JP2556539B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a main body device (for example, a copying machine, a printer, etc.) that receives a sheet material and executes necessary processing such as image formation on the sheet material. The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device that feeds sheet materials (cut sheet materials such as copy paper, transfer paper, and recording paper) stacked and stored in a sheet material storage unit one by one.

[Conventional technology]

As a specific example of the main body apparatus / sheet material feeding apparatus as described above, FIG. 11 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a detachable laser beam printer (LBP) of a process cartridge / sheet material cassette.

Reference numeral 100 denotes an exterior casing of the printer, which has an image forming mechanism incorporated therein. The outer casing is a lower half 100A and an upper half.
100B is divided into two parts, and the upper half body 100B is raised with respect to the lower half body 100A around the hinge shaft 101 on the rear end side as shown by the two-dot chain line to open and close, and as shown by the solid line to close and close. It is freely linked.

The upper half 100B is constantly opened and urged by a not-illustrated splashing means, and the upper half 100B resists the urging force.
When is fully closed with respect to the lower half body 100A as shown by the solid line, a lock mechanism (not shown) works to lock the lower half body 100A side and the closed state shown by the solid line is stably maintained.

On the contrary, when the lock is released, the upper half body 100B is opened and rotated by the biasing force of the splashing means as shown by the chain double-dashed line and held in the predetermined open angle posture, and the inside of the printer is largely opened.

The operation of attaching / detaching the process cartridge 102 to / from the printer, the inspection / maintenance of the inside of the printer, and the like are performed by raising the upper half 100B as described above and largely opening the inside of the printer.

In the printer of this example, the opening / closing side of the upper half 100B (in the drawing, the left end surface side) is the front surface of the apparatus, and the hinge shaft 101 side (in the drawing,
The right end surface side) is the rear surface (rear surface) of the device.

In the case of this example, the process cartridge 102 is one in which four image forming process devices of the photosensitive drum 103, the charger 104, the developing device 105, and the cleaner 106 are included in the cartridge housing 102a. It is attachable to and detachable from a predetermined storage portion in the substantially central portion. When the cartridge 102 is properly installed in the printer, the mechanical drive system / electric circuit system on both sides of the cartridge side and the printer side are connected via a mutual coupling member (not shown), and mechanical / electrical Integrated into. Reference numeral 107 is a laser scanner unit, and 108 is a laser reflection mirror, which is arranged at a predetermined position in the upper half 100B.

Reference numeral 109 denotes a sheet material cassette as a sheet material storage unit, and a cassette front end side is inserted from a cassette insertion / removal opening 100C provided at a lower portion of the front side of the lower half body 100A of the printer to insert a bottom plate (base plate) of the lower half body. ) When fully inserted into the lower half along 100D (X direction), the boss section provided on the bottom side of the cassette
The 109f drops into the engaging recess 100F provided on the bottom plate 100D side of the lower half body, is engaged and positioned, and is put in the mounted state with respect to the printer. By pulling in the opposite direction (Y direction) against the engaging force between the boss portion 109f and the recess 100E, the cassette 109 is pulled out of the printer.

109a is a main body case of the cassette, 109b is an inner plate in the main body case, and the front side of the middle plate is lifted and biased by a spring 109d around a fulcrum portion 109c on the rear side thereof. S is a sheet material (transfer sheet) stacked and stored in the main body case, and the sheet material S extends over both the upper surface of the intermediate plate 109b and the inner bottom surface of the main body case 109a. The upper surface of the sheet material on the leading edge side of the stacked and stored sheet material S is irrespective of the sequential decrease accompanying the sequential feeding of the sheet material S or the amount of stacked and stored sheet materials S regardless of the amount of the spring.
The intermediate plate 109b is urged to rotate in the lifting direction by the 109d, so that the intermediate plate 109b is always kept at a predetermined substantially constant height level. 109e is a sheet material 1 that is engaged with the top edge side of the stacked storage sheet material S
Separation claw for each sheet.

110 is a sheet material feeding roller, 111a and 111b are conveying roller pairs for the fed sheet material, 112, 113 and 115 are sheet conveying sheet material guide plates, 114 is a registration roller pair, 116 is a transfer charger, and 117 is A sheet material conveying belt device, 118 is a fixing device, 118 is a sheet material discharge roller pair, and
All the members 9 are arranged at predetermined positions in the printer lower half 100A.

100D is a sheet material discharge opening provided on the front side upper part of the printer lower half body 100A.
9 faces the opening 110D. Reference numeral 100F is a discharge sheet material receiving tray arranged from the opening 100D to the outside of the printer.

When the printer upper half 100B equipped with the process cartridge 102 is closed with respect to the lower half 100A as shown by the solid line, the lower surface of the photosensitive drum 103 on the process cartridge 102 side is for transfer on the lower half 100A side. The charging device 116 is in a state of being regularly approached and opposed to the charging device 116 with a predetermined space. When the sheet material cassette 109 is properly installed in the lower half 100A of the printer, the upper surface of the stacking and storing sheet material S in the cassette on the leading edge side faces the lower surface of the feeding roller 110.

When an image formation start signal is input to the control system of the printer, the photosensitive drum 103 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow at a predetermined peripheral speed, and its periphery is uniformly charged to a predetermined positive or negative polarity by the charger 104. Be charged.

The laser scanner unit 107 oscillates a pixel laser beam L corresponding to a time-series electric pixel signal of image information input from an unillustrated original image photoelectric reading device, word processor, electronic computer, etc. to scan the surface of the photosensitive drum 103. That is, the uniformly charged surface of the rotary photosensitive drum 103 is sequentially main-scanned in the drum generatrix direction by the laser light L of the laser scanner unit 107 through the mirror 108 and the exposure window 102b provided in the cartridge housing 102a. An electrostatic latent image of image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 103.

The formed electrostatic latent image is toner-developed by the developing device 105, and the toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 at the position of the transfer charging device 116.
It is sequentially transferred to the surface of the sheet material S fed as described below between the 03 and the charger 116.

