JP3488633B2 - Paper cassette lid - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed cassette used in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile, a printer and a copying machine, and more particularly to a paper feed cassette lid member for covering a portion protruding from the main body of the apparatus. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in image forming apparatuses such as facsimiles, printers and copiers, a sheet feeding cassette in which sheet-like sheets are stored in a bundle is set in the apparatus body, and a sheet feeding roller provided in the apparatus body. For example, a configuration in which the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle is fed toward the image forming unit in the apparatus main body is often used.

In such an image forming apparatus, in order to reduce the size of the apparatus main body, the sheet on which the image has been formed is inverted after the image formation and is discharged face down to a discharge section provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body. On the other hand, in order to enable the sheet to be discharged even face up, the sheet discharged as it is is placed through the discharge port provided on the side surface of the apparatus main body without being inverted after the image formation. Many of them have a discharge tray for the discharge port position.

[0004]

In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, when the images are formed on a plurality of sheets, the sheets are often discharged face down so that the sheets are placed in the order of image formation. Therefore, the face-up discharge tray is rarely used. Therefore, in order to reduce the installation space of the image forming apparatus as much as possible, a face-up discharge tray is detachably configured, and is usually removed from the apparatus main body.

As described above, since the face-up discharge tray is configured to be removable, there is a problem that the discharge tray may be lost. Further, if an attempt is made to provide a storage portion for storing the discharge tray in the device body when unnecessary to prevent the loss, a space for that is required in the device body, which causes a problem that the configuration of the device body becomes complicated. Was there.

On the other hand, in the conventional image forming apparatus, there is known a structure in which the end of the set sheet feeding cassette is projected from the apparatus main body in order to downsize the apparatus main body. In the image forming apparatus having such a configuration, the cover member covers the protruding portion of the paper feed cassette to prevent dust and dirt from entering the paper feed cassette from the outside. Therefore, in the conventional image forming apparatus, both the face-up discharge tray and the lid member must be necessarily provided, which is one of the factors that increase the cost of the image forming apparatus.

The present invention has been made in view of the above,
An object of the present invention is to provide a lid member for a paper feed cassette that protects the paper in the cassette and also functions as a discharge tray to contribute to cost reduction of the image forming apparatus.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, one end of a main body of an apparatus that discharges a sheet after forming an image on the sheet is below the discharge port. A lid member of a paper feed cassette mounted in a state of protruding from the main body of the apparatus, wherein the paper feed cassette is
A cover portion for covering a portion protruding from the apparatus main body, and the cover.
The stack of sheets ejected from the above-mentioned output port
Used for stacking discharged sheets on the stack and on the upper surface of the cover.
Extend from the left and right edges of the front edge in the paper ejection direction
The discharge paper stacker is
And a pair of slide holding portions that hold the movable portions,
The left end side of the discharge paper stacking portion in the opposite discharge direction end
And the fitting part projecting on the right end side of the slide holding part
It is provided on the inner surface facing the discharged paper stacking portion.
By fitting it in the groove,
Holds the slide holder so that it can slide in the paper ejection direction.
And the sliding movement of this ejected paper placement section
And the mating part is used to eject the paper in the groove of the slide holding part.
In the curved portion that is provided near the end in the direction
When placed, the ejected paper stacking part will automatically move around the fitting part.
Rotating due to the weight, the fitting part rises to the bending part.
The bottom surface of the ejected paper stacking part is used as the cover part.
A state in which it touches the edge of the paper ejection direction and protrudes in the paper ejection direction
It is characterized in that it is held by the cover part .

According to this structure, the paper feed cassette is mounted on the main body of the apparatus with its one end projecting from the main body below the discharge port, and is a lid member for covering the projecting portion. By stacking the sheets discharged from the discharge port on the discharged sheet stacking unit, it becomes possible to stack the discharged sheets without separately providing a member for mounting the discharged sheets, The number of parts will be reduced.

