JPS6326355Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is removably installed in the body of a copying machine such as an electrostatic copying machine, and is placed below a paper feed roller to feed the top surface of the copy paper stored inside. For more information on the paper feed cassette in which the paper rollers come in contact and copy paper is fed one by one, please see
This paper feed cassette is capable of not only automatically feeding stacked copy sheets stored therein but also manual paper feeding.

In typical prior art, a cassette body that is removable from the body of a copying machine and is open at the top is covered with a flat cover that partially covers the cassette body, and this cover is used to feed copy paper. The copy paper stored in this cassette body is biased by a spring toward the paper feed roller, and when the cover is on the upstream side in the paper feed direction, the copy paper is moved upstream and downstream in the paper cassette body. The uppermost surface of the copy paper contacts the paper feed roller and the copy paper can be fed one by one, and when the cover is displaced downstream in the paper feed direction, there is a gap between the paper feed roller and the cover. It is configured so that copy paper can be fed manually. In this prior art, when the cassette main body is detached from the body of the copying machine and stored, the cover is configured to cover only a portion of the copy paper inside the cassette main body.

In such prior art, since the copy paper is exposed during storage, dust can enter the cassette body and the copy paper absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and becomes damp. If you perform a copying operation with dust still attached to the copy paper, the transfer and fixing will be insufficient.
Copy quality deteriorates. Further, when the hardness of the dust is high, the fixing roller is damaged. When copy paper becomes damp with moisture, it tends to curve, which can cause paper jams or even result in copying being performed with the edges of the copy paper bent. Furthermore, if the copy paper remains damp, the transfer operation will not be performed satisfactorily.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved paper feed cassette which provides automatic paper feeding and manual paper feeding, and which protects copy paper from dust and atmospheric moisture.

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a paper feed cassette 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the storage state of the paper feed cassette 1, and Fig. 3 is a storage state shown in Fig. 2. It is a partially notched side view in FIG. The paper feed cassette 1 basically includes a cassette body 2 and a cover 3, and the cover 3 includes a cover body 4 and an opening/closing member 5. The cover body 4 includes a cover member 6
and an auxiliary member 7.

The cassette main body 2 has left and right side walls 8, a rear wall 10 on the upstream side in the paper feeding direction 9, a front wall 11 on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9, and a bottom plate 12.
(See Figure 3). The side wall 8 is
It has a guide protrusion 14 projecting outward, a step ridge 15 projecting upward on the upstream side in the paper feeding direction 9, and a stopper 16 projecting outward on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9. A member 17 for regulating the rear end of the copy paper 13 is attached to the rear wall 10. At the top of the front wall 11, there is a guide piece 1 extending downstream in the paper feeding direction 9.
8 is formed, and this guide piece 18
3 has an inclined surface 19 for guiding. A stopper 20 is provided at the bottom of the bottom plate 12 and extends perpendicularly to the paper feeding direction 9.
is formed.

The bottom plate 12 is provided with a mounting plate 21 that can be angularly displaced around an axis perpendicular to the paper feeding direction 9. The mounting plate 21 is biased upward by a pair of springs 22 on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9 . Boarding board 2
1 is formed with a side edge regulating plate 23 for regulating the side edge of the copy paper 13 on the loading plate 21. A stopping pawl 24 is attached to the side edge regulating plate 23 to stop the downstream end of the uppermost surface of the copy paper 13 in the paper feeding direction 9, thereby making it possible to feed the copy paper 13 one sheet at a time. .