That is, the stacked storage sheet material S in the sheet material cassette 109
Is fed to the uppermost sheet material by rotating the feeding roller 110 in the counterclockwise direction, and the leading edge of the sheet material is separated from the lower side of the separation claw 109e to the upper side, and one sheet is separated. Only the uppermost sheet material is fed out of the cassette in the same direction as the mounting direction of the cassette 109. The delivered sheet material is guided by the guide plate 112 and is intermediately transported by the transport roller pair 111a and 111b, and the curvature transport guide plate 112 is used.
A direction opposite to the feeding direction from the inside of the cassette 109 toward the register roller 114 arranged above the sheet material feeding roller 110 by 113 (from right to left in the printer)
It is transported to U turn. The sheet material conveyed by the U-turn is synchronized with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 103 by the register roller 114 and passes through the guide plate 115 to the photosensitive drum 103 and the transfer charger.
The toner image on the side of the photosensitive drum 103 is sequentially introduced onto the sheet material surface from the right side between 116 and 116.

The sheet material that has been transferred from the right side to the left side between the photosensitive drum 103 and the charger 116 to receive the transfer of the toner image is the photosensitive drum.
The sheet 103 is separated by a separating means (not shown), and is introduced into the fixing device 118 by the conveyor belt device 117 to receive the image fixing, and the image formed product (print) is printed on the tray 100F through the discharge roller pair 119 and the discharge opening 100D. Is discharged as. The surface of the photosensitive drum 103 after the transfer of the toner image is cleaned by a cleaner 106 to remove residual toner remaining after transfer, and is repeatedly used for image formation.

The rear surface plate 120 of the printer lower half body 100A can be opened and folded around the hinge portion 121 as shown by the chain double-dashed line. Inside the opening / closing rear surface plate 120, the curvature conveyance guide plate 1
12 and one of the pair of sheet material conveying rollers 111a and 111b
111b is provided. When the sheet material is jammed in the U-turn sheet path portion from the sheet material feeding roller 110 to the register roller 114, the rear surface plate 120 is tilted and opened to open the U-turn sheet path portion and take out the jammed sheet material. .

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the case of the device as in the above example, the operation of storing the sheet material in the cassette 109 as the sheet material storage portion is performed by the separation claw 109e or the tip side of the middle plate 109b which is always biased upward by the spring 109d. Is stable in a state in which the sheet material S on the middle plate is pushed up to the uppermost position on the side of the leading edge. Therefore, the body case 109a
Loading and replenishment of the sheet material S into the inside is performed while lifting the intermediate plate 109b and pushing down it against the urging spring 109d, and while avoiding the tip side of the replenishment sheet material S from the separation claw 109e. I was dissatisfied with the poor operability of replenishment.

Also, since there is a spring 109d below the middle plate 109b, a space of at least the contact height of the spring 109d and the mold thickness (usually 3 mm or more) of the cassette body case 109a is necessary below the middle plate. Since pushing the spring 109d to the close contact height causes the spring to settle, it requires a considerably large space, which is a hindrance to the reduction in thickness of the cassette 40.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a sheet material storage unit that stores a sheet material to be supplied to an image forming unit is movably provided between a pull-out position and a mounting position, in which the sheet material storage unit is inserted into the mounting position. A sheet material feeding means for feeding the sheet material from the sheet, and the sheet material storage section transmits an intermediate plate which stacks the sheet material and can move up and down, and a pressing force for moving the intermediate plate up and down. And a spring member having one end connected to the pressurizing force transmission means and the other end connected to a cam follower projecting outward of the sheet material storage portion, wherein the mounting of the sheet material storage portion is performed. A cam portion for displacing the cuff follower according to insertion into a position to generate a pressing force on the spring member, and for raising the intermediate plate via the pressing force transmission means by the pressing force; To the front The sheet follower is provided with a detent portion that engages with the cam follower when the sheet material storage portion is inserted into the mounting position to detent the sheet material storage portion, and the cam follower is returned by the force generated by the spring member. It is characterized in that it engages with a stop.

[Action]

When the sheet material storage section is installed at the installation position,
The cam follower is displaced by the cam portion, the spring member generates a pressing force, and the intermediate plate receives the pressing force of the spring member via the pressing force transmitting means and is biased upward. At the position where the sheet material storage portion is mounted, the detent portion provided on the cam portion is engaged with the cuff follower by the spring force of the spring member to prevent the sheet material storage portion from detenting. Then, the sheet material is fed by the sheet material feeding means in the state of being urged to rise.

When the sheet material storage portion is pulled out from the mounting position, the cam follower separates from the cam portion, so that the spring member has a free length and no pressing force is generated, so that the intermediate plate descends.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a vertical side view of an example of a sheet material feeding device A as an embodiment configured according to the present invention and a laser beam printer B as a main body device in which the sheet material feeding device A is combined.

The sheet material feeding device A of the present embodiment is separate from the printer B as the main body device, and is configured as a detachable optional unit device used in combination with the printer. Mounts the sheet material feeding device A on the pedestal C, and mounts the printer B as the main body device on the sheet material feeding device A and the downward projection 18 on the lower surface side of the printer.
The sheet material feeding device A and the printer B are in a combined state by being fitted and engaged with the receiving hole 24 on the upper surface plate 24 side of the sheet material feeding device A and positioned and placed.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a sheet feeding sheet receiving port provided on the bottom surface of the printer, and a printer bottom surface position corresponding to a position of a nip portion between the sheet material feeding roller 10 and the sheet material conveying roller 12 disposed inside the printer as described later. It is provided in. When the printer B is positioned and mounted on the sheet material feeding device A as described above, the feeding sheet material receiving port 19 is provided on the sheet material feeding device A side as described later. It is located above the pair of sheet material conveying rollers 28 and 55 located on the front side of the top plate 21 of the sheet material feeding device.

I, Printer B First, the configuration and image forming operation of the printer B of this example will be described. Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer casing of the printer. In the printer of this example, the right end face side in the drawing is the front face. Reference numeral 1A denotes a printer front plate. The front plate can be freely opened and closed as shown by a two-dot chain line around the hinge shaft 1B on the lower side with respect to the printer outer casing 1, and raised and closed as shown by the solid line. is there. The process cartridge 2 is attached to and detached from the printer, and the inside of the printer is inspected and maintained by inclining the front plate 1A to open the inside of the printer.

