JPH11292311A - Paper supply cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper supply cassette having a mechanism expandable freely and locking at a predetermined length and making an operation method for the lock mechanism understandable easily. SOLUTION: This paper supply cassette 1 is divided into a main cassette 15 and a slide cassette 16, and a plurality of lock positions of the main cassette 15 and the slide cassette 16 are provided. A lock mechanism locking the main cassette 15 and the slide cassette 16 at the lock positions has a simple structure in which a pinlike member 21 is inserted by matching a position of a groove formed in the main cassette 15 with a position of a groove 17a or 17b formed in the slide cassette 16 so that an operation method of the lock mechanism can easily be judged from its outside.

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 provided in a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, printers, copiers, facsimile machines and the like have been miniaturized, and the length of an apparatus main body is shorter than the length of paper to be fed. When the paper is short, use the paper cassette installed in the main body of the device, and use the paper cassette protruding from the main body only when the paper is long. Some are provided with an extendable paper feed cassette so as to be able to do so.

As an example of an extendable paper cassette, there is a paper cassette described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-12346.
The paper cassette includes a front frame that supports the front end side of the paper and a rear frame that supports the rear end side. Further, the rear frame is movable in the length direction of the sheet with respect to the front frame, and engages with an engagement claw having a spring property formed on one frame and an engagement hole formed on the other frame. In some cases, it is positioned with respect to the previous frame. With such a structure, the paper cassette can expand and contract according to the length of the paper.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The paper cassette described in Japanese Patent No. 2346 is not provided with a mechanism for locking at a determined length, so that the front frame and the rear frame may be misaligned due to an unexpected event. It is also conceivable that the rear frame comes off the frame and falls.

[0005] Therefore, it is desirable that the telescopic paper cassette is provided with a mechanism for locking the main cassette and the slide cassette at a predetermined length.

An extensible paper cassette provided with a lock mechanism includes a paper cassette described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-110191. The lock mechanism provided in this paper cassette is constituted by a lock lever and a locking boss. It is configured. However, it is difficult for this lock mechanism to intuitively judge the operation method from the appearance, so that an inexperienced user must refer to an explanation or the like at the time of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feed cassette which has a mechanism which can be extended and contracted and which is locked at a predetermined length, and which can be easily operated by a lock mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is to enable the presence of the lock mechanism to be confirmed at a glance.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet cassette which supports a front end of a sheet to be stacked, and a rear end which supports a rear end of the sheet to be stacked. A slide cassette that is slidable with respect to the main cassette along the vertical direction, a plurality of lock positions set at portions where the main cassette and the slide cassette overlap, and a groove formed at the lock position on the main cassette. A lock mechanism is provided for fixing the main cassette and the slide cassette at the lock position by fitting a pin-shaped member into a groove formed at the lock position in the slide cassette.

Therefore, since the lock mechanism is a simple lock mechanism for fitting the pin-shaped member into the groove, the operation method can be easily determined from the appearance.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet feeding cassette according to the first aspect, wherein the lock mechanism is provided on a sheet loading surface side of the sheet feeding cassette.

Accordingly, it is easy to confirm the location of the lock mechanism.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the paper feed cassette according to the first or second aspect, wherein at least the pin-like members of the members constituting the lock mechanism are different from the colors of the main cassette and the slide cassette. different.

Therefore, even if the lock mechanism is formed small, it is easy to find because the color is different from the surrounding color.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a paper feed cassette according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First,
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional left side view showing an image forming apparatus 3 provided with a sheet feeding unit 2 provided with a sheet feeding cassette 1 according to the present embodiment. Therefore, the right side in FIG. 1 is the front side of the image forming apparatus 3 and the sheet cassette 1.

The image forming apparatus 3 includes a photoreceptor 5 in an apparatus main body 4, and a developing unit 6 and a cleaning unit 7 around the photoreceptor 5. Also, at the rear inside the apparatus main body 4,
An optical device 8 for writing an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 5 is provided, and a power supply 9 and a controller board 10 are disposed above the optical device 8.

The paper feeding section 2 includes a paper cassette 1 that is disposed below the apparatus main body 4 and can be pulled out, and a pickup roller 11 provided at a lower front end of the apparatus main body 4.
A pickup roller 11 is provided at the front end of the sheet cassette 1.
There is provided a separation pad 12 which is in pressure contact with. Further, in the paper feed cassette 1, there is provided a rotation elevating plate 13 for pressing the front end of the paper against the pickup roller 11.

The paper feed cassette 1 is shown in FIGS. Here, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotation raising plate 13 shown in FIG. 1 is omitted. The paper feed cassette 1 of the present embodiment can be adjusted to two types of lengths depending on the size of the paper, and the paper feed cassette 1 shown in FIG. 1 is in a state where long papers are stored.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the paper feed cassette 1 extended to a length capable of storing long papers, and FIG. 3 is reduced to a length for storing relatively small-sized papers. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the sheet cassette 1. Here, the paper feed cassette 1 protrudes from the rear end of the image forming apparatus 3 as shown in FIG. 1 in the extended state shown in FIG. 2, but is installed in the contracted state shown in FIG. Fits within the area.

The paper feed cassette 1 has a main cassette 15 having a handle 14 formed at the front end to be gripped when the paper cassette 1 is pulled out from the apparatus main body 4, and is slidable along the length direction of the paper loaded on the main cassette 15. And a simple slide cassette 16.

Hook-shaped portions 18a and 18b having grooves 17a and 17b are provided on the front and rear ends of both side walls of the slide cassette 16. Here, the front end side groove 17a and hook shape 18a and the rear end side groove 17b and hook shape 18b have the same shape, but for convenience of explanation,
It has been numbered separately as described above.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the sheet cassette 1 at a portion where the hook shape 18a or 18b of the slide cassette 16 is hooked on the main cassette 15.

A groove 19 and a lock member 20 are provided near the rear ends of both side walls of the main cassette 15. This locking member 20 is shown in FIG. The locking member 20 is
Each of the lock members 20 has a different color from the main cassette 15 and the slide cassette 16. The pin-shaped member 21 is provided movably on the table 22 in the width direction of the sheet by a predetermined mechanism. Further, the pin-shaped member 21 is provided with a knob 23 which is pinched when the user moves the pin-shaped member 21.

In such a configuration, the sheet cassette 1 of the present embodiment has a groove 1 for storing long sheets.
The pin-shaped member 21 is inserted and locked by aligning the groove 7 with the groove 7a. When storing a relatively small-sized sheet, the pin 17 is inserted and locked by aligning the groove 17b with the groove 19.

For example, when extending from a short state, the slide cassette 16 is slid backward with respect to the main cassette 15 indicated by an arrow in FIG.
9, the pin 23 is inserted into the groove 17a and the groove 19 by moving the knob 23 in a direction to approach the side wall of the main cassette 15 indicated by the arrow.

As described above, the paper feed cassette 1 according to the present embodiment has a hook shape 18a, 1 having grooves 17a, 17b.
8b, a groove 19, and a lock member 20. The lock mechanism is provided with a groove 19 of the main cassette 15 and a groove 17 of the slide cassette 16.
Since it is a simple configuration in which the pin-shaped member 21 is inserted together with a or 17b, the user can easily determine the operation method from the appearance of the lock mechanism. Further, since the lock mechanism is provided on the sheet stacking surface side of the paper feed cassette 1, the user may be able to detect the presence of the lock mechanism as compared with a case where the lock mechanism is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the paper feed cassette 1, for example. It's easy to notice, and you don't have to search for the lock mechanism. Furthermore, since the color of the lock member 20 is different from that of the surroundings, the lock member 20 stands out from the surroundings and is easily noticed by the user.

In this embodiment, the lock position is set to two positions. However, in the embodiment, the lock position may be provided at a plurality of positions.

In this embodiment, the outer surface of the main cassette and the inner surface of the slide cassette slide. However, in the embodiment, the inner surface of the main cassette and the outer surface of the slide cassette may slide. . In that case, the lock member is provided near the front end of the slide cassette.

[0029]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the main cassette supports the front end of the stacked sheets and the main cassette supports the rear end of the stacked sheets and extends along the length of the stacked sheets. A slide cassette that is slidable with respect to the main cassette and a plurality of lock positions set at portions where the main cassette and the slide cassette overlap each other, a groove formed at a lock position on the main cassette, and a lock position on the slide cassette. A lock mechanism for fixing the main cassette and the slide cassette at the locked position by fitting a pin-shaped member into the groove formed therein, so that the lock mechanism has a simple structure for fitting the pin-shaped member into the groove. The operation method can be easily determined from the appearance.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the lock mechanism comprises:
Since the lock mechanism is provided on the sheet stacking surface side of the sheet cassette, the location of the lock mechanism can be easily confirmed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, at least the color of the pin-like members of the members constituting the lock mechanism is different from the colors of the main cassette and the slide cassette. Because it is different from the color, the user can easily find it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional left side view illustrating an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet feeding unit including a sheet feeding cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the sheet cassette in a state where the sheet cassette is extended to a length capable of storing long sheets.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a sheet cassette in a state in which sheets of a relatively small size are stored and the sheet cassette is shortened to a length.

FIG. 4 shows a main cassette 15 and a hook shape 18a or 18b.
FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional front view of a sheet cassette showing a positional relationship with the sheet cassette.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a structure of a lock mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper feed cassette 15 Main cassette 16 Slide cassette 17a, 17b Groove 19 Groove 21 Pin-shaped member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main cassette for supporting a front end of a sheet to be stacked, and a slide cassette for supporting a rear end of the sheet and slidable with respect to the main cassette along a length direction of the sheet to be stacked. A pin-shaped member is inserted into a plurality of lock positions set at a portion where the main cassette and the slide cassette overlap each other, and a groove formed at the lock position of the main cassette and a groove formed at the lock position of the slide cassette. A paper feed cassette comprising: a lock mechanism that fixes the main cassette and the slide cassette at a lock position by being fitted together. 2. The sheet cassette according to claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism is provided on a sheet stacking surface side of the sheet cassette. 3. The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein at least a pin-shaped member of the members constituting the lock mechanism has a color different from the colors of the main cassette and the slide cassette.