JP2002037462A - Sheet feeding cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet cassette capable of properly keeping the state of feeding stored paper sheets and feeding the paper sheets without creases and shifting to an image forming apparatus or the like to satisfactorily perform printing. SOLUTION: This sheet cassette 30 feeds paper sheets 2 to an image forming part of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier or the like. The sheet feeding cassette is provided with a sheet loading plate 26 for storing stacked paper sheets 2, one end part of which is journalized so that the plate is disposed to freely tilt, a pair of side regulating plates disposed opposite to each other to hold the paper sheets 2 to be freely slid in the sheet feeding direction, an elevating plate 28 disposed at the bottom of the sheet loading plate 26 for lifting the sheet feeding forward end of the sheet loading plate 26 to be inclined, and a plurality of pressing members 22, 22a, 23 and 31 disposed in zigzag on the inside surfaces of one or both side regulating plates to press two or more portions of the side of the paper sheet 2 to be fed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper cassette for supplying paper to an image forming section of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine or a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when paper (recording medium) laminated on a stacking plate in a tray is fed to a printing machine, a copying machine, or the like,
Skew correction is performed in which sheets stacked horizontally in a sheet cassette are pressed against one of the side regulating plates disposed opposite to each other to correct the orientation of the sheet in the feeding direction.

A conventional paper cassette in which skew correction of paper is performed will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an image forming apparatus having a conventional paper cassette, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the conventional paper cassette, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the conventional paper cassette.

[0005] In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a conventional paper cassette for stacking and storing sheets 2, 3 denotes an image forming section where sheets 2 are fed by the sheet cassette 1 to form an image,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a photoreceptor which is made of aluminum or the like and has a photoreceptor layer coated on its outer peripheral surface in a thin film shape and rotates in the direction of arrow A. A charger 6 for charging; a laser irradiation unit 6 for irradiating the charged photoconductor 4 with a laser beam to form an electrostatic latent image;
A developing device for visualizing the electrostatic latent image formed on the paper 2 with toner;
The transfer means 10 for transferring the paper 2 abuts on the uppermost portion of the stacked sheets 2 by moving in the direction of arrow B, and a drawing roller for conveying the sheet 2, and 11 is a sheet conveyed by the drawing roller 10. 2 is a separation conveying roller for separating and conveying 2, 12 is a holding member of the pull-in roller 10 having a rotating shaft 13, 14 is a multiple conveyance prevention roller which presses against the separation and conveyance roller 11 and rotates in the opposite direction to the separation and conveyance roller 11. is there.

4 to 6, reference numerals 20 and 21 denote sheets 2
A pair of side regulating plates 22, 22a for holding the sheet 2 slidably in the feeding direction of arrow C are provided with predetermined gaps 22c above and below the side regulating plate 21. The rear pressing member, 23 is a front pressing member for pressing the front end portion of the paper on the side regulating plate 21 in the horizontal direction, 25 is a rear end regulating plate for regulating the rear end side of the paper 2, and 26 is the paper 2. A paper loading plate rotatably disposed on a rotating shaft 27 for holding the paper in a stacked state, 28 is an elevating plate for pressing the bottom of the paper loading plate 26, and 29 is an elevating plate 28 on a shaft 29.
This is a motor for rotating via a.

First, the operation of the image forming apparatus provided with the conventional paper cassette 1 configured as described above will be described.

The photosensitive member 4 rotating in the direction of arrow A is charged by a charger 5
, And the charged photoconductor 4 is irradiated with laser light from the laser irradiation unit 6 to form an electrostatic latent image. This electrostatic latent image is visualized by the toner of the developing device 7,
The visualized toner image is transferred to the sheet 2 by the transfer unit 8.

Next, pressing members 22, 22 for pressing the sheets 2 stacked horizontally in the sheet cassette 1 in the horizontal direction.
The operation of a and 23 will be described.

An elevating plate 28 disposed at the bottom of the paper cassette 1 rotates about a shaft 29a, whereby the leading end of a paper stacking plate 26 rotatably mounted in the paper cassette 1 is lifted. The paper 2 on the paper loading plate 26 is
It is pushed up in the direction opposite to arrow B.

At this time, the upper layers of the horizontally stacked sheets 2 are sequentially moved in the direction of the rear side regulating plate 20 by pressing members 22, 22a and 23 disposed on the front side regulating plate 21. Pressed to. Thus, the side edges of the stacked sheets 2 are aligned, and the sheets 2 are aligned on the sheet stacking plate 26.