The process cartridge 2 in this example is a cartridge housing 2a in which four image forming process devices including a photosensitive drum 3, a charging roller 4, a developing device 5, and a cleaner 6 are included. A printer front plate 1A is indicated by a two-dot chain line. As shown in the drawing, it can be opened and closed to be attached to and detached from a predetermined storage portion in the printer outer casing 1. When the cartridge 2 is properly installed in the printer, the mechanical drive system and the electric circuit system on both the cartridge side and the printer side are connected to each other via a mutual coupling member (not shown), and the cartridge is mechanically and electrically connected. Integrated into.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a laser beam scanner unit disposed on the inner side of the printer outer casing 1, which includes a semiconductor laser and a scanner motor 7.
a, a polygon mirror 7b, a lens system 7c, etc., and an exposure window 2b of a cartridge housing 2a in which the laser beam L from the scanner section 7 is mounted in the printer.
, Enters the housing 2a substantially horizontally, and passes through a passage between the cleaner 6 and the developing unit 5 arranged vertically in the housing to enter the exposure unit 3a on the left side surface of the photosensitive drum 3, and The surface of the drum 3 is scanned and exposed in the generatrix direction.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a multi-feed tray which is provided on the lower side of the printer front plate 1A so as to project outward and is inclined forward and upward, and a plurality of sheet materials S can be set at the same time. When the tray 8 is not used, the front plate 1A is centered around the hinge shaft 8a on the base side.
Can be folded against the front of the. Reference numeral 9 denotes an opening provided on the lower side of the printer front plate 1A, and the base side of the multi-feed tray corresponds to this opening.

10 is a sheet material feeding roller provided in the lower portion inside the printer front plate 1A, 11 is a sheet material separating pad arranged in contact with the lower surface side of the feeding roller 10, and 12 is the left side of the feeding roller 10. The conveyance roller is in contact with the surface, and the conveyance roller is provided on the printer exterior casing 1 side. 13 is a transfer roller disposed inside the printer front plate 1A and above the feeding roller 10, 15a and 15b are fixing roller pairs provided on the upper inside of the printer front plate 1A, and 14 is a transfer roller 13 and a fixing roller pair. 15a ・ 1
Sheet material guide plate provided between 5b, 16 is a fixing roller pair 15a
A sheet material discharge roller disposed on the sheet material outlet side of 15b, and a discharged sheet material receiving tray.

In the above description, the members 8 to 11 and 13 to 17 are all arranged on the printer front plate 1A side, and the sheet material feeding roller 10 in the state shown by the solid line in which the front plate 1A is closed with respect to the printer outer casing 1. Is a sheet material conveying roller on the printer outer casing 1 side
The transfer roller 13 is in contact with the surface 12 of the printer, and the transfer roller 13 is in contact with the right side surface of the photosensitive drum 3 in the process cartridge 2 mounted on the printer outer casing 1.

When an image formation start signal is input to the control system of the printer, the photosensitive drum 3 is driven to rotate at a predetermined peripheral speed in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by an arrow, and its peripheral surface is charged by a charging roller 4 at a predetermined positive or negative polarity. Is uniformly charged. The charging roller 4 is a conductive member to which a predetermined voltage is applied, and the photosensitive drum 3 is charged by the roller by a so-called contact (or direct) charging method. The charging roller 4 may be driven to rotate by the photosensitive drum 3, may be driven to rotate in the opposite direction, or may not rotate. It may be a friction charging member or a corona charger.

Next, in the exposure unit 3a, the pixel laser beam L corresponding to the time-series electric pixel signal of the image information output from the laser beam scanner unit 7 is incident on the uniformly charged surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 3, and the drum 3 surface Is sequentially subjected to main scanning by the laser light L in the drum generatrix direction, an electrostatic latent image of image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3.

The latent image formed on the surface of the drum 3 is sequentially developed with toner by the developer carried on the developing sleeve (or roller) 5a of the developing device 5. 5b is a storage chamber for the developer (toner) t, and 5c is a developer stirring / conveying member in the developer storage chamber, which is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow to stir the developer t in the storage chamber 5b and to The developer is sequentially replenished and conveyed to the sleeve 5a side.

On the other hand, among the sheet materials (transfer sheets) S set on the multi-feed tray 8, the uppermost sheet material is rotated by the feeding roller 10 and the separating pad 11 from the next and lower sheet materials. The sheet is separated and drawn into the printer through the opening 9, and then is nipped by the nip portion of the feeding roller 10 and the conveying roller 12 toward the facing contact portion (transfer portion) between the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer roller 13. It is fed at the same constant speed as the rotating peripheral speed of. During the feeding, the sheet material sensor PH arranged at a predetermined position of the sheet path between the feeding roller 10 and the transfer roller 13 detects that the leading end of the fed sheet material reaches the sensor position. There is a timing relationship in which scanning exposure (writing of image information) of image information on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 by the laser beam scanner unit 7 is started by the sheet material front end detection signal.

The sheet material fed to the transfer unit sequentially passes between the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer roller 13, and a voltage applied to the transfer roller 13 (a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner) and a photosensitive drum of the transfer roller The photosensitive drum 3 is pressed by the pressing force against the drum 3.
The transfer of the toner image on the surface side is sequentially received. The voltage is applied to the transfer roller 13 when the leading edge of the sheet material to be fed reaches the contact portion (transfer portion) between the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer roller 13. The transfer roller 13 may be a corona charger.

The sheet material that has passed through the transfer unit is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 3, guided by the guide plate 14, and introduced into the pair of fixing rollers 15a and 15b. Of the pair of fixing rollers 15a and 15b, the roller 15a on the side contacting the image transfer surface of the sheet material is a heating roller incorporating a halogen heater, and the roller 15b on the side contacting the back side of the sheet material is made of an elastic material. It is a pressure roller, and the toner image transferred on the sheet material that has undergone the image transfer is fixed on the surface of the sheet material by heat and pressure while passing through the roller pair 15a and 15b. It is ejected as an image-formed product (print) on the upper side.

After the transfer of the toner image, the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 is cleaned and cleaned by the cleaning blade 6a of the cleaner 6 to remove the transfer residual toner and other contaminants, and is repeatedly used for image formation.

II, Sheet Material Feeding Device A The sheet material feeding device A includes a sheet material feeder 20 having at least a sheet material feeding means and a driving means for the sheet material, and a sheet serving as a sheet material accommodating portion that can be taken in and out of the sheet material feeder. It consists of a material cassette 40.

(1) Sheet material feeder 20 FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sheet material feeder 20, FIG. 3 is a front view, and FIG. 4 is a vertical side view.

In the figure, 21 is a top plate of the feeder, 21L and 21R are hollow pedestals that are attached to the left and right sides of the top plate in parallel with each other in the front-rear direction, and 22 is a sitting pad provided on the bottom surface of the pedestal. When the feeder 20 is placed on the horizontal mount C, the sheet material cassette storage space 23 is formed by the lower surface of the feeder upper plate 21, the upper surface of the mount C, and the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R.
(Fig. 3) is constructed.