The cover member 6 is arranged in the paper feeding direction 9 of the cassette main body 2.
A cover part 25 that covers the upper part of the upstream side, and guide pieces 26 that hang down from both sides of this cover part 25.
, an extending portion 27 extending from both sides of the cover portion 25 on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9, and a support protrusion 28 projecting upward from the extending portion 27. The guide piece 26 has a guide hole 29 in which the guide protrusion 14 is guided.
A fitting opening 30 into which the guide protrusion 14 is fitted is formed in the guide hole 29. A guide inclined surface 31 that is inclined downward along the downstream side of the paper feeding direction 9 is formed on the downstream side of the paper feeding direction 9 of the cover part 25 . The guide slope 31 guides manually fed copy paper 13a (see FIGS. 9 and 10, which will be described later).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the support protrusion 28, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the cutting plane line - in FIG. 4. A support groove 32 is formed in the support protrusion 28 and is open downward facing the copy paper 13 side.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a part of the auxiliary member 7. The auxiliary member 7 is formed of a plate-shaped body such as metal, and its flat plate portion 33 is fixed to the lower surface of the cover portion 25 on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9 with an adhesive or the like, and is It also protrudes and extends downstream in the paper feeding direction 9. This auxiliary member 7 includes a flat plate portion 33
is bent downward on the downstream side of the paper feeding direction 9,
A contact portion 35 that can contact the copy paper directly under a pair of paper feed rollers 34 (see FIG. 10 described later) during manual paper feeding, and a stopper claw 24 at the side edge of the copy paper 13a that is manually fed. It has a side end guide portion 36 that guides it slightly upward to prevent it from getting caught.

The opening/closing member 5 includes a cover part 37 that covers the upper part of the cassette main body 2 on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9, and a support protrusion 28.
2 and 3, which cover the cassette body 2. A hanging piece 39 that can come into contact with the guide piece 18 of the front wall 11 in the state of
and protrusions 40 that are parallel to the paper feeding direction 9 and arranged on both sides of the copy paper 13a that is manually fed. The protrusion 40 is formed on the upper part of the cover part 37 in a state where the cover part 37 covers the cassette main body 2, and extends obliquely upward toward the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9.

When the copy paper 13 is stored in the paper feed cassette 1, the cover body 4 is relatively displaced toward the downstream side of the paper feed direction 9 on the cassette body 2, and the hanging piece 39 of the opening/closing member 5 is placed on the cassette body 2. 2 guide piece 18
The hinge protrusion 38 of the opening/closing member 5 is located at the lower part of the support groove 32 of the support protrusion 28 . In this way, the copy paper 13 in the cassette main body 2 is stored by the cover 3 without being exposed to the outside.
Therefore, the copy paper 13 does not get wet or get dusty.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the paper feed cassette 1 is shown mounted on the body 41 of an electrostatic copying machine. The opening/closing member 5 moves the hinge protrusion 38 upward along the support groove 32 from the state shown in FIG. 2, and is angularly displaced so as to overlap the cover main body 4. As a result, the copy paper 13 inside the cassette main body 2
is exposed. The cover body 4 is displaced upstream in the paper feeding direction 9, and the amount of displacement is defined by the guide protrusion 14 fitted into the guide hole 9. By attaching the paper feed cassette 1 to the machine body 41 in this state, copy sheets 13 can be automatically fed one by one.

The body 41 is provided with an upper guide protrusion 42 and a lower guide protrusion 43 for guiding the stopper 16.
The paper feed cassette 1 is attached to the machine body 41 using the stopper 1.
6 to the introduction part 4 of the upper guide protrusion 42 and lower guide protrusion 43
4, 45, and the stopper 20 is guided to the lower guide protrusion 43.
After contacting the protrusion 48, move the stopper 16 upward,
That is, by rotating the paper feed cassette 1 clockwise around the stopper 20, the stopper 1
6 is brought into contact with the stop pieces 46, 47.

Since the cover body 4 is positioned upstream of the cassette body 2 in order to automatically feed the copy paper 13 housed in the cassette body 2, the top surface of the copy paper 13 is placed inside the body 41. The paper feed roller 34 is pressed by the spring 22. Therefore, as the paper feed roller 34 rotates in the rotation direction 49, the topmost sheet of the copy paper 13 comes off the stopper claw 24, is guided to the conveyance members 50 and 51, and is guided by the conveyance rollers 52 and 53. They are held and transported.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the operation of attaching the paper feed cassette 1 to the body 41 of the electrostatic copying machine and manually feeding paper will be described. In the cassette body 2, a cover member 6 of the cover body 4 is disposed on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9, and the opening/closing member 5 overlaps the cover member 6 and opens. At this time, the auxiliary member 7 is interposed between the copy paper 13 and the paper feed roller 34. Therefore, for manual paper feeding, the copy paper 13a is placed on the cover part 25 of the cover member 6,
It is supplied to a passage 59 formed between the opening and closing member 5 by the protrusion 40 and the cover portion 37 . In this way, the copy paper 13a is held between the auxiliary member 7 and the paper feed roller 34, and the paper is fed by the rotation of the paper feed roller 34. The cover portion 37 of the opening/closing member 5 guides the manually fed copy paper 13a between it and the cover portion 26 of the cover member 6 of the cover body 4, and even if the copy paper 13a is curved, for example, it can be smoothly guided. will be guided to. The spring 22 presses the copy paper 13 upward via the mounting plate 21, thereby urging the auxiliary member 7 against the paper feed roller 34. Therefore, the copy paper 13a can be reliably fed by the paper feed roller 34. The side edge guide portion 36 of the auxiliary member 7 guides the side edge of the manually fed copy paper 13a slightly upward, thereby causing the copy paper 1
The side end of 3a is reliably prevented from being caught by the stopper claw 24.

