JPH11147620A - Cassette for paper supply - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a configuration of a paper supply device compact by far and reduce cost greatly by providing a lid member which covers paper loaded and stored in a cassette for paper supply and makes it possible to visually check the presence or absence of paper and remaining amount of paper. SOLUTION: A lid member 80 is constituted by four faces in total, namely, a top face part 80a, a left side face part 80b, a right side face part, and a rear side face 80c. An inner face of the rear face part 80c holds an end part on the upstream side of paper supply of paper. Moreover, inner faces of the left side face part 80b and the right side face part support left and right end parts of paper, respectively. The lid member 80 is detachably attached to a cassette for paper supply 10 so as to cover paper loaded and stored in the cassette for paper supply 10. Moreover, the lid member 80 is made of resin such as transparent or semi-transparent acryl. For this reason, an operator can confirm remaining amount and the presence or absence of paper loaded and stored in the cassette for paper supply 10 from the outside through the lid member 80 even in a condition in which the cassette for paper supply 10 is mounted on a paper supply device 90.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeding cassette provided in a paper feeding device such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and various printers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a paper feed cassette is often used in an image recording apparatus, particularly an output machine such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and various printers. Generally, this type of paper cassette has a box shape with an open top surface, and separation claw members that constitute a part of a separation paper feeding unit are provided at both corners on the paper feeding side of the paper cassette. Is provided. Then, a large number of sheets are stacked and stored in the sheet feeding cassette, and separation claw members are mounted on both corners of the uppermost sheet of the stacked and stored sheets. A paper feed cassette in which the sheets are loaded and accommodated is mounted on the sheet feeding device main body, and the stacked and accommodated sheets are separated one by one and fed to a recording unit such as an image recording apparatus.

In this type of paper feed cassette, generally, means for detecting the remaining amount of paper and the presence or absence of paper are provided in a paper feed cassette insertion portion of a paper feeder main body. Such detection means generally comprises a detection switch and a signal processing system for the detection switch. When the detection means detects the remaining amount or presence of paper, the control unit which has received the detection signal causes the display unit to display the detection result with a predetermined message on a display unit. Thus, a configuration is provided to prompt the operator to replenish the sheets.

[0004]

However, in the conventional paper feed cassette as described above, the provision of the above-described detection means complicates the configuration of the paper feed cassette insertion portion, and a predetermined portion is provided in this portion. However, there is a drawback in that the device must be large, complicated, and costly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional drawback, and to easily and externally visually confirm the remaining amount and presence or absence of sheets stored in a sheet cassette by a simple structure. It is intended to provide a cassette.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a paper feed cassette which is detachably mounted on a paper feeder and stores a large number of sheets. A cover member is provided to cover the sheets stacked and accommodated in the cassette and to visually check the presence / absence and remaining amount of the sheets. Also,
The lid member is formed of a transparent or translucent member having a top surface and a side surface. Further, a scale indicating the remaining amount of paper is provided on the side surface.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the paper feeder of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a sheet feeding cassette of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention (a state in which the storage sheets are fully loaded). FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the sheet feeding device of FIG. 2 (a state in which one sheet is stored). FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the sheet feeding device of FIG.

[0008] As shown in the drawing, the paper feeding device of the present invention comprises:
It is mainly composed of a paper feeding device main body 90 and a paper feeding cassette 10. The paper feeding cassette 10 is configured to be detachable from the paper feeding device main body 90, and is mounted in the B direction.
The removal is performed in the A direction. And FIG. 2 to FIG.
This shows a state in which the paper cassette 10 is mounted on the paper feeding device main body 90 (at the time of mounting, the paper feeding cassette 10 is locked on the paper feeding device main body 90. Not shown).

Next, the sheet cassette 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG.
Has a box-like shape with an open top, and a front wall (downstream of paper feed)
1, the side walls 6, 7 and the bottom plate 13.
A large number of sheets 30 are stacked and accommodated in the sheet cassette 10. The front wall 1 holds the paper feed downstream end of the paper 30. The side walls 6 and 7 are formed over a length of about １ ／ of the sheet feeding downstream side of the sheet feeding cassette 10, and contact and support the left and right side edges of the sheet 30.

In the upper part of the paper feed cassette 10,
A lid member 80 described later is detachably attached so as to cover the sheets 30 stacked and stored in the sheet cassette 10. Separating claw members 33 are provided at both front corners of the sheet cassette 10.

A paper feeding roller 31 is provided in the paper feeding device main body 90. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the paper feed cassette 10 is mounted on the paper feeder main body 90, the paper feed roller 31 is substantially equivalent to an elastic member 23 described later incorporated in the paper feed cassette 10. It is provided so as to be located immediately above. The paper feed roller 31 is smaller than the width of the paper 30, and two rollers 31, 31 are attached to a roller shaft 31 a from the center of the paper width, and rotate together with the paper feed roller shaft 31 a. The friction coefficient between the two rollers 31, 31 and the surface of the paper is
The friction coefficient is set to be larger than the friction coefficient between the sheets 30.

A push-up plate 22 that swings up and down with a pin 4 inserted through the bent portion 22a as a fulcrum is provided at an inner bottom portion of the paper feeding cassette 10. The push-up plate 2 is located in the rear half of the set body 10.
2 extends to the front wall 1. The ends of the pins 4 are supported on the side walls 6 and 7, respectively.

A pad mounting recess 61 is provided at the front end of the push-up plate 22 on the front wall 1 side, and a pad 70 is attached on the surface of the pad mounting recess 61. Upper surface of pad 70 and push-up plate 2
2 are on the same plane as shown in FIGS. Further, the pad 70 is provided such that the upper surface of the pad 70 is located at a position where the upper surface of the pad 70 is pressed against the lower portion of the paper feed roller 31 when the paper 30 runs out. Also,
The friction coefficient of the upper surface of the pad 70 is set such that the friction force on the lower surface of the lowermost sheet is similar to the friction force between the sheets.