The reference numeral 24 designates a receiving hole provided on the upper surface plate 21 of the feeder.
The sheet material feeding device A and the printer B are brought into a combined state by inserting the sheet B into the receiving hole 24 and positioning the printer B on the feeder 20.

25 is a sheet material feeding roller shaft that is rotatably supported by bearings between the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R, and 26 is three sheet material feeding means integrally attached to the shaft at predetermined intervals. It's Laura. The sheet material feeding roller 26 of this example is a roller (D-shaped cutting roller) having a circular section in a side surface or a cross section. Normally, the missing circle side 26a is held in a rotation stopped state in a downward rotation angle posture (Figs. 1 and 4).
Similarly, 27 is a sheet material conveying roller shaft which is rotatably supported by bearings between the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R, and 28 is a sheet material conveying roller integrally attached to the shaft.

The sheet material feeding roller shaft 25 and the conveying roller shaft 27 are substantially parallel to each other, the conveying roller shaft 27 is located on the tip side of the feeder upper surface plate 21, and the feeding roller shaft 25 is a sheet material more than that. The feeding roller 26, which is located on the upstream side in the feeding direction, has a circular arc side 26b opposite to the truncated circle side 26a from the through hole 29 formed on the surface of the feeder upper surface plate 21 to the upper surface plate 21. Is partially exposed on the upper surface side of.

Reference numeral 30 (FIG. 2) is a stepping motor arranged inside the pedestal 21R on the right side as a driving means for the feeding roller 26 and the conveying roller 28, and G1 to G5 are gear trains meshing in series, G1 Is the output gear of the motor 30, G2 is the idle gear,
G3 is a clutch gear that is loosely fitted to the right end of the sheet material feeding roller shaft 25 and is controlled to engage and disengage from the shaft 25 by a one-rotation spring clutch 31, G4 is an idle gear, and G5 is a sheet material conveying roller shaft 27. Is a transport roller shaft gear integrally attached to the right end of the.

When the motor 30 is energized and turned on, the output gear G1 rotates counterclockwise, and the output gear G1 rotates endlessly to rotate the gears G2 to G5. Idle gears G2 and G4 rotate clockwise, clutch gear
G3 and the transport roller shaft gear G4 rotate counterclockwise. When the energization of the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a of the spring clutch 31 is off and off, the clutch gear G3 has no edge with the shaft 25 because of the clutch off and runs idle on the shaft 25. Therefore, in this state, no rotational force is transmitted to the sheet material feeding roller shaft 25, and the feeding roller 26 is kept in a rotation stopped state. When the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a is temporarily energized, the spring clutch 31 is turned on, the clutch gear G3 is integrated with the shaft 25, and the shaft 25 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction. Are rotated counterclockwise in FIGS. 1 and 4. When the shaft 25, that is, the roller 26, makes one rotation (360 ° C), the clutch is disengaged and the shaft 2
That is, the rotation of the roller 26 is stopped.

The sheet material conveying roller shaft 27, that is, the sheet material conveying roller 28 is connected while the motor 30 is driven regardless of the on / off control of the spring clutch 31 and the gear trains G1 to G5.
It is kept in a state of being rotated counterclockwise by receiving a rotational force via.

30a and 31b are motor 30 and electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31
It is a lead wire for energizing a, and is a sheet material feeding device A
When the printer B is properly placed and set on the printer B, an electric coupling member (not shown) provided relatively to the sheet material feeding device A side and the printer B side is coupled to control the printer B side. After the motor 30 and the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a are connected to a circuit (not shown) via the lead wires 30a and 31b, or after the printer B is properly placed and set on the sheet material feeding device A. The motor 30 is obtained by inserting a plug (not shown) provided at the end of the lead wires 30a and 31b into a socket (not shown) on the printer B side.
Also, the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a is connected to the control circuit on the printer B side.

32.32 (Figs. 3 and 4) are sheet material cassette loading and unloading guide grooves symmetrically provided along the longitudinal direction on the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R, and 33 and 33 are the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R, respectively. It is a cam groove as a cam portion symmetrically provided on the tip side of the inner surface.

(2) Sheet material cassette 40 FIG. 5 is a plan view of the sheet material cassette 40, FIG. 6 is a front view, FIG. 7 is a rear view, FIG. 8 is a left side view, and FIG. 9 is a vertical side view. .

In the cassette 40, reference numeral 41 denotes a flat rectangular main body case having an open top surface, and 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, and 41e are front wall, left side wall, right side wall, rear surface wall, and bottom plate of the case. 42 is a handle provided outside the front wall 41a of the main body case, and 43 is the front wall 4a.
The sheet material guide plate provided in the inside of 1a in the forward rising inclination angle posture, 44L and 44R are elongated flanges that are provided so as to project outward along the upper side length of the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the main body case. The main body case 41 (41a to 41e), the handle 42, the guide plate 43, and the left and right elongated flanges 44L and 44R are wholly integrated resin molded products.

48 is a middle plate housed in the main body case 41, and the rear side portion 45a
With the rotation fulcrum as the fulcrum, the tip side can freely swing up and down. The sheet material S is stacked on the intermediate plate 45 and stored in the main body case 41.

Reference numeral 46 (Figs. 1 and 9) is an L-shaped pressure lever as a pressing force transmitting means for vertically swinging the intermediate plate 45. This lever 46 is freely rotatable around a support shaft 46a provided in front of the tip side of the middle plate 45, and one horizontal arm 46b is located on the lower side of the tip side of the middle plate 45. When the lever 46 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 46a, the horizontal arm 46b rises and rotates in the ascending direction, and the middle plate 45 is lifted upward with the rear side portion 45a as a rotation fulcrum and pivotally rocked. (FIG. 9 → FIG. 1).

Reference numeral 47 denotes a pressure shaft as a cam follower provided on the front side of the lever 46. The pressure shaft has diagonal left and right ends which are symmetrically provided on the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the body case 41, respectively. Inserted in the direction groove 48, its left and right ends 47L ・ 4
The 7Rs (Figs. 7 and 8) are exposed outside the left and right side walls.
Reference numeral 49 is a tension coil spring which connects the pressing shaft 47 and the vertical arm 46c of the lever 46. The state where the sheet material cassette 40 is removed from the sheet material feeder 20 (No. 9)
In the figure), the lever 46 receives a turning force in a counterclockwise direction about the support shaft 46a due to the weight of the intermediate plate 45 and the sheet material S loaded on the middle plate 45, so that the horizontal arm 46b is in a substantially horizontal tilted posture. The middle plate 45 also falls down on the inner bottom surface of the main body case 41. Further, in this state, the pressurizing shaft 47 receives a tensile force by the vertical arm 46c of the lever 46 via the coil spring 49, and the left and right ends 47L and 47R thereof are fitted and engaged. It is held in the position where it is pulled up to the end point.

