JPH11292304A - Sheet stacking device, image reading device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] A sheet stacking device excellent in workability, in which even a device capable of stacking and storing a large amount of sheets can easily change the position of a regulating member that regulates the sheet stacking position according to the sheet size. And an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus. SOLUTION: When a B5 size sheet is stacked, an insertion section 102 provided on a sheet regulating plate 102 is provided.
a (102b) is inserted into the positioning hole 103a (104a) and fitted, and when the sheet to be loaded is changed to an A4 size sheet, first, the insertion portion 102a
The fitting between the (102b) and the positioning holes 103a (104a) is released, and the insertion portions 102a and 102b are guided along the guiding holes 103c and 104c, respectively, and fitted into the positioning holes 103b and 104b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet stacking apparatus for stacking sheets, and is applied to, for example, an image reading apparatus or an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., for stacking an original or recording paper. The present invention relates to a sheet stacking device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus, for example, there are a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile and the like.

A copying machine generally has a function of reading an image of an original or the like and forms an image on a sheet based on the read image information. Some copiers have a function of inputting image information to be sent.

[0004] A printer is generally an external device,
For example, an image is formed on a sheet based on image information sent from a device such as a computer.A facsimile generally has a function of reading an image of a document or the like, and a communication function, and the read image information is provided. The image is sent to the outside, and an image is formed on a sheet based on information sent from the outside.

In recent years, in these image reading apparatuses and image forming apparatuses, improvement in processing speed (image reading speed and image forming speed) has been desired in order to obtain a more comfortable operation environment.

On the other hand, in order to reduce the installation space, the size of the apparatus has been reduced.

Therefore, it is desired to provide a stacking device capable of stacking a large amount of data in order to eliminate the trouble of sheet replenishment even in a small-sized image reading apparatus or an image forming apparatus having a high speed.

In response to these demands, as shown in FIG. 1, a paper feed deck (paper deck) 2 which can store a large amount of sheets in a sheet storage at the bottom or side of the apparatus main body 1.
And a sheet is supplied from the sheet feeding deck 2.

On the other hand, since the number of stages of the sheet stacking device cannot be increased due to downsizing and low cost of the device, it is required to be able to convey a plurality of sizes of sheets from one paper deck.

For this reason, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, regulating plates 52, 53, 54 for regulating the position of the sheet in the cassette with respect to the conveying unit and the image forming apparatus.
However, a universal cassette 51 configured to be slidable according to the size of sheets of various sizes has been used.

However, such a configuration requires a complicated configuration such as a position fixing member for the regulating plate, a release mechanism, and a slide mechanism, and also increases costs.

Further, in a large-capacity paper deck, it is difficult to use such a mechanism because the length of the regulating plate must be very long.

Further, in a paper deck intended for large-capacity sheet feeding, it is rare to convey sheets of irregular sizes.

In view of the above, a large-capacity paper deck has conventionally been configured as shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic structural views of a sheet stacking apparatus according to the prior art. FIG. 6 shows a case where B5 size sheets are stacked, and FIG. 7 shows a case where A4 size sheets are stacked. ing.

As shown in the figure, a large-capacity paper deck 60 is provided in a sheet storage 61 with fixing holes for various standard sizes (in the figure, fixing holes 63a and 64a for B5 and fixing holes 63b for A4). , 64b), and a service person or a user selects an arbitrary fixing hole as necessary and inserts the insertion portions 62a, 6
2b are inserted, and the control plate 62 is
Is fixed to the sheet storage 61.

[0017]

However, in the case of the above-described prior art, the following problems have occurred.

In the above-described configuration, the larger the capacity of the paper deck is, the deeper the sheet storage is, and it is difficult to see the hole into which the restriction plate is inserted far from the operator. The work of inserting the board and the work of fixing the screws were difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device capable of stacking and storing a large number of sheets, wherein the sheet stacking position can be set according to the sheet size. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet stacking apparatus, an image reading apparatus, and an image forming apparatus which can easily change the position of a regulating member to be regulated and have excellent workability.

[0020]

According to the present invention, a plurality of sheets are stacked and supported, and a sheet supporting member having a plurality of positioning holes is inserted into the positioning holes. A positioning member that is positioned and fixed to the sheet supporting member in a state in which the sheet is loaded, and that regulates the loading position of the loaded sheets. In the sheet stacking device capable of positioning, positioning holes provided to connect positioning holes provided at different positions are provided, and the regulating member is guided by the guiding holes, so that the positioning holes for positioning can be changed. I do.