Incidentally, such pressing members 22, 22a,
Reference numeral 23 denotes an independent pressing means provided between the pressing members so that the pressing force applied to the side end of the sheet 2 locally becomes excessive and no dent or scratch occurs on the side end of the sheet 2. , And a predetermined gap is formed between the horizontal and vertical pressing members in order to make the pressing members independently movable.

[0013]

However, the paper cassette 1 having the above-mentioned conventional configuration has the following problems.

(1) The rear pressing members 22, 22 a provided on the side regulating plate 21 are attached at positions aligned so as to vertically overlap in the laminating direction.
When the paper 2 is fed to the paper feeding device, the pressing members 22, 22
a and 23 are arranged obliquely with respect to the stacking direction of the paper 2, the relative positions and angles of the pressing members 22, 22 a and 23 with respect to the paper 2 to be fed are changed, and the side end portions of the paper 2 are changed. However, there is a portion that does not come into contact with the pressing members 22, 22a, and 23, and there is a problem that an appropriate pressing force cannot be applied to the paper 2 in a well-balanced manner.

(2) Due to the change in the relative position between the pressing members 22, 22a and 23 and the sheet 2, the pressing members 22, 22a and 23
When a part of the paper 2 stacked in the gap 22c between the sheets 2a is located, the paper 2 is not evenly pressed against the rear side regulating plate 20, and a part of the paper 2 is wrinkled, However, there is a problem that the position of the image is shifted.

(3) For this reason, there is a problem in that the paper feeding is poor and the paper 2 is not properly sent to the image forming unit 3 and the print quality is deteriorated.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems,
By properly maintaining the feeding state of the stored paper, feeding the paper to an image forming apparatus or the like without wrinkles or misalignment,
An object of the present invention is to provide a paper cassette capable of performing printing and the like satisfactorily.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a paper cassette for supplying paper to an image forming section of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine or a copying machine, wherein a stacked paper is used. A sheet stacking plate which is housed, one end of which is pivotally supported and is arranged to be tiltable in the vertical direction, and a pair of side regulating plates which are arranged opposite to each other and slidably hold the sheet in the sheet feeding direction. A plurality of pressing members that are arranged in a staggered manner on the inner surface of one or both of the side regulating plates and that simultaneously contact two or more portions of the side of the sheet to be fed. It is configured.

Thus, it is possible to provide a paper cassette capable of properly arranging the sheets stacked in the horizontal direction in the cassette and feeding the paper in a good condition.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A paper cassette according to claim 1 is a paper cassette for supplying paper to an image forming unit of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine or a copier, and stores stacked paper. A sheet stacking plate that is pivotally supported at one end side and that is arranged to be tiltable in the vertical direction; a pair of side regulating plates that are arranged opposite to each other to slidably hold the sheet in the sheet feeding direction; A plurality of pressing members that are arranged in a staggered manner on the inner surface of one or both side regulating plates of the direction regulating plate, and that simultaneously contact two or more locations on the side of the sheet to be fed. I have.

As a result, the following effects can be obtained.

(A) Since a plurality of pressing members are arranged in a zigzag pattern on the inner side surface of the side regulating plate, the side portions of the sheets stacked and inclined with respect to the horizontal direction by the sheet stacking plate are staggered. Any one of the pressing members arranged in the form of a sheet abuts with a predetermined gap in the paper feeding direction, and uniformly presses the paper against the other side regulating plate to properly arrange the paper in the cassette. be able to.

(B) Since the paper is properly placed in the cassette, the paper does not wrinkle or shift in position.
Paper can be fed to the image forming apparatus in a good paper feed state, and print quality can be improved.

(C) Since it is only necessary to dispose the pressing members on the side regulating plate in a staggered manner, it is possible to reliably realize the proper arrangement of the sheets with a simple structure, and to improve the economical efficiency of the production. it can.

Here, the zigzag shape means that both the vicinity of the upstream side and the vicinity of the downstream side in the paper feeding direction are pressed together along the paper feeding direction of the paper, the entirety of which is obliquely arranged by the rotation of the paper stacking plate. This refers to the arrangement of a plurality of pressing members that can be operated.

The pressing member can apply a predetermined pressing force to the side surface of the paper at all times by a rubber member having a predetermined elasticity, a spring, or the like. The pressing surface can be formed as a circle or a polygon.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper cassette according to the first aspect, the pressing member has a convex portion that comes into contact with a side portion of the stacked sheets, and the convex portion has the side restriction. A support member fixed to the back side of the plate with a concave portion is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat via an elastic member.

As a result, the following operation can be obtained in addition to the operation of the first aspect.

(A) Since the pressing member has a convex portion supported on the side regulating plate via the elastic member, the paper can be effectively aligned with a simple configuration.

