JPH0361221A - Paper placing board locking mechanism for feed cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To retain a paper placing board at an adequate position automatically by providing a locking member, which locks the paper placing board downward in the state that a cassette is removed from a device mainframe, and an unlocking member which operates on the locking member in the state that the cassette is set in the device mainframe. CONSTITUTION:In the state that a feed cassette 1 is set to be pushed into a device mainframe, an unlocking member 11 installed on the device mainframe side is put in contact with the upper half portion of a locking member 9, which is rotationally moved clockwise to unlock a paper placing board 4 so that the paper placing board 4 is pushed up by a push-up member 6 and moved upward. As a result, a side paper thereon is transferred upward and put in good contact with a feed roller 12 to allow smooth feeding.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a locking mechanism for a paper loading plate of a paper feed cassette used in copying machines, printers, and the like.

[Prior Art] In a conventional paper feed cassette/soto, the paper loading plate is normally lifted upward by a spring force or the like when paper is stored in the cassette, and is locked downward. It has no structure.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] When the paper cassette is set in the main unit.

In conventional cassettes that have a spring member inside that lifts the paper placement plate upward, it is necessary to push down the paper together with the paper placement plate to prevent the paper from colliding with the paper feed roller on the main body side. If the paper is not pushed down, the cassette may not be set properly, causing the paper to bend or the cassette to not be set in the correct position. When doing so, there is a problem in that if the paper placement plate is not in a lowered state, the paper width is not properly regulated by the pre-existing member and may protrude, making it difficult to insert the paper.

This invention was made to solve each of the above-mentioned problems, and is a paper feeder that automatically holds the paper loading plate in the appropriate position when the cassette is set in the device main body and when it is removed. The purpose is to provide a cassette paper loading plate opening/tuck mechanism.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the paper mounting plate locking mechanism of the present invention includes a cassette frame and a paper mounting plate having one end held by the cassette frame and the other end movable up and down. a push-up member that pushes the paper placement plate upward; a locking member that locks the paper placement plate downward when the cassette is removed from the apparatus main body; The invention is characterized in that it includes a release member that comes into contact with the lock member to release the opening and the lock when the lock member is set.

[Function] When the cassette is removed from the main body of the device, the paper loading plate is recessed and locked downward by the locking member, so the paper is regulated by the paper width regulating member and does not protrude. This makes insertion into the cassette easy. In addition, when setting the cassette into the main body of the device, the paper placement plate is located at the bottom so that the paper does not get in the way when setting the paper.After setting, the paper placement plate is unlocked, so it is The upper paper and the paper feed roller are brought into proper contact with each other, and the paper can be fed smoothly.

[Example] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the paper feed cassette l of the same embodiment. Paper width regulating members 3 are provided inside the double-sided plates of the cassette frame 2, respectively. Reference numeral 4 denotes a paper mounting plate, one end of which is held by the cassette frame 2 and the other end of which is movable up and down.

A push-up member 6 that is rotatably supported at both ends by shafts 5 is provided below the paper placement plate 4. As shown in FIG. A spring 7 is attached around the shaft 5, and the push-up member 6 rotates around the shaft 5 due to the rotational force of the spring 7, and acts in a direction to push up the paper placement plate 4 via the contact member 8. . The contact member 8 is provided at the center of the member 6 in the left-right direction, so that when the push-up member 6 acts on the paper mounting plate 4, the left and right balance of the paper mounting plate 4 is adjusted. Note that 9 in the figure is a locking member for the paper placement plate 4, which will be described in detail later.

When the paper cassette l is removed from the main body of the apparatus, the locking member 9 locks the paper mounting plate 4 with its lower end so that the paper mounting plate 4 does not open upward as shown in FIG. It is something that locks. That is, the lock member 9
The spring 10 can be rotated, for example, by about 30 degrees around the center of rotation 9a located approximately in the center.
The paper mounting plate 4 is pulled in the supporting direction of the spring 10 by the tensile force of the paper mounting plate 4, and in this state, the paper mounting plate 4 is locked. Therefore, sheets can be easily inserted into the paper feed cassette 1 without worrying about the position of the paper placement plate 4.

Now, as shown in FIG. 3, when the supply cassette 1 is pushed into the main body of the apparatus and set, the release member 11 provided on the main body side of the apparatus comes into contact with the upper half of the locking member 9, causing the opening member to close. 9 rotates clockwise to unlock the paper placement plate 4, and the paper placement plate 4 is pushed up by the push-up member 6 and moves upward, so the paper on top moves upward and feeds the paper. Since the contact with the roller 12 is good, paper can be fed smoothly.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without changing the gist.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, there is provided a paper placement plate locking mechanism for a paper feed cassette that can automatically hold the paper placement plate at an appropriate position when the cassette is set in the apparatus main body. can do.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows the paper feed cassette used in one embodiment of this invention.
・A perspective view of the gutter; Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the paper feed cassette of the same embodiment taken out from the main body of the apparatus; Figure 3 is an illustration of the state of the paper feed cassette of the same embodiment set in the main body of the apparatus. It is a diagram. 1...Paper feed sholder! G3...Paper width regulating member 5...Shaft 7...Spring 9...Lock member 2...Cassette frame 4...Paper placement plate 6...Pushing member 8... Contact member 10...Spring 90-, F4HJR Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cassette frame, a paper mounting plate having one end held by the cassette frame and the other end movable up and down, a push-up member for pushing the paper mounting plate upward, and a push-up member for pushing up the paper mounting plate when the cassette is removed from the main body of the apparatus. A locking member that locks the paper mounting plate downward when the cassette is set in the apparatus main body, and a release member that acts on the locking member to release the lock when the cassette is set in the apparatus main body. Paper cassette paper loading plate locking mechanism.