Contact portion 35 in auxiliary member 7 (see Figure 6)
The downstream portion in the paper feeding direction 9 is curved into an arc shape and is rounded. Therefore, from the automatic paper feeding state shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cover body 4
When the contact portion 35 contacts the top surface of the stacked copy sheets 13 when the top surface of the copy sheets 13 is displaced downstream in the paper feed direction 9, the top surface of the copy sheets 13 is undesirably displaced in the paper feed direction 9. This will prevent you from doing so. In this way, it is possible to interpose the auxiliary member 7 between the copy paper 13 and the paper feed roller 34 without displacing the uppermost copy paper 13.

Since this contact portion 35 is disposed directly below the paper feed roller 34, the copy paper 13 does not come into contact with the paper feed roller 34, and therefore, as described above, the copy paper 13 on the uppermost surface
is more reliably prevented from shifting in the paper feeding direction 9.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the paper feed cassette 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention in a storage state in which copy paper 13 is stored, and FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side view thereof. This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment, and corresponding parts are provided with the same reference numerals. The paper feed cassette 1 has a cassette main body 2 and a cover 3, and the cover 3 includes a cover main body 4 and an opening/closing member 5. The cover body 4 includes a cover member 6 and an auxiliary member 7. Support members 54 projecting upward are formed on both sides of the cover member 6. This support member 5
4 is an introduction support groove 55 that is open downward on the downstream side of the paper feeding direction 9, an inclined support groove 56 that is inclined upward along the upstream side of the paper feeding direction 9, and a groove that extends toward the cover part 25 of the cover member 6. A vertical support groove 57 extending from
It is formed opposite to each support member 54. Moving projections 38 formed on both sides of the opening/closing member 5 to protrude outward are fitted into these grooves 55, 56, 57. The tip end 37a of the cover part 37 of the opening/closing member 5 in the paper feeding direction 9 is located on the guide piece 18 formed on the upper part of the front wall 11 of the cassette main body 2. At this time, the movable protrusion 38 is fitted into the introduction support groove 55, and the cover body 4 and the cover member 6 are in the sheet feeding direction 9.
The upper part of the cassette body 2 is closed. This prevents the copy paper 13 in the cassette body 2 from getting wet and also prevents dust from adhering to it. Projections 60 are formed on both sides of the lower surface of the opening/closing member 5.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show the paper feed cassette 1 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 above.
This shows the state when manually feeding paper using the . The movable protrusion 38 of the opening/closing member 5 passes from the introduction support groove 55 to the inclined support groove 56 and partially fits into the vertical support groove 57 . In this state, cover member 6
The guide protrusion 60 abuts on the cover portion 25 of the cover portion 25 . Therefore, the cover part 25 and the cover part 37 of the opening/closing member 5
A passage 59 is formed between the paper and the paper, through which copy paper to be manually fed is fed. In this way, copy paper can be interposed between the paper feed roller 34 and the flat plate portion 33 of the auxiliary member 7, and manual paper feeding can be performed.

When performing automatic paper feeding, please refer to Figure 13 and Figure 1.
4, the cover member 6 is displaced from the downstream side in the paper feeding direction 9 to the upstream side in the paper feeding direction 9. As a result, the uppermost surface of the copy paper 13 comes into elastic contact with the paper feed roller 34, making it possible to perform automatic paper feeding.

