JPS63127936A - Paper feed cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an alteration in size of an imaged forming medium easily performable, by making a second cassette, smaller than a first cassette, free of attachment or detachment to or from the first cassette housing the imaged forming medium. CONSTITUTION:Engaging holes 11a and 11b are installed in the specified position of the bottom of a cassette 11 housing an imaged forming medium, while a rubber magnet 13 is stuck by a double coated adhesive tape. On the other hand, the bottom of a cassette 12 smaller than the cassette 11 in size is formed with a magnetic metal, while engaging projections 14a and 14b are projected out. Otherwise, three engaging holes are installed in the specified position of the cassette 11, forming this cassette 12 with plastics, and there are provided with three projecting arts to be made contact with these three engaging holes aforesaid. With this constitution, the cassette 12 is made free of detachment, so that size of the imaged medium is easily altered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette used in, for example, an electronic copying machine.

(Prior Art) Currently, paper feed cassettes used in, for example, electronic copying machines are capable of storing a plurality of sheets of paper (image formation medium) of the same size all at once. In such a paper feed cassette, the size of the paper feed cassette and the size of the sheets stored therein are determined in order to prevent misalignment of the paper feed position. Therefore, in order to change the size of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette, it is necessary to provide a partition according to the size of the paper and specify the size of the paper to be stored.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when changing the paper feed cassette 1 that stores A3 size paper to a paper feed cassette that stores 84 size paper, that is, a paper feed cassette for A3 size. When storing 84-size paper in 1, attach the partition plate 2 etc. with screws 3 according to the size of the paper (84-size).
It was necessary to fix it with. In other words, to change the size of paper stored in the paper feed cassette, it is necessary to attach a partition plate or the like to match the size of the paper stored in the paper cassette.
Since it is necessary to fix it with screws, it cannot be easily changed and has the drawback of being inconvenient.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) This invention proposes that in order to change the size of paper stored in a paper feed cassette, it is necessary to attach a partition plate or the like according to the size of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette. It is possible to eliminate the disadvantage that it is inconvenient because it cannot be changed easily because it needs to be fixed with screws, etc., and it is possible to easily change the size of the image forming medium stored in the cassette. The purpose is to provide convenient paper feeding capacity.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The paper feed cassette of the present invention includes a first cassette that stores an image forming medium, and a first cassette that is detachably provided in the first cassette. , and a second cassette containing an image forming medium smaller than the image forming medium.

(Function) This invention makes it possible to easily change the size of the stored image forming medium by detachably providing the second cassette corresponding to the size of the image forming medium on the first cassette. This is what I did.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a paper feed cassette according to the present invention. That is, 11 is a paper feed cassette (first cassette), and a paper feed cassette 12 as a second cassette is detachably provided in this paper feed cassette 11.

For example, the paper feed cassette 11 is a paper feed cassette for A3 size without separation claws (paper feed cassette without claws) which is normally capable of storing A3 size paper (image forming medium). As shown in FIG.
ia and 1ib are provided, and a rubber magnet (magnet) 13 is attached with double-sided adhesive tape (not shown). Further, the paper feed cassette 12 is
For example, there is a paper feed cassette for postcards (a paper feed cassette without a claw) which is capable of storing postcards (image forming media) and which does not have a separating claw.

This paper feed cassette 12 for postcards is made of metal, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, it has a bottom plate 12a that is approximately the same size as the postcard, and a frame plate 12b that serves as a partition plate that defines the size of the postcard. , 12c, and 12d. The bottom plate 12a has a convex portion 1 as a guide for positioning.
4a and 14b are cut and raised, and a notch 14G is formed to facilitate the removal of postcards.

The frame plates 12b, 12c, and 12d are provided at both ends and rear end of the bottom plate 12a, respectively, so that the paper feed cassette 12 for postcards is integrally box-shaped.

That is, the protrusions 14a and 14b are engaged with the respective engagement holes 11a and 11b, and the bottom plate 12a is attracted by the rubber magnet 13, so that the paper feed cassette 12 for postcards is positioned. It is adapted to be attached to the paper feed cassette 11. This results in
The size of the stored paper will be changed from A3 to postcard size.

Also, by removing the paper feed cassette 12 for postcards,
The size of the stored paper is changed from postcard size to A3 size.

FIG. 5 shows a paper feed section of a copying machine to which the paper feed cassette of the present invention is applied. In other words, the paper feed cassettes 11.11 constituting the upper cassette or the lower cassette
A sheet is stored in the storage device 1, and the stored sheet is taken out by pick-up rollers 31a and 31b, respectively. This taken out paper is guided to aligning roller pair 34a, 34b by feed roller 32.32 and separation roller 33.33,
The pair of aligning rollers 34a and 34b synchronizes with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 35 and supplies the toner to a transfer section including a transfer charger 36 and the like.