50 and 50 are separation claws for a pair of left and right sheet materials, and are attached to the left and right sides of the main body case 41 at the tips of levers 52 and 52 that are freely swingable up and down around the support shafts 51 and 51, respectively. It is equipped. The pair of left and right separating claws 50, 50 respectively correspond to the left and right corners of the uppermost sheet of the sheet material S stacked and stored on the middle plate 45 in the cassette body case 41. 53 ・ 53
Is a lever extension portion provided by extending the tip portion of the lever 52, 52 further forward than the position of the separating claw 50, 50.
The lever extension portions 53, 53 are located above the pressing shaft 47, and in the state of FIG. 9 in which the sheet material cassette 40 is removed from the sheet material feeder 20, as described above, The levers 52, 52 are held in a generally horizontal and comfortable position by being supported by the pressure shaft 47 that is pulled up and held at the upper end side end position of the direction groove hole 48, and the levers 52, 52 can be rotated downwardly. Be blocked.

Reference numeral 55 is a sheet material conveying roller arranged on the upper side of the above-described sheet material guide plate 43 which is going up, and is free to rotate around the shaft 54. The sheet material conveying roller 55 is a sheet material conveying roller as a driving roller provided on the feeder 20 side.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the sheet material cassette 40 is sufficiently inserted and attached to the feeder 20, the driven roller is paired with the sheet feeding roller 28 on the feeder 20 side. It comes into contact with the roller 28.

Reference numeral 56 (FIG. 5) is a side presser for the stacked sheet material provided inside the left side wall 41b of the cassette body case 41, and reference numeral 57 is an urging spring plate for appropriately pressing the side presser to the side surface of the stacked sheet material.

(3) Operation of Storing Sheet Material in Cassette 40 The sheet material S is stacked and stored in the sheet material cassette 40 by removing the cassette 40 from the feeder 20 and opening it from the upper surface of the main body case 41 as described later. Cassette 40 feed
In the state of FIG. 9 removed from 20, the middle plate 45 in the cassette body case 41 is at the lowest pivot position in which it falls on the body case bottom plate 41e as described above. Separation claw 5
0.50 is received by riding on the pressure shaft 47 in which the extension 53.53 of the lever 52.52 provided therewith is pulled up and held at the upper end side end position of the oblique vertical groove 48. Since the levers 52, 52 are held in a substantially horizontal and easy posture and are prevented from rotating downward, the main body case 41
It is held on the upper side of the inner surface near the opening. Therefore the middle plate
The gap between the front end side of 45 and the separating claws 50 is kept large, so that the stacking and storing operation of the sheet materials S in the cassette body case 41 can be performed easily and quickly. In the case of the conventional cassette 109 shown in FIG. 12, the separation claw 109e is the spring 1
It is stable in the state of being pushed up to the uppermost position on the leading edge side of the intermediate plate 109b which is always urged upward by 09d or on the leading edge side of the sheet material S on the intermediate plate. Therefore, when stacking and replenishing the sheet material S in the main body case 109a, the middle plate 109b is lifted and the biasing spring 10
The sheet material S is pushed down against 9d and the leading edge of the supply sheet material S is bypassed from the separating claw 109e.
As described above, there was a drawback that the operability of replenishing the inside of the cassette was poor. The cassette 40 of this example is improved in this respect as described above.

(4) Mounting of cassette 40 The mounting of the sheet material cassette 40 on the feeder 20 is performed by mounting the lower surface of the upper plate 21 of the feeder 20, the upper surface of the pedestal C, and the left and right pedestals.
With respect to the sheet material cassette storage space 23 (FIG. 3) configured by the inner surfaces of 21L and 21R, the rear wall 41d side of the cassette 40 is first projected from the front side of the feeder 20 and the left and right sides of the cassette. The elongated flanges 44L and 44R are inserted into the front and rear direction guiding grooves 32 and 32 provided along the longitudinal direction on the inner surfaces of the pedestals 21L and 21R on the left and right of the feeder, respectively, and pushed (X direction shown in FIG. 1).

When the cassette 40 is pushed in sufficiently, the back sides of the left and right projecting edges 42a, 42a of the grip portion 42 on the front side of the cassette are aligned with the tip portions 32a, 32a of the guide grooves 32, 32 on the feeder 20 side (second, fourth
(Fig.) And further pushing movement of the cassette 40 is blocked, and the cassette 40 is mounted in the regular pushing position with respect to the feeder 40. In this mounted state, the front surface of the cassette 40 is substantially flush with the front surface of the printer B as shown in FIG. 1, and there is no protrusion from the front surface of the printer B to the rear of the cassette as in the conventional one shown in FIG. There is no aesthetically unpleasant design due to the protrusion P · P ′ on the front side of the printer on the edge side.

The insertable distance l ₁ (Fig. 1) of the cassette 40 with respect to the feeder 20 is set larger than the dimension l ₂ of the feeder 20 in the cassette mounting direction, and the cassette 40 'whose length in the front-rear direction is larger than l ₂ is also inserted. It is possible to attach and use
In this case, when the cassette 40 'is properly mounted to the feeder 20, the rear end side which is the insertion front end side of the cassette 40' is from the rear surface side of the feeder 20 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. Although the protrusion P'is formed on the rear portion of the feeder 20 or on the rear side of the printer B which is the main body device, the protrusion P · P 'of the cassette 109 is used as the main body device as shown in FIG. The appearance is better than that on the front side of the.

The sheet material feeding row 26 disposed on the upper surface plate 21 side of the feeder 20 is a circular disc roller (D-shaped cut roller) as described above, and the circular disc side 26a is always stopped in a downward rotation angle posture. When the cassette 40 is pushed into the feeder 20 and moved as described above, the cassette body case
The upper side of the rear wall 41d of the sheet 41 passes under the sheet material feeding roller 26, which is located on the side of the downwardly facing downward circle 26a, and does not interfere with the roller 26.