In the embodiment described above, the spring 22 is attached to the cassette body 2.
However, as another embodiment of the present invention, with the cassette body 2 attached to the body 41, the mounting plate 21 is spring-biased upward by a mechanism provided inside the body 41. It may also be a configuration.
In the embodiment described above, the paper feed roller 34 is disposed at a fixed position on the machine body 41, but in another embodiment of the present invention, the paper feed roller 34 is lowered to the paper feed position to perform automatic paper feeding and manual paper feeding. When feeding paper and not feeding paper, the paper feed roller 3
4 may be configured to be displaced upwardly from the paper feed cassette 1 at a distance.

When the present invention is implemented in connection with a transfer type electrostatic copying machine, when the paper feed cassette is stored,
Since the stored copy paper is not dampened by moisture in the atmosphere or has dust attached to it, deterioration in transfer quality can be prevented.

As described above, according to the present invention, in a paper cassette capable of automatic paper feeding and manual paper feeding, when the paper cassette is stored, the entire upper part of the cassette body can be covered with a cover. This prevents the stored copy paper from becoming damp with moisture in the atmosphere. This prevents the copy paper from being bent and causing a paper jam, and from being fed with the edges of the copy paper folded when fed by the paper feed roller. Furthermore, by preventing the copy paper from getting wet, good transfer quality can be maintained in the transfer type electrostatic copying machine. It also prevents dust from adhering to the copy paper, thus ensuring good transfer and fusing, and as mentioned in connection with the prior art above, hard dust can damage the fusing roller. This will prevent damage. When manually feeding paper, the opening/closing member
The copy paper is guided between the cover main body and the copy paper that is manually fed can be smoothly fed even if the copy paper is curved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a paper feed cassette 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the paper feed cassette 1 in a storage state, and Fig. 3 is a paper feed cassette in the storage state shown in Fig. 2. 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the support protrusion 28. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the cutting plane line - in FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the paper feed cassette 1 showing the automatic paper feeding state, FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the paper feed cassette 1 in the state shown in FIG. The figure is a perspective view of the paper feed cassette 1 in a state where manual paper feeding is performed, and FIG.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a state in which the paper feed cassette 1 in the manual paper feeding state shown in the figure is attached to the machine body 41; FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the storage state of the paper feed cassette 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side view showing the storage state shown in FIG. 11, and FIG. 13 is the paper feed cassette 1 in the state of manually feeding paper according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway side view of the manual paper feeding state shown in FIG. 13. 1...Paper feed cassette, 2...Cassette body, 3
...Cover, 4...Cover body, 5...Opening/closing member, 6...Cover member, 7...Auxiliary member, 13,
13a... copy paper, 25... cover section, 26...
Guide piece, 28... Support projection, 33... Flat plate part, 3
4...Paper feed roller, 37...Cover part, 38...
Hinge protrusion, 38a... Moving protrusion, 41... Body, 54... Supporting member.

Claims (1)

[Claim for Utility Model Registration] A paper feed roller that is removably arranged below a paper feed roller installed in the body of a copying machine, and that feeds paper by making contact with the top surface of the copy paper stored inside. In a paper feed cassette in which paper feeding is performed, a cover including a cover body and an opening/closing member disposed on the upstream side and downstream side in the paper feeding direction is attached to the upper part of the cassette body, and the cover body of this cover is attached to the cassette body. When the opening/closing member is opened and stacked on the cover body while the cover body is located on the upstream side in the paper feed direction, the top surface of the copy paper inside the cassette body can be moved freely along the paper feeding direction. contacts the paper feed roller and becomes ready for automatic paper feeding, and when the cover body is located on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction and the opening/closing member is opened and stacked on the cover body, the cover body will touch the paper feed roller. and copy paper, and allows copy paper to be manually fed between the cover body and the opening/closing member, and when the cover body is located downstream in the paper feeding direction, the cassette body is inserted into the machine body. 1. A paper feed cassette characterized in that an upper part of the cassette main body on the downstream side in the paper feeding direction from the cover main body can be closed by an opening/closing member when the paper feed cassette is not attached to the paper feed cassette.