An elastic member 23 is provided between the push-up plate 22 and the bottom plate portion 13 of the paper feed cassette 10 to constantly urge the push-up plate 22 upward. The elastic member 23 urges the push-up plate 22 to move up and down following the weight displacement of the paper 30. The elastic member 23 is a compression spring, and is set so as to be vertically displaced in accordance with the load of the paper 40 loaded and stored in the cassette 10. As shown in FIG. 1, since the elastic member 23 is provided at an equal distance from the center line in the width direction of the paper 30, the pressing force is applied to the paper feed roller in a well-balanced manner.

Next, the operation of the sheet cassette 10 will be described. When the paper 30 is fully loaded and stored in the paper cassette 10, the paper push-up plate 22 is moved by the elastic member 2 by the weight of the paper 30.
3, but remains elastically urged upward with a predetermined force about the pin 4 as a fulcrum. Then, as shown in FIG.
When 0 is attached, the uppermost sheet of the sheet 30 is pressed against the lower part of the sheet feeding roller 31 with a desired pressing force f. A separating claw member 33 is placed on the uppermost sheet corner.

The paper feed roller 31 rotates, and the paper feed roller 31 rotates.
The separated uppermost sheet is supplied to an image recording unit (not shown) of the sheet feeding device main body 90 by a cooperative action between the sheet and the separation claw member 33. Paper 30 loaded and stored in paper feed cassette 10
However, as the weight of the paper 30 is reduced by being supplied to the paper supply unit one by one from the top, the elastic member 23 extends,
The push-up plate 22 swings upward about the pin 4. Eventually, as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet 30 becomes only the lowermost sheet, that is, the last sheet.

Next, the cover member 80 will be described. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 4, the lid member 80 is
a, a left side surface portion 80b (see FIG. 4), a right side surface portion 80d (see FIG. 3), and a rear side surface 80c.
The inner surface of the rear surface portion 80c holds the end portion on the upstream side of the sheet 30 feeding. The inner surfaces of the left side surface portion 80b and the right side surface portion 80d support the left and right end portions of the sheet 30, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the lid member 80
The paper cassette 10 is detachably attached to the paper feed cassette 10 by a not-shown locking means so as to cover the paper cassette 0. With the lid member 80, the sheets 30 stacked and stored in the sheet cassette 10 are stored.
In addition to preventing contamination of the sheet 30, dust and the like adhere to the sheet 30 to prevent troubles such as causing a trouble in a transport system of the sheet feeding device.

The lid member 80 is made of a transparent or translucent resin such as acrylic. Therefore, even when the sheet cassette 10 is mounted on the sheet feeding device 90, the cover member 80
The operator can externally check the remaining amount and presence / absence of the sheets 30 stored in the sheet feeding cassette 10 through the. Mainly, from the transparent top portion 80a to the paper 30
Can be confirmed, and the remaining amount of the paper 30 can be confirmed from the transparent rear portion 80c. Further, as described above, since the side walls 6 and 7 are formed only over the length of about 1/4 of the sheet feeding downstream side of the sheet feeding cassette 10, the left side face 80
The remaining amount of the paper 30 can also be confirmed through b and the right side surface portion 80d.

Further, on the rear side surface portion 80c of the cover member 80, a scale 83 indicating the remaining amount of the sheets 30 stacked and accommodated in the sheet feeding cassette 10 is provided by printing, marking, or the like. The scale 83 includes marks (arrows) 81 at equal intervals,
A mark (arrow) 81 indicates a number 82 indicating the number of stacked sheets 30. By checking the height of the stacked sheets of paper 30 via the rear side surface portion 80c, the number of remaining sheets can be checked.

With the configuration of the paper feed cassette 10 as described above, the main body of the paper feed device 90 does not need any detecting means including various detection switches, and dust is deposited on the paper 30 stored in the paper feed cassette 10. It is possible to prevent the paper 30 from sticking or becoming dirty, and to easily check the remaining amount and presence or absence of the stacked and stored paper 30.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
It is possible to prevent dust and dirt from being attached to the paper stored in the paper feed cassette, and it is possible to provide a paper feeder body on which the paper feed cassette is mounted without providing detection means including various detection switches. It is possible to easily check the remaining amount and presence / absence of the loaded paper. Along with this, the device configuration of the sheet feeding device can be made much more compact, and a significant cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to confirm the remaining amount and presence / absence of sheets stacked and stored in the sheet feeding cassette from a plurality of directions with a simple configuration.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily confirm the remaining number of sheets stored in the sheet feeding cassette with a simple configuration, and to supply sheets to the sheet feeding cassette at an appropriate timing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a sheet feeding cassette of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the sheet feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention (a state in which sheets are fully loaded).

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the sheet feeding device of FIG. 2 (a state in which one sheet is stored).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the sheet feeding device of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 paper feed cassette 30 paper 33 separation claw member 80 lid member 80 a top surface portion 80 b left side surface portion 80 c rear side surface portion 80 d right side surface portion 83 scale 90 paper feeding device main body

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding cassette detachably mounted on a paper feeding device and stacking and storing a large number of sheets. The paper feeding cassette covers the sheets stacked and stored in the paper feeding cassette and determines whether or not there is a sheet. A sheet feeding cassette provided with a lid member for visually checking the remaining amount. 2. The sheet feeding cassette according to claim 1, wherein the lid member has a top surface and a side surface made of a transparent or translucent member. 3. The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein a scale indicating the remaining amount of paper is provided on the side surface.