JPH11217123A - Paper tray - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To enable small-size paper to be fed in the same manner as standard-size paper using a standard-size paper feed tray. SOLUTION: Side fences 4A and 4B for regulating the position of the sheet substantially in parallel with the conveyance direction (the direction of arrow B in the drawing) by contacting both side edges of the sheet have auxiliary position regulating members 8A for small-size sheets. 8B is attached as needed. With the auxiliary position restricting members 8A and 8B mounted, the distance between the side fences 4A and 4B is appropriately adjusted to restrict the position of a sheet having a width smaller than B5 length by the auxiliary position restricting members 8A and 8B. Can be stored in the paper feed tray. When small-size paper is not used, the auxiliary position regulating members 8A, 8B are moved from the side fences 4A, 4B.
B can be easily removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed tray mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a paper feed tray mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile or the like has a pair of side fences and end fences which can be moved according to the size and direction of the sheets to be accommodated. Some have. This type of paper feed tray can regulate the position of various papers parallel to the transport direction and symmetrically with respect to the transport center line by appropriately adjusting the distance between both side fences. The position of the trailing end of the sheet in the transport direction can be regulated.

[0003]

However, the above-described conventional paper feed tray can handle standard paper sizes and orientations, for example, A3, B4, A4 portrait, A4 landscape, B5 landscape, B5 landscape, and the like. However, there is a case where small-sized sheets such as A5 size and postcard size, which are rarely used in an office or the like, cannot be stored in a feedable manner. For this reason, when using small-size paper, the paper must be fed using the manual feed tray or a tray dedicated to small-size paper, and the standard paper supply is required in terms of the number of sheets that can be stacked and operability. It was inferior to the case where paper was fed from a paper tray. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to feed small-sized paper in the same manner as standard-sized paper using a standard-size paper feed tray.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus having a cassette body having a sheet mounting portion, the apparatus having a cassette body for transporting sheets to a predetermined portion of the apparatus body. A paper feed tray mounted on the main body, which abuts on both side edges of the paper placed on the paper loading section to regulate the position of the paper substantially in parallel with the transport direction, and also provides a plurality of types of paper. In a paper feed tray provided with a pair of side fences configured to be able to adjust the distance between each other in accordance with a standard paper size and the orientation of the paper at the time of conveyance, the side fence includes an auxiliary for small-size paper. The position regulating member is detachably mounted. Also,
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the auxiliary position regulating members for the small-sized paper are provided on the paper contact surfaces of the pair of side fences. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the standard paper size originally set as the adaptive size of the paper feed tray is provided by attaching the auxiliary position regulating member to the side fence of the paper feed tray. The position can be regulated even for smaller size paper, and by adjusting the separation distance between the side fences with the auxiliary position regulating member attached to the side fence, the standard Position regulation adjustment can be performed by the same operation as when using paper of a size. Claim 2
In the invention described in the above, by providing the auxiliary position regulating member for the small size paper on the paper contact surface side of the pair of side fences, the distance between the opposing paper contact surfaces is set to the thickness of the auxiliary position regulating member. Therefore, the position of a small-sized sheet can be regulated without changing the moving range of the pair of side fences.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a paper feed tray according to an embodiment of the present invention.
(B) is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part. FIG. 1 (a)
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a paper feed tray main body.
The bottom plate 1a and a front plate 1b, a left plate 1c, a right plate 1d, and a rear plate 1e formed integrally with the periphery of the bottom plate 1a. Become. A handle 2 is provided on the front plate 1b. In the paper feed tray main body 1, there are provided a fixed frame 3 serving as a paper mounting portion, and a pair of side fences 4A and 4B and an end fence 6 movable in accordance with the size and direction of the paper to be stored. . Fixed frame 3 is bottom plate 1
a, and a pair of side fences 4A, 4B
Is movably supported. A pair of side fences 4
A and 4B are for regulating the position of the sheet substantially parallel to the transport direction (the direction of the arrow B in the drawing) by abutting on both side edges of the sheet (not shown) placed on the sheet placing portion. Both side fences 4A and 4B are rack and
They are connected to each other by an interlocking mechanism 5 composed of a pinion mechanism and move symmetrically with respect to the transport center line S, so that the spacing between them can be adjusted according to a plurality of types of standard paper sizes and orientations. In this example, A3, B4, A4 portrait, A4
It is assumed that horizontal, B5 vertical, and B5 horizontal can be handled.