Further, when a state results in which the emissions sheet holding part is projected from the paper feed cassette is slid in the discharge direction, increase the area for the paper placed stably can stack placed in the discharge sheet become.

The invention as defined in claim 2 is as set forth in claim 1.
Of the paper feed cassette of the above
The auxiliary mounting portion pivotally supported at the end in the discharge direction of
The end of the auxiliary stacking section in the paper discharge direction,
In the vicinity of the shaft supporting part with the paper stacking part, the upper part
A protruding L-shaped locking portion is provided on the
Means that the auxiliary mounting portion is provided around the shaft supporting portion
When it is rotated with respect to the stacking part,
Abutting and locking from the side,
By locking with the stacking part, the auxiliary stacking part is
It is also held so that it projects from the stacking section in the paper ejection direction.
Of.

According to this structure, by additionally providing the auxiliary loading portion provided so as to be able to project in the ejection direction with respect to the ejection paper loading portion, even for a large size sheet,
It is possible to suitably carry out stacking.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a printer to which an embodiment of a paper feed cassette lid member according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing an internal configuration of the printer.

First, the schematic structure and operation of this printer will be described. This printer is provided as a means for supplying paper in a manner that it can be pulled out to the front side at the lower part of the apparatus main body 1 and accommodates a paper stack P0 of a predetermined size (in this embodiment, for example, A3 size which is vertically long in the paper feed direction). The paper feed cassette 10 and the manual feed tray 30 provided above the paper feed cassette 10 and opened to the front side are provided, and these can be switched according to the user's selection.

FIG. 3 shows the paper feed cassette 10 pulled out, and FIG. 4 shows the manual feed tray 30 opened. In FIG. 4, the alternate long and short dash line in the apparatus main body 1 indicates the sheet conveyance path.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the paper feed cassette 10 is set in the apparatus main body 1, the rear end portion of the paper feed cassette 10, that is, the end portion in the ejection direction is the ejection port 5 of the apparatus main body 1.
It is configured so as to project from the 8 side, which makes it possible to use a large-sized sheet and to downsize the apparatus main body 1.

A lid member 2 to be described later is provided to prevent dust and the like from entering the paper feed cassette 10 from a portion protruding from the apparatus main body 1.

In FIG. 4, in the paper feed cassette 10,
A sheet bundle P0 of the sheets P, P, ... Is accommodated, the uppermost sheet P is separated, fed by a sheet feeding roller 31 to a conveyance path, and the reversing roller 32 makes a U-direction in the conveyance direction. It is conveyed to the registration roller pair 33.

When the sheet is conveyed, the registration roller pair 33 is stopped, and the registration roller pair 33 nips the sheet to form a predetermined bend so that the leading ends of the sheets are aligned and the image forming section 40 is provided. The registration roller pair 33 starts rotating in synchronization with the operation and is conveyed to the image forming unit 40.

The image forming section 40 includes a photoconductor 41 arranged in contact with the upper side of the conveying path, an optical section 42 arranged above the periphery thereof, and a developing device 43 arranged on the right side. The transfer roller 44 is disposed below the transfer path, and the cleaning device 45 is disposed on the left side of the transfer roller 44. When the photoconductor 41 rotates in the paper transport direction, the photoconductor 41 is rotated. A known image forming process is performed on the sheet conveyed between the transfer roller 44 and the transfer roller 44.

Then, the image-transferred sheet is further conveyed by the discharge roller pair 52 after the image is fixed by the fixing roller pair 51, and depending on the switching state of the switching guide 53, the second, third ,. Fourth discharge roller pair 54,5
It is discharged face down to the upper discharge tray 57 provided at the upper part of the apparatus main body 1 via 5, 5 or face up to the lid member 2 via the discharge port 58.

On the other hand, the paper P set on the manual feed tray 30 has a lift plate 34, a separating member 35, and a paper feed roller 36.
After the uppermost one sheet is separated by, is fed to the conveyance path in the apparatus main body 1, and image formation is performed by the same conveyance procedure as that of the paper P fed from the paper feed cassette 10 described above.
The sheet is discharged onto the upper discharge tray 57 or the lid member 2.