In addition, the intermediate plate 45 is pushed until just before the cassette 40 is sufficiently pushed into the feeder 20 to be properly mounted.
Is held in a posture in which it is laid down on the bottom plate 41e of the cassette body case 41 as shown in FIG. 9 without receiving the lifting force of the pressure lever 46, and the stacking sheet material S on the middle plate 45 is also in a horizontal posture. It is stored in the cassette body case 41. Therefore, in the process of pushing the cassette 40 into the feeder 20, the stacking sheet material S in the cassette body case 40 is
The upper surface of the uppermost sheet material of the sheet material feeding roller 26 is sufficiently spaced apart from the downward facing circular side 26a of the sheet material feeding roller 26, and the upper surface of the uppermost sheet of the stacked sheet material S on the cassette 40 side and the feeder 20. There is no interference with the feeding roller 26 on the side.

That is, the feeding roller 26 on the feeder 20 side is formed as a truncated circular roller, and the truncated circular side 26a is normally kept in a rotation angle posture in a downward direction so that the feeder top plate 21
The height dimension of the sheet material cassette storage space 23 formed by the lower surface, the upper surface of the cradle C, and the inner surfaces of the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R can be increased.
It is possible to increase the sheet material storage capacity.

Right and left end portions 47L and 47R of the pressure shaft 47 protruding outward from the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the cassette 40, respectively, immediately before the cassette 40 is sufficiently pushed and moved with respect to the feeder 20 to be properly mounted. , The cassette 20 that engages with the cam grooves 33 provided on the inner surface side of the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R of the feeder 20
The left and right ends 47L and 47R of the pressing shaft 47 are pressed downward by the cam grooves 33 and 33 by the pushing moving force of the pressing shaft 47, and the pressing shaft 47 is engaged with it along the diagonal vertical groove hole 48. And descends from the upper end to the lower end. With the downward movement of the pressure shaft 47, the pressure lever 46 is moved through the tension coil spring 4.
Rotates clockwise about the support shaft 46a, the horizontal arm 46b of the lever 46 rises and rotates in the upward direction, and the middle plate 45 on which the sheet material S is loaded by the arm 46b moves the rear side portion 45a. As the fulcrum, the tip side is lifted and pivots to the forward ascending posture.

Then, when the cassette 40 is fully pushed in and moved, and when the cassette mounting is completed, the pressure shaft 47 reaches the lower end side end of the oblique vertical groove 48 with which the pressure shaft 47 is engaged, and the left and right ends 47L thereof.
-47R is held and detented by recessed parts 33a and 33a (Fig. 3) as detents located at the lower end of the cam grooves 33 and 33.

On the other hand, the separating claw levers 52, 52 move the support shafts 51, 51 in the initial stage of the descending movement of the pressing shaft 47, which receives the extended portions 53, 53, as described above and moves downward along the groove hole 48. Although it rotates downward in the clockwise direction to the center, it rises in the opposite direction by the lifting rotation of the leading edge side of the intermediate plate 45 accompanying the lowering of the pressing shaft 47. Separated nail 50
50 is received and further downward rotation is prevented, and the pressurizing shaft 57 is disconnected from the lever extensions 53 and 53 by the subsequent downward movement. The separation claws 50, 50 are in a state of riding on the front side corners of the stacked sheet materials S by their own weight due to the edges of the lever extensions 53, 53 being cut off from the pressing shaft 47, and the separation claws for each sheet material are separated. To function as.

The sheet material conveying roller 55 on the cassette 40 side is fed by the feeder when the cassette 40 is completely adhered to the feeder 20.
The state is in contact with the front surface of the sheet material conveying roller 28 on the 20 side (FIG. 1).

The sheet material feeding device A of FIG. 1 shows the posture and position of each member when the cassette 40 is completely attached to the feeder 20.

(5) Operation of the feeder 20 In this state, the mode of using the sheet material feeding device A is selected in the console section of the printer B side as the main body device, and the image formation start signal is input to the control circuit of the printer B. Then, the stepping motor 30 on the feeder 20 side is energized, and the motor is driven to rotate. As a result, the gear trains G1 to G5 rotate, and the sheet material conveying rollers 28 rotate counterclockwise in FIG. Further, the sheet material conveying roller 55 on the side of the cassette 40, which is in contact with the roller 28 and constitutes a roller pair, is also driven to rotate.
The sheet material feeding roller 26 is kept in a non-rotation state because the one-rotation spring clutch 31 is kept in a clutch-off state. After that, in response to the sheet material feeding start signal, the one-turn spring clutch 31 is turned on by temporarily energizing the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a on the feeder 20 side from the control circuit on the printer side.
The sheet material feeding roller 26 is driven to rotate once counterclockwise in FIG. During one rotation of the feeding roller 26, the roller 26
The arc side 26b of the sheet acts on the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material of the stacked and stored sheet material S on the intermediate plate 45 to feed the uppermost sheet material to the feeder.
A feeding force is applied in a direction opposite to the mounting direction X of the cassette 40 with respect to 20, and the uppermost sheet material is separated by the separating claws 50, 50.
The sheets are separated and delivered to the front wall 41a of the cassette 40.

The leading edge side of the sheet material that has been fed out is the front guide plate 43.
Is guided to the nib portion of the sheet material feeding roller pair 27/55 from below and is gripped, and is fed into the printer B from the feeding sheet material receiving port 19 on the bottom surface of the printer. The sheet material fed into the printer passes through the guide plate 19a, is held in the nip portion between the feeding roller 10 and the conveying roller 12 on the printer B side, and is fed to the transfer portion 13. Printer B
The image forming operation on the side is the same as that in the sheet material feeding mode from the multi-feed tray 8 described above.

Thus, every time the sheet material feeding roller 26 on the feeder 20 side is driven to rotate once, the stacked storage sheet material in the cassette 40 mounted on the feeder 20 is fed to the printer B side for one sheet, and the feeding is performed. Image formation on the sheet material is sequentially performed.

As the consumption of the stacked and stored sheet materials S in the cassette 40 decreases, the intermediate plate 45 is sequentially lifted and rotated by the pressure lever 46 sequentially rotating clockwise by the charging force of the tension coil spring 49. To be done. As a result, the height level of the uppermost sheet material of the stacked sheet materials S on the intermediate plate 45 is always maintained at a predetermined substantially constant level, and the single sheet feeding of the sheet material S is always stably performed. It

(6) Removing the cassette 40 To remove the cassette 40 from the feeder 20, pull a finger in the grip 42 on the front side of the cassette and pull it in the direction opposite to the cassette mounting direction X as shown by Y in FIG. Then remove it from the feeder 20.