[0006] The end fence 6 is provided between the right side plate 1d, which is a side plate located on the downstream side (front end side) in the sheet conveyance direction, and a sheet (not shown) placed on the sheet placement portion of the sheet supply tray body 1. By pinching the sheet, the rear end position of the sheet is regulated. A plurality of insertion holes 7, 7, ... for changing the fixing position of the end fence 6 are formed in the bottom plate 1a of the paper feed tray body 1 at intervals along the sheet transport direction. By appropriately changing the insertion holes 7, 7,... For inserting and fixing the engaging portions of Nos. 6, the rear end position in the transport direction of the various types of paper having the standard paper size and orientation can be regulated. According to the paper feed tray configured as described above, by appropriately adjusting the interval between the pair of side fences 4A and 4B, various types of paper having a standard paper size and orientation can be transported in parallel with the transport direction B. The position can be regulated symmetrically with respect to the center line S, and the position of the end fence 6 can be appropriately adjusted to regulate the rear end position of various types of paper in the transport direction.

However, with the above-described configuration only, even when the distance between the pair of side fences 4A and 4B is adjusted to be the narrowest, it is possible to transport the B5 size paper (B5 size paper along the longitudinal direction thereof). Since the position can be regulated only up to the paper in the state of being placed, the small-sized paper such as A5 portrait or postcard size cannot be stored in a feedable manner. Therefore, the paper feed tray of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a pair of side fences 4A, 4B
A pair of auxiliary position regulating members 8A and 8B for small-size paper can be mounted as needed. As shown in the figure, the auxiliary position regulating members 8A and 8B are rectangular parallelepiped members of the same shape and the same size, and can be attached to the paper contact surfaces 9A and 9B of the side fences 4A and 4B. In this example, each of the auxiliary position restricting members 8A, 8B has an inverted L-shaped engaging claw 8a, 8b, and each side fence 4A, 4B.
Are formed at the upper end thereof, respectively, and the engaging claws 8a, 8b of the auxiliary position regulating members 8A, 8B are formed.
With the engagement holes 4a of the side fences 4A and 4B, respectively.
4b, it can be easily mounted.

[0008] As described above, a pair of side fences 4A,
When the auxiliary position restricting members 8A and 8B are attached to the 4B, both the auxiliary position restricting members 8A and 8B move together with the side fences 4A and 4B. The opposing surfaces of the two auxiliary position regulating members 8A, 8B projecting from the sheet contact surfaces 9A, 9B of the side fences 4A, 4B become the sheet contact surfaces 9A ', 9B'. Therefore, by appropriately adjusting the distance between the side fences 4A and 4B with the auxiliary position regulating members 8A and 8B attached,
A sheet having a width smaller than 5 portraits is set to the two auxiliary position regulating members 8A,
The position can be regulated by 8B and accommodated in the sheet feeding tray. When small-sized paper is not used, the auxiliary position regulating members 8A and 8B can be easily removed from the side fences 4A and 4B.

[0009]

As described above, the present invention has the following excellent effects. In the invention according to claim 1,
By attaching the auxiliary position regulating member to the side fence of the paper feed tray, it is possible to regulate the position even for paper smaller in size than the standard paper size originally set as the paper size that can be accommodated in the paper tray. By adjusting the spacing between the side fences with the auxiliary position regulating member attached to the side fence, the position regulation can be adjusted by using the same operation as when using standard-size paper even when using small-size paper. be able to. Therefore,
By attaching the auxiliary position regulating member to the side fence of the paper feed tray as necessary, small-sized paper can be fed with the same number of sheets and operability as those of standard-sized paper. In the invention according to claim 2,
By providing the auxiliary position regulating member for the small-sized paper on the paper contact surface side of the pair of side fences, the interval between the opposing paper contact surfaces is reduced by twice the thickness of the auxiliary position regulating member. Therefore, the position of a small-sized sheet can be regulated without changing the moving range of the pair of side fences.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a sheet feeding tray according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 paper feed tray body, 1a bottom plate, 1b front plate, 1c
Left side plate, 1d right side plate, 1e rear plate, 2 handles, 3 fixed frame, 4A side fence, 4B side fence, 6 end fence, 5 interlocking mechanism, S transport center line, 7 insertion hole, 8A auxiliary position regulating member, 8
B auxiliary position regulating member, 9A 'paper contact surface, 9B'
Paper contact surface.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed tray provided with a cassette main body having a paper mounting portion and mounted on an equipment main body to transport paper to a predetermined portion of the equipment main body, wherein the paper tray is mounted on the paper mounting portion. By abutting both side edges of the sheet, the position of the sheet is regulated in a substantially parallel posture with respect to the conveying direction, and a distance between the sheets in accordance with a plurality of standard sheet sizes and the direction of the sheet during conveyance. A sheet tray provided with a pair of side fences configured to adjust the size of the paper sheet, wherein an auxiliary position regulating member for small-sized paper is detachably provided on the side fence. 2. The paper feed tray according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary position regulating member for the small size paper is provided on the side of the pair of side fences on the paper contact side.