Next, the lid member 2 of the paper feed cassette 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the configuration of the lid member 2 of the paper feed cassette 10.
Shows a normal state, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the ejected paper placing portion 22 is slid in the ejecting direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the lid member 2 is made of, for example, a hard synthetic resin, and is provided with a cover portion 21 and a discharged sheet placement portion 22.

The cover portion 21 has a rectangular lid shape, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, it covers a portion of the paper feed cassette 10 protruding from the apparatus main body 1, and is provided with a pair of slide holding portions 23, 23 disposed on the upper surface.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slide holding portions 23, 23 are formed so as to extend in the anti-discharging direction from the left end portion and the right end portion of the front end of the cover portion 21 in the discharging direction, and have groove portions 23a, 23a facing each other. I have it.

The discharged paper placing portion 22 is a substantially rectangular flat plate, and the fitting portions 22 are provided on the left end side and the right end side of the end portion in the opposite discharge direction.
a and 22a are provided so as to project from the fitting portions 22a and 22a.
By fitting a into the groove portions 23a, 23a, the ejected paper placing portion 22 is held by the slide holding portion 23 so as to be slidable in the ejecting direction.

An auxiliary placing section 24 is further attached to the upper surface of the central portion of the discharged sheet placing section 22, and the auxiliary placing section 24 is axially supported at the end of the discharged sheet placing section 22 in the discharge direction. It is arranged so that it can be folded.

Then, the ejected paper placing portion 22 is manually slid in the ejecting direction from the state shown in FIG. 1, and the fitting portions 22a and 22a are fitted into the groove portions 23a and 23a as shown in FIG.
When located at the curved portions 23b, 23b of the fitting portion 22a,
2 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by the self-weight of the discharged paper stacking portion 22 to raise the fitting parts 22a, 22a, and the lower surface of the discharged paper stacking portion 22 is located at the left end 21a of the cover portion 21. And is held in the state shown in FIG.

Further, when the auxiliary loading section 24 is manually rotated counterclockwise, the L-shaped locking section 24a (FIG. 1) at the left end of the auxiliary loading section 24 is ejected paper loading section 22. The center flat plate portion 25 (FIG. 2) is abutted and locked from the lower side, and by this locking, it is held in a state of protruding from the discharged paper placing portion 22 in the discharge direction as shown in FIG.

In the state shown in FIG. 2, the switching guide 53
By changing over (FIG. 4), the sheet on which the image has been formed is discharged through the discharge port 5.
When it is guided to 8, the paper is suitably discharged onto the cover part 21, the discharged paper placement part 22, and the auxiliary placement part 24.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the paper on which the image has been formed is discharged face down to the upper discharge tray 57, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. By arranging on the cover part 21,
A compact structure can be achieved without protruding in the discharge direction from the paper feed cassette 10.

On the other hand, when it is desired to eject the sheet after image formation face up, the ejected sheet placing section 22 is slid from the cover section 21 in the ejecting direction as shown in FIG. It can be stacked and placed face up. Further, if necessary, the auxiliary placing section 24 may be positioned in the ejection direction (see FIG. 2) to eject a larger size sheet.

Furthermore, since it is not necessary to provide a separate member for placing the sheet discharged face up,
It is possible to reduce the number of parts as well as eliminate the risk of loss when the separate member is detachably configured. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a space for housing the removed separate member, the structure of the apparatus main body can be simplified.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but the following modifications can be adopted.

(1) The constitution of the slide holding portions 23, 23 is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be any constitution as long as it holds the discharged paper placing portion 22 slidably in the discharging direction.

(2) In the above embodiment, the paper feed cassette 1
The present invention is applied to the paper feed cassette mounted so that the back side of 0 protrudes from the apparatus main body 1, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. It may be a paper feed cassette attached to the main body of the apparatus so as to project from the discharge port side.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the internal structure of an image forming apparatus of a different example, and those having the same functions as those in FIG. 4 of the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
Paper is fed from the apparatus main body 1 to the rear of the apparatus main body 1, and the front side of the paper feeding cassette 10 is projected from the apparatus main body 1. This is similar to the case of FIG. The end portion on the discharge direction side is mounted so as to project from the apparatus main body 1.