At the beginning of the process of extracting and moving the cassette, the left and right end portions 47L and 47R of the pressing shaft 47 on the cassette 40 side are disengaged from the cam grooves 33 and 33 on the inner surface side of the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R of the feeder 20, The pressurizing shaft 47 becomes free, so that there is no clockwise biasing force of the pressurizing lever 46, and the lever 46 rotates counterclockwise due to the weight of the intermediate plate 45 and the stacked sheet material S thereon. Then, the middle plate 450 returns to a state in which it falls down on the bottom plate surface of the cassette body case 1 as shown in FIG. The pressing shaft 47 also returns to the state of being pulled up and held at the upper end side end position of the obliquely vertical groove 48 which engages the pressing shaft 47. The separation claw levers 52, 52 are supported by the extension shafts 53, 53 on the pressing shaft 47 that has returned to the upper end side end position of the groove hole 48, and are received and held in the horizontal easy position.

As described above, the sheet material feeding device A according to the present embodiment can be easily added to the main body device B such as a printer or a copying machine so that the user can optionally additionally purchase and combine them for use. It is configured to be removable. Further, the sheet material feeding roller 26 of the feeder 20 is made into a truncated circular roller to realize a long slide of the sheet material cassette 40 with respect to the feeder 20, and the sheet material feeding device B is entirely accommodated in the lower part of the main body device B. Also, the operation side of the cassette 40 with respect to the feeder 20 of the sheet material feeding device A is the front side of the main body device which is the operating side of the main body device B. Therefore, according to the sheet material feeding device A, the height of the main body device B is The cassette 40 has no protrusions on the front side of the main unit even though the main unit is slightly open, and the operability is the same as that of the main unit B, and the unity feeling with the main unit B is also de-dyneed. The obtained form is the best in terms of operability and design.

Since the feeding direction of the stacked sheet material in the cassette 40 mounted in the feeder 20 to the main body device B is the opposite direction to the mounting direction of the cassette 40 to the feeder 20, the cassette 40 is also mounted in the main body device for jam processing of the sheet material. This can be easily done by attaching and detaching on the front side of B, and there is no inconvenience for the operator to go around behind the main unit B and work.

Even if the sheet material feeding device A including the feeder 20 and the cassette 40 is located at the lower part of the main body device B by using a long stroke, the jam processing of the sheet material and all operations can be performed on the front side of the device. I was able to configure the cassette
This is for feeding the sheet material in the cassette in the direction opposite to the mounting direction of the cassette 40 to the feeder 20 despite the long apparatus stroke of 40.

Further, since the sheet material feeding device A including the feeder 20 and the cassette 40 is all located in the lower part of the main body device B, the dimension in the height direction is slightly changed to correspond to the amount of the sheet material S loaded and stored in the cassette 40. And the main device B is not affected at all. That is, it is easy to support the design,
It has expandability for specification changes.

When the cassette is inserted and mounted in the direction in which the sheet material in the cassette is fed out and conveyed as in the conventional case, the tip of the stored sheet material may fly outward from the cassette tip side due to inertial force due to the cassette insertion and installation shock, or In the case of a separation claw type cassette, there were cases where strong force was applied to the separation claws, causing deformation, and problems such as the movement of the separation claws getting worse.However, it is the opposite of the feeding direction of the sheet material in the cassette. When the cassette is inserted and mounted in the same direction, the above inertial force is in the opposite direction, so that the above trouble does not occur.

Since the spring pressure that raises the intermediate plate 45 can be used as a click feeling when the cassette 40 is completely installed and as a cassette retainer, it is necessary to provide another spring for that purpose and a retainer mechanism on the cassette 40 side or the feeder 20 side. Cost can be reduced.

A spring 49 that raises the intermediate plate 45 moves the cassette 40 to the feeder 20.
There is also an advantage that the life of the spring 49 extends since it is almost unloaded when it is removed from the spring.

There is a space in the sheet material feeding direction of the cassette 40, and the spring 49 is used when the space used as the handle 42 is used.
By providing at the tip of the cassette in the sheet material feeding direction, the thickness of the cassette 40 can be made as small as possible, and the sheet material feeding device A, and consequently the main body device B, can be miniaturized.

III, Other Embodiments (FIG. 10) (A) is a plan view of another embodiment of the cassette 40, (B) is a vertical sectional side view, and (C) is an upward cam provided on the feeder 20 side. It is a figure of a surface and the front-back direction guide groove.

In the cassette 40, the middle plate 45 in the body case 41 is the rear edge
It can swing up and down alternately on the 45a side. 45b and 45b are the intermediate plates 4
5 is a spring hook portion as a pressing force transmission means provided on the left and right portions of 5. Reference numeral 46 is a pressure lever disposed on the inner surface of each of the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the main body case 41 so as to be vertically swingable around the support shaft 46a, and 47 is a pressure lever fixed to the tip of each of the left and right pressure levers. The outer end sides (cam followers) 41L and 41R of these pressure shafts are circles centered on the support shaft 46a of the pressure lever 46, which are symmetrically formed on the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the main body case 41. It is exposed from the arcuate slot 48 to the outside of the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the main body case 41.

Reference numeral 49 is a coil spring provided with one end engaged with the spring hook portion 45b of the intermediate plate 45 and the other end engaged with the pressure shaft 47 (or the pressure lever 46). 50 and 50 are a pair of left and right sheet material separating claws, and support shafts are provided on the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 41b and 41c of the main body case 41.
It is provided at the tip of levers 52, 52, which are vertically swingable around 51, 51. The separating claw levers 50 are moved downward (clockwise in the figure (B)) about the support shaft 51 by their own weight or by a biasing spring (not shown).
It corresponds to the left and right parts on the leading edge side of the uppermost sheet material stacked on top.

Figures (A) and (B) show a state in which the cassette 40 is removed from the feeder 20. In this state, the pressing shaft 47 is in a free state, so the middle plate 45 is under its own weight and the main body case 41. It is in the lowest position that is fully collapsed on the bottom of the. The pressing lever 46 is rotated downward (clockwise in the figure (B)) about the support shaft 46a via the coil spring 49 and the pressing shaft 47 by the tilted middle plate 45, and the pressing shaft 47 is moved. It is received at the lower end side end position of the circular arc slot 48. Further, the tip end of the pressing lever 46 rotated downward is the engaging portion 52 of the separation claw lever 52.
When abutting against a, the separating claw lever 52 is acted on by a rotating force upward (counterclockwise in FIG. 7B) about the support shaft 51, and the separating claw 50 is moved.
・ The downward rotation is prohibited while the 50 is held at the highest position.