(B) When a spring or the like is used as the elastic member, the base end supporting the spring is adjusted by using a screw mechanism or the like, and the elastic force can be adjusted within a predetermined range to change the position slightly. The paper feeding state can be adjusted appropriately.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper cassette according to the second aspect, the contact surface of the convex portion with the sheet is formed in a rectangular shape.

Thus, in addition to the function of the second aspect, the following function can be obtained.

(A) Since the paper contact surface of the convex portion is formed in a slender rectangular shape, the side portions of the paper stacked in a wide area can be pressed within a limited predetermined area, Paper can be effectively aligned.

Hereinafter, a paper cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a paper cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the paper cassette as viewed from a side regulating plate on a near side where a pressing member is mounted. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a pressing member formed on the side regulation plate on the near side. The components having the same configuration as the conventional paper cassette 1 shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are described with the same reference numerals.

1 and 2, reference numeral 30 denotes a paper cassette according to the embodiment, and reference numerals 20 and 21 denote a pair of side regulating members for holding the paper 2 slidably in the feeding direction of arrow C of the paper 2. Plates 22, 22a are rear pressing members provided on the upper and lower sides of the side regulating plate 21, 23 is a front pressing member for horizontally pressing the front end portion of the paper of the side regulating plate 21, and 25 is the paper 2 Is a rear end regulating plate for restricting the rear end portion, 26 is a paper loading plate rotatably disposed on a rotating shaft 27 for placing the paper 2 in a stacked state, and 28 is a paper loading plate 26. An elevating plate 29 for pressing the bottom portion, a motor 31 for rotating the elevating plate 28 via a shaft 29a, 31
Are intermediate staggered arrangements between the front pressing member 23 and the rear pressing members 22, 22a corresponding to the gaps 22c between the pair of upper and lower rear pressing members 22, 22a attached to the side regulating plate 21. It is a pressing member.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 32 denotes an intermediate pressing member, which is provided so as to protrude from the surface of the side regulating plate 21, and is a convex portion for pressing the paper 2 in the direction of the side regulating plate 20.
Reference numeral 33 denotes an elastic member such as a spring for applying a predetermined pressing force from the rear side of the convex portion 32, and reference numeral 34 denotes a supporting member which supports the elastic member 33 and is disposed on the side regulating plate 21 with a concave portion. It is.

The paper cassette 30 of the embodiment is
An intermediate pressing member 31 is added to the side regulating plate 21, and the intermediate pressing member 31 differs from the conventional paper cassette 1 in that the intermediate pressing member 31 has details as shown in FIG. Further, the pressing members 22, 22a and 23 are connected to the intermediate pressing member 3.
1 and may have a rectangular or circular contact surface with the sheet.

Next, the pressing members 22, 22a, 23 and 31 of the paper cassette 30 configured as described above will be described.
The operation will be described.

By operating the motor 29 and rotating the shaft 29a, the lifting plate 28 is lifted. This allows
The sheet 2 on the sheet stacking plate 26 is pushed up in a direction opposite to the arrow B. At this time, the sheets 2 stacked horizontally in the sheet cassette 30 are sequentially fed from the top of the stacked sheets 2 to the image forming unit 3 by the draw-in roller 10. Sheet 2 fed from sheet cassette 30 in the feeding process
Changes the feeding position of the paper 2 in the stacking direction.

For this reason, the pressing members 22, 22a, 23,
31 are arranged in a staggered relationship with each other, that is, any two or more pressing members are arranged so as to abut on the side of the stacked sheets of paper 2 at an angle with respect to the horizontal plane. Even when the upper part of the sheet 2 stacked in the gap 22c is positioned, the sheet 2 is pressed against the inner side regulating plate 20 by the intermediate pressing member 31 and the front pressing member 23. Thus, the pressing force is applied to the paper 2 in a well-balanced manner, and the image forming unit 3 is arranged in a state where the stacked papers 2 are aligned.
Paper.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which four pressing members are arranged on the inner surface of the side regulating plate 21.
Furthermore, a large number of pressing members are arranged in a staggered manner with each other, thereby dispersing the pressing force applied to the paper 2, reducing the load, preventing the occurrence of scratches and dents on the paper 2, and making the pressing force uniform. Thus, the paper feeding state can be maintained more favorably. Further, the pressing members are moved to the side regulating plates 20, 2 on both sides.
1 may be arranged together to more reliably align the sheets 2.

Since the paper cassette 30 of the embodiment has the above-described configuration, it has the following operation.