Therefore, when the positioning hole to be positioned is changed, it is not necessary to remove the regulating member from the positioning hole, and the restriction member can be guided and changed by the guide hole.

It is preferable that the insertion portions provided on the regulating members are fitted into the positioning holes and fixed.

Therefore, it can be fixed simply by fitting without the need for screws.

It is preferable to provide positioning holes on the upper surface side and the lower surface side in the stacking direction of the sheets stacked on the sheet support member.

Therefore, even when a large number of sheets are stacked, the upper and lower sides of the sheet supporting member are fixed, so that the position of the sheets is reliably regulated.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus, comprising: a feeding unit for feeding a document sheet stacked on the sheet stacking device; Image reading means for reading a document image on a document sheet to be read.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a feeding means for feeding the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking apparatus, and a sheet fed by the feeding means. And an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet.

[0028]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The material, shape, relative arrangement, and the like are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them unless otherwise specified.

A sheet stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

A feeding device provided in an image reading apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile or the like or an image forming apparatus generally includes a feed roller and a retard roller because of high separation performance of a fed sheet material. A so-called retard separation type feeding apparatus using a separation roller pair is often used.

A sheet stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided in, for example, an image reading apparatus, and is applied to feed a sheet document to an image reading section, or is provided in an image forming apparatus. Is applied to feed the sheet to the image forming unit. Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to feed a sheet to the image forming unit provided in a copying machine will be described.

First, a schematic configuration of the entire copying machine will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus (copier) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The feeder of the retard separation type described above is provided, and a paper deck as a sheet stacking device according to the embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the right side of the main body of the copying machine in the drawing.

The present image forming apparatus includes a sheet feeding deck 2 as a sheet stacking apparatus in which a large amount of sheet materials S are stacked and stored on the right side of the image forming apparatus main body 1 in FIG. Are provided with a plurality of paper feed cassettes 3 and 5 in which a predetermined amount of sheet materials S are stacked and stored.

The sheet feeding deck 2 serving as a sheet feeding unit for feeding the sheet material S, and the feed units 6, 7, 9 are provided.

The feeding devices 6, 7, and 9 have a feeding roller 23 and a separation roller pair 25.

When the sheet material S in the sheet feeding deck 2 and the sheet feeding cassettes 3 and 5 is fed by the respective feeding devices 6, 7 and 9, first, the registration roller pair 10 which has stopped rotating is turned off.
The skew state is corrected here.

Next, the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer charger 12 by a pair of registration rollers 10 rotating at a timing relative to a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 11, where the photosensitive drum 11 is exposed. The toner image on the body drum 11 is transferred (image formation).

Thereafter, the sheet material S is sent to the fixing device (fixing roller pair) 15 by the conveyor belt 13, and a fixing process for fixing the transferred toner image on the sheet surface is performed.

The present image forming apparatus is provided with a duplex copying mode for performing duplex copying on the sheet material S and a multiplex copying mode for performing multiple copying. In the normal copying mode, the sheet material S after the fixing process is internally discharged. Paper roller pair 16 and external discharge roller pair 1
7, the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 19 outside the apparatus.

In the case of the double-sided copy mode and the multiple copy mode, the sheet is temporarily stacked and stored on the intermediate tray 21 via the re-feed path 20 by the inner discharge roller pair 16 or the outer discharge roller pair 17. You.

Next, a case of changing the sheet size in the sheet stacking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views schematically showing the configuration of the sheet stacking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a case where sheets of a size are stacked, and FIG. 3 shows a case where sheets of an A4 size are stacked.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of the sheet stacking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The sheet stacking apparatus 100 shown in these figures can be applied to the sheet feeding deck 2 provided in the above-described copying machine.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sheet stacking apparatus 100 is generally composed of a sheet storage box 101 as a box-shaped sheet supporting member, and a sheet regulating plate 102 as a regulating member. I have.

The position of the sheets stacked and stored in the sheet storage box 101 is regulated by the sheet regulating plate 102, so that when the stacked sheets are fed, the sheets are fed while maintaining an appropriate position. .