Also in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the lid member 2 having the same structure as that of the above-described embodiment is provided in the protruding portion of the paper feed cassette 10, so that the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. it can.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A lid member that covers the portion of the paper feed cassette that protrudes from the main body of the paper feed cassette is provided with a discharge paper stacking unit that stacks and stacks the paper discharged from the discharge port. The discharged sheets can be stacked and placed without a member for reducing the number of parts, and the structure of the apparatus main body can be simplified, thereby reducing the cost. You can

Further, by further comprising a slide holding portion for slidably holding the discharged paper placing portion in the discharge direction of the paper discharged from the discharge port, the discharged paper placing portion is slid in the discharge direction and fed. When the sheet is projected from the paper cassette, the area for placing the sheets is increased, and the stacked sheets of discharged sheets can be stably placed.

Further, by further providing the auxiliary placing portion provided so as to be able to project in the discharge direction with respect to the discharged sheet placing portion, it is possible to suitably perform stacking and placing of sheets of larger size.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a lid member of a paper feed cassette according to the present invention, showing a normal state.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a lid member of a sheet feeding cassette according to the present invention, showing a state in which a discharged sheet placing portion is slid in a discharging direction.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a printer to which the embodiment is applied.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an internal configuration of the printer.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus of another example.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Lid member 21 Cover 22 Discharged paper stacking section 23 Slide holder 24 Auxiliary mounting part 25 Flat plate part 10 paper cassettes

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Fumio Hatanaka 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuyoshi Koyanagi 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo (72) Inventor Hidemasa Kizen 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasunori Ueno 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) References Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-26502 (JP, A) Actual Development No. 5-5744 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/26

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device main body for ejecting the paper from an outlet after forming an image on the paper is mounted in such a state that one end thereof is projected from the device main body below the outlet. A lid member for a paper feed cassette , which covers a portion of the paper feed cassette protruding from the apparatus main body.
Is provided on the cover part and the cover part, and is discharged from the discharge port.
The ejected paper stacking part for stacking the papers and the left end and the right end of the front end in the paper ejecting direction on the upper surface of the cover part.
Is formed so as to extend in the direction opposite to the discharge direction from the end,
A pair of slides that hold the output paper stack
And a ride holding portion, and extends to the left end side in the end portion in the direction opposite to the discharge direction of the discharge paper stacking portion.
And the fitting part projecting on the right end side of the slide holding part
It is provided on the inner surface facing the discharged paper stacking portion.
By fitting it in the groove,
Holds the slide holder so that it can slide in the paper ejection direction.
And the sliding movement of this ejected paper placement section
And the mating part is used to eject the paper in the groove of the slide holding part.
In the curved portion that is provided near the end in the direction
When placed, the ejected paper stacking part will automatically move around the fitting part.
Rotating due to the weight, the fitting part rises to the bending part.
The bottom surface of the ejected paper stacking part is used as the cover part.
A state in which it touches the edge of the paper ejection direction and protrudes in the paper ejection direction
A lid member for a paper feed cassette, which is held by the cover section . 2. A shaft is provided at an end portion in the discharge direction of the discharge paper stacking portion.
The auxiliary loading section is supported, and the end of the auxiliary loading section in the sheet ejection direction is
In the vicinity of the shaft supporting part with the paper stacking part, the upper part
An L-shaped locking portion protruding in the direction is provided, and this locking portion
Means that the auxiliary mounting portion is provided around the shaft supporting portion
When it is rotated with respect to the stacking part,
Abutting and locking from the side,
By locking with the stacking part, the auxiliary stacking part is
The lid member for a sheet feeding cassette according to claim 1, wherein the lid member is held in a state of protruding in the sheet ejection direction from the placing portion .