclination of the guide 6) is restricted. That is, although the protrusion 7 is restricted from moving upward despite reaching below the notch 14, it does not come off above the stopper shaft 16.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2A, in a state where the protrusion 7 is in contact with the stopper shaft 16, the sheet feed tray 3 is inadvertently tilted downward as shown in FIG. The guide support 11 that supports the bottom of the guide 6 even when trying to pull it out
The sheet feed tray 3 is inclined in such a direction that the protrusion 7 projects above the notch 14 with the edge on the front side of the fulcrum as a fulcrum.
Edge of stepped concave portion 9 extending rearward from guide and guide retainer 1
The protrusion 7 is prevented from coming off above the stopper shaft 16 because it is suppressed by the contact with the stopper shaft 2.

Further, even if the sheet feeding tray 3 is tilted in the left-right direction, at least one of the protrusions 7 contacts the stopper shaft 16. As described above, if the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out while being tilted in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, the guide rail 1
It is possible to reliably prevent the paper feed tray 3 from dropping from zero.

When removing the paper feed tray 3 from the guide rail 10, as shown in FIG. 2B, after pulling out the paper feed tray 3 until the protrusion 7 comes into contact with the stopper shaft 16,
The paper feed tray 3 is lifted so that the guide 6 floats in parallel from the guide support 11. In this state, since the protrusion 7 has reached below the notch 14, the sheet feed tray 3 can be lifted until the protrusion 7 protrudes above the notch 14, as shown in FIG. In this state, the position of the groove 17 of the projection 7 and the position of the stopper shaft 16 coincide with each other. Therefore, while maintaining this state, the sheet feeding tray 3 is pulled toward the user, and as shown in FIG. Can be displaced to the front side of the stopper shaft 16. In this state, the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out further toward the near side while the lower surface of the guide 6 is supported by the guide support 11, so that the paper feed tray 3 is
It can be easily removed from zero. Further, the sheet feeding tray 3 can be set on the guide rail 10 by an operation reverse to the above-described operation.

Since the stopper shaft 16 for regulating the drawing length of the paper feed tray 3 is formed of a separate member and implanted on the guide rail 10, the diameter of the stopper shaft 16 can be reduced by selecting a material. Can also increase the mechanical strength.

When the diameter of the stopper shaft 16 is reduced, the protrusion 7
The guide 6 can be lifted from the guide support 11 to a position where the stopper shaft 16 and the groove 17 coincide with each other without displacing the entirety of the feed tray 3 above the stopper shaft 16 so that the paper feed tray 3 Can be attached and detached. At this time, the amount by which the guide 6 is lifted from the guide support 11 is reduced by the amount of use of the stopper shaft 16 having a small diameter in FIG.
9 can be reduced as compared with the configuration shown in FIG. Thus, even when a large amount of paper is stored in the paper feed tray 3, the paper feed tray 3 can be relatively easily attached to and detached from the guide rail 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stopper shaft 16
Screws, which are used as side surfaces 13 of the guide rails 10.
May be screwed into. In this case, since a commercially available screw can be used, the cost as a part can be reduced. In addition, since the stopper shaft 16 is fixed only by screwing to the guide rail 10, a troublesome caulking operation or the like can be omitted, and the mounting operation becomes easy.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, an expanding portion 18 that expands in the vertical direction and is inclined is formed in the opening on the far side of the groove 17 formed in the protrusion 7.

In such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, when the sheet supply tray 3 pulled out from the guide rail 10 is mounted on the guide rail 10 again, the guide support 1 is used.
The guide 6 is lifted from 1 and the groove 17 of the projection 7 is engaged with the stopper shaft 16 from the opening on the back side thereof, but the enlarged portion 18 is formed at the end on the back side of the groove 17. Alignment between the groove 17 and the stopper shaft 16 becomes easy. In addition, the paper feed tray 3 from the guide rail 10 by an inadvertent operation
In order to prevent the falling off of the groove 17, an enlarged portion must not be formed at the front end of the groove 17.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
It will be described based on. In the present embodiment, a guide slope 1 that gradually extends upward from the upper surface of the groove 17 toward the back is provided in the opening at the back of the groove 17 formed in the protrusion 7.
9 are formed.