(A) Any two or more of the pressing members 22, 22a, 23, 31 arranged in a staggered manner are brought into contact with the side of the paper 2 to be fed with a predetermined gap therebetween. By pressing the paper 2 evenly in the direction of the side regulating plate 20, the paper 2 can be properly arranged in the cassette.

(B) Since the pressing member is properly arranged, the paper 2 can be fed to the image forming unit 3 without causing wrinkles or misalignment on the paper 2 to improve print quality. Can be.

(C) Since it is only necessary to dispose the pressing members in either or both of the side regulating plates 20 and 21 in a staggered manner,
The proper arrangement of the sheets 2 can be reliably realized with a simple structure, and the apparatus can be manufactured at low cost.

(D) When a spring or the like is used as the elastic member 33, the position of the base end supporting the spring is adjusted using a screw mechanism or the like, and the elastic force is adjusted to a predetermined range to change the position slightly. It is also possible to properly adjust the paper feeding state that can be changed by the above.

(E) Since the sheet contact surface of the convex portion 32 is formed in a slender rectangular shape, the side portion of the stacked sheets 2 can be pressed within a predetermined area, and The paper 2 can be effectively aligned without giving any scratches or the like.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, the recording media are aligned with the image forming apparatus by arranging the pressing members in a staggered manner even in the state where the feeding position is changed due to the feeding of the laminated recording media. The effect that can be fed can be obtained.

According to the paper cassette of the first aspect,
The following effects can be obtained.

(A) Since a plurality of pressing members arranged in a staggered manner are provided on the inner side surface of the side regulating plate, the side portions of the stacked sheets arranged obliquely with respect to the horizontal direction by the sheet stacking plate. Is pressed without any gap, and the paper is evenly pressed against the other side regulating plate, whereby the paper can be properly arranged in the cassette.

(B) Since the paper is properly placed in the cassette, the paper does not wrinkle or displace, etc.
Paper can be fed to the image forming apparatus in a good paper feed state, and print quality can be improved.

(C) Since it is only necessary to dispose the pressing members on the side regulating plate in a staggered manner, it is possible to reliably realize the proper arrangement of the sheets with a simple structure, and to increase the economical efficiency in manufacturing. it can.

According to the paper cassette of the second aspect,
The following effects are obtained in addition to the effects of the first aspect.

(A) Since the pressing member has the convex portion supported on the side regulating plate via the elastic member, the paper can be effectively aligned with a simple configuration.

(B) When a spring or the like is used as the elastic member, the base end supporting the spring is adjusted by using a screw mechanism or the like, and the elastic force can be changed within a predetermined range with a slight change in position. The paper feeding state can be adjusted appropriately.

According to the paper cassette of the third aspect,
The following effects are obtained in addition to the effects of the second aspect.

(A) Since the paper contact surface of the convex portion is formed in an elongated rectangular shape, it is possible to press the side portions of the paper laminated in a wide area within a limited predetermined area, Paper can be effectively aligned.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a paper cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the paper cassette as viewed from a side regulating plate on a front side where a pressing member is attached.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a pressing member formed on a side regulation plate on the near side;

FIG. 4 is a front view of an image forming apparatus using a conventional paper cassette.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional paper cassette.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional paper cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper cassette 2 Paper 3 Image forming part 4 Photoreceptor 5 Charger 6 Laser irradiation part 7 Developing device 8 Transfer means 10 Pull-in roller 11 Separation conveyance roller 12 Holding member 13 Rotation shaft 14 Multiple conveyance prevention roller 20 Side regulation plate 21 Side Direction regulating plate 22 rear pressing member 22a rear pressing member 22c gap 23 front pressing member 25 rear end regulating plate 26 paper loading plate 27 rotating shaft 28 elevating plate 29 motor 29a shaft 30 paper cassette 31 intermediate pressing member 32 convex portion 33 elasticity Body 34 Supporting member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper cassette for supplying paper to an image forming unit of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine or a copying machine, wherein a stacked paper is stored, and one end side is pivotally supported so as to be tiltable vertically. A sheet stacking plate, a pair of side regulating plates arranged to oppose each other to slidably hold the sheet in the paper feeding direction, and one or both of the side regulating plates A plurality of pressing members arranged in a zigzag pattern on the inner surface of the sheet cassette and simultaneously contacting two or more locations on the side of the sheet to be fed. 2. The pressing member has a convex portion that abuts a side portion of the stacked sheets, and the convex portion is fixed with a concave portion on the back side of the side regulating plate. The paper cassette according to claim 1, wherein the paper cassette is disposed on the support member via an elastic member so as to be able to move forward and backward. 3. The paper cassette according to claim 2, wherein a contact surface of said convex portion with said paper is formed in a rectangular shape.