Here, the sheet regulating plate 102 is configured so that its position can be changed according to the size of the sheets to be stacked. Hereinafter, the positioning of the sheet regulating plate 102 and the position to be positioned will be changed. The operation and the like will be described.

The sheet storage box 101 has a hole 103 on its upper surface and a hole 104 on its lower surface.

As shown in FIG. 4, the holes 103 are positioning holes 103a for loading B5 size sheets, positioning holes 103b for loading A4 size sheets, and positioning holes 103b. The guide hole 103c connects the hole 103a and the positioning hole 103b.

Similarly, the hole 104 has a positioning hole 104a for stacking B5 size sheets,
Positioning hole 1 for loading 4 size sheets
04b, the positioning holes 104a and the positioning holes 10a.
4b.

With such a configuration, first, when a B5 size sheet is stacked, as shown in FIG. 2, the insertion portion 102a provided on the sheet regulating plate 102 is inserted into the positioning hole 103a and fitted. At the same time, the insertion portion 102b is inserted into the positioning hole 104a and fitted.

When the sheet to be stacked is changed to an A4 size sheet, first, the insertion portion 102a is fitted into the positioning hole 103a, and the insertion portion 10a is inserted.
2b is disengaged from the positioning hole 104a.

At this time, each of the insertion portions 102a,
It is not necessary to completely remove 102b from positioning holes 103a and 104a.

Next, the insertion sections 102a and 102b are
Guided along the guiding holes 103c and 104c, respectively, and fitted into the positioning holes 103b and 104b (FIG. 3).
State shown in the figure).

As described above, it is not necessary to remove the insertion portion from the positioning hole and reinsert it. The positioning hole can be changed by guiding along the guide hole, so that even when the storage capacity is large and the depth of the storage is deep, , Easy to change.

Further, since it can be fixed by fitting, it can be easily fixed without any work such as screwing.

As described above, the operability is improved with a simple configuration.

In the above description, the case where sheets of two sizes are stacked has been described. However, when sheets of more than two sizes are stacked, positioning holes are provided at positions corresponding to the respective sizes, and each of the holes is provided. A guiding hole for connection may be provided.

[0060]

As described above, the sheet stacking apparatus of the present invention is provided with guide holes for connecting the positioning holes provided at different positions to each other. It is not necessary to remove the member from the positioning hole, and the member can be guided and changed by the guide hole, so that the position of the regulating member can be easily changed and workability is improved.

If the insertion portion provided on the regulating member is fitted into the positioning hole and fixed to each other,
It can be easily fixed simply by fitting without the need for screws.

By providing positioning holes on the upper surface side and the lower surface side in the stacking direction of the sheets to be stacked on the sheet supporting member, even when a large number of sheets are stacked, the upper surface side of the sheet supporting member is also on the lower side. Are also fixed, so that the position of the seat can be reliably regulated.

The sheet stacking apparatus excellent in workability as described above can be applied to an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration perspective view of a sheet stacking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration perspective view of a sheet stacking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of the sheet stacking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration perspective view of a universal cassette.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet stacking apparatus according to the related art.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet stacking apparatus according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 sheet feeding deck 100 sheet stacking device 101 sheet storage 102 sheet regulating plate 103, 104 hole 103a, 104a positioning hole (for B5 size) 103b, 104b positioning hole (for A4 size) 103c, 104c guiding hole

Claims (5)

[Claims] A sheet support member having a plurality of sheets stacked and supported and having a plurality of positioning holes; and a sheet support member positioned and fixed to the sheet support member in a state of being inserted into the positioning holes. A regulating member for regulating a stacking position, wherein the position of the regulating member can be determined in accordance with the size of the sheet to be stacked by changing the positioning hole. The sheet stacking apparatus is provided with a guide hole for connecting the respective members, and guiding the regulating member by the guide hole to change a positioning hole for positioning. 2. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an insertion portion provided on the regulating member is fitted into the positioning hole and fixed to each other. 3. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein positioning holes are provided on each of an upper surface side and a lower surface side in a stacking direction of the sheets stacked on the sheet support member. 4. A sheet feeding means for feeding a document sheet loaded on the sheet stacking device according to claim 1, and reading a document image on the document sheet fed by the feeding means. An image reading apparatus comprising: an image reading unit. 5. A sheet feeding means for feeding a sheet stacked on the sheet stacking device according to claim 1, and an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the sheet fed by the sheet feeding means. And an image forming apparatus.