In such a configuration, the guide rail 1
The paper feed tray 3 pulled out of the tray 10 is returned to the guide rail 10 again.
5A, even when the guide 6 is supported by the guide support 11, as shown in FIG.
Since the stopper shaft 16 is opposed to the guide rail 10, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the sheet feed tray 3 is pushed toward the inside of the guide rail 10, the guide slope 19 of the groove 17 of the protrusion 7 The center of the groove 17 coincides with the center of the stopper shaft 16 so as to ride up. When the groove 17 passes through the stopper shaft 16, the guide 6 of the sheet feed tray 3 is moved when the protrusion 7 moves to the inner side of the stopper shaft 16 as shown in FIG.
Is supported by the guide support 11. As described above, since the paper feed tray 3 can be mounted without maintaining the state of being floated from the guide support 11, the mounting operation of the paper feed tray 3 can be further facilitated.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a guide support for supporting a bottom surface of a guide protruding from both sides of a tray, and a guide retainer opposed to the upper surface of the guide at a predetermined interval. A guide rail having a U-shaped cross section for supporting the tray so as to be able to be pulled out is provided, and a stopper shaft protruding inward is implanted in the vicinity of a front end of a side surface of the guide rail. A protrusion protruding outwardly in contact with the stopper shaft is formed near the rear end on the side, and the protrusion is formed on the protrusion in a state in which the guide is suspended substantially parallel to the guide support. Since the groove is positioned so as to avoid contact, when the tray is pulled out with the guide supported by the guide support of the guide rail, the stopper shaft comes into contact with the protrusion and the guide rail No It is possible to prevent the falling out of the stomach.
In addition, when the guide is floated in parallel from the guide support of the guide rail, the position of the groove formed in the protrusion matches the position of the stopper shaft, so the tray must be attached to and detached from the guide rail without using a tool. Can be. further,
Since the stopper shaft is formed as a separate part and implanted on the guide rail, the mechanical strength can be increased even if the diameter is reduced by selecting the material. Thus, the amount of lifting the guide from the guide support when attaching and detaching the tray can be reduced by the amount of the use of the stopper shaft having a small diameter. Thus, even when a heavy object is stored in the tray, the tray can be relatively easily attached to and detached from the guide rail.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since a commercially available screw can be used as the stopper shaft, the cost as a part can be reduced. Further, since the stopper shaft formed by the screw is fixed only by screwing into the guide rail, a troublesome caulking operation or the like can be omitted, and the operation of attaching the stopper shaft to the guide rail can be facilitated.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the expanding portion which expands in the vertical direction is formed in the opening on the deep side of the groove formed in the projection, the tray pulled out from the guide rail is again returned to the guide rail. In the case where the groove is mounted on the stopper shaft, alignment between the groove and the stopper shaft can be facilitated by the expanding portion.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the guide slope is formed in the opening on the back side of the groove formed in the projection so as to gradually extend upward from the upper surface of the groove toward the back side.
When the tray pulled out from the guide rail is mounted on the guide rail again, the alignment of the groove and the stopper shaft can be further facilitated by the guide slope.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a relationship between a sheet feed tray and guide rails according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial explanatory view showing a state in which a relationship between a guide and a guide rail is viewed from a side.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a modified example of a stopper shaft attached to a guide rail.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a side view of a relationship between a protrusion and a stopper shaft according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a side view of a relationship between a protrusion and a stopper shaft according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet tray that can be pulled out freely.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a relationship between a paper feed tray and guide rails as a prior art.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the guide and the guide rail as viewed from above.

FIG. 9 is a partial explanatory view showing the relationship between the guide and the guide rail as viewed from the side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Tray 6 Guide 7 Projection 10 Guide rail 11 Guide support 12 Guide retainer 13 Side surface 16 Stopper shaft 18 Expanding part 19 Guide slope

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tray formed with guides projecting from both outer side surfaces from a front side toward a back side, a guide support for supporting a bottom surface of the guide, and a predetermined interval from an upper surface of the guide. A guide rail having a U-shaped cross section having an opposing guide retainer and supporting the tray so as to be able to be pulled out; and a stopper which is implanted near a front end of a side surface of the guide rail and protrudes inward. A shaft, a protrusion formed near the rear end on the back side of the guide, protruding outward and abutting on the stopper shaft when the tray is pulled out, and the guide is substantially parallel to the guide support. And a groove formed in the projection so as to avoid contact with the stopper shaft in a state of being floated on the sheet feeding tray device. 2. The drawing device according to claim 1, wherein a screw screwed to a side surface of the guide rail is used as the stopper shaft. 3. The drawing device according to claim 1, wherein an expanding portion that expands in a vertical direction is formed in an opening on a deep side of the groove formed in the projecting portion. 4. An opening on the back side of a groove formed in the projection,
2. The drawing device according to claim 1, wherein a guide slope is formed which gradually extends upward from an upper surface of the groove toward a depth side.