Therefore, the gap between the front end side of the intermediate plate 45 and the separation claws 50, 50 is kept large, and the stacking and storing operation of the sheet materials in the cassette body case can be performed easily and quickly. The sheet material stacked on the middle plate 45 is laterally regulated by the width regulation plates 41f and 41f.

Insert the cassette 40 into the long and narrow flanges 44L and 44R on the left and right sides of the cassette 40 and guide grooves 32 (32) in the front-rear direction on the feeder 20 (Fig. (C)) side.
To be inserted into and mounted in the feeder 20. Shortly before the completion of mounting, the outwardly projecting pressure shaft ends 47L and 47R as cam followers on the cassette 40 side engage with the upward cam surface 33 (33) on the feeder 20 side for subsequent insertion movement of the cassette 40. Along with this, it is pushed up and moved toward the upper end side end point position of the slot along the arc slot 48. Finally, when the cassette 40 is pushed sufficiently into the feeder 20 and the mounting is completed, the pressure shaft ends 47L and 47R fall into the recessed portion 33a of the cam surface 33 and become stable.

With the upward movement of the pressure shaft ends 47L and 47R, the pressure levers 46 and 46 are rotated around the support shafts 46a and 46a in the lifting direction, and in conjunction with this, the intermediate plate 45 causes the coil spring 49 to move. A pulling force is received via the, and the pulling force causes the pulling force to rotate upward with a predetermined pressure. Further, the tip end portions of the pressure levers 46, 46 escape upward from the engaging portions 52a, 52a of the separating claw levers 52, 52 to release the rotation prohibition of the separating claw levers 52, 52. FIG. 6D shows the above state when the mounting of the cassette 40 to the feeder 20 is completed.

When there is a space in a direction perpendicular to the sheet material feeding direction in the cassette 40 as in the present example, the cassettes are provided by arranging the mechanism such as the spring 49 in the margins on both sides thereof.
The thickness of 40 can be made as small as possible, and the entire sheet material feeding device A, and hence the main body device B, can be downsized.

Even when the cassette is loaded in the feeder in the same direction as the sheet material feeding direction as in the conventional case as shown in (E), the pressure shafts 47/47 (47L / 47R) are similarly mounted on the apparatus main body side. By associating with the facing cam surface 33, it is also possible to attach / detach the cassette and perform a predetermined operation in the same manner as described above.

Further, as in the embodiment of the present invention, since the cassette has the pressing means for pressing the sheet material against the feeding roller, when the size is different or the kind of the sheet material is different, the pressing means is used for the cassette. Since it can be set for each, there is an advantage that an optimum feed pressure can be given.

Further, since the sheet material pressing means of the cassette is also used as the locking means for loading the cassette, the feeder portion can be formed into a simple (simple) shape with only the cam portion, and it is not necessary to provide the feeder portion with the locking means. It is possible to obtain a cassette feeder with a low and compact size.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the sheet material feeding device of the present invention, when the sheet material storage portion is mounted at the mounting position, the cam follower is displaced by the cam portion, the spring member generates a pressing force, and the middle plate is The pressurization force of the spring member is received via the pressurization force transmission means to be urged upward, and at this mounting position, the cam follower engages with the detent portion by the spring force of the spring member to detent.

Further, when the sheet material storage portion is pulled out from the mounting position, the cam is separated from the cam follower, so that the pressing force of the spring member is not generated and the intermediate plate is lowered.

As a result, the cam follower engages with the detent portion by the force of the spring member at the mounting position of the sheet material storage unit for stable positioning, and the intermediate plate is lifted by the spring member at the drawing position of the sheet material storage unit. Since it is not biased, it is possible to easily and quickly replenish the sheet material.

The engagement of the cam follower with the detent portion utilizes the force of the spring member for raising the intermediate plate, so that the number of partial points does not increase and the configuration does not become complicated.

Further, since it is possible to adopt a structure in which the biasing spring member is not arranged below the intermediate plate, it is possible to form a thin sheet material storage portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an example of a sheet material feeding apparatus as an embodiment configured according to the present invention and a printer (LBP) as a main body apparatus in which the sheet material feeding apparatus is combined, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sheet material feeder. 3, FIG. 3 is the same front view, FIG. 4 is the same longitudinal side view, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the sheet material cassette, FIG. 6 is the same front view, FIG. 7 is the same rear view, and FIG. 8 is the left side. FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional side view, FIG. 10 (A) to FIG. 10 (B) are configuration explanatory diagrams of another embodiment apparatus, and FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional side view of a conventional example. A is a sheet material feeding device, B is a printer as a main body device, 20 is a feeder, 26 is a sheet material feeding roller, 40 is a sheet material cassette, and S is a stacking and storing sheet material.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-59-177235 (JP, A) JP-A-57-107339 (JP, A) JP-A-49-18336 (JP, A) Actual development Sho-59- 15635 (JP, U) Actually open 60-103141 (JP, U) Actually public 62-7630 (JP, Y2)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus in which a sheet material storage section for storing sheet material to be supplied to an image forming section is provided so as to be movable between a pull-out position and a mounting position, and a sheet material storage inserted in the mounting position. A sheet material feeding means for feeding the sheet material from the section, and the sheet material storage section transmits an intermediate plate capable of vertically moving by stacking the sheet material and a pressing force for vertically moving the intermediate plate. And a spring member having one end connected to the pressurizing force transmission means and the other end connected to a cam follower protruding to the outside of the sheet material storage portion. A cam portion is provided for displacing the cam follower according to the insertion into the mounting position to generate a pressing force on the spring member, and for raising the intermediate plate via the pressing force transmission means by the pressing force, On the cam The cam follower is provided with a detent portion for detenting the sheet material storage portion when the sheet material storage portion is inserted into the mounting position, and the cam follower returns by the force generated by the spring member. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus is engaged with a stop portion. 2. The pressing force transmitting means is a rotatable pressing lever, and one end of the pressing lever is in contact with the intermediate plate and the other end is connected to the spring member. First
The image forming apparatus according to item. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing force transmitting means is a spring hook portion provided on the intermediate plate, and the spring members are connected to each other. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detent portion is a recessed portion provided on the cam portion. 5. The sheet material accommodating portion is provided so as to be vertically swingable, and engages with a leading end of the accommodated sheet material in the feeding direction to separate one sheet material, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a restricting unit that restricts downward movement of the separation claw when the cam portion and the cam follower are disengaged from each other and the intermediate plate descends.