The pick-up rollers 31a, 31b are constituted by rows shorter than the feed rollers 32.32 and separation rollers 33.33, and are located in the center of the feed rollers 32.32 and separation rollers 33.33. It is provided.

The feed rollers 32, 32 and separation rows 533.
33, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, a feed roller 32. It is composed of a weight 382, a separation roller 33, a spring joint 39, etc. The feed roller 32 is rotated by a feed motor (not shown) at the same timing as the pickup rollers 31a and 31b in the direction of the arrow indicated by the zero width in the drawing. The separation roller 33
is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown by the white dashed line in the figure, but when there is no paper or when one sheet is fed, the friction between the rollers or between the paper and the separation roller 33 is large, so the separation roller 33 is rotated in the direction shown by the black arrow in the figure, and the three spring joints slip.

However, as shown in Figure 7, when two sheets are fed,
Since the friction between the sheets is small, the lower sheet is returned by the separation roller 33 in the direction shown by the self-returning broken line arrow in the figure, and the upper sheet is sent by the feed roller 32 in the direction shown by the black arrow in the figure. . As a result, the pickup roller 31a.

Even if two sheets of paper are taken by 31b,
The lower paper is transferred to the paper feed cassette 11 by the separation roller 33.
Then, only the upper sheet of paper is conveyed to the transfer section by the feed roller 32.

As mentioned above, the paper feed cassette for postcards can be attached and detached from the paper feed cassette for A3 size paper, that is, the first cassette that stores a large image forming medium is used to store an image forming medium smaller than the image forming medium. By attaching or removing the second cassette that accommodates the image forming medium, the size of the image forming medium to be accommodated can be easily changed. Further, the second cassette can be freely attached to and detached from the first cassette by engagement between the engagement hole and the convex portion and attraction by the rubber magnet. This makes it convenient because it can be changed with one touch without using screws or the like.

In other words, a large cassette can be used as a small cassette for postcards or the like with one touch without using screws or the like.

In the above embodiments, the paper feed cassette for postcards is made of metal, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only the bottom plate that is attracted by a rubber magnet may be made of metal. .

In addition, the postcard paper feed cassette is attached to the A3 size paper feed cassette by engaging the engagement hole and the convex portion and adhering the bottom plate to the rubber magnet, but the invention is not limited to this. , for example, as shown in FIG.
Engagement holes 21a, 21b, 2 are provided in the paper feed cassette 21 for the third edition.
1c, and as shown in FIG. 9, the paper feed cassette 22 for postcards is provided with elastic engaging parts 22a, 22b, 22c having claws as positioning guides, and these engaging parts 22a, 22b, 22c into the respective engagement holes 21a, 2
1b and 21c, the paper feed cassette 22 for postcards may be positioned and fixed. As a result, it is possible to obtain the same effects as in the above-mentioned embodiments, and it is also possible to construct the paper feed cassette 22 for postcards from a lightweight member such as plastics.

Further, the image forming medium is not limited to A3 size paper or postcards, but may also be paper sheets of other sizes, transparent films for OHP (overhead projector), etc., for example.

In addition to electronic copying machines, the present invention can also be applied to paper feed cassettes used in laser printers, thermal transfer printers, and the like. Furthermore, a card, a ticket, or the like may be stored as the image forming medium.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the size of the image forming medium stored in the cassette can be easily changed, and a convenient paper feeding cassette can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a paper feed cassette showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing a paper feed cassette to which this invention is applied, and Fig. 3 shows an extracted main part of the invention. The perspective view and FIG. 4 show the main parts of the invention, where (a) is a plan view, ('b) is a front view, (C) is a side view, and FIG. is a side sectional view of a main part schematically showing the configuration of a paper feed section of a copying machine to which the paper feed cassette of the present invention is applied;
6 and 7 show the main parts of FIG. 5, the feed roller and the separation roller. FIG. 6 is a perspective view, FIG. The figures show other embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a paper feed cassette to which this invention is applied, FIG. 9 is a front view showing the main parts of the invention, and FIG. FIG. 10 shows a conventional example of a paper feed cassette. 11...Clawless paper feed cassette for A3 size, 11a. 11b...Engagement hole, 12...Clawless paper feed cassette for postcards, 12a-...Bottom plate, 12b, 12c, 12d
-...Frame plate, 13...Rubber magnet, 14a, 1
4b...Protrusion. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 wf15 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A first cassette that stores an image forming medium, and a second cassette that is detachably attached to the first cassette and that stores an image forming medium that is smaller than the image forming medium. A paper feed cassette that is characterized by: (2) The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein the second cassette is made of metal. (3) The paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein the second cassette